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LIBRARY 



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PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS 






/ 

OF THE 



TWENTY-FOURTH GENERAL MEETING 



OF THE 



AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 



HELD AT 



BOSTON AND HAGNOLIA, HASS 

JUNE 14-20 
I9O2 



PUBLISHED BY THE 
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 

1902 



CONTENTS. 



TITLE. 

Address of the President 

Organization and administration of university li- I 

braries . . . . I 

Incidents in the history of the Boston Public Li- I 

brary ' 

The catalogue of the Public Library of the City I 

of Boston ' 

Pains and penalties in library work ...... 

The gift extremely rare 

Branch libraries: 

I. Planning and equipment 

II. Functions and resources 

III. Administration 

The division of a library into books in use. and I 

books not in use, with different storage methods > 

for the two classes of books I 

The selection of technical and scientific books . . 
Plan for the organization of an institute of bib- ' 

liographical research 1 

The work of the Division of Bibliography, Li- I 

brary of Congress 

The card distribution work of the Library of I 

Congress > 

Home libraries and reading clubs 

The evaluation of children's books from the point I 

of view of the history of literature for children, f 
Report on list of children's books with children"? 1 

annotations > 

Report of the A. L. A. Publishing Board .... 
Report of the Committee on Library Administra- I 

tion f 

Report of Committee on Public Documents .... 
Report on gifts and bequests, 1901-1902 

Proceedings 120-171 

First Session 120-121 

Second Session 121-133 

Secretary's report *2> 

Treasurer's report and necrology ... 122 

Report of Trustees of Endowment Fund. 125 
Report of Committee on International 

Co-operation '26 

Report of Committee on Co-operation 

with N. E. A 126 

Report of Committee on Handbook to 

American Libraries 128 

Report of Committee on Indexes and 

Title-pages to Periodical Volumes. 128 
Report of Committee on Foreign Docu- 
ments 129 

Report of Committee on Public Docu- 
ments 13 

Pains and penalties in library work . . 130 

Third Session ...... . . . . 133-135 

Address of greeting. H tiler C. Wellman. 133 

President's address 135 

Dr. Eliot's address *35 

Fourth Session I35- J 42 

Report on gifts and bequests .... 135 

Report of Committee on Library Training. 135 
Report of Committee on A. L. A. Exhibit 

at Louisiana Purchase Exposition. 140 

Report of A. L. A. Publishing Board . 142 
Report of Committee on Relations with 

the Booktrade 142 

Fifth Session I47-I5* 

Organization of bibliographical work in 

the past 

Plan for organization of an institute for 

bibliographical research .... 147 
Selection of technical and scientific books. 147 
Selection of scientific books. N. D. C. 

Hodges 148 



AUTHOB. 

John S. Billings . . 
Anderson H. Hopkins 



PACE. 



James L. Whitney 



10 
16 



29 

34 



E. B. Hunt 

Arthur E. Bostwick 

Isabel Ely Lord 

Edwin H. Anderson 38 

Langdon L. Ward 4* 

Frank P. Hill * 6 



Charles William Eliot 



5* 



Charles F. Burgess ........... 5$ 

Aksel G. S. Josephson .......... 6l 

W. D. Johnston ............ 6 3 



C. H. Hastings 
Gertrude Sackett 
Charles Welsh . 



67 

72 
.76 



Caroline M. Hewins 79 

W. 1. Fletcher 8 3 

H. C. Wellman; W. R. Eastman; N. D. C. Hodges. 86 

Roland P. Falkner 9* 

George Watson Cole 



- Work of Division of Bibliography, Li- 
brary of Congress ...... 

Proposed bibliography of bibliographies. 
Work and plans of the Publishing Board. 
General bibliographical work. George lies. 
Report on incunabula list. John Thomson. 

Sixth Session 

Interpretation of constitution .... 
Distribution of printed catalog cards by 

Library of Congress 

Branch libraries 

Seventh Session 

Election of officers 

Incidents in history of Boston Public Li- 
brary 

Closer relations between librarians and 
publishers. W. H. Page . . . 

The gift extremely rare 

Public libraries and publicity . _. . . 
Resolutions reported from Council . . 
Report of Committee on Resolutions . 

College and Reference Section 

Catalog Section 

Trustees' Section 

Section for Children's Librarians . . . . 

Round Table Meeting: State Library Com- 
missions 

Round Table Meeting: State Library Asso- 
ciations 

Transactions of Council and Executive Board. 

The social side of the Boston and Magnolia 
meeting and the Post-conference excursions. 

Officers and Committees 

Attendance register 

Attendance summaries. Nina E. Brovmt . 



97 

148 
148 
149 
IS' 
152 

152-163 
152 

156 
163 

166-171 
1 66 

1 66 

166 
170 

171 
7i 

172-186 
187-202 
203-219 
220-227 

228-235 

236-249 
249-251 



255 
256 
268 




CONFERENCE OF LIBRARIANS. 

BOSTON AND MAGNOLIA, MASS. 
JUNE 16-20, 1902. 



SOME LIBRARY PROBLEMS OF TO-MORROW : ADDRESS OF THE 

PRESIDENT. 

By JOHN S. BILLINGS, Director of the New York Public Library. 















"\X7HEN the American Library Association 
was organized its object was declared to 
be "to promote the library interests of the 
country by exchanging views, reaching con- 
clusions, and inducing co-operation in all de- 
partments of bibliothecal science and economy ; 
by disposing the public mind to the founding 
and improving of libraries, and by cultivating 
good will among its members." When the 
constitution was revised in 1900, the object 
of the Association was declared to be " to 
promote the welfare of libraries in America." 

This change is significant, not of a change 
in the purposes of the Association, but of a 
general opinion that verbose details of its 
purposes are now unnecessary. At first the 
Association undertook much direct missionary 
work, but this has gradually been taken in 
charge by state and local associations to such 
an extent that our work in this direction is 
now mainly to obtain records of the methods 
which have been found most successful, and 
to bring these to the attention of those directly 
engaged in interesting the people at large, and 
legislators and tax-payers in particular, in the 
establishment and support of free public li- 
braries. 

It is the welfare of the free public library, 
and especially the library intended mainly for 
the circulation of books for home use among 
the people, and supported from public funds, to 
which we have given the most attention. This 
is especially an American institution and it 
has seemed more important that its uses and 
needs should be understood and appreciated 
by the general public than those of purely ref- 
erence libraries, since these last are fairly well 
understood by those who most need and use 
them. 

The main argument in favor of the free 
public library is that it is an essential part of a 



system of free public instruction which is a 
necessary foundation of a satisfactory system 
of self government. It is not true, however, 
that any and every system of education tends 
to produce a stable democracy, and there are 
great differences of opinion among professional 
educators, and still greater differences of opin- 
ion among other thinking men who know 
something of the methods and results of our 
public schools, as to whether our present sys- 
tem is the best one. If the main object of the 
school and of the teacher is to furnish infor- 
mation and cultivate the memory, there is 
good ground for objecting to both the quantity 
and quality of some of the kinds of information 
supplied. If the object of education is to de- 
velop the intellect,' to teach the student how 
to judge as to what is true and to know where 
to look for it, to recognize wise thought, and 
to distinguish the man who is qualified to lead 
from the incompetent man who wants to lead, 
then our public school system is not well suited 
to its purpose. 

The relations which should exist between 
the system of public libraries and the system 
of public schools in a state or city are not yet 
generally agreed upon by both librarians and 
teachers. In a general way it may be said 
that the librarian's view is that the public li- 
brary should be entirely independent of the 
public school system as regards its funds and 
management, that special school libraries are 
apt to be badly managed, and inefficient for the 
purpose of interesting and instructing the chil- 
dren, that the librarian knows more about books 
than the teacher, and can supplement and 
broaden the teacher's work ; and that teachers 
should recognize these facts, should be willing 
and anxious to receive instruction and advice 
from librarians by listening to lectures and talks 
at the library and repeating to their classes 



oO<" 

OrWt- 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



what they have been taught, and urging the 
children to make use of the library. 

A few enthusiasts claim that the librarian 
ought to know more than any teacher, and 
should supplement the defects and ignorance of 
each instructor in his own branch, but treat 
them all kindly and tactfully, recognizing that 
it is not their fault that they do not know as 
much as librarians. Some librarians admit 
that some teachers may know more than they 
do as to the reading most desirable to supple- 
ment the particular instruction which a class is 
receiving, and will be glad to receive lists of 
books wanted. All librarians think it very 
important that the child should learn to use 
the public library and become acquainted with 
its attractions, methods, and resources, so that 
after leaving school he will continue to use it, 
and they do not consider that any mere school 
or class library can be a satisfactory substitute 
for the public library. Moreover, they want 
the children to come to the public library and 
use it because this is a means of bringing their 
parents and friends under the same influence. 
. Superintendents of schools, as a rule, take 
a somewhat different view of the matter, that 
is, if they have given any thought to it, but I 
am bound to say that many of them reply to 
questions on the subject, that they have never 
given it any special consideration. Some of 
those who have considered the matter say that, 
of course, the public library is a useful institu- 
tion, that its chief use is educational, that it 
should be managed so as to help the public 
school as much as possible, but that it should 
not interfere with school methods. They 
believe that the school should have a library 
of its own, under its own management, selected 
with reference to the needs of the different 
classes and grades, that the teachers should 
see that the children use these books, and 
have a record of such use as a guide to dealing 
in the best way with the individual child. 
They say that the public library, in its recent 
arrangements for attracting children and espe- 
cially those in the lower grades, tends to inter- 
fere with the school plans for reading, that the 
children find in the library much that is more 
attractive than the books which they can find 



in the school library, but which is also less 
useful ; that they acquire the habit of desul- 
tory reading, and are led off from the proper 
course. The junior teachers in the schools in 
our larger cities stand in somewhat the same 
relation to the superintendents that the junior 
assistants in the public library stand to the 
librarian, and the opinions of each, while in- 
teresting, are not conclusive. At present the 
majority of teachers in the lower grades know 
and care very little about the public libraries ; 
they may use them to obtain current fiction, 
but it seldom occurs to them to take their 
classes to them or to tell the children what 
they can find there. 

At present it appears that the librarians are 
more aggressive, energetic, and filled with the 
missionary and proselytizing spirit than are 
the teachers, possibly because the work of the 
latter is more monotonous and fatiguing. 

I have several times been asked by legisla- 
tors and jurists whether the public schools 
and the public libraries could not wisely be 
consolidated under one central management 
and thus be made to work harmoniously. 

It is theoretically possible, but I think that 
the result would be that the libraries would 
lose much, the schools gain very little, and 
the public at large be profoundly dissatisfied. 

The Library Association has a special com- 
mittee on co-operation with the Library 
Department of the National Educational As- 
sociation, and it is to be hoped that this com- 
mittee will find a satisfactory solution to the 
problems connected with the relationship of 
the library to the school. No hard and fast 
rules can be established, but it would seem 
that the library, supported by public funds, 
should not interfere with the work of the 
public school. On the other hand, one of 
the most important functions of the school 
is to train the children to use books and 
libraries, and at the present time the chief 
obstacle to the proper performance of this 
function is that the teachers themselves are in 
great need of instruction about public libraries 
and how to use them. For the great ma- 
jority of children story books and works on 
general literature of the right kind are not 



BILLINGS. 



only more interesting but more important 
means of education than the average text- 
books. 

The class which, at present, far outnum- 
bers all other classes in this country is, as 
Professor Bryce says, the group of "thinly 
educated persons whose book knowledge is 
drawn from dry manuals in mechanically 
taught elementary schools, and who in after 
life read nothing but newspapers or cheap 
novels." ' 

Those who have had practical experience in 
free circulating libraries know the truth of 
this characterization, and are trying to get 
the children interested in the library as early 
as possible ; if the library proves more attrac- 
tive than the school it is quite possible that 
the school methods should be changed. But 
whatever may be thought of elective studies in 
the high school and college course, the pub- 
lic library system of instruction must neces- 
sarily be largely elective ; and mere amusement 
should not be the leading elective, as seems to 
be too often the case. 

In recent years the subject of co-operation 
between libraries and librarians has been one 
to which much thought has been given and 
for which a great number of plans have been 
proposed. To secure the most useful co-opera- 
tion, it is desirable to bring into the work 
many libraries which are not intended for the 
ciiculation of books, except, perhaps, among 
a limited class, and some of which are not 
supported by public funds. These include 
the libraries belonging to the general govern- 
ment and to the states, university libraries, 
and the larger libraries belonging to and 
managed by private corporations, either as 
reference libraries only, but for the use of the 
general public, or as reference and lending 
libraries for the use of members, stockholders, 
or subscribers only. Among these are many 
scientific, historical, and technical libraries. 

The problems of these reference libraries 
have been receiving increasing attention in 
the Association in recent years, as is shown 
by the organization of a section devoted more 

'James Bryce, "Studies in history and jurispru- 
dence." N.Y., 1901, p. 200. 



especially to their work, and the subject of 
co-operation will come up for discussion at 
this meeting in several ways and will, no doubt, 
be considered from several different points of 
view. The question, as it appears to most 
libraries, is, What can the greater libraries do 
for us in the way of cataloguing, bibliog- 
raphy, lending of books, etc., with the tacit 
assumption that whatever they can do, they 
ought to do. 

It does not seem necessary to produce argu- 
ments in favor of this view, but perhaps a sug- 
gestion that the smaller libraries should, on 
their side, assist the larger ones so far as they 
can, may not be out of place. 

The public library in this country, which 
now stands, or should stand, second, if not 
first, in interest to every librarian is the Li- 
brary of Congress. I feel it to be a duty as 
well as a pleasure to report to you that the 
work of this library is being well done, and 
-that Congress has recognized the wisdom and 
tact of its librarian by increased appropriations 
for books and for service. You are all familiar 
with the work being done by this central 
library for other libraries throughout the 
country by furnishing catalogue cards, biblio- 
graphical data, etc. I think it well, however, 
to remind you of your duties to this your 
National Library, and especially that the li- 
brarian of every city, town, or village in the 
country should make it his or her business to 
see that one copy of every local, non-copy- 
righted imprint, including all municipal re- 
ports and documents, all reports of local 
institutions, and all addresses, accounts of 
ceremonies, etc., which are not copyrighted 
and do not come into the book trade, is 
promptly sent to our National Library. 

I cannot speak so positively and definitely 
about the state libraries or the great reference 
libraries of the country, but most of them will 
be glad to receive such local publications as I 
have indicated, and the New York Public Li- 
brary especially desires assistance of this kind. 

The controversy between the individualists 
and the collectivists which is going on in 
many fields of human activity exists also 
among those interested in library organiza- 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



tion and management and is taking much the 
same course there as in commerce and manu- 
factures. The tendency is towards organiza- 
tion and division of labor, at first by co-opera- 
tion, later by consolidation. The free public 
library is tending to become a special industry 
by unification of methods for the purpose of 
securing the greatest product with the least 
expenditure. The general public, and many 
librarians, think that the measure of greatest 
product is the number of books circulated. 
This is the argument used with city officials to 
secure increased appropriations, and the kind 
of books which will circulate most rapidly and 
the methods of advertising which will increase 
the number of readers are matters of much in- 
terest to library trustees and managers. From 
this commercial point of view much remains 
to be done in the way of co-operation. It is 
probable that the co-operative cataloguing now 
under way could be much facilitated, and a 
considerable saving to individual libraries 
effected, if one small committee of experts se- 
lected all the books to be purchased for each 
and every library. These books could then be 
catalogued, with annotations on the most 
elaborate plan, classed, marked, and delivered 
to the several libraries, where, of course, they 
would go on open shelves and be advertised 
by co-operative short lists. The libraries could 
then discharge most of their cataloguers and 
experts. One-half the money now used for 
salaries could be devoted to buying books, the 
circulation would increase, and the business 
would flourish. 

Moreover, this committee of experts for the 
selection of books to be purchased would 
naturally be consulted by publishers as to 
what particular varieties of literature are most 
in demand. It would suggest subjects and 
writers, read MSS. and indicate the pictures 
which would stimulate the circulation of the 
volume, and not be objectionable to any one. 
From this, it would be an easy step to under- 
take the publication of books for free public 
libraries and thus effect a wonderful reduction 
in cost ; and if the librarians take up the busi- 
ness of bookselling the scheme will be still 
more neat and compact. 



I need not go into further details, or show 
what might be effected for the world's progress 
by simply extending this scheme to an inter- 
national system ; no doubt you can all readily 
imagine the results which might be obtained 
by a great cosmopolitan free circulating library 
trust with the latest attachments and improve- 
ments. We should then have accomplished 
an important part, what some consider the 
most important part, of the original object of 
the Association, which, you will remember, 
was declared to be the ' ' reaching conclusions 
and inducing co-operation in all departments 
of bibliothecal science and economy." Of 
course, in the formation of the expert Board of 
Managers, the demand for representation which 
will be made by the leaders and managers of 
different religious, political, and sociological 
sects and parties would require consideration, 
and there are some other important details to 
be considered by the Committee on Co-opera- 
tion when it takes up this part of its work. 

I do not think there is any immediate pros- 
pect of the formation of such a free public 
library trust as I have indicated, or that the 
cheapening of library service in this way is de- 
sirable, even if it were possible, but there are 
many things in the mechanical details of library 
economy in which co-operative work may be 
of service without checking or interfering with 
individual development. 

Circulating libraries supported from public 
funds will naturally tend to greater uniformity 
in methods and scope than reference libraries 
supported by corporations, but each has some- 
thing to learn from the other. 

There are some men and women who 
have a great desire for uniformity, who think 
there is only one best way ; they want codes, 
and rules, and creeds ; they want all schools and 
high schools and universities to have one sys- 
tem, even to the periods of their vacations ; 
they want a rule about fiction, and about clas- 
sification, and about salaries for all libraries, 
and they want resolutions passed about all 
these things. 

Concentration has its evils as well as its ad- 
vantages. Some excellent library work in our 
large cities is done by institutions or societies 



BILLINGS. 



5 



which use the library as a means to secure at- 
tention to their special end, which may be 
religious, sectarian, humanitarian, or sociologi- 
cal. The friendly rivalry of different libraries 
in the same city often has good results, though 
perhaps it may be a little wasteful of money. 
To secure the use of a library, the energy and 
enthusiasm of a propagandist are very useful, 
but the propagandist does not work to the best 
advantage in a systematic hierarchy. It is the 
old question of the individual worker or dealer 
versus the co-operative, or the consolidated es- 
tablishment, and while the ultimate answer 
may be in favor of the latter as giving the 
greatest amount of useful results with the least 
expenditure of force, we can understand the 
feelings of the individual worker who fears that 
he will be crowded out, and who says that 
" the lion and the lamb may lie down together, 
but the same lamb don't do it again." 

It must be remembered that almost every 
change in the manner of doing things is inju- 
rious to some individuals. Evolution affects 
not only the fittest, but also the unfit. If it 
be true that the public library is injuring the 
business of the bookseller, that the hustling 
administrator is crowding out the scholar in 
library positions, and that old-fashioned read- 
ers find their old resorts in the libraries less 
comfortable because of the crowd which now 
frequents them, it may still be true that the 
general result is satisfactory. 

The question as to whether the public library 
shall undertake to do other work for the public 
benefit besides the supplying of literature has 
occasionally been raised, but has not been 
seriously discussed as a general proposition. 
When Mr. Carnegie's offer to provide branch 
library buildings for the city of New York was 
made public, many suggestions were made as 
to the desirability of making these buildings 
something more than libraries. For example, 
it was advised that they should be made social 
centres and substitutes for the saloon, that 
they should have lecture rooms, rooms for 
playing various kinds of games, smoking 
rooms, and billiard rooms ; and even public 
baths in the basement were recommended. 
At the present time, in a large and crowded 



city, the need and demand for public library 
facilities is so great that is has seemed best to 
confine the work of these buildings to library 
work proper, but in more scattered communi- 
ties, where sites are not so costly, and meeting- 
rooms less easy to be obtained, some of these 
suggestions are worthy of careful consideration, 
and it might be well to collect the experience 
of the members of the Association bearing on 
this question, and make it a subject for dis- 
cussion at a future meeting. 

As usual, during the past year, there have 
been some public expressions of doubt as to 
the utility or expediency of circulating libra- 
ries. Mr. Howells suggests that we may be 
in danger of reading too much, " reading to 
stupidity." Lord Rosebery also warns us to 
beware lest much reading should destroy inde- 
pendence of thought, referring to the " im- 
mense fens of stagnant literature which can 
produce nothing but intellectual malaria." Of 
course, in some particular cases reading does 
produce bad results. It would, no doubt, be 
better for the public in general, and for their 
own families in particular, if some men and 
some women had never learned to read. " On 
a barren rock weeds do not grow but 
neither does grass." It might also be better 
for the world if some sickly, deformed, degen- 
erate children did not live, and the jail fevers 
of the eighteenth century probably disposed of 
some criminals to the best advantage ; never- 
theless it has been found to be wise economy 
to spend considerable sums of money in les- 
sening the mortality of infants, and of jails, in 
the inspection and regulation of tenement 
houses, and in the compulsory restraint of 
contagious diseases, because the majority of 
the lives thus saved are worth saving, and they 
cannot be saved without preserving some 
others who from the mere utilitarian point of 
view may not be worth the cost. 

The expenditure of public funds upon free 
libraries is in like manner justified by the gen- 
eral belief that it will do more good than harm. 
We cannot yet furnish satisfactory statistical 
evidence as to the results of the free public 
library experiment which we are trying on a 
large scale ; there does not yet seem to be any 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



marked decrease in crime or increase in con- 
tentment among the people who have had 
most use of such libraries, and, while the 
physical welfare of the great mass of the people 
has been advanced during the last fifty years, 
it would be difficult to trace this to the .free 
public library because we do not know what 
use of such libraries has been made by the 
few hundred inventors and captains of indus- 
try to whom this progress is mainly due. 
' It does seem, however, that the free public 
library has lessened the power of the dema- 
gogue and unscrupulous politician to control 
votes, and that in public life the steadily in- 
creasing influence of educated men is, in part, 
due to the reading facilities which the people 
now enjoy. 

When the author of Ecclesiasticus l declared 
that he that holdeth the plow, the carpenter 
and workmaster, the smith also sitting by the 
anvil and considering the iron work, and the 
potter turning the wheel about, all these trust 
to their hands, without them cannot a city be 
inhabited, they shall not be sought for in 
public counsel, they shall not sit on the judge's 
seat, and they shall not be found where para- 
bles are spoken, but they will maintain the 
state of the world, he did not foresee the 
effect of a system of public education including 
free public libraries, in a democratic govern- 
ment. 

As regards Mr. Howells' suggestion about 
" reading to stupidity," that is precisely the 
object of many of the readers of current fiction. 
They are tired and worried, and they read to 
forget or to get asleep. The average novel 
will give this result in from six to ten minutes, 
and the after effects are not nearly so bad as 
those of chloral or sulfonal. The novels of 
five or six years ago will answer this purpose 
just as well, and twelve new novels a year is 
an ample allowance for the average free public 
library. But five-sixths of the other books 
which are produced not because the author 
had anything to say, but because the publisher 
thought that a book on the beauties of brooks, 
or on the birds' nests of the Bronx, or on the 
homes of historical stepmothers or on the 
1 Ecclesiasticus, xxxviii, 25-34. 



lieutenant colonels of the Revolution, would 
sell well are usually of little more value in the 
free public library than the novel ; they count 
for circulation, but they are not read, but 
merely glanced over mainly for the pictures. 

At the present time public opinion in this 
country tolerates expressions of great differ- 
ences of opinion with regard to religion and 
particular creeds. Recently a few Catholics 
have made objections to the free public library, 
upon much the same grounds as those upon 
which the Church objects to public schools, 
and demand that in both the school and the 
library the books provided shall be subject, 
directly or indirectly, to their censorship. 
Somewhat similar demands, although not so 
definite and systematic, are occasionally made 
in behalf of other sects, and they would no 
doubt come from a number of other religious 
and political organizations if it was supposed 
that there was any chance of their success. 
The question will usually be decided for each 
locality by political party requirements, which 
vary much at short intervals, and there is no 
immediate danger to the free public library 
system from this particular form of opposition, 
except possibly for a short time in some 
limited locality. It is necessary to bear in 
mind, however, that public opinion is much less 
tolerant in matters of morals and manners 
than it is in matters of religion, and that in 
selecting books for circulation this opinion 
should be considered and respected. 

The librarian of the free public library has, 
as a citizen, the same rights and duties as any 
other citizen, including the right to express 
his opinions on religious or political questions, 
but as a general rule, his influence for good 
will be greatest when he is not a partisan 
of any particular policy of either church or 
state. 

As regards the large reference libraries, the 
selection of books must be made much broader 
in scope, for even the most ardent propo- 
gandist of a particular creed or shade of 
opinion occasionally wants to see what his 
opponents are saying in order that he may 
specify their errors, and does not object to 
find their publications in the reference library, 



BILLINGS. 



provided they are carefully put away for the 
use of experts like himself and are not placed 
on open shelves consulted by the general 
public. 

The duties and problems of our great refer- 
ence libraries are in many respects peculiar, 
but the limits of this address permit of only a 
brief reference to some of them. One of their 
duties is to preserve the literature of the day 
for the use of future scholars and students. 
Part of the business of the circulating library 
is to have its books worn out and destroyed in 
actual service, but the reference library has 
also another purpose, and the books which 
give it the greatest value and importance 
should be carefully preserved. 

The relations which should exist between 
our great reference libraries located in large 
cities and the rapidly multiplying smaller 
libraries scattered all over the country merit 
careful consideration. The amount of public 
funds which can and should be devoted to 
public libraries is limited, and these funds 
should not be employed in doing compara- 
tively unnecessary work. Many of the smaller 
libraries are now, or soon will be, complaining 
of want of shelf room, and are at the same 
time accepting and trying to preserve and 
catalogue everything that comes to them. All 
of them are preserving books that will not be 
used by any reader once in five years, and two 
or three copies of which in the large central 
reference libraries will be quite sufficient for 
the needs of the whole country. The remark 
of President Eliot in his last annual report 
that " the increasing rate at which large col- 
lections of books grow suggests strongly that 
some new policy is needed concerning the 
storage of these immense masses of printed 
matter " is very suggestive ; and his idea that 
if the Congressional Library and the great 
reference libraries in a few of our largest cities 
would undertake to store any and all books 
turned over to them and make them accessible 
to scholars in all parts of the country, the 
functions of the other libraries might be con- 
siderably amplified, is no doubt a true one. 

Whether the great reference libraries could 
undertake the work thus indicated would 



depend upon the construction placed on the 
requirement that all books should be made 
accessible to scholars in all parts of the coun- 
try. Whether the other libraries would be 
disposed to accept the suggestion to turn over 
their old books not in immediate use, merely 
because it might seem for the public good so to 
do, is much more doubtful, and the selection 
of the useless books involves some questions 
which would be good topics for discussion in 
the Trustees' Section of this Association. 

It is always possible to show that any book 
or pamphlet, in any edition, might be called 
for by some reader, student, or professor if he 
knew it existed, and the difficulties in select- 
ing books to be discarded are very considera- 
ble. Mrs. Toodles' state of mind about things 
that it might be handy to have in the house is 
one that librarians well understand. It is no 
doubt true that in the great majority of libra- 
ries of one hundred thousand volumes and 
upwards, one-fifth of the books are so little 
used that .it would be wiser to dispose of them 
than to use a fund available for salaries or for 
the purchase of books for providing additional 
room. Just at present, in most communities, 
it seems easier to obtain funds for library 
buildings than it is to get the means to ensure 
good service. 

Closely connected with this is the question 
as to the acceptance of gifts of books, es- 
pecially when made with the condition that 
they are to be kept together to form a per- 
manent memorial for the donor. While each 
case must be decided on its individual merits, 
it may be said in general that the desire for a 
memorial can be fully met by book-plates and 
catalogues without the unfortunate and unwise 
requirement that a certain group of books must 
always be kept together. Even gifts without 
restrictions, consisting of one or more cart- 
loads of miscellaneous public documents, odd 
numbers of periodicals, imperfect files of news- 
papers, pamphlets of little interest, etc., in- 
volve some expense to the library, and very 
few libraries should try to retain and utilize 
more than a small part of such material. 

General discussion as to what large reference 
libraries should do is of very little practical 



8 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



interest. The interesting question is, " What 
should this particular library do ? " 

Should the Library of Congress obtain and 
preserve complete files of every newspaper 
published in North and South America? 

Should the Boston Public Library try to 
obtain complete sets of the public documents 
of the Southern States ? 

Should the New York Public Library com- 
plete its collection of first editions of American 
authors by purchase at current prices? 

Should the New York State Library try to 
make a complete collection in Genealogy? 

Should the Chicago libraries attempt to 
make a complete collection of the reports of 
Insane Asylums? 

There are many questions like these which 
require a knowledge not only of the present 
contents, the available funds, and the special 
needs of each library, but also a knowledge 
of what other libraries are doing, if proper 
answers are to be given. 

The methods of co-operation between the 
great reference libraries, for the public good 
and for mutual benefit, are as yet rather local 
and rudimentary. Some points of agreement 
have been reached between the Congressional 
Library, the Boston Public Library, and the 
New York Public Library, asj to the purchase 
of certain manuscripts and rare books ; and in 
every large city there is more or less co-opera- 
tion between the greater reference libraries, 
including the University library, as to pur- 
chases, especially of periodicals. The chief 
subject thus far considered by them is that of 
Bibliography. 

Many schemes for bibliographies, general, 
special, annotated, etc. , have been suggested, 
and a few have been or are being tried. Each 
of these, from the universal bibliography to 
contain thirty millions of titles, to the bibli- 
ography of posters or of Podunk imprints, or 
of poems and essays condemned by their 
authors, has at least one admirer and advocate 
in the person who would like to have charge 
of the making of it ; but when it comes to the 
question as to what has a commercial value 
there is great unanimity in the opinion that 
many of those bibliographies should be paid for, 



not by the makers or the users, but by govern- 
ment or by some philanthropic individual. 

A bibliography is very instructive and useful 
to the person who makes it, and it is well to 
give the person having a taste for such work as 
ample facilities as possible ; but mere uncritical 
lists of all the books and journal articles re- 
lating to a given subject, from the commence- 
ment of printing to the present time, and with- 
out indication as to where the older ones are 
to be found, are of little use to most libraries 
or to their readers. Like some speakers, they 
are too much for the occasion. 

A good bibliography can. in most cases, 
only be made from the books themselves ; the 
labor of its preparation is almost equal to that 
of writing a critical history of the subject, and 
therefore the first question in considering it is, 
Where are the books? 

One session of this meeting is to be devoted 
to this subject of Bibliography, which is an 
important one, and I hope that the papers pre- 
sented, and the discussion to follow, will bring 
out some valuable suggestions. These will be 
especially interesting just now in view of the 
fact that a Bibliographical Department has 
been proposed as one of the special lines of 
work for the recently organized Carnegie Insti- 
tution, and upon the scope and plan proposed 
for such a department will no doubt depend 
the action of the trustees of that corpora- 
tion. 

A considerable part of the bibliographies 
which would be most useful for reference libra- 
ries and those engaged in research work can 
only be prepared by experts in the different 
arts and sciences, and there is an increasing 
demand for such experts in the large reference 
libraries. Just now there are places for three 
or four well educated engineers who have the 
taste and the training required to enable them 
to do much needed work in the critical bibli- 
ography of their art. Every great reference 
library needs half a dozen such experts in 
different departments. Where are they? 

In considering the questions as to the kinds 
of bibliographical work the results of which 
would be most useful to the great majority of 
the public libraries of this country and as to 



BILLINGS. 



the means of doing such work, it appears to 
me that it is best that it should be done under 
the direction of the Publishing Board of this 
Association, which has had practical experi- 
ence in this line, and will always be well in- 
formed as to the needs of such libraries. 

This opinion was brought to the attention 
of Mr. Carnegie, with the suggestion that he 
should give to the American Library Associa- 
tion a special fund, the income of which should 
be applied to the preparation and publication 
of such reading lists, indexes, and other bib- 
liographical and library aids as would be spe- 
cially useful in the circulating libraries of this 
country. The main part of the income would 
be expended in employing competent persons 
to prepare the lists, indexes, etc., and to read 
proofs. The cost of paper and printing would 
be met by sales to the libraries. It was rep- 
resented that such a gift would be wisely ad- 
ministered by the Publishing Board of the 
Association, and that the results would be of 
great value in promoting the circulation of 
the best books. 

In response to this suggestion a check for 
$100,000 was sent to me as " a donation for 
the preparation and publication of reading lists, 
indexes, and other bibliographical and literary 
aids as per (your) letter of March I4th." I 
shall take great pleasure in turning over this 
money if the Association accepts it for the 
purposes and under the conditions stated. It 
is a unique gift from a unique man, who de- 
serves our best thanks. 

To diminish or destroy desires in the indi- 
vidual man is the object of one form of Orien- 
tal philosophy and of several forms of religion, 
the result hoped for being the doing away with 
anxiety, discontent, and fear, and the passive 
acceptance of what is and of what is to come. 

Our work follows an opposite plan ; the 
library aims to stimulate and increase desire 
as well as to satisfy it, and the general ten- 
dency of the free circulating library, as of 
public education, is to increase discontent 
rather than to diminish it. A competent libra- 
rian will be dissatisfied during most of his 
working hours, he will want more books, or 
more readers, or more room, or a better loca- 



tion, or more assistants, or means to pay better 
salaries, or all these things together. Some 
readers also will usually be dissatisfied with the 
library because of its deficiencies in books, or 
because of some books which it has, or because 
the librarian is not sufficiently attentive or is 
too attentive, or because of the hours, or the 
excess or want of heat or ventilation, or 
because of other readers. All this is an 
almost necessary part of the business ; if 
neither the librarian nor the readers are dissat- 
isfied, the library is probably dying, or dead. 
But there is a discontent which is stimulating 
and leads to something, and there is a discon- 
tent which is merely indicative of disease, a 
grumbling discontent, which resembles the 
muscular twitchings which occur in some cases 
of paralysis. A pessimist has been defined as 
a person who, having a choice of two evils, is 
so anxious to be right that he takes both. 
Don't be a pessimist. Life is short and art is 
long ; you can earn your halos without making 
your library perfect, but halos are not to be 
had by waiting for them, nor, as a rule, by 
hunting for them. It will make very little dif- 
ference to you fifty years hence whether you 
got your halo or not, or whether it was a plain 
ring halo or something solid, but it may make 
a great deal of difference to some of the men 
and women of that time, who are now coming 
to your children's reading rooms, as to whether 
you have deserved one or not. Each of you 
and each of your libraries is a thread in the 
warp of the wonderful web now passing through 
the loom of time, but a living thread is not al- 
together dependent on the shuttle of circum- 
stance. It is wise to try to know something 
of the pattern and to guess at some of the 
problems of to-morrow, but in the meantime 
we may not fold our hands and wait because 
we do not see clearly the way we are to go. 
We must do our best to meet the plain de- 
mands of to-day, bearing in mind the warning 
of Ecclesiastes, "He that observeth the wind 
shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds 
shall not reap. ... In the morning sow 
thy seed, and in the evening withhold not 
thine hand, for thou knowest not which shall 
prosper, whether this or that." 



IO 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES. 
BY ANDERSON H. HOPKINS, Assistant Librarian, The John Crerar Library, Chicago, 111, 



I ET me speak to you to-day not merely as 
librarians, but as educators ; as members of 
a great and growing though somewhat form- 
less body devoted to both the conservation 
and the advancement of learning ; as members 
whose duties, while perhaps mainly adminis- 
trative in character, are not without a tutorial 
side. Perhaps it would be better to say edu- 
cationists, rather than educators, if thereby 
the meaning is made more clear. My object 
in thus hailing you is to indicate our view- 
point and enable us to enter upon the theme 
in its broader aspects and with widest sym- 
pathy. 

I believe that no one who has given the 
subject unprejudiced consideration will deny 
that long strides have been taken in educa- 
tional theory and practice within the last few 
decades. As a result of these movements 
demand is made upon us in the name of reason 
that within the memory of men yet young was 
undreamt of. You who sit before me are in 
part responsible for this demand because you 
and your predecessors have helped to create 
it. Therefore it is incumbent upon you that 
you shall help to meet such rational demand 
and satisfy its cravings. These cravings can 
be satisfied so far as university libraries are 
concerned only by certain necessary changes 
in organization, administration, and scope im- 
peratively called for by the new education. 

If in the course of my argument some of the 
things said seem harsh, I beg that you will 
understand that there is neither harshness nor 
animosity in them by any intent of mine. I 
am not now, and have not been for some six 
or seven years past, engaged in university li- 
brary work. For twice as many years, how- 
ever, it has been a favorite study with me and 
the sense of detachment arising from occupa- 
tion in another kind of library work a sense 
amounting almost to aloofness enables me 



to examine the field with a clarity of vision 
that otherwise might be lacking. This sense 
of detachment may have betrayed me into a 
greater freedom of speech than is permissible 
under the circumstances but I hope this is 
not the fact. 

We all admit, with what of cheer we may, 
that there are many things we do not know 
and therefore cannot make positive state- 
ments about, but in the same breath we may 
assert that there are some things we do know 
and are entitled to speak of with conviction. 
It is with this attitude that I have made posi- 
tive statements concerning certain phases of 
the organization and administration of uni- 
versity libraries. If the form in which I have 
couched my message seems dogmatic, let me 
explain it at once by saying that the positive 
form of statement was chosen deliberately after 
having made an examination of the records as 
printed of the College Section of the American 
Library Association. This choice was not 
made through a wish either to be or to seem 
dogmatic, but because in that retrospective 
look my eye was impressed not to say op- 
pressed by the vagueness and formlessness 
of a sea of woulds and shoulds that stretched 
away into the dim distance. I therefore chose 
the positive rather than the conditional form 
of statement as a medium for the expression 
of the ideas and opinions which I place before 
you and for which I ask your open-minded 
consideration, not merely as librarians, but as 
earnest students of educational matters. 

Tearing down is much easier than building 
up, we are often told. I have therefore sought 
not to destroy, but to transform ; and I trust 
that for every statement which you may re- 
gard as iconoclastic, in what follows, you may 
at least find another which may be regarded 
as having a constructive character. 

Let it be stated at the outset that this dis- 



HOPKINS. 



II 



cussion is confined strictly to the phenomena 
of the American university, or, more exactly, 
that it does not include a consideration of any 
set of university conditions other than those 
actually existent or nascent in the United 
States of America. This device lessens the 
scope of the subject, but even thus abridged it 
is so extensive that nothing more than a sketch 
can be presented within the necessary limits. 

It is not necessary for me to present a defi- 
nition of that indefinite but surely growing 
thing, the American university, and I shall 
not do so. Others have already done that 
very well indeed, and a deal of nonsense has 
been uttered about it beside. But for the 
present purpose the word " university" is used 
to mean an institution of the higher learning 
maintained for the furtherance of education 
and research. It is not intended to enter into 
a discussion of even this definition. It is 
merely a definition, a finger-board, pointing 
out the direction the argument is to take. 

Universities consist essentially of two or- 
ganized bodies with their auxiliary equipments. 
These two bodies may be called, for want of 
better names, the Board of Trust and the 
Faculties. This discussion has to do with 
both of these bodies, because its specific sub- 
ject forms an essential part of each of them, 
and because the relations of the library with 
the Board of Trust ought not to be less firm 
and close than with the Faculties, although 
the ramifications will be wider and more intri- 
cate with the Faculties. I shall try to illus- 
trate this idea later, and ask to have it borne 
in mind with particularity. 

The argument does not require that the 
organization of the Board of Trust be entered 
into at this time, but with the Faculties the 
case is different. 

Because the Faculties have the work of in- 
struction and of research in immediate charge, 
they are often thought of and spoken of as the 
university. At this point it would be con- 
venient to use the term in that narrower sense, 
but for the sake of clearness let it be avoided 
even at the cost of circumlocution. 

That body with its natural auxiliaries, then, 



that body called the Faculties and having in 
immediate charge the work of instruction and 
research, consists of numerous parts the names 
of which are yet more numerous and confusing, 
namely : the college, the school, the library, 
the laboratory, the museum,. the gymnasium, 
the shop, etc. But all these, when considered 
with regard to their essential functions, group 
into classes of departments few in number. 
These are the school, the library, and, pos- 
sibly, the museum. If you ask what has 
become of the others I answer that they are 
each and every one either merely one of these 
last or else a part of one of them. If you find 
it impossible to assent to this view there is 
greater trouble to follow, because the position 
which I prefer to take is that they reduce to 
two, instead of three, and that these two are 
the school and the library. 

It is not held that these are the best names 
for the departments under consideration, nor 
even that they are good names. Indeed, I 
fear that the last is no longer a good name for 
its department and will tell you why without 
much delay. 

I have spoken of the Faculties, considered 
as a body, and their auxiliary equipments. 
Now a school or college is one of these aux- 
iliary equipments of the Faculties considered 
as a body. In turn a laboratory is one of the 
equipments of a school. And, in like manner, 
we may go on through the list until my posi- 
tion is justified, and no difficulty arises until 
the library and the museum are reached. The 
museum is often regarded as a laboratory, but 
there is a difference which may be made clear 
perhaps by considering the dissimilarity of 
their contents. The materials of education 
and research, which may be considered as a 
part of the auxiliary equipment of the Facul- 
ties, falls roughly into two classes according 
as it may or may not be used repeatedly. The 
first of these let us call the " permanent 
material of education " and the second " sup- 
plies." Most of the material of a museum falls 
into the first class, while most of that of the 
laboratory falls into the second class. 

The Faculties, in the course of their develop- 



12 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



merit, need and have accumulated vast stores 
of the permanent material of education. This 
consists of books, maps, charts, manuscripts, 
photographs, lantern slides, drawings, statu- 
ary, paintings, and specimens of sorts innu- 
merable, representing all the kingdoms of this 
world. The whole of this falls into the one 
category which I have called the " permanent 
material of education and research." 

Economic administration calls for classifica- 
tion. Classification is putting like things to- 
gether. It is not a long step to find that the 
museum logically goes to (not with) the library 
rather than with the laboratory. The two 
things, namely, library and museum, cover the 
same field more or less exactly. The- differ- 
ence is more one of form of content than of 
the content itself. The museum contains the 
text and the library its commentary. If the 
museum is to go with instead of to the library, 
then it must be erected into another depart- 
ment co-extensive with the university. But 
this would not be economic administration. 
The museum should go to the library and not 
the library to the museum, because organiza- 
tion in libraries is so much further advanced 
than in museums that the needs of both will 
be best served by this arrangement. But then 
the library must be no longer a mere " book- 
ery," as its present name suggests, and classifi- 
cation is something else than what is com- 
monly called by that name in libraries nowa- 
days. 

This, then, is the ideal to be sought. Coa- 
lesce the library and the museum. Bind them 
together in the closest possible relation. Let 
them be no longer a library and a museum, 
but an entity, a living organism whose two 
parts are as vital to each other as are flesh to 
bone and bone to flesh. But do not mix them. 
A mixture is not an organism. Bone and flesh 
do not mix whjle vitality remains nor do 
they separate while vitality remains. 

This brings us to the consideration of uni- 
versity library organization and the more im- 
mediate subject under discussion. 

In the foregoing introduction, without hav- 
ing said it in words, the university, considered 



in relation to its ultimate work, has been held 
to have two aspects voiced respectively by the 
two bodies comprising it. These two aspects 
are the External or general governmental voiced 
by the Board of Trust, and the Internal or 
immediate administrative voiced by the Facul- 
ties. 

For convenience, in the consideration of the 
university library which is to follow, I shall 
choose to regard it also in these dual aspects 
because I shall hold what I have before im- 
plied, namely, that it is clearly co-extensive 
with the university not merely in the narrower 
sense defined by the Faculties, but in its broad- 
est sense. It touches closely every interest of 
the university in its minutest ramifications - 
otherwise it is not the kind of library now 
under consideration. 

Before going further I would like to have 
understood clearly the force of the term " co- 
extensive " as just applied to the university 
library. Of course I do not mean that it is 
the university, nor that it does, or can do, 
the work of the university, nor that it is 
greater than the university, nor that it is equal 
to the university. But I do mean that it is an 
integral part of the university, without which 
the university cannot exist ; that it is as long 
and as broad though not as deep as the uni- 
versity, and that the university contains no 
other department save itself which has these 
attributes. 

Then the government of the university 
library reproduces in miniature the main feat- 
ures of the government of the university itself. 
This statement may be taken as a basic princi- 
ple. Upon it is built the structure I submit. 

The library has an external and an internal 
administration and each of these has a breadth 
corresponding to its proper functions. 

The external administration falls naturally 
into three groups. These groups form 

I. The directorate. 

II. Faculty representation. 

III. Representation of the Board of Trust. 

The first of these, the directorate, is the ex- 
ternal governing board having actual charge of 
the library and its policies. It properly con- 



HOPKINS. 



sists of three, and three only. These three 
are 

(a.) President of the university. 

(.) President of the Board of Trust. 

(c.) Head of the library. 

This statement is intended to mirror the nor- 
mal state of things and must vary slightly with 
variations in the government of the university. 
To make my meaning more clear it may be 
said that in outlining the typical university I 
took no note of such a body, for instance, as 
the Board of Overseers of Harvard University, 
because it is not essential to the conception of 
the type. In the same way when I state that 
the external governing board of the university 
library consists of the foregoing three officers, 
I have not assumed that the President of the 
university and the President of the Board of 
Trust are one and the same person. Such a 
case, of course, requires a solution, which, 
however, is easily found in the election by the 
Board of Trust of a representative from among 
its members. The essential points are, first, 
that the external directorate of the university 
library shall exist ; second, that it be con- 
structed substantially as indicated ; and third, 
that its purposes will be best conserved if it 
consists of three persons and these the three 
named. 

A conspicuous lack of the element supplied 
by this form of directorate is the prime cause 
of much of the inefficiency generally charge- 
able to the university libraries of this country. 
And if it is not known to you it ought to be 
that there is no other one class of large libra- 
ries in the land that as a class is so generally 
and so hopelessly behind the times as are the 
university and college libraries. One of the 
gravest faults in the organization of university 
libraries is usually found here. It is common 
to see the functions of the directorate usurped 
by a committee from the Faculties. So serious 
and so far-reaching is the effect of this error 
that I am led to urge upon you a statement so 
pungent that it may awaken resentment. Nev- 
ertheless I am convinced that to commit the 
policies of the university library to a committee 
elected from and by the Faculties, or ap- 



pointed from the Faculties, is to start the 
library if not on the downward path then on 
the path to comparative mediocrity. It is es- 
sentially, radically, wrong and cannot be 
righted except by undoing. 

I cannot here enter into a detailed state- 
ment of reasons for the position taken, but be- 
cause this is a point of deep interest to all 
concerned and peculiarly apt at causing heart- 
burnings, I must ask you to permit its discus- 
sion at a length which may, to those not 
concerned, seem disproportionate. 

It is conceivable that the Faculties, or more 
likely the professors, may consider themselves 
aggrieved or even attacked by the assumption 
of such a position, but that attitude is not 
tenable, as it is only the system, if system it 
may be called, that is attacked. The position 
does not argue the moral obliquity of the pro- 
fessor nor of. the Faculties, but it does point 
with significant finger to the fact that the in- 
dividual personal interests of the professor as 
head of his immediate department clash with 
those of the library as a whole, and tend to 
make him not an impartial judge or counsellor. 

There seems to be some peculiar element in 
ordinary professorial duties that militates 
against the administrative faculty and that too 
frequently blunts it or that even totally de- 
stroys it. Now, the head of the university 
library must be first of all an administrator 
this without prejudice to either his breadth or 
depth of scholarship and it is not more than 
fair to him that he should have associated with 
him in the management of his department 
others who are also administrators. 

The accuracy of the statement about the 
administrative faculty among professors is 
easily enough verified in our universities and it 
is not uttered in derogation of a noble body of 
men. I recall an incident that occurred many 
years since which will perhaps be illustrative. 
A student was one day busy in the book-stack 
of the university library when his attention 
was attracted by the curious actions of a pro- 
fessor of the highest standing who was also 
busy in an adjoining aisle between the stacks. 
The professor was upon his knees in the aisle. 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



The light fell gently upon the silvery hair 
crowning his uncovered head. In his hand he 
held a volume and with upturned eyes he 
seemed anxiously searching for the proper 
place in which to put the book which he was 
returning to the shelf after having examined it. 
He carefully put the volume into an opening 
which seemed about the right size, but it did 
not quite fit. So he timidly withdrew the 
book and continued his search on the adjacent 
shelves until he found a hole that the volume 
seemed to fit more exactly and there he left 
it. For thirty-five long years he had trod 
these halls, had studied and had taught, but 
had not yet learned the use of a shelf-mark of 
a simple description. You need not smile 
far less laugh. He was a kindly and a cul- 
tured gentleman ; a refined and scholarly man ; 
and if I should speak his name to you every 
head would bow in assent. For all these 
years with ever-growing respect his voice had 
been heard touching all that classic memory 
holds dear ; his pen had made his name 
revered in language and in art ; and when his 
artistic soul bade his nimble fingers make the 
music that he loved so well the ears of those 
who heard him were delighted and their hearts 
were touched. And when at last the word was 
passed that he was dead more than one man 
who never had the great privilege of sitting 
under his instruction, but to whom his life 
had been, and yet is, an inspiration went in 
heaviness to look upon his dead face and pay 
high tribute. 

With one other brief illustration of a differ- 
ent class I will pass on. It would seem a 
reasonable thing to expect that a university 
library, whose range is the whole field of litera- 
ture, would arrange the apportionment of its 
funds for the purchase of literature in accord- 
ance with the relative productivity of the dif- 
ferent fields of literature. But I am not aware 
of any instance in which this is done when the 
apportionment is controlled by a Faculty com- 
mittee. The professorial chair is the unit 
instead. I am aware that there are makeshifts 
provided to get around the difficulty but 
they are makeshifts ; that is the trouble. It is 



not a makeshift administration that we are 
seeking. 

All this does not mean, however, that there 
should be no library committee of the Facul- 
ties. That would be perhaps quite as great a 
mistake as the other. 

The second of the three groups named above 
is that formed by the library committee of the 
Faculties ; and it should be elected from and 
by the Faculties, except that the active heads 
of such museums or of such departments of 
the university as have museums organically 
related with the library might be ex-officio 
members of the committee. Its duties are 
purely advisory and the number of members 
is not a vital matter ; but the practical neces- 
sity for an active working committee of this 
kind is neither to be overlooked nor minified. 

The third of the three groups is the library 
committee of the Board of Trust. It is 
created by and from within the Board and 
its duties are to provide adequate funds for 
the work and to audit, or direct the auditing, 
of their expenditure. This closes my sketch 
of the external aspect of the library. 

Now is reached that point in my discussion 
where the subject opens out with fan-like 
sweep into infinite detail. As I touch upon 
internal administration, however, let it be 
remembered that I am speaking to past 
masters in the craft and it shall be my aim 
to avoid detail. 

The university library has four chief func- 
tions. These are to collect, to prepare, to 
conserve, and to distribute the permanent 
material of education and research. To these 
four chief functions which have been long 
recognized others may be added that will not 
be conceded to be of first importance. But 
there is one which I would like to see added 
to rank with these and that is the creation or 
production of the permanent material of edu- 
cation and research. Then let us say the 
university library has five chief functions. 
These are to collect, to prepare, to conserve, 
to create, and to distribute the permanent 
material of education and research. You will 
be quick to see that the term "to distribute " 



HOPKINS. 



has taken on a new value. Whereas under 
the old statement it meant little more than to 
circulate books, under the new statement it 
means also to publish them. In other words, 
the university press becomes a part of the 
library. 

Of course this recital of functions is more 
or less immediately suggestive of the lines 
into which the staff organization must fall. 
Aside from the general direction of the whole 
internal working of the library, each of these 
five functions calls for at least one division 
chief; and some of them may be so divided 
or inter-related as to call for more than one. 
For example, ' ' to collect " calls for a chief 
of purchase division, but under this same head 
must be provided also for receipts. With 
receipts, however, shipments may well be 
allied and this belongs not under the function 
"to collect," but instead under that labelled 
" to distribute.'' Considerations of this kind 
are too numerous and too diverse to permit of 
any attempt here to more than indicate them 
by some such instance as that given, but when 
they have all been considered it is found that 
the whole work may be conveniently grouped 
under one head with about eight assistants of 
rank. The organization then takes this form : 

(a) Head of the Department. 

(b) Secretary of the Department (who may 
or may not be Vice Head). 

(c) Chief of Purchase Division. 

(d) Chief of Receipts and Shipments Di- 
vision. 

(e) Chief of Catalogue Division. 
(/") Chief of Inspection Division. 
(g) Chief of Reference Division. 
(h) Chief of Circulation Division, 
(z) Chief of Publication Division. 

This group of division chiefs forms the nat- 
ural advisory body for the Head of the Depart- 
ment so far as the purely internal workings of 
the library are concerned'. It is his cabinet, 
so to speak. Permit me to suggest that it is 
logically the natural and proper body to appor- 
tion the book fund. 

Beyond this it is not my purpose to go. Of 
course it is seen at a glance that at least some 



of these divisions call for subdivision and that 
all call for a number of assistants of lower 
grade. For instance, classification is taken 
care of under (e), Catalogue Division, although 
it might well be erected into a separate divi- 
sion with its own chief, particularly if the 
museum becomes a part of the library and 
classification is thereby raised in the way in- 
dicated at an earlier point in this discussion. 
In like manner binding and repairing are here 
included under (/), Inspection Division, and 
supplies under (c), Purchase Division, but 
these are matters of detail and are not particu- 
larly difficult of treatment if the object is 
the administration of a library merely as a 
" bookery." 

But I wish to speak to you for a moment on 
a wider and a deeper topic the coalescence of 
the library and the museum ; the union of the 
commentary with its text. Let me first enter 
vigorous protest against a false conception of 
the scope and relations of museums, libraries, 
and laboratories, a conception which seems to 
have been gaining ground with university 
presidents and with professors in the depart- 
ments of learning commonly called scientific. 
The term " museum " has been so often applied 
to unworthy collections that it has fallen into 
some disrepute with scientific workers and the 
term ' ' laboratory " has been magnified by them 
to fill not only its own right and proper place, 
but also that of the older and better name for 
the institution. There has been much loose 
talk to the effect that the library is a labora- 
tory. The truth is that it is nothing of the 
sort ; and statements to such effect are based 
upon a misconception. It is true that certain 
laboratory and museum methods may be used 
in the library to great advantage and should 
be used there ; but the truth stops at that 
point. In brief, the laboratory is to the 
museum what the departmental library is to 
the university library. I have elsewhere 
entered more fully into the proper functions of 
the museum and will not here take your time 
for a more elaborate statement. 

We know that the museum in this country 
is now chiefly a show-place, at its best, when 



i6 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



in truth it ought to be the touch-stone of 
vital growth. The difference in development 
between the library and the museum has been 
pointed out with friendly hand by Dr. A. B. 
Meyer, 1 of Dresden, in his recent monograph 
" On the Museums of the Eastern Part of the 
United States of America." Three statements 
in his preface to Part I. struck me with partic- 
ular force in this connection. These are to 
the effect that in the United States libraries 
and museums are not always sharply divided ; 
that, aside from this, libraries are on a higher 
plane of development than are museums ; and 
that, in general, the museum in its essentials 
there stands upon a higher level than the 
European. In his phrase "aside from this" 
it seems to be implied that the library and 
museum should be kept sharply separated. I 
cannot assent to this general proposition, how- 
ever. The vitality desired for the museum 
can be had only by its union with the library 
so that the book and the specimen illustrate 

1 Ueber Museen des Ostens der Vereinigten Staaten von 
Nord Amerika. Reisestudien von A. B. Meyer, Director 
des Konigl. Zoologischen und Anthropologisch-Ethno- 
graphischen Museums zu Dresden. 



each other, so that text and commentary are 
side by side, not merely for the earnest student, 
but even for the casual inquirer. In thus 
vitalizing the museum the library need lose 
none of its vigor. Nor will it if only the 
problem is grasped intelligently and with 
strength. The beginning of the work is 
neither difficult nor complicated and begin- 
nings have been made already sufficient to 
demonstrate the worth of the plan. A care- 
fully arranged set of references between the 
two things, the book and the specimen, paves 
the way and is of untold value ; but before the 
whole work can be done there is one huge 
unsolved problem that must be faced and that 
is classification not merely of books, but of 
things. I will not quarrel with you over classi- 
fication. I am not looking for a perfect 
scheme of classification. The thing to be 
sought is a rational plan whereby the various 
classifications now in use in different sciences 
may be unified or brought into a working rela- 
tion with each other and with book classifica- 
tion. Here is a fruitful field. Who will enter 
it? 



INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



BY JAMES LYMAN WHITNEY, Librarian. 



JUST now the University of Oxford is pre- 
paring to commemorate the three hundredth 
anniversary of the opening of Sir Thomas 
Bodley's Library. 

Beside this ancient institution, American 
libraries may seem but infants, whose career 
is hardly worth commemorating. And yet I 
love to think of the Boston Public Library as 
really dating back to some indefinite, misty 
period of time, of which the exact record has 
not been found. 

For we know that there are vague and puz- 
zling allusions some two hundred and forty 
years ago to a Public Library as existing at 
Boston. One is found in the Prince collection 
deposited in the Boston Public Library, in a 



copy in manuscript of the will of the Reverend 
John Oxenbridge, pastor of the First Church 
in Boston. It is dated " Boston in New-Eng- 
land, the 12 day of the first month 1673-4." 
The will begins, " I John Oxenbridge, a Sorry 
Man less than the least of all the mercies and 
Servants of Christ, am the most weak and 
worthless creature," and, after the disposal of 
much worldly estate silver and many gold 
rings for one so humble and dejected, be- 
queaths " To the publick Library in Boston 
or elsewhere as my Executrix and Overseers 
shall judge best, Augustins works in 6 volumes, 
the Century's in 8 volum's, the Catalogue of 
Oxford Library, Trithemius catalogue of Ec- 
clesiastick writers, also Pareus' works in 2 vol- 



WHITNEY. 



umes, Pineda upon Job in 2 volumes, Euclid's 
Geometry, Willet on Leviticus, Davenant on 
the Colossians." 

In the Boston Athenaeum is a copy of Sam- 
uel Mather's " Testimony from the Scripture 
against Idolatry & Superstition " thought to 
be printed at Cambridge, Mass., by Samuel 
Green in 1670. It bears the manuscript in- 
scription " ffor the publike Library at Boston 

1674." 

Of Robert Keayne, first commander of the 
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, 
every Boston person has heard, and of the Town 
House to which he contributed most liberally. 
By his lengthy will he provided that the pro- 
posed Town House should contain a " conven- 
ient roome for a Library & a gallery or some 
other handsome roome for the Elders to meete 
in and conferr together," and that it receive as 
a beginning " such of my Divinitie bookes and 
Comentaries, and of my written sermon bookes 
or of any others of them as they shall thinke 
profitable and usefull for such a Library (not 
simply for show, but properly for use), they 
being all English, none Lattine or Greeke." 

A rather uninviting foundation for a public 
library, one would say, yet not unlike the be- 
ginnings of other American libraries at the 
time. Of the books given by John Harvard to 
the library at Cambridge, sixty-two per cent, 
consisted of theological books, while of the 
foundation books of Yale College, given by the 
little company of ministers at Branford, nearly 
all were theological works, and, strange to say, 
" there was not a single volume relating to 
classical literature or the sciences." And pub- 
lic libraries of the time were not less gloomy. 
The chief possession of the Town Library of 
Concord, Mass., in 1672, was " The Bookes 
of Marters " which the selectmen were in- 
structed to keep from abusive usage and not 
lend to persons for more than one month at a 
time. Even at a much later date a similar 
state of things existed. Franklin in his Auto- 
biography says, " My father's little library con- 
sisted chiefly of books in polemic divinity, 
most of which I read, and have since often 
regretted that, at a time when I had such a 



thirst for knowledge, more proper books had 
not fallen in my way, since it was now resolved 
I should not be a clergyman." 

From the records of the Selectmen we learn 
that Mr. John Barnard, Junr., was " desired to 
make a Cattalogue of all the books belonging 
to the Town Liberary and to Lodge the Same 
in ye sd Liberary," and later that " haveing at 
the request of the Select men Set the Towns 
Liberary in good order, he is allowed for sd 
Service two of those books of which there are 
in ye sd Liberary two of a Sort." l 

Richard Chiswell, an eminent bookseller of 
London, writing to Increase Mather at Boston, 
Feb. 16, 1676-7, says, "I have sent a few 
books to Mr. Usher without order, which I 
put in to fill up the Cask. You may see them 
at his shop, & I hope may help some of them 
off his hands, by recommending them to your 
publike Library." * 

This Library is elsewhere alluded to as be- 
ing at the East End of the Town House, and 
whatever it may have been .it was probably 
the foundation of that accumulation of ancient 
books whose destruction was mentioned at the 
time of the burning of the Town House in 
I747- 3 

Here we lose all trace of the Boston Public 
Library for a long time to come. May not its 
foundation have been laid again only perhaps 
to be overthrown in the troublous times which 
culminated in the siege of Boston ? 

Elsewhere, as we pass over into the eigh- 
teenth century, the mists seem to clear away and 
numerous libraries are seen. We are told that 
twenty-nine existed at the eve of the Revolu- 
tion, and while none of them answers to a 
public library as we understand it, they may 
fairly be called in some sort such. 4 

A foreigner visiting this country at this time 
presents this roseate view: " In many towns, 
and in every city, they have publick libraries. 

1 nth Report of the Record Commissioners of the City 
of Boston. Record of Boston Selectmen, 1701 to 1715. 

2 Winsor's Memorial History of Boston, i., 501 ; Mass. 
Historical Society Collections, 4th series, viii., 576. 

3 Winsor's Memorial History of Boston; Massachu- 
setts Magazine, vol. 2, p. 467, August, 1791. 

4 Winsor's Memorial History of Boston, iv., 281. 



i8 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Not a tradesman but will find time to read. 
He acquires knowledge imperceptibly. He 
is amused with voyages and travels, and be- 
comes acquainted with the geography, customs, 
and commerce of other countries. He reads 
political disquisitions, and learns the great 
outlines of his rights as a man and as a citi- 
zen. . . ." 5 

From this' time on many libraries were 
established in Boston, by learned societies, 
and by individuals acting together as share- 
holders ; some of them still exist. But for a 
Free Public Library the city was to wait for 
many years. When was its first foundation 
laid? 

As one enters the Copley Square building of 
the Boston Public Library and passes to the 
stairway, he finds, imbedded in the pavement, 
a laurel wreath, encircling the names of those 
who have been regarded as the founders of 
the library. Before this wreath I have seen 
visitors standing perplexed at one name found 
there : Vattemare. 

" Who is this man with the foreign name? " 
was asked. " He seems quite out of place in 
the company of these old Bostonians." 

If curiosity had led these visitors to further 
enquiry, they would not have found help in 
biographical dictionaries and encyclopaedias in 
the great reading room of the library, only the 
brief mention in a German work that Vatte- 
mare was a " Franzb'sischer Bauchredner,'' 
that is, a French ventriloquist. 6 This he was, 
to be sure, but, as we learn from manuscripts 
in the Boston Public Library, in the hand- 
writing of his friend, Miss Eliza Susan Quincy, 
daughter of President Quincy of Harvard Col- 
lege, " in addition to this faculty of producing 
the most diverse voices and tones in every 
direction, and at. every distance, he possessed 
uncommon mimetic talent and could represent 
persons of different sexes, ages, conditions, 

6 Force's American Archives, 5th series, 1776, col. 
1049 : Translation of a letter written by a foreigner on his 
travels, dated Dec. 3, 1776. 

6 Curiously, a brief account of Vattemare is in Apple- 
ton's " Cyclopaedia of American biography," perhaps as 
entitled to American citizenship from his interest in the 
United States. 



and figures with such rapidity of change that 
it appeared like enchantment. This extraor- 
dinary talent, his modesty, and the benevolent 
object of his art everywhere gained him the 
warmest applause, and most nattering testi- 
monials from crowned heads and other distin- 
guished personages." Indeed, he appeared at 
the London theatres in plays in which he took 
all the parts, as may be seen in the play " Ad- 
ventures of a ventriloquist ; or the rogueries 
of Nicholas. . . . Entertainment in three 
parts, as embodied, illustrated and delivered by 
Monsieur Alexandre ... at the Adelphi 
Theatre, Strand. Written and contrived by 
W. T. Moncrieff, London, 1822," with illus- 
trations by Robert Cruikshank of the various 
parts assumed by Vattemare in the play. 

" When Monsieur Alexandre (for this was 
the name by which Vattemare was known) was 
in Scotland in 1824," says a Scotch news- 
paper, ' ' he paid a visit to Abbotsford, where he 
entertained his distinguished host and the 
other visitors with his unrivalled imitations. 
Next morning when he was about to depart, 
Sir Walter Scott felt a good deal embarrassed 
as to the sort of acknowledgment he should 
offer ; but at length, resolving that it would 
probably be most agreeable to the young for- 
eigner to be paid in professional coin, if in 
any, he stepped aside for a few minutes, and 
on returning, presented him with this epi- 
gram : 

'Of yore, in Old England, it was not thought good 
To carry two visages under one hood ; 
What should folks say to you who have faces so plenty 
That from under one hood you last night showed us twenty ? 
Stand forth, arch-deceiver, and tell us in truth 
Are you handsome, or ugly? In age, or in youth? 
Man, woman, or child? Or a dog or a mouse? 
Or are you at once each live thing in the house? 
Each live thing, did I ask, each dead implement too? 
A workshop in your person saw, chisel and screw. 
Above all, are you one individual? I know 
You must be, at the least, Alexandre and Co. 
But I think you're a troop, an assemblage, a mob, 
And that I, as the sheriff 7 must take up the job; 
And instead of rehearsing your wonders in verse, 
Must read you the riot act and bid you disperse. 

' Abbotsford, 23 April, 1824. Walter Scott.' 

' Sir Walter Scott held the office of sheriff of the County 
of Selkirk. 



WHITNEY. 



But all this would not have brought to Vat- 
temare enduring fame or secured him a place 
in our Valhalla. 

In the pursuit of his profession, visiting the 
cities of Europe, and becoming acquainted 
with their treasures of books and works of art, 
he was interested, first of all, as a private col- 
lector, to increase his own stores. Afterwards 
the thought came to him, why might there not 
be between nations an exchange of literary and 
artistic treasures, whereby all might benefit? 

This idea, having gained possession of him, 
never relaxed its hold ; he abandoned his pro- 
fession about the year 1827 and devoted the 
remainder of his life to its realization. Jour- 
neying over two continents, he made his 
persistent appeal, year after year, to govern- 
ments, until, we are told, induced by his 
contagious energy, state after state succumbed 
to his representations, so that by 1853 he had 
brought one hundred and thirty libraries 
within his operations, and between 1847 and 
1851 had brought from France for American 
libraries 30,655 volumes, besides maps, engrav- 
ings, and other objects of interest. 8 

Full of ambition (as expressed in his own 
words) to give the intellectual treasures of the 
cultivated world the same dissemination and 
equalization which commerce had already given 
to its material ones, whose outcome was to be 
' the establishment in every quarter of the 
world of free public libraries and museums 
ever open to the people," he came to America 
at various times between 1839 an ^ 1850. Of 
his visit to Boston an interesting account by 
Josiah Phillips Quincy is to be found in the 
Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical 
Society for November, 1884. 

Through the influence of President Quincy, 
and of his son, later mayor, and others, a 
meeting of the young men of Boston, favoring 
the project of Vattemare, was held on April 
24, 1841. This was followed by a general 
meeting of citizens on May 5. 

The enthusiasm at that time elicited did not 
result in any immediate action beyond the ex- 

8 Winsor's Memorial History of Boston, iv., z86. 



change of gifts of books between the cities of 
Paris and Boston. 

On a visit to America in 1847 Vattemare 
found that the time for action had arrived. 
Mayor Quincy in a letter to the city council 
offered the sum of five thousand dollars for the 
furtherance of the plans of Vattemare through 
the establishment of a Public Library and 
museum, provided that ten thousand dollars be 
contributed by others for this purpose. This 
offer was never met. 

The city council voted to appropriate a 
room in the city hall to receive gifts from the 
city of Paris and other sources and appointed 
a committee to consider the expediency of es- 
tablishing a Public Library. 

In March, 1848, on the petition of the city 
council, the legislature passed the necessary 
act authorizing the establishment of such a 
library. 

You see, then, why it is that within the 
laurel wreath the name of Vattemare is seen. 
If not the founder of the Boston Public" Library 
he was at least the suggestor and the inspirer, 
and, as such, may he not be regarded as a 
pioneer of the free library movement in this 
country? 

As Mr. Winsor has said, " His scheme and 
its production are now mostly forgotten. The 
Public Library of Boston would doubtless have 
come without it ; yet in the agitation which 
Vattemare incited we must look for the earliest 
movements which can be linked connectedly 
with the fruition now enjoyed by so many." 9 

The movement for a Public Library has now 
begun to assume shape, if for a time vaguely. 
For three or four years nothing appears to 
have been done by the city council to carry 
out the provisions of the act of the legislature. 

The facts, however, that petitions were pre- 
sented requesting action and that John P. 
Bigelow, then mayor, offered on August 5, 
1850, one thousand dollars (the first gift of 



9 Additional information in regard to Vattemare may 
be found in a biographical sketch by William E. Foster, 
in volume five oi the " Memorial biographies of the New 
England Historic Genealogical Society," published in 
1894, which sketch refers toother sources of information. 



2O 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



money received for the proposed library) 
show that the scheme had not been forgotten. 

The publication of the will of John Jacob 
Astor, by the provisions of which a princely 
sum of money was bequeathed for a Public 
Library in New York City, created a deep im- 
pression in Boston, and tended to crystallize 
public opinion into definite action. 

First of all, a site for a library was to be 
chosen. Members of the city council advo- 
cated the erection of a building in connection 
with a new city hall. Others favored the 
public garden. A piece of land on Somerset 
street was finally bought, but quickly sold, by 
reason of the opposition raised to a site so 
near the Boston Athenaeum and so far from the 
centre of population, of which the trend was in 
the direction of the South End. Sites on 
Temple place and Boylston street were con- 
sidered. The committee were authorized to 
buy either ; the choice fell on the Boylston 
street lot. 

From time to time the question had arisen 
as to a union between the Boston Athenaeum 
and the Public Library. The heated contro- 
versy which arose revived interest in the 
Athenaeum (at that time thought to be mori- 
bund), and it was decided that each institution 
could occupy its own field, and that there was 
room for both an opinion which in the lapse 
of time has been justified. 

In the meantime additional shipments from 
Vattemare had been received to which citizens 
of Boston, Mr. Edward Everett and others, 
made additions. In a letter accompanying 
Mr. Everett's gift of about one thousand vol- 
umes of the priceless early public documents 
of the United States government, he said, " I 
cannot but think that a Public Library, well 
supplied with books in the various departments 
of art and science, and open at all times for 
consultation and study to the citizens at large, 
is absolutely needed to make our admirable 
system of public education complete ; and to 
continue in some good degree through life that 
happy equality of intellectual privileges, which 
now exists in our schools, but terminates with 
them. And I feel confident that with such 



moderate co-operation as I have indicated, on 
the part of the city, reliance may be safely 
placed upon individuals to do the rest. The 
Public Library would soon become an object 
of pride to the citizens of Boston ; and every 
one would feel it an honor to do something for 
its increase." 

These words were prophetic. On the for- 
mation of the first board of trustees, in 1852, 
Mr. Everett was elected as president. The 
preliminary report, drawn up by him and 
George Ticknor, at the request of the city, 
upon the objects to be attained by the estab- 
lishment of a Public Library and the best 
mode of effecting them, is a document which 
will always remain a classic. 

We think of the Boston Public Library as 
an institution to whose foundation but little 
of romance can be attached. Yet not unlike 
a fairy tale is the story of the Weymouth boy, 
Joshua Bates, who, step by step, found his 
way to the position of one of the great bankers 
of the world. How strange the chance that 
just at this time Boston, the city of the lad's 
first adoption, should seek him out in London 
for his aid in carrying out its financial projects, 
and that a copy of the report just mentioned 
should have fallen into his hands. If all the 
books that have come to the library through 
Mr. Bates's gift of one hundred thousand dol- 
lars and accumulated interest could be placed 
before you they would seem to rival the treas- 
ures of Aladdin's palace. 

The success of the library was now assured. 
How the horizon must have lifted when it was 
seen that it was no local, circulating library that 
was to be, but an institution to which students 
were to come the world over ! 

The reading room and library were opened 
in the building on Mason street, on March 20 
and May 2, 1854. 

Commissioners to erect a building were ap- 
pointed, and plans were invited, of which 
twenty-four were received. The books accu- 
mulated at the city hall were moved to the 
building of the Girls' High and Normal School 
on Mason street. Great interest was shown 
in hastening the opening of the library, the 



WHITNEY. 



21 



girls of the school offering their services as 
volunteers. 

The laying of the corner-stone of the new 
building on Sept. 17, 1855, was made the 
occasion of a public display and procession, 
with addresses by Robert C. Winthrop and 
Mayor J. V. C. Smith, with singing by the 
school children. 

The dedication of the library on Jan. I, 
1858, was an affair of more pomp and circum- 
stance, officers of the United States govern- 
ment, stale and city officials, and representa- 
tives of learned bodies marching under mili- 
tary escort to the library building. The 
addresses by Mr. Winthrop, Mr. Everett, and 
Mayor Alexander H. Rice, were listened to 
by 3,000 spectators. On Sept. 17, 1858, the 
Reading room was opened and on December 
20 the Lower Hall library of some 15,000 vol- 
umes was ready for use, with a printed index 
or catalogue. 

There was no more interested or satisfied 
spectator than Mr. Ticknor who watched 
through the day until evening all that was 
done, without seeing a moment's trouble or 
confusion, and felt sure that this great enter- 
prise was to be a success. 

A red-letter day this must have been in the 
history of Boston. As the great oak door 
swung open, how fortunate they who could 
press in with the happy crowd who had been 
waiting long and impatiently for this event. 
And yet a feeling of disappointment must have 
set in, as, gazing about, they found no spa- 
cious, lofty halls ; only a Delivery room with 
a low ceiling and two reading rooms of limited 
size, and a collection of popular books only, 
such as any town library might begin with. 
This Lower Hall library, as it was called, under 
the charge of Edward Capen, was the only 
collection of books accessible. For the open- 
ing of the main collection in its more splendid 
setting the people were to wait for over two 
years, while the work of preparation went for- 
ward with all diligence. Specialists prepared 
the titles of many thousand volumes, whose 
purchase was entrusted to Mr. Ticknor, who 



spent fifteen months in Europe at his own ex- 
pense for this purpose. 

The books as received were placed in build- 
ings near by, where they could be conven- 
iently handled. 

Public interest in the new library was in- 
tense and the generosity of the citizens knew 
no bounds. 

The late Mr. Edward Edwards, the dis- 
tinguished English' librarian, has attributed 
the great success of the Boston Public Library 
to the " co-operation between corporate func- 
tionaries on the one hand and independent 
citizens on the other," which he says has 
always existed here. In the case of libraries 
in course of formation in his own country he 
said that it would not be safe to place any 
great reliance on the acquisition of books by 
gift. 

The stream of gifts to this library has been 
constant. When the Bates Hall was opened 
for use and its first Index published it con- 
tained over 74,000 volumes, nearly all of 
which were gifts. In 1900 the library re- 
ceived 27,174 volumes, pamphlets, etc., from 
2,450 different givers. These gifts have in- 
cluded the great sums of money given by 
Joshua Bates, Jonathan Phillips, the Bow- 
ditch family, the Scholfields, William C. 
Todd, and others, and the lesser amounts from 
many givers, while private collections of price- 
less value have found their way here. 

To plan the first great Free Public Library 
in this country was a difficult undertaking. 
Nowadays delegations from towns planning 
public libraries visit other libraries far and 
near, while pictures and plans of such institu- 
tions are within reach. The founders of our 
Free Public Library were pioneers and had no 
such models before them. They proceeded 
carefully and tentatively, even at times with 
timidity, fearing lest their desires might seem 
too magnificent for public support and bind 
the city for all time to greater burdens than it 
might be willing to assume. But they found, 
as their successors have found, that public 
opinion has not only sustained but has led the 



22 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



way, and the city government has always 
been proud of its library and most generous. 
That there should have been much difference 
of opinion among the founders as to the con- 
struction of the building might be expected. 
A new party had just then come into power 
Know-Nothings, so-called, who were eager to 
prove that they knew all things which was 
very trying to the old-fashioned Bostonian. 
Even as to what should be the scope and 
function of the new library they were not en- 
tirely agreed, as may be seen in the " Life, 
letters and journals of George Ticknor." 
Most important of all, was it to be a popular 
institution with the free circulation of its 
books, or one mainly for scholars, like other 
libraries then in existence? It must be both 
these was the wise conclusion. 

The office of Superintendent having been 
created by an ordinance of the city, the library 
was most fortunate in securing the services of 
Mr. Charles Coffin Jewett, who had been the 
librarian of Brown University and the Smith- 
sonian Institution, a most skilled bibliographer 
and energetic administrator. A card cata- 
logue having been prepared, the books were 
placed upon the shelves, arranged after the 
Decimal System of Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, one 
of the trustees of the library and afterwards 
mayor of the city of Boston. 

It was called the Decimal System because the 
alcoves were multiples of ten, and each sub- 
divided so as to contain exactly ten ranges of 
shelves, and each range to contain ten shelves, 
making, barring exceptions, one hundred 
shelves to each alcove. 

Whether or not this system was what its 
designer intended it to be, namely, " compre- 
hensive, positive, intelligible, and immutable," 
it was at least cunningly devised and quickly 
mastered. The runner for books on his first 
day's service learned that the entry 2345.7 
meant the twenty-third alcove, the fourth 
range, the fifth shelf, and the seventh book on 
the shelf, and he never fumbled or forgot it. 
When the library was moved to Copley square 
all this fair and immutable fabric came near 
tumbling to pieces, at least all the self-ex- 



planatory part of it, and the strain on the 
memory became great. 

Work was next begun on a printed cata- 
logue for the Upper Hall collection. The two 
volumes published in 1861 and 1866 were 
planned on the dictionary system, author, 
subject, and title being in one alphabet, and 
were called Indexes, as pointing to the card 
catalogue for fuller entries. Mr. Winsor says 
that it was the most advanced specimen of 
library cataloguing which had then been pro- 
duced in America, 10 and, as Agassiz predicted, 
it has had a lasting influence upon the gen- 
eral culture of our community. 

A glance at these catalogues will show that 
the books were for the use of scholars and 
were selected by scholars who were inspired by 
high ideals. 

In 1854, soon after the opening of the Astor 
Library, Dr. Cogswell, the superintendent, 
wrote, 11 " I never want to see a reader who does 
not come for a valuable purpose "... 
and he abhorred all who read ' ' the trashy, as 
Scott, Cooper, Dickens, Punch, and the Illus- 
trated News." 

In our own Index Cooper and Dickens are 
hardly represented at all, or Irving, or for that 
matter, Shelley, or Keats, or even Words- 
worth. They were to be looked for in the col- 
lection in the Lower Hall. Later, when it was 
decided that the Upper Hall collection should 
be a lending library and not one for consulta- 
tion only, it took on a more popular character. 

The whole library was now equipped and 
started upon its course, when, suddenly, Mr. 
Jewett died ; the death of Mr. William E. Jill- 
son, the assistant superintendent, followed a 
little later. Mr. Everett had died some time 
before and Mr. Ticknor had given up active 
duty by reason of advancing age. 

At this critical time, the four pillars of the 
library removed, two men appeared who were to 
influence profoundly its future. One was Mr. 
William Whitwell Greenough, a trustee of the 
library for thirty-two years, for twenty-two of 
which he was the president of the board. Mr. 

10 Winsor's Memorial history, iv., 290. 

11 Life of Joseph Green Cogswell, pp. 264, 265. 



WHITNEY. 



Greenough, bred as a scholar and literary man, 
was later called to be the president of a great 
business corporation. He brought to the ser- 
vice of the library a wide acquaintance with 
books, together with a knowledge of men and 
of affairs. Almost daily for thirty- two years 
he came to the library and gave its affairs his 
closest attention. 

In the year 1867 appeared a report of the 
committee appointed to examine the library, 
which attracted wide attention. Written by 
Justin Winsor, a newly appointed trustee, it 
showed a grasp as of one long trained in the 
service. It was evident that a master librarian 
was at hand. Mr. Winsor was at once put in 
charge of the library and a little later made its 
Superintendent and began an administration 
of great vigor. 

The library building, planned to last through 
the century, already in ten years had outgrown 
its limits. In the specifications of the com- 
missioners there was no mention of working 
rooms ; cataloguers and binders worked in the 
alcoves. Rooms for the business of the li- 
brary had to be provided and much additional 
shelf room. 

The original Act of the General Court of 
Massachusetts in 1851 authorized cities and 
towns to establish and maintain public libra- 
ries with or without branches. In the report 
of the Boston Public Library for 1859 the hope 
is expressed that the central library might in 
time " become the parent of a circle of district 
libraries scattered about the city, each with 
separate resources." 

The first of such branches was opened in 
East Boston in 1870; another in Roxbury 
followed in 1873, m a building erected by the 
Fellowes Athenaeum ; and this movement has 
kept on steadily, until now the library has ten 
branch libraries, with large collections of 
books and 107 reading-rooms, stations, and 
other agencies. 

From the beginning it had been seen that 
so great had become the growth of the library 
that the publication of its general catalogue in 
book form could not be continued. Class 
lists were prepared, and in 1867 a bulletin of 



new accessions was begun, which publication, 
with changes of form, has continued until now. 
In time these catalogues and bulletins had 
become so numerous as to choke all approach 
to the books. 

Mr. Jewett had affirmed as far back as 
1 86 1 that " Nothing short of what a card cat- 
alogue is in plan can ever be regarded as en- 
tirely satisfactory for a great public library." 
This opinion was confirmed as time went on. 
In the year 1871 the foundations were laid of 
a card catalogue, the idea of which was bor- 
rowed from the Library of the University of 
Leyden, and intended to give, under author 
and subject, full entries for all the books in the 
library. 12 

This collection of cards, printed within the 
library building, has gone on increasing day 
by day for thirty years until it now includes 
two general catalogues for the central library, 
with duplicates for each of the special depart- 
mental libraries, and independent catalogues 
for each of the branches. The number of 
cards placed last year in their catalogues was 
265,000. 

The attempt was now made to guide readers 
in the selection and use of books by means of 
annotated catalogues which proved to be most 
helpful. 

Mr. Winsor resigned the office of Superin- 
tendent Oct. i, 1877. Under his management 
the library increased from 144,000 volumes to 
320,000 ; the home and library use of books 
increased from 209,000 to nearly 1,200,000. 

The library was placed in charge of Dr. 
Samuel A. Green, one of the trustees, for a 
year ; the trustees of the library were made a 
corporation in 1878 ; and Mellen Chamberlain 
was chosen the librarian (as the office was now 
called), Oct. i, 1878. 

Judge Chamberlain was especially interested 
in American history, and the development of 
the library during his administration was 
largely in this direction. To this end the 



12 The planning of this catalogue fell largely upon Will- 
iam A. Wheeler, the Assistant Superintendent, a scholar 
of accuracy and wide knowledge, whose death in 1874 
was a severe loss to the library. 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



coming of the Barlow and John A. Lewis 
collections and the Franklin collection of Dr. 
Samuel A. Green contributed. He also de- 
sired a closer co-operation between the library 
and the public schools. His plans, long 
delayed, have been effectively revived re- 
cently. Judge Chamberlain's chief monument, 
however, will be the collection of manuscripts 
which he bequeathed to the library. In his 
time the scholarly side of the library was 
shown by the publication of the catalogues of 
the Ticknor and the Barton libraries. 

The library, during the last two years of the 
occupancy of the Boylston street building, was 
under the charge of Theodore F. Dwight. 

On April 22, 1880, the General Court gave 
to the city of Boston a parcel of land, situated 
on the southerly corner of Dartmouth street 
and Boylston street, for a building for the 
Public Library. 

In 1883 additional land was bought and the 
sum of $450,000 was granted by the city 
council for a building. Plans were invited, of 
which twenty were received, of various degrees 
of merit. One had a tall chimney, like a 
factory, or brewery, with a large room labelled 
' Beer," thus anticipating notions which are 
in the air just now. Another room was for 
" Supernumeraries." Just what this room was 
to be used for did not appear possibly for a 
sort of doctor's waiting-room for applicants for 
positions in the library. On March 30, 1885, 
the city architect was directed to prepare plans 
to submit to the trustees. In these five years 
of waiting there had arisen a growing sense 
that a building of greater dignity and beauty 
was required than could be provided with the 
means at the disposal of the library. In 1887 



an act was passed giving the trustees full 
power in the matter, and Messrs. McKim, 
Mead, and White were chosen to design and 
supervise the construction of the new building, 
for which ample means were supplied by the 
city. 

On the resignation of Mr. Greenough in 
1888, Mr. Samuel A. B. Abbott was chosen 
president of the Board of Trustees. To these 
gentlemen and their associates the city of 
Boston is deeply indebted for the successful 
carrying out of an enterprise of great magni- 
tude and difficulty. 

On Nov. 28, 1888, the corner-stone of the 
new building was laid, with addresses, and a 
poem by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

The special collections, beginning with the 
Allen A. Brown Music Library, were moved 
in the autumn of 1894; on December 14 the 
removal of the main body of books was begun. 
On the 28th of January, 1895, all the books 
belonging to the library were on the shelves of 
the new building. 

It was a sad day when the dear old Boylston 
street library was given up to an " Eden 
Muse," with its exhibitions of wild beasts 
and " Chamber of Horrors." No wonder that 
those who later tore down the building were 
confronted by an immense python, sent there 
by the avenging gods. 

The new library was opened to the public 
without ceremony on March n, 1895. Mr. 
Herbert Putnam was appointed librarian, and 
to him was entrusted the important work of 
reorganization. 

Its history since that time is outlined in the 
annual reports as well as in the new Hand- 
book prepared for this Conference. 



HUNT. 



THE CATALOGUE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF THE CITY OF BOSTON. 
BY E. B. HUNT, Chief Cataloguer, Boston Public Library. 



A REAL catalogue is the opposite of a poet, 
fit non nascitur. It is, I believe, always 
an evolution more or less rapid and successful, 
and I suspect that a slow growth brings about 
a more trustworthy and sturdy result than a 
more rapid and pyrotechnic development. 
The oak grows slowly, but it outlasts many a 
maple. 

The foundations of the catalogue of the 
Boston Public Library were laid broad and 
deep by that excellent librarian Charles C. 
Jewett. There have been times of halting 
and even of retrogression, but they have been 
not for long, and the catalogue has grown 
very largely on lines laid down by Mr. Jewett. 

The first catalogue of our library is a small 
octavo volume published in 1854. It is en- 
titled, " Catalogue of the Public Library of the 
City of Boston," and in the preface it is called 
"A condensed index of the contents of the 
Public Library, giving the title of each book 
only once and having no object but to render 
all the books useful. The whole number 
of volumes in the library somewhat exceeds 
12,000." 

In 1858 was published, in large octavo, the 
Index to the catalogue of a portion of the Pub- 
lic Library arranged in the Lower Hall. This 
Index "contains the titles of about 15,000 
volumes, all placed in the Lower Hall. As a 
popular circulating library, therefore, the col- 
ection now offered to the public contains 
probably three times as many desirable books 
as the one offered four or five years ago." 
Supplements to this catalogue were published 
at short intervals, eight having appeared up to 
1865. 

The Index to the catalogue of books in the 
Upper Hall of the Public Library of the city 
of Boston was published in 1861 ; a fat volume 
of 900 pages, two columns brevier to the page, 
embracing about 55,000 volumes, all in the 
Upper Hall. From this it appears that be- 



tween 1854 and 1860 the collection grew from 
12,000 to 74,000 volumes. 

1866. This year was published the First 
Supplement to the Index of 1861. This 
Index embraces about 34,000 volumes, which 
brings the number of volumes in the library 
in July, 1866, up to about 105,000. 

In the preface to the Index of 1858 the 
trustees state: "It will be observed that the 
catalogue now published is entitled ' An In- 
dex. 1 The larger one, when published, will 
probably offer a title of no higher pretensions. 
The main catalogue ... is much more ample 
and important, and is to be found in manu- 
script, alphabetically arranged on separate 
cards, indicating the contents of the library 
with as much minuteness of detail, both by 
subjects and by authors, as the means at the 
disposition of the trustees have permitted 
them to make it." Then follow these words 
of wisdom : ' Next to the collection of its 
books, the trustees look upon the catalogue 
as the most important part of the library, for 
it is the part by which the whole mass of its 
resources is opened for easy use the key by 
which all its treasures are unlocked to the 
many who . . . are asking for them so 
often and so earnestly. A large library without 
good catalogues has sometimes been compared 
to a Polyphemus without an eye, and more 
frequently to chaos, which it certainly too 
much resembles. This reproach the trustees 
hope to avoid for the Public Library, Which 
they desire, above everything else, to render 
useful." That is the key-note of the Boston 
Public Library. 

Please note the date at which it is said that 
" the main catalogue is to be found in manu- 
script alphabetically arranged on separate 
cards," October, 1858. 

This fact, and the additional fact that Ezra 
Abbot had a card catalogue of subjects in the 
Harvard library equipped with blocks, rods, 



26 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



etc., in 1 86 1, would seem to militate some- 
what against the statement made on current 
note-paper and bill-heads of the Library 
Bureau, a corporation established in 1876, 
that the Bureau is the inventor of the card 
system . 

There is another expression in the trustees' 
preface regarding the main card catalogue, 
namely, that it is more ample and important 
than the printed indexes. The word " ample" 
is a most happy one. Those cards were about 
5i X 6| inches in size, and when it became 
necessary, from length of title or contents, to 
use more than the face of one card, it was 
turned over and the back was utilized. This 
catalogue was not open to the public, but 
could be consulted under the guidance of the 
superintendent or his deputies. It served as 
the basis of all the indexes and lists published 
in book form from 1855 to 1866, when the 
first supplement appeared. As this title indi- 
cates, the intention was to print other supple- 
ments as they should be necessary, say once 
in five years. But the nuisance of so many 
alphabets, and new light on the merits of card 
catalogues for public as well as official use, led 
the trustees to abandon the attempt to keep 
up the main catalogue in book form. Promises 
of a forthcoming supplement appear in the 
annual reports of the Trustees from 1867- 
1872. At the latter date, however, is a 
definite statement that there would be no 
further attempt to print another supplement, 
and that the main catalogue would be on 
cards, printed so far as possible, and accessi- 
ble to all uses of the library. 

These "printed" cards were made by 
pasting titles on cards. The titles were 
printed on long galley strips, about one hun- 
dred titles to the form. Thirty impressions 
were generally taken, and were used for special 
lists, etc., in addition to those which were 
mounted and placed in the Public and Official 
catalogues. Gradually the index and first 
supplement were cut up and mounted on cards 
and placed in the Public catalogue, also the 
Bulletins, which had been published between 
the printing of the first supplement and the 



establishment of the card catalogue, were 
mounted and placed in the Public catalogue. 
These pasted titles from the index and sup- 
plement were never inserted in the Official 
catalogue and now only those which have been 
reprinted are to be found in that catalogue ; 
probably 60 per cent, now appear on printed 
cards in both the Public and Official cata- 
logues. During the year 1875 about 70,000 
cards were added to these two catalogues. 

In the year 1869, Mr. Justin Winsor being 
superintendent, a new departure was made in 
the method of dealing with pamphlets. Mr. 
Winsor's own description of it is as follows : 
" Instead of treating each pamphlet of a 
bound volume separately, as if it were a book 
by itself, the volume has been treated as a 
whole, the entry being made under the author 
or subject, just as one or the other was the 
bond of union between the pamphlets, with 
full cross references from a table of contents. 
The gain in compactness more and more 
necessary as our library increases was 
thought to warrant a departure from the prin- 
ciples so well laid down by my predecessor 
[Mr. Jewett] in his manual on catalogue 
work." 

This is what is called in poetry the Lumping 
system ; and with all respect to Mr. Winsor 
and the many good things he did for our 
library and others, it is a system of which the 
" craft and subtilty of the Devil" might well 
be proud. Certainly the mind of man could 
not, unaided by infernal powers, devise a 
worse. Of course it knocked the alphabet 
under both author and subject galley west. 
Then in his rage for historical pamphlet-vol- 
umes the same pamphlet was used over and 
over again. For instance, a volume on the 
history of Charlestown must needs contain 
Webster's Oration at the Bunker Hill Monu- 
ment, so must a volume of Boston history, 
also, Bunker Hill Battle ; Siege of Boston ; 
Bunker Hill Monument Association ; Webster 
himself; Orations, Collected; New England, 
History, Revolution ; United States History, 
Revolution; Concord, Battle of; Lexington, 
Battle of; and soon almost without limit. At 



HUNT. 



all events, we had at one time on the shelves 
and catalogued in one way or another thirty- 
three copies of this oration. Mr. Winsor for 
years poured these pamphlet volumes on to the 
shelves, and the " compact " cards for them 
into the catalogue. At length, about twenty 
years ago, largely through the efforts of Mr. 
Whitney and Mr. Swift, this sort of so-called 
cataloging was stopped and we have been try- 
ing to do over what is worth preserving of this 
mass of stuff, and get rid of the burdensome 
duplicates and purge the catalogues of the 
pamphlet- volume cards. It has been a wofully 
expensive piece of work, and the end is not 
yet. 

To return to the evolution of the catalogue. 
In August, 1876, a change was made, "by 
which it was calculated that half the cost and 
half the delay would be saved. The titles were 
written with prepared ink, 20 to a sheet, and 
by a new process the autograph was trans- 
ferred upon either a lithographer's stone or a 
gelatine plate, from which impressions were 
taken with ordinary printers' ink upon the nec- 
essary number of sheets of Bristol board. 
These being cut up by a machine were con- 
verted at once without the labor of dissecting 
and pasting sheets into cards ready for the 
catalogue, so far as the main entries were con- 
cerned, and only needing the inscription of the 
cross-reference heading for the others." Dur- 
ing this year, 1876, 71,345 cards were placed 
in the catalogues. 

The use of these process sheets continued 
until 1879. I n that year the printing of cards 
directly on sheets of board was undertaken by 
a printer who furnished his own plant ajid was 
paid so much a title, the library furnishing the 
stock. This was the beginning of our present 
style of cards. There have been many changes 
as to faces of type, measure of the lines, etc., 
but no radical change. In the beginning, and 
for many years, the main entry gave no hint of 
the subject headings, but these were added in 
manuscript on the backs of the main or author 
cards. Since 1877 the revision of the cata- 
logue has been going on with greater or less 
regularity and is still progressing. As indica- 



tive of the amount of work which is doing in 
this way, I will remark that in 1899-1900 
there were re-catalogued 13,382 volumes and 
parts of volumes; in 1900-01, 22,583 volumes 
and parts were re-catalogued. The hope is to 
reprint all the pasted and manuscript cards 
and bring the whole catalogue up to the pres- 
ent standard. 

The printing of the cards within the Library 
building has continued since 1879. Shortly 
after our removal to the present building the 
Printing Department was much enlarged. 
Two linotypes were purchased and three 
presses of different sorts, and all the printing 
of the library, including cards, annual lists, 
bulletins, class catalogues, finding lists, 
forms, call-slips, etc., etc., is done within 
the building, The annual report of the 
library, being a city document is, of course, 
published by the city. The output of cards 
has grown steadily since the establishment of 
the Printing Department, and the number filed 
this last year, including Branches, was over 
265,000 ; of this number 232,000 were put in 
the catalogues of the Central Library. The 
Public catalogue, that in Bates Hall, contains 
approximately 1,200,000 cards. Our cards 
run about 70 to the inch, and at that rate there 
are in the Public catalogue 1,428 linear feet, 
or something over a quarter of a mile of cards 
standing on edge. 

It has been found expedient to multiply our 
departmental catalogues. The Fine Arts De- 
partment, the Brown Music Library, and the 
Map Collection has each its own catalogue 
which is duplicated in the Bates Hall catalogue. 
The cards of the other special collections, 
such as the Ticknor, Barton, Bowditch, Prince, 
and others, are filed in one alphabet in cases in 
the Barton-Ticknor room, on the third floor. 
The Statistical Department has its own cata- 
logue. About 60 per cent, of all titles are 
placed in three catalogues, that is, in the 
Public catalogue in Bates Hall, the Official, 
in the Catalogue Department, and in at least 
one of the Special libraries catalogues. The 
total number of cards in all the catalogues can- 
not be less than two and one-half millions. 



28 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Many men have made their impress on the 
catalogue : Mr. Jewett, clarnm et venerabile 
nomen ! Mr. Winsor, Mr. W. A. Wheeler< 
Mr. James M. Hubbard, and most of all since 
Mr. Jewett, Mr. James L. Whitney, our present 
Librarian. 

So much for the growth of the catalogue. 
As for the sort of catalogue it is, I sup- 
pose every one in this audience knows that 
it is a dictionary catalogue. It is built on 
lines of common sense, and utility has always 
overborne consistency in its making. Many 
of us who have worked longest upon it have 
had much opportunity to deal directly with the 
public and to get a good notion of how the 
average man approaches a big catalogue. If 
we can hit the subject heading that the average 
man will look for, we adopt it, and care very 
little whether it is scientifically consistent with 
the rest of our allied subject headings. Of 
course we always mean to make a see refer- 
ence from the logically scientific heading to 
the one which we adopt, if different, and we 
also try to keep all our allied subject-headings 
connected together by full and minute cross- 
references. 

There are many points which, were we 
making the catalogue de novo, we should 
probably change. I think perhaps one of the 
worst of our faults is the geographical arrange- 
ment of subjects, particularly those of a scien- 
tific sort, such as botany or geology. At 
present it is impossible for the specialist to 
find everything we have on such a subject as 
botany, for each monograph on the botany of 
any particular place was for many years 
entered under the name of the place only. 
For the last six or eight years we have tried 
to remedy this defect by putting these titles 
under both the local and general subject- 
headings, and inasmuch as the bulk of this 
sort of writings is in pamphlet form and is on 



pasted or manuscript cards which will sooner 
or later be reprinted, the specialist will be able 
when that is done to find all of our material 
on such subjects in one place. 

We treat every separate publication, whether 
a broadside or a book of a thousand pages, as 
a volumes and we do all the analysis work that 
we can. Collections of monographs by differ- 
ent writers we always analyze, and we try to 
do this work on the publications of academies 
and learned societies all the world over. 
Nothing, I believe, enriches a catalogue so 
much or makes its material so accessible as 
this analysis work. For the last five years we 
have done on the average between five thou- 
sand and six thousand such titles yearly. 

But I do not intend to apologize for the 
catalogue. It was a pioneer in catalogue work 
in this country, and with all its inconsistencies 
and short-comings, of which no one is so con- 
scious as we who have given our lives, or the 
best part of them, to its upbuilding, it is the 
best catalogue, bulk for bulk, in the world 
This is not an official opinion, but is one ex- 
pressed in my hearing within a month by the 
ripest scholar I know, who has used libraries 
and catalogues not only in Europe, but in all 
parts of this country. Mr. Alleyne Ireland, a 
thorough Englishman who is now on a mission 
to the Far East, sent by the University of 
Chicago, expressed in almost the same words 
his admiration of our catalogue. He had been 
using it steadily for nearly a year, when, last 
summer, he returned to England, and while 
in London tried to continue his work at the 
British Museum. He tried it for nearly a 
week, and then, as he told me, he went to a 
high official and said: " My time is too valu- 
able for me to work in this library ; what 
you should do is to take your entire force over 
to the States and learn how to run a library 
and make a catalogue." 



BOSTW1CK. 



PAINS AND PENALTIES IN LIBRARY WORK. 
BY ARTHUR E. BOSTWICK, Chief of the Circtdation Department, New York Public Library. 



1 N somewhat the same way as Irving makes 
Diedrich Knickerbocker begin his history of 
New York with the creation of the world, so 
we may open a discussion of this subject with 
a word on the theory of punishment. We all 
know that neither moral philosophers nor 
penologists are agreed in this matter. Do we 
inflict punishment to satisfy our eternal sense 
of justice* to prevent further wrong-doing on 
the part of the person punished, as an example 
to others, or to reform the delinquent? So far 
as the justicial theory goes, it is unnecessary 
here to discuss whether it is founded merely on 
the old savage feeling of revenge, which hav- 
ing done its part in ensuring punishment to 
the wrong-doer in the uncivilized past, should 
now be put aside. As a matter of fact the 
rule, " Let no guilty man escape," is a very 
good one for practical purposes, whatever its 
theoretical implications. Why should it be 
necessary to proceed according to any one 
theory in administering punishment? Practi- 
cally in the home, at school, and in the court- 
room the simple administration of justice does 
very well for us, and when we go a little farther 
into the matter we see that each of the other 
elements enters into consideration. Certainly 
it is so in the library. 

Penalties for the infraction of our rules 
should be so inflicted that future wrong-doing 
both on the part of the culprit and on that of 
the remainder of the public becomes less likely 
than before. Whether we always do this in 
the most satisfactory way may be queried. 

Punishable acts committed in a library may 
be divided, according to the old ecclesiastical 
classification, into mala prohibita and mala in 
se ; in other words, into acts that are simply 
contrary to library regulations and those that 
are absolutely wrong. To steal a book is 
wrong anywhere and does not become so 
merely because the act is committed in a li- 
brary ; but the retention of a borrowed book for 



fifteen instead of fourteen days is not absolutely 
wrong, but simply contrary to library regula- 
tions. 

The keeping of books overtime is a purely 
library offence, committed against the library 
and to 'be punished by the library; and with 
it may be classed such infractions of the rules 
as failure to charge or discharge a book, loud 
talking or misbehavior below the rank of really 
disorderly conduct, such injury to books as 
does not constitute wilful mutilation, the giv- 
ing of a fictitious name at the application desk, 
etc. 

For all these strictly library offences the 
favorite penalties seem to be two in number 
the exaction of a fine and exclusion from library 
privileges temporary or permanent. The 
former is more used than the latter, and I 
venture to think unjustly so. From the sole 
standpoint of punishment the great advantage 
of a fine is that it touches people in their most 
sensitive point the pocket. But this is a 
ganglion whose sensitiveness is in inverse pro- 
portion to its size ; in one case the exaction of 
a cent means the confiscation of the posses- 
sor's entire fortune ; in another the delinquent 
could part with a hundred dollars without 
depriving himself of a necessity or a pleasure. 
Of course this lack of adaptability to the con- 
ditions of the person to be punished is not 
confined to this one method. Imprisonment, 
for instance, may be the ruin of a life to the 
hitherto respectable person, while to the tramp 
it may simply mean a month's shelter and food. 
But in the case of a money penalty the lack of 
adaptability is particularly noticeable, and hence 
wherever it is exacted a large portion of the 
public comes to forget that it is a penalty at all. 
Instead of a punishment exacted in return for 
the commission of a misdemeanor and in- 
tended to discourage the repetition thereof, it 
is looked upon as payment for the privilege of 
committing the misdemeanor, and it in fact 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



becomes this very thing. Thus, in states 
where there is a prohibitory law, and periodi- 
cal raids are made on saloons with the result- 
ing fines, these fines often become in effect 
license fees, and are so regarded by both 
delinquents and authorities. Where a munici- 
pality provides that automobiles shall not be 
speeded in its streets under penalty of a heavy 
fine, the wealthy owners of motor-carriages too 
often regard this as permission to speed on 
payment of a stated amount, and act accord- 
ingly. So in the library, the fine for keeping 
books overtime is widely regarded as a charge 
for the privilege of keeping the books longer 
than the formal rules allow. Being so re- 
garded, the fine loses a great part of its puni- 
tive effect, and largely becomes in fact what it 
is popularly thought to be. Thus we have a 
free public library granting extra privileges to 
those who can afford to pay for them and with- 
holding the same from those who cannot afford 
to pay an extremely objectional state of 
things. 

In making this characterization I am aware 
that the sale of additional facilities and privi- 
leges by a free library is regarded as proper by 
a large number of librarians, and that the ex- 
tension of systems of which it is a feature is 
widely urged. It is found in the St. Louis 
plan for fiction, which has been so successful, 
and still more in Mr. Dewey's proposed library 
bookstore. That all these plans are admirable 
in many ways may be freely acknowledged. 
In so far as they may be adopted by endowed 
libraries they are certainly unobjectionable. 
But in spite of their advantages, it seems to 
me that their use in an institution supported 
from the public funds is a mistake. The 
direct payment of money to any institution so 
supported, even if such payment is logically 
justifiable, is open to so much misconstruction 
and is so commonly misunderstood or misin- 
terpreted, that I would hold up as an ideal the 
total abolition of all money transactions 
between the individual members of a public 
and institutions supported by that public as a 
whole. 

The present subject evidently does not 



justify further discussion of this point, but its 
mention here is proper because if library fines 
have become in many cases payments for a 
privilege, that very fact should lead those who 
agree with what has been said above to strive 
for their abolition. 

Another objection to the fine, which is, 
curiously enough, also the chief reason why it 
is almost hopeless to look for its abolition, is 
the fact that wherever fines have been applied 
they have become a source of revenue that 
cannot well be neglected. In a village not far 
from New York the receipts from bicycle fines 
at one time nearly paid the running expenses 
of the place. Agitation in favor of substituting 
other methods of punishing the cyclists who 
ride on the sidewalks and fail to light their 
lamps at sundown would evidently be hopeless 
here. In the same way receipts from fines 
have become a very considerable source of in- 
come in large libraries, and are not to be 
neglected even in small ones. This is appar- 
ent in the following table : 

Income. Fines. 

Boston $309,417.52 $4,621.45 

Chicago .... 285,051.22 7,131.19 

Philadelphia 141,954.45 ^1385.53 

Brooklyn 105,081.19 4,013.26 

N. Y. F. C. L 91,613.12 4,648.98 

Buffalo 87,946.85 2,951.21 

Milwaukee . 71,328.80 1,295.09 

San Francisco 64,066.31 2,250.85 

Newark 43,760.36 ' 1,905.17 

Evidently the abolition of fines in these 
cases would mean a reduction of income that 
would make itself felt at once. 

Now, of course, the knowledge that the de- 
tection of wrongdoing is financially profitable 
to the detector results in increased vigilance. 
So far, that is a good thing. But it goes 
farther than this : it makes the authorities 
strict regarding technicalities ; it may even 
lead to the encouragement of infraction of the 
law in order that the penalties may reach a 
larger amount. In the town that is supported 
by bicycle fines we may fairly conclude that no 
resident calls the attention of the unwary cy- 
clist to the warning sign, past which he wheels 
toward the sidewalk. To do so would de- 



BOSTWICK. 



crease the village revenue and raise taxes. So 
too, what librarian would wish to adopt any 
course that will certainly reduce the money at 
his disposal for salaries and books ? 

Supposing, however, that this loss can be 
made up in some way, is there anything that 
can be substituted for the fine ? It has already 
been stated that suspension from library priv- 
ileges is in use as a penalty to a considerable 
extent, and there seems to be no reason why 
this should not be extended to the case of 
overdue books. There might, for instance, be 
a rule that for every day of illegal retention of 
a book the holder should be suspended from 
library privileges for one week. The date of 
expiration of the suspension would be noted 
on the holder's card, and the card would not 
be returned to him before that date. 

This plan would probably have interesting 
results which there is not time to anticipate 
here. But as long as books cost money and 
librarians refuse to work altogether for love, 
financial considerations must play a large part 
in library changes. The only way in which 
fines can be abolished without decreasing in- 
come is to make the abolition a condition of 
an increased appropriation, which, of course, 
could be done by the appropriating body. 
The making of such a condition is extremely 
unlikely. Hence, if we agree that fines are 
undesirable we must regard their abolition as 
an unattainable ideal. We may, however, 
treat them so as to minimize their bad effect, 
and this, I believe, may be done in either or 
both of the following two ways : 

(i) We may emphasize the punitive value 
of the fine and at the same time increase its 
value as a source of revenue by making it 
larger. This would doubtless decrease the 
number of overdue books, and the exact point 
where the increase should stop would be the 
point where this decrease should so balance 
the increase of fines as to make the total re- 
ceipts a maximum ; or, if this maximum should 
greatly exceed the revenue received from fines 
under the old arrangement, then the rate 
could be still farther increased until the total 
receipts fell to the old amount. The practi- 



cal method would be to increase the fines by a 
fraction of a cent per day at intervals of several 
months, comparing the total receipts for each 
interval with that of the corresponding period 
under the old arrangement ; and stopping when 
this sum showed signs of decrease. 

(2) We may give the librarian the option 
of substituting suspension for the fine when- 
ever, in his judgment, this is advisable. This 
is the course pursued by the law when it gives 
to the trial judge the option of fining or im- 
prisoning an offender. In cases where a fine 
is no punishment at all, and where books are 
kept overtime deliberately, suspension from 
library privileges would probably prove salu- 
tary. A variant of the second plan would be 
to allow the culprit himself to substitute sus- 
pension for his fine. This in effect is what 
the offender in the police court does when he 
avows that he has not the money to pay his 
fine and is sent to jail to work it off. At pres- 
ent when a library offender is manifestly una- 
ble to pay his fine there is usually no alternative 
but to remit it or to deny the culprit access to 
the library until it is paid in many cases an 
unreasonably heavy punishment. 

Of course there is no reason why all these 
modifications of existing rules should not be 
made together. According to this plan fines 
would be raised and suspension would be sub- 
stituted in any case at the librarian's option 
and in all cases where the person fined avows 
that he is unable to pay his fine. The rates 
can be so adjusted that under this plan there 
is no decrease of revenue, but rather a net in- 
crease. 

Of course the adoption of such rules would 
be regarded by a large portion of the public as 
a curtailment of privileges, but such an outcry 
as it would probably raise ought not to be ob- 
jectionable as it is a necessary step in the in- 
struction of the users of a library regarding the 
proper function of penalties for infraction of 
its rules. These rules are for the benefit of 
the majority and the good sense of that major- 
ity ought to, and doubtless would, come to the 
rescue of the library authorities on short notice. 

As long as the library fine is a recognized 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



penalty, numerous petty questions will continue 
to arise regarding its collection, registration, 
and use. Any exhaustive treatment of these 
is impossible in the limits of a single paper and 
I have chosen to neglect most of them in order 
to dwell on the question in its larger aspects. 
It is the exaction of the fine, after all, that is 
the library penalty the money is part of the 
library income and its collection and disposi- 
tion are properly questions of finance. One 
point, however, regarding the disposition of 
the fines bears directly on what has been said. 
In municipal public libraries like that of Boston, 
where the city requires that the fines shall be 
turned directly into the public treasury and not 
retained for library use, the substitution of a 
different penalty would presumably involve no 
diminution of income. From ordinary consid- 
erations of equity, however, it seems to me 
that this disposition of the fines is objectiona- 
ble. If the fines are to be turned into the city 
treasury they should be placed to the credit of 
the library appropriation as they are in 
Brooklyn. 

Regarding the collection of fines there are 
one or two points that bear directly on their 
efficiency as a punitive measure. First, shall 
fines be charged ? It seems a hardship to re- 
fuse a well-known member a book because he 
does not happen to have with him the change 
to pay a 15 cent fine. This point of view, 
however, loses sight again of the element of 
punishment. When the delinquent who is 
fined a dollar in the police court does not have 
the money with him, does he request the mag- 
istrate to charge it and send in a bill for the 
month's penalties all at once? The true 
method, I am convinced, is to insist on cash 
payment of fines, and if this is done promptly 
their character as penalties will be more gener- 
ally recognized. 

Another point in regard to the collection 
of fines is their effect on the assistants them- 
selves. In -every library a stream of money 
passes in at the desk in very small amounts. 
This must all be accounted for, and we have 
the alternative of requiring vouchers for every 
cent or of simply keeping a memorandum 



account and seeing that the cash corresponds 
with it at the close of the day. 

This latter plan, in some form, is usually 
adopted. To misappropriate funds under these 
circumstances is not difficult, and I submit that 
it is not right to place a large number of young 
girls in a situation where such misappropriation 
is easy and safe. In spite of Mark Twain, who 
prays that he may be led into temptation early 
and often, that he may get accustomed to it, I 
do not believe that this is a good general policy 
to pursue. We all know of cases where as- 
sistants have fallen into temptation, and we 
should not hold the library altogether blame- 
less in the matter. But on general principles 
such a plan is not good business. Every one 
who is responsible for money collected must 
show vouchers that he turns over every cent 
that has been given to him. Why should the 
library assistant be an exception? I look to 
see some form of cash register on every charg- 
ing desk in the ideal library of the future, nor 
can I see that its use would be a reflection on 
the honesty of the assistants any more than the 
refusal of a bank to cash an improperly en- 
dorsed check is a reflection on the honesty of 
the holder. 

This is on the supposition that we are to 
retain the fine as a penalty. Such considera- 
tions, of course, weigh down the balance still 
more strongly in favor of its abolition. 

I have devoted so much space to the penalty 
for keeping books overtime because the rule 
on this subject is the one that is chiefly broken 
in a free public library. Other offences are 
usually dealt with by suspension, and very 
properly so. For the loss or accidental injury 
of a book, however, a fine is again the penalty, 
and here, as the offence is the causing- of a 
definite money loss to the library, there is 
more reason for it. The money in this case, 
indeed, is to be regarded as damages, and its 
payment is rather restitution than punishment. 
Even here, however, the argument against 
money transactions with a free institution 
seems to hold good. There is no reason in 
the majority of cases why he who loses or 
destroys a book should not give to the library 



BOSTWICK. 



33 



a new copy instead of the price thereof, and 
for minor injury suspension is surely an ade- 
quate penalty. 

Here we may pause for a moment to ask : 
What right has a library to inflict any penalties 
at all ? I must leave the full discussion of this 
question to the lawyers, but I am quite sure 
that libraries, like some other corporations, 
often enact and enforce rules that they have no 
legal right to make. To cite an instance that 
came under my own observation, the Brooklyn 
Public Library's rules were for .more than a 
year, according to good authority, absolutely 
invalid because they had not been enacted by 
the Municipal Assembly, and that library had 
no right to collect a single fine. Yet during 
this time it -did collect fines amounting to 
several thousand dollars, and not a word of 
protest was heard from the public. In this 
and similar cases we are getting down to first 
principles the consent of the governed ; 
which, whether based on ignorance or knowl- 
edge, is what we must rely on in the end for 
the enforcement of law in self-governing com- 
munities. I am afraid that it is this general 
consent, in a good many instances, that is 
enabling us to enforce our regulations, rather 
than any right derived from positive law. To 
take a related instance, it is by no means cer- 
tain that libraries are not breaking the law of 
libel every time they send out an overdue postal 
notice. The courts have held that a dun on a 
postal is libellous, and our overdue cards 
specifically inform the person to whom they 
are addressed that he owes money to the 
library, and threaten him with punishment if 
the debt is not paid. Yet although occa- 
sional delinquents remark that the law is 
violated by these postals, public libraries in 
all parts of the United States continue to 
send them out by thousands daily with few 
protests. This seems clearly a case where 
the public consents to a punitive measure of 
doubtful legality, and approves it for the pub- 
lic good. 

The second of the two classes into which we 
have divided infractions of library rules con- 
sists of those that are also contrary to statute 



law or municipal regulation. How far shall 
these be dealt with purely from the library 
standpoint, and when shall they be turned 
over to the public authorities? If a small boy 
yells at the desk-assistant through door or 
window he is a disturber of the peace ; if he 
throws at her some handy missile, such as a 
vegetable or a tin can, as occasionally happens 
in certain sections of unregenerate New York, 
he is technically committing an assault ; shall 
he be handed over to the police? 

Of course one must not treat trifles too 
seriously. Yet probably libraries have been 
somewhat too timid about dealing with petty 
offences. There is an unwillingness to drag 
the library into the police reports that seems 
to be a relic of the days when all libraries 
were haunts of scholarly seclusion. 

The modern public library cannot afford to 
be considered an ' easy mark " by those who 
wish to indulge in horse play or commit petty 
misdemeanors, and in some cases it is in 
danger of getting this reputation. 

When we come to more serious offences, 
the library's duty is clearer. Theft, wilful 
mutilation of books, or grave disorder must of 
course be punished. In many cases, however, 
the detection of the first two offences is very 
difficult. Theft from open shelves is easy. 
For the thousands of books lost yearly in this 
way hardly a culprit meets punishment. I 
have known a professional detective to confess 
that the open shelf baffled him. " If you will 
only shut the books up," he said, " I can find 
out who takes 'em ; but here everybody is tak- 
ing out books and walking around with them." 
When the professional acknowledges himself 
beaten, what shall the librarian do? Mutila- 
tion is even harder to detect. In both these 
cases the offender has simply to wait his 
opportunity. Sooner or later there will be a 
second or two when no assistant is looking, 
even if the man is under long-standing sus- 
picion, and in that brief time the book is 
slipped into the pocket or the leaf is torn out. 
Even when the offender is caught in the act, 
the magistrate may not hold, or the jury may 
fail to convict. A persistent mutilator of 



34 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



books in one of our branch libraries escaped 
punishment last winter because the custodian 
of the reading-room where he was caught did 
not wait until the leaf on which he was work- 
ing was actually severed. The man asserted 
that the sharp lead pencil that he was using to 
separate the leaf was merely being employed 
to mark a place, and thus by confessing to a 
minor defacement he escaped the penalty of 
the more serious offence. 

For a library that is thus forced to appeal 
continually to the law to protect its assistants, 
its users, and its collections, a manual of 
library law would be useful, and I am not sure 
that the appointment of a committee of this 



Association to take the matter in charge would 
not be eminently justified. 

It is the misfortune of this paper that it has 
been obliged to dwell on the darker side of 
library work. It is hardly necessary to remind 
an audience of librarians that this is not the 
prominent side. All users of a library are not 
delinquents or law-breakers, and the assistants 
have other and better work than to act as fine- 
collectors and detectives. The sombre effect 
of what you have just heard should have been 
dispelled by a paper on " Rewards and delights 
of library work," but this the Program Com- 
mittee has seen fit to omit, probably because 
it is not necessary to emphasize the obvious. 



THE GIFT EXTREMELY RARE. 



BY ISABEL ELY LORD, Librarian of Bryn Maivr College. 



T T is whispered, with what authority I cannot 
myself determine, that the day of textual 
criticism is past, and since librarianship is, we 
are somewhat insistently told, the profession 
of the future, it would hardly be fitting to 
attempt such work in this particular place. 
But fortunately exposition is still possible and 
useful. It is true that we should read great 
literature itself, but equally true that exposi- 
tion of certain specimens of great literature is 
very helpful. Plato, indeed, remains Plato, 
and the source of all philosophy except what 
can be dug up out of Aristotle, and the expo- 
sitor remains only an expositor ; but it is 
equally true that by diligence and devotion the 
latter may be of much more value to the world 
than he could possibly be by any attempt to 
produce original work. Moreover, it is not 
well that all the serious thinking that has been 
done about the world's great philosophies and 
poems should be lost to that world. It is for 
these reasons that the present scribe diffidently 
presents certain researches on what she has 
grown to believe a really great poem. The 
analysis and comments are open to criticism 
and emendation ; they are offered as suggestive 



rather than final. This is, is it not, the true 
spirit of research? 

The poem, then, is one undoubtedly known 
to all this audience, so accustomed to hear 
itself called literary and learned, but with your 
kind tolerance I will repeat it, begging you to 
note it carefully as a whole before it is con- 
sidered in detail. It runs as follows : 

" THE CHA-ME-LE-ON. 

" A use-ful les-son you may con, 
My child, from the Cha-me-le-on. 
He has the gift, ex-treme-ly rare 
In an-i-mals, of sa-voir faire, 
And if the se-cret you would guess 
Of the Cha-me-le-on's suc-cess, 
A-dapt your-self with great-est care 
To your sur-round-ings ev-er-y-where, 
And then, un-less your sex pre-vent, 
Some day you may he Pre-si-dent." 

The author of the poem, I hardly need to 
say, is Mr. Oliver Herford. 

As the substance of the lines is our especial 
subject, I shall not dwell upon the style, except 
to point out how admirable it is. There are 
no flou' ishes, no unnecessary words, no pad- 
ding. It has the simplicity and directness of 
all great poetry. Its theme may perhaps be 
most c!.:arly expressed in the following words : 



LORD. 



35 



// is one of the great laws of nattire that 
adaptability is necessary to achieve true suc- 
cess. Such a bald and unpoetical statement 
is inadequate, but sufficiently clear. To illus- 
trate this vital truth Mr. Herford has turned 
to the animal world, and, like a new Esop, 
has found us an example among the humbler 
creations. It is easily to be seen that no other 
animal in the zoologies and there are a 
great many more there than anywhere else 
could illustrate this point at all convincingly. 
We all see this now, but only the imagination 
of the poet could have soared to seize it first. 
To set forth the theme, the poet takes refuge 
in no artifice. He does not need allusion 
or illusion, but relies only on simplicity and 
sincerity. He gives, too, a noble example, 
shining among the decadent poets of the day 
like the good deed that lights a naughty world, 
when he boldly declares in the first words he 
utters that he has a directly moral aim. There 
is no art for art's sake in question with Mr. 
Herford ; he uses his art to convey great moral 
truths. Thus begin the potent words : 

" A use-ful les-son you may con, 
My child, from the Cha-me-le-on." 

There is no command, no force. You may 
con, if you will. It is possible that some care- 
less readers may have been misled by the 
words "my child" into thinking that the 
poem was not written for adult minds. Dis- 
abuse yourselves of that notion at once, I beg. 
They indicate only the attitude of the moral 
teacher. Thus Socrates might have addressed 
his pupils ; thus Mrs. Eddy addresses those 
who have read all that she has written. 

The moral purpose of the poem, and the 
object from which the lesson is to be drawn, 
being thus clearly placed before the reader, 
the poet continues, with exquisite economy of 
words, to give the reasons for his exhortation. 
He might well have interpolated here a beauti- 
ful description or some far-fetched simile to 
suggest the ideal he holds aloft, but he prefers 
rather to concentrate the mind more and more 
on the great facts he enunciates. To turn 
again for a moment to style, perhaps there is 
no better place than this to point out how 



direct Mr. Hertford's method is. He never 
leaves you guessing. The subject comes when 
and where you expect it, and the verb is never 
far to seek. It is remarkable, also, to note 
that the proportion of words derived from any 
source but the pure fount of Anglo-Saxon is 
singularly small. 

This last fact makes all the more striking 
Mr. Hertford's bold and original use of two 
words of an absolutely foreign tongue, intro- 
duced in the next two lines : 

" He has the gift, ex-treme-ly rare 
In an-i-mals, of sa-voir faire." 

Why has the poet here used two words from 
the French language? The reason is plain, 
after a moment's reflection. French has been 
for centuries, and still is, the one language 
known to the polite societies of the civilized 
nations of the earth. In old-fashioned phrase- 
ology, it is the " polite language." And the 
words he takes from it make up an expression 
that, although it means literally " to know 
how to do," has come to mean, as we all rec- 
ognize, the right outward manner of doing any 
given thing, especially any social act. It is 
said, by the way, that a stupid man could never 
become a saint ; it is certain that a gleam of 
intelligence is required for the cultivation of 
sa-voir faire. But to return. The tremen- 
dous significance of all this grows as we medi- 
tate upon it, and when we read the next four 
lines 

" And if the se-cret you would guess 
Of the Cha-me-le-on's suc-cess, 
A-dapt your-self with great-est care 
To your sur-round-ings ev-er-y-where," 

we find absolute confirmation that the poet is 
talking of manners and only of manners. The 
chameleon does not change his character under 
different circumstances ; he does not become 
a lion when he crawls upon a tawny leaf; he 
only changes the color of his skin an unes- 
sential trifle as regards his mental and moral 
being in order to get into harmony with his 
surroundings. He loses nothing, he gains 
that effectiveness that could never be his while, 
in the colloquial phrase, he "swore at" the 
things about him. 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Now it is well known that a great preacher 
makes every person in a huge congregation 
feel that the sermon was meant for him or her 
particularly. The mediocre preacher gives 
you a comfortable feeling that he is talking 
about the sins and follies of your neighbor, 
but the really great one makes you distinctly 
uncomfortable by holding up the mirror to 
yourself. It cannot be, of course, that the 
great preacher actually has in mind your or 
any one else's peculiarities. It is only that he 
knows the human heart. And so it cannot of 
course be that Mr. Herford intended this poem 
for librarians only, but it is very hard for the 
serious-minded librarian to become convinced 
that it is not especially intended for him or 
her. The poem is founded on a poet's 
knowledge of human nature, but surely the 
human beings that can learn most from it are 
the professional librarians. 

Our highest success in any community, then, 
depends on our manners. That is a very broad 
term. It covers all outward manifestations of 
one's thought and attitude toward the world. 
It means the kind of English we speak, and 
the way we speak it, the way we dress, with 
a large majority of us the way we wear our 
hair, and the way we conform to the social 
laws and customs of the people with whom 
we are thrown. If a man is perfect in all these 
respects, he will not become a good librarian, 
naturally, unless he has intelligence and faith 
in his work and uses them both. But without 
the additional grace of manners, it matters not 
how much faith and intelligence he has, he 
will never do the work that he could otherwise 
he will never, therefore, attain the high- 
est success. And, incidentally, the average 
library trustees judge much more by the out- 
ward and visible signs than by the inward and 
spiritual grace. They see your manners much 
more than they do your brains, and infer much 
about the one from the other. Intelligence 
they expect, manners they delight in. And 
theirs is generally no bad indication of the 
general public judgment. 

Perhaps it is a little stretch to include 
knowledge of one's community under the head 



of manners, but if you are going to adapt your- 
self to it you have to get to know it first. If 
it is your desire to get the right book to the 
right person, knowledge of one is not suffi- 
cient you must know both, otherwise you 
will hardly adapt either properly. It is not an 
uncommon mistake to attempt to accomplish 
something for which the community is not 
ready, and so to waste time and force irrevoc- 
ably. There are some other lines of Mr. 
Herford's, written on the dachshund, that are 
not without their application here : 

" Observe the air 
Of lackadaisical despair! 
I think he finds it does not pay 
To wag a tail so far away." 

There is no more crucial test in this matter 
of manners than the way in which information 
is imparted. There is an attitude of conscious 
superiority that would adapt nobody to any- 
body under any possible circumstances, and 
it is currently reported that librarians adopt this 
manner early and often. Probably the only 
way to avoid this difficulty is the fundamental 
one of acquiring a little humility, and to do 
this it is only necessary to face the facts. It 
is not true that a librarian knows any one 
thing better than every one else or as well as 
some one else. It is a lamentable necessity 
that his knowledge should be superficial. Su- 
perficial means on the surface, and it is obvi- 
ous that one who has to cover such a vast deal 
of ground cannot dig down very far at many 
places. A librarian may know thoroughly 
some one branch of human knowledge, for- 
tunately for the profession there are a few such, 
but of the other thousaads of subjects he 
has only glimpses, and these quite likely from 
the wrong point of view. The fact that he 
knows more than somebody who knows noth- 
ing or very little is not one on which to found 
great hopes of becoming an authority. And 
there is no reason to suppose that a librarian's 
judgment is by virtue of his office better in any 
given direction than any other man's. It was 
a very wise observer of facts and of human 
nature it was the great Dr. Jowett who said : 



LORD. 



37 



" Not one of us is infallible, not even the 
youngest ! " 

I am led suddenly to a side-path here, by 
this word of Dr. Jowett's. We have all heard 
it proclaimed, more or less openly, that this air 
of assumed infallibility is found more frequently 
in those librarians who have received formal 
training those who have had that part of 
library training to be got from books and 
lectures than it is in those who have become 
librarians as the fat old lady played whist, by 
the grace of God. I wonder if this difference 
really exists? It would be an excellent op- 
portunity to suggest the collection of statistics, 
but I heroically refrain. It is, however, evi- 
dent that those who have received the formal 
training need to be doubly careful not to ac- 
quire the manner, and should, indeed, from 
the very advantages they have received, be 
expected to keep clear of it. 

The matter of dress is not one that can be 
dealt with in detail. It might, perhaps, be 
well to point out that however loudly we may 
sing "The man's the man for a 1 that," we are 
naturally drawn, every one of us, to the people 
who are attractively and appropriately clad 
rather than toward those who wear what are 
technically known as "freak" clothes. Dress 
is to one side of one's work exactly what tech- 
nical training is to another neither is an 
end in itself; both are important only to make 
our real work easier to do and more effective 
when done. 

Neither is there need to dwell on the ob- 
servance of social laws. Age brings experi- 
ence. When we are young and madly demo- 
cratic we proclaim some of us that it makes 
no difference whether pie is eaten with a knife, 
a fork, or a spoon ; but when the years have 
brought the philosophic mind we know that 
it does. This is not because of any natural 
law as to the physical, mental, or moral injury 
resulting from an unorthodox method of eating 
pie, but because we know that such non- 
observance shows a serious lack in the person 
concerned, whether lack of observation, lack 



of sense, or lack of courtesy. None of these 
things count because they are intrinsically im- 
portant, but all of them count, and count very 
much, because of what they indicate. They are 
forgiven in those who have proved themselves, 
but all the force of early impressions, a more 
potent force in library work than almost any- 
where else, is lost. 

I cannot bring myself to dwell on the last 
lines of Mr. Herford's poem : 

" And then, un-less your sex pre-vent, 
Some day you may be pre-si-dent." 

They raise such painful questions and prob- 
lems for the great majority of those who are 
engaged in library work. These may indeed 
win all rewards " unless your sex prevent." 

But you will note that Mr. Herford in first 
bringing out his lesson referred to the quality 
of adaptability as " the gift extremely rare." 

" He has the gift, ex-treme-ly rare 
In an-i-mals, of sa-voir faire." 

It is a relief that he confines the rarity to 
animals. Just how far he intends to infer 
that it is rare in librarians I mean in human 
beings the humble commentator cannot 
affirm. But from observation it will be found 
that the gift is a talent given to every one in 
some measure, and hid in a napkin only be- 
cause its great value is not recognized. Any 
one can cultivate the gift. But the only possi- 
ble way to do it is to change the convictions 
or lack of convictions on which its absence 
depends. The gift is not developed in the 
librarian who believes himself or herself in 
some subtle sense, in some indefinable and 
usually invisible way, better than the people 
he or she serves. Only to those who adopt 
the attitude of Christian charity for you will 
note that St. Paul was the first to exhort us, 
through his example, to be all things to all 
men only to these comes in its perfection 
that which gives the power of the chameleon 
to fill with satisfaction to himself and every 
one who sees him his appointed place in the 
universe the gift extremely rare. 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



BRANCH LIBRARIES: PLANNING AND EQUIPMENT. 
BY EDWIN H. ANDERSON, Librarian, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. 



IT will be taken for granted, I think, that in 
planning a branch library building the li- 
brarian and the architect should work together, 
each suppressing for the time being his air 
of omniscience. As Mr. Foster aptly says, 
the librarian and architect should enter into 
a " temporary partnership." Such an associ- 
ation should prove pleasant and profitable 
to both, and secure the best results. The 
floor plan should be the librarian's special 
charge, and this ought to be determined upon, 
in consultation with the architect, before any 
elevations are drawn. The exterior and the 
decoration of the interior should be left to the 
architect. Such, it seems to me, should be 
the conditions, if librarian and architect are 
both thoroughly competent in their separate 
spheres.* 

There are few general principles for planning 
branch libraries which will apply in all cases. 
The size, shape, and slope, if any, of the lot, 
the climate and the character of the soil, the 
population to be served, etc., all have their 
part in determining what the plan shall be. 
I will confine myself to three or four types, 
variations of which will meet the ordinary 
conditions in most of the states of the Union. 
In the warmer climate of the Gulf States a 
different arrangement of windows and doors 
might perhaps be necessary. In some locali- 
ties the water in the soil makes it impractica- 
ble to put the basement even partly under 
ground. 



* For the approved principles of planning and equip- 
ping libraries in general the reader is referred to the files 
of the Library Journal, Public Libraries, and various 
architectural journals, particularly to Mr. Foster's article, 
" Planning a library," Brochure Series, Nov., 1897, Mr. 
Eastman's paper, ' Library buildings," Waukesha Con- 
ference, 1901, Mr. Soule's Paper, "Points of agreement 
among librarians as to library architecture," San Francisco 
Conference, 1891, and to the latter's pamphlet, "Library 
rooms and buildings," recently published as "Library 
tract no. 4," by the Publishing Board of this Associ- 
ation. 



A branch library should be planned, first, 
for the convenience of the public, second, for 
convenience, efficiency, and economy of ad- 
ministration from the point of view of the 
staff, and third, for architectural effect. I 
shall assume that the members of this associ- 
tion are practically agreed that the first two 
conditions are best secured by giving the 
public free access to the shelves. Personally, 
I feel that there can be no question about this 
if, with free access, complete supervision is 
secured. From the standpoint of administra- 
tion, effective supervision from a central desk 
is certainly desirable, if not absolutely neces- 
sary. Where the size of the lot permits it, 
the three essentials of a branch library a 
reading room for adults, a children's room, 
and sufficient shelf capacity should be pro- 
vided on one floor, which should be the first, 
or ground, floor. If you have a lot 75 or 100 
feet square and you need shelf capacity fo r 
only 12,000 to 15,000 volumes, the simplest 
plan which will secure these essentials is a 
plain parallelogram with the long side at the 
front, with the entrance in the middle, and 
the loan desk in the centre of the room, op- 
posite the entrance. Three of the branches 
of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh are of 
this type, varied slightly in two of them by a 
small wing extension at the back of the central 
desk. In this plan the main floor may be 
simply one large room, with reading tables 
and wall cases for adults in one end, with 
tables and wall cases for children in the other 
end, and with rails separating these from the 
loan lobby in the middle. Entrance is through 
the loan lobby and between the central desk 
and the rail at the right, and the exit is be- 
tween the central desk and the rail at the left. 
This is the plan of our West End branch. 
For these rails, however, we propose to sub- 
stitute floor cases about three-and-a-half feet 
high with shelves on the side away from the 



ANDERSON. 



39 



lobby only. The plan of our Mount Wash- 
ington and Hazelwood branches is practically 
the same as that of the West End branch, 
except that glass partitions take the place of 
the railings. The purpose of these glass par- 
titions is to secure greater quiet in the reading 
rooms. 

Another type of floor plan which secures all 
the advantages attained in our West End 
branch, is that of the South Side branch of the 
Cleveland Public Library. This consists, 
briefly, of two parallelograms placed at right 
angles to each other, with the entrance at the 
inner angle, with the central desk opposite the 
entrance, and with rails leading from the en- 
trance to the desk. This plan seems to me 
admirably adapted to a corner lot, where, as 
at Cleveland, you may provide a walk through 
a grass plot at the corner to the entrance at 
the inner angle of the building, with the outer 
end of each parallelogram reaching to one of 
the streets. The effect at Cleveland is very 
pleasing inside and out. 

In the plans mentioned thus far all the 
books are shelved in wooden wall cases, under 
high windows, around the room or rooms. 
There is no waste room because the floor 
spaces are utilized for reading-room purposes. 
Where large shelf capacity is not required, 
there is only one objection to this plan the 
browsing of the readers at the wall cases some- 
times disturbs the readers at the tables, espe- 
cially in the adult reading room. Another 
objection has been urged, that the high win- 
dows give a prison-like effect inside and out. 
But you cannot have your cake and eat it. 
The windows are high to make room for the 
necessary wall cases and provide the best light. 
Moreover, so eminent an authority as Mr. 
Russell Sturgis has intimated that books are 
the most beautiful wall decoration a room can 
have. 

When the population of the district to be 
served by the branch is dense, and more peo- 
ple and more books are to be provided for, 
some other type of floor plan must be used. 
If you have a lot which has a frontage of 90 
to 140 feet and a depth of 75 to 100 feet, I 



should solve the problem by some variation of 
a plan which my friend, Mr. Eastman, calls 
my pet, the plan of our Lawrenceville branch 
in Pittsburgh. This, as you know, is an 
adaptation of the "trefoil" or "butterfly" 
plan that has been so generally adopted of 
late years. The plans of this branch have 
been printed in the Library Journal for Sep- 
tember, 1897, in our own third annual report, 
and in various other places. It will not be nec- 
essary, therefore, to give a detailed description 
of it here. It consists, briefly, of a reading- 
room for adults and a children's room of the 
same size, on either side of the entrance and 
delivery lobby, and back of these a book wing, 
which in this case is semicircular in form, but 
may be polygonal, five-sided, or three-sided. 
The loan desk is built around a central point, 
which is on a line with the partitions between 
the book wing and the reading rooms ; and 
the floor cases in the book wing are on radial 
lines which, when projected, converge at this 
central point. The reading rooms are sep- 
arated from the book wing and the delivery 
lobby by glass partitions and doors. There 
are doors leading from the delivery lobby to 
the reading rooms, but these doors are clossd 
except on Sunday, when only the reading rooms 
are open to the public. Entrance from the 
lobby is through the turnstile at the right of 
the loan desk, thence from the book wing 
through doors near the turnstiles, to the 
reading rooms. Exit is through the turnstile 
at the left of the loan desk. Each of these 
turnstiles works only in the direction indicated. 
This arrangement makes it necessary for 
every one to pass the discharging counter on 
entering, and the charging counter on leaving. 
This floor plan provides large shelf capacity 
in the book room, and secures complete super- 
vision from the central desk of every depart- 
ment on one floor. I know of no other way 
in which such supervision can be combined 
with so large book capacity. Mr. Eastman, 
in his paper on ' ' Library buildings " at the 
Waukesha conference, says: "For public 
access passages between cases should be five 
feet wide. Cases have sometimes been set 



40 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



on radial lines so as to bring all parts under 
supervision from the center. This arrange- 
ment, especially if bounded by a semicircular 
wall, is expensive, wasteful of space, and of 
doubtful value, except in peculiar conditions. 
It is not adapted to further extension of the 
building." Let us examine these statements a 
moment. If we substitute for the semicircular 
book wing at Lawrenceville a parallelogram of 
the same superficial area, with parallel floor 
cases five feet apart, we shall gain something 
in shelf capacity and lose supervision of five- 
sixths of the book room. At the inner ends 
the Lawrenceville floor cases are three and a 
half feet apart, which we find to be ample, and 
eight and a half feet at the outer ends, an 
average of six feet apart. In the wider spaces 
between the outer ends we place small tables 
and chairs, which give the reader an oppor- 
tunity to sit down and "sample" the books 
before he makes his decision, and also pro- 
vide places to put the books he has taken from 
the cases and which we prefer to have the 
assistants return to the shelves. So, you see, 
not one square foot of space is wasted in the 
book wing of our Lawrenceville branch. And 
what practical librarian doubts the value of 
effective supervision of the book room? You 
may think I take an extreme position when I 
say that free access is not entirely successful 
without complete supervision from a central 
loan desk, if economy of administration is to 
be considered. I have had some experience 
with free access to parallel floor cases. Boys 
and girls of from fourteen to twenty years are 
inclined to get behind parallel floor cases and 
talk, laugh, and carry on flirtations, where they 
cannot be seen by the library assistants. The 
book room becomes a sort of rendezvous for 
the young people of the neighborhood, and 
parents soon learn that their sons and daugh- 
ters have a meeting place where there is no 
proper supervision. The idea gets abroad 
that the influence of the library on the young 
people of the community is baleful rather than 
beneficial, and its energies are crippled in a 
hundred ways and its influence weakened. 
The test of a thing is in its use, not in mere 



academic discussion. The radial floor case 
plan has given entire satisfaction in Pitts- 
burgh, both to the public and to those who 
administer the branch libraries. This does 
not mean that we consider it beyond criticism. 
We hope to improve on the Lawrenceville 
plan in a new branch for which tentative plans 
have been drawn. But the general plan will 
remain the same, with larger reading rooms, 
and with two small reference rooms inserted 
between these reading rooms and the book 
room. Experience has taught us that these 
additions are desirable. 

There can be no question that a square book 
room can be built for less money than any 
other form. But should all the advantages of 
another form be sacrificed to save a slight 
additional cost in construction ? It is true, 
also, that the radial floor case plan is not 
adapted to further extension, except upward. 
For what purpose do you want to extend the 
book room of a branch library, if you have a 
shelf capacity of 25,000 or 30,000 volumes ? 
A branch library should not be expected to 
perform the reservoir function of a main 
library. Only live books have a place on the 
shelves. And are not 25,000 or 30,000 live 
books enough for a branch library? 

Under any of the first floors described above, 
a basement eight or nine feet high may be 
placed, in which should be the heating plant, 
a small lecture, or study club, room, and 
storage rooms. Under the semicircular book 
wing it is also possible to put an auditorium, if 
one is needed, with a seating capacity of five 
hundred. 

Thus far I have confined myself, to the dis- 
cussion of types of branch libraries with which 
I am familiar. Naturally, I know best the two 
types we have in Pittsburgh. This must be 
my excuse for talking so much about our own 
branches. There is, however, a very impor- 
tant type with which we have so far had no 
experience in Pittsburgh the type required on 
a narrow city lot between two high buildings. 
Not having had this problem to deal with, I 
feel some timidity about discussing it. What 
strikes me as an admirable solution of such 



ANDERSON. 



a problem will be found in the plans for the 
new Yorkville branch of the New York Public 
Library, which are well described in the 
Library Journal for May of this year. The 
three essentials of a branch library a room 
for an open-shelf lending collection for adults, 
a children's room, and a general reading room 
are here placed on three separate floors, one 
above the other. There are no partitions, each 
floor being simply one large room. This is a 
sort of triplication of the type of branch library 
described in the earlier part of this paper. 

There is little time to discuss equipment, or 
furniture and fixtures. I shall, therefore, note 
briefly only a few of the more important points. 

Where there is a delivery lobby it need not 
be large, if there is free access to the shelves. 
Such a lobby is like the platform of a street 
car or of a political party it is "to get in on, 
not to stand on." 

The delivery desk may be circular, octagonal, 
or square. The octagonal and square present 
better sides for the entrance and exit passages. 
Turnstiles may, or may not, be placed in these 
passages. The desk should have an exterior 
diameter of not less than 15 feet, to provide 
working space on the inside. The counter top 
should have a width of two feet or more. This 
counter should be 40 inches high. Many 
desks are 42 inches high. This does very 
well for men, but is too high for women. 

The shelving in the adult room and the 
children's room may be built to the ordinary 
height, and the two upper shelf spaces in the 
children's room used for a bulletin frieze around 
the room. This imparts symmetry to the ap- 
pearance of the two rooms as seen from a 
central lobby, and provides a useful addition 
to the children's room. 

We have used three heights of tables and 
chairs in our children's rooms, but have come 
to the conclusion that only two are necessary, 
26 and 22 inches for the tables, and i6& and 
14^ inches for the chairs. 

Floor coverings may be of hard wood, cork 
carpet, marble, or interlocking rubber tile. 
Cork carpet is comparatively noiseless, and has 



proved satisfactory in most localities. Owing 
to the dirt in Pittsburgh, however, so much 
water has to be used in cleaning that the 
superintendent of our buildings and our archi- 
tects thought it would be unsightly and unsan- 
itary. Our floor coverings are marble, which 
meets other requirements admirably, but is 
cold and noisy. In our next branch we expect 
to use interlocking rubber tile on the floors of 
the reading rooms. It has all the advantages 
of cork carpet, and in addition, is free from 
leaky seams and is practically indestructible. 
Unfortunately, it is very expensive. 

Where electricity is used the general illumi- 
nation of the rooms should come from lights in 
the ceiling, rather than from chandeliers or 
other pendants, which are unsightly. Table 
lights, as well as those for floor cases, should 
be wired from below. The question has lately 
occurred to me why in our reading rooms we 
are always arranging to have readers sit at 
tables. Would any one think of sitting down 
to read at his own home in the evening, with his 
book resting on the table before him and with 
the light in front, however well shaded? At 
home we sit in armchairs with the light at our 
backs, the table serving merely as a pedestal for 
the lamp. Why not provide similar comfort in . 
library reading rooms? Instead of so many 
reading tables, why not have a few lamp 
standards, or posts, with four-branch fixtures 
at the top, four or five feet from the floor, and 
with half a dozen light armchairs arranged 
round each standard with their backs toward 
the light? 

I cannot close this paper without emphasiz- 
ing the fact that, after all is said and done, the 
most important thing about a branch library is 
the librarian directly in charge of it. No 
mechanical devices or arrangements can take 
the place of the intelligence and enthusiasm of 
a good branch librarian. Next in importance 
to the librarian comes the collection of books 
and periodicals. Of course it is important that 
the workshop be as well planned as possible ; 
but after all the building is a tertiary consider- 
ation. 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



BRANCH LIBRARIES: FUNCTIONS AND RESOURCES. 
BY LANGDON L. WARD, Super-visor of Branches, Boston Public Library. 



DRANCH systems are in the making, in a 
peculiar sense, so that a resume of the 
functions of a branch or of its resources repre- 
sents rather what ought to be, or may be 
proved to be wise in the future, than what ac- 
tually exists in any large library at present. 

There is no generally accepted nomenclature 
for branches and stations, though the whole 
subject was discussed quite fully and clearly at 
the conference of 1898, and it may be assumed 
that all are familiar with the distinctions be- 
tween the different types as they were defined 
then. I am in fair agreement with others if 
I call a branch a subordinate and auxiliary li- 
brary with a considerable fixed collection of 
books, a delivery station an agency of the 
central library without any books for direct 
circulation, a delivery and deposit station an 
agency of the central library with a shifting 
collection of books which are circulated di- 
rectly from the station, but with no permanent 
books, or very few. It would be possible to 
call a deposit and delivery station a branch, 
since it has books upon its shelves, but this 
is not generally done. Still more, such a 
station, with the addition of reference books 
and a very small permanent collection, say 
of 1,000 volumes, may be called a branch, 
and this is done in some libraries. The defi- 
nition given above includes such small branches 
as these, though in certain libraries they would 
be called reading-rooms. 

The delivery station pure and simple has 
been a success in some cities where there is a 
strong central library with no branches. It is, 
however, merely a mechanical agency for dis- 
tributing books to the public. All that is to 
be got in visits to a branch, namely, the stimu- 
lus of the crowd engaged in the same pursuit, 
the sight and handling of other books than the 
one wanted, the use of reference books and 
periodicals, the influence of pictures, the in- 
formation to be gained from the attendants and 



from the bulletins and card catalogues all 
this is lacking. And while the home use of a 
popular library is chiefly fiction and light litera- 
ture, the hall use may be quite a different 
thing. A system of house-to-house delivery is 
essentially of the same nature as the delivery 
station, though of wider scope. Except for 
those confined to their houses, car tickets at 
reduced rates, to the central library or the 
nearest branch, would be far better. I do not 
know if these are yet provided anywhere, 
though I have no doubt they will be in time. 
But a little place must be left for individual 
effort, for people may be pauperized intellectu- 
ally as well as materially. 

If progress is from the homogeneous to the 
heterogeneous, from simple to complex func- 
tions, the correct development would seem to 
be from delivery stations to branches, through 
delivery and deposit stations and reading- 
rooms or small branches. In the Boston 
Public Library there are no simple delivery 
stations, and the shop stations, which have 
both delivery and deposit features, are slowly 
being eliminated in favor of what are called 
service stations, in charge of a library employe. 
The reason is, of course, the more complex 
functions of which the latter type is capable. 
Cost is the drawback to the service station and 
the branch, but the results justify the expense. 
It is the branch only, and generally the one of 
larger type, which is to be specifically con- 
sidered here. For its functions are compre- 
hensive. 

A branch should be a distributing agency 
for the central library. By this means the 
branch resources are supplemented and its 
efficiency increased. It is relieved from carry- 
ing books on its shelves which it would other- 
wise find necessary. In the most effective type 
of system, central and branches are so linked 
together that the same borrowers' card is good 
everywhere and books taken at one point may 



WARD. 



43 



be returned at any other in the system. The 
central library is the clearing house. This 
arrangement is possible only with a daily wagon 
service. But, further, the branch should be 
an advertising agency for the central library, 
making its resources known to the local con- 
stituency. For no branch ought ever to con- 
sider itself a substitute for the main library. 

The branch may very effectively be the agent 
of the central library in carrying out special 
enterprises for which the central corps ot 
assistants is inadequate. For example, in 
Boston the plans of the library for work with 
schools have been carried out very largely 
through the personal labor of the custodians 
of branches and reading-rooms, and the enter- 
prise of taking applications for library cards in 
all the schools of the city could never have 
been accomplished except by using the force of 
branch employees. 

In its more independent functions the branch 
should not only be a reservoir of books, large 
enough to answer the reasonable general de- 
mands of a community, but also in many cases 
a reservoir of books for schools and a distrib- 
uting centre with regard to them. Duplicates 
should be multiplied for this purpose. There 
are over seventy grammar and high schools in 
Boston, and when it was found three years 
ago that the Central Library was not equipped 
for supplying more than a small portion of 
them with deposits of books, the branch col- 
lections were brought into requisition. The 
deeper reason was that the schools were thus 
made better acquainted with their natural cen- 
tre, the branch. The Boston schools are now 
divided among the branches and reading- 
rooms of the city, from two to six schools 
being allotted to each branch. The Central 
Library supplies certain schools, and supple, 
ments and directs in the case of all. If the 
great aim of a branch should be to enlarge its 
constituency, the most effective means is a 
system that will attract and secure the school 
children of its own district. The parochial 
schools are in every essential point public 
schools and should be so treated by librarians. 

But the branch ought also to be in touch 



with every educational institution in its dis- 
trict with social settlements, study clubs, 
and other such enterprises. The churches 
should, of course, be included. Such a close 
relationship is good for the branch and good 
for the institution, and co-operation has been 
found to be a remarkably stimulating word 
when used in this sense. There should be 
compiled a list of the educational institutions 
of the city, arranged according to the districts 
represented by the branches, and each branch 
should be held responsible for new informa- 
tion. 

In fact the branch should be the intellectual 
centre of the district as far as possible. Its 
local character should be emphasized. In one 
branch that I know in a poor quarter, people 
come for advice, to learn the spelling of words, 
to have letters written, to settle the point at 
issue in a bet. A group of old soldiers gathers 
there to read books on the Civil War. A cen- 
tral library is not local or personal, -but with 
the proper attendants the branch is both. 

In the case of the full-grown and unwilling 
man, educational results must be chiefly 
looked for as a by-product of the whole 
library activity. It is, however, of the first 
importance that the branch should make its 
reputation as an advisory agency for that part 
of a community which will accept direction. 
And here tact, persistence, and good nature 
play their part. It is astonishing how an un- 
failing and smiling eagerness to assist will win 
over a community. 

But if a branch system is to be efficient, its 
agencies must cover the ground for which the 
library is responsible. Large branches are 
expensive, and are practicable only at the 
more important centres, but they may be sup- 
plemented by reading-rooms or small branches 
at the lesser centres of business and popula- 
tion, located also with reference to the steam 
and electric railroads and the flow of travel. 
The ideal in a large city is to have these occur 
at intervals of half a mile. People will not go 
so far as a mile or even three-quarters of a 
mile. If their own gratification only were 
concerned, they might be left to suffer, but 



44 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



for the good of the municipality they should 
be provided with library agencies where they 
will use them. 

To perform the functions which have just 
been outlined, a remarkably well-equipped 
corps of assistants is necessary. Now the 
ordinary library, though it may have one or 
two assistants of high grade at each branch, 
cannot usually have more. It has faithful 
grammar or high school graduates. It may 
even have persons with the educational equip- 
ment and ideas of the palaeolithic period of 
library science. Yet with the small body of 
assistants at any branch ordinarily from 
three to five there must be an interchange 
of duties. The second assistant must take 
charge of the branch on certain evenings, the 
repair clerk must on occasion do reference 
work. Since library school graduates, how- 
ever, are not available for positions paying 
from $5 to $7 a week, the only remedy is for 
the library to educate its own assistants not 
in a desultory way in the course of the regular 
work, but by some definite system. This may 
be done by meetings or classes, by encourag- 
ing the study of Mr. Dana's, Mr. Spofford's, 
Mr. Fletcher's, and Miss Plummer's books, by 
circulating library periodicals, or by a system 
of written questions. The latter plan is not 
new in the Boston Public Library. At present 
in its branch department there is being issued 
from time to time a series of examination ques- 
tions designed to cover all the points of library 
science which a branch assistant needs to know. 
Answers are distributed after a little interval, 
for the object is not, primarily, to test ability. 
The questions have the peculiarity of being 
specific, and of dealing with library science as 
applied to the branches of one library. Since 
all branch assistants must be on occasion 
reference librarians, a large part of these 
papers will probably be taken up with ques- 
tions on the books of the branch col- 
lections, so that the assistant will not give 
Kitchin's "History of France" to a person 
who is studying the Revolution of 1848, nor 
recommend Macaulay for the period of the 
Norman Conquest, nor consider Hume an 



equal authority on fact with Mandell Creighton. 
So that she will know what translations of 
Homer the branch has, whether Butcher and 
Lang's Odyssey is in verse or prose, and which 
is the best translation into English of Dante, 
though she may never have read a line of any 
of these books. For it is well known to libra- 
rians that you can train assistants of ordinary 
education to do wonderful things with books, 
so that they may show others what they have 
no real knowledge or appreciation of them- 
selves. Librarians-in-chief often have the 
same faculty of adaptation. These papers 
when collected will form a sort of vade mecum 
or branch assistant's guide, and though the 
method of question and answer is somewhat 
antiquated, it is very orderly and unambiguous. 
The problem remains to be worked out, but it 
is hoped that these papers will materially 
assist in giving employes an enlarged, knowl- 
edge, and especially a certitude of knowledge. 
Of the head of a branch all this is already ex- 
pected, and in addition executive ability and 
initiative. 

With regard to the resources of a branch in 
books, it might at first appear that the greater 
they are the better. But considerations of cost, 
space, and time make it desirable to keep most 
collections within moderate limits. Every 
superfluous book hinders the efficiency of the 
branch. 

What is the proper number of volumes for a 
branch collection? Mr. Putnam considered 
15,000 volumes to be the limit for a branch in 
an important centre, and with a circulation of 
50,000 volumes or more yearly. A new 
branch should have several thousand less to 
begin with. This applies only to branches 
which draw daily from a central library. In 
order to keep this limit, or any limit, if there 
is a plentiful supply of new books, replace- 
ments must be carefully considered and with 
some system, and once every five years or so 
the branch must be weeded out. 

There will not, however, usually be 15,000 
titles in a branch, for from 1,000 to 2,000 vol- 
umes will be duplicates. In a large city a 
reluctance to duplicate is fatal to the usefulness 



WARD. 



45 



of a branch, for continual disappointments 
will alienate the members of its constituency, 
especially the school teachers. The problem 
of the proper proportion of the different classes 
in such a collection has not yet, so far as I 
know, been worked out in any branch libraries 
with a central delivery, with sufficient thorough- 
ness to justify dogmatism. There should be a 
supply of juvenile books adequate to the actual 
use, which is probably from 35 to 40 per cent. 
of the whole use, and half of the juvenile 
books may properly be fiction. There should 
be from 400 to 600 volumes of reference books, 
and these should always include a separate 
children's reference collection. There should 
be several hundred volumes of bound periodi- 
cals primarily for use with Poole's Index. 

Most branches to-day are overstocked with 
fiction ; for in some of them there are from 
three thousand to four thousand titles. But 
the cutting down which is inevitable may 
easily be carried too far. If we are honest 
with ourselves we know that a perfectly nat- 
ural craving for variety leads cultivated as well 
as illiterate people to prefer the mediocre new 
book to the old one of the first rank. And 
those who are familiar with the illiterate class 
know that, as Mr. Cutter says, "there is in 
such people an incapacity of mind which 
makes a book two degrees above them a sealed 
book." Yet this class must be provided for. 
A mediocre novel is not necessarily a silly 
novel. Most things are mediocre; most of us 
are mediocre librarians. And it is a fallacy 
that there is a direct and exclusive connection 
between the best literature and ethics. The 
essential thing for a public library, one of 
whose functions is to furnish recreation, is to 
look for and make use of the wholesome 
novels. One of the most radical instances on 
record of the condemnation of works of the 
imagination is "the pleasant and careful 
search " which the curate and the barber made 
of the library of Don Quixote. Circum- 
stances went far to justify them, it is true, but 
the case will not do for a precedent. 

In the branch collections there will necessa- 
rily be a fixed element and a shifting element, 



the latter representing the current purchases 
which must be made in order to retain the in- 
terest of the public, or books which were for a 
time the best but have been superseded. It 
is not always possible to combine opportune- 
ness and durability, and popular novels and 
books about the Dreyfus case must be had 
though it is certain that the demand will 
cease. But in all shops a portion of the goods 
becomes spoiled or shopworn, or goes out of 
fashion. And experience has proved that the 
superfluous fiction, at least, will find a use if 
it is shifted from one to another of the smaller 
branches and displayed on open shelves. 

In a library where there are several branches 
and the system is highly centralized, the same 
books should be bought for each branch. The 
administrative advantages of this are apparent, 
and while theoretically every district differs 
from every other, practically this is not of 
much importance, with a central library to rely 
upon for special calls. Each branch has one 
or more peculiarities which must now and 
then be taken into account, so that each must 
have a few books in addition to the common 
stock, but these are surprisingly few. Further, 
if you have the same books, you will print the 
same finding list for all, following in principle 
the example of the seven libraries of Hamburg 
quoted by Mr. Winsor in 1876, at Phila- 
delphia, for there is nothing absolutely 
new. 

To the one who chooses or recommends 
books for a branch library comes what may be 
called the a priori temptation, that is, the in- 
clination to use the intuitive method in select- 
ing, and to aim at completeness because of its 
intrinsic propriety. But branch collections 
should be made on empirical principles, and 
completeness should be quite disregarded. 
For nothing produces such disappointing re- 
sults as intuition, and nothing so devours 
money and time and space as completeness. 

It has been often said that there is nothing 
so delightful as to plan reading for other 
people, and the fascination is well illustrated 
in the numerous lists which were made once 
upon a time by noted people by way of sub- 



4 6 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



stitutes for Sir John Lubbock's list of one 
hundred books. The extreme divergence of 
the makers 1 views may be noted by the way. 
It is, however, quite proper that a limited 
number of standard books which are not 
eagerly read should be placed in a branch 
library, for such books impart information by 
their mere presence, and they nourish a high 
ideal. All of the books of the Lubbock list 
are in the branches of the Boston Public 
Library, and nearly all the authors of Mr. 
Foster's standard library are represented. But 
the rule of choice is otherwise. English liter- 
ature is naturally of greater excellence than 
American, nevertheless American authors must 
be multiplied in our branch collections. Books 
on English history will bear a ridiculously 
small proportion there to those on American 
history. In the latter class there need be 
little hesitation in choice. Anything respect- 
able is useful. But the history of certain 
countries and periods will hardly be needed at 
all, because our schools do not study precisely 
these. The demand must rule, and however 
it may be in philosophy, with regard to the 



make-up of branch collections all the libra- 
rian's ideas are derived from experience. 

It is evident that the time is close at hand 
when in this matter the experience of libraries 
will be combined, and as a result of experi- 
ment and report there will be a certain uni- 
formity in the branch libraries all over the 
United States. If librarianship were ever to 
become mechanical, all would be over ; for 
personality and mistakes are far better than 
mechanism and the dead level of accuracy. 
But I do not see that this identical element 
need interfere with individuality. If seventy- 
five per cent, of the titles in branch collec- 
tions at any given time were the same in 
various places, the margin of twenty-five per 
cent, would be sufficient for local and indi- 
vidual need and choice. 

In the Branch Department of the Boston 
Public Library a plan for weighing and esti- 
mating the use-value of all the books in the 
branches has been for a long time among the 
memoranda of "agenda" awaiting the com- 
pletion of other special enterprises. 



BRANCH LIBRARIES: ADMINISTRATION. 
BY FRANK P. HILL, Librarian Brooklyn (TV. Y.) Public Library. 



A T present only a few libraries have branches, 
but the time is not distant when these ac- 
cessories will be required in every city of any 
considerable size. 

A whole session might profitably be devoted 
to the consideration of the organization, equip- 
ment, and administration of branch libraries. 
Instead, the representatives of three libraries 
have been given the task of presenting the sub- 
ject in fifteen-minute papers, consequently it is 
possible to take no more than a cursory view. 

Mr. Anderson has looked at the physical side, 
as it were, and set forth the architectural re- 
quirements of branch buildings. Mr. Ward 
has dwelt particularly upon the functions and 
resources ; and it falls to the lot of the newest 
recruit in this line of work to say something of 
the organization and conduct of a branch 



library system. One of more experience would 
have hesitated before accepting the responsi- 
bility, and the writer's appearance is accounted 
for only by quoting the familiar line of Pope : 
" For fools rush in where angels fear to tread." 
In the early library history of this country a 
library started with one central building, and 
as the demands increased, branches were estab- 
lished as needed, or as suburban towns were 
brought within the city limits the libraries 
established in these towns became a part of the 
system. Boston and Chicago are good ex- 
amples of this growth. Cleveland, Baltimore, 
and Pittsburgh began by having a Central 
Building and developing the branch system 
gradually, neither city having any old library 
to absorb. Without doubt this is the ideal 
way, because there is a centre to work from, 



HILL. 



47 



and because a consistent and cohesive plan can 
be developed. Latterly, Philadelphia, New 
York (the old Free Circulating Library), and 
Brooklyn opened branches in response to 
pressing needs of particular localities, looking 
forward to the time when public sentiment 
would be sufficiently aroused to secure appro- 
priations large enough to provide a Central 
Building. 

If branches are started first, and particularly 
if many at a time, there is likely to be diver- 
gence of opinion among those in charge unless 
a thorough organization has been effected. 
Libraries taken in by absorption are pretty sure 
to have such different methods that the ques- 
tion of how much effort should be made to 
change their schemes of classification and cata- 
loguing is sometimes a difficult one to decide. 

Each library so absorbed has grown up in its 
own way and believes that way the best and 
undoubtedly it was up to the moment of con- 
solidation. It is easier to tear down than to 
build up ; to criticise than to originate ; so we 
must step cautiously and carefully. A safe 
motto for librarians to adopt is contained in the 
words of Hamilton Wright Mabie : " There is 
a genius in knowing what to discard as well as 
what to keep." 

Whether in a single building or scattered as 
branches over the whole city, it is essential 
that the institution be placed upon a sound 
business basis and the work centralized. To 
accomplish this desideratum a library without 
a central building must provide adequate ad- 
ministration quarters with offices under one 
roof for all heads of departments. This ar- 
rangement establishes a centre about which 
the whole system clusters, admits of frequent 
consultation, and forms the natural source of 
information pertaining to any of the branches. 
Here the policy of the library is determined, 
practical co-operation made possible, and that 
centralization and unification which are abso- 
lutely necessary to harmonious and effective 
administration insured. This is the key to the 
situation, but it is sometimes difficult to secure. 
Take the Brooklyn Public Library, for example. 
Some months ago a series of questions was 
sent to the seventeen branch librarians. The 
answers were tabulated and the result was 



so surprising that I will only state that in some 
instances the same kind of work was being 
done in as many ways as there were branches. 
Other libraries have had similar experience ; 
but we are on the up grade now, and all striv- 
ing for that uniformity which will fit in with 
local environments. Of the advantages of 
centralization, I can do no better than quote 
from one of our librarians-in-charge : 

" That such a plan [of centralization] 
frequently involves the sacrifice of individual 
ideas and methods of work is inevitable ; and 
the plea is sometimes urged that the ultimate 
result will be to destroy originality ; so far as 
routine goes this is undoubtedly true, but there 
are many features of library work incident to 
the personal contact with the public, making 
of bulletins, preparation of reading lists, etc., 
that offer an inviting field to every librarian in 
charge as varied and resourceful as the indi- 
vidual personalities themselves. When this 
feeling that we are each an integral part of a 
great library system, as closely linked in pur- 
pose and methods to the administration depart- 
ment and to each other as if all were gathered 
together under a single roof, has superseded 
purely selfish interest in our respective charges, 
then and not till then will the full measure of 
united action be realized. Without such a 
conception of the task before us the best indi- 
vidual effort, no matter how zealously pursued, 
will avail little. This phase of the question 
invites serious reflection on the part of every 
one of us, and a keen sense of our own personal 
responsibility to the trust imposed in us. I 
like to think of the branch not as a limited, in- 
dependent collection of books, more or less 
arbitrarily selected and placed conveniently for 
the public, but rather as a local representative 
of a great system, never a mere substitute for 
it." 

The first requisite for an orderly and syste- 
matic administration of a library is a staff so 
organized as to work effectively in every direc- 
tion. 

A suggested organization is : 

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION. 

Chief Librarian. 

First Assistant Librarian. 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Second Assistant Librarian. 
Librarian's Secretary. 
Chief Clerk. 
Financial Secretary. 

HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS. 

Superintendent of Branches. 
Superintendent of Children's Department. 
Superintendent of Book Order Department. 
Superintendent of Cataloguing Department. 
Superintendent of Traveling Libraries. 
Superintendent of Supplies. 

Under these would follow Librarians-in- 
charge of Branches, Assistants, Apprentices, 
Fine collectors, Messengers, and Janitors. 

A word as to the several divisions recom- 
mended. The heads of departments should 
be selected for their special fitness for the work 
required and paid accordingly. Of the duties 
of Librarian and Assistant Librarians and Sec- 
retary it is unnecessary to speak, but it may be 
helpful to indicate briefly those attached to 
some of the other positions. 

The duties of the chief clerk and financial 
secretary are chiefly of a clerical nature. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF BRANCHES. 

Among the supervisors the Superintendent of 
Branches is mentioned first, because under the 
chief librarian the one occupying this position 
must keep in touch with the needs and person- 
nel of the several branches. As one has well 
said : The Superintendent of Branches should 
keep in view the following objects : (a.) To 
save the time of the chief librarian by acting as 
an intermediary between him and members of 
the staffs of branches, attending to all such 
matters as can be acted upon without specific 
authority, and sifting out for his attention only 
such cases as seem of special significance. 
(#.) To view the work of the branches from 
a comparative standpoint, comparing their 
equipment, the conditions under which their 
work is carried on and the results obtained, 
with the object that all may be treated with fair- 
ness in the furnishing of books, supplies, and 
service, (c.^) To bring about centralization in 
all cases where it would increase the useful- 
ness or decrease the expense of the several 
branches, (d.) To promote co-operation and 



develop esprit de corps. (.) To give appren- 
tices instruction in methods and practical work 
at the branches. 

CHILDREN'S DEPARTMENT. 
Next in importance on this faculty should be 
named the Superintendent of the Children's 
Department. We can at least concede that 
she (and I use the pronoun advisedly) occu- 
pies a most responsible place, for upon the 
success of this department largely depends the 
success of the library. There are not many 
people equipped for this post. The occupant 
must combine the qualities which go to make 
up the best sort of teacher, librarian, and 
mother, and must have the executive ability to 
originate plans for the extension of the work, 
exercise general supervision over all children's 
rooms, their management and discipline, select 
and distribute juvenile literature throughout 
the system, and superintend the preparation of 
bulletins and kindred illustrative work. 

BOOK ORDER DEPARTMENT. 

All accessions to the library by gift or pur- 
chase should be handled by the Book Order 
Department. 

Everything connected with the entering of 
gifts, checking of bills, order slips, auction and 
trade catalogues, recommendations of libra- 
rians and readers, and exchange of books be- 
tween branches should be attended to here. 

Having a union catalogue and shelf-list at a 
central place, it is easy to check up orders, 
prevent unnecessary duplication, and indicate 
for which branches a book is intended, as it is 
not desirable to place copies of all books pur- 
chased in every branch. 

The selection of books for the different 
branches depends in a measure upon the rec- 
ommendations of the librarians-in-charge, who 
know what the branches need in the way of 
new books and " shorts." 

CATALOGUING DEPARTMENT. 

A greater degree of uniformity not otherwise 
attainable is secured if all cataloguing is done 
by the central cataloguing staff. All the ac- 
cessioning, classification, and assignment of 
numbers not only for the union catalogue, 



HILL. 



49 



but for branches should be done at one place, 
leaving to the branches the further preparation 
of the book for circulation. 

It is somewhat expensive but quite necessary 
that a union catalogue and a union shelf-list 
showing resources of the whole institution be 
kept by the Cataloguing Department, so that 
information concerning any book at any branch 
may be supplied on the instant. 

A card catalogue and shelf list should be 
kept at each branch, showing just what books 
are in the branch. 

A great deal of time and labor will be saved 
by ordering cards from the Library of Congress 
and using them for the union and branch cata- 
logues. 

A satisfactory division of work seems to be 
something like this : 

WORK DONE BY CATALOGUE DEPARTMENT. 

1. Looked up in union card catalogue. 

2. Books plated. 

3. Accessioned. 

4. Classified. 

5. Numbered. 

6. Subject headings indicated. 

7. Entries made in union card catalogue 

and union shelf list for duplicates. 

8. Work revised. 

9. Cards filed. 

10. Books counted and listed. 

11. Books sent to branches. 

12. Branch catalogue cards revised. 

13. Monthly bulletin work. 

WORK DONE BY BRANCHES. 

1. Books stamped. 

2. Leaves cut. 

3. Books pasted (pockets and dating slips). 

4. Book cards made. 

5. Books, shelf, list, and catalogue cards 

written. 

TRAVELING LIBRARIES. 

The Traveling Library is an acknowledged 
factor in a modern library. It goes into the 
club, the home, the school, the factory, and 
public institutions, and reaches people who do 
not ordinarily visit a library. 

The opportunities for splendid work in this 



department are limitless, and an able, scholarly, 
tactful, and conscientious person is needed for 
Superintendent. 

The home libraries which are coming into 
greater prominence should be under the man- 
agement of this department. 

The collection of books ought to be as dis- 
tinct as at a branch. 

DEPARTMENT OF SUPPLIES. 

The Superintendent of Supplies should be 
a man of large business capacity. Supplies 
for the year should be purchased at one time 
in large quantities and stored at a central 
depot and drawn upon from time to time by 
requisitions made by the librarians-in-charge. 
The amount of stock, such as janitors' sup- 
plies, cards, printing, stationery, etc., needed 
during the year may be easily ascertained from 
estimates submitted by the branch librarians 
at the beginning of the year. 

The purchase of books should be left to 
the Book Order Department. 

Except for incidental expenses no money 
need be expended by branch librarians. 

BINDERY. 

The question of the advantages of a bindery 
under the control of the library authorities is a 
debatable one. Given a central building, the 
problem is easy of solution, as the books are 
then in the same building and under library 
supervision. It is perhaps as convenient and 
satisfactory to establish a certain standard for 
binding and then distribute the work among 
several firms, requiring the same grade of 
work, paying therefor uniform prices. The 
details of management should come under 
responsible supervision and not be left to the 
binder to regulate. 

RESERVOIR FOR BOOKS. 

The library of to-day must place some re- 
strictions upon the purchase of books. Fiction 
by a little known writer may safely lie over for 
six months. Those of us who have tried this 
experiment are pleasantly surprised to find that 
at the end of the probationary period there is 
little demand for the books. Regarding other 
literature it is not necessary to purchase a copy 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



of a new book for each branch, but there should 
be a reservoir to serve as a receptacle for dead 
or unused books from which they could be 
drawn for the branches when there is a de- 
mand. I quote again from the same librarian- 
in-charge : 

"We need a central reservoir from which to 
draw books which for many reasons cannot be 
duplicated in every branch. Into such a reser- 
voir might well be sent all volumes exclusive 
of reference works and others to be noted later 
not circulating in the several branches. The 
branch has no room for books rarely used, and, 
what is more vital, no money to spend in their 
acquisition. Certainly we cannot afford to buy 
books never taken out, and at the same time 
plead lack of funds as an excuse for not obtain- 
ing books sadly needed. In this as in all pub- 
lic matters the greatest good for the greatest 
number must be our guide, and the occasional 
seeker must depend upon this central source 
for his occasional book. The branch must 
contain live and active books, books that will 
be read and re-read, rebound, worn out, and 
replaced. That, briefly, should be the book's 
' biography.' By a process of elimination and 
survival of the fittest the stock of material 
should be kept a living force. In apparent 
contradiction to what I have just written I 
would exempt from exportation to the central 
reservoir ' books of power ' so called. I be- 
lieve we should always have before the eyes of 
the reader the best there is in literature, and 
if after a year, such books having offered them- 
selves appealingly to the public, the dating 
slips remain blank, I think we might be justi- 
fied in concluding that something was the mat- 
ter with the public, or possibly with the libra- 
rian in charge. But beyond these claims of 
the world's best literature I would make no 
further exemptions. Ancient text-books, obso- 
lete scientific treatises, worn-out theological 
discussions, and all other dust-gatherers surely 
can be of no value to the general reader and 
seldom to the student except as a basis of com- 
parison. Actual experience will of course be 
the final test. If a book does not circulate and 
cannot be made to circulate, send it to this 



common reservoir. It will still be always ac- 
cessible, and it is possible that from the com- 
bined demands of the several branches it may 
be of occasional service." 

Thus far we have been considering the ad- 
ministration of the whole system, from a cen- 
tral point, but the real power lies in the 

BRANCH LIBRARIANS. 

A librarian-in-charge should possess peculiar 
qualifications for the position. The foundation 
should be a liberal education, added to which 
one should be broad-minded, far-seeing, and 
progressive. The mission of a librarian is 
only partly accomplished when the merely per- 
functory service of circulating books and keep- 
ing records is done. It needs enthusiasm and 
force in the individual at the head to stimulate 
the assistants and do effective work with the 
public. 

Freedom of action should be accorded heads 
of branches ; they should be held to a degree 
responsible for building up their particular 
libraries. They should not be treated as mere 
machines, but be given an opportunity to 
broaden and develop the work in their own 
neighborhood, and be made to feel their im- 
portance to the entire city system. To this 
end there should be frequent meetings of the 
staff for the purpose of comparing notes, decid- 
ing upon methods, defining the scope of work, 
discussing books, relations with the public, 
etc., and to increase the efficiency of the assist- 
ants they may be given instruction of a higher 
grade than that given apprentices. 

There are other things which add to the 
effectiveness and smoothness of administration. 
Among them may be mentioned frequent visits 
of the chief librarian and superintendents to 
the branches, interchange of books and cards 
among branches ; special express delivery to 
branches and delivery stations, and telephone 
communication throughout the system. 

An outline only of how a branch library may 
be administered has been given, but it may 
serve the purpose at a time when librarians are 
becoming more generally interested in the 
subject. 



ELIOT. 



THE DIVISION OF A LIBRARY INTO BOOKS IN USE, AND BOOKS NOT IN 
USE, WITH DIFFERENT STORAGE METHODS FOR THE TWO CLASSES 

OF BOOKS. 

BY CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT, President of Harvard University . 



DEFORE this assembly of experts it is 
proper that I should describe the past ex- 
periences and present conditions which have 
lately led me to study the library question 
anew, and have caused me, who am not an 
expert, to venture to write on the subject. 

When Gore Hall was built in 1840, my pre- 
decessor, President Josiah Quincy, supposed 
that the building had sufficient capacity to hold 
the probable accumulation of books during the 
remainder of the century ; yet within thirty-five 
years it was necessary to construct an exten- 
sion which held many more books than the 
original building. Within twenty years more 
it became necessary to reconstruct the interior 
of the original Gore Hall in such a manner as 
greatly to increase its book capacity ; and now, 
within six years of the last enlargement, a 
further enlargement, more considerable than 
either of the preceding, is declared to be ab- 
solutely necessary. The city of Boston erected 
about forty years ago what was then considered 
a very large library building on Boylston 
Street. Within less than forty years that 
building had to be replaced by a building of 
vastly greater capacity at the cost of several 
millions of dollars ; and this new building is 
so placed with reference to the surrounding 
streets that it will be almost impossible in 
time to come to more than double its capacity. 
Only thirteen years ago Cambridge built a 
public library ; but the city has already been 
obliged to make a considerable extension of 
the building. In the meantime many new 
public libraries have been erected in the vari- 
ous cities and towns which constitute the 
metropolitan district of Boston. I have, there- 
fore, witnessed a very extraordinary increase 
in the number of books kept accessible to 
readers in the communities which fall under 
my immediate observation ; and I have also 
witnessed frequent enlargements of the build- 
ings used for storing these collections, enlarge- 



ments repeated at always diminishing intervals. 
All over the country, but especially in Massa- 
chusetts, local public libraries have been rapidly 
established within a single generation ; so that 
the centres from which books are distributed, 
or at which books are read, have multiplied 
extraordinarily. Since Gore Hall was planned 
that is, quite within the life-time of many 
persons here present the production of books 
and other printed matter has increased at an 
unprecedented rate; until now there is no 
library, however rich, which pretends to keep 
pace with the annual publications of the world ; 
and all libraries, large and small alike, are 
compelled to exercise close selection in the 
purchasing and acceptance of books. No ex- 
isting library can dream of providing two 
miles and more of new shelving every year. 
Completeness can no longer be the ideal of 
any library. Judicious selection for local and 
present use is the ideal. 

At a university which employs a large num- 
ber of specialists as teachers, the books selected 
for purchase will be those which the university 
specialists decide are most needed at the 
passing moment by themselves or their pupils ; 
and since these specialists change somewhat 
rapidly by death or transfer to other fields of 
labor, the direction of purchases in a given 
university library will probably change consid- 
erably from generation to generation ; so that 
even in a university library the selection of the 
books must be called variable and almost 
casual, unless an unchanging policy of pur- 
chasing only in certain specified departments 
of knowledge be adopted and persistently 
maintained. I know no instance of the long 
maintenance of such a policy for a public col- 
lection not professional. 

The prodigious annual output of books and 
magazines is by no means all original matter. 
A large proportion of it is matter which has 
only been revised or recast. Each generation 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



makes its own treatises, gazeteers, bibliogra- 
phies, indices, dictionaries, and cyclopaedias, 
re-edits the famous books come down from 
preceding generations, and writes its own 
biographies of the heroic personages of the 
past. It is impossible to discern any limit to 
this portentous flood of reproduction. Yet in 
each generation this immense mass of revised 
or recast matter invalidates much of the printed 
work of former generations or throws it out of 
use. Moreover, all signs indicate that the 
flood of printed matter has by no means 
reached its height. Indeed there is every 
reason to suppose that printing and publishing 
will become cheaper and cheaper, and the fa- 
cilities for authorship and the number of 
authors greater and greater. The ease with 
which books are made has altered the charac- 
ter of the printed book. It is plain that great 
masses of new books have only an ephemeral 
interest, like the monthly magazines and the 
weekly papers. 

Under these conditions the great need of 
means of discriminating between books which 
may fairly be said to be in use and books which 
may fairly be said to be not in use has been 
forced on me, and on many other persons 
nearly concerned with the largest, readiest, 
and most profitable use of libraries, and with 
the promotion of sound reading among pupils 
at school, students at college or university, and 
the people at large. The problem is essen- 
tially an economic one. It is not a good use 
of the precious educational resources of a com- 
munity, or an institution, to enlarge at frequent 
intervals its library building, if the new space 
needed for books in use can be secured by dis- 
carding books not in use ; and it is not frugal 
policy to permit the presence of thousands or 
millions of dead books to increase the cost of 
service, care, and cleaning in a much-fre- 
quented library. 

I admit at once that the means of just dis- 
crimination between books in use and books 
not in use are not easy to discern or to apply ; 
but I maintain, nevertheless, that the search 
for these means should be diligently prose- 
cuted, and that every reasonable suggestion of 
means of discrimination deserves careful atten- 
tion. It is obvious that no one man is compe- 



tent to discriminate, on principles of judgment 
which his own mind elaborates, between a 
dead book and a living book in all departments 
of learning. The only satisfactory test is the 
actual demand or absence of demand for the 
book in question. Thus, it might naturally be 
suspected that a book which had not been 
called for in a university library for twenty 
years possessed but a faint vitality ; whereas a 
book that was called for every year would cer- 
tainly be considered alive. The fact of disuse 
seems to me an effective criterion, and the 
question for librarians is how to determine that 
fact of disuse. In libraries where no person 
has access to the shelves except the librarian 
and his assistants, so that every book used is 
ordered by a written slip, and passes the de- 
livery desk, the fact of disuse can certainly be 
satisfactorily determined. In libraries where 
some thousands of books, say from five thou- 
sand to a hundred thousand, are kept on open 
shelves, accessible to all users or all privileged 
users of the library, there must be some princi- 
ple of selection which assigns books to those 
open shelves. No judicious librarian will keep 
on open shelves books which are never touched. 
There already exists, therefore, a satisfactory 
criterion for large numbers of live books. The 
real difficulty in determining disuse arises in 
libraries which permit access to all their 
shelves to a considerable number of readers 
who may handle the books at their pleasure, 
and remove any of them temporarily to neigh- 
boring tables where they can be conveniently 
read. This permission has no value except in 
a classified library, or, rather, except in those 
parts of a library which are classified. There 
are many libraries in which the " browsing " 
process is not permitted, and in them this diffi- 
culty in determining the disuse of a book does 
not exist. Moreover, where the difficulty ex- 
ists now it would be removed by enforcing the 
simple rule that the reader admitted to the 
shelves may take a book down, but shall not 
put it up ; and this rule would have other ob- 
vious advantages. I shall have something to 
say later concerning the value of the process of 
browsing in a library. 

I have found on inquiry that the discrimina- 
tion between books in use and books not in use 



ELIOT. 



53 



has already been made in some libraries of 
widely different character as regards size, rate 
of growth, and general purpose. Thus the 
British Museum has already made large dis- 
criminations. The Medical Library of Boston, 
although it has lately procured a new building 
much larger than its first, has still large num- 
bers of books stored in the suburbs of Boston. 
The Harvard Library has been forced to box 
thousands of books, and store them in the cel- 
lars of other buildings a very inconvenient 
method. The Boston Athenaeum has for some 
years put its most used books in its lower 
stories, and its least used in the upper, for the 
convenience of its attendants, and of its pro- 
prietors who have access to the shelves. Many 
town libraries have found no difficulty in de- 
ciding upon those books which are so seldom 
called for that they may be put in out-of-the- 
way places. 

But what should be done with disused books, 
when once the means of discrimination be- 
tween the used and the disused have been 
found? It seems to me clear that a book 
which is worth keeping at all ought to be kept 
accessible ; that is, where it can be found, on 
demand, with a reasonable expenditure of 
time and labor. The problem, then, is to de- 
vise a mode of storing disused books, so that 
they may be kept safe and accessible, and 
yet at a low cost for shelter and annual care. 
The most obvious considerations of economy 
demand that disused books, or books very 
seldom used, should be stored in inexpensive 
buildings on cheap land. There is frightful 
waste in storing little-used books on land worth 
a million dollars an acre, if land worth a hun- 
dred dollars an acre would answer all reasonable 
purposes. Next, no unnecessary number of 
copies should be stored for one and the same 
community. If, for instance, there are thirty 
public or semi-public libraries within twelve 
miles of the State House in Boston, it is waste- 
ful for each of those libraries to be storing dis- 
used books, for many of the books so preserved 
would be duplicates. There should be one 
store-house for disused books for the entire 
district, wherein not more than two copies of 
any book should be preserved. Thirdly, the 
interior construction of such a building should 



differ in important respects from the construc- 
tion of the ordinary book-stack in use to-day. 
A stack like that of the Harvard Library, which 
was the first stack constructed of the type now 
common, or that of the Congressional Library, 
a more recent and far more costly type, pro- 
vides a passageway between each two rows of 
books ; and in order to get good daylight into 
the middle of these narrow aisles or passage- 
ways, the lengths of the rows are very mod- 
erate, and there are often passageways along 
the ends of the rows of books between these 
ends and the walls. The result of this ar- 
rangement is that not more than one-fifth of 
the cubical contents of the building which 
covers the stack is really occupied by books. 
In order to secure compact stowage, all books 
in such a store-house as we are contemplating 
should, in the first place, be assorted by size. 
They should next be marked by a label at the 
top of the back to receive only a serial letter 
and number. No classification of the books 
should be permitted ; for a classified library 
occupies more space than one which is not 
classified. The books having been assorted 
by size should be placed three deep on the 
shelves, and on the edge of each shelf should 
stand fixed-location shelf-marks bearing the 
numbers of the three books behind each mark. 
The serial number once assigned to a book 
should never be changed, and the place of each 
book once fixed should never be changed. 
The passage-ways should be long, and should 
end against the walls, and only one passage- 
way down the middle of the stack should 
afford access to the passage-ways between the 
rows of books. In this way nearly two-thirds 
of the building might be actually occupied by 
books. The roof should be flat, and so con- 
structed as to defend the upper stories from 
the heat of the summer sun. All windows 
should be double, to exclude dust and cold. 
In winter the temperature of the entire build- 
ing should be kept low, and by the use of 
gratings for floors the whole building should be 
treated as one room for purposes of heating 
and ventilating. None but the attendants 
should ever be allowed in the stacks. They 
would find the books called for by their serial 
numbers only, and would bring them to the 



54 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



reading-room and studies which should be 
attached to the building. It ought, of course, 
to be possible for any student who desired a 
large number of books to have them brought 
to him in a separate room where he could ex- 
amine them at his leisure, and retain the use 
of them for a definite period. It should also 
be possible for any library in the district which 
used this store-house to procure any books 
from the store-house on written or telephoned 
orders, the cards corresponding to all the 
books in the store-house being kept at all the 
libraries which were large enough to accommo- 
date such a catalogue. Such a building could 
be a regular polygon, like a square, and so 
have a shorter perimeter than any irregular 
polygon of the same area, like a long rectangle, 
for instance. 

The books in such a store-house would be 
reasonably accessible to real students. They 
would no longer encumber the libraries from 
which they had been dismissed. They need 
no longer encumber the card catalogues in 
ordinary use at the libraries from which they 
had been dismissed. The discharge of disused 
books from the thirty or more libraries of the 
whole district into this common receptacle 
would be intermittent, perhaps, by weeks or 
months, but fairly continuous by long periods, 
such as five-year or .ten-year periods. The 
libraries of books in use would themselves be 
more economically and effectively administered 
if relieved of the burden of the dead books ; 
and they would be under no necessity of ex- 
tending their buildings at short intervals over 
new areas of more and more expensive land. 

The treatment of the library catalogue under 
these new conditions would deserve careful 
consideration and experimentation. In libra- 
ries which contained a well-classified subject 
catalogue, it might, or might not, be best to 
keep in the classified catalogue the titles of dis- 
used books. By retaining all the titles which 
had ever found place in the classified catalogue, 
a student unacquainted with the literature of 
his subject would be supplied with an impor- 
tant bibliographical guide ; but on the other 
hand by keeping in the catalogue the titles of 
disused books the bulk of the catalogue would 
be increased in a progressive measure, and the 



daily use of the catalogue would therefore be 
made more difficult and more time-consuming 
for everybody resorting to it. 

These last considerations lead naturally to 
the interesting subject of "browsing." There 
can be no doubt that the inexperienced student 
gets some advantage from looking over the 
books in a classified library on a subject in 
which he has an intelligent interest ; but of 
course his chief advantage is procured from 
those books which have still so much life in 
them as to be sometimes read. Browsing on 
good books is often helpful, but browsing on 
poor books, and particularly on books which 
have been so replaced by better ones as to have 
gone out of use, is a very questionable advan- 
tage for the ordinary student. I am not sug- 
gesting that browsing on live books should be 
prevented, but only that browsing on dead 
books might be made less convenient than it 
now is by requiring that the dead books to be 
examined should be ordered and brought to- 
gether for the browser in a reading-room or' 
study. For the advanced student, who wishes 
to make a really thorough study of the litera- 
ture of a given subject, the examination of the 
books on that subject which happen to stand 
on the shelves of a given library ought not to 
be satisfactory. He may be quite certain that 
the collection is not complete, and that it may 
even be described as casual. He ought to 
make acquaintance with a thorough bibliog- 
raphy of his subject, or he ought at least to 
examine thoroughly several classified cata- 
logues of books on his subject. He should 
never be content with the selection of books 
which happens to have been made in a single 
library, but should examine the contents of 
several libraries. In short, he ought to regard 
browsing in one collection not as thorough 
study at all, but only as a pleasing gratification 
of curiosity in comparatively leisure moments. 

It is obvious that the economical advantages 
of the division of books which has been here 
suggested would be numerous. In the first 
place, the trustees of libraries would not have 
to hold vacant large pieces of expensive land 
all about their present library buildings, in 
order to provide for enlargements of those 
buildings in successive generations. In the 



ELIOT. 



55 



second place, they would not be put to the 
expense of building these successive enlarge- 
ments, but would always keep in a sufficient 
building that number of books for which it had 
originally been designed, the older books which 
had proved to be disused being constantly re- 
placed by newer books which are to be put to 
the test of use, and the whole collection being 
actually alive. Again, the maintenance of the 
store-house for disused books would be far less 
costly than the maintenance of the building 
for the active library as regards heat, light, 
number of attendants, and cleaning. Finally, 
the handling of the catalogues and the delivery 
of books at the active library would be quicker 
and easier, and the service of that library 
would, therefore, be less expensive and more 
efficient. Every hundred thousand books in a 
much-used library and every million cards in 
its catalogue increase the cost of service and 
care, because they add to the difficulties of the 
service, and the extent of the care-taking. 

It seems to me that emphasis should be laid 
henceforth not on the number of volumes which 
a library contains, but on the wise selection of 
its books, and on the facilities for the daily use 
of its treasures. It is much more important 
that adequate provision of reading-rooms, large 
and small, should be made, than that browsing 
be permitted, or that every book owned by the 
library should be obtainable on demand within 
a few minutes. It is not unreasonable that an 
interval of twenty-four hours should elapse 
between the receipt of an order for a book and 
its delivery. Commercial circulating libraries 
both in England and in this country are highly 
successful, although they often require a much 
longer interval than this between the receipt 
of an order and the delivery. As the facilities 
for the safe delivery of books by mail, parcel 
deliveries, or expresses increase, the habit of 
borrowing books from a distance ought like- 
wise to become common. The student and 
the general reader alike should be willing to 
await the delivery of the book he wants for 
hours or even days, just as a naturalist waits 
for the season at which his particular material 
is to be found, or for the time of year when 
his plant flowers, or his moths escape from the 
chrysalis, or his chickens or his trout hatch. 



The real student ought to be capable of some 
forelooking, and of a certain deliberation in 
reading. 

Whenever the distinction between books in 
use and books out of use, and between a li- 
brary of live books and a store-house for dead 
books, comes to be admitted and applied, it 
will be possible to return to spacious and hand- 
some halls and rooms for the permanent active 
library. The modern steel stack is not a dec- 
orative or inspiring structure, and we should 
all be glad to advocate with a good conscience 
more beautiful and interesting forms of con- 
struction for the library of books in use. 

It is an interesting but not an urgent ques- 
tion how many depositories of dead books 
might reasonably be provided in the United 
States. If the general conception should be 
accepted, the interests of different localities 
will in time determine the number of places of 
deposit for books out of use. In my report on 
Harvard University for the year 1900-01, I 
mentioned three appropriate places of deposit 
Washington, New York, and Chicago ; but I 
can see great convenience in having one place 
of deposit for Eastern Massachusetts ; and 
doubtless the Pacific coast and the eastern 
slopes of the Rocky Mountains would some day 
need others. 

It has been said that the present generation 
cannot determine the taste in books which any 
future generation will manifest, and therefore 
that present disuse of a book is not to be ac- 
cepted as evidence that it is dead outright and 
forever. This suggestion has some truth in it, 
but it does not go far. There are few books 
now in use which have been resurrected after 
long burial ; but if there were such books, their 
temporary storage in the house of disused 
books would not prevent their restoration to 
some of the active libraries when the new gen- 
eration had discovered or rediscovered their 
merits. I am not proposing a crematory for 
dead books, but only a receiving-tomb. Neither 
am I proposing that the bibliophile or the anti- 
quarian should be absolutely deprived of his 
idols, but only that his access to them should 
be made somewhat less convenient and attrac- 
tive. 

Another mode of selection in the purchase 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



and holding of books by different libraries 
within some territory of moderate extent has 
often been suggested, namely, the assign- 
ment to different libraries of different subjects 
to which they shall severally confine themselves 
in the purchase of their books. There is a 
great deal to be said for this mode of selection, 
if the interests of a large community like the 
Boston metropolitan district, for example, 
rather than those of a single town or city, or a 
single university, are to be considered. But it 
ought to be observed that this method of se- 
lecting the books which any given library shall 
own involves the same willingness on the part 
of readers to wait a reasonable time for the 
books they want, as must be assumed if the 
line of division in any one library shall be 
between books in use and books not in use. 
If European history were assigned as one of 
its subjects to the Boston Public Library and 
American history to the Harvard Library, the 
historical student in Cambridge might have to 
wait for his book until it could be brought 
from Boston, and vice versa. No principle of 
selection can be applied to a group of libraries, 
which does not involve, though infrequently, 
some reasonable delay in the delivery to the 
reader of the book he wants ; yet it is indispen- 
sable that some principle of selection or other 



shall be adopted. It is also to be observed 
that books will inevitably come to be disused 
in the several departments assigned to each 
separate library. 

What I have wished, and still wish, to urge 
upon the attention of professional librarians 
solely in the interest of the best use of the best 
books is the need of determining beforehand 
the general policy which is to be adopted with 
regard to the storage and most convenient use 
of the overwhelming masses of books which are 
pouring forth at all the large centres of book- 
making in the world, masses which each decade 
bids fair to double. At present most of the 
libraries of the country are vaguely contemplat- 
ing an indefinite enlargement of their buildings, 
and an indefinite increase in the cost of main- 
taining, caring for, and serving out their grow- 
ing collections of books. The present buildings 
of many libraries may now look adequate for 
years to come ; but surprisingly soon their 
vacant shelves will be filled, and the pinch we 
have felt three times within sixty years at the 
Harvard Library will afflict them also. There 
seems to me to be an urgent need of settling 
soon on a clear and feasible policy for the 
future ; and I know no body of persons more 
competent than that I now address to discover 
and promulgate such a policy. 



THE SELECTION OF TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 
BY CHARLES F. BURGESS, University of Wisconsin. 



I T is my purpose as the unofficial representa- 
tive of the American Society for the Promo- 
tion of Engineering Education to submit to 
your consideration a line of work which has 
been taken up as one of the possible means for 
furthering the interests of technical education, 
and one which cannot be made effective with- 
out the cooperation of the library interests. 

Those who are actively interested in engi- 
neering education cannot help but feel a certain 
sense of responsibility for the remarkable 
record of industrial development which the last 
few decades have made. For substantiation of 
such claim attention need but be called to the 
captains and other officers of industry who have 



been trained in the technical schools of the 
country. 

The inadequacy of the engineering education 
of thirty years ago for present conditions is 
scarcely more obvious than the fact that engi- 
neering education of the present will not suffice 
for the future. Present methods, continued 
indefinitely, would develop leaders as they have 
done in the past, but the question of a debata- 
ble nature may be raised : Is the country 
better off with a few great engineers, or a large 
number who are capable? 

Perhaps the most serious limitation upon en- 
gineering education at the present time is its 
failure to reach the rank and file of industrial 



BURGESS. 



57 



workers, a limitation which is steadily increas- 
ing in degree. In spite of the fact that some 
of our advanced technical schools are free from 
tuition charges, it is evident that only a very 
small percentage of the inhabitants seem to be 
endowed with the privilege or opportunity of 
attending such institutions. It has been esti- 
mated that but one per cent, of the pupils of 
the grade schools continue their work beyond 
the high school. 

It seems to be the predominating idea at 
present that increase in efficiency of engineer- 
ing education lies mostly with reference to the 
instruction of the favored minority who are 
able to attend technical schools. This is 
shown by the action of the leading engineering 
schools in increasing the height of the barrier 
commonly termed entrance requirements, thus 
more noticeably decreasing the percentage of 
those permitted to attend. A college education 
gives to its possessor an advantage over his 
fellow men and almost ensures for him promo- 
tion to the more important positions, thus serv- 
ing in a considerable degree to remove the less 
fortunate from the line of promotion. This 
stratification which appears to be developing, 
placing the technical graduate in the upper 
layer and creating an engineering aristocracy, 
is to be deplored as contrary to the American 
doctrine of equal opportunity for all. By the 
very progress of the technical graduate the out- 
look for the shop man or machine laborer is 
darkened, for, seeing the higher positions ap- 
parently closed to him, he will lose that incen- 
tive which is the underlying foundation of 
American enterprise hope of advancement. 
He will feel that he is born to a position in life 
from which he cannot rise. 

The solution of this problem as to how such 
condition may be avoided is perhaps the most 
difficult and important task which those inter- 
ested in technical education have to undertake ; 
but there is no doubt that American ingenuity 
will find a way of satisfactorily solving this, as 
it has done other great problems. Various ex- 
perimental solutions are now under trial and 
others have been proposed. Among the former 
are the so-called correspondence schools, sum- 
mer schools for artisans which at least one of 
our universities has instituted, night schools, 
classes conducted by the Y.M.C.A., instruc- 



tion offered by manufacturers, and various 
other methods, each of which has its own ad- 
vantages and disadvantages which it is not my 
purpose to discuss. 

The great school for the industrial worker is 
the shop or the factory. The worker in this 
school is in a laboratory of the most efficient 
sort in which he can develop efficiently if he 
will develop his brain together with manual 
skill and dexterity. 

The workman must first be taught to realize 
that unthinking skill can never hold its own 
against brain training. After instilling this 
feeling every possible opportunity should be 
given to make the work of brain training as 
simple and efficient as possible. The corre- 
spondence schools, in having enrolled over a 
quarter of a million students, have demonstrated 
the state of intellectual hunger which prevails 
among the industrial workers of the country. 
In addition to demonstrating the existence of 
this hunger, at least some of the schools have 
done much toward satisfying the same.. 

The proficiency of the industrial worker lies 
largely in his knowledge of the laws of nature 
and their applications and limitations, and an 
ignorance of such laws determines to a large 
extent the difference between the mechanic and 
the engineer. Such laws and applications may 
be learned from books, and in this fact lies the 
opportunity which the libraries have for further- 
ing industrial progress. 

There are various ways in which the libra- 
rian's work may be to the advantage of engi- 
neering education, by which term is meant the 
dissemination of knowledge which bears upon 
and influences industrial development. 

The library may supply such scientific and 
technical literature as will meet the require- 
ments of those who wish to use the same for 
recreation or for general information, and there- 
fore including writings of a popular nature. 

The library may stimulate interest in scien- 
tific and technical matters among high school 
students and others who are to choose their 
life's work. 

The means may also be offered to technical 
men for continuing their studies, or in carrying 
on investigation, for which purpose a good 
reference equipment is requisite. 

The library, in placing at the disposal of the 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



workman-artisan class the literature best suited 
to the needs, may accomplish results of ines- 
timable value. " The vast number of workers, 
so important to the future welfare of the repub- 
lic, deserve and are in need of more considera- 
tion and encouragement for self education than 
are those who constitute what are known as our 
educated classes." It is to the means of giving 
aid to this class that I wish especially to point. 

Libraries have been and are at the present 
time very inefficiently dealing with this matter, 
the following remark recently made by a promi- 
nent technical man emphasizing this point : 
" Instruction in engineering literature is not 
organized, it is not looked after, it is not cared 
for, yet it is one of the most important ques- 
tions. On entering a modern public library 
one finds excellent reading lists upon almost 
any topic in history, art, literature, and some 
science, but none on engineering or technical 
subjects." 

A study of methods of increasing the effi- 
ciency reveals some of the causes of inefficiency, 
principal among which is the lack of a sufficient 
number of books, and, what is equally harmful, 
the presence on the shelves of books whose 
influence is not only indifferent but actually 
harmful. A great improvement can undoubt- 
edly be effected by the judicious application 
of the process of subtraction from, as well as 
addition to, the shelves. The unsatisfactory 
selections so commonly made, and the requests 
which are frequently put to its individual mem- 
bers for book lists, have furnished the incentive 
to the Society for the Promotion of Engineer- 
ing Education in appointing a committee of 
seven members, representing various lines of 
technical and engineering work, naming as the 
duties of such committee the compilation of 
a list of scientific and technical books which 
could be recommended for library use. 

It has appeared to our committee that for 
various good reasons it would be best to con- 
fine our work, at the beginning at least, to the 
selection of books for the smaller libraries, and 
including perhaps not more than one hundred 
and fifty titles. In this way it was thought that 
the best results with the time at our disposal 
could be accomplished. 

I had hoped to present at this time such 



a list, but, owing to the time necessary and the 
difficulty in arriving at an agreement which the 
geographical distributions of this committee 
involves, I am, unfortunately, unable to carry 
out my expectations ; and the publication of the 
same will, therefore, have to be postponed to a 
later day. 

From expressions of opinion which have 
come to my attention, I incline to the belief 
that many librarians may not view our efforts 
with favor, and will repeat with unkind accent, 
" another bibliography prepared by experts." 
I admit that there is some ground for the 
assertion that a specialist will usually make a 
poor selection, for general library purposes, of 
books dealing even with his line of work, hav- 
ing his nose buried so deeply into his subject 
that he is unable to obtain a fair perspective. 
It is difficult for him to judge of the value or 
even to see any value whatever in the elemen- 
tary books which are most important from the 
library standpoint, and, in fact, many special- 
ists are totally unfamiliar with the elementary 
literature in their lines. The objection that 
professional prejudices and jealousies are likely 
to be detrimental to proper selection might 
also be a factor, though certainly a minor one. 
A scientific and technical library, chosen by 
lists made independently by specialists in 
various lines, is liable to be unbalanced by 
reason of the various ideals which different 
men have as to library requirements. 

Braving such criticism, our committee has 
undertaken the work, and it is hoped that the 
librarian may look with favor upon the results, 
especially when considering the fact that various 
difficulties, limitations, and faults are realized 
by the committee, and attempts have been 
made to remedy or minimize them. 

In examining the engineering literature 
various factors, which must be taken into 
account in making proper selection, become 
apparent. 

Certain branches of engineering and science, 
especially those capable of spectacular treat- 
ment, have been subjected to a flood of litera- 
ture during recent years. The greater part of 
such literature, in spite of its popularity, is not 
only unreliable and worthless, but is actually 
harmful and a hindrance to true progress in 



BURGESS. 



59 



engineering education. Many of these books 
have been written solely for the purpose of 
financial profit, and consequently have been 
manufactured as cheaply as the employment of 
cheap brain labor would permit. A number of 
books on electrical subjects may be readily 
named, which bear evidence of having been 
written by authors who know very little of the 
branches upon which they claim to instruct. 
Another deficiency in technical books, especi- 
ally in those of elementary nature, is caused by 
the author's endeavor to place facts and laws 
in the most elementary manner possible, which 
is often done at the expense of truth and ac- 
curacy. 

It is to be deplored that those who represent 
the most advanced learning in their profession 
seldom indulge in the writing of elementary 
books, since the financial reward for such work 
is not comparable to that which may be received 
in more strictly professional work. The writing 
of the elementary book is often therefore left 
to the amateur engineer. 

The public demand may seem to make it 
necessary to place many undesirable books on 
the shelves, but it seems to me that just as 
much care should be used in barring misleading 
books in science and engineering as in exclud- 
ing those which are detrimental from the moral 
standpoint. A book recently issued, written 
evidently with the sole hope of large sales, 
deals with the telephone. Many statements 
made therein show the author's ignorance of 
fundamental science, or his total depravity in 
trying to pass them off as elementary science to 
the unitiated ; yet this is a book for which there 
is a large demand, due to a general desire for 
the information which such work purports to 
give. On the score of inaccuracy and simplic- 
ity carried too far, the majority of the books 
belonging to the ABC class of publication 
should be rejected. 

In scientific and engineering lines the steady 
and rapid progress has made the need of revi- 
sion of its literature especially great, and there 
is perhaps no other department where books so 
soon become of the antiquated order as here. 
For this reason a selection may safely be con- 
fined almost entirely to publications of the last 
few years. 



In arguing for the organization and more 
efficient operation of scientific and engineering 
departments in the public library with the view 
of helping especially the working class I am 
well aware that nothing new or heretofore un- 
tried is being presented. I will anticipate some 
of the objections which may be raised against 
this system for industrial betterment. It will 
be argued that certain libraries have maintained 
technical departments at considerable expendi- 
ture of capital and labor, but that little interest 
has been manifested in the same by the people 
who were to be benefited. 

It is true that only a small percentage of the 
industrial workers seem to have an ambition to 
rise, strange as this statement may seem, and 
even if possessed of such, few have the enter- 
prise to do the extra work necessary to further 
this ambition. The results, however, which 
can be effected by ministering to the require- 
ments of those who have both ambition and 
enterprise, even though such number be small 
at present, is a sufficient argument for carrying 
on the work. In this way the library may serve 
as a net spread wide to catch the talent which 
the country produces. 

It is argued that the man who works eight 
hours a day is not eager or in good condition 
to put in his little spare time with books ; but, 
with the better class of such men, their minds 
are, after their day's manual work, fresh and 
eager for mental work which they may be 
given at night. If literature having'some bear- 
ing on their daily work be placed in their 
hands they will be bound to become interested. 

Further it may be said that manufacturers 
have installed libraries in connection with their 
works and have even offered free instruction 
to their employees. The indifferent success 
which such attempts to improve the men have 
met points to possible failure for public libra- 
ries if they take up this work. It has been 
a matter of common experience, however, that 
advantages such as gratuitous instruction 
offered by employers are seldom appreciated 
by employees, for the majority become suspici- 
ous of the intentions, feeling that such efforts 
are being made in the interests of capital 
rather than labor. To the library this is a 
matter of less moment, for the public may be 



6o 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



made to have a feeling of ownership, which 
is synonymous with a feeling of interest. There 
may be means whereby the library may in- 
crease such interest. An experiment with 
this in view is to be tried by the Public 
Library at Madison, Wis., during the coming 
winter. It is proposed to have a series of 
informal talks or lectures given to the em- 
ployees of local factories upon technical sub- 
jects which may be of interest to them, a small 
charge to be made for the course. The pro- 
ceeds are to be used for the benefit of the 
technical library, books and periodicals being 
purchased which will be of most service to the 
contributors. Experience has shown that a 
free course of lectures will not retain the 
interest of the audience as will a course in 
which money is invested, and in addition to 
retaining such interest it is thought that the 
investment of the proceeds as before mentioned 
will increase the interest in the library. The 
lectures are to be given by local engineers and 
professors of the College of Engineering of the 
University of Wisconsin, and almost any 
public library can easily get up such a course 
of talks, as the technical men of the community 
will readily lend their assistance. 

The library, to be a place of study, requires a 
good list of reference books and journals. 
Current technical and trade periodicals would 
be a drawing card, and those who possess, 
even to a minor degree, the ability of self- 
education will find here their mental nourish- 
ment. In almost every industry there are now 
technical books and trade journals and cata- 
logues of very high educational value which 
may be acquired at a very small cost. A most 
valuable part of engineering and scientific 
literature is in such publications, and with 
bound volumes of the same the librarian might 
readily compile reading lists for those who 
desire to look up any particular line. 

Other reference books should be available, 



such as Kent's " Mechanical engineer's pocket 
book," Foster's " Pocket book on mechanical 
engineering," Trautwine on civil engineering, 
electrical and mechanical dictionaries, books 
for self-instructing in drafting, an excellent 
example of which is Davis' " Mechanical draw- 
ing and machine design." 

Books which are in many ways ideal for such 
reference library are those published by the In- 
ternational Correspondence Schools of Scran- 
ton, Pa., consisting of bound volumes of their 
lesson sheets on subjects such as electrical engi- 
neering, mechanical engineering, civil engineer- 
ing, shop practice, steam engineering, and 
various other lines. Each subject is treated in 
several volumes, taking it up from the very 
elementary point and gradually developing it 
through a comparatively advanced stage. A 
student may therefore take up a subject at any 
point to suit his preparation, and since the 
works are fairly complete, supplementary books 
are necessary. The books have been prepared 
by specialists and authorities in various lines, 
and have been successfully designed to meet the 
requirements of those seeking self-education. 
These works have in the past been available 
only to those who paid the fee as correspond- 
ence students, but the International Corre- 
spondence Schools have recently changed their 
policy to the extent of allowing public libraries 
to obtain their publications. 

If study of drafting and designing is to be 
carried on it might be advisable to place at the 
student's disposal drafting boards or tables. 
Other facilities might also be made available, 
but an enumeration of such extension work 
would carry me beyond my intended destination. 

By suitable scientific instruction the useful- 
ness of the industrial worker to society is in- 
creased, his horizon is broadened, the dignity 
of his calling is developed ; and no other agency 
seems as universally suited for furnishing such 
instruction as does the public library. 



JOSEPHSON. 



6l 



PLAN FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF AN INSTITUTE FOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL 

RESEARCH. 

BY AKSEL G. S. JOSEPHSON, The John Crerar Library, Chicago, III. 



F\URING the days of the discussion of the 
co-operative cataloging scheme a couple 
of years ago I presented to the Co-operation 
Committee of this Association a plan for a 
complete American bibliography. This plan 
was based on the same mechanical principle as 
the cataloging plan presented by the commit- 
tee at the Montreal conference, and provided 
for electrotypes to be made for single entries 
from which cards could be printed and which 
also could be used for printing of bibliographies 
in book form, to be kept up to date by cumula- 
tive supplements and cumulative new editions. 
My scheme for carrying on the work was also 
largely the same as that suggested by the com- 
mittee. The entries were in all cases to be 
made from the books or articles themselves, 
not from other bibliographies, and the work, it 
was suggested, might be done in co-operation 
by a number of leading libraries, the field of 
work to be divided according to the particular 
strength of each co-operating library. For in- 
stance : the literature previous to 1700 might 
be recorded by the New York Public Library, 
the copyrighted books after 1870 by the Li- 
brary of Congress, the literature of medicine by 
the Surgeon General's Library, that of geology 
by the United States Geological Survey, etc. 
A central bureau was to be established for the 
supervision of the work, for revision as well as 
for the printing and distribution of the cards 
and other publications. The cost of organiza- 
tion and maintenance until the undertaking 
would be self-supporting should be borne, it 
was suggested, by such national scientific so- 
cieties as might be interested in a scheme for 
an American bibliography. 

The Co-operation Committee expressed in 
its report to the Montreal conference the hope 
that the plans for the co-operative cataloging 
of books for libraries might pave the way for 
this plan. The Bibliographical Committee of 
the American Historical Association to which 
it had also been presented did not see its way 
to make any recommendation. 

Now, the failure of the scheme was inherent 



in the proposition that institutions, libraries 
and societies, founded to further certain defined 
interests, should spend a part of their income 
in the interest of an undertaking which, while 
touching their own interests at more than one 
point, could not be said to be part and parcel 
of their work. And it soon became clear to 
me that the only way to solve the problem 
would be through the establishment of a 
separate richly endowed institution, unaffili- 
ated but working in harmony and co-opera- 
tion with other institutions of learning. There 
are institutes established for chemical, medical, 
archaeological research. The bibliographical 
needs of American scholarship require the 
foundation of an institute for bibliographical 
research to be a centre for investigation and 
publication in the field of bibliography. The 
chief undertaking of such an institute, around 
which all its other work should centre, would 
naturally be the American bibliography, 
conceived in its very broadest sense, not 
merely covering literary productions printed in 
America, but also such dealing with American 
subjects and written by American authors, 
even though printed elsewhere. It would 
naturally be divided in two parts, the bibliog- 
raphy of current literature and the retrospec- 
tive bibliography of the past. The retrospective 
work should be taken up piecemeal, so that the 
most useful and so far most inadequately treated 
subjects be undertaken first. For instance, to 
attempt a complete bibliography of medicine, of 
American ethnology or geology, would be futile ; 
on the other hand, bibliographies of photog- 
raphy, of education, of fine art, of engineering, 
of bibliography, would be invaluable. All the 
work of the Institute should be conceived as 
parts of its American bibliography and as far 
as non-American publications are recorded, as 
parts of the universal bibliography which for 
centuries has been the dream of bibliographers 
and librarians. If I claim that this universal 
catalog is possible I base this assertion on the 
mechanical principle of electrotype plates for 
single entries. By using such plates, as much 



62 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



qf the work as is completed will always be ready 
for use, and nothing will ever be out of print. 

The bibliographical problem is international. 
An attempt to solve it from the standpoint of 
a single country, without proper attention to 
its international aspects, will invite failure. 
If a bibliographical institute be founded in this 
country it must seek co-operation with similar 
institutions in other countries. Such institu- 
tions are the International Council for the 
" Catalogue of scientific literature " in London, 
the Institut International de Bibliographic in 
Brussels, the Concilium Bibliographicum in 
Zurich. In this country various independent 
undertakings might be co-ordinated with each 
other and with the work of the Institute ; for in- 
stance, the bibliographical work of the Library 
of Congress and the various government bureaus 
at Washington, the co-operative cataloging of 
articles in serials carried out under the auspices 
of the A. L. A. Publishing Board, the several 
bibliographies of individual states in the 
Union published by the American Historical 
Association. 

The functions of an institute for bibliograph- 
ical research would by no means be exhausted 
with the preparation and publication of bibli- 
ographies according to a preconceived plan. 
Arrangements should be made by which stu- 
dents engaged in research might have special 
bibliographies prepared for them. It is highly 
important that literary investigators be re- 
lieved from the preliminary work of compiling 
bibliographies of the subject they intend to 
investigate, thus saving valuable time that 
would be more profitably spent in productive 
labor. There should also be provision for 
temporary employment of students and bibli- 
ographers, desirous of carrying out some spe- 
cial bibliographical work under the auspices 
of the institute. These would be paid on the 
basis of the salaries of the permanent officers 
of the institute and the result of their work 
published by it in its regular style, on cards 
and in books, printed from electrotypes. And 
societies such as the proposed American bibli- 
ographical society might make arrangements 
to have the institute issue their bibliograph- 
ical monographs. 

These are the three functions of modern 
bibliography: recording, classification, and 



evaluation. And the organization of the insti- 
tute should be planned so as to include all 
three. For each publication recorded there 
should be supplied 

(i.) A bibliographically accurate copy of 
the title, with collation and other descriptive 
notes, such as contents. 

(2.) The indication of its place in some 
recognized system of scientific classification. 

(3.) A note of evaluation telling the bias 
of the author, whether the work be based on 
original research or is a compilation from 
secondary sources, and whether it is a popular 
account or intended for students only. 

The staff of the institute would ultimately 
consist of a director, a chief clerk or business 
manager, a number of special bibliographers, 
scientific men, each a specialist in some field 
of research, and also trained in bibliographical 
method, with catalogers, indexers, and other 
clerical assistants. 

The cost of an institution of this kind must 
be considerable. The only way to establish it 
must be by a large endowment and by its 
utilizing existing institutions in all ways possi- 
ble. The Co-operation Committee estimated in 
its report to the Montreal conference the cost 
of preparing and printing cards at 85c. per title 
including electrotypes ; if the work of the pro- 
posed bibliographical institute be estimated on 
the same basis, we might calculate the cost from 
$i to $1.50 per title. While the ultimate en- 
dowment must be considerable, the work should 
begin in a moderate way. There must be a 
great deal of experimenting, a great deal of 
feeling one's way, before the sure path be found 
and an adequate basis made for the work. Some 
revenue might be expected from the sale of 
cards and book publications. The institute 
would, however, not be a commercial under- 
taking, and the prices of its publications 
should cover only the cost of stock, printing, 
and distribution. 

Perhaps the first step towards founding the 
institute would be to offer post-graduate in- 
struction in bibliography to scientists who 
desire to make it their life work, whether they 
be candidates for positions with the institute 
or wish to prepare themselves for bibliographi- 
cal work in general or for leading positions in 
libraries. 



JOHNSTON. 



THE WORK OF THE DIVISION OF BIBLIOGRAPHY, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
BY W. DAWSON JOHNSTON, Library of Congress. 



C OME ONE has said that the American stu- 
dent spends in copying title-pages the time 
that other people give to reading books. Per- 
haps this is true ; other people may not give 
much time to reading, or, the American student 
may get more from title-pages than other stu- 
dents get from books. But if it is true that we 
have devoted so much attention to bibliog- 
raphy, why have we so much still to do, and 
why has so much of our work been of merely 
local and temporary value? The reason, I be- 
lieve, may be this : we have been inclined to 
regard bibliography as we have been accus- 
tomed to regard the older sciences with which 
we have been familiar ; we have looked upon 
it as we have looked upon them, as the natural 
product of the intellect of the individual and 
the proper province of speculative thought. 
Little by little we are learning, however, that 
bibliography is a descriptive science, that its 
value as a science is in proportion to its com- 
pleteness and exactness, and that its complete- 
ness and exactness are dependent upon the 
systematic co-operation of professional bibli- 
ographers. In other words, we are recogniz- 
ing that it is no longer sufficient to leave our 
study about books to chance, to arrive at our 
knowledge of books by guess-work, to entrust 
our information concerning books to the mem- 
,ory. We are no longer content to print our 
books and turn them out into the world trusting 
that they will come back when needed ; we are no 
longer content to take the first book or any book 
on a subject from the shelves ; we are no longer 
content to trust our own opinion or that of 
.our neighbor regarding what we should read. 
Books that are interesting we have learned may 
be misinforming, and books that have at one 
time informed us may now be misleading. We 
must be instructed about books by the bibliog- 
rapher, just as we are instructed concerning 
other things by specialists, we have concluded. 
It is these things that have led us to see the 
importance of the organization of bibliograph- 
ical agencies and the consequent systematiza- 



tion of bibliographical knowledge for in all 
the descriptive sciences the one is the neces- 
sary condition of the other. Economic, geo- 
logical, and archaeological surveys are already 
recognized as the function of the state, and 
the individual who should undertake a census 
of the United States would simply amuse. 
And now we are beginning to see that the bib- 
liographical survey of the country is also the 
function of the state. 

In the middle of the last century librarians 
planned to make the Smithsonian the biblio- 
graphical center of the country. That institu- 
tion, with the co-operation of Henry Stevens, 
undertook the compilation of a Bibliographia 
Americana, and at the same time inaugurated 
the co-operative cataloguing of American libra- 
ries by the preparation and printing, according 
to the Jewett plan, of a catalogue of the col- 
lection of ancient history in the Library of 
Congress. In 1854, however, the Regents 
withdrew their support from the library and all 
the librarian's bibliographical undertakings fell 
to the ground. 

After the failure of these plans at the 
Smithsonian, a " Student of American biblio- 
graphy " suggested in the Historical Magazine 
(vol. 2, p. 335, November, 1859) the forma- 
tion of an American Bibliographical Associa- 
tion, the object of which should be the 
preparation of a complete national bibliog- 
raphy. With a board of government, library, 
and bibliographical collections at some central 
point, he said, and with the cooperation of 
the members of the Association, and the publi- 
cation of quarterly or semi-annual bulletins, 
much, very much, might be done towards the 
accomplishment of the desired result. It was 
not, however, until 1876 that such an associa- 
tion, the American Library Association, was 
formed. And it was not until 1886 that the 
Association recognized the importance of its 
bibliographical functions by the establishment 
of the Publishing Section, and not until 1897 
that the Association fully recognized the pos- 



6 4 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



sibilities of its relations with the national 
library, and sought re-incorporation under the 
laws of the United States, with headquarters 
at Washington. During the early history of 
the Association all the bibliographical work of 
the Association was published in its official 
organ, the Library Journal. With the estab- 
lishment of the Publishing Section, however, 
more elaborate bibliographical undertakings 
were planned for the Association. Among 
these the report upon the organization of the 
Section mentioned, (i) the printing of cata- 
logue cards of leading new publications, (2) 
the essay index, (3) the indexing of scientific 
serials, transactions, and monographs, and (4) 
an index to bibliographical lists ; and con- 
cluded with the following remark "One of 
the most important functions of the Publishing 
Section will be the establishing of an under- 
standing between the many librarians who are 
engaged on one or another bibliographical 
undertaking, often covering the same ground, 
or at least overlapping, where a mutual under- 
standing would lead to an equitable division of 
the field. And it is believed that more of this 
special work would be intelligently done in 
one and another library if there were some 
central agency through which a proper division 
of labor could be arranged." 

These plans were for the most part 
realized during the decade following the 
establishment of the Section: catalogue 
cards for current books, the "A. L. A. 
index to general literature," and cards for 
current periodicals were published, and an- 
notated lists issued of books on fine art, 
American and British history. The carrying 
on of these undertakings by this Association 
was an important step in the history of Ameri- 
can libraries. They were, however, so far de- 
pendent upon the beneficence of individuals 
that their continuation appeared problematical. 
At this juncture the possibilities of the national 
library, then recently reorganized, began to 
be felt. After the accession of the present 
librarian they were recognized by the state 
also, and during the past year the first and 
most practical of the bibliographical functions 
of the Association, the cataloging of current 
literature, has been delegated to the Library of 
Congress. Doubtless it will soon delegate to 



the library other bibliographical functions also, 
and require other bibliographical duties. So 
that while the Association will remain the 
legislative body of American librarians, its 
administrative duties will be more and more 
discharged, under its direction, at the national 
library, and the dream of Professor Jewett and 
of that anonymous " Student of American 
bibliography " at last be realized : an associ- 
ation of American bibliographers, and that 
association the trustee of the greatest biblio- 
graphical institution the world has known, a 
body which never dies, a treasury which is 
never empty. 

It is not for me at this time to speak of the 
extent, the character, and the significance of 
all the bibliographical work of the national 
library ; the great bibliographical collections 
may be described at another time, the value of 
service in the library as an education in scientific 
bibliography is patent to all, and the inestima- 
ble value of the work of the large corps of spe- 
cialists attached to the library staff can best be 
demonstrated by themselves. 

Neither is this the place to describe and com- 
ment upon the bibliographical work of the 
country at large to speak, for example, of 
the value of such local biblicgraphical work 
as is being done by the United States Govern- 
ment, the Virginia Historical Society, the Ohio 
State Library, the New York Public Library, 
the Kansas City Public Library, Columbia Uni- 
versity, and Cornell University. This may be 
described elsewhere. I may be allowed, how- 
ever, to say something about the character of 
the Division of Bibliography of the Library of 
Congress, because that is the only bibliograph- 
ical institution in the country, and a distinct- 
ive feature of the organization of the national 
library. 

The policy of the librarian regarding this 
branch of the service of the library is defined 
in his published statements to be, the pursuit 
of investigations involving research too elabo- 
rate for the attendants in the reading-room, or 
in form inconvenient for them to handle expe- 
ditiously, the compilation of lists of references 
on topics of current interest, particularly upon 
topics which are the subject of investigation, 
discussion, or possible legislation by Congress, 
the recommendation for acquisition by the 



JOHNSTON. 



library of such useful books as in the course of 
the foregoing duties and from specific exam- 
ination of bibliographies and reviews, the Divi- 
sion discovers to be lacking, and, in the last 
place, the cooperation with other libraries in 
all useful bibliographic undertakings. 

In the pursuit of this policy the Division, 
under the direction of Mr. Griffin, has since 
its establishment answered 2,125 communica- 
tions asking for bibliographical information. 
In the investigation of the questions thus pre- 
sented, and particularly in the course of the 
investigations which have led to the published 
lists of references upon the questions of the 
day, the deficiencies in the library's collections 
have been discovered and recommendations 
which would lead to the supply of these defi- 
ciencies made by the Division. These recom- 
mendations have numbered 11,197 since the 
establishment of the Division. These are the 
most important functions of the Division 
the answer of bibliographical questions pre- 
sented to the library, and the systematic 
building up of a collection of books at the 
capital which will make possible the answer 
to all such questions. 

In answering some of the questions which 
have been referred to this Division it has been 
necessary to compile extended lists of ref- 
erences. Of these the most complete have 
been printed; the selected lists are either in 
typewritten form or on cards. 

Of the first class are the following : 
Lists on Colonies and Trusts, each of 

which has gone through two editions. 
Lists on Reciprocity, Mercantile marine 
subsidies, the Danish West Indies, 
Porto Rico, and Samoa and Guam, and 
a list on Irrigation, which is in press. 
The following lists remain in typewritten 
form : 

Lists on the Monroe Doctrine, the Trans- 
Siberian railway, Immigration, Cabinets 
of England and America, Jury system, 
American invasion of British commerce, 
Anglo-Saxon alliance, Postal service of 
the United States, Educational qualifi- 
cations for suffrage, Study and teaching 
of history, State banks and banking, 
Universal postal union and parcel post, 
Popular election of senators, Chinese in 



America, Municipal affairs, the Navy, 
Industrial arbitration, Iron industry in 
Sweden and Russia, Liquor question, 
Gothenburg system, Municipal owner- 
ship of street railways, Mormonism, 
Party system, Presidential inaugura- 
tions, Cuban campaign of the Spanish- 
American war, Constitution of the 
United States, Postal savings banks, 
Highway improvements, Annexation of 
Cuba, Compulsory education, Compul- 
sory voting, Convict labor, Expansion. 
These are selected lists intended for the use 
of the library, but if needed for use elsewhere 
may be expanded and published. 

In addition to these published and type- 
written lists are lists still on cards. Among 
these are : 

Lists on Alaska, American State Archives, 
Anarchy, British Columbia, The Budget, 
the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, Commerce, 
Comparative legislation, Constitutional 
law, Eight-hour day, Genealogy, Eng- 
lish local history, Far west, Indian 
names, International arbitration, Inter- 
national law, Land tenures, Library 
training, National university, the Negro, 
Nineteenth century, The Philippines, 
Proportional representation, Railroad 
finance, Siberia, Spain, Sugar, Trans- 
portation, and Triumphal arches. 
These lists are accessible within the Division, 
and when required will be either typewritten or 
printed and published. 

An advance upon the mere list of references 
has been made in treating the subjects of ap- 
portionment and the treaty-making power. 
The Division has prepared an analytical and 
digested list of documents and discussions upon 
the apportionment of representatives from the 
first apportionment in 1879 to ^ e present 
time. 

There has also been prepared a bibliograph- 
ical account of the treaty-making power of the 
United States, giving the authorities on inter- 
national law and constitutional law which set 
forth the various views of the powers of the 
state in its foreign relations and which afford a 
comparison between the methods of making 
treaties in the United States and Great Britain. 
The references included likewise trace the 



66 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



history of the growth of the treaty-making 
power under the Confederation and Constitu- 
tion and point out the sources dealing with the 
discussions that have arisen over the constitu- 
tionality of special treaties. A chronological 
conspectus of the latter is given in addition to 
an enumeration of general discussions of the 
subject. 

The Division also has in preparation a bib- 
liographical account of the origins and devel- 
opment of the Senate. 

These papers are in the nature of biblio- 
graphical histories. 

The Division has also cooperated with 
libraries and bibliographers in useful biblio- 
graphical enterprises. Among these may be 
mentioned the preparation of the " Union list of 
periodicals currently received in the libraries 
of the District of Columbia," published last 
year, the preparation of lists of American edi- 
tions of Milton, works on the metric system, 
works on local history, etc. 

In this way the Division is of service to the 
student and the reference librarian. 

But the Division seeks to be of special ser- 
vice to the bibliographer. It has access to the 
largest collection of bibliographical material on 
the continent, and therefore has in preparation 
a list of special bibliographies ; it has also full 
information regarding such bibliographical 
work as is in progress. Some of this was pub- 
lished in an article on " Present bibliographi- 
cal undertakings in the United States," in the 
Library Journal, September, 1901. This in- 
formation regarding bibliography both retro- 
spective and current should prove of special 
value to the bibliographer. 

The significance of this branch of the work 
of the national library may be pointed out in 
a few words. First, it should make unneces- 
sary much of the work now expended on refer- 
ence lists by smaller libraries ; second, together 
with the work of the other branches of the 
library, it should make possible the ultimate 
correlation and completion of the bibliograph- 
ical work of the country. Of some 1,225 lists 
recorded in Miss Newman's "Index to sub- 
ject bibliographies in library bulletins," about 
one-half are duplicates. Of these lists, n re- 
lated to municipal government, 12 to education, 
13 to music, 13 to botany, 13 to electricity, 



and 14 to Christmas, and of the 45 libraries 
referred to, in 1895, 7 prepared lists on the 
Armenian question ; in 1896, 6 prepared lists 
on South Africa and the Boer question, 10 
lists on Cuba, and 34 lists on the currency 
question; in 1897, 9 prepared lists on the 
Cretan rebellion, and 14 lists on the Alaskan 
gold fields. And this enormous waste of labor 
still goes on, as the quarterly index to refer- 
ence lists published by libraries, compiled by 
the Providence Public Library, shows. In 

1899, for example, 10 more lists on South 
Africa and the Boer question were compiled in 
addition to the 6 compiled in 1896, and in 

1900, 17 lists were published upon the sub- 
ject of China and the Far Eastern question. 
Much of this waste of labor, time, and money 
on the part of local libraries may, perhaps, be 
saved by the use of the publications of this 
bibliographical bureau and by the preparation 
and publication by this bureau of comprehensive 
lists of references upon all questions which are 
at once of popular interest and practical value. 
Such lists would serve the double purpose, when 
checked up, of indicating both the resources 
and the wants of the library in which they were 
used, and so prove, potentially, many times as 
valuable as the lists now printed by the local 
library.* At the same time this would give the 
local library the freedom in which to carry on 
the bibliographical work which the national 
library cannot do and which the local library, 
or the library possessing collections of unique 
value, can do. 

I need not dwell upon the influence of local 
bibliographical work upon local library inter- 
ests, and upon the possibilities of cooperation 
between the local librarian and the local printer, 
journalist, and man-of-letters in the preserva- 
tion of the local literature. I must, however, 
emphasize the fact that the local collection and 
record of local literature is essential to a com- 
plete collection and record of the national 
literature, and that while the results of the 
work done by local libraries may be brought 



* I do not mean -by this that these lists are bibliogra- 
phies, but that those which are of value represent bib- 
liographical work and an expenditure of time which would 
better be employed in the study of such bibliographical 
lists as mayor should be published by such a bibliogra- 
phical bureau as I have referred to. \V. D. J. 



HASTINGS. 



together at the national library, while there 
may be a bibliographical clearing-house at 
Washington, the initial bibliographical work 
of the country, work similar to that done by the 
New York Public Library, for example, must 
be done by the local libraries. 

Nor need I more than refer to the fact that 
bibliographical catalogues of special collections, 
like the Avery collection at Columbia Univer- 
sity, or the Dante collection at Cornell, are 
essential not only to their extended usefulness 
to the student, but also to the organic develop- 
ment of such collections, for by such a cata- 
logue only can a collection, what it has, and 
what it lacks, be made known to those collec- 
tors who can, perhaps, best supply its wants. 
The bibliographical work of the local collector 
and of the special scientific collector are thus 
both essential. 

The addition and multiplication of the re- 
sults of their work may be the work of the 
national library ; this work it has sought to 
accomplish in the past and will, under the 



librarian's direction, seek to accomplish in the 
future, in these three ways, and under these 
three heads the bibliographical work of the 
library may be summarized : 

(1) By keeping a record of all bibliograph- 

ical work, past and present ; 

(2) By preparing lists of references upon all 

popular questions ; and, 

(3) Through the Catalogue Division, by 

preparing and publishing a biblio- 
graphical record of every book which 
should find a place on the shelves of 
the national library, that is, on the 
shelves of the libraries of the United 
States. 

These things are indicative of the biblio- 
graphical work which the National Library has 
already undertaken ; what further work it will 
undertake depends upon the needs and wishes 
of the students of the United States, and their 
representatives in Congress assembled, and 
especially upon the wishes and advice of the 
members of this Association. 



THE CARD DISTRIBUTION WORK OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
BY C. H. HASTINGS, Library of Congress. 



'THE work of distributing printed catalogue 
cards to libraries was commenced by the 
Library of Congress about Nov. i, 1901. Up 
to June 14, 1902, 170 libraries had subscribed 
for cards. In addition to these there were on 
the list of subscribers seven individuals, mostly 
university professors, who subscribe for cards 
in their special lines. 

The libraries using the cards may be classi- 
fied as follows : 

Public libraries of 100,000 volumes or more, 
16; public libraries of from 25,000 to 100,000 
volumes, 44; public libraries of from 10,000 to 
25,000 volumes, 30 ; public libraries of less than 
10,000 volumes, 28; university libraries, 12; 
college libraries, 14 ; high school and normal 
school libraries, 4; libraries of departments 
and bureaus of the United States government, 
4 ; state libraries, 7 ; theological libraries, 2 ; 
law libraries, 2 ; technological libraries, 3 ; 



libraries of historical societies, 2 ; one art 
institute library, one bibliographical society. 

Up to June 1 6th 20 depository libraries 
had been selected, namely : Atlanta Carnegie, 
Brooklyn Public, Cleveland Public, Denver 
Public, Fiske Free and Public (New Orleans), 
Illinois State, John Crerar (Chicago), Johns 
Hopkins University (Baltimore), McGill Uni- 
versity (Montreal), Mechanics 1 Institute (San 
Francisco), Massachusetts State, New York 
Public, New York State, Philadelphia Free, St. 
Louis Public, University of Minnesota, Univer- 
sity of Nebraska, University of Pennsylvania, 
University of Texas, Wisconsin State His- 
torical. 

Statistics in detail of each order filled during 
the month of May show that during that 
month about one-half of the cards sold were to 
fill orders by serial number. It goes without 
saying that, except for an occasional card out 



68 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



of print, cards can always be furnished when 
ordered by serial number. The test comes in 
filling orders submitted by author and title. 
During May cards were supplied for approxi- 
mately three-fourths of the titles submitted in 
this form. The proportion, then, of sets of 
cards supplied to titles ordered, reckoning both 
serial number and author and title orders, was 
approximately seven-eighths. 

The experience of the libraries using the 
cards has been so well summed up in the 
report of the Committee on Library Admin- 
istration, and in the paper on the subject in 
the June number of the Library Journal, that 
further statistics in regard to the matter seem 
unnecessary. Accordingly I shall devote the 
rest of the paper mainly to a discussion of 
some of the chief difficulties in the card distri- 
bution work, with a statement of what is being 
done by the Library of Congress to overcome 
the difficulties, and wherein the libraries sub- 
scribing for cards may assist in their solution. 

i . Delay in receiving the copyrighted books. 
The framers of the present copyright law 
evidently had no prevision as to card distribu- 
tion work. The law simply requires, as to 
deposit of copies, that "on or before the day 
of publication in this or any foreign country 
two copies be delivered at the office of the 
Librarian of Congress or deposited in the mails 
within the United States addressed to the Li- 
brarian of Congress." As the law now stands, 
it is entirely possible for a New York publisher 
to conform to it and yet place copies of a pub- 
lication in the hands of individuals and libra- 
ries one day before the deposit copies reach 
the Copyright Office at Washington. There 
are excellent reasons for supposing that pub- 
lishers sometimes give themselves at least three 
days of grace, after the publication of a book, 
before sending in the copies to the Copyright 
Office. In addition to this there are usually a 
few books each month, probably less than one 
per cent, of the whole, which through careless- 
ness on the part of publishers or authors come 
to hand weeks after publication, or do not 
come at all, unless a letter of inquiry is sent 
out by the Copyright Office. 

Another provision of the law that causes 
trouble is one requiring that there shall be de- 



posited a copy of every subsequent edition of 
a book " wherein any substantial changes shall 
be made." The question as to how much con- 
stitutes a substantial change and who is to be 
the judge as to the same not being settled by 
the law, room is left for a variety of interpre- 
tation with the result that the later edition 
may or may not come to the Copyright Office, 
while reprints bearing a new date and requir- 
ing a new card quite as much as a new edition, 
are not sent in at all. The non-copyrighting 
of new editions is especially noticeable and an- 
noying in the case of law books. 

In spite, however, of disturbing exceptions, 
the fact remains that the great majority of 
copyright books come to hand promptly after 
publication, so that, after allowing for the time 
that it takes to catalogue the books and get 
the cards into stock, 90 per cent, of the cards 
for current copyrighted books, on the average, 
are ready when orders are received for them. 
But the question remains what can be done 
about the other ten per cent. The Copyright 
Office has changed its routine so that books 
are sent to the catalogue department as soon 
as they are received, and it stands ready at any 
time to investigate a case of failure to send in 
the deposit copies. Clearly the Copyright 
Office is doing all it can under the present law 
to facilitate the prompt production of cards for 
copyrighted books. 

After the books are received in the Catalogue 
Division, two weeks, on the average, are re- 
quired to produce printed cards from them. 
Several days might be saved here were it not 
for the necessity of holding titles to get a form 
of five which can be given a subject heading 
in the proof. It is possible that ways will yet 
be devised to materially reduce the time re- 
quired for cataloguing. 

As far as the filling of the orders by the Card 
Distribution Section is concerned, excepting 
in the case of very large orders, it seldom 
happens that the order remains unfilled for 
over two days. This much delay has been 
necessary owing to the fact that orders come 
in very irregularly. After the ist of July, 
when the overflow in the catalogue room will 
be placed in the card distribution room, we 
expect to have a force sufficiently elastic to 



HASTINGS. 



6 9 



enable us to fill almost any order within 
twenty-four hours. 

In spite of what has been done and can be 
done to expedite the work, there is likely to 
remain always a percentage of copyrighted 
books for which cards cannot be furnished if a 
library orders them immediately after the pub- 
lication of the book. 

A wait of two weeks, according to the report 
of the Committee on Library Administration 
and according to our own experience, will usu- 
ally enable the library to obtain most of the 
others, probably nine out of ten per cent. We 
prefer to have the waiting done at the other 
end of the line, it saves checking and filing on 
our part, and it would seem that it ought to be 
a saving to the library ordering cards. How- 
ever, if libraries do not choose to wait a couple 
of weeks for the 90 per cent, in order to get the 
99 per cent, all at once, we will continue to 
hold titles for cards just as we have done in 
the past. We will also hold titles longer in 
order to secure the hundredth per cent., but 
we do not advise libraries to wait for this last 
per cent., as it is sometimes a very elusive 
quantity. 

2. The number and variety of current non- 
copyrighted books ordered by American libraries. 
The number of very important books in this 
class for which cards are ordered by libraries is 
of course not large. The Library of Congress 
might easily buy all of them, and by waiting a 
year or two it would probably become apparent 
in one way or another what the most important 
books were. This seems to have been, to some 
extent at least, the old way of selecting books 
at the Library of Congress. But when the card 
distribution work began the Library of Congress 
was all at once called upon to be as up-to-date 
as all the up-to-date libraries on the list of sub- 
scribers to the cards. It was expected to have 
cards not only for the most important books, 
but for all of the books which chanced to strike 
the fancy of librarians. The result can be in- 
ferred. 

The attempt to reduce the time necessary to 
secure cards for books ordered to a matter of 
definite periods with definite checks, which 
worked very well in the case of copyrighted 
books, has been more or less unsuccessful in 



the case of non-copyrighted books. The time 
set has often proved too short, and not in- 
frequently a book which we thoroughly ex- 
pected would be ordered, has for some reason 
not been ordered. 

The fact is recognized by those having to do 
with the ordering of books at the Library of 
Congress that it, being primarily a reference 
library, can never hope to buy and never ought 
to buy many books which may properly be 
bought by public libraries. At the same time 
there is a disposition to buy such books as we 
care to have promptly on their appearance and 
to send the books on to the catalogue depart- 
ment as quickly as possible. Books of this 
class for which there seems likely to be a large 
current demand for cards are now bought in 
New "York, have a " hasten " slip inserted in 
them, and are sent to the Catalogue Division 
within two days after being received. In the 
Catalogue Division they are pushed through 
along with the copyright books, and cards are 
ready for them within two weeks. . 

To facilitate the prompt selection of such 
books the work of selecting them has recently 
been organized in such a way as to give the 
heads of Divisions, and others interested, a 
certain portion of the field and a certain num- 
ber of critical journals for which each is held 
responsible. 

The percentage of cards for non-copyrighted 
books which we have been able to furnish thus 
far is admitted to be small. Fifteen per cent, 
of those ordered would probably be an outside 
estimate. Unless there should be a marked 
gain in the number of volumes received and in 
the promptness with which they are received, 
the conclusion of the Committee on Library Ad- 
ministration, that the percentage of cards sup- 
plied for orders relating to this class of books 
is so small that it does not pay to order them 
except by serial number, is manifestly true of 
libraries which cannot wait ; but the reward for 
waiting here is much greater than in the case 
of copyrighted books. One large library, the 
best waiter on our list, reports that it gets cards 
for sixty-eight per cent, of the titles which it 
submits for foreign books ; another large library 
which submits its orders in the same way, but 
is a poor waiter, gets apparently only five per 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



cent, of the cards ordered. In view of the 
present effort being made by the Library of 
Congress to get a respectable number of this 
class of books on its shelves promptly we trust 
that some of the libraries, even though much 
disappointed in regard to the percentage of 
cards furnished in this class, will continue to 
experiment in ordering them a while longer. 

3. Ordering cards for books announced, but 
not yet published. This practice is a source 
of expense to us, and the advantage to the 
library ordering cards for such books must 
be a doubtful one. Orders for cards for 
Larned's " Guide to the literature of American 
history " have been coming in ever since the 
card distribution work began in November. 
Marconi's "Wireless telegraphy" is another 
old offender. Orders are constantly being 
received for books in series, some of which 
we believe are still in a nebulous state in 
the mind of the author. After the publica- 
tion of the spring announcement number of the 
Publishers' 1 Weekly the proportion of titles of 
books announced in the orders received was 
something alarming, in view of the fact that no 
charge could be made for looking them up. 
This has been remedied in the new price list, 
but we earnestly hope that the up-to-date li- 
braries on our list will remain satisfied with 
being up-to-date and cease to speculate in 
futures. 

4. The smattness of the orders. The aver- 
age size of the orders received amounts to less 
than one dollar ; each order must be put 
through from half a dozen to a dozen proc- 
esses according to circumstances. It is easily 
possible to come out the loser in handling the 
smaller packages. A few libraries on the list 
have inclined to the idea at times that a small 
daily order is the thing. From our point of 
view a weekly order is much more proper. 

In connection with small orders a word may 
be said in regard to other small items in the 
book-keeping. In order to dispense with the 
services of a special book-keeper it is necessary 
to keep the accounts as few and as simple as 
possible. While we cheerfully give credit for 
cards returned on which we have made a mis- 
take, we cannot give credit with the same 
cheerfulness, or at all, on cards in the case of 



which the mistake was made by the library 
ordering the cards. Two or three cards, once 
they are removed from the stock, are poor 
property. We do not wish them returned 
even as a gift, much less can we give credit 
for them and write a polite note of acknowl- 
edgement. 

5 . The fixed expenses of the card distribu- 
tion work. For the satisfactory carrying on 
of the work four complete catalogues of the 
printed cards are now in use or are being pre- 
pared. In addition to these a catalogue of 
copyrighted books in the process of cataloguing, 
a catalogue of books ordered for which cards 
are wanted, and a catalogue of oddities and 
suspects for which we haven't cards and are 
trying to find out why not, are required. 
These catalogues must be kept up-to-date to 
the hour or they cannot be relied upon for 
filling current orders. 

The work of the assistant in charge of dis- 
tribution, and of the stenographer, is to a 
large extent not productive of direct returns 
in the way of cards sold. Add to these ex- 
penses about a thousand dollars a year for the 
storage of cards and it will be seen that the 
fixed expenses are at present large. If the 
amount of cards sold should increase to two 
or three times what it is at present, the fixed 
expenses, inasmuch as they will remain prac- 
tically the same, will not be so formidable, 
but just at present they are an important and 
disturbing factor in the work from the financial 
point of view. 

In the new regulation as to the sale of cards 
which we have distributed to such of the sub- 
scribers to cards as are present at Magnolia, I 
wish to call attention to a few points : 

Notice that the regulations are in the form of 
proof sheets merely and are not to be accepted 
as final. The purpose of distributing them 
here is to enable subscribers to make sugges- 
tions to members of the Library of Congress 
staff present if they care to do so, or to submit 
them in writing at any time before June 27. 

The chief changes made in the method of 
distribution appear most plainly in the price 
list. 

In view of the fact that the working catalogues 
necessary for carrying on the business have 



HASTINGS. 



not yet been completed, that cards are still 
stored for the most part on temporary tables, 
and that the force required to carry on the 
work when at a normal, can as yet only be 
estimated approximately, it is recognized that 
any scale of prices fixed on at this time must 
still be tentative. A year later it may be prac- 
ticable to announce a relatively permanent price 
list, but for the present we have contented 
ourselves with a readjustment of the old prices 
so as to make them correspond more nearly 
to the cost of cards, including the expense of 
handling them under different circumstances. 
The price for orders submitted in the form of 
serial numbers remains exactly the same, but 
in the price for orders submitted by author and 
title, one half cent has been added to the price 
of the first card to cover the cost of looking up 
the serial number and other items of work in- 
volved in handling orders by author and title. 
Provision is also made for extra charges.in the 
case of lists which are not made out in the re- 
quired form. 

The proper subscription price for the proof 
sheets is still under debate, and it is not un- 
likely that the price indicated on the proof 
sheets will be changed in the final issue of the 
regulations. It is obvious that the proof sheets 
are issued to furnish a convenient means of 
ordering cards. If used for that purpose, 
notice that there is a provision for a rebate in 
the price up to the full cost of the proof. If 
not used for that purpose they should bear a 
much larger share of the cost of typesetting 
and fixed expenses of the card distribution 
work than is indicated by the price given. 

In the price of cards -subscribed for by classes 
and subjects there has been a very marked re- 
duction. Instead of paying two cents each for 
cards on his specialty, the specialist can now 
get them for less than one cent if he will take 
the whole group. 

The first six classes of cards offered for 
subscription are designed to be used by 



libraries in place of proof sheets if they so 
prefer. 

Class four, representing cards for a selection 
of the more important books printed in English 
and the most important books in other lan- 
guages, and Class five, representing current 
non-copyrighted books printed in English, are 
especially designed for the smaller libraries. 
It is true that either selection will cost more 
than the proofs ; but cataloging is a compara- 
tively expensive process at best, and it is 
thought that the selection of cards will be found 
superior to the proof sheets in so many respects 
that they will well repay the extra cost. 

The points of superiority may be briefly 
summed up as follows : 

i . No further expenditure of time is required 
for preparing them for filing in a card case, as 
is required in the case of proof sheets ; 2, in 
case a book is received which is catalogued by 
one of the cards, one card is ready at hand to 
be used in the main author catalogue or in 
some other way as a check on the book ; 3, 
the same card furnishes the means of ordering 
more cards by serial number with the least ex- 
penditure of time and money ; 4, the collection 
of cards not used at once can be regarded as a 
bibliography of books which the library may 
wish to buy in future, as well as a selection of 
titles which may interest some of its readers ; 
5, the non-current titles in the proof sheets are 
for most purposes an objection, in that each 
must be scanned in order to ascertain that it is 
not wanted. In the case of cards, on the other 
hand, the non-current cards need not be re- 
ceived at all. 

The demand that the proof sheets be con- 
tinued is so positive that there is no chance of 
their being suspended for the present. At the 
same time, it seems probable that enough 
libraries will be interested in the plan of sub- 
scription to cards in place of proof sheets to 
make it worth while to sort the cards in the 
way required by such subscriptions. 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE, 



HOME LIBRARIES AND READING CLUBS. 
BY GERTRUDE SACKETT, Supervisor of Home Libraries, Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh, Pa. 



CTATISTICS show that the majority of a 
large city's population will not come to the 
library, and a progressive librarian feels his re- 
sponsibility greatest toward those whose igno- 
rance keeps them from understanding their 
own need. A part of the mission of the mod- 
ern library is to awaken a knowledge of this 
need and then to meet it adequately. If to do 
this is necessary and important in the case of 
adults it becomes doubly so with children, who 
are in the most important habit-forming period 
of life. 

In the city of Pittsburgh with its population 
of 321,000 there are about 100,000 children of 
a reading age. Of these not one-half are 
drawing books from our six children's rooms, 
and only a small number find it possible to 
get them from our deposit collections in the 
schools. What then of the remainder, to the 
most of whom the moral and educational influ- 
ence of good books is denied, whose concep- 
tions of life are allowed to form according to 
the precarious standards of their homes and 
neighborhoods? For the majority of these 
children are found nested in our crowded tene- 
ment districts or in the cheapest outskirts of 
our cities. There they live unnatural lives full 
of unchildlike scenes and lawless excitement. 

Of the children who may be said to form our 
non-library attending public excluding a 
small proportion who find food for the imagin- 
ative and investigative mind within their own 
homes we may make three broad classes : 

1. Those who wish to read, but to whom 
books are inaccessible. 

2. Those who have no interest in books be- 
cause they do not know them. 

3. Those who are omnivorous readers, but 
of the worst, most pernicious type of literature. 

In the first class are children who living at a 
distance cannot afford car-fare, or those chil- 
dren whose early life of drudgery at home, in 
the mill, factory, or shop, renders their over- 
tired bodies unable to make any extra physical 
exertion. To such the desire to read either 
inherited or acquired soon, through lack of 



nourishment, grows into indifference and finally 
dies. The cravings of the imagination are 
deadened, imagination which in its different 
stages brings with it the joy and beauty of our 
lives, and without which life is reduced to the 
dull monotony of hard facts. 

In the second group are placed those chil- 
dren in whose lives books have no place, whose 
interest is lacking because books are unknown. 
Such children we have found playing in the 
very shadow of a library building ; a library, 
yes, but what that word represented, that it 
had any significance for them, they knew not 
nor cared. Perhaps their curiosity may have 
carried them beyond its portals, but the beauty, 
order, and quiet of the building, so different 
from their own disordered lives and homes, 
awed and embarrassed them, bringing to them a 
keen consciousness of their own unkempt con- 
dition. This can often be successfully over- 
come by the children's librarian if she is able 
to give them sufficient attention ; if not, it 
may prove to the children an experience not to 
be lightly encountered a second time. And in 
this case interest must be aroused in some 
simple personal way, usually in their own 
home. 

But by far the largest, most dangerous, and 
hopeless class are those who are already insa- 
tiable readers, but of most pernicious literature. 
I do not refer to that class of reading which is 
in itself harmless, but which wastes time, and 
demanding no thought, stupefies the mental 
faculties. I refer to that which is positively 
harmful, which makes crime attractive and 
dresses immorality in enviable luxury. It is a 
fallacy to think that the poorer classes are not 
reading. They are, how much we cannot 
adequately estimate ; if we could, I think we 
would be startled out of our complacent inac- 
tivity in the matter. Go, as I have, week after 
week on Saturday evening to a stationer's in 
one of the crowded portions of the city and 
watch the steady stream of people who seek 
the tiers of illy assorted novels and the rows 
of cheap magazines and newspapers. Note 



SACKETT. 



73 



their selections. Watch what the messenger 
boys on the street cars and the shop girls at 
noon hours read. Examine the books you find 
under the bed, on the dressers, trunks, or 
kitchen tables rarely in the parlors of their 
homes, and then marvel that human nature 
is so innately good, that we have as high a 
standard of morals and citizenship as we have. 
Pittsburgh I speak of it only as the city I 
know best has eight well-equipped book 
stores. In fearful opposition are the uncounted 
hundreds of little stores where cigars, bad 
candy, and worse literature are alluringly dis- 
played. There books may be rented for the 
nominal sum of one to ten cents, or purchased 
at a price ranging anywhere from five to fifty 
cents. Unfortunately, the worse the book the 
lower the price. '' I like Conan Doyle," said 
a lad of fifteen, " but he comes high. You 
can get a lot of this for a nickel," indicating 
a second-hand copy of Jesse James. That boy 
lives within short walking distance of a public 
library. He is now an enthusiastic member of 
a library club. Occasionally Jesse James or 
the Old Sleuth still peeps from his pocket while 
he pores over the books on the club table. 
Lately he asked for the " Last days of Pompeii," 
and another boy, a club member, complained 
that he had not time to read " Rip Van Winkle " 
during the week, as his friend had borrowed it. 
A taste for exciting and immoral literature once 
firmly established is hard to counteract, but 
taken in time is easily guided into other chan- 
nels. Not poverty of food and clothes, but 
poverty of higher ideals and better standards 
of living is the greatest need from which these 
children suffer. Believing as we do in the 
elevating power of books, how can we best 
bring them to these children to make their 
lives broader, fuller, and richer, thus leading 
them to a better citizenship and a higher civili- 
zation ? 

Mr. C. W. Birtwell, of the Children's Aid 
Society of Boston, found a solution for this 
problem when, seventeen years ago in a tene- 
ment house, he gathered a group of children 
about him and nailed upon the wall the first 
home library. Since then a complete system 
of travelling home libraries has sprung up in 
Boston under his thoughtful supervision, and 
the work is spreading throughout the country. 
Mrs. E. M. Fairchild, of the New York State 



Library, was the first to realize the importance 
of this work in connection with libraries, and 
to introduce it into the city of Albany. 

In response to ninety-five letters sent to the 
libraries and charitable organizations of the 
principal cities of the United States, we have 
received twelve answers reporting the intro- 
duction of home libraries. These answers show 
four different methods of administration : The 
administration of home libraries under charita- 
ble institutions, under libraries, under charita- 
ble institutions and libraries in conjunction, or 
under library schools and associations. Of 
those supervised by charitable institutions, 
Boston has 60 home libraries, Baltimore 30, 
Chicago 30, and Philadelphia 4 ; of those un- 
der public libraries, the New York Public Li- 
brary reports 25, Cincinnati 15, Helena 2, and 
Pittsburgh 31. Under charitable associations 
and libraries combined, Providence reports 10. 
Under library schools and associations, Chi- 
cago 10, Brooklyn 5, and Buffalo 8. Much 
work is being done under the direction of uni- 
versity students and social settlements', which 
in its aim is akin to that of the home libraries. 
As yet Boston and Pittsburgh are the only 
cities having supervisors whose entire time is 
given to furthering the work of the home libra- 
ries. This special supervision is certainly im- 
portant, as overtaxed librarians or philanthropic 
workers have not adequate time and strength 
apart from their regular duties for the problems 
constantly presenting themselves in home 
library work. 

Books for the home libraries are either gifts 
of public-spirited citizens, as in Albany, Balti- 
more, Boston, Brooklyn, Helena, and Pitts- 
burgh, or they are taken directly from the 
shelves of the public library as at Buffalo, 
Cincinnati, New York, and Providence. The 
selection of the books, whether donated or 
taken from the shelves of the public library, 
should rest with the supervisor or a spe- 
cially appointed committee familiar with both 
books and children. Twenty-five dollars buys 
a neat little case and twenty volumes. Edi- 
tions well illustrated, with attractive covers, 
should be chosen. In making up a library to 
be sent to a group, the sex, ages, and tastes of 
the children should be consulted. In many 
cities the libraries are kept intact, and pass 
progressively from group to group. This has 



74 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



its drawbacks, as you cannot remove the books 
that are not being used and replace them by 
others. Then if you have aroused your chil- 
dren to an interest in animals by a trip to the 
zoo or circus ; in flowers or birds by a walk in 
the fields and woods ; or in foreign lands by a 
visit to the museum, you cannot immediately 
supply them with a number of books on the 
subject. 

Records should be kept at the headquarters 
of the home libraries of donors of home libra- 
ries, books purchased, visitors of groups (in- 
cluding names of visitors, members, hour and 
place of meeting, and books charged to the 
groups), of individual children (including name, 
address, age, and general remarks), of books, 
pictures, and games loaned to group, and also 
a record of their circulation among individual 
children. A written report should be sent in 
monthly by the visitor of each group. These 
reports should be filed away for reference. 

Two of the greatest problems in home library 
work are : ist, how to secure the right kind of 
a home library visitor, and 2d, how to obtain 
access to the homes or districts most requiring 
the influence of the home library and the home 
library visitor. Books by themselves will do 
but a limited amount of good in these homes. 
The children's interest in them must be aroused 
through their interest in an individual. Pri- 
marily then the success of a home library group 
depends upon the visitor. They should be 
persons of tact, refinement, and culture, having 
not only a love for childhood, but an intuitive 
understanding of it. With this must be also 
a deep sense of responsibility in the task 
undertaken and a spirit of sympathetic 
rational helpfulness. Such a visitor becomes 
the children's companion and friend, and later 
a helper and counsellor to the whole neighbor- 
hood, where little courtesies, hitherto foreign 
to the lives of the people, spring into being t 
and a greater carefulness in speech, dress, and 
the appointments of the home become ap- 
parent. The ideal visitor is hard to find, yet I 
firmly believe that if we have enthusiasm our- 
selves we will awaken it in others. We do 
not want temporary visitors, but we do want 
the young men and women who are willing to 
grow with the neighborhoods in which they 
have centred their interests to study the 
needs of the people, individually and collec- 



tively, and be the medium for helpfulness 
between them and all the cities' civil and phil- 
anthropic institutions which can better their 
conditions. 

There is still another side to the visitor prob- 
lem. Interest may not be hard to arouse, but 
it is certainly at times difficult to sustain, and 
the home library work is so full of discourage- 
ments that a visitor, especially an inexperienced 
one in work with children, may feel herself un- 
able to cope with it, and give up in despair. 
Monthly meetings of the visitors for discus- 
sions, reports, and helpful suggestions are in- 
valuable, but I doubt if this is sufficient, as 
there are always those who cannot attend them. 
There should be some one having a practical 
knowledge of the work, and whose whole time 
is devoted to its cause, some one to whom 
the visitors can go in moments of keenest dis- 
couragement, and discuss their perplexities. 
Sometimes the visitors fail to realize that the 
supervisor is anxious to discuss these problems 
with them, giving them as far as possible the 
benefit of the experiences of others. Until this 
is clearly understood and a stronger feeling of 
co-operation established, it is advisable that the 
supervisor make personal calls on the visitors. 

Mrs. E. M. Fairchild, in an article on home 
libraries, suggests a class for the study of prac- 
tical philanthropy under competent leadership. 
The idea is excellent, and would certainly 
create a corps of ideal home library visitors, 
if we could make one qualification, and that is 
that no one should be admitted to membership 
who is not willing to put her study to practical 
use not only in investigating conditions, but 
in actually working to combat them. 

Finding homes for the libraries in districts 
where they will do the most good is the second 
great difficulty. Lack of appreciation upon the 
part of parents who do not wish to be bothered 
with other people's children, but are perfectly 
willing that their own should reap all the ad- 
vantages possible, is often met with ; and neigh- 
borhood quarrels and jealousies, and the hope- 
lessly crowded condition of the tenement 
houses, where boarders sleep by day as well as by 
night, often makes it hard to establish a group. 
But we rarely give up trying. One earnest 
home librarian said, " I worked a year to place 
a library in a certain district, devoting all my 
spare time to friendly calls there, and I sue- 



SACKETT. 



75 



ceeded." Sometimes we have requests for home 
libraries, most often from localities where there 
is already one. Occasionally a visitor finds her 
strongest impulse for good work in the help 
given her by some one in the neighborhood. 

Group meetings should be conducted in 
various ways, the method depending upon the 
class of children with whom the visitor is work- 
ing. Though these methods may differ widely, 
the home library hour should always be one of 
genuine enjoyment, and yet everything the 
visitor plans, whether it be games, or reading 
aloud, or physical exercises, or classes in sew- 
ing and basket-making everything should 
tend toward developing the children into happy, 
wholesome boys and girls. The visitor should 
not forget that through all this enjoyment she 
is giving the children a love for good books 
which will become their life-long friends and 
helpers, and whose influence will be felt long 
after hers has become a thing of the past. 

Except in the case of very young children, 
boys and girls should be in separate groups, 
for the interests and requirements of boys soon 
outgrow that of girls, and it is hard to keep 
them happy with mutual profit. Home groups 
are adequate only to the needs of girls and 
young boys. A girl's social instincts, under 
moral conditions, never outgrow her home, 
and we should try to keep them centred 
there. The home library should come into their 
lives as early as possible, even at the picture 
book and big print age, for two reasons: 
because the earliest years of childhood are the 
most plastic and impressionable, and in the 
case of boys the home group satisfies them but 
for a short time, as the natural gregarious in- 
stinct which comes to a boy at about the age of 
twelve draws him from the family circle into a 
larger social world. It is this instinct which 
leads him to form clubs and gangs. Since 
boys must have club life, we should organize 
for them clubs which will be beneficial rather 
than allow them to form for themselves those 
which will be degrading. 

Why should not libraries recognize their op- 
portunity and form library clubs? In Pitts- 
burgh this has been done as a natural out- 
growth of the home library work. We now 
have twelve clubs. These differ in member- 
ship and organization. In some cases a 
room for club meetings has been obtained 



at a small monthly rental ; other clubs meet 
in school-rooms ; while the boys of one 
have built a house for themselves. One city 
school board, realizing the educational factor 
of the club in the neighborhood, has equipped 
for our use a room in the school building and 
provided janitor service, heat, and light. As 
an experiment we have lately rented three 
rooms on the ground floor of a tenement house 
and opened a large club library. Here, with 
the consent of his parents, any child in the 
neighborhood may draw books, and enjoy the 
privileges of the reading room. Small clubs of 
ten or twelve members each, among both boys 
and girls, are being formed under the leader- 
ship of volunteer workers. Club members pay 
weekly dues of from one to four cents, a part of 
which has been voted to the general treasury of 
the library reading room, to help defray running 
expenses, the remainder to be used as needed 
by the individual clubs. In thus contributing 
to the general funds, an interest in the whole 
organization is fostered. The work as outlined 
for the coming year includes clubs for reading, 
story telling and games, basketry, wrought-iron 
work, mechanical drawing, carpentry, cooking, 
and sewing. Much of the work of discharging 
and arranging the books upon the shelves has 
been done by the children themselves. Money 
having been given us for the support of these 
rooms, and the work of the club leaders being 
voluntary, the central library is at little expense, 
except that of providing books and super- 
vision. 

As a general rule, boys 1 clubs should be con- 
ducted according to parliamentary laws, no 
matter what their special line of interest is. 
Parliamentary rule and military discipline call 
forth and deepen in the boy a keener sense of 
his responsibility, and therefore of his own 
manhood. In the home library groups, how- 
ever, we should on the whole avoid organization 
which tends to destroy that social home spirit 
so vital to this part of the work. 

We do not aim to establish permanent clubs. 
When they have outgrown their usefulness in 
one district, they are reorganized in a new 
neighborhood. The club is but to serve as a 
transition from the more limited home life to 
the wider life of the world, and to prepare the 
boy or girl to enter his or her larger social and 
civic relationships. 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



THE EVALUATION OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF 
THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN. 

BY CHARLES WELSH. 



"THE child himself must determine what his 
books shall be," "Children invariably 
prefer the classic form of the story to the text 
which has been specially written for them," 
" There is no need to adapt the classics to the 
children, because the children are adapted to 
the classics," are three statements which I 
think will be amply substantiated by a brief 
glance at the history of books for children, 
and it will be instructive and helpful in con- 
nection with much that has been put forward 
about children's reading and children's libra- 
ries if we consider for a moment the children's 
books that have lived, and examine the ele- 
ments that give them their genuine and abid- 
ing interest, and have placed them in the ranks 
of the books which never wear out. To study, 
however briefly, some of the oldest and best 
tried books, and to try to define the qualities 
which have given them their permanent hold 
on the child mind, may be useful as a means 
of comparison, and perhaps as furnishing some 
standards of value. 

The making of books for children except 
lesson books and books of manners and courtesy 
is a comparatively modern idea, not much 
more than one hundred and fifty years old, and 
yet the children have been selecting for them- 
selves for centuries from a literature which is as 
old as that of the race itself. Long before the 
folklore of the world was ever written, the child 
had made its choice from among the fairy tales 
and folk stories with which older people amused 
each other, and as Thackeray says : " Many of 
these stories have been related in their present 
shape thousands of years ago to little copper- 
colored Sanskrit children. The very same tale 
has been heard by the Northern Vikings as 
they lay on their shields on deck, and by the 
Arabs crouching under the stars on the Syrian 
plains, when the flocks were gathered in, and 
the mares were picketed by their tents." * 

To go back only as far as the period of the 
romances, there is no doubt that many a well- 
born child of the Middle Ages has listened to 

* Fraser's Magazine for 1846. 



and enjoyed the Chansons de Geste, the 
legends of Arthur and the Knights of the 
Round Table, Charlemagne, the Twelve Peers 
and Amadis of Gaul, while knights and ladies, 
squires and dames were pleasantly beguiling 
the hours by reading them aloud ; and among 
the popular stories which from this time on 
were the delight of the common people gener- 
ally there were many that proved to be espe- 
cially suited to the tastes and mental needs of 
the children, and upon which they were not 
slow to fasten and stamp their approval. 

The earliest reduction of these stories to 
writing in a form which brought them within 
the reach of the common people in England 
was that of the chap-book. These chap-books 
flourished to their greatest extent during the 
sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth cen- 
turies. They were printed in the rudest man- 
ner on paper of the coarsest character ; and 
decorated with cuts which as often as not had 
no reference to the text whatever, or a very 
remote one indeed. They were mostly sold 
for a penny each, but there were farthing and 
half penny ones, too, which now, as Sir Walter 
Scott said, "would be cheaply purchased 
at their weight in gold." They were the only 
literature for the people for certainly two hun- 
dred and fifty years, and were published pri- 
marily for the amusement and education of the 
grown-ups among the common folk. 

Chap-books, generally, received their death- 
blow in the middle of the eighteenth century, 
but they lingered until well on into the first 
half of the nineteenth. Among the tens of 
thousands of them which have well-nigh disap- 
peared from the face of the earth, there are 
some few which are familiar in our ears as 
household words, because the children have 
fastened on them, made them their own, and 
have thus given them an inheritance of ever- 
lasting life. 

Bevis of Southampton, Adam Bell, Fryer 
Bacon, William of Cloudesley, Cam Wood the 
Cook, dim of the Clough, Bellianis and Flores 
of Greece, and hosts of others, are to-day 



WELSH. 



77 



known only to scholars and students of folk- 
lore, but Beauty and the Beast, Bluebeard, 
Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack the 
Giant Killer, Little Red Riding Hood, Rey- 
nard the Fox, Sleeping Beauty, Cock Robin, 
the House that Jack Built, Tom Thumb, and 
Dick Whittington are read with as much eager- 
ness by the little ones to-day as they listened 
to them hundreds of years ago. 

As with the popular stories in the chap-books, 
so with the rhymes and jingles of Mother 
Goose, which some one has called "the rich 
deposit of the centuries." They have come 
down to us from the childhood of the race and 
have become the literature of the childhood of 
the individual. The unerring instinct of the 
mother has seized upon those ditties and jin- 
gles which were best suited to the awakening 
senses of the child, and without knowing that 
she was obeying a great psycho-pedagogical 
law, she has for centuries been stimulating the 
sense of rhythm and exciting the wonder, 
fancy, and imagination of her babe with the 
material which awakens the best response and 
which has the greatest educative value at this 
early stage. 

The first collection of the rhymes and jin- 
gles of Mother Goose was published by John 
Newbery about 1780, but they were found 
scattered in chap-books and had been current 
orally for centuries. 

At this time Oliver Goldsmith was in the 
constant employ of the publisher Newbery, 
editing his little books, concocting his adver- 
tisements, writing his prefaces, devising his 
title-pages, etc. ; there is as little doubt that 
he was the compiler of this collection as that he 
was the author of " Goody Two Shoes," and 
there is something extremely significant in 
this connection in the fact that the gentle 
Goldsmith, who " touched nothing that he did 
not adorn," should, by the unerring sympathy 
of his child-like and simple mind, have been 
the first to select from the lore of the people 
those songs of the nursery which lie nearest to 
the heart of the mother, and most readily ap- 
peal to the babe, and that he should have writ- 
ten the first book directly intended for children 
which has become a classic. 

During the two hundred years which closed 
with the eighteenth century there came four 



books which, though not intended for children, 
were eagerly appropriated by them. " The 
pilgrim's progress," which, as some one has 
finely said, was written in 1688 for grown-up 
saints, happily fell into the hands of little 
sinners, who found in its direct, simple, and 
dramatic story elements which appealed to 
them, without caring for the theological doc- 
trines it was intended to inculcate or the con- 
troversies with which it was concerned. Then, 
when the Puritan influence was growing fainter, 
and before the rekindling of interest in child 
life in the eighteenth century, came "Robin- 
son Crusoe," which, in 1714, stumbled upon 
immortality by reason of its adoption by the 
children. 

In like manner the children have appro- 
priated " Gulliver's travels," which appeared 
in 1726, knowing nothing, and caring less, 
about the stinging and biting satire with which 
it was permeated. And later on, in 1785, they 
made" Munchausen's travels " their own, which 
were intended to bring the then prevailing exag- 
geration of traveller's tales into ridicule. 

The " Arabian nights," that great store- 
house of oriental romance enshrining the folk- 
lore of the people, found its way piece-meal 
into the literature of the nursery, for which, 
however, it was never intended. 

^Csop's fables, too, of which Dr. Thomas 
Fuller, the famous author of the " Worthies of 
England," writing in the seventeenth century, 
said: "Children cannot read an easier, nor 
men a wiser book," have never ceased to have 
their charm for children, although their intent 
was simply moral and political and their aim 
was directed to their elders, but the elements 
which interest, of which we shall speak later, 
are never over-shadowed by the teaching they 
convey. 

Most of this took place before John Newbery 
began to publish books for children. If we 
survey the books of the period from the time 
he began to publish, in 1744, until the end of 
the eighteenth century the "age of prose 
and reason " as it has been called we shall 
find ourselves fully justified in characterizing it 
as the period of the didactic story book. In 
the story books we can trace the effect of the 
earlier books of education, and the endeavor to 
combine instruction with amusement was their 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



prevailing characteristic. The Newberys pub- 
lished over three hundred books, written pri- 
marily for children by contemporary authors. 
The two which have lived are " The melodies 
of Mother Goose," first collected by Oliver 
Goldsmith, and " Goody Two Shoes," written 
by him in conjunction with Newbery himself. 
This was probably the dreariest period in the 
whole history of children's literature. 

Then we come to the Jane and Ann Taylor, 
Maria Edgeworth, and Mrs. Barbauld period, 
in which we get a little further away from the 
directly instructive, and find in them the effort 
to infuse principles of morality rather than to 
furnish detailed rules for guidance. This period 
is only a little less dreary than that which pre- 
ceded it. But a few of the stories of that 
period survive to-day. Probably the best 
known of them are: "Eyes and no eyes," 
"The discontented pendulum," and some of 
the verses of Jane and Ann Taylor. 

After that we come to the Sunday school 
book period, and I only refer to it here because 
the history of Sunday school books so strik- 
ingly illustrates the view that it is the child 
itself who, in all time, has been the sole 
arbiter of what shall be called a classic among 
his books. He alone in the final outcome ac- 
cepts or rejects what is provided for him and 
he does it upon principles which are as un- 
changeable and eternal as the child himself. 
The history of Sunday school books has been 
a curious one, reflecting in a striking manner 
the tendencies of the age in which they flour- 
ished. At first they contained very distinct 
sectarian teaching, and each denomination, or 
group of denominations, had its own set of 
authors who introduced such dogma into their 
books as was in accordance with its views and 
would insure their acceptance. Later on dis- 
tinct sectarian teaching was gradually dropped 
and those books had the best sale which were 
colorless in that respect, while inculcating only 
the broad religious principles on which all sects 
alike were agreed. Very keen indeed was the 
scrutiny to which the publishers submitted the 
books they put forth for this market, lest any 
bit of dogmatic teaching should drop in una- 
wares. 

Then at a later period those books were 
most in favor which illustrated by example 



rather than by direct teaching rules of conduct 
and of morals to be approved and followed. 
But Sunday school books, professedly put 
forward as such, are no longer in such demand 
as formerly. The old-fashioned Sunday school 
book is banished, never to return unless to be 
examined as a curiosity. 

As soon as the rich collection of stories of 
Hans Andersen and the Brothers Grimm were 
made available to English speaking children 
they recognized in them the witchery of a magi- 
cian which will never fail to charm ; and the 
operation of the same instinct which then 
guided them has placed Ruskin's " King of the 
Golden River," Thackeray's " Rose and the 
ring," Kingsley's " Water babies," and " Alice 
in Wonderland " in the ranks of classics for 
children while the result of bringing within 
their reach in recent years the wonder world 
of classic myth and story, in which no one did 
greater work than Charles Lamb in his " Cruise 
of Ulysses," and Hawthorne in his "Wonder 
book," furnishes abundant proof of the state- 
ment that "the children are adapted to the 
classics." 

Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens, 
Mayne Reid and Fenimore Cooper, did not 
write for youth, but with never failing instinct 
the young people of two English-speaking con- 
tinents have found suitable mental food in most 
of their stories. 

If we now examine for a moment the ele- 
ments in the books which have survived and 
of course I have not attempted to enumerate all 
of them it may perhaps help us to explain 
some of the causes of their never wearing out. 
You are aware of the experiments which have 
been made during recent years in order to as- 
certain the elements in stories which interest 
children, and they are found to be in the order 
of their preference as follows : Action, names, 
speech, description, place, time, possession, feel- 
ing, dress, (/esthetic details, sentiment, and 
moral qualities. This is, however, but re- 
stating in our modern quasi-scientific way what 
many writers out of their sympathy with and 
insight into the child mind have said long ago. 
Lady Eastlake wrote over sixty years since, 
" The real secret of a child's book consists not 
merely in its being less dry and less difficult, 
but more rich in interest more true to nature 



HEWINS. 



79 



more exquisite in art more abundant in 
every quality that replies to childhood's keener 
and fresher perceptions. Such being the case, 
the best of juvenile reading will be found in 
libraries belonging to their elders, while the 
best juvenile writing will not fail to delight 
those who are no longer children. ' Robinson 
Crusoe,' the standing favorite of above a cen- 
tury, was not originally written for children ; 
and Sir Walter Scott's ' Tales of a grandfather ' 
addressed solely to them, are the pleasure and 
profit of every age, from childhood upwards. 
Our little friends tear Pope's ' Odyssey ' from 
mamma's hands, while she takes up their 
' Agathos ' with an admiration which no child's 
can exceed." 
All this brings us back to the point from 



which I started, and confirms in a remarkable 
degree the statements with which I began. 
" The real touchstone," as Lady Eastlake said, 
"is the child himself." He has sturdily re- 
jected the "juveniles " by the ton and by the 
hundred thousands, and the reason for this is 
obvious in the light of the foregoing. We are 
at last beginning to recognize this great prin- 
ciple, and the study of the history of children's 
literature should do immense good by bringing 
out the truth of it more strongly. It shows 
that it is the birthright of the child to enter 
into the domain of the world's best literature, 
and to choose therefrom what is best suited to 
its needs, and it shows too that the children of 
all ages, when they have had the opportunity to 
do so, have exercised that right. 



REPORT ON LIST OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS WITH CHILDREN'S ANNOTATIONS. 
BY CAROLINE M. HEWINS, Librarian, Hartford (Ct.~) Public Library. 



IT is four or five years since Mr. R. R. 

Bowker suggested that there could be no 
more interesting and useful "evaluations" for 
the American Library Association to publish 
than comments on children's books made by 
children themselves. Miss Moore and I at the 
Chautauqua Conference in 1898 undertook the 
preparation of such a list, and she asked in 
the Library Journal and Public Libraries for 
comments arranged on cards of uniform si*, 
stating the age, sex, and nationality of the 
child making them. The public immediately 
inferred that our list was in print, and the 
requests which we received for it would fill a 
much larger pigeon-hole than the answers from 
librarians. At the Montreal conference we 
reported a few comments. Since that time we 
have received no contributions, and no report 
was presented at the last conference. 

Our present report is largely based on a 
consideration of about twelve hundred papers, 
written by boys and girls in the sixth, seventh, 
eighth, and ninth grades of grammar schools. 
A part of them are in the form of familiar 
letters to a librarian, and the rest in answer to 
questions prepared in a public library and pre- 
sented to the same grades. 

The man who went about lecturing on 



temperance in the middle of the nineteenth 
century used to take another man with him 
to appear as the "awful example." In the 
following report the general statements were 
kindly prepared by Miss Moore to save me 
time, and the "awful examples" come from 
the other end of the line. 

The letters and lists may be summed up 
like the themes in Elsie Venner. They have 
the same " stringing together of the good 
old traditional copy-book phrases," the same 
"occasional gushes of sentiment " and "pro- 
found estimates of the world." Out of twenty 
or thirty which poor overworked Helen Darley 
read, " there were two or three that had some- 
thing of individual flavor about them." That 
proportion is much larger than we have found. 

" There is a marked difference in the degree 
of spontaneity manifest in the familiar letter 
written at the personal request of the librarian 
and the paper written as an exercise required 
by the teacher. Both reveal a pathetic scarcity 
of vocabulary in relation to the subject, due in 
large measure to the fact that an exercise of 
this kind is an unrelated and infrequent ex- 
perience to the majority of children. It is 
only by frequent repetition that we gain power 
in self expression in any line. It is hardly to 



8o 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



be expected, therefore, that children should 
be able to talk or to write familiarly about 
books and reading until they have made the 
connection and found the habit of doing so. 

" From the twelve hundred papers we have 
selected, less than fifty are worth considering 
for our purpose. The great mass of material re- 
jected shows the influence of the schoolroom in 
the selection of the books mentioned (chiefly 
school-duplicates) in the evident desire to 
please the teacher in expressing a preference 
and in a stereotyped form of expression, a form 
which varies slightly in different schools and 
in different grades of the same school." 

The questions were as follows : 

1 . Name as many books as you can that you 
have read this school year. 

2. Mark the names of the books that you 
like best with X and tell how many times you 
have read each one. 

(No reliance could be placed on the X mark 
to denote books liked best, it was so often 
obviously used for books the children thought 
that they ought to like. They guessed at the 
number of times they had read them and at 
the number of hours they spent every week in 
reading.) 

3. Why do you like these books and how 
do you think any of them have helped you? 

Very few boys and girls can express the way 
in which a book has helped them. Once in a 
while a child says something which shows that 
the book has become a part of his life, as in 
this: 

" I think that they all helped me, for I saw 
in nearly every one a different side of life : 
life of the old times, life of to-day, life of the 
poor, life of the rich, life of royalty, life of 
paupers, life on the border, life in the cities, 
and every kind of life. 

"Some of these books have very good 
characters in them and when I get a hold on 
some book which does have a good character 
I read the author's life if I can. I do this be- 
cause the author who writes about good 
characters must be a character himself. 

"In many books I make friends with most 
of the characters that take principal parts, and 
try to imagine myself with them. 

" In some books are many things which are 
historical or witty, or something of the like. 



When I run across one of these I make a note 
of it." 

The following is by a Jewish boy who is in- 
terested in the Jewish character, whether seen 
from the standpoint of another faith or his own : 

" I like Shakespeare's book because it is very 
exciting and he gives a fine account how the 
Jews were treated in olden times. He gives us 
a very fine account of Portia and Shylock. I 
feel sorry because he lost all his money. I do 
not blame him for wanting a pound of flesh 
from Antonio. Everybody would like to take 
revenge on a man who would borrow money 
from you and would not pay it back. He clung 
to his religion. 

" Scott represents Isaac of York, the Jew in 
' Ivanhoe,' the same as Shakespeare represents 
Shylock in the ' Merchant of Venice.' " 

A few children have the idea that books 
help them by enlarging their world or their 
vocabulary, or developing their imagination, 
and others that outside reading is an aid to 
lessons or examinations, but most of the 
answers recognize nothing that books do for a 
reader. 

The contrast between rich and poor children 
appeals to boy-and-girl readers, and wealth 
and material success play a large part in their 
estimates of books. One boy with a fondness 
for drawing likes to read about poor boys who 
became rich artists, and a girl expresses the 
sentiment of many others when she writes : 

" I like all of Meade's books because she 
always has a poor girl who at the end rises far 
above the rich one that had at one time looked 
down upon her, or if the rich girl helps a poor 
girl she always does some noble thing to repay 
her before the end." 

These are fair specimens of many of the lists 
written by girls of thirteen in the ninth grade : 

" I like Dotty Dimple because she was kind, 
and it helped me to be kind. I like Ragged 
Tom because he was brave and good and it 
helped me to be brave and kind. Laddie I 
like because he would help others. It helped 
me to help others. Black Beauty I liked be- 
cause it taught me to treat animals kind." 

" I liked ' The partners ' best because it was 
neither too old for me nor too young. I liked 
' Barberry Bush and other stories ' because it 
helped me to pass away my time. I liked 



HEW1NS. 



81 



' Ivanhoe,' ' Lady of the Lake,' and ' Julius 
Cassar,' because being read in class they were 
easy to understand. I do not know why 
I liked The Katy and Bessie books and ' Little 
men ' and ' Little women.' " 

The fourth question is : 

4. What friends do you make in them (the 
books), and why do you think you should like 
to know some of them ? 

The answers to this question show lack of 
thought, lack of imagination, and lack of pro- 
portion. Very often the only book-friends 
whom a child remembers are in the last book 
that he has read. Many boys and girls hon- 
estly say things like these : 

"I didn't make any friends in them because 
I never seen their faces only on pictures in the 
books." 

" I like all the books in the same way as I 
like any books. They give me pleasure and 
take up time when you are sick or haven't 
anything to do." 

" I have never thought of liking any of the 
characters for friends." 

" I thought Portia in ' Merchant of Venice' 
and Mary in ' Mary Queen of Scots,' with 
Josephine in ' Little women ' would make 
good friends, but never thought of them as 
friends for me or anybody of this time." 

The lack of sense of proportion in estimat- 
ing books and choosing book friends is seen in 
this example from the sixth grade : 

' The friends I have made are Jack and Jill, 
and Dan, Allie Fairweather, Philip, Oliver, 
Mr. Brownlow, Denise, Rose, Agnes, Harry, 
Widow Greshome, Worth Bagley, Dewey, 
Sampson, Massasoit, Anthony Wayne, Gen- 
eral Schuyler, George Washington, Jesus, 
Robinson, and Aladdin." 

A lack of interest in what is read is shown in 
this: 

" In all books some people appear agreeable 
and some appear disagreeable. It is a pleasure 
sometimes when one is tired to take a good 
book and read a chapter or two. In all books 
you have a friendly feeling toward some char- 
acter." 

It is a pleasure after reading through a room- 
ful of such letters to find one like this : 

"I am not very fond of books, although I 
think there are many things or facts which can 



be learned out of books. I have often started 
a book and have gotten along through the 
middle of it when it became very dry and un- 
interesting and would drop it and never pick it 
up again. 

" The trail of the Sandhill stag ' is the 
only book that I have ever finished. It was 
written by E. S. Thomson. There were many 
beautiful pictures in the book, but I do not 
know the artists who .drew them. This book 
was quite short and interesting and I liked it 
very much, as I am fond of outdoor sports, 
although I only read it once. The book spoke 
of a boy named Yan who had chased up and 
down the hills about his home for years after 
the track of a deer. At last he came face to 
face with the deer and raised his rifle to shoot 
it, but the deer had such a sad expression on 
its face which seemed to have stunned the boy 
and he turned back and went home without 
injuring the stag. I think that it has helped 
me to think twice before I act." 

In answer to the question, " Do you copy in 
a book sentences or lines of poetry that you 
like from books that you are reading, and learn 
them by heart afterwards ? " the same boy 
writes : 

"I copy into a blank-book quotations from 
books and learn them afterwards. I have 
copied and learned quotations from Caesar, 
' Merchant of Venice,' ' Autocrat of the 
breakfast-table,' and ' House of seven gables.' 
I have also copied and learned Tennyson's 
' Lotus-eaters,' Gray's ' Elegy,' Lincoln's speech 
at Gettysburg, and a part of Webster's speech 
in reply to Hayne." 

Do such exercises tend to make children 
self-conscious, and can we depend upon the 
spontaneity of written replies? Everything 
depends on the person who conducts the exer- 
cise and on the question asked. 

There are very few teachers whose own 
knowledge of books can be depended upon to 
draw out children into talking about them. I 
had tried in one schoolroom to make children 
understand the pleasure of finding out from 
one book something about a character who is 
mentioned in another, and when the letters 
came, every child in that room had given as 
a reason for knowing what book to read, "a 
book that there was something about in the 



82 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



last book I read." Evidently the teacher had 
impressed on the children that that was what 
they ought to write. Teachers are not, as a 
rule, well-read. 

This year I have not asked for letters, and 
did not let the children know that I was going 
to give my yearly talk. They took pencil and 
paper to the hall, and I asked the four upper 
grades to tell me something about a book, not a 
school duplicate, that they had read lately and 
somebody whom they liked in it, but not to say 
that anybody was " kind." Then I gave them 
the question from the March St. Nicholas, " If 
you were going to have a birthday party, what 
characters from books should you like best to in- 
vite? " Here are some of the lists, which show 
the same lack of proportion that we have found 
before and the influence of books lately read : 

Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, 
Falconer, Crane in " David Harum," John 
Eliot, Shakespeare, Rafial, Evangeline, Tom 
Thayer, Sir Walter Scott. 

Ellen Douglas, George Washington, Lady 
Rowena, Rebecca the Jewess, Malcolm Graeme, 
Janice Meredith, Julius Caesar, Abraham Lin- 
coln, The Douglas, Dorothy Arden. 

Caesar, King Alfred, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, 
Washington, Dickens, Alexander, Daniel 
Boone, Plato, Socrates. 

Washington, Shakespeare, King Alfred the 
Great, Jane Eyre, Stephen Brice, Portia, King 
Arthur, Joan of Arc, Ellen Terry, Ellen of 
Ellen's Isle. 

Sir William Wallace, King Robert the Bruce, 
Mary Queen of Scots, Ellen Douglas, Beetho- 
ven, Jo March, Nigel Bruce, Lady Isoline, Re- 
becca, Pegasus. 

Julius Caesar, Antony, Marcus Brutus, Oliver 
Bright, Janice Meredith, Sitting Bull, Roderick 
Dhu, Grizzly, James Fitz James, Michel Angelo. 

Caesar, Garibaldi, Washington, Livingston, 
Roosevelt, Narian, Cronje, Hanna, Green, Jesse 
James, Frank James, Brutus, Cassius. 

"The most valuable kind of comment un- 
doubtedly is to be gathered from the off-hand 
statements of the boys and girls as they ex- 
change their books or meet for informal book- 
talks at the library. There are great difficulties 
in the way of gathering a body of available 
material of this kind. While it is true that 
every children's librarian is constantly receiv- 
ing communications from the children with re- 



gard to the books they are reading, it would be 
exceedingly difficult and quite undesirable for 
her to transcribe their comments with the 
necessary data. If a child should see her writ- 
ing down what he had said, or suspect that she 
meant to do so, she would lose his confidence 
forever. According to his nature he would 
either never volunteer another expression of 
pleasure or distaste, or he would make a sensa- 
tional statement if possible in order to gain 
prominence in her eyes. Even if it were possi- 
ble for the children's librarian to make these 
records of spontaneous comment it is probable 
that a very small proportion of them would 
justify publication. (That comment which 
fails to impress itself with sufficient clearness 
for her to write it from memory is not likely to 
be worth much, since it has not entered so 
actively into her day's experience as to have 
become a part of her resources.) 

" Will such a list as this justify by its value 
the expenditure of time and labor involved in 
its compilation? 

" Are we justified in going on with it, and 
what may we expect to get from it ? " 

A list of children's comments must be made 
slowly. At times I have thought that it 
would be impossible to get honest opinions 
enough for an annotated list, but in looking 
over my collection I find that I have more 
than I supposed. 

Teachers often ask for lists in a perfunctory 
way, and care more about neat writing and cor- 
rect spelling than about what impression a book 
has made on a child. I think that in another 
four years, with the help of some of our unsuc- 
cessful experiments, and with the aid of visit- 
ors in home libraries and children's librarians, 
we may get results that are worth having. 

If every children's librarian would send us 
within the next six months from five to ten of 
the best and most natural expressions of opinion 
received from children, we could take the best 
of them and gradually, by eliminating the less 
striking, get a number large enough to be worth 
printing. It is to be desired that we have the 
opinions of more than one child to a book, the 
point of view of a boy and a girl if possible. 



FLETCHER. 



REPORT OF THE A. L. A. PUBLISHING BOARD. 
BY W. I. FLETCHER, Chairman. 



CHANGES in the personnel of the Pub- 
lishing Board during the year covered by 
this report were as follows : the term of Melvil 
Dewey expired in 1901, and he was re-elected 
by the A. L. A. Executive Board for three 
years. Mr. George lies resigned from the 
Board owing to the pressure of other engage- 4 
ments, and Mr. Charles C. Soule was chosen in 
his place. Mr. Soule was also made treas- 
urer in place of Mr. E. H. Anderson who was 
appointed last year, but who resigned on ac- 
count of the difficulty of attending to the busi- 
ness while located so far from the office of the 
Board. Miss Nina E. Browne, who faithfully 
served the Board for several years as assistant 
secretary, was this year appointed secretary, 
her office remaining at io Beacon Street in 
the building of the Boston Athenaeum. 

The work of the Board has gone forward 
steadily although less rapidly than we could 
wish. The following brief review of the prog- 
ress of its various publications will serve to 
elucidate the financial account appended to 
this statement, and to show how extensive and 
important its work has become. 

1 . Printed Cards for Books. The trans- 
fer, under promising conditions, of this under- 
taking to the Library of Congress relieves the 
Board of further effort in that direction and 
marks the happy ending of one chapter of its 
work. 

2. A. L. A. Index. The new edition of 
this book, in press at our last meeting, was 
issued in October. It is almost exactly double 
the size of the former edition and is corre- 
spondingly more useful, a necessary tool in 
every library. 

3. Guide to the Literature of American 
History. Owing to long delays connected 
with the completion of the editorial work, and 
particularly of the very elaborate and useful 
index, this book is but just off the press. 

As was stated last year, our former associate, 
Mr. George lies, has assumed the expense of 



the preparation of this most important work, 
to the extent of ten thousand dollars, a most 
liberal endowment of historical research. The 
book has cost more than this, but it is expected 
that the sales will soon cover this additional 
cost. 

4. Guide to the Study and Use of Refer- 
ence Books, by Miss Alice B. Kroeger. This 
book is all in type, and it was hoped that it 
might be actually published before this meet- 
ing. This will be found a most valuable, as it 
is the only, library help in connection with 
reference work. 

5 . Library Tracts. One tract (no. 4) 
has been added to the series. It is on library 
buildings and rooms, and was prepared by 
Mr. Charles C. Soule. With the present great 
interest in the subject of library architecture, 
this tract should prove one of our most useful 
publications. 

6. Printed Cards for Periodicals not cov- 
ered by "Poole's index." The issue of these 
cards has gone on steadily, the number of 
titles printed in 1901 being 2,849 as against 
2,843 i n 1900, and 2,916 in 1899. The esti- 
mated expense of $75 per year for the entire 
set has not been exceeded nor quite equalled. 
As the advantages to the smaller libraries, or 
those having special collections, of subscribing 
for the needed portion of these cards come to 
be more recognized, the number of partial sub- 
scriptions has largely increased and is now 
fifty-one. As will be observed there is a small 
profit on these cards. A further increase in 
the number called for would permit a reduction 
in the price. 

7 . Cards for < ' Miscellaneous Sets. " This 
has been a popular and successful feature of 
the Board's work. In 1901 cards were issued 
for six such sets : Old South Leaflets, National 
Museum Bulletin, Smithsonian Miscellaneous 
Collections and Contributions to Knowledge, 
U.S. Bureau of Education Circulars, and Massa- 
chusetts Historical Society Collections. The 



8 4 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



demand for these cards is such that one set is 
already out of print, and the others nearly so. 
Three additional sets are already issued in 1 902, 
and others will follow. Suggestions of addi- 
tional sets which should be so indexed will be 
gratefully received. By arrangement with the 
Massachusetts Library Club and the Massa- 
chusetts State Library, a set of cards for the 
Massachusetts Public Documents was issued at 
the bare cost of the cards and printing, and 
the supply was at once exhausted. 

Cards for the British Parliamentary Papers 
are in type and will be issued probably this 
month. They will be found very useful, even 
where, perhaps especially where, these Papers 
are not regularly received, as they will be a 
guide in the selection of such as may be 
wanted. 

8. The Board has undertaken the issue of 
cards prepared by the Bibliographical Society 
of Chicago indexing the contents of the lead- 
ing bibliographical publications (and the bib- 
liographical contents of library periodicals). 
Subscriptions are being received for these 
cards, and may be made to cover all issued or 
such of them as refer to selected periodicals. 
Special attention is invited to this important 
undertaking. 

9. Portrait Index. This will be one of 
the Board's largest publications in book-form, 
probably exceeded only by the A. L. A. Index. 
The material required by the plan of the work 
is nearly all in hand, and the alphabeting and 
digesting of this material is under way. This 
should prove one of the most useful of refer- 
ence books. 

10. English History Cards . The issue of 
these cards, edited and annotated by Mr. W. 
D. Johnston of the Library of Congress, has 
been continued under somewhat adverse 
circumstances, which resulted in the delaying 
of the cards for the last publications of 1900 
until May of this year. Those for books of 
190.1, it is hoped, will be issued relatively 
earlier, and probably in two portions instead 
of four. This publication still lacks sufficient 
support, while highly prized in a few libraries. 

1 1 . Reading for the Young has been al- 



lowed to go out of print. The time has come 
when an entirely new work in this line should 
be prepared, and it is to be hoped that with 
the present development of children's librarian- 
ship, and the increasing demand for a good 
up-to-date guide to children's reading, such a 
work may soon be forthcoming. 

1 2 . List of Srtbject Headings. This work 
is much in demand, and has for some time 
been more than self-supporting, so that its 
compiler has been receiving some slight re- 
turn for his work, which, however, was freely 
rendered as a labor of love. 

13. List of Books for Girls and Women, 

14. Bibliography of the Fine Arts and 
Music. These continue to have a slow sale, 
far from commensurate with their real value. 
The Board will apparently not be able for a 
long time to cancel its indebtedness to Mr. 
lies for his financial support of these publica- 
tions. It should be said that he asks for no 
payment except such as shall come from sales, 
the indebtedness to him thus constituting no 
charge on the assets or income of the Board 
except upon this one account. 

15. A. L. A. Catalog of 5,000 Volumes. 
Just as this report goes to press, we are ad- 
vised of the recent action of the N. Y. State 
Library Association and State Library, by 
which the preparation of an entirely new edi- 
tion of this book (the former edition being 
entirely out of print and also out of date) is 
assured in the near future ; and that its publi- 
cation under the auspices of either the Library 
of Congress or the U.S. Bureau of Education 
is also assured. Present plans look to the 
issue of printed catalog cards for this entire 
list by the Library of Congress at very low 
rates, so that new libraries using this list as a 
basis of purchase may secure the necessary 
catalog cards at once, at an expense much 
below that of cataloging in an inferior manner 
for themselves. 

1 6. Handbook of American Libraries. 
The Board has not received this work for 
publication as yet, but it is still in the hands 
of the committee charged with its prepara- 
tion. 



FLETCHER. 



Attention is called to the financial statement 
appended hereto. It should be noted that 
the account is closed Jan. i, 1902, and the 
apparently large balance on the debit side is 
accounted for almost wholly by one or two 
items like the amount due Houghton, Mifflin, 
& Co., which represents the entire cost of the 
new edition of the " A. L. A." index, the sales 
of which had but just begun. In another year 
this account will be nearly or quite balanced. 

The payment of $600 by the Trustees of the 
Endowment Fund toward the support of our 



publications authorized by the A. L. A. Coun- 
cil was not actually made until after Jan. i, 
1902, though it properly should belong to the 
year 1901. This would have increased our 
cash balance as stated by this amount. 

It remains true, as was said in last year's 
report, that the proper conduct and develop- 
ment of the work of the Publishing Board 
' ' requires a better financial condition than it 
yet has." One of the most important ques- 
tions that can come before the Association is 
how to secure this. 



STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS, JAN. i TO DEC. 31, 1901. 



PUBLICATIONS. 


Balances Jan. i, 1901, being 
excess of expenditures 
over receipts to date. 


Operations, 
Jan. i to Dec. 31, 1901. 


Balances Dec. 31, 1901, being 
excess of expenditures over 
receipts to date. 


Spent. 


Received. 


Expenses. 


Receipts. 


Spent. 


Received. 






$6.32 


$1.15 

14.82 

224-73 
3245-83 
60 
631.73 
3-75 
68.00 
1522.23 
985-52 
25-45 
457-58 


$1.00 

6.60 
29.90 

1 2. 2O 
14.82 




$6.17 
i-73 




$4-87 
368.37 








$338.47 




29-I5 


4'-35 


Books for girls and women.... 










359-66 




37- ' 9 




io-53 
477.40 
1064.00 




List of subject headings 
A. L. A. index, 2d edition .... 
Portrait index, prelim, ex 


474.04 


726.81 


467.84 
1290.02 


2649.67 
1290.62 






608.60 


551.68 


528.55 


Bibliographical cards 




3-75 
"4-33 


61.83 




S.5o 
1 763.25 
956.06 


57'.9o 
337-88 




330-88 
367-34 












25-45 








457-S8 
17.00 






83-95 




66.95 












Totals 


$2647.07 


$1816.33 
830.74 


$7181.39 


$5477-52 
1703.87 


$4748.90 


$2214.39 
2534.S' 








$2647.07 


$2647.07 


$7181.39 


$7181.39 


$4748.90 


$4748.90 


OTHER ACCOUNTS. 


Balance Jan. i, 1901. 


Operations of 1901. 


Balance Dec. 31, 1901. 


Dr. 


Cr. 


Dr. 


Cr. 


Dr. 


Cr. 


General expense and income 


$S23'.64 
636.82 


$1617.08 
46.^1 
241.69 

369.52 
16.50 


$580.01 
6.32 

4705.09 
1973-74 

1264.55 


$9.90 

83.19 
533i-8i 
2028.44 

3252.39 


$196.92 
867.28 


$1046.97 
40.09 
83.19 

424.22 
2004.34 


Old members accounts 




Library Bureau account 
Due to the Publishing Board 


Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. ac- 




Totals 


$1460.46 
830.74 


$2291.20 


,".'.'.'. 





$1064.30 
2534-5' 


$3598.81 








$2291.20 


$2291.20 







$3598.81 


$3598.81 



86 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION. 
BY HILLER C. WELLMAN; W. R. EASTMAN; N. D. C. HODGES. 



T^HE subject of Library Administration is so 
broad that the committee has been in doubt 
as to the scope of its work. Any comprehen- 
sive treatment would mean a large volume. 
The committee determined, therefore, to give 
consideration to a few definite subjects and es- 
pecially to recent developments. 

COST OF CATALOGUING, ETC. 

Considerable time was spent in drawing up 
tables of statistics, with a view to getting ac- 
curate figures on the cost of getting a book on 
to the shelves of a library. The attempt had 
to be abandoned. Dr. Steiner in his interest- 
ing paper on the subject could make only a 
vague guess as to the cost in his own library ; 
and owing to the overlapping of the work of 
different departments and the absence of suita- 
ble statistics, it seems hardly feasible to get an 
accurate estimate of this item of expense. 

A rough idea may be gained by examining 
the cost of recataloguing various libraries 
where outside assistance has been employed, 
which shows usually a cost varying from 10 
cents to 20 cents per volume. This figure in- 
cludes a shelf-list, but does not include the 
cost of ordering and accessioning. It does in- 
clude, however, the time spent in hunting up 
and extracting old cards from the catalogue, and 
in erasing old numbers on the book-plates. 

One figure given to the committee showed a 
cost of cataloguing amounting to only six cents 
per volume. 

In another case an experienced library or- 
ganizer states, " With such local help as I can 
train and manage I can handle 1,000 books in 
a month for a small public library in a fairly 
satisfactory way." Allowing a hundred dollars 
per month for salaries, the cost, exclusive of 
supplies, ordering, and shelf-list, would be 10 
cents per volume. 

At Brookline, Mass., an expert classifier and 
one or two assistants have been employed for 
a year in reclassifying the library on the deci- 
mal system. A highly-paid classifier was se- 



cured so as to ensure the best possible work. A 
new shelf-list has been made and the catalogue 
and catalogue cards have been thoroughly re- 
vised, many of the cards being newly typewrit- 
ten. The cataloguing is rather elaborate with 
many analytical cards. During the year 7,347 
volumes have been reclassified and the service 
cost $1,384.60; that is, i8 T % cents per vol- 
ume. It is the opinion of the classifier and 
also of the librarian that the time consumed in 
looking for books temporarily out of place, in 
searching for cards in the old catalogue, es- 
pecially when the previous cataloguing was 
erratic, in erasing numbers, in cancelling en- 
tries on the old shelf-list, and in making over 
imperfect cards, has made the work certainly 
as great and perhaps greater than it would 
have been if the books had been ordered and 
set up anew. If it had been possible, it would 
perhaps have been an economy to recatalogue 
the books entirely anew, and throw away the 
old cards bodily, rather than to pull out each 
set of cards and attempt to make them over. 
The cost of supplies hardly exceeds i^ 
cents per volume, so that 20 cents per volume 
is a generous estimate of the cost of putting 
non-fiction on the shelves of that library of 
60,000 volumes. For fiction, of course, the 
cost would be very much less, probably under 
10 cents per volume. 

On the whole, it is safe to say that for the 
ordinary public library of 50,000 volumes the 
entire cost of getting a book from the dealer to 
the shelves, omitting only the cost of selecting 
the books to be purchased, ranges from 10 cents 
to 25 cents per volume. This cost is likely to be 
materially reduced by the use of the printed 
catalogue cards issued by the Library of Con- 
gress, a report of which follows. 

PRINTED CATALOGUE CARDS ISSUED BY THE 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Through courtesy of the Librarian of Con- 
gress a joint circular was sent out containing 
requests for information regarding the improve- 



WELLMAN, EASTMAN, HODGES. 



ment in the distribution or in the form or con- 
tents of the printed catalogue cards issued by 
the Library of Congress, and also certain ques- 
tions regarding their use for the enlightenment 
of the committee. 

About no replies were received, but only 70 
of these were from libraries where sufficient 
cards had been used to make the answers of 
value. Of these, 36 used the cards for main- 
taining one cardi catalogue only, while 31 
ordered duplicate sets to provide for two or more 
catalogues, in two cases the number of cata- 
logues being 14 and 19 respectively. Fourteen 
libraries used the cards also for shelf-lists. 

In five libraries it was thought no saving of 
time had been effected, but in 60 libraries a 
marked saving of time was observed. In most 
cases this saving was estimated, although in 
one or two cases a similar result was reached 
by actual account of the time consumed for 
special lots of books in ordering, checking, 
sorting, and marking the cards, handling the 
books, etc. The estimated saving ranged in 
amount from ten to seventy-five per cent., and 
the majority were of the opinion that from 
one-third to one-half of the time of the cata- 
loguer was saved. A further economy in 
some instances resulted from the employment 
of cheaper labor for the mechanical work of 
ordering the cards. 

There was pretty general agreement that the 
stock of the printed card is not at present quite 
equal to the standard Library Bureau stock, a 
fact especially shown when erasures are neces- 
sary ; but there was still greater agreement as 
to the excellence of the cataloguing. The re- 
plies clearly demonstrated the fact that cards 
for current copyrighted books are received with 
great promptness, nine-tenths of them, perhaps 
more, within a week of ordering, when the 
library is not too distant from Washington ; 
and in general the same is true of current non- 
copyright or foreign books when the cards are 
ordered from the proofs. But delays are con- 
siderable and the proportion of cards not sup- 
plied is large, when the cards for foreign books 
are ordered without first ascertaining that the 
book has been received by the Library of Con- 
gress. 

When the cards can be sent for at the same 
time that the book is ordered, they are fre- 



quently received before the book. When they 
are ordered after the book has been received, 
in most libraries it is found feasible to place 
the books in circulation at once without waiting 
for the cards, by keeping a record on a memo- 
randum slip, which sometimes serves afterward 
as copy for the printed bulletin of accessions. 
In large libraries, where more elaborate record 
is needed, a temporary author-card is inserted 
in the catalogue ; and in small libraries simply 
checking the receipt of the cards against the 
title in the accession book is sufficient to en- 
sure that no book slip through without being 
catalogued. 

From these facts your committee conclude, 
that by ordering printed catalogue cards 
from the Library of Congress for all current, 
copyrighted books (a class comprising most 
of the accessions of the ordinary American 
library), and by ordering cards for other books 
so far as proofs are available to show that they 
have been catalogued, it is now possible for 
public libraries to secure promptly printed cata- 
logue cards, not only more legible than manu- 
script cards, but vastly superior in fulness and 
accuracy to the cataloguing of the average 
library, and at the same time costing less than 
the ordinary manuscript cataloguing. 

The advantage seems so great that minor 
differences in the form of entry, etc., should 
not be allowed to stand in the way.* 

Besides use in the catalogue, these printed 
cards are now or may be employed in the fol- 
lowing ways : for a card shelf-list, for a chrono- 
logical or accession list, for duplicate catalogues 
especially at branches, for special catalogues or 
card bibliographies, for copy for the printed 
bulletin, for exhibiting accessions on the bulle- 
tin boards, for notices to persons interested of 
the receipt of special books, for bulletins of 
accessions in schools or branches, possibly for 
charging records, and when selected cards 
are received without order as suggestions for 
purchases. Doubtless with the present ability 
to procure these cards at small cost, other im- 
portant uses for them will soon be found. 

We regard this co-operative cataloguing, made 

* In the opinion of the chairman, a library formerly 
using a card which varies as much as half an inch 
in length from the printed cards can advantageously use 
the latter by cutting them to the proper height. 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



possible by the use of the Library of Congress 
printed cards, as the most important develop- 
ment in library administration in recent years, 
and unhesitatingly recommend its advantages 
to libraries which have not yet profited by 
them. 

CO-OPERATIVE LISTS, ETC. 

A useful series of brief co-operative lists for 
free distribution among the patrons of a library 
has been issued by the New York Library As- 
sociation. The subjects covered thus far are 
"The United States and its government," 
"Debating," " Botany," " Gardens and gar- 
dening," "Books that most men like," and 
" Stories of delicate workmanship." These lists 
are without library numbers and each contains 
a dozen or more titles of books in most 
libraries. By purchasing them from Mrs. H. 
L. Elmendorf, of Buffalo, a library is able to 
distribute among its patrons these attractive 
little bibliographies or bulletins at the extremely 
moderate outlay of fifteen cents per hundred. 

Another co-operative enterprise of great value 
is the list of fiction for children in preparation 
by the Children's Librarians' Section of the 
A. L. A. This list is to be longer than the 
New York lists, and will eventually include 
non-fiction, and will be a catalogue or finding- 
list of children's books. A simple form of 
numbering is to be used, and by making the 
numbering of the children's books conform, it 
should be possible for libraries of the smallest 
means to procure and retail to their juvenile 
readers for an almost nominal sum the best 
catalogue of children's books that can be devised 
by the combined efforts of the leading children's 
librarians in the country. 

Other publications to be recorded are, a 
graded catalogue of books for school children 
issued by the Buffalo Public Library, 30 cents ; 
a list of the first '1,000 volumes for a public li- 
brary, issued by the New Jersey commission as 
an appendix to their second report ; the edi- 
tion of 1902 of a " Suggestive list of books for 
a small library " recommended by the state 
commissions of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, 
Nebraska, Idaho, and Delaware ; and the hand- 
book of library organization issued by the Min- 
nesota library commission in co-operation with 
the Commissions of Iowa and Wisconsin. 



HOME DELIVERY. 

Delivery of books at the houses of readers is 
a new feature tried by a few libraries. The 
committee has received reports on the subject 
from Milton, Somerville, and Springfield, Mass. 

In Springfield Mr. Dana made the experi- 
ment of sending in April, 1901, 1,200 circulars, 
offering to deliver books at the door to all card- 
holders in a household once a week for ten 
weeks, upon payment of five cents per week 
not per volume delivered, nor per individ- 
ual, but five cents per household. 

A hundred and twenty households, represent- 
ing an average of three borrowers each, paid 
for the delivery, and about 222 volumes were 
issued weekly. Nearly 50 per cent, of the sub- 
scribers were not previously users of the library. 
The receipts were $6 per week, and the cost to 
the library for horse-hire and the services of a 
high-school boy, etc., amounted to nearly $10 
per week. 

The next autumn a thousand circulars were 
sent out, offering to continue the home delivery 
at the rate of 8 cents per week. Less than 
sixty households subscribed, and the number 
decreased by May I, 1902, to thirty-two. The 
receipts the past year, therefore, have ranged 
from a maximum of $4.80 to a minimim of $2.56 
per week, and the cost has averaged from $3.75 
to $4 weekly, including $2 per week for horse 
hire. 

This latter figure represents the cost of the 
delivery proper, and does not include the ex- 
pense of sending circulars and lists of books, or 
of looking up and charging the books. 

The percentage of fiction issued in this way 
has been somewhat higher than that at the 
library. The most frequent complaint was 
caused by the failure to get the book desired, 
especially the new novel. Generally, when 
unable to fill an application, the library chose 
a volume as a substitute, and many readers left 
to the library the selection of books to be sent. 
This gives the library a valued opportunity to 
distribute good literature, but the reader is not 
always satisfied, and the labor involved is a 
very considerable item. 

In Somerville Mr. Foss began last October 
a system of home delivery, conducted by school 
boys, usually twice a week. Each boy has 
assigned to him a district containing about 



WELLMAN, EASTMAN, HODGES. 



8 9 



3,000 inhabitants, and this he is expected to 
canvass thoroughly, and to deliver and collect 
books at two cents per volume the round trip. 
This fee he pockets for his labor, and a good 
boy should earn about $1.50 per week. 

Thus the library is not involved in the scheme 
financially, but must devote much time to or- 
ganizing and supervising arrangements and 
to selecting and managing the boys. 

Between two and three hundred volumes are 
delivered weekly, and the character of the liter- 
ature is about the same as that issued at the 
library. 

In Milton Miss Forrest began, Jan. i, 1902, 
a system of home delivery covering sections of 
the town remote from the library, which is paid 
for by the library without any charge to the 
borrower. A man is hired to " make the deliv- 
ery on Thursday of each week, for $5 a delivery, 
with the understanding that the price is to re- 
main the same, should the number of books to 
be delivered increase." 

The messenger serves about eight hours per 
week, and, of course, distributes call slips, bul- 
letins, fine notices, etc. The delivery has in- 
creased from 23 to 80 volumes per week, mak- 
ing the cost now about seven cents per volume, 
and fiction is only 62 per cent, of the issue. 
The home delivery, Miss Forrest states, " has 
increased the circulation and the number of 
card-holders, and has reached many residents 
of the town who have never before used the 
library." 

These are the facts so far as ascertained. 
Your committee is unwilling yet to pronounce 
an opinion, but thinks the Association should 
give careful consideration to the matter, with a 
view to weighing the pros and cons and deter- 
mining whether the advantages of greater con- 
venience to readers and of interesting persons 
not previously using the library, outweigh the 
disadvantage of losing the benefits derived by 
the reader from visiting the library itself. 

LIBRARY INSTITUTES. 

In library work it is of the first importance 
to provide capable and earnest librarians. The 
training schools and the great annual library 
meetings, supplemented by state associations 
and local clubs, are doing essential work, but 
the library movement outruns any and all of 



these influences. Small libraries are multiply- 
ing more rapidly than trained librarians can be 
secured, and with resources far too slender to 
afford trained service. Not one library in ten, 
in many states not one in twenty, is directly 
reached by the most enthusiastic or most in- 
structive gathering at state or national library 
meetings, or by any of our library schools or 
training classes. Every state commission feels 
the necessity of going out personally to talk 
with trustees and librarians about the most ele- 
mentary and practical things. 

From the first it has been a feature of the 
Wisconsin work that those in charge of travel- 
ling libraries in given districts have been called 
together to talk with the librarian of the com- 
mission and to compare notes. In Western 
Massachusetts meetings of librarians, trustees, 
and townsfolk have been held at various points 
to learn from the experience of representatives 
of larger institutions who went expressly to 
visit them. Similar work is doubtless done in 
many of the states. A systematic effort of 
this kind is reported this year from New 
York. 

Under the direction of a special committee 
of the New York Library Association a series 
of institutes was held with the distinct purpose 
of improving library methods. The state was 
divided into eleven districts. In three of these 
where there were local library clubs the work 
was commended to their attention. For each 
of the other eight districts a local secretary 
was appointed, furnished with a list of libraries, 
and requested to put himself at once in com- 
munication with them, and take steps to awaken 
an interest in their coming together. Dates in 
April and May were assigned for meetings and 
a general program prepared, covering three 
sessions of two to three hours each. 

The subjects chosen presented in miniature 
a somewhat complete course in library econ- 
omy. An evening of popular addresses to the 
public was also part of the plan, and in three 
cases these were supplemented by a lantern 
exhibition of library building plans. 

For each institute a conductor was appointed 
who called in such help as was available and 
was responsible for details. The first institute 
opened April 15, the eighth meeting closed 
May 10. Three meetings were held the first 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



week, two in the second week, and three in 
the last week. 

The interest shown was on the whole ex- 
tremely gratifying. Numbers at the instruc- 
tional sessions ranged from 22 to 75 ; at the 
popular sessions from 25 to 200. The number 
of libraries represented was from 8 to 18. At 
the largest gatherings special efforts had been 
made to interest the women's clubs. 

The topics were presented in their very sim- 
plest terms and familiarly discussed. Where 
numbers were small the result was probably 
more valuable on that account to those present. 
The plan was considered a success in bringing 
together librarians of experience and those 
who lacked in this respect. The one hundred 
and ten libraries reached were only one in six 
of those invited, which fact offers a wide field 
for future effort in the same direction. 

The cost of such meetings and of the organi- 
zation required to maintain them presents a 
difficulty. In this case the expense was practi- 
cally shared by the state association, the state 
library, and several private individuals who 
gave their services and paid their own bills. 
For many reasons it would be desirable for the 
state to be wholly responsible for work like 
this as it is for similar work with teachers. 

Whether conducted by state, club, or indi- 
vidual effort, your committee commends this 
form of activity to all who have at heart effi- 
cient administration in the smallest libraries. 

STUDENT HELP. 

In a library staff where there may be from 
ten to a hundred or more members, it is certain 
that the work is not all of the same grade, and 
does not all of it require special library train- 
ing. The question is whether for minor posi- 
tions it is desirable to employ boy and girl 
students from high schools and local colleges. 

With reference to pages, every librarian 
knows that there is no future in a library for the 
boy of fourteen who leaves school to accept a 
position as page. The boy is tempted by the 
pay, but after being in the library three or four 
years he has received little training which is of 
advantage in the business world. Some libra- 
rians report that their pages secure good posi- 
tions in offices and factories, but the majority 
would consider it an injury to a boy of limited 



education to tempt him into a library as a 
page. 

The libraries which report favorably on 
student help are : the Detroit Public Library, 
where school boys have been employed as 
pages ; the Cleveland Public, where student 
help both from colleges and high school has 
been employed for evening assignments, 
dinner hours, and half-holidays ; the John 
Crerar Library, for evening service only; the 
Chicago Public, which is now working under 
civil service rules, which prohibits any prefer- 
ence being given to special classes of appli- 
cants, but formerly got satisfactory results from 
student helpers "who, as a rule, are bright 
and good workers ;" the Providence (R.I.) 
Public, which employs students from Brown 
University as clerks during the evening and 
pupils from the high schools as pages 
"These have frequently been students of 
much force of character (who, perhaps, other- 
wise would not have undertaken anything so 
laborious) and we have profited from their 
characteristic ability ; " the Salem, Mass., 
Public Library, where high school boys have 
been employed ; the Case Library, at Cleveland, 
with a limited experience of two instances 
only; the Boston Athenaeum, which has em- 
ployed college students for Sunday duty " very 
successfully in our particular case." Mr. 
Bolton remarks: "This is a serious problem, 
but I fear there is no solution unless the boys 
will study, few will ; " the Amherst College 
Library, which has employed Amherst stu- 
dents ; the Boston Public, where student help 
has been used for Sunday and evening service 
and for extra work on Saturdays, Mr. 
Whitney states that the results have been 
very favorable ; the Minneapolis Public 
Library, Dr. Hosmer reports : "We have 
had excellent service from university and high 
school students and see no reason against 
employing them ; " the Lowell, Mass., Public 
Library and the Brooklyn Library, where they 
have just begun to engage high school boys 
" for evening work and find them much better 
than ordinary pages more intelligent and 
more interested ; " and, finally, the Worcester, 
Mass., Public Mr. Green emphatically states 
that, in view of their experience, he looks very 
favorably on the employment of school boys 



WELLMAN, EASTMAN, HODGES. 



and girls and college students, as the library 
offers no future for employees of limited 
education. 

On the other hand, Dr. Canfield, of the 
Columbia University Library, writes: "I have 
used what is called ' student help ' by the hour 
in several institutions before coming here 
both in the library and elsewhere and have 
always found it the most expensive and least 
effective service that could be secured," and 
adds that it is not possible to offer a fairly 
well-educated, bright, ambitious boy sufficient 
inducement to remain in the library. It is 
generally true that " as soon as we have a boy 
thoroughly well trained as a page, some down- 
town office gathers him in and we are obliged 
to begin over again." Miss Lord, of Bryn 
Mawr College Library, gives it as her experi- 
ence that " such amateur work is not of suffi- 
cient money value to the college to pay the 
students enough to amount to real help ; he or 
she had better borrow the same amount of 
money and finish in a shorter time, and the 
library had much better get assistants giving 
their time and undivided interest to its work ; " 
Mr. Collins, the reference librarian at Prince- 
ton, is also inclined to the belief that college 
students ought to be able to get more remu- 
nerative side jobs. Mr. Anderson, of the 
Carnegie Library at Pittsburgh, reports that 
they have tried student help, but do not ap- 
prove of it. Mr. Crunden, of St. Louis, states 
that formerly student help was used in St. 
Louis, but he does not believe it a good policy ; 
most of the boys drop out after two or three 
years and seek positions elsewhere. An effort 
is made to stimulate the boys to study and the 
reading of good books. 

In view of the above testimony, and not- 
withstanding some adverse criticism, it is the 
opinion of your committee that in many in- 
stances by employing college students for 
special work, intelligent and cultured service 
can be secured at a low cost ; and that in gen- 



eral by hiring high school students by the hour 
to serve as pages and in other minor positions, 
a more intelligent worker can be retained at 
less cost, and without cumbering the staff with 
permanent employees who as their time of ser- 
vice lengthens will naturally clamor for ad- 
vancement to positions for which lack of gen- 
eral education renders them unfit. 

RENEWAL BY TELEPHONE. 

The question of allowing renewal by tele- 
phone has been discussed at some length in 
the library periodicals. Your committee simply 
call attention to the purpose of requiring a re- 
newal, which is to force the borrower to take a 
certain amount of trouble in order to retain a 
book after it is due, this with a view to ensur- 
ing its being returned and made available for 
other readers unless the first reader really 
desires to use it, in which case he will take the 
necessary pains to have the time extended. 
Your committee are not certain that the inter- 
ests of the public are benefited more by the 
convenience of using the telephone in cases of 
legitimate renewal than they are harmed by 
its abuse in cases where the borrower merely 
wishes to avoid the trouble of returning on 
time a book which he has finished reading ; and 
we suggest this question for discussion. 

FINES. 

Many of the poorer patrons of a library, 
especially children, are debarred from using it 
because of having incurred small fines which 
they are really unable to pay. A two-cent 
fine often deprives such persons of the privi- 
lege of ever again drawing books. We repeat 
the suggestion, which has been made before, 
that for young children at least, an alternate 
penalty be fixed, "so that deprivation of library 
privileges for a certain period may be consid- 
ered as equivalent to the payment of a small 
fine, and thus readers may not be driven per- 
manently from the library's influence. 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



BY ROLAND P. FALKNER, Chairman. 



VOUR Committee on Public Documents de- 
sires, before presenting its report, to express 
its regret at the retirement of its former chair- 
man, Mr. R. R. Bowker,and to bear testimony 
to the efficiency of his long continued service. 
He has taken an active interest in the work of 
legislation. During his connection with the 
committee some of the most glaring defects in 
the system of printing and distributing the 
public documents of the United States have 
been removed, and to this result his efforts 
have contributed in no mean degree. His 
successor knows no better program for the 
work of the committee than to follow the 
course marked out by Mr. Bowker. 

LEGISLATION. 

No legislation affecting the public documents 
has been accomplished by the present Con- 
gress. Two measures of interest to librarians 
are before it. One authorizes the Superin- 
tendent of Documents to distribute to libraries 
the first editions of the Nautical Almanac and 
American Ephemeris instead of the second 
editions as heretofore.* A second measure is 
of wider interest. A bill, Senate 4261, pro- 
viding in substance that the publications of the 
executive offices shall be issued to libraries as 
soon as they are printed, has passed the Senate 
and is now in the possession of the Committee 
on Printing of the House of Representatives. 
The text of the bill is appended to this report. 
It provides no general amendment of the exist- 
ing laws, but contains a few simple provisions 
of especial interest to libraries. Besides the 
features already noted, it increases the number 
of volumes at the disposal of the Superinten- 
dent of Documents for distribution to 600. At 
the present time the law does not give him a 
sufficient number to meet the demand were all 
possible depositories actually designated. 

This Association has placed itself on record 
over and over again in favor of a more expedi- 

* Since the preparation of this report the resolution in 
question has been passed. R. P. F. 



tious delivery of public documents to deposito- 
ries. The Superintendent of Documents has 
kindly furnished tables showing the date of de- 
livery to libraries of some of the more impor- 
tant annual publications. These have been 
selected because the offices in question are 
generally prompt in issuing their reports. As- 
suming that the cloth-bound issues are ready 
January i of the year following the close of the 
fiscal year, the following table shows the ap- 
proximate delay in distributing them to depos- 
itories : 

TABLE SHOWING APPROXIMATE DELAY IN MONTHS 
IN DISTRIBUTING CERTAIN REPORTS. 







c 
_o 


| 


1 


0. 


8 






o 


15 


sS 

* 


1 


Q 




V 




C! 
rt 






<u-d 





o 


3 






V 




c c 


> 




8 






o! 




V rt 


a 


o 






E 


fe 


c 


CM 







^ 


1890 


48 




44 


40 


42 


78 


So 


1891 


37 


. . 


34 


32 


32 


40 


35 


1892 


44 




56 


3i 


3i 




39 


1 893 


25 




26 


25 


26 


26 


26 


1804 


iS 




14 


iS 


13 


14 


'4 


1895 


22 


2 5 


2S 


25 


24 


24 


24 


1896 


35 


36 


27 


29 


36 


29 


32 


1897 


25 


32 


24 


24 


2S 


24 


26 


1898 


13 


2 S 


2 3 


27 


12 


23 


21 


1899 


15 


16 


15 


iS 


IS 


16 


15 


1900 


13 


16 




13 


IS 


'3 


14 



It shows that from a period of three to four 
years the interval between printing and distri- 
bution has been reduced to a little over a year. 
This probably represents the maximum which 
can be obtained under the present law, and the 
zeal and energy of the Superintendent can ac- 
complish nothing further in this direction with- 
out modification of the law. Even at the 
present time the date which intervenes between 
the first publication of the regular reports and 
the issue of the same in the sheep-bound form 
to libraries is considerable and vexatious. To 
eliminate this delay is an object much to be de- 
sired. Not only will it obviate the necessity 
of securing, in the case of the larger libraries, 
duplicate copies of these volumes, but it will 
probably secure to these libraries the receipt of 
the cloth-bound issues at an earlier date than 



FALKNER. 



93 



they would be obtained through private cor- 
respondence. 

As respects the scope of the act it suffices to 
say that it does not apply to publications pre- 
pared by Congress only, and would, therefore, 
have no reference to the House and Senate 
reports. The Senate documents of the 56th 
Congress, second session, comprise 34 volumes, 
of which 15 would not have been affected by 
such a law, giving an immediate distribution 
of 19 volumes. The House documents num- 
bered 137 volumes and of these 17 volumes 
only have been undisturbed by such a law, 
giving an immediate distribution of 120 
volumes. This would have left for distribution 
in the document form 43 volumes (including 
the reports) instead of 182 as the matter actu- 
ally stood. 

As the passage of the bill described would 
remove the most serious inconvenience in the 
present method of distributing documents, 
your committee presents a resolution express- 
ing the approval of the Association of this 
measure. 

There are, of course, a few other matters 
connected with the federal documents which 
might appropriately be the subject of sugges- 
tion or recommendation on the part of the 
Association. 

1. All who have occasion to use those vol- 
umes of documents which contain a large num- 
ber of separate issues have appreciated the 
difficulty in finding such as are desired. A 
return to the old method of printing the docu- 
ment number on each page of the document 
would avoid this inconvenience. 

2. Beginning with the 3d session of the 
53d Congress the bound volumes of the Con- 
gressional Record issued to depository libraries 
have borne no indication of the dates covered 
by each volume. The inconvenience which 
results from this omission, since a majority of 
references in the Record are by date and not 
by volume or Congress, has been felt by libra- 
rians generally. Here, again, a return to the 
old method of lettering the backs of the vol- 
umes would be desirable. 

3. The inadequacy of the indexing of the 
Congressional Record is a source of constant 
trial to those who have to use it. The index 
at present is purely a title index, and in no 



sense of the word a subject index. In view of 
the wide latitude permitted for debate on cer- 
tain measures, such as appropriation bills, it 
frequently happens that the most important 
speeches are indexed under titles which give 
absolutely no clue to their contents. A single 
illustration from the present session of Con- 
gress will suffice. Before the introduction of 
the Cuban reciprocity bill there had been no 
less than five speeches dealing with the rela- 
tions of the United ^States with Cuba. The 
indexes to the Congressional Record 'do not, how- 
ever, enable the searcher to discover the fact, 
It would be to the advantage of all concerned 
if the indexes at least to the bound volumes 
were made much fuller, and while preserving 
the excellent features of the present index 
should add the subject feature also. The ad- 
ditional cost of such work would be amply re- 
paid by the benefit derived. 

It has been deemed proper by your commit- 
tee to make these matters the subjects of ap- 
propriate resolutions. 

PUBLICATIONS. 

The year past has been particularly rich in 
publications concerning the federal documents. 
The Superintendent of Documents has issued 
the document index for the 56th Congress, ist 
session, and also for the 56th Congress, 2d 
session. The latter has not yet been distrib- 
uted in the sheep-bound edition. If the law 
already noted were in force this document 
would already be in the libraries and the docu- 
ments of the 56th Congress, 2d session, would 
not lack a key. 

A comprehensive catalogue for the 55th 
Congress has also been issued. The advantage 
of having all the matter pertaining to different 
sessions of the same Congress in one volume 
is plainly shown by an examination of the 
present issue. 

The most noteworthy achievement of the 
year has been the publication of the tables and 
index of the Congressional documents from the 
I5th Congress, 1817-18, to the close of the 
52d Congress, March] 3, 1893. This work 
repeats substantially (with 24 exceptions 
only) the serial numbers given in the earlier 
check list of the office, with fuller bibliograph- 
ical notes respecting the contents of the several 



94 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



volumes, noting especially irregularities in 
numbering and omissions. The second part 
of the work is an index to the more important 
documents included in the sets. It is an index 
of titles, and certain of the more frequently re- 
curring items of personal or temporary interest 
have been omitted. In a work of this magni- 
tude one is tempted to utter a wish that even 
more might have been omitted. A complete 
index by subjects would be, however, too great 
a task to be undertaken. In a notice of the 
work in the Library Journal, the reviewer 
states that one of the documents here repre- 
sented by single entry requires in an analytical 
treatment over 150 entries, and this gives an 
inkling of what would be necessary in a com- 
plete analysis of the volumes. 

This volume, the most valuable key to the 
public documents of the United States which 
has thus far been printed, is one of a series in 
preparation in the office of the Superintendent 
of Documents. Of the remaining volumes, one 
will include the Congressional documents be- 
fore the 1 5th Congress, the other the Depart- 
ment documents. When this work, already far 
advanced, shall have been completed, we shall 
have with the comprehensive catalogues a 
complete key to all of the documents issued by 
the United States government so far as the 
office of the Superintendent of Documents has 
been able to discover them. 

The office of the Superintendent of Docu- 
ments has also prepared for the Committee on 
Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives, 
a list by years of the speeches, reports, and 
public documents relating to the navy of the 
United States from 1880 to 1901, intended as 
a documentary history of the new navy. It 
has also begun the publication of price lists on 
special subjects which are not comprehensive 
bibliographies, as they give only those books 
which are in his office for sale, but are still 
useful guides of the subjects of which they 
treat. A list on irrigation and another on 
labor, industries, trusts, and immigration have 
already been issued ; one relating to inter- 
oceanic canals, ship subsidy, commerce and 
transportation, Pacific railroads, and statistics 
will shortly be issued. 

General Greely's list of the public documents, 
ist to I4th Congress, has also been published 



since the last report of this committee. This 
list divides the documents into four classes 
Senate documents and reports, House docu- 
ments and reports, and gives a chronological 
list of each class. Notes also indicate the 
libraries in which the documents can be found. 
In certain directions, aids in the use of the 
government documents can be found in other 
publications issued during the year. A serial 
finding list, Senate Document 238, 56th Con- 
gress, 2d session, by Mr. J. M. Baker, assist- 
ant librarian of the Senate library, contains a 
record of the places in the sheep-bound volumes 
of most of the important serial publications, 
which will be very useful for libraries which are 
unable to have special sets of reports or whose 
sheep-bound volumes do not bear the serial 
number. Bulletin 177, of the United States 
Geological Survey, is a catalogue and index of 
the publications of the Survey from 1880 to 
1901. Bulletin 51 of the United States 
National Museum is a check-list and index of 
the publications of that office. Useful bibliog- 
raphies of special subjects are found in some 
of the recent publications of the Library of 
Congress. A list of books on trusts notes the 
articles in the consular reports dealing with 
this subject. Lists upon irrigation and reci- 
procity note all of the documents upon these 
subjects, while a second edition on mercantile 
subsidies will contain references to all docu- 
ments bearing upon shipping and mail con- 
tracts. 

STATE DOCUMENTS. 

As the National Association of State Libra- 
rians will present a report upon the binding 
and distribution of the state documents, your 
committee must refrain from discussing what 
is desirable in legislation or noting a number 
of valuable suggestions received from a number 
of state librarians and confine itself to stat- 
ing what has been accomplished since its 
last report was presented. Inquiries addressed 
to the state librarians have elicited replies from 
all but twelve and it is probable that these had 
nothing of interest to report to the Associa- 
tion. 

Since the last report of this committee the 
state of Alabama has established a Department 
of Archives and History which unites some of 



FALKNER. 



95 



the functions of the state library and a state 
historical association. Connecticut has au- 
thorized the state comptroller to print 375 
additional copies of state reports, to furnish to 
the state librarian a sufficient number for ex- 
change purposes, and to distribute the re- 
mainder to such public libraries in the state as 
may apply for them. Iowa has increased the 
number of documents printed and placed 500 
copies at the disposal of the state library com- 
mission. It has also provided more generous 
editions of some of the special reports. 
Rhode Island in 1901 created the office of 
state librarian, and in the present year has 
authorized that officer to exchange publica- 
tions with nations, states and municipalities, 
and to make requisition upon state officers 
for the documents required for this pur- 
pose. South Dakota (March 9, 1901) in its 
general printing law provides that the secretary 
of state shall distribute journals, public docu- 
ments, and statutes to each state and territorial 
library, and to the Library of Congress. Wash- 
ington by law of March 6, 1901, provides that 
the reports of state officials shall be bound in 
collected form as public documents, assigns a 
certain number to the state library and to the 
educational institutions of the state, and fur- 
nishes 50 copies to the state library commission 
for exchange with other states. California and 
Montana report that the next legislature will 
be asked to provide a suitable exchange system. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

During the past year the principal publi- 
cations of bibliographic interest relate to 
Kansas. The State Library has issued a cata- 
logue of its Law Library, and the State His- 
torical Society has issued a list of the Kan- 
sas state and territorial documents in its 
library. The somewhat earlier publications 
of the Illinois State Historical Library, its 
catalogue of 1900 and its publication No. 3, 
"Territorial records of Illinois, 1809-1811," 
have not been previously noted in these re- 
ports. The check lists in the reports of the 
State Librarian of Pennsylvania for 1900 and 
1901, and of New Jersey for 1900, have also 
escaped attention. Important bibliographic 
work is in progress in some of the state libra- 
ries. Wisconsin is preparing an index to its 



public documents. Indiana has classified and 
catalogued all the state documents in the 
library, and proposes to print these catalogues 
in the forthcoming report of the library. The 
New York State Library has almost completed 
an index of New York Senate and Assembly 
documents, which they hope to publish soon, 
probably within the next year. To render 
more available the material contained in the 
governors' messages of the various states, it 
has analyzed and classified messages of 1902 
so that the recommendations on any particular 
subject may be consulted easily. In the fall it 
will publish a brief topical digest of these mes- 
sages. 

During 1901 more than 40 new state boards 
and offices were created. A number of old 
boards were reorganized under new names and 
several were abolished. Besides these, various 
new state institutions were created. These 
numerous creations, changes of name, and con- 
solidations make the task of the librarian who 
attempts to keep a complete file of state docu- 
ments extremely difficult. The "Annual sum- 
mary and index of state legislation " will be 
altered to show in concise form the annual 
changes in state boards and officers. 

The reports of special investigating commis- 
sions are usually the most valuable and most 
difficult to obtain of the state documents. After 
two or three years it is almost impossible to 
secure one of these special reports. To enable 
librarians to better keep track of them as they 
are issued, it is proposed to include in the sum- 
mary and index of legislation a list of special 
investigations ordered each year. 

ARCHIVES. 

Considerable progress is being made in pre- 
serving and making available the early archives 
of the various states. Connecticut has made 
provision for editing and printing the state 
archives from 1780-1788. In the Virginia State 
Library there is a large collection of valuable 
unpublished manuscripts which is now being 
arranged and catalogued. The librarian ex- 
presses the hope that before long at least the 
more important material may be published. In 
the last report of the American Historical As- 
sociation Professor Osgood has published an 
important report on the archives of New York 



9 6 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



state. The publication by Mr. Ford, of the 
Massachusetts House Journal of 1715, is an- 
other evidence of the same interest. 

The committee notes with pleasure the 
appearance of the first part of Miss Hasse's 
book upon the cataloguing of public documents, 
which will undoubtedly increase the interest in 
public documents in the libraries generally. 
The inclusion of a course in the care and treat- 
ment of public documents in the summer course 
of the Wisconsin Library Commission is further 
evidence of a gratifying increase of interest in 
documents. 

In conclusion your committee desires to sub- 
mit the following resolutions : 

Resolved, That the American Library Asso- 
ciation respectfully urge upon the House of Rep- 
resentatives the early consideration and passage 
of Senate Bill 4261 relating to the distribution 
of public documents. The libraries of the 
country are vitally interested in the success of 
this measure which would greatly increase the 
use of the official publications of the United 
States in libraries, and enable them to give 
a more efficient public service. 

Resolved, That the president of this Associa- 
tion be authorized to communicate with the 
Public Printer and the Joint Committee on 
Printing of Congress, calling attention to the 
desirability of a return to old customs in the 
issue of public documents respecting 

1. The printing of document number on 
every page of numbered documents. 

2. The lettering of the bound volumes of the 
Congressional Record in such manner as to 
show the dates covered by the contents of the 
same. 

Resolved, That the president of this As- 
sociation be authorized to communicate with 
the Joint Committee on Printing of Congress, 
urging a more copious Index to the Congres- 
sional Record. Without omitting any features 
of the present Index, this Association deems 
it highly desirable that the scope of the Index 
be so enlarged as to include references 
to the subject of debates, in addition to the 
record of bills, resolutions, and other formal 
titles under which debate arises. 

The bill (S. 4261) for a better distribution 
of documents to libraries, previously referred 
to, is as follows : 



A BILL 

To provide for printing, and binding in cloth, addi- 
tional copies of the first edition of government docu- 
ments and publications for distribution to the 
designated depository libraries in lieu of the sheep- 
bound copies of the document edition, so called, now 
supplied to said libraries. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of ike United States of America in Congress as- 
sembled, That whenever any annual report, serial, 
periodical, or miscellaneous publication of an executive 
department, bureau, board, commission, or office of the 
government shall be ordered printed upon the requisition 
of the head thereof, or upon the order of Congress or 
either House thereof, the public printer shall print six 
hundred copies in addition to the number named in the 
requisition or order of Congress, unless previously 
ordered, to be known as the " library edition," for distri- 
bution by the superintendent of documents to state and 
territorial libraries and designated depositories ; provided, 
that this Act shall not apply to confidential matter, blank 
forms, or circular letters. 

SECTION 2. That Congressional numbers shall not be 
printed upon any of the documents or reports provided 
for distribution to state and territorial libraries and 
designated depositories under the provisions of section 
one of this Act. 

SECT. 3. That in binding the library edition the best 
grades of cloth shall be used, and the public printer shall, 
as far as practicable, assign a distinctive color to the 
binding of the publications of each department and office, 
and when a color has been assigned the same shall not 
be changed; and, to insure prompt delivery, the public 
printer shall give precedence in binding to documents 
intended for distribution to libraries and depositories. 

SECT. 4. That whenever any printing shall be done 
upon the order of Congress or either House thereof, or 
upon the requisition of the head of an executive depart- 
ment, bureau, board, commission, office, or Congressional 
committee, except matter marked confidential, blank 
forms, and circular letters, two copies shall be sent, as 
soon as printed, by the public printer, if printed at the 
Government Printing Office or any branch thereof, or by 
the head of the office upon whose order the same was 
printed if printed elsewhere, to the superintendent of 
documents for entry in the monthly catalogue; and 
whenever the injunction of secrecy has been removed 
from any document printed as confidential, two copies of 
the same shall be sent by the proper official to the super- 
intendent of documents. 

SECT. 5. That beginning with the first session of the 
Fifty-eighth Congress, the public printer shall deliver to 
the superintendent of documents for distribution to state 
and territorial libraries and designated depositories, 
bound, of House documents and reports and of Senate 
documents and reports, except those included in the 
library edition, each six hundred copies. 

SECT. 6. That all laws in conflict with the provisions 
of this Act are hereby repealed. 



COLE. 



97 



REPORT ON GIFTS AND BEQUESTS TO AMERICAN LIBRARIES, 1901-1902. 

BY GEORGE WATSON COLE. 



THE period covered by this report is from 
July I, 1901, to June i, 1902, or eleven months. 
As a rule it includes single gifts of $500 or 
more in money, as well as those of 250 vol- 
umes and over. Other noteworthy gifts, not 
strictly falling within these limits, have been 
included, together with some that have hith- 
erto escaped notice in these reports. 

The total number here recorded is 721, rep- 
resenting a money value of $11,974,298.54, of 
which $2,705,247,91 was donated for endow- 
ments, running expenses, etc., and the re- 
maining $9,269,050.63 for the erection of 
library buildings, sites, etc. Of this latter 
amount $7,604,000 was contributed by An- 
drew Carnegie to 234 libraries, 214 of which 
are in this country and to which he has given 
$6,359,000. In addition to this sum for the 
erection of buildings, gifts have been made of 
23 buildings and 27 sites upon which no valu- 
ation has been placed. To complete this sur- 
vey we must also take into account 177,669 
volumes and 97,016 pamphlets (some of great 
value) which have been presented to various 
institutions throughout the land, as well as 
gifts of a special character, as works of 
art, museum specimens, etc. 

If the total number exceeds that recorded 
in my former report, which covered a period 
of thirteen months, it is probably due to the 
fact that a more careful examination has been 
made of the library periodicals of the interval 
covered viz., the Library Journal, Public 
Libraries and Public Library Bulletin, from 
which much of the information herein con- 
tained has been gathered. A more extended 
application for information has also been 
made to the libraries themselves. Their num- 
ber, however, is so large that it has been 
found impracticable to reach them all, espe- 
cially the smaller ones, by personal corre- 
spondence. In order, therefore, to secure the 
fullest information possible from sources other 
than those already named the library com- 
missions of each state, so far as they exist, 
were, as last year, asked to contribute infor- 



mation concerning the gifts made in each ot 
their states. 

I was much surprised to learn that 
most of the state commissioners do not 
attempt to keep a systematic record of the 
gifts made within their respective jurisdic 
tions. It would seem that nothing could do 
more to stimulate a liberal spirit towards 
libraries than by carefully keeping such a 
record and giving it as great publicity as 
possible. Nothing could be better adapted to 
excite a noble emulation among those inter- 
ested in libraries to contribute of their means 
for the establishment and support of these 
universities of the people. If some states, 
therefore, appear in this report to have re- 
ceived more than their proportional share of 
donations, it is largely due, no doubt, to the 
fact that the library commissions in those 
states have been more alive to the advantages 
to be derived from keeping the people fully 
informed as to what is being done toward 
the founding and maintenance of libraries. 

The thanks of the compiler are extended 
to all who have assisted him by furnishing 
any portion, however small, of the informa- 
tion embodied in the list which follows. 

It will be noticed that while there are a 
greater number of individual gifts in this 
year's report, the average amount, as well as 
the grand total, is considerably below that of 
last year. This may be accounted for, in part, 
by the change of policy adopted by the chief 
donor to American libraries, Mr. Andrew 
Carnegie. Last year's report contained the 
announcement of his gifts to the largest cities 
in the country, in amounts which from the 
very nature of the case can never be repeated. 
And just here it may be said that the zeal of 
the reporter carried him so far as to include 
two or three of these gifts, which were an- 
nounced between the Waukesha Conference 
and the appearance of the Conference number 
ot the Library Journal, which, strictly speak- 
ing, should have appeared in the present report. 

Mr. Carnegie's change of policy, to which 



9 8 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



reference has just been made, consists in giv- 
ing amounts much smaller in size than for- 
merly, thereby increasing the number of re- 
cipients. Last year's report contained 121 of 
his gifts, of which 112 were in the United 
States. This year he gives 234, of which 214 
are in this country. Last year, his largest 
gift of $5,200,000, was made to New York 
City. In four other gifts he gave a sum of 
$3,500,000. Last year his gifts averaged a 
little over $114,000 each, while this year the 
average is only about $29,650. Until recently 
Mr. Carnegie has issued no authorized state- 
ment of his benevolences. Just before leav- 
ing for Europe this spring he gave out a re- 
vised list which was reprinted in the Chicago 
Tribune for May 4th. In this list are included 
gifts to 368 cities and towns for free public 
libraries. These contributions have covered a 
period of more than a decade, though in in- 
creasing numbers year by year. 

It is safe to say that not one of his gifts 
will have so far-reaching an influence for 
good as that of $100,000 to the Publishing 
Section of the American Library Association, 
announced in the president's address at the 
Magnolia Conference. By means of this timely 
gift the Publishing Section of this Association 
will be enabled to publish several important 
works which it has had in preparation for 
some time past and to enlarge its plans, which 
have hitherto unfortunately been hampered 
from lack of funds. 

Several gifts mentioned in the following 
list call for special mention. Among the 
most important is that of the Duncan Camp- 
bell Memorial collection, received by the New 
York State Library from the executors of 
Miss Ellen Campbell. This collection is es- 
pecially rich in old and rare printed volumes 
and manuscripts, including, as it does, 45 
incunabula and 19 mediaeval manuscripts. 
The whole forms one of the most important 
collections ever received by this library. 

The Library of Columbia University, 
through the generosity of Mr. William C. 
Schermerhorn, has come into the possession 
of the DeWitt Clinton collection of about 
noo letters, consisting of about 9000 pages, 
addressed to him by many of the most im- 
portant authors, statesmen, and other notable 
persons of the first quarter of the last cen- 



tury. This collection will prove of great 
value to the historical student of that period. 

The library of Brown University has also 
acquired a valuable collection of 5000 ms. 
pieces, consisting mainly of the correspon- 
dence of the diplomatist, Jonathan Russell 
(Brown, 1791), United States minister to 
Norway and Sweden and one of the five 
ccmmissioners who negotiated the Treaty of 
Ghent. It has also received a smaller but 
very valuable collection of letters and papers 
of Henry Wheaton (Brown, 1802), the cele- 
brated writer on international law. 

It is a noticeable fact that libraries are 
more and more beginning to receive collec- 
tions, which until of late were supposed to 
belong more properly to museums than to 
libraries. The relationship existing between 
libraries and museums has always been closer 
in England than with us, and it is a some- 
what curious fact that the first of the British 
municipal libraries, that at Warrington, was 
established under the Museums Act of 1848, 
two years before Ewart's Act was passed 
for the establishment of public libraries. 

I hasten rapidly over some of the most im- 
portant of these gifts. Those of about 3000 
prints to the New York Public Library and 
an equal number of photographs and repro- 
ductions of noted paintings to the library of 
Plymouth, Mass., fall more properly within 
the true functions of a library. From these 
to 2139 medical medals presented to the Bos- 
ton Medical Library and a collection of over 
5000 butterflies, valued at over $10,000, given 
to the Public Library in Plainfield, N. J., is a 
greater step toward the museum idea. 

We learn with great pleasure that two of 
our university libraries have received speci- 
mens of literature dating back to most an- 
cient times. Princeton University Library 
has received 95 Babylonian cylinders and 
cone-shaped seals and 400 clay tablets, while 
the library of Haverford College has received 
400 cuneiform clay tablets from Babylonia, 
all in the Assyrian language, and of an aver- 
age date of 2500 B.C. 

Time and space fail us to comment farther 
upon the gifts enumerated in the following 
list. We leave to each reader the pleasure 
of finding in it such as from their character 
or locality are of especial interest to him. 



COLE. 



99 



AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ; Publishing 
Section. $100,000, June 17, 1902, the income 
only to be expended in the preparation, and 
publication of reading lists, indexes and 
other bibliographical and literary aids es- 
pecially adapted to free public circulating 
libraries, from Andrew Carnegie. 

CALIFORNIA. 

ALAMEDA. Public Library. $35,000, July 10, 
1901, for building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
Increased from $10,000 previously offered. 
City council has voted to appropriate not 
less than $7000 yearly for its maintenance. 

BERKELEY. University of California. $2000, 
for law books, from Mrs. Jane Krom 
Sather. 

$2000, for books on architecture, from Mrs. 
Phcebe A. Hearst. $3000 promised for next 
year. 

$500 (annually), for books on mechanics 
and electricity, from Mrs. Andrew S. Hal- 
lidie. 

About 2000 volumes and 2000 pamphlets, 
being scientific and geological library of the 
late Dr. Joseph Le Conte, including many 
presentation copies, with autographs of au- 
thors, from Mrs. Joseph Le Conte. 

250 volumes on viticulture and viniculture, 
from the California Wine Makers' Corpora- 
tion. This probably makes the university's 
collection upon this subject the most com- 
plete in the United States. 

Los GATOS. Public Library. $10,000, Oct. 20, 

1901, for building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
PASADENA. Public Library. 600 or 700 vol- 
umes, from the estate of Mrs. E. F. Bowler, 
as a memorial to her. 

POMONA. Public Library. $15,000, Feb. 17, 

1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
RIVERSIDE. Public Library. $20,000, Sept. 2, 

1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

SAN BERNARDINO. Public Library. $15,000, 
March 13, 1902, for a building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

SAN FRANCISCO. Public Library. $750,000, 
July 5, 1901, for buildings, from Andrew 
Carnegie. Accepted July 15. Mr. Carnegie 
recommends that about one-half of the 
amount should be expended on a central li- 
brary building and the rest on branches. 

$25,000, April 10, 1902, for a branch library, 
from Andrew B. McCreery. 

3200 volumes and pamphlets, from William 
Emmette Coleman. 

SANTA CRUZ. Public Library. $5000 addi- 
tional, April 15, 1 002, for building, making 
a total of $20,000. from Andrew Carnegie. 

SANTA ROSA. Public Library. $20,000, 
March 13, 1902, for a building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

STANFORD UNIVERSITY. Stanford University 
Law Department. About 500 volumes, pri- 



vate library of the late Judge Sawyer, of 
the U. S. Circuit Court, from his sons. 

COLORADO. 

CANON CITY. Public Library. $10,000, Dec. 
17, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. A site has been secured. The city 
already appropriates $1100, and $600 is 
added from private subscription. 

DENVER. Public Library. $200,000, March 13, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carne- 
gie, provided that an annual maintenance 
of $30,000 be guaranteed. 

GEORGETOWN. Public Library. $10,000, March 
7, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

LEADVILLE. Public Library. $100,000, July 12, 

1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie, 
provided the city furnish $2000 (?) a year 
for its maintenance. 

PUEBLO. Public Library. $60,000, Feb. 14, 

1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
Accepted. 

CONNECTICUT. 

BLOOMFIELD. Public Library. Bequest of 
$15,255.85, for a library fund, from Levi 
Prosser, of Boston, Mass., on condition that 
town provide a suitable room. A building 
is being erected for library purposes. 

DURHAM. Public Library. Site and $4000, 
towards a library, name of donor not stated. 

FAIRFIELD. Fire Department Library. 1200 
volumes, as a nucleus for a library, from 
the Mill Plain Circulating Library. 

Public Library. $30,000, for a new me- 
morial library, raised by popular subscrip- 
tion. 

GREENWICH. Havemeyer School Library. 

2000 volumes, from Henry O. Havemeyer. 
HARTFORD. Case Memorial Library. $1000, 

for the purchase of periodicals, from Mrs. 

Charles B. Smith. 

About 600 volumes, from the library of the 
late Rev. A. C. Thompson, D.D., of Bos- 
ton. 

315 volumes, from Mrs. M. D. Thompson. 

Public Library. Bequest of $5000, from 
Mrs. Martha Wood Brown, several years 
since (corrected report of last year). 

Trinity College Library. One of the finest 
of existing copies of Audubon's "Birds of 
America," value not stated, from Dr. Gur- 
don W. Russell, of the class of 1834. 

LITCHFIELD. Noyes Memorial Library. New 
library building, costing about $20,000, as a 
memorial to Mrs. William Curtiss Noyes, 
from her grandson. Dedicated July 5, 1901, 
and is also used as the headquarters of the 
Litchfield Historical Society. 

MERIDEN. Curtis Memorial Library. New li- 
brary building, from Mrs. Augusta M. Cur- 



100 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



tis, as a memorial to her husband and 
daughter. Corner-stone laid Sept. 28, 1901. 

Free Public Library. $4115, from public 
contributions and subscriptions, including 
$1000 each from George A. Fay, Francis At- 
water, J. D. Billiard, and Mrs. E. H. White. 

MIDDLETOWN. Wesleyan University Library. 
Bequest of $20,000, as an endowment fund, 
from Mrs. (Stephen) Harriet Hoxie Wil- 
cox, of Brooklyn, N. Y., who died Aug. 21, 
1901. By the terms of the will the execu- 
tors have 10 years in which to settle the es- 
tate, but interest at the rate of four per 
cent, is to be paid after two years. 

$5018, June 24, 1901, to April 15, 1902, to 
the Alumni Library Endowment Fund, from 
subscriptions. The fund now exceeds $35,- 
ooo. 

418 bound volumes, from library of the late 
Rev. Joseph Pullman, class of '63, from 
Mrs. M. E. Pullman, of Stamford, Conn. 

NEW HAVEN. Yale University Library. Be- 
quest, as residuary legatee, expected to 
amount to $150,000; one-half of the income 
to be devoted to purchase of Belles-lettres, 
the rest to the general purposes of the li- 
brary, from Edward W. Southworth, of 
New York City. (Yale, '75.) 

$1200, divided among six of the seminary 
libraries of the university, from George E. 
Dimock, of Elizabeth, N. J. 

$900, expended by donor's wish for addi- 
tions to music department, from an anony- 
mous friend. 

$250, from ex-President D. C. Gilman, of 
Johns Hopkins University. 

Young Men's Christian Association Li- 
brary. $10,000. for library purposes, and in 
addition the income of $5000, the principal 
to go to the library on the death of the 
donor, Mrs. Hoadley B. Ives. 

NORWALK. Public Library. $20,000, Aug. 30, 
1001, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

Gift of a central corner at Mott and Bel- 
den avenues, site for the new Carnegie Li- 
brary building, valued at $19,000, Dec. 5, 
1901, from Hubert E. Bishop. Mr. Car- 
negie's offer of $20,000, not $50,000, as pre- 
viously reported, was accepted at a special 
city election held Sept. 20, 1901. 

NORWICH. Otis Library. Bequest of $3000, 
without conditions, from Miss Elizabeth B. 
Woodhull, who died in February, 1902. 

WATERBURY. Silas Branson Library. Gift of 
several handsome mahogany cases, to hold 
the library's collection of Indian relics, 
from an anonymous donor. 

WOODBURY. Public Library. Gift of the prop- 
erty known as the Parker Academy, value 
not stated, and $5000, Jan. 3, 1902, from 
Edward Boyd. 

DELAWARE. 

DOVER. Free Library. $2200, as an endow- 
ment fund, raised by Mrs. Priscilla H. 



Richardson and members of the Century 
Club Committee. 

$1000 from Manlove Hayes. 
WILMINGTON. Wilmington Institute Free Li- 
brary. $781.61, from a friend. 

$291, from Joseph Bancroft Sons Co. 

Several portraits and photographs, of Del- 
aware jurists, etc., from W. F. Smalley, 
Howard Pyle, and others. 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

WASHINGTON. Catholic University. Bequest 
of $50,000, for a library, from Mrs. Sarah 
Ferris Devlin, of Boston, Mass. 

'Library of Congress. 222 volumes and 182 
pamphlets; mostly works of, and relating 
to Dante, from Theodore W. Koch, of 
Philadelphia. 

133 volumes and 3302 pamphlets, of 
Chinese works, from William Woodville 
Rqckhill. 

Riggs Memorial Library of Georgetown 
University. Art books, valued at $1000, 
from various sources. 

FLORIDA. 

JACKSONVILLE. Public Library. $50,000, Feb. 
13, 1902, for building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. It is planned to transfer the prop- 
erty of the local library association, valued 
at $6000, to the new library organization. 

PENSACOLA. Public Library. $15,000, Aug. 
16, 1901, for building, from Andrew Car- 
negie ; legislation has been procured author- 
izing the city to levy a tax for the support 
of the library and to authorize it to enter 
into an obligation to support it. 

TAMPA. Public Library. $25,000, Jan. 16, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

GEORGIA. 

ATHENS. State Normal School Library. Li- 
brary of over 4000 volumes, from faculty, 
students, and townspeople. 

University of Georgia Library. $50,000, 
from George Peabody. 

ATLANTA. Carnegie Library. 309 volumes, 
from T. H. Martin. 

Six books from the Roycroft publications, 
from Elbert Hubbard, of Aurora, N. Y. 

Bust of Andrew Carnegie, made by Chev- 
alier Trentanove, costing $900, from the 
school children of Atlanta. 

COLUMBUS. 'Public Library. $25,000, April 
28, 1902, for building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

$5000, for a site for the new Carnegie li- 
brary building, from George Peabody. 

MACON. Public Library. $20,000, June 18, 

1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
NEWNAN. Public Library. $10,000, Jan. i, 

1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
Accepted Jan. 21. 

QUITMAN. Brooks Library. Bequest of 
$1000, from J. L. Cutler, of Boston. 



COLE. 



101 



IDAHO. 
Moscow. Free Library. $700, to help start 

a library, raised by popular subscription. 
POCATELLO. Public Library. Over looo vol- 
umes, from Miss Helen Miller Gould. 
ILLINOIS. 

BLOOMINGTON. Public Library. $15,000, for 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

BLUE ISLAND. Public Library. $15,000, 
March 13, 1902, for a building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

CARROLLTON. Public Library. $10,000, Oct. 
18, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

CHARLESTON. Public Library. $18,000, Oct. 
30, 1901 (accepted), for a building, from 
Andrew Carnegie, a yearly maintenance of 
$1900 required. 

CHICAGO. John Crerar Library. Bequest of 
$1000, the income will be devoted to the 
purchase of books on international law, 
from Huntington Wolcott Jackson. Re- 
ceived, January, 1002. 

McCormick Theological Seminary Library. 
$15,000, for immediate purchase of books, 
from Stanley McCormick. 

The Newberry Library. Gift of the Deane 
Collection, consisting of 1500 volumes and 
189 pamphlets, from Dr. N. Senn. 

-"535 volumes of newspapers, Sept. 6, 1901, 
principally files of local German news- 
papers, from Illinois Staats Zeitung Pub- 
lishing Company. 

369 volumes of newspapers, Dec. n, 1901, 
the greater part being a file of the Chicago 
Daily News, from Victor Fremont Lawson. 

Public Library. About $150,000, for a pub- 
lic library building at Hyde Park, to be 
known as the "T. B. Blackstone Memorial 
Branch Library," from Mrs. T. B. Black- 
stone. The gift has been accepted, and the 
library will be erected at Kenwood, Wash- 
ington avenue and 49th street. 

Bequest of $1000, income to be used to 
purchase books for the blind, from Hunt- 
ington W. Jackson. This bequest was left 
to the "Society for Home Reading for the 
Blind," now disbanded, but may eventually 
find its way to the Public Library. 

University of Chicago Library. A new 
building, to cost $150,000, for a temporary 
home of the library, from John D. Rocke- 
feller. 

CHICAGO HEIGHTS. Public Library. $10,000, 
March 13, 1902, for a building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

DANVILLE. Public Library. $40,000, Dec. 26, 
IQOI, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. Accepted Dec. 28, 1901. 

EVANSTON. Free Public Library. New li- 
brary building, to cost $100,000 (offered), 
by Charles F. Gray, upon condition that "an 
acceptable site be secured." 

Gift (pledged), by popular subscription, of 



about one-third the amount required for 
"an acceptable site" for the new library 
building, offered by Charles F. Grey. 
Among the contributors are William Deer- 
ing and Mayor James A. Patten, who give 
$5000 each. 

$1000, towards fund for purchase of a site 
for a new library building, from William 
L. Brown. Total subscription, $12,000. 

Northwestern University Library. $543, as 
a fund for the increase of the library, the 
principal to remain intact, from the class of 
1895, the fund to be known by the class 
name. 

HAWTHORN. Y. M. C. A. Railroad Library. 
$500, to equip a library, from Mrs. Julia E. 
Rosenfield. 

JERSEYVILLE. Public Library. $10,000, April 
14, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

MATTOON. Public Library. $20,000, July 15, 

1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

MOLINE. Morris Rosenfield Memorial Li- 
brary. $500, for a Railroad Young Men's 
Christian Association Library, from Mrs. 
Julia E. Rosenfield, of Rock Island. 

Public Library. $37,000, Aug. 30, 1901, for 
a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

$10,000, for purchase of site for Carnegie 
library building, from the citizens of Mo- 
line. 

OAK PARK. Scoville Institute Library. $500. 

Name of donor not stated. 
PARIS. Public Library. $18,000, March 13, 

1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
PEKIN. Public Library. $5000, Dec. 18, 1901, 

for a building, in addition to a former gift 
of $10,000, from Andrew Carnegie. 

Site, value not stated, for the new Car- 
negie building, from George Herget and his 
wife. 

ROCKFORD. Public Library. Several hundred 
volumes, constituting the library of the late 
A. M. Potter. 

INDIANA. 

ALEXANDRIA. Public Library. $800, for an 
endowment, from an unnamed donor. 

BEDFORD. Public Library. $15,000, Jan. 12, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
Site secured Jan. 29, 1902, and on April 10, 
1902, $5000 additional, making a total of 
$20,000. 

BLOOMINGTON. Public Library. $15,000, Dec. 
24, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

BRAZIL. Public Library. $20,000, March 13, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

CARTHAGE. Public Library. $2000 from the 
children of Henry Henley, and $1000 by 
popular subscription toward a new library 
building, dedicated June 6, 1902. 

COLUMBUS. Public Library. $15,000, Jan. 3, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
A site was secured on Jan. 29. 



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MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



DANVILLE. Public Library. $10,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

ELK HART. Carnegie Library. $5000, Dec. 16, 
1001, to render building more nearly fire- 
proof, in addition to a former gift of $30,- 
ooo, from Andrew Carnegie. 

ELWOOD. Public Library. $25,000, Oct. 18, 

1901, for building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
Accepted Dec. 2. 

GOSHEN. Public Library. $10,000, for a build- 
ing, in addition to previous offer of $15,000, 
making a total of $25,000, from Andrew 
Carnegie. Offer increased at the request of 
the citizens, the conditions of the first gift 
remaining unchanged. 

GREENCASTLE. Public Library. $10,000, Jan. 
22, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

$5000 additional, March 18, 1902. making 
total gift $15,000, for building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

GREENSBURG. Public Library. $15,000, for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

HARTFORD CITY. Public Library. $15,000, for 
a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

HUNTINGTON. Public Library. $25,000, for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. The 
usual conditions have already been met. 

INDIANAPOLIS. Butler College Library. $20,- 
ooo, Nov. 6, 1902, for a building, in addition 
to former gift of a site and $10,000, as a 
memorial to their daughter, from Mr. and 
Mrs. Edward C. Thompson, of Irvington. 
The library will be known as the "Bona 
Thompson Library." 

KOKOMO. Public Library. $25,000, Feb. 28, 

1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
This gift has been accepted. 

LOGANSPORT. Public Library. $25,000, April 
26, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

MICHIGAN CITY. Public Library. $2500, from 
Mrs. F. C. Austin, of Chicago. 

NEW ALBANY. Public Library. $35,000, 
March 13, 1902, for a building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

TIPTON. Public Library. $10,000, March 13, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

WABASH. Public Library. $5000 additional, 
April 30, 1902, for a building, making a to- 
tal of $10,000, from Andrew Carnegie. 

WASHINGTON. Public Library. $5000, Aug. 
II, IQOI, for a building, in addition to for- 
mer gift of $20,000, from Andrew Carnegie. 
The building is in process of construction. 

Block of land in the heart of the city, valued 
at $5000, for a site for the new Carnegie 
library building and for a park, by Joseph 
Cabel. 

IOWA. 

ALGONA. Public Library. $1000, from George 
W. Schee, of Primghar. Mr. Schee has 



also given $1000 for school libraries in Palo 
Alto county. 

ANAMOSA. Public Library. $10,000, for a 
building, raised by popular subscription. 

ATLANTIC. Public Library. $12,500, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

CEDAR FALLS. Public Library. $15,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

Site for a library building, amount not 
stated, raised by popular subscription. 

CEDAR RAPIDS. Free Public Library. $25,000 
additional to previous offer of $50,000, for 
building, from Andrew Carnegie, provided 
the site of May's Island can be made prac- 
ticable. 

CLINTON. Public Library. $30,000, Sept. 8, 

1901, for building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
Accepted March 31, 1902. 

Site for a library building, amount not 
stated, raised by popular subscription. 

DAVENPORT. Free Public Library. $5342, 
from Frederick Weyerhaeuser. Acknowl- 
edged Dec. 3, 1901. 

1500 volumes, from Mrs. W. D. Putnam. 

DENISON. Public Library. $10,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

DES MOINES. $800, for a library for the U. S. 
cruiser Des Moines, from the citizens of 
Des Moines. 

DUBUQUE. Free Library. $10,000, Jan. 2, 

1902, for a building, in addition to a former 
gift of $50,000, from Andrew Carnegie. 

Site, value not stated, for the new Carnegie 
library building, from Frank D. Stout. 

EAGLE GROVE. Public Library. $10,000, May 
i, 1002, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

ELDORA. Public Library. $10,000, Jan. 2, 1902, 
for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. Ac- 
cepted. 

ESTHERVILLE. Public Library. $10,000, March 
22, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

FAYETTE. Henderson Library. $5000, from 
ex-Governor Larrabee. 

GRINNELL. Iowa College Library. $3000, for 
the J. M. Chamberlain Memorial Fund, 
from graduates and friends of the college, 
the largest single gift being $500. 

$1000, for a book fund, from Prof. Leon- 
ard Fletcher Parker. 

HAMPTON. Public Library. $10,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

HAWARDEN. Public Library. $5000, Oct. i, 
IQOI, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie, 
the $400 yearly guarantee required pre- 
viously having been secured through tax 
levy, by a popular vote. 

$500, for a site for the new Carnegie build- 



COLE. 



103 



ing, from President Watkins, of the First 
National Bank. 

$500, to beautify the library grounds, raised 
by popular subscription. 

HOLSTEIN. Public Library. $700 ; $500 raised 
by popular subscription, and $200 from 
George W. Schee, of Primghar. 

INDIANOLA. Simpson College Library. $1000, 
for a book fund, from Mrs. Stillman. 

IOWA CITY. Public Library. $25,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

LAKE CHARLES. Public Library. $10,000 
(offered Nov. 20, 1901), for a building, 
from Andrew Carnegie. 

MANCHESTER. Public Library. $10,000, April 
19, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

MAQUOKETA. Public Library. $10,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

MARSHALLTOWN. Public Library. $25,000, 
for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. On 
April 28. 1902, $5000 additional, making a 
total of $30.000. 

MASON CITY. Public Library. $25,000, for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

NEWTON. Public Library. $10,000, Jan. 22, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

Money for a site for a public library build- 
ing, amount not stated, raised by popular 
subscription. 

$1000, for a book fund, from Samuel Rich- 
ards. 

ONAWA. Public Library. Public library 
building on a lot 132 feet square, and $4000 
for books and furniture, from Judge Addi- 
son Oliver, on condition that the town pay 
$1000 yearly for its support. The gift has 
been accepted. 

OSKAI.OOSA. Public Library. $20,000, March 
13, 1002, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

POCAHONTAS Co. School Libraries. $1335.44 
and 4000 volumes, from teachers of the 
county. 

TIPTON. Public Library. $10,000, Jan. 9, 1902, 
for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

WASHINGTON. Public Library. $8000, for a 
building, from Mrs. Jane Chilcote. 

WATERLOO. Public Library. $30,000, April 16, 
1002, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

KANSAS. 

EMPORIA. Public Library. $20,000, May 2, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

FORT SCOTT. Public Library. $18,000, March 
22, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

HUTCHINSON. Public Library. $15,000, April 
8, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

KANSAS CITY. Public Library. $75,000, July 
16, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 



negie. Accepted Aug. 7. A site has al- 
ready been secured. 

NEWTON. Public Library. $10,000, March 13, 
1002, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

OTTAWA. Public Library. $15,000, Jan. 28, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

PAOLA. Public Library. Bequest of $10,000, 
for a building, from Mrs. Martha Smith, 
who died March 24, 1962. 

SAUNA. Public Library. $15,000, Feb. 25, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

STOCKTON. Library Association. Valuable 
collection of books, from Miss Helen Miller 
Gould. 

TOPEKA. Public Library. Bonds for $1800, 
which will give the library an income of 
$126 a year, from J. R. Mulvane, the money 
to be spent for new books, as a memorial 
to his wife, Harriet Newell (Freeman) Mul- 
vane, who died Aug. 20, 1901. 

Half-reclining statue of Pauline, sister of 
Napoleon I., as Venus, from Mr. and Mrs. 
Edward Wilder. 

Kansas Travelling Libraries Commission. 
250 volumes, from Mrs. Sara T. D. Robin- 
son, of Lawrence. 

WINFIELD. Public Library. $15,000, Feb. 18, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

KENTUCKY. 

COVINGTON. Carnegie Library. $35,000, July 

16, 1901, for the addition of an auditorium 
to the library building, an increase to the 
original gift of $40,000, making a total of 
$75,000, from Andrew Carnegie. 

DANVILLE. Central University. $25,000, to- 
wards a new library building, from Thomas 
H. Swope, of Kansas City. 

$25,000, towards a new library building, 
from friends of the university. 

HENDERSON. Public Library. $25,000, July 
30, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. Accepted Aug. 16, 1901, provided 
that the next General Assembly pass an 
amendment to the charter giving the city 
the legal right to make the appropriation 
required for the maintenance of the library. 

HORSE CAVE. Horse Cave School. 500 se- 
lected volumes, valued at $1000, from Miss 
Helen Miller Gould, of New York City. 

LEXINGTON. Public Library. $50,000, Jan. 
20, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

LOUISVILLE. Public Library. $250,000, Jan. 

17, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. This is a renewal of an offer made 
two years ago, but never accepted, because 
of local differences between the city council 
and the Polytechnic Library directors. 

PADUCAH. Public Library. $35,000, Oct. 28, 
1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
The city council has agreed to furnish the 
$3500 yearly appropriation required. 



104 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



LOUISIANA. 

LAKE CHARLES. Public Library. $10,000, for 
a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

Site for the new Carnegie library building, 
from the North American Land and Timber 
Company. 

NEW ORLEANS. Fisk Free and Public Library. 
260 valuable French books, from a Louis- 
ianian, who has preserved his anonymity. 

MAINE. 

AUGUSTA. Lithgow Library. Bequest of 
$1000, from J. L. Cutler, of Boston. 

BANGOR. Public Library. Bequest of $4000, 
to be used for the purchase of books, prob- 
ably for the reference department, from 
Mrs. Grace D. Patten, who died Nov. 15, 
1901. 

BIDDEFORD. Biddeford Library Association. 
$22,000, to rebuild and stock the library, 
raised by popular subscription. The fol- 
lowing are among the largest contributors : 
Robert Me Arthur, $8176.24; James G. Gar- 
land, $1000; Mrs. Estelle M. Tatterson, 
Mrs. Margaret C. Luques, Charles H. Pres- 
cott, Jerry G. Shaw, James G. Garland, 
Robert Donaldson, James G. Brackett, 
Charles H. Goodwin and Benjamin F. Bry- 
ant, all of Biddeford, $500 each; Hon. 
George K. Dexter, of Boston, Mass., and 
Hon. George P. Wescott, of Portland, $500 
each. Donors of $1000 have the privilege of 
naming an alcove, and those of $500 may 
have a tablet placed upon the wall as a 
memorial to themselves or any one they 
may designate. 

Property of the Pavilion Church Society, 
value not stated, from Robert McArthur. 
The new library will be called the "McAr- 
thur Library." 

BRUNSWICK. Bowdoin College Library. Be- 
quest of $1000, from John L. Cutler, of 
Boston, Mass. 

looo volumes, from Charles W. Pickard, 
of Portland. 

BUCKFIELD. Zadoc Long Free Memorial Li- 
brary. Memorial library building, dedicated 
Aug. 17, 1901, from Hon. John D. Long, of 
Hingham, Mass., in memory of his father 
and mother. 

CHEBEAGUE. Public Library. New library 
building, cost not stated, from Mrs, Alice 
Frye, of Cambridge, Mass. 

FAIRFIELD. Lawrence Free Public Library. 
New library building, to cost $15,000, from 
Edward F. Lawrence. 

Site for a library building, value not stated, 
from Mrs. Louise E. Newhall. 

$1000, for the purchase of books, from Ed- 
ward F. Lawrence and Mrs. Louise E. New- 
hall. 

FARMINGTON. Public Library. Bequest of 

$1000, from John L. Cutler, of Boston. 
FREEPORT. B. H. Bartol Library. $1000, to- 



wards the erection of a new building, from 
Mrs. Brazier, of Philadelphia. 

LUBEC. Public Library. Site for a public li- 
brary building, value not given, from B. M 
Pike. 

ROCKLAND. Public Library. $20,000, April 
16, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

SACO. Thornton Academy Library. New li- 
brary building (to cost $25,000, plans ac- 
cepted Oct. 23, 1901), from Mrs. Annie C. 
Thornton, of Magnolia, Mass., and her 
daugher, Miss Mary C. Thornton. It will 
be called the Charles C. G. Thornton Me- 
morial Building. Accepted Oct. 23, 1902. 

SOUTH PARIS. Public Library. Bequest of 
$25,000, for a public library, from W. H. 
Parsons, of Brooklyn. 

WATERVILLE. Public Library. $20,000, April 
28, 1902, for building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

MARYLAND. 

CUMBERLAND. Public Library. $25,000 (de- 
clined May 20, 1901), for a building, from 
Andrew Carnegie. 

HAGERSTOWN. Washington County Free Li- 
brary. $10,875.63, for a public library build- 
ing, raised by popular subscription. The 
following contributed $500 or more each: 
E. W. Mealey, $3200; C. H. Carlile, $1500; 
Waldo Newcomer and sisters, $1000; Henry 
Steck, Mrs. William T. Hamilton, and Will- 
iam Updegraff, each $500. 

Building site, valued at $1500, from Ed- 
ward W. Mealey. 

1500 volumes, from Edward W. Mealey. 

500 volumes, from Edwin Bell. 

LAUREL. Public Library. $10,000, Jan. 2, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
MASSACHUSETTS. 

AMHERST. Amherst College Library. Be- 
quest of $2000, to be expended for books, 
no restrictions, from Prof. Herbert B. 
Adams, class of 1872. 

Town Library. Bequest of certain prop- 
erty valued at $1500 or $2000, to the town 
of Amherst, on conditions which will prac- 
tically make it a gift to the Town Library, 
from Prof. Herbert Baxter Adams. 

ARLINGTON. Robbins Library. Marble statue, 
representing Nydia, the blind girl of Pom- 
peii, from Mrs. Samuel C. Bushnell. 

ATHOL. Public Library. $15,000, March 13, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

500 or 600 volumes, mostly fiction, from H. 
M. Humphrey. 

BELMONT. Public Library. Library building, 
expected to cost about $50,000, from Henry 
O. Underwood. 

BOLTON. Public Library. $10,000 for a build- 
ing( announced Nov. 5, 1901, and accepted), 
from Ann Eliza Whitney, of Lancaster, in 
the name of her deceased sister, Emma 
Whitney, the town to furnish a central site, 



COLE. 



105 



put in the foundations, place a memorial 
tablet in the building, and pay Miss Whit- 
ney the interest on $3000 during her life- 
time. 

BOSTON. Boston Medical Library. 2139 med- 
ical medals, from Dr. H. R. Storer, of New- 
port. 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
290 volumes and pamphlets on botanical 
subjects, from the library of Waldo O. 
Ross, from Mrs. Ross. 

$500, for the purchase of books, from the 
Saturday Club, of Boston. 

Public Library. About 1000 volumes, from 
the executors of the estate of Mrs. Lydia 
Attwood. 

344 volumes, July 6, 1901, from Miss Helen 
C. McCleary. 

BRIDGEWATER. Public Library. $500, without 
restrictions, from Mrs. Sarah Alden. 

CAMBRIDGE. Harvard Union Library. 400 
volumes, from J. B. Gerrish, class of '71. 

Books, etc., from members and friends of 
the union. 

Harvard University Library. $2000, for 
books on the history of the Ottoman Em- 
pire, history of Poland, and other historical 
subjects, from Assistant Professor A. C. 
Coolidge. 

$800, for increase of the library of the De- 
partment of Education, through Mr. John 
F. Moors, from various subscribers. 

$500, in continuation of former gifts, for 
the purchase of Scandinavian books and 
books relating to Scandinavia, from Mrs. 
E. C. Hammer, of Boston. 

$500, for the purchase of books, from the 
Saturday Club, of Boston. 

373 volumes, forming an additional instal- 
ment of the Riaut library, from Assistant 
Professor Archibald Gary Coolidge. 

Collection of Slovak literature, collected in 
the summer of 1901, by Assistant Professor 
Wiener, numbering 123 volumes and 1567 
pamphlets, containing much folk-lore ma- 
terial, from Assistant Prof. A. C. Coolidge. 

CANTON. Public Library. $70,000, for a pub- 
lic library building, from Augustus Hemen- 
way. 

CHILMARK. Public Library. $600, $500 for a 
building fund and $100 for a lot, from the 
women of Chilmark. 

CONWAY. Field Memorial Library. $52,000, 
for an endowmunt fund, from Marshall 
Field, of Chicago, 111. The building and 
over 6000 volumes, costing more than $100,- 
ooo, were given in memory of Mr. Field's 
parents, John and Fidelia Nash Field. 
Opened to the public Nov. i, 1901. 

DALTON. Public Library. $500, from Zenas 
Crane. 

DRACUT. Public Library. 358 volumes, chiefly 
American history, and $125, as a memorial 
to the wife of Brig.-Gen. James Varnum, a 



Revolutionary soldier from Dracut, from 
The Molly Varnum Chapter, D. A. R. 

DUDLEY. Public Library. Library building, 
to be erected, value not stated, from Heze- 
kiah Conant, of Pawtucket, R. I. 

DUXBURY. Public Library. $10,000, for a 
building, from William J. Wright. 

FITCHBURG. Public Library. $10,000, from 
Hon. Rodney Wallace. 

GRANVILLE. Public Library. New building 
costing about $12,000, from citizens. Among 
the prominent donors are Hon. Milton B. 
Whitney, $5000; Francis Cooley, of Hart- 
ford, Conn, $1300; the balance through the 
efforts of Mrs. R. B. Cooley and other 
ladies. 

GREENVILLE. Ephraim Copeland Memorial 
Library. Bequest of about $2000, made 
available by decree of court Jan. 31, 1901, 
from Ephraim Copeland, who died about 
50 years ago. This will be practically a 
branch of the Leicester Free Public Li- 
brary. Dedicated Oct. 15, 1901. 

GROVELAND. Hale Library. 3500 volumes, 
from Mr. E. G. Hale, of Newburyport. 

HADLEY. Public Library. $4000, for a library 
building, from John Dwight, of New York, 
provided an equal amount be raised from 
other sources. 

HAMPTON FALLS. Public Library. New li- 
brary building, cost not given, from John 
T. Brown, of Newburyport. Opened to the 
public Aug. 30, 1901. 

HANOVER. John Curtis Free Library. $1000, 
originally given by John Barstow, of Prov- 
idence, as a fund to the Hanover Academy, 
now abandoned, from his daughters, Misses 
Lydia K. and Elizabeth T. Barstow, of 
Providence. 

HARDWICK. Paige Library. Bequest of books, 
maps, manuscripts, and residue of her es- 
tate, value not given, from Mrs. Ann Paige. 

HARVARD. Public Library. Bequest of two 
sums of $20,000 each, for the extension and 
maintenance of the library, from Warren 
Hapgood. of Boston, payable on the death 
of his wife, on condition that the town 
grant land adjoining the library and that 
the addition be known as the Hapgood 
Memorial. 

HINGHAM. Public Library. Bequest of $500, 
from Alfred Hersey. 

HOLLISTON. Public Library. Bequest of a 
plot of ground, for library purposes, value 
not given, from Mrs. Elizabeth S. Burnap. 

HOLYOKE. Public Library. $89,950, towards 
a public library building, raised by popular 
subscription and contributed funds. The 
completed building was turned over to the 
library authorities Jan. 18, 1902. Among 
the contributors were the following: Hon. 
William Whiting, $3000; an anonymous 
donor, $1000; Joseph Metcalf, George U. 



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MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



and W. A. Prentiss, Joseph A. Skinner, and 
James H. Newton, each $500. 

LITTLETON. Reuben Hoar Library. Bequest 
of $1000, to establish the Laws Fund, from 
Mrs. Henry (Laws) Henarie, of San Fran- 
cisco, Cal. 

LYNN. Public Library. Bequest of $10,000, 
for any use deemed advisable, from Walter 
Scott Dickson. 

LYNNFIELD. Public Library. Bequest of 
$1000, received March, 1901; $500 will be 
considered a perpetual fund and $500 de- 
voted to library needs, from George L. 
Hawks, of Wakefield. 

MALDEN. Public Library. $25,000, in 1901, 
towards the Converse Endowment Fund, 
from Elisha H. and Mary D. Converse, in 
addition to the gift of $125,000, previously 
reported. 

MANSFIELD. Public Library. Soldiers' Me- 
morial Library building, costing over $16,- 
ooo, of which amount $6500 was raised by 
popular subscription. Mrs. E. F. Noble 
gave site and $2500 and F. L. Cady $500. 

MARLBORO. Public Library. $30,000, April 29, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

Bequest of $5000, from George N. Gate, 
to become available after the death of his 
widow. 

MATTAPOISETT. Public Library. $10,000, Feb. 
3, 1902, for a building, from George H. 
Purrington, Jr. The gift has been accepted 
and the town will furnish a site. 

MELROSE. Public Library. $25,000, Jan. 6, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
This gift has been accepted. 

MIDDLEBORO. Public Library. Bequest of 
$100,000; $50,000 for a public library build- 
ing and $50,000 for books and periodicals, 
from Thomas S. Pierce. 

NATICK. Morse Institute Library. Bequest 
of $5000, from John O. Wilson. 

NEWBURYPORT. Public Library. $5000, in ad- 
dition to a previous gift of $10,000, in- 
come to be used for support of reading- 
room, from William C. Todd. 

Bequest of $5000, from E. H. Stickney, of 
Chicago, 111. 

Bequest of $5000, from E. S. Moseley, in- 
stead of $3000, as reported last year. 

Bequest of $4000, from Abram Cutler, of 
Boston. The total of endowment funds is 
now as follows: for general purposes, $29,- 
ooo ; for purchase of books, $45,000 ; and for 
reading-room. $15,000. 

Portrait of Col. Samuel Swett, of Boston, 
by Gilbert Stuart, name of donor not stated. 

NEWTON. Public Library. Bequest of $1000, 
from Mrs. Elizabeth L. Rand, the income to 
be devoted to the purchase of books. 

Marble statue of Diana and pedestal, the 
work of G. M. Benzoni, from an anonymous 
friend. 

Newton Theological Seminary. Bequest of 



$5000, to be known as the Greene Me- 
morial Library Fund, the income to be spent 
for books, from Stephen Greene. Bequests 
of $2500, with similar conditions, are left 
to the American Baptist Missionary Union 
and to the American Baptist Home Mis- 
sionary Society. 

NORTHBOROUGH. Public Library. $500, for 
printing the library catalogue, from Cyrus 
Gale, the donor of the library building. 

PEPPERELL. Public Library. $100,000; $50,- 
ooo, for lot and building, $25,000 for furni- 
ture, books, etc., and $25,000 for an endow- 
ment fund; also his private library and art 
collections, value not stated, from the late 
Charles Farrar Lawrence, of New York 
City, who died May 12, 1897. 

PITTSFIELD. Public Library. $15,000, May 2, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

PLYMOUTH. Public Library. $750, towards 
purchase of a library site, from Nathaniel 
Morton. 

3000 photographs and reproductions of 
noted paintings, from Miss Mary G. Bart- 
lett. 

QUINCY. Thomas Crane Public Library. Site 
of the French homestead, adjoining the li- 
brary, by Albert Crane. The house will be 
removed and the grounds graded in connec- 
tion with the existing lawn. 

REVERE. Public Library. $20,000, Oct. 18, 
1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

ROWE. Public Library. Bequest of $1000, as 
a permanent fund, from Mrs. Sarah R. 
Drury, of Troy, Ohio, to be known as "The 
Preserved Smith Library," in memory of 
her father. 

SALEM. Essex 1 Institute. Bequest of $10,000, 
the income to be expended for books on 
China and translations from the Chinese, 
from Miss Elizabeth C. Ward. 

Bequest of $3000, the income to be devoted 
to library purposes, from Miss Harriet Put- 
nam Fowler. 

SHREWSBURY. Public Library. Bequest of 
about $50,000, to be used in the erection of 
a library building, from Jubal Howe. 

SOMERVILLE. Public Library. Bequest of 
$2500, to be used for the purchase of music 
books, from Joseph F. Wilson. 

SOUTH WEYMOUTH. Fogg Memorial Library. 
$1000, for the purchase of reference books ; 
also a beautiful bronze tablet, in the refer- 
ence room, in memory of her husband, Gen. 
James Lawrence Bates, from Mrs. Mary J. 
Bates. 

SOUTHBRIDGE. Public Library. $20,000, March 
7, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. The town already appropriates $2800 
yearly for library maintenance. Declined 
April 25, 1902, for the later offer of Jacob 
Edwards. 

$50,000, for a building, and a site, value not 



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stated, from Jacob Edwards, of Boston, a 
native of Southbridge. 

SPRINGFIELD. City Library Association. $2100 
for purchase of the Brewer lot, raised by 
popular subscription through efforts of 
Nathan D. Bill. 

Bequest of $10,000, from Charles M. Kirk- 
ham. $5000 is to be devoted to the pur- 
chase of books and $5000 to beautifying the 
grounds. 

Valuable collection of paintings, Indian 
relics, etc., from estate of David A. Wells, 
of Norwich, Conn. 

SWANSEA. Public Library. Greater part of 
the library of the late Seth Brown, from 
George Brown, of Fall River. 

TAUNTON. Public Library. $60,000, for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie, in addi- 
tion to offer with other prominent steel 
men, to erect at Taunton a $100,000 statue 
to the Leonard family, which founded the 
iron industry in America. 

TUFTS COLLEGE. Tufts College Library. 2000 
volumes of musical works, valued at about 
$2500, from Hon. Albert Metcalf. 

TYNGSBORO. Public Library. $1000, towards 
a new public library building, from Miss 
Mary E. Bennett, provided the town will 
raise $5000 additional for the purpose. 

TYRINGHAM. Public Library. Gift of $1000, 
towards a library building, raised by popu- 
lar subscription. 

WAKEFIELD. Beebe Town Library. Bequest 
of $2000, as an endowment fund, from 
Cyrus G. Beebe, a son of Lucius Beebe, in 
whose honor the library was named. 

WALPOLE. Public Library. $15,000, Aug. 5, 
1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

Site, value not stated, for the new Car- 
negie library building, from Charles S. Bird, 
of East Walpole. 

WATERTOWN. Free Public Library. $2750, 
for furnishing and refitting Pratt reading 
and reference rooms, from the estate of the 
late Charles Pratt, of Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Bequest of $1000, to establish Benjamin H. 
Pierce Fund, for purchase of books, from 
Benjamin H. Pierce. 

Money, to forward the furnishing of Hun- 
newell Hall, a reference reading room, 
raised by popular subscription. 

WELLESLEY. Public Library. Bequest of 
$1000. from Elizabeth Flagg. 

WEST FALMOUTH. West Falmouth Library. 
$600, to cancel note due from the associa- 
tion, from D. Wheeler Swift, of Worcester. 
Mr. Swift has given $2500 since 1896 to this 
library. 

WESTBORO. Public Library. Bequest of a 
large part of her estate, value not given, 
from Ellen E. Bixby. 

$500, for printing a catalogue, from Cyrus 
Gale. 

WESTFORD. J. V. Fletcher Library. Bequest 



of $900, to be known as the Laws Fund, 
from Mrs. Henry (Laws) Henarie, of San 
Francisco, Cal. This library has also been 
the recipient, during the past year, of a 
number of valuable paintings and other 
works of art, from several donors. 

WESTMINSTER. Forbush Memorial Library. 
Bequest of $50,000, for a library building as 
a memorial to the late Joseph W. Forbush, 
from Charles A. Forbush. 

Site for the new Forbush Memorial Li- 
brary building, raised by popular subscrip- 
tion, of which Alonzo Curtis contributed 
$500. 

WOBURN. Public Library. Bronze statue of 
Count Rumford. a replica of that at Munich, 
for the library grounds, value $7500, from 
Marshall Tidd. 

MICHIGAN. 

BENTON HARBOR. Public Library. $15,000, 
March 13, 1902, for a building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

CHARLOTTE. Public Library. $10,000, March 

13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

DETROIT. Public Library. $750,000, July i, 

1901, for a central library and about five 
branches, from Andrew Carnegie, the city 
to furnish building sites and guarantee an 
annual maintenance of $75,000. Accepted 
July 9. Previously reported. Five branch 
libraries will be erected at once at a cost of 
$50,000 each. 

ESCANABA. Public Library. $20,000, May I, 

1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
HILLSDALE. Hillsdale College Library. 500 

volumes of historical and geographical 
works, from W. E. Ambler and sons, of 
Cleveland, Ohio. 

IRON MOUNTAIN. Public Library. $2500, for 
a building, in addition to a former gift of 
$15,000, from Andrew Carnegie. 

LANSING. Public Library. $35,000, Jan. 11, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

MOUNT CLEMENS. Public Library. $15,000, 
March 13, 1902, for a building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

PETOSKEY. Public Library. $12,000, for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

PORT HURON. Public Library. $40,000, Feb. 
6, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. Accepted Feb. 10, 1902. 

ST. JOSEPH. Public Library. $15,000, March 

14, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car 
negie. 

MINNESOTA. 

ALBERT LEA. Public Library. $12,000, April 

16, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

AUSTIN. Library Association. $12,000, Oct. 

17, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

CLOQUET. Public Library. Public library 
building, to cost $8000, raised by popular 



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MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



subscription. Among the largest donors are 
the Northern Lumber Co., $1500; the Cloquet 
Lumber Co., $1500, including six building 
lots valued at $500 ; the Johnson- Wentworth 
Lumber Co., $500; Mrs. George S. Shaw, 
$1000; and Mrs. J. E. Lynds, $500. $3000 
was raised by popular subscriptions of from 
$i to $100 each. 

CROOKSTON. Public Library. $1000, for li- 
brary purposes, raised by popular subscrip- 
tion. 

LITTLE FALLS. Public Library. $10,000, 
March 13, 1902, for a building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

NORTHFIELD. St. Olaf College Library. New 
library building, to be erected, from Consul 
Halle Steensland, of Madison, Wis. 

RED WING. Public Library. $15,000, Dec. 
17, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. Accepted Jan. 4, 1902. 

Site, lot 96 x 120 feet, facing the public 
park, for new Carnegie library building, 
value not stated, from James L. Lawther, 
in memory of his son. 

SLEEPY EYE. Dyckman Free Library. $2000, 
above former report, towards a public li- 
brary building, from F. H. Dyckman, of 
Orange. N. J. 

$1500, for a purchase fund for books, raised 
by popular subscription. 

STILLWATER. Public Library. $25,000, July 
16, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

WINONA. Free Public Library. Library 
building, cost, including equipment, etc., 
$50,000, from William Harris Laird. Pre- 
sented to the city Jan. 21, 1899, previously 
unreported. 

MISSOURI. 

COLUMBIA. State Historical Society of Mis- 
souri Library. Gift of the Sampson col- 
lection numbering 1886 volumes and 14,280 
pamphlets relating to Missouri and the 
Mississippi Valley, the result of thirty-three 
years of collecting, from F. A. Sampson, 
of Sedalia. 

: 343 volumes, 3678 pamphlets, and 125 
charts, from the Sedalia Natural History 
Society. 

Gift of a Masonic library of 300 volumes, 
from the Sedalia Masonic Lodge, No. 236. 
The Society's collections, consisting mainly 
of the three gifts just named are popularly 
estimated to be worth $25,000. 

JOPLIN. Public Library. $40,000, Aug. 7, 
1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

KANSAS CITY. Public Library. Nelson Gal- 
lery of Art, valued at $7500, housed in the 
library building, from William Rockhill 
Nelson. 

ST. JOSEPH. Public Library. About $1000, 
raised by popular subscription, through ef- 
forts of three women's clubs. 

1000 volumes, from Captain Albert Head. 



SEDALIA. Carnegie Library. More than 100 
framed photographs of European art and 
scenes, from Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Cotton. 

SOUTH ST. JOSEPH. Free Public Library. 
Site for new Carnegie library building, 
value not stated branch of St. Joseph 
Free Public Library from South St. Jo- 
seph Town Co. 

MONTANA. 

BILLINGS. Parmly Billings Memorial Li- 
brary. New library building (dedicated, 
Oct. I, 1901), from Frederick Billings, Jr., 
of New York. 

BOZEMAN. Public Library. $15,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. This gift was accepted March 25. 

DEER LODGE. Public Library. $20,000, for a 
building, from Conrad Kohrs, as a memorial 
to his son, William K. Kohrs. Accepted, 
Nov. 16, 1901. 

State Prison. $5000, for purchase of books 
for a library, from William A. Clark, Jr., 
of Butte. 

DILLON. Public Library. $7500, Jan. 26, 1902, 
for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

GREAT FALLS. Public Library. $30,000, July 
9, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. Accepted July 16. 

$1000, to be expended in the purchase of 
books, from G. M. Hyams. 

HELENA. Public Library. $30,000, for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. The gift 
has been accepted. 

KALISPELL. Public Library. $10,000, Dec. 28, 
1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. The city already expends $1000 
yearly for library maintenance. 

MILES CITY. Public Library. $10,000, Aug. i, 

1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

NEBRASKA. 

BEATRICE. Public Library. $20,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. This gift was accepted March 25. 

FREMONT. Public Library. $15,000, Jan. 4, 

1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

$3000, for purchase of new books, raised 
by popular subscription. The rent for one 
year was donated by L. M. Keene. 

GRAND ISLAND. Public Library. $20,000, 
Feb. 7, 1902, for a building, from Andrew 
Carnegie. 

LINCOLN. Nebraska Public Library Commis- 
sion. About 350 volumes, from the Ne- 
braska Federation of Women's Clubs, on 
condition that the Commission maintain a 
system of especial loans to study clubs. 

SOUTH OMAHA. Public Library, $50,000, for 
a building, from Andrew Carnegie. Ac- 
cepted Oct. 14, 1901. 

YORK. City Library. Bequest of one cow, 
from Mrs. George W. Woods. 



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NEVADA. 

RENO. Public Library. $15,000, March 13, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

CONCORD. St. Paul's School. Memorial li- 
brary building, costing about $150,000, from 
George R. and William C. Sheldon. It was 
dedicated in June, 1901. 

CONWAY. Jenks Memorial Library. Library 
building costing about $50,000, from Mrs. 
Jenks, as a memorial to her husband, Dr. 
Thomas L. Jenks, of Boston. The building 
was dedicated June 13, 1901. 

DOVER. Public Library. $30,000, May i, 1902, 
for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

Collection of music and music books num- 
bering 1000 volumes, scores, etc., including 
rare scores and original editions, from John 
W. Tufts, of Boston, Mass. 

Gift of nearly 500 books and pamphlets of 
local history, a collection of great value, 
from E. R. Brown. 

DUBLIN. H. P. Farnham Memorial Library. 
Library building, costing over $20,000, to- 
gether with an annual endowment of $3000 
for heat, light, and repairs, from Mrs. H. 
P. Farnham, of New York. The building 
was dedicated June 30, 1901. 

EXETER. Public Library. Bequest of 1800 
volumes and many valuable pamphlets, the 
private library of the late John T. Perry. 
The books will have separate shelving and 
will be designated as the "Perry Collection." 

HAMPTON FALLS. Public Library. Building, 
formerly occupied by the Christian Chapel, 
for library purposes, from John T. Brown, 
of Newburyport, Mass. Turned over to 
the town Aug. 30, 1901. 

LITTLETON. Public Library. $15,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

MEREDITH. B. M. Smith Memorial Library. 
A new building, costing between $12,000 and 
$15,000, from Mrs. B. M. Smith. The 
building was dedicated June 17, 1901. 

NASHUA. Public Library. Gift of $50,000, 
for a public library building, as a memorial 
to John M. Hunt, from Mrs. Hunt and her 
daughter, Miss Mary E. Hunt. A site has 
been purchased at a cost of $35,000 and the 
building is now being erected. 

PETERBORO. Town Library. $5000, Feb. 19, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

SOMERSWORTH. Public Library. $15,000, for 
a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

WEST SWANZEY. Stratton Free Library. Be- 
quest of library building and its contents, 
together with $5000 as a fund for the main- 
tenance of the library and building, from 
George W. Stratton, of Boston. 
NEW JERSEY. 

EAST ORANGE. Free Public Library. New 
library building (corner-stone laid Oct. 29, 
1901), by Andrew Carnegie. 



HACKENSACK. Johnson Public Library. New 
library building, cost including equipment 
about $60,000, from W. M. Johnson, First 
Assistant Postmaster General. The build- 
ing was dedicated Oct. 5, 1901, and the 
library opened for regular work two days 
later. 

812 volumes, from William M. Johnson. 

484 volumes, from the Hackensack Library 
Association. 

JERSEY CITY. Free Public Library. Large 
and valuable collection of minerals, shells, 
curios, etc., from David W. Lawrence. 

1705 volumes and 2352 pamphlets, forming 
the valuable scientific library of the late 
L. B. Ward, from his estate. 

MADISON. Drew Theological Seminary Li- 
brary. 2360 volumes, the library of the late 
Prof. George R. Crooks; $600 of the pur- 
chase money was contributed by friends of 
the seminary. 

NEW BRUNSWICK. Free Public Library. 
$50,000, March 15, 1902, for a building, 
from Andrew Carnegie. This gift was ac- 
cepted March 30. 

Gardner A. Sage Library. Bequest of 410 
volumes and pamphlets, from Rev. John A. 
Todd, of Tarrytown, N. Y. 

Rutgers College Library. Bequest of about 
3000 volumes, from Rev. John A. Todd, 
D.D., of Tarrytown, N. Y. 

NEWARK. Free Public Library. 500 volumes 
for the juvenile library, from R. C. Jenkin- 
son. 

366 volumes, from James E. Howell. 
ORANGE. Free Library. $1000, for the pur- 
chase of new books, from Henry Graves. 

Over 1150 volumes, valued at about $8000, 
the entire library of the late Daniel Addison 
Heald, from his three surviving children. 

PASSAIC. Jane Watson Reid Memorial Li- 
brary. $105,000 (offered Nov. 19, 1901), for 
a public library building at the Passaic 
suburb of Dundee, from Peter Reid, upon 
condition that the building shall be known 
as the "Jane Watson Reid Memorial Li- 
brary," and that the building shall have 
suitable rooms for the assistance and proper 
instruction of the young people of that sec- 
tion of the city. 

$2000, for the purchase of books, from 
Peter Reid. 

PATERSON. Free Public Library. $100,000, 
for a new library building, to replace the 
one destroyed by fire, Feb. 8, 1902, from 
Mrs. Mary E. Ryle, as a memorial to her 
farther, Charles Danforth. Gift accepted 
Feb. 18, 1902, with expressions of sincere 
gratitude. Mrs Ryle's previous gifts of 
house and land, remodeling and furnishing, 
and the enlargement of the old building 
amounted to about $85,000. 

PERTH AMBOY. Free Public Library. Li- 
brary site valued at about $12,500, Jan. 19, 



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MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



1902. for the new Carnegie library building, 
from Cortlandt Parker, of Newark, upon 
condition that the property shall always be 
used for the purposes of the Free Public 
Library. 

Site for the proposed Carnegie library 
building, valued at $5000, offered Feb. 14, 
1902, and accepted the same date, from 
Leonard and Adolph Lewisohn and James 
C. McCoy. 

PLAINFIELD. Public Library. Valuable col- 
lection of more than 5000 butterflies, ar- 
ranged in eight cases and valued at over 
$10,000, from ex-Mayor Andrew Gilbert. 
The collection will be exhibited in the art 
gallery. 

PRINCETON. Princeton Theological Seminary. 
1210 volumes, a part of the library of Prof. 
Samuel Miller, the second professor of 
Princeton Seminary, and the great-great- 
grandfather of the donor, from Mr. Samuel 
Miller Breckinridge Long. 

'Princeton University. $50,000, for library 
endowment, name of donor not stated. 

Collection of 1200 Arabic mss., on deposit, 
from Robert Garrett, Esq. 

95 Babylonian cylinders and cone-shaped 
seals and 400 clay tablets, name of donor 
not stated. 

TRENTON. Free Public Library. The Charles 
Skelton library fund, amounting to about 
$0000 in cash and an annual income of $900, 
derived from real estate, has recently been 
turned over to this library by direction of 
the Court of Chancery. The income will 
be used to purchase reference books. Mr. 
Skelton died in 1879. 

3000 volumes, one-half late novels, the rest 
representing pure and applied sciences, from 
F. W. Roebling. 

VINELAND. Public Library. Books, valued 
at about $2000, from the late N. B. Webster, 
forming the nucleus of the library. 

WEST HOBOKEN. Free Public Library. $25,000, 
for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
NEW MEXICO. 

LAS VEGAS. Public Library. $10,000, March 
13, 1902. for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

NEW YORK. 

ALBANY. New York State Library. Bequest 
of the Duncan Campbell collection of 3295 
volumes, 809 pamphlets, 49 manuscripts, and 
493 plates, engravings, etc., from Miss Ellen 
Campbell. Received June I, 1901. This 
collection forms a rare and valuable addi- 
tion to the library. 

1356 volumes and 9328 pamphlets, from 
Walter Stanley Biscoe. 

Public Library. $175,000, March 14, 1902, 
for a building, from Andrew Carnegie, an 
annual maintenance fund of $20,000 is re- 
quired. Plans for the acceptance of the 
gift include a merger of the libraries of the 



Young Men's Association, the Pruyn Li- 
brary, and the Albany Free Library; the 
erection of a central building for $150,000; 
and the use of $25,000 for the equipment 
of the south end (Albany Free Library) as 
a branch. Declined May 19, 1902. 

AMSTERDAM. Public Library. $25,000, Feb. 
9, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

ANGELICA. Public Library. Library building, 
value not given, from Mrs. Frank Sullivan 
Smith, as a memorial to her mother, Lucia 
Cornelia Hapgood Higgins. 

BAY RIDGE. Free Library. Bequest of $500, 
from Norris L. M. Bennett, of New Utrecht. 

BINGHAMTON. Public Library. $75,000, April 
28, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

BROOKLYN. Brooklyn Institute Museum Li- 
brary. 382 volumes, from Dr. James Cruik- 
shank. 

Gift of 339 volumes, from Maria Sprague 
Meeker. 

Brooklyn Library. 374 volumes, from 
Thomas G. Shearman's estate. 

Long Island Historical Society Library. 
$17,430, for a special endowment fund, 
raised by popular subscription. The follow- 
ing are among the largest amounts sub- 
scribed : Wilhelmus Mynderse and John J. 
Pierrepont, each $5000; Frank Sherman 
Benson, $1100; Charles A. Hoyt, Frank 
Lyman, and Henry K. Sheldon, each $1000; 
subscriptions in sums less than $500, $3330. 

Medical Society of the County of Kings Li- 
brary. Purple collection of 4169 volumes, 
14,492 pamphlets and periodicals, May 4, 
1901, purchased and presented by 12 
Brooklyn physicians. 

Watson collection of 4100 volumes and 1929 
pamphlets and periodicals, Oct. 4, 1900, pur- 
chased and presented by 12 Brooklyn phy- 
sicians. 

Gift (or loan) of 2041 volumes and 7987 
pamphlets and periodicals, Oct., 1901, from 
the Long Island Historical Society. 

1015 volumes, 8043 pamphlets and period- 
icals, from the New York Academy of 
Medicine, New York City. 

838 volumes and 12,855 pamphlets and peri- 
odicals, Nov. 15, 1001, from Mrs. Alexander 
J. C. Skene. 

471 volumes and 1790 pamphlets and peri- 
odicals, April 20, 1901, from Dr. Charles 
De Szigethy. 

393 volumes and 3984 pamphlets and peri- 
odicals, Sept. 22, 1900, from Dr. Joseph H. 
Hunt. 

362 volumes and 43 pamphlets, May i, 1902, 
from Mrs. E. N. Chapman. 

288 volumes and 731 periodicals, March 12, 
1001, from Bristol Medical Library, Bristol, 
England. 

269 volumes and 1045 pamphlets and peri- 



COLE. 



Ill 



odicals, from the Northern Dispensary, of 
New York City. 

Young Men's Christian Association Li- 
brary. Gift of $500, for new books, not 
fiction, October, 1901, from George Foster 
Peabody. 

BUFFALO. Public Library. Collection of Mex- 
ican books exhibited at the Pan-American 
Exposition, from the Mexican Government. 

CANANDAIGUA. Wood Library. $10,000, Nov. 
4, 1901, for building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

CANASTOTA. Public Library. $10,000, Jan. 10, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

CANTON. Public Library. $30,000, Sept. 19, 
1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

CHATHAM. Public Library. $15,000, Sept. 4, 

1901. for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
COHOES. Carnegie Library. Site for the new 

Carnegie library building, value not stated, 
from Charles R. Ford. 

Site, value not stated, for the new Car- 
negie library building, from Mrs. Frances 
V. Hubbard, in memory of her husband, 
the late Mayor Hubbard. 

FULTON. Public Library. $15,000, March 13, 

1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
GLOVERSVILLE. Public Library. $50,000, Jan. 

21, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie ; a repetition and increase of a former 
offer of $50,000. The gift was accepted 
Feb. 17. 1902. 

GRIFFIN'S CORNERS, DELAWARE Co. Skene 
Memorial Library. $5000, for a building, 
from Andrew Carnegie. No condition is 
attached to this gift except that the li- 
brary shall be a memorial to Dr. A. J. C. 
Skene, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and shall bear 
his name. 

HAMILTON. Colgate University Library. 543 
volumes, from Joseph Spencer Kennard, 
D. C. L. 

Bequests of 435 volumes, from Prof. P. B. 
Spear, D.D. 

IRVINGTON. Public Library. $10,000, July 4, 

1901, to establish a public library, from 
Frederick W. Guiteau. 

ISLIP. Public Library. $10,000, Oct. 23, 1901, 

for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
JOHNSTOWN. Public Library. $5000, Jan. 16, 

1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie, 
in addition to a former gift of $20,000. 

KINGSTON. Public Library. $30,000, Jan. 7, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

MOUNT VERNON. Public Library. $15,000, 
April 9, 1902, for a building, making a total 
of $50,000, from Andrew Carnegie. 

NAPLES. Public Library. $1000, to be used in 
establishing a library to be conducted in 
connection with the High School, to be 
known as the Hiram Maxfield Library, from 
D. H. Maxfield. 

NEW ROCHELLE. Public Library. $50,000, for 
a new library building, from Andrew Car- 



negie. As the library just before the receipt 
of this offer had leased quarters for 10 years 
and the leaser refuses to release the library 
the offer will pass unaccepted. 
NEW YORK CITY. Aguilar Free Library. Be- 
quest of $1000, from Theodore G. Weil. 

American Institute of Electrical Engineers. 
3621 volumes, including 3450 pamphlets, 
May 17, 1901, on the early sciences, formerly 
belonging to Latimer Clark, one of the 
founders of the English Society of Tele- 
graph Engineers, from Dr. S. S. Wheeler. 
This collection represents 47 years of col- 
lecting by Mr. Clark. 

American Seamen's Friend Society. Be- 
quest of $5000, the income to be used in 
providing libraries for sailors, from Mrs. 
Cornelia C. Tompkins. 

American Museum of Natural History Li- 
brary. 2420 volumes in the Chinese lan- 
guage, from China. 

Nearly 2000 volumes, pamphlets, etc., in 
various branches of science, from the heirs 
of General Egbert L. Viele. 

300 volumes and pamphlets on conchology, 
valued at $1500, from Frederick A. Con- 
stable. 

Columbia University Library. Bequest of 
$50,000, the income to be used in the pur- 
chase of books, from Mrs. Lura Currier, 
to be known as the Nathaniel Currier Fund. 

Gift (offered) of from $3000 to $4000, for 
the equipment of a laboratory library in 
history for undergraduate students, from an 
unnamed friend of the university. "It is 
not known that an experiment of this kind 
and of this magnitude has been made in any 
educational institution in this country, and 
the results are awaited with great interest 
by other departments." 

$2600, for the purchase of Chinese books 
and books about China, from the Dean Lung 
Fund. 

$1000, for current expenses of the Avery 
architectural library, from S. P. Avery, 
also about $1000 in addition, for special 
purchases for that library. 

6000 volumes, from the Chinese Govern- 
ment. 

"Clinton Papers" (costing $2500), embrac- 
ing 1 100 letters addressed to DeWitt Clin- 
ton and his letter-books, about 9000 pages 
in all, from William C. Schermerhorn. 

'475 volumes, for the library of Earl Hall, 
from the library of the late Frederick Will- 
iam Dibblee, from his mother Mrs Sarah 
M. Dibblee. 

379 volumes and 778 pamphlets, from Presi- 
dent Nicholas Murray Butler. 

356 volumes and 1115 pamphlets, from 
George Watson Cole. 

Over 200 volumes of books and mss. re- 
lating to Spanish-American countries, from 
Prof. Arthur N. Brown, of Annapolis, Md. 



112 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Cooper Union Library. Bequest of $20,000, 
for a special library fund, from Oswald 
Ottendorfer. The recent gifts of $300,000 
from Andrew Carnegie and $300,000 from 
the Cooper and Hewitt families are to be 
applied to the general purposes of the 
Cooper Union. 

General Society of Mechanics and Trades- 
men. Bequest of $4750, from Charles B. 
Haughian. 

New York Historical Society. Gifts ag- 
gregating $105,000, for new library building; 
the largest from Miss Matilda Wolfe Bruce 
of $15,000, others of $1000 or over from 
William K. Vanderbilt, Charles A. Sherman, 
Mrs. Frederick F. Thompson, William C. 
Schermerhorn, Miss Caroline Phelps Stokes, 
Nicholas Fish, Mrs. Caroline Frederick 
Hoffman, Frederick Wendell Jackson, 
Henry Phipps, Dean Hoffman, Daniel 
Parrish, Jr., Miss Charlotte A. Mount, and 
Miss Susan Mount. 

New York Press Club. $5000, Dec. 18, 
1901, for the purchase of books, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

New York Public Library; Astor, Lenox, 
and Tilden Foundations. 2409 volumes and 
2480 pamphlets, a collection relating to eco- 
nomics, statistics, history of railroads in 
this country, etc., from Mrs. Simon Sterne. 

1560 volumes and 1487 pamphlets, consist- 
ing of railroad reports, reports of state 
treasurers, auditors, etc., from H. V. and 
H. W. Poor. 

520 volumes and 50 pamphlets, forming 
the John Robinson collection of English and 
American annuals, art treasures of the 
Paris Exposition, etc., from Mrs. Henry 
Draper. 

511 volumes of newspapers, from the Long 
Island Historical Society. 

990 prints, from Charles B. Curtis. 
909 prints from R. H. Storer. 

628 or more prints, from James D. Smillie. 

400 prints, from S. P. Avery. 

New York Society Library. Bequest, from 
Charles H. Contoit; the final $5000 of this 
bequest has recently been paid to the library. 
The whole amount received from this 
source has been $142,504.86. 

850 volumes, from the library of the late 
John R. Broadhead, the well-known his- 
torian of New York State. 

New York University Library. 2485 vol- 
umes, some of them private and limited edi- 
tions of rare works of American history 
and literature, from William Frederick 
Havemeyer. 

2363 volumes, from Miss Helen Miller 
Gould. 

. Bequest of 1685 volumes of German litera- 
ture, from the Hon. Oswald Ottendorfer. 

1398 volumes, from Rev. Charles R. and 
Prof. W. K. Gillett. 



619 volumes of American history, from the 
members of the Council of New York 
University. 

256 volumes, from Prof. John James 
Stevenson. 

253 volumes, from Mrs. A. B. Smith. 
NEWARK. Public Library. Memorial window, 

of the value of $1500, from Henry C. Reid, 
of Evanston, 111., in memory of his wife. 

NIAGARA FALLS. Public Library. $50,000, 
for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

NORWICH. Public Library. Bequest of real 
and personal property, value not stated, for 
library purposes, from Mrs. Jane M. Guern- 
sey. Various conditions are attached to 
this bequest. 

NYACK. Public Library. $15,000, Dec. 23, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
The three corporations of Nyack, South 
Nyack, and Upper Nyack already contrib- 
ute $1200 annually, rendering acceptance 
almost certain. 

ONEIDA. Public Library. $11,000, Dec. 31, 
1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

PENN YAN. Public Library. $1500, towards 
new building, from Mr. and Mrs. H. K. 
Armstrong, provided $10,000 be raised for 
the purpose. 

$2500, towards building, from Charles Cur- 
tis, of New York, on condition that $10,000 
be raised for the purpose. 

PINE HILL. Public Library. New public li- 
brary building, to be erected, cost not 
stated, from Henry Morton, President of 
the Stevens Institute, as a memorial to his 
wife, who died at Pine Hill last summer. 

PORT JERVIS Public Library. $10,000, for a 
new building, in addition to his previous 
gift of $20,000, making a total of $30,000, 
by Andrew Carnegie. 

Site for the new library building, value not 
stated, by Peter F. Farnum. 

PORT WASHINGTON. Public Library. Gym- 
nasium and library building, cost not stated, 
from Howard Gould; the people will be 
asked to vote upon a suitable site and ar- 
range for the care of the property. 

POUGHKEEPSIE. Vassar College Library. A 
fund for a new library building, announced 
May 2, 1902, name of donor withheld. 

ROSLYN, L. I. William Cullen Bryant Li- 
brary. $1500, raised by popular subscrip- 
tion through the efforts of Mrs. Clarence 
Mackay. 

About looo volumes, from Mr. Bryant's 
Cedarmere library, from Mrs. Clarence 
Mackay. 

SANDY HILL. Public Library. $10,000, May 
2, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

SARATOGA. Public Library. $10,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS. Public Library. $20,000, 



COLE. 



Jan. 7, 1902, for a building, from Andrew 
Carnegie. 

SCHENECTADY. Public Library. Bequest of 
$10,000, from John E. Ellis, of New York. 

SYRACUSE. Syracuse University Library. 
$500 and a set of the Jesuit Relations, of 
73 volumes, from Theodore Irwin, of Os- 
wego. 

WATERTOWN. Flower Memorial Library. A 
site, value not stated, in addition to her gift 
of $200,000, for a memorial library building, 
from Mrs. Emma Flower Taylor. 

WATERVLIET. Public Library. $20,000, Feb. 
10, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

CHAPEL HILL. University of North Caro- 
lina. $550, for recataloging purposes, from 
the Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary 
Societies, by which the library is endowed. 

CHARLOTTE. Public Library. $5000, Oct. 13, 
1901, for a public library building, in addi- 
tion to former gift of $20,000, from Andrew 
Carnegie. 

DURHAM. Trinity College Library. New 
library building and equipment, to cost 
about $70,000 (instead of $50,000, as pre- 
viously reported), from James B. Duke. 

GREENSBORO. Public Library. $30,000, May 
3, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

NORTH DAKOTA. 

FARGO. Public Library. $20,000, for a build- 
ing, from Andrew Carnegie. 

GRAND FORKS. Public Library. $20,000, for 
a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

VALLEY CITY. Public Library. $15,000, July 
20, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

OHIO. 

AKRON. Public Library. $50,000, for a build- 
ing to serve the double purpose of a library 
and club for boys and young men, from 
Col. George T. Goodrich, on condition that 
an endowment fund of $30,000 be raised 
and a site furnished by the city. The city 
offers a site in Bierce Park. 

$70,000, Dec. 23, 1901, for a building, from 
Andrew Carnegie. 

ASHTABULA. Free Public Library. Bequest 
value not stated, of her entire estate, from 
Maria Conklin, to "erect and construct in 
whole or in part a suitable building for the 
Free Public Library to be known as the 
'Conklin Library Building.' " 

BARBERTON. Public Library. Library, with 
furniture, and several thousand books, in 
rented quarters, from Ohio C. Barber," Presi- 
dent of the Diamond Match Company. 

CINCINNATI. Lloyd Library. This library, of 
about 15,000 to 20,000 volumes and pam- 
phlets, devoted to botany, pharmacy, chem- 
istry and allied sciences, has been thrown 



open to the public and is pledged to be 
donated intact to science. It will finally be 
placed in the university best calculated to 
serve science. 

Public Library. $180,000, April 9, 1902, 
for six branch libraries, in various 
parts of the city, from Andrew Carnegie. 
This gift has been accepted. Recent legis- 
lation authorizes the city to issue $180,000 
in bonds, the money so raised to be ex- 
pended for the purchase of sites and the 
equipment of the Carnegie branches. 

Gift of two sites for the Carnegie branch 
libraries, worth from $5000 to $10,000 each. 

$1600, for the library for the blind, by va- 
rious donors. 

Gifts aggregating $1582, from numerous 
donors ; four of $100 each. 

Schmidtlapp Memorial Library. $100,000, 
for the erection of a memorial library build- 
ing, devoted exclusively to art on ground 
set apart for art purposes in Eden Park, by 
J. G. Schmidtlapp. 

CLEVELAND. Adelbert College Library. $1000, 
from Hon. John Hay, Secretary of State, 
Washington, D. C. 

Set of "The Jesuit Relations ;" edited by 
Reuben Gold Thwaites (73 vols.), from 
alumni and friends. 

COLUMBUS. Public Library. $150,000, Jan. 
i, 1902, for a building, from Andrew" Car- 
negie, on condition that a yearly mainte- 
nance of $20,000 be guaranteed. The gift 
has been accepted. 

DELAWARE. Ohio Wesleyan University. Be- 
quest of 600 volumes, largely of classical 
works and a splendid collection of English 
grammars, from Prof. W. G. Williams. 

GALION. Public Library. $15,000, April 15, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

GAMBIER. Kenyan College Library. $17,500, 
in property and money, the income to be 
spent for books and $13,000 to build a new 
stack-room, from James P. Stephens (Class 
'59), Trenton, N. J. 

GREENVILLE. Carnegie Library. $10,000, for 
a building, in addition to the original gift 
of $15,000, from Andrew Carnegie. 

KALISHEL. Public Library. $10,000, for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

KENT. Free Public Library. $10,000, Sept. 
i, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

A site, valued at $3000, for the new Car- 
negie building, from Hon. Marvin Kent. 

KENTON. Public Library. $17,500, Jan. 24, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie, 
on condition that the town grant a yearly 
maintenance of $1750, provide a building 
site, and secure an endowment of $10,000. 

$10,000, offered as an endowment fund, by 
Lewis Merriman. 

$5000, offered as an endowment fund, from 
an anonymous donor. 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



MANSFIELD. City Library, Bequest of $5000, 
by will filed Sept. 9, 1901, from John C. 
Larwell. 

NEWPORT. Public Library. $6500, Jan. 10, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie, 
in addition to a former gift. 

PORTSMOUTH. Public Library. $50,000, July 
18, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. This gift has been accepted. 

WASHINGTON. Public Library. $12,000, Jan. 
15, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

WELLINGTON. Public Library. New library 
building, to cost $15,000, from Col. Myron 
T. Herrick, as a memorial to his father and 
mother. 

Public Library. $10,000, Feb. 7, 1902, for 
a building, from Andrew Carnegie. Ac- 
cepted March 3. 

XENIA. Public Library. $20,000, Jan. 27, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
The city already appropriates about $2000 
yearly for library maintenance. 

OKLAHOMA TERRITORY. 

GUTHRIE. Public Library. $20,000, for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. Accepted 
by the city council in Oct., 1901. 

$6000, additional, March 22, 1902, for a 
building, making a total of $26,000, from 
Andrew Carnegie. 

OREGON. 

FULTON. Public Library. Library building, 
by the boys of Fulton. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

BEAVER. Public Library. $50,000, for a build- 
ing, by Andrew Carnegie. 

BESSEMER. Public Library. $30,000, Feb. 20, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

BRYN MAWR. Bryn Mawr College Library. 
$1258.70, for books, apportioned among 
various departments, from a friend of the 
college. 

GROVE CITY. Public Library. Site for the 
new Carnegie library building, from J. N. 
Pew. 

HAVERFORD. Haverford College Library. 400 
cuneiform clay tablets, from Babylonia, all 
in the Assyrian language, from T. Wister 
Brown, of Philadelphia. They are to be 
known as the "Haverford Library Baby- 
lonian Collection" average date 2500 B. c. 

35o volumes, chiefly scientific works, from 
the library of the late Prof. Edward Drinker 
Cope, from Mrs. Cope. 

JENKINTOWN. Public Library. $1500, raised 

by popular subscription. 
KENNETT SQUARE. Bayard Taylor Memorial 

Library. $1000, from Gen. William Palmer, 

of Colorado Springs, Colorado. 
McKeE's ROCKS. Public Library. $20,000, 

for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
MEDIA. Free Library. Gift (or loan) of 400 



volumes, from the Friends' Free Reading 
Room. 

NEWCASTLE. Public Library. $40,000, for a 
building, by Andrew Carnegie. This gift 
has been declined. 

NORRISTOWN. Public Library. $50,000, for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. Accepted 
May 3, 1901. The collection of the present 
Norristown Library Company is to be 
merged into the new institution. Unsuccess- 
ful injunction proceedings were instituted 
to prevent acceptance. 

PAULSBORO. Public Library. 1000 volumes, 
from the Powder Company. 

PHILADELPHIA. College of Physicians Li- 
brary. $1000, from Dr. William W. Keen. 

Bequest of 1500 volumes, from Dr. John 
Ashhurst, Jr. 

The library of 1500 volumes of the late 
Dr. J. Stockton Hough, unique collection of 
rare and early medical works, in part by 
subscription as follows : Dr. G. Fales Baker, 
$500; Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, $200; Dr. John 
K. Mitchell, $200. 

Drexel Institute Library. 915 volumes, 
Feb., 1902, from George W. Childs Drexel, 
of the Public Ledger. 

Franklin Institute Library. $10,840, added 
to the permanent funds of the institute, 
from the subscribers to the National Ex- 
port Exposition, 1899. 

Free Library of Philadelphia. Books, at 
a cost of $1476.31, from P. A. B. Widener. 

Books, costing $500, from Messrs. William 
S. Cramp & Sons. 

Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Be- 
quest of $5000, from Howard Williams 
Floyd. 

About 600 bound volumes, from Mrs. 
Charles J. Stille. 

Library Company of Philadelphia. $5000, 
from Henry C. Lea. 

University of Pennsylvania Library. Gifts 
of various funds amounting to $4000, to 
complete files of medical, mathematical, 
and chemical periodicals and the series of 
the Calendars of State Papers and the Eng- 
lish Rolls Series, from friends of the uni- 
versity. 

Gift of the non-medical portion of the J. 
Stockton Hough collection, particularly val- 
uable for its bibliographical section and 
containing 26 specimens of incunabula, from 
a number of gentlemen who gave the funds 
necessary for the purchase. 

SHARON. Public Library. $200,000, for a 
building, from Frank H. Buhl, President of 
the Sharon Steel Co. 

TITUSVILLE. Public Library. $25,000, offered, 
for a building, from W. S. and R. D. Ben- 
son, of Passaic, N. J., and their sister, Mrs. 
C. F. Emerson, as a memorial to their par- 
ents and to be known as the Benson Mem- 
orial Library. 



COLE. 



RHODE ISLAND. 
NEWPORT. Redwood Library. Bequest of 

$5000, from George H. Norman. 
PROVIDENCE. Brown University Library. Gift 

of $2500, for a fund for the purchase of 

books for the classical departments, from 

James Tucker, Jr. 

310 volumes, to the Wheaton collection of 
international law, from William Vail Kellen, 
Ph.D. 

5000 manuscript pieces, to the Wheaton 
collection of international law, mainly the 
correspondence of Jonathan Russell Brown, 
1791, Commissioner to negotiate the treaty 
of Ghent. 

Small but very valuable collection of the 
letters and papers of Henry Wheaton 
Brown, 1802. 

Public Library. $1000, from Mrs. Philip 
Allen. 

Rhode Island Historical Society Library. 
Bequest of $2000, from Esek A. Jillson. 

Bequest of about 1000 volumes, a collection 
on the English and American stage, formed 
by Charles J. Jillson, the son of the donor, 
Esek A. Jillson. A title list of this col- 
lection was published in the "Co-operative 
Bulletin of the Providence Libraries," for 
December, 1901. 

Large collection on American history, trav- 
els, and ethnology, valued at $3000, from 
Henry R. Bartlett, as a memorial to his 
father, John Russell Bartlett. 

WESTERLY. Westerly Memorial and Library 
Association. Bequest of $150,000, and also 
many works of art, from Mrs. Harriet W. 
Wilcox, of Brooklyn, the income to be used 
in maintaining the building, library, and 
adjoining park. 

SEABOARD. 

SEABOARD. Seaboard Air Line Travelling Li- 
braries. $2000, for books, from Andrew 
Carnegie. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

SPARTENBURG. Wofford College. Bequest of 
his large and splendid library, number of 
volumes not stated, from Dr. H. Baer, of 
Charleston. 

SOUTH DAKOTA. 

MITCHELL. Public Library. $10,000, Jan. 28, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
Accepted Feb. 10, 1902. 

REDFIELD. Public Library. $10,000, March 13, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

YANKTON. Public Library. $10,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

TENNESSEE. 

CHATTANOOGA. "The Carnegie Library of 
Chattanooga, Tennessee." Gift (offered) of 
$50,000, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. Accepted Jan. 20, 1902. 



KNOXVILLE. Public Library. $15,000, for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie, on condi- 
tion that a yearly appropriation of $3000 be 
guaranteed for its maintenance. This offer 
has been declined. 

NASHVILLE. Public Library. $100,000, Oct. 
18, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. Accepted Nov. 14, 1901. The How- 
ard Library voted, Dec. 5, 1901, to turn all 
its property over to this library. 

A site for the new library building, value 
not stated, by J. Edgar McLehanen. Ac- 
cepted Jan. 20, 1902. 

SEWANEE. University of the South. $6000, 
for equipping Convocation Hall as a library, 
the donor's name withheld. 
TEXAS. 

BIG SPRINGS. Public Library. $4000, for a 
public library building, also a site for the 
same, from The Texas and Pacific Rail- 
road Company. 

$1000, towards a building, from Miss Helen 
Miller Gould. 

$1000. towards a building, raised by popular 
subscription. 

BRYAN. Public Library. $10,000, April 16, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

DALLAS. Public Library. New library build- 
ing, costing $50,000 (dedicated Oct. 29, 
1901), from Andrew Carnegie. 

Site for new Carnegie building (cost 
$9525), largely raised by public contribu- 
tions. 

EL PASO. Public Library. $35,000, Jan. 15, 
IO02, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

FORT WORTH. Carnegie Public Library. Gift 
of new building (formally opened Oct. 17, 
1901) from Andrew Carnegie. 

GEORGETOWN. Southwestern University Li- 
brary. $1000, from Mrs. Viola Hunt, of 
Dallas. 

HOUSTON. Public Library. $6000, for a book 
fund for children's books and periodicals, 
in memory of his little daughter, from N. 
S. Meldrum. 

SANTA ANNA. Public Library. $15,000, Feb. 
3, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

TEMPLE. Public Library. $10,000, Jan. 27, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

WACO. Baylor University. A $75,000 library 
building and chapel, from Frank L. Carroll. 
Cornerstone laid March 3, 1902. 
UTAH. 

SALT LAKE CITY. Latter-Day Saints College 
Library. $1000, for purchase of text-books 
on natural science, from Ezra T. Clark, of 
Farmington. 

Travelling Library Committee. $500, from 
George Foster Peabody, of New York, 
bringing his gifts up to $700. This gift 
assures the life and growth of these libraries 
for three years. 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



VERMONT. 

BRANDON. Free Library. $875, raised by 
popular subscription, $300 being given by a 
non-resident. 

BRATTLEBORO. Free Library. $500, from Dor- 
man B. Eaton. 

$500, from Rev. George L. Walker. 
BURLINGTON. Fletcher Free Library. $50,000, 

Aug. 7, 1901, for a building, from Andrew 
Carnegie. Accepted Aug. i4th. The build- 
ing is to be begun the present month, June, 
1902. 

DERBY LINE. Public Library. $50,000; 
$25,000 for a library building, $15,000 for 
furnishings, books, etc., and $10,000 for an 
endowment, from M. M. Haskell. 

ENOSBURGH. Public Library. $700, from the 
Ladies' Improvement Society. 

GRAFTON. Public Library. $500, from Mrs. 
L. B. Daniels. 

GUILDHALL. Public Library. New library 
building, with site, and about 500 volumes, 
from Col. E. C. Benton, of Boston. This 
building was dedicated July 10, 1901. 

HARTFORD. Wilder Club and Library. $1200, 
from the friends of the founder. 

LUDLOW. Fletcher Memorial Library. New 
library building, costing upward of $100,000 
(dedicated Nov. i, 1901), from Hon. Allen 
M. Fletcher, of New York City, formerly 
of Indianapolis, Ind. 

MONTPELIER. Kellogg-Hubbard Library. $973, 
from the Ladies' Library Guild. 

$706, from the Ladies' Library League. 
NEWFANE. Moore Public Library. Library 

building, valued at $9000, 2100 volumes, 
and $2000 for an endowment, from Mrs. 
Philura C. Moore. 

NORTHFIELD. Norwich University. Valuable 
library of the late Orlando Dana Miller, 
from his daughters, Lizzie B. and Eva B. 
Miller, South Merrimack, N. H. 

NORWICH. Public Library. New library 
building, cost not stated, erected by pop- 
ular subscription. 

PUTNEY. Public Library. $500, from C. W. 
Kimball. 

RANDOLPH. Kimball Public Library. $10,000 
toward a new library building (offered) by 
Col. Robert J. Kimball, provided the town 
will furnish a site without drawing upon 
the present library fund. 

$3300, from Mrs. Sarah J. Crocker. 
READING. Free Library. Library building, 

costing $5000, from Hon. Gilbert A. Davis, 
of Windsor. 

RICHFORD. An>ina A. Brown Public Library. 
$500, from Hon. S. P. Carpenter. 

SHELDON. Free Library. $3000, from Jona- 
than Northrop. 

ST. ALBANS. Free Library. Bequest of a li- 
brary building, to cost $25,000, from Hon. J. 
Gregory Smith, instead of $10,000, as pre- 
viously reported. 



WASHINGTON. Public Library. $700, from 
Mrs. H. A. White. 

WEATHERSFIELD. Proctor Library. Building, 
cost not given, from B. Frank Blood, of 
Waltham, Mass., to be called the Proctor 
Library, in honor of his grandfather, an 
old-time resident. 

WINSOR. Mary L. Blood Memorial Library. 
Memorial library building, costing about 
$4000. together with $3000 for the purchase 
of books and library repairs, by Benjamin 
F. Blood, of Waltha'm, Mass. 

WEYBRIDGE. Cotton Free Public Library. Be- 
quest of $4000, from Joshua F. Cotton. 

330 volumes, from Benjamin W. Dodge. 

VIRGINIA. 

CHARLOTTESVILLE. University of Virginia Li- 
brary. 341 volumes, from Robert M. 
Hughe?, Esq., of Norfolk, Va. 

HAMPTON. Normal and Agricultural Institute 
Library. Gift .(offered) of $100,000, for the 
erection and equipment of a library build- 
ing, to be known as the "C. P. Huntington 
Library," from his widow, Mrs. Huntington. 
This amount will also provide a fund for 
carrying on its work. Amount unreported 
last year. 

NORFOLK. Carnegie Library. Site, valued at 
$15,000, for the new Carnegie library build- 
ing, as a memorial to the late Dr. William 
Selden, the first president of the Library 
Association, from his children. 
WEST VIRGINIA. 

CHARLOTTESVILLE. Public Library. $20,000, 
for a public library building, from Andrew 
Carnegie. 

HUNTINGTON. Public Library. $25,000, Jan. 
6, 1902, toward a library building, to cost 
about $80,000, from Andrew Carnegie. 

$10,000 additional, March 22, 1902, for a 
public library building, making a total of 
$35,000, from Andrew Carnegie. 

MARTINSBURG. Public Library. $5000, to- 
ward erection of a public library building, 
from an unknown lady, provided $5000 
more is raised for the same purpose in two 
3'ears and site furnished. 

MORGANTOWN. West Virginia University. 
18,000 volumes, the private library of the 
Hon. W. T. Willey, formerly United States 
Senator, from his heirs. The library is in- 
valuable because of its completeness in the 
early history of West Virginia. 

WISCONSIN. 
BARABOO. Public Library. $12,000, March 13, 

1902, for a public library building, from 

Andrew Carnegie. 
BELOIT. Public Library. $25,000, Aug. 30, 

1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

This offer was accepted Sept. 3. 
CHIPPEWA FALLS. Public Library. $20,000, 

Feb. 17, 1902, for a building, from Andrew 

Carnegie. 



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117 



EAU CLAIRE. Public Library. $40,000, for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

FOND DU LAC. Public Library. $30,000, Feb. 
8, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. This gift has been accepted. 

$6000, for site of the new Carnegie library 
building, raised by popular subscription by 
women's clubs. 

GRAND RAPIDS. /. D. Witter Free Travelling 
Libraries. Bequest of $5000, to maintain a 
system of travelling libraries for Wood 
County, from J. D. Witter. 

T. B. Scott Public Library. Bequest of 
$5000, for a library endowment fund, from 
j. D. Witter. Mr. Witter had previously 
given $5000 for the same purpose. 

GREEN BAY. Kellogg Library. $5000, Oct. 14, 
1901, for a building, in addition to a former 
gift of $20,000, from Andrew Carnegie. 

LANCASTER. Public Library. $1500, for li- 
brary purposes, raised by popular subscrip- 
tion. 

MADISON. Public Library. $75,000, Dec. 30, 
1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
Accepted Jan. 10, 1902. 

State Historical Society. 694 volumes, 
mostly English literature, from Mrs. 
Charles Kendall Adams. 

172 volumes and 785 pieces of unbound 
music, the musical library of the late Prof. 
James S. Smith. 

A deposit of 723 bound volumes and 550 
pamphlets and newspaper files on Mormon 
history, from Albert Theodore Schroeder, 
of Salt Lake City, Utah. This collection 
probably will be later presented to the li- 
brary. 

$4000, for a fund for the purchase of books 
on art or of objects of art for the museum, 
from Mrs. Charles Kendall Adams. 

University of Wisconsin Library. 2300 vol- 
umes, a portion of his private library, from 
Dr. Charles Kendall Adams, formerly pres- 
ident of the University of Wisconsin. 

Wisconsin Free Library Commission. $895, 
for free travelling libraries, from citizens. 

$ I 35S, for German Travelling Libraries, 
from citizens and libraries. 

MARINETTE. Public Library. $30,000, Sept. 
17, 1901, for a building and site, from Isaac 
Stephenson, on condition that the city puts 
itself under bonds to appropriate at least 
$3000 yearly for its support. This offer was 
unanimously accepted by the common coun- 
cil on Oct. 2. 

MILWAUKEE. Public Library. $10,000, from 
Mrs. Antoinette Keenan. This amount has 
been devoted to a special collection of 
works on literature, kept in a separate room, 
and known as the "Matthew Keenan Me- 
morial Collection." 

Pair of beautiful bronze electroliers, April 
26, 1892, from Judge J. M. Pereles, the re- 
tiring president of the Library Board. 



MONROE. Public Library. $20,000, March 19, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

NEENAH. Public Library. $10,000, Oct. 17, 
1001, towards a building, from Andrew 
Carnegie. 

$15,000 additional to Carnegie gift, towards 
a building, raised by popular subscription. 

Gift of an appropriate library site, valued 
at $3000, from Mrs. Theda Clark Peters. 

NEW LONDON. Public Library. A collection 
of German books, number of volumes not 
stated, from Senator W. H. Hatten. 

OCONTO. Public Library. $15,000, for a build- 
ing, from James Farnsworth, of Chicago, 
111., provided the city furnishes a site and 
$1500 annually for maintenance. 

PORTAGE. Public Library. Bequest of $5000, 
from Mrs. George Krech. $2000 has al- 
ready been turned over to the library, the 
remainder will be paid when the estate is 
closed. 

Nearly 2000 volumes, from the Free Li- 
brary Association, an organization of ladies. 

500 books, from Miss Maria Austin. 
RACINE. Public Library. $50,000, Aug. 5, 

1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

Accepted Dec. 12, 1901. 

$9500, for site for new Carnegie library 
building, raised by popular subscription. 

RIPON. Public Library. $10,000, April 15, 

1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
SHEBOYGAN. Public Library. $10,000 addi- 
tional, March 17, 1902, for a building, mak- 
ing a total of $35,000, from Andrew Car- 
negie. The city council has agreed to ap- 
propriate $3500 yearly for maintenance. 

SPARTA. Public Library. $10,000, Feb. 12, 

1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
STANLEY. Moon Memorial Library. New li- 
brary building, cost not stated, from Mrs. 
Sarah F. Moon, of Eau Claire, as a me- 
morial to her late husband, Delos R. Moon. 
It was dedicated Dec. 17, 1901. 

Public Library. $500, for the purchase of 
books, from S. T. McKnight. 

STEVENS POINT. Public Library. $20,000, for 
a public library building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

$3000, for a site for the new Carnegie li- 
brary building, raised by popular subscrip- 
tion. 

WAUKESHA. Public Library. $15,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

WAUSAUKEE. Public Library. Public library, 
reading-room, and gymnasium building, to 
cost $5000, from H. P. Bird. 

$1000, for the purchase of books, from H. 
P. Bird. 

WEST SUPERIOR. Public Library. Site, value 
not stated, for the new Carnegie library 
building, from the estate of John H. Ham- 
mond and money raised by popular sub- 
scription. 



n8 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



WHITEWATER. Public Library. Bequest of 
$17,000, from Miss Flavia White, of St. 
Paul, Minn., upon condition that the greater 
part be used to erect a new library building 
on the site of the present one. 
PORTO RICO. 

SAN JUAN. Public Library. $60,000, July 30, 

1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. The city council has agreed to ap- 
propriate $6000 annually for library main- 
tenance. 

$100,000, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie, provided the city appropriate $6000 
annually for its maintenance, "supplemented 
by action on the part of the insular legisla- 
ture, bringing the total up to $8000 or 
$0000." The building will be erected front- 
ing on Plaza Colon. 

CUBA. 

HAVANA. Public Library. $250,000, for a 
library building from Andrew Carnegie. 

Over 3000 volumes, only 300 of which are 
bound, from Senor Figarola Canedo. 

DOMINION OF CANADA. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA. VICTORIA. Public Li- 
brary. $50,000, March 13, 1902, for a build- 
ing, from Andrew Carnegie. 

MANITOBA, WINNIPEG. Public Library. $100,- 
ooo, July 25, 1901, for a building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. This gift was accepted Feb. 
10, 1902. 

ONTARIO, BELLVILLE. Public library building, 
offered by Gilbert Parker, the novelist. 

BERLIN. Public Library. $15,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

COLLINGWOOD. Public Library. $10,000, 
July, 24, 1901, for a building, from Andrew 
Carnegie. 

CORNWALL. Public Library. $7000, for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

GALT. Public Library. $17,500, April 17, 
1002, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

GODERICH. Public Library. $10,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

GUELPH. Public Library. $20,000, Jan., 

1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

KINGSTON. \Queens University Library. 
Fine set of Canadian historical portraits, 
valued at $5000, from Gilbert Parker, the 
novelist. 

LINDSAY. Public Library. $10,000, Jan., 
1902, for building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

LONDON. Public Library. $10,000, March 
13, 1902, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie 

MONTREAL. McGill University Library. 
$20,000, for the purchase of books required 
in the regular university course, from Sir 
William MacDonald. 

MONTREAL. Public Library. $150,000, Aug. 



4, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

PEMBROKE. Public Library. $10,000, July 
16, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

ST. CATHERINE'S. Public Library. $20,000, 
Jan. 2, 1002, for a building, from Andrew 
Carnegie. 

ST. THOMAS. Public Library. $15,000, 
March 13, 1902, for a building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

SARNIA. Public Library. $15,000, Jan. 20, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

SMITH'S FALLS. Public Library. $10,000, 
Jan. 31, 1902, for a building, from Andrew 
Carnegie. 

STRATFORD. Public Library. $12,000, Dec. 
25, 1901, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

THOROLD. Public Library. $10,000, May I, 
1902, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

TORONTO. University of Toronto Library. 
$10,000 (received), from Mr. and Mrs. 
Goldwin Smith. 

NE WFO UNDLAND. 
ST. JOHNS. Public Library. $50,000, for a 

building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

ENGLAND. 
GREENWICH. Public Library. 10,000, for 

building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
STRATFORD-ON-AVON. Public Library. Gift, 

April 17, 1902, amount not stated, for a 

building, from Andrew Carnegie, on con- 
dition that a site be furnished. 

IRELAND. 
WATERFORD. Public Library. 5000, Oct. 7, 

1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

SCOTLAND. 
ANNAN, DUMFRIESHIRE. Public Library. 

3000, July 13, 1901, for a building, from 

Andrew Carnegie. 
CLACKMANNAN. Public Library. 1200, for 

a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
COATBRIDGE, LANARK. Public Library. 15,- 

ooo, July 12, 1901, for a building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 
DALKEITH. Public Library. 4000, Aug. 23, 

1901, for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
DUNDEE. Public Library. 37,000, Oct. 21, 

1901, for branch library buildings, from 

Andrew Carnegie. 
GLASGOW, KINNING PARK. Public Library. 

5000, for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 
LARBERT, STIRLINGSHIRE. Public Library. 

3000, Sept. 8, IQOI, for a building, from 

Andrew Carnegie. 
PAISLEY. Free Library and Museum. 27,- 

500, from James P. Coates, of the J. V. P. 

Coates Thread Mills, Pawtucket, R. I. 
RUTHERGLEN, LANARKSHIRE. Public Library. 

7500, Aug. 29, 1901, for a building, from 

Andrew Carnegie. 



SUMMARY, BY STATES AND COUNTRIES, OF GIFTS AND BEQUESTS TO LIBRARIES. 



ral Div. S. Atlantic Division. N.Atlantic Division. > II 


erican Library Assoc. . . 


No. 


Gifts in 
money. 


Money for 
buildings,etc. 


Books. 


Miscellaneous. 


Carn< 

No. 


:gie gifts. 
Am'ts. 


X 

18 
M 

27 
96 

IO 

26 

99 
28 
27 

6 
4 

3 
5 
4 


$100,000 
8,000 
8,000 
47.954 
310,925 

163,500 

225,738.85 
124,780 

64,000 
32,075.01 
4,272.61 








i 

2 

4 

i 
8 


$100,000 

40,000 
65,000 
50,000 
200,000 


$128,000 
350,000 
218,000 
735,15 


1,000 vols. 
3,300 vols. 
2,930 vols. 
8,988 vols. 
1,567 pains. 
1,310 vols. 
4,533 vols. 
52,330 vols. 
68,936 pams. 
14,997 vols. 
2,352 pams. 
6,265 vols. 




New Hampshire 








art works, etc. 
mss. 






93,000 
790,000 

357,5 
415,000 


i 
24 

2 

5 


20,000 
671,000 

75,000 
190,000 




2,927 prints, etc. 
mss., etc. 
Babylonian cylin- 
ders, etc. 
Babylonian cylin- 
ders, etc 
portraits, etc. 










47,375-63 


2,000 vols. 
355 vols. 
3,484 pams. 
341 vols. 
18,000 vols, 


2 


35,000 


District of Columbia. .. 


50,000 


art books. 


115,000 
60,000 
55,ooo 












3 

2 


55,oo 
35,000 




55 










Georgia 


IO 

8 

S 


1,000 


110,000 

90,000 


4,315 vols. 


bust. 


3 
3 
5 
3 


55,000 
90,000 
395,000 
165,000 


Florida 




445,000 
6,000 


500 vols. 






165,000 




























3 
13 




10,000 
210,525 


260 vols. 




i 
6 


10,000 
120,000 


Col. and For. Western Division. N. Central Division. S. Cent 


Texas 


7,000 












* 










2 


26,000 


[Indian Territory 












r Ohio . 


3 
24 
29 


41,682 
3,3 
29- 43 


742,000 
323,000 
620,000 


15,673 vols. 




13 
J 9 
II 

IO 

15 

5 

21 

I 

3 
3 

8 
6 


561,000 
295,000 
198,000 

914,000 
352,000 

74,000 
327,500 
40,000 

55,000 
30,000 
105,000 
183,000 
102,500 


Indiana 




Illinois 


2,404 vols. 
189 pams. 
500 vols. 
6,389 vols. 
550 pams. 




Michigan 




Wisconsin 


44 

12 

41 

9 

3 
3 

7 
'3 

10 


34i25 

2,500 

25,i77-44 
8,500 


455,5 

134,000 

346,500 
40,000 


electrolier. 


Minnesota 




5,500 vols. 
11,529 vols. 
17,958 pams. 






100 framed photos. 


North Dakota 


South Dakota 










3,000 
i, 800 
6,000 


105,000 
193,01 o 
122,500 


350 vols. 
250 vs., etc. 


I COW. 

statue. 














S 




380,000 






5 

i 


380,000 
10,000 






















Utah 


2 


1,500 




















i 


15,000 




2 


700 




















Oregon 










library building. 






California 


16 


4,5 


160,000 

160,000 
250,000 
491,500 
50,000 


6,650 vols. 
2,000 pams. 


7 

2 

I 

18 

i 

2 

I 

8 


135,000 

160,000 
250,000 
491,500 
50,000 
50,000 
25,000 
513,000 


Porto Rico . . . 










3,000 vols. 




Dominion of Canada.. . 


22 


30,000 


portraits. 




























O 




iimoo 







SUMMARY BY SECTIONS OF THE COUNTRY, ETC. 



American Library Assoc.. 












i 
47 

14 

'7 
"3 

20 

2 


$IOO,OOO 
I,3II,OOO 

285,000 

7l6,000 
3,144,500 

642,500 
l6o,OOO 


North Atlantic Division.. . . 
South Atlantic Division .... 

South Central Division.... 
North Central Division 


345 
4i 

3i 
226 

38 

2 


984,972.86 
55,822.6l 

458,OOO 
1,063,752.44 

I2,7OO 


3,086,650 
492,375.63 

4",525 
3,044,000 

687,500 
l6o,000 


95,653 vols. 
72,855 pams. 
25,011 vols. 
3,484 pams. 
760 vols. 
4 2 ,595 vols. 
18,647 pams. 
7,650 vols. 
2,000 pams. 
3,000 vols. 


2,927 prints, etc. 
portraits, etc. 


statue, etc. 


Colonial 




Total 
Cuba 


684 


$2,675,247.91 


$7,882,050.63 


174,669 vols. 
97,016 pams. 




214 


$6,359,000 








25O,OOO 
541,500 
588,500 


3,000 vols. 




I 
19 


250,000 
54i,5oo 
453,500 


British America 


23 
12 


30,000 


portraits. 


Foreign 




Grand total 


721 


$2,705,247.91 


$9,262.050.63 


177,669 vols. 
97,016 pams. 




234 


$7,604,000 





To the above should be added $2,000 given to the Seaboard Air Line Travelling Libraries by Andrew Carnegie. 
Gifts of 23 buildings and 27 sites, upon which no value was placed, also fail to appear in the tabulated summary. 



I2O 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



THE PROCEEDINGS. 

BOSTON, MASS., SATURDAY, JUNE 14; MAGNOLIA, MASS., TUESDAY, JUNE 17 FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1902. 



FIRST SESSION. 

(BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, SATURDAY 
MORNING, JUNE 14.) 

The first session of the Boston and Magnolia 
Conference was in the nature of an informal 
gathering for announcements and short ad- 
dresses of welcome. It was held in the lecture 
room of the Boston Public Library, and was 
opened at 9.30, with a greeting on behalf of 
the local committee by JAMES L. WHITNEY, 
who said : 

It is twenty-three years since the American 
Library Association met in Boston. At that 
time the free public library movement in this 
country was almost at its beginning. Since 
then conferences have been held yearly in 
many cities throughout the country. It is 
time that another meeting be held here in 
order that this part of the country may realize 
the progress that has been made in library 
work. 

As representing the libraries of Greater 
Boston, in behalf of the local committee, I bid 
you welcome, and trust that your stay here 
may be full of profit and pleasure. 

Rev. Dr. JAMES DE NORMANDIE, vice-presi- 
dent of the board of trustees of the Boston 
Public Library, said : 

The true librarian needs to be alert in read- 
ing the character of all comers, and in fitting 
to that character the books which shall help to 
mould and strengthen it. The old notion of a 
library was a rather poor and miserable one. 
It was simply the notion of getting more books 
than any other library had, and being some- 
what miserly about their use. Now we have 
only the generous rivalry by which each library 
is in a race to open all its treasures and oppor- 
tunities to the seekers after knowledge every- 
where. Reciprocity is a word in high favor 
among librarians. Every good library has 
some one characteristic, some well developed 
branch under some active, energetic head, 
whose results all other libraries can appro- 
priate. 

The great work of the library always will be 
the acquiring of books; and when we think of 
the vast numbers of them which fall from our 
busy presses like leaves of the forest, what is 
more important than for a body of trained men 



and women to select and to circulate these 
books, which, joined to the few which the 
ages have sifted and canonized, shall more and 
more accomplish the best results of literature, 
the deepening and enrichment of the soul? 

We welcome you as members of this the 
latest of the professions; we welcome you to 
the fine opportunities which it offers, in the 
refining and uplifting influences of a most 
humane age. May we all be helped to find in 
this profession something by which life and 
thought and public spirit and public morals 
and public piety may be lifted to ever higher 
levels, that over these great depositories of 
books we may write the inscription found on 
the old Egyptian library," Nourishment of the 
soul." 

CHARLES W. JENCKS was introduced as one 
of the members of the first Librarians' Conven- 
tion, and an honorary member of the Ameri- 
can Library Association. Mr. Jencks spoke on 

THE LIBRARIANS' CONVENTION OF 1853. 

I highly appreciate the honor you confer by 
electing me an honorary member of your asso- 
ciation. I am asked to bring a greeting from 
the meeting of 1853 to that of 1902, and to make 
a few brief remarks about the first convention 
of librarians ever held in the country, and I 
bring a letter written by the late Dr. Guild, 
formerly librarian of Brown University, whick 
was read before the Unitarian Club some years 
ago when the topic of the evening was " The 
aims and opportunities of libraries." The 
speakers were William C. Lane, librarian of 
Harvard University, who spoke of the neces- 
sities of libraries in our present civilization; 
H. L. Koopman of Brown; J. L. Harrison of 
the Athenaeum; W. E. Foster of our public 
library; and then Dr. Guild's letter, giving an 
account of the first attempt to form a national 
association of librarians. 

Dr. Guild's letter is as follows : 

You ask me about the great Librarian's 
Convention that was held in New York, Sept. 
15 and 17, 1853, which you attended as libra- 
rian of Mechanics' Library, Providence, and 
which I attended as librarian of Brown Uni- 
versity. That was forty-six years ago, when n ve 
were young men. In looking over the twenty- 
one names that signed the call for the meeting 
I recognized, as among the living beside my- 



SECOND SESSION. 



121 



self, Rev. Edward Everett Hale, Hon. Henry 
Barnard, and S. Hastings Grant. My recollec- 
tions of the convention are very distinct. It 
was the first convention of the kind ever held 
in the world's history. We met at the rooms 
of the University of the City of New York. 
Eighty delegates were present, representing 
forty-seven libraries in thirteen different States 
of the Union. 

Prof. C. C. Jewett, formerly librarian at 
Brown, was chosen president; S. Hastings 
Grant, of New York, was chosen secretary, 
and a business committee of five, of which I 
was a member, completed the organization. 
The discussions, from day to day, were very in- 
teresting, and some of the papers presented 
were of real value. The Rev. Dr. Osgood, 
who, although then living in New York, repre- 
sented, by special appointment, the Providence 
Athena3um, of which he has been an active 
director, made the remarks of the occasion. 
They were eloquent, practical, and more than 
up to the times. He closed with a resolution 
providing for a special committee of three to 
prepare a Library Manual. The resolution 
was heartily adopted, and Mr. Osgood, Ed- 
ward Everett Hale, and myself were appointed 
this committee. Several years later I pub- 
lished, as you know, " The librarian's manual," 
a quarto volume with illustrations, which has 
found its way into our public libraries, both 
here and upon the continent, and which I have 
reason to think has been useful. 

You ask who were the delegates from 
Providence. Besides ourselves, Thomas Hale 
Williams, librarian of the Athenaeum, Albert 
Jones, director, and Charles Akerman, director 
of the Mechanics' Library. The convention 
adjourned to meet in Washington, after ap- 
pointing a committee of five to arrange for 
permanent organization. The committee 
failed to make arrangements, and there was no 
further meeting of the librarians until 1876, 
when the present American Library Associa- 
tion was organized in Philadelphia. The 
committee on permanent organization has 
been criticised for its failure to act. The 
chairman, Professor Jewett, about this time 
had a controversy with Dr. Henry of the 
Smithsonian Institution, and eventually left 
Washington to organize the Public Library of 
Boston. He was too busy to arrange for an- 
other convention. The second man on the 
committee, Prof. Charles Folsom, resigned as 
librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, and no 
longer served the cause. The third, S. Hast- 
ings Grant, gave up his position as librarian 
of the Mercantile Library and went into poli- 
tics on a much larger salary. Elijah Hayward, 
the fourth, lives in Ohio, and the fifth man, 
your humble servant, did not feel inclined to 
shoulder the burden alone. Besides, the prime 
mover in the first convention, Gen. Charles B. 
Norton, had met with reverses and was unable 
to go on as in the beginning, acting as agent 
of librarians. Then came the financial crisis 
of 1857, the Civil War, reconstruction, etc. 
The tenth meeting of the American Library 



Association was held at the Thousand Islands, 
so called in 1887. This meeting you and I at- 
tended. 

I learn that eight original members of the 
1853 meeting are still living, viz. : Prof. Wil- 
lard Fiske, Florence, Italy; President D. C. 
Gilman, Baltimore, Md. ; S. Hastings Grant, 
Montclair, NJ. ; E. H. Grant, Washington, 
D.C.; Rev. E. E. Hale, Boston, Mass., E. A. 
Harris, Jersey City, N.J. ; C. W. Jencks, Provi- 
dence, R.I., and Dr. Anson Judd Upson, Glens 
Falls, N.Y.* 

Invitations were extended from the Boston 
Athenaeum, Harvard University, and other 
libraries, and announcements of local excur- 
sions were made. Sunday and Monday were 
given up to visiting the libraries of Boston and 
vicinity and to local entertainment, and to 
Council and committee meetings at Magnolia. 

SECOND SESSION. 

(OCEANSIDE HOTEL CASINO, MAGNOLIA, 
TUESDAY MORNING, JUNE 17.) 

The meeting was called to order at 10 o'clock 
by President JOHN S. BILLINGS. 

The PRINTED REPORT OF ICJOI MEETING was 

approved as presented and distributed. 
F. W. FAXON presented his 

SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

Since the close of the Waukesha meeting 
last July, there have been added 222 new mem- 
bers, and some 75 have rejoined, making 297 
to be counted as the actual gain during the 
eleven months, the largest number ever 
added in one year. There are now 1,265 active 
members of the Association, and doubtless 150 
or 200 more will join during this meeting. 

The secretary is more than ever convinced 
that a person who drops out ought to have a 
new number given him on rejoining, both in 
fairness to those who retain membership from 
year to year, and that the compilation of 
statistics may be made more easy. 

During the last few months efforts have been 
made by the treasurer to enroll on our list of 
members all who were present at the Librarians' 
Convention of 1853. Eight such have been 
found, and according to a previous vote of the 
Association are now on the list as honorary 
members. 

In March 5,250 copies of the Preliminary 

*The death of Dr. Upson was announced at the meeting 
on the i6th. 



122 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Announcement (two pages) were sent out, 
covering (a) all names on the membership list, 
() all those of members of the local and state 
clubs east of Ohio, and (c) all head librarians, 
members of such clubs, throughout the West. 

After a delay of nearly three weeks caused 
by the failure of western railroads to act 
promptly on rates, the Final Announcement 
(a four-page circular) was mailed May 28, an 
edition of 5,500 being almost exhausted, so 
great was the interest awakened in the meeting. 

A supplement to last year's handbook was 
printed (edition 2,500, cost $83 for forty-four 
pages and cover), containing additions to 
membership list, the constitution, and the by- 
laws passed last year. There is also in this 
supplement a list of changed addresses and 
positions, and the A. L. A. necrology brought 
down to date. This was mailed to all members 
with the Final Announcement. 

The secretary recommends that in future the 
handbook be in larger form, small octavo, or 
duodecimo, similar to that of the L. A. U. K. 

There was also included with the final an- 
nouncement a private post-card, which should 
serve as advance registration card and also 
hotel rooming contract. About 1,000 of these 
cards were returned to the secretary, 500 of 
them stating that the sender would go to 
Magnolia. It was then necessary, before the 
printed list of advance registration could be 
issued, to add the 400 names of those going 
who had not received the card or who had 



thrown it away because they had previously 
written for rooms. 

The program (edition 2,500) was issued the 
first of June, and mailed to all members as an 
enclosure with the souvenir book sent out by 
the Boston-Magnolia Local Committee, the 
A. L. A. paying the expense of mailing both. 

A sufficient number of supplementary hand- 
books and programs has been printed to cover 
the probable demand during the week of ses- 
sions. The Advance Registration Printed List 
(edition 1,000, 44 pages and cover, $58) con- 
tains 905 names, almost double the number 
registered at any previous conference of the 
Association. Buttons are supplied numbered 
to match the numbers on this list, so that 
identification will, it is hoped, be easy. 

The secretary's expenses for the year, exclu- 
sive of supplementary handbook, have been 
about $400, the chief items being printing and 
postage. The number of letters written and 
received, not counting those concerning hotel 
rooms at Magnolia, is about 1,200 and- 1,100 
respectively. 

Gifts to the Association sent the secretary 
during the year have been : 

Current issues of Library Journal and New 
York Public Library Bulletin, World Almanac, 
and the annual reports of many public libraries. 

In closing my second year as secretary, I 
wish to thank all who have aided me for the 
cordiality and promptness with which the 
desired help has been given. 



GARDNER M. JONES presented the 

TREASURER'S REPORT. 
Balance on hand, Jan. i, 1901 (Waukesha conference, p. 109) 

RECEIPTS, JAN.-DEC., 1901. 
Fees from annual members : 

From i member for 1899, 
From 17 members for 1900, 
From 890 members for 1901, 
From 3 members for 1902, 

911 members at $2 $ i ,822 oo 

Fees from annual fellows: 

From 7 fellows for 1901 at $5 35 oo 

Fees from library members : 

From 29 libraries for 1901 at $5 145 oo 

Life memberships : 

Elizabeth P. Thurston, 

Samuel H. Ranck, 

Bernard C. Steiner, 

3 life memberships at $25 , 

Interest on deposit New England Trust Co 



$307 60 



2,002 oo 



75 oo 
18 48 

$2,403 08 



SECOND SESSION. 



123 



PAYMENTS, JAN.-DEC., 1901. 
Proceedings, including delivery : 

Oct. 25. Publisher? Weekly, Waukesha proceedings and delivery $891 07 

Stenographer : 

Aug. 14. Wm. A. Klatte 96 45 

Secretary and conference expenses: 

Jan. 26. F. W. Faxon, stationery, printing, postage $60 58 

April n. F. W. Faxon, salary, on account 50 oo 

" 30. F. W. Faxon, circulars, postage, etc 59 75 

May 29. Carl H. Heintzemann, handbook 160 60 

June 5. F. W. Faxon, postage, envelopes, etc 85 24 

July i. F. W. Faxon, balance salary, 1900-1 150 oo 

i. Stationery, postage, and circulars 131 90 

i. Springfield City Library Association, committee expenses, 8 25 

Aug. 12. F. W. Faxon, salary on account 75 oo 

12. F. W. Faxon, attendance register, etc 67 57 

12. Library Bureau, registration cards 2 oo 

12. D. Thomas, stereopticon 8 oo 

Oct. 25. F. W. Faxon, stamped envelopes, etc 23 85 

882 74 
Treasurer's expenses : 

Oct. 25. Gardner M. Jones, stamped envelopes $42 80 

Dec. 18. Newcomb and Gauss, stationery 9 oo 

" 18. Gardner M. Jones, clerical assistance, etc 43 01 

94 81 
Trustees of the Endowment Fund, life memberships for investment 75 oo 

$2,040 07 
Balance on hand, Dec. 31, 1901 : 

Deposit in New England Trust Co., Boston $197 06 

Deposit in Merchants Bank, Salem, Mass 165 95 

363 01 



$2,403 08 



The number of members in good standing 
on Dec. 31, 1901, was as follows : 

Honorary members 3 

Perpetual member i 

Life fellows 2 

Life members 36 

Annual fellows (paid for 1901) 7 

Annual members (paid for 1901) 902 

Library members (paid for 1901) 29 



During the year 1901, 274 new members 
joined the Association and 6 died. 

The above report covers the financial year 
from Jan. to Dec., 1901. From Jan. i to June 
13, 1902, the receipts have been $2,033.00 and 
the payments $519.25, leaving a balance of 
$1,876.76 on hand at the beginning of the 
present conference. Most of this amount will 
be needed to meet the expenses of the confer- 
ence. 

GARDNER M. JONES, 

Treasurer. 



The following report of audit was appended : 

The Finance Committee have performed the 
duties laid down in the constitution ; they have 
examined the accounts of the treasurer during 
the period covered by his report and find them 
properly kept and vouched for. 

JAMES L. WHITNEY, \ 

CHARLES K. BOLTON, > Finance Committee. 

GEO. T. LITTLE, J 

Necrology. 

i. Theodore August Meysenburg (A. L. A. 
no. 1225, 1893), born in Flamersheim, near 
Cologne, Prussia, July 23, 1840; died in St. 
Louis, Mo., March 29, 1901. At the age of 
sixteen he came to America with his father, 
who settled in St. Louis. In May, 1861, he 
enlisted as a private in the Third Missouri In- 
fantry. He was promoted until he became 
acting adjutant general to the commander of 
the army corps, with rank of colonel, and 
served with distinguished ability until his 
resignation in January, 1865. He returned to St. 
Louis and was appointed assistant engineer in 
the water department. He resigned from this 
position in 1869 and became interested in the 



124 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



manufacture of iron, being successively at the 
head of several of the largest iron manufactur- 
ing establishments of the city. He was con- 
nected with the St. Louis Public Library for 
twelve years. In May, 1889, he was elected as 
a representative of the life members to the 
board of managers of the Public School 
Library. When the library was made free, in 
1893, he was appointed a member of the first 
board of directors; and upon its organization 
he was chosen vice-president, which position 
he continued to hold until 1900, when he de- 
clined re-election, as he had before repeatedly 
declined the office of president. Colonel Mey- 
senburg was one of the founders of the St. 
Louis Museum of Fine Arts. 

( Condensed from a memorial volume.) 

2. Edward Capen (A. L. A. no. 5, 1876), 
librarian emeritus of the Haverhill (Mass.) 
Public Library. Born in Dorchester, Mass., 
Oct. 20, 1821 ; died in Haverhill, Oct. 20, 1901. 
His ancestry reached back in Dorchester to 
1630. In early youth he removed to South 
Boston and was graduated from the Boston 
Latin School, receiving the Franklin medal, in 
1838. He was graduated from Harvard in 1842 
and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1845. 
He served for one year as minister of the Uni- 
tarian Society, Westford, Mass., but met with 
little success, owing to his sympathy with 
Theodore Parker. From 1847 to 1852 he was 
private secretary for Dr. John Collings Warren. 
In January, 1852, he became secretary of the 
Boston School Committee. On May 12, 1852, 
he was appointed librarian of the Boston Pub- 
lic Library, being its first librarian. This 
position he held for 22 years. In November, 
1874, he became librarian of the Haverhill 
Public Library and was made librarian emer- 
itus in October, 1899. Mr. Capen attended the 
1876 conference and was a life member of the 
A. L. A. ( 7-, Nov., 1901.) 

3. Mrs. Anna Amory Weld (A. L. A. no. 
1609, 1897), died at Dublin, N. H., Nov. 14, 
1901. Miss Anna Sears Amory, afterwards 
Mrs. George F. Weld, was appointed a mem- 
ber of the Massachusetts Free Public Library 
Commission in 1896, which position she held 
until her resignation, on account of ill health, 
in 1899. She was much interested in the work 
of the commission and made many visits to 
libraries in the smaller towns at her own ex- 



pense. In 1891, while a summer resident of 
Wareham, Mass., she bore the entire expense 
of founding a public reading-room, well sup- 
plied with current periodicals, and gave to it 
over 700 volumes. 

4. Prescott C. Rice (A. L. A. no. 636, 1887), 
for 29 years librarian of the Fitchburg (Mass.) 
Public Library. Born in Natick, Mass., April 
18, 1846; died in Fitchburg, Jan. 26, 1902. 
He was for several years a telegraph operator 
on the Fitchburg Railroad, the assistant libra- 
rian of the Public Library under Mr. Henry 
Jackson, and when, in 1873, Mr. Jackson was 
made city auditor, Mr. Rice was elected libra- 
rian. He joined the A. L. A. in 1887 and was 
a member of the Massachusetts Library Club. 

5. William R. Snead (A. L. A. no. 1503, 
1896), president of the Snead & Co. Iron 
Works, died at his home in New York, March 
27, 1902. His firm, formerly at Louisville, Ky., 
and afterwards at Jersey City, N. J., were the 
manufacturers of the book-stack and shelving 
invented by Bernard R. Green for the Library 
of Congress. Mr. Snead was a graduate of the 
Mass. Institute of Technology, and unmarried. 

6. George Bigelow Chase (A. L. A. no. 373, 
1879), trustee of the Boston Public Library 
from 1876 to 1885, died at Dedham, Mass., on 
June 2, 1902, in the 67th year of his age. Mr. 
Chase was a member of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society from 1876 until his death, 
and was much interested in its work and pros- 
perity. At the Boston conference in 1879 he 
was chairman of the reception committee and 
gave a reception to the members of the confer- 
ence at his residence on Beacon St. He was a 
life member of the A. L. A. 

7. Anson Judd Upson (A. L. A. no. 1124, 
1893), chancellor of the University of the State 
of New York. Born in Philadelphia, Nov. 7, 
1823; died in Glen Falls, N. Y., June 15, 1902. 
He graduated from Hamilton College, Clinton, 
N. Y., in 1843. I" ^45 he was appointed tutor 
in that college and in 1849 adjunct professor. 
From 1853 to 1870 he was professor of logic, 
rhetoric, and elocution in Hamilton. From 
1870 to 1880 he was pastor of the Second Pres- 
byterian Church, Albany, N. Y. In 1880 he 
became professor of sacred rhetoric and pastoral 
theology in Auburn Theological Seminary and 
in 1887 professor emeritus. In 1884 he was 
elected a regent of the University of the State 
of New York, was made vice-chancellor in 



SECOND SESSION. 



125 



1890, and in 1892 was elected chancellor. Dr. 
Upson attended the 1853 convention of libra- 
rians in New York City, registering as librarian 
of Hamilton College. In 1893 he joined the 



A. L. A., but resigned in 1896. In 1902, as a 
survivor of the 1853 conference, he was made 
an honorary member of the A. L. A. 

(New Tork Tribune, June 16, 1902.) 



CHARLES C. SOULE presented the 

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE ENDOWMENT FUND. 

Endowment Fund Statement, July i, 1901, to July 10, 1902 : 
Cask account Receipts. 

1901 , |ul y i . Balance on hand $2, 102 18 

Principal. 

1902, April t. Two life memberships (Clara S. Hawes and Sula 

Wagner) 50 oo 

Interest. 

1901 , Oct. 4. Interest on mortgage loan 24 50 

" 28. " International Trust Co 2079 

Dec. 31. " on mortgage loan 75 oo 

1902, Jan. 13. " Brookline Savings Bank deposit 4242 

April i . " on mortgage loan 24 50 

June 10. " International Trust Co. deposit 18 47 

$2,357 86 

Payments. 

1901, Dec. 27. To E. H.Anderson, treasurer A. L. A. Publishing Board, $60000 

1902, Jan. 13. Interest added to time deposit in Brookline Savings Bank, 4242 
May 6. Rent of safe deposit box 10 oo 

652 42 

Cash on hand, June 10, 1902 $1,705 44 

Condition of permanent fund. 

1901, July i. As in last report $6,187 94 

1902, April i. Membership fees as above 50 oo 

Present amount of fund $6,237 94 

On interest account. 

1901, July i. On hand $66504 

Interest received, as above 205 68 

$870 72 
Less payments as above 610 oo 

Amount subject to order of the Council, June 10, 1902. . 260 72 

Total $6,498 66 

Available income for next year. 

Interest on hand, as above $260 72 

Estimated income, 1902-3, about 275 oo 

Subject to order of the Council during next year $535 72 

Assets. 

Loan on mortgage at 7%, expires Oct. i , 1902 $700 oo 

" " " 5%, " June 24, 1902 3,00000 

Time deposit in Brookline Savings Bank, interest at 4% 1*093 22 

Deposit subject to draft, International Trust Co., at 2% i>7o5 44 



$6,498 66 



Liabilities 
Annual expenses, $10 for safe deposit box. 



126 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



The following report of audit was appended : 
At the request of Charles C. Soule, treasurer 
of the Endowment Fund, I have examined his 
accounts and securities, and find evidence of 
investment of $3,700 in mortgage loans; of 
deposit of $1,093.22 in the Brookline (Mass.) 
Savings Bank; and of $1,705.44 deposited with 
the International Trust Co. of Boston. 

I also find his account correctly cast, with 
proper vouchers for all expenditures.. 

JAMES L. WHITNEY, 
Chairman of Finance Committee. 

The secretary read the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL 
CO-OPERATION. 

Dr. E. C. Richardson, the chairman of this 
committee, has been in Europe during the 
greater part of the past year, where he has vis- 
ited a number of libraries. In his visits he has 
discussed with librarians the matters that come 
within the province of this committee, with 
special reference to the printed cards issued by 
the Library of Congress. Dr. Richardson 
finds that, while there is no sign of immediate 
action with reference to international co-oper- 
ation in this direction, there is hope for prac- 
tical results in the future, especially after the 
catalogue rules of the Library of Congress 
have been printed. 

No member of this committee was present at 
the International Publishers' Congress at 
Leipzig. The gentleman to whom was en- 
trusted the matter of bringing to the attention 
of the Congress a uniform classification of 
book production statistics did not find the 
opportunity to do so, and so the matter was 
not presented. 

The work of the International Catalogue or 
Scientific Literature has proceeded with such 
difficulties as might be expected from a new 
enterprise. The Smithsonian Institution has 
temporarily undertaken the work of a Regional 
Bureau in the United States with the hope that 
Congress will contribute the necessary funds for 
its continuance. The catalogue has been sub- 
scribed for in the United States to the extent of 
the equivalent of 71 sets, being over $30,000 for 
a period of five years. The first part of the vol- 
umes on chemistry and botany will appear in a 
short time, to be followed by parts on physics 
and physiology. It was found necessary to 
publish these volumes in two parts. The next 
publication will be the complete volume ot 



mathematics, astronomy, meteorology, and 

bacteriology for 1901. 

We recommend that the committee be con- , 

tinued. 

SAMUEL H. RANCK, ) of the 
MARY W. PLUMMER, \ Committee. 
CYRUS ADLER, 

J. C. DANA read the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON CO-OPERATION 
WITH LIBRARY DEPARTMENT OF THE 
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 

Your committee sent the circular letter 
hereto attached to 67 of the largest normal 
schools in the country, taking one or more 
from each state. 

To this inquiry were received 32 replies, all 
favorable with one exception, and offering, as 
the accompanying statement shows, a few sug- 
gestions for the modification of the proposed 
pamphlet. 

To the inquiries at the end of the circular in 
regard to the librarians of normal school libra- 
ries were received a total of 32 replies which, 
being tabulated, make the following showing: 



No. i. 


Yes, 30; 


No. 3. 


Yes, 24; 




No, 2. 




No, 4; 








Some, 4. 


No. 2. 


Yes, 24; 


No. 4. 


Yes, 18; 




No, 8. 




No, 9; 








Some, 5. 



Circular sent to Normal Schools. 

This- committee wishes to compile a brief 
outline of work for the normal school library. 
We cannot do this without the help of the 
normal schools themselves. Will you kindly 
answer the following questions and return this 
sheet to me as soon as possible? You may 
find it convenient to refer the questions to your 
librarian or to one of your teachers. The out- 
line is to take the form of a small pamphlet, the 
title of which may be " Normal school libra- 
ries : an outline of work." What additions, 
changes, and omissions would you suggest to 
the following list of subjects to be treated? 

J. C. DANA. 

1. Book-making, including paper, type 
faces, type composition, printing and binding, 
machine and hand; book plates. 

2. Differences between books as regards 
their making. Importance of buying well- 
made books. Care of books. 

3. Book-buying, price lists, trade catalogues. 



SECOND SESSION. 



127 



4. Book handling : Stamping, labeling, 
book pockets, book plates. 

5. A lending system. Book cards, student's 
cards, professor's cards, special privileges. 

6. The library rooms, location, size, ar- 
rangement, desk, cases, tables, etc. 

7. List of books essential in a normal 
school library, reference books especially. 

8. Elements of reference work; diction- 
aries, encyclopedias, annuals, periodicals, in- 
dexes, bibliographies. 

9. English and American literature, best 
handbooks, books on method. 

10. Books for young people, lists, prices, 
etc. ; books and articles on the subject. 

11. Books in the school-room: General 
works for teachers, books for children, differ- 
ent methods of using them for reference, for 
reading, for lending. 

12. School-room collections, furnished by 
the school board or by the public library. 

13. A general library in a school building, 
advantages, disadvantages, character, methods 
of use. 

14. Possible relations of teachers with the 
public library. 

15. Importance to teachers of collecting libra- 
ries of their own. 

16. Do you have a librarian? 

Is the librarian a member of your faculty? 
Are students taught how to use a library? 
Does your course in literature include the 
study of books for young people? 

We sent to 42 libraries the following inquiry : 
Please note the Ginn & Co. leaflet enclosed. 
If twenty or thirty of the leading publishers in 
the country will issue circulars of this nature, 
with attractive extracts, or notes on the use of 
books, reading, children, etc., would you cir- 
culate them from your library among teachers 
and parents? This committee proposes to ask 
publishers to issue such lists, and wishes to say 
to publishers that if such lists are issued libra- 
rians will be willing to distribute them. 

J. C. DANA, Chairman, 

To this we received a total of 28 replies, of 
which 20 were favorable. 

We then sent to 40 of the leading publishers 
of the country a circular letter, quoting the 
foregoing inquiry, and adding : 

To this inquiry we received 27 replies, of 
which 19 were favorable. We are confident 
that more than half of the libraries of the coun- 
try, as our answers indicate, would distribute 
such circulars. We have in mind, as the in- 
quiry indicates, little leaflets, attractively print- 
ed, containing brief notes about the use of 
books, and especially about the use of books by 
children, and by schools. We hope by the cir- 
culation of these among teachers to increase 
their interest in this subject. The American 
Library Association is not in position to pub- 
lish and distribute widely, free of charge, litera- 



ture of this kind. Recognizing the interest 
publishers have in the increase of knowledge 
of the importance of right reading by children, 
we have thought it probable that you would 
issue one or two special circulars as indicated. 

You can get from principals, superintend- 
ents, and librarians, if you desire it, sugges- 
tions as to reading to be incorporated in these 
circulars. This committee will aid you in this 
if you wish. 

Several libraries have made use of such 
material as we are speaking of. The leaflet 
published by Ginn & Co., called " Children's 
books; a list of books for supplementary read- 
ing and school libraries, arranged by subjects 
and graded " is a good example. 

Yours very truly, 
J. C. T)Pi3St>.,for the Committee. 

To this we have to date received 9 replies, 
all expressing a wish to be of assistance in the 
work we are undertaking, some of them asking 
for further information, some of them making 
helpful suggestions. 

Your committee suggests that you, as an 
Association, endorse the plan of the publication 
of a small book or pamphlet on the subject of 
normal school libraries, with some reference 
to library work in general, and ask considera- 
tion of it by the Library Department of the 
N. E. A. 

It is the purpose of your committee, if you 
thus endorse the general plan suggested, to 
present the matter to the Library Department 
of the N. E. A. and ask for their further assist- 
ance in the compilation and publication of 
such a pamphlet. 

J. C. DANA, 

MELVIL DEWEY, 

F. A. HUTCHINS, Committee. 

JAMES H. CANFIELD, 

ISABEL ELY LORD, 

Miss AHERN : I would just like to say, in 
regard not only to this report but the one that 
was prepared under the auspices of the A. L. A. 
several years ago, and issued by the National 
Educational Association, that Mr. Shepard, the 
secretary of that association, has repeatedly 
told me that no publication which the National 
Educational association ever sent out created 
so much interest, was so widely read, or had 
done so much good, as this pamphlet on public 
libraries. I feel quite certain that if the Asso- 
ciation backs up this suggestion of Mr. Dana's, 
as it did his other suggestion with regard to 
the other pamphlet, it will meet with the most 



128 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



hearty reception by teachers and particularly 
by the Library Department of the N. E. A. 

FREDERICK J. TEGGART read the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON HANDBOOK OF 
AMERICAN LIBRARIES. 

Your Committee on Handbook of American 
Libraries reports that progress has been made 
during the year past on the collection of data. 

It is, however, evident that because of the 
failure of libraries to reply to repeated requests, 
and for other reasons, it will be impossible to 
make the material included complete, and this 
being the case it becomes desirable to finish 
the work with as little as possible additional 
delay. 

The data received have been put in definite 
form and it is the plan of the committee to 
submit the copy relating to each library to its 
librarian during the current year. 

After this revision the printing may be un- 
dertaken. Your committee feels assured that 
the handbook will be ready for distribution at 
the next meeting of the Association. 
FREDERICK J. TEGGART, ") 
CLEMENT W. ANDREWS, f Committee. 
THOMAS L. MONTGOMERY, ' 

Mr. TEGGART: The feeling of the commit- 
tee in regard to the handbook being ready is 
contingent, of course, on the possibility of its 
being printed. So far there has been no 
definite scheme elaborated for the printing, 
and it is perhaps unjustifiable optimism on the 
part of the committee to hope that it will get 
into print. However, the material will be 
ready, probably by the end of the current 
year. 

President BILLINGS : I think one reason 
why definite arrangement has not thus far 
been made for the printing is that no informa- 
tion has come to the Council or to the executive 
board as to the prospective size of the hand- 
book, or its cost, or how much money should 
be set aside for it. As soon as that informa- 
tion is available, I have no doubt the matter 
will be carefully considered. 

W. I. FLETCHER presented the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON INDEXES AND TITLE- 
PAGES TO PERIODICAL VOLUMES. 

W. I. FLETCHER : The duties of this com- 
mittee for the past year consisted simply in 



issuing to publishers of periodicals a circular 
which had been submitted to and approved by 
the last conference and the handling of such 
correspondence as might result. 
The circular sent out is as follows : 



To the Publishers of 

As a result of much dissatisfaction among 
librarians with the irregularities and uncertain- 
ties connected with the issue, by publishers of 
periodicals, of title-pages and "contents" of 
volumes, the American Library Association 
has had a special committee considering the 
subject with a view to drawing up a suitable 
memorial to be presented to such publishers, 
looking to the securing of more uniformity and 
propriety in this matter. After mature con- 
sideration the committee have prepared the 
following recommendations as embodying the 
minimum of improvements which may reason- 
ably be hoped for : 

1. Title-pages and tables of contents should 
always accompany the number completing a 
volume, and not the first number of the new 
volume. There are several cogent reasons for 
this recommendation : 

(a.) In many cases it is a serious detriment 
to the usefulness of a set in a library, if a com- 
pleted volume cannot be bound until the receipt 
of the next number. 

(.) More important is the need that the 
numbers of a volume shall constitute the vol- 
ume in its entirety, so that as they are bought 
and sold there shall not be the necessity of 
handling also another number belonging to a 
different volume in order to complete the first. 
Now that libraries are buying periodical sets 
and volumes in such large numbers for use 
with Poole's and other indexes, it is of great 
importance to the book trade, as well as libra- 
rians, and must have a real bearing on the 
business interests of the publishers, that this 
matter, often trifled with, shall receive due 
attention. Publishers must come to feel that 
it is necessary (which it generally proves not 
to be) to delay a completing number a day or 
two in its issue in order to insure its complete- 
ness in this respect; the delay is abundantly 
compensated for. 

2. Title-pages and contents should be fur- 
nished -with every copy of the issue of a com- 
pleting number. We earnestly believe that by 
inserting title-pages and contents in all cases, 
publishers will at once put a premium on the 
preservation and binding of their magazines, 
suggesting it to many who otherwise would not 
think of it. In the long run the demand for 
back numbers to make up volumes must more 
than compensate for the extra expense of 
putting in the additional leaves. 

The policy of sending title-pages and con- 
tents only to those calling for them is suicidal, 
as it results in flooding the market with num- 
bers from which volumes cannot be made up, 
and by destroying the hope of making up sets 



SECOND SESSION. 



129 



weakens the demand which would otherwise 
exist for volumes and numbers of the periodical 
in question. 

If an alphabetical index, in addition to a table 
of contents, is furnished, which is the preferable 
practice, the former should be paged to go at 
the end of the volume. When such an index 
is furnished, and no tableof contents, the index 
should be printed to follow the title-page, in 
order that the title-page may be accompanied 
by other leaves to make a separate section, as 
suggested by the following paragraph. 

3. As to the form in which title-pages and 
contents should be issued : they should be 
printed on a t-wo,four, or eight leaved section, 
separate from other printed matter, either 
advertising or reading. Nothing is more 
important in binding volumes to stand the 
hard weai of our public libraries than that 
none of the earlier leaves in the volume 
shall be single leaves pasted in. One of the 
greatest abuses of the book trade at present 
is the disposition to have title and other pre- 
liminary leaves pasted in. Librarians find to 
their cost (what is not so obvious to the book 
manufacturer) that this does not work. An 
absolute requirement for good bookmaking is 
that the first and last portions of the book 
especially shall be good solid sections, no 
single leaves, nor do most librarians or owners 
of private libraries like to include advertise- 
ments, in order to secure these solid sections 
for binding. We feel sure that it is abundantly 
worth while for the publishers to squarely 
meet this demand. 

4. It is highly important that the section 
comprising title-page and contents (of index) 
should be secured by pasting or stitching to the 
number -which it accompanies and not to be 
sent laid in loose. This last practice leads to 
the loss of many of these sections, which are 
invaluable later. 

5. Admitting that there may be cases in 
which it is practically impossible to furnish 
title and contents with the completing number 
of a volume, -ive -would recommend for such 
cases that such a separate section as has been 
described be made and furnished -with the first 
number of the ne-w volume, stitched in at its 
end, not at its beginning. The last named 
practice is likely to cause more trouble to 
librarians than any other that is common, as 
it is difficult to remove the section without 
making the number unfit to place in the read- 
ing room. 

We would like to call the attention of period- 
ical publishers to the difficulties arising from 
the common practice of printing some first or 
last leaves of reading matter on the same sec- 
tion with some pages of advertising. Most 
librarians prefer to remove the advertising 
leaves before binding the magazines. The 
practice referred to makes it necessary to bind 
in some advertising leaves or else take off and 
paste in single leaves of reading matter, some- 
times three or four in one place, which is very 



inimical to good binding. Publishers are re- 
quested to have all advertising pages printed 
on separate sections if possible. 

Desiring to meet, so far as possible, the 
views of publishers in regard to the matters 
referred to above, the committee will be pleased 
to hear from any to whom this note may come. 

WILLIAM I. FLETCHER, 
ARTHUR E. BOSTWICK, 
ERNST LEMCKE. 



The circular was distributed to a number of 
the leading publishers of periodicals, but so far 
as I can now tell I believe the correspondence 
resulting is nil. We are sowing the seed, and 
I suppose we shall continue to distribute this 
circular where we observe examples of the 
errors which it is intended to correct. 

CHARLES H. GOULD presented the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN 
DOCUMENTS. 

The Committee on Foreign Documents begs 
to report, in the first place, that the " List of 
French Government serials " has been com- 
pleted and published. In this connection it is 
the pleasant duty of the committee to remind 
the Association of the thanks due to the New 
York State Library, which has done the print- 
ing, the " List " having appeared as one of 
the bulletins of this library. 

The committee has also to report that ma- 
terial has been accumulated for a list of German 
documents similar in plan to the French list 
just mentioned. 

What has already been got together would, 
perhaps, nearly equal in amount that of the 
French list. It comprises not merely German 
Imperial documents, but also those of Prussia, 
Saxony, Bavaria, Wiirtemburg, and other 
states. 

The committee is quite ready to endeavor to 
obtain additional material ; but before doing 
so, and before preparing for the printer what 
is now on hand, the committee thinks it would 
be well to ascertain if, in the opinion of the 
Association, such a list of German documents 
would be of sufficient value to justify an attempt 
to arrange for its publication. 

Respectfully submitted, 
C. H. GOULD, 

TTT I 

CLEMENT W. ANDREWS, } 
LUCIEN BRAINERD GILMORE, J 



... 
Committee. 



130 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



ROLAND P. FALKNER read the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC 
DOCUMENTS. 

(See p. 92.) 

W. C. LANE : Mr. Falkner's report is so full 
and interesting that I am tempted to ask for 
information in regard to two or three points. 
Is there any prospect at present for securing 
printed catalog cards for United States docu- 
ments? I have noticed that a few come from 
the Library of Congress, but not very many. 
Secondly, just what is the cause of the year or 
two years' or three years' delay in the distribu- 
tion of current documents? Is it because they 
are to be bound differently, or because they 
have to wait for other documents which are not 
yet printed to be bound with them, or is it 
simply lack of proper organization on the part 
of the Government Printing Office? 

MR. FALKNER: I will answer the second 
question first. I think the reason for the delay 
is that these documents must be bound sepa- 
rately, as at present, during the session of 
Congress. The demands on the Government 
Printing Office are very urgent and pressing, 
and if they get off one edition of a volume 
bound in cloth, they put the rest aside until 
summer, when Congress is not in session and 
there is no immediate hurry. In regard to the 
availability of printed cards for documents, I 
understand from Mr. Ferrell that he has been 
in conversation with Mr. Putnam on that sub- 
ject. Mr. Ferrell reported to me informally 
that he had come to the conclusion that, how- 
ever desirable for practical reasons, in view of 
the enormous cost that would be involved it 
would be an impracticable proposition, much 
as he would like to see it carried through. 

Miss ALICE FICHTENKAM : I would like to 
say, in behalf of Mr. Ferrell, that he would be 
willing to have such cards printed in the Gov- 
ernment Printing Office if Congress would be 
willing to appropriate the money. 

HERBERT PUTNAM : As to printed cards 
for public documents, I did have a preliminary 
word with Mr. Ferrell, but can merely say that 
no definite plan has been arrived at thus far. 

ARTHUR E. BOSTWICK read a paper on 

PAINS AND PENALTIES IN LIBRARY WORK. 

(See p. 29.) 

W. C. LANE : Mr. Bostwick's paper reminds 
me of what has taken place in the history of 



Harvard College. In the course of the eigh- 
teenth century, the earlier custom of corporal 
punishment gradually died out. Corporal 
punishment had previous to that frequently 
been administered in the library, in the pres- 
ence of the president and fellows, preceded 
and followed by prayer. As the custom de- 
clined, the severer forms of corporal punish- 
ment were put aside, but the right of boxing 
the ears of the offender was expressly reserved 
to the professor in charge of the library. But 
as this declined, the system of fines which 
Quincy, the historian of our college, calls " pe- 
cuniary mulcts " came into use, and gradu- 
ally a long list of offences, some thirty or forty 
in number, grew up, which were appraised at 
from "tuppence" up to several shillings 
apiece. Quincy seems to think, however, that 
this system had little effect on the students, 
but was very annoying to their parents. That 
particular aspect of the matter, however, does 
not bear on the question of libraries. As a 
matter of fact, the fines still continue in Har- 
vard College Library, but I think they have 
been discontinued in the other departments of 
the college. 

For my part, in regard to what Mr. Bostwick 
says on the general question of fines gradually 
changing from a penalty to a payment for a 
privilege, I see no very strong objection to 
that taking place, so long as it concerns merely 
such infractions of library rules as are not 
matters of right or wrong or of injury. I see 
no reason why the detention of a book over- 
time should not be regarded as a privilege and 
charged for accordingly at a sufficiently 
high price not to have it too long continued. 

F. M. CRUNDEN : The true theory of library 
fines for undue detention of books seems to me 
that of compensation for injury upon the other 
persons concerned. In the first place, the fine 
acts as a deterrent, and it accomplishes this 
result with rich people almost as well as with 
poor. I believe that the richest people who 
use our library have just as much objection to 
paying fines as the poorer people. If there 
were no fines, everybody except the few con- 
scientious people that are in every community 
would keep their books over time. The fine is 
a compensation to the other people who have 
been kept from using that book. The com- 
pensation that is given in the form of a fine 
enables the librarian to buy more books, which 



SECOND SESSION. 



is a sort of direct compensation to the other 
people. So much for the theory of a fine. It 
does not belong to any of those abstract princi- 
ples that Mr. Bostwick lays down. It is simply 
a kind of compensation. 

There were some other points that I have 
noted. One of them is the question of paying 
for duplicate books. I think that is perfectly 
justifiable. There is certainly no moral wrong 
about it, and there is a great deal less friction 
than if you buy a very limited number of copies 
of books and disappoint people constantly. 
The people are perfectly satisfied with this ar- 
rangement, and as the thing goes on I think 
we shall find that they will be more and more 
satisfied with this arrangement of using the 
fines to pay for the extra books. They would 
rather pay for them in this way than wait in- 
definitely for the comparatively few copies of 
new books that the library would be justified 
in purchasing otherwise. 

C. A. CUTTER: One suggestion Mr. Bost- 
wick made I find very effective, namely, increas- 
ing the fine when I want to produce a special 
effect. For ordinary detention of a book be- 
yond time, we use the ordinary fine, two 
cents a day, which, by the way, I do regard, 
as Mr. Crunden does, as damages, as compen- 
sation. In case a person keeps out overtime a 
book, after he has been notified that somebody 
else has asked for it, and has been told that he 
must return it within two days, the fine is 
made ten cents a day, and we exact it. Simi- 
larly, when the college girls go home for their 
vacation, if they do not return the books which 
they have had out on the last day, the fine is 
ten cents a day, and this rule is very effective 
in getting the books back, although, in the 
case of the senior class, we have no means of 
enforcing it. 

Dr. BERNARD C. STEINER : It seems to me 
that Mr. Crunden has put the matter in the 
right way. I should regard the fine as repara- 
tion for a civil tort. There is a civil injury 
done ; there is a damage committed, but not to 
the patron of the library, otherwise the fine 
should be paid to such patron. The damage is 
done to the library by making the library less 
able to fulfil its purposes because of the deten- 
tion of that book on the part of the borrower 
who detained it. That being a civil injury, 
there is no difficulty with reference to the rule 
of punishment. I regard it not as a punish- 



ment, as in the case of a criminal measure. It 
is a civil damage, a civil tort. 

Another thing I wish to emphasize, is the 
necessity of making the persons receiving fines 
accountable. It seems to me, without having 
a cash register or going into all that minutiae, 
it is perfectly possible to have a system of ac- 
counting, so that if at any time it is desirable, 
the clerk who has received the fines may be 
held rigidly up to his account. In our library 
we have a daily return at night by the clerk at 
the fine counter, and while we do not verify 
that return every night, it is possible for us to 
go down in the morning and take the returns 
of two nights, before the library is opened, so 
that we can reach the amount of money received 
the day before. That is done from time to time, 
not daily of course, for it is not worth while to 
do that; but whenever it is desirable it can be 
done, and the clerks in charge of the fine 
drawer, not knowing when it will be done, are 
in no danger of being careless because in 
most cases dishonesty comes in the first place 
from carelessness. If we are to carry on busi- 
ness by business methods, as we ought, there 
must be an accountability at the fine counter 
just as there is at the librarian's office. 

Dr. J. K. HOSMER : I sometimes have ex- 
periences which make me think we have been 
rather too quick in giving up the old Harvard 
College plan, to which Mr. Lane alluded. Our 
library is largely used by the pupils of the 
public schools. It happened not long ago 
a sample of what frequently happens that 
a boy of seventeen took out a translation and 
tore out some sixty or eighty pages from it to 
use as a " pony." He was detected in it. There 
is a severe penalty attached to such an offence, 
but our board was much disposed to be lenient 
towards him. They said they could not blast 
the prospects of the young man. So what was 
done? His poor father paid a dollar and a half 
for a new book, and his library card was taken 
away from him for a year. But he was not 
hurt at all. He did not pay the fine it was 
paid by his father; and his father and mother 
and sisters all had library cards. So he suf- 
fered no penalty of any kind. My feeling at 
that time was regret that the boy could not 
have been called up in the old-fashioned way 
and received a good ferruling. 

HARLAN H. BALLARD : I think, with regard 
to our library rules, that there is danger of 



132 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



being too strict. The libraries are for the 
benefit of the public. One thing is certain 
if in any community the fine list grows to an 
excessive degree, that is a proof that in that 
community there is a popular demand for a 
longer retention of the books, which ought to 
be granted. The object of a library is not to 
increase its circulation so much a year, but it 
is to give the books to the people for as long 
as they want them. I wish every library could 
at times take off all restrictions. That would 
be an ideal way, to let every person take as 
many books as he liked and keep them as long 
as he wished. We do that in our library, 
practically, so far as it does not interfere with 
others. That must be the one restriction. We 
often say to people when they ask us how 
many books they can take out for some special 
purpose : " Take as many as you like, and keep 
them as long as you want. If we have any 
need of them, we will send for them." That 
arrangement proves very popular, and I be- 
lieve it is a just method. What is the reason 
that a man should be cut off from the use of a 
book in exactly fourteen days ? It may be he 
is prevented from using it just at the time he 
expected to. He may have wanted to prepare 
an important speech or discussion, and the 
very day he wants to use it he has to carry it 
back. Consequently, I think the time limit 
ought to be extended as far as possible. 

Mr. FLETCHER: Mr. Cutter did not say all 
he might have said or all that I think ought to 
be said in favor of his own system. Our library 
has taken a leaf from his book, and we issue a 
large proportion of books on the principle that 
the person borrowing them keeps them as long 
as he wants to, subject to recall when anybody 
else wants them, but on such recall there is 
a fine of five cents a day if not returned. I 
think it might well be ten cents a day, on Mr. 
Cutter's principle. It works well. I want to 
say a word on behalf of a large section of the 
community which is well represented in western 
Massachusetts, where we have been making 
careful inquiries into the conditions affecting 
library work in rural districts. A great many 
people go to the library and take out a book and 
have to pay a fine on that book for detaining 
it. They come and take one more book and 
perhaps they have to pay a fine on that, and 
then the_v get tired and won't take out any 
more books. People do not realize how quickly 



two weeks pass, and borrowers, especially in 
the rural districts, are not in the habit of pay- 
ing close attention to regulations of this sort 
and soon find themselves bothered with fines 
and give up using the library. This is a serious 
detriment to the usefulness of the library. Of 
course, under certain limitations, as in the case 
of libraries where ten thousand books have to 
circulate fifty thousand times in six months, 
there must be restrictions; but where you have 
a comparatively large library and a compara- 
tively small circulation, as in most of our 
country districts, I think the time is coming 
when there will be no time limit, because when 
a book is wanted it will be called back. 

A DELEGATE: Do you think that in country 
districts there is a large supply and a small 
demand ? 

Mr. FLETCHER: Yes, in proportion to the 
demand, the supply is large. I have come to 
that conclusion from visiting one or two small 
towns where I had supposed that the small cir- 
culation was on account of having so few 
books; but I found their shelves crowded with 
books and very few volumes taken out. 

Mr. CRUNDEN : It has been said that libra- 
ries were for the convenience of the public. 
Yes, they are; but they are for the convenience 
of the whole public, not of a few aggressive, 
unconscientious people who will take advan- 
tage of any opportunities for cheating their 
fellow-members by depriving them of equal 
privileges. It would be impossible, or at least 
it would be impracticable, in a large public 
library with fifty thousand card-holders, for 
the assistants to remember that certain books 
are out and notify the persons who have them. 
The only feasible plan is to establish certain 
regulations and to live up to them, and the 
better you live up to them the less trouble there 
will be. When I took charge of the St. 
Louis Public Library I had probably, on an 
average, half a dozen people a day come to me 
and offer excuses to get their fines remitted. I 
never have anybody come to me now. Every- 
body knows that a fine has got to be paid and 
paid on the spot. There is no friction about it. 
Of course, people do not like it exactly, I 
know ; but they know it is their own fault. 
That is the general principle that should be 
laid down in all library regulations, that the 
careless people must pay for their own careless- 
ness and not divide up the penalty of their own 



THIRD SESSION. 



133 



carelessness among all the other people. If 
they lose books they must pay for them ; if 
they keep them overtime they must pay for 
the privilege. I have found a few people who 
were not annoyed at being fined for keeping 
books out overtime. They have said, " Yes, I 
knew it. I am perfectly willing to pay the 
fine." But they are the exceptions. Most 
people prefer to escape fines by returning the 
book. The same principle goes into the ques- 
tion of making people pay for an extra card. 
If they lose their card in our library, they have 
to pay ten cents and then wait a week, and it 
is perfectly proper that they should do so. We 
find a double penalty necessary and thoroughly 
effective. In the case of most of the men they 
will pay the dime in a minute without much 
ado, but they hate to wait a week. In the case 
of women and children, they do not mind 
waiting a week so much as they do paying the 
dime. If a man could pay the dime and get 
another card some men would lose their cards 
once a month, that is, they would leave them 
at home and go down to business and then 
come and get a book and pay ten cents for an- 
other card. In that way there might be ten or 
a dozen cards out in the name of the same 
person. But when a man finds that he has to 
wait a week before he can get another card, if 
he finds when he gets down to the office that 
he has left his card at home, he will go home 
and get it. Its saves the trouble of having so 
many cards out and makes careless people pay 
the expense of their carelessness, so that the 
stationery and clerk hire that is used in making 
out those new cards does not cost the library a 
cent. 

JOHN THOMSON: It seems to me that one 
point has not been mentioned. Of course I 
think you must absolutely have a time limit. 
Fourteen days is just as good as twenty-one or 
twenty-eight days. To let people take out 
books and keep them indefinitely is an injustice 
to the others who go to the library. But there 
is a way of minimizing the fine, and that is by 
renewing the time that a book may be with- 
drawn. In most libraries, I presume, cer- 
tainly in our own, the renewal applications 
are very large in number, and persons who 
want to use a book more than fourteen days 
can do so without paying a fine by sending in 
a renewal request for two more weeks. That 



application is granted without hesitation, pro- 
vided the book is not wanted by some other 
reader. In that way those who want the books 
and are entitled to have them returned are 
protected from their being held out too long, 
while those who want to use the books can 
keep them without paying a fine by sending in 
a renewal application. 

A DELEGATE : Would you give a renewal 
beyond four weeks ? 

Mr. THOMSON : If it is desirable and does 
not interfere with anybody else. We do not 
give renewal cards in the department of fiction ; 
but on all other books we allow this privilege 
on a proper explanation and reason being 
given. 

SILAS H. BERRY : There is another side to 
the question in the case of libraries that are 
institutional libraries, that deal with a mem- 
bership that pay a fee. In our own case, that 
of the Young Men's Christian Association in 
New York, we found that our members ob- 
jected to the idea of being punished as if they 
were naughty boys, by being compelled to pay 
a small fine. Therefore, in the drafting of our 
new regulations we have said nothing about 
fines; instead we have a charge, just as we 
have at our boathouse. Members are per- 
mitted to use a boat for an hour or two hours 
every day, and if they want to keep that boat 
out an extra length of time, they can pay 
twenty-five cents an hour and keep it out as 
many hours as they want. So they can draw 
books at the library, two at a time, and renew 
them by telephone, by postal card, or in any 
other way; but if another member wants to 
use a book and the member who has it does 
not find it convenient to return it, we prefer to 
think that he wants to use it and we charge 
him two cents a day for such use; and we 
devote the income to the purchase of popular 
books. 

Adjourned at 12.10 p.m. 

THIRD SESSION. 

(NEW MAGNOLIA HOTEL, TUESDAY EVENING, 
JUNE 17.) 

The meeting was called to order by President 
BILLINGS at 8.30. 

HILLER C. WELLMAN, president of the Mas- 
sachusetts Library Club, spoke in 



134 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



GREETING, ON BEHALF OF THE MASSACHUSETTS 
LIBRARY CLUB. 

Mr. President and Fello-w-Members of the 
American Library Association : 

For the first time in its history this Associa- 
tion has chosen its place of meeting, not at the 
instance of an individual, or of a library, or of 
a city, but in response to the invitation of a 
library club representing a whole state, in fact, 
representing two states. Because of this cir- 
cumstance it is my pleasant privilege, in behalf 
of the Massachusetts Library Club, to give you 
greeting. In the past an address of welcome 
has customarily been made by some speaker 
outside of the Association who has devoted his 
energies to extolling the noble average of 
brains and beauty presented by this brilliant 
body. I confess to a strong personal convic- 
tion on this subject, but I feel that it would 
hardly become a member to enlarge upon it. 

In fact, though our feelings of welcome are 
warm, my words must be few, for I am unwill- 
ing to detain you from the program which is 
to follow. I wish simply to express the great 
and sincere pleasure which it gives to us of 
Massachusetts to welcome you to the state. 

The pride of Bostonians in their native city 
has become proverbial ; you have doubtless 
heard countless witticisms on this subject per- 
petrated at our expense. Imagine for your- 
selves, then, the delight we feel in initiating 
our best friends from every corner of the land 
into this paradise. And if you find that in any 
respect it falls below our heavenly ideal, be 
magnanimous, I beg you, conceal the fact as 
best you may and spare our images ! 

Parkman, writing of a period a century and a 
half ago, in referring to our cold and disagree- 
able temperament, says : " Then, as now, New 
England was best known to her neighbors by 
her worst side." May there be a ray of com- 
fort for you, therefore, in the hope that on 
closer acquaintance you may find us not quite 
so bad as we seem. 

This year the Public Library movement in 
America celebrates, in common with the nobly 
representative institution in Boston, its fiftieth 
birthday. From this conference we look back 
on half a century of effort and achievement; 
and nearly half this period has elapsed since 
the last meeting of the American Library As- 
sociation in New England. At that conference 
held in Boston, twenty-three years ago, not 



one person in twenty attending this meeting 
was present, and the whole membership num- 
bered less than two hundred. Two topics on 
the program, it was announced, would receive 
especial attention, and a discussion was prom- 
ised both able and brilliant. These problems, 
it was understood, would be then and there 
settled for all time. The problems to be dis- 
posed of thus summarily were, first, the gen- 
eral subject of fiction in libraries and, second, 
the matter of children's reading. Owing to an 
unexpected vitality these problems are still 
with us to-day. Not all committees have been 
so frank as that appointed then to consider the 
exchange of duplicate books among libra- 
ries. Mr. John Edmands, in behalf of the 
committee, "begged leave to report their fail- 
ure to accomplish anything." Those who 
since attacked the same problem have hardly 
fared better. 

Yet it is encouraging, it is surprising, to re- 
view the progress which has been made during 
those twenty-three years. The final edition of 
Poole's "Index to periodical literature" had 
not then appeared; the " List of subject-head- 
ings," the bibliographies, and the other co-op- 
erative publications of this Association had 
not been issued. 

Systems of classifications and details of 
library organization have during this period 
been elaborated and applied. Not only have 
public libraries multiplied all over the land, 
but the efficiency of librarians in reaching and 
influencing their communities has increased 
enormously. The scheme of co-operative cat- 
aloguing has at last, through the agency of the 
Librarian of Congress, reached a triumphant 
consummation. The age limit on drawing 
books in those days commonly excluded chil- 
dren. Not only has this restriction now for a 
long time been modified, but we have at last 
taken one of the most important steps of all in 
beginning systematic instruction of the com- 
munity through its younger members in 
scientific methods of using a library. In short, 
no feature of our American civilization during 
the last quarter century has been more signifi- 
cant than the wonderful growth of public 
libraries. 

One thing remains unchanged. The library 
s/zV/V was the same then that it is to-day; and 
this fact is in large measure due to the influence 
of the American Library Association. There 



FOURTH SESSION-. 



135 



is excuse, therefore, for our affection toward 
this organization. 

In recent years the Association has met 
in various parts of the country. It has en- 
joyed a generous and hearty welcome in the 
North, at Montreal; it has found an enthusi- 
astic reception in the West, at Waukesha; it 
has delighted in the luxuriant hospitality of 
the South, at Atlanta. But nowhere, I assure 
you, and I speak for Boston, I speak for Mas- 
sachusetts, in no section of this land is there 
in the hearts of librarians and people toward 
you and this Association a truer loyalty, a 
juster pride, or a more whole-hearted pleasure 
in your presence than here in the old Bay State. 
We bid you cordially welcome. 

Dr. BILLINGS then delivered the 

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 

{See p. i.) 

Dr. C. W. ELIOT, President of Harvard 
University, followed with an address on 

THE DIVISION OF A LIBRARY INTO BOOKS IN 
USE AND BOOKS NOT IN USE, WITH DIF- 
FERENT STORAGE METHODS FOR THE TWO 
CLASSES OF BOOKS. 

(See p. 52.) 
Adjourned, 10.15 p.m. 

FOURTH SESSION. 

(OCEANSIDE HOTEL CASINO, THURSDAY 
MORNING, JUNE 19.) 

The meeting was called to order by Presi- 
dent BILLINGS at 10 o'clock. 

After announcements by the secretary and 
treasurer, GEORGE WATSON COLE read the 

REPORT ON GIFTS AND BEQUESTS. 

(See p. 97.) 

W. I. FLETCHER: I think we shall all be 
greatly interested in the summary on the last 
page of "Gifts and bequests to libraries." 
There is one item that may escape the atten- 
tion of some, which reminds me of the old 
story current in our part of the country, that 
the farmers used to say that they would have 
their boys go to college if it took " the last 
cow in the barn." We note under Nebraska 
record of the gift of a cow perhaps it was 
the last cow in the barn for a public library 
in the community. 



Dr. STEINER : I would make the suggestion 
that it would be well to distinguish between 
Mr. Carnegie's gifts which are accepted and 
Mr. Carnegie's offers. While, of course, the 
Carnegie offers are just as creditable to Mr. 
Carnegie's generosity, they do not show what 
the country has actually received. For in- 
stance, under the heading of Maryland, there 
are reported two of Mr. Carnegie's offers, one 
of which was refused and the other of which 
has not been yet voted on, according to the 
best of my information at the present moment. 
So, instead of there being recorded two gifts 
of Mr. Carnegie to Maryland, there has been 
as yet no actual gift to the state. There have 
been two offers, one of which has been re- 
fused. 

ARTHUR E. BOSTWICK read the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON LIBRARY TRAINING. 

At the close of the report of the Committee 
on Library Schools at the Montreal conference 
of 1900 various recommendations were made 
regarding the permanent status of this com- 
mittee, providing that its work be laid out for 
it each year by the Association, that it should 
report on certain definite things, that it should 
visit existing library schools regularly, and 
that its expenses should be paid by the Asso- 
ciation. It still seems desirable that this plan 
should be adopted, but as it has not been 
adopted, this committee is somewhat free to 
follow out its own line in preparing a report. 
The absence of a provision for paying the ex- 
penses of the members of the committee in 
visiting the various schools makes it practi- 
cally certain that the report in this direction 
will be at best partial and unsatisfactory, and 
in the present instance circumstances affecting 
the individual members of the committee have 
made it unusually so. Only one member of 
the committee besides the chairman has been 
able to make such visits, and they have visited 
but two schools between them. Such features 
of these, however, as appear to be new, inter- 
esting, or striking in any way will be very 
briefly described. 

The absence of any specific directions on the 
part of the Association, however, seems to 
make this an appropriate time to discuss such 
of the broader features of library training as it 
may appear desirable to touch upon. The way 
in which these features strike the individual 



136 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



vary much with the personal and local stand- 
point and it has been thought best, instead of 
trying to generalize points of view so that this 
discussion may be incorporated in the commit- 
tee's report, to make the report brief and sup- 
plement it with short papers from such of the 
members of the committee as may wish to 
present them. 

The library schools on which we are ready 
to report are as follows : 

The Albany school has been visited by the 
chairman and by Mr. Green. Some features 
of special interest here are : 

(i.) The inclusion in the course of instruc- 
tion in business methods and office procedure, 
with a view to increasing its practical value. 
A modern library is a business institution and 
in most cases the librarian is its business head ; 
yet too often he has had no experience in busi- 
ness methods and is apt to be impatient of 
what he regards as their red tape. This plan, 
therefore, is to be commended. 

(2.) A course in methods of book-selection. 
This includes the preparation of what are 
known as librarian's book-notes, giving such 
facts regarding a book and its author as will be 
of real help to a librarian in deciding whether 
he wants that particular book in his library. 
The course is most admirable as indicating to 
the student the lines along which his own prac- 
tical evaluation of literature may most profit- 
ably proceed. 

(3.) The inclusion in the course of novelties 
like the Belgian modification of the Decimal 
Classification, which even if not likely to be of 
practical use in the small library, broadens the 
librarian's horizon and prevents his profes- 
sional knowledge from becoming hide-bound. 

In the report of his visit, Mr. Green com- 
mends the thoroughness and high grade of the 
instruction and the capabilities, spirit, knowl- 
edge, and aptitude of the staff. He says: "The 
students appeared alert and interested; to be 
working hard and with good results," and he 
adds: " I wish that a few months' apprentice- 
ship in a good library could be added to the 
equipment of every member of a library 
school." 

The Pratt Institute School has been visited 
by the chairman. Recent features in the in- 
struction that seem to deserve special mention 
are : 

(i.) The construction of what Miss Plummer 



calls "ladders," or graded lists of fiction " lead- 
ing consistently from the reading of a third or 
fourth rate novelist to one of the first rank." 
This is not only of the highest value as an ex- 
ercise and as leading to a broader knowledge 
of fiction, but its results are destined to be of 
considerable use to the working librarian. 

(2.) The construction by the students of a 
coronation picture-bulletin, which is really a 
collection or cycle of bulletins bearing on Eng- 
lish history, from the earliest times to the pres- 
ent day. Although the ordinary library would 
scarcely undertake anything so elaborate, this 
is the last word in picture bulletins, and is a 
monument of careful and painstaking work. 

(3.) The sending out of a circular to gradu- 
ates, asking for criticisms of the course. The 
answers are considered in detail in a report 
read to the Graduates' Association in January 
last, and it would seem that they have been 
taken seriously into account. The course has 
been modified in several respects on account of 
them, and where the criticisms seemed not to 
be well founded they are analyzed and discussed. 
This plan is highly to be commended as mak- 
ing for better instruction in the school, and for 
good feeling toward it on the part of the gradu- 
ates, most of whom are now working libra- 
rians. 

It is much to be regretted that the members 
of the committee did not have opportunity to 
make other visits. A report of course might 
have been made up from data obtained from 
correspondence; but it has been thought best 
to include only observations made during per- 
sonal visits. 

In closing, your committee would strongly 
recommend that the Committee on Library 
Training be set a definite task by the Associa- 
tion for the ensuing year, and granted an ap- 
propriation for carrying out that task. 

Respectfully submitted, 
ARTHUR E. BOSTWICK, Chairman. 

President BILLINGS : This report, I under- 
stand, is to be followed by brief statements from 
two members of the committee Mr. Bost- 
wick, the chairman, and Mr. Brett. I will now 
call on Mr. Bostwick. 

A. E. BOSTWICK : What I have to add to the 
report of the conmiittee is prompted by the 
fact, which seems in the highest degree unfor- 
tunate, that the large public library (I speak 



FOURTH SESSION. 



137 



especially from my own experience) is not able 
to make the use of the library school graduate 
that it would like to do. The fact that it can- 
not, and the fact that some of us think this fact 
worthy of discussion, may seem to reflect in 
some way on the library schools. Nothing can 
be further from the case, and it is to put the 
case clearly, as it appears to some of us, that 
this brief statement is written. We are con- 
fronted, like Mr. Cleveland, with " a condition, 
not a theory," and the condition is this: the 
library school graduate demands a larger salary 
than the public library can pay in its lower 
grades, and it is rarely able to offer him posi- 
tions in its higher grades. At present this is 
a misfortune for the library, not for the gradu- 
ate, for the latter has usually no trouble in plac- 
ing himself in the higher grades of some newly 
established smaller institution. At present 
there is no dearth of such institutions. But 
this state of affairs will not continue indefi- 
nitely, and library extension will some day 
reach a condition of stable equilibrium. It is 
of the status of the library school graduate at 
this time that I wish to speak, for it is not far 
distant, and some of its conditions may even 
now be present. It strikes me that we can get 
a clearer view of the situation by looking at the 
library profession, not by itself, but in connec- 
tion with other professions and occupations, 
and in trying to formulate certain statements 
that will hold good for all. Any such state- 
ment will necessarily be only approximate, and 
will be open to objection, but I believe that 
there are a few that contain broad elements of 
truth. 

All workers who are laboring directly or in- 
directly for the public must receive some kind 
of preparation for that work. This holds good 
for those who are practising the so-called 
learned professions, for teachers, for soldiers 
and sailors, and for those engaged in all the 
various phases of the production and distribu- 
tion of articles in demand by the public. We 
can hardly expect that library work will be 
governed by different laws from those that gov- 
ern the general class of occupations to which it 
belongs, or that training for it will follow other 
lines of development than those followed by 
similar kinds of technical education. 

Training for library work is now accom- 
plished by three agencies the library schools, 
the apprentice classes, and the summer schools. 



The library schools are trying to do for libra- 
rianship what the law school does for the legal 
profession, West Point for the army, the nor- 
mal school for the teacher, or the theological 
school for the ministry. That they do not 
yet fill exactly the same place as these institu- 
tions is evident from the fact that the other 
two agencies exist side by side with them. 
While the library-school training aims to be 
general, that of the class is commonly directed 
toward preparation for the special work of the 
particular library in which the class is held, 
while the summer school offers particular facil- 
ities for those who can give only vacation time 
to their work of preparation, and more espe- 
cially to working library assistants who desire 
to perfect themselves in the technique of their 
profession. 

That there is at present a place for all three, 
their continued prosperity sufficiently indi- 
cates. Yet that a work which is done in simi- 
lar cases by one set of institutions should here 
require treble the number seems at least to 
offer a field for investigation. 

Librarianship, as has been said, is simply 
one among a great number of professions or 
occupations that require both special training 
and general education. In the course of the 
latter certain features may be introduced that 
bear directly on the technical part of the train- 
ing. This technical part may be acquired en- 
tirely by actual practice or partly by such 
substitutes for it as may be available in con- 
nection with the more theoretical part of the 
training. Thus the education of a person who 
expects to take up such an occupation may 
either be divided sharply into two parts the 
general education and the actual practice of the 
occupation or we may throw these more or 
less together by combining some general feat- 
ures with the theoretical part of the training, 
and supplementing it with a certain amount of 
practical work. The first is instruction by 
apprenticeship; the latter, instruction by a 
technical or professional school. The point 
that needs to be emphasized here is that the 
school instruction, though we speak of it as 
having largely supplanted apprenticeship, still 
needs to be supplemented by practical work 
before the person who takes up the occupation 
can be regarded as thoroughly trained in it. 
This is fully recognized in the learned profes- 
sions. In law, the graduate of a law school is 



138 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



glad to spend several years in an office at a 
nominal salary, or at no salary at all, in acquir- 
ing that experience without which his profes- 
sional services would lack value. The gradu- 
ate of a medical school is eager to obtain a 
hospital appointment where he spends his 
time in accumulating valuable experience at a 
small salary or without salary. The normal 
school graduate often begins his work as a sub- 
stitute or waits for a year or more before secur- 
ing a position. The newly ordained clergyman 
often goes into mission work or accepts the 
position of assistant at a nominal salary for the 
same reason ; in almost every case he begins 
at least with a small pastorate. The graduate 
of West Point or Annapolis enters the service 
in the lowest grade for small compensation. 
The lawyer or the physician does not expect to 
jump into a lucrative practice at once ; the 
clergyman does not complain because he can- 
not at once command a large church with a 
corresponding large salary ; the normal school 
graduate does not ask to step into a principal- 
ship ; the embryo soldier and sailor do not 
expect to be promoted at once to colonelcies 
and captaincies. This state of things is now 
pretty well understood and accepted. Yet it 
was not always so, and the tradition of the 
time when it was otherwise has not passed. 
The college graduate, in the estimation of the 
newspaper paragraph writer, is still a youth 
who regards his education as finished and the 
honors and emoluments of any career he may 
choose as ripened plums ready to drop into his 
lap. That there is still some justification for 
these squibs is undeniable, for there was still 
an earlier time when he was in a measure jus- 
tified in doing so. When there was a greater 
demand for college-trained men than could be 
supplied from the few institutions then in exist- 
ence a college graduate was not so far out of the 
way when he regarded the world as at his feet. 
Then came a period of increase in the supply 
and of brisker competition; the conditions 
were altered, but the newly-fledged graduate 
continued to act as if they were still the same. 
Finally he accepted the situation and his self- 
confidence is now but a fading tradition. 

As school-training for library work is of re- 
cent date, so we cannot be surprised to find that 
it has not reached the position of stable equi- 
librium just indicated. The library-school 
graduate is still either in the first or the second 



of the stages described above in which of 
them statistics alone can decide. Probably he is 
still in the first or just passing into the second; 
in other words, his expectation of being able to 
earn his living by library work immediately 
after graduation without further experiential 
training is still justified or has been so until 
quite recently. That he has not passed into 
the third stage, where he realizes that such 
further training is demanded and accepts the 
situation, is quite evident. How many library 
school graduates are willing to serve in a pub- 
lic library without salary for six months in 
order to learn the special methods of that 
library and give proof of their own personal 
capability for the work? How many are even 
willing to accept positions in the lowest grade 
with salaries of $35 to $40 a month ? The 
usual reply to such a proposition, " I cannot 
live on $35 a month," clearly indicates that 
they believe that the school training should 
render them self-supporting immediately on 
graduation. 

Nothing herein contained must be construed 
as approval of any particular minimum salary. 
The point is that library school training has 
not yet reached the stage, from the economic 
standpoint of supply and demand, where train- 
ing for the learned professions rested some 
time ago. 

Is this mental attitude of the graduate justi- 
fied or not? In other words, is he in the first 
or the second stage? If he is still in the first, 
that is, if he really is able to secure self-support 
within a reasonable time after graduation, he 
must thank the great recent extension of library 
work due to stimulation of public interest and 
to large benefactions. That he cannot rely on 
the large public libraries is evident from the 
fact that these are coming more and more to 
fill the higher positions by promotion. A 
vacancy at the top means a general moving up 
all along the line, and the final result is that 
the opening for the ambitious graduate is near 
the bottom. If he wants a higher place he 
must look to the newly created institutions. 
At present the supply of these keeps up 
bravely. The situation is as it used to be with 
law and medicine, when the graduate could 
always " go out West " and find a newly 
founded town ready for his services. The 
West has now been well supplied with lawyers 
and clergymen for some time ; it will also be- 



FOURTH SESSION. 



139 



come supplied with librarians. When the 
profession is filled with a solid mass moving 
slowly upward it will be as hard to get in at 
any place except the bottom as it now is in the 
learned professions harder, for with them 
there is no formal promotion from grade to 
grade. 

Then the library-school graduate will pass 
into the third stage. He will accept the situa- 
tion just as the law-school and medical-school 
graduates have done. He will reckon before- 
hand not only on so many years in the library 
school, but on so many additional years during 
which it will be necessary to give all or a part 
of his services in return for the acquisition of 
experience. That the learned professions have 
benefited by the natural selection forced upon 
them by crowding is undeniable. That the 
library profession will similarly benefit seems 
certain. When the second stage comes, how- 
ever (perhaps, as has been said, it is already 
here), when the confidence of the graduate in 
immediate self-support is no longer justified, 
we should do all in our power to make this 
stage as short as possible, and to hasten the 
period when the situation will be calmly ac- 
cepted. When this has arrived those public 
libraries that now maintain apprentice classes 
may substitute therefor probationary classes 
without formal training and requiring a library- 
school certificate for admission. Members of 
these classes will be paid a small salary or pos- 
sibly no salary at all during the probationary 
period. All the assistants in the ordinary 
library will be graduates and the raison cT&tre 
of the summer school will have vanished. 
Thus two of the present methods of library 
training will have given place to the third, a 
consummation devoutly to be wished. 

[At this point the president withdrew, and 
the first vice-president, Dr. J. K. Hosmer, took 
the chair.] 

Dr. HOSMER: I recall a reminiscence that I 
have heard of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes 
some twenty-five years ago. As vice-president 
of the Harvard Alumni Association, he was 
constantly called upon by the president to 
preside. He began his duties in this way: 

" I ought to thank the president, 
He has kindly broken the ice. 
Virtue should always be the first, 
I am nothing but the vice." 



I have but one clear idea as to the duties which 
I am to perform this morning, and that is to 
threaten well the people who are in the back 
part of the room. That, I notice, is one of the 
principal functions of the presiding officer. I 
wish to remark that if the people in the back 
part of the room manifest any derelictions they 
will find that the " vice " is a monster of most 
frightful mien. We are now, I believe, to hear 
from Mr. Brett. 

W. H. BRETT : When I accepted the 
honor of a position on the committee on 
library training, it was with the resolution that 
I would, during the year, visit each one of the 
library schools, but the pressure of unforeseen 
business engagements has prevented me from 
carrying this out. I have visited only one of 
the schools and that was due to the fortunate 
chance that business took me within reach of 
Pratt Institute. I am, therefore, unable to 
speak from personal observation of the work, 
and have been unable to prepare anything 
which I feel would be a valuable contribution 
in the subject. 

W. C. LANE : Mr. Bostwick's paper was an 
exceedingly interesting one, but I think there 
was one point that he left out, which, to make 
the interest complete, should be added, namely, 
the fact that the successful lawyer or doctor, 
after he has served his apprenticeship, gets a 
very much larger income than the librarian. 
That point, it seems to me, has a decided bear- 
ing on the fact that we can expect a doctor and 
a lawyer to serve a good many years after his 
school training at a salary which barely sup- 
ports him. I wonder if Mr. Bostwick thinks, 
or the company in general believe, that, as the 
condition to which he refers is attained, the 
rewards of the higher places in library work 
will be at all equivalent to those of the doctor 
and the lawyer? 

MissAHERN: I was very much interested in 
Mr. Bostwick's paper, but I am afraid we have 
come to a point where there is a little diver- 
gence. It seems to me that the line of com- 
parison he made was too comprehensive. In 
the so-called learned professions, the lawyer and 
the doctor and the others of whom he spoke 
are not under a stated salary. Jn our own 
work the only legitimate comparison seems to 
me to be along the line of educational work. 
The salary of the school teacher who has re- 



140 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



ceived a certificate from an accredited normal 
school is far beyond now, and always has been 
beyond, that which is offered to the graduate 
of the library school. While there is room for 
question as to the administrative ability, the 
power of personal direction, of the person in 
charge of a library or in the different positions 
in the lower grades, at the same time, the pres- 
sure, it seems to me, ought to come on the 
library schools rather than on the graduates of 
the library schools if we are going to compare 
with the normal school graduates, which to my 
mind is the only legitimate comparison. The 
pressure should be on the line of what the 
graduates of the library school really need. 
In most of the normal schools with which I am 
acquainted a certificate is not given to a 
graduate when the course of study prescribed 
by the school is finished. The graduate is ex- 
pected to go into the field and show forth his 
fitness for the work which he or she has chosen 
before the certificate of the school is given. 
If the library schools were to adopt some plan 
of that kind so that there should be one or two 
years' actual experience in a library of standard 
grade before the certificate is given by the 
school, it seems to me that there would be very 
little question of what the salary should be. 
That would rest entirely between the library 
and the student. But for a graduate one who 
has received a certificate and has gone through 
the professional period to go to a public 
library at a nominal salary, or no salary at all, 
seems to me most unfair to all concerned. 

F. M. CRUNDEN : Since the matter of salaries 
has been raised I would simply say, for the en- 
couragement of all, particularly the younger 
people, that during my time the salaries have 
been about doubled. I remember when I first 
went into the business that the salaries of the 
two men who then might be considered at the 
head of their profession were respectively three 
and four thousand dollars. Now, younger men 
in the profession are getting from five to six 
thousand dollars, and salaries among assistants 
have, I suppose, shown a somewhat similar in- 
crease. We can never expect, in work of this 
kind, which must be in its basis more or less 
altruistic and regardless of pecuniary compen- 
sation, the same pecuniary compensations 
that are to be obtained in other professions 
where money is the main pursuit, and where 
there are unlimited opportunities for making 



it. We must accept that fact. But there is no 
question about it, the trend of salaries is con- 
stantly upward and will continue to be so. 

WILLIAM BEER : We have looked at this mat- 
ter from the point of view of the library school 
graduate, but in the city of New Orleans there 
is a civil service law which, to begin with, pro- 
hibits the employment of any one not a resident 
in the city for twelve months. We wanted the 
services of a student who had had some years' 
experience in the library schools, but she had 
only lived for six months in New Orleans, and 
so was prevented from entering the examina- 
tion and could not get on the list of eligibles. 
The largest employers of persons for library 
work to-day are the municipalities, and I think 
this Association ought to take some steps to look 
into the conditions under which municipalities 
are making it harder and harder every day for 
the obtaining of skilled assistants from the 
outside. 

MELVIL DEWEY presented the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON A. L. A. 
EXHIBIT AT LOUISIANA PURCHASE EX- 
POSITION. 

MELVIL DEWEY: The committee seems to 
be generally agreed on two main features of 
the exhibit planned for the St. Louis expo- 
sition : First, a model library, which it is hoped 
will be built in the exposition park and used 
after the exposition as a branch library for the 
city ; and second, a representation in that build- 
ing, in its equipment and selection of books, of 
the best library thought of to-day. The com- 
mittee feel that in this building there should be 
absolutely nothing commercial; that library ap- 
pliances stacks and pamphlet cases and the 
other devices that may be shown should not 
be shown in the library building; but that in the 
library building itself there should be two special 
exhibits, one from the Library of Congress of the 
maps and materials connected with the Louisi- 
ana purchase, and the other a smaller collec- 
tion of books of special interest to visitors to 
the exposition. The library should represent 
not only a model town library for a town 
or a small city, but also a branch library. 
This would provide a place where one could go 
and read or write letters, and be a kind of 
library headquarters. We consider it desirable 
to devote this building entirely to the educa- 
tional side of our work, and to limit the exhibits 



FOURTH SESSION. 



141 



brought there to charts, photographs, graphic 
illustrations, those having reference entirely 
to the present status of library science, and not 
to attempt the antiquarian or historical side of 
the subject. The feeling is strong that we 
should make an exhibit more for the public, 
and to influence the public to understand the 
function of public libraries, than for the libra- 
rians themselves. If librarians wish to study 
technical details, they will have other oppor- 
tunities, and it is probably better at St. Louis 
to try and make an exhibit of interest to the 
general public. 

Our other exhibit will be the much-talked-of 
"A. L. A. catalog." The initial proposition 
for this undertaking came up at the last meet- 
ing in Boston twenty-three years ago this sum- 
mer. At the Chicago exposition in 1893, we 
were able to put out a tentative "A. L. A. 
catalog" through the aid of the Bureau of 
Education. That catalog was put out with- 
out any of the annotations which were essential 
to it, yet in spite of that Dr. Harris told me the 
other day that the more he handled the book, 
the more he was convinced that it was one of 
the most useful that had ever been published 
in this country. The demand for it is constant, 
and there is a still greater demand that it 
should be brought down to date. A supple- 
ment was put into the hands of a committee in 
1894, and they have been working on it with- 
out appropriations and without salaries, as 
time could be given. Part of their material is 
ready for the printer, but the opinion of the 
Publishing Board and of this committee is 
practically unanimous that it would be wiser 
not to publish the supplementary matter, but 
from that and from the old book to prepare for 
St. Louis a new single catalog, that should 
bring up to date the best selection of books we 
can give for the average town library. Then 
comes the essential question of annotations, 
and our suggestion is this : many thousands of 
notes have accumulated, but it is impossible to 
annotate every title in the way it ought to be 
done, in time for the St. Louis Exposition. 
Our proposition is to use the best of the notes 
we have at present for the first edition, and 
then to follow up that first edition immediately 
by continuous work in editing until we finally 
have an annotation for every title that seems 
to require it. The plan is to print the classified 
catalog so that it may be delivered in sec- 



tions. If any library wishes the section on 
education or science or biography, that section 
may be printed from the plates, providing also 
for an index which shall give the classification 
numbers. 

The work has met with almost insuperable 
difficulties from the time it was first proposed. 
We have appointed committees and editors, 
but we have never had any appropriations. It 
has been purely a labor of love, except what 
was done in 1893 by the Bureau of Education. 
Mr. Putnam is willing to print this catalog, so 
that it will be printed and distributed from 
Washington, and that is the first great step. 
Such a work belongs in our national library, 
and now that we have a national library that 
we are all looking to as headquarters it is 
proper that this catalog should be printed there 
and distributed from that centre. 

The second point is that just as soon as that 
book comes from the press the editors have 
got to begin on the second edition. There 
will have to be an editor who will give his 
whole time to it. He must devote himself to 
collecting suggestions as to books and mate- 
rials for notes, and we may hope with succeed- 
ing editions not to bring out a series of supple- 
ments, but from time to time to issue a book 
that shall represent the best books that can be 
chosen, with the best annotations that our 
combined efforts can procure. I am convinced 
that there is no single publication that we can 
make, no single piece of work that this Asso- 
ciation can do, that will do so much for the 
smaller libraries and for individual readers as 
a book of that kind. 

Any further exhibition at St. Louis is de- 
pendent on the means at our disposal. I 
hardly think the A. L. A. has funds enough in 
its treasury to warrant us in making an appro- 
priation for this purpose. The model library 
exhibit and the "A. L. A. catalog" will be 
the best exhibit that we can make. Beyond 
this the committee have only to report prog- 
ress, and express the hope that we shall have 
funds to supplement this with the other exhibit. 

H. L. ELMENDORF : There may be a number 
of the librarians present who would like copies 
of the old "A. L. A. catalog," which is, I 
believe, out of print. There are something 
like five hundred copies stored away in the 
Buffalo Library. The copies are in good con- 
dition and if any of you would like them and 



142 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



be willing to pay the freight or express charges 
I would be glad to send them. 

H.J. CARR: If Mr. Elmendorf will ask the 
Bureau of Education for a frank, the whole 
bundle of catalogs can be sent back to Wash- 
ington, where any one can get them without 
expense. 

W. I. FLETCHER presented the 

REPORT OF THE A. L. A. PUBLISHING BOARD. 

(See p. 83.) 
W. T. PEOPLES read the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RELATIONS WITH 
THE BOOK TRADE. 

Upon receiving, in October last, from the 
secretary of the Association notification of our 
appointments as members of the Committee 
on Relations of Libraries to the Book Trade, 
steps were taken at an early date to acquaint 
the book trade of our appointment, and to this 
end the following letter was addressed to the 
president of the American Publishers' Associa- 
tion : 

MR. CHARLES SCRIBNER, 

President American Publishers' 1 Association. New 
York. 

DEAR MR. SCRIBNER : At the twenty-third general 
meeting of the American Library Association held at 
Waukesha, Wis., in July last, one of the topics consid- 
ered and discussed was the " Relationship of publishers, 
booksellers, and librarians." 

A full and complete report of the proceedings of the 
conference may be found in the Library Journal for the 
month of August last. 

As a result of the very thorough consideration of the 
above-mentioned topic it was decided that the council of 
the American Library Association be requested to ap- 
point a " Committee on relations of libraries to the book 
trade." 

At a meeting of the executive board of the Associa- 
tion held on September 3oth last, the following-named 
persons were selected to compose this committee : 

W. T. Peoples, of New York, Chairman, 

H. L. Elmendorf, of Buffalo, 

W. Millard Palmer, of Grand Rapids, 

John Thomson, of Philadelphia, 

Miss Tessa L. Kelso, of New York. 

It will be the province of this committee, not only to 
guard the purchasing interests of the various members 
composing our Association, but also to endeavor to pro- 
mote amicable and harmonious relations with your Asso- 
ciation as the representative of the book trade. 

As chairman of the committee I am in receipt of 
several communications complaining of some of the ine- 
qualities existing in the new arrangement of issuing 
" net books." 

These complaints cannot be enumerated here. The 
object of this communication is to acquaint your associa- 
tion of the existence of our committee. 



I shall shortly ask you for a personal interview as the 
most satisfactory and expeditious mode of adjusting the 
complaints which have thus far come to our knowledge. 
I am, 

Very respectfully yours, 

W. T. PEOPLES, 

Chairman. 

Through correspondence and personal inter- 
views your committee has been constantly in 
touch with the Publishers' Association and in- 
dividual members thereof, whereby the trade 
has been kept thoroughly informed of the dis- 
satisfaction existing among the members of 
our Association, with the so-styled " net price 
system." In our first interviews we found 
considerable irritation existing, caused by what 
was considered to be erroneous and ill-advised 
statements by individual members of our As- 
sociation. To a very great extent, we think 
your committee succeeded in removing these 
and overcoming a feeling at first inclined to 
resentment, until eventually we had assurances 
from leading members of the American Pub- 
lishers' Association that they would listen to 
our appeal and at the same time favor granting 
us a concession in the way of an increased 
discount. 

We then asked that a meeting of the Pub- 
lishers' Association be called, that this matter 
might be considered at the earliest possible 
time. In this connection your committee de- 
sires to say that in all their interviews with the 
publishers they were careful to disclaim any 
desire to interfere with or injure the local book- 
sellers in any way. 

Various obstacles intervened to prevent the 
meeting of the publishers being held before the 
2yth of May last. In the meantime the annual 
meeting of the Pennsylvania Library Club and 
the New Jersey Library Association was held at 
Atlantic City. At their meeting the following 
resolution was adopted : 

Resolved, That the American Publishers' Associa- 
tion be requested to consent that the dealers and publish- 
ers be permitted to give to librarians a discount up to 25 
per cent, on net books. 

The adoption of the above resolution had the 
effect of arousing and antagonizing the execu- 
tive committee of the American Booksellers' 
Association. A meeting of that executive com- 
mittee was held, and a memorial prepared 
addressed to the American Publishers' Asso- 
ciation. 



FOURTH SESSION. 



143 



Among other things this memorial requested 
that the publishers instead of increasing the 
discount to libraries, should require them to 
pay the full net price for books. In addition 
this memorial contained other matter relating 
to libraries and librarians, which in our opin- 
ion is unworthy of a body of representative 
men, which we do not deem it wise to discuss 
at this time, and we regret to say that this 
memorial was signed by one of the members of 
our committee. 

The outcome of the American Publishers' 
Association meeting, for which we had been 
laboring, held on May 27th, is shown by the 
following letter received from Mr. Charles 
Scribner, the president of the Association : 

DEAR MR. PEOPLES : Probably you have heard that 
the Publishers' Association took no action upon the 
library question at their meeting, but this is to make good 
my promise to let you hear from me. In opposition to the 
suggestions from the library associations, the meeting 
had before it a request from the Booksellers' Association, 
enforced by some thirty odd letters from representative 
booksellers, to take away all discount from libraries, and 
to extend the protection over net books for another year. 
The meeting also had to deal with the price cutting in 
New York city, and other matters of importance. As a 
consequence of this situation it was resolved to take no 
action upon the library question. There is a desire on the 
part of some members that the library discount be in- 
creased, and I think it possible that some more favorable 
action may be taken at another meeting. 
Yours very truly, 

CHARLES SCRIBNER. 

In reply to an inquiry, we also received the 
following : 

DEAR MR. PEOPLES : Replying to your inquiry con- 
cerning the last meeting of the Publishers' Association, 
I would write that the Association refused to extend the 
protection to net books beyond the one year now agreed 
upon. 

Yours sincerely, 

CHARLES SCRIBNER. 

Your committee respectfully suggest that the 
Association adopt the following resolutions for 
presentation to the Publishers' Association : 

First : That the Publishers' Association hav- 
ing agreed to limit the net price protection 
strictly to one year, print on the back of the 
title page the month as well as the year of 
copyright, that all may know the date when 
the protection expires. 

Second : That the Publishers' Association 
grant to libraries an increased discount over 
their present allowance on net books. 
W. T. PEOPLES, 
JOHN THOMSON, 
H. L. ELMENDORF, 
TESSA L. KELSO. 



MARTIN HENSEL : Most questions have two 
sides to them, but this one seems to have three, 
the publisher on one side, the bookseller on 
the other, and last, but not least, the librarian. 
Now, what the librarians want, I believe, is 
cordial relations with both and nothing else. 
The complaints in regard to library discounts 
come mostly, in the first place, from the book- 
sellers themselves. They are dissatisfied with 
the conditions of things to-day. I was a book- 
seller myself for twenty-five years, from 1865 
on, and I know something of the dealings of 
the book trade. To-day the libraries are among 
the best advertising and distributing agents 
that the publishers have, and I believe the re- 
lation between the libraries and the publishers 
is very fraternal. 

The discount of ten per cent, on net books 
would be all right if the publishers did not 
raise the price on a good many books beyond 
what it should be. There are some books, I 
know, on which the publishers were compelled 
to raise the prices ; but when they put a 
book that is listed at $1.50 long, at $1.35 net 
and give ten per cent, off of that, it makes it 
come to $1.22, or less than twenty per cent, of 
what the book really ought to be to the library. 
Now, all we want in this matter is fair play, 
and I hope the committee on the relation of the 
libraries to the book-trade will be able to give 
us the fair play that we want. 

T. L. MONTGOMERY : I very much regret 
that this committee did not take some notice of 
the unwarranted attack made upon a member 
of this Association in the memorial prepared 
by the Booksellers' Association, and I would 
very much like to make a motion that any 
member of that committee who was in any way 
responsible for that attack upon Mr. Dewey 
should be expelled from this Association, if he 
is a member. I think that was the most das- 
tardly attack that has ever been made upon any 
one ever connected with our Association. 

W. I. FLETCHER : It seems to me very essen- 
tial that we have a clear understanding of the 
points involved. As has been said, it is prob- 
able that really the most dissatisfaction that 
has arisen, and the most justifiable dissatis- 
faction, has been with the failure on the part 
of the publishers to reduce their list prices 
sufficiently to meet the reduction of the dis- 
count allowed. I have been told on behalf of 
some publishers that they are at last beginning 



144 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



to recognize that a very strong case has already 
been made against them on those points, and 
they are prepared to yield something there. 
The other point is quite a different one what 
the amount of discount shall be on those 
prices. The prices might remain if it is in- 
tended that the prices of books shall be raised 
all along the line, but if they do not intend to 
have the actual cost of the books raised, they 
certainly should give us more discount. Let 
us keep those two points distinctly in mind, 
and it is almost a matter of indifference to us 
whether the publishers approach the subject 
on one side or on the other, whether they 
reduce list prices, as compared with former 
list prices, of books evidently of the same value, 
or whether, not reducing any more than they 
have done, they increase the amount of dis- 
count given to libraries. It seems to me we 
are in a position to demand that there be a 
more equitable solution of this matter on the 
part of the publishers in one way or the other. 
It is very evident to all observers that this 
book trade reform is in an experimental stage, 
and that we ought to put up with it for a year. 
I say "put up with it," not to cast any oppro- 
brium upon the reform, because, on the whole, 
I myself believe in the reform, but I mean that 
we should put up fora year with the difficulties 
that some publishers tell us are incidental to 
the reform. It seems to me that the action we 
should take to-day is very fairly expressed in 
the resolutions offered by the committee, and I 
hope they will receive their proper reference to 
the Council and stand as the action of the 
Association. 

MR. BERRY: We must not fall into the dan- 
ger of thinking that the publishers are trying 
to make it easy for libraries to get books at the 
old prices. As a matter of fact, they have 
attempted to reduce the price of a dollar and a 
half book to a dollar and thirty-five cents in 
order to meet the difference in the present dis- 
count to the booksellers and the former dis- 
count to the booksellers, allowing a straight 
discount of twenty-five per cent, instead of 
forty per cent, as formerly. They are not try- 
ing to meet the difference between the former 
discount to the libraries of forty per cent, and 
the present discount to the libraries often per 
cent. It is the bookseller they are trying to 
protect, and the local bookseller needs the pro- 
tection, as we must all of us believe, especially 



if we have ever had anything to do with the 
book trade. But what we want is a little more 
equitable distribution of the profits. The pub- 
lisher is the gainer in the present raise of prices, 
and not the bookseller. The object of this raise 
was to give the bookseller a little more chance ; 
but he is not getting it, and he does not feel 
satisfied about it, and he kicks the A. L. A. in- 
stead of the A. P. A. as he ought to do. I 
believe, however, if we treat this matter with 
moderation and care, as the committee has 
suggested, that it will be left on safe ground. 
The committee is favoring moderation, but it 
is also favoring action, and therefore I believe 
in its policy. 

HILLER C. WELLMAN: The facts are clear; 
the only question is, what are we going to do 
about it? It is not surprising in any way that 
the booksellers send a petition to the Publish- 
ers' Association asking that no discount be 
allowed to libraries. They would be foolish if 
they did not, because they are in for making 
money. The action of the Publishers' Asso- 
ciation is essentially that of a trust: it removes 
competition, and so of course the booksellers 
desire to give no more discount than possible. 
If there were any competition, you would not 
find a bookseller in the United States anxious 
to have a rule prohibiting him from giving a 
discount to libraries. It is a very peculiar busi- 
ness that cannot afford a discount to the pur- 
chaser who buys in the course of a year from 
a hundred to three or four or five thousand 
times as much as the ordinary purchaser, and 
certainly a business of that kind can be con- 
ducted at a smaller cost when $5,000 is involved 
than when $i is involved. I think we all sym- 
pathize with the bookseller because I do not 
think he is making very much out of it either 
way. It is the publishers that are at fault, and 
the question is, what are we to do? 

I think the first thing to do is to make the 
general public realize that the prices of books 
have been advanced about 25 per cent. It is a 
matter of supply and demand, and as soon as 
that fact is realized by the ordinary purchaser, 
the publishers will put down their prices. 
There is no question about it. Our first en- 
deavor, I think, should be to get the matter 
aired in the newspapers. Not only libraries 
are suffering, -but the public itself is being 
mulcted. The public has not yet realized that 
when "$1.35 net" is put on a book, the pur- 



FOURTH SESSION. 



145 



chaser is paying more than when $1.50 was the 
long price. 

The second thing, I think, is that as an asso- 
ciation we should take active measures for our 
own protection. The librarians of the country 
ought to combine to discriminate in making 
their purchases against publications that are 
obviously listed too high. In a very short 
time then the publishers would hesitate before 
putting too high a price on their books. I 
hope we shall take the matter up vigorously, 
because it is a thing that in the end will right 
itself without doubt. Our object should be to 
hasten the remedy as much as possible. 

H. L. ELMENDORF : I heartily concur in the 
report of this committee of which I am a mem- 
ber. I would like to give a little further infor- 
mation, and that is that the committee have 
every reason to believe that the Publishers' 
Association will make a moderate concession 
in their discounts. We have been so informed 
by individual members of the association. I 
want also to say to-day that a very great point 
has been gained in their refusing the request 
of the Booksellers' Association to extend the 
time of protection longer than the year pro- 
posed. Mr. Scribner was very definite on that 
point, that the time would be strictly limited 
to the time proposed, and that, I think, is a 
point which has been gained by your com- 
mittee. 

Then I want to speak of an impression that 
was given last night in our meeting that I 
think is entirely erroneous. It was stated last 
night that publishers considered the librarians 
to be of very small account. I can assure you 
that to my personal knowledge this is not the 
position of the publishers. In fact it is a con- 
sideration with a publisher before accepting a 
book and publishing it whether that book will 
be taken by the librarians. If it is a book that 
commends itself to the public libraries, the 
success of the edition is assured. It is the 
desire of the Publishers' Association to make 
this affair an equitable business matter between 
themselves and the libraries and the book- 
sellers. They consider both parties as their 
customers and the matter as a business one. 
They certainly want more money for their 
books than they received at the time when they 
were all failing, for one reason and another, and 
there has been an effort on all hands to get for 
themselves first besides incidental protection 



to the booksellers a higher price for their 
books for their own protection. If this Associ- 
ation will take temperate action and will con- 
tinue a suitable committee on this matter, I 
have no doubt but that a state of things will be 
reached by which the libraries will benefit very 
much more than they do under the present 
arrangement, and where the arrangement will 
be considered equitable on both sides. 

Miss KELSO : This question is one of con- 
siderable interest to the publishers, but I think 
that the librarians should realize that after all 
their combined purchases are really only a 
small proportion of the publishing business of 
any one house. I think it extremely ill-advised 
for the Library Association to go any further 
into the discussion of what the publishers shall 
charge for their books. We overlook the fact 
that the publishers nowadays are spending 
thousands of dollars in advertising to make 
their books known to the general public, and 
their chief interest is in the sale of books to the 
general public. Thousands of copies are taken 
by the general public where hundreds are taken 
by the libraries, and that matter of fifteen or 
twenty cents a copy on the retail price is a 
matter that must and will remain in the hands 
of the publishers and booksellers. On the 
other hand, it is true that libraries are recog- 
nized by publishers as most valuable adver- 
tising mediums and promoters of the reading 
of books, and our great point should be to 
bring forward all the arguments to the pub- 
lishers that we can, showing them this side of 
the question. I do not think anything is 
gained by finding fault about the prices; the 
presentation of the rights of the librarians 
should be put upon different ground, the 
fact that they are large buyers. It does seem 
unfair that a library which often purchases 
more books than all the local booksellers in a 
community should not receive a proportionate 
discount. 

I may say, too, that I think the bookseller is 
rather likely to want a new adjustment before 
the year has passed. We who know anything 
about the bookselling business to-day, know 
that it is simply impossible for the average 
bookseller to take charge of and care for properly 
the trade of a library, even of only twenty or 
twenty-five thousand volumes. What does he 
do? He cannot afford to make the prices, so 
he turns over the whole list to the nearest large 



146 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



dealer or jobber, and this fact in itself is likely 
to result in the situation adjusting itself. It is 
the general opinion of large dealers and jobbers 
that librarians should have a much larger dis- 
count, because they realize so thoroughly and 
practically the failure that must ensue from 
this endeavor to make local dealers care for 
library orders from year to year. So I think 
that this matter will adjust itself, and the 
Association could well go on record and go 
before the Publishers' Association with a tem- 
perate request for a definite discount, as large 
distributers and users of books. 

Mr. PEOPLES : I think it is generally real- 
ized that during the past year individual pub- 
lishers have made errors in fixing the prices of 
some of their books. Of course, the American 
Publishers' Association cannot go to the in- 
dividual publisher and tell him at what price 
he shall publish a book. I know we have the 
sympathy of a great many of the publishers. 
Just previous to presenting my report. Mr. 
William H. Appleton, of the firm of D. Apple- 
ton and company, who is present, expressed to 
me his sympathy with our side of the question. 
Therefore, I trust that any action taken will be 
considered with moderation. 

E. H. ANDERSON : I move the acceptance 
of the report of the committee and that the 
resolutions they offer be referred to the Council. 

Voted. 

MELVIL DEWEY : I think it is only right to 
call your attention to our peculiar relations in 
Albany. The state library is a distinct institu- 
tion, like your libraries, but I am also director 
of the Home Education department. We have 
an appropriation of $60,000 for the benefit of 
public libraries. That money is assigned to 
public libraries, and it can be spent only for 
such books and at such prices as we approve. 
The law when it was passed distinctly author- 
ized us to supply the books ourselves, instead 
of giving the money to the libraries. This 
plan has always been followed in Massachu- 
setts, which buys books not only with all the 
state aid, but also very often with local money 
sent in to secure lower prices. We discussed 
this matter at considerable length, and I urged 
that this should not be done that we should 
not supply the books as authorized by law, but 
should turn this business over to the book- 
seller. We have always recommended to these 



libraries to buy of their local booksellers, pro- 
vided they could get satisfactory service and 
the price that they wanted. We are compelled 
to certify that this money has been spent in 
accordance with the rules, but have been in an 
unusual degree considerate of the bookseller, 
and if subject to criticism it would be for re- 
garding him too much, not too little. We 
often buy for our own use ten sets of a single 
traveling library. We also have bought fifty 
or one hundred copies of a very few English 
and American classics regularly studied in our 
schools, and lend these to students unable to 
supply themselves. We have a perfect right 
to sell any of these, but have never done so 
except that we had about five copies of four 
books some ten years ago of which some were 
sold. These are the collections which have 
been used to furnish a text for the recent attack 
on me personally by the Booksellers' Associa- 
tion. They guessed that as we bought dupli- 
cates we sold them, but they never took pains 
to ask, but printed an explicit statement wholly 
inconsistent with the facts. Now that they are 
made public we shall wait with interest for the 
apology which gentlemen always make when 
they have made unwarranted and offensive and 
harmful statements under a misapprehension 
of the facts. I should not have mentioned this 
subject had I not learned that many people 
were stoutly defending us for adopting the 
Massachusetts plan of supplying books when 
in fact we have never done so, though we have 
it urged on us as a duty to the public. 

The Publishers' Weekly and my relations 
have been most friendly with the office of that 
paper has always misrepresented what I have 
said about the function of a library. I was 
asked to prophesy what was going to happen 
in the next century, and I prophesied and I 
still believe in my prophecy that the library 
is to follow exactly in the steps of the develop- 
ment of the public school and public educa- 
cation. I claimed that the tax-supported high 
school had displaced the private school carried 
on for the personal gain of its teachers, and the 
tax-supported library is displacing the circu- 
lating library and is being supported at public 
expense. It is absolutely free. We cannot 
stop this movement. I have never tried to 
help that movement on, but I predict again 
that this is inevitable. When the high school, 
as it has done in so many cases, gave a better 



FIFTH SESSION. 



course, with a larger faculty and a better equip- 
ment in every way than the private school, the 
pupils of the private school went over to the 
high school. The high school is an institu- 
tion of which we are proud, and the public 
library is following on the same lines. 

You cannot replace a stage-coach with the 
trolley line without injuring the business of the 
stage driver. To help people buy and own 
the best books, I, have always contended is a 
peculiarly good thing. A book owned is a 
great deal better than a book loaned. We must 
work back from our local library to the library 
in the home and in the house and the library 
of the individual. That means the owning of 
books, and the books must be gotten from the 
publisher to the person who is to own them. 
I have always made this qualification, that the 
bookseller may continue to live in the larger 
towns, but he has already disappeared from 
the smaller towns. It is as foolish to hope for 
the revival of the competent bookseller in the 
little community as it is to restore the stage 
coaches. 

Now, I have never said this before, but I am 
going to say it, that there are booksellers who, 
instead of being the strong allies of good read- 
ing are the worst enemies of good reading. 
You know men who are so-called booksellers, 
who sell tobacco and cigars, etc., and who will 
sell the very worst publications quicker than 
they will sell the best literature if they can get 
five per cent, more profit. There are men 
claiming the privilege of retail booksellers who 
have no education and no ethical standards. 
They say, " Our only concern is dollars and 
cents." They would just as soon sell whiskey 
at one end of the counter and tobaccco at the 
other. They handle the cheapest commercial 
literature and they sell it whenever they can 
make one cent more profit than in selling the 
best editions. The bookseller of the old stand- 
ard, aiming to educate and uplift the com- 
munity, belongs with us. He ought to be a 
member of this association. But we would be 
cowards if, because a man who says distinctly, 
" I have no interest except to make dollars and 
cents," puts on his sign, " Bookseller," we 
should admit that he should take his place with 
us as a member of a profession which we honor, 
in which we mean to work, and in which we 
mean to maintain our self-respect. 



FIFTH SESSION. 

(OCEANSIDE HOTEL CASINO, THURSDAY 

EVENING, JUNE 18.) 

The first part of the evening session, from 
7.30 to 8.30, was conducted by the officers of 
the Bibliographical Society of Chicago. It 
was opened with a paper by CARL B. RODEN 
on 

THE ORGANIZATION OF BIBLIOGRAPHICAL 
WORK IN THE PAST.* 

Mr. Roden briefly outlined the three biblio- 
graphical enterprises, now in existence, which 
are engaged in international bibliography, 
viz., the Office International de Bibliographic, 
the International Catalogue of Scientific Liter- 
ature, and the Concilium Bibliographicum. 
" The first of these is the most ambitious, its 
goal being nothing less than a general inter- 
national bibliography; the second limits its 
scope to the literature of the sciences; the 
third to that of one science only." From the 
kindred work undertaken independently by 
these three bodies it was evident that the 
scientific world had awakened to the urgent 
necessity of prompt and effective bibliographi- 
cal effort. 

AKSEL G. S. JOSEPHSON followed with a 
paper on 

PLAN FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF AN INSTI- 
TUTE FOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH. 

(See p. 61.) 

President BILLINGS called the meeting to 
order at 8.40. The secretary announced that 
the 

' ELECTION OF OFFICERS 

would be held on Friday morning between 9 
and 12 o'clock. The tellers were announced 
as Malcolm Wyer and George H. Stockwell. 
CHARLES F. BURGESS read a paper on 

SELECTION OF TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC 
BOOKS. 

(See p. 56.) 

EDWIN H. ANDERSON: I would like to ask 
when this list to which Professor Burgess re- 
fers will be available, and by what means 
libraries will know when it is available. 

* Mr. Roden's paper was a review, from material 
already in print, and was not intended for publication. 



148 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Mr. BURGESS : It is hard to say when the 
list will be available. I expected to have 
it some time ago. We will make a great effort 
to have it out within a month or so, but in 
what way it will be published I am unable to 
state. It may be that our society will issue it, 
and your president has suggested that possibly 
this Association might be willing to take it up 
and publish it in connection with some of their 
other publications. We should like to have it 
published in the way that it would do the most 
good. 

President BILLINGS : When the list is 
finished it is probable that the Publishing 
Board of this Association can find a way to 
bring it to the attention of libraries. 

I am somewhat familiar with the Corre- 
spondence Schools of Scranton, and I have 
taken the trouble to look at their books, and 
I regret that I cannot concur with Professor 
Burgess as to their great value. I think his 
committee will be able to get a much better 
list of books than those books will give them. 

N. D. C. HODGES spoke on 

THE SELECTION OF SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

As a general statement, only the larger libra- 
ries can care for the needs of trained engineers 
taking engineers in the broad sense to include 
chemists and all graduates of technical schools. 
These experts want the sets of transactions of 
engineering societies and the sets of technical 
journals. The cost of these in any complete- 
ness precludes the possibility of their being on 
the shelves of a small library. The small 
library can supply the systematic treatises, 
more or less popular, on the different branches 
of applied science. These treatises are always 
somewhat out of date, are generally a year or 
two behind the periodical literature, but they 
serve the purposes of the artisans, the amateurs, 
and the general readers. Engineers appreci- 
ate that they are hardly competent to judge of 
literature of this kind. It is not written for 
them, and is of very little service to them. In- 
formation on a good many side subjects, such 
as basket-making, printing, and the allied in- 
dustries, lithography, is sought at a public 
library, either in treatises or recent volumes of 
trade journals, or it may be that everything 
that is wanted can be found in the Universal 
Encyclopedia. The " Encyclopedia Britanni- 
ca " articles are too technical for the average 



public library patrons. It would be presump- 
tion on my part to suggest a list of books for 
the technical room of a public library. Such a 
list has been under consideration by a commit- 
tee of the Society for the Promotion of Engi- 
neering Education. I will only say that we do 
hot like to purchase any technical books if the 
copyright dates back more than three years. 
Such books quickly become dead books the 
Makelatur of the Germans. 

We opened in March a Useful Arts' Room at 
the Public Library of Cincinnati. We have in 
that room the current numbers of 140 scientific 
journals. We have also the scientific books 
and the recent volumes of patent specifications 
and drawings, and the necessary patent indexes. 
I would be inclined to buy for the average pub- 
lic library the books of the day, making the best 
selection possible in all lines of applied science. 
At one time these would run to automobiles, at 
another to wireless telegraphy, and at a third to 
liquid air. In five years whatever is purchased 
should be handed over to the junkman. There 
may be some money loss in the transaction, 
but this will be made good by the gain of free- 
dom in your habits of thought and action. 
There are a few standard works on engineering 
which have longer lives, and which should be 
on the shelves constantly. But if any one is to 
use these standard text-books it will be neces- 
sary for him to buy his own copies. A public 
library can seldom supply text-books to those 
who are studying. 

A paper by W. DAWSON JOHNSTON on 

THE WORK OF THE DIVISION OF BIBLIOGRAPHY 
OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

(See p. 63.) 

was presented, in Mr. Johnston's absence, by 
HERBERT PUTNAM. 

C. W. ANDREWS spoke on 

A PROPOSED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BIBLIOG- 
RAPHIES. 

Mr. ANDREWS : The first bibliography of 
bibliographies known to me was published in 
the seventeenth century and since that time so 
many have been published as to call for the prep- 
aration of a guide to them, which'was done by 
Mr. A. G. S. Josephson in his pamphlet entitled 
"Bibliography of bibliographies chronologi- 
cally arranged." The necessity for or possi- 
bility of such a guide is so foreign to the ideas 



FIFTH SESSION. 



149 



of the reading public that some well-educated 
people, including at least one librarian, have 
failed to understand this title and have assumed 
that the list is another one of the works which 
it records. It might be better, therefore, how- 
ever forced it might seem, were the title given 
in full as a " Bibliography of bibliographies of 
bibliographies," or to expand one of the titles 
quoted in it, " A book about books which re- 
late to books about books." Or perhaps a 
mathematical expression may be allowed and 
the title expressed as (Bibliography) 4 . 

Although this work records 156 titles, yet the 
larger part of them are either general or deal 
with the literature of special countries rather 
than with that of special subjects. Only five 
treat specifically of the bibliography of science ; 
one is dated 1862, another is six pages in length, 
while the other three treat of individual sci- 
ences. Some of the more general lists of sub- 
ject bibliographies, especially those published 
by the Harvard College Library at intervals up 
to 1891, by the Boston Public Library in 1891, 
and the New York Public Library in 1899, are 
valuable aids, but less so in science than in 
other fields. For these reasons it has seemed 
to us that the publication by The John Crerar 
Library of a " List of special bibliographies " 
would fill a gap and serve a useful purpose. 
The list, which will be issued early in the fall, 
is essentially a reprint of the 016 section of the 
classed catalog and gives not only the dis- 
tinctly bibliographical works on each subject, 
whether periodicals or monographs, but also 
the titles of works which contain bibliographi- 
cal material thought to be of interest either 
because of the number of titles given or the mi- 
nuteness of the subject treated. It includes also 
general indexes to periodicals covering more 
than a single year, whether the periodicals con- 
tain bibliographical material or not, and further 
the catalogs of special libraries which often 
are valuable bibliographies. Its scope of course 
is that of the library, and practically includes all 
science in its broadest sense, except philology 
and medicine, or, as we express it, " the social, 
physical, and natural sciences and their appli- 
cations." The list is much fuller than the 
library bulletins which have been mentioned, 
and so far as the incidental bibliography 
brought out is concerned, is approximately of 
the same class as the bibliographical notes 
made by the Library of Congress and Harvard 



University. Still it is very far from being a 
complete presentation of all bibliographical 
lists; for while it will give about 3,000 refer- 
ences in the main work and about 150 in the 
appendix, de Margerie's " Catalogue des biblio- 
graphies gdologiques" contains almost 4,000 
titles on geology alone. The latter includes, 
it should be said, besides much material classed 
elsewhere in more general lists, periodical arti- 
cles, " lists of works by the same author," and 
much other material of like unimportance. 
The list is to be indexed both by authors and 
subjects, using for the subject entries the catch 
words occurring in the titles and perhaps even 
in the contents notes. We may, therefore, 
hope that it will give assistance even in such a 
case as that of gilds, on which no special list 
is known to us, except one prefixed to a chap- 
ter in a larger work. 

W. I. FLETCHER read a paper on 

THE WORK AND PLANS OF THE PUBLISHING 
BOARD. 

The Publishing Board came into existence 
in 1886, but was prefigured in the arrangements 
made ten years earlier for the production of the 
new edition, published in 1882, of Poole's 
Index. Dr. Poole at the first meeting of the 
A. L. A. in 1876 proposed his scheme of col- 
laboration for the preparation of this work, 
which met with an enthusiastic response; and 
it was perhaps not so much the success of the 
method of collaboration as applied to this par- 
ticular work as it was the spirit of earnest 
united effort among librarians which was thus 
manifested, that led directly to a more formal 
organization for the furthering of other similar 
undertakings. 

From the first the Board has been at work on 
co-operative cataloging, attacking the catalog 
problem at two points which may be called 
its right and left wings. For the right wing, 
there is the furnishing of printed cards to super- 
sede the necessity of each library doing original 
cataloging work, and so effect an immense ec- 
onomy. This phase of the Board's work, while 
always recognized as one of extreme impor- 
tance, was, not unexpectedly, found to be one of 
great difficulty. At last it seems that the chief 
difficulties have been met, and through the in- 
strumentality of the Library of Congress, the 
libraries will ere long be supplied with catalog 
cards not only for new books, but for the great 



ISO 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



number which are common to the general run 
of libraries. This undertaking on the part of 
the Library of Congress is so great that it will 
be natural for that library to leave to others, 
working through the agency of the Publishing 
Board, the furnishing of cards for analytical 
entries for sets, the Library of Congress itself 
using our cards of this kind. The Board's 
work in this matter of analytical cards for sets 
of periodicals and serial publications not cov- 
ered by such indexes as Poole, the Cumulative, 
or the A. L. A., is well established and is going 
on on a firm basis. 

But there is a point, not clearly established, 
at which libraries will naturally stop in the 
matter of analytical cards ; or more properly 
there is a large field of analytical entries better 
covered by indexes in the form of printed 
books. The distinction here made is clearly 
brought out by observing that while many 
libraries were making analytical subject cards 
for articles and periodicals before Poole's Index 
was published, few would now look with any- 
thing but dismay on the discontinuance of the 
several good periodical indexes now published, 
and the consequent necessity of making analyt- 
icals for periodical articles. The "A. L. A. 
index " is being more and more widely accepted 
as carrying the same principle into the field of 
general and miscellaneous literature, and few 
libraries now beginning to make a catalog 
will make card analyticals for the books cov- 
ered by that index or would fail to consider 
the " Index " immensely superior to the re- 
sults of such analytical work as they could do 
in its absence. 

A more striking example of the value of this 
part of the Board's work is found in the " Por- 
trait index" soon to be issued. Years ago 
some libraries found it worth while to attempt 
to make card analyticals for portraits in collec- 
tions. This was done to a large extent in the 
Boston Athenaeum and the entries there made 
form a basis of the material accumulated under 
the editorship of Mr. Lane for our " Portrait 
index." 

I have thus shown how the Board's work 
attacks the right wing of the catalog prob- 
lem by supplying printed cards where that 
method seems the wise one, and the left wing 
by the issue of printed index volumes to take 
the place of elaborate and voluminous analyt- 
ical subject cataloging. 



Beyond this work, which may be regarded 
as " co-operative cataloging," the Board has on 
hand several important undertakings. Its 
annotated lists (ist) of "Books for girls and 
women and their clubs," (2d) of books on the 
fine arts and music, and (3d) of the " Litera- 
ture of American history," represent an effort 
to provide for the evaluation of literature, an 
effort owing its initiation, as well as sub- 
stantial financial support, to Mr. George lies, 
whose endowment for this part of our work 
exceeds $10,000. Then there is the issue of 
" library tracts," intended to comprise a series 
of brief handbooks on the best methods of 
starting and organizing libraries. The name 
"Tracts" suggests the missionary aspect of 
this series of publications and they are intended 
to be used in arousing interest in library mat- 
ters where such interest does not exist, and 
second, to give the necessary and helpful direc- 
tion to those who are engaged in the begin- 
nings of library work. These " tracts " will 
find their best use in a free distribution by the 
various library commissions. 

My purpose has been to show the general 
trend thus far of our work and to emphasize 
its value. But I am to speak of not only the 
"work" but the "plans of the Publishing 
Board." You may well believe that this portion 
of my paper, if written in anticipation of this 
meeting, had to be rewritten. Of course what 
is now expected is some indication of what use 
the Board will make of the income assured to 
it by the munificent gift of Mr. Carnegie, 
announced to us in the address of our presi- 
dent. We may well suspect that we have to 
thank Dr. Billings for more than the mere 
announcement. 

A fair consideration of the work lying before 
the Board can only be had by looking over a 
larger field. Mr. Carnegie's gift to the Asso- 
ciation for the work of the Board was made 
after deliberation on the part of the officers of 
the new Carnegie Institution as to the pos- 
sibility of including in the scheme of that 
institution a department of bibliography. That 
question is, as we understand, not yet deter- 
mined. But it is practically determined that 
should the Carnegie Institution undertake such 
work, its scope would be such as not to include 
the kind of work to which the Board principally 
gives its attention ; it would rather be in the 
field of bibliographic research the advance- 



FIFTH SESSION. 



ment of knowledge. Should the Carnegie 
Institution develop its activities along this line 
some of the undertakings contemplated by this 
Board might naturally be turned over to that 
institution. The field of the Board's work 
would thus be limited, as indicated in the terms 
of Mr. Carnegie's gift (terms nearly identical 
with those used in presenting the matter to 
him), to the preparation and publication of 
reading lists, indexes, and such other biblio- 
graphical and literary aids as would be specially 
useful in the circulating libraries of this 
country. 

In passing it may be well to remark that 
the scheme for an American Bibliographical 
Society might be held in supense until, in case 
the Carnegie Institution enters at all the bibli- 
ographical field, it shall be seen what ground 
remains for such a society to work in between 
the Carnegie Institution on one hand and the 
Board on the other. 

There has not been time since the Board was 
informed of its present good fortune to formu- 
late any definite plans for its future work. 
Only a general answer can be given to the 
question, " What are you going to do with 
that money?" 

In the first place this increased income will 
enable the Board to maintain a decent office 
equipment, including personnel. What it has 
long needed is a paid executive officer to do 
much of the work which has devolved on the 
members of the Board, but which has become, 
with the growth of its work, too onerous to be 
so carried. Probably it is safe to say that one- 
half of the increased income of the Board will 
be absorbed in promoting, in this and other 
ways, its general working efficiency. As to 
the publications which it shall issue, attention 
should be called to the fact that, as shown by 
our report, several important undertakings are 
immediately before us, the proceeds from which 
will be received only after considerable delay. 
The new financial basis of the Board will pre- 
vent the necessity of delays caused by financial 
inability, to meet the necessary expenses of 
editing and printing. 

The " Portrait index" is nearly ready for the 
printer and the printing can now go forward 
without fear that the Board's treasury will be 
swamped. 

The " A. L. A. catalog," in its new edition, 
must be prepared at once if it is to be ready for 



the St. Louis exposition, and a considerable 
sum can be very wisely expended in facilitating 
this work and making the annotations as com- 
plete as possible. 

A new catalog of reading for the young, 
including copious annotation and an index to 
juvenile periodicals, is also much called for. 
Additional " library tracts " to a considerable 
number may also be printed. 

Mr. Iles's scheme for the evaluation of liter- 
ature may be thought of as one of those things 
which the Board may now carry without diffi- 
culty into the many fields not yet covered by it. 
But when it is also observed that the volumes 
already issued have been made possible only 
by gifts from Mr. lies, far exceeding what the 
Board could supply even from its increased in- 
come, it is evident that the continuation of 
this scheme on the same high level of editorial 
merit calls for further special financial sup- 
port of the sort of which Mr. lies has furnished 
so brilliant an example, or may perhaps come 
properly within the province of the Carnegie 
Institution. 

GEORGE ILES spoke on 

GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHICAL WORK. 

Four years ago a " Guide to the literature of 
American history" was undertaken by this 
Association. The task of general editorship 
was accepted, at our request, by Mr. J. N. 
Larned, he giving his services without charge. 
Until eighteen months ago, when the manu- 
scripts were finished for all departments except 
that of Canada, the work was under Mr. 
Larned's direction ; since that time it has been 
completed and carried through the press by 
Mr. Franklin O. Poole and myself. The book 
is now before you and I trust that you will find 
it worthy of the sponsorship you have assumed 
in giving it to the world. 

At first the work was planned on a much 
smaller scale than that to which it finally 
grew. A selection of about one thousand titles 
was contemplated in the beginning, and a pro- 
visional list was made up on that view, printed 
as a pamphlet, and submitted for amendment 
to many of the leading scholars, teachers, and 
critics of the country, whose co-operation was 
sought. From among these a large staff of 
highly qualified contributors was engaged. 
Some historical writers and students, whose 
services were greatly desired, could not be se- 



152 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



cured ; but, on the whole, a more satisfying 
enlistment of special scholarship for the critical 
work wanted, in the varied fields of American 
history, could hardly have been achieved. 
With advice and help from many of the con- 
tributors, and with much careful study of such 
extraordinary labors in the bibliography of 
American history as those performed by the 
late Justin Winsor, the list of titles was thor- 
oughly revised, after a conclusion to enlarge it 
to the full limit of need had been reached. 

To secure for every book so listed a descrip- 
tive and critical note from, as nearly as possible, 
the best qualified pen in America proved a diffi- 
cult task and consumed much time. It was found 
that when the titles had fully gone (heir rounds 
there were a good many books that nobody 
cared to deal with, but which had to remain 
included nevertheless. There was nothing for 
it but to draw upon trustworthy criticisms in 
print, or to engage critics who would read 
these works afresh for the bibliography. 

The actual gathering in of contributions was 
slow work. Every man of mark in America 
has too much to do, so that there was inevit- 
able and sometimes serious procrastination. 
Often the galley-proofs came back with cor- 
rections so radical as to show a keen sense of 
responsibility in the contributors. Signing 
their notes as they did, and usually from the 
chairs of leading colleges and universities, 
they endeavored rather to voice the view of a 
judicial bench, to give us "the consensus of 
the competent," than to utter individual opin- 
ions. And this is just what " appraisal " 
means. The Guide may disclose faults on 
careful examination, and similar books in time 
coming may be better in detailed particulars, 
but just as it is, this work marks an immense 
forward stride in librarianship. It brings the 
seeker to the knower more helpfully than in 
any preceding aid of the kind; it affords the 
reader or student anywhere access to the most 
trustworthy adviser who could be impressed 
for his service. A supplement to the Guide is 
in hand; its titles and notes for 1900 are com- 
pleted; those for 1901, to be incorporated 
therewith, are in preparation. The main bib- 
liography and this continuation of it will, I 
trust, be the first steps in the systematic ap- 
praisal of the whole working round of our 
literature. How may further steps be taken? 
Pray permit a suggestion or two. 



It has long been a dream of this Association 
that there might arise a Library Institute to 
conserve and promote the interests of public 
libraries as a whole. In such an Institute 
might be shown everything to inform the 
founder or builder of a public library, whether 
plans, elevations, fittings, or the like; together 
with the fullest help for the librarian by exhi- 
bition of approved methods of administration, 
of all aids adopted in the best practice. At 
such a central home might be conducted the 
co-operative cataloging which does so much 
to unlock the treasures of periodical and offi- 
cial literature. In this Institute might well 
be prosecuted the work so happily inaugurated 
by Mr. Lamed. The officers in command of 
"appraisal" should have a constant outlook 
upon the field whence to draw their critical 
forces, and should have the experience neces- 
sary to give accuracy and despatch to the me- 
chanical side of the work. These officers and 
their staff might be organized somewhat as are 
those of a great critical journal, everybody's 
whole time being engaged for the allotted 
task. 

All this demands a large endowment. In 
seeking that endowment it is first needful to 
discuss plans and methods to the end that the 
best may be sifted out and formulated. There 
can be little doubt that the wealthy and gen- 
erous men who have done so much for the 
creation and extension of public libraries, so 
much for the most fruitful acceptance of litera- 
ture by all the people, will provide the key- 
stone for an edifice already without parallel 
for the sagacity and munificence displayed by 
its builders. 

JOHN THOMSON followed with a 

REPORT ON INCUNABULA LIST. 

When the Free Library of Philadelphia came 
into possession of the collection of incunabula 
gathered together by Dr. W. A. Copinger, it 
was thought desirable to get together a hand 
list of other incunabula in this country so that 
it would be known where copies could be con- 
sulted by students if the owners were willing. 
Lists were sent out to a large number of persons 
inviting information, and each owner was re- 
quested to give a variety of particulars, includ- 
ing the title of the book, the name of the 
printer, place and press, with date and name of 
author (where given) and references to Panzer, 



SIXTH SESSION. 



153 



Hain, etc., where practicable. Answers were 
received from 33 libraries and 20 private own- 
ers, and the number of books reported on 
amounted to 2,417, 2,273 f these belonging to 
the libraries, and 144 to private owners. Sev- 
eral private owners declined to give the infor- 
mation, on the ground that it was very 
undesirable to let booksellers have full particu- 
lars of any particular individual's collection, as 
if it were known what were the lacunae in any 
owner's library, the chances of filling them up 
excepting at a high price were lessened. The 
appropriations made to the Free Library were 
considerably reduced during the years 1901 and 
1902, and it became necessary to abandon the 
execution of various hand lists and bulletins, 
which, however much they were wanted, could 
only be completed and printed at some consid- 
erable cost. The hand list of incunabula was, 
therefore, laid aside for these reasons only. 

If the Bibliographical Society of Chicago or 
its successor (should there be an American 
Bibliographical Society established) would be 
willing to undertake the completion and print- 
ing of this hand list, it is not to be doubted 
that the trustees of the Free Library of Philadel- 
phia will cheerfully authorize the particulars of 
information already gathered together to be 
handed over to such society. In this way, the 
work already done would be utilized and I for 
one should be most willing to co-operate with 
those who shall undertake the work and give of 
my services as best I can to make the hand list 
valuable and complete. 

The collection in the Free Library numbers 
517 volumes, and amongst the particulars given 
of other collections may be mentioned : 
136 volumes in the Columbia University Li- 
brary, 132 volumes in Cornell University 
Library, 257 volumes at Harvard, 279 in the New 
York Public Library, 336 in the Union Theo- 
logical Seminary at New York, 97 at the 
Newberry Library, 88 at Princeton, So at Hart- 
ford Theological Seminary, and 68 in posses- 
sion of the Grolier Club. 

Probably it will be felt by the great majority 
of those whom I am now addressing that this 
mass of information ought not to remain un- 
used. The Free Library will only ask that due 
recognition of its preliminary work be given in 
the introductory remarks to the hand list 
when it is published. 

Adjourned 10.05 P-M. 



SIXTH SESSION. 

(OCEANSIDE HOTEL CASINO, FRIDAY MORN- 
ING, JUNE 20.) 

President BILLINGS called the meeting to 
order at 9.20. 

The secretary, after announcement, read re- 
port of business transacted by the Council.* 

J. C. DANA : I would like to bring up the 
matter of the relation of the public libraries to 
the book trade, and if I may be permitted I 
would like first to call your attention to the 
resolutions in the report of the committee on 
this subject, which were received yesterday and 
referred to the Council. The gist of this report 
is found in the two resolutions at the end. 
Whether or no these resolutions will be passed 
by the Council, of course, we have no assur- 
ance; and even if they should be, I have a feel- 
ing and it is a very strong one that the 
passage of these resolutions by the Council 
would not be as effective as some action by the 
Association itself, dealing directly with this 
matter. I have talked with a number of libra- 
rians and some publishers since I came, here to 
this meeting, and I am convinced that if we 
cease our activity in regard to this subject, as 
this action which we have now taken is in 
effect doing, the Publishers' Association will 
take no further action ; while I am just as 
strongly convinced that if we do take some de- 
cided stand we shall secure a further reduction 
on these prices of net books. Consequently I 
offer the following motion : That the execu- 
tive board appoint a committee of three to 
investigate further the question of library dis- 
counts and the net price system, to confer with 
the Publishers' Association and take such ac- 
tion as may be necessary to procure reasonable 
prices. 

President BILLINGS : Under the rules of the 
Association that motion will be referred to the 
Council, and will be reported to the Association 
this afternoon. 

Mr. DANA : I do not want to bring up a con- 
stitutional question, but still I think this is an 
important one, and I am going to appeal from 
the chair to the house. 

President BILLINGS: I will give the grounds 
of my decision. The constitution provides that 
the Council shall act upon all resolutions pre- 

* See Transactions of Council and executive board, 
appended. 






154 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



sented before a meeting of the Association, 
except that " by a three-fourths vote of those 
present and voting" the Association " may take 
direct action, or revise the action of the execu- 
tive board or Council, or give them mandatory 
instruction." The intent of the constitution is 
to have all matters for executive action come 
before the Council, and then be reported back 
to the Association before the general meeting 
acts upon them. It is on this provision of the 
constitution, and in accord with its general 
spirit, that a matter like this should be re- 
ported on by the Council before any action is 
taken by the Association, and before the use of 
the three-fourths vote privilege, that I rule 
that the motion which insists upon this vote by 
the Association this morning is out of order. 

Mr. DANA: As I understand it, if the ruling 
of the president is correct, this Association 
cannot do any business as an association 
whatsoever 

President BILLINGS : Until it has been before 
the Council. 

Mr. DANA: If the Council does not choose to 
bring it up, the Association cannot touch it. 
That is, the hands of the Association as a body 
are perfectly and completely tied. Now, I have 
talked with many members of the Association 
about the formation of the Council and the ex- 
tension of its duties, and I know perfectly well 
that it was not the intent of the framers of that 
constitution that the power of the A. L. A., as 
a body, should be entirely taken away from it, 
or rather that it should entirely give away its 
powers. If the president is correct in his 
ruling, then this Association has created out 
of itself a body more powerful than itself, and 
I question if we had not better decide that here 
and now. As I say, it does not concern me 
very deeply, but it is a very interesting aca- 
demic question. 

Mr. LANE : I hope the chair will consider 
this matter again, because I think this would 
make a rather unfortunate precedent. The 
articles of the constitution which relate to the 
Council and the management of the business of 
the Association, as I understood them and as I 
think they are commonly understood, were 
intended so that we might refer to the Council 
matters which would take up too much of the 
time of the Association, and also in order that 
the promulgation of recommendations should 
be left to the Council rather than be decided 



upon by the Association. But this is simply a 
minor vote in the ordinary course of business, 
and if such votes are uniformly referred to the 
Council, it seems to me that it will produce a 
feeling in the Association that the members 
have no part in the conduct of affairs and will 
diminish interest. 

President BILLINGS : The effect of this mo- 
tion is as follows : a report has been presented 
from a committee, accompanied by resolutions. 
That report has been referred under the rules 
to the Council. That reference was made 
yesterday; the Council has had no chance to 
act upon it. The committee is not discharged ; 
the committee is still in existence until it is 
discharged. The Council has had no oppor- 
tunity to take any action on the recommenda- 
tions of the committee, or to consider whether 
this committee shall be continued, or whether 
a new committee shall be appointed, or any- 
thing of the sort. The matter would come up 
in the business of the Council this afternoon 
and would be reported on at the meeting this 
evening. This motion is to prejudice the case 
without waiting for a discussion of the matter 
in the Council, and this assumes that the 
Council is going to be hostile and is not going 
to do what the mover of the resolutions 
desires. The precedent is bad, very bad. I 
have no particular objection to the motion of 
Mr. Dana; but to take the matter entirely out 
of the hands of the Council, having created 
the Council for advice in this matter, this is 
a kind of motion that I think is out of order. 

Mr. DANA : Excuse me, Mr. President. I 
would like to have it thoroughly understood 
what it is we are voting on. We are not 
voting on the question as to whether or no my 
motion is out of order as regards its relation to 
the Council. We are voting on an interpreta- 
tion of our constitution. If we sustain the 
president then we decide that this Association 
as an association can do no business except as 
the Council permits it to do business. We 
cannot pass the simplest of motions; we can- 
not request the executive board, even by a 
three-fourths vote, to appoint a committee 

President BILLINGS : That you can do under 
the constitution. 

Mr. DANA: Not under your interpretation, 
until the Council has given the Association an 
opportunity to pass on it. Now, if what the 
president says is correct about the relation of 



SIXTH SESSION. 



155 



my motion to the resolutions offered yesterday 
and referred to the Council, I am perfectly 
willing to withdraw it. I am not making any 
fight against the Council whatsoever. No man 
has stood more strongly for the existence of a 
Council in this Association and for giving it 
strong powers than I have. I believe in it 
most heartily, but I think you should under- 
stand very thoroughly that you are now inter- 
preting a point in your own constitution and 
that it means a great deal to you. It is not 
a question of reprimand to me or reprimand to 
the Council, whether you sustain the president 
or me. The question is purely one of inter- 
pretation of your own affairs. 

F. P. HILL : For the benefit of those of us 
who have come in since the resolution was 
presented, I will ask the secretary to read the 
resolutions. 

President BILLINGS : Will the secretary read 
the resolutions ? 

Mr. DANA : I do not see any occasion to read 
the resolutions. That question is not before 
the house. There is a motion now before the 
house. 

President BILLINGS : I have decided that the 
resolutions presented should be, under the 
rules, referred to the Council, and should not 
be voted on by the Association. An appeal is 
taken from that decision. 

Mr. DANA : The question is whether or no a 
motion can be acted on by this Association and 
whether or no any motion can ever be acted 
upon by this Association. 

Mr. HILL : Do I understand that the motion 
is to take these resolutions out of the hands of 
the Council? 

Mr. DANA : No. 

President BILLINGS : It is to prevent the reso- 
lutions from going to the Council and to give 
directions preventing the Council's action on 
the report of the Committee on Relations with 
the Book Trade. 

Mr. HILL: If the Council decides adversely 
on the resolutions, does that end the matter? 

President BILLINGS : No, then the matter 
comes up this evening. The Council must 
report back to the Association this evening. 

Mr. DANA : Let me say one more word. 
What I would like to get at is an understand- 
ing of our constitution. Now, if the president 
is correct, why, let us agree to it. I think there 
are some advantages in the Association's not 



being able to do business; but you may not 
think so. The question has come up and if 
we can understand it enough to vote on it, let 
us vote on it. If we cannot, I think the sug- 
gestion that we defer it would perhaps be a 
good one. 

President BILLINGS : I think it would be well 
not to attempt to decide the point now, because 
we should need considerable discussion from 
older members, and from those who had to do 
with the framing of the constitution and know 
what is its intent, and that we have hardly 
time for. 

Mr. DANA : I suggest that we withdraw the 
matter until this evening, and let some of these 
older heads talk about it, and present the case 
this evening. I feel pretty strongly about this 
net price business, and I know you are making 
a mistake when you leave the matter in the way 
in which you have left it. 

President BILLINGS : It has not been left in 
any way yet. 

Mr. DANA : It will be. 

President BILLINGS : That implication is pre- 
cisely the reason why such matters ought to be 
referred to the Council first. 

Mr. DANA : I mean, Mr. President, that even 
if the Council brings in these resolutions and 
allows us to pass them this evening, or brings 
them in and approves of them, unless we vote 
on them the matter will be left very much in 
the air, so far as the Publishers' Association is 
concerned. If the Council brings them in and 
allow us to vote on them and express our opin- 
ion as an association, that we think we should 
receive a greater discount than heretofore, I am 
satisfied. 

Mr. DEWEY : I think the resolutions of Mr. 
Dana should go over until the evening session, 
after we have a report from the Council. I am 
not a member of the Council, but I have always 
stood for the entrusting of these questions to 
the Council ; and if we have ever had any ques- 
tion in this Association that ought to be handled 
by our wisest and most careful people and ought 
to be guarded against mistakes and hasty action 
such as are liable in a big meeting, this is such 
a question. If we are to be able to buy only 
two books in the place of three, that is a very 
serious matter to the libraries of this country. 
Any mistakes made now will delay the matter 
for years. I favor the question going to the 
Council, if, as is understood, the Association 



i 5 6 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



will have an opportunity to revise its action. 
But that is not the question that is before us. 
It is a question of the constitution. We are 
establishing a precedent, and if we vote this 
morning that the chair is right in saying that 
the matter cannot be considered here, then we 
are estopped for the future. The constitution 
is perfectly explicit. If three-fourths of those 
here present and voting vote to appoint this 
committee, they have a perfect right to do so, 
but I think it is an unwise thing to do. I am 
against taking such action this morning. While 
I am entirely with the president in saying that 
we should give the Council a chance to report 
on this matter, I am compelled to vote and in- 
sist that we ought to vote against his decision 
that this Association has not the right to act on 
this matter if it sees fit. 

President BILLINGS : My decision is that this 
motion should go to the Council. The appeal 
of Mr. Dana is from that decision of the chair. 
I decide that this is a motion which should go 
to the Council, and I decide that this ruling 
will stand until I am overruled by a three- 
fourths vote of the Association. Those in 
favor of sustaining the decision of the chair 
will please rise. 

Thirty-eight rose. 

President BILLINGS : Those of the opposite 
view, that the decision of the chair should 
not be sustained, please rise. 

Forty-seven rose. * 

President BILLINGS : Under the decision of 
the chair, therefore, the matter will go to the 
Council. 

Mr. DEWEY : But the vote was 38 to 47. 

President BILLINGS : That is not a three- 
fourths vote. 

Mr. DEWEY : Where is the rule which re- 
quires a three-fourths vote? This is a parlia- 
mentary question. 

President BILLINGS : This is a parliamentary 
question, and I decide that it requires a three- 
fourths vote to overrule a decision of the chair, 
and that the matter must go to the Council, 
unless an appeal is taken. 

Mr. DEWEY : I appeal from the decision of 
the chair. 

President BILLINGS : The question comes on 
sustaining the decision of the chair that a 
three-fourths vote is required to overrule a 
decision of the chair. 



The question was put and carried in the 
negative. 

Mr. DANA : Now, Mr. President, I think Mr. 
Dewey is right. I have talked with Mr. Dewey 
a good deal about this and he feels as I do 
about the importance of bringing the question 
strongly before the Publishers' Association. 
That is all I care about. I want to disclaim 
any intention whatsoever of reflecting on the 
Council. I say again that I do not believe any 
man in the Association has done any more in 
recent years to strengthen the Council than I 
have. I believe that this Association should 
not be carried this way and that on different 
occasions, but that it should have a body like 
the Council, and should refer important mat- 
ters to it. I think you are right when you say 
that it would be wiser to have the Council 
bring this matter up, only I would like to have 
the matter brought up so that the Association 
can act upon it itself. The American Pub- 
lishers' Association does not know anything 
about our internal organization, and a mere 
protest from the Council is not going to count 
as much as a statement from ourselves. I 
withdraw the motion until this evening. 

Mr. DEWEY : I move that we refer this mat- 
ter to the Council with the request that the 
Council report back its action to us this even- 
ing. I have no doubt we will be perfectly sat- 
isfied with the action they take, but it seems to 
me that this motion should go to the Council, 
and that we should hear from it to-night. 

Voted. 

President BILLINGS : We will now proceed 
to the discussion of Mr. Hastings' paper on 

DISTRIBUTION OF PRINTED CATALOG CARDS 
BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

HERBERT PUTNAM : I should like to recall 
the present situation with reference to this 
matter. The Library of Congress began the 
distribution of printed cards in November last. 
The distribution has proceeded for nearly eight 
months. This period was an experimental 
one. I have asked Mr. Hastings at this meet- 
ing to submit a statement as to what had oc- 
curred, to give the statistics of the distribution 
thus far, and to note the modifications in con- 
templation. Mr. Hastings read his paper yes- 
terday. It was necessarily brief, but was, I 
think, perfectly clear as to the distribution up 



SIXTH SESSION. 



157 



to this time. He referred to a handbook which 
is to be issued in July which will state more 
fully than has been stated heretofore what are 
the methods of distribution, the rates of sub- 
scription, and the various conditions involved; 
also descriptive of the field which the cards 
will cover, and so on. That is intended to be 
a complete and clear statement of the system 
of distribution as in operation not to-day, 
nor during the past six or eight months, but 
as in operation in July or August. That is, 
for the coming immediate future. 

There will be modifications of our first meth- 
ods. Let me recall to you that the distribu- 
tion has been of three classes. In the first 
place, the library has determined upon certain 
local libraries or institutions which are made 
the depositaries in each case of a complete set 
of these cards. These depositary libraries are 
in centres of research, centres of library ac- 
tivity. There are necessarily but a few of them 
thus far only eighteen. 

In the second place we have offered to supply 
a copy of any card that we print or any num- 
ber of copies of any card to any library sub- 
scribing the cost plus ten per cent, as required 
under the law. 

In the third place we have, during the past 
six or seven months, issued to subscribing 
libraries, and in effect to any library applying 
for them, copies on proof paper of the titles 
which we print on cards. We have issued 
these proofs thus far without any charge. 

Now there are to be certain modifications, 
and what these are to be will be determined in 
part, of course, by our experience, as already 
on file with us, and in part by suggestions we 
have received. There may be a change, for 
instance, in the type, from 12 point to n point. 
There will undoubtedly be a change in the con- 
ditions of distribution of the proof slips. We 
have thought it our duty to distribute as widely 
as possible information as to this card distri- 
bution ; we have therefore distributed these 
proof slips freely and without charge. Begin- 
ning with July ist there will have to be a charge 
for the proof slips. That charge will not, for 
a year's subscription, exceed thirty dollars. In 
the case, however, of a library which is a large 
subscriber, there will be a rebate on this, which, 
in case of a considerable subscription, willfully 
reimburse to the library the amount of the 
subscription. 



The number of libraries, as stated in Mr. 
Hastings' paper, subscribing to date is 171. 

The cards are, as a rule, prepared ready for 
distribution within a fortnight of the time the 
book is received by the Library of Congress, in 
case of copyrighted books. The delay in the 
case of non-copyrighted publications is consid- 
erably greater. 

Our experience, as far as the cost of the work 
to us is concerned, will not result in a devia- 
tion from the present prices for a subscription 
in ordinary cases. There will have to be a 
special variation in price where the order re- 
ceived requires an extra amount of labor in 
the handling. That will be fully set forth in 
the handbook. It has been one of the matters 
upon which our consideration has been most 
careful and most anxious. We are compelled 
under the law to reimburse to the government 
the cost of this distribution. We do not charge 
for the cost of the cataloging; we do not 
charge for the composition ; but we must 
charge for the cost of the extra stock, the extra 
press work, the cutting and the punching and 
the handling, and the handling, as Mr. Hast- 
ings has noted, is very expensive. Now, we 
have not secured reimbursement for these items 
in the past seven months, and we cannot secure 
reimbursement at the present rate unless the 
subscription list is much larger than at present. 
We shall not, however, need, we think, to 
modify the main prices; so, unless there be 
questions as to these, I do not suppose they 
will enter into the discussion. What we do feel 
very strongly is that if there are any questions 
concerning the distribution of the cards, the 
form of the cards, not the mere form of cata- 
log entry, which would be better discussed in 
the Catalog Section, but the general methods 
of distribution, the area covered by the cards, 
the promptness of issue, etc., they had better 
be brought up now, because the system as re- 
vised July ist should remain unmodified during 
at least the next twelve months. 

C. W. ANDREWS : I rise to discuss this ques- 
tion, in the first place as chairman of the com- 
mittee appointed to advise the Publishing Board 
as to the possibility of co-operative cataloging 
of foreign books. A meeting of that commit- 
tee has not been called as yet, because it seemed 
to me that the Library of Congress is doing 
most that we could hope to accomplish, but I 
would like to ask those who feel the need of 



158 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



any considerable extension of the work into 
foreign languages to mention the fact. The 
Library of Congress is now purchasing, and 
will purchase in the future, an increased pro- 
portion of books in foreign languages, greatly 
enlarging their collections, so that the libraries 
who now feel that there are gaps which they 
cannot fill with the Library of Congress cards, 
may hope in the future to obtain a greater pro- 
portion. 

Secondly, I rise to ask that those present will 
give the details as to their use of the cards. 
We have all been experimenting during the 
last six months and the details which have 
been evolved ought to be interesting. From 
the numbers given in the Library Journal'^ is 
doubtful if we are yet making the largest pos- 
sible use of them. There are many ways in 
which they can be employed aside from the 
catalog, although the catalogs themselves 
might well be enlarged by the more liberal 
treatment which they make possible. 

Some of the details as to the experience of 
the largest single subscriber may be of interest. 
The John Crerar Library has sent twenty-five 
hundred orders to its agents in the first five 
months of this year and triplicates of these 
orders have been sent to the Library of Con- 
gress. Cards for eleven hundred titles have 
been received already to cover them. There 
are also some five hundred more which they 
promise to send us as soon as they receive 
the books which they have ordered. The 
result is that forty per cent, of our current 
orders are now cataloged by the Library of 
Congress, that we may hope to obtain sixty per 
cent., and that these are seventy-five percent, of 
all the accessions which we really care for, the 
remainder being books of minor importance or 
old material which we are simply cataloging, 
in the rather blind fashion of large libraries, 
without much regard as to whether the cata- 
log entries will ever be used. In regard to 
bulletin work, we are 'now face to face with the 
problem of dropping our present form of elec- 
trotypes and following the Library of Congress 
plan of using one kind of type for cards and 
for bulletin work. Our plans will now be con- 
sidered with reference to the permanence of 
the distribution of the Library of Congress 
cards. 

It is probable that our library is the one re- 
ferred to as the " patient waiter " in Mr. Hast- 



ings' paper, for we do not think it is necessary 
that every foreign book should be cataloged 
the moment it comes into the library, and we 
are perfectly willing to wait three or four 
months for the Library of Congress to send us 
the cards and meanwhile spend our energies in 
getting out the bulletins and other library aids 
which we could not undertake if we did not 
have the relief which the cards for this forty or 
sixty per cent, of our current work gives. 

In the discussion preceding the establish- 
ment of this system one of the fears expressed 
was as to the number of cards which would be 
found not to be available by the libraries re- 
ceiving them. I asked for a detailed report on 
this point and found that the number was so 
small that the details became uninteresting. 
They may be summarized by the fact that out 
of the eleven hundred titles received only thirty 
were found to be useless by the John Crerar 
Library, and twelve of these were our own 
fault in ordering duplicates or asking for titles 
of books burned in a fire for which we already 
had the cards ; fourteen were the fault of the 
Library of Congress, for all of which they 
apologized and took back the cards ; the others 
were due to the fault of the system and repre- 
sent the actual amount of what the engineers 
would call the " slip " in the process of the 
conveyance of information. The Library of 
Congress, of course, catalogs from the copies 
which it gets as they are copyrighted, and we 
find that there is sometimes perhaps, especially 
in scientific books, a difference between the 
advance sheets sent to the Library of Congress 
and those which are put in trade. The pub- 
lisher sometimes complies with the law by 
submitting the advance sheets and then the 
author makes additions and corrections and the 
book is not actually issued until so near the 
end of the year that the next year is put on the 
title-page. Again in four cases the Library of 
Congress has supplied us with cards for books 
which we have not yet been able to obtain. 
Therefore from one and a half to two per cent, 
may be put down, I think, as the maximum 
" slip " if the library exercises proper care in 
giving its orders. Of course, if you order a 
wrong edition, you cannot expect the Library 
of Congress to -understand which edition you 
want, or if you do not give the edition you 
cannot expect the Library of Congress to be in 
mental communication with you and find out 



SIXTH SESSION. 



159 



what edition you had in yqur library. It is 
probable that an addition of one per cent, to the 
calculation of cost will cover the cards which 
will be useless to a library. 

As to the use of the cards by the John Crerar 
Library, it is not necessary to give the details, 
because they are in the circular which the 
Library of Congress sends out. We have 
experimented more than most libraries in try- 
ing to make them of the widest possible use, 
and have recently found a new method of em- 
ploying them. We order more than are wanted 
for immediate use, in order to have over-cards 
tp supply those of our readers who want well- 
made titles convenient for memoranda, and we 
have received several orders for lists of books 
in this form. We find the proof-sheets very 
valuable, using them to form order-slips. The 
only possible addition to make them of the 
most value to the order department would be 
the inclusion of the price, but I am afraid that 
that would not be possible. 

Mr. WELLMAN : I want to add a word for the 
benefit of the small libraries. For such libra- 
ries the proof sheets are so numerous and so 
unwieldy that it is almost impossible to use 
them in ordering the cards ; but the plan of 
ordering a selection of either current accessions 
or the more important books in English, would 
certainly be much better. If a selection of 
cards is ordered in that way, it is not only con- 
venient to have them to put into your catalog 
as soon as you get the books, but the cards 
themselves are very valuable as suggestions for 
purchase, and if it were possible to have the 
prices included that would greatly increase 
their value as suggestions for purchase. 

Mr. PUTNAM : I fear that would be impos- 
sible. It would mean changing the form, unless 
we are to have the price on the permanent card, 
and I doubt the propriety of that. 

Mrs. BOND : How can we find out which are 
the eighteen depositaries ? 

Mr. PUTNAM : I think that will be given in 
the handbook. The list is now merely pro- 
visional, but the depositaries selected will be 
continued. The deposit has two purposes. In 
the first place, to inform local investigators as 
to what books are in the Library of Congress 
or whether a particular book is in the Library 
of Congress, not what subjects'are included, 
because the cards form merely an author cata- 
log ; and second, to convenience that library 



and adjacent libraries in ascertaining what 
cards the Library of Congress has printed, for 
it will form a complete index, of course, to the 
cards which the Library of Congress has printed 
and may be expected to have in stock. The 
conditions upon which the deposit is made 
include the stipulation that the cards shall be 
properly accommodated in a catalog case, shall 
be kept in alphabetical order, and shall be made 
available to any inquirer. Now it is a matter 
of perplexity, after the first N dozen depositaries 
have been selected, to determine what others 
have the best claim. We must enlarge the list 
very slowly and very carefully, and until we 
have gone further in the experiment with the 
proof slips and until we have gone further with 
the experiment of issuing cards in groups for 
particular departments of literature, I should 
not recommend libraries to become applicants 
for the deposits, as they involve a very con- 
siderable expense to the recipient library. The 
cost of handling and accommodating them is 
not a small matter. 

Mrs. BOND : My present inquiry Is with 
reference to a small library which expects to 
recatalog its whole collection by means of 
the Library of Congress cards. We thought 
if we could compare our accession lists with 
the lists in one of the depositaries, we could 
learn what proportion of the cards could be 
ordered by number. 

Mr. PUTNAM : It is the need of just such 
a small library that we hope to meet in part by 
these deposits. Assuming the library is in the 
vicinity of Boston, the State Library of Massa- 
chusetts would be its nearest depositary. In 
that case the small library may take its shelf 
lists to the state library and go through this 
author card list of what we have in stock, and 
see what books of its collection are covered by 
these cards. Now, if a small library or any 
library in Massachusetts should attempt that 
to-dav it would probably find a very small per- 
centage of its collection actually covered ; but 
within the next five years the recataloging 
at least, so far as the author entry is con- 
cerned of the existing collection of the 
Library of Congress will, we hope, be com- 
pleted and that will mean that we shall have 
a card in stock or ready to be reproduced for 
every book in that collection, with the inter- 
vening accessions, which are now amounting 
to seventy-five thousand printed books a year. 



i6o 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



We shall keep in stock cards for every title 
represented in the revised "A. L. A. cata- 
log." Now, if a new library is forming and 
starting with a purchase of from five to ten 
thousand volumes, based largely on that 
A. L. A. list, I do not see any reason why, 
within this period, giving us time in which to 
compile those cards, it should not be able to 
get a complete outfit of cards for those books. 
The proof slips are, as Mr. Wellman says, 
exceedingly bulky, forty slips are a day's 
output, and it is very apt to be the case that a 
library hastily applies for those and assumes, as 
it does in the case of government documents, 
or in the case of an entire set of our cards, 
that the information which it will secure will 
be so valuable that it will pay it to hanjdle the 
materiah Now that is very doubtful. Some 
libraries receiving these proof slips have been 
in the habit of cutting them up and pasting 
them on the backs of cards as a substitute for 
the printed card. But that is very extravagant. 
You can secure a copy of every card we print 
for a year and that is fifty thousand cards, 
we will say, based on the present output, for 
two hundred and fifty dollars. You can secure 
a set of proofs for not over thirty dollars. But 
if you should cut up those proofs and paste 
them on cards you would find you had spent 
more than two hundred and fifty dollars in doing 
that work and you will have, as a result, the 
titles complete, but you will have only pasted 
cards in place of printed ones, and you will 
have defrayed, in addition to the cost of the 
proof slips, the cost of the stock upon which 
you paste. 

Mrs. BOND : I should like to ask one more 
question. Will there never be any difference 
in the stock ? The different libraries use differ- 
ent thicknesses of cards, and of course one-half 
of the cards in any ordinary library will have 
to be written, not being covered by the Library 
of Congress cards. We use 33A, and the cards 
you use are 326, and they do not combine well 
together. Wouldn't it be possible to have the 
cards printed on different stock for different 
libraries? 

Mr. PUTNAM : The question is whether vari- 
ations in the stock could not be made, so as to 
accord with the stock in use in particular libra- 
ries. The same sort of question is involved as 
to the size of the cards, a much more com- 
mon variation, as between the index and the 



postal size. I think that, considering that we 
must keep the expense of this whole work as 
low as possible, we ought not to attempt to 
vary either the size or the thickness of the 
card. We use a stock that is admitted not 
to be as good as the Library Bureau's stock, 
except by the \public printer, who thinks it is 
better. (He claims it is the best linen ledger 
stock, and you cannot get anything better, 
and he can make better rates with his con- 
tractor than he has been able to make thus 
far with the Library Bureau.) We certainly 
have improved the stock very much over that 
of a few years ago, but I think we cannot 
vary the stock except as we get a better grade, 
and perhaps approximate as nearly as possi- 
ble the Library Bureau stock of the standard 
weight and thickness. 

Mrs. BOND : It makes a great deal of differ- 
ence in the amount of room required. 

Mr. PUTNAM : Those questions will have to 
be decided by each library for itself. It is a 
similar question as to whether it pays to get 
the postal size cards, and cut them down to the 
index size. I have been told by a librarian who 
uses the index sized cards, that in cutting down 
the postal size there was only a very small per- 
centage of them in which, by the reduction, 
any really necessary matter was eliminated. 
As a rule, by cutting them down from the postal 
to the index size, nothing is lost that is neces- 
sary to a permanent record. 

Mr. DEWEY : I wish Mr. Putnam would tell 
us about the travelling catalogs. 

Mr. PUTNAM : Mr. Hastings, who has had 
charge of that distribution during the past six 
or eight months, in addition to the means of 
information furnished by the proof strips and 
the depositaries, proposes to get out a set of 
cards which shall be available to be sent about 
from place to place to give information as to 
what the library is printing on a given subject, 
and to convenience a library at a distance from 
any depositary. Of course, the A. L. A. list 
will meet the case of that library whose selec- 
tions chiefly conform to that list ; but there 
would be other libraries whose needs might be 
met by a collection of from fifteen to fifty thou- 
sand cards not limited to the titles in the A. L. 
A. list. 

The area covered by these cards is a very im- 
portant matter, and our doubt is not merely as 
to the convenience with which these cards can be 



SIXTH SESSION. 



161 



used, but whether they will cover enough titles 
to interest a large number of libraries. The 
fact that many libraries are in the end get- 
ting the same book does not mean that they 
are all getting it at the same time. But how 
far these cards will be of interest to other 
libraries is dependent, of course, upon the 
simultaneity of the acquisition by the Library 
of Congress of the book with its acquisition by 
the particular library. Now, we are getting 
copyrighted books and non-copyrighted cur- 
rent publications which, if this card distribu- 
tion were not in operation, would be naturally 
such as would be bought by the national li- 
brary of the United States, which is chiefly a 
library of scholarly research ; but we are now 
in our purchases recognizing that this card dis- 
tribution may impose upon us a special obliga- 
tion. If, by getting a book that we should not 
get in that way, but which is a book purchased 
by a great number of libraries, we can save 
those libraries the cost of cataloging, we had 
better get it, even though the book itself be not 
used very much from our own shelves. Our 
purchases are being modified in that way. The 
yearly expenditure for that class of purchases 
will not form a very large charge upon our 
funds. We are getting up the purchasing 
funds to a reasonable dimension. They were 
only '$10,000 in 1897; this coming year they 
will be $91,000, for books and periodicals. But 
we do not regard that as normal, not until they 
reach $110,000. We feel perfectly justified in 
expending out of this a certain sum for some 
books which perhaps we should not buy for our 
immediate constituency, not the trivial books 
or books which would not stand a certain test 
of merit, but books which perhaps we should 
not need immediately for the use of the library 
and should not regard it as our duty to buy for 
permanent preservation. But if we can buy 
such a book and by cataloging it render a ser- 
vice to libraries and save them some expense, a 
certain amount of expenditure in that direction 
may be justifiable. 

In another direction we have modified our 
purchases. This plan of distribution can very 
much more successfully cover, of course, cur- 
rent publications and interest libraries taking 
those publications than it can the non-current 
publications, because it is the latter as to which 
there will be the most variation in libraries in 
their accessions. 



Now, we have been in receipt, during the past 
few months, of copies of the order lists placed 
by certain large libraries Harvard University, 
Boston Public, New York Public, John Cre- 
rar, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, 
and Columbia and we shall be currently re- 
ceiving those and some others. We get copies 
of the order lists and that means that we are 
notified as to all the books for which they are 
placing orders foreign books or books im- 
ported, I mean not those merely in foreign lan- 
guages, but those in English published abroad 
and so far as possible we are buying those 
same books at the same time. We notify the 
library that is ordering them that we shall se- 
cure them and that in course of time we shall 
have cards for them. It is upon that notice 
that I understand the John Crerar Library has 
to a large degree proceeded. As I understood 
Mr. Andrews' statement, out of 2,500 orders 
they had placed for such books during the 
past seven months some 1,100 were cataloged 
by cards they had already received and 500 
others by cards they are expecting to receive 
in due course of time after the Library of 
Congress receives the book and has cataloged 
it. 

Mr. BALLARD : Perhaps one word may be 
useful to some of the small libraries. The 
manifest value of a whole set of cards as issued 
by the Library of Congress is evident from the 
fact that eighteen of the most important libra- 
ries of the country consider it a great accession 
to their property. It is also evident that it is 
impossible for most small libraries to acquire 
the whole set or to care for it, on account of 
the great space which it occupies. In the 
Berkshire Athenaeum, we have taken these 
proof slips, and not cut them up with scissors 
and pasted them on cards, but we have sent 
them to a printing office which cuts them by 
machinery for us for nothing, so that we get 
the proof slips cut to card size and perforated 
at no expense to the library. The slips are so 
thin that a thousand of them will go into an 
ordinary catalog drawer. We happened to 
have an old discarded case of the right size and 
our outfit has so far cost us nothing, either for 
the slips or the cutting or punching. The 
smaller libraries can do this hereafter at an ex- 
pense of thirty or forty dollars a year, thirty 
dollars for the slips and probably ten dollars 
for the cutting and punching. 



1 62 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Mr. KELLY : Is there to be a depositary for 
these cards for Canada? 

Mr. PUTNAM: McGill University, Montreal, 
is the depositary for Canada. 

Mr. BERRY : We have in our library what I 
may call our old collection, say thirty to 
thirty-five thousand volumes, which have not 
been carried over to the new catalog and we 
are proposing to recatalog this by the Library 
of Congress cards. Our intention was to go 
by classes, marking with a blue pencil the 
number of copies wanted. But Mr. Putnam's 
suggestion this morning leads me to think that 
possibly we may gain time by going to the de- 
positar}' in our neighborhood and ordering 
entries that have already been made. I want 
to know if anybody here has had experience in 
that line. 

C. A. CUTTER: We are recataloging or 
perhaps I should rather say cataloging the 
Forbes Library entirely in that way. We have 
the proof slips and we order from them the title 
of every book which we have, no matter in 
what class it is, and we expect to do exactly as 
Mr. Berry says, in the end, and order every- 
thing we can, not only from the proof slips, 
but from the cards which were printed before 
there were any proof slips. After we have 
filled out our catalog in that way then we shall 
make out our own cards for the remainder. 

A DELEGATE : How soon does the distribu- 
tion of cards to depositaries follow the distri- 
bution of galley proofs ? 

Mr. HASTINGS : At present the cards are at 
least a week behind the proofs. The proof 
goes out daily ; the cards once a week. 

Mr. CUTTER : I want to bear testimony in 
regard to one thing which seems to affect a 
great many libraries, and that is the delay in 
getting the cards of new books from the Library 
of Congress. We find no practical difficulty in 
the delay. We make a slip on thin paper for 
the title of each book as soon as it comes in, 
and this slip goes into the official catalog, 
which is made entirely of such slips, and is 
referred to for that book until the Library of 
Congress card comes in. 

Mr. ANDREWS : We even go further back 
than Mr. Cutter does. We put our substitute 
card in our official catalog the moment the 
book is ordered, and it stays there until the 
Library of Congress card comes in. It is of a 
different color so that we know it represents a 



book either ordered or in the library in process 
of being cataloged. The reference librarian 
prefers this arrangement to the other because 
he knows then what answer he can make to a 
person inquiring for the book, and he can im- 
mediately go to the outstanding order list to 
find whether or no the book is in the library. 
This has worked very practically in a library 
which is open day and evening, where the 
evening reference clerk has no means of getting 
at the day-working clerk to find out the details 
in regard to the books. 

Mr. CUTTER : The slip that I spoke of is put 
into our catalog as the order slip of the card, 
but it is not put into the public catalog at all. 
Of course, as we have to make it for the order 
catalog, in order to know what book we have 
ordered, it costs us next to nothing to put it 
into the public catalog. 

Mr. LANE : For the libraries which use the 
index sized card I would say that we have a 
very convenient little card cutter which does 
the work very easily. It is worked by a boy 
and costs very little. It cuts the card exactly 
to scale. Then the cards are punched by a 
punch which works with the foot, and has a 
guide fastened on the plate so that the perfor- 
ation is gauged exactly. 

Mr. PUTNAM : Do you remember how large 
a percentage of the entry on the cards is lost by 
the cutting down ? 

Mr. LANE : A very small percentage. We 
expect to lose the line which has the copyright 
number or the call number of the Library of 
Congress on it, and sometimes we lose the line 
which has the subject heading; but almost 
never, or very infrequently, do we lose any- 
thing of permanent consequence in the con- 
tents entry. 

W. H. TILLINGHAST : I noticed in the 
report in the Library Journal that one library 
appeared to think itself obliged to hold books 
until the cards had come or to call them in when 
the cards came, or to wait until they came back, 
before cataloging them. There is no neces- 
sity at all for such a complication. We check 
the book as cataloged when it comes in. We do 
not recall it; we do not see it again when the 
card comes, unless there happens to be some 
difference be'tween the card and the book, which 
very seldom happens. The book is cataloged 
as soon as we get it, and when we get the card 
we put the call number on and put it in the 



SIXTH SESSION. 



163 



catalog. We do not feel the necessity of re- 
calling the book. 

Mr. PUTNAM : I think that to go any further 
with this discussion would be unfair to the 
rest of the program. I suggest that it stop 
here with the request that if there are sugges- 
tions or inquiries that may involve the matter 
of distribution, price, etc., they be addressed as 
soon as possible to the Card Distribution Di- 
vision of the Library of Congress, so that we 
may incorporate any changes or may take ac- 
count of all advice, counsel, and suggestion, 
before our handbook is issued. 

Mr. EDWIN H. ANDERSON read a paper on 

BRANCH LIBRARIES : PLANNING AND 
EQUIPMENT. 

(See p. 58.) 

W. H. BRETT: With almost all of Mr. 
Anderson's paper I am heartily in accord. In 
regard to the shape of the book-wing, I regard 
the semicircular design as really the most 
practical and the most beautiful. However, 
where absolute economy of space is necessary, 
it is possible to use the square plan with per- 
fect convenience, and with the saving of some 
room, by simply extending the cases toward 
the corners. The supervision from the centre 
is as complete, but the effect is not as sym- 
metrical. Of course it is practicable, it is 
workable, and the reading tables can be placed 
in the corners just as they are here. Where 
there is room enough to adopt the semicir- 
cular plan, I should prefer it. 

I want to emphasize my agreement with Mr. 
Anderson as to the absolute necessity of com- 
plete supervision over all parts of the open 
shelf library. In our experience in the Cleve- 
land Library this has always been maintained. 
The shape of the alcoves, the shape of the 
floor space to which access has been permitted, 
has varied according to the circumstances, in 
some cases being either semicircular or rec- 
tangular. In another case we had what was 
practically an open room formed by placing 
the cases with a corner entrance at which the 
assistant in charge had her desk, affording her 
complete supervision of the entire interior. In 
another form we had two oblong alcoves fac- 
ing each other across a passageway, the assist- 
ant being so seated that she had an entire 
view of both alcoves. 

Another point is the desirability of a meet- 



ing place for clubs in the basement, also the 
necessity of a lecture-room which, it seems to 
me, is exceedingly important in effective 
branch library work. The cork carpet we 
have found to be the most practical floor cover- 
ing. It is noiseless and exceedingly durable, 
and we have met the objection of the dirt by 
varnishing the cork carpet after it is laid, 
putting on a couple of coats of sizing and then 
applying two coats of varnish. Bent wood 
chairs we have found to be the most service- 
able. I think the suggestion as to the com- 
fort of reading in an easy chair with a light 
over one shoulder is an admirable one and 
ought to be adopted. 

Miss HOAGLAND : May I ask Mr. Anderson 
what is the average cost of these branch libra- 
ries ? 

Mr. ANDERSON : The average cost of these 
buildings, I think, was something like $30,000 
each, but that does not mean very much. You 
can build a branch library like a freight car or 
like a Pullman car, and the cost of building in 
one locality is very different from what it may 
be in another locality. The cost of building in 
Pittsburgh at the present time is the highest it 
has ever been ; it is almost prohibitive. It all 
depends on the kind of work you get and where 
you get it. 

Miss HOAGLAND : For the encouragement 
of the smaller cities that do not have Carnegie 
branch libraries, I may say that it is possible to 
equip one adequate and comfortable library 
room for $1,000. 

Dr. HOSMER : It seems to me that a lecture 
room in connection with a branch library is of 
very doubtful expediency. A club room is all 
right, but any room where there is likely to be 
noise is objectionable. Music in a branch 
library a musical evening, for example 
is likely to be a nuisance. In a small building 
it is impossible to have a lecture room without 
disturbance to the proper functions of the li- 
brary. I wish to record my emphatic approval 
of the high window arrangement which Mr. 
Anderson says has been much criticised. In 
our library there are several rooms that are 
magnificently wainscoted, with fine mahogany 
wainscoting, which is eight or ten feet high. 
At the same time there are very large plate glass 
windows. The consequence is that I have 
almost absolutely no wall space ; there is no 
place in the library where I can hang a map. 



1 64 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



The library, with its great windows, is the best 
place in the city to see the circus or a parade, 
and whenever there is anything of the sort a 
crowd always comes to view it. Now, I think 
the outside world should be shut out, and the 
light should come in from overhead as much 
as possible, and the walls should be blank be- 
low the windows. 

JOHN THOMSON : Far from feeling that 
lecture rooms at branch libraries are a hin- 
drance, I think that they are next door to an 
absolute necessity. We have one very palatial 
branch, and we find its lecture room of the 
greatest importance. Library associations and 
library clubs, and such institutions, find it a 
very convenient and useful place of meeting. 
Moreover, we have found that the Free Library 
has benefited very largely from having courses 
of lectures, and these can easily be given if you 
have a well-appointed and convenient lecture 
room. Our lecture room will hold 280 persons, 
when every seat is occupied, but we have had 
91531 some lectures frequently from 700 to 
800. The lecturers bring within the walls of 
our library persons who otherwise would prob- 
ably never be attracted there, and they become 
not only users of the different branches that 
are scattered throughout the city, but they also 
become the patrons and friends of the library, 
and say a good word for it. In another branch 
which was an affiliated association, and later 
came under our wing we find the lectures are 
of great importance ; and there the annoyance 
of having a lecture in the evening is never felt, 
because the lecture room is on another floor. 

F. P. HILL : The Brooklyn Carnegie branch 
library buildings, which are quite distinct from 
those across the river on the Manhattan side, 
will provide for a lecture room in each build- 
ing. This room will accommodate probably 
from three to four hundred people, and will 
serve not only as a place in which lectures can 
be given, but as a gathering place for neigh- 
borhood clubs, and we believe that it will serve 
a most useful purpose. 

A. E. BOSTWICK : Just a word about super- 
vision, which I agree with Mr. Anderson is 
most necessary in branch libraries, but it is not 
absolutely necessary that supervision should be 
exercised solely from the central desk. In 
every open shelf library there ought to be 
some one in charge of the floor, and the super- 
vision can be exercised from the floor as well 



as from the central desk. Therefore, while I 
should think it desirable to have the shelves 
arranged so that supervision can be had, if 
possible, from the central desk, still it is not 
absolutely necessary. 

Mr. BRETT : We believe in lectures in Cleve- 
land so thoroughly that we sometimes have 
them without lecture rooms. We had one 
winter a series of lectures in our East branch, 
in which we gave up the library room for one 
evening for the purpose of the lectures. The 
courses were of from two to six lectures, in 
each of four branches. They were entirely 
successful in drawing out audiences who were 
greatly interested. It was rather an experi- 
ment, but the effect was noticeable in the de- 
mand for books on the subjects of the lectures, 
and we felt that such work would be very ac- 
ceptable and very valuable in the neighborhood 
if we could keep it up. 

Miss ANNE WALLACE : As this seems to be 
an experience meeting I should be glad to ac- 
knowledge my indebtedness to Pittsburgh for 
valuable suggestions regarding buildings. 
With regard to the floors, some two years ago 
I wanted hard wood floors ; but I don't want 
them any more. I will vote for cork carpet 
next time. It is impossible to keep nice look- 
ing floors with from a hundred to a thousand 
people going through the library every day. 
Another thing, if you are going to have a 
Northern architect draw the plans for your 
building, and you live in the South, do not 
trust his judgment on windows. Our archi- 
tect told me very learnedly that our declina- 
tion was absolutely dependent on our fenes- 
tration, and he didn't tell the truth. He 
allowed us to open only one panel, and we are 
now trying to have our windows changed so 
they will all open. Do not pivot your panels 
so that they will open up and down ; pivot them 
so they will open sideways, and have every 
panel so that it will open in every window, if 
you live south of Mason and Dixon's line. 

At our library, we not only have an ample 
lecture room on the upper floor, which in years 
to come can be converted into a stack room if 
necessary, but in addition we use a large base- 
ment room for club meetings. Fortunately it 
has an outside entrance, and it does not disturb 
readers on the upper floor. Two clubs meet 
there, one composed of working men and one 
of young lawyers and professional men. 



SIXTH SESSION. 



I6 5 



Mr. DEWEY : I want to say a word about this 
lecture business. It has been a hobby with me 
for a good many years and I am glad the testi- 
mony in its favor comes in as it does. If we 
look at the matter in a broad way we must 
recognize that the objection on the score of 
noise would apply to those who come to get 
books from the library, just as much as to those 
who attend the lectures. Disturbance is made 
in both cases. The old Astor Library was a 
great deal quieter place to go into and read 
than our modern libraries. Every new person 
makes additional steps on the stairs ; people 
are moving about ; there is nothing like the 
monastic quiet of the old time library. I re- 
member years ago going into the Ridgeway 
branch of the Mercantile Library in Philadel- 
phia with Lloyd Smith, and there in that mag- 
nificent suite of rooms there were just three 
people at work. I turned to him and said, 
" Why, are these all you have here? " He said, 
" Dewey, hardly a day passes that somebody 
does not come into this library ! " A little later 
I happened to know of a man who was wanted 
by the officers of the law in Philadelphia and 
the problem was how to conceal him until dark 
so that he could be gotten out of sight. A 
friend told him, "I will hide you where you 
cannot be found." Detectives were watching 
every railway station ; but this man took him 
to that great library and he read there com- 
fortably all day and escaped with perfect ease. 
There was absolute quiet there and no element 
of disturbance. But see what Philadelphia is 
doing to-day with lecture rooms seating two 
hundred people and yet having to accommodate 
eight hundred or nine hundred ! That is not 
quiet, but that is giving to the people informa- 
tion, inspiration, and recreation, and therefore 
it is proper library work. Not the book alone, 
but the book and the picture and the museum 
and the lecture all these agencies belong to 
the public library. Let us stoutly insist that 
that is where they belong and that is where 
they should be supported. 
LANGDON L. WARD read a paper on 

BRANCH LIBRARIES : FUNCTIONS AND 
RESOURCES. 

(Seep. 42.) 
FRANK P. HILL read a paper on 

BRANCH LIBRARIES : ADMINISTRATION. < 

(See p. 46.) 



Mr. HEDGE : I would like to ask in regard 
to the advisability of having in the branch 
library a card catalog of accessions to the 
main library. There is always a great desire 
to know what new books are added to the 
main library, and where a monthly bulletin is 
not issued the consequence is that the tele- 
phone is being continually used to ask if cer- 
tain books are in the main library. Is it well 
to have in the branch a duplicate card catalog 
of the one in the main library? 

Mr. WARD : I think it is essential, where 
there is a daily delivery from the central 
library, to have a very full list of the books of 
the main library at the branch library. Of 
course, you cannot duplicate the whole cata- 
log; you can simply have a bulletin or find- 
ing list or something of that sort. We have 
in Boston a monthly bulletin of the accessions 
for the month and that is distributed at all the 
branches and kept on file. The bulletin is put 
together into an annual list at the end of the 
year, with some eliminations, and this is of 
a great deal of help at the delivery stations. 
It is impossible to solve the problem entirely 
satisfactorily. 

Mr. HEDGE : I had in mind a library where 
monthly bulletins or annual finding lists were 
not issued. 

Mr. WARD : If there is a daily delivery from 
the main library something of this sort must 
be done. There is no use in having frequent 
deliveries from the central library unless you 
have some kind of a catalog of the central 
library at the branch. 

Mr. HILL : I do not want to go on record as 
upholding that statement of Mr. Ward. It 
seems to me that if we attempt to keep a cata- 
log of the whole library at the branch we 
are going to run against the same difficulty 
met in handling the collection of Library of 
Congress cards ; you won't have room in your 
building for a union catalog and a union 
shelf list. It is a difficult thing to attempt to 
show the resources of the library at more than 
one place. I think it is much better and 
cheaper to use the telephone for just that 
purpose. 

Mr. WARD : Mr. Hill misunderstood me. 
I did not mean that the cards should be dupli- 
cated, because you cannot do that, but 
simply that some sort of finding lists should 
be used. 



1 66 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Mr. BRETT : I want to register most em- 
phatic dissent from one statement of Mr. Hill 
as to the selection of books for the branch 
library. That is, I believe that the functions 
of the branch library are not alone to supply 
books, but to suggest them, and that the most 
valuable guide for the selection of an initial 
collection for any branch library is some 
general list, such as the "A. L. A. catalog." 
I believe it is exceedingly important that every 
branch library in a neighborhood remote from 
the main library should have on its shelves not 
only a collection of the more used classes, 
such as history, literature, biography, science, 
and art, but that it should also represent on its 
shelves the whole range of knowledge, 
philology, philosophy, and religion. I know 
that the influence of such a collection, the 
opportunity offered to those who look over its 
shelves of knowing what is included broadly 
in the range of human knowledge, is of ex- 
treme value. We have found this in our own 
experience, that books which are read unex- 
pectedly sometimes have a large influence. 
In one branch library in an iron-working ward, 
a copy of Jowett's Plato was placed in the 
initial collection and that book has been drawn 
and read to a surprising extent. 

Mr. HILL : The idea expressed in my paper 
related to a building pretty well filled with 
books. We all know that a branch library 
building has only a certain capacity, and we do 
not want more than a certain number of volumes 
in the branch anyway, and some provision 
must be made to have those books accessible. 
It was that thought that I wished to express, 
and not to take out those books of power 
which Mr. Brett has referred to. 

Adjourned 12.40 P. M. 

SE VENTH SESSION. 

(OCEANSIDE HOTEL CASINO, FRIDAY EVEN- 
ING, JUNE 20.) 

The meeting was called to order by President 
BILLINGS at 8.15. 
The secretary announced the 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS, 

giving the result of the balloting as follows : 
President : James K. Hosmer, 204. 
ist Vice-President: James H. Canfield, 192. 
zd Vice-President: Anne Wallace, 199. 
Treasurer: Gardner M. Jones, 204. 



Recorder: Helen E. Haines, 202. 

Trustee of Endowment Fund: Alexander 
Maitland, 187. 

A. L. A. Council: Melvil Dewey, 155 ; Ernest 
C. Richardson, 137; N. D. C. Hodges, 113; 
William T. Peoples, 1 10 ; Lutie E. Stearns, 107, 

JAMES L. WHITNEY read a paper on 

INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE BOSTON 
PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

(Seep. 16.) 
WALTER H. PAGE delivered an address on 

A CLOSER RELATION BETWEEN LIBRARIANS 
AND PUBLISHERS. 

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. Two wicked 
persons of importance in your Association, with 
the connivance, I think, of others of like malig- 
nity, have propounded to me a set of questions 
which I am asked to answer. These questions 
are constructed not at all with reference to any- 
thing that I thought to say, but only with 
reference to the difficulty of answering them. 

The first question is, " Is the publication of 
novels necessary to a publishing house?" I 
should say that a great deal depends on the 
publishing house and a good deal more on 
the novels. The ideal publishing house, as 
viewed by librarians, would be one, I fancy, 
that should turn out books which would give 
no trouble to the librarians, and give no trouble 
to their readers, and novels give a great deal of 
trouble to both. This question seems to have 
been thrown at me, the only publisher in reach 
(and I observe that in all these questions the 
publisher is put upon the defensive), as a sort 
of implication that publishing houses publish 
what they find (profitable and not what, from 
some other considerations, they ought to pub- 
lish. I venture the assertion, therefore, that 
as much money is lost by publishers in pub- 
lishing novels as is made by them. A publish- 
ing house, if it have the courage, can exist 
without publishing bad novels ; but I think 
any publishing house that has an opportunity 
of getting a great novel would not do its duty 
if it failed to publish it. 

Question two: "Does the number of book 
manuscripts increase? and do they show im- 
provement from year to year?" They do 
increase, I assure you, increase in much faster 
ratio than the population increases, faster than 
Mr. Carnegie has built libraries, faster than 



SEVENTH SESSION. 



167 



the number of librarians. Whether they show 
improvement from year to year, I venture this 
guess : the number of illiterate or hopeless 
manuscripts is decreasing decidedly. Pub- 
lishers receive by no means so many from 
schoolgirls and schoolboys. The number of 
great manuscripts, well, they have never been 
numerous since I have known them. The 
number that tempt us to publish them because 
they are written with all the outward form of 
literary excellence they do increase enor- 
mously, for there seem to be thousands of 
them. All they lack is the breath of life. If 
sometimes you are wearied with the number 
of printed books that ought never to have been 
published, I pray you in common charity to 
remember what the publisher saves you from ! 

The next question is and you will see that 
there is a considerable variety in the progressive 
embarrassment of these interrogatories " Are 
publishers less willing than formerly to pub- 
lish books of literary value that entail a present 
loss ? " If a publisher is wise enough to recog- 
nize in manuscript among the books which he 
knows will entail a present loss one that will 
bring an ultimate profit, he will almost al- 
ways publish it ; and if you have the wisdom 
to show him which books there are that may 
be depended upon to bring an ultimate profit, 
he will welcome your help. The meaning of 
this the hidden and subtle meaning is, 
" What is the publisher here for?" I will try 
to answer that question further on. 

Let me turn to the next question : "In other 
words, does the present tendency in publishing 
show a wish on the part of publishers to develop 
literature, or contentment to be mere merchants 
of popular wares ? " There are publishers and 
publishers, ladies and gentlemen. I have never 
known one that objected to being a merchant 
of popular wares. On the other hand, the pub- 
lisher who deserves to be called a publisher, 
the publisher that you respect, takes a pride in 
throwing away possible income every year for 
the sake of publishing what he hopes will turn 
out to be literature. I resent the implication 
of that question. 

The next question is, " Is not the tendency 
of popular magazines and novels to degrade the 
popular taste and style?" No, because those 
people who read those magazines and those 
novels that have no intellectual value, read them 
for the same reason that they play ping-pong. 



They have nothing to do with the intellectual 
life whatever, and they give as innocent amuse- 
ment as progressive euchre. The framers of 
that question made one mistake which, I fear, 
librarians often make, namely, that they call 
anything that is bound a book, no matter what 
it contains. Physically, I suppose it is, but 
from the right-minded publisher's point of 
view, it is not. Some are soiled paper ; others 
are books ; others are literature. Those maga- 
zines and those novels, upon which people 
waste time they would waste their time on 
something else if these did not exist. Why 
deny them this pleasure? I maintain that the 
man or the woman who has ever contracted the 
real reading habit, and has developed the intel- 
lectual life, is not disturbed by all this flow of 
frothy matter which comes because we have 
fast presses, cheap paper, and cheap postage. 
It has no more to do with literature proper than 
the development of so many other popular pas- 
times. It is a popular delusion to conclude 
that, because an idle man reads a silly book, he 
would read a good book if he didn't have the 
silly one. That kind of man will never read a 
good book anyhow. It is your duty and your 
privilege as librarians to change his taste if you 
can. Therefore, I throw that question back at 
you. 

The next question is, " Why are the popular 
magazines not better? " That is, I suppose, why 
are they not more interesting to the intel- 
lectual class ? I can answer that question with 
some feeling and with some accuracy. I am 
absolutely sure of this : the reason why they 
are not more interesting to the intellectual 
class is that the intellectual class does not write 
in a more interesting way. There is no other 
answer. The magazines Heaven knows 
they are bad ! I should be the last man on 
earth to defend even the best of them. I have 
had my hand in making I should not under- 
take to say how many ; but I have never made 
one and I have never seen one made that was 
more than a respectable pile of debris beside 
the plan that it was first constructed by. The 
reason that you have this mere rubbish and 
trash in the magazines is because the poor 
editor cannot get anything better, and the 
audience that blames him is itself blame- 
worthy. Why do you not write better ? 

Now, when you talk about the degradation 
of style by the bad contents of the magazines, 



i68 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



I have one very emphatic word to say. The 
men who write, or who think that they write, 
our contemporary literature, I mean the 
men who have some happiness of style, 
seldom have any ideas. The men who have 
ideas cannot express them so that an educated 
man takes great pleasure in reading them. Of 
course, this is a sweeping generalization. No 
man need receive it unto himself, but he is at 
liberty to apply it to all his neighbors. The 
truth of the matter is, our style ought to better. 
Effective style is changing. The somewhat 
leisurely style of a generation or two ago 
pleased the small circle of readers within its 
reach, a mere little company which by com- 
parison might have been got into one room, a 
company who had leisure and who liked to 
read that kind of style. Now the great world 
is forging forward in all its departments of 
thought as in all its industrial development, and 
the style suited to our time is different. The 
man who would write convincingly or enter- 
tainingly of things of our day and our time, 
must write with more directness, with more 
clearness, with greater nervous force ; and the 
teaching of composition and the practice of 
style have not kept pace with the development 
of our intellectual life, at any rate in the 
United States. I would, as poor an editor as 
I am, contract without .the slightest hesitation 
to make a better magazine than you have ever 
seen, if I could find people who could write it 
well ; and every other editor who is struggling 
to do his duty would tell you the same thing if 
he spoke with the frankness that is provoked 
by such questions as these. 

Next, "Why do they that is, the maga- 
zines not publish more critical articles ? " In 
the first place, nobody cares for them ; in the 
second place, nobody produces them in an in- 
teresting fashion. A magazine deserves to die 
that is not interesting. Now, the gentlemen 
and the ladies young ones, generally who 
write critical literature, do not make it interest- 
ing. Besides, we have never taken to critical 
literature. There] is not enough kept alive in 
our language to make a row of books that would 
stretch across this table. They do exist per- 
haps in the libraries; but nobody ever asks you 
for them, and you never take them from the 
shelves. 

The next question is, " Is writing adequately 
paid for? " Great writing never was and never 



will be. Even good writing never will be. But 
in this day and generation, poor writing is paid 
for twice and thrice. Since I have known the 
current prices of ordinary writing the hack 
rates have doubled, and instead of living in 
Grub street, the hack can now live in an apart- 
ment. The ordinary rate for hack writing is 
higher than the wages paid to carpenters and 
plumbers and other journeymen ; but as for 
paying for literature never ! There is no 
way under heaven whereby it can be paid for. 
Yet this is true ; the income to authors is con- 
stantly rising, and there are tasks delightful 
and useful tasks in book making and in mag- 
azine making, which every successful publisher 
would be willing to pay munificently for, if he 
could find the men and the women who could 
do them well enough. 

Now, Mr. President, if I have answered these 
questions with any enlightenment, I should 
like to say a word about the relation of editors 
and publishers (for, as I have said, I regard 
them as one, because a man who edits a maga- 
zine, and a man who conducts a publishing 
house, does one and the same thing) to libra- 
ries and to librarians. We both serve the pub- 
lic. We may have whatever ideals we wish, 
yet our one great master is the reading public. 
That is the only master that is worth serving 
in a democracy ; and when you do your duty, 
and your institutions reach their highest use- 
fulness, and when I do my duty, and the insti- 
tution that I serve reaches its highest useful- 
ness, we recognize our obligations to a democ- 
racy, and we live up to them the best we can. 
Now, since we are both driving at the same 
great purpose, how do we work together, and 
how might we work together ? Our chief re- 
lations now, I fear, are financial. The publisher 
comes to the librarian, or sends to him, saying, 
" For the love of Heaven, buy my books." You 
answer him pugnaciously, and tell him that he 
charges too much for his books, when the truth 
of the matter is that all good, new books, are 
too cheap. They are so cheap that the publish- 
ers cannot well thrive on them. There is a con- 
fusion of thought here which it becomes you 
and the public you serve to take into account. 
Magazines are cheap because the advertiser 
pays for them. Newspapers are cheap because 
the advertiser pays for them. Books that go into 
great popular editions are cheap because when 
you put out a great popular edition, the cost per 



SEVENTH SESSION. 



169 



copy is lessened, and the books can be sold for 
conventional prices. But when you have books 
that are new, and the authors must be paid, 
and the publisher has to bring them out after 
great expense to maintain his plant, the current 
prices are lower than they ought to be, and 
lower than they will be, for books have not 
even the cheap postal rate that newspapers and 
periodicals have. I say this not at all with 
reference to your present contention with the 
Publishers' Association, but with reference to 
the general proposition that good new litera- 
ture, which is not published in great editions, 
and has not great popularity, is cheaper than 
it ought to be, or than it can afford to be. The 
margin of profit to the author and to the pub- 
lisher has become almost nothing on good 
books, of which" less than three or four or five 
thousand copies are sold ; and it is the sad ex- 
perience of many a publisher to find that he 
must sell two or three thousand copies of a 
book at the price that you and the public pay 
for it before he has paid his plant account, to 
say nothing of his costly running expenses. 

But it was not the financial relation between 
your profession and mine that I had it in mind 
to speak of. I should wish that your great pro- 
fession and my own should come into closer 
intellectual relationship, and it is this that I 
wish to speak of. 

You are good enough to report to us and 
you do a very genuine service, which every 
publisher appreciates when a book comes to 
you that is not well made. You report also 
inaccuracies which you find and which your 
readers find in books. That also is a favor 
which every honorable publisher appreciates. 
You also send to certain literary periodicals a 
list of the most popular new books. That is a 
certain advertising service, but it is transitory 
and amounts to little, for the first popularity of 
a book is a judgment of it that is not worth 
taking into serious consideration. Contem- 
porary criticism, for instance, of fiction, is not 
worth the reading or the writing down. Every 
publisher that has lived long enough to know 
something about literature appreciates that fact 
as well as you do. 

But there is one service which the librarians 
can render to the publisher which should ena- 
ble him, through you, to render a greater ser- 
vice to the public that we all serve. Report to 
us what the public wants. I mean the noble 



and dignified wants of the public. You are in 
a position to know what the intellegent com- 
munity about you desires for its intellectual 
development, for you occupy a closer relation 
to them than any other class of men and 
women in the world. If you would report to 
us what you think of the new books that come 
to you and what the intellectual people who 
frequent your libraries think of them, that 
would be a service that any honorable publisher 
would tt\ank you most heartily for. I think 
that every one of us who has a noble ideal 
would welcome the opportunity and even give 
a year or more of his working life if he could 
sit at your desks for a while and hear what you 
hear and get the point of view of the people as 
you get it. And when I say report to us what 
the people want, understand me, I do not 
mean the shallow and transitory popularity of 
some idea, but I mean their real intellectual 
need; for the publisher wishes to serve his 
public and to serve it so well that he will build 
himself an institution on that service. 

For instance, what kind of books, what great 
group of books, do you think ought to be taken 
in hand for the next generation of readers? In 
the memory of the youngest of us, American 
history has been re- written, and there were 
librarians twenty years ago who could have 
foretold that, who could have seen it; there 
were librarians one honored one in particu- 
lar, who had a great hand in doing it in his 
own way. More lately, almost since yester- 
day, there has sprung up a great group of 
books about nature study, many of them very 
excellent books. You saw how the teaching in 
the schools and the growing love of out-door 
life were bringing that about, and you could 
anticipate the publisher's knowledge of such 
opportunities as these if you would be kind 
enough to remember them. 

These would be positive services. Of course, 
really great books cannot be foretold. Really 
bad books you need never pay any attention to. 
They are not even worth discouraging, for 
they are sure to die young. But it is that great 
middle class of books, information books, 
books which serve a useful purpose, they form 
the greater part of what the people whom you 
serve read and the greater part of what the 
publishers publish. These are matters of cal- 
culation, and it would be a great service which 
you would render the public and that I assure 



170 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



you my profession would most heartily thank 
you for, if you gave us systematically the bene- 
fit of the conclusions which you draw from 
your daily contact with the people. 

The librarian a little while ago was a mere 
custodian of books ; then he became the dis- 
tributor of books; now he has become the di- 
rector of the reading of the people. That is a 
noble evolution. Now, if you will go one step 
further and so far anticipate the intellectual 
needs of the people as to suggest what ought to 
be done to meet those needs, then I say your 
profession will reach its fullest bloom, and we 
shall have closer intellectual relations. 

The publisher in the meantime is either a 
mere manfacturer of books or he is taunted by 
you as being a mere salesman of books, and he 
is asked why it is that the books which he pub- 
lishes are so bad. He also has a positive and 
creative function, for he can encourage the 
making of good books and build an institution 
if he can catch enough suggestions of the way 
the intellectual leaders of the people are going. 

All that I have said about books is applicable 
to magazines. If you find the magazines dull, 
as you do, else you must be easily contented, 
there is one way in which you can help to 
remedy the trouble. There is not a magazine 
editor in America I mean, one worth consid- 
ing, who is trying to do a serious task nobly 
who would not be under profound obligations 
to you, if you would write him and tell him 
what the people would be interested in, what 
would elevate them, and most of all tell him 
who under heaven can write it well. 

Ladies and gentlemen, we that inflict books 
upon you go through our routine year after 
year, sending you tons of trash and complain- 
ing that you do not buy it. You, in your 
routine, have card-cataloged all dead literature 
to a double death, so that a man who wishes to 
find one single fact in ten years can be sure to 
find that in your libraries whether he ever find 
a new book or not. And these things are in- 
evitable, I suppose ; they are necessary parts of 
our work; they are the routine whereby we 
live; but let neither of us forget that our great 
work is the work of institution-building, for 
that is the primary impulse of intellectual life. 
You are making the libraries one of the great- 
est and most useful institutions in our civiliza- 
tion. We are trying to make our publishing 
houses useful institutions also, but we shall all 



be duller than the dullest magazine and as 
monotonous as the most rigid card catalog if 
we do not throw into our labor some imagina- 
tive, some constructive purpose. If through 
all the routine of your work you see the final 
purpose of it, which is to quicken the intel- 
lectual life of the people, then your profes- 
sion becomes ennobled. Without that you are 
mere clerks, handing books across a counter, 
and without that I am a mere dealer in soiled 
paper bound between covers. 

The most impressive spectacle that has ever 
presented itself, I think, in the history of the 
world is the industrial development which we 
witness from one end of our country to the 
other. But it is only a forerunner, as I look at 
it, of an equally diversified and wonderful in- 
tellectual development of our democracy if we 
succeed really in quickening the intellectual 
life of all the people. Of all the people, I re- 
peat, for as many as you reach by the magnifi- 
cent development of your libraries whereby 
you send books home to sick children and to 
old women, and as many as we are supposed 
to reach by the grace of cheap paper and cheap 
postage for our magazines, yet the truth re- 
mains that we have not yet touched the fringes 
of the intelligence of this growing democracy. 
Let your imagination work upon the problem, 
how we may really reach the intelligence of the 
people so as to quicken it. Then when we do 
that, both your profession and mine will have 
the noblest task, I think, along with that of the 
school-master, that it was ever given men to do 
the intellectual guidance of a democracy. 

President BILLINGS : I know that I voice the 
sentiment of the Association in returning 
thanks to Mr. Page for his humorous, instruc- 
tive, and eloquent address. 

Miss ISABEL ELY LORD read a paper on 

THE GIFT EXTREMELY RARE. 

(See p. 34.) 
LINDSAY SWIFT spoke on 

PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLICITY. 1 

The secretary read the report of business 
transacted by the Council,* and presented the 
following resolutions as submitted by the Coun- 
cil : 

1 Mr. Swift's paper was not furnished for publication. 
J See transactions of Council and executive board, ap- 
pended. 



SEVENTH SESSION. 



171 



CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT. 

Resolved, That Andrew Carnegie's gift 
of one hundred thousand dollars, offered 
through the President of the American Library 
Association, be accepted, subject to the condi- 
tions of the donor, namely, that it be kept as a 
special fund, the income of which shall be ap- 
plied to the preparation and publication of 
such reading-lists, indexes, and other biblio- 
graphical and library aids as would be specially 
useful in the circulating libraries of this coun- 
try. 

Resolved, That the amount thus given be 
designated as The Carnegie Fund, and be 
placed in charge of the trustees of the Endow- 
ment Fund, whose treasurer is authorized to 
receive the gift on behalf of the Association. 



RELATIONS WITH THE BOOK TRADE. 

Whereas, The system of net prices maintained 
by the American Publishers' Association has 
resulted in an unexpectedly large increase in 
the price of books to libraries; and 

Whereas, That increase has worked great 
hardship upon libraries in limiting their pur- 
chases of current books, diminishing their 
power of meeting the demands of the public, 
and narrowing their influence and opportuni- 
ties as educational institutions; and 

Whereas, The interests of the library and the 
bookseller should be closely allied ; 

Resolved, That the American Library Associ- 
tion urges the American Publishers' Associa- 
tion to make such arrangement that libraries 
may secure an increased discount over the 
present allowance on net books, and may not 
be unduly restricted in dealing with book- 
sellers. 



It was Voted, That the report be approved 
and the resolution adopted. 

Dr. JAMES K. HOSMER, who was introduced 
as the newly elected president, presented the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS. 

Resolved, That the gift of one hundred 
thousand dollars to the American Library 
Association, representing the libraries of all 
sections of the country, as a fund for the pub- 
lication of bibliographies and lists for the 
general use of circulating libi-aries, is a timely 
and fitting complement to Andrew Carnegie's 
generous gifts to individual libraries, that 
the Association expresses to the donor its 
sincere and grateful thanks, and the assurance 



that it will do its best toward a wise and zeal- 
ous administration of the trust. 

Resolved, That the Association desires to 
express in warm terms its sense of the wisdom, 
persistence, and munificence of our esteemed 
friend and fellow-member, Mr. George lies, as 
conspicuously shown in planning and carrying 
to completion a work so very important as the 
just published "Guide to the literature of 
American history." 

Resolved, That the Association thanks 
heartily the Massachusetts Library Club, our 
hospitable host, for smoothing our way hither, 
for superintending so efficiently our enter- 
tainment, and for its kind thought as to post- 
conference enjoyments. 

Resolved, That the Association acknowl- 
edges with thanks the welcome of the Trus- 
tees and staff of the Boston Public Library at 
the beginning of the conference, 

Also, the hospitality of the Harvard Univer- 
sity and of the Cambridge Public Libraries on 
June i6th, during the visit to Cambridge, 

Also, the courtesy of the City of Boston in 
affording the harbor excursion, and of the un- 
lyiown friend who gave us the trolley ride. 

Resolved, That the Association acknowl- 
edges with gratitude the courtesy of Miss 
Katharine P. and Miss Louise Loring in ex- 
tending to us the hospitalities of Burnside, 
Beverly, on the afternoon of June i7th, 

Also, the courtesy of Mr. A. A. Covell and 
the Magnolia Public Library for the use of 
Library Hall, free of charge, for meetings 
throughout the conference, 

Also, the good services of the proprietors of 
the New Magnolia, the Oceanside, and the 
Hesperus, throughout this happy meeting of 
1902. 

J. K. HOSMER, 1 ~ ... 

C. W. ANDREWS, I Commtttee on 

KATHARINE SHARP, ) 



It was Voted, That the report be unanimously 
accepted. 

Dr. BILLINGS : I ask the Association to ac- 
cept my very sincere thanks for the kind way 
in which they have seconded my effort to make 
the programs of the general session, at all 
events, go off on time and without interrup- 
tion. I appreciate it highly. I know that 
without such aid it would have been a failure. 
I now turn over this historic gavel of the As- 
sociation to you, Mr. President, and say good- 

by- 

Adjourned 10.30 P. M. 



1/2 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



COLLEGE AND REFERENCE SECTION. 



TTHE College and Reference Section of the 
American Library Association held a meet- 
ing in Library Hall, Magnolia, Mass., on the 
morning of June 18. The chairman, Azariah 
S. Root, presided, and in the absence of 
Walter M. Smith, Charles Alexander Nelson 
was appointed secretary pro tern. The meeting 
was called to order at 9.45, and was opened 
with an address by ANDERSON H. HOPKINS on 

THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY : ITS ORGANIZATION 

AND ITS RELATION TO THE OTHER 

DEPARTMENTS. 

(See p. 10.) 

The chairman called upon W. C. Lane for a 
review of Mr. Hopkins' paper. 

W. C. LANE : Mr. Chairman, I feel somewhat 
as if I were in the place of Balaam, whom the 
king of the Moabites called to help him by 
cursing the children of Israel. I do not know 
whether it will be my fate that my steed will 
refuse to go forward, and perhaps when I come 
to the point I shall find no words with which 
to curse. If, on the other hand, I succeed in 
cursing roundly, I hope Mr. Hopkins will not 
mind. 

In my opinion the most interesting point 
in Mr. Hopkins' paper was what he had to say 
in regard to the connection of the museum and 
the library. I am inclined to take issue with 
what he said at first concerning the relation of 
the laboratory to these two. But this he modi- 
fied a little in the latter part of his paper. At 
first he distinguished the laboratory from the 
museum on the ground that the latter con- 
tained permanent and the former temporary 
material material which is used up in the 
using. It seems to me that a better ground on 
which to establish the relation of these three 
departments is that the library and the museum 
both contain the material of research, while 
the laboratory is the place where it is used. 
From this point of view, the special seminary 
or departmental library should be regarded as 
a laboratory, and it in fact bears the same re- 
lation to the general library that a natural 
science laboratory bears, or should bear, to the 
museum. Certain subjects such as botany, 
zoology, geology, mineralogy, have to be 



studied in the museum, and their laboratories 
should be in the museum. Other subjects, like 
chemistry and physics, do not require collec- 
tions of specimens to the same degree as the 
former, and their buildings may be separate 
from both museum and library. Other sub- 
jects, such as history, literature, and economics, 
use as their material of study the collections of 
the library, and use them in very much the 
same way as the naturalist uses the collections 
of the museum. The library, or some part of 
it, is itself their laboratory. Let us then con- 
sider the laboratory as an adjunct of the 
museum and the library rather than of the 
school. 

I had not realized, until Mr. Hopkins spoke 
of it, that scientific men commonly feel con- 
tempt for the museum. I heard Mr. Agassiz 
at the University Museum in Cambridge the 
other day, in an address which summed up in 
a most interesting way the history of that 
museum, speak of the Harvard Museum as the 
only one which was organized on a scientific 
basis as a means of instruction. I was not 
prepared at the time to accept his statement, 
but if what Mr. Hopkins says of the attitude of 
scientific men is true, the cause must be found 
in the imperfect organization to which Mr. 
Agassiz alludes. I am happy, from daily ob- 
servation, to bear testimony to the fact that 
the standing and the methods of the University 
Museum at Harvard are quite different from 
this. It is the necessary working place of the 
naturalist, and all the instruction in natural 
history is centred there. 

Now this brings up what, it seems to me, 
will be a very important point for us to consider 
in the future in regard to our libraries. We 
are naturally inclined to strengthen the uni- 
versity library as a whole and to keep it com- 
prehensive and well filled out on every side, 
and to resent any proposed division of it into 
parts. Some universities, it is true, have 
started on the opposite principle, and have a 
library divided up into many groups without 
any strong central library, or making a central 
library simply of what is left over, so to speak, 
from the departments. Those of us who are 
connected with older libraries, which have 



COLLEGE SECTION. 



173 



started on the other principle, mistrust the 
final outcome of the newer multiple establish- 
ments. But if you will take into account what 
Mr. Hopkins has said this morning, and what 
is very true in regard to the connection of the 
museum and the library, it may yet appear 
that the university library must eventually be 
split into two great divisions one, a scientific 
division to be administered in direct connection 
with the museum, so that the books shall be 
directly at hand for the scientific worker, the 
other, the historical, literary, and economic 
division. The dividing line is not easy to 
draw. There is no natural line of cleavage of 
this kind, and perhaps the difficulties of forcing 
one are too great; but if it is to be made, it 
should, in my opinion, be made here, once for 
all, rather than in a multitude of different 
directions. Otherwise, the library is scattered 
into an indefinite number of small fragmentary 
collections. This does not of course affect the 
question of maintaining special supplementary 
reference libraries for laboratory use. 

We come now to another point that Mr. 
Hopkins dwelt upon the administrative or- 
ganization of the library. He says that the 
library is co-extensive with the university, by 
which is meant, I suppose, that it is of almost 
equal use to all departments of the university 
and must provide for all departments. That is 
perfectly true, but I do not see that it necessa- 
rily follows as Mr. Hopkins took for granted 
that its administration should be modelled 
after the administration of the university. Its 
administration should be directed, of course, to 
securing the best result in what it undertakes 
to do; but the fact that it has many interests 
and that it is allied to many departments does 
not make its organization necessarily parallel 
to the organization of the university. It has 
its external and its internal relations, to be 
sure, but why its directorate should be com- 
posed of the three persons that Mr. Hopkins 
has named, I do not see. The other two be- 
sides the librarian represent, I suppose, the 
faculty and the board of trust, the president 
of the university representing the faculty inter- 
est and the president of the board of trust rep- 
resenting the financial direction of the insti- 
tution. These two presidents are usually one 
and the same person ; and if they are I see no 
reason why, as Mr. Hopkins has suggested, the 
board of trust need have another representative 



beside the president of the university. As the 
matter looks to me, it is better stated in this 
way : The librarian is the responsible ex- 
ecutive head who directs the current course of 
the library's administration. He needs the 
advice of two bodies; (i) of representatives 
from the faculty on the one hand, for whose 
benefit he works; and (2) of his staff on the 
other hand, who have the carrying out of the 
policy of the library in its details. He needs 
advice from those two. He needs control on 
the other hand from the president of the uni- 
versity representing the board of trust, because 
the board of trust has the final direction of the 
policy of the university and has to supply the 
means for carrying on whatever is done. 

As to the faculty and their relation to the 
library, it is quite true that members of the 
faculty are not unprejudiced advisers. Each 
man naturally sees his own need clearest, and 
the reason why a committee of the faculty 
should not have the ultimate direction of the 
library, it seems to me, lies here rather than on 
the ground that the members of the faculty are 
not good administrators. I should take issue 
with Mr. Hopkins entirely in regard to his 
statement that professors are not good adminis- 
trators. As a matter of fact, professors have 
an immense amount of administrative detail to 
look after, and must have. The good old gen- 
tleman whom Mr. Hopkins told us about, of 
course, was not fitted for that kind of work, and 
should not have been put in an administrative 
position. But there is an immense amount of 
committee work which members of the faculty 
have to do and which they do better than any 
one else could. That a man is a professor and 
a man of learning does not prevent his being 
a good administrative officer. In fact, one 
trouble with our colleges, it seems to me, is 
that professors have too much administrative 
work thrust upon them; and the difficulty is, 
not that the administrative work is poorly 
done, but that the professor is prevented from 
doing other more important things. 

As to the disposition of the library's fund, I 
think there is another point of view to be 
taken. Mr. Hopkins, if I remember rightly, 
advocated dividing the income of the library 
among different fields of literature in propor- 
tion to the productivity of those fields. It 
seems to me that would be a mistake. The 
university library, despite its name of univer- 



174 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



sity, is not trying to build up a universal col- 
lection equally well-rounded on all sides. I 
doubt if any library in the country is trying to 
do that except the Library of Congress, and 
even in that case, I imagine, this cannot be 
said to be its present aim, but is rather some- 
thing which it has before it in the future. A 
university library is collecting material for the 
use of its different departments, and the division 
of its income surely should be according to the 
needs of the several departments and the value 
of the material required rather than the amount 
of the material produced. To do that I really 
think that a committee of the faculty is practi- 
cally the best body that can be found. Of 
course, all departments are not represented on 
that committee. They cannot be without 
making it unwieldy, but I think the interests 
of the teaching body are best served if the gen- 
eral division of the fund is left to them rather 
than placed solely in the hands of the librarian 
and his staff. It is quite true that it may be 
wise to leave a moderate balance unappropri- 
ated in the librarian's keeping to be used for 
matters which are not well provided for other- 
wise, but that does not affect the general state- 
ment that the committee of the faculty is the 
best body to make that division. 

Mr. Hopkins has referred to a third body to 
be represented, the directorate being the first, 
the faculty the second, and the board of trust 
the third. I see no occasion for a special com- 
mittee from the board of trust. It seems to me 
that that is only introduced to get a theoretical 
balance between the library and the university 
as a whole. Its object as stated is to provide 
funds and to audit accounts. The auditing of 
accounts surely belongs to the treasurer and 
his office. The provision of funds is a matter 
for consideration by the board of trust as a 
whole, provided the funds are not already de- 
termined to their use by bequest. 

The CHAIRMAN : In order to start the dis- 
cussion, I am going to call upon Dr. Canfield. 
Dr. Canfield has served a long time as mem- 
ber of a board of trust of one of our important 
colleges, he has been president of two or three 
colleges, and has come in contact with this sub- 
ject from the faculty's side, and he is now 
librarian of one of our greatest universities. 

Dr. J. H. CANFIELD: If you will permit me, 
I will simply state the conclusions reached 
from experience and observation with regard 



to two phases of university library work and 
administration. 

The purchase of books, maps, charts, and 
other printed material for the use of the univer- 
sity seems to fall naturally into three classes. 
First, certain material is needed by the head 
of each department in connection with his pro- 
fessional work. The university has a perfect 
right to expect that the head of every depart- 
ment will make expenditures and quite large 
expenditures out of his own purse in the line 
of his own work, especially when the result of 
that work may be more immediately beneficial 
to him than to the university. But there is a 
large amount of printed material which he can- 
not be expected to secure at his own expense, 
and the university which wisely administers 
its purchases will see that the head of each de- 
partment has for his own use and for the use of 
his assistants certain material along these lines. 
This will be in his own room continually, 
not to be withdrawn, at least not to be 
withdrawn from the university campus or 
grounds. It will be continually there, be- 
cause he never knows when he wishes to use 
it, and when he wishes it, he wishes it just as 
the Texas gentleman does his revolver, right 
away ! It must be where he can get at it, and 
where his assistants can get at it at any mo- 
ment. It ought not to be subject to the call of 
other people. That means that there will be 
built up in the private office of the head of 
each department a small library at the ex- 
pense of the university. It will never be a 
very large library, and it will be for his own 
immediate use and the use of his assistants. 
That library, it seems to me, ought to be re- 
garded as departmental equipment and not as 
a part of the university library. The librarian 
of the university may very properly assist in 
the purchase of that material on request. The 
department may very properly receive the ad- 
vantage of all discounts and all contracts that 
the librarian may make. The librarian may 
very properly assume the burden of purchas- 
ing and of the various details of accounting, 
but that collection will not constitute a part of 
the university library in any sense of the word, 
if we are to use good common sense in library 
matters. 

Then there will be another collection of 
books, charts, and other printed illustrative 
matter, that will be for the use not only of the 



COLLEGE SECTION. 



175 



head of the department and his assistants, but 
for the students in the department, for their 
immediate use, for their ready reference. In 
the laboratory of the science department these 
books will naturally touch the work that is 
done in the laboratory. They are the books 
that the laboratory worker needs at his elbow. 
It is not always convenient for him to take off 
his apron and wash his hands and roll down 
his shirt sleeves and put on his coat and go 
over to the university library and get a book; 
and it is not always convenient for him to wait 
until he can telephone and get the book by a 
messenger, even though he may get it quickly. 
There is a certain amount of printed material 
needed in that science laboratory, and there is 
a certain amount of printed material needed in 
the workroom, properly " laboratory," what- 
ever you may call it, of every department. This 
collection will not be very large at first; it will 
become larger as the department becomes more 
important and as the university becomes im- 
portant, but it will never be very large. 

I do not think that this is a part of the uni- 
versity library, accurately speaking. It is a 
part of the departmental equipment, and it 
ought to be purchased by departmental funds. 
That material ought not to be subject to the 
call of an outsider. No one should take it 
away. If it is taken away, you will find it is 
taken at exactly the time it is most needed. 
Just when you want it most, vou cannot have 
it because somebody else has it. Just when 
you are using it, somebody else wants it. It is 
disappointing both ways to treat this as part of 
the library. 

The university library, as it seems to me, 
should include only those books and that 
printed material of any and every description 
which are readily accessible to the entire uni- 
versity community. Anything that is accessible 
to a small portion of the university community 
only, anything that is not readily accessible 
that is, within reasonable call and within reas- 
onable reach ought not to be called a part of 
the university library. President Eliot made 
an excellent point last evening when he said 
that we have overdone this matter of rapid ser- 
vice that we think we must be ready to sup- 
ply everything, reasonable or unreasonable, at 
a moment's notice. But all the printed material 
which is readily accessible to the entire univer- 
sity public constitutes the university library. 



This threefold division of printed matter 
will mean necessarily a large amount of dupli- 
cation, but that is unavoidable if the work is 
to be done efficiently. Until you are able to 
duplicate, as a matter of course, you will be 
obliged to devise and endure makeshifts to 
accomplish that which I have undertaken to 
outline. We are poor at Columbia University, 
I think on the whole we are the poorest insti- 
tution in the country. We are obliged, there- 
fore, to go without any large amount of dupli- 
cation, and place at the service of the laboratory 
books and other printed material subject to 
the call of the outside world. We know, how- 
ever, how confusing and vexatious and how 
wearisome and disappointing that is and always 
will be. The hours of the laboratories are 
about one-half the hours of the library, and 
unless the collection is brought back at the 
close of each laboratory day it is locked up ; 
we have to find a janitor, and get a light and 
the keys, and go and make search for the book. 
When we have found it and taken it, nobody 
is responsible. It is gone. The next morning 
the head of the department simply knows it is 
not in place, and who had it and how and 
when and where he knows not. The librarian 
knows even less about what the department 
has done with it. But until your resources 
enable you to enter very largely upon the proc- 
ess of duplication, you must put up with 
makeshifts in that way. I am quite confident 
that theoretically the lines which I have 
indicated are the correct and natural lines which 
the purchase of materials and supplies for the 
work of the university will follow. 

When it comes to the division of money, 
I believe very thoroughly in dividing the 
financial resources among the departments in 
proportion to the use which the departments 
show they have made of those resources. A 
university library is absolutely unlike a public 
library in that it is necessarily and wisely built 
up along the lines of greatest activity. The 
lines of least resistence in the university are 
the lines of greatest activity, the lines of great- 
est use. Any one who is at all competent to 
administer the affairs of a university library 
ought to know very easily and very continu- 
ously the departments which are making the 
most and the best use of the books that are 
given out. I know it is worth a great deal to 
develop things symmetrically and harmoni- 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



ously and all that, but I cannot understand why 
it is of any earthly consequence to put a book 
on the shelf for a department the head of which 
does not care for it, does not know it is there, 
forgets it is there when you tell him, never 
refers to it, and does not call the attention of 
his students to it. Here is a department whose 
students are hungry for that which you are 
able to give them in only a small proportion 
of their need at best. Why should you take 
from them even a single volume to give to 
those who do not care for it at all ? So in the 
libraries with which I have had the privilege 
of being connected directly or indirectly in the 
past, it has always been the policy of the ad- 
ministrative body to divide the annual revenues 
according to the uses which have been made 
during the closing year. And that does not 
mean the use which is sometimes made in the 
last thirty days of the year, either. There are 
some departments which come in with a rush 
at the last of the year to spend their balances. 
But it means the use made by departments which 
have shown evident wisdom during the year in 
the expenditure of the resources granted them. 

The policy of Columbia is to distribute the 
funds about as I have indicated. That distri- 
bution is made by the librarian, with the con- 
sent of the president of the university. The 
librarian makes that distribution after a careful 
consideration of the statistics of the order de- 
partment and of the loan department. It 
would be a very unwise administrator who 
should undertake to do that piece of work 
hastily. We reserve a small amount, possibly 
about fifteen per cent, of our total resources, 
for many things in which the departments are 
not particularly interested as such ; and that is 
put into the hands of the librarian and is called 
the " Librarian's Reserve." Generally, the de- 
partments beg it away from him before the 
year is half over, and it does not serve the gen- 
eral purposes for which it was intended, but it 
does serve to supplement, to " piece out," to 
meet extraordinary demands and unexpected 
emergencies ; and also to meet some of the 
more general demands. 

Those are the only two points I care to touch 
upon the general division of the books and 
other printed matter, and the method by which 
the division is made, and the lines along which 
it seems to me, after years of experience and 
observation, purchases ought to be made. 



The CHAIRMAN : We have ten or fifteen 
minutes which we can devote to a general dis- 
cussion if any one is so disposed. 

W. I. FLETCHER : I am inclined to say a 
word regarding the distinction between the 
university or the college library and the books 
which are bought for the uses of departments. 
With us at Amherst this matter seems to work 
out about as it does at Columbia. But I have 
long lamented that we were not, and did not 
seem to be able to be, building up a library. And 
by "a library" in that sense, I mean a collec- 
tion of books for educative purposes, for culture 
purposes. A college or university exists for 
education. Now, are we not in some danger 
of losing sight of the fact that we are to carry 
out the principles of culture through the 
library? I have observed that in the early days 
of Amherst College the library funds were used 
in such a way as to build up a library, and that 
was because the idea of departments develop- 
ing on a separate basis and calling for books 
accordingly had not arisen. Now that devel- 
opment has come and books are called for by 
departments to such an extent that we are 
building up a series of department collections, 
largely made up of books not in the general 
library, whereas in the old times the idea of 
the library committee was to build up a 
rounded library for culture purposes. We can- 
not carry out that idea; we cannot afford to 
buy anything that is not immediately called for 
in connection with the instruction in the col- 
lege. I suppose if that is true of the college it 
is much more true of the university. But I 
think we ought to do a great deal more than 
we are doing to build up a culture library in the 
university and the college. Such a library 
should consist largely of books that are a de- 
light to the eye, attractive outwardly, books 
of the best editions. The work of such a li- 
brary should be largely to attract students to 
books and to literature, either in scientific lines 
or elsewhere. For example, books of science 
that the scientific man says are popular books 
and therefore he does not want them, may be 
the very thing that will attract the unscientific 
young man to science, although the professor 
may think them useless. So in all depart- 
ments. I don't know how we are going to do 
it, but I think we should lay stress on that 
idea. 

H. H. BALLARD : College libraries have 



COLLEGE SECTION. 



177 



been run heretofore in the interests of the fac- 
ulty. It has been difficult for students to get 
access even to the books which have been se- 
lected for their use by the heads of departments. 
In many places, the libraries are only open for 
short periods and at times when it is difficult 
for students to use them, and when they do go 
they have difficulty in getting free access 
to the books. The time is coming when col- 
lege and university libraries will be run in the 
interests of the student body, and that body 
ought to have an advisory representation on 
the governing board. 

Miss K. L. SHARP : The plan of administra- 
tion of the University of Illinois is perhaps 
rather unusual. The board of trustees appoint 
a library committee of five of their own num- 
ber. During the past five years their duty 
has consisted in receiving a copy of the annual 
report of the librarian. The acting library com- 
mittee consists of the president of the univer- 
sity) the business manager of the university, 
and the head librarian. This committee dis- 
tributes the funds to the departments of the 
university, reserving a general fund, which is 
at the disposal of the librarian, a fund for bind- 
ing for all of the departments of the university, 
and a fund for current subscriptions. There 
has been a very peaceful administration under 
this plan for the past five years, and I can 
speak for its success in at least that one insti- 
tution. 

Mr. HOPKINS : The one instance which Miss 
Sharp has cited has been well known to me for 
a number of years. There is another univer- 
sity library that I could name that would have 
very readily and gladly made the change from 
the old style to the new. 

There are a few points I should like to reply 
to in Mr. Lane's criticism. He said that it was 
not necessary that the government of the uni- 
versity library should parallel the government 
of the university. That is all true enough. 
Neither is it necessary because there are two 
governments whose realms are nearly co-exten- 
sive, that both of them should be republics, but 
most of us think that it would be better that 
they should be republics. The co-extensive- 
ness, of course, does not absolutely require the 
same sort of government, but if you have a 
really good form of government in one place 
it might not be at all bad to apply it to the 
other also. The fact that the "good old 



gentleman " whom I mentioned was not a man 
that Harvard would have thought of putting 
into an administrative place, did not hinder 
others from doing just that thing. I must take 
exception to the committee of the faculty being 
on the book fund. Of course, as a body, they 
of the faculties are good and learned gentle- 
men, but some of them are neither good nor 
learned. 

It is the business of the university to be a 
university, and it is the business of a university 
library to be a university library. When I 
spoke of a well-rounded collection, I did not 
mean that it should be the business of a uni- 
versity necessarily to make a collection of the 
reports of institutions for the insane, to use 
the instance cited by Dr. Billings last evening, 
but by all means the university library should 
be a well-rounded collection of good literature. 
Mr. Fletcher has cited the value of such a col- 
lection. If it happens that you have a man for 
one year or two years or ten years or a life- 
time in any department who is not interested 
enough or has not knowledge enough to round 
out the literature of his department, 'it ought 
to be rounded out for him. 

I would ask Dr. Canfield at once whose needs 
he is supplying. Is he supplying only the 
professors? Isn't he trying to supply the stu- 
dents ? There may be a hundred students under 
that professor who does not care anything 
about his field of work. I remember one in- 
stance of a man who was in a professor's chair 
and who had been assigned one hundred dol- 
lars, and he came into the library and asked 
one of the under-assistants to help him find 
something to buy. He wanted to expend his 
one hundred dollars. If your administrator is 
what he ought to be, he ought to be looking 
over the whole field of literature. He ought 
to have with him others who are doing much 
the same thing and specializing in some 
direction, and his cabinet ought to be able to 
apportion the fund in such a way that all 
departments would be looked after to a reason- 
able extent, without crippling other depart- 
ments where effective work is being done. 

C. H. GOULD : In all that has been said there 
seems to have been no reference made to that 
important department of science which may be 
called the new engineering sciences. Mr. Lane 
spoke of the natural history sciences, but I 
should like to know what Mr. Hopkins or 



1 7 8 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



perhaps Mr. Lane would propose to do with 
the books relating more particularly to the 
applied sciences whether they would think it 
wise to keep those in the university library or 
whether, as a great many heads of the depart- 
ments want those books, they should be par- 
ticularly allotted to the departmental libraries? 

Mr. HOPKINS : With all due deference to 
what Dr. Canfield has said, theoretically every 
scrap of printed matter belonging to the uni- 
versity belongs to the university library. I 
have no objection to the departmental equip- 
ment; all depends on how it is administered. 
If it is not to be administered it cannot be a 
part of the university library. It then belongs 
in the same category with the bricks and mor- 
tar so far as the library is concerned. If it is 
purchased through and is administered by the 
university library, no matter how slight the 
touch may be, it is a part of the university 
library. That is my general answer, not 
merely for applied sciences, but for all other 
departmental subjects. Departmental libraries 
are good in their places, but do not forget the 
great central collection. Departmental libra- 
ries, for the most part, should duplicate mate- 
rial already in the university library. 

N. D. C. HODGES read a paper on 

BIBLIOGRAPHIES VS. DICTIONARY CATALOGS. 

When I was asked by the chairman of this 
section to prepare a paper on the " advantages 
of bibliographies as against dictionary cata- 
logs," Professor Root informed me that the 
beauties of dictionary catalogs would be set 
forth by Miss Kroeger. In my trepidation, I 
ventured to appeal to those members of the 
staff at the Cincinnati Public Library who are 
doing reference work. I cannot say that I told 
them which side I was to take in the discussion 
or that I was to argue for either side. One and 
all, they have handed me written statements 
which are to the effect that I am wrong and that 
for the ordinary reference work of a public li- 
brary a dictionary catalog is all-essential. The 
question of the average reader is not what litera- 
ture exists upon this subject or that, but " what 
book is there in this library which will give me 
the information I want and what is its shelf 
number? " 

I am in an extremely tight place. Those 
whom I assumed to be my friends have deserted 
me. Yet this country is exhausting its library 



resources each year probably to the amount of 
a million dollars in the preparation of diction- 
ary catalogs for the thousand and one libraries, 
when this work might be done by one catalog- 
ing force for all libraries. 

Mr. Fletcher, in his preface to the " A. L. A. 
index to general literature," states that its pur- 
pose is " to index, as far as possible, all books 
common in our libraries which treat several 
subjects under one title and to the contents 
of which the ordinary catalog furnishes no 
guide, although they are generally treated an- 
alytically in the more elaborate library cata- 
logs." Mr. Fletcher believes it possible to 
save libraries in the future from the necessity 
of repeating each for itself this analytical work, 
as well as to place its results within reach of 
all libraries and of individual literary workers. 
But the average public library reader scorns 
the " A. L. A. index to general literature " 
simply because it does not set forth whether 
his own library contains the books analyzed 
and does not give him the shelf marks of such 
books as are in that library. 

I have had two hobby-horses. On one I have 
charged against the Decimal classification, and 
the other I have mounted when I would attack 
dictionary cataloging, which seems to me so 
wasteful when repeated over and over again. I 
am not so sure that I am equal to riding both 
my hobbies at the same time. 

Do not think because I dismount from one 
hobby that I shall abandon hobbies altogether. 
I do it simply that I may ride the second with 
the greater, confidence. Are we spending each 
year a million dollars on dictionary cataloging, 
or are we spending only a hundred thousand, 
or does the sum lie between those figures? We 
are surely spending a good deal of money, 
much more than would be needed to bring out 
each year an " A. L. A. index to general liter- 
ature." Not necessarily an "A. L. A. index to 
general literature " on exactly the lines followed 
in the edition of 1901, but a printed dictionary 
catalog, in several volumes, of ten or twelve 
thousand books. Perhaps to save expense an- 
nual supplements could be issued on the cumu- 
lative plan ; but let accepted shelf marks, 
according to the Decimal classification, be 
placed against each entry. The Public Library 
of Cincinnati could easily afford to contribute 
a thousand dollars each year towards the publi- 
cation of such a printed dictionary catalog of 



COLLEGE SECTION. 



179 



the most serviceable books. People who de- 
mand catalogs have no conception of their cost. 
They do not know that the cost of cataloging 
averages somewhere between 50 cents and 
$1.25 a title. None of us know exactly what 
this cataloging item amounts to, but it is a 
heavy charge on library resources. 

We are going to have in Cincinnati six Car- 
negie branch libraries of eight to twelve thou- 
sand volumes each. I expect to see all of these 
books on open shelves. There are now in the 
main library more than 50 ooo volumes on open 
shelves. They are not especially well classified. 
Every large library whose history stretches 
back for fifty years, so far as I have experience, 
has its books in a more or less badly shuffled 
condition. We are working step by step to 
put the books on open shelves in better order. 
When books are well classified on open shelves, 
I believe they furnish an excellent index to 
knowledge. Seldom, if ever, have I used a 
dictionary catalog as it is supposed to be used. 
I have used a dictionary catalog simply to 
get a starter on a subject, to find in what part 
of a library books on a certain subject were to 
be found, to get the latest material, whether 
magazine article or book chapter. In recent 
books and magazine articles are almost invari- 
ably printed references to the literary material 
upon which they were built up Having these 
recent references, a reader is possessed of the 
keys to the older literature. 

I am sceptical about dictionary cataloging 
when attempted by a small band of catalogers 
for many subjects. It has been stated that not 
ten per cent, of the subjects now taught at 
Harvard College could have been taught at the 
beginning of the nineteenth century. Ninety 
per cent, of the book knowledge of to-day is of 
comparatively recent creation. The men and 
women who can intelligently index this mate- 
rial are few and far between, and no one person 
can intelligently index more than, we will say, 
for the purposes of argument, one per cent, of 
the whole store of human knowledge. I be- 
lieve that librarians are making a mistake in 
some of the indexing of scientific literature 
which they have recently undertaken. I do 
not believe that much scientific material, for 
instance, lies buried for fault of sufficient refer- 
ence to it. The German Jahrbiicher and the 
system of correspondence among specialists the 
world over, brings to the knowledge of all 



those interested every important paper in what- 
ever department it may belong. 

We have many good bibliographies. Poole's 
Index is used without question; the others lie 
neglected on library shelves. For seventy-five 
years there has been published in Berlin a 
Poole's Index of the technical journals, and yet 
it has been my experience not to find a single 
scientific man who knew of the existence of 
this index until I called his attention to it. 
Human beings are lazy, and the majority of the 
patrons of a public library want a little infor- 
mation, not much, and want it quickly without 
the circumlocution of bibliographies. I hope 
that Cincinnati may be spared the necessity of 
dictionary cataloging its large collection, which 
should not differ essentially from other equally 
large collections of books in other parts of the 
country. I wish we all might have a dictionary 
catalog often, fifteen, or twenty thousand vol- 
umes, a modified " A. L. A. index to gen- 
eral literature" with the generally accepted 
Decimal classification shelf-marks against each 
entry. Such a printed catalog would serve 
most purposes in Cincinnati. Ten or twenty 
thousand well chosen volumes are enough to 
answer most calls on a public library. The 
other books can be routed out for scholars by 
competent reference librarians or will be known 
to them by author and title. 

I believe in the separation of books into the 
two classes of dead books and live books. It is 
a separation that is bound to come, and the 
small libraries of the country should limit 
themselves rigidly to the books which are most 
serviceable. If a printed catalog in book form 
of the ten or twelve thousand most " live " books 
is not feasible, certainly a printed card catalog 
of such a collection could be made. I can see 
no necessity of there being catalogers in more 
than a dozen or twenty libraries of the country. 
The small town libraries, except for local mat- 
ter, should select their books from a list ap- 
proved by a central council of the American 
Library Association, if you will, and should re- 
ceive with the books cards for their catalog. 
Each year the central council could recom- 
mend that certain books be discarded so that 
the small libraries should never be over-bur- 
dened and these should learn to depend on loans 
from larger libraries on the rare occasions 
when the dead books might be called for. The 
six Carnegie branches in Cincinnati need not 



i8o 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



have any individuality. They need not be all 
of the same size, but they might well be of the 
class of standard small libraries which such a 
system would create. There are exceptions to 
every rule. A large percentage of some foreign 
element in the population of a city ward might 
make advisable a departure from the standard 
in the selection of books for a branch in that 
ward, but of this I am not so sure. This may 
seem a very mechanical way of running a small 
library, but library work is a business and every 
means for saving money should be adopted 

I believe it is proposed to reprint on cards 
the "A. L. A. catalog" of five thousand vol- 
umes, presumably with additions and correc- 
tions. This impresses me as an excellent sug- 
gestion and I hope it will be carried out. One 
reason why librarians cling to their dead books 
is that they have expended so much labor on 
their classification and cataloging in years past 
that they are loath to see the cards representing 
this labor routed out of their dictionary cata- 
logs. A dictionary catalog is in itself a me- 
chanical device for getting at the resources of a 
library. An intelligent librarian with a culti- 
vated book-sense can handle a well-classified 
collection of ten or twenty thousand volumes 
much more effectively for the readers than the 
readers themselves can get at their material 
through a dictionary catalog. If I were given 
the choice of looking up the literature of a 
subject in a large library through either a well- 
made dictionary catalog or a well-classified col- 
lection of ten or twenty thousand volumes on 
open shelves with an author finding list of the 
balance of the collection, I would take the 
books and riot the catalog. Only a small per- 
centage of all that exists in a collection of 
books is brought out in the best dictionary 
catalogs, partly because of the great variety of 
material to be brought out and partly because 
any one cataloger is capable of subject catalog- 
ing so small a fraction of the total of human 
knowledge. For the person seeking a little 
information I would supply a well classified 
collection of ten thousand volumes on open 
shelves in charge of an intelligent reference 
librarian and if these books are live books, as 
they should be, with proper indexes and bibli- 
ographies, they will themselves be the keys to 
the world's literature which scholars may 
chance to need. We are told that children can 



be trained to use a dictionary catalog : I would 
rather see them trained to use books. 

Miss ALICE B. KROEGER followed with a 
paper on 

DICTIONARY CATALOGS VS. BIBLIOGRAPHIES. 

You have hfard the arguments against dic- 
tionary catalogs and I am now to convince you 
that bibliographies will not take the place of 
the dictionary catalog. Mr. Hodges acknowl- 
edges in advance that the members of his staff 
all disagree with him and are on my side of the 
question. I believe that the majority of libra- 
rians, especially those in public libraries, will 
side against him and with his staff in favor of 
the dictionary catalog, with its analytics, double 
entries, and cross references. 

When the A. L. A. Publishing Board, not 
many years ago, began to furnish printed cards 
for parts of books, I questioned the use of sub- 
scribing to these cards when an excellent and 
more compact index to the same books was 
furnished in the "Annual literary index," which 
in time would be absorbed in the " A. L. A 
Index to general literature." It needed only a 
brief experience to convert me to the opinion 
that it was necessary to repeat such analytic 
work in the card catalog in order to make it of 
any considerable use to the library. 

We talk much about libraries spending mil- 
lions of dollars on cataloging. Do we not 
perhaps exaggerate the amount? At least do 
we sufficiently consider the value of such work? 
Is not a small collection of books well selected 
and thoroughly cataloged generally more useful 
than a much larger one not so well cataloged? 
I think many of us have had experience in 
using both kinds and can testify to the great 
value of a good catalog. 

Mr. Hodges estimates the cost of cataloging 
at from fifty cents to $1.25 per volume. This 
is too large an estimate for the general library, 
but granting his figures, it must be remembered 
that the Library of Congress printed cards will 
reduce the cost for current publications. This 
is especially true where analyticals are largely 
used in the catalog. And in addition, the 
A. L. A. Publishing Board is doing much to 
make analytic work less costly by analyzing 
and printing cards for important sets of books, 
to say nothing of the more extensive work in 
printing cards for articles contained in about 



COLLEGE SECTION. 



181 



one hundred and eighty-five technical periodi- 
cals. There is now very little question that a 
central bureau, whether Library of Congress, 
A. L. A., or any other, can catalog books for 
libraries at less cost than the libraries can do 
the work separately. I believe also that the 
cost of card cataloging can be still further 
lowered by the more general use of the type- 
writer, which heretofore has been too much 
neglected in libraries. Hand work is always 
slower than machine. Besides, the typewriter 
gives us a much clearer card, more easy to 
read and more in line with print. 

An A. L. A. printed dictionary catalog in 
several volumes, including ten or twenty thou- 
sand titles, with annual supplements on the 
cumulative plan, is open to the objection of 
all printed catalogs that it is never up to date 
in one alphabet. Constant reference to sup- 
plements is irksome to most persons. As Mr. 
Hodges puts it, " human beings are lazy." We 
know what it means to look through that in- 
dispensable tool to the librarian, Poole's Index, 
its five-yearly supplements, and the " Annual 
literary index " for three or four years, in order 
to get all the references on a subject. If the 
Cincinnati Public Library wants a printed 
catalog, is it not possible to use the Peabody 
Institute catalog which is the most complete 
printed dictionary catalog, and which is at the 
same time a bibliography of value to the stu- 
dent? The analytic work is thorough and sup- 
plements are printed. Why not put the ,call 
numbers of the Cincinnati Public Library in 
the margins? 

Some such catalog as the suggested A. L. A. 
printed dictionary catalog might be useful to 
small libraries if these libraries were all uni- 
form. Is it possible to have even small libra- 
ries uniform? I can imagine six or more 
branch libraries in one city being identical in 
character, although I would not care to see this 
idea carried out. But taking the country as a 
whole, is it possible to have small libraries 
uniform? Will not the personal element 
always enter into the question ? Books that 
are given, books that are not in the A. L. A. 
catalog (and I can conceive of many such 
being added to a library), must be cataloged, 
and this again means either printed or card 
supplements. 

The Library of Congress has under consider- 
ation the printing of cards for the A. L. A. cat- 



alog. One of the defects of the present A. L. A. 
catalog for the purpose of a small library 
is its lack of analytics and double entry, but 
with printed cards a small library will be able 
to purchase at a trifling cost as many cards as 
are necessary to bring out the contents of each 
book under its subjects. 

Mr. Hodges refers to the fact that in look- 
ing up a subject he generally uses the diction- 
ary catalog to get a start on a subject, and then 
consults the books on the shelves. Now, in 
large libraries unrestricted access to shelves is 
not practicable and some modifications must 
be made. The card catalog is, therefore, most 
necessary in order to put the resources of the 
library on any subject at the disposal of the 
student without much loss of time. The ordi- 
nary reader must be content with the catalog 
in most cases. He has not the privilege of the 
librarian. 

Bibliographies and references to authorities 
as given by authors in books and periodical 
articles are most important. But is not their 
practical usefulness after all very limited ? The 
experienced librarian gets into the habit of 
thinking that it must be as easy for the general 
reader to look up his subject as it is for him- 
self, forgetting how many years it has taken to 
acquire an expert knowledge of the use of 
what might be considered comparatively few 
books. Think what it means to the "average 
reader" to be told to consult bibliographies, 
when often he has no conception of what a 
bibliography is; perhaps he believes it to be 
(as applicants for admission to library schools 
sometimes do) a book that " gives lives of 
people mentioned in the Bible." 

I believe that librarians should do more to 
interest and instruct readers in the use of bibli- 
ographies and indexes. At present in almost 
all libraries, bibliographies are in the catalog- 
er's room or in the librarian's office or in the 
most inaccessible part of the library, whereas 
many of them should be in the reference de- 
partment along with the cyclopaedias of special 
subjects. They would then be more frequently 
used, although it is exceedingly doubtful 
whether they would even then assist the " aver- 
age reader." It would be the reader above the 
average who might be occasionally helped. 
And with the "above the average" reader, 
bibliographies are also of limited use. A per- 
son must have infinite patience and great inter- 



182 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



est in his subject as well as plenty of time 
before he will follow up his subject- by means 
of bibliographies alone. English students who 
frequent the British Museum must have this 
time, interest, and patience, because there is no 
subject catalog, but the average American user 
of libraries decidedly lacks the virtue of patience 
and feels that he cannot spare the time. Re- 
cently the same subject has been brought up 
by British librarians and readers, some of 
whom are urging the importance of subject 
catalogs in spite of the disapproval of the bib- 
liographers. 

Consider the number of bibliographies and 
indexes which the student must consult, with 
their variety of arrangement, more or less 
(usually more) faulty. Then there are the 
annual supplements to bring the literature of 
his specialty to date, besides the references 
added to books and periodical articles. After 
he has found his references, consider the time 
that is necessary to look these up in the cata- 
log to see whether the books are in the library. 
It is true that in the case of the more common 
indexes, call numbers may be inserted by each 
library after the list of titles analyzed. This 
we at the Drexel Institute do in the "A. L. A. 
index to general literature," just as in the case 
of Poole's Index we have a list of the indexed 
periodicals contained in the library posted in a 
conspicuous place near the indexes. Even 
with these aids the number of readers who con- 
sult Poole and the "A. L. A. index" are very 
small compared with those who use the diction- 
ary catalog. 

The fact that the Berlin technical Poole is 
unknown to scientific men is another argument 
against bibliographies. If a specialist does not 
know the bibliography of his subject, how 
much more need that he should be able to find 
references in the card catalog, how much more 
necessary to put at his disposal the A. L. A. 
printed card index to technical journals ! And 
if a specialist does not know the bibliography 
of his subject, how much less does the ordinary 
user know about the literature of the subject in 
which he is interested, how much more neces- 
sary that we assist him by means of a good 
catalog to what the library has on his subject ! 

While it is true that catalogers even the most 
capable cannot intelligently index the con- 
tents of all books, still I hope that Mr. Hodges' 
estimate of one per cent, is exceedingly low, 



otherwise what a vast amount of errors must 
be made in our public libraries. Even should 
some errors occur in indexing, much bene- 
fit may be gained from those entries which are 
not mistakes. In a printed dictionary catalog 
issued by a central bureau there are sure to be 
many errors and a greater number of differ- 
ences of opinion about entries, so that after 
all, libraries will have to do considerable chang- 
ing in order to make the catalog suit their 
needs. 

While I believe that we are just beginning to 
understand what co-operation can do for libra- 
ries, I do not think that co-operation will dis- 
pose of the dictionary card catalog. On the 
contrary it will but emphasize its necessity and 
increase its usefulness. Before we can dis- 
pense with the dictionary analytic card catalog 
we must have more and better subject bibli- 
ographies and in addition a complete bibli- 
ography of bibliographies kept up to date in 
the same manner as Poole's Index, cumulating 
yearly or five-yearly. 

The dictionary card catalog with its simple 
alphabet including analytics, double entries, 
and cross references, is unquestionably the 
form of catalog that is of the greatest good to 
the greatest number, and not for some time to 
come, if ever, will it be superseded by a printed 
catalog or by the general use of bibliographies. 

The CHAIRMAN: I will ask Mr. Fletcher to 
open the discussion. 

Mr. FLETCHER : Behold an angel of peace ! 
I think it is evident that too much energy is 
wasted along the lines indicated by " versus " 
in this title. There is no "versus" about it. 
The case is all in a nutshell. The dictionary 
catalog is a necessity, and the only question 
is how far we shall carry it. I was called upon 
to speak on this subject, I understand, because 
of my connection with the work of the Publish- 
ing Board and its efforts to transfer to the field 
which we (by an almost mistaken use of terms) 
call bibliography, as large a portion as possi- 
ble of the work that has been put into the 
field that is called cataloging. It was long 
ago recognized that a large portion of the 
work that is put into the cataloging could be 
with great advantage transferred to the field of 
bibliography. That transfer is constantly 
going on. As an example, take Poole's Index. 
How many people here are writing index 
cards for current periodicals and putting them 



COLLEGE SECTION. 



183 



into their card catalogs? All those who do so 
please raise their hands. 

No hands were raised. 

Mr. FLETCHER: Why not? That illus- 
trates the situation. If Poole's Index, which 
was the first of our great co-operative biblio- 
graphical undertakings, has made such cata- 
loging unnecessary, why will not other such 
undertakings make a great deal more cata- 
loging work unnecessary? How many people 
here are making as many analytical cards now 
as they did before the "A. L. A. index" and 
the "Annual literary index" came into exist- 
ence? I do not see any hands raised. I do 
not like that word ''versus'" there is no 
reason for it. 

C. K. BOLTON : I think the difficulty about 
the bibliography scheme in the average library 
is to keep the bibliography complete and up to 
date. When twelve months have gone we 
must throw aside our bibliography because 
it is not up to date. It seems to me the 
American Library Association might do well 
to issue out a small bibliography of books likely 
to be in every library, which any library could 
buy, and put its own shelf numbers on for 
ordinary use. Such list would not be out of 
date and would not have the disadvantage that 
is found in almost every bibliographical 
scheme. 

C. W. ANDREWS : Attention has been called 
to the fact that the classed catalog furnishes a 
satisfactory solution of some of these difficul- 
ties. Our own solution is much like Mr. 
Fletcher's. We have an author catalog, a 
classed catalog, and a subject index to the 
latter in which many of the titles appear again. 
The use of the printed cards furnished by the 
Library of Congress will enable you all to have 
this arrangement. 

Miss Kroeger said that she wanted a bibliog- 
raphy of bibliographies. I wonder if she 
knows what she is asking for. De Margerie, 
in his bibliography of geological bibliographies 
prepared for an international congress of geol- 
ogists, found 4,000 references. A bibliog- 
raphy of bibliographies on that scale would 
probably run into fifty or one hundred volumes. 
We have done our best to supply the need of 
which Miss Kroeger speaks, so far as our own 
resources are concerned, by preparing a bib- 
liography of bibliographies of scientific and 
technical literature, or a list of those books 



in our library which contained lists of such 
books or which are lists of such books. This 
list will contain some three thousand titles, 
and it may prove of use to reference librarians. 

Another point I wish to touch was Mr. 
Hodge's reference to the uselessness of some 
of the analytical work which is now done by 
co-operation. I agree heartily. I think that 
where we write entries from material already 
contained in scientific or other bibliographies, 
we do work which need not be done. We 
ought to confine our work to those entries 
which do not occur to the ordinary student, 
and especially to those entries which have ex- 
istence as bibliographical entries, and which 
are being published as "separates" or as re- 
prints. I suppose every one of us has bought 
a not inconsiderable per cent of " separates," 
thinking that they were independent works and 
afterwards finding them in our own library. It 
is that class of work which ought to be brought 
out in our co-operative analysis of periodicals. 

F. J. TEGGART: I think it is quite possible 
that librarians are doing too much for the pub- 
lic; it is quite possible that the public would 
get on very well, even better than it does now, 
if it had fewer books and less cataloging. In 
other words, the whole population is divided 
into two parts; the first part contains perhaps 
90 per cent., and the other part contains 10 per 
cent. The 90 per cent, do not know what they 
want; they go to the dictionary catalog to find 
out ; the 10 per cent, know what they want and 
want to know what has been written about it 
and they go to the bibliography, if the bibliog- 
raphy is sufficiently good. We are accumulat- 
ing enormous quantities of cards and very large 
quantities of books in the smaller public libra- 
ries, and both the cards and books are tending 
to swamp the administration. I think it is 
perfectly practicable to decide upon a standard 
size to which smaller libraries should conform. 
I do not think the small library ought to keep 
all the books that it has ever acquired, unless it 
is absolutely necessary for it to do so. Conse- 
quently, cataloging will tend to become a more 
and more temporary thing. We now look on the 
catalog as a permanent addition to the library, 
but I cannot look at it in that light. The only 
record of books that should be considered per- 
manent should be a record in bibliographical 
form. The bibliography is for the student, and 
in our discussions we constantly lose sight of 



1 84 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



the difference between the person who simply 
wants a book on a given subject, and to whom 
nearly any book on that subject would be satis- 
factory, and the person who would search the 
country over to find everything existing on that 
subject. If we are to do first-class work, we 
ought to have complete bibliographies, with 
indications of the libraries all over the country 
in which the books are to be found. I am now 
working on a subject in which some people 
here may be interested, books printed on the 
subject of library administration. It is curious 
to note that only perhaps ten per cent, of those 
books are in any library in the United States 
or in all the libraries of the United States put 
together. Now, in a bibliography of that kind 
there should be indication of the library where 
those books are to be found. The bibliography 
should be made complete, but it should at the 
same time be a reference catalog for such of the 
books as are available. The distinction should 
be clearly drawn that the average public library 
reader does not want to hunt up books in bibli- 
ographies. He simply wants to have some book 
on the subject given him with the recommend- 
ation to go and read it which he generally 
does not do. The only thing that is read 
through is fiction, and even as to fiction I doubt 
the thoroughness with which that is read. I 
have repeatedly found, where a signature has 
been left out in the binding of a novel, that 
nobody would mention it for six months. The 
interests of the average person who comes to a 
public library are more or less superficial, and 
the best efforts of the library should be directed 
towards the studious person who is actually 
studying, and this person represents about 
ten per cent, of the whole use of the library. 

NINA E. BROWNE : I want to make a sug- 
gestion as to a form for a catalog, which seems 
to have been very little considered. In the 
first place, I would have a classed catalog. It 
is of minor importance whether it is arranged 
by Decimal classification numbers or by the 
Expansive classification numbers or alphabeti- 
cally, so long as it gives a subject order. Then 
in the author catalog place with the author 
cards the index to the subject catalog, together 
with the title cards in their alphabetical order. 
The index card mav bear at the top the sub- 
ject, and below the direction, " For books on 
this subject, see the subject catalog, cards num- 
bered so and so" if arranged by the Decimal or 



Expansive classification, or '-cards arranged 
in the subject catalog under such a -word." 
In that way you can get all the material that 
any reader may look for. For instance, if he 
looks for " Birds," the card may read, " Birds," 
on the top line, and below, "For books on 
this subject see cards numbered 598." If he 
looks for " Ornithology," as the learned reader 
may do, he also finds a similar card referring 
to the same subject cards numbered 598. In 
that way one gets the benefit of the dictionary 
form of author, title, and subject in one 
alphabet, at the same time escaping the trying 
see also references. One also gets rid of the 
great bulk of subject cards which go into the 
dictionary catalog, and so break the continuity 
of the alphabet. Sometimes a subject extends 
through two or three drawers, and a person 
who is not familiar with large dictionary cata- 
logs often loses his way in the alphabet. The 
index cards, of course, simply fall properly into 
place, and I would have these index cards of a 
different color from the others, so that when a 
reader once catches the idea of a subject index, 
the color will guide him and he will not look 
over the other cards. The title card might 
also be of another color. I have talked about 
this catalog for a good many years, but I have 
never had an opportunity to try it. I have 
been told that St. Louis is trying it. 

Mr. CRUNDEN : We are trying it now. Some 
years ago this subject was discussed, and I re- 
member summing up my opinion by saying 
that the only thing to do was to have both. 
We have recently begun to do so. We have 
not done enough yet to know what the practi- 
cal results will be, but as to myself I have no 
doubt of the necessity. 

MR. BALLARD : I would like to make a sug- 
gestion that may be helpful to those librarians 
who feel that they would like to lighten some- 
what the labor of cataloging and who feel that 
there is great difficulty in caring for the mass of 
books constantly coming to our libraries. One 
large division of the books bought in public 
libraries may be classed as " temporary," that 
is, almost every librarian buys books during 
the year to satisfy a wholly temporary demand. 
In the Berkshire Athenaeum, instead of buying 
such books, we now rent them for a year. The 
Tabard Inn Library agrees to furnish to public 
libraries not less than 125 a month, and any 
larger number at lower rates. We take the 



COLLEGE SECTION. 



I8 5 



smallest number, 125. If these books are ex- 
changed every month and there are no condi- 
tions as to the number exchanged the library 
receives 1,500 books during the year, or an 
equivalent of 6,000 exchanges, and the charge 
is $150, which is less than the cost of catalog- 
ing those fifteen hundred books. I am of 
course speaking of books you would not care 
to keep more than the current year. We think 
our library saves $1,000 on this arrangement; 
we also save the expense and time of catalog- 
ing; and we save shelf room, because at the 
end of the year the books go back. The vol- 
umes come prepared for issue; the numbers are 
upon them, and the numbers are different from 
those used in any library system that I know 
of, so that the number itself differentiates the 
volume. We treat them precisely as if they 
were our own books, distinguishing them by 
the numbers on the back, and letting them go 
out as if they were our own. One added 
advantage is that all of our patrons who draw 
these particular books may carry them away on 
vacation if they desire. They may be ex- 
changed in Boston or San Francisco or any 
other town for any other Tabard Inn Library 
book, and that may be returned to us to cancel 
the charge. We do not care whether our 
readers return the same book or not, providing 
it is a book belonging to the system, and we 
are not obliged to return to Philadelphia at the 
end of the year the same fifteen hundred vol- 
umes received, but we can return any fifteen 
hundred volumes bearing the Tabard Inn Li- 
brary imprint. The plan is simple, economi- 
cal, and popular. 

Mr. HODGES : There have been references to 
the ease of cataloging. The general public has 
an idea that the cataloging of a library is a 
very simple affair. The average person from 
outside walks into a library and says, " Why 
don't you catalog this library?" In what I am 
going to say I refer more especially to the cat- 
alog work which is done or should be done in 
a large library. I have had put in my hands 
occasionally some of the printed cards, the in- 
dex cards, to scientific periodicals, and I have 
been asked to subject-catalog those cards. I 
think it is no exaggeration to say that I found 
it necessary to spend from two hours to four 
hours in determining the subject which should 
be placed at the head of each one of those titles. 
It is extremely difficult to do that kind of sub- 



ject-cataloging. No one person can cover any 
considerable fraction of the whole field of hu- 
man knowledge. Then, at the end of that 
time, after spending from two to four hours on 
each one of those cards, I was by no manner 
of means certain that I had put the correct sub- 
ject heading on the card. If there is a genius 
who can subject-classify 120 cards for the titles 
in the Old South Leaflets in the fraction of a 
minute they estimate that the cost of catalog- 
ing the Old South Leaflets is simply the cost of 
the cards I should like to know him. I do 
not think it is much exaggeration to say that it 
would take me, if I took the Old South Leaf- 
lets, from a week to two weeks to properly sub- 
ject-catalog all the items in that collection. 

When all this cataloging has been done, 
what is the result? Of course, the catalog of 
Harvard University is not a dictionary catalog ; 
it is a classed catalog ; but it is a very elabo- 
rate catalog. Those who are acquainted with 
the work there have estimated that that catalog 
has cost about half a million of dollars. Sev- 
eral years ago I was looking up the subject of 
foundation sacrifice, and I am not sure that I 
found a single entry in that elaborate catalog 
of any material on foundation sacrifice. Foun- 
dation sacrifice is the propitiatory offering to 
the powers of the earth when new buildings, 
churches, etc., are erected. But I did take the 
newest book on folk-lore which I could find, 
and in a few moments I found a foot-note, I 
think there was no formal bibliography, and 
I found references to other material, and in the 
odd moments which I had to give to the mat- 
ter, in a day or two I had on my notes the 
titles of about a dozen books containing chap- 
ters on the special subject in which I was in- 
terested and on which I was preparing a paper. 
None of that material had been brought out in 
the catalog, which had cost a fortune, and I 
hope it never will be brought out. 

I was asked at one time at Harvard to find a 
pamphlet written by a French priest, name un- 
known, describing the occurrences at the time 
of the opening of the tombs of the French 
kings at St. Denis. As I say, the author was 
unknown, and it was merely stated to me that 
when those tombs were opened, a French 
priest very naturally was present and saw 
what happened, and a few days afterwards he 
wrote down a report of what was done, and 
that was printed in pamphlet form. I went to 



i86 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



the Harvard catalog and I looked in its 
drawers for about five or ten minutes. I was 
simply staggered at the idea of hunting down 
that pamphlet from that catalog, but I went to 
the shelves and in twenty minutes I had that 
pamphlet in my hands, printed as an appendix 
to one of the larger histories of France. There 
is nothing simpler than finding material of that 
kind. It was suggested to me that an entry 
ought to be made and a card inserted in the 
catalog; but if I had put that card in, I would 
very much prefer going to the shelves and find- 
ing the pamphlet again as I did, rather than 
try to find that card among the millions of 
cards in those drawers. All that was necessary, 
of course, was to get the most elaborate and ex- 
tensive history of the Reign of Terror and to 
turn over the pages until the pages were reached 
describing the desecration of the tombs, and 
there in a foot-note it was a properly made 
book was a reference to the raw material on 
which that history was built up. 

I think it is a mistake to think that catalog- 
ing is a very simple and easy matter. I confess 
it is distasteful work to me ; I never liked it. 
I think it is also extremely difficult work if 
you are going beyond the simplest books, and 
it is work that takes a great deal of time and 
costs an enormous amount of money. You 
can jump at the subject from the title, but you 
are almost certain to jump wrong. 

CHARLES K. BOLTON submitted the report of 

COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS 

presenting the name of C. W. Andrews for 
chairman, and George F. Danforth for secre- 
tary. The report was accepted and the persons 
named were unanimously elected. 

A report to the A. L. A. Council was made 
by the Section's Special Committee on Ameri- 
can Dissertations, appointed last year, and this 
report was referred to the Section for considera- 
tion. It is as follows : 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON AMERICAN 
DISSERTATIONS. 

The committee on American dissertations 
submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements 
for the degree of doctor of philosophy, beg 
leave to report their work for the past year. 

It was found impracticable to send the draft 
letter printed in the Proceedings of the Wau- 
kesha Conference, page 207, until it was too late 
to have desired data included in university 
catalogs for 1901-02. This being the case, it 



seemed best to let the matter rest still further, 
so that the question might reach university 
authorities late in the present year, to be carried 
into effect next academic year. A copy of the 
circular letter approved by the Council was 
finally sent to the presidents of seventy-seven 
institutions, including all institutions which 
conferred the degree of Ph.D. on examination 
in the years 1898-99 and 1899-1900, according 
to the Commissioner of Education's reports for 
those years. To this list were added certain 
other institutions of good grade, offering the 
degree on examination and residence, accord- 
ing to the list given on pages 1566-1581 of the 
Commissioner of Education's report for 1898- 
99. The circular letter was sent also to 
Toronto and McGill Universities, and to the 
librarians of thirty-three of the more important 
institutions, inclosing in each one of the 
printed cards as follows : 

To the Librarian: 

Your attention is respectfully called to the accom- 
panying- letter, a copy of which has been mailed to the 
president of your university. The inclusion of the de- 
sired data in the annual catalog, or corresponding publi- 
cation, of your institution will greatly facilitate the com- 
pilation of the proposed annual bibliography of American 
dissertations. Hence your co-operation in securing 
prompt action by the faculty of your institution on this 
matter is urgently requested. 

THE COMMITTEE. 

This seemed desirable in the case of the 
more important universities, so as to secure 
co-operation of librarians in getting the matter 
attended to. A short foot-note to the letter 
was appended as follows : 

A copy of the above letter is sent to such institutions 
of learning in the United States and Cannda as confer the 
degree of doctor of philosophy or science after residence 
and examination. The committee has under considera- 
tion the compilation and publication of an annual list ot 
American dissertations for the degree of doctor of philos- 
ophy or science, and of a similar complete list of such 
dissertations to July, 1900. Any communications with 
reference to the subject may be addressed to Walter M. 
Smith, Librarian of the University of Wisconsin, 
Madison, Wis. 

The communications that have come and are 
coming in will be filed and forwarded to the 
person or committee that takes up the work of 
the compilation of the proposed list. It is 
highly probable that in time the Library of 
Congress will take up the matter of compiling 
and publishing such a list, and the committee 
recommend that this arrangement be made, if 
possible. In any case, the insertion of sug- 
gested data in university catalogs will make 
much easier the compilation of an annual list. 
Replies are already coming in from univer- 
sity presidents, and all heard from so far agree 
to publish desired data in future catalogs. 

WALTER M. SMITH, "j 

BERNARD C. STEINER, >- Committee. 

C. W. ANDREWS, J 

There was no discussion on the report of the 
committee. The meeting adjourned at 12.45. 



CATALOG SECTION. 



I8 7 



CATALOG SECTION. 



""THE Catalog Section of the American Li- 
brary Association held a meeting in the 
New Magnolia Hotel, Magnolia, Mass., on the 
afternoon of Thursday, June 19. The officers 
of the section were J. C. M. Hanson, chair- 
man ; Miss Mary E. Hawley, secretary. The 
meeting was called to order at 2.30, when the 
chairman announced a 

COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS, 

consisting of T. F. Currier, Miss Edith Clarke, 
and Miss Maude Henderson. 

The CHAIRMAN : It may be well to preface 
the program with a brief explanation. For 
previous meetings of this section, no stated 
program was announced. If this year we have 
decided to depart slightly from the precedent 
thus established, there are several reasons for 
doing so. This conference seemed to offer 
special opportunities for learning something 
about the card catalogs which in their respec- 
tive fields certainly take the lead, the diction- 
ary card catalog of the Boston Public Library, 
the alphabetical classed catalog and the author 
catalog of Harvard College Library. This 
year we have been especially fortunate in 
securing Mr. Lane to speak for Harvard 'Col- 
lege and Mr. Hunt to speak for the Boston 
Public Library. I will, therefore, ask Mr. 
Lane to describe for us 

THE CATALOG OF THE HARVARD COLLEGE 
LIBRARY. 

W. C. LANE: I am glad to have an oppor- 
tunity to talk about the Harvard catalog 
because that catalog is distinctly different from 
either of the two great types of catalog which 
have come into general use, but it is of a kind 
to give many useful hints to other libraries. I 
have brought no statistics or history in my 
head or on paper, so I shall not take up the 
subject from that side. I will simply say in 
passing that the library printed three catalogs 
in the eighteenth century (1723, 1773, and 
1790), and that the last one was that issued in 
1830. A supplement was printed in 1833, and 
then material began to collect toward a suc- 
cession of later supplements ; but no further 
supplement was ever printed. This material 
was soon turned over into a card catalog, the 



present official catalog of the library, which I 
suppose is one of the oldest possibly the 
oldest strictly card catalog in existence. 
This has been continued down to the present 
time with some changes of plan and some 
changes of detail. The public catalog, how- 
ever, is the one of which I want to speak and 
about which I think you will be most interested 
to hear. This catalog was begun in 1861. It 
was planned by Mr. Ezra Abbot on what was 
then a rather new idea, and it was developed 
with much skill and ingenuity. The two other 
types of catalog are (i) the dictionary catalog, 
which adopts what would seem to be the most 
obvious plan (though it was not the earliest), 
the plan of arranging all subjects both great 
and small in one alphabetical series, and (2) 
the classed catalog which works on the oppo- 
site plan, lays out the field of knowledge into 
classes, then divides and sub-divides these 
classes until the smaller topics are reached. 
The Harvard catalog combines important ele- 
ments from each of these and profits by the 
combination. As in the dictionary catalog, the 
arrangement is alphabetical from beginning to 
end, but instead of a single all-comprehensive 
alphabet, we have related topics grouped al- 
phabetically under larger headings, the object 
being not only to bring side by side topics 
that are nearly related or that one would be 
likely to want at the same time, but to bring 
them also into close relation with more general 
works that cover the same subject. In fact, 
the underlying method of the catalog is that 
of combining similar things in groups rather 
than that of sub-dividing general subjects into 
special. A classified catalog is the result, but 
classification is not pressed any further than 
usefulness demands. Of the primary heads 
that make up the main alphabet, some are very 
extensive, as extensive as some of the main 
divisions of classified systems, and fill drawer 
after drawer of the catalog case, such as 
History and Geography, Chemistry and Phys- 
ics, and other sciences ; while other headings are 
of limited scope and cover but a few cards. In a 
single drawer, for example, are the main head- 
ings " Famines," "Fans," "Fats," "Fences," 
and " Ferries," each one of them with but few 



i88 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



cards under it. These were left as main headings 
simply because there was no particular advan- 
tage in grouping them with others under a 
more general division. " Fences " might have 
been put under " Agriculture " or "Architec- 
ture" or "Carpentry" or elsewhere, but as 
nothing would be gained by doing so, the 
cards are left under " Fences." 

The main principle of the catalog being a 
grouped arrangement, that arrangement was 
carried out, in the first place, to a very com- 
plete degree, but has been modified to some 
extent from time to time, as certain inconven- 
iences became evident. For example, at first 
all biographies were brought together under 
the heading "Biography," under which head- 
ing were (i) general or collected biographies, 
divided by countries or by classes of people, 
and (2) an alphabetical series of individual 
biographies. But a few years ago it was de- 
cided that a better plan would be to scatter the 
individual biographies through the author cat- 
alog. That has now been done, and the result 
is that after the titles of books by a man follow 
immediately the titles of books or pamphlets 
about him or relating to him in any way. 

This suggests another point which properly 
should have been mentioned earlier. The cat- 
alog is in two alphabets, by authors and by 
subjects, but that is no necessary characteristic 
of it; it might be thrown into one alphabet 
like a dictionary catalog that is to say, the 
subject headings might be introduced into the 
author catalog without in the least changing 
the principle of the catalog. It seemed more 
convenient, from the fact that many subjects 
take up a great many drawers, not to interrupt 
the alphabetical progress, so to speak, of the 
author catalog, by introducing great blocks of 
cards under one heading, and therefore the 
subjects were made a separate alphabet. 

Another example of the grouping tendency 
was the Greek and Latin authors, which Dr. 
Abbot brought all together under the two 
heads " Greek authors" and "Latin authors," 
in the subject catalog, including under each 
author's name both texts and commentaries. 
That appeared to us after a time to be on the 
whole an inconvenient arrangement, and they 
have now been scattered through the author 
catalog, texts and commentaries being of 
course still kept together. The classics, that 
is to say, are treated like moderns perhaps 



an indication of a general change of attitude 
toward classical studies. It is interesting to 
consider whether further changes of the same 
kind would not be for the advantage of the cat- 
alog, and if one were starting afresh, such 
questions would certainly require consideration. 
For example, under the heading " History " all 
the strictly historical works in regard to various 
countries and places are brought together in an 
alphabetical arrangement by places. The same 
is true of books of travel and description under 
"Geography." I am inclined to think, how- 
ever, that it would be an improvement to split 
up these classes just as " Biography " was split 
up, and to scatter their contents up and down 
through the alphabet under the names of the 
places themselves. Perhaps if we did this, it 
would be in accordance with the spirit of the 
catalog to group places locally under common 
heads, putting, for example, the towns of Mas- 
sachusetts under "Massachusetts," or even 
placing Massachusetts and its towns together 
with other states all under " United States." 
Then under the name of each place would be 
found everything of a descriptive or historical 
nature connected with it which now has to be 
sought under several different heads, Antiq- 
uities, Customs, Geography, History, Politics, 
Political Economy, Statistics, etc. 

We should, however, probably never go so 
far as the Boston Public Library has done in 
bringing local material under the place name 
used as a main heading. Books on the flora, 
the fauna, or the geology of a place we should 
continue to enter under Botany, Zoology, or 
Geology, making subordinate place-divisions 
under those heads, as is now the custom even 
in dictionary catalogs, and the same would be 
true of books on the art or music of a place. 
But there is abundant room for difference of 
opinion as to whether books on the agriculture, 
the commerce, or the manufactures of a par- 
ticular locality are best included with other 
descriptive works under the name of the place, 
or are more useful under the heads Agricul- 
ture, Commerce, or Manufactures, side by side 
with books relating to other places considered 
from the same point of view. 

A change of this kind, however, in the 
Harvard catalog is not likely to be actually 
made, though in many respects it would be 
desirable. The labor involved forbids. 

The grouping of minor subjects under general 



CATALOG SECTION. 



189 



headings requires more detailed consideration 
than we have yet given it. The arrangement 
continues alphabetical, but not necessarily in a 
single alphabet under any one heading. The 
character of the sub-heads may be such that it 
is desirable to group them. For example, 
under "Botany" some of the sub-divisions 
would be names of countries or places (for 
books relating to the flora of a particular 
place) ; others would be names of particular 
plants or families (for systematic works or de- 
scriptive monographs), others would relate to 
physiology, others would be the names of dis- 
tinguished botanists (for biographies), and so 
on. That being the case, we do not want to 
mix up in one alphabet our botanists and our 
plants and our countries, and they are segre- 
gated into as many alphabetical groups as are 
desired by the use of headings, such as " Biog- 
raphy," " Geography," " Physiology," " Sys- 
tematic," each of which serves to hold together 
under it headings of a similar kind. 

The same is true of all the larger headings of 
the catalog. Under " Music" we must provide 
for (i) biographies of musicians, arranged al- 
phabetically under the sub-head " Biography; " 
(2) Works on the history of music, grouped 
together alphabetically by countries under the 
general sub-division "History;" (3) Topics 
relating to musical theory, counterpoint, har- 
mony, and the like, grouped together under 
the sub-head " Theory ; " (4) Books on musical 
instruments the accordion, the piano, the 
organ, the flute grouped in alphabetical 
order under the head "Instruments;" (5) 
Books of instruction on various instruments, 
grouped together under the sub-head " Instruc- 
tion ; " (6) Musical texts, brought together 
under the headings " Instrumental " and "Vo- 
cal " and so on. The same practice applies to 
all the groups that make up the catalog. It is 
not worth while to take your time in going over 
different ones in detail. You see the principle 
and its application. 

There is one essential part of the system 
which I have not mentioned the index. For 
the first twenty or twenty-five years of the cata- 
log's existence, it had no index, or had only 
imperfect references on the cards. You see, of 
course, that a complete index of all subordinate 
headings is absolutely essental to the useful- 
ness of such a catalog. A person unfamiliar 
with the catalog and a host of new students 



come in upon us every year does not know 
under what general head he should look for a 
subject, and becomes confused, He is bewild- 
ered at first by the different alphabets under 
each head and must learn to find his way. 
What he needs is a full alphabetical index of all 
the headings great and small, principal and sub- 
ordinate. Such a subject index was the result 
of a good many years' work which necessarily 
involved the straightening out of many incon- 
sistencies and imperfections in the catalog that 
had grown up just because there had been no 
index of this kind to guide cataloger as well as 
student. 

One point in regard to the references in the 
index I should mention. A system of number- 
ing, not contemplated in the original scheme 
of the catalog, had been introduced and applied 
to the subject headings so as to make reference 
more easy. If under "Organs" in the index 
it is desired to refer to the place in the subject 
catalog where titles on the history or construc- 
tion of organs will be found we might say, 
Music Instruments Organs, but it is sim- 
pler and shorter to write 6520.354, 6520 being 
the serial number assigned to Music, and .354 
a decimal number indicating the particular sub- 
division under Music. 

These numbers are inscribed on the outside 
of the catalog drawers and on the guides inside 
so that the inquirer is easily and quickly led to 
the specific heading he wants. With the index 
the use of the catalog is reasonably simple. I 
know of no subject-catalog which a novice or a 
person who is unwilling to take pains can use 
to advantage. One has to learn to use it like 
anything else. 

The advantages of the Harvard catalog over 
either of the types in common use are mainly 
these. In the first place, new subjects as they 
come up can be inserted easily and naturally 
without limit. New subjects are coming up 
constantly, especially in connection with ana- 
lytical work, such as the cards issued by the 
Publishing Board. New subjects generally 
appear first in periodicals, but they very soon 
turn up as the themes of books and pamphlets 
and have to be dealt with. In a classified cat- 
alog on the Decimal or Expansive system you 
have to find an appropriate place and introduce 
a new number, which in many cases will make 
your new subject appear to be subordinate to 
something else not particularly appropriate. 



190 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



You have not an indefinite number of new 
places of the same rank as the old ones in 
which to introduce new subjects ; you have to 
introduce them as subordinate to something 
else already established. But in our catalog it 
is not so. You introduce as many subjects as 
you like on the same rank with subjects al- 
ready represented, because the arrangement is 
simply alphabetical. 

The fact that related subjects are brought to- 
gether and brought into connection with gen- 
eral works is an advantage which the Harvard 
catalog shares with other classified catalogs, 
but which it has over the dictionary catalog. 

One other advantage of our catalog is its 
adaptability to printing. It would be very easy 
to take any of these larger sections and put 
them in print whenever we have the means and 
the time to do so, and I hope that sometime we 
shall be able to undertake this on a continuous 
plan. When we do, we need not start at the 
beginning of the alphabet. If chemistry or 
physics or fine arts are more important than 
agriculture, we will start with whatever seems 
ripest at the time, and the catalog breaks up 
into groups in such a way that this can con- 
veniently be done. 

C. A. CUTTER: May I make a slight correc- 
tion of one statement? Mr. Lane said that a 
new subject inserted in an Expansive catalog 
would have to be inserted in an apparei.t sub- 
ordination while it ought not to be subordi- 
nated ; but in the Expansive notation, subordi- 
nation is expressed entirely by indentation, and 
the notation is not intended to express and 
does not often express any subordination what- 
ever. 

J. L. WHITXEY : It was my pleasure to know 
Mr. Ezra Abbot; that friendship was one of 
the joys of my life and among my sweetest 
remembrances. At my first visit to Cambridge 
I went to the Harvard College Library and 
opened one of the drawers and began to study 
it. At that time my thoughts had not been 
fixed upon library work, but an hour at that 
catalog settled my purpose. I immediately got 
a blank book and copied off every heading from 
that list, taking several days to do it in. This 
I carried home and reflected upon and after- 
wards became a librarian. 

C. A. NELSON: I have in my possession a 
copy of the classed catalog of the Cambridge 
High School, published by Mr. Abbot before 



he went to the Harvard College Library as an 
assistant. I came to Cambridge as a student 
in the High School in the year 1855. The next 
year I became librarian of a literary society in 
Cambridge and made a card catalog there based 
on Mr. Abbot's high school catalog. When I 
entered college it was my privilege to be for six 
years under Mr. Abbot and under Mr. Sibley 
as a student of catalog work, and I think those 
years made me a librarian and a cataloger. 
Whatever good work I have done as a cataloger, 
if any, has been dons because I was under their 
tuition. 

Mr. CUTTER : Since praises of Dr. Ezra 
Abbot seem to be in order, I want to express 
the immense obligation I owe to him for intro- 
ducing me to cataloging and classification and 
bibliography. I should be nothing in the 
library world without Dr. Abbot. 

E. B. HUNT read a paper on 

THE CATALOG OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC 
LIBRARY. 

(See p. 25.) 

E. H. ANDERSON: I would like to ask Mr. 
Hunt what is the nature of the references in 
the general library to the departmental libra- 
ries ? 

Mr. HUNT : There is no need of any refer- 
ences because everything in the special libraries 
is in the main catalog. We mean to have the 
Bates Hall catalog contain everything in the 
building, barring English fiction, which is 
cataloged by itself on the same floor within a 
few feet of the main catalog. With regard to 
the special libraries, I made the catalog of the 
Brown Music Collection practically alone. It 
was a work requiring a great deal of time and I 
went into it not knowing very much, certainly 
in a theoretical way, about music. So the cat- 
alog was distinctly an evolution with me and I 
did not print anything in the card catalog until 
the whole collection was practically done. 
This was adopted to avoid any more false starts 
than were necessary. That collection is very 
rich along certain lines; for example, there are 
four thousand operas in it, and at least ten 
thousand part songs. I cataloged not only 
everything which had an imprint, but I ana- 
lyzed every collection and every collected edi- 
tion of part songs, or church music, etc., so 
that the analysis part, if it should ever be 
printed, I think would be easily the biggest 



CATALOG SECTION. 



191 



single index to music for part songs, vocal 
music, and operas ever prepared. When I 
started, I thought I could arrange under sepa- 
rate headings such things as part songs and 
madrigals and glees and catches, etc., but I 
found that the same composition was called by 
as many different names as it happened to have 
editors. So I chose the one general heading, 
->** Part songs," and put everything under that 
heading relating to more than two voices. 
Songs for one voice were in one class, duets in 
another class. In chamber music I made the 
same sort of a collection and I arranged under 
"Chamber music "all that music written for 
a number of instruments. 

Mr. GOULD : I would like to ask Mr. Hunt 
whether he has any subdivision for trios in his 
music. He speaks of solos and duets and then 
part music. 

Mr. HUNT : Music for trios for strings, or 
for any other instruments, would be under 
Chamber music. 

Mr. GOULD : You don't put vocal trios with 
that collection ? 

Mr. HUNT : No, we put vocal trios in with 
part songs. I drew the line at three voices, 
and I had the advice in that matter of a good 
many good men, Mr. Philip Hale, Louis 
Elson, Frederick Field Bullard, and John K. 
Paine, of Harvard. 

Mr. CUTTER: Did they advise you to mix 
three part songs and four part songs? 

Mr. HUNT: Yes, they did. The trouble is, 
you have very often the same thing arranged 
for three or four voices, and that was the diffi- 
culty in trying to keep them distinct according 
to the number of parts. 

Mr. CUTTER: But I do not see that that has 
anything to do with it. If people are going to 
sing a particular piece in four parts, they want 
four part music; if three people are going to 
sing a piece in three parts, they want a three 
part arrangement. It seems to me they should 
be separate. 

Mr. HUNT: Every part song cataloged bears 
on the title the number of parts and voices ; 
but where you have the same title for a piece 
which is published, say, for three voices, and 
the next edition is published for women's 
voices, and the next is published for a male 
quartet, it seems to me altogether too finical 
to make three entries for that particular piece. 

The CHAIRMAN : I would like to ask Mr. 



Hunt if in his classification part songs are 
arranged by nationalities. 

Mr. HUNT : No, I have not tried to do that. 
There are so many German part songs and 
songs in other languages which have been 
adapted to English words and appear with 
English words, as well as with the German or 
the other original language, that I have not 
tried to divide them according to their nation- 
alities They are simply arranged under the 
heading of part songs. 

F. B. GAY: Are you likely ever to publish 
that catalog as a whole? 

Mr. HUNT: That was the intention when 
the catalog was begun, but whether it will be 
done or not I do not know. Certainly if so I 
should cut it down very much from the card 
catalog. 

Mr. GAY : If published, would it not make 
the most useful bibliography of music known? 

Mr. HUNT: I do not believe there is another 
index that could touch it. 

Mr. LANE : What Mr. Hunt has said gives 
us a realizing sense of the enormous extent of 
the card catalog of a great library and the 
overwhelming prospect ahead of us, as things 
go on. The same thing is true of the Harvard 
Library and of most large libraries. Has any 
one any suggestion to make as to anything that 
we can do, any improvement that we can make 
in the card catalog or over the card catalog, 
with the view of reducing bulk and adding 
convenience? 

Mr. HUNT : I have heard the proposition I 
don't know whether it could ever be worked out 
or not that it is possible to photograph the en- 
tire catalog on very minute cards and then have 
these arranged in drawers where they could be 
examined through magnifying glasses. You 
could thus reduce the bulk to a tenth of its 
size. 

Mr. LANE : How could the cards be handled ? 

Mr. HUNT : They would not be too small to 
be handled. That is a possible solution, but I 
do not think it is probable in the immediate 
future. 

Mr. FLETCHER : I would like to ask Mr. 
Hunt if he has ever made any estimate of how 
long it is likely to be before the whole of Bates 
Hall is lined with a card catalog. 

Mr. HUNT : I cannot see in the nature of 
things how you are going to have a great li- 
brary and a great collection of books without a 



192 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



correspondingly great catalog. It would not 
alarm me, and I do not think it ought to alarm 
anybody, if eventually our catalog did line 
Bates Hall. 

The CHAIRMAN : The suggestion made to 
Mr. Hunt reminds me of a proposition that was 
made to the Library of Congress, to have the 
books arranged on the shelves in good order, 
see that they were properly lettered, and then 
have a photographer come in and photograph 
the books just as they stood on the shelves. 
The result would be a classed catalog, an 
alphabetic catalog, or anything you like. That 
was a proposition made in all seriousness. 

Mr. HUNT : About fifteen or eighteen years 
ago a man in Boston offered to re-make our 
entire catalog, catalog the whole Bates Hall 
collection, and all the time that he wanted to 
do it in was six months, or even less. That 
offer was made in sober earnest. 

Mr. CUTTER : May I carry the history of the 
card catalog a little farther back? Mr. Charles 
Folsom, who left the librarianship of the Boston 
Athenaeum, I think, in 1856, had introduced 
there a card catalog. Of course that carries it 
back to about 1850, and I think he had intro- 
duced it from the library at Harvard College. 

Mr. LANE : Our present official catalog goes 
back to 1834. 

Mr. FLETCHER : When I went to the Bos- 
ton Athenaeum, that catalog was existing in 
what I suppose was its primeval state. It was 
in a series of what were apparently volumes, 
under the counter. If any one wanted to refer 
to one of those, he pulled out the apparent 
volume, which proved to be a box. He lifted 
the lid, which turned on hinges, and then there 
was before him something like a card catalog 
drawer. I suppose that was the primeval form 
of the card catalog of the Boston Athenaeum. 
That carries it back to 1860. In the course of 
five years it was changed to ordinary drawers. 
Mr. Lane says that in the Harvard College 
library it is carried back to 1834, but its pre- 
vious source, I think, must be lost in the mists 
of antiquity. 

T. SOLBERG : I should like to ask if there is 
a general impression that the card catalog 
originated in America, or whether it origi- 
nated abroad, and when? 

Mr. NELSON: In France, at the time of the 
French Revolution, a law was passed ordering 
that a card catalog should be made in all the 



libraries of France, and the cards to be used 
were the ordinary playing cards, because the 
playing card was the only one which could be 
found uniform throughout the country. They 
were to use the ace of spades, because that 
card had the most space upon it. I think that 
is as early a reference to the card catalog as we 
can find. The rules laid down were as accu- 
rately and as carefully made as any we have 
now. Of course there were changes in the 
main entries, but the cards were written so 
that they would stand on end. Duplicates ot 
those cards were to be kept in the libraries 
throughout France, and the originals were to 
be sent to Paris to be kept at the Bibliotheque 
Nationale, as the complete catalog of all the 
books in the various libraries of France. 

Mr. WHITNEY : Our catalog was perhaps 
the first printed catalog, but our catalog was 
borrowed by Mr. Winsor from the University 
of Leyden. As has been stated here to-day, 
the titles were printed on sheets and then they 
were cut out with scissors and pasted on the 
cards. In that way, of course, we found that 
the cards would double up, so that three or 
four would fill up an inch space. We had a 
roller to roll them out, but that was found to 
be clumsy and inconvenient, and afterwards we 
had the titles printed directly on the cards. 

DISCUSSION ON CAPITALIZATION. 

The CHAIRMAN : If there are no further re- 
marks, we shall proceed to one of the topics 
which has been outlined for discussion. There 
is a catalog committee, consisting of seven 
members, who have been working on various 
questions in cataloging during this conference, 
and I suppose the greater part of the time has 
been taken up by the discussion of capitaliza- 
tion. So far we have' been unable to reach any 
definite agreement on some of the points at 
least, and a discussion at this meeting would 
perhaps be of considerable assistance in settling 
these mooted questions. Some of those pres- 
ent may have seen the circulars sent around by 
this same committee after a meeting at Atlantic 
City in March of this year, asking for opin" 
ions on four or five different points in capital- 
ization. I will take up those points in order. 

The first rule suggested is : " If an article is 
used at the beginning of a title for the sake Of 
clearness, capitalize the first word of the title 
following the article." I learn that this is to 



CATALOG SECTION. 



193 



be recommended in the fourth edition of Mr. 
Cutter's " Rules." It is therefore proposed to 
capitalize the word following the article, not 
only, as I understand it, in titles of periodicals, 
but in titles of fiction, etc., titles of ordinary 
books. That question is now open for dis- 
cussion. 

Miss KROEGER : For example, the proposi- 
tion is : in the case of the title " A Woman's 
Reason," capitalize " a " and " woman." That 
was the suggested change. 

Mr. ANDREWS : Will the chairman please 
state the present practice in the Library of 
Congress ? 

The CHAIRMAN : The Library of Congress 
rules state that in quoting titles like " The 
Nation" " The Times" the word following the 
article is capitalized, but not the article itself. 
It is therefore a different case. I may add that 
the Library of Congress rules call for the capi- 
talization of the article and also of the word 
following the article in titles of periodicals, 
newspapers, etc., but not in titles of ordinary 
books. 

Mr. CUTTER : I suppose that every one has 
noticed that in Lorenz this practice is fol- 
lowed. The French, of course, always retain 
the article before the first noun of the title, 
and they always capitalize the first noun of 
the title. In English we do not do that. It 
was proposed by Mrs. Fairchild that we should 
adopt the French custom as an assistance in 
the arrangement of titles in the card catalog. 
Take the case of the title " A Woman beyond 
compare." One is almost obliged to retain 
the "A" there, as my rule says, "When 
an article beginning a title is retained for 
clearness or for euphony, the word following 
should also have a capital initial." 

Mr. FLETCHER: I should like to know if the 
chairman of the committee is willing that it 
should be stated what was the result of the dis- 
cussion of the committee on each of these 
points. 

The CHAIRMAN : I do not recall the vote on 
this matter, but there is no objection, so far as 
I am concerned, to the vote of the committee 
being made public. 

Mr. FLETCHER : The report has been placed 
in my hands as a representative of the Publish- 
ing Board. If there is no objection, I would 
state that the discussion on that point in the 
committee resulted in a vote of five against and 



two in favor of the change. I have already 
heard some further discussion of the mat- 
ter, and there was evident feeling that there 
was something to be said against the 
use of the second capital. The fact that 
French practice retains the capital is not a very 
strong argument, because, if we are going to 
follow the examples of continental bibliogra- 
phy, we shall find ourselves getting into pretty 
deep water. The typographical appearance 
is against such a change, unless we use capitals 
all through the title. The first word " A," 
then "Woman" beginning with a " W" and 
then no more capitals, such an arrangement 
is not pleasing to the eye. 

Miss KROEGER: It is even less pleasing 
when you have an adjective than when you 
have a noun. 

A. G. S. JOSEPHSON : We have the same 
rule as in the Library of Congress. We capi- 
talize the first word in the title of a periodical 
after the article. Of course, we always retain 
the initial article. It has been the custom in a 
good many libraries not to retain the initial 
article, but I do not think that i& a good 
custom. 

Miss KROEGER : I should say in regard to the 
vote of the committee that the committee de- 
cided that, in case of periodicals, the first word 
after the article should be capitalized, as in the 
case of " The Nation," and " The Times:' 
That was the only exception which the com- 
mittee as a whole decided upon. 

Mr. SOLBERG : May not the question be 
properly asked, why was that distinction made? 
Why should the title of a periodical be capital- 
ized, the article itself being discarded in some 
cases, while in the titles of books, the article 
being also discarded in particular cases, the 
capitalization of the next word is eliminated ? 
It seems to me that the same reason ought to 
govern in one case as in the other. 

The CHAIRMAN : For one reason it is to as- 
sist in the arrangement of the titles in the cata- 
log. Periodicals and newspapers are entered 
under their titles, but in the case of ordinary 
books the author's name decides the arrange- 
ment. Then, in titles of newspapers and peri- 
odicals there seems to be necessity for making 
the word following the article standout clearly 
and distinctly. 

Mr. NELSON : I can see why the capital might 
be retained in the titles of periodicals, because 



194 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



those are title entries where we want to draw 
especial attention to the first word in order to 
get at the name of the periodical. In the 
other cases there is no necessity for using a 
capital. 

S. H. BERRY : Unless there is some decided 
reason for the use of the capital following the 
article we ought not to make the change. It 
would be difficult to change the quantity of 
work already done to accord with the proposed 
rule. If those favoring the retention of the 
capital in the title can offer some substan- 
tial and real reason why it ought to be there, 
then we might be convinced that the change 
would be advisable, but it must be a strong 
reason. 

Mr. CUTTER: I thought there had already 
been given what seemed to me to be a strong 
reason, namely, that the capitalization of the 
word after the article assists the arranger or 
the person who puts the card into the catalog 
and calls his attention to the word under which 
it is to be placed, both in the arrangement of 
titles under the author and in the arrangement 
of title entries. I can see, however, that there 
is another reason in the case of periodicals. 
Periodicals are known by a sort of proper 
name, and you want to call attention to that. 
Take, for instance, the title of" The Times" If 
you print the first word with a capital " T " and 
then use a little " t" for " times" it gives an 
uncomfortable and unaccustomed impression. 
Does the Library of Congress capitalize the 
first word after the article in the case of period- 
icals or the word under which it is entered ? For 
instance, if the title is " Daily Evening Star" 
and there is a " Daily Morning Star," or a 
" Morning Star" then you would capitalize 
' Star" would you not? 

The CHAIRMAN: For the present such titles 
would be arranged under ''Daily" when that 
word follows the article ; but that is a temporary 
makeshift. We have that rule under consider- 
ation. We propose to consider seriously 
whether it is not possible to place the name of 
the city where the paper is published before the 
word " Daily," and arrange newspapers under 
cities in all cases of that kind. 

Mr. CUTTER: Is it your idea to put in the 
name of the city in all cases? 

The CHAIRMAN : No, not in all cases. We 
shall try to draw a line, particularly in the case 
of foreign newspapers published in the United 



States. These would largely be arranged under 
their distinctive titles, other newspapers hav- 
ing distinctive titles would have also to be ar- 
ranged under the title. 

Mr. FLETCHER : There is one thing that 
ought to be said regarding Mr. Berry's remarks 
as to the result of this committee's work. These 
so-called changes proposed in the rules are 
simply to bring the rules into conformity with 
the usual practice, so far as can be judged, of 
most of our libraries. Now, possibly, Mr. 
Berry has not been using these capitals in the 
way in which it is now proposed. His library 
may be an exception ; but the committee have 
found, after sending their circular to twenty- 
five separate libraries, that nearly every one of 
those libraries uses capitals in very nearly the 
way that is proposed in these so-called changes. 
Therefore the objection cannot be made to 
these changes that they will revolutionize the 
practice already existing. The libraries which 
favor the use of more capitals not in all 
these points, but in general are such as Col- 
umbia University, Pratt Institute, John Crerar, 
Forbes, St. Louis, Carnegie of Pittsburgh, Pea- 
body Institute, Brooklyn Public, Boston Pub- 
lic, Princeton University, and the New York 
Public, and these changes are proposed to 
bring the A. L. A. rules into conformity with 
what seems to be the practice of the best libra- 
ries. 

The CHAIRMAN: Would it be possible to 
have a show of hands on this question ? Those 
in favor of capitalizing in the title of periodi- 
cals both the article and the word following the 
article, please raise their hands. 

The vote was in the affirmative. 

The CHAIRMAN: In the case of titles not 
periodicals, those in favor of capitalizing both 
the article and the word following the article, 
please raise their hands. 

The vote was in the negative. 

Mr. GAY : Do we not lose sight in this of the 
convenience of the public? Is the card catalog 
made entirely for the librarian? Every adver- 
tiser knows that it is important for him to cap- 
italize and underline and italicise or to put up 
as large as possible the important words that 
he wishes to call attention to. When an un- 
learned and would-be reader of your library 
sees in the card catalog a long title, with the 
prominent subject buried perhaps in the last 
line, it is very unhandy for him to read it all 



CATALOG SECTION. 



195 



through. Why need we cover it up? Why 
not bring it out? 

Mr. LANE : There is one general considera- 
tion which should have weight in these mat- 
ters. Capitalizing for a card catalog is quite 
a different thing from capitalizing in a page of 
reading matter. I think that ought to be borne 
in mind. In putting the title entry of u The 
Monthly Anthology " along with other titles in a 
catalog, we can very well neglect the distinc- 
tion of capitals, while " The Monthly Anthol- 
ogy" referred to in a page of print has to be 
brought out by one or more capitals. 

The CHAIRMAN : I shall pass on to the next 
point. The suggested rule is: "Capitalize 
also the initials of generic names." I must 
explain that this refers to geographic names, 
for instance, where the distinctive name is fol- 
lowed by a generic word. Take " The Rocky 
Mountains" and the usual examples of rivers, 
" Yellowstone River," etc. Shall we capitalize 
the generic word " mountain" or " river," or 
shall we not capitalize it? The proposition 
here is to capitalize it. 

Mr. FLETCHER : The committee voted unan- 
imously in favor of the change. 

Mr. LANE : What is the present practice at 
the Library of Congress and please state the 
reason for it? 

The CHAIRMAN: I am sorry to say the pres- 
ent practice in our library is to make a distinc- 
tion. We have capitalized "mountains" in 
"White Mountains" and we have not capital- 
ized " mountains " in ' Rocky Mountains " and 
we are thoroughly tired of the rule. Questions 
are constantly occurring: Shall we capitalize 
the generic word here or shall we not? 

Mr. JOSEPHSON : Do we understand that the 
committee is unanimous in 'recommending the 
capitalization of generic names? 

Mr. FLETCHER : Yes. 

Mr. JOSEPHSON: Then I move that we pro- 
ceed to the next point. 

Mr. FLETCHER : Before that is passed, I think 
that the officials of the Library of Congress, 
who are to be governed by these rules when 
made, are looking to this assembly for an ex- 
pression of opinion, and I think it is desirable 
to have this recommendation passed upon. 

The CHAIRMAN: All in favor of capitalizing 
the generic word, please raise their hands. 

The vote was unanimous in the affirmative. 

The CHAIRMAN: The next rule is, "Capital- 



ize even if separated by a preposition titles like 
' The Secretary of State.' " The Library School 
rules, I believe, say, " Do not capitalize the 
title if separated from the name by a preposi- 
tion." It is proposed now to capitalize both 
words. The rule has been to capitalize titles 
that are immediately prefixed to names, like 
" Count Waldersee," but not titles separated 
from the names by a preposition. Now, we 
propose to capitalize the titles also in the latter 
case. 

G. M. JONES : I think there is quite a distinc- 
tion between titles such as "Earl of Derby" 
and " secretary of state," one being more of a 
personal name than the other. I don't know 
exactly where we can draw the line so as to 
make it clear what practice should be followed. 

Miss KROEGER : I would suggest that Mrs. 
Fairchild, if she is present, might have some- 
thing to say about that. 

Mr. FLETCHER : The vote of the committee 
was nearly unanimous in favor of the change. 

Mrs. FAIRCHILD : It is a little point now 
under discussion, but I am very much inter- 
ested in the matter that is before this 'Section 
this afternoon, because of its relation to other 
things. It seems to me that the A. L. A. in 
its usage of capitals is in danger of losing its 
influence in other very important matters. In 
other words, we vary from the conventional 
usage in the matter of capitals. It is quite a 
striking variation. Educated people in college 
libraries and in public libraries notice it, and 
they ask the question, Why this variation? 
It seems to me that we really lose our influence 
in our legitimate library work by appearing to 
be what some people call " cranks " on capi- 
tals. Now, is it worth while? Why should 
we care so much whether the first word aftei 
the article is capitalized or not? To me it 
seems of very little importance, scarcely worth 
the time to talk about it here ; but it seems to 
me very interesting, that when this committee 
sent out the proposal of these four or five 
changes, which are not extremely radical, not 
so very different from the present usage, 
which were intended to put us a little more in 
line with the regular usage of the best publish- 
ers and the best writers, it seems to me inter- 
esting and significant that all of the twenty-five 
libraries consulted were in favor of making 
these changes, and of receding from the ex- 
treme decapitalization which we have been fol- 



1 96 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 






lowing. I very much hope that the Publishing 
Board will support the majority of the commit- 
tee, and will support the vote of these twenty- 
five libraries in the adoption of these few 
changes, not, as I said at first, because I care 
about capitals one way or the other, but be- 
cause it seems to me we are losing our influ- 
ence in matters which are vital, and which 
affect the life of the community, by making 
ourselves conspicuously different from the rest 
of the world in these small and unimportant 
points. 

The CHAIRMAN : Mr. Dewey was anxious to 
take part in the discussion, but he was not able 
to be present. He has, however, sent a com- 
munication on capitals, and as I think it has a 
general bearing on the question it might be read 
now. 

The secretary read Mr. Dewey's communica- 
tion on 

Changing catalog rules. 

Some librarians seem to feel toward their 
rules as they do toward their clothes, that they 
are liable to be commented on unpleasantly 
unless they have something new each season. 
Whenever a few come together there is the 
tendency to propose alterations with the same 
freedom that they would try experiments in 
other directions, forgetting that the card cata- 
log is the worst place in the world to make 
new changes, because new work is inserted at 
irregular places, destroying consistency and 
harmony, and reflecting unpleasantly on the 
ability of those who have done the work. 
When Panizzi made his rules 50 years ago the 
field was comparatively new. With a quarter 
century experience we took up the matter again 
when the A. L. A. was organized and the ablest 
librarians and catalogers gave protracted study 
to agreement on a code. This has been very 
widely adopted, and we are approximating a 
general uniform practice. Certain restless 
spirits will always be clamoring for change, 
and unless care is exercised will destroy much 
of the symmetry and consistency of the older 
work and all hope of uniformity. No librarian 
with much respect for his catalog will consent 
to continual changes in his rules, even if he is 
anxious to keep in harmony with A. L. A. 
committees, library schools, and the practice 
of printed cards. 

Catalogers now change so often from one 
piece of work to another that the importance 
of recognized standard rules for cataloging con- 
stantly grows. Our one hope of seeing such 
rules is to stand firmly by a reasonable ground 
that no changes are to be made without over- 
whelming evidence that the change is not only 
an improvement, but a great enough improve- 



ment to justify its cost and the inevitable con- 
fusion that must result from it. The best ser- 
vice that those who understand this question 
can render librarianship is to fight vigorously 
against the tendency to continual changes and 
modifications. 

I certainly am not by nature over-conserva- 
tive. I should regret of all things to see the 
library profession put itself on a plane with 
some theologians who object to all revision, 
who refuse to believe that we know more now 
than we did a generation ago, and who insist 
that changes must necessarily be harmful. But 
the American tendency for some new thing, to 
run after alleged improvements, is peculiarly 
dangerous in our cataloging work. We may 
change rules at the loan desk and in the refer- 
ence department and for almost anything else, 
but those that affect the card catalog are like 
changes in the architecture of a great building 
after it is half done. They may make it more 
picturesque, but are much more likely to make 
it ridiculous in the eyes of an expert and are 
usually very costly. The question whether 
certain words shall begin with capitals or small 
letters is but dust in the balance whichever 
way it is settled, though it is only fair to say 
that the steady and rapid trend of the English 
language is to use fewer capitals, that the pub- 
lishers and printers who have the widest repu- 
tation for good taste are leaders in this move- 
ment, and that if any change is made it should 
be to use fewer capitals, or otherwise we are 
working toward the middle ages instead of 
looking to the future, and are simply making a 
change that will inevitably be changed back 
again a few years later. 

Mr. FLETCHER : Mr. Dewey is so persuasive 
that I think it proper, if anybody can, to show 
that he is dealing with a complete fallacy. 
The status of the thing is more like this : we 
have Cutter's "Rules" for cataloging, which 
are based on the practice of the libraries of 
America as nearly in harmony with that 
practice as they could be made when those 
rules were prepared for the successive editions. 
The "A. L. A. rules" which we are revising, 
or looking over with the view of revising, at 
least, are another code of rules which in some of 
these minor points differ from Mr. Cutter, and 
we are now trying to adopt a system which shall 
be acceptable to those who are using either. 
This is not changing a well established prac- 
tice. It is only trying to establish the practice 
a little better by doing away with divergencies 
as Mrs. Fairchild has said, divergencies 
from the generally accepted practice in liter- 
ary matters. I do not think anything further 
need be said about Mr. Dewey's argument except 



CATALOG SECTION. 



197 



that it is evidently fallacious in its very foun- 
dation. I differ slightly from Miss Kroeger's 
estimate as to the practice of the libraries to 
which this circular was sent. I do not think 
their preference is different from their practice. 
Those libraries have not been affected by the 
A. L. A. rules, and not very much affected by 
Cutter's rules except as these have fallen in with 
their practice. They find Cutter's rules agree 
with their practice in the main. As a general 
rule they follow the practice they prefer to fol- 
low in those libraries, and they do not accept 
the ruling of any code of rules as against what 
they prefer. So I say it is a fallacy to claim 
that we are proposing to change any established 
practice. 

Mr. JOSEPHSON : We should remember that 
these rules we are discussing are primarily 
meant for the printed cards issued by the Li- 
brary of Congress for itself and for other li- 
braries. It is not meant that libraries should 
necessarily change their own old cards to con- 
form with these rules if they do not wish to. 

Mrs. FAIRCHILD : It is only fair to say that 
I had no knowledge of this communication of 
Mr. Dewey's which has just been presented to 
the Association. Our difference of opinion 
rests entirely on our conception of what the 
work of the Library Association is for. If it is 
our business to try to reform the English lan- 
guage, and if more decapitalization is a reform, 
then we must agree with Mr. Dewey. But it 
seems to me that, as librarians, we have other 
and very much better work to do. 

The CHAIRMAN : The question of capitaliz- 
ing the title when separated from the name by 
a preposition has not been disposed of. I 
should like to have a show of hands on that 
question. 

Mr. CUTTER : The rule as I have it in the 
fourth edition of my Rules is, "Use capitals 
for titles of honor standing instead of a proper 
name," as "the Queen of England said or 
ordered so and so ; the Earl of Derby did this 
or that." But when you say, "John Stanley, 
earl of Derby," that is a mere explanation, and 
the word " earl " is not capitalized. It is capi- 
talized only where the title of honor stands in 
place of a proper name. 

Mr. FLETCHER : I would like to ask if the 
committee understood this matter differently 
from what Mr. Cutter has stated when they 
seemed to favor this change. 



The CHAIRMAN: No, we did not; we did 
not consider that titles should be capitalized 
when following proper names as "John Stan- 
ley, earl of Derby." In that case, we all agree 
not to capitalize it, as Mr. Cutter has said, but 
when you use the title instead of a name, and 
when directly prefixed to a name, the majority 
voted for capitalizing it. 

Mr. BISCOE : According to my recollection, 
the Library School rules give exactly that same 
interpretation, that the "earl" is not capital- 
ized when it follows a personal name, as "John 
Stanley, earl of Derby." 

The CHAIRMAN : When the title follows 
the name, as "John Stanley, earl of Derby," 
the committee agrees not to capitalize the title 
"earl." But when the title stands in direct 
address immediately preceding, for instance, 
"Earl of Derby" or "Bishop of Albany," 
using that designation instead of the proper 
name, then the majority of the committee has 
voted to capitalize the title. All who agree 
with the committee on that point please raise 
their hands. 

The vote was in the affirmative. 

The CHAIRMAN : The next point is with re- 
gard to the names of government and state 
departments and the names of societies and 
other bodies. The practice has been to capital- 
ize according to the Library School rules, to 
capitalize in the case of names of societies and 
institutions the first word, but not the other 
chief words in the name. That is to say, in the 
title, "American association for the advance- 
ment of science," you would of course 
capitalize "American," but you would not 
capitalize "association," "advancement," or 
"science." On the other hand, Mr. Cutter's 
Rules propose to capitalize in such cases all 
the chief words. 

Mr. NELSON : The argument Mrs. Fairchild 
has used certainly applies here with great force. 
You speak of " Harvard University " and you 
spell " Harvard " with a capital " H " and " uni- 
versity" with a small " u," and that is an 
insult to the institution. If you adopt that on 
the ground that "university" is a general 
term and " Harvard " is the university you 
are speaking of, and because university is a 
common word you can capitalize " Harvard " 
and let " university " stand small, you might 
just as well use a capital "J" in "John Smith" 
and let the " s" stand small, because there are 



198 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



more Smiths than there are universities. I 
contend that the name " university" is just as 
much entitled to be capitalized as the name of 
the university, and every organization which 
has its own corporate name should be capital- 
ized in every one of the words, I don't care 
if it is five lines long. 

Mr. ANDREWS : We tried our best to follow 
the Library School rules on this matter, but 
we could not stand it and we gave it up. I want 
to express my emphatic agreement with what 
Mr. Nelson has said. I believe " Harvard 
University " is a proper name and should be 
properly treated. Mr. Currier, what is your 
practice at Harvard? 

Mr. CURRIER : We do not capitalize any part 
of a proper name except where we absolutely 
have to. For instance, in the case of the title, 
" Proceedings of the Folk Lore Society," we 
use a small " f " and a small " s." In the case 
of "Harvard University" we are very disre- 
spectful to our own institution, as we use a 
small ' u." It is true, as Mr. Nelson says, 
that for ordinary editing rules in a book, we 
must be respectful ; but when it comes to card 
cataloging titles, that is a different thing. If 
we can reduce the number of capitals without 
injuring people's sensibilities, well and good, 
provided we can get a rule for doing it that 
catalogers can easily follow. The trouble with 
these Library School rules seems to have been 
that it is almost impossible to follow them 
easily and decide just what points agree with 
the rules and what do not. I advocate in some 
cases, like generic names, the capitalizing of 
both the generic and the specific name, and 
that might apply to institutions, except that I 
think it is easier to make a rule for institutions 
that the first word of the full name only is to 
be capitalized. That is an easy rule to follow, 
and in that way we can reduce the number of 
capitals. In the case of a generic name, it is 
often impossible to decide just when the generic 
part of the name is properly a part of the 
name, so as to distinguish where to capitalize 
both and where not to do so. That is why, in 
the case of geographical names, we have to 
make the simple rule to capitalize both the 
specific and the generic name. 

Mr. ANDREWS : We should have rules which 
can be easily followed. I should rather adopt 
the rule as Mr. Cutter proposes, to capitalize 
all the chief words in the title. For example, 



in the case of " Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology," where the students use the 
initials " M. I. T." to designate the institution, 
the use of small letters would fail to bring out 
these distinctive initials. 

Mr. NELSON : I may add that this matter has 
caused more expense, when it has come to the 
printing of catalogs, than the original writing 
of the cards, because we have had to put on the 
capitals. If the cards had been written with 
capitals in the first place, we should not have 
had to waste time and money in correcting 
them. 

Mr. SOLBERG : I am very strongly in favor 
of the discarding of capitals, and it is as an ad- 
vocate of that view that I rise. Mrs. Fairchild 
has presented the view of a great many people 
on the non-usage of capitals by the A. L. A., 
and probably that objection is based very 
largely on just such examples as the writing of 
" Harvard University" with a small " u " and 
"British Museum" with a small " m." It 
would seem to be good sense on the part of 
those who dispense with useless capitals and 
I think it is much more important than it 
seems, although it is not so important as other 
rules in libraries that there be a yielding on 
these points and that some flexibility be used, 
so that the essential rule of the general discard- 
ing of capitals may be maintained. 

Mr. FLETCHER : One practical point has not 
been mentioned. It really is not easy, in the 
case of such a title as " Proceedings of the 
Folk Lore Society," when that title is spelled 
with a small " f " and a small " s," to perceive 
that the society's proper name has been given. 
There may be a good many societies called 
folk lore societies. You may have the title, 
"Journal of the Geological Society of Essex 
County." Now, .when "geological" is spelled 
with a small " g" and " society" with a small 
" s " a person reading that title would not know 
the official name of the organization ; the soci- 
ety might be called "The Society of Essex 
County Geologists." When we are setting 
down the name of a society, especially one that 
contains several common nouns or adjectives 
derived from common nouns, if we do not capi- 
talize those we do not indicate clearly its 
name. 

Mr. CURRIER : I want to be sure that I was 
understood in regard to the instance of the 
"Folk Lore Society." I should not advise our 



CATALOG SECT/OK. 



199 



own custom to be adopted. It is something 
we shall change just as soon as we can get a 
good rule to go by. I think it is absurd to see 
" Folk Lore Society " written with a small " f " 
and a small " s." 

The CHAIRMAN : The Library School rules 
say, in the case instanced by Mr. Fletcher, 
" Capitalize ' geological ' and write lower case 
for ' society.' " 

Mr. CUTTER : Let me present one other point 
of view, that of the rule-maker, who desires to 
make a simple rule not requiring explanation 
or exceptions, but carrying one principle 
through several different applications. Such 
a rule is also convenient for the student of the 
rules and for the public. Let me read from 
the fourth edition of my Rules a half page 
which applies to this matter. Use capitals : 
2. for all proper names (each separate word 
not an article or preposition) 

a. of persons and places. 

E.g. John Smith, Cape May, Charles 
River, the Bight of Benin. This will 
include North, South, etc., when indi- 
cating a section, but not when mean- 
ing the compass points. 

b. of bodies. 

E.g. Society for Promoting the 
Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Third 
Congregational Church. Also the ab- 
breviation of such names used when 
the full name has already been men- 
tioned or is well known, as the Bureau, 
the College, the Synod. 

c. of noted events and periods. 

E.g. Boston Massacre, French Rev- 
olution, Gunpowder Plot, Middle 
Ages. 

d. of months, days, holidays, and holy 

periods and ceremonies. 

E.g. February, Friday, Fourth of 

July (in titles better written 4th of 

July), Advent, Halloween, Holy Week, 

Lent, Lord's Supper, Thanksgiving. 

There are four cases of actual proper names 
which we treat exactly alike. It is a very sim- 
ple thing to follow those rules in preparing 
your catalog ; doing otherwise introduces con- 
fusion. If you were to write my name, for 
instance, " Charles ammi cutter," then you 
might go on and write "Folk lore society;" 
but not otherwise, if you are to be consistent. 

L. P. LANE : It seems to me that a few 
words ought to be said for the progressive 
wing of the catalog world. It is evident that 
catalogers are groping slowly toward the light ; 
but I do not think the progressive wing has 



been represented here except by Mrs. Fairchild 
and Mr. Andrews. I wish in particular to con- 
trovert Mr. Dewey's thesis that the construc- 
tion of a card catalog by a system of rules is 
analogous to the erection of a building under 
the specifications and plans of an architect. 
The only condition under which that can be 
true is when the catalog has become popular- 
ized. A much more sound analogy is that the 
catalog is analogous in its growth to a set of 
political institutions, where there are frequent 
changes. We have in the Boston Public Li- 
brary cards 30 years old which are quite differ- 
ent from those inserted to-day. I have been a 
cataloger for about two years and I think our 
rules in regard to capitals have been changed 
about every six months. Yet these changes, I 
must call to your attention, have not been 
vacillating ; they have been steady in their aim, 
and I think the time is coming when we shall 
capitalize very much as people in general who 
have had good literary training do. For exam- 
ple, in that specific instance "John Stanley, 
earl of Derby," we would capitalize "earl" 
and "Derby." 

W. H. TILLINGHAST : The Harvard College 
rules seem to be a little unpopular. They are 
based, however, it seems to me, on an entirely 
reasonable practice. They may be a little ex- 
treme in some details, but the theory that work 
for a library catalog is a different kind of work 
from work for ordinary composition seems to 
me thoroughly sound, and the fact that a large 
number of capitals do interfere with the easy 
following of a title, whether printed or written 
on a catalog card or on a printed page of a 
catalog, seems to me clear. That being so I 
see no reason why librarians are not entitled to 
act on that principle and exclude capitals as far 
as they may. I am quite unable to sympathize 
with those who see any derogation to a particu- 
lar society by the omission of some of the 
capitals to which it may deem itself entitled. 
I fail to see that the l< Society for the Preven- 
tion of Cruelty to Animals " is treated in an in- 
decorous way by capitalizing simply the first 
word of the title, and I do not see that it gains 
anything by capitalizing the rest of the title, 
while I think that by capitalizing the rest of 
the title you do interfere with the ready read- 
ing of the title in which it occurs. Our rules 
may go rather too far in the omission of capi- 



2OO 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



tals, and I think it would be desirable to capital- 
ize the first word of the title of a society. 

The CHAIRMAN : Will those who are in favor 
of capitalizing all the chief words in the names 
of societies and institutions, government de- 
partments and bodies, please rise? 

62 rose. 

The CHAIRMAN : Those in favor of capitaliz- 
ing only the first word, please rise. 

41 rose. 

Mr. ANDREWS : What was the opinion of the 
committee on that point? 

Mr. FLETCHER : The vote in the committee 
was a small majority in favor of the practice as 
it stands in the Library School rules. 

The CHAIRMAN : The next question is : 
" Capitalize the names of historical events and 
epochs." 

Mr. FLETCHER : The vote on that in the com- 
mittee was five to two against using capitals 
for historical events and epochs unless in the 
case of proper nouns and adjectives. 

Mr. MARTEL : It seems to me that a number 
of specific exceptions to that rule might be pro- 
mulgated from time to time. We might start 
with "Reformation," " Renaissance," " Revo- 
lution," meaning the French Revolution, and 
such others as might be proposed. 

The CHAIRMAN : May I say that in the com- 
mittee the vote was influenced by this consid- 
eration, that it had been found to be exceed- 
ingly difficult to always decide what is an 
historical event. It was the tendency here to 
make a rule that could be more easily followed. 

Mr. FLETCHER : It seems as though there 
could not be a better rule if there is to be a 
rule made along the line of Cutter's rules 
than that those words which are admitted to be 
proper names should be capitalized. That is to 
say, capitalize the principal words if proper 
names, as in " St. Bartholomew's Day." The 
word " day" there is a proper name, because it 
refers to some thing that is not a day at all. 
People in speaking about St. Bartholomew's 
Day are apt to mean the massacre itself. There 
are other striking examples that might be men- 
tioned in which a word is used differently from 
its ordinary meaning. 

The CHAIRMAN : All those In favor of capi- 
talizing all the words in names of noted his- 
torical events and epochs please rise. 

62 rose. 



All those opposed to capitalizing the chief 
words in such cases, please rise. 

3 rose. 

The CHAIRMAN : There is another point 
which some of the librarians are anxious 
to have discussed. Mr. Andrews has men- 
tioned to me the case of common nouns in 
German. 

Mr. ANDREWS : I wish to speak on this 
point, as it is perhaps the one as to which 
the people who use our library have the great- 
est interest. I make no pretence of coming 
here as a cataloger, but simply as a man who 
uses the catalog from the point of view of the 
student, and it is from that point of view, 
which was indicated by Mrs. Fairchild's argu- 
ment with which I heartily concur that I 
want to speak. The Library of Congress at 
present prints its German titles with the noun 
in lower case. I cannot accept that as being 
in accordance with the practice of the best 
publishers of Germany. I would like to obtain 
an opinion on this question from the catalogers 
and representatives of those libraries which 
have any large percentage of German litera- 
ture. I have purposely limited the question 
because it seems to me that a library which 
contains 30 per cent, of its books- in German 
is in a somewhat different position from a 
library which has only one or two per cent., 
as I suppose the majority of American libra- 
ries have. I believe that the authorities of 
the Library of Congress hold that it is becom- 
ing less the custom in Germany to capitalize 
common nouns, but I have myself seen no 
evidence in support of that view. The Ger- 
man books which I read now show as small 
a percentage of this alleged change of custom 
in fact, I might say almost as absolutely non- 
existent a percentage as they did twenty 
years ago when I first began to read scientific 
German. It is on those arguments that it 
is contrary to the best practice of German 
writers, and that it does therefore offend those 
who are accustomed to reading German in the 
same way that the decapitalization of titles or 
proper names offends the majority of us that 
I make the request that those catalogers who 
deal with German literature would express 
their preferences on this point. 

Mr. CURRIER : That is a good point. Hav- 
ing myself been brought up in America, I am 



CATALOG SECTION. 



201 



so accustomed to using small letters for the 
initial letters of German nouns that it has be- 
come almost a second nature. But I can see 
that what Mr. Andrews says has great weight. 
I know how it offends me in foreign titles to 
see what I consider a proper name or proper 
adjective printed with a lower case initial. I 
know the same thing must hold true of the 
German who consults our catalog, and while at 
present I am in favor of using lower case as 
much as possible, I am willing to be persuaded 
to use capitals in cases of that kind. The only 
trouble is, that there is a difference in other 
languages. It might be a little difficult to tell 
sometimes in the case of different languages 
just what would be the proper rule for the use 
of capitals. 

Mr. MARTEL : While I am personally in 
favor of capitalizing nouns in German, I think 
that the use of German nouns beginning with 
small letters is increasing and is not quite as 
uncommon as Mr. Andrews seems to think. 
I think that the percentage of this growth 
may be said to be nearly equal to the growth of 
the use of Roman characters for writing Ger- 
man. I know that there is considerable 
correspondence by' Germans in which small 
letters are used for nouns, and the tendency 
probably is that way. It is not uncommon to 
find scientific literature especially printed in 
Roman characters, and with small letters at 
the beginning of nouns, and if this practice 
is kept up in the printed cards, I think it will 
be in line with the tendency. The same may 
be true of the Scandinavian languages also. 

The CHAIRMAN : The Scandinavians do not 
capitalize the common nouns any longer, nor 
do we in cataloging books in those languages. 

Mr. JOSEPHSON : There was a tendency be- 
ginning in the '8o's to discourage the use of 
capitals for German nouns. At the same time 
there began a tendency to use Roman letters 
instead of German letters. The latter tendency 
has grown, the former has ceased. You can 
occasionally find a German author who does not 
use capitals for nouns, but all the best standard 
authors and all the best standard publishers 
and printers use them. This question can be 
regarded only as a part of the general question 
how to treat foreign languages. In my own 
opinion we should treat them according to the 
best usage of the language itself. 



A. KEOGH : I should like to ask whether we 
should capitalize nouns in copying lower-case 
titles ? The German section at Yale has some 
seven thousand volumes, and I should say that 
there were five hundred printed with the nouns 
beginning with small letters, even the para- 
graphs beginning that way. What should we 
do in such a case ? 

Mr. ANDREWS : I should follow the title- 
page. If they used lower case on the title-page, 
I would do the same ; if they used capitals, I 
would use capitals. I would adopt Mr. Joseph- 
son's suggestions in regard to foreign titles 
to follow the best custom of the country, where 
the author had not himself deliberately set out 
to express an opinion in his title. 

The CHAIRMAN : I observe that Mr. Dewey 
is here. We have had a written communica- 
tion from him, but now that he is present, he 
may wish to add something to it. 

Mr. DEWEY : I should like to make plain 
my attitude. Since we started the Library 
Journal in 1876 I have studied the trend of 
this matter, and my observation is that the 
people who are troubled most about sparing 
use of capitals are those who work not on 
scholarly knowledge of the subject, but on 
the ordinary prejudices of the educated eye. 
Unless one has studied the matter with care, he 
has the same prejudice against the dropping of 
capitals that he had against dropping the " ue " 
from "catalog" some years ago. Originally 
all letters were capitals ; then after the legible 
small letters were invented every word began 
with a capital ; then every prominent word or 
every noun began with a capital. Steadily we 
have been getting rid of our double alphabet in 
the same way that the German is getting rid 
of its Gothic letters and substituting the simpler 
Roman forms. The whole tendency of the 
world is to produce any given result in the 
simplest, quickest, and cheapest way. Of 
course, it is an absurdity to have two alphabets 
instead of one. It is a condition of things 
which has grown out of the old hieroglyphics. 
If you follow this tendency as shown during 
the last twenty-five years, and take the au- 
thorities on this subject, you will find a steady 
lessening of the number of capitals used. If 
you send your printing to a cheap country 
office, where some green boy has grown up to 
be foreman, you will find it peppered full of 



202 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



capitals. But if you send the same work to 
De Vinne or to some other press, famous for 
the beauty of its typographic work, you will 
see the capitals rapidly disappearing. I have 
noted that those who declaim most loudly 
about this matter of decapitalization are the 
people who have never really studied it and 
have no claim to be considered authorities. 
They do not like "the look" of it, that is 
all. They have been used to seeing a certain 
style of capitalization and so they declaim 
against any improvement without studying its 
merits. There is nothing so hard to change 
as rules for a card catalog, because it is like 
an uncompleted book. If you are printing 
a book and a change of style is suggested in 
the middle, common sense tells you to wait 
until you have completed that volume. It 
makes little difference whether you use capitals 
or small letters, but any change in the middle 
is offensive and disastrous. Capitalization is 
a little detail, compared with our great work 
of librarianship, but yet it is a serious thing 
to change. It is not the most important thing 
in the world, but it is annoying to have that 
confusion. It is not worth while to change 
unless we are sure we are making an improve- 
ment. 

Some one has said that the work of the 
A. L. A. is not to reform the English lan- 
guage. I agree to that ; but let us not put our- 
selves in the attitude of antagonizing a natural 
and helpful growth in the right direction. 
That growth is steadily towards the use of 
fewer capitals. When we discussed this twenty- 
five years ago in 1877 in New York, we had 
full consideration and agreed on a plan of 
restricting capitals which has been widely 
adopted. A good many people do not use it, 



but it is the one which has been used more 
largely than any other code. Now, we ought 
to think twice before we change that code. 
Those of you who have looked at De Vinne's 
new books published this summer will find 
that he has taken clear strong ground, and 
in letters which he has written to me recently 
he says he wants to go still farther. He is 
easily the first authority on printing in this 
country, and for us to ignore the judgment 
of the closest students of these things and of 
the presses that do the best work, and at the 
same time to go back on our old practice seems 
to me discreditable. If you don't know whether 
to put in a capital or not, leave it out; if you 
are in doubt whether to put a silent letter at the 
end of a word, leave it out. It is a good rule 
always to do a thing in the cheapest and 
shortest way. 

L. P. LANE : I think the whole problem will 
be solved when all books are printed in Volapuk. 
If the time is coming when all German books- 
will be printed with the nouns beginning with 
small letters, then the most economical way 
would be to print them that way at the present 
time. 

The CHAIRMAN : All those who are in favor 
of capitalizing the common nouns in German, 
please rise. 

The vote was in the affirmative. 

The report of the 

COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS 

was presented, submitting the names of Charles 
H. Gould, for chairman ; and Miss Sula Wag- 
ner, for secretary for the ensuing year. The 
report was accepted, and the persons named 
elected. 

The session then adjourned. 



TRUSTEES^ SECTION. 



203 



TRUSTEES' SECTION. 



"THE Trustees' Section of the American Li- 
brary Association held a meeting in 
Library Hall, Magnolia, Mass., on the after- 
noon of Thursday, June 19. Deloraine P. 
Corey, chairman of the Section, presided, with 
Thomas L. Montgomery as secretary. The 
meeting was called to order at 2.45 by the chair- 
man, who said : 

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE TRUS- 
TEES' SECTION, AND MEMBERS OF THE ASSO- 
CIATION. I am more than pleased at the 
appearance of so many new faces here, which 
I think shows that we have a number of trus- 
tees with us. I have to say to them that they 
are more than welcome, and we trust they will 
make themselves heard and felt here. If there 
is anything that they wish to speak upon we 
would like to hear from them. This is a Trus- 
tees' Section, and we wish the trustees to 
speak their minds and the librarians also. 
If the librarians do not like what the trus- 
tees say, they are free to reply. 

It is not my intention to take up your time 
by any extended remarks, but to speak briefly 
and broadly of that which appears to claim our 
first and most careful attention the relation 
of the trustee and the librarian, each having his 
proper and clearly defined field of activity, and 
each dependent upon the other for intelligent 
co-operation and support. There are matters 
which concern both the trustee and the libra- 
rian. There are questions which directly affect 
the trustee, and others which more especially 
touch the librarian, in which, however, each 
may have a sympathetic and helpful interest. 

There are questions which concern us as 
trustees which may be considered in future ses- 
sions, but this rightfully takes precedence of 
all. Others are such as are modified by condi- 
tions of place and circumstances this is one 
of universal application ; for that which is help- 
ful or that which is unjust in the relation of 
the trustee and the librarian in the large li- 
brary is helpful or burdensome or unjust in 
the small one. While the trustee has his 
burden to bear and it is not always a light 
one he may with propriety remember that a 
burden is laid upon the librarian which he may 



lighten and in the effort find his own burden 
lightened by the sympathy and aid of the other. 

An experience of a quarter of a century must 
have taught me something ; and it has con- 
firmed me in the belief that this is the most 
important subject that can come before this 
Section ; for upon the harmony or the dis- 
cord of the trustee and the librarian largely 
rests the success or the failure of the library. 
This leads me to say that I class as a discord 
that indifferent or perfunctory spirit which 
pervades too many library boards, an indiffer- 
ence which mainly springs from the indifferent 
material of which some boards are composed. 
This is, perhaps, not a pleasant part of our 
subject, but as a trustee I can allude to it. It 
is on the dark side, and it is the dark side 
which we wish to eliminate. 

This subject has so many aspects, and it is 
so varied in its applications, that the discussions 
of one session cannot exhaust it. We need the 
views of the many, both of trustees and libra- 
rians, that out of the many we may form a 
composite that will present a likeness of the 
real body as it exists, and that we may form 
another of the ideal body that might be and 
should be. We may not be able to raise our- 
selves to the level of the ideal we can raise 
ourselves above the plane upon which too 
many library boards are placed. 

There are conditions that are common to all 
libraries ; and there are conditions which are 
exceptional or are confined to a class and are 
not common to all. So our discussion, to be 
complete, should be from many standpoints, 
embracing all the extremes as well as the means 
of library conditions. 

There has been a spirit in some of the meet- 
ings of this Association in past years which I 
hope will not find a place here. I refer to a 
state of gentle acquiescence which precludes the 
best results. While such a condition may not 
always prevent a session from being in a degree 
interesting and instructive, a little opposition 
a little exchange of variant thoughts may 
come like the breath of one of our New Eng- 
land east winds at the close of a sultry summer 
day. Perhaps there may be a feeling of delicacy 



204 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



in the mind of the trustee as he reviews the 
methods of the librarian. Perhaps the librarian 
may hesitate to speak of the shortcomings of 
the trustee. Let us be frank in our interchange 
of thought and experience as members of one 
family, that we may strengthen ourselves in the 
courses which are right, that we may correct 
those things that are wrong or that are not 
expedient. 

There is so much that forces itself upon my 
mind in relation to trustees their uses and 
abuses that there is a temptation to enter into 
details to an undue occupation of your time. 
If the few words which I have spoken in a 
desultory way, and those things which may be 
said by other and more able speakers, should 
be found to be suggestive, may I not ask you 
to consider with carefulness the obligations of 
the trustee, and ask of yourselves, with that 
earnestness which should characterize personal 
examination, if those obligations are met by 
you? 

The chairman appointed a 

COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS 

as follows : 

Charles C. Soule, Dr. H. M. Leipziger, W. 
R. Eastman. 

In the absence of Dr. JAMES H. CANFIELD, 
Mr. QUIMBY read the former's paper on 

THE RELATION OF THE TRUSTEE TO THE 
PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

The parallel between the public school and 
the library is never more complete than in 
the matter of trustee and trusteeship I fear 
that it is complete on both sides, for good and 
for evil. The same general qualities are desira- 
ble, and are necessary for a successful issue ; and 
alas ! are so often lacking. Mr. Beecher once 
said that the strongest proof of the divine 
character of Christianity was to be found in the 
fact that it had survived in spite of its preachers 
and preaching. Some of us have often felt that 
the dire necessity for public schools is clearly 
manifest in the survival of the system in the 
face of its teachers and teaching. And it may 
be that the public library is to prove its right 
to be by outliving and by living down its man- 
agement and its general administration. Yet 
all this means, after all, in each case, that the 
purposes of public administrators are generally 
right and righteous ; and that humanity neces- 



sarily reaches any fixed goal by tacking back 
and forth, sometimes apparently wide of the 
route; and not by a more direct path. 

In library matters as in the church and in 
education I hold it to be of the very first im- 
portance that a trustee shall understand that 
the proper discharge of his duties will demand 
preparation and action, time and thought; and 
that he will distinctly prepare for this sacrifice. 
It is probably true that if men gave no more 
or no better attention to their private affairs 
than to the interests which they have promised 
to guard in their capacity as .trustees, or 
managers, or directors they would be bank- 
rupt in ninety days ; or if not in ninety days, 
as soon as the natural progress of a neglected 
business will carry them to bankruptcy. A 
trustee of a public library should note carefully 
the dates of the various official meetings, and 
far in advance of other demands should clear 
his engagement book for these. He should 
find time for an occasional visit to the library, 
perhaps an informal rather than an official 
visit, in order that he may note carefully the 
general progress made in administration by the 
librarian and the staff, as well as the uses made 
of the library by the public which the trustee 
is undertaking to serve. At the very beginning 
of his term he should say to himself at least, 
either " This one thing I do," or " This is one 
of the things which I propose to do, and do 
well." Only when he gives himself thus sys- 
tematically to the discharge of his duties can 
he be accounted a faithful servant. To allow 
every chance attraction to take him from trus- 
tee meetings, to be irregular and desultory in 
all his ways, to lack the continuity of interest 
and of effort which is so necessary to success 
in any undertaking, all this is not only to fall 
short of his duties, but is to place himself in 
the position of an obstructionist. For it must 
be true that every man who does not lift at the 
load in these days adds his own weight to the 
load and makes the lifting of others more ardu- 
ous. A trustee should take a certain pride in 
his work, should undertake to establish a defi- 
nite reputation in his work, should feel that 
there is an opportunity and a rather unusual 
opportunity for public service, and should sin- 
cerely believe that if his duty is well done his 
fellow citizens will keep his memory green. 

The trustee ought to have a very clear con- 
viction of the importance of the work which he 



TRUSTEES' SECT/ON-. 



205 



has in hand, of the real end in vieiv in connec- 
tion with all library effort. He should under- 
stand that the library is to be a definite force 
for good in the community, that it is to furnish 
inspiration rather than amusement and recrea- 
tion, that it is a necessary adjunct of any high 
form of civilization. He will not come into 
this knowledge all at once, he will grow with 
the growth of the library. This knowledge and 
this thought of the power and place and value 
of the library will constantly expand as the days 
of his service increase in number. He will find 
himself studying the field, and endeavoring to 
determine the characteristics of the city or 
town, assuring himself of the lines of greatest 
demand as well as the lines of least resistance. 
He will find in his community different classes 
of people with different interests, whose wel- 
fare must be promoted by different methods. 
He will give himself to a more or less careful 
study of the needs of the different departments 
of industry; he will inquire carefully as to 
what reading matter will most surely interest 
and stimulate his fellow-townsmen in their 
various walks of life; he will begin to under- 
stand what it means to furnish a library to those 
who have none of their own, and who can have 
none of their own, as well as to supplement 
the collections of those more fortunate. He 
will never for a moment question the desira- 
bility and the necessity of a well equipped and 
well administered library, maintained at public 
expense, as a most sure and swift and effective 
agent in public welfare. His convictions will 
be formulated in his daily contact with his 
fellow-citizens. He will be able to give a rea- 
son for the faith that is in him, and therefore 
and thereby will be worth ten men who cannot 
do this. Objectors to public taxation for this 
purpose will cross the street rather than meet 
him, because they dread the keenness of his 
blade; he will be the champion of the library 
in the strict sense of the word, and he will fight 
his fight to a finish, and will win because he 
feels and kno-ws that his cause is just. 

The wise and successful and efficient trustee 
will also have or secure an intelligent apprecia- 
tion of the means by which these much desired 
ends are to be reached. This knowledge of the 
end in view and this sincere conviction ot the 
desirability of reaching this end, and this intelli- 
gent appreciation of means, necessarily go hand 
in hand each ministering to the other, and 



each quickening the other. As before, he will 
not come into this intelligent appreciation all 
at once. He will secure this by careful study 
of methods, by a willingness to learn rather 
than by a spirit of captious criticism. He will 
become a reader of library journals, and of 
library news in whatever form it may be found. 
He will give some of his time and some of his 
money to attendance upon conventions ; pre- 
cisely as he will do if he is a banker or a man- 
ufacturer. He will begin to feel that he is of a 
class, and of a class concerning which he de- 
sires td know more than at present. His recog- 
nition of a community of interest will be a great 
incentive in this study of ways and means; and 
in this also he will put himself in close touch 
with his librarian. 

With all this the trustee will be careful NOT 
to think himself an EXPERT; because after all 
he will simply secure that general information 
along general lines which belongs with the 
larger phases of administration rather than 
with the details. Recognizing this, he will turn 
willingly and constantly to the experts of re- 
pute in his particular field. If I desire to know 
anything of theology I go to the theologian for 
my information and not to a soapmaker. On 
the contrary, if I wish to secure a reasonable 
mastery of the process of soapmaking I am not 
apt to go to the theologian. The development 
of the specialist, the place of value of the ex- 
pert, are clearly recognized to-day in all call- 
ings. The wise trustee, therefore, will under- 
take to see that an expert in the best sense of 
the word is put in charge of the library; and 
having accomplished this, the trustee will await 
results. He will advise, but he will not dictate ; 
he will suggest, but he will not demand ; he will 
co-operate at all times, and never simply criti- 
cise. His own efforts will constantly strengthen 
his librarian and his librarian's staff in all their 
work. He will be the granite wall between the 
librarian and hasty and unjust criticism in the 
community at large. His knowledge of the 
work of the library will be such as to commend 
his position and his opinion to his fellow-citi- 
zens and win for him their confidence; and 
through him this confidence and this support 
will pass directly and helpfully and in a stimu- 
lating way to the librarian and those working 
with him. The wise trustee will be strong 
enough and brave enough to say that a good 
man shall hold his place, and he will be strong 



206 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



and brave enough to say that a poor man shall 
not hold his place. It often takes more cour- 
age to dismiss an incompetent servant than to 
perform almost any other administrative duty. 
The wise trustee, however, will be the trustee 
who works efficiently although with large leis- 
ure, who is never hurried off his feet, and who 
never loses his head because of the haste of 
others. He will stand firm-grounded in what 
he knows that he knows, but he will never for 
an instant imagine that he knows it all. 

These, then, are some of the characteristics 
of the efficient trustee, and these all too briefly 
are the relations which he will sustain to his 
library. In the church and in the state, in the 
school and in the library, in this wise and com- 
plete union of all educational forces, we are 
marshalling the armies of intelligence against 
the forces of ignorance, we are seeking to put 
rational faith in place of sheer credulity, the 
temper which says, " I believe and I will it" in 
place of " 1 don't know and I can't; " we are 
putting strength against weakness and courage 
against fear, and hope against despair, and 
light against darkness. It is time for individu- 
alism, it is true, for the largest possible devel- 
opment of all individual capacity and power; 
but for individualism of that high type and 
order which knows that its most efficient man- 
ifestation is to be found in organization of high 
type and order. The last hour has already 
struck for the man whose individualism con- 
sists simply of self-assertion only equalled by 
his ignorance of the benefits of co-operation, or 
his unwillingness to stand by his fellow-men; 
who still fancies that guerilla warfare is as ef- 
fective as the well-ordered movements of bat- 
talions and brigades. The signal has been 
given for every man to take his place, and the 
true place of every man is in close and sympa- 
thetic touch with his fellow-men. In this great 
conflict the trustees of the public libraries rank 
as quarter-masters ; they are to see that sup- 
plies and ordnance are not wanting, that the 
men who are on the firing lines are cheered and 
sustained and stimulated, that the best care is 
continually given to those who should be free 
to wage the battle without one backward look. 
It is said that McKinley won his first fame by 
seeing that every man in his regiment had a 
cup of hot coffee on the eve of battle. The 
men who are the advance guard of civilization, 
preachers, teachers, and librarians, need back 



of them just this sort of competent service and 
sympathetic and efficient attention. 

Men are never quite equal to our ideals; but 
it is well to hold the ideal up to the fore, and 
not to lower the standards. Then and only then 
may we hope to see the day, already dawning, 
in which to the list of those who serve their 
fellow-men and who become worthy of the title 
of public benefactors, will be added the trustee 
of the public library. 

The CHAIRMAN: Dr. Canfield's paper is be- 
fore you for remarks or discussion. 

Mr. QUIMBY : It may not be amiss to empha- 
size that point about the individuality of the 
trustee. All through that paper the trustee is 
taken as an individual, but in fact he is only 
one of a group of four or five or perhaps more. 
It is well for the trustee to know that he is one 
of a number that he is working side by side 
with others. The great executive power of 
men who have been leaders has lain in their 
ability to select the right agent and instrument 
to do their work, and the successful trustee is 
very dependent upon the power to pick out the 
right librarian. But when he has done that, 
that librarian is the one who is to be trusted to 
carry out the work. 

Sometimes the inquiry comes up, Who is to 
choose the books ? and in deciding such points 
we have to come down to certain principles. 
The community owns a library, and the trus- 
tees work for the community, not for them- 
selves ; but they are to consult the general 
good and the highest and best public spirit. 
And then, after that, the librarian is responsible 
to the trustees The librarian may select the 
books, but the trustee must revise the selec- 
tion. 

A DELEGATE: In an experience of many 
years I have found one fault, or rather one 
defect, in the average board of trustees. This 
is a defect which is not due to the individual 
members of the trustees nor to the character of 
the board, but to the organization of the board. 
And this particular board to which I refer is 
not the class of boards which are elected for 
limited periods, but the trustees in incorporated 
libraries, which have resulted in the beginning 
from some gift to a town. Such boards have 
been frequently modified in after years, having 
their terms renewed. I find a defect in such 
boards in the long tenure of office, resulting in 
the retention of men who have reached such 



TRUSTEES' SECTION. 



207 



an age that it prevents them from performing 
the duties which they are required to perform, 
so that in some cases it is difficult to obtain a 
quorum through actual inability to be present. 
A remedy for this might be found, as has 
been suggested, in a voluntary change in the 
method of the tenure of office by the board 
itself, and this plan has been suggested : that 
the board of trustees, having been duly incor- 
porated in the first instance, should make a 
regulation that every five years one-third of its 
membership should withdraw, and not be 
eligible until another five years had elapsed; 
that would make five years for the first, ten for 
the second, and fifteen for the third, and that 
would prevent however this board might be 
selected, whether by the voles of the board it- 
self or outside election the retention in office 
of men to whom such service had become a 
burden. 

Speaking now very briefly from the stand- 
point of the librarian, it seems to me the first 
duty is to study the relations which should exist 
between the librarian and the board of trustees. 
In other words, the librarian should try to learn 
his own duties as distinguished from the duties 
of the board, so that he will not trespass on the 
one hand, and on the other hand that he will 
not expect from the trustees the performance of 
duties which belong to himself. 

I find in many towns that the trustees have 
fallen into the habit of performing trivial 
duties; and we, as librarians, ought to remem- 
ber that the trustees have no salaries, that we 
are paid, and that the arduous duties of detail 
are our function . To illustrate, I know one town 
where the board of trustees are required to pass 
upon each card that is given out, and not only 
that, but to fill out those cards and send them 
back to the library ; a system of red tape annoy- 
ing to the trustees. This is not an important 
instance, but simply an illustration of a burden 
which ought not to be thrown upon the board 
of trustees. 

On the other hand, there are librarians who 
presume upon the functions of the board of 
trustees and who gradually appropriate to 
themselves the functions to which they have no 
legal right, and for which they cannot be held 
responsible. The result of that is, that if the 
librarian takes some action and makes a mis- 
take, although it may be passively allowed by 
the board of trustees, the responsibility falls 



upon the board, and they are annoyed and per- 
haps incensed that the librarian should have 
taken such a liberty. So it seems to me that 
the first person plural "we" is the key-note to 
the position of the librarian. He should un- 
derstand clearly what matters lie outside of his 
position, and he should have a clear under- 
standing of those things which lie within his 
duty. He should always be willing and quick 
to give credit for those duties which lie outside 
of himself. 

Another thing that is wise for a librarian to 
do is to realize that unless he puts forth some 
initiative he ought not to expect every one to 
take an interest in his library. Therefore it 
is best to interest one trustee after another 
in some special work connected with the 
library. Trustees are divided into committees, 
and if a trustee when entrusted with certain 
matters will consult the men on that commit- 
tee, will go to the library and look into the 
problem himself, he will not only be better able 
to secure the co-operation of his committee, 
but he will greatly increase his usefulness and 
his interest in the 'library's work. 

Rev. J. P. BODFISH : I have been a trustee 
of a public library for a good many years and 
have served on a good many boards, and it 
occurs to me that there is one fact in regard to 
the relation of the trustees to the librarians 
which has not been alluded to this afternoon. 

By the laws of Massachusetts, that Act of 
the Legislature incorporating the body called 
the Trustees of Public Libraries has placed all 
libraries and library property in their hands 
absolutely. They hold the keys to the build- 
ings; it is all subject to their absolute control; 
they hold all the moneys that are given by 
bequests or taxation, and they have the sole 
power to spend those moneys as they think 
best for the furtherance of the interests of the 
library and the community. Therefore they 
have an obligation conferred upon them, by 
the statutes of the state, that they cannot 
throw off, and therefore they are really the 
responsible persons connected with the library, 
because in one sense they are holding it in 
trust for the public. They have the selection 
of the librarian, they fix his salary, and they in 
many places state what his duty shall be, and 
they pay the employees of the library. 

Now, my experience shows me that they are 
only too glad to have this ideal librarian that 



208 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



has been spoken of here, but where can they 
find him ? You have to search north, east, 
south, and west for a man to whom you can 
entrust a great library, and what are you to do 
for the smaller libraries, that cannot secure the 
services of such a person ? 

NORMAN S. PATTON: Being neither a libra- 
rian nor a trustee, perhaps my remarks will be 
unbiased. In some matters purely pertaining 
to library buildings, I have noticed it as quite 
characteristic that many libraries almost en- 
tirely indicate the trustee; the librarian seems 
to be quite overlooked. I have tried to account 
for this and it seems to me that a man who has 
a place of responsibility feels that he cannot 
delegate this responsibility to somebody else. 
I have heard men say, " I am not familiar with 
this subject," then they will turn around and 
refuse to be led by the advice of some one who 
is an expert on the subject. In discussing 
library buildings I have seen many cases where 
the librarians were not consulted, and in almost 
every case the librarian certainly should have 
been brought into consultation. The question 
has been brought up over and over again in 
my presence, " Had we better call in the 
librarian in consultation?" but frequently that 
is not even thought of; and if you will seek for 
one reason why library buildings have not been 
more practically satisfactory than they are, I 
will say that it is because in a majority of 
cases the library trustees have ignored the 
librarian completely. It has been my experi- 
ence in planning a building that even to say 
that the librarian would like to have such a 
thing done was often enough to defeat the 
purpose, the library trustees thinking that the 
feature desired was intended for the personal 
convenience of the librarian, and to save him 
or her labor, not realizing that the main object 
was the convenience of the public. 

Therefore I would like to make this one 
suggestion, that the librarian, although having 
no vote, and not having the primary responsi- 
bility that the trustees bear, ought to be brought 
into consultation on all practical matters with 
which the management of the library is con- 
cerned much more frequently than is now the 
case. 

Dr. LEIPZIGER : I don't know whether Mr. 
Patton's experience is characteristic of the 
West, but I think in the East it is almost uni- 
versally acknowledged that in the administra- 
tion of libraries and the construction of library 



buildings the librarian should certainly be con- 
sulted, and I cannot imagine an intelligent 
board of trustees undertaking any work with- 
out consulting the person who has charge of 
that work. 

Mr. Patton said he spoke neither as a libra- 
rian nor as a trustee; I speak in both capacities. 
It seems to me that while the development ot 
the library system in this country is due to the 
librarian's intelligence and expert knowledge, 
it is also due in no small measure tothepublic- 
spiritedness of the trustee, the generosity ot 
the trustee, and the character of the trustee. 
Trustees are in most cases intelligent men and 
women, and the simile used by Dr. Canfield in 
his paper of the relation between the locomo- 
tive engineer and the railroad president does 
not apply to the ordinary librarian and his 
trustee. Most trustees are persons of a wide 
culture ; their knowledge of books and love for 
books show that any one of large culture who 
concentrates his mind upon the library can be 
of value and assistance even to the most ac- 
complished expert. It goes without saying, 
that the librarian, being the executive head ot 
the library, should be in direct control of the 
institution, but the function of the trustee is in 
representing the people. Just as we have a 
board of education and board of officers in col- 
lege, and just as we have a President of the 
United States, just in the same way does the 
trustee stand in relation to the public library; 
and while we recognize the skill of the expert 
we must never fail to recognize the large- 
mindedness of the general trustee. 

The CHAIRMAN . We have been disappointed 
in not having Mr. J. G. Rosengarten with us. 
He was to speak on "American libraries from 
a trustee's point of view." He has, however, 
kindly sent us his paper, which will be read by 
the secretary. 

Mr. MONTGOMERY read the paper by J. G. 
ROSENGARTEN on 

AMERICAN LIBRARIES FROM A TRUSTEE'S 
POINT OF VIEW. 

A short experience of the relation of a 
trustee to the library with which he is con- 
nected may perhaps justify some observations 
on that point. Too much of the time of 
boards and trustees is given to details of ad- 
ministration. Look at the largest libraries of 
the world London, Paris, Berlin. Who ever 
hears of the governing body, whether it be a 



TRUSTEES' 1 SECTION. 



209 



board or a government bureau? All power is 
placed in the hands of the librarian, and it is 
of him and his work and administration that 
we hear. The trustees of the library of the 
British Museum are great officers of state and 
great men of letters and science, but it is only 
in posthumous biographies and letters that the 
public hear anything of their activity in the 
matter. Ellis and Panizzi and Garnett are the 
men whose work in connection with the great 
English library is familiar to us. So too in 
Paris and Berlin, where the librarian is always 
the prominent figure, with him alone the public 
has to do, and he alone is held responsible for 
the administration of his great charge. In this 
country, library boards are among the public 
trusts that too often fall to the lot of men who 
with the best intention in the world cannot 
forbear the opportunity of letting the world, 
their little local world, know how much it owes 
to them. Hence the frequent occurrence of 
experiments in library management that gener- 
ally result in failure, because they are made by 
men who are not in close touch with the public 
using the library, ignorant of its real needs 
both as to details of management and the right 
use of the facilities that a library offers for 
both use and abuse. The ideal board of trus- 
tees is that which is neither seen nor heard. 
It always chooses a librarian with care, having 
first ascertained not only his technical knowl- 
edge and literary attainments, but also his 
administrative power. 

Once in office, the public and the library 
staff and the bookseller and the reader all must 
look to the librarian as the mouth-piece and the 
eye and the ear of the board of trustees. He 
should be present at every meeting of the 
board and of all of its committees, and if not 
actually the secretary, should know of every 
subject under discussion and of every new rule 
adopted, and that by word of mouth from the 
trustees in their proceedings, and not by merely 
written communication, nor by or through any 
individual trustee or officer of the board. 

All appointments should he made by the 
librarian, upon some system of civil service 
examination by a board of the old employees 
and after probation, and no trustee should ask 
or expect any appointments or other spoils of 
office all applications for appointment should 
be filed with a registrar or other officer 
specially designated for the duty, who should 
be entirely impersonal, simply assigning a 



number to the applicant, filing all testimonials 
with that number, and submitting them to the 
librarian with the official result of the examina- 
tion in this way all question of influence 
would be reduced to a minimum, or better still 
to nothing. The body of appointees would 
then have every inducement so to work as to 
earn promotion. 

With the increase of library schools there 
need be no difficulty in making the test of ex- 
amination one that will show how far the tech- 
nical work has been properly learned. The 
question of personal fitness, a very large factor 
with all who have to deal with so difficult a 
public as those who use the library, can be 
tested by a short probation of actual work in 
each department. 

Even more rigid than selection of employees 
should be the selection of books. No com- 
mittee of any board, no matter how intelligent 
or conscientious, can successfully deal with the 
enormous list of books offered for choice and 
purchase. The real expert is the librarian, 
and he must know just where to find special 
experts to assist him in the selection of tech- 
nical books on special subjects. If left to a 
committee of the board, the work will either 
not be done at all or will be influenced by per- 
sonal likes and dislikes. The library should 
be broad enough to include representative 
books and books to meet the needs of the read- 
ing public. Readers should be invited to ask 
for any books they want, and with a fair dis- 
crimination, this method may be made a good 
test of the needs of the average reader. Books 
recommended or asked for by those who speak 
with authority as writers and students of spe- 
cial subjects, should be first put on the list for 
purchase, and technical bodies engineers, 
electricians, architects, etc. ought to be in- 
vited to send in lists of books needed. 

Trustees and librarians ought to strive to 
set on foot cooperation of all the libraries in 
any given city or locality, so that expensive 
books above a certain fixed price, say $50 or 
$100, should be bought only for one library, 
that there be no unnecessary duplication. Only 
recently three libraries in one city got three 
copies of the reproduction of an East Indian 
Vedic manuscript, for which there can hardly 
be one reader in the whole city. Then too 
trustees and librarians should cooperate in the 
preparation and publication of finding lists of 
periodicals, so that readers may know exactly 



210 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



where to find every periodical, and thus again 
save the time of the readers and officers of 
libraries in their use. 

Trustees ought to be seen and not heard 
they should be frequent visitors in every branch, 
but should never give orders or instructions, 
or criticise methods to employees all these 
should be reserved for the librarian, through 
whom changes and improvements should be 
made. Meetings of boards and committees 
should not be matters of publicity, lest 
"cranks" attack them by letters; let all the 
dealings of the public be through the librarian 
and his office, where there should be a book of 
complaints in which every complaint and griev- 
ance should be recorded, to be submitted to 
the board or the proper committee at the reg- 
ular stated meetings. 

The complaints that abound in every library 
would soon diminish if every person who has a 
grievance were politely instructed that it must 
be stated in writing in a book kept for the in- 
formation of the board. The trustees must 
then enforce rigidly the rule that they will not 
see individuals complaining of this, that, or 
the other grievance, but that every complaint 
or criticism must be duly entered in the proper 
record book, which will in turn bring it before 
the proper committee of the board and through 
its report to the board itself. Every library 
must expect criticism, and the only way to 
meet it is to give it a fair hearing and to 
weigh its value, and decide, where it is well 
founded, on the best method for such reform 
as shall effect the best result. 

The personal character of the librarian is 
always in evidence and it must therefore be be- 
yond any suspicion. He must have the gift of 
dealing with his staff and with the public and 
especially with the public authorities, with 
transparent honesty. The trustees as individ- 
uals have no standing it is only as a board 
that they act and should act. On occasions 
when the library comes before the public, it 
should be through the librarian, and the trus- 
tees should be only a chorus at the opening 
and closing of any act of special interest. 
Annual reports and bulletins and other publi- 
cations should be made the official vehicles for 
the librarian, with the sanction and approval of 
the trustees, and any difference of views should 
be threshed out in private conferences, and 
only the results of agreement be made public. 

Under the system generally in force, by which 



libraries are supported entirely or largely by 
public appropriations, it is the librarian who, 
as executive officer, should be the spokesman 
of the board of trustees in dealing with finance 
committees and the mayor and city treasurer 
and controller and other officers of the city. 
Few trustees can speak with the same accuracy 
as to the needs of the library, the proper dis- 
tribution of the annual appropriation between 
the expenses of maintenance and the provision 
for books, a percentage that needs careful 
watching, so that the public may have the best 
service, as well as the freest and largest use of 
all the books that can reasonably be provided 
out of the funds in hand. 

Trustees may well use their strength both in- 
dividually and collectively to obtain public 
grants and private contributions for proper li- 
brary buildings. No librarian, no matter how 
efficient and capable, can do his best while the 
library is housed in temporary quarters, often 
unsafe and unsanitary, and always difficult to 
administer economically, because not built and 
not suited to library purposes. On the other 
hand, no board of trustees should accept a gift, 
no matter how splendid, of a library building 
that was not planned after long and careful con- 
sideration by their own librarian, and consulta- 
tion with other librarians, expert in the needs 
of a thoroughly well planned library building. 
There are too many examples of the two ex- 
tremes on the one hand large and growing 
libraries cabined and confined in unsatisfactory 
buildings, and on the other hand libraries large 
and small, put in buildings that are too large 
for their contents, and, in a number of instances, 
made museums of art, attracting mere gazers, 
and thus interfering with the daily use of the 
library by those for whom it is primarily in- 
tended. To sacrifice the purpose of the library 
to a love for artistic decoration is to make a 
very serious and costly blunder, and one that 
trustees ought to guard against in spite of lib- 
eral donors of expensive buildings. Perhaps 
the most striking example of the one-man 
power of a librarian at its best is that of the 
library of the University of Strasburg. After 
the destruction of the time-honored building, 
an obscure librarian in a little German town 
appealed to all Germans to atone for the injury 
done by the German army. Restored to Ger- 
man nationality, Strasburg was made the ob- 
ject of liberal benefactions by the German 
government, and while the work of material 



TRUSTEES' SECTION. 



211 



restoration was being rapidly carried on, this 
appeal for books for the Strasburg Library was 
widely circulated and responded to generously. 
From every corner of the world where there 
were Germans, gifts and contributions of books 
were rapidly sent in. Then the government 
invited plans for a new library building; they 
were prepared under the direction of the man 
who had first appealed for it, and to-day in a 
well appointed and well contrived and well con- 
structed library building, he is the librarian in 
charge, with over 400,000 volumes, so that both 
the city and the University of Strasburg have 
a library and a librarian to be proud of. Could 
any board of trustees have done such a thing? 
With all the magnificent splendor of the 
National Library of Congress in Washington, 
the real impulse to its growing and useful 
activity is due to its librarian, and not to the 
joint committee of Congress on the library, 
their real usefulness is in securing appropria- 
tions and legislation to enable the librarian to 
carry out effectively his plans for increasing 
its usefulness in many ways. Notable among 
them is the deposit of the Congressional 
Library card catalog in at least one library 
of every city and of every university, where 
men engaged in study and original research 
may find what books are at their command by 
loan. 

The trustees can do little more than make 
the necessary provision for storing these cata- 
log cards in a convenient and accessible 
place, but the librarian can direct inquirers and 
readers to them and can help them to obtain 
the books from the Congressional Library or 
from that at Albany or any other great library, 
where the librarians have effected a method of 
useful exchange of books, and of procuring 
those not on their own shelves from any other 
that has them. 

The meetings of librarians, national, state, 
and local associations, full of instruction to 
the professional librarians and all engaged in 
the work, are for the most part a sealed book 
to trustees, whose occupation is largely in other 
directions. The splendid plan of a union of all 
the libraries of the city of New York bears the 
strong impress of the hand of a very able libra- 
rian not all his trustees could carry it out, 
although they can give powerful help in 
making the plan successful. The example thus 
set cannot fail to inspire other cities, with scat- 
tered and separate libraries, with the wisdom 



of a similar union of forces, thus reducing the 
expenses, increasing the efficiency, and giving 
to the library as a whole the advantages of the 
greatest good to the largest number by the 
simplest method. 

There is no more melancholy spectacle than 
that of a multiplicity of libraries in one city, 
some burthened with debt, some with trusts 
that have long since outlived their usefulness, 
if they ever had any, each under a board of 
trustees in which there is reflected all the nar- 
rowness of local interest and of pride of place 
and of misunderstood opinion of the rights of 
proprietors or stockholders and the public. 
Make one united body, under the headship of 
one good librarian, and the public, as well as 
the individuals who use the library, will at 
once feel the benefit of a broad and generous 
management that will help materially to in- 
crease the libraries and their usefulness. 

The man who wants to do a generous act is 
the one who helps an old library, gives it new 
strength and power, not he who puts up a new 
building, no matter how handsome, and then 
leaves it to the community where it is situated 
to sustain it, often with an old and long- 
established library already in existence left 
high and dry in the change of time. Unite the 
new and the old, and each strengthens the 
other, and trustees may well look askance at 
the most munificent donor who forgets the 
claims of an existing library in order to estab- 
lish a new one which shall perpetuate his 
name, and in doing so cripple the usefulness 
of some earlier library that has had years of 
experience as to what the people want in a 
library. 

Few cities have as much reason to be grate- 
ful to their library trustees as Chicago, where 
the Public Library, the Newberry Library, and 
the Crerar Library have agreed to take each 
its own location and its own particular line of 
library work, the first of general reading, the 
second of special collections in the fine arts 
and bibliography, and the third of the exact 
sciences, thus making it possible to achieve 
results nowhere else attained in the same time. 
There indeed trustees have shown the highest 
fitness for their task, and such an example may 
take its place alongside of the consolidation of 
all the libraries of New York in one system, as 
lessons by which all trustees should be guided 
and instructed in the right way to discharge 
their duties. 



212 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



The CHAIRMAN: I am glad now to announce 
that Mr. Herbert Putnam will speak to us on 

THE WORK OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Mr. PUTNAM : I have been a little puzzled 
to know why this topic should appear upon 
your program. It had been understood, I sup- 
posed, that trustees appear at our meetings, 
particularly for their own instruction; and 
when you referred to a customary "gentle 
acquiescence" at the meetings of the Trustees' 
Section I supposed you were going to explain 
it as the gentle acquiescence of the librarian in 
the existence of the trustee. We would not, to 
be sure, regard trustees with intolerance. It is 
quite clear, or usually becomes so from our dis- 
cussions, that their functions are in general 
superfluous, and commonly intrusive. But we 
realize that they themselves frequently recog- 
nize this and exercise these functions in a 
properly deprecatory spirit. We would not 
therefore treat them with undue severity. We 
invite them to our meetings with cordiality. 
And yet in doing so we have been considerably 
perplexed between our desire to have them 
know a certain amount as to library work, and 
our fear lest they should know too much. They 
mustknow enough to appreciate the excellence 
of our recommendations, but not enough to 
desire to operate the libraries themselves. 

Now on the assumption that the purpose ol 
this meeting is the instruction of trustees, my 
topic seems to me inexplicable, because it calls 
for a statement of the work of a particular li- 
brary, a library which is, to be sure, or is to 
be, a library, but only one library; which has 
certain processes in common with all other 
libraries, but certain differences also which are 
perhaps even more marked between it and the 
libraries in which most of the trustees here 
present are interested. 

We have at Washington a large collection, 
roundly a million and a half items, say a mil- 
lion books and one half a million other articles, 
maps, manuscripts, music, and prints. Since 
1897 we have been attempting to reduce this 
collection to order. We have had the problem 
of classification, and we have had and still 
have the problem of catalog. We have in the 
meantime and concurrently the problem of use. 
We are issuing publications. We are thus to 
some extent engaged in many of the activities, 
with the exception of the work with children, 



that are characteristics of the ordinary munici- 
pal free library. 

We have had occasion within the past three 
years to secure a large increase of funds for a 
work the need of which had to be explained. 
We have had to secure a large staff in order to 
cope with work for which there had been no 
adequate provision. Now that work has, as I 
have stated, many characteristics in common 
with the work of administration of an ordinary 
library; but it involves certain differences 
which result chiefly from a difference in func- 
tion, distinguishing the Library of Congress 
as the National Library of the United States. 
We are handling an unusually large mass ot 
material, but the difference is not in this. We 
are handling unusually rapid accumulations 
(the accessions of a single year last year, 
76,000 printed books and pamphlets and nearly 
40,000 other articles reached to the size ot 
an ordinary library), but the difference is not 
in this. We have a small immediate constitu- 
ency, but the difference is not merely in that. 

We have, with other libraries, the problem 
of acquisition. Now, the difference in that is a 
material difference. Those of you who are 
trustees, who are determining the policy of a 
library, are called upon to discriminate to 
discriminate in the choice of new material. 
To a very large degree the accessions of the 
Library of Congress for instance, all that 
come from copyright and much of the rest are 
accessions without discrimination, that is, are 
not the result of deliberate selection. You are 
called upon to select only the books that are 
worthy as literature ; the Library of Congress 
receives an enormous number of books that 
are inferior as literature and unworthy from a 
moral standpoint. You are called upon by 
recent suggestion to discriminate not merely 
in selection, but in the arrangements for its 
accommodation, between the book that is active 
and the book that has ceased to be active. The 
test that you are asked to apply is, What is the 
present demand? The Library of Congress 
as the National Library is supposed to have 
a duty not merely to accumulate those books 
which are in present demand, but to accumu- 
late for posterity. In your catalogs you con- 
sider the minimum expenditure that will suffice 
to cover the needs of your readers, taking into 
account the other aids, including human ser- 
vice, at their disposal ; but the Library of Con- 



TRUSTEES' SECTION. 



213 



gress, undertaking now to catalog not merely 
for the use of its own readers, but for the entire 
country, may be compelled to an elaboration 
in such processes not requisite for its immedi- 
ate constituency. 

But the most material distinction, and one 
which seems to preclude a description of the 
Library of Congress from presenting any anal- 
ogy for trustees, lies in the fact that the Library 
of Congress has no board of trustees. The 
Library of Congress is administered by the 
Librarian of Congress. The Librarian of Con- 
gress is appointed by the President of the 
United States. He goes directly not to the 
Joint Committee of Congress on the Library 
but to the Committees on Appropriations for 
appropriations for the maintenance of the li- 
brary. The appropriations made are placed at 
his disposal for expenditure. He is authorized 
to appoint his subordinates and to dismiss 
them. He is further authorized " to make 
rules and regulations for the government of the 
library." There is a Joint Committee of both 
Houses on the Library of Congress, but that 
committee does no one of these things that I 
have named, and therefore cannot be said to 
stand to the library in the relation of a board 
of trustees. It does not intervene between the 
librarian and the Committees on Appropria- 
tions, nor in any such way represent the 
library before Congress. Certain of its mem- 
bers may by chance be members of the Ap- 
propriations Committees, in which case they 
will presumably have an interest in the success 
of the estimates of the librarian ; but this is a 
different matter. 

I do not see, therefore, that I can cite to you 
from Washington anything which may have 
any potent analogy to the trustee of a library. 

The trustees, however, who come to these 
meetings come, I suppose, for the purpose not 
of learning technique in detail, but of ob- 
serving tendencies which may affect policies to 
be pursued by their own libraries, and there 
are occasionally matters discussed at the meet- 
ings which, in relation to such a purpose, may 
explain the presence of the Librarian of Con- 
gress upon your particular program. At 
the present conference, for instance, among 
the various suggestions which have become 
prominent, one concerned the limits of ac- 
cumulation of a library and the method of ac- 
commodating its books. There is the sug- 
gestion to which I have referred above that 



a separation should be made between the live 
books and the dead books and that the dead 
books should be segregated from the others, 
with, of course, the implication that if, in ad- 
dition, the librarian can determine what book 
is likely to be less used, he should refrain from 
putting that in the library, if in any manner it 
can be reasonably accessible elsewhere. This 
suggestion is that each library in its accumu- 
lations should limit itself to the books likely to 
be constantly in demand by its immediate con- 
stituency, and that as to others it should 
content itself with acting as an intermediary 
between its immediate readers and other insti- 
tutions possessing the less used books, one 
copy of which in a large area might suffice. 
Now, the appendant to that suggestion was that 
we should have a few libraries in this country 
which might serve as reservoirs for these 
unused books. The Library of Congress was 
mentioned as one. It must be admitted that 
that library is accumulating without regard 
to active use, and within the field of Americana 
at least it will seek completeness. It will re- 
gard as appropriate, at least, every book not 
wholly unworthy which represents the product 
of the press of the United States, and, perhaps 
in a less peremptory degree, of the Western 
Hemisphere. 

The other suggestion to which I may refer is 
that of the librarian of Cincinnati as to the 
superior advantage of bibliographies over cat- 
alogs. Now the argument for bibliography 
over catalog is simply the argument for the 
centralization of catalog work the produc- 
tion at one point of lists that shall suffice for a 
great many institutions, the substitution of cen- 
tral and organized bibliographic work for the 
multiplication of effort by each institution for it- 
self. Such questions cannot be discussed without 
a natural reference to the recent undertakings of 
the Library of Congress, which places its bibli- 
ographic work at the disposal of other libraries. 
We have undertaken to make that work gener- 
ally available. We consider it particularly our 
duty to do so where by mechanical means its 
results may be multiplied and within legal 
authority distributed. One of these undertak- 
ings of the library, which is of most general 
concern, is the distribution of the catalog 
cards printed by the Library of Congress. 
During the past seven months this distribution 
has been going on. The results of it are to be 
reported at this meeting, and this report with 



214 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



the incidental discussion has been made part 
of the regular program at a more general ses- 
sion. 

Now I suggest that this undertaking is one 
which does concern a trustee, because its results 
are likely to affect that part of the administra- 
tion of a library which a trustee must consider, 
that is the general policy, the general direc- 
tion which expenditure shall take. There is, 
I think, a common neglect on the part of 
trustees, as well as of librarians, to consider 
the relative efficiency of one or another form 
of expenditure; for instance, as between that 
for books, that for catalogs and other appar- 
atus, and that for service. In a small way we 
have noticed this in connection with this dis- 
tribution of catalog cards. We are now issu- 
ing cards at the rate of about fifty thousand 
titles a year. At the present rate of subscrip- 
tion it would cost a library two hundred and 
fifty dollars a year to secure a full set of these 
cards. By way of experiment we have been 
issuing also what we call " proof strips." Be- 
fore the titles are run off on card stock they 
are printed off on proof paper. Now the proof 
is issued in strips, and thus far has been issued 
to practically any applicant. It has been issued 
without charge. Now we have found that 
certain libraries receiving the proofs are under- 
taking to cut them up and paste them on ordi- 
nary blank cards. They do this to secure the 
information which would be given by the 
printed card, but on the assumption that they 
cannot afford two hundred and fifty dollars a 
year for the printed cards. It is very easy to 
estimate, however, that the current cost of 
cutting up the strips and pasting them on 
ordinary cards would alone exceed the cost of a 
set of the printed cards. The cutting and past- 
ing would take very nearly the whole time of a 
single person. It seems to me that this is but 
an instance of an inconsiderateness quite com- 
mon, which is abashed at the proposal to spend 
two hundred and fifty dollars for a piece of 
apparatus, but without thought spends more 
than that amount in the extra service requisite 
which the apparatus would save. 

Now, if you will excuse me, Mr. President, I 
will not attempt to speak further of the work at 
the Library of Congress. It seems to me that 
you have on your program other topics more 
important, and that in general, at the meetings 
of the Trustees' Section, trustees rather than 
librarians should be heard. The present con- 



ditions in the Library of Congress and the 
present undertakings are set forth in the re- 
port which we issued last fall, and which is at 
the disposal of any one who desires it. I con- 
tent myself, therefore, with referring to the 
card distribution as particularly worthy of the 
attention of trustees in its bearing upon the ad- 
ministration of their own libraries. The dis- 
tribution has been a success and it will proceed. 
The past seven months have developed defects 
that have been studied and in part will at least 
be remedied. 

I do not wish to speak at any length of the 
Library of Congress and shall refrain from 
doing so. But there is an " institution" in the 
library to which with this opportunity I can- 
not refrain from referring. I say an institution 
in the Library of Congress, because prior to 
1897 he was practically the Library of Con- 
gress. 

Our associated characteristics to-day in- 
deed, you might say the characteristics of the 
librarian of to-day are prominently energy, 
the practical, the business push and sagacity, 
I should say acuteness, the search for sys- 
tem, order, and the mechanical means of doing 
things. There has undoubtedly been a falling 
off at least a disappearance into the back- 
ground of the librarian of the earlier days. 
He is referred to, if not with ridicule, at least 
scarcely with indulgence. Of his efficiency you 
will find little recognition in our discussions at 
these meetings. And yet are we so safe in 
putting into the background the characteristics 
that give him distinction ? Are we not over- 
looking traits that we cannot afford to spare 
and for which we offer no adequate substitute? 
Our meetings are replete with enthusiasm ; but 
the librarian of the earlier day was not lacking 
in enthusiasm. We talk much of the profes- 
sional spirit; he certainly was not lacking in 
the professional spirit. It is not business that 
produces the professional spirit. He did lack 
system, or perhaps it would be fairer to say 
that he preferred system inside his head rather 
than outside. He did not crave disorder; but 
he had no relish for order. He was impatient 
of order of an order which could be secured 
only through apparatus; and yet, on the 
whole, he achieved a result; and he did it not 
by constructing apparatus, but by associating 
himself with the material the books them- 
selves. Now, I hope it is not going to be the 
case that as time goes on the librarian of the 



TRUSTEES' 1 SECTION. 



215 



older type will become to us simply "quaint." 
I have observed the career of one of them. I 
am now observing it, and in retrospect I have 
studied it ; the career of a man who has been 
for over forty years in the service of the Library 
of Congress, and has pursued that service with 
an unalterable devotion, and who now at 
seventy-five j'ears of age begins his work at 
eight o'clock in the morning and rarely finishes 
it until eleven o'clock at night; a man who 
(not to attempt detail) is a miracle of the qual- 
ities of the librarian of the older type the 
qualities which, believe me, are not merely 
lovable, but make for efficiency. 

Now, order and system and the apparatus 
must come. They are necessary to the opera- 
tion of a library attempting to serve modern 
needs in a modern way. But in securing them, 
do not surrender wholly what you can afford to 
retain of those qualities which distinguished 
the librarian of the olden time. You may have 
in your libraries some one who represents 
them. If so, I strongly recommend that you 
thank God for him as we do for Ainsworth 
Spofford ! 

The CHAIRMAN : We will now have the 
pleasure of hearing Dr. John S. Billings, the 
president of this Association, speak to us on 

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC 
LIBRARY. 

Dr. BILLINGS: The subject assigned to me is 
the organization of the New York Public Li- 
brary, which is so peculiar, although it does 
have trustees, and its lines of work are in some 
respects so different from those of most libra- 
ries, that probably my statement will not be 
particularly instructive or interesting. Still, 
there are some matters connected with the con- 
solidation, and the way in which matters are 
being managed in the temporary conditions in 
which we find ourselves, that may possibly be 
of some interest to the trustees of other public 
libraries. 

Most of you are no doubt familiar with the 
history of the consolidation. The As tor Li- 
brary was founded in 1848, the Lenox Library 
in 1870, and the bequest left by Mr. Tilden to 
found another public library became available 
in 1893. These interests were consolidated 
under a Special Act of the Legislature, in 1895. 
The new organization, entitled ' ' The New York 
Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden foun- 
dations," had two large reference libraries, 



neither of which had been formed with any 
regard to circulation or home use. The Lenox 
Library was mainly a museum of very rare 
books, Bibles, unusual editions, etc., while the 
Astor Library had been built up with long 
series of periodicals and books specially se- 
lected for reference work purchased from a 
special fund, left by Mr. Astor with the pro- 
vision that books purchased from that fund 
should never be taken from the building, his 
object being that the books should always be 
found in that library, by scholars coming from 
any part of the country. 

The Tilden Library had about 20,000 vol- 
umes, mainly political history. The essence 
of the Tilden contribution was about $2,000,000 
as a fund for conducting this establishment. 

The consolidation was consummated by the 
selection of seven trustees from the Astor, 
seven from the Tilden, and seven from the 
Lenox Library, making a board of twenty-one 
trustees, who elected officers, made by-laws, 
and selected a director. 

They had two separate buildings, three miles 
apart; the Lenox being on 7oth Street and the 
Astor on 8th Street, and the trustees saw there 
were two different courses they could take. 
They were a private corporation ; they had 
funds enough to put an addition to one build- 
ing to contain all the books and thus to make a 
great reference library; nothing else. And 
that was the easiest thing to do. They had the 
land connected with the Lenox building; they 
had sufficient funds to conduct the library and 
put up a building. They felt, however, that 
would not be the best thing to do, nor would it 
meet the public expectations or demand as to 
what was desired from this newly formed cor- 
poration. Thej* therefore proposed to the city 
of New York that if the city would furnish a 
building sufficient to accommodate the general 
reference library they would put into it all 
their books and collections and maintain such 
library for the free use of the public without 
cost to the city. That is to say, the New York 
Public Library contributed about $2,500,000 
worth of books, pictures, and other material, 
and the income of about $4,000,000. On its 
side the city of New York agreed to put up a 
building, to cost about $5,000,000. It was 
stated to the city that with this central build- 
ing should be connected a system of branch 
libraries for furnishing books in all parts of the 
city for home use, but that the funds of the 



2l6 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



library would not be sufficient to do that and 
at the same time to carry out the conditions of 
the trust under which it was formed. But it 
was stated that, if the city would furnish the 
necessary funds, this large central building 
would be so planned as to be used in connec- 
tion with such a system, and that the New 
York Public Library would agree to take 
charge of that side of library work also. 

All this having been agreed to, plans for the 
new building were prepared, and the work 
of classifying and cataloging the books was 
commenced. There were a very large number 
of books in each library which had never been 
properly cataloged. There was no subject 
catalog. There were finding lists and rough 
check lists, by which you could usually find 
out if any given book was in the library; not 
always. 

In 1901 the New York Free Circulating 
Library which had twelve branch buildings, 
besides a travelling library department de- 
cided to consolidate with the New York Public 
Library, furnishing a nucleus for a Circulating 
Department, and, subsequently, two other li- 
braries have come in the Saint Agnes and 
the Washington Heights. 

In the same year Mr. Carnegie offered to 
give money to the city of New York to build 
65 branch libraries at a cost of about $80,000 
each, and that offer was accepted by the city. 
His offer was intended for the entire Greater 
New York, and he had a general idea that it 
would be well to have it all under one system, 
but he was not very particular about that, and 
when Brooklyn and the Borough of Queens 
preferred to have what they called their share 
of the fund turned over to them for their own 
independent use, he approved of that arrange- 
ment. 

A contract was made between the city, the 
New York Public Library, and Mr. Carnegie 
for the Boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and 
Richmond, to the effect that the city should 
provide sites, that the New York Public 
Library should put branch buildings thereon, 
and that the money for doing so should be 
furnished by Mr. Carnegie to the amount of 42 
such buildings at an average cost of $80,000 
apiece. 

The New York Public Library is managed 
by a board of twenty-five trustees. Three of 
those are officials of the city, the Mayor, comp- 
troller, and president of the Board of Aldermen. 



They elect their own successors, and if a 
trustee is absent from three successive meet- 
ings, without an excuse that is accepted by the 
board, his seat is vacated. The business is 
managed mainly by committees, the four most 
important being the Finance Committee, the 
Executive Committee, the Library Committee, 
and the Committee on Circulation. The duties 
of the Finance, Executive, and Library Com- 
mittees are about the usual duties. The Cir- 
culation Committee looks especially after the 
interests of the circulating side of the library, 
and will also have charge of the Central De- 
partment of Circulation in the new building. 
Only one member of the Circulation Com- 
mittee need necessarily be a trustee of the 
library. The other members of that committee 
have been selected as representatives of the 
circulating libraries which have consolidated 
with us. The director of the library meets 
with all the committees. He makes a report 
to each, and is also present at all the meetings 
of the board, and may or may not make a 
report to the board. He is there to answer 
questions. There is also a special superinten- 
dent of the Circulating Department. This is 
a gentleman whom you all know well, Mr. 
Bostwick, who was the director of the New 
York Free Circulating Library. 

The committees meet once a month, as a 
rule. The Executive Committee has been 
meeting more frequently, and is the committee 
which prepares the greater part of the business 
for the board meeting. The Library Com- 
mittee has the general direction of all matters 
pertaining to the purchase of books and cata- 
loging, and decides on the general plan of the 
work to be done each year, leaving the details 
as to methods to the director. 

The action of the Board of Trustees has been 
very harmonious, and the meetings have been 
well attended. 

The work which the New York Public Li- 
brary is now doing is in a way temporary in 
character; peculiar because of the necessity of 
keeping up the supply of books for the public 
and at the same time preparing its materials 
for the new building. 

The work of the library is also peculiar 
because of the rarity and importance of the col- 
lections made by Mr. Lenox; of the great value 
for reference purposes of the books in the Astor 
Library, and because it contains many books 
which are not to be found in any other library 



TRUSTEES' SECTION. 



217 



in this country. And having the duty of pre- 
serving those and also a large amount of manu- 
script material, relating to American history, 
the relations of the New York Public Library to 
the public are somewhat different from those 
of the average free public library. The work 
is divided among several departments, each 
having a chief who reports to and receives in- 
structions from the director. There is a busi- 
ness superintendent, who pays all bills and has 
general charge of the buildings. All bills must 
be approved by the director. The Order and 
Receiving Department, the Catalog Depart- 
ment, the Shelf and Classification Department, 
the Readers Department, the Periodical De- 
partment, the Public Documents Department, 
the Jewish Department, the Sclavonic Depart- 
ment, the Oriental Department, and the Print 
Department, are those of most importance in 
the reference library. 

The Circulation Department has its own 
order and catalog departments, and keeps 
separate accounts, but all its bills are paid by 
the business superintendent on the certificate 
of the superintendent of circulation and the 
approval of the director. 

There are over 200 members of the staff. 
They have monthly meetings for the reading 
of papers and for discussion according to 
programs prepared by special committees of 
their own selection. These meetings are held 
alternately at the Astor and Lenox buildings, 
and there is usually a special exhibit prepared 
for each meeting. 

The trustees include lawyers, bankers, promi- 
nent business men, and so on, and the reports 
of the several committees receive careful con- 
sideration. I do not think that the compara- 
tively large size of the board has been in any 
way detrimental to its efficiency. It has had 
some important and difficult questions to con- 
sider and decide upon, and has, perhaps, been 
a little slower to act upon some of them than a 
smaller board might have been, being rather 
conservative in character, but upon the whole 
I think that its work has met with general 
approval. I shall be glad to answer any 
questions. 

Mr. BRETT : May I ask a question of interest 
to librarians? That is, the one great difficulty 
in getting together a staff of a library very 
much smaller than the New York Library, is 
to so arrange the time that the members of the 
staff may be spared from their duties. We do 



have staff meetings which are in the hands of 
the staff itself. They are usually held in the 
evening, but the libraries are remote from one 
another and scattered. 

Dr. BILLINGS : I will answer Mr. Brett's ques- 
tion by saying that the present condition of the 
reference department affords a favorable oppor- 
tunity for getting these staff meetings, because 
the Astor and Lenox Libraries are not open at 
night, the meetings are in the evening, and the 
entire reference staff is able to attend. As 
regards the staff of the circulating branches, 
which are kept open at night, they must divide. 
Those who come this month will stay and attend 
to the library work next month, and allow the 
others to come. 

The CHAIRMAN : I will now ask Mr. Dewey 
to tell us what he thinks of 

THE FUNCTION OF THE TRUSTEE. 

MELVIL DEWEY : I take it the supreme 
function, of the trustee is to administer the 
funds which are in his hands so they will do 
the most good. It seems to me they are to 
settle the sort of books to be bought, whether 
it is more feasible to keep the money for books 
that are most useful or to spend it for some- 
thing that will be useful only to the few. I 
think Mr. Rosengarten put very generously 
what the relations should be between the li- 
brarian and the trustee, from the trustee's 
standpoint. 

P>om the librarian's standpoint, I can 
never forget that the trustees are a board, not 
private owners, on which rests the responsi- 
bility for the wise use of library property. If 
they have a competent librarian let them ad- 
vise with him about matters pertaining to the 
library; I believe in that thoroughly. But, if 
they have a man or woman in charge of the 
library who is entirely incompetent, then it 
becomes their duty to get some one who is 
competent. A man in my office a few days ago, 
talking about a prominent library at the head 
of which is a very prominent man, said the 
librarian was simply an employee and asked 
what business he had representing the library; 
" the president of the board of trustees repre- 
sents this library." He was an earnest, sincere 
man, but he actually believed that the librarian 
was rather impertinent to speak for the library. 
I said to him frankly that his attitude would be 
sure to ruin his library ; that he was like a man 
with a spirited pair of horses and a coachman. 



218 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



If the coachman is good for anything, of course, 
he will not sit still and let the man take the 
reins; if he is not competent and the horses 
are good for anything, they will run away with 
him, and that is what is apt to occur in a 
library. But, if you were out driving, as I 
have been in the last few days, with my little 
boy, and the horses became frightened, you 
would take hold of the reins and help him; I 
might do the same thing if a competent driver 
were on the box, but he might then get off and 
leave the whole thing to me. 

It is not the function of the librarian to invest 
the funds and attend to financing, but in my 
conception it is a trustee's function to see that 
the library work is properly done, and if he 
does not do this it is an oversight on his part. 
We librarians would do well to put our- 
selves in the attitude of having accepted a 
trust, and if the trustees would meet with us 
and put themselves in our place, we should 
work together more and more in sympathy. 
It is not my experience that trustees who make 
trouble do it from any ill-will to the librarian ; 
it is because they have not thought or studied 
their mutual relations ; but of that enough has 
been said. 

Two or three things occur to me as specially 
important. The modern church, you will find 
very often, has fifty or sixty distinct agencies 
in operation, social rooms, libraries, clubs, etc. 
The old high school was a place to hear a few 
recitations. Our modern school, in library 
facilities and educational methods, is far in 
advance of the college of a generation ago. 
There has been the same development in these 
as in our modern railways, wireless telegraphy, 
etc., and the library is going along with the 
rest. It is an age of electricity and of libraries. 
Libraries are as old as Hindu records, and 
there were books in those early days just as much 
as now. There were also electricity and steam ; 
but the difference is that we have learned to use 
these forces, and the public is coming to under- 
stand them; and following it back we find that 
the printed page, which means the work of the 
library, is the thing which will influence men 
from the cradle to the grave. The world has 
come to understand that the whole system of 
education is in two distinct parts; school edu- 
cation, from kindergarten to university, is 
part; but there is another part, just as impor- 
tant, just as deserving, that is not for the young 
only, but for adults also, that is not in an insti- 



tution but in the home. This, which we call 
" home education," a library, is the second 
part, and those two things have to travel on 
together from this time on. That is the first 
fact for the library trustee to understand. The 
librarian or trustee who looks upon a library 
from the point of view of a generation ago, as 
simply a collection of books, isn't going to do 
the best kind of work till he gets a broader 
view. 

As to the library staff, the trustees ought to 
come themselves and send their assistants to 
these meetings. That is what we have done 
in Albany. We find it pays to give our assist- 
ants the time to attend library meetings. Our 
observation proves it the best investment we can 
make. If I were running a library as a private 
institution, I would send my staff to this meeting 
every year. They do better work and it pays 
for the assistants all along the line. Dr. Can- 
field's last words to me were, " Emphasize that 
fact; that men won't do team work unless they 
have instruction," and if you can't make them 
do team work they are not good for much in 
this world. That is the kind of man that 
doesn't want a telephone, or any modern in- 
vention, he wants to go along in the same old 
way. Library work isn't done that way. We 
must get into full touch with all the world, and 
we want our trustees to come to all our meet- 
ings. 

Just a word about salaries. When I was in 
Boston twenty-five years ago I could get gradu- 
ates of Harvard college at three dollars a week, 
but if I wanted a boy out of the gutter I had to 
pay him six dollars a week, because he could 
get that in a factory or mill. The man who 
wanted to make a beginning in business would 
work for almost nothing to get into business. 
When a teacher comes out of the normal 
school with its training, she does not work for 
nothing; she gets in the beginning a higher 
salary because she is devoting her life to that 
work. In our state library school we are going 
to pick from the entire country the people that 
can do the best work. To enter they must 
have a high school education and must have a 
degree from registered college; i.e., they must 
give eight years to secondary and college work 
and then two years to their technical work. 
It is absurd to suppose a person is going to 
spend ten years in preparation and then come 
back and accept the same pay as the boys and 
girls just coming from the high school. We 



TRUSTEES' SECTION. 



219 



are doing a work essentially educational, for 
which we need intelligence and special train- 
ing, and civil service boards ought to recognize 
these conditions. We send boys to West Point 
and Annapolis; we do it because we want the 
benefit of their training. To trustees I say, 
give a fair salary for what you are asking; and 
to librarians I say, don't expect to get as much 
pay as in any other business. We go into this 
work and we ought to accept a small salary, 
and we ought to distinguish between those who 
go into it temporarily and those who are tak- 
ing it up as a life profession. 

A great thing is to keep in mind all the 
modern demands on a library. In every com- 
munity we have the school board, that is an 
established custom. We cannot get the best 
results unless the library business is kept dis- 
tinct from the school business. A man that 
is in any kind of business and thinks some 
other business is better doesn't make much of 
a success, and the people we want on the li- 
brary boards are the people that believe the 
library is more important than the school, 
more important, with a more lasting and 
longer influence over the whole community, 
therefore the public library should be the center 
of the educational life of the community, and 
the museum, art, history, and sciences naturally 
cluster around the library. It is the best place 
for them not in the same room perhaps, but 
in the same building or adjoining, so that when 
people are working in the museum and want to 
refer to books they are at hand. Secondly for 
students, colleges, meetings on scientific sub- 
jects and other subjects they ought to go to the 
library as naturally as a home pigeon will fly 
back to its home. The library is the corner- 
stone of all this and trustees ought to recognize 
that. But libraries have other functions. In- 
formation is exceedingly important in an 
economic sense for reasons which can be demon- 
strated; it pays; but most important of all is 
inspiration. The public library should also be 
a source of amusement. We can give the public 
no amusement so wholesome as books. What 
can be a more legitimate expenditure of public 
money than to give to people so burdened down 
that they can hardly stagger another step, a 
book that takes them into another world? We 
librarians and you trustees together ought to 
see our work in the broadest way, and we ought 
to look forward, not back, and above all things 
lend a hand. 



The report of the 

COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS 

was presented, submitting the names of the 
same officers as nominees for the ensuing year, 
viz., Deloraine P. Corey, chairman; Thomas 
L.Montgomery, secretary. The report was ac- 
cepted and the officers named elected. 

H. T. KELLY: Before we adjourn I would 
like to say a few words. While I have sat here 
for the last two and a half hours I have had 
forced upon me the change that has taken 
place in the Trustees' Section. Five or six 
years ago I was sent to one of these meetings 
by my board of trustees. I was then chairman 
of the board of trustees of the Toronto Public 
Library, and I must say I went home, if not 
discouraged, very much disappointed. I could 
not feel that I had brought home one solitary 
thing from the meetings of the Trustees' Section 
which I attended, and I had scarcely anythingto 
report to my board. I never came to another 
meeting until now, because I thought it wasn't 
of any use. I have completely changed my 
views. Some one has expressed surprise that 
there are so few here. I was surprised that 
there were so many; and I can only say that 
if those who are surprised at the small attend- 
ance had been here four or five years ago they 
would regard this meeting with delight. You 
can much more easily get librarians and as- 
sistants to attend these meetings^than you can 
get trustees. Trustees cannot come in so large 
a number: they are not so directly inter- 
ested ; but there should be some means of 
putting before them the information which 
has been derived from attending this meeting 
to-day. It is true it will be published in the 
official Proceedings of the A. L. A., but not 
many trustees receive that. Is it not possible 
to have the records of to-day's meeting, espe- 
cially those two admirable papers which were 
read in the beginning, put before the trustees 
of the country in separate and convenient form? 
The SECRETARY : I will bring the matter 
before the Executive Board. I have no doubt 
they will be glad to do so if they can afford it. 
It was moved and seconded, That the Execu- 
tive Board be requested to put the minutes of 
the meeting in separate form into the hands of 
the library trustees. Voted. 

Adjourned. 



22O 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



SECTION FOR CHILDREN'S LIBRARIANS. 



'"THE Children's Librarians' Section of the 
American Library Association held two 
sessions during the Magnolia Conference. 
The chairman, Miss Annie Carroll Moore, pre- 
sided, and in the absence of Miss Mary Dous- 
man, Miss Clara W. Hunt acted as secretary 
pro tern. 

FIRST SESSION. 

The first session was held in the Oceanside 
Hotel Casino on Wednesday morning, June 18. 
The meeting was called to order at 9.45, and 
was opened by the reading of the secretary's 
report of last year's meeting, as given in the 
A. L. A. proceedings for 1901. 

In the absence of Chesley R. Perry, chair- 
man, J. C. Dana read the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON CO-OPERATIVE LIST 
OF BOOKS FOR CHILDREN. 

To the Children's Librarians' Section of the 
American Library Association : 

Your committee appointed at Waukesha in 
July, 1901, to take preliminary steps towards 
the production of a co-operative evaluated list 
of books for children beg leave to report 
progress. 

One of the first things done was the appoint- 
ment of Miss Linda A. Eastman, of the Cleve- 
land Public Library, as editor, and thanks to her 
arduous and persevering labors, even through 
days and nights of illness, we are enabled to 
offer for consideration here at Magnolia a ten- 
tative list which may be said to be at least a step 
in the right direction. " The work of this year 
has of necessity been largely that of prelimi- 
nary preparation." As the work of selection 
has progressed, the great need of a list of juve- 
nile works made acceptable through co-opera- 
tive methods of evaluation has been empha- 
sized. 

Ample funds for all expenses of the past 
year have been provided by the subscriptions 
of individuals and libraries. The amount on 
our subscription lists is $85.50 and of this 
$52.50 has been collected (collections have 
been made as follows : 4 of $5, i of $2.50, 7 of 
$i, and 46 of 50 cents). Most of the balance 
will be collected when needed. 



The expenditures have been : 

By the chairman : 

Postage and stationery $2 42 

Typewriting and mimeograph- 
ing i oo 



$3 42 



By the editor : 

Blanks and printing $9 oo 

Postage and stationery 8 oo 

Clerical work 5 oo 



$25 42 

There is an unpaid printing bill of about 
$15. This will leave a balance of $12.08. 

We recommend that a committee on this 
subject be appointed from the active members 
of this section and be instructed to report at 
the next annual meeting. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

CHESLEY R. PERRY, 

J. C. DANA, 

ELIZA G. BROWNING. 

As the results of the work of the committee 
were to be presented at the second session by 
Miss Eastman, no action was taken. 

The chairman appointed a 

COMMITTEE OF NOMINATIONS 

consisting of Miss Power, Miss Stanley, and 
Mrs. Maltby. 

Miss GERTRUDE SACKETT read a paper on 

HOME LIBRARIES AND READING CLUBS. 

(See p. 72.) 

Discussion of Miss Sackett's paper was 
opened by Charles W. Birtwell, originator of 
the home library system under the auspices of 
the Charity Organization Society of Boston. 

Mr. BIRTWELL : Home libraries touch many 
sides of the lives of the poor. The subject is 
in competent hands with the librarians of the 
country. Charities and libraries are engaged 
in the same work. Both aim at the good of 
the people. 

In Miss Sackett's admirable paper she re- 
ferred to the source of the books. We do not 
rely upon people to give the books. We pur- 



CHILDREN^ LIBRARIANS' 1 SECTION. 



221 



chase them after critical reading from cover 
to cover by responsible readers. Of course we 
receive gifts, to which all libraries are subject ! 
We received a donation of seventeen books 
lately, and one was admitted to the libraries. 

Miss Sackett seemed to think the libraries 
applicable only to girls and younger boys. In 
Boston we have groups of boys sixteen, eigh- 
teen, and even nineteen years old. Once in a 
while a group will grow into a young men's 
club, and meet in a club room, and even then 
they may want the books in the club, even 
if they do not read them so much, from a 
sentimental attachment to the thing that first 
brought them together. Our use of young 
men as visitors aids in this direction. We 
have one home library of young married 
women. They have been members for a good 
many years. Of course they have had a faith- 
ful visitor. She still meets them once a week. 

As to the sexes in the groups, it is unavoid- 
able that some groups shall be made up only 
of boys or only of girls, but I confess I like a 
group to include both. Wholesome compan- 
ionship of girls and boys, such as the little 
libraries offer, without special consciousness 
of sex, is a training in right ideas of sex and a 
protection against the perverted, ruinous no- 
tions that lack of such association fosters. 

Among the many things Miss Sackett men- 
tioned I noticed no mention of savings. We 
use the stamp savings method. The children 
buy stamps, with which they gradually cover 
specially designed cards. Then the stamps are 
redeemed and accounts opened by the children 
at the savings banks. Even parents buy these 
stamps, through the children, to save for vari- 
ous purposes. 

An item that Miss Sackett mentioned is the 
visiting of the families of the children in the 
group. We urge the visitors to call once a 
month upon the families from which the chil- 
dren come to the library, in order to get better 
acquainted with the home life of each child. 

I am very sorry that Miss Beale, our paid 
general visitor, is not here. She has shown 
enthusiasm and skill. Among other things she 
has been successful in finding volunteer visit- 
ors, which is one of the most difficult features 
of the work. We usually have from forty-five 
to fifty-five visitors. Their terms of service 
vary from a week to many years. We have 
losses through marriages, sudden departures 



for Europe, and many queer reasons. We ask 
the visitors for reports each month. We do 
not invariably get them, but secure a fair num- 
ber, and these furnish the staple of our monthly 
conferences. These reports range from a mere 
statement of the number of members, amount 
of savings, and similar items, to a full story of 
the month. 

Just a word in addition in regard to one state- 
ment in Miss Sackett's paper that the poor 
do not need merely relief for physical wants, 
but help toward higher ideals and standards of 
life. Of course the whole trend of charity is 
towards something deeper than relief. Deg- 
radation can only be done away with or pre- 
vented by measures that tend to tone up the 
whole life. The treasures you as librarians 
have in your custody are of great value to this 
end. To gather books, and books worth read- 
ing, and then to get those books read, is a high 
service to one's fellow-men. We want to see 
the librarians as keen to satisfy and even create 
the desire in men, women, and children for 
what books can give, as the saloon-keepers are 
to gratify and provoke thirst, or the newspa- 
pers to stimulate and cater to the craving for 
news. Now what we have to do is to work 
shrewdly, and try to get these books into the 
hands of the people, and I think, as Miss Sack- 
ett said, that the time to begin is when they 
are young. There are many who will stop 
reading, carried away by other excitements, 
but I can see even them, as they get on in life 
and sorrows come, returning to books again ; 
and he who has never cared for reading is 
without that resource. 

A motto which seems to me a fair one to 
propose for librarians is one that was given 
the other day at a hearing before the City 
Council of Boston, on a petition for an ad- 
ditional public playground, by Mr. Henry L. 
Higginson, who said, "Be bold, extravagant, 
and wise."- 

Miss SACKETT: I saw in Boston a group of 
Italian children who had, I think, been a library 
group for eight years, and the young lady in 
charge was one of the original group. Never 
for one year had the group been discontinued, 
and the books they were reading showed an 
intelligent appreciation of good literature that 
was most encouraging. When you spoke of 
older boys being in home groups, were they 
not boys who had begun young? Because with 



222 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



older boys I have found it almost impossible to 
found groups in the home. 

Mr. BIRTWELL : Miss Sackett is right. These 
groups of older boys were started when the 
boys were younger. A lady came to me who 
wanted to work among girls, wanted to devote 
herself to a club of girls sixteen or seven- 
teen years old. I told her to form a group of 
ten-year old girls, and in six years she would 
have what she wanted. 

Miss HEWINS : We have no home libraries, 
but for several years have had charge of a 
branch in a slum settlement. We began by 
letting all children of the street and neighbor- 
hood take books. We soon found that too 
many swarmed in, careless and unmanage- 
able, and we now make it a very exclusive 
thing to belong to the library. The member- 
bership is limited to forty, and there are always 
several on the waiting list, and of those who 
came several years ago there are none who are 
taking books now, for as soon as we can we 
graduate them to the public library. All of 
the children who have a good record are 
allowed to take books from the public li- 
brary, and if their record keeps good they 
may keep on or go back to the settlement. 
What Mr. Birtwell has said about visitors is 
exactly our experience. The children who 
came in several years ago are now our best 
workers. 

Miss HALL : At the Brighton Branch of the 
Boston Public Library we have a club of boys 
and girls under sixteen years of age, called the 
Brighton Readers' Club, organized in 1900. 

We proceed according to parliamentary 
rules, and hold formal meetings, with some 
interesting speaker from outside to address the 
club each month during the school year. 

Magic lantern slides with views of foreign 
travel, readings from Seton Thompson's ani- 
mal stories, and a talk on South America by a 
lady from Chili, have been some of the pro- 
grams. 

As a result, the children take a greater inter- 
est in the library. A direct outgrowth of the 
club has been recently noted. Twelve girls 
have collected fifty books, placed them in one 
of the girl's homes, and meet every Tuesday 
evening after school to read, talk over books, 
etc. They have numbered the books, pay dues 
of two cents a week to add to their collection, 



and are now planning to have a fair to increase 
their present treasury fund of $1.19. 

This is a new phase of the home library, 
self-organized through direct stimulus from 
the Public Library. 

Miss F. B. HAWLEY : Is there not difficulty in 
getting volunteer visitors, in that some people 
volunteer who are unfitted to do the work? 
And is it not difficult to refuse when people 
volunteer to do work for nothing? How are 
volunteers selected ? 

Mr. BIRTWELL : First of all be cautious about 
getting into trouble. Never advertise broad- 
cast. I have been urged to, but have feared 
that newspaper advertisement would bring 
undesirable offers. If unsuitable people get 
enlisted, insistence on good work may eliminate 
them. If not, remember that the libraries are 
for the poor, not for the visitors, and do your 
duty. 

A MEMBER: I have been in this work for 
the past ten years and our groups have always 
consisted of both boys and girls. We had 
originally ages from ten to fifteen years, and 
found the children agreed together very nicely. 
It takes some little tact to make a meeting 
pleasant for both boys and girls. I have 
thought it quite as important to train the 
children in good manners as in reading. One 
of the original boys is now a junior at Dart- 
mouth College and when he comes home vis- 
its the group and makes it very interesting. 

Miss HITCHLER : Do you ever follow up 
the visitor? 

Miss SACKETT: Yes, indeed. That is an 
important part of the supervisors' work. I 
have many personal conversations with our 
visitors, as well as general monthly meetings, 
and every once in a while go to the different 
groups and participate in their goo'd times. It 
is essential that a supervisor should thus know 
all the children and the manner in which each 
visitor is conducting the work intrusted to her. 

A MEMBER : To what extent do you en- 
courage games? We have found in Chicago 
that games take up a great deal of the time. 
When they have them the children do not care 
anything about the books. 

Miss SACKETT : You cannot depend at first 
upon the children's interest in books. That 
interest develops gradually, much depending 
upon your own tact in presenting them. Af- 



CHILDREN^ LIBRARIANS^ SECTION. 



223 



ternoons spent with books alone will soon 
cease to interest the children and you want 
the library hour to be one to which they look 
forward with happy anticipation. You must 
establish confidence in yourself make them 
feel that you enjoy what they enjoy, and there 
is no better way than by heartily entering into 
the spirit of a good wholesome game. Having 
thus established yourself as one of themselves, 
their affection and trust gained, you can lead 
them gradually to other interests. Such games 
as " Twenty questions" not only develop the 
memory but arouse an interest in subjects 
which you can refer the children to the proper 
books to learn more about. 

Mr. BIRTWELL : The oversight of the visitors 
is an extremely important point in the manage- 
ment of the libraries, and Pittsburgh is for- 
tunate in having Miss Sackett's whole time 
devoted to home libraries. In Boston we now 
have 60 active libraries. It is our hope to 
engage a second paid general visitor and in- 
crease the libraries to 100, and then assign 
only 50 to each general visitor. Experience 
seems to indicate that one competent person 
can stand back of not more than 50 libraries ; 
in some cases even less than that number. 
There is infinite detail in really successful 
work. We must try to strike deeper and deeper 
into the life of the children to touch them in 
a greater variety of ways. More and more we 
are trying to get the visitors to come to us at 
our office and discuss individual children, their 
future, their situation, what may be done for 
them. We have a meeting of the volunteer 
visitors once a month, and once a year or so 
we gather the members of the libraries together 
and have a general entertainment. Every 
spring we have two flower sales, one at the 
North end and one at the South end a week 
later, and in the fall all children who can bring 
live flowers bought in the spring are invited 
to a little festival and collation. 

The discussion was characterized by marked 
interest in the subject, by an intelligent appre- 
ciation of the chief difficulties in Home Library 
work, and by a readiness to share experiences 
which it is impossible to reproduce in a printed 
report. During a short intermission Miss 
Sackett's display of street literature was ex- 
amined, the tentative fiction lists were distri- 
buted, and an opportunity was given to all who 



did not care to remain through the Round 
Table discussion to withdraw from the room. 
The 

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION ON CLASSIFICATION 
AND CATALOGING OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS 

was opened by a communication from Mr. 
BRETT, who stated that the Cleveland Public 
Library and the Carnegie Library of Pitts- 
burgh have planned to collaborate in printing 
cards for a dictionary catalog of juvenile books, 
with simplified subject headings, the catalog- 
ing being done in Cleveland and the printing 
in Pittsburgh. These libraries find it desir- 
able to supply each of their branches with a 
catalog of this sort, and believe the plan of co- 
operation to be practical. It has been sug- 
gested that other libraries may be glad to 
secure sets of these cards. The greater part 
of the juvenile collection of the Cleveland 
Public Library has been very fully cataloged 
within the past two years, and considerable 
study has been given to the question of simpli- 
fied subject headings. Library School rules are 
followed as to form. Subject fullness of names 
is given, and no imprint except the copyright 
date on the author card. A. L. A. subject 
headings have been used, except where it has 
seemed wise to simplify. Such variations have 
been adopted as : " Airships," "balloons," for 
"Aerial navigation;" "Drinks" for "Bever- 
ages," "Housekeeping" for "Domestic econ- 
omy," "Manners" for "Etiquette," etc. 
Additional headings have been used, such as 
specific names for flowers, trees, birds, etc., 
names of holidays, names of common articles 
and of ethical qualities. 

The aim has been to bring out all material 
which may be of service to children or teachers, 
and analyticals have been made very freely. 
In all cases where a simplified subject heading 
is used, the A. L. A. heading follows in paren- 
thesis, and cross references are made. 

Cost of the cards will depend partly on the 
subscriptions received, and will probably not 
be over one cent per card, provided 50 sets are 
subscribed for. The charge includes only the 
cost of the additional work required, for the 
two co-operating libraries bear all cost of com- 
position and getting ready. Subject cards are 
not duplicates of author cards, which increases 
the cost somewhat. 

The catalog will be enlarged by adding all 



224 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



books contained in the Carnegie Library chil- 
dren's collection not already cataloged for the 
Cleveland library, and will be kept up to date 
by cataloging the important children's books of 
each year. 

It is intended to prepare a list of 1,000 vol- 
umes which are considered valuable in the two 
co-operating libraries, and are believed to be in 
use and approved by most of the libraries in 
the country. Copies of this list, when ready, 
will be sent to all applying for them. Cards 
will be printed for books in the list first, and 
subscriptions will be received only for entire 
sets of the cards for these books. Subscrip- 
tions may be extended to include the cards for 
the entire collection, and all subsequent addi- 
tions, at cost; but if the number of subscrip- 
tions drop off after the completion of the first 
lot of one thousand, the cost per card will be 
somewhat increased. 

Applications for the list of books, or for 
sample cards, and all subscriptions for cards, 
should be addressed to Edwin H. Anderson, 
Librarian Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh Pa. 

Samples of the cards were distributed. 

G. M. JONES : I think it is a great mistake to 
adopt subject headings for a children's cata- 
log different from the subject headings in the 
adult catalog. I do not especially champion 
the headings in the A. L. A., but think in the 
same library the same headings should be used 
for all departments. I have had no experience 
in children's rooms, but in theorizing upon the 
subject have thought the difficulty would be in 
changing from one subject to another. Chil- 
dren soon learn the heading to be looked for to 
find works on a special subject. 

Miss TITCOMB : We have no special children's 
catalog, but use cards of a different color for 
children's books. The books for the youngest 
children are on yellow cards, and for children 
from 12 to 1 8 years on blue cards. The chil- 
dren like to pick out the colored cards and if 
they can find one on a book on meteorology 
there is not the slightest difficulty in their 
learning to use the catalog retaining the same 
subject headings. It has occurred to me that 
in printing the cards of Mr. Brett's catalog for 
use in libraries where they are to be used with 
the main catalog it might be a good scheme to 
print on a card of some distinctive color. 

Miss OLCOTT : Mr. Jones' argument seems to 
me to be in favor of more simplified headings 



for the adult catalog. If we simplify these our 
catalog will be more useful both for adults and 
for children. A children's catalog is more of 
an index than a catalog and so it is better not 
to use Latin words for the ordinary subjects 
children ask for. 

Mr. ANDERSON : Colored cards will be a 
physical impossibility in our scheme. Of 
course the expense would be very much less if 
it was not that we are printing subject headings 
on the cards. It will not be necessary to write 
in subject headings. 

Miss CLARA HUNT then gave a summary of 
her paper on the " Classification of children's 
story books," printed in Library Journal, Feb- 
uary, 1902, which was followed by a brief dis- 
cussion. The necessity for adjournment cut 
short the discussion, which it is hoped may be 
taken up more fully at a future session. 

SE C OND SES SI ON. 

The second session of the Section was held 
in the Oceanside Hotel Casino, on the after- 
noon of Thursday, June 19. It was devoted to 
the subject of evaluation of children's books 
from three standpoints : from the point of view 
of the literary critic and the student of chil- 
dren's literature, in a paper by Mr. Charles 
Welsh ; from the point of view of the children 
themselves, in Miss Hewins' report on a list of 
children's books annotated by the children's 
comments; and from the point of view of 
children's librarians, in Miss Eastman's report 
on the list of juvenile fiction. 

CHARLES WELSH read a paper on 

THE EVALUATION OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS FROM 
THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF 
LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN. 

(See p. 76.) 
Miss CAROLINE M. HEWINS presented the 

REPORT ON THE LIST OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS 
WITH CHILDREN'S ANNOTATIONS. 

(See p. 79.) 

In response to a call for a rising vote of 
those who would be sufficiently interested to 
send children's comments to Miss Hewins dur- 
ing the next six months, about 40 rose. 

Mr. WELSH made a brief statement of his ex- 
perience in England 25 years ago in endeavor- 
ing to secure spontaneous comments from boys 



CHILDREN'S LIBRARIANS^ SECTION. 



22$ 



and girls with regard to the books they were 
reading. The experiment was based upon 
questionnaire which were sent to a number 
of English schools. Comparatively few of the 
answers accurately reflected the child's own 
impression. In Mr. Welsh's opinion written 
questions would always be unsuccessful. He 
considered the most valuable data was to be 
obtained from the verbal expression rendered 
offhand by the children when selecting their 
books. 

Miss LINDA EASTMAN presented the 

REPORT OF EDITOR OF CO-OPERATIVE LIST 
OF JUVENILE FICTION. 

It was recommended at the meeting of the 
American Library Association last July that a 
co-operative list of juvenile literature be made 
by the children's librarians and others inter- 
rested in the work with the children. The list 
was to represent the combined judgment of 
those who know the books both from actual 
reading and from use of them with the children, 
as to their literary merit, moral tone, and in- 
terest for children. 

It was decided that it would be best to begin 
with the juvenile fiction, and as the opinions 
were all to be based on personal knowledge, to 
make up the first preliminary lists with those 
titles already best known to the largest number. 
With this in view, three sets of blanks were 
prepared, which read as follows: 

RECOMMENDED. 

The books listed below are among- those which, from 
knowledge based on actual reading of them, as well as 
observation of children's reading, I should most unhesi- 
tatingly recommend for a small selected list of the best 
uvenile fiction. 

Signature 



Address 



NOT RECOMMENDED. 

Some of the books which should be excluded from a 
carefully selected list of juvenile fiction. 
Signature 



Address 



DEBATABLE. 

The following are books which seem to me to be of 
doubtful value, and about which I shall be glad to have the 
opinion of children's librarians in general. 

Signature 

Address 



These blanks were sent out to about 175 
libraries with the request that they be filled out 
by the children's librarian or whoever in the 
library was best informed on the children's 
books. An endeavor was made to reach those 
libraries most actively interested in this work; 
as no accurate data for making it complete 
could be found, the mailing list must neces- 
sarily have contained some omissions which 
it is hoped will be rectified in the continuation 
of the work. About ico of the blanks were 
returned with lists, and in many cases where no 
lists were sent a regret at being unable to co- 
operate was accompanied by an expression of 
interest in the work. 

The returns, when tabulated, showed nearly 
1,000 titles. Of these about 200 were dis- 
carded, being nOn-fiction and adult fiction un- 
interesting to children. Many books recom- 
mended by some were considered doubtful or 
objectionable by others, and the lists, when re- 
duced to those titles upon which there was 
substantial agreement of recommendation or 
disapproval yielded 277 titles recommended, 
and in the " not recommended " list 42 entries, 
eight of which were authors whose works were 
all included, the remainder being individual 
titles. These lists were printed and sent out 
for careful criticism to all who had made the 
first returns. On the first of June the final re- 
turns were tabulated, and the results of the rec- 
ommendation after all books objected to were 
eliminated is given in section i of the printed 
list.* 

There has been evident on the part of some 
contributors an extreme caution in the rec- 
ommendations which, while counteracting any 
tendency toward carelessness on the part of 
others, has also limited their helpfulness. 
Many books were recommended as good books 
simply because they were not bad, because 
they contained nothing which could be ob- 
jected to, while in fact they do not contain 
anything in particular of which (o approve. 
This first list of 100 books I believe still con- 
tains some books whose interest is not great 
enough to warrant their being given a place 
in a small selected list of the best stories. 

Opinions on the "not recommended" list 
were much more nearly unanimous. 

* The printed list was distributed among those present 
at the meeting. 



226 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



There were next selected from the debatable 
list those titles on which the majority of those 
who reported were agreed as to recommending 
or excluding, and these lists were sent out on 
May 29 preparatory to any discussion at this 
meeting. All remaining titles on the debat- 
able list upon which reports had been at all 
general are included in the sections 4, 6, and 8. 

As the list was to represent a consensus of 
opinion, the editor's work to this point has 
necessarily consisted entirely of collecting and 
submitting those opinions. In the course of 
the work, however, certain facts have become 
apparent which should now be formulated into 
statements. 

First, and of utmost importance and prom- 
ise in its bearing upon the project of an eval- 
uated list of juvenile literature, is the very 
serious interest manifested by all concerned; 
meagre as are the results of this first year's 
work, the vital importance of putting good 
books into the hands of our children is so 
fully recognized that the obsacles in the way 
of more rapid progress on the work must be 
overcome. 

Chief of these obstacles is the lack of any 
uniform standards of judgment on the part of 
those co-operating. As such standards can 
only be established by a comparison of opin- 
ions, the work of this year has of necessity 
been largely that of preliminary preparation. 
There are many books on which individual 
opinions will always differ hopelessly, and it is 
probable that the debatable list will remain a 
long one; but the lists on which all are agreed, 
which represent a consensus of opinion based 
on actual knowledge, these lists, even though 
they be short, will furnish safe standards by 
which other books can be judged, and will be 
of the greatest help to the younger assistants 
who are specializing in the children's work. 
This function of the co-operative list, as the 
means of establishing uniform standards for 
the evaluation of the juvenile books, is, to the 
mind of the editor, by far its most important 
one. Good lists of juvenile books already 
exist, and the good judgment of the compilers 
of these lists must bear great weight in any 
co-operative work, but in the co-operative work 
the comparison of opinions should be helpful 
to others in forming their own opinion and 
establishing principles for their guidance. It 
is with this in mind that the recommendation 



is made that the list submitted be held over in 
tentative form during the coming year, with a 
final revision in time for a report at the next 
annual meeting, and that some discussion be 
given here as to what, in reality, constitutes a 
good juvenile story, and what are the elements 
which should be considered in juvenile fiction, 
using the books in the list in illustration. 

One other recommendation seems in place 
here. It will be some time before anything 
approaching an exhaustive evaluated list of 
juvenile fiction can be completed. 

The new books are the ones which are most 
difficult to select. Cannot a practical plan be 
devised for co-operation in the evaluation of 
the current books? The strong arguments 
which have been brought forward during the 
year against the purchase of ephemeral fiction 
apply with even greater force to juvenile fic- 
tion : it would seem to be an easy matter to at 
least decide that no juvenile fiction should be 
duplicated for our libraries until it had been 
read and reported on somewhat generally by a 
reading committee of children's librarians. 
The need of such co-operative work is keenly 
felt by most of them, and there seems to be no 
serious obstacle in the way of its accomplish- 
ment. 

It was Voted, That the report of the commit- 
tee on the list of juvenile fiction as submitted 
by Mr. Dana at the first session, together with 
Miss Eastman's report, be accepted, and that 
the thanks and appreciation of the Children's 
Librarians' Section be extended to the commit- 
tee and especially to Miss Eastman for the 
painstaking and arduous work expended in the 
preparation of this tentative list. 

A committee of children's librarians consist- 
ing of Miss Hunt, Miss Power, and Mrs. Maltby 
was then appointed to continue the work upon 
the fiction list during the coming year. Mr. 
Dana recommended that the Library Depart- 
ment of the National Educational Association 
be informed of this work, as it was exactly the 
sort of undertaking to interest the school peo- 
ple of the country, and it might be possible to 
secure welcome support in its execution. 

Miss OLCOTT : Did the committee decide 
upon the number of titles to be included in this 
list? 

Miss EASTMAN : No : it would be a good thing 
for the incoming committee to decide upon the 
length of the list; it should be a short one. 



CHILDREN^ LIBRARIANS' 1 SECTION. 



227 



Mr. WELLMAN: I should advise making the 
list with simple annotation, getting it up so that 
any library could buy it cheaply, keeping it 
fresh, up to date, and choosing good editions. It 
ought to be a great saving of time and expense 
in many libraries. 

Mr. ELMENDORF : Lists of any kind seem to 
me almost worthless for children's use. They 
want the books themselves on open shelves. 
Lists are useful to teachers and librarians, but 
it is preferable for children to learn to use the 
card catalog. 

The rest of the meeting was devoted to dis- 
cussing the merits and defects of some of the 
books on the " debatable" list, which was gen- 
erally conceded to be made up of more inter- 
esting books than those on the " approved " 
list. The " Rollo" books, the " Katy " books, 
the <l Peterkin papers " were restored to favor. 
It was suggested that the children's librarians, 
like the children in making comments, may 
have been self-conscious in making up the 
estimates from which their list was compiled, 
although as it stands the list represents the 
opinion of many who are not children's libra- 
rians. Miss Hunt, on behalf of the committee, 
asked to have the lists checked up after 
thoughtful consideration and mailed to her, in 
order to give the committee a broader basis on 
which to continue their work during the com- 
ing year. In closing the discussion, the chair- 
man called attention to the danger of allowing 
good books to drop out of lists through a lack . 
of personal recommendation on the part of the 
children's librarian. Children need to be 
introduced to a great many books, and the in- 
troduction must be made by the children's 
librarian, who should be mindful of the needs 
as well as of the desires of the children. 

At the close of the second session a business 
meeting of the active members of the Section 
was held. 

BASIS OF SECTION MEMBERSHIP 

was defined as follows : 

Active members shall consist of children's 
librarians and those library assistants whose 
entire time is given to work with children in 
libraries and schools. 



Associate members shall consist of: i. As- 
sistants, a part of whose time is given to work 
with children in libraries and schools. 2. Li- 
brarians and others who wish to identify them- 
selves with the work of children's librarians. 

READING FOR THE YOUNG. 

A recommendation made by Mr. Fletcher in 
the report of the Publishing Board was brought 
to the attention of the Section. Mr. Fletcher 
stated that the Sargent list of " Reading for 
the young " was now out of print, and recom- 
mended that the work of preparing a new list 
be presented to the children's librarians. 

It was Voted, That the Section undertake the 
preparation of such a list, and that the selec- 
tion of the books be determined by a commit- 
tee to be appointed by the chair and announced 
at her convenience. It was recommended that 
a strong effort be made to get a sufficient 
amount of work done on this list to make it 
available for use in the juvenile part of the 
"A. L. A. catalog" for 1904. 

It was decided to refer all business arising in 
the formal sessions of the Section to meetings 
of the active members, in order to conserve 
time for the discussion of subjects noted on 
the program. The 

COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS 

reported the following names : chairman, 
Frances Jenkins Olcott; secretary, Alice D. 
Jordan. Miss Olcott declined to accept the 
nomination, on the score of the very exacting 
demands of her own work during the coming 
year. The committee presented for alternate 
Miss Mary E. Dousman, of Milwaukee. The 
officers were elected by unanimous vote. 

The Section is now fairly organized by virtue 
of the special section registration effected at 
this meeting. Twenty active members and 120 
associate members were registered. 

It is highly important that all children's li- 
brarians should be registered in the Section as 
soon as possible, in order to increase the effec- 
tiveness of the section work. Names for mem- 
bership may be sent to Miss Alice Jordan, 
Boston Public Library. 



228 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



STATE LIBRARY COMMISSIONS ROUND TABLE. 



A "ROUND TABLE" meeting for the dis- 
cussion of the work of State Library Com- 
missions was held in the parlor of the Hotel 
Hesperus on the evening of Thursday, June 19. 
Melvil Dewey acted as chairman, and after 
opening the meeting called upon JOHNSON 
BRIGHAM to speak on 

THE CAMPAIGN OF EDUCATION BY THE STATE 
LIBRARY COMMISSIONS. 

JOHNSON BRIGHAM: Having watched the 
trend of legislation and been associated with 
legislators in both the East and the West, I 
have come to the conclusion that legislators 
are the same everywhere : well disposed toward 
libraries, but not intensely in earnest in their 
support; willing to vote appropriations for 
library commission work provided always 
that there is likely to be any money left, after 
appropriations are made for state fair pavilions, 
for new buildings and additions for penal and 
charitable institutions, for new public build- 
ings, and the improvement and decoration of 
the old, and for the support of various other 
commissions, from those of inquiry into finan- 
cial and social conditions down to those which 
regulate the barber's profession. 

The campaign of education must be carried 
up from the kindergarten, through the schools 
and colleges, out among the masses into the 
farmers' institutes and granges, the labor 
unions, the practically religious organizations 
that are giving daily demonstration of the 
large amount of Christian work left undone by 
the churches, into the women's clubs that 
yet unmeasured social force for good in our 
community life and lastly but far from 
least into the state legislature whence 
comes the means whereby commissions live 
and work and grow in their capacity for public 
service. 

The chief obstacles in the way of success in 
legislation are lack of knowledge and conse- 
quent lack of interest, or almost equally dis- 
heartening, misdirected effort to serve. 

The shortness of the average legislative 
career suggests to the earnest worker for results 
the necessity of a radical modification of the 



general campaign when legislation is the end 
to be attained. 

Like Grant at Donelson, the lobbyist for 
library legislation must move on the enemy's 
works at once, and the move should be on the 
weakest point in the defence. What is that 
weakest point? Fortunately for this outline of 
tactics, it is the same everywhere the indi- 
vidual legislator's dependence on popularity at 
home, and consequent sensitiveness to local 
" in/?00ence." 

The campaigner must not neglect the use of 
any of the usual means. 

He must select the right man in the Senate, 
and in the House, to father his measure, and 
he would do well to select one of the two 
who will be satisfied with nothing more than 
results. 

Our lobbyist must see that an early hearing 
is given his cause by the committee, or far 
better, by a joint meeting of the Senate and 
House committee to which his measure is 
referred, and the presentation of the case 
should be brief and pointed, and well backed 
up by a presentation of facts and conditions 
warranting the legislation prayed for. A few 
representative women and men as backing, 
with the best talker in the State Federation of 
Women's Clubs to deliver your peroration for 
you, are aids not to be disregarded. 

But the real campaign is not there. One 
strong letter from an influential citizen causes 
the indifferent legislator to look around and 
make inquiries. A dozen urgent letters arouse 
interest. Forty or fifty letters will cause the 
once indifferent legislator to wonder how any- 
body can be indifferent to a cause so noble ! 

If doubt still remain as to success, there yet 
remain the visiting delegations. A series of 
cards sent in to the senator, or representative, 
followed by an earnest inquiry after the meas- 
ure, with an incidental reference to the local 
importance of the bill and a direct appeal for 
increased activity, coupled with assurances of 
the gratitude with which everybody at home 
will regard his efforts, all the purely legiti- 
mate means to the accomplishment of desirable 
ends are reasonably sure of success. 



STATE LIBRARY COMMISSIONS ROUND TABLE. 



229 



But the campaign of education when carried 
into legislation should take a wider range than 
an attack upon the public treasury. We should 
not be satisfied with a clever vote, nor with a 
vote prompted by desire to win popularity at 
home. Our best results will come when we 
can acquaint our legislators with the real 
quality and yalue of the work we are doing, 
and what it means to the state at large, and to 
their own community. 

The CHAIRMAN : We will ask Miss Hoagland 
to speak to us on this subject. 

Miss MERICA HOAGLAND: What I have to 
say seems to group itself naturally into the 
" Who, when, what " order. 

Whom shall we educate in this campaign ? 
First, begin with the individual. We have 
found in our state work that it is better to in- 
terest, first the individual in any given town 
and from this individual, go to a little larger 
circle and from that circle to a mass meeting of 
the people. How shall we educate the indi- 
vidual? This is a matter, of course, of entirely 
personal arrangement, for we can interest the 
individual in various ways. Do not wait for 
formal occasions. It has seemed to me that the 
best results come in a by-the-wayside talk. We 
may meet some one and ask ' ' Have you a public 
library in your city, and if not, why not?" In 
that way we may start the interest of the indi- 
vidual; which will likely lead to correspond- 
ence and possibly to an invitation for the 
organizer or a member of the state commis- 
sion to visit a particular locality. Working 
from that individual, we can soon work through 
a larger circle and then again through the 
mass meeting. 

I think that three visits to a community de- 
siring to be interested in the organization of 
public libraries, are quite necessary These 
three visits may have to be compressed into 
one day. I think the following should be the 
order of the three talks that should be made : 
first, to the individual, then to the larger con- 
course of people, then to the citizens. Begin- 
ning with the individual, one may soon learn 
the local conditions, but we should^not attempt 
any work in educating people until we have 
ascertained exactly what these are. The local 
conditions in one place may not be the same as 
in others. We have to fit the kind of education 
to be given to the need. What will be best for 



a small country community will not answer, of 
course, for a larger city population. 

Working out from the few into the mass is a 
very interesting process, and I think no better 
illustration can be given than in the matter of 
the town of Greensburg, Indiana, which was 
mentioned this morning in the list of gifts from 
Mr. Carnegie. The first visit was. to render 
assistance to the librarian of a school library. 
There I talked to the superintendent of schools 
as to the desirability of a public library in that 
place. He expressed an interest in the matter, 
and the cause was further advanced by a visit 
to two or three of the interested citizens. Then 
I was asked to give advice concerning the laws 
of Indiana under which a library could be or- 
ganized in that place. That first visit I counted 
the visit to the individual. Then came the visit 
which was to be made to the larger group, and 
to the mass. In the meantime Mr. Carnegie 
generously donated $15,000 to Greensburg. 
The mayor's meeting and the meeting which 
had been called by the women's clubs were 
merged into one and I expounded the library 
laws as best I could. Finally the council threw 
the responsibility of establishing a library in 
that place upon the people, and by popular 
election the matter was to be decided. Then 
the library committee telephoned into the 
state commission's office and asked me to come 
and talk to the people of Greensburg as to the 
desirability and value of a public library. That 
done, the election Avas carried. 

When shall we educate? At opportune 
times. I have found that the pressing of the 
matter of the value of a library at inconvenient 
times has worked a very disastrous result to the 
project. You go into the office of a busy man 
and find him engaged in such a manner that 
he cannot possibly pay attention to you, and it 
is not a satisfactory visit either to you or to 
him. It has seemed to me that the evening is 
the better time to arouse interest. It finds 
people more at their leisure; they are through 
with their day's occupations; their evening 
meal has been finished, and they are ready for 
what may be presented. It is not, however, 
always possible or desirable to arrange an 
evening meeting. The Farmer's Institutes are 
the very best sort of places under " when." In 
the Farmer's Institutes we can interest the 
farmers and the rural districts in the matter of 



230 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



travelling libraries and the travelling libra- 
ries are only a make-shift toward the establish- 
ment of more permanent libraries. Through 
the Teacher's Institutes very good results may 
be obtained, and also at the State Teachers' 
Associations. Talks to the students in colleges 
and in the normal schools, addresses to the 
women's clubs, in local or state meetings, 
all of these are agencies through which we can 
arouse and interest the public. 

Of what shall this education consist? Why 
does the state educate its children ? Because 
their ignorance would put the state in jeopardy. 
That, it seems to me, was the keynote of the 
discussion introduced by Dr. Canfield last 
evening, and I believe it should be the basis of 
what we have to say in this matter of the edu- 
cation of the public in regard to public li- 
braries. They are a part of the educational 
system of our state. We must lay that down as 
an underlying principle, else I think the library 
system as a system will surely fail. I think it 
has been the cause of failure in preceding move- 
ments of many of our states that libraries have 
not been placed upon educational bases. 

This education must also carry with it some 
indication of what our state library commissions 
and our state library associations are doing for 
the people of the several states. I find in 
going through our state that there are many of 
the communities not even aware that we have 
a Public Library Commission or how long we 
have had one, or for what the Public Library 
Commission was created. 

Then, in telling what the organization and 
reorganization of public libraries really means, 
emphasis must be placed on library training. 
That is one of the points that we must bring 
forward if we would educate the people to the 
highest appreciation of a public library. In 
the past all that has been thought necessary 
has been to have a custodian in charge of the 
public library. To deal out books over a coun- 
ter has been the one function for which the 
librarian or custodian was appointed, but now 
through our regular library schools and 
through our summer library training schools 
we must show to the people what that training 
means. I believe that not until our librarians 
can so relate the libraries to their respective 
communities that they can see the value of 
them can we attain the best end and enlist the 
interest of the people. 



As to the results, it seems to me that we 
are all too anxious for the results. I believe 
that our work well done should rest just there. 
I believe the results are the responsibility of 
the others. The very anxiety which some- 
times comes to workers in this general field of 
library labor I think hampers their future use- 
fulness and wears them out. I believe that, 
having done the best we can with this work, 
the responsibility for the results should not be 
ours, but if we would educate the people ten 
years from now, let us begin now. 

The CHAIRMAN: The topic is now open for 
discussion. 

F. A. HUTCHINS : I recognize there are dif- 
ferences in conditions, but I think we very 
often cheapen library work by arguing too 
much for it. You know the story of a little 
boy who went to school and returned in a dis- 
gusted frame of mind. They asked him what 
he had learned and he said, " The teacher 
taught me what I always knew before." If you 
want people to work for you and with you in 
philanthropic work, assume their interest. 
That is often the quickest way to get it. In 
this matter of getting libraries for small com- 
munities I find too little said about interesting 
business men. I would rather spend my time 
with the one man who influences a hundred 
men than to keep running round after the hun- 
dred. I have stopped going first to address 
mass meetings in small communities. Let the 
mass meeting come later. Get your business 
men together. The business men do not come 
to the mass meetings; they leave it to the 
women. The women want to raise a library 
by ten-cent shows, and they frequently raise a 
ten-cent library. Get the business men to- 
gether and say to them : " Such and such com- 
munities the same size as yours have good 
libraries. Those communities raised $2,000 
each ; surely you have as much public spirit." 
I went once to a little community which was 
trying to raise $100 and had asked me to help 
them. I went to see a business man, a banker, 
who said: "Oh, we have tried libraries; we 
have had a number of them ; I have lost my 
interest; we raised $100 for one." I said: "I 
don't wonder you lost your interest. I don't 
want that kind of a library." Finally he said : 
" If they want to raise $100 I will give $5-" I 
told him: "Mr. Smith, there is a train that 
leaves here in half an hour. If you will give 



STATE LIBRARY COMMISSIONS ROUND TABLE. 



231 



$100 I will stay, if you won't I will take that 
train." The result was that the business men 
raised $1,900 and another man gave them 
$6,000, just because they were so much inter- 
ested. We cheapen library work by assum- 
ing that we need to argue its advantages in 
this day and generation, and we cheapen it by 
assuming that a good library in a community 
can be started by a little enthusiasm, a few old 
books, and almost no money. 

JOHN THOMSON : I want to endorse Mr. 
Hutchins' remarks. You cannot do anything 
without finances. Do not ask for the mini- 
mum, but ask for large subscriptions. Take 
your hat in your hand and do not argue, but 
say : " This is a good thing. I know that you 
believe it is a good thing. Please help us," 
and I believe the work will prosper and pros- 
per speedily. 

Miss HOAGLAND : Do you not think it a 
very good thing to have systematic visits from 
the library commission? For instance, our 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction is 
supposed to visit all the ninety-two counties in 
Indiana in two years. If the Public Library 
Commission could cover the ground in the 
same way, there would be a sort of a campaign 
of education. 

The CHAIRMAN : I do not believe the work 
can ever be done satisfactorily in any other 
way. You cannot do by correspondence or by 
print what you can do by personal contact, and 
when the work is organized in any state it soon 
demands the travelling librarian even more 
than the travelling library, putting him into 
personal contact with those communities. We 
are following exactly the experience of the 
schools. The School Commissioner and the 
State Superintendent and the Institute Con- 
ductor those classes of people must be dupli- 
cated for the libraries and they must system- 
atically cover the whole state. 

The chairman announced the appointment of 
a 

COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS 

consisting of Mr. Hutchins, Miss Hoagland, 
and Miss Hewins. 

Miss SHARP was called upon to speak on 

SPECIAL LIBRARY TRAINING FOR STATE 
COMMISSION LIBRARY ORGANIZERS. 

Miss SHARP: I can say nothing practical, 
because so far as the Illinois State Library 



School is concerned we have as yet no state 
commission; but I believe that there is great 
need for special training in the schools. It 
seems to me that the New York State Library 
School is peculiarly fitted to give those special 
courses. 

Miss AHERN : I would like to ask for a little 
information as to just what such a course as 
that would cover. It seems to me that the per- 
sonal element is so large a factor with the 
people who are going to take up organizing 
work that I do not quite see how you are going 
to teach the art of successful organizing in your 
library school. How would you go about 
training organizers for a library commis- 
sion? 

The CHAIRMAN : First, catch your hare. Get 
only those who have executive qualifications 
and take up with them all the questions of 
inspection, preparation of reports and returns, 
supervision of lists of books, help in regard to 
buildings, stimulation of interest, raising of 
funds, etc. Instead of studying cataloging and 
classification, study the work that has to be 
done by inspectors and commissions. The 
advantage in Albany is, of course, that our 
students can be studying our state system in 
actual operation. 

We should discourage any one taking up the 
course who did not give some evidence of 
special fitness. Otherwise the requirements 
are those which are usually required for ad- 
mission to the school graduation from a 
college recognized as maintaining a high 
standard. We take that as a basis. In some 
cases we should be more inclined to encourage 
a man who had had successful educational ex- 
perience or had done executive work elsewhere. 
His greater maturity and experience would be 
of advantage in that case. 

Mr. BRIGHAM : An important feature of 
this work would be the study of library archi- 
tecture. Most of our architects have had 
confronting them the last year or two the 
fact that there is something more needed for 
library purposes than simply the drawing of a 
pretty building. The library schools should 
train people so that they can instruct architects 
in the proper working of libraries and can 
intelligently insist on having things right 
instead of having things wrong. Some of Mr. 
Carnegie's gifts to our state have been neutral- 
ized in part by the failure of architects to 



232 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



appreciate that the interior arrangements are 
the things needed. 

Miss FRANCES B. HAWLEY: In the case of 
one who has not had some actual experience in 
library work, would not the trustees of libra- 
ries to be organized feel that they were being 
experimented upon, if their organizer was 
simply a person of college education and 
special training without any actual experi- 
ence, without having tried certain methods in 
certain places and found them unsuccessful, 
and other methods in other places and found 
them successful? 

Miss AHERN : I do not believe you ought to 
take college graduates for that course ; it ought 
to be limited to people who have tested in the 
actual field of work not only their own ability, 
but the wants and wishes of the people. If 
there is any criticism to be made on the library 
school people it is that they do not know 
people as well as they know books. If they 
are to deal with people primarily they ought 
to have a wider knowledge of human nature 
than the college graduate possesses, even a 
Ph. D. with a library school diploma in his 
hand. I think you would do well not to let 
that kind of people go into that work until 
they have had some actual experience in actual 
library work. 

The CHAIRMAN: Go back to your school 
parallel again. If a man has taken a course for 
a superintendent's position he does not expect 
to go out as a superintendent at once. He ex- 
pects to teach for a time. If you take a college 
education as the general basis, then a library 
school course of two years, then from two to 
five years of successful experience in a library, 
you will get good material for this special 
course for supervisory work. 

Let us now take up the general subject of 
the education of librarians, assistants, and trus- 
tees by round tables, institutes, etc. We all 
understand the work of the library schools and 
of the summer schools. Now it is a serious 
problem for those of us who are engaged in 
the state library work to what extent we are to 
encourage the formation of library schools. 
There is need for more workers than can be 
supplied by the well equipped schools. 

We cannot get enough people who will take 
the full college course and full library school 
training to do all the work that is to be done 
in our libraries. We must either have it done 



by people who have no training, or else by 
those who can take only superficial training. 
We constantly receive propositions to estab- 
lish small schools or training classes at a good 
many points, but at no single place is there 
any provision for a faculty. Now, to what 
extent shall we encourage the formation of 
weak schools because we have no others? To 
go back to the school system again, is not a 
poor normal school or training class better 
than none at all? 

Miss HOAGLAND : We have to meet the con- 
dition as we find it, not as we would have it. 
In the work in our own state we feel that we 
must raise the standard of librarianship in the 
small libraries, and that such training as we 
can give in the short course is better than no 
training at all. 

The CHAIRMAN : Another question that we 
ought to consider is : Shall we multiply schools 
or shall we increase the numbers in the existing 
schools? My own impression is that we would 
get better results to concentrate on a few 
points and build up larger schools with better 
facilities, making them in every way stronger. 
But there is a certain amount of state prejudice. 
The same thing crops out in other ways. Let 
one state make a list of books and an adjoining 
state is prone to do that same work, and per- 
haps not do it half as well, so as to have their 
own list. There is a kind of state pride that 
prevents some states utilizing the work done 
by other states. 

Miss AHERN : Why not ask for state normal 
schools for training librarians? 

The CHAIRMAN: That is what we have in 
New York. The state library school is a state 
normal for librarians. 

Miss AHERN : I mean branches of that in 
various localities. 

The CHAIRMAN: Branches of the normal 
school? 

Miss AHERN : Instead of two years in Albany, 
have one year in separate localities. 

The CHAIRMAN : Do you mean to have it 
connected with the normal school or only on 
the same standing with the normal school? 

Miss AHERN: On the same standing. 

The CHAIRMAN : I think we all agree that 
we should keep the library movement distinct 
from the school movement, but this is a sug- 
gestion that the state establish in different 
parts of the state these normal library schools, 



STATE LIBRARY COMMISSIONS ROUND TABLE. 



233 



just as there are in this state eight or ten 
normal schools now, and we have thirteen in 
the state of New York. I do not believe that is 
wise. When transportation was so expensive 
you could do it, you could carry your school to 
the people; but now that travel is so cheap and 
so quick you can get great deal better results to 
concentrate that is, you can more easily 
bring your students to the strong central school 
than to divide them up among many weak 
schools. 

Miss HAZELTINE : I wish to say a word about 
the summer school last summer at Chautauqua. 
We tried the experiment of starting a summer 
school for six weeks, to carry out the idea that 
Miss Hoagland has already brought out, that 
the object is not to create new conditions, but 
to help those that already exist. My heart 
goes out to the librarian of the smaller library, 
because I am one myself, and I know all about 
the difficulties of the work in the small libra- 
ries, where one is away from other libraries, 
without any one in the town who has any in- 
spiration or desire to help, where you must do 
all the technical work yourself, give out the 
books yourself, do the reference work yourself, 
in fact, you must move the whole institution 
and introduce it to the town. There are many 
working in that way throughout New York 
State, as there are in every state in the Union. 
We were much pleased with the result of the 
school last year. It was the first year that a 
summer school was conducted at Chautauqua. 
We thought that if twelve pupils came we 
would have a large school for the first year, but 
we had forty-one, representing twenty states. 
They came from Texas, Florida, Colorado, 
Idaho, Nebraska, and Montana, besides Mas- 
sachusetts and Connecticut and New Jersey 
and Delaware and the South. We taught as 
much cataloging and classification as we could 
in the time given, and shelf listing and acces- 
sion work and reference work as we could, and 
we gave as much help and inspiration to these 
pupils as we could. We had librarians come 
from a distance Mr. Dewey, Mr. Peck, Mr. 
Elmendorf, and several others. Those forty- 
one pupils went home with a new inspira- 
tion. I have had letters from them all the 
year. The keynote of our school was not 
to' take those who had never studied library 
work. Our requirement was a high school 
education or an equivalent, and some experi- 



ence in library work, in order that the work 
could be established on a high basis at once. 
It may be interesting to you to know that one 
of the pupils was an attendant at the first 
American Library Association in 1876 and a 
subscriber to the first year of the Library 
Journal. I had a most appreciative letter from 
him a few weeks ago saying that besides carry- 
ing on the full work of a teacher in a school 
near Philadelphia he was also expected to be 
the librarian, and he had reclassified the library, 
had made an accession book and a shelf list, 
and he was engaged in making a card catalog. 

That is the work we are endeavoring to do in 
the summer schools to help those who cannot 
take the time to take a year's course or a two 
years' course, but can be aided by a six weeks' 
course to get an idea of what modern library 
work is and to get inspiration for the work. 
Possibly, as the years go by, we may have a 
second six weeks' course. Our clergyman at 
home, who is a rather noted minister, spent 
six or eight weeks last year at Cambridge 
studying in the summer school. He said he 
was in a small place and therefore he must 
have some inspiration from the professors in 
Harvard. If eminent divines can go to sum- 
mer schools in this country or in Europe, why 
should not the librarians of the smaller libra- 
ries, who need help and inspiration, do the 
same ? 

Miss SHARP : I should like to call attention 
to a new feature in the work of the Wisconsin 
Summer School which seems to rne admirable, 
and that is the giving of supplementary courses. 
They started with a general outline course, but 
this year the Wisconsin Summer School is to 
give a supplementary course on the special sub- 
ject of public documents. The Iowa Summer 
School is to give a supplementary course on the 
special study of children's work. I know the pur- 
pose of those two summer schools is to continue 
this plan with the hope of bringing back their 
students so that none of them will be in danger 
of thinking that he or she has had a complete 
course in six weeks. It is to keep hold of the 
students and encourage them to read and study 
during the year, and then to come back each 
year for some special subject which will be 
given. It seems to me a decidedly new feature 
of the summer school work one which leads 
me to believe in them very much more strongly 
than I used to. 



234 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Mr. EASTMAN: I wish Miss Hazeltine would 
tell us about the library institute she conducted 
at Olean. 

Miss HAZELTINE : Where shall I begin 
there is so much of it? In all the institutes 
held in the state we had two study sessions 
and one session for inspiration where we en- 
deavored to reach the town people. At Olean, 
in the sessions of which I had the honor and 
pleasure of being the conductor, we met in the 
afternoon with an audience of about thirty-five, 
representing twenty small libraries in four 
western counties called the "benighted dis- 
trict " of New York State. We met in the 
reference room of the town library in the midst 
of books, so that was the first point in our 
favor, we had the influence of books about 
us on the shelves. We carried out the pro- 
gram just as it was laid down, that the students 
might know what was expected of them. We 
began with laying down some principles as to 
the collection of books. It was astonishing to 
see how those people who had come together 
for the first time, not knowing each other, 
were willing, after an introductory talk, to ask 
questions, because things were said and princi- 
ples laid down that had never entered their 
minds before. They had never thought that 
there was an underlying principle in the selec- 
tion of books that they need not select 
books from the advertisements they saw in the 
papers, or from what people said about them. 
They learned that there was a difference in 
editions, that they could buy fifty books with 
fifty dollars instead of twenty-five books, if 
they bought the cheaper editions. They 
thought they must order through a book agent, 
none of them had any local bookstores, 
but we showed them that they need not buy of 
every agent that came along. We discussed 
the technical construction of the accession 
book, which is required in every New York 
library that receives money. We gave them a 
new idea about the accession book, showing 
them that it is the basis of insurance. Most of 
them had their libraries in poorly constructed 
buildings, or in frame buildings in which there 
were various other institutions, such as a post- 
office or a grocery, and which would burn eas- 
ily. We showed them that the accession book 
must be kept carefully in a safe or carried to 
another building, because if the library burned 



the basis of insurance would be on the acces- 
sion book. Then we went on to discuss the 
correct method of cataloging and classification, 
and the eagerness with which those people 
asked questions and the desire that they ex- 
pressed to go home to carry out the ideas was 
remarkable. Then we had our little evening 
reception where they met one another and be- 
came better acquainted, and they left very eager 
to come again next year. We are invited to 
hold the institute in another town next year. 
We had in our audience one man with his wife 
who has started a library on his own ideas, be- 
cause he feels his little town needs it. He 
shut up his shop to come to that institute and 
he brought his wife, who left her bread-making 
and sewing to come with him. They took 
notes on everything. Since then I have no- 
ticed in their local paper that they have been 
publishing lists of books that were suggested 
at the institute and have put them in the paper 
with some idea of classification. I have had 
visits from others who have come to our library 
to get other ideas. Just the few results that we 
have had in the five weeks since that institute 
closed have been most encouraging to us. It 
was a great thing for those people who have 
been working in small, isolated communities, 
needing sympathy and friendly help, to know 
that there were people in the world who would 
help them, who were interested in the same 
work they were doing. It was not so much the 
technical instruction that they received, al- 
though we hope that was a benefit to them, 
but it was the friendly, helpful, sympathetic 
touch. 

There are four representatives of the Chau- 
tauqua library school in attendance at this 
meeting of the A. L. A. 

Miss HEWINS: We had a very interesting 
one day's teaching recently. We heard a little 
while ago from the Springfield library that one 
of Miss James' assistants at Wilkesbarre was 
going to Springfield to give two or three days' 
instruction in mending library books. We 
engaged her to stop in Hartford for two days, 
and then we sent out an invitation to the Con- 
necticut librarians to come to Hartford to learn 
about new methods of pasting and mending. 
About forty came and they had a most inter- 
esting and profitable day. 

The chairman introduced the subject of 



STATE LIBRARY COMMISSIONS ROUND TABLE. 



235 



REDUCED POSTAL RATES FOR LIBRARY BOOKS. 

The CHAIRMAN : In our commission work 
we feel the need of having the same privileges 
of sending books through the mail at the same 
rate that is allowed newspapers. Senator 
Lodge is warmly interested in this matter and 
Judge Lawrence has also introduced it into 
the House. President Roosevelt has also ex- 
pressed a warm interest in it. If we will work 
together we can get that privilege. We ought 
all of us, when the matter comes up at the 
next session of Congress, to write to our Sen- 
ator or Representative and show him that we 
are thinking about it and that we want that 
privilege, especially those of us in the state 
commissions. If every state commission would 
act officially this measure would certainly go 
through. 

Has any one anything to say on this postal 
question? I think it would be a wise thing if 
this meeting would pass a vote asking the 
Council to ask Congress to pass a law giving 
us this privilege. 

Mr. BRIGHAM : We cannot do much until 
we convert the leading men in the A. L. A. 

The CHAIRMAN : Do you think that because 
one or two or three men object to a thing we 
ought to go without it? 

Mr. BRIGHAM : No, but my feeling is that 
even if we were all of one accord in this matter 
and a man of as great prominence as Dr. Bill- 
ings says, " I do not think we ought to ask for 
it," it is unfortunately the fact that one such 
man can neutralize our action by his negative 
position, especially if he is supposed to be in- 
terested and is giving reluctant testimony. 

The CHAIRMAN: I assume that anyone in- 
terested in public library work is in favor of 
having this facility for distributing books. It 
is simply the question whether or not books, 
belonging to public libraries and recognized as 
such, may be allowed the same privilege as the 
newspapers are in the way of a low rate of 
postage. The objections are chiefly based on 
theories that are not consistent with the facts. 
These books will be circulated within a small 
radius. If they were going to be sent from 
here to San Francisco it would be expensive, 
but except in rare cases the people that want 



them will send for them to the nearest point. 
But even supposing there were a loss in 
Canada and Australia and in other countries 
there is a provision for sending such books 
through the mail without any charge. How 
many of those present think we ought to have 
this privilege? 

A show of hands was taken, which proved 
unanimous in the affirmative. 

W. E. HENRY: Do I understand that the 
bill providing for these rates is now before 
Congress. 

The CHAIRMAN : Yes. 

Mr. HENRY: I would like to make one sug- 
gestion. The thing that is left for everybody 
to do is never done. If some one will keep 
track of that bill and, when the time comes for 
action upon it, send a circular letter all over 
the United States asking all librarians who 
believe in it to write to their congressmen, 
urging its special support and assigning the 
reasons for that, I believe it will be passed. 

The CHAIRMAN : It is not competent for this 
body to promulgate anything as coming from 
the A. L. A. But it is perfectly proper to 
instruct our secretary to notify members when 
that bill is to be acted upon and to ask the 
Council of the Association to give it their sup- 
port. 

Mr. HENRY : I move that those who register 
as members of this section should ask the 
secretary to inform them when the proper time 
comes for action on this matter. Voted. 

The CHAIRMAN: Now shall we request the 
Council to pass a resolution endorsing the 
opinion of the State Library Commission 
Section that pound postal rates should be 
granted on library books? 

The motion was made, seconded, and 
carried. 

The report of the 

COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS 

was presented, submitting the names of Mr. 
Dewey as chairman and Miss Gratia Country- 
man as secretary for the ensuing year. The 
report was accepted and the officers unani- 
mously elected. The meeting then adjourned. 



236 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



WORK OF STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS: ROUND TABLE MEETING. 



A " ROUND TABLE " meeting devoted to the 
consideration of the work of State Library 
Associations was held in the New Magnolia 
Hotel, Magnolia, Mass., on the evening of 
Wednesday, June 18. The meeting was con- 
ducted by Miss Beatrice Winser, chairman, 
and was called to order at 8.30 p.m. The chair- 
man introduced Melvil Dewey, to whom had 
been assigned the subject 

THE FUNCTIONS OF A STATE LIBRARY 
ASSOCIATION. 

Mr. DEWEY: When in New York omnibuses 
first went on the streets, it wa % s a great improve- 
ment. Street cars were a great improvement 
on omnibuses. Then came elevated railways 
and cable and trolley cars. Now the city is 
torn to pieces and honeycombd with tunnels, 
preparing for still more rapid transit. The 
work of a state library association just now 
is very like that of the subway in New York 
City. We are taking on new functions and a 
new conception of what library work is. 

A state library association works in both 
directions. We 'had the International Library 
Conference in 1876 ; we had another in London 
at the time of the Queen's jubilee in 1897. We 
have these great national A. L. A. meetings. 
We have also interstate meetings that at At- 
lantic City brought together delegates from half 
a dozen states ; library week at Lake Placid 
drew prominent workers from fifteen states 
and two provinces. There will be another 
interstate group soon near Chicago and Wis- 
consin, and there will be still another in the 
South. We thus have these interstate, 
national, and international meetings above the 
state library association, of which this is dis- 
tinctly the time. Almost every state has and 
will continue to have one. I am president this 
year of the State Library Commissions Section, 
and we have a full program and are doing 
active work, but the state library commission 
is merely a temporary expedient, a scaffolding 
to bridge us over to our permanent organiza- 
tion of state library departments similar to 
the state school departments. 



In 1805, in New York City, was organized 
the Public School Society. It worked to estab- 
blish public schools till 1853, curiously the very 
year that the first convention of librarians in 
the world was held. That year the Public 
School Society stopt its work and turnd over 
its property of $600,000 to the public, because 
the time had come for the public to carry on 
this work for itself. Like this, the state library 
commission is to bridge us over to our final 
organization, but the state library association 
is a permanent institution. 

The library movement is duplicating nearly 
or quite every one of the great movements that 
developed the American system of public 
schools. The great work of the Library Asso- 
ciation, with its different agencies, is to edu- 
cate the public individuals, communities, and 
legislatures to understand that libraries are 
just as essential as schools, that they are costly, 
that they must have large state appropriations 
and liberal local support. 

I remember at the first A. L. A. meeting in 
Philadelphia, when one of the most prominent 
proprietary librarians objected to free public 
libraries, I said, " You might just as well 
object to free public schools." He replied, " I 
do object. The state has no right to tax me 
to educate the children of my neighbor." I 
answered, " We rest the case there. The 
library stands on exactly the same plane." The 
American public have decided for the free 
public school and they are supporting it each 
year with greater and greater generosity. 
There is nothing for which taxes are paid so 
willingly and so liberally; nothing would so 
quickly create a revolution as to take away 
from the public the free public school. 

This library movement started as the school 
movement started, with the voluntary associa- 
tion of workers who gave their time and money 
to educate the public to the point of taking up 
the public service as a public charge. 

The state library association stands in the 
middle. Above it are interstate and national 
and international meetings. Below it, in its 
own state, we follow the same lines with the 



STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS: ROUND TABLE, 



237 



schools. They have not only state but sec- 
tional conferences, and teachers from various 
counties or from neighboring towns come 
together to compare notes and to help each 
other on. After the state library association 
similarly come sectional, county, or more local 
clubs; then the individual library; then home 
and house libraries, thus going not only to the 
community with the public library, but into 
summer hotel, factory, farm house, and other 
small centers away from library privileges. Li- 
brarians are recognizing more and more the 
function, growing stronger every year, of guid- 
ance not alone in consulting books in the library 
or in borrowing books and carrying them home, 
but in selecting books for those who wish to buy 
them for themselves and make a personal 
library. 

The state association, a voluntary union of 
the most active and earnest librarians, will 
therefore be a permanent institution, but when- 
ever a state has its organized library depart- 
ment, just as it has its school department, the 
work of the state library commission will be 
merged into that. The work of the state li- 
brary ought to be under a state board called 
trustees of the state library, or what you will ; 
but a single body in charge of all library inter- 
ests in the state. That carries with it another 
grave responsibility of the state association, 
and one of the greatest problems with which 
we have to deal : training competent librarians. 
The public school system amounted to little, 
till, by persistent effort of the association, and 
the development of state departments, of insti- 
tutes, and of various other agencies, teachers 
were traind to their work. We are recogniz- 
ing that more and more in the library field. 
We are still in a rudimentary stage in respect 
to this. The number of people who can come 
to library schools for two full years of profes- 
sional training is very small, compared with 
the number that must work in libraries. 

Our plan in New York is to supplement the 
two years' course with summer courses. We 
have promist for some time a correspondence 
course, and expect soon to begin it. It will 
not be as good as personal contact, but a great 
deal better than no guidance, and in the last 
few years the capacity for usefulness in cor- 
respondence teaching has been shown to be 
very great. Schools like the International 
Correspondence School in Scranton, started 



merely as a business venture, have grown to 
immense proportions and have done a great 
deal of practical service ; they mingle with 
education that fatal element of commercialism 
which will be eliminated as soon as the public 
understands its needs in this respect. Beyond 
that, there is the new work of this year, which 
Dr. Canfield will tell us about, the Library 
Institutes, which have been very promising. I 
think we must go a step further than the insti- 
tute and go to tlic scatterd libraries with what 
I call round tables. We must reach not a 
dozen counties, but merely a few adjoining 
towns. Wherever we can get a dozen libra- 
rians or their assistants together, an inspector 
or two, traind especially for that work, should 
meet them for a day or two and rouse their 
interest and enthusiasm, answering their ques- 
tions. Very likely they will be interested 
enough in the round table to go to the next 
institute, and the interest there may lead them 
to take the correspondence work and then they 
may go to the summer school for six weeks and 
some may later take the full two years' course. 
A variation that will be new to many of you 
we are discussing in our faculty, and I think 
we shall adopt, to give our summer course 
hereafter in rotation, or sequence. We will 
take six weeks one year for nothing but cata- 
loging and classification under our best teachers 
and with all our facilities. The next year we 
will take bibliography and reference work and 
give six weeks of solid work to that subject. 
The third year we will give six weeks to general 
library administration, omitting classification, 
reference work, etc. So, in three consecutiv 
years, we shall rapidly cover the whole field. 

We have also in connection with our great 
Chautauqua Institution a general library school 
of six weeks that covers the whole field in the 
usual way. Our hope is that those who can- 
not get the full two years' training will go to 
Chautauqua first for six weeks and get a birds- 
eye view of the whole subject. They will thus 
become acquainted with our teachers and they, 
will keep in correspondence with them and 
read and study under their direction for a year. 
The next year some will take one of our three 
rotation courses and become more closely ac- 
quainted and read and study on those lines. 
The third and fourth years they can take the 
other courses, and thus in four years the libra- 
rian who can get away from home only six 



238 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE, 



weeks out of each year will secure, first a birds- 
eye view, and then, in our three courses, with 
reading and study in the meantime and with 
correspondence with our teachers, he will be 
able really materially to increase his efficiency. 

Thus, in a nutshell, I outline the work 
of the state library association as a perma- 
nent educational force. Whatever organiza- 
tion may come, we must always have a volun- 
tary association in each state of those specially 
interested in library work who shall co-oporate 
with the interstate, national, and international 
associations above it and with the sectional 
and local and individual libraries on the other 
side, that will stand constantly within that 
state as an advisory council, that will study all 
the while the wants of that section of the 
library field and to the extent of its abilities 
help to carry on this great work to which we 
have given our lives. 

The CHAIRMAN: Mr. Dewey has so ably 
outlined the functions of the state library asso- 
ciation that we must all feel that the state 
associations are going to do a work that the 
A. L. A. can no longer do. It cannot do the 
things it has done in the past on account of its 
increasing size, and the smaller libraries are 
certainly going to gain more from state meet- 
ings than they can from a large meeting like 
this, which cannot treat of technical matters 
and go into details in the way that the small 
associations can. 

ANDERSON H. HOPKINS : It is a source of 
peculiar gratification to me to hear what Mr. 
Dewey has just said, because less than six 
weeks ago the Illinois State Library Associa- 
tion did exactly what Mr. Dewey said was the 
right thing to do, and it was done with con- 
siderable fear and trembling. The state of 
Illinois has been without a library commission. 
The state library association has made vain 
efforts for six years to get one, and at last it 
determined to be one itself, and it is now a 
state library commission without legislation. 
At its last meeting it revised its constitution, 
following as closely as it could the constitution 
of the A. L. A., and elected a council that it 
might thereby gain continuity of policy. Pro- 
vision was also made to incorporate under the 
laws of the state so that it could hold property. 
It is now ready to get the property, and means 
to get it as soon as it can and begin the work 
of a state library commission. 



Miss CECELIA LAMBERT spoke on 

HOW CAN A STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 
BEST AROUSE INTEREST IN TOWNS AND 
VILLAGES WHICH ARE TOTALLY WITHOUT 
LIBRARY FACILITIES? 

In New Jersey, to our discredit, we have be- 
tween fifty and sixty places entirely without 
library facilities, of over one thousand popula- 
tion, and New Jersey is a prosperous state with 
a surplus of $2,000,000 in the treasury. 

We are safe in saying that most of these 
places, and those in other states as well, have 
reached that stage in their development where 
they are conscious, at least, that the public 
library is a good thing to have. State associ- 
ations, then, have never had a more encourag- 
ing outlook for their work. It is true that the 
treasuries of these organizations are in a state 
of chronic emptiness, but with some time, an 
organized plan of campaign, and a great deal 
of energy, money is not the item of greatest 
importance after all. 

The libraries which have come into existence 
in the small towns under my own observation 
are due, without exception, to the enterprise 
and unselfish efforts of some one determined 
person. It is with the individual then that 
associations can accomplish their most effective 
work. 

How is this one interested person to become 
known to the association ? In our state the 
library commission employs this method: a 
communication has been sent to the principal 
of the public school of each town where there 
is no library asking for the names of citizens 
of good standing who would take an active in- 
terest in the establishment of a free public 
library under municipal control. A copy of 
the data obtained will be turned over to the 
secretary of our state library association. 
The correspondence which has been opened up 
in this way reveals many interesting and 
pathetic facts. From one place came the fol- 
lowing sorrowful letter : " My father gave a 
library to this town and kept it stocked with 
books. When he died there was no more 
money, but I kept the rooms opened and gave 
my services without charge until the circula- 
tion dwindled away into nothing and now the 
library is dead too. Can your association do 
anything for us ? " 

Another writes: "We are very poor the 



STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS: ROUND TABLE, 



239 



two beer saloons on opposite corners of the 
main street have all the money there is in this 
town. What can anybody do under these cir- 
cumstances?" And the saloon with its open 
fire, easy chairs, and yellow journals is indeed 
a formidable force in opposition to the work 
which we are trying to do. 

When we answer the cry of the heathen we 
do not send a box of Bibles, much good and 
cheerful advice, and a cordial and pressing in- 
vitation to attend our meetings. We send a 
competent person to take hold of the difficulties 
and overcome them. Until state associations 
use these same methods in their missionary 
work they will not have helped the small 
towns and villages in the best and most direct 
way, for I venture to say that one such visit 
will accomplish more than many meetings. 

This leads up to the question " Whom shall 
the state associations send?" and the answer 
is not so easy ; but where there is a will there's 
a way, and perhaps we may find it at this meet- 
ing. At any rate, we are very clear in our minds 
as to the kind of missionary whom we should 
send.. This should be an attractive, capable, 
tactful, and business-like person. An almost 
equally important point is advertising. When 
a business man makes a business venture he 
puts aside a certain sum, and not a small one, 
for advertising. If we want every city, town, 
and village in the state to know what we are 
for, and what we are doing, we must tell them 
and keep on telling them. Every well organ- 
ized body has a press committee. Library as- 
sociations may have them, but I have never 
heard of one. 

Library associations can make the best 
possible use of the "A. L. A. tracts." They 
are just what the newly interested citizen or 
inexperienced board of trustees needs. 

Library enthusiasm is, happily, the kind that 
is very catching, and every time the associa- 
tion has a meeting the state should be suffused 
with it. If only these meetings were not such 
strenuous affairs ! I thoroughly sympathize 
with the indignant little woman from an out- 
of-the-way place, who said : " I didn't get up 
at five o'clock this morning and travel for 
hours to listen to papers on fifteenth century 
bookbindings. I want to know how to run a 
library." And if she had not an opportunity 
for getting the information for which she came 
the meeting was just that much of a failure. 



If we are to arouse the interest of towns and 
villages without libraries, let us extend a cordial 
invitation to all, that they may be inspired with 
the earnestness and enthusiasm which charac- 
terizes the library profession. 

Miss IDA F. FARRAR read a paper on 

HOW SHOULD THE PROGRAM FOR A STATE 
LIBRARY ASSOCIATION MEETING BE MADE 
UP TO BE OF THE MOST USE TO THE 
LIBRARIANS OF SMALL LIBRARIES? 

The small library, as used in this connection, 
contains anywhere from 200 volumes or less 
to 10,000 or more. In spite of the increasing 
number of graduates from library schools, those 
in charge of the smallest libraries, with salaries 
varying from $5 to $100 a year, are and will 
continue to be untrained people. They need 
then three things which the meetings of a 
state library association can give them : in- 
spiration, a conception of what they may 
accomplish with the means at hand, and prac- 
tical help in matters of detail. These we will 
consider in our study of the make up of the 
program. To rightly understand this we must 
go back to the program maker, who, for the 
sake of convenience, we will assume is the 
secretary and a woman. She will usually have 
the advice of the executive committee along 
general lines, but the following of details and 
often the suggesting of subjects will fall upon 
her shoulders. The secretary consequently 
will be chosen not only because of her execu- 
tive ability, but because she is sympathetic and 
tactful. She will make a study of the small 
library and its possibilities and try to put her- 
self in the place of every librarian she meets, 
from the busy housekeeper who has to answer 
a request for a book when her cooking is at 
a critical point or the baby is just falling 
asleep, to the trained librarian of 10,000 vol- 
umes, housed in a beautiful memoi'ial building. 
Both of these people are types in every group 
of small libraries. 

The program maker will, either through cor- 
respondence or personal visits, the latter are 
preferable, make herself acquainted with li- 
brary problems in the town where the next 
meeting is to be held. As these are likely to 
be the problems of other towns, she will ar- 
range for the discussion of at least one of 
them. For example : Spruceland needs a read- 
ing room : the librarian and the minister are 



240 



MAGNOUA CONFERENCE. 



keenly alive to the need; the next meeting of 
the club is to be held there; the tactful secre- 
tary sees the opportunity to bring the matter 
before the people. Another town of about the 
same size has a reading room : the librarian 
there can tell how it was established and how 
it is maintained; another can discuss the rela- 
tive merits of periodicals ; another the matter 
of discipline; the minister may speak of the 
value of a reading room in the community as 
a moral power, and all this is planned for an 
hour in the afternoon when townspeople can be 
present, the librarian having previously adver- 
tised the meeting. It is quite possible that a 
reading room will be established in Spruceland 
as the result of this meeting. 

The program maker will not only visit the 
place of meeting, but surrounding towns, for 
every state meeting must be to some extent a 
sectional meeting, since distance and irregu- 
larity of trains will seldom permit attendance 
from all parts of the state. If the secretary is 
the kind of person I have described she will 
not begrudge a part of her vacation for these 
trips. She will not only come into close 
touch with people engaged in library work, 
but will also visit ministers, teachers, and 
school superintendents, and will seldom meet 
with any difficulty in enlisting their services. 
She will keep a list of these people and when- 
ever a meeting is held in their vicinity will 
invite them to be present and speak. 

As to the program itself: once a year, at 
least, probably at the annual meeting if the 
attendance is largest then, should come an in- 
spiring address. Some minister who is known 
always to be bright and helpful will give it and, 
with a little explanation as to what is wanted, 
will choose his own subject and treat it as he 
likes. He will impress his audience, those 
both in and out of the profession, with the 
utmost respect for its high calling. 

The librarian of a small country library re- 
cently wrote the president of a club saying : ' ' We 
have $100 a year to expend for books : I have 
notices of 12,000 books sent me yearly, all of 
which are said to be invaluable to any library; 
how am I to choose? " Here is a chance for the 
library club to help, for it is a problem which 
comes to all its members. They may all be in- 
vited to contribute to a list of 100 of the best 
books of the year to be discussed at the mid- 
winter meeting, the time when there is the 



greatest output of books and when libraries are 
purchasing. This list may be annotated and 
printed just before the meeting in some local 
paper, and reprints made so that each person 
present shall have a copy. This book talk may 
be a yearly feature. 

The other subjects should be so far as possi- 
ble along lines which members of the club 
have suggested. These suggestions may come 
in answer to a call on the program or as the 
result of the personal observations of the sec- 
retary or president in their visits. 

Avoid fine technicalities of detail : the school 
graduate has no need of them, the busy house- 
keeper will only be bewildered by them. A 
discussion of the classification of music, for 
instance, which had a perfectly legitimate place 
on the recent program of a club composed for 
the most part of large libraries, would be 
utterly out of place on the program of a club 
composed of small country libraries. The 
comparing of notes as to a simple plan of clas- 
sification, the repairing of books, the making 
of a book, the best methods of binding these 
are all practical topics for any library and 
hence for the small one. Leave plenty of time 
for discussion. If the subject of the " Relation 
between the school and the library," which is 
such a favorite one, is on the program it will be 
worth while to devote half or even the whole 
of one session to it. Ask the school superin- 
tendent of that group of towns to close the 
schools for a half day and be present and lead 
the discussion from the standpoint of the 
school. The teachers will all be present, and 
if any have made a point of interesting the 
children in books be sure that they tell how 
they did it. If the secretary does not know of the 
work of the teachers in question let her invite 
one from another locality whose work she does 
know. A librarian will open the discussion 
from his standpoint. Some of the older pupils 
in the school will be invited, and some one who 
understands children will speak to them on 
" What we may discover in books." A teacher 
who attended such a meeting recently said, " If 
school institutes were as interesting as this 
library institute has been I should not dread 
them so." 

Suppose the subject of the " Relation between 
the Sunday-school library and the public 
library " be suggested. The secretary will 
write to a number of towns asking questions as 



STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS: ROUND TABLE. 



241 



to the condition of the two and the practicability 
of their working in common. Prominent 
Sunday-school workers will be invited to be 
present and one of their number asked to lead 
the discussion from that side, the librarian of a 
public library from her viewpoint, and as a 
result of the vigorous discussion which will 
follow, a union of the forces of both libraries 
will be brought about in many towns. 

The program-maker has seen how much 
more good maybe accomplished by the library 
in every town by the distribution of books 
through branches. She asks a librarian who 
has met with success in this matter to come to 
the next meeting and tell how she did it. 
Letters are sent out two weeks before the date 
set asking questions like these : 

Have you any branch libraries ? 

Who takes care of them? 

How many books do you send? 

How often do you exchange them ? 

What is the nature of the community to 
which you send them ? 

Do the people appreciate them ? 

Will you not take part in the discussion of 
branch libraries appointed for the next 
meeting of the club, telling such facts as 
these questions call for and any other in- 
teresting ones in your experience? 

This will insure discussion and be likely to 
result in the establishment of branch libraries. 

As to the personnel of the program : ref- 
erence has already been made to securing the 
services of ministers and teachers. Trustees 
need to be interested and sometimes to meet 
with a change of heart. They are likely to be 
prominent men and women in the town and 
ready speakers. Plan subjects sometimes with 
especial reference to them, such as " How trus- 
tees may help or hinder." Get hold of the shy 
people, such as the librarians of small libraries 
are liable to be. Find the lines in which they 
have achieved some success and ask them to 
talk or write along these lines. If they are too 
timid to do that, ask them to take some part in 
a discussion, taking care to tell them they will 
not be formally called upon. 

A word as to the division of time in the ar- 
rangement of a program. A morning and an 
afternoon session of about two hours each is a 
comfortable division. Ten or fifteen minutes 
in the morning before the session opens gives 
people an opportunity to greet each other. If 



there must be an address of welcome let it be 
short not a rehearsal of the history of the 
town and the library since the beginning. A 
strong speaker at the beginning and another 
strong one at the end seems to give a sense of 
firmness. It has been proved over and over 
again that the life of a meeting such as we are 
considering is in the discussion, well conducted 
of course, the getting hold of theories and ex- 
periences of a number of people. Hence too 
many subjects should not be introduced. A 
new secretary is liable to be worried for fear 
that the material will not hold out. She needs 
to learn that too many courses spoil the diges- 
tion, that plenty of good wholesome food of 
only two or three kinds is good for the mind in 
the case in point as well as for the body. 

An hour and a half is usually long enough 
for dinner and sociability and a visit to the 
library, which should always be arranged for. 
Visits to outside objects of interest, such as 
mills, are usually distracting, take valuable 
time, and are made more out of a feeling of 
obligation to those entertaining than from any 
real desire to see the place in question. Plan 
to close early enough to gather up the impres- 
sions of the day. That is the time to begin to 
find out whether the program has really been 
of use or not, and if a few words of criticism 
are borne to her ears the program-maker is not 
discouraged, but adds them to her " Notes gath- 
ered from experience." She learns to study 
people, conditions, time, and place, but experi- 
ence is her best teacher, for 

" Experience joined with common sense 
To mortals is a providence." 

Dr. J. H. CANFIELD spoke on 

THE BENEFITS OF LIBRARY INSTITUTES. 

Dr. CANFIELD : It will be quite as well to 
put this matter in a concrete form as to under- 
take to speak of it in an abstract way. There- 
fore I will speak of the library institutes as 
organized and carried forward by the State 
Association of New York during the last year, 
properly during the last spring. 

A year ago the Library Association of the 
State of New York withdrew, in a certain sense, 
from the state. That is, it ceased its wander- 
ings in the state, wanderings which had been 
led or misled for several years under the guise 
of doing missionary work. It did that which 



242 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



every similar state organization, I think, will 
find it desirable to do established itself at a 
fixed point and as nearly as possible at a fixed 
date, so that every one interested in the work 
of the state association came to know just 
where it was to meet and when it was to meet. 
Having done that, it felt that it ought to make 
some compensation to the state for the relief 
from the wanderings, and so it took upon itself 
the organization of library institutes within the 
limits of New York. 

The first result of that effort naturally ap- 
peared within the state association itself 
the reflex action of the determination to do 
something instead of simply to talk. It is a 
very helpful thing to set one to a definite task. 
It gives one something to do, to accomplish ; 
and accomplishment is a thing which interests 
most men and women who have good red blood 
in their veins. In a definite task men and 
women find a new thought and a new impulse. 

It is not too much to say that new life came 
to the state association in New York from the 
very moment it undertook in a definite way a 
task of this kind. It found itself quickened by 
a new thought and a new impulse. I even 
count it as one of the most beneficial results of 
the State Library Institutes that they have put 
before the state association this definite task 
in this definite way. 

The state was divided into ten library dis- 
tricts ; excluding Buffalo at one end and Greater 
New York at the other, each of these being 
large enough and old enough to care for itself 
and for the immediately adjacent country. For 
each of these ten districts a secretary was ap- 
pointed some one willing to co-operate in 
the library work of that district, some one who 
would give time to the study of library work in 
that district, some one who would undertake to 
awaken new interest in library work in that dis- 
trict; above all, some one who would be respon- 
sible for the library institute. Suggestions and 
advice were sent out to these secretaries, and 
with their help a great deal has been accom- 
plished. This secured the co-operation of at 
least eight or ten responsible, interested, and 
intelligent people in the library work of the 
state. 

The state association found that this work 
was going to be something of a burden finan- 
cially, and was to draw heavily upon the time 
of some of its members, but the state associa- 



tion very wisely felt that it was in no danger 
of being pauperized or impoverished by meet- 
ing any such drafts whatever. It is almost 
impossible to conceive of any one's getting 
money into his pocketbook until he opens the 
mouth of his pocketbook so wide that some 
will fall out. He who gives is generally he 
who receives. That is a divine law, and it is a 
human law, and a natural law as well. So we 
have found ourselves gaining in strength, we 
have found the year remarkable for the inspira- 
tion which has come back to the state associ- 
ation directly from the institutes. That is the 
first result. 

Now, these institutes were organized some- 
what as follows : We could not hope to hold 
prolonged institutes, covering three or four 
days. The librarians could not get leave from 
their libraries for three or four days. The in- 
stitute had to be carefully planned in order that 
the librarians could attend. When possible it 
was placed toward the last of the week so that 
teachers could come on their weekly holiday. 
We hoped that school directors would close 
their schools for half a day in order that 
teachers might be present, and some did this. 
Perhaps we will reach that more generally next 
year. Two instructional sessions were provided 
and one session we didn't know exactly what 
to call it, and somebody suggested that we call 
it an "inspirational session," and we let it go 
at that. The "inspirational session" was 
always held in the evening, when we could 
secure the attendance of the public. The in- 
stitute covered one night only, and that night 
was so chosen as to be as little burdensome as 
possible to all concerned. Into the instruc- 
tional session we brought the advice and the 
practical active co-operation of some of the 
best known librarians and library workers of 
the state. If possible, we found a director with- 
in the district, because that meant less expense 
and less demand upon time. The state libra- 
rian was very helpful to us. The state inspector 
was present at every meeting, I think, officially 
and personally ; and when he is present in both 
capacities you may know that he is a power 
indeed. 

We brought to these meetings the simplest 
form of instruction, suggestion, and advice as 
to what may be done in and for and with a 
small library. We knew that if we reached 
people helpfully at all we were going to reach 



STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS: ROUND TABLE. 



243 



those who could not attend such a meeting as 
this, or at least who do not attend it. It is 
proper to say they could not attend it, for it is 
beyond their purses and beyond the time that 
they are able to give. It is all very pleasant 
for us to come together in these great meetings. 
They are full of inspiration and uplift to us; 
we go home feeling a new pride in our profes- 
sion, and we draw upon each other very heavily, 
and we are full to overflowing with new 
thoughts and with new life. But not every- 
body can take a trip to Magnolia or Placid. 
The institute is planned to give to those who 
cannot be here, who cannot get anything bet- 
ter than the institute, to get at least that. 

The first benefit of the institute directly to 
those who participated came through the defi- 
nite instruction, and suggestions that were 
offered. The second benefit was along the line 
of question and answer. It was perfectly sur- 
prising, the readiness with which those who 
were present took part in what we would or- 
dinarily call discussion. I have always be- 
lieved that in meetings like our own, discus- 
sion is worth more than papers. A paper 
ought to be simply the fuse with which we 
light the explosives, with which we touch off 
the cannon. The effectiveness ought to come 
in the discussion that follows the explosion. 
The discussions in the institutes were remark- 
ably interesting because the questions went 
right to the point. They covered practical 
work ; they were from those who evidently 
asked them because they wished to know ; they 
were not asked in a captious way or a critical 
way or simply to take up time, but they were 
asked because there was somebody present who 
didn't know this particular thing and desired 
to know. It was worth a great deal to have 
present those who had had experience in the 
larger libraries and in the larger towns, and 
who knew ways and means ; it was worth much 
to bring them face to face for two or three 
hours in each of those sessions with those who 
were longing for that contact and longing for 
the opportunity to ask the question which was 
most immediately pressing, upon them for an 
immediate answer in their daily work. The 
discussions, if they may be called discussions, 
the questions and answers, were peculiarly 
valuable and peculiarly helpful. 

That was the second benefit which came di- 
rectly to those who participated. The third 



benefit seems to have been the fact that these 
workers who had been alone so long came in 
contact with the personality of those who were 
experienced and successful workers of repute 
in the larger libraries. There is nothing, after 
all, equal to coming into actual contact with the 
flesh and blood of a worker along the same line 
that you are working, one whom you know has 
met with success and who can impress you im- 
mediately with the reason for that success in his 
or her personality. I think that those who 
were so fortunate as to come into those insti- 
tutes will long remember and will remember 
with gratitude if their letters and their words 
mean anything the opportunities thus given 
them by the state association to meet person- 
ally for some considerable time those of whom 
they had heard and those whose work else- 
where had been so successful. 

There was a fourth benefit, and lam not sure 
but that in a certain way it was as great as 
any. I am now speaking of simply what we 
did in New York, but the same work is not 
only desirable everywhere, but it must be done 
everywhere. I am not speaking of it as ex- 
ceptional at all ; I am only going over the 
ground so that if it is an old story to you it may 
appear possibly with a new face, or if it is a 
new story it will be helpful because it is a defi- 
nite thing that has been tried. The fourth 
benefit was this, that in those evening meetings 
we brought together the citizens of the various 
communities where we went who were inter- 
ested or who might become interested in library 
work. We had an address from one well- 
known library worker, and then from some one 
in the locality, if it was possible to secure 
some one, and I think it was always possible 
to do that. I do not now remember a single 
meeting in which there was not active partici- 
pation on the part of the residents. And there 
we had the opportunity to drive home that one 
thought that every librarian must take up and 
first con until he or she knows it word for 
word, verbatim et punctuatim et spelleratim, 
and everything else from start to finish, 
that one thought which was referred to by Mr. 
Dewey, that the libraries are being built up 
and are to be built up on precisely the same 
conditions, upon precisely the same principles 
of public taxation and public expenditure, and 
according to precisely the same general 
methods, that the public schools have been 



244 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



built up. It is very hard indeed to find to-day 
one-tenth enough librarians who can defend 
the library tax and who can say why it is 
proper that the tax should be levied. It is an 
exceedingly difficult matter to find people who 
can answer the objections that are sometimes 
made, or when objections are not made, the 
demands that are sometimes made under that 
system of taxation. Now we have built up the 
schools on the principle that a public tax is 
levied because the public wants something and 
not because the individual tax-payer wants 
something. That is something we ought not 
to forget. We have built up the schools upon 
the same general principle of taxation that we 
have levied all other taxes and built up all 
other public institutions and done all other 
public work. When we levy a tax for a road 
we do not expect to reimburse the man who 
pays the tax by the use of the road in propor- 
tion to the amount of the tax that he pays. A 
great many cripples and bed-ridden people pay 
the road tax who are never on the road ; hun- 
dreds of men pay a road tax who only walk be- 
side it and have never any occasion to drive 
over it under any circumstances whatever. 
We levy all other taxes in precisely the same 
way. We never for a moment think of re-dis- 
tributing the tax, sending it back to the tax- 
payers individually in proportion to the amount 
which each one pays. When it comes to the 
public schools, we levy the tax in the same 
way. We tax the men who have no children, 
we tax the men who have many children, we 
tax the man who has but one child. It doesn't 
make a particle of difference. We levy the 
tax, not for the benefit of the man who has 
children, nor do we levy it for the benefit of his 
children directly, but we levy it for the benefit 
of the community. What the community is to 
receive, the communal interest, the common 
interest, is to determine how that tax is to be 
expended. We have gone a long way along 
that line in school matters and we are on 
reasonably safe ground to-day. There are a 
few grumblers ; there are a few men who do not 
yet understand that in all the appeals, both to 
the people and to the courts, no method of 
taxation and no one tax has been so unani- 
mously and so enthusiastically and so triumph- 
antly maintained as the tax for public educa- 
tion. There are a few people yet who do not 
quite understand it, but just as soon as they 



undertake to encounter it from the standpoint 
of an obstructionist, they understand it very 
well indeed, and they never come up to that 
battle a second time ! There has never yet 
been a question raised and taken to the courts 
for decision regarding which the courts have 
so unanimously held together on one line, and 
that the line of a steady advancement and a 
steady recognition of the public interest and 
the public welfare, as the question of taxation 
for public education, for free schools. 

The library must be put upon precisely the 
same basis as that, and that is the song we 
have been singing all winter long throughout 
New York. That is the story we have been 
telling, and it is the story we must tell, each 
one of us, over and over again, to ourselves 
first, as I said, until we know it by heart, and 
then to our respective communities. When 
you consider the matter from that standpoint, 
you simplify the work of the library directors 
and of the librarians and you remove a large 
number of obstacles and clear the way for ad- 
vancement. The man who pays a school tax 
to-day does not dare to say that because he 
pays the tax he wants his daughter taught 
dancing and he proposes to have her taught 
dancing. He does not dare to say, " I pay my 
school tax, and I don't care anything about 
reading, writing, and arithmetic, but I want 
my daughter taught dancing." But the man 
who pays his library tax will tell you that he 
" wants what he wants" and that he supports 
the public library in order that he may get the 
books he wants to read ; and there are a great 
many people Gome very good people some 
of them even librarians who have fallen into 
the habit of saying that they rather think the 
librarian must do just that thing he must 
get him just what he wants. No, he is not 
obliged to do anything of the sort, any more 
than you are obliged to pay taxes for schools 
in which to teach dancing to the girls. You 
are not obliged even to do that which may be 
useful. Here is a tax levied in behalf of the 
district schools, and there is a family which 
says, " We want our girls taught cooking, do- 
mestic science, domestic economy." Now, 
domestic economy and domestic science and 
cooking are all well enough in their way, and 
it is perfectly proper that they should be taught. 
There is sad need of their being taught, for 
that matter; but it rarely occurs to any one 



STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS: ROUND TABLE. 



245 



that you must meet that demand when it is 
made upon the district school. Why ? Because 
the directors of the school, the state authori- 
ties which have charge of educational matters, 
the superintendent of the schools, the teachers 
in the school, have determined otherwise, and 
that settles it. The day is surely coming when 
there will be just as clear an understanding 
that it is the duty of library directors and of 
librarians and their assistants, and of state 
supervision wherever we are intelligent enough 
to get it, to determine what shall be bought 
and what shall be put upon the shelves and 
how the public demand may be most wisely 
met. We will never reach that point until we 
see clearly that this whole question of taxation 
for the public library is to be dealt with pre- 
cisely as any other tax question is to be dealt 
with. 

It is incumbent upon us, therefore, it is abso- 
lutely necessary in self-defence, that we tell 
in that story and tell it that way. We must 
insist that the public library is a part of the 
general system of education, that it is not 
something that is going to be estabished in a 
haphazard way ; it is not the scheme of a few 
designing people ; it is not a hobby a few per- 
sons may ride to their own benefit; it is not 
something that is demanded by a segment of 
society, but it is a part of the general scheme 
of education which is made absolutely essential 
to preserve democratic equality and republican 
institutions in a land like our own. Only as 
we so regard it shall we be safe in pressing its 
claims, or shall we be successful in pressing its 
claims, and when we so regard it we shall be 
both safe and successful. 

Those are the four benefits, then, which we 
believe that we are to realize in connection 
with library institutes. Those institutes are 
very much like the first institutes held for in- 
structors in the public schools. I was very 
glad when Mr. Devvey said that we are follow- 
ing along in the steps of the public school 
system, though thirty or forty or fifty years be- 
hind. I remember hearing an officer in the 
United States army, of high rank, say, in the 
city of San Francisco a few years ago, that in 
the year 1845, while he was living in the central 
part of New York, as a boy he was soundly 
thrashed by his father because he refused to 
attend the public school; and he said, "I took 
my medicine, because I told my father that he 



might thrash me as much as he pleased, but I 
had too much self-respect to go to the paupers' 
school and the beggars' school of the com- 
munity." That was in central New York as 
late as 1845, if he told the truth, and I think he 
did. It is certainly true that only within a half 
century have we begun to understand what a 
mighty power there is in the public school. 
The public library is treading close upon its 
heels, following the same road. We believe, 
therefore, that library institutes, in the retro- 
active effect upon the state association itself, 
in their stimulus to do better work and more 
definite work, in the definite instruction that is 
offered, in the opportunity for each of the 
minor librarians to detail by questions her own 
grievances and her own difficulties, and to find 
from experienced hands relief in explanation 
and suggestion and encouragement, in the 
meetings which are held for the public and in 
which the public unites, and in the stimulus 
which comes to the entire community because 
of this thought of the public library as part of 
the system of public education, we believe 
that library institutes not only pay, in the 
largest sense of the word, but are absolutely 
essential everywhere to the most rapid and the 
most sure advancement of all library interests 
and library work. 

The CHAIRMAN: Before we enter upon the 
discussion of the papers I should like to say 
that I tried very hard to get one of our western 
friends to talk upon the difficulties connected 
with the library institute. Dr. Canfield has in- 
spiringly presented the benefits of library insti- 
tutes. Now I am sure there must be some 
difficulties. I had so short a time, however, in 
which to prepare this program that I was un- 
able to procure a speaker on that phase of the 
topic. Is there not some one here who will 
take up the other side of the library institute 
problem? Perhaps Mr. Dana will tell us some- 
thing about the difficulties. 

J. C. DANA : You ask for a few words on the 
difficulties in the way of library institutes. I 
will suggest some that occurred to me this 
morning when I heard the discussions on home 
libraries in the Children's Librarians' Section. 
That discussion was, naturally, concerning our 
work for people whom it is, so we assume, our 
function to teach for people who are our in- 
feriors in knowledge. This, in large measure, 
is also the function of the library institute. 



246 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



That is, the work we are entering upon in this 
line of institutes is a work that at once puts us 
into the position of the superior, of the teacher, 
of the better man of the two. Now that is a 
very dangerous position in which to be placed. 
I wish to call your attention for a moment to 
three things that we should lookout for in this 
work, and especially, it seems to me, in the at- 
tempt through library institutes to promote our 
ideas, to carry out our educational theories in 
small communities. The three things are per- 
haps well suggested by the words "condescen- 
sion," "resentment," and "conscious virtue." 
The condescension, if it exists at all, is on our 
part. I am sure that we do not in the least in- 
tend to have it; I am sure also, that, without 
intent, many and many a time we acquire the 
habit before we know it. The habit of conde- 
scension will grow on us, and that rapidly, if we 
do not take the greatest care, and in institute 
work, as in other like fields, it is absolutely 
fatal to success. 

Resentment is something which may arise 
in those who are taught, in those whom we 
wish to improve. I could not help thinking 
this morning, as I heard of the gracious and 
well-meaning visitors to the " lower" parts of 
the city, to library groups, to home libraries, 
and to social settlements, that there is very 
great danger here of the development of a con- 
descension on the part of the benefactors, and 
of a corresponding state of resentment on the 
part of the benefited. I do not believe I am 
wrong in uttering just a word of warning in 
regard to those two things. 

The third of the feelings I mentioned is, 
perhaps, not exactly in line with this evening's 
diccussion ; but as I have started in on the line 
of difficulties I will venture to go a step further. 
This third difficulty is the danger there is of 
arousing among the people whom you set out 
to improve a sense of conscious virtue. You 
will notice that the people who attend, for 
example, library groups and use home libra- 
ries, who read good books under your direction 
and with your guiding care, as soon as they 
have done these things begin to feel that they 
have done the right thing. There is apt then 
to arise in them the feeling of duty done. Now 
the feeling of "duty done," while very com- 
forting, is apt to be accompanied by a feeling 
of conscious virtue, which is one of the most 
insidious and dangerous of all emotions. These 



people feel that they are better than they were 
before, and that therefore they are entitled to 
something from you ; that they are entitled to 
something from the world. They are apt to 
get the idea that virtue has some other reward 
than its own, that it is virtue alone that helps 
this world, that it is moral conduct, pure and 
simple, which is entitled to some reward, while 
fact is that it is virtue plus utility that is en- 
titled to some reward. Let me beg of you, then, 
in doing any work in the line of library insti- 
tutes, in going out into the world as mission- 
aries, to avoid in every case, with the greatest 
possible care, any feeling of condescension on 
your part, lest you arouse on the part of those 
for whom you work resentment among the 
proud, and conscious virtue among the unco 
guid. 

Just another word along another line. But 
first, you may not know, all of you, that the story 
Miss Farrar told of the things that a state library 
association can do is really a story of things 
that have been done. They have been carried 
out during the past two years in Western 
Massachusetts, and with the greatest success. 
We have seen there in recent years a swiftly- 
growing interest in the very things Dr. Can- 
field has so charmingly put before us. 

We lend a few books, and we encourage 
people to read a little ; but the newspapers in 
this country are the powers that are encour- 
aging the people in this country to read a great 
deal. We of to-day have had newspapers, as 
we now understand the word, for one genera- 
tion. The mind of man cannot conceive what 
it is going to mean, in one or two generations 
from now, for the people of that time to have 
had behind them, not one generation with the 
newspaper-reading habit, but two or three. 
The newspaper is one of the very great factors 
in modern life. What it is doing for us nobody 
knows. Nobody knows what the habit of read- 
ing is doing for this and other civilized coun- 
tries. We cannot begin to imagine what its 
effects are to be, and the daily press is one of the 
most powerful instruments in society to-day. 
I remember, some six or seven years ago, I 
brought before the Association a suggestion, 
and urged it as well as I could, that we as an 
association establish a bureau of publicity and 
promotion, which should, through the news- 
papers, let the people know what the library 
idea is. It was not done then it has not yet 



STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS: ROUND TABLE. 



247 



been done. A publisher told me to-day that in 
conversation with some of the leading pub- 
lishers of the country he had discovered that 
almost to a man they held librarians in small 
esteem. They considered our work of protest 
against the raising of prices of books to be of 
very slight consequence. That is partly because 
we are not much in the newspapers. We are 
not much in the newspapers partly, of course, 
because we are not of sufficient consequence to 
be there. Now my idea of six or seven years 
ago I think was a good one. You can produce 
results that shall also be causes. We could 
have put ourselves more in the newspapers 
than we have, and to-day we would, because of 
that studied publicity, be there more than we 
now are. I mention this simply to point the 
suggestion I wish to make about state library 
associations, which is, that they use the news- 
papers more than they do. I have had a very 
good illustration of the value of this sugges- 
tion. For four years I lived beside the Spring- 
Jield Republican, which is the newspaper of 
western Massachusetts, the chief local news 
gatherer and news disseminator of that whole 
community. The Republican was a friend 
of the Springfield library and of every other 
library within the radius of its influence. Day 
in and day out, and week in and week out, and 
year in and year out it never failed us when we 
went to it for assistance in spreading the ideas 
that we wished carried through that com- 
munity. The constant reiteration in the 
Springfield Republican of the things that 
we wanted said was far more helpful than was 
all the work that all the library workers in 
western Massachusetts could do. In fact, we 
franklv confessed that we had well-nigh gained 
our ends if we arranged for a meeting, carried 
through our program, and printed an abstract 
thereof in our friend the newspaper, even if 
our meeting in itself seemed almosf a failure. 

The CHAIRMAN : Will Miss Underbill, of the 
Ilion Public Library, tell us something of the 
institute work at Ilion,' New York? 

Miss UNDERHILL : The institute at Ilion we 
regard as a fairly successful one. Out of the 
80 libraries listed for the district which we had 
prepared, there were only 25 which could be 
properly called free public libraries and of 
those 25, 16 were represented by the librarian 
or an assistant or by the trustees. The schools 
in Ilion were closed for a part of the session of 



the institute and the teachers came, together 
with the superintendent of schools, who took an 
active part in the discussion. We also had 
superintendents of schools from two other 
places near by. One point was found very 
practical, and that was that several of the 
larger libraries made exhibits of books that 
were stamped and pasted, dating machines and 
devices of that sort, sample accession books, 
sample order sheets, etc., and it seemed that 
the librarians in attendance got more help 
from these than from almost anything else. 
As a result of the meeting an arrangement was 
made with two librarians from little libraries, 
that they should spend two or three days in 
our library in October for help and for practi- 
cal work. 

H. W. FISON : I would like to ask for dis- 
cussion on Miss Farrar's paper. The greater 
part of this meeting has been spent in discuss- 
ing library institutes and state library associa- 
tions, but I think there are a large number of 
librarians here in charge of smaller libraries 
who feel that this question of the usefulness of 
state library associations is of vital interest to 
them. How can the state library association 
meeting be made more helpful to the small 
library ? 

Miss HAINES : The officers of the state asso- 
ciations might send a circular to the librarians 
of the state, requesting practical suggestions, 
asking them to name topics they are personally 
interested in. That was done in the New York 
Library Club. A circular was sent to all the 
members and suggestions were received, I 
believe, of about twenty-five different topics, 
only four or five of which had been presented 
before. I don't know whether the topics were 
ever all brought up ; but they were sent in very 
generally by members. 

GEORGE STOCKWELL : Miss Farrar did not 
mention the fact that she has a card catalog 
containing the name of every library in western 
Massachusetts. She has kept in very close 
touch with those libraries. In correspondence 
with them she has learned the different prob- 
lems confronting them, and what they would 
like to have discussed at the meetings. She 
files these letters, so she knows the condition 
of each library in her section, what they want, 
what they are doing, and what they ought to do. 
Then, when she comes to draw up her program 
for the meeting, she looks over the card catalog 



248 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



and the file of letters and draws her subjects 
from them, taking especially the section where 
the meeting is to be held. I want to emphasize 
what Miss Farrar said about personal visits. 
In our institute work the programs which were 
arranged through personal visits were much 
more successful than those arranged otherwise. 

Mr. FISON : I understood that Miss Farrar 
spoke of what the ideal library association 
should do. I did not know of any state library 
association doing the work she described. My 
experience has been, in the state library asso- 
ciation meetings I have attended, that most of 
the subjects discussed have been entirely above 
the small library. We do not care anything 
about the classification of art or music in a 
library of less than ten thousand volumes. What 
we want are practical suggestions that will help 
us in our daily work, and the average small 
library does not have a corps of assistants so 
that one or two or more can go to the library 
meeting. I hope if this discussion ever comes 
up again, that the state library associations 
will bear in mind that the majority of the 
libraries in any state are small. There are very 
few really large libraries in any one state. 
Let us have more material for the smaller 
libraries to work on.. I came here on purpose to 
hold up the single-handed man, being one my- 
self, and I think we need more help. We need 
a great deal of help, because, as a rule, we are 
not close enough to other libraries to receive 
the enthusiasm and the help that other libraries 
can get from one another and from large 
libraries. That is the reason why I should like 
to hear what other librarians of the smaller 
libraries have to say in regard to the benefit 
they have received from the state library asso- 
ciation meetings. 

Mr. DEWEY : I would like to make two or 
three suggestions. One is that the librarians 
of the district be asked to send to the associa- 
tion officers a statement of their difficulties ; 
another, that there be a question box at the 
meeting. But the most important one of all is 
like the old rule for cooking a hare: " First, 
catch your hare." First, get your conductor. 
I think the greatest danger in the library insti- 
tute, possibly, is in assuming that because in- 
struction is a good thing, and institutes are a 
good thing, you have only to say, " Go to, 
now ; conduct an institute," and it will be done. 
There are very few people who can conduct a 



teachers' institute or a library institute success- 
fully. The moral is that in every state which 
is going to take up the library institute work, 
people must be found who have a gift for it, 
and who have been trained for it, so that at 
least one person can be able to carry it on. I 
look forward to the development of a class of 
institute conductors in library work, just as in 
schools, who will give practically their whole 
time to this work. 

The CHAIRMAN : Pardon me, but Mr. Fison 
does not feel that library institutes and state 
library association meetings are the same thing. 
Are you putting forward the proposition that 
they are both the same that a library insti- 
tute is exactly the .same thing as a state library 
association ? 

Mr. DEWEY : Oh, no. But if state library 
associations are to give instruction there must 
be some trained teacher, and I say that instruc- 
tion cannot be given successfully unless you 
have some one who is especially trained for the 
work. And I think this work of the institute 
has got to be graded. If we repeat the insti- 
tutes in New York this year and bring the same 
people together, they do not want to go over 
the same ground. Those are the two points I 
want to make the selection of a conductor 
and the grading of the work. 

W. R. EASTMAN : The persons who have the 
responsibility for the preparation of the pro- 
gram of a state association meeting should take 
especial pains to put themselves in the place of 
the smaller librarians, so as to understand and 
sympathize with their work. We are very apt 
in these large meetings to get into the habit of 
dealing only with the large libraries, because 
there are always a certain number of those who 
represent the large libraries who have the 
leisure and the means to attend, and little by 
little they come to dominate our conferences. 
Now, the members of the program committee 
need conscientiously to put themselves in the 
place of smaller librarians, and with some such 
local index as has been referred to try to 
acquaint themselves with the actual conditions 
of the libraries. 

Mr. DANA : I will tell Mr. Fison what is the 
matter. In the first place, he expects too 
much of the state library association meeting. 
Now, the state library association meeting held 
for one day, with perhaps a couple of sessions, 
can be of very little help to anybody the 



TRANSACTIONS OF COUNCIL AND EXECUTIVE BOARD. 



249 



meeting itself, that is ; and if any people from 
small libraries attend expecting to get much 
information, much instruction, that will be of 
immediate practical help, then I believe they 
are mistaken. But Mr. Fison should bear in 
mind that the benefit of the state library asso- 
ciation meeting will be considerable to him if 
he will take a hand in the meeting. If he does 
not find the meetings of his state library asso- 
ciation profitable he should say so. Many 
librarians of small libraries would have ren- 
dered a great service to the meetings of their 
state library associations if they had said that 
before now. Many of these state meetings, to 
my knowledge, are dreary things. They talk 
about subjects that have nothing whatever to 
do with the practical life of the librarian. Mr. 
Fison is quite right, but he should have ob- 
jected before now, and he should have stated 
his objections plainly. He should make his 
objections to the officers of the association, and 
if he cannot reach them, let him get up in the 
meeting and say so. Then let him take hold 



himself and work along the line that he thinks 
would be of advantage, and out of the work 
that he does do himself he will get benefit. 

Now, my statement that the actual meeting 
of the state library association is of very little 
importance does not mean that the state li- 
brary association itself is of no importance or 
that the meeting as a factor in the library work 
of the state is of small importance. 

The library association should be a factor 
of very great importance in the life of the 
state. I regret to say that some of them are 
not. But they can be, and it is our busi- 
ness to make them so. There is one thing 
we cannot realize too clearly, and that is 
that the work done between members by cor- 
respondence, by publication in newspapers 
of items about libraries, by the interchange 
of notes and inquiries, either directly or 
through the medium of the secretary and 
officers of the association, is of the greatest 
importance. 
Adjourned. 



TRANSACTIONS OF COUNCIL AND EXECUTIVE BOARD. 



MEETINGS of the Council of the American 
Library Association were held in connec- 
tion with the Magnolia conference, on June 16, 
18, 19, 20, in all four sessions being held. 
There were also short meetings of the execu- 
tive board on June 16 and 20. Of the twenty- 
five members of the Council twenty-two were 
present, as follows : Mary E. Ahern, E. H. 
Anderson, C. W. Andrews, J. S. Billings, W. 
H. Brett, Johnson Brigham, F. M. Crunden, 
C. A. Cutter, Electra C. Doren, W. I. Fletcher, 
W. E. Foster, C. H. Gould, Caroline M. 
Hewins, F. P. Hill, J. K. Hosmer, Hannah P. 
James, W. C. Lane, Herbert Putnam, Kather- 
ine L. Sharp, C. C. Soule, John Thomson, J. 
L. Whitney. The members of the executive 
board served as ex-officio members and officers 
of the Council. They included the president, 
Dr. J. S. Billings; ex-president, Henry J. Carr; 
ist vice-president, Dr. J. K. Hosmer; 2d vice- 
president, Electra C. Doren ; secretary, F. W. 
Faxon; recorder, Helen E. Haines ; treasurer, 
Gardner M. Jones. 



PROCEEDINGS OF COUNCIL. 

Place of meeting. Invitations for the 1903 
meeting of the American Library Association 
were received from California ; Nashville, 
Tenn. ; Memphis, Tenn. ; Brevard, N. C. ; 
Helena, Mont. An invitation to meet in St. 
Louis in 1904 was also presented, and it was 
Voted, That in making selection for the 1903 
meeting place, it should be borne in mind that 
there is an invitation from St. Louis for 1904. 

Regarding 1903 meeting, formal motions 
were made and carried that the Association 
should not meet in California or in Montana. 
It was finally Voted, That the executive board 
be instructed to select between some place in 
Tennessee, Mackinac, and Niagara Falls for 
next meeting, and also select the time at which 
it shall be held. 

Acceptance of Carnegie gift. It was Voted, 
That Mr. Andrew Carnegie's gift of one hun- 
dred thousand dollars, offered through the 
president of the American Library Associa- 
tion, be accepted, subject to the conditions of 



250 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



the donor, namely, that it be kept as a special 
fund, the income of which shall be applied to 
the preparation and publication of such read- 
ing lists, indexes, and other bibliographical 
and library aids, as would be specially useful 
in the circulating libraries of this country. 

It was Voted, That the amount thus given be 
designated as The Carnegie Fund, and be 
placed in charge of the trustees of the En- 
dowment Fund, whose treasurer is authorized 
to receive the gift on behalf of the Association. 
Nominations. It was Voted, That a com- 
mittee of ex-presidents present be requested to 
present nominations for the ensuing year, to 
be reported to the Council. This committee 
reported at a later session and the nominations 
submitted were adopted, with the provision 
that the ticket include also names sent in in 
nominations signed by five members of the 
Association. 

Method of nominations. It was Voted, 
That a committee of the Council be appointed 
by the chair to consider the principles and 
methods upon which nominations to the 
Council should be based, and to report to the 
Council its findings for deliberate discussion. 
This committee was later appointed as fol- 
lows : C. W. Andrews, Herbert Putnam, F. M. 
Crunden, Miss M. E. Ahern, Miss H. P. 
[ames. 

Committee on Relations ivith Book Trade. 
The resolutions appended to the Report of the 
Committee on Relations with the Book-trade, 
as presented to the general Association, were 
referred to the Council for consideration, as 
was the resolution on the same subject later 
offered in the Association by Mr. Dana. The 
matter was fully discussed at a special meeting 
of the Council, and the following resolutions 
were passed and later submitted to and adopted 
by the Association : 

Whereas, The system of net prices main- 
tained by the American Publishers' Associa- 
tion has resulted in an unexpectedly large in- 
crease in the price of books to libraries ; and 

Whereas, That increase has worked great 
hardship upon libraries in limiting their pur- 
chase of current books, diminishing their 
power of meeting the demands of the public, 
and narrowing their influence and opportunities 
as educational institutions ; and 

Whereas, The interests of the library and the 
bookseller should be closely allied ; 



Resolved, That the American Library Asso- 
ciation urges the American Publishers' As- 
sociation to make such arrangements that 
libraries may secure an increased discount over 
the present allowance on net books, and may 
not be unduly restricted in dealing with book- 
sellers. 

A committee consisting of five active libra- 
rians was appointed to confer with the Pub- 
lishers' Association on the lines of the fore- 
going resolution, as follows : W. T. Peoples, 
H. L. Elmendorf, John Thomson, H. C. Well- 
man, H. J. Carr. 

Reduced postal rates on library books. 
The following resolution was presented to the 
Council on behalf of the Round Table Meeting 
on State Library Commissions : 

Voted, That the Council of the American 
Library Association be requested to use its 
influence to secure the passage of the bill now 
pending before Congress, which provides for 
the transmission of library books through the 
mails at pound rates. 

After discussion, it was Voted, That the 
Council endorses the measures now before 
Congress to secure transmission of books to 
and from libraries at reduced rates. 

It was Voted, That the present Committee on 
Reduced Postal and Express Rates be discon- 
tinued and a new committee be appointed by 
the incoming executive board. 

State Library Commissions Section. On 
request of officers of the Round Table Meeting 
on State Library Commissions, it was Voted, 
That the State Library Commissions Round 
Table meeting be created a section of the 
Association. 

A. JL. A. State Library Section. The ad- 
visability of discontinuing the State Library 
Section of the Association was discussed. It 
was pointed out that that section had practi- 
cally ceased to exist within the last few years, 
its place being taken by the National Associa- 
tion of State Librarians, which was a separate 
and independent organization. At the same 
time the section remained on the Association's 
records, and each year there arose the question 
of its representation on the program. It was 
felt that closer relations with the National 
Association of State Librarians were desirable 
either as a section or an affiliated organization, 
and that the State Library Section might well 
be discontinued or regularly merged in the 



TRANSACTIONS OF COUNCIL AND EXECUTIVE BOARD. 



2 5 I 



former body. It was later reported that a com- 
mittee had been appointed by the National As- 
sociation of State Librarians to consider the 
question of relations with the A. L. A. and 
to report at the next meeting of the National 
Association of State Librarians. 

Affiliation -with Federation of Women's 
Clubs. In response to request presented last 
year by members of Round Table Meeting on 
State LibraryAssociations and work of women's 
clubs, that an alliance be effected between the 
A. L. A. and the Federation of Women's Clubs, 
it was Voted, That the matter be referred to a 
committee to confer and report to Council. 
The committee was later appointed as follows : 
F. M. Crunden, Miss L. E. Stearns, Miss M. 
W. Freeman. 

Resolutions on Public Documents. The reso- 
lutions presented in the report of the Com- 
mittee on Public Documents were approved and 
endorsed. (See report of committee, p. 96.) 

Library Training. The recommendations 
contained in the report of the Committee on 
Library Training, that the committee be set a 
definite task by the Association, and granted an 
appropriation for carrying out its work (see 
report of committee, p. 136), were referred to 
the executive board. 

Library Handbook for Normal Schools. The 
recommendation of the Committee on Co-oper- 
ation with the National Educational Associa- 
tion, that a library handbook for the use of 
normal schools be prepared in connection with 
the National Educational Association, was 
referred to the Publishing Board. 

Checklist for Registration of Voters. It was 
Voted, That the checklist of members be 
employed to check voters in election of officers. 

Change in Program. It was Voted, That 
the Program Committee be requested, if in its 
judgment it found desirable, to so change 
program arrangement as to bring up Mr. 
Hastings' paper on distribution of catalog 



cards from Library of Congress, in connection 
with the report of Committee on Adminis- 
tration. 

Reporting Sections. It was Voted, That the 
Executive Board be authorized to employ a 
stenographer to report proceedings of section 
meetings at this conference, as may be found 
desirable. 

Index to Proceedings. It was Voted, That an 
index to the proceedings of the Magnolia Con- 
ference be prepared and published. 

TRANSACTIONS OF EXECUTIVE BOARD. 

Carnegie resolutions. It was Voted, That the 
resolutions passed by the Association regarding 
the Carnegie gift be engrossed on parchment 
and forwarded to Mr. Carnegie with a letter 
from the president. 

Reporting Sections. It was Voted, That the 
recorder be authorized to employ a stenogra- 
pher to report section meetings at this confer- 
ence, after consultation with officers of sec- 
tions. 

Non-library membership. It was Voted, 
That the list presented by the treasurer of 
persons not engaged in library work be ac- 
cepted and the persons named admitted to 
membership in the Association. 

Appointments to committees, etc. Publish- 
ing Board : W. I. Fletcher (re-appointed) ; 
Hiller C. Wellman (succeeding R. R. Bowker, 
resigned). 

Finance Committee : continued (J. L. Whit- 
ney, C. K. Bolton, G. T. Little). 

Public Documents Committee : R. P. Falk- 
ner, chairman, with power to add two mem- 
bers. 

Next Meeting of Executive Board. It was 
Voted, That the next meeting of the executive 
board be held in connection with the library 
meeting at Lake Placid, in September, and 
that the secretary send in advance to members 
minutes of matters to be considered. 



252 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



THE SOCIAL SIDE OF THE BOSTON AND MAGNOLIA MEETING, AND THE 
POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSIONS. 



COR the record of the Boston and Magnolia 
meeting precedent must be set aside, and 
the chronicles of social incident and of post- 
conference excursions must be merged into one 
narrative. This is because both were in fact 
so mingled that it is not easy to separate them, 
and their record must be based upon reports 
sent in from varied sources, as no one or two 
persons could possibly " know of their own 
knowledge " all that was done and seen on this 
largest of A. L. A. conferences. 

The present meeting was the first held in 
Massachusetts for twenty-three years, and the 
Old Bay State for so long the centre and 
model of library development gave a wel- 
come overflowing with hospitality and kindli- 
ness. The first formal session, held at the 
Boston Public Library on Saturday morning, 
June 14, served mainly to bring people to- 
gether for announcements and invitations, 
and to give a foretaste of the welcome that 
awaited them. Guides were in attendance to 
show the visitors over the library building, and 
the workings of each department were courte- 
ously explained ad infinitum by those in 
charge. The great series of Abbey pictures, 
so recently completed, proved the magnet to 
a constantly moving and changing throng, 
and indeed throughout the three Boston days 
the Public Library was the headquarters of 
information and of interest. Saturday, Sun- 
day, and Monday were, according to the pro- 
gram, assigned for visiting the principal 
libraries of Boston and Cambridge, for excur- 
sions and sightseeing. It is impossible to do 
more than note a few of the delightful inci- 
dents of those three days. At Cambridge 
the visitors were received at the Public Library 
by Mr. Gifford and his staff and were con- 
ducted through the building, where special 
interest was roused by the collection of books 
and manuscripts by Cambridge authors. The 
Harvard Library, with its many treasures, the 
Fogg Art Gallery, the Harvard Museum, and 
various campus buildings were inspected, and 
a centre of attraction was found in Phillips 
Brooks house, where Mrs. Eliot and several 



ladies of the faculty served tea for the library 
visitors. On Sunday a small party visited 
Brook Farm under the guidance of Mr. Lindsay 
Swift, and at the invitation of Miss Caroline 
Hewins, and on their return were entertained 
at the delightful, home of Mrs. Hewins and her 
daughters ; others visited the Boston Art 
Museum ; and indeed the places of interest in 
Boston and the suburbs and nearby cities were 
overrun by eager and interested librarians. 
Many of the delegates were entertained by 
friends, or by the local hosts, and from one 
party of assistants comes a special tribute to 
the hospitality of the Massachusetts Library 
Club, which provided for their guests delight- 
fully comfortable quarters, delegated one of 
the ladies of the guest committee to act as 
hostess at every meal, and gave many thought- 
ful and delicate little attentions that were as 
much appreciated as they were unexpected. 

On Monday morning a trip about Boston 
and its suburbs on the electric cars had been 
arranged and was taken by a large number. 
The start was made from the Public Library at 
ten o'clock and the trip lasted until twelve. It 
was followed by a harbor excursion to the Bos- 
ton Light, and return, arranged through the 
kindness of th<^ mayor, for which the city boat 
J. Putnam Bradlee had been chartered. So 
large was the attendance, however, that a 
second boat had also to be pressed into service. 
The afternoon was cloudy, but there was a fine 
view of the harbor, and the trip was greatly 
enjoyed. A few of those present had attended 
the first Boston meeting in 1879, and recalled 
the delightful harbor trip then taken, and the 
luncheon given at Deer Island, while others 
were reminded of the like trip to Deer Island 
taken in connection with the A. L. A. meeting 
of 1890. This was the last of the pre-confer- 
ence excursions, and it was followed by general 
scrambles for baggage and railway tickets, 
and an exodus for Magnolia, where the three 
hotels were found in possession of a goodly 
number of early arrivals, who had already 
explored the beauties of rocky shores and 
woodland by-ways. 



THE SOCIAL SIDE. 



At Magnolia, despite the rush and nervous 
strain of a busy convention of over one thousand 
persons, with its general sessions, special sec- 
tions, committee meetings, and "round tables," 
there was, nevertheless, a strong element of 
outdoor recreation and social enjoyment. It 
could hardly be otherwise in a " summer 
resort " meeting, such as this, set in one of the 
most beautiful regions of the New England 
coast, and held during a week of perfect June 
weather. The consideration of problems of 
bibliography and of administration, and the 
discussion of such crucial questions as capitali- 
zation or the relative dangers of Henty and 
Ballantyne as food for infant minds, were 
lightened by rambles to Rafe's Chasm or to the 
cliffs near Norman's Woe, by boating or sail- 
ing parties, and by long drives to Gloucester, 
to Rockport, to Manchester, and other of the 
delightful nearby resorts. Moonlight had been 
considerately provided by the Local Committee, 
and the moon, the rocks, and the ocean twice 
furnished the setting for a general midnight 
chorus of college songs. One of the pleasant- 
est incidents of the meeting was the delightful 
reception and afternoon tea given for the 
Association by the Misses Loring at their estate 
" Burnside," Pride's Crossing, while the Bev- 
erly Historical Society, the Manchester Public 
Library, and the Magnolia Public Library also 
extended a hospitable welcome to all librarians 
during the conference. There were reunions 
of library school alumni, meetings of state 
library associations and clubs, many of which 
combined some social feature, as a drive, or a 
luncheon, with their business routine. On 
three evenings dancing was in order, and in- 
deed the program throughout succeeded to an 
unusual degree in alternating business and 
pleasure. 

Saturday, June 22, was for most of the mem- 
bers the last day at Magnolia, and the begin- 
ning of post-conference activities. It rained 
steadily and heavily, but bad weather could not 
dampen the ardor of the library pilgrims, and a 
large party made a special trip to Salem, where 
their welcome at the Public Library and at 
Essex Institute was as cordial as the elements 
were unfriendly. The return was made to 
Boston, again the general headquarters, whence 
members scattered at their convenience, north, 
south, or west. 

The post-conference plans this year were, in 



several respects, a contrast to former meetings. 
Two special trips had been planned, one to the 
White Mountains on the plan of the Appala- 
chian Club jaunts, the other to Bar Harbor by 
steamer along the Maine coast. The former 
was given up, owing to the small number desir- 
ing it ; the other was taken by a party of only 
forty-seven. The remainder of the one thou- 
sand and eighteen seem for the most part to 
have scattered themselves over the surface of 
New England, some staying in Boston for the 
week of Harvard commencement festivities, 
many returning to their homes by way of New 
York, and others spending a few days for fur- 
ther visits to New England libraries and his- 
toric scenes. A party of about thirty gave up 
Monday, June 24, to a visit to Lexington and 
Concord, under the guidance of Mr. Virgin 
and Mr. Crosby, of the local committee. At 
Lexington they were welcomed by Miss Kirk- 
land, Rev. Mr. Staples, and Rev. Mr. Crosby, 
and under their escort visited the library, 
housed in the city hall, where many interesting 
Revolutionary relics were displayed. Among 
the points of special interest were Buckman's 
Tavern, the old bell tower, from which rang 
out the call to arms on the morning of Paul 
Revere's warning, and the famous Clarke-Han- 
cock house, rich in old-time furniture and his- 
torical relics. At Concord, Miss Whitney and 
Miss Kelly, of the Public Library, were guides 
and hostesses in one, and a delightful drive was 
taken to the Emerson, Alcott, and Hawthorne 
homes, to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, and to the 
battlefield, ending with a visit to the pleasant 
library. 

The Bar Harbor party came into existence on 
the afternoon of Saturday the 22d, when 
two score and seven " dem'd damp, moist" 
bodies boarded the City of Bangor for the all 
night run to Rockland. The little boat started 
out bravely in the storm, and her passengers 
sought their berths at an early hour, hoping 
and praying that the morrow might dawn bright 
and fair. But alas ! for their hopes, the storm 
had only increased its fury. The same damp 
party, more disconsolate and forlorn, climbed 
over the gangway to the steamer Mt. Desert 
at Rockland, early on Sunday. Breakfast for 
those "so dispoged " was found on the dock, 
or in the stuffy cabin, and little groups were 
formed on the wet deck, with the vain hope 
that the sea breeze and fresh air might revive 



254 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



their flagging spirits. But the storm was a 
really violent one, and as soon as the pitching 
and lurching began, one by one most of the 
pilgrims disappeared, and were not visible 
again until anchor was dropped in Bar Har- 
bor at three o'clock in the afternoon. Only 
the tried sailors of the party remained, and to 
the unfortunates who longed only for dry land 
were given later glowing accounts of the fury 
of the storm and the magnificence of the surf 
as it dashed upon the cliffs and the many reefs 
along the coast. 

The boat was scheduled to reach Bar Harbor 
before noon, but it could make but little head- 
way against the storm, and it was a hungry and 
weary crowd that alighted in the pouring rain 
and trailed up to the Newport House on Sunday 
afternoon. The bright, low, broad room of 
the office, with its cheerful log fire glowing on 
the hearth, had at once a reviving effect, and 
after a good dinner and a short rest every one 
was restored to a peaceful and cheerful frame 
of mind. 

The days that followed were glorious halcyon 
days and fully paid for all the discomforts of 
the journey. Monday dawned bright and fair. 
At ten o'clock all started on the ocean drive 
which carried them along the edge of the cliffs. 
They alighted at Newport Cove to watch the 
surf at Schooner Head ; they scrambled down 
the rocks and peeped in Anemone Cave ; they 
wandered out to the edge of Otter Cliffs ; and 
drove home around the other side of Newport 
Mountain, making a complete circuit. Looking 
back to Otter Cliffs from the gorge between 
Newport and Green Mountains, the view was 
most magnificent, with the glimpse of the ocean 
in the distance and Otter Creek winding its 
way through the meadows in the valley. 

At three in the afternoon a mountain party 
of ten was organized to climb Newport Moun- 
tain, driving to the foot of the mountain where 
the carriages awaited them on their return. 
At various points stops were made to enjoy 
each view and cameras were busy all the way. 
The higher they climbed the more islands ap- 
peared in view. From the topmost point 
could be seen the five Porcupines, Bar Island, 
with the tide receding from the bar, and the 
islands on the other side of Mt. Desert. A 
mighty gale was blowing and the lee side of a 
big rock was sought to survey the harbor. 

Meanwhile other parties had been formed. 



One group enjoyed a sail up Frenchman's Bay 
to the coaling station, with a fine view of the 
Ovens and Cathedral Rock. Another made an 
expedition on the ferry boat Pemaquid to the 
Bluffs, returning home on the Sappho. Stops 
were made at Sorrento, Hancock Point, and 
Sullivan. In the evening the shore walk was 
resorted to, to enjoy the brilliant sunset and 
afterglow, and at half -past nine the moon arose 
to find groups still lingering on the rocks. 

On Tuesday morning two parties set out 
separately to climb Green Mountain and one of 
these met with a series of thrilling experiences. 
They started at half-past eight in the morning 
and returned in scattered numbers wet, rag- 
ged, and scratched, from three until half-past 
four in the afternoon. They had climbed the 
mountain by the path and had then attempted 
to find a new trail on the other side, with 
results which can be appreciated only by the 
seasoned climber. After wading, scrambling, 
and stumbling for what seemed weary miles they 
came out at the back of a farm-house, and were 
able to reach civilization once more. While 
some climbed, others enjoyed a drive to the 
Ovens. Unhappily the tide was coming in and 
the Ovens and Cathedral Rock could be viewed 
only by hanging over the edge of the precipice, 
but this added zest to the game The ferry- 
boat trip proved again popular in the afternoon 
and others rambled along the shore walk or 
yielded to the attractions of the village shops. 

Wednesday found all reluctant to leave this 
beautiful haven of mountain and sea and wood- 
land. Until the last call for an early dinner 
they sat on the piazza feasting their eyes on 
the glorious blue sky with its soft fleecy clouds 
forming a background for the pines of the 
islands. A slight spattering of rain tried to 
discourage those who were to brave the voyage 
home ; but all eyes were on the clouds, which 
gave every indication of fair weather. Noth- 
ing can ever surpass that sail down through 
the islands. The sky and clouds could not 
have been more perfect. The islands, which 
had shown only little patches of green through 
the mist and rain on the previous Sunday, now 
stood in bold relief against the sky. One 
group gathered beside the pilot house, which 
commanded a fine view of the passing scenery. 
Nothing could induce them to leave the spot, 
neither cold, nor wind, nor even the alluring 
sound of the supper bell. They preferred to 



OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES. 



255 



wait until Rockland should be reached and 
then eat a fragmentary meal, perched on the 
high stools of the restaurant on the dock. 
Happily the boat was a few hours late and 
they had the pleasure of seeing the sun set 
behind the mountains before they reached 
Rockland. The beautiful afterglow did not 
die away until the Bangor boat pulled out; 
and then the moon rose in a perfect night of 
brilliant stars. Morning found them steaming 
energetically into Boston Harbor, with rain 
coming down in torrents and the steamer 



rolling about on the waves. Thus, as the post- 
conference began, so it adjourned, in the pour- 
ing, drenching rain ; but no amount of mist or 
moisture can dull the memory of those perfect 
Bar Harbor days, or of that glorious panorama 
that was unfolded as the Maine coast was 
passed and left behind on the homeward 
journey. To the thoughtfulness and foresight 
of their conductor, Mr. Jones, to which the 
pleasure of the trip was so largely due, the Bar 
Harbor pilgrims owe a debt of cordial thanks, 
gladly registered, and paid in all sincerity. 



OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES 

SERVING IN I9OI-2 AND DURING BOSTON AND MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



President : John Shaw Billings, New York 
Public Library. 

First vice-president : James K. Hosmer, Min- 
neapolis Public Library. 

Second vice-president : Electra C. Doren, Day- 
ton Public Library. 

Secretary : Frederick W. Faxon, Boston Book 
Co. 

Treasurer: Gardner M. Jones, Salem Public 
Library. 

Recorder: Helen E. Haines, Library Journal, 
New York. 

Registrar: Nina E. Browne, A. L. A. Pub- 
lishing Board, Boston. 

Trustees of the Endowment Fund: John M. 
Glenn, Baltimore, Md. ; George W. Williams, 
Salem, Mass. ; Charles C. Soule, Boston, 
Mass. 

A. L. A. Council:* Mary E. Ahern, E. H. 
Anderson, C. W. Andrews, J. S. Billings, 
R. R. Bowker, W. H. Brett, Johnson Brig- 
ham, F. M. Crunden, C. A. Cutter, Electra 
C. Doren, W. I. Fletcher, W. E. Foster, C. 
H. Gould, Caroline M. Hewins, F. P. Hill, 
J. K. Hosmer, Hannah P. James, W. C. 
Lane, J. N. Larned, Herbert Putnam, E. 
C. Richardson, Katharine L. Sharp, C. C. 
Soule, John Thomson, H. M. Utley, J. L. 
Whitney. 

Executive Board: President, ex-president (H. 
J. Carr), vice-presidents, secretary, treasurer, 
recorder. 

Publishing Board : Chairman, W. I. Fletcher, 
W. C. Lane, Melvil Dewey, C. C. Soule, 
R. R. Bowker. 

STANDING COMMITTEES. 

Finance: James L. Whitney, Boston Public 
Library; Charles K. Bolton, Boston Athe- 
naeum, Boston ; George T. Little, Bowdoin 
College Library, Brunswick, Me. 

* Includes, in addition, members of executive board. 



Library Administration: Hiller C. Wellman, 
Springfield City Library; W. R. Eastman, 
New York State Library; N. D. C. Hodges, 
Cincinnati Public Library. 

Public Documents : Roland P. Falkner, Library 
of Congress ; Adelaide R. Hasse, New York 
Public Library ; W. E. Henry, Indiana State 
Library; Johnson Brigham, Iowa State 
Library; Worthington C. Ford, Boston 
Public Library. 

Foreign Documents: C. H. Gould, McGill 
University Library, Montreal; C. W. An- 
drews, The John Crerar Library, Chicago; 
L. B. Gilmore, Detroit Public Library; 
James Bain, Jr., Toronto Public Library; 
Worthington C. Ford, Boston Public Li- 
brary. 

Co-operation with Library Department of 
National Educational Association : John C. 
Dana, Newark Free Public Library ; Melvil 
Dewey, New York State Library, Albany; 
F. A. Hutchins, Wisconsin Free Library 
Commission, Madison; J. H. Canfield, 
Columbia University Library ; Isabel Ely 
Lord, Bryn Mawr College Library. 



SPECIAL COMMITTEES. 

A. L. A. Exhibit at Louisiana Purchase Ex- 
position : Melvil Dewey, F. M. Crunden, J. 

C. Dana, E. H. Anderson, Mary W. Plum- 

mer. 
Gifts and Bequests : Reporter, George Watson 

Cole. 
Handbook of American Libraries: F. J. Teg- 

gart, T. L. Montgomery, C. W. Andrews. 
International Co-operation: E. C. Richardson, 

R. R. Bowker, S. H. Ranck, Mary W. Plum- 

mer, Cyrus Adler. 
Library Training: A. E. Bostwick, Susan 

Randall, S. S. Green, W. H. Brett, J. I. 

Wyer. 



256 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Relations of Libraries to the Book Trade: W. 

T> Peoples, H. L. Elmendorf, Millard W. 

Palmer, Tessa L. Kelso, John Thomson. 
Title-pages to Periodicals : W. I. Fletcher, 

Ernst Lemcke, A. E. Bostwick. 

SECTIONS AND SECTION OFFICERS. 

College and Reference Section : Chairman, A. 
S. Root; secretary, W. M. Smith. 



State Library Section : Chairman, W. E. 

Henry; secretary, Maude Thayer. 
Trustees' Section: Chairman, D. P. Corey; 

secretary, T. L. Montgomery. 
Catalog Section : Chairman, J. C. M. Hanson ; 

secretary, Mary E. Hawley. 
Children's Librarians' Section : Chairman, 

Annie C. Moore; secretary, Mary E. Dous- 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 

ABBREVIATIONS: F., Free; P., Public; L., Library; Ln., Librarian; Asst., Assistant; Tr., Trustee; Ref. 

Reference; S., School; Br., Branch. 



Abhatt, William, Publisher, 281 Fourth Ave., N. Y. 

City. 
Abbot, Etheldred, Dept. of Art, Wellesley Coll., 

Wellesley, Mass. 

Abbott, Alvaretta Porter, L. organizer, Milford, Ct. 
Adams, Benj., Ln.-in-charge P. L., Prospect Br., 

Brooklyn, N.Y. 

Adams, Mrs., Connersville, Ind. 
Ahern, Mary Eileen, Ed. Public Libraries, Library 

Bureau, Chicago, 111. 
Aitkin, Helen J., Cataloger, Museum of Brooklyn 

Inst. of Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Albro, Sarah E., Asst. Children's dept. P. L., Provi- 
dence, R. I. 

Allen, Carrie S., Asst. P. L., Milton, Mass. 
Allen, Letitia S., Ln. P. L., Attleboro, Mass. 
Allen, Mary Warren, Cataloger, Brooklyn Inst. of 

Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Allen, Sylvia M., Asst. P. L., St. Louis, Mo. 
Amsden, Mrs. H. C, Tr. P. L., Clinton, 111. 
Anderson, Edwin Hatfield, Ln. Carnegie L., Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 

Anderson, Mrs. E. H., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Andrews, Clement Walker, Ln. The John Crerar L., 

Chicago, 111. " 

Andrews, Elizabeth P., Wethersfield, Conn. 
Appleton, Charles A., with D. Appleton & Co., 

Boston. 

Appleton, William W., Tr. P. L., N. Y. City. 
Armstrong, Charlotte B., Asst. P. L., Williamsburgh 

Br., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Arnold, H. P., Asst. Thomas Crane P. L., Quincy, 

Mass. 

Ashley, Grace, Sec. to Ln., F. P. L., Newark, N. J. 
Ashley, May, Ln. P. L., Greenfield, Mass. 
Atwood, Alice Carey, 159 Meigs St., Rochester, 

N. Y., student Drexel Inst. L. S. 
Avery, Mrs. Elroy M., Tr. P. L., Cleveland, O. 
Ayer, Clarence Walter, Ln. P. L., Brockton, Mass. 
Ayer, Winslow B., Tr. P. L., Portland, Ore. 
Aymar, Gilbert H., with Remington typewriter, 

Boston. 
Babcock, Josephine M., Asst., East Milton R. R., 

Milton, Mass. 
Bacon, Corinne, 1st . Asst. New Britain (Conn.) 

Inst., student N. Y. State L. S., Albany, 

N.Y. 



Bailey, Arthur L., Sub-Ln. State L., Albany, N. Y., 
Baker, Edith M., Asst. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 
Baldwin, Emma V., Sec. to Ln., P. L., Brooklyn, 

N. Y. 
Baldwin, Grace P. (address 1 1 Cedar St., Worcester, 

Mass.), Cataloger P. L., Millbury, Mass. 
Ballard, Harlan H., Ln. Berkshire Athenaeum, Pitts- 
field, Mass. 
Bancroft, Anna, Tr. Bancroft Mem. L., Hopedale, 

Mass. 

Bangs, Helen B., Asst. P. L., Fitchburg, Mass. 
Bangs, Mary Freeman, Boston, Mass, (address P. O. 

box 1244). 
Banks, Mrs. Martha H. G., L. Organizer Dyer L., 

Saco, Me. 

Banton, T. W., Tr., Toronto, Canada. 
Barnes, Walter L., student N. Y. State L. S., 

Albany, N. Y. 
Barnum, Mrs. Adele B., Ln. P. L., Niagara Falls, 

N. Y. 
Barr, Charles J., student N. Y. State L. S., Albany, 

N. Y. 

Barr, Rev. Preston, New Bedford, Mass. 
Barrows, Fanny, North Attleboro, Mass. 
Barton, Edmund Mills, Ln. Amer. Antiquarian 

Soc., Worcester, Mass. 
Barton, Harriet G., Asst. F. L., West Philadelphia 

Br., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Barton, Margaret S., ist Asst. P. L., West End Br., 

Boston, Mass. 

Bascom, Elva L., Indexer State L., Albany, N. Y. 
Baston, Nettie E., Asst. Robbins L., Arlington, 

Mass. 
Batchelder, Isabel, Asst. Appalachian Mt. Club L., 

Boston (address 5 Chestnut St.). 
Bate, Florence E., with McClure, Phillips & Co., 

N. Y. City. 

Battles, William E., Tr. Parlin L., Everett, Mass. 
Beard, Clara, Asst. City L., Lowell, Mass. 
Beard, Josephine, Asst. State L., Augusta, Me. 
Beck, Anna V., 1921 N. 33d St., Philadelphia. 
Beer, William, Ln. Howard Memorial L., and Fisk 

Free and P. L., New Orleans, La. 
Beers, Isabel, Asst. Forbes L., Northampton, 

Mass. 
Bell, Helen M., Custodian P. L., Roxbury Br., 

Boston, Mass. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



257 



Benedict, Laura Estelle Watson, Ln. Lewis Inst., 

Chicago, 111. 
Bennett, Bertha I., Ilion, N. Y., student N. Y. 

State L. S., Albany, N. Y. 
Berry, Martha L. C., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Berry, Silas Hurd, Ln. Y. M. C. A., 317 W. 56th 

St., N. Y. City. 

Belts, Elsie E., Asst. N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y. 
Bierstadt, Oscar A., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Bill, Mrs. Mary E., Ln. P. L., Waltham, Mass. 
Billings, Dr. John Shaw, Director P. L., N. Y. City, 

President A. L. A. 
Billings, Mrs. J. S., N. Y. City. 
Bingham, D. L., Ln. &Tr. P. L., Manchester, Mass. 
Birtwell, Charles W., Charity Bldg., Chardon St., 

Boston, Mass. 
Birtwell, Frances M., 24 Clinton St., Cambridge, 

Mass. 
Bisbee, Marvin Davis, Ln. Dartmouth Coll. L., 

Hanover, N. H. 

Biscoe, Ellen Lord, Albany, N. Y. 
Biscoe, Thomas D., Marietta, O. 
Biscoe, Walter Stanley, Senior Ln. State L., Albany, 

N. Y. 
Bishop, Frances A., Asst. Ln. P. L. Kansas City, 

Mo. 
Bixby, Alice Persis, Ln. Bureau of Chemistry, Dept. 

Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
Blaisdell, Frank C., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Blakeley, Bertha Eliza, Ln. Mt. Holyoke Coll. L., 

So. Hadley, Mass. 
Blanchard, Caroline Augusta, Ln. Tufts L., Wey- 

mouth, Mass. 

Blanchard, Grace, Ln. P. L., Concord, N. H. 
Bliss, Bertha S., Asst. F. P. L., Evanston, 111. 
Blood, Emma F., Ln. P. L., Groton, Mass. 
Blunt, Florence Tolman, student N. Y. State L. S., 

Albany, N. Y. 

Bodfish, Rev. J. P., Tr. P. L., Canton, Mass. 
Bollig, Emma, Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Bolton, Charles Knowles, Ln. Boston Athenaeum, 

Boston, Mass., and Tr. Shirley (Mass.) P. L. 
Bolton, Mrs. C. K., Shirley, Mass. 
Bond, Mrs. Sarah A. C., Cataloger. Care Library 

Bureau, Boston, Mass. 
Borden, Fanny, Asst. Ln. Bryn Mawr Coll. L., 

Bryn Mawr, Pa. 
Bostwick, Arthur Elmore, Chief Circ. Dept. P. L., 

N. Y. City. 

Bowditch, Mary P., Asst. P. L., Providence, R. I. 
Bowles, Mrs. F. T., Elmira, N. Y. 
Boyden, Mrs. J. Ellen, Tr. P. L., Walpole, Mass. 
Boyle, T. F., Tr. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Boyle, Mrs. T. F., Boston, Mass. 
Bradley, Isaac S., Ln. and Asst. Supt. State Hist. 

Sue., Madison, Wis. 
Bradley, Mrs. I. S., Madison, Wis. 
Brett, Clara Amelia, Cataloger P. L., Brockton, 

Mass. 

Brett, William H., Ln. P. L., Cleveland, O. 
Bridgman, Minnie C., Asst. Univ. Cincinnati L., 

Cincinnati, O. 
Briggs, Walter B., Supt. Reading Room Harvard 

Coll. L., Cambridge, Mass. 
Brigham, Clarence Saunders, Ln. R. I. Hist. Soc., 

Providence, R. I. 



Brigham, Herbert Olin, Asst. Brown Univ. L., 
Providence, R. I. 

Brigham, Johnson, Ln. State L., Des Moines, la. 

Brooke, L. Edna, Asst. P. L., Cambridge, Mass. 

Brooks, Henrietta St. Barbe, Chief Cataloger 
Carnegie L., Pittsburg, Pa. 

Brown, Adeline S., Asst. F. P. L., New Haven, 
Conn. 

Brown, Alice D., Asst. P. L., Amesbury, Mass. 

Brown, Alice H., Ln.-in-charge P. L., Harlem Br., 
N. Y. City. 

Brown, Caroline H., Asst. P. L., Salem, Mass. 

Brown, Edward A., Tr. P. L., Amesbury, Mass. 

Brown, F. L, Library Bureau, Boston, Mass. 

Brown, Mrs. F. L, Boston, Mass. 

Brown, Gertrude L., Cataloger F. P. L., Evans- 
ton, 111. 

Brown, Julia Duncan, Instructor Drexel Inst. L. S., 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

Brown, Miss M. G., Asst. L. of Congress, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

Brown, Zaidee M., student N. Y. State L. S, 
Albany, N. Y. 

Browne, Nina Eliza, Sec. A. L. A. Publishing 
Board, ioi Beacon St., Boston, Mass., Regis- 
trar A. L. A. 

Browning, Eliza Gordon, Ln. P. L., Indianapolis, 
Ind. 

Bryant, Mary V., Cataloger Harvard Coll. L., Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 

Buchanan, Henry C., Ln. State L., Trenton, N. J. 

Buchanan, Mrs. H. C., Trenton, N. J. 

Buchwald, Isabella C., Asst. P. L., Cleveland, O. 

Buckley, Pierce E., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Bullard, N. Josephine, Middleboro, Mass. 

Bumpus, Miss A. L., Ln. Thomas Crane P. L., 
Quincy, Mass. 

Bunker, Adeline, Ln. P. L., Bar Harbor, Me. 

Bunker, Mabel E., Ref. and Art Ln. P. L., Somer- 
ville, Mass. 

Burbank, L. Freeman, Tr. State L., Nashua, N. H. 

Burbank, Nancy Ingalls, Ln. P. L., Rockland, 
Me. 

Burgess, Charles F., Univ. of Wis., Madison, Wis. 

Burnet, Duncan, Head Cataloger, Univ. of Missouri 
L., Columbia, Mo. 

Burrage, G. B., Library Bureau, Boston. 

Burrows, Dorothy E., P. L., Rutherford, N. J. 

Buss, Charlotte A., Ln. Miles Park Br. P. L., Cleve- 
land, O. 

Butler, Edward A., Tr. P. L., Rockland, Me. 

Cady, Anita L., Southbridge, Mass. 

Caiger, Eliza F. A., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Callow, Hattie M., Asst. P. L., Cleveland, O. 

Cameron, Walter M., Columbia Univ., N. Y. City. 

Camp, David N., Chairman L. Com. New Britain 
Inst., New Britain, Conn. 

Campbell, Miss J. M., Asst. F. P. L., Newark, 
N.J. 

Canfield, Dr. James H., Ln. Columbia Univ. L., 
N. Y. City. 

Carey, M. Frances, Woodbury, N. J. 

Carney, Frank, In charge of shelves Harvard Coll. 
L., Cambridge, Mass. 

Carr, Gertrude, Cataloger Princeton Univ. L., 
Princeton, N. J. 



258 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Carr, Henry J., Ln. P. L., Scranton, Pa. 

Carr, Airs. H. J., Scranton, Pa. 

Carroll, Jessie A., Asst. Univ. Cincinnati L., Cin- 
cinnati, O. 

Carson, Jessie M., Children's Ln. Carnegie L., 
Hazlewood Br., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Carter, Lucy L., Cataloger P. L., Brookline, Mass. 

Carver, Leonard D., Ln. State L., Augusta, Me. 

Gate, Mrs. Mary, Asst. P. L., Wakefield, Mass. 

Chadbourn, E. R., Lewiston, Me. 

Chamberlain, Mrs. Marian L., Asst. P. L., Boston, 
Mass. 

Chambert, Grace M., Asst. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 

Chandler, Alice Greene, Advisory Ln. and Tr. 
Town L., Lancaster, Mass. 

Chandler, Ellen M., Cataloger P. L., Buffalo, N. Y. 

Chandler, William D., Tr. State L., Concord, N. H. 

Chapman, Erne L., Asst. P. L., Cambridge, Mass. 

Chapman, Emily K., Asst. Mattapan R. R., Milton, 
Mass. 

Chapman, Grace D., student N. Y. State L. S., 
Albany, N. Y. 

Chase, Adelaide M., Ln. Stone and Webster, 93 
Federal St., Boston, Mass. 

Chase, Alice W., Asst. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 

Chase, Arthur Horace, Ln. State L., Concord, 
N. H. 

Chase, Frederick, Ln. City L., Lowell, Mass. 

Cheever, Mrs. A. C., Saugus, Mass. 

Cheney, Frances S., Asst. Ln. Town L., Framing- 
ham, Mass. 

Cheney, John Vance, Ln. Newberry L., Chicago, 
111. 

Chevalier, Samuel Arthur, Cataloger P. L., Boston, 
Mass. 

Child, Grace A., Ln. P. L., Derby, Conn. 

Child, Marion E., Trustee P. L., Walpole, Mass. 

Child, William B., Ln. Union League Club, N. Y. 
City. 

Christian, Lucia L., Ln. P. L., Bridge water, Mass. 

Claflin, Louise, Asst. P. L., Cleveland, O. 

Clark, Dr., Tr. P. L., Youngstown, Ohio. 

Clark, Josephine A., Ln. U. S. Dept. of Agricul- 
ture L., Washington, D. C. 

Clarke, Alma Arthur, Branch Ln., Y. M. C. A., 
N. Y. City. 

Clarke, Edith E., Ln. Univ. of Vt. L., Burlington, 
Vt. 

Clarke, Emma L., Ln. Town L., Framingham, Mass. 

Clarke, Mary E., Ln.-in-charge P. L. Br., Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 

Clarke, Mary Reynolds, Asst. F. P. L., Worcester, 
Mass. 

Clendenin, Susan, Asst. Y. W. C. A. L., N. Y.City. 

Clifford, Rev. C. J., Editor Providence Visitor, 
Providence, R. I. 

Coates, A. B., Tr. P. L., Saugus, Mass. 

Cobb, Edith H., Acushnet, Mass., student Drexel 
Inst. L. S. 

Cobleigh, Miss E. S., Boston, Mass. 

Coburn, Elizabeth S., Asst. Harvard Coll. L., Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 

Coburn, Jennie M., Cataloger, Harvard Coll. L., 
Cambridge, Mass. 

Cochrane, Anna C., Asst. P. L., Indianapolis, Ind. 

Cochrane, Charlotte, Asst. Cataloger P. L., Quincy, 
Mass. 



Cochrane, Sarah A., 2d Asst. Ln. P. L., Detroit, 
Mich. 

Coffin, Mrs. Eva E., Ln. P. L., Peterborough, N. H. 

Coit, Emily S., Cataloger P. L., Buffalo, N.Y. 

Colby, Adah Marie, Asst. P. L., Brooklyn, N.Y. 

Colcord, Mabel, Asst. N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y. 

Cole, George Watson, 1925 jth Ave., N. Y. City. 

Cole, William A., ex-Ln., Millville, Mass. 

Collingham, Rose, Asst. P. L., Providence, R. I. 

Comegys, Mrs. Rose, 520 Madison Ave., Scranton, 
Pa. 

Comer, Anna S., Asst. Ln. P. L., Winthrop, Mass. 

Conner, Martha J., Willow Springs, Pa., student 
Drexel Inst. L. S. 

Conway, Elizabeth, Ln. Mt. Hermon Sch., Mt. 
Hermon, Mass. 

Coolidge, J. R., Tr. Boston Athenaeum, Boston, 
Mass. 

Coombs, Mrs. E. R., East Saugus, Mass. 

Cooper, Louise B., Asst. F. L., Philadelphia, Pa. 

Copeland, Lora A., Asst. P. L., Brockton, Mass. 

Copeland, Sara Foster, Cataloger State L., Colum- 
bus, O. 

Cordes, Bessie F., Ln. P. L., Winthrop, Mass. 

Corey, Deloraine Pendre, Pres. P. L., Maiden, Mass. 

Corey, Mrs. Deloraine P., Maiden, Mass. 

Corwin, Miss E. F., Asst. State L., Lansing, Mich. 

Getting, Sarah E., Ln. P. L., Maryborough, Mass. 

Covel, A. S., Tr. P. L., Magnolia, Mass. (Mason 
Building, Boston.) 

Grain, Lucy B., Asst. F. P. L., Newton, Mass. 

Crampton, Susan, Asst. Carnegie L., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Cramton, Ellen B., Ln. Levi Heywood Mem. L., 
Gardner, Mass. 

Crandall, J. R., Jr., Remington typewriter, N. Y. 
City. 

Crewitt, Mrs. Julia M., Omaha, Neb. 

Crosby, Harriet L., Ln. Nevens Mem. L., Methuen, 
Mass. 

Crosby, J. Allen, printer, Jamaica Plain, Mass. 

Cross, Beulah L., Supply Clerk N. Y. State L., 
Albany, N. Y. 

Crunden, Frederick M., Ln. P. L., St. Louis, Mo. 

Crunden, Mrs. F. M., St. Louis, Mo. 

Cufflin, M. Florence, Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Gumming, Nellie, Watertown, Mass. 

Cunmon, Rev. M. A., Br. of Cathedral L., 505 W. 
40th St., N. Y. City. 

Cunningham, Mrs. G. B., Trenton, N. J. 

Curran, Mrs. Mary H., Ln. P. L., Bangor, Me. 

Currier, T. Franklin, Head of Catalog Dept., Har- 
vard Coll. L., Cambridge, Mass. 

Cutter, Charles Ammi, Ln. Forbes L., Northamp- 
ton, Mass. 

Cutter, William Parker, Chief Order Division, L. of 
Congress, Washington, D. C. 

Cutter, Mrs. W. P., Washington, D. C. 

Cutter, William R., Ln. P. L., Woburn, Mass. 

Daggett, Caroline M., Head Cataloger P. L., Syra- 
cuse, N. Y. 

Daly, Margaret C., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Dame, Katharine, Cataloger Cornell Univ. L., 
Ithaca, N. Y. 

Damon, Lalia Mae, Asst. Forbes L., Northampton, 
Mass. 

Dana, John Cotton, Ln. F. P. L., Newark, N. J. 

Dana, Mrs. John C., Newark, N. J. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



259 



Danforth, George F., Ln. Indiana Univ. L., Bloom- 

ington, Ind. 

Davis, Mrs. C. L., Saugus, Mass. 
Davis, Mrs. Eliza R., Custodian P. L., West End 

Br., Boston, Mass. 
Davis, Esther M., Cataloger Univ. Club L., N. Y. 

City. 

Davis, Olin Sylvester, Ln. P. L., Lakeport, N. H. 
Davison, Mrs. M. E., Ln. P. L., Dalton, Mass. 
Dawley, Grace H., Ln. P. L., Orange, Mass. 
Day, Madeleine R, Asst. P. L., N. Y. City. 
Day, Mary A., Ln. Gray Herbarium, Harvard Univ., 

Cambridge, Mass. 

Decker, Cora M., Asst. P. L., Scranton, Pa. 
Deery, Delia Jean, Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Deming, Miss D., Albany, N. Y. 
Denison, George A., with G. & C. Merriam Co., 

Springfield, Mass. 

Dewey, Melvil, Director State L., Albany, N. Y. 
D'Wolf, Miss A. M., Asst. P. L., New Bedford, 

Mass. 
Diefendorf, D. Elizabeth, Asst. Ln. Wesleyan Univ. 

L., Middletown, Conn 

Dielman, L. H., Cataloger State L., Annapolis, Md. 
Dielman, Mrs. L. H., Annapolis, Md. 
Dix, M. Etta, Asst. Ln. P. L., Melrose, Mass. 
Doane, Rebecca F., Ln. F. L., Milford, N. H. 
Doane, Walter Homer, Art Metallic Construction 

Co., Jamestown, N. Y. 
Doane, Mrs. W. H., Jamestown, N. Y. 
Dodge, Bertha Alma, student 111. State L. S., 

Champaign, 111. 

Dodge, Nellie E., Asst. City L., Springfield, Mass. 
Donnelly, June Richardson, student N. Y. State L. 

S., Albany, N. Y. 

Doran, Miss, Asst. P. L., Fall River, Mass. 
Doren, Electra Collins, Ln. P. L., Dayton, O., and 

2d Vice President A. L. A. 

Dougherty, Anna R., Asst. F. L., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Douglass, Jessie M., Asst. Boston Athenaeum, Bos- 
ton, Mass. 
Dow, George Francis, Sec. Essex Institute, Salem, 

Mass. 

Downes, Mrs. William F., Ln. P. L., Canton, Mass. 
Downey, Mary E., Ln. P. L., Ottumwa, la. 
Doyle, Agnes C., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Draper, Annie E., student N. Y. State L. S., Albany, 

N. Y. 

Draper, F. A., Publisher, Boston, Mass. 
Draper, Mrs. Henry, 271 Madison Ave., N. Y. 

City. 
Draper, Miriam S., Ln. Children's Museum, 185 

Brooklyn Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Duddy, Bessie L., Asst. P. L., Somerville, Mass. 
Dudley, Charles R., Ln. P. L., Denver, Col. 
Duncan, W. H., Jr., Ln. Univ. Club. L., N. Y. City. 
Dunn, Florence E., student N. Y. State L. S., 

Albany, N. Y. 

Durand, Susan M., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Durkee, Cara D., Asst. Newberry L., Chicago, 111. 
Eager, Sarah M., Asst. P. L., Racine, Wis. 
Eames, Wilberforce, Ln. Lenox Br. P. L., N. Y. 

City. x 
Earhart, Frances E., Chicora, Pa., student Drexel 

Inst. L. S. 
Earl, Mrs. Elizabeth C., P. L. Com. of Indiana, 

Connersville, Ind. 



Eastman, Linda A., Vice-Ln. P. L., Cleveland, O. 

Eastman, Martha J., Ln. P. L., Westborough, 
Mass. 

Eastman, William Reed, Inspector P. L. Dept., 
State L., Albany, N. Y. 

Eastman, Mrs. William R., Albany, N. Y. 

Eastwood, Mary, Asst. State L., Albany, N. Y. 

Eaton, Miss, Asst. P. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Edwards, Ella M., Cataloger P. L., Goshen, Ind. 

Egbert, Alice, Children's Ln. P. L., Omaha, Neb. 

Eger, Bertha, Cataloger P. L., N. Y. City. 

Eldridge, Eva A., Asst. Morse Institute, Natick, 
Mass. 

Eliot, Charles W., President Harvard Univ., Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 

Elmendorf, Henry L., Supt. P. L., Buffalo, N. Y. 

Elrod, Jennie, Ln. P. L., Columbus, Ind. 

Emerson, Mabel E., Ref. Ln. P. L., Providence, 
R. I. 

Emery, Alice F., Asst. Ln. F. L., Newton, Mass. 

Emery, E. W., Asst. Ln. State L., Augusta, Me. 

Emery, Gertrude, Children's Ln. P. L., Lynn, 
Mass. 

Engle, Emma R., Children's Ln. F. L., Philadelphia, 
Pa. 

Essex, Mary C., Cataloger P. L., Providence, R. I. 

Estey, G. Fred, Tr. P. L., Maiden, Mass. 

Evans, Adelaide F., student Pratt Inst. L. S., Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 

Evans, Mrs. Alice G., Ln. P. L., Decatur, 111. 

Everitt, Charles P., with Doubleday, Page & Co., 
N. Y. City. 

Fairbanks, Edward T., Sec. and Treas., St. Johns- 
bury Athenaeum, St. Johnsbury, Vt. 

Fairchild, Rev. Edwin Milton, Lecturer Educational 
Church Board, Albany, N. Y. 

Fairchild, Mrs. Salome Cutler (Mrs. E. M.),Vice 
Director N. Y. State L. S., Albany, N. Y. 

Falkner, Roland P., Chief, Division of Documents, 
L. of Congress, Washington, D. C. 

Farr, Mary Parry, Library Organizer, 258 So. 44th 
St., Philadelphia, Pa. 

Farrar, Ida F., Head Cataloger City L., Springfield, 
Mass. 

Fatout, Nellie B., Ln. P. L., Elwood, Ind. 

Faucon, Charlotte,' Milton, Mass. 

Faxon, Frederick Winthrop, Manager Library Dept. 
The Boston Book Co., 83-91 Francis St., Back 
Bay, Boston, Secretary of A. L. A. (Address 
108 Glenway St.. Dorchester, Mass.) 

Faxon, Mrs. F. W., Dorchester, Mass. 

Fearey, Charlotte S., Asst. State L., Albany, N. Y. 

Ferguson, M. Jay, Ln. Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, 
Okla., student N. Y. State L. S. 

Fernald, Helen Augusta, 384 Adams St., Dorches- 
ter, Mass. 

Fichtenkam, Alice C., Head Cataloger, Documents 
Office, Washington, D. C. 

Field, Alice M., Asst. P. L., Brockton, Mass. 

Fisher, Georgiana O., Asst. P. L., Salem, Mass. 

Fison, Gertrude S., Asst. Forbes L., Northampton, 
Mass. 

Fison, Herbert W., Ln. Narragansett L. Assn., 
Peace Dale, R. I. 

Fitzgerald, Eva M., Ln. P. L., Kokomo, Ind. 

Flagg, Charles A., Asst. L. of Congress, Washing- 
ton, D. C. 



260 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Flash, Mrs. N. F., Homeopathic Hospital, Boston, 

Mass. 

Fleischner, Otto, Asst. Ln. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Fletcher, Francis Richmond, Library Bureau, Bos- 
ton, Mass. 

Fletcher, Mrs. F. R., Boston, Mass. 
Fletcher, May M., Ln. P. L., Ayer, Mass. 
Fletcher, Robert S., Ln. Carnegie P. L., Bradford, 

Pa. 
Fletcher, William I., Ln. Amherst Coll. L., Am- 

herst, Mass. 

Fletcher, Mrs. W. I., Amherst, Mass. 
Flinn, Agnes E., Asst. State L., Albany, N. Y. 
Flint, Col. Weston, Ln. P. L. of the District of 

Columbia, Washington, D. C. 
Flint, Mrs. Weston, Washington, D. C. 
Follansbee, Alice C., Ln. P. L., Amesbury, Mass. 
Forrest, Gertrude E., Ln. P. L., Milton, Mass. 
Forsyth, Walter G., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Foss, Sam Walter, Ln. P. L., Somerville, Mass. 
Foster, William E., Ln. P. L., Providence, R. I. 
Fox, Mrs. Mary A., Salem, Mass. 
Francis, Mary, Hartford, Conn. 
Freeman, Marilla Waite, Ln. P. L., Michigan City, 

Ind. 

French, Mrs. Charles H., Canton, Mass. 
Friedley, Georgia Anna, Asst. P. L., Bedford, Ind. 
Frinsdorff, Emily O., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Fuller, Edith Davenport, Ln. Episcopal Theological 

Sch., Cambridge, Mass. 
Fuller, Frances Howard, 21 W. lOist St., N. Y. 

City, student N. Y. State L. S. 
Furbish, Alice C., Ln. P. L., Portland, Me. 
Gaffin, Frances E., Asst. P. L., Utica, N. Y. 
Galbreath, Charles B., Ln. State L., Columbus, O. 
Ganley, Marie, Cataloger P. L., Detroit, Mich. 
Gardner, Eva Swift, Asst. P. L., Providence, R. I. 
Garland, Caroline Harwood, Ln. P. L., Dover, 

N. H. 
Garretson, Harriet E., Classifier P. I,., Cincinnati, 

O. 
Garrison, Frank W., Tr. Hathaway Book-Binding 

Co., Boston, Mass. 

Garrison, Airs. F. W., Brookline, Mass. 
Garvin, Ethel, Asst. P. L., Providence, R. I. 
Gates, Edith M., Asst. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 
Gay, Ernest L., student N. Y. State L. S., Albany, 

N. Y. 
Gay, Frank Butler, Ln. Watkinson L., Hartford, 

Conn. 

Gay, Mrs. Frank B., Hartford, Conn. 
Gay, Helen Kilduff, Ln. P. L., New London, Conn. 
Gibbons, Rosa M., Cataloger P. L., Maiden, Mass. 
Gibbs, Miss E. N., student N. Y. State L. S., 

Albany, N. Y. 
Gibbs, Laura Russell, 109 Brooks St., W. Medford, 

Mass. 

Gifford, William Logan Rodman, Ln. P. L., Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 

Gifford, Mrs. W. L. R., Cambridge, Mass. 
Gilbert, Emma H., 144 Elm St., Albany, N. Y. 
Gilbert, Walter M., Sec. Office, Columbia Univ., 

N. Y. City. 

Gile, Jessie S., Asst. P. L., Haverhill, Mass. 
Gilmore, Lucien Brainerd, Asst. Ln. P. L., Detroit, 

Mich. 



Gleason, Herbert W., Official A. L. A. Sten- 
ographer, 31 Pinckney St., Boston, Mass. 

Gleason, Mrs. Herbert W., Boston, Mass. 

Godard, George S., Ln. State L., Hartford, Conn. 

Godard, Mrs. George S., Hartford, Conn. 

Goddard, Edward M., Ln. Vt. Hist. Soc. and Asst. 
Ln. State L., Montpelier, Vt. 

Goddard, Mrs. Edward M., Montpelier, Vt. 

Coding, Sarah E., Asst. Ln. F. L., Philadelphia, 
Pa. 

Goeks, Hedwig M., Ln. P. L., Ottendorfer Br., 
N. Y. City. 

Goldberg, Bessie, Cataloger P. L., Chicago, 111. 

Goodale, Grace, student 111. State L. S., Cham- 
paign, 111. 

Gookin, Edward, Sec. to Ln. Harvard Coll. L., 
Cambridge, Mass. 

Gorse, Helen, St. Louis, Mo. 

Gould, Charles Henry, Ln. McGill Univ. L., 
Montreal, P. Q., Canada. 

Gracie, Helen, Asst. Carnegie L., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Graffin, Frances, Asst. P. L., Utica, N. Y. 

Granger, Anne C., Asst. P. L., Cleveland, O. 

Graniss, Ruth S., student Pratt Inst. L. S., Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 

Gray, Paul E., Asst. P. L., Haverhill, Mass. 

Green, Carrie Smythe, Ln. Bangor Theological 
Seminary, Bangor, Me. 

Green, Samuel S., Ln. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 

Green, Walter Cox, Asst. P. L., N. Y. City. 

Greene, Charlotte W., Ln. Bigelow F. P. L., Clin- 
ton, Mass. 

Greenleaf, Arthur P., Tr. Parlin Mem. L., Everett, 
Mass. 

Greenman, E. May, Asst. State L., Albany, N. Y. 

Grierson, Mrs. E. S., Ln. P. L. of Calumet & Hecla 
Mining Co., Calumet, Mich. 

Groves, Charlotte E., student N. Y. State L. S., 
Albany, N. Y. 

Guerrier, Edith, Custodian P. L., Station W., Bos- 
ton, Mass. 

Guggenheimer, Aimee, Ln. U. S. Bureau of For- 
estry, Washington, D. C. 

Guild, Mrs. Chester, Boston, Mass. 

Hadley, Anna, Lr Ansonia L., Ansonia, Conn. 

Hafner, Alfred, of G. E. Stechert, N. Y. City. 

Hagar, Sarah C., Ln. Fletcher F. L., -Burlington, 
Vt. 

Haines, Helen E., Managing Editor, Library 
Journal, 298 Broadway, N. Y. City. 

Hall, Belle S., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Hall, Drew B., Ln. Millicent L., Fairhaven, Mass. 

Hall, Mrs. Drew B., Fairhaven, Mass. 

Hall, E. Frances, Ln. Mass. Agricultural Coll., 
Amherst, Mass. 

Hamant, G. R., Tr. P. L., North Brookfield, Mass. 

Hamant, Mrs. G. R., North Brookfield, Mass. 

Hamilton, Geneva Ring, Asst. Ln. Univ. of Me., 
Orono, Me. 

Hannum, Charlotte K., Asst. Drexel Inst. L., 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

Hanson, James Christian Meinich, Chief Catalog 
Division, L. of Congress, Washington, D. C. 

Harris, Isabella, Cataloger P. L., Milton, Mass. 

Harrison, Joseph LeRoy, Ln. Providence Athe- 
naeum, Providence, R. 1. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



26l 



Hart, Mildred, Chattanooga, Tenn. 

Hartich, Mrs. Alice D., Ln.-in-charge P. L., Bush- 
wick Br., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Hartswick, Howard B., 1st Asst. Ln., State L., 
Harrisburg, Pa. 

Hartswick, Mrs. H. B., Harrisburg, Pa. 

Hasse, Adelaide R., Asst. P. L., N. Y. City. 

Hastings, C. H., Asst. in Catalog Div., L. of Con- 
gress, Washington, D. C. 

Haupt, Lura S., Asst. P. L., Cleveland, O. 

Haven, Georgetta, Cataloger P. L., Cincinnati, O. 

Haven, Phebe P., 3575 Eden Ave., Cincinnati, O. 

Hawkins, Emma J., student N. Y. State L. S., Al- 
bany, N. Y. 

Hawkins, Mrs. George, Malone, N. Y. 

Hawley, Frances B., Supt. Branches and Appren- 
tices, P. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Hawley, Mary Elizabeth, Cataloger The John 
Crerar L., Chicago, 111. 

Hayes, Edith Bancroft, Asst. P. L., Somerville, 
Mass. 

Haynes, Emily M., Ln. Joshua Hyde L., Sturbridge, 
Mass. Student Drexel Institute L. S. 

Haynes, Frances E., Asst. Ln., Mt. Holyoke Coll. 
L., So. Hadley, Mass. 

Hazeltine, Mary Emogene, Ln. James Prendergast 
L., Jamestown, N. Y. 

Heath, Rose, Asst. P. L., Brookline, Mass. 

Heatwole, Mrs. Ella R., Ln. P. L., Goshen, Ind. 

Hedge, Frederic H., ex-Ln., Brookline, Mass. 

Hellings, Emma L., Philadelphia, Pa. 

Hammings, Anita, Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Henderson, Maud R., Asst. P. L., N. Y. City. 

Henry, W. E., Ln. State L., Indianapolis, Ind. 

Hensel, Martin, Ln. P. Sch. L., Columbus, O. 

Hepburn, William M., student N. Y. State L. S., 
Albany N. Y. 

Herbert, Clara Wells, Asst. P. L., Bush wick Br., 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Herron, Leonora E., Ln. Hampton Inst. L., Hamp- 
tpn, Va. 

Hewett, Jane A., Ln. Morrell Mem. L., Norwood, 
Mass.- 

Hewins, Mrs. C. A., West Roxbury, Mass. 

Hewins, Caroline M., Ln. P. L., Hartford, Conn. 

Hewins, Lucy C., West Roxbury, Mass. 

Hicks, Mrs. J., Calhoun Falls, S. C. 

Higbee, Mrs. E. W., 6 West St., Northampton, 
Mass. 

Hildebrand, Lee B., Asst. P. L., St, Louis, Mo. 

Hill, Frank Pierce, Ln. P. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Hill, Frank Pierce, Jr., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Hill, Harriet F., Asst. Ln. City L., Lowell, Mass. 

Hinckley, George L., Asst. Forbes L., Northamp- 
ton, Mass. 

Hine, J. William, Art Metal Construction Co., 406 
Tremont Blrlg., Boston, Mass. 

Hitchcock, Grace L., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Hitchler, Theresa, Supt. of Cataloging, P. L., Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 

Hoagland, Merica, Library Organizer of Indiana 
P. L. Commission, Indianapolis, Ind. 

Hodge, Mrs. Harriet Evans, Ln. Univ. of Cincinnati 
L., Cincinnati, O. 

Hodges, Nathaniel Dana Carlile, Ln. P. L., Cincin- 
nati, O. 

Hollingworth, Ida F., Cataloger P. L., Dover, N. H. 



Holston, Isabel, Ln. Deptford Institute F. L., Wood- 
bury, N. J. 

Hooper, Louisa M., Ln. P. L., Brookline, Mass. 
Hopkins, Anderson Hoyt, Asst. Ln. The John 

Crerar L., Chicago, 111. 
Hopkins, Mrs. Anderson H., Evanston, 111. 
Hosmer, Dr. James Kendall, Ln. P. L. f Minneapolis, 

'Minn., and First Vice- President A. L. A. 
Hough ton, Celia M., Littleton, Mass., student N. Y. 

State L. S. 
Houghton, Miss E. G., 191 Commonwealth Ave., 

Boston, Mass. 

Houghton, John C., Ln. F. P. L., Lynn, Mass. 
Hume, Jessie F., Ln. Queen's Borough L., L. I. 

City, N. Y. 
Humphrey, Gertrude Priscilla, Organizer P. L., 

Lansing, Mich. 
Humphrey, L. D., with Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 

Boston, Mass. 
Hunkins, Grace Hamilton, Asst. P. L., Haverhill, 

Mass. 

Hunt, Clara W., Children's Ln . F. P. L., Newark, N. J. 
Hunt, Edward B., Chief Cataloger P. L., Boston, 

Mass. 

Hurter, Florence D., Asst. P. L., Somerville, Mass. 
Husted, Harriet F., Ln. Y. W. C. A. L., N. Y. City. 
Hutchins, Fernald, Asst. P. L., Boston. 
Hutchins, Frank A., Sec. Wis. F. L. Com., Madi- 
son, Wis. 
Hutchinson, Susan A., Ln. Brooklyn Inst. Museum 

L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

lies, George, Park Ave. Hotel, N. Y. City. 
Isbister, Jennie E., Asst. P. L., Cleveland, O. 
Isom, Mary Frances, Ln. L. Assoc., Portland, 

Oregon. 
Jackson, Rev. George A., Ln. General Theological 

L., Boston, Mass. 

Jahr, Torstein, Cataloger L. of Congress, Washing- 
ton, D. C. 
James, Hannah P., Ln. Osterhout F. L., Wilkes- 

barre, Pa. 
James, Miss M. S. R., Ln. Library Bureau, Boston, 

Mass. 
James, William John, Ln. Wesleyan Univ. L., 

Middletown, Conn. 
Janvrin, Charles E., Hampton Falls, N. H., 

student Drexel Inst L. S. 
Jencks, Charles W., Providence, R. I. 
Jenkins, Beatrice M., Asst. P. L., Dover, N. H. 
Jenks, Edwin M., student N. Y. State L. S., Albany, 

N. Y. 
Johnson, Miss A. L., Asst. Parlin Mem. L., Everett, 

Mass. 

Johnson, Arolyn L., Asst. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 
Johnson, Edith, Leavenworth, Kan. 
Johnson, Ellen L., Ln. Parlin Mem. L., Everett, 

Mass. 
Johnson, Mrs. G. G., 58 Church St., Hartford, 

Conn. 
Johnson, Mary Hannah, Ln. Carnegie L., Nashville, 

Tenn. 
Johnson, Ortha B., Asst. Ln. P. L., Leavenworth, 

Kan. 
Johnston, Charles D., Ln. Cossitt L., Memphis, 

Tenn. 
Johnston, Dunkin V. R., Ref. Ln. State L., Albany, 

N. Y. 



262 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Johnston, Mrs. Dunkin V. R., Albany, N. Y. 

Jones, E. Louise, Cataloger P. L., North Andover, 
Mass. 

Jones, Gardner Maynard, Ln. P. L., Salem, Mass., 
and Treas. A. L. A. 

Jones, Mrs. Gardner M., Salem, Mass. 

Jones, Mrs. J. A., San Antonio, Texas, student 
Drexel Inst. L. S. 

Jones, Ralph K., Ln. Univ. of Maine, Orono, Me. 

Jordan, Alice M., Children's Ln. P. L., Boston, 
Mass. 

Josephson, Aksel Gustav Salomon, Cataloger The 
John Crerar L., Chicago, 111. 

Judd, Lewis Strong, Asst. Ln. P. L., N. Y. City. 

Katz, Louise W., student N. Y. State L. S., Albany, 
N. Y. 

Kautz, F. R., Trustee Butler Coll. L. (address care 
Bowen Merrill Co., Indianapolis, Ind.). 

Kavana, Julia D. W., Ln. P. L., Wendell, Mass. 

Keefer, Jessie G., Asst. P. L., Scranton, Pa. 

Keenan, John J., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Keenan, Matthew T., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Keller, Helen Rex, Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Kelley, Helen T., Supt. of Circulation P. L., De- 
troit, Mich. 

Kellogg, Louise Phelps, Asst. Wis. State Hist. Soc., 
Madison, Wis. 

Kellogg, Paul C., Remington typewriter, Boston, 
Mass. 

Kelly, H. J., Tr. P. L., Toronto, Ont., Canada. 

Kelly, Airs. H. J., Toronto, Ont., Canada. 

Kelso, Tessa L., with Baker & Taylor Co., 33 Union 
Sq., N. Y. City. 

Kennard, Louise, Training Class, Carnegie L., Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 

Kent, Henry W., Ln. Grolier Club, 29 E. 32d St., 
N. Y. City. 

Keogh, Andrew, Ref. Ln. Yale Univ. L., New 
Haven, Conn. 

Kerr, Helen J., Asst. P. L. , Maiden, Mass. 

Kerr, Willis H., Sec. Bellevue Coll., Bellevue, 
Neb. 

Keyes, Virginia M., Ln. Town L., Lancaster, 
Mass. 

Kilburn, Mrs. Harriet M., 192 Marlborough St., 
Boston, Mass. 

Kimball, W. C., Tr. P. L., Passaic, N. J., Chairman 
N. J. L. Commission, Trenton, N. J. 

King, Ellen, 1st Asst. F. L. of Philadelphia, German- 
town Br., Germantown, Pa. 

Kingman, Helene Agnes, Cataloger F. P. L., Tren- 
ton, N. J. 

Kinsman, Carrie H., Asst. P. L., Salem, Mass. 

Kirkland, Marion P., Ln. Gary L., Lexington, 
Mass. 

Kite, Agnes C., Ln. F. L., West Phila. Br., Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

Knight, Marion A., Classifier, Carnegie L., Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 

Koch, Theodore Wesley, Asst. L. of Congress, 
Washington, D. C. 

Koopman, Harry Lyman, Ln. Brown Univ. L., 
Providence, R. 1. 

Koster, Caroline Louise, Children's Ln. Carnegie 
L., Mt. Washington Br., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Kroeger, Alice Bertha, Ln. Drexel Inst. L., Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 



Kyle, Bertha G., Asst. City L., Lowell, Mass. 
Kyle, Clara A., Asst. Ln., Parlin Mem. L., Everett, 

Mass. 

Lamb, Eliza, Ln. Western Coll., Oxford, O. 
Lambert, Cecelia C., Ln. P. L., Passaic, N. J. 
Lamprey, Mary L., Ln. Ames F. L., North Easton, 

Mass. 

Lane, Belle, St. Louis, Mo. 
Lane, Mrs. C.' M., Cambridge, Mass. 
Lane, Mrs. Evelyn N., Chief Issue Dept. City L., 

Springfield, Mass. 
Lane, Lucius Page, Cataloger P. L., Boston, 

Mass. 
Lane, William Coolidge, Ln. Harvard Coll. L., 

Cambridge, Mass. 
Larsen, Martha, Asst. Deichmanske Bibliothek, 

Kristiania, Norway, student N. Y. State L. S. 
Lawrence, Etta F., Asst. P. L., New Bedford, 

Mass. 

Leach, Margaret, Ln., No. Brookfield, Mass 
Learned, Lucie A., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Lease, Evelyn S., Asst. Kellogg Hubbard L., Mont- 

pelier, Vt. 

Leavitt, Luella K., Asst P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Le Clear, Minnie, Asst. P. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Lee, Francis H., Tr. P. L., Petersham, Mass. 
Lee, G. W., Information and Research Ln., 93 

Federal St., Boston, Mass. 

Lefavour, Henry, Pres. Simmons Coll., 30 Hunting- 
ton Ave., Boston, Mass. 
Le Huray, Louise, Ln. F. L., Summit, N. J. 
Leighton, Mrs. Flora H., Sec'y to Ln. City L., 

Springfield, Mass. 
Leipziger, Henry M., Consulting Ln., Aguilar L., 

113 E. 59th St., N. Y. City. 
Leipziger, Pauline, Ln., Aguilar L., N. Y. City. 
Leonard, Grace Fisher, Asst. Ln. Providence Ath- 

enseum, Providence, R. I. 
Lewis, Kate, West Superior, Wis., student Pratt 

Inst. L. S. 

Libbie, F. J., 646 Washington St., Boston, Mass. 
Lincoln, Roland C., Tr. P. L., Manchester, Mass. 
Lindsay, Mary Boyden, Ln. F. P. L., Evanston, 111. 
Little, George T., Ln. Bowdoin Coll. L., Brunswick, 

Me. 
Livermore, Mrs. Susan E., Asst. Charlestown Br. 

P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Locke, John S., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Lochman, Harriet D., Asst. P. L., Cambridge, 

Mass. 
Lord, Isabel Ely, Ln. Bryn Mawr Coll. L., Bryn 

Mawr, Pa. 

Loring, Katharine P., Pride's Crossing, Mass. 
Lowell, James A., Training Class, City L., Spring- 
field, Mass. 

Lyman, Alice, Asst. State L., Albany, N. Y. 
Lyman, Bertha H., Asst. P. L., Providence, R. I. 
Lyman, Mary E., Trustee Levi E. Coe P. L., Mid- 

dlefield, Conn. 

Lynde, Sarah A., Tr. and Assoc. Ln. P. L., Stone- 
ham, Mass. 

McCaine, Mrs. Helen J., Ln. P. L., St. Paul, Minn. 
McConnell, Lilian B., Merrimac, Mass. 
McCullough, Elizabeth, Ln. Logansport, Ind. 
McCurdy, Robert Morrill, student N. Y. State L. S., 

Albany, N. Y. 
McDevitt, Cora E., Book-dealer, N. Y. City. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



263 



McDowell, Grace E., Asst. P. L., Bushwick Br., 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 
McGuffey, Margaret D., Chief Issue Dept. P. L., 

Boston, Mass. 

Mclntire, Elizabeth H., Asst. P. L., Salem, Mass. 
Mclntire, Mary A., Asst. Harvard Coll. L., Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 
Mackay, Margaret S., Asst. McGill Univ. L., 

Montreal, Can. 

Mackay, Susan H., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
McKee, Miss, Asst. P. L., Kalamazoo, Mich. 
McKinnon, Barbara, Asst. Carey L., Lexington, 

Mass. 
McKirdy, Alice E., ist Asst. So. End Br. P. L., 

Boston, Mass. 
McMahon, Rev. Joseph H., Director Cathedral L., 

N. Y. City. 

McMillan, Mary, Asst. P. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
McMillan, Elizabeth McN., Children's Ln. P. L., 

Scranton, Pa. 
McMullen, Grace L., Filer Columbia Univ. L., 

N. Y. City. 
McRitchie, Euphemia D., Hillsdale, Mich., student 

Drexel Inst. L. S. 
Macrum, Mary F., Chief Loan Dept., Carnegie L., 

Pittsburgh, Pa. 

McSweeney, M. Agnes, Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Macurdy, Theodosia E., Chief Order Dept. P. L., 

Boston, Mass. 

Mahoney, Jeremiah T., Tr. P. L., Salem, Mass. 
Maiers, William C., Jr., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Malkan, Henry, Bookseller, I William St., N. Y. 

City. 
Maltbie, Anne L., Cataloger State L., Hartford, 

Conn. 
Maltby, Mrs. Silas B., Children's Ln. P. L., Buffalo, 

N. Y. 
Mann, Olive L., student N. Y. State L. S., Albany, 

N. Y. 
Manning, Richard C., Pres. Salem Athenaeum, 

Salem, Mass. 
Mansfield, Mrs. Julia W., Cataloger Harvard Coll. 

L., Cambridge, Mass. 
Marsh, Alice F., Dedham, Mass. 
Marsh, Lillian A., Asst. F. P. L., Newark, N. J. 
Marsh, Louise T., Asst. Ln. P. L., Dedham, Mass. 
Marsh, Louise V., Asst. Robbins L., Arlington, 

Mass. 
Martel, Charles, Asst. L. of Congress, Washington, 

D. C. 
Marvin, George R., student N. Y. State L. S., 

Albany, N.Y. 

Mason, Edith H., ist Asst. P. L., Pawtucket, R. I. 
Mason, Ethel W , Asst. L. of Congress, Washington, 

D. C. 

Masters, Lydia W., Asst. P. L., Watertown, Mass. 
Mastin, Mary E., Ln. Fletcher Mem. L., Ludlovv, 

Vt. 

Matthews, Harriet L., Ln. P. L., Lynn, Mass. 
Mayberry, Bertha R., Asst. P. L., Bangor, Me. 
Mayberry, Carrie C., Asst. P. L., Bangor, Me. 
Mayhew, Esther M., Asst. P. L., Somerville, Mass. 
Medlicott, Mary, Ref. Ln. City L., Springfield, 

Mass. 
Mellen, Helen L., Ln. Tufts Coll. L., Medford, 

Mass. 



Merrill, Bertha H., Bookbuyer and Cataloger P. L. 

of Calumet & Hecla Mining Co., Calumet, 

Mich. (Address i2Ashburton Place, Boston, 

Mass.) 

Merrill, Ella F., Asst. P. L., Maiden, Mass. 
Merrill, Mrs. Emily A., Cambridge, Mass. 
Merrill, Frederick W., Tr. P. L., Amesbury, Mass. 
Meyer, Emma, Ln. P. L , Delphi, Ind. 
Meyer, Hermann H. B., student Pratt Inst. L. S., 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Middleton, Jean Young, Ln. Apprentices' L., Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

Miersch, Ella E., Ln. P. L., Southbridge, Mass. 
Miller, Eva L., Springfield, Mass. 
Miller, Grace, Ln. D. A. Wells Economic L. ; City 

L., Springfield, Mass. 

Miller, Mabel Heath, Asst. P. L., Haverhill, Mass. 
Mitchell, Gertrude E., Cataloger F. P. L., New 

Haven, Conn. 

Mitchell, Sydney B., Asst. McGill Univ. L., Mon- 
treal, Canada. 
Moffat, Mary, Asst. L. of Congress, Washington, 

D. C. 
Montgomery, Thomas L., Ln. Wagner Free Inst., 

Philadelphia, Pa. 
Moody, Henrietta, Sweetser Sch. L., Thornton 

Academy, Saco, Me. 

Mooney, George V., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Mooney, Katherine G., Asst. West End Br. P. L., 

Boston, Mass. 
Moore, Annie Carroll, Children's Ln. Pratt Inst. 

L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Morrison, Homer, Asst. P. L., Quincy, Mass. 
Morrison, Mrs. Mary, 31 Massachusetts Ave., Bos- 
ton, Mass. 

Morse, Anna Louise, Millbury, Mass. 
Morse, Carrie L., Custodian West Roxbury Br. P. L., 

Boston, Mass. 

Morse, Maud M., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Morton, A. Louise, Cataloger City L., Springfield, 

Mass. 

Moulton, John Grant, Ln. P. L., Haverhill, Mass. 
Mudge, Isadore Gilbert, Ref. Ln. Univ. of 111. L., 

Champaign, 111. 

Mulliken, Clara, Asst. State Univ. L., Lincoln, Neb. 
Mullon, Lydia, Lincoln, Neb., student N. Y. State 

L. S. 

Mullon, Mrs. O. A., Lincoln, Neb. 
Murray, Grace L., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Myler, Mary, Ln. P. L. Branch No. I., Detroit, 

Mass. 

Neill, Ella F., Asst. P. L., Milton, Mass. 
Nelson, Charles Alexander, Ref. Ln. Columbia 

Univ. L., N. Y. City. 

Nelson, Peter, Asst. State L., Albany, N. Y. 
Newell, Louise E., Classifier City L., Manchester, 

N. H. 

Newhall, Emma E., Ln. F. P. L., Saugus, Mass. 
Newhall, Mrs. Henry E., 56 Rutland Sq., Boston, 

Mass. 
Newman, Alice H., Ann Arbor, Mich., student 

Drexel Inst. L. S. 
Newton, Miss E. J., Ln. Robbins L., Arlington, 

Mass. 
Nicholl, Mary Wylie, Ln. Bellevue Coll. L., Belle- 

vue, Neb. 



264 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Nichols, Adelaide A., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Nichols, Emma O., Ln. Gary Br. L., East Lexington, 

Mass. 
Norcross, F. Mabel, Cataloger P. L., Somerville, 

Mass. 

Nutting, George E., Ln. P. L., Fitchburg, Mass. 
Nye, Elizabeth C., Ln. Sturgis L., Barnstable, 

Mass. 
Oakley, Christina Van Allen, Asst. F. L., Newburgh, 

N. Y. 
Oakley, Minnie M. f Asst. Ln. Wis. State Hist. Soc., 

Madison, Wis. 

Oberly, Beatrice C., Ln. Bureau of Animal Indus- 
try, Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
Odell, Helen P., Ln.-in-charge P. L., Williamsburgh 

Br., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Olcott, Frances Jenkins, Chief Children's Dept., 

Carnegie L., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Osborn, Mrs. Anna F., Hartland, Me. 
Osborn, Emily B., Asst. Boston Athenaeum, Boston, 

Mass. 
Osborn, Lyman P., Ln. Peabody Inst., Peabody, 

Mass. 
Osborn, Mrs. Lyman P., Curator and Ln. Peabody 

Hist. Soc., Peabody, Mass. 

Osborne, Robert W., with D. Appleton & Co., Bos- 
ton, Mass. 
Overton, Florence, Asst. Ln. P. L., Yorkville Br., 

N. Y. City. 

Owen, Esther B., Asst. P. L., Hartford, Conn. 
Packard, Mary F., Asst. Ln. P. L., Lawrence, Mass. 
Page, Walter H., of Doubleday, Page & Co., N. Y. 

City. 

Palmer, Alice G., Asst. P. L., Milton, Mass. 
Palmer, Bertha, Ln. Brearley Sch., N. Y. City. 
Palmer, Henrietta R., 292 Rugby St., Providence, 

R.I. 
Palmer, W. Millard, Bookseller, Grand Rapids, 

Mich. 

Parham, Nellie E., Ln. Withers P. L., Blooming- 
ton, 111. 

Parker, Bessie L, Asst. P. L., Dover, N. H. 
Parker, Haida M., Asst. P. L., Cambridge, Mass. 
Parker, S. R., Asst. Cooper Union L., N. Y. City. 
Parker, William A., with Damrell & Upham, Boston, 

Mass. 

Parshley, Lillian E., Ln. P. L., Rochester, N. H. 
Parsons, A. J., Chief of Div. of Prints, L. of Con- 
gress, Washington, D. C. 

Partridge, Myra R., Ln. Morse Inst., Natick, Mass. 
Patch, Mrs. Emily D., Ln. Peabody Inst., Danvers, 

Mass. 
Patten, Frank Chauncey, 61 Wall St., Kingston, 

N. Y. 

Patterson, Marian, student N. Y. State L. S., Al- 
bany, N. Y. 

Patton, Norman S., Architect, Chicago, 111. 
Paul, Florence, Asst. P. L., Medford, Mass. 
Pearson, Kate O., student Pratt Inst. L. S., Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 

Pease, Grace, Ln. Field Mem. L., Conway, Mass. 
Peck, Dr. Elizabeth, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Peck, Nina A., Asst. P. L., Cleveland, O. 
Peckham, Dr. George W., Ln. P. L., Milwaukee, 

Wis. 

Peoples, William Thaddeus, Ln. Mercantile L., 
N. Y. City. 



Pepper, Elsie L., Asst. State L., Albany, N. Y. 
Perley, Clarence W., Classifier The John Crerar L., 

Chicago, 111. 

Perry, Lucy Ware, Salem, Mass. 
Pettee, Julia E., Asst. Vassar Coll. L., Poughkeep- 

sie, N. Y. 

Petty, Annie F., Ln. State Normal Coll. L., Greens- 
boro, N. C. 

Phillips, Mary E., Ln. P. L., Oneonta, N. Y. 
Phillips, LeRoy, with Ginn & Co., Boston, Mass. 
Pierce, Col. A. E., Tr. P. L., Pawtucket, R. I. 
Pierce, Frances, Asst. Northwestern Univ. L., Evans- 
ton, 111. 
Piper, William Taggard, Tr. P. L., Cambridge, 

Mass. 

Plummer, Mary Wright, Ln. and Director Pratt In- 
stitute F. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Poirier, Lydia M., Ln. P. L., Duluth, Minn. 
Poland, Myra, Asst. Ln. Osterhout F. L., Wilkes- 

Barre, Pa. 

Pollock, Mary H., Asst. P. L., Salem, Mass. 
Pond, Nancy M., Ln. Peck L., Norwich, Ct. 
Pope, Alice E., Cataloger Harvard Coll. L., Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 

Porter, W. T., Tr. P. L., Cincinnati, O. 
Pospishill, Lillian, Children's Ln., Cedar Rapids, la. 
Potter, Alfred C., Asst. Harvard Coll. L., Cambridge, 

Mass. 

Power, Erne Louise, Children's Ln. P. L., Cleve- 
land, O. 

Prentice, Alice M., Asst. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 
Prescott, Annie, Ln. P. L., Auburn, Me. 
Price, Helen U., Kent, Ohio. 
Puffer, Dorothy, Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Pugsley, Maud Mary, Acting Ln., Adams Mem. L., 

Wheaton, 111. 
Purinton, Pearle L., Cataloger Parlin L., Everett, 

Mass. 

Putnam, Beatrice, Ln. F. P. L., Uxbridge, Mass. 
Putnam, Herbert, Ln. of Congress, Washington, 

D. C. 

Quimby, Cora A., Ln. P. L., Winchester, Mass. 
Rabardy, Etta L., Asst. Boston Athenaeum, Boston, 

Mass. 

Rae, Nellie L., Asst. P. L., Fall River, Mass. 
Rahn, Lucy, Asst. P. L., St. Paul, Minn. 
Randall, Clara H., Asst. Morse Inst., Natick, 

Mass. 

Rankin, George W., Ln. P. L., Fall River, Mass. 
Rantoul, Robert S., Pres. Essex Inst., Salem, Mass. 
Raub, Ruth D., Asst. Purdue Univ. L., Lafayette, 

Ind. 

Ray, Elizabeth C., ist Asst. P. L., Holyoke, Mass. 
Ray, Frances K., student N. Y. State L. S., Albany, 

N. Y. 
Ray, Richard, Jr., Ln. Boston Y. M. C. Union L., 

Boston, Mass. 

Ray, Mrs. Richard, Boston, Mass. 
Read, Carrie E., ex-Ln., Littleton, Mass. 
Reed, Mrs. Elizabeth T., Custodian P. L., Dorches- 
ter Br., Boston, Mass. 
Reed, George E., Ln. Penn. State L., Harrisburg, 

Pa. 

Rezner, Adaline T., Asst. P. L., Cleveland, O. 
Rice, Mrs. Harry R., Lowell, Mass. 
Richardson, Miss, Asst. P. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Richmond, Lucy C., Ln. P. L., Adams, Mass. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



265 



Rick, Bertha E., Jamestown, N. Y., student Drexel 
Inst. L. S. 

Ricker, Ella W., Ln. Fogg Mem. L., South Ber- 
wick, Me. 

Ridgeway, Edith, Asst. F. L., Philadelphia, Pa. 

Ritchie, John, Ln. Appalachian Mt. Club, Boston, 
Mass. 

Ritter, Jessie L., Asst. P. L., Cleveland, O. 

Robbins, Mary Esther, Asst. P. L., Brookline, 
Mass. 

Roberts, Flora B., Cataloger State L., Lansing, 
Mich. 

Robinson, Alice M., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Robinson, John, Tr. P. L., Salem, Mass. 

Robinson, Mabel F., Cataloger P. L., Cincinnati, 
O. 

Roden, Carl B., Supt. Ordering Dept. P. L., Chi- 
cago, 111. 

Rodgers, Anna H., Asst. State L., Albany, N. Y. 

Rogers, Florence S., 30 Brainerd St., New London, 
Conn. 

Root, Azariah Smith, Ln. OberlinColI. L., Oberlin, O. 

Root, Mrs. Mary E. S., Children's Ln. P. L., Prov- 
idence, R. I. 

Ropes, Rev. William Ladd, Ln. Andover Theolog- 
ical Seminary, Andover, Mass. 

Rose, Alice L., Asst. Forbes L., Northampton, 
Mass. 

Rosenthal, Herman, Asst. P. L., Astor L., N. Y. 
City. 

Rule, Elizabeth E., Asst. P. L., Lynn, Mass. 

Russell, Mable M., Concord, N. H. 

Sackett, Gertrude, Asst. Carnegie L., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Sanborn, Alice E., Ln. Wells Coll. L., Aurora, 
N. Y. 

Sanders, Mrs. Minerva A., Ln. P. L., Pawtucket, 
R.I. 

Sargent, Abbie L., Ref. Ln. P. L., Medford, Mass. 

Sargent, Mary E., Ln. P. L., Medford, Mass. 

Sawyer, Esther W., Asst. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 

Sawyer, Ida E., Cataloger, Northwestern Univ. L., 
Evanston, 111. 

Sawyer, Jessie S., Evanston, 111., student Drexel 
Inst. L. S. 

Sawyer, Mary, Tr. and Ln. P. L., Boxford, Mass. 

Saxe, Mary S., Ln. P. L., Westmount, P. Q., Can- 
ada. 

Schmidt, Alfred F. W., Asst. L. of Congress, Wash- 
, ington, D. C. 

Scott, Mrs. Adele C. Reed, 106 E. Green St., 
Champaign, 111. 

Scott, Angeline, Ln. P. L., South Norwalk, Conn. 

Scott, W., 10 Hollis St., Cambridge, Mass. 

Sears, Alice W., Asst. P. L., Somerville, Mass. 

Secombe, Annabell C., Milford, N. H. 

Seemuller, Mary, Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Seymour, May, Education Ln., State L., Albany, 
N. Y. 

Sharp, Katharine L., Head Ln. and Director of 
L. S., Univ. of 111., Urbana, 111. 

Shattuck, Mrs. M. F., Lawrence L., Pepperell, 

Mass. 

Shaw, Bertha M., Ln. Maclure L., Pittsford, Vt. 
Shaw, Laurence M., Asst. P. L., Providence, R. I. 
Shaw, R. K., Asst. L. of Congress, Washington, 
D. C. 



Shaw, R. T., New Eng. Manager Art Metal Con- 
struction Co., Boston, Mass. 

Shepard, Alice, 1st Asst. City L., Springfield, Mass., 

Shepard, Mrs. Harriet A., Ln. Beebe Town L. 
Wakefield, Mass. 

Sheridan, Margaret A., Custodian South End Br. 
P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Sheridan, Mary C., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Sherrill, Grace M., Asst. P. L., Utica, N. Y. 

Shippen, Rev. Rush R., Tr. P. L., Brockton, Mass. 

Shumway, Marion H., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Sickley, John C., Ln. Adriance Mem. L., Pough- 
keepsie, N. Y. 

Siddall, Lucy L., Ln. P. L., East Bridgewater, 
Mass. 

Simmons, Edith O., Asst. City L., Manchester, 
N. H. 

Simpson, Frances, Head Cataloger Univ. of 111. 
L., Champaign, 111. 

Simpson, Medora J., Ln. Fitz P. L., Chelsea, 
Mass. 

Slater, Ruth, Tr. P. L., Webster, Mass. 

Small, M. Louise, Asst. P. L., Maiden, Mass. 

Smith, Adele, Asst. Ln. P. L., Somerville, Mass. 

Smith, Anne A., Ln. City L., Chicopee, Mass. 

Smith, Bessie S., Lh. Carnegie-Stout L., Dubuque, 
la. 

Smith, Caroline, Ln. Newton Theol. Inst., Newton, 
Mass. 

Smith, Claribel, Asst. City L., Springfield, Mass. 

Smith, Cora, Ln. Polytechnic Inst., Worcester, 
Mass. 

Smith, Mrs. Emily B., Asst. Ln. P. L., Amesbury, 
Mass. 

Smith, George Dana, Asst. Amherst Coll. L., Am- 
herst, Mass. 

Smith, Martha P., Ln. P. L., Beverly, Mass. 

Smith, Mary Alice, Asst. State L., Albany, N. Y. 

Smith, Nellie M., Asst. Ln. Dyer L., Saco, Me. 

Smith, Winifred B., Asst. P. L., Cambridge, Mass. 

Snyder, Mary B., Williamsport, Pa., student Drexel 
Inst. L. S. 

Solberg, Thorvald, Register of Copyrights, L. of 
Congress, Washington, D. C. 

Sornborger, Harriet B., Ln. Bancroft Mem. L., 
Hopedale, Mass. 

Soule, Charles Carroll, ex-Tr., Pres. The Boston Book 
Co., 83-91 Francis St., Back Bay, Boston, Mass. 

Speck, Mrs. Laura, Asst. P. L., St. Louis, Mo. 

Spencer, Mrs. Mary C., Ln. State L., Lansing, 
Mich. 

Springall, Lizzie S., Ln. Town L., Dexter, Me. 

Squires, Norma M., Asst. P. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Stanley, Harriet Howard, School Ref. Ln. P. L., 
Brookline, Mass. 

Staples, Harriet W., Asst. Boston Athenaeum, Bos- 
ton, Mass. 

Steiner, Bernard C., Ln. Enoch Pratt F. L., Balti- 
more, Md. 

Stevens, Alice B., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Stewart, Cora L., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 

Stewart, Irene, Asst. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 

Stewart, Rose Gammill, Cataloger F. L., Philadel- 
phia, Pa. 

Stimson, Florence, The Auburndale, Mt. Auburn, 
Cincinnati, O. 



266 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



Stockwell, George Watson Cutler, Ln. Westfield 

Athenaeum, Westfield, Mass. 
Stockwell, Mrs. G. W. C., Westfield, Mass. 
Stone, Mrs. Alice H., Ln. Salem Athenaeum, Salem, 

Mass. 
Stone, Anna L., Ln. of Children's Room, P. L., 

Somerville, Mass. 
Stone, William Carlos, Custodian Periodical Room, 

City L., Springfield, Mass. 

Story, Alice, Asst. Magnolia L., Magnolia, Mass. 
Strohm, Adam, Ln. P. L., Trenton, N. J. 
Stuart, Mrs. Charles B., Connersville, Ind. 
Stuart, May, Indianapolis, Ind. 
Stuart, William H., Leary's Book Store, Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

Stuart, Mrs. William H., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Swain, Mary P., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Swift, Lindsay, Editor, P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Taber, Josephine, student N. Y. State L. S., Albany, 

N. Y. 
Taintor, Mabel G., Asst. Forbes L., Northampton, 

Mass. 
Tarbell, M. Anna, Tr. and Ln. F. P. L. Brimfield, 

Mass. 

Tarlton, Mrs. L. B., Watertown, Mass. 
Taube, Albert, with McClure, Phillips & Co., N. Y. 

City. 

Taylor, Ida M., Asst. City L., Springfield, Mass. 
Teggart, Frederick J., Ln. Mechanics' Inst., San 

Francisco, Cal. 
Temple, Henrietta B., Children's Ln. Parlin Mem. L., 

Everett, Mass. 

Temple, Mabel, Ln. P. L., North Adams, Mass. 
Tenney, Mary A., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Terwilliger, Mary S., Asst. F. P. L. Worcester, Mass. 
Thayer, Maude, Asst. Ln. State L., Springfield, 111. 
Thomas, Dr. Joseph Conable, Methodist L., N. Y. 

City. 

Thomas, Nellie, Ln. P. L., Plymouth, Mass. 
Thompson, Annie, Cataloger Millicent L., Fair- 
haven, Mass. 

Thompson, Bertha M., Asst. P. L., Providence, R. I. 
Thompson, Helen M., Asst. L. of Congress, Wash- 
ington, D. C., student New York State L. S. 
Thompson, Leda J., Ln. and Tr. Richards Mem. 

L., North Attleboro, Mass. 
Thomson, John, Ln. F. L., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Thornton, Elizabeth T., Ln. Magnolia L., Magnolia, 

Mass. 

Thorp, Mrs. O. S., Lansing, Mich. 
Thurston, Ada, Ln. P. L., Belmont, Mass. 
Thurston, Charlotte W., West Newton, Mass. 
Thurston, Elsie L., Asst. P. L., Brockton, Mass. 
Thurston, Elizabeth P., Ln. F. P. L., Newton, 

Mass. 

Thurston, Mary D., Ln. P. L., Leicester, Mass. 
Tillinghast, William H., Asst. Ln. Harvard Coll. L., 

Cambridge, Mass. 

Tillinghast, Mrs. William H., Cambridge, Mass. 
Titcomb, Mary Lemist, Ln. Washington co. F. L., 

Hagerstown, Md. 
Titus, Ella G., Asst. Harvard Coll. L., Cambridge, 

Mass. 

Tobitt, Edith, Ln. P. L., Omaha, Neb. 
Tower, Ruth N., Ln. Fogg L., South Weymouth, 

Mass. 



Tracy, Dorcas, Asst. Forbes L., Northampton, 

Mass. 

Travis, Edward W., Bookseller, Salem, Mass. 
Tripp, George N., Ln. P. L., New Bedford, Mass. 
Tripp, Mrs. George N., New Bedford, Mass. 
Trube, Bertha, Ln. Woman's Inst., Yonkers, N. Y. 
Trumbull, Jonathan, Ln. Otis L., Norwich, Conn. 
Tucker, Ethelyn M., Cataloger Harv. Coll. L., 

Cambridge, Mass. 
Tufts, Percy H., Asst. Harvard Coll. L., Cambridge, 

Mass. 

Turner, Emily, Ln. P. L., Oshkosh, Wis. 
Tweedel, Edward D., Asst. P. L., Providence, R. I. 
Tyaoke, Margaret, P. L., Walpole, Mass. 
Tyler, A. W., ex-Ln., Plainfield, N. J. 
Tyler, Jessie E., Asst. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 
Underbill, Adelaide, Ref. Ln. Vassar Coll., Pough- 

keepsie, N. Y. 

Underbill, Caroline Melvin, Ln. P. L., Utica, N. Y. 
Upham, William P., 90 Highland Ave., Newton- 

ville, Mass. 
Upton, Gertrude, Asst. Dept. of Agriculture L., 

Washington, D. C. 
Van der Carr, Sara C., Ln. Loring Reading Room, 

North Plymouth, Mass. 

Van Hoevenberg, Elizabeth, Ln. Ferguson L., Stam- 
ford, Conn. 
Van Name, Addison, Ln. Yale Univ. L., New 

Haven, Conn. 

Virgin, Edward H., Asst. Harv. Coll. L., Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 
Von Briesen, Henriette, Ln. P. L., Columbus, 

Wis. 
Wade, Edith S., student N. Y. State L. S., Albany, 

N. Y. 
Wagner, Sula, Chief Cataloger P. L., St. Louis, 

Mo. 

Wait, Marie Fox, 68 E. -jjih St., N. Y. City. 
Wales, Elizabeth B., Ln. F. L., Quincy, 111. 
Wales, Mrs. Harriot B., Quincy, 111. 
Walkley, Ellen O., Custodian P. L., East Boston 

Br., Boston, Mass. 

Wallace, Anne, Ln. Carnegie L., Atlanta, Ga. 
Wallace, Eugenia, A.sst. Columbia Coll. L., N. Y. 

City. 

Wallis, Mary V., Cataloger P. L., N. Y. City. 
Walsh, William A., Ln. P. L., Lawrence, Mass. 
Walton, Addie E., Asst. Harv. Coll. L., Cambridge, 

Mass. 
Ward, Ama H., Ln. Harris Inst. L., Woonsocket, 

R. I. 
Ward, Cornelia Brownell, Asst. P. L., Montclair, 

N.J. 
Ward, Langdon L., Supervisor of Branches, P. L., 

Boston, Mass. 

Warner, Anna, ist Asst. P. L., Waltham, Mass. 
Warner, Florence C., Asst. F. P. L., Worcester, 

Mass. 
Warren, Mary Judson, Asst. P. L., Somerville, 

Mass. 
Warren, Mary W., Asst. Ln. P. L., Leicester, 

Mass. 

Waterman, Lucy D., Gorham, Me. 
Waters, Alice G., Essex Inst., Salem, Mass. 
Waters, Caroline E., Chardon, O., student N. Y. 

State L. S. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



267 



Wayne, Ethel, Asst. N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y. 
Weber, Mrs. Jessie Palmer, Ln. State Hist. Soc., 

Springfield, 111. 

Weed, Mrs. Henry, Peabody, Mass. 
Welch, Flora, Asst. P. L., Salem, Mass. 
Welles, Jessie, Supt. of Circulation, Carnegie L., 

Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Wellman, Hiller Crowell, Ln. City L., Springfield, 

Mass. 

Wellman, Mrs. H. C, Springfield, Mass. 
Wells, George D., Asst. Harvard Coll. L., Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 
Welsh, Charles, with D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, 

Mass. 
Welsh, Robert G., Manager Library Dept. Charles 

Scribner's Sons, N. Y. City. 
Wetzel, Bertha Seidl, Cataloger Library Co. of 

Philadelphia, Pa. 
Wetzel, Mary J., Ln. Thomas Beaver L., Danville, 

Pa. 
Wharton, Miriam B., Ryde, Mifflin Co., Pa., student 

Drexel Inst. L. S. 
Wheeler, Florence Ethel, Ln. P. L., Leominster, 

Mass. 

Wheeler, Horace L., Asst. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Wheeler, Martha Thome, Annotator State L., 

Albany, N. Y. 

Whipple, Nellie M., Asst. P. L., Somerville, Mass. 
White, Alice E., Clerk State L., Albany, N. Y. 
White, Alice G., Cataloger Thomas Crane P. L., 

Quincy, Mass. 
White, Andrew C., Asst. Ln. Cornell Univ. L., 

Ithaca, N. Y. 
White, Beulah Sansom, Dept. Ln. Univ. of Pa. L., 

Philadelphia, Pa. 

White, Elizabeth S., Ln. P. L., Weston, Mass. 
White, Gertrude Fitch, Asst. F. P. L., New Haven, 

Conn. 
White, Mrs. Joseph N., Tr. P. L., Winchendon, 

Mass. 

Whiteman, Edna, Asst. P. L., Cleveland, O. 
Whitmore, F. H., Asst. Ln. Bowdoin Coll., Bruns- 
wick, Me. 
Whitney, Mrs. Carrie Westlake, Ln. P. L., Kansas 

City, Mo. 
Whitney, Henry M., Ln. James Blackstone Mem. L., 

Branford, Conn. 

Whitney, Mrs. Henry M., Branford, Conn. 
Whitney, James Lyman, Ln. P. L., Boston, Mass. 
Whitney, James L., 2d, Branford, Conn. 
Whitney, Solon F., Ln. P. L., Watertown, Mass. 
Whittemore, B. A., Asst. State L., Albany, N. Y. 
Whittemore, Edith A., Asst. Robbins L., Arlington, 

Mass. 
Whitten, Robert H., Sociology Ln. State L., Albany, 

N. Y. 

Whitten, Mrs. Robert H., Albany, N. Y. 
Whirtier, Florence, Riverside, Cal., Summer Sch. of 

L. Sci., Univ. of California. 
Whittier, Sara Haseltine, Asst. P. L., Haverhill, 

Mass. 



Whittlesley, Julia M., student N. Y. State L. S., 

Albany, N. Y. 
Wiggin, Pauline G., Ln. Univ. of Virginia, Charlottes- 

ville, Va. 

Wildman, Bertha Selina, Ln. P. L., Madison, N. J. 
Wildman, Gertrude, Boston, Mass. 
Wildman, Linda Frobisher, Cataloger Boston Athen- 

seum, Boston, Mass. 
Wilkerson, Elizabeth B., Cataloger Cossitt L., 

Memphis, Tenn. 
Willard, Mrs. Ashton R., 340 Commonwealth Ave., 

Boston, Mass. 

Willcox, Frank G., Ln. P. L., Holyoke, Mass. 
Williams, Lizzie H., Asst. P. L., Brockton, Mass. 
Williams, Mary, Ln. P. L., Neenah, Wis. 
Williams, Olive, Classifier, Columbia Univ. L., N. Y. 

City. 

Wilson, Mary H., Cataloger P. L., Syracuse, N. Y. 
Winchell, F. Mabel, Ln. City L., Manchester, N. H. 
Winchester, J. H., Ln. Stewart F. L., Corinna, Me. 
Winne, Grace L. M., Clerk State L., Albany, N. Y. 
Winser, Beatrice, Asst. Ln. F. P. L., Newark, N. J. 
Winsor, Mrs. Mary G., Tr. Millicent L., Fairhaven, 

Mass. 
Winterrowd, Miss Gentiliska, Asst. Ln. P. L., Des 

Moines, la. 
Wire, Dr. George E., Deputy Ln. Worcester Co. 

Law L., Worcester, Mass. 
Wise, Flora E., Asst. F. P. L., Newton, Mass. 
Witham, Eliza, Ln.-in-charge P. L., Astral Br., 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Wood, Florence A., Asst. P. L., Fitchburg, Mass. 
Wood, Grace W., Asst. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 
Woodman, C. Belle, ex-Asst. City L., Springfield, 

Mass. 
Woodman, Caroline A., Ln. Bates Coll. L., Lew- 

iston, Me. 

Woodman, Mary S., Asst. P. L., Somerville, Mass. 
Woodruff, Edmund W., Washington, D. C. 
Woodruff, Eleanor B., Ref. Ln. Pratt Inst. F. L., 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Woodworth, Florence, Director's Asst. State L., 

Albany, N. Y. 

Woodworth, Margaret, Mass. Homoeopathic Hos- 
pital, Boston, Mass. 
Wootten, Katharine H., Asst. Carnegie L., Atlanta, 

Ga. 

Worthen, Carrie M., Ln. P. L., Melrose, Mass. 
Wright, Charles E., Whitefield, N. H., Tr. N. H. 

State L. 

Wright, Jennie C., Asst. P. L., Milton, Mass. 
Wright, Purd B., Ln. P. L., St. Joseph, Mo. 
Wyer, Malcolm G., student N. Y. State L. S., 

Albany, N. Y. 

Wyman, A. L., Library Bureau, Boston, Mass. 
Wyman, Mrs. A. L., Boston, Mass. 
Young, Hester, student Pratt Inst. L. S., Brooklyn, 

N. Y. 

Young, Lucy A., Asst. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 
Yust, William F., Asst. State Inspector of Libraries, 

State L., Albany, N. Y. 



268 



MAGNOLIA CONFERENCE. 



ATTENDANCE SUMMARIES. 

BY NINA E. BROWNE, Registrar; Secretary A. L. A. Publishing Board. 
BY POSITION AND SEX. 



Men. Women. Total. 



Trustees and commissioners 40 

Chief librarians 103 

78 

35 

12 

2 

IS 



Assistants 

Commercial agents .... 

Library school students 

College presidents 

Others 



Total 285 

Deduct those counted twice 3 

282 



14 

173 

387 

5 

45 



739 
3 

736 



276 

465 
40 

57 

2 
130 

1,024 

6 
1,018 



BY GEOGRAPHICAL SECTIONS. 

9 of the 9 No. Atlantic states sent 825 



9 So. 

8 So. Central 

8 No. " 

9 Western 
8 Pacific 



36 

5 

130 
ii 

4 



Canada sent 7 

Total 1,018 



BY STATES. 



Me 


26 


Va 


2 


Minn 




N. H 


.... 20 


N. C 


I 


lowc. 




Vt 


8 


s. c 




Mo., 








Ga 


2 


Kan. . . . . 


2 


R. I 


26 


La 


I 


Col 


I 


Conn 


. 3O 


Tenn 




Neb 




N. Y 


..183 


Ohio 


. 34 




I 


Pa 


62 


Ind 


2O 


Cal 


2 


N. T. . 




Ill 


. 32 


Oregon . . 


2 


Md 




Mich 


. 13 






D. C 


26 


Wis 


.... II 






Total . . 










. . I.OlS 



INDBX. 



The colon after the initial of a given name means that is the most common name beginning with that initial, as 
A:, Augustus; B :, Benjamin; C :, Charles; D:, David; E :, Edward; F:, Frederick; G:, George; H :, Henry; I: 
Isaac; J :, John; K:, Karl; L:, Louis; R:, Richard; S:, Samuel; T:, Thomas; W:, William. 



Abbatt, W :, 256. 

Abbot, Etheldred, 256. 

Abbot, Ezra, and Harvard College L. 
catalog (Lane) 187, (A. L. A. Cata- 
log Sec. discussion) 190. 

Abbott, Alvaretta P., 256. 

Adams, Mrs., 256. 

Adams, B :, 256. 

Adler, Cyrus, A. L. A. com. on inter- 
nat. co-operation, 126. 

Ahern, Mary E., 256; proposed pam- 
phlet on normal school libs., 127; 
salary of lib. graduates, 139-140; 
training for lib. organizers, 231,232; 
on Council com. on nominations, 
250. 

Aitkin, Helen J., 256. 

Alabama, Department of Archives 
and History established (Falkner), 

Albro, Sarah E., 256. 

Allen, Carrie S., 256. 

Allen, Letitia S., 256. 

Allen, Mary W., 256. 

Allen, Sylvia M., 256. 

American bibliographical society, 
proposed plan for (Josephson) 62, 
(Johnston) 63, (Fletcher) 151. 

American history, Guide to the litera- 
ture of (Fletcher) 83, 150, (lies) 
151-152, (A. L. A. com. on resolu- 
tions) 171. 

American L. Assoc., president's ad- 
dress (Billings), 1-9, 135; Andrew 
Carnegie's gift of $100,000, 151, 171, 
(Billings) 9, (Cole) 98, 99, (A. L. A. 
com. on resolutions) 171, (Coun- 
cil) 249-250, 251 ; rpt. on gifts and 
bequests (Cole), 97-119, 135; secre- 
tary's rpt., 121-122; treasurer's rpt., 
122-123; necrology, 123-125; elec- 
tion of officers, 147, 166; discussion 
of constitution, 153-156; rpt. of com. 
on resolutions, 171 ; proposed issue 
of bibl. list for use in all libs. (Bol- 
ton), 183; transactions of Council 
and Executive Board, 249-251 ; invi- 
tations for conference, 249; place of 
next meeting, 249; com. on affilia- 
tion with women's clubs, 251 ; ver- 
batim reports of section meetings 
authorized, 251 ; index to Proceed- 
ings, 251 ; committee appointments, 
251 ; executive board meeting, 251 ; 
social side, and post conference ex- 
cursions, 253-255; officers and com- 
mittees serving during Magnolia 
conference, 255, 256; attendance reg- 
ister, 256-267; attendance summa- 
ries (Browne), 268. 

A. L. A. catalog, newed. (Fletcher), 
84, 151 ; to be exhibited at La. Pur- 
chase Exposition (Dewey), 141 ; how 
to obtain old ed. (A. L. A. discus- 
sion), 141-142; plan to reprint on 
cards (Hodges) 180, (Kroeger) 181. 

A. L. A. Catalog: Section, proceed- 
ings, 187-202; officers elected, 202. 

A. L. A. College and Reference Sec- 
tion, proceedings, 172-186; rpt. A. 
L. A. com. on Am. dissertations, 
186; officers elected, 186. 



A. L. A. committee on co-operation 
with N. E. A., rpt. (Dana), 126-127; 
discussion of rpt. (Ahern), 127. 

A. L. A. council, election, 166; asked 
to endorse reduced postal rates for 
lib. books, 235 ; transactions, 249- 
251 ; committee on nominations, 
250. 

A. L. A. endowment fund, rpt., 125- 
126; Alex. Maitland elected trustee 
of, 166; Carnegie endowment in 
charge of, 171, 250. 

A. L. A. exhibit at Louisiana Pur- 
chase Exposition, rpt. of com. on 
(Dewey), 140-142. 

A. L. A. index, new ed. (Fletcher), 
.83 ; as supplementing card catalogs 
(Fletcher) 150, (Hodges) 178. 

A. L. A. list of subject headings 
(Fletcher), 84. 

A. L. A. Publishing Board, rpt. 
(Fletcher), 83-85, 142; work and 
plans (Fletcher), 149-151; analytic 
index work (Kroeger), 180; ap- 
pointments to, 251 . 

A. L. A. Section for Children's Li- 
brarians, co-operative list (com. on 
lib. administration), 88; proceed- 
ings, 220-227; basis of membership 
defined, 227; officers elected, 227. 

A. L. A. State Library Commissions 
Section, established, 250. 

A. L. A. State Library Section, dis- 
continuance discussed, 250-251. 

A. L. A. Trustees' Section, proceed- 
ings, 203-219; officers elected, 219. 

American Booksellers' Association. 
See Booksellers. 

American Publishers' Association. 
See Publishers. 

American Society for the Promotion 
of Engineering Education, selected 
list (Burgess), 58-60. 

Amsden, Mrs. H. C., 256. 

Anderson, Edwin H., 256; branch 
libs., 38-41, 163; resigns from A. L. 
A. Publishing Board (Fletcher), 
83; rpt. of com. on relations of 
libs, with book trade, 146; selected 
list of scientific books, 147; Bost. 
P. L. catalog, 190; printed catalog 
cards for children's books, 224. 

Anderson, Mrs. E. H., 256. 

Andrews, C. W., 256; A. L. A. com. 
on Handbook of Am. libs., 128; A. 
L. A. com. on foreign docs., 129; 
proposed bibl. of bibliographies, 
148-149; printed catalog cards issued 
by L. of Congress, 157-159, 162; A. 
L. A. com. on resolutions, 171 ; 
bibliography in relation to catalog- 
ing, 183; chairman A. L. A. College 
Sec., 186; A. L. A. com. on Am. 
dissertations, 186; capitalization, 
193, 198,200, 201 ; chairman Council 
com. on nominations, 250. 

Andrews, Eliz. P., 256. 

Appleton, C : A., 256. 

Appleton, W : W., 256. 

Archives (Falkner), 95, 96. 

Armstrong, Charlotte B., 256. 

Arnold, H. P., 256. 



Ashley, Grace, 256. 

Ashley, May, 256. 

Assistants, students as (A. L. A. 

com. on lib. administration), 90-91 ; 

salaries (A. L. A. discussion) 137- 

140, (Dewey) 218. 
Astor L., consolidation of N. Y. P. L. 

(Billings), 215. 
Atwood, Alice C., 256. 
Avery, Mrs. E. M., 256. 
Ayer, C. W., 256. 
Ayer, W. B., 256. 
Aymar, G. H., 256. 

Babcock, Josephine M., 256. 
Bacon, Corinne, 256. 
Bailey, A. L., 256. 
Baker, Edith M., 256. 
Baldwin, Emma V., 256. 
Baldwin, Grace P., 256. 
Ballard, Harlan H., 256; indefinite 
time limit for holding books, 131- 



132; printed catalog cards for small 
libs., 161 ; college libs., 176-177; 
Tabard Inn used for popular books, 



Bancroft, Anna D., 256. 

Bangs, Helen B., 256. 

Bangs, Mary F., 256. 

Banks, Mrs. M. H. G., 256. 

Barton, T. W., 256. 

Bar Harbor, Me., A. L. A. post- 
conference trip to, 253-255. 

Barnes, W. L., 256. 

Barnum, Mrs. A. B., 256. 

Barr, C: J., 256. 

Barr, Rev. P., 256. 

Barrows, Fanny, 256. 

Barton, Edmund, 256. 

Barton, Harriet G., 256. 

Barton, Mary S., 256. 

Bascom, Elova L., 256. 

Baston. Nettie E., 256. 

Batchelder, Isabel, 256. 

Bate, Florence E., 256. 

Bates, Joshua (Whitney), ao, 21. 

Battles, W. E., 256. 

Beard, Clara, 256. 

Beard, Josephine, 256. 

Beck, Anna V., 256. 

Beer, W: , 256; civil service law as a 
bar to securing trained assistants, 
140. 

Beers, Isabel, 256. 

Bell, Helen M.. 256. 

Benedict, Laura E. W., 257. 

Bennett, Bertha I., 257. 

Berry, Martha L. C., 257. 

Berry, Silas H., 257 ; income from over- 
due books used as popular book 
fund, 133; discount to libs., 144; 
printed catalog cards, 162; capitali- 
zation, 194. 

Belts, Elsie E., 257. 

Bibliographical Society of Chicago, 

Erinted catalog cards for indexing 
ibl. pubs. (Fletcher), 84; papers, 
presented by, 147; to assume print- 
ing of incunabula list proposed 
(Thomson), 153. 

Bibliography, as an aid to libs. (Bil- 
lings), 8-9; plan for institute 



2/O 



INDEX. 



(Josephson), 61-62, 147; work of 
L. of Congress (Johnston), 63-67, 
148; of public documents (Falkner), 
95 ; organization of bibl. work in the 
past (Roden), 147; of bibliographies 
proposed (Andrews), 148-140, Car- 
negie Institution's proposed dept. of 
(Fletcher), 150-151; general bibl. 
work (lies), 151-152; are dictionary 
catalogs to be supplanted by? 
(Hodges) 178-180, (Kroeger) 180- 
182, (A. L. A. College Sec. discus- 
sion) 182-184, (Putnam) 213; pro- 
posed annual (A. L. A. com. on 
Am. dissertations), 186. See also 
American bibliographical society. 

Bibliography of fine art and music 
(Fletcher), 84, 150. 

Bierstadt, O. A., 257. 

Bill, Mrs. M. E., 257. 

Billings, Dr. J: S., 257; some lib. 
problems 01 to-morrow, 1-9, 135; 
printing of Handbook of Am. libs., 
128; selected list of scientific books, 
148; discussion of A. L. A. consti- 
tution, 153-156; organization of the 
N. Y. P. L., 215-217; N. Y. P. L. 
staff meetings, 217. 

Billings, Jlfrs.J: S., 257. 

Bindery, problems of (Hill), 49. 

Bingham, D. L., 257. 

Birtwell, C: W., 257; and home libs. 
(Sackett), 73; discussion of home 
libs;, 220-223. 

Birtwell, Frances M., 257. 

Bisbee, M. D., 257. 

Biscoe, Ellen M., 257. 

Biscoe, W. S., 257 ; capitalization, 197. 

Bishop, Frances A., 257. 

Bixby, Alice P., 257. 

Blaisdell, F. C., 257. 

Blakeley, Bertha K., 257. 

Blanchard, Caroline A., 257. 

Blanchard, Grace, 257. 

Bliss, Bertha S., 257. 

Blood, Emma F., 257. 

Blunt, Florence T., 257. 

Bodfish, Rev. J. P., 257; relation of 
trustees to libns., 207-208. 

Bollig, Emma, 257. 

Bolton, C: K., 257; A. L. A. finance 
com., 123, 251; A. L. A. biblio- 
graphical list proposed, 183; rpt. of 
A. L. A. com-, on nominations, 186. 

Bolton, Mrs. C: K., 257. 

Bolton, Mrs. Sarah K., 257. 

Bond, Mrs. S. A. C., 257; printed cat- 
alog cards for small libs., 159, 160. 

Books, order department (Hill), 48; 
central reservoir for branch libs. 
(Hill), 49-50; methods of storage 
for used and unused (Eliot), 0-56, 
135; selection of technical and sci- 
entific (Burgess), 56-60,147, (A. L. 
A. discussion) 147 (Hodges) 148; 
renewal by telepnone (A. L. A. 
com. on lib. administration), 91; 
fund for popular (Berry), 133; N. Y. 
State L. School course in selection 
of (Bostwick), 136; in branch libs. 
(A. L. A. discussion), 160; use of 
Tabard Inn. for popular (Ballard), 
184-185; selection should be made by 
libn. (Rosengarten), 209; accumu- 
lation in L. of Congress (Putnam), 
212-213; instruction in mending 
(Hewins), 234. See also Children's 
books, Fines, Postal rates, Refer- 
ence books. 

Booksellers, A. L. A. com. on rela- 
tions of libs, with book trade, 142- 
J 43i 250; attack by Am. Booksellers' 
Assoc. upon Dewey (Montgomery), 
143; net price system (A. L. A. dis- 
cussion) 143-146, 153-156, (A. L. A. 
council) 171 ; relations to libns. 
(Dewey), 146-147; resolutions on re- 
lations with book trade, 250. 

Borden, Fanny, 257. 

Boston, A. L. A. excursions in, 252. 



Boston Athenaeum L., catalog 
(Fletcher), 192. 

Boston (Mass.) P. L., incidents in the 
hist, of (Whitney), 16-24, 166; cata- 
log (Hunt) 25-28, 100, (A. L. A. dis- 
cussion) 190-192; branch libs. 
(Ward), 43-46; children's work at 
Brighton Branch (Hall), 222. 

Bostwick, Arthur E., 257; pains and 
penalties in lib. work, 29-34, 130; 
A. L. A. com. on indexes and title- 
pages to periodicals, 120; rpt. of A. 
L. A. com. on lib. training, 135, 136; 
large public libs, unable to make 
use of lib. school graduates, 136- 
139; supervision in branch libs., 

Bowditch, Mary P., 257. 

Bowker, R. R., resigns from A. L. A. 
com. on public docs. (Falkner), 92. 

Bowles, Mrs. F. T., 257. 

Boyden, Mrs. J. E., 257. 

Boyle, T. E., 257. 

Boyle, Mrs. T. E., 257. 

Bradley, I: S., 257. 

Bradley, Mrs., I: S., 257. 

Branch libraries, planning and equip 
ment (Anderson) 38-41, 163, (A.L- 
A. discussion) 163-165; functions 
and resources ( Ward j, 42-46, 165; 
administration (Hill), 46-50, 165; 
A. L. A. discussion, 165-166. 

Brett, Clara A., 257. 

Brett, W: H., 257; A. L. A. com. on 
lib. training, 139; branch lib. plans, 
163; lectures in branch libs., 164; 
books tin branch libs., 166; staff 
meetings, 217; printed catalog cards 
for children's books, 223-224. 

Brevard, N. C., invitation to A. L. A. 
to meet in, 249. 

Bridgman, Minnie C., 257. 

Briggs, Walter B., 257. 

Brigham, C. S., 257. 

Brigham, H.O., 257. 

Brigham, Johnson, 257; campaign of 
education by state lib. commissions, 
228-229; need of training in lib. archi- 
tecture, 231-232; reduced postal rates 
for lib. books, 234. 

Brooke, L. Edna, 257. 

Brooks, Henrietta, 257. 

Brown, Adeline S., 257. 

Brown, Alice D., 257. 

Brown, Caroline H., 257. 

Brown, E. A., 257. 

Brown, F. I., 257. 

Brown, Mrs. F. I., 257. 

Brown, Gertrude L., 257. 

Brown, Julia D., 257. 

Brown, Miss M. G., 257. 

Brown, Zaidee M., 257. 

Browne, Nina E., 257; sec. A. L. A. 
Publishing Board (Fletcher), 83; 
proposed form for a classed catalog, 
184; attendance summaries, 268. 

Browning, Eliza G., 257; rpt. on co- 
operative list of children s books, 
220. 

Bryant, Mary V., 257. 

Buchanan, H:C., 257. 

Buchanan, Mrs. H: C., 257. 

Buchwald, Isabella C., 257. 

Buckley, Pierce E., 257. 

Buildings, library. Bost. P. L. 
(Whitney), 23, 24; Soule's A.L. A. 
tract (Fletcher), 83; for A. L. A. 
exhibit at La. Purchase Exposition, 
140; need of consultation with libns. 
(Patton) 208, (Rosengarten) 210- 
21 1 ; N. Y. P. L. (Billings), 215- 
216; need of training in lib. archi- 
tecture (Brigham), 231-232. See 
also Storehouse. 

Bullard, N.Josephine, 257. 
Bulletins. See Picture bulletins. 

Bumpus, Miss N. A., 257. 

Bunker, Adeline, 257. 

Bunker, Mabel E., 257. 

Burbank, L. Freeman, 257. 



Burbank, Nancy I., 257. 

Burgess, C: F., 257 ; selection of tech- 
nical and scientific books, 56-60, 147 ; 
publication of selected list, 148. 

Burnett, Duncan, 257. 

Burrage, G. B., 257. 

Burrows, Dorothy E., 257. 

Buss, Charlotte A., 357. 

Butler, E: A., 257. 

Cady, Anita L., 257 

Caiger, Eliza F. A., 257. 

California, lib. gifts to (Cole), 99; in- 
vitation to A. L. A. to meet in, 249. 

Callow, Hattie M., 257. 

Cameron, Walter M., 257. 

Camp, David N., 257. 

Campbell, Miss j. M., 257. 

Canada, lib. gifts to (Cole), 118. 

Canfield, Ja. H., 257; A. L. A. com. 
on co-operation with N. E. A., 127 ; 
ist vice-pres. A. L. A., 166; divi- 
sion of books in university lib., 174- 
176; relation of trustee to public 
lib., 204-206; benefits of lib. insti- 
tutes, 241-245. 

Capen, E: necrology, 124. 

Capitalization (A. L. A. Catalog Sec. 
discussion), 192-202. 

Carey, M. Frances, 257. 

Carnegie, And., gift of $100,000 to 
A. L. A., 151, 171, (Billings) o, 
(Cole) 98, 99 (Com. on resolutions), 
171; (Council's acceptance), 249- 
25p;gift for N. Y. P. L. buildings 
(Billings), 216. 

Carnegie Institution, proposed bibl. 
work (Fletcher), 150-151. 

Carnegie L., Pittsburgh, Pa., branch 
lib. plans (Anderson), 38-41 ; home 
libs, and reading clubs, 72-75 ; 

Erinted catalog cards for children's 
ooks. 



Carney_, Frank, 257. 
257. 
Carr, H: J., 258; disposal of surplus 



Carr 



icy, b : 
; Gert 



A. L. A. catalogs, 142; on com. on 
relations with book trade, 250. 
Carr, Mrs. H: J., 258. 



:y L., 258. 

Carver, Leonard D., 258. 

Cataloging, for branch lib. system 
(Hill) , 48, 49 ; cost of ( A. L. A. com. 
on lib. administration), 86; co-oper- 
ative (Fletcher) 149, 150, (lies) 152; 
reduced by borrowing temporary 
books (Ballard), 184-185; difficulties 
and inadequacy (Hodges), 185-186; 
how to impose limitations on (A. 
L. A. Catalog Sec. discussion), 
191-192; rules for capitalization 
(A. L. A. Catalog Sec. discussion), 
192-202 ; centralization of ( Putnam) , 
213. See also Printed catalog cards. 

Catalogs, of Bost. P. L. (Whitney) 
?.2, 23, (Hunt) 25.28, 190; proposed 
classed catalog (Browne) 184, 
(Crunden) 184; of Harvard College 
L. (Lane), 187-190; beginnings of 
the card catalog (A. L. A. Catalog 
Sec. discussion), 192. See also 
Dictionary catalogs. 

Cate, Mrs. Mary, 258. 

Chadbourn, E. R., 258. 

Chamberlain, Mrs. Marion L., 258. 

Chamberlain, Mellen (Whitney), 23, 
24. 

Chambert, Grace M., 258. 

Chandler, Alice G., 258. 

Chandler, Ellen M., 258. 

Chandler, W: D., 258. 

Chapman, Effie L., 258. 

Chapman, Emily K., 258. 

Chapman, Grace D., 258. 

Chase, Adelaide M., 258. 

Chase, Alice W., 258. 

Chase, Arthur H., 258. 

Chase, F: , 258. 



INDEX. 



271 



Chase, G: Bigelow, necrology, 124. 

Cheever, Mrs. A. C., 258. 

Cheney, Frances S., 258. 

Cheney, J: Vance, 258. 

Chevalier, S:A., 258. 

Child, Grace A., 258. 

Child, Marion E., 258. 

Child, W: B., 258. 

Children, lib. work with, supt. of 
(Hill) , 48 ; "Reading for the young " 
out of print (Fletcher), 84; new 
catalog of" Reading forthe young " 
(Fletcher), 151. See also A. L. A. 
Sec. for Children's Libns., Home 
libraries. 

Children's books, evaluation of 
(Welsh), 76-79, 224; rpt. on list of, 
with children's annotations (Hew- 
ins), 79-8_2, 224; rpt. of corn, on 
co-operative list of (Children's 
Libns. Sec.) 220; classification and 
cataloging of (Children's Libns. 
Sec. discussion) 223-224; printed 
catalog cards for, 223-224; rpt. of edi- 
tor of co-operative list (Eastman), 
224-226; com. appointed to continue 
co-operative Us;, 226; discussion of 
co-operative list, 226-227 ; new edi- 
tion of " Reading for the young" 
proposed, 227. 

Christian, Lucia L., 258. 

Cincinnati (O.) P. L., useful arts' 
room (Hodges), 148. 

Claflin, Louise, 258. 

Clark, Dr., 258. 

Clark, Josephine A., 258. 

Clarke, Alma A., 258. 

Clarke, Edith E., 258; A. L. A. 
Catalog Sec. com. on nominations, 
187. 

Clarke, Emma L., 258. 

Clarke, Mary E., 258. 

Clarke, Mary Reynolds, 258. 

Classed catalogs. See Catalogs. 

Classification, Shurtleff system in 
Bost. P. L. (Whitney), 22; as a 
substitution for cataloging (Hod- 
ges), 170; in Harvard College L. 
(Lane), 187-190; for children's books 
(Children's Libns. Sec. discussion), 
223-224. See also Expansive classi- 
fication. 

Clendenin, Susan, 258. 

Cleveland (O.) P. L. branch lib. 
plans (Anderson), 39; printed 
catalog cards for children's books, 
223-224. 

Clifford, Rev. C. J., 258. 

Coates, A. B.,2S. 

Cobb, Edith H., 258. 

Cobleigh, Miss E. S., 258. 

Coburn, Elizabeth S., 258. 

Coburn, Jennie M., 258. 

Cochrane, Anna C., 258. 

Cochrane, Charlotte, 258. 

Cochrane, Sarah A., 258. 

Coffin, Mrs. Eva E., 258. 

Coit, Emily S., 258. 

Colby, Adah M., 258. 

Colcord, Mabel, 258. 

Cole, G: W., A. L. A. rpt. on gifts 
and bequests, 97-119, 135. 

Cole, W: A., 258. 

Collingham, Rose, 258. 

Colorado, lib. gifts to (Cole), 99. 

Columbia Univ. L., departmental 
equipment (Canfield), 175. 

Comegys, Mrs. Rose, 258. 

Comer, Anna S., 258. 

Concord, Mass., A. L. A. excursion 
to, 253. 

Connecticut, state docs. (Falkner), 
95 ; lib. gifts to (Cole), 09, 100. 

Conner, Martha J., 258. 

Conway, Elizabeth, 258. 

Coolidge, J. R., 258. 

Coombs, Mrs. E. R., 258. 

Cooper, Louise B., 258. 

Co-operation, between libs, and libns. 
(Billings), 3-8; in cataloging 



(Fletcher) 149-150, (lies) 152; be- 
tween trustees and libns. (Rosen- 
garten) , 209. Set also International 
co-operation. 

Co-operative lists (A. L. A. com. on 
lib. administration), 88. 

Copeland, Lora A., 258. 

Copeland, Sara, 258. 

Cordes, Bessie F., 2?8. 

Corey, D. P., 258; chairman A. L. A. 
Trustees' Sec., 203-204, 219. 

Corey, Mrs. D. P., 258. 

Correspondence Schools of Scranton. 
See International Correspondence 
Schools of Scranton, Pa. 

Corwin, Miss E. F., 258. 

Cotting, Sarah E., 258. 

Countryman, Gratia, sec. State Lib. 
Commissions Section, 235. 

Covel, A. S., 258. 

Crain, Lucy B., 258. 

Crampton, Susan, 258. 

Cramton, Ellen B., 258. 

Crandall, J. R., Jr., 258. 

Crewitt, Mrs. Julia M., 258. 

Crosby, Harriet L., 258. 

Crosby, J. Allen, 258. 

Cross, Beulah L., 258. 

Crunden, F: M., 258; lib. fines, 130, 
ii, 132-133; lib. salaries, 140; 
classed catalog, 184; on Council 
com. on nominations, 250; chair- 
man com. on affiliation ot A. L. A. 
with women's clubs, 251. 

Crunden, Mrs. F: M., 258. 

Cuba, lib. gifts to (Cole), 118. 

Cufflin, M. Florence, 258. 

Gumming, Nellie, 258. 

Cunmon, Rev. M. A., 258. 

Cunningham, Mrs. G. B., 258. 

Curran, Mrs. Mary H., 258. 

Currier, T. F., 25$; capitalization, 
198, 199. 

Cutter, C: A., 258 ; increase of lib. 
fines for special cases, 131 ; printed 
catalog cards, 162; insertions in the 
Expansive classification, 190; Dr. 
Abbot's cataloging, 190; treatment 
of music in Bost. P. L. catalog^ 
191; early card catalogs, 192; capi- 
talization, 193, 194, 197, 199. 

Cutter, W: P., 258. 

Cutter, Mts. W: P., 258. 

Cutter, VV: R., 258. 

Daggett, Caroline M., 258. 

Daly, Margaret C., 258. 

Dame, Katharine, 258. 

Damon, Lalia M., 258. 

Dana, J: C., 258; rpt. of A. L. A. 
com. on co-operation N. E. A., 126- 
127; relation of public libs, to the 
book trade, 153; discussion of A. 
L. A. constitution, 153-156; rpt. on 
co-operative list of children's books, 
220, 226; dangers of lib. institutes, 
245, 247; value of state lib. assoc. 
meetings to small libs., 248-249. 

Dana, Mrs. J: C., 258. 

Danforth, G: F., 259; sec. A. L. A. 
College Sec., 186. 

Davis, Mrs. C. L., 259. 

Davis, Mrs. Eliza R., 259. 

Davis, Esther M., 259. 

Davis, Olin S., 259. 

Davison, Mrs. M. E., 259. 

Dawley, Grace H., 259. 

Day, Madeleine R., 259. 

Day, Mary A., 259. 

Decker, Cora M., 259. 

Deery, Delia J., 259. 

Delaware, lib. gifts to (Cole), 100. 

Doming, Miss D., 259. 

Denison, G: A., 259. 

De Normandie, Rev. James, wel- 
come to A. L. A., 120, 121. 

Departmental libraries. See Univer- 
sity libraries. 

Dewey, Melvil, a^g; on A. L. A. 
Publishing Board (Fletcher), 83; 



A. L. A. com. on co-operation with 
N. E. A., 127; rpt. of coin, on A. 
L. A . exhibit at La. Purchase Ex- 
position, 140-112; attack by Am. 
Booksellers Assoc. upon, 146, 
(Montgomery) 143; relations of 
booksellers to libns., 147; discus- 
sion of A. L. A. constitution, 155- 
156; lectures in libs., 165 ; A. L. A. 
council, 166; changing of catalog 
rules and capitalization, 196, 201- 
202; function of the trustee, 217- 
219; chairman State Library Com- 
missions Round Table Meeting, 
228; work of state lib. commissions, 
231 ; training for lib. organizers, 
2 3'. 232-233; reduced postal rates 
for lib. books, 234; chairman State 
Lib. Commissions Section, 235; 
functions of a state lib. assoc., 236- 
238; trained lib. instructors for state 
assns., 248. 

D'Wolf, Mitt A. M., 259. 

Dictionary catalogs, are they to 
be supplanted by bibliographies? 
(Hodges) 178-180, (Kroeger) 180- 
182, (A. L. A. College Sec. dis- 
cussion) 182-184. 

Diefendorf, D. Elizabeth, 259. 

Dielman, L. H., 259. 

Dielman, Mrs. L. H., 259. 

Discount to libs., rpt. of A. L. A. 
com. on relations of libs, with book 
trade, 142-143; A. L. A. discussion, 
143-146, 153-156; action of A. L. A. 
council, 171, 250; resolutions on, 
250. 

District of Columbia, lib. gifts to 
(Cole), loo. 

Dix, M. Etta, 259. 

Doane, Rebecca F., 259. 

Doane, W. H., 259. 

Doane, Mrs. W. H., 259. 

Dodge, Bertha A., 259. 

Dodge, Nellie E., 259. 

Donnelly, June R., 259. 

Doran, Miss, 259. 

Doren, Electra C., 259. 

Dougherty, Anna R., 259. 

Douglass, Jessie M., 259. 

Dousman, Mary E., chairman A. L. 
A. Section tor Children's Libns., 
227. 

Dow, G: F., 259. 

Downes, Mrs. W: F., 259. 

Downey, Mary E., 259. 

Doyle, Agnes C., 259. 

Draper, Annie E., 259. 

Draper, F. A., 259. 

Draper, Mrs. Henry, 259. 

Draper, Miriam S., 259. 

Duddy, Bessie L., 259. 

Dudley, C: R., 259. 

Duncan, W: H.,Jfr. t 259. 

Dunn, Florence E., 259. 

Durand, Susan M., 259. 

Durkee, Cara D., 259. 

Eager, Sarah, 259. 

Eames, Wilberforce, 259. 

Earhart, Frances E., 259. 

Earl, Mrs. Elizabeth C., 259. 

Eastman, Linda A., 250; rpt. on co- 
operative list of children's books, 
225-226; vote of thanks to, 226. 

Eastman, Martha J., 259. 

Eastman, W: R., 259; rpt. of A. L. 
A. com. on lib. administration, 86- 
91; A. L. A. Trustees' Sec. com. 
on nominations, 204; making pro- 
grams of state lib. assns. helpful to 
small libs., 248. 

Eastman, Mrs. W: R., 259. 

Eastwood, Mary, 259. 

Eaton, Miss, 259. 

Edwards, Ella M., 259. 

Egbert, Alice, 259. 

Eger, Bertha, 259. 

Eldridge, Eva A., 259. 

Eliot, C: W: , 259; storage methods 



INDEX. 



for books in use and books not in 

use, 51-36, J 35- 
Elmendorf, H: L., 259; A. L. A. 

catalog, 141; A. L. A. com. on 

relations of libs, with book trade, 

143, 250; discount to libs., 145 ; lists 

of books for children, 227. 
Elrod, Jennie, 2*9. 
Emerson, Mabel E., 259. 
Emery, E. W., 259. 
Emery, Gertrude, 259. 
Engle, Emma R., 259. 
English history, printed cards for 

(Fletcher), 84. 
Essex, M ary C., 259. 
Estey, G. Fred, 259. 
Evaluation of literature, children's 

books (Welsh), 76- 79; Iles's scheme 

for (Fletcher), iVo, 151. 
Evans, Adelaide F., 259. 
Evans, Mrs. Alice G., 259. 
Everett, Edward, on Bost. P. L. 

(Whitney), 20. 
Everitt, C: P., 259. 
Expansive classification, insertions 

in (Lane) 189, (Cutter) 190. 

Fairbanks, E: T., 259. 

Fairchild, Rev. E. M., 259. 

Fairchild, Mrs. S. C., 259; capitaliza- 
tion, 195-196, 197. 

Falkner, Roland P., 259; rpt. of A. 
L. A. com. on public docs., 92-96, 
130; delay in distribution of current 



docs., 130"; printed catalog cards for 
chairman A. L. 



does., 130; printed 
public docs., 130; 
A. com. on public docs., 251. 

Farr, Mary, P., 259. 

Farrar, Ida F., 259; how to make 
program of state lib. assoc. of value 
to small libs., 239-241. 

Fatout, Nellie B., 259. 

Faucon, Charlotte, 259. 

Faxon, F: W., 259; rpt. of A. L. A. 
sec., 121-122. 

Faxon, Mrs. F: W., 259. 

Fearey, Charlotte S., 259. 

Ferguson, M. Jay, 259. 

Fernald, Helen A., 259. 

Fichtenkam, Alice. 259; printed cata- 
log cards for public docs., 130. 

Fiction, Pratt Inst. L. School graded 
lists (Bostwick), 136. 

Field, Alice M., 259. 

Fines, as a penalty for misdemeanor 
(Bostwick), 29-33; alternate penajty 
urged ( A. L. A. com. on lib. admin- 
istration), 91; A. L. A. discussion, 

1 3- I 33- 

Fisher, Georgiana O., 259. 

Fison, Gertrude S., 259.' 

Fison, H. W., 259; how state assns. 
can help small libs., 247, 248. 

Fitzgerald, Eva M., 259. 

Flagg, C: A., 259. 

Flash, J/rs. N.F., 260. 

Fleischner, Otto, 260. 

Fletcher, F. R.. 260. 

Fletcher, Mrs. F. R., 260. 

Fletcher, May M., 260. 

Fletcher, Roberts., 260. 

Fletcher, W: I., 260; rpt. of A. L. A. 
Publishing Board, 83-85, 142; rpt. 
of A. L. A. com. on indexes and 
title-pages to periodicals, 128-129; 
indefinite time limit for holding 
books, 132; discussion on gifts and 
bequests, 135; discount to libs., 143- 
144; work and plans of A. L. A. 
Publishing Board, 149-151 ; division 
of books in university libs., 176; 
dictionary card catalogs in relation 
to bibl., 182-183; Bost. P. L. cata- 
log, 191 ; Bost. Athenaeum catalog, 
192; capitalization, 193-195, 197, 198, 
200; catalog rules, 196-197; reap- 
pointed on A. L. A. Pub. Board, 
251- 

Fletcher, Mrs. W: I., 260. 

Flinn, Agnes E., 260. 



Flint, Col. Weston, 260. 

Flint, Mrs. Weston, 260. 

Florida, lib. gifts to (Cole), 100. 

Follansbee, Alice C., 260. 

Folsom, C: , Bost. Athenaeum L. card 

catalog (Cutter), 192. 
Foreign documents, rpt. of A. L. A. 

com. on, 129. 

Forrest, Gertrude E., 260. 
Forsyth, Walter G., 260. 
Foss, Sam Walter, 260. 
Foster. W: E., 260. 
Fox, Mrs. Mary A., 260. 
Francis, Mary, 260. 
Freeman, Marilla W., 260; com. on 

affiliation of A. L. A. with women's 

clubs, 251. 

French, Mrs. C: H., 260. 
Friedley, Georgia A., 260. 
Frinsdorff, Emily O., 260. 
Fuller, Edith D., 260. 
Fuller, Frances Howard, 260. 
Furbish, Alice C., 260. 

Gaffin, Frances E., 260. 

Galbreath, C: B., 260. 

Ganley, Marie, 260. 

Gardner, Eva S., 260. 

Garland, Caroline H., 260. 

Garretson, Harriet E., 260. 

Garrison, Frank W., 260. 

Garrison, Mrs. F. W., 260. 

Garvin, Ethel, 260. 

Gates, Edith M., 260. 

Gay, Ernest L., 260. 

Gay, Frank B., 260; Bost. P. L. cata- 
log, 191 ; capitalization, 194-195. 

Gay, Mrs. F. B., 260. 

Gay, Helen K., 260. 

Georgia, lib. gifts to (Cole), 100. 

Gibbons, Rosa M., 260. 

Gibbs, Miss E. N., 260. 

Gibbs, Laura R., 260. 

Gifford, W: L. R., 260. 

Gifford, Mrs. W: L. R., 260. 

Gift extremely rare (Lord), 34-37, 171. 

Gifts and bequests, rpt. on (Cole) , 97- 
119, 135; A. L. A. discussion, 135. 

Gilbert, Emma H., 260. 

Gilbert, Walter M., 260. 

Gile, Jessie S., 260. 

Gilmore, L. B., A. L. A. com. on 
foreign docs., 129. 

Gleason, H. W., 260. 

Gleason, Mrs. H. W., 260. 

Godard, G: S., 260. 

Godard, Mrs. G: S., 260. 

Goddard, E: M., 260. 

Goddard, Mrs. E: M., 260. 

Coding, Sarah E., 260. 

Goeks, Hedwig M., 260. 

Goldberg, Bessie, 260. 

Goodale, Grace, 260. 

Gookin, E: , 260. 

Gorse, Helen, 260. 

Gould, C: H., 260; rpt. of A. L. A. 
com. on foreign docs., 129; where 
place books on applied science in 
university libs.? 177-178; treatment 
of music in Bost. P. L. catalog, 191 ; 
chairman A. L. A. Catalog Sec., 
202. 

Government documents. See Public 
documents. 

Gracie, Helen, 260. 

Graffin, Frances, 260. 

Granger, Anne C., 260. 

Graniss, Ruth S., 260. 

Gray, Paul E., 260. 

Green, Carrie S., 260. 

Green, S: , 260. 

Green, Walter C., 260. 

Greene, Charlotte W., 260. 

Greenleaf, Arthur P., 260. 

Greenman, E. May, 260. 

Grierson, Mrs, E. S., 260. 

Groves, Charlotte E., 260. 

Guerrier, Edith, 260. 

Guggenheimer, Aime'e, 260. 

Guide to the literature of Am. hist. 



(Fletcher) 83, 150, (lies) 151-152, 
(A. L. A. com. on resolutions) 171. 

Guild, Mrs. C., 260. 

Guild, Dr. R. A., letter on Libns.' 
Convention of 1853, 120, iai. 

Hadley, Anna, 260. 

Hafner, Alfred, 260. 

Hagar, Sarah C., 260. 

Haines, Helen E., 260; recorder 
A. L. A., 166; suggestion for pro- 
grams of state lib. assns., 247. 

Hall, Belle S., 260; children's work 
at Brighton Branch Boston P. L., 

222. 

Hall, Drew B., 260. 

Hall, Mrs. Drew B., 260. 

Hall, E. Frances, 260. 

Hamant, G. R., 200. 

Hamant, Mrs. G. R., 260. 

Hamilton, Geneva R., 260. 

Handbook of American libraries 
(Fletcher), 84; rpt. A. L. A. com. 
(Teggart), izS; A. L. A. discus- 
sion, 128. 

Hannum, Charlotte K., 260. 

Hanson, j. C. M., 260; chairman A. 
L. A. Catalog Sec., 187; treatment 
of music in Bost. P. L. catalog, 
IQI ; proposition once made for cat- 
aloging L. of Congress, 192; capi- 
talization, 192-197, 199-201. 

Harris, Isabella, 260. 

Harrison, Joseph LeRoy, 260. 

Hart, Mildred, 261. 

Hartich, Mrs. Alice D., 261. 

Hartswick, Howard B., 261. 

Hartswick, Mrs. H. B., 261. 

Harvard Univ. L., penalties in (Lane), 
130; catalog (Lane) 187-190, (A. L. 
A. Catalog Sec. discussion) 190, 
192; rules for capitalization (Cur- 
rier) 198, (Tillinghast) 199-200. 

Hasse, Adelaide R., 261. 

Hastings, C. H., 261 ; card distribu- 
tion work of the L. of Congress, 67- 
7i (> 156; time of distribution of 
printed cards, 162. 

Haupt, Lura S.. 261. 

Haven, Georgetta, 261. 

Haven, Phebe P., 261. 

Hawkins, Emma J.> 261. 

Hawkins, Mrs., G: , 261. 

Hawley, Frances B., 261 ; visitors for 
home libs., 222; training for lib. 
organizers, 232. 

Hawley, Mary E., 261 ; sec. A. L. A. 
Catalog Sec., 187. 

Hayes, Edith B., 261. 

Haynes, Emily M.. 261. 

Haynes, Frances E., 261. 

Hazeltine, Mary E., 261 ; Chautauqua 
lib. training course, 233; Olean lib. 
Institute, 234. 

Heath, Rose, 261. 

Heatwole, Mrs. E. R., 261. 

Hedge, F: H., 261 ; central lib. catalog 
in branch libs., 165. 

Helena, Mont., invitation to A. L. A. 
to meet in, 249. 

Hellings, Emma L., 261. 

Hemmings, Anita, 261. 

Henderson, Maude, 261 ; A. L. A. 
Catalog Sec. com. on nominations, 
187. 

Henry W: E., 261 ; reduced postal 
rates for lib. books, 235. 

Hensel, Martin, 261 ; discount to libs., 

H?- 

Hepburn, W: M., 261. 

Herbert, Clara W., 261. 

Herron, Leonora E., 261. 

Hewett, Jane A., 261 . 

Hewins, Mrs. C. A., 261. 

Hewins, Caroline M., 261 ; rpt. on 
list of children's books with chil- 
dren's annotations, 79-82, 224; lib. 
* branch in slum settlement, 220; in- 
struction in book- mending, 234. 

Hewins, Lucy C., 261. 



INDEX. 



273 



Hicks, Mrs. J., 261 . 

Higbee, Mrs. E. W., 261. 

Hildebrand, Lee B., 261. 

Hill, Frank P., 261 ; administration 
of branch libs., 46-50, 165; discus- 
sion of A. L. A. constitution, 155; 
branch lib. lecture rooms, 164 ; cen- 
tral lib. catalog at branch lib., 165; 
books in brancn libs., 166. 

Hill, Frank P., Jr., 261. 

Hill, Harriet F., 261. 

Hinckley, G: L., 261. 

Hine.J. W:,26i. 

Hitchcock, Grace L., 261. 

Hitchler, Theresa, 261 ; visitors for 
home libs., 222. 

Hoagland, Merica L., 261 ; cost of 
branch libs., 163; campaign of 
education by state lib. commission, 
228-230; visits from state commis- 
sion, 231; lib. training classes, 232. 

Hodge, Mrs. H. E., 261. 

Hodges, N. D. C.. 261 ; rpt. of A. L. 
A. com. on lib. administration, 
86-91 ; selection of scientific books, 
148; A. L. A. council, 166; bibliog- 
raphies vs. dictionary catalogs, 
178-180; difficulties in cataloging, 
185-186. 

Hollingworth, Ida F., 261. 

Holston, Isabel, 261. 

Home delivery (A. L. A. com. on 
lib. administration), 88. 

Home libraries and reading clubs 
(Sackett) 72-75, 220, (A. L. A. 
discussion) 220-223. 

Hooper, Louisa M., 261. 

Hopkins, Anderson H., organization 
and administration of university 
libs., 10-16, 172; discussion of univ. 
lib. methods, 177; departmental 
equipment'subordinate injuniv. libs., 
178; change in functions of 111. 
State L. Assoc., 238. 

Hopkins, Mrs. A. H., 261. 

Hosmer, Dr. J. K., 261 ; insufficiency 
of lib. penalties, 131; branch lib. 
plans, 163-1154; pres. A. L. A., 166; 
rpt. of A. L. A. com. on resolu- 
tions, 171. 

Houghton, CejiaM., 261. 

Houghton, Miss E. G., 261. 

Houghton, J: C., 261. 

Hume, Jessie F., 261. 

Humphrey, Gertrude P., 261. 

Humphrey, L. D., 261. 

Hunkins, Grace H., 261. 

Hunt, Clara W., 261 ; classification of 
children's books, 224; [on com. on 
co-operative list of children's books, 
226. 

Hunt, E. B., 261 ; catalog of Bost. 
P. L., 25-28, 100; discussion of 
cataloging methods, 190-192. 

Hurter, Florence D., 261. 

Husted, Harriet F., 261. 

Hutchins, Fernald A., 261. 

Hutchins, Frank A., 261 ; A. L. A. 
com. on co-operation with N. E. A., 
127; getting libs, for small com- 
munities, 230-231. 

Hutchinson, Susan A., 261. 

Idaho, lib. gifts to (Cole), 101. 

lies, G: , resigns from A. L. A. Pub- 
lishing Board (Fletcher), 83; Guide 
to the literature of Am. Hist. 
(Fletcher) 83, (A. L. A. com. on 
resolutions) 171; evaluation of lit- 
erature (Fletcher), 150, 151 ; general 
bibl. work, 151-152. 

llion, N. Y., lib. institute held at 
(Underbill), 247. 

Illinois, lib. gifts to (Cole), 101 ; 
change in functions of state lib. 
assoc. (Hopkins), 238. 

Incunabula, rpt. on list of (Thom- 
son), 152-153. 

Indexing, periodical literature 
(Fletcher), 129; as supplanting 



dictionary card catalog (Kroeger), 
180-182. 

Indiana, lib. gifts to (Cole), 101, 102. 

Institutes. See Library institutes. 

International catalog of scientific 
literature, rpt. of A. L. A. com. on 
internal, co-operation, ia6. 

International co-operation, rpt. A. L. 
A. com. on, 126. 

International Correspondence Schools 
of Scranton, Pa., scientific refer- 
ence books (Burgess) 60, (Billings) 
148. 

International Publishers' Congress, 
rpt. of A. L. A. com. on internal, 
co-operation, 126. 

Iowa, state docs. (Falkner), 95; lib. 
gifts to (Cole), 102, 103; summer 
lib. school (Sharp), 233. 

Isbister. Jennie E., 261. 

Isoin, Mary, 261. 

Jackson, Rev, G: A., 261. 
Jahr, Torstein, 261. 
James, Hannah P., 261 ; on Council 
coin, on nominations, 250. 

James, Miss M. S. R., 261. 
aines, W: J. 261. 
anvrin, C: E., 261. 
encks, C: W., 261 ; Libns.' Conven- 

tionof 1853, 1 20-1 21. 
Jenkins, Beatrice M., 261. 
Jenks, Edwin M., 261. 
John Crerar L., Chicago, bibl. of 

bibliographies (Andrews), 149; 

printed catalog cards used by 

(Andrews), 158-159. 
Johnson, Miss A. L., 201. 
Johnson, Arolyn L., 261. 
Johnson, Edith L., 261. 
Johnson, Ellen L., 261. 
Tohnson, Mrs. G. G., 261. 
ohnson, Mary Hannah, 261'. 
_ohnson, Ortha B., 261. 
Johnston, C: D., 261. 
Johnston, D. V. R., 261. 
Johnston, Mrs. D. V. R., 262. 
Johnston, W. Dawson, Work of 

Division of bibl., L. of Congress, 

63-67 ; English hist. cards 

(Fletcher), 84. 
Jones, E. Louise, 262. 
Jones, Gardner M., 262; rpt. of A. L. 

A. treas., 122-123; treas. A. L. A., 

166; capitalization, 195; subject 

headings for children's catalog, 224. 

Jones, Mrs. G. M., 262. 
ones, Mrs.]. A., 262. 
ones, Ralph K., 262. 
ordan, Alice D., 262; sec. A. L. A. 

Section for Children's Libns.. 227. 
Josephson, Aksel G. S., 262; plan for 
the organization of an institute for 
bibliographical research, 61-62, 147; 
capitalization, 193, 195, 197, 201. 
Judd, L. S., 262. 

Kansas, bibl. of state docs. (Falkner), 

95; lib. gifts to (Cole), 103. 
Katz, Louise W., 262. 
Kautz, F. R., 262. 
Kavana, Julia D. W., 262. 
Keefer, Jessie G., 262. 



Keenan, J: J., 262. 
Keenan, Ma 



latthew T., 262. 

Keller, Helen R., 262. 

Kelley, Helen T., 262. 

Kellogg, Louise P., 262. 

Kellogg, Paul C., 262. 

Kelly, H.J., 262; attendance of trus- 
tees at A. L. A. meetings, 219. 

Kelly, Mrs. H.J., 262. 

Kelso, Tessa L., 262; A. L. A. com. 
on relations of libs, with book trade, 
143; discount to libs., 145-146. 

Kennard, Louise, 262. 

Kent, H: W., 262. 

Kentucky, lib. gifts to (Cole), 103. 

Keogh, And., 262; capitalization, 201. 

Kerr, Helen J., 262. 



Kerr, Willis H., 262. 

Keyes, Virginia M., 262. 

Kilburn, Mrs. Harriet M., 262. 

Kimball, W. C., 62. 

King, Ellen, 262. 

Kingman, Helene A. ,262. 

Kinsman, Carrie H., 262. 

Kirkland, Marion P., 262. 

Kite, Agnes C., 262. 

Knight, Marion A., 262. 

Koch, Theodore W., 262. 

Koopman, Harry L., 262. 

Koster, Caroline L., 262. 

Kroeger, Alice B., 262; Guide to the 
study and use ot reference books 
(Fletcher), 83; dictionary catalogs 
vs. bibliographies, 180-182; capi- 
talization, 193, 195. 

Kyle, Bertha G., 262. 

Kyle, Clara A., 262. 

Laboratories and departmental libs. 
(Canfieldj , 175. See also Museums. 

Lamb, Eliza, 262. 

Lambert, Cecilia C., 262; how a state 
lib. assoc. can arouse interest in 
localities without lib. facilities, 238- 
239. 

Lamprey, Mary L., 262. 

Lane, Belle, 262. 

Lane, Mrs. C. M., 262. 

Lane, Mrs. Evelyn N., 262. 

Lane, L. P., 262; capitalization, 199, 
202. 

Lane, W: C., 262; printed catalog 
cards for public, docs., delay in dis- 
tribution of current docs., 130; lib. 
penalties, 130; lib. graduates' sal- 
aries, 130; discussion of A. L. A. 
constitution, 154; card cutter for 
printed catalog cards, 162; discus- 
sion of Hopkins's address on the 
university lib., 172-174; catalog of 
Harvard College L., 187-190, 192; 
how may card catalogs be reduced r 
191 ; capitalization, 195. 

Lamed, J. N., ed. Guide to the litera- 
ture of Am. hist. (lies), 151. 

Larsen, Martha, 262. 

Lawrence, Etta F., 262. 

Leach, Margaret, 262. 

Lerned, Lucie A., 262. 

Lease, Evelyn S., 262. 

Leavitt, Luella K., 262. 

Le Clear, Minnie, 262. 

Lectures, to factory employees (Bur- 
gess), 60; in branch libs. (A. L. A. 
discussion), 163-165. 

Lee, Francis H., 262. 

Lee, G. W., 262. 

Lefavour, H: , 262. 

Le Huray, Louise, 262. 

Leighton, Mrs. Flora H., 262. 

Leipziger, Dr. H: M., 262; A. L. A. 
Trustees' Sec. com. on nominations, 
204; relation of trustees to libns., 
208. 

Leipziger, Pauline, 262. 

Lemcke, Ernst, A. L. A. com. on in- 
dexes and title-pages to periodicals, 
129. 

Lenox, L., consolidation of N. Y. P. 
L. (Billings), 215. 

Leonard, Grace, 262. 

Lewis, Kate, 262. 

Lexington, Mass., A. L. A. excur- 
sion to, 253. 

Libbie, F. J., 262. 

Librarians, requisite qualifications for 
branch libns. (Hill), 50; salaries, 
(A. L. A. discussion) 137-140, 
(Dewey) 218; relations with trust- 
tees (Corey) 203-204, (A. L. A. 
Trustees' Sec. discussion) 206-208, 
(Rosengarten) 209-210, (Dewey) 
217-218; past and present (Putnam), 
216-217. 

Librarians' Convention of 1853 
(Jencks), 120. 

Libraries, Handbook of Am. 



2/4 



INDEX. 



( 
( 



(Fletcher), 84; 'in normal schools 
(Dana) 126-127, (Ahern) 127; rpt. 
on Handbook of Am. (Teggart), 
128; printing of Handbook (A. L. 
A. discussion), 128; from a trustee's 
point of view (Rosengarten), 208- 
212. 

Library administration, rpt. A. L. A. 
com. on (Wellman, Eastman, 
Hodges), 86-91. 

Library institutes (A. L. A. com. on 
lib. administration), 89, 90; account 
of Olean institute (Hazeltine), 234; 
benefits of (Canfield), 241-245; dif- 
ficulties of (Dana), 245-247; account 
of Ilion institute (Underbill), 247. 

Library of Congress, libs.' duty to 
(Billings), 3; Division of bibl. 
(Johnston), 63-67; printed catalog 
cards (Hastings) 67-71, 156, 
(Fletcher) 83, 149-150, (A. L. A. 
com. on lib. administration) 86-88, 
(com. on internal, co-operation) 
126, (A. L. A. discussion) 130, 150- 
163, (Kroeger) iSo, 181, (Andrews. 
183, (Rosengarten) 211; exhibit for 
La. Purchase Exposition, 140; com- 
pilation of bibl. proposed by A. L. 
A. com. on Am. dissertations, 186; 
proposition once made for catalog- 
ing (Hanson), 192; capitalization 
rules (A.L. A. Catalog Sec. discus- 
sion), 193; card catalog (Rosen- 
garten), an ; work (Putnam), 212- 
215. 

Library problems of to-morrow (Bill- 
ings), 1-9. 

Library tracts, (Fletcher) 83; scope 
t Fletcher), 150. 

Library training, rpt. of A. L. A. 
com. on (Bostwick), 135-136, 251 ; 
A. L. A. discussion, 136-140; for 
organizing work (A. L. A. discus- 
sion), 231-233; in lib. architecture 
needed (Brigham), 231-232; Chau- 
tauqua course( Hazeltine) , 233 ; sum- 
mer school courses (Sharp), 233; 
Olean institute (Hazeltine), 234; 
through the state lib. assoc. 
(Dewey), 237-238. 

Lincoln, Roland C., 262. 

Lindsay, Mary, 262. 

List of books ,for girls and women 
(Fletcher), 84. 150. 

Little, G: T., 262; A. L. A. finance 
com., 123, 251. 

Livermore, Mrs. Susan E., 262. 

Locke, J: S., 262. 

Lochman, Harriet D., 262. 

Lord, Isabel Ely, 262; gift extremely 
rare, 34-37, 171 ; A. L. A. com. on 
co-operation with N. E. A., 127. 

Loring, Misses, reception given to 
A. L. A. by 253, (A. L. A. com. on 
resolutions), 171. 

Louisiana, lib. gifts to (Cole), 104. 

Louisiana Purchase Exposition. See 
A. L. A. exhibit. 

Lowell, James A., 262. 

Lyman, Alice, 262. 

Lyman, Bertha H., 262. 

Lyman, Mary E., 262. 

Lynde, Sarah A., 262. 

McCaine, Mrs. Helen J., 262. 
McConnell, Lilian I?., 262. 
McCullough, Elizabeth, 262. 
McCurdy, Robert M., 262. 
McDevitt, Cora E., 262. 
McDowell, Grace E., 263. 
McGuffey, Margaret D., 263 . 
Mclntire, Elizabeth H., 263. 
Mclntire, Mary A., 263. 
Mackay, Margaret S., 263. 
Mackay, Susan H., 263. 
McKee, Miss, 263. 
McKinnon, Barbara, 263. 
McKirdy, Alice E., 263. 
McMahon, Rev. Joseph H., 263. 
McMillan, Mary, 263. 



McMillan, Elizabeth McN., 263. 
McMullen, Grace L., 263. 
McRitchie, Euphemia D., 263. 
Macrum, Mary F., 263. 
McSweeney, M. Agones, 263. 
Macurdy, Theodosia E., 263. 
Madison (Wis.) P. L., lectures to 

factory employees (Burgess), 60. 
Magnolia, Mass., A. L. A. excursions 

in, 253. 

Mahoney, Jeremiah T., 263. 
Maiers, W:C., 263. 
Maine, lib. gifts to (Cole), 104. 
Maitland, Alex., trustee A. L. A. 

endowment fund, 166. 
Malkan, H: , 263. 
Mallbie, Anne, 263. 
Maltby, Mrs. S. B., 263; on com. on 

co-operative list of children's books, 

226. 

Mann, Olive L., 263. 
Manning, R: C., 263. 
Mansfield, Mrs. Julia W., 263. 
Marsh, Alice F., 263. 
Marsh, Lillian A., 263. 
Marsh, Louise T., 263. 
Marsh, Louise V., 263. 
Mattel, C: , 263; capitalization, 200, 

2OI. 

Marvin, G: R., 263. 

Maryland, lib. gitts to (Cole), 104. 

Mason, Edith H., 263. 

Mason, Ethel W., 263. 

Massachusetts, lib. gifts to (Cole), 
104-107. 

Massachusetts L. Club, greeting to 
A. L. A. (Vyellman), 134-135. 

Masters, Lydia \V., 263. 

Mastin, Mary E., 263. 

Matthews, Harriet L., 263. 

Mayberry, Bertha R., 263. 

Mayberry, Carrie C., 263. 

Mayhew, Esther M., 203. 

Medlicott, Mary, 263. 

Mellen, Helen L., 263. 

Memphis, Tenn., invitation to A. L.A. 
to meet in, 249. 

Merrill, Bertha H., 263. 

Merrill, Ella F., 263. 

Merrill, Mrs. Emily A., 263. 

Merrill, F: W., 263. 

Meyer, Emma, 263. 

Meyer, Hermann H. B., 263. 

Meysenburg, Theodore August, nec- 
rology, 123. 

Michigan, lib. gifts to (Cole), 107. 

Middleton, Jean Y., 263. 

Miersch, Ella E., 263. 

Miller, Eva L., 263. 

Miller, Grace, 263. 

Miller, Mabel H., 263. 

Milton (Mass.) P. L., home delivery 
in (A.. L. A. com. on lib. adminis- 
tration), 89. 

Minnesota, lib. gifts to (Cole), 107.; 
108. 

Missouri, lib. gifts to (Cole), 108. 

Mitchell, Gertrude E., 263. 

Mitchell, Sydney B., 263. 

Moffat, Mary, 263. 

Montana, lib. gifts to (Cole), 108. 

Montgomery, T: L., 263; A. L. A. 
com. on Handbook of Am. libs., 
128; attack of Am. Booksellers' 
Assoc. upon Dewey, 143; sec. 
A. L. A. Trustees' Sec., 203, 219. 

Moody, Henrietta, 263. 

Mooney, G: V., 263. 

Mooney, Katherine G., 263. 

Moore, Annie C., 263. 

Morrison, Homer, 263. 

Morrison, Mrs. Mary, 263. 

Morse, Anna L., 263. 

Morse, Carrie L., 263. 

Morse, Maud M., 263. ^ 

Morton, A. Louise, 263. 

Moulton, J: Grant, 263. 

Mudge, Isadore G., 263. 

Mulliken, Clara, 263. 

Mullon, Lydia, 263. 



Mullon, Mrs. O. A., 263. 

Murray, Grace L., 263. 

Museums, in connection with univer- 

sity libs. (Hopkins) 11-12, (Lane) 

172-173. See also Laboratories and 

departmental libs. 
Music, Bost. P. L. catalog (A. L. A. 

Catalog Sec. discussion), 190-191. 
Myler, Mary, 263. 

Nashville, Tenn., invitation to A. L. 

A. to meet in, 249. 
National Assoc. of State Librarians, 

and A. L.A. State Library Section, 

250-251. 
National Educational Assoc. Lib. 

Section, rpt. of A. L. A. com. on 

co-operation with (Dana) 126-127, 

Ahern, 127, (Council) 251 ; and A. 

L. A. co-operative list of children's 

books, 226. 

Nebraska, lib. gifts to (Cole), :oS. 
Neill, Ella F., 263. 
Nelson, C: A., 263; sec. pro tern. Col- 

lege Sec., 172; Dr. Abbot's catalog-- 

ing, 190; early card catalogs in 

France, 192; capitalization, 193, 

197-198. 

Nelson, Peter, 263. 
Newell, Louise E., 263. 
Net price system. See Discount to 

libs. 

Nevada, lib. gifts to (Cole), 109. 
New Hampshire, lib. gifts to (Cole), 

109. 
New Jersey, lib. gifts to (Cole), 109, 

no. 

New Mexico, lib. gifts to (Cole), :io. 
New York Free Circulating L., con- 

solidation with N. Y. P. L. (Bil- 

lings), 216. 
New York P. L., consolidation (Ro- 

sengarten), 21 1 ; organization (Bill- 

ings), 2:5-217. 
New York state, lib. gifts to (Cole), 

110-113. 
New York state L. Association, lib. 

institutes conducted by (Canfield), 

241-245. 
New York State L. School, methods 

of training (Bostwick), 136. 
Newfoundland, lib. gifts to (Cole), 

118. 

Newhall, Emma E., 263. 
Wewhall, Mrs. H: E., 263. 
Newman, Alice H., 263. 
Newton, Miss E. J., 263. 
Nicholl, Mary W., 263. 
Nichols, Adelaide A., 264. 
Nichols, Emma O., 264. 
Norcross, F. Mabel, 264. 
North Carolina, lib. gifts to (Cole), 

"3- 
North Dakota, lib. gifts to (Cole), 



"3- 

utti 
Nye, Elizabeth C., 264. 



- 

Nutting, G: E., 264. 
e, Eliza 



Oakley, Christina Van Allen, 264. 

Oakley, Minnie M., 264. 

Oberly, Beatrice C., 264. 

Odell, Helen P., 264. 

Ohio, lib. gifts to (Cole), 113, 114. 

Oklahoma terr., lib. gifts to (Cole), 
114. 

Olcott, Frances J., 264; subject head- 
ings for children's books, 224; de- 
clines election as chairman Chil- 
dren's Libns.' Section, 227. 

Olean, N. Y., lib. institute at (Hazel- 
tine), 234. 

Oregon, lib. gifts to (Cole), 114. 

Osborn, Mrs. Anna F., 264. 

Osborn, Emily B., 264. 

Osborn, Lyman P., 264. 

Osborn, Mrs. Lyman P., 264. 

Osborne, Robert W., 264. 

Overton, Florence, 264. 

Owen, Esther B., 264. 



INDEX. 



275 



Packard, Mary F., 164. 

Page, Walter H., 264; closer relation 

between libns. and publishers, 166- 

171. 
Pains and penalties in lib. work 

(Bostwick), 29-34, 130, (A. L. A. 



(Bostwick), 29-34, i 
discussion) 130-133. 
aimer, Alice G., 264. 



Pair 

Palmer, Bertha, 264. 

Palmer, Henrietta R., 264. 

Palmer, W. Millard, 264. 

Parham, Nellie E., 264. 

Parker, Bessie 1., 264. 

Parker, Haida M., 264. 

Parker, S. R., 264. 

Parker, W: A., 264. 

Parshley, Lillian E., 264. 

Parsons, A. ]., 264. 

Partridge, Myra R., 264. 

Patch, Mrs. Emily D., 264. 

Patten, Frank C., 264. 

Patterson, Marian, 264. 

Patton, Norman S., relation of trus- 
tees to libns., 208. 

Paul, Florence, 264. 

Parson, Kate O., 264. 

Pease, Grace, 264. 

Peck, Dr. Elizabeth, 264. 

Peck, Nina A., 264. 

Peckham, Dr. G: W., 264. 

Pennsylvania, lib. gifts to (Cole), 114. 

Peoples, W: T., 264; rpt. of A. L. A. 
com. on relation of libs, with book 
trade, 142-143; discount to libs., 
146; A. L. A. council, 166; chair- 
man com. on relations with book, 
trade, 250. 

Pepper, Elsie L., 264. 

Periodicals, printed cards for (Flet- 
cher), 83; printed cards issued by 
Bibl. Soc. of Chicago for indexing 
lib. (Fletcher), 84; rpt. of A. L. A. 
com. on indexes and title-pages to, 
128-129; co-operative finding lists 
(Rosengarten), 209. 

Perley, Clarence W., 264. 

Perry, Chestey R., rpt. on co-oper- 
ative list of children's books, 220. 

Perry, Lucy W., 264. 

Pettee, Julia E., 264. 

Petty, Annie F., 264. 

Philadelphia (Pa.) F. L., incunabula 
list (Thomson), 152, 153. 

Phillips, Mary E., 264. 

Phillips, LeRoy, 264. 

Picture bulletins, Pratt Inst. L. 
School (Bostwick), 136. 

Pierce, Col., 264. 

Pierce, Frances, 264. 

Piper, W: T., 264. 

Plummer, Mary W., 264; A. L. A. 
com. on internal, co-operation, 126. 

Poirier, Lydia M., 264. 

Poland, Myra, 264. 

Pollock, Mary H., 264. 

Pond, Nancy M., 264. 

Poole, Franklin O., Guide to the lit- 
erature of Am. hist. (lies), 151. 

Pope, Alice E., 264. 

Porter, W. T., 264. 

Porto Rico, lib. gifts to (Cole), 118. 

Portrait index (Fletcher), 84, 150, 151. 

Pospishell, Lillian, 264. 

Postal rates, reduced, for lib. books 
(Dewey) 235, (A.L. A. discussion), 
235; Council asked to endorse, 235; 
Council resolution on, 250; commit- 
tee discontinued, 250. 

Potter, A. C., 264. 

Power, EffieL., 264; on com. on co- 
operative list of children's books, 
226. 

Pratt Institute L. School, methods of 
training (Bostwick), 136. 

Prentice, Alice M., 264. 

Prescott, Annie, 264. 

Price, Helen U., 264. 

Printed catalog cards, issued by L". of 
Congress (Hastings) 67-71, 156, 
(A. L. A. com. on lib. administra- 



tion) 86-88, (A. L. A. com. on in- 
ternal, co-operation) 126, (Fletcher) 
149-150, (A. L. A. discussion) 156- 
163, (Andrews) 183, (Rosengarten) 
211, (Putnam) 213-214; by A. L. A. 
Publishing Board (Fletcher), 83, 84, 
149-150; for periodicals (Fletcher), 
83; for "misc. sets" (Fletcher), 
83, 84; for indexing bibl. pubs. 
(Fletcher) , 84 ; for Eng. hist. (Flet- 
cher)^; for A.L.A. catalog (Flet- 
cher) 84, (Hodges) 180, (Kroeger) 
181 ; for U. S. docs. (A. L. A. dis 
cussion), 130; cataloging less costly 
by use of (Kroeger), 180; for chif. 
dren's books (Brett), 223-224. See 
also Travelling catalogs. 

Public documents, rpt. A. L. A. com. 
on (Falkner), 92-96, 130; bill for 
better distribution to libs. (Falk- 
ner), 96; A. L. A. discussion, 130; 
A. L. A. resolutions on, 251 ; R. P. 
Falkner, chairman A. L. A. com. 
on, 351. See also Foreign docu- 
ments, State documents. 

Public library, relation of trustee to 
(Canfield) 204-206, (A. L. A. dis- 
cussion) 206-208. 

Public libraries and publicity (Swift), 
171. 

Publishers, A. L. A. com. on rela- 
tions of libs, with book trade, 142- 
143; net price system (A. L. A. 
discussion) 143-146, 153-156, (A.L. 
A. Council) 171; closer relation 
between libns. and (Page), 166-171. 

Puffer, Dorothy, 264. 

Pugsley, Maud M., 264. 

Purinton, Pearle L., 264. 

Putnam, Beatrice, 264. 

Putnam, Herbert, printed catalog 
cards for public docs., 130; work of 
Division of Bibl. of L. of Congress 
(Johnston), 148; printed catalog 
cards issued by L. of Congress, 
156-157, 159-163; work of L. ofCon- 
gress, 212-215; on Council com. on 
nominations, 250. 

Quimby, , responsibility of the 

trustee, 206. 
Quimby, Cora A., 264. 

Rabardy, Etta L., 264. 

Rae, Nellie L., 264. 

Rahn, Lucy, 264. 

Ranck, S: H., A. L. A. com. on 
internat. co-operation, 126. 

Randall, Clara H., 264. 

Rankin, G: W., 264. 

Rantoul, Robert S., 264. 

Raub, Ruth D., 264. 

Ray, Elizabeth C., 264. 

Ray, Frances K., 264. 

Ray, R: , Jr., 264. 

Ray, Mrs. R: , 264. 

Read, Carrie E., 264. 

" Reading for the young," new edi- 
tion to be prepared by A. L. A. Sec- 
tion for children's libns., 237. 

Reading clubs, home libs, and (Sack- 
ett) 72-75, (A. L. A. discussion) 
220-223. 

Reed, Mrs. Elizabeth T., 264. 

Reed, G: E. 264. 

Reference books, Kroeger's Guide 
(Fletcher), 83. 

Renewal, by telephone (A. L. A. 
com. on lib. administration), 91; 
fines minimized by (Thomson), 

Rezner, Adaline T., 264. 

Rhode Island, state libn. (Falkner), 

95; lib. gifts to (Cole), 115. 
Hice, Mrs. H. R., 264. 
Rice, Prescott C., necrology, 124. 
Richardson, Miss, 264. 
Richardson, E. C., A. L. A. com. on 

internat. co-operation, 126; A. L. A. 

council, 166. 



Richmond, Lucy C., 264. 

Rick, Bertha E., 265. 

Rlcker, Ella W., 265. 

Ridgeway, Edith, 265. 

Ritchie, J: , 265. 

Ritter, Jessie L., 265. 

Robbins, Mary E., 265. 

Roberts, Flora B., 265. 

Robinson, Alice M., 265. 

Robinson, T: , 265. 

Robinson, Mabel F., 365. 

Roden.Carl B., 265; organization of 

bibl. work in the past, 147. 
Rodgers, Anna H., 265. 
Rodgers, Florence S., 265. 
Root, A. S., 265; chairman A. L. A. 

College Sec., 172. 
Root, Mrs. Mary E. S., 265. 
Ropes, Rev. W: L., 265. 
Rose, Alice L., 265. 
Rosengarten, J. G., Am. libs, from a 

trustee's point of view, 208-212. 
Rosenthal, Herman, 265. 
Rule, Elizabeth E., 265. 
Russell, Mabel M., 265. 

Sackett, Gertrude, 265; home libs, 
and reading clubs, 72-75, 220, 221, 
222-223. 

St. Louis, Mo., invitation to A. L. A. 
to meet in 1904, 249. 

Salaries in lib. work (A. L. A. dis- 
cussion) 137-140, (Dewey) 218. 

Salem, Mass., A. L. A. excursion to, 

2 S3- 

Sanborn, Alice E., 265. 
Sanders, Mrs. Minerva A., 265. 
Sargent, Abbie L., 265. 
Sargent, Mary .,265. ' 
Sawyer, Esther W., 265. 
Sawyer, Ida E., 265. 
Sawyer, Jessie S., 265. 
Sawyer, Mary, 265. 
Saxe, Mary S., 265. 
Schmidt, Alfred F. W., 265. 
Schools, and libs. (Billings), 1-3; libs. 



in normal (Dana) 126- 
127. 



>RS) ,1-3 
127, (A 



hern) 



Scientific literature, selected list (Bur- 
gess), 56-60, 147; availability of 
selected list (A. L. A. discussion), 
146-147; selection (Hodges), 148. 
See also International catalog. 

Scott, Mrs. Adele C., 265. 

Scott, Angeline, 265. 

Scott, W., 565. 

Scribner, C: , correspondence in re- 
gard to book trade (Peoples), 142 

Seaboard Air Line traveling libs., lib. 
gifts to (Cole), 115. 

Sears, Alice W., 265. 

Secombe, Annabell C., 265. 

Seemuller, Mary, 265. 

Seymour, May, 265. 

Sharp, Katharine, 265; A. L. A. com. 
on resolutions, 171 ; lib. administra- 
tion in Univ. of 111., 17^7; special 
training for lib. organizers, 231 ; 
summer lib. courses, 233. 

Shattuck, Mrs. M. F., 265. 

Shaw. Bertha M., 265. 

Shaw, Laurence M., 265. 

Shaw, R. K., 265. 

Shaw, R.T., 265. 

Shepard, Alice, 265. 

Shepard, Mrs. Harriet A., 265. 

Sheridan, Margaret A., 265. 

Sheriden, Mary C., 265. 

Sherrill, Grace M., 265. 

Shippen, Rev. Rush R., 265. 

Shumway, Marion H., 265. 

Shurtleff, Nathaniel B., classification 
system in Bost. P. L. (Whitney), 
22. 

Sickley, J: C., 265. 

Siddall, Lucy L., 265. 

Simmons, Edith O., 265. 

Simpson, Frances, 265. 

Simpson, Medora J., 265. 



2/6 



INDEX. 



Slater, Ruth, 265. 

Small, M. Louise, 265. 

Smith, Adele, 265. 

Smith, Anne A., 265. 

Smith, Bessie S., 265. 

Smith, Caroline, 265. 

Smith, Claribel, 265. 

Smith, Cora, 265. 

Smith, Mrs. Emily B., 265. 

Smith, G: D., 265. 

Smith, Martha P., 265. 

Smith, Mary A., 265. 

Smith, Nellie M., 265. 

Smith, Walter M., sec. A. L. A. Col. 
lege Sec., 172; A. L. A. com. on 
Am. dissertations, 186. 

Smith, Winifred B., 265. 

Snead, W: R., necrology, 124. 

Snyder, Mary B., 265. 

Solberg, T., 265; origin of card cata- 
log, 192; capitalization, 193, 198. 

Somerville (Mass.) P. L., home deliv- 
ery in ( A..L. A. com. on lib. admin, 
istration), 88, 89. 

Sornborger, Harriet B., 265. 

Soule, C: C., on A. L. A. Publishing 
Board (Fletcher), 83; tract on lib. 
buildings and rooms ( Fletcher J, 83; 
rpt. of A. L. A. endowment fund, 
125-126; A. L. A. Trustees' Sec. 
com. on nominations, 204. 

South Carolina, lib. gifts to (Cole), 
115. 

South Dakota, state docs. (Falkner), 
95; lib. gifts to (Cole;, 115. 

Speck, Mrs. Laura, 265. 

Spencer, Mrs. M. C., 265. 

Spofford, A. R., work of (Putnam), 
214-215. 

Springall, Lizzie S., 265. 

Springfield (Mass.) City L., home 
delivery in (A. L. A. com. on lib. 
administration), 88. 

Squires, Norma S., 265. 

Staff meetings, N. Y. P. L. (Billings), 
217; difficulty of (Brett), 217; neces- 
sity for (Dewey), 218. 

Stanley, Harriet H., 265. 

Staples, Harriet W., 265. 

State documents (Falkner), 04, 95. 

State library associations, functions 
of (Dewey), 236-238; how to arouse 
interest in places without lib. facili- 
ties (Lambert), 238-239; how to 
make programs of most use to small 
libs. (Farrar) 239-241, (discussion) 
247-249. See also Library insti- 
tutes. 

State Library Associations Round 
Table Meeting, proceedings, 236- 
249. 

State library commissions, how to 



secure legislation for (Brigham), 
r or libs, by 
(Hoagland) 229-230, (Hutchins; 



228-229; propaganda fo 



230-331 ; training for organizers 
(A. L. A. discussion), 231-234. 

State Library Commissions Round 
Table Meeting, proceedings, 228- 
235; election of officers, 235. See 
also A. L. A. State Library Com- 
missions Section. 

Stearns, L. E., on A. L. A. Council, 
166; com. on affiliation of A. L. A. 
with women's clubs, 251. 

Sterner, Dr. B. C., 265; accounta- 
bility of fine receiver, 131; distinc- 
tion between Carnegie's offers and 
his gifts, 135; A. L. A. com. on 
Am. dissertations, 186. 

Stevens, Alice B., 265. 

Stewart, Cora L., 265. 

Stewart, Irene, 265. 

Stewart, Rose G., 265. 

Stimson, Florence, 265. 

Stockwell, G: W. C., 266; teller for 
election of officers, 147; programs 
for state assns., 247-248. 

Stockwell, Mrs. G. W. C., 266. 

Stone, Mrs. Alice H., 266. 



Stone, Anna L., 266. 

Stone, W: C., 266. 

Store-house plan for disused books 

(Eliot), 53. 
Story, Alice, 266. 
Stronm, Adam, 266. 
Stuart, Mrs. C. B., 266. 
Stuart, May, 266. 
Stuart, W: H., 266. 
Stuart, Mrs. W: H., 266. 
Student help (A. L. A. com. on lib. 

administration), 90, 91. 
Subject headings, A. L. A. list 

(Fletcner), 84; simplified for chil- 

dren's books, 223-224. 
Swain, Mary P., 266. 
Swift, Lindsay, 266; public libs, and 

publicity, 171. 

Tabard Inn L., books furnished to 
public libs. (Ballard), 184-185. 

Taber, Josephine, 266. 

Taintor, Mabel G., 266. 

Tarbell, M. Anna, 206. 

Tarlton, Mrs. L. B., 266. 

Taube, Albert, 266. 

Taylor, Ida M., 266. 

Teggart, F: J., 266; rpt. on Handbook 
of Am. libs., 128; printing of Hand- 
book uncertain, 128; bibl. as supple- 
mentary to cataloging, 183-184. 

Telephone, renewal by (A. L. A. 
com. on lib. administration), 91. 

Temple, Henrietta B., 266. 

Temple, Mabel, 266. 

Tennessee, lib. gifts to (Cole), 115. 

Tenney, Mary A., 266. 

Terwilliger, Mary S., 266. 

Texas, lib. gifts to (Cole), 115. 

Thayer, Maude, 266. 

Thomas, Dr. J. C., 266. 

Thomas, Nellie, 266. 

Thompson, Annie, 266. 

Thompson, Bertha M., 266. 

Thompson, Helen M., 266. 

Thompson, Leda J., 266. 

Thomson, J: , 266; fines minimized 
by renewal, 133; A. L. A. com. on 
relations of libs, with book trade, 
143, 250; rpt. on incunabula list, 
152-153; branch lib. lecture rooms, 
164 ; getting aid for libs., 23:. 

Thornton, Elizabeth T., 266. 

Thorp, Mrs. O. S., 266. 

Thurston, Ada, 266. 

Thurston, Charlotte W., 266. 

Thurston, Elsie L., 266. 

Thurston, Elizabeth P., 266. 

Thurston, Mary D., 266. 

Tilden L., consolidation of N. Y. P. 
L. (Billings), 215. 

Tillinghast, W: H., 266; printed 
catalog cards, 162-163; capitaliza- 
tion, 190-200. 

Tillinghast, Mrs. W: H., 266. 

Titcomb, Mary L., 266; catalog cards 
for children's books, 224. 

Titus, Ella G., 266. 

Tobitt, Edith, 266. 

Tower, Ruth N , 266. 

Tracy, Dorcas, 266. 

Travelling catalogs, L. of Congress 
(Putnam), 160. 

Travelling libraries, requirements 
(Hill) 49. 

Travis, E: W., 266. 

Trustees. See A. L. A. Trustees 
Section, 203-21(5. 

Tripp, G: N. 266. 

Tripp, Mrs. G: N., 266. 

Trube, Bertha, 266. 

Trumbull, Jonathan, 266. 

Tucker, Ethelyn M., 266. 

Tufts, Percy H., 266. 

Turner, Emily, 266. 

Tweedel, E: D., 266. 

Tyacke, Margaret, 266. 

Tyler, A. W., 266. 

Tyler, Jessie E., 266. 



Underbill, Adelaide, 266. 

Underbill, Caroline M., 266; account 
of Ilion lib. institute, 247. 

University libraries, organization and 
administration of (Hopkins) 10-16, 
172, (A. L. A. College Sec. discus- 
sion) 172-178. 

University of Illinois, lib. administra- 
tion (Sharp), 177. 

Upham, W: P., 260. 

Upson, Anson Judd, necrology, 124- 
125. 

Upton, Gertrude, 266. 

Utah, lib. gilts to (Cole), 115. 

Van der Carr, Sara C., 266. 
Van Hoevenberg, Elizabeth, 266. 
Van Name, Addison, 206. 
Vattemare, Alexandre, founder of 

libs. (Whitney), 18, 19. 
Vermont, lib. gifts to (Cole), 116. 
Virgin, E: H., 266. 
Virginia, lib. gifts to (Cole), 116. 
Von Briesen, Henriette, 266. 

Wade, Edith S., 206. 

Wagner, Sula, 266; sec. A. L. A. 

Catalog Sec., 202. 
Wait, Marie F., 266. 
Wales, Elizabeth B., 266. 
Wales, Mrs. Harriot B., 266. 
Walkley, Ellen O., 266. 
Wallace, Anne, 266; branch lib. plans, 

164; 2d vice-pres. A. L. A., 166. 
Wallace, Eugenia, 266. 
Wallis, Mary V., 266. 
Walsh, W: A., 266. 
Walton, Addie E., 266. 
Ward, AmaH., 266. 
Ward, Cornelia B., 266. 
Ward, Langdon L., 266; functions 

and resources of branch libs., 42- 

46, 165 ; central lib. catalog at branch 

lib., 165. 

Warner, Anna, 266. 
Warner, Florence C., 266. 
Warren, Mary J., 266. 
Warren, Mary W., 266. 
Washington, state docs. (Falkner), 

95- 

Waterman, Lucy D., 266. 

Waters, Alice G., 266. 

Waters, Caroline E., 266. 

Wayne, Ethel, 267. 

Weber, Mrs. Jessie Palmer, 267. 

Weed, Mrs. H: , 267. 

Welch, Flora, 267. 

Weld, Mrs. Anna Amory, necrology, 
124. 

Welles, Jessie, 267. 

Wellman, H. C., 267; rpt. of A. L. 
A. com. on lib. administration, 86- 
91 ; greeting to A. L. A. on behalf 
of Mass. L. Club, 134-135; discount 
to libs., 144-145; printed catalog 
cards for small libs., 159; co-oper- 
ative list of children's books, 227 ; on 
com. on relations with book trade, 
250; on A. L. A. Pub. Board. 251. 

Wellman, Mrs. H. C.,267- 

Wells, G: D., 267. 

Welsh, C: , 267; evaluation of chil- 
ren's books, 76-79, 224. 

Welsh, R. G.,267. 

West Virginia, lib. gifts to (Cole), 
116. 

Western Massachusetts Library Club, 
work of (Dana), 246-247. 

Wetzel, Bertha S., 267. 

Wetzel, Mary J., 267. 

Wharton, Miriam B., 267. 

Wheeler, Florence E., 267. 

Wheeler, Horace L., 267. 

Wheeler, Martha T., 267. 

Whipple, Nellie M., 267. 

White, Alice E., 267. 

White, Alice G., 267. 

White, Andrew C., 267. 

White, Beulah S., 267. 

White, Elizabeth S., 267. 



INDEX. 



277 



White, Gertrude F., 267. 

White, Mrs .Joseph N., 267. 

Whiteman, Edna, 267. 

Whitmore, L. H., 267. 

Whitney, Mrs. Carrie W., 267. 

Whitney, H: M.,267. 

Whitney, Mrs. H: M., 267. 

Whitney, James Lyman, 267; inci- 
dents in the hist, of the Host. P. L., 
16-24, '6 i greets A. L. A., 120; 
A. L. A.' financial com., 123, 126, 
251 ; Harvard College L., catalog, 
190; first printed catalog, 192. 

Whitney, James L., 2d, 267. 

Whitney, Solon F., 267. 

Whittemore, B. A., 267. 

Whittemore, Edith A., 267. 

Whitten, Robert H., 267. 

Whitten, Mrs. Robert H., 267. 

Whittier, Florence, 267. 

Whittier, Sara H., 267. 

Whittlesley, Julia M., 267. 

Wiggin, Pauline G., 267. 

Wildman, Bertha S., 267. 

Wildman, G., 267. 



Wildman, Linda F., 267. 

Wilkerson, Elizabeth $.,267. 

Willard, Mrs. Ashton R., 267. 

Willcox, Frank G., 267. 

Williams, Lizzie H., 267. 

Williams, Mary, 267. 

Williams, Olive, 267. 

Wilson, Mary H., 267. 

Winchell, F. Mabel, 267. 

Winchester, J. H., 267. 

Winne, Grace L. M., 267. 

Winser, Beatrice, 267 ; chairman State 
Library Associations Round Table 
Meeting, 236; work of state lib. 
assoc., 238; difficulties of lib. insti- 
tutes, 245. 

Winsor, Mrs. Mary G., 267. 

Winterrowd, Miss Gentiliska, 267. 

Wire, Dr. G: E., 267. 

Wise, Flora E., 267. 

Wisconsin, lib. gifts to (Cole), 116- 
118. 

Wisconsin Library Commission, sum. 
mer course in care of public docs. 
(Falkner) 96, (Sharp), 233. 



Witham, Eliza, 267. 

Women's clubs, com. on affiliation of 

A. L. A. with, 251. 
Wood, Florence A., 267. 
Wood, Grace W., 267. 
Woodman, C. Belle, 267. 
Woodman, Caroline A., 267. 
Woodman, Mary S., 267. 
Woodruff, Edmund W., 267. 
Woodruff, Eleanor B., 267. 
Woodworth, Florence, 267. 
Woodworth, Margaret, 207. 
Wootten, Katharine, 267. 
Worthen, Carrie M., 267. 
Wright, C: E., 267. 
Wright, Jennie C., 267. 
Wright, Purd B., 267. 
Wyer, Malcolm, teller for election of 

officers, 147. 
Wyman, A. L., 267. 
Wyman, Mrs. A.L., 267. 

Young, Hester, 267. 
Young, Lucy A., 267. 
Yust, W: F., 267. 






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