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PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS 

OF THE 



FOURTEENTH GENERAL MEETING 



OF THE 



AMERICAN LIBRHRY ASSOCIATION 

HELD AT 

LAKKWOOD, N. J. 

WITH SESSIONS AT 

BALTIMORE: AND WASHINGTON 

MAY 16-21 
l8Q2 



BOSTON 

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 
1892 z. 



CONTENTS. 



Title. 



President's address . . . . 
University extension . . . . 
Memorial of Lewis H. Steiner 

Notes on binding 

Elements of good binding . . 
Evaluation of literature . . . 

Proceedings 

First Session 

Catalog machine . . . 

Secretary's report . . . . 

Attendance at conferences 

Treasurer's report . . . 

Necrology 

Finance 

Badge 



Second Session 

Report of the Cooperation Committee . . . 

Boston Public Library 

Subject headings 

Reports on the Library School 

Special report of the Finance Committee . . 

Increase of dues 

Public documents 

University extension 

A. L. A. exhibit at the Columbian Exposition . 

Revision of the constitution .... 42, 54, 
Third Session 

Report of trustees of endowment fund . . . 
Fourth Session 

Lewis H. Steiner t . . . 

Experience meeting 

Library progress 

Arrangement of maps 

Sunday opening 

Delivery stations 

Home libraries 

Benefits from post-conference trips . . . . 

Questions 

Fifth Session 

Invitation to Chicago 

Library exhibit at Columbian Exposition . . 

Revision of constitution f 

Sixth Session 

Public documents 

Report of special Committee on Finances . . 

Revision of constitution 

Constitution 

Motto 

Council 

Immediate use of new constitution . . . . 

Libraries and schools 

Seventh Session 



Author. Page. 

IV: I. Fletcher i 

Rev.Dr.J:B. Thompson 6(30-41) 

W : Hayes Ward 10(43) 

D. V.R.Johnston 13(62-63) 

R. B. Poole 15 (62-63) 

G:Iles 18(63-65) 

23-81 Binding 62-63 

23-28 Evaluation of literature 63-65, 80, 81 

23 Election of officers 65, 67, 71, 80, 81 

. 23-25 Library Congress in Chicago 65 

24 Chicago's climate 65 

25-26 * Bureau of Education and libraries 65-66 

26 Books in the mails 66 

26-28 Election of officers 67 

28, 81 Periodical literature 67-69 

28-42 Eighth Session 69-7 1 

28-30 Access to shelves 69-70 

28-30 Next meeting 70 

30 Life insurance 70-71 

31-34 Resolutions 71-81 

34-35 Election of councillors 71 

35"38 Catalogs, card and printed 71 

38-39 Ninth Session, Baltimore 72-76 

39-41 Addresses of welcome 72-73 

41-42 Library architecture 73 -75 

56, 57-60 Remarks of Enoch Pratt 76 

42 Response of Pres. Fletcher 76 

42 Tenth Session, Washington 76-81 

42-48 Address of welcome 76-7 7 

43 Public documents 77-8 

43 Evaluation of books 80 

43 Officers selected 80-81 

44-45 Eleventh Session, steamer Washington .... 81 

45-46 Resolutions 81 

46 Evaluation of books 81 

46 Badge 81 

46-47 Adjournment 81 

47-48 New York Library Association 82-86 

48-56 College Library Section 86-88 

48 A skeleton of library science, E. C. Richardson 86-87 

48-54 Teaching bibliography to college students, G : T. 

54-56 Little 87-88 

57-62 A. L. A. Publishing Section 88-89 

57 The Woman's Meeting 89-94 

57 What a woman librarian earns, M.. S. Cutler . 89-91 

57-58 Work in Y. W. C. A. libraries, T. W. Cattell . 91-92 

58-60 Reading-rooms ; what a woman may do in them 92 

60 Woman's position in library service, M. E. Sargent 92-94 

60, 71 Post-conference excursion 94-98 

60 Social evening 98-99 

60-62 Attendance register 100-103 

62-69 Attendance summaries 104 



not bind till the extra copy of the index to vol. 17 of the Library journal comes. 



D 










CONFERENCE OF LIBRARIANS. 

LAKE WOOD, N.J., BALTIMORE, WASHINGTON, 
MAY 1 6-2 1, 1892. 



THE ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, W. I. FLETCHER, LIBRARIAN OF AMHERST COLLEGE. 



*T*HE peculiar circumstances under which I 
assume this position will, I am sure, be 
sufficient to excuse the desultoriness of the 
few remarks which, on so short notice, I have 
been able to throw together for your consider- 
ation this evening. When, but a few days ago, 
I found that the duties of this position would 
devolve on me, it chanced that my mind was 
already occupied, to some extent, with a line 
of thought which I at once saw was the only 
one on which 1 could hope to be in the least 
prepared to speak on this occasion. In 
developing this line of thought, as best I 
could in the few days left me, under the 
pressure of other absorbing duties, it has pre- 
sented itself to me under two phases, and 
I have hesitated which phase I should make 
most prominent by letting it give a name to 
my theme. Under one phase my subject 
would be, " The public library of the future ;" 
this subject has peculiar fascinations for the 
castle-builder, and derives great interest from 
the marvelous development of library inter- 
ests in the recent past, pointing to still 
greater things in the near future; but one 
must needs hesitate to assume the role of 
prophet when it is noted how rapidly the 
conditions, both physical and social, on which 
predictions must be based, are changing. 
Only a seer may venture to forecast the 
future, otherwise than by a careful study of 
present indications and past progress. The 
progress so far made and the indications at 
present available in this field are too 
full of variety, and even inconsistency, 



to furnish a basis for calculations as to the 
future, and delightful as may be the attempt 
to peer into that future, a sober second 
thought prompts me to come at my subject 
on the other and more practical side. Hence, 
I bring you as my theme, " Some library econ- 
omies," and wish to be understood as using 
the word " economies " in its most usual and 
homely sense. 

" Library economy " is a much-abused and 
an ambiguous term. As a name for the craft 
of the librarian it is singularly infelicitous, 
and yet no other term is so much used in 
fact none other has yet been found to 
express in English the idea of the German 
" Bibliothekswissenschaft." " Library sci- 
ence " may be considered a literal rendering 
of this term, but it does not convey to the 
average mind the idea intended. He will 
confer an immense benefit on our fraternity 
who shall furnish an intelligible and satis- 
factory name for the science and art of 
"book-keeping" in its noblest sense. But 
whatever library economy may mean or may 
not mean, we can all understand library 
economies as signifying the practical carry- 
ing out of the third member of the triple ex- 
pression serving as a motto for this Associa- 
tion. Lest some of you may have neglected 
to carry in mind so rudimentary an attach- 
ment of the Association as its motto, you will 
allow me to remind you that it is " The best 
reading, for the largest number, at the least 
cost." 

"The best reading" in one form or 



3 
,< 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



another this subject has formed the theme of 
much of our discussion. A proper selection 
of books for purchase is one aspect of it. It 
is significant that these words, " The best 
reading, " form the title of the excellent work 
by W. S. Sonnenschein which our committee 
on the A. L. A. catalog have accepted as a 
basis for their work. Before this session is 
over you will have your attention drawn to 
the plans of that committee for revising and 
improving this book along the lines long ago 
laid down for the famous "A. L. A. Cat.," 
which, though often said to be dead, justifies 
its name by proving to have nine lives at 
least. But to most of us the greatest interest 
in " the best reading " has centered in efforts 
to induce readers to use books of the better 
sort. No further raison d'etre for the Asso- 
ciation need be asked for than what it has 
accomplished in this line. 

When we come to the second clause in our 
motto, "for the largest number," we reach 
the great subject of library extension. What 
wonders have been and are being wrought in 
this direction ! The day of libraries for the 
few is past, and libraries for the many yes, 
for everybody is the watchword of recent 
progress. Since our last meeting at least one 
other State proud New Hampshire, the 
mother of the American public library system 
has followed the example of Massachu- 
setts in legislating for the positive encourage- 
ment and financial assistance from the State 
to towns, in the establishment of public 
libraries, while the great Empire State itself, 
by legislation just enacted, makes public 
libraries an integral part of her great State 
university system. I find no reason yet to 
withdraw my prediction, made last year by 
the Pacific, that the time will come when all 
our communities will be required by law to 
maintain libraries as much as to maintain 
schools. 

Another phase of this work of library 
extension deserves notice. Two years ago, 
come September, one of the most significant 
movements ever made in the interest of 
library extension was set on foot when the 
endowment fund of this Association was 
established. From the energetic men who 



have charge of the raising of this fund you 
will hear a report at this session. Let it be 
understood as widely as our influence goes 
that the double use to which the income of 
this fund is to be devoted means the best 
reading for the greatest number most emphat- 
ically. The cause of library extension awaits 
more than anything else the thorough inform- 
ing of the people as to the work. When the 
endowment fund begins, as it very shortly 
will, to yield an annual income of some hun- 
dreds of dollars, a wide and (let us hope) judi- 
cious distribution of just such information 
will be made. The people of those parts of 
the country where this movement is in its 
infancy or wholly unknown will be told how 
great are its advantages and how easily and 
cheaply they are to be obtained. Heaven 
speed the endowment fund ! 

Perhaps the ideas covered by the expres 
sion "at the least cost" have not engaged 
our thought to such an extent as have these 
others. We have gloried in the size of the 
figures which represent the expenditures of 
communities or the gifts of individuals for 
the establishment and support of libraries. 
I fear we have not often enough considered 
whether these sums were so expended as to 
produce the best results. Let me make it 
clear at this point that I am not here to advo- 
cate the saving of public money in the 
sense of having less expended on libraries, 
but rather to plead for such economies as 
shall save money from accessories to be 
applied to essentials. " More books" is the 
demand of every library. How hungry, how 
insatiable are our libraries for books ! That 
terrible hunger which gnawed upon the 
vitals of political shysters excluded for a 
quarter of a century from the pantry of 
Uncle Sam is as nothing. The greed of the 
daughter of the horse-leech, crying " Give ! 
give ! give ! " is satiety itself compared to the 
cravings of our partly filled shelves, or even 
of shelves already apparently bursting with 
plenty, for more books and yet more books. 
It is to meet this overwhelming demand for 
books that library economies are called for. 
As the old patriotic legend says, " Millions 
for defense, not a cent for tribute," so the 



FLETCHER. 



library calls for millions for books, not a cent 
for wasteful expense. 

But it is time for me to come down to 
something specific and definite. I propose to 
point out certain library economies as being 
practical and at the same time largely neg- 
lected. In the first place there is economy 
in library buildings. Library architecture 
" is the tune we ' librarians ' do delight in," 
to judge by its constant recurrence on our 
programs ; let us have it with variations by a 
little talk about the cost of library buildings. 
What is a fair ratio of dollars in cost of a 
building to volumes accommodated ?. How 
may the ratio change if the volumes are not 
accommodated, but "stored?" How may it 
change again as more or less provision is 
made for the accommodation of readers, stu- 
dents, classes, lectures, etc? These are ques- 
tions only to be properly answered when 
something like library statistics have been 
collected, and what is vastly more impor- 
tant collated, by some bibliothecal Carroll 
D. Wright. I have lately had 'the pleasure 
of examining the new library building of the 
Hartford theological seminary, planned, I 
think, mainly by our brother Richardson, 
(not H. H., but he of Princeton, the "ency- 
clopedia " man). I find there a fire-proof 
building of brick with stone trimmings, 
neat, sufficiently ornate, with unusually 
large provision for study and lecture-rooms, 
which will shelve, in such a way as truly to 
" accommodate " not far from five volumes 
for every dollar of cost. Compare this with 
some of our monumental buildings which 
represent $2 or $3 for every volume " stored " 
(not accommodated) ! What is the difference? 
It is simply the difference between library 
economy and library extravagance. 

The Mercantile libraries of St. Louis and 
of New York have shown us how a large 
city library building may be constructed on 
strictly business and utilitarian principles, 
and be made to contain (and accommodate) 
three or four volumes for every dollar of cost, 
while built in the most substantial and thor- 
ough manner. (As to the capacity of these 
buildings, I am figuring on the basis of the 
whole structure being devoted to library 



purposes, as it may ultimately be.) Nor is 
there omitted in either of these buildings any 
appeal to the esthetic sense which need be 
expressed by a building intended for use and 
convenience. Let it be understood that a 
public library is first and foremost an insti- 
tution for practical e very-day use, and the 
battle for economy in building is won. A 
comparatively small sum will add to a build- 
ing, simple and utilitarian in its general plan, 
sufficient ornamentation to make it elevating 
and refining to the taste of all who enter it. 

One requirement, which seems to have 
been singularly overlooked in many of our 
library buildings, is that of economical admin- 
istration. The arrangement of the offices and 
work-rooms with reference to the delivery 
and reading-rooms is a problem deserving 
great attention from the economical point of 
view. It is often a great object to employ 
one attendant to attend to two or. more 
departments of work at the same time. I 
gave considerable thought, not long since, to 
the arrangement of these administrative parts 
of a library building, with the view to enable 
one person at certain hours to take care of 
the entire library and reading-room, and at 
the same time to do conveniently such ordi- 
nary routine work in cataloging, labeling 
books, etc., as the lulls in patronage would 
permit. Where any economy is practiced, 
these things must be looked after. A build- 
ing may be so arranged (actual examples are 
not wanting) that the additional expense of 
administration consequent upon its erection 
may represent the interest of a sum larger 
than the cost of the building which is thus 
practically doubled. 

I had in mind to allude to certain econo- 
mies of a minor sort connected with the 
arrangement of the shelving, etc., but must 
pass them over for the present. The next 
department in which I will enter a plea for 
economy is that of cataloging. On this sub- 
ject I hesitate before expressing myself so 
radically as is justified by my profound con- 
victions. But the duty of expressing convic- 
tions is only second to that of having them, 
and I must have my say. If the words be not 
those of truth, as they are assuredly those of 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



soberness, they can do no lasting harm. My 
first demand for economy in cataloging is in 
the department of subject catalogs. Nine 
years ago, in a brief published article, I made 
an arraignment of the system of subject cata- 
logs as carried out in many libraries, espe- 
cially in the larger ones, on the score of 
wastefulness through unnecessary repetitious 
work. I went so far as to question whether 
the whole field of subject cataloging ought 
not to be abandoned by the catalogers of 
libraries and turned over to the index-maker 
and the bibliographer. My feeling that this 
is so is only growing stronger as time passes. 
Our subject catalogs answer the question 
" In what books shall I find the information I 
desire?" A constantly increasing number of 
bibliographies, indexes, and manuals enable 
a library, without a subject catalog, but well 
furnished with such helps, to give the needed 
direction. 

But while few libraries as yet will give up 
the advantages coming from the possession 
of a fairly good subject-catalog, most libra- 
rians are prepared to admit that large por- 
tions of the field covered by such catalogs 
(the " analytical " references, for example) 
may be omitted from the catalog and be bet- 
ter furnished in published indexes. My plea 
here is for a more generous and hearty coopera- 
tion for the carrying out of this transfer. If 
the ten libraries in the country which expend 
most on the cataloging department) would 
reduce the expense each by $1,000 annually, 
and put the money thus saved together for their 
mutual benefit, indexing work could be done, 
as a result, and printed, that would be worth 
to each of these libraries much more than it 
cost, and would be equally available every- 
where else. The " A. L. A. Index," now at 
press, is a feeble attempt at this sort of thing. 
But thus far we have only been playing at 
cooperation. May we not hope to see some- 
thing done this year more worthy of the op- 
portunity open to us in this line ? 

Now I must pay my respects to the author- 
catalog. When I have deprecated elaborate 
subject-cataloging, I havejalways insisted that 
every library must have its author-catalog, 
including title headings for anonymous books, 



kept sharply up to date, and made with the 
utmost accuracy and completeness possible. 
This is the catalog, and must be maintained 
with even more vigilance and carefulness if it 
be the only catalog. But there are indica- 
tions of a possible great economy in this 
department also being brought to pass. 
Various experiments have been made in the 
line of printed catalog cards furnished to 
libraries from a central bureau, but these 
experiments have not succeeded. Now there 
is an effort making to establish such a system 
of cataloging, and to give it a firm financial 
basis Jhrough the support of the book-trade. 
In the case of new publications, a card -cata- 
log quite up to date and always strictly alpha- 
betical is a desideratum of the bookseller as 
well as of the library ; and it is believed that 
through uniting the booksellers and the 
libraries a constituency will be found suffi- 
cient to support the scheme. A beginning 
once made, there will be rapid progress. 
Whole ranges of titles common to libraries of 
any size will be furnished by the central 
bureau ; and as it constantly increases its 
stock of titles, it will be prepared to furnish 
to new libraries an increasing proportion of 
the cards needed for the catalog. The scheme 
of furnishing electros of titles, instead of 
cards, may work in with the other. Mr. 
Growoll, the accomplished editor of the Pub- 
lishers' 1 weekly, is publishing a series of arti- 
cles in the Library journal on cooperative 
cataloging. In the forthcoming number he 
will give an interesting account of his 
extended experiments, and plainly foreshadow 
the establishment of a system for the sup- 
ply of title " logotypes " as one of the proba- 
bilities of the near future. Thus the cooper- 
ative movement seems to promise to meet 
the demands of the printed page catalog as 
well as of the card arrangement. 

And what need there is for something 
of the kind ! See a thousand libraries at 
once cataloging the same book, and by the 
same rules and methods ! What is the print- 
ing press for? Be assured, my friends, that 
when a practicable scheme for saving 
this enormous reduplication of work 
has been set on foot we shall have to 



FLETCHER. 



shelve all notions, and give up all our pet 
methods that stand in the way, and " keep 
step to the music of the union." The busi 
ness men who are back of us will have their 
eyes open and some day the cry will go up in 
our camp, " The Philistines are upon you." 
These Philistines may not know as much as 
we do about books or about Cutter's rules, 
but they are quite apt to know a good thing 
when they see it and they pay for our bread 
and butter. Happy shall that librarian be 
who knows enough in these transition times 
to put the butter on the right side of his 
bread. We are not to trim our sails to every 
breeze, but we must suit them to the trade 
wind which in the long run is our depen- 
dence for making port. 

As you perceive, the field of my subject is 
so large that I can only cover it on the 
" touch-and-go " principle, and I must pass 
on. Classification is the next head to be hit. 
I have often had a word to say about this 
subject in our meetings and have been a 
student of it for 30 years, but I think I have 
learned more with regard to it very recently 
than in all the time before. I am sorely 
tempted to go into the subject in general, but 
must inexorably confine myself to its econom- 
ical bearings. Economy demands in classifi- 
cation as elsewhere two things simplicity 
and effectiveness ; the latter because that 
which is simple without being effective is 
likely to be extravagant rather than econom- 
ical. I hail with satisfaction the present 
tendency away from book classification and 
toward book arrangement. There is a dis- 
tinct reaction from the effort at extremely 
close classification, which aimed to locate a 
book by its subject, most definitely and 
minutely stated, to an exact arrangement in 
larger classes which shall provide for each 
book its precise place, making minute sub- 
divisions unnecessary and accomplishing a 
better result. The Cutter author table, and 
other devices by which new books fall into 
precisely the one right place, have come suffi- 
ciently into use to lead to the employment of 
more comprehensive classes. I have taken 
one section after another as fiction, the clas- 
sics, English literature (and other literatures), 



and arranged them on this principle of large 
classes with exact placing by alphabetical 
or other order of the books in the classes, and 
feel sure this is the coming system. As to 
effectiveness there can be no doubt, and for 
simplicity it is greatly superior. Economy 
will be immensely served by the removing 
from the list of the librarian's duties the 
elaboration of a carefully constructed, logical 
and minute classification, or even the applica- 
tion of such a system elaborated by some one 
else. The increasingly rapid progress of 
development in all sciences and all literatures 
too demands that library classification shall 
be ductile and not run in a mold like cast-iron. 
We must classify and reclassify as time goes 
by, and we ought to be on our guard not to 
let reclassifying become a difficult and there- 
fore expensive work. 

I wish to emphasize this thought that 
libraries must be continually reclassified to 
keep abreast of the constantly changing 
aspects and relations of different departments 
of knowledge. I see before me one of our 
university librarians who promised us a few 
years ago a paper on " The duties of a 
librarian to his successors," but failed to 
carry out his promise, presenting, with an 
apology, only an outline of his intended paper. 
He gave us the hint that one of the chief 
duties of a librarian to his successors was to 
see that he was not, like Sinbad the Sailor, 
loaded with an old man of the sea in the form 
of a rigid and elaborate classification sup- 
posed to be good for a hundred years. 

On only one other department of library 
work do I care to speak this evening, lest I 
weary you. And what I wish to say in this 
regard may be thought to come only by the 
dragging-in process, within the scope of my 
theme. I am persuaded of two things, how- 
ever: first, that you will not insist on my 
sticking absolutely to my text, and second, 
that after all, the reform which I have now 
to advocate is in the best sense an economy. 
We librarians must find how to place our- 
selves more constantly and serviceably be- 
tween the public whom we serve and the 
books. We have been too content to be 
Dei EX machina, leaving those who use the 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



library to the tender mercies of catalogs and 
assistants, the latter too often inadequately 
fitted to cater in any true sense to the real 
needs of our patrons. If there is any one on 
the premises who knows books well and is 
competent to guide inexperienced readers, 
his services ought to be freely available to 
every inquirer. If I am to rise to the height 
of my duty and privilege, I must not only be 
ready to treat with kind and patient helpful- 
ness those who accept my invitation to seek 
me in my " office," but I must to the greatest 
extent possible be where I shall hear all 
inquiries at the desk, and observe all impend- 
ing failures to get what is wanted. " Impos- 
sible," do I hear you say, "for the chief 
officer of a large library to do this work ? " I 
am not so sure. The largest libraries must 
have several competent librarians, of course, 
as no one can be ubiquitous. But I am sure 
that if we take the right view of the matter, 
we can most of us profitably make a reversal 
in the assignment of the library functions, 
the librarian taking the position of actual 
and constant contact with the patrons (not of 
course running after books or attending to 
the charging, except in the smaller libraries), 
and giving to his assistants, just so far as 
possible, charge of the correspondence, keep- 
ing order lists and books, and all other office 
work. 

I am entirely convinced that only thus can 
we exercise such an economy of our time and 



of whatever abilities we may possess, as will 
be in accord with the sentiments and princi- 
ples that are to govern the public library of 
the future. Everything points to such a 
development of the library system in this 
country as shall make even our day appear at 
the dawn of the 2oth century to have been a 
day of small things. We are still working 
at foundations. What forms the structures 
shall take which the next century shall erect 
thereon we cannot tell. It becomes us to 
strive for such breadth of view, and such 
conceptions of abiding principles as applied 
to our work, that we may lay foundations 
which shall not require entire relaying. When 
we inquire for these principles, I am sure we 
shall find them very largely along the lines of 
simplicity and tried effectiveness, rather than 
along those of elaborateness and theoretically 
exact arrangement of details. 

We are, in this meeting, to make arrange- 
ments to give to the public library movement 
in America a fitting place in the great expo- 
sition of next year. Shall we make a dazzling 
display of mechanical devices and technical 
methods? Shall we not rather give promi 
nence to those great ideas expressed in our 
motto (if you will pardon my recurring to it), 
and let it be seen that the ruling spirit in this 
movement is one of " plain living and high 
thinking" rather than of bibliothecal luxury 
and extravagance ? 



UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. 

BY THE REV. DR. JOHN B. THOMPSON, OF NEW BRUNSWICK. 



A YEAR ago it was my privilege to speak 
to the New Jersey Library Association 
upon University Extension. I endeavored to 
show that the object of the movement is to 
extend the benefits of the higher education 
to all ranks and conditions of men throughout 
the republic, that this work needs the earnest 
cooperation of all the friends of libraries, and 
that it will confer upon libraries as much good 
as it will derive from them. 



Like all important movements, University 
Extension is an outgrowth of the conditions 
of society. In the year 1867 Professor James 
Stuart began this work with instruction to an 
association of teachers in the north of Eng- 
land. Subsequently he taught similar classes 
in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, and Shef- 
field, and thus were evolved the essential 
features of a movement which was taken up 
by the University of Cambridge in 1873, and 



THOMPSON. 



by that of Oxford in 1878. In 1876 was organ- 
ized the London Society for the Extension of 
University Teaching, and on the model of this 
was formed in 1890 the American Society for 
the Extension of University Teaching. This 
society has its headquarters at Philadelphia, 
publishes a monthly magazine on the subject, 
and has done more than any other instru- 
mentality for the furtherance of the work in 
this country. 

Universities are corporations legally author- 
ized to impart instruction and confer degrees. 
Colleges were primarily collections of students 
in residence halls at universities. Marischal 
College, however, at Aberdeen, in Scotland, 
was established in 1593, with the then unpre- 
cedented power of conferring degrees also. 
Harvard College was founded in 1636 with 
the same privilege si conferring degrees ; and 
on this model our American institutions for 
higher education have generally been formed. 

Of late years, through the liberality of the 
general government, " state colleges " have 
been organized upon the same general plan ; 
and these furnish, perhaps, the most efficient 
instrumentality for University Extension, or 
College Extension, in this country. 

The nature of this movement and the best 
means of promoting its efficiency will perhaps 
be understood from specific details of what is 
now doing in New Jersey better than from 
mere "glittering generalities." 

In 1857, ten years before the inception of 
this work in England, New Jersey had a sim- 
ilar system for the instruction of teachers. 
Twenty-four hours of systematic instruction 
was given during five consecutive days in each 
county, the evenings being devoted to popular 
lectures upon the topics taught during the day. 
Upon the establishment of the State College 
its professors began to go out annually into 
the various counties to give simple scientific 
lectures on the topics thought most profitable 
to the inhabitants of each locality. 

The change of the Teachers' Institute from 
a school of five days to a convention of two or 
three days left the way open for the State 
College to undertake extension work in due 
form a year ago. 

Not every college professor is fit for this 



work. The audiences are intended to be, 
and are, as miscellaneous as the attendance 
upon a church service. They consist of the 
young and the old, the ignorant and the 
learned, the high and the low, the rich and 
the poor. All these the lecturer must interest 
and instruct, and stimulate to study. It goes 
without saying that he must be perfectly 
familiar not only with his subject, but also 
with attractive methods of presenting it in 
such a way that it can be accurately appre- 
hended. It is safe also to say that for such 
an audience the logical method is never the 
best method. 

After the lecture as many of the audience 
as desire to study remain another hour for 
conference with the lecturer, both asking and 
answering questions. A printed syllabus of 
the lectures is furnished each student, with 
the names of books to be read. Every student 
is urged to write out an abstract of what he 
has learned from each lecture and from his 
reading or other inquiry on the subject, and 
to send this abstract to the lecturer by mail. 
These communications the lecturer carefully 
examines, makes notes upon them, and reads 
such parts of them as he thinks best at the 
next conference, with such further elucidation 
as he deems fitting. These written exercises 
extend from the size of a postal card to letters 
of twenty or thirty pages, according to the 
leisure and desire of the student. Twelve 
lectures constitute a course, and at the close 
of the course the students who choose so to 
do present themselves for examination, and 
receive college certificates stating what they 
have done. Some of these students have 
acquitted themselves quite as well in these 
individual studies as those in regular resi- 
dence at college, and it is obvious that thus, 
in the course of years, the complete college 
curriculum might be overtaken by those who 
for various reasons have never been able to 
take a regular college course. And when 
only a part of this can be accomplished, so 
much advance at least is made toward the 
acquirement of a liberal education. 

Last autumn circulars announcing that the 
State College was about to undertake this 
work were sent to prominent individuals 



8 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



throughout the State. Addresses upon the 
nature and importance of the work were made 
before the New Jersey Library Association, 
the State Convention of the Y. M. C. A., at 
the annual meeting of the State Board of 
Agriculture, and before miscellaneous audi- 
ences assembled for the purpose in various 
towns and cities of the State. 

At the conclusion of these lectures in sep- 
arate localities a " Local Centre " was organ- 
ized of men and women interested in so 
philanthropic an enterprise. By voluntary 
contributions and by the sale of tickets at a 
low price the " Local Centres " secured funds 
sufficient for the expenses, and seven courses 
of study have been given. 

The great danger of this movement every- 
where is that it may lapse into a mere "lecture 
system " for amusement and instruction. This 
danger has been more successfully avoided in 
New Jersey than anywhere else in this coun- 
try, as the following detailed statements 
of what has been done here during the past 
winter will show : 

i. The first was a course of twelve lectures 
in Astronomy by Professor Robert W. Pren- 
tiss, in New Brunswick, beginning January 8, 
1892. At these lectures the attendance varied 
from 35 to 73, and at the class hour following 
the average attendance was 19. Of these 
eleven regularly presented written exercises 
from week to week. To show the nature of 
the work, the titles of some of the special 
papers prepared by the pupils may be men- 
tioned, e. g. t Theories of Sun Spots, the Spec- 
troscope, the Atmosphere of the Moon, the 
Other Side of the Moon, the Rings of Sat- 
urn, the Red Spot on Jupiter, the Satellites 
of Mars, Encke's Comet, Sir William Her 
schel. 

Notwithstanding that cloudy weather greatly 
interfered with practical work, in addition to 
the above some members of the class, having 
telescopes, submitted diagrams of the daily 
appearance of the sun, showing location, etc., 
of the spots. Others drew diagrams of the 
constellations. 

The syllabus of this course is a little book 
of 44 pages. To the outline of each lecture 
is appended a series of questions and of 



topics for study, with a list of books of refer- 
ence for this specific part of the subject. 

2. The second was a course of twelve lec- 
tures in Agriculture by Professor Edward B. 
Voorhees, at Freehold, beginning January 9, 
1892. The attendance varied from 75 to 119. 
It is noteworthy that an audience made up 
almost wholly of farmers should hold together 
week after week for the purpose of studying 
scientific agriculture. It is a tribute to the 
skill of the lecturer, to the intelligence of the 
New Jersey farmers, and to the admirable 
elasticity of the methods of extension teaching. 
About two-thirds of the audience remained 
each week to a second hour for an informal 
quiz. The attendants at this course were 
from twenty to seventy years of age, and 
were all practical farmers. Several of them 
are graduates of the college. The first three 
lectures of this course were scientific and 
theoretical ; the others scientific and practical. 
The syllabus contains tables of the con- 
stituents of plants, of the composition of rich 
wheat soil, of the wheat plant, of the com- 
position of standard fertilizing materials, of 
suitable manures for different crops, of the 
amounts of plant food removed from the soil 
by different kinds of crops, of the proper 
mixtures of grass seeds for pastures, of the 
composition of fodders and feeds, of the 
digestibility of feeding stuffs, of proper rations 
for farm animals, of the composition of the 
milk of different breeds of cattle, and others 
similar. Questions also are appended to the 
analysis of each lecture. 

New Jersey is a garden State and large sums 
are paid for commercial fertilizers, ofttimes 
in ignorance of their value. Certain farmers 
in this county who attended these lectures 
learned the advantage of buying nitrogen, 
phosphoric acid, and potash at wholesale, and 
then mixing them themselves in proper rela- 
tive proportions. They joined together and 
bought 200 tons of these materials at a cost of 
$900, instead of the $1,200 they would other- 
wise have paid to the agent of the manufacturer. 
" How do you plain farmers come to know so 
much about these things?" said the dealer in 
New York. " Oh, we live in Jersey," was the 
reply. 



THOMPSON. 



One of these men sold all his corn, not 
feeding an ear of it, but buying and feeding 
cotton-seed meal instead, having learned that, 
besides the feeding value, corn has a fertiliz- 
ing value of only $7 per ton, while cotton- 
seed meal, with at least an equal feeding 
value, has a fertilizing value of $30 per ton. 

3. The third course was a course of twelve 
lectures on Electricity by Professor F. C. 
Van Dyck, at Somerville, beginning January 
14, 1892. The attendance varied from 75 to 
115, and at the class hour in which were dis- 
cussed practical problems in electricity more 
than 50 were present. Two of these, the 
professor says, though they have enjoyed 
none of the advantages of the higher educa- 
tion hitherto, have done equally good work 
with the students in his college classes. Both 
of these men are earning their bread by their 
daily labor, and can give only their evenings 
to study. One of them is a man of fifty who, 
as I happen to know, would gladly have gone 
to college thirty years ago if he had been able 
to accomplish his desires. The other is a 
young man engaged in New York during the 
day, but living a dozen miles from Somerville, 
to and from which place he traveled by rail 
each night to attend this course of instruc- 
tion. 

4. The fourth was a course of twelve lec- 
tures in Chemistry by Dr. Peter T. Austen, 
in East Millstone, beginning January 14, 1892. 
The attendance varied from 85 to 130, and 
here about two-thirds of the audience remained 
for the after work. 

5. The same course began in New Bruns- 
wick on January 20, 1892. The audience 
averaged about 40 and the class about 20. 
While all the other courses were attended 
by men and women alike, this last, quite 
without deliberate purpose, was attended 
exclusively by men, some of whom desired a 
knowledge of chemistry in connection with 
their work in the factories. These lectures 
were held in the chemical lecture room of the 
college. 

6. The same course began in Paterson on 
January 23, 1892. It was given under the 
auspices of a newly-formed Scientific and 
Literary Association, and with the coopera- 



tion of the local Young Men's Christian 
Association. The audience numbered about 
200, and a class of about 75 met regularly 
after each lecture. Some of the more earnest 
students have taken the work up experi- 
mentally, and have purchased the chemicals 
and apparatus necessary for private experi- 
mentation and laboratory work. 

Professor Austen was formerly a regular 
professor in the college, as are all the others 
mentioned ; but at present he is engaged 
exclusively for the Extension department, in 
which work he is so eminently successful. It 
is obvious that, in all our colleges, exceptional 
men are to be trained up for this special work, 
which demands the utmost knowledge not 
only of the subjects taught, but also of the 
best methods of teaching them, especially to 
those who have had no special preparation for 
study. The regular professors in all our insti- 
tutions are already overworked. 

7. A seventh course on Botany is now in 
progress at New Brunswick, conducted by Pro- 
fessor Halstead, with an average attendance 
of sixty, of whom forty-five remain the second 
hour for practical work. One-half of these 
expect to take the examination at the end of 
the course. These lessons are given weekly, 
and twenty pages of Gray's Lessons in Botany 
are required at each lesson. 

The attendance at these seven courses of 
lectures has been about 700, and more than 
one-half of these attendants have engaged in 
the regular and systematic study of the sub- 
jects. The fact that the attendance is volun- 
tary, and that it requires some effort to 
attend it, perhaps accounts for the more than 
usual earnestness and diligence in study be- 
yond what is characteristic of boys at college. 

The income from these courses has been 
sufficient to pay the salaries of the professors 
employed, averaging about $200 for each 
course. The expenses of administration, 
printing of syllabi, etc., borne by the college, 
have amounted to about $250. 

There have also been given in New Bruns- 
wick a course of thirteen lectures on "Old 
Italian and Modern French Painting," by Pro- 
fessor John C. Van Dyke, and a course of 
fifteen lectures on Architecture by Professor 



10 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



T. Landford Doolittle. In order to limit the 
attendance upon these courses, a charge of 
two dollars was made for admission to the 
former and of one dollar for admission to the 
latter course ; but many who desired to attend 
were unable to gain entrance. 

The libraries in New Brunswick and else- 
where have felt the stimulus of this move- 
ment, and will feel it more. The demand for 
books upon the topics taught has greatly 
increased, and the supply has been increased 

For the discussion on this paper 



to meet the demand. Long lists of the books 
available for use in the different courses have 
been prepared in a very distinct manner, and 
posted where they catch the eye of the visitor. 
Librarians in every locality would seem to be 
the proper persons to initiate this work, and 
library buildings should be erected with rooms 
specially designed for its furtherance. The 
movement is thoroughly altruistic in its char- 
acter, and commends itself to all interested in 
the development of the human race. 

see PROCEEDINGS (second session). 



MEMORIAL OF LEWIS H. STEINER. 

BY WM. HAYES WARD. 



T T is a grateful service which I am called 
to pay to the memory of Dr. Steiner, one 
of the broadest, truest, most cultured gentle- 
men that ever graced the profession to which 
you, ladies and gentlemen, belong, one whom 
I have honored for his character and acquire- 
ments above almost any other man whom it 
has been my privilege to count among my 
friends. 

The annals of his life and the list of his 
writings would first of all carry the evidence 
of a man of extraordinary breadth of culture. 
Born May 4, 1827, graduating at Marshall 
College at the age of nineteen, he chose the 
profession of medicine, and in 1849 was given 
the degree of Doctor of Medicine by the 
University of Pennsylvania. But it was not 
his design to devote himself to the life of 
a practicing physician, but rather to those 
studies which the profession cultivates. He 
returned to the comfortable home which he 
inherited in Frederick, Md., but connected 
himself for a number of years as lecturer and 
professor on chemistry and pharmacy with 
different institutions, such as the Maryland 
College of Pharmacy, the Columbian College, 
and the National Medical College at Wash- 
ington. He was engaged in these duties 
nearly if not quite up to the opening of the 
civil war, when he enlisted in the service of 
the Sanitary Commission, where his admin- 



istrative powers were so distinguished that 
he was appointed chief of the Sanitary Com- 
mission for the entire Army of the Potomac, 
and served in this capacity through the War. 
He was member and officer of various medi- 
cal and sanitary societies, and was elected 
President, in 1877, of the American Academy 
of Medicine, of which he was one of the 
founders, as he was also one of the founders 
of the Maryland College of Pharmacy, and of 
the American Public Health Association, of 
which latter he was Vice-President. He was 
the author of a large number of papers, 
especially on medical chemistry, and was 
often called on for addresses before medical 
associations. Possessed of some property 
and living in his own ancestral home, and not 
dependent on his profession for a living, he 
was able to allow the scientific bent of his 
mind full play, and medical science was 
rather his pleasure than his toil. 

Yet he had other tastes as well. He was a 
marvelously good reader, a lover of litera- 
ture, a cultivated scholar and writer, and a 
charming speaker. These qualities fitted him 
for an active interest and influence in the 
affairs of the German Reformed Church, into 
which he was born and to which he was 
greatly devoted. He served several times as 
elder of the Frederick Church and as treas- 
urer of the Potomac Synod. Scarce any of 



WARD. 



ii 



the laymen were so well known in that church 
or so often called to its councils. He wrote 
again and again for its quarterly magazine, 
The Mercersburg Review, and he was chosen 
to edit a critical edition of the Latin text of 
the Heidelberg Catechism, and also an Eng- 
lish translation of the same. He was a secre- 
tary of the Tercenary Conference in 1863, 
called to celebrate the sooth anniversary of 
the Heidelberg Catechism. He was a prom- 
inent member of the Liturgical wing of the 
church, and was on the committee which pre- 
pared both the " Order of Worship " and the 
" Directory of Worship." He was also the 
editor of three hymn or tune books used by 
the same denomination. He was an earnest 
Christian believer and had a great love for 
the Church of his inheritance, but he was a 
hopeful, progressive man in religion as well as 
science. I remember that when he took his 
young wife to Frederick there had never been 
any rebellion against the old custom in the 
church where he worshipped, which required 
all the men to sit on one side and all the 
women on the other. He saw no reason why 
he and his wife should be separated in the 
house of God, and took his wife with him and 
had her sit by his side. 

I should give a very inadequate account of 
Dr. Steiner's career did I not refer to his 
political life. Before the war he was an old- 
line Whig, and a Bell and Everett man. On 
the collapse of that party in the War he 
became an earnest Republican in a State in 
which Republicans had little chance of suc- 
cess, and remained such till his death. He 
was elected from Frederick county to the 
Maryland Senate, and was then the only 
Republican in that body, and was reelected, 
serving continuously from 1871 until 1884, 
when he left Frederick to make his home in 
Baltimore, and to give the rest of life to the 
Enoch Pratt Free Library. During these 
twelve years he was the acknowledged leader 
of his party in the State, and was political ed- 
itor of The Frederick Examiner, and an edit- 
orial which he wrote for that paper early in 
that period, suggesting the name of James G. 
Blaine for President, was, as Mr. Elaine 
wrote him a few years ago, the first public 



suggestion of the sort. In 1876 he was dele- 
gate to the Republican convention at Cincin- 
nati. He had the barren honor of more than 
once receiving the Republican nomination for 
United States senator, and he declined nom- 
ination to the House of Representatives when 
he might have been elected. Although in the 
party of the minority, he was always much 
liked by his political enemies. He was recog- 
nized by both parties as an authority on par- 
liamentary law, and served on many impor- 
tan committees. No one ever suspected him 
of any crooked political methods, and his 
thorough uprightness secured him general 
respect. He was staunch in his convictions, 
never tricky or time-serving, always a gentle- 
man, and always devoted to the principles he 
had espoused, so that he was more of a states- 
man than a politician. 

It was a magnificent testimony to the con- 
fidence placed in his honor and the respect 
paid to his attainments that Dr. Steiner, then 
the leader of the political party in the State 
which was in a hopeless minority, was called 
to be the first librarian and the organizing 
head of the Enoch Pratt Free Library. This 
service he undertook in November, 1884. 
For a little over seven years he held the office, 
and what the institution became under his 
care, and what was his reputation, you who 
elected him to the office of Second Vice-Pres- 
ident of this association, the position which 
he held at the time of his death, know better 
than I. That great library was created by the 
munificence of Enoch Pratt, one of the 
noblest philanthropists of our generation. 
The work of organization and administration 
was Dr. Steiner's. The library was opened 
in 1886 with 20,000 volumes on its shelves. 
At his death there were upon its shelves and 
in its five branches 106,000 well selected 
volumes. Nearly all this great work was done 
by Dr. Steiner. It has been a model to many 
other libraries. Its main building first 
invited to its reading room young and old, 
male and female, white and black ; and then 
it followed the population to each extremity 
of the city, begging them to accept its service. 
In those short seven years he was able to 
accomplish what was a good lifetime's work. 



12 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



It has been remarked as extraordinary that 
a man without the technical training of a 
librarian, and with no more special experience 
than that of librarian of the Maryland Histor- 
ical Society, should have won such distin- 
guished success in a new field. It can be 
explained only from the fact of his universal 
versatility of mind and breadth of culture. 
This his varied career, as already described, 
has only in part illustrated. He had a 
teacher's instincts, and they are somewhat 
akin to those of a librarian. At the close of 
the war he returned to his home in Frederick 
and became president of the school board of 
Frederick county, and organized there the 
new system of public schools. I cannot tell 
you the labor he put into this service, which he 
was determined should be a success. He 
drove everywhere about the county, visiting 
the schools, stimulating lagging public interest 
and encouraging the teachers. They did not 
have the public sympathy which they always 
secure when their work becomes appreciated, 
and it was Dr. Steiner who opened his house 
to them, inviting two of them to spend the 
Sunday in his home. 

He was a man nice, fine, exact in his 
knowledge and in his tastes. He wanted to 
do things and have things done exquisitely. 
The sense of the esthetic was strong in him. 
Many of you remember his elegant, exact 
penmanship. He" would not write a slovenly, 
ill-made, or scamped letter in a word. This 
same nicety and exactness he showed and he 
required in his service as librarian. If he 
erred in administration, it was not on the side 
of carelessness but of correctness. He was 
a lover of music, as was indicated by his 
editing of books of song for his church. He 
especially loved the German chorals, and had 
no patience with the lively dance-hall style of 
religious music which haunts our Sunday 
schools and social meetings. He loved a 
good book and a well-bound book, and had 
a marvelous liking for a choice poem. His 
love and appreciation were seen in his power 
of putting expression into what he admired. 
He was an unusually fine reader, and his gift 
was often called out in public, when, without 
a bit of professionalism, he equaled those 



who set themselves up for elocutionists. He 
could give the Pennsylvania Dutch to per- 
fection for he was of German origin him- 
self and those of you have been fortunate 
who have heard him read for an hour the 
Hans Breitmann ballads. He was one of the 
best story-tellers I ever knew, and his varied 
experience in the War and in other relations 
had given him a fund of delightful and most 
amusing stories which I much wish might 
have been written out. One of the most 
delightful evenings in my memory was one at 
my house, when both he and Helen Hunt 
happened to be visiting me ; and the two vied 
with each other in story and witty repartee, 
so that they each confided to me that the 
other was one of the brightest and most 
agreeable companions they had ever met. 

But I must not leave him with the final 
impression of what was the lighter and more 
superficial side of his character. I recur to 
his deep seriousness, his wide scholarship, 
and his manly integrity. I remember the 
day when the Confederate troops entered 
Frederick, and his uncle had labored with 
him till three o'clock the night before to 
make him leave the city. At last he told his 
uncle that he was usually glad to see him, 
but now he would thank him if he would go. 
The uncle left, and in a short time the South- 
ern soldiers entered the town. He was the 
only Union man there, but he stood by his 
post under the Sanitary Commission, and 
the house was overrun with the soldiers of 
the invading army. They were hungry and 
wanted food. He gave them what they 
wanted, until he had so many calls that every- 
thing was exhausted. Late in the day he 
gave to a soldier the last biscuit in the house, 
and said : " Please remember when you see 
a Union soldier suffering that a Union man 
gave you the last bread in his house." When 
the Union army held the town his house was 
used as headquarters for the officers. One 
night he had a dozen officers sleeping there ; 
and when he had been consulting with the 
general till after midnight, he offered him the 
lounge in his office, as he had nothing better 
to give him, while he rolled himself in a 
blanket and slept near him on the floor. I 



JOHNSTON. 



don't wonder that he, with his War expe- 
rience, and his patriotic love for his country, 
and his Maryland and his Frederick, was an 
admirer of that sturdy old woman Barbara 
Frietchie ; and he loved to tell the story of 
her courage, for he knew her well and had 
many reminiscences of her. 

I must merely mention his family life. No 
man was ever so devoted to his household. 
He was married in 1866 to Miss Sarah S. 
Smith of Guilford, Conn., daughter of the Hon. 
Ralph Smith, a distinguished lawyer and stu- 
dent of the history of Connecticut. He left 
three daughters and two sons, the elder of 



whom, I am glad to say, has been appointed as 
his successor as librarian, a position for which 
his inherited tastes and talents fit him. Dr. 
Steiner was made Doctor of Laws by Dela- 
ware College in 1883, and Doctor of Litera- 
ture by Franklin and Marshall Colleges in 
1887. He died suddenly of heart disease, in 
the full fruitage of a noble and useful career. 
He left behind him the memory of a spotless 
life very dear to all his friends, and full of 
inspiration to those who are his fellows in the 
kind of service which he was glad to render 
to his fellow-men. 



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



NOTES ON BINDING. 



BY D. V. R. JOHNSTON. 



T N starting this discussion I am naturally 
anxious to turn it into channels profitable 
to myself, and accordingly wish to introduce 
the subject of law binding. 

We have a law collection of 47,000 volumes 
bound in true legal style, full law sheep orfull 
law calf . As our library was started in 1818, 
many of our law books which would not wear 
out from use are wearing out from old age. 
Consequently we have a large and constantly 
growing charge for rebinding. How to solve 
this problem is not quite apparent. We all 
know that law sheep is a poor material and 
that, thanks to modern inventions in tanning, 
it is growing worse all the time. Certainly to 
rebind in sheep is not a wise thing to do, as 
in a comparatively short time the work must 
be done over again. Of course to rebind in 
full law sheep is palpably absurd, for full bind- 
ing, though costing much more in money, is 
worth very little more than half binding. In 
my judgment it is equally absurd to bind in 
calf. Really then there is but one thing to 
do, and that is to bind in morocco. Law 
books are expensive to buy, and often more 
expensive to replace. They are rarely, if 
ever, wholly out of date, and therefore reason 
dictates that they of all books should have 



the most permanent binding, and that is mo- 
rocco. There are two serious objections to 
this, however: 

r. The deeply grounded feeling of the legal 
profession in opposition to any innovation 
whatever, which should not, however, be over- 
estimated ; and 

2. A very general dislike to breaking the 
uniformity in appearance of long sets of books. 

To find out if possible the feeling of our 
lawyers we are gradually introducing morocco 
into our legal collections. First we bound 
all our law periodicals in morocco, and this 
caused none but favorable criticism. We 
next bound all the earlier volumes of New 
York legislative documents, which were quite 
worn out, in the same style. As the later 
half of these documents remained in fast rot- 
ting law sheep, unsightly and dirty, a compar- 
ison was at once instituted which was over- 
whelmingly in favor of morocco, the only ob- 
jection which we heard being on the ground 
of expense, which is not fair, as half morocco 
does not cost more than full law sheep. 
After having had a fair chance to judge of 
our new style, we tried to obtain the opinion 
of some of our leading men as to morocco as 
a law binding. We found that they were in 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



the main favorable to it, one man, the owner 
of the finest private law library I know of, ex- 
pressing a wish that some day he might be 
able to bind his books in morocco. On the 
other hand, there were objectors, some on 
general principles, some for valid reasons. 
A professor in one of our large law schools 
objected to any change in the regular binding 
on account of its educational value to stu- 
dents and its aid to lawyers generally in find- 
ing the books they wanted. On account of 
these objections, and a dislike to marring 
the appearance of our handsome rooms by 
spotted collections of books, we have not re- 
bound in morocco any books belonging to 
long sets. I do not think, however, that vol- 
umes in short sets wearing out at about the 
same time should not be so bound. 

Speaking generally, the first cost of 
morocco should not be more than 20 cents 
per volume more than one-half law sheep, and 
I think that in the long run the saving arising 
from the use of the former will be very much 
more in proportion. To do our patching up 
in sets we first used the best law sheep we 
could find in the market, hoping in this way 
to get a superior and lasting article. But 
we found that this grade was used by the 
best publishers, though it is true that they 
injure their leather by washing it in oxalic 
acid. Abandoning this, we next tried to get 
a good samach tanned sheep, such as we 
could formerly obtain from Randolph and 
English in Richmond, but we could not find 
such a thing in the market. We next thought 
of American russia, which we had used before 
very satisfactorily on other kinds of work. 
It was found we could get this leather in 
almost the exact shade of law sheep and at a 
price not much greater. To give more exact 
figures, law sheep costs from 8 cents to 10 
cents per square foot, and American russia 
of this grade 16 cents per square foot. As 
you can cut about four backs of ordinary 
sized law books to the square foot, the differ- 
ence of cost is from i} cents to 2 cents per 
volume. It is not claimed that this leather 
gives as much satisfaction as morocco, but it 
is certainly better than sheep, both in that it 
is stronger and cleaner to handle. 



One word as to the practice of rebacking 
books. Owing to the fact that rebacking 
requires a greater proportionate outlay in 
labor than binding, it is proportionately more 
expensive; yet whenever the sewing and 
bands are in fairly good condition the practice 
is advised, for while it may be that you may 
in the long run have to spend more money for 
binding, you will save some of the deteriora- 
tion which is always incident to tearing a 
book apart and rebinding it. 

Last year the report on binding gave certain 
figures on library binderies and the chances 
of running them successfully. These figures, 
so far as they relate to standard library bind- 
ing, I have every reason to adhere to (and I 
have the financial reports of the New York 
State library bindery as proof). But for work 
in circulating libraries I am certain there is 
much of value which has not been reported, 
as we know that several libraries successfully 
maintain binderies which cost not much more 
titan $1,000 per year. (The New York free 
circulating library spent in 1891 $1,342.98, and 
the Newark library $1,068.48, in their binder- 
ies.) The reason for this great difference is 
seen when a comparison is made. Take the 
Newark library report for 1891, which runs as 
follows : 1,333 volumes rebound in old covers, 
2,070 bound in buffing, 81 in better leather, 
21 newspapers, 3,505 the total. The cost of 
stock was $170; of labor, $898.40 ; total cost, 
$1,068.40; cost per volume, deducting news- 
papers, 27 cents. Analyzing these, we find 
the cost of stock per volume is, in round num- 
bers, 4.8 cents, and that it was possible for 
two hands sharing only $898.40 between them 
to bind and rebind 3,505 volumes. But in our 
case, for the first year our stock cost us, in 
round numbers, 22 cents per volume, and four 
hands bound only 2,211 volumes. 

At last year's conference the use of flexible 
binding for circulating books was suggested. 
While I should not like to pass judgment on 
the matter until I know more about its advan- 
tages, I see some very positive disadvantages 
which should be pointed out. 

i. Flexible work must be of necessity case 
work, and as a matter of course the covers 
are more liable to tear off, the sewing to give 



POOLE. 



way, and the book to come apart, than in 
thoroughly bound books. This can be helped 
by sewing on tapes and lining the back with 
leather instead of paper ; but I doubt if the 
extra expense gives a commensurate return. 

2. Flexible work will not stand upright, 
and a careful adjustment of book supports 
will constantly be required whenever it is 
used. 



3. The cost of the leather necessary for 
full binding does not seem to yield any corre- 
sponding return in value. 

If, however, there are advantages to be had 
from the use of this style of binding more 
than sufficient to counterbalance these dis- 
advantages, it can be considered a good 
binding; but so far as I know there is no 
evidence to show that such is the case. 



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



ELEMENTS OF GOOD BINDING. 

BY R. B. POOLE, YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION LIBRARY, N. Y. 



HTHE purpose of bookbinding, it has been 
well remarked, is " to permanently pre- 
serve the best and noblest thoughts of man- 
kind." We are greatly indebted to the 
scholars of Greece and Rome, and to Hebrew 
and Christian writers, for committing their 
thoughts to papyrus and to parchment, so 
that to-day we have original MSS. dating from 
the fourth and fifth centuries. The first book 
printed with metal types is now about 440 
years old, and a number of copies enrich 
the libraries of Europe and America. 
Incunabula, or books published during the 
1 5th century, are not uncommon in many 
libraries of this country. We are largely 
indebted to the bookbinder's art for this great 
longevity of the books issued from the early 
presses of Europe. Evolution has marked 
the history of the bibliopegic art. The monks 
encased their manuscripts in hard wood 
boards (covered with leather), and protected 
them with bosses, metal corners and clasps. 
Thongs of raw hide and vellum, and these in 
double bands, bound the books to their mas- 
sive covers. Strength was the element 
sought, and it was attained. 

The age of printed books gradually wrought 
a change in the style of binding. As books 
multiplied, and copies became numerous, 
they became less objects of veneration. The 
cumbersome wooden covers, and the heavy 
metal bosses and clasps disappeared. The 
cords which held the covers to the book like 



a vise were replaced by bands which gave the 
book more flexibility. 

To this iron age of bookbinding we would 
not return, but in an era of machinery, when 
books are multiplied as the sands of the sea, 
and their cheapness lessens our ideas of their 
value, and makes us also oblivious to an 
extent that we owe anything to posterity, it 
is well for us, as librarians, to consider 
whether some authors on our shelves are not 
entitled to special care, that they may be pre- 
served to our successors. Inasmuch as we 
owe so much to the past for the works which 
ennoble our libraries, shall the librarians of 
the next century or of a century or two hence 
say, " Why did not those nineteenth century 
librarians think of us, and bind their books in 
such a way that we should not have to go to a 
museum to see the choice books of their age? 
That index of Poole's which those A. L. A. 
librarians worked out by the midnight electric 
light is certainly, a monument of industry, 
and very valuable on account of its biblio- 
graphical information, but most of the period- 
icals it indexes have perished. A well pre- 
served set is now and then offered for sale, 
but at prices which only the bibliophile can 
pay." 

There is no comprehensive rule by which 
all the books of a library can be cataloged ; 
neither is there an immutable law to guide 
the librarian in the casing of his books. He 
must be guided by his constituency, by the 



i6 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



character of his collection, by the individual 
features which each book or set of books pre- 
sents. 

There are three divisions into which the 
binding of a book is classed : (i) Preparing, 
(2) Forwarding, (3) Finishing. Decoration 
would form a fourth, but librarians cannot 
afford to be connoisseurs. We may have a 
taste for delicate hand-tooling, intricate 
designs, Grolier and Maioli styles, but must 
not indulge it, except to give a little flavor to 
section 686, Binding. 

The Preparation of a book^ is one of its 
most important features, and yet it is one 
which does not show much on the surface. 
A book well prepared should possess these 
three elements : solidity, strength, and flex- 
ibility. A book may come back from the 
bindery looking as fresh as a rose, and for 
lack of a sound preparation will soon be a 
wreck, and must be sent back for repairs. 
Solidity is attained in the case of old books, 
after the plates have been removed, by beat- 
ing the sheets with a hammer of twelve or 
fourteen pounds weight, on a solid block, but 
this compression of the sheets is now gen- 
erally relegated to a machine. If a book 
has been properly pressed every leaf will 
lie flat and solid. The plates will be inserted 
in their place after the book has been re- 
moved from the press. The whole work will 
now be carefully collated, and if any deficien- 
cies exist, the binder will notify his patron. 
Thick plates should be guarded to make them 
flexible, and the guard should be brought 
round the sheet it faces, not pasted to it. 

To secure the somewhat opposing elements, 
strength and flexibility, is not easy of attain- 
ment, and here much of the binder's skill and 
time will be exercised. The sheets must 
be sewed so as to secure firmness and elas- 
ticity. Books as now bound are usually 
sawed in the back for the insertion of the 
bands on which the leaves are sewed. If the 
book has been sawed deeply, then this fissure 
must be filled up and concealed, and the book 
will open more or less rigid ; if bound so as 
to give too much flexibility, then the book 
when opened will disclose these saw-cuts ; 
a mean is to be attained. The first principle 



to be sought is strength, then flexibility, or the 
easy opening of the book. When sheets are 
sewed " all along " greater strength is acquired 
than when they are sewed " two on," as tech- 
nically termed, but all books will not admit of 
being sewed " all along " the sheet, on account 
of producing too much swell in the back. 

What is termed by the craft raised bands 
is one of the best means of securing strength 
and flexibility. There are no saw-marks in 
this case to be filled with the thread and 
glue, stiffening the back, but the band is on 
the surface of the back and acts like a spring. 
The thread, in sewing, is carried completely 
round the band, whereas in the sunk band, it 
is only carried over it in the form of a loop. 
The cost of raised-band sewing is three or 
four times as much as the ordinary sewing, 
and is not employed much by publishers, on 
account of its cost. It is well adapted for 
cyclopaedias and Bibles which come into such 
constant use, and morocco with a plain finish 
is best suited to it. Appleton's Cyclopaedia, 
half morocco edition, is an example of this 
raised-band sewing. When the back of a 
book is too rigid it is often returned by the 
reader broken, because he has held it in his 
hands as in a vise and forced it open. The 
first and last signature of a book should be 
whip-stitched, as a protection against the 
action of the covers. 

The next division of the art of bookbind- 
ing is 

Forwarding. The fundamental principle 
here is trueness. The elements which com- 
pose this part of the work are the gluing, 
rounding, backing, squaring, lacing in, cutting 
the edges, and placing the end papers. A 
book takes its true form by the forwarding 
process, and here time and skill are required. 
The work may be done hurriedly, and the 
book always have an unshapely appearance. 
It is important that care should be taken in 
rounding the back, as upon this depends the 
evenness of the groove of the front edge of 
the book. Very much depends upon the 
proper treatment of the back of a book. 
Hot glue must be well rubbed into the 
sections, and when dried, the superfluous glue 
should be well removed ; upon this and the 



POOLE. 



lining of the back will depend in a measure 
the strength and flexibility of the volume, for 
these elements enter also into the forwarding 
process. There is still another important 
feature in the backing the formation of the 
joints for the mill board. This is done by 
placing the book in a press between beveled 
boards, when the back is beaten with a ham- 
mer to form grooves for the mill boards and 
the joints of the book. The proper forma- 
tion of these joints causes the book to open 
evenly, and not like a badly hinged door. If 
the mill board does not fit squarely in the 
groove of the back, then there will be a pro- 
jection ridge on the cover. The mill boards 
should also be accurately squared if the 
volume is to stand erect. 

The lacing in of the bands is another ele- 
ment which may be well or slightingly done. 
The frayed end of the band should be carried 
through the board and returned, instead of 
being merely inlaid. These bands should be 
from three to eight ply. 

The book now receives a second pressing. 
Good work should remain twenty-four hours 
under the press, but ordinarily you may not 
expect that books will be kept in press that 
length of time. 

Most books are cut at the "top," "tail," 
and on the " fore-edge." The book is put 
in a press and cut with a knife-edged instru- 
ment, known as a plough. The shortest 
sheet must be the gauge of the entire book. 
If a book is uncut, except at the top, the 
book has the advantage of broader margins, 
and can be trimmed when rebound with less 
damage to it. Most books are cut, but the 
best class of books should be uncut, when 
conditions will allow. If an extreme raw 
edge is not desirable, it can be slightly 
trimmed. Binders must be cautioned in the 
use of the knife, and instructed to preserve 
the widest possible margins. The top should 
be gilded in the best class of work, as a pro- 
tection from dust and as a suitable finish. 
Burnishing or sprinkling will answer in most 
cases. 

If paper is used for the sides of the book 
and for the lining papers, on the inside of the 
cover, they should harmonize with the leather, 



or present an agreeable contrast, and not be 
in opposition to all rules of taste. 

The third and last division of bookbinding 
which we wish to consider is the 

Finishing. Under this head arise the 
questions what material shall we use, its 
color; what kind of a back shall the book 
have, tight or flexible. The protection of 
the joints, and the lettering are too matters 
of importance. 

For our best books morocco or goat is by 
far the best material. Other material may be 
used for inferior work, as cloth and duck. 
Most other materials in the market possess 
too many objectionable features to be recom- 
mended except under exceptional conditions. 

Cochineal red may be recommended as the 
prince of colors, but it would not be well to 
have all our books red. Brown is said to be a 
prevailing color in this country, while England 
rejoices in purple, and France in red. Of the 
browns the lighter are to be preferred. There 
should be variety in color, and a selection 
should be made of those that will fade the 
least. I would not favor any class distinction 
of books by color of binding. It has too many 
objections. 

The head-band at the fop and bottom of a 
book should be worked in silk by hand, and 
fastened to the kettle stitch. These head- 
bands are frequently machine made, pasted 
to the back, and serve mainly an ornamental 
purpose. Vellum is a strong and durable 
material in which to work the head-band. 

The question of tight or flexible backs is 
an open one. The tight back undoubtedly 
secures the greatest strength and durability, 
but at an expense of flexibility. Tight backs 
will wrinkle, but morocco the least of all. 
The tight back is held by the bands and by 
the back, while the flexible bound book lacks 
the latter element of strength. To form the 
flexible back, a muslin or paper hollow is 
formed, as in the example before us. This 
hollow is variously constructed, and upon its 
proper formation depends in a measure the 
strength of the flexible back. In large books 
the joint inside should be protected by a 
piece of cloth or leather. The covering of 
the book with leather is one which requires 



i8 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



good workmanship and should be done by 
careful hands. 

The lettering on hand-made binding is not 
as accurate as on machine-made books, where 
the letters are struck with a die. The align- 
ment should be as correct as can be readily 
attained by a hand instrument. Lettering 
with lines out of their proper centre is an 
offense to the eye. 

In conclusion, a book, when well bound, 
should open easily, and when closed should 
lie solid, with its boards flat and even, and 
present an upright attitude when standing. 

I believe the standard of binding in our 
libraries should be raised. Periodicals which 
are to be of permanent value should be in 
half morocco and be strongly sewed, and so 
flexible as to open easily. Heavy reference 

NOTB. This paper was illustrated by examples of a book in the various stages of binding, by leathers, papers, and dif- 
ferent styles of bound books. I was indebted to Messrs. Stikemon & Co., New York, for their kindness in furnishing 
samples. 

For discussion see PROCEEDINGS (seventh session). 



books should be in half morocco, with flexible 
bands and guarded joints. A work of art on 
Holland or Whatman paper, with steel or 
etched plates, should have a binding in har- 
mony with its character. Books published in 
limited editions, that will never be repro- 
duced, deserve a treatment in consonance 
with their rarity and value. A large num- 
ber of the books in our libraries are destined 
to only an ephemeral existence, and do not 
need to be arrayed in costly apparel, and 
rigid economy may be practiced on them. 

Economy should undoubtedly be a watch- 
word with the librarian, but an economy 
which will tend to wealth and not to poverty, 
an economy which believes in the "survival 
of the fittest." 



THE EVALUATION OF LITERATURE. 



BY G: ILES, NEW YORK. 



T N association with Mr. R: R. Bowker I was 
engaged during 1890 in editing a bibliog- 
raphy of political and economic literature. 
Its main features were a classification by 
specific subjects; suggestions as to courses 
of reading at the head of each, when practi- 
cable and desirable ; and descriptive and 
critical notes under the more important titles. 
One of the difficulties of our task arose from 
the haphazard and inadequate way in which 
book-reviewing for the press is now con- 
ducted. For example, so significant a work 
as Maine's "Popular Government" drew from 
its principal reviewer little more than a com- 
parison of its style with that of "Ancient 
Law." Again, when in 1889 a teacher of 
political science at a leading university gave 
the world an ambitious treatise, conceded to 
be of much value, though chargeable with 
serious defects, the periodical of all others to 
which one would turn for some account of 
these defects never noticed the work. Asking 



its editor the reason, he said : " Oh, X. is a 
good fellow, and we didn't like to pitch into 
his book." And when reviews do appear a 
variety of causes are apt to make them 
untrustworthy. In not a few quarters the 
publisher of a book issues or controls a 
journal or magazine, and the author suggests 
the reviewer's name, so as to insure a friendly 
and quotable notice. In more than one widely- 
circulated medium it is the rule to present a 
book in summary, omitting the criticism, which 
is the very essence of review. Frequently, 
too, from motives of convenience, an " office 
hand " on the staff of a journal passes upon so 
wide a variety of literature that what he writes 
is not worth reading. All this at a time when 
the public, who seriously seek the best books, 
encounter new perils in looking for them. 
Chief among these perils are the wiles of 
advertisers. For instance, the publishers of 
many of the technical journals, building up a 
vast circulation among engineers, electricians, 



TLES. 



or photographers, have been quick to seize 
upon their opportunity and issue books cater- 
ing to the special trade or profession which 
their columns address. Not seldom a defec- 
tive work, advantaged by publication in this 
way, is pushed into a far wider sale than it 
deserves, while a highly meritorious work, 
which has to pay full rates for its advertise- 
ments and gets no " reading notices," suffers 
comparative neglect. 

Some of you may know to what I refer when 
I say that a movement, too, which does much 
in giving method to reading that otherwise 
might be desultory, and which, indeed, has 
brought its courses to the dignity of connected 
study, has by the very strain of success been 
sometimes swerved from selecting not the 
really best book, but the most available 
book. 

I think it fair to say, then, that today a 
great deal of reviewing, and much of the 
other guidance which inquirers for books 
receive, is incompetent, biased, or irrespon- 
sible; that the reviewers' sins of friendly 
omission are at times as grievous as those of 
interested or ignorant commission; and that 
often a sound and helpful review loses much 
of its value in appearing two to six months 
after the publication of a work. To a very 
noteworthy extent whoever will take the 
trouble to resort to a public library and 
consult its librarian is spared the loss of time 
and labor which otherwise attends the quest 
for the best books. But however wide a 
librarian's information, there are limits to it 
which he will be quick to declare ; and there 
are bounds also to the time which he can 
spare for the inquiring reader. Some plan, 
then, seems to be demanded which shall give 
an inquirer in any specialty of literature at 
every public library, at all times, the services 
of the best informed and fairest adviser to be 
had in the Union. I suggest : 

1. That the American Library Association 
appoint a committee to select from forthcom- 
ing publications, as announced, such works as 
they deem worthy of review. 

2. That this committee organize a corps of 
reviewers, comprising members each of whom 
shall be the best available authority in his 



field, with perhaps two such members for 
moot questions. 

3. That wherever possible a review shall be 
ready as soon as a book is published. This 
can be accomplished more easily than at first 
one would suppose. The mechanical execu- 
tion of an important book usually occupies 
three to six months. During this time, as 
fast as the chapters successively leave the 
press, advance sheets can be sent a reviewer, 
so that the issue of the work and its review 
can be simultaneous. 

4. That the review, to be printed on a card 
or cards following the title-card in the library 
catalogue, shall succinctly cover among its 
points these: A statement whether a book is 
elementary or advanced; a comparison between 
it and others in the same field, telling wherein 
it is better or not so good ; noting important 
errors, and where, if anywhere, a full criticism 
is to be found. 

5. That in addition to the very condensed 
review for use in public libraries, a second 
one, of a length varying with the importance 
of the book, be written for simultaneous issue 
in a circle of newspapers throughout America. 
The acceptability of such a review would, of 
course, largely turn on the interest in the sub- 
ject of the book, and on the eminence of its 
reviewer. Should this particular feature of 
my proposal prove successful, it would meet 
in part the expense necessary in working the 
project as a whole. 

6. That each review, whether for library or 
newspaper, be signed and dated. 

This proposal is nothing more than that a 
method in part practiced these many years by 
leading literary journals shall be perfected and 
applied to public libraries. The Nation, for 
example, has under enlistment a corps of re- 
viewers, each an authority in his department. 
Yet, at best, the Nation covers but a few of 
the rivulets in the flood of new literature, and 
may print its comment four to six months 
after a book is issued. 

The plan suggested would, I think, have 
these advantages : 

i. There would be an increase in the sense 
of responsibility of authorship. When a 
writer knows that his work is to be appraised 



2O 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



by the man best able to do it, whose word, 
favorable or otherwise, will largely decide the 
fortunes of his book, he makes it as good as 
ever he can. This spur, under the proposal I 
offer, would always be present, with an edge 
that would never grow dull. 

2. There would be an increase in the re- 
sponsibility of reviewing. The puffery of 
interest, the glosses of friendship, the snarls 
of ill-nature, would be much less likely to 
intrude in a signed criticism than in an 
anonymous one. The signed reviews now 
given in leading political, economic, and 
educational magazines leave nothing to be 
desired. 

3. There would be an increase in the esteem 
with which the public would regard reviewing 
when it became a task only for those acknow- 
ledged to be competent. This would, as far 
as it would go, have the effect of promoting 
the success of a really good book, or condemn- 
ing a faulty or bad one. 

4. There would be an increase of result in 
study and research through their receiving 
right direction. Why should any one read a 
superseded manual of chemistry, a second- 
rate plea for bimetallism, or a carelessly 
written account of the geology of Texas, 
when better books on all three subjects are to 
be had ? And in less scientific or serious 
branches of literature history, biography, 
and fiction the ordinary reader would derive 
aid nearly as important as that extended the 
student. 

5. The review-cards as received at a library 
would be helpful in purchasing perhaps as 
often in warning the buyer against certain 
books as in recommending to him certain 
others. Where, through lack of funds, a good 
book could not be bought, its review-card 
would tell any inquirer very much interested 
where he could find information. Should 
many such cards accumulate, they might be 
expected to arouse even a sluggish and 
parsimonious community to a sense of what 
it is missing. And where, as is more and 
more commonly the case, the public library 
buys every really good new book, I have hope 
that, having created an assured though small 
sale for such literature, we shall have some 



good books brought to the birth by virtue of 
this very opportunity. To be specific : Adolph 
Wagner and other economists of Germany 
have written extremely valuable works on 
taxation. Yet, because only a few hundred 
copies of each of these books would find sale 
in English translations, the German experi- 
ence and thought in this vital matter are 
practically unknown in England and the 
United States. Here, I venture to say, is a 
case where supply would provoke demand. 
Judiciously selected books by foreign authors 
rendered into English would find their way to 
readers sufficient in number to remunerate 
the publisher, freed as he would be in a large 
measure from the cost of firing an advertising 
broadside at the general public, in the hope of 
hitting a special student here and there. And 
publishers well know that books which circu- 
late from public libraries are soon called for 
in other quarters. 

Up to this point I have addressed myself 
solely to the question of evaluating new books 
as they appear. Were nothing more to be 
done, at the end of say twenty years, very 
many of the best books would have been 
passed upon. I do not, however, expect the 
reading public to await in contentment the 
lapse of any such period. Concurrently with 
the review of new literature I suggest the 
appraisal of the best already on your shelves. 
This may seem a labor of overwhelming diffi- 
culty, but fortunately there is help at hand. 
By sheer growth of the means of education 
its literature has now become broken up into 
manageable fragments. Of late years, in the 
leading colleges and universities of the United 
States, special libraries have been formed by 
the professors of history, economics, chemistry, 
engineering, and what not. At these libraries 
one finds men who, by tests in the class-room 
and by private study, know thoroughly which 
are the best books in important lines of litera- 
ture men who add to knowledge absolute 
disinterestedness and a desire to bring instruc- 
tion in every possible way to those who seek 
it. Then, too, scholars and investigators, 
such as Prof. F. W. Putnam of Cambridge 
and Prof. E. S. Morse of Salem, may perhaps 
with success be called upon to put their recom- 



ILES. 



21 



mendations on record once for all. I think it 
would really save them a good deal of time by 
shutting off the constant stream of inquiry to 
which they are subjected from day to day 
with regard to the literature they have made 
their own. 

And let us furthermore remember that the 
useful, the vital books those read with a pur- 
pose are but few as compared with the vol- 
umes spread upon library shelves to gather 
dust and be respected at a distance ; so that 
even in estimating the worth of extant litera- 
ture the task is feasible because less formid- 
able than it seems, and because it can be 
attacked from a hundred sides at once. In all 
probability the corps of reviewers engaged to 
pass upon current literature could, with need- 
ful time, also weigh and compare the literature 
of the past. 

Books, however, as librarians are well aware, 
are far from being the whole of literature. 
The periodical press grows every year not 
simply in bulk, but in importance. Upon the 
province of the book the monthly magazine 
and quarterly more and more encroach, only 
to suffer in their turn a like invasion from the 
weekly and even the daily journal. As, there- 
fore, more and more of the cambium layer of 
the tree of knowledge is in serial form, it is 
worth while to consider how it can be made 
available to the public. The Annual Index to 
Periodical Literature is excellent, but in most 
cases we cannot wait for it. Suppose that one 
is a journalist and is required to sum up recent 
advances in the construction of the steam 
engine. His article will be incomplete if he 
omits mention of the results achieved with 
the steam-turbine, as built and operated at 
Newcastle-on-Tyne. He will find a cablegram 
in the current Electrical World giving him a 
fact or two of much interest, and in the Engi- 
neering News a detailed and illustrated 
description. Every new avenue of facility 
which brings the latest results of science and 
art from the technical journal to the daily 
newspaper has a distinct educational effect, 
and broadens the public demand for the gifts 
which discovery and invention stand ready to 
bestow. Several attempts, more or less praise- 
worthy, are being made to meet the need here 



pointed out.' The Literary Digest, of New 
York, gives every week the titles of articles in 
leading American and English periodicals. 
The Review of Reviews mentions each month, 
in addition, the articles in leading periodicals 
of Europe. The Engineering Magazine, of 
New York, prints regularly a list of articles in 
the technical journals, and offers to supply 
these articles on reasonable terms. A similar 
agency of supply is conducted by the Weekly 
Bulletin, of Boston, which includes in its 
titles selections from the daily press of the 
United States. 

Here we come to a very debatable question 
as to how far the indexing of periodical 
literature for libraries is desirable. As one of 
the increasing number of writers in this coun- 
try who have constantly to refer to articles in 
recent technical and other journals, it seems 
to me high time that an organized effort were 
made to place in public libraries an index kept 
up to date by additions each week, and of such 
a degree of fulness as may be determined 
upon. Perhaps the existing co-operative 
agency for compiling the Annual Index to 
Periodicals can be so expanded as to cover 
the needs which have sprung into existence 
since that Index was established. And 
returning to the main purpose of this paper, 
it is assuredly most desirable, if feasible, that 
a descriptive or critical word should follow 
each important title. The titles, on cards and 
classified by subjects, could be arranged in a 
special department of the library, and cover a 
period to be decided upon. With such a 
department at his service the latest recorded 
experiment of Edison or Tesla, the most 
recently described explorations at Mycenae, or 
the latest criticism of the " trusts," would be 
within the reach of anybody who entered a 
public library. Nor need the benefits of the 
proposed plans with regard to periodical or 
other literature be restricted to those who 
reside in towns or cities having good public 
libraries. There need be but little trouble 
involved in communicating from a central 
bureau such recommendations as may enable 
an inquirer anywhere in the world to find 
needed information or to gather useful books. 

As librarians well know, to their embarrass- 



22 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



ment, publications worthy of perusal and study 
appear in other forms than those of periodicals 
and publishers' books. The best monograph 
on the American bison, that by Prof. Joel A. 
Allen, appeared in a report to the U. S. De- 
partment of the Interior, 1875. In the report 
of the Smithsonian Institution for 1876, 
appeared one of the most profound and sug- 
gestive discussions contributed to the phil- 
osophy of physics during this century I 
refer to Mr. W: B. Taylor's paper on Kinetic 
Theories of Gravitation. Hidden away in the 
Proceedings of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, 1886, is an 
address by Horatio Hale, which presents with 
admirable clearness and suggestiveness the 
outlines of one of the most interesting themes 
of modern study the origin of languages 
and the antiquity of speaking man. 

Lord Rayleigh, presiding at Montreal at the 
meeting of the British Association for the 
Advancement of Science, in 1884, touched 
upon this important matter from the point of 
view of a physicist. Said he : " By a fiction 
as remarkable as any to be found in law, what 
has once been published, even though it be in 
the Russian language, is usually spoken of as 
known,' and it is often forgotten that the 
rediscovery in the library may be a more diffi- 
cult and uncertain process than the first dis- 
covery in the laboratory." The need adverted 
to by Lord Rayleigh is one of constant 
increase. Every year societies are being mul- 
tiplied for the study of history, statistics, art; 
societies, also, for promoting this reform or 
suppressing that evil. Much of tener than one 
would imagine who has not delved among 
their publications, they contain contributions 
to literature deserving to be known and read 
more widely than they are. 

At this point it is not in my power to offer 
any definite suggestion. It would seem, how- 



ever, that when once books and periodical 
literature have been catalogued, weighed, and 
compared, a path will open out for the index- 
ing, with helpful comment, of every other 
kind of recorded knowledge. A merchant or 
banker, when he has taken an inventory of his 
assets, is not content with a mere enumera- 
tion of them; he deems a bare list as of no 
worth whatever until each item has been care- 
fully valued. So, I take it, the trustees of 
literature will enter upon a doubled usefulness 
when they can set before the public not cata- 
logues merely, but also a judicious discrimi- 
nation of the more from the less valuable 
stores in their keeping. Every improvement 
in the arrangement, accessibility, and attract- 
iveness of public libraries has multiplied their 
number and stimulated their growth. Let it 
become known that public libraries are to be 
useful in a new way, and they must of neces- 
sity receive an accession of public interest 
and support. With five hundred strong libra- 
ries in the country, vastly more would be 
feasible in plans of library improvement than 
today, when strong libraries scarcely count 
one hundred. The suggestions I have taken 
the liberty to submit to you are undoubtedly 
faulty; their intent, however, is one which I 
am convinced that the Association desires to 
promote. With the criticism and amendment 
this paper is designed to call forth, it will be 
fitting to give all possible publicity to the 
resulting expert view as to how the systematic 
ascertainment of the world's wealth in litera- 
ture may best be accomplished. Should pub- 
lic interest be once fairly aroused in this 
matter the question of finance would not 
retard a thorough-going appeal to the crucible 
and the scales of the highest literary criticism, 
organized, as it would be for the first time, 
into a corps for the aid and comfort of the 
learner the world around. 



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



PROCEEDINGS. 



THE PROCEEDINGS. 



LAUREL HOUSE, LAKEWOOD, N. J., MONDAY -THURSDAY, MAY 16-19, 1892. 



FIRST SESSION. 
(MONDAY EVENING, MAY 16.) 

President Fletcher called the convention to 
order at 8.40 P. M. The following committees 
were announced : 

Reception. Miss Mary S. Cutler, Mrs. H. J. 
Carr, Miss Hannah P. James, Miss Harriet E. 
Green, Miss Jessie Allan, W. E. Parker, C. C. 
Soule, H. E. Davidson, F. H. Hild, F. P. Hill. 

Resolutions. W. C. Lane, W. H. Brett, Miss 
E. M. Coe, R. R. Bowker, D. V. R. Johnston. 

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 

After extending a cordial invitation to all per- 
sons interested in the proceedings, whether mem- 
bers of the Association or not, to be present at 
the sessions, and a few introductory remarks on 
the pleasant circumstances under which the con- 
vention was held, everything conspiring to make 
it a delightful and profitable occasion, President 
Fletcher read his annual address. 
(Seep. /.) 



' 1 

1892. y 



CATALOG MACHINE. 

After reading the following letter : 

" FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY, 
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., May 9, 1892. 

MY DEAR MR. FLETCHER : As I can't be with 
you this time, I must content myself with report- 
ing progress on the index and file machine. The 
inclosed cut does not show it as it is now, but it 
gives some idea. Please say to the friends in 
council that the thing is going to work. With 
best wishes for the Association, I am 

Very truly yours, J. V. CHENEY." 

President FLETCHER said : " Applications have 
been pending for patents both in this country and 
Europe for a device which would do away with all 
handwriting in library cataloging, all typewriting, 
and everything else, one might almost say, and 
now I suppose the patents have been obtained. 
You are now allowed to know what the thing is 
for the first time; I was allowed to know last year, 



that I might go before the librarians and speak of 
its merits. Mr. Rudolph's invention is really a 
device for bringing conveniently to view in alpha- 
betical order printed slips cut from, for instance, 
the Publishers' Weekly. It is a new method of 
arranging, not of making, catalogs." 

He then gave a description of the machine, and 
called attention to some newspaper articles which 
were at hand explaining it.* 

The proceedings of the San Francisco meeting 
were approved as printed and adopted. 

Secretary HILL read his 

SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

Before proceeding with the Secretary's report, 
I desire, in behalf of the N. J. S. L. A., to bid you 
a hearty and cordial welcome to the State and to 
this most delightful retreat among the pines. It 
is the first time in the history of the A. L. A. that 
a meeting has been held beyond the confines of 
the United States ; but I am inclined to think, ere 
you leave the little State of New Jersey, you will 
find it so very much in the Union, and so very far 
ahead in agriculture, in manufactures, and library 
economy that you will all want to come here to 
live. We welcome you most sincerely. 

The Secretary, like the several committees, has 
very little to report at this time. In fact the Secre- 
tary is not expected to make a report at any time. 
It is his duty to see that other members report, 
read papers, and talk. If I say if he can 
accomplish all these things the success of each con- 
ference is assured. 

A few matters only demand attention. In the 
first place a word in regard to the time and place 
of meeting. It is so unusual to hold our conven- 
tions in three places that some explanation is 
necessary. At San Francisco, eighth session, Fri- 
day, October 16, it was voted to hold the 1892 
meeting in Washington and Baltimore at such time 
in May or June as the Executive Committee might 

*A diagram and technical description may be found in the 
Official Gazette, U. S. Patent Office, v. 59, p. 427, April 19, 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



fix upon. Later, train session, Friday, October 
30, the question of place was again brought up, 
and after discussion showed the members present 
preferred to hold the '92 meeting in some quiet 
place, the following resolution was adopted : 

Resolved, That the Standing Committee be 
authorized, in arranging for the Washington and 
Baltimore conference, to provide that the first ses- 
sions of the conference shall be held at some quiet 
resort, preferably Annapolis, if satisfactory hotel 
accommodations can be had otherwise as near 
Washington as practicable. 

The month of May was chosen as most likely to 
bring out the larger attendance, college as well as 
other librarians being busier in June. When the 
committee took up the subject of place it was 
soon learned that Annapolis, owing to inad- 
equate hotel accommodations, was out of the 
question. Thorough investigation by members of 
the committee failed to find any city, town, or 
resort very near Washington that could furnish 
sufficient accommodations for the large number 
likely to attend, and so they were forced to look 
along the Jersey coast. 

After a visit to Asbury Park, Long Branch, and 
Lakewocd (nine miles inland), it was the unan- 
imous verdict of the committee that Lakewood 
should be selected. It is quite certain the Asso- 
ciation will be content with one place, after 
this year's experience. While many important 
topics will be discussed here at Lakewood, it must 
not be forgotten that the very interesting subject 
of Library Architecture will be taken up at Balti- 
more, and the fitting one of Public Documents at 
Washington. 

As a matter of interest, importance, and record* 
a summary of attendance at the several con 
ferences, carefully compiled by the Treasurer, is 
given as follows : 

ATTENDANCE AT CONFERENCES. 

First. Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 4-6, 1876. 
Second. New York, N. Y., Sept. 4-6, 1877. 

First meeting 

Extra London, England, Oct., 1877. 
Third. Boston, Mass., June 3O-July 2, 1879. 

Second meeting 102 

Fourth. Washington, D. C., Feb. 9-12, 1881. 

Third meeting 66 

Fifth. Cincinnati, Ohio, May 24-27, 1882. 

Fourth meeting 44 

Sixth. Buffalo, N. Y., Aug. 14-17, 1883. 

Fifth meeting 72 

Seventh. Lake George, N. Y., Sept. 8-11, 

1885. Sixth meeting 87 



Eighth. Milwaukee, Wis., July 7-10, 1886. 

Seventh meeting 130 

Ninth. Thousand Islands, N. Y., Aug. 30- 

Sept. 2, 1887. Eighth meeting .... 177 
Tenth. Catskill Mts., N. Y., Sept. 25-28, 

1888. Ninth meeting 52 

Eleventh. St. Louis, Mo., May 8-n, 1889. 

Tenth meeting 105 

Twelfth. Fabyan's (White Mts.), N. H., 

Sept. 9-13, 1890. Eleventh meeting . . 241 
Thirteenth. San Francisco, Cal., Oct. 12-16, 

1891. Twelfth meeting So 

Present at every conference Charles A. Cutter 
(13 conferences). 

Excepting Catskill Mts. Samuel S. Green (12 
conferences), William F. Poole, LL. D. (12 con- 
ferences). 

Excepting Cincinnati and San Francisco 
Melvil Dewey (11 conferences). 

Excepting Catskill Mts., White Mts., and San 
Francisco Justin Winsor (10 conferences). 

Present at 6 or more conferences Hon. Mellen 
Chamberlain; Mrs. Melvil Dewey; Rev. Henry F 
Jenks; Reuben B. Poole; James L. Whitney; 
Miss Harriet A. Adams; Miss Jessie Allan ; Miss 
Mary A. Bean ; Walter S. Biscoe ; R: R. Bowker ; 
Henry J. Carr; Mrs. Henry J. Carr; F: M. 
Crunden; H. E. Davidson; John Edmands ; W: 
I. Fletcher; W: E. Foster; Dr. R. A. Guild; 
Miss Anna C. Hitchcock ; J. N. Lamed ; K. A: Lin- 
derfelt ; C: A. Nelson ; Dr. E. J. Nolan ; A. L. Peck ; 
W: T. Peoples; Miss Mary E. Sargent; Charles 
C. Soule; G. E. Stechert; Arthur W. Tyler; 
Henry M. Utley; Miss Mary S. Cutler. 

The program, too, is noticeable for the absence 
of papers. 

Year after year it has been suggested that 
papers be omitted altogether or printed and sent 
to members before the conference, thus giving up 
the time of meeting to discussion alone. The 
Standing Committee decided this to be a good 
year to try the experiment of " all discussion and 
no papers," and thus afford the Association an 
opportunity to decide upon the merits of the case. 
It will be found, I think, that an equal mixture 
will prove the more interesting program cer- 
tainly it is the easier to arrange. 

A good part of our time this year will be given 
up to a discussion of the proposed Library Exhibit 
at the World's Columbian Exposition. If we go 
into this affair at all it must be with the united 
determination to make it a pronounced success. 
No half-hearted work will answer ; it must be 
combined and hearty co-operation or let alone- 



FIRST SESSION, 



We must adopt the politician's cry in campaign 
times, " Organize, organize." The meeting next 
year will be an international one, and it will be 
necessary that energetic measures be adopted to 
bring out a large attendance not only of our own 
but foreign librarians. I would suggest that thor- 
ough organization be effected in every State and 
every county if necessary in order to arouse 
enthusiasm among members of the craft in our 
own country; and I would further suggest that 
A. L. A. committees be" appointed whose duty it 
should be to look after details in foreign lands. 
For instance, one committee for England, one for 
France, one for Germany, etc.; each committee 
to see that all librarians and libraries in that par- 
ticular country are invited, the proper degree of 
interest awakened, and in general to bring about 
a large attendance. 

TREASURER'S REPORT. 

H: J. CARR read his report, which was referred 
to the Finance Committee. 

HENRY J. CARR, Treasurer, in account with the 
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 



i8qr. 



DR. 



Oct. i. To balance (S. F. Confer- 
ence, p. 70) $324 

Oct. i, 1891, to May 10, 1892. 

To fees from 30 temporary 
members (San Francisco 

Conference) 

To fees from annual mem- 
berships, viz. : 

Year 1890, 4 ... $8 oo 
Year 1891, 58 . . 11600 
Year 1892, 218 . . 436 oo 



To interest on deposits (St. 

Joseph, 6 months, 1891) . 

To same (Scran.ton, 1891) . 



$560 oo 

2 84 
I 14 



1891. 

Oct. 16. 



Dec. 2. 



Dec. 10. 



Total $948 46 

CR. 

By expense of doctor, nurse, 

and hotel for Secretary 

Hill at San Francisco Con- 
ference (per special vote 

of conference, "on account 

of his illness resultingf rom 

overwork in preparing for 

making the conference a 

success") $112 60 

By Secretary's office, current 

expenses, Sept. i to Oct. 

7, 1891 17 95 

By C. F. Johnson, bill of 
Nov. 20, 1891, reporting 
San Francisco Conference, 75 oo 

Carried forward $205 55 



Brought forward 

Dec. 15. By President Green; tele- 
graph and postage . . . 

Dec. 1 6. By Library Bureau, bill of 
Oct. 2, 1891 ; circulars and 
programs preliminary to 
San Francisco Conference 



1892. 
Jan. 7. 



Jan. 9. 



Jan. 21. 



Feb. 19. 



April 2. 



April 2. 



60 oo A P riI 



May 10. 



May 10. 



By C. F. Williams Printing 
Co., Albany, N. Y., bill of 
Aug. 8, 1891 ; 1,000 organ- 
ization pamphlets . . . 

By Grover Brothers, New- 
ark, N. J., bill of Sept. 10, 
1891 ; circulars per Secre- 
tary 

By Weed, Parsons & Co., 
Albany, N. Y., bill of 
June 26, 1891 ; stationery 
for President and Secre- 
tary 

By Boston Mailing Co., bill 
of Jan. 9, 1892; address- 
ing and postage on 321 
Proceedings 

By American Printing & En- 
graving Co., Boston, bill 
of Jan. 23, 1892; for 1,275 
copies San Francisco Pro- 
ceedings (160 p.), (400 for 
A. L. A., 875 for Library 
journal) 

By Publishers' Weekly, bill 
of Dec. 31, 1891 ; 9 8-20 
reams of paper for San 
Francisco Proceedings 

By Publishers' 1 Weekly, bill 
of April 7, 1892; mailing 
index to Proceedings . . 

By Treasurer's office ; cur- 
rent expenses, Oct. i, 1891, 
to April 30, 1892, per de- 
tailed voucher .... 

Aggregate payments 
Balance on deposit at Scran- 
ton, Pa 



55 



64 24 



24 60 



3 S 



17 75 



24 47 



24 44 



_ 34 9 

848 65 

998i 



Total $948 46 



Examined and checked with the accompanying 
bills, and found correct. 

WM. C. LANE, ) Finance 
JOHN M. GLENN, \ Committee. 

A. 

The Association's special deposit of $400 in the 
Grand Rapids Savings Bank has continued to 
compound its 4 per cent semi-annual interest, and 
aggregates $438.71. The annual earnings, now 
about $17, are equivalent to one-third of what 
would be the dues from the 25 life memberships. 
It was to provide some sort of an offset to the 
latter that such special deposit or funding of 



26 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



what was at one time a surplus in the treasury 
was established in 1889. 

Since that time the expenditures of the Asso- 
ciation, year by year, have exceeded its annual 
income and necessitated applying more or less of 
the dues of subsequent years in payment of prior 
expenses. At this date, therefore, while the 
major part of the dues for 1892 have been paid in 
and are accounted for in this report, the balance 
in the treasury, $99.81, is practically no more than 
equal to the preliminary expenses of the current 
conference already incurred. 

Report of its papers and proceedings and kin- 
dred expenditures, on anything like the scale of 
past years, will need to be provided for in some 
other manner, or else not undertaken. 

B. 

Membership status at date (May 10, 1892) is as 
follows : 

Life members 25 

Regular members, paid to 1892 inclusive . 218 

Those owing for year 1892 only .... 62 

" " " 1891 and 1892 .... it 

Total 316 

Judging from the records, not over half of the 
number now in arrears can be counted upon to 
retain their membership. 

Hence our regular membership may be said, as 
for several years past, to continue upon an aver- 
age at from 275 to 280. Temporary member fees 
number from 25 to 45 each year according to 
circumstances and place of meeting. 

The Treasurer has remaining on hand of past 
Proceedings and papers : 
12 copies of Milwaukee Conference (1886). 
40 " " Thousand Islands Conference (1887). 
88 " " St. Louis Conference (1889). 
27 " " White Mts. Conference (1890). 
37 " " San Francisco Conference (1891). 

NECROLOGICAL ADDENDA. 

The deaths of two active members, and of one 
formerly a member, have come to the knowledge 
of the Treasurer in the few months which have 
clasped since the last report. 

Dr. Eugene L. Oatley (registration No. 465) 
died at Utica, N. Y., Nov. I, 1891. His connec- 
tion with the A. L. A. had ceased since 1886. 

Fred J. Soldan (registration No. 412), librarian 
of the Public Library, Peoria, 111., died Novem- 
ber 5, 1891, after a brief illness. 

Mr. Soldan had been an active contributor to 
the A. L. A. since 1881. Though not a frequent 



attendant at the conferences he was a valued 
member and earnest worker. His successor has 
become identified with the Association and will 
continue the interest felt by Mr. Soldan. 

Dr. Lewis H. Steiner (registration No. 748), 
librarian of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Balti- 
more, died February 19, 1892, suddenly. Dr. 
Steiner had been an esteemed member since 
1889, attending both the St. Louis and the White 
Mountains conferences. His genial presence will 
be missed by all who met him on those and other 
occasions. 

Respectfully submitted. 

HENRY J. CARR, Treasurer. 

FINANCE. 

S: S. GREEN. I move that the Finance Com- 
mittee consider the report of the Treasurer and at 
a later meeting report such measures as they think 
advisable for the Association to assume in the 
future. 

J: M. GLENN. Whatever remarks the Finance 
Committee have to make can just as well be made 
now. 

S: S. GREEN. I withdraw my motion, and offer 
as a substitute that the Finance Committee report 
at this time instead of later. 

The substitute motion was seconded and passed. 

In behalf of the Finance Committee J: M. 
GLENN made the following oral report: 

It is a very serious question that confronts us. 
The showing of the Treasurer's report is rather 
startling. We started out last year with a balance 
of $324.48 in hand. We have collected dues 
from 218 members and back dues from 58 mem- 
bers of 1891, and four of 1890, amounting in all to 
$560. The difference between the balances at the 
beginning of the year, $324.48 and $99.81, is a 
difference practically of $224 deficit. This should 
be considered very carefully. 

A rough estimate has been made of the cost of 
running the Association. We find for the current 
year that the expenses for the President and Sec- 
retary were $41.41; Treasurer, $34.90; stenogra- 
pher, $75; preliminary to San Francisco confer- 
ence, $67.50, making in all $218.81. And it is to 
be remembered that the balance of the expendi- 
tures, amounting to $500, was for the printing and 
distribution of the 1891 proceedings. A general 
estimate of what the average expenses should be 
shows that the Secretary should be allowed $25 
for postage, etc., the Treasurer about $25, prelim- 
inary expenses about $100, and actual expenses of 
the meeting, including stenographer, $100, for 



FIRST SESSION. 



27 



contingent expenses $50, for printing Proceedings 
$500; total $800. This year there has been 
received from dues about $625. This is rather 
above the average of dues, as is shown by the 
statement in the Treasurer's report showing the 
number of members from year to year. So we 
have a deficit of $175 to be looked for from year 
to year if we keep on at the present rate. The 
question is, what can be done either to make up 
this deficit or to lessen expenses ? I want to 
emphasize the fact that the expenses of the c on 
ference of 1891 are being paid, or have been paid- 
out of the dues for 1892. This also is a very bad 
financial condition. It has been so right along. 
Expenses of this conference will have to come out 
of the dues of 1893. 

There were printed this year 1,275 copies of the 
Proceedings. Four hundred copies came to the 
Association. The remainder went to the Library 
journal. The cost of printing was $441.49; cost 
of paper for the four hundred copies distributed 
to members, $24; cost of distribution, $26. 

There are several plans suggested for lessen- 
ing expenses. One is, to reduce the size of the 
annual report. I notice that the Proceedings at 
Cincinnati occupied 86 pages, at Milwaukee 196, 
last year 158. We recommend that these ques- 
tions be considered: 

First, Shall the Proceedings be less voluminous? 

Second, Shall they be distributed only on sub- 
scription at$i apiece? 

Third, Shall the dues be increased ? 

The committee recommend that the dues be 
raised to $3 a year. That would nearly cover 
the deficit. While the endowment fund is as 
small as it is (about $5,000) the income from that 
ought not to go toward the printing of Proceed- 
ings. It is better to reserve it for other things. 

The report of the Finance Committee 'was 
accepted and placed on file. 

S: S. GREEN. I move that the suggestions of 
the Finance Committee, and such other sugges- 
tions as may be made, be referred back to the 
Finance Committee in order that they may report 
at a later day on the whole subject. 

J: M. GLENN. The main point at issue is the 
question of the deficit. How it shall be remedied 
is not purely a matter for the Finance Committee. 
This question must come up for the Association 
to decide. There will be very little gained by fur- 
ther consideration by your committee. Let it be 
discussed tonight and not laid over till a later 
meeting. 

M. DEWEY. The alteration of the dues is a 



question of the constitution, which comes up 
tomorrow morning. The constitution provides 
that the dues shall be $2 a year. I think it best 
for the Finance Committee to decide on a plan for 
meeting current expenses without' raising the dues. 

Our membership is large and growing ; a great 
many members are on very small salaries and find 
it difficult to meet the expenses of attending these 
meetings. I think it would be a radical mistake 
for us to put up our dues, and, for one, shall oppose 
making an alteration to that effect. I hope the 
Committee on the Constitution may yet strike out 
the provision allowing dues to be called for on 
order of the Finance Committee before regularly 
due. Take the two dollars when they are due, and 
in a business-like way run the Association on what 
we have, and do not assess our members an extra 
dollar. 

C: C. SOULE. In view of the fact that there 
seems to be an actual deficit in the treasury, I sug- 
gest that the Finance Committee be requested to 
consider the question of authorizing the President 
and Treasurer to draw from the bank the $400 on 
deposit and apply it to liquidating this year's 
expenses. 

S: S. GREEN moved that the Finance Com- 
mittee consider the whole subject and report at a 
later meeting. We have accepted their report. 
Any member that has suggestions to offer should 
make them now, that they may be taken into con- 
sideration. 

E. C. HOVEY. Inasmuch as Mr. Soule has put 
his proposal in the form of a suggestion, I would 
like mine put in that form. I suggest that the 
Finance Committee be requested to consider the 
advisability of transferring the $400, which is now 
in the hands of the Treasurer, to the Treasurer of 
the endowment fund, where it properly belongs. 

J. N. LARNED. Inasmuch as this deficit arises 
from the publication of the Proceedings, what is 
the objection to making that publication purely a 
matter of subscription, and removing it wholly 
from any connection with membership in the Asso- 
ciation ? I do not see why we should not ascer- 
tain from year to year who wishes the Proceedings 
published, what the expense is to be, what the 
price will be, and then let each one who desires a 
copy pay for it. 

G. M. JONES. The experience of the Appa- 
lachian Club may be of interest in this connec- 
tion. Their annual assessment was formerly $2 
and their Proceedings sold for fifty cents a num- 
ber. They raised the annual assessment to $3, 
which included a copy of the Proceedings to each 



28 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



member in good standing. That has had the effect 
of largely increasing the circulation of the proceed- 
ings and of bringing them before a large number 
of people who otherwise would not see them. 
The membership has also increased. 
S: S. Green's motion was then seconded and 

passed. 

BADGES. 

The question of a badge for the A. L. A. came 
up for discussion. 

M. DEWEY. That matter was settled at the 
Catskill meeting. 

PRES. FLETCHER. The Catskill meeting was 
not a regular meeting of the Association. 

M. DEWEY. In any case the committee who 
had the matter in charge agreed on a report and 
sample badges were made. The badge was to be 
a small book with the letters " A. L. A." and bear- 
ing the number of the member. There was to be 
published a little folder giving the full name and 
position of each member of the Association so that 
at the meetings each person could be identified by 
the number on the book. 

SEC'Y HILL. There is quite a difference of 
opinion between Mr. Dewey and Mr. Davidson. 
I would suggest that the matter be referred to 
those members with a request to report later. 

The chair appointed Mr. Dewey and Mr. David- 
son a committee to look up the records on the 
question. 

The reprinting by the Association of the arti- 
cles now appearing in the Boston Herald in regard 
to the Boston Public Library was brought up for 
discussion. 

C: C. SOULE. I suggest that the matter be 
deferred for the present. 

SEC'Y HILL. I move that it be referred to 
the Endowment Committee. 

E. C. HOVEY. I move to amend by substitut- 
ing Trustees Section for Endowment Committee. 

Motion as amended, passed. 

Adjourned at 10.15 P. M. 

SECOND SESSION. 
(TUESDAY MORNING, May 17.) 
Pres. FLETCHER called the meeting to order at 
9.40 A. M. 

Sec. HILL announced that Col. Lowdermilk 
had gratuitously supplied the Association with 
guide books to the city of Washington. 
G. M. JONES read the 

REPORT OF THE CO-OPERATION COMMITTEE. 

During the past few years many cooperative 
schemes have been proposed, but Mr. Rudolph's 



new method of cataloging, submitted at the San 
Francisco conference, has not yet made superflu- 
ous a knowledge of the " library hand," nor has 
the plan of printing our catalog cards at a central 
bureau yet abolished the occupation of cataloger. 
Mr. Badger's new catalog drawer will be 
described in the Library journal for May. 

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

A recent visit to the Boston Public Library 
shows that this institution is adopting many new 
appliances for library work and throws light upon 
some matters to which allusion is made in their 
last annual report. 

New Card Case. They have just devised a 
new case for the official card catalog, the object of 
which is compactness of storage and ease of hand- 
ling. Its drawers are intended to be removed and 
carried to a table or desk when used, and are 
carefully planned so as not to be too heavy and to 
balance well when held by the handle. There is 
only one r^w of cards and that runs across the 
drawer instead of lengthwise. There is also a 
very ingenious arrangement by which a drawer 
can be temporarily rested on a narrow ledge mid- 
way of the height of the case, without danger of 
falling. 

Phonograph. The library is using the phono- 
graph in place of a stenographer, and the writer 
had the privilege of hearing part of Mr. Prince's 
report to the trustees upon the proposed new 
branch in the old West Church. 

Linotype. They have hired a linotype. As 
most of the members of the Association are 
probably aware, this is a machine which takes 
the place of the compositor and stereotyper. It 
is worked by a key-board resembling a typewriter, 
and the finished product is a slug (as it is called) 
of type metal corresponding to a line of type. 
The linotype can be hired for an annual rental of 
$500. It is proposed to print class-lists of the 
larger subjects and then withdraw the correspond- 
ing subject cards from the catalog. Estimates 
have been made in reference to printing the com- 
plete Bates Hall catalog, in regard to which Mr. 
Gray writes as follows : " My calculations were 
based upon a comparison of the actual amount of 
printed matter to a page of the miscellaneous 
portion of our Barton catalog, which, you will 
remember, is a large octavo of 631 pages. The 
result of this calculation was that the contents of 
the present public card catalog, printed in one- 
line titles, would be equivalent to sixteen volumes 
the size of the catalog I mention." 



SECOND SESSION. 



29 



A special advantage of the linotype is the ease 
with which special lists can at any time be printed. 
If any important news is received in the evening, 
all the slugs containing titles relating thereto can 
be picked out, and the list be ready for readers 
the next morning. If this is as successful as is 
expected, there is no reason why all libraries 
should not have their catalogs printed by the 
linotype, the slugs being the property of the 
library. Even if the first expense is greater, the 
composition and proof-reading would be done once 
for all ; and when a new edition of the catalog is 
desired, only the new titles would need to be set 
up and sorted into their proper places, the only 
further expense being that of paper, press-work, 
and binding. 

Linen Binding. Mr. Gray also called the atten- 
tion of the committee to their new methods of 
binding, which he describes as follows : " We 
have finally come altogether to discard leather as 
material for binding, only using it for titles. We 
bind elephant folios in cotton duck, and insert 
straps of webbing in the back by means of copper 
rivets, which device brings the strain in removing 
the book from its shelf nearer its center of grav- 
ity. Our experience has shown that those who 
remove books from the shelves grasp them at the 
top, and many of the bindings have in this way 
been ruined. This danger is obviated by the 
strap. For smaller books we bind in the best 
quality of pure flax linen, substituting a full bind- 
ing in linen for a half binding in morocco. The 
result is remarkably satisfactory; the books are 
clean to handle, pleasing to the eye, of course 
practically indestructible, and withal there is a 
considerable reduction of the expense. You 
remember the discussions that have gone on in 
the past respecting the disintegration of leather 
bindings, variously attributable to moisture in the 
air, to the evil effects of emanations given off in 
the combustion of gas, and what not, especially 
where books are housed in the upper stories as in 
our present building, which, by the way, will not 
be the case in the new building. Now, during the 
past year we found such quantities of books upon 
the shelves that had simultaneously gone to pieces, 
as regards their bindings, that we were obliged to 
remove some 3,000 to the bindery at once. You 
can conceive that this mass of books made some 
thought necessary with a view to changing the 
existing methods of binding, upon the score of 
economy both of time and of money, and two very 
interesting devices were the result. We found 
quantities of books perfectly intact as to their 



sewing and board sides, that had been handled 
very little, but whose leather backs were rotted 
simply to a little compacted dust, the slightest 
touch serving to rub the backs quite out of exist- 
ence. Now obviously there was no need of tear- 
ing these apart and treating them as is usually 
necessary for books to be rebound, so they are 
now covered with linen exactly as one covers a 
book with paper, simply to preserve it from undue 
soiling, with the difference that the linen cover is 
pasted or glued all over its surface, and put on 
right over the old binding after as much of the 
old leather as can be is scraped off, so as to leave 
a good surface for adhesion. The results are 
pleasing, neat, and serviceable, and I should be 
very glad to show you samples of this as yet 
unnamed form of binding. So far as I know the 
idea is new, and if it is in use anywhere else, we 
have never heard of it. 

Repair Slip. " The other device is one which 
obviates a serious difficulty in this library, 
although perhaps it would not be so useful in a 
smaller library or one with a less general con- 
stituency. It is a way of distinguishing and giving 
precedence to books that are discovered to be in 
immediate need of rebinding without removing 
them from place, by making use of the inclosed 
slip, which I think will explain itself. 

SHELF No.... 



Not to be taken from the building until re-bound. 
Chief of Book Deft. 

ENTERED ON BINDERY BOOK, 
189 



RECEIVED AT BINDERY, 



.189 



RETURNED, 



.189 



Formerly books were sent to the bindery as 
soon as they were discovered to need it, and might 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



remain there for months before they were reached 
in their turn. Meantime any demands from the 
public for their use could not be met. Now by 
the use of this slip the book is entered upon the 
bindery book, without leaving its place on the 
shelf. The book can be used in the building until 
such time as the binder finds that he is ready to 
take it immediately in hand. As the outside limit 
for actual binding is within fourteen days.the book 
therefore is kept in the bindery only the time 
absolutely necessary, equivalent to only one 
borrowing by the public." 

Pamphlet Binding. The new permanent pam- 
phlet binding seems to be better than anything of 
moderate cost heretofore in use. The total cost 
is only six cents for both labor and material, and 
it is much better than work done at outside bind- 
eries at a cost of 12 to 25 cents each, even in lots 
so large as 15,000. It consists of two separate 
covers with cloth hinges and pasteboard marbled 
paper sides. These are prepared in large quanti- 
ties and in a variety of sizes at an average cost of 
5 cents. The pamphlet is fastened in by a cord 
passing through the covers and back of the pam- 
phlet and a piece of cloth is pasted completely over 
back and hinge. This takes two minutes and costs 
one cent. It must be remembered that this is 
done in the building and without [reckoning the 
ordinary binder's profits. 

SUBJECT HEADINGS. 

At the Washington conference in 1881 Mr. Cut- 
ter made a report as chairman of the committee 
on an Index to Subject Headings in which he set 
forth the advantages of " an alphabetical list of 
subject headings " for dictionary catalogs, " with 
some indication which was to be preferred, and a 
sketch of the principles upon which choice should 
be made." For various reasons the committee 
was unable to prepare such a list at the time and 
the whole matter was dropped. It seems to the 
Cooperation Committee that the subject is so 
important that it should not be lost from sight. 

While author and title entries have received the 
most adequate treatment and with the rules of 
the A. L. A., Mr. Cutter, Mr. Dewey, and Mr. Lin- 
derfelt, nothing further seems necessary Mr. Cut- 
ter is the only writer who has given any attention to 
subject headings. As usual, his work has been 
well done and his rules form a good outline of 
what is desired. But they need expansion, and the 
recommendations of a committee of the A. L. A. 
would do much to fix usage where it is now 
divided. 



We therefore suggest that a special committee 
for this purpose be appointed. Their report, like 
the previous reports on author entries and on 
alphabeting, would not be binding upon any one 
and would not change the usage of libraries which 
are already catalogd, but it would be a valuable 
guide to the many new libraries which are con- 
tinually starting and to the old libraries which are 
making new catalogs. 

We do not expect that absolute uniformity in 
subject cataloging can be secured because of the 
different needs of different libraries and communi- 
ties, but we think that many points might be 
settled. As examples we cite the following : 

Shall the history of painting in Italy be put 
under Italy or Painting ? Shall we use the head- 
ing Great Britain or England, or' shall we use 
both? If both, what subheads shall we allot to 
one and what to the other? Is it better, in a 
town library, to use the heading Ornithology or 
Birds, Angling or Fishing, etc. ? 

We understand that the committee of which 
Mr. Cutter was chairman made a partial list of 
headings which is doubtless in existence, and with 
the printed catalogs of large libraries would give 
a good basis upon which to work. Miss Wood- 
worth of the New York State Library has made 
collections in this} direction which she offers to 
put at the service of the committee. We would 
also refer members of the Association to Mr. 
Bowker's article " On a cooperative scheme of 
subject-entry, with a key to catalog headings," 
L.j., 3 : 326. To test the opinion of the Asso- 
ciation we submit the following motion : 

That a committee of three be appointed to con- 
sider the subject of an Index to Subject Head- 
ings, this committee to report at the next con- 
ference or through the Library journal as they 
see fit. 



GARDNER M. JONES, 1 
H. E. GREEN, ) 



Committee. 



Samples of three kinds of linen used by the 
Boston Public Library were shown. 

The report of the Cooperation Committee was 
accepted and placed on file. 

Voted, that a committee of three be appointed 
by the chair to consider the report of the Coopera- 
tion Committee. 

W. C. LANE. The index to the catalog of 
Harvard College Library gives the most extensive 
list of subject headings for catalogs now in print. 
It is complete in the way of cross references. It 
is published by the Library Bureau at $2. 



SECOND SESSION. 



W. E. FOSTER. We have procured Mr. Lane's 
index for use in the Providence Public Library. 

H: J. CARR. I have used it for several weeks 
and find it admirable for cross references. 

Miss M. I. C RANDALL. It has also been used 
in the Newberry Library. 

T. SOLBERG. A full list of scientific subjects 
is being prepared at Washington by Mr. H. L. 
Prince, librarian of the Patent Office, and this 
extended list can be obtained by the members of 
the Association for consultation. I am convinced 
that cloth binding is becoming generally regarded 
as more serviceable and permanent than any 
other. 

Mr. C. A. CUTTER. We have bound our news- 
papers in cloth for many years. 

H: J. CARR. This cheap binding, I think, is 
going to solve a great problem for small public 
libraries. It enables them to use the earliest 
copies of foreign and the cheapest copies of 
domestic books. If this inexpensive covering can 
be put on paper-bound books the consequent 
saving will be very great. 

Miss H. P. JAMES. We use a manila binding 
for cheap pamphlets. It is sewed through and 
through on a stiff board cover and wears well. 

G. M. JONES. In the circulating department 
we use half roan for fiction. The only objection 
to the half roan is its rotting down the back, but 
this class of books usually wears out before that 
occurs. 

Miss M. W. PLUMMER read the 

FIRST REPORT ON THE LIBRARY SCHOOL. 

After the exhaustive and interesting reports 
made in previous years on the Library School by 
Miss Hewins and others, there seems little to be 
said. So long, however, as the school sees room 
for improvement, there will be changes, and these 
changes must be the subject of this and future 
reports. 

My visit to Albany was not a long one, compris- 
ing only Monday afternoon, Tuesday, and Wednes- 
day forenoon, but as it is on Monday afternoon 
that the reading seminar takes place with the ex- 
amination of new books, and on Wednesday fore- 
noon the lesson on auction buying, both new feat- 
ures, the time seemed well chosen. 

Before beginning upon the reading seminar a 
few minutes are occupied by the inspection, expla- 
nation, and discussion of any new mechanical 
devices for library use that have been received by 
the school. Library reports recently received are 
also noted and commented on, together with clip- 



pings and extracts on subjects interesting to libra- 
rians. The reading seminar occupies the time 
formerly given to the "browsing hour," as more 
work seems to be accomplished in this way. One 
student, appointed beforehand, gives, from brief 
notes, in his or her own language, a summary of 
the important news of the world since the pre- 
vious meeting. On this particular day a very 
clear statement of the Fisheries question down to 
date was given. The leading exercise finished, 
the rest of the class in turn give items of general 
interest which they have gathered during the 
week from newspapers and magazines. These 
include news on library matters and current 
literature. 

The next exercise is on the selection of books. 
In preparation for this titles have been cut from 
the Publishers' "weekly and pasted on cards, and 
these are together in a box before the instructor. 
She reads them, sometimes adding the comment 
of a critic, and the class decide as to placing each 
among the desirable, doubtful, or undesirable 
books. Any member of the class is at liberty to 
give information in regard to the book which 
would help to decide the matter. The selection 
is supposed to be made not for any library in par- 
ticular, with reference to its limitations or its con- 
stituency, but solely on the basis of the worth of 
the book. Medical, law, and other books of a 
strictly technical nature are barred out. 

It is hoped and planned to take up in this hour 
from time to time a study of famous cities, begin- 
ning with Florence one set of students report- 
ing on its history, another on the points of inter- 
est, another on its galleries, and still another on 
its great men. This exercise is not so much for 
the information to be gotten on the city, as to find 
the best method of studying such subjects. The 
subject of prominent rulers and statesmen has 
been before the class, and a list has been made 
and posted of their names with the countries or 
nations they rule or guide. 

An exercise much enjoyed by the class, and par- 
taking somewhat of the nature of play, is " Guess- 
ing from titles to authors." This, however, is 
rather a misnomer, since the exercise is one of 
memory, the titles of books being given and the 
class trying to name the author. 

The first lesson in auction buying took place 
Wednesday morning. A number of books, the 
entries selected from auction catalogs, with full 
descriptions, were listed by typewriter and handed 
around the class. The students had looked up 
the published prices of these, by way of prepara- 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



tion, and any auction prices they'could find. They 
made their bids, and the instructor, Mr. John' 
ston, revised them, giving his reasons. It seemed 
to me a most valuable exercise in case full notes 
were taken, not only of the prices decided on, but 
of the remarks on auction buying in general; for 
while this is not exactly a science that can be 
fully taught, a good buyer can make many sugges- 
tions from his experience that will help others. 

Library architecture has been the theme of most 
of the director's talks to the classes, the subject 
being illustrated by plans of libraries hung on the 
walls of the class room. 

The curriculum of the school has now been 
printed in the State Library bulletin, Library 
School No. i, filling a decided need. Miss Sey- 
mour has been added to the board of instruction, 
giving lessons on the printing, editing, and proof- 
reading of manuscripts. 

Language work has been increased somewhat. 
German is required of the seniors, and is optional 
with the juniors, under Miss Cutler. Articles 
from the Centralblatt are read in class, the students 
picking out and memorizing words having refer- 
ence to books and book matters, such as are 
chiefly met with on title pages, in prefaces and 
prospectuses. Miss Cutler has charge also of the 
Latin, which is confined chiefly to translating Latin 
title pages. Miss Green gives the lessons in 
Italian, translating with the class Italian title pages 
and articles in the Rivista del/e Biblioteche. The 
students also look over these articles beforehand, 
with dictionary in hand. French is still to be 
taken up. 

Of the original bibliographies required for grad- 
uation 14 have been finished. The subjects are 
decided on before the close of the junior year, so 
that the students have a year in which to work 
them up. The best of these are soon to be printed. 
They cover all subjects, and include reading lists 
as well as bibliographies. The examinations have 
been divided as to time, some, on courses in which 
work has been finished, being given in March, the 
rest in June. 

The practical work of circulating is not neglected, 
for each student has a week's evening service at 
the Y. W. C. A. Library in Albany, at the end of 
which a quiz is given on the subject by the vice- 
director. 

Allied to the school interests, though not in the 
curriculum, is the Physical Culture Club, now 
employing a regularly trained teacher. The club 
is composed of two classes, meeting once in two 
weeks, afternoon and evening, and should help to 



counteract the danger of overwork. I must say, 
however, that I did not observe on this visit any 
of the " feverish spirit " which has been commented 
on heretofore both teachers and students seem- 
ing to have learned deliberation. 

University extension has made its way into the 
school, which has had two lectures on the subject 
by Messrs. Mackinder and Sadler of Oxford, con- 
nected with the work in England. 

The missionary spirit of the school has evidently 
not died out, for the students have undertaken the 
support of a very praiseworthy enterprise in a 
" home library," perhaps the first of a number. 
This little library, composed of 20 well-selected 
children's books, is placed in the home of one of 
the children, and once a week, from 4 to 5 o'clock, 
the children of the neighborhood to the number 
of 10 call and exchange their books ; 8 to 16 years 
is the age limit of these borrowers. Once a week 
the library school visitor goes to the room, looks 
into the management, which is carried on volun* 
tarily by a young girl, reads to the younger chil- 
dren and plays games with them. When these 20 
books have been read by most of the children the 
set is to be removed to another neighborhood and 
library No. 2, a new selection, will be put in ; $25 
is enough to buy the books for each library. 

A written plate is pasted in each book, with the 
words 

"ALBANY HOME LIBRARIES" 

No. i Bk. 19 

Return to 



Address of 
library 's pres- 
ent home. 



No fines are asked. If books are overdue, the 
visitor goes after them, gets an " explanation," 
and says what seems best under the circum- 
stances. The idea of these libraries came from 
Boston, I believe, where there are nearly 40 such 
centres of influence. 

Last year for the first time degrees and diplo- 
mas were conferred, the regents giving Miss Cut- 
ler her degree by special vote. Others who 
received the B. L. S. were Miss Ada Bunnell, 
Miss Nina Eliza Browne, and William Savage 
Burns. 



SECOND SESSION. 



33 



As a finish to my visit I was taken through the 
rooms at the top of the Capitol building which 
are to be devoted to the use of the Library School, 
and having seen these, with their magnificent out- 
look on all sides, I felt more than ever that the 
first class ought to go back and take their course 
over again. Each year shows an advance on the 
year before, as the best of the old features become 
established, and new and desirable ones are added. 

W. K. STETSON read the 

SECOND REPORT ON LIBRARY SCHOOL. 

The pressure of other duties rendered it incon- 
venient, and the calls of the office did not require 
me to spend great length of time or amount of 
labor necessary for a complete examination of the 
Library School. A portion of two days spent in 
Albany strengthened the esteem in which I have 
held the Library School. I saw no reason to dis- 
agree with those previously commissioned to 
report, who, so far as I recollect, have both 
approved the idea of the school and commended 
its administration. The founding of the school 
and its continued existence is not the least impor- 
tant of the many achievements for which the 
American libraries in general are grateful to Mr. 
Dewey and his co-laborers. Without extended 
remarks on the general subject which previous 
reports and those of my colleagues this year ren- 
der unnecessary, I will simply mention two or 
three features which seem especially commendable 
to myself. 

1. The managers of the school are improving 
it, as experience teaches them where improvements 
are feasible. 

2. The standard which applicants must attain 
to is made higher from year to year. 

3. There seems to be a successful attempt to 
give a broader range to the interests of the pupils. 
One of the important requisites of a librarian is 
that he should be able to appreciate the wants of 
all classes of people, and should not confine him- 
self too exclusively to the non-attractive literary 
subjects, to which the common courses of study 
lead one. And I think the seminars and other 
similar exercises tend to widen the students' 
outlook. 

4. The broadening of the course of study so 
that it is not confined so closely~to mechanical 
methods as it was at the beginning is also com- 
mendable. Doubtless the spirit of the school has 
never been to disregard the fact that methods are 
only a means to an end. But I am glad it is found 
practicable to give time especially to practical 



bibliography, to reading and literary methods, so 
that the pupils may have more opportunity than at 
first to learn to treat books as the librarian has to, 
and not merely as a cataloger. 

For myself, I concur in the opinion which has 
always been expressed by those who have reported 
on the Library School at Albany that it is of great 
value. It is pleasant to believe that it is in good 
hands and is continually improving. 

G: E. WIRE read the 

THIRD REPORT ON THE LIBRARY SCHOOL. 

My visit to the school was on May 13 and 14, 
at a time when all of the junior and most of the 
senior class were on their way to this conference. 
Consequently my investigations were confined 
exclusively to the methods of instruction in use, 
with some attention to new features. The scheme 
of instruction has been broadened by the intro- 
duction of reading seminars and actual appren- 
tice work in smaller libraries. I was particularly 
interested in the special bibliographies of which 
several have already been prepared, notably those 
of Whistler and George Meredith. The reading 
seminars on new books tend to a more careful and 
orderly knowledge of current publications. This 
knowledge is essential to the right selection of 
books in a public library. The habit of browsing 
among the shelves has been stimulated, tending to 
the knowledge of books as individuals, so neces- 
sary in the reference duties of a librarian. I was 
gratified to learn of increased requirements in the 
study of languages during junior and senior years. 

One of the sharpest criticisms against the 
Library School has been that of theoretical teach- 
ing rather than practical work. 

To a certain extent theoretical teaching is the 
aim of the school, the idea being that, given a 
right theory, the proper accommodation to cir- 
cumstances can easily be made. But a certain 
amount of practice is necessary. Heretofore this 
has not been possible in all lines of library work. 
The State library is a reference and not a circulat- 
ing library in the ordinary use of the latter word. 
But in addition to the apprentice work in smaller 
libraries so admirably described by Miss Plummer, 
I found a complete charging system similar to the 
one in use in the Newark library, as a part of the 
school apparatus. 

Each person was required to be familiar with 
it, and what is more to the point, to actually 
charge and discharge a book, thus getting a clear 
idea of the time taken ; and knowing something of 
the experience of the public in getting and return- 



34 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



ing books. I think this latter is a point not often 
taken into account by most librarians in the selec- 
tion of their charging system. Indeed it would 
be a good thing if some of them had to draw their 
own books a few times in order to learn expedi- 
tion in this branch of library economy. As you 
all know, to many persons the library is only a 
place for exchanging books and they want it done 
as expeditiously as possible. In this account I 
regard the actual use of the members themselves 
of a charging system as a very valuable feature. 
It is an actual working lesson, a clinical feature, 
as it were. 

The standard of library spirit and enthusiasm 
is, I feel sure, as high as ever, and the intellectual 
grade that of a picked body capable of post-grad- 
uate work. Their degrees show this, as they are 
only conferred for higher work than is done in a 
large per cent of its incorporated schools of its 
State. 

I am only able to present these few points on 
my brief visit to the school as somewhat supple- 
mentary to Miss Plummer's admirable report, and 
deeply regret my inability to be present when the 
school was in session. 

J: M. GLENN read the 

SPECIAL REPORT OF FINANCE COMMITTEE. 

The Committee on Finance beg leave to submit 
the following report : 

They have examined the Treasurer's report and 
found it correct. 

They would emphasize strongly the recommenda- 
tions made by the Treasurer, and ask the Asso- 
ciation to give careful consideration to the condi- 
tion of its finances. The situation is a serious 
one. The Treasurer's report shows that we 
started the year with a balance of $324, and we 
now have a balance of only $99, a decrease of 
assets of $224. It is true that $129 of this was 
due to " unusual expenses." But " unusual 
expenses " must be guarded against. They are 
always |with us. The report so shows that the 
expenses of the conference of 1891 have been 
paid out of the dues of 1892, and that of these only 
$99 in cash and $124 in prospective dues of regu- 
lar members, and say $60 of temporary members, 
in all $283, remain unspent. This seems to be 
an outside estimate of resources. It further shows 
by comparison with previous reports that the 
membership is not as large as it was two years 
ago, and your committee see no reason to expect 
a material increase of membership. 

An examination of the items of the report shows 



that for the San Francisco Conference the expenses 
were as follows: 

Preliminary $67.50 

President and Secretary 23.66 

Treasurer 34.90 

Stenographer 75-OO 



$201.06 
492.94 



Printing Proceedings and distribution 



The first three items preliminary and officers' 
expenses seem quite low. It would hardly be 
possible to reduce them. The only items in which 
economy can be exercised are the stenographer 
and the Proceedings. It hardly seems advisable 
to do away with a stenographic report. As to 
the Proceedings, the cost of printing is borne 
entirely by the Association; 1,275 copies of the 
1891 Proceedings were published at a cost to 
the Association of $441. 49 for printing only. Of 
these 1,275 copies 400 were kept by the Associa- 
tion, and 875 went to the Library journal to be 
distributed as one of its monthly numbers to its 
subscribers, the Journal paying the cost of paper 
and distribution of these 875 copies. The Asso- 
ciation paid for 

Paper for 400 copies $24.44 

Distribution for 400 copies . . 26.47 

$50.91 

Your committee are not familiar with the finan- 
cial status of the Library journal and are, there- 
fore, unable to make any recommendation as to 
the relations of the Association with it. It has 
been the policy of the Association for some years 
to pay the expenses of printing copies of Pro- 
ceedings for the use of the Journal, and it would 
not presumably be wise to alter this policy unless 
the circumstances which led to its adoption have 
changed. But if the Journal should be able to 
bear a share of these expenses, it would materially 
improve the Association's financial condition. The 
expenses of publication might also be reduced by 
cutting down the size of the report. Your com- 
mittee can only call attention to this. 

Your committee, in view of the above facts, 
recommend that the dues of the Association be 
raised to $3 a year and that an amendment to that 
effect be inserted in the new constitution. They 
believe that this would not seriously decrease the 
membership and would cover our deficit and pro- 
vide a balance against " unusual expenses." 

They further recommend that the question of 



SECOND SESSION. 



35 



reduction of expenses be referred to the Finance 
Committee to be chosen at this meeting. 

They further recommend that the sum of $437 
representing the life memberships, now deposited 
in the Bank of Grand Rapids, Mich., be trans- 
ferred to the Trustees of the endowment fund 
for investment with that fund, and a separate 
account be kept of it ; the income to be allowed 
to accumulate until it reach the sum of $625, 
which was the amount originally subscribed, the 
difference having been spent by the Association. 
Respectfully submitted. 

J: M. GLENN. 
W. C. LANE. 

On motion of the Finance Committee, voted: 
That the entire deposit in the Grand Rapids 
Savings Bank standing in the name of the Amer- 
ican Library Association, be withdrawn at the 
earliest possible date after the first day of July, 
1892, the draft for said purpose to be made in 
favor of the Treasurer of the A. L. A. endow- 
ment fund. 

INCREASE OF DUES. 

Pres. FLETCHER. The recommendations which 
have been made by the committee, if accepted 
by the Association will doubtless accomplish 
the desired result. For a clearer understanding 
of what they are, I will read them again. 

G: W. COLE. I move that this matter of 
increase of dues be referred to the Committee on 
Revision of the Constitution. 

C. C. SOULE. The Committee on Revision of 
the Constitution would prefer not to have the ref- 
erence made. They desire a direct vote on the 
question. 

W. FLINT. The question of printing is really 
the important question. Suppose that the Library 
journal paid the expenses of the printing this year, 
how should we stand financially ? Two-thirds of 
the copies go to the Library journal without any 
practical expense, and we get only one-third. It 
seems to me that the cost should be more evenly 
divided. 

W: BEER. I read from page 123 of the Fabyan 
House Proceedings : 

Resolved, That the Committee on Publication 
be requested to consider and authorized to carry 
out a plan by which a permanent fund may be 
provided, the income of which shall be devoted 
to the publication of the Proceedings of the 
A. L. A., and of other publications issued under 
the auspices of the A. L. A. 

Money was subscribed to make sure that the 
Proceedings should always be published. This 



is the official record of our action, and I cannot 
see why we now raise the question of printing. 

E. C. HOVEY. The endowment fund is so 
small that the income would not be sufficient to 
pay the expenses of publishing the Proceedings. 
When we shall have raised a fund equal to our 
votes we shall then be able to carry out the 
original purpose. 

H: J. CARR. The real object of the endow- 
ment fund is not merely to publish the full Pro- 
ceedings of this Association, but to distribute the 
desirable portions as missionary material. 

Pres. FLETCHER. The primary object was to 
secure the full publication of the Proceedings. 

M. DEWEY. The endowment fund was for the 
general purposes of the Association. The feeling 
was that we should be cautious about using it for 
current publications. It was especially to be used 
for the A. L. A. Index or other publications of 
the Publishing Section. 

J: M. GLENN read from page 127 of the Fabyan 
House Proceedings as follows : 

Resolved, That a permanent standing commit- 
tee of three be appointed at once, to be called the 
Endowment Committee, with power to devise and 
put into execution immediately plans for the 
raising of an endowment fund, only the income 
of which shall be devoted to the purposes of the 
A. L. A. 

Sec. HILL. I should say that the subscriptions 
were given with the understanding that they 
should go toward the publication of certain 
papers which should be read before the Associa- 
tion, and not the whole Proceedings, as indicated 
by the committee. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. My understanding has been 
the same. This fund was raised for special 
purposes. 

F: H. HILD. My board voted $400 toward 
this fund with the feeling that it was to be devoted 
to defraying the expenses of the Proceedings and 
to distributing general information on library 
matters. 

Pres. FLETCHER. There is evidently difference 
of opinion about this ; and will some one suggest 
a way in which we can come to a solution of the 
difficulty? 

W: BEER. Every number of the Library jour- 
nal is read by 100 people besides the one sub- 
scribing for it. The use of any income from 
the endowment fund in printing the Proceedings 
would be carrying out its purposes even as Mr. 
Glenn has read them. 

G. M. JONES. The scheme spoken of at 
Fabyan's was that this fund should give us a 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



working capital for the A. L. A. Index and other 
documents. As I understand it, the principal of 
this fund was to be used for such work. 

Pres. FLETCHER. Only the income, and not 
the capital, of the fund was to be expended. 

C: A. CUTTER. It seems to be imagined that 
the poor Association is doing a deed of charity to 
the poor Journal by giving it the Proceedings. 
This is by no means correct. The theory on 
which our present practice was founded is this : 
the Association would of course publish its own 
Proceedings, and be subject to a certain expense 
for so doing ; the same type which is used for 
printing those Proceedings could print off without 
extra expense to the Association copies for the 
Library journal, which would distribute our 
ideas more broadly. The Library journal pays 
for its own distribution and its own paper. I am 
sure it will also be willing to pay its share of the 
press work hereafter. 

W: M. GRISWOLD. Quite a sum could be 
saved in the distribution of the Proceedings if they 
were put in charge of the Library journal and 
sent out at pound rates. 

S: S. GREEN. I want three copies; one for 
myself, one for the library, and one to lend. It is 
evident that while we may be able to make some 
arrangement with the Library journal, we must 
have another means of raising money. The 
amount that we should raise by increasing our fee 
is not going to be sufficient to cover the deficit. 

J: M. GLENN. It would be sufficient to cover 
the current expenses of the year, but not to wipe 
out the deficit. 

S: S. GREEN. I move that the sense of the 
meeting be taken on the matter of raising the 
annual fee from $2 to $3. I propose to support it. 

M. DEWEY. It seems to me that we lose sight 
of the main object in membership of the A. L. A. ; 
it is not a question of how we can raise the 
most money. By the plan proposed you will lose 
about so many members, yet raising the dues will 
cause the total receipts to be larger, and, ergo, 
it is good business. That may be so from a com- 
mercial standpoint, but our aim is not to raise the 
most money; it is to do the most good. We 
want a large membership, from the library page 
up to the senior trustee, and we shall shut out 
some of the people just at the beginning of their 
course and that is the time we most need them 
by raising this fee. To the older members it 
makes no difference, yet to the younger ones it 
means much. For 16 years I have had a deal to 
do with inducing people to join the Association, 



and specially a class of people who have felt the 
expense. This action would prevent a good many 
from coming in. I doubt if we get as much money 
in the Association in the long run by raising the 
fee. It is unwise and contrary to the general pol- 
icy of this Association to shut out because of 
expense any man or woman that is interested in 
its work. This is a question of meeting printing 
bills. We have often discussed this, and have 
always concluded that it was not wise to put up 
our membership fee. There are several other 
methods we can adopt in preference to this to get 
a printing fund ; we can raise money by personal 
subscription or can use the income of the endow- 
ment fund. The fact about that fund is this : Mr. 
Fletcher proposed that we have the endowment 
fund for publishing Proceedings and other docu- 
ments, but the feeling was that other publications 
were more important than the Proceedings, and 
the resolution as passed makes no mention of 
the Proceedings, though it leaves the way open for 
that use. When the committee sent out their 
calls they did not talk about printing the annual 
Proceedings of the Association, but they did talk 
about Reading for the Young and about the A. L. 
A. Index. 

I therefore make the plea in behalf of those 
who wish to come into the Association that the 
dues be left as now, at $2; that the Finance Com' 
mittee study ways and means of raising more 
money by reducing expenses. I should be glad 
to be one of a few to contribute instead of getting 
$200 or $300 a year in this way, and I think we 
could much better raise the money from the 
people who are most able to give it. We should 
adopt the plan that will most widely spread the 
influence of the A. L. A., not lessen it. 

S: S. GREEN. I think we could get just as 
many members at $3 as at $2. It is for that rea- 
son that I support the proposed change. We 
need all the money we can get in the various dif- 
ferent ways in which we are likely to raise it. I 
should be glad to be one of the subscribers to a 
fund for this deficit. The life members are the 
men who have, generally speaking, greater means 
than a large portion of those who pay the 
annual fees. Ask the life members if they won't 
subscribe. I cannot see that this will interfere 
with any persons joining the Association. 

J. N. LARNED. I wish to ask if we are not try- 
ing to cross a river before we come to it. As I 
understand it, we have no deficit yet. We are 
afraid that we are going to have a deficit. Let us 
wait until it comes. 



SECOND SESSION. 



37 



Pres. FLETCHER. It is a little more than a 
fear of a deficit. We have always printed the 
Proceedings out of the money we have had on 
hand after the conference was over. This year 
we are not going to have that money. There will 
be a deficit in round numbers of $200. 

J. N. LARNED. I second the plea which Mr. 
Dewey has made. The assistants are not the 
ones who should pay for the publication of these 
Proceedings. The libraries of the country should 
pay for that publication, and it seems to me that 
it should be a matter of subscription entirely sepa- 
rate and distinct from membership in this Associ- 
ation. It should be a part of the library's book 
expenditures. Here is an important annual bpok 
of which every library needs one or two copies, 
and the libraries should be called on to bear 
the necessary expenses. The proposed scheme of 
raising the dues is unjust, and if carried through 
will lessen the membership of this Association. 

Mrs. M. A. SANDERS. How will the proposed 
change affect life members ? 

Pres. FLETCHER. It will not affect them. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. Mr. Larned's remarks sug- 
gest to me a basis of discrimination for which I 
have been seeking heretofore. I have had talks 
with members recently and at the Fabyan House 
Conference in regard to this matter. Varipus 
plans were mentioned, and I have tried to find 
something that would put those who were able to 
pay $5 on one side, and those whose means and 
interest were not so great on the other side. Mr. 
Larned's remarks lead to this suggestion, that the 
libraries pay $5 for their subscription fee. A 
library can well afford to pay $5 for the good it 
will get. All the good that we individuals get 
goes back to the library; we come here not for 
ourselves personally, but for our work. The sole 
object of this Association is to benefit the libra- 
ries of the country. I suggest that the member- 
ship fee in this Association be made $5 to all 
libraries, and that the fee for membership for 
those engaged in library work remain as it is. I 
should like also to have a volunteer fee of $5 from 
those who are able and willing to pay it, of which 
I should be glad to be one. This is perfectly 
practicable and I suggest it as one of the things 
to be done. I should expect the chief librarians 
of many libraries would voluntarily pay $5. 

Bearing upon the proposition to raise fees to 
$3, there are five assistants in my library who 
have been members of the Association and paid 
their dues promptly. They have not been able to 
come to any meeting since the one held at St. 



Louis, but they have kept up their membership. 
I fear any increase might cause them to drop out. 

E. C. HOVEY. I feel the full force of a quota- 
tion from an eminent citizen of this town, whom 
we call Mr. Cleveland, but whom the ladies are 
pleased to call Mrs. Cleveland's husband; that is, 
" We are confronted not with a theory, but with a 
condition." I have before me the figures and 
estimate made by the Finance Committee. If we 
assume in the beginning that this Association does 
not need any balance at the end of each year, then 
what I shall say will go for naught. I think it is 
beneath the dignity of this Association to wind up 
each year either in debt or with a trifling balance. 
If it is possible to put off the entire expense of 
printing and distributing the Proceedings, the Asso- 
ciation will then have by no means too much 
money at the end of each fiscal year. The average 
number of members is 250, which at $2 will make 
a total receipt of $500. The estimate of expendi- 
tures is $800, showing a deficit of $300. In that 
estimate the expense of printing and distributing 
the Proceedings is $500. Therefore, if the expense 
of printing these Proceedings is paid for by some- 
body else, the Association will find itself in a clear 
balance of $200 at the end of the season. We 
must either increase the dues or else give up 
entirely the expense of printing and distributing 
the Proceedings. 

Mr. Dewey said that this question of raising the 
dues has been brought up at several meetings 
which have gone before, and invariably has been 
voted down, or action taken antagonistic to that 
view of the subject. I would like to ask him, in 
reply, what progress he has made. We find our- 
selves today more in debt than last year; last year 
we were more in debt than the year before. We 
have been for several years paying the expenses 
of the past year out of the year that is to come, 
and if we keep on, I risk nothing in predicting 
that we should be obliged to pay the expenses of 
the Association for 1893 out f tne receipts for 
1895. I think this is a very important matter, and 
one which well deserves our attention. Whatever 
I have had to say on this subject is based on the 
deepest feeling and interest in this Association. 
It is a great calamity that an Association like this 
should be obliged to report a deficit at the end of 
each fiscal year. I trust that before we leave this 
place something will have been done to obviate 
the necessity of our making such a lamentable 
financial exhibit. 

H: J. CARR. A word of caution sounded by 
the Treasurer seems to have raised more or less 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



of a storm. As regards dues, we have succeeded 
very well indeed. The estimated expenses are 
based on what has taken place for the last two 
or three years and the apparent prospects for this 
year. For a number of years the Association 
membership has remained, barring fluctuations in 
temporary members, very nearly uniform; includ- 
ing temporary members a trifle less than 300 pay 
annual dues. In two years, 1884 and 1888, we 
had no regular conferences. Dues were collected 
just the same, and they were paid willingly. 
With the accumulated revenues of two years we 
came to the 1885 meeting with a good sum in 
the treasury. We elaborated our Proceedings 
and went into stenographic reports, the natural 
result being an increase of expenses. The bal- 
ance being large, that matter was not felt to be 
a serious one. The next year the balance began 
to creep down. Then we collected for two years 
again and went to St. Louis with a good balance. 
For 1889 the schedule of expenditures exceeded 
income about $100. At the White Mountains in 
1890 we had an influx again of temporary mem- 
bers. That year income and outgo ran about 
even. At San Francisco the membership re- 
mained about the same, but the schedule of 
expenditures increased, and we ran down $125 
more. I should say, judging from the experience 
of the past, that our annual expenditures have been 
about $13510 $150 in excess of our current income. 
It seems to me that our safe way is to hold down 
the printed Proceedings to a moderate expenditure. 

Pres. FLETCHER. The Finance Committee 
makes two recommendation*. The second one is 
that the question of reduction of expenses be 
referred to the Finance Committee, to be chosen 
at this meeting. From the view Mr. Carr has 
taken, the Finance Committee will decide how 
much is to be spent on the Proceedings this year. 
It seems to me that the whole matter is practi- 
cally out of our hands. We can depend on the 
Finance Committee to be conservative in the 
matter of expense. 

G. M. JONES. I think we would not lose any 
members by making the annual fee $3. The 
Appalachian Club, of which I am a member, has 
raised its dues from $2 to $3 and admission from 
$3 to $5. I believe in the $3 dues. 

Sec. HILL. The members of the Appalachian 
Club are richer than the members of the A. L. A. 

G. M. JONES. A great many members of that 
club are teachers, and it was supposed that they 
would be barred out by the increase. It has not 
affected them. 



Mrs. S. A. C. BOND. 1 have belonged to one 
or two societies where the fees, instead of being 
worded as you have them there, not to exceed $2, 
have been not less than $2, leaving those who are 
able to give as much more as they choose. 

J. P. DUNN. It seems to me that the idea 
suggested by Mr. Crunden ought to be voted on 
before the question of increasing the dues is 
brought up. I move to amend the motion sug- 
gested by the Finance Committee, by making the 
fees $5 for the libraries and $2 for private 
individuals. 

S: S. GREEN. I withdraw my motion to take 
the sense of the meeting on the raising of the 
annual fee, and move that a special committee of 
five be appointed by the chair to consider the 
recommendations of the Finance Committee and 
report later in the meeting. 

W. M. GRISWOLD. There should be two 
classes of members in the Association, one paying 
regular dues and the other contributing towards 
deficiencies. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. I move to amend Mr. Green's 
motion and increase the committee to nine, includ- 
ing the Finance Committee and the Treasurer. 

The amendment of Mr. Crunden was accepted 
by Mr. Green and the motion was carried. 

J. P. DUNN in behalf of the 

PUBLIC DOCUMENT COMMITTEE 

reported progress and said : The public docu- 
ment bill as it passed the Senate was submitted 
to the committee in the House, and has been 
reported by that committee to the House with 
amendments to eight sections. None of the 
amendments materially affect the library interests 
of the country except that to Sec. 59 made in accord- 
ance with the request of the librarians of desig- 
nated depositories which are places to receive all 
documents published by the government. The 
other libraries receive only such as the depart- 
ments and the officials see fit to send. The desig- 
nated depositories have insisted on the proposition 
that anything that was worth publishing by the 
government ought to be put in them free of cost ; 
if they undertake to keep the public documents 
they should be supplied with all of them. I move 
the adoption by the Association of the following : 

MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 

To the Honorable the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the United States: 
Your memorialists, the American Library Asso- 
ciation, would respectfully show unto your honor- 
able body that owing to the lack of system in the 



SECOND SESSION. 



39 



distribution of public documents to libraries, and 
the defective methods of indexing, the people are 
very generally denied access to the valuable 
material collected and published at public expense. 
That your memorialists have carefully considered 
Senate bill 1,549 now pending in Congress, and are 
satisfied from their personal experience and knowl- 
edge of the subject that the passage of the same 
would be very beneficial not only to the libraries 
but to the whole people. That your memorialists 
believe that an unintentional restriction on dis- 
tribution is made by Sec. 59 of said bill in lines 10, 
it and 12, and would respectfully request that said 
lines be amended to read : " And of all such pub- 
lications five hundred shall be at once delivered, 
etc," or " And also, of the said publications above 
provided to be sent to the Senate and House 
libraries, five hundred copies shall be at once 
delivered, etc." And your memorialists as in 
duty bound, etc. 

Pres. FLETCHER read a telegram just received 
from R. R. Bowker, chairman of the Public Docu- 
ments Committee, requesting that the discussion 
on the matter be postponed till the session in 
Washington. 

W. FLINT. It seems to me that the commit- 
tees of both Houses are unanimous in regard to 
the measure. In my mind it is unwise for us to go 
into technical details. What we should do is to use 
the whole influence of this Association in over- 
coming the inertia of Congress. The matter 
ought to be discussed here rather than in Wash- 
ington. 

W. F. POOLE. I move that the matter be 
postponed. Seconded. 

J. P. DUNN. I think the Association will 
make a serious mistake if it accedes to this request. 
We have come here to push this matter of public 
documents to a successful conclusion. It is abso- 
lutely necessary, if any action is to be taken, that 
it should be taken at this meeting. We have 
never accomplished anything in the past in regard 
to this important matter. This Association is 
interested as a body in the general features of the 
bill. It is simply a question of whether all these 
interests shall unite here on the simple amend- 
ment which this committee of the House of Rep- 
resentatives is ready to make, and all pull together 
for the passage of the bill. I have given up cer- 
tain further amendments which I desired, in order 
to get the passage of the bill. Mr. Richardson, 
chairman of the House committee, requested me 
to get an expression of opinion from the Library 
Association on this amendment. 



F. II. HILD. I move, as a substitute for Mr. 
Poole's motion, that Mr. Dunn's memorial be 
made a special order for 2 o'clock on Wednesday. 

It was so voted. 

Rev. Dr. J. E. THOMPSON of New Brunswick, 
N. J., read his paper on 

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. 
(See p. 6.) 

MR. G : F. JAMES, General Secretary of the 
American Society for the extension of university 
teaching. I have accepted with pleasure the 
invitation to say a few words this morniug on the 
subject of university extension. This pleasure is 
the greater because of the growing influence of 
your distinguished body in all parts of the coun- 
try, and because of the distinct power which a well- 
trained, broad-minded and enthusiastic librarian is 
in a community. The relation between your work 
and that of the movement which I have the honor 
to represent is close and intimate. The system 
of university extension has been developed, it is 
hardly necessary to say, not as a substitute for 
college or university education, but rather as a 
means of spreading more widely and making more 
available the opportunities offered in our higher 
institutions. This is accomplished through the 
direct contact of leading specialists with those of 
every age and condition anxious to learn. The 
particular method developed for this purpose is a 
series of six or twelve lectures, with the follow- 
ing class work and connected paper work, discus- 
sions, and examination. At all times the leading 
idea is steadily maintained of giving not informa- 
tion but inspiration, not knowledge but the desire 
for it. The subject of a lecture course is limited in 
scope, a unit in matter and systematic in presenta- 
tion. The results of extension teaching at 
hundreds of centres during a score of years have 
shown that this system is based on sound peda- 
gogical principles, and is well adapted to fulfill 
the purpose indicated in the motto, " Not a means 
of livelihood, but a means of life." 

There is here, then, a slowly evolved and per- 
fected system of instruction dependent on three 
elements, the lecturer, the people, and the book. 
The training and preparation of the first, the 
securing of men thoroughly qualified by nature, 
instruction, and experience for the important 
work of missionaries of true culture, it is the duty 
of the universities and of the American Society 
with its affiliated branches to furnish. The expla- 
nation of this system to the people, the revealing 
to them all the advantages our higher institutions 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



stand ready to offer to those unable to come 
within their walls, is a work which all interested 
in education in any form must be and are willing 
to undertake. 

It is along this line that the active cooperation 
of the librarians of the country is earnestly sought 
by those interested in the university extension 
movement. There are few men and women in 
our American towns and cities, and happily an 
increasing number even in the smaller villages, 
who have such opportunities of exerting a strong 
and helpful influence as has the librarian. We 
may have to admit that in the past he has felt his 
life bound up more than he should within the 
walls of his own library. Abundant signs, how- 
ever, indicate that the work of the American 
Library Association, not limited merely to discus- 
sions of library economy and administration, but 
directly toward a full realization of the duties and 
privileges of this calling, is bearing fruit. From 
now on, if never before, the librarian must be 
reckoned with and will be safely relied upon as 
one of the active moral forces of the community, 
and as one, therefore, to whom those who are 
interested in education along a somewhat differ- 
ent line may and do appeal with confidence for 
sympathy and assistance. 

It is, however, in reference to the third ele- 
ment the book that university extension most 
needs the help of the librarian. In every com- 
munity a course of extension lectures arouses a 
thirst for books and reading which must at once 
be directed and satisfied. The lecturer within his 
own field finds a most important part of his work 
in indicating the best books on the given subject, 
and in showing how these may best be used. The 
librarian of the town is in this the best possible 
assistant. Thirst for books and trained discrim- 
ination in their choice and use establish as the 
greatest need in the higher life of the town the 
supplying of the requisite volumes, and at the 
same time increase greatly the opportunities and 
influence of the librarian. 

These, briefly stated, are the natural relations 
between the librarian and the university exten- 
sion movement. All that is implied and bound 
up in these simple statements have been, in many 
instances, clearly seen and realized by the mem- 
bers of this distinguished association in many of 
the leading towns and cities of the country. 
What Mr. Foster has done at Providence and Mr. 
Poole at the Newberry Library, and the great 
work that Mr. Dewey is doing in New York along 
the common lines of library and university exten- 



sion work, you all know. I venture to instance, 
however, in conclusion a single example of what 
the conscientious and enthusiastic librarian may 
do for this great educational movement in the 
community. Some of you know the excellent 
Osterhout Library in Wilkes-Barre, an insti- 
tution which has seemed to me from the first 
time I saw it an almost perfect model of its 
kind. Housed in a building retaining just enough 
of its original sacred use to give it that air of 
quiet seclusion so pleasing in the home of books, 
fitted with the latest improved appliances, admir- 
ably cataloged and arranged, with quick, intelli- 
gent, and kindly attendants, that library is as it 
should be, the centre of intellectual activity in a 
flourishing city, and exerts an ever-increasing 
influence among more than 50,000 people. It was 
the head of the Osterhout Library who was the 
first to see with quick eye the opportunities which 
the university extension system offers, and the 
force it may exert when well directed in arousing 
and elevating the taste of the people for books. 
Through the weekly News Letter of the library 
she called the attention of the thinking people of 
the town to this work, explained the details of the 
method, and the conditions on which the estab- 
lishment of a centre depends. In the same pub- 
lication the first call was made for a meeting to 
consider this subject ; in the lecture-room of the 
library the first meeting was held, and the resolu- 
tion adopted to establish an extension centre. A 
committee was formed of influential men and 
women who had come to look on the library as a 
second home, and in it again the necessary prep- 
arations were made, the subject and the lecturer 
chosen. The result of the first extension course 
in Wilkes-Barre fully justified the thought and 
energy devoted to the matter. The reference books 
placed upon special shelves were freely consulted 
by the students of the Centre. More than one 
who had lost the habit of reading, or had given 
himself up to the occasional novel and the daily 
paper, found to his surprise that well-directed and 
systematic reading even of such a serious nature 
as was the subject of that first extension course 
political economy was a source of pleasure and 
delight. It is safe to say that the librarian of the 
Osterhout has introduced into the life of Wilkes- 
Barre a permanent element of great educational 
value. 

What you with well-organized institutions 
behind you can do for the university extension 
movement is clearly apparent. What such a sys- 
tem of instruction, aiming especially at a stimulus 



SECOND SESSION. 



to good reading, may do for your work, I leave with 
confidence to your consideration. 

Prof. Louis BEVIER, Jr., of Rutgers College. 
What has been said already is perhaps sufficient, 
except on one point. Allow me, in quite an 
informal way, to lay before you the fundamental 
reason, as it seems to me, why this association 
ought to be interested, must be interested, in the 
work of university or college extension. Prof. 
James has enumerated many of the tics that bind 
together the work of the librarian and the work 
of the university extension lecturer. I shall con- 
fine my remarks to just one point to lay clearly 
before you the foundation on which this con- 
nection rests, the logical reason why they must 
be brought together. 

If anybody gives a moment's thought he will 
see that, looking at it on its broad lines, there are 
two factors necessary for a successful university 
or a successful college. The one prime factor, 
without which no college or university can exist, 
is a man. Sometimes we forget that ; sometimes 
we think that a million of dollars will make a col- 
lege. If it secures the man it will do it, but without 
the man it is of no use at all. We all know the 
words of the late President Garfield on the value 
of endowment and physical equipment for a college 
or university. He is satisfied with a wooden 
bench with Mark Hopkins at one end and himself 
at the other. The first necessity, therefore, is a 
man. He must make the connection between him- 
self and the scholar; he must stimulate the indi- 
vidual mind; he must point out the paths where 
growth can be had. 

The second factor is the book; without the 
book you cannot have a college or university. 
That is pre-eminently true in those subjects where 
the records of the past are to be searched. In all 
historical work, in all study of the social sciences 
or of the languages and literatures of the past and 
present, the absolutely essential acquirement of 
a successful college or university is thebook. That 
is no less true when you come to the physical 
sciences. 

Now what is university extension ? If I under- 
stand the movement in its broad outlines, it means 
the creation of a great people's university, organ- 
ized on itinerant lines, so that the man who can- 
not come to the college or university has the col- 
lege or university brought to him. It is a move- 
ment by which a whole country in its individual 
centres of culture villages, towns, cities 
becomes one great university with a class-room in 
each town and village, where men can come 



together in the pursuit of the high objects of a 
liberal education, where a solitary student can 
have expert guidance, can come under the live 
impression of a man, can bring his personality face 
to face with the personality of a living teacher. 

In this great people's university there must be 
a man and there must be a book. We, as repre- 
sentatives of the colleges and the universities, 
undertake to furnish the man. Doubt has been 
expressed as to the ultimate success of university 
extension from this cause : Where will you get 
your teachers ? You cannot take professors 
from your colleges without weakening the college 
teaching; and you cannot ask them to do exten- 
sion teaching and to do their home work at the 
same time. The promoters of this movement 
have not lost sight of that difficulty. A move- 
ment is now on foot in Philadelphia for the 
creation of a school where men can be trained for 
the special profession of university extension teach- 
ing. This is but one of several means which are 
about to be taken to supply the lack of specially 
trained men. We, the colleges and universities, 
undertake to train up a corps of teachers who 
shall furnish to this great people's university the 
man; and we look to you, the librarians of the 
country, to furnish us with books. We look to 
you to be the local college library in each village 
and town and city. We ask for your cordial 
cooperation, and we expect to get it. We do not 
ask the librarians to forget the prime duties of their 
profession and to promote a movement in which 
they have no practical interest ; but we want you 
to stimulate the public interest of the town in the 
library. There is no better way to do this than 
to hold in connection with the library a university 
extension course of lectures. You will see your 
shelves empty of all books connected with that 
course, if we have furnished the man. Make the 
local library the object of local pride ; make it the 
local part of the great people's university; and 
when public opinion is educated, as it is going to 
be, it will be the pride of the town. 

Miss M. S. CUTLER read the report of the Com- 
mittee on the 

A. L. A. EXHIBIT AT COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 

The committee recommend 

I. That the A. L. A. Library exhibit at the 
Columbian exhibition be made part of the U. S. 
Bureau of Education exhibit, since requisite space 
and money are definitely offered by them, and all 
other suggestions for raising money prove imprac- 
ticable. 



42 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



2. That the exhibit be divided as follows: 

1. Exhibit by individual libraries. 

2. Comparative exhibit, including 

a. Library architecture. 

b. Appliances and fittings. 

c. Bindings. 

3. Historical and descriptive matter. 

4. An A. L. A. library in working order. 

3. That the exhibit be in charge of a perma- 
nent exposition committee with power to appoint 
sub-committees as follows : 

1. Choice of books. 

2. Collection of books. 

3. Architecture. 

4. Statistics and for any other subject 
demanding the work of a special committee. 

4. That the committee have power to appoint 
necegsary superintendents and assistants. 

5. That the committee, in conformity with any 
instructions from the Association given at this 
conference, have power to carry out such plans 
as will in their judgment best promote library 
interests and insure the success of the exhibit. 

6. That the committee make a monthly report 
of progress to the Association through the 
Library journal. 

MARY S. CUTLER. 
FRANK P. HILL. 
MELVIL DEWEY. 
D. V. R. JOHNSTON. 
FRED. H. HILD. 

This report was accepted, placed on file, and 
made a special order for Wednesday forenoon. 

C: C. SOULE, as chairman, presented the printed 
report of the 

COMMITTEE ON REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

[This report presented in parallel columns the 
provisions of the old constitution and the changes 
advocated by the committee, was distributed to 
members present and served as the basis of the 
discussion of the following day. By reason of its 
length it is not reprinted in these Proceedings.] 

The report was made a special order for 11.30 
A. M. Wednesday. 

Adjourned at 12.30 P. M. 

THIRD SESSION. 
(TUESDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 17.) 

Pres. FLETCHER called the meeting to order at 
2.40 P. M. 

E. C. HOVEY read the report of the Endow- 
ment Committee. 



E. C. HOVEY also read the account of the 
TRUSTEES OF ENDOWMENT FUND: 
RECEIPTS. 

Total subscriptions paid in .... $3,560 50 
Interest on loan to H. J. Carr, Treas. . 375 

$3.564 25 
PAYMENTS. 

Paid for printing $ r 35 i 

Accrued interest on mortgage 
notes described below . . 29 77 164 87 

Balance of fund on hand .... $3,399 38 
ASSETS. 

Cash in International Trust 

Co 249 38 

Notes of Timothy Conally at 
6 per cent interest, maturing 
Aug. i, 1896, secured by 
bond and mortgage, inter- 
est payable Aug. i and 
Feb. i 1*300 oo 

Notes of Robert and Lottie 
Sanden at 6 per cent inter- 
est, maturing $200 March r, 
1893, and $1,000 March i, 
1897, secured by bond and 
mortgage, interest payable 
March i and Sept. i . . . 1,200 oo 

Notes of Publishing Section, 
signed by W. I. Fletcher, 
President, and W. C. Lane, 
at 6 per cent interest . . . 650 oo $3,399 38 
There are no liabilities. 

E. C. HOVEY, 

Treasurer Trustees Endowment Fund. 
BOSTON, May 17, 1892. 

The reports were accepted and placed on file. 
The Association then adjourned to allow of the 
meeting of the New York and Massachusetts 
State Associations and of the College Section. 



FOURTH SESSION. 
(TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 17.) 

Pres. FLETCHER called the meeting to order at 
8.25 P. M. The following committees were 
announced : 

Index to Subject Headings : Gardner M. Jones, 
Miss H. E. Green, W. C. Lane. 

Recommendations of Finance Committee: Melvil 
Dewey, F. M. Crunden, Miss H. P. James, Miss 
Elizabeth P. Thurston, E. C. Hovey, Gardner M. 
Jones, J: M. Glenn, W: C. Lane, H: J. Carr. 

Social Evening: Mrs. F. M. Crunden, Mrs. M. 
Dewey, Miss M. S. Cutler, E. C. Hovey, C. C. 
Soule, C: A. Cutter, and D. V. R. Johnston. 



FOURTH SESSION. 



43 



Pres. FLETCHER said that it would be a matter 
of the keenest regret for the Association to enter 
Baltimore without being welcomed by genial Dr. 
Steiner. He then introduced Dr. W. Hayes 
Ward, editor .of the New York Independent, who 
spoke on the life and character of 

LEWIS H. STEINER. 

(Seep. 10.) 

E. M. BARTON. In '63, '64, and '65, while Dr. 
Steiner was Chief Inspector of the United States 
Sanitary Commission of the Army of the Potomac, 
it was my great privilege and pleasure to report to 
him weekly while I was the field relief agent of the 
Commission for the Fifth Army Corps. As a 
loyal Marylander and a friend to all who were in 
trouble, he will not be forgotten by those who 
were thus in a peculiar manner associated with 
him in one of the important missions during the 
War of the Rebellion. 

EXPERIENCE MEETING. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. Mr. President, Ladies and 
Gentlemen : Judging from my feelings during the 
last quarter of an hour as I realized what was 
coming, I think that hereafter I shall be in favor 
of papers. If a paper had been assigned me I 
could have found some time on the cars as I came 
east to have written it. 

LIBRARY PROGRESS. 

So far as experiences are concerned mine have 
not been so striking of late as they were in earlier 
years. Matters have gone remarkably smoothly. 
Two things exemplify the progress that has been 
made. When I first entered the library at St. 
Louis it had a very precarious existence; its supply 
was in constant danger of being cut off, and if 
there was ever any talk of retrenchment the library 
was the first point suggested at which to begin. 
But I always succeeded in staving off action. As 
a contrast to that four or five years ago a great 
wave of reform swept over St. Louis ; the School 
Board was to be reformed, everything was to be 
reformed. But of all the talk that went on at 
mass meetings and various conventions, never a 
word was said against the library. 

There is another illustration which has an inter- 
est to us all. When I was proposing to attend 
the first convention of the A. L. A. in 1879 at 
Boston, with some fear and misgiving I asked if I 
might have ten days' leave of absence. That was 
courteously given me, and one of the trustees who 
was rather advanced in his views of the importance 
of the library, and of the benefit to be derived 
from having the librarian mingle with other libra- 



rians, proposed that the board should appropriate 
money for my expenses. That was promptly voted 
down without discussion, but when the same 
motion was renewed in 1890 it went just the other 
way. There was no particular discussion, but 
there was a unanimous vote in favor. I remember 
some years ago coming home with a friend, who 
was a fine musician, from an evening gathering, 
and being attracted by strains of music, we fol- 
lowed the sounds and came to an engine house 
where four or five darkies were singing for the 
enjoyment of the firemen. One of the songs I 
remember in particular. The leader was asked 
the question, " O where have you been, class 
leader, since you have been gone away ? " And 
the answer came, " I have been aweepin' and 
awailin' in the valley of the Lord." Whereupon 
he would be vigorously exhorted not to weep nor 
wail any more. One after another each of the 
brethren was asked the same question, to which 
would come the same reply, and he would be just 
as vigorously exhorted not to weep nor to wail 
any more. That is what I would say to the 
brethren of our profession. There is no need of 
any more weeping and wailing. Everything is 
going well. One of our class leaders this morn- 
ing was a little afraid he was too optimistic, but I 
believe there is no danger. I think that the few 
gentlemen who are with us now who were 
watchers on the hilltops in the early '50*3, Dr_ 
Poole and Mr. Edmands, will see that their expec- 
tations have finally been fulfilled. It was then 
that they first saw the few streaks lighting the 
eastern sky, the first herald of the dawn. The 
dawn seemed to come slowly to them, because 
little progress was made for years, but the light 
has grown very rapidly of late, and now, as they 
traveled across the continent last year they must 
have found that it has flooded our whole country. 
We know from the reports we get that this glorious 
morning has lit up the whole of western Europe, 
and we feel equal assurance that in our own land 
there will be no going backward, that the sun is 
ascending to that zenith from which there is no 
fall. 

LIBRARY STATISTICS. 

Miss JESSIE ALLAN. Mr. Crunden, in speaking 
of this call for retrenchment that occurs every 
year in case of many libraries, makes me feel that 
we should have some statistical reports on the 
matter. Is it not possible that there should be 
some tables published in the Library journal giv- 
ing just the main facts, the amount of taxes assessed, 
the population of the cities, the number of books 



44 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



for each inhabitant, the number of books issued, 
the general cost, etc., so there will be something 
that we can go by that will be really authentic ? 

F: M. CRUNDEN. I think Miss Allan will find 
just what she wants in the next report of the 
Bureau of Education. 

H. J. CARR related his experience in the public 
library in St. Joseph, Mo., where trouble was antic- 
ipated, but not realized, from the joint use of the 
reading room by negroes and white people. 

J. N. LARNED. I had received a request from 
the Secretary to take part in this experience relat- 
ing, and in order to secure that perfect serenity 
which is desirable to a speaker, I ran my experi- 
ence through the typewriter. 

ARRANGEMENT OF MAPS. 

On turning over my later library experiences, 
I find nothing better to draw out of them for this 
meeting than a brief account of my dealings with 
maps. This subject was considered in a Library 
journal symposium last year, but my final con- 
trivings were then unfinished, and I was not pre- 
pared to take part in the discussion. 

For some years past I have been entertaining 
a certain modest ambition to gather into the 
Buffalo Library a good collection of maps, both 
new and old, and to arrange them on such plan 
as would make them most easily accessible for all 
purposes of reference. This has never been an 
ambition that I could venture to bestride as a 
hobby, and give rein to. There is no room, 
indeed, for the stabling of hobbies in our treas- 
ury. Hence the problem has confronted me on 
no very imposing scale ; but even our few hun- 
dreds of maps have driven me to a variety of 
experiments, and have been carried, laboriously, 
through several changes of arrangement and 
form. 

So far as concerns the larger wall maps, there 
is probably nothing new that can be done to make 
them less troublesome. They must necessarily 
be rolled, stored and handled separately and 
singly. Exactly how they shall be stored, how 
marked, and how unrolled for exhibition, are 
questions of convenience that will find different 
answers in different libraries. 

My difficulty has been with the lesser maps ; 
with those, that is, which are small enough to be 
spread upon a table or held in the hands for 
examination, instead of being hung. I began by 
having nearly all such maps dissected before 
mounting, and folding them in covers. But I 
soon sickened of the dreadful mutilation of fine 



maps which dissection involves. It is difficult, 
moreover, to keep such folded maps in any order 
upon a shelf. I wished to open them to readers 
in our reference-room, or " study," as freely as 
we open our dictionaries and encyclopaedias. I 
wished to keep maps of the same region together, 
and I wished likewise to preserve a chronological 
arrangement among them. I found it impracti- 
cable to satisfy these several wishes, under the 
scheme of folded maps in separate covers, on 
open shelves; and I found also, on several occa- 
sions, to my grief, that the very newest and 
choicest of my maps had been folded, by a fatal 
mischance, to exactly fit the pocket of some 
prowling thief. 

My next experiment was with portfolios. I had 
a considerable number of them cheaply made out 
of junk board and heavy cotton. They were 
large enough to take in most of the maps assigned 
to them, with one or two foldings only, and they 
enabled me to keep together the maps and charts 
belonging together, with some orderliness of geo- 
graphical arrangement for the whole. But the 
plan proved inconvenient in its working, and the 
maps were no more secure against theft than 
before. 

After two or three years of unsatisfactory use, 
the portfolios gave way, not long since, to what I 
hope is the final disposition of my maps. I have 
now put them all upon rollers. I do not, as in 
the case of the larger maps, give a roller to each 
one, but a roller to each country, or city, or dis- 
trict, or chronological period, as we find conven- 
ient in our classification. The rollers are uni- 
formly three feet long, and will take upon them 
any map which, in one of its dimensions, does not 
exceed that length. These rollers are slit length- 
wise into halves. In the flat face of one half 
three or four pointed pins are set, which fit into 
holes bored for them in the opposing face of the 
other half. Maps are attached to a roller by 
being inserted, at one edge (transfixed by the 
pins), between the two parts, which are then 
drawn together by screws. The loosening of the 
screws to insert additional maps from time to 
time is easily and quickly done. Six or eight 
maps of different sizes can usually be attached to 
one roller without being troublesome, and we find 
them to be convenient for handling in this form. 

I have experienced but one drawback to the 
happy working of this plan, and that arises, not 
from any defect in itself, but from the prior blun- 
der of the map dissections. The dissected maps 
when rolled take on a corrugated shape which is 



FOURTH SESSION. 



45 



annoying. But the maps which have been left in 
their own proper state are undoubtedly best pre- 
served in rolls, and most conveniently held 
together, in such order of arrangement as is 
desired for them. 

For the protection of the map rolls from dust I 
first employed an outer strip of cotton, attached 
to the roller with them, and enwrapping them 
when they were rolled. But the wrapper proved 
to be an objectionable dust-catcher in itself, and I 
substituted for it a common pasteboard tube, 
such as has come into use of late years for the 
transmission of charts and pictures through the 
mails. These tubes, three feet long and three 
inches in diameter, closed at one end and having 
a cap fitted to the other, cost, I believe, twelve 
cents each. They "are perfect protectors for the 
maps. 

This, then, is the final outcome of my experi- 
ments, producing itself in the following arrange- 
ment of maps : Under a simple scheme of 
geographical classification there are 212 groups 
of maps to be provided for, and these are num- 
bered from one upward, consecutively. For each 
group one roller, or more, is provided when needed 
(for some regions, in our collection, are still 
unmapped) ; each roller has its tubular case, and 
tube, roller and maps are identically numbered. 
For the storing of the whole I have a frame or 
rack seven feet long by three feet deep and five 
and one-half feet high, which will hold 198 tubes, 
none being in contact with any other. If we 
reckon an average of six maps to each roller, 
which is moderate, the capacity of the rack is for 
1,188 maps. I doubt if that number can be kept 
so conveniently in the same space on any other 
plan. 

SUNDAY OPENING. 

S: S. GREEN. I should like to tell you how 
we got our library opened on Sunday. Our library 
was the first in New England to be opened on 
Sunday. A member of the Common Council 
came to me and said he should like to have the 
library used on that day as well as on other days. 
I said I should like to, and told him I would write 
to Cincinnati to Dr. Poole and see what he said 
about it. Dr. Poole wrote back and said it had 
been successful there ; that before they opened, 
the President of the Y. M. C. A. was much 
opposed to the plan, but after it was open one or 
two Sundays he was very much in favor of it. 
I had a very good letter from the librarian of the 
Mercantile Library also. I put those letters into 
the hands of this member of the Common Council, 



When the matter came up these letters were read, 
and a leader said that with such testimony as 
that he did not see why the library should not be 
opened. Then the matter went before the Board 
of Aldermen. One of the Aldermen came and 
asked a member of the Board of Directors 
whether they would do it or not. He said he 
thought they would if they were asked to do it; so 
the Council requested us to open the library on 
Sunday, and then the Aldermen united in the 
request. It soon appeared that of the twelve 
Directors (one was in Europe) there were seven in 
favor of opening and four against. These four 
were very strong in their opposition. We dis- 
cussed the subject for an evening and then the 
matter was referred to a committee of three to 
make a report. Two were in favor of having the 
library opened and one opposed. As I said, one 
member was in Europe, and the opponents of the 
action felt sure of his position and wanted to have 
the decision postponed till he returned. The 
majority made no opposition to that. We kept 
everything quiet within our own board. One 
Baptist minister preached one Sunday against 
opening the library, but the newspapers very 
kindly did not answer him; they simply stated 
the fact that he did so, but did not reply. Then 
a Methodist minister said something, but nobody 
answered him. After a month or two the gentle- 
man returned from Europe and came to the meet- 
ing, and one or two of the opponents of the 
measure went out of the room to talk with him. 
When they came back their faces were rather 
gloomy. He was the manager of one of our 
greatest mechanical industries, and when his 
opinion was taken he said that so far as he was 
concerned, he should not want his family to 
use the library on Sunday, but he had large num- 
bers of workmen under him and he felt that it 
would be an excellent thing for them to come to 
the reading rooms on Sunday.. We took a vote 
and it stood eight in favor and four against. 
I had my preparations already made and the next 
Sunday we opened our reading rooms. We had 
been open two Sundays when I had a letter from 
Boston asking me how it worked; the City Attor- 
ney of Boston gave an opinion that it would not 
come under the Sunday law. I wrote Mr. Goddard 
what books had been read since the library had 
been open on Sunday. He wrote an editorial 
for his paper, and in a short time the library in 
Boston was opened on Sunday. No attendants 
were compelled to be at the library who had any 
scruples about it, and in order to make sure every- 



4 6 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



thing was running smoothly, instead of sleeping 
after dinner, I went over for two hours in the 
afternoon. 

G: W. COLE. We have had a little experience 
in the matter of Sunday opening. Did I under- 
stand Mr. Green that the opening of his library 
was simply in case of the reading room? 

S: S. GREEN. The reading and reference 
rooms. 

G: W. COLE. Before opening our library in 
Jersey City the question came up whether we 
should open on Sunday, and if so, how much of 
the library should be opened. I referred the 
trustees to the report on Sunday opening which 
was given at the conference in St. Louis, and we 
found that very many libraries kept open their 
reading rooms but very few opened their circulat- 
ing department. The trustees were inclined to 
take rather an advanced view of the case and we 
opened our entire library on Sunday the circu- 
lating department, the reading room and the ref- 
erence room and with very gratifying success. 
We are open from 2 o'clock in the afternoon till 
6, in the circulating department, and from 2 till 
9 in the reference and reading rooms. We see 
no reason why the library should not continue in 
that way. 

DELIVERY STATIONS. 

An experience we have had in regard to the 
circulation of books in the parts of the city which 
are remote from the library may be of interest. 
The library is located very near the river and the 
city is from 8 to 10 miles in length. It became 
necessary in order to advance the circulation of 
the library to carry the library to the people in 
different parts of the city. In order to do this we 
opened seven delivery stations, and the work has 
grown to a great extent. At the delivery stations 
the collections are made by a man employed for the 
purpose. He makes his collections in the morn- 
ing, and by half-past three or four we have all 
books ready in the boxes and send him back on 
his return trip. We are now sending out about 
half of our entire circulation, or something like 
17,000 volumes in March and 15,000 during the 
last month, at a comparatively low cost. We 
pay our man at the rate of $1,750 a year and from 
$50 to $60 a month to the keepers for caring for 
the books. This carrying of the library to the 
people has been very successful. 

ANECDOTE. 

Miss E. M. COE. It is so long since I have 
been in New England, and still longer since I 



have been a Methodist, that I have entirely lost 
the habit of speaking in meeting. I can only tell 
you a story. We often have jokes on people 
who come to the libraries, but not so often on a 
library assistant. We have in our library some 
sets of engravings, and among them is a beautiful 
picture of Napoleon when he was still young. 
A German gentleman contemplating it one day, a 
little in doubt as to whom it was intended to rep- 
resent, said to one of the assistants, " Is that a 
picture of Bonaparte ? " She replied, " Oh, no ; 
that is a picture of Napoleon." 

HOME LIBBARIES. 

Miss M.. S. CUTLER. There is another method 
for carrying the library to the people the home 
library which was started under the auspices of 
the Children's Aid Society in Boston, and which 
has sprung up in two or three other places. A 
home library is a sort of library kindergarten, and 
means 20 books, 10 children and one cultivated, 
sympathetic and earnest woman. Of course the 
children are taken from a class who have few library 
or other opportunities. The home library should 
be a training school for the public libraries, and it 
seems to me that every librarian in the Associa- 
tion should know what they are and encourage 
the efforts of philanthropic people to start them. 
I believe there are today many women who are 
adapted to this work and who are looking for 
something of that kind, and that the librarian 
should be able to tell them of this outlet for their 
philanthropic zeal. We have started a small 
library of this sort in Albany under the auspices 
of the Library School, and we find that the work 
appeals to many people. There is no difficulty in 
raising the $25, which is the cost of one library.* 

I might say in relation to opening libraries on 
Sunday, that last summer a prominent English 
librarian who was an active promoter of a fund to 
provide Sunday concerts in the park, opposed 
strenuously Sunday opening of his library from 
conscientious scruples. 

C: A. CUTTER spoke of the 

BENEFITS TO BE DERIVED FROM A POST- 
CONFERENCE TRIP, 

saying, among other things : On the post-confer- 
ence excursion the little conferences that are 
going on all the time are in many respects more 
effective than the great conference itself. We sit 

* Any one wishing further information in regard to home 
libraries can obtain it of C: W. Birtwell, 43 Charity Build- 
ing, Chardon St., Boston, Mass., or of M.. S. Cutler, State 
Library, Albany, N. Y. 



FOURTH SESSION. 



47 



here three or four hours and listen to one thing 
after another, and our brains are exhausted ; we 
have an indigestion of ideas. We may under- 
stand, but we cannot remember. That is one 
reason why I think we should have a full 
printed report of the proceedings. But in these 
little hall conferences and dinner table confer- 
ences and steamer conferences and car confer- 
ences, we get together and talk at ease and listen 
only as long as we like, and whenever any idea 
comes up that we are interested in it makes a 
strong impression. 

C: C. SOULE gave a glowing account of the 
region through which the post-conference would 
pass and earnestly advised all to join it. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Will those librarians who have separate 
places for charging and discharging books please 
communicate with Mrs. Minerva A. Sanders, 
Pawtucket (R. I.) Public Library? 

2. What is considered the best process for 
duplicating by typewriter circulars, book lists, 
etc. ? Is the Edison mimeograph as good as 
any? 

F: M. CRUNDEN. The Edison mimeograph is 
the best I have ever tried ; I have tried three or 
four. 

G. M. JONES. The mimeograph is much better 
than any other in my opinion. 

3. Is Mr. Cutter's classification completed? 

C: A. CUTTER. Mr. Cutter's "Expansive 
classification " is now going through the press. 
Nine sheets of 16 pages have been printed off 
and sent around to a number of subscribing libra- 
ries. The subscription price for the whole in 
sheets is $4. The scheme is used in classifying 
in two or three libraries already. It can be used 
in a large library by the use of the Sixth 
classification, which will have an index. This 
index is already written, but many additions will 
have to be made before I put it into type. I 
think it will be usable about the end of the third 
quarter of this year. 

4. Is there any satisfactory way of numbering 
the backs of books which is less expensive than 
gilding ? 

F: M. CRUNDEN. I have had a binder's assist- 
ant rebacking and relettering some of my books 
with light-colored cloth ; on that we print plainly 
with a pen the title and class numbers. 

G: W. COLE. What is the cost of gilding ? I 
have recently contracted for gilding by a binder 
on the premises at three cents a volume. 



J. BAIN. For a letter and three or four num- 
bers I pay one cent a volume. The work is done 
outside. 

W. H. BRETT. I pay two cents a volume for 
a book number of two lines. 

H: J. CARR. Six or seven years ago I had a 
binder come on the premises. Books were placed 
on the table, and the man paid for his time. The 
number consisted then of the old decimal class 
number. The work ran along 13 weeks. It cost 
a fraction less than two cents a volume. 

5. What is the best way of filing circulars pub- 
lished by the World's Fair Commission ? 

J. N. LARNED. I simply put them in a scrap 
book. 

Messrs. BARDWELL, CRUNDEN, BRETT, and 
Miss MEDLICOTT said that they put them in a 
pamphlet box. 

6. What is the best form of shelf label ? 

W. C. LANE. We manage to get along very 
well without any labels. Instead we have at the 
end of each row a diagram ruled off into squares, 
each square corresponding to a shelf. It makes 
it easy to pick out your way before you go into a 
row. As far as I have observed it answers the 
purposes entirely. 

7. Is there any guide in estimating the value 
of a library so as to regulate the amount of insur- 
ance ? 

Sec. HILL. It is very easy to estimate the 
value of a new collection of books and very diffi- 
cult in case of an old one. 

H: J. CARR. From my experience I am con- 
vinced that an average town library- of 13,000 
volumes is worth about $15,000, and that library 
insurance should be fixed at the rate of from $1.10 
to $1.25 per volume. 

Pres. FLETCHER. I think a dollar a volume a 
better estimate. 

J. BAIN. I believe $1.50 is not too high an 
estimate. 

J. N. LARNED. The insurance companies of 
Buffalo were willing to pay only $1.25 per volume 
for all volumes destroyed. 

F. M. CRUNDEN. For the volumes bought last 
year I paid $1.68 each. I think $1.25 too low an 
estimate. 

W. S. BISCOE. The insurance of a German 
library was recently fixed at the rate of 50 marks 
for folios, and so on at a decreasing rate accord- 
ing to the size of the volumes to 25 pfennigs for a 
program. 

8. What means can be used to prevent college 



4 8 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



students from taking books from the library with- 
out having them charged ? 

Mrs. M. A. SANDERS explained her dealings 
with one college student whom she found guilty 
of purloining a volume, by which it appeared that 
direct personal reproof was at least in some cases 
efficacious. 

Adjourned at 10.40 P. M. 

FIFTH SESSION. 
(WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAY 18.) 
Pres. FLETCHER called the meeting to order at 
10.50 A. M., and directed attention to the contribu- 
tions to the bibliothecal museum on exhibition. 

He read the following letter from Mrs. Zella A. 
Dixson, assistant librarian of the University of 
Chicago: 

INVITATION TO CHICAGO. 

" I write to invite the Library Association to 
make our University its headquarters next year 
during its sessions in Chicago. We are just 
across the street from the World's Fair, which 
will enable our visitors to see something of the 
fair in the interim of meetings. Dr. Harper and 
I have talked the matter over, and he wishes me 
to say that the Association shall be furnished with 
large and small rooms for holding its meetings, 
committee sessions, etc., and that we will insure 
you all the comfort and convenience in our power. 
You will doubtless find the University campus 
much quieter than any place directly in the city.*' 

F. H. HILD. I think that provisions have 
already been made for the meetings of the Asso- 
ciation in Chicago. Mrs. Dixson is very kind to 
extend us this invitation, but the meetings are to 
be under the auspices of the World's Congress 
Auxiliary and will be held in the hall now being 
built for that purpose. 

Consideration of Mrs. Dixson's invitation was 
deferred till the time for holding the next meeting 
should be discussed. 

LIBRARY EXHIBIT AT COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 

S: S. GREEN. I move that the report of the 
Committee on Library Exhibit be taken up section 
by section for discussion. Voted. 

The first section was read as follows : " That 
the A. L. A. Library exhibit at the Columbian 
Exhibition be made part of the U. S. Bureau of 
Education exhibit, since requisite space and money 
are definitely offered by them, and all other sug- 
gestions for raising money prove impracticable." 

C. W. PARKS (representative of the U. S. 



Bureau of Education). We have not made a 
definite offer as to the number of square feet, 
neither as to the amount of money. We have 
said this: That the Bureau of Education is a 
bureau for the purpose of gathering information, 
classifying that information, and disseminating it 
so that it may aid in the educational interests of 
the United States. One of its most important 
branches is the branch of library work; that is 
the one that must be depended upon for the edu- 
cation of adults to a great extent. Of course the 
university extension system that is coming into 
practice at present provides another way of giving 
adult instruction, but the library has been recog- 
nized by the Bureau of Education as one of the 
most important factors in its work. You all 
know that a list of libraries has been published in 
the regular report of the Bureau and that another 
one is in preparation. The Commissioner of 
Education feels inclined to divide his space 
between the libraries and the schools. The 
amount of space that will probably be available 
for the whole exhibit of the Bureau of Education 
will amount to something like 4,000 square feet. 
There is no probability of its being greater than 
that, unless on account of a small appropriation 
some other bureau feels inclined to give up the 
space that it now wants. If space is given up, 
then it will be divided among the bureaus that 
remain; the Bureau of Education might come in 
for an additional 1,000 square feet. 

I will tell you briefly what exhibits are liable to 
be in the neighborhood of the Bureau of Educa- 
tion exhibit. There will be the exhibit of the 
Patent Office, an exhibit covering about 4,000 or 
5,000 square feet, that will attempt to show the 
evolution of the machinery of this country. This 
exhibit will consist of models very carefully 
arranged and very nicely exhibited. The building 
is located just north of the largest building of the 
whole Exposition, the Manufactures and Liberal 
Arts building. The Land Office will exhibit in 
the same building and will make its exhibit onp of 
maps principally. We have heard more or less in 
regard to this Library exhibit. Some people have 
an idea that it is necessary to have 5,000 square 
feet of space. If they understood how much 
space is really available for the whole department, 
and the interesting exhibits that are going into 
that department, they probably would be satisfied, 
to accept a very much smaller portion of space. 

If the statement will be sufficient that the 
Library can have as large a portion of that space 
as it can properly fill, and the amount of money 



FIFTH SESSION. 



49 



that is necessary to make a proper exhibit, I will 
make that statement. As we are going over this 
matter item by item, I think it is well to have in 
mind the limited space and money available, and 
not make a storeroom rather than an educational 
exhibit by putting in too many objects. 

Pres. FLETCHER. We should like to hear from 
the committee how this offer of the Bureau of 
Education meets their views, and whether the 
space and money seem to them sufficient. 

D. V. R. JOHNSTON. Although the committee 
did not decide the question by ballot, in their 
opinion 4,000 square feet is fully ample for any 
reasonable exhibit. As to the amount of money, 
the last definite sum mentioned was $5,000, which 
in the opinion of the committee is sufficient to 
make a satisfactory exhibit. If it is necessary to 
enlarge the exhibit beyond the $5,000 limit we 
shall have to look elsewhere for money, but the 
simplest thing to do is to keep your exhibit within 
that limit. It is without any question the opinion 
of the committee that the proposition made by 
the Bureau of Education is sufficiently definite. 

Sec. HILL. The money which was offered by 
the Massachusetts Commission, about $1,000, is 
very likely to be available ; the $1,000 which was 
promised by the State of New York is likely also 
to be available either in money or in work. If I 
am mistaken the gentlemen who represent those 
States can correct me. 

E.G. HOVEY. The commission representing 
the State of Massachusetts on the Columbian 
Exposition, of which I have the honor to be a 
member, at the earnest solicitation of certain peo- 
ple in the State of Massachusetts, caused a vote to 
be passed recommending that the sum of $ 1,000 
be laid aside out of our appropriation for the use 
of the American Library Association. This reso- 
lution, however, carried with it certain very sig- 
nificant conditions, viz., that the States through- 
out the Union should respond to some extent, and 
that the exhibit should be made as a unit from the 
Association. As I understand the spirit of the 
recommendations of the committee, the latter 
proviso has been fulfilled; e. g., that the only 
exhibit which is to be made shall be made under 
the auspices of this Association. But I can see 
nothing to justify one in supposing that the 
various States will bear their burden of this 
expense, so that, as a member of cur commission, 
I find myself confronted with a new theory; and I 
am absolutely unable, being only one of five, to 
say here today that the Massachusetts commission 
will give $1,000 of its appropriation. I should 



prefer to be able to report to my associates on my 
return to Boston that other States have signified 
their willingness to take out of their appropria- 
tion a sum of money sufficient to guard their inter- 
ests in this general exhibit. I can see no reason 
why Massachusetts should be the only State. I 
understand that Mr. Dewey's State has been 
spoken of. Massachusetts can not start the ball 
rolling and then keep it rolling all the time. 

Pres. FLETCHER. Noblesse oblige. I see reasons 
why Massachusetts should both start the ball 
and keep it rolling. 

M. DEWEY. New York has appropriated 
$300,000 for the World's Fair and will probably 
make a further appropriation next year. I sub- 
mitted to the State commission the desirability of 
making an exhibit at Chicago of the work we are 
doing at Albany in the interests of libraries, and 
I have this week from the President of the com- 
mission, Mr. Chauncey M. Depew, a very cordial 
assurance of the interest of the commission in the 
movement. While no vote has been passed, a 
majority of the commission have signified their 
interest and an intention to support the matter. 
The sum proposed has been from $2,500 to $5,000, 
which would enable us to make a good compara- 
tive exhibit. It has never been proposed that 
New York should make an apppropriation to go 
outside the State. It seems to me that this 
Massachusetts appropriation can be secured if it 
should be devoted to the exhibit from the State of 
Massachusetts, which will be a contribution to 
this general exhibit. I have no doubt that some 
thousands of dollars will be spent by New York 
in the library exhibit at Chicago, and of course 
we are heart and soul in favor of making it a part 
of the A. L. A. exhibit with the Bureau of 
Education. 

S: S. GREEN. I should think we had better 
not depend on the $1,000 from Massachusetts. 
The view may prevail that it is better for Massa- 
chusetts to use its money for its own exhibit, so 
that we must depend on the $5,000 from the 
Bureau of Education for the general exhibit of 
this Association. 

Pres. FLETCHER. We shall have a committee 
to attend to these details. I see a way in which 
the exhibits for the different States can be made a 
part of the general exhibit of the A. L. A., but it 
is impossible to go into a detailed statement of it. 

S: S. GREEN. Massachusetts will probably 
show a large map with the location of its libraries 
marked upon it. This could be made a part of 
the library exhibit. 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



Sec. HILL. The committee have paid a great 
deal of attention to this subject both in meetings 
and in correspondence, and we are satisfied that 
the members of the Association want an exhibit. 
That is the first thing to be decided upon. Until 
a few days ago we were not satisfied where the 
money would come from. We thought it would 
be a very difficult matter to raise it in the Asso- 
ciation. We have been able to get the Bureau of 
Education, through Mr. Parks, to make a definite 
offer, at least $5,000. To save time, I move the 
adoption of the first recommendation of the 
committee. 

W. FLINT. The Bureau of Education will do 
a great deal besides giving money. It will pro- 
vide for printing and attend to other arrangements 
of the library exhibit. 

Pres. FLETCHER. Is the sum that has been 
offered to the A. L. A. by the Bureau of Educa- 
tion to be placed unreservedly in the hands of our 
committee ? 

Sec. HILL. No; Mr. Parks said to the com- 
mittee, " You are not limited to $5,000, but there 
is no definite offer beyond $5,000." We have 
$5,000 in sight, possible work from the State of 
New York, and the likelihood of money from the 
State of Massachusetts. 

W. FLINT. The amount available depends 
much on the appropriation by Congress. 

W. F. POOLE. I will second the motion of 
Sec. Hill to adopt the first recommendation of 
the committee; yet this proposition to turn the 
matter over to the Bureau of Education is a new 
one; at least it is new to me. Still, I favor it. 
It is a definite proposition ; there is money behind 
it, and it is going to take money to carry on this 
exhibit. The Bureau of Education has been the 
fostering mother almost of the libraries of this 
country, and 1 think they want it to continue to 
be; and, in my opinion, it is very desirable to 
keep up that relation. I have no objection to this 
thing because it is new. I do not understand that 
it is an absolute surrender of this business to the 
Bureau of Education; it is simply provisional. 
All this matter has got to go into the hands of 
a general committee, and they, viewing all the 
circumstances of the case, must do the best thing. 
I was struck when this report was read that there 
was hardly anything in it but what I should say 
yes to and vote for. I hope the question of 
referring the matter to the Bureau of Education 
will pass. 

Sec. HILL. The superintendence of the whole 
affair is to be in the hands of the committee 



appointed by the American Library Association. 
The bills go through the Bureau of Education, 
but the management is in our hands practically 
theoretically with the Bureau of Education. 

Miss M. CRANDALL. You speak of having 
4,000 square feet. I understood Mr. Parks to say 
that that was to be divided between the libraries 
and the schools. 

Sec. HILL. We do not want 4,000 square feet. 

C. W. PARKS. If the library exhibit can be 
made to occupy one-half of that space better than 
any other educational exhibits, it will have half 
the space ; if it can be made to occupy three- 
fourths of the space, it will have that amount; 
if only one-fourth, then it will have one-fourth. 
We have a Board of Control in Washington that 
has something to say with the passing of these 
vouchers. If we hand in a plan that shows 50 
per cent of the space for the library exhibit, and 
the other 50 per cent for the other educational 
exhibits, and the Board of Control does not find 
any objection to that for three months, I think 
that we can assume that half of that space can be 
given to the library. That is the fact. My plan 
has been before the Board of Control for nearly 
three months, showing that division of space. 

The first section was unanimously adopted. 

The second section was read, viz. : 

" That the exhibit be divided as follows : 

1. Exhibit by individual libraries. 

2. Comparative exhibit, including : 

a. Library architecture. 

b. Appliances and fittings. 

c. Bindings. 

3. Historical and descriptive matter. 

4. An A. L. A. library in working order." 

It was moved that this recommendation be 
adopted as a whole. 

S: S. GREEN. This action ought to be con- 
strued as simply the opinion of the Association 
and ought not to bind any committee. 

Sec. HILL. One part of the report says that 
all other matters referred to the committee shall 
be decided by them for the best interests of the 
Association ; all other matters besides the sugges- 
tions contained in the report. 

S: S. GREEN. I move to reconsider the vote 
adopting the first section of the report. 

E. C. HOVEY. I would like to inquire what 
was done yesterday with the report of the 
committee. 

Pres. FLETCHER. The report of the committee 
was accepted, placed on file, and made a special 
order for this morning. 



FIFTH SESSION. 



E. C. HOVEY. I rise for the purpose of lead- 
ing up to a motion which I desire to make, viz. : 
that the final World's Fair committee be appointed 
by the Chair, and that the report of this commit- 
tee be referred to them with full power. I believe 
that the only way in which we can accomplish 
anything is to refer the whole matter to them, and 
not as an association to discuss the details. I 
speak somewhat feelingly from my own connection 
with the World's Fair. I know that any agreement 
which may be arrived at today will not stand 
tomorrow. I think it is fruitless for us to discuss 
the details of this plan, for the very reason that 
we shall be discussing them with the light that we 
have today, whereas the light we shall have tomor- 
row will be very different. I second the motion 
of Mr. Green to reconsider the vote adopting the 
first section. 

Pres. FLETCHER. I think that most of us will 
cordially fall in with the idea which has been 
expressed that this work has got to be done by 
the committee. We do not wish to tie their hands, 
but I want to enlarge by a sentence what Mr. 
Green said : that we wish to discuss it not simply 
to let them see what the sense of the meeting is, 
but by bringing together all our minds on the sub- 
ject to add points that would not occur to the com- 
mittee. Motion to reconsider passed. 

E. C. HOVEY. I move to stop the considera- 
tion of the recommendations, and commit the 
whol report to the committee which is to be 
appointed by the President. 

S: S. GREEN. We have already voted to take 
up the report and consider it section by section. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. A motion to commit is in 
order at any time. I second Mr. Hovey's motion. 

Sec. HILL. As I understand this motion it 
refers the whole matter to some committee yet to 
be appointed by the President. 

D. V. R. JOHNSTON. If there is to be any refer- 
ence I should ask as a member of the committee 
that it be referred to the Executive Committee 
I do not think that a committee appointed so 
late in the session to act on the report of 
another committee would be of very much use. 
The committee that makes this report has had 
this matter in advisement for over a year, has car- 
ried on considerable correspondence, has had 
frequent consultations, and has worked over the 
matter very carefully. 

Pres. FLETCHER. The intention is to refer to 
a final committee of arrangements to carry the 
thing out during the next year. I think that com- 



mittee should include the committee that has 
already done the work on it. 

D. V. R. JOHNSTON. I would like to have the 
records of previous meetings consulted to find out 
whether or not this is a permanent committee. 

Pres. FLETCHER. May I ask that that ques- 
tion be held in abeyance? Mr. Hovey's motion 
involves the question of declining to consider 
these points that are submitted to us with a view 
that they shall be referred to some committee. 

E. C. HOVEY. I withdraw my motion. 

S: S. GREEN. I am heartily in favor of refer- 
ring the whole matter to a permanent committee, 
that committee to do the best thing it can for the 
interests of the Association. Previous to that I 
suppose that the present committee would like to 
know whether we are suited with their report. I 
should rather take this report up section by sec- 
tion as already voted, and then have a vote that in 
the sense of this meeting it is a good thing. 

Pres. FLETCHER. We certainly ought to con- 
sider the fact that the committee of arrangements 
for this meeting supposed that one of the impor- 
tant things to come before us was to discuss and 
consider the arrangements for the exhibit at the 
World's Fair, and have allowed a great deal of 
time on the program for it. The question before 
us seems to be on the wisdom of discussing the 
matter in general conference. 

J. P. DUNN. It seems to me very important 
that we should go on with the consideration of 
the report ; not so much for the instruction of the 
committee, who will probably do whatever they 
want to, anyhow, but for the purpose of getting a 
general understanding and harmony of action 
among the members. Each of the States is inter- 
ested in the library exhibit. In my State the 
commissioners are intending to make a library 
exhibit in behalf of the State, and we ought to 
arrive at some definite understanding as to what 
is to be done. I think this ought to be discussed. 
I also think that it is the proper thing to put this 
into the control of the Bureau of Education and 
let it be made a national exhibit. I would like to 
know what the Association wants to do, so that 
we can tell what to do in our several States. 

M. DEWEY. I call for the reading of the min- 
utes of the Fabyan House Conference. Our diffi- 
culty on many of these things is that we get 
together and discuss them and then forget what 
has already been done. 

S: S. GREEN. Mr. Hovey has withdrawn his 
motion and we are still examining this report sec- 
tion by section. 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



Pres. FLETCHER. We still have before us the 
first recommendation of the committee. 

S: S. GREEN. I move that it is the sense of 
this meeting that it should be adopted, 

W.FLINT. What is the difference between 
the sense of this meeting and the vote of this 
meeting ? When I heard that vote passed unani- 
mously I felt relieved, because for a year this 
matter has been discussed between committees 
and the Bureau of Education, and I would like to 
go back to Washington with some definite infor- 
mation as to what we may expect. If this body is 
to take part in our exhibit we want to know what 
to provide for, and I think that that first vote was 
a very proper one. 

S: S. GREEN. I withdraw my motion. 

Sec. HILL. The committee that has been 
doing this work does not wish it to be understood 
that they consider themselves a permanent com- 
mittee. This whole matter is now in the hands 
of the Association to make such decision as it 
may see fit, but I think that the motion which I 
made, and which was carried unanimously, ought 
to be adopted by this Association, and I will again 
move the adoption of the first recommendation of 
the committee, coupled with the thanks of the 
Association for the generous offer extended by 
the Bureau of Education. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. I second the motion. 

M. DEWEY. This talk reminds me of a dog 
chasing his tail. After a half-hour we are back 
exactly where we started. I quote from the min- 
utes of the Fabyan House Conference, page 
122 : 

" F. P. Hill presented the following suggestions 
in regard to A. L. A. exhibit at the World's Fair, 
in order to bring out discussion and the views of 
different members of the Association: 

1. That the A. L. A. should be represented at 
the World's Fair, and represented in such a way 
as to reflect credit upon the Association. 

2. That this matter should be taken up by the 
Association and not left to the individual libra- 
ries to attend to. 

3. That a committee be appointed at this meet- 
ing to perfect plans and present them at the next 
meeting. 

4. That a competent person be placed in 
charge of the exhibit whose duty should be to 
answer all questions and explain such systems of 
classification as may be represented. 

5. That the exhibit be a comparative and 
exhaustive one. 

6. That a model library, showing modern 



methods of classifying and cataloging books, be 
arranged in one of the rooms of the building. 

7. That the matter be placed in the hands of 
such a person as Miss Cutler, of the Library 
School. The lively interest of teachers and pupils 
would result in giving us the very best plans. 

8. That each library be represented by plans, 
methods, blanks, etc., but that it should be through 
the Association, sent to this committee and 
arranged in a systematic manner. 

9. That at the proper time, say next year, a com- 
mittee, consisting of members of the A. L. A. in 
and near the city of Chicago, be appointed to see 
that a good position is assigned, and attend to 
such other matters as would naturally come before 
such a local committee. 

On motion of W. I. Fletcher, seconded by C. 
A. Nelson, the first suggestion was adopted as the 
sense of the meeting. 

On motion of Sec. Dewey the remaining sug- 
gestions were referred to a special committee of 
five. 

The Chair subsequently appointed F. P. Hill, 
Weston Flint, Miss M. S. Cutler, C. A. Nelson, 
and C. R. Dudley." 

Mr. Dewey also quoted from page 131 of the 
same minutes, as follows : 

"F. P. Hill of the temporary Committee on the 
World's Fair reported as follows : 

The committee to whom the matter of an A. L. 
A. exhibit at the World's Fair was referred would 
recommend that a permanent committee of five 
be appointed to arrange plans for an A. L. A. 
exhibit at the World's Fair, said committee to 
report details at the next conference. 

The committee also recommend that, in addi- 
tion to the Working Committee mentioned above, 
an Advisory Committee of five be appointed. 

The recommendation of the committee was 
adopted, and the Chair appointed the following as 
a permanent Working Committee: Miss M. S. 
Cutler, Miss F. E. Woodworth, Messrs. F. P. 
Hill, F. H. Hild and Melvil Dewey; and the 
following as an Advisory Committee : Messrs. 
W. F. Poole, Weston Flint, C. C. Soule, C. A. 
Nelson, and Miss E. M. Coe." 

I think it is the unanimous feeling of this per- 
manent committee that they should tender their 
resignation. We have now new light, we have 
the Bureau of Education to help us, and if this 
plan is satisfactory we ought to appoint a com- 
mittee to have full charge and carry the matter 
through. 

Sec. HILL'S motion was called for and passed. 



FIFTH SESSION. 



53 



Pres. FLETCHER. I should like to ask the 
committee who have made this report if they have 
been fairly represented in the statement that they 
should be relieved from further duty. 

H: M. UTLEY. I move that this committee, 
which has heretofore had charge of this matter, be 
continued as a permanent committee, and that all 
matters relating to this A. L. A. exhibit at Chicago 
be referred to that committee with power. 

J. P. DUNN. Is it not the intent of this motion 
to place the whole consideration of this question 
in the hands of that committee ? 

H: M. UTLEY. The intent is to refer all mat- 
ters to this committee for final decision, where 
they must ultimately go. We cannot arrange the 
details here, although we might express opinions. 
The final decision upon all these details must be 
made by this committee. The committee may be 
instructed in any matter the Association chooses. 

J. P. DUNN. Do I understand that the motion 
is to cut off further discussion on this matter to- 
day ? 

H: M. UTLEY. The Association will be at 
liberty after adopting this motion to instruct this 
committee. 

W. C. LANE. Are there not some further 
recommendations that this committee make ? 

Pres. FLETCHER. Yes, and they are included 
in Mr. Utley's motion. 

W. C. LANE. I hope the motion will not pre- 
vail. The object of the committee in making 
these recommendations was, that they might be 
discussed in meeting. We have already voted to 
take them up one by one, and I think we should 
proceed in that manner. 

J. N. LARNED. I think we may have the dis- 
cussion in connection with Mr. Utley's motion. 
I move, as an amendment, that the report of the 
committee be again read point by point for dis- 
cussion. 

H: M. UTLEY. I accept the amendment. 

M. DEWEY. I move to amend Mr. Utley's 
motion by referring this matter to a committee of 
five to be appointed by the Executive Board. 

F: H. HILD. I second the amendment. 

Mr. UTLEY refused to accept the amendment, 
which was passed. 

Pres. FLETCHER. The motion now stands that 
this whole matter be referred to a committee of 
five to be appointed by the Executive Board, with 
full power to carry out all the arrangements of 
this exhibit, after the consideration of the recom- 
mendations placed before us this morning item by 
item. 



Mr. Utley's amended motion was passed. 

Pres. FLETCHER read the first two items of the 
second recommendation of the committee. 

J. P. DUNN. What is the intention of the com- 
mittee as to the exhibits of individual libraries ? 
Is it their intention to have the different States of 
the country represented ? 

Sec. HILL. That is a question that cannot be 
decided till it has been discussed in committee. 

J. P. DUNN. I move that we pass over this 
item without action. Voted. 

The third and fourth items of the second recom- 
mendation were read. 

Sec. HILL. Definite offers have been made as 
to the books. We have a promise of as many as 
we want; 3,000 to 5,000 will cost the Association 
nothing. This collection will stand as a permanent 
exhibit in the Bureau of Education. 

The third recommendation was read. 

Sec. HILL. I move that the permanent com- 
mittee of five have the power to appoint sub-com- 
mittees. 

Pres. FLETCHER. They have that power under 
the previous vote. 

The remaining recommendations were read with- 
out suggestions. 

Miss M. S. CUTLER. It is the idea of the com- 
mittee that work should be commenced as soon as 
possible. 

J. P. DUNN. There is one element of confusion 
about this whole matter. I would like to have it 
distinctly understood if the States are expected to 
raise any money. I would like to do what I can 
to get my State to contribute something. As I 
understand it $5,000 is sufficient to make the 
exhibit. That $5,000 will be paid by the Bureau 
of Education. 

Sec. HILL. If your State can give us $500 or 
$1,000 the committee can use it, but the idea is 
that we cannot tell the Association that we can 
have a $10,000 exhibit when but $5,000 is in sight. 

W. S. BISCOE. I understand Mr. Green that 
Massachusetts is to make a separate library 
exhibit independent of the A. L. A. exhibit? 

S: S. GREEN. Nothing has been decided upon 
as yet. It has been suggested that we make a 
map of the State, marking conspicuously every 
town that has a library. It would be practicable 
to place a copy of that map in any exhibit. The 
original map would be placed in the Massachu- 
setts exhibit. 

Pres. FLETCHER. The matter of the coopera- 
tion of the States will have to be left to the 
committee. 



54 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



F: M. CRUNDEN. We have given, by vote of 
the Association, the committee full powers to 
arrange all details. They have made a report 
making certain recommendations. We have ap- 
proved those recommendations by failing to 
object to them. I move that we do something 
more than that that we formally approve all 
their recommendations. 

R. B. POOLE offered a resolution that the 
exhibit of the A. L. A. at the World's Fair be 
closed on Sundays. 

It was referred to the Committee on Resolutions. 

C. W. PARKS. You cannot tell till October 6, 
at least, whether the Exposition itself will be open 
on Sundays or not; but if the exhibit goes in 
under the Bureau of Education, I think you can 
feel assured that your portion of it will be closed 
on that day. I feel very confident that the 
national building, if no other building on the 
grounds, will be closed on Sunday. 

Mr. Crunden's motion was passed. 

W. F. POOLE. I move that an invitation be 
extended to the foreign library associations and 
the libraries of Europe to contribute to our 
exhibit. 

M. DEWEY. I second the motion. Passed 
unanimously. 

M. DEWEY. I move that on the appointment 
of the Exposition Committee by the Executive 
Board the present Exposition and advisory com- 
mittees be discharged. Voted. 

REVISION OF CONSTITUTION. 

C: C. SOULE. The committee have had to do 
all their work by correspondence, not having had 
a meeting till they reached Lakewood. We recom- 
mend that the revision be taken up section by 
section. Voted. 

G. M. JONES. If we should pass this just as it 
stands today, and next year it should be amended 
in certain respects, would it not have to be con- 
sidered at a third meeting? 

C: C. SOULE. This meeting adopts the con- 
stitution as far as it can. The very purpose of 
referring it to the next meeting is to allow of 
further amendments. 

The constitution was then read, section by 
section, each being acted on separately. They 
were adopted as follows. [Only sections altered 
and discussed are mentioned in the following 
report.] 

C: C. SOULE. The majority of the committee 
move the adoption of 

8. Election. This Association shall at each 



annual meeting elect by ballot an Executive Board 
of five, which shall choose for the Association a 
President, Vice-President, Secretary, Recorder, 
Treasurer, Finance and Cooperation Committees 
of three each, and any other needed officers or 
committees. The board may also add to its own 
number. 

9. Executive Board. The Executive Board 
shall transact the business of the- Association in 
the intervals between its meetings, and shall have 
power to act for the Association in all matters, 
provided that on request of any two members of 
the board final action on any question shall be 
deferred till the next meeting of the Association. 

C: C. SOULE. The chairman of the committee 
moves the adoption of the following variation of 
these two sections : 

8. Election. The officers of the Association 
shall be a President, three Vice-Presidents, a 
Secretary and a Treasurer, to be elected by ballot 
at the annual meeting and to hold office until the 
adjournment of the meeting at which their success- 
ors are elected. 

9. Executive Board. These officers, together 
with the President for the preceding year, shall 
constitute an Executive Board, with power to act 
for the Association in the intervals between meet- 
ings in all matters on which they reach unanimous 
agreement. They shall elect from members of 
the Association a Finance Committee consisting 
of three members, a Cooperation Committee of 
five members, and such other committees or 
officers as shall be required to transact the busi- 
ness of the Association. 

Mr. SOULE. It seems wise to have a provision 
for advice, assistance, and guidance by the older 
heads; it gives a stable element to the Association. 
The Executive Board, however, will usually be 
executive, the officers will represent at least the 
feeling of the Association, and I do not see any 
harm in allowing the Association to have full 
swing in the matter, and electing its officers by 
direct vote. 

Mr. Soule's substitute was seconded. 

J. N. LARKED. I do see why we should 
guard jealously our right of suffrage in the elec- 
tion. On the other hand, there is a possibility I 
do not think there is a probability that there 
might arise an ambitious contest for the presi- 
dency that would not be agreeable or pleasant. 
It seems to me we might justly guard ourselves 
against that possibility, as long as there is no 
danger on the other side. We have full control 
of the matter in our hands as an Association by 



FIFTH SESSION. 



55 



holding control of the election of the board, 
which in a quiet manner elects a President. 

W. C. LANE. It is a simpler thing to elect a 
board of five members than to elect a President, 
Vice-Presidents, Secretary and Treasurer. On 
the other hand, the Executive Board if elected will 
be composed of the five men in whom the Associ- 
ation has the most confidence. They are the men 
who ought to be the officers of the Association. 
If it can be provided or understood that they are 
to select the President, the three Vice-Presidents, 
Secretary and Treasurer from their own number, 
I should think it would be a good plan ; but if they 
are to be modest and think they should go outside 
to fill the offices, we get the unfortunate situation 
of an Executive Board separate from the chief 
officers of the Association. The two ought to be 
the same. 

Pres. FLETCHER. The new provision gives 
full range to the modesty of the Executive Board. 

C: A. CUTTER. This is the I4th meeting of 
the Association. We have always had this method 
of electing our President, and the Executive 
Board have always chosen the President from 
their own number, but not the Vice-Presidents, 
Secretary, and Treasurer; they always have 
chosen the President from the original five before 
adding to their own number. The method is 
this : They talk it over among themselves and 
they say to one of their number, " You don't want 
to be President, but you must be." Their mod- 
esty will not prevent his election, nor can his 
modesty overrule their judgment. Supposing 
they had to go outside ? The constitution allows 
them to add to their number; they could add the 
person they wish to make President, and they 
certainly would do so. 

W. S. BISCOE. Might it not be desirable to 
require them to elect a President and Secretary 
from their own number? If you take all the 
officers from among them it would take up the 
whole board. Why not elect the President and 
Secretary in that manner, but not the others ? 

F: M. CRUNDEN. A body of five men in 
whom the Association puts such confidence can 
have the matter safely left to their discretion. 
They will not make a great blunder. 

E. C. HOVEY. I am a thorough believer in 
Mr. Soule's substitute. I think the Association 
has made a mistake heretofore in electing officers 
as they have. I would go one step farther than 
Mr. Soule : I would introduce the Australian 
ballot system here instead of electing a board to 
elect the officers afterward. We would be sur- 



prised to find how rapidly we got through with 
the election, and I am perfectly willing to move 
that as an amendment that the Australian 
ballot system be adopted. I know very many 
associations that have adopted it. We could 
carry out the spirit of the system by permitting 
any one who desired to nominate candidates for 
any office to send that nomination in at a specified 
time before the election is to be held. By the 
Australian system, I mean a previous nomination 
and a secret ballot. 

M. DEWEY. I agree with the spirit of Mr. 
Hovey's motion, and had noted to propose for 
next year the voting list plan as used by the 
L. A. U. K. They print the nominations sent in 
and give each member a full list, from which he 
cancels the names he likes least. He may also 
add new ones. This saves time to the tellers, and 
chiefly insures that each voter has his attention 
called to the names that have occurred to his col- 
leagues as best. While I declared at Fabyan's 
for the direct election, I now incline to the old 
system. First, opinion was so evenly divided that 
it seemed to me better not to make any change. 
Second, a man being absent from the meeting 
may not be thought of when he is perhaps the 
best man for the place, and would be hunted up 
by the old plan. Third, by direct vote you might 
elect a man who would not work in harmony with 
the Executive Board and other officers. The old 
plan saves time. 

E. C. HOVEY. I withdraw my motion. 

C: C. SOULE. The method of election by 
board commits to five men who are usually pres- 
ent at the meeting the selection of the officers for 
the coming year. I think in the past they have 
done that very wisely, but I have heard in the 
back seats occasional grumbling at that method, 
and it seems to me that it is wiser to allow the 
Association to elect its own officers. The direct 
election of the President specially prevents the 
accusation that the Association is being run by a 
clique. I am a great believer in popular elections 
and in democracy, and I think if it is safe in the 
public elections it will be safe here. 

G. M. JONES. I believe in a direct vote instead 
of making two pieces of it, and I also believe in 
having the officers of the Association real work- 
ing officers, and making the President, Secretary, 
and Treasurer members of the Executive Board. 

E. C. HOVEY. Two States in the Union have 
decided to elect Senators by popular vote, and it 
is being discussed in a great many other States 
I think that would be an antidote to a certain 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



extent to Mr. Larned's argument. The people 
are beginning to fret under the election of their 
national and State officers by their chosen repre- 
sentatives. 

J. N. LARNED. In this case no serious powers 
are involved. Where there are serious powers 
involved, I am a Democrat thoroughly in the 
large sense of the word and believe in popular 
elections. 

J. BAIN. We tried for eight years the direct 
election of our Senators and were glad to get 
back to the old way. 

Sec. HILL. I think the principal objection to 
Mr. Soule's method is that one or two prominent 
members could get up here and sway the crowd 
and make it go whichever way they desired. 

W: C. LANE. Would it not as a general thing 
be considered that the member of the Executive 
Board who had the highest number of votes was 
the choice of the Association for President, and 
would be made President by the board unless 
there were good reasons on his part why some 
one else should take the place ? 

Pres. FLETCHER. Has that practice been fol- 
lowed, that the one with the highest number of 
votes has been elected President ? 

C: A. CUTTER. The man who has had the 
largest number of votes has been generally elected 
President. I remember one case where the ques- 
tion of votes was not considered. There may 
have been other cases. 

G. M.JoNES. I think a solution of this diffi- 
culty would be to elect a nominating committee 
to choose the officers instead of the Executive 
Board. Then let the Executive Board comprise the 
President, First Vice-President, Secretary, and 
Treasurer. 

Mr. Soule's substitute was lost by a vote of 19 
to 18. 

D. V. R. JOHNSTON. I move to insert at the 
end of 8 : " Any officer not attending the 
annual meeting of the Association without giving 
satisfactory excuse therefor shall be deemed to 
have resigned his office, thus leaving the Execu- 
tive Board opportunity to fill the vacancy created 
in such absence." 

Seconded. The motion was lost. 

The motion of the committee was then carried, 
17 to ii. 

11. Recorder. The Recorder shall keep a 
faithful record of the members present at each 
meeting of the Association or board and of all 
business transacted. 

M. DEWEY Much important business will be 



done at the meetings of the Executive Board and 
of the Council, and these Proceedings should be 
published as a part of the Proceedings of the 
Association. 

J: EDMANDS. If the Recorder is to keep a 
record of the Proceedings of the board he should 
be a member of the board. 

E. C. RICHARDSON. The Recorder had better 
be left free to simply record the Proceedings of 
the Association. I move to change the section to 
read, " The Recorder shall keep a faithful record 
of all business transacted at the annual meeting 
of the Association." The Secretary can keep a 
record of attendance by deputy. 

S: S. GREEN. The Secretary of the Associa- 
tion is not necessarily a member of the Executive 
Board ; the Executive Board may choose its own 
Secretary. 

Mr. Richardson's motion was lost and the sec- 
tion as read was adopted. 

15. Regular meetings. There shall be an 
annual meeting at such time and place as may have 
been decided upon by the Association at the pre- 
vious meeting. If no definite action has been 
taken by the Association, the Executive Board 
shall decide on the time and place of the annual 
meeting by a majority vote. In either case the 
Secretary shall send notice to every member of 
the Association at least one month before the date 
of meeting. 

S. H. BERRY. I suggest that the time be 
extended to two months. 

M. DEWEY. I move to amend so as to read 

15. Regular meetings. There shall be an 
annual meeting at such time and place as may 
have been decided upon by the Association or the 
Executive Board, and the Secretary shall send 
notice to every member of the Association at 
least one month before the date of meeting. 
Adopted. 

C: C. SOULE. I move the adoption of Section 
i of By-laws, as follows : 

Eligibility of President. The same person shall 
not be elected President for two consecutive terms. 

Sec. HILL. I hope the motion will not prevail. 
Motion carried. 

The report of the special Finance Committee 
was made a special order for the afternoon at the 
close of the discussion on public documents, after 
which it was voted that the revision of the constitu- 
tion should be continued. 

S: S. GREEN. A proviso should be made in 
the constitution respecting a quorum. 

Recess till 2 p. M. 



SIXTH SESSION. 



57 



SIXTH SESSION. 
(WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 18.) 
Pres. FLETCHER called the meeting to order at 
2.40 P. M. 

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 

J. P. DUNN read the memorial to Congress on 
public documents. Continuing, he said : There is 
an impression with some here that an amendment 
to the bill would require it to go back to the 
Senate and might occasion some delay and perhaps 
endanger the passage of the bill. It is absolutely 
certain that the bill will be amended in the 
House, and if it is not amended, it won't be 
passed. The principal amendment which is neces- 
sary is to give the appointment of the superinten- 
dent of documents to the joint committee of the 
House and Senate on printing, instead of to the 
President. There are also some minor amend- 
ments that are of no particular importance to 
librarians. 

The Senate made this addition to the bill, that 
of all publications of the Executive Department 
500 copies shall be at once delivered for distribu- 
tion. The House committee has added these 
words : " Of all publications of the Executive 
Department not intended for special use." What 
is meant by special use ? I think that these words 
that have been added by the House committee, 
instead of broadening the effect of the bill, really 
restrict it. I move the adoption of the memorial. 
Voted. 

J. P. DUNN. Is this same committee on public 
documents continued, or is there to be a new com- 
mittee ? 

Pres. FLETCHER. By our regulations the 
Executive Board, when they appoint committees 
for the ensuing year, appoint a public documents 
committee, and the old committee goes out of 
existence when the new one is announced. 

S: S. GREEN. Does Mr. Dunn think that this 
bill will be passed by the House? 

J. P. DUNN. Yes, I have talked with a number 
of influential members and they think it will be 
passed, and Mr. Ames has about come to that 
conclusion. There has been a very strong press- 
ure brought on the House since this bill was 
introduced, and there are a good many members 
who are willing to pass it to get rid of it. 

J. BAIN. In Canada all documents published 
by the government are for sale by the Queen's 



printer. A list is issued every six months. The 

price varies according to the size of the document. 

W: C. LANE read the following report of the 

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FINANCES. 

The special Committee on Finances of the 
Association unanimously recommend the follow- 
ing measures : 

To create a new class of members to be called 
Fellows, with a membership fee of $5. 

To place the membership fee for institutions at 

*5- 

To create a class of life fellowships at $100. 

That the Association direct the Finance Com- 
mittee not to appropriate for the publication of 
Proceedings a larger sum than is on hand in the 
treasury yearly. 

To approve yesterday's recommendation of the 
Finance Committee to turn over to the endow- 
ment fund the capital of the life memberships 
now deposited in the Grand Rapids Savings Bank. 
To take the names at this conference of those who 
will become Fellows, or will answer for the insti- 
tutions which they represent becoming members. 

The report was adopted. 

REVISION OF CONSTITUTION. 

F. M. CRUNDEN. I move that at annual meet- 
ings one-fifth of the total number shall constitute 
a quorum, provided that this shall not be less than 
twenty persons present and voting. 

J. N. LARNED. I move to amend so that twenty 
active members present and voting shall constitute 
a quorum. 

J. P. DUNN. This might cause complications 
in deciding who were active members. It would 
be a good deal simpler to have a definite number. 

E. C. HOVEY. I move to amend Mr. Larned's 
amendment by striking out the words " present 
and voting." Voted. 

Mr. LARNED'S amendment was then accepted, 
and the original motion passed in its amended 
form. 

C: C. SOULE read the section relating to the 
Council and said : No provision is made for the 
original selection of the Council, but it is the inten- 
tion of the committee that the Association elect 
the first ten members by ballot, and that these 
choose the others. The first ten members are to 
be elected at this meeting. The section was 
adopted. 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



C: C. SOULE read 7 on endowment fund, and 
moved to insert it after the section relating to 
fees, directly before 6. Voted. 

C: C. SOULE. I move to add at the end of 3: 
" Any member paying an annual fee of $5 shall be 
known as a Fellow." Voted. 

It was voted to add to 4 : " The annual dues 
shall be $2 for members and $5 for Fellows or 
institutions, payable in January." 

C: C. SOULE. I move that the following be 
substituted for 5 : Life members and Fellows. 
Any member may become a life member or life 
Fellow, entitled during life to all rights and privi- 
leges of membership without payment of annual 
fees, by payment of $25 for life membership and 
$100 for life fellowship. 

J. N. LARNED. I move to amend by fixing a 
life membership at $40. 

M. DEWEY. The average length of member- 
ship shows that the interest of $25 and the princi- 
pal at the end is worth more than the annual fees ; 
#25 is equal to 50 years of regular membership, 
for we get $1.50 yearly interest, and $25 pays the 
50 cents deficit for half a century. 

Amendment was lost and motion carried. 

H: M. UTLEY. I move the adoption of the 
constitution as a whole as read and adopted 
section by section. Voted unanimously. 

CONSTITUTION 

I. Name. This organization shall be 
called the American Library Association. 

2. Object. Its object shall be to promote 
the welfare of libraries by stimulating public 
interest in founding and improving them, by 
securing needed state and national legisla- 
tion, by furthering such cooperative work as 
shall improve results or reduce expenses, by 
exchanging views and making recommenda- 
tions and by advancing the common interests 
of librarians, trustees and others engaged in 
library or allied educational work. 

Members 

3. Eligibility. Any trustee, librarian or 
other person engaged in public library admin- 
istration may become a member of the asso- 
ciation by paying the annual fee and signing 
the constitution or a membership application 
blank supplied by the secretary and to be 
filed in the records. Other persons may 
in the same mariner become members after 
election by the board. Any member paying 
an annual fee of five dollars shall be known 
as a fellow. 



4. Annual fee. The annual dues shall be 
two dollars for members and five dollars for 
fellows or institutions payable in January. 

5. Associates. Associates may be elected 
by the board for a single year with all privi- 
leges of members except voting, and shall 
pay beside the annual fee of two dollars such 
fee sis shall be established each year by the 
board for associates wishing to share in 
reduced rates granted to members. But no 
extra fee shall be required from persons in 
the immediate family of members. 

6. Honorary members. Honorary mem- 
bers nominated by the board may be elected 
by unanimous vote at any meeting of the 
association and shall be exempt from dues. 

7. Life members and fellows. Any 
member may become a life member or life 
fellow, entitled during life to all rights and 
privileges of membership without payment 
of annual dues, by payment of $25 for life 
membership and $100 for life fellowship. 

8. Permanent members. On payment of 
$100 any member or institution may receive 
a certificate of permanent membership which 
may be transferred to any person or institu- 
tion duly approved by the board and which 
shall forever entitle the holder's accredited 
delegate to all the rights and privileges of 
membership without payment of annual fees. 

9. Life and permanent membership fees. 
All receipts from life and permanent member- 
ships and all gifts for this special purpose, 
shall constitute an endowment fund which 
shall be invested and kept forever inviolate. 
The interest shall be expended as the council 
may direct. The custody of the endowment 
fund shall be committed to three trustees, one 
of whom shall be elected by ballot at each 
annual meeting of the association, to hold 
office for three years from the date of his 
election. No money shall be expended from 
the endowment fund except on check signed 
by a majority of the trustees . 

Officers 

10. Election. This association shall at 
each annual meeting elect by ballot an exec- 
utive board of five which shall choose for the 
association a president, vice-presidents, secre- 
tary, recorder, treasurer, finance and cooper- 
ation committees of three each and any 
other needed officers or committees. The 
board may also add to its own number. 



SIXTH SESSION. 



59 



The term of all officers shall be from the 
adjournment of one annual meeting to the 
adjournment of the next. 

11. Executive board. The executive board 
shall transact the business of the association 
in the Intervals Between its meetings and 
shall have power to act for the association in 
all matters, provided that on request of any 
two members 01 the board final action on 
any question shall be deferred till the next 
meeting of the association. 

12. Secretary. The secretary shall have 
charge of the books, papers and correspon- 
dence, and shall give due notice of any elec- 
tion, appointment, meeting or other business 
requiring the personal attention of any 
member. 

13. Recorder. The recorder shall keep a 
faithful record of the members present at 
each meeting of the association or board and 
of all business transacted. 

14. Treasurer. The treasurer shall 
keep a full and accurate record of all receipts 
and disbursements, with date, purpose, and 
amount; shall collect dues and pay bills, but 
only on written order of two members of the 
finance committee ; and shall make an annual 
report. 

15. Finance committee. The finance 
committee shall make all needed appropria- 
tions, audit bills, and give orders on the 
treasurer for payment ; and no expenses shall 
be incurred on behalf of the association by 
any officer or committee, in excess of the 
appropriation made for the purpose by the 
finance committee. 

16. Cooperation committee. The coop- 
eration committee shall consider and report 
on plans for securing improvement, econ- 
omy, uniformity, and harmony in any 
department of library work. 

17. Council. There shall be a council to 
serve as an advisory board. No recommen- 
dation in relation to library administration 
shall be promulgated by the association, and 
no section shall be established under its 
name, until approved by two-thirds vote of 
the council. 

The council shall consist of 20 members, 
whose term of office shall be five years. 
They shall be divided into five classes, so 
that the term of office of four members shall 
expire annually. Election for their successors 
shall be by ballot of the association at the 
annual meeting, from eight nominees selected 
by the council by ballot. All other vacancies 



shall be filled by the council for the unex. 
pired terms. 

Meetings 

18. Regular meetings. There shall be an 
annual meeting at such time and place as may 
have been decided upon by the association or 
the executive board and the secretary shall 
send notice to every member of the associa- 
tion at least one month before meeting. 

19. Special meetings. Special meetings of 
the association shall be called by the presi- 
dent on request of 10 or more members, pro- 
vided that one month's previous notice be 
duly given, and that only business specified 
in the call shall be transacted. 

Meetings of the board may be called by the 
president or by a majority of its members. 

20. Quorum. Twenty active members 
shall constitute a quorum. 

21. Votes by correspondence. Any reso- 
lution approved in writing by every member 
of the board or of any committee shall have 
the force of a vote. 

Amendments and by-laws 
22. This constitution may be amended 
by three-fourths vote at two successive meet- 
ings of the association, provided that each 
member shall be notified of the proposed 
amendment at least one month before its 
final adoption. 

23. Adoption and amendment. Any by- 
law not inconsistent with this constitution 
may be adopted or amended by three-fourths 
vote at two successive meetings. 

24. Suspension and repeal. Any by-law 
may be suspended by unanimous vote at any 
meeting, but shall be repealed only by three- 
fourths vote at two successive meetings. 

BY-LAWS 

i . Eligibility of president. The same 
person shall not be elected president for two 
consecutive terms. 

2. Program. No paper shall be read 
before a meeting of the association till it has 
been examined by the board or a program 
committee appointed by it, which shall 
decide whether it is to be read entire or by 
abstract, or to be submitted for printing in 
full or in abstract, or rejected. 

3. Resolutions and arrangements. The 
board shall appoint for each general meeting 
a local committee to have in charge all local 
arrangements under the direction of the 



6o 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



board or program committee, and also a reso- 
lutions committee to prepare for the associa- 
tion needed votes of thanks and other reso- 
lutions ; and all resolutions offered by mem- 
bers shall be referred to this committee for 
any desirable revision before final action is 
tnken thereon by the association. 

MOTTO. 

The following was adopted as the motto of the 
Association: 

"The best reading, for the largest number, at 
the least cost." 

COUNCIL. 

On motion of M. Dewey the following resolu- 
tions were passed : 

That the Association at the present annual 
election elect by informal, followed by a formal 
ballot, 10 Councillors, who shall within 30 days 
elect by ballot 10 others, who with the original 10 
shall constitute the Council for the coming year. 
These 20 Councillors shall divide themselves by 
lot into five classes of four each to hold office 
one, two, three, four and five years respectively. 

IMMEDIATE USE OF NEW CONSTITUTION. 

That so much of the constitution adopted for 
final action at the next meeting as is not in con- 
flict with the present constitution, be used as a 
guide to officers and committees till final action is 
taken. 

That any by-law inconsistent with the proposed 
constitution and by-laws is hereby suspended till 
the next meeting. 

That the Executive Board elected for the next 
year print the proposed constitution, and have 
authority in printing to make any merely verbal 
change that may be found necessary when it is 
prepared for printing. 

W. S. BISCOE. I move as a by-law that there 
be a preliminary nomination of officers, and that 
the five of the names receiving the most votes be 
placed on a list to be printed, distributed and 
voted on at the meeting. 

E. C. HOVEY. I move as an amendment that 
the Executive Board be instructed to adopt some 
method involving the principle of the Australian 
ballot in the selection of officers. Amendment 
accepted and passed. 

M. DEWEY. I move that the Committee on 
Revision of the Constitution be discharged. 
Voted. 



LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOLS. 

S: S. GREEN. A distinguished clergyman said 
lately that our common school system makes the 
people of this country a nation of readers instead 
of thinkers, and I am inclined to think it is so. 
While I have no disposition to increase the 
amount of reading done by children, I wish to do 
what I can to improve its character. The move- 
ment for the cooperation of libraries in the work 
of the public schools has done a great deal to 
make the reading, not only of children, but of 
their older brothers and sisters and of their 
parents, much better than it would otherwise be. 
I suppose that all that we can do today is to con- 
sider what' features of this work have been 
brought into particular prominence lately. 

One of the most interesting movements is that 
recently tried in Wisconsin, by which a State officer 
has been appointed to go into all the normal 
schools, and while nominally attending to catalog- 
ing the collections of books which they have, 
really attempt to teach the members of those 
schools how to use books with profit in the public 
schools of the State. This seems to me one of 
the most important steps taken lately in this direc- 
tion. If you can get all the teachers interested in 
the work of finding out how books may be used by 
themselves and by their pupils to their advantage 
and the advantage of the community, you are 
doing an immense work. Each one of these 
teachers, wherever she may be, in whatever part 
of the State, is a library missionary. 

There is a decided movement in the direction of 
having little libraries kept in schools for a con- 
siderable length of time. It has been the case in 
Detroit for some time that these small libraries 
have been furnished by the central public library 
to schools, kept for five weeks, and then changed. 
In other places they are kept for the school term 
or for a year. There is no doubt that a small, 
well-selected library can thus be made of very 
great service. 

I have mentioned at previous meetings that I 
was putting pictures around the library walls and 
inviting people to come in and see them. A few 
weeks ago, when the children of grammar schools 
were just finishing the history of the Civil War, I 
put up 100 photographs which I have of scenes 
from battlefields, of bridges and houses and other 
objects connected with the events of the war, on 
the walls of the hall, and invited school children 
to examine them. The exhibition was only two 
hours in the afternoon, from 4 to 6, at a time when 
school children could readily come, and they came 



SIXTH SESSION. 



61 



in large numbers I should say from 75 to 100 a 
day for a fortnight. They would come in little 
groups and look at the pictures and tell each other 
what they had learned in their books about them. 
Now and then veterans of the war would drop in 
and explain the scenes to the children. I believe 
this a very useful kind of school work. 

Something may be said in regard to who pays 
the expenses of taking the books that are lent by 
libraries to the school houses and of bringing them 
back. There is a difference of custom in regard 
to this matter. I understand from Mr. Utley that 
in Detroit they have a regular arrangement by 
which the school board meets the cost of distribu- 
tion. Miss Thurston is here and she can tell us 
how it is in Newton. I imagine the library pays 
the expenses there, and perhaps in Cambridge. 
In Worcester the institution provides baskets in 
which the children carry them to the schools. 

W: H. BRETT. It would be exceedingly un- 
grateful for me to let pass the opportunity of thank- 
ing the librarians, both those now here and others 
throughout the country, for the information which 
was so freely given me two or three months ago 
in response to a little circular of inquiry which I 
sent out very generally to public libraries. I shall 
not at this time attempt to give an outline of what 
is being done throughout the country in this 
direction, further than to say that I found by the 
replies that the interest in the subject was very 
general. There is hardly a library in the country 
but that is making special effort to render its col- 
lection of books useful to the schools. The Com- 
missioner of Education, Dr. Harris, in the last 
published report of the Bureau of Education, in 
comparing English and German schools, says in 
effect that the tendency of the German mind is 
towards intellectual subjects, while in England it 
is experimental. We as librarians have believed 
that the reading of books is a good thing for the 
children. The effort made in some places has 
been merely to bring books conveniently to those 
pupils too remote from the library to be able to 
reach them, but the advantage to the pupils of 
having carefully selected little collections of books 
which they may read under the direction of the 
teachers must be apparent. Then again the value 
of these collections of books in a school room in 
the immediate work of the schools is very great. 
There is nothing more apparent to those inter- 
ested in the schools than the very strong tendency 
of the last two years towards liberal and broader 
methods of teaching, and in this tendency the 
introduction of other books plays a very important 



part. Beginning with the lower grades the pupils 
are taught first to observe and describe every-day 
occurrences, and, advancing progressively, to 
extend the scope of their observations and to 
reflect upon what they observe. This of course 
necessitates a wider range of reading and cuts 
them loose from text-books. In the study of 
geography this tendency toward broader treatment 
is very observable. The same tendency may be 
observed in the study of history and geography 
together. 

There are other considerations, however, in this 
connection. The only sufficient justification of 
the support of public schools by taxation is that 
they train our boys and girls to good citizenship. 
To do this they must add to knowledge, patriot- 
ism, virtue, and morality. These things cannot be 
taught by text-books. There is nothing in mere 
text-books to arouse patriotism. Its source is the 
history of our country, the lives of those who 
have lived and died for us. Decoration Day is a 
great object lesson in patriotism, with its flowers, 
banners, and music, whose meaning will be lost 
entirely unless the boy or girl knows what Deco- 
ration Day commemorates; and how can they 
learn it unless they have an opportunity for read- 
ing ? So in the teaching of practical morality. 
Right living cannot be taught from the text- 
books ; it must be taught from example, from 
association. A boy or girl must know the good 
and the true and the pure in life. The introduc- 
tion of books into the schools, or the bringing of 
our children to use books, is the only way in which 
these things can be effectively taught. In this I 
am getting back to the consideration of the utility 
of reading generally. I do not intend to discuss 
that further than just to emphasize its importance 
in this connection. 

The field of work in the schools is a broad one. 
There are in our schools now 13,000,000 pupils. 
Of these more than 1,000,000 leave school every 
year to join the workers and assume the duties of 
citizenship. If all of these children came from 
homes where they had good associations, this 
work in the schools would not be necessary; but 
so many of them come from homes where the 
associations are not stimulating, many of them 
where the associations are depressing, in some 
places positively crushing, that the only hope of 
salvation of these children is what the school can 
do for them. It is for these that we should work, 
and it is in helping the schools do what may be 
done for these children that there opens a great 
field of work for the librarian. I hope the time 



62 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



may come when our schools will be equipped with 
proper libraries for the use of students. Till that 
time the public libraries must help them. 

H: M. UTLEY. At the San Francisco Confer- 
ence I explained the system in operation in 
Detroit for distributing library books to the 
several school houses. The explanation was pub* 
lished in the report of those proceedings, and it is 
not necessary to go over that ground again. I can 
only add what might properly have been said 
there with reference to the use of books in the 
schools. Very much depends on the interest 
which the teacher takes in this matter, and very 
much on the principal of the school. The teach- 
ers, as a rule, are interesting themselves in this 
subject. They hold monthly meetings for discus- 
sion of subjects which come before them, and at 
least one has been on the use of library books 
and the best manner in which the books can be 
used in the schools. From thirty to fifty copies 
of the same book go into the same school, and of 
course are in the hands of the different classes of 
the school. The manner in which the teachers 
can best interest pupils in those books, and lead 
them to become intelligent readers and lovers of 
good books, is a feature of our school education 
to which no attention has hitherto been paid. 
They have been taught by text-books, and have 
not been led to any extent into the vast world of 
literature which they must explore as they grow 
older. 

When children become interested in a book and 
the subject matter is taken up in the class-room 
they are asked questions, and several are required 
to write essays on points taken up in the book. In 
this way the contagion spreads and all become 
interested. The manner of using the books is, as 
I have hinted, by requiring essays to be written. 
If it is a book of history or of travel, or of biogra- 
phy, interesting events are selected and the class 
is asked to discuss them either by written essay or 
by describing them in their own words. A num- 
ber are reading the same book at the same time, 
they discuss it among themselves outside the 
school, and in that way their minds are opened 
and they are led to read other books or to con- 
tinue reading the same line of works. In this way 
these books are made to train up a class of readers 
who as they grow older will become intelligent 
patrons of the public library, and will insist on its 
maintenance and development. 
Adjourned at 4.25 p. M. 



SE VENTH SESSION. 
(THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 18.) 
Pres. FLETCHER called the meeting to order at 
9.30. 

BINDING. 

Sec. HILL exhibited specimens of a new mate- 
rial called membranoid which had been thought 
available for binding library books. Its cost was 
from 30 to 50 cents a square foot. 

W. E. FOSTER. What are its advantages ? 

Sec. HILL. I know of none save its novelty. 

S. H. BERRY. Our practice at the Y. M. C. A. 
library, Brooklyn, is to employ half morocco when 
permanency is specially desired, half roan on books 
that will wear out before the leather can rot out, 
and duck on periodicals and other voluntes sub- 
jected to hard usage. To avoid the bad effects 
of the combustion of gas on our leather-bound 
books we rubbed the bindings with a cloth satu- 
rated with sperm oil. This was applied once a 
year, but not in such amount as to greatly change 
the colors. The substitution of electricity for gas 
light prevented the experiment from being con- 
tinued long enough to warrant an opinion as to its 
success. 

W. A. BARDWELL. We often repair in the 
library volumes with the leather backs injured or 
decayed while the sewing itself remains firm, by 
replacing the leather with a cambric back and 
then covering them with paper. 

Pres. FLETCHER. This is much the same as is 
done at the Boston Public Library, only there 
cloth is used entirely. 

D. V. R. JOHNSTON read his paper on 

BINDING. 
(Seep, fj.) 

Miss COE. The New York Free Circulating 
Library pays $1,000 a year to a binder and his 
assistant, besides furnishing room, tools, and 
material. In return he contracts to bind at least 
100 volumes a week. The number bound, how- 
ever, exceeds this, averaging 425 a month ; 75 per 
cent of this binding is in duck and not lettered, as 
paper covers are used. There is considerable 
work done in half morocco, and a large number of 
pamphlets are put in flexible binding. He is 
exceedingly successful in imitating old binding, as 
is so desirable in case of broken sets, and we are 
not obliged to send out any of our work. The 
expense for material the last year was $307, and 
$31 was spent in repairing or replacing tools. 



SEVENTH SESSION. 



R. B. POOLE read his paper on 

FIRST PRINCIPLES OF BINDING. 

(Seep. //.) 

Sec. HILL. I move that the order of business 
be changed so that the election of officers come 
directly after the paper by Mr. lies. Voted. 

G: ILES read portions of his paper on 

EVALUATION OF LITERATURE. 

(Seep. /<?.) 

and said : An amateur photographer goes to a 
library, and finds from 50 to 60 titles under the 
name of photography. There is nothing to tell 
him which is the best book upon the subject; 
there is nothing to warn him against any book 
that is faulty ; there is nothing to tell him that in 
a large book catalogued under another heading 
there is a certain chapter which is just what he 
wants. There is springing up a very wide public 
interest, as I happen to know, in science, more 
particularly, I should say, in the application of 
electricity to traction, to long-distance telephoning, 
to electro-technics in the transmission of signals 
and of music. There is an immense curiosity 
on all these subjects, but there is no guidance in 
the public library for an inquirer. I think that 
many new readers would be attracted to public 
libraries if they knew that they could find there 
on record for reference at any moment thoroughly 
competent, impartial guidance. Of course it 
would have to be very brief, but it would be what 
a very competent man would say to a young man 
or young woman as they successively came before 
him. I have heard Mr. Russell Sturgis give in a 
few minutes a critical account of some literature 
of the fine arts, and I have regretted very much 
that what he said was hot taken down for the 
benefit of inquirers in public libraries. I often 
think : " Why should he have wasted all that 
information on me, or two or three more, when it 
might have been made serviceable for the whole 
country ? " I have felt very greatly indebted indeed 
to the assistance that I have received from libra- 
rians at one time or another. I will single out as 
one of them Mr. Baker, of Columbia College 
Library in New York, who helped me not a little 
in getting together my economic bibliography, yet 
it would not be right for me to go to Mr. Baker 
for every question that should arise in my mind ; 
but if the information in certain lines of literature 
that Mr. Baker possesses were put on record in 
his library I should not be under the necessity of 
annoying him from time to time. I think we 



should put this expert valuation of books on 
record for the benefit of the whole people. 

J. N. LARNED. The advantages of this pro- 
posal are very obvious. There is no question in 
the minds of many here of the excellent results 
that would come from such an arrangement. 
The real question is one of practicability. We 
have not heard from Mr. lies what his idea is as 
to the mode in which this can be done. Who is 
to do the organizing and administering in this 
very large scheme of work, which is admirable 
and most desirable if only we can accomplish it ? 

G: ILES. The suggestion is put before this 
meeting that that point may be discussed, and 
definite proposals may grow out of the discussion. 
My own view is that there ought to be a central 
office somewhere in some great city, with a per- 
manent staff. It is not for me to say how many, 
but as many as would be necessary. Suppose it 
cost $10 a book to have a thoroughly competent 
review made and to have the cards of the review 
spread throughout the country ; that would be 
very little money to pay. When current litera- 
ture is once in hand, it will then be in order to 
take up the principal older books and work 
backward upon them. 

Pres. FLETCHER. I think we can all see that 
in the Library Bureau already well established we 
have a provison for the material part of the work, 
while in the Publishing Section of this Association, 
which has been living a precarious existence for 
several years, feeling its way into a field of work, 
it seems to me that we have a foreshadowing pro- 
vision for the intellectual part of that work, and 
between the Publishing Section and the Library 
Bureau we have the beginnings of the organization 
that is necessary. I hope that if anything profit- 
able comes out of this discussion, it will be along 
the line of strengthening such beginnings as we 
have made. I shall be very glad if this paper 
which has been presented, and what shall be said 
about it this morning, 'shall interest you all more 
in this effort to bring together such work as we 
can do in these lines. Reviewing books in this 
way is the bibliographical work we have talked 
about so much. The Publishing Section and the 
Library Bureau are the beginnings of this scheme. 

J. EDMANDS. Reference is made to an effort 
to secure the publication of these reviews in a 
large number of papers throughout the country. 
Is it practicable to induce the publishers of these 
papers to depend on these reviews instead of fur- 
nishing their very hastily and crudely prepared 
reviews ? 



6 4 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



G: ILES. I have been doing some work during 
the winter for Mr. McClure, who manages the 
largest newspaper syndicate in New York, and I 
have asked him what he thought of it. He says 
he would buy the reviews if they were ready when 
the books were published and if the reviewers 
were well known. He thinks that the idea is 
feasible. 

M. DEWEY. No one has ever doubted the 
great value of the A. L. A. catalog. At our '79 
meeting in Boston we subscribed what we thought 
money enough to carry it through, engaged Mr. 
F. B. Perkins on the work, and had he not been 
carried off by a larger salary to the San Francisco 
Public Library, we should doubtless have issued 
it ; but the subscriptions were payable in such a 
way that the loss of Mr. Perkins necessitated 
delay. The Bureau of Education, both through 
Gen. Eaton and Commissioner Dawson, agreed 
to publish it if we prepared it. In 1883 the edi- 
torial charge was turned over to me, not because 
I had either time or ability to undertake it, but 
because the plan was mine, and I had full faith 
that sooner or later a way would be found to 
carry it through. The time is now come. We 
must have a model library for the World's Fair, 
and this is nothing else than the A. L. A. catalog. 
New York, after years of waiting, has just passed 
a law appropriating $25,000 for encouraging 
public libraries in the State, and $30,000 next 
year, and thereafter $50,000 a year for school 
libraries. Both laws require all books to be from 
a selected list. We are at a point where we 
cannot defer making an A. L. A. catalog any 
longer, even if we tried. Besides these great 
demands, the libraries of the country are more 
and more printing annotated finding lists and 
bulletins which are really parts of the A. L. A. 
catalog, which is only a select list of books with 
the best possible short notes for the guidance of 
readers. The air is full of university extension 
work, and this in all its phases is built upon the 
library as a corner-stone, and uses at every turn 
lists of books with carefully prepared annotations. 
The Chautauqua courses, reading circles, societies 
for home study, correspondence schools and col- 
leges, and scores of other movements, are all 
demanding just such help, and if they cannot find 
what they wish, are making the best substitute 
time and money will allow. Like Fabius, we 
have waited most patiently, but the right moment 
has now come. The proposition of Mr. lies is 
intimately connected with the A. L. A. catalog 
plan. His proposed reviews are only longer 



notes, and will be the best conceivable basis on 
which to make the shorter notes needed for 
economy in printing catalogs. The least this 
Association conld do with such a proposition at 
such a time would be to show its warm interest 
by appointing a strong committee to examine this 
subject thoroughly; and if Mr. lies' plan is not 
found practicable in all its details, to report such 
modifications as may be necessary to insure to 
American libraries the immense practical advan- 
tages that will come from systematic appraise- 
ment by the best authorities of the value of at 
least the more prominent books. 

W. F. POOLE. We are here to give an oppor- 
tunity to everybody that has an idea on any sub- 
ject connected with libraries to bring it out and 
see what there is in it. Mr. lies has written a very 
interesting paper, and I am very glad he has brought 
it before this Association. I see some advantages 
in this scheme and some disadvantages. I hope 
the Association will not take any definite action 
in committing itself to it. If it is a good thing, it 
is going to work itself whether we advocate it or 
not. I do not think it is quite in the line of the 
index work we have done. It is the expressing of 
opinions about books. Good people have different 
opinions about the same book. I think I can 
bring some very strong objections against carry- 
iug out this thing. I will mention just one. It is 
proposed that the American Library Association 
appoint a committee to do this. Who will be that 
committee ? Will you act on it ? I know you are 
too busy. Will I act on it ? I am too busy. Will 
Mr. Winsor take a position on it ? I know he 
will not. Who is there in this Association that is 
competent to write notices of all sorts of books 
that come out week after week as an authority ? 
I do not know a man. I am not competent. I do 
not think you, Mr. President, are competent. A 
man can review books on his own specialty and 
such reviews will be valuable, but he cannot write 
on all subjects. 

I want this proposition received kindly. I want 
Mr. lies to be thanked for bringing it before us ; 
and then I want time to think about it, and if this 
thing is to be adopted I want an opportunity to 
say something more about it. I do not want this 
Library Association committing itself to every- 
thing. That is not our purpose. 

G: ILES. Mr. Poole has a little misunderstood 
my suggestion, which is not that members of this 
Association, whether on the committee or not, 
shall be the reviewers, but that they shall take such 
steps as may be necessary for the organization of 



SEVENTH SESSION. 



a corps of reviewers. There may not be a single 
member of this Association on that list of reviewers, 
should it ever take shape and be got together. 
But if these reviewers are to have the confidence 
of the American Library Association, and their 
review cards are to be used and placed on file, they 
must be appointed directly or indirectly by this 
Association. The Association must have some 
say as to who these men shall be. That Dr. Poole 
or other busy men should actually write reviews 
was never in my thought, but that you should act 
to get these reviews written is certainly my thought. 
I do not see how it is to be done otherwise. 

M. DEWEY. I move that the Executive Board 
be instructed to appoint a special committee on 
this subject, who shall report to the Executive 
Board, and if a practicable plan is found available, 
that the Board be authorized to take action before 
the next meeting. 

I make this motion just because busy men have 
no time to do this thing, and we must find a way 
to secure this greatly needed result. There should, 
of course, be time to think about this, but this 
cooperative preparation of expert opinions as to 
the best books was proposed at the Boston meet- 
ing in 1879, discussed, and unanimously and enthu- 
siastically supported. We raised a quantity of 
money by subscription, engaged Mr. Perkins to 
do the editorial work, and actually did a quantity 
of work in these lines. The Association has never 
for one moment taken a back track on this ques- 
tion. Three or four times it has voted unani- 
mously to go on. We have had thirteen years to 
talk about this, and there has been only a single 
opinion. What Mr. lies said is perfectly true. 
If we simply thank him for presenting this paper 
we repeat our weak inaction and nothing is accom- 
plished. We should appoint a committee to take 
this into consideration, and to see if the plan 
presented by Mr. lies or some other is practica- 
ble. Then the board can go right ahead and do 
what can be done in this way. If they do not find 
a practicable plan they will stop right there. 

W. T. PEOPLES. I move as an amendment 
that the Chair appoint the committee instead of 
the Executive Board. 

M. DEWEY. I accept the amendment. Voted. 

The President appointed R. R. Bowker, Geo. 
lies, S. H. Berry, D. V. R. Johnston, and W. T. 
Peoples. 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 

M. DEWEY. I move that as in previous years 
an informal ballot be taken for the five members 
of the Executive Board, and that the ten who 



receive the highest number of votes be balloted 
for on formal ballot, the five who then receive the 
highest number of votes to be declared elected. 
Voted. 

Pres. FLETCHER appointed as tellers Messrs. S. 
H. Berry, G: W. Cole, G: E. Wire, and T. L. 
Cole. 

LIBRARY CONGRESS IN CHICAGO. 

While the ballot was taken W. F. Poole was 
asked to give an account of the proposed Library 
Congress at Chicago. 

W. F. POOLE. The World's Congress Auxil- 
iary has been organized, the officers of which are 
the officers of the Exposition. It has been 
approved by the U. S. government. Its purpose 
is to organize a series of congresses which shall 
bring together for mutual acquaintance leading 
men, leading scholars, and specialists who may 
attend the Exposition of 1893. The business of 
this auxiliary has been put into the hands of gen- 
eral committees, and these committees have been 
still further subdivided, each with its own sub- 
chairman and its own sub-congress. The com- 
mittee which I wish to call to your attention is 
the Committee on Literary Congresses, of which 
I have the honor to be chairman. It has been 
divided into four sections, each having its own 
congress. The first section is libraries. That is 
put first. The second is historical literature, the 
third is language and philology, the fourth is 
authors and general literature. You are inter- 
ested in the one on libraries. Mr. Hild of the 
Chicago Public Library is the chairman of this 
sub-committee, and associated with him is Mr. 
Norman Williams, one of the trustees of the 
Crerar Library, and Mr. D. L. Shorey. Some of 
you have received our circular asking you to serve 
on the Advisory Council, and many of you have 
accepted. The duty expected of you is that you 
will take this into consideration and give us what 
help you can. This meeting which we are to hold 
is an international congress for foreign libraries. 
We shall have a good many distinguished libra- 
rians from the old countries. In other words, it 
is to be a duplicate, I hope, of that congress of 
1877 which was held in London and which many 
of us attended. All of us who were there had a 
most enjoyable time. Those men are now coming 
over here and they will probably unite with us. 
It has been the policy of this general ommittee 
to use as much as we can the national societies 
that treat on these subjects. For instance, in 
regard to libraries ; we recognize the A. L. A. as 
the National Library Association, and we want to 



66 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



operate through it, we want to use its machinery. 
We recognize the American Historical Associa- 
tion and the American Antiquarian Society and 
the Boston Historical Society, and so on down 
through the 220 historical societies in the United 
States. 

The meetings will be held in the new art build- 
ing which is now being erected at an expense of 
400,000 or $500,000, which will be permanently 
occupied by the Art Association of Chicago. It 
is on Michigan avenue, near Evans and Monroe 
streets, in the middle of the city near the great 
hotels, whereas the Exposition itself is situated 
at Jackson Park, nine miles distant ; hence there 
will be opportunity for those who board at the 
hotels or have friends in town to attend these 
meetings without inconvenience. The different 
sections, of which there are nineteen, will embrace 
almost every subject in science and art, and 
benevolence and political economy, and each of 
them has its congress. The proceedings of these 
congresses are to be reported and printed, and 
distributed all over the world; hence I hope a 
good many of our people who are competent to 
write will appear with a paper, and will help to 
contribute to that preliminary exercise of our 
congress. 

There has been a circular prepared by this Com- 
mittee on Literary Congresses which gives an out- 
line of the scheme. A copy can be secured on 
application to Mr. Hild, who is the chairman of 
the sub-committee, or to me, or to the secretaries 
of the World's Auxiliary. In this Committee on 
Literary Congresses there are eighteen persons, 
and they are the persons who are supposed to -be 
the leading literary people in the city of Chicago. 

Pres. FLETCHER. We do not understand the 
relations of the proposed congress to the A. L. A. 

W. F. POOLE. That has not been definitely 
marked out. The A. L. A. has this thing in their 
control and can do about as they have a mind to. 
We come to the A. L. A. for advice and for orders. 
As I shall have something to do with that busi- 
ness, I assure you we shall not object to anything 
which the Association may want. 

Pres. FLETCHER. Is this an international 
meeting and not strictly a meeting of the A. L. A.? 
Will it be held under different rules, etc. ? 

W. F. POOLE. Suppose we have both ? This 
auxiliary promises to furnish all the rooms that 
are necessary and pay all the bills. We can have 
just as many meetings as we want, our own meet- 
ing and an international. 

W. C. LANE. Should the invitations to foreign 



libraries be sent by the committees in Chicago 
or the A. L. A. ? 

W. F. POOLE. They have been sent by the 
committee. The date is for the second week in 
July. 

CHICAGO'S CLIMATE. 

Some find Chicago to be a summer resort, and 
we have made strong statements on this subject. 
The librarians from the East started from Boston 
the year of our Milwaukee meeting on a very hot 
day, and they found it growing hotter all the way, 
and when they got to Chicago it was red hot. 
They had a warm time of it the first night. I 
have lived in Chicago for 18 years, and I never 
saw anything to equal that day. We have in 
Chicago about two days in the year when the 
wind goes down and it is very hot. It is no 
hotter than it is in Boston or Cleveland, but the 
rest of the time we get the summer resort 
weather. The hot weather usually comes the first 
week in July, so you will escape it in the second. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. St. -Louis people regard 
Chicago as a refuge in hot weather. 

Pres. FLETCHER. I call attention to the offer 
of Chicago University to put its rooms and other 
facilities at the disposal of the Association. 
(See page 48.) 

W. F. POOLE. I think it unnecessary to take 
any action, as a place of meeting is to be pro- 
vided by the World's Congress Auxiliary. 

M. DEWEY. I move that the thanks of the 
Association be extended to the Chicago Univer- 
sity Library for its kind invitation, and that the 
invitation be referred to the Executive Board. 
Voted unanimously. 

THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION AND LIBRARIES. 

M. DEWEY. Our purpose should be to secure 
in this visit to Washington what we have so long 
wanted, a library officer in the Bureau of Educa- 
tion. When we went to Washington twelve 
years ago Commissioner Eaton agreed to appoint 
such a person if he could find a satisfactory man 
to do the work and give his entire time to looking 
after general library interests. That is the 
proper place for it to be done. I therefore offer 
the following : 

Resolved, That the American Library Associa- 
tion respectfully represents to the United States 
Commissioner of Education that the rapidly grow- 
ing library interests of this country urgently need 
such assistance as can be satisfactorily rendered 
only by the central office of the general govern- 
ment. The recognized importance of libraries as 
an essential part of the American system of edu- 



SEVENTH SESSION. 



67 



cation, which the Bureau was founded to foster, 
seems to justify the request, which we most 
earnestly and respectfully urge, that at least one 
officer shall be employed by the Bureau who shall 
devote his whole time to the general interest of 
American libraries. 

Referred to the Committee on Resolutions. 
BOOKS IN THE MAILS. 

R. B. POOLE. The government is now carrying 
paper-covered books through the mails which 
have a number attached to them, and are issued 
at regular intervals so as to be classed as periodi- 
cals, and they go at the rate of one cent a pound ; 
whereas if you send a library book of value you 
are obliged to pay eight cents a pound. This is 
an unjust discrimination. Most of these books 
(about 90 per cent) are by foreign authors, a large 
proportion is of the lowest class, and many of a 
vicious if not immoral character. I therefore 
offer the following : 

Resolved, That Senate bill 2,825 anc ^ House bill 
5,067, " to amend the postal laws so as to prevent 
certain classes of books from being transmitted 
through the mails as second-class matter," re- 
ceives the earnest and hearty support of the 
American Library Association, and the passage of 
the same is urgently recommended. 

Resolved, That the Secretary of this Association 
be instructed to send a copy of these resolutions 
to Hon. John S. Henderson, chairman of the 
Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads of the 
House of Representatives, and to Hon. Philetus 
Sawyer, chairman of the Post Office Committee, 
United States Senate. 

Referred to the Committee on Resolutions. 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 

S. H. BERRY reported the result of the informal 
ballot as follows : 

Melvil Dewey 105, F: M. Crunden 96, F. P. 
Hill 92, C: C. Soule 89, C: A. Cutter 86, Dr. 
W: F. Poole 17, W: I. Fletcher 14, F. H. Hild 12, 
J. N. Lamed u, Miss H. P. James 6. 

C: C. SOULE. The Association has my hearty 
interest and will have my earnest cooperation in 
its work, but I cannot act upon this committee. 

E: J. FARQUHAR. I move that the informal 
ballot be made formal by declaring the first five 
names on the list of nominees elected as the first 
five members of the Executive Board, to add to 
their number and elect the officers. 

M. DEWEY. I rise to a point of order. Hav- 
ing ordered an informal ballot we cannot change 
it to a formal. Besides, it is a vicious precedent, 
as it destroys the chance for members to express 
their preference fully and fairly. 

The President ruled Mr. Farquhar's motion out 
of order, and the formal ballot was ordered. 



H: J. CARR. It is very desirable that a woman 
should serve on this committee, and I suggest 
that Miss James' name be substituted for Mr. 
Soule's. 

Mr. BERRY subsequently reported for the tell- 
ers the following result of the formal ballot for 
Executive Board : 

Melvil Dewey 81, F: M. Crunden 79, C: A. Cut- 
ter 74, F. P. Hill 73, Hannah P. James 72. 

J. BAIN spoke on the use and value of 

PERIODICAL LITERATURE. 

In the Toronto Public Library, of the more popu- 
lar magazines, such as the Century, Harper, and 
Scribner, there are taken for circulation 20 copies, 
each ; of others like the Nineteenth Century, 
Chambers' Journal, and Strand, 10 each ; and of the 
less popular 5 each. Considerable pressure has 
been brought to bear of late to increase these 
numbers, and I wish to gather the views of the 
members of the A. L. A. on the subject. Period- 
icals contain a proportion of reading matter which 
it is desirable should be circulated, and a small 
number of them are very valuable, and as a whole 
they are extremely popular with readers. Most 
of the librarians whom I have consulted are of 
the opinion that the demand could be supplied 
better by bound volumes, thus avoiding the great 
waste which must occur when monthly numbers 
are freely circulated. They say too that monthly 
numbers do not reach the class for whom they 
were intended, and that the circulation is at the 
expense of the bookseller. To supply anything 
like the demand which a generous issue would 
create would cost a large sum. The reasons 
given for circulating magazines would apply equally 
well to periodicals like the Spectator, Saturday 
Review, Nation, Critic, etc., and even to the ordi- 
nary weekly papers. 

T. SOLBERG. I suppose I was asked to speak 
on this subject because of my twofold experience, 
first as a librarian, and second as a bookseller. 
I became interested or directly concerned in peri- 
odical literature about twenty years ago, when I 
began getting together material for some special 
bibliographies; and in working through collec- 
tions in several libraries of this country, I was 
deeply impressed with the amount of valuable 
material hidden away in sets, not only in sets of 
magazines, but of society transactions and similar 
publications. This was, of course, before the 
time of Poole's Index ; but ever since the publica- 
tion of that volume my method has been to take 
a set of periodicals, work through volume by 



68 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



volume without regard to the index, finding that 
a good many things of value to me had not been 
considered of sufficient value to the indexer to 
be put on record in an alphabetical index. In 
society transactions many things of highest impor- 
tance have not yet been indexed, and one point 
I would like to urge upon librarians present is the 
value and the need of an index of that particular 
class of periodical literature. It is hardly indexed 
at all as yet, except as certain societies have 
published indexes of their own transactions. 
There can be no doubt that a general index to 
all the English society transactions would be of 
immense value. I need not waste any time in 
urging the value of periodical literature. But I 
will refer to a suggestion received in speaking 
this morning with a prominent librarian with 
regard to the commercial value of scientific 
periodical literature in a library. Text-books 
upon scientific or general topics go out of date, 
but a scientific periodical never goes out of date. 

Turning to the bookseller's point of view, I can 
say perhaps little that I have not already said to 
individual members. The important question that 
confronts a librarian in filling up periodical sets 
and gathering into his library volumes that have 
taken a new, a fixed and important place in refer- 
ence literature, is what he can take now to advan- 
tage and what he can leave for the future. No 
librarian can buy all the sets of periodicals ; some 
they want more than others, and of the ones they 
want more particularly, some can be left for future 
purchase on the ground that they will be equally 
accessible then. A great many sets are becoming 
from month to month more difficult to make up. 
All these sets the wise librarian will get as soon as 
he can. 

J. N. LARNED. I would like to have Mr. Sol- 
berg mention a few periodicals in general litera- 
ture which are disappearing rapidly from the 
market. 

T. SOLBERG. I do not think I could give a 
very definite answer without taking more time 
than your patience would grant. If a library 
should want a set of the Argosy, Contemporary, 
or fortnightly Review, I should buy at once. 

R. B. POOLE. Is there a very considerable 
number of libraries in the country that are filling 
up their sets ? 

T. SOLBERG. Yes; from year to year the 
desire to have complete sets is growing. 

Pres. FLETCHER. I remember that several 
years ago I made a prediction that periodical sets 
were going to be among the scarcest and most 



desirable books for public libraries. From the 
pecuniary standpoint, the greatest mistake in life 
of the getters up of the periodical index was in 
not forming some kind of a stock company to 
corner all the periodicals. 

W. C. LANE. In connection with the subject 
of filling up sets, I would ask whether a consid- 
erable number of educational, sanitary, and other 
State or government reports are not indexed in 
the new A. L. A. Index ? 

Pres. FLETCHER. They are. 

W. C. LANE. I would suggest that it would 
be equally desirable for libraries to try and com- 
plete their sets of these publications. We have 
been trying to do something of the kind, and we 
find very frequently that back numbers cannot be 
furnished by the government. Moreover, in 
applications the rule is, first come, first served, 
and those who put off an attempt to fill up a set 
will find it very difficult to do so. 

E: J. FARQUHAR. In regard to the usefulness 
of the periodicals, perhaps two facts found by 
long experience in the actual working of a library 
may be of weight. In the Patent Office Library 
I have made a series of observations as to the rela- 
tive use of periodicals and of books in the actual 
work of the office. It has appeared that refer- 
ences are as often had to periodicals as they are 
to books in the ordinary sense. Again, whenever 
there are general indexes of periodicals we find 
that these are among the books most useful, most 
frequently used, and most valuable in a library. 
Wherever there are general indexes of periodicals 
we bring them out in the reading room so the 
people may have them right at hand. 

Pres. FLETCHER. I discovered a few years ago 
that the year in which I was born was the year which 
saw the birth of more periodicals indexed in Poole's 
Index than any other year, so I was foredoomed to 
what is largely my present occupation, and that goes 
far to excuse the natural tendency in me to trans- 
gress the limits of modesty in speaking on this sub- 
ject. I wanted to have Mr. Parks tell us about what 
I can say only a word on. Mr. Parks is full of inter- 
est and enthusiasm in this line, and is coming into 
communication with the librarians at Washington, 
who have always seemed to me a useful body to 
look to for cooperation in this' direction. As a 
result of this correspondence and conversation 
with men upon whom we can place considerable 
dependence, he is in a very hopeful attitude of 
mind today. The Smithsonian Institution, through 
the Assistant Secretary, stands favorably disposed 
to give large and liberal assistance in this matter, 



EIGHTH SESSION. 



69 



and there seems a fair probability that the U. S. 
government will in the end be found at the back 
of so important and vast an undertaking as a 
proper indexing of scientific periodicals. 

An enthusiastic American a short time ago, 
who has considerable qualifications and financial 
backing of his own, proposed to the Royal Society, 
through the proper officials, to publish a subject 
index for them if they would give him permission. 
When they had fairly considered his proposition, 
they refused permission. That is the attitude of 
the Royal Society. 

J. P. DUNN. What reason did the Royal Soci- 
ety give for refusing ? 

Pres. FLETCHER. I do not know of any reason. 

T. SOLBERG. I have long felt that in future 
indexes if a few important foreign sets were 
included, even to the exclusion of the less impor- 
tant English sets, the value of the index as a work- 
ing index would be very much increased. I do 
not know that this matter has ever been put before 
an association of people who are likely to do it 
well, but I would like to have it in the minds of 
the librarians present. I should include at least 
one of the leading periodicals of each country, 
e. g., the Revue des Deux Mondes. 

Rev. Dr. THOMAS. As I was passing down 
Broadway some time ago I dropped into a second- 
hand store and found a few copies of the New 
Princeton Review. The dealer asked me if I 
knew what use could be made of them. I soon 
obtained information that the publisher of that 
periodical was destroying as old paper a large 
number of them. One disposition that my father 
and mother gave me, not only by nature but by 
culture, was economy. I bought the copies and 
paid two cents each for them. If any of you 
would be accommodated by completing your sets, 
and care to make application to me at the Metho- 
dist Book Concern, New York city, you can have 
the whole set lacking two numbers on payment of 
fifty cents and expressage. I have no idea of 
money-making in the matter, and if it is not an 
accommodation to you please have nothing at all 
to do with it. 

R. B. POOLE. I place a list of such periodicals 
as I have that are indexed in Poole's Index near 
the volume itself. 

J. C. HOUGHTON. We find periodical litera- 
ture of great use for reference purposes because 
these volumes do not circulate so freely as books, 
and also because they give a duplicate copy of 
essays and stories which are afterward published 
in book form. 



W. C. LANE. At Harvard we use duplicate 
and odd numbers of periodicals by dividing them 
into original articles and placing these upon the 
shelves as separate pamphlets. A valuable index 
to foreign periodicals was published in Rome sev- 
eral years ago. Two supplements have been 
issued since. 

M. DEWEY described the method to be used in 
the New York State Library for exchanging dupli- 
cates and for distributing them among the libra- 
ries of the State. 

W. C. LANE. I think it was a mistake to 
change the supplement to Poole from a quarterly 
to an annual, and I would like an expression of 
opinion of those present in regard to it. 

J. N. LARNED. Has the feasibility been con- 
sidered of publishing the supplement in monthly 
leaflets or sheets that could be bound together ? 

G: ILES. If the central bureau for book review- 
ing should ever be started, it might also carry on a 
systematic weekly distribution of titles in periodi- 
cal literature, to be chosen and to be confined 
within such limits as may be thought best. Even 
a quarterly periodical index will not give us the 
titles soon enough in a great many departments 
of work. 

Pres. FLETCHER. In answer to Mr. Lamed, 
the index cannot be changed from an annual to a 
monthly. How many prefer the annual ? Twenty- 
five rose. How many the quarterly or monthly ? 
Twenty-three rose. How many would buy the 
quarterly and also a consolidated annual index? 
Twenty-five rose. It is desirable and perhaps 
practicable to publish hereafter a combined essay 
and periodical index. 

S. H. BERRY. Could not the linotype be used 
in preparing the quarterly and annual index ? 

W. C. LANE. By using the linotype, indexed 
articles could be sent to libraries day by day, and 
at the close of the year a combined index be made 
from the same type. 

T. SOLBERG. It is difficult to combine brief 
entries in an extended annual index. 

W. A. BARDWELL. I wish that illustrated 
articles might be starred. 

EIGHTH SESSION. 
(THURSDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 18.) 
Pres. FLETCHER called the meeting, to order at 
2.30. 

ACCESS TO SHELVES. 

W. A. BARDWELL. We have recently thrown 
open to the public a select collection of new 
books which can be freely consulted whenever 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



the library is open. The books are very largely 
used and the losses have been comparatively 
slight, about fifteen books so far. I regard the 
experiment as a marked success. 

Pres. FLETCHER. At the meeting of the Col- 
lege Section the general opinion was in favor of 
the largest liberty in regard to access to shelves. 

E. C. RICHARDSON. We have tried the experi- 
ment and it was given up on account of the loss 
of books; 1,000 books were lost in a year. For 
the last year and a half I have had those who go 
to the shelves sign their names to slips which are 
preserved, so that we can tell who was in the 
alcoves on a given day at a given time. There is 
some mutilation of books, but no greater loss than 
when the students were entirely excluded. 

NEXT MEETING. 

H. M. UTLEY. I move that the matter of the 
time of the next meeting be referred to the 
Executive Board with power. Voted. 

F: H. HILD. In regard to the next meeting, I 
think the whole matter can be left to the special 
committee of the Library Congress of the World's 
Congress Auxiliary and the Executive Board of 
the A. L. A. We haven't any well-defined plan 
as to how to arrange these meetings in Chicago, 
but will try to give them an international charac- 
ter and get representatives from Germany, Italy, 
and England. My idea would be to have the 
President of the A. L. A. preside one day, a rep- 
resentative of the English librarians the second 
day, and an Italian or German the third, if there 
is a sufficient representation. I have not given 
any thought to further details. I suppose the dis- 
tracting influence of the fair will tend to cut short 
discussions and veto prolonged meetings. 

S: S. GREEN. I .understood that you were 
going to make some arrangements for providing 
rooms for members of the Association. 

F: H. HILD. We shall have a local committee, 
and if those who desire accommodation will let 
us know in time, we will try to get them rooms. 

LIFE INSURANCE. 

R. B. POOLE. The idea of this movement is 
that we shall form an organization of ourselves 
and pay an initiation fee of $i or $2 ; also a small 
amount to defray contingent expenses, and then 
on the death of any member an assessment is made 
on all the other members, $i or $2 as may be 
agreed upon. The money received as an initiation 
fee is in the Treasurer's hands and can be paid at 
once to the friends of the deceased. There is no 



legal technicality or delay about it. The Y. M. 
C. A. Secretaries have an organization of this 
kind. They have merely a simple agreement 
among themselves, and a Secretary and Treasurer 
to attend to the whole business. They pay $2.10 
on joining, and an assessment of $2.10 in case of 
the death of a member. The deaths have aver- 
aged so far about one a year in a circle of about 
400, so that the family of the deceased will receive 
nearly $800 at once. If a person does not pay the 
assessment his name is dropped out, and also if 
he resigns his position as a Secretary in that organ- 
ization he forfeits all rights. The members are 
all officers of a Y. M. C. A. There is no medical 
examination or increase in assessments. Every- 
body comes in on the same footing. 

There is an association of physicians in this 
State of about 900 members; they only pay $i in 
joining and they are assessed $i. Ten cents goes 
to paying contingent expenses and ninety cents is 
paid to the friends of the deceased. They have a 
sliding scale in the physicians' association. This 
money is paid down at once and is available for 
funeral expenses. If we have an organization in 
this Association of 300 members at $2 there 
will be $600 resulting. This of course will be in 
the hands of a Secretary, who should be paid for 
his services. In the physicians' organization they 
have a permanent fund of $1,700. Some of the 
persons who join the Association have given this 
money to help the organization. The families of 
some deceased members refuse to accept the 
money, and it is turned into the permanent fund. 
When a member is sick he can get a loan from this 
association to be deducted in case of death. This 
is considered a mutual association. The advan- 
tage of having a special association for librarians 
is because the death rate is not large. In a 
mixed class of people the death rate would be 
higher than it would be in a class of men who are 
specially temperate in their habits. Ladies could 
have all advantages of the Association as well as 
gentlemen. Anybody could continue a member 
of the organization for life. 

W. A. BARDWELL. One advantage of organi- 
zation among ourselves would be to cultivate esprit 
de corps. My experience in some associations of 
this sort has been unfavorable, but I feel that the 
Library Association would offer special advantages 
for an insurance organization of this character. 

S. H. BERRY. I have been in this secretarial 
insurance agreement for four years. Three years 
ago we had an assessment and last fall we had 
another. It is the Secretaries' Insurance Agree- 



EIGHTH SESSION. 



ment. It gives about $800 at death. Those in 
the agreement do not get an insurance policy, but 
simply an insurance agreement. We have lately 
raised the fee from #1.10 to $2.10. Librarians 
should have an association of this kind because 
they can get their insurance cheaper in this way 
than any other. It seems to me that the insur- 
ance should lapse when one has gone out of 
library work and engaged in other pursuits. If 
you have an assessment of $3.10 or $5.10, or some- 
thing of the kind, the ten cents will pay the run- 
ning expenses. It occurs to me that we should 
have a committee appointed to look into the legal 
phases of the question and as to the advisability 
of action. 

J. N. LARNED. I have observed that many 
of these associations, cooperative or mutual insur- 
ance associations, are very flourishing at the start, 
and that the early assessments have spread over 
a very large number of members. The heirs of 
those who are fortunate enough to die within this 
flourishing period obtain a very large sum, but 
after it has gone on for a number of years the 
membership and sums decrease very materially. 

Mr. COLE. The question that must be settled 
is, what is the object or fundamental idea of the 
organization ; shall it be business or charity ? The 
associations spoken of, the Y. M. C. A., etc., 
are charitable organizations in one sense, one 
member desiring to help the family of a dying 
member. In other cases they are business corpo- 
rations, in which you must have a sliding scale 
and medical examination, and these are the more 
permanent. 

R. B. POOLE. I move that a committee of 
three members be appointed by the Chair on this 
subject and that they report at a future meeting 
of the Association. Voted. 

Pres. FLETCHER appointed R. B. Poole, S. H. 
Berry, and W. A. Bardwell as committee. 

W. C. LANE, of the 

COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS, 

reported favorably Mr. Dewey's resolution 
addressed to the Commissioner of Education, and 
Mr. Poole's resolution on amendment of postal 
laws. (See pages 66, 67.) Each was adopted. 

ELECTION OF COUNCILLORS. 

The report of the informal ballot for Councillors 
was read as follows : 

W: F. Poole, 58 Miss H. P. James, 54 

Melvil Dewey, 58 W: I. Fletcher, 49 

Justin Winsor, 56 Miss E. M. Coe, 45 

C: A. Cutter, 55 F: M. Crunden, 45 



J. N. Lamed, 37 H: J. Carr, 6 

S: S. Green, 34 Weston Flint, 6 

F. P. Hill, 31 Miss H. E. Green, 6 

Miss M. S. Cutler, 28 E: J. Farquhar, 5 

W: E. Foster, 24 W: M. Griswold, 5 

W: C. Lane, 23 C: A. Nelson, 5 

C: C. Soule, 22 E. J. Nolan, 5 

H: M. Utley, 21 A. R. Spofford, 5 

E. C. Hovey, 20 Miss Jessie Allan, 5 

F: H. Hild, 18 W: A. Bardwell, 5 

W: H. Brett, 17 R: R. Bowker, 4 

J: Edmands, 14 G: W. Cole, 4 

E. C. Richardson, 12 J. C. Dana, 4 

W:T. Peoples, n Miss M. E. Sargent, 4 

C: H. Baker, 7 A. W. Whelpley, 4 

C. R. Dudley, 7 W. S. Biscoe, 3 
Miss C. M. Hewins, 7 G. M. Jones, 3 

D. V. R. Johnston, 7 J: V. Cheney, 3 
Mary W. Plummer, 7 Scattering, 24 

E. M. Barton, 6 

Sec. HILL. I suggest that members of the 
Executive Board should not be on the Council. 

W. S. BISCOE. This would not be fair, because 
the Councillors are elected for five years and the 
Executive Board for only one year. 

W: T. PEOPLES. I move that the Secretary 
cast one ballot for the ten names having the largest 
number of votes. Voted. 

Sec. HILL reported the following ten names and 
they were declared elected: 

W: F. Poole, Melvil Dewey, Justin Winsor, C: 
A. Cutter, Hannah P. James, W: I. Fletcher, 
E. M. Coe, F: M. Crunden, J. N. Lamed, S: S. 
Green. 

CATALOGS, CARD AND PRINTED. 

Mr. LANE. I suppose this subject was intended 
to include a comparative consideration of printed 
and card catalogs. I suggest not opening that 
discussion now, as only a few minutes of the ses- 
sion remain, but, if you please, I should like to 
speak of one or two points in regard to the general 
subject of cataloging. Our recent practice at Har- 
vard College Library has introduced a new method, 
neither card nor printed, which is applicable to a 
certain class of publications and for them works 
admirably, with a considerable saving of time and 
a great increase in exactness and reliability in the 
record. The publications 1 refer to are what we 
call " Continuations," in particular annual reports 
of State and city governments, of benevolent and 
other institutions, and of various State boards and 
departments, etc. All periodicals and society 
transactions might be treated in the same way with 
equal advantage. If I were starting a new catalog 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



I should want to do so. The difficulty in cata- 
loging these publications is that the sets are often 
incomplete and indeed cannot be entirely com- 
pleted ; that new volumes are coming from year to 
year, or perhaps skip one year and come in the 
next, so that the record has to be left always 
incomplete and the cards have to be frequently 
tampered with. Moreover the titles frequently 
change as well as the periods for which the reports 
are made. If an effort is made to give these par- 
ticulars on the cards the record becomes very 
clumsy, perhaps almost unintelligible, while if they 
are not given the record is imperfect. What we 
do now instead of attempting to catalog on cards 
is to use a good-sized blank book, taking a whole 
page for each publication and one line for each 
volume. The page is ruled off in convenient col- 
umns for the title, place and date of imprint, source 
from which received, and date of reception. The 
result is that the record of each volume is com- 
plete by itself. Changes in title are easily noted, 
gaps in the set are quickly seen, and it is easy to 
keep the run of the various publications and avoid 
falling behind. When a new volume comes in 
the record of previous volumes does not have to 
be touched. In the catalog we insert a card bear* 
ing a brief title but no record of volumes, and at 
the bottom is printed, " For detailed statement of 
the volumes in this library see the Continuation 
catalog, vol. p. ." This card never (or sel- 
dom) has to be touched again. The shelf mark is 
put upon it, so that a person who looks up the 
title in the catalog learns that we have some vol- 
umes of the set and learns where on the shelves 
they may be found. To ascertain what particular 
volumes we have he must either send to the shelves 
or consult the "Continuation catalog,'" which is 
always readily accessible. 

NINTH SESSION. 

(PEABODY INSTITUTE, BALTIMORE, MD., FRIDAY, 
MAY 19.) 

Pres. FLETCHER called the meeting to order at 
10 A. M., and introduced the Provost of Peabody 
Institute. 

Dr. P. R. UHLER. Ladies and Gentlemen of 
the American Library Association : We are 
delighted to see you all here today, and we greet 
you with the heartiest welcome that our warm 
hearts and this bright occasion allow. In the 
name of the Trustees of Peabody Institute I wish 
to extend to you a eordial welcome. The chair- 
man of our Library Committee is absent today. 
It was hoped that he would be able to extend to 



you this greeting, but in his name I will say a few 
words about the work that we are doing. Of the 
grand idea which was conceived by Mr. Peabody, 
at the depth and breadth of which we are sur- 
prised, but a beginning has so far been made, only 
the foundations have been laid. Thirty years of 
hard work represents what we have here today. 
Mr. Peabody's treasury is now giving forth its 
income to a more appreciative community than 
received it or recognized it at the time when it 
was first made. Our income is not equal to the 
large purposes which he had in his mind and 
heart, but the Trustees, recognizing the objects at 
which he aimed, are doing their best with the 
money at their disposal. They have already built 
up a library of 110,000 volumes of valuable books 
of reference. They have founded a conservatory 
of music which has a world-wide reputation and 
is drawing in a large number of the best people in 
this and other communities to its teaching in the 
higher departments of music. The field of the 
Peabody Institute extends from the post-graduate 
down to the every-day life of the people. All are 
welcome. It is open to the whole land, but it first 
of all presents itself to the citizens of this com- 
munity. Its purposes include all that is best and 
broadest in human thought. Its gallery of art, as 
yet but a foundation, will be made as great as the 
means at the disposal of the Trustees will allow ; 
they will go on increasing it year by year. The 
lecture system has been developed in such a way 
that the best quality of lectures are given for a 
merely nominal sum. The idea is not to make 
money; Mr. Peabody wished these privileges to 
be within the reach of all. Thirty lectures are 
given here yearly by the best men in their depart- 
ments, and course tickets are only $1.50. The 
aim in all the departments of the Institute is high 
culture and not elementary instruction. 

In the name of our chairman, who would have 
many words of congratulation for you and a 
hearty welcome, if he could be with us, I extend 
the hearty welcome which he means, and in the 
midst of this bright sunshine of a particularly 
fine May day, I beg you all to feel at home in the 
Peabody Institute. 

Pres. FLETCHER then introduced the President 
of Johns Hopkins University. 

D. C. OILMAN. Ladies and Gentlemen of the 
American Library Association : I am an old 
librarian; I rejoice to be counted as one of the 
fraternity of librarians. Whenever we travel we 
need a guide, an officer, a friend. You will find 
many guides, many officers, and many friends in 



NINTH SESSION, BALTIMORE. 



73 



this company ready to serve you ; we also need 
a Baedeker. Our local Baedeker has hung upon 
the wall a diagram which I am expeeted to 
explain. It is a rude map of Baltimore, so con- 
structed as to draw your attention to the great 
thoroughfares and particularly to the distribution 
of the libraries in which you may be interested. 

Pres. Oilman pointed out by means of a large 
outline map, on which the various libraries were 
indicated by large red spots, the sites of the vari- 
ous places of interest and the leading educational 
institutions, and described the character of the 
different libraries. 

Continuing, he said : All these larger institu- 
tions are closely affiliated, not by obligations of 
the founders, not by resolutions of boards of trus- 
tees, but by being pervaded by a spirit of hearty 
cooperation. They work together, yet each has 
its distinctive sphere. Within a very limited 
area is a great facility for the use of books. There 
is a spirit running through the series of institu- 
tions which is the spirit of good librarians; a 
spirit of cooperation, of enterprise, and a desire 
in every possible way to promote the intellectual 
wants of the public. 

Pres. FLKTCHER. It is my pleasant duty to 
extend to you our hearty thanks for your cordial 
welcome to Baltimore, which we all know as a city 
of great libraries. We have brought to you the 
largest number of librarians that ever traveled 
together and we are all delighted to accept your 
generous hospitalities. When I glance at this map, 
which in Baltimore should, I suppose, belong to 
a " Murray " rather than a " Baedeker," I perceive 
that one prominent section of our party will look 
on it with sadness, confessing that their occupation 
is gone. I refer to the delegation from the " wild 
and woolly West," whose rule it is whenever they 
arrive at a place to proceed to " paint the town 
red." You have already painted Baltimore red 
with libraries, and at the close of this session we 
shall be happy to accept your invitation to visit 
these various spots of light which make your city 
aglow with intelligence and learning. 

LIBRARY ARCHITECTURE. 

C: C. SOULE. I shall try to go one or two 
steps farther in the direction indicated in the 
paper read at the San Francisco Conference in 
regard to points of agreement among librarians on 
library architecture. It seems to me very desir- 
able that those librarians who give thought to 
the subject should reach their final opinions on 
those points where agreement can be had. I 



have thought out during the year, in examining 
the plans sent to me, two propositions in regard to 
library buildings, which I am not willing to say 
now are agreed on by librarians, but which I 
would propose here for agreement. The first of 
these, suggested to my mind by the fact that the 
Carnegie trustees in Pittsburgh have decided to 
include under one roof four or five institutions, is 
that those interested in libraries ought to insist 
that the library building shall be separate from 
everything else, shall stand by itself. It seems to 
me every attempt to combine the library with an 
institution of any other kind is a mistake, unless 
lack of room compels it. In almost every 
instance where municipalities or individuals have 
endeavored to build libraries in conjunction with 
museums or art galleries, the library has been 
cramped. I think without carrying out the idea 
further that the essential thing for any of us who 
sit down to plan or criticise new library buildings 
is to insist that where possible a separate build- 
ing should be devoted to the library ; where it is 
impossible it seems very wise to insist that that 
portion of it devoted to the library shall be as 
separate as possible, either on a different floor or 
in a different wing from the other institutions 
with which it must be allied. Of course that 
carries with it what we always insist upon, that 
free room be left for development. Room is 
necessary not only for the accommodation of 
books, but also for a reading-room. The growth 
in books carries with it growth in use. It is just 
as important to be able to enlarge our reading- 
rooms and study-rooms as it is to enlarge room 
for books. 

The other point in our advance toward agree- 
ment is this: All those adjuncts of the library, 
which are chiefly for purposes of show, should be 
separated as far as possible from the parts of the 
library which are for use. I find lodged in the 
minds of many city fathers, and others to whom 
the libraries must look for appropriations, the 
idea that a library is not only for the use of 
books, but also may be made a part of the orna- 
ment of the city. The man who administers a 
library and the man who uses it want to be quiet. 
He especially wants to be free from the tramp 
and noise and distractions of mere sight-seers. 
It does not follow, of course, that pictures, statu- 
ary, and architectural ornament are inappropriate 
in a public library, but it seems to me they ought 
to be set aside from the rest. There should be 
approaches, corridors, rooms, or aisles, where may 
be gathered everything that is spectacular in the 



74 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



library. It is a proper thing to have architectural 
beauty in connection with the use of books, but 
we should insist that they shall never conflict 
with the proper use of books, which is the first 
purpose of the library. 

The best way to think out ideas is to take 
instances. I have done my share in criticising 
existing buildings. That is rather an ungracious 
affair. I would much rather take my share now 
in praising existing buildings; and it has been my 
good fortune within a few weeks to visit a new 
library, the printed plans of which all of you 
have seen, which impressed me as being in many 
particulars a success. That library is at Cornell 
University. I was very much impressed at seeing 
points which do not come out in the printed 
plans. There are gathered together in this 
library some of the best characteristics not only 
of a university library, but of a public library; 
not only for a library containing hundreds of 
thousands of volumes, but also for a library of a 
village or small town. Administrative concentra- 
tion is the first point. The end of the reading- 
room is very close to the stairs; the seminar- 
rooms have easy access to the book-rooms, to 
which they are most closely related. Another 
excellent idea carried out admirably is that of 
supervision. The librarian's office is shut in by 
glass, and is placed between the catalog-room on 
one side and the delivery desk and reading-rooms 
on the other. From Mr. Harris' desk you can 
see at once most of the attendants of the library, 
most of the readers ;in the reading-room, and even 
the visitors who come in at the outer door. If, 
as he seems to think, his attention will not be 
distracted, he will be able at the same time to 
exercise general supervision and do most of his 
work as well as if he were shut in by close walls. 

Another excellent point, directly in the line of 
one of the recommendations which I venture to 
make, is that the stairway opens into the entrance 
hall directly in the centre of the building. That 
entrance hall is also surrounded by glass, so that 
visitors and others who have any interest at all in 
the University can come up the stairway, go into 
that hall ; and standing there, can look into the 
magnificent reading-room, get a picturesque view 
of the periodical-room with its desks and appli- 
ances, see the mode of delivery, watch the use of 
the card catalog and get a glimpse of the libra- 
rian. In that room in glass cases are collected 
the illuminated manuscripts, priceless autographs 
and other curiosities which visitors like to see. 
There also the librarian intends to have a certain 



portion of his statuary and paintings. It seems 
to me that that is the best illustration of what can 
be done in this direction. 

Having thus called your attention to two points 
which seem to me to be essential in library 
architecture, and having given an illustration of 
some of the best methods, I will suggest to every 
one here to give some little attention during the 
year to studying this work. It is not merely the 
librarian of a large library, but very often the 
librarian of a small library, that is able to think 
out some principle or application of a principle 
which may prove useful to the larger libraries of 
the country. I want to advance my opinion as to 
the first step that it would be wise to take in 
putting up a large library. So thoroughly am I 
impressed with the idea that there is no librarian 
in the country who cannot give a valuable sugges- 
tion, that if I were one of the trustees of a library 
that intends to expend a million of dollars in 
building, the first step that I should take would 
be to concentrate the attention and arouse the 
interest of librarians by offering a prize for 
excellence of interior arrangement that should be 
open to them as well as to architects. I believe it 
possible to utilize experience of the whole library 
profession in this country and perhaps in other 
countries by offering prizes for interior arrange- 
ment, a large prize and a second prize, and then, 
say, ten smaller prizes for individual ideas which 
might be made applicable to a large library. This 
method would arouse interest and would induce 
even those who had not studied the general sub- 
ject to contribute their advice and assistance, and 
in that way some of the large buildings thus 
started might embody the present and past 
experience of the library profession of the world. 

W: F. POOLE. In regard to library building, I 
would say in the first place that there is no abso- 
lute, conventional way of building libraries any 
more than for building houses. We need all sorts 
of houses; poor people need poor houses, other 
people need better houses, and still others need 
elegant houses. Just so with libraries. You can 
not lay down any rule for building libraries ; you 
had better use common sense. You had better 
use the opinions of people who know something 
about it, who are experts in the matter of library 
building. The usual way is to employ an archi- 
tect, a man who has traveled in Europe. A 
library in Italy would not be a suitable library for 
this country, for we have a different climate in 
this country. The house must have a roof on it 
that won't leak; must have ventilation and must 



NINTH SESSION, BALTIMORE. 



75 



have chimneys, and I might go on and mention a 
great many things that are absolutely necessary. 
Now most library buildings of this country are 
built without reference to those great fundamen- 
tal principles. I am not going to say to you what 
sort of a building you should build in your town. 
I must first know how much money you have and 
what is your population. You want different 
kinds of libraries; a library for a small town, a 
library for a larger town, a library for cities like 
Baltimore, and a library for greater cities like New 
York or Chicago. Then you want college libra- 
ries, which are entirely different from public 
libraries, arranged for the best uses of the stu- 
dents, president and faculty. Faculties read 
books as well as other people. (Laughter.) 

Dr. POOLE gave a detailed account of the new 
building of the Newberry Library, Chicago. (See 
Proceedings at Fabyan House, p. 107.) 

J. BAIN. In reference to the combination of a 
museum and a library, as Mr. Soule admits, there 
is an educational value in a museum of a very 
high character. I hope Mr. Soule's idea of not 
combining the museum and library will not be 
adopted by the Association. 

MELVIL DEWEY. I agree heartily with all Mr. 
Soule says in regard to library buildings, but I 
think a wrong impression will be given by what 
he has just said about keeping museum and other 
elements in a separate building. My observation 
is that the swing of the pendulum at present is 
strongly in favor of massing round the library as 
a center, the museum, art gallery, class-room, uni- 
versity extension rooms and all those things that 
belong to the people's college in its broadest 
sense. No librarian will question the importance 
of keeping sight-seers out of study-rooms, but 
that can be done without having the museum or 
other rooms in a separate building. The greatest 
improvement in modern college library buildings 
is the abundant supply of seminar rooms that all 
recognize as so important. Nearly every town 
library is beginning to feel the need of facilities 
for classes, large and small, who may come to the 
library for instruction, to examine special classes 
of books, or to carry on their studies where the 
library facilities are instantly available. 

The library and museum are so mutually help- 
ful that it seems to me better as a rule to have 
them in one building, except in the rare cases 
where both are so very large that it becomes 
impracticable to house them under a single roof. 
In more than nine cases out of ten you will have 
your museum, etc., in the library or not at all, 



because there will be only money enough to build 
a single building. But there is a direct advan- 
tage besides economy in having them together. 
One goes into the museum and becomes inter- 
ested in something there which he would like to 
read up. If he could go to the books without leav- 
ing the building he would find out all about it, 
but if the library is on the other side of the town, 
in many cases his interest wanes before he gets 
there. I often advise small libraries to set apart 
a room or two for the collections in order to make 
a nucleus for a museum, hoping that by and by 
some one will give money to build an addition 
and develop that department. A building in the 
form of a Greek cross, with one wing for the 
reading room, another for the library, in the third 
a museum of science and natural history, and in 
the fourth a museum of art and history, with a 
second story given up to university extension, 
seminar and class rooms of different sizes, would 
meet many of the requirements of the modern 
library in its broad sense. Some would put the 
museums of science and art together and give two 
wings to the library. I am not attempting to 
draw a plan, but merely to suggest that these 
different interests should be represented, and if 
put in separate wings with a central court or 
lobby, there would be no confusion in the library 
because of visitors to the museum; while the 
obvious advantages of the neighborhood of allied 
institutions, the greater economy in the erection 
of the building and in its maintenance and super- 
vision, would indicate that this was a much better 
plan than to attempt to build separate institutions 
in different parts of the town. 

Another point is important and is often over- 
looked. There is an educational influence of 
high value on young and old from seeing con- 
stantly all these important agencies together every 
time they have occasion to visit any one of them. 
I think we often underrate the importance of 
these influences. It is like the indirect vision 
that sees an object sometimes all the more clearly. 
A boy interested in art or science or any one of a 
dozen things represented in such an institution 
unconsciously acquires a deep interest when per- 
haps he would not be reached by a direct effort. 

After adjourning at 11.15 ^e Association vis- 
ited, under the guidance of Mr. J. M. Glenn and a 
large Reception Committee, the library of the 
Peabody Institute, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 
the New Mercantile Library, the Maryland His- 
torical Society Library, and the library of Johns 
Hopkins University. At the Pratt Library the 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



members of the Association were received by Mr. 
and Mrs. Pratt. Mr. Pratt, who is advanced in 
years and has not heretofore figured as a speech- 
maker, addressed them as follows : 

REMARKS OF ENOCH PRATT. 

I can do very little but exhibit myself. I sup- 
pose you want to see the founder of the Enoch 
Pratt Library, and here I am. (Applause.) Most 
people find it a difficult task to part with their 
money during their lifetime, but I mustered up 
courage enough to do it, and every day I find 
reason to rejoice that I did so in the benefit that 
it accomplished. The best compliment that I can 
receive is for some one to come and tell me that 
the rush at the library is so great that one can 
hardly wait to be served with the literature he is 
looking for. Another gratifying feature is that 
the foundation of this library ten years ago has 
stimulated the foundation of others in different 
parts of the country. 

But perhaps the most gratifying feature of all 
is the stability of its foundation. I actually drive 
a bargain, the terms of which were that I would 
give $1,250,000 in consideration of the payment of 
$50,000 per annum by the city to the library. 
This act was ratified by the people, and is to be 
paid for all time. Consequently this library 
might continue for i, ooo years, if the city should 
last that long. The Enoch Pratt Library extends 
you a hearty welcome. 

In response Pres. FLETCHER said: 

Coming to your city as many of us do for the 
first time and from all parts of the country, we do 
not come as strangers to Baltimore, for there are 
certain marked characteristics of this good old 
town with which we are all familiar. Among 
these we place first the beauty of your women, the 
generous warmth of your hospitality, and the 
charm of your social life. We are pleased to 
learn, as we are doing today, that Baltimore is 
becoming par excellence the city of libraries. 

Far and near Baltimore is known as the Monu- 
ment City. As we stand in this beautiful library 
hall and listen to the words you have just spoken, 
it comes naturally to our lips to say that you, sir, 
have erected here to your own memory the noblest 
monument of them all. But I am persuaded that 
no selfish thought of perpetuating your name and 
memory gave rise to this institution. We shall 
write your name among those who loved their 
fellow-men, for we are sure that it was out of 
unselfish devotion to the highest well-being of the 
people of this, your beloved city, that you have 



planned and so far executed this noble work. 
May you be spared to see the richest fruitage of 
your labors in the growing intelligence and virtue 
of your fellow-citizens ! 

Mr. PRATT then introduced Mrs. Pratt, who 
could not restrain her tears at the complimentary 
remarks that had been showered on her husband. 
In introducing her Mr. Pratt said: 

We two are one, and we are the one that 
established this library. (Laughter and applause.) 

Mr. Pratt then narrated how he had failed in 
his attempt to keep the building of the library a 
secret. The building kept going up, and every- 
body wondered what it was for. At one time the 
papers had it that it was a can factory, and at 
another time that it was a colored orphan asylum. 
The pressure at last became more than he could 
stand, and at last he had to say it was a library 
he was building. 

TENTH SESSION. 

(COLUMBIAN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON, D. C., 
MAY 20.) 

Pres. FLETCHER called the meeting to order at 
10 A. M. 

A. R. SPOFFORD, Librarian of Congress, gave an 

ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 

It devolves upon me, as chairman of the Com- 
mittee of Reception, to say an opening word of 
welcome to vou all. Standing, as I do, under the 
dark shadow of a domestic calamity, fallen upon 
me the past week, it will not be my privilege to 
accompany you in the excursion and receptions 
which have been arranged to occupy today and a 
part of tomorrow. But I may be allowed to say 
to you, in earnest recognition of the honor done 
to Washington in your choice of this city for your 
closing meeting, that all our doors are open to you. 

We welcome you to the city of the nation 
founded 100 years ago by the far-sighted choice 
of Washington that illustrious man whose name 
it bears, and whose ambition it was to make it a 
seat of learning as well as a seat of government. 
We welcome you to a capital of bnpad avenues 
and ample streets, laid out by the fathers on a 
scale showing their foresight of a multitudinous 
posterity, and now provided with the smoothest 
of streets known to science and shaded by more 
than 80,000 trees. We welcome you to the halls 
of Congress, where the laws of the nation are 
fashioned, and where, in spite of much question- 
able legislation, millions of dollars have been 
devoted to the advancement of science and edu- 



TENTH SESSION, WASHINGTON. 



77 



cation, and to the care of the nation's literature. 
We welcome you to the great departments and 
bureaus of the government, where the national 
book-keeping goes forward, and the interests of 
agriculture and the mechanic arts, pensions and 
public lands, military defence and naval protec- 
tion, foreign intercourse and domestic education, 
Indians and public mails, customs and internal 
revenue, public justice and national finance, 
government surveys and public printing, are 
carried forward. We welcome you to Washing- 
ton's many scientific and educational establish- 
ments to the Smithsonian Institution, long pro- 
lific in the domain of original research, whose 
system of international exchanges is a boon to 
libraries throughout the world ; to the National 
Museum, founded on contributions from the 
World's Fair at Philadelphia in 1876, now grown 
to dimensions which illustrate all departments of 
natural history, archaeology, ethnology, and art, 
and demand new buildings; to the Army Medical 
Museum, rich in exhibits of anatomical and surgi- 
cal science, richer still in its great library of 
medicine and hygiene; to the Geological Survey, 
which has explored and described our vast 
national domain; to the United States Coast and 
Geodetical Survey, which has mapped out the 
channels for a nation's commerce ; to the National 
Astronomical Observatory, with its beautiful new 
buildings on the sightly hills above Georgetown; 
to the institutes of higher education the Colum- 
bian University, by whose courtesy we gather in 
this hall, the Georgetown University, which lately 
celebrated its centenary, Howard University, and 
the Catholic University of America ; to the 
National Bureau of Education, to whose wide 
usefulness you are all witnesses; to the many 
libraries of Washington, in the various depart- 
ments and bureaus; and lastly, to the Congres- 
sional Library, called by Jefferson in 1815 by the 
better title of the Library of the. United States, 
where, if you are able to get in, you will behold 
a spectacle of chronic congestion without example 
in the book repositories of the world a con- 
gestion, however, not hopeless, since Congress 
has provided, with proper foresight, an ample 
building now rising upon three neighboring 
squares on Capitol Hill. This edifice, which it 
has taken a slow struggle of fifteen years to 
initiate, to reconcile differences, and obviate, 
objections, is at length planned upon a scale 
which provides for a century and a half of growth 
or for more than 4,000,000 volumes. In it will 
be gathered not only the nation's books, not only 



the extensive copyright archives and acquisitions, 
but a gallery of graphic art, already numbering 
many hundred thousand objects, which will form 
a most instructive and attractive exhibit of the 
progress of the arts of design in America. While 
it is not to be presumed that the arrangement 
of this building will be met by anything like 
unanimous approval, but with that independence 
of view which is so eminent a characteristic of 
librarians, all will agree that Congress has finally 
acted with the most ample liberality and fore- 
sight, and that they can always be trusted in the 
long run to fitly represent the people. 

H. J. CARR. I move that the Committee on 
Resolutions be directed to duly consider a report 
in recognition of the courtesies extended to the 
Association at Lakewood, Baltimore, and Wash- 
ington. Voted. 

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 

S: S. GREEN. I move that the vote passing 
the memorial to Congress on the subject of public 
documents be reconsidered. Voted. 

R: R. BOWKER. It is first of all important to 
get action as soon as possible. The bill on Feb- 
ruary 15 passed the Senate by a vote of 144 to 5. 
Senator Manderson accepted such amendments 
as seemed not out of line with the purpose of the 
bill and such as smoothed its passage in its present 
form. The bill stands now in a most favorable 
position before the House. The committee have 
the right to report at any time when the appropria- 
tion bills are not in the way. I have Mr. Rich- 
ardson's authority for saying that it would have 
given him great pleasure to have had the bill called 
up in the House today, and this would have been 
done but for the fact that the sundry civil bill had 
the right of way in the House. Mr. Richardson's 
opinion is that unless there are positive objections 
found against the bill in its present form, it would 
be better to have it passed as it is. He had no 
doubt that he and other members would have been 
very glad to consider suggestions coming from the 
Association. I have failed to find that there is 
any objection on the part of the members of the 
committee to accepting such amendments as this 
Association from its experience may suggest. 
There is every desire to have the thing put through 
in the best possible shape. My suggestion regard- 
ing this memorial would be that it in essence 
should be a strong approval by this Association 
of the principles of the bill as a remedy for evils 
spoken of in the memorial, and that opportunity 
be asked to offer any further amendments. It 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



seems to be much better policy for this Associa- 
tion to give this hearty support and then obtain 
such amendments as we feel to be necessary. The 
bill is a very complicated one. It codifies and 
rearranges the entire system of printing public 
documents. 

Pres. FLETCHER, after reading the memorial 
under consideration, said : The one question 
that seems to be raised is the propriety of our put- 
ting into this memorial recommendations as to 
amendments. 

J. P. DUNN. I thought Mr. Bowker said that 
the committee were ready to consider our sug- 
gestions in regard to amendments. 

R: R. BOWKER. I think by urging Congress to 
pass the bill we should have opportunity in con- 
ference with the committee to suggest changes. 

S: S. GREEN. I move that the memorial be 
referred to the Public Documents Committee to 
change as it pleases, and that the committee be 
empowered to affix thereto the signatures of the 
President and Secretary of the Association. 

R: R. BOWKER. I move as an amendment 
that the President of the Association, with the 
members of the Public Documents Committee 
here present, constitute the committee. 

J. P. DUNN, after outlining the history of the 
movement from the first, said : In my opinion 
the original memorial should be adopted. I stand 
squarely on the proposition that anything that is 
worth printing by the government for general 
information is worth being put in the depositories. 
The depository system was inaugurated for the 
express purpose of giving the people of the United 
States access to the documents printed at public 
expense. These documents are supposed to be 
accessible to the people, and yet there are hun- 
dreds of them not sent to the depositories. What 
we have insisted on from the first was that the 
bill should provide that one copy of every docu- 
ment should be sent to each depository, so they 
can be examined by the people when they desire. 

H. M. PAUL. I understand the present bill 
provides for the distribution of all departmental 
literature except simple contracts and circulars 
printed by the special presses of the several 
departments. 

J. P. DUNN. That is a common misapprehen- 
sion. In my opinion the bill does not provide for 
the distributing of many important and expensive 
documents issued by the departments. 

Pres. FLETCHER. It is clear that the details 
of the bill are not understood by the Association. 

W. H. LOWDERMILK. I have made inquiries 



at various departments, of the public printer and 
of members of the committee, and I have not 
found any two of them that agreed upon what the 
bill did provide for. 

W. FLINT. The whole matter should be 
referred to the Public Documents Committee of 
the Association. 

T. SOLBERG. There should be a unanimous 
vote on this memorial. The only question seems 
to be, how can we best secure the passage of an 
amendment, by putting it in the memorial now 
or referring it to the House committee ? 

R: R. BOWKER. I withdraw my amendment to 
S: S. Green's motion. Mr. Green's motion was 
passed. 

The following report was prepared for presenta- 
tion at the Washington session, but as action had 
already been taken by the Association, and time 
did not serve, it was not read : 

REPORT OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS COMMITTEE. 

The members of the Public Documents Com- 
mittee, separated as they are at different extremes 
of the country, have had no opportunity for per- 
sonal consultation or committee meetings, and the 
work of the committee has therefore been done 
partly through correspondence, but chiefly by the 
individual work of individual members. The 
active members of the committee of last year, it 
should be stated, did a great part of the effective 
work in communicating to members of Congress 
their views as to what improvements should be 
made in the system of issuing and distributing 
public documents. The Congressional joint com- 
mittee on the subject, representing both Senate 
and House, gave careful and thoughtful considera- 
tion to the whole question, and during the recess a 
bill was prepared chiefly under the auspices of the 
Senate portion of the membership of that com- 
mittee, which held over, for presentation to the 
present Congress at the beginning of the session. 
The bill, as originally prepared, was introduced 
into the Senate by Senator Manderson, the father 
of the bill, by whose name it has gone ; and into 
the House by Mr. Richardson, chairman of the 
House Committee on Printing. At its first pres- 
entation in the House the bill was defeated on a 
subsidiary motion ; but in the Senate, under the 
careful management of Senator Manderson, it met 
with general favor, and after some amendment 
passed the upper house on February 15 by a vote 
of 41 to 6. The original bill and the amendments 
in the main have been given in the Library journal. 
During this stage of the progress of the bill sev- 



TENTH SESSION, WASHINGTON. 



79 



eral members of your committee had, by corre- 
spondence and by personal visits to Washington, 
taken steps to obtain amendments to the bill and 
to promote its passage, and in Senator Mander- 
son's speech of explanation before the Senate he 
embodied in full the report of the special Com- 
mittee on Public Documents, presented to the San 
Francisco Conference, so that this report may be 
found in its place in the Congressional Record. 

There had been considerable disposition on the 
part of certain members of the House to object 
to the proposed bill for one reason or another, 
but these objections were found not to be serious 
when the members could be personally reached 
and the bill explained to them. The measure 
came again before the House as a Senate bill 
under charge of Mr. Richardson, accompanied by 
an excellent report from his committee, stating 
the general features of the bill and summarizing 
the changes in each section. It now has a favor- 
able place in the House business, the committee 
having the right to call it up at any time when 
revenue and appropriation bills do not interfere ; 
and there is fair reason to believe that the bill 
will be passed before this conference concludes its 
sessions. Two slight amendments were intro- 
duced by the House committee, as stated in the 
Library journal, and one or two minor amend- 
ments looking toward the better satisfaction of 
the library interest may be included before the 
bill is passed by the House. These amendments 
will necessitate further action by a Conference 
Committee, but there is no reason to anticipate 
any difficulty in obtaining a satisfactory agree- 
ment between the two houses. 

Special attention should be called to the report 
of the joint committee (practically the Senate 
members), which included not only the reasons 
for the bill, but the testimony taken from many 
members of the government in regard to it. This 
is a very important contribution to the literature 
of the subject, and shows conclusively how very 
unsatisfactory the previous methods of issue and 
distribution had been. The bill is, in fact, a 
codification of the entire law as regards the print- 
ing and issue of public documents, with important 
modifications, following very closely the lines of 
the report made to the A. L. A. Conference last 
year. There has been some difference of opinion 
as to the effect of incidental clauses in the bill, 
but, on the whole, there can be little doubt that 
it will be of the first importance to library inter- 
ests, and the necessity of future amendment will 
be very slight. 



The Public Documents Committee was last year 
also directed to take charge of the subject of 
State publications. During the year the first gen- 
eral list of State publications yet made has been 
printed, for the period 1884-90, in the appendix to 
the "American Catalogue," and some foundation 
has thus been laid for a general State bibliography. 
While in a great number, indeed, in the majority 
of States, little attention is yet paid to the bibliog- 
raphy of State documents and their proper distri- 
bution, there is in other States a very general 
awakening of interest on this subject. The 
bibliography of the New Hampshire State and 
other publications made in Mr. A. R. Kimball's 
State library reports of 1890 and '91, and the 
descriptive list of Indiana State publications made 
by Mr. Howe for the Indiana Historical Society, 
set an example which other States are beginning 
to follow. California was one of the first to start 
a check-list of current publications, and is prepar- 
ing a bibliography of State publications. Missouri 
will soon commence a State bibliography, and 
Wisconsin promises a bibliography of Wisconsin 
publications within the present year. In several 
States the reports of State librarians are giving 
more attention to the important matter of printing 
full lists of State publications issued since the 
previous report. Attention may well be asked for 
the excellent system of publication worked out in 
Pennsylvania, although so far Dr. Egle has been 
unable to develop a corresponding system of State 
bibliography. Since the printing of the State 
Publications appendix in the "American Cata- 
logue " (which has been kept in type) a circular 
letter has been sent to each State librarian, with a 
request to extend the State list to approximate com- 
pleteness. In answer to this, several State libra- 
rians, Mrs. M. H. Miller of Iowa, first of all, have 
sent or promised completed lists, and the circular 
has served to stimulate interest and work in this 
direction. In the older and larger States, such as 
Massachusetts and New York, the task of com- 
pleting the State bibliographies is no small one, 
but the disposition in these States is, of course, 
most friendly to the general undertaking, and it is 
to be hoped in most of the older States, where the 
publications are of the greatest importance, the 
cooperation of the library authorities may be 
secured in getting up a good State list. 

Aside from the few Eastern States, like Massa- 
chusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Penn- 
sylvania, the best returns have come from those 
States, such as Indiana, Wisconsin, etc., where 
there is a State Historical Society in close con 



8o 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



nection with the State Library. The returns 
have been very meagre from the extreme Western 
States and from the Southern States, and the 
material in existence as to these States is very 
small, so that the difficulty of obtaining even an 
approximate bibliography is a double one. From 
a number of States the librarians or other State 
officers have sent word that they could not under- 
take the task, but would endeavor to find some 
one to obtain and copy titles, if they could be 
paid for the service. Unfortunately, this has not 
been practicable, for the simple reason that no 
commercial basis for such a catalog can be 
found. It must be a labor of love throughout. 
The appendix in the " American Catalogue " cost 
between $200 and $300, and probably did not sell 
an additional copy of the catalog, nor was it 
expected that sales would be thus increased. It 
is to be hoped that the influence of the State 
library associations will be of help to develop, in 
the first place, individual bibliographies through- 
out the several States, and, in the second place, co- 
operation in making a general State bibliography. 

The distribution of State documents in other 
States is still hi a very imperfect condition. The 
adoption of the proposed law, permitting the 
exchange of State documents free of postage, 
would greatly stimulate such exchange ; but it is 
difficult to speak of the chances of success of such 
a law while the rates on periodical postage are so 
low as to cause large deficits in this department 
of the postal service. 

It will be noted that this report is largely the 
personal report of the chairman, rather than a 
more general report such as is usual in the case 
of committees whose members are near enough 
together to act in concert. It is understood that 
this statement of facts, therefore, may not fully 
represent the views of other members of the 
committee. R. R. BOWKER, Chairman. 

R: R. BOWKER. I call attention to two matters 
which the members of the Association will doubt- 
less consider of importance, and suggest that they 
urge Mr. Green to accommodate Mr. Spofford in 
the new Library of Congress building in advance 
of the completion of the entire building, and to 
urge Mr. Spofford in cooperation with the Treas- 
ury Department to make the weekly copyright list 
a more adequate record of the entry of copyright 
books. 

EVALUATION OF BOOKS. 

W. C. LANE. At a meeting of the Publishing 
Section yesterday, Mr. lies' plan for reviewing 



books and circulating the reviews was brought up, 
and a vote was passed requesting the Association 
to direct the committee having the subject under 
consideration to report to the Executive Board of 
the Publishing Section. I move that the commit- 
tee be directed so to report. Voted. 

F: M. CRUNDEN gave the report of the Execu- 
tive Board on 

OFFICERS FOR THE ENSUING YEAR. 

We have given special attention to the selection 
of officers, believing that the next year of the 
Association would be one of the most important 
in its history. The delay in the report of the 
board has been caused by the obstinacy of one 
member, which the other four members have 
finally been able to overcome. The plan decided 
upon was that the men who should represent the 
Association at this international meeting should 
be the men whom the Association itself has 
from year to year chosen to fill the highest place 
within its gift. That is to say that at the head of 
the roll should be placed all the ex-Presidents of 
the Association. The other point to be decided 
was who should head the list. We were held off 
by the obstinacy and persuasive powers of one 
man, but four of us were unanimous from the 
beginning that the person who should preside at 
that meeting should be that ex-President who has 
never presided at a meeting. The obvious fair- 
ness and justice of this proposition was further 
enforced by the main considerations which should 
determine a matter of this kind, and the combina- 
tion of qualities that should be possessed by the 
man filling that position at that time. We con- 
sidered that the choice was necessarily restricted 
to the three or four who have international repu- 
tations. There was also this consideration: we 
realized that there was a great deal of work to be 
done. The gentleman to whom I have referred 
indefinitely is well known to be a man who has 
great capacity for work. We therefore present to 
you the name of Melvil Dewey for President. 

Vice- Presidents Justin Winsor, W: F. Poole, 
C: A. Cutter, F: M. Crunden, S: S. Green, W: I. 
Fletcher. 

Secretary F. P. Hill. 

Assistant Secretaries F: H. Hild, Jessie Allan, 
H. E. Davidson, H. H. Cook. 

Recorder H: M. Utley. 

Treasurer Henry J. Carr. 

Finance Committee Jas. L. Whitney, C: C. 
Soule, J. N. Larned. 



ELEVENTH SESSION, ON STEAMER. 



81 



Cooperation Committee W: H. Brett, Miss E. E. 
Clarke, Horace Kephart. 

Library School Committee W: A. Bardwell, 
W: C. Lane, G: W. Cole. 

Public Documents Committee J. P. Dunn, R: R. 
Bowker, E. C. Hovey, C. R. Dudley, J. C. Rowell, 
Mrs. M. H. Miller, Mrs. C. W. Whitney, W. E. 
Foster. 

Standing Committee President, Secretary, F: 
M. Crunden, C: A. Cutter, Miss H. P. James. 

Endowment Committee A. W. Whelpley, R: R. 
Bowker, E. J. Nolan, J. C. Dana, J. V. Cheney, 
C: C. Pickett. 

Columbian Exposition Committee Miss M. S. 
Cutler, F. P. Hill, C: A. Nelson, Weston Flint, 
C: A. Cutter, F: H. Hild, Miss H. P. James. 

S: S. GREEN. I move the re-election of Mr. 
Norman Williams for a term of three years as a 
Trustee of the endowment fund. Voted. 

R: R. BOWKER presented his resignation from 
the Public Documents Committee. 

J. P. DUNN. I move that the resignation of 
Mr. Bowker be not accepted. Voted. 

Pres. FLETCHER. I thank the Association for 
the cordial cooperation given me in transacting 
the important business before us at this confer- 
ence, and ask in behalf of my successor, Mr. H: M. 
Utley of Detroit, the First Vice-President, who will 
conduct in my absence the final meeting of the 
Association, the same kind assistance. 

Adjourned at 1 1 A. M. 

ELEVENTH SESSION. 
(STEAMER WASHINGTON, MAY 30.) . 
Vice-Pres. UTLEY called the meeting to order 
at 8.30 P. M. 

D. V. R. JOHNSTON of the Committee on Res- 
olutions reported the following, which were unan- 
imously adopted. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Resolved, That we very heartily thank the citi- 
zens of Baltimore for the cordiality with which 
they have received us in their beautiful and inter- 
esting city, and that we desire to express our 
appreciation of the pains they have taken to make 
our visit interesting and profitable. 

Resolved, That our sincere thanks are due to 
President Oilman and the government of Johns 
Hopkins University for its hospitality, to Mr. John 
M. Glenn and to the librarians and other officers 
of the Peabody Institute, the Enoch Pratt Free 
Library, the Mercantile Library, and the Maryland 
Historical Society, and to the officers of the Johns 
Hopkins Hospital, the Woman's College, and the 
other institutions of Baltimore who kindly opened 
their doors to us and allowed us to examine their 
buildings and observe their methods of work. 



We wish to make our acknowledgment to the 
Mayor of the city for his invitation to visit the 
municipal buildings, and, finally, we desire to place 
upon our records the names of two citizens of 
Baltimore to whom our thanks are particularly 
due Mr. Enoch Pratt, who welcomed us at the 
great library which is the result of his wise benefi- 
cence and public spirit, and Mr. C. T. Walters, 
who with the greatest kindness permitted us to 
visit and enjoy the magnificent and wonderful 
collection, which is the most precious treasure of 
the city of Baltimore. 

Resolved, That as members of the American 
Library Association, we desire to express our 
gratitude to Mr A. R. Spofford, the Librarian of 
Congress, Col. Weston Flint, Col. W. H. Low- 
dermilk, Mr. H. M. Paul, and Mr. H. L. Prince, 
who have made such kind provision for our enter- 
tainment in Washington, as well as to the other 
librarians and citizens who have received us at the 
various libraries and institutions in the city. We 
wish also to thank Mr. B. R. Greene and the other 
gentlemen in charge of the new Congressional 
Library for the opportunity to visit and inspect 
the unfinished building, a structure which every 
librarian must view with satisfaction and pride, as 
being worthy of the important place it is to hold 
at the head of American libraries. 

Resolved, That we tender our thanks to Mr. and 
Mrs. W. D. Cabell for their generous hospitality 
and for the pleasant evening spent in their house. 

Resolved, That we extend to Dr. J. C. Welling, 
President of the Columbian University, and 
through him to the Trustees and other officers of 
the University, our thanks for the use of the 
halls which were so kindly placed at our service. 

Resolved, That we express our gratitude to the 
citizens of Roanoke and to the Board of Trade of 
that city for their kindly hospitality extended to 
us, for the public reception which we so much 
enjoyed, and for the opportunity of inspecting their 
beautiful city under the personal conduct of such 
courteous entertainers. 

EVALUATION OF BOOKS. 

M. DEWEY. I move that the matter of system- 
atic book reviewing be referred to the Publishing 
Section with power to act in the name of the Asso- 
ciation, and that our committee be instructed to 
report through that section. Voted. 

BADGE. 

Sec. HILL. I move the adoption of the follow- 
ing resolutions prepared by Mr. B. P. Mann : 

Resolved, That the A. L. A. badge be a closed 
book of gold, I x 1.5 cm. in size, erect, lettered 
A. L. A. upon upper half, and with the accession 
number of the member on lower half of front cover. 

Resolved, That the Library Bureau be requested 
to have such a badge made. 

Resolutions adopted. 

ADJOURNMENT. 

M. DEWEY. I move that the final adjournment 
of this conference take place on the arrival of the 
train at Jersey City, May 31. Voted. 



82 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



NEW YORK LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 



LAKEWOOD, N. J., TUESDAY, MAY 17, 1892. 
The meeting was called to order by President 
Melvil Dewey at 2.45 p. M. W. S. Biscoe was 
chosen Secretary pro tern. 

Pres. DEWEY called attention to the new 
university law and its provisions for libraries. 
Sections 34-51 were read, and important points 
emphasized as follows : It is easy to establish a 
library. To bring the matter to vote before the 
local authorities a petition from 25 taxpayers is 
enough. Two towns may unite in the support of 
a library. The old subsidy laws are left untouched, 
but a new provision is made, allowing a subsidy 
of 10 cents for each volume of the circulation, 
certified by the Regents as of a proper standard. 
The temptation to force up the circulation to the 
100,000 required by the old law is avoided. A 
subsidy may be given to a free reference library, 
the amount to be determined by the local author- 
ities. The tax once levied is to be an annual tax 
till otherwise ordered, and may be in addition 
to those otherwise authorized. A small board of 
trustees is favored, and they must be of recog- 
nized fitness. 

A. VAN NAME. The Illinois law has a wise 
provision that only one member of the city gov- 
ernment shall be on the board. 

H. J. CARR. The Illinois law provides that 
not more than one member of the city council 
shall be a member of the board, but in Missouri 
no member of the city council can be a member of 
the board. 

J. N. LARNED. Is the effect of this new law 
to place all libraries under the supervision of the 
Regents ? 

Pres. DEWEY. No. Each library may decide 
for itself as to the desirability, but if a library 
claims exemption from taxation for all its 
property, it must make the brief annual report to 
the Regents. This provision was inserted by one 
of the Senators who noticed in his files several 
library reports, now made to the Legislature, and 
saw that they would be much more useful if pre- 
sented together in connection with the State library 
report. 

Use of the library may be extended to non-resi- 
dents. The Massachusetts law for detention has 
been adopted. 

W. K. STETSON. Rhode Island and Connecti- 
cut also have this law. 

Pres. DEWEY. The transfer of libraries is 



allowed. This authorizes the transfer of its library, 
which the Albany Medical College has been 
anxious to make to the State as the foundation of 
a New York State Medical Library. Traveling 
libraries are allowed, if preferred to direct gifts of 
books. These can be sent to towns which have 
no library, and they will learn to wish a permanent 
collection by having and using this temporary 
library. 

Mrs. S. A. C. BOND. This will provide for 
special libraries to meet the needs of university 
extension. 

Pres. DEWEY. The work of the Library 
School is more directly authorized than ever 
before. Direction and assistance are to be given 
to all on payment of the actual cost. This is in 
the line of the Massachusetts and New Hamp- 
shire laws, but reaches out more widely. Money 
may be distributed by the State, but the locality 
receiving it must raise an equal amount, and the 
whole must be spent for books from a list selected 
by the Regents, who must file vouchers for all 
expenses. No specific sum of money is named in 
the bill ; it is left to each Legislature to determine 
when they see what work is being accomplished. 

A library cannot be abolished except after a full 
year of deliberation, and all gifts from private 
sources or from the State must then be returned 
to the Regents to be used for the benefit of the 
people. 

The school library law was next taken up and 
its essential features discussed. The public 
library system is wholly transferred from the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction to the 
Regents. A new system of school libraries is 
started; the books in them are limited to certain 
subjects, and are to be selected from an approved 
list. They are to be kept as a reference library, 
and a teacher must be appointed librarian. 

J. N. LARNED. Is there not danger that the 
books will be supplied by some syndicate, and no 
selection really made ? 

Pres. DEWEY. By New York law the superin- 
tendent is the most autocratic officer in the State, 
and is supreme in all common school matters. He 
may have this list made out by any one, e. g., by 
the State library, but it must be approved by him ; 
it would have been invidious to have provided by 
law that it should be prepared by some one else. 
Money maybe raised by tax for the school library. 
The present district libraries may be transferred 



NEW YORK LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 



to public libraries, but such action must be 
approved by the Regents and a receipt given. 
This gift of library property has been opposed as 
unconstitutional, but the courts have decided in 
its favor and the Governor has now signed the 
bill. Authority may be given by the Regents to 
any public library to collect the books of the old 
district libraries in any given territory, but the 
school libraries may demand for their use any 
dictionaries or reference books which formerly 
belonged to them. 

J. N. LARNED. Were not the teachers the 
librarians in the old system? 

A. L. PECK. No. The district clerk was the 
librarian and the books were usually wholly uncared 
for. 

Pres. DEWEY. The old system was never a 
school library system. This was public library 
money, but the school authorities have always had 
it, and they would not cooperate to make this new 
law unless this 55,000 were left to them. By the 
new law the public have no rights in the school 
libraries. Poughkeepsie, Albany, Rochester, 
Malone, and other towns have built up large and 
useful libraries under the old law. These can now 
be made public libraries, if the school boards 
desire it, and they can appoint three trustees from 
their own number if they prefer. They will not 
be connected with the State system of public 
libraries unless such trustees are appointed. By 
this law $25,000 is appropriated to be spent during 
the coming year by the Regents for the encour- 
agement of public libraries. The best way of 
expending this money is the most important ques- 
tion for us to discuss. Shall it be distributed in 
the form of money or books ? 

W. R. EASTMAN. In the case of the traveling 
libraries how is it determined how much money 
the community must raise ? 

Pres. DEWEY. The law leaves this to the 
Regents. They may send these libraries where 
no money has been raised. 

R. B. POOLE. I like the idea of traveling libra- 
ries, but I think it should be left to the option of 
the community in what form the aid should be 
received. It will make the law more popular. 

J. N. WING. In the backwoods districts the 
traveling libraries might be used and in the towns 
money given. In small towns they have no one 
to take care of the libraries; where university 
extension centers are formed a librarian can be 
appointed in connection with that work. To 
such places as Gloversville, Flushing, etc., I 
think money should be given. 



A. L. PECK. At a meeting of the Fulton 
county teachers last year I addressed them on 
books and reading. When the meeting was over 
the trustees came t me and said : " We must 
have a library ; " and they raised $300 by private 
subscription. How can they get most good from 
this money ? Shall they try to join the library to 
the school, get the school admitted to the univer- 
sity, and get help from the Regents ? To do this 
they must raise $500 for books and the same 
amount for apparatus. This is too much. They 
cannot do it. They must have in some way a 
small circulating library. They cannot raise $500 
by taxation for books and 500 for apparatus. 
The entire assessed valuation of the town is so 
small that it is difficult to get a town meeting to 
raise the school tax. 

Pres. DEWEY. In small places the Regents 
will grant some time for raising the money. You 
could start an independent library, but an impor- 
tant question here is, shall we, in such cases, 
put the academy library and the public library 
together ? In most places the academy is in a 
central location, and at first thought it seems 
natural that a single good library should be pre- 
ferred to two weak ones. There are three sources 
from which assistance may be received: the 
school library fund, $55,000 ; the academic fund, 
$106,000 ; and such money as shall be appropri- 
ated for a public library fund, this year, $25,000. 

J. N. LARNED. Can you make any general 
rule ? In some places it will be well to mass all 
these different library interests ; in other places 
they are better separate. 

Pres. DEWEY. Others suggest that the acade- 
mies have better buildings for libraries ; they can 
be kept open more easily; the libraries and 
schools will be more closely affiliated ; and the 
same place can be used as a center for university 
extension work. 

R. B. POOLE. The same class of books would 
not satisfy the school and the public ; the popular 
books might be undesirable in the school library. 

Pres. DEWEY. The two libraries would supple- 
ment each other; one^taking the reference side, 
the other the circulating. 

A. L. PECK. The place I speak of has only 
2,000 inhabitants. For small communities the 
only way is to establish a single library. It will 
be used mainly by the teachers and scholars. The 
children will carry books home, and the parents 
will then read them. If you insist that small 
districts shall have a pedagogical library, an 
academy library, and a public library, they will 



8 4 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



have none. If you allow one central school to 
supply the demands for books of any kind, the 
small places can have a school library, a reference 
library, and a circulating library, all at the central 
school house. 

The library at Gloversville has grown in thirteen 
years to over 10,000 volumes. It has been used 
largely by the factory hands, and after the passage 
of the subsidy law $2,000 was granted to it with- 
out dissent. Last year there was a deficit of 
$i,Soo, and the library board raised $2,000 and 
$1,200 was subscribed outside. 

Pres. DEWEY. The Albany High School has 
the reference and circulating libraries in two 
rooms, and could draw money from two sources. 
A teacher could have charge of both libraries. 

Shall the Regents distribute any money to the 
larger libraries already established, or only give 
to help establish a new library ? 

J. N. LARNED. The amount at the disposal of 
the Regents is too small to give any adequate sum 
to the larger libraries. It is better to have it go 
to the encouragement of smaller libraries or the 
creation of new ones. 

A. L. PECK. We raise, by taxation, $600. I 
will not ask for any money; but we pay our taxes 
and ought to share in the benefits. Give $500, or 
even $100, to some libraries ; for instance, to 
Cortland, on condition that they raise $500, and 
they will have new life. Cortland has all the 
appliances for a library, but no books and no 
readers. If the Regents would say to the Cort- 
land library : " You raise $500 and we will give 
you $100 or $200," there would be a nucleus for a 
good library. 

Pres. DEWEY. If they want a quantity of 
books we could send them a traveling library. 
Those books are available in starting permanent 
libraries. 

J. N. WING. There is a great dearth of refer- 
ence books. The Regents ought to provide them 
first and place them in permanent depositories all 
through the State. 

Pres. DEWEY. These can be bought from the 
$55,000 for school libraries and from the academic 
fund. Much could be saved by sending books 
instead of money; 100 copies of such a work as 
the International Cyclopedia could probably be 
bought at half price and distributed to the 
libraries. 

J. N. LARNED. Annotated catalogs of the 
traveling libraries might be made. 

Pres. DEWEY. The Regents will make up 
libraries of 100, 200, and 500 volumes, and print 



catalogs with the best descriptions and sugges- 
tions. The great difficulty with Sargent's Read- 
ing for (he young has been its size. Most com- 
munities want a brief list. The exhibit at 
Chicago from the New York State Library should 
be the tangible machinery of this system. A 
letter from Chauncey M. Depew, chairman, and 
assurances from other members of the New York 
State World's Fair Commission, make it certain 
that we shall have such an exhibit. If approved 
by the Association the Regents will doubtless 
adopt a system of traveling libraries. 

Miss E. M. COE. In sending traveling libra- 
ries to already existing libraries how will you 
avoid duplicating books now in those libraries ? 

Pres. DEWEY. A special library can be made, 
selected by them from the catalogs of two or 
more of the traveling libraries, thus including 
only what is needed. Superintendent Draper 
thinks that books should be sent. I prefer to 
leave the option to each library, sending the 
money unless they prefer books. Massachusetts 
and New Hampshire offer $100 to each new 
library. It has been proposed that we give $200 
the first year and $100 afterwards. Another sug- 
gestion is that, instead of giving $100, a loan of 
$100 worth of books be made to the library, and 
that this be exchanged four or five times a year. 
They could thus see nearly all the important new 
books of the year and purchase such as they 
preferred for permanent use. 

Miss E. M. COE. If the books were sent in a 
regular route the last libraries in the series would 
have only old and worn-out books. 

Pres. DEWEY. Each library would have some 
new books ; the order of sending would be reversed, 
and those libraries which had the oldest books 
this time would have newest in the next exchange. 

J. N. LARNED. The traveling libraries have 
immense advantages ; it is the most economical 
expenditure of money; it provides the most 
efficient mode of selecting books ; it does the 
work in a business-like manner ; it gives to the 
libraries the most books and the greatest variety. 
It has every advantage in its favor. 

Pres. DEWEY. The Regents can spend every 
dollar for traveling libraries if that is the best 
method. 

Mrs. S. A. C. BOND. Every library likes to 
have a choice. 

Pres. DEWEY. Provision can be made for 
each library to keep for its own such books from 
the traveling libraries as it desires most. 

The opinion of the Association was then taken 



NEW YORK LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 



on the amount of money to be given to new libra- 
ries and the desirability of restricting the gift to 
towns of less than 10,000 inhabitants, or to those 
of less than a fixed valuation, etc. It was decided 
wise to give to all applying for it and to limit the 
amount to $100 the first year; one vote was given 
for Jioo every year, and one for $100 annually, 
conditioned on the community raising a fixed 
amount. The opinion was unanimous that the 
best results could be secured through the proposed 
system of traveling libraries. 

J. N. LARNED. Gifts relax ; it is better to lend. 

Pres. DEWEY. This will allow more money to 
be used for larger loans. It will also give a more 
tangible result for the money spent and will have 
a better effect on the Legislature. 

Mrs. M. DEWEY. Is the Y. W. C. A. to par- 
ticipate ? 

A. L. PECK. You cannot pay money to any 
religious institution. 

R. B. POOLE. The taxpayers would object. 

Miss E. M. COE. Can New York city come 
under the law ? 

Pres. DEWEY. Yes. The New York city 
educational system is separate; but in this law 
there is no distinction. If New York sends for a 
dozen traveling libraries, it has the same rights as 
any other city as long as they are for the free use 
of the people. 

The Regents have placed among their studies a 
course in English reading; an examination is held 
on this the same as on other studies. Other 
courses supplementing this will be prepared. The 
certificates are now having a practical value, as a 
certain number of counts. are required as a prelim- 
inary for law and medical examinations. Mr. 
Peck has had some experience with this course, 
and we should like to hear from him. 

A. L. PECK. I am acquainted with the teachers 
in three counties. They all admit that this is the 
best thing the Regents ever did. Before this, 
knowledge was secondary; 75 per cent was all. 
The query was, " How many may I miss and stil 
pass?" The courses in United States history, 
civics, etc., aroused the teachers. They came to 
the libraries and studied. I formed a class to 
study English literature on the basis of the Regents' 
syllabus. A dozen joined it, and nearly all have 
persevered. I have circulated Macaulay's Essays, 
which before were a drug on the market. Smaller 
children, 12 to 14 years of age, have read Evan- 
geline, Enoch Arden, etc. Lured by these they 
have read other standard books. Many children 
have never read before outside of school. A 



taste for better reading has been developed. This 
is not simply my own observation, but is the tes- 
timony of all the teachers. Children have read 
the essay on Chatham and have looked up all the 
allusions. It has awakened in them the desire to 
hear the best orators of the present day. The 
common schools need similar courses of reading 
from books of travel, and then three or four 
optional questions on this reading should be given 
in the examination. 

Miss E. M. COE. The first work to be done is 
to educate the teachers, some of whom read books 
which no libraries could recommend. 

Pres. DEWEY then gave a resume of what had 
been accomplished for libraries in New York 
during the year. The statistics of libraries have 
been collected, and will be printed as soon as the 
printers' strike is over. The lending from the 
State Library through the State has increased 
300 per cent. The duplicate room is to be 
shelved, and $5,000 has been appropriated for 
arranging these books and making them available. 
A library trust law has been passed by which a 
testator can create a trust for educational pur- 
poses. The libraries owned by the State in dif- 
ferent parts of the State are made part of the 
State Library. The special library laws which we 
have just considered are, of course, the most 
important elements of progress. All those inter- 
ested should send suggestions for the improve- 
ment of library matters to the Regents, and every 
one should make a campaign for the establish- 
ment of new libraries. A little folder will be 
printed, giving the objects of the Association and 
the most important information for wide distribu- 
tion. 

The election of officers was discussed, and the 
President pointed out the importance of electing 
new officers in order to broaden the work and keep 
out of ruts. The Nominating Committee, D. V. 
R. Johnston, J. N. Wing, and W. A. Bardwell, 
reported the following officers, who were elected : 
President, J. N. Lamed; Vice-President, W. S. 
Butler; Secretary, Mary W. Plummer; Treasurer, 
A. L. Peck. 

Mr. LARNED. I was busy and did not hear the 
nominations, and must decline the office. Mr. 
Dewey is the only man who can put the New 
York Library Association on the plane which he 
desires and we all desire. 

After some discussion the election was recon- 
sidered, and Mr. R. B. Poole moved to recommit 
the nominations to the committee and accept Mr. 
Larned's resignation, which was carried. The 



86 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



committee then reported the following officers, Secretary, Mary W. Plummer, Pratt Institute 

who were elected : Library, Brooklyn. 

President, Melvil Dewey, Director N. Y. State Treasurer, A. L. Peck, Gloversvijle Public 

Library. Library. , 

Vice-Presidents, J. N. Larned, Buffalo Library ; The meeting then adjourned to meet in Albany 

R. B. Poole, Y. M. C. A. Library, New York. at Convocation. 



COLLEGE LIBRARY SECTION. 



LAKEWOOD, MAY 17, 3.30 P. M. 



At the meeting of college librarians the following 
institutions were represented : Harvard, Yale, 
Columbia, Cornell, Amherst, Bowdoin, Vassar, 
Smith, University of Vermont, University of the 
State of New York, Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti- 
tute, Wagner Free Institute of Science, College 
for the Training of Teachers, Pratt Institute, and 
the United States Bureau of Education. Several 
librarians not officially connected with educational 
institutions were also present. 

Mr. ADDISON VAN NAME gave an account, illus- 
trated by diagrams and photographs, of the new 
building at Yale, now tested by a year's occupancy, 
which at a cost of $125,000 furnishes fireproof 
accommodation for 200,000 volumes. Among 
other details he mentioned the asphalt floors, 
which were satisfactory, though it was necessary 
to shoe the feet of tables and chairs- to prevent 
their indenting the surface of the concrete. This 
was kept clean by mopping with a moist sponge. 

The classification used in college libraries was 
taken up, and it appeared that of the various sys- 
tems in vogue Mr. Dewey's was employed more 
than any other one method. 

The granting of free access'to the shelves was 
discussed at some length, several librarians 
explaining their practice and advocating the 
advantage to the student of seeing all rather than 
a part of the books relating to the subject studied. 
On the other hand the chief librarian of Columbia, 
where an unusual degree of freedom is allowed, 
expressed his belief that the average undergrad- 
uate was likely to make better use of free access 
to a carefully selected collection of 10,000 volumes 
than to the entire resources of a large library. 
The discussion drifted on to an evil connected 
with the reserve of special books for class use. 
All, with hardly an exception, testified that such 
books were, at the time most needed, frequently 
purloined or misplaced by students for individual 
use. No remedy was advocated save the obvious 



one of vigilance and the fundamental one of incul- 
cating a sense of honor. It was agreed from gen- 
eral experience, and illustrated by a story told by 
a college graduate present, that a general restric- 
tion of library privileges would not do away with 
this temporary purloining of books. 

Mr. E. C. RICHARDSON having been called 
away unexpectedly, his paper on 

A SKELETON OF LIBRARY SCIENCE 
was read by the chairman, Mr. W: I. Fletcher. 

At the White Mountains Conference, two years 
ago, at least four members confessed to having in 
preparation each his little manual of library science. 
So long ago as the Lake George Conference it was 
urged that the results obtained by and the usages 
in vogue in the A. L. A. should be presented in 
systematic or scientific fashion. This might there- 
fore be regarded as a "skeleton" in another sense, 
but this skeleton is an " outline " pure and simple, 
and smacks not at all of the closet. 

As an association we delight in our practicality, 
but as a section of college librarians we are bound 
to recognize that " practicality " which is unscien- 
tific is by that very token unpractical. The only 
way to aggregate experience is to compare, arrange, 
sift, and integrate in other words, treat and state 
scientifically. 

As one of the confessed cherishers of a pet man- 
ual, which is to be produced at some indefinite 
proximate date, I have been at work on such an 
encyclopaedia statement of library science since 
1884. The first results were given in the form of 
a lecture before the first class at the Library School. 
During the past year a rapid survey of the field 
has been made in a course of lectures to students, 
and the analysis worked out to a statement which 
is here presented as a contribution to the tech- 
nical Encyclopaedia of Library Science. 

There are three distinct things involved in the 
formation of a library people, a building, the 



COLLEGE LIBRARY SECTION. 



books and a library is thus to be regarded: r, 
as an organization ; 2, as a building ; 3, as a col- 
lection of books. 
The order of problems is substantially this : - 

1. The organization (a) external, for the legal, 
financial, and like problems (trustees) ; (b) internal, 
for administration (librarians). 

2. The providing of a place suitable in (a) 
location, (b) structure, (c) equipment, for 

3. The library as a collection of books where 
the problems in their turn concern (a) selection, 
(b) acquisition, (c) disposition, (d) utilization. 

1. The library as an organization. 

Trustees. 
Librarians. 

2. The library as a building. 

Location. 
Structure. 
Equipment. 

3. The library as a collection of books. 

Selection (choosing). 
Acquisition (getting). 
Disposition (arrangement and preparation 

for use). 
Utilization. 
Reference. 
Circulation. 
Mr. G. T. LITTLE read a paper on 

TEACHING BIBLIOGRAPHY TO COLLEGE STUDENTS. 

The advantages to the college student of a 
knowledge of bibliography need not be detailed 
to college librarians. The difficulties of gaining 
such knowledge are indicated by the fact that 
only five out of fifty of the leading colleges and 
universities in the United States offer courses of 
instruction in this subject. It is true, of course, 
that in most universities and in many colleges 
teachers of history, literature, and philosophy 
give informal talks on the bibliography of the 
matter in hand. These are necessarily one-sided 
and disconnected. Even if the same student 
should hear them all, which is unlikely, they 
would not make a course in bibliography. Of 
greater practical benefit and usefulness in this 
direction are the lectures on the use of the library, 
given by many librarians to the entering class. 
But these again are too limited in number and 
range to really constitute instruction in bibliog- 
raphy. What that is, what its aim, and how it 
may be conducted, have been set forth in a paper 
read at the Milwaukee Conference by Prof. R. C. 
Davis, librarian of the University of Michigan. 
My excuse for again bringing the matter forward 



is that reports of variations in methods, when 
based on actual experience, are likely to be 
suggestive even if not directly helpful. 

During the last fall term I gave a course in 
bibliography to the portion of the junior class 
that elected English History. The division num- 
bered twenty-four men, and their instructor relin- 
quished to me one hour a week of the time 
devoted to that study. Meeting the class in their 
usual recitation-room I attempted in twelve lec- 
tures, which never occupied more than forty-five 
minutes each, to go over the more important parts 
of the science. Three, entitled "The Book of the 
Augustan Age," the "Book of the Dark Ages," 
and " The Invention of Printing," were given to 
what Prof. Davis styles historical bibliography. 
Only one, in which especial attention was di- 
rected to the elementary principles of cataloging, 
was devoted to material bibliography. Had time 
allowed, however, this would have been supple- 
mented by a second, dealing with paper, type, and 
the manufacture of the modern book. The eight 
remaining lectures, several of them quite informal 
in their character, were given to intellectual bibli- 
ography. One was on English History, planned 
with especial reference to the needs of this 
particular class. In the others I followed in the 
main the classification of our library. In every 
case the class was provided with syllabuses, and, 
whenever practicable, with references to passages 
in books treating more fully of the subjects 
touched on. A few moments of each hour were 
spent in writing answers to questions on the 
lecture of the preceding week. 

The hour following the lecture was spent in 
practical work in bibliography in the college 
library. Each student was given a particular 
question connected either with the subject just 
lectured upon or with the period of English 
History the class was then studying. In his 
note-book he was told to put down not only the 
results but the methods of his work, e. g., titles of 
books consulted, whether found to be of assist- 
ance or not. This requirement enabled me to 
make more effective suggestions for his future 
assistance, as the note-books were examined at 
the close of each exercise. The character of the 
exercise will be shown by the questions asked. 
Having occasion in my talk on the invention of 
printing to quote Carlyle's rhetorical paragraph 
on the relative importance of this event and the 
victories of Tamerlane, I asked one student to 
find and verify the passage in the author's works ; 
another to search his writings for tributes to the 



88 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



importance of books and libraries; a third to 
show that, while Tamerlane was winning his 
bloody victories, Gutenberg could not have been 
"playing ninepins in the streets of Mentz;" a 
fourth was asked to find out who Walter the 
Penniless was. Others were assigned topics 
more closely connected with the subject matter 
of the lecture, e. g., a list of the incunabula in the 
college library ; the changes made in the printing 
press. This laboratory work, so to speak, I deem 
a very important adjunct to any course in bibliog- 
raphy. It can be made to give interest and 
reality to the subjects treated in the lecture. 
Nothing save the actual use of a reference book 
will fix in the student's mind what you tell him 
about its scope and value. 

Besides these questions given for practice in 
the library, each student was required to spend at 



least six hours upon the preparation of a biblio- 
graphical essay on an assigned subject. Illustra- 
tive of the work done in this direction may be men- 
tioned a list of novels treating of the history and 
scenery of Maine, with a brief characterization of 
each, and a well-planned and carefully-annotated 
catalogue of text-books and treatises which a 
teacher of Greek should strive to own. 

While the result of the course was satisfactory, 
I believe that more can be accomplished by 
requiring from every undergraduate a portion of 
the ground traversed, and by making the remain- 
der of the course entirely elective. 

Mr. FLETCHER having indicated his desire not 
to serve another year as chairman, Mr. W: C. 
LANE was chosen to that position, and Mr. G: T- 
LITTLE reappointed secretary. 



A. L. A. PUBLISHING SECTION. 
MAY 18. 



The President, Mr. W: I. Fletcher, having 
called the meeting to order, the Secretary and 
Treasurer, Mr. Lane, read the following report 
which had been presented to the President and 
Executive Board : 

CAMBRIDGE, May i, 1892. 

W: I. FLETCHER, President of the A. L. A. Pub- 
lishing Section. 

Since the last report of the Publishing Section 
was made, seven months ago, its financial opera- 
tions have been so limited that a very brief report 
from the Treasurer will suffice at present. The 
sum of ten dollars received in June from the Paw- 
tucket Public Library was paid over to J. W. 
Glenn for the endowment fund, as soon as I 
discovered that it had been sent to the Publishing 
Section by mistake and was intended for that 
fund. 

An additional sum of $200 has been paid over 
to the editor of the A. L. A. Index. 

These two items have been the only payments, 
while the addition of $4.74 on our savings bank 
account has constituted the sole receipt. 

The accounts of the Section made up to Jan. i, 
1892, were submitted to Mr. J. L. Whitney of the 
Boston Public Library, who had been appointed 
to audit them, and, with accompanying receipted 
bills, statements of account from the Library 
Bureau, cancelled checks, etc., were found to be 
correct and complete, and were duly certified as 
such. 



Since the last report a special edition of " Read- 
ing for the Young " (500 copies) has been pre- 
pared for the Omaha Public Library, with the 
shelf-numbers of that library printed in the mar- 
gin. For this purpose the plates were cut in two 
lengthwise, and only one column printed on a 
page. 

The expense of preparing and printing this edi- 
tion proved somewhat greater than was expected, 
so that, although the Library Bureau reduced its 
commission on the job more than half, the Pub- 
lishing Section made but a very small profit. 

The plates, however, having now been prepared 
to use in this way, the Section would be very glad 
to print other special editions for the use of other 
libraries. 

The total expense of " Reading for the Young," 
including the Omaha edition, has now been 
$1,564.04, 3,250 copies having been printed. The 
total receipts after deducting the Library Bureau's 
commission have amounted to 51,360.47, 3,075 
copies having now been sold; 175 copies remain 
on hand, and a balance of $203.57 to be made up 
before the expenses of printing will have been 
covered. The author has received nothing for her 
work that is, no pecuniary return. We trust 
that she has found that publication, like virtue, is 
its own reward. 

The future sale of the book in its present form 
is not likely to be large ; it has varied from 4 to 
14 copies during the last ten months. The present 



THE WOMAN'S MEETING. 



89 



stock may be expected to last about a year or 
somewhat longer, but it probably will not be advis- 
able to print another edition from the present 
plates (unless it be a special edition for special 
libraries) ; nor would it be prudent to publish a 
revised edition for some time, since the cost would 
not be less than that of the first edition, though 
the labor of preparation would be much dimin- 
ished. 

The total amount of the Section's funds now 
invested in the A. L. A. Index is $593.58. To 
publish the work will require the continued finan- 
cial backing of the A. L. A. endowment fund, 
which has already loaned us $500. 
Respectfully submitted. 

W. C. LANE, Treasurer. 

Voted to request Mr. Whitney to audit the 
Treasurer's accounts. 

The notice of the Omaha edition of " Reading 
for the Young" called out some remarks. Mr. 
Crunden suggested that a circular should be sent 
to libraries calling their attention to the advan- 
tage of having an edition printed with their own 
shelf-marks. Mr. Dewey thought the list too 
long, and that another and shorter list ought to 
be prepared. 



The President reported on the condition of the 
A. L. A. Index. 

A second meeting of the Publishing Section 
was held at the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, on 
Friday, May at 11.15 A - M - President Fletcher 
in the chair. 

The amendment to Art. 4, Sec. i, of the con- 
stitution proposed at the Fabyan's meeting, Sept. 
ir, 1890, was ratified. This section now reads, 
"The officers of this Section shall be a Presi- 
dent, a Secretary and Treasurer, and an Execu- 
tive Board of five, of which the above officers 
shall be members." 

The Section proceeded to elect officers, and it 
was voted that the Secretary be instructed to cast 
a ballot for the officers of last year to serve again 
for the following year. The following are accord- 
ingly the officers of the Section for the year 1892- 
93: President, W: I. Fletcher; Secretary and 
Treasurer, W. C. Lane; Executive Board, the 
President, the Secretary, and Messrs. Melvil 
Dewey, C: A. Cutter, and C: C. Soule. 

Voted to request the Association to direct the 
committee having in charge Mr. lies' plan to 
report to the Executive Board of the Publishing 
Section. Adjourned. 

W. C. LANE, Secretary. 



THE WOMAN'S MEETING. 



The Woman's Meeting was called to order May 
19 at 2.30 P. M. by Miss MARY S. CUTLER, who 
briefly explained that the call for the meeting had 
come from the Secretary of the Association, and 
called on the members to nominate a chairman. 
Miss E. M. Coe, of the New York Free Circu- 
lating Libraries, was elected chairman, and Mrs. 
Melvil Dewey, Secretary. Miss CUTLER pre- 
sented by title a paper on 

WHAT A WOMAN LIBRARIAN EARNS. 

The work of the modern librarian is so little 
understood that an outline of what it covers may 
not only prove interesting reading, but also throw 
light on the question of what should be a fair 
financial return for this service to the reading 
public. 

The librarian must be both a good business 
woman and an educator in the highest sense of 
the word. First, she must build up the library. 
Her problem is as follows : Given a multitude of 
books and a limited fund, to select those best 
suited to the needs and tastes of her particular 



readers. She must buy the books and keep exact 
business records. She must take an inventory of 
stock once a year. She must present to the 
trustees both a monthly and annual report on 
work and finances. She must be familiar with 
recent thought in library architecture, as she is 
often called on to suggest plans for a new build- 
ing or for the enlargement of an old one. 

She must make the resources of the library 
available by a wise classification of books ; by a 
catalog which indicates clearly to the reader if 
the book he seeks is in the library, also what 
books on a subject are most valuable for his pur- 
pose ; by individual help, being ready at any 
moment to drop other work and spend an hour 
or two if need be in hunting up answers to ques- 
tions from all sorts and conditions of readers. 
She must also devise and carry on a system of 
charging books which shall secure their safety, 
at a minimum of work and waiting for both 
borrowers and attendants. 

She must inspire her assistants, even those of 
the lowest grade, with her own ideals, so that the 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



spirit of courtesy and of helpfulness shall pervade 
the place like an atmosphere. 

She is not content to satisfy the demands made 
on the library ; she creates a demand. 

She establishes a close connection between the 
library and the public schools, gaining the coop- 
eration of the teachers in bringing up a generation 
of readers with pure tastes and a genuine love of 
good reading. She grants special privileges to 
reading and art clubs, buying with reference to 
their needs. The librarian is one of the most 
efficient promoters of university extension, as the 
library is its natural centre. She prints lists of 
books and articles on topics of current interest, 
buys books for the mechanic and the foreigner, 
talks with the foreigner in his own language, 
cooperates with the church and press in local 
forms. The librarian must be in touch with the 
latest and best thought of the time and with the 
growth of her own community, making the library 
an active, aggressive, educational force. 

All this and more is being done by the modern 
librarians, both men and women. 

How much money does the woman-librarian 
receive, and how much is received by women who 
fill subordinate library positions ? 

An official statement has been secured of 
salaries paid to all the women employed in 25 of 
the most prominent libraries in the country, prom- 
inent from their size, wise administration, and 
efficiency. They represent 15 States, 2 Eastern, 
3 Middle, 8 Western, and 2 Southern, and several 
types of libraries, free public, subscription, State, 
and college. Other statistics which follow are 
also official. 

Three hundred and ninety-six women are 
employed in 25 prominent libraries, receiving 
from $240 to $1,500, an average salary of $570. 
This includes work of all grades, and the average 
is greatly reduced by the large number required to 
do mechanical work in comparison with the few 
needed for supervisory and independent work. 

Fifteen women of recognized ability, trained as 
apprentices in large libraries or in the school of 
experience, receive from $550 to $2,000, an average 
salary of $1,150; 38 women, trained in the Library 
School which was opened in 1887, receive from 
$600 to $1,500, an average salary of $900. The 
15 highest salaries paid to library school women 
average $1,090. Seven women as librarians of 
State libraries receive from $625 to $1,200, an 
average salary of $1,000. The 24 men filling 
similar positions receive an average salary of 
$1,450. 



From all of the preceding lists have been 
selected 37 women who have made a decided suc- 
cess of the work. Their salaries,, tabulated as 
follows, are effected by local conditions, and are 
in many cases not in proportion to the value of 
services rendered : 

One at $2,000; one at $1,800: one at $1,740; 
four at $1,500; one at $1,320; one at $1,300; six 
at $1,200; one at $1,100; two at $1,080; six at 
$1,000; five at $900; four at $800; three at $700; 
one at $550. 

From these figures and a general estimate 
based on a large acquaintance with librarians, I 
conclude that a woman occupying a subordinate 
position in a library, where faithfulness, accuracy, 
and a fair knowledge of books are the only essen- 
tials, can expect from $300 to $500. A good 
cataloger, or a librarian with average ability and 
training, can expect to receive from $600 to $900. 
A woman with good natural ability and fitness 
for the work, with a liberal education and special 
training, can expect $i,oooat the head of a library, 
or of a department in a large library, with a pos- 
sible increase to $1,500 or $2,000. Women rarely 
receive the same pay for the same work as men. 

Salaries are lowered: (i) By political influence 
in certain libraries supported by the city and 
State, which discourages good work by making 
the tenure of office uncertain. (2) By the fact 
that working among books is considered an 
attractive and "genteel" employment, without 
the severe strain of teaching. (3) Because many 
library trustees have not the modern conception 
of a library and are content with inferior work. 
(4) Because many other library trustees take 
advantage of woman's willingness to work for 
less than she earns when she knows her work is 
useful. The women in one well-known library 
accept, year after year, for high-grade service the 
pitiful dole of twenty cents an hour. 

Salaries tend to increase and are increasing 
steadily because there are so few men or women 
able to meet the growing demand for trained 
librarians. 

Woman's fitness for library work is proved. 
She has already a recognized place in the pro- 
fession. She has contributed somewhat to the 
literature of the subject and holds offices of honor 
in the American Library Association. This is 
due largely to the liberal spirit of the leaders in 
the library movement of the last twenty years. 

In England she has no such place. At the last 
conference of the Library Association of the United 
Kingdom the President apologized to me for what 



THE WOMAN'S MEETING. 



he called the dullness of the sessions, saying that 
of course there could be nothing in the discussions 
of a library association to interest ladies. 

In America her position in the future will be 
what she has power to make it. She has a fair 
chance, and if she fails it will be her own fault. A 
genius for organization, executive ability, and bus- 
iness habits, a wide knowledge and love of books 
amounting to a book-instinct, and the gift of mov- 
ing and inspiring other minds are absolutely essen- 
tial to the highest success. The palm of honor 
and of opportunity waits for her who shall join a 
genius for organization to the power of a broad, 
rich, catholic, and sympathetic womanhood. The 
work is worth the best energies of the strongest 
minds, and in the long run will win appreciation 
and proper financial support. 

Miss H. E. GREEN referred to the timidity of 
some women in official positions, and said : " Don't 
be afraid of losing your position by speaking." 

Miss H. P. JAMES. Do not be afraid to speak 
to trustees even if they do not accept suggestions. 

Mrs. M. A. SANDERS emphasized the need of 
fearlessness on the part of a librarian. 

Miss H. P. JAMES. We must put fright in our 
pocket and see that things are done. We are 
responsible for the work of our libraries. 

Miss S. W. CATTELL, of the New York 
Y. W. C. A., read a paper on 

WORK IN Y. W. C. A. LIBRARIES. 

There are other Y. W. C. A.'s that carry on 
library work, notably the Philadelphia, Brooklyn, 
and Albany associations; but I think that the 
library which I represent that of the Y. W. C. A. 
of the city of New York is by far the largest of 
them all, and it has always been a marked feature 
of our work. Like many other good things it 
had a small beginning, starting in 1870 with fifty 
volumes. Now we have a really fine library of 
19,000 volumes, with a circulation in 1891 of 
nearly 45,000. The library is systematically run 
on modern methods, having been for five years 
now under the care of Library School pupils. 
The library is for the exclusive use of self- 
supporting women and girls, or those preparing 
for self-support, and is entirely free. 

I want to speak specially of the opportunities 
and responsibilities which such libraries bring to 
women-librarians for work among their sister- 
women, and make a plea for the extension and 
recognition of this branch of library work. In 
every library we recognize the moral and spiritual 
as well as the intellectual influence which is, or 



may be, exerted upon those who make use of its 
privileges. In the Y. W. C. A. libraries there is 
peculiar need and peculiar opportunity for work 
in this direction. The librarian is brought into 
unusually close relations with many of the women 
and girls who frequent the library, for in the 
Y. W. C. A.'s those who come for the advan- 
tages the Association offers them are encour- 
aged to feel that the workers in charge of the 
several departments are their friends and helpers, 
ready at all times with any personal advice 
and cheer they can give. When we have not 
time for the personal word, we try at least to 
give them a smile of welcome and recognition, 
and make them feel that an atmosphere of good 
will and kindly Christian spirit pervades the place, 
so that they may be the better for simply having 
come into the building. 

The testimony to just this influence in our Asso- 
ciation has been both frequent and strong. The 
influence which a librarian can thus exert upon 
the women with whom she comes in contact, 
especially upon the younger and less intelligent 
girls, and those who are having a weary struggle for 
their daily bread, is simply unlimited. A woman's 
tact and sympathy and large-heartedness can find 
no greater outlet than in this kind of library 
work. 

Two years ago Mrs. B. F. Watson, the Secre- 
tary of the Library Committee, wrote : 

" Stand by the librarian's desk in the evening, 
when the women and girls from shops and facto- 
ries are free, or during some day in October at 
the hours when the less exacting of the newly- 
formed classes are out, and see the jostling crowd 
that presses in, embarrassed and awkward, half 
awed by the very beauty and refinement of the 
place, and abashed at the sight of so many books. 

" Your aesthetic taste, your sense of fitness, will 
not be aroused, for there is manifest incongruity 
between the place and its visitors, but your sym- 
pathy, your interest, will be strongly excited, and 
your heart will beat faster than usual, for you 
know the appealing needs of these women and 
girls, better, alas ! than they do themselves. 

" Was it not over just such an unthinking, 
impulsive, curious throng that the Master ' was 
moved with compassion, because they were as 
sheep not having a shepherd?' and the sequel, 
you remember, is simple and direct : ' He began 
to teach them many things.' 

" Here, it seems to me, is where the library 
work connects with the very mainspring of all our 
endeavors the enthusiasm for seeking and sav- 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



ing for this world and the next ; for guiding and 
directing, with elder sisterly helpfulness, these 
careless feet, lest they grow wayward and wander 
in devious and unprofitable and dangerous ways. 
The other departments send these girls and women 
to us ; we who are members of the Association 
ought to direct them here when we encounter 
them, as we must, for the city is thronging with 
them. 

" They have little knowledge of any refining 
influence ; of literature, as such, they know nothing. 
Their scanty schooling had barely taught them to 
read and understand, when the drudgery of study 
gave way to the drudgery of toil, and without 
books, or the desire for them, their unlettered 
lives began. 

" But an empty mind cannot exist in this busy 
world and day. These younger girls are full of 
the eagerness, the impetuosity, and enthusiasm 
which make sheltered girlhood so fresh and 
delightful a thing. They are free in the evening, 
and though tired they are full of nervous activity ; 
they must have amusement, and the streets offer 
it in lively, stirring excitement and incident and 
rough jest. 

" If they drift to our doors we must attract their 
interest and hold it ; we must arrest their atten- 
tion and arouse and educate their mental forces ; 
we must at least try to give them something to 
think about something to fill the intellectual 
vacuum which engenders that hateful, underbred 
flippancy, as far removed from mirth and wit as 
it is from seriousness, which, where it becomes 
a fixed habit, so undermines all earnestness of 
thought and purpose as to render stability of 
character improbable if not impossible. 

" There is latent ability, usefulness, and woman- 
liness in the least wise of them all, and our books 
may be the touchstone which shall discover the 
hidden treasure." 

Mrs. MELVIL DEWEY. We have been trying 
some experiments in our Albany Y. W. C. A., 
which seem to offer great opportunities for influ- 
ence to librarians of these associations. We have 
had a series of library evening talks on books and 
reading once a month, in which teachers and pupils 
of the Library School have assisted members of 
the Library Committee. We told them about the 
lives and the books of some well-known authors, 
e.g., Louisa Alcott, Mrs. Stowe, Mrs. Whitney, 
George Macdonald; we have had an evening of 
travels, one on famous women travelers, and one 
on simple science in a popular form, in all of which 



they have shown much interest, the attendance 
ranging from 30 to 70 in our small rooms. The 
practical value of these evenings is shown by the 
fact that about 30 of the books talked about have 
been sent to the binders completely worn out by 
use. The first year one young woman, a tailoress 
by trade, read 61 of the best books the library 
contains ; two others had drawn 48 books each. 

Miss Cutler has been trying to interest them in 
an intelligent reading of newspapers, by short talks 
on current topics of interest. We have also a 
question box. Altogether these library evenings 
have been helpful and stimulating in the choice 
of good reading, and if we can only make time to 
get personally acquainted with these young girls, 
going to the shelves with them and talking about 
the books before we separate, we feel that the 
good influence may be largely increased. 

Mrs. M. R. SANDERS spoke on 

" READING-ROOMS ; WHAT A WOMAN MAY DO IN 
THEM." 

The opportunities for influencing readers, spe- 
cially boys ; the firmness and tact often required 
to preserve order and discipline ; what a woman 
may accomplish in cases where a man's physical 
strength is usually thought necessary. 

Miss MIDDLETON, Miss GREEN, and Miss JAMES 
each gave bits of personal experience. 

The chairman asked Miss Green to say some- 
thing from her own experience as to " exactness 
in cataloging " and of women " as book keepers." 
She had found young women, on the whole, more 
exact, more willing to take pains. The balance, 
in her experience, was a little in favor of the girls. 
As to book-keeping, she mentioned one case in a 
prominent public library, where a woman, without 
any assistant, had been book-keeper for twenty 
years, and in all that time had never been known 
to make a mistake that could be criticised. 

Time being limited, Miss M. E. SARGENT read 
by title her paper on 

WOMAN'S POSITION IN LIBRARY SERVICE. 

In lieu of any opinions of my own I present for 
your consideration and for discussion what I have 
been able to gather as to woman's possibilities 
and also her limitations in such service. I quote 
first from a librarian's views : " Some doubt has 
been expressed of the capacity of a woman to 
manage a city library. The objectors, I think, 
must be unacquainted with the recent library 
history of Massachusetts. Many of our large 



THE WOMAN'S MEETING. 



93 



libraries are administered by women, and I have 
never heard that they did not give as much satis- 
faction to trustees and the public as men." The 
writer then speaks of the excellent work of Miss 
James of Wilkes-Barre, of Miss Thurston at 
Newton, of Miss Hayward at Cambridge, Miss 
Chandler of Lancaster, and some others. "Be- 
sides these there are 97 other women who are 
librarians of public libraries in this State and 
51 who are librarians of libraries not public. 
That is to 'say, out of 427 libraries 156 are in 
charge of women. ... A woman may be 
imbued with all the modern ideas of librarian- 
ship of assisting the public, of teaching the 
public, elevating the public." Referring to libra- 
ries outside of Massachusetts he cites the splen- 
did work of Miss Coe, the head of the New York 
Free Circulating Library. 

In quite an opposite strain are the following 
words from a trustee's standpoint : " My reason for 
preferring a man for the head of a library in a large 
city is not based on what may be called library per 
se. It is connected with the business side of the 
librarian's position. Unfortunately women are 
hedged about with rules of decorum and courtesy 
which somewhat interfere with their usefulness in 
many relations in a municipal or a business com- 
munity ; with the trustees, for instance, who may 
change from time to time may include conflict- 
ing elements may comprise men of rough or at 
least of downright and positive character. A 
man's relations with such a board are freer and 
more likely to be influential than a woman's, 
because he can talk right at them and -with them, 
without offense on either side. He is usually 
accustomed to hasty and unfair criticism and knows 
how to meet it effectively. With the city govern- 
ment especially the council who make appropria- 
tions a man can work far more efficiently than a 
woman can. He can go out among them at their 
offices and stores, or in the City Hall corridor ; can 
learn what influences are brought to bear on them, 
and so benefit the library in a score of ways closed 
to a woman. With the rougher class of the com- 
munity, with laborers and artisans, a man, for 
obvious reasons, can do more effective work. 
Women more rarely have the disciplinary power 
over a mixed force of men and women under them 
than men do ; but that is rather a personal matter, 
to be tested in experience. Some women have it 
in a marked degree; many men are lacking in this 
direction. Now I am not bigoted ; perhaps these 
views are wrong, but they are founded on a wide 
business experience, and an observation of many 



libraries and librarians all over this country. My 
theory seems to be generally accepted in practice, 
at any rate ; for men are at the head of most if 
not all the libraries in large cities." 

For myself, with Miss Willard, I feel that " we 
should study the largeness of life and not its lim- 
itations." We should be divine optimists, " who, 
rowing hard against the stream, see distant lights 
of Eden gleam, and know the dream is not a 
dream." 

" We are hedged about with rules of decorum 
and courtesy." Max O'Rell has said that unsex- 
ing in America has been a blessed thing for us. 

" The freedom enjoyed by American women has 
enabled them to mould themselves in their own 
fashion. They do not copy any other women ; 
they are original. I can recognize an American 
woman without hearing her speak. You have 
only to see her enter a room or a car and you 
know her for Jonathan's daughter. Married or 
unmarried, her air is full of assurance, of a self- 
possession that never fails her, and when she looks 
at you or talks to you her eyes express the same 
calm consciousness of her worth. They say in 
France that Paris is the Paradise of women. If 
so, there is a more blissful place than Paradise ; 
there is another word to invent to give an idea of 
the social position enjoyed by American ladies. 
If I had to be born again and I might choose my 
sex and my birthplace I would shout at the top of 
my voice, " Oh, make me an American woman." 

And then again, in dealing with the rougher 
elements above alluded to, force does not always 
mean " bayonets and cannon balls." The silent 
and unseen are still the strongest powers of all. 
A scientific age is proving what faith has always 
taught, that " thought and will and love are the 
only forces that endure." 

" Time is the great alembic in which all are 
tested." The .work of Miss Mitchell in science, 
of Miss Edwards in Egyptology, may be cited as 
examples of what can be accomplished by women. 

With the true love for the work, with a similar 
devotion and the needed inspiration and aspira- 
tion, why cannot a like result be accomplished 
in our service, and why may we not be able to 
prove that our possibilities outweigh our limita- 
tions. We can at least console ourselves with the 
thought expressed by Thoreau, " It is the busi- 
ness of mankind to polish the world, and every 
one who works is scrubbing some part." 

" Where your heart is interested, let your life 
take part; where your life takes part, let your 
heart glow." 



94 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



" Some evils must be trampled down 

Beneath our feet, if we would gain, 
In the bright fields of fair tenown, 
The right of eminent domain. 

" Standing on what too long we bore 

With shoulders bent and downcast eyes, 
We may discern unseen before 
A path to higher destinies." 

In closing the chairman spoke of the interest, 



freedom of discussion, and special value to the 
young librarians of such meetings as this. Voted : 
That a committee be appointed to organize a 
Woman's Section of the A. L. A., to report at the 
next conference in Chicago. The Chair appointed 
Miss H. P. James, Mrs. Melvil Dewey, and Miss 
H. E. Green, with power to add to the committee. 
Adjourned. 

ANNIE DEWEY, Secretary pro tern. 



THE POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 



The business sessions at Baltimore and Wash- 
ington were so hemmed in with sight-seeing that 
to most of us, who spent the three quiet, busy 
days at Lakewood, the Post-Conference excursion 
began Thursday afternoon, when 150 librarians 
filled the special train for Baltimore. A gentle 
shower, the first to interrupt the reign of spring 
sunshine which we were beginning to consider the 
peculiar characteristic of the region round about 
Lake Carasaljo, had laid the dust and freshened 
the verdure of the country. The long railroad 
ride, duly arranged to impress us with the extent of 
our Secretary's adopted State, had not proved 
wearisome when we stopped for supper at Phila- 
delphia. The size of the party seemed to lead 
the dining-hall attendants to distrust the possi- 
bility of all being the genuine article; for one 
of them was heard to observe, " Will there be 
enough for the librarians and the other stuff ? " 
There was enough. The journey to Baltimore, 
lengthened by unavoidable delays, and a long ride 
in the horse-cars, made all ready, if not willing, 
to accept of close but comfortable quarters at 
Carrollton Hotel. 

The next morning, under the guidance of our 
untiring host Mr. Glenn, the party was comfort- 
ably seated in coaches and conveyed through the 
streets of the Monumental City, with their far- 
reaching vistas, to the Peabody Institute. The 
examination, after the close of the business meet- 
ing, of the library and the art gallery at the 
institute, separated the party temporarily. The 
Rinehart casts and the bronze reproductions of 
the Ghiberti Gates could only be glanced at by 
those who lingered to ask questions of the library 
attendants and to climb the lofty alcoves that 
surround the impressive reading hall. Few, how- 
ever, missed the opportunity to meet the ven- 
erable founder of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 
who, with his wife, received them in the midst of 
the spacious and evidently well-used reading- 



room of that institution, to glance into the cosy, 
parlor-like establishment of the Mercantile Li- 
brary, or to gaze at the extensive collection of 
portraits and documents displayed at the rooms 
of the Maryland Historical Society. Those 
counted themselves .especially fortunate who, 
under the guidance of Dr. H. B. Adams, visited 
the historical seminary-room of the university. 
At two o'clock President Gilman, with members 
of the Baltimore Committee of Reception, met 
the Association again in Levering Hall, the home 
of the University Y. M. C. A., and after a few 
moments' conversation, all passed to the gym- 
nasium, where an elaborate luncheon was pro- 
vided by the Reception Committee. In the after- 
noon a few availed themselves of the opportunity 
to examine at leisure the university buildings, 
but most joined the several parties, which at 
different hours visited the Johns Hopkins Hospi- 
tal, drove through the beautiful woodland roads 
of Druid Hill Park, and lingered before the 
treasures of modern art which Mr. Walters 
generously opened to the Association. This 
collection was a surprise as well as a delight to 
all who saw it for the first time. That it was 
possible to study in a single collection good 
examples of the skill of painters so representa- 
tive as Delaroche and Meissonier, Millais and 
Millet, Corot and Alma Tadema, was a revelation 
to many well acquainted with the public art 
galleries of the United States. Those who had 
seen it before found that the additions of recent 
years had greatly increased its value and impor- 
tance. The discomfort attendant upon so large 
a party reaching a hotel late at night led the 
Association to relinquish the provision made for 
its entertainment in the evening and take an 
earlier train for Washington, where all were safely 
packed away at the Ebbitt House. 

After the brief business session at the Colum- 
bian University, the visitors were carried to the 



THE POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 



95 



Army Medical Museum, where we examined the 
housing of the library of the Surgeon General's 
office and the interesting details of preparing for 
the printer the excellent catalog of fourteen or 
fifteen folio volumes, to the National Mnseum, 
where there was surely enough to gratify the most 
omnivorous observer; to the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion, where we wisely gave the brief time allowed 
to the large and interesting loan collection of 
American paintings ; and, last of all, to the White 
House, where, carefully depositing our umbrellas 
and wraps in various corners of the entrance hall, 
we awaited in the East Room the appearance of 
President Harrison. In a shorter time than it 
seems possible all in the well-filled room had 
shaken hands with the chief magistrate of the 
land, regained the entrance, and to the surprise of 
a few, our umbrellas. The brevity of our conver- 
sation with the President fortunately gave us time 
to cross the street and look at Powers' Greek 
Slave and other works of art at the Corcoran 
Gallery. The afternoon excursion, also provided 
by the hospitable committee of Washington libra- 
rians and booksellers, was even more interesting. 
We first visited the Patent Office, where one 
inquisitive librarian was lost among the innumer- 
able cases while searching for the wonderful 
model of a son of a gun that another, waggishly 
pointing at a case of pistols, had sent him to find. 
Many examined with interest Capt. Prince's valu- 
able index to scientific periodicals. The impor- 
tance as well as the difficulties of the task were 
illustrated on the spot when a bystander, taking 
up what had been referred to as the only available 
scientific index, the work as usual of German 
industry, pointed out that a machine for making 
ginger-snaps was entered and indexed under 
liquor-fabriken. From the Bureau of Education, 
where we examined the working place of others 
of our hosts, we each bore away a much needed 
and valuable tool, the full index to Barnard's Jour- 
nal of Education. The remainder of the afternoon 
was devoted to the Capitol. Between the Libiary 
of Congress, the House of Representatives then 
in session, and the building itself, the party under 
the leadership of such guides as Librarian Spof- 
ford, Colonel Lowdermilk, and Professor Paul, 
not to specify others, found much to please, 
instruct, and occasionally to amuse. A brilliant 
reception at the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. D. 
Cabell, of the Norwood Institute, on Massachu- 
setts avenue, closed the day of sight-seeing with 
an hour of social enjoyment. On Sunday after- 
noon an excellent opportunity was given us to 



inspect the new Congressional Library building 
under the guidance of the superintendent of the 
works, and the day ended with a drive to that 
most beautiful, at least in location, of all cemete- 
ries, Arlington. 

It was clear and cool Monday morning when 
about sixty drove in open carriages to our special 
train at the Baltimore & Ohio station. The 
route up the valley of the Potomac was made 
doubly interesting by a stop of half an hour at 
Harper's Ferry, which enabled us to realize the 
beauty of its situation. At this historic spot, 
however, our first mishap befell us. An active 
and athletic representative of the Appalachian 
Club slipped while gallantly charging the cliff 
that towers above the village street, and received 
a painful flesh wound. Our course thence across 
Maryland carried us through a fertile region, fair 
to our eyes " as the garden of the Lord," though 
we could hardly care to pose " as a famished rebel 
horde." But the hour and a half spent in crossing 
the Blue Ridge to our destination at Gettysburg 
was the event of this railroad ride. Though 
whirled about so rapidly and continuously that 
some imagined they were on an ocean steamer 
and felt accordingly, most looked with delight at 
the beautiful landscapes, spread out for miles at 
one moment and withdrawn the next, and won- 
dered at the tortuous course the railroad took in 
ascending the mountain, its windings coming into 
view for a moment as it left the valley that had 
aided it to climb. The plain but homelike appear- 
ance of the hotel gave such promise of rest and 
quiet for the night that upon finishing dinner all 
were eager to enter the comfortable vehicles in 
which we were to see the famous battle-field, 
under the guidance of Mr. Luther W. Minnigh. 
It hardly seems possible that any point of interest in 
the battle-field, though it extends over many square 
miles, was omitted by our indefatigable guide, 
whose animated and vivid descriptions added to 
the pleasure as well as to the knowledge of the 
party. We drove in succession to Cemetery 
Hill, Gulp's Hill, the National Cemetery, the 
Emmettsburg Road, the Peach Orchard, the Dev- 
il's Den, where the official photographer took our 
likenesses ; climbed the Little Round Top, and 
visited the scene of Pickett's charge, where a few 
days later the High Water mark memorial was 
formally dedicated. It was hard to realize that 
the fields now so green had been the scene of 
such carnage, but imagination was helped by the 
numerous regimental monuments, which of them- 
selves are well worth a visit. They are of every 



9 6 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



type from simplicity itself to an oddness almost 
grotesque, but the pose and bearing of the figures 
carved upon many of them are so lifelike as to 
startle the beholder. A day on so famous a 
battle-field could hardly be spent without casualty, 
and while no blood was spilt, our Treasurer's wife 
unfortunately injured her ankle in alighting from 
a carriage. The hardened sight-seers visited 
Pennsylvania College after tea; the rest bought 
photographs and relics. 

Tuesday morning gave us a second glance at 
the charming vistas opened by the railroad over 
the Blue Ridge and a view from the car windows 
of the battle-field of Antietam. Crossing the 
Potomac our train ran as a special up the beauti- 
ful valley of the Shenandoah, making no stops 
till we reached the Grottoes. The rate of speed, 
however, was not so great as to prevent our 
admiring at a distance the blue outlines of the 
mountain ranges on either hand, our watch- 
ing the shadows of the clouds traverse their 
wooded sides and the sun light up their sharp 
peaks, our wondering at the vivid green of the 
Shenandoah, which in places seemed bent on 
rivaling the fields it watered, or our noting, as a 
courteous railroad official pointed them out, many 
common : looking places that bore names made 
famous by the bloody encounters of the war. 
The same gentleman, by means of circulars and 
personal conversation, gave us some account of 
the industrial progress of this region during the 
last few years, in other words of the " boom " 
which has, it is believed subsided into a steady 
and natural growth, in case of one or two of the 
new cities. The careful observer could detect 
the approach to a "boom" town by noting the 
house-lot stakes. These usually began two or 
three miles from the station and long before a 
house came in view. One of our party had the 
offer at $25 of a corner lot lately held at $2,000. 
Two others were only saved by the opportune 
departure of the train from purchasing, nolens 
wlens, a manganese mine near Basic City the 
enthusiastic and persistent owner carrying about 
the specimens in a red bandanna handkerchief. 

At the Grottoes, after satisfying the inner man, 
the party proceeded, some by mule cars, others by 
foot, to see what the interior of the earth had in 
store. As the wonders of Weyer's Cave which, 
with the adjacent caves, are known as the Grottoes 
have been described many times, no attempt will 
be made to set them forth here. Suffice it to 
quote from one of the earliest printed accounts 
that "for the extent, variety, and number of its 



apartments and for the singularity and sublimity 
of its calcareous formations it is not surpassed by 
any known cavern ; " and to assure members of our 
party that the curious nomenclature which places 
the Falls of Niagara within Solomon's Temple 
and allows Jacob's Ladder to end in a Devil's 
Dungeon, dates back to the times before the war, 
when an illumination meant the use of three 
thousand candles and required hours of prepara- 
tion. A short ride from the Grottoes brought us 
to our pleasant resting place at the Brandon. 
Basic City. Some, not content with sitting on 
the broad hotel piazzas, wandered cityward and 
reported that the steel works which were to give 
the place its commercial prominence were not run- 
ning; others, from the hilltops behind, gathered 
armfuls of azaleas and laurel. Wednesday fore- 
noon another special train shot us through a gap 
in the Blue Ridge over to Charlottesville, where in 
two closely packed horse-cars we stirred up the 
sleepy city, and capturing without opposition the 
University of Virginia, brought entertainment to 
a number of young collegians as we wandered 
about the picturesque arcades that surround the 
green quadrangle. To us the library was the 
centre of attraction, and several found it difficult 
to leave T: Jefferson's autograph catalog and clas- 
sification, the old-fashioned alcoves with locked 
glass doors, or the picture-hung galleries of the 
handsome circular hall, even to gain the magnifi- 
cent view which attentive students were anxious to 
point out from the roof of the building. 

The excursion of the afternoon was equally 
interesting, but in direct contrast to that of the 
morning. Leaving the cars at the Natural Bridge 
station, four-horse teams carried us over a some- 
what rough road to Henry Clay's " bridge that 
spans a river, carries a highway, and makes two 
mountains one." Despite the heat which almost 
for the first time in the trip caused some discom- 
fort, the party thoroughly explored the ravine and 
gazed at the " miracle in stone " from all possible 
vantage points. Fortunately no one was moved 
to inscribe his name higher up than did George 
Washington, and no accidents are to be reported. 
To many it seemed strange that none of the many 
views on sale did justice alike to the height of the 
arch and the beauty of its sylvan surroundings. 

A day divided between science and nature was 
followed by an evening devoted to social enjoy- 
ment. Southern hospitality and Western enterprise 
were united in the attentions shown the party at 
Roanoke. These began with a reception in the 
parlors of the Hotel Roanoke, at which the elite 



THE POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 



97 



of the young and flourishing city extended a per- 
sonal welcome to the librarians of the country. 
They were continued the following day by a drive 
about the city and up a finely-built road to the 
summit of Mill Mountain. This drive was ren- 
dered doubly delightful from being in private car- 
riages and under the personal guidance of prom- 
inent citizens. Few will soon forget the spring, 
notable alike for its beauty and size, which, gush- 
ing out of the base of the mountain, supplies the 
city with an abundance of purest water, or the 
glorious outlooks caught during the winding ascent 
through the woods, and growing in interest as well 
as in extent, until from the observatory at the top 
the country for miles in every direction was spread 
out before one. 

The journey to Richmond, which occupied the 
afternoon, was shortened to those who looked out 
the car windows by fine views of the Peaks of 
Otter and glimpses of Lynchburg, Appomattox^ 
Petersburg, and other historic towns of the Old 
Dominion, while within conversation and singing 
whiled away the hours. Mr. Poindexter, of the 
State library, promptly met us on our arrival at 
Ford's Hotel, and the next morning all spent an 
interesting hour in the Capitol examining the domain 
of our host, the halls occupied by the Confederate 
Congress during the " late unpleasantness," and get- 
ting a bird's-eye view of the city from the roof of 
the structure. Houdon's original statue of Wash- 
ington, as well as the same artist's bust of Lafay- 
ette, attracted much attention and criticism. Most 
agreed that the traditional features and form of 
the " Father of his Country " as portrayed in Craw- 
ford's equestrian statue were to be preferred to 
the result of the French sculptor's measurements. 
The three-story stove, which used to warm the 
House of Burgesses at Williamsburg, and which 
the last century pronounced a " masterpiece not to 
be equaled in all Europe," caught the eyes of the 
curious, while the numerous portraits of the noted 
sons of Virginia won the attention of the historic- 
ally inclined. The party as a whole, however, 
found the statues in the well-shaded Capitol square 
more attractive than the pictures of the same 
heroes in the gallery. 

A drive about the city not only showed many 
points of historical interest, as the Jefferson Davis 
mansion, St. John's Church, the scene of Patrick 
Henry's " Give me liberty or give me death," the 
sites of Libby Prison and of Belle Isle, Washing- 
ton's headquarters where, by the way, we saw 
and heard much that should lead to immediate 
corrections in what have hitherto been regarded 



as standard historical works but also revealed 
evidences of commercial prosperity in crowded 
business streets, in an imposing city building, in 
elegant private residences, and in two costly 
monumental memorials to the "lost cause." 

On proceeding to Norfolk on Friday we crossed 
a bit of the Great Dismal Swamp, and had our 
first experience with a narrow-gauge Pullman, on 
which a few only traveled to Virginia Beach. In 
the rush of a returning excursion we lost for a 
few hours at Norfolk a representative of the 
Trustees' Section. That no other separation 
occurred in so large a party and so extended a 
trip was not due alone to that disposition toward 
order and method characteristic of librarians, but 
in great measure to the untiring labor of Mr. 
Ayer, the representative of Messrs. Raymond & 
Whitcomb, who not only kept travelers and 
trunks together, but with commendable impar- 
tiality assigned us all good rooms at the hotels. 
The word hotels reminds the writer that we 
sampled several excellent ones, but he believes 
the suffrages of his fellow-voyagers will be cast 
unanimously for the Princess Anne of Virginia 
Beach. The day spent there in watching old 
ocean roll in on the limitless strand cannot be 
described. The rest! and pleasure it afforded 
must be felt to be understood. 

Saturday afternoon took us back to Norfolk, 
where the energetic people visited the Navy Yard, 
while the rest were satisfied with a processional 
walk along the main street. A beautiful sail at 
sunset took us out of the Elizabeth River and 
across Hampton Roads, the scene of the duel 
between the Monitor and the Merrimac, to Fort- 
ress Monroe. Here our party of sixty was like 
a drop in the bucket to the host that the Hygeia 
Hotel can and does care for the year round. 
Sunday was given to rest and to religious services 
both at the chapel in the fort and at Hampton 
Institute. On Monday another visit was paid to 
the institute, addresses were made, and negro 
melodies were sung by the students. The national 
holiday brought crowds of gaily'dressed people of 
color to the steamer landing ; and the extensive 
piazzas of the hotel, with their outlook on the 
bay across which steamers and sailing vessels 
were in constant motion, afforded ample oppor- 
tunity for sight-seeing to the stayers-at-home. 

Despite its reputation as a health resort it was 
rumored that several of the party preferred to 
keep quiet during their sojourn at Fortress Mon- 
roe. Even the representative of the medical pro- 
fession, who had been throughout the trip untir- 



9 8 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



ing in his exertions for others' health and 
happiness, is said to have looked most decidedly 
uncomfortable as the steamer moved away from 
Old Point Comfort. 

A quiet night's run brought us up Chesapeake 
Bay into the Potomac, and a long, bright morn- 
ing enabled those who were early risers and did 
not linger over breakfast to see Mount Vernon 
and many miles of the beautiful banks of the 
river. A transfer across Washington with a part- 



ing glance at the Capitol, the selecting of one's 
trunk, and the finding of a seat in the New York 
express, practically ended the Post-Conference 
excursion. Several left us at this point, many 
more at Philadelphia, and those who said good- 
bye to each other on the ferry-boat at Jersey City 
were only a fraction of the number who would 
vote with both hands that the Post-Conference of 
1892 was, like all its predecessors, a grand success. 



THE SOCIAL EVENING. 



If all the bright sayings aad funny stories con- 
tained in the speeches made at the annual dinner 
at the Laurel House, Wednesday evening, could 
have been taken down by the stenographer, this 
report would be a mine of wealth to future seekers 
for such material. That gentleman, however, like 
the rest of the one hundred and sixty who took 
their places at the beautifully decorated and boun- 
tifully spread tables, and knew that they were not 
to be called on, gave himself entirely to the enjoy- 
ment of the occasion, and consequently, with two 
fortunate exceptions, only the names can be 
recorded of those who contributed to the intel- 
lectual entertainment of the hour. 

President FLETCHER, in a few witty words and 
graceful phrases, called upon Mr. C. C. SOULE to 
act as toastmaster, and he in turn, as needs hardly 
be said to those who know him, gave a most happy 
introduction to each of the followin speakersg: 
Secretary Hill, who read a letter of regret from 
ex-President Cleveland; Mr. J. C. Dana, Miss H. 
P. James, Col. Weston Flint, Mr. C. R. Dudley, 
Mr. E. J. Farquhar, Mr. W. R. Eastman, Mr. W. 
I. Fletcher, Dr. E. J. Nolan, Mr. James Bain, Jr., 
Mr. J. P. Dunn, Mr. C. A. Cutter, Mr. Melvil 
Dewey, Mr. E. C. Hovey, Dr. E. C. Richardson, 
Mr. F. M. Crunden. 

Mr. H. L. KOOPMAN, in response to a toast on 
the summer resorts of Maine, recited the following 
lines : 

UNHIDDEN. 

billowy Pines afar, 

That belt with purple the sea. 
Do you think with your boughs to bar 
The infinite ocean from me? 

1 see in the wavy line 

That you pencil on the sky, 
The sweep which the swaying brine 
Takes on when the wind is high. 



The delicate, shifting blue, 

That silkenly veils you alway, 
Is only the ocean's hue, 

Which, hiding, you betray. 

And I know that, if I came nigh, 

Your own would reveal to me 
The ocean's tremulous sigh, 

And its perfume wafted free ! 

Mr. F. M. CRUNDEN read the following stanzas 
composed for the occasion by a lady present : 

AN A. L. A. CONFERENCE OF THE FUTURE. 

A stranger once at good St. Peter's gate 
Knocked, with some qualms, for it was growing late, 
But his tired face so meek and guileless seemed, 
The burly warder fairly on him beamed, 
And made great haste the gates to open throw 
And urged him into heaven without ado. 

" Thou hast a weary look," the warder said. 
' Make of my great-coat here a passing bed ; 
Lay down thy pack and take a moment's rest, 
And tell me who thou art, my new-come guest." 
But the mild stranger firmly turned away, 
And said, " Not yet I seek the A. L. A." 

"The A. L. A. ? " St. Peter scratched his head. 

" ThoH hast a curious language, for the dead. 

Me thinks thou'rt more alive than many be 

Who come from earth to stay in heaven with me." 

" Oh, I'm not dead," the placid man replied. 

" Then thou'rt the first man here who hath not died, 

" Except, of course, Elijah and a few 

Old Bible worthies. How did'st scramble through ? " 

The stranger fumbled in the heavy pack 

That was swung loosely on his stooping back, 

And soon produced, with visage much elate, 

A duly signed and stamped certificate. 

He sat him down the worthy saint beside, 
And said, " I'll stay, whatever me betide, 
Till I have told thee of the A. L. A. 
And how upon the earth it made its way, 
Until we come, most ancient, worthy clerk, 
To spread in heaven our missionary work." 



THE SOCIAL EVENING. 



99 



St. Peter stroked his beard and faintly smiled, 
But could not be much wroth with man so mild, 
And thereupon the visitor began : 
" Our meeting last year held we in Japan. 
You'd be surprised how fast the new way took 
Out there of analyzing every book. 

" The year before we visited Peru, 

And there we found them quite receptive, too ; 

The Icelanders have dined and wined us twice, 

The wild Australians we have found quite nice ; 

In fact, the habitable globe we say 

Has now been covered by the A. L. A. 



Where books once burned on expurgatorial pyres 
" Even in their ashes" show their wonted fire. 
Suffice to say that when they came to go 
Little was left for heavenly folk to know 
Concerning library science and the way 
To start a library and make it pay. 

The angels listened with angelic mien 
To wonders never heard of, much less seen j 
And when close questioned upon that and this, 
Reminded them that " Ignorance is bliss;" 
And as bliss reigns in heaven, it follows, too, 
That information clerks have naught to do, 



" In Thebes by giving many careful looks 
' The lady president of the hall of books ' 
We found inscribed on an old temple wall, 
That stood erect at time of Adam's fall ; 
And this the Library School insists doth show 
That women managed libraries long ago. 

" We were invited once to the Soudan, 

But the librarian's not a fighting man. 

And we have ladies with us always, so 

We had to let that invitation go. 

There were some tears shed we had hoped to please 

With library millin'ry the Soudanese. 



This lamentable state excited grief 
It seemed so curious it passed belief 
That we on earth should trouble so about 
Things that the angels do so well without. 
Forthwith an "Angels' Section " they must forifl, 
And heaven's ignorance must take by storm. 

The week passed by, as A. L. A. weeks do, 
And loads of work were swiftly gotten through ; 
The seed of new ideas thickly sown, 
Though for contention none could find a bone, 
And it was oft remarked how very clear 
From animadversion was the atmosphere* 



" And o at our last meeting it was clear 

We had no place for meeting excapt here. 

I hope we're welcome. Welcome though or not, 

Since Lakewood I've not seen a lovelier spot. 

I seem to be the first the rest are near, 

For words of occult meaning I now hear." 

And sure enough ; a babel now was heard 

Of which the puzzled saint scarce knew a word 

" Shelf-lists" and "order-lists," and "binders' blanks," 

And something about " catalogues and cranks," 

"Classification," " alphabeting," "glue," 

And " 1917.34 Copy 2." 

The mild man rose with ardor in his eye, 
And introduced them as they hastened by. 
And soon the secretary was at work 
Arranging things with heaven's ancient clerk ; 
Fixing headquarters, learning heavenly rules, 
And giving information as to schools. 

When they at last had all been taken in, 
The great gate fastened with its usual pin, 
And all had wandered off in twos and threes, 
Presumably in search of libraries, 
The saint, for want of something else to say, 
Said, " Very curious crowd, this A. L. A." 

The time would fail me should I try to tell 
Of all the meetings, or on small things dwell ; 
I must not fail to note, though, in my story 
A little side trip planned to Purgatory ; 
And make no doubt, if there had been no ladies, 
They would have seen the libraries in Hades, 



When the last missionary disappeared, 

Leaving St. Peter pulling at his beard, 

When the last " Come and see us " had been said 

For no one quite remembered who was dead 

And who alive in that strange mingling there 

The warder barred his gate and took his chair. 

And straightway a committee near him drew 
Angels had learned if you would put things through 
Committees must be formed, and so they sent 
Ten of their number them to represent ; 
And these ten voiced their grievance with such power 
St. Peter ne'er forgot that luckless hour. 

" A headache was not known in heaven before, 
Till over book numbers we had to pore," 
Said one ; and then another, " I'm too weak 
From studying cataloguing even to speak ; " 
And so a third, " What with that binding-bee 
And shelf-list rules, they've nearly finished me." 

"And now, St. Peter" this in concert said 

" Put up some sort of habitable shed 

Outside the walls, and if these good folk come 

Again, just let them understand that that's their home. 

We can't be stirred up thus another day 

Never again let in the A. L. A." 

On adjourning to the hotel parlors it was found 
that the ladies of the Social Committee had pre- 
pared an elaborate entertainment, made up of 
charades, songs, and recitations, and though this 
was somewhat cut short by the lateness of the 
hour, it was keenly enjoyed by the large number 
who lingered. 



IOO 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



ABBREVIATIONS: F., Free; L., Library; Ln., Librarian; 

P., Public; As., Assistant. 

b before the name indicates not registered till Baltimore. 
in before the name indicates not registered till Washington. 
* prefixed indicates participation in the Post-Conference 

Excursion, May 23-31. 

Adams, Emma L., Ln. P. L., Plainfield, N. J. 
Adams, Harriet A., Ln. P. L., SomerviUe, Mass. 
b Adams, Herbert B., Trustee Amherst College, 
Prof, in Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, Md. 

* Alexander, Caroline M., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 
Allan, Jessie, Ln. P. L., Omaha, Neb. 

Angell, M.. M., ist As. Ln., Providence Athe- 
naeum, Providence, R. I. 

*Ayer, F:E., Boston, Mass. 

Ayres, S: G., Ln. Drew Theological L., Madison, 
N.J. 

Bailey, E.. L., Trenton, N. J. 

Bain, James, jr., Ln. P. L., Toronto, Canada. 

Baker, Bessie, class '93, N. Y. State Library 
School. 

Baker, G: H., Ln. Columbia College, New York 
City. 

Banks, Mrs. M. H. G., Ln. Wyoming Seminary, 
Kingston, Pa. 

Bard well, W: A., Ln. Brooklyn L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Bardwell, Mrs. W: A., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

* Barton, Edmund M., Ln. Amer. Antiquarian 

Soc., Worcester, Mass. 
Beer, W: M., Ln. Howard Memorial L., New 

Orleans, La. 
Bell, Helen M., Ln. Roxbury Branch Boston P. 

L., Roxbury, Mass. 

* Bennett, L. L., Beverly, Mass. 

* Bennett, Robert G., Beverly, Mass. 

Berry, Silas H., Ln. Y. M. C. A., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Bevier, Louis, Jr., Prof. Rutgers College, New 

Brunswick, N. J. 
Biscoe, . Walter S., Catalog Ln. N. Y. State L., 

Albany, N. Y. 
Boland, Frank T., Stenographer Univ. State L. 

N. Y., Albany, N. Y. 
Bond, Mrs. S.. A. C., Cataloger Library Bureau, 

Boston, Mass. 

w Bowker, R: R., Trustee Brooklyn L. 
b Brackett, Jeffrey R., Manager New Mercantile 

L., Baltimore, Md. 
Bradley, I: S., As. Ln. State Hist. Soc., Madison, 

Wis. 

Breckenridge, Mrs. S. M., Ref. dept. P. L., Cleve- 
land, O. 
Brett, W: H., Ln. P. L., Cleveland, O. 



Brown, Mrs. M.. G., Ln. Abbott P. L., Marble- 
head, Mass. 

* Browne, Nina E., Shelf-lister N. Y. State L., 

Albany, N. Y. 
Burdick, Esther H., Head Cataloger P. L., Jersey 

City, N. J. 
Bursch, D. F. W., Library Training Class, Pratt 

Inst., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Camp, D. N., Library Manager New Britain Inst., 

New Britain, Conn. 

* Carr, Henry J., Ln. P. L., Scranton, Pa. 

* Carr, Mrs. Henry J., Scranton, Pa. 
Carver, L. D., Ln. Me. State L., Augusta, Me. 
Cattell, S.. W., Ln. Y. W. C. A., New York City. 
Chase, F: A., Ln. P. L., Lowell, Mass. 
Christman, Jennie L., class '93, N. Y. State 

Library School. 

Clark, Don L., class '93, N. Y. State Library 
School. 

Clarke, Edith E., Head Cataloger Newberry L., 
Chicago, III. 

Clarke, Mrs. Joseph M., Syracuse, N. Y. 

Clarke, Ralph G., N. Y. Manager Library Bureau, 
New York City. 

Coe, Ellen M., Ln. N. Y. Free Circulating L., 
New York City. 

Colburn, Maria E., Trustee Norwood L., Nor- 
wood, Mass. 

Cole, G: W., Ln. F. P. L., Jersey City, N. J. 

Cole, Joseph E., Trustee Harris Inst., Woon- 
socket, R. I. 

Cole, Mrs. Joseph E., Woonsocket, R. I. 

Cole, T. L., Bookseller, Washington, D. C. 

Conant, Luther, As. Ln. Scoville Inst., Chicago, 111. 

Cooke, H. H., Manager L. dept. A. C. McClurg 
& Co., Chicago, 111. 

Cragin, Miss, Ln. George Bruce Memorial Branch 
N. Y. Free Circulating L., New York City. 

*Crandall, M.. I., Cataloger Newberry L., Chicago, 
111. 

Crane, Hattie H., Cataloger F. P. L., Newark, 
N.J. 

Crunden, F: M., Ln. P. L., St. Louis, Mo. 

Crunden, Mrs. F: M., St. Louis, Mo. 

Crunden, Mrs. M. M., St. Louis, Mo. 

w Curtis, G: T., Law Ln. L. of Congress, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

* Cutler, Louisa S., Florence, Mass. 

* Cutler, M.. S., Vice-Director Library School, 

Library Examiner University of State of N. Y., 
and Ln. of Diocesan Lending L., Albany, N. Y. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



101 



* Cutter, C: A., Ln. Boston Athenaeum, Boston, 
Mass. 

Dana, J: C., Ln. P. L., Denver, Col. 
Dana, Mrs. J: C., Denver, Col. 

* Davidson, H. E., Sec. Library Bureau, Boston, 

Mass. 

* Davidson, Mrs. H. E., Mt. Auburn, Mass. 
Davis, M.. L., class '92, N. Y. State Library 

School. 
Denio, Lilian, Ln. N. Y. College for Training of 

Teachers, New York City. 
Devries, W: L., As. Ln. Johns Hopkins Univ., 

Baltimore, Md. 
*Dewey, Melvil, Director N. Y. State L. and 

Library School, Albany, N. Y. 
*Dewey, Mrs. Annie, Chairman Library Com. 

Y. W. C. A. and Diocesan Lending L., Albany, 

N. Y. 
Dexter, Lydia A., Cataloger Newberry L., Chicago, 

111. 

Dudley, C: R., Ln. Mercantile L., Denver, Col. 
Dunn, Jacob Piatt, jr., Ln. Ind. State L., Indian- 
apolis, Ind. 
Eastman, W: R., class '92, N. Y. State Library 

School. 

* Eddy, Cornelia, Brockton, Mass. 

Edmands, John, Ln. Mercantile L., Philadelphia, 
Pa. 

Edmands, Mrs. Ellen M., Philadelphia, Pa. 

Ellis, Mary, class '92, N. Y. State Library School. 

Fairbanks, Mittie B., class '93, N. Y. State 
Library School. 

Farquhar, Edward, As. Ln. Patent Office, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

Feary, C.. S., class '91, N. Y. State Library School. 

Fletcher, W: I., Ln. Amherst College, Amherst, 
Mass. 

Flint, Weston, Statistician U. S. Bureau Educa- 
tion, Washington, D. C. 

Foote, E.. L., class '92, N. Y. State Library School. 

Forsyth, Walter G., class "93, N. Y. State Library 
School. 

Foster, W: E., Ln. P. L., Providence, R. I. 

Foster, Mrs. W: E., Providence, R. I. 

Fowler, Mary, Cataloger Cornell Univ., Ithaca, 
N. Y. 

Freckman, Lily, Ln. Bond St. Branch N. Y. Free 
Circulating L., New York City. 

* Garland, Caroline H., Ln. P. L., Dover, N. H. 
Gay, Clara F., Norwood, Mass. 

b Gilman, Daniel C., Pres. Johns Hopkins Univ., 
Baltimore, Md. 

Glenn, J: M., Treas. New Mercantile L., Balti- 
more, Md. 



Green, Harriet E., Instructor in N. Y. State 
Library School, Cataloger Boston Athenaeum, 
Boston, Mass. 

* Green, Mrs. James, Worcester, Mass. 

* Green, S: S., Ln. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 
Griswold, W: M., Bibliographer, Cambridge, 

Mass. 
Haines, Martha B., Reading-room F. P. L., 

Newark, N. J. 

Harison, W: Beverly, Bookseller, New York City. 
Harris, Emma G., Trustee Harris Inst., Woon- 

socket, R. I. 
Harris, G: W., Ln. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N. Y. 

* Harrison, Joseph L., class '93, N. Y. State 
Library School. 

Hartt, C.. E., Ln. F. P. L., Passaic, N. J. 

*Hawley, M.. E., class '93, N. Y. State Library 
School. 

Hitchler, Theresa, Cataloger N. Y. Free Circulat- 
ing L., New York City. 

Hild, F: H., Ln. P. L., Chicago, 111. 

Hill, Frank P., Ln. F. P. L., Newark, N. J. 

Hill, Mrs. Frank P., Newark, N. J. 

Houghton, J: C., Ln. F. P. L., Lynn, Mass. 

Hovey, E. C., Trustee P. L., Brookline, Mass. 

Howell, G: R., Archivist, N. Y. State L., Albany, 
N. Y. 

Hubbell, Maria T., As. Ln. P. L., Cleveland, O. 

Hulbert, Nellie M., class '93, N. Y. State Library 
School. 

Hull, Fanny, Ln. Union for Christian Work, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 

lies, George, Journalist, New York city. 

James, G: F., General Sec. Amer. Soc. Extension 
Univ. Teaching, Univ. of Pa., Philadelphia, Pa. 

* James, Hannah P., Ln. Osterhout F. L., Wilkes- 

Barre, Pa. 
Jaquith, Mrs. O. B., Ln. Norman Williams P. L., 

Woodstock, Vt. 
Jennings, Judson T., Ln. Y. M. C. A., Albany, 

N. Y. 

* Johnston, D. V. R., Reference Ln. N. Y. State 

L., Albany, N. Y. 
Johnston, S.. B., Trenton, N. J. 

* Jones, Gardner M., Ln. P. L., Salem, Mass. 

* Jones, M.. L., class '92, N. Y. State Libiary 

School. 

Knerringer, Jennie, New Haven, Conn. 

Knowles, Miss E. F., As. Boston Athenajum, Bos- 
ton, Mass. 

Koopman, Harry L., Cataloger Univ. of Vermont, 
Burlington, Vt. 

Kroeger, Alice B., Ln. Drexel Inst., Philadelphia, 
Pa. 



IO2 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



* Lane, C.. G., As. Ln. Bowdoin College, Bruns- 
wick, Me. 

Lane, Mrs. C. M., Cambridge, Mass. 
Lane, W: C., As. Ln. Harvard College, Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 
Lanning, Bessie, As. Ln. F. P. L., Paterson, N. J. 

* Lapham, Alice M., class '93, N. Y. State Library 
School. 

Lamed, Anne Murray, Buffalo, N. Y. 
Lamed, J. N., Supt. Buffalo L., Buffalo, N. Y. 
Lazell, Annie W., Library Training Class, Pratt 

Inst., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Leavitt, C.. D., Ln. P. L., Elyria, O. 
*wLee, Mrs. S. P., Washington, D. C. 
Little, Agnes E., Cataloger Pratt Inst., Brooklyn, 

N. Y. 

* Little, G: T., Ln. Bowdoin College, Brunswick, 

Me. 
Loomis, Mrs. M.. W., class '90, N. Y. State 

Library School. 
Lord, Lucy S., Ipswich, Mass. 
Lounsbury, Henrietta, class '93, N. Y. State 

Library School. 
Lowdermilk, W: H., Bookseller, Washington, 

D. C. 
JMcCaine, Mrs. Helen J., Ln. P. L., St. Paul, 

Minn. 

b McCaine, William, St. Paul, Minn. 
McDonnell, A.. H., Ln. P. L., Green Bay, Wis. 

* Macky, Bessie R., class '92, N. Y. State Library 

School. 

MacManus, Elizabeth, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Maltbie, C. Belle, Ln. David M. Hunt L., Falls 

Village, Conn. 

*a>Mann, B: Pickman, Bibliographer, Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

*wMann, Mrs. B: Pickman, Washington, D. C. 
Mann, Frances M., Dedham, Mass. 
*Medlicott, Mary, Reference Ln. and Cataloger 

City L., Springfield, Mass. 
Meleney, G. B., Library Bureau, Boston, Mass. 
Metcalf, Anna, Ln. Harris Inst., Woonsocket, 

R.I. 
Middleton, Jennie Y., Asst. Ln. F. P. L., Newark, 

N.J. 
Miller, Mrs. M.. H., Ln. la. State L., Des Moines, 

la. 
Montgomery, T: L., Ln. Wagner Free Inst. of 

Science, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Morningstern, W; B., Reference Dept. F. P. L., 

Newark, N. J. 
*Mosman, M.. C., Reference Ln. Pratt Inst., 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 
*Mosman, Susan G., Auburndale, Mass. 



Moulton, Frances E., Ln. P. L., Exeter, N. H. 
Murray, N., Ln. Johns Hopkins Univ., Balti- 
more, Md. 
Nelson, Martha F., Ln. Union L. (W. C. T. U.), 

Trenton, N. J. 

Neumann, C: G., Bookbinder, New York City. 
Nolan, E: J., Ln. Acad. of Natural Sciences, 

Philadelphia, Pa. 

Palmer, Mrs. C. W., New Haven, Ct. 
Parks, C. Wellman, Prof. Rensselaer Polytechnic, 

Troy, N. Y. 
Parsons, Francis H., Chief Library and Archives 

Division, U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

Washington, D. C. 
Patten, Frank C., Curator of Catalog, N. Y. State 

L., Albany, N. Y. 
a; Paul, H. M., As. Astronomer and Ln. U. S. 

Naval Observatory, Washington, D. C. 
Peck, A. L., Ln. F. L., Gloversville, N. Y. 
Peoples, W: T., Ln. Mercantile L., New York 

City. 

Plummer, M.. W., Ln. Pratt Inst., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Pomeroy, Edith M., Library Training Class, Pratt 

Inst., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Poole, Reuben B., Ln. Y. M. C. A., New York 

City. 

Poole, William F., Ln. Newberry L., Chicago, 111. 
b Powell, L. P., Ln. Dept. of History and Politics, 

Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, Md. 
Ranck, S: H., Acting Ln. Enoch Pratt F. L., 

Baltimore, Md. 
Rathbone, Josephine A., class '93, N. Y. State 

Library School. 

*Rice, Mrs. D: H., Brookline, Mass. 
Richardson, Alice M., As. Cataloger College of 

N. J., Princeton, N. J. 
Richardson, Ernest C., Ln. College of N. J., 

Princeton, N. J. 

Richardson, Mrs. Ernest C., Princeton, N. J. 
Richardson, M.. A., Ln. P. L., New London, Ct. 
Robbins, M.. L., class '92, N. Y. State Library 

School. 

*wRyman, Mrs. W. P., Wilkes-Barre", Pa. 
Sanders, Mrs. Minerva A., Ln. F. P. L., Pawtucket, 

R. L 
Sargent, Abby L., Ln. Middlesex Mechanics 

Assoc., Lowell, Mass. 
Sargent, M.. E., Ln. P. L., Medford, Mass. 
Sauer, Ella, Ln. Jackson Square Branch N. Y. 

Free Circulating L., New York City. 
Schleicher, Adolphe, Bookseller, Paris, France. 
Schroeder, Bertha,L., Ln. Branch L., Cleveland, O. 
w Scudder, Newton P., As. Ln. Smithsonian Inst, 

Washington, D. C. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



103 



See, Cornelia A., Ln. P. L., New Brunswick, N. J. 

*Selby, Emily H., ex-Ln. 111. State L., Spring- 
field, 111. 

Seymour, May, Sub-Ln. N. Y. State L., Albany, 
N. Y. 

* Sharp, Katharine L., class '92, N. Y. State 

Library School. 

* Sheldon, Helen G., class '93, N. Y. State Library 

School. 

Sherman, Deborah K., Yonkers, N. Y. 
Sherman, Emma W., Index dept. Library Bureau, 

Boston, Mass. 

Shipley, Susan G., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Simon, Hermine, As. P. L., Cleveland, O. 
Simpson, Medora J., Ln. Fitz P. L., Chelsea, Mass. 
Skinner, Ethel K., Library Training Class, Pratt 

Inst., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

* Smith, M.. E., Pres. Library Assoc., Durham, 

N. H. 
Smith, Mabelle M., Library Training Class, Pratt 

Inst., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Solberg, Thorvald, Boston Book Co., Boston, 

Mass. 
Soule, C: C., Trustee P. L., Brookline, Mass. 

* Southworth, Myra F., Ln. P. L., Brockton, Mass. 
Speirs, C. E., Bookseller, New York City. 

w Spofford, A. R., Ln. of Congress, Washington, 

D. C. 

Sprogle, Mrs. Ema K., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Sprogle, Howard O., Editor, Philadelphia, Pa. 

* Stechert, Gustav E., Bookseller, New York City. 

* Stechert, Mrs. Gustav E., New York City. 
Steele, Miss A. A., Cambridge, Mass. 
Steinburger, Miss, Ln. Ottendorfer Branch N. Y. 

Free Circulating L., New York City. 

Stetson, Willis K.,Ln. F. P. L., New Haven, Ct. 

Sutliff, M.. L., class '93, N. Y. State Library 
School. 

Swayze, M.. C., New York City. 

*Talcott, Eliza S., As. Ln. Hartford Library 
Assoc., Hartford, Conn. 

Tatum, S.. M., As. Ln. Apprentices' L., Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

Temple, Mabel, ex-Cataloger Colgate Univ., 
Hamilton, N. Y. 

Thomas, Rev. Joseph C., Ln. Methodist Book 
Concern L., New York City. 

Thompson, J. B., New Brunswick, N. J. 

* Thurston, E.. P., Ln. F. L., Newton, Mass. 



Tower, Mrs. H. M., Cambridgeport, Mass. 

* Tuck, Joseph D., Trustee P. L., Beverly, Mass. 
Tuttle, Mrs. S., Paterson, N. J. 

b Uhler, P. R., Provost and Ln. Peabody Inst., 
Baltimore, Md. 

b Uhler, Mrs. P. R., Baltimore, Md. 

Underbill, Adelaide, Cataloger Columbia College, 
New York City. 

Underbill, Caroline M., Ln. Apprentices' L., Phil- 
adelphia, Pa. 

* Utley, Frances H., Detroit, Mich. 

* Utley, H: M., Ln. P. L., Detroit, Mich. 

* Van Hoevenberg, Alma R., class 93, N. Y. State 

Library School. 
Van Hoevenberg, Mrs. Esther M., New York 

City. 
Van Name, Addison, Ln. Yale Univ., New 

Haven, Conn. 
*Wadley, Mrs. Moses, Augusta, Ga. 

* Wadley, Nellie, Augusta, Ga. 

Ward, W: Hayes, Editor, Newark, N. J. 

Weeks, Nina M., Newark, N. J. 

Weeks, W: R., Newark, N. J. 

Weeks, Mrs. W: R., Newark, N. J. 

Weller, Eleanor G., As. Ln. F. P. L., Paterson, 

N.J. 

Wells, Caroline, Ln. P. L., Rahway, N. J. 
b Weitenkampf, Frank, As. Ln. Astor L., New 

York City. 
Wheeler, Martha T., Indexer N. Y. State L., 

Albany, N. Y. 

* Whitney, Mrs. Carrie W., Ln. P. L., Kansas 
City, Mo. 

Wiley, Edwin M., Apprentice Harvard College, 

Cambridge, Mass. 
Williams, J: F., Ln. Minn. Hist. Soc., St. Paul, 

Minn. 

Winchester, G: F., Ln. F. P. L., Paterson, N. J. 
Wing, J. N., Bookseller, New York City. 

* Winser, Beatrice, Cataloger F. P. L., Newark, 
N.J. 

* Wire, G: E., M. D., Supt. Medical dept. New- 
berry L., Chicago, 111. 

Woodward, A., Ln. Amer. Museum of Natural 

History, New York City. 
Yerkes, Susan H., Ln. Arthur Winter Memorial 

L., Staten Island, N. Y. 
Zimmerman, Charlotte, As. Newberry L., Chicago, 

111. 



LAKE WOOD CONFERENCE. 



ATTENDANCE SUMMARIES. 
By Nina E. Browne, New York State Library. 


i of the 8 Gulf States sent . 
8 " 8 Lake States 
2 " 7 Mountain States " 


. . -I 

. . 29 

4 


BY POSITION AND SEX. 


Canada 





9 


Men. 


Women 


Total. 


France 


" 


. I 


Trustees and other officers . 8 


5 


13 









,,, . , ... . t 


^6 


88 


Total 




. . 260 


Sub-librarians and assistants . 17 


38 


55 












2 




BY STATES 








8 




. ic students 


N. Y. State Library School . to 
Present and former students 


48 


5 


of the Library School coming from other States, but residing 
in New York during their two-years course, are registered 


Pratt Institute Library 


from the New York State Library. 


i 






Me. . . . 


... 3 


Ind. . . . 


. . I 


Library Bureau, publishers, 


4 


ifl 


N H 




111. . . . 


. . IO 


Vt. . . . 


... 2 


Mich. . . 


. 2 








Mass. . . 


... 45 


Wis.. . . 


. . 2 




47 


5 1 


R I 


... 8 




3 


118 


180 


298 


Conn . . 


... 8 


la. ... 


. . I 










Deduct those counted in two 






N. Y. . . 


. 81 


Mo. . . . 


4 














-o 


Penn. . . 


. . . 18 


Neb.. . . 


. . I 




3 


3 8 


N. I.. 


. TO 


Col. . . . 


7 


^~ 


~~ 


~~~~~ 


Md 


. . . 10 






no 


150 


260 
















D C 


12 


France . . 


. . J 


BY GEOGRAPHICAL SECTIONS. 


Ga. . . . 


... 2 






9 of the 9 No Atlantic States sent 




2OO 


La. . . . 


. . . I 


Total . . 


. . 260 


i " a So. Atlantic States " 




24 


Ohio 


6 










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