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PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



TWENTY-SEVENTH GENERAL MEETING 



OF THE 






AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 



HELD AT 

PORTLAND, ORE. 

JULY 4-7 
1905 



PUBLISHED BY THE 
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 

'9S Z- 



C O N T E|N T S 






TITLE 

Glimpses of A. L. A. travel 

Address of the President: The national library 
problem to-day 

Library conditions in the Northwest 

Libraries in the British Northwest 

What state and local library associations can do 
for library interests 

Library associations and clubs 

The Library of Congress as a national library . . 

State library administration 

Development of the state library 

State library commissions 

A model library commission law 

The work of an Eastern library commission . . . 

Travelling libraries as a first step in developing 
libraries 

Library administration on an income of from $1000 
to $5000 a year: Essentials and non-essentials. 

Library administration on an income of from $1000 
to $5000 a year: Economies in plans and methods. 

The question of library training 

Rational library work with children and the prep- 
aration for it 

Common sense and the story hour 

Carnegie libraries 

The training of students in the use of books . . . 

On the distribution of income in the college library. 

The uses of government documents in the univer- 
sity library 

Report of the Committee on Public Documents . . 
Report of the Committee on Library Administration. 
Report of the A. L. A. Publishing Board . . - . . 
Report on gifts and bequests, June-December, 1904 . 
Report on standards of library training 

Proceedings 123-186 

First Session 123-136 

Secretary's report 123 

Treasurer's report and necrology ... 125 

Report of Trustees of Endowment Fund 127.. 

Committee on Resolutions 129 

Nominations for officers 130 

Transactions of Council, Atlantic City 

meeting 130 

Report of Committee on Co-operation 

with N. E. A . 132 

Report of Committee on International 

Co-operation 133 

Second Session 136-147 

Welcome by Dr. Eliot 136 

Notes on Pacific libraries: California, 

Hawaii, The Philippines, Alaska . . 138 
A. L. A. exhibit at Portland .... 143 

Report of Committee on Title-pages and 

Indexes to Periodicals 144 

Report of Committee on Publishing 
Board facilities for A. L. A. head- 
quarters 146 

Report of Committee on Keystone State 

Index to Fiction 146 

Report of Committee on Bookbinding . 146 

Third Session 146-153 

Discussion on state libraries .... 148 

Fourth Session 153-163 

Plans of John Crerar Library .... 153 

Discussion on state library commissions 154 

Discussion on travelling libraries ... 158 

fifth Session 163-178 

Report of Special Committee on Con- 
ference on Copyright 164 



AUTHOR 



PAGE 
Frontispiece 



Ernest C. Richardson 3 

Charles W . Smith 9 

E. O. S. Scholefield 14 



/. C. Dana 17 

/. C. Dana 21 

Herbert Putnam 27 

/. L. Gillis 34 

G. S. Godard 37 

H. E. Legler 40 

Johnson Brigham 46 

Caroline M. Hewins 51 

Gratia A. Countryman 56 

5. H. Ranch 58 

Manila W . Freeman 64 

Lutie E. Stearns 68 

Frances J. Olcott 71 

Harriet E. Hassler 76 

T. W. Koch 78 

H. R. Mead 82 

Joseph C. Rowell 84 

Lodilla Ambrose 86 

Adelaide R. Hasse 92 

W. R. Eastman 102 

W. I. Fletcher 107 

J. L. Harrison no 

Mary W. Plummer 121 

Discussion on library training .... 164 
What the public library is doing for 

children . 176 

Discussion on library administration on 

$1000 to $5000 a year 177 

Sixth Session 179-186 

American Library Institute 179 

Unity and Co-operation in library work. 

Melvtl Dewey 180 

Report of Committee on Resolutions . 184 

Election of officers 185 

Catalog Section 186-191 

Variations in Library of Congress Cards, 

i898-date. J. C. M. Hanson ... 186 
State Library Commissions Section . . . 192-194 

College and Reference Section 194 

Trustees' Section 194 

Children's Librarians' Section 194 

Transactions of Council and Executive Board 195 
Bibliographical Society of America ... 198 
Pacific Coast Library Associations .... 199 
Across the continent and in the great North- 
west: a record of A. L. A. travel 
in 1905 199-218 

I. The outward journey 200 

II. A. L. A. week in Portland .... 204 

III. Along Alaska's shores 205 

IV. A glimpse of California 211 

V. In Wonderland 212 

Officers and committees 218 

Attendance register 219 

Attendance summaries 224 

National Association of State Libraries, Pro- 
ceedings and Addresses 225-252 



A-M 




UBKAHY 



322825 




The Davidson Glacier, Alaska. 

The "pilot party" at Laggan. Tulems at Old Kasaan. 

Father Duncan at New Metlahkahtla. "City of Seattle" beached at Petersburg. 



SCENES OF A. L. A. TRAVEL, PORTLAND CONFERENCE, 1905. 



CONFERENCE OF LIBRARIANS 

PORTLAND, OREGON 

JULY 4-7, 1905 
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT: THE NATIONAL LIBRARY PROBLEM 

TO-DAY 

BY ERNEST GUSHING RICHARDSON, Librarian of Princeton University 



*T*HE St. Louis Conference last year was 
international in character; China and 
Japan, Mexico and South America, and half 
a score of European countries were repre- 
sented, the libraries of many countries re- 
ported on and the progress and prospects of 
international co-operation discussed. The 
participants, the topics treated, and the 
breadth of treatment combined to make of 
this meeting the most truly cosmopolitan li- 
brary conference ever held in America. 

This year the Portland Conference has 
been treated by the program committee as 
national in its character, first, because having 
looked abroad last year we naturally turn 
again this year with peculiar vigor to home 
affairs; second, because a place of meeting 
on the Pacific Coast sets forth the fact that 
our Association is national indeed and not a 
local association with a national member- 
ship; and third, because apart even from the 
accident of opening our session on the 4th of 
July, the occasion of meeting, the Lewis and 
Clark Centennial, is one peculiarly inspiring 
to national sentiment. Great as was the ex- 
pansion represented by the Louisiana Pur- 
chase, it does not typify the continental 
stretch of our national territory, nor fire the 
popular imagination with national pride as 
does the Lewis and Clark expedition. The 
former was a "purchase," wise, fan sighted, 
involving astute international negotiation and 
decisive diplomatic action, but this other was 
an "expedition," breathing that spirit of ad- 
venture and patriotic endeavor which is pecu- 
liarly associated with the Northwest, and so 
it has become a sort of symbol of unconquer- 
able national growth. 

And so the conference this year is both 



national in its extent and national in its 
limitations, its program touching libraries 
from the Atlantic seaboard to the Philip- 
pine Islands, and its attendance represent- 
ing all sections from Maine to the Hawaiian 
Islands. 

In speaking of this conference as national 
it is not to be forgotten, however, that in the 
American Library Association two nations 
are joined together, Canada and the United 
States, but the national problems of the two 
constituent countries, where they are not iden- 
tical, are so parallel that any broad consid- 
eration of the national library problem as 
it exists to-day may venture to treat of the 
problems of the two nations as one. Canada 
and the United States are alike in their re- 
moteness from the great European libraries, 
alike in stretching from Atlantic to the Pa- 
cific, alike in the long distances between 
the various centers of population, alike in the 
progressive extension from a long settled 
east to a relatively young and pioneer west, 
and finally, alike in that fundamental problem 
of the assimilation and education of a vast 
foreign immigration which it is the privilege 
of the library to help solve. 

It is hardly necessary to say after this in- 
troduction that by the national library prob- 
lem is not meant the problem of the 
national library. The national and state li- 
braries have, to be sure, a certain right of 
pre-eminence in a national library conference, 
but both of these matters will be treated at 
other sessions the national library by the 
Librarian of Congress himself. The national 
library problem as here meant is the library 
problem of the nation at the present day, and 
in considering this theme we shall briefly 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



consider a single aspect each of the problem 
of the reference library, the problem of the 
popular library, and the problem of the A. L. 
A. with reference to these. 

The library problem in whatever locality 
is always a double one; on the one hand 
there is the library in its aid to the search for 
new ideas, on the other the library helping in 
the diffusion of common knowledge; on the 
one hand the scientific reference library, and 
on the other the popular circulating library. 
The problem of the one is to furnish to the 
men who are advancing knowledge, whether 
in science or medicine, theology or trade, all 
the books that will help them in their task; 
and of the other, to tempt the multitude to 
read readable books. 

In considering our national problem at this 
time it was the intention of this conference 
and it is the intention of this introductory 
paper to lay first stress on the work of the 
libraries and the library association in the 
promotion of that common knowledge which 
is necessary to make men good citizens, the 
library as a factor in popular education. This 
very fact, however, calls for some attention at 
this time to the scientific side, and the pro- 
priety of this has been emphasized by a 
request from the college libraries of the Pa- 
cific Coast to have their needs kept in mind 
at this conference. Let us consider, there- 
fore, for a little the national library problem 
of the reference library at the present time, 
and this concerns: 

The adequacy of American libraries as re- 
gards their books. 

When President Oilman was preparing 
plans for the Carnegie Institution at Wash- 
ington he expressed the opinion that the 
problem of American scholarship so far as 
books and libraries were concerned was pretty 
well settled. We are now so well provided 
with books, he said, that in one library or 
another we can get about everything that we 
need and we can now afford to turn our at- 
tention to other matters. This was so con- 
trary to the experience of many librarians 
and scholars, and yet so precisely expressed 
the attitude of many institutions at the pres- 
ent day, that it provoked a more systematic 
observation on several lines, as to what the 



actual resources of our American libraries 
are. 

This inquiry conveniently divided itself 
into a study of our total resources and of 
their distribution over this wide land of 
ours. And first let us guard ourselves by 
saying that it would be misleading to imply 
that the total resources of this country in the 
matter of books were insignificant. On the 
contrary, the remarkable growth of actual 
resources of the country through such libra- 
ries as those of Harvard University, the 
Library of Congress, the Boston and New 
York public libraries, the John Crerar and 
the* Newberry libraries, and many other col- 
lege, reference and special libraries, is a 
matter of just pride, but whether these are 
adequate is another matter. 

Being in position to examine a list of some 
seventeen hundred periodicals current about 
the year 1900, and to which actual biblio- 
graphical references in a certain line of work 
had been gathered, I have taken occasion to 
study these with reference to this subject. 

The list is not a miscellaneous one, but is 
one of actual references gathered which the 
user is trying to verify by referring to the 
periodicals themselves. There are, as most 
of you know, joint lists of the periodicals in 
the libraries of Boston and vicinity, includ- 
ing Harvard, of Chicago and vicinity, of 
Washington and of California, all up to date 
of 1900 or later. Moreover, there is an older 
list of periodicals, but not of transactions, in 
New York, and besides this joint lists of 
many important classes in New York 
up to recent dates published in the Bul- 
letin of the New York Public Library. 
Checking up in these various sources and 
comparing with the Astor Library catalog as 
well, some interesting results appear. These 
are, of course, subject to such corrections and 
liable to such error as such statistics must be, 
but in their general line they represent faith- 
fully the real state of things as to the ade- 
quacy of our American libraries. 

Eliminating the duplicate, doubtful, and 
those with incomplete comparative data, there 
remained a list of 1216 substantial series, 
perhaps 1-3 historical, 1-3 theological and' 
philosophical, and the remainder scattered 
over the whole field, but chiefly in philology,. 



RICHARDSON 



literature, political and economic science. 478 
of these series cannot be found in any of the 
above sources. In other words 40% of these 
series, containing actual bibliographical ref- 
erences which an actual investigator is trying 
to verify, cannot be found by him readily 
anywhere in the United States. 

It is true that a considerable number of 
these will perhaps be found in other libraries 
not included in these lists. 131 of the 478 
series not to be found in any library, for ex- 
ample, relate to European history, and of 
these some will undoubtedly be found at 
Madison, Wis., and some probably at Cornell, 
the University of Pennsylvania, and else- 
where. But set over against this on the other 
hand the fact that a very large proportion of 
the total number consists of periodicals pub- 
lished in America and, on the basis of the 
figures of 478 out of 1216, not to be found in 
any of these libraries, it is a very conserva- 
tive statement to say that of these definitely 
wanted books more than one-half of those 
published abroad are not to be found in any 
library of the United States. 

If it is said that we have all of the more im- 
portant works and those lacking are of sec- 
ondary importance, it may be said in the first 
place that this is not true an analysis of 
the series shows many of first importance 
and, in the second place, if it were true, it 
would still be the fact that these books are 
only such as in someone's judgment had 
something of scholarly value in some line, the 
best things, in short, for persons working in 
that line. And of these tested books less 
than half can be found anywhere in the 
United States. 

So much for the total adequacy of our 
American libraries. A word now as to the 
distribution of these resources. Here the 
condition of things is even more striking. 
It is a far call for a book from the Pacific 
Coast to Chicago or New York, and yet only 
368 out of the 1216 sets are to be found in 
the California libraries. For 798 out of 1216 
sets wanted, the Pacific Coast student must 
go to the Atlantic Coast, and there are 50 
more, making a total of 858 in all which he 
cannot find nearer than Chicago. 

On the other hand, there are less than half 
a dozen of these series which cannot be found 



in the East and yet can be found on the 
Pacific Coast, though at Boston there are 20, 
at Chicago 50, at New York 65, and at Wash- 
ington 27, which can be found in that lo- 
cality only and nowhere else in the United 
States. There is thus, besides the 478 which 
cannot be found anywhere, a total of say 164 
which can be found only at one point in the 
United States. 

There is no doubt that our resources have 
grown greatly, but so long as it remains true 
that a California student must go 6000 miles 
for 45 per cent, of the works actually wanted 
on the subject, and 3,000 miles for 25 per 
cent, more, only finding 30 per cent, anywhere 
on the Pacific slope, the library resources of 
the country cannot be looked upon with 
complacency as adequate. 

Moreover, among these 370 periodicals not 
to be found in the California libraries, but 
found somewhere in the East, there are no 
less than 40 of which there are six or more 
copies in the eastern libraries, and of which 
there is not one copy in the California libra- 
ries. The average among these 40 is 9, and 
among them there is one with 17, one with 
15, one with 13, three with 12 and three with 
II copies, while the Pacific Coast is without 
a single copy. Chicago, for example, often 
has two or three or more copies of a period- 
ical which is not to be found in California, 
while at the same time it lacks 114 periodicals 
which some one other locality east or west 
has, and 478 which no library in the United 
States seems to have. 

These figures show that, splendid as is the 
progress of our great libraries in the supply 
of books, we lack at these points : 

1. In our grand total we lack 40 to 67 per 
cent, of a minimum total of books needed 
and published abroad. 

2. The distribution of our books is such 
that one locality may have a dozen copies of 
a volume, while another has none at all. 

A remedy for this state of things does not 
lie in having each of the great libraries start 
up and buy these 478 periodicals now as fast 
as they have opportunity. This sort of thing 
we have been doing a great deal of and the 
net result is that only a small portion is 
gotten, for which we have paid much more 
than it was necessary, and which are distrib- 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



uted by accident, so that there may be several 
copies at one center and none in any of the 
others. 

The remedy lies rather : 
I st. In co-operation in purchase and dis- 
tribution. By this is meant, not the actual 
pooling and buying by a single agent, but 
the distribution by agreement among the li- 
braries, of the important works which shall 
be acquired by each, so that not more than 
one or two copies of the less used works shall 
be purchased in each locality. In many cases 
a single copy in the Library of Congress 
would be enough. It would be a compara- 
tively small matter to distribute 500 or 1000 
series among the libraries of any one locality 
in such a way that the burden of seeing that 
they were all accessible should not be very 
great. It is a simple, common sense matter 
of co-operation, which calls for only a little 
forethought and reasonable application of 
the principle of community of interest. 

2d. Cheapening of the postal rates would 
be one of the very best means for relieving 
the acuteness of the problem of the scholar 
in the United States. 

It is a matter of frequent observation to 
the student working abroad that the moder- 
ate postal charges, in Germany, for example, 
make it possible to get the books, which do 
not happen to be in a single center, at a mod- 
erate expense. 

Our problem in the United States in this di- 
rection is such that a reducing of our postal 
rates would be of still greater use and would 
go far to help the student's serious problem. 
3d. At the basis of either co-operative pur- 
chase, co-operative distribution, or the use 
by the student in one locality of books in 
another, by use of the mails, lies, of course, 
the co-operative list. 

After 30 years' experience in libraries and 
a recent extensive experience of existing co- 
operative catalogs of periodicals in this coun- 
try and abroad, I have no hesitation in saying 
that there is no point in library practice 
where capital and organization could be so 
profitably applied to an economical solution 
of our national library problem of an ade- 
quate book supply as in the immediate and 
considerable extension of the co-operative 
book list. 

Let us turn now to the second and more 



pressing half of our national problem the 
public library in popular education, 

The public library as a maker of good 
citizens. 

I do not say that this second half of the 
problem is the greater one. The work of 
the inventor, the scholar and the poet, is as 
necessary to national progress as the ele- 
mentary education of the average man. 
Without them, mediocrity rules, and a medi- 
ocre nation can never win in the struggle 
for existence among nations, for it is only 
educated directing genius, armed with the 
best that competing invention can furnish, 
that can win either in economic or in mili- 
tary struggle. A nation's very existence, 
therefore, depends on its science and its 
science largely on accumulated results re- 
corded in books. 

But the immediate problem of the library 
as concerned with elementary education is, 
in fact, the more pressing one, because it con- 
cerns not so much future progress and pro- 
longed existence as it does our very existence 
itself at the present time. 

The army of children reaching school age 
year after year and clamoring for education 
is enough in itself to make the problem press- 
ing, but beyond this common and routine 
problem three of our chief problems to-day 
the negroes, the Philippines and the immi- 
grants depend for their solution on popular 
education, by which we mean the education 
of every one without exception in certain 
fundamental ideas. 

Without tangling ourselves too deeply in 
philosophy, we may note that there are two 
facts wm'ch lie very near the foundation of 
things : 

ist. The fact that a man and his ideas are 
one and the same thing; 

2d. The fact that the unity of a nation or 
any society lies in the ideas which all its 
members hold in common, in the like-mind- 
edness of its individuals. 

The Sanskrit philosopher of three thousand 
years ago agrees with the modern psycholo- 
gist when he says that, "We are our 
thoughts; we are made up out of our 
thoughts?-' In quantity, quality, form, char- 
acter, a man is the sum total of his knowl- 
edge. The vital thing, therefore, about a man 



RICHARDSON 



is the sort of ideas that he holds; the vital 
thing about a nation is the set of ideas in 
which all its members agree. 

Therefore it is that we may say without 
dogmatism that the solution of these prob- 
lems lies in popular elementary education, 
and it is for this reason -that the modern pa- 
triotic librarian takes up with special enthu- 
siasm his part in the task of making good 
citizens of every resident of the nation. 

The average library represented here to- 
day has of course little to do with negro or 
Philippine education, but there is hardly one 
which does not deal in some form with the 
problem of "Americans in the making," and 
the libraries of this Pacific slope have the 
hardest end of this problem, for they have to 
do with the assimilation of the most unlike, 
the Orientals. 

Consider for a moment how the matter lies 
from.' this point of view : The thing which 
holds a nation together, we have said, is the 
body of common ideas. These common ideas 
are expressed in a constitution or a body of 
laws or in popular proverbs, common quota- 
tions, striking phrases, or else in a more gen- 
eral way, in the common law and in a na- 
tional literature. Right or wrong, we in the 
United States have a body of ideas which 
may be called "American ideas," ideas held in 
common by practically all members in the 
nation, except the criminals and the cranks. 
Alany, perhaps most of these ideas, are of 
English descent, though enriched from other 
nations. Some are held in common by all 
civilized nations, and some even by every 
member of every family or tribe on earth. 
We have gone on for some three hundred 
years, producing, shaping, and multiplying 
these ideas ; sometimes fighting differences 
out with armies, but more often fighting them 
out on pulpit and platform and through the 
press or political parties. They are our ideas 
and a man to be an American indeed must 
have these ideas. 

Now, it is not to be denied that many na- 
tions, even granted that they may have na- 
tional virtues which far utshine many of 
ours, do differ from our ideas in many ways; 
for example, as to the proper standard of 
living for the working man, or this very 
need of elementary education for every man. 
There are nations which are foreign to the 



very idea of fair play, sportsmanship and 
"a square deal," which are American ideas, 
though happily not unique to either the 
United States or Canada. 

Some of the Oriental nations differ so far 
from us in their ideas that it is hard for them 
to understand us at all, or we them still 
without saying whether the -one or the other 
of us is the better. It is for this reason that 
we justly fear any immigration which will 
not or cannot understand, love, and practice 
American ideas. 

Sometimes men get into such a panic about 
some nation or other or all nations that they 
lose faith in the power of American ideas to 
conquer and insist on wholesale exclusion of 
this or that nation at the cost of throwing 
to the winds some of our most loved Ameri- 
can ideas of fair play, asylum and the free- 
dom of the whole earth, at least for travel. 
We, however, who believe in American ideas 
and their irresistible power, and remember 
the multitudes who have come from many na- 
tions to enrich our nation, not only in wealth 
but in ideas and character, we welcome with 
keen pleasure all who are likely to learn 
these ideas and so become Americans in fact 
as well as in residence. 

It may easily be that we must limit immi- 
gration to some extent and for the same 
reason that the attendance in city schools 
must sometimes be limited when it for a time 
outgrows the capacity of buildings or teach- 
ing force to handle. Yet the remedy for the 
schools is not permanent exclusion of chil- 
dren, but more school buildings and teachers, 
and the true remedy for overflowing immi- 
gration is more facility for education. With 
adequate facilities to make Americans of 
them, the more there are the better. 

Turning now to consider how the library 
takes its part in the work of education, you 
have before you in the program of this con- 
ference many of the forms of activity that 
it is actually taking. I do not propose to 
retrace the ground that will be covered by 
these topics. In general terms, it may be 
said that in many parts of the country the 
free public library has come to be counted 
as much a necessary part of the means of 
public education as the public school. If 
things move as they are moving, it will not 
be long before every community in the United 



8 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



States has its tax-supported public library, 
as a matter of course, exactly as it has its 
public school. If you are interested in this 
general aspect of the matter, follow in our 
program the work of the state commissions 
for the promotion of public libraries and 
their remarkable activities in the founding 
of new libraries, in the use of travelling 
libraries, and in developing the efficiency of 
existing libraries. Follow, too, the work of 
the library schools and library associations, 
whose number and activity are among the 
most significant signs of the times. Some 
special attention is given, you will note, on 
this program, to general conditions on the 
Pacific Coast. 

The particular ways in which the public 
library takes its part in popular education 
are many, but these may be broadly classi- 
fied into work with children during the 
school age and work with adults. The work 
with children includes first, co-operation 
with the schools in the many fruitful ways 
which have been brought out in papers and 
discussions of this association at its various 
conferences, and second, the special work 
with children out of school hours, the growing 
appreciation of which has resulted in the es- 
tablishing of so many libraries for chil- 
dren, and the special school for the training 
of children's librarians conducted at Pitts- 
burgh. 

The importance of this work with chil- 
dren is very great. The work is done with 
children at the time when they are most 
responsive to ideas, and it will be hard to find 
in the sociological work of the present day 
any more inspiring reading than the reports 
of the work of the children's libraries as 
they are conducted in Pittsburgh and in all 
our important library centers at the present 
time. In view of the fact that in the work 
of assimilating the foreign immigration, we 
can never hope to make great progress with 
the adult, but must of necessity rely on be- 
ginning work with the children, the import- 
ance of this work in our national problem 
of Americanizing our immigrants can hardly 
be overestimated. 

But the work of the children is by no 
means the only contribution of the public 
library to popular education. Some consider 
it even the lesser part, for the reason that 
the public library takes up the task at the 



point where the school lays it down, and con- 
tinues it for the rest of a person's lifetime. 
It may work on less tractable material, but 
it works six times as long. The library is, 
as is often said in these days, the college of 
the community. It is the one public instru- 
ment of advanced education. The better un- 
derstanding of this fact is leading to a gen- 
eral expansion of library activity in the di- 
rection of what is known as library exten- 
sion, and the library is becoming the natural 
center of all the educational activity in the 
community for those out of school ; lectures, 
debating and literary clubs everything, in 
short, relating to popular secular education. 
More direct attention to this aspect of affairs 
was given at St. Louis than is given here, but 
the matter is implied in most of the discus- 
sions of the practical work of the library in 
the community. 

The A. L. A. permanent headquarters 

In conclusion and briefly, a word as to 
that problem of the American Library Asso- 
ciation, which is most national in its aspect 
at the present time and most important for 
its work in helping the national work the 
problem of a national headquarters, and a per- 
manent executive organization. The able re- 
port of the committee on a permanent head- 
quarters made last year outlines the varied 
interests which are rapidly making such a 
headquarters a necessity. I do not .propose 
to review these grounds at this time. If you 
are unconvinced, read the report, and you 
will find a sober statement of acknowledged 
functions, which is sure to appeal to some 
generous giver who is on the watch to fill 
needs which are definite, concrete, and of 
acknowledged public utility. Alljhat I wish 
to do at this point is to suggest that such a 
headquarters would immensely aid the A. L. 
A. in its rapidly multiplying activities. 

To be brief and concrete, I suggest three 
matters only as types of what the headquar- 
ters would facilitate: First, on the side of 
the popular library there has sprung up a 
great demand for literature helping the li- 
brary commissions in the establishing of 
libraries and the small libraries themselves 
in the cfibice of books this latter being 
one of the most important of all factors in 
the final success of the free public library. 
The Publishing Board, thanks to Mr. Car- 



ncgie, is in a position to work at this matter 
arid is doing so, but the very doing develops 
a business which calls for quarters and ex- 
perienced, stable business direction. 

This need is definite, immediate and un- 
deniably practical; the second and third mat- 
ters are suggestive rather than immediate, 
but are only not immediate because they are 
as yet unendowed. One of these is the prep- 
aration and publication of joint lists sug- 
gested above as the best practical remedy 
for the somewhat helter skelter condition of 
our resources in scholarly books, and the 
other simply carries the matter one step far- 
ther in suggesting it as a possible instrument 
for the guiding of American students to the 
manuscripts and rare book sources abroad, 
which by the nature of things can never be 
had on this side, and in securing for our 
libraries by facsimile as many of these as 
may be practical. This latter suggestion is 
of course called forth by the plan originated 
here on the Pacific Coast by Professor Gay- 
ley, expressed very fully in the New York 
Evening Post and brought to the attention 
of the Council at this meeting by Professor 
Gayley, who will be one of the representa- 
tives of the A. L. A. at the International 
Conference of those interested in the repro- 
duction of manuscripts to be held at Liege 
in August. Some well considered and well 
endowed plan for the reproduction of manu- 



scripts would certainly be a boon to Ameri- 
can scholarship, and an A. L. A. institution 
would undoubtedly be the natural and fit 
agent for such a national undertaking. 

This suggests in conclusion the burning 
question of the permanent location of the 
adequate headquarters and organization 
which are sure to come out of the temporary 
headquarters and experimental organization 
recently established in Boston. Shall it be 
the capital of the nation or the metropolis 
of the nation? For myself as an individual 
I confess a judgment in favor of the na- 
tional capital, because of a natural co-opera- 
tion to be had from the national library, the 
Bureau of Education, and the Carnegie In- 
stitution, but if the metropolis and its splen- 
didly growing public and university libraries 
shall win, well and good, so that somewhere 
and somehow this great desideratum of the 
A. L. A. for carrying on its work of helping 
the libraries in their great national tasks 
shall be made a fact on a scale commensur- 
ate with the need, rather than in the pinched, 
starved, struggling, inadequate but aspiring 
fashion which is all that is in sight at the 
present time. We want this not for the A. 
L. A. as a thing in itself, but for its work 
in the nation, which is our nation as it is, 
and ours to make as much better as the ut- 
most effort of every individual in his own 
task can make it. 



LIBRARY CONDITIONS IN THE NORTHWEST 
BY CHARLES WESLEY SMITH, Librarian Seattle (Wash.) Public Library 



T N its thirty years' existence the American 
Library Association has held most of its 
meetings on the eastern rim of the continent, 
and the geographical center of American li- 
brary interests long remained near the Atlan- 
tic. To this conference on the Pacific many 
of its members and most of its officers have 
come as far westward as Columbus sailed 
westward from the Pillars of Hercules. How 
many of you or of us, your predecessors 
here, set out upon the long journey, by land 
or sea, to Oregon without some such mis- 
givings about distance as those which we 
are told threatened his venture? Possibly 



the very lines concerning Columbus by Ore- 
gon's great poet came into mind : 

"They sailed and sailed as winds might blow 

Until at last the blanched mate said, 
'Why, now not even God would know 
If I and all my men fell dead." " 

We certainly, all of us, recalled again and 
again those other immortal lines by another 
uncrowned American laureate, penned in boy- 
ish hand three generations since: 

"Lose thyself in the continuous woods 

Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound;" 

and though the woods are no longer con- 
tinuous where our voices are now heard, how 



10 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



true it was, a century ago, that only "the 
wings of the morning" might reach the 
banks of this mighty stream whose waters 
then, and for many a year after, flowed 
through the silence down from these match- 
less mountains to the sea of seas ! 

This reflection upon the vast distance you 
have come is a reminder that only twice be- 
fore in your journeyings have you left the 
Mississippi behind once to meet in Denver 
and once in San Francisco. Drawing a line 
through San Francisco and Denver and 
thence to St. Louis, we have, north and west 
of the bounds mentioned, more than one- 
fourth of our country which this body has 
never visited. Of this prodigious territory it 
is the purpose of this paper to deal only with 
the far northwestern states. Excluding those 
at the Missouri gateways, because they more 
nearly reach the East, there are left five 
Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and 
Wyoming. These five states alone contain 
one-half of a million square miles. Mention 
will be made also of the territory of Alaska, 
with its more than one-half million miles of 
area and the province of British Columbia 
with 350,000. Under your official visitation, 
then, for the first time, is an area equal to 
about one-half the map of the United States. 

But it is hardly necessary to try to im- 
press you with ideas of our areas, for have 
you not these many days been yourselves 
measuring them? It will suffice for a com- 
parison to say that the state of Washington, 
the infant of the group in point of size, is 
several thousand miles larger than all of New 
England, or eight times as large as the state 
of Massachusetts, with which one would 
naturally wish to compare library statistics. 

In all this vast region of 1,400,000 miles 
there are, all told, less than fifty libraries en- 
tirely free and supported by public taxation. 
From the best information I have been able 
to gather, the following are the figures : 
Alaska, I believe, has none (but Dawson, 
Y. T., has a $25,000 Carnegie library) ; Brit- 
ish Columbia has 3; Oregon, 4; Idaho, 4; 
Wyoming, 6; Montana, 14; and Washington, 
16. Thirty of these have, already occupied 
or in process of erection, their own buildings, 
insuring permanence. The figures at hand 
show buildings as follows : British Columbia, 
3 ; Oregon, I ; Idaho, 3 ; Wyoming, 3 ; Mon- 



tana, 12 ; and Washington, 8. In 23 of these 
buildings Mr. Carnegie has made his favorite 
investment in perpetuity, at his customary 
rate of interest. Of these, British Columbia 
has 3; Idaho, 3; Wyoming, 3; Montana, 7; 
and Washington, 7. There are several monu- 
ments to other library builders, notably in 
Montana, 

In addition to the free institutions al- 
ready enumerated, there are of course in all 
these commonwealths numbers of libraries 
supported by fees or subscriptions. As in 
other times and places, these are the harbing- 
ers of future free libraries. In states grow-* 
ing rapidly and having all legislative condi- 
tions favorable, most of these can be counted 
on in the near future to join the permanent 
free ranks. 

College and School Libraries 

Each one of the five states has a state uni- 
versity, and three have agricultural colleges 
besides, all with fair college libraries. There 
is also the customary proportion of denomi- 
national colleges with similar collections. 
High schools and academies everywhere, 
without exception probably, have the refer- 
ence libraries usual in secondary schools. 

Montana, Idaho, and Oregon have compul- 
sory school district library laws, which means 
that these states have entered upon that hith- 
erto uncertain route to the ultimate blessings 
of the real public library. Washington has 
optional county circulating libraries for its 
schools. In a sparsely settled region the 
school district library is perhaps the only 
feasible beginning. We will trust that the 
world will no longer let them die, as once 
died their prototype in the eastern states. 

Legislation 

Every one of the political divisions under 
notice has a general library law, with the sole 
exception of Alaska, which land of gold and 
romance is so unfortunate as to be probably 
the only English-speaking territory on the 
face of the earth which has no laws of its 
own making. It has never had a legislature, 
nor more than an apology for a govern- 
ment *one somewhat like the "benevolent 
assimilation" type under which we shelter 
our new dependencies. It is doubtful if any 
place in Alaska could start a free public li- 



SMITH 



II 



brary under form of local law. To my own 
knowledge, however, several communities 
there are doing the best they can to keep 
open reading rooms and libraries partially 
free. Their appeals for gifts of discarded 
books and even of old periodicals are often 
most touching, coming from a clime where 
"long winter evening" may mean three 
months. If my hearers can do anything to 
speed the day of autonomy for Alaska, by all 
means do it, both for the love of your own 
heritage of freedom and because the once 
despised land is destined to be one of the 
richest and most productive on the face of 
the earth. 

British Columbia has had an act since 1891 
containing liberal provisions for libraries, in- 
cluding museums and mechanical institutes. 
On petition of one hundred voters the city 
council is to submit the question of establish- 
ment and if the vote is favorable the coun- 
cil is thereafter to levy an annual tax not 
exceeding one-half of a mill. Bonds may be 
issued for the purpose of purchasing property, 
erecting buildings and even for purchasing 
the initial stock of books. Altogether its 
provisions compare most favorably with 
American laws. 

The Oregon law has been recently de- 
scribed in the Library Journal, and you are 
familiar with its provisions. Modelled on the 
Wisconsin act, it has the compulsory school 
district library law and a county law which 
permits established libraries to extend 
branches throughout the county. It has been 
highly commended by those competent to 
judge. 

Idaho's law permits a tax of not more than 
one mill on the dollar. Its school district 
libraries have the advantage of independent 
management by a board of trustees to be 
appointed by the school directors. Under 
this control, which has approved itself in 
several of the older states, much of perma- 
nent value may be expected from the com- 
pulsory district libraries. 

Wyoming makes it the duty of county com- 
missioners, whenever they are assured that 
suitable quarters will be permanently pro- 
vided, to levy a tax of not more than one- 
half of a mill for a county library, to be lo- 
cated at the jcounty seat, and to appoint a 
board of three trustees. Of books the trus- 



tees are e'njoined in the statute to purchase 
those that "shall be of a kind best suited to 
inform the mind and improve the character 
of the reader." Neither sectarian nor pro- 
fessional books shall be purchased out of 
public funds, and not exceeding 25 per cent, 
of the book fund shall be expended for fic- 
tion. Incorporated cities of over 5000 people 
are authorized to assist in the maintenance of 
this county library by appropriation of city 
funds. 

In Montana the council of any city or town 
has power to maintain a free library and 
may levy a tax of not more than one mill for 
such purpose. Before any library is estab- 
lished, however, the question must be sub- 
mitted to a vote of the electors of the city. 
In each school district there is a fund created, 
known as the library fund, from which the 
trustees of the school district may purchase 
books for a school library, which must be 
kept at the school house. Ip cities having 
a population of 2000 or more this library 
fund shall consist of not less than 5 nor 
more than 10 per cent, of the county school 
fund annually apportioned to the district, pro- 
vided that such ten per cent, shall not exceed 
$50 for every 500 children. Montana's var- 
ious library laws are among the most en- 
lightened in the United States, and its li- 
braries have flourished accordingly. 

Modesty forbids a characterization of the 
Washington library act of 1901; suffice it 
to say that it is a composite of the laws of 
Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, 
Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Those feat- 
ures of each regarded as most desirable were 
selected and the codified bill was passed by 
the legislature without the amendment of a 
word and without a dissenting vote. The 
petition of 25 tax payers submits the ques- 
tion of organization to the vote of the ap- 
propriating body at the next meeting at 
which taxes may be voted in any political 
subdivision, be it city, county, village, town, 
or school district. The tax once voted is 
annual thereafter until changed by further 
vote, and the statute contains no limitation 
upon the size of the levy. 

Four of the five states have a state com- 
missipn, Montana's dating from 1895 ; Idaho's 
and Washington's from 1901 ; and Oregon's 
from the present year. Each commission is 



12 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



empowered to take up travelling library 
work. Washington has 57 travelling libraries 
in circulation and Idaho has 100. Idaho has 
at present an annual appropriation of $3000 
for its state commission work ; Oregon, 
$2000; and Washington, $2000. Three com- 
missions have paid secretaries, and they are 
beginning the active work of library extension 
so familiar in the eastern and middle states. 

Training 

Remoteness from centers of library train- 
ing and activity has brought it about that 
most of the work in this section is in the 
hands of novices or self-made librarians. 
_There are perhaps not a dozen of librarians 
and assistants in the five states who ever saw 
a library school ; and the confidence and 
power of initiative that comes from an ap- 
proved course of instruction are often sorely 
missed. A few of the larger libraries have for 
some time followed the custom of training 
their help in an apprentice class, and some 
of them have even been able to extend that 
influence beyond their own walls. 

The University of Washington at Seattle 
is now giving the first formal summer school 
course in library science that has ever been 
offered in the Pacific Northwest. Wyoming 
begins another this summer and there is no 
doubt that in other states similar courses 
will soon be given. 

Methods 

In a new country, where an institution 
starts off full-fledged, with everything new 
and no traditions to trammel, there is a 
natural opportunity for up-to-date methods. 
So far as my observation goes, almost every 
library in the Northwest, although far re- 
moved, as has been said, from training schools 
and old-established libraries, is equipped with 
most of the modern improvements, or at least 
a good western imitation of the same. Nor 
can we be blamed in the latter instances, if 
we strive to inculcate in our secular public 
the same broad charity enjoined upon the 
worshippers of that widely-known western 
congregation, expressed in the notice, "Do 
not shoot the organist : he is doing his best." 
Speaking seriously, however, it is but the 
simple truth to say that even in small and 



remote communities you will find the de- 
voted women who are nobly upholding the 
cause of the larger intellectual life on this 
frontier striving by means of the best litera- 
ture they can secure upon the subject, the 
"primers" and textbooks and library periodi- 
cals, and by vigorous correspondence with 
their next-door neighbors, though they are 
often a hundred miles away, to obtain and 
employ the most approved methods of our 
profession. 

Library associations 

The formation of associations of librarian 1 ! 
is naturally a slower process here than in 
the more populous East ; but, even under so 
great difficulties, state associations and li- 
brary clubs are being formed. The state as- 
sociation of Oregon dates from last Decem- 
ber, and Washington's followed in March. 
With several hundred miles intervening be- 
tween the extremities of each state, it is more 
than likely that library clubs for mutual im- 
provement will soon spring up in sections of 
the states having the most numerous libraries. 
One such club is already about to be formed 
on Puget Sound. 

We expect that the visit of the national 
association will be productive of great re- 
sults in the way of inducing organization and 
the spirit of cooperation among library forces. 
What this visit may mean to many in the 
way of instruction, encouragement, and in- 
spiration can be estimated only by one who 
has been almost totally deprived of these 
blessings ; few of the visiting eastern dele- 
gates can form any true conception of it. 
What may it not mean to the cause of free 
libraries for the two million people among 
whose homes you now stand, in this kingdom 
carved by American energy out of the forest 
and desert, destined to capture other king- 
doms from the desert and become an empire, 
once those virgin lands are married to the 
sky, and to breed a population of ten times 
two millions? What may your example and 
inspiring words not mean to these people 
who have brought hither the love of their 
country and its institutions, whose hearts are 
full of mighty hopes and whose eyes are al- 
ready kindling with the promise of their frui- 
tion? 



SMITH 



The future 

What prophecy shall I make of the future 
of the free library as an institution among 
this people? 

To one who knows western America there 
can be but one answer. The arrival depends 
only upon the merit of an institution and the 
hour of its recognition. The hour of its 
adoption has then struck. No dilatory appeal 
avails; no sophistical plea of economy will be 
heeded. Grant me that the free library is 
man's crowning effort to fulfill that "higher 
law" of human evolution which bids each in- 
dividual begin where all his predecessors left 
off, and I unhesitatingly prophesy that these 
great commonwealths, throbbing with the 
world's reddest blood, shall quickly appro- 
priate it. 

Look around you and you will see on every 
hand the school and the college already ris- 
ing. Convince their western builders that 
the public library is the keystone of the edu- 
cational system and instantly the world will go 
forth to hew that stone and put it into place. 

In every capital and county seat you will 
already find a costly structure maintained at 
large expense that the public may preserve, 
and have access to, the record of their vested 
rights in lands and chattels which they call 
their own. You need but whisper in the 
builder's ear, "Here we will erect a structure 
that shall contain the record of all the rights 
of man; the secrets he has wrested from 
Nature in centuries of midnight toil ; every 
vision of beauty that has visited his hunger- 
ing heart; his aspirations toward the High- 
est; the hopes that have rescued him from 
shipwreck and despair" ; and such a word 
shall never be uttered in vain among a gen- 
erous and enlightened people. 

The other day at Buffalo President Eliot 
said : "The final aim of government by the 
people for the people is to increase to the 
highest possible degree, and for the greatest 
possible number of persons, the pleasurable 
sensations or cheerful feelings which con- 
tribute to make life happy, and to reduce to 
the lowest terms the preventable evils which 
go to make life miserable. The reduction of 
evil is an indirect benefit. The direct way 
to promote that public happiness, which is 
the ultimate object of democracy, is to in- 



crease the number, variety, and intensity of 
those sensations and emotions which give 
innocent and frequently recurring pleasure." 

I believe pardon my sectional pride 
that it is in the western states of our Union 
that these sentiments, the highest secular ex- 
pression of mankind's rights and duties, are 
to find their quickest appreciation and accept- 
ance. Everyone within the sound of my voice 
knows that it is in the public library, with 
its treasures free alike to rich and poor, that 
society must seek its final defense against 
sciolism in politics and economics ; against 
blind and unreasoning discontent ; against the 
ennui of the idle; against the malevolence 
of the vicious ; against the despair of the dis- 
heartened; against repeating over and again 
the mistakes whose correction makes up the 
story of human progress. Here also we find 
in largest measure "the direct way to pro- 
mote that public happiness which is the ulti- 
mate object of democracy" by increasing "the 
number, variety, and intensity of those sensa- 
tions and emotions which give innocent and 
frequently recurring pleasure." 

Nowhere else, I believe, as in western 
America pardon me once more will you 
find so pure the gospel of the solidarity of 
mankind; nor yet anywhere so true homage 
to the royalty of the individual. Once again 
here, as in pioneer days otherwhere, the 
struggle to overcome the forces of nature has 
knit men together as brothers. The very 
vastness of the land, its riotous extravagance 
of beauty, the majesty of its forests, the 
"splendid inutility" of its mountains, the 
eternal didactics of its seas, lend a solemnity 
to life and make men thoughtful of its mean- 
ing. Great wealth has not yet come to chill 
the heart. Governments are relatively pure. 
The public conscience is comparatively quick. 
There is a broadness toward that which is 
not merely marketable. 

In all that makes for human progress, then, 
I say, the West is in duty bound to begin 
where older lands leave off; and I believe 
there will be no hesitation. Those Ameri- 
cans whose pillar of fire has been the star 
of empire hasting in its appointed course have 
always tried to block out in the wilderness 
the best type of home and institutions that 
they last looked upon before they turned their 
resolute faces westward in search of an ideal. 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



Therefore, though I have admitted that the 
fi' *e library is not yet numerous in the North- 
west, it is safe to say we have a good ex- 
cuse they could not have had any library 
"at home" when we left there, and we don't 
know just how to go about it to have one 
here. The public library will be established 
just as soon as somebody notices the lack 
and finds out how to start one. You will 
not hear of the city council's refusing the 
necessary levy; no donation by Mr. Carnegie 
ever fails of consummation west of the 



Missouri for lack of compliance with the 
"usual terms." 

So I pledge the West (ever as hospitable 
of ideas as of the people who bring them) to 
the cause of the free library, the cause of "the 
best reading for the largest number at the 
least cost." The Northwest to-day greets the 
A. L. A., the priesthood of that cause, because 
we believe that you have come here to help 
us understand what the public library is, 
how to make one, and what kind of people is 
required to make one *at its best. 



LIBRARIES IN THE BRITISH NORTHWEST 



BY E. O. S. SCHOLEFIELD, Provincial Librarian, Vancouver, B. C. 



T HAVE been asked to tell you something 
of the library movement in the British 
Northwest, and it will be my endeavor to 
deal as concisely as possible with a few of the 
salient features of this movement. 

Between Manitoba and the Rocky Moun- 
tains there exists a vast region, fertile in re- 
sources, and pre-eminently suitable for set- 
tlement, which, as probably many of you 
know, has at last begun to receive the at- 
tention it deserves from those desiring to 
make new homes for themselves. Naturally 
enough, it is not here that one would expect 
to find an organized effort looking to the 
establishment of one of the greatest boons 
that modern civilization has conferred upon 
humanity the public library. As a matter 
of fact, there is little to say with regard to 
this section of the British Northwest so far 
as actual accomplishment is concerned. The 
country is too new, and its people too busily 
engaged in material pursuits, that needs must 
absorb every faculty, to permit of much time 
and attention being given to the building and 
maintenance of free public libraries. So 
much for the past and for the present. It 
is, then, to the future that we must look, and 
I have no hesitation whatever in predicting 
that the coming years will witness in this 
region great activity in library matters. It 
may not, it cannot, come all at once, but of 
this I am confident that in, comparatively 
speaking, a short time we shall see many im- 



portant libraries established in the two 
provinces now being carved out of the terri- 
tory which not so many years ago was ex- 
pressively termed "The Great Lone Land." 
This is a virgin field, but its possibilities are 
practically illimitable, and, I firmly believe 
that a great harvest awaits the energetic li- 
brary worker in this land which nature has 
endowed so bountifully. Of course, there is 
no denying the fact that there are serious 
obstacles in the way, and I do not wish to 
minimize them. The territory is so vast, and 
the population, in spite of the rapidity with 
which it is being augmented, so scattered, 
that anything approaching concerted action 
cannot be counted upon for the present. But 
notwithstanding all this, taking into consider- 
ation the recent remarkable development of 
th^ country, the prospects are certainly ex- 
ceedingly bright. I might state here that 
Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Athabasca, and 
Alberta comprise an area of 550,000 square 
miles, and when I add that the population 
probably does not greatly exceed 250,000, you 
will be able to judge for yourselves as to the 
difficulties to be overcome. 

And now, I would ask your indulgence 
while I touch briefly upon that portion of the 
Northwest which I have refrained from mem- 
tioning heretofore. Reference is made to that 
prodigious country lying between the Rocky 
Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, bounded 
on the north by the Yukon Territory, and 



SCHOLEFIELD 



separated from your own land to the south 
by the narrow, but well-defined, limits of the 
forty-ninth parallel of latitude. This huge 
province embraces an area of 372.OOO square 
miles, and has a population of something 
over 200,000. A population of two hundred 
and some odd thousand scattered over an 
area of 372,000 square miles that is the 
problem which confronts the librarians of the 
British Columbia. Remembering this, you 
will not expect to hear from me a glowing ac- 
count of our work in this province, but I am 
glad to be able to tell you that in spite of 
difficulties difficulties that often appeared 
insurmountable we have reached, after 
many years of'waiting, a stage which, to say 
the least, augurs well for the future. We have 
been handicapped in the past by the various 
incidents common to the lot of all new coun- 
tries. Depression in trade, lack of capital, 
and similar misfortunes have not been un- 
known in our history, but I think that we 
have at last reached the still waters of pros- 
perity, and this fortunate state of affairs must 
have the effect of stimulating interest in the 
establishment of educational institutions, such 
as free libraries and reading rooms. 

Probably the first library of any import- 
ance to be established in British Columbia 
was that maintained by the sappers and min- 
ers at the Royal Engineers' Camp, now Sap- 
perton, a suburb of the city of New West- 
minster. The sappers and miners, under 
Lieutenant-Colonel Moody, were ordered to 
the colony in 1859, and, with the exception 
of two sections sent in advance across the 
Isthmus of Panama, embarked on the Thames 
City in that year. They brought with them 
a number of works for the use of all ranks, 
and this collection was for some time the 
nearest approach to a free library in this, as 
it was then, out-of-the-way corner of the 
empire. At that time there was no transcon- 
tinental railway to form a bond of union be- 
tween east and west, and it was necessary 
for intending immigrants to journey overland, 
or voyage by sea, in order to reach the newly- 
formed crown colonies of British Columbia 
and Vancouver Island. Those who braved 
the dangers of these arduous journeys were, 
as a rule, men whose love of excitement and 
adventure led them far from study and 
the pursuit of book-learning. We need not 



be surprised, therefore, to find that the pi- 
oneers of the far west gave little thought to 
the establishment of libraries. Their minds 
were occupied with far more practical ques- 
tions. When the sappers and miners were 
disbanded their books were presented to the 
city of New Westminster to form the nu- 
cleus of a public library. And thus this hum- 
ble collection of well-worn volumes becomes 
a landmark in the library history of British 
Columbia. 

As one might expect in a new country set- 
tled by those who were compelled by stern 
necessity to give their whole attention to prac- 
tical affairs, the people gave little heed to the 
building of libraries, especially in the pioneer 
days when the population fluctuated from 
year to year. During the inrush of gold- 
seekers nought else was thought of or dis- 
cussed but the prospects of the various min- 
ing camps. It was the finding of gold, how- 
ever, that first brought British Columbia into 
prominence. After the gold excitement died 
away there was great depression, but soon 
healthier conditions prevailed. Permanent 
settlers began to occupy the farm and ranch- 
ing lands of the province, and towns sprang 
up here and there. Then came the construc- 
tion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which 
was followed by expansion in all directions 
villages became towns, and towns became 
cities, and, of course, it soon became neces- 
sary to establish public libraries. 

In the chief centers of population these very 
necessary adjuncts of civilization have been 
successfully inaugurated. There is no doubt 
that British Columbia offers a splendid field 
for work of this nature. So far, it is to be 
feared that there has been little system in the 
movement, but it is hoped that with the estab- 
lishment of a provincial library association 
a better state of affairs may prevail. Some, 
time ago a suggestion was made that an as- 
sociation of this description should be formed, 
and it is a sign of the times that the idea has 
been cordially welcomed in more than one 
quarter. 

As the southern coast portion of the prov- 
ince is the oldest in point of effectual settle- 
ment, it is quite, natural that the library move- 
ment should be strongest here. In fact, all 
the coast cities Vancouver, New West- 
minster, and Victoria possess useful li- 



i6 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



braries. Three large and well-appointed 
buildings have been erected in the last few 
years one at Victoria (just completed), 
one at Vancouver, and the third at New West- 
minster. For these we are indebted to the 
munificence of a Carnegie. The construction 
of these libraries has necessarily given a great 
impetus to library work, and has had the good 
effect of arousing public interest. 

Vancouver, with the aid of Mr. Andrew 
Carnegie, has erected a particularly fine 
building, modern in every respect. There 
are large reading and reference rooms for 
men and women, and all the appointments are 
excellent. Thanks to its able management, 
this library has become an exceedingly popu- 
lar institution. New Westminster has also 
built a new library. This building, although 
much smaller than the one in Vancouver, is 
exceptionally well adapted for its purpose, 
and it is evident that those responsible for 
the architectural details thoroughly appre- 
ciated the requirements of a modern library. 
It is very conveniently planned and all the 
rooms are lofty and splendidly lighted. It is 
worth noting, perhaps, that New Westminster 
has very sensibly placed its new structure 
in the center of a square a plan adopted 
by neither Vancouver nor Victoria. 

Victoria, the capital of the province, is for- 
tunate in possessing three libraries the Li- 
brary of the Legislative Assembly, the Law 
Library, and the Public Library. The Library 
of the Legislative Assembly is purely a refer- 
ence one. It is maintained for the use of the 
legislature, although when the House is not 
in session, the reading room is thrown open 
to students and to those who may desire to 
obtain information on any subject. Books 
are not allowed to be removed from the 
premises. The Law Library, which contains 
an excellent selection of standard legal works, 
is maintained by the Law Society of British 
Columbia solely for the use of the legal 
members of the community. The Public Li- 
brary has quarters in the city hall, but before 
long the books will be removed to the hand- 
some building which .has just been handed 
over to the library commissioners. The civic 
institution is one of the oldest libraries in the 
province, and has done much good work, but 
has long since outgrown its present quarters. 



There is one phase of library work in Brit- 
ish Columbia which has not yet been alluded 
to. Reference is made to the travelling li- 
brary system which was inaugurated in 1898 
by Mr. R. E. Gosnell, editor of the Victoria 
Daily Colonist. The system is unique in so 
far that British Columbia is the only province 
in the Dominion that has attempted to es- 
tablish anything of the kind. Each library 
is composed of about one hundred volumes 
divided into the following classes : social 
science, natural sience, useful arts, literature, 
description and travel, fiction, juvenile works, 
biography, history, and reference. Fifty-four 
libraries are in use at the present time, and 
with remarkably good results. They are 
scattered throughout the vast extent of the 
province from Cariboo, in the great in- 
terior, to Fort Simpson and Bella Coola, on 
the northern coast line. 

Any rural or mining community, provided 
that it be not part of a duly incorporated 
municipality, may apply for a library. The 
procedure is simple. Blank application forms 
are distributed, which are filled in by the 
applicants, a librarian is chosen, a trustee, 
who is responsible to the government to the 
extent of $50 for damage done, is appointed, 
and then all is in readiness. Judging from 
appearances the cases sent out are greatly 
appreciated, the main drawback being that 
the demand for books is always greater than 
the supply, and thus it often happens that dis- 
tricts are obliged to wait for a library some 
little time after their applications have been 
sent in. In a few short notes it is impossible 
to give an adequate idea of the working of 
the system. An interesting article might be 
written on the results of this experiment, 
but time forbids further reference to it. 

In conclusion, I can only say that there is 
no doubt whatever that the library movement, 
if such it may be called, is growing apace in 
the British Northwest. With the rapid in- 
crease in population, the introduction of cap- 
ital, and a large expenditure on productive 
works, towns and cities are rapidly expanding, 
and new areas are constantly being opened 
up for settlement. It is only a question of 
time before all the more important places will 
establish free public libraries. The quicken- 
ing spirit of the librarians is abroad. 



DANA 



WHAT STATE AND LOCAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS CAN DO FOR 

LIBRARY INTERESTS 

BY JOHN COTTON DANA, Librarian Newark (N. /.) Free Public Library 



T N one of the great books of the world, 
written about 50 years ago, the author 
has a chapter or two on man's mental and 
moral faculties. In them he tells how, as he 
modestly ventures to imagine it, men learned 
to be moral, to have a feeling for conduct, 
to think of other men as possessed of rights, 
to be at peace with others, to understand 
others, to get help from others, to work with 
others for a common end, to cooperate, to 
organize. This process, all compact with 
thought and feeling, this growth of the ani- 
mal into man, has been long continued ; it still 
goes on ; it may never end. 

Now, it is far in thought from the snarl- 
ing of the white and yellow dogs of war in 
eastern Asia to our gathering of peaceful 
bookmen for mutual aid and consolation. 
Yet the two events illustrate at once the 
conditions from which we have come and 
the progress we have made. It pays, we 
now say, for some to work together: and it 
pays, we still say, for some to fight one an- 
other. That is our conclusion ; thus far, and 
thus far only, the race has gone in that slow 
march toward humanity which Darwin so 
simply outlined fifty years ago. 

This is a large text for a humble theme. 
But why not begin with the obvious? If 
ever they seem of doubtful value these or- 
ganizings of ours let us remind ourselves 
that by such in good part has man learned 
to be his neighbor's neighbor and that neigh- 
bor's fellow-citizen. To work with your fel- 
lows to a common end this is to be civil- 
ized, to be moral, to be efficient. This makes 
nations possible and promises the parliament 
of the world. 

And so, in speaking of associations of li- 
brarians the first thing to be said is, that they 
effect so much by the mere fact that they are. 
They do so much of which we are but vaguely 
conscious, they so often give to so many 
without outward sign that subtle feeling of 
comradeship which becomes before one knows 



it a stimulus to further effort and a guide to 
that effort's profitable expense. One may 
well say, then, that the best work of an asso- 
ciation is the association itself. 

To put it more definitely, and to point to 
some of the secondary gains, we can say that 
to organize an association, no matter how 
poorly attended its meetings may be, teaches 
much to those who organize it, if to no 
others. You need not fear over-organization. 
Take your lesson from modern industrialism. 
Be sure that the laws of nature hold here as 
elsewhere and that the useless disappears. 
Seize the opportunity to get lessons in man- 
agement and the art of working together. 
Moreover, the meeting which you carefully 
plan, provide speakers for, advertise among 
your colleagues, announce in the papers and 
duly hold, though attended by but the proverb- 
ial two or three, has served well ; it has stimu- 
lated those who prepared for it, has made 
your calling more favorably known, and so 
has had its use. One may even say that, 
after all, it were often almost as well did 
the well-planned meeting never take place, 
so effective in education is its making, so 
meagre often are the tangible results on its 
appointed day. 

My theme is mutual aid as a mark of pro- 
gress, as an aid to progress, as civilization 
itself. The moral is, establish library asso- 
ciation. The special application is to the 
Pacific Coast ; and the illustrative examples 
are in the list which I offer you in printed 
form of the library associations and clubs of 
the world, 77 in number, 57 of them in the 
United States with a total of over 8000 mem- 
berships. How inspiring is the story they tell 
of the growth of the library idea among us 
in the last thirty years. 

In the west particularly you will find many 
intelligent readers, not at all connected with 
libraries, who are interested in library asso- 
ciations. Do not be discouraged by the small 
number in your own vicinity of those who 



i8 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



ar of your own calling. The tools of all 
the professional classes are books. Discus- 
sions on books, their making, their indexing 
in library catalogs, their selection, and their 
care, will always attract book-users. You 
have teachers' associations, and they are al- 
ways ready to give up a part of their meet- 
ings to the discussion of library questions. 
A library department in a teachers' associa- 
tion can often do much to bring the library 
question into view. 

And the vast distances which separate the 
western librarians must not discourage them. 
Their large meetings must be few, and even 
small ones may be difficult. Therefore more 
must be done at each possible library center. 
Let a few come together, organize in a sim- 
ple way, call on all interested to support 
them, exploit their aims and methods freely 
in the newspapers, prepare a program of as 
general interest as possible, rather literary 
than technical, hold meetings, no matter hew 
light the attendance, and publish through the 
papers a full report of proceedings. 

I have said enough about the value of such 
work to those who carry it through; but too 
much cannot be said about the value to your 
calling of discreet and dignified publicity. 
We have not enough libraries yet, so we as- 
sume; and those we have, we frankly admit, 
fail by much of reaching their highest effi- 
ciency. We wish to impress our fellows 
with a sense of the value of libraries to their 
communities. Then, we wish to show how 
easy it is for any community to establish and 
support it. Then, we wish to learn from one 
another and to call forth from the public 
criticisms and suggestions. The newspapers 
like to help us to do these things. They can 
be done, with their help, by one person. They 
can be better done, usually, by three or four. 
They can be done better still, usually, by an 
organization with a name, an object, officers, 
meetings, and reports. This is sound psy- 
chological theory. It has worked well many 
times in practice. 

Let me be still more specific, for I am 
warned that my talk must be practical. 

You are, we will suppose, the one person in 
your community who is interested in public 
libraries; you may be a libarian and wish to 
join with the two or three other library work- 



ers in your part of the state in learning more 
of your calling and in increasing library in- 
terest; or you may have no library in your 
place and wish to see one established. You 
send to your library commission or to the A. 
L. A. headquarters, or to any librarian of 
experience and ask for suggestions. These 
being considered you look at your own prob- 
lem, select the people likely to help you, two 
or three, and talk the subject over with each 
of them. Then you lay your plans ajid form 
a rather definite 'scheme. You ask your 
friends to come together and you put your 
ideas before them; and, as you know your 
ground and know what you want, you push 
them through. The meeting votes for an or- 
ganization; appoints one or two to bring in 
a constitution and a list of officers; and, if 
it seem wise, you complete the organization 
at one sitting. You need not have money 
to print constitutions and by-laws and offi- 
cers, for the newspapers will do it for you. 

Next comes a meeting. You study first 
the audience you may get the minister, the 
teacher, the reading women, and other possi- 
bles and decide what topics will most inter- 
est them. Perhaps such as these: "Our 
present library laws and how they apply in 
our town." "How they started the library 
in Blankville" another small town in your 
state. "How libraries are helping the school 
teachers"; and, for the general reader, "The 
three best novels of the year." The meeting 
place is a private house, or the school-house, 
or a church. See to it yourself that the news- 
paper tells about all these things. 

The smaller your town the larger the au- 
dience, relatively, that you will get. You 
have prepared for absences of speakers, you 
have arranged for some to speak on call on 
the subject that you select, you leave nothing 
to spontaneous, unconsidered utterance; for 
though you hope there may be free discussion 
you do not depend on it for any points you 
wish to make. You prepare the report for 
the paper yourself. If the nearest available 
one is small and can only print a brief report, 
you abstract the speeches, enlarge on the 
purpose of the movement, and name the names 
of those most interested. 

I dwell on the obvious; but with good 
reason. My list shows that there are many 



DANA 



library associations, yet observation has 
taught us that few of them are ever properly 
effective. The one moving, pushing, persist- 
ent person is lacking; too much dependence 
is put on the meeting itself ; not enough is 
won from preparation for it or from the pro- 
per publicity it can induce. And so I think 
it no fault that I urge again that you your- 
self be the one efficient person, and that you 
remember always that it is the organization's 
daily life throughout the year and the story 
thereof which chiefly help your calling. The 
meetings may be much, the constant striv- 
ings between them may be much more. It is 
not simply for these A. L. A. gatherings 
we have so much enjoyed that some have 
crossed a continent. You of the West and 
we of the East and the you and we include 
those at home as well as those here have 
for these ten months been looking forward 
to this gathering, have had our thoughts 
turned often to our great Northwest and to 
the nourishing of libraries therein, and Have 
gained thereby a broader view. I am sure I 
speak for my eastern colleagues as well as 
for myself when I say that to contemplate our 
western empire and to consider the task 
awaiting our Pacific friends and the brave 
beginnings they have made induce a most 
excellent state of sanctified humility. Praise 
be to the A. L. A. which brings us here, and 
to our western friends who persuaded us 
to come ! 

I have touched on the details of the smallest 
library association. Let me say something 
also of the larger ones, usually easy to form, 
often given to sounding brass and tinkling 
cymbals, sometimes dying and quite unmind- 
ful of the fact, and never as effective as op- 
portunity permits. 

They are often too conservative. They think 
it is their wisdom which restrains them, while 
in fact it is simply their mediocrity. They 
rise no higher than their average. They re- 
press the aggressive and the original. They 
fear they may do something improper, and, 
clothed in perfect propriety, they reach long 
before they are aware of it a Nirvana of noble 
inutility. 

For special sins, common, but of course not 
universal, they make their meetings too long. 
In their zeal to make many good points they 



fail of one. They crowd their programs until 
they are dizzily and tediously encyclopedic. 
They fail in hospitality, and the members 
gather solemnly and glare, at one another 
across a crowded room and pass out again 
with never a gain in fellowship. They harp 
too much on one string; or they talk uncon- 
sidered prattle about details which only care 
fully chosen words can set duly forth. They 
parade their fluent speakers until their meet- 
ings become little more than one voice crying 
in a wilderness of inattentive ears. They do 
not give the timid a chance, rather they don't 
compel the shy to take up their burdens and 
talk. They bring the heads, the chiefs, for- 
ever into gatherings with the assistants and 
check that outpouring of the spirit which the 
latter would delight in. They do not culti- 
vate the art of provoking and guiding dis- 
cussion. They look for a crop of spontan- 
eous ideas in a soil which does not grow 
them. They do not make sure that from the 
floor, at the call of the chairman, shall come, 
in seeming impromptu, the best things of the 
day. They do not work together as they 
should. Every club and association in the 
country, more than 50 of them, should be in 
touch with the A. L. A., and so with each 
other. Every member of each and every as- 
sociation should be made to feel that by 
joining her own association she becomes 
united with the national organization and 
will get something from it. They do not 
the larger and stronger clubs are the more 
able in this direction and thereby the greater 
sinners make themselves of direct use to 
the community of readers at large by produc- 
ing work of practical value to readers and 
students. The hundreds of libraries and li- 
brary workers, gathered within some of the 
great eastern cities, have, in the ecstasy of 
self-contemplation, quite forgotten to gather 
the golden fruit of opportunity and I speak 
as one of the sinners. 

Further, these larger organizations, and the 
smaller, too, are not sufficiently careful about 
the place of meeting, that it be dignified, 
homelike, and quiet. For any save very large 
meetings, they forget that a platform and 
footlights or anything approaching them are 
fatal. 

Once more, associations large and small, 



20 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



and especially the larger ones, usually fail 
not only to carry through each year some work 
of permanent value to the profession and to 
general and special students work like an- 
notated book lists, study courses, brief man- 
uals on the use of books, general or special 
they fail also sufficiently to acquaint the public 
through the press with the possible utilities of 
a public library. By nature the bookman is 
a gentle and retiring creature. He likes his 
library and takes proper pride in it. He helps 
to organize a club, by joining it at least, and 
then contents himself with the glow of com- 
radship which comes therefrom. The possi- 
ble public influence of the instrument he fias 
helped to fashion is not well discerned. 
Every club should provide for the publication, 
from week to week or from month to month, 
of notes on the elements of libraryology. 
Libraryology is the knowledge of libraries 
and the art of using them. No important 
journal in the country is more ready to aid 
the library movement or more able to do it 
intelligently than the New York Independent. 
A recent editorial in its columns on "Librar- 
ies for men" shows how far we have come 
from making clear to editors what a library 
is, to say nothing of what it hopes and tries 
to be. If the Independent is still thus un- 
taught, how unskilled in libraryology must 
be the average of men. You in the West will 
repair this lack, I am sure, sooner than we 
of the East. Precedents and conventions rule 
you less. You will individually when you 
can, and through your clubs always, keep up a 
stream of expository contributions on library- 
ology in your daily and weekly press. The 
East is coming to realize the need of these 
forms of activity. The A. L. A. has now 
both the disposition and the means, not only 
to do good things for readers, but also to 
inform the public of the existence, the char- 
acter and the possibilities for usefulness of 
collections of books. Shall I be more speci- 
fic? Need I refer again to the committee on 
publicity long ago advocated and never yet 
realized? Can I say, without being misun- 
derstood, that to publish an "A. L. A. cata- 
log" and an A. L. A. Booklist is not enough? 
That if a health food is worth wide adver- 
tising, surely these library products also are? 
That 160 library people should spend nearly 



$.40,000 to cross the continent and meet with 
you, was not this such an indication of library 
progress as the public generally would like 
to hear of? 

After I have had my first say I am ready 
always to give ear to But and If and Remem- 
ber and Perhaps. You may attach them to 
these suggestions as you will. I will myself 
add but one. It is this: Remember, that after 
all if you wish a certain specific thing done, 
you must do it yourself. The crowd has 
the passing emotion, the one man brings 
tireless zeal. Don't think an organization is 
an end. If a good club is the work of your 
hands, do not think it useful unless it does 
something. We can't conquer the public with 
our clubs. Moreover, never let your associa- 
tion . hamper its strongest members. Demo- 
cracy is the apotheosis of mediocrity. If the 
many would advance they must look to the 
leader to guide them. In union is strength; 
but the worth of strength is in its use. An 
association tends to the academic and to hold 
its members to a standard, often a narrow 
one. 

I return once more to my text, mutual aid 
as at once progress itself and the measure of 
civilization, and to one of its general applica- 
tions, an appeal for practice in, the art of or- 
ganizing. If we join with our fellows for an 
end of value to us all, we learn thus far to 
love our neighbor in the best possible and 
the only universally acceptable way through 
finding him useful and ourselves inspired. 

In Newark we have made a rough check- 
list of all the voluntary organizations of the 
city, religious, educational, industrial, philan- 
thropic, beneficiary. In a population of 
270,000, largely foreign, we find 2700 of these 
with about 25,000 officials, and with a total 
estimated membership of 190,000. We hope 
to make use of more of these organizations 
than we have heretofore by appealing to more 
of them through the books which touch on the 
subjects for which, directly or indirectly, they 
are organized. I mention them here only to 
emphasize my statement that we have learned 
that it pays sometimes to work with our 
neighbors and not always to fight them ; and 
to illustrate the old doctrine, now sometimes 
forgotten, that those who work together of 
their own free will thereby build a better civ- 



DANA 



ilization, on the firm basis of profitable fellow- 
ship, than was ever built on laws, whether en- 
forced by emperor.:- or democracies. 

The conclusion is, encourage your col- 
leagues, confer with them, work with them, 



and as opportunity permits join with them in 
organized effort to attain certain definite re- 
sults. So doing you get wisdom for your- 
self and growth in esteem and efficiency for 
your profession. 



LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS AND CLUBS 

Additions and corrections are requested. Address J. C. DANA, 
Newark, N. 7. 



THE following summary of the library as- 
sociations and clubs of the world was com- 
piled as a basis for a paper on the subject at 
the Portland meeting of the A. L. A. 

AMERICA 

Alabama Library Association. Sec., Ju- 
nius M. Riggs, State and Supreme Court L., 
Montgomery. Est. 1904. Dues $i. Mem- 
bers, 50. Meetings, i each year. Pubns., 
Preliminary announcements, 1904 ; Officers 
and constitution, 1904. Special work, Travel- 
ing libraries for rural districts. Annual 
meeting, Nov. 

American Library Association. Sec., J. I. 
Wyer, Jr., Univ. of Nebraska L., Lincoln, 
Neb. Est. 1876. Dues, $2. Members, 1228. 
Meetings, i each year. Pubns., Proceedings, 
annual ; Handbook. For book and cards pubns., 
see pages 18, 19 and 20 of the A. L. A. Hand- 
book, 1904; reports of Executive Board, an- 
nouncements, etc., are published in Library 
Journal, official organ of the association. 
Special work, sec Handbook. Annual meet- 
ing, generally July. 

Ann Arbor Library Club, Michigan. Sec., 
Miss Carrie L. Watts, Ann Arbor. Est. 
1903. Dues, 50 c. Members, 19. Meetings, 
monthly, Oct. to May. Pubns., none. Special 
work, co-operative cataloging. Annual meet- 
ing, May. 

Bay Path Library Club, Mass. Sec., Miss 
May E. Robinson, P. L. Young Men's Library 
Association, Palmer. Est. 1898. Dues, 50 c. 
Members, 37. Meetings, 2 or more each year. 
Pubns. Annual meeting, June. 

California Library Association. Sec., Miss 
Anna Sawyer, P. L., San Francisco. Est. 
1895. Dues, $i. Members, 132. Meetings, 4 
each year. Nine pubns., containing the fol- 
lowing articles: Magazine publishing in 
California, Charles S. Greene ; The relation 
of libraries to righteousness, Prof. E. A. 
Ross, 1898; Libraries of California in 1899, 
1900; California library laws 1850-1903, 1903; 



Book reviews and the librarian, M. G. Dodge ; 
Notes about bulletin work, Mrs. A. G. Whit- 
beck; Small library plans, Selection of books 
for a small library, G. T. Clark; A state li- 
brary publication, What can a town do for a 
library, C. S. Greene ; News and notes, W. P. 
Kimball. Two important meetings. Twenty- 
five good books on California. List of mem- 
bers, 1904. Constitution and list of members, 
1903. Henry Bradshaw librarian and scholar, 
Dr. Ewald Fliigel, 1904. Suggestive list of 
library aids for the librarian in the small 
town library, Florence B. Whittier. Essen- 
tials and non-essentials in the children's room, 
Nellie M. Russ. Forms, rules, and regula- 
tions, F. B. Graves. The essentials in classi- 
fying and cataloging, Alice J. Haines. The 
Santa Cruz meeting of the California Li- 
brary Association, E. J. Sturges, 1904. List 
of California periodicals issued previous to 
the completion of the Transcontinental Tele- 
graph, Aug. 15, i846-Oct. 24, 1861. Katherine 
Chandler, 1905. Annual meeting, Jan. 

Cape Cod Library Club, Mass. Sec., Miss 
M. N. Soule, Hyannis. Est. 1900. Dues, 50 c. 
Members, HI. Meetings, 2 or more each 
year. Pubns., Constitution, 1900. Annual 
meeting, Sept. 

Central New York Library Club. Sec., 
Miss E. P. Clarke, Seymour L., Auburn. Est. 

1903. Dues, 50 c. Members, 18. Meetings, 
i or more each year. Pubns., Constitution, 

1904. Annual meeting, May. 

Chicago Library Club, Illinois. Sec., 
Evva Moore, Scoville Inst. L., Oak Park, 111. 
Est. 1891. Dues, $i. Members, 98 in 1895. 
Meetings, 6 each year. Pubns., Chicago Li- 
brary Club, Officers, memorandum of organ- 
ization, and constitution, 1891. Constitution 
and members, 1893. Chicago Library Club 
manual, 1895. List of serials in public libra- 
ries of Chicago and Evanston, corrected to 
January, 1901, compiled by the Chicago Li- 
brary Club. 185 p., 1901. Manual of Chicago 
libraries, 1905. (In press.) Annual meeting, 
May. 



22 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



Colorado State Library Association. Sec., 
H. E. Richie, City L., Denver. Est. 1892. 
Dues, 50 c. Members, 35. Meetings, 2 each 
year until 1897; no meetings held 1897-1905; 
association revived and reorganization meet- 
ing held May 6, 1905. Pubns., none. 

Connecticut Library Association. Sec., 
Mrs. B. H. Johnson, P. L. Committee, Hart- 
ford. Est. 1891. Dues, 50 c. Members, 125. 
Meetings, 3 each year. Pubns., none. Spe- 
cial work, The systematic gathering of ma- 
terial for a bibliography of Connecticut. Ma- 
terial entered on special cards which are de- 
posited at State Library until such time as 
they may be edited for the bibliography. An- 
nual meeting, Feb. 

Detroit Library Club, Michigan. Sec., Miss 
May Conover. Est. 1902. Dues, $i. Mem- 
bers, 40. Meetings, 10 each year. Pubns., 
none. 

District of Columbia Library Association 
(before 1901 known as Library Association 
of Washington City). Sec., Frederick W. 
Ashley, Library of Congress, Washington. 
Est. 1894. Dues, $i. Members, 170. Meet- 
ings, 8 or 9 each year. Pubns., Henri Stein's 
Manuel de bibliographic, a critical review, H. 
C. Bolton and Charles Martel, 1899; Daniel 
Denton's description of New York, Felix 
Neuman, 1902 ; Karl Dziatzko, obituary no- 
tice, Felix Neuman, 1903 ; Handbooks, 1897, 
1898, 1904. Annual meeting, Dec. 

Drexel Institute Library School Associa- 
tion. Sec., Miss Edith Lamberton, 753 Corin- 
thian ave., Philadelphia. Est. 1899. Dues, 
50 c. Members, 30. Annual meeting, Oct. 
or Nov. 

Eastern Maine Library Club. Sec., J. H. 
Winchester, Stewart Free L., Corinna. Est. 
January, 1901. Dues, 50 c. Members, 45. 
Meetings, 2 each year. Pubns. Annual meet- 
ing, Oct. 

Fox River Valley Library Association, Wis- 
consin. Sec., Lillian E. Bell, Kaukauna. Est. 
1898. Dues, 50 c. Members, 30. Meetings, 
i each year. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, 
Nov. 

Georgia Library Association. Sec., Miss 
Anne Wallace, Carnegie L., Atlanta. Est. 
1897. Dues, 50 c. Members, 20 in 1897. 
Meetings, I each year; none held since 1902. 
Pubns., none. 

Graduates' Association of the Pratt Insti- 
tute Library School. Sec., Miss Irene A. 
Hackett, 158 Sixth ave., Brooklyn. Est. 1897. 
Dues, 50 c. Members, 200. Meetings, i or 
more each year. Pubns., Handbook, annual- 
ly. Annual meeting, Jan. 



Highland Library Club, New York. Sec., 
Miss E. G. Thorne, Port Jervis. Est. 1903. 
Dues, 50 c. Members, 30. Meetings, i each 
year. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, May. 

Hudson River Library Club, New York. 
Sec., Miss C. M. Houghton, Albany. Est. 
1903. Dues, 50 c. Members, 30. Meetings, 
i each year. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, 
May. 

Illinois Library Association. Sec., Evva L 
Moore, Scoville Institute L., Oak Park Est 
1896. Dues, $i. Members, 93. Meetings, i 
or more each year. Pubns., President's ad- 
dress before Illinois Library Assoc., E S. 
Wilcox, 1900; List of members, 1902; Hand- 
book ; Constitution and list of members, 1905 
Special work, Institutes. Annual meeting 
April. 

Illinois State Library School Association 
Sec., Miss Agnes M. Cole, University of Illi- 
nois Library, Urbana. Est. 1898. Dues $i. 
Members, 40. Meetings, i each year. Pubns., 
Constitution. Special work, To arrange for 
occasional lectures to be given to the library 
school by prominent librarians. Annual 
meeting, at A. L. A. Conference. 

Indiana Library Association. Sec., Ida 
Gruwell, P. L., Marion. Est. 1891. Dues, 
50 c. Members, 75. Meetings, i or more 
each year. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, 
Oct. 

Iowa Library Association. Sec., Miss Mary 
E. Downey, P. L. Ottumwa. Est. 1891. Dues, 
$i. Members, 125. Meetings, i each year. 
Pubns., History of the Iowa Library Associa- 
tion. Annual meeting, Oct. 

Kansas State Library Association. Sec., 
Miss Lida Romig, P. L., Abilene. Est. 1900. 
Dues, 50 c. for assistant librarians, $i for all 
other members. Members, 150. Meetings, I 
each year. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, 
Oct. 

Keystone State Library Association, Penn- 
sylvania. Sec., Robert P. Bliss, Bucknell L., 
Chester. Es.t. 1901. Dues, $i. Members, 75. 
Meetings, I or more each year. Pubns., Con- 
stitution, 1901 ; Travelling libraries, Frank 
A. Hutchins, 1903 ; Tentative list of the libra- 
ries of Pennsylvania, 1903. Special work, In- 
stitutes. Annual meeting, Oct. 

Lake Country Library Club, New York. 
Sec., Miss C. F. Webster, Geneseo. Est. 
1903. Dues, 50 c. Members, 30. Meetings, 
i each year. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, 
May. 

League of Library Commissions. Sec., Miss 
Alice S. Tyler, State L. Commission, Des 
MoineS, la. Est. 1904. Dues, none. Meet- 



DANA 



ings, in connection with the A. L. A. meetings. 
Special work, Co-operative issue of publica- 
tions useful to state library commissions. 

Library Club of Buffalo, New York. Sec., 
Miss K/L. Cuthbert, Law L., Buffalo. Est. 
1898. Dues, 50 c. Members, 75 in 1898. 
Meetings, 4 or more each year ; no meetings 
since 1904. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, 
Nov. 

Long Island Library Club, New York. 
Sec., Asa D. Dickinson, Pacific Branch, 
Brooklyn P. L. Est. 1900. Dues, 50 c. 
Members, 138. Meetings, 5 each year. 
Pubns., Constitution and list of members, 
1904. Special work, Institutes in remote 
parts of the field. Annual meeting, April. 

Maine Library Association. Sec., G. G. 
Wilder, Bowdoin College L., Brunswick. 
Est. 1891. Dues, 50 c. Members, 125. Meet- 
ings, i or more each year. Pubns. Annual 
meeting, Oct. 

Massachusetts Library Club. Sec., Miss 
Louisa M. Hooper, P. L., Brookline. Est. 

1890. Dues, 50 c. Members, 450. Meetings, 
3 and 4 each year. Pubns., Lists of select 
fiction, monthly, '96-'97; Handbooks, 1901, 
1904 (latter includes full report of all clubs 
in Mass.) ; The library club and small libra- 
ries, Miss M. D. McGuffey, 1904. Has pre- 
pared, with the state library, analytical card 
catalog of special reports, etc., in Mass, public 
documents, 1897-1904. Special work, Com- 
mittee to confer with the state library com- 
mission on bookbuying, binding, -etc. Annual 
meeting, June. 

Michigan Library Association. Sec., Miss 
Gertrude P. Humphrey, P. L., Lansing. Est. 

1891. Dues, 50 c. Members, 125. Meetings, 
I or more each year. Pubns., Two bulletins, 
containing addresses given at annual meeting 
of association, 1904. Annual meeting, May. 

Minnesota Library Association. Sec., Miss 
L. M. Poirier, P. L., Duluth. Est. 1904. 
Dues, 50 c. Members, 12. Meetings, I each 
year. Pubns., none. Special work, To bring 
good exhibits to libraries. Annual meeting, 
Oct. 

Missouri Library Association. Sec., Miss 
Frances A. Bishop, P. L., Kansas City. Est. 
1900. Dues, $i. Members, 79. Meetings, I 
or more each year. Pubns., Handbook in 
preparation. Special work, To secure a state 
library commission ; to compile and publish 
foundation lists of books for small libraries ; 
to prepare bibliographies of books on state 
history and local subjects. Annual meeting, 
Oct. 

Mohawk Valley Library Club, New York. 



Sec., Miss W. I. Bullock, Utica. Est. 1903. 
Dues, 50 c. Members, 20. Meetings, I each 
year. Pubns., Lists of books for small libra- 
ries. Annual meeting, May . 

Monongahela Valley Library Association, 
Pennsylvania. Sec., C. E. Wright, Carnegie 
L., Duquesne. Est. 1903. Dues, 50 c. Mem- 
bers, 50. Meetings, 7 each year. Pubns., 
none. Special work, Collection of material 
on metallurgy. Annual meeting, Jan. 

Nashville Library Club, Tennessee. Sec., 
Miss Jennie Lauderdale, State L., Nashville. 
Est. 1901. Dues, $i. Members, 20 active, 19 
honorary members in 1901. Meetings, 9 each 
year. Pubns., Handbook, 1901. 

National Association of State Libraries. 
Pres., John P. Kennedy, State Librarian of 
Virginia. Sec., Miss Minnie M. Oakley, State 
Historical Society of Wisconsin. Est. 1898 
as State Librarians' Section of the A. L. A. 
Pubns., Proceedings and papers for the an- 
nual meetings, 1901 to 1904. Special work, 
To publish a bibliography of state official lit- 
erature, and printed catalog cards for the 
same ; to perfect exchanges between the states, 
etc. Annual meeting, at A. L. A. Confer- 
ence. 

Nebraska Library Association. Sec., Miss 
Clara A. Mulliken, University L., Lincoln. 
Est. 1895. Dues, 50 c. Members, 100. Meet- 
ings, l or more each year. Pubns., Constitu- 
tion. Special work, Improving methods for 
small libraries ; building up school libraries. 
Annual meeting, Oct. 

New Hampshire Library Association. Sec., 
Miss H. L. Johnson, F. L., Berlin. Est. 1891. 
Dues, 50 c. Members, 100. Meetings, I eadi 
year. Pubns., Constitution ; An appeal to the 
library workers of N. H. Annual meeting, 
June. 

Nezv Jersey Library Association. Sec., 
Miss E. H. Wesson, P. L., Orange. Est. 
1890. Dues, 50 c. Members, 156. Meetings, 
2 or more each year. Pubns., A talk to li- 
brarians, Wendell P. Garrison, 1904; Mem- 
bers, constitution, by-laws, officers, 1905 ; 
Some of the recent and current aids to books 
selection, compiled by Beatrice Winser, 1905. 
Special work, Institutes, special meetings for 
library assistants since 1903. Annual meet- 
ing, Oct. 

New York Library Association. Sec., Miss 
E. M. Chandler, P. L., Buffalo. Est. 1890. 
Dues, $i. Members, 254. Meetings, I or 
more each year; "Library week," last week 
in September, annually, at Lake Placid, N. Y. 
Pubns., Handbook, 1903. Short lists of good 
popular books, on various subjects, printed 
in quantity, to be sold to libraries. Special 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



work, Institutes in centers of library work 
and interest. Annual meeting, Sept. 

New York Library Club. Sec., Miss Alice 
Wilde, N. Y. P. L., Washington Heights 
Branch. Est. 1885. Dues, $i. Members, 200 
in 1902. Meetings, 5 each year. Pubns., 
Constitution and officers, 1886; Constitution, 
officers and members, 1887; Union list of pe- 
riodicals currently received by the New York 
and Brooklyn libraries, 1887; Officers and 
from the foundation and list of members, 
new members, 1888 ; Constitution, officers 
1891 ; Manual of the N. Y. Library Club, 
1894; N. Y. Library Club manual, 1897; Li- 
braries of Greater New York: manual and 
historical sketch of the N. Y. Library Club, 

1902. Annual meeting, May. 

New York State Library School Associa- 
tion. Sec., Miss Julia A. Hopkins, Ln., F. L. 
Madison, Wisconsin. Est. 1894. Dues, $i. 
Members, 200. Meetings, i each year. Pubns., 
Handbook, 1902. Special work, To provide 
each year short courses of lectures for the 
school by prominent librarians. Annual 
meeting, at A. L. A. Conference. 

North Carolina State Library Association. 
Sec., Louis R. Wilson, State University L., 
Chapel Hill. Est. 1904. Dues, 50 c. Mem- 
bers, 50. Meetings, i each year. Pubns., 
none. Annual meeting, May. 

Ohio Library Association. Sec., Miss 
Emma Graham, P. L., Sidney. Est. 1895. 
Dues, 50 c. Members, 350. Meetings, i each 
year. Pubns., Handbooks, 1900, 1901, 1902, 

1903, 1904. Special work, Securing from Li- 
brary of Congress catalog cards especially 
suited to small libraries. Annual meeting, 
Oct. 

Olean District Library Club, New Ylork. 
Sec., Miss H. M. B. Sherwin, Olean. Est. 
1903. Dues, 50 c. Members, 20. Meetings, i 
each year. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, 
May. 

Oregon Library Association. Sec., Miss 
M. F. Isom, P. L., Portland. Est. 1904. 
Dues, 50 c. Members, 25. Meetings, i each 
year. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, Dec. 

Pennsylvania Library Club. Sec., Edith 
Brinkmann, Philadelphia F. L., 1200 N. Broad 
St., Philadelphia. Est. 1892. Dues, $i. 
Members, 214. Meetings, 5 each year. 
Pubns., Fiction, John Thomson, 1894; The 
Halliwell-Phillipps Collection, Albert Henry 
Smith, 1895, o. p.; American libraries, their 
past, present and future, George Watson 
Cole, 1895, o. p.; The German side of Penn- 
sylvania history, J. G. Rosengarten, 1899; 
The applied use of photography to the pur- 



poses of free libraries, John Ashhurst, 1899; 
College and university libraries, E. C. Rich- 
ardson, Ph.D., 1899; New lamps for old, 
Helen E. Haines, 1899; Children's rooms in 
free libraries, John Ashhurst, 1899; Depart- 
ment for the blind in free libraries, Edward 
E. Allen, 1899; The Dante collection at the 
University of Pennsylvania, Anna C. Laws, 

1901. Annual meeting, May. 

Rhode Island Library Association. Sec., 
H. O. Brigham, State L., Providence. Est. 

1903. Dues, 50* c. Members, 105. Meetings, 
2 or more each year. Pubns., Handbook, 

1904. Annual meeting, Nov. 

St. Lawrence Library Club, New York. 
Sec., Miss Florence R. Curtis, Potsdam. Est. 
1903. Dues, 50 c. Members, 25. Meetings, 
i each year. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, 
May. 

South Dakota Library Association. Sec., 
Miss A. M. Price, University L., Vermillion. 
Est. 1904. Dues, 50 c. Members, 25. Meet- 
ings, i each year. Pubns., none. Special 
work, Travelling libraries. Annual meeting, 
May. 

Southern Tier Library Club, New York. 
Sec., Miss Effie L. Scott, Waverley. Est. 
1903. Dues, 50 c. Members, 30. Meetings, I 
each year. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, 
May. 

Tennessee Library Association. Sec., Miss 
M. H. Johnson, Carnegie L., Nashville. Est. 

1902. Dues, $i. Members, 30. Meetings, I 
or more each year. Pubns., none. Special 
work, To establish a library commission; 
work with the public schools. Annual meet- 
ing, Jan. 

Texas State Library Association. Sec., P. 
L. Windsor, State University L., Austin. 
Est. 1902. Dues, $i. Members, up. Meet- 
ings, i each year. Pubns., Constitution, 1902; 
Handbook of Texas libraries, illus., 1904. 
Special work, Furnishes library news to the 
press ; working for a library commission. An- 
nual meeting, Nov. 

Vermont Library Association. Sec., Edith 
E. Clarke, University of Vermont L., Bur- 
lington. Est. 1894. Dues, 50 c. Members, 
54. Meetings, I each year since 1903. Pubns., 
none. Special work, Establishing State Li- 
brary Commission and securing passage of 
library law. Annual meeting, May. 

Washington Library Association. Sec., 
Miss Mary Banks, P. L., Seattle. Est. 1905. 
Dues, $i. Members, 58. Meetings, I or more 
each year. Pubns., A quarterly bulletin, no. I, 
April, I9fi5. Annual meeting, March. 



DANA 



Western Massachusetts Library Club. Sec., 
J. A. Lowell, City L., Springfield. Est. 1898. 
Dues, 50 c. Members, 100. Meetings, 3 each 
year. Pubns., List each year since 1900 of 
the 100 best books of the year for small libra- 
ries. Special work, Institutes in small towns 
since 1900. Annual meeting, spring. 

Wisconsin State Library Association. Sec., 
Henry E. Legler, F. L. Commission, Madi- 
son. Est. 1891. Dues, 50 c. Members, 125. 
Meetings, I each year. Pubns., none. An- 
nual meeting, Feb. 

ALLIED ASSOCIATIONS 

Association of Medical Librarians. Sec., 
Albert T. Huntington, 1313 Bedford ave., 
Brooklyn, N. Y. Est. 1898. Dues, $5. Mem- 
bers, 50. Meetings, I each year. Pubns., 
Medical Library and Historical Journal, of- 
ficial organ of the Association of Medical 
Librarians, published quarterly from January, 
1903. $2 per year, Albert T. Huntington, 
editor. Annual meeting, June. 

Bibliographical Society of America. Sec., 
Charles Alexander Nelson, Columbia Univer- 
sity L., New York City. Est. 1904. Dues, 
$3. Members, 100. Meetings, I or 2 each 
year. Pubns., Constitution ; Circular of in- 
formation. Special work, To promote bib- 
liographical research and to issue bibliogra- 
phical publications. Annual meeting, Oct. 

National Educational Association: Library 
Department. Sec., Miss M. E. Ahern, PuUfic 
Libraries, Chicago. Est. 1896. Dues, N. E. 
A. $2. Members, N. E. A. 8100. Meetings, i 
each year. Pubns., Addresses and proceed- 
ings of the Library Department are given in 
full in the N. E. A. report for 1896 and each 
succeeding year. Annual meeting, June or 

July. 

Religious Education Association: Library 
Department. Sec., Herbert W. Gates, Chi- 
cago, 111. Est. 1904. R. E. A. Dues, $3. 
Members of R. E. A'., 2000. Meetings, i each 
year. Pubns., Proceedings. Annual meeting, 
Feb. 

ENGLAND 

Birmingham and District Library Associa- 
tion. Sec., Robert K. Dent, Ln., Aston 
Manor. Est. 1895. Dues, 2s. Members, 50. 
Meetings, 5 each year. Pubns., none. 

Bristol and Western District Branch of the 
Library Association. Sec., L. Acklr.nd Tay- 
lor, Bristol Museum, Queen's Road. Bristol. 
Est. 1903. Dues, 2s. Members, 75. Meetings, 
i each year. Pubns., none. 

Librarians of the Mersey District. Sec., 
C. Madeley, The Museum, Warrington. Est. 



1887. Members, 44. Meetings, suspended. 
Pubns., none. 

Library Assistants' Association, London. 
Sec., G. E. Roebuck, P. L., 236 Cable St., 
London, E. Est. 1895. Dues, 55. Members, 
190. Meetings, 8 each year. Pubns., The 
Library Assistant, official organ of the Li- 
brary Assistants' Association, published 
monthly since 1898. 33. per year. Editor, 
Hugh Smith, Bishopsgate Institute, E. C. 
Annual meeting, June. 

Library Association, Whitcomb House, 
Whitcomb St., Pall Mall East, London, S. W. 
Sec., Lawrence Inkster, 265 Lavender Hill, 
London, S. W. Est. 1877. Dues, one guinea. 
Members, 415, also 165 libraries. Meetings, 
8 each year in addition to the annual meet- 
ing. Pubns., Transactions, 1877 to 1884; 
Proceedings, 1885, 1892, 1893, 1894; Monthly 
notes ; The Library Chronicle, containing the 
proceedings for 1886 to 1889; The Library, a 
Magazine of Bibliography and Library Lit- 
erature, 1889-1898. The Library Association 
Record, the official organ of the Association. 
From no. I, January, 1899, is. monthly. Pub- 
lic Library Manual. The Library Association 
series: No. i, Library appliances, James D. 
Brown; No. 2, Public library legislation, J. 
J. Ogle; No. 3, Public library staffs, P. 
Cowell ; No. 4, Guide to the formation of a 
music library, James D. Brown ; No. 5, Cata- 
loging rules ; No. 6, Books for village li- 
braries, Frank J. Burgoyne and John Bal- 
linger; No. 7, Guide to the adoption of the 
Public Libraries Acts in England and Wales, 
H. West Fovargue; No. 8, Classified list of 
current periodicals, James D. Brown; Li- 
brary Association year book, 1893, Revised 
Edition (serving for 1894), ^^95, 1899 and 
1900 to 1905. Annual meeting, Aug. or Sept. 

Liverpool Library Old Boys' Association. 
Sec., W. R. Wild, P. L., Liverpool. Est. 1904. 
Dues, 2s. Members, 90. Meetings, i each 
year. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, Jan. 

North Midland Library Association. Sec., 
J. Potter Briscoe, Nottingham. Est, 1890. 
Dues, 2s. Members, 60. Meetings, i each 
year. Pubns., none. Annual meeting, Oct. 

Northern Counties Library Association. 
Sec., H. E. Johnston, P. L., Gateshead. Est. 
1901. Dues, Librarians, 55., Assistants, 2s. 
6d. Members, 103. Meetings, 4 each year. 
Pubns., none. Annual meeting, Aug. 

North-zvestern Branch of the Library Asso- 
ciation. Sec., C. Madeley, The Museum, 
Warrington. Est. 1896. Dues, 55. ; members 
of the Library Association, 33. ; assistants, 2s. 
Membership under revision. Meetings, 3 or 



26 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



4 each year. Pubns., none. Special work, SUMMARY 

Summer School. No. OF No. OF 

,, . , ,. , , , , , , AMERICA. ORGANIZATIONS. MEMBERS. 

The Pseudonyms: a delightful fabrication A. L. A 1228 

of the fancy of a librarian who has humor Alabama 50 

and imagination. No dues. Members, all li- Coicf'ad 113 I3 s 

brarians with a sense of humor. Meetings re- Connecticut.'.', 125 

ported in Library World. District of Columbia 170 

Georgia 20 

OTHER COUNTRIES Illinois 231 

A ^TRALIA. gdl^..^.. ...._....... ^ 

Library Association of Australasia. Est. Kansas 150 

1896. No meetings since 1902. Pubns., S^useus:: '"i ! ' ! .!: gj 

1 ransactions and proceedings, official organ, Michigan 184 

Library Record. Discontinued. Minnesota 12 

Missouri 79 

AUSTRIA Nebraska 100 

Oesterreichischen Verein fur Bibliotheks- % jSyf"?/ .'.'.'.. '.'.'.'. !s6 

wesen (Austrian Library Association) . Est. New York. .............. i 1270 

1895. Meetings, i or more each year. Pubns., North Carolina 50 

Mitteilungen and Einzelpublicationen (Pro- Oregon 3 is 

ceedings and special publications) . Pennsylvania! '.'.'. .' .' .' ' .' .' .' .' 369 

~ Rhode Island 105 

CANADA South Dakota 25 

Ontario Library Association. Sec., E. A. Tennessee 50 

Hardy, 65 Czar st, Toronto, Ontario. Est. Vermont.'.'. 

1901. Dues, $i. Members, 100. Meetings, I Washington.'.'.'. ..'.'..... 58 

each year. Pubns., List of best books, 1901, Wisconsin 2 155 

1902; A Provincial Library Commission, H. ~ ^~~r 

H. Langton, 1903. Annual meeting, April. 

OTHER ASSOCIATIONS. ORGANIZATIONS. MEMBERS. 

GERMANY Assoc. of Medical Librarians. i 50 

Tr ,-. , n'i f IF i. / /-* Bibliographical Soc. of Amer. i 100 

Verein Deutscher Bwhothekare (German Nat. Educational Assoc i 

Library Association). Sec., Dr. G. Naetebus, Religious Education Soc i 

Berlin. Est. 1900. Dues, 3m. Members, 332 

(1905). Meetings, I each year. Pubns., 

Jahrbuch der Deutschen Bibliotheken (Year- ENGLAND. ORGANIZATIONS. MEMBERS. 

book of German libraries) ; List of members. ISf "'. ! .!'.'.' .' .'.'.'.:: 75 

In 1897 Dziatzkq and others asked the Ve- Library Assistants' Assoc. . 190 

rein deutscher Philologen and Schulmanner Library Association 415 

to form a Library Section. This was done g^Jj/,^ ;; ".;;;; % 

and it was determined to continue, this sec- North Midland 60 

tion even after the founding of the separate North Western Branch... 121 

Library Association in 1900, but it is now Northern Counties ^ 103 

disbanded. 9 I14 g 

T _ OTHER COUNTRIES. 

IRELAND Austria 100 

Irish Rural Libraries Association. Est. Australia 50 

1904. Special work, To establish and pro- jgSEv 

mote libraries in rural districts. Annual Ireland ! 25 

meeting, April, May or June. Italy 75 

Japan 50 

ITALY 

Societa bibliogranca Italianq. Est. 1897. 732 

Official organ, Rivista delle Biblioteche, edi- . SUMMARY. 

tor, Dr. Guido Biagi, Mediceo-Laurenziana En^and! '.".'. '..'.'.'.'.".'.'.. '.'.'. 5 J 1148 

L., Florence. Countries, Other 7 732 

Associations, Other 4 150 

JAPAN 

Kansai Bunko Kyokai or (Western Li- 8 49i 

brary Association). Est. I90I. Official or- O f the organizations in the United States, n pub- 

gan, Toheki. lish handbooks, 12 constitutions only, 19 other things. 



PUTNAM 



THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AS A NATIONAL LIBRARY 



BY HERBERT PUTNAM, Librarian of Congress 



T HAVE tampered with my title. The one 
assigned was "The Library of Congress 
and what it stands for as our National Li- 
brary." As it now reads "The Library of 
Congress as a National Library" it permits 
me to speak not of what the library is, but 
of what it may be. 

The term is "national," not "federal." The 
Library of Congress is a federal library and 
will continue to be, whatever the general 
service that it may perform. As a federal 
library it will owe to the literature of the 
country as a whole the duty which the state 
library or the municipal library owes to the 
literature of the smaller geographical area 
which maintains it : that is, to accumulate 
and preserve, irrespective of present demand. 
For the United States it must be as these 
others for their lesser areas, a library of 
record. 

As a federal library it must render a serv- 
ice to the federal government. It was estab- 
lished to serve, but one department of the 
government, the legislative. It has come to 
serve all three legislative, executive, and 
judicial. In addition, it is a laboratory ab- 
solutely essential for the bureaus of the gov- 
ernment engaged in scientific investigation ; 
and, as you know, these bureaus are many 
and the amount and variety of their investi- 
gations prodigious, exceeding those of any 
other government, or two governments, in 
the world. 

As a federal library, then, the Library of 
Congress must exist for the convenience of 
Congress, and its law division for the con- 
venience of the supreme court and its bar; 
it must aid the executive departments in 
works of practical administration, a great 
many of which now that we have come to 
be a world power involve investigations 
into descriptive or scientific literature ; and 
it is a laboratory for the scientific bureaus, 
except so far as their needs are supplied by 



the working libraries which they themselves- 
maintain. 

But the term is not "federal," but "na- 
tional," and the question therefore is as to 
a service not to the federal government 
which directly maintains it, but to the coun- 
try at large. 

The general theory of our national func- 
tions is that the nation that is, the federal 
government shall undertake only those 
services which cannot be performed, or can 
but imperfectly, or at excessive cost, be per- 
formed by the local authorities state,, 
county, or municipal. This limitation may 
readily be applied here. The national li- 
brary for the United States should limit it- 
self to the undertakings which cannot, or 
cannot efficiently, or cannot without extrava- 
gance be carried on by the several states or 
smaller political sub-divisions; or (since 
libraries are a frequent and common form 
of private benefaction) are not adequately 
cared for by private endowment. 

One great group of activities we may at 
once set aside those which deal with the 
elementary and the general reader. To pro- 
vide for the elementary or general reader is 
no more the duty of the national government 
than to provide for the elementary pupils in 
the schools. But besides the elementary and 
general reader there is the investigator. The 
investigator stands on a different footing. 
His purpose is not self-cultivation, but the 
establishment of general principles. An in- 
vestigator who establishes a general princi- 
ple has benefited the entire community. To 
aid him is a proper concern of the entire 
community. 

Now such investigators exist all over the- 
country: in the universities of course, and also 
in the small colleges, and countless of them 
without any academic connection whatever. 
Some of them are within reach of municipal,., 
others of academic libraries, a few of en- 



28 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



dowed libraries all of these generous in 
service. How far do they meet the needs? 

A map of the United States exhibiting 
them would show at a glance one need not 
met: the need of an equalization of facilities. 
Even the popular lending libraries are 
grouped in certain areas out of proportion 
to population; and the great collections of 
specialized material, collections necessary to 
advanced study and to original investigation, 
are massed in a few spots, chiefly in the faf 
East, the North, the Middle West, so-called 
(that is, the states between the Alleghanies 
and the Mississippi), and California; and 
either in a few large cities or in university 
towns. In a country of the size of Great 
Britain such concentration is nQ inconveni- 
ence. In a country covering 3,000,000 square 
miles it may form an absolute impediment 
to research of high importance, by men of 
high capacity. Even, however, in the cen- 
ters best provided the present or prospective 
service does not appear completely to cover 
the need, for with the exception of the en- 
dowed libraries there is no class of local 
library whose primary duty is to research. 
The municipal free library is a department 
of the system of popular education. It is 
to aid the systematic instruction of the com- 
mon schools and to supplement it; it is to 
give opportunity for self-instruction to those 
who have missed the schools or wish to go 
beyond them; and opportunity for self-culti- 
vation to those who justly look to books for 
this service. To do this reasonably will ex- 
haust all its energies; to do even this com- 
pletely is impossible impossible with the 
funds likely ever to be available. Each mu- 
nicipal library must take care first of the 
people of its own city. It must take care 
first of the general reader. There is little 
prospect that the ordinary municipal library 
can do more. It has some other limitations : 
it must devote its funds to general litera- 
ture, it desires only the worthy books, and in 
the literature of knowledge it gives prefer- 
ence to the books which interpret agreeably 
and intelligibly, rather than to those which 
are the original sources. It can rarely afford 
the unusual and little used book; and, as a 
rule, it has not space for it. If, then, it as- 
sists research it cannot go far in promoting 



it. Its primary duty is in service of a differ- 
ent nature. 

The academic libraries in this country, in 
particular the university libraries, have be- 
come the custodians of material of eminence 
which they employ most generously in aid 
of research. More than any other class of 
libraries they at present promote research. 
Their first duty is, however, to supply the 
material required in the worjc of direct in- 
struction. Their funds are not generally 
able to go far beyond this. They are apt to 
be embarrassed for space to accommodate 
conveniently highly specialized material 
which comes by gift and to make it useful 
in catalogs and bibliographies. Already 
the authorities of our oldest university are 
considering the suggestion of its president 
that the largest, the oldest of our university 
libraries, which has heretofore grown com- 
prehensively, shall hereafter restrict itself 
within the much narrower dimension requis- 
ite for the immediate needs of its faculty and 
students. 

"Selected libraries" of general literature, 
working libraries of necessary reference books, 
museum collections of books that for their 
form or dress, or rarity, attract the private 
collector all of these taken together do not 
make a research library. In literature the 
need of research is bounded only by the 'limi- 
tations of the literature which exists, and in 
a country such as this the need of the inves- 
tigator is not fully met by local libraries how- 
every generous, which are limited in means, 
in space, and have a primary duty to a local 
constituency. 

Taking, therefore, the state and municipal 
libraries in the aggregate, and making due 
allowance for academic and for endowed li- 
braries for research in particular fields, there 
seems room in this country for one library 
that shall be (i) a library for special service 
to the federal government ; (2) a library of 
record for the United States; (3) a, library 
of research, reinforcing and supplementing 
other research libraries ; (4) a library for na- 
tional service that is, a library which shall 
respond to a demand from any part of the 
country, and thus equalize opportunities for 
research now very unequally distributed. 

These are but a few aspects. Let us con- 



PUTNAM 



29 



sider them a moment before passing to 
others. What do they require? In the first 
place, an ample building. Th's we have 
Most of you know it by observation, all of 
you by description and by report. It is ex- 
hibited here by model and photographs. Cer- 
tain of its features and characteristic work 
within it are being described by my colleague, 
Mr. Johnston, in connection with the ex- 
hibit. I need not review them. Sufficient to 
say that the building is a large one, with 
eight acres of floor space, with present shelv- 
ing for two and a half million volumes and 
possible provision for seven million, and with 
accommodation for a thousand readers at a 
time. It is also an efficient building. 

The second requirement is large collec- 
tions : a sure provision for the acquisition of 
Americana, and generous provision for the 
acquisition of all the literature of knowledge. 
The present collections aggregate 1,350,000 
books and pamphlets and three-quarters of 
a million other articles a total far in ex- 
cess of that of any other single collection 
on this hemisphere, and ranking the library 
already third among the libraries of the 
world. Among the sources of increase are 
three which are unique : ( I ) The copy- 
right deposits, which ensure to the library 
two copies of every article copyrighted on 
or before the date of its publication; (2) 
international exchange the returns from 
the issue to foreign governments and insti- 
tutions of publications of the United States 
government, 100 copies of which are placed 
at the disposal of the library for this pur- 
pose; (3) the returns from the exchanges of 
the Smithsonian Institution with learned so- 
cieties all over the world; and the surplus 
returns (not otherwise retained) from the 
exchanges of other departments and bureaus 
of the government at Washington. From 
these three sources the library has already 
the largest single collection of American im- 
prints, of official documents of all countries, 
and of the publications of learned societies, 
existing in any single institution. It has 
become the depository for historical manu- 
scripts in the possession of the federal gov- 
ernment no longer required for administra- 
tive purposes. It has thus the papers of no 
less than nine of the presidents, and of many 



other American statesmen, from Franklin to 
Chase. Its manuscript collections have now 
by transfer, by gift, by purchase come to be 
preeminent in American history. It is, I sup- 
pose, now impossible for any work in any 
period of American history to be definitive 
without recourse to Washington. 

In addition to these sources which are pe- 
culiar to itself, the library has what other li- 
braries have the resource of ordinary ex- 
change and of purchase ; and its appropria- 
tion for purchase is now $98,000 a year. 
Freed from any expenditure for current copy- 
righted books and a considerable mass of 
other material, this may go far. It might do 
much even in the purchase of the rare and 
curious books suited to a museum library. 
It is not, however, being applied to these. 
It is being applied to the acquisition of the 
material not precious from its form or rarity 
merely, but useful from its content. There is 
an immense mass of such material which 
cannot be acquired by the ordinary library; 
or which, if acquired, could not adequately 
be maintained by the ordinary library, and 
which yet is needed by the investigator. The 
need may be only occasional, but when it 
comes it may be of vital importance. It may 
ccme at one time at only one point, so that 
a single copy of the book, if liberally admin- 
istered by an institution having a duty to the 
entire country, may suffice to meet it\ 

Fifty years ago, it was a grief to an ob- 
server that all the libraries in the United 
States together would not have furnished 
Gibbon the sources for his history. All the 
libraries in the United States will never, 1 
suppose, be able to furnish to any historian 
of European history the sources for a de- 
finitive history based upon original sources. 
For European history, and indeed for that 
earlier history of America whose origins are 
European, and whose relations are inextrica- 
bly interwoven with the affairs of Europe, 
the original sources are, and must remain, 
abroad. But the secondary sources that is, 
the printed book, and reproduction of the 
original sources in transcript, and where 
necessary in facsimile : these may ultimately 
be looked for in Washington. Such a collec- 
tion is not built in a day. The library is, 
to be sure, not at its beginnings. When the 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



new building was completed eight years ago 
it was already a collection of three-quarters 
of a million volumes ; but only from the com- 
pletion of that building only indeed within 
the past five'years has it had resources for 
systematic growth reasonably adequate to the 
problem. 

The building and the collections being 
given, the third requisite is an organization 
capable of maintaining them, of developing 
them, and of making them useful. The or- 
ganization that we have is not a huge one, 
consisting indeed in the library proper of 
less than 240 persons; but it represents for 
the technical work a force somewhat care- 
fully developed during the past eight years; 
and the division of now go persons which 
deals with the work most technical that 
is, classification and cataloging repre- 
sents, I believe, a group as highly expert as 
is maintained by any library, and larger in 
number than is maintained by any other two 
libraries. Unfortunately, a large part of its 
energies must still be applied to arrears of 
both classification and of cataloging, repre- 
senting work which should have been spread 
over the past fifty years. No estimate of the 
service which the library can ultimately ren- 
der is safe, and, I may say, no criticism of 
imperfections in its present bibliographic 
work is just, until these arrears shall have 
been completely dealt with ; nor is consist- 
ency in rule or method in such work to be 
hoped for while both rule and method are 
being worked out and determined by actual 
experiment during the present, which is still 
an experimental, stage. 

The expert service of a research library 
must extend beyond its classifiers and cata- 
logers. It must include interpreters. The 
expert service of the Library of Congress does 
include some interpreters men of special 
training in the subject matter of knowledge, 
in addition to classifiers and catalogers, as 
well as accomplished bibliographers who are, 
to some extent, specialists trained in the sub- 
ject matter of literature. Our faculty of 
these is small, and but partially covers the 
various departments of knowledge, but they 
may be to some extent supplemented from 
the scientific bureaus of the government, 
whose aid can be invoked where ours is im- 



perfect; and their service in the compilation 
of bibliographies and in the direct response 
to particular inquiry, resident and non-resi- 
dent, is a potent one. But I lay stress upon 
the group engaged in the technical work of 
classifying and cataloging, because it is their 
product that specially concerns libraries in 
general. 

The collections being there, what can be 
done with* them ? There is of course the di- 
rect and immediate use upon the premises. 
In the case of national libraries abroad, this 
service is considered an adequate service. 
The British Museum, for instance, is, as yon 
know, a purely reference library. The other 
great national libraries of Europe are essen- 
tially reference libraries. But, as I have said, 
a limitation which works no hardship in 
Great Britain might work a considerable de- 
privation in the United States. 

The Library of Congress is lending books. 
It has lent them as far east as Maine, as far 
west as California, as far south as Texas. It 
lends them only to libraries, but of course for 
the benefit of individuals. They must be re- 
quired for serious research that is to say, 
for an investigation calculated to advance the 
boundaries of knowledge. They are not lent 
for the purpose of private study or self-culti- 
vation. The need, in other words, must be 
a matter of public concern. But with these 
conditions fulfilled the library does lend. 
There is, of course, some risk of loss in 
transit, and there is also the wear and tear 
upon the books. There is a possibility that 
some book lent may be lost to posterity seek- 
ing it at Washington. There is a risk, to the 
charge of which I know of but one answer : 
that a book used is, after all, fulfilling a 
higher mission than a book which is merely 
being preserved for possible future use. 

The character of the demand already met 
is assuring. It is very largely for out-of-the- 
way articles in society transactions or the less 
common scientific periodicals. The number 
of volumes thus far issued is not great 
a thousand a year but we have not par- 
ticularly advertised our willingness in the 
matter. 

"Here, then, is a service outside of the limits 
of Washington. It is indeed a service to 
the country at large. In dimension it is at 



PUTNAM 



present no great service, but its dimension is 
not to be reckoned by the number of volumes 
issued. A thousand books for mere self- 
amusement or self-cultivation issued to 1000 
readers will not be a great contribution to 
the advancement of learning; but 1000 works 
of scientific content issued to investigators 
are a very different matter. In the hands of 
investigators they are transmuted through 
written word, by word of mouth, or in prin- 
ciples newly ascertained, and are thus dif- 
fused throughout the entire community. A 
visitor to the library remarked to me : "Ah, 
I see, this library is supplying the authors 
who are filling the Carnegie libraries !" 

The amount of investigation under way in 
the country is not to be reckoned. The va- 
riety and extent of material requisite for an 
investigation absolutely thorough seems to 
be indefinite. A collection containing every- 
thing that has ever been printed would doubt- 
less in every one of its parts find some use 
at some time. Do we propose a collection 
of everything in print? Heaven forbid; or 
even of all that's fit to print. A collection 
comprehensive in scope is one thing ; a col- 
lection made with reference to something 
more or less than mere literary worth, and 
something beyond the present demand, is one 
thing; but an indefinite accumulation without 
discrimination and without selection is an- 
other thing. The Library of Congress must 
discriminate. It must reject much that is 
available to it without cost and must select 
among the material available by purchase. 
Its range will be far wider than that of any 
local library, and still there must be both 
discrimination and selection. 

Subject to this, the mere accumulation at 
our national capital of a collection compre- 
hensive in scope, representative of all depart- 
ments 01 literature, and as completely as pos- 
sible exhibiting the product of the American 
press, would itselt render a national service. 
Such a mass, even if inert, would offer some 
lessons and exert some influence. It would 
be at least a monument. 

Which is not to say that it need be inert. 

The active service of such a collection may 
consist in the direct issue of books either on 
the premises or abroad, but also in biblio- 
graphic contributions based upon it or in the 



direct aid to inquirers rendered by the ex- 
perts administering it; or, finally, in the ex- 
amples furnished of method and system as 
applied to it. 

The single great bibliographic contribution 
of the British Museum is its cata'og in book 
lorm. The notable contribution of the Li- 
brary of Congress is its catalog on cards. 
What this is you know. What it means, 
or may mean, can at present only be roughly 
guessed at. It is in the first place a catalog, 
which is to be a complete catalog of the larg- 
est collection of books on this hemisphere, in- 
definitely expanding. As such a catalog it 
will be available in copies placed at over a 
score at least of centers of research in this 
country. As such a catalog it is a biblio- 
graphic aid in the same way as is the catalog 
of the British Museum, but covering in part 
a field very different, and covering this pre 
eminently. It is to inform the investigator 
what books are in the national library. It 
will ultimately inform the bibliographer more 
than does any other one publication, or per- 
haps all other publications combined, what 
books are in print. But it is something more 
than either of these. The copies of the cards 
distributed to other libraries for their own 
catalogs become a part of their own appara- 
tus. The sale of these cards to other librar- 
ies began, you will recall, three and one-half 
years ago. We have not sought to press it 
for three reasons: (i) Because the distribu- 
tion involves to the Library of Congress an 
expense and some inconvenience not at all 
reimbursed by the subscriptions received; 
and (2) because the cards at present cover 
but a fraction of the existing collection, and 
(3) because our methods and rules of entry 
are still undergoing revision, and we did not 
covet the task of explaining changes or of 
satisfying subscribers as to inconsistencies. 
We have not, therefore, sought to push the 
sales. They have, however, increased each 
year in almost geometric proportion. The 
list of libraries subscribing, or I will say par- 
ticipating, now totals 608. The receipts from 
sales during the past fiscal year will have 
exceeded $16,000. You are aware what it 
costs to catalog a book. The ordinary esti- 
mate is from 20 to 35 cents. Five copies of 
a printed oard cost but 4 cents. The saving 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



to the subscribing library as against the 
cost for doing the work independently is 
thus x from 16 to 31 cents on each book cata- 
loged, or from 4 to nearly 8 times the amount 
it pays for the printed cards. The saving, 
therefore, to the subscribing libraries during 
the present year will have been from 4 to, 
say, 7 times the total amount paid in that 
is, from $64,000 to $112,000. Even if we take 
the mean of this, in order to allow for some 
clerical work required on certain at least of 
the printed cards in order to adapt them to 
the catalogs of a particular library, we shall 
have $88,000 a substantial saving effected. 

These cards are produced primarily for the 
library itself. The copies supplied to other 
libraries for their own catalogs are a mere 
bye-product. I believe, however, and I have 
suggested elsewhere, that in the end so large 
a percentage of the libraries of this country 
will be getting so large a percentage of the 
cards for so large a percentage of the books 
in their own collections that the production 
of these cards alone would justify the main- 
tenance of a national cataloging bureau at the 
expense of the entire country irrespective, 
mark you, of any other use of the books cata- 
loged. In other words, that it would pay this 
great community, through its central govern- 
ment, to buy a book for the mere purpose of 
cataloging it and making the catalog entry 
available in these printed cards, even if the 
bcok should then be thrown away. 

Yet we do not propose to throw it away. 

To supplement other collections for re- 
search your national library must have the 
unusual book; to enable its cataloging work 
to be serviceable to other libraries of vary- 
ing types, it must have the usual book. The 
distribution of its catalog cards, therefore, 
will tend to round out its collections in di- 
rections which mere research would not re- 
quire or justify. 

Of bibliographical aids in book form we 
publish, as you know, some reports, a very 
few catalogs of special portions of the col- 
lection, chiefly form groups, select lists of 
references on topics under discussion, and, 
beginning recently with the "Journals of the 
Continental Congress," some manuscript ma- 
terial in extenso. Of these the reports may 
have some administrative value, the catalog 



a value which other catalogs have, the lists 
of references may save some multiplication 
cf work in local libraries. The publication 
of manuscripts is not perhaps so much a 
service frcm us as a library as a duty from 
us as the custodians of original sources for 
American history. But in two publications 
one of the past, and one proposed for the 
coming year we have undertaken a service 
of a different nature. The first was the "A. 
L. A. catalog" ; the second will be the "Por- 
trait index." The service of the latter of 
these will of course include a service to re- 
search. The service of the "A. L. A. catalog" 
will be chiefly elementary and popular ; but 
in publishing the catalog we render that serv- 
ice not directly to the individual, but to the 
institutions that is, the libraries them- 
selves, which serve him 1 . I believe that this 
distinction may be salutary throughout. 
While a national library does not supply the 
elementary or general reader, but rather the 
investigator, yet it may aid the libraries 
which do supply him, where the aid that it 
can render will accomplish for them some- 
thing that they cannot individually accom- 
plish for themselves, or if undertaken by 
them individually would represent a great 
multiplication of expense. To gather up au- 
thoritative opinion upon public questions of 
general concern and to use its facilities for 
making this generally available this also 
may be a function of a national institution, 
whether it be a department of agriculture or 
a bureau of education, or a marine hospital 
service, or a national library. 

There is a direct service to readers, or to 
inquirers. In a library serving merely a local 
constituency this consists in the direct serv- 
ice to resident readers. The Library of Con- 
gress has its local constituency. It includes, 
outside of the government, a considerable 
number of men attached to the academic in- 
stitutions in Washington and pursuing ad- 
vanced study or research. It includes also 
some resident investigators unattached, and it 
is coming to include an increasing number of 
non-resident investigators who visit Wash- 
ington for limited periods for the express 
purpose of investigation. But beyond this 
there is now a service by correspondence; 
for the library answers every appeal for 



PUTNAM 



33 



bibliographic information that comes to it 
from anywhere. The number of such appeals 
reaches now perhaps eight or ten thousand 
yearly, and they come from all parts of the 
United States, and are upon subjects most 
diverse. Those which can be answered from 
material in the library are so answered. 
Where they cannot be, the inquirer is re- 
ferred to a more competent, or more appro- 
priate authority. 

"In the Carnegie Library, this city," writes 
a correspondent, "is a notice to the effect that 
anyone not finding the information they de- 
sired in that library should address you." 

Then there is method itself. Of this, so 
far as we have example, one may not speak 
complacently at least, I am not that one. 
A national library is conceivable which would 
exemplify, in its own administrative pro- 
cesses, methods and service, as well as in its 
collections and apparatus, what is most effi- 
cient and most economical for other librar- 
ies. The Library of Congress makes no pre- 
tense to this. There are, of course, certain 
branches of a library system, as well as cer- 
tain apparatus necessary to a library of a 
popular type, which would have no appro- 
priate place or use in a research library. If 
example of this is td be furnished by the 
federal government, it must rather be looked 
for in the free library of the District of Col- 
umbia than in the Library of Congress. 

For libraries of research the operations of 
a national library that might offer analogy 
would be those which concern the accommo- 
dation of material, its classification, its ex- 
position in bibliographies and catalogs, and 
its interpretation by experts. The problem 
of selection in a library which has such large 
accessions by copyright, gift, and exchange, 
and so small an immediate constituency, has 
little of analogy. The methods of purchase 
might have some. The system of record, of 
use, etc., is, in comparison with the scientific 
purpose, of trifling moment. 

Classification is a matter of supreme mo- 
ment, or would be unless we give that place 
to cataloging. How excellent a service if 
the national library could adopt a classifica- 
tion which would become universally cur- 
rent! We have had visions of such a one. 
They have passed. We long considered ex- 



isting systems, in the hope that one of these 
might be adopted by us, if that could be seen 
to have a clear prospect of general adoption. 
We considered long, but felt obliged to con- 
clude that no existing system likely to be 
generally current would serve our purpose 
without modifications which would defeat 
the very pdrpose of uniformity that is, 
identical call numbers. We have proceeded 
to construct a system of our own, and have 
thus added one more crime to the calendar, 
and further confusion. 

We have sought extenuation in this reflec- 
tion that it is a matter, after all, relatively 
indifferent as to whether a book occupies an 
identical position in relation to its class upon 
our shelves and upon those of any other li- 
brary, provided that we supply to that other 
library a key to its position upon our shelves, 
and in a particular division of literature, by 
supplying a printed system of our classifi- 
cation. If the same notation be not used, at 
least, with the aid of such key, the symbols 
of one notation may be translated into the 
symbols of another. 

I say we have sought extenuation in this. 
How far the efficiency of our cards and other 
bibliographic apparatus is to be diminished 
by the fact that the call numbers are. not 
identical with those of the same books in the 
recipient libraries is yet to be proved. 

Uniformity in cataloging stands , in our 
opinion, upon a very different basis. Here- 
tofore we have not offered our practice as 
a model. Inevitably, however, it has to be 
considered, and it has entered into discus- 
sions of uniformity in cataloging rules. We 
have contributed our opinion to this discus- 
sion, and have sought to make all the con- 
cessions that were consistent with our wil- 
lingness to have the final compromise repre- 
sent our own practice. There are still num- 
erous points of difference, but, as you know, 
many that were a half dozen years ago points 
of difference have come to be points of agree- 
ment. There has been progress, and the 
points that remain unsettled are, I believe, 
for the most part of minor importance, at 
least of detail. In considering what the com- 
promises should be it must be remembered 
that your national library is to be a great 
research library, whose catalog is to be a 



34 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



piece of permanent apparatus and for schol- 
arly reference, not for superficial or tempor- 
ary reference, and that the catalog entry pro- 
duced by such a library, with an adequately 
expert staff, will be more full, as it will at- 
tempt to be more thorough, than an entry 
which would suffice and perhaps would be 
convenient for an ordinary library. 

Of personal service in interpretation there 
is not yet much to say which could be said 
compactly or concretely, and I will avoid it 
wholly, except to refer to a suggestion in my 
last report that a library with the collec- 
tions, the equipment, the organization, and the 
relations of service of the Library of Con- 
gress offers opportunity for a valuable ex- 
perience which a national library might fur- 
nish as a school of experience for the higher 
grades of library work. 

In the character of their service the li- 
braries of this country do not accept as limi- 
tations the areas of the political divisions 
which maintain them. If they did, we might 
foresee an organic structure in which mu- 
nicipal library would be subsidiary to state 
library, and the state libraries as a whole, 
in certain of their relations, subsidiary to the 
library of the nation not, of course, in 
their organization or government, but in their 
service. Neither logic nor constitutional pro- 
priety is likely to determine such relations. 
But a specific request from the state libraries 
to the national library for, a concrete service 



to be rendered to or through them is certain 
to be effective. 

Lastly, if there is a matter of international 
concern upon which international cooperation 
should be sought, cooperation between insti- 
tutions as distinguished from associations, it 
is the national library of our country which 
would represent the community of libraries 
in the exchange of view and of effort. 

In fine? A collection indefinitely expand- 
ing, at once a monument of American litera- 
ture and an exposition of the serviceable in 
all literature; resident at our national cap- 
ital, but made available in non-resident serv- 
ice through the loan of material required for 
research, and through the exhibit in bibliogra- 
phies of the material most important for re- 
search in particular subjects, and expounded 
by experts in response to particular inquiry; 
a central bureau upon matters bibliographic; 
a central bureau for cataloging, the product 
of whose work may be utilized by other li- 
braries ; and a few other things. Pleas- 
ant matter of speculation, some part of which 
has been brought from the realm of specula- 
tion into the realm of promise. 

I recur to Edward Everett, that sensitive 
soul : "Who,'' exclaimed he, eighty-five years 
ago "who can see without shame that the 
Federal government of America is the only 
government in the civilized world that has 
never founded a literary institution of any 
description or sort?'' 



STATE LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION 



BY J. L. GILLIS, State Librarian of California 



*T* HE best administration of any library 
is that which accomplishes the greatest 
results at the least expenditure of time, labor, 
and money. Results depend primarily on the 
perfection of organization, therefore the most 
vital thing in library administration is the 
proper organization of the work. Other 
things being equal, the successful business 
firm, railroad corporation, or political party 
is the one which is best organized, and busi- 



ness principles are as applicable in library 
work as they are in any other kind of busi- 
ness. 

Successful administration requires a grasp 
of the library movement as whole; it is not 
sufficient, nor is it always essential, that the 
administrator of a library should understand 
the technical part of the work, but he must 
see the ends to be reached, and the relation of 
each part of the work to the other and to 



GILLIS 



35 



the whole. He must have a plan and know 
what means to employ to reach the end he 
seeks. 

The administration of a state library, like 
that of most other libraries, resolves itself 
into the two divisions of external and in- 
ternal administration. The former is repre- 
sented by the governing power vested in the 
board of trustees or the state officer who is 
primarily responsible for the management of 
the library, and who in a broad way outlines 
its policy. The internal administration de- 
volves directly upon the person made respon- 
sible by the governing power for the organi- 
zation, development, and management of the 
business, technical, and routine work of the 
library. 

The great diversity of the provisions of 
the several states for the establishment and 
maintenance of state libraries has resulted in 
a great diversity of methods for their admini- 
stration. Where the external governing 
power of a state library is vested in one per- 
son, as for example the governor or the sec- 
retary of state, the library is liable to suffer 
on account of changes of administration. It 
lacks stability, is subject to frequent changes 
of staff and is left at the end of each ad- 
ministration in the hands of an incoming 
officer who is entirely unfamiliar with its 
policy or management, and whose chief in- 
terest in it is very likely to be the appoint- 
ment of a new librarian. 

In many states, certain state officers and 
judges of the supreme court constitute, the 
board of trustees. While this arrangement 
may' insure a majority of experienced mem- 
bers on the board at all times, it has the dis- 
advantage of including those who have, per- 
haps, no fitness nor desire for the position, 
and look upon it merely as an onerous addi- 
tion to their other duties. A man may be in 
any one of three attitudes toward a position 
as trustee : he may not want it ; he may be 
indifferent, except, perhaps, for personal 
ends ; or he may be glad to secure it for 'the 
opportunity it gives to help the library 
cause. If he is indifferent or does not want 
the position and has it thrust upon him, he 
is pretty certain to make a poor trustee. But 
if he is interested in the work and is anxious 
to do whatever he can to help it along, he 



will prove to be a much more useful member 
than an unwilling or indifferent man who 
may otherwise have much greater qualifica- 
tions for the position. 

Of the various forms of the external gov- 
erning body, none seems to be better adapted 
to library needs than a board of trustees of 
five members, 'each appointed by the gover- 
nor for five years, whose terms of office ex- 
pire in yearly rotation. Such an arrangement 
insures on the board at all times a majority 
of members who are not new to the work, 
who hold their office by special appointment, 
who are adapted to and who desire the posi- 
tions to which they are appointed. 

The personnel of the board depends, of 
course, upon the governor, and he must be 
held ultimately responsible for the manage- 
ment of the library in proportion to the num- 
ber of his appointees on the board. When 
the people of a state have been so wise and 
patriotic as to place in power a man like the 
Governor of California, they have everything 
to hope and nothing to fear for the library 
interests of the state; for under his admini- 
stration it has been possible to employ trained 
assistants, and to put the library in the posi- 
tion of an aggressive factor in the extension 
of library work in the state. 

Where the librarian is appointed by such 
a board, and made directly responsible to the 
trustees and to no one else, a greater meas- 
ure of stability is assured in the management 
of the library than by any other means. To 
this board should be given all necessary 
power for the management of the state li- 
brary and for forwarding library interests 
throughout the state, for by clothing the 
trustees with the proper authority, the neces- 
sity of a state library commission in addi- 
tion to the state library itself is avoided. 
There is a decided advantage in having the 
work of library extension performed by the 
state library instead of by a commission, al- 
though there may be some cases in which the 
work can only be carried on by the latter 
means; but where it can be done by the state 
library, the advantage to the library and to the 
state at large is very great : to the library be- 
cause it brings it in touch with the people of 
the whole state, thereby vitalizing it and broad- 
ening its point of view; to the people of the 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



.state because it gives them more directly than 
in any other way access to the resources of 
the library. There are also manifest advan- 
tages in the matter of securing appropriations 
where the library interests of the state are 
not divided. In most states, commissions of 
all kinds are looked upon with distrust, and 
it is often difficult to get suitable appropria- 
tions to carry on the work of a library com- 
mission. The amounts secured are usually 
small and entirely inadequate to perform 
properly the work that should be done. 
Where the work is carried on by the state 
library there is a saving of space, labor, and 
expense of administration, and the library 
has facilities for prosecuting the work that 
no commission can have. Unfortunately, in 
some states the division of library interests 
has led to strained relations and a feeling of 
jealousy between the various workers, a con- 
dition of affairs exceedingly detrimental to 
securing the best results; but where the en- 
tire work is under one management, the full- 
est measure of co-operation is secured. 

It was only a few years ago that many li- 
braries, and more especially state libraries, 
were in a semi- fossilized, not to say wholly 
fossilized condition. Administration under 
those conditions was a comparatively simple 
matter, but the modern state library with its 
manifold interests demands the undivided 
attention and close application of the libra- 
rian. In addition to a knowledge of the re- 
quirements of the community in which the li- 
brary is situated, he must keep himself in- 
formed as to the needs and progress of li- 
braries throughout the state. Books must 
be bought not alone with reference to local 
conditions, although those books may per- 
haps be the most used, but with a view to the 
various interests in all parts of the state. 
This may not be so important a matter in the 
smaller states where the interests are not so 
varied, but it should be remembered that con- 
ditions are different in California with its 
1200 miles of coast line, its 158,000 square 
miles of area, and its many different clim- 
ates. There are several counties which are 
large enough to swallow the state of Massa- 
chusetts and still have a respectable appetite 
left. 

The support of the library is contributed 



to equally by all sections and no one lo- 
cality is more entitled to its benefits than 
another. Under the present plan of circu- 
lating travelling libraries in California, a com- 
munity in any part of the state from Siski- 
you county on the north to San Diego county 
on the south can get books from the state 
library absolutely free of any charge. 

The state library should stand as a model 
to the smaller libraries throughout the state. 
It shouM be ready at all times to furnish 
them information and to offer suggestions 
for the betterment of the library service. It 
should stand, in a word, as the parent and 
counsellor of the libraries of the state. To 
accomplish these desirable ends, it is neces- 
sary that the librarian should be given full 
control of the internal administration of the 
library. He should be permitted to select his 
assistants, subject to the approval of the 
board, in order that he may choose for each 
part of the work the person best adapted to 
it. He should be entrusted with the selection 
and disposition of the books, and with the 
decision of all questions of management or 
policy naturally falling to the lot of the ex- 
ecutive agent of the board. He should keep 
in touch not only with the library interests of 
the state, but with the various state officials 
so that he may ascertain in what way the 
library can be made most useful to them, for 
state libraries were founded primarily for the 
use of the state officials, and while the li- 
braries have now developed along broader 
lines, the original purpose should not be for- 
gotten. 

It is important, too, that there should be 
cordial relations between the librarian and 
the various state officers in order that he may 
be able to interest them in the work of the 
library, help them to an intelligent under- 
standing of its importance, aims and meth- 
ods, and insure their friendly attitude and 
hearty co-operation. 

The needs of the people at large must be 
provided for by means of loans from the 
state library, travelling libraries, study club 
libraries, the circulation of books for the 
blind, etc. The needs of the small libraries 
throughout the state must be kept in mind and' 
sucht assistance and advice given them as may 
be possible by correspondence, publications,- 



GODARD 



37 



and more especially through the instrumen- 
tality of a state organizer, who should be a 
person fully equipped with all the essential 
qualities for the position. 

The necessary legislation for promoting and 
fostering the library interests of the state 
must be secured, and a close watch kept that 
no detrimental legislation is passed. This 
part of the work requires a .personal ac- 
quaintance with the leaders of the legislative 
body and certain administrative qualities that 
have no direct relation to library work. 

It often happens that the state librarian is 
placed in a position where he is obliged to 
choose between two evils. All state libraries 
are at present to some degree subject to politi- 



cal control, and the appointment of an in- 
competent assistant may be the price that has 
to be paid for securing important conces- 
sions or appropriations. Probably no one 
more earnestly desires to employ experienced 
assistants than the progressive state libra- 
rian, but under present conditions in the ma- 
jority of state libraries it is not always feasi- 
ble to make such appointments. 

Increased power results from unification 
and" centralization, and where the various 
library interests of a state, such as its law 
library, historical library, travelling libraries, 
library organization work, etc., can be 
brought under one head, we may expect to 
see increased efficiency in all departments. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATE LIBRARY 



BY GEORGE S. GODARD, State Librarian of Connecticut 



T IBRARIES are no longer luxuries con- 
fined to the families and friends of the 
rich. They are no longer looked upon as a 
charity nor as a gift from the rich to the 
poor, but, like the public school and the pub- 
lic highway, they are for the use and benefit 
of every one. In other words, libraries have 
become an element of sound public policy, 
and demand the same careful, intelligent and 
interested official supervision and assistance 
as is given by the state to any other branch 
of its public economy. Moreover, to reach 
their highest state of usefulness and personal 
comfort, this bond of interested, assisting 
sympathy between the state and the several li- 
braries within its borders must be supple- 
mented by a similar bond of sympathy be- 
tween the libraries themselves. But whether 
this state supervision, this state sympathy, 
shall be through the state library, the state 
library commission, the state board of educa- 
tion, or some other medium must, in my 
judgment, be solved by each state for itself. 
If the work is being properly done by any 
existing state department, it ought, in my 
opinion, to remain there until some good rea- 
son demands a change. 

We now have our national library, state 



libraries, county libraries, town libraries, 
school libraries, college and university librar- 
ies, historical society libraries, theological li- 
braries, law libraries, medical libraries, librar- 
ies devoted to history, science, art, languages ; 
also libraries of clubs or associations for 
special study, and special circulating libraries 
almost without number. Moreover, all of 
these and many more are intertwined and 
interlaced through the medium of library 
commissions, district, state , interstate, na- 
tional, and international associations, library 
training schools, branch and travelling librar- 
ies, exchanges, cooperative cataloging, com- 
mon donors, and many other kindred ties. 
Since much of this activity has been de- 
veloped within the last twenty years and is 
continuing with renewed strength, what is to 
be the result? What in the midst of such ac- 
tivities must we expect in the development of 
the state library? 

Possibly we might describe the ideal state 
library as a library located at the capitol, 
owned and administered by the state, and 
representing every department of knowledge, 
having each department immediately under 
the direction and supervision of a competent 
expert in such department, and having a sup- 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



ply of books properly classified, cataloged, 
labelled, and shelved, not only representing 
the several editions of each work, but with 
sufficient duplicates to meet at once every call 
in every part of the state and the neighbor- 
ing states using "neighboring" in the broad 
sense, with a department of archives repre- 
senting the development of its several towns, 
counties, and industries, and the genealogies 
of its families. Moreover, this library to be 
ideal should be blessed not only with a beau- 
tiful, well arranged, well lighted, fire proof 
building with unlimited, well-lighted accessi- 
ble and adjustable shelving, but with an un- 
limited appropriation and the franking 
privilege. 

In the few minutes allotted to me, I am sup- 
posed to present to your view the several 
stages in the development of the state library. 
I am asked to call your attention, too, to a few 
steps in the gradual series of processes from 
a simple and incomplete condition in its life 
to a more complex and complete organiza- 
tion. For the state library, like so many other 
institutions and other animate things, is the 
result of evolution and, in my opinion, will 
continue so to be, for the end is not yet. 
Moreover, while it has progressed by stages, 
it has progressed in no two states in pre- 
cisely the same way nor to the same extent. 

Practically all of the state libraries of the 
older states had their foundation in the mis- 
cellaneous collection of books which had 
gradually accumulated in the offices of the 
several state officials from the beginning. 
These volumes consisted principally of col- 
lections of their own laws and legislative pro- 
ceedings, books purchased to meet temporary 
official necessities, or which had been pre- 
sented by the sister states, foreign govern- 
ments, or individuals. Until they had been 
gathered together and arranged and some 
one made responsible for their completeness 
and safety, they were of very little service 
to the public. 

It was not until after the War of 1812 
that the establishment of state libraries as 
such began to be seriously considered, al- 
though in 1777, April 22, Congress passed the 
following resolutions : 

"Resolved, That it be recommended to the 
several states to order their statute laws and 



the additions that may be made thereto to be 
sent to Congress and to each of the states to- 
gether with all discoveries and improvements 
in the arts of war made in such states re- 
spectively.'' 

From the last phrase in this resolution 
we again see the great foresight of the found- 
ers of our country. Note : "together with all 
discoveries and improvements in the arts of 
war." Evidently they foresaw in their wis- 
dom the mighty onslaught to be made upon 
us by our modern publishers. 

So far as we know governmental libraries 
began with organized government. The 
kings of Assyria had their libraries of carved 
stone and carved clay; the Ptolemies gathered 
at Alexandria an immense library, and im- 
mense governmental libraries were accumu- 
lated at Constantinople and at Rome. The 
national libraries at Paris, London, and the 
other European capitals have grown, have 
evolved to such proportions and are now so 
deep rooted in the fabric of government that 
they are numbered among the chief attrac- 
tions of modern Europe, while in our own 
country the Library of Congress our na- 
tional library is an object of admiratidn 
to the world. 

It was not until revolutionary times, how- 
ever, that we find any systematic attempt 
being made to accumulate regular libraries 
at the several capitals. The spirit of the I7th 
and i8th centuries as evidenced by the ad- 
ministration of , the foreign governors who 
were sent to the several colonies did not seem 
to encourage governmental libraries. (To be 
sure, there had been accumulated in some of 
the states their own laws and their own 
legislative proceedings.) 

Now, the very thought of the individual 
possession of my ideal state library, just 
described, is to most states unthinkable, ex- 
cept possibly to New York under Dr. Devvey. 
The area of human knowledge is unlimited 
and getting more so. Books ! Books ! Books ! 
See how they grow. A dozen or more new 
ones every hour, twenty-four hours a day, 
three hundred and sixty-five days in a year. 
Good books and bad books. Large books and 
little books. Picture books and scrap books. 
Sta'ndard books and books to stand, and 
someone, somewhere, desiring to see, not 



GODARD 



39 



necessarily read, each one sometime. Think 
of it ! From eternity to eternity is a long 
time, and each decade must learn and un- 
learn so much, but apparently print it all. 
It is no longer possible within any sort of 
reason for any one library town, county, 
state, or national to think of enveloping 
everything printed. The expense of purchas- 
ing, collating, cataloging, and housing is pro- 
hibitive. Therefore, is it not desirable 
as has in some instances been done that 
each state library select its departments or 
fields of work which may thus be made ap- 
proximately complete, leaving the other de- 
partments of knowledge which are thus either 
neglected or deficient to be covered by other 
libraries which may in turn be deficient or 
neglected in some lines covered in this? 

There are two extremes to be guarded 
against in our library development, viz., un- 
due contraction, which may result in chan- 
nels too narrow to be practical, and, on the 
other hand, undue expansion, which must re- 
sult in most libraries in more or less shallqw- 
ness. There are, however, two lines which 
the people of a state have a right to expect 
to find in their state library, viz., whatever 
pertains to the science of government for the 
aid of those who are to administer govern- 
ment and whatever illustrates the history, 
character, resources and development of their 
state. 

The reference department should be es- 
pecially rich and complete in encyclopedias, 
dictionaries, gazetteers, atlases, handbooks, 
and the reliable time savers of our day. So 
far as needed and possible there should be 
special libraries for the several departments 
of state and legislative committees. 

The scope of the law department should 
be a broad one. It should be as complete as 
possible in its collections of the statute laws 
and official law reports of the United States 
and of the several states and England ; if not 
also those of Canada, Ireland, Scotland, and 
the British colonies, together with such books 
as mark their development. The world is 
fast growing smaller and our neighbors are 
fast getting nearer. The "might be" soon be- 
comes "may be," and before we realize it "is." 
An attorney, therefore, has the right to ex- 
pect to find in his state library any books 



cited in the opinions of his own supreme 
court and the Supreme Court of the United 
States, if not everything cited by the highest 
courts in the several sister states. 

The department of archives cannot be overr 
emphasized. As the writing of history will 
never end, so the collecting of material for 
historical purposes must never cease. With 
each generation there are produced histories 
of the past, written and interpreted in the 
light of its own civilization. 

States are but individuals, and, like indi- 
viduals, differ in age, occupation, wealth, and 
territory controlled. Like individuals, then, 
they should conduct their several households 
and fashion their several establishments, be- 
ing governed largely by their environment, 
requirements, and financial abilities. 

While in general the state libraries should 
be to the several states what the Library of 
Congress is to the nation, the system of com- 
mon schools, academies, colleges, universities, 
and public libraries in vogue in a state very 
materially affect the development of the state 
library. The development of the, state library 
in a state whose several towns have good 
public schools, good public libraries, and in 
whose borders are one or more good college 
or university libraries open to its citizens, will 
naturally be very different from the develop- 
ment of the state library of a state whose 
system of education is not so well developed. 
In the former case the state helps the several 
communities through the local school or local 
library, so that the state library is of necessity 
largely a library of reference, built up not 
necessarily in all departments of knowledge, 
but along those lines not adequately repre- 
sented by the other large libraries within its 
borders. Such an arrangement or division of 
labor not only accomplishes the ideal uni- 
versity plan where each department is inde- 
pendent and under the direct supervision of 
a trained expert, but each library is thus per- 
mitted to use all its funds to purchase books 
along its chosen lines. 

It can hardly be expected that the states 
of Rhode Island, Connecticut, or Delaware, 
or any one of the smaller states can or will 
maintain an establishment equal to that of 
New York, nor that New York will equal 
our national library. It is not necessary 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



that they should. In these days of rapid 
transit distance is fast being eliminated, and 
one can be served practically in his own 
home. The time has come to club ; to coop- 
erate. United we stand. Divided we fall. 
In the near future I believe local libraries 
will look to central libraries for books not 
in common use, and these central libraries 
will look to larger depositories for books in- 
frequently called for. The states and several 
communities will, I think, come to see the 
waste of money there is in purchasing, cata- 
loging, and housing certain books in small 
libraries when a few copies of such books 
centrally located will serve an entire state. 
The local, the central, the university, the 
state, the interstate, the national, and inter- 
national, or universal library is a series by 
no means unthinkable. It should be, and I 
believe sometime will be, possible for any- 
one who really needs to consult a special 
work to be able to consult that work or a 
reproduction of it or a separate printed from 
it, practically in his own home. Dr. Put- 
nam's "service to the country at large" is 



bound to come. Such a service extending 
through local libraries or in the absence oi 
a local library through designated public offi- 
cials as local centers, is reasonable, feasible, 
economical, and needed. Such a system of 
interlibrary loans under proper conditions 
and regulations will do much to clear our 
library and literary horizons. 

It is said that through disobedience man 
fell, that is, he fell by staying just where he 
was. He ^ell through not advancing to the 
better and broader things ahead, which it 
was his privilege and duty to occupy and 
enjoy. In the same way there may have been 
times, and probably will be still, when some 
of our state libraries yes, and some of our 
large public libraries also seem to have 
fallen or be falling falling by not advanc- 
ing to the field prepared for them from the 
foundations of the world. But whether this 
fall of libraries is due to disobedience, lack 
of funds, lack of administration, or lack of 
the franking privilege, I know not. But one 
thing I do know, it is not from lack of op- 
portunity. 



STATE LIBRARY COMMISSIONS 



BY HENRY E. LEGLER, Secretary Wisconsin Free Library Commission 



I: WHAT THEY ARE 

CTATISTICS of libraries have been col- 
lected by the United States Bureau of 
Education at irregular intervals for about 
thirty years. Six compilations have been 
published during this period showing the 
number of libraries and the number of peo- 
ple per library for each of the years men- 
tioned in the several reports. In 1875 each 
library supplied an average of 21,432 per- 
sons, while in 1903 there was a library to 
every 11,632 persons, showing that the num- 
ber of libraries had increased twice as rap- 
idly as the population. The increase in vol- 
umes in twenty-eight years has been at even 
a greater rate than the increase in number of 
libraries. In 1875 the libraries had 26 vol- 
umes to the 100 population, while in 1903 
there were 68 to the 100 people. While the 



population increased 83 per cent, in twenty- 
eight years, the number of books accessible 
to the people increased 374 per cent. 

These figures, being official and indicative 
of extraordinary library growth, are apt to 
induce a feeling of complacency and a belief 
that the people of the United Slates are ex- 
tremely well supplied with library privileges. 
But statistics will always bear analysis, if 
wrong deductions are to be avoided. If one 
millionaire and nine penniless men are put 
into one group, it will be found that the aver- 
age wealth of these ten men is $100,000, but 
doubtless nine of the men will derive but 
scant comfort from that fact. At a recent 
state library meeting some comparisons were 
made of the cost of books. One econo- 
mically-inclined trustee proudly announced 
that the books acquired by his library during 



LEGLER 



the preceding year had cost an average of but 
II cents. He forgot to mention that an ex- 
congressman had transferred from his attic 
to the shelves of the library about 1200 pub- 
lic documents amassed by him during his 
congressional career. This circumstance not 
only reduced the average cost per book ac- 
quired, but greatly amplified the average 
number of books per inhabitant of that par- 
ticular community. 

To him who hath, more shall be given. 
Gratification over the extraordinary increase 
in number of volumes per too of the popula- 
tion must be tempered by the fact that the 
resultant benefit is confined to a fraction of 
the population. Thousands of people are ab- 
solutely without library privileges, even 
though the stimulus given by the Carnegie 
gifts has, during the past decade, scattered 
libraries into regions which would, but for 
that inducement, remain without libraries to- 
day. Perhaps the statistics for a typical 
state of the Middle West, or as the Bureau of 
Education would term it, North Central state, 
will suffice to illustrate: 



Total population 

Population of cities with 
libraries 866,000 

Population served by trav- 
elling libraries 52,000 

Country people with access 
to city libraries 26,590 



2,069,042 



Population with library priv- 
ileges 

Population without library 
privileges 



944,590 



1,124,452 



According to the official statistics, there 
are in this state 58 volumes to the 100 of the 
population. According to the unofficial, Hut 
actual fact, certain groups of 100 persons in 
this state have from two to ten times that 
number of books within easy reach, and a 
million and a quarter of people have access 
to no libraries, and many of them do not see 
a book from the first day of January to the 
following Christmas. 

Conditions such as these, not apparent 
from official reports, but actually existent, 
have given to the public library commissions 
a field of work wide in area, and fruitful of 
soil. Commissions, or organizations bearing 



other names and having equivalent functions, 
are now operating in 23 states, eight of them 
in the North Atlantic division, eight in the 
North Central, five in the Western, two in 
the South Atlantic, and none in the South 
Central. In a consideration of library com- 
mission activities, the states in the two latter 
geographical divisions can be eliminated. In 
the North Atlantic division, which includes 
the New England group, the plan of organi- 
zation and operation differs essentially from 
that which has found root in the North Cen- 
tral division, or Middle West group. In the 
former, direct aid to libraries, with but lim- 
ited supervision (except in New York) seems 
to have been adopted as most likely to stimu- 
late the library movement. In the Middle 
West, no direct state aid is given the local 
libraries, but it is held to be important to 
concentrate effort upon field and instructional 
work, including the organization of new li- 
braries and reorganization of older ones on 
approved lines, instruction by means of in- 
stitutes and of summer schools, and- individ- 
ual instruction to librarians in their own li- 
braries. Instructional publications, such as book 
lists, bulletins, and circulars of information are 
also made an important channel of usefulness. 
In the western states, the methods that 
obtain in the Middle West have been fol- 
lowed in essential particulars. In nearly all 
of them, travelling libraries are circulated 
for the benefit of remote rural communities 
where conditions do not warrant the estab- 
lishment of permanent libraries, and in tem- 
porary aid of small and struggling libraries 
whose limited book funds permit only infre- 
quent or insufficient purchases. The reason 
for the divergent lines of endeavor governing 
the commissions in these several geographi- 
cal groups of states is not far to seek. The 
characteristics of the one include greater den- 
sity of population, older established com- 
munities, and naturally more public libraries 
within given areas. In sharp contrast are 
the conditions which affect the compara- 
tively newer regions of the west, where the 
material necessities of lighting, transporta- 
tion, and other utilities overshadow for the 
time being the desire for intellectual expan- 
sion. Naturally, different methods must be 
employed to meet these differing conditions. 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



Massachusetts boasts that no township within 
its borders, 353 in number, is without a pub- 
lic library. It will be many years before, in 
most of the western states, the same condi- 
tion will be even approximately true. There 
it is the province of the commission workers : 

1. To educate public sentiment so that a 
genuine desire for library privileges will 
manifest itself in the practical form of local 
taxation adequate to proper maintenance. 

2. To give personal help in the organiza- 
tion of the library, and to furnish such in- 
struction to the librarian and assistants as 
will bring the institution to the highest de- 
gree of efficiency possible. 

In both these endeavors serious difficul- 
ties are often encountered. This is an era of 
public improvements. The construction of 
gas and electric light plants, roads, court- 
houses, city halls, and public school buildings 
swell taxation often beyond the point of en- 
durance, and naturally the average citizen 
suggests that library appropriations can be 
deferred till the unavoidable financial pres- 
sure is relieved. 

When sentim'ent has finally ripened and the 
establishment of a library has been determ- 
ined upon, the selection of a librarian be- 
comes a vexing question. There is appar- 
ently in every community at least one needy 
old lady who requires the position to keep out 
of the poorhouse, and where she is not insist- 
ent, a sister, cousin, or aunt of an influential 
trustee has the necessary tenacity of purpose 
to secure it. Sometimes the commission, by 
firmness supplemented with tact, is enabled 
to influence the appointment of a trained per- 
son. Otherwise, the crude material must be 
moulded into the best form possible by pa- 
tient work during visitation of the library 
and by securing attendance at institutes and 
library summer school. 

State library commissions have been in ex- 
istence for fifteen years, but sixteen of them 
have been created during the second half of 
this period, and it is not surprising, therefore, 
that their work up to this time has been 
largely experimental. In the subjoined table 
is given the date of organization, state aid 
for administration purposes, number of per- 
sons employed and total salaries paid : 

1890. Massachusetts Free Public Library 
Commission. 



1891. New Hampshire State Library Com- 

mission. 

1892. New York Public Libraries Division 

of the University of New York. 

1893. Connecticut Free Public Library Com- 

mittee. 

1894. Vermont Free Library Commission. 

1895. Wisconsin Free Library Commission. 

1896. Ohio Board of Library Commis- 

sioners. 

1897. Georgia Library Commission. 

1899. Colorado State Board of Library 

Commissioners. 

Indiana Public Library Commission. 

Kansas Travelling Libraries Commis- 
sion. 

Maine State Library Commission. 

Michigan Free Public Library Com- 
mission. 

Minnesota State Library Commission. 

Pennsylvania Free Library Commis- 
sion. 

1900. Iowa State Library Commission. 
New Jersey Public Library Commis- 
sion. 

1901. Washington State Library Commis- 

sion. 

Delaware' Free Library Commission. 
Idaho Free Library Commission. 
Maryland State Library Commission. 
Nebraska Public Library Commission. 
1905. Oregon Free Library Commission. 



State 


Revenues. 


Direct aid to 
libraries. 


No employees. 1 


Salaries. 




$ 






$ 60 






$ 100 per lib. 
















Indiana 






r 


4,600 














'ooo 




























Massachusetts 




100 per lib. 

























2,220 


Nebraska 






1 


1,720 






too per lib. 












7 


970 








1 T 


27,990 




9,600 




J 


4,320 








I 


1,200 








? 


2,300 






100 per lib. 




500 








T 


i, 800 


Wisconsin 


23i5 




1 6 


18,860 



Proposed laws for library commissions in 
Illinois, Missouri, and South Dakota were 
acted upon adversely by the legislatures of 
1905. Oregon joined the list of commission 
states, the law for such authorization being 
in *ome respects more comprehensive than 
any heretofore adopted, in that control of 
school libraries, with power to select and pur- 



43 



chase books, is vested in the commission. 
This suggests forcibly the probable future 
concentration, within the jurisdiction of one 
department or bureau, of all library interests 
in each of the several states, but a considera- 
tion of this question does not come within 
the scope of this paper. 

II: WHAT COMMISSIONS ARE DOING 
While numerous channels of' activity ap- 
peal to the exploratory instinct of a state 
library commission, two problems of para- 
mount importance must engage attention : 

1. The problem of the community, urban 
and rural, without a library. 

2. The problem of the small library. 

The former problem finds its solution in 
the travelling library, and is largely a matter 
of funds to buy and facilities to distribute 
the most wholesome books to the greatest 
number of people. Methods differ in differ- 
ent states, some having fixed groups of 
books with printed catalogs for distribution, 
and others preferring the elasticity which 
permits users to make selections. From a 
recent report may be quoted a comparison of 
the two plans as operated in the two adja- 
cent states of Ohio and Indiana : 

"Ohio had a fund of $7638 for its travelling 
libraries. Indiana expended last year 
$1985.02 for its travelling libraries. Ohio 
employs six persons to administer the travel- 
ling libraries ; Indiana employs two. Ohio 
has 30,000 books, many of them duplicates. 
The Indiana travelling libraries contain 5000 
books with only a few duplicates, and cir- 
culated 330 libraries, while Ohio, with six 
times as many books and three times the 
clerical force, circulated 923 libraries. In a 
consideration of these comparisons the fact 
must be borne in mind that the chief work 
of the Ohio libraries is with the schools and 
study clubs; that of Indiana with the farmers 
and general realers." 

In some of the Western states, which have 
a polyglot population and many distinctive 
communities of foreign-born population, 
travelling libraries of books in foreign lan- 
guages for the use of public libraries, and 
small groups of foreign books in connection 
with the English travelling libraries, meet 
the needs for this class of readers. Much 
work is also being done in connection with 
study clubs and debating societies, and some 
attempt has been made to reach military 



companies and the inmates of penal and 
charitable institutions Travelling libraries 
are also used in connection with small li- 
braries by a cooperative system that enables 
each library to secure a hundred new books 
annually, or semi-annually, for a series of 
years, each subscribing library paying for 
one group to be exchanged at stated intervals 
with the other cooperating libraries. There 
are many independent and voluntary organi- 
zations which are engaged in travelling li- 
brary work, but the tendency seems to be to- 
ward centralization in commission hands. In 
Wisconsin, annual appropriations by boards 
of supervisors are permitted by law for this 
purpose, and seven counties now have trav- 
elling library systems for the towns within 
their borders. These supplement the state 
and proprietary travelling libraries. Mary-, 
land has county libraries, a central library 
supplying the communities within its juris- 
diction. In Georgia the seaboard line and 
other agencies circulate travelling libraries. 
In many states the Woman's Federation 
clubs do considerable work of this kind. THe 
travelling libraries maintained through state 
library (commissions are given in the sub- 
joined list, which, however, lacks complete- 
ness because some inquiries sent to official 
sources have remained unanswered, and fig- 
ures were not otherwise available : 



State 


Annually expended! 
for books. 


No travelling I 
libraries. 


No. 
volumes. 


California. 


$1,000 

150 

600 

2,000 
2,OOO 

indef. 
1,000 

i, 800 
650 
500 
3,000 
4.300 
500 
2,000 
500 
75o 
2,500 


120 
122 

1 60 

45 

100 

142 
13 
300 
104 
60 
297 
284 
89 
02 
1,000 
1,000 

10 

165 

40 

57 
344 


6,000 
6,000 
3-158 
2,250 
6,000 
4,978 
14,200 
15,080 
5,000 
1,500 

12.050 
5,70 
3,650 
72,223 
34,232 
500 
8,100 
i, 600 
2,400 
13,962 


Colorado 


Connecticut 




Idaho 


Indiana 


Iowa 


Kansas 


Maine .... 


Maryland 


Michigan 


Minnesota 






New York 


Ohio 


Oregon 




Vermont.... .... 


Washington 


Wisconsin 



Colorado has two library commissions. 
Maryland also has two boards. Idaho's com- 



44 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



mission, which was established in 1901, has 
ceased to exist. Georgia has a nominal com- 
mission, receiving no funds and engaging 
in no activities. In Massachusetts the Wom- 
an's Educational Association has placed 43 
travelling libraries in the field. 

The second main agency of the state li- 
brary commission has to do with the small 
libraries how to promote their multiplica- 
tion and how to secure their efficient ad- 
ministration. The term "small library" has 
a different meaning in the West than in the 
East, and thereby is largely determined the 
marked differences in conception of commis- 
sion work which seems so strongly affected 
by geographical lines. In the East, where 
libraries are older and where direct state aid 
has stimulated the expansion of the shelf- 
list, a collection of 5000 volumes is a small 
library. In the West, when the accession 
book becomes filled to that number, the li- 
brary is regarded as worthy to rank in the 
first class it is the library of from 200 to 
2000 volumes that is termed small. Some- 
thing of the difficulties in the administration 
of these small libraries, especially in the 
newer communities, has been referred to 
earlier in this paper. The librarian, the trus- 
tees, and the members of the common coun- 
cil who hold the purse strings, must be in- 
cluded in the educative duties which devolve 
upon the commission staff. What an import- 
ant element the small library represents in the 
library world of the United States may be 
gathered from the fact that, roughly grouped, 
five-sevenths of all the public libraries in this 
country contain less than 5000 volumes each, 
and but one-seventh in excess of 10,000 vol- 
umes. The work of the state commission is 
therefore one of tremendous significance. Its 
influence must be exerted to effect the proper 
organization of the small library and the 
technical equipment of the librarian, so as to 
ensure good business methods and wise ex- 
tension work; to influence the selection of 
first-class plans for new buildings, or at 
least the inclusion of certain essentials in the 
plan selected ; to render such unobtrusive but 
effective aid in book selection as to yield a 
good permanent nucleus for the larger book 
collection of the future; to strengthen the 
reference departments of the libraries by the 



inexpensive medium of a magazine clearing 
house; to secure the enactment of laws by 
the state legislature that seem best adapted 
to the immediate needs and conditions of 
the local libraries; to encourage the state li- 
brary associations and local clubs to hold 
meetings that shall infuse esprit de corps 
among their members and a desire to emulate 
what is most progressive in library work ; 
by means of model children's libraries, model 
reference 'libraries, binding exhibits, and 
other suggestive collections and exhibits, and 
of well edited instructive literature, such as 
bulletins, book lists, and similar publications, 
to bring forcibly to their attention what is 
newest and best in their profession which 
may be adopted, or adapted, for themselves. 

The most important instructional work of 
the commission is that which centers in the 
library summer school. The most success- 
ful commissions are those which have realized 
this fact. During the past year the Indiana 
commission has conducted an interesting ex- 
periment in adding a normal school course 
designed to bring about closer relations be- 
tween the library and the school. Wisconsin 
plans for next year a special course for teach- 
ers affiliated with the summer course of the 
University of Wisconsin. The commissions 
which now maintain summer schools of li- 
brary training, or which plan to have them 
hereafter, include the following states : Cali- 
fornia, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New 
Jersey, New York, Washington, and Wis- 
consin. The sole permanent school estab- 
lished by state funds, up to this year, is that 
conducted by the New York Department of 
Home Education. The Wisconsin legisla- 
ture has now authorized an annual appro- 
priation for a permanent school of library 
science to be conducted by the commission of 
that state, and it is proposed to begin it in 
September of -next year. 

In an admirable and comprehensive paper 
submitted by Miss Gratia Countryman, at the 
St. Louis Conference last year, the work of 
the individual commissions was given in ex- 
tenso. The purpose of this hasty survey has 
been, therefore, to note rather the general 
plan of commission work as conducted by 
certafti geographical groups of states, and the 
trend of such work as indicated both by well- 



LEGLER 



45 



established policy generally followed and by 
experimental enterprises attempted by indi- 
vidual commissions. This has been done in 
a somewhat fragmentary manner, and it may 
be permitted to briefly summarize commission 
activities in the following tabular form : 

Direct aid. 

State appropriations, usually in money. 
Travelling libraries : 

general, 

fiction, 

juvenile, 

study, 

foreign groups. 

Clearing house, magazine gifts. 
Services in cataloging and organizing. 
Advisory. 

Counsel in preliminary efforts. 
Selection of librarian. 
Plans for buildings. 
Furnishings and decorations. 
Book selection : 

special lists. 
Extension work : 

schools, 

clubs, 

institutions, 

stations and branches, 

country readers, 

classes for foreigners, 

lectures, 

story hour. 
Instruction. 

Summer school for library training. 
Institutes. 
Personal visitation. 
Publications : 

bulletins, 

book lists, 

handbooks, 

library literature. 
Documents. 

Legislative reference library. 
Check lists in printed form. 
Bibliographies on current questions. 
Young men's current topics clubs : 

travelling library groups, 

outlines for study. 

Plans have been formulated for material 
extension of the publishing enterprises un- 
dertaken by the League of Library Commis- 
sions. Their work is significant of the newer 
trend in the library world to minimize expen- 
diture and energy by means of cooperative 
enterprises subserving a common end. 
"Poole's index," the indexes and catalog 
cards of the A. L. A. Publishing Board, and 
similar notable achievements, illustrate what 
may be accomplished to aid libraries which 



could not hope to undertake such work in- 
dependently. Much work, however, which 
libraries now perform for individual use, 
is a mere mechanical repetition and could 
be done more expeditiously, more economically 
and more advantageously in every way by 
joint arrangement. The library world has 
given to the business world, in the card sys- 
tem, a device which has revolutionized its 
methods, and in the saving of time and money 
has more than quadrupled its facilities. Until 
recently, however, librarians have been singu- 
larly dilatory in availing themselves of the 
advantages created by themselves. 

In conclusion, a personal opinion as to the 
scope and attitude of state library commis- 
sions may be ventured. It is this : That 
commission will accomplish most within the 
sphere of its influence which seeks to exer- 
cise the least autocratic authority, but in- 
stills into its relation with the libraries of 
the state the unobtrusively persuasive rather 
than the domineeringly exacting element ; 
which assumes the attitude not of a censor 
whose judgment is dreaded, but of a guide, 
counsellor, and friend whose advice is sought 
and followed because given confidence. It 
will prove a mistake to invest any commission 
with powers so broad in scope thai it be- 
comes virtually a large library with branches 
scattered over the state. In all matters of 
moment affecting the administration of the 
small library, including the selection and 
purchase of books, the commission should 
endeavor to exert a directing influence by 
suggestion and counsel, but not otherwise. 
Better that some mistakes should be made 
bj the local library than that they should be 
avoided by having the commission do for 
them what they should do themselves. 

In any system of education, mistakes are a 
part, and a necessary part; but, of course, 
these must be not too many, and there should 
be an avoidance of repetition. It is, there- 
fore, an important and delicate problem for 
the commission to determine what not to <lo, 
as well as what to do, if the local libraries 
are to be brought to that degree of permanent 
efficiency with which initiative and independ- 
ence are inseparable. It must be the purpose 
of the commission to help them to help them- 
selves. 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



A MODEL LIBRARY COMMISSION LAW 



BY JOHNSON BRIGHAM, State Librarian of Iowa 



T N attempting to give my views as to a model, 
library commission law I shall first at- 
tempt a definition. A model commission law 
is not one with the most or the fewest words 
or sections, nor one in which the words are 
thrown together with the most of euphony, 
nor one which embodies an argument in favor 
of commissions: but is, rather, one that in 
fewest, simplest and most logically sequent 
words, phrases and sentences (i) creates 
the best working commission, .(2) best em- 
powers the commission to do its work, (3) 
most wisely confines the commission to the 
specific work which has called it into being, 

(4) best guards the public treasury against 
waste of public money by the commission, and 

(5) without extravagance or excess pro- 
vides ample funds for the prosecution of the 
work of the commission, erring if at all, on 
the side of liberality and, finally, (6) pro- 
viding for covering into the treasury all funds 
not needed. 

My first thought was to use the Iowa Li- 
brary Commission law as a basis for my 
model; but, on re-reading it I find that, not- 
withstanding the attempt of four years ago 
to perfect that law an attempt in as large 
measure as possible frustrated by legislative 
amendment it is still faulty in several re- 
spects. I have therefore taken the latest 
embodiment of an effort to formulate a 
model law : I refer to the act enacted by the 
legislature of the state of Oregon on Feb- 
ruary 9 of the present year "An act to 
create the Oregon Library Commission and 
to provide for the conduct and expenses 
thereof, and to appropriate money therefor." 

To begin with the title just read, I would 
add after the word "commission" the words 
"to define the powers and duties of said com- 
mission." I would make this addition that 
the title may conform to the rule in some 
states which by the way, should be the 
rule in all that the main purposes of a bill 
should be outlined in its title. 



I see nothing to amend in the sequence of 
the several sections. 

The first section creates the commission, 
lodging the appointing power and fixing the 
term of service. 

The second outlines the work of the com- 
mission, here wisely using the word "may" 
instead of "shall," thus improving on the 
laws of several other states giving ample 
scope for the exercise of judgment by the 
commission but, of course, within the limits 
defined by the other sections of the law. 

Section three defines the duties of the com- 
mission and of its secretary and limits the 
expenditure of money. 

Section four relates to the commissioner's 
biennial report on library conditions and pro- 
gress in the state, including an itemized state- 
ment of commission expenses, also covering 
the printing of the report and of svxh other 
matter as may be required. 

Section five limits the salary of the secre- 
tary, and the necessary travelling and inci- 
dental expenses of the members of the com- 
mission and the secretary. 

Section six makes the appropriation and 
provides that any balance not expended in 
any one year may be added to the expendi- 
tures for any ensuing year. 

The only change I would suggest in this 
order would be to eliminate section five alto- 
gether, transferring the matter of salary to 
section three in which the matter of commis- 
sion expenses is considered. 

This would leave us a bill of five sections 
briefly summarized as follows: (i) Appoint- 
ment; (2) Duties; (3) Organization and lim- 
itations; (4) Publication and printing; (5) 
Appropriation. 

i. Taking up section one in detail, the Ore- 
gon commission provides that the governor 
shall appoint but one person as commissioner 
who, with the ; governor, superintendent of 
publi instruction, president of the state uni- 
versity, and librarian of the Library Associa- 



BR1GHAM 



tion of Portland, shall constitute the commis- 
sion. 

Here I would repeat the commonplace 
which no writer or speaker on library themes 
can wisely ignore, namely: that every state 
has its own variation from any general plan 
which may be developed, and the most we 
can claim for the best laid scheme is that it 
shall be a plan to work toward. 

While the Oregon commission is fortunate 
in having as a member the librarian of the 
Library Association of Portland, and while I 
would not question the wisdom of the Ore- 
gon legislature in appointing the governor 
an ex officio member of the commission and 
leaving off the board the state librarian, yet 
I think a model library commission law should 
not be so constituted. I think it should not 
include any public librarian as an ex officio 
member, though I would regard a public li- 
brarian especially interested in and adapted to 
commission work as extra-eligible for ap- 
pointment on a library commission. 

I do not think the law should make the 
governor of the state a commissioner, be- 
cause of the multiplicity of other interests 
with which the chief executive is charged. 

In my judgment the commission should in- 
clude the state librarian, who is or should 
be the official head and front of the library 
movement in the state so far as the state may 
lead in library activities. 

In my model law I would have a com- 
mission of seven members, three of whom, 
shall be members by virtue of the of- 
fices they hold, namely: the state librar- 
ian, for the reason given, the state su- 
perintendent of schools, as a connecting 
link between the commission and the schools, 
and the president of the state university, as 
a connecting link between the commission 
and higher education including university ex- 
tension work. I would leave four positions 
open for appointment by the governor with 
an unwritten law that the four shall repre- 
sent both the four quarters of the state geo- 
graphically and the organizations most inter- 
ested in libraries, such as the state library as- 
sociation and the state federation of women's 
clubs. These positions, out of politics, without 
salary and wholly honorary as they should be, 
are not sought after by politicians, and any 



reasonable governor would be glad to receive 
suggestions and would be pleased to receive 
recommendations from duly constituted bod- 
ies of men and women interested. In the 
case of Oregon, without doubt the librarian 
of the Portland Library Association would 
be the first one recommended and appointed. 
The Iowa law declares that at least two of 
the four appointed commissioners shall be 
women. While I am in favor of women as 
commissioners, I think it best that they be 
appointed on their merits and not of ne- 
cessity. 

Section 2 which covers essentially the 
same ground as that covered by two sections 
of the Iowa commission law defining the 
duties of the commission, appears to me to 
include about all that any good working com- 
mission should undertake in the interests of 
libraries and the state. These duties, epitom- 
ized, are : the giving of advice to the repre- 
sentatives of schools and public libraries, and 
the communities proposing to establish them 
as to the means of establishing and main- 
taining public libraries, the classification and 
cataloging of books for such libraries, the 
purchase of travelling libraries, and the opera- 
tion of the same within the state, in community 
libraries, schools, colleges, universities, li- 
brary associations, study clubs, charitable and 
penal institutions, etc., such service to be 
rendered free of cost except for transporta- 
tion under such conditions and rules as shall 
protect the state and increase the efficiency of 
the service. This section covers all that is 
necessary as to the publication of lists and 
circulars of information. It authorizes also 
that valuable adjunct, a clearing house for 
periodicals for free gift to local libraries. It 
also wisely authorizes but does not require, 
the creation and maintenance of a summer 
school for library instruction if such school 
be needed. 

I would subtract nothing from this section; 
but would add, as a protection against the 
possible over-ambition of some future library 
commission or secretary, a clause which 
should limit the summer school for library 
instruction to persons either at present en- 
gpged in library work or supervision or al- 
ready under engagement for future library 
work. I would make this change also as a 



4 8 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



protection to the commission and its secretary 
against insistence that pupils be permitted 
to enter the school with a view to fitting 
themselves for the mere possibility of future 
library service. The summer library school 
as maintained by the state should be con- 
fined to those who are already committed to 
library work or active trusteeship and for the 
one purpose of increasing their efficiency, 
"'he purpose of such schools should be kept 
separate and distinct from that of the library 
school proper with its two years' course; the 
purpose of the one being to fit men and 
women for the profession of librarian, that of 
the other, simply to increase the efficiency of 
those already engaged in, or under engage- 
ment for, library service. 

3. Section three provides for a chairman 
to be elected frcm the members thereof for 
a term of one year, and a secretary, not of 
its own number, to serve at the will of the 
commission under such conditions as it shall 
determine. I recommend that instead of 
chairman, the title of president be used, as 
one which commands somewhat more of re- 
spect for the executive head of the commis- 
sion. If I, myself, were not a commission 
president, I think I would here recommend 
that the state librarian be ex officio president 
of the commission. I would incline to make 
this recommendation because the necessities 
of the situation, as viev/ed from the stand- 
point of my experience, almost compel the 
selection of the state librarian. The com- 
plimentary election of any other member 
would be to most secretaries a serious em- 
barrassment, in that any business-like plan of 
keeping accounts, auditing bills, recommend- 
ing purchases, etc., requires the approval and 
signature of the president, and this would be 
accompanied with vexatious and sometimes 
disastrous delay if the president were not im- 
mediately accessible and if the state were not 
entitled to the president's time. 

The Oregon law says that the expenses of 
the commission and of its officers, when ap- 
proved by the chairman shall be certified 
under oath to the secretary of state. Of 
course the machinery of such executive work 
is different in different states. In Iowa such 
certification would be made to the state audi- 
tor instead of the secretary of state. With us 



the machinery of financing the commission is 
made unnecessarily cumbersome by provi- 
sions compelling the president and the secre- 
tary of the commission to certify under oath 
to the executive council, consisting of the 
governor, the secretary of state, the state 
auditor and the state treasurer. These in 
turn approve the bills before they go to the 
state auditor for payment cumbersome ma- 
chinery ^which is either perfunctory, as is 
ordinarily the case, or an embarrassment and 
annoyance to the commission and a needless 
burden to men without detailed knowledge of 
or special interest in commission work. If 
the members of the commission are devoid 
of common honesty, they should summarily 
be removed from office. If their judgment is 
not as good as that of men wholly .outside 
the range of commission activities, then there 
should be an overhauling of the commission. 
The Oregon law fixes the salary of the 
secretary of the commission. My judgment 
is that the commission should fix the secre- 
tary's salary and that the same should be paid 
from the appropriation. Commission laws 
usually limit the outgo for travelling ex- 
penses, and the limitation may be wise; but 
my own judgment drawn from experience is 
that if the limit happens to be too small it is 
an embarrassment, and if too large it is super- 
fluous. No commissioner, no secretary, 
worthy to serve the state, will be disposed to 
expend money for mere junketing. In our 
Iowa commission, though we go whenever 
and wherever we deem it necessary to go, 
our annual limit of travel expenditure has not 
a? yet been reached. 

4. I have no serious criticism to make on 
section four of the Oregon law, for there is 
nothing in it except directions as to the print- 
ing of the biennial report and other printed 
matter required by the commission and the 
amount of money ,to be expended annually 
for printing. This sum would widely vary 
in different states, and I think it would be 
better to let the necessities of the commission, 
not the statute, fix the limit of expenditure 
in this direction. 

5. As to section five, I will simply make the 
commonplace remark that a sum necessary 
to run a commission in one state may be ex- 
cessive in another and may be repressive in 



BRIGHAM 



49 



another. Another criticism occurs to me 
one which I am not likely to urge upon an 
Iowa legislature, but which impresses me as 
in some respects for the best interests of the 
state. The Oregon law says "any balance not 
expended in any one year may be added to 
the expenditure for any ensuing year." The 
question of unexpended balances is one which 
admits of a very good argument on either 
side; but my judgment, as expressed away 
from home, and independently of the imme- 
diate interests of the commission over which 
I preside, is that a balance not expended in 
any one year should be covered into the 
treasury. This may work a hardship in some 
particular cases ; but the effect of such a meas- 
ure would be to make it easier for commis- 
sioners to obtain liberal legislation ; while 
unexpended balances at the end df the year, 
or at the end of the biennial period, are a 
constant invitation to the watch-dogs of the 
treasury who are always found on the com- 
mittee on retrenchment and reform and the 
committee on appropriations. 

The Oregon law as it is : 
GENERAL LAWS OF OREGON. CHAPTER 44 

AN ACT 

To CREATE THE OREGON LIBRARY COMMISSION 
AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONDUCT AND EX- 
PENSE THEREOF, AND TO APPROPRIATE 
MONEY THEREFOR. 

Be it enacted by the People of the State of 
Oregon: 

Section i. The Governor shall appoint one 
person, who with the Governor, Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction, President of the 
State University and Librarian of the Library 
Association of Portland shall constitute the 
Oregon Library Commission. The member 
appointed by the Governor shall be appointed 
for a term of five years from the first day of 
June, 1905, and all subsequent appointments 
shall be for the term of five years, except 
appointments made to fill vacancies, which 
shall be made by the Governor for the un- 
expired term. 

Section 2. The commission shall give ad- 
vice to all schools, free and other public li- 
braries, and to all communities which may 
propose to establish them, as to the best 
means of establishing and maintaining such 
libraries, the selection of books, cataloging 
and other details of library management. It 
may also purchase and operate travelling li- 
braries, and circulate such libraries within 
the state among communities, libraries, 



schools, colleges, universities, library asso- 
ciations, study clubs, charitable, and penal 
institutions, free of cost except for transpor- 
tation, under such conditions and rules as 
shall protect the interest of the state and best 
increase the efficiency of the service it is ex- 
pected to render the public. It may publish 
such lists and circulars of information as it 
shall deem necessary, and it may also conduct 
a summer school of library instruction and a 
clearing house for periodicals for free gift to 
local libraries. 

Section 3. The officers of the commission 
shall be a chairman to be elected from the 
members thereof for a term of one year, and 
a secretary, not of its own number, to be ap- 
pointed by the commission, who shall serve 
at the will of the commission and under such 
conditions as it shall determine. It may also 
employ such other assistants as shall be requi- 
site to the performance of the work of the 
commission as set forth in section 2, who 
shall serve upon such conditions as the com- 
mission may determine. It shall be the duty 
of the secretary to keep a record of the pro- 
ceedings of the commission, to keep accurate 
account of its financial transactions and to 
act under the direction of the commission in 
supervising the work of travelling libraries, 
in organizing new libraries, and improving 
those already established, and in general to 
perform such other duties as may be assigned 
him by the commission. In addition to his 
salary, he shall be allowed his actual and 
necessary expenses while absent from his 
office upon the services of the commission. 
Such expenses, when approved by the chair- 
man, or acting chairman, shall be certified 
under oath to the Secretary of State in the 
same manner as other bills incurred by the 
commission. No member of such commis- 
sion shall be compensated for his services, 
but accounts for the travelling expenses of 
the members thereof in attending meetings or 
establishing libraries and other necessary in- 
cidental expenses connected with 'their duties 
may be audited by the Secretary of State 
when certified by the chairman and secretary 
of the commission. 

Section 4. The commission shall make a 
biennial report to the legislature on or before 
the first Monday in January, on library con- 
ditions and progress in Oregon, and said re- 
port shall contain an itemized statement of 
the expenses of the commission. Such bi- 
ennial report shall be printed in the same 
manner and under the same regulations as 
the reports of the executive officers of the 
slate. The blanks and other printed matter 
required by the commission shall be furnished 
by tfre Secretary of State, and shall be paid 
for out of the printing fund of the state, not 
to exceed the sum of $250 annually. 

Section 5. The salary of the secretary 
shall not exceed $1200 per annum. The 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



travelling expenses of the commission and 
secretary shall be not to exceed $500 per an- 
num. The incidental expenses of the com- 
mission and secretary shall be not to exceed 
$300 per annum. 

Section 6. To carry out the provisions of 
this act, there is hereby appropriated annual- 
ly from any moneys in the general fund in the 
state treasury, not otherwise appropriated, the 
sum of $2000, and any balance not expended 
in any one year may be added to the expendi- 
ture for any ensuing year ; provided however, 
the amount expended by the commission shall 
in no case exceed the amount appropriated 
by this act. 

The Oregon law generalized in accordance 
with the suggestions of the paper. (Varia- 
tions from text in brackets) : 
General Laws of [ ...... Chapter ---- ] . 

AN ACT- 
TO create the [ ...... ] Library Commission ; 

[to define the powers and duties of such 
commission;] to provide for the conduct 
and expense thereof, and to appropriate 
money therefor. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of 



Section i. The Governor shall appoint [four] 
person [s], who with the [State] Superin- 1 
tendent of Public Instruction, President of the 
State University and [State] Librarian . . . 
shall constitute the [ ---- ] Library Commis- 
sion. The member [s] appointed by the Gov- 
ernor shall be appointed for term[s] of five, 
[four, three and two] years from the first day 
of June, I9o[s], and all subsequent appoint- 
ments shall be for the term of five years, ex- 
cept appointments to fill vacancies, which' shall 
be made by the Governor for the unexpired 
term. 

Section 2. The commission shall give ad- 
vice to all schools, free and other public li- 
braries, and to all communities which may 
propose to establish them, as to the best 
means of establishing and maintaining such 
libraries, the selection of books, cataloging 
and other details of library management. It 
may also purchase and operate travelling 
libraries, and circulate such libraries within 
the state among communities, libraries, 
schools, colleges, universities, library asso- 
ciations, study clubs, charitable and penal 
institutions, free of cost except for transpor- 
tation, under such conditions and rules as 
shall protect the interest of the state and best 
increase the efficiency of the service it is ex- 
pected to render the public. It may publish 
such lists and circulars of information as it 
shall deem necessary, and it may also con- 
duct a summer school of library instruction 
[for the benefit of persons either at present 
engaged in library work or supervision, or al- 
ready under engagement for future library 



work] ; and a clearing house for periodicals 
for free gift to local libraries. 

Section 3. The officers of the commission 
shall be a [president, the state librarian to 
act in that capacity], and in his absence any 
member of the commission who shall be 
chosen to act as president pro tern., and a 
secretary, not of its own number, to be ap- 
pointed by the commission who shall serve 
at the will of the commission, and under such 
conditions as it shall determine. It may also 
employ such other assistants as shall be re- 
quisite tgi the performance of the work of the 
commission as set forth in section 2, who 
shall serve upon such conditions as the com- 
mission may determine. It shall be the duty 
of the secretary to keep a record of the pro- 
ceedings of the commission, to keep accurate 
account of its financial transactions and to 
act under the direction of the commission in 
supervising the work of travelling libraries, 
in organizing new libraries, and improving 
those already established, and in general to 
perform such other duties as may be assigned 
him by the commission. In addition to his 
salary he shall be allowed his actual and nec- 
essary expenses while absent from his of- 
fice upon the services of the commission. 
Such expenses, when approved by the chair- 
man, or acting chairman, shall be certi- 
fied under oath to the [ ] in the 

same manner as other bills incurred by the 
commission. No member of such commis- 
sion shall be compensated for his services, 
but accounts for the travelling expenses of 
the members thereof in attending meetings 
or establishing libraries and other necessary 
incidental expenses connected with their du- 
ties may be audited by the [ ] when 

certified by the [president and] secretary of 
the commission. [The salary of the secretary 
shall be fixed by the commission and the 
same shall be drawn from the commission's 
appropriation.] 

Section 4. The commission shall make a 
biennial report to the legislature on or be- 
fore the first Monday in January, on library 

conditions and progress in [ ], and said 

report shall contain an itemized statement of 
the expenses of the commission. Such bi- 
ennial report shall Be printed in the same 
manlier and unjer the same regulations as 
the reports of the executive officers of 
the state. The blanks and other printed 
matter required by- the commission shall be 
furnished by the secretary of state and shall 
be paid for out of the printing fund of the 
state. 

Section 5. To carry out the provision of 
this act, there is hereby appropriated annual- 
ly, from any moneys in the general fund in 
the state treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

the sum of [ ] and any balance not 

expended in any one year [shall] be [covered 
into the state treasury]. 



THE WORK OF AN EASTERN LIBRARY COMMISSION 
BY CAROLINE M. HEWINS, Secretary Connecticut Public Library Committee 



/CONNECTICUT is a small state, with less 
^" than 5000 square miles of territory, 
about one-tenth of the area of Illinois, Iowa, 
Wisconsin, and Oregon ; one twentieth of 
Colorado, and one-thirtieth of California. 
You can go through it between the eastern 
and western boundary in three hours in a fast 
train, and from New Haven on the south to 
Springfield, just across the Massachusetts 
border, in an hojr and a half. There are no 
towns in the state more than ten miles from 
a railroad, and few more than five. The 
problems of library extension are much easier 
than in a western state, and the cost of library 
maintenance is much less. 

The towns of Conecticut were for many 
years far behind Massachusetts in providing 
free libraries. 

The Connecticut Library Association was 
formed in February, 1891. At the next meet- 
ing the president, Prof. Addison Van Name, 
of the Yale University Library, suggested 
that as Massachusetts had established a li- 
brary commission, Connecticut would do well 
to follow in her footsteps. This was just at 
the end of a biennial session of the legisla- 
ture, and it was, therefore, nearly two years 
before a bill was passed providing for such 
a commission. At this time Connecticut had 
13 free town libraries, three free borough li- 
braries, 22 free libraries supported but not 
controlled by towns, 57 towns having sub- 
scription libraries, and 71 with no libraries at 
all. 

In order that no question of political in- 
fluence should ever arise, the appointing 
power was placed in the hands, not of the 
governor, but of the board of education. The 
word "committee" was preferred to "com- 
mission" on account of the large number of 
commissions already in existence in Con- 
necticut. The state was willing to meet what- 
ever a town would give the first year up to 
$200 in books. No one was to be ineligible by 
reason of sex as a member of the committee 
or a board of library directors. The Massa- 



chusetts act of 1888 concerning library trustees 
had made this same provision, and two mem- 
bers of the commission of that state have al- 
ways been women. The same amount as in 
Massachusetts $500 a year was allotted 
for clerical and travelling expenses. 

The five members of the committee ap- 
pointed by the board of education in Septem- 
ber, 1893, were Prof. Addison VanName, of 
Yale University; Rev. Storrs O. Seymour, 
of Litchfield; Charles D. Hine, Secretary of 
the State Board of Education ; Nathan L. 
Bishop, of Norwich, and Caroline M. Hewins, 
of Hartford. Professor VanName declined 
to accept his appointment, and his place was 
filled for several years by Charles E. Graves, 
of New Haven, and later by Judge Edwin B. 
Gager, of Derby. 

Soon after the first meeting of the com- 
mittee, a cjrcular was sent to every town in 
the state, explaining the new law and asking 
for town meetings to consider the advantage 
of free town libraries. 

One of the first towns that applied for 
aid met a very common objection, i. e., that 
the library would be in politics, by accepting 
the loan of a subscription library, subject to 
recall, and taking one-third of the directors 
from the board of that library. The by-laws 
of this library were so well drawn up thai 
they have served as a model for many other 
towns. 

In two years after the work of the com- 
mittee began, 25 towns were under its super- 
vision. Besides the danger that libraries 
would be in town politics, one objection to 
establishing them iwas that some parts of a 
town would be cut off from them on account 
of distance. The advice of the Massachusetts 
Library Commission was taken on this point, 
and it was recommended to all towns to 
send out 25 or 50 books at a time to outlying 
school districts or post-offices. 

So many towns wrote to the committee 
for information, or failed in making the 
necessary returns, that a circular, longer and 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



more explicit than the first, was sent out, 
with forms for "warning," votes and by- 
laws. 

A library needs new books every year, 
and in order to encourage as large an appro- 
priation of money as possible by towns, the 
legislature of 1895 voted that every library 
established under the law of 1893 or its suc- 
cessor should receive an annual grant of 
books not exceeding $100 in value, and less 
if the town appropriation should be less. The 
towns were encouraged to send yearly lists 
of books which they would like to have, the 
committee reserving the privilege of rejecting 
any or all. 

The committee has the advantage of the 
lowest market prices for books both in and 
out of the state. Annual lists have been pub- 
lished, partly based upon the books recom- 
mended by the State Library of New York 
and the library commissions of Wisconsin 
and other states, and partly on the new books 
which are the greatest favorites in a city 
library buying five or six thousand carefully 
chosen volumes annually. Within the last 
year the committee has printed monthly lists 
which are of use not only to the small country 
libraries under its supervision, but also to 
cities and large towns. 

In choosing or rejecting books, the com- 
mittee tries not to forget that it is under the 
board of education, and that the libraries 
which it supervises are therefore part of the 
educational system of the state; that the 
books for which it spends the state's money 
must be as far as possible of permanent 
value, and that new novels and books for 
children must be the best of the current 
year. 

When a town, stimulated by the example 
of its neighbors, begins to ask questions and 
send for circulars, one of the members of the 
committee, oftenest the chairman, on account 
of his frequent travels through the state and 
his large acquaintance, is asked to make an 
address on the advantages of a free library. 
Sometimes others of the committee try their 
power of persuasion. One of them tells of 
going to one town at two different times, two 
years apart, to find that in consequence of a 
town quarrel the audience consisted of three 
persons, one of whom was the janitor of the 



hall where the meeting was held. That town 
has never been captured. At another time 
two of the committee went, in a bitter cold 
and windy night, just after a snow-storm, to 
a little hill-town where, on account of the 
bad weather, only sixteen persons were pres- 
ent at a meeting instead of 75 who were' ex- 
pected. Those sixteen, fortunately, happened 
to be of the right sort, and at the next town 
meeting a^town library received a majority 
vote. 

Between October, 1893, and the present 
time, 74 towns and cities have voted to estab- 
lish and maintain free libraries. Thirty-two 
towns have free libraries given by private indi- 
viduals, the number of towns having sub- 
scription libraries is reduced to 23, and the 
number without libraries to 41. 

There is hardly a town in the central part 
of the state which has not a free town library. 
A study of the map in the last report of the 
board of education shows how the library in- 
fection spreads from one town to another, 
"like measles in a country school," as was 
once said. You cannot go across the state 
without entering a town which has not a free 
library established under the law. 

At first the yearly appropriation of $500, 
and afterwards of $750, covered the trav- 
elling expenses of the committee and the work 
in the office of the chairman and secretary, 
but as the number of libraries grew, it was 
impossible to keep up the clerical work with- 
out a paid official employed all the time. In 
order to meet this additional expense and for 
the increase of travelling libraries, the legis- 
lature of 1003 voted an additional appropria- 
of $2000, and an official visitor and inspector, 
who had pr2viously been for a part of the 
time in, the office of the board of education, 
was appointed. , This appropriation was due, 
in great part, to the efforts of the Conecti- 
cut Library Association, which appointed an 
efficient committee to cooperate with the Con- 
necticut Public Library Committee. 

Mrs. Belle Holcomb Johnson, the visitor 
and inspector, has had a library school course 
and practical experience as librarian, and has 
besides her knowledge of library technique 
an equally useful and valuable knowledge of 
New England country and town life. She 
acts as adviser to small libraries, spends a 



HEWINS 



53 



few days in them, and by clear, common- 
sense explanations helps the librarians 
through many difficulties. The librarians 
soon feel that she is their best friend and are 
ready to accept her suggestions. 

The following extracts from her monthly 
reports to the committee show the character 
of her work: 

1. "A cataloger engaged by one of the 
donors of the library has been at work for 
three months arranging and cataloging the 
books. At her request I went to advise her. 
The librarian seems inefficient and ignorant 
of his duties and has not accepted willingly 
the instruction of the trained cataloger." 

2. "One of the directors sent a request 
for a visit, as she wished assistance with 
some new books and advice as to some 
changes in the arrangement of the library 
room. I went when the library was open and 
met several of the directors and many bor- 
rowers. This library is a force in the life of 
the country village. Miss L., one of the di- 
rectors, is present each opening day and re- 
lieves the librarian of all but the mechanical 
work. Her advice and suggestions to the 
readers are tactful and helpful.'.' 

3. "This library is in much more hopeful 
condition since the removal of the school to 
a new building, which gives the library the 
sole use of the old school building. Several 
bookcases have been added and a table. The 
librarian is extremely bright and hopes to 
take library training. She is alive to the 
needs of the town, and will make every pos- 
sible effort to make the library useful. The 
work is crippled by the very small appropria- 
tion." 

4. "The library has just been opened after 
being closed several months for repairs made 
necessary by a fire. The whole impression 
gained there was lifelessness. The books, 
not particularly well selected, are placed on 
the shelves in the order of accession. There 
is neither catalog nor complete finding-list. 
There is no reading room, nor reference 
books in the so-called reference room. The 
pleasantest room in the building is reserved 
for the occasional meetings of the directors. 
Its only other use is as a. pleasant sitting- 
room for the librarian when she is not busy 
at the desk. The shelves are closed to the 
public. The circulation is small and mainly 
fiction of the lighter sort." 

5. "This library is very attractive, and 
seems to be doing reasonably good work. 
The librarian follows very closely the routine 
laid out at the opening of the library. Prob- 
ably her devotion to minor details of admin- 
istration blinds her to larger needs. We 
found that the accession book, supplied by 
the Public Library Committee, had never 



been used because the librarian did not know 
how to use it, and had not taken the trouble to 
look into the book, which clearly explains its 
own use." 

6. "This suffers for lack of a building and 
a larger income for salaries, bookbuying, etc. 
The enthusiastic librarian, who has had Am- 
herst Summer Library School training, does 
much for the schools and clubs of the town. 
The library is well cataloged. The circula- 
tion is unusually large for the size of the li- 
brary and the size of the town." 

7. "The C. library seems to be a monu- 
ment to the public spirit of one man. If only 
such a man could be found in each town ! 
The pastor of the village church organized a 
reading circle which later worked for a pub- 
lic library, obtained the state grant, and has 
maintained a creditable library. The reading 
circle has taken a dwelling house, on which 
they are making payments, as they are able, 
and which they use for library and social 
purposes. On the afternoons when the li- 
brary is open the librarian conducts an ice- 
cream sale, the proceeds of which go toward 
the payment for the building. Unfortunately 
the pastor who inspired them has left the 
town, but the inspiration is still felt.". 

8. "In W. so much has been done by the 
librarian and his wife that the library is in 
very good condition. The building is admir- 
ably located and suited to its purpose, most 
of the books are good, and the number of 
books is very good for the size of the town. 
Seeing so much already accomplished, one 
cannot but long for a little more. The paper 
covers on all the books are an eyesore. There 
is a deadly monotony about shelves tf vol- 
umes dressed in that way. Within a short 
time, if not now, the lack of classification of 
the books will be a drawback. There is a 
card catalog by authors but not by subjects, 
and the books are placed upon the shelves in 
the order of accession." 

9. "The M. library has more the charm 
of a well-appointed private library than most 
public libraries can have. The books are not 
covered or numbered on the backs. The li- 
brarian arranges the various classes together 
on the shelves, and keeps them in order by 
the most careful supervision. She knows the 
books and loves them and is the only index 
to their contents. The room, in the confer- 
ence hall of the church, is so nearly full that 
within a short time the question of increased 
space will force itself upon them. At the 
present rate of growth the method in use will 
be satisfactory for some time." 

10. "The X. library, with an appropriation 
of $20 yearly, is unique in its location and 
management. It is in a private dwelling- 
house, in which is also the post-office. The 
librarian, a man of apparently 80 years, is 
also postmaster. He and his daughter give 
out books at any time when they are at home, 



54 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



and the appointed library hours are unusually 
generous two days a week from 12 to 8 
p.m. The books are good, they are arranged 
on the shelves by classes and there is a 
printed catalog, recently prepared. The gift 
of $70 for books this year enables them to 
think of laying aside some money for a build- 
ing. The casual visitor might feel surprised 
that a library was needed and patronized, as 
there are but three houses in sight from the 
post-office, and one travels for miles in the 
town without passing a house." 

ii. "The N. library has a recently ap- 
pointed librarian, full of enthusiasm and with 
a genuine desire to work and qualifications 
for good work. Trie library was well ar- 
ranged at its organization, but has for some 
time past been carelessly treated. The direc- 
tors wish a catalog, and look forward to a 
printed catalog at a later date. They may 
decide to prepare a card catalog, which will 
be useful until they are able to print and be 
the basis of the printed catalog. Further as- 
sistance was postponed until they should have 
received the grant of books for 1905." 

"After seeing many of the printed catalogs 
issued by small libraries, for which sufficient 
money to pay for a creditable catalogue is 
expended, it has occurred to the visitor that 
some missionary work might be done in this 
direction. So far as possible the libraries are 
advised to put their money into books, rather 
than into printed lists, which are soon out of 
date. Might not some assistance in arrang- 
ing the titles and in proofreading be given to 
those towns where, after consideration, a 
printed catalog is decided to be a necessity?" 

The committee has been a little slow in 
establishing travelling libraries for want of 
money. The Colonial Dames, at the sugges- 
tion of one of their most public-spirited mem- 
bers, have for several years furnished money 
for buying school libraries on subjects con- 
nected with colonial history, and also circu- 
late portfolios of pictures through the com- 
mittee. The committee has put in circula- 
tion travelling libraries and portfolios of its 
own and has others in process. Specimens 
of all these libraries and portfolios were in 
the St. Louis Exposition. 

The more that town libraries are estab- 
lished, the less call there is for miscellaneous 
travelling libraries, and the more for small 
collections of books on special subjects for 
the use of clubs or neighborhoods. 

The Audubon Society sends books and 
colored bird-charts to schools and libraries. 
Through Mr. Charles H. Leeds, of Stamford, 
28 travelling libraries have been for some 



years sent to towns or schools applying for 
them. A little record-book goes with each 
of these libraries for the teacher's expression 
of the use of the books or the interest which 
children take in them. The state federation 
of women's clubs has sent several libraries, 
and others have been given as memorials. 

School libraries in Connecticut have a grant 
from the, state, and are permitted to buy 
books through the committee. This brings 
a great deal of work into the office, much 
letter-writing and buying. The visitor and 
inspector takes advantage of the nearness of 
the New York market, remainder and bar- 
gain sales, and makes the amount yearly spent 
for books go a long way. The appropriation 
is $6000 a year for the town libraries, and 
something like $1000 for travelling libraries. 

The small libraries pay their librarians 
little or nothing. In one town the salary 
is $12 a year, and this includes fuel for two 
afternoons a week during the six cold months 
of the Connecticut hill country. In this town 
the library is: in a dwelling house, and as 
the population is scattered, the librarian and 
his daughter are quite willing to give out 
books after church on Sundays or whenever 
they happen to be at home on week-days in 
addition to the two days prescribed. In more 
than one town, especially since free rural 
delivery has saved farmers their weekly or 
semi-weekly trip to the post-office, the most 
convenient time for exchanging is Sunday 
noon, and the girls carry their books with 
them to church, just as Abigail Adams and 
her friends used te do when they lent their 
owji little libraries to each other in colonial 
times. , 

A state library school, or summer school, 
is not necessary for us. The office of the 
committee is just two hours from Amherst, 
four hours from. Albany, and twelve from 
Chautauqua, where some of the librarians 
have taken summer courses. Some of the 
larger towns and cities have librarians who 
have received training in the library schools 
in Albany, Pratt, or Drexel Institute. There 
still remain, necessarily, many libraries in 
charge of persons without technical training, 
and* it is of course impossible to re- 
quire of entirely untrained and unsal- 
aried librarians the knowledge of library 



HEWINS 



55 



technique that will enable them to class- 
ify and catalog their books by any known 
system. The circulars and reports of the 
committee have contained some very simple 
hints for the smallest libraries, but after ten 
or twelve yearly additions of a hundred vol- 
umes a small collection of books grows un- 
wieldy, and, unless what is contained in it 
is in some way visible to the public, becomes 
useless. 

More and more libraries are beginning to 
recognize the necessity of a catalog, and the 
committee is often called upon to send a cata- 
loger for a few weeks or months. 

The secretary and inspector visit perhaps 
15 libraries together in a year, and a week 
spent in going to libraries is worth a month 
of letter-writing. The librarians find out 
that the committee can and will help them 
and appreciates their efforts to interest their 
readers, like displaying pictures of the birds 
which children report having seen, or illus- 
trated bulletins about authors studied in read- 
ing circles. 

In a country library there is no catalog so 
valuable as the right kind of librarian, who 
knows her books and her people, and takes 
the same kind of pride in her books as if 
they were her children. One of the librarians 
apologized for keeping visitor and committee 
member waiting, saying, "If I had come down 
before, I should have had to come like Pleas- 
ant Riderhood." This evidence that the li- 
brary in a little hill-town was in the hands 
of a woman who knew and loved her Dick- 
ens, prepared us for the pleasant and home- 
like look of the little room where every book 
was her friend, and it was with deep regret 
that we heard of her death only a few months 
after. 

The libraries which receive aid from the 
state are variously housed. One is in a hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollar memorial 
building, another in the dark and narrow 
gallery of a bare and dismal town hall. Some 
have historical or scientific collections'. In 
one, a Pegasus painted on the wall by an 
artist of more than local fame leads chil- 
dren into the world of wonder and fancy. 
Another, bright, cheerful, and attractive, was 
once a country store. Every year several 
library buildings are erected, and the out- 
look is most encouraging. It is worth notic- 



ing that not one of the towns under the 
committee's supervision has a Carnegie build- 
ing. Indeed, there is only one in the state, 
and that cannot receive the state grant be- 
cause it is for only a part of the city in which 
it is. 

Carefully tabulated blanks are sent to every 
library from the committee's office, and the 
answers are printed in the biennial report 
presented to the legislature. Three times this 
has been published in a volume by itself; in 
other years it has been part of the report of 
the board of education. 

When a library is visited, notes are made 
for another blank to be filled out for the next 
committee meeting, stating whether books 
are clean, upright, and in good condition, 
whether there is a catalog or finding-list, 
how books are charged and circulated, 
whether the librarian has had any training, 
if people are interested in the library, what 
improvements are needed, and if there is a 
local historical collection. 

The Colonial Dames circulate through the 
committee 60 libraries and 61 portfolios of 
pictures to schools, and 8 portfolios to librar- 
ies; the Audubon Society sends out 50 li- 
braries, 21 portfolios, and 166 bird-charts 
to schools. Twenty-eight libraries given by 
Mr. Charles H. Leeds, three from women's 
clubs, and four from the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, are sent to communi- 
ties. The committee keeps 16 of its own in cir- 
culation to schools and 7 to communities and 
libraries, a total of 166 libraries, 90 portfolios, 
and 166 bird-charts. 

The work of the committee may be summed 
up in a few words : 

It revises the book-lists sent by towns, and 
spends the state grant to the best of its abil- 
ity, gives advice and assistance to librarians 
and teachers, tries to establish new libraries 
and make subscription libraries free, holds 
neighborhood meetings, publishes documents 
and book-lists, and circulates travelling li- 
braries. The neighborhood meetings are for 
eight or ten towns, sometimes for more, and 
lessons in mending and repairing and simple 
talks on cataloging, classification, the use of 
pictures, work with children,' etc., are given 
at them. The growth of library interest in 
Connecticut is slow, but healthy and perma- 
nent. 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



TRAVELLING LIBRARIES AS -A FIRST STEP IN DEVELOPING LIBRARIES 
BY GRATIA A. COUNTRYMAN, Librarian Minneapolis (Minn.) Public Library 



"T^HE old order changeth giving place unto 
the new." Step by step we have grown 
through the reference library, the circulating 
library, branch libraries, delivery stations 
and travelling libraries, and we will probably 
come sooner or later to Ihe still closer rela- 
tion whereby the individual book is delivered 
to the individual reader, a veritable library 
on wheels. 

In the large city libraries we are trying to 
meet our problem of reaching every man and 
woman by the most strenuous efforts and 
most varied methods. 

The good work of a library is not to be 
measured by the number of books it circu- 
lates, but by the number of people who use it. 
I may be glad that the Minneapolis library 
circulates over a half million books yearly, 
but 4 am not proud that that number is cir- 
culated among 50,000 borrowers, including 
adults and children in a population of over 
260,000, when there should be at least 100,000 
borrowers in proportion to the population. 
To enlarge the circle of influence, to reach 
as many people as possible, is the problem of 
a good library. If we believe that the library 
is the "cradle of democracy," as Mr. Carne- 
gie puts it, and if we believe that education 
in certain fundamentals is necessary to good 
citizenship, then it is of vital importance that 
a public library reach all of the people as 
nearly as possible. The whole of a com- 
munity is no better than the sum of all its 
parts. 

The same is true when applied to the state, 
and the same necessity exists that the citizen- 
ship of the entire state should have free and 
easy access to books. More than half the 
population dwells apart from the cities, they 
are citizens exercising their right to decide 
and act upon important questions, they are 
workingmen helping to determine industrial 
problems. They make up the numerous small 
towns and villages of our commonwealth and 
they need books as much or more than the in- 
habitants of cities who acquire much from 



the contact with men. The state p'roblem is 
only the city library problem with its borders 
extended, and in developing the work 
throughout the state it sometimes appears 
much more difficult and much more import- 
ant to stimulate the intellectual life of the 
many sluggish hamlets, where people have 
been stranded, and ambitions have ebbed, than 
to labor in the strong current of city life. 

Sometimes when we feel particularly boast- 
ful over the great strides we have made, it 
is good for us to contemplate the development 
work which is still ahead of us, before we 
reach that time when the public library is 
just as common, to all communities as is the 
public school. It is good to look at the work 
we still must do. In Minnesota there are 
2600 post-offices, centers of communities, and 
but 70 free libraries, and 300 travelling libra- 
ries. Here in Oregon there are 800 post-offices 
and but four free libraries. And I do not 
forget that I stand in a vast region of the 
Northwest which has less than 50 libraries. 
Not only here but in every state there are 
vast uncultivated fields, where the greatest 
library activity is still to come. For many 
years there were practical difficulties in the 
way of library development. Small towns 
tried to have libraries but gave it up, either 
through lack of funds or lack of interest. 
Now we believe that we have solved much 
of the difficulty by that simple, but very effec- 
tive little device, the travelling library. It 
has done more not only in furnishing books 
to isolated communities, but in developing 
local libraries, than its most ardent friends 
could have hoped. 

When the travelling libraries first started 
in New York, such comments as these came 
back to Mr. Eastman : 

"This is a country district, some of our 
people have never read books of any kind, 
and few have ha'd opportunity to read books 
like these."- 

"Interest is increasing, it has led to the 
establishment of a reading room." 



COUNTRYMAN 



57 



The charging cards would often show that 
certain books had been read from 30 to 40 
times in the six months' visit to a community. 
In 1895, after two years' trial, Mr. Eastman 
reports, ''These libraries have everywhere 
promoted an interest in good reading and 
have already led to the establishment of some 
important local libraries." "They have stirred 
communities to a new and earnest considera- 
tion of the necessity of providing books for 
the people." 

In most of the states, the travelling libra- 
ries were intended to lead toward the estab- 
lishment of local libraries, and the work 1 has 
been earned on with that in view. It has 
not been possible to find in reports the num- 
ber of libraries in any state which owe their 
origin to the travelling libraries, but com- 
mission workers could name many. The In- 
diana report states that the "travelling li- 
brary is often the forerunner of the local 
library," and other reports make similar 
assertions out of their experience. In Wis- 
consin there were but three villages under 
1500 inhabitants that had free libraries in 
1898. The commission then offered travelling 
libraries to such as would establish local li- 
braries. In two years twenty villages took 
advantage of the offer In Minnesota, which 
the writer knows most about, the state com- 
mission put nearly all of its initial funds and 
initial strength into a system of travelling 
libraries for the sake of awakening interest, 
and the result has been an increase, in five 
years, from 35 to 70 free libraries. It works 
somewhat after this fashion : A town has 
not even taken into consideration the possi- 
bility of a town library, the people haven't 
thought anything about it; some enterprising 
person applies for a travelling library, and 
the people enjoy it. It isn't large enough to 
satisfy the growing demands, they want more 
books, and they begin to agitate the question 
of a local library of their own. Children will 
not cry for candy till they have tasted it, so 
the travelling library arouses the reading ap- 
petite which then demands satisfaction. Other 
towns think they are too "poor to establish 
a library, even though they desire to do so, 
but the assurance that they may borrow a 
travelling library and exchange it frequently, 
so bringing a fresh supply of books period- 



ically to their readers, induces many towns 
to undertake what would otherwise have 
seemed an impossible venture. Then there 
are other towns, I have one in my mind, 
which could and ought to, but won't support 
a local library, which vote down every at- 
tempt to levy a library tax ; but the travel- 
ling library is there, probably under the care 
of some woman's club. They start a sub- 
scription library and reading room in con- 
nection with it, and the leaven begins to 
work, and a free library is only a matter of 
time. 

The travelling library not only arouses 
interest where there was none, and en- 
courages where there was need of help, but it 
serves to convince where there was opposi- 
tion. 

In some of our states, laws for county li- 
braries have been passed, which authorize any 
library to open its doors to the whole county, 
or to make such financial arrangement with 
the county officials as can be agreed upon. 
Here the difficulty is that the neighboring 
farmers, for whom the law was intended, do 
not generally appreciate the free library, and 
will not help to bear their share of its support. 
Again, the travelling library loaned to the 
farming community becomes the first step to- 
ward developing their desire for books and 
what they did not care for before, the use 
of their nearest town library, they now recog- 
nize as a distinct advantage for themselves 
and their children. 

Travelling libraries accomplish the best re- 
sults in the way of developing library inter- 
ests, if they are part of a state system, for to 
do the best work they should have trained 
supervision, by people who will watch the 
communities where they are loaned, and who 
will follow up and assist the first show of 
interest for a local library that may be 
aroused. Then, too, communities feel more 
free to borrow that which is supplied b> the 
state and therefore supported by public taxa- 
tion. A state system is better moreover be- 
cause it has the state behind it and is not 
liable to fail after a few years. 

As to the libraries themselves, the books 
must be chosen with great care; books that 
\\ill be interesting to the people for whom 
they are intended; books that will suit a 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



variety of tastes; books for children and 
adults; and above all books of a wholesome 
clean tone. No one who has not been actu- 
ally engaged in the work and visited the li- 
braries in the needy communities where they 
are actually loaned, knows how very limited 
are the number of books which are acceptable 
to the untrained reader. Then to make the 
library most liable to accomplish its purpose, 
it must be placed in the care of some inter- 
ested person, not necessarily an educated per- 
son, but one who does his best to loan the 
books and to make borrowers of all the 
people. A sign which I saw in California 
was very interesting. It was on a fence board 
along with other advertised commodities, 
reading: "Circulating library is at Jones' 
Grocery Store." That man didn't want the 
people to miss knowing about that library. If 



the library is placed in a private home, it 
should be in a home where everybody feels 
fiee to go. Local prejudice and local schisms 
must be taken into account, and the library 
should not be in the hands of any faction. 
The charging system should be simple, and 
easy to manage by a novice, and yet of 
such a nature that it could grow into a satis- 
factory system whenever the travelling li- 
brary should grow into a permanent library. 
The travelling library would have been a 
great step, if it had simply solved the prac- 
tical difficulty of supplying farmers and 
residents of small villages with books, but in 
the hands of the state commissions and state 
libraries it has -become the strong right arm 
in developing permanent local libraries, and 
in strengthening poor and struggling libra- 
ries. 



LIBRARY ADMINISTRATIOK ON AN INCOME OF FROM $1000 TO $5000 A 
YEAR: ESSENTIALS AND NON-ESSENTIALS 

BY SAMUEL H. RANCK, Librarian Grand Rapids (Mich.) Public Library 



*THE term "library administration" as used 
in this paper is limited to the organiza- 
tion, operation, and maintenance or growth 
of a library the plans and methods of mak- 
ing the library an efficient means of service 
to the whole community. The questions to 
be considered are, What shall be included? 
What is essential? and What shall be ex- 
cluded? What is non-essential? when the 
total income of the library ranges from $1000 
to $5000 a year ; for an institution whose in- 
come is $1000 must omit many things that 
are done in the institution whose income is 
fifty times that sum. 

We must first of all realize the wide differ- 
ence between "essential," "desirable," and 
"non-essential." Those things are essential 
which, when they are omitted, make it im- 
possible for the library to exercise its func- 
tion ; to wit, to spread through the community 
the knowledge the experience, real or im- 
aginary the race has accumulated, and has 
recorded in books here used to include all 
printed matter. 

The library must first of all live, and that 
means a growing existence. It must there- 



fore have the things that make for life and 
growth means of subsistence and intelli- 
gent direction ; otherwise it will die, or at 
least become devitalized, fossilized. The de- 
sirable things are those that assist the library 
to perform its functions to a wider and better 
extent, corresponding to the comforts of our 
family life, carpets on the floors of our homes, 
modern plumbing, etc. The non-essentials 
are those which may or may not help in the 
performance of function to a wider or better 
extent corresponding to the luxuries of life, 
automobiles, horses, and carriages in the city, 
etc. All these things grow into each other 
and the non-essentials in one environment 
may be absolutely essential in another. In 
this paper it sha'll be my effort to lay stress 
on the essentials for the type of library 
whose annual income is not less than $1000 
or more than $5000. The desirable and non- 
essential will rarely be referred to; for it 
is the essential that we must ever keep in 
mind. It must also be remembered that these 
essentials apply to a greater or less degree 
to alf kinds of libraries, whether large or 
small. 



RANCK 



59 



By way of personal explanation, permit me 
to refer to my own experience with small li- 
braries. I do this because after this paper 
was assigned to me some one remarked that 
my treatment of it would doubtless be more 
or less theoretical, supposing that my ex- 
perience had been wholly with relatively large 
libraries with libraries having incomes 
many times that of $5000 a year. During the 
four years I was in college I worked in a 
library (two years as librarian) with an in- 
come of from $200 to $250 a year. All this 
money went into operation and growth 
most of it into growth, for there were no 
charges for salaries or the maintenance of 
the building. I recall that the additions to 
this library in those four years were often 
in the neighborhood of from 500 to 1000 vol- 
umes a year and that in two years the li- 
brary (then over 6000 volumes) was cata- 
loged on cards, and that its use then, and 
even to-day, I am informed, is greater in 
many directions than the college library it- 
self, not a stone's throw away, with ifs 
$50,000 building and large collection of books. 
The other small library with which I was 
identified is the oldest circulating library now 
existing in the state of Maryland in continu- 
ous operation as such since 1795. This li- 
brary has a regular income for operation and 
growth of about $125 a year. For a number 
of years I took an active part in its manage- 
ment, as a member and as an official on its 
governing board. You will pardon me, there- 
fore, if I have my experience in these two 
small libraries more or less in mind all 
through this paper, even though I imagine 
that the committee in assigning it had the 
public library of a village or town in mind. 
In the public municipal library the first 
essential in its administration is that those 
in charge of it should have a full knowledge, 
and a clear understanding, of the legal rights 
and duties of the library and its officers. They 
should know and understand the provisions 
of the state constitution, the state laws, and 
' the city ordinances relating to libraries in 
general and in particular. This is of funda- 
mental importance to the governing board 
and to the librarian. I need only refer to 
the fact that the two relatively large libraries 
with which I have been connected found it 
necessary to have the state legislature amend 



their charters in important particulars so as 
to prevent a possible serious loss to these li- 
braries. The importance of these legal details 
was further impressed upon us in Grand 
Rapids by the fact that only a little over a 
month ago our library came near losing al- 
most $6000 for its book fund money that 
comes to it through a provision of the state 
constitution because of a clerical omission 
in the office of the city board of education 
in reporting to the state superintendent of 
public instruction the number of children of 
school age in the city. As it was, legal pro- 
cesses had to be resorted to to protect the 
library, and the matter was straightened out 
by a special trip to Lansing and by keeping 
one of the county offices open after the usual 
time of closing on the last day of the year 
when the state constitution permitted a cor- 
icction of the error. 

Another instance of the importance of these 
legal details is found in the last report of the 
Michigan State Board of Library Commis- 
sioners, according to which, and to a. recent 
remark by the president of that board, it ap- 
pears that in the state of Michigan at least 
$50,000 a year is being diverted from library 
purposes, as provided for in the state constitu- 
tion, simply because various library govern- 
ing boards in the state do not know their legai 
rights or have refused to exercise them. 

A second essential is that the governing 
board of the library regardless of whether 
its members are appointed or elected, whether 
it contains three members or thirty or the 
ideal number of five or seven and the li- 
brarian should have a full understanding of 
the functions of each, for both have very 
definite duties to perform in the administra- 
tion of a library. The board represents the 
whole community and is presumably chosen 
to make the library an efficient means of 
public education and recreation, and I take 
it for granted that the idea of "spoils" 
politics personal, social, or religious is 
excluded from the management of the library. 
The board should determine the general pol- 
icy of the library and its administration, regu- 
late the scale of expenditures, salaries, etc. ; 
and I assume that the members of the board 
are disposed to deal justly and fairly in re- 
gard to salaries, hours, and vacations, ever 
mindful of the fact that reasonably happy 



6o 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



circumstances are essential for the best serv- 
ice. The position of the board, therefore, 
is that of stewardship for the people, and the 
people have a right to demand that it be ex- 
ercised. If any member of the board rinds 
that his interest is not sufficient for him to 
give the library the little time that is re- 
quired, he owes it to the library and to the 
community to resign; and the community 
owes it to itself to remind him of this fact, 
should he forget it. 

s The librarian should be the executive offi- 
cer of the board, and as such be responsible 
to them for the execution of the plans and 
purposes of the library. It is presumed that 
he has at least some knowledge and ex- 
pertness m the profession of librarianship. 
The librarian, therefore, should have a free 
hand in developing and managing the in- 
ternal and technical features of the library, 
control the assistants, detail the work they are 
to do, including in this the work of the jani- 
tor, and, in general, have full control of the 
detailed work of the library. As a rule and 
under normal circumstances the librarian 
should represent the library before the com- 
munity and all the employees before the 
board. With the advice and consent of the 
board the librarian should have the right to 
employ, promote, suspend, or dismiss his as- 
sistants, again including the janitor. 

The failure of governing boards to recog- 
nize these functions of the board and the 
librarian is a most fruitful source of mis- 
understanding, trouble and inefficiency in li- 
brary administration. I recall cases where 
individual members of the board were in the 
habit of coming to the library and directing 
the librarian or the assistants as to the de- 
tails of routine work set the assistants to 
doing something different from what was as- 
signed them by the librarian, set about doing 
things generally without consulting or re- 
garding the librarian. When such cases arise 
the librarian should insist upon his rights. 
He is the executive officer of the whole board 
and not of any individual member. If the 
librarian is incapable of directing or doing this 
work satisfactorily the board should employ 
another librarian and not disorganize the 
whole institution by attempting to right a 
\vrong thing in the wrong way, thereby mak- 
ing the last condition worse than the first. 



I have in mind now an instance where a li- 
brary was disorganized and much hard feel- 
ing engendered a hard feeling that exists 
to-day, years after the occurrence by a 
member of the board on her own motion coin- 
ing in and moving and rearranging a large 
lot of books in the absence of the librarian, 
thereby causing great confusion. I said "her," 
for it was a woman on the board who did 
it. Is this the reason one often finds, es- 
pecially among women on a library staff, a 
strong prejudice against women on the 
board? In more than one instance I have 
heard women say that men on governing 
boards are much less likely to take a hand 
in the details of the work. Men, it seems, 
are more likely to look for ultimate results, 
and for that reason they are more likely to 
permit the librarian and the staff to work 
them out in their own way. I cannot speak 
from experience on this point, for I have had 
men only on my library boards. 

On the other hand, the deadly blight arising 
from lack of intelligent interest is much 
more likely to occur among men on a board 
than among women. Nothing can be more 
discouraging to a librarian than to have every 
plan for the improvement of the library held 
up by an uninterested, inactive board. Such 
a blight will in the long run affect the whole 
library and destroy much of its usefulness. 
I believe, therefore, that on the whole the 
misdirected interest that may arise on the 
part of women is better for the library, though 
harder for the librarian and the staff, than the 
paralyzing effect that may come from the 
persistent lack of interest, inactivity, and in- 
attention to obvious duties, on the part of 
men. 

Another essential is that the librarian and 
the staff should know the history and spirit 
of the institution. They are part of an or- 
ganization that has a life and a spirit, things 
that are rooted in the past. They can ac- 
complish the best results only when all con- 
sciously realize the aims and purposes for 
which they are working. There should be 
a very definite plan in the mind of the librar- 
ian, 'and the whole staff should be taken into 
the scheme of the plan, so that all can work 
together in an atmosphere of freedom a 
freedom which is soon felt by the public and 
which alone can produce the best results. 



RANCK 



6 1 



To a large part of the general public the 
library suggests a building usually a Car- 
negie building; and many persons think that 
a building is the first thing that is necessary. 
(If I were a Mark Twain I should like to 
digress at this point to tell of some of the 
things that happen to a town when Mr. Car- 
negie offers it a library. This subject has 
never received adequate treatment.) As a 
matter of fact, a building is the last thing 
necessary for any library and especially a li- 
brary having an income of from $1000 to 
$5000 a year. A building is a good thing. It 
makes the library mean more to the public, 
and it stands for and insures the permanency 
of the institution. It is an evidence of bet- 
ter things hoped for; but I believe that a 
library with an income of only $1000 should 
not have a building at all, if the maintenance 
of this building is to absorb practically all 
of its income. Let trustees have a realizing 
sense of what can and cannot be done with 
$1000 a year before assuming the fixed 
charges that go with a building. It is often 
wiser to wait for a larger income, and in the 
meantime much better results will be ac- 
complished for the community if rented quar- 
ters are secured and the money put into books 
and the librarian. It is indeed giving a stone 
instead of bread when so large a proportion 
of the total income is absorbed in maintaining 
a building, starving and freezing the life out of 
the library for the sake of the things that 
count for little in the real work it has to do. 

And right here I wish to call attention to 
one non-essential in a library building for a 
small library, and that is the idea that it 
must be fireproof. Fireproof materials cost 
from 25 to 30 times as much as some of the 
materials that would serve every purpose in 
the working of the library. A library build- 
ing in a small town need not be built with the 
idea that it is competing with a safe-deposit 
company, where the fundamental idea is a 
safe place for storage. Libraries should be 
built and administered to keep books out- 
side of the building as far as possible in 
the hands of the readers. The few things that 
are really in need of safety against fire can 
be preserved much more cheaply in a sub- 
stantial safe or vault, than in a whole build- 
ing built on the vault plan, with its expen- 
sive steel stacks and shelves. 



The smallest town can start a library with- 
out a building, and scores of towns bear 
witness to the fact that they can erect the 
building when they are ready for it without 
waiting for some one to present it. I have 
a special admiration for such towns. They 
have the true spirit of true democracy. 

If, however, it is offered a building a 
Carnegie building, for example what shall 
the town do ? If it has no library, here is an 
opportunity to start one. Accept the gift. 
Then consult a librarian before consulting 
an architect. It, is of the greatest import- 
ance for the small library to have its build- 
ing planned so that its operation is as in- 
expensive as possible. Build it to save light 
and coal ; build it to save work in keeping it 
neat and clean mahogany furniture, pol- 
ished brass fixtures, and marble floors, foi 
example, add immensely to the cost of jani- 
tor service; build it to allow for growth and 
extension; and finally, build so that one per- 
son can control all the rooms and do all the 
work for the public in all but the busiest 
hours. 

I believe in fine buildings, handsome fit- 
tings, and all that goes with them; but it is 
a sin against the community when these 
things are put in and administered at the 
expense of the service that really counts in 
forming the lives and characters of the citi- 
zens. Such things are desirable not essen- 
tial. What a fine, large building means in 
expense for its care and maintenance may be 
realized from the fact that the new Ryerson 
Public Library building in Grand Rapids 
costs in one year nearly $5000 more than the 
old wholly inadequate quarters of the li- 
brary, simply to keep it in condition that 
regular library work may be done in it. I 
may add, however, that such a building is 
worth much to a community simply as a 
work of art. It ought, however, to be clearly 
understood that extra provision is made for 
its care and maintenance on that score, as 
the city of Grand Rapids is doing and takes 
pride in doing. 

Those in charge of a public library are car- 
ing for property that belongs to other people. 
It is essential that adequate records and ac- 
counts be kept of all money received and ex- 
pended, so that an intelligent report of one's 
stewardship can be given at any time. But 



62 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



in book-keeping, as in all other things, elimi- 
nate every possible bit of red tape. 

It seems to me that many libraries are 
woefully lacking in their methods of book- 
keeping concealing rather than explaining 
what they did with the public money. Often 
the methods of book-keeping are beyond the 
control of the library authorities, being pre- 
scribed by city ordinance. Instances are not 
unknown where the librarian must sign his 
name half a dozen times in the various steps 
connected with every purchase for the li- 
brary. I should like, however, to see a great 
reform in this direction clearness and the 
exclusion of red tape. I recall selling a book 
to a library, and the bill for $1.50 came back 
to me for receipt containing the names of 
eight different officials through whose hands 
it passed before payment could be made. 
Avoid such foolishness as you would the 
plague. 

Good books, adapted to the needs of the 
particular community, are the life blood of 
the library, for the right use of them is the 
end and aim of the library. It is essential 
to have a constant supply of them better, 
I believe, to add small lots frequently than a 
relatively large lot once a year. Accept all 
kinds of books as gifts with the clear under- 
standing that you reserve the right to make 
such use of them as comports with the best 
interests of the library. Never, however, be 
deluded with the idea that cast-off books 
which are sent you at house cleaning time can 
put life into your library, any more than that 
the cast-off clothing that goes to a rummage 
sale would supply you with the clothes you 
would wish to wear at one of President 
Roosevelt's White House receptions. You 
can use these things, and you should, only 
have it generally understood that they will 
be used on the shelves, for exchange, or 
for junk as each item warrants. The per- 
son who gives something to a library in this 
way is generally more interested in it because 
of his gift, and it is that interest that we 
should ever keep in mind. 

It is vastly more essential for the librarian 
of the small library to be a student, to know 
the books in the library, than it is for the li- 
brarian of the large library. In the large 
library to know the books in it is, indeed, 
impossible, and the librarian must depend on 



others; his time is largely absorbed, as Mr. 
Putnam once told me in his office in Wash- 
ington, in pushing buttons the details of 
administration. 

Libraries with the proper librarian can do 
good work without a catalog. Some of the 
members of this Association who are here 
present may recall the remark of Judge Pen- 
nypacker (now governor of Pennsylvania) 
in his address welcoming us to the Historical 
Society of Pennsylvania in 1897, to the effect 
that he then had 7500 volumes in his private 
library, and all that his system of cataloging 
required when he wanted a book was simply 
that he should walk to the shelf on which it 
stood and get it. In short, he carried the con- 
tents and the location of his books in his 
head. He was the library's catalog. 

Public libraries, however, cannot do this 
satisfactorily, not even small ones. Librar- 
ians resign, get married, or die, and then 
there is no catalog. The small library should 
have an accession book and an author card 
catalog. It can get along without the other 
desirable features, and, in large libraries, es- 
sentials of modern cataloging shelf-lists, 
subject catalogs, etc., etc. The accession book 
is an account of stock. It is the one essen- 
tial record of the history of every book, its 
cost, etc., in the library, and in case of the 
library's destruction by fire nothing can take 
its place in adjusting insurance. Libraries 
can and do get along without this record, 
but it seems to me that no public library can 
afford to be without it. Large libraries have 
the bibliographical tools to supply most of 
the information given in this book which the 
small library has not. Small libraries, as 
well as large, should avail themselves of the 
use of the cards supplied by the Library of 
Congress. By classifying the books on the 
shelves the small library has some of the es- 
sentials -of a subject catalog. 

A system of registration for those who 
draw books from the library and a regular 
method of charging the books drawn is essen- 
tial, though in a small library these records 
can be made exceedingly simple. In a small 
town it is not necessary to have guarantors 
for the registered card holders. I still be- 
liev^, in view of the methods used in the 
first library in which I worked, that for a 
very small library a ledger system of charging 



RANCK 



is the cheapest and simplest method. It is 
inexpensive, however, and soon becomes cum- 
bersome to handle with the growth of the 
library. A simple card system of charging 
is the most satisfactory. Another essential 
in the administration of this department of 
the library is that every one be treated alike 
if fines are to be charged. Nothing arouses 
opposition to the library sooner than the feel- 
ing that favoritism is shown in dealing with 
the public. Have as few rules as possible, 
however. The golden rule is the shortest and 
best. Put the emphasis on what can be done 
rather than on what can't. The latter makes 
for a passive library, the former for an ag- 
gressive one. It is essential that the library 
be aggressive. 

From the various essential records that 
are kept, interesting statistics can readily be 
gathered, and these serve a useful purpose 
in making intelligent reports and in keeping 
up interest in the library; for it is essential 
that the public, as well as the governing 
board, be kept adequately informed of all the 
library is doing. And even then you will 
be surprised to learn how much of ignorance 
there remains in spite of your best efforts. 
(I may remark in passing that I believe that 
our largest libraries ought to employ a press- 
agent, with his whole time devoted to keep- 
ing the public interested in the library.) 
Statistics should not be gathered for their 
own sake. They may easily cost more than 
they are worth. When rightly used, however, 
they enable the librarian to make compari- 
sons, detect weak points in the work of the 
library, and so enable the intelligent applica- 
tion of a remedy. Used in this way statistics 
are essential in every library. 

I leave for the conclusion of this paper the 
one essential that makes all things possible 
in a library the one thing that the general 
public usually considers last of least im- 
portance the librarian. 

Books alone are not a library, any more 
than a pile of stones is a cathedral. It re- 
quires knowledge, intelligence, and skill 
trained men to make something out of 
these raw materials; and it takes as many 
years of training to learn to administer the 
affairs of a library to the best advantage as 
it does to learn to erect a large successful 
building. Furthermore, a librarian must 



know as wide a range of subjects as the 
architect. 

The foremost essential in the administration 
of a small library (and I mention it last by 
way of emphasis) is the right kind of a li- 
brarian a librarian with training and ex- 
perience. With such a librarian the proper 
spirit of freedom and of service will soon 
dominate the whole institution; the various 
personal problems of dealing with people 
successfully with the board, with the staff, 
and with the public will gradually adjust 
themselves to the satisfaction of all ; the 
right books will be bought and guided in- 
telligently and sympathetically into the hands 
of the people who really need them ; every part 
of the work will be characterized by econ- 
omy, accuracy, and efficiency economy in 
the matter of binding, the purchase of books 
and of supplies, the use of materials and in 
methods of work; accuracy in all the details 
of cataloging and record; and efficiency in 
making the library a real vital force in every 
phase of the life of the community.- Such 
a librarian will keep out fads and personal 
whims, wilj keep free from becoming a slave 
of routine, mechanical details, will interest 
and secure the cooperation of the public in 
ways that will make many things possible be- 
yond the regular fixed income of the library. 
In short, such a librarian will furnish the 
steam, the motive power, that must be put 
into any institution to make it go, for insti- 
tutions no more run themselves than do loco- 
motives. Such a librarian with a strong per- 
sonality makes the library stand for character 
and for the highest manhood and woman- 
hood; and on these will be built the future 
glory and greatness of our nation and our 
race free, manly men. Such service on the 
part of the librarian can not be measured in 
dollars and cents, and it never will be. We 
ought not to expect it. Nor is it likely that 
such a librarian will receive the reward of 
famous men, but rather that of "men of little 
showing," men whose "work continueth," 
through all time continueth, "greater than 
their knowing." 

While all of us fall far short of this ideal, 
it is the ideal worth striving for, on the part 
of trustees worth seeking for; for such a li- 
brarian is the foremost essential, not only 
of the small library, but of every library. 



6 4 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION ON AN INCOME OF FROM $1000 TO $5000 
A YEAR: ECONOMIES IN PLANS AND METHODS 

BY MARILLA WAITE FREEMAN, Louisville (Ky.) Free Public Library 



f^\ N this question of economies, let me 
state frankly at once, my motto has 
always been an old maxim of my grand- 
mother's "Dear things are cheap, and cheap 
things are dear." It has often brought me 
into deep waters, but has always piloted me 
safely through them, and still holds my un- 
alterable faith, in library as well as private 
economics. 

The problem in hand, as I understand it, 
is this: Given a free public library with 
an annual income of $1000 or $3000, or 
$5000, as the case may be, how shall 
that library most economically expend its 
income for the public service, keeping in 
view the greatest good of the greatest num- 
ber, with an eye always to the interests of 
the exceptional individual. I may remark in 
passing that to the librarian of the $1000 a 
year library, his $5000 a year brother seems 
as rich as Croesus and as far removed from 
his own worrisome problems, but when he 
moves up to the $5000 institution himself, he 
finds that the necessities have increased with 
the income, and that much the same princi- 
ples apply as to the smaller library. 

In planning the campaign of economy, the 
first necessity is some sort of a yearly budget, 
and for this I know no more logical division 
than that under the three heads of mainte- 
nance, administration, and growth. Under 
maintenance is included rent of rooms, or 
repair of building, heat, light, insurance, jani- 
tor service, and all supplies. Under admini- 
stration, or direct service to the public, the 
chief item is that of salaries of the librarian 
and assistants. Under growth, the import- 
ant matter is the purchase and binding of 
books and periodicals. In the larger libraries 
this head would include also the printing of 
finding lists, book-lists, and bulletins, but in 
the small libraries most of this form of li- 
brary extension must be done through space 
given in the newspapers and like gratuitous 
means. 



As to the proportion of our fund to be as- 
signed to each of these three heads, mainte- 
nance, "salaries, and books, it is a bit difficult 
to reconcile theory and practice. A division 
into even thirds sounds symmetrical and at- 
tractive, but fails utterly to work. A more 
usual, perhaps quite widely accepted theoreti- 
cal division, provides one-fourth for books, 
one-third for salaries, and the remainder for 
maintenance. But a set of questions sent 
out last year by the library of which I was 
then in charge, to a number of representative 
libraries of all sizes, and a question sent to 
various libraries during the preparation oi 
this paper, both brought out the fact that in 
actual practice few libraries are able to ad- 
here to this proportion. As a matter of fact, 
the figures show our plausible third for sal- 
aries expanding to 40 or even 45 per cent., 
the necessary expenses of maintenance ab- 
sorbing an almost equally large proportion, 
and the book fund conducting itself as best 
it may upon what is left. For the smaller 
libraries at least, a tentative division of not 
more than one-fifth for books and, say two- 
fifths each for salaries and maintenance, 
seems about what our actual experiences make 
possible. The smaller the library, as a rule, 
trie larger must the salary percentage be. 
This for the reason that the services of a 
trained librarian cost much the same in all 
libraries under a certain size, and therefore 
draw more heavily upon the fund of the 
smaller library, and for the second reason that 
the trained head of the small library must 
herself, in addition to the formative work for 
which she is specially engaged, do much of 
the routine work which in a large staff may 
be delegated to assistants of a lower grade. 
Thus the library on an income of $2000 to 
$2500, with a capable head and one assistant, 
need feel it no extravagance to expend a full 
half of its yearly fund for salaries. 

My 5 " argument for this division of funds is 
of course based upon the supposition that' the 



FREEMAN 



library is to consider as its first requisite in 
its plan for economical expenditure a trained 
librarian at its head. The seeming discrep- 
ancy between book-fund and salary fund is 
based upon the thesis, which ought no longer 
to need arguing, that a small collection of 
well-chosen books, well administered, is of 
much greater value to the community than a 
larger collection poorly administered. The 
directions for making a successful library of 
whatever size should therefore always begin 
with the proviso : "First catch your trained 
librarian." In the very smallest libraries of 
our group, where it may not be possible to 
retain the trained librarian permanently, she 
should at least be employed long enough to 
organize the library upon a proper basis and 
to give partial training to the local assistant 
who will succeed her. Otherwise the library 
is likely to prove a house built upon the sand. 
Having set aside our two-fifths, or even a 
fraction more, for salaries or public service, 
we shall still have need of all the economies 
we can practice under this head. The first 
economic necessity, after a trained executive 
is assured, is the securing of one or more ap- 
prentices, to be in training for assistantships 
and for substitute work. The length of serv- 
ice required should depend upon the thor- 
oughness of the training which the librarian 
is able to give, and therefore upon its value 
to the apprentice. The average apprentice- 
ship covers a period of three to six months, 
with four to six hours' service a day. It 
should be thoroughly understood with the 
apprentice that no promise is made her as to 
a position in the library, but merely that she 
puts herself in line for and is willing to ac- 
cept such a position in case of vacancies or 
additional appointments. The question has 
been much discussed whether the service 
given by apprentices pays for the time spent 
by the librarian upon their training, but in 
the case of libraries which cannot afford to 
give their librarians trained assistants, it 
seems a matter of simple necessity that the 
librarian have in training a reserve force of 
this sort, whether large or small, formal or 
informal. In regard to the question whether 
this sort of training compensates the appren- 
tice for the time spent, I believe it to be 
true that in most small or medium-sized li- 



brary constituencies, such as we are consider- 
ing, there are high-school graduates who are 
glad of the additional book knowledge and 
general information which such a course 
gives them, aside from the question of future 
positions. And I know personally of a num- 
ber of instances in which such an informal 
course in a library has proved the necessary 
stimulus toward the seeking of further edu- 
cation, either in college, or library schools, or 
both. 

An important economy, especially to the li- 
brary with few assistants, and those on small 
salaries, is that of short hours of work, and 
liberal treatment of its staff. A seven-hour 
day with weekly half-holiday, will go far to- 
ward compensating for a corresponding 
brevity of salary, and experience proves that 
in the long run, any institution gets better 
and more willing service out of people who 
are not overworked, and who have a margin 
of time in which to live, outside the demands 
of their daily work. 

I know of no greater economy in library 
administration than that of giving the public 
free access to the shelves of the library. 
From the financial point of view, it seems 
clearly proverr by cumulative testimony that 
the small proportion of books lost from open 
shelves and the additional care required to 
keep the shelves in order is far outweighed 
by the saving of the labor necessary in the 
searching for books by the library attend- 
ants, and the carrying them to and from the 
shelves. The doing-away with call-slips and 
the accompanying machinery is an item not 
to be overlooked in the petty economies of 
the small library, but the most important sav- 
ing involved in the open-shelf system is that 
of nerves, the nerves alike of the public and 
of the library worker. For some occult rea- 
son, it is not half so irritating to find out for 
yourself that none of the long list of novels 
you desire is in, as to be told so by a patient 
attendant over a counter, after a long search 
on her part and an impatient wait on yours. 
You are certain that through the wicket 
which bars you out you see the alluring red 
cover of "The marriage of William Ashe," 
and that the deceitful library attendant is 
saving it for a friend. Whereas, if you are 
allowed to look for yourself, although you 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



find that particular red book to be but a 
deceptively attractive new edition of More's 
"Utopia" or "Uncle Tom's cabin," and noth- 
ing upon your list in, yet your attention is 
ultimately diverted to a book you had never 
heard of which looks interesting, and you 
go away tolerably well satisfied, with at least 
the consciousness that you are a free agent, 
and have the free use of your own public 
library. The open-shelf idea has been so long 
discussed, and now so widely accepted, that 
we scarcely realize how many attractive Car- 
negie libraries are being built to-day with a 
smug, tight little closed stack-room at the 
rear, and no provision whatever for a com- 
fortable space where the public may look over 
its own books. To the librarian who has in- 
herited such a library, we can only suggest 
that if she cannot carve a highway to the 
book-room, she may at least have a book"-case 
containing a few hundred carefully chosen, 
attractive books, placed within easy reach of 
the loan-desk. She will find this a very popu- 
lar expedient and will be saved many steps 
thereby. 

The one article upon which the small li- 
brary may most wisely economize is tape 
red tape. To the public it is as irritating as 
an unexpected barbed-wire fence to a cross- 
country pedestrian, and to the over-worked 
library attendant it is often as the last straw 
to the camel's back. Records we must have, 
and accurate business-like methods, but let 
us have no duplication, let us trust the public 
as far as the law will allow, and let us sim- 
plify everywhere. Begin with the card cata- 
log. We may avail ourselves of the work 
done by others, by buying for our catalog the 
cards printed by the Library of Congress for 
all new books, at far less cost than we can 
afford to make them ourselves. In catalog- 
ing older books, for which the Library of 
Congress may not yet have printed cards, we 
need not feel that we must use the same 
fulness of detail given on the Library of Con- 
gress cards. Fulness of imprint is often con- 
fusing to the untrained eye of the public, 
and in the small library is not essential to 
the library assistant, who in the occasional 
cases where it is necessary to know paging 
or size may turn readily to the accession 
book. For fiction there is good authority 



for the use of author and title only. Such 
annotations as the contents of a book of short 
stories are of much more importance than its 
size. A card headed "College and school 
stories" or "Detective stories," giving a list 
of the books under these heads, is of more 
practical use than a statement of the number 
of pages in each book given upon its main 
card. 

In the matter of book-lists, again, the li- 
brary may often economize by availing itself 
of the work already done. The Newark list 
of "A thousand of the best novels," Miss 
Hewins' "List of books for boys and girls," 
bought in quantity, and sold at a few cents 
each, are eagerly used and appreciated, in 
place of lists issued by the individual library 
at great expenditure of time and money. For 
children's use, the bookmark reading-lists 
issued by the Democrat Printing Co., Madi- 
son, Wis., are helpful and inexpensive, as are 
those more recently issued, for adult readers. 

In the reference department of the small 
library, all use of call-slips for reference 
books and statistics of use of reference books 
and periodicals may well be dispensed with. 
Of more value than such statistics is a care- 
ful jotting down of the various questions 
asked, and the subjects upon which informa- 
tion is sought, with a view to supplying de- 
ficiencies in the library, and to making notes 
of the material on hand. References found 
on a given topic should be noted on a catalog 
card, under the subject, and filed either in 
the card catalog, or in a separate reference 
' index. 

Other small working economies of admini- 
stration are the dispensing with labels and 
call-numbers .for fiction and the dispensing 
with book-plates for all except reference 
books. An hour might well be devoted to 
""the innumerable little economies of materials, 
supplies, and labor, such as the saving of 
spoiled catalog cards and everything with 
one "blank side" for reference slip work and 
all sorts of memoranda. 

Under the head of maintenance, the largest 
item is of course the care of the building, 
and here many libraries find themselves 
swamped at the outset by a costly building 
whi?h eats into the year's income until the 
library itself must wellnigh starve for lack 



FREEMAN 



of sustenance. I can only say here to the 
small library, Do not be in haste to build 
until you have a good working collection of 
books thoroughly organized under the super- 
vision of a competent librarian. You will 
know much better how to build after you 
have worked in temporary quarters for a 
time. And when you do build, build from 
the inside out, if you wish to provide for 
economy of administration. Keep in mind 
the unity of the work and, to quote from one 
of the letters I have received, "economize on 
partitions." Have all the main working de- 
partments of your library on one floor, where 
they may, if necessary, be supervised from one 
central desk, and where your lighting and 
heating may be economically centralized. 
Nothing could make a library less attractive 
than the economy of light and heat often 
practiced in a building with departments 
scattered on different floors and much waste 
of space in corridors and halls. 

In towns where the city owns its own 
water, or light, or heat, or all three, a little 
foresight at the inception of the library en- 
terprise may secure these commodities with- 
out drain upon the library's yearly income. 
In at least one town in Iowa the free pro- 
vision of these commodities for the public 
library was made a condition in the granting 
of franchises. 

A source of economy in library mainte- 
nance is the securing of a good janitor. The 
right man usually comes high, but in the 
course of the year will save many a bill with 
the carpenter and the plumber, and with a 
iair degree of intelligence in the handling and 
arrangement of the books may go far toward 
saving the time of an additional library as- 
sistant. In everything which concerns the 
care of the building and grounds, no effort 
should be spared to make the library a model 
of cleanliness and beauty for all the city. 

It is under our division of growth, which 
includes chiefly the purchase, binding, and 
rebinding of books and periodicals, that 
probably the largest saving may be made. I 
believe that more money is wasted in small 
libraries by unwise methods of purchasing 
books than in any other way. Perhaps the 
greatest part of this waste goes into the 
pocket of the subscription book agent as his 



commission. A safe rule is that of a librar- 
ian who writes, "I never buy subscription- 
books except at second-hand, even encyclo- 
pedias." As a rule, within a year the sub- 
scription work will be on the market either 
at second-hand or in a trade edition, and you 
can buy it for something like half the price 
you would have paid the agent, provided 
that by this time you still feel you must have 
this particular work. The subscription edi- 
tions of standard authors are a specially al- 
luring form of extravagance. They tempt to 
the "pathetic fallacy" of buying "full sets," 
when what the users of our small library 
want of Blackmore is "Lorna Doone," of 
Lever, "Charles O'Malley" and "Harry Lorre- 
quer," and of Turgenieff and George Sand 
only a few of the representative novels of 
these writers. It is far better economy to du- 
plicate the masterpieces of fiction to an ex- 
tent which will really supply the demand for 
them than to purchase glittering rows of full 
sets to gather dust upon our shelves. 

The new "A. L. A. catalog" has done great 
good service in its naming of good trade edi- 
tions of standard works. The smaller the 
library the tess can it afford to purchase cheap 
and unattractive editions. At this point our 
motto has special pertinence, for surely cheap 
books are dear. 

I cannot better summarize the economies 
which may be practiced under our general 
head of growth than, first, by referring you 
to the remarks on "Book purchasing for small 
libraries," made by Mr. W. P. Cutter at a 
recent meeting of the Massachusetts Library 
Club, and printed in the Library Journal for 
January, 1905 ; and, second, by quoting from 
one of the letters which I have recently re- 
ceived. This librarian says (i) Our pet 
economies are (a) rebinding, where we be- 
lieve the greatest economy lies in prompt re- 
binding, (b) purchase of books, where we 
make every effort to make one dollar do the 
work of two, by second-hand and auction 
buying, and by importation, (c) not binding 
periodicals that are really only of current 
interest, (d) not replacing books that are 
not really worth while; routine replacement 
is a common and an enormous waste. (2) 
We never economize (a) by getting cheap 
people to do high-grade work, (b) by getting 



68 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



cheap books or binding that will not last in- 
stead of dearer ones that will, (c) by letting 
rebinding wait. 

A word of emphasis as to the ecomomy 
of prompt re-binding. Up to a certain point 
of wear, much repairing may economically 
be done in the library, but as soon as the 
sewing of a book begins to give way, it should 
go at once to the binder. A promptly and 
well re-bound book will wear twice as long 
as in its original trade binding. Poor bind- 
ing and cheap binding are always dear in the 
end. Periodical sets especially, which are 



among the library's most valuable reference 
assets, if worth binding at all, are worthy of 
the best binding. 

The sum of the whole matter is something 
like this : Economize on quantity rather than 
quality. Have fewer things if necessaary in 
order to have them better ; books, assistants, 
rooms, rules. Make your library attractive 
and your library helpers happy, thereby using 
your income in such a way that the city and 
the city fathers will be inclined 'to vote you 
more, for to him that spendeth, boldly but 
judiciously, more shall be given. 



THE QUESTION OF LIBRARY TRAINING 
BY LUIIE E. STEARNS, Wisconsin Free Library Commission 



'"FHERE is a surprising and ofttimes ap- 
palling misconception or total lack of 
conception in the popular mind, and in the 
minds of library trustees, concerning the du- 
ties of a librarian or the qualifications which 
a librarian should possess. This is too fre- 
quently shown in the selection of a librarian. 
A man was recently selected as the head of 
a new eastern library who had not had an 
hour's library experience, the only reasons 
given for his appointment being that he had 
reviewed books and that he bore the endorse- 
ment of the local labor union. In an- 
other instance, the librarian was chosen 
solely on account of her "aristocratic 
bearing." Again the office is used for politi- 
cal reward, as illustrated by a recent case in 
Connecticut. As showing how little, ex- 
perience and training may be taken into ac- 
count, the spectacle was presented a few 
months ago of a board of trustees- "selling 
out" to a mayor of a large city, an increased 
appropriation for the library being guaran- 
teed by "His Honor" if a non-resident, 
trained librarian were deposed in favor of 
a local untrained and inexperienced applicant. 
In the "Handbook of library organization," 
in use by many of the library commissions of 
the country, the fact is emphasized that the 
usefulness of the library will depend upon the 
librarian, and the greatest care should "be 



exercised in .selecting that officer. It insists 
that the librarian should not be chosen, as is 
often the case, because she is somebody's 
aunt, because she is poor and deserving and 
needs the money, because she is kindly, be- 
cause she belongs to a certain church, club, 
or society, nor even because she has a reputa- 
tion as a reader or confesses to a love of 
books. Concerning this latter point this 
love of books we would take issue with 
the statement, recently made by a prominent 
library worker, that the librarian does not 
love books any more than a broker loves the 
grain in which he deals; for we regard a 
love of books as one of the essentials in li- 
brarianship, but we would by no means give 
it the prominence usually accorded it in ap- 
plications for library positions. For with 
this love of books should go culture, execu- 
tive ability, tact, sympathy for humanity, and 
a knowledge of modern library methods. 
Save money in other ways, but never by em- 
ploying a forceless man or woman as librar- 
ian; for in a small town a $600 librarian can 
do more with $400 worth of books than a 
$200 librarian can do with $800 worth of 
books. Trained, experienced librarians are 
the best, but if you have but little money and 
must be content to employ some local appli- 
cant without training or experience, insist 
thaf the appointee shall make an intelligent 



STEARNS 



69 



study of library methods in some model small 
library or through a series of library insti- 
tutes, or in summer library schools such as 
are conducted by five commissions, or in a 
regular library school. The librarian should 
be keenly alive to the tremendous possibilities 
of her work. She should come in touch with 
other librarians and with the vast stores of 
experience found in books, library periodicals 
and proceedings. She should identify herself 
with local, state, and national library organi- 
zations, commissions, and associations. 

On the technical side, she should have a 
knowledge of books from the outside she 
should understand book-maker's work : paper 
thickness and durability ; printing size, 
face of type, leading, spacing, margin, ink,, 
press work; binding materials, methods, 
durability, cost; book-repairing materials 
and methods. From the commercial side she 
should become familiar with publishers, edi- 
tions, and prices. In these days of book- 
trusts and combinations, she should know 
where to purchase good editions cheaply. 
From the business side she should have a 
knowledge of book-keeping and business 
forms. She should familiarize herself with 
modern library furnishings, appliances, and 
supplies, and should be quick to adopt time 
and trouble savers. She should be a student 
of the latest and best methods of accession- 
ing, shelf-listing, classifying, and cataloging. 
In this connection it would be a revelation to 
many trustees were they to ask the Ii6rarian 
to show them the fourteen processes through 
which a book must go from the time iris pub- 
lished until it is placed on the library shelves 
for circulation. 

In addition to this technical side, the librar- 
ian must have executive ability, the power to 
organize and to delegate work and to utilize 
what Melvil Dewey calls the four m's that 
produce results materials, machinery, 
methods, men. On the mental side, she 
should have an excellent memory, accuracy, 
dispatch, and prompt decision, grouping im- 
portant points to the exclusion of the unim- 
portant. As a scholar, she should possess 
the best education obtainable. She should 
have a general knowledge of literature and of 
what constitutes good and bad style in au- 
thorship. A knowledge of languages will 



prove of the greatest assistance. As for so- 
cial qualities, she should be tactful and should 
be at ease with strangers. She should not 
be condescending nor patronizing. She 
should not be afflicted with "a smile that 
won't come off," nor should she have Che- 
shire proclivities, but she should possess a 
sense of humor in library work, unless she 
be a cataloger, she is hopeless without it. 
Physically, she should possess good health, 
be able to endure strain, for "it is dogged as 
does it." Morally, she should be earnestly 
altruistic, of great, big heart and tender sym- 
pathies, a woman of character, of steadfast 
purpose and faith. She should not despise 
present opportunities in the vaulting ambi- 
tion for larger ones. Unflinching fidelity in 
a low estate is the discipline for larger duties 
in a larger life. One of the great lessons of 
life is to learn not to do what one likes, but 
to like what one does. The library drudge 
ofttimes has conscience and devotion, but 
lacks insight, freshness, power, joy, and the 
ability to grow. The library world has many 
painstaking, overburdened people; what it 
needs is a corps of enthusiastic workers that 
are full of the spirit of joy in work. Work 
done for individual ends, for personal grati- 
ficatiori, or work done which one would not 
do if one did not have to all this is un- 
worthy the modern librarian. Recognition of 
the true nature of her work, with a glad ac- 
ceptance of its noble responsibilities and pos- 
sibilities will lift her fast and far out of diffi- 
culties and cause her to realize in full meas- 
ure the joys and power of life. As Hugh 
Black says in his book on "Work," "The true 
nobility of life is honest, earnest service, the 
strenuous exercise of our faculties, with con- 
science in our work as in the sight of God 
who gives us our place and our tool and our 
work. At the end of life, we shall not be 
asked how much pleasure we had in it, but 
how much service we gave in it ; not how full 
it was of success, but how full it was of 
sacrifice; not how happy we were, but how 
helpful we were; not how ambition was grati- 
fied, but how love was served ; for life is 
judged by love; and love is known by Her 
fruits." 

You may think we have wandered far afield 
from the question of library training; but 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



what we are endeavoring to emphasize is that 
to fit one's self for the high calling of li- 
brarian, there must be a training of head, 
hand, and heart all are essential. The 
ideal we have placed before you may be too 
high, though we are by no means ready to 
concede the point. The trustees of a large 
eastern library in quest of a librarian, three 
or four years ago, set forth in printed form 
the qualifications which they exacted. They 
would not consider as candidate any school 
teacher who seemed to have missed his call- 
ing; any minister who had missed a parish; 
any book-worm, who, under the name of li- 
brarian, had delved among library shelves, 
instead of making the library that he served 
a living fountain of knowledge and culture 
to the community about him; any one who 
had been trained for any other profession 
than that of librarian, .and who had not had 
valuable experience as a successful librarian. 
The board would accept no man who was 
not in the prime of life, who had not many 
years of work ahead of him rather than be- 
hind him. They wanted a man with a thor- 
ough elementary, secondary and collegiate or 
university training; a living interest in sci- 
ence, art, literature, and philosophy as a 
means of educating and uplifting society; a 
deep sympathy with the physical, intellectual, 
ethical, and religious needs of all social con- 
ditions; breadth of vision and depth of con- 
viction on important religious, social, scien- 
tific and philosophical questions; excellent 
executive ability; great power of discernment 
of the character and qualifications of per- 
sons engaged in library work; great tact and 
skill in dealing with the public; wisdom in 
practical affairs; trained for the special pro- 
fession of librarian ; great public spirit ; in 
short, an all-around citizen who woufd be 
capable of shaping public sentiment in library 
matters, of taking an influential position in 
educational affairs, and one who would t>e 
deserving the respect and support of the 
whole community. The salary of the posi- 
tion, the circular stated, would be commen- 
surate to the merits of the man finally se- 
lected. 

In this connection, we would remind mem- 
bers of library boards of the trite saying 
among housekeepers that you cannot expect 



all of the Christian virtues in a domestic at 
$2.50 per week. Some trustees might retort 
that people who take pains never to do more 
than they get paid for, never get paid for 
more than they do. It is a fact, however, that 
librarians are the poorest paid professional 
people in the world. They must be content 
to "spare delights and live laborious days." 
Conditions have ever been favorable for li- 
brarians to be numbered among those for- 
tunate individuals who can labor for the 
honor of being workers and not for the ac- 
cumulation of wealth. Since time began, the 
work of the librarian has been considered 
of value except only as tested by a money 
standard. Brains and talent that would com- 
mand large revenues in law and medicine 
are compelled to be content with meagre 
grants in the library profession. The mind 
and energy that manages a library system in- 
cluding a main library, branch libraries, and 
deposit stations, covering a tremendous area, 
ofttimes receives but a fraction of the salary 
paid to the manager of a department store, 
while the librarian of one of the world's 
foremost depositories receives less than one- 
fourteenth part of the salary paid the presi- 
dent of an "execrable" life insurance society. 
If a great philosopher is right when he says 
that "culture grows only under conditions of 
wealth and wealth only through accumula- 
tions of capital, and capital only through 
accumulation of the. work of those who are 
not justly paid," then librarians are con- 
tributing more to the general culture of the 
world than any and all other classes com- 
bined. In 1876 the American Library Asso- 
ciation took for its motto, "The best reading 
for the largest number at the Ifeast cost." 
While librarians everywhere are unsparingly 
and unceasingly working to provide the best 
reading for the largest number, they have 
been appropriating to themselves or rather 
have had meted out to them the "least cost" 
section of the slogan, as may be shown in 
Mrs. Fairchild's report in the St. Louis A. 
L. A. proceedings. In this particular, women 
are the greatest offenders and sufferers. 
Women will accept much smaller salaries 
than men of equal ability and preparation. 
This is not in any sense to underbid the 
latter, but arises from two causes the gen- 



OLCOTT 



eral fact that women are paid less than men 
for equal service and the willingness of 
women to work for the love of it, "without 
money and without price." Commission work- 
ers all over the land have daily brought to 
their attention illustrations of self-sacrifice 
and heroism undreamt of by trustees or more 
highly favored members of the profession. 
The words "library spirit" are used ofttimes 
glibly and thoughtlessly, and many claim it 
who have it not; but it is the "library" spirit 
that makes the underpaid and overworked 
librarian go and go and go, morning after 
morning, through storm, through headache 
and heartache to the appointed spot and do 
the appointed work and cheerfully stick to 
that work through eight or ten hours, long 
after rest would be so sweet. It should ever 



be remembered by trustees and we cannot 
emphasize this point too strongly that a 
worker in a small library ofttimes must pos- 
sess a good many more qualifications than 
one in charge of a special department in a 
large library and that such service should re- 
ceive compensation in proportion. In the 
question of library training is involved the 
question of adequate compensation. After 
a student adds two years at a library school 
to three or four years of university or college 
work, as required by at least two of our ac- 
credited library schools, the graduate cannot 
be expected in all reason to accept a salary 
that will scarcely keep soul and body to- 
gether. 

A good librarian is worthy of his hire; a 
poor librarian is dear at any price. 



RATIONAL LIBRARY WORK WITH CHILDREN AND THE PREPARATION 

FOR IT 

BY FRANCES JENKINS OLCOTT, Head of Children's Department, Carnegie Library of 

Pittsburgh 



T T is not the purpose of this paper to dis- 
cuss the influence of good reading on 
children, but rather to outline a practical or- 
ganization for the distribution of books 
among children. As a premise it is assumed 
that the public library is already an acknowl- 
edged educational factor, its chief duty being 
the distribution of good reading to the 
masses, and that in order to secure generally 
an intelligent use of the library by adults, 
it is necessary to begin by educating the 
children. This last does not mean, however, 
that we should organize our work with chil- 
dren at the expense of adult work. To do so 
would be to defeat the object for which library 
work with children exists. Instead, we should 
set aside a suitable portion of the library fund 
to provide books, special quarters, and at- 
tendants for the children, the amount of this 
fund to be decided by the needs of the library. 
Naturally, a library specializing in reference 
work, or having any other important spe- 



cialty, would not spend the larger share of its 
fund on the children's room; while, on the 
other hand, a library in a tenement district, 
where two-thirds or more of its patrons 
were children, would spend its funds accord- 
ingly. Rational library work with children 
most adjust itself to the needs of the library 
as a whole, and be based on a study of the so- 
cial conditions of the people who will use the 
library. Nationality, religion, occupations, and 
living conditions should be considered, books 
selected, and methods adjusted according to 
actual needs. This requires, on the part of 
the children's librarian, a wide knowledge 
of books and some experience in working 
with different classes of people. It is most 
convenient for me to illustrate an organiza- 
tion based on social conditions by describing 
the work with children of our own library, 
that is, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. 
First, let me draw your attention to the fact 
that our work with children is only one of the 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



activities of the library, and is not carried 
on at the expense of other departments. 

The organization has been made to meet 
the needs of Pittsburgh and of no other 
city. Conditions in Pittsburgh are as fol- 
lows: Within an area that might rea- 
sonably be included in her limits there is 
a population of about one million. Within 
her present limits the census records show a 
population of 321,616 persons, more than two- 
thirds of whom are either foreign born, or 
children of foreign born parents, and persons 
of negro descent. The negroes alone number 
more than 17,000, which is 5.3 per cent, of tfie 
whole recorded population. Perhaps the most 
surprising facts relate to professions and in- 
dustries. There are more than 90,000 me- 
chanics, skilled workmen, day laborers, serv- 
ants, etc. ; 34,000 persons engaged in trade 
and transportation; as against 6000 profes- 
sional men and women. 

Pittsburgh is a city of contrasts, built on 
many hills, and divided by three rivers. The 
hillsides and perpendicular bluffs along the 
rivers are dotted with wooden shanties, while 
many families live in "jo-boats" moored to 
river banks. From the very back doors of 
many fine residences in the East End and from 
near beautiful parks there stretch, hidden by 
the hills, long runs and gullies that are filled 
with shanties, while in the down-town dis- 
tricts are networks of alleys and courts, lined 
with unsanitary brick buildings and tumble- 
down rear tenements, crowded with foreign- 
ers. Wages, as a rule, are excellent ; work 
is easily procured, and it is not poverty only, 
but chiefly ignorance which is to blame for 
the present shiftless conditions. Jacob Riis 
recently made a tour of our tenement district, 
and in a public meeting said that he had never 
seen tenement conditions as bad as those in 
Pittsburgh. 

The physical topography of Pittsburgh 
makes it especially difficult and expensive 
for us to reach all parts of the city. Often 
a high bluff or a deep ravine cuts a neigh- 
borhood in two, making necessary two de- 
posits of books in the same district iftstead 
of one. 

With such conditions to meet, we have or- 
ganized our work for children as follows : 



A children's department was installed in 
1898, which has developed gradually until 
during the past year there were 152 places in 
the city where children could draw books. 
The object of this department is to place 
good literature into the hands of every child 
in the city, and especially to carry the influ- 
ence of good books into the homes of chil- 
dren of few opportunities and no advantages. 
When it is understood that there are more 
than 59,ooo children enrolled in our public, 
private, and parochial schools, besides large 
numbers of children employed in factories 
or elsewhere, and that our collection of ju- 
venile books numbers only 48,000 volumes, 
it will be seen what a huge task we have be- 
fore us. 

In order to accomplish our object of dis- 
tributing books, the department is organized 
under the supervision of a chief of depart- 
ment into the following divisions : Admini- 
strative division, division of children's rooms, 
division of work with schools, division of 
work with home libraries and reading clubs. 
Each division has its own peculiar field of 
work. The administrative division is the 
unifying factor in the department. Through 
it the work with children is welded into a sys- 
tematized organization. By it, children's 
books are examined, read, and selected, dis- 
tributing agencies organized, collections kept 
up to date, assistants trained and placed, 
methods studied and introduced, material 
compiled for the use of the department in 
fact, its aim is to help in every way possible 
the development of the whole work. 

Next to the Administrative division comes 
the division of children's rooms, of which, 
strictly speaking, we have at present seven. 
Each room offers a distinctly different phase 
t>f cosmopolitan life, and is in charge of one 
or more trained children's librarians. 

The ideal children's room has a double 
function. First, it is the place in which the 
children are being prepared to use the adult 
library, and we feel that if our rooms fail 
to develop intelligent, self-helpful readers, 
we have failed in our main object. Second, 
the ideal children's room should take the 
place of a child's private library, and it 
should, as far as possible, give the child a 



OLCOTT 



73 



chance to browse among books of all classes 
and kinds, in a room beautifully proportioned 
and decorated, and presided over by a genial 
and sympathetic woman who has a genuine 
interest in the personalities and preferences 
of the boys and girls. The gracious influ- 
ence of this room should differ widely from 
that of the school-room, with its. rigid law 
and order, and it should not partake too 
much of "paternalism." All methods used 
should be in keeping with the dignity of the 
library building. It is most important that 
the technical side of the work of the room, 
such as the loan system, the cataloging and 
classification, should not differ essentially 
from the same work in the adult department, 
so that the children will not have to unlearn 
things when they leave the children's room. 
Technical methods may be simplified, but not 
changed, and above all, the closest relation 
should exist between the adult and juvenile 
departments. We desire also that all meth- 
ods used to draw the children to the library 
building should be those which lead them 
to the best books. 

It is impossible in so short a space to 
discuss the problems of book selection or 
the determinate methods used to draw at- 
tention to books, such as story hours, read- 
ing circles, and picture bulletins. It is our 
endeavor in the children's rooms to use only 
those methods which are dignified, direct, and 
informal, and which lead to better reading. 
The main object of our story hour and read- 
ing circles is to draw attention to books and 
to books only. 

Whereas we try to preserve the informal 
atmosphere of our children's rooms, keeping 
out the school-room atmosphere, we are at 
the same time doing work with the schools. 
Our 'branch librarians and the children's li- 
brarians visit the schools of their districts, 
keep in touch with the teachers, lend them 
books, and encourage them to send the chil- 
dren to the library to look up subjects for 
school compositions. In order not to inter- 
fere with the atmosphere of pleasure read- 
ing, which we like to preserve in our chil- 
dren's rooms, we set aside a corner or a room 
for school use. 

Besides the school work done directly from 



our children's rooms, we have, as already 
stated, a division of work with schools. This 
division is in charge of a regular supervisor 
and assistant, who spend their time visiting 
the schools, where they talk with the teachers, 
read aloud and tell stories in the class rooms, 
and make arrangements to send collections of 
books to the schools to be used for home 
circulation and in the class-room. We have at 
present 15,000 school duplicates and cannot 
supply the demand. 

The aims of this division are: that no 
child shall leave the city schools without 
having\ had the opportunity to read good 
books; that no child shall pass the last grade 
in the ward schools without having had in- 
struction in the use of catalogs, indexes, etc., 
and that teachers in the class rooms shall 
be aided in every way possible with material 
to illustrate their lessons. 

We cannot emphasize too much the en- 
thusiasm with which principals and teacfiers 
have met the offers of the library to supply 
them with books and story-tellers. A num- 
ber of schools set aside regular class periods 
for story-telling and reading aloud, and we 
are gaining 1 noticeable results from this work. 
Besides direct work with the schools, this 
division carries on a number of deposit sta- 
tions, and cooperates with the branch chil- 
dren's rooms in the establishment of summer 
playground libraries. 

Although we are reaching thousands of 
children through our children's rooms and 
through the city schools, there still remain 
large numbers of children who do not use 
our children's rooms and who do not go to 
school. These children work at home, in 
toby shops, in factories, or they sell papers. 
There are also "gangs" of restless boys who 
hang about street corners and whose lawless 
mischief leads them into crime. For the pur- 
pose of reaching these children and young 
people, we have organized a division of work 
with home libraries and reading clubs, which 
penetrates into alleys, "runs," and out-of-the- 
way corners of the city, and which cooperates 
with institutions for social betterment, such as 
the Society for the Improvement of the Poor, 
social settlements, Juvenile Court, Newsboys' 
Home, and other similar institutions. This di- 



74 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



vision has two distinct fields of work; one is 
in the homes of the children, the other is in 
the boys' club rooms. The home library work 
is peculiarly fitted to the needs of Pittsburgh. 
It reaches directly the homes of the working 
classes, foreigners, and sometimes criminals. 
It helps to Americanize that part of our for- 
eign population whose filth and ignorance is 
our worst menace. 

A home library consists of a small case of 
books placed in a child's home. At a stated 
time each week ten or twelve children of 
the neighborhood meet about the case and a 
visitor from the library gives out the books, 
and, in various ways, makes the "library 
hour" pass pleasantly with profit to the chil- 
dren. The method of spending the "library 
hour" depends on the sex and age of the 
children. The visitor's main idea is to in- 
troduce the children to books, but she can- 
not hold them by books alone. She reads 
aloud or tells stories, plays games with the 
children, and teaches them some such art 
as sewing or basketry; thus giving them em- 
ployment with which to fill their idle hours. 

It is impossible to define the scope of home 
library work. Its aim is not only to take 
books into the home, but to carry with them 
every influence to make the poor into more 
happyand useful citizens. The library provides 
the books, a supervisor, and visitors; while, 
on the other hand, means for teaching bask- 
etry, cooking, etc., is provided by private in- 
dividuals. The visitor from the library has 
a strong influence upon the home in which 
her group meets, as well as among the neigh- 
bors. She is often able to aid the families 
in case of illness, poverty, or lack of work, 
by putting them in touch with charitable in- 
stitutions. 

The other field of this division is that of 
the boys' "gangs." The "gang" element is a 
great feature of the social life of the lower 
classes of Pittsburgh, and the boys devour 
the trashy literature which is sold in every 
part of the city. Some of the "gangs" have 
formed themselves into clubs, and conduct 
circulating libraries of dime and nickel nov- 
els. In order to reach these boys we provide^ 
rooms in different parts of the city, form the 
"gangs" into reading and game clubs, and 



send visitors from the library to meet them 
in the evening and keep them off the streets. 
The use of rooms for this purpose is given 
us by school boards, mission houses, bath 
houses, the Newsboys' Home, and by a Jew- 
ish synagouge. In almost every case we are 
given heat, light, and janitor service. 

The statistics for the use of books in this 
division are never overwhelming, neither is 
the collection of books large. The amount of 
good done can never be recorded in figures : 
it is the social side of the work that counts. 
The vital gains are those of the influence ex- 
erted on ignorant but eager children by good 
reading, reading aloud, story telling, playing 
games; the record of a family saved from 
starvation; a home found for a stray child; 
a boy given work; a girl kept from running 
away from home; the teaching of the boys 
chivalry, courtesy, honesty; the girls neat- 
ness, industry, deference; such a record can- 
not be kept by statistical figures. 

The solidity of all the work of the chil- 
dren's department, as outlined above, depends 
upon not only the quality and extent of the 
book collection, but on the personality, train- 
ing, and experience of the library workers. 

This brings us to an important part of our 
paper, which is the preparation for library 
work with children. In the beginning of 
our department, we made decidedly unsatis- 
factory experiments in employing untrained 
help. Time was lost, irreparable mistakes 
made," and much of our work failed of the 
mark. We found it imperative to establish a 
training class to supply the children's li- 
brarians for our own library. This training 
class developed into a training school, and 
since the time of its organization in 1900, we 
have not been able to supply the demand for 
trained children's librarians, a demand com- 
ing from all parts of the country. This spring 
we had some thirty positions to fill, and not 
more than six children's librarians to send 
out into the field. It is a great pity that de- 
sirable young women do not know of this un- 
developed field of work. We have a great 
many candidates, but comparatively few of 
them are accepted as students. We are con- 
tinually raising our standard for admission. 
The ideal applicant should have the following 



OLCOTT 



75 



characteristics : Sympathy with and respect 
for children, strength of character, a genial 
nature, a pleasing personality, an instinct for 
reading character, adaptability, and last but 
not least, a strong sense of humor. Her home 
training and education should have given her 
a love and knowledge of books, a fund of 
general information, a quick and accurate 
mind. These qualities are difficult to find 
combined in one person. 

In order to have you understand fully the 
basis on which we train, it may be well to re- 
mind you of what has already been stated 
that we consider the work with children from 
two points of view, that it is the means by 
which we prepare the children to use the 
adult library, and that the ideal children's 
room should take the place of the child's 
private library. We therefore divide our 
lecture course into two distinct parts. First 
technical training along the lines of adult 
library work, such as ordering, accessioning, 
classifying, shelf-listing, cataloging, the study 
of library organization, history of libraries, 
history of printing and bookbinding, busi- 
ness methods, such as making out of reports, 
statistics, blanks, and schedules. These sub- 
jects, treated entirely from the standpoint of 
the adult library, are carried through the two 
years' work, thus giving the student a solid 
basis for library work. Side by side "with 
this, special methods of work with children 
are taught, including the study of children's 
literature, planning and equipment of chil- 
dren's rooms, rules and regulations for chil- 
dren's rooms, methods of introducing chil- 
dren to books, making of children's catalogs 
and lists, and a study of educational princi- 
ples and social conditions and betterment. 
Throughout the course a comparative study 
is made of the methods used by different li- 
braries. 

Lectures are given by members of the 
library staff on those subjects in which they 
are daily engaged, and the regular library 
lecturers are supplemented by visiting librar- 
ians and other educators. 

Although we have a very full program of 
lectures, and students are required to do 
much reading and close study, still we do 
not lay our stress on class-room work, but 



on the daily practice work of the student. 
Each student is required to work from eigh- 
teen to twenty hours a week in the children's 
department, under supervision, thus coming 
in actual contact with the children. This 
laboratory work is divided between the di- 
vision of children's rooms, the division of 
work with schools, and the division of work 
with home libraries and reading clubs. The 
student also has work in the deposit stations 
and in the summer playground libraries. She 
has opportunity to work with all classes of 
children, both as individuals and en masse, 
and in this way she gets her knowledge of 
children, of their tastes and habits, and she 
gets her training in discipline, in story telling, 
and in the practical application of the prin- 
ciples taught her in class. We lay more stress 
on the student's ability to do practical work 
than on her examination papers. It is neces- 
sary for the student to pass the examinations, 
but practical work and daily class work stand 
first. 

In closing, I should like to add that we 
endeavor to impress on our students from the 
beginning that our first duty as children's li- 
brarians is to interpret literature, and that 
methods must necessarily be adjustable to the 
character of the library, and that a rational 
method of organizing library work with 
children in any city or town should be 
based on a close study of the needs of the 
community. 

This branch of educational work is young 
and is growing rapidly, has tremendous possi- 
bilities, and is open to all sorts of dangers 
in the way of sentimentalism or fads, and in 
order to avoid these we must keep before us 
continually our dignity as custodians of litera- 
ture, our obligation to the citizens of our 
community who have entrusted us with the 
task of interpreting literature to their chil- 
dren. Let our motto be, good books to all 
children, and "the right book to the right 
child at the right time." Just as necessity 
has produced children's rooms, so necessity 
will in time 1 show us the right lines along 
which to proceed in order to produce a suffi- 
ciently sane body of doctrine to form a 
science or pedagogy of library work with 
children. 



7 6 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



COMMON SENSE AND THE STORY HOUR 



BY HARRIOT E. HASSLER, Children's Librarian, Portland (Ore.) Library Association 



"P ROM a purely human standpoint one 
need fear little or no opposition in 
standing before an intelligent audience and 
pleading the cause of story telling. Each of 
us can recall some special fairy godmother 
in human guise who once cuddled us into 
capacious arms before a huge open fire and 
thrilled us with the delicious terror of a 
Jack the Giant-killer, or held us spellbound 
waiting to see what the uncanny staff of a 
still more uncanny Quicksilver was going to 
do next. Perhaps some of us are still hold- 
ing the sunny southwest corner of our hearts 
sacred to our "Tusitala" our "teller of 
stories." But, granted that all this is true, 
and that story-telling is the most alluring of 
avocations for spinster aunts and bachelor 
uncles, yet just how far the practice is legi- 
timate in the public library, at the expense of 
time and strength paid for by popular taxa- 
tion is quite another matter. 

We have heard to a wearisome extent of 
the "sweet little story for the dear little chil- 
dren." We do not wish to repeat the ex- 
perience of the enthusiastic young kinder- 
gartner who took a position in a children's 
library and solicitously said to the wrong 
boy : ~"Well, my dear, can I find you a nice 
book?" only to have the small boy square 
his shoulders and rise to every possible 
inch of insulted dignity as he answered, 
"I ain't your dear, and I'll find my own 
books." 

Perhaps a safe rule for the average chil- 
dren's librarian to follow is, "Avoid all sto'ry-* 
telling that does not aim at the improvement 
of the children's reading." Usually it is bet- 
ter to tell a story about a subject on which 
several books are written than about one in- 
cident or chapter in one special book. Thus, 
if the Washington birthday story can be told 
in a setting that would suggest the literature 
of the whole Revolutionary war, it is a more 
successful story hour than the same amount 
of interest concentrated on personal anecdote 
from one book. From this it will be under- 



stood why we plead for the sensible story- 
hour as the most efficient means we have yet 
found of directing the reading of the chil- 
dren. In the two-fold function of the chil- 
dren's, library, of collecting good books, and 
of getting them read, we have found in the 
story-hour the easiest and the pleasantest 
solution of how to direct and systematize 
their reading. 

One of my first observations in the chil- 
dren's room here was the distrust with which 
many of the children met any suggestions 
about the classed books. So often the ques- 
tion came, "Is it non-fiction?" and in spite 
of attractive binding and good type and illus- 
trations, they would say "No, thank you," 
with much the same definiteness that they 
\v"ld have declined a dose of castor oil. 
After many repetitions, I began to feel that 
they were eyeing me with horrid suspicion 
instead of with confidence, so we tried an- 
other method. 

May-day was at hand, and in remembrance 
of another May-day long ago, it was decided 
to have a May pole in the children's room. 
With comparatively^ little effort we soon had 
a very gay little May pole, twined with rib- 
bons and garlanded with flowers and hung 
with May baskets. A simple press announce- 
ment served to inform the children, and very 
early in the afternoon our fragrant, flower- 
decked room was thronged with children. It 
was necessary to stand very near the pole and 
repeat all the May-day stories again and 
again as new groups of children came and 
old ones were passed on to the "Books about 
May-day," to be quickly lost in the good 
green wood with Friar Tuck and Little John, 
or else to be buried under a shower of blos- 
soms at the Roman feast of the Floralia. 
The day was such a success that we have 
twice repeated it and expect that it will be- 
come a permanent feature of the department. 
That was the first time many of the children 
learned to use the bound volumes of St. 
Nicholas for themselves. 



HASSLER 



77 



The next formal story-hour came a few- 
weeks later and was based on a Flag bulletin 
at Decoration day. One tall boy stood be- 
hind the group of smaller o"hes in front of 
the bulletin and for once forgot his beloved 
Henty books, and he so far deviated from 
his former path as to take home "Recollec- 
tions of a drummer boy" that day. Of the 
smaller boys, "Gilbert," who had been lean- 
ing closer and closer to the story-teller until 
at last both his elbows were on her knees as 
he begged with a delectable lisp, "Tell uth an- 
other, pleathe?" began the reading of his- 
'torical literature on that afternoon, and up 
to the time when he left us a little while ago, 
he had read almost every good book within 
his comprehension and had heard so many 
read to him by his long-suffering aunt, that 
he was quite an authority on. historical mat- 
ters. The Independence day stories fol- 
lowed Memorial day, and there was a noticea- 
ble increase in the circulation of "Story-hour 
books." So the work went on from story- 
hour to story-hour till the dreadful spell 
which had been cast over certain books in the 
room by the term "non-fiction" began to lift. 

The textile exhibit, posted on Labor day 
and supplemented by a spinning wheel which 
we learned to use clumsily, suggested the 
various industrial books and the literature of 
colonial manners and customs, as well as the 
myths and legends relating to all phases of 
the subject. It is almost surprising how 
generously interested various manufacturers 
have been in sending us samples illustrating 
various stages of their processes to use in 
these Labor day or Industrial exhibits. These 
stories of the textiles so fitted in with the 
third grade home geography work of our 
public schools that the third grade teachers 
came to us in a body, at the suggestion of one 
of them, to hear the story-hour. Later, about 
forty of these teachers brought their classes, 
ranging from 12 to 85 children, to the library 
for the stories, and all during school hours. 
Of course this meant a very large increase in 
membership for us, as many of these children 
came to us for the first time. 

The textile stories had suggested some of 
the old Greek myths, but only a few. Since 
we had undertaken to establish the story- 
hour to give some meaning and method to the 



children's reading it seemed best to "base us 
our palace well, broad at the roots of things" ; 
so we began a series of Friday afternoon 
Homeric stories in October and were soon 
lost in the Iliad, never stopping till we had 
seen the wise Ulysses safely home to Pene- 
lope, at the end of the Odyssey, late in May. 
As mentioned in the April number of the 
Library Journal, we used the translations of 
Lang and others in the preparation of the 
stories, employing as many of the melodious 
Greek epithets as we could in telling the 
stories. For the use of the children, we pur- 
chased a number of duplicates of the best 
versions we could obtain. Last winter we 
took up the Norse myths and Rhine legends. 
The children enjoyed hearing the stories as 
much, apparently, as the Greek cycle, but they 
read the books less for themselves, so we 
passed on to our "Soldier stories" illus- 
trated by bulletins and following in general 
the outline given in Creasy's "Fifteen decisive 
battles." This has done more to lift the 
Henty scourge among our boys than any 
other set of bulletins and stories. In the two 
years in which the story-hour has been a 
recognized feature of our work, our rate of 
fiction has dropped 12 per cent. 

To vary the Greek story-hour, we began 
the birthday stories. It became understood 
that whenever the children saw a portrait on 
our birthday calendar instead of a date it 
meant that we were to have a story-hour 
at four o'clock on that day. We chose from 
three to six anniversaries each month and 
have honored our heroes in point of time, 
from Julius Caesar to Marconi, and geo- 
graphically, from the Mikado to President 
Roosevelt. 

It would be interesting to tell of the indi- 
vidual boys and girls who have been lifted 
out of the slough of the fiction habit into 
habits of healthy, intelligent and discriminat- 
ing reading. Of course a comparatively large 
number of children have followed the soldier 
story-hour from week to week until they have 
gone through a chronological course in read- 
ing beginning with the Abbott biographies of 
the old-time warriors, and coming down to 
the present. 

Of course we have been increasing our 
equipment steadily, so that some allowance 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



must be made for this increase in the pro- 
portion of our historical literature, but the 
decrease of 12 per cent, in our fiction is all 
out of proportion to that. The children's 
librarian and her assistants are no longer 
watched suspiciously when they get books 
from the non-fiction shelves and offer them 
to the children. It is seldom indeed that such 
suggestion is not accepted as a favor, and 
the sweetest of all flattery to our ears is the 
occasional "Yes, I'll take it, for you always 
find me what I like." 

The comradeship of the story-hour, the per- 
sonal inspiration and happiness to the story- 
teller of taking a room full of eager-faced 
children for a glorious gallop across the 
plains with General Custer, where the air is 
so clear that we no longer mistake reckless- 
ness for courage, and dare-deviltry for hero- 
ism ; of long tramps through deep woods with 
the sweet souled Audubon until we learn to 
love his birds and the birds of our own door- 
yards as well ; all this is apart from the sub- 
ject of our paper, but not apart from the 
story-hour itself. 

But leaving aside the story-teller's own 
satisfaction and the value of a good story for 
a good story's sake, let me enter my plea for 
the story-hour for the library's sake, because 



it is the only means by which we can get 
the children honestly to want the books "we 
want them to want." Children, equally with 
poets, are "taking all hints to use them, but 
swiftly leaping beyond them," and the child 
who takes home White's Plutarch because 
he honestly is interested to know more about 
Alexander the Great and his splendid horse 
Bucephalos, is immeasurably better off than 
if he had been tricked by an alluring title, 
a bright cover, or a bewildering arrangement 
on the shelves, to take something he really 
does not want and read it because he has 
nothing better. 

We have a harsh thought for the trades- 
man who gives us one thing when we think 
we are choosing another let us see to it 
that we do not trade upon the ignorance of 
our children in the matter of book selection; 
for, after all, we are as eager to please our 
small customer as the merchants are ; we are 
as anxious for their esteem and their confi- 
dence; but let us not forget that the fabric 
W-are dealing with is the stuff of which we 
must make citizens for our state; we must 
fashion characters which we believe are to 
endure longer than the state, "longer than 
the sun, longer than the lustrous Jupiter, or 
the radiant brothers, the Pleiades." 



CARNEGIE LIBRARIES * 



BY THEODORE WESLEY KOCH, Librarian University of Michigan 



T N the North American Review for June, 
1889, Mr. Carnegie published an article 
on "Wealth," which attracted marked atten- 
tion both in England and America, callmg 
forth comments and criticisms from Glad- 
stone, Grover Cleveland, Cardinal Gibbons, 
Cardinal Manning, Bishop Potter, Rabbi Ad- 
ler, and others. At the request of the editor, 



* Mr. Koch's address was concerned mainly with 
the architecture of the libraries erected in the United 
States through the generosity of Mr. Carnegie, and 
was illustrated by seventy-five stereopticon views. 
As his remarks centered about these illustrations it 
is impracticable to give here anything but extracts 
from the more general part of his address. 



Mr. Carnegie contributed to the December 
number of the Review a second article, in 
which he pointed out what were in his judg- 
ment the best fields for the use of surplus 
wealth and the best methods of administering 
it for the good of the people. The two ar- 
ticles, slightly revised and co-ordinated, have 
been reprinted as the title essay of his book, 
"The gospel of wealth, and other timely es- 
says." 

In his first paper Mr. Carnegie had said 
that "the main consideration should be to 
help those who will help themselves ; to pro- 
vide part of the means by which those who 
desire to improve may do so ; to give those 



KOCH 



79 



who desire to rise the aids by which they may 
rise; to assist, but rarely or never to do all. 
Neither the individual nor the race is im- 
proved by almsgiving. Those worthy of 
assistance, except in rare cases, seldom re- 
quire assistance." 

This thought was continued in his second 
paper. "The first requisite for a really good 
use of wealth by the millionaire who has ac- 
cepted the gospel which proclaims him only 
a trustee of the surplus that comes 
to him, is to take care that the pur- 
poses for which he spends it shall not 
have a degrading, pauperizing tendency upon 
its recipients, but that his trust shall be so 
administered as to stimulate the best and 
most aspiring poor of the community to 
further efforts for their own improvement." 

Mr. Carnegie's answer to the question, 
What is the best gift which can be given to 
a community? is that in his judgment "a 
free library occupies the first place, provided 
the community will accept and maintain it 
as a public institution, as much a part of the 
city property as its public schools, and, in- 
deed, an adjunct to these." "It is, no doubt, 
possible," says Mr. Carnegie, "that my own 
personal experience may have led me to 
value a free library beyond all other forms 
of beneficence. When I was a working-boy 
in Pittsburg, Colonel Anderson, of Alle- 
gheny a name that I can never speak with- 
out feelings of devotional gratitude opened 
his little library of four hundred books to 
boys. Every Saturday afternoon he was in 
attendance at his house to exchange books. 
No one but he who has felt it can ever know 
the intense longing with which the arrival of 
Saturday was awaited, that a new book might 
be had. My brother and Mr. Phipps, who 
have been my principal business partners 
through life, shared with me Colonel Ander- 
son's precious generosity, and it was when 
revelling in the treasures which he opened 
to us that I resolved, if ever wealth came to 
me, that it should be used to establish free 
libraries, that other poor boys might receive 
opportunities similar to those for which we 
were indebted to that noble man." 

Colonel Anderson established in 1850 the 
"J. Anderson Library Institute of Allegheny 
City," which was open for the free circulation 



of books at stated hours on Tuesdays and 
Saturdays. The bookplate which Colonel 
Anderson had devised for his institute, with a 
collection of tools for its most characteristic 
feature, shows clearly that the founder's in- 
tention was to furnish reading for the me- 
chanics and working men who made up the 
larger part of the community. It has the apt 
motto : "Take fast hold of instruction : let 
her not go, for she is thy life." Proverbs, 
chapter 4, verse 13. 

The Anderson Library was closed shortly 
after its founder's death in i86i,not perhaps so 
much on account of lack of public interest in 
keeping it open as owing to the all-absorbing 
interest in the Civil War. The books were 
boxed up and stored in the basement of the 
city hall until shortly after the close of the 
war, when they were entrusted to the charge 
of the recently organized Allegheny Library 
Association. In 1871 the management of the 
Association was placed in the hands of the 
board of school controllers who, during the 
next year, were empowered to appropriate 
from the school funds a sum of money for 
the maintenance of a free public library. 
When the -Carnegie Free Library was organ- 
ized in 1890, it was generally expected that 
the Public School Library would be merged 
into the new institution, but there were un- 
fortunately legal difficulties which prevented 
the amalgamation. The Public School Li- 
brary now numbers 26,000 volumes, including 
about four hundred books from the original 
Anderson Library. 

Mr. Carnegie has on several occasions paid 
fond tribute to Colonel Anderson's memory, 
and on June 15, 1904, there was unveiled in 
Allegheny as a gift from him a lasting me- 
morial to the man who inspired the great 
steel king with the idea of his library cru- 
sade. The monument is at the corner of the 
Carnegie Library lot and consists of a por- 
trait bust by Daniel Chester French. In 
front of the large granite slab which supports 
the bust is the figure of an iron worker, who 
sits bared to the waist, upon an anvil, and 
rests from his labor long enough to glance at 
the large open book which he holds on his 
knees. 

Mr. Carnegie does not care to be known 
as a philanthropist, whom he defines as one 



So 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



who not only gives his wealth, but also fol- 
lows it up by personal attention. The claims 
upon Mr. Carnegie's time and the wide area 
over which his benefactions have been spread 
have not permitted of his carrying out the 
second stipulation to any great extent. Yet 
it must be said that he has followed with 
very keen interest and wise counsel the devel- 
opment of many of the institutions which owe 
their existence to his liberality, notably those 
in and around Pittsburg which serve the 
large communities immediately interested in 
and dependent upon the works and industries 
by means of which Mr. Carnegie's wealth 
was largely acquired. 

Mr. Carnegie has expressed great admira- 
tion for the method of giving employed 
by Mr. Enoch Pratt, of Baltimore, 
who not only gave to his city the 
library which bears his name, but also 
v/atched constantly over its growth and de- 
velopment, sharing with the trustees the bur- 
den of the many problems which beset them 
from time to time, helping with practical 
suggestions and cheering all with his opti- 
mism. On the occasion of the formal open- 
ing of the magnificent library building which 
Mr. Carnegie had presented to the District of 
Columbia, he said with genial modesty : "It 
is so little to give money to a good cause and 
there end," then turning to the commission- 
ers and trustees, "and so grand to give 
thought and time, as these gentlemen have 
done." 

At the dinner given in Mr. Carnegie's 
honor, April 7, 1902, by the Society of Ameri- 
can Authors, Mr. Melvil Dewey, responding 
to the toast, "The immeasurable service Mr. 
Carnegie has rendered public libraries,". said: 
"If Mr. Carnegie were investing every few 
days in stocks, men would begin to look very 
carefully into the condition of the stocks he 
bought. He has been investing every little 
while for the past few years in libraries, and 
I believe that he has done it with the same 
ideas that made him in an age of steel invest in 
steel and make the best steel in the world and 
then command the markets of the world for 
it. His wisdom has done five times as much 
as his wealth in the conditions he has put 
with his gifts." 

The conditions referred to are the well- 



known proviso that the community accepting 
the offer of a library building furnish a site 
and agree to supply an annual maintenance 
fund of at least 10 per cent, of the amount of 
the gift. The percentage was higher in some 
of Mr. Carnegie's earlier offers, but I know 
of only one case where it was lower, and I 
have it from one of the trustees of that par- 
ticular institution that they regret that Mr. 
Carnegie was ever persuaded to make 
an exception in their case. They find 
it impossible to administer the library 
properly on a 5 per cent, basis and 
yet they are unable to persuade the city fath- 
ers to increase the grant. To the fact that 
the communities are expected to maintain and 
develop the many free libraries which are 
scattered over Great Britain, Mr. Carnegie 
attributes most of their usefulness. "An" en- 
dowed institution," he claims, "is liable to 
become the piey of a clique. The public 
ceases to take interest in it, or, rather, never 
acquires interest in it. The rule has been vio- 
Jated which requires the recipients to help 
themselves. Everything has been done for the 
community instead of its being only helped 
to help itself, and good results rarely ensue." 

"I do not want to be known for what I 
give," said Mr. Carnegie on one occasion, 
"but for what I induce others to give." 
An interesting list could be made of gifts 
to Carnegie libraries. It would include not 
only tracts of }and, but furnishings and en- 
dowments for the libraries, as well as books 
and pictures and well-equipped museums. 
But, of course, the main value of a gift of 
this kind is not represented by its sum total 
in dollars and cents, but rather in the civic 
interest which it arouses in the object of the 
gift. Many a citizen's attention was first called 
to the fact that there was a public library in 
his town by the discussion of a Carnegie 
grant in the local papers. 

Some honest doubts have been expressed 
in regard to this Carnegie library deluge. 
"Of course, every town ought to have a li- 
brary," remarked the Boston Transcript in 
an editorial under date of Nov. 28, 1902. 
"There does not exist a municipality in the 
United States but knows that its equipment 
is incomplete without a library. Moreover, 
there is not one that would not have a library 



KOCH 



81 



sooner or later by its own efforts, unless the 
hope of a gift from Mr. Carnegie leads it to 
defer the matter indefinitely." That a com- 
munity should put off the establishment of a 
library indefinitely because of being disap- 
pointed in its expectation of a Carnegie grant 
is hardly credible. It requires some active 
canvassing to secure the offer generally a 
ballot on the subject and a guarantee of a 
suitable maintenance fund. If the guaran- 
tee is sufficient and the finances of the com- 
munity seem to warrant the annual expendi- 
ture of the amount involved, Mr. Carnegie 
usually makes the grant. The refusals have, 
I am inclined to think, been more frequent 
from the towns than from Mr. Carnegie, the 
offer usually having been made in response 
to the request of some private individual or 
from a body of library trustees. Mr. Carnegie 
has very rarely taken the initiative in these 
matters. 

The majority of the communities in the 
United States which have shared Mr. Carne- 
gie's bounty are in the newly settled parts 
of the country, in places which have been 
harassed by demands for the more pressing 
public improvements, such as good roads, 
schools, churches, courthouses, sewerage, 
lighting and water supply systems, and Mr. 
Carnegie has simply put them that much for- 
ward by giving them the advantages of a 
library home. He thus directs attention to 
their library needs, but does not supply them. 
He supplies merely convenient accessories for 
the administration of a library, not the li- 
brary itself the shell and not the kernel. 
The books and the library spirit must come 
from the people themselves. This, as already 
pointed out, has been his policy from the 
first. Whether the library is to bear fruit 
depends upon the community. 

It is conceivable that a community may 
through a mistaken pride rush into this mat- 
ter before season, that it may seek the offer 
of a Carnegie grant before it is prepared to 
properly take care of a library. But Mr. 
Carnegie has foreseen the danger of an ambi- 
tious community overreaching its legitimate 
ends and his secretary and financial agent 
have required full statements as to the popu- 
lation and income of a community before 
entertaining its proposition. In not a few- 



cases Mr. Carnegie has not granted the full 
amount asked for because it was felt that in 
accepting the larger sum the community would 
be binding itself to do more than it should 
undertake. 

Mr. Carnegie has never thrust his gifts 
upon a community, nor has he ever willingly 
stood in the way of anyone else giving a 
library to a community. I recall one instance 
where, in response to a request for aid, he 
offered to furnish money for a library build- 
ing, but withdrew his offer when he heard 
that a former citizen desired to present a 
library to his native town. In notifying the 
prospective donor of his action, Mr. Carnegie 
congratulated him upon the opportunity of 
which he had availed himself. 

There is a popular misconception to the 
effect that all these libraries which Mr. Car- 
negie has scattered over the land bear his 
name, that he has erected them simply as 
so many monuments to himself. The direct 
opposite is true. He makes no stipulation as 
to the name the library shall bear. The great 
majority of them are known as the ^Public 
Library of the town which supports them. 
Most of the^gifts have been made to libraries 
already in existence at the time of the offer, 
corporate institutions the names of which no 
one would think of changing simply because 
they had been given a new home. This is 
as it should be. As one ardent library worker 
in Montana put it, "You would not give a, 
child the name of a man who gives him a suit 
of clothes ; no matter how good a suit it might 
be, he would bear his father's ndme." Natur- 
ally there is usually some tablet or inscription 
on the building stating that it was erected 
through the generosity of Mr. Carnegie. Com- 
mon courtesy would require some such ac- 
knowledgment of so great a gift. Certain 
library boards have acknowledged their in- 
debtedness by inserting the words "Carnegie 
building" as a qualifying phrase under the 
name of their library. On the other hand, 
when any particular library has been called 
into being through the agency of Mr. Carne- 
gie's princely liberality and the recipients of 
his bounty have wished to do him special 
honor they have named the library after him. 
But this has followed and not preceded the 
gift. 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



THE TRAINING OF STUDENTS IN THE USE OF BOOKS 
BY H. RALPH MEAD, Reference Librarian, University of California 



\17"HEN asked to prepare this paper I was 
requested to consider particularly the 
needs of the small college and university li- 
brary. It is hoped that a discussion of the 
subject may bring about some uniformity 
in a course that will assist in the general cul- 
ture of the student and enable him to use 
catalogs and bibliographical aids with intelli- 
gence when investigating a subject. 

The value of books as a means of culture 
holds an unquestionable place in the minds of 
all men. To-day, as never before, scholars are 
surrounded by books not even in his own 
specialty can the scholar hope to read all the 
books; an intelligent and discriminating 
knowledge of books is as necessary to him 
as saw and hammer are to the carpenter. 
Nowhere so well as in college can the proper 
use of books be taught and fostered. The col- 
lege student is in a sort of transition period 
from the mere text-book learning to that 
higher stage where he is more particularly 
concerned in learning a method of acquiring 
knowledge, in attaining the capacity to do 
a thing. 

A large part of knowledge is, after all, 
being able to find out concerning a certain 
thing at a certain time a knowledge of 
where to find the sources of information. 
This ability can be attained only by careful 
cultivation. How far the professor and the 
librarian are to assist in that attainment has 
been the subject of some discussion. I think 
it is safe to assume that no librarian can know 
a subject, certainly not down through the 
whole realm of knowledge, as well as the pro- 
fessor who is a specialist in that subject. 
So I think the professor should see to it that 
students have a discriminating knowledge of 
the books in their specialty. A large field is 
still left to the librarian. There is a class of 
books that pertain to all knowledge, as dic- 
tionaries, encyclopaedias, and indexes, that 
need considerable elucidation. There is an- 
other class of books that form the chief work- 
ing tool of all scholars bibliographies and 



catalogs these the librarian can explain bet- 
ter, as his work brings him in constant touch 
with them and he has a larger collection at 
his disposal. 

There are a few questions of administra- 
tion, the consideration of which ought to 
precede that of the use of books; but 1 can 
mention them only briefly at this time. Care 
must be given to the selection of books, to 
the preparation of them for use, particularly 
cataloging and classification,* to the con- 
venient location of a reference collection, and 
to other facilities for rendering the books 
easily accessible. The privileges to be granted 
to faculty and students, as home-use and ac- 
cess to shelves, need thorough consideration 
so as to give a fair and just treatment to all 
concerned. 

Having the books ready for use we come 
now to the training of students in their use. 
Emerson in his helpful little essay on "Books" 
says that a professoship of books is much 
needed and we have heard a great deal about 
it since. Many colleges make at least some 
attempt toward giving its students a knowl- 
edge of the use pf the library, in some cases 
just a general lecture to the entering class 
soon after college opens. All this is good so 
far as it goes, but it seems that a systematic 
course of instruction is both desirable and 
practicable. I would like to see a course of 
twelve or fourteen lectures rquired of every 
first-year student, somewhat as English is 
a requirement in nearly every college the 
first year. Just recently I received a letter 
from Baylor University, Texas; from it I learn 
that they are to make this sort of instruction 
a part of the required work in English, and I 
think it an excellent idea. At Harvard Uni- 
versity Professor Hart makes a practical 
knowledge of the card catalog one of the 
earliest requirements of his courses. The 



* Read VV. H. Austen: Dependence of reference 
departments on cataloging and classification depart- 
ments. Library Journal, 23:108-110. 



MEAD 



number of lectures and the division of topics 
will doubtless be governed somewhat by the 
environment in which the librarian finds him- 
self. I would suggest a division somewhat 
along the following lines the first eight of 
them have been followed practically at the 
University of California the past year : 

(1) INTRODUCTORY LECTURE touching on 
reading in general and paying particular at- 
tention to the arrangement of the library, the 
privileges granted students, and what is ex- 
pected of them in return. 

(2) THE CATALOG considering particu- 
larly the catalog in use in that library and 
how to answer various questions from it, in 
short, a sort of exposition of some of the 
problems encountered daily by the reference 
librarian, calling attention to important cata- 
logs that the library may possess, such as the 
Peabody Institute catalog, and entering but 
briefly on the fundamental principles of cata- 
loging. 

(3) ENCYCLOPAEDIAS giving a brief his- 
tory, treating as fully as possible of the pe- 
culiarities of different ones, and of helps in 
their use, such as the index to the Encyclo- 
paedia Britannica. 

(4) INDEXES AND GOVERNMENT PUBLICA- 
TIONS showing their method of arrange- 
ment, their value, and how to use them; the 
value of book indexes, with an exposition 
of the elementary principles of book-in- 
dexing. 

(5) DICTIONARIES, ATLASES, AND GAZET- 
TEERS including such handy books as do 
not readily fall under a subject in division 
seven ; a brief history of the English diction- 
ary preceding the discussion of specific 
books. 

(6) GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY giving a 
brief account of the general bibliographies, 
the purposes of a bibliography, and treating 
at some length of methods of compiling a 
bibliography. - 

(7) HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY giving some 
important general works, the cyclopaedias, 
handy-books, and particularly bibliographies. 
The other divisions of knowledge may be 
grouped in one or two lectures and treated 
in a similar manner. 

(8) TRADE AND NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 
describing rather fully the American and 



English bibliographies, particularly those the 
student is likely to use ; mentioning the im- 
portant ones in foreign languages. 

(9) CLASSIFICATION explaining the 
Dewey and Cutter systems, and especially 
the system of the local library; some general 
principles of classification and hints on the 
classification of notes. 

(10) THE PRINTED BOOK taking up some 
of the important things that have to do with 
the making and issuing of books, as prepara- 
tion of manuscript, book-sizes, type, and 
binding. 

Two additional lectures may follow on : 

(1) EARLY WRITING MATERIALS AND MANU- 
SCRIPTS. 

(2) EARLY PRINTING AND PRINTERS. 

This arrangement of subject was adopted 
because it seemed desirable that the student 
become acquainted with the topics in about 
that order. The lectures are to be well illus- 
trated by the use of as many books as can 
be brought conveniently to the lecture room; 
ten or fifteen minutes should be left at the 
end of each lecture for the students to come 
forward, examine the books, and ask any 
questions regarding them. In addition to at- 
tendance on lectures the student would be re- 
quired to compile a bibliography and to do 
a certain piece of work that showed a clear 
understanding of the catalog and catalogs in 
general. Of course, if the lectures are very 
informal and no university credit given for 
the course, such requirements can hardly be 
made. 

Whatever is given in the way of instruction 
should be supplemented by individual assist- 
ance. The library is the student's laboratory; 
it is just as important to the general culture 
student as the chemical laboratory is to the 
student of chemistry. It is at this point that 
the librarian needs to exercise all his tact, 
patience, and ability; here is the largest field 
for instruction, and here he can accomplish 
most valuable results. As a rule but few 
attend such lectures as may be given, but 
many may be given this individual assistance. 
Libraries to-day are seeing more than ever 
the value of having a reference librarian who 
is free to give as much time as may be needed 
to rendering all possible assistance. Those 
who patronize a library feel a great deal 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



freer with their inquiries if they can see that 
there is one definite place where it is ex- 
pected questions are to be asked. 

There is much that the professor can do 
to supplement this general instruction of the 
librarian and the two should work together 
in hearty co-operation. The professor should 
direct the reading of his class and make 
the library supplement his lectures by referring 
to the best books on the subject he is teach- 
ing; as a rule this is done and reference 
books are set aside each term for the pro- 
fessor's class. If possible the professor 
should have consultation hours in the library, 
guiding the students in the use of books. In 
this connection the seminar room is a great 
boon to those permitted to enjoy its privileges, 
for there the professor and the class are sur- 
rounded by the most important books of his 
subject. 

The training of the student in the use of 
books, just as their training in character or in 
manners, should begin in the home. In the 
home there should be inculcated a love and 
a respect for books that will go with them 
through life. Later in the high school or the 
preparatory school there should be taught 
a knowledge of the more common reference 



books. When one sees a student come into 
the college library and show that he has no 
conception whatever of "Poole's index," he 
cannot help but wonder if there is not some- 
thing lacking in the institution that prepared 
the student for college. A number of high 
schools are giving some of this instruction 
now and the public libraries are doing an 
excellent work in connection with the schools. 
Just a word of caution to those libraries 
that are organizing or perhaps changing meth- 
ods. The small library of to-day will be the 
large library of to-morrow, at least that is 
their high aspiration. It is a wise policy, 
therefore, to make adequate preparation for 
the morrow; this can scarcely be done with- 
out the adoption of modern library methods 
carried on under the supervision of a trained 
or experienced librarian. From the outset, 
a catalog should be begun that will not need 
complete revision as soon as the library 
reaches a certain stage of its growth ; book- 
numbers and a stable classification should be 
adopted, and a reference collection, con- 
veniently located, started and increased year 
by year. All these contribute in no small 
way to whatever success a library may have 
in training its students in the use of books. 



ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME IN THE COLLEGE LIBRARY 
BY JOSEPH CUMMINGS ROWELL, Librarian University of California 



A COLLEGE faculty is a bunch of hungry 

mouths. Most of them have studied 

where they practically were unlimited so far 
as printed literature of their specialties was 
concerned. They long for the flesh-pots of 
Egypt. They keenly feel deprivation of the 
books which they were accustomed to use so 
freely. And as for the new ones ah, me ! 
Some few they purchase with their scanty 
stipends. Hence the lean paunch, the thread- 
bare coat, and the wife's thrice-darned stock- 
ings. 

So with avid eye they watch the book com- 
mittee sweating blood in the endeavor to ap- 
portion justly the few paltry dollars at their 
disposal and make them cover the whole 
ground. 



I have been through the small-grinding 
mill of this experience. I have heard the pro- 
fessor gentleman to the bone though he 
was growl over the Hand-Commentar or- 
dered ("which only one of the faculty will 
refer to once in a decade") ; while his 
twenty-dollar work on steel bridges ("in Eng- 
lish, which every one can read") falls into 
the open draw. 

Enviously I have seen the public librarian, 
with a city's treasury at his back, wasting 
his substance in trumpery novels by the thou- 
sand. I have pared these college cheese rinds ; 
made home bindings ; done double duty to 
save a salary; stretched the eagle until Uncle 
Sam would not recognize his proud bird; 
begged, borrowed (and almost stolen) books 



ROW ELL 



from reluctant owners. Therefore I deeply 
sympathize with my brother of the college, 
and would bid him be of good cheer; there 
are happier days ahead; he shall hear his 
shelves groaning, and behold his small build- 
ing bursting, with books if only he live long 
enough. 

And yet, a limited income results in a pro- 
portionately choicer selection of books. Every 
work purchased must possess intrinsic value 
and be of direct and immediate utility. In 
a small college, a classical author like Plau- 
tus will be represented perhaps by a single 
critical edition, as Ritschl's, besides the com- 
mon texts that drift in by gift. And the 
student can do just as good undergraduate 
work in Plautus as if every edition from the 
princeps of 1472 down, together with all the 
hundreds of dinky dissertations, were ranged 
row after row on the shelves. He can appre- 
ciate and love his Horace, as a poec and as 
a man, just as clearly and affectionately, with- 
out poring over some learned Dutch treatise 
on the sed-clanse. 

But when, as graduate student, he under- 
takes research work, he must migrate ; for 
the college cannot minister to his scholarly 
needs. Indeed such is not its present func- 
tion, which is, if I mistake not, to afford a 
liberal education preparatory to a professional 
one, and in such proper manner as will best fit 
for higher work when the door of opportunity 
is opened. 

But philosophy feeds no chickens. It is of 
no avail moralizing on "functions" to a li- 
brarian concretely anhungered and athirst 
for books. Box me no parodox about "lim- 
ited income," but send along a dozen cases 
of immaculate beauties in musky goatskin, 
more fragrant than spices from Araby. Gently 
let me lift and unwrap you one by one; care- 
fully let me cut your virgin leaves ; tenderly 
let me open and gaze upon your spotless 
pages. Dear creatures of the press, you have 
come to no huge stackhouse to be carted 
about in trucks like potatoes, or shot through 
dark tunnels, or dumped with small cere- 
mony from pneumatic tubes; but (far hap- 
pier lot and nobler destiny) you shall be 
fondled and cherished our household pets. 

Obviously it is impossible to apportion a 
small book fund to the complete satisfaction 



of every instructor. And if by some special 
dispensation an angel from the realms of in- 
finite wisdom performed the task for one in- 
stitution, it is pounds to pence that his sug- 
gestion would meet with disapproval at an- 
other. Yet his mission would not be in vain 
if he brought down some general principle 
of universal application. Is there such prin- 
ciple? Decidedly, yes. The principle of 
utility; the selection and purchase of books 
must be of parity with the character and 
varieties of instruction given. 

The curriculum of the minor institutions 
is very much the same everywhere in our 
country. It eschews professional and advanced 
technical training; the book committee need 
not ponder over expensive technical books 
soon to be out of date. It demands research 
work in slight measure; and so the need of 
costly sets of Transactions and of musty ur- 
kunden vanishes. But it does encourage 
study in pure science and the humanities; 
therefore to these almost all the money must 
be given. 

From one-fifth to one-fourth of the in- 
come should be expended for current periodi- 
cals, for they are the sources" of the freshest 
information, most advanced thought and lat- 
est speculation. The library may not.be able 
to procure Waldstein's "Argive Heraion," em- 
bodying in its portly volumes all the detailed 
results, all the potsherd fragments, of the ex- 
cavations; but the Journal of Hellenic Stud- 
ies long ago will have described the import- 
ant discoveries. The college should not buy 
newspapers, nor the common magazines, 
mainly composed of stories, even if they are 
Poole sets. To be sure, they do not cost 
much, yet the binding and continuous care 
entail an aggregate expense which might bet- 
ter go into periodicals of a higher class. De- 
pend upon the town library for these, and also 
for practically all English fiction. Each cur- 
rent periodical subscription constitutes a 
mortgage on future income ; the list is certain 
to grow; therefore over every defunct maga- 
zine we sing jubilate! 

Without argument, or elaborate explana- 
tion, I offer the following scheme of distri- 
bution of money for the purchase of books in 
a college library : 

Group i ; ten units each : 



86 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



a. Reference, important works of general 
interest, and filling sets. 

b. English and comparative literature. 

c. History, geography, and travel. 
Group 2 ; five units each : 

a. Linguistics, Greek and Latin. 

b. Philosophy, psychology, ethics, religion, 
and education. 

c. Economics and sociology. 
Group 3 ; two units each : 

a. Modern languages and literatures. 

b. Politics and jurisprudence. 

c. Mathematics and astronomy. 

d. Physics and mechanics. 

e. Engineering. 

f. Chemistry and applied chemistry. 

g. Botany. 

h. Geology and mineralogy. 

i. Zoology. 

In practice it will be found to be a most 
excellent plan to make special allowances 
(however small) annually to meet unusual 
demands in one or more subjects. 

Such a "curriculum" of expenditures neces- 
sarily must be modified to conform to local 
conditions. For instance, if the college makes 
special effort to prepare its students for the 
profession of teaching, the subject Education 
should be brought down into group three, 
with a separate allotment. Or if it emphasizes 
its work in the direction of the natural sci- 
ences, with corresponding strength of instruc- 
tion and large proportion of students, put a 
similar proportion of money into books of 



this character. Frankly abandon the idea of 
building up a "well-balanced standard" col- 
lection. I have heard of such libraries, but 
have never seen one. Indeed, disproportion 
of books tends toward distinctiveness, and 
later to distinction. Books "of a feather 
flock together." Specialization attracts other 
books of the same kind, encourages specific 
endowments, and thus relieves tension on 
funds no small advantage in these days 
of large output and slight discount. 

So far as material needs are concerned, the 
hundred thousand dollar man is as affluent 
as the billionaire; and the university library 
with $30,000 for books annually is practically 
as well off as the institution with $100,000. 
For in the process of the years it will acquire 
every book really essential to its purposes, 
and an occasional call for an incunabulum 
or rare Bollettino can be met through the 
generous courtesy of some sister institution. 
Of the millions of books extant but compara- 
tively few are of scholarly value or frequent 
use, and if they were all such, no castle in 
Spain is large enough to accommodate them. 

As for the college library, it must be em- 
boldened to borrow often and without re- 
luctance ; until, with its own increasing ac- 
cumulations and richer resources it has at- 
tained a position approaching independence. 
When that happy moment arrives, in turn 
it will impart of its -treasures liberally and 
ungrudgingly to younger or less fortunate 
institutions. 



THE USES OF GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS IN THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 



BY LODILLA AMBROSE, Northwestern University Library, Evanston, Illinois 






OVERNMENT documents present many 
perplexing problems to the librarian, 
whether the question be one of collecting, of 
arranging, or of using them. If the library 
is limited in means and hence in the number 
of its staff also, the difficulties are increased. 
The history of government documents in one 
such library may furnish serviceable sugges- 
tions to other librarians working under like 
restricted conditions. 



The present narrative covers the years in 
which a university library grew from a col- 
lection of 21,000 volumes to one of 58,000 
volumes. During this time the hours of 
opening were increased from 28 to 78 hours 
a week, the recorded use from 1,660 to 35,000 
volumes a year, and the number of persons 
regularly employed on the staff from one to 
five. In these years also, as the institution's 
work of instruction passed out of the text- 



'AMBROSE 



book stage, the library came into living touch 
with the actual class room work of the uni- 
versity. 

Some years before the beginning of this 
period the library had been made a depository 
of United States public documents, but there 
was little in the way of records to show just 
what the library was supposed to possess of 
the issues of the Government Printing Office. 
The brave beginning of a catalog on small 
cards contained a few puzzling entries of 
these documents. In a drawer of an old desk 
was found a package of the lists that 
the government formerly used in sending 
shipments to depositories. These lists bore 
the date of receipt, and were checked to show 
what volumes had been received. There was 
some sort of arrangement on the shelves. 
But the library was in three rooms and a 
storeroom on the third floor of the main reci- 
tation building, the shelves were nearly full, 
and soon the documents had to be piled up on 
the floor of the storeroom. 

Ames's "List of congressional documents 
from the I5th to the 51 st congress . . ." 
published in 1892, was read and re-read 
with eagerness. Then volume by volume all 
the discoverable United States documents 
were handled, and with well-pointed red pencil 
a small red check mark was made against the 
entry of each volume in the "List." For de- 
partmental publications not given in Ames's 
"List," brief entries were made on slips the 
size of the large standard catalog cards, and 
these were arranged by departments. 

Then came the days of removal to a new 
library building and with them the sorting 
and shelving of the great mass of government 
publications. Volumes of the sheep-bound 
set were first separated from those of the 
cloth-bound sets. Then the sheep-bound set 
was sorted by congresses, and congress by 
congress the documents of each were separ- 
ated into sessions. One session at a time the 
documents of that session were carefully ar- 
ranged in series, and each series in the order 
of volume numbers. In similar fashion, the 
cloth-bound sets were sorted by departments, 
then the various sets issued by each depart- 
ment were separated, and each arranged in the 
order of volume numbers. The description is 
brief, but the process filled many days with 



toil. The organization of the entire library 
was too rudimentary for a general shelf-list 
to be possible. It was decided to use 
Ames's "List" as the shelf-list for United 
States documents, and they were arranged on 
the shelves in the same order that they were 
entered in the "List." In each department, 
documents that were not given by Ames were 
placed at the end. With constant reference 
to the "List" already checked with care, the 
documents went slowly on the shelves, space 
being estimated and left for volumes still 
lacking. 

Further progress in making United States 
documents accessible came with the publica- 
tion in 1895 of Crandall's "Checklist of public 
documents." This "Checklist" assigned serial 
numbers to the congressional documents from 
the beginning of the 15th congress. As it 
was fuller than Ames's "List," the record 
by red check marks was transferred to two 
copies of it, one for the librarian and one 
for the public desk ; and each copy was bound 
with a bunch of blank leaves at the end of the 
congressional documents and with the pages 
relating to* departmental reports interleaved 
so that the record could be continued in the 
same form. The serial numbers were put on 
the backs of the volumes of the sheepbound 
set with stub pen and black ink, until the point 
was reached in the set where the documents 
were sent from Washington with this serial 
number on the back as part of the lettering. In 
the ultimate organization of the library now in 
progress, the sheep-bound set will be kept 
together and the volumes referred to by a 
call-number composed of U. S. and the serial 
number. The departmental publications will 
be classified according to their subject matter. 
The pamphlet issues of the Government 
Printing Office have had the same care as 
those received in bound form; and the same 
methods of checking and shelving have been 
applied to pamphlets and to bound volumes. 
The value of a document is not necessarily 
indicated by its outer form. Some of these 
pamphlets do not appear later in bound sets, 
for example, Experiment Station Record, the 
Monthly Weather Re-view, and the valuable 
bulletins of the Department of Agriculture. 
A bibliography of the sugar beet which was 
in use in the economics seminar all last year 



88 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



was one 'of these unpretentious looking bul- 
letins. 

Some documents of foreign governments 
have been added. Aside from Hansard's 
"Parliamentary debates," these are chiefly 
special reports purchased for the sake of the 
subject treated, and these reports will be 
classified according to their subjects. Han- 
sard, of course, is kept together as one 
set. 

For state and municipal publications there 
was no printed checklist to aid the librarian. 
The slip of standard size was used in listing 
these also. The expert cataloger of docu- 
ments will think it a mongrel entry, but 
it served, and serves, its purpose. The 
name of the state was used as a heading, and 
the significant word in the name of the de- 
partment, or the subject it dealt with, was 
taken as a subhead. On the second line was 
given the actual name of the department with 
the title of the executive officer in parenthe- 
sis ; then followed the list of reports possessed 
by the library, both the number of the report 
and the year being given. Take, for example, 
Illinois. Education [first line], Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction [second line] ; Illi- 
nois. Labor [first line], Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (secretary), [second line]. Under 
each state the slips were arranged alphabeti- 
cally by the subheads. The slips became 
shelf-list as well as catalog, and the state 
documents were arranged on the shelves al- 
phabetically by states with subarrangement 
under each state as indicated by the order of 
the slips. In the final classification of the 
library the state documents will cease to be 
shelved together as a collection, and each set 
of reports will be classified according to its 
subject. To aid in shelf arrangement before 
complete cataloging is possible, part of the 
call-number will be put on the books. The 
Decimal Classification is being used; so, for 
example, the partial number for the set of re- 
ports of the Illinois Bureau of Labor Statis- 
tics will be 331 1. Similarly all reports of bu- 
reaus of labor will find a place with the other 
books on labor questions. 

For municipal publications a plan similar 
to that for state publications was adopted, 
and slips and documents were arranged al- 
phabetically by the name of the city. 



How was the collection of government 
documents numbering now thousands of vol- 
umes secured? How is it increased? 

To speak first of federal documents : before 
the library was made a depository, various 
documents came in as part of some gift, 
or were sent under the frank of some member 
of Congress. As a depository the library has 
received certain sets of current publications 
specified by law to be distributed to all de- 
positories, as well as certain other volumes 
from members of Congress and from depart- 
ments. After Ames's "List" had been checked 
in red to show exactly what the library 
already had, a second copy of the same 
"List" was checked in blue to show what 
the library did not have, but desired to 
have to complete its sets, and this copy 
was sent to the Superintendent of Docu- 
ments. Out of the duplicates collected by 
him, many of the desired volumes were sent 
to the library. When his resources had been 
exhausted, personal letters were sent to the 
several departments and bureaus asking for 
such of their publications as were listed by 
Ames, but not owned by the library. Finally, 
certain documents were requested of the rep- 
resentative of the congressional district and 
the senators of the state. 

All duplicate .federal .documents received 
either from private gifts or by errors in send- 
ing have been regularly returned to the Su- 
perintendent of Documents, by mail, carriage 
free, under franks furnished by him. In 
this way the librarian has co-operated 
in maintaining the central supply of dupli- 
cates from which other libraries may fill 
gaps in their sets. One exception needs to 
be made to this statement. In the case of 
documents dealing directly with the subject 
included in some course of instruction, such 
as the reports of the United States Geologi- 
cal Survey, or the reports of the Department 
of Commerce and Labor, an effort has been 
made to secure second sets. That is, if addi- 
tional copies have come in as gifts, they have 
been retained for this purpose, but second 
copies have not been sought from the gov- 
ernment. This is looking toward the future, 
toward the growing needs of large classes, 
toward the coming development of the uni- 
versity with its multiplication of buildings 



and demand for seminar and laboratory col- 
lections. The second set may be charged 
permanently to the special collection, and the 
first set be held at the central library for the 
reference use of all. 

Documents received in regular course from 
the Superintendent of Documents are not ac- 
knowledged beyond the signature required in 
the mail carrier's book of registered mail. 
All documents received from departments, 
representatives, or senators are acknowledged 
on the regular form used by the library for 
all gifts, the letter form for bound volumes 
and the postal card form for pamphlets. 

As for state documents: a miscellaneous 
aggregation of these had been received from 
various sources. The sets were in all degrees 
of incompleteness. The list of state docu- 
ments in the "subjects" volume of the "Ameri- 
can catalogue" for 1884-1890 was taken as a 
basis of correspondence, and letters were 
written to state officers asking for their publi- 
cations. The responses varied all the way 
from the unopened letter returned with the 
inscription, "No- such person," to sets of im- 
portant reports running through a series of 
years. If there were time for it, the whole 
state list would be scrutinized every year to 
see whether current reports had been received. 
Many a state office keeps no permanent mail- 
ing list, the edition of its report is soon dis- 
tributed, and it cannot be obtained unless ap- 
plied for early. If a report is received and it 
is noted that the preceding one has not been 
sent, a request for the one lacking is made 
in the letter acknowledging the other. A few 
state documents have been secured from other 
libraries by exchange. Thus far there" has 
been no money available to purchase the vol- 
umes needed to complete sets. 

Municipal documents were needed chiefly 
by the department of economics. A few lead- 
ing American cities were designated by the 
head of the department, and the request for 
documents was sent to the mayor of each 
of these cities. The municipal list also needs 
yearly scrutiny. 

Collected, listed, arranged on the shelves 
how shall these documents be used in the 
work of the university? Adequate catalog- 
ing in the public card catalog would go far 
toward answering this query. But in this 



library, as doubtless in many others, the staff 
is too small and too hard pressed to accom- 
plish this. For here with but few helpers 
the librarian is endeavoring to keep up with 
the cataloging of current accessions, and to 
make some headway in the permanent organi- 
zation of the library. Let it be said that the 
first object could be only partially attained, 
and the second not even attempted without 
the printed cards of the Library of Congress. 
In view of the present trend in the matter 
of printed cards, it seems as if the time must 
come when some government agency will cat- 
alog these American public documents by 
means of printed cards, probably duplicated 
as a bibliography in book form. A beginning 
has been made with the printed cards now 
issued for documents currently distributed 
to depositories, and with the cards issued for 
the publications of the Department of Agri- 
culture. 

A great help in the practical administration 
of federal documents would be a new edition 
of Crandall's "Checklist," now ten years old. 
This new edition could bring the list of con- 
gressional documents down to date, and also 
the various departmental sets. A larger num- 
ber of the special publications and compila- 
tions of the departments might well be in- 
cluded. Such matter as the bulletins of 
the Department of Agriculture would be more 
conveniently used for checking purposes if 
printed in more open form. Some sugges- 
tions about the use of existing indexes would 
be of value. The quarto "Table and annotated 
index" in three volumes referred to below has 
not taken the place of this handy octavo 
volume for purposes of checking and quick 
reference. 

Brief reference may be made to the litera- 
ture of public documents. For a list of the 
chief indexes and checklists of government 
publications of the various sorts, the inquirer 
is referred to Miss Kroeger's "Guide to the 
study and use of reference books."* In 1904 
the Superintendent of Documents (L. C. Fer- 
rell) issued from his office the first volume of 

*Kroeger, Alice Bertha. Guide to the study and 
use of reference books, a manual for librarians, 
teachers, and students. Issued by the Publishing 
Board of the American Library Association. Boston, 
Hcughton, Mifflin & Co., 1902. 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



"Bibliography of United States documents," 
that is, "List of publications of the Agricul- 
ture Department, 1862-1902, with analytical 
index" [compiled by William Leander PostJ. 
It is a painstaking piece of work in a difficult 
field, and is of prime importance in using the 
publications of the Department of Agricul- 
ture. Similar lists are to be issued for the 
publications of the other departments. 

The index of the Library Journal shows re- 
ports of the American Library Association 
committee on government documents ; articles 
on bibliographies of documents, on bills re- 
garding them, on cataloging them, on a clear- 
ing house for duplicates, on the distribution of 
documents, on want of system in municipal, 
state and federal documents; and one article 
is entitled "Government publication muddle." 
Miss Hasse has shown at length in her arti- 
cles the value of these documents and the 
difficulties attendant on their use. In one 
place she has called it a "vexed question." 
Her "Handbook for the cataloger" * of 
United States government publications will 
help to surmount some of these difficulties, if 
you have the cataloger. Public Libraries con- 
tains some representative articles on the gen- 
eral topic. 

In the Publications of the American 
Statistical Association (new series, vol. 7, 
pp. 40-57) is found a most practical article 
entitled, "Aids in the use of government pub- 
lications," by the late Lucius Page Lane, of 
the Boston Public Library. This ought cer- 
tainly to be reproduced in some form that 
would make it more accessible to the many 
librarians who are struggling alone with the 
difficult document problem. Another prac- 
tical publication is the pamphlet entitled 
"U. S. government documents in small li- 
braries," by J. I. Wyer, Jr., the second edi- 
tion of which has just been published by the 
Wisconsin Free Library Commission. 

But what has been done with "things as 
they are?" The indexes for United States 
documents, except those for recent con- 
gresses, are unsatisfactory and hard to use. 

* Hasse, A. R. United States government publica- 
tions, a handbook for the cataloguer. Boston, Lib- 
rary Bureau, 1902-03. Parts i and 2, parts 3 and 4 
to follow. 



Indexes to individual volumes and sets often 
share the same qualities. Yet they must be 
used "as they are," and the attendant 
must look up in the index, and search 
on the shelves, and look again and search 
again trying to find what the reader 
needs. CrandalFs "Checklist" may often be 
used in hunting for documents. In the right- 
hand column of the pages that enumerate the 
congressional documents are brief titles of 
important reports. For instance, a report on 
the Nicaragua canal, said to have been made 
sometime in the eighties, was found by run- 
ning over these titles. The list of explora- 
tions and surveys gives a clew through the 
name of the explorer. If a second copy of a 
departmental report is needed, or if a certain 
volume is lacking in the departmental set, 
the index to congressional documents in Ap- 
pendix 3 locates it in that set. To save time 
in reference work, all the lists in the appen- 
dixes were checked in red as well as the main 
body of the "Checklist." 

The "Tables of and annotated index to 
the congressional series of United States pub- 
lic documents," prepared by the Superintend- 
ent of Documents and issued in 1902, has been 
so used as to be of great service. The tables 
in the front part have been checked to cor- 
respond with the similar tables in Crandall's 
"Checklist." In the index wherever reference 
is made to a report which runs through a 
series of years, the record has been continued 
on the wide margin, giving the year of the 
report and the serial number. 

The "Index" now issued for the documents 
and reports of each session of Congress is 
the "consolidated index" provided for by the 
act of Jan. 12, 1895. F r convenience in use, 
the list of the documents of the session given 
in the back has been checked to show what 
the library has received. The "Catalogue of 
the public documents" now issued for the 
publications of each Congress is the "compre- 
hensive index" provided for by the act ap- 
proved January 12, 1895. Both the "Index" 
and the "Catalogue" are prepared under the 
supervision of the Superintendent of Docu- 
ments. The "Catalogue" includes "all docu- 
ments and reports submitted to [each] Con- 
gress without regard to the time when they 



AMBROSE 



were printed; and in addition thereto all pub- 
lications of the executive departments, bu- 
reaus, and offices of the government, issued 
during the two fiscal years." This "Catalogue" 
is so good and serviceable a piece of work 
that it is a pleasure to direct special atten- 
tion to it. 

Some things come by hunting and by hand- 
ling the documents themselves. It was a real 
find in the early days when the librarian dis- 
covered that the appendix to the Congres- 
sional Record for each session contained a 
collection of speeches made in Congress dur- 
ing that session. But many calls for these 
documents are so definite that they are as 
easily located as any other books. The refer- 
ences in the bibliographical lists prepared by 
Mr. Griffin of the Library of Congress are 
opening up the document material on many 
topics of general current interest. 

The federal documents have entered into 
university work in more ways than the unini- 
tiated dream of. The demands on the con- 
gressional series are as varied as its contents. 
One professor whose department covered po- 
litical science, international law, and diplom- 
acy, picked out 250 volumes from this series 
for the use of his classes, as- well as the re- 
ports issued by the Department of State. The 
debates and proceedings of Congress under 
whatever title, the American archives, and the 
American state papers, and selected volumes 
from the congressional series have furnished 
original sources for the seminar in American 
history, as also the statutes at large and col- 
lections of treaties and international conven- 
tions. Students in economics have worked 
in the same territory. Whole sets of reports 
issued by the Treasury Department have been 
in the economics seminar for months at a 
time. The "Official records of the War of the 
Rebellion" have served the history people. 
The reports of the Bureau of Education are 
consulted by many, and are in constant de- 
mand for the work of the department of edu- 
cation. The set of the last census is in the 
reading room with other reference books. 
Many volumes of the reports of the Geologi- 
cal Survey have been taken to the geological 
laboratory. The Department of Agriculture 
furnishes material to students of chemistry, 



zoology, and botany. The Department of 
Commerce and Labor, the Civil Service Com- 
mission, the Interstate Commerce Commis- 
sion the reports of all of these have been 
used for investigations in economics. The 
Smithsonian Institution contributes working 
material to many sciences. And the scientific 
men of the university are eager in their praise 
of the scientific work of all kinds now being 
conducted and reported on by different agen- 
cies of the national government. 

State documents have been used by sub- 
ject and more by the department of econo- 
mics than any other. When the economics 
seminar was studying fire insurance for a 
year, the insurance reports of all the states 
were placed in the seminar room, and special 
pains taken then to complete these reports. 
The reports of the state geological surveys 
are indispensable to the department of ge- 
ology. The department of education finds 
much working material in the state reports 
on education. When the inter-collegiate 
debate was on a phase of the labor question, 
all the reports of state labor bureaus as well 
as those of {he federal Department of Labor 
were brought together in the reading room for 
the entire summer vacation. City docu- 
ments came into use when problems of city 
government were being studied. 

Public documents pay well for the labor of 
collecting and caring for them. It is not too 
soon to begin systematic work on them, even 
if the library is small and the staff limited 
in number. The uses of documents just indi- 
cated are from actual working conditions, 
and they are drawn chiefly from undergradu- 
ate work. What is true of their value in un- 
dergraduate activities is still more true of 
graduate investigations and the researches 
of the professors. Even the institution that 
has now no graduate courses should give at- 
tention to collecting documents, for this ad- 
vanced work may be developed in the future. 
Documents are sources, and as such essential 
in a university library where real work is- 
done. What has been said about the use of 
government documents in university libraries 
applies in large measure to all city libraries 
that pay any attention to genuine reference 
work. 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC DOCUMENTS 
BY ADELAIDE R. HASSE, Chairman 



To the American Library Association: 
"VfOUR committee on public documents re- 
spectfully submits the customary report 
on current legislation and publication: 
AMERICAN FEDERAL DOCUMENTS 
LEGISLATION 

The only measures affecting the issue of 
public documents before the s8th Congress, 
sitting in its third session, are the Perkins 
bill and certain provisions of the deficiency 
bill for 1905. The Perkins bill (H. R. 
15225), introduced April 11, 1904, was ap- 
proved Jan. 19, 1905 (33, S{. L., 610). It con- 
cerns the issue of private bills and concurrent 
resolutions. 

A tendency tpwards reaction against mis- 
cellaneous public printing is evidenced in two 
provisions of the deficiency bill for 1905, ap- 
proved March 3, 1905 (33, St. L., 1214). They 
are, respectively, the prohibition of the print- 
ing of books or documents not having to do 
with the ordinary business transactions of the 
executive departments, unless such printing 
shall have been expressly authorized by Con- 
gress; and the authorization of a joint com- 
mission of inquiry into public printing and . 
binding. 

Following is a list of statutes in force af- 
fecting the act of Jan. 12, 1905 : 

1896. Feb. 7. Joint Res. To supply the 
Dept. of State with documents. (29 
St. L.: 463.) 

Feb. 25. Joint Res. Extending pro- 
vision of Sec. 79, act of Jan. 12, 1895, 
so as to include monographs, bulletins 
and reports of the Geological Survey 
published in 1894 and succeeding years. 
(29 St. L. : 465.) 

Mch. 13. Joint Res. To print the 
Annual Report of the general supt. of 
the life saving service. (29 St. L. : 
466.) 

Mch. 19. Joint Res. Directing the 
public printer to supply the Senate and 
House libraries each with 10 addi- 
tional copies of the Congressional Rec- 
ord. (29 St. L. : 468.) 
Apr. 20. Joint Res. Authorizing the 
public printer to print the annual re- 



port of the supt. of the U. S. coast 
and geodetic survey in quarto form 
and to bind it in one volume; amend- 
ing par. 7, sec. 73, act of Jan. 12, 1895. 
(29 St. L.: 471.) 

Apr. 30. Joint Res. To provide for 
the proper distribution of the publica- 
cation entitled "Messages and papers 
of the Presidents." (29 St. L. : 472.) 

1897. Feb. 17. Joint Res. To furnish daily 
Congressional Record to members of 
the press. (29 St. L. : 700.) 

Je. 4. Sundry civil bill for 1898 
(time for distribution of public docu- 
ments of members re-elected). (30 
St. L. : 62.) 

1898. Mch. 15. General apprn. bill for 1899 
(sec. 4), authorizing superintendent 
of documents to sell revised statutes, 
statutes-at-large, etc. (30 St. L. : 
3i6.) 

1900. Mch. 21. Joint Res. Authorizing 
printing of extra copies of the publi- 
cation of the office of Naval Intelli- 
gence, Navy Dept. (31 St. L. : 713.) 
Mch. 26. Joint Res. To amend jt. res. 

v to furnish the Congressional Record 
to members of the press . . . approved 
Feb. 17, 1897- (31 St. L.,: 713.) 
Je 6. Sundry civil bill for 1901 (ad- 
ditional printing of certain volumes of 
Rebellion Record authorized). (31 
. St. L.: 632.) 

1901. Mch. 2. Joint Res. Concerning the 
printing of additional copies of the 
annual report of the geological survey. 
(31 St. L. : 1465.) 

Mch. 2. Joint Res. To regulate the 
distribution of public documents to the 
Library of Congress, for its own use 
and for international exchange. (31 
St. L. : 1464.) 

1902. Je. 28. Sundry civil bill for 1903 (the 
Librarian of Congress authorized to 
furnish card indexes and other publi- 
cations and to charge for them a price 
to cover cost of publication plus 10 
per cent. (32 St. L. : 480.) 

Je. 30. Joint Res. Providing for bind- 
ing and distribution of public docu- 
ments held in custody of the superin- 
tendent of documents unbound, upon 
orders of Senators, Representatives, 
delegates and officers of Congress. 
(32 St. L.: 746.) 

Jly. I. Deficiency bill for 1902 (con- 
gressional directory delivered 10 Sen- 



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93 



ators and Representatives for distri- 
bution, to be bound in cloth). (32 
St. L.: 583.) 

1903. Jan. 30. An act to amend an act ap- 
proved Mch. 2, 1905, relating to public 
printing (increased allotment of the 
Congressional Record). (32 St. L. : 
786.) 

1904. Jan. 30. An act to amend an act en- 
titled, etc. (act of Jan. 12, 1895; con- 
gressional franks may be perforated). 
.(33 St. L.: 9.) 

Apr. ,6. An act to amend sec. 68, ch. 
23, of v. 28 of statutes-at-large .(quota 
of congressional documents to be de- 
livered to sergeant-at-arms of the 
House). (33 St. L. : 159). 
Apr. 28. An act to amend an act en- 
titled, etc. (act of Jan. 12, 1895; al- 
lotment of laws and of official regis- 
ter). (33 St. L.: 542.) 

1905. Jan. ii. An act to amend an act re- 
lating to public printing, etc. (act of 
Jan. 12, 1895 ; Perkins' bill re-issue of 
private bills, etc.) (33 St. L. : 610.) 

CATALOGING 

It is reported (L. J., Feb., 1905, p. 73) that 
the committee for the revision of the A. L. 
A. catalog rules has reached a decision in the 
matter of corporate entry. It is this entry 
which affects the cataloging of public docu- 
ments more generally than any other. The 
text of rules 8 to 12, covering departmental 
entry, personal author entry, laws and treat- 
ies, as resolved by the committee, is given on 
p. 74, L. J., Feb., 1905. 

In the supplementary rules on cataloging, 
published by the Library of Congress, the 
only item affecting public documents is rule 
8, relating to Treaties and negotiations with 
foreign powers. 

CARD ENTERPRISES 

In February, 1904, the Superintendent of 
Documents began the distribution of printed 
cards of current federal documents to depos- 
itary libraries. At first full sets of cards 
were issued, but owing to the increased labor 
involved it was found necessary to discon- 
tinue the distribution of subject cards. It is 
not likely that subject cards will be distrib- 
uted until Congress shall make an adequate 
appropriation by which this work may be 
rendered feasible. Trie library of the Agri- 
cultural Department continues to print cards 
for the publications of the department up to 



May i, 1905. There are over 5000 cards in a 
complete set, including author and subject, 
of these agricultural index cards. Cards for 
the Year-book and for the Farmers' bulletins 
are kept arranged in separate series, in order 
that they may be sent to small libraries which 
need and desire no other cards. The cards 
are distributed gratuitously to the libraries 
of agricultural colleges and experiment sta- 
tions and to those public libraries which agree 
to preserve them and arrange them so that 
they may be accessible. 250 sets are printed 
on "P" size and 150 sets on "I" size, the . 
latter for agricultural colleges and experiment 
stations. 

The A. L. A. continues to publish catalog 
cards for the Massachusetts Public Docu- 
ments, for the British Parliamentary papers, 
and index cards for certain official serials. 

INSTRUCTION 

Without exception each library school gives 
some instruction in the cataloging and use of 
public documents. 

N. Y. State Library School 

During 1905 two lectures were given by 
Corinne Bacon on the elementary cataloging 
of public documents, 10 hours of preparation 
being required. Ada Alice Jones gave one 
lecture on advanced cataloging, requiring 
three hours of preparation. Some documents 
are also cataloged by students in practice 
work required for the state library. James 
I. Wyer, Jr., gave five lectures on elementary 
reference work, requiring 10 hours of prep- 
aration. It is proposed to print these lec- 
tures as a library school bulletin. D. V. R. 
Johnston gave seven lectures on advanced 
reference work. W. S. Biscoe and R. H. 
Whitten each gave one lecture, two hours of 
preparation being required. In all 17 lectures 
were given. 

Pratt Institute Library School 

Ten lessons, or 20 hours, are devoted, in 
the second term, to public documents, after 
the class-room course has been completed. 
The first three lessons are given up to an 
outline of the government of the U. S. and of 
state and municipal government in relation to 
their publications. 

A list of required reading is also given to 
students in connection with this course. Gov- 



94 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



ernment publications of foreign countries are 
only touched upon incidentally. Throughout 
the second and third terms the students have 
problems given them in the reference work 
which take them to the government docu- 
ments and give them practice in the use of the 
various indexes and catalogs of documents. 
In the third term they have more practice in 
the cataloging of all kinds of government 
publication received by the library. 

University of Illinois Library School 
During 1904-5, 18 students took the course 
in public documents the first semester. Two 
hours' work a week was given by the stu- 
dents. The work comprised attendance at 
lectures, cataloging, reference work and oral 
quizzes. A continuation of the course, in- 
cluding more of the departmental publica- 
tions, state and municipal documents, was of- 
fered the second semester, but was elected by 
so small a number that it was not deemed 
advisable to present it. 

Drexel Institute Library Department 

On May 16, 1905, the director wrote : "We 
have not much to report. I have just re- 
turned from a visit to Washington and have 
not time to write it out now, but will do so in 
a day or two." Nothing further has been 
received. 
Library School Western Reserve University 

The course in public documents at trie Li- 
brary School of Western Reserve University 
consisted of 10 lectures, and was intended to 
suggest methods for securing and caring for 
U. S. documents. 

An effort was made to familiarize students 
with the documents through the study of the 
methods employed in printing, binding, in- 
dexing and distributing these publications. 
Practical problems were worked out, each 
student being given one shipment of docu- 
ments to check, accession, catalog and pre- 
pare for the shelves. 

Aids needed in working with documents 
v/ere considered and the best methods for or- 
ganizing document collections were studied. 

No effort was made to study the subject 
from the bibliographical side, as this will be 
taken up in a more advanced course. 

(Signed) MARGARET MANN, Instructor. 



Simmons College 

The course in documents was open to third 
year students, and to those holding college 
degrees, and was attended by 20 students. It 
consisted of eight lectures devoted entirely 
to U. S. federal documents, state, local and 
foreign documents not being considered. 

Topics discussed included the publications 
of Congress and the general indexes and 
checklists, methods of printing and distribu- 
tion, including varieties of editions, and pub- 
lications of departments. Problems were 
given requiring the use of the various in- 
dexes, and the cataloging of a selection of 
documents, including congressional docu- 
ments and reports, annual reports of depart- 
ments and separate documents from depart- 
ment series was required. 

Students were given the opportunity to be- 
come familiar with samples of various sorts 
of documents, a selection of about 250 pieces 
having been sent to the college by the Super- 
intendent of Documents. 

The course was intended for librarians of 
small libraries, and attempted to give such a, 
survey of the series of federal documents as 
should enable them (i) to understand the 
place in the series of the separate documents 
likely to be found in such libraries; (2) to 
select and obtain such documents as are 
suited to the needs of small libraries and to 
catalog and use the same. 

NEW OFFICES 

While not a new office, having been estab- 
lished under the act creating the Bureau of 
Commerce and Labor, the commissioner of 
corporations issued his first report for the 
year ending June 30, 1904, in December, 1904. 

By provision of the army appropriation bill, 
approved April 30, 1904 (33 St. L. : 262) the 
former adjutant general's office and the rec- 
ord and pension office are to be known as the 
military secretary's office. Among the serials 
affected by the merger are the following: 

Army list, mo. no. 55, is the first number is- 
sued under the new arrangement. 

List of recruiting stations, qr. 

Military commands and posts. 

Rept. on militia of U. S., ann. ist issued 
Dec., 1904. 

Official army register, ann. 

Roster of organized militia. 



HASSE 



95 



NEW BOOKS 

Among the more important documents is- 
sued during the year the following are noted : 
JOURNALS of the Continental Congress, 1774- 
89; edited from original records in the Li- 
brary of Congress by Worthington C. Ford. 
v. 1-3. Wash., 1904-1905. Large 8 Mo. 
Cat., 1904, 655; 1905, 308. 
Not in serial docs. Published by the Man- 
uscripts Division, Library of Congress, W. C. 
Ford, chief. The paging for the matter of 
each year continues regardless of the number 
of volumes. The volume number for the set 
is continuous. The publication is embellished 
with facsimile text, and augmented by bib- 
liographical notes. 

Collation of original prints may be found, 
together with reprints, in Ford's Bibliography 
of the Continental Congress, and in Frieden- 
wald's note on the Journal in Report of 
American Historical Association, 1896, p. 83. 
Suggested entries : Author, U. S. Congress, 
Continental ; Ford, editor entry. 

COMPILATION of treaties in force (1904). 

Wash., 1904. 996 p. 8 (serial no. 4622). 

Five hundred copies printed for the use of 
the Senate. This edition, which supersedes 
that of 1898, printed as H. Doc. 276, 55th 
Congress, 3d session, was prepared under the 
direction of the committee on foreign rela- 
tions by Wm. M. Malloy, and was submitted 
for examination to the State Deparfment be- 
fore being printed. The volume includes all 
international instruments, except claim proto- 
cols, to which the United States has been a 
party, and which are in force on April 28, 
1904. The text in full of the Hague conven- 
tions is found in the volume. 

Mo. Cat., 1905: ii. 

Suggested entry: Author, U. S. Treaties. 

JOURNAL of the Confederate States of Amer- 
ica, 1861-1865. v. 1-2. Wash., 1904. 8 
(serial no. 4610-11). 

v. i cpntains the journal of the 1-5 ses- 
sions of the Provisional Congress, and of the 
constitutional convention ; also, in an appen- 
dix, the provisional and permanent constitu- 
tions, v. 2 contains the Senate journal of the 
ist and 2d sessions of the permanent con- 
gress. Mo. Cat., 1905 : 89, 302. 

Suggested entry: Author, Confederate 
States of America, Congress. 

LES combatants frangais de la guerre amer- 
icaine 1778-1783. Listes etablies d'apres les 
documents authentiques deposes aux ar- 
chives du ministere de la guerre. Paris, 
1903. (i) xn (2), 327 p. 10 pi. f (serial 
no. 4595). 
4000 copies, in addition to the usual num- 



ber, ordered printed. The volume was pre- 
pared under the auspices of the French min- 
ister of foreign affairs. Through the efforts 
of the Society of the Sons of the American 
Revolution, W. S. Logan, president, the issue 
of the volume by the American federal gov- 
ernment was secured. 

Suggested entries: Title; Author, France, 
Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres. 

COMPILATION of acts, treaties and proclama- 
tions relating to insular and military af- 
fairs, Mch. 4, i897-Mch., 1903. Jan. 15, 
1904. xxv, 472 p. 8 (serial no. 4597). 
Published by the Bureau of Insular Af- 
fairs, War Dept. Mo. Cat., 1904: 559. 

Suggested entry: Author, U. S. Insular 
Affairs Bureau. 

PATENT and trade-mark laws of Spanish- 
American republics, Brazil and Haiti ; re- 
vised to Oct., 1904. 1904- (1905). 343 P- 
8 (serial no. 4672). 

Mo. Cat., 1905 : 214. An edition in Spanish 
had been printed earlier, see Mo. Cat., 1904: 
528, and an edition in English without the 
congressional number was printed in Dec., 
1904, see Mo. Cat., 1904: 644. The appendix 
in the English and Spanish edition varies. 

Suggested entry : Author, International Bu- 
reau of the American Republics, Title. 

RECIPROCITY treaties and agreements between 
the United States and foreign countries 
since 1850; from (monthly) summary of 
commerce and finance, Aug., 1904. 1904. 
in, 527-558 p. 4 (will appear in serial docs, 
of the 3d session s8th Congress, the index 
for which is in press). Mo. Cat, 1904: 
552. 
Suggested entry : Author, U. S. Treaties. 

COMPILATION of annual naval appropiation 
laws from 1883 to 1903, including provis- 
ions for the construction of all vessels of 
the "new navy." Compiled by Pitman Pul 
sifer, clerk committee on naval affairs, 
Senate. 1904. 447 p. 8 (serial no. 4596). 
Mo. Cat., 1904: 614. 

P. 437-38j tables of naval vessels authorized 
by acts of Congress, 1883-1903, showing type, 
displacement, speed, mean draft, contract 
price of hull machinery, year and congress 
authorized. On p. 442 there is a paragraph 
showing the history of apprns. for Holland 
submarine boats. 

Suggested entries: Author, U. S. Statutes, 
Pulsifer, compiler entry. 

TREATIES and conventions with or concerning 
China and Korea, 1894-1904, together with 



9 6 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



various state papers and documents affect- 
ing foreign interests ; edited by William 
W. Rockhill. Wash., 1904. v. 555 p. 5 
maps, large 8. 

Not in serial docs. 500 copies only printed. 
This compilation is intended primarily as a 
continuation of Sir Edward Hertslet's 
"Treaties, etc., between Great Britain and 
China, and between China and foreign pow- 
ers," Lond., 1896. 2v. 8. The Rockhill 
compilation includes, with some exceptions, 
which are cited in the preface, the treaties, 
conventions, agreements, protocols, conces- 
sion declarations, etc., made by China and 
Korea since 1894. Mo. Cat., 1904: 557. 

Suggested entry: Title; Rockhill, editor 
entry; Author, China. Treaties, do. Korea. 
Treaties. 

DECLARATION of Independence; story of its 
adoption, with biographies and portraits of 
signers and of secretary of Congress ; by 
William H. Michael. Wash., 1904 (1905). 
vin, 99 p., i il. 57 por., 7 pi., 5 facs., 6 p. 
facs., large 8. 

Not in serial docs. Mo. Cat., 1905 : 263. 
Printed pursuant to provision of deficiency 
bill for 1905, which directs that 540 copies be 
delivered to the Senate, 1170 to the House 
and the residue of the edition to the Depart- 
ment of State. No further copies of the 
publication are to be printed unless specially 
ordered by Congress. 

Suggested entries: Title, U. S. Congress, 
Continental; Michael, editor entry. 

CENSUS of the Philippine Islands, 1903. 
Wash., 1904-1905. 4 v., 8. 

Not in serial docs. Mo. Cat., 1905 : 268 ; 
302. 

Suggested entries: Author, Philippine Isl- 
ands (Amer. occupation). Census Bureau: 
Title. 

HONDURAS, geographical sketch, etc. (with 
bibliography). Wash., 1904. 252 p. 15 pis., 
2 maps. Will appear in serial nos. of 3d 
session, s8th Congress, the index for which 
is in press. Mo. Cat, 1905: 264. 
Suggested entries : Same as below. 

BOLIVIA, geographical sketch, natural re- 
sources, laws, economic conditions, actual 
development, prospects of future growth 
(with bibliography). Wash., 1904. 214 p. 
19 pl, 8. 

Not in serial docs. These regional mono- 
graphs were formerly printed as numbered 
"Handbooks" of the Bureau of American 
Republics. This series has been discontinued, 



and the former handbooks now appear as in- 
dependent issues. Mo. Cat., 1904: 644.. 

Suggested entries : Author, International 
Bureau of American Republics; Title. 

VENEZUELA, geographical sketch, etc. (with 

bibliography). Wash., 1904. 608 p. I por., 

34 pis., I map. 

Will appear in serial nos. of 3d session, 
58th Congress, the index for which is in 
press. Mo. Cat, 1905 : 264. 

Suggested entries : Same as above. 

CHILDREN'S courts in the United States ; their 
origin, development and results ; reports 
prepared for the International Prison Com- 
mission, Samuel J. Barrows, comr. Wash., 
1904. xvn, 203 p. 8 (serial no. 4676). 
Mo. Cat, 1905: 215. 

Suggested entries: Author, Barrows; Pub- 
lisher or official author, International Prison 
Commission; Title. 

Hearings 

Committee on the District of Columbia 

(House). 

Report of special subcommittee as to pro- 
gress of work on Washington Aqueduct 
filtration plant; with hearings (1904). 20 p. 
8. 

(Mo. Cat, 1905: 35.) 
Not in serial docs. 

Hearings, Jan. 16, 1905, on H. R. 11811 and 
12303, to amend code of laws for district 
regarding corporations. ,1905. 30 p. 8. 
(Mo. Cat, 1905: 35.) 
Not in serial docs. 

Hearings, Jan., 1905, on amdmt. to H. 9166 
(that within District, 8 street railway tick- 
ets shall be sold for 8 cents). 1905. 22 p. 
8. 

(Mo. Cat, 1905: 160.) 
Not in serial docs. 

Committee on Election of President, Vice- 
President, and Representatives in Con- 
gress (House). 

Hearing, Dec., 1904, on H. 12042, to protect 
women citizens of U. S. to vote for mem- 
bers of the House of Representatives. 1905. 
ii p. 8. 

(Mo. Cat., 1905: 242.) To be included in 
the serial nos. of the 3d session, 58th Con- 
gress, the index for which is in press. 

Committee on Indian Affairs (Senate). 
Hearing, Feb., 1905, on H. 17474, making 
apprns. for the Indian Dept, 1906. 1905. 
31 P. 8. 

(Mo. Cat, 1905: 121.) 
Not in serial docs. 



HASSE 



97 



Hearings, Jan., 1905, on H. 9, to open for 
settlement land in Kiowa, Comanche and 
Apache reservations, Okla. 1905. 28 p. 8. 
(Mo. Cat., 1905: 121.) 
Not in serial docs. 

Hearing before subcommittee, Jan.-Feb., 1905, 
on H. 17474, making apprns. for Indian 
Dept., 1906. 1905. 174 p. 8. 
(Mo. Cat, 1905: 121.) 
Not in serial docs. 

Committee on 'Interstate Commerce (Senate). 
Hearings, Mch., 1904- Jan., 1905 ; water 

brakes. 1905. 101 p. 8. 

(Mo. Cat, 1905: ii.) 

Not in serial docs. 

Supplemental hearings, Dec., iox>4-Jan., 1905; 
safety appliances. 1904 (1905). 75 p. 8. 
(Mo. Cat, 1905: n.) 
Not in serial docs. 

Hearings, Dec., loxn-Jan., 1905, on S. 2439, 
further to define duties and powers of the 
Interstate Commerce Commission. 1905. 
50 p. 8. 

(Mo. Cat., 1905 : n.) 
Not in serial docs. 

Committee on Interstate and Foreign Com- 
merce (House). 
Hearing, Dec., 1904, on H. 10431 ... to 

amend interstate commerce law (stmt. of 

E. P. Bacon). 1904. 28 p. 8. 

(Mo. Cat, 1905: 36.) 
Same, Jan. 6, 1905. 1905. 18 p. (ib.) 

Not in serial docs. 

Hearings on bills to amend interstate com- 
merce act, etc. 1905. 760 p. 8. 
(Mo. Cat, 1905: 283.) 
To be included in the serial documents of 

the 3d session, 58th Congress, the index for 

which is in press. 

Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands 
(House). 

Hearings, Jan.-Feb., 1905, relating to pro- 
jects for irrigation of arid lands under na- 
tional irrigation act, and irrigation investi- 
gations of Agricultural Dept. 1905. 159 p. 
8. 

(Mo. Cat, 1905: 243.) 
To be included in the serial documents of 

the 3d session, s8th Congress, the index for 

which is in press. 

Committee on the Merchant Marine and 
Fisheries (House). 

Hearings, Jan., 1905, on H. 7298; abolishment 
of compulsory pilotage (1905). 52 p. 8. 
(Mo. Cat., 1905: 185.) 
Not in serial docs. 



Committee on Military Affairs (House). 
Military Academy apprn. bill, statement of 
A. L. Mills on H. 17984, making apprns. for 
Military Academy, 1906. (1905.) 35 p. 8. 
(Mo. Cat., 1905: 61.) 
Not in serial docs. 

Hearings, on increase of Ordnance and Med- 
ical departments, Jan., 1905, on S. 5166, to 
increase efficiency of Ordnance Dept., and 
S. 4838 to increase efficiency of Medical 
Dept. 1905. 31 p. 8. 
(Mo. Cat, 1905: 61.) 
Not in serial docs. 

Hearings, Jan., 1905, on H. 79, to reorganize 
corps of dental surgeons attached to Med- 
ical Dept. (1905). 21 p. addenda, 8 p. 8. 
(Mo. Cat, 1905: 186.) 
Not in serial docs. 

Hearing, Feb., 1905, on S. 4838, to increase 
efficiency of Medical Dept. Stmt. of L. L. 
Seaman (1905). 15 p. 8. 

(Mo. Cat, 1905: 186.) 

Not in serial docs. 
Hearings, Dec., 1904, on H. 17473, making 

apprns. for the army for 1906. (1904-) 

170 p. 8. 

(Mo. Cat., 1905: 61.) 

Not in serial docs. 

Committee on Privileges and Elections 

(Senate). 
Proceedings x in matter of Reed Smoot, Sen. 

from Utah, to hold his seat. 1904. v. 2, 

31027. 775 p. 8. 

(Mo. Cat, 1905: 33-) 

Not in serial docs. 

Committee on Ways and Means (House). 

Hearings, Jan.-Feb., 1905, on H. 17752, to 
amend act to provide revenue for Philip- 
pine Is.; duties on Philippine products. 
1905. 320 p. 8. 
(Mo. Cat, 1905: 196.) 
Not in serial docs. 

Hearing, Jan., 1905, on H. 14782, for relief of 
William Lavahan & Son. 1905. 7 p. 8. 
(Mo. Cat, 1905: 196.) 

Hearing, Feb., 1905, on H. 18195, to revise 
and amend tariff laws of the Philippine 
Archipelago. 1905. 69 p. 8. 
(Mo. Cat, 1905: 196.) 
Not in serial docs. 

Bibliographies, etc. 
Rules for a dictionary catalog; by Charles A. 

Cutter, ed. 4. Wash., 1904. 173 p. 8. 

Reviewed in L. L, Jan., 1905, p. 42-43 ; 
Public Libraries, Jan., 1905, p. 14. 



9 8 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



Guide to the archives of the government of 
the U. S. in Washington; by C. H. Van 
Tyne and W. G. Leland. Published by the 
Carnegie Institution. Wash., 1904. 14, 214 
p. 8. 
Reviewed in L. ]., Feb., 1905. p. 99-100. 

List of bibliographies contained in U. S. 
public documents, June, ioo3-May, 1904. 
App. to report of committee on public doc- 
uments, A. L. A., submitted at St. Louis 
Conference, 1904. (L. J., May, 1905, p. 287- 
288.) 

Catalog of the Library of the Department of 
Justice to Sept. i, 1904 ; by James A. Finch, 
libn. Wash., 1904. 1135 p. 8. 
Catalog is divided into three parts : the 
general index, the subject index, and the list 
of publications of the U. S. government. Parts 
I and 2 correspond in form to that ordinarily 
found in practically all catalogs of law books. 
An innovation useful to all librarians having 
the care of American state publications is the 
manner of listing American session laws. 
Not only are the laws which the library has 
listed by sessions, but those lacking are in- 
dicated in their proper place by using a body 
of type different from that used for those in 
the library. Part 3 comprises only U. S. fed- 
eral issues. It is arranged by departments, 
and adopts the notation used for the library 
of the Superintendent of Documents. That 
part of the notation applied to the Agricul- 
tural Department has been published in the 
index issued by the Superintendent of Docu- 
ments during the past year. In this catalog 
is published for the first time the entire nota- 
tion so far represented by the collection of 
the Department of Justice. 

List of publications of the Agriculture De- 
partment, 1862-1902, with analytical index. 
Prepared in the office of the Superintendent 
of Documents. Wash., 1904. 623 p. 8. 
(Bibliography of U. S. public documents, 
Department list, no. I.) 
Reviewed in L. J., Jan., 1905, p. 53. 

List of publications of the Documents Office, 
U. S. A. (In L. J., 1904. p. 597.) 

Accessions to Navy Dept. Library, July-Dec., 

1904. Semi-annual. 32 1. 
List of books, pamphlets and maps received 

(by the Bureau of Rolls and Library), Jan.- 

June, 1904. n. s. no. 29-30. 4. semi-ann. 
List of publications of the Soils Bureau. 

Oct., 1904. 16 p. ; Mch., 1905. 16 p. 
Index catalog of medical and veterinary zool- 



ogy, by Stiles and Hassel. pts. 6-10, au- 
thors G. to H. (Bull. Bureau of Animal 
Industry, 39, pts. 7-10.) 

List of publications received by the Experi- 
ment Stations Office during Jan.-Feb., 1905. 
bi-m. 

Index to postal laws and regulations. 1905. 
22 p. (Post Office Dept.) 

The Library of Congress continues to print 
its lists of books, the following having been 
issued since Nov., 1904: 

Federal control of commerce and corpora- 
tions, 2d issue, 22 p.; U. S. consular service, 
77 p. ; Impeachment, 16 p. ; Primary elections, 
25 p. In addition the Library of Congress 
has published calendars of the Vernon- Wag- 
er papers and those of the Monroe papers. 

The copyright section has published a bib- 
liographical and chronological record of con- 
gressional proceedings on copyright. 

AMERICAN STATE DOCUMENTS 

The third part of Mr. Bowker's "State pub- 
lications" is in press. It will include Minne- 
sota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, 
South Dakota, North Dakota, Dakota Terr., 
and Montana. 

A project for the indexing of American 
state documents is about to mature. It will 
provide for an index on cards in sufficient 
number only to supply the promoters of the 
project. It is proposed to index in detail the 
contents of the documents and journals, x 

The index to state legislation prepared by 
the New York State Library continues to 
enjoy the favor of a grateful public. 

The report of the Public Archives Commis- 
sion for 1903, printed in the first volume of 
the report of the American Historical Asso- 
ciation for the same year, includes a report 
on the archives in Colorado, Georgia, Miss- 
issippi, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vir- 
ginia. There is, in the report, much informa- 
tion bearing on the bibliography of state 
documents. 

CONNECTICUT 

The report of the state librarian for 1903-4 
includes a list of reports of legislative hear- 
ii'gs of the state, a list of Connecticut town 
reports, a list of state publications, and, in 
appendix I, a list of law reports, digests and 
statutes in the library. 



HASSE 



99 



MASSACHUSETTS 

Ford (W. C). Bibliography of the Massa- 
chusetts House journals, 1715-1776. Repr. 
from the publications of the Colonial Society 
of Massachusetts, v. 4. Cambridge, privately 
printed, 1905. (2), 87 p 4- 

NEW HAMPSHIRE 

Batchellor (A. S.). The government and 
laws of New Hampshire before the estab- 
lishment of the province, 1623-1679. A mono- 
graph constituting the introduction to the first 
volume of the province laws. Manchester, 
1904. 54 p. 8. 

WISCONSIN 

Checklist of the journals and public docu- 
ments of Wisconsin. Published by the Wis. 
Free Library Comm. Madison, 1903, 1904. 
7+179 P. 8. 

AMERICAN DEPENDENCIES 

The United States continues to maintain 
fiduciary relations with the Philippine Islands 
and with that territory known as the Panama 
canal zone. 

The governing body of the Philippine Is- 
lands, the Philippine Commission, has issued 
its fifth report during the year. This report 
includes the report of the civil governor and 
the departmental reports ; see mo. cat., 1905 : 
90. In addition to this the commission issues, 
in quarterly volumes, the public laws and reso- 
lutions which it has passed. These volumes 
are not distributed gratuitously. They are 
issued in both English and Spanish and sold 
at one dollar per volume. The official Gazette 
of the commission is issued weekly. It also 
is published both in an English and Spanish 
edition and is sold at $6 per year, or 15 
cents a copy. 

The departmental reports of the commis- 
sion comprise many monographs on the phys- 
ical condition of the country and its inhabit- 
ants. These are all listed in the monthly 
catalog, and directions for their acquire- 
ment are given. 

The census of the islands is the latest of 
the numerous larger works issued by the 
federal government on the Philippines. The 
work is described in the monthly catalog 
for 1905, pages 268 and 302. 

The first report of the Isthmian Canal Com- 



mission, instituted pursuant to executive or- 
der of May 9, 1904 and authorized by act 
of Apr. 28, 1904, was issued in Jan., 1905; 
see mo. cat., 1905: 90. This report contains 
the various organic instruments, the first an- 
ual report of the governor, and the laws of 
the commission which had been enacted up 
to that time. The commission has also pub- 
lished currently a journal of its meetings, 
a series of numbered circulars and continues 
to publish currently the laws which it enacts. 
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS 

It has not seemed expedient, in view of the 
not yet operative merger of the two document 
committees of this association, to make any 
extended report on documents of foreign 
countries. A report on some of the more 
important international documents which 
have be-;n issued during the year is appended 
as well as a brief list of documents on those 
public questions which are at present, or have 
been during the year, engaging the American 
and European governments. 

INTERNATIONAL 

The principal compilations of international 
public papers, are the series known as British 
and Foreign^ State Papers and Das Staats- 
archiv. 

British and Foreign State Papers. Com- 
piled and edited by A. H. Oakes and W. 

Maycock. Lond., 1904. 8. v. 93-94. 

Volume 93 comprises a general index to 
v. 65-92 of the series, and continues the index 
which appeared in v. 64. Volume 94 covers 
the years 1900-1901 and includes treaties, etc., 
concluded and the more important interna- 
tional papers issued by European, Asiatic and 
American governments during those years. 
Das Staatsarchiv. Sammlung der offiziellen 

Aktenstucke z. geschichte d. gegenwart. 

Hrsgbn. v. G. Roloff. Leipzig, 1904-1905. 

v. 70. 8. 

Contains British corresp. on the Alaskan 
boundary, on the Macedonian incident, and 
treaties, etc., concluded. 

Arbitrations 
Alaskan Boundary Tribunal. 

The final volumes of proceedings and the 
atlases have been issued by the American 
federal government. , 
Mo. cat., 1904: 589; 1905: 213. Serial nos. 

4600-4606. 

The British report has not yet appeared. 



100 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



United States and Venezuelan Claims Com- 
mission. 

Report of R. C. Morris, agt. of U. S. before 
commission Apr., 1904. Wash., 1904. 563 
p. 8. 

Mo. cat., 1904: 591. Ser. no. 4621. 
IBrasilian and British Guiana Boundary. 

The eighteen volumes of the Brazilian re- 
port of this dispute, in which the King of 
Italy acted as arbiter, have appeared during 
the year. 

Treaties 

The British Foreign Office continues to_ 
print currently, in its Treaty series, important 
foreign treaties concluded from time to time. 
Treaties or conventions with or concerning 
China and Korea, 1894-1904, together with 
various state documents and papers affect- 
ing foreign interests. Edited by William 
W. Rockhill. Wash., 1904, v. 555 p. 5 
maps, large 8. See forward under Amer- 
ican Federal Documents, New books. 
Reciprocity treaties and agreements between 
United States and foreign countries since 
1850; from .(Monthly) summary of com- 
merce and finance, Aug., 1904. iii, 5 2 7-558 

P. 4. 

See as above. 

Compilation of acts, treaties and proclama- 
tions relating to insular and military af- 
fairs, Mch. 4, i897-Mch. 3, 1903. Jan. 15, 
1904. xxv. 472 p. 8. 
See as above. 

Compilation of treaties (of U. S. A.) in force 
(1904). Wash., 1904. 996 p. 8. 
See as above. 
Recueil des traites et conventions conclus 

par 1'Autriche-Hongrie avec les puissances 

Strangeres. v. 23-24. 

Incidents of 1904-5 

Moroccan incident. 

Beginning with the Madrid convention to 

the Anglo-French declaration. 

1880 

Madrid Convention, July 3 
Text 

French text. Br. and foreign State Papers, v. 
71 : 639. Documents diplomatiques, France, 
1880. Question de la protection . . . au 
Maroc, p. 269. Gr. Br. Foreign Office 
Papers, Morocco, no. i, 1881. 



English text. Foreign relations of U. S. 
1880, p. 917. Gr. Br. Foreign Office Papers. 
Morocco, No., 1881. Treaties and conven- 
tions . . . 1789-1887, p. 737, ser. no. 2262, 
U. S. congr. docs. Treaties in force rev. 
ed., p. 761, ser. no. 4622, U. S. congr. docs. 
Signatory powers: Great Britain, Austria, 
Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, 
Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Swe- 
den, and U. S. Russia later acceded to the 
convention. 

Proceedings 

(French report) 

Documents diplomatiques. Question de la 
protection diplomatique et consulaire au 
Maroc. Paris, 1880. 278 p. f, (France, 
Ministere des Affaires etrangeres.) 
This document contains annexes to the pro- 
tocols not included in other reports examined. 
Corresp. of the French ambassador in Spain, 
and the Admiral Jaures with his home govt. 

.(British report) 

Protocols of conferences (French text) be- 
tween Great Britain, Morocco and the sig- 
natory powers, Madrid, May-July, 1880. 
(In: Br. and Foreign State Papers, v. 71, 
p. 814.) 

Correspondence and proces-verbaux between 
Great Britain and Morocco relating to the 
right of protection," etc., 1879-80. .(In: 
Br. and Foreign State Papers, v. 71, p. 
764; Gr. Br. Parlt. Papers, 1881, v. 19.) 

(Italian report) 

Documenti diplomatici relativi alia confer- 
enza di Madrid per le protezioni al Ma- 
rocco. Presented by the Italian minister of 
foreign affairs, Cairoli. Intended to be in- 
cluded as document iv bis in the parliamen- 
tary documents of the Chamber of Deputies 
in the i4th legislature, 1880-82. 
Librarians having this set will do well to 
examine this vol. Sets have been made up 
and distributed which do not contain doc. iv 
bis, as above, nor doc. iv ter "Conferenza di 
Berlino per la questione turco-ellencia." 

(American report) 

[General report of proceedings of conference, 
sent by the American minister in Spain, 
Lucius Fairchild.] (In: Foreign Relations 
. . ., 1880, p. 897.) 
Correspondence between the American 



HASS 



101 



secretary of state and the American minister 
in Spain, Dwight T. Reed, concerning the 
"memorandums" of the Madrid conference 
relating to religious liberty in Morocco. (In : 
Foreign Relations . . . U. S., 1881, p. 1041.) 

1887 
Madrid Convention 

In 1887 the Spanish government made a 
formal proposal that the conference of 1880 
should be reassembled at Madrid to consider 
a request made by the Moorish government 
for the modification of the provisions of the 
convention of 1880. A voluminous corre- 
spondence ensued, but a change of ministry 
occurred in Spain in June, 1888, and the 
project was abandoned. 

Correspondence between the American sec- 
retary of state, Bayard, and the Italian min- 
ister in the U. S., the Baron di Fava, con- 
cerning a proposed conference at Madrid for 
the regulation of affairs in Morocco : 
Foreign Relations . . . U. S., 1888, p. 1049. 

1901 

Moroccan Embassy in France 
Protocol of July 20 

The embassy was conducted by the Moroc- 
can minister of foreign affairs Si-abd-el- 
Kerein, and the protocol was signed by this 
official and by Delcasse, French minister of 
foreign affairs, at Paris on July 20, 1901. The 
text has not been officially published. A re- 
view of it may be found in annee 9, Rev. 
droit internat. publique, p. 263-279. Articles 
i and 6 of the protocol are quoted by M. 
Jaures in his speech in the French Chamber 
of Deputies, on Nov. 20, 1903. (Jnl. Officiel.) 

Moroccan Embassy in London 
Conducted by El Menehbi, Moroccan min- 
ister of war. No report published. 

1904 

Anglo-French Declaration of April 8 
English and French text. Gr. Br. Treaty 

ser., no. 6, 1905. Gr. Br. France, No. I, 

1904. 

The latter document includes Lansdowne's 
note to Sir E. Monson reviewing the Anglo- 
French attitude in Egyptian and Moroccan 
affairs. 

Since the conclusion of the Madrid conven- 



tion, Morocco has made treaties as follows: 
1890 with Germany. Treaty of commerce 
and a declaration concerning export of grain ; 
text in v. 82 of Brit, and Foreign Papers of 
State. 1894 a convention with Spain con- 
cerning the fortress and territory of Melilla; 
text in v. 86, ibid. 1895 an agreement with 
Great Britain concerning the property of the 
North- West African Company text in v. 87, 
ibid. 1895 a convention with Spain concern- 
ing the Riffian outrages at Melilla; text in / ' 
v. 87, ibid. 
(Dominican Incident.) 



Constitution of Dominican Republic, promul- 
gated 1896, and again put in force 1903. 
(Wash.,) 1905. 21 p. 8. 59th cong., sped. 
sess., S. doc. 2. Mo. Cat., 1905 : 240. 
Data relative to Dominican Republic, from 
3ist report (annual) of council of Corpora- 
tion of Foreign Bondholders, 1903-1904. 
Wash., 1905. 15 p. (ib., S. doc. i.) (ib., 250.) 
Includes proctocol of agreement between 
U. S. and Dominican Republic for arbitra- 
tion of questions as to payment of sum by 
Dominica on acct. of claims, and award of 
commission of arbitration under protocol of 
Jan. 31, 1903. 

Message^ of the president transmitting pro- 
tocol of agreement between the United States 
and the Dominican Republic for collection 
and disbursement by us, of customs-revenues 
of Dominican Republic, signed Feb. 4, 1905. 
.(Wash.,) 1905. 31 p. (confidential; Sen. 
exec. V.) (Injunction secrecy removed Feb. 
16, 1905.) 

Not in serial docs. Mo. Cat., 1905 : 197. 
(Sweden-Norway Dissolution.) 
1814. Jan. 14. Treaty of Kiel. Cession of 

Norway to Sweden by Denmark. Text in 

v. i, Brit, and Foreign State Papers, p. 194. 
1814. May 17. Constitution of Norway. For 

collation of texts see N. Y. P. L. Bulletin, 

v. 8, p. 85. 

1814. Aug. 14. Convention of Moss. Govern- 
ment of Norway. Text in v. I, Brit, and 
Foreign State Papers, p. 924. 

1815. Riksakt of Sweden-Norway. French 
text in v. 5, Brit, and Foreign State Papers, 
p. 1049. 

The controversy over joint consular repre- 
sentation abroad precipitated the pending 
question of dissolution. In the American 
consular report for Sept., 1904, the consular 
system of Sweden and Norway is described. 



' 






IO2 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION 



BY W. R. EASTMAN, CORNELIA MARVIN, HILLER C. WELLMAN 



'"PHE Committee on Library Administra- 
tion have submitted their report of 1904, 
including proposed forms for library statis- 
tics to library commissions in 23 states. Re- 
plies have come from Maine, New Hampshire, 
Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jer- 
sey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wiscon- 
sin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Colo- 
rado. 

Of these 14, 3 accept the forms as sub- 
mitted; 4 accept them with a single sugges- 
tion in each case, and others raise further 
questions which also merit careful considera- 
tion. 

There is a general assent to the plan of 3 
separate forms for preliminary, annual and 
supplemental reports. One state would use 
only the preliminary and annual forms, and 
2 states question the value of the preliminary 
statement. The value of this consists in its 
putting on record an account of the library 
at the time when it comes into relations with 
the state, and justifies the items of income 
and expenditure for the current year, even 
though these will be constantly changing 
thereafter. It gives the .mark from which the 
progress of the next year is to be reckoned. 

But this difference of view raises no serious 
difficulty, for of course each state will use 
only so much as suits its own conditions and 
it will be a great gain if we can agree on 
the form of the second blank of the series, 
that is, the annual report. 

We seem also to be agreed that the larger 
library may properly make a supplemental 
report which is not to be imposed on the 
smaller library, nor indeed on any library 
which does not choose to make it. This also 
is a gain. 

When we come to details the difficulty of 
preparing any blank that will fully meet the 
varying conditions and diverse laws of differ- 
ent states becomes evident, and, certainly, no 
state commission should be satisfied to use 
any form of report blank which does not 
match its own lines of work. Hence the com- 
mittee wishes to make it perfectly clear that 
no form of report which it may submit is in- 



tended to be complete and final. It can only 
hope to offer an outline touching points on 
which thefe is general agreement; and, while 
it would urge the importance of brevity and 
simplicity, it should also be expressly under- 
stood that each item proposed is open to such 
amplification or subdivision as each commis- 
sion may think desirable. 

Such enlargement in one state's report will 
not prevent intelligent comparison with the 
report in another state if only the details are 
brought together in totals which lie along 
parallel lines. Thus in the financial statement 
some may find reason to ask for many more 
items than others, but all may agree to keep 
separate totals of money spent for salaries 
for books, and for rent of rooms. 

The criticisms that have reached us have 
regard to the following points : 

1. A clearer preliminary statement of pre- 
vious library history. 

2. A simpler preliminary form for pub- 
licly controlled libraries and possibly a separ- 
ate form for association libraries. 

3. Date of making report. 

4. Proper place for trustees' names. 

5. Fulness of financial detail. 

6. Specifying foreign languages of books 
used. 

7. Juvenile circulation. 

8. Country circulation. 

9. Total registry of borrowers. 

10. Statistics of binding. 

On almost all these points your committee, 
recognizing their obligations to their critics, 
desire to express their general and hearty ac- 
ceptance of suggestions made and accord- 
ingly offer amendments to forms previously 
reported. 

i. A clear and full preliminary history of 
each library should be on record. The im- 
portant date is not always that of foundation, 
but of present organization. Therefore, we 
amend the preliminary form on the first page 
by changing the words "date of foundation" 
to "date of present organization or control"; 
also on the next page call for "additional 
information as to previous history, present 



EASTMAN 



103 



conditions, and plans for the future, giving 
dates of important changes." This will lead 
to an informal statement covering the ground 
in each case. 

2. As to separate and simpler preliminary 
forms for both public and association librar- 
ies, the committee would regret the necessity 
of two forms when the insertion t>f two or 
three simple items regarding trustees and 
terms of use will make the use of a single 
form entirely practicable and convenient to 
both classes. In comparing one state with 
another where a different law is in force one 
inclusive form for all classes is certainly best. 
But if any commission should feel that two 
preliminary forms are better for them than 
one, the additional report being only pre- 
liminary would not affect the integrity of the 
general scheme. 

3. It is impossible to agree at present on 
a uniform date for the end of the year. Often 
the state fiscal year will determine this, and 
often the school year. On the proposed forms 
the date will be left blank. 

4. Trustees' names on the annual blank 
will be found convenient for mailing pur- 
poses, and may therefore be omitted from the 
preliminary report. 

5. Under the head of "payments" in the 
annual report the brace in front of "books, 
periodicals and binding" is removed so as to 
make it clear that the cost of each is to be 
separately given. The items of "heat" and 
"light" are inserted after "rent" and room 
should be left for the addition of other items 
of receipt and payment which any commission 
may wish. 

6. In the supplemental report the classifi- 
cation of books in both tables will carry at 
the bottom the words "(specify language)." 

7. The supplemental form already shows 
columns for children's books and their cir- 
culation. The annual report will also include 
these items in columns for "adult," "chil- 
dren" and "total." 

8. Country circulation presents a problem 
of vital importance. A complete system must 
provide books for homes remote from a li- 
brary, and any actual experience along this 
line deserves careful attention. But it is not 
easy in all cases to mark the line where town 
leaves off and country begins. In some places 
township or even county libraries are main- 



tamed and encouraged, a majority, of whose 
patrons live in the country. In view of the 
difficulty of framing a definite question for 
all cases it seems practical to treat this as a 
supplemental matter to be included under 
forms of "special work" noted in the sup- 
plemental form and calling for a separate 
statement. In any state where the term 
"Country circulation" is definitely understood 
there can be no objection to the item in the 
annual form. 

9. It is certainly important that each li- 
brary should know and report the number of 
its patrons so far as this can be ascertained 
with reasonable accuracy. But this is by no 
means an easy matter. Men, women, and 
children come and go. The collection of 
readers' cards "not in use" grows larger and 
larger as time passes and the task of a thor- 
ough weeding out demands time that cannot 
be spared. Perhaps it ought to be done, but 
many a librarian will question if the result 
will repay the cost. The total registry will 
show very little that is of value in the ab- 
sence of a system of limitations and constant 
revision. Rules of libraries will differ. Hence 
in the interest of simplicity the committee 
prefer to omit the item. 

10. The statistics of binding, the number 
of books rebound, and number of periodical 
volumes bound would be of interest in many 
places. There can be no objection to adding 
this item to the supplemental report, if any 
commission desires. 

The committee repeat what has been said 
in a previous report that there are very many 
interesting and important matters of library 
information which may be obtained through 
occasional and special circulars, which are 
not of the rank which places them in the an- 
nual report. 

The committee re-submit their report of 
last year as a part of this report, with forms 
of library report slightly changed to conform 
to the suggestions made above, which they 
recommend for approval of the Association. 

They also recommend both to state com- 
missions and to local libraries making printed 
reports that they follow the general scheme of 
report which may be approved by the Asso- 
ciation, thus clearing the way for satisfactory 
comparison of the results of library work. 

The three forms proposed are as follows : 



104 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



FORM I. . 

Form proposed to A. L. A. committee on library administration 1904-05 

Preliminary Library Report 19 

to state library commission 

Name of Library 

Place 

Postoffice 

Date of present organization or control 

Under what law 

Trustees Number 

Chosen by 

Term of offi>e 

If the library la connected with another Institution as a college, church or association, a statement of that fact will take the place of the report 
on trustees. 

Source of income Local taxation $ 

State aid 
Endowment 
Membership fees 
Gifts and other sources 



Total, $ 

State Income from each source for current year. 

Teim> of use Free for lending 

Free for reference 

Free to limited class, as students 

Subscription 

Underscore words that apply or add explanation. 

Building Date of completion 

Material 

Ccst 

Source of building fund 

Book capacity 

Facilities for special work 

Other particulars 

If the library occnple* rooms in a building not its own a statement of that fact will take the place of the report on building. If rent is paid the 
amount should be stated. 

Number of volumes 

Count only bound volumes. 

System of classification 

Catalog Accession book 

Card 

Printed 

Manuscript 
Underscore words that apply and add any needed description such as " author," " dictionary," " classed," etc. 

Tc what extent have readers free access to shelves? 
Charging system by cards 

ledger entry 

Underscore words that apply and add any needed description. 

Number of books allowed to each borrower at one time. 

Number of books of fiction allowed to each bcrtcwer at one time. 

Librarian Name 

Salary 

Number of assistants 

Salaries of assistants 
Number of branches 
Number of delivery stations 

Give details of branches and delivery stations on separate paper, giving name and location of each. 

Additional information as to previous history, present conditions and plans for the Future giving dates 
of important changes. 

Use separate paper if needed for complete statement. 

Librarian 
Date 

I have carefully read this report, have caused an exact copy to be filed with the library records, 
and with the consent of the library board it is submitted to the state library commission. 

President of 

Whenever any changes in the items above reported occur, the fact should be noted in the next annual report under the head of " Additional 



EASTMAN 



105 



FORM II. 

Form proposed by A. L. A. committee on library administration, 1904-05 

Annual library report for year ending 



10 



Adults Children Total 



Name of library 

Place 

Postoffice 

Terras of use Free for lending 

Free for reference 

Free to limited class, as students 

Subscription 

Underscore words that apply. 

Days open during year 

Hours open each week for lending 

Hours open each week for reading 

Number of volumes at beginning of year 

added during year by purchase 

added during year by gift 

lost or withdrawn during year 
Total number at end of year 

Count bound books only. 

Number of volumes of fiction lent for home use 
Total number of volumes lent for home use 

See other side of sheet for rales for counting circulation. 

Number of new borrowers registered during the year 
Number of newspapers and periodicals currently received 
Number cf persons using library for reading and study 



Receipts from 

Unexpended balance $ 

Lccal taxation 

State grants 

Endowment funds 

Membership fees 

Fines and sale of publications .... 
Gifts and other sources 



Total 



Payments for 

Bocks $ 

Periodicals 

Binding 

Salaries, library service 

janitor service 

Rent 

Heat 

Light 

Permanent improvements 

Other exi>enses 

Balance on hand 



Total 



Additional information 

Here insert statements regarding changes in organization, brief description of new rooms or building, increased facilities and any benefaction* 
announced but not received, with names of (fivers and amount, object and conditions of each gift, together with any other information useful for Ihe 
summary of library progress printed in the report to the Legislature. 

Librarian 

Trustees' names Term expires 

19 

19 

19 

19.... 
19 

Date 

I have carefully read thisi report, have caused an exact copy to be filed with the library records and 
with the consent of the library board it is submitted to 

President 
Rules for counting circulation 

1. The circulation shall be accurately recorded each day, counting one for each lending of a bound 
volume for home use. 

2. Renewal of a book tinder library rules at or near the end of regular terms of issue may also be 
counted, but no increase shall be made because books are read by others or for any other reason. 

3. Books lent directly through delivery stations and branches will be included, but the circulation 
from collections of books sent to schools or elsewhere for distribution will not be included. A separate 
statement of such traveling libraries will be made. 

4. Books lent for pay may be included in the circulation, but must also be reported separately. 

In these rules there is no intent to determine the policy of any library as to the manner or terms of 
circulation, but only to place the count on a uniform basis which will render comparison possible. 



io6 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



FORM III. 

Form proposed by A. L. A. committee on library administration, 1904-05 

Supplemental library report for the year ending 



1G 



to 



Name of library 

Place 

Postoffice 

Number of branches. 

Number of delivery stations 

Give on teparate sheet the statistic* of branches and stations, including name, location, volume* in branches and circulation. 

Classes of books added and total In library 



ObMM 


Additions 


Total No. m Library 


Circulating dep't 


Reference 


Circulating dep't 


Reference 


AdulU 


Children 


Adult* 


Children 




V 












Periodicals . 










Natural science 
Useful arts . 








Travel 






Fiction 






Books in foreign languages . . 
(Specify language) 
Total 

















Number of unbound pamphlets 

Number of maps, pictures, manuscripts, etc. 

Other library material 

Classes of books lent. 



Clawei 


From main library 


From branches and stations 


Total 


Adult* 


Children 


Adult* 


Children 


General works . ... ... 












Periodicals 


Philosophy 


Religion . 


Sociology 






Useful arts . . . . 


Fine arts 


Music scores . 


Literature 


Travel 


History 


Biography 


Fiction 


Books in foreign languages 


(Specify language) 
Total 















Number of schools to which books were sent 

Number of books sent to schools 

How long retained by schools (average) 

Number of other traveling librarieo sent out 

Number of books in other traveling libraries 

How long retained in places other than sohocls (average) 

Number of Sundays the library has been open 

Number of children using library for reading or study 

What departments in library other than delivery and reading rooms? 

Give account on separate sheet of work done for children, schools, clubs and societies. 

Give account on separate sheet of any other form of special service, as country circulation, etc. 

Additional information 

Librarian 
Date 



FLETCHER 



107 



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



r*HE period covered by this report is only 
eight months. Partly for this reason and 
partly because complicated matters always 
take more time for their working out than 
we anticipate, the progress of our work since 
the last report seems slight, but it has never- 
theless been a busy season with us. 

The reappointment of Mr. Dewey last fall 
leaves the personnel of the Board the same as 
before. The tentative appointment of Mr. 
E. C Hovey by the A. 1 L. A. executive board 
as assistant secretary of the Association, and 
his employment on ths business affairs of the 
Publishing Board so far as his time permits, 
and the work of the Board demands his ser- 
vices, is too recent for any confident state- 
ment of its results. But the Board sees in it 
valuable possibilities, and hopes that it marks 
the beginning of a new era of vigorous and 
business-like administration for both, the As- 
sociation and the Board. Its immediate re- 
sult to the Board has been to relieve the sec- 
retary of much business detail and permit her 
to devote herself to the largely increased edi- 
torial work which the year has brought. Mr. 
Hovey's suggestions in regard to change in 
business methods have already been valuable. 
The Board has long felt the need of just such 
good business management as a man with 
Mr. Hovey's experience and ability can give 
it, and we hope that in conjunction with the 
Association we may be able to continue him 
as our business manager. 

With our last report we submitted speci- 
men pages of the Portrait Index, and ex- 
pressed the hope that it would very soon be 
actually in press. We had been accumulating 
our income to meet the expense of its print- 
ing, and had felt obliged to postpone other 
undertakings that pressed upon us, among 
others the publication of current annotated 
lists of new books. 

At our first meeting after the St. Louis 
Conference the situation was cleared by a 
generous proposition from Dr. Putnam, that 
he would make the Portrait Index one of the 
special publications of the Library of Con- 



gress, and so not only relieve the Board of 
the expense of its publication, but insure its 
distribution to all the libraries that can profit 
by it. It was thus only necessary for us to 
complete the preparation of the copy and 
place it in Dr. Putnam's hands. It was at 
first supposed that it might be printed this 
financial year (1904-05), and for a time extra 
help was employed to assist Mr. Lane and 
Miss Browne in getting the copy finally ready 
for printing. But later it appeared that the 
Library of Congress could better do the work 
in the coming fall, when the copy will be in 
entire readiness. 

Finding our accumulated income thus made 
available for other uses, the Board at once 
voted to undertake the publication of the pro- 
posed current booklist. Mr. R. R. Bowker, 
for the Library Journal office, had made a 
proposition looking to our lists being issued 
from that office; the Board had been dis- 
posed to fall in with his offer, but on finding 
that funds were available for the publication 
of these lists by the Board itself, without the 
intervention of any outside parties, we had 
no hesitation about proceeding on this basis. 
Miss Caroline H. Garland, of Dover, N. H., 
was secured as editor, a number of libraries 
and librarians volunteered to contribute titles 
and notes, and the A. L. A. Booklist was 
launched in February. Five numbers, the 
first a double one, have appeared. Now that 
this current list has been started there is 
reason to hope that it will improve as it goes 
on, and measurably meet the expectations 
which have been attached to it. It has to be 
admitted that it is likely always to be dis- 
appointing, in that it cannot, in the nature of 
the case, give well-digested critical or even 
descriptive notes quite so early as they are 
wanted by those who could use them in the 
selection of books and wish to buy their books 
promptly. It may be no detriment to the li- 
braries in the long run if they should be in- 
duced to buy the new books somewhat more 
deliberately. The Booklist now reaches some 



io8 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



3000 libraries. The following state commis- 
sions have ordered copies for distribution to 
the libraries in their respective states : Massa- 
chusetts and Wisconsin, 500 copies each; 
Minnesota, 350; Indiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania, 
Vermont, 200 each; Ohio, 150; Colorado, Ne- 
braska, New York, Washington, 100 each; 
the Newark (N. J.) Free Public Library also 
subscribes for 100 copies. There are about 
325 single subscriptions. 

The sale of our various publications is 
slower than it would be if the libraries gen- 
erally were fully alive to their value. As 
heretofore the "List of subject headings" is 
called for more than any other, about 500 cop- 
ies having been sold the past year. Every 
year the need increases for a thorough re- 
vision of this work, but it is not apparent who 
will undertake it. Nothing, perhaps, marks 
more clearly the general sense of the import- 
ance of subject entries, and on the other hand 
of the difficulties connected with the choice 
of headings, than the continued demand for 
this book. It has certainly done much to 
bring in that uniformity of practice which is 
desirable nowhere more than in subject head- 
ings. 

Suggestions from many quarters that we 
should furnish cards indexing various publi- 
cations already covered by the "A. L. A. in- 
dex" emphasize the failure of many libraries 
to avail themselves of this index, and thus 
the necessity of many analyticals in their card 
catalogs. One familiar with its usefulness 
when properly availed of can only wonder 
that its sales should not more nearly approach 
those of the "List of subject headings." 

Miss Kroeger's "Guide to reference books" 
has a good and steady sale, which will un- 
doubtedly insure the issue of an enlarged edi- 
tion after a few years. 

"Books for boys and girls," by Miss C. M. 
Hewins, is having a deservedly large sale, 
the fourth thousand having now been printed. 
Wherever it goes it creates its own demand. 

Two tracts have been added to our series 
"Notes from the art section of a library," by 
the late C. A. Cutter, and "Essentials in li- 
brary administration," by Miss L. E. Stearns. 
The one by Mr. Cutter consists of his lectures 
delivered at the New York State Library 
School, and is an admirable presentation of 
the subject and the only one available. 



Miss Stearns' tract is much larger than any 
of the other tracts, and is really a library 
handbook, covering the whole field in detail, 
with illustrations and an index. 

Another tract by Miss Theresa Hitchler, on 
"Cataloging for small libraries," is now in 
press, and is expected to be out before the 
Portland meeting. Besides directions for cat- 
aloging, it contains a bibliography of useful 
reference books for catalogers, a dictionary 
of bibliographic and typographic terms, and 
86 sample cards. 

Little needs to be said about our card pub- 
lications. They hold the even tenor of their 
way, with constant additions to the stock. As 
has been stated before, we divide the field 
with the Library of Congress, so that dupli- 
cation of work is avoided. We have recently 
added to our supply of cards a set for the 
Smithsonian annual reports, 1886-1903, and 
have reprinted cards for the Old South Leaf- 
lets, these having been much in demand. 
Cards are also in preparation for the set 
known as "Modern eloquence," edited by the 
late Thomas B. Reed. 

The cards indexing bibliographic period- 
icals, heretofore prepared by the Bibliograph- 
ical Society of Chicago, and sent out at ir- 
regular intervals, will be continued under the 
newly formed Bibliographical Society of 
America, the publishing remaining with this 
Board. 

At the St. Louis Conference an effort was 
made to secure cordial co-operation between 
the Board and the newly formed League of 
Library Commissions. There seemed to be a 
mutual readiness to co-operate, and consider- 
able correspondence was had later looking to 
an effective co-working. As the readers of 
the Library Journal will have had occasion to 
note in the recent report of the League (Lib. 
J., May), we have not succeeded as yet in 
settling the details of our mutual relations. 
The League expresses the hope that these re- 
lations may be drawn closer at the Portland 
Conference, a hope which is earnestly shared 
by the Board. 

We also anticipate that this meeting of the 
Association held on the great Pacific slope 
will witness a large accession of interest and 
co-operation in the work which the Publish- 
ing Board seeks to do for the Association and 
for the libraries of the country. 



FLETCHER 



109 



A. L. A. PUBLISHING BOARD 

FINANCIAL STATEMENT 



Dr. Publishing Board in account with Endowment Fund Trustees Cr. 



1903 
Dec 31. 


To balance 






1904 








1904 
Dec. 31. 


To proceeds of sales 








15104, as follows : 
Paid salaries 








To check from Endowment 
















Fund Trustees 








Portrait index 






" 


To interest on bank bal- 


6.38 






Library Bureau 
Houghton, Mifflin & 


639.21 














Co 


387 78 














A. L. A. catalog 
Travel expenses 


336.96 














Rent 
















Gardner M. Jones 
W. P. Cutter 


125.37 
IOO.OO 














Eng. hist 
















Mass. pub. doc 
















Postage 


84.45 














Advertising 
















A. L. A. exhibit 


58.75 































Sundries 


28.78 














Alice B. Kroeger 


26.20 














Copyright 




















A 








$6265.32 




Balance 




833*25 


Dec. 31. 


To balance 




$837 25 



























E. and O. E., Boston, December 31, 1904. 



TRIAL BALANCE * 

December 31, 1904 


Accounts payable (smaller ones). . . 




$44-34 


Jones, Gardner M 




$161.81 
65.09 
365-18 
5.60 
276.85 


Accounts receivable 
A. L. A. catalog 


$1279.83 
1637.94 
18.50 


Kroeger, Alice B 








" index 








" papers and proceedings.. 
Bibliographical cards 




17.09 

89 18 

612.18 
632.15 


Library Bureau 






$96.56 




60.67 
833-25 


Massachusetts pub. doc 
Miscellaneous cards 


21.72 

896.57 
2122.03 

2208.46 
78.97 

$7909.26 






English and American hist 
Expense and income 
Fine arts 


319-28 


Portrait index 
Reading for the young 


3*58. 4* 
294.07 






31-63 
62.97 
217.44 






Houghton Mifflin & Co . 












$7909.26 







E. and O. E., Boston, December 31, 1904. 



FINANCIAL STATEMENT 



Assets. 

Accounts receivable. . . 
Cash 

Stock on hand, at cost. 



Liabilities. 
Accounts payable. 
Surplus 



{1279. 83 
833-25 
874 42 



$2987.50 

$834.10 
2153.40 



$2987.50 



NOTE In taking stock no account has been made of such books, pamphlets, etc., as are not ready sellers. All 
stock has been taken at absolute cost, and no value has been placed on plates in possession of the Board, though 
they will be used in subsequent editions of certain publications. 



no 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



REPORT ON GIFTS AND BEQUESTS TO AMERICAN LIBRARIES, JUNE 

TO DECEMBER, 1904 

BY JOSEPH LsRoY HARRISON, Librarian, The Providence (R. /.) Athenceum 



'T'HE report covers the seven months from 
June i, 1904, to December 31, 1904, and, 
in common with all recent reports, includes 
single gifts of $500 or more, of 250 volumes 
and upwards and such others, miscellaneous 
in character, as seem specially noteworthy. 
The material has been obtained from the Li- 
brary Journal, Public Libraries, the daily 
press, from responses to 1000 circular blanks 
sent to libraries and from 75 letters addressed 
to state commissions, state associations and 
local library clubs. The courtesy and con- 
sideration of those who have assisted the 
reporter in his work have been greatly appre- 
ciated, and to them he desires to acknowledge 
with grateful thanks his deep indebtedness. 

It will be noticed that the report covers 
only seven months, that is, the balance of the 
year 1904 not covered by the report made 
at St. Louis last year. This short period was 
taken that succeeding reports might be made 
to correspond with the calendar year, it be- 
ing assumed that the report is of value, not 
from the news side, which is well covered 
from month to month by the library journals, 
but from that of a convenient grouping and 
summary of statistical material. The first 
Gifts and Bequests report was presented at 
the Fabyans Conference in 1890. Since this 
conference the time of holding the annual A. 
L. A. meetings has varied from May to Octo- 
ber, and meetings have been held during each 
of the intervening months. This has natural- 
ly resulted in the reports varying in the length 
of time covered, making their summary tables 
practically useless as a ready means to com- 
parison. If future reports are made to cover 
only the 12 months of the calendar year, with- 
out regard to the dates of the Association 
meetings, it is obvious that their value in this 
respect will be greatly increased. 

Two hundred and fifty-three gifts are re- 
ported, representing 116,552 volumes, five col- 
lections of books, $5,128,170, and 58 miscel- 
laneous gifts, including one building with 



grounds, seven sites, art and natural his- 
tory collections, paintings and various other 
gifts, the several values of which could not 
be ascertained. 

An analysis of the gifts in money shows 
that $2,311,400 was given as endowment funds 
for general library purposes, $38,153 for the 
establishment of book funds, $30,347 for the 
cash purchase of books, $1,009,500, of which 
$724,500 is reported as accepted, from An- 
drew Carnegie for buildings; $432,230 from 
various donors for buildings, $64,450 for 
sites and $1,242,090 for purposes, the objects 
of which, for the most part, were not re- 
ported. This item consists very largely of 
bequests, and presumably the greater portion 
of it will be invested as permanent endow- 
ments. 

The money gifts, other than those of Mr. 
Carnegie, amount to $4,118,670. This in- 
cludes ii of $5000 each, one of $8000, n of 
$10,000, two of $15,000, three of $20,000, three 
of $25,000, one of $40,000, one of $75,000, 
one of $100,000, two of $150,000, three of 
$200,000, one of $250,000, one of $300,000 two 
of $500,000 and one of $1,000,000. 

The total amount of the 16 gifts of $25,000 
or more, is $3,740,000, given as follows: 
$25,000, a bequest from George Smith to 
Junction City, Kan.; $25,000 from Judge 
Greenleaf Clark to St. Paul, Minn.; $25,000 
from John W. Gates to West Chicago, 111.; 
$40,000, a bequest from Hon. Ira Davenport 
to Bath, N. Y. ; $75,000 from John Q. Pack- 
ard to Marysville, Cal. ; $100,000, a bequest 
from Mrs. Caroline S. Reid to Syracuse 
University; $150,000, a bequest from Hon. 
Elisha S. Converse to Maiden, Mass. ; $150,- 
ooo, a bequest from Mrs. Sarah E. Kempton 
Potter to the Boston Medical Library; $200,- 
ooo, a bequest from Hon. C. H. Hackley to 
Muskegon, Mich. ; nearly $200,000, a bequest 
from Hiram Kelly to Chicago; $200,000 from 
Henry Dexter to the New York Historical 
Society, New York City; $250,000, a bequest 



HARRISON 



III 



from Mrs. Sarah E. Kempton Potter to New 
Bedford, Mass. ; $300,000, a bequest from 
James V. Brown to Williamsport, Pa. ; 
$500,000, a bequest from Daniel Willard 
Fiske to Cornell University; $500,000, a be- 
quest from James Philip Gray to the City 
Library Association of Springfield, Mass., 
and $1,000,000 from Archer M. Huntington 
to the Hispanic Society of America, New 
York City. 

There should be noted in connection with 
these gifts those of a building and site, 
valued at $400,000, from the Polytechnic In- 
stitute of Kentucky to Louisville; a building 
and site, valued at $150,000, from the Max- 
well family to Rockville, Ct. ; a building and 
grounds from Wilhelmus Mynderse to Seneca 
Falls, N. Y., and a tract of land, locally 
known as Cameron Park, from Hon. Ira 
Davenport to Bath, N. Y. 

Among the notable collections of books 
and manuscripts given may be mentioned 
60,000 volumes, valued at $30,000, from the 
Polytechnic Institute of Kentucky to the 
Louisville Free Public Library; 58 prayer 
and service books, valued at $27,825, from 
Mrs. Harold Brown to the John Carter 
Brown Library, Brown University, Provi- 
dence ; $6500 from Julius Rosenwald for the 
purchase of the Hirsch-Bennays Library for 
the Germanic department of the University 
of Chicago; $7000 from John D. Spreckels 
for the purchase of the Germanic library of 
the late Prof. Karl Weinhold, of the Uni- 
versity of Berlin, for the University of Cali- 
fornia ; 1067 letters and manuscripts rich in 
material relating to literary New England 
from C. W. Folsom to the Boston Public 
Library ; 100 volumes of private and public 
documents, containing much unpublished ma- 
terial, gathered by Elihu Washburn when 
Minister to France, from Hempsted Wash- 
burn to the Library of Congress; 1700 vol- 
umes on marriage and divorce from George 
Elliott Howard to the University of Chi- 
cago ; and 99 volumes on the history of 
furniture, the collection of Alvan C. Nye, 
from the trustees to the Pratt Institute Free 
Library, Brooklyn. 

Among other gifts, of interest because of 
their value, source or purpose, may be men- 
tioned pictures and statuary, valued at $30,- 
ooo, and a natural history collection, valued 
at $30,000, from the Polytechnic Institute of 



Kentucky to the Louisville Free Public Li- 
brary; a bequest of $2500 from William H. 
Bartlett, a teacher in the public schools, to 
the Worcester Public Library as a token of 
appreciation of the service the library had 
rendered him; $500, a bequest from Mary L. 
Hotchkiss, a former librarian, to the Lenox 
Library, Mass. ; $500 as an endowment fund, 
the income to be used for the children's 
department, from Mrs. Caroline J. Morrill, 
to the Morrill Public Library, Hiawatha, 
Kan. ; two sites for branch libraries from the 
Baldwin Locomotive Works and the Pencoyd 
Iron Works to the Philadelphia Free Li- 
brary; a fund for the purchase of American 
and European periodicals from Daniel Wil- 
lard Fiske to the Chi Chapter of the Psi 
Upsilon Fraternity, of Cornell University, 
and a five-year, paid-up fire insurance policy 
from M. A. Ryerson to the Grand Rapids 
Public Library, Mich. 

Mr. Carnegie's gifts to libraries in the 
United States number 34 and amount to $i,- 
009,500. In their distribution the North 
Atlantic division of states received $425,000, 
the South Atlantic $35,000, the South Cen- 
tral $200,000, the North Central $309,500 and 
the Western $40,000. Of the states receiving 
the greatest number of gifts Indiana ranks 
first with five, Illinois second with four, and 
Kansas third with three. There were two 
gifts of $2500, two of $5000, 10 of $10,000, 
three of $12,500, two of $15,000, one of 
$17,000, three of $20,000, two of $25,000 and 
two of $35,000. The larger gifts are $40,000 
to Fairmount College, Wichita, Kan. ; $40,- 
ooo to Omaha, Neb.; $50,000 to Evanston, 
111. ; $50,000 to the University of Maine, 
Orono; $100,000 to Tufts College library, 
$150,000 to Syracuse University, and $200,000 
to Louisville, Ky. 

A further analysis shows that six gifts, 
amounting to $105,000, were additions to pre- 
vious gifts; four, amounting to $270,000, 
for 12 branch libraries, including a branch 
for Atlanta, Ga., for the use of negroes, and 
six, amounting to $392,000, for college libra- 
ries. 

In a recent address Mr. Carnegie is re- 
ported to have said that, judging by the 
requests for money for public library build- 
ings, which had decreased to not more than 
one a day, he had come to the conclusion 
that the limit of giving for this purpose had 



112 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



been nearly reached and that in the future his 
gifts would be more for college and univer- 
sity libraries. If this statement of his pur- 
pose is correct, it is perhaps of special in- 
terest to append to this report the table 
prepared by Dr. Horace White, of New 
York, and embodied in the address delivered 
by him at the d-e.lication of the Beloit Col- 
lege Library the gift of Mr. Carnegie 
in January last. It is an interesting and 
significant statistical summary, the data of 
which was supplied for the first time by Mr. 
Carnegie himself, of the great philanthro- 
pist's work in the establishment of libraries 
throughout the English-speaking world. For 
the United States the table is detailed, giving 
under each state and territory its total popu- 
lation, the aggregate population served by the 
Carnegie libraries, the amount given or 
promised for the erection of buildings, the 
number of towns with Carnegie libraries, the 
total number of Carnegie libraries, includ- 
ing branches, and the percentage of the whole 
population supplied. The same facts are 
given for other countries but without geo- 
graphical subdivisions. The table shows, in 
brief, that Mr. Carnegie has provided 620 
towns in the United States, including Porto 
Rico, with 780 libraries, at a cost of $29,- 
194,080, which serve a population of 14,306,- 
880 and that the total number of his library 
gifts through the year 1904 is 1290, distrib- 
uted among 1048 hamlets, villages, towns and 
cities, representing an enormous gift of $39,- 
325,240 and serving a population of 24,414,692. 

When Mr. Carnegie was a poor boy in 
Allegheny, Col. Anderson, to whom he has 
erected a heroic bronze statue almost under 
the shadow of the tall tower of his first 
library gift, threw open a small library of 
400 books to the young men of the town: 
This opportunity and kindness were so appre- 
ciated by the boy that he declared if he 
ever had the wealth he would give freely for 
the founding of libraries for those who had 
no other access to books. The table closing 
this report is a striking revelation of the large 
fulfilment of that early self-made promis-e. 

Mr. Carnegie has said: "Free libraries 
maintained by the people are cradles of de- 
mocracy, and their spread can never fail to 
extend and strengthen the democratic idea, 
the equality of the citizen, the royalty of 
man." 



It is a firm belief in the soundness of 
this reasoning that doubtless brings Mr. Car- 
negie the greatest happiness in his giving, 
and it is only by its comprehensive truth that 
the far-reaching results of his broad and 
thoughtful generosity can be measured. 

CALIFORNIA 

BERKELEY. University of California Library. 
$7000 for the purchase of the Germanic li- 
brary of the late Prof. Karl Weinhold, 
from John D. Spreckels. The collection 
numbers 10,000 volumes and pamphlets. 

300 volumes relating to Latin literature 

and philology, from Mrs. Louise B. Kel- 
logg. 

CLAREMONT. Pomona College Library. $500 
for books, from Charles M. Pratt, of 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 

MARYSVILLE. City Library. $75,000 for a 
building, from John Q. Packard. 

MERCED. Public Library. $20,000 for a build- 
ing, a bequest from Mr. Francher. 

OAKLAND. Free Public Library. 425 vol- 
umes, from William E. Coleman. 

WHITTIER. Public Library. $10,000 for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. Ac- 
cepted. 

Site, valued at $3000, from C. W. Har- 
vey. 

COLORADO 

COLORADO SPRINGS. Public Library. $1500 
for books, from various citizens. 

CONNECTICUT 

ANSONIA. The Ansonia Library. $500 for 
books, from Miss Caroline Phelps Stokes. 

,294 volumes, including the binding of 

226 volumes of magazines, from the Eliza- 
beth Clarke Hall Chapter of the D. A. Rs. 
of Ansonia. 

NEW LONDON. Public Library. $2000, from 
Hon. Augustus Brandegee. 

ROCKVILLE. Public Library. Building and 
site, valued at $150,000, from Mrs. Harriet 
K. Maxwell, Miss J. Alice Maxwell, Fran- 
cis T. Maxwell, Robert Maxwell and Will- 
iam Maxwell. 

$1000, a bequest from William J. 

Thompson, of Hartford. 

$1000 for books, from George Sykes. 

$500 for books, from Hon. Dwight 

Loomis. 

WESTPORT. Public Library. $10,000, from 
Ambrose Hulburt. 

DELAWARE 

ODESSA. Corbit Library. $10,000, a bequest 
from William C. Corbit, of Washington, 
D. C. The library has just come into pos- 
session of the gift by the death of the 
widow, Mrs. Virginia Corbit. (See L. J., 
Sept., 1904, p. 496.) 



WILMINGTON. Wilmington Institute Free 
Library. $500 for general expenses, from 
William P. Bancroft. 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

WASHINGTON. ^Georgetown University 
Riggs Memorial Library. 535 volumes, 
from the heirs of Charles Horatio Trunnel. 

Library of Congress. 6874 theses, from 

the Uppsala Universitats-Bibliothek. 

691 volumes, from John Meigs. 

Hempsted Washburn, son of the late 

Elihu Washburn, has presented the library 
with more than 100 volumes of the private 
and public documents gathered by his 
father while minister to France. The col- 
lection contains much unpublished matter. 

Public Library. $1000 for an endowment 
fund for the purchase of books and period- 
icals relating to anthropology, from the 
Woman's Anthropological Society of Wash- 
ington. 

GEORGIA 

ATLANTA. Atlanta University Library. $25,- 
ooo for a building, from Andrew Carnegie, 
given on condition "that the library be lib- 
erally supported." 

Carnegie Library. $10,000 for a branch li- 
brary for negroes, from Andrew Carnegie. 

IDAHO 

Moscow. Public Library. $10,000 for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

JLL7ATO75 1 

CHICAGO. Public Library. The library is 
residuary legatee of the Hiram Kelly es- 
tate. It is estimated that it will receive 
$172,825. 

$20,000, as an endowment fund, the in- 
come to be used at the discretion of the 
library board, a bequest from Hiram Kelly. 

University of Chicago Library. $6500 for 
books for the Hirsch-Bennays library, used 
specially by the Germanic department, from 
Julius Rosenwald. 

1700 volumes on marriage, divorce and 

the family, probably the largest collection 
extant on the subject, from Prof. George 
Elliott Howard. 

EVANSTON. Free Public Library. $50,000 for 
a building, from Andrew Carnegie. Ac- 
cepted. 

$20,000 for the building fund, from va- 
rious citizens. 

^Northwestern University Library. 464 
volumes, a bequest from Prof. John E. 
George. 

434 volumes relating to economics, from 

the heirs of Prof. Charles F. Dunbar, of 
Harvard University. 

FAIRBURY. Public Library. $15,000 for a 
building, from Mrs. T. B. Domeny. 

$2000 for books, from Mrs. T. B. 

Domeny. 



LA SALLE. Public Library. $20,000 for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

MACOMB. Public Library. $15,000 for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. Accepted. 

MARSEILLES. Public Library. $10,000 for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

MOLINE. Carnegie Library. 600 volumes on 
law, from F. G. Allen. 

WEST CHICAGO. Public Library. $25,000 to 
establish a library, from John W. Gates. 
The gift is conditional on the town provid- 
ing the site and maintaining the library. 

INDIANA 

ALEXANDRIA. Public Library. $500 for 
books, from Robert H. Hannah, president 
of the library board. 

DECATUR. Public Library. $10,000 for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

MONTICELLO. Public Library. 800 books, 
from various citizens. 

POSEYVILLE. Public Library. $5000 for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

SALEM. Public Library. $12,500 for a build- 
ing, from Andrew Carnegie. 

SEYMOUR. Public Library. $10,000 for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

UNION CITY. Stone Library. $10,000 for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

IOWA 

ALGONA. Free Public Library. $1000 for 
furnishing building, from Col. Thomas F. 
Cooke? 1 

BURLINGTON. Free Public Library. $3153, a 
memorial to T. J. Potter, from friends. 
The income is to be used for the purchase 
of books relating to railroads. 

GRINNELL. Iowa College Library. $1000 for 
an endowment fund, from J. H. Leavitt, of 
Waterloo. 

MASON CITY. Public Library. $10,000 for 
building fund, from citizens. 

$1000 for building fund, from City Fed- 
eration of Women's Clubs. 

MOUNT PLEASANT. Free Public Library. 
$1000 for site, from Ladies' Library Asso- 
ciation. 

WEST LIBERTY. Free Public Library. $1700 
for site, from citizens. 

KANSAS 

HIAWATHA. Morrill Public Library. $500 
for an endowment fund for the children's 
department, from Mrs. Caroline J. Morrill. 

$75 for books, from Mrs. Caroline J. 

Morrill. 

JUNCTION CITY. Public Library. An estate 
valued at $25,000, a bequest from George 
Smith. The building will be erected and 
t"he library established within a year. The 
income from the property will be used as 
a maintenance fund. 

LAWRENCE. City Library. $2500 additional 
for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 



114 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



LAWRENCE. University of Kansas Library. 
550 volumes relating to American and 
English literature and American history, 
from Edward Arnold Brown. 

McPHERSON. McPherson College Library. 
$10,000 for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

SALINA. Kansas Wesleyan University Li- 
brary. 1000 volumes, from Dr. H. A. 
Cleveland. 

TOPEKA. Washburn College Library. 500 
volumes, from the heirs of Rev. R. M. 
Tunnell. 

WICHITA. Fairmount College Library. $40,- 
ooo for a building, from Andrew Carnegie, 
conditional on the college raising an equal 
amount. 

KENTUCKY 

LOUISVILLE. Public Library. Building and 
site, from the Polytechnic Society of Ken- 
tucky, valued at $400,000. 

Natural history museum, valued at 

$30,000, from the Polytechnic Society of 
Kentucky. 

Pictures and statuary, valued at $30,- 

ooo, from the Polytechnic Society of Ken- 
tucky. 

60,000 volumes, valued at $30,000, from 

the Polytechnic Society of Kentucky. 

$200,000 for eight branch libraries, from 

Andrew Carnegie. Accepted. 

$16,750 toward a site, from citizens. 

"3OOO volumes, from the Highland Free 

Library, on condition that a branch library 
be established in the vicinity of the High- 
land Free Library. Condition accepted. 

727 volumes, from Mrs. Dudley Hay- 
don. 

600 volumes largely relating to trans- 
portation, from Mrs. Dudley Haydon, given 
as a memorial to her son, Sidney Haydon. 

260 volumes on medicine, from Dr. 

John B. Richardson. 

MAINE 

MADISON. Public Library. $5000 for a build- 
ing, from Andrew Carnegie. 

ORONO. University of Maine Library. $50,- 
ooo for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

MARYLAND 

HAGERSTOWN. Washington County Free Li- 
brary. Life-size portrait of B. F. New- 
comer, donor of the original endowment 
fund, from his children. 

Collection of large Roman photographs, 

from Mrs. Henry B. Gilpin, of Baltimore. 

MASSACHUSETTS 

ACTON. Acton Memorial Library. $1000, the 
income to be used at the discretion of the 
trustees, from Hon. Luther Conant, presi- 
dent of the library board. The fund is to 



be known as the "Mrs. Susan Augusta and 

Luther Conant fund." 
ANDOVER. Public Library. Portraits of 

Burns and Scott and a valuable collection 

of books relating to Scotland, a bequest 

from David Middleton, a member of the 

first board of trustees. 
BOSTON. Boston Medical Library. $150,000, 

a bequest from Mrs. Sarah E. (Kempton) 

Potter. 

New England Historic Genealogical So- 
ciety. $10,000 for an endowment fund, a 
bequest from William Cleaves Todd. 

Public Library. 705 volumes, from Great 
Britain patent office. 

610 volumes, from the estate of Rev. 
Henry W. Foote. 

547 volumes relating to French, Ger- 
man, Italian and Greek literature, from the 
estate of Mrs. Lucy B. Lowell. 

422 volumes, mostly mining reports, 

from Fred. P. Clappison. 

381 volumes, from Harvey L. Wheelock. 

317 volumes, from Eugene F. Fay. 

1067 letters and manuscripts, rich in 

material relating to New England literary 
people and including letters from Holmes, 
Emerson, Bryant, Longfellow, Prescott and 
others, from the estate of C. W. Folsom. 

CAMBRIDGE. Public Library. $5000 for an 
endowment fund for the purchase of books, 
a bequvist from James A. Woolson. The 
books are to be purchased under the direc- 
tion of his daughter, Mrs. Hurlbut. 

CANTON. Public Library. $1500 toward the 
expenses of administration during 1904. 

CHELSEA. Fits Public Library. 30 books in 
Braille type, the library's first literature for 
the blind, from Clement Ryder. 

DALTON. Free Public Library. $5000, the 
income to be used for the purchase of 
books, a bequest from Mrs. James B. 
Crane. 

DRACUT. Public Library. Illustrated manu- 
script, containing the names of 400 men 
of Dracut who served in the Revolution, 
the work of Ross Turner, of Boston, pre- 
sented by the Molly Varnum Chapter of 
the D. A. Rs. of Lowell and vicinity. 

EAST BRIDGEWATER. Public Library. $500, to 
be used at the discretion of the trustees, a 
bequest from Mrs. Agnes M. Hobart. 

FALMOUTH. Free Public Library. 500 vol- 
umes,from the estate of Henry Bryant. 

FITCHBURG. Public Library. $8000 for an 
endowment fund, from Herbert I. Wallace. 

GROTON. Public Library. Collection of 300 
butterflies, from Miss Ellen King, of New 
York. 

HINGHAM. Nastasket Library. 300 volumes, 
from Mrs. W. W. Clapp. 

LENOX. Lenox Library. $1000, a bequest 
from Henry W. Taft, of Pittsfield, Mass. 

$500, a beqaest from Mary L. Hotch- 

kiss, a former librarian. 



HARRISON 



115 



LENOX. Lenox Library. Handsome delivery 
desk, from Mrs. Robert Winthrop, of New 
York. 

MALDEN. Public Library. $150,000 for an 
endowment fund, the income from $100,000 
to be used for general expenses and the 
purchase of books, and from $50,000 for 
the purchase of works of art, a bequest 
from Hon. Elisha S. Converse. 

Oil painting, "The old philosopher," and 

a marble statue, "Benjamin," a bequest 
from Hon. Elisha S. Converse. 

MILTON. Public Library. $5000, a bequest 
from Mrs. J. B. Crane, of Pittsfield, Mass. 

$4SOO, a bequest to complete the parapet 

and work outside the building, from Mrs. 
Francis Cunningham. 

NEW BEDFORD. Free Public Library. $250,- 
ooo, a bequest from Mrs. Sarah E. (Kemp- 
ton) Potter, of Boston, to be known as the 
"Kempton trust, the gift of Sarah E. Pot- 
ter." The income is to be used for the 
purchase of "books, pictures and other ar- 
ticles." 

NORTH ANDOVER. Public Library. $20,000 
for a building, from Moses T. Stevens, on 
condition that the town annually appro- 
priate $1200 for support. 

i Site from Moses T. Stevens. 

OXFORD. Free Public Library. $1000, the in- 
come to be used for the purchase of books, 
from Hon. Richard Olney. The gift is to 
be known as the "Wilson Olney library 
fund." 

$700, the income to be used for general 

purposes, a bequest from Miss Mattie E. 
Sawtelle, of Springfield. 

PEPPERELL. Lawrence Library. Painting, 
subject taken near San Juan mission, Cal., 
from a friend. 

PETERSHAM. Memorial Library. Case for a 
collection of birds, from Miss M. S. 
Walker. 

PITTSFIELD. Berkshire Athenaeum. $1000, a 
bequest from Henry W. Taft. 

PLYMOUTH. Public Library. Portraits of 
Mr. and Mrs. William Goodwin Russell, 
from their children. 

QUINCY. Thomas Crane Public Library. 
Land valued at $18,000, from Albert Crane. 

SALEM. Essex Institute. $3973, residue from 
the estate of Elizabeth C. Ward. 

SEEKONK. Public Library. 700 volumes and 
case, from Seekonk Library Society. 

SHREWSBURY. Free Public Library. Portrait 
of Dr.. Franklin W. Brigham, through 
whose efforts the site for the library build- 
ing was secured, from Mrs. Mary Holland 
Lee. 

SOUTH WEYMOUTH. Fogg Library. Portrait 
in oil of Amos S. White, late a member of 
the board of trustees, by E. Aubrey Hunt, 
from Edmund^. Hunt. 

SPRINGFIELD. City Library Association. By 
the will of the late James Philip Gray the 



association will receive at the death of his 
wife the bulk of his estate, amounting to 
possibly more than half a million dollars. 
The income is to be used for the purchase 
of oil paintings. The gift is conditioned on 
the association providing a suitable build- 
ing. 

$4942, an unrestricted bequest from 

Orick H. Greenleaf. 

$4600 toward reducing the debt, from 

various friends. 

$1000, from Mrs. Elisha Morgan and 

Daniel Harris Morgan, toward the payment 
of the debt. 

$1000, from Joseph H. Wessen, toward 

the payment of the debt. 

350 volumes relating to medicine, a be- 
quest from Dr. Phebe A. Sprague. 

STOCKBRIDGE. Public Library. $500, a be- 
quest from Henry Dwight Sedgwick. 

SWANSEA. Free Public Library. Portrait of 
Dr. James L. Wellington, from Miss Mary 
A. Case. 

TUFTS COLLEGE. Tufts College Library. 
$100,000 for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. Ground will be broken early in the 
summer, and it is hoped to have the build- 
ing completed by December. It will be of 
red brick with white marble trimmings and 
have a shelf capacity of 195,000 volumes. 

709 volumes, from the Massachusetts 

Historical Society . 

WELLESLEY. Wellesley College Library. 
$3000 for an endowment fund, the income 
to be used for books, from the alumnae as- 
sociation. 

WESTFORD. J. V. Fletcher Library. Collec- 
tion of rare and antique articles, from E. 
M. Raymond, of Charlestown. 

WESTON. Public Library. Portraits of Miss 
Elizabeth S. White, late librarian, and Oli- 
ver R. Robbins, for many years chairman 
of the trustees, from friends. 

WORCESTER. Free Public Library. $2500, a 
bequest from William H. Bartlett, prin- 
cipal of one of the grammar schools. The 
gift was made as an evidence of his appre- 
ciation of the service the library had ren- 
dered him. The income is to be used for 
the purchase of books relating to American 
history and civil government. The bequest 
will not be available until the death of cer- 
tain individual beneficiaries. 

YARMOUTH. Yarmouth Library Association. 
$1000, a bequest from Mrs. Abby S. King- 
man, of Brockton, Mass. 

MICHIGAN 

ANN ARBOR. Public Library. $10,000 addi- 
tional for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie. 

GRAND HAVEN. Public Library. $10,000 to- 
ward a building, a bequest from Webster 
Batcheller, of San Francisco. 

GRAND RAPIDS. Public Library. Five-year 



n6 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



paid-up fire insurance policy on the build- 
ing, from M. A. Ryerson, of Chicago. 

JACKSON. Public Library. 581 volumes, 
from Miss Kate S. Palmer. 

15 oil paintings and two steel engrav- 
ings, from Miss Kate S. Palmer. 

MUSKEGON. Hackley Public Library. $200,- 
ooo for an endowment fund, a bequest from 
Hon. C. H. Hackley. 

59 volumes relating to America, valued 

at $5500, a bequest from C. H. Hadfley. 

Oil painting, a bequest from C. H. 

Hackley. 

SOUTH HAVEN. Public Library. $12,500 for 
a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

/ 

MINNESOTA 

FERGUS FALLS. Public Library. $2500 addi- 
tional for a building, from Andrew Car- 
negie, making a total gift of $15,500. 

RUSHFORD. Stevens Library Association. 
$500, a bequest from G. G. Stevens, founder 
of the library and donor of the building. 
The income is to be used for keeping up 
the building. 

$400 for the purchase of books, a be- 
quest from C. G. Halbert. 

ST. PAUL. Minnesota Historical Society. 
$1000, the income to be used for the pur- 
chase of books, a bequest from Gov. Alex- 
ander Ramsey. 

Public Library. $25,000, from Judge 
Greenleaf Clark. 

MISSOURI 

ST. Louis. Public Library. 791 volumes, 
from Charles Scribner's Sons. These and 
the following gifts to the library formed 
part of the Model Library at the Louisiana 
Purchase Exposition. 

742 volumes, from Houghton, Mifflin & 

Co. 

571 volumes, from Macmillan Co. 

259 volumes, from Harper & Brothers. 

245 volumes, from D. Appleton & Co. 

NEBRASKA 

OMAHA. Public Library. $10,000, to be used 
at the discretion of the governing board, a 
bequest from Frank Murphy. 

$40,000 for two branch libraries, from 

Andrew Carnegie. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE 

CLAREMONT. Fiske Free Library. $15,000 
for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

CONCORD. New Hampshire Historical So- 
ciety. $5000 for the building fund, from 
the trustees of the John H. Pearson fund. 

NEW JERSEY 

HACKENSACK. Johnson Public Library. $772 
for books, from citizens, raised by popular 
subscription. 



NEW BRUNSWICK. Theological Seminary 
Gardner A. Sage Library. $5200 not pre- 
viously reported, for the general endow- 
ment fund. 

Rutgers College Library. $1000 for fur- 
nishing, from Robert F. Ballantine, of 
Newark. 

NEWARK. Free Public Library. 500 volumes, 

from the Clark Thread Co. 
Collection of minerals, from Dr. W. S. 

Disbrow. 

New Jersey Historical Society. 630 vol- 
umes, from Henry Cougar. 

UNION. Free Public Library. $25,000 for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. Ac- 
cepted. 

$500 for an endowment fund, the in- 
come to be used for the purchase of books, 
from Dr. Albert W. Warden. 

WESTFIELD. Public Library. $10,000 for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. 

NEW YORK 

ALBANY. New York State Library. 300 vol- 
umes relating to medicine, from Dr. S. B. 
Ward. 

ALBION. Swan Library. $10,000, a bequest 
from Mrs. W. G. Swan. 

BATH. Davenport Library. $40,000, the in- 
come to be used for general library pur- 
poses, a bequest from Hon. Ira Davenport. 

A tract of land, known as "Cameron 

park," a bequest from Hon. Ira Davenport. 
The gift is conditioned on the continued 
use of the present library for library pur- 
poses and the park as a park. 

BINGHAMTON. Public Library. $1000 for 
books, from individuals, labor unions and 
a literary club. 

BROOKLYN. Pratt Institute Free Library. 99 
volumes relating to the history of furniture 
from the trustees. The collection was 
made by Alyan C. Nye, instructor in archi- 
tectural design in the institute from 1897- 
1904, in preparation for a history of furni- 
ture. Many of the books are very rare and 
valuable. 

GRAVESEND. High School Library. $10,000 
for the establishment of a free library in 
the school, a bequest from Cornelius S. 
Stryker. 

HERKIMER. Free Library. $5000 for an en- 
dowment, the income to be used for the 
purchase of books, from Judge Robert Earl. 
The gift was conditioned upon the raising 
of an equal amount. 

$5000, from various sources, to meet 

the condition imposed by Judge Earl. 

ITHACA. Cornell University Library. $500,- 
ooo, a bequest from Daniel Willard Fiske, 
formerly librarian of the university library 
and at the time of his death a resident of 
Florence, Italy. $500,000 is the estimated 



HARRISON 



117 



amount of Prof. Fiske's estate, including 
his Petrarch and Icelandic libraries, the 
largest collections on these subjects in ex- 
istence. Provisions of the will provide for 
an amanuensis for each collection as well 
as one for the Dante collection, given by 
Prof. Fiske to the library several years 
ago, for the publication of an annual vol- 
ume relating to Icelandic history .and lit- 
erature and for funds to maintain and in- 
crease each collection. 

Library Chi Chapter of Psi Upsilon. Be- 
quest from Daniel Willard Fiske providing 
a fund, the interest of which is to be used 
to supply the chapter library with 15 of the 
best American and European periodicals. 

NEW YORK. Hispanic Society of America. 
Archer M. Huntington has announced his 
intention (the deed of gift is said to have 
been executed) to give to the society his 
collection of Spanish books, manuscripts, 
coins, etc. The collection and endowment 
to be placed in the hands of trustees is es- 
timated at more than $1,000,000. (See 
Library Journal, Sept., 1904.) 

Mercantile Library Association. $1000, a 
bequest from George G. Williams. 

New York Historical Society. $150,000 
for a building, from Henry Dexter. 

Granite for the new building, valued at 

$50,000, from Henry Dexter. 
1975 volumes relating to the United 

States, from various members. 

Public Library. 642 volumes and 1587 
pamphlets, from the Century Association. 

2255 volumes and 1233 pamphlets, from 

the New York City Comptroller. 

'2568 volumes and 14,830 pamphlets, 

from the Y. M. C. A. Library. 

OYSTER BAY. Free Library. President 
Roosevelt has presented the mahogany 
chair given him while governor of New 
York. It bears a silver plate inscribed. 
"State of New York. Theodore Roosevelt, 
Governor 1898-1900." 

POUCH KEEPSIE. Vassar College Library. 
$500 for an endowment fund, the income to 
be used for the purchase of books relating 
to history, from Miss Mary A. Mivicah. 

270 volumes, a bequest from Mrs. E. L. 

McMahon. 

ROCHESTER. University of Rochester Library. 
$5000 for an endowment fund, the income 
to be used for the purchase of books, from 
Edwin O. Sage. 

$4500, from Hiram W. Sibley, for ex- 
tensive improvements in Sibley Hall, the 
library building. (This is in addition to the 
$10,500 reported last year.) 

924 volumes, musical literature and 

scores, valued at $3000, from Hiram W. 
Sibley. 

ROUSE'S POINT. Public Library. $6000 for a 
building, a bequest from Dr. Lynn Dodge. 



ROUSE'S POINT. Public Library. $4000 for 
books, a bequest from Dr. Lynn Dodge. 

SCHENECTADY. Free Public Library. $1000, 
a bequest without conditions from Howland 
S. Barney. 

SENECA FALLS. Library Association. A sub- 
stantial brick, roomy and centrally located 
building, locally known as the "Munroe 
residence," from Wilhelmus Mynderse. 
The dwelling will be altered and adapted 
for use as a library. 

SYRACUSE. University of Syracuse Library. 
$150,000 for a building from Andrew Car- 
negie, on condition that an equal amount 
be raised for an endowment. The amount 
is now being raised. 

$100,000 for an endowment, a bequest 

from Mrs. Caroline S. Reid. 

UTICA. Public Library. Collection of auto- 
graph letters of the Presidents from Wash- 
ington to Roosevelt; also engravings and 
sketches, mounted in winged case. 

WEST CHAZY. Public Library. $3000 for 
a building, a bequest from Dr. Lynn Dodge. 

'$2000 for books, a bequest from Dr. 

Lynn Dodge. 

NORTH DAKOTA 

UNIVERSITY. Library of the State University 
of North Dakota. 1595 volumes, from Mrs. 
John M. Cochrane. 

452 N volumes, from Hon. M. N. Johnson, 

of Petersburg, N. D. 

OHIO 

CINCINNATI. Public Library. $20,000 for a 
building at Norwood, from Andrew Car- 
negie. (Norwood is within Hamilton 
county, all of which is served by the Public 
Library of Cincinnati.) 

Site at Norwood, valued at $5000, from 

Edward Mills. 

CLETOLAND. Adelbert College of Western 
Reserve University Library. $500 for 
books, from Hon. John Hay. 

Public Library. 638 volumes relating to 
folk-lore and oriental literature, from John 
G. White. 

331 volumes relating to oriental litera- 
ture. 

DELAWARE. Ohio Wesleyan University Li- 
brary. $600 for books relating to classical 
philology and literature, from Prof. John 
Williams White, of Harvard. 

800 volumes relating to philosophy, the- 
ology and political science, from ex-Presi- 
dent J. W. Bashford. 

300 volumes relating to political science, 

from Charles B. Spahr, of New York. 

FREMONT. Birchard Library. $2500, a be- 
quest from Mrs. Elizabeth Green Kelly, of 
Chicago. 

LANCASTER. Public Library. $5000, a be- 
quest from W. W. Card, of Pittsburg. 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



YOUNGSTOWN. Reuben McMillan Free Li- 
brary. Property adjacent to the library, 
valued at $10,000, from . Mrs. Richard 
Brown. 

OREGON 

PORTLAND. Library Association of Portland. 
$500 for art books, from Miss Mary F. 
Failing. The gift is a memorial to her 
father, Henry Failing, late trustee and 
president of the association. 

PENNSYLVANIA 

ALLEGHENY. Western Theological Seminary. 
3000 volumes relating to theology, a bequest 
from the Rev. Dr. W. G. Taylor, of Beaver, 
Pa. 

BRADDOCK. Carnegie Free Library. $35,000 
for improvements to the building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

EASTON. Public Library. $750 for the pur- 
chase of photographs of famous paintings, 
statues and buildings and case. 

HOMESTEAD. Carnegie Library. $35,000 for 
improvements to the building, from An- 
drew Carnegie. 

HUNTINGDON. Juniata College Library. 750 
volumes relating to religion, from the heirs 
of James Quinter. 

PHILADELPHIA. Drexel Institute Library. 
330 volumes, an addition to a large collec- 
tion given in 1898, from George M. Stand- 
ish. 

Free Library. Lot, 190 by 180 feet, Tor- 
resdale avenue and Knarr street, from 
Messrs. Disston. 

Lot, 150 by 66 feet, Frankford avenue 

and Overington street, from T. Comly 

Hunter. 

Lot, 80 by 99 feet, I7th and Spring Gar- 

>den streets, from Burnham, Williams & 

Co. (Baldwin Locomotive Works). 
Lot, loo by 159 feet, Frankford avenue 

and Hartel street, from the trustees of 

Lower Dublin Academy. 
Lot, loo by loo feet, Manayunk avenue 

and Osborne street, from A. & P. Roberts 

Co. (Pencoyd Iron Works). 

Mercantile Library. $1000, a bequest from 
Hiram Bro6k. 

WILLIAM SPORT. Public Library. $300,000, a 
bequest from James V. Brown. This is ad- 
ditional to the $150,000 reported in 1903. 

RHODE ISLAND 

PROVIDENCE. Brown University Library. 
$1000, an additional donation to the general 
library fund from Henry D. Sharpe. 

The Hartshorn daguerreotype of Edgar 

Allan Poe, presented by him to Mrs. Sarah 
Helen Whitman, from Miss Hortense 
Webster. 

John Carter Brown Library. 58 vol- 
umes, comprising prayer and service books, 
from Mrs. Harold Brown. The collection 
is valued at $27,825. 



PROVIDENCE. Public Library. $1000, a be- 
quest from Mrs. Philip Allen. 

SOUTH DAKOTA 

PIERRE. Carnegie Library. $12,500 for a 
building, from Andrew Carnegie. Ac- 
cepted. 

$10,000, from various citizens. 

$5000 for site, from Heughes Co. 

YANKTON. Yankton College Library. $17,- 
ooo for a building, from Andrew Carnegie. 
Accepted and building now in process of 
erection. 

TENNESSEE 

JOHNSON CITY. Johnson City Library. $500 
for books, a bequest from Mrs. J. C. Hunt. 

KNOXVILLE, Lawson McGhee Library. 1017 
volumes, from Miss Humes. 

TEXAS 

AUSTIN. University of Texas Library. 2700 
volumes, from Hon. John H. Reagan. 

641 law books, from Judge Robert S. 

Gould. 

Unbound volumes of engineering pe- 
riodicals, valued at $600. 

VIRGINIA 

CHARLOTTESVILLE. Library of the University 
of Virginia. 4000 volumes, constituting the 
private library of the late Prof. Thomas R. 
Price, of Columbia University, from Mrs. 
Price. 

1200 law books, from Bradley S. John- 
son. 

250 volumes relating to science, from 

Rev. Haslett McKim. 

NORFOLK. Public Library. $1230 for an 
equipment fund, from various persons. 

WASHINGTON 

SEATTLE. Public Library. $20,000 additional 

for a building, from Andrew Carnegie, 

making a total gift of $220,000. 
WALLA WALLA. Free Public Library. Site 

valued at $3000, from Mr. and Mrs. T. C. 

Elliott 

WISCONSIN 

APPLETON. Laivr { ence University Library. 
$1000, from a friend. 

KAUKAUNA. Free Public Library. Site 
valued at $1000, from the Green Bay and 
Mississippi Canal Co. 

MADISON. State Historical Society. Oil 
painting, "Landfall of Nicolet in Wiscon- 
sin," by Edwin Willard Deming, valued at 
$1200, from Robert Laird McCormick, ex- 
president of the society. 

Collection of 50 etchings, earliest im- 
pressions from the original plates, of ruins 
at Rome and Tivoli, by Giovanni Battista 
Piranesi, purchased with money raised by 
special subscription among the members of 
the society. The etchings cost $700. 



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North Atlantic Division 
South Atlantic Division 

South Central Division 
Western Division 




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fund. 


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known (mostly 
bequests and 
probably gener- 
ally used as en- 
dowment funds). 


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10 

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Building and 
equipment. 


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SUMMARY BY SECT 


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Site. 

No. (includ- 
ing offers). 


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Building and site, 
value known. 

Building and site, 
value not known. 


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VJ 

po 


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Site, value not 
known. 

Endowment. 


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Money. 


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U) U U H * 


Ul CO- 


i 


^ M CO Ul 




Volumes. 


K> Ul* Ul VI 

Ul OJ Ul O NO 




H 




ui * O 


CONO O 
M CO O Nl 


J\ ^ M 00 
3 M VJ -g 


Ul 

O o ; 




i ~*0 g Ui 
P" * * "H 


? 

iT 


ONO*' -S 








vl Ul 

88 






r 


f 


:' 






u 

vl 

"oo^ 




Collections, 
value known. 


Miscellaneous. 


-+ 

s 


U 00 
















: 


: 


H H 




H W * * 




Collections, 
value not known. 


s 


Hi 








-So 








: 




M 




M 




Pictures, busts, 
etc. 


VI 


H j 0> 








- 












; 




- ;. 




Other objects. 



120 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



ANDREW CARNEGIE'S GIFTS TO LIBRARIES, 1881-1904.* 



Name of State or Country. 


Total 
Population. 


Aggregate 
of Population 
Served with 
Carnegie 
Libraries. 


Amount Giv- 
en or Prom- 
ised for 
Erection of 
Buildings. 


Number Towns 
with Carnegie 
Libraries. 


Number Carne- 
gie Libraries. 


Percentage of 
whole Popula- 
tion Supplied. 


Alaska 


63.59* 
1,828,697 
122,931 
1,31 '.564 
1,485,053 
539,7 
908,420 
184,735 
278,718 
523,542 
2,216,331 
161,770 
4,821,550 
2,516,462 
392,060 

2, 23 ',853 
',470,495 

*,i47,i74 
'.381,625 
694,466 
1,188,044 
2,805,346 
2,420,982 
1,751,394 
1,551,270 
3,106,665 
243,329 
1,066,300 
42,335 
411,588 
1,883,669 
i95,3io 
7,268,894 
1,893,810 
319,146 
4,157,545 
398,331 
413,539 
6,302,115 
428,556 
1,340,316 
401,570 
3,048,710 
2,020,616 
276,749 
343,641 
1,854,184 
518,103 
958,800 
2,069,042 
92,531 

76,058,167 
955,243 
5,579,666 
4,472,000 
32,527,843 
4,458,775 
3,^98,284 
874,267 
177,072 
1,350,000 


50,987 
16,834 

584,451 
222,798 
6,125 

218,196 
60,015 
182,343 
10,866 
419,060 
382,685 
8,890 
350,340 
141,412 
354,747 
293,784 
77,965 
32,798 
147,607 
522,781 
170,614 

695,863 

3t '$ 
101,662 

4,5<x> 
58,000 
266,731 
5,601 
4,050,112 
59>"o 
73>723 
1,256,980 
30,332 
92,716 
2 > I0 3,93' 

'6,795 
34,887 
285,297 
135,440 
16,313 , 
24,449 " 
138,123 
'88,933 
23,626 
-296,960 
25,963 

14,274,832 
32,048 
1,051,213 
',934,504 
6,243,809 
746,587 

71,39 
34,809 
25,500 


$ 90,000 
54,000 

'.S^.Soo 
433,5oo 
20,000 

700,000 
90,000 
267,500 
40,000 
1,038,250 
963,000 
25,000 
938,500 
265,000 
533,5oo 
260,000 
176,000 
55,000 
361,000 
1,301,200 
409,000 

',"327,500 
95,000 
210,000 
15,000 
137,000 
512,000 
20,000 
6,360,000 
100,000 
77,700 
1,713,500 
88,500 
110,000 
6,612,930 

25,000 
126,500 
^ 483,500 
195,000 
25,000 
65,000 
180,000 
432,500 
60,000 
692,000 
92,500 

29,094,080 
100,000 
',475,500 
',970,550 
5,938,610 
598,000 

91,250 
35,250 
22,000 


s 

30 

II 

I 

I 

8 
3 
53 
45 

2 

5' 

12 
IO 
2 
II 

3 

21 

29 
28 

'5 
7 
7 

j 

2 

39 
4 

5 
52 
5 

2 

34 

2 

9 
'9 

5 

i 

2 

3 
9 

2 

33 

4 

619 
I 
45 
7i 
275 
30 

5 

i 
I 


5 
3 

35 
ii 

i 

7 
3 

9 
3 

53 
45 

2 
52 
12 
IO 

5 
ii 

3 

21 

34 
28 

25 
7 
7 

i 

18 

2 
119 

4 

63 

5 

2 
70 

2 

9 
'9 
5 

i 

2 

3 

9 

2 

33 

4 

779 

i 
48 

IO2 

3'7 

36 

5 

i 
i 


2.8 

'3-3 

39-7 

4'-3 
.6 

78.4 
11.9 

8.2 

6 6 
8.7 
15-2 
2-3 
16.1 
9.4 
16.5 
21-3 

II. 2 

-9 
S< 

21.6 

9-7 

22.4 

9-5 

9-5 
10.6 
14.1 
18.0 
2.9 
55-7 
3-' 
7-4 
30.2 
7-6 
22.4 
33-4 

i. a 
8-7 
9-3 
6-7 
5-9 
7-' 
7-4 
36.5 
2-5 
'4-3 
'28 o 

'8.7 
3 4 
18.8 

43-3 
18.2 
16.8 

8.2 

19.6 

2.0 












Connecticut 




Dist of Col 


Florida 




Idaho - 










































New York 


North Carolina * * ... 




Ohio 








Rhode Island 


South Carolina 


South Dakota 


Texas 




Utah 








West Virginia 






UNITED STATES 


PORTO RICO 


CANADA 


SCOTLAND 


ENGLAND 


IRELAND 


AUSTRALIA 


NEW ZEALAND 


TASMANIA . 


WEST INDIES 






130,049,317 


24,414,692 


$39,325,240 . 


1,048 


1,290 


I8. 7 





This dates from the first offer, made to Pittsburgh Nov. 25, 1881. 



PLUMMER 



121 



REPORT ON STANDARDS OF LIBRARY TRAINING 

BY A.L. A. COMMITTEE ON LIBRARY TRAINING: MARY W. PLUMMER, SALOME C. FAIRCHILD, 
KATHARINE L. SHARP, ALICE B. KROEGER, MARY E. ROBBINS, EDWIN H. ANDERSON. 



'T'HE committee, composed of six persons, 
has been obliged to do all its work by 
correspondence, with the disadvantages that 
that implies. The chairman, as a means of 
starting discussion, has assumed certain 
standards to be desirable, and sent them out 
to be debated in writing. Various differences 
of opinion have come to light, and it is a ques- 
tion whether it can make unanimous recom- 
mendation on some points. 

ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS. The subject of 
entrance requirements for admission to the 
established winter schools was first discussed. 
One member expressed no opinion, and the 
remainder of the committee were ready to 
agree on two or three years' work beyond 
high school graduation, two members pre- 
ferring three years of college, and three pre : 
ferring to set the requirement' at two years. 
Literature, history, and foreign languages 
were suggested as the predominant subjects 
in college-preparation for the work, while 
two of the committee expressed a desire to 
include economics and natural science, par- 
ticularly physics ; and while no one of the 
committee objected to an examination for 
entrance, in lieu of the college residence re- 
quirement, one member desired questions in 
economics and natural science to be included 
in this examination. All five who discussed 
the requirements lay stress on personal fit- 
ness for library work, though one member 
thinks this can only be ascertained by trial. 

For summer library schools, the committee 
unanimously recommend as an entrance re- 
quirement that the applicant hold a paid posi- 
tion as librarian or library assistant, or a 
definite written appointment to a library posi- 
tion. Two members favor an educational re- 
quirement in addition, such as the completion 
of a high school course or its equivalent. 

For entrance to an apprentice-class, when 
apprentices are trained with the probability 
and expectation of being employed by other 
libraries, four of the committee recommend 
two years of college work, including fifteen 
hours weekly of literature and history, two 



being willing to substitute a test by examina- 
tion, and one of these suggesting the subjects 
as general literature, history, and current 
events. 

For entrance to correspondence courses, 
four members of the committee considered 
it absolutely necessary that the applicant 
should have a paid position as librarian or 
library assistant, or a definite written ap- 
pointment to a library position. The remain- 
ing members disapprove altogether of cor- 
respondence courses. 

INSTRUCTION 

Recommendations as to instruction for 
library schools: 

1. That at least one-third of the school 
instructors shall have been trained in a 
recognized library school ; one member sug- 
gests that the remaining instructors should 
have had practical experience in library work 
or wide academic training. 

2. That at least one-third of the instructors 
shall have had experience in other libraries 
than that connected with the school. 

3. One member of the committee feels that 
one-half the instructors should give their en- 
tire time to the school, another suggests that 
one-third of the faculty should be the propor- 
tion, while two think that the instructors 
should have regular library duties, in addi- 
tion to their work as teachers. A fifth mem- 
ber believes that "instructors are better in- 
structors if they keep in close touch with 
practical library work." This might be ac- 
complished, it would seem, without being sub- 
ject to the embarrassing limitations of li- 
brary hours and assigned duties, and the 
chairman does not know on which side to 
count this opinion. 

4. That for laboratory work there be at 
least one instructor to every ten students. 
Recommended by the only members who dis- 
cussed the point. 

5. Three members recommend that at least 
one-sixth of the student's time be given to 
actual work in the library connected with 



122 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



the school, or in some other where it can be 
supervised by the school. 
For summer library schools: 

1. Recommended that at least one person in 
the corps of instructors shall have been 
trained in a library school. Not discussed at 
all by four members. 

2. That at least two persons in the corps 
of instructors shall have had experience in 
other libraries than the one connected with 
the school. Not discussed by four members. 

3. That there be at least one instructor to 
every fifteen students. Not discussed by four. 

4. That at least one-fourth of the work for 
beginners, entering the school on appointment 
to a position, be practical library work. While 
this was thought desirable, two of the com- 
mittee doubted if it were practicable. 

For apprentice classes: 

1. Recommended that the apprentice shall 
receive instruction as well as be allowed to 
practice in the library offering the appren- 
ticeship. Three members did not discuss this. 

2. That this instruction be in all depart- 
ments of the library's work, except the ad- 
ministrative. Not discussed by three. 

3. That the course be not less than six 
months in length and the time spent in in- 
struction and practice not less than twenty- 
four hours weekly. Not discussed by three. 

4. That at least one-half hour each day be 
devoted to a course of required reading. Not 
discussed. 

It should be said that one member thought 
the committee had no jurisdiction to fix 
standards for apprentice-classes, as being an 
affair of the individual library; and the chair- 
man would, therefore, call attention again to 
the fact that only such apprentice-classes are 
intended by this recommendation as are 
taught with a view to securing positions in 
other libraries. 

In all schools or classes, one member of 
the committee recommended that each in- 
structor possess the knowledge, the natural 
fitness, training, and experience which shall 
make him or her fully competent to teach the 
subject undertaken. Not discussed by five. 

TESTS AND CREDENTIALS 

For library schools: 

Recommended that a certificate or diploma 
be given at the end of the course, which shall 



certify only to the satisfactory completion of 
the course and fulfillment of tests; not to 
fitness for library work, which should be a 
question referred to the school in the indi- 
vidual case, for recommendation. It was 
agreed that a graduate might be likely to suc- 
ceed in some lines and not in others, and that 
very few can be guaranteed at the outset/ 

Three members were convinced .of the ne- 
cessity of this caution, two thought the fact 
should be taken for granted. 

It should be stated that the sixth member 
of the committee, Mr. Anderson, had with- 
drawn by the time this question and the fol- 
lowing were sent on their rounds. 
For summer schools: 

That a pass-card, rather than a certificate, 
be given to the librarian or assistant who has 
satisfactorily done the work of the course and 
fulfilled tests. If different work is taken each 
summer, the pass-cards may come in time to 
amount to a full-course certificate. 

Two members" preferred the pass-card, two 
had no objection to the certificate, while the 
fifth member thought that whatever form was 
used that being sometimes decided by the 
institution with which the summer school 
was connected this form should plainly 
state that it was a summer school course. To 
this, the committee as a whole would sub- 
scribe, I think. 
For apprentice-classes: 

No certificate or general letter, but a spe- 
cific letter when the applicant becomes a can- 
didate for a given position. 

Three members 'agreed on this, the other 
two doubting in general if the committee has 
any right to deal with the subject of appren- 
tice-classes. 

MINIMUM NUMBER AND LIST OF SUBJECTS FOR 

WHICH CERTIFICATE OR DIPLOMA SHOULD 

BE GIVEN 

It was the belief of three of the committee 
that some minimum should be agreed on, and 
of all that the committee's present report was 
not the place. However, the list submitted to 
the committee for discussion was as follows: 
For library schools: 

i Decimal, 
Classification < ^ 

| Expansive. 

Classed 
Cataloging 



FIRST SESSION 



123 



Library economy 



f Accession work 
Shelf-listing 
Loan systems 
Binding and rebinding 
Supplies and statistics 
[ Order work, 
work lectures and practical 



I 



Reference 
problems. 

Bibliography, trade. 

Book selection. 
For summer library schools: 

Same, except classed cataloging and Ex- 
pansive classification, with a pass-card to 
show which subjects were completed in any 
one summer. 
For apprentice classes: 

Same as for summer schools, with the excep- 
tion of trade bibliography and book-selection. 

These exceptions were made in the case 
of the summer schools and apprentice-classes, 
not because the subjects were not considered 
desirable, but because in so short a time it 
seemed impossible to do justice to so many 
subjects, and these seemed to be the ones for 
which the library assistant taking a short 
course would have least use. 



As the Association will see, there is unanim- 
ity on almost nothing, which shows two 
things : first, that the library schools are 
themselves somewhat uncertain as yet as to 
the necessary foundations of their work, 
and second, that it is time thought was 
being given to the subject. The com- 
mittee would be glad to assist as indi- 
viduals, as far as may be, in the work ot 
fixing standards; but as a committee, begs to 
be discharged. 

It would call attention to the recommenda- 
tion made at Niagara Falls that a standing 
committee be formed of eight persons, selected 
from specified fields of library work, to report 
regularly each year on all known sources of 
library training. As the number eight would 
make this action unconstitutional (only five 
being allowed by the by-laws), and as eight 
persons seem necessary to cover the required 
library relationships, the committee suggests 
that section 6 of the by-laws be suspended, 
and authority granted to the executive com- 
mittee to appoint a committee of eight in ac- 
cordance with the recommendation -made by 
the committee at Niagara Falls. 



THE PROCEEDINGS 



PORTLAND, OREGON, TUESDAY, JULY 4, TO FRIDAY, JULY 7, 1905 



FIRST SESSION 

(MAIN AUDIENCE ROOM, UNITARIAN CHURCH, 
TUESDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 4) 

THE first general session of the Portland 
Conference was called to order by the presi- 
dent, Dr. E. C. RICHARDSON, at 2.40 o'clock. 
After local and general announcements the 
regular business was opened with the presen- 
tation by J. I. WYER, Jr., of his 

SECRETARY'S REPORT 

Mr. WYER. The records of the Associa- 
tion show a paid membership for the calendar 



year 1904 of 1228, showing, in common with, 
each year of the Association's history, a sligfit 
increase in membership, so that the figures 
1228 indicate the largest enrollment of paid 
membership for any year of the 28 in the As- 
sociation's history. 

The work of the secretary's office may be 
indicated by a brief list of the publications 
issued, and it has always been found to be 
a helpful statement to include those in the 
secretary's report, for the benefit of his suc- 
cessor. The preliminary announcement, 4500 
copies, mailed in February; the final an- 
nouncement, 3200, mailed in June ; the pro- 
gram distributed at this meeting, 700; the 



I2 4 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



advance attendance register, 500, distributed 
at this meeting also; several minor circulars, 
a circular (200 copies) to delinquent mem- 
bers more than a year in arrears on their 
dues, and another circular (250 copies) to 
Pacific Coast library workers, especially de- 
signed to interest them in the Portland meet- 
ing, have been sent out during the year. 

You will notice the absence of the Hand- 
book title, which has been regularly printed 
every year for the last eight or ten, and it is 
not designed to omit it this year; but the 
custom of printing the Handbook immediately 
preceding the annual meeting has rendered its 
list of officers and committees obsolete within 
four or five weeks, and the list of members 
also a regular feature of each year's Hand- 
book is defective or is not as inclusive as 
it might be if made to include those in at- 
tendance at the conference held immediately 
after its publication. For these reasons the 
annual Handbook for 1905 will be printed in 
September, including all names registered in 
attendance at this conference as members of 
the Association, and including, to make it 
an exact and complete record, the officers 
and committees which are serving at this 
meeting and those which will be elected at 
this meeting to serve for the ensuing year. 

It is worth noting as a significant step for 
the future that discussion has turned upon 
the appointment, as soon as circumstances 
will permit, of a permanent secretary and this 
has found expression during the past year in 
the appointment of an assistant secretary 
who shall work into the duties of the office 
of secretary and shall be able to relieve the 
secretary's office of some of the routine and 
the detailed work. If that were all it would 
hardly be as significant as I have indicated, 
but there are larger aspects of the duties of 
the secretary's office, such as pertain espec- 
ially to the permanent headquarters, of which 
we have heard more or less in the last two 
or three years the field work, the work of 
disseminating information in response to in- 
quiries, the work of securing an endowment 
for the working purposes of the Association, 
somewhat similar to that enjoyed by the -Na- 
tional Educational Association. All these 



duties, and they are of course the most im- 
portant duties pertaining to the office of the 
secretary, have necessarily been imperfectly 
attempted, if attempted at all, so long as a 
new secretary has been appointed every year 
or two, so long as every secretary has been 
always a very busy man apart from the duties 
pertaining to the Association. 

It is with the view of remedying this and 
of providing for someone who may be able to 
devote the greater portion of his time to 
these important features of the Association 
work that steps have been taken, upon which 
we all may congratulate ourselves, looking^ 
toward more leisure in executive hands for 
the prosecution of these features of the work. 
It is rather more difficult, in connection with 
our association, to do this, than with the 
National Educational Association. They 
number their members in the thousands, and 
while there is no greater proportion, proba- 
bly not so great a proportion, of active teach- 
ers" in the country that are members of the 
N. E A. as there are of librarians who are 
members of our association, still they show 
an enrollment, based upon reduced railroad 
rates and pleasant excursions in connection 
with their meetings, of thousands and thou- 
sands of names, and the conditions attached 
to these rates bring $2 for every member into 
the association treasury, so they have been 
able to accumulate an endowment of a hun- 
dred or two hundred thousand dollars, to which 
is added every year a substantial fund. 

We have worked more slowly, added to our 
numbers perhaps more legitimately and our 
membership has always represented the earnest 
working members of the body of librarians in 
the country, and on this account we have been 
unable to employ a competent permanent sec- 
retary on full time and to engage in print- 
ing and investigating along lines similar to 
those which the N. E. A. has been able to do 
by virtue of its large fund. It is earnestly 
to be hoped that the efforts inaugurated dur- 
ing the past year looking toward this in- 
creased attention to the wider interests of the 
Association may yield speedy and substantial 
results. 

GARDNER M. JONES presented the 



FIRST SESSION 



TREASURER'S REPORT 
Balance on hand, Jan. I, 1904 (St. Louis conference, p. 196) $328.66 

Receipts, Jan.-Dec., 1904 
Fees from annual members : 

From 2 members for 1902 

77 1903 

iiSS 1904 

ii " " 1905 

1245 @$2 $2490.00 

Fees from library members : 

From 30 libraries for 1904, @ $5 150.00 

2640.00 
Life memberships : 

Frank B. Bigelow, J. I. Wyer, Jr., Mary Francis, Katharine P. 

Loring, Lodilla Ambrose, William Beer 6@$25 150.00 

Inside Inn, repayment of deposit 100.00 

Found at conference .25 

Interest on deposit in Merchants National Bank 41.02 

$3259.93 

Payments, Jan.-Dec., 1904 
Proceedings : 

Mar. ii. Publishers' Weekly, reprint of proceedings of Trustees' 

Section 7.50 

Dec. 14. M. L. Vanduzee, copying 6.00 

" 14. H. R. Greene, copying 5.12 

18.62 
Stenographer : 

Dec. 14. C. H. Bailey, reporting St. Louis conference 150.00 

Handbook : 

Oct. 8. Jacob North & Co 129.50 

Secretary's salary: 

Feb. 25. J. I. Wyer, Jr., $25.00; May 24, .$75.00; Oct. 22, $100.00; 

Dec. 14, $50.00 250.00 

Secretary's and conference expenses : 

Apr. 20. E. R. Sizer, postage 2.00 

Aug. 2. J. I. Wyer, Jr., stamped envelopes 55.00 

" 12. postage 8.00 

" 31- postage, etc 57.48 

Sept. 17. Woodruff-Collins Pr. Co., circulars 27.70 

" 17. J. I. Wyer, Jr., envelopes, clerical assistance, etc 48.59 

Oct. 22. J. I. Wyer, Jr., conference expenses 120.95 

Dec. 12. Library Bureau, Chicago, stationery 7.20 

" 12. Jacob North & Co., advance attendance register 25.00 

" 12. Woodruff-Collins Pr. Co., programs 18.00 

" 14. G. E. Benz & Co., buttons 10.00 

" 14. J. I. Wyer, Jr., postage, etc 5.25 

385-.I7 
Treasurer's expenses : 

Dec. 12. Gardner M. Jones, travel expenses attending conference. 73.20 

14. Library Bureau, Boston, catalog slips i.oo 

" 15. Gardner M. Jones, stamped envelopes 42.80 

" 31. Newcomb & Gauss, stationery 9.50 

" 31. Gardner M. Jones, clerical assistance, etc 36.04 

$162.54 



126 PORTLAND CONFERENCE 

Committee on relations with the booktrade: 

Jan. 19. Baker Printing Co., bulletins $I3-5O 

" 19. J. Laurier, stationery and printing 2.50 

" 19. M. G. Eichenauer, clerical work i.oo 

Mar. 11. Baker Printing Co., bulletins 30.00 

Apr. 8. J. Laurier, stationery 1.50 

May 1 1. Baker Printing Co., bulletins 15.00 

" ii. Library Bureau, Chicago, postage and mailing 12.00 

June 18. Baker Printing Co., bulletins 15.00 

" 18. J. C. Dana, postage and express 5.10 

Aug. 2. J. C. Dana, postage and express 2.70 

" 2. New York Public Library, postage 2.80 

" 24. Baker Printing Co., bulletins. 10.00 

" 24. Library Bureau, Chicago, postage and mailing 16.76 

" 24. B. C. Steiner, travel expenses 8.00 

Sept. 17. J. C. Dana, postage, etc 2.10 

" 17. Baker Printing Co., bulletins 6.00 

Oct. 8. Library Bureau, Chicago, postage and mailing 25.08 

Dec. 12. Baker Printing Co., bulletins . . < 5.75 

" 12. J. C. Dana, express i.oo 

" 14. B. C. Steiner, travel expenses 8.50 

" 31. J. Laurier, stationery 5.00 

$189.29 
Committees, Sections, etc. : 

Aug. 2. Snow & Farnham, circulars for reporter on gifts and 

bequests 23.12 

" 2. Herbert Putnam, postage and telegrams 14.02 

Oct. 22. World's Fair Program Co., report of committee on per- 
manent headquarters I i.oo 

" 22. F. W. Faxon, expenses of travel committee 27.00 

Dec. 12. Library Bureau, Boston, cards for registration 8.56 

" 12. Woodruff-Collins Pr. Co., report committee on library 

administration 24.00 

" 31. F. W. Faxon, expenses travel committee 14.00 



121.64 

1406.76 
Trustees of the endowment fund : 

Life memberships for investment 125.00 

Inside Inn, St. Louis, deposit to secure rooms for foreign delegates 100.00 

Balance on hand, Dec. 31, 1904: 

Deposit in New England Trust Co., Boston 27.10 

Deposit in Merchants National Bank, Salem 185.05 

Deposit in Merchants National Bank, Salem, Savings Dept 1416.02 



1628.17 
$3259.93 

The number of members in good standing on During the year 1904, 264 new members 
Dec. 31, 1904, is as follows: joined the Association, and 5 members died. 

GARDNER M. JONES, Treasurer. 

?eT P Sme e T:::::-:::.:::::::::: ? * ****** *>* <* ^ **- 

Life fellows 2 pended: 

Life members 44 These accounts have been duly audited by 

Annual members (paid for 1904)! 1142 tne finance committee and are found to be 

Library members (paid for 1904) 30 correct, the proper vouchers being shown. 

S. W. Foss. 

T. E. MACURDY. 

1228 DREW B. HALL. 



FIRST SESSION 



127 



Necrology 

1. Minnie L. Benham (A. L. A. no. 3012, 
1904) died on March 4, 1905, of heart failure, 
after an illness of two weeks. She was a 
graduate of Ingham University, Le Roy, N. 
Y., and of the Pratt Institute Library School, 
class of 1904. On graduation she was ap- 
pointed secretary and reviser of the school, 
in which position she gave entire satisfaction. 
She joined the A. L. A. in 1904, but had at- 
tended none of the conferences. 

2. John Elmendorf Brandegee (A. L. A. 
no. 1228, 1893) died at his residence in Utica, 
N. Y., on Monday, May i, 1905. He was 
born in Litchfield, Conn., in 1853, and was the 
oldest son of Rev. John J. Brandegee, 
who went to Utica in 1854 and was for many 
years rector of Grace Church. Mr. Bran- 
degee was educated in the Utica public 
schools and at Trinity College, graduating in 
1874. Later he entered Columbia College 
Law School and after graduation practiced 
law in Utica. He was a lawyer of remark- 
able ability and was in earlier years promin- 
ent in politics, but his strongest interest was 
in educational affairs. He was a member of 
the Utica board of school commissioners for 
9 years and trustee of the public library for 
12 years. In both positions he gave freely of 
his time, his advice and his best effort. He 
had been a member of the A. L. A. since 1893 
and had attended the Cleveland and Chautau- 
qua conferences. He was also a member of 
the New York State Library Association of 
which he had been vice-president. Mr. Bran- 
degee was a man of most modest and retiring 



nature and his circle of library acquaintance 
was not an extended one, but those who knew 
him realized and appreciated his sterling 
qualities of mind and heart. 

Library Journal, May, 1005. 

3. George W. Williams (A. L. A. no. 1369, 
J895) died at his home in Salem, Mass., on 
May 31, 1905. He was born in Salem, Oct. 2, 
1838, and was the son of Charles Williams, 
a former Salem shipmaster. He was edu- 
cated in the Salem schools and afterward 
engaged in mercantile pursuits. In early 
years he was a commercial traveller and af- 
terwards held a responsible financial position 
with one of the largest shoe manufacturing 
concerns in New England. Of late years he 
had been treasurer of the Security Safe De- 
posit and Trust Co., of Lynn. He was one 
of the original board of trustees of the Salem 
Public Library elected in 1888, and served 
as treasurer of the board until his death. He 
was a life member of the A. L. A., which he 
joined in 1895 and which he had served since 
1897 as trustee of the endowment fund. 
He was also a member of the Massachusetts 
Library Club. 

DR. PUTNAM. Mr President, I suppose it 
is in order to move the acceptance of this re- 
port, but in behalf of the conscience of the 
Association I should like to raise a query. 
I didn't notice any statement of a payment for 
advertising that "25 cents found." Subject to 
that qualm I move its acceptance. (Laughter.) 

The secretary's and treasurer's reports were 
accepted, and in the absence of Charles C. 
Soule, the secretary, Mr. WYER read the 



REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE ENDOWMENT FUND, FROM DATE OF LAST REPORT, 

Sept. i, 1904, to May 31, 1905 

CASH ACCOUNT 

Receipts 

1904, Sept. i. Balance brought over $6368.47 

19. Two life memberships Mary Francis and Katherine 

P. Loring 50.00 

Nov. 3. Life membership, Lodilla Ambrose.... 25.00 

Dec. 3. Interest, International Trust Co 19.73 

29. Interest on Watson mortgage 62.50 

1905, Jan. 5. Life membership, William Beer 25.00 

9. Interest, Brookline Savings Bank 24.12 

Mar. 31. Interest, Union Trust Co 1734.25 

Apr. 3. Principal acct., Union Trust Co 4825.00 



15. Dividend, Chelsea Savings Bank. 
May 31. Interest, Union Trust Co 



20.00 
478.38 



$13,632.45 



128 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



Payments 



1904, Sept. 21. Deposit in Chelsea Savings Bank $1000.00 

1905. Mar. 20. To A. L. A. Publishing Board 1000.00 

Apr. 6. Kidder, Peabody & Co., for five Amer. Tel. & Tel. Co. 

4 per cent bonds @ 96^ 4825.00 

For accrued interest on same 52.78 

May 24. To J. I. Wyer, Jr., sec., for expenses of committee on 

bookbinding. 50.00 

24. To E. C. Hovey, two-thirds of salary as asst. sec., from 
Apr. 24 to May 24 (remaining one-third paid by 
Publishing Board 83.34 

1905, Redeposited: 

Chelsea Savings Bank, dividend 20.00 

Brookline Savings Bank : 

Interest, Jan. 12, 1903 44.16 

Interest, July 1 1, 1904 69.60 

Interest, Jan. 9, 1905 24.12 

137.88 
Union Trust Co., interest, May 31 478.38 

636.26 
May 31. Balance on deposit with International 

Trust Co., Boston 5985.07 

$13,632.45 

CONDITION OF PERMANENT FUNDS 

Carnegie Fund (same as last report) 100,000.00 

A. L. A. Endowment Fund : 

Amount at last report 6337.94 

Four life memberships (see cash account above). 100.00 

6437.94 

ASSETS, MAY 3!, 1905 

Carnegie Fund (principal) : 

On deposit Union Trust Co., N. Y 95>i75.oo 

Five ($1000) Amer. Tel. & Tel. 4% bonds at cost, 9614 (present 

quotation 99%) 4825.00 

100,000.00 
A. L. A. Endowment Fund (principal) : 

Principal On deposit Brookline Savings Bank 1231.10 

On deposit Chelsea Savings Bank 1020.00 

Watson mortgage (South Boston) 2500.00 

On deposit International Trust Co 1686.84 

6437.94 

Carnegie Fund (unexpended interest, available for use of Publishing 
Board only) : 

Union Trust Co., N. Y 478.38 

International Trust Co., Boston 3397-51 

Accrued interest included in purchase of Amer. Tel. & Tel. bonds. 52.78 

3928.67 
A. L. A. Endowment Fund (unexpended interest, available at discretion 

of Council) : 
International Trust Co., Boston 900.72 

$111,267.33 



FIRST SESSION 



129 



In addition to the above unexpended balance, income for the coming 
year may be estimated thus : 

From Carnegie Fund, available for the Publishing Board only about $3050.00 

From A. L. A. Endowment Fund and unused interest, available for 

any purpose about 300.00 

International Trust Co. : 

Principal account $1686.84 

Carnegie Fund interest 3397-51 

A. L. A. Endowment Fund interest 900.72 



The following account of audit was ap- 
pended : 

At the request of Charles C. Soule, treas- 
urer of the Endowment Fund of the Ameri- 
can Library Association, we have examined 
his accounts and securities. 

We find evidence of assets amounting to 
$111,267.33, as stated in his report of May 31, 
1905, and also find his accounts correctly cast, 
with vouchers for all expenditures. 

THEODOSIA E. MACURDY ) For Finance 
S. W. Foss j Committee. 

Boston, Mass., June 14, 1905. 

Mr. HOVEY : Mr. President, in moving the 
acceptance of this report I suggest that in 
future all financial statements from our differ- 
ent boards be made to cover the same fiscal 
year. 

S. S. GREEN : Is there some movement on 
foot to make a permanent investment cf the 
funds of the Association? 

The PRESIDENT : I will answer that. After 
our great loss in the death of Mr. Williams 
we have been fortunate in being able to per- 
suade Mr. Corey to take a hand in the work 
of the Endowment Fund trustees, and in con- 
versation with Mr. Corey I have heard that 
there is serious consideration of the imme- 
diate placing of the Carnegie fund of 
$95,000, now in the trust company at 3 per 
cent., in such a way as to have a 4 per cent, 
income from the bonds. The matter has not 
gone far enough for me to be able to say 
just how or when it will be invested, but 
immediate steps will be taken to invest it in 
some such way. 

Mr. GREEN : From my knowledge of Mr. 
Corey I do not think there could be a better 
person selected for this work and I have per- 
fect confidence that it will be carried on en- 
ergetically and with great vigor. 

Mr. HOVEY'S motion was carried. 



$5985.07 

COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS 

The PRESIDENT: Let me now make an- 
nouncement of the committee on resolutions, 
appointed by the executive board as follows : 
Mr. Crunden, chairman ; Mr. Rowell, and 
Miss Plummer. 

I suppose to-morrow it will be our privi- 
lege to express our pleasure in being here, 
in a public way, but I think it may not be out 
of place, in the privacy of our own private 
business meeting this afternoon, to express 
to one another our appreciation of the cordial 
greeting we have had and the pleasantness of 
finding ourselves together in this agreeable 
place of meeting and in this delightful town. 
There are many who would have been glad 
to be with us, but have not been able to do 
so. I have had various letters, a telegram of 
sincere regrets from Mr. Bowker, and a cor- 
dial short note from one of our good friends 
of last year, Dr. Andersson. 

Taking up the routine again, let me call 
for the report of the Council, saying, first, that 
this report relates only to the Council meeting 
at Atlantic City, held in the middle of the 
year, save for the matter of the nominations 
which in the course of business must be made 
at this time. In connection with this, let me 
remind you that these nominations are subject 
to any supplement that you may choose to 
make. Any group of five persons may make 
such nomination by handing it to the secre- 
tary, up to the time of the opening of the 
meeting on Thursday. Nominations sent in r 
by five persons, up to the meeting on Thurs- 
day, will have the value of official nomina- 
tions. 

NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICERS 

The SECRETARY : The nominations of offi- 
cers for the ensuing year as made by the 



130 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



Council at its meeting this morning are as 
follows : 

President, Frank P. Hill, Brooklyn. 

First vice-president, C. W. Andrews, Chi- 
cago. 

Second vice-president, Caroline H. Garland, 
Dover, N. H. 

Secretary, J. I. Wyer, Lincoln, Neb. 

Treasurer, Gardner M. Jones, Salem, Mass. 

Recorder, Helen E. Haines, New York City. 

Trustee Endowment Fund, Alexander 
Maitland, New York City. 

Councillors, for the term of five years : 
George T. Clark, San Francisco; Linda East- 
man, Cleveland; Alice B. Kroeger, Philadel- 
phia; Mary F. Isom, Portland, and Bernard 
C. Steiner, Baltimore. 

The proceedings of the Council at its meet- 
ing at Atlantic City, while somewhat lengthy, 
will be read in full for the reason that much 
of the matter will bear upon business com- 
ing up for future consideration at this meet- 
ing and for the further reason that it is felt 
by the Council that the Association should be 
informed in detail of all the business there 
transacted. 

TRANSACTIONS OF COUNCIL, ATLANTIC CITY 
MEETING 

An interim meeting of the Council of the 
American Library Association, as authorized 
by the St. Louis Conference, was held at the 
Hotel Chelsea, Atlantic City, N. J., at 3 p.m., 
on Saturday, April I, 1905, in connection with 
the Bi-State Library Meeting. There were 
12 members of Council present, as follows : 
Arthur E. Bostwick, James H. Canfield, Mel- 
vil Dewey, Helen E. Haines, W. E. Henry, 
Frank P. Hill, Anderson H. Hopkins, W. T. 
Peoples, E. C. Richardson, C. C. Soule, John 
Thomson, Anne Wallace. Dr. Richardson 
and Miss Haines, as members of the Execu- 
tive Board, acted as ex officio officers of 
Council. 

Committee on A. L. A. Academy. Melyil 
Dewey reported as chairman of the Commit- 
tee on A. L. A. Academy, composed as fol- 
lows : Melvil Dewey, R. G. Thwaites, Herbert 
Putnam, W. T. Peoples, Miss Gratia Coun- 
tryman. Mr. Dewey and Mr. Peoples were 
the only members of the committee present, 
but the other members had been communi- 
cated with and had transmitted their views 
in letters, which were read. Mr. Dewey 
spoke of the importance of having the gen- 
eral association as large as possible, and the 
equal necessity of having a manageable body 



to discuss the large and important problems 
of librarianship. The only criticisms he had 
received, Mr. Dewey said, seemed to hinge 
upon the use of the word "academy," which 
he considered might be readily dispensed with. 
He felt that ofter 30 years of organized li- 
brary activity the A. L. A. was ready for a 
plan by which the best people of the country, 
in a number to get the right results, should 
come together once a year to discuss the large 
questions of the profession. 

Mr. Dewey's remarks were presented as a 
report of progress for the committee, and the 
subject was left open for discussion. Mr. 
Peoples said that there was general objection 
to the word "academy" and suggested that the 
name "A. L. A. Senate" would be better. Mr. 
Spule thought that only one thing was clear, 
viz., that the Council as at present constituted 
cannot include all the leading minds in the 
Association. He thought that the constitution 
might be altered so that all ex-presidents and 
ex-secretaries might be made ex officio mem- 
bers of Council ; they should not go out of of- 
fice, but should represent those whom the As- 
sociation has chosen as its leaders and form a 
permanent body. Mr. Bostwick said that the 
same result could be achieved by adding to 
the present Council a number of long-term 
non-voting members, available for purposes of 
discussion, but not for business meetings. Mr. 
Hill asked what object would be obtained by 
election of non-voting members, and said that 
he had noticed in other organizations that 
there is objection to such an element. Non- 
voting members do not take the same interest 
in the work of the prganization. Dr. Canfield, 
on request, described the handling of a sim- 
ilar situation in the National Educational As- 
sociation. To give opportunity for discussion 
which could not be provided in the large gen- 
eral sessions a National Council of Educa- 
tion, of 60 members, was formed. This, 
though useful in some ways, did not meet the 
anticipations that had been formed regarding 
it, and its failure has been more marked since 
the Department of Superintendence began to 
hold midwinter meetings separate and apart 
from the general convention. He thought 
that possibly the A. L. A. needed a depart- 
ment like this Department of Superintendence, 
for those whose specific work is work of com- 
mon interest. Mr. Thomson said that a more 
detailed and careful report on the subject was 
needed before any decision could be made. 
Expressions of opinion were taken on the 
following points : Is it desirable to limit the 
size of the Association? No. Is it desirable 
that business should be transacted by a smaller 
body than the present Council? Yes. The 
question, Is a body needed for the discussion 
of large library questions that cannot be fully 
considered at a general meeting? had no defi- 
nite answer, though it evoked some discus- 



FIRST SESSION 



sion, in the course of which it was suggested 
that the present Council might be enlarged and 
transformed into a debating body, and the 
routine business be put in the hands of a 
board of directors. On motion of Dr. Can- 
field it was Voted, that the report of the com- 
mittee be accepted, and the committee be 
continued. 

California Library Association. Announce- 
ment was made that a communication had 
been received from the Library Association of 
California, inviting the Council to attend a 
dinner, in San Francisco, in connection with 
the Portland Conferene. It was Voted, that 
the invitation be accepted with thanks on be- 
half of those who may be able to attend, and 
that the California Association be later ad- 
vised as to the most desirable date. 

Bookbinding. The matter of the appoint- 
ment of a committee of five, to investigate the 
subject of publishers' bindings, book papers, 
leathers, and binding methods and processes, 
as presented on behalf of Mr. J. C. Dana at 
the St. Louis meeting of the Council (see A. 
L. A. Proc., 1904, p. 251) was considered. 
On motion of Mr. Dewey it was Voted, that 
a committee of three on bookbinding be ap- 
pointed by the chair, and on motion of Mr. 
Peoples it was Voted, that the Council re- 
quest the trustees of the endowment fund to 
appropriate $50 for the expenses of said com- 
mittee. 

Place of next meeting. The question of place 
of the 1906 meeting was considered, with the 
announcement that no definite action could be 
taken and that only an expression of opinion 
could be had. The invitation to meet in 
Asheville, N. C., presented for two years pre- 
viously, was renewed by Miss Wallace, who 
said that as she would be unable to attend the 
Portland Conference she desired this oppor- 
tunity of again presenting the invitation from 
North Carolina. The invitation was extended 
in the name of the Governor of the state, the 
state library association, and the Asheville 
board of trade. A meeting in Asheville in the 
first week in June would, she thought, be de- 
lightful in itself, and most helpful to the li- 
brary development now just beginning in the 
Southern states. An invitation to the A. L. 
A. to hold its annual meeting for 1906 in At- 
lantic City, in May, June, September, or Octo- 
ber, was presented by Mr. A. M. Heston, of 
the board of trustees of the Atlantic City 
Public Library. Dr. Canfield spoke of the fact 
that the library movement is following the de- 
velopment of the public schools, and sug- 
gested that in planning time and place of its 
annual meetings regard should be had to the 
time and place of the annual meeting of the 
National Educational Association. He thought 
it would be a great stimulus if the two meet- 
ings could be held, if not at the same time, in 
the same place or in the same section of the 



country within a very close period of time, 
either immediately before or immediately 
after. On motion of Mr. Dewey, it was 
Voted, that the Council recommends to the 
Portland meeting of Council that Asheville 
be chosen as place of next meeting, if satis- 
factory railroad and other arrangements can 
be made. 

Yearbook of Library Literature. The prop- 
osition for a yearbook of library literature, 
presented by Mr. W. D. Johnston in his paper 
at the St. Louis Conference, was referred to 
the next meeting of Council. 

New England Educational League. A com- 
munication was presented from the New Eng- 
land Educational League, asking the co-opera- 
tion of the A. L. A. in its efforts to secure a 
"universal library." It was Voted, that this 
communication be referred to the committee 
on library administration. 

National Association of State Libraries. 
The following resolution, passed by the Na- 
tional Association of State Libraries at its 
St. Louis meeting, was considered : 

"Whereas, There appears in the publications 
of the A. L. A. mention of a State Librarians' 
Section, noted as dormant; and whereas the 
work of said section is being done by the Na.- 
tional Association of State Libraries, which 
has been holding its meeting at the same time 
and place as the A. L. A. meetings a're held : 

"Resolved, That we, the members of the 
National Association of State Libraries, re- 
quest the Council of the A. L. A. to substitute 
in its several publications the name of 'Na- 
tional Association of States Libraries' for said 
'State Librarians' Section.' " 

It was not thought that this resolution made 
it clear whether or not the Association of 
State Libraries desired affiliation as a section 
with the A. L. A., and it was Voted, that the 
matter be referred back to the Association of 
State Libraries, with the request that the as- 
sociation define more clearly the affiliation 
proposed. 

A. L. A. headquarters in relation to Pub- 
lishing Board. Mr. Soule made a statement 
in regard to establishing an A. L. A. head- 
quarters with a paid assistant secretary in 
connection with the Publishing Board facili- 
ties. He said that while the Association 
needed and should continue its present offi- 
cers, the need was constantly growing for a 
man whose time should be given to the work 
of correspondence, awakening library interest, 
management of business details, etc. He 
asked the Council to authorize making the 
Publishing Board office the headquarters of 
the Association, with a paid assistant secre- 
tary, whose duties should be defined by the 
Executive Board, to be employed and paid 
partly by the Publishing Board and partly by 
the Association. Such an officer would give 
part of his time to the work of the Publishing 



132 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



Board and part to A. L. A. business, accord- 
ing to the proportion of salary paid by each. 
Mr. Soule presented the following resolu- 
tions, which were adopted : 

"Resolved, That headquarters of the Asso- 
ciation be established at the office of the 
Publishing Board; 

"Resolved, That the Executive Board be 
authorized to appoint an assistant secretary 
to take charge of the headquarters, and to 
perform such duties as they may prescribe; 

'Resolved, That the accumulated interest of 
the Endowment Fund (other than the Car- 
negie Fund), not otherwise appropriated, be 
appropriated toward the expense of such 
headquarters and the salary of the assistant 
secretary ; 

"Resolved, That this opening of headquar- 
ters and employment of a paid assistant sec- 
retary shall be understood to be tentative and 
subject to revision or termination at the next 
meeting of the Council. 

"These resolutions to take effect on ap- 
proval of the two committees on this sub- 
ject." 

Advisory Committee on Cataloging Rules. 
On request of the president, Mr. Hopkins 
gave a short informal report for the Advisory 
Committee on Cataloging Rules. The com- 
mittee met at the Mercantile Library, New 
York City, on March 23, and held meetings 
for a week thereafter. At trie end of its ses- 
sion the committee was convinced that an 
amount of clerical work has to be done that 
it was unfair to require of the secretary, and 
voted to pay clerical expenses for the prep- 
aration of a condensed code. It also decided 
to ask that expenses be authorized for the 
preparation of a much larger code on cards. 
The committee recommends that it be con- 
tinued and its powers enlarged, or that an- 
other committee be appointed to work on 
these lines. Mr. Hopkins' remarks were ac- 
cepted as an informal statement. 

Adjourned 5.50 p.m. 

The report of nominations and the report 
of the Council were duly accepted. 

The report of the FINANCE COMMITTEE, be- 
ing incorporated in the reports of the treas- 
urer and trustees of the Endowment Fund, 
was passed over. 

The report of the PUBLIC DOCUMENTS COM- 
MITTEE could not be presented, as it was con- 
tained in the recorder's trunk, which went 
astray and was not recovered until after the 
conference.* 

No report was received from the COM- 
MITTEE ON FOREIGN DOCUMENTS. 

* This report was received in time for inclusion in 
the Proceedings. See p. 92. 



In the absence of Dr. Canfield, chairman, 
Miss M. E. AHERN read the report of the 

COMMITTEE ON COOPERATION WITH LIBRARY 

DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL 

ASSOCIATION 

As it was determined early in the year to 
hold the next meeting of this Association at 
Portland, Oregon, and the next meeting of 
the National Educational Association at As- 
bury Park, N. J., practical and direct co- 
operation for the Asbury Park meeting was 
greatly limited. Fortunately the secretary of 
the Library Department, N. E. A., is a mem- 
ber of this committee, and her services in 
preparing the department program and her 
influence in securing the attendance of speak- 
ers and others, may fairly be counted as part 
of the activities of this committee. But the 
unfortunate geographic separation between 
the two organizations emphasizes anew the 
desirability and necessity of closer alliance. 
The committee brings this thought forward 
again, because it is daily more apparent that 
public libraries and public schools must work 
together if either is to meet with the highest 
success. Each is now recognized as only one 
part of the system of public and free edu- 
cation. The public schools naturally must 
take the initiative, and the public, libraries 
must do the work which will complement 
and supplement that of the schools. Teachers 
must be brought into closer contact and more 
sympathetic relations with librarians, and in 
this the librarians may well take the initia- 
tive. The committee each in his own terri- 
tory has given special thought during the 
year to promoting these most helpful rela- 
tions. Much has been done by correspond- 
ence also, and something by personal effort 
outside their immediate locality. The chair- 
man has visited seven of the leading cities 
of New York, speaking at least once in each, 
and making the relations of the public librar- 
ies and the public schools his constant theme. 
On his suggestion of some years ago, there is 
now in each public school of Greater New 
York a library bulletin, giving the location 
of the nearest public library, name of librarian, 
and carrying from jime to time special library 
notices of interest. There has also been con- 



FIRST SESSION 



133 



stant effort in this direction, in the use of 
the local press, which librarians are coming 
to use more and more intelligently each year. 
It is hoped that before long there may be 
the very closest relations between the work- 
ers in these two parts of our educational sys- 
tem, and that perfect harmony in general 
purpose and special methods may prevail. 
It is with children that librarians are now 
most successful and find their largest oppor- 
tunity. The school ought to create the read- 
ing habit, to find its satisfaction in the li- 
brary. 

With this thought constantly in mind, and 
the importance of these relations increasing 
from day to day, your committee suggests the 
desirability and feasibility of holding the 
sessions of the American Library Association 
at the same place as that in which the Na- 
tional Educational Association meets, either 
immediately before or immediately after the 
session of the latter organization. This would 
not mean yielding any independence or indi- 
viduality, while it would give the A. L. A. 
the advantage of special railroad rates ob- 
tained by the N. E. A., and above all that 
which is most important the opportunity 
of a large interchange of members in at- 
tendance at various sessions of each organiza- 
tion. There seems to be no strong reason 
against such a policy on the part of the A. L. 
A., and such affiliation, we believe, would 
add to the strength of each organization. 

Of course, no proposition of this kind has 
been made by your committee to the officers 
of the N. E. A., our first duty being to sub- 
mit it to our own Association. But we hope 
this will not be passed over lightly, and that 
hereafter it may be far more possible than 
this year to bring about practical and efficient 
cooperation between these two great organiza- 
tions which are really moving along similar 
lines. 

Your committee has engaged in much cor- 
respondence with normal school people and 
others, concerning the proposed small man- 
ual on library administration, for use in nor- 
mat schools and possibly in some secondary 
schools. We are glad to report that this lit- 
tle book, 10 chapters one for each of 10 
recitation or lecture periods is already well 
under way, and is promised for January next. 



The chapter headings and the syllabus of 
each chapter have been, and the text itself 
when complete will be, passed under the criti- 
cism not only of this committee, but of li- 
brarians and principals of some of the more 
noteworthy normal schools of the country. 
Respectfully submitted, 

J. H. CANFIELD, 
MELVIL DEWEY, 
M. E. AHERN. 

The PRESIDENT: If there is no objection 
this report will be received. 

The way we are celebrating this afternoon, 
by getting down to business and serving our 
country by doing our business well, does not 
suggest international cooperation so much 
as it does a little international opposition, 
which has paved the way for the modern in- 
ternational cooperation. But we are on the 
way to cooperation, and last year we ap- 
pointed a committee with reference to a spe- 
cific task, of which Dr. Putnam is chairman. 

I call for the report of the 

COMMITTEE OX INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION 

Dr. PUTNAM : The origin of this commit- 
tee, as you will recall, was in certain resolu- 
tions passed by the Association at its St. 
Louis Conference of last year. These resolu- 
tions are embodied in a circular letter which 
I shall quote hereafter. The committee ap- 
pointed by the executive board consisted of 
Dr. Cyrus Adler, of Washington; Dr. J. S. 
Billings, of New York; Dr. Morris Jastrow, 
Jr., of Philadelphia; Mr. W. C. Lane, of 
Cambridge, with myself as chairman. The 
committee held n^meeting, but by corres- 
pondence agreed upon the plan of procedure, 
the first step in which was to compile a list 
of the associations, institutions, and public 
bodies which should be addressed, and the 
second, the issue of a circular letter of in- 
. quiry. It was agreed that this letter should 
not name specific projects and request opin- 
ion upon them, but should consist simply of 
a general invitation to the addressees to ex- 
press their views as to the feasibility of the 
federation proposed, and as to the projects 
with which it might usefully concern itself. 
A list was accordingly drawn. I submit 
a copy of it (marked "B") to be printed with 



134 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



the proceedings. Checked upon it are the ad- 
dressees from whom a response of some na- 
ture has been received. The circular issued 
was as follows : 

"At the International Library Conference, 
held at St. Louis in connection with the St. 
Louis Exposition, Oct. 17-22, 1904, upon the 
suggestion of the librarian of the Laurentian 
Library at Florence, and consideration and 
report by a special committee, the following 
resolutions were adopted : 

" 'The American Library Association, at its 
26th annual meeting, held in St. Louis, on the 
occasion of the Louisiana Purchase Exposi- 
tion, has been honored by the presence of dis- 
tinguished delegates representing the library 
and bibliographical interests of many of our 
sister nations, and the Association has heard 
from them with pleasure the suggestion of a 
federation of the various library associations 
and bibliographical societies of the world. 

" 'Believing that international cooperation, 
which has already done so much to promote 
interests common to all nations may be ex- 
pected to be effective in the field with which 
we are concerned, 

" 'Be it resolved, That the incoming Execu- 
tive Board be requested to appoint a special 
committee of five to consider plans for the 
promotion of international cooperation among 
libraries; that the committee be directed to 
ascertain whether the library associations and 
bibliographical societies of other countries are 
disposed to entertain favorably such a pro- 
posal ; that the committee be instructed to re- 
port to the next annual meeting of the Asso- 
ciation with such recommendations as it may 
deem fit.' 

"The undersigned (Putnam, Adler, Billings, 
Jastrow and Lane) have been appointed the 
committee of the American Library Associa- 
tion above referred to. They have decided 
that their first duty is to lay the above reso- 
lutions before the various associations and 
societies, and request from them an expres- 
sion of opinion as to the feasibility of such a 
federation as is proposed, with what matters 
it should be concerned, and if with coopera- 
tive undertakings, to what such undertakings 
it might advantageously be applied. 

"We beg to submit the inquiry to your so- 
ciety, with the hope that you will be interested 
to give it attention, and to reply with such 
suggestions as may seem to you pertinent. As 
some report will be expected from this com- 
mittee at the coming meeting of the Associa- 
tion in July, it is hoped that your reply will 
be a prompt one." 

I have here the various responses. With 
your permission I will read from them a few 
characteristic extracts. [Does so.] 



In general the responses indicate an. ap- 
proval of the proposal, but in most cases this 
does not go beyond an amiable acquiescence. 
Few specific projects are suggested the only 
ones in fact being : "Cooperative indexing 
of literature and periodicals" ; uniformity of 
treatment with regard to cataloging and 
subject indexing, particularly lists of 
subject headings; the indexing of those 
branches of current scientific literature not 
included in the International Catalogue. The 
Bibliographical Society of Great Britain sug- 
gests that "If it be desired to have a central 
society for keeping bibliographers all over the 
world acquainted with what work is being 
done it will be easier probably to arrange 
with [that] society tor what is wanted than 
to consider an entirely new body," and that 
"as regards cooperative bibliographical work 
as distinct from the circulation of informa- 
tion on an international scale it is impossi- 
ble." The director of the bureau of the 
Prussian Gesamtkatalog writes that "person- 
ally, I can not promise myself for the present, 
any very considerable advantages from such 
an alliance for the German libraries. That 
you should reach an agreement on many 
points in cataloging with the British Library 
Association seems to me very desirable. But 
the differences between the English and Ger- 
man languages are probably too great to 
permit the establishment of uniform rules 
within the domains of both." 

Mr. President, the committee does not re- 
port accomplishment, as you will see, but 
simply perhaps a certain measure of progress. 
It recommends that it be discharged, with the 
hope, however, that a new committee be ap- 
pointed and with the suggestion that the next 
ex-president of the Association shall serve 
as chairman of that committee. 

The PRESIDENT: You hear the report with 
its various recommendations. I am not quite 
sure of the detail of the procedure involved 
in all the recommendations, but suggest that 
the report be accepted and its recommenda- 
tions referred to the executive board. Voted. 

The list of associations addressed by the 
Committee on International Cooperation is 
as follows : 

Congres des bibliothecaires, M. Henry Mar- 



FIRST SESSION 



135 



tin secretaire general, Bibliotheque de 1' Ar- 
senal, Rue de Sully, I, Paris. 
Denmark Statens Komite til Understottelse 
af Folkebogsamlinger. 

Dr. A. S. Steenberg, Horsens, Denmark. 
France Ministre de 1'Instruction Publique 
et des Beaux-Arts ; Direction de 1'Enseign- 
ment Superieur; 6 me Bureau (bibliotheques 
nationales, universitaires et municipales ; 
Depot Legal et Souscriptions ; fichanges 
Internationaux) . 

Chef, M. Musson. 

Hungary Ungarisches National Museum; 
Oberinspektorat fur Museen und Biblio- 
theken, Budapest, 
v. Szalay Imre. 

Italy Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione- 
Administrazione Centrale. Divisione vm. 
Legislazione, Sezione n. Biblioteche Pubb- 
liche Governative. Lucca. 
Portugal Direcc.ao Geral de Instrucjao Pub- 
lica ; Inspecgao Geral das Bibliothecas a Ar- 
chives Publicos (Lisbon). 
Spain Junta Facultativa de Archives, Bib- 
liotecas y Museos de Antigiiedades (Ma- 
drid). 

Jefe Superior, D. Marcelino Menendez y 
Pelayo. 

Institut International de Bibliographic, 
Bruxelles. 

M. Henri La Fontaine, directeur. 

Bureau Bibliographique de Paris, 44, Rue 
de Rennes. 

President General H. Sebert. 
Deutsches Bureau der Internationalen Bib- 
liographic, Berlin. 

Dr. Oskar Uhlworm. 

Geschaftsstelle des Gesamtkatalog der Preus- 
sischen Bibliotheken. 
Dr. Paul Trommsdorff (Nw. 7, Doro- 

theenstrasse 5, Berlin, Germany). 
Concilium Bibliographicum, Zurich. 

Dr. Herbert Haviland Field, director. 
Institute Bibliografico Mexicano. 

Prof. Dr. N. Leon, Museo Nacional, 

Mexico. 

The Bibliographical Society, 20 Hanover Sq., 
London, W. 

.Hon. Secretary A. W. Pollard. 
Bibliographical Society of Lancashire. 

Secretary, Henry Guppy, The John Ry- 

lands Library, Manchester, England. 
Edinburgh Bibliographical Society; The Phi- 
losophical Institution, Edinburgh. 

Secretary, G. P. Johnston. 
Societa Bibliografica Italiana. 

Prof. Dr. Guido Biagi, Biblioteca Medi- 

ceo-Laurenziana, Florence. 
"Russkoe Bibliograficeskoe Obscestvo" at the 
Imperial Moscow University. 
Jakov Gerasimovic Kvaskov, Rumpancev- 

sky Muzej, Moscow. 

Russkoe Bibliologiceskoe Obscestvo, St. Pet- 
ersburg, Fontanka, 62. 
Secretary, B. Gorodeckij. 



Library Association of the United Kingdom. 
Lawrence Inkster, Hon Secretary, Whit- 
comb House, Whitcomb street, Pall 
Mall East, London, S. W. 
Bristol and Western Branch of the Library 
Association. 

Hon. Secretary, L. Acland Taylor, Bris- 
tol. 

Northwestern Branch of the Library Asso- 
ciation. 
Hon. Secretary, C. Madeley, Warrington 

Museum. 
Librarians of the Mersey District. 

Hon. Secretary, C. Madeley, Warrington 

Museum. 

Birmingham and District Library Association. 
Hon. Secretary, Robert K. Dent, Aston 

Manor, Warwickshire. 
North Midland Library Association. 

Hon. Secretary, J. Potter Briscoe, Public 

Libraries, Nottingham. 
Northern Counties Library Association. 

Hon. Secretary, H. E. Johnston, Public 

Library, Gateshead. 
Library Assistants' Association. 

Hon. Secretary, George E. Roebuck, St. 
George's Library, 236 Cable street, 
London, E. 
Societe Franklin, Paris, Rue Christine, I. 

President, Eug. d'Eichtal. 
Verein Deutscher Bibliothekare. 

Dr. Paul Schwenke, Konigliche Biblio- 

thek, Berlin. 

Oesterreichischer Verein fur Bibliotheks- 
wesen. 
Dr. G. A. Cruwell, Universitats-Biblio- 

1 thek, Vienna. 

Societe des Bibliothecaires Suisses, Zurich. 
Dr. Johannes Bernoulli, Schweizerische 

Landesbibliothek, Bern. 
Library Association of Australasia. 

H. C. L. Anderson, Public Librarian of 

New South Wales, Sydney. 
Kansai Bunko Kyokai, or Western Library 
Association. 

Dr. B. Shima, Librarian Kyoto Imperial 
University, Kyoto. 

In the absence of W. I. Fletcher, the secre- 
tary read the 

REPORT OF THE PUBLISHING BOARD, 

which had been printed and distributed in ad- 
vance. 

(See p. 107.) 

Miss MARY W. PLUMMER presented the re- 
port of the 

COMMITTEE ON LIBRARY TRAINING 

Miss PLUMMER: The committee understood 
that it was continued not so much for a re- 



136 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



port on library training as for a report on 
standards of training, which had been sug- 
gested, and has therefore confined itself to 
that subject. 
The report is given in full elsewhere. 

(See p. 121.) 

In the absence of W. R. Eastman, chair- 
man, Miss CORNELIA MARVIN read the report 
of the 

COMMITTEE ON LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION 
(See p. 102.) 

Adjourned at 4.30 p.m. 

SECOND SESSION 

(MAIN AUDIENCE ROOM, UNITARIAN CHURCH, 
WEDNESDAY MORNING, JULY 5) 

President RICHARDSON called the meeting 
to order at 9.15. 

The PRESIDENT: It is a matter of great 
pleasure that we are to be welcomed at Port- 
land by the man whom we welcomed at St. 
Louis, and who there showed himself such a 
master in the art of persuading us of the 
welcome that we should have if we came 
here Dr. Eliot. 

Dr. T. L. ELIOT : Dr. Richardson and ladies 
and gentlemen of the American Library As- 
sociation: It is not easy for us of the Port- 
land Library Association and of the state of 
Oregon and of the Pacific Coast to express 
to you the delight and the gratitude with 
which we see you here in our far-away, green 
Northwest and welcome you from our hearts 
to all that we can do or give or share with 
you in making this an occasion of profit and 
of pleasure to you all. 

Your president has kindly alluded to our 
invitation. Let me say that I am increas- 
ingly full of wonder to think of our audacity, 
not to say our verdancy, in coming to St. 
Louis and extending an invitation to you to 
come here, to make another leap or lap of 
two or three thousand miles in your adven- 
tures in search of a convention home. I say 
we were audacious, not to say verdant, in in- 
viting you, and perhaps we were guilty almost 
of effrontery in hoping or expecting that you 



would accede to our request. It amuses" me 
to think of the audacity and effrontery and 
verdancy I am going to play on those three 
words every time I think of it of ourselves 
in meeting the solid objections that were so 
kindly put forward to your making this long 
trip and visit. We were told, for example, 
how extremely important and serious your 
councils ought to be at this time and that 
anything adventitious, that the allurements 
that might be offered in any way, in connec- 
tion, for instance, with the Fair or the trips 
that were to be had about our city, would in- 
terfere with that more serious object of your 
great and honorable body; and some of you 
will remember that we answered you, almost 
perhaps with mendacity, that there were no 
such attractions out here in Portland ; at any 
rate, that we did not intend in any way to 
exploit them; that as for the Lewis and Clark 
Fair it might turn out to be but a feeble 
shadow of the great Fair that you were then 
attending in St. Louis, and that if you your- 
selves were seriously minded we saw no rea- 
son why, if you came to Portland, you could 
not be quiet and solemn and earnest and as 
deliberative as you might be in any part of 
the earth. 

But, after all, and serious as were your 
objections, here you are, and we know and 
our library board knows perhaps better than 
anyone else that it is your generosity that 
brings you here. Your coming to Portland 
was your answer to the plea which we made, 
that we were inviting you to this distance 
not for your profit nor for your pleasure, but 
we appealed to your hearts upon the mission- 
ary side for the things that you might do for 
this great Northwest and for the Pacific 
Coast. We felt at this early day and in this 
formative and plastic period of our growth 
that what you did here might leave a lasting 
impress upon this part of the world, upon the 
higher portion of the work that some of us 
feel is put upon us in upbuilding this won- 
derful West. We knew that we had but few 
libraries, we knew that we were thinly scat- 
tered, we knew that our representation from 
this side compared with your representation 
would be almost beggarly, and yet we threw 
ourselves upon your sentiment of noblesse 



SECOND SESSION 



137 



oblige in asking, in almost begging, you to 
take this opportunity to "come over and help 
us." It was a Macedonian cry, and you have 
answered it out of the heart of what is your 
deepest purpose, that of advancing and uplift- 
ing the great commonwealth of man. This 
is what we thank you for and this was our 
verdancy, if we were verdant, in urging you 
to come to this distant place. I take it that 
our verdancy, after all, was the verdancy of 
the beautiful virtue of Hope. Hope is 
pictured by poets and artists with the light, 
sweet green of the springtime, and, therefore, 
in asking you. to come we perhaps belonged to 
the beautiful green things of the earth, of 
which it is said: 

"O, all ye green things of the earth 
Bless ye the Lord, 
Praise Him and magnify Him forever." 

We welcome you to the hospitality of our 
homes and of our city. We trust that your 
deliberations while you are here will be for 
your profit; we know that they will be for 
ours. The very breeze of your purpose to 
come to our coast has fanned our own work 
into new life, for have we not, as perhaps 
we will show you more carefully later on, in 
this year of grace, in our own city, greatly 
expanded the local work, founded a library 
association of the state, and passed a law for 
a library commission, and already secured 
one of your representative workers to take 
the important place of secretary of that com- 
mission a commission that is destined to 
run the library idea like wildfire among the 
prairies and the mountains of Oregon? 

That is all that I will try to say. 

(Applause.) 

The PRESIDENT: Dr. Eliot, in acknowledg- 
ing the welcome which you, as the mouth- 
piece of the many trustees, librarians, and in- 
dividuals of the Pacific coast who are now 
extending to us so cordial a welcome, prom- 
ised to us in St. Louis let me say, in the 
first place, that if your welcome promised be- 
forehand is to be regarded as a triumph of 
audacity, I may say it is also a triumph of 
success. For when you so eloquently, with 
your efficient helper at St. Louis, laid before 
us the advantages of coming here and the rea- 
sons for doing so, it was never anticipated 



that your welcome would be extended to so 
many of us from the East. Indeed, some of 
the pessimists of our Association prophesied 
an attendance of not one-third of those whom 
you have greeted to-day. And in offering 
us this welcome you minimized the great at- 
tractions of the Fair, you minimized the at- 
tractions of this established town of yours, 
you minimized even the warm personal indi- 
vidual welcome which we have found here 
immediately on every hand. 

I assure you, Dr. Eliot, that in the wel- 
come of the individual heart, the welcome of 
this attractive city, the welcome of the Fair, 
the welcome of all these surroundings which 
make the promise of this meeting to us one 
of great personal pleasure as well as of prom- 
ise for the fruition of our hope of helping in 
your work on the Pacific coast in all these 
things we find more than we hoped for. And 
the thing which most impresses us in coming 
here is not what you have alluded to, the need 
of establishing libraries, so much as it is the 
rapidity with which, when you have once 
taken hold of an idea, the thing is carried 
through^ We are greatly afraid that some 
of our Eastern states will soon be looking on 
with some shamefacedness at having been 
passed in the race when in this short time 
you have done so much. Whatever encour- 
agement, in working with you, we can give 
to-day to encourage you in the ambition to 
beat us all in the library work of the United 
States, we give it to you with all our hearts. 

Dr. RICHARDSON then delivered the 

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS: THE NATIONAL LIBRARY 
PROBLEM TO-DAY 

(See p. 3.) 



CHARLES WESLEY SMITH gave an address 



on 



LIBRARY CONDITIONS IN THE NORTHWEST 

(See p. 9-) 

S. S. GREEN : Mr. President, while the in- 
terest in the two papers that have been read 
to us is fresh in our remembrance, I cannot 
refrain from making a motion which I know 
that it is the wish of everybody here to vote 
in favor of that the thanks of the Associa- 



138 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



tion be extended to the two gentlemen who 
have read these papers, for the information 
and inspiration which have been given to us 
in these admirable addresses; and, feeling 
that your modesty, sir, is such that you would 
not like to put this motion, I will do it myself. 
(Laughter.) Carried unanimously. 

The PRESIDENT: I venture to accept for, 
both of the speakers, in their proper pro- 
portion, this generous testimonial, and to say 
that I was about to say, before the resolution 
was offered, that after having heard this most 
inspiring paper of Mr. Smith, the Eastern 
librarian who longer doubts the wisdom of 
our coming to the Pacific states, if there is 
any such librarian, will, by unanimous con- 
sent, be regarded as unworthy of being a 
member of the American Library Association. 
(Applause.) The little that we Easterners 
can do has been well typified this morning. 
The best that we can say from our point of 
view cannot approach the reality, the inten- 
sity, and the interest with which those who 
are on the ground feel and act with reference 
to library matters. 

It was thought especially fitting this morn- 
ing that we should have some instructive ac- 
count not only of the libraries of this im- 
mediate region but of the neighboring librar- 
ies, as the "neighborhood" of this Pacific Coast 
now extends not only to the continent, but 
to the farther Northwest and to the islands 
of the sea. 

The first of the brief notes on Pacific li- 
braries, on California, was to have been given 
by Miss Mary L. Jones, of the Los Angeles 
Public Library, and I cannot better express 
the very excusable reason for her absence 
than by reading her brief letter of apology 
for not being present, received since my ar- 
rival in Portland, but dated June 22: 

"Dear Dr. Richardson: 

"Politics have again broken out in the Los 
Angeles Public Library, and last night the 
board honored me with a summary dismissal. 
Consequently I shall not be at the Portland 
meeting as I had planned. This I regret 
chiefly because it leaves a gap in the pro- 
gram ; not that the number is of supreme im- 
portance, but that in making out so difficult a 
thing as a week's program one insignificant 
item may disarrange things. I have written 
to Mr. Lichtenstein and he will probably 
have a substitute ready for you. 



"Regretting the necessity of thus disap- 
pointing the committee, I am 

"Most sincerely yours, 

"MARY L. JONES." 

"Los ANGELES, June 22, 1903." 

Mr. Lichtenstein has secured the kind con- 
sent of Mr. Charles S. Greene, of the Oak- 
land Public Library, and trustee of the Cali- 
fornia State Library, to speak briefly of the 
California libraries in Miss Jones' stead. 

NOTES ON PACIFIC LIBRARIES 
CALIFORNIA 

C. S. GREENE: California has occasion to 
regret the sad reason why you are forced to 
listen to me at this time instead of to Miss 
Jones. Miss Jones was recognized by all li- 
brarians of California as one of the brightest 
members of our profession. She was chosen to 
speak of the libraries of California because of 
her eminent fitness to do it. Her long exper- 
ience, the great success that she has made, with 
that Los Angeles library, and our faith that 
she would be able to continue that work so 
long as she cared to do it, made it eminently 
proper that Mr. Lichtenstein should have 
asked her to speak for the libraries of Cali- 
fornia. Rising to speak in her place, on no- 
tice given since I arrived here this morning, 
I feel a sense of shame that California has to 
make this apology in the beginning, and yet, 
if we can pass by that matter, as we have to 
pass by other bitter things, we really have a 
right to speak with satisfaction of the libraries 
of California. 

The American Library Association met in 
California in 1891, just half way in the 
American Library Association's life; and it 
then brought encouragement, it built up li- 
braries through its influence, and the Pacific 
coast, and California especially, has from that 
day advanced steadily in library work. 

In 1878 there were no public libraries in 
California ; that is, in the sense of the free 
public, tax-supported library. There were 
some association libraries ; there was the 
Mechanics' Institute, there were the college 
libraries; but there were no free public librar- 
ies in the sense that we have them to-day, 
and the state library at that time and for 
many years afterwards, indeed until 1903, 



SECOND SESSION 



139 



was limited so that it was only a state library 
in name; it was actually simply a law and 
reference library for the city of Sacramento. 
But in the last five years especially there has 
been a great awakening in California in li- 
brary matters, and I will speak of the state 
library's part of it because it has been through 
the state library that it was in some measure 
brought about. The former law, now super- 
seded, allowed the state library to distribute 
its books only to state officers and to legisla- 
tors during the session, and for the rest of the 
time only those who went to the library could 
use it. It was only a reference library. The 
trustees had more money than theycould spend 
in that way, and they piled up quite a little sur- 
plus, a thing quite remarkable for a library, and 
a state of affairs that no longer obtains, because 
in 1903 a law was passed that extends the use 
of the books and gives to the trustees of 
the state library the duties of a state library 
commission, requiring it to gather library in- 
formation and disseminate it through the 
state. That law has been taken very 
broadly by the trustees ; they have established 
the travelling library system and have now 
travelling libraries in every one of the fifty- 
six counties of the state, not counting the 
city of San Francisco, which is a county by 
itself. The state library has also built up its 
staff in a way that you will approve of, by 
adding trained people to its staff as fast as it 
could get them, by establishing the system of 
travelling libraries, by undertaking to send 
books to the blind throughout the state, and by 
establishing a legislative reference depart- 
ment, after the model of the admirable depart- 
ment at Wisconsin, putting it in charge of a 
man that Mr. McCarthy, of Wisconsin, recom- 
mended to us. So that the state library is 
in good shape. 

The library law is also in good shape. In 
1901 a state library law was passed, modelled 
on the same excellent series of li- 
brary laws that has been mentioned by 
Mr. Smith. In California a library is now 
established in any town when 25 per cent, of 
the voters request the governing board to 
establish one, and must thereafter be sup- 
ported by taxation. New libraries have 
sprung from this law, and all the li- 
braries of the state have been growing. Mr. 



Carnegie has been generous to us; he has 
presented some 35 libraries in California with 
buildings, and, more than that, a considerable 
amount of money has been given in other 
ways. 

So with all this library building in our 
state; with an active library association 
which has increased its membership more 
than double this last year and is going to 
double again this year, I hope; and with the 
added incentive that we are going to have 
from the visit to Portland of some thirty 
of our members, and the still further inspira- 
tion that we are going to receive from the 
visit to California of many members of this 
Association, I think you will have no occasion 
to blush for the libraries of California. (Ap- 
plause.) 

E. O. S. SCHOLEFIELD, provincial librarian 
at Vancouver, B. C, spoke on 

LIBRARIES IN THE BRITISH NORTHWEST 

(See p. 14.) 

Mr. SCHOLEFIELD: In conclusion, ladies 
and gentlemen, I have one ambition which I 
hope to see fulfilled in a few years. I want 
to see the American Library Association meet 
in the capital of British Columbia, Victoria, 
on one of its journeys to the coast in the 
future. We have not at present very much 
to show you in the way of library work, but 
in a few years I think the development will 
be remarkable. At the same time Victoria 
is recognized as a very beautiful spot ; we have 
many places of interest that would attract 
you, and I hope one of these days to see the 
American Library Association meet in Vic- 
toria, the old historic capital of the Colony 
of Vancouver Island. (Applause.) 

The PRESIDENT: It has been with extreme 
pleasure that we have listened to the repre- 
sentative of the Canadian Northwest. Mr. 
Scholefield is one of the men that we came 
West to get acquainted with and our ac- 
quaintance, I hope, will prosper. 

I will call now for the paper on Hawaii, 
by Miss Helen Hillebrand, of the Pub- 
lic Library in Honolulu. We are to hear 
from the Hawaiian library from a Hawaiian 
librarian, who is also through-and-through 
an American librarian. 



140 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



HAWAII 

Miss HELEN HILLEBRAND: I am very 
glad to be able to give you, in a few 
words, some information as to what we are 
trying to do in Hawaii for our libraries. 1 
hope you will not be disappointed when you 
hear how limited is our field of work, but 
when you know the conditions there you will 
probably understand it better. The Territory 
of Hawaii, as you know, includes eight in- 
habited islands, with a population of over 
one hundred thousand. The capital, Hono- 
lulu, is situated on the island of Oahu, and it 
is there the Honolulu Library and Reading 
Room Association is located, of which I am 
the librarian. On two of the other islands 
there are some very small travelling libraries 
which do not extend very far in their in- 
fluence. Their means are limited and they 
only reach the towns in which they are lo- 
cated. Our library was organized twenty- 
seven years ago, solely through the efforts 
of public-spirited individuals. We receive 
no aid from the government with the excep- 
tion of water rates and electric lights. And 
here I wish to correct an error which I see 
in the program, the statement that this is a 
free library. I wish it were. I hope it will 
not be long when it will be made free, be- 
cause we can never do the work that we 
should do, we can never extend our influence 
until the library is made free, and able to 
reach the people who take no interest in it 
now, or do not care enough about it to pay 
the subscription fee of 50 cents a month. 

We have our own building located in the 
center of the town, and a very large, good, 
reading room, which is fully attended most 
of the time ; it is even more largely patronized 
than the library itself. We have about 115 
periodicals in the room, ranging all the way 
from the Orient to Australia, United States, 
and Europe. Our library consists of 18,000 
volumes. Our membership is very small, 
which I am sorry to report; but until the 
library is free I am afraid it will continue to 
be so. Our work with the school children, 
which ought to be much greater than it is, 
and would be the most important feature of 
the work, is very limited on account of lack 
of means. We have an endowment of 



$50,000, the interest on which, with sub- 
scriptions to the library, constitute its sole 
support, and until we can get the school chil- 
dren there and in that way have readers, we 
cannot extend its influence in that direction. 
We also need a good reference room, and a 
system of travelling libraries to reach the 
other islands, for with a territorial form of 
government, which has its own problems to 
deal with, and which are very serious in the 
first years of its existence, we can expect no 
support from the government. The class of 
people that we have for members is very 
like what you have in your large cities. Hon- 
olulu is an American city, and an up-to-date 
city, but the laboring class such as you have, 
which your large libraries in the large cities 
reach so extensively, we do not have. They 
are represented instead by Asiatics. There 
are very few Hawaiians among the people of 
the islands and they and the Asiatics do not, 
of course, read at all in the English, even if 
they do in their own language, and therefore 
have no interest in the library except as 
their children attend the public schools. If 
we could reach all the schools and in this 
way reach the children we might do some- 
thing, but, as I say, our efforts are limited 
entirely to the high school pupils and of 
those there are not more than two or three 
hundred. We have a very good class of read- 
ers. Honolulu is a city of 40,000 population, 
and among them there are only eight thou- 
sand whites, so when you consider that these 
have to pay for the privileges of the library, 
you can see that our activities are somewhat 
curbed. I presume the influences of the 
climate are not conducive to activity in read- 
ing. A great many of the people are well-to- 
do and have their own libraries, and buy a 
great many of the magazines and periodicals. 
So that the library membership is not as 
large as it should be in proportion to the 
community. We have never before had 
trained workers. I have one assistant, and 
the work is not very heavy, so that the two 
of us can easily do it. The library is open 
from 9 in the morning until 9.30 in the even- 
ing, and the reading room is open every day 
in the year, the circulating department being 
closed on legal holidays and Sundays. 
We hope that in the near future you will 



SECOND SESSION 



141 



find your way out to Hawaii. (Laughter and 
applause.) We cannot do much for you in 
a library way, but we can show you natural 
wonders that you cannot find anywhere else. 
We have the largest active and the largest 
extinct volcanoes in the world, and we shall 
welcome you most cordially; and I hope that 
by that time we may have a larger library and 
be able to show better results. (Applause.) 

The PRESIDENT : After hearing Miss Hille- 
brand none of us have any doubt that there 
is going to be a free library in Hawaii before 
very long we certainly hope long before 
the American Library Association meets there. 

THE PHILIPPINES 

The following account of the American 
Library in Manila, by Mrs. Nelly Young 
Egbert, the librarian, was received too late 
for presentation at the conference, but is 
here given in full : 

The American Library, in Manila, Philip- 
pine Islands, was organize'' and started by 
Mrs. Charles R. Greenleaf, wife of Gen. C. R. 
Greenleaf, U. S. Army, who brought over 
money and books with which to support it, 
until some permanent provision could be made. 
I was elected by the library board as librarian, 
March i, 1900, and have held that position 
ever since. The library was opened March 9, 
1900, with about 300 books on its shelves. 
They began to come in sparsely at first, but 
in a short time the number increased rapidly, 
and in January, 1905, we had 21,750 volumes, 
given by the women of America, with a few 
exceptions and as a rule by the patriotic so- 
cieties Daughters of American Revolution 
in different states, Army and Navy League, 
Red Cross of California, and Tfeel proud of 
the work and thought of our women when I 
realize how much access to such a library 
means to us Americans so many miles from 
the homeland, with all its pleasures and ad- 
vantages. 

This library is a great help to our soldiers, 
and those in or near Manila come constantly 
to exchange their books, and many of them 
have told me what a comfort and help this 
library has been to them. Some Filipinos, 
students of the normal school in Manila, come 
to the library to look up data pertaining to 
their curriculum. We have braided a fund 
for the purchase of books out of the sale of 
tickets entitling the holders to take books 
from the library, fines for keeping them over 
time, etc., and are able to buy books for the 
general library. The memorials to different 
officers and soldiers who gave their lives in 



the Spanish-American war constitute a very 
interesting feature of this library, and these 
memorials grow in size or stand still, as the 
friends of these men choose. General and 
Mrs. Greenleaf have placed a memorial there 
to the medical officers who gave their lives in 
this war, and there were many brave and 
unselfish sacrifices. They add to these books 
from time to time. The D. A. R. of Ohio 
have placed a memorial there to Ohio's sol- 
diers and intend to add books until the vol- 
umes number 1000. The memorial is marked 
with a very handsome plate of copper and 
brass, suitably inscribed, and one of its mem- 
bers, Mrs. Rath-Merrill, has designed and 
given a bookplate for these books. The D. 
A. R. of Montana, of Virginia, of Kentucky, 
and California have placed books there. Also 
the Red Cross of California have placed one 
to California's soldiers. There are also me- 
morials placed to Col. Harry C. Egbert, 22d 
Inf., U. S. Army, and the books for this are 
exclusively on American history. A memorial 
to Col. Liscum, 9th Inf., U. S. Army; to Col. 
John Miley, U. S. A.; to Col. Guy Howard, 
Q. M. D., U. S. A., and to Lieutenant Ward 
Cheney, 4th Inf., U. S. A. These last four 
have books on general subjects. 

There is little or no public amusement in 
Manila in the evening, so that this library 
with its well-selected works means a great 
deal to the English-speaking people living 
there and to our soldiers. 

Mrs. Greenleaf tried for two sessions to in- 
duce our Congress to make an appropriation 
for the maintenance of the American Library, 
but in that she failed, and on leaving Manila 
in April, 1901, she turned these books over to 
the civil government there, to be held in trust 
and cared for. We have very good quarters 
in a government building and its contents 
are fully insured. We have a large airy read- 
ing room, well lighted ; fine reading tables, 
magazine racks, newspaper files made from 
the beautiful native woods; books of refer- 
ence conveniently placed for readers, and the 
bays of books well lighted by electricity. We 
have about 500 subscribers and average an 
issue of 1600 books each month. 

NELLY YOUNG EGBERT, 
Librarian American Library. 

ALASKA 

A report on the library in Sitka, Alaska, 
by Hon. John G. Brady, governor of Alaska, 
not received in time for presentation, is also 
given : 

Alaska District Historical Library and 
Museum 

Alaska's civil code approved June 6, 1900, 
provides : 



142 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



Sec. 32. "For each certificate issued to a member 
of the bar, authorizing him to practice law in the 
district, a fee of ten dollars shall be paid to the 
clerk of the court, which shall be by him promptly 
remitted to the secretary of the district, and at the 
same time the clerk shall advise the governor of the 
remittance. For each commission issued to a notary 
public a fee of ten dollars shall be paid to the sec- 
retary of the district. The fees .received by the 
secretary under this section and under chapter 
seventy-four of title two shall be by him retained 
and kept in a fund to be known as the district his- 
torical library fund. The fund thus collected shall 
be disbursed on the order of the governor for the 
purpose of establishing and maintaining the district 
historical library and museum. The same shall em- 
brace copies of all laws relating to the district, and 
all papers and periodicals published within the dis- 
trict, and such other matter of historical interest 
as the governor may consider valuable and appro- 
priate for such collection. The collection shall also 
embrace such curios relating to the aborigines and 
the settlers as may be by the governor deemed of 
historical importance. The collection thus made shall 
be described by the governor in the annual report of 
the governor to the secretary of the interior and shall 
be by him kept in a secure place and Burned over to 
his successor in office. The secretary of the district 
and the governor shall each annually account to the 
secretary of the interior for all receipts and dis- 
bursements in connection with such historical library 
and museum. 

Sec. 33. "The historical library and museum pro- 
vided for in section thirty-two of this title is hereby 
made a designated depository of publications of the 
government, and shall be supplied with one copy of 
each of said publications in the same manner as such 
publications are supplied to other depositories. 

At the time of the revision of the civil 
code for Alaska during the winter of 1899 
and 1900 the present governor was in Wash- 
ington and frequently appeared before the 
House Committee on the Revision of Laws 
and the Senate Committee on Territories, the 
two committees which had in hand this legis- 
lation for Alaska. 

After considerable insistance for some pro- 
vision for a library, Senator Carter, of Mon- 
tana, who was chairman of the sub-committee, 
to whom was committed the preparation of 
this code, took the matter up and dictated to 
the secretary of the committee the law pretty 
much as quoted above. 

The idea of making a library fund was 
suggested by the law of the state of Wash- 
ington which provides : Title VI., Chapter 
I, Section 331': "That the notary public shall 
pay into the state treasury his fee of ten 
dollars for a four years' commission for a 
special state library fund." 

While this matter was under consideration, 
Mr. J. G. Price, who was before the commit- 
tee, suggested that each attorney, who enters 
the district to practice law should pay ten 
dollars to the clerk who issues the certificate 



and that the same should be used for the 
benefit of the library fund. 

In chapter 73, providing for the appoint- 
ment of commissioners to acknowledge deeds, 
"The secretary of the district shall collect 
five dollars for each certificate of appoint- 
ment and place this in the library fund." 

Since the approval of the civil code, June 
6, 1900, the secretary of the district has been 
collecting fees for all filings by foreign cor- 
porations, etc., until his right to do so was 
called in question last year. The result is 
the law which was approved March 3, 1905, 
as follows : 

"That in case the law requires or author- 
izes any service to be performed or any act 
to be done by the secretary of the district of 
Alaska and there is no provision of law re- 
quiring the payment of a fee for such service 
by the person for whose benefit the same is 
performed, the Secretary of the Interior may 
prescribe such fees for said service as he may 
deem proper. 

"That all fees received by the secretary 
of the district of Alaska as such secretary, 
from every source whatsoever, shall be dis- 
bursed, on the order of the governor of the 
district of Alaska, for the benefit of the 
Alaska Historical Library and Museum, as 
provided in section 32, chapter I., title i, of 
an act approved June 6, 1900, entitled 'An act 
making further provision for a civil govern- 
ment for Alaska, and for other purposes'; 
and all such receipts and disbursements shall 
be accounted for in the manner prescribed in 
said section." 

These rivulets make up the fund which can 
be spent at the order of the governor for 
the library and museum. Soon after the law 
was approved in 1900, the governor visited 
the various departments at Washington and 
pleaded the cause of the Alaska library. He 
was well received and each sent what it could. 
We are especially indebted to Mr. L. C. Fer- 
rell, Superintendent of Documents, who sent 
us copies of every book that he could spare 
from his shelves. One mail consignment 
brought nearly seven tons of valuable gov- 
ernment prints. In addition to these several 
hundred volumes were purchased at old book 
stores in Washington. These were for the 
most part government prints. 

As the law designates the library a de- 
pository of publications of the government it 
is furnished with one copy of each publica- 



SECOND SESSION 



143 



tion. This library with such a start can be 
made one of the very best collections of 
government publications in the whole 
country. 

The district has no library building. We 
have been permitted by the Society of Alas- 
kan Natural History and Ethnology to house 
our books in the Sheldon Jackson Museum. 
This is an octagonal building whose faces are 
28 feet. Its walls are of grout and about 16 
feet high. The rafters are supported by large 
wooden columns and the roof is of heavy 
galvanized iron. It is the nearest fire-proof 
of any structure, outside of a bank vault, in 
the district. Shelves have been erected 
against the walls and most of the books are 
stacked upon these. Lately one of the upper 
rooms in the custom house at Sitka has been 
turned over for the use of the library. This 
is being occupied and will be the work-shop 
of the library. A considerable number of 
the books are kept on the shelves in the gov- 
ernor's office. 

The PRESIDENT : It is a matter of regret 
that Governor Brady, who was suposed to 
be in Portland at this time, could not be 
present with us. Perhaps you know that it 
is due to his initiative that the remarkable 
Territorial Library is being formed there. 
Besides this, there are several libraries of a 
more popular character, chiefly Y. M. C. A. 
or mission libraries, and notably the one es- 
tablished at Fairbanks by Bishop Rowe, the 
Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Alaska. 

At the request of the president, Mr. FRANK 
P. HILL, first vice-president, took the chair. 

The CHAIRMAN : We will proceed with the 
reports of special committees. The first com- 
mittee in order is that on the A. L. A. Ex- 
hibit at the Lewis and Clark Exposition, of 
which Dr. Dewey is chairman. 

REPORT ON A. L. A. EXHIBIT 

Dr. DEWEY: We are face to face in the 
matter of our library exhibit with the same 
thought that has come before you, from your 
president's address, and from other sources 
the need of closer organization, of more 
funds, and of a national headquarters. Mr. 
Carnegie has helped us out once or twice, 
but this year if it had not been for our good 



angel, the Librarian of Congress, we should 
have had no library exhibit. And, ladies and 
gentlemen, we may as well face this fact: 
that the librarians who are competent to do 
work of this kind and do it creditably are 
all of them overworked; there is hardly a 
man who is not doing more than his strength 
ought to allow, who does not need a larger 
staff and more salary and more appropria- 
tions, and he cannot, in justice to his local li- 
brary, undertake this general work and do it 
creditably. We are fortunate in having the 
assistance of the Librarian of Congress, in 
permitting us to. repeat the exhibit shown at 
St. Louis. The committee felt that the only 
other thing possible, lacking funds, was to 
prepare and issue little pamphlets that could 
be distributed. One of these, by Miss Hass- 
ler, of the Portland Public Library, on work 
for children, has been prepared, and we owe 
it to the Library Association of Portland 
that we have at least this one pamphlet. There 
were those who were willing to undertake 
the work, but we had not funds in our Asso- 
ciation treasury. Some of them turned to 
the Publishing Board ; but you must bear in 
mind wKat I have said to you before, that 
our Carnegie endowment is only $100,000, 
which gives an income of something less than 
$4000 a year with which to carry on a city 
office, with heads and assistants and a pub- 
lishing business. You see the basis for the 
work is ludicrously small. It was a great 
gratification to have $100,000 given to us, but 
the income is inadequate to the demands that 
are made on us. I am sorry to say, therefore, 
that the committee, with its best endeavors, 
were unable to get funds to make such an 
exhibit as they would have planned and 
would have been very glad to have made at 
this Portland meeting. We must have the 
means to do this important work and the 
field is opening more and more, and the 
boundless possibilities in this great North- 
west will be an inspiration and encourage- 
ment to us all. 

Our report from the committee may be 
summed up in this : that the chief exhibit, 
to those of us who are most in earnest in 
regard to library work, is that we have no 
salaried workers and no means adequate to 



144 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



do some of the most important things that 
are to be done in the library world. At the 
same time we live in a country more than 
any other in the world, and in an age far 
more than any other since the world was 
launched into space, when men of great 
means are looking for an opportunity to give 
their money. Now, let's go down from this 
meeting, every one of us, more and more 
determined than ever before to help find these 
people. We talk about the spirit of helpful- 
ness among librarians. Let us help some of 
our multi-millionaires to find a place where 
they can do the greatest amount of good with 
their money ! 

The secretary gave a summary of the 

REPORT ON GIFTS AND BEQUESTS 

which had been distributed in printed form. 

(See p. no.) 
No report having been submitted by the 

COMMITTEE ON REDUCED POSTAL AND EXPRESS 

RATES TO LIBRARIES, this subject was passed 
over. 

In the absence of W. I. Fletcher, the secre- 
tary read the report of the 

COMMITTEE ON TITLE-PAGES AND INDEXES TO 
PERIODICALS 

The committee on title-pages and indexes 
to periodicals beg leave to report that they 
have not met since their last reappointment, 
and have not done any business. Having a 
promise from a committee of the Association 
of Periodical Publishers that a conference 
would be arranged, we have waited, so far in 
vain, for such an opportunity to discuss the 
matters within the scope of our action with 
representatives of the periodical publishers. 
Should the committee be further continued it 
is believed that something may be accom- 
plished before another A. L. A. meeting. 
For the Committee, 

W. I. FLETCHER, 
Chairman. 

In the absence of Mr. Bostwick, chairman, 
J. C. DANA presented the report of the 

COMMITTEE ON BOOKBUYING 

The appointment of this committee took 
its rise in the general dissatisfaction of 



librarians with the net book system under the 
present rules of the American Publishers' As- 
sociation. Members of the American Library 
Association felt that this system had resulted 
in an increase of book-prices and that some- 
thing should be done about it, although opin- 
ions differed about the proper course to be 
pursued. 

The plans proposed naturally divided them- 
selves into two categories measures of 
amelioration and measures of retaliation. 
Your committee has devoted itself, during 
the past two years, more particularly to the 
former. It has been our aim to show that the 
interests of publishers and booksellers are not 
opposed to those of libraries, and that favors 
shown to the latter will result in the 
general encouragement of all business con- 
nected with literature rather than in the crea- 
tion of a sort of monopolistic rivalry, as seems 
to have been feared. Efforts to secure in- 
crease of discount to libraries, though not 
without encouragement, have as yet resulted 
in nothing practical, and we have devoted 
most of our efforts to lightening the libr- 
rian's burden by trying to show him how he 
may expend his book appropriation to the 
greatest advantage. That this phase of our 
work has impressed itself upon the Associa- 
tion as especially practical and valuable, we 
gather from the fact that the name of the 
committee has been changed from the "Com- 
mittee on Relations with the Booktrade" to 
the "Committee on Bookbuying." We have 
taken this as an indication that our relations 
with the booktrade are to be limited to the 
peaceful avenues of commerce, excluding con- 
troversy, retaliation, and all relationships that 
savor of ill will ; and we have governed our- 
selves accordingly. 

Our series of bulletins for the library year 
1905 has contained chiefly advice to librarians 
on the purchase of books, including sugges- 
tions regarding cheap purchase by importation 
at second-hand and from remainder sales, 
with occasional lists of catalogs in which an- 
nouncements of such sales are to be found, 
and other items of news which seemed to us 
calculated to aid librarians in deciding what 
books to buy and how, where, and through 
whom to buy them. 

These bulletins have gone out especially to' 



SECOND SESSION 



the smaller libraries of the country, and we 
have tried to make^them particularly useful to 
those libraries. We believe it to be a fact 
that much information in regard to books, 
even when it appears trite and elementary to 
the librarian of a large city institution, is not 
in the possession of those in charge of small 
rural or town libraries, and that information 
of this kind, in condensed and simple form, is 
welcomed by such persons and is of value to 
them. This information, so far as it pertains 
to bookbuying, we have endeavored to give in 
just this way; in other words, we have been 
conducting an elementary correspondence 
school of book purchasing in which the ob- 
ject has been to teach small libraries to get 
books to fit their own conditions and their 
own constituencies. That there are frequent 
misfits is much to be feared. We have had 
reports, for instance, of book committees in 
small towns who, having at their disposal 
fifty dollars or so for the immediate purchase 
of books, have planned to expend the whole 
for a ten-volume subscription set. It is in 
order to stop this sort of thing that we have 
been urging small libraries to devote more 
attention to the purchase of good books at 
reasonable rates. 

In thus bringing the work of the A. L. A. 
closer to a large number of small libraries 
we believe that we have been not only in- 
creasing its usefulness, but making it more 
widely known in the most effective manner. 
Persons to whom it has been only a name, or 
who have perhaps never heard of it; who 
have never attended its meetings nor used its 
publications, have now awakened to the fact 
that it exists, and that it not only offers 
good things to those who will come and par- 
take, but reaches out into the highways and 
hedges of the library world with gentle com- 
pulsion. 

The trusts have taught us that a combina- 
tion, however beneficent, can rarely be 
brought about by action that is wholly volun- 
tary. There is a necessity for pressure, and 
we may learn a lesson here from the mam- 
mon of unrighteousness, merely substituting 
for the questionable methods that have some- 
times been employed to effect combination by 
force the legitimate processes of argument. 
Membership in this Association is the logical 



basis of combination among librarians, and if 
we can impress upon all those not now with 
us the conviction that we are trying to help 
them, individually, in some direct and con- 
crete way, the aims of such combination must 
necessarily be furthered. 

We have thought it desirable, in connection 
with our work, to prepare a list of out-of- 
print books in general demand at libraries 
and to see whether some publisher could not 
be induced to reprint all or part of these. It 
would appear, however, that interest in this 
matter is almost entirely lacking in libra- 
ries. A publisher has been found who will 
undertake the reprinting of such out-of-print 
works as appear likely to yield a slight profit, 
but librarians have not yet given him or us 
any aid in the selection of books for a pre- 
liminary venture. That there are many good 
old books that it would pay to reprint all will 
agree, and it ought not to be difficult to se- 
cure a list of those mcst in demand. 

The chairman of your committee has twice 
been called upon to explain the book-price 
situation by word of mouth to bodies of libra- 
rians once to the Iowa Library Association 
at St. Louis and again to the Illinois Associa- 
tion at Rockford, 111. It would be well if the 
work of the committee could include more of 
this personal element, but with our present 
small appropriation the expense of such visits 
must fall either upon the association that is- 
sues the invitation or upon the member of the 
committee who accepts it, either of which al- 
ternatives seems to involve an injustice. 

The chairman of this committee was chosen 
by the Executive Board to act as one of the 
two delegates of the A. L. A. to the Copy- 
right Conference, called to meet in New York 
by the Librarian of Congress. The confer- 
ence held its first meeting at the City Club, 
New York, on May 31 to June 2. 

A report of the action of your delegates at 
this meeting will doubtless be made in the 
proper place. It may be urged here, however, 
as having an important bearing upon the pur- 
chase of books, that the delegates of the Asso- 
ciation receive explicit instructions as to their 
action, at future sessions of the conference, 
regarding the proposed prohibition of the im- 
portation of American copyright books. 

In conclusion, in view of the benefits which 



146 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



we believe must accrue to libraries from the 
continuation of work of this kind, we recom- 
mend the appointment of a committee to carry 
it on during the coming year, and we suggest 
that it is well to look forward to making this 
one of the standing committees of the Asso- 
ciation, if not now at least within the near 
future. 

While we have been able to expend our ap- 
propriation of $200 to good advantage, we be- 
lieve that more could be done with an in- 
creased amount, especially in the line of the 
personal work to which allusion has been 
made above, and we therefore suggest an ap- 
propriation of $500 for the ensuing year. 

We submit with this report tabular state- 
ments, showing how our bulletins have been 
distributed and how our appropriation has 
been expended. 

Respectfully submitted, 
ARTHUR E. BOSTWICK, Chairman, 
JOHN COTTON DANA, 
BERNARD C. STEINER. 

A. L. A. bulletins 





1 


. cx.2 


= 
3 S 


t 








o 2 


:5.l 


A 


o 










'o ,i 


I 




B 


*O * <> 


5 h4 [2 \ ~ tk 


it 




Oa 




o <u *n 


C j- 


ja 




1 

O 


c e^ 


S|B 


:s 


a 
O 




H 


i'fi. 


s^u 


U 








c/5 oO, C, 


3 






No. 9, Jan., 1905 


4,000 




,100 


220 


1,490 


190 


No. 10. Feb., r 




3,000 




,100 


22O 


600 


80 


No. ii. 




3,000 




,100 


220 


625 


55 


No. ii. " 




3,000 




,100 


220 


640 


4 


No. 13. " 




3,000 




,100 


22O 


640 


4 


No. 14. " 
No. 15. Mar., 




3,000 
3,000 




,100 

,100 


22O 


640 
640 


40 

4 


No. 16. " 
No. 17. May, 
No. 18. June, 




3,000 
4,000 
4,000 




,125 

,100 

,200 


2 2O 
320 

37 


640 
730 
595 


IS 

750 

835 


Total 




11,225 ' 


2,450 


7,240,2,085 







In the absence of W. I. Fletcher, chairman, 
the secretary read the report of the 

COMMITTEE ON PUBLISHING BOARD FACILITIES 
FOR A. L. A. HEADQUARTERS 

The Committee on Publishing Board Fa- 
cilities for Headquarters beg to report as 
follows : 

The committee had no meeting, but by 
correspondence it was agreed that the Execu- 
tive Board should be advised to make an ar- 



rangement for the employment of a paid 
assistant secretary of the Association with 
a desk and facilities for his work in the 
rooms occupied by the Publishing Board, the 
Publishing Board giving the free use of 
these facilities, and employing and paying 
for, pro rata, a portion of his time, such 
portion to be determined by agreement be- 
tween the Executive Board and the Publish- 
ing Board. 

This action of the committee was laid be- 
fore the Executive Board at their meeting in 
New York on April 22 and formed part of 
the basis of the action then taken. 
For the committee, 

W. I. FLETCHER, 
Chairman. 

Miss JOSEPHINE RATHBONE read the report 
of the 

COMMITTEE TO COOPERATE WITH KEYSTONE 
STATE ASSOCIATION ON INDEX TO FICTION 

The committee met with Mr. John Thomson, 
the representative of the Keystone State com- 
mittee, and submitted a plan prepared at a 
previous informal meeting foi ascertaining 
whether there exists a demand for a subject 
index to fiction, such as would warrant the 
A. L. A. in taking any action toward coopera- 
tion in the matter, and also for determining 
what form of index would best meet the de- 
mand. The Keystone State committee, after 
due consideration, decided that it would prefer 
that the A. L. A. committee should take no 
action in the matter for the present. 
Respectfully submitted, 
JOSEPHINE A. RATHBONE, 
BEATRICE WINSER, 
JOHN THOMSON, Chairman 
Keystone State Committee. 

GEORGE F. BOWERMAN read the report of 
the 

COMMITTEE ON BOOKBINDING AND BOOK PAPERS 

First, attention is called to the fact that 
this committee was appointed to investigate 
not simply the subjects of publishers' bindings 
and book-papers, as is indicated by the pro- 
gram, but also and more especially the subject 
of library bindings and rebindings. 

At the present meeting it is assumed that 



THIRD SESSION 



147 



only an initiatory report is expected from 
the committee. The committee as at present 
constituted has only recently been appointed. 
A grant of $50 has been made by the Endow- 
ment Fund trustees for conducting the neces- 
sary investigations. 

The committee, consisting of Messrs. W. 
P. Cutter, A. L. Bailey, and myself, does not 
contain in its number a practical binder, or 
anyone who has given any special attention 
to the subject. To us it is one of the sub- 
jects of library administration. As publish- 
ers' bindings and papers have grown poorer 
and library circulations have increased, bind- 
ing bills have grown ; hence this question has 
assumed greater importance sufficient im- 
portance to justify a special investigation to 
be pursued purely from the point of view of 
economical administration. 

In the course of this investigation the com- 
mittee will have occasion to send circular 
letters to typical libraries asking their co- 
operation. As it may not be practicable to send 
circulars to all libraries, it is requested that 
all librarians who have discovered methods 
or processes in library bindings out of the 
ordinary will at once and from time to time 
send to the committee notes as a basis for 
further investigations. It is also requested 
that libraries give or loan to the committee 
samples of bindings in use by them that may 
be out of the ordinary, and that have proved 
satisfactory and economical. Also voluntary 
suggestions of any kind for the conduct of the 
investigation are invited. 

This report of "progress" is respectfully 
submitted. 

For the committee, 

GEORGE F. BOWERMAN, 
Chairman. 

Adjourned, 12.20 p.m. 



THIRD SESSION 

(MAIN AUDIENCE ROOM. UNITARIAN CHURCH, 

WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 5.) 

The meeting was called to order by Presi- 
dent RICHARDSON at 8.05. 

The PRESIDENT: I beg to announce the ap- 
pointment of Mr. Francis Barnum Graves, of 



Alameda, and Mr. Samuel H. Ranck, of 
Grand Rapids, as tellers of election, and to 
ask them to report at the A. L. A. headquar- 
ters to-morrow, to the secretary, for instruc- 
tion in their duties. 

It is our very great pleasure this evening 
to have on our program the consideration of 
the national and state libraries. As a national 
topic it is of great interest that we have with 
us the Librarian of Congress to speak upon 
the national aspects of his library. There 
is no person in the United States who needs 
less introduction to this audience than the Li- 
brarian of Congress, but I am sure his pres- 
ence affords peculiar pleasure to you of the 
Pacific slope who have not hitherto known the 
person through whose energies and instinct 
for organization our great Library of Con- 
gress has been made in fact the National 
Library. You, like the rest of us, will be 
pleased to join together under his leadership 
now and in the years to come. You have 
recognized him as we all have recognized 
him as one of our most distinctive lead- 
ers, as the one who has done most to make 
the National Library a reality, and through 
whom the National Library has given more 
help to the general libraries of the country 
than any of us had ever dreamed possible. 
We have the very greatest pleasure in listen- 
ing to the address by Dr. Putnam. 

HERBERT PUTNAM then read a paper on 

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AS A NATIONAL 
LIBRARY 

(See p. 27.) 

The PRESIDENT: I am sure very many of 
us would like the chance of commenting on 
'this paper, not so much discussing it as ex- 
pressing our interest in the individual points. 
I wonder how many of us really do realize 
the stupendous nature of the work that is 
going on in the Library of Congress, or how 
fully the mortification of Everett is being done 
away with. A very closely allied topic to 
the matter of the National Library is the 
matter of state libraries, and in turning to 
this topic I beg to say that in the general 
discussion which follows I hope that we shall 
feel that the discussion of the paper which 
has just been read will also be in order. 



148 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



We will now pass to the aspect of the ad- 
ministration of the state libraries, by Mr. 
J. L. Gillis, of the California State Library. 

Mr. GILLIS read a paper on 

STATE LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION 

(See p. 34-) 

The PRESIDENT: We shall have next the 
pleasure of listening to the paper on the de- 
velopment of the state library by Mr. George 
S. Godard, the president of that very active 
and efficient organization, the National As- 
sociation of State Libraries, now holding its 
session with us; and I take this occasion to 
express the very cordial appreciation which 
we feel of the earnestness with which that 
association is taking hold of its problems, 
the thoroughness with which it is going into 
them, and the efficient way in which it is 
performing its task. 

GEORGE S. GODARD read a paper on 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATE LIBRARY 

(See P. 37-) 

The PRESIDENT: In proceeding to the dis- 
cussion of these papers, I will first call upon 
Mr. C. S. Greene, of California. 

Mr. GREENE: If this discussion means criti- 
cal discussion, I am afraid I cannot very well 
fulfill that expectation; but I am going to 
speak a little further on the matter of the 
duties and the possibilities of a state library, 
and I want to begin by drawing a picture of 
two conditions of a state library. It is not 
entirely an imaginative sketch. In one case 
we have a state library whose scope is limited 
to distributing books to the state officers and 
to the state legislature during session, books 
that must be all returned to the state library 
before the legislators can draw their last pay 
before they go home, after the end of a 
session. The trustees of the library, elected 
all at one time by the legislature, immediately 
proceeded to elect a librarian who had no 
other duty but to spend, so far as he could, 
the amount of money coming to the library 
from certain fees that were made the fund 
for its support. The result of the system was 
the accumulation of a great number of books 
that were not used except by a few people 



locally, and the election of a series of librar- 
ians who were chosen simply because they 
were most pleasing to political leaders in the 
legislature; the net result was many scandals 
in connection with the state library and a 
complete fossilization of the institution. 

Then I want to draw another picture of a 
state library where the trustees are appointed 
by the governor, not all at one time; where 
the librarian elected by them is not responsi- 
ble immediately to the legislature but to the 
trustees, who are themselves free and inde- 
pendent agents after they are once appointed ; 
and where the trustees are permitted to send 
books as widely as they please through the 
state and are given also the duties and the 
powers of a state library commission. The 
result of that, as I have seen it, has been 
a library that has been advancing by leaps and 
bounds into wnat I conceive to be the proper 
duties of a state library, a library that has 
undertaken the dissemination of travelling 
libraries so that every small community in 
the state may have the use of 50 books, for 
six months, with the payment of no fee what- 
ever And in its other departments the state 
library performs such duties as Dr. Putnam 
mentioned as the duties of the National Li- 
brary. In its legislative department it has 
a legislative reference librarian whose duty 
it is to help the legislators in every possible 
way and serve almost as a clerk for the differ- 
ent commissions and legislative committees 
that hold over from one session to another; 
it serves the judicial departments by its large 
law library and by good reference work; and 
it helps investigators, especially in local his- 
tory, by establishing as large a library as it 
can of local historical works, and by catalog-' 
ing and indexing the newspapers published 
in the state from the very first issues up to 
the current numbers. 

The concentration of this librarv in gath- 
ering to itself the duties of the state com- 
mission, and of the state law library, as well 
as the general library of the state, was a 
thing that came rather by chance than by 
design. It was found difficult to put through 
a law creating a commission, and the state li- 
brary trustees undertook to perform the du- 
ties of a commission because they had the 
money and were willing to develop their field; 



THIRD SESSION 



149 



and after it was done we found we had the 
high authority and commendation of our 
friend, Dr. Dewey, who, since that is the way 
it is done in New York, thinks that it is the 
best way everywhere and I am not sure but 
he is right; at least he can defend himself 
on that proposition. The next thing that the 
library purposes to do is to appoint an organ- 
izer, and then we have in active considera- 
tion the matter of a library school, the ques- 
tion being whether the state library school 
ought to be in connection with the state uni- 
versity or with the state library. But the 
state library at its best is bound to develop, 
it is bound to assume the lead among the li- 
braries of the state and to help them all, and 
to make its motto, not "the best reading for 
the largest number, at the least cost," but "all 
the books for all the readers of a state with- 
out any cost to them." (Applause.) 

The PRESIDENT: I will now call upon Mr. 
W. E. Henry, of Indiana. 

Mr. HENRY : I wish to confine my remarks 
to a few things that seem to me most vital 
in getting the state library as an institution 
started in a direction to be of service at 
least to a large number of people in the 
state. If we have not already outgrown the 
idea that we must do as New York does or as 
Wisconsin does or as Indiana does or as 
Ohio is doing, it is high time that we should. 
Because New York has succeeded in doing a 
certain thing in a certain way is no positive 
proof, although some evidence, that any other 
state may succeed by doing the same thing 
in the same way. That California has suc- 
ceeded in doing a certain thing in a certain 
way is suggestive, but not necessarily a model. 
Conditions in California, New York, Wiscon- 
sin, or anywhere else may be such that their 
methods would not fit in Indiana at all. 

But there are certain things that seem to 
me desirable. First, that the state library 
should be a general reference library. There 
are two or three reasons why that should be 
true. First, as a matter of financial economy. 
I say "financial economy" because we all 
know there are a great many other kinds. 
I believe the whole library question can be 
best discussed and solved ultimately on the 
same ground that Herbert Spencer solved his 
essay on style, purely from the standpoint of 



economy: do that thing that shall be of the 
greatest economy to the state, that will ac- 
complish the ends that ought to be accom- 
plished, with the least outlay of energy or 
money. I say, then, that the state library 
should be the great reference library of the 
state, because that particular class of material 
is more expensive than probably any other, 
and it is the least per capita expense to the 
citizens of the state that the expensive books 
be owned by the state, centered somewhere 
in the state, and used by as many people of 
the state as is possible. The great reference 
library of the state should be the state library 
because, whether located geographically in the 
center of the state or not, it is certainly 
nearer the center of the state's life than it is 
possible for any other library to be. It is 
the only library in the state that can be owned 
by all the people of the state, and for that 
reason it is the only library in the state that 
can serve all the people of the state. 

Do not misunderstand me to mean that the 
state should never lend its reference books. My 
own notion is that every state library should 
have a large supply of reference material and 
lend it with absolute freedom. The old idea 
'that a reference book must always stay in a 
library seems to me an idea that if not al- 
ready antiquated soon will be, and the sooner 
the better. A man living a hundred miles 
from the state library, who cannot come to 
the state library, needs a given book just as 
much as the man who lives one mile from 
the state library. That does not necessarily 
mean that we should have a number of du- 
plicates of a given book because in refer- 
ence material there is scarcely any fact in any 
reference book that cannot be found essen- 
tially the same in many other books. So 
my own notion is that the state library 
should be a great reference library and at 
the same time a lender of reference material. 
Of course, I should put a limit upon that. 
There are things that could not be duplicated 
in case of loss and such material should 
never go outside the walls of the library, for 
any purpose. But that limit is not serious, 
and it is a fact, too, that there are a large 
number of books in every old library, and 
some new ones, that might be lost without 
any serious injury if their money value were 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



repaid. So my own theory for our own li- 
brary and my theory for every other state 
library would be this: lend almost any book 
to almost any citizen within the state 
through a library, if you can, to the individual 
directly if you must. I know that when I 
proposed to our legislative committee the en- 
actment of a law that would permit us to 
lend books from the Indiana State Library 
there were several objectors, and those ob- 
jectors were the people who lived close to 
Indianapolis or in Indianapolis, and who 
could not reconcile themselves to the idea 
that they might sometime come to the state 
library and not find the particular book they 
wanted. The only argument I . have to use 
in a case of that kind is that if you come 
here and find that a book is out it 'is only 
an evidence that somebody else wanted it 
just as badly as you did and could not get at 
it quite so conveniently, and for that very 
reason the state ought to lend it. 

The state library ought to be the concen- 
tration point for all the historical material 
in the state, all the historical material con- 
cerning the state that is in duplicate and can 
be had, and much that concerns the state 
alone that is not in duplicate. There are 
things in the state of Indiana and every other 
state probably that would better be in Wash- 
ington in the national library; but that is not 
generally true. 

And so I should say that one of the two 
great aims of every state library is to secure 
for that state library, organized and preserved 
in that library, every fact that can be secured 
that throws light on any phase of the history 
of the state from its beginning. In our own 
state I wish I could build a library to which in 
a hundred years the historian could go and 
write the history of the state without leaving 
the library rooms. That is an ideal. It will 
never happen, of course. But that is the 
thing toward which we are working, and we 
propose to reach that point as nearly as can 
be with the circumstances under which we 
have to work; but of course we started too 
late, much of our material has gone and much 
is now beyond our reach, for various reasons. 

There is a difference of opinion as to 
whether the state library should be the head 



of all the library interests of the state. Per- 
sonally, I think it should. A large number 
of people who know just as much about it 
as I do, and some of them know more, think 
differently, and I am perfectly willing to take 
it for granted that they are at least half way 
right, and that makes me not wholly wrong. 
That matter I do not care to discuss here. 
I could not settle it. But the question is 
this, it seems to me: if any institution is do- 
ing the work that ought to be done, and do- 
ing it in the best way that it can be done, let 
that institution alone. Call it by whatever 
name you please, let it be managed by what- 
ever board you please, but if it is accom- 
plishing the end, the best thing you can do with 
it is to let it go on with the work it is doing. 
If it is not accomplishing the end in the 
best way, then there may be reason for 
change. But I have some time since outgrown 
the idea that every state should do as every 
other state does, simply because this particular 
state found it convenient and advisable to do 
a certain thing in a certain way. 

The PRESIDENT : Now we shall hear from 
Mr. Johnson Brigham, who is known to all 
of us as skilled both in critical and construct- 
ive discussion. 

Mr. BRIGHAM : A man takes his life in his 
hand who differs with my friend Dewey, of 
New York (laughter), and when my friend 
Henry also gets over on his side, why, one 
had certainly better take to the woods. But 
I have differed with him before, and I am yet 
alive, and so I am going to differ to-night. 
I think that under the circumstances in Cali- 
fornia, Mr. Gillis did just the right thing for 
the state library; but as a general proposition 
for states entering upon new careers or wak- 
ing up to the opportunities of the time, the 
New York and California plan is not the best. 
There are two forces in library work. One 
force is from the center outward ; the other 
is toward the center. I believe that at the 
state capitol there should be two bodies con- 
nected and yet separated. There should be 
a state library commission, its purpose being 
to reach Out to the farthest corner and the 
remotest crossroads of the state as that may 
be necessary ; and there should also be a state 
library, which should be a reference library, a 



THIRD SESSION 



15 1 



source and center of information, to which 
scholars may come, to which women's clubs 
may look for help; and I believe that these 
two should not be in antagonism, but should 
work together. Jn other words, I believe in 
the Iowa plan (laughter). 

I believe in it in library matters as I do in 
politics. I believe, in the language of the 
street, that the librarian, instead of being "it" 
in all respects, should consent to delegate part 
of his power to a library commission. I be- 
lieve that every state librarian should, by virtue 
of his office, be a member of the library com- 
mission, and if I were not a state librarian 
myself I should believe that he ought to be 
ex officio president of the library commission. 
But the secretary of the library commission 
should be the storm center of all activities 
which reach out to the uttermost parts of the 
state. The state librarian should be the cen- 
ter toward which scholars, students, women's 
clubs, isolated investigators, men in the labor 
unions, men and women engaged in all mental 
activities, should turn, and they should not 
be disappointed. I believe, with the rest, 
that the state library should loan books 
freely, but there is a large class of books that 
should not be loaned unless they are held in 
duplicate sets that could not be replaced, 
and sirnilar examples. 

Dr. DEWEY : I think, Mr. President, that 
the idea of the last speaker, in separating the 
functions of the state library and the state 
library commission, is no more practical than 
it would be to separate the freight and pas- 
senger business of a railway. They are dis- 
tinct, but they run together closely. Where 
the reference use of a library begins and the 
recreation use leaves off is a pretty difficult 
thing to determine. If the commission estab- 
lishes libraries throughout the state and en- 
courages all the library work of the state, in 
every comer, there are still people who want 
to consult books, do reference work. The 
commission wants to aid them in this. I 
have thought this over a great many times, 
and I can see no way to carry on this work 
economically unless all the library interests 
of the state are under a single government. 
But one thing I am clear on, that it ought 
not to be ex officio government. Of the lo- 



cation I am not at all clear in some cases 
the state library with its great body of refer- 
ence books might better be with the state 
university, using in the capitol only the small 
library, which the legislature and the depart- 
ments require to consult. Now, that is 
against the New York plan, but I can see, 
in the seventeen years I am rounding out 
there, some of the grave difficulties there are 
in working in the atmosphere of a state capi- 
tol. I am not at all sure that the state library 
in some cases would not be better associated 
with the state university. But I never yet 
have been able to see a plan that could be 
worked economically where there was a di- 
vided control and a divided government a 
state library and a state commission; where 
you would not have to duplicate labor and 
material, with attendant risk of friction, 
greater cost, and less efficiency. 

Miss CORNELIA MARVIN : I feel heartily in 
sympathy with Mr. Brigham's views. It seems 
to me that in some states the state library 
may be able to take care of all its work. But 
there are two distinct lines of work to be done 
in any state; one, the work for small librar- 
ies from a center, and the other the work of 
a large reference library. It seems to me 
that if they can be well combined, it may be 
possible to do that; but that local conditions 
should govern to a certain extent. But I do 
believe there are two distinct lines of work 
for the one institution to undertake. 

Mr. ANDREWS: Mr. President, I have been 
interested as I was once in a discussion be- 
tween a member of our local bench in Chi- 
cago and one of its leading attorneys. I 
listened a whole evening to discussion of 
forms of methods of procedure, on the one 
hand from the side of the bar, and on the 
other from the side of the bench; and not 
once did I hear the clients mentioned. This 
discussion has not gone quite so far. There has 
been a reference to the public scattered in the 
outermost parts of the state, in the remotest 
crossroads, but there has not been a single 
reference to the great mass of the people of 
the state in their commercial centers. I pre- 
sume the explanation is that it is thought 
that the city libraries are able to take care of 
themselves and will look out for themselves. 



152 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



But there are many functions of the state li- 
brary which directly affect those other librar- 
ies, the great reference libraries of the com- 
mercial centers, and the capitol in a majority 
of the states is remote from the commercial 
center of the state and from the center of 
population of the working people of the state. 
I want to speak for the reference libraries of 
the great cities, not merely reference libraries 
pure and simple, but the reference departmnts 
of municipal libraries. They all have an in- 
terest in obtaining the publications of their 
own states, which is a very difficult matter, 
and any closer relations that can be effected 
between the great city libraries and the state 
libraries should be emphasized in discussions 
on the topic. 

C. S. GREENE: I do not see that any argu- 
ment has been advanced for the separation of 
the reference work of the state library and 
the distributive work of the library commis- 
sion that would not apply to every little town 
library. Every little town or small city li- 
brary has those two kinds of work to do 
reference work in the library itself and dis- 
tributive work of sending books out to the 
remotest part of the town. But nobody ever 
suggested that two libraries in the same town 
should do that work, as being the most econo- 
mical way. It is generally found most econo- 
mical to have it combined in one library 
which shall, in two different departments, 
under the same general control, meet those 
two needs. As to the other way, of having 
a separate commission of which the state 
librarian shall be a member, it seems to me 
that the argument for that would indicate 
that the Siamese Twins was the best form 
for the human race. 

Mr. BRIGHAM : I have never seen explained 
satisfactorily the reason why the country store 
should not divide and become departmental 
in quality, and why the city department store 
should not take upon itself the duties of a 
country store. It is simply conditions which 
confront us, making it possible for us on a 
large scale to do certain things satisfactorily 
and well which the little country library can- 
not do satisfactorily and well. That is all. 

Mr. GODARD: It seems to me that the coun- 
try districts, many of them, and many of the 



small villages, do not need more books so 
much as they need to know how to use the 
books that they have; and it strikes me that 
one great help that our state normal schools 
can give to the several states is the including 
in their curriculum of an elementary library 
course, which shall teach teachers how to use 
books so that they in turn in the public 
schools can teach the children how to use 
books. 

Dr. DEWEY: Some years ago I went into 
a library where they separated the books, and 
the librarian showed us one case of books 
marked "little boy" books, and another 
marked "little girl" books. It amused most 
of us. I think Mr. Andrews put his finger 
pretty nearly on the point. It is what I tried 
to say and have not made clear. Let me 
state it the other way. The person who is 
interested in a particular kind of work em- 
phasizes that. One librarian has the scholarly 
instincts of collecting a great library, and he 
says that is the function of the state library. 
Another has this desire to reach out, and he 
says that is the function of the state library. 
But the public wishes to be served with books, 
and I do not think it is practical to separate 
these books. The people who put fiction in 
one place, we want them to handle all books. 
The person who is reading fiction for recrea- 
tion, we want him to use other books as a 
laboratory. If the commission is going to 
look after the library interests of the state it 
must help everybody in the state who requires 
help from books, not only the young reader, 
but the student, the investigator, the me- 
chanic, and they will want all the resources 
of the library. The cost of the library is the 
great problem. It is recurring more and more 
every year, and we must face the most econo- 
mical way of doing our work. That means 
that the state must maintain in some place 
a single, great, comprehensive library. It 
must maintain a faculty of reference libraries 
in connection with it. We have now a refer- 
ence library in law, sociology, medicine, his- 
tory, and education, and we need a half-a- 
dozen more; and the time is not so far distant 
when a great state library must have different 
specialists in these different fields, so that by 
telephone, by mail, all over the state, the state 



FOURTH SESSION 



153 



library shall be available, either for the second 
largest library in the state or for the little 
crossroads library to call on it for help. The 
theory of splitting up things is an expensive 
theory in practice, and I venture the pre- 
diction that the more you duplicate the more 
you will find it economical to do your work 
under a single head. 
Adjourned, 9.40 p.m. 



FOURTH SESSION 

(MAIN AUDIENCE ROOM, UNITARIAN CHURCH, 
THURSDAY MORNING, JULY 6) 

The meeting was called to order by Presi- 
dent RICHARDSON at 9.40. 

The PRESIDENT: There have been shown 
at this conference two or three interesting 
plans of library buildings. Mr. Dodge has an 
interesting sketch of the Stanford University 
Library and a ground plan, which has been of 
interest to those who have seen it. Mr. An- 
drews has very elaborate plans for the pro- 
posed library for the John Crerar Library, 
and as these have been seen by many and will 
be interesting to many others, I have asked 
Mr. Andrews to take five minutes now to 
give us a general statement about the plans, 
which he will be pleased to show those who 
are interested. 

PLANS OF JOHN CRERAR LIBRARY 

Mr. ANDREWS : It gives me great pleasure 
to say a word or two about the plans of the 
directors of the John Crerar Library of Chi- 
cago for its permanent building. All of you 
may not know that this library is for refer- 
ence use only and, by agreement with the 
other libraries of the city, takes for its field 
the social, physical and natural sciences and 
their applications. I am accustomed to esti- 
mate its field as about 40 per cent, of that of 
the total usual library field. Its income is 
$160,000 annually, of which about $40,000 are 
available for the increase of its collections, 
including purchase, binding, subscriptions to 
periodicals, etc. At present it serves an 
average of 300 readers a day, but this num- 
ber is even now increasing steadily, and a 
decided further increase is anticipated the 



moment that adequate accommodations, and 
those which will attract rather than avoid 
observation, are provided. The service of 
the library is not local ; it covers not only the 
educational institutions on all sides of the 
city, but more and more those of the state 
at large so that a central location is neces- 
sary for its greatest usefulness. The direc- 
tors were greatly pleased by the very decided 
endorsement 55,ooo votes in favor and only 
9000 against of the proposition submitted 
at the annual election a year ago, to build 
on the lake front. The site chosen is part 
of Grant Park, and just north of the Art 
Institute. 

Under the perfectly proper restrictions of 
the ordinance the building is limited to a 
space 315 feet long and 203 feet deep. The 
first decision of the committee on buildings 
and grounds was that this space must be 
utilized to the utmost. Even so doing it will 
provide only for a hundred years ; and they 
felt that this is as short a time as they are 
justified in planning for. They, therefore, 
decided against any irregular form and in 
favor of a rectangular building and an adapta- 
tion of the plans of the New York Public 
Library, which seemed to them to best fit 
the conditions. The diagrams provide on the 
two lower floors for a central core of stacks 
and around them lecture halls, society rooms, 
rooms for directors and trustees and most of 
the other administration; on the upper floor 
a series of reading and exhibition rooms, the 
main reading room being right above the 
stack. The service is vertical, and therefore 
the easiest possible. Now this plan brings up 
two main questions. On one of them the 
American Library Association, at its Phila- 
delphia meeting in June, 1897, passed certain 
resolutions, of which 1 will quote only the 
last : "We find in the arrangement of a cen- 
tral stack, with reading room above, an ex- 
cellent provision for ample light, freedom 
from noise, ready and quick deliver}' of books, 
and opportunity for extension as the growth 
of the library may require." The last is a very 
important fact. One of the two questions, 
therefore, which I have to ask you, is whether 
or not there has been any change of opinion 
on the part of the Association on this very 
important point that for a great reference 



15.4 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



library in a city, where economy of space is 
the first essential to be considered, the read- 
ing room can be placed advantageously above 
the stacks. The other point has never been 
discussed more than incidentally at our meet- 
ings, although it has come up occasionally; 
that is, whether or not the use of artificial 
light, which means practically electric light, 
has become so reliable and cheap that the 
stacks can be planned without reference to 
daylight. Mr. Bernard Green, the superin- 
tendent of the Library of Congress, is decid- 
edly of the opinion that this can be done, and 
as a matter of fact he is now excluding much 
of the daylight from the stacks of the Li- 
brary of Congress by quite an elaborate pro- 
vision of screens, confessing that he w^s too 
much influenced in their construction by the 
formerly prevalent opinion that a maximum 
of daylight in the stacks was the great desider- 
atum. Upon these two points I ask the advice 
of all who have had experience, or who have 
theories, or ideas. If they do not comply with 
my request they are at least deprived of the 
satisfaction of saying "I told you so" when 
they come to complain of the conditions at 
the John Crerar Library. 

The PRESIDENT: We are obliged to Mr. 
Andrews for presenting these considerations 
of interest to us, in the interim of assembling. 
I will now call for the first regular paper on 
the program, by Henry E. Legler, of Wis- 
consin. 

HENRY E. LEGLER read a paper on 

STATE LIBRARY COMMISSIONS 

(See p. 40.) 

The PRESIDENT: This paper is an important 
and significant contribution to the sugges- 
tion of the tendency which was noted in last 
evening's session in respect to state libraries 
the tendency in modern library practice 
to have the state do more than it has in the 
past, instead of leaving all to private and 
local initiative. If there are any who are 
afraid of this and think it is paternalism or 
anything of that sort, they are simply to re- 
member that our government is by ourselves 
and for ourselves, and when we do these 
things for ourselves through the state it is 



only our cooperative way of doing them for 
ourselves. The discussion of this topic will 
be opened by Miss Edna D. Bullock, of Ne- 
braska. 

Miss BULLOCK : Mr. President, I should 
like to say that in Nebraska the average stunt 
of a library commission's secretary is about 
forty-five minutes, but that I shall not feel 
at all embarrassed if I am called down some- 
what soonet. I dislike to disarrange the 
gauge and prefer that you should attend to 
that for me. 

The PRESIDENT: The average stunt of this 
discussion is five minutes; but we will give 
you a little margin over that, and 1 will 
venture to call you down at the end of seven 
or eight or nine minutes. 

Miss BULLOCK : Thank you, Mr. President. 
There are two reasons why I should not dis- 
cuss the details of Mr. Legler's paper; one 
is the feminine prerogative of talking on al- 
most anything but the subject. It is a very 
comfortable prerogative for a library com- 
mission's secretary to have handy. The other 
is that the general trend of library commis- 
sion work, as understood in the West and 
Middle West, has been so clearly outlined 
as to admit of no further definition, and I 
believe there is no dissenting opinion among 
those of us who are doing the work in that 
part of the country. So I will confine myself 
to a few concrete examples illustrating the 
work we are doing, and these must of neces- 
sity be drawn from my experience in the state 
which I represent, and also must of necessity 
be at times so local as to be almost personal. 

Our law in Nebraka, which is a very good 
law borrowed from Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
and Iowa says that it is our business to en- 
courage the establishment of libraries where 
none exist and improve those already estab- 
lished. We find the first end of the work by 
far the larger part of it, and we are most 
deeply concerned in the character of the 
books that are put into the hands of Nebrask- 
ans, whether they are on the shelves of the 
libraries in pur eleven cities and towns, or 
in the country schpolhouse, or on the what- 
not in the ranchman's home in the sand hills. 
To succeed in inducing Nebraskans to put 
one good book where there has been none, and 



FOURTH SESSION 



155 



tvvc where there has been but one, cr to sub- 
stitute a good book for a poor or indifferent 
one, is the chief part of our work at present; 
and we have followed the general method 
indicated by Mr. Legler in doing this, by dis- 
tributing lists of books for libraries, for 
schools and homes, lists of books for pres- 
ents for children, and lists of books on farm 
and home topics. As a concrete example I 
might say that I once met with a farmers' 
institute, presented the subject of the use of 
books in the farm home, and distributed a 
list of books on farm and home topics ; and as 
a result of that one meeting a goodly num- 
ber of copies of books recommended were or- 
dered by farmers in the audience and others 
came around and told me that they intended 
to purchase the entire list of books one citi- 
zen with a cheerful Teutonic countenance, 
telling me that his children could learn to 
read from them even if he could not. That 
is one of our present methods of getting 
books into the homes of Nebraska and into 
the hands of the laborers. 

Nebraska has no school library law, and I 
doubt the advisability of having one, because 
without any law the work is being centralized 
in the library commission and a large propor- 
tion of our energy, money, and interest goes 
into making the pathway toward library in- 
terest easy for the boys and girls of Nebraska. 
Tfie adult citizens who have come to us from 
the East and who have not acquired a taste 
for reading, and who do not know how to 
use books, we do not regard as of peculiar 
interest to us ; but we mean to give the boys 
and girls of Nebraska every possible chance. 
For years our state has been proud of 
its record as having a low degree of illiteracy, 
and we propose to keep our banner waving, 
and for that reason we think it worth while 
to spend considerable energy on the boys and 
girls. 

The improvement of libraries already es- 
tablished is a part of our commission's func- 
tions, but is not the most important matter 
with us now, for the reason that v one-third 
of our state is something like the Middle 
West while the other two-thirds is distinctly 
West, and since "magnificent distances" have 
been mentioned by almost every representa- 



tive for the West, I should like to speak of 
our Cherry county, which has within its bor- 
ders no library. It contains over six thou- 
sand square miles, and you could lay down 
Connecticut and Rhode Island in it, with 
plenty of room for both of them to rattle 
around; yet this county constitutes only one- 
twelfth of the area of our state and, as 1 
said, it has no library. We have work to do 
that has to go back to foundations. We do 
help the libraries a little, and I should like 
to say, in connection with Mr. Legler's per- 
sonal opinion as to interference, that we never 
help anybody who does not ask us for help, 
unless we can do so without his knowing that 
we are doing it and sometimes we have 
succeeded in doing that. No summer school 
has been needed. We borrow all the help of 
that sort from our neighbors and shall con- 
tinue to do so, and as a personal opinion i 
should like to suggest to these Far Western 
states that there is such a thing as having 
too many library summer schools, and that if 
any of you can get the work done for you 
by somebody else, I would advise you to try 
Nebraska's plan of sponging upon your neigh- 
bors. (Laughter.) 

As an example of what we do in the way 
of encouraging the establishment of libraries, 
and as a concrete example, I have an engage- 
ment next fall to go out into the sand hills 
to assist at a house-warming of a new 
library building at Keystone, some 300 
miles from Lincoln and some distance 
from a railroad station. A woman's 
club in the sand hills, whose mem- 
bers, some of them, travel 25 miles to attend 
the meetings of their club, established a li- 
brary, and outgrowing the little post-office 
room in which they kept it, decided that they 
must have a library building, and they are 
now collecting money to build a lean-to for 
their schoolhouse. At the dedication of that 
lean-to I hope to assist. If any of you are 
interested in that sort of thing I invite you 
to accompany me to Keystone next fall to 
see how they do things of that sort in Ne- 
braska. We utilize every possible agency in 
the way of cooperation the W. C. T. U., 
the women's clubs, the Equal Suffrage Asso- 
ciation, which has 500 clubs in our state, and 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



which gives considerable attention to library 
affairs and has one library meeting of each 
of its clubs every ^ear we work through 
all of these agencies and any other possible 
agency. The women's clubs, of course, are 
our chief support, and through them nearly 
all of our library efforts have their origin. 
One thing has not been mentioned, I 
think, that a library commission might very 
profitably undertake not only to furnish 
books to study clubs, but also to supply 
courses of study. I have found that study 
clubs often undertake things that they cannot 
possibly accomplish by reason of lack of ma- 
terial, and consequently I have endeavored 
to guide them along lines which are possible 
in their locality, and there is nothing in the 
office of our library commission that flies so 
constantly about the state as the courses of 
study which I have told the women's clubs 
are at their disposal. 

Now, in order to come within the limit of 
time I should like to express the general tone 
of our work in the language of another : 
"All our efforts are directed to the end that 
books rightly chosen and rightly used shall 
give to Nebraskans the knowledge which il- 
luminates, the companionship which cheers, 
and the ideals which transmuted into action 
cause that continuing growth by which alone 
a man may reach his full stature." (Ap- 
plause.) 

The PRESIDENT: Sometimes it is very hard 
work to grant a request even when it is made 
by a woman. This is one of the occasions 
when it was a hard thing to grant Miss Bul- 
lock's request to let her know when arbitrary 
limits were reached, and so it will be hard in 
respect to some of our other speakers. But 
I have evolved a method, and I will venture 
two minutes before the fixed time is up, to 
bring my watch forward for the speaker and 
leave it on his own conscience, with the 
watch, to say when he comes to an end. 
(Laughter.) The other speaker for this dis- 
cussion is Miss Hoagland, the secretary of 
the Indiana Public Library Commission. 

Miss MERICA HOAGLAND: Mr. President, I 
congratulate the American Library Associa- 
tion upon the address given by Mr. Legler. 
It must needs voice the sentiment and opin- 



ion of all library commissions. There are one 
or two items in the address that I would like 
to emphasize from Indiana's point of view. 
Mr. Legler referred specially to the improve- 
ments in street and water works, which must 
of necessity affect our organization of li- 
braries in the smaller towns of the Middle 
West. Not long ago the Indiana commis- 
sion was called to organize a library in a 
town, and though it was a rainy evening th'e 
entire town seemed to be interested in the 
movement. The taxpayers, especially, came 
out, some of them to object to the organiza- 
tion of the library, and one of the questions 
put to the organizer was, "Shall we have 
water works to protect our town, or shall 
we have a public library?" It was rather a 
difficult question to answer, and the organizer 
got around it by saying, "We must have both. 
One is a necessity for material advancement; 
the other is an equal need for intellectual 
advancement." 

I wonder if we appreciate how much we 
owe to the women's clubs of the various states 
in the organization of public libraries? 
Women's clubs have been the butt of much 
criticism, but I believe the women's clubs 
have gone out of the catalog of fads and 
come to be recognized as permanent educa- 
tional agencies. (Applause.) The women's 
clubs, when taken seriously, have a great in- 
fluence upon the advancement of our several 
states. I believe that one fruitful subject for 
discussion in the League of Library Commis- 
sions will be to find how far and to what ex- 
tent the clubs of the country have been in- 
strumental in organizing public libraries and 
directing their influences. Let me emphasize, 
too, another thing in Mr. Legler's paper, and 
that is that the initiative for any library or- 
ganization must come from the town or city 
rather than from the library commission. 
I think there is always a little feeling of re- 
sentment against too much state interference. 

Greater than the public library commission, 
greater than the state library board, is the 
interest each serves. To continue the discus- 
sion begun last evening, let me quote briefly 
from the opinion of the president of our own 
library commission, and of a member of it, 
and also from our governor, who is specially 



FOURTH SESSION 



157 



interested in this library matter. This from 
Mr. Jacob P. Dunn, the president of our li- 
brary commission: 

"In my opinion the success of the manage- 
ment of any library movement depends chiefly 
on the personal character, interest, and en- 
thusiasm of the people engaged, and not on 
the name or form of organization. I can 
imagine a state librarian doing effective li- 
brary missionary work without the aid of a 
commission. I can imagine trie two working 
jointly with beneficial effects. I think we 
have demonstrated in Indiana that a commis- 
sion can do good work without any aid from 
the state library. In brief, it is much as if one 
were asked who made the best librarians, tall 
people or short people. It all depends on 
what they are short on. 

"In Indiana we found a field not occupied 
by the state library or any other institution or 
organization. We occupied it, are doing well, 
and are satisfied to go on as we are until we 
have more light. 

"On the abstract question, I think a differ- 
ence would exist between states according to 
the amount expended for trie state library. 
In a state where the state librarian is a super- 
visor, and the work is done by a corps of as- 
sistants, the task of looking after local li- 
brary organization and management might be 
taken on advantageously. In a state where 
the state librarian does most of his own work 
I think that he would find enough to engage 
most of his time in his own library. This, 
however, is a mere suggestion of probabilities, 
and might be varied materially by local con- 
ditions." 

Since coming here I have received from 
Mrs. Elizabeth C. Earl, a member of our li- 
brary commission, who is in the East, the 
following : 

"There should be but one library board or 
commission under whose care all the library 
interests of any state should be developed and 
fostered. 

"The library board in charge of the library 
interests of a state should be appointed for 
that purpose only, and not be identified direct- 
ly with any other state work. In divided du- 
ties one is likely to give his best effort to that 
which appeals to him most, at the expense of 
the others ; but there should always be a 
hearty and earnest co-operation in all educa- 
tional effort in the state. 

"If it seems wise to have a board or com- 
mission of five or seven two of these might 
be ex officio but a board or commission of 
three carefully appointed persons who have 
an honest desire for a higher standard of citi- 
zenship will bring better results, with less ex- 
penditure, to the state. 



"With all library interests under one direct- 
ing body there cannot be a duplication of 
work and therefore an unnecessary expendi- 
ture of time and money will be avoided. 

"By placing the state library under the care 
and direction of the library, commission, the 
library interests of any state will be corre- 
lated." 

Let me say in closing that Governor Han- 
ley feels, with the commission, that, because 
"in a division of authority there is confusion 
of counsel," there should be but one directing 
agency. How or when that should be brought 
about will be of course left to each state to 
decide in its own way. (Applause.) 

SAMUEL S. GREEN: Mr. President, I rep- 
resent, as you know, the state of Massachu- 
setts, and the oldest library commission in the 
country. A word as to what we have done, 
and a word as to the things which should 
next be done. We found in 1890 when the 
commission was appointed that there were 
but 105 towns with libraries. They are all now 
supplied with libraries. A law Was passed 
afterwards enabling us to give other towns 
with only $600,000 valuation a hundred dollars' 
worth of books and I will say I had rather 
give books than money in case they organ- 
ized under the laws of the state. That work 
has been practically completed. A third law 
was passed which enabled us to give to any 
town with $600,000 or less valuation an ad- 
ditional hundred dollars' worth of books, 
where the Library Commission could be con- 
vinced that the town was doing all that it was 
possible for them to do for outlying districts 
and for the schools. That work is practically- 
completed. Now what shall we do next? 
We the five members of our commission 
are not in favor of having a paid agent go 
around among the libraries to give aid and ad- 
vice. We can command in Massachusetts a 
large body of highly cultivated and benevolent 
women, and men, too, whom we feel that we 
can organize into a body, pay their travel 
expenses, and let them loose upon the small 
libraries of the state. It has always been our 
plan to put the library of every town into the 
hands of some member of the commission 
who should have friendly correspondence and 
study the conditions in that town ;ind do for 
it whatever could be done. We propose to 
continue that, by organizing, as I say, this 



158 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



body to aid us in showing what is needed in 
these towns, and then we will help them im- 
prove their libraries. We feel that it would 
be an excellent thing to bring librarians of 
small libraries to Simmons College in Bos- 
ton, for example, or to some similar school 
where special library training is given, and to 
pay their expenses.' I speak of Simmons 
College because it has a dormitory where in 
summer we could have room and opportunities 
for instruction. We should like to bring a 
number of librarians of small libraries to 
Simmons College every year for a few weeks' 
study. 

There is one other thing. It seems to us 
that instead of having one or even two general 
associations throughout the state ,ve would 
not discourage the existence of these, but 
1 rather encourage them there should be at 
least ten little library associations throughout 
the commonwealth, and that each one of 
these should be so distributed that every li- 
brarian of a small library should know the 
librarian of some central library, with whom 
they might consult. Such associations would 
allow the librarians, at very small expense, to 
come together two or three times a year, ex- 
change experiences, and learn about the man- 
agement of libraries. 

Miss ALICE S. TYLER: Mr. President, I 
want to say a word on this subject, suggested 
by the remarks of Miss Bullock, as to co- 
operation with other interests in the state. I 
think that the library commission should be 
in a receptive attitude so far as working with 
other organizations in the state is concerned, 
and I think that if we are open-minded the 
door is open to us every day. We find in 
Iowa, and I suppose other representatives 
here have found, that the tendency in the 
Y. M. C. A. is toward organization through 
county centers ; where there are many small 
towns in a county the Y. M. C. A. employs a 
secretary to include all of the towns in the 
county, instead of acting as secretary solely 
for a local organization. A knowledge of 
this tendency came to us through the fact 
that the Y. M. C. A. secretary in one county 
became interested in the travelling library and 
wished to correlate the work of the two or- 
ganizations. We were more than ready to 



work with them, and this has opened to us, 
in a purely accidental way, one method of 
cooperation. At once this county secretary 
placed in the villages of the county six trav- 
elling libraries, and this plan we hope to 
follow out in other counties. I mention this 
simply as a suggestion as to how we may 
cooperate with other agencies. Another 
method consists in cooperation with the state 
federation of women's clubs. I am very glad 
indeed to testify to the hearty, cordial, and 
constant help that we receive from the wom- 
en's clubs of Iowa. We owe to them the or- 
ganization of many of our libraries. And we 
have correlated our work with the state fed- 
eration in a specific way, by travelling library 
work and work with their club program com- 
mittee. We are fortunate in having upon our 
commission some very strong club women, 
among them Mrs. Towner, of Iowa, who is 
chairman of the club program committee of 
the State Federation of Women's Clubs. 
They prepare outlines for study among the 
clubs of the state and we furnish the books 
along the lines suggested by this outline. 

Miss GRATIA A. COUNTRYMAN read a paper 
on 



(See p. 56.) 

The PRESIDENT: The discussion of this pa- 
per will be formally opened by Dr. Dewey and 
Dr. Steiner. 

Dr. DEWEY : I remember when some few 
years ago I proposed this travelling library 
plan to our legislature, how very much 
amused they were at such a ridiculous propo- 
sition. But the travelling library has come 
to stay, and you see from the report of the 
vast number of these libraries the great 
amount of money that is being expended and 
the good that is being accomplished, that it is 
a permanent force in librarianship. It is 
spreading all the time. The process is going 
on, breaking down the barriers between the 
people and the books. That is what we want. 
The American people pre-eminently want re- 
sults. They care mighty little about theories, 
if it is demonstrated that a certain thing 



FOURTH SESSION 



159 



ought to be done. We all know that the best 
books ought to be in the hands of everybody 
who will read them. If a thing ought to be 
done, then there are four plain questions: 
how can it be done quicker, easier, cheaper 
or better? If you can demonstrate any one 
of those four things, that settles it with 
Americans they will do it that way regard- 
less of theory. That was the proposition 
about travelling libraries. We wanted to get 
books and readers together, and the theory 
was that it could be done better and quicker 
and easier by making the books travel than 
by making the people travel. The question 
of quick transportation is at the bottom of 
all our modern civilization. Quick and cheap 
transportation of people and of things, and 
quick and cheap communication, constitute 
the whole library problem. This question of 
travelling libraries is developing all the 
while, more and more liberality i? being 
shown as to where they shall go and when, 
and the rules regarding their use are con- 
stantly broadening. Our last effort in New 
York was sending out the house library, for 
the farmers, to any individual home without 
library privileges. 

Wherever we take down a barrier the ex- 
perience justifies the effort. The human ani- 
mal comes into the world, and after his first 
breath of nir there come certain absolute 
necessities ; water, first, then food, then 
clothes, then shelter, the necessities of exist- 
ence. After that, the question of books, and 
that comes to be about the first essential of 
educated and intelligent citizens. We have 
to supply this demand. My contribution at 
this moment to this discussion is the expres- 
sion of the belief that the travelling library is 
going to broaden still further till individual 
scholars and students and readers will be 
able to gel these libraries freely and con- 
stantly. If any man, woman or child wishes 
either information, or inspiration, or innocent 
recreation from the best books, the public 
cannot afford not to make the books availa- 
ble. That means that we must reorganize 
many of our thoughts about libraries, because 
to reach all the people and all sections of a 
country the travelling library must develop 
still more. I take it that in ten years from 



now, in many sections, if a person wishes to 
take up a special line of study, that indi- 
vidual will be able to send to some place and 
get the best books on that subject, just as 
now an organized study club or a small pub- 
lic library may do. And with that we shall 
send not only the travelling library, but the 
study guide, so that on any subject of im- 
portance libraries will have available the best 
advice and information that can be had, in 
a few pages, clearly printed, with suggestions 
of the best books, annotations that will tell 
the scope and character and value of these 
books, and suggestions for study. 

I am sorry often to differ from my dear 
friends and colleagues, but different people 
have different views. The very purpose of 
these meetings is to give expression to these 
different views. Now, I do not believe in 
the least in the Massachusetts system of do- 
ing this work, and yet I am mighty proud of 
Massachusetts. I am immensely proud of the 
Empire state, but right down in my heart I 
wouldn't be a bit sorry if the Lord had 
dropped me. on the other side of the' line, and 
I could claim Massachusetts as my home. I 
am proud of that great state and its great 
record, but 1 do not like the system that 
Brother Green has laid out here. My ob- 
servation is that the hireling minister who 
is preaching to but one body of Christians 
has been a great deal more efficient than vol- 
untary service. I should rather live in a com- 
munity where there is a good paid fire de- 
partment than take my chances with the vol- 
unteers. This voluntary work as a rule is 
poor work. Now, this is a fact. Let us face 
it; let us be fair with each other. We would 
not trust in any commercial work the volun- 
teer servke of people of comparatively little 
experience. Here is a young woman who 
comes out of school and becomes interested 
in libraries, and if she is an earnest, go-ahead 
sort of a girl, she immediately conceives a lot 
of theories of her own. I have known re- 
peatedly of a young woman of that kind go- 
ing out and conducting a library institute or 
something- of the kind, and teaching some 
mighty bad library doctrine. This is an age 
of specialists. For instance, take the New 
York systems. Mr. Eastman, our library in- 



i6o 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



spector, for the last ten or twelve years 
a Yale College man and a graduate of the li- 
brary school has gone day after day doing 
just one thing visiting libraries to find out 
their difficulties, their experience, and what 
they need, and his mind is focalized on that. 
Don't you suppose, after making a dozen 
visits of that kind, that his advice is more 
valuable than would be the voluntary serv- 
ice of someone of a very limited experience, 
who, because she is engaged in library work, 
assumes to advise? Do voluntary superin- 
tendents give the best results? The public 
schools of this country that are doing the 
best work get trained instructors, people who 
not only have their heart in their work, but 
who have studied school problems, tyave seen 
the failures and the necessities. 

Dr. STEINER: I think it is always well if 
a man has any concrete experience, to give 
it, and I have had just a little bit of con- 
crete experience with reference to the sub- 
ject of Miss Countryman's paper, "Travelling 
libraries as a first step in library develop- 
ment." We have not gotten to the second 
step, down in our state, so I cannot tell you 
very much as to what the travelling library 
is going to lead to. 1 can merely tell you 
what we have begun to do with the travelling 
library. In Maryland the state capital is not 
the center. All roads lead to Baltimore, all 
means of transportation are best carried from 
and to Baltimore. Furthermore, when the 
state library commission was established the 
funds at its disposal were not sufficient to 
enable it to employ any trained secretary. 
Consequently, it seemed best to make an ar- 
rangement with a library in Baltimore which 
was able to furnish the service of preparing 
the travelling libraries. That arrangement 
was made, and with our appropriation we 
purchased travelling libraries and sent them 
out, and we very soon found that the people 
did not realize that they wanted travelling 
libraries, far less did they realize that a per- 
manent library would be any use to them. 
So we sent out last winter a young man who 
went by sleigh and by buggy and by steamer 
and by bicycle and on foot, over 18 of the 
23 counties of the state. Through his efforts 
there was no difficulty in convincing the peo- 



ple that they wanted travelling libraries, and 
we have had no trouble in placing all the li- 
braries we have been able to buy, and could 
have placed more if we had them. But we 
feel very strongly, and the little experience 
we have had has made us the more convinced 
of the fact, that the travelling library is only 
the first step in library development, that there 
must be a library center in each town that is 
of sufficient size to make it possible for that 
town to support such a center a center in 
which there is a permanent collection of 
books, with a reading-room open at certain 
hours and certain days during the week, and 
in which there is someone who has at least 
an elementary knowledge of library matters. 

We have also found another difficulty 
which a state with a larger appropriation and 
with skilled help in its library commission 
would not have found. We started out, and 
so far it seems the only way we can continue, 
with fixed collections of books, and there is 
a good deal that is unsatisfactory about such 
fixed collections. From one little town the 
people will write that they want one kind of 
books ; from another little town they want 
another kind of books; and it is very sur- 
prising how, when you get into a rural com- 
munity in one district you will find that the 
people have read many of the standard books, 
in another they have not read any and are 
glad to get them. The degrees of culture in 
the different counties of 'the state are sur- 
prisingly different. And so it seems to me 
that the permanent, fixed, travelling library 
collection is a first step toward the elastic 
flexible travelling library collection. Tn other 
words, had I the money and the force, I 
should try to keep very few collections of 
books which could not be changed from time 
to time as the need and the demand should 
warrant. 

Secondly, there should always, it seems to 
me, be clearly in mind the purpose of placing 
in each of these communities something that 
is more definite than any travelling library 
can be. The travelling library is a splendid 
stimulus. It is a most excellent means of 
reaching scattered people. It is a means 
which we shall probably have to resort to for 
generations to come. It is quite probable 



FOURTH SESSION 



161 



that it never will be superseded. And yet 
it seems to me that \ve should not emphasize 
it to the forgetting of the other side of the 
work. Our state library commission was es- 
tablished for the purpose as defined in the 
act creating it of giving aid and advice to 
public libraries and those wishing to estab- 
lish such libraries, and secondly, to circulate 
travelling libraries among the people of the 
state. Thus we see the travelling libraries' 
are the first step, and the permanent libraries 
are the second step, and the latter are the 
ultimate goal toward which we should be 
struggling. (Applause.) 

Miss TITCOMB : We think we have found 
in one county in Maryland just what Dr. 
Steiner wants a permanent collection with 
travelling libraries radiating from it. Our 
library in Hagerstown is simply an ordinary 
library, such as you will find in any average 
city of about 17,000 inhabitants, but it is for 
the benefit of the whole county, and when we 
opened it the only obvious way of getting at 
the people in the county was through the 
means of the travelling library not fixed 
collections, which Dr. Steiner also objects 
to, but collections which go out and come 
back and become an integral part of the cen- 
tral library. We have now 66 travelling li- 
braries circulating in the county of 45,000 in- 
habitants. These little libraries go out as the 
regular travelling library does, in the usual 
travelling library case containing about 50 
books, and stay as the usual travelling library 
does, at the post-office or the general store 
or in any public place where we can find 
someone to take care of them. Then they come 
back and the books are overlooked and a 
fresh collection goes out. In addition to this 
we have recently started our book wagon, 
which is going through the county taking 
the travelling libraries to their destination, 
and also arranged in such a way that we can 
carry on the shelves, with doors opening out- 
ward, a collection of about three or four 
hundred books at a time. Our man goes out 
and deposits whatever cases he has to deposit 
and then goes on through the more isolated 
portions of the county which are not near 
any post-office or near any general store, 
and drives up to the farm-houses, where the 



people come out and select the books from 
the wagon. This, it seems to me, is the solu- 
tion of the difficulty which Dr. Steiner has 
experienced. 

Mr. JOY LICHTENSTEIN : Dr. Dewey and Dr. 
Steiner gave me a pointer that I have long 
wanted, and I now rise to a point of informa- 
tion. When a reader comes to the library we 
give him the privilege of taking his own 
book from the shelf or of finding the book 
that he wants in the catalog. Now, are we 
giving this outside untrained reader, as we 
may call him, the same privilege with 
our travelling libraries? If so, I want to 
know how far we are giving him that privilege, 
and how far we think he ought to have that 
privilege. Are we making up in these travelling 
libraries a certain proportion of books from 
each class of literature, arbitrarily chosen, or 
are we sending these libraries out with direct 
regard to the needs of the people who are 
to receive them? In California, for instance, 
are we sending down to the oil regions, the 
lower end of the San Joaquin Valley, books 
which would perhaps particularly interest the 
people there, and are we sending to some 
fruit region or the orange-growing region 
books which would interest those people, and 
are we giving to the people in any place the 
privilege of choice as to what books they are 
to have? I do not refer to the study-club 
libraries, but to the genera! travelling librar- 
ies. The difference, it seems to me, is the 
difference between the service table d'hote 
and service a la carte. There is no question 
as to which way we prefer to dine. How 
are we letting the other folks dine? 

C. S. GREENE: A countryman going to a 
restaurant says, "Please give me from there 
to there on the bill of fare." He cannot read 
the French names, and it is better for him 
to serve him the regular dinner; and that is 
what we have had to do so far in the Cali- 
fornia travelling libraries. Yet, in sending 
out travelling libraries from the state library 
we have endeavored to make the libraries 
fit the local conditions to some extent. I re- 
member once when they sent a library out 
to the fruit-growing district and they put in 
a number of books on the subject. The re- 
cipients wrote back to say that they knew all 



1 62 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



about that kind of thing, and please to give 
them something interesting. (Laughter.) So 
you cannot always tell how to choose books 
for other people. "In our state we send the 
books entirely free, the library bears the ex- 
penses of transportation and there is rio cost 
whatever to the community. That has re- 
sulted in doubling the number sent out since 
last November ; it will probably double again 
in the next six months, and the extent of our 
funds will probably be the only limit to num- 
ber of travelling libraries sent out. It is 
cheaper to send the books than to send a 
paid agent, whose salary would have to be 
taken from our funds and would lessen the 
number of books we send. 

Dr. DEWEY: We are constantly sending 
books more and more a la carte, but there 
are cases where this does not work. I went 
into a camp in the Adirondacks last year. Out 
there in the lumber camps, the cheapest thing 
that will keep the men at work and keep 
them warm is beans, and the contractors who 
take them out there give them beans three 
times a day breakfast, dinner, and supper. 
Some of these men came to town and went 
down to the local hotel where there was a 
bill of fare. They looked at it a little while 
and then turned around and asked for beans. 
It was utterly true that they preferred them. 
And there are people of whom the same thing 
is true as regards books. But the tendency 
to select their own books is growing all the 
while. Our experience, and the experience of 
most of you probably, is that when we adapt 
books to definite constituencies we are dis- 
appointed in the results. The farmer doesn't 
care so much for the books on farming; he 
is being a farmer all the. time, and he wants 
something just as different as possible from 
what he is doing. You know that if a man 
thinks he wants a certain book it is better to 
give him that book than to give him something 
twice as good that he does not want. The 
time to drop the worm is when the young 
robin has his mouth open, and when a man 
is interested in a certain book that is the time 
to give him the book and to give him a bet- 
ter book does not answer the purpose. You 
might take the most elaborate menu, and it 
would not be as useful with the robin's mouth 



shut as would the poorest angleworm in the 
lot at the right time. We ask people to tell 
us what books they like ; if they do not know, 
we ask what subject they are interested in; 
if they do not know, we ask them who is in 
the family. If they say there is a boy who 
loves the "woods, we take a shy at him with 
an out-of-door book, or something of that 
kind. To dine d la carte is a matter of edu- 
cation. But the elective system is sweeping 
all over the world. People have an idea that 
each human soul has certain rights of its own 
and they won't stand being dictated to, and 
when a librarian prescribes in a dogmatic 
way, "take this book" or "that book," "this 
is the book you want," it may work some- 
times, but very often it doesn't. An interest- 
ing experience in this line is that of sending 
books to the blind. The old theory was that 
books for the blind must be chosen on the 
assumption that a blind person only wanted 
to read sermons and prepare himself for the 
future life. I was heretic enough to say that 
it seemed to me that if anybody would like 
something interesting and bright, it should 
be a blind person. We publish about a dozen 
new books every year for the blind. We have 
taken "The bonnie brier bush" and "Wild ani- 
mals I have known," and similar books. Those 
people are perfectly delighted to get out of the 
ordinary channels. So I should say, by all 
means, let us cultivate the a la carte system 
if people know what they want; and if they 
do not know, send them the best collection we 
can, profiting all the while by experience. 

Miss STEARNS : It would seem as if, with 
our great National Library, our state library, 
our county libraries, our city libraries, our 
village libraries, our travelling libraries, and 
our book wagon, we had reached the last 
stage of library, development ; but in all this 
discussion this morning there has not been 
a word said concerning the future stage of 
this library development, and that is the utili- 
zation of the rural free delivery to bring the 
individual book to the individual borrower. 
It seems a shame that the United States 
should stand in the way of this next step in 
library development, that such a man as Sen- 
ator Thomas C. Platt, of the United States 
Express Company, should keep us from 



FIFTH SESSION 



163 



having legislation passed in Washington al- 
lowing the rural free delivery carrier to take 
from the little village library the individual 
book to the individual borrower, and yet that 
is just exactly what happened in the state of 
Wisconsin. Our Senator Stout tried to reach 
the individual borrower in his county with 
the individual book. The United States pos- 
tal regulations forbade. And I think it 
should be the next work of the American 
Library Association, in this matter of library 
development, to have legislation passed that 
will permit the individual book to reach the 
individual borrower. Say we have our trav- 
elling library system. In one of the boxes 
there is a particular book on radium. If that 
book is in a system of 120 boxes it will take 
sixty years for a particular borrower to get 
at that particular book, if there happened to 
be only one copy of it. Why should not it 
be possible for a man in a remote place who 
has read about radium in his daily paper and 
wants to know something more about it, to 
drop a letter in the post-box in front of his 
home, 50 or 60 miles from a railroad, asking 
the librarian of the nearest library to send 
him some book on radium, and why should 
it not be possible for the rural mail carrier to 
take that book to that individual borrower, 
without paying the prohibitive postal rate? 
(Applause.} 

At the request of the president, Miss 
STEARNS, second vice-president, then took the 
chair. 

S. S. GREEN : Travelling libraries in Massa- 
chusetts are furnished by the Women's Edu- 
cation Association, which perhaps you will 
remember to be the association of cultivated, 
well-to-do women of means who provided 
the endowment for Radcliffe College. They 
are very earnest and very active. Now, it is 
that class of women which I would like to see 
going around among the small libraries of 
the state of Massachusetts. I understand 
Dr. Dewey has left the room, but if I mention 
to him the names of such persons as Miss 
Mary Morrison, of Boston, who is the chair- 
man of the fiction selection committee of the 
Boston Public Library, Miss Chandler, of 
Lancaster, Miss Jackson, of Pittsfield, and 
I could name many others, he would see at 



once that these people not only have leisure 
and a philanthropic interest, but they have 
special interest in libraries, and that their 
efforts in helping people would be of the 
greatest service. I particularly stated that I 
thought this plan was better adapted to Mas- 
sachusetts than ajiy other method. Each 
state must decide for itself what is best un- 
der the circumstance in which it is placed. 

Dr. RICHARDSON here resumed the chair. 

Miss MARILLA FREEMAN read a paper on 

LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION ON FROM $IOOO TO 
$5000 A YEAR: ECONOMIES IN PLANS AND 

METHODS 

(See p. 64.) 
SAMUEL H. RANCK read a paper on 

LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION ON FROM $IOOO TO 
$5000 A YEAR: ESSENTIALS AND NON- 
ESSENTIALS 

(See P. 58.) 

The PRESIDENT: Discussion on this inter- 
esting topic will be opened by Miss Alice S. 
Tyler and closed by Miss Mary L. Titcomb. 

Miss TYLER: Mr. President, may I suggest 
that this discussion be passed over at this 
time? I think there are many interesting 
things that have been suggested by these two 
excellent papers, and I feel that we cannot 
do justice to the discussion in the very few 
moments that we would be justified in taking 
at this time. 

The PRESIDENT: Then I will introduce this 
discussion again, if there is an opportunity; 
if there should not be, of course, we shall 
have to put it over. In the meantime I will 
declare this session adjourned. 

Adjourned 12.45 P- 



FIFTH SESSION 

(MAIN AUDIENCE ROOM, UNITARIAN CHURCH, 
FRIDAY MORNING, JULY 7) 

The meeting was called to order by Presi- 
dent RICHARDSON at 9.30 o'clock. 

The PRESIDENT: Will Mr. Hill present the 
report of the conference on copyright? 



164 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



FRANK P. HILL read the 

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON CON- 
FERENCE ON COPYRIGHT 

Upon the invitation of Dr. Putnam, Librar- 
ian of Congress, the Executive Board of 
the A. L. A. appointed two representatives 
to attend a conference on copyright held at 
the City Club, New York City, May 31 to 
June 2, 1905. The list of associations in at- 
tendance included American (Authors') Copy- 
right League; American Bar Association; 
American Dramatists' Club; American Insti- 
tute of Architects; American Library Asso- 
ciation ; American Newspaper Publishers' As- 
sociation; American Publishers' Copyright 
League; Architectural League of America; 
Association of American Directory Publish- 
ers; Fine Arts Federation of New York; In- 
ternational Typographical Union; Music 
Publishers' Association; National Academy 
of Design ; National Association of Photo- 
Engravers; National Educational Associa- 
tion; National Institute of Arts and Letters; 
National Sculpture Society; Newspaper Ar- 
tists' Association; New York Typographical 
Union, No. 6; Periodical Publishers' Asso- 
ciation of America ; Photographers' Copyright 
League; Print Publishers' Association of 
America; Society of American Artists; 
United Typothetae; Librarian of Congress; 
Register of Copyrights; Treasury Depart- 
ment. 

The object of the conference was to con- 
sider amendments to the copyright law, as 
suggested by the American Copyright League. 
The section which interests the American 
Library Association reads as follows: 

"That copies of a foreign edition of a copy- 
righted work should not be imported into 
the United States without written consent of' 
the author or copyright proprietor." 

Against the adoption of this paragraph your 
representatives protested. They were sup- 
ported by the president of the National Edu- 
cational Association, who sent a communica- 
tion to the conference. Your committee in- 
formed the conference that no formal action 
had been taken by the A. L. A., but that the 
matter would be considered by the Associa- 



tion at its Portland meeting. The recom- 
mendation of the committee is that the ques- 
tion be referred to the Council for considera- 
tion and action in the name of the Associa-. 
tion. 

(Signed) ARTHUR E. BOSTWICK. 

FRANK P. HILL. 
Miss L. E. STEARNS read a paper on 

THE QUESTION OF LIBRARY TRAINING 

(See p. 68.) 

The PRESIDENT : I have heard what might 
be called an argumentum ad hominem on this 
subject a day or two since, when a business 
man said he wondered that Miss Stearns 
was willing to work in the library profession 
as industriously as she did, when she could 
make three or four times as much in business. 
There is a very ingratiating young Harvard 
graduate who is doing his best to understand 
us for the benefit of the newspapers here. 
He says that he wonders about us in general, 
that we are willing to do so much intelligent 
work with so little financial or public recogni- 
tion for it. He says, "it is hard for us busi- 
ness men to understand why you are willing 
to do it. I suppose there is some reason for 
it, but we do not understand it." 

The discussion of this important question 
will be opened by Mr. Hill, with special 
reference to the way in which classified serv- 
ice may be made to contribute to library 
training. 

Mr. HILL : Mr. President, ladies and gentle- 
men, it will be better for me to confine my 
remarks to classified service as it exists in the 
Brooklyn Public Library rather than to make 
any extended remarks covering the general 
fi^ld. At the outset I want to say that I am 
not a believer in the average civil service ex- 
amination as arranged by the state or the mu- 
nicipality. As a general thing a position un- 
der civil service is nothing more than a pre- 
mium upon incompetency. It is a compara- 
tively easy matter to get a person into the 
service, but a very difficult one to get rid of 
that same individual ; contrariwise, it is diffi- 
cult to get a competent person in and it is 
very easy sometimes to get that same person 
out. Under most of our municipal service 



FIFTH SESSION 



165 



arrangements, after charges have been made 
and proved before a committee of the board 
or the head of the department and the em- 
ployee is discharged, he or she still has re- 
course to law, and it has been shown that in 
nine cases out of ten the employee will win 
against the head of the department or the 
institution which has put him or her out. 

The real difficulty with any municipal 
scheme is that the best library assistants are 
often unwilling to submit to an examination 
which is open to general competition. In the 
New York municipal service (Brooklyn is a 
part of New York) the examinations were 
necessarily prepared by the Civil Service 
Commission of the city. It might be three 
months before the result of an examination 
was known, and it was not always certain that 
questions pertaining to the particular duties 
involved would be given by the commission. 
No account was taken of the previous library 
experience of the candidate, although the 
questions were fitted to those who had had 
some preparation. Even if those whose serv- 
ice the library was anxious to secure were 
willing to take the examination, the library 
was limited in its choice to the first three on 
the list and might therefore be unable to ap- 
point the one best suited by personality and 
experience for the particular position to be 
filled because she might have stood fourth or 
fifth in a written test. 

The mere case of janitors was always a 
difficult one. One of our janitors, or per- 
haps two, would disappear of a night and 
when we wanted somebody for the next 
morning we would have to send over to the 
Civil Service Commission, ask for a list of 
eligibles, and it would take perhaps a week 
and in some cases two weeks before we could 
get even temporary assistants. The same diffi- 
culty was experienced in filling other positions 
and the result was not satisfactory, owing 
largely to these delays which seemed to be 
inherent in this particular municipal Civil 
Service Commission. 

If I said that I was not a believer in the 
ordinary municipal civil service scheme, I 
am, on the other hand, a strong believer in 
a civil service within the library itself. Four 
years ago we were under municipal civil 



service. After consolidation had been arranged 
with the old Brooklyn Library we became 
a private corporation, and because of our ex- 
perience with the city appreciated more fully 
the need of a scheme which would protect the 
library, the public and the assistant. A com- 
mittee of the board was appointed to draft 
a scheme of library service, copies of which 
I presume have been received by most of the 
libraries. It is very carefully prepared. It 
provides two services practically the non- 
graded and the graded. I will not go into 
details, Mr. President, because of the limited 
time which is allowed, but if any special 
points are brought out in the discussion I will 
try to meet them. In addition to this scheme, 
and as a help to it, we have formulated 
"Notes for the guidance of librarians-in- 
charge." These notes cover all the points that 
ever came up at the time of their preparation, 
such as vacations and recesses, leaves of ab- 
sence, telephone calls, gifts, and all sorts of 
things 213 rules altogether. We have found 
in our experience that these 213 rules are not 
enough, and the assistants here send in every 
few days additional rules which they want 
incorporated. A new set will be prepared 
sometime during the fall, and we shall be glad 
to send a copy to anyone who makes applica- 
tion. 

The PRESIDENT : I am extremely sorry to 
say that Miss Marvin is not here. In her 
absence we are very happy in having a very 
good friend of Miss Marvin, who was called 
on practically from the floor yesterday be- 
cause the Pacific slope wanted to see the edi- 
tor of Public Libraries. We have been for- 
tunate in securing Miss Ahern's consent to 
speak on this subject. 

Miss AHERN: I certainly am much grati- 
fied at this opportunity to appear before the 
friends on the Pacific Coast. I will confess 
in the outset that my feelings toward the 
Pacific Coast and the library work on the 
Pacific Coast, are a little warmer than they 
are toward the rest of the country, because 
I follow out that old saying that the things 
we love first we love best. My initiation into 
the American Library Association came at 
the time we made dur famous tour through 
California and the southern part of the Pa- 



i66 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



cific Coast, and I thought then in my youthful 
innocence that it was all like that. I have 
lived long enough since in various and sundry 
places, and associated enough with library 
workers all over this country to know that 
that was simply the cream. 

Dr. Richardson asked me yesterday to say 
something upon trained service. Miss Stearns, 
however, has taken all the things that I us- 
ually say when I talk to people about trained 
service. I am not sure but that she has been 
looking up the files of Public Libraries. 
{Laughter.) But, anyhow, I do not know 
that anything I could say would add to the 
growing feeling that library work is no longer 
the place for the "misfit," and the person 
who has to be provided for by someone else. 
Trained library service is called for just as 
strongly and its needs are becoming as 
strongly felt as trained service in any other 
field of educational work. We no longer feel 
in this country that anybody will do for pub- 
lic school work, and the feeling is coming 
that it is no more fitting for anyone who 
finds himself without a niche in the world 
that he may call his own to be put into public 
library service. 

As a matter of economy it is a good 
thing for a library to have trained service, 
either from a library school or from 
one of the accredited, live, up-to-date public 
libraries, because the duties even of a small 
library may be performed more economically 
by one who has at his command either com- 
parisons from study of the best libraries of 
the country, or who has from experience 
worked out the best way to expend the small 
means and time at his disposal in putting any 
library into shape and making it of the best 
service to the community. It does not need 
much argument to prove that 500 books well 
chosen by one who knows the principles of 
book selection, who knows books themselves, 
and who knows people, will do infinitely 
more good in a community and be more of 
an inspiration to those who are not book- 
lovers as well as to those who are, than 
5000 books in the hands of someone who has 
to learn what books are, what their service 
to the community may be, what the people 
are calling for, and what the questions of the 
day are. From the standpoint of the place 



of the library in the community, it is also 
by all means best to have at the library helm 
one who knows its value from an aesthetic 
and from a cultural point of view. If the 
library comes into the community, touching 
and beautifying the life from every side, it 
will appeal to the hearts and minds and pocket- 
books of its constituency from the first. It 
will have no occasion to offer an excuse for 
its existence, but everything will be in its 
favor, and the life in the community will, as 
we can testify by examples all over the coun- 
try, at once respond to this spirit of the li- 
brary. 

The need of trained service is being 
accepted now without much question. The 
only question is where and what shall that 
trained service be? Of course, the schools, 
we acknowledge, were the fountain sources of 
training and they are very properly taking 
note of the shortcomings that have been 
pointed out to them; and year after year we 
who have watched their course with great in- 
terest are pleased to find they are lopping off 
some of the things that are not as essential 
as they seemed at first, and are adding those 
things that will make the people they send 
out all-'round citizens, trained business peo- 
ple, trained hostesses and trained hosts. 

The PRESIDENT: The program committee, 
in planning the discussion of this question, 
wanted it to bring out the fact that there 
was a double aspect to this question the 
aspect of the training that one can get in the 
library schools, and the training that one 
might acquire somehow without the library 
school if he did not have the advantage of 
the former. This is something that appeals 
to some of us who are a little sensitive some- 
times because we have not had any library 
school training. To be sure, there was no li- 
brary school in our day, and yet we some- 
times feel as if we were out of it, because we 
did not have library school training, so we 
wanted to give both sides of the question a 
hearing, and I am glad to say that the library 
school aspect, which must of course always 
be the fundamental side to which we refer, 
is to be spoken for by so eminent a repre- 
sentative of it as Miss Plummer, the head 
of the Pratt Institute Library School. 

Miss PLUMMER: I have expressed myself 



FIFTH SESSION 



167 



so often and so fully in our meetings, on the 
whole subject of training for librarians, that 
I am going to limit myself this morning to 
one phase of the subject. The celebrated be- 
ginning of Mrs. Glasse's recipe for cooking 
a hare, ''First catch your hare," has always 
been regarded as a superfluous calling of at- 
tention to the obvious; and it is somewhat 
surprising that it is not equally obvious to 
every one that to train a librarian you must 
first catch a librarian. In other words, the 
selection of persons to be trained is one-half 
the battle. I am not certain that it is not 
more important than the training itself. 

How are you going to know if you have 
caught a librarian? Any one can tell you 
when you have got a hare the long ears, 
etc., are marks that everybody knows ; but 
there is no such easy criterion in the case of 
the candidate for training, more's the pity. 

Still, there are some ways of discovering 
latent librarianship better than others: First, 
references. If these are from the candidate's 
actual teachers (not principals or college pres- 
idents), or from an employing librarian, they 
are likely to be of service; if they are from 
the candidate's pastor or from family friends, 
they seldom throw much light on the points 
as to which we wish enlightenment. 

Second, the candidate's own letters, from 
the mode of expression down to the paper 
they are written on, tell the practised ex- 
aminer a number of things of which the 
writer is often quite unconscious. 

Third, interviews. Where these can be had, 
in addition to the educational test, one ought 
to avoid serious mistakes. Where preliminary 
direct interviews are impossible, the school 
may arrange for interviews by proxy with some 
critical librarian or library assistant who will 
give a professional opinion of the candidate. 

Fourth, certificates and diplomas. These 
certify that the candidate has been taken 
through certain work and examinations on 
it; but what he or she knows of other sub- 
jects remains to be determined. Speaking 
for ourselves, we prefer to find out in our 
own way what a candidate knows or doesn't 
know rather than to take the word for it of 
some other institution. When, for instance, 
a recent graduate of a leading woman's col- 
lege informs you that the late John Hay was 



one of the editors of the Federalist, and that 
"the Boers have held their own against the 
attempts of the British to get possession of 
their territory," when one calls the Laocoon a 
famous painting, or says that the Roman 
Corso is a symbol of captivity, you are rather 
glad that your questions have set them to 
talking. When you learn that a well-known 
annex to a university has given a young 
woman her degree on languages alone and 
that she has had exactly one term of the study 
of history in her whole education you lose 
confidence in degrees gained under the elect- 
ive system unless you can add to them your 
own tests. 

Fifth, examinations. The more a careful 
observer of human nature has to do with 
these, the better he learns to wield them, not 
as an instrument of torture, but as a touch- 
stone. All sorts of traits, mental and moral, 
show between the lines. It is not so much 
the inability to give desired information as 
the willingness to give misinformation which 
ruins the candidate. The translator who, 
rather than leave a blank in his translation, 
say from the French, makes a wild guess and 
produces something entirely devoid of sense 
and often ludicrous, is showing not so much 
a lack of French as a lack of ordinary intelli- 
gence. Examinations made with a view of 
drawing out the applicant, of showing what 
he knows simply and incidentally as a part 
of what he is, are the only. valuable examina- 
tions for entrance. 

But when letters, and references, and 
examinations, and the interview, have all 
proved satisfactory, are you sure then 
that you have caught a librarian? No, 
for this is a thing that only time will tell. 
You may be fairly sure that you have got a 
good future library employee, which is a dif- 
ferent thing. And, after all, that is what the 
present demand requires. Panizzis and 
Pooles and Winsors are not and never will 
be wholly produced by library schools, though 
library schools may contribute to their train- 
ing. Such eminent examples are born li- 
brarians. The born librarian will not need 
a school to teach him principles of classifica- 
tion put him into a library and he will 
take to them as a duck to water he will 
evolve systems of classification and catalog- 



i68 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



ing, and methods of administration without 
ever going near a school, and the schools will 
adopt his principles and methods and learn 
from him. 

But there will never be many of him, and 
there will be thousands of library employees, 
and it is for these that our schools are at 
present intended. And when we have applied 
all the foregoing tests, we ought to be able 
to say, "We may not have caught a librarian 
only the future can tell that but we have 
caught a promising library employee. If he 
has the fundamental qualities, cooking I 
mean training and time and experience may 
turn him into a librarian." 

The PRESIDENT: Miss Plummer has an- 
ticipated the point that I wanted to make in 
introducing the next speaker the genius 
does not need the training, but the average 
individual does. We must not forget in all 
this discussion about political appointees, that 
some of our best librarians are political ap- 
pointees. I do not say a large number, but 
some geniuses and some admirable librarians 
are political appointees who have shown the 
ability to adapt themselves to their environ- 
ment. It is like the way I was taught to 
swim. A big boy took me out on his shoul- 
ders, over my depth; then he dived and left 
me there, and I could swim, from that day, 
a little. The geniuses will teach themselves, 
and we would rather have an Abraham Lin- 
coln, with his only experience of a library, 
his Bible and blue-backed speller, than the 
best person who has just barely managed to 
go through a course of training and has been 
let out of a library school against the judg- 
ment of 45 per cent, of the faculty. Now the 
point that Mr. Crunden has consented to speak 
to, in some degree, is as regards those persons 
who must pick up such training as they get 
anyhow they can, who have not had and can- 
not have the privilege of the library school. 

Mr. CRUNDEN : The whole subject has been 
so well covered by Miss Stearns and Miss 
Plummer and Mr. Hill that really there is 
little to be said. The one point that I specially 
had in mind has been brought out by Miss 
Plummer and emphasized by Dr. Richardson ; 
and that is that the most important com- 
ponent in the dish is the original material of 



which it is prepared; the condiments are of 
less importance. I want to speak also a word 
regarding the civil service examination. I 
have been a member of the executive commit- 
tee of the Civil Service Association of Mis- 
souri a great many years. I thoroughly be- 
lieve in civil service as preferable to political 
appointment. I think the results in the long 
run are better. But it is not an ideal sys- 
tem, especially if the administration of the 
service is in the hands of people who are 
not particularly interested in the results. 1 
commiserate Mr. Hill if he has to turn his 
examinations over to a person who knows 
nothing about library work. We have a, civil 
service system, but it is directed by ourselves. 
It is entirely in my hands. I make the ques- 
tions or turn them over to a competent mem- 
ber of my staff. We want to find out, as 
Miss Plummer says, what the person knows 
and find it out in our own way. We will 
not take diplomas from any institution. Col- 
lege graduates have expressed surprise that 
after going through college they had to take 
an examination at the library. But I have 
known at least two college graduates who 
failed while the best of high-school pupils 
succeed. The questions, of course, are di- 
rected to the lines of study in which we ex- 
pect knowledge and efficiency, and our ex- 
perience has been, that a high-school educa- 
tion, supplemented by general reading, is gen- 
erally sufficient to enable the candidate to 
pass the examination. In all these matters 
I belive in the power of the executive to ap- 
point or dismiss. He is the person most con- 
cerned. When we were revising the charter 
of our board of education I had the satisfac- 
tion of being secretary of the committee ; and 
all through, basing my recommendations on 
my experience as an executive in the library, 
I urged that the amplest powers be given to 
the superintendent. There was a great deal 
of discussion on that point. Other members 
of the committee said, "Isn't that giving too 
much power to one man?" "Well," I said, 
"you have to place the power somewhere. 
Now, will" you. put it in the hands of an irre- 
sponsible committee men who know noth- 
ing about education or will you put it in 
the hands of a professional whose reputation 



FIFTH SESSION 



169 



is at stake, whose own selfishness, if it is at 
all far-sighted, will lead him to appoint only 
the best people he can find ? He has no other 
interest. His fortune depends on it." I am 
happy to say that I carried my point. And 
that is one of the elements in the organization 
of the St. Louis public schools which makes 
it so strong. The superintendent has abso- 
lute power in the selection of text-books and 
the appointment of teachers; and so it should 
be in the library. I believe in a civil service 
system within the library. 

In this discussion of trained library 
service the question naturally comes up of 
the relative value of the library school 
whether it is simply a good thing or an ab- 
solute essential. I was very much amused 
a few years ago to find the great change of 
opinion that had taken place on this subject. 
In the convention of 1883 at Buffalo, when 
Mr. Dewey proposed his library school plan, 
I believe I was the only librarian who spoke 
out confidently and positively as to the value 
of such a school. I remember distinctly the 
scoffing manner in which the proposition was 
treated by some of the older librarians, two 
most distinguished librarians in particular. 
The change that took place in the course of 
a dozen years or so, library schools having 
in the meantime approved themselves, was 
shown amusingly by a series of questions that 
I received from a young lady graduate of one 
of the library schools, who was then in library 
work, and was preparing a paper on the 
value of the library school. Among numerous 
other questions she asked bluntly if there was 
any way of preparing for library work with- 
out going to a library school. That showed 
the entire reaction, the swing of the pendu- 
lum clean to the other side. I replied by 
stating that there were librarians before there 
were library schools there were Panizzi and 
Winsor and Poole and Cutter and Dewey; 
and I presume she took that for a satisfactory 
answer. 

There can be no question about the value 
of library schools. If it had not been clear 
in theory, as I always thought it was, it has 
been made clear by experience. The same 
process has gone on in the study of the law. 
A young man now, if he can get anywhere 



near a law school, has a quicker and better 
and easier way of making a broad prepara- 
tion for his profession ; but there were emi- 
nent lawyers before there were law schools. 
Read the history of the great lawyers of the 
past time and you will find they studied in 
somebody's office. There can be no question 
of the value of the library school, but we 
know that there were librarians before there 
were library schools ; and I can speak of some 
instances in very recent times that show it 
is possible to prepare for library work with- 
out going to a library school. At one time 
three young ladies in our library took a 
United States civil service examination for 
a library position. One of them had never 
been to a library school ; the other two had 
had one year of school, supplemented in the 
case of one by a year in our library and in 
the other by several years of experience in 
ours and another library. Among numerous 
competitors, including a number of graduates 
from library schools, the highest percentage 
was made by the young lady who had de- 
rived all her knowledge from practical work 
in a library; next in rank came the candidate 
whose chief preparation was in library work, 
while the young lady who had had least prac- 
tical experience took fourth rank. 

Another member of our staff had had no 
training except what she got in the St. Louis 
library. She came from the high school a 
few days after she graduated, passed our ex- 
amination, entered the service, was with us 
for six years. She took another civil service 
examination for a United States position; 
and the report came to us from Washington 
that she was first and the others nowhere, 
though there were over 60 applicants, in- 
cluding graduates of library schools. That 
simply shows that in five or six years in a 
public library you can learn more than you 
can in two years in a library school ; but it 
does not in the least invalidate the library 
school. Among the points in favor of the li- 
brary school is this fact, that the very exis- 
tence of a professional school tends to en- 
hance the recognition of librarianship as a 
profession. 

I tell persons who come to consult me 
about their relatives or themselves, "if you 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



can go to a library school, do so. If you 
cannot you need not give up hope of becom- 
ing a librarian." As W. C. Gannet, in his 
article, "Culture without college," says to the 
young people, "If you aspire to culture, go 
to college, if you can ; but do not give up the 
hope of obtaining culture. It is open to all 
people who are willing to make the effort." 
There is this hopeful thing to be said that 
salaries are constantly increasing, and the 
best way to make them increase still further 
is to have well trained librarians. 

I will end as I began, by saying that 
after all the first step is what Miss Plummer 
emphasizes, to get the right sort of material, 
and the methods that she adopts for getting 
it are the only methods that will give satis- 
faction. I am never willing to take anyone 
into the service who does not in the first place 
pass a satisfactory examination, and I also 
have declined to give examinations at a dis- 
tance because, I tell the candidates, I must see 
them. That is the most important thing. 1 
would rather judge by a personal interview 
than any other one thing. The certificates 
and the recommendations of pastors count 
for very little. But, above all, as I said in 
the beginning, are the personal qualities, the 
natural adaptation to the work. 

In conclusion let me summarize: 

I agree every one must agree that trained 
service is necessary to the successful conduct 
of a library. I hold, however and I think 
that experience compels agreement, though 
it seems to be made something of an issue 
that this training can be obtained as well, 
though not so quickly or pleasantly, by prac- 
tical work in a library as by a course in a 
library school. Furthermore, it must be ad- 
mitted that library school training must be 
supplemented by practical experience to make 
a competent librarian. On the other hand, 
all library lore is accessible in books, periodi- 
cals, pamphlets, and library reports, etc. ; and 
an intelligent, industrious and ambitious ap- 
prentice can in the course of a few years get 
from these all the knowledge she could ac- 
quire from a library school and learn to ap- 
ply it as she goes along. 

And this important and practical considera- 
tion should not be overlooked : there are many 



young men and women who strain their 
financial resources to the utmost in getting 
through high school or college and cannot 
afford to wait another year or two on extra 
expense and with no income. Shall we say 
that they are of no service to us, that they 
cannot make librarians of themselves with- 
out spending another year or two in a tech- 
nical school? 

Again, many libraries, large as well as 
small, cannot afford to have all their work 
done by persons who expect the salaries that 
library school graduates ask and ought to 
have; but they can get this work done by in- 
telligent and educated persons who take part 
of their compensation in the opportunity for 
training ; and this is a better plan than having 
the simpler routine work done by an inferior 
grade of people who can never go higher and 
whose presence creates at once that very un- 
desirable thing, a social cleavage. The world 
in general would be better off if all young peo- 
ple of the educated classes took a turn at the 
drudgery that makes up a large part of life. 
This plan serves the young person who must 
begin to earn a living and also the library that 
wants its simplest work done intelligently, 
but cannot afford high-priced assistants. The 
assistants, too, when they reach advanced 
grades are more competent to supervise ele- 
mentary work for having done it themselves. 
In every library, large or small, there should 
be as apprentices and novices doing the sim- 
pler work young persons with the natural 
qualities and the education that will enable 
them, with experience, to fill the higher places. 
Every library should be, and I presume is, 
a training school for librarians. 

In short: the efficiency of a librarian de- 
pends 

ist. On his possession of the native quali- 
ties that make for success; intelligence, in- 
dustry, energy, resource, and initiative, con- 
scientiousness, enthusiasm, and a spirit of 
altruism. 

2d. A liberal education and broad culture. 

3d. Professional training. 

I put the training last because I regard 
it of less importance than the other two, for 
the obvious reason that with the other quali- 
fications, training can be acquired, while ex- 



FIFTH SESSION 



171 



perience cannot make up for the lack of native 
endowment. Allow 100 for perfection in each 
of three qualifications and 90 in inherent 
adaptation, 80 in education and 30 in techni- 
cal training (totalling 200) would produce 
vastly better results than a total of 200 con- 
sisting of 95 in training, 65 in education and 
40 in natural fitness. Moreover, having in 
high degree the first two elements, the per- 
centage in the third would rapidly increase. 

Emerson said that the chief advantage of 
a college education is that only a person who 
has received it knows what its real value is. 
I have known men who overrated and others 
who underrated a college education' some 
men who, succeeding in business without a col- 
lege education, have a contempt for it, and 
would not employ a college graduate; others, 
men of fine natural ability and high character 
and achievement, who have carried themselves 
humbly and sorrowfully through life because 
of what they imagined they had lost in not 
going to college. Both, of course, are wrong 
in their estimates. The case, I think, is some- 
what similar in the feeling about the library 
school. And among young librarians I think 
it is generally the more earnest and efficient 
who are most given to lamenting their sup- 
posed irreparable loss in not having a library 
school training. As I said in the beginning, 
a library school course, like a college course, 
is a fine thing, an aid to all who want to enter 
the library field by the pleasantest path; but 
to young men and women who cannot give 
further time for preparation, I would apply 
Dr. Gannet's words: "One girl and one boy 
can go to Harvard or Wellesley, while a thou- 
sand cannot; let not the thousand think that 
culture without college is impossible for 
them." 

The PRESIDENT: One trouble with training 
often is that in libraries with small means 
we cannot give the salaries that trained people 
ought to have. That is a very practical 
difficulty. Many of us with small means 
want trained library service, yet cannot 
afford to pay what the trained librarian must 
have ; yet we must, on the one hand, keep the 
trained librarian to the highest standard that 
we can, and on the other hand we must have 
as efficient library service as we possibly can. 



Mr. HILL: May I correct one impression 
which Mr. Crunden seems to have regarding 
the Brooklyn Public Library? I thought I 
made myself clear as to my disbelief in the 
general municipal civil service examination. 
I thought I made myself equally clear as to 
being a believer in civil service within the li- 
brary itself. In Brooklyn we have such serv- 
ice, and all the examinations are conducted 
by the corps of superintendents. The papers 
are examined by the same corps and the re- 
ports are made to a committee of trustees of 
the library, so that we are very proud of the 
work of our own civil service commission. 

S. S. GREEN : I suppose that the great ma- 
jority of towns in. this country I know a 
very large number in Massachusetts can 
only afford to pay fifty or a hundred dollars 
a year for the entire expenses of a library. 
Now, how are we going to have trained li- 
brarians in those towns? I am a thorough 
believer in having trained librarians, and, as 
I said yesterday, I would encourage the es- 
tablishment of numerous library associations, 
so that persons in these little town's may get 
into contact with librarians in larger places 
who know more about the technical work of 
libraries. I would also, so far as possible, 
have numerous library schools to which these 
persons could go for a short course. But 
we must consider the small amount that such 
towns can pay, and the fact that they can 
be very slightly represented in this body, for 
they cannot afford to come to its meetings. 
Is it not true, however, even if you cannot 
have the benefit of trained librarians, that 
there are cultivated and sensible men and 
women in such towns who can do a large por- 
tion of the educational work which any li- 
brarian can do, even if they have not the tech- 
nical training which is so necessary? 

Miss HITCHLER: Mr. Dewey once said that 
you can polish mahogany, but you cannot 
polish a pumpkin. In the Brooklyn library, 
and I know in many others, we have women 
who though originally untrained, have turned 
out to be capital librarians. Now, unfortun- 
ately in a given number of persons, there are 
so many pumpkins that the mahogany does not 
become readily visible, and there is no doubt 
that it takes much effort to polish that ma- 



172 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



hogany, and there is a loss of time both to 
them and to the library in which they are 
employed because of their inability to attend 
a library school. As for the library schools, 
the chief reason that trained library service 
is necessary is because by a process of elimi- 
nation in the very beginning the pumpkins 
are not allowed to slip in although one or 
two do get past the gate once in a while 
and there is nothing but mahogany as a re- 
sult. Perhaps every one cannot attend library 
schools, though there are now the summer 
schools, which do not take so much time nor 
so much money, and I think everybody who 
cannot take a regular course should attend 
one of those; but I think now it is time for 
Mr. Dewey to open a correspondence school 
for assistants who are not near any summer 
center and who cannot afford a year or two 
years at a library school, but who have ac- 
quired the fundamental principles of library 
w r ork from their experience and their practice, 
and who could be polished considerably if 
they had some such means to help them out. 
Dr. DEWEY : I am, of course, connected 
with a library school, but my mind is capable 
of going in both directions. What Mr. Green 
has said is perfectly true. It is as absurd 
for us to insist on library school graduates 
for all our work, as it would be to insist on 
technical training for all teachers before 
we had normal schools. We must insist on 
the best training we can get. The country 
is full of little libraries, and if they have only 
one or two hundred dollars it is out of the 
question for them to employ library school 
graduates, because all the graduates library 
schools turn out can be employed at higher 
salaries. We must give such training as we 
can to these people, and my thought and study 
lead me to think that it must be on these 
lines : first, the best training that is given, 
for its cost and influence, is the training of 
meetings like this. The A. L. A., the state 
library associations, the interstate library 
associations, the "library week" at Lake 
Placid, the Library Journal and Public 
Libraries there is a training that is go- 
ing on all the while and is doing good work. 
After that, I think the states are coming to 
utilize the travelling teacher or inspector 



the travelling librarian, who will go to the lit- 
tle libraries and spend a few hours or a day 
perhaps in a library and get those in that im- 
mediate vicinity together for a round table 
meeting and sit down and talk things over. 
We must go to the librarians who cannot af- 
ford to come to us and we must get those in 
the immediate locality together. Then comes 
the library institute. That is a factor in train- 
ing. We are feeling our way toward that. It 
ought not to be only a two days' session; 
we should have one full week. In New York 
we do not get a large attendance, but there 
will be 30, 40, or 50 people who will come to- 
gether. If you can get 30 librarians, young or 
old, together for a week to take up practical 
problems, to answer questions, it will accom- 
plish a great deal. They learn a great deal, 
but they get something more than that; they 
get esprit de corps and faith in their work. 
That amounts to a great deal. Then come the 
summer schools. They are springing up in 
many places. And there are the regular 
schools. 

On the other side I want to put this before 
you : Take medicine, for instance. Some of 
the most efficient medical schools in America 
are graduate schools, where only experienced 
physicians attend, come for a shorter course; 
build up their practice, get someone to take 
it for several months or a year, and come 
together, where they not only learn from their 
teachers, the best teachers that can be had, 
but they learn a great deal from each other. 
You put a hundred physicians together in that 
way and take up different kinds of cases, 
different kinds of operations, and they get 
an invaluable training that cannot be had in 
any other way. Now apply it to our own 
case. I would like immensely to attend a li- 
brary school for a month, taking up certain 
subjects. I know Mr. Crunden has often said 
the same thing. Suppose we could get to- 
gether 50 experienced librarians who have 
worked over these things for years, with no 
social features, no distractions, no audience, 
just a small company of people with plenty 
of time. Take the question of library build- 
ings. I would like to spend a month in a 
library school with 20 or 30 experienced li- 
brarians and just study and thresh out the 



FIFTH SESSION 



173 



results up to date in library buildings. I 
should find it simply invaluable, I believe. 
We want a graduate school that the best li- 
brarians of the country will feel it a privi- 
lege to attend, where the students will teach; 
get the best teachers you can, but the con- 
tact and observation together would be in- 
valuable. We get a great deal from these 
meetings, but we spoil it for down comes 
the gavel, and we must go to the next subject; 
or whistle goes the steamer, and we must 
flock out on an excursion. 

One other thing: This week down at 
Asbury Park, James H. Canfield, who 
as much as any man in all the A. L. A. has 
sacrificed his own personal comforts and 
interests to library service, is doing work 
for our cause. And Miss Ahern and a 
lot of us would be glad to help him there, 
in trying to hammer into the National Edu- 
cational Association the supreme importance 
of this library matter. There is an immense 
agency we are not using half as much as we 
ought to, that has grown just as we are 
growing, only it was years ahead of us. At 
its Boston meeting there were 36,000 in at- 
tendance, and if we can get the library leaven 
working effectually in that great body, it is 
going to tell as nothing else that we can do. 
We have not accomplished very much at those 
meetings so far; we have had only a small 
attendance; but that is the way great move- 
ments go. We get a little company of peo- 
ple interested, enlarge the scope, and the thing 
spreads like the measles in the district school. 
There is apt to be enough to go around if 
you are patient. Canfield is at work on this 
problem of getting some library training into 
the normal school and the teachers' training 
school. The first training to give those people 
is not the technical training of the library, 
but the outlook, the point of view; then to 
train them how to use the normal school li- 
brary; second, to train them how to use their 
own personal library and take care of it ; 
third, how to use any public Ijbrary; fourth, 
the kind of training that permits them to 
serve on committees and as trustees. This 
question of library training is not the ques- 
tion of the library school alone the cor- 
respondence teaching, the round table, the in- 



stitute, these meetings, the graduate school. 
It is multiform. It reaches out in all direc- 
tions, and it is the great question that is be- 
fore us. 

HERBERT PUTNAM : I came without the 
slightest intention of saying anything on this 
topic, Mr. President, but 1 want to say some- 
thing. 

I have sat here and listened, and won- 
dered as to the effect of a report of this dis- 
cussion upon the general public that we are 
seeking to influence. We have had our state- 
ment in behalf of training, we have had our 
statement in behalf of experience; but offset 
by that we have had concessions from the 
people who are occupied with systematic 
training and from practical librarians who are 
concerned with the practical experience of 
the people under them. We have had conces- 
sions from those, and then we have had affir- 
mative, positive statements from others to the 
effect that after all training is not the essen- 
tial thing. Now I am thinking of the ingra- 
tiating representative of the press here this 
morning, to whom you have referred, Mr. 
President, and of the natural report which 
he would give of this meeting. He would say 
that there was a contention on the part of 
the academically inclined here for specific 
and systematic training; but that there was 
strong dissent from this view, and that, amid 
great applause, stress was laid by experienced 
librarians upon qualities that had nothing to 
do with specific and systematic training, were 
not even cultivated by them, were wholly in- 
dependent of it, and could not be given by it. 
That is what would go into the headlines: 
"Trained Librarians not Necessary After all," 
and then what will become of the vigorous 
resolutions of our associates from California, 
the very essence of whose grievance is that 
an utterly untrained person has been put in 
place of an experienced person? 

Now, we must not be extremists, but we 
must insist upon a distinction. I think I can 
be as impartial about systematic training as 
anyone for autobiographic reasons, among 
others. (Laughter.} I went into library work 
without academic experience, without system- 
atic library training. Have I ever made that 
a boast? I have always been sorry I did not 



174 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



have it. I know I should be better with it. 
I am choosing people for library work, not for 
other people's libraries, but for the library for 
whose conduct I have some responsibility, and 
if other things are reasonably equal I should 
not hesitate a moment to give pre-eminent 
importance to systematic training. Now, the 
other things may not be equal ; but do not 
let us confuse the issue. Just because we 
cannot make a librarian by teaching him cata- 
loging and classification, if he has not the 
stuff in him that will assure the other quali- 
fications necessary, do not let us admit for 
a moment that if that training can be secured 
for our money we are not bound to get it and 
that it is not our obligation as a trustee to get 
it. We are handling trust funds, and we 
must use those to get the most that we can get 
for the community which we are representing. 
Now, if you were sent out as a trustee to buy 
pig iron you would not buy 80 per cent, of 
pig iron when you could get 100 per cent, 
for your money, and if you go out with a 
$500 salary to spend for your library you 
have no right to get 80 per cent, of service 
when you could get 100 per cent. Personal 
qualifications, of course, are necessary tem- 
perament, kindliness, all the amiable qualities 
which go to make a hostess, all of this library 
spirit, all of that is very well; but training 
is training. There is no doubt about it. An 
architect who had been with a committee of 
architects appearing before a legislative body 
which had charge of a public building once 
said to me: "I wonder why it is that when 
an ordinary man is going to have a bridge 
built he will take a trained engineer; if he 
gets involved in a case which requires legal 
counsel, he will go to a trained lawyer; but 
when it comes to architecture he will think 
his judgment is as good as anybody's because 
he says 'this is a matter of taste, and my 
taste is as good as that of a man who has 
been to Rome or Paris or has been through 
any particular schools,' " In the same way 
people think that a person with literary tastes 
and a love of books can go into a library and 
administer it, and that they are not bound 
to look to training for special competence. 
And of course the cause of training is 
seriously injured by the examples we have 



among us of people who have gone into li- 
brary work without training and made a suc- 
cess of it; but that creates no presumption, 
and it is presumptions that we are dealing 
with. Now, let us not go to the extreme 
which throws away our own case. Do not let 
us ever contend that systematic training is the 
indispensable necessity. It is absolutely suffi- 
cient for us to say that it creates a presump- 
tion, and that no trustee, no librarian who 
has the sole responsibility of his library's 
general welfare has any right to select an un- 
trained person where he can get a trained 
person for the same money. Let us hold to 
that, but do not let us relax an instant 
from it. 

The PRESIDENT: These are very timely re- 
marks, I am sure. And yet an enterprising 
reporter might still say, "Librarian of Con- 
gress not a Trained Librarian." (Laughter.) 

Dr. PUTNAM : Mr. President, I said there 
were mortifying examples. (Laughter.) 

Mr. CRUNDEN : I want to make it plain that 
when I was drawing comparisons I was 
speaking of library school training or other 
training. I would not advance the theory 
that if you can get one person who has that 
training and another one who has not, you 
should not take the trained person. The 
point I was making was that you can get 
training in a library just as well, although 
not as quickly, as in the school. 

The PRESIDENT: Nor as well, quite 
wouldn't you say? 

Mr. CRUNDEN: Well, I think I agree that 
it is better to get the school training. I have 
regretted that I did not have it, as there was 
none in existence in my day; and I have 
often thought of going on and taking the 
spring course at Albany. 

Miss HITCHLER: I should like to say, in 
answer to Mr. Crunden, that while experience 
is being gained in the library the 'library is 
usually suffering. 

Mr. CRUNDEN : Mr. President, I cannot al- 
low that to pass wholly unanswered. There 
are duties in a library which anyone of or- 
dinary intelligence, without even a high- 
school education, can perform. There is a 
great deal of routine work to be done, and a 
person of ordinary intelligence can do it. 



FIFTH SESSION 



175 



While the person is doing this routine work 
that requires only common intelligence, he 
can be learning other things. The young 
ladies who come into our staff have always 
at least a high school education. They are 
set at doing many things that they could have 
done just as well when they left the grammar 
school. Some of them complain to me about 
the drudgery of this. I tell them that there 
is a great deal of drudgery in library work, 
just as there is in the work of the world in 
general ; somebody has got to do it. Some- 
times I put the proposition to them this way : 
"You are tired of this routine work of writ- 
ing labels and things of that kind; you say 
you know how to do all that, you learned it 
in a month, and you would like to go on to 
do something else; but this work has got to 
be done by someone. We have only the al- 
ternative of breaking in girls of very little 
education and no social culture at all and 
having a social cleavage right down the line 
in the library service. I can get girls for 
$20 month who will never aspire to more than 
$30. Or you can do it and learn as you are 
doing it, so that in time you can direct 
others, and gradually you will learn all the 
details of library work." I think that this 
would be a good system for the whole world 
to be conducted on for all of us to take 
our turn at digging ditches, and washing 
dishes, and doing drudgery while we are 
young, and not have one class of people set 
apart distinctly for the lower work and the 
others doing the higher work and not culti- 
vating their hands or learning the details 
of the work that they are afterwards to 
direct. 

Mr. ANDREWS : I wish to bring out one 
point which I think has not been brought out 
by any of the other speakers. One of the ad- 
vantages of trained library service is that it 
enables you not to engage people for speci- 
fied services. The graduates of library 
schools are competent to enter into all kinds 
of library work. They have a much broader 
field of promise available than is made avail- 
able by the other methods of training sug- 
gested. A girl who comes into the cataloging 
department of a large library learns catalog- 
ing and very little else, but I am sure that the 



advantage of general promotion is one of 
great importance to the individual and is 
also of vital importance to the library. The 
freedom of service in a library which is not 
rigidly organized in departments, but sim- 
ply has different grades and salaries, where 
it is possible for assistants to be shifted from 
one piece of work to another, is the secret of 
many advantages and of rapid work. The 
only other point I would like to bring out 
is that I do not think there is so much gen- 
eral ignorance of the advantages of trained 
work as is sometimes assumed at our meet- 
ings. When I went out to Chicago in 1895 
I found my committee very anxious to employ 
the best assistants, and entirely willing, in- 
deed only requiring the barest suggestion, to 
adopt a rule which has always remained our 
rule, that no application will be received from 
a person who has not much more than the 
average high school education, and that in 
considering applications great weight will 
be given to library training or experience, 
which means, as I explain to all applicants, 
that they must either come to us 'from an- 
other library or from a library school. 

Mrs. WALKER: I am the least, both in stat- 
ure and in wisdom, of all the Pacific slope 
librarians. For that reason I wanted to ap- 
pear before you to place before you a point 
in this librarian question. I am not, as you 
will readily see by looking at me, a trained 
librarian. Further than that I have no op- 
portunity to secure the requisite training. 

Three years ago, after being interested 
in a library for some fifteen or sixteen years, 
and having helped to start the library where 
it was very much needed, our small associa- 
tion library was made a public library, with 
municipal support. After we had put this 
responsibility on the city council they came 
to me and said : "We want you to be li- 
brarian." "Why," I said, "I have never had 
a moment's experience in library work. I 
know nothing of books, save as I have read 
them individually." They said they thought 
my knowledge of books would perhaps enable 
me to do this work. But, mark you, I had 
been a county superintendent of schools, and 
I had stood for trained teachers. It was put- 
ting me in an anomalous position. Here was 



176 



FOR i LAND CONFERENCE 



I, with all my arguments for trained teach- 
ers, taking up a work of which 1 had not the 
slightest knowledge, and in which I had had 
very little experience. After three years' ex- 
perience, under hard conditions, I know a 
little more than I did when I began. Only 
a few months following my appointment 
Aberdeen was visited with a most disastrous 
fire, and she has not yet recovered from it. 
Our council feels still poor, very poor. Last 
year we received for the library only $25 a 
month; we couldn't have hired many trained 
librarians on that. And out of that we were 
expected to buy books and carry on all our 
work. This year we are receiving $600; the 
librarian is getting $30 a .ncnth and feels 
very rich, so rich that when I understood that 
this body was to meet here I said to my com- 
mittee, "If you will allow the library to be 
closed for that week I will pay my own ex- 
penses to go where I can learn something." 
(Applause.) I came. "Trained librarians" was 
the first thing I heard, the second and the 
third. When it came time for the reception 
the other day I sneaked off home as fast as I 
could. I said, "These are all trained librar- 
ians. I do not know anything. What shall 
I do ? They will politely gaze at me. I know 
they will. They wouldn't do anything that 
was not polite; but they will gaze at me 
curiously, and I can't stand it, and I'll go 
home." The next thought that came to me 
was, "I'll go home and resign. I am not 
trained. I can't get training at. present, and 
I will go back and resign." But after what 
I have heard to-day I feel differently. I am 
going home, but not to resign. (Applause.) 
J. M. HITT: I have kept still because I 
am only three months old as a librarian, but 
after Mrs. Walker's remarks I must say that 
at the meeting of the Washington Library 
Association last spring Mrs. Walker was the 
first one there and the last one to go away, 
and was the best one we had. And I want 
to say to you if you had seen as I have seen 
in the last few weeks, how she keeps tabs on 
her paper and on the community in which 
she lives, and how much she gets out of them, 
you wouldn't be surprised, because you can 
see from her manner that she reaches the 
people. She has done wonders in that little 



saw-mill town of Aberdeen, and I want to 
congratulate her, and tell this to you, be- 
cause we have a good many such librarians 
in the state of Washington. (Applause.) 

The PRESIDENT : Before passing to the next 
topic I will ask Mr. Lichtenstein very briefly 
to say a word on that boundless as well as 
endless hospitality of California, which wants 
everyone of us to go down there after the 
Alaskan trip. 

Mr. LICHTENSTEIN: Our president having 
been so kind as to mention the desire we 
down in California have to entertain the 
Eastern librarians after the Alaska trip, I 
want to add my word to his and assure you 
that we will give you a most cordial reception, 
and that we want just as many of you as 
can come, not alone those who will go to 
Alaska, but those who are to go home im- 
mediately after the Conference is closed. We 
plan to have three days of sight-seeing, to 
include also a dinner, and we extend this 
invitation to you on the basis of our own 
self-interest not that we expect to give 
you a good time, but that we want you down 
there to help us. We want you to meet 
those of our librarians who have unfortun- 
ately not been able to get up here, and we 
want you to meet our public men in the vi- 
cinity of San Francisco, for the good that it 
will do us and wijl do them to meet Eastern 
people and get their point of view on library 
matters. 

The PRESIDENT: "What the public library 
is doing for the children," is our next general 
topic, and the first paper, by Miss Frances 
Olcott, will be read by Mr. Hopkins, of the 
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. 

ANDERSON H. HOPKINS : Miss Olcott has 
done me the honor to ask me to read her 
paper for her, and this I am both proud and 
glad to do. Before reading it, however, 
there is just one word that I should say. It 
was written by Miss Olcott. Her heart and 
her personality have been in the work for. 
many years and she has naturally used the 
personal pronoun. I have so recently come to 
Pittsburgh that it would not be proper for 
me to arrogate to myself anything of the 
sort. What has been done is the work of 
Miss Olcott and of her former chief, Edwin 



FIFTH SESSION 



177 



H. Anderson, whom it is my pride to have 
followed. 

Mr. Hopkins read a paper by FRANCES J. 
OLCOTT on 

RATIONAL LIBRARY WORK WITH CHILDREN AND 
THE PREPARATION FOR IT 

(See p. 71-) 
Miss HARRIOT E. HASSLER read a paper on 

COMMON SENSE AND THE STORY HOUR 

(See P. 76.) 

C. S. GREENE: In our children's work we 
have introduced something lately that may 
be of interest. We have 4000 of the best, 
largest-sized photographs that can be bought 
in Europe, and I have had a frame made with 
a movable back, with the purpose of showing 
a picture at a time in the children's room, 
putting it low down so that the children 
readily see it. I began with one of Van 
Dyck's representations of the "Children of 
Charles i," and the second picture put up 
was another of Van Dyck's pictures of the 
children of Charles i. You know they are 
different, both in the children and in the 
dogs that form accessories of the pictures. 
When my children's librarian returns from 
Europe, I have advised her to give notice 
that every Saturday at a certain hour there 
will be a little lecture on the picture shown, 
so that the children may become interested in 
books on Charles i, or whatever subject may 
be displayed, and also in the artist. I aim 
to keep a picture up long enough so that 
children who have artistic tastes may get a 
real impression from the picture, and I pro- 
pose to have a series of Van Dyck's pictures 
before I proceed to another artist, hoping 
thus to give some notion of the character of 
the painting of that great master. Then I 
shall follow it by Rembrandt and others, and 
there is no end, of course, to the work that 
may be done in that direction. 

The PRESIDENT: If there is no further dis- 
cussion of this subject we will pass to the 
discussion of "Library administration on from 
$1000 to $5000 a year," which we were obliged 
to pass over yesterday, and I will call on 
Miss Titcomb. 



Miss TITCOMB: It seems to me that ever 
since we have left the East we have been hav- 
ing impressions thrown on the canvas just 
like a kinetoscope, and a paper that was read 
yesterday is almost ancient history to-day. 
Both those papers were admirable, there was 
little to discuss, there was only much to com- 
mend. I think Miss Tyler perhaps could have 
taken exception to the matter of the meddling 
woman trustee referred to in Mr. Ranck's 
paper. For myself, I have experienced her, 
so I could not defend her. But as to Miss 
Freeman's paper it seemed to me that it dealt 
with fundamentals and there was very little 
occasion for discussion. There was one point 
that might have been enlarged upon, and that 
was the matter of economies. In a little li- 
brary, where the income is from $1000 to 
$5000 a year, the librarian generally does all 
the work. When the income gets above $1000 
perhaps she has one assistant, perhaps she 
has some one to come in and take care of the 
library while she goes to her meals, or some- 
thing like that ; but as a rule the librarian is 
the whole staff. Now, my advice to the li- 
brarian of the small library is not to be over- 
conscientious about petty economies. Let me 
illustrate briefly. I once organized a library 
where the librarian, in her conscientious 
economy and desire to save public money, 
gave me the backs of old envelopes nicely cut 
open and folded to keep my notes on. I call 
that an unwise economy. No matter how 
little money you have, don't fritter your soul 
away over things of that kind. Keep your 
heart and mind open to the real things 
of life, know your books and your peo- 
ple, and don't waste your soul in these petty 
things. 

Miss TYLER: My thought yesterday, as I 
listened to the papers, was that I wanted 
to say a word for the libraries that are be- 
ing administered on $1000 a year. I think 
that the papers of yesterday were more defin- 
itely directed toward libraries on a $5000 
basis. At any rate, I am thinking of the li- 
brary that has one librarian, not of the library 
with a staff of workers. I am thinking of 
the library that has probably from $100 to 
$200 a year to spend for books. I am think- 
ing of the librarian who is full of enthusiasm 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



and earnestness. I am thinking of the library 
board with the best of intentions. But with 
this I am also thinking of the fact that they 
are confronted with a most difficult financial 
problem. How to operate an up-to-date library 
on $1000 a year is a most practical problem. 
We are compelled to face this in Iowa very 
definitely and just now we are confronted 
with special difficulties because many of these 
libraries are occupying new buildings of 
their own. The question of operating the 
building is a large one. And I am not able 
to throw much light on how the building can 
be well operated and the library can still buy 
books. It is an important thing to set high 
standards of administration. , I agree with 
all that the speakers have said regarding the 
generally accepted proposition that a small 
number of books well administered is much 
more fruitful of public service than a large 
number of books poorly administered. Still, 
we are confronted with the problem, How can 
we adminster these libraries well and still 
have a margin to purchase books? And it 
seems to me one practical thing to do is to 
reduce the number of hours the library is 
open. This we regret to do, but with one 
librarian it would seem impossible to main- 
tain our standards and not overwork the li- 
brarian. And so I would suggest that we 
should have good service, a trained librarian 
if possible at least one trained in a summer 
school but not too long hours, so that she 
will be absolutely worn out and unable to gfve 
her best service to the community. The prob- 
lem of books I believe, from the point of view 
of library commission work in the Midddle 
West must to a degree be met outside the 
library maintenance fund. Rather than cut 
down the standards of administration, it is 
better to put the money in administration 
and trust to the service that is rendered to 
the community and to the inspiration which 
the library gives to secure a fund by some 
other means. 

Miss STEARNS : I should dislike to have 
those who come here with the idea of going 
home to establish libraries take with them the 
prejudice that has been expressed against 
women trustees. We find in Wisconsin that 
our best administered libraries are those 
which have women upon library boards, self- 



sacrificing women who are willing to take the 
time and the trouble to help the librarian in 
the proper administration of the library; and 
there is one state in the union which re- 
cently passed a library law requiring at least 
two or more women on each library board. 
But you must make this distinction in this 
matter of a woman for a library board: you 
must find a woman who knows, recognizes, 
and appreciates the difference between coun- 
sel and interference. 

Miss TYLER: In Mr. Ranck's paper he sug- 
gested that the ledger system of charging 
books might be well enough for the small 
library. I do not like to let that go by un- 
challenged. It seems to me there is never 
any excuse for the ledger system in charging 
books; the very smallest library, the very 
smallest group of people, can be better served 
and more accurate statistics can be secured 
with promptness by the card system. This, 
I think, hardly needs to be emphasized, and 
our experience in the Iowa Library Com- 
mission in connection with our travelling li- 
braries leads me to speak of it with some- 
thing of assurance. We have found that the 
card charging system is accepted quickly and 
easily in the most isolated community and is 
handled with readiness, and from it we can 
get reasonably good statistics. I believe there 
is no place in a well organized library for a 
ledger charging system. 

Miss HOAGLA^D: May I refer to the last 
topic presented? There is one side of chil- 
dren's work that has not been emphasized, 
and perhaps it is not the duty of the American 
Library Association to recognize it; but it 
seems to me that the preventive work we do 
with children must needs be taken into ac- 
count. Recently I was in a reformatory, giv- 
ing some instruction to an inmate as to how 
to administer a library there, and after one 
month I came back to see how he had done 
the work, and he said to me, "Miss Hoagland, 
I believe if I had had as much to do with 
books when I was a boy as I have had this 
past month, I would not be in this institu- 
tion." I believe that should be a keynote to 
our work 'with children, as well as the keep- 
ing in mind the educational work that is to 
be done through libraries. 

Adjourned at 12.30 p.m. 



SIXTH SESSION 



1/9 



SIXTH SESSION 

.{MAIN AUDIENCE ROOM, UNITARIAN CHURCH, 
FRIDAY EVENING, JULY 7.) 

The meeting was called to order by Presi- 
dent RICHARDSON at 8.15. 
The secretary presented the 

REPORT OF COUNCIL 

(See Transactions of Council.) 

The PRESIDENT: Dr. Dewey, for the first 
time in his experience, is a little out of breath. 
He was obliged to go to the station to attend 
to some baggage, and in getting back to be 
promptly here, has hurried a little, so Mr. 
Dana will give the first address of the even- 
ing; but if Mr. Dewey has breath enough to 
present a resolution for a plan which was 
considered in the Council this afternoon I 
will ask him to do so. 

Dr. DEWEY: This resolution from the 
Council is intended to carry out the plan that 
has been discussed for some time of providing 
for a body, not for legislation, but simply for 
discussion and conference. We have been 
for about fifteen years discussing in the A. 
L. A. how we should attain certain ends. It 
was proposed some years ago, many of you 
remember, to limit the membership. For the 
past year, since the committee on a library 
academy was appointed at St. Louis the 
other members of the committee being Dr. 
Putnam, Miss Countryman, Mr. Peoples, and 
Mr. Thwaites the discussion on the sub- 
ject has brought out entire agreement that 
the membership of the A. L. A. ought not to 
be limited, that we should have just as large 
a membership as possible, and that our gen- 
eral business should be transacted by a small 
board. That brings us to the need of an inter- 
mediate body that could meet probably once a 
year, between the meetings of the A. L. A., for 
protracted and thorough conference on large 
questions of librarianship, such conference as 
we have never had in the whole thirty years 
of the A. L. A., such as we hoped might come 
from our present Council. But 'the time of 
the present Council has always been taken 
up with discussion of the next place of meet- 
ing, amendments to the constitution, and 
transaction of business. The present proposi- 
tion, on which the 16 members of Council 
here present voted this afternoon one in 



the negative is to recommend direct ac- 
tion by the Association in the establishment 
of the American Library Institute. I should 
say the constitution requires 17 members of 
Council to be present and vote in regard to 
establishing any new section; there was 
one lacking of that number at our Council 
meeting here. And the importance of this step 
seemed also to make it wise to have action 
taken directly by the Association. Therefore, 
the Council have 

Voted, That the members of the Council 
present approve the plan submitted by the 
Library Academy Committee to establish an 
American Library Institute, to consist of 100 
persons chosen from English-speaking Amer- 
ica, as likely to contribute most to library 
progress by counsel together, and recommend 
that the A. L. A. take direct action by passing 
the following resolution : 

That the ex-presidents of the A. L. A. be 
the first members of this Institute, with power 
to add to their number, to organize and 
adopt needed rules, provided that all ex- 
presidents and members for each current year 
of the executive board and Council shall have 
seats in all meetings of the Institute. 

Mr. President, I present this from the 
Council and move its adoption by the A. L. 
A., and I sincerely hope that we shall have 
a hearty, and I hope a unanimous vote to try 
this experiment for a body similar to the 
Institute of Architects, and to the Depart- 
ment of Superintendents of the National Edu- 
cational Association. I take pleasure in mov- 
ing the adoption of this resolution. Voted. 

The PRESIDENT: I will now call on Mr. 
Dana to speak on : "What state and local 
library associations can do for library inter- 
ests." It is a great pleasure for me, as a New 
Jersey man, to testify, in calling on Mr. Dana 
for this, that you can judge a man's work by 
its fruits. There is no man I know who is 
better fitted to speak upon this subject. Mr. 
Dana knows what state and local library as- 
sociations can do for library interests because 
he has done so much for the state associa- 
tion in New Jersey. 

J. C. DANA read a paper on 

WHAT STATE AND LOCAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS 
CAN DO FOR LIBRARY INTERESTS 

(See p. 17.) 

The PRESIDENT : I had occasion to allude 
the other morning to the name by which this 



i8o 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



meeting is sometimes called, the Pacific meet- 
ing. I note that\the special meetirfg of the 
library associations of Washington, Oregon, 
and California, which I had the pleasure of 
attending the other day, was called the Pa- 
cific meeting. Anybody who was present at 
that meeting and listened might have doubted 
if it was pacific, for if there was anything 
that was aggressive and militant it was that 
meeting, over certain library questions. But 
as I see it a pacific meeting means, in that 
library association as in our association, that 
we are thoroughly in concord with one an- 
other. At that meeting there was not a dis- 
senting voice when they talked about Miss 
Jones and the matters connected with the 
Los Angeles library. The meeting was pa- 
cific to the last degree among its members, 
militant to the last degree against the injus- 
tice of that affair. And so librarians are pa- 
cific with one another, but united to fight 
evil and injustice wherever it may be found. 
We have asked Dr. Dewey to speak this even- 
ing on that 

UNITY AND COOPERATION IN LIBRARY WORK 

which is the essential characteristic of library 
work in general, and of which he is so com- 
petent to speak. 

Dr. DEWEY : The President was a little con- 
fused as to my condition. It was not my 
lungs that were empty, it was my stomach. 
(Laughter.) His remark when I came in a 
few minutes ago reminded me of an episode 
the other day in New York, where a Hiber- 
nian had just been appointed as section man 
on a railroad. He celebrated the event by a 
supper with his friends and went out the next 
morning to assume his duties. The first 
thing that came through was the flyer, run- 
ning a mile a minute. It was about 20 min- 
utes late. He went out and waved a red 
flag. The train slowed down suddenly, tear- 
ing up the ties as it stopped. The conductor 
ran forward in great excitement, and the sec- 
tion man said to him, "You're late what 
kept you?" (Laughter.) 

Now, I am going to talk to you about 
unity and cooperation, I am going to say the 
same old things. I have been harping on 
them for thirty years. You know what Hol- 
land said, that every bird has to sing his own 



song, the robin repeats the two double notes, 
the meadow-lark whistles his one refrain, 
and steadily over and over again the same 
song swells from a thousand birds. I have 
always believed and preached cooperation. 
Perhaps it will be monotonous. You may say 
I am an idealist, as the lady said about her 
husband. She said, "My husband is an ideal- 
ist. He goes around with his head in the 
clouds all the time, and sometimes I wish 
he would draw his feet up also.'' (Laughter.) 
But, cooperation means civilization. With- 
out cooperation there could be no railways, 
no steamboats, no churches, no schools, no 
hospitals, no life. Without cooperation a 
man may live in a cave and dress in the skins 
of beasts, but there can be nothing more with- 
out cooperation, and the man who says he 
does not believe in cooperation, librarian or 
whoever he may be, does not believe in civili- 
zation and does not believe in life. I take 
it for granted that we who are here, by our 
very presence believe heartily in this thing 
that has been the watchword of the A. L. A. 
from its beginning thirty years ago. 

Now, cooperation means more things than 
to cooperate in our buildings and our books. 
The man who does not cooperate would have 
to write his own books and to print them. It 
goes further than utilizing each other's ex- 
perience as to methods, systems, and catalog- 
ing. Without touching on those things I am 
going to speak of two or three little matters 
in this line and just try to emphasize one 
general thought. We must have more 
cooperation in cataloging than in the 
past. You will understand the importance 
of printed cards, bibliographies, indexes, and 
the work of our Publishing Board, and the 
other things that are connected with the 
work, but beyond that I think we can realize 
that we must have more central catalogs. 
We are starting in my own library what we 
call a universal catalog. All the printed cards 
that we can find anywhere in the world we 
are buying and consolidating into a single 
great catalog. We are getting all the slips 
of the British Museum, the cards of our own 
National Library, and the cards that are 
printed in various parts of the world, massing 
them together in a single catalog. It takes a 
great deal of space and a great deal of time 



SIXTH SESSION 



181 



to separate those cards accurately and to 
guide them. Few libraries can afford to do 
this and such work must be done from a 
central library. 

There is a certain thing we want to do, 
we want to bring to all readers the book 
or pamphlet or magazines or whatever it 
may be that will be more useful. That is 
what the cities pay us to do, and we must 
do it in the best way, the quickest and the 
cheapest way. This is an age of organization 
and of system, of concentration. There are 
centrifugal forces at work. The cities are 
pouring out through the trolley lines into the 
country, but at the same time movements 
are coming to the center. We have learned 
from the industrial captains that work can 
be done cheaper and better if it is concen- 
trated ; and if we are to take our part in this 
great world movement we must cooperate, 
we must work with our associates. Now, 
the time has come when we need, and the 
need is growing every year, a national head- 
quarters. There is work of great importance 
to be done that cannot be done by individual 
libraries, or by voluntary service. I look with 
confidence, within five or six years at the 
longest, to an endowment of not less than a 
million dollars for our library work, and we 
can spend the income of it economically. I 
should like an opportunity to prove to any 
millionaire that he cannot put a million dol- 
lars into any university or hospital that will 
be so far-reaching in its influence as it would 
be if given to the A. L. A. or its representa- 
tives to organize a permanent headquarters 
that shall undertake the work that belongs 
to librarianship. Do you forget what librar- 
ianship means that civilization itself is sim- 
ply the accumulation of the wisdom and the 
experience of all the world as preserved in 
books, that the book is the most wonderful 
thing that has been evolved in all the history 
of the race? Wireless telegraphy and tele- 
phones and telegraphs are incomparable in 
effect to this marvelous thing; and the pro- 
fessional custodians of this power are the li- 
brarians. How is it in my own state, in 
Niagara where they have harnessed the falls, 
that for thousands of years have been carry- 
ing that enormous power, until it has now 
been made available? Do they content them- 



selves simply with selling that power for elec- 
tric light? No. It runs trolley lines, fur- 
nishes heat, it cooks, it furnishes power for 
factories, anything that electricity can do 
better, quicker, cheaper, or easier than other 
powers that company undertakes to do. 

Anything that we can do with books is a 
part of the work of the library broaden- 
ing all the time and yet you meet men 
who have to do with books all the while who 
do not appreciate or understand this. You 
will meet librarians who have been perhaps 
a quarter of a century engaged in library 
work and they will utter commonplaces in 
regard to it, and have no comprehension of 
its real meaning, and people will say, "they 
ought to know ; they are librarians, and they 
do not believe in these things that certain 
idealists and extremists talk about." Be- 
cause a man has been dealing with books, it 
does not give him a right to express an 
opinion. Mere association with such things 
is not enough to make him an authority. It 
occurs to me here in this church, that if there 
were an insect boring its way through one of 
these roof timbers you would not take him 
as a safe guide in an ethical or theological 
question because he could say, "Why, half 
my life I have been engaged in work in the 
church." (Laughter.} And in the same way 
a man who has been in a library or in liter- 
ary pursuits, if he has never opened his eyes, 
has no right to pass judgment on these 
things. Some people, librarians as well as 
others, are like owls I say it with all due 
respect. The owl is a very wise appearing 
bird and is ornamental in the study. I like 
him stuffed better than in active service. The 
bibliographical owl, like his kin, is happiest in 
the dusk, but in the light he won't always retire 
to his perch and be as quiet as the real bird. 

You know what Walter Savage Landor 
says, that in the intelllectual as in the physical 
world men creep close by your side and hold 
you fast by the hand while -you lead them in 
the darkness, but when you lead them in the 
light they start and leave you. That is often 
true and people who dare look forward, who 
see farther, are often accused of extreme 
views ; they are often called cranks ; but it 
is one of our greatest needs to have more 
cranks of that kind. My thought goes back 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



to a white-bearded crank whom I knew and 
loved for years, Henry Barnard, of Hartford, 
Conn., who, just fifty years before the library 
school was started, started the first school 
for training teachers, and in the very year 
that I was born started the first normal 
school. In his work in five years, while he 
was secretary of the board of education in 
Connecticut he delivered 1300 addresses, 
preaching the doctrine that the state and the 
community ought to have an organized public 
school system. How many of you in this 
room can comprehend that a man touching 
our own time so closely, who died only a 
year or so ago, went to nearly every legisla- 
ture in the country, was by courtesy accorded 
the privileges of the floor, and urged the need 
of public schools, as you and I are urging 
at the present time the need of library com- 
missions and the recognition of the library 
as an essential part of a civilized community? 
The new Secretary of the Navy some years 
ago presided in Baltimore over a great meet- 
ing, I think it was the National Association 
of Charities" and Corrections, and he spoke 
on the subject of cranks. He introduced the 
subject by saying that he had noticed when 
he went into a great machine shop where they 
were building engines that they took the regu- 
lar material as it came along and built all 
the parts of the engine, and then the foreman 
went around and picked out the very best 
piece of metal that he could find in the shop 
and out of that they made the crank. It was 
the thing that turned the engine, the thing 
that must not break; it was of the very best 
material. And I never think of Henry Barn- 
ard and the work that he did without hoping 
that we shall have many men and women 
who will do similar work in similar ways, 
perhaps on a smaller scale, but still in tU': 
same spirit that Barnard did his work. 

Now, we are working with each other and 
we are taking advice and suggestions from 
each other. In the wisdom of the East there 
is a proverb that applies as well to librarians 
"All are divided into two classes, two that 
know and two that know not. If a man 
knows not and knows not that he knows not, 
he is foolish; shun him. If he knows not 
and knows that he knows not, he is ignorant; 
teach him. If he knows and knows not that 



he knows, he is asleep; wake him. If he 
knows and knows that he knows, he is wise; 
follow him." And so when I come to these 
conventions and I hear from different people 
I have a great deal more faith when Miss 
Stearns or Miss Tyler or some of the people 
who are working in the same spirit that 
Henry Barnard worked, in different places, 
tell me of their actual experience, than I do 
when somebody who has never tried the ex- 
periment says, "it is extreme"; he does not 
know, he is not entitled to give testimony on 
that subject. 

I take it that the great work that is be- 
fore us is to sow the seed of this new library 
movement, to make people understand what it 
means. Just as the custodians of the great Ni- 
agara power have in their hands one of the 
most marvelous forces that the human mind 
has had to deal with, we as custodians of books 
and of libraries have in our custody the great- 
est power that there is in its effect on civiliza- 
tion and on the world. We ought to use it to 
the full extent. We have had a marvelous de- 
velopment in these past few years. I am con- 
fident that the next ten years holds more in 
store than all we have done in the past quar- 
ter of a century. There is no movement in 
human history of which I have ever read 
that has spread so steadily and so rapidly, 
that has had so little opposition, that has met 
with so much commendation, that has had as 
liberal gifts from private sources, that has 
had as liberal laws. We ought to keep these 
things steadily in mind. When anyone be- 
gins an address on the library and says the 
library is as important as it is to have good 
streets, good roads, lights, water supply serv- 
ice, drainage, I respect all that but it stands 
on a different plane. You can get on without 
these things, but you cannot get along with- 
out education. It does not pay a community 
or state to deal in raw material. In Massa- 
chusetts, the state that has the most libraries, 
you find the largest averages in the savings 
banks. Go to the Patent Office and you will 
find that in Massachusetts one man in twelve 
has a patent:, in New York, one in 18; in 
North Carolina, one man in 19,000; in 
South Carolina, one man in 24,000. Take an 
example : here was a woman with what the 
New Englanders call "faculty;" her husband 



SIXTH SESSION 



183 



had been saying things unfit for publication 
because he couldn't get his collar button in. 
She used her brains on the problem and in- 
vented a new kind of collar button, and she Has 
made a million dollars out of it. She could 
not make that collar button without increas- 
ing the wealth of the community and reduc- 
ing the profanity of all men. 

Education pays. Education is in two 
halves, school education and the education 
that you get at home, and education centers 
aiound the public library and the great school 
system for which we spend countless mil- 
lions of dollars. There are no taxes that 
people are so proud to pay as taxes for 
schools, there is nothing that they are more 
proud of than their expenditures either for 
the state university or for the cross-roads 
school house, and our petty income for li- 
braries is going to be doubled and trebled 
and quadrupled, because we are going to 
learn the lesson the library pays. Do you 
remember reading Sir Norman Lockyer's ad- 
dress before the war between Japan and 
Russia opened, to the British Association of 
Science? He talked plain English to them; 
he said that England would lose her suprem- 
acy unless they spent more money in training 
and educating citizens. He pointed out that 
they had lost two hundred and fifty millions 
of dollars a year to Germany, because Ger- 
many had spent money and carried on ad- 
vances in chemical industries that had given 
her so much advantage over England. Bis- 
mark said that Sedan was won by the school- 
master. "Why," someone answered, "it was 
the German needle gun that cost us the 
victory." He replied, "It was not the German 
needle gun, but it was the German soldier 
who held the German needle gun ; and it 
was the German schoolmaster who made the 
German soldier;" but it was the German 
university that made the German school- 
master. Now when we go to our legisla- 
tures, it is not a question of books being 
useful and beautiful. We shall say, here are 
great things to be done, here is the informa- 
tion the books that inform and build mate- 
rial prosperity, the books that inspire and 
build character, the books that count in 
making the world move on successfully. A 



nation or community or state that wishes 
to be great has the problem before it to raise 
officers instead of privates, to turn out the 
finished product instead of the raw material, 
and if we put this question on the lowest 
plane of mere material prosperity, it pays to 
do the work of general education. This 
movement is going to grow still more. 
With a man or a librarian tree, or man, or 
movement when it ceases to grow it begins 
to rot; it is dead. When a librarian has 
learned it all and does not grow any more 
he ought to resign, his usefulness is dead. 
Every man according to his ability must con- 
tribute his part, and every woman. You 
sow a little bit of seed and it conies back 
a thousand fold. Perhaps you drop an acorn 
in the ground. By and by the next century, 
there is a great oak. You did not create the 
oak. Back of it all is the God who gives the 
increase. The message I have to-night for us 
and our associates of the A. L. A. on cooper- 
ation is to sow this seed as we have oppor- 
tunity, never knowing where it shall bring 
forth fruit. I would be more glad if 1 
could express more clearly the question of 
being out of wind or supper has nothing to 
do with it the things of which my heart 
is full. I have said a good deal ; I am 
ashamed of having said so much, but if you 
knew how much I wanted to say and had not 
said, you would think I was temperate. 

I want t make one request. Many of 
you I shall probably never see again. This 
is our last session. We are working together 
in a common cause. I said last night to the 
graduates of the library school that I was 
keeping a little list. I started this list more 
than twenty-five years ago in a little book 
marked "A. L. A.," recording in three groups 
the names of people who were in sympathy 
with what we are doing. To those names at 
certain times certain publications were sent. 
I have in mind some literature that ought to 
be printed and put into the hands of people 
who would care for it and would use it; and 
I would like to enlarge my list, and I wish 
that anyone here, or anyone who is specially 
interested, would give me his name for this 
list. Then there is another class in my list, 
of those who are willing to work; and in 



1 84 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



my book their names are marked "workers" 
people who would do something as far as 
they can consistently without interfering se- 
riously with their other duties. Then there 
is a third class, of names marked an "M;" 
those are the missionaries, the people that 
you could send to with confidence, and who, 
if they could do it reasonably, care enough 
about this thing to go themselves and try 
to help their fellows in the movement. I 
would like very much if some of the people 
whom I have met this week for the first 
time would give me their names for any 
of these lists. We have a long work before 
us; it will last as long as life;, it is a great 
world movement, wide as the world, resist- 
less as the sunrise, illuminating the whole 
earth. And the great thing is, it seems to 
me, that we should be full of hope and con- 
fidence. Great things have happened in the 
past. Let us look forward and not back, 
up and not down, and lend a hand. (Ap- 
plause.) 

The PRESIDENT: Those of us who know 
Dr. Dewey, and all of us do, know that he 
has left many things unsaid. I hope there 
will be many opportunities up and down the 
Ccast before he goes east again to say those 
things. If Dr. Dewey says we are going to 
have a million dollars for the A. L. A., we 
are going to have it. Many people have ven- 
tured in the last 30 years to say that the 
things Dr. Dewey said were going to come 
to pass were impracticable, and that we must 
take a conservative attitude but they have 
all come to pass. (Laughter.) 

We have seen and heard from librarians 
on the Pacific Coast, from librarians on the 
Atlantic Coast, from librarians from all over, 
and the one thing that everybody in the 
audience now wants is to hear from one who 
has spoken to us all individually and helped 
us all individually, but who has not appeared 
in public on our platform. We want to 
see and if possible hear just a word from 
our local librarian. Miss Isom. (Applause.) 
Miss ISOM : I am very grateful for this 
opportunity of expressing to you our deep 
indebtedness for coming across the continent 
to see us ; and I speak not alone for my 
fellow-workers here in Portland, but for my 



colleagues in British Columbia, in Southern 
California, from the Rocky Mountains to the 
Pacific Coast. We have needed you so much 
and looked forward to this so long. All these 
past months we have lived in the anticipation 
of this meeting, and the memory of it will 
stay with us for many years to come. If you 
will come to us again very soon I think yon 
will not find that the same conditions prevail. 
The inspiration of this splendid meeting will 
help us to go forth and conquer, and I think it 
will not be very long before you will come 
back and see what the results of this meet- 
ing have been. This morning Mr. Schole- 
field, of Victoria, said to me, "How splendid 
this has been. Let's have them come out 
every other year one year to the Atlantic 
Coast and the next year to the Pacific Coast," 
and I agreed with him heartily that that was 
what we needed. I think those of you who 
meet every year or six months do not quite 
realize how alone we workers in this western 
country are, and how much it means to us 
to take by the hand and see all these people 
that we hear about and read about so much. 
You have done a great deal for us in coming 
across the country and we are grateful from 
the bottom of our hearts. (Applause.) 
THEODORE W. KOCH gave an address on 

CARNEGIE LIBRARY fiUILDINGS, 

(See p. 78.) 

which was illustrated by many lantern slides 
representing different types of library ar- 
chitecture. 
F. M. CRUNDEN presented the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS 

The American Library Association was 
moved against its will to hold this meeting in 
Portland; and now that the conference has 
proved so pleasant and so profitable, it is fit- 
ting that we should begin this minute of ac- 
knowledgment by thanking the overruling in- 
fluence that brought us here. To Dr. T. L. 
Eliot and Miss Mary F. Isom we are in- 
debted for this successful meeting, which has 
drawn closer the bonds of fellowship between 
East and West and has, moreover, given us 
incidentally the delights of unsurpassed scenic 
grandeur views such as few of us had be- 
fore laid eyes on and which many of us would 
probably never have seen but for this occasion. 

In referring to our journey, it is not amiss 



SfXTH SESSION 



185 



to mention, with assurance of appreciation, 
the care and courtesy and forethought of our 
conductor, Mr. Cook. 

We desire also to express our thanks to the 
librarian and the trustees of the Seattle Pub- 
lic Library for their hearty welcome and the 
graceful attention paid to us, and to the cour- 
tesies extended to us in Tacoma, as a preface 
to the cordial hospitality offered us by Port- 
land and the whole Pacific Coast. 

Our thanks are due also to Dr. Eliot and 
the trustees of the Church of Our Father for 
providing so convenient and comfortable a 
meeting place, and to the trustees of the Art 
Museum for trie use of their building and for 
the enjoyable reception tendered by them. 

Finally, we desire to express our thanks to 
the Portland Local Committee for the thought 
and care it has given to the arrangements for 
the transaction of our business and for our 
comfort and entertainment. 

Therefore be it 

Resolved, That this memorandum be spread 
upon the records of the Association, and that 
copies be sent to the daily press of Portland 
and Seattle and to the persons mentioned. 
F. M. CRUNDEN, ) ~ ... 
J. C. ROWELL, Committee 

MARY W. PLUM HER 

Unanimously adopted. 



on Resolutions. 



ELECTION OF OFFICERS 

The teller of election presented the follow- 
ing report : 

We, the undersigned, respectfully submit 
the following report as the result of the 
annual election of officers of the American 
Library Association. 

Total vote cast, 138; of these, 5 ballots 
were defective, it being impossible for the 
tellers to determine the intention of the voter. 

President: Frank P. Hill. 

}st vice-president: C. W. Andrews. 

2d vice-president: Caroline H. Garland. 

Treasurer: Gardner M. Jones. 

Recorder: Helen E. Haines. 

Trustee of Endowment Fund: Alexander 
Maitland. 

A. L. A. Council: George T. Clark, F. M. 
Crunden, Linda Eastman, Mary F. Isom, W. 
C. Kimball. 

The committee would call attention to the 
fact that there is some danger in voters 
marking their ballots in ink. Blots are likely 
to occur, thus making it impossible for the 



tellers to determine the intention of the voter. 

It might be well to include on the ballot in 

the near future a request that it be marked 

in pencil. 

F. B. GRAVES, ) 

SAMUEL H. RANCK, ) Tellers - 

The PRESIDENT: For a year in which this 
Association has before it so many pressing 
executive problems, requiring the best ability 
and experience to deal with, it is a matter for 
very great self-ccngratulation on the part of 
the Association that it is to be led by Mr. 
Hill, whose experience in the Brooklyn Pub- 
lic Library, whose earlier experience and 
whose successs have shown us the unusual 
ability which he has in such matters. The 
Association congratulates itself on the elec- 
tion of Mr. Hill, but it congratulates itself 
especially that this election comes at a time 
when there are problems to solve which he 
is so peculiarly well suited to deal with. I 
have pleasure in calling on Mr. Hill to speak 
just a word in behalf of himself and the other 
officers who have just been elected. 

Mr. HILL: Mr. President, Ladies and Gen- 
tlemen : I note the hour, in the first place, 
which says that it is ten minutes past 10. In 
the second place, Mr. President, this is an 
entirely new experience for me. I have done 
all sorts of library work in the library it- 
self, and in the Association but being pres- 
ident is another matter. I appreciate highly 
the honor which has been conferred upon me 
to-night in the election as President of this 
Association, and shall depend upon those 
who have preceded me in this high office, 
and upon the members of the executive 
board, who have been intimately connected 
with the administration of the work of the 
Association, for guidance and assistance dur- 
ing the coming year. 

Feeling that there was some doubt about 
the result of the election, I had prepared a 
sort of impromptu speech, but owing to the 
lateness of the hour I am requested by some 
of the gentlemen in the rear of the hall not 
to deliver it ; so, out of consideration for 
their feelings, I will merely accept the office, 
and in behalf of the officers of the Associa- 
tion pledge our best efforts toward securing 
the safest and sanest results for the Asso- 



i86 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



ciation, having in mind the interests of the 
different sections and affiliated organizations. 
I thank you most heartily and cordially. 

The PRESIDENT: In accordance with the 
custom of the Association, the business details 
of the Association will be taken up at the 
end of this meeting by the new officers. For 
social purposes and technically the present 
officers will hold office until the end of the 
post-conference excursion. If there is no 
further business I declare this meeting ad- 



journed, and the conference to be adjourned 
at the end of the post-conference excursion. 

Adjourned sine die, 10.18 p.m. 

[Meetings of the Association were later 
held, on the steamer City of Seattle, on Fri- 
day evening, July 21, and in San Francisco 
on the evening of Tuesday, July 25. These 
were for the purpose of passing resolutions 
and making brief informal addresses regard- 
ing the many courtesies shown the Associa- 
tion during its post-conference journeys.] 



CATALOG SECTION 



'"TWO meetings of the Catalog Section of 
the American Library Association 
were held in connection with the Portland 
Conference. The first session convened on 
Wednesday afternoon, July 5, with an attend- 
ance of 95, C. B. Roden, chairman, presiding. 
The secretary, Miss Josephine A. Clarke being 
absent, Miss Gertrude Forstall, of the John 
Crerar Library, was appointed to act in he'r 
place. The general topic of the session was 
the Library of Congress cards. 

Mr. J. C. M. Hanson, of the Library of 
Congress, opened the discussion with the fol- 
lowing outline of recent changes in Library 
of Congress practice, using the "A. L. A. 
rules advance edition," as a standard of 
comparison : 

VARIATION IN LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CARDS, 
1 898-0 ATE 

In the Proceedings of the Conference of 
1903 at Niagara Falls, p. 189-192, will be 
found a statement read before the Catalog 
Section which refers largely to the question 
which is again before us. It is not my in- 
tention here to go into the history of the 
printed cards of the Library of Congress or 
the various changes in typography and style 
or quality of cardboard which you may have 
noticed in the cards of the different years. 
It is sufficient to say that until 1900 the Li- 
brary of Congress was compelled to accept 
whatever the Government Printing Office had 
on hand. Improvements came mainly with 
the establishment of a branch printing office 



and bindery at the Library of Congress in the 
fall of 1900, largely also as a result of con- 
ferences with the committee of the American 
Library Association which had been ap- 
pointed about the same time to consider 
agreement on rules as well as style of catalog 
entry. Those who wish to see detailed state- 
ments bearing on this question may consult 
the introduction to "A. L. A. rules ad- 
vance ed.," Report of the Librarian of Con- 
gress, 1000-01, 1901-02, Proceedings of the 
A. L. A. Waukesha Conference of 1901, and 
"An account of the catalogs, classification and 
card distribution work of the Library of 
Congress" (Bulletin of Card Section, no. 

7). 

It is my purpose then to explain briefly 
some of the changes in the original rules of 
1898 which have been decided upon from time 
to time in conference with the catalog com- 
mittee of the A. L. A. and which naturally 
have had some bearing on the printed cards, 
inasmuch as many cards printed prior to a 
change in rules must needs differ from those 
printed later. Sometimes the modifications 
agreed upon are of such a nature that entries 
in the catalog of the Library of Congress 
itself can only be altered gradually as they 
turn up, while an immediate withdrawal and 
reprinting of all titles in the stock which may 
be affected is out of the question. In citing 
the changes I shall follow the order of the 
rules as given in the "A. L. A. rules ad- 
vance ed.," incidentally therefore giving a sur- 
vey of the changes agreed upon by the A. L- 



CATALOG SECTION 



I8 7 



A. catalog committee since the issue of the 
Advance edition of the A. L. A. Rules in 
1902. I will refer in this connection to an 
article by Miss Kroeger, the secretary of 
the committee, which appeared in the June 
numbers of Public Libraries and the Library 
Journal for last year, under the title : 
"Further modifications by the committee." 
This article will also be found in the 1904 
issue of the Advance edition of the A. L. A. 
Rules. 

In the rules for entry of books under au- 
thors' surnames no essential change has been 
made or is likely to be made beyond minor 
modifications in phraseology and the insertion 
of additional examples. The first important 
modification will be met with in rule 4: 
"Enter under initials of authors' names when 
these only are known." In view of the strong 
stand taken by the catalog committee of the 
British association on this rule it was de- 
cided by the A. L. A. committee to concede 
the point and change rule 4 to conform to 
that of the British code, which reads: "In- 
itials, asterisks, or other typographical de- 
vices denoting authorship, but unidentified, 
are not to be adopted as headings, but the 
book treated as anonymous" and to add to 
the same: "Added entry is always to be made 
under initials, asterisks or other typograph- 
ical devices." This change has not as yet 
been formally adopted by the Library of Con- 
gress in its printed cards. It will depend 
somewhat on the final outcome of the negoti- 
ations now being conducted between the cat- 
alog committees of the two associations 
whether the new rule is to become operative 
or not. 

Rule 5, to enter under pseudonym when the 
real name is not known remains unchanged. 
In rule 6 which deals with entry under pseud- 
onym when real name is known the commit- 
tee had decided already in 1903 to reverse 
the order of the main rule and note, that is 
to say, the note (Library of Congress prac- 
tice) which permits entry under the false 
name when the real name is known, only in 
a few specific instances, will hereafter be- 
come the main rule. The rule as given in 
the Advance edition and which instructs cata- 
logers to enter under the pseudonym when 



this is exclusively used by the author on 
the title-pages of his books, the author there- 
fore being much better known by his assumed 
than by his real name, now becomes the al- 
ternative to be given in a note for the benefit 
of the popular libraries which it is thought 
will prefer to enter under the pseudonym. 

Rule 7, collections, is to be much extended, 
but no radical changes will be made. 

In 8, 9, 10, and n, entries for government 
publications, the committee and Publishing 
Board have in the first place decided to give 
the names of departments and government 
offices in their regular order according to the 
form which is recognized in their publications. 
The alternative, to enter under the signifi- 
cant word, which is followed by the Superin- 
tendent of Documents and by a large ma- 
jority of the smaller libraries, is to be given 
in a note. Secondly, it has been decided to 
adopt the plan advocated by Miss Hasse in 
her "U. S. Government publications," pt. I, 
for entry of laws of countries and ordinances 
of cities. Instead of entering laws under the 
name of the legislative body of the country 
or state they are to be entered under a form 
subdivision, to read, Laws, statutes, etc., and 
to be followed either by the exact year of pro- 
mulgation or by the years of the reign or ad- 
ministration during which the laws were en- 
acted. This will provide for a chronological 
arrangement of these titles. 

This change which, so far as the printed 
cards are concerned, went into effect for for- 
eign laws in 1903 and for American laws in 
1904, must necessarily affect a large number 
of entries in the depository catalogs as well 
as in the catalogs of the various libraries 
which have bought printed cards. The course 
to be pursued when these conflicting entries 
turn up should be clear enough. If it is de- 
sired to follow the A. L. A. rule, draw a line 
through the name of the legislative body 
whenever one of the early cards is received, 
and write above it the heading, Laws, statutes, 
etc., or Statutes alone if that is preferred, 
and add to this the year of enactment or the 
inclusive years of the reign or of the admini- 
stration if that seems preferable. If the entry 
represents a general collection of laws no date 
need be added, as most libraries will prefer 



i88 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



to have general collections precede special 
acts. If it is decided to continue the old 
practice advocated in Cutter's rules and the 
A. L. A. Rules, advance ed., recent cards 
must of course be made to conform to the 
earlier ones, the subdivision, Laws, statutes, 
etc., being erased and the heading Congress, 
Legislature, General Assembly, General Court, 
as the case may be, being substituted. 

Rule 13 on treaties is to be extended to in- 
clude much of what is now contained in Li- 
brary of Congress supplementary rule no. 8, 
to which rule Miss Hasse has again offered 
some valuable amendments which we also 
hope to profit by. 

Rules 14 to 36, societies and institutions and 
other corporations are to be re-arranged in 
order that societies and associations on the 
one hand, and institutions and establishments 
on the other, may be grouped together. Mis- 
cellaneous bodies like congresses, conventions, 
foundations, exploring expeditions, commit- 
tees of citizens, etc., may form a division by 
themselves. The changes made in the corpor- 
ate entry rule are in the main as follows : 
state historical, agricultural and medical so- 
cieties are no longer to form an exception, 
neither are local, rnoral, or benevolent socie- 
ties, or Y. M. C. associations. These or- 
ganizations are hereafter to be entered under 
the first word not an article. These changes 
have already been accepted by the Library of 
Congress with the exception of state histor- 
ical and agricultual societies. There has been 
some hesitation in adopting the latter, inas- 
much as the changes here involve a great 
many entries. It can, however, be done if 
this is the advice of the Association and if 
libraries will bear with the resulting dis- 
crepancies between the earlier and later en- 
tries until the former, which now invariably 
begin with the name of the state, have been 
sifted out and reprinted. It is proposed to 
give the old rules for state historical and 
agricultural societies in a note as an alter- 
native, so also the former rule which pro- 
vided place entry for purely local societies 
mainly of a benevolent or moral character. 

The rule for institutions or establishments 
connected with a building or group of build- 
ings, for instance, schools, libraries, mus- 
eums, galleries, observatories, laboratories, 



churches, monastic institutions, hospitals, 
asylums, prisons, theatres, etc., remains as 
before. While societies and associations 
which are not ordinarily connected with a 
given locality by buildings or similar ties are 
entered under their names, institutions are to 
be entered under the place. 

I shall here ask permission to quote briefly 
from an article on corporate entry, which was 
contributed by me to the February number of 
the Library Journal: 

"It is obvious that the differentiation be- 
tween societies, institutions, and other bodies 
will meet with some opposition. As illus- 
trated by the example, clubs, there may oc- 
casionally be doubt in regard to the group to 
which a given class of organizations shall be 
assigned. From many years' experience with 
catalogs which contain an unusual number 
and variety of entries for societies and in- 
stitutions, I have no hesitation in stating that 
in the great majority of cases, including prac- 
tically all the important ones, the conveni- 
ence of the differentiation far outweighs the 
slight disadvantage of occasional uncertainty. 
Societies or associations, while they may have 
headquarters more or less closely associated 
with a given locality are not local and iden- 
tified with a place in the same sense as in- 
stitutions or establishments named in the 
specification to rule 21. One might say that 
in the case of societies the body of members 
is solely the entity, while in the case of in- 
stitutions as- here intended the buildings, of- 
fices, collections of objects, apparatus, etc., 
are the essential part, sometimes quite in- 
dependent of the patrons or of the body of 
men (officials) associated with their man- 
agement or operation. An irreproachable 
definition is difficult; not so a typical illus- 
tration : the difference is seen clearly enough 
between an astronomical society and an as- 
tronomical observatory, or between an asso- 
ciation of teachers and a school or univer- 
sity. I contend .therefore that to enter so- 
cieties under their names, institutions under 
the place, is quite in accordance with the 
nature of each and will place the great ma- 
jority of corporate entries where they are 
most likely to be first looked for by the users 
of the catalog. The separation into groups 
also serves to prevent misunderstanding, and 
emphasizes the underlying principle of the 
rules.'' 

In the first and great exception to the rule 
for institutions some effort has been made to 
define the word individual as here applied. It 
is proposed to consider institutions whose 
names begin with the name of a person or 



CATALOG SECTION 



189 



other proper name or adjective, as having 
individual names. This will place the great 
majority of those American institutions which 
owe their existence to private benefactions 
under their names. Many of our oldest and 
best known educational institutions, such as 
Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, and Leland 
Stanford are here provided for. While few 
American libraries are likely to object to the 
exception, it has its disadvantages as viewed 
from the standpoint of the rulemaker. It 
introduces the necessity of providing for ex- 
ceptions to an exception. If carried out liter- 
ally the great majority of churches would be 
entered under the saints from whom they 
take their names, the 750 Carnegie libraries 
in America and perhaps half as many more 
in Great Britain, would be entered under 
Carnegie. The latter question I have had oc- 
casion to discuss with librarians who ' have 
made a special study of Carnegie libraries. 
The reasons for treating Carnegie libraries 
like the ordinary public libraries are: 1st, 
their great number; 2d, the fact that they are 
usually supported by the municipality; and 
3d, the form in which the name is often made 
up, e. g., Free public library (Carnegie foun- 
dation), etc. If, however, any library should 
prefer to enter them under their names it 
will require only a moment's time to alter the 
heading as printed on the cards. 

The question has occasionally been asked 
by catalogers whether the rule to enter 
churches under the name of the place, even 
though they bear the name of a saint (an 
individual name therefore), should not be ex- 
tended to cover all classes of institutions 
which are named after saints. While it has 
been decided that monastic institutions, like 
churches, should be so treated, no definite 
agreement has been reached with respect to 
other institutions, mainly hospitals, whose 
names also frequently begin with that of a 
saint. The advice of librarians on this point 
would be much appreciated by the committee. 

Beyond what has here been mentioned and 
a more extended statement with fuller speci- 
fications and examples, and the specific men- 
tion of certain classes of bodies not dis- 
tinctly provided for in the Advance ed.. 't 
is unlikely that material changes will be made 
in the sections which cover corporate entry. 



Rules 37 to 46, on periodicals, commen- 
taries, dissertations, civil actions, joint au- 
thors, noblemen, ecclesiastical dignitaries, 
sovereigns, and princes of ruling houses, 
Oriental writers, married women, are most 
of them to be much extended without, how- 
ever, changing any essential features of the 
rules themselves. A rule for entry of news- 
papers will be inserted after the one for "peri- 
odicals. In the rearrangement of the rules, 
collections, anonymous entry, and serials will 
be grouped together. 

The remaining rules, 47-81, covering head- 
ing, titles, imprint, collation, contents, notes, 
arrangement and abbreviations, have not been 
subjected to any radical changes. There have 
been extensive additions, rearrangements and 
introduction of many examples and illustra- 
tions, but no alterations which will seriously 
affect the makeup, of the entry. 

You will perhaps recall the discussions on 
the size symbol in 1901. This resulted fin- 
ally in the decision to discontinue the indica- 
tion of height of books by the old fold sym- 
bols or by letters and to give the height in 
centimeters. This decision accounts, then, 
for the variation to be found in this particu- 
lar item between cards printed prior to 1901 
and those of a later date. In general, it may 
be safe to assume that variations of this char- 
acter which do not affect the alphabetical ar- 
rangement of an entry are of minor conse- 
quence as compared with changes which in- 
volve the rearrangement of a group or class 
of entries. It would seem desirable that 
changes of the latter class should be made as 
sparingly as possible and only when the ad- 
vantages which will result therefrom are man- 
ifestly of sufficient importance to offset the 
disadvantages which arc sure to follow. Fur- 
thermore, it will be desirable that all changes 
to be made in the rules as finally adopted 
should have the sanction of the Association. 
When once agreed upon and sanctioned modi- 
fications should be published in the library 
periodicals or in periodical bulletins to be 
sent to all who are interested. The experi- 
ences of the Library of Congress since en- 
tering upon the plan of making cards avail- 
able for the use of other libraries even point 
to the desirability of publishing decisions 
which affect individual entries or names. My 



190 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



only fear here is that the large number of 
such notices would, deter most libraries from 
taking note of them. A better plan might 
be to publish only a selection to include changes 
which are most likely to affect a large num- 
ber of libraries. With your permission I 
shall quote by way of illustration a few ex- 
amples of individual entries or headings, 
which have been altered in the printed cards 
and which have required repeated explana- 
tions by letter, because the cards have reached 
many libraries and have in each instance 
given rise to the same or similar questions 
when it was found that the library had re- 
ceived at various times cards which did not 
quite agree with each other in the form of 
author's name or other details of the entry. 
Illustrations were here submitted, consist- 
ing mainly of headings which had been 
changed at one time or another, either be- 
cause the author had actually changed his or 
her name or because later and better informa- 
tion had come to hand which seemed to war- 
rant the alteration. One letter from a large 
university library with the answer to the same 
was read in order to illustrate the misunder- 
standings which might arise from having 
slightly differing entries for the same author 
in the stock or the depository catalogs, as also 
to point out the difficulties which have here- 
tofore operated against securing absolute un- 
iformity of all entries. It reads as follows : 

"I am requested to write to you about the 
various entries on your file of printed cards 
for Ernst von Wildenbruch. He seems ac- 
cording to these cards to have had two va- 
riant forms, Adam Ernst von Wildenbruch 
and Ernst Adolf von Wildenbruch. Accord- 
ing to Brockhatis, Meyer, and Kiirschner 
there is but one such person, born in 1845, and 
credited by them with all the works divided 
between trie three entries found in the file of 
your cards. Doubtless you have found that 
there are two men of differing name, but it 
would be an accommodation to us to know 
the source of your information, and also to 
know to whom to attribute (supposing there 
are two) the works cataloged under the sim- 
ple form, "Ernst von." Also to whom should 
we attribute : 
Christoph Marlow. 2te. auf. Berlin, Grote, 

1902. 
Heinrich u. Heinrich's Geschlecht. I2te. auf. 

Berlin, Freund & Jeckel, 1898. 
Die Quitzows. Neue ausg. Berlin, Grote, 

1902. 



all of which bear the author's name, Ernst 
von Wildenbruch? 

"We should be greatly obliged to you for 
help in this matter." 

Answer. "I am sorry to acknowledge that on 
one or two of the cards printed previous to 
1902 Wildenbruch's name was given as Ernst 
Adolf, the latter name having been supplied 
on insufficient authority. A letter of inquiry 
addressed to the author in 1902 elicited a re- 
sponse in which he states that the forename, 
usually disregarded, is Adam, not Adolf. 
Since that time the heading has been, Wilden- 
bruch, Ernst, i.e., Adam Ernst von, and un- 
der it are arranged all our works by Wilden- 
bruch. There is no other author of that sur- 
name in our catalog, and we have never had 
any doubt about these works being by one 
man. The difficulty arises from the fact that 
when an error of this kind has once gotten 
into print and the cards been distributed, it is 
almost impossible to withdraw the cards 
again. I have discussed it time and again 
with Mr. Hastings, but we always find that to 
keep track of all the libraries to which copies 
of a particular entry have been sent is too 
formidable a task to be undertaken as yet. 
Cards which contain errors are reprinted, cor- 
rected cards being sent to all depository libra- 
ies. Proofstrips of corrected entries are also 
distributed in order that libraries may take 
note of the correction. So far this is all that 
the library has been able to do. Now that the 
linotype machines are fully installed it is 
hoped that reprinting can be extended to in- 
clude not only entries which are incorrect, but 
also those entries for which a fuller name has 
been supplied, or which have otherwise been 
subject to some improvement, especially when 
this affects the main heading and might there- 
fore lead other libraries to think that there 
are two authors of nearly the same name. 

Cases like the Wildenbruch entry are fre- 
quently referred to this division by other li- 
braries, and so far as I can remember we have 
always been able to explain the discrepancies. 
I am, however, inclined to think that the ma- 
jority of libraries in such instances do not 
write, but simply change the heading to suit 
the one adopted in their own catalogs and say 
nothing about it. I should much prefer if 
they would send in a little notice or query on 
one of the return blanks which are furnished 
by the card section. This would no doubt 
lead to more reprinting and consequently more 
uniformity in the stock." 

At the conclusion of his remarks Mr. Han- 
son was kept busy replying to a number of 
queries. Mr. Ranck desired to know the pol- 
icy of the Library of Congress regarding 
contents notes, a question which seemed of 
general interest, especially with reference to 



CATALOG SECTION 



191 



the possibility of using contents cards for 
analytical. Mr. Hanson stated that the ten- 
dency of the Library of Congress was toward 
fuller contents and that wherever possible 
the names of the authors of separate articles 
would be included. 

Mr. Sewall suggested the printing of a 
special edition of cards for analytical entries. 
In the matter of variations in headings, Miss 
Countryman and others questioned the ex- 
pediency of changing the old headings in a 
catalog to agree with new forms. 

MissWinchell inquired whether, when cards 
were reprinted for changes of heading, copies 
of the corrected cards woud be sent free to 
subscribing libraries, to which Mr. Hanson 
replied that for the present this was im- 
possible. 

The discussion soon became general and 
was participated in by so many that it was 
impossible, without the services of a sten- 
ographer, to keep a full record of the many 
interesting points brought out. 

The second topic, that of the weight and 
thickness of cards, was introduced by Mr. 
Hastings who said that at Dr. Dewey's sug- 
gestion a series of tests had been inaugurated 
to ascertain the relative length of time 
consumed in handling L. and R. weight cards. 
As results from these tests had been received 
from only three libraries, at this date, no 
definite conclusions could be drawn from 
them. Dr. Dewey spoke at length in favor 
of the thinner cards, as saving both time and 
space, and declared that libraries would soon 
be forced to adopt them as a matter of sheer 
self-preservation. The question caused a 
lively debate led by Messrs. Bowerman and 
Wyer, and Misses Lindsay, Goss, Hyslop, 
Winchell, Countryman and others, the major- 
ity apparently favoring the heavier cards. 

The chairman read a letter addressed to 
the section by Frank W. Gale, of the Christian 
Science publication committee for the state 
of California, calling attention to the lack of 
uniformity among libraries in classifying the 
literature of that subject, and making the 
suggestion that "books on Christian Science 
would properly come under class 280 of the 
Dewey classification." The writer also re- 
ferred to "the tendency to place books on 
mental healing, sugggestion, etc., as well as 



those which wholly misrepresent the teach- 
ings of Christian Science under the general 
subject heading of Christian Science." The 
letter was received with much interest and 
drew out statements from several librarians 
acknowledging perplexity in the matter. 
However, as no adequate discussion of the 
question resulted, the desire was expressed 
that the communication be given greater pub- 
licity, possibly through the library period- 
icals, with a view to a more general consider- 
ation.* 

The chair then introduced Mrs. Blanken- 
burg, representing the National Woman Suf- 
frage Association, who outlined the plans of 
that body for compiling a bibliography of 
woman suffrage, and asked the cooperation 
of libraries in this work. The meeting ad- 
journed at 4:30. 

The second session, held on Friday after- 
noon, July 7, took the form of an open dis- 
cussion of problems, under the general head 
of "The catalog in the small library." 

Miss Theresa Hitchler, of the Brooklyn 
Public Library, opened the way with an ad- 
mirable introduction, which was followed by 
a continuous volley of questions, all of which 
were answered and commented upon by Miss 
Hitchler to the fullest satisfaction of her 
audience. Indeed so eager were the librarians 
of the smaller libraries of the West to seize 
the opportunity of securing the expert advice 
of one of the ablest of their eastern colleagues 
that Miss Hitchler was surrounded and be- 
sieged by a host of questioners long after 
the adjournment of the session. 

Among the many subjects brought forward 
and discussed were the value to the cata- 
loger of an occasional period of loan desk or 
reference work, the importance of consistency 
and adherence to rules when once formu- 
lated, the forms of cross-references, position 
of guide cards several .speakers advocating 
guides in front of a subject instead of at the 
end and the extent of analytical work in 
a small library. 

The section then proceeded to the election 
of officers, and chose Miss Theresa Hitchler 
chairman, and Miss Gertrude Forstall secre- 
tary for the coming year. 

* This communication will appear in an early issue 
of the Library Journal. 



192 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



STATE LIBRARY COMMISSIONS SECTION 



A MEETING of the State Library Com- 
missions Section of the A. L. A. was 
held in connection with the Portland Confer- 
ence on the afternoon of Thursday, July 6, in 
the lecture room of the Portland Library. The 
meeting was called to order by Melvil Dewey, 
chairman. 

The secretary read a paper by Miss Caro- 
line M. Hewins on 



THE WORK OF AN EASTERN LIBRARY COM- 
MISSION 

(See p. Si-) 

Miss Gratia Countryman, of the Minne- 
sota Library Commission, then spoke on the 
limitations of commission work. She stated 
that she believed that there should be no 
limit to state aid, that the commissions should 
hold themselves ready to respond to calls 
of any nature pertaining to library work. She 
referred to the vast fields of library- en- 
deavor, particularly in the Western states. 

Johnson Brigham read a paper on 

A MODEL LIBRARY COMMISSION LAW 

(See p. 46.) 

W. L. Brewster, of Portland, then followed 
Mr. Brigham in a talk in , which he gave 
reasons for certain provisions in the law. Mr. 
Brewster agreed that the law was by no 
means a model one, but that it was a begin- 
ning in library endeavor, and it was hoped 
through its workings to so inspire confi- 
dence in the library movement in the state 
that more ample provision would be made 
for the Oregon commission at the next meet- 
ing of the legislature. 

Leonard D. Carver, state librarian cf 
Maine, urged that the state librarian should 
be an ex ofRcio member of the library commis- 
sion and should also be its secretary. To this 
there were a number of objectors, it seem- 
ingly being the sentiment that the secretary 
should be one that devoted his entire time 
to the work, thus not having a division of 
interest. 

Henry E. Legier, chairman of the League 



of Library Commissions, presented the fol- 
lowing 

REPORT OF LEAGUE OF LIBRARY COMMISSIONS 

Pursuant to the action taken at St. Louis, 
in October of last year, whereby the executive 
committee of the League was instructed to 
make the necessary arrangements for the is- 
suance of publications on a co-operative basis, 
the members of such executive committee met 
in Chicago and outlined plans for carrying 
out the purposes contemplated in the organi- 
zation of the League of Library Commissions. 

In view of the friendly attitude manifested 
by members of the A. L. A. Publishing Board, 
it was deemed wise, before proceeding on an 
independent basis, to negotiate with said 
board relative to their assumption of certain 
parts of the work. Owing to the many ques- 
tions involved which could not be readily set- 
tled, prolonged correspondence ensued and a 
number of subsequent meetings of the com- 
mittee were rendered necessary. As is shown 
by copies of the correspondence herewith 
submitted and by the minutes of the com- 
mittee, also submitted herewith, the negotia- 
tions with the A. L. A. Publishing Board 
were inspired by the wish to enter into such 
relations with the board as would relieve the 
League from the financial responsibilities of 
publication, while at the same time pledging 
their co-operation in the preparation of the 
necessary material and in subscriptions to 
render the enterprise possible. Realizing 
that the prompt and frequent publication of 
buying lists of books especially suitable for 
small libraries would prove of utmost impor- 
tance in the field work conducted by the sev- 
eral commissions, the executive committee 
laid particular stress upon the conditions 
which should govern the preparation and 
publication of such lists. As shown by the 
appended minutes, the main contention of the 
committee was that the commissions should be 
given an opportunity to approve the selection 
of an editor, and further be advised as to 
certain preliminary conditions deemed essen- 
tial by them with reference to the books to be 
included in the lists. While the members of 
the A. L. A. Publishing Board expressed a 
general willingness to meet the several con- 
ditions suggested by the committee as neces- 
sary to a full understanding for co-operative 
work, the resultant correspondence failed, for 
unavoidable reasons, to bring about a full 
understanding as to mutual relations. In 
order, therefore, that further delay might be 
prevented in the issuance of the initial num- 
bers of the new lists, it was decided by the 
executive committee that trie A. L. A. board 
be requested to undertake the publication of 



STATE LIBRARY COMMISSIONS SECTION 



193 



the current buying lists independently of the 
commissions, but that the commissions dis- 
continue the publication of their own lists 
and accord to the A. L. A. board their hearty 
support by means of subscriptions for such 
numbers of the lists as might be needed in 
the several states. 

Accordingly the buying lists heretofore is- 
sued for the commissions by the Wisconsin 
member of the League were discontinued 
with the December number, and in February 
the A. L. A. board began the publication of a 
series known as A. L. A. Booklist. Of these, 
five numbers have been issued to date. 

With reference to the other needed publi- 
cations, it was determined, by vote of the ex- 
ecutive committee, to proceed as rapidly as 
possible with the publication of such pam- 
phlets and printed material as might be most 
urgently needed for field work. The assign- 
ment of work in the preparation of this ma- 
terial was distributed among the following 
commissions : 

1. Suggestive list, to be prepared by the 
Wisconsin Free Library Commission, Part I 
to be issued as soon as possible, and Part 2, 
Books for children, within six months there- 
after, the latter being based upon the work of 
the Cleveland. Pittsburgh, Pratt Institute and 
Brooklyn public libraries. 

2. Handbook for trustees, to be planned 
and edited by the Iowa Library Commission, 
with contributions from others as before. 

3. Pamphlet on U. S. documents, with an- 
nual supplements, to be furnished by the Ne- 
braska commission. 

4. Handbook on commissions and commis- 
sion work, to be prepared by the Minnesota 
commission on the basis of Miss Country- 
man's A. L. A. paper. 

5. Handbook on the library and the school, 
to be prepared by the Indiana commission, 
such handbook to include descriptions of 
methods of co-operation, outlines for instruc- 
tion and reprints of articles deemed of value 
in connection therewith. 

In undertaking these publications the com- 
mittee based its business arrangements upon 
the subscriptions guaranteed by representa- 
tives of the commissions and state libraries at 
the St. Louis Conference. It is to be re- 
gretted that these subscriptions were not in 
all cases confirmed, and actual subscriptions 
received, upon notification of prospective 
publication, have been materially less than 
these. In consequence the plans of the ex- 
ecutive committee were to some extent dis- 
arranged and the first estimates of cost were 
necessarily slightly increased. Mr. J. I. 
Wyer's pamphlet on "U. S. public documents 
in small libraries," enlarged and revised by 
the author, was issued early in May, and the 
copy of the first part of the Suggestive list 
is now ready for the printer. It was found 



impossible to complete the proofreading and 
necessary revision of the latter publication in 
time for presentation in complete form at this 
meeting. 

The other publications enumerated above 
remain in embryo, but it is hoped that the 
material will be ready shortly and that pub- 
lication may follow without further delay. 

Of the pamphlet on "Documents for small 
libraries" an edition of 1000 copies was 
printed, and the entire number has been dis- 
posed of to subscribing commissions at the 
rate of two cents each. The subscriptions 
for the "Suggestive list" up to date number 
2500. It is expected that to subscribing com- 
missions who secure this publication in quan- 
tities a rate of not to exceed $5 per 100, and 
probably not more than $4 per 100, will be 
made. 

The experience of your committe during 
the past year emphasizes the importance of 
a stricter rule of membership than was ap- 
plied at St. Louis in the organization there 
formed. It seems unwise to give a voice to 
commissions which undertake no financial re- 
sponsibilities and give no equivalent in the 
work of preparation. The value of coopera- 
tive work, with the resultant saving in money, 
time and energy, has been demonstrated dur- 
ing the brief period of the League's exist- 
ence, even though the work performed and 
the results attained "have not been. as great 
as the promoters of the organization had 
hoped in the beginning. There is, however, 
a very useful field for the activities of the 
League, even if a full understanding with the 
A. L. A. board is reached. The executive 
committee very strongly urge that a perma- 
nent organization be effected. 

HENRY E. LEGLER, Chairman. 
ALICE S. TYLER, Secretary. 

Miss Tyler moved, 

That the State Library Commissions Sec- 
tion requests the A. L. A. Council to recog- 
nize the League of Library Commissions as 
having full charge of the program and other 
state commission interests in the same man- 
ner as the National Association of State Li- 
braries. Carried unanimously. 

Mr. Legler presented the following resolu- 
tion, which had been adopted by the execu- 
tive committee of the League of Library 
Commissions : 

Resolved, That the League of Library 
Commissions joins in the request of the State 
Library Commissions Section that the A. L. 
A. Council hereafter recognize the League of 
Library Commissions as holding the same re- 
lations to the A. L. A. as the National Asso- 
ciation of State Libraries. 

The secretary of the Section later presented 



194 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



the resolution adopted by the League of Li- 
brary Commissions to the A. L. A. Council, 
who, by vote, acceded to the request of the 
Section and League. With this action, the 



State Library Commissions Section goes out 
of existence, the League of Library Commis- 
sion taking its place. 

L. E. STEARNS, Secretary. 



COLLEGE AND REFERENCE SECTION 



A MEETING of the College and Refer- 
ence Section of the American Library 
Association was held in connection with the 
Portland Conference, on the afternoon of 
Thursday, July 6, in the Unitarian Church 
chapel. In the absence of Dr. James H. Can- 
field, Melvin G. Dodge acted as chairman, 
and J. I. Wyer, Jr., served as secretary. 

The program dealt with the general topic, 
"The college and state university library: 
some first principles of organization and de- 
velopment," presented in three papers, which 
are given elsewhere, as follows: 

THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME 

by JOSEPH C. ROWELL. 

(See p. 84.) 



THE USES OF GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS IN A 
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 

by LODILLA AMBROSE. 

(See P. 86.) 

THE TRAINING OF STUDENTS IN THE USE OB 
BOOKS 

by H. RALPH MEAD. 

(See p. 82.) 

Officers elected for the ensuing year were: 
J. T. Gerould, University of Missouri, Co- 
lumbia, Mo., chairman; Miss Alice E. San- 
born, Wells College Library, Aurora, N. Y., 
secretary. 



TRUSTEES' SECTION 



T^HE Trustees' Section of the American 
Library Association met in the chapel 
of the Unitarian Church at 4.30 o'clock, Fri- 
day, July 7, Chairman W. T. Porter, presid- 
ing. There was a fair attendance of trustees. 
The Section was addressed by Mr. Dewey 
upon the relative duties of trustees and li- 
brarians. His entertaining remarks were 
thoroughly appreciated by those present. Ad- 
dresses were also made by Mr. Putnam, Li- 
brarian of Congress, who described himself 



as a librarian without a board of trustees; 
by Mr. Corey, the former chairman of the 
Section; Mr. Milton W. Smith, of the board 
of trustees' of the Portland Library; and by 
Dr. H. W. Bettmann, of the Cincinnati Public 
Library. 

The Section elected the following officers 
for the ensuing year : Washington T. Por- 
ter, trustee Public Library of Cincinnati, 
chairman, and Thomas L. Montgomery, state 
librarian of Pennsylvania, secretary. 



CHILDREN'S LIBRARIANS' SECTION 



A BRIEF business meeting of the Chil- 
dren's Librarians' Section was held in 
connection with the Portland Conference, at 
the Portland Library on the afternoon of 
Thursday, July 6, and the following Section 
officers were elected : Mrs. Arabella H. Jack- 
son, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, chair- 
man; Miss Florence Janney Heaton, Public 
Library of the District of Columbia, sec- 
retary. 



In order to keep the special work of the 
Section in closer touch with the general li- 
brary interests an advisory committee was 
appointed this committee to consist of five 
members of the A. L. A. not children's li- 
brarians. The following committee was re- 
quested to -serve: Miss Mary Frances Isom, 
Miss Helen E. Haines, Miss Caroline M. 
Hewins, Miss Mary W. Plummer, Miss Mary 
L. Titcomb. 



TRANSACTIONS OF COUNCIL AND EXECUTIVE BOARD 



195 



TRANSACTIONS OF COUNCIL AND EXECUTIVE BOARD 



TV/T EETINGS of the Council of the Ameri- 
can Library Association were held in 
connection with the Portland Conference on 
July 4, 5, 7, in all three sessions being held. 
Meetings of the executive board were held 
on July 2 and 4; and of the new executive 
board on the steamer City of Seattle on July 
15 and 21. Of the 25 members of Council, 16 
were present at some or all of the sessions, 
as follows : Mary E. Ahern, Johnson Brig- 
ham, Gratia A. Countryman, Melvil Dewey, 
W. E. Henry, A. H. Hopkins, Herbert Put- 
nam, E. C. Richardson, J. C Rowell, C. W. 
Smith, Lutie E. Stearns, Henry M. Utley. 
The members of the executive board served 
as ex officio members and officers of the Coun- 
cil. They included the president, Ernest C. 
Richardson ; first vice-president, Frank P. 
Hill; second vice-president, Lutie E. Stearns; 
secretary, J. I. Wyer, Jr. ; recorder, Helen E. 
Haines ; treasurer, Gardner M. Jones. 

PROCEEDINGS OF COUNCIL 

Nominations. Nominations for officers for 
the ensuing year were adopted at the first 
meeting of Council, by informal ballot, in 
accordance with Section 3 of the by-laws. 
The nominations were later announced in 
general session (see Proceedings, p. 130) and 
formally posted, with the statement that the 
ticket would also include any names sent in 
on nominations signed by five members of 
the Association. Two such nominations for 
councillors were received, and the nomina- 
nees were elected ; otherwise the ticket pre- 
pared by the Council was adopted at the gen- 
eral election. 

Place of next meeting. At the meeting 
of the Council held in Atlantic City, N. J., 
in March the following resolution was 
passed: "Voted, That the Council recom- 
mends to Portland meeting of Council that 
Asheville be chosen as place of next meeting." 
This resolution was presented as a basis for 
action, and nominations were received from 
Asheville, Atlantic City, N. J., and Asbury 
Park, N. J. The recommendation to meet 
in Asheville was opposed, chiefly on behalf 



of the state library commissions, the state 
librarians, and the librarians of the Middle 
West and West, who, it was stated, would 
prefer a meeting nearer the eastern centers of 
library interests. Washington was strongly 
urged, with a summer resort near New York 
or Philadelphia as alternative. The subject 
was debated at three sessions, and it was 
finally 

Voted, That it is the sense of the present 
Council that it will be inexpedient to meet at 
Asheville next year. The Council reaches this 
decision with regret. 

Voted, That the A. L. A. meet next year 
in some place near New York or Philadel- 
phia. 

Voted, That the executive board shall se- 
lect place of next year's meeting as near the 
first week of July as practicable. 

Assistant secretary. Attention was given 
to the engagement of a paid assistant secre- 
tary, as authorized by the Council at its At- 
lantic City meeting. It was the general feel- 
ing that the experiment be continued until 
results could be more definitely judged. Mr. 
E. C. Hovey, assistant secretary, gave a state- 
ment of his view on the subject, pointing out 
the need of increased funds for A. L. A. ad- 
ministration, and the importance of increas- 
ing the membership and strengthening the 
influence of the Association. He thought 
that the assistant secretary should be ex ofh- 
do a member of every active committee, and 
suggested the appointment of a committee of 
five, of which the assiatant secretary should 
be a member, to carry out the work of rais- 
ing funds for the Association. It was 

Voted, That the matter of employment of 
an assistant secretary be referred back by the 
Council to the executive board, with power 
to continue the present arrangement for a 
year or so long as funds shall be available. 

Library institute. Mr. Dewey, as chair- 
man of the Library Academy committee, pre- 
sented a report on the subject, substantially 
as presented at the Atlantic City meeting of 
Council. The matter was discussed at length, 
but it was decided that as 17 members of 



196 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



Council are required by the constitution to be 
present and vote Xipon the establishment of 
any section, and as but 16 members of Coun- 
cil were in attendance at the Portland meet- 
ings, it was inadvisable for the Council to 
take action. It was therefore 

Voted, That the members of the Council 
present approve the plan submitted by the 
Library Academy committee to establish an 
American Library Institute, to consist of 100 
persons chosen from English-speaking Amer- 
ica as likely to contribute to library progress 
by conference together, and recommend that 
the A. L. A. take direct action by passing the 
following resolution : 

"That the ex-presidents of the A. L. A. be 
the first members of this Institute, with power 
to add to their number, to organize and adopt 
needed rules, provided that all ex-presidents 
and members for each current year of the ex- 
ecutive board and Council shall have seats in 
all meetings of the Institute." 

This recommendation was brought up in 
the general session and adopted by direct 
vote of the Association. (See Proceedings, 
P. 179.) 

Amendments to constitution. In accord 
with representations made by the National 
Association of State Libraries and the League 
of Library Commissions, looking to closer 
affiliation of those bodies with the American 
Library Association, action was taken to pro- 
vide for such affiliation by the adoption of 
the following amendments to the constitution, 
to be presented for ratification next year, ac- 
cording to constitutional provision: 

Add to Section 17 : "it may by a two-thirds 
vote upon suitable conditions affiliate with 
the American Library Association other or- 
ganizations kindred in purpose." 

Add to Section 12: "it shall have authority 
to include in the publications of the Associa- 
tion so much of the program, notices, circu- 
lars and proceedings of affiliated associations 
as it may deem advisable." 

Committee on library training. It was 
Voted, That by-law 6 be suspended to per- 
mit enlargement of the Committee on Library 
Training to eight members, as requested by 
that committee. 

Reproduction of manuscripts. Mr. J. C. 
Rowell introduced the subject of the Interna- 
tional Congress upon the reproduction of 
manuscripts to be held at Liege in August, 



and recommended that the A. L. A. express 
its approval of the movement, as initiated by 
Professor Gayley, of California. It was an- 
nounced thai the executive board had taken 
action, requesting Professor Gayley and Mr. 
P. Lee Phillips to accept membership in the 
American Library Association and to repre- 
sent the A. L. A. at the Liege conference. 
The following resolution was adopted : 

"The American Library Association ob- 
serves with interest the program for the In- 
ternational Congress at Liege upon the repro- 
duction -of manuscripts, maps, and other ma- 
terial, of which the originals are subject to 
the perils of destruction and, where unique, 
are but imperfectly accessible to the student. 
It has accredited delegates to the congress, 
and hopes from its labors the formulation of 
some scheme which will effectively associate 
the various agencies necessary in this mat- 
ter. Looking to the interests of American 
scholars, especially remote from the original 
sources, it assumes that such a scheme must 
include a bureau in this country ; and it would 
rejoice to learn of the establishment of such 
a bureau by an endowment which would en- 
sure the prosecution of its work upon an 
ample and scientific basis." 

Copyright conference. The conference on 
copyright held, on invitation of the Librarian 
of Congress, in New York City, May 31 to 
June 2, 1905, was reported on by Mr. Hill, 
who with Mr. A. E. Bostwick represented 
the A. L. A. at that conference. It was Voted, 
That the executive board be requested to take 
measures for the representation of the Asso- 
ciation at future conferences on the revision 
of the copyright laws, and in behalf of the 
Association to protest against the inclusion 
in the copyright law of the provision prohibit- 
ing importation of copyrighted works into the 
United States without written consent of au- 
thor or copyright proprietor, or to secure 
some modification of the same. 

Affiliation of League of Library Commis- 
sions. Miss L. E. Stearns presented the fol- 
lowing resolutions on behalf of the A. L. A. 
State Library Commissions Section and the 
League of Library Commissions respectively: 

From the State Library Commissions Section : 
"Resolved, That the State Library Com- 
missions Section request the A. L. A. Coun- 



TRANSACTIONS OF COUNCIL AND EXECUTIVE BOARD 



197 



cil to recognize the League of Library Com- 
missions as having full charge of the program 
and other state commission interests, in the 
same manner as the National Association of 
State Libraries." 

From the League of Library Commissions: 

"At a meeting of the executive committee 
of the League of Library Commissions, held 
at Portland, July 6, the following resolution 
was adopted: 

"Resolved, That the League of Library 
Commissions join in the request of the State 
Library Commissions Section, that the A. L. 
A. Council hereafter recognize the League of 
Library Commissions as holding the same re- 
lations to the A. L. A. as the National Asso- 
ciation of State Libraries." 

TRANSACTIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD. 

Non-library membership. It was Voted, 
That the list submitted by the treasurer of 
persons not engaged in library work be ac- 
cepted and the persons named admitted to 
membership in the Association. 

Representation at Liege Conference. The 
plan advocated by Professor Gayley, of the 
University of California, for the systematic 
reproduction of valuable manuscripts, to be 
considered at the Liege Conference in Au- 
gust, was presented; and it was Voted, That 
Professor Gayley and Mr. P. L. Phillips, ot 
the Library of Congress, be asked to accept 
membership in the American Library Asso- 
ciation and requested to represent the Asso- 
ciation at the Liege Conference. 

Proceedings of National Association of 
State Libraries. On the request of the Na- 
tional Association of State Libraries, as pre- 
sented by the president, Mr. George S. God- 
ard, it was Voted, That the papers and pro- 
ceedings of the National Association of State 
Libraries may be made part of the A. L. A. 
proceedings, to be printed in full, editorial 
revision to be made by the representatives 
of the National Association of State Librar- 
ies, and 500 "separates" printed for the use 
of that association ; the A. L. A. executive 
board to allow a reasonable amount of space 
in the A. L. A. proceedings to the proceed- 
ings of the National Association of State 
Libraries, and the latter body to pay for 
space in excess of the amount allowed by the 
board, and to defray the cost of the "separ- 
ates" and other expenses in connection with 
the publication of its proceedings. 



Affiliation with League of Library Commis- 
sions. The following communication was 
received : 

"To the Executive Board of the A. L. A. 

"The League of Library Commissions, 
through its Executive Council, "hereby for- 
mally applies for affiliation with the American 
Library Association in accordance with the 
prescribed conditions. 

HENRY E. LEGLER, Chairman. 

ALICE S. TYLER, Secretary." 

According to the provisions of an amend- 
ment to section 17 of the constitution, 
adopted at the Portland meeting and to be 
finally ratified at the annual meeting of 1906, 
this request was received, and the secretary 
instructed to make suitable mention of the 
status of the League of Library Commissions 
in the 1905 Handbook. 

Trustee of Endowment Fund. It was 
Voted, That the election, by correspondence 
vote, of Deloraine P. Corey to succeed the 
late George W. Williams as trustee of the 
Endowment Fund, be formally confirmed. 

Discontinuance of A. L. A. State Libraries 
Section. In view of the close relations exist- 
ing between the A. L. A. and the National As- 
sociation of State Libraries, and the fact that 
the latter hap practically superseded the A. 
L. A. State Libraries Section, which has held 
no meetings for several years, it was Voted, 
That the executive board recommend to the 
Council the discontinuance of the State Li- 
braries Section.* 

Copyright conference. Mr. Frank P. Hill 
reported on behalf of the special committee 
appointed by the board to represent the As- 
sociation at the copyright conference held 
in New York May 31 to June 2, 1905. It was 
Voted, That the report be accepted and the 
committee requested to report formally to the 
Association. (For report, see Proceedings, 
p. 164.) 

A. L. A. membership. It was Voted, That 
Mr. E. C. Hovey be requested to prepare a 
circular addressed to libraries and library 
trustees, soliciting membership in the A. L. 

* As an attendance of 17 members of Council is 
required by the constitution for the establishment 
(and inferentially the discontinuance) of sections, 
and as there were but 16 members present at the 
Portland meeting, no action was taken by the Council 
on this recommendation. 



198 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



A., and to submit draft of same to the execu 
tive board. 

Library Institute. On the steamer City of 
Seattle two meetings were held of the ex- 
presidents present and members of the execu- 
tive board, for the discussion of the organiza- 
tion, constitution, etc., of the American Li- 
brary Institute, to be established under the 
resolution adopted at the Portland Confer- 
ence. It was decided by the executive board 
that according to the terms of the resolu- 
tion, the draft of organization of the institute 
should be prepared by the ex-presidents of 
the Association and later submitted for con- 
sideration. If was Voted, To request the 
secretary to inform all ex-presidents of the 
Association of the action taken in regard to 
the Library Institute. 

Committee on ways and means. It was 
Voted, To appoint a special committee of five 
on Ways and Means. 

Indian Village at Kasaan. A communica- 
tion, prepared by Mr. J. C. Dana was ap- 
proved, requesting the United States govern- 
ment to take measures to preserve from van- 
dalism or destruction through neglect the re- 
markable collection of totems in the Indian 
village of Old Kasaan, which is abandoned 
during a large part of each year. 

Appointments to committees, etc., were 
made as follows : 

Registrar. Miss Nina E. Browne was ap- 
pointed registrar for the ensuing year. 

Publishing board. Henry E. Legler and 
Miss Electra C. Doren were appointed mem- 
bers of the A. L. A. Publishing Board for a 
term of three years each, succeeding W. I. 
Fletcher and Killer C. Wellman. 



Finance committee (continued). Sam 
Walter Foss, Drew B. Hall, Miss Theodosia 
Macurdy. 

Committee on ways and means. E. C. 
Hovey, C. W. Andrews, Anderson H. Hop- 
kins, Miss Anne Wallace, Herbert Putnam, 
James L. Gillis. 

Gifts and bequests. Joseph Leroy Harri- 
son. 

Book buying (continued). A. E. Bost- 
wick, J. C. Dana, B. C. Steiner. 

Index to prose fiction (continued). Miss 
Josephine Rathbone, Miss Beatrice Winser. 

Library administration (continued). W. 
R. Eastman, Cornelia Marvin, H. C. Well- 
man. 

Co-operation with library department of N. 
E. A. (continued). J. H. Canfield, Melvil 
Dewey, M. E. Ahern, E. C. Doren, Martin 
Hensel. 

Title pages and indexes to periodicals (con- 
tinued). W. I. Fletcher, Ernst Lemcke, A. 
E. Bostwick. 

Book binding and book papers (contin- 
ued). George F. Bowerman, W. P. Cutter, 
A. L. Bailey. 

Delegates to copyright conference. Frank 
P. Hill, A. E. Bostwick. 

Permanent headquarters. Herbert Put- 
nam, A. H. Hopkins, C. W. Andrews, R. R. 
Bowker, J. S. Billings, Melvil Dewey, W. 
C. Lane, Frederick M. Crunden, James Bain, 
Jr., J. I. Wyer, Jr. 

Program. President, secretary, Miss 
Haines. 

Travel F. W. Faxon, C. B. Roden, E. C. 
Hovey; with authority to add two members 
if found desirable. 



*T*HE annual meeting of the Bibliographi- 
cal Society of America, held in connec- 
tion with the Portland Conference of the A. 
L. A., was called to order in the parlor of the 
Portland Hotel at 2.30 p.m., on Thursday, 
July 6, by the treasurer, C. B. Roden, who 
stated that he was doing so at the request of 
Vice-president Putnam, who would be late 
in reaching the meeting. In the absence of 
the secretary, Samuel H. Ranck was appointed 
secretary pro tem. 



The following papers were presented, and 
on motion were read by title : 

"The bibliography of American music"; by 
O. G. Sonneck. 

"The need of bibliographies in literary his- 
tory" ; by Eleanor P. Hammond. 

"The '1516' edition of John de Gaddesden's 
'Rosa Anglica' " ; by B. A. Finney. 

The treasurer then submitted his annual 
report. 

On motion, it was voted that the election 



PACIFIC COAST LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS 



199 



of officers for the ensuing year be postponed 
till December in connection with the annual 
meeting of the American Historical Associa- 
tion. The society then voted to adjourn to 
meet in Baltimore in December. 
The following members were present : Miss 



Lodilla Ambrose, C. W. Andrews, H. C. Coff- 
man, F. M. Crunden, G. S. Godard, W. E. 
Henry, H. E. Legler, Herbert Putnam, S. H. 
Ranck, C. B. Roden. 

S. H. RANCK, 
Secretary pro tern. 



PACIFIC COAST LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS 



A JOINT meeting of the library associa- 
tions of California, Oregon, and 
Washington was held in connection with the 
Portland Conference on the afternoon of 
Wednesday, July 5, in the rooms of the Art 
Association building. An address of greet- 
ing was delivered by W. L. Brewster, presi- 
dent of the Oregon Library Association; and 
the following papers were read : "Library 
conditions in Washington," by Charles Wes- 
ley Smith; "Conditions in Oregon,'' by W. L. 
Brewster ; "Sources of Northwestern history," 
by Joseph Schafer, of the University of Ore- 



gon ; "Library conditions in Northern and 
Central California," by Lauren W. Ripley, of 
the Sacramento Public Library; and "Cali- 
fornia as a place of residence for the scholar," 
by Melvin G. Dodge, of Leland Stanford 
University Library. Resolutions were passed 
condemning the removal of Miss Mary L. 
Jones from the librarianship of the Los An- 
geles Public Library as "a striking example 
of the evil that politics may do in library mat- 
ters." It is hoped to print the papers and pro- 
ceedings of this meeting in an early number 
of the Library Journal. 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT AND IN THE GREAT NORTHWEST: A RECORD 

OF A. L. A. TRAVEL IN 1905 



COMPILED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 



*T*HE Canadian Rockies, the Pacific Coast, 
Alaska, California, the Yellowstone 
these are chapter headings for the volume of 
the book wherein should be written the chron- 
icles of the American Library Association in 
the year of grace 19x15. Something like ten 
thousand miles were travelled by those who 
went from the extreme East and added a 
California visit to the transcontinental and 
Alaskan itinerary. When it is recorded that 
the total registered attendance at Portland 
was 359, and that of these about 200 were 
from the East and Middle West, it will be 
seen that this was distinctively "travel year" 
in the Library Association. There had been 
strong opposition to the proposal to meet on 
the Pacific Coast, and it was carried at St. 
Louis only by the determined efforts of a few, 
who spoke for the many unrepresented at 
meetings in the central or eastern states. For 
this reason it is proper and pleasant to record 
that in this case wisdom was justified of her 



children. Everyone who went bore witness to 
the excellent judgment that prompted the 
choice, and to the value of this meeting, not 
alone in its delightful travel opportunities, 
but in bringing East and West together, for 
mutual help, companionship, and encourage- 
ment in their common field of work. Hospi- 
tality, kindly welcome, good fellowship, 
marked every step of the library pilgrimage, 
and for many days to come all who shared in 
its varied interests and pleasures will look back 
upon its memories with sincere satisfaction. 

A volume is needed to tell the full story, 
and such a volume we have been bidden to 
look for, as soon as the Sage from New Jer- 
sey and his attendant scribes and snapshot 
artists have completed their labors. In the 
meantime, there is here set forth a brief 
record, necessarily imperfect, but gathered 
from sources accredited veracious, which falls 
naturally into five distinct Epochs or Chrono- 
logical Divisions. 



200 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



I. THE OUTWARD JOURNEY 
BY THE OFFICIAL ORGANIST 

On Monday evening, June 26, the journey 
began for the thirty-odd librarians packed 
in the sweltering confusion of the Grand 
Central Station in New York City. Three 
special cars formed part of the regular train 
that pulled out at six o'clock. Their porters 
at first repelled the would-be passengers with 
the refrain "Special cars, special cars ! No, 
we don't know nuthin' 'bout no libra'y 'socia- 
tion; we're a Raymond & Whitcomb party;" 
but at the last moment realized the fact that 
A. L. A. and Raymond & Whitcomb were 
in this instance synonymous, and the travel- 
lers were finally installed for a week's resi- 
dence in their berths and staterooms. At 
ten o'clock Albany was reached, and here the 
special cars containing the Boston party were 
added to the train. Several friends from the 
State Library were waiting on the Albany 
platform and there was an animated exchange 
of greetings during the halt at the station and 
the coupling of the new cars. It was a disap- 
pointment to learn that the Big Chief who 
was to take the train here could not leave his 
tepee as planned, but he was finally prevailed 
on to promise that if possible he would make 
the trip a day or two later and join the tribes 
at Portland. Late as it was, friends from the 
Boston cars overflowed into the New York 
section, and greetings and gossip were min- 
gled with good-nights. 

Tuesday morning saw the party safely off 
from Buffalo at 7.30 the first change of time 
having been made by all save the Venerable 
Fossil, whose watch kept faithfully to con- 
servative New York standards through all the 
variations of Central, Mountain, and Pacific 
time. By this time every one felt at home, 
and personal and professional conferences, 
card parties, naps, and gossip in the observa- 
tion car were the accepted occupations, as 
they continued to be through the successive 
days of the journey. From Buffalo to Chi- 
cago the train ran well ahead of schedule 
time, and the arrival in Chicago was made 
at 7.30 instead of at 9.20, as given in the 
itinerary. Here there were three hours to 
spend, and every one scattered, some to walk 
about the city, many to visit the Public Li- 



brary, and others to be carried off by friends 
or relatives. The Chicago and Middle West- 
ern contingent joined the party here, and the 
long wait late at night in the crowded station 
was enlivened by greetings among many who 
had not met since the St. Louis Conference 
eight months before. 

By this time the special cars had become 
a special train, and the twelve hours' run from 
Chicago to St. Paul, via the Chicago, Mil- 
waukee & St. Paul Railway was made exactly 
on time. St. Paul was reached at eleven on 
Wednesday morning, with the announcement 
that an hour and a half might be spent in 
sight-seeing. Some enterprising spirits took 
the trolley to Minneapolis, while others made 
their way to the new capitol building, one of 
the most beautiful structures of its kind. The 
paintings by Kenyon Cox, H. O. Walker, and 
Blashfield are fine examples of mural art, and 
the combination and coloring of the marbles 
used in the great staircase and the interior 
finishing is most harmonious and effective. 
Luncheon was served in the dining car, and 
those who lingered over their sight-seeing 
rued it later, for the train left an hour later 
than had been announced, and even the first- 
comers, who invaded the car while the train 
was being made up, were obliged to wait with 
patience during the delay. Indeed the dining 
car presented a serious ethical problem 
throughout the journey 

Whether 'tis nobler in the vestibule to suffer 
The pangs and spasms of outrageous hunger, 
Or follow the footsteps of the early birdling 
And by rising early get there first? 

Those who pursued the former course felt 
that the world was richer for their self-sacri- 
fice, while the advocates of the latter prac- 
tice argued that as someone had to be first 
they were performing a real service to the 
community in leading the way. 

From St. Paul on, through Wednesday af- 
ternoon and all day Thursday no stations were 
scheduled, the only stops being those made 
for watering the engine, and taking on ice 
or provisions. Whenever these occurred the 
travellers alighted like a swarm of locusts 
along the wayside, tramping up and down the 
little railway platforms, scrambling up the 
embankments for flowers, and turning a baf- 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT 



201 



tery of cameras on every object of interest, 
from a cross-roads store to what one ex- 
perienced farmer maiden called "a herd of 
dear little pigs." Thursday was spent, accord- 
ing to the -itinerary, "en route westward 
through North Dakota and Assiniboia." 
"We are an elastic country," remarked the 
Rowdy Journal to young Martin Chuzzlewit, 
and the truth of this observation would have 
been disputed by none of those who from the 
observation car platform seemed to see mile 
after mile dropping away behind them, with 
mile upon mile to come still stretching far 
ahead. Here was the great flax and wheat 
field country level, expressionless, as far 
as eye could reach, the hazy melting of earth 
and sky unbroken by the friendly outline of 
trees or wooded streams. There were cattle 
upon the thousand plains, prairie dogs scut- 
tling about among their residences, now and 
then broad mud patches that had once been 
buffalo wallows, and several times old-fash- 
ioned "prairie schooners" were seen crawling 
slowly toward some hoped-for land of prom- 
ise. At 9.15 in the morning the train reached 
Portal, the doorway to the Canadian border. 
Here the American flag floated from the rail- 
way station, while a few rods away at North 
Portal the Union Jack marked British terri- 
tory. The little country store did a thriving 
quarter of an hour's trade in picture postal 
cards and Canadian stamps, and the two 
picturesque representatives of the Northwest 
Mounted Police, who watched the "tourists" 
with languid amusement, have gone down to 
fame in a score of A. L. A. cameras. The 
time changed here to Mountain standard, one 
hour slower. On through Assiniboia, past 
Estevan, Yellow Grass, and the other little 
wayside settlements, the train reached the 
main line of the Canadian Pacific at Pasqua 
in the evening, and later halted for a moment 
at Moose Jaw, which everyone learned with 
interest is the name given "for short" in 
place of the original Indian appellation, "The- 
creek - \\here-the-white-man-mended-the-cart- 
with-a-moose-j aw-bone." Medicine Hat, which 
marks the approach to the mountains, was 
passed during the night. 

By Friday morning the train had fallen 
behind its schedule, and Calgary was reached 



at eight o'clock three hours late. It is a 
rambling town a "ranching city," the time- 
table calls it spreading out along the Bow 
River, and overlooked by the distant snow- 
capped peaks of the Rockies. Indians of var- 
ied sizes, ages, and degrees of picturesqueness 
were grouped about the station and among 
the tents that lined one side of the nearest 
street, and the camera batteries were ranged 
upon them promptly. With unexpected re- 
sults, however, for as each snapshot was 
finished the victim made an onslaught upon 
its possessor, demanding baksheesh with a 
combination of fierce aboriginal gestures 
and grunts that made some of the palefaces 
believe that instant flight was the only pre- 
ventive of scalping. To see the graceful 
figure of the Official Photographer and Travel- 
lers' Guide covering the foreground in leaps 
and bounds, closely pursued by a sturdy 
squaw, pelting head down and blanket kilted, 
was an experience marred only by one re- 
gret that the chief actor could not add it 
to his views of A. L. A. scenery. . 

For the three hours and a half from Cal- 
gary to Banff the watchers on the observation 
car platform journeyed toward a celestial city, 
whose snow-and-silver battlements seemed to 
hang in the distant sky like some cloud-built 
vision. Little by little on every hand snow- 
crowned summits hemmed in the world 
streaks of cloud in the far distance, great 
promontories and barren bulwarks towering 
close above the tracks. To those who have 
not known the wonder of this approach to 
the Canadian Rockies descriptions can give 
little sense of reality; to those who have, 
words are an impertinence. At 11.30 the 
train arrived at Banff, still three hours late, 
and the party were transferred to stages and 
carriages and conveyed to the delightful Banff 
Springs Hotel. Banff is set in the heart of 
the famous Canadian Rocky Mountain Park. 
The hotel, which is owned and managed by 
the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, is 
perched on a magnificent site, on the bank of 
the Bow River, guarded in the rear by the 
towering bulk of Mount Rundle, and com- 
manding a wonderful view of the great ranges 
and the streams and valleys that make im- 
pressive and lovely prospects on every side. 



202 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



After four days' travel, it was a delightful re- 
lief to set foot in real rooms again, with real 
beds to look forward to for at least one night, 
and every circumstance combined to make 
this brief rest in the long journey altogether 
enjoyable. The weather was perfect, and the 
afternoon and early evening were given 
up to drives and walks and boating par- 
ties. Many went for the long drive about 
Tunnel Mountain; others to the beautiful 
Devil's Lake, passing on the way Buffalo 
Park, the government reservation in which 
are some two-score buffalo, and numbers 
of moose, elk, deer, and angora goats ; 
while two aspiring spirits made the sharp 
mountain climb to the observatory and re- 
turned to receive the testimonials of their 
associates who started with them but fell 
by the way. Every one went early to bed, for 
breakfast at 6.30 was the first order of busi- 
ness for the next morning, and sweet sleep 
and pleasant dreams sealed the lovely memor- 
ies of the day. 

Saturday morning found a flock of early 
birds waiting for admission to the dining 
room half an hour before the doors were 
open. After breakfast came the general exo- 
dus, and some walked and some were driven 
back to the railway station, bidding a regretful 
farewell to Inglismaldie, Stoney Squaw, Cas- 
cade Mountain, Razorback, and the many sen- 
tinels of the heights which even during that 
brief stay had become a familiar presence. 
At the railway station there was a long delay, 
owing to the announcement that some twenty 
pieces of baggage were missing and the ne- 
cessity of making arrangements to pass the 
delayed pieces through the customs on their 
arrival. It was after nine when the train 
finally pulled out for the magnificent run to 
Laggan, through the Bow Valley, surrounded 
by a wonderful panorama of mountains. Al- 
most beside the track the colossal bulk of 
Castle Mountain, with its bastions and turrets 
linking heaven and earth, gave a new reality 
to the words of Luther's hymn ; while beyond 
and filling all the distance were high-piled 
snow peaks and cloud-veiled summits. Laggan 
was reached at noon, and here another hour 
was gained, according to Pacific standard 
time. The pretty station is built in the like- 



ness 01 a Swiss chalet, and is the point of 
departure for Paradise Valley, the Lakes in 
the Clouds, and the Valley of the Ten Peaks, 
which lie within its overshadowing moun- 
tains. From Laggan to Field, the next stop- 
ping place, is a run of about an hour and a 
quarter. Four of the party, by kind permis- 
sion of Mr. Charles Carey, trainmaster at 
Field, made this trip on the pilot of engine 
No. 1606. It was an experience never to be 
forgotten, for this run takes in some of the 
wildest and most magnificent scenery on the 
Canadian Pacific road. Soon after leaving 
Laggan the railway leaves the Bow Valley 
and climbs the summit of the Rockies, cross- 
ing the Great Divide some 5000 feet above 
sea level, and then follows the line of the 
Kicking Horse River down the western moun- 
tain slope, past Cathedral Mountain and 
around the mighty base of Mount Stephen. 
For the greater part of the way the up-grade 
is heavy, and the travellers on the pilot had 
no sense of alarm, save in first anticipations. 
But no one of them will ever forget the won- 
der of that forward launching flight, open on 
every hand, in which they seemed solitary 
atoms in the heart of a titanic world. At the 
Great Divide, where a rustic bridge spans the 
little stream that on the one hand makes its 
way to tho floods of Hudson's Bay and on the 
other finds its outlet in the Pacific, a brief 
halt was made, and those who chose drank 
from the waters of East or West, or stepped 
across the tiny brook. Field was reached 
soon after one o'clock, when the pilot party 
reluctantly abandoned their "front seats" and 
returned to the more commonplace privileges 
of the observation car. 

From Field a descent of 1500 feet down the 
slope of the Rockies to the valley of the 
Columbia is made in 34 miles. Part of the 
way lies through the deep canon of the 
Kicking Horse, along ledges blasted in the 
sheer walls, from which the train emerges 
into the wide valley of the Columbia, whose 
broad stream .flows between the two magnifi- 
cent mountain ranges of the Rockies and the 
Selkirks, the latter clad with forests of spruce 
and fir up to the line of perpetual snow. To- 
ward the latter the railroad bends its way 
and enters upon the ascent of the Selkirks 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT 



203 



through the narrow gorge where the Beaver 
River joins the Columbia. Here begin the 
series of immense snow sheds or tunnels, 
built of heavy timber backed with rock, a 
necessary protection against the winter ava- 
lanches, but an annoyance to the scenery- 
loving tourist. The run from the Beaver 
mouth to Glacier is a stiff ascent, through a 
wilderness of mountain peaks, cut by torrents, 
and dominated by Mount Sir Donald, whose 
colossal pyramid towers for a mile and a 
quarter above the track and overlooks the 
Great Glacier of the Illecillewaet. The glacier 
was the one objective point, when Glacier was 
reached about five o'clock, for a two hours' 
visit. It is about half an hour's walk from 
Glacier House, along a good trail, and nearly 
every one in the party went at least to the 
foot of the ice river. Many clambered about 
on the ice and peered into the green trans- 
lucent clefts and ravines, and a number in 
their eagerness to thoroughly "take in" the 
glacier enthusiastically munched small frag- 
ments. At seven o'clock the train was off again, 
the dining car overflowing with a throng 
whose appetites had been sharpened by a long 
day of many activities and varied sensations. 
Through the sunset and the clear twilight the 
travellers watched spellbound the descent 
along the Loops of the Selkirks, as the won- 
derful piece of engineering is called, by which 
the train gains the valley far below. A great 
double "S" is cut in the mountainside, and 
the track turns and doubles and sweeps back 
again, in a way that is perhaps better realized 
when it is said that in passing over thirteen 
miles of rail only three miles of headway is 
made. Even as the day waned the beauties of 
the scene still held their sway, and it is to be 
recorded that two of the party spent the night 
in the observation car, and declared them- 
selves well repaid for their vigil. 

Sunday morning found the travellers speed- 
ing along the Fraser River, past cafions and 
valleys and glimpses of wooded country 
rimmed by mountains. Beautiful' and interest- 
ing as was .the scenery it seemed quiet and 
peaceful after the wonders that had gone be- 
fore, and a welcome setting for a day of rest. 
Halts were made at several of the small sta- 
tions North Bend reached about eight 



o'clock in the morning, where the beautiful 
many-colored poppies in the station garden 
were put at the disposal of the travellers; 
Mission Junction, where cherries and news- 
papers were bought; and at noon Sumas City, 
the division point between British Columbia 
and the state of Washington, where the in- 
ter national boundary line was seen cut in the 
woods on the hillside. The Canadian Pa- 
cific was left behind at Sumas ; all through the 
afternoon the route lay along the Northern 
Pacific through the state of Washington, and 
in the early evening the transcontinental 
journey closed with the arrival at Seattle. 
Here the travellers were greeted by the Tall 
Totem, kindly and hospitable, who through all 
their later journeyings acted as a guardian 
spirit, and were transferred for the night to 
the Hotel Washington, set high upon its 
steep terrace overlooking the city, Puget 
Sound and the distant mountains. All the 
hotel arrangements had been made, and in 
their rooms the visitors were welcomed by 
fragrant bunches of flowers, bearing the greet- 
ing of library friends in Seattle. In the ev- 
ening some went to church, others took the 
trolley to Lake Washington or about the city, 
and many rested on the hotel veranda until 
an early bedtime. 

Monday, July 3, the first day of the second 
week of travel, was for the most part spent 
at Seattle. In the morning the visitors were 
taken in special trolley cars through this 
beautiful and interesting city and out for a 
glimpse of Lake Washington and its lovely 
park. A stop was made at the new library 
building, now nearing completion, and sev- 
eral individuals found later opportunity to 
visit the present library, which is doing good 
work in its temporary and inadequate quar- 
ters. After luncheon at the hotel the travel- 
lers set out for the dock of the steamer Flyer, 
and by three o'clock were off on the two-hour 
trip across Puget Sound to Seattle's rival, 
the city of Tacoma. "Watch Tacoma grow !" 
is the shibboleth that greets the visitor on 
every side, and the librarians were given an 
opportunity to obey the mandate. A recep- 
tion committee was awaiting them, and they 
were taken in trolley cars for a trip through 
the city and out to the beautiful park with 



204 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



its wilderness of r^ses, its conservatories and 
great trees. The afternoon was perfect, and 
all through the trip there were glimpses of 
Mount Tacoma, whose silvery cone, hanging 
in the sky like some mysterious cloud, was 
later seen in fuller beauty from the broad 
veranda of the hotel. Dinner was served at 
the Hotel Tacoma, and by nine o'clock in the 
evening the travellers had once more gained 
the familiar precincts of the special train and 
had settled down for their last night in a 
sleeper until the homeward journey. It is 
only about a six-hour run from Tacoma to 
Portland, and the train spent the early morn- 
ing hours peacefully sidetracked by the sta- 
tion where at seven o'clock the A. L. A. were 
formally welcomed by their hosts for the 
Portland Conference. 

II. A. L. A. WEEK IN PORTLAND 
BY A MISSIONARY SPIRIT 

Early in the morning on the Fourth of July 
the American Library Association descended 
upon the city of Portland. It proceeded with 
characteristic patriotism to celebrate the dav 
by at once holding a business session, and 
all through the week of the conference it 
gave hard work the preference over play. 
For this reason there can be no extended 
record of the social side of the meeting, 
though the few incidents that may be thus 
characterized were perhaps the more welcome 
as a needed relief from the rush of business 
and the pressure of sessions. 

On Wednesday afternoon, July 5, the only 
social function of the conference was held. 
This was a reception given to the Library 
Association by the directors of the Portland 
Public Library and the representatives of the 
Pacific Coast library associations, in the hand- 
some building of the Art Institute. The cor- 
ridors and spacious galleries were embowered 
in vines and flowers, delightful refreshments 
were served, and the hospitality of the N^orth- 
west and Pacific Coast was evident in every 
friendly word of greeting. 

Throughout the week there was more or 
less entertaining of a personal character 
dinners, visits to the Fair, trips about the city, 
and one delightful dinner and evening at a 



ranch some miles out in the country. The 
Hotel Portland, which was headquarters of 
the conference, proved a most pleasant and 
satisfactory abiding place and gave many op- 
portunities for informal social intercourse. 
The Lewis and Clark Exposition, by daylight 
and at night, drew many enthusiastic members 
of the Anti-Sessions Section. Though it 
seemed toylike after the St. Louis Fair, it 
was charming indeed, in its beautiful natural 
setting and the skilful grouping of its dainty 
buildings, bridges, and lagoons. The Fores- 
try building, of enormous rough-barked logs, 
was perhaps the most interesting, with its 
wonderful pillars of giant redwood trunks, 
its forest fragrance, and its beautiful exam- 
ples of native woods. The exhibits of the 
Western states, Oregon, California, Wyom- 
ing, and the displays made in the Oriental 
building were of particular interest ; and the 
Alaska building, marked by the fine totem 
poles reared on the lake margin, was notable 
among the government departments. Many 
of the A. L. A. delegates were quartered at 
the American Inn, the only hotel on the Fair 
grounds, and so had special opportunities to 
explore "the Trail" and enjoy the evening il- 
lumination. Portland itself offered various 
attractions. Some found their way to the 
links of the golf club, and nearly every one 
sooner or later went by trolley to Portland 
Heights and lingered in the delightful little 
Japanese tea-garden overhanging the brow of 
the hill, or from the observatory above looked 
out upon the snowy summits of Mount Hood, 
Mount St. Helens, and Mount Tacoma. 

On Friday, July 7, the business of the con- 
ference ended, and the following day, Satur- 
day, was given up to an all-day excursion up 
the Columbia River, tendered by the direc- 
tors of the Portland Public Library. The 
steamer Bailey Gatzert of the Regulator line, 
the regular Columbia River excursion line, 
had been specially reserved for the A. L. A., 
and soon after nine o'clock it steamed slowly 
away from the dock and out past the shipping 
and lumber yards of the city for the four- 
hour trip to the Cascade Locks. The day 
was very hot, but a strong breeze tempered 
the going trip, and the visitors enjoyed to the 
full the beauty of the wooded shores, the 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT 



205 



dainty white plume of Multnomah Falls, the 
great honeycomb-like pillars and palisades of 
Cape Horn, and the interesting salmon wheels, 
that are the sign of one of the great industries 
of the Columbia. At the Cascade Locks it 
was interesting to watch the slow passage of 
the steamer through the successive gates, and 
the turn for the homeward trip. This was 
made under a blazing sun that seemed to 
penetrate into every nook and corner, and on 
the return to Portland the excursionists 
learned that they had experienced the hottest 
day of the season with the thermometer above 
loo degrees and many heat prostrations. 

The excursion was the last formal gather- 
ing of the conference, and many were the 
expressions of regret that the acquaintances 
begun or advanced through its means must 
be so soon broken by adieux. Every one had 
been told that to come out to the Pacific 
Coast was to learn the real meaning of hos- 
pitality, and every one by this time had real- 
ized the truth of the statement. It was with 
a feeling of sadness that one beheld the in- 
evitable scattering, which began in earnest 
on Saturday night. Some left for the direct 
return to the East, taking in the Yellowstone 
on the way; others made the homeward jour- 
ney by way of California; some departed to 
visit friends in nearby states; and the ma- 
jority packed their trunks for the eleven-day 
voyage to Alaska. To one and all the week 
in Portland will always be a pleasant memory, 
and there are many who count the new friend- 
ships made between East and West as the 
best result of the Portland Conference. 

III. ALONG ALASKA'S SHORES 
BY AN IMPRESSIONIST 

"What went ye out for to see?" The 115 
librarians who sailed out from Seattle on the 
City of Seattle, Captain O'Brien, master, that 
starry evening of July nth didn't know 
they were going to Alaska, a region somewhat 
nearer the North Pole than they had been 
before and belonging to the United States. 
They had a general impression that it was 
a very cold corner of the world, as their 
trunks and bags full of winter underwear, 
rugs, furs, etc., testified; they had heard that 



there was scenery; and they knew there was 
a Greek church in Sitka. It is safe to say 
that barring the conscientious few who had 
read up, or the unlucky few whom previous 
tourists had informed, the members of the 
party entered the new Wonderworld un- 
pledged and uninstructed, which is the proper 
attitude of mind for a voyage of discovery. 
The only regrets with which they started were 
for the presence of those who had elected not 
to take the journey; even the "trunkless lady" 
had got past the regret stage and entered upon 
the new adventure with no more poignant 
feeling than the fear that without her left- 
behind rugs she might possibly freeze. Right 
here, for the benefit of anxious readers, let 
me say that she did not. 

A half-moon and a sky full of stars and 
the many lights in the hills and valleys of 
Seattle witnessed the departure, and the whis- 
tles blew for Port Townsend before all voices 
ceased and sleep overtook the last wakeful 
ones. Having heard that the Alaska trip was 
a sleepless one owing to the impossibility for 
certain eager spirits of going to bed and leav- 
ing the scenery, the careful New England 
guardian on the very first day posted a bulle- 
tin requesting those who sat up to remember 
in silence those who tried to sleep and this 
is the reason that instead of returning, gaunt 
and hollow-eyed like most ship-wrecked 
(there is more than one construction to be 
put upon the term) mariners, the disembark- 
ing party on the 22d looked as if it had really 
rested. We commend the plan to all Alaska 
tourists. 

The first morning dawned hazy, with dimly 
discerned mountains which gradually emerged 
from the mist except for their tops and the 
foothills at their base. Here and there the 
white villages of British Columbia, with a 
church spire in their midst appeared, and at 
ten the boat reached Vancouver, the terminus 
of the Canadian Pacific Railway. A stop of 
several hours gave the party time to wander 
not only through the substantial business 
streets, but out to the wonderful natural park, 
with its monster trees and giant brakes and 
other undergrowth. For the most part the 
forest has been left untouched, certainly un- 
harmed, and the restfulness of those great 



2O6 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



sky-pointing trunks with their burden of fir- 
needles, the growth of hundreds of years, en- 
tered into the very souls of those who sat 
or strolled beneath them. 



and 



"Into the woods my Master went, 
Clean forspent, forspent," 

"The little gray leaves were kind to Him, 
The thorn-tree had a mind to Him, 
When into the woods He came," 



says Sidney Lanier, voicing the feeling of all 
tree-worshippers that there is a sympathiz- 
ing soul underneath the rugged bark of every 
tree. 

At three, the whistles ble\v and the boat 
started again on its way. By this time many 
of the party, victims of preconceived ideas, 
were perspiring in winter underwear, and ob- 
jurgating rugs and overcoats; and it may as 
well be said here once for all that at this sea- 
son one heavy wrap and a pair of high shoes 
are about all the extra clothing one needs on 
this inland voyage. Better councils began to 
prevail and shirtwaists took the place of 
woolens and held it throughout the trip. The 
scenery now made. itself visible through the 
mist wooded mountains dipped into trie 
water at steep angles, serrated hills sometimes 
enclosed us in a deep bowl, the sea was like 
glass of pearly iridescent colors, and the sky 
a shifting panorama of lovely clouds. 

By the next morning the tables in the din- 
ing-room had been "made up," that is, the 
party had chosen to eat at first, second or 
third table, and divided into table-companies. 
All seemed to be going merrily but, alas ! 
we had reckoned without Queen Charlotte. 
Never having disturbed the quiet waters of 
history, this eminent lady makes up for it by 
undertaking, through the Sound named for 
her in these Alaskan seas, to stir up and roil 
the modern tourist who "thinks in his inno- 
cence that it's all very lovely" until he finds 
himself in his berth and learns better. If 
there was consolation in the assurance of the 
crew that not for years had this naughty body 
of water behaved so badly as on the present 
passage, you may be sure that, as Americans, 
we took it for an American always finds 
some occult comfort in the fact of being the 
biggest or worst that ever was even if it 
be the biggest or worst sufferer or fool. 



By afternoon, the story of the morning was 
an old one, not worth mentioning, as we 
sailed among green hills with widening vistas 
of other hills before us and narrowing ones 
behind, and bewitching fjords and inlets, the 
bluish summits of the hills, the green and blue 
water and the white-caps making a cool har- 
mony most refreshing to the vision. 

Our first Alaskan stop was at Ketchikan, 
where the boats stop to deliver and take on 
freight and secure their clearance papers. 
Before one could say Jack Robinson, the 
whole party was ashore some in search of 
totem-poles, some in curio shops, some ex- 
ploring the funny little town that sends its 
wooden streets climbing up the mountain- 
sides, and strings the primeval forests with 
electric lights. As in all these new mountain- 
side towns as in parts of Seattle, even 
the earth is simply planked across to make 
streets. Around the docks and in the "shop- 
ping streets" one may see a horse, but the 
narrow sidewalks set up on stilts and the 
flights of steps in the streets of the upper 
part of town preclude the use of wheeled ve- 
hicles. One of the crew was heard to re- 
mark "I bet the' ain't many people wid 
bicycles there," and no one took him up. 
Under the high walks the ground is a com- 
posite of rotting tree trunks and stumps, of 
glorious moss and ferns, of large-leaved 
tropical-looking vegetation of all kinds. Neat 
looking American frame houses, paling 
fences, etc., stand side by side, with a few 
remaining totem-poles, civilization hustling 
savagery semi-savagery out of the way, 
presenting the transition stage which is at 
once so interesting and aesthetically so dis- 
heartening. A mining journal and a little 
reading-room supported by the women of 
the place were the two most modern features 
of the town ; if we except the electric lights. 
Three churches and a hospital make liberal 
provision for sick souls and bodies. In 
many ways, Ketchikan seemed typical of the 
pioneering American spirit. 

A different place was the next stopping- 
place, New Metlakahtla, on an island of which 
the United States, during Cleveland's ad- 
ministration, gave Father Duncan the undis- 
turbed use. Those of us who were familiar 
with the history of this persistent, plucky, 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT 



207 



and persecuted missionary, of his fifty years' 
work in civilizing and Christianizing a tribe 
of cannibals, looked with something like rev- 
erential awe at the portly, bronzed, blue-eyed 
and white-bearded Englishman who, in the 
good-sized church built by native labor, gave 
us some stones of the early days of his work. 
Simple, friendly, practical, and consecrated, 
at 71 years of age, he is still carrying on his 
work as clergyman, leader, business manager, 
friend, and colaborer, for these apparently 
stolid people whose dependence is largely upon 
him; for though civilized, christianized, and 
taught to work, they have no one among 
them to act as leader. Father Duncan's fear 
is that he cannot find a successor to take up> 
his work. With the constant communication 
with civilization brought about by the steam- 
ers touching frequently at the island, the dan- 
ger to the native is not so much of relapse 
as of taking on civilized vices, and this dan- 
ger is the one the missionary is now fighting. 
The neat houses, the clean and well-dressed 
people, the sound of English speech, the can- 
ning factory and sawmill at work at first 
aroused only curiosity and interest. Later, 
as one looked back on it all, a deepening ad- 
miration and veneration took possession of 
one. Even the non-religious and the cynic 
cannot withold tribute to self-sacrifice like 
this. 

This was a day of varying sensations, for 
a few hours after leaving the beautifully sit- 
uated island in full afternoon sunshine, the 
boat made a stop which enabled us to get 
the sense of contrast more fully than often 
happens to one. The sun had set and the 
long, glowing, Alaska twilight had begun 
when we anchored in Kasaan Bay and the 
boats were got out to take us ashore to the 
Indian village of Old Kasaan, a stop not often 
made nowadays. From the boats as we 
neared shore we could see the totem-poles, 
one in front of each wooden dwelling. The 
stony beach led up into a grove of nettles and 
fire weed, breast-high, with narrow, slippery- 
grassed paths between, in which fat, loath- 
some, green snails or slugs roused our dis- 
gust. Broken, slimy, wooden steps led up to 
each house, the doors standing open, the In- 
dians having gone away for the summer fish- 
ing and canning, leaving not even a squaw 



or a dog behind to watch their possessions. 
The best of these were doubtless in the num- 
erous chests which we found locked. The 
interiors consisted of one large room, with 
a totem-pole in each corner supporting the 
roof. In the center, the floor was cut away 
to make a rectangular opening and here on 
the bare ground were the evidences of hearth- 
fires, the smoke of which had evidently es- 
caped through an opening in the roof. On 
the platform around the walls old stovepipes, 
old clothes, old utensils, cobwebs and dirt 
hejd carnival, with an occasional piece of 
modern furniture broken and cast aside. At 
this uncanny hour, and with the graveyards 
with their grotesque totems at each end of 
the row of houses, the scene was so weird 
that no pen but that of Foe, or perhaps of 
Hawthorne, could do it justice. At the bare 
thought of being left behind in this scene of 
desolation, with these grinning totems for 
company, one scuttled back to the beach in 
a panic. The view as one turned toward the 
water was exquisite the quiet water, almost 
oily in its smoothness, the white, waiting boat, 
which by this time had begun to seem a home, 
and beyond it the encircling wooded islands 
and that deep, yellow glow in which there was 
so much light that even snap-shots were pos- 
sible made altogether a picture not to be 
forgotten. It was hard to leave this enchant- 
ing, haunting place, and for a long time the 
row-boats were kept busy cruising about the 
bay for the sheer pleasure of it. No one 
place is so deeply imprinted on the inward 
eye of the writer as this deserted village with 
its surroundings. 

That night the sky was cloudless and a full 
moon sailed proudly in the sky, leaving a 
wake of silver light upon the water to rival 
the sunset glow. Twilight faded into evening, 
and evening, long drawn out, brightened into 
dawn almost imperceptibly. The adventurous 
spirits who spent the night on deck and those 
who arose between three and four to see the 
sunrise as we approached Wrangell Bay, will 
never see anything to dim that wonderful 
experience. We were in the region of snow- 
capped peaks and range after range came 
into view "as we sailed." Mountainous is- 
lands, not too close to lose their lovely indis- 
tinctness, surrounded us, reflected in the sb- 



208 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



solutely still water, and shreds of mist grad- 
ually detached themselves and floated away 
like ghosts with streaming garments. The 
pink glow touched the peaks and grew into 
a rosy light and the water was opaline in tint. 
Nothing but silence was adequate and silence 
there was. 

Although the stop at Wrangell was at five 
a.m., or thereabout, the whistles had fore- 
told our arrival, and the first of the party to 
embark found curio-shops already open. In- 
deed, the boat-whistle must have some unseen 
connection with the shop-doors, for at any 
time of the day or night it proves the open 
sesame. There was, however, not much "do- 
ing" at Wrangell at this early hour and the 
town went unexplored by the majority, and 
at 7.15 we were steaming away toward the 
real Alaska, the officers told us, the region 
of snow-topped ranges, of glaciers, ice- 
bergs, and whales. It was late in the 
afternoon when we stopped at Douglass 
City for a few minutes, at Juneau, the 
present capital, and at the Treadwell Mine, 
all grouped together, Douglass City opposite 
the other two, with ferry-boats shuttling back 
and forth. Although all three were visited, 
the stay at Juneau was the only considerable 
one, lasting about two hours. The town has 
a wonderfully picturesque situation, with a 
snow-capped round-topped mountain just be- 
hind it, its only possibility for growth lying 
in the cleft between this and another moun- 
tain, a possibility of which it was already 
availing itself. The dock was crowded with 
citizens, chiefly white, and the town looked 
exceedingly American. There are two daily 
papers and a cable, a good-sized city hall, and 
the town will erect a suitable residence for 
the governor who is then expected to remove 
here from Sitka. The Indians here drive a 
thriving trade in horn spoons, beads, baskets, 
and moccasins, squatting along the edge of 
the sidewalks with their wares spread out 
beside them. They have learned to ask good 
prices and to stick to them. 

A self-appointed committee here inter- 
viewed Mayor J. F. Malony with reference 
to a collection of books which the party 
wished to leave at some point in Alaska where 
it might serve as the nucleus for a free public 
library. Juneau had no free library except 



some government documents in the city hall ; 
it had a room for books in that building, and 
a city clerk who could look after them in the 
absence of an appointed librarian, and it would 
be very glad to have the books and would try 
to get an ordinance to establish a free library. 
Promises were made by librarians from Seattle 
and Portland to send discarded books and by 
other individuals to remember the library 
whenever possible. A letter from the mayor, 
dated August 2, says "Our people are very 
much pleased with the books;" so even in a 
professional way we may hope that the A. L. 
A. journey to Alaska was not entirely barren. 
No conditions were imposed except that the 
books were to circulate free to every one who 
could read. At the present rate of the As- 
sociation's globe-trotting, we may see a con- 
ference held at Juneau within a generation. 

On the l6th, the boat stopped for a few min- 
utes at Fort Seward, where a number of pri- 
vate soldiers who had come up with us, disem- 
barked, not much in love with their new post, 
though its scenic situation was beautiful and 
the grounds and buildings neat in the ex- 
treme. Haines Mission, which antedates the 
post, is a next door neighbor, a small tidy- 
looking village. Skagway, the most northern 
point of our journey, is the station for the 
White Horse Pass, the trip to which was 
taken by ' the greater number of the party. 
Although the day was not clear it was our 
first gray, misty weather they saw enough 
to make them glad they had taken the jour- 
ney. Skagway itself had not the air of pros- 
perity its docks, said to be a mile long, were 
deserted, and there seemed to be nothing go- 
ing on in the town. It is doubtless a "has- 
been," but a turn of fortune's wheel may 
prove that there is still life in the apparently 
extinct crater. The Davidson glacier was the 
next sensation, reached at twilight. It was 
inadvisable to let the passengers land, and 
we saw the guide put off in a small boat and 
rowed to the desolate shore to find his way 
back by land to the settlement he came from. 
His solitary figure could be seen trudging 
along in that great and, to the stranger, fear- 
ful waste, which probably affected him no 
more than a trip in the subway affects New 
Yorkers. Not only the Davidson, but two or 
three other glaciers were visible on this same 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT 



209 



evening, all of them showing beautiful color 
effects. 

The Muir glacier could not be seen the 
next morning on account of fog, but in trying, 
with the captain's usual kindness, to give us 
this pleasure, the boat succeeded only in 
breaking one blade of her propeller and in 
nicking two others. She struggled on with 
a joggly motion good for inactive livers, and 
reached Killisnoo at about noon, a little can- 
ning village with only two white families, 
one of them that of the Greek priest, whose 
little church was signalized by its peculiarly- 
shaped green dome. At the fishing-grounds 
the party showed absolutely no piscatorial abil- 
ities and the effort was given up as a bad job. 

At 7 p.m. the boat docked at Sitka, a thin 
mist falling, or, rather, pervading the air 
everywhere. The surrounding mountains 
could not be seen, but as the party was not 
going there this was not allowed to dampen 
its spirits. Were there not Indians galore, a 
Greek church, a museum, a mission, the trip 
to Indian River and the totem-poles, besides 
the army and navy, represented by the garri- 
son and by the Chicago and Massachusetts 
then in the harbor? A brisk trade in baskets 
and furs followed disembarkment and then 
the road to the Indian River and the museum 
the principal road in Sitka was dotted 
with groups doing the sights. The Greek 
church was duly inspected, its ikons and gor- 
geous vestments, all of Russian make, were 
exhibited, its wonderful Madonna and child 
admired, and its small stock of souvenirs ex- 
hausted. The Sheldon-Jackson Museum was 
explained by a curator who fondled at the 
same time a beautiful tame doe which fin- 
ally had to be dragged home, against its will, 
by one of the children. Sounds of merriment 
guided us to the playgrounds of the girl's 
mission, where white-aproned Indian girls 
were swinging, jumping rope, and indulging 
in other civilized pastimes. A few fortunates 
who had met the governor were asked to a 
reception and dance at the home of the cap- 
tain of the post, tendered to the men of the 
two warships indeed, a general invitation 
to the whole boat was given, but sleep seemed 
very attractive, the scenery being hidden for 
once, and only a few indefatigable ones ac- 
cepted. The next morning before sailing, a 



general raid was made upon the Indian vil- 
lage, the inhabitants bringing forth "treasures 
new and old," and laughingly dickering and 
explaining the uses of some of their wares 
as well as they could with their defective 
English. It was ten o'clock when the boat 
set sail for Petersburg, with the intent of 
beaching there and mending the propeller. 
After a day of fog, she reached the Peters- 
burg dock at midnight in starlight, making 
a graceful landing that it was worth staying 
up to see. There were original investigators 
who remained up to see the boat beached at 
high tide, but the majority of the party slept 
peacefully through the operation and knew 
nothing of what had happened until morning, 
when they found themselves in their berths 
lying at an angle of 30 degrees, with head or 
feet at the lower level according to the side 
of the boat they happened to be on. 

Dressing on such a slant meant a new man- 
ual of tactics, and our windblown appearance 
as we went about the deck at a greater 
angle than that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa 
was a source of constant amusement. "I feel 
so sentimental, walking like this," said a 
lady whom no one would ever have accused 
of feeling sentimental under any circum- 
stances. "Will you please tell me," asked a 
man who had just appeared from his state- 
room, "if anything is the matter with this 
boat? Either something is the matter with 
the boat or something is the matter with me 
we can't both be right." And a young 
woman from the upper side of the boat gained 
such impetus as she slid down and out of her 
stateroom that she could not stop until she 
landed in the opposite one, which fortunately 
was vacant for the moment. The tide was 
not quite out, but "to amuse the passengers" 
while the propeller was being mended, a lad- 
der was put over the side, planks laid down in 
the mud and all encouraged to go ashore by 
the detailing of several strong sailors to carry 
them across the watery part of the transit. 
The kodak-owners saw their opportunity and 
were no sooner on land than they turned and 
snap-shotted their successors on the ladder or 
being borne across the tide. A few, for rea- 
sons of their own, did not land, but had their 
fun leaning over the side. Never were the A. 
L. A. spirits so high as at this point of the 



2IO 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



journey, and the picture of revered and solid 
members of the Council returning to the boat 
just too late to reach it dryshod, and being 
carried to it in a steady procession, is one of 
the pictures that will "hang on memory's 
wall" when many others have faded. 

Petersburg itself is an Indian village with 
only one white family, consisting of the store- 
keeper, his wife and baby. "How do you dare 
try to bring up a baby in these solitudes, so 
many watery miles from a doctor?" the 
mother was asked. "Well, we just don't get 
sick," was the answer, "and if there is any 
little thing the matter, we go to the Indians. 
They know the medicinal herbs for ordinary 
illnesses." At three o'clock, the tide being 
full, the boat gradually eased herself off and 
we were afloat with much less commotion 
than if we had been leaving a dock. It was 
really as doctors say, "a beautiful and suc- 
cessful operation " and most of us would 
rather have missed some of the scenery than 
the Petersburg experience. 

A wonderful evening was in store for us 
that day a glorious blood-red sunset, three 
rainbows and a sun shower at once, and later 
the moon. Again we landed at Ketchikan, 
this time at midnight, but the bolts flew back 
at our approach and all who had a little 
money left prepared to see it go. A few went 
up the mountain side to the top of the town 
to see the woods by electric light and reported 
the effort well worth while. Still others met 
a chained bear and escaped his claws by good 
luck rather than good management. Arid 
others sat up to see their last Alaskan sunrise. 

Fine weather attended the boat through 
Grenfell Channel, and though an exhibition 
of purchases was going on in the saloon many 
of us could not leave the decks, our hearts 
clutching figuratively at every beautiful scene 
we passed lest it might be the last. The 
rough places in our outward voyage were 
passed unnoticed in the night as we came 
back. At Alert Bay, at daybreak, we sighted 
again the Chicago and the Massachusetts at 
anchor. The nights by this time had grown 
longer and we had again seen stars, which 
during the Alaskan night are few and faint 
in comparison. 



As usual, a meeting was held on board on 
the last day of the voyage, to terminate the 
conference. No business was transacted ex- 
cept the very pleasant one of thanking and 
cheering the captain and crew, hurrahing lor 
the President and the President-elect, the 
tourist-agent, the travel-secretaries, and every 
one else we could think of. The meet- 
ing was held on deck toward evening and 
was more like a village rally than a meeting. 
Some of us think we could be a chorus of 
villagers on the stage and cheer and fling up 
our caps very gracefully, after this little piece 
of practice. 

On the 2ist also we went through Seymour 
Narrows, where it takes four or five men, it 
is said, to hold the wheel against the current, 
and we met and spoke the Spokane of the 
same line, the boats drawing together until 
passengers could cross from one to the other. 
News was exchanged, with congratulations 
on our safe return and good wishes for their 
coming voyage, and here we first learned 
that a "roasting" was awaiting us on shore 
after our eleven days of cool breezes. And 
on the 22d at early morning we got it. 

We had voyaged 2299 miles we are told 
now that it is a dangerous trip, with fogs, 
icebergs, sunken rocks, perilous channels, etc., 
but there were those who would have turned 
straight back and taken the voyage over 
again, and few who, after a few weeks of 
land, would not have liked to repeat the ex- 
perience, dangers, and all. As it recedes in 
time, memory makes a composite of glowing 
sunsets and pearly dawns, of long twilights 
when reading on deck was possible up to al- 
most midnight, of steering by the echoes amid 
heavy fog-banks, of iridescent waters and 
plum-blue hills, of inlets and fjords, green- 
coated and deep, magical in their mirror-like 
beauty, of snowy ranges ethereal in the dis- 
tance, and one repeats with the poet, 

"And many days, when all one's work is vain 
And life goes stretching on, a waste gray plain, 
With even the short mirage of morning gone, 
No cool breath anywhere, no shadow nigh 
Where a weary man might lay him down and die, 
Lo! thou art there before me suddenly, 
With shade as if a summer cloud did pass, 
And spray of fountains whispering to the grass." 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT 



211 



IV. A GLIMPSE OF CALIFORNIA 
BY SENEX 

On returning from Alaska on July 22, 
the A. L. A. divided itself into detachments, 
some going East, via the Yellowstone, 
others seeking a more direct route to their 
various homes, while a small party, consisting 
of a few more than the proverbial baker's 
dozen, journeyed South, passing through 
many Valleys of Despair, but finally attaining 
the Mountain Delectable, San Francisco, 
where our welcome was so cordial and spon- 
taneous that, were it not for the editorial 
command that a full chronicle should be 
submitted, it would be well nigh inconsiderate 
to say aught of the perils and discomforts 
of the journey hither. One must have made 
the passage from Seattle to Portland on that 
July Saturday to fully appreciate its suffer- 
ings, for its heat was aggravated by insuf- 
ferable congestion. Over eight hours were 
consumed in travelling a distance of 186 miles 
and the expected relief did not come to us 
as we crossed the Columbia River. Arrived 
in Portland, each went his separate way to 
cool off and to remove as much as might 
be the effects of that hot and dusty ride. 

At 8.30 in the evening we started for San 
Francisco, only to awaken the next morning 
at Dante's Inferno, called geographically 
"Grant's Pass," where we found ourselves 
stalled for nine hours by an inverted train 
of freight cars, overcrowded with water- 
melons. It was a sight for men and gods to 
see the A. L. A. "go for" those melons. 
The proverbial southern darkey was not "in 
it" with them. Then was the time that friend 
Faxon should have been in evidence with his 
half dozen cameras. After a day of insuf- 
ferable heat, the thermometer registering 100 
in the cars, we continued our journey to 
San Francisco, reaching Sacramento at one 
o'clock where we were met by Mr. Gillis and 
friends, who gave us a royal welcome and 
a most substantial luncheon. Our long delay 
prevented any visit other than the one we 
n>ade to the State Library where we saw 
marked and distinct evidence of that execu- 
tive ability and administrative tact which 
have wrought such meritorious changes in 
that institution. 



Forced to say goodbye to the state librarian 
and his associates, we hurried on to San 
Francisco for a needed rest, before beginning 
the round of functions which our hosts there 
had prepared for us ; and it was most cer- 
tainly the right hand of good fellowship 
which we found extended. On Tuesday we 
had a trip to Alameda, Oakland and Berkeley, 
in each of which places we visited the library 
and received the genuine "Pacific Coast grip." 
We were welcomed at Oakland by Mr. 
Greene, the librarian; at Berkeley, by Prof. 
Clapp, who spoke a few words of kindly 
greeting; and at Alameda, by the librarian 
of its public library. At Berkeley we re- 
newed the very pleasant acquaintance of Mr. 
Rowell who had been our companion to 
Alaska and our guide from Seattle to San 
Francisco, to whom, however, the incidents 
of that memorable trip should not be laid. 
Everything possible was done for our com- 
fort and pleasure, the weather even being 
specially prepared for our coming. 

In the evening a royal banquet was 
served to us in the dining room of the 
Union League Club. The attractiveness 
of the room was added to by the floral 
decorations, while the ladies' dresses, revela- 
tions indeed to the men who had been trav- 
elling for days on the Alaskan steamer, 
brought fresh charm to the scene. After Mr. 
Lichtenstein had said a few kindly words of 
honest welcome, he introduced the Hon. Hor- 
ace Davis, as toastmaster of the evening. His 
happy introductions and his generous words 
of hearty sympathy with our cause made 
him our friend at once. We were welcomed 
officially by the mayor, to whom Dr. Richard- 
son made fitting response in words of wisdom 
and of humor. Mr. Hopkins spoke eloquently 
and pointedly to the toast "The field of the 
public library," while Dr. Dewey gave the 
guests a talk on "The ideals of librarianship." 
The next speaker was Mr. Herbert E. Law, 
on "The city beautiful," a description of the 
efforts now making to improve San Francisco 
artistically. This talk was accompanied by 
drawings and diagrams. Mr. Tirey L. Ford, 
formerly attorney-general of the state, gave 
us glowing accounts of the resources of Cali- 
fornia and yet his sentences, ornate and 
forceful though they were, utterly failed in 



212 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



carrying to our minds any greater sense of the 
beauties, opportunities and wonderful prog- 
ress of his home than our eyes and ears 
had already pictured. "Face to face with the 
librarian" was the task set before Mr. E. C. 
Hovey, who resppnded in a few words of 
earnest thanks to the Pacific Coast librarian 
with whom he had been "face to face." The 
banquet was well conceived, beautifully car- 
ried out and a decided success, a delightful 
memory to all there present. 

The journey to Palo Alto the next day was 
a very pleasurable occasion. The public li- 
brary, a perfect gem artistically and from the 
standpoint of utility, was first visited, after 
which a drive of a mile and a half took us 
to the university where, after being driven 
about the park, we descended at one of the 
fraternity houses for lunch, which was served 
to us by young ladies whose charm of manner 
made refusal impossible. It was delightful 
indeed, and "Senex" looks back upon that 
luncheon with special gratitude and sweetest 
memories. He was permitted even to help 
the fair waitresses, now and again, which 
he holds as a distinct honor. Professor Still- 
man's words of welcome, delightfully hearty 
and sympathetic, were responded to most 
graciously by Dr. Richardson, whose ability 
to say the word appropriate to each occasion 
was amply evidenced during our entire jour- 
ney. After visits had been made to the 
several buildings, including the now nearly 
completed library, we assembled in the church 
to listen to the beautiful organ, which is 
played every afternoon for an hour. Un- 
happily we were forced to leave early. None 
of those present, however, will soon forget 
the beauty and solemnity of that half hour 
of music so artistically rendered. We left 
Palo Alto with great regret, enthusiastic over 
our reception and with feelings of deep 
friendship for those who had so bounteously 
administered to our comfort and enjoyment. 
The itinerary told us that we should be free 
on Thursday; but Mr. Lichtenstein's kindly 
courtesy made possible a drive to Cliff House 
and through the city, a most enjoyable trip, 
including a visit to the public library, the 
home of our friends Clark and Lichtenstein. 
When, however, the party was left to itself, 



we heard on all sides inquiries as to the exact 
location of "The Poodle Dog," "The Pup," 
the Bohemian Club and Chinatown. How 
the librarians scattered to these various 
scenes of revelry, and how very unsatisfac- 
tory have been the individual accounts of 
their goings and comings ! 

Finally came the separation of the party, 
some going South, some North and others 
East. We all, one and all, have taken back 
with us a charming and never ceasing recol- 
lection of the hospitality and kindness of 
our friends of the Pacific Coast. We realize 
the difficulty that will surely encompass us 
about when they come to the Atlantic sea- 
board to pass the week end with us. We 
shall extend to them the hand of welcome 
and do our very best to cement still closer 
the friendships made here, hoping against 
hope that they may return with as pleasant 
words on their lips for us as are the senti- 
ments we have carried :iway in our hearts. 

V.IN WONDERLAND 
BY LITTLE ALICE 

"O, wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful 
wonderful! And yet again wonderful, and after that 
out of all hooping." 

Those fortunate beings who enjoyed the 
magnificent ride over the Canadian Pa- 
cific route and afterward the trip through 
Alaskan waters to Skagway, viewing all the 
interesting settlements and wonderful snow- 
capped mountains, the glaciers, icebergs, 
whales, porpoises, salmon, Indians, totems 
and other marvels too numerous to mention, 
felt that they had skimmed the cream of the 
universe, and having exhausted all available 
words and signs to express their admiration 
and wonder, were beginning to chant nunc 
dimittis, thinking that nothing of interest 
was left to survey. But they little under- 
stood how easily the human mind expands 
and recovers and how many prodigies exist 
in heaven and earth little dreamt of in their 
philosophy. 

To give the proper setting and background, 
the story of the Yellowstone trip (or Won- 
derland as it is called) must be chronological. 
On Saturday, July 22, after sad good-byes to 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT 



213 



those of the noble 120 who had endured the 
privations of the trip on the City of Seattle 
and were going home, the brave 61, who had 
the time and the substance necessary to 
hazard yet further adventures, scattered 
around Seattle, to while away the day. At 
night, all agreed that the sun seemed hotter 
in Seattle than at any place in their previous 
experience, and that the "wonderful climate" 
that had been so often described to them, was 
wonderful indeed. After heroic exertions by 
Mr. Crunden, Mr. "Seattle" Smith and others, 
the ladies and their baggage were lifted 
aboard the cars and at 4 p.m. the start was 
made on the Northern Pacific for the Yellow- 
stone. The engineers of the two engines, 
which drew us over the mountains, were evi- 
dently used to hauling freight, as they did 
their best to throw us out of the seats when 
stopping and starting. A landslide delayed 
the train four hours during the night, and 
the next day, after the hottest night ever 
known, we rode through "the country God 
forgot" with ;i temperature of 101 in the 
coolest car. All the men shed their coats, and 
one who has always been an object of ad- 
miration to the ladies for his spotless linen, 
beautiful pongee coats and well-groomed ap- 
pearance, became so desperate that he removed 
collar and cuffs. If anyone had been brave 
enough to set the example, all gladly would 
have returned to the state of Nature and 
jumped into every river on the way. 

On July 24 Livingston was reached six 
hours late, where we said good-bye to Mr. 
Gould, Miss Plummer, and Miss Lindsay. 
Near the railroad station was a fence about 
sixty feet long made of elk antlers. Living- 
ston is beautifully situated near the "Gate of 
the Mountains," and we soon entered into 
the midst of most beautiful and impressive 
scenery: but while perfect in quality, it was 
to the Alaskan scenery as the Portland Fair 
was to that of St. Louis in magnitude. As 
we neared Gardiner, we had the pleasure of 
seeing lightning playing around Electric 
Peak, 11,155 feet in height, the highest 
in the park. From the station at Gardiner, 
where six-horse coaches were taken for 
Mammoth Hot Springs, we had our first view 
of the boundary of "Wonderland," the largest 



of our national parks which was set apart by 
an act of Congress in 1872, "for the benefit 
and enjoyment of the people," as we saw 
inscribed on the massive entrance arch, 50 
feet high, of which the cornerstone was laid 
by Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. 

After an interesting ride of about five 
miles on a road which ascends about 800 
feet by an easy grade we reached Mammoth 
Hot Springs (the business and administrative 
center of the park), at four o'clock instead 
of noon as scheduled. Some rushed for a 
bath, a luxury which had not been enjoyed 
for many days, and some to see the sights 
and buy souvenirs. As it rained after dinner, 
all had the pleasure of hearing excellent 
music at the hotel by members of Theodore 
Thomas' famous orchestra. 

After a night of sleep which required no 
blankets for covering, and an excellent break- 
fast at 6.30 a.m., all were summoned to the 
piazza, at 7.45 on July 25 for the 150 mile ride 
which will remain in our memories as the 
most wonderful we ever enjoyed- and of 
which words or colored photographs and 
paintings can convey no adequate idea. It 
was indeed Wonderland and Fairyland com- 
bined, and we were all little Alices in our 
open-eyed wonder at the new marvels await- 
ing us each day, right at our feet and 
not afar off as in Alaska. The average eleva- 
tion of the Park is 8000 feet above sea level, 
and mountains rise above this from 2000 to 
4000 feet. When we reflect that Mt. Wash- 
ington in the White Mountains is only 6290 
feet above sea level, we understand why we 
puffed so much in what seemed easy climbing. 

Mrs. Carr on her arrival at Mammoth Hot 
Springs received the following letter: 

"DEAR MRS. CARR: 

"Having learned from personal experience 
that one item was not included in the list of 
things necessary to bring into the Park, with 
the true library spirit of helpfulness, we have 
compiled this 'Readers' guide to adjectives' 
for the use of the A. L. A. party. 

"Hoping you will have as good a time and 
leave as good an impression as 

Yours sincerely, 
"M. L. TITCOMB. L. M. SHAW. 

M. E. ROBBINS. L. D. CARVER. 

L. M. CARTER. W. F. SEW ALL. 

J. C. M. HANSON. G. S. GODARD." 



214 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 






id day 
Miraculous 
Unsurpassed 
Mai-odorous 
Ex-stinked (? 
Sulphuretted 
Sinister 
Far reaching 
Beautiful 



3d day 
Grand 

What a view! 
This is fine! 

! I 

4th day 

f My! Isn't this 
| great! 
(Repeat) 



'.; 

P, 



5th day 



ist day 
Oh! 
Awful 
Sublime 
Majestic 
Marvelous 
Wonderful 
Startling 
Awe-inspiring 
Picturesque 
Soul stirring 
Infernal (to be 
used at dis- 
cretion) 

"To be tt.red ad lib. any old day for bears and 
other beasts: 
Elusive, 
Cute, 
Graceful, 
Garbaceous." 

As the carriages drove up, the piazza was 
roped off and a man with a megaphone called 
off the names of the persons in the order in 
which they were to be seated, according to 
the arrangement of the previous evening. 
At this time we bade good-bye to Mr. Cooke, 
our "personal conductor," who left us here 
to take another party to Alaska. Mr. Cooke 
had some good traits, but not having had li- 
brary training, was not altogether ladylike. 
Near here the carriages drove by the famous 
Formations of Terraces, twelve in number, 
covering 200 acres and having 70 active 
springs. These terraces have the most deli- 
cate and exquisite coloring of any objects in 
the Park. At the foot of the Terraces is 
Liberty Cap, a monument-like shaft about 40 
feet high, supposed to have been a living 
geyser at one time. 

The roads are very good, as the govern- 
ment has recently spent $750,000 on them, 
and for the most part sprinkled daily, so that 
the dust is kept down. It is not feasible to 
mention all the wonders seen, but a word 
should be given to the new steel and concrete 
viaduct at Golden Gate, which is the only one 
of the kind in the world and on which $10,000 
was spent. 

On leaving Golden Gate (so called on ac- 
count of the yellow appearance of its lofty 
wall), we see the Koodoos, which are of 
travertine rocks having all sorts of grotesque 
shapes. In the distance at the right are sev- 
eral snow capped peaks over 10,000 feet high. 
As the party had been cautioned not to drink 
the hotel water on account of the alkali, all 
stopped at the Apollinaris Spring and drank. 
This is said to be natural apollinaris, but it 
tasted like vichy or slightly salted water. 



About two miles further, a curious glittering 
wall attracted our attention and we learned 
that it was Obsidian Cliff, or volcanic glass. 
This spot had been a favorite resort of the 
Indians who made arrow heads from the 
glass. In building the road, the engineers 
heated the obsidian and then broke it by 
pouring on cold water. We soon passed 
Roaring Mountain which sounded like a 
steam engine in the distance, and the Devil's 
Frying Pan, the sizzling of which made 
everyone feel hungry. Some of the party 
felt that the Devil's name was applied too 
often to the numerous abnormalities of the 
Park and there was some discussion as to 
whether it would not be fitting to petition 
Congress to change the names for some of 
a more godly character. But after all. would 
not such treatment do away with all mythol- 
ogy and folklore? 

After a twenty mile drive we arrived with 
a ravenous appetite at the Norris Hotel in 
the Norris Geyser Basin and found an ex- 
cellent luncheon awaiting us. Here are lo- 
cated the only real steam geysers in the Park 
and the earth's crust is said to be thinner 
than anywhere else in the world. People 
are not allowed to wander around without a 
guide, so after lunch, the guide took us to the 
Black Growler, the Hurricane, the Monarch 
Geyser, which has not steamed for some time, 
and the New Crater which burst into an 
eruption with a loud explosion in 1901. 
While hearing the guide talk, one felt as 
though he might start skyward at any mo- 
ment and that an accident policy would be 
a convenient thing. As it looked somewhat 
like rain, competition for seats with the driver 
(who had no cover over him), was not brisk 
in the afternoon. The first part of the drive 
through Gibbon Canon and by the Gibbon 
Falls was beautiful and reminded us of the 
Sunday morning drive at Glenwood Springs 
in 1895. A deer was seen quietly grazing 
by the roadside and one young lady asked 
if he were tethered for our benefit. Squirrels 
and woodchucks were in abundance. As the 
latter part of ihe ride was somewhat tedious, 
some hunted palindromes with fair success 
and some propounded conundrums such as : 
"When is a rose like got up." Answer: 
"When it is synonymous." After a slight 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT 



215 



shower we pulled up at the Fountain Hotel 
in the Lower Geyser Basin about dinner 
time, finishing our forty mile drive. 

After dinner, -the ladies were eager to see 
the bears and were wonderfully fearless, 
seeming to forget that bears besides their 
propensity for hugging sometimes scratch 
and bite. Indeed the guard told us that one 
bear had to be shot the previous year be- 
cause he killed several calves. As about a 
dozen calves were gamboling near us, of 
course we felt nervous. Finally a brave li- 
brarian was found who promised to walk 
behind the ladies, if they would protect him. 
So placing the plumpest ladies in the center 
and front, a start was made for the garbage 
pile behind the hotel. A soldier stopped the 
party about 30 feet from where a bear was 
seen feeding. Indeed our first experience 
so near a loose bear was quite thrilling. The 
Beautiful Young Lady from Providence 
naively inquired if we had to tip the bears 
in order to look at them, and when told 
that it was not necessary, manifested much 
surprise and remarked that the bears were 
the only exception on the whole trip. Indeed 
it might be well in future trips of this sort 
to give an estimate of necessary tips in the 
itinerary, as they were found to amount to 
about $25 for those who went both to Alaska 
and the Yellowstone. Soon a bigger bear ap- 
peared and the first one loped off with his 
ungainly gait, terror-stricken. Some one 
murmured, "Ain't he cute; he's only six." 

As the Fountain Geyser, one of the most 
beautiful in the Park, which spouts every 
three or four hours about 50 feet high, was 
due to perform soon, everyone was on the 
alert to see it. On the way we viewed the 
Mammoth Paint Pots or Mud Puffs, 
bubbling and steaming in a crater 40 feet in 
diameter. The material in this crater was 
used on the dining room walls of the Foun- 
tain Hotel, and as there are two or three 
colors, it is practically a paint mine, and 
might prove to be a gold mine if properly 
worked. At about 7.45 p.m. the Fountain 
Geyser began to spout and we had our first 
experience of this wonderful sight. While 
we wer; gazing at the marvellous spectacle, 
the Decorous Young Lady from Boston, in 
whose orbit had circled two of the most 
brilliant and accomplished librarians of the 



Southwest, overcome by the emotions roused 
by the beauties of nature, threw her arm 
around the neck of one of the younger men 
from New York, and he instinctively, of 
course, encircled her waist. Thus silhouetted 
against the brilliant colors of the dying sun 
in the western horizon, Culture and Com- 
merce stood, a pleasing picture for the en- 
raptured throng behind them. Chronicling 
these little episodes may seem an impertin- 
ence in the face of the greatest marvels of 
the universe, but as Mr. Guilford says: "Lit- 
tle things make perfection, precious thought." 

As everyone had become very hungry dur- 
ing the drive of the previous morning, each 
determined to eat a hearty breakfast the 
next day; but owing to the poor service and 
unsatisfactory viands, this was found to be 
impossible. Although cows had been seen, 
those who asked for milk to drink were told 
that there was none. The same reply was 
made at Norris Geyser, so someone sug- 
gested that probably the cows, like the gey- 
sers, were intermittent. As the carriages 
drove up at eight o'clock, considerable amuse- 
ment was derived from the deep plots laid 
to make clear to a few thoughtless or selfish 
ones that seats with the driver were not 
permanent and that each must have a turn. 

A stop was made at the Midway Geyser 
Basin to view the largest geyser in the world, 
the Excelsior or Hell's Half Acre. This 
geyser has not been active since 1888, when 
it threw 300 feet in the air. Near it are 
the Turquoise Spring and the wonderful 
Prismatic Lake, 400 feet long, with its mar- 
vellous coloring and large body of vapor 
arising from it and reflecting the exquisite 
tints. One of the interesting sights of the 
Excelsior was "Uncle Samuel" with his long 
linen duster, daintily raised considerably 
above two feet, so that it would not drag. 
The Philadelphia Belle took a snap shot, 
which may be seen on application. Here 
the road follows the course of the Firehole 
River and numerous beautiful springs were 
seen near the Old Faithful Inn, where we 
were to spend the night. Just as the car- 
riages were approaching the inn, about 1 1 
a.m., the Old Faithful Geyser (which spouts 
every 70 minutes and throws a stream 150 
feet high for about five minutes), began to 
play. As it spouted again soon after 12, it 



2l6 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



threw an object into the air which some 
guessed to be a fish and some a bird, of 
course, nicely cooked. It proved to be a 
handkerchief. A soldier on guard picked it 
up and asked who owned it. When no one 
answered, he added : "It would have cost 
the owner $1000 fine, if he had claimed it." 

The Old Faithful Inn, erected in 1903, is 
probably one of the most original and odd car- 
avansaries in the world. Built entirely of logs 
and "freak" trees, and furnished throughout 
in an analogous harmony, it is wonderfully 
attractive and deserves a long description. 
The architect, Mr. Reamer, should have a 
tablet erected in his honor. We shall always 
remember the spacious office with its immense 
chimney containing eight fireplaces. After 
luncheon, at which occurred a Brooklyn 
Bridge crush, a guide took the party around 
to the numerous geysers the Giant, Beehive, 
Castle, Splendid, Grand, etc. Dr. Nolan and 
"Uncle Samuel" paraded arm in arm and 
furnished the wit for the occasion. At one 
point, there is a crust about two inches thick 
between two hot springs, and the guide 
warned every one to keep off; but "Uncle 
Samuel" and the Doctor, engrossed in con- 
versation, walked straight over it before they 
could be stopped. Both had horrible dreams 
all night, over what might have happened, as 
the guide told terrible stories of accidents. 
During the walk a heavy thunder and hail 
storm came up, and all rushed for the hotel ; 
but the storm was welcomed, as the drive next 
day was said to be a very dusty one. An old 
battleship searchlight was turned on the Old 
Faithful Geyser in the evening from the roof 
of the hotel and produced a novel effect. It 
is customary every evening at the inn to pop 
corn in an immense popper over the fireplace, 
and when the bell-boy went around shouting, 
"Here is your popcorn geyser," one young 
lady rushed up wildly excited and wanted to 
know where it was and when it would spout. 

On Thursday, July 27, at starting time, 7.45 
a.m., the temperature was 40 degrees, so that 
the steam heat in the rooms and the brightly 
blazing fireplaces were grateful. In the Yel- 
lowstone, owing to the sudden changes in the 
temperature, it is a common saying that the 
heat in the morning causes blisters and the 
cold in the afternoon requires a mustard plas- 
ter to keep the water in the blister from freez- 



ing. The rain had put the road in fine con- 
dition and the hail stones killed the mosqui- 
toes, so our driver said. Ordinarily the horses 
cannot be seen through the dust and the flies 
and mosquitoes are maddening. In fact 
throughout the whole trip our tutelar divinity 
furnished most unusual conditions. The sun 
was bright and warm, and riding happily 
along, we soon passed the beautiful Kepler's 
Cascades, falling 130 feet; Shosone Lake, six 
and one half miles long; and then crossed the 
Continental Divide twice, at Craig Pass and 
at Lost Lake. After luncheon at Thumb, on 
the west shore of Yellowstone Lake, we saw 
Judge Robert Ralston, of Philadelphia, land 
several, fine trout, weighing about two pounds 
each. We had all read that it is possible to 
catch fish in the Yellowstone, and without 
changing one's position drop the fish into a 
hot spring and cook them. We stood right 
beside the hot spring and saw the fish caught, 
but as the fish in this part of the lake have 
parasites, Judge Ralston thought it would be 
cruel to boil them alive, as they could not 
be eaten, so they were tossed back into the 
lake. There are about seventy hot springs 
here and several Paint Pots, and the road 
from this point skirts the Yellowstone Lake, 
which is 1428 feet higher than the top of Mt. 
Washington and the largest body of water in 
the world at this altitude. 

We arrived at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel 
about 5 p.m., where we spent the night. The 
view from the top of the hotel, the largest in 
the Park, was more beautiful than can be im- 
agined. With the lake directly in front 
dotted with islands and having an area of 
140 square miles, a large number of mountain 
peaks in the distance over 10,000 feet high, 
and some snowclad, in the light of the setting 
sun, it was fairyland. 

The next thing was to see the bears. On 
the way, we asked a little girl where the bears 
were. "I don't know," said she ; "where the 
largest garbage pile is." "Meet me at the 
garbage pile" became a by-word. Our Fidus 
Achates from Boston, to whose tender care 
and good humor we owe our perfect trip, 
laid out the day thus : 

"After breakfast, walk a mile; 
After luncheon, rest awhile; 
After dinner, the garbage pile." 

Those who could endure the smells, saw 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT 



217 



eleven bears that evening. Twenty-three is 
the largest number ever seen here at one 
time. It was a curious sight to see some 
fifty people sitting around on logs, some with 
salts and perfumery bottles, some holding 
their noses, all waiting for the bears to come 
out of the woods. One old grizzly grand- 
father was the terror. Most of the bears kept 
at a respectful distance, but one attempted 
to eat near the same spot. There was a short, 
sharp conflict, and the younger beat a quick 
retreat. A mother tried to coax her young 
cub along with her to eat. The youngster 
would go within about twenty feet of the 
old grandfather and then run whimpering and 
whining up a tree, with the result that the 
poor mother got little to eat, as the mothers 
will not leave their cubs. The only protection 
we had from these bears was a young soldier 
armed with a revolver, and it was awe-inspir- 
ing to reflect what a time the bears could 
have had with the spectators if so inclined. 
During this day Mr. Andrews was said to 
have caught 25 fish; but that is another 
story. 

As we left the hotel at 8.30 the following 
morning, the Clever Young Lady from New 
London said she felt like an actress doing one- 
night stands. After driving about seven and 
one-half miles, we reached the Mud Caldron, 
a crater 30 feet deep, the bottom of which 
is constantly throwing up pasty, bubbling 
mud, with a roaring sound, and is often called 
the Inferno, suggesting the spirits of the 
damned trying to escape. Soon we came to 
the beginning of the Grand Canon, and the 
wagons stopped at the Upper Falls, which 
are no feet high, and in some respects more 
beautiful than the Lower Falls, which are 
310 feet high. As a basis of comparison, Ni- 
agara Falls are only 167 feet high. After 
luncheon at the Grand Canon Hotel nearly 
every one visited the Lower Falls and In- 
spiration Point, from which the Grand Canon 
can be seen to the best advantage. Its depth 
is about 1200 feet and its width 1500 yards. 
Some one has described the magnificent col- 
oring by saying that "it looks as if a rainbow 
had fallen from the sky and been shattered on 
the rocks." It must be seen to be appreciated. 

Six bears were counted back of the hotel 
after dinner, which inspired the Registrar to 
say: 



"You may shoot, you may frighten the bears if you 

will, 
But the scent of the garbage will cling to them still." 

Another member of the party was inspired 
to produce the following ode : 

"Once unto the nation's park, 
Yellowstone by name and mark, 
Came a party from afar, 
Greens and Browne, and more, by Carr. 
Many sights and strange they saw 
In five days and nights, or more. 
But the strangest of them all 
Saw they as the nights did fall. 
First a scout was sent to smell 
Where the hotel's garbage fell; 
Then at dusk they sought the trail, 
Waited, seated on a rail, 
For the bears that tardy came, 
Old or young, 'twas all the same, 
Till those garbage piles out there 
Seemed to them their native air. 
But alas, the end drew near, 
And until another year 
Left they all the gentle wiles 
Of the bears and garbage piles." 

As breakfast was not served till 6.30 the 
following morning and the wagons started at 
seven, nearly every one appeared with toast 
or a roll in one hand. The last three miles 
into Mammoth Hot Springs, as seen from 
the driver's seat, were probably the most 
picturesque and striking of all the drive. Lun- 
cheon was a very hurried affair, and then the 
party was rushed on coaches to Gardiner, 
where the train was taken for the homeward 
trip. 

The dining car furnished by the Northern 
Pacific to St. Paul from Livingston was of 
the extreme old-fashioned pattern and lighted 
with kerosene lamps considerably the worse 
for wear. In attempting to regulate a central 
one, it spattered kerosene over the tables and 
diners, so that for sometime everything had 
an odor of kerosene. Indeed, the motto of 
the line seemed to be, "The poorest service 
at the best price is good enough." It was 
planned that the party should get off at Min- 
neapolis and be entertained by a local com- 
mittee, but as the train had a habit of stop- 
ping every five or ten minutes, no one knew 
when it arrived in Minneapolis, and before 
half the party could alight, it had pulled out 
and carried them to St. Paul. The Minneapolis 
people claim that this is a common occurrence, 
due to rivalry. After some telephoning, it 
was arranged to take the trolley back and 



2l8 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



meet at the Minneapolis Public Library. This 
was done, and the annoyance caused was for- 
gotten in the delightful reception accorded 
the visitors. This included a trip to the beau- 
tiful Minnehaha Falls, with luncheon there, 
a visit to Como Park, and a tally-ho ride to 
St. Paul, ending with dinner at the new cap- 
itol building. 

At Chicago the Boston party took the Lake 
Shore and the New York contingent the 
Michigan Central Railroad. With mutual 
surprise the two parties found themselves 
together at breakfast on the train. At Albany 
we separated again, the Boston party, in 
charge of Mr. Faxon, and the New York 
party, of three persons, in charge of Mr. 



Banks, whose unfailing courtesy we cannot 
sufficiently praise, and Mr. Jones, of whom 
we saw little, both of the Raymond & Whit- 
comb Company. 

This account cannot be closed more fit- 
tingly than by using the poem specially pre- 
pared in commemoration of the A. L. A. in 
Wonderland : 

"Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold 

And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; 

Round many western islands have I been 
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold. . . . 
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies 

When a new planet swims into his ken; 
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes 

He stared at the Pacific, and all his men 
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise, 

Silent, upon a peak in Darien." 



OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES 

SERVING IN 1904-5 AND DURING THE PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



President: Dr. Ernest C. Richardson, Libra- 
rian of Princeton University. 

First vice-president: Frank P. Hill, Libra- 
rian, Brooklyn Public Library. 

Second vice-president: Lutie E. Stearns, 
Wisconsin Free Library Commission. 

Ex-president: Dr. Herbert Putnam, Librarian 
of Congress. 

Secretary: J. I. Wyer, Jr., Librarian of the 
University of Nebraska. 

Treasurer: Gardner M. Jones, Librarian, Sa- 
lem (Mass.) Public Library. 

Recorder: Helen E. Haines, Library Journal, 
New York City. 

Assistant secretary: E. C. Hovey, A. L. A. 
Pub. Board, 10^2 Beacon St., Boston. 

A. L. A. Council:* Mary E. Ahern, A. E. 
Bostwick, Johnson Brigham, J. H. Canfield, 
Gratia A. Countryman, Melvil Dewey, C. 
R. Dudley, C. H. Gould, W. E. Henry, N. 
D. C. Hodges, A. H. Hopkins, G. T. Little, 
W. T. Peoples, Herbert Putnam, E. C 
Richardson, J. C. Rowell, Katharine L. 
Sharp, C. W. Smith, C. C. Soule, Lutie E. 
Stearns, John Thomson, R. G. Thwaites, 
H. M. Utley, Anne Wallace, H. C. Well- 
man. 

Trustees of the Endowment Fund: C. C. 
Soule, Boston, Mass. ; Alexander Maitland, 
New York City ; Deloraine P. Corey, Mai- 
den, Mass. 

Executive Board: The president, ex-presi- 
dent (Herbert Putnam), vice-presidents, 
secretary, treasurer, recorder. 

Publishing Board: W. I. Fletcher (chair- 
man), W. C. Lane, C. C. Soule (treasurer), 

* Includes, in addition, members of the Executive 
Beard. 



Melvil Dewey, H. C. Wellman, Nina E. 
Browne (secretary). 

STANDING COMMITTEES 

Finance: Sam Walter Foss, Drew B. Hall, 
Theodosia Macurdy. 

Library Administration: W. R. Eastman, Cor- 
nelia Marvin, H. C. Wellman. 

Public Documents: Adelaide R. Hasse, W. E_ 
Henry, Johnson Brigham, Charles Mc- 
Carthy, J. P. Kennedy. 

Foreign Documents: C. H. Gould, C. W. An- 
drews, Adelaide R. Hasse, J. L. Whitney. 

Co-operation with Library Department of Na- 
tional Educational Association: J. H. Can- 
field, Melvil Dewey, M. E. Ahern, Electra 
C. Doren, Martin Hensel. 

Library Training: Mary W. Plummer, Sa- 
lome Cutler Fairchild, Katharine L. Sharp,. 
Alice B. Kroeger, Mary E. Robbins, E. H. 
Anderson. 

International Co-operation: Herbert Putnam,. 
Cyrus Adler, W. C. Lane, Morris Jastrow, 
J. S. Billings. 

SPECIAL COMMITTEES 

A. L. A. Exhibit at Lewis & Clark Exposi- 
tion: Melvil Dewey, F. P. Hill, Mary W. 
Plummer, Mary F. Isom, C. H. Hastings. 

Gifts and Bequests: Joseph LeRoy Harrison. 

Reduced Postal and Express rates to Li- 
braries: J. H. Canfield, Melvil Dewey, John- 
son Brigham. 

Book Buying: A. E. Bostwick, J. C. Dana, 
B. C. Steiner. 

Title-pages and Indexes to Periodicals: W. 
I. Fletcher, Ernst Lemcke, A. E. Bostwick.. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER 



219 



Permanent A. L. A. Headquarters: Herbert 
Putnam, C. W. Andrews J. S. Billings, 
R. R. Bowker, A. H. Hopkins. 

Publishing Board Facilities for Headquar- 
ters: W. I. Fletcher, J. I. Wyer, Jr., F. P. 
Hill, F. W. Faxon, H. J. Carr. 

Co-operation with Keystone State Associa- 
tion on Index to Fiction: Josephine Rath- 
bone, Beatrice Winser. 

Bcok Bindings and Book Papers: G. F. Bow- 
erman, W. P. Cutter, A. L. Bailey. 

Program Committee: E. C. Richardson, J. 

I. Wyer, Jr., Helen E. Haines. 
Travel Committee: F. W. Faxon, F. P. Hill, 



C. B. Roden, J. I. Wyer, Jr., W. B. Brew- 
ster. 

SECTIONS AND SECTION OFFICERS 

Catalog Section: Chairman, C. B. Roden; sec- 
retary, Josephine A. Clark. 

College and Reference Section: Chairman, J. 
H. Canfield; secretary, J. T. Gerould. 

Children's Librarians: Chairman, Clara W. 
Hunt; secretary, Alice M. Jordan. 

State Library Commissions Section: Chair- 
man, Melvil Dewey; secretary, L. E. 
Stearns. 

Trustees' Section: Chairman, D. P. Corey; 
secretary, T. L. Montgomery. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER* 

ABBREVIATIONS: F., Free; P., Public; L., Library; Ln., Librarian; As., Assistant; Tr., Trustee; Ref., 
Reference; Sch., School; Br., Branch; Cat, Cataloger. 



Adams, Edna C., As. State Hist. Soc., 

Madison, Wis. 

a Ahern, Mary Eileen, Ed. Public Libraries, 
Library Bureau, 156 Wabash Ave., 
Chicago, 111. 

Allen, L. S., Evansville, Ind. 
ay Allen, Marina D., As. Ryerson L., Grand 

Rapids, Mich, 
ay Ambrose, Lodilla, As. Ln. Northwestern 

Univ. L., Evanston, 111. 
ay Andrews, Clement Walker, Ln. The John 

Crerar L., Chicago, 111. 
Ayer, W. B., Tr. L. Assoc., Portland, 

Ore. 

Babson, Mrs. Glen T., Seward, Neb. 
Baird, Jean D., Ln. P. L., Fresno, Cal. 
a Ball, Sarah B., Ln. Marietta Coll. L., 

Marietta, O. 
Banks, Mary, Chief of Ref. Dept. P. L,, 

Seattle, Wash. 
Barker, Mrs. Sophie W., As. Ln. P. L., 

Seattle, Wash. 
Barnwell, W. E., As. Ln. P. L. Cincinnati, 

Ohio, 
a Barr, Charles James, As. Ln. The John 

Crerar L., Chicago, 111. 

a y Barton, Edmund Mills, Ln. American An- 
tiquarian Soc., Worcester, Mass. 
Beckwith, Marie E., Whitewater, Wis. 
Bedinger, Sarah E., Ln. Beale Memorial 

L., Bakersfield, Cal. 
Betteridge, Grace L., As. New York State 

L., Albany, N. Y. 

Bettmann, Dr. Henry W, Pres. Board of 
Tr., P. L., Cincinnati, Ohio. 



ay Black, Mabel A., As. P. L., Brooklyn. 

N. Y. 

a Blohm, Anna F., Marietta, Ohio, 
a Blunt, Florence T., Ref. Ln. P. L., Haver- 
hill, Mass. 

Bowden, Marguerite, Ln. P. L., Helena, 
Mont 

Bowerman, George Franklin, Ln. P. L. 
of District of Columbia, Washington, 
D. C. 

Boyd, Mrs. Jessie Reeves, cataloger P. L., 
Seattle, Wash. 

Brett, William Howard, Ln. P. L., Cleve- 
land, O. 

Brewster, W. L., Tr. L. Assoc., Portland, 
Ore. 

Brigham, Johnson, Ln. Iowa State L., 
Des Moines, la. 

Brigham, Mrs. Johnson, Des Moines, la. 

Brown, Clara F., Ref. Ln. P. L., Concord, 

N. H. 

a y Browne, Nina Eliza, Sec'y A. L. A. Pub- 
lishing Board, ioj4 Beacon St., Boston, 
Mass. 

Bullock, Edna D., Sec'y Neb. P. L. Com- 
mission, Lincoln, Neb. 

a Burdick, Esther Elizabeth, Ln. F. P. L., 
Jersey City, N. J. 

Burt, Lillian, cataloger Univ. of Cal. L., 
Berkeley, Cal. 

Calef, Ida, As. L., Assoc., Portland, Ore. 

Calhoun, Annie H., Ref. Asst. P. L., 
Seattle, Wash. 

Campbell, Prof. P. L., Pres. Univ. of 
Oregon, Eugene, Ore. 



ay Bigelow, Frank Barna, Ln. New York ay Carr, Henry J., Ln. P. L., Scranton, Pa. 

Society L., N. Y. City. ay Carr, Mrs. Henry J., Ex. Ln., Scranton, 

Pa. 

a indicates participation in Alaska trip on S. S. City y Carter, Lillian M., As. P. L., Milwaukee, 

of f Seattle. Wis. 

d ' m Do$M P artici P ation in Alaska tri P on s - s - y Carver, Leonard D., Ln. State L., Au- 

y indicates participation in Yellowstone trip. gUSta, Me. 



220 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 






Catlin, Rebecca, As. L. Assoc., Portland, 
Ore. 

Center Mrs. Margaret, Ln. P. L., Walla 
Walla, Wash. 

Chace, Edith P., Supervisor Home Li- 
braries, Carnegie L., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Chandler, lone, Bellingham, Wash, 
d y Chapman, Mrs. Emma A., Hartford, 
Conn. 

Chapman Mrs. I. N., Tr. F. L., Alameda, 
Cal. 

Cheney, John Vance, Ln. Newberry L., 
Chicago, 111. 

Cheney, Mrs. John Vance, Chicago, 111. 

Clarke, Elva E., Ln. Kansas State Normal 
Sch., Emporia, Kan. 

Clendenin, Susan R., As. L. Assoc., Port- 
land, Ore. 

Coffman, H. C, Ln. Univ. of Washington, 

Seattle, Wash. 

ay Comegys, Mrs. Rozilla Fritz., 520 Madi- 
son Ave., Scranton, Pa. 

ay Corey, Deloraine Pendre, Member F. P. 
L. Commission of Mass., and Pres. P. 
L., Maiden, Mass. 

a y Corey, Mrs. Deloraine Pendre, Maiden, 
Mass. 

Countryman, Gratia A., Ln. P. L., Minne- 
apolis, Minn. 

a y Crandall, Annabel, Cataloger L. of Con- 
gress, Washington, D. C. 
a Cross, Leora, As. L. Assoc., Portland, 

Ore. 
a y Crunden, Frederick M., Ln. P. L., St. 

Louis, Mo. 

ay Daggett, Caroline Mayhew, Head Cata- 
loger P. L., Syracuse, N. Y. 
a Dana, John Cotton, Ln. F. P. L., Newark, 
N. J. 

Davis, Miriam M., Ref. Ln. P. L., Minne- 
apolis, Minn. 

a Derickson, Maud E., As. L. Assoc., Port- 
land, Ore. 

Deffenbaugh, Mrs. Estelle, Ln. P. L., Spo- 
kane, Wash. 

Dewart, Ella, As. L. Assoc., Portland, 

Ore. 

a Dewey, Melvil, Director New York State 
L., Albany, N. Y. 

Dexter, Harriette L., Cambridge, Mass. 
a y Dickinson, Sarah S., As. The John Crerar 
L., Chicago, 111. 

Dinsmore,. Lucy C., Ln. North Br. of P. 
L., Minneapolis, Minn. 

Dodge, Melvin Gilbert, Associate Ln. Le- 
land Stanford Jr. Univ. L., Stanford 
University, Cal. 

Dolph, C. A., Pres. Board of Tr. L. 

Assoc., Portland, Ore. 

a Donaghy, Grace L., Ln. Tompkins Br. 
P. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Donnelly, Edith, Cincinnati, O. 

Donnelly, Emily, Cincinnati, O. 

Donnelly, June Richardson, Instructor in 
Library Science, Simmons College, Bos- 
ton, Mass. 



Doren, Electra Collins, Head Instructor, 
Western Reserve L. School Cleveland, 
O. 
a y Downey. Mary Elizabeth, Ln. P. L., Ot- 

tumwa, la. 
Drinker, Florence L., Ln. Chico State 

Normal Sch., Chico, Cal. 
Dunn, Jacob C., Pres. P. L. Commission, 

Indianapolis, Ind. 

a Eaton, Harriet, Ln. Normal Sch. L., Su- 
perior, Wis. 

Eliot, Grace, Portland, Ore. 
Eliot, Henrietta Mack, Portland, Ore. 
Eliot, Dr. T. L., Vice-Pres. Board of Tr. 

L. Assoc., Portland, Ore. 
Eliot, W. G. Jr., Treas. Oregon State L. 

Assoc., Portland, Ore. 
d Ellis, Victoria, Ln. P. L., Long Beach, 

Cal. 

Eppens, Anna, As. P. L., Cincinnati, O. 
Eppens, Bernadine, Cincinnati, O. 
Evans, Mrs. Alice G., Ln. F. P. L., De- 

catur, 111. 
Faddis, Zoe E., As. Sch". of Education, 

Chicago, 111. 
Failing, Mary F., Tr. L. Assoc., Portland, 

Ore. 
dy Farrar, Ida F., Chief Cataloger City L., 

Springfield, Mass. 

a y Farwell, Winifred, Children's Ln. P. L. 
of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Co., 
Calumet, Mich. 

a y Faxon, Frederick Winthrop, Manager L. 
Dept. The Boston Co., 83-91 Francis 
St., Back Bay, Boston, Mass. 
a y Faxon, Mrs. Frederick Winthrop, Jamaica 

Plain, Mass, 
a y Fearey, Charlotte Sophia, Cataloger New 

York State L., Albany, N. Y. 
a y Fernald, Helen A., Dorchester, Mass. 
a y Fiske, Anna J., As. Ln. P. L. of the Calu- 
met and Hecla Mining Co., Calumet, 
Mich. 
Fix, Arminda L., Ln. Whitman Coll., 

Walla Walla, Wash. 
Fix, Maude, Walla Walla, Wash, 
a Forstall, Gertrude, As. The John Crerar 

L., Chicago, 111. 

Fox, Nelly, As. L. Assoc., Portland, Ore. 
a Francis, Mary, Hartford, Conn. 
a Freeman, Marilla W., Ref. Ln., F. P. L., 

Louisville, Ky. 

French, Ben F., Ln. A. O. U. W. L., Port- 
land, Ore. 
a Furness, Margaret, As. The John Crerar 

L., Chicago, 111. 
Galbreath, Charles B., Ln. Ohio State L., 

Columbus, O. 
a Ganley, Marie, Cataloger P. L., Detroit, 

Mich, 
dy Gay, Alice M., As. Ln. Conn. Hist. Soc., 

Hartford, Conn. 

a y Gay, Helen Kilduff, Ln. P. L., New Lon- 
don, Conn. 

y Gaylord, Dema, As. Forbes L., North- 
ampton, Mass. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER 



221 



Geary, Ellen E., Portland, Ore. 
a y Gibbons, Vernette L., Wells College, Au- 
rora, N. Y. 
Gibbs, Laura Russell, As. Radcliffe Coll. 

L., Cambridge, Mass. 
Gill, John, bookseller, Portland, Ore. 
Gillette, Helen, Cat. P. L., Seattle, Wash. 
Gillis, j. L., Ln. California State L., Sa- 
cramento, Cal. 
Gleason, Eleanor, As. Pratt Inst. F. L., 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 
y Godard, George Seymour, Ln. State L., 

Hartford, Conn. 

Goetzman, Charlotte, As. L. Assoc., Port- 
land, Ore. 
d Goss, Edna L., Cat. Univ. of Cal. L., 

Berkeley, Cal. 
a Gould, H. A., L. Dept. A. C. McClurg 

& Co., Chicago, 111. 
Graves, Francis Barnum, Ln. F. P. L., 

Alameda, Cal. 

ay Green, Elizabeth, St. Louis, Mo. 
a y Green, Mary S., Worcester, Mass, 
a y Green, Samuel Swett, Ln. F. P. L., Wor- 
cester, Mass, 
a y Green, Thomas, Worcester, Mass. 

Greene, Charles S., Ln. F. P. L., and Tr. 

Cal. State L., Oakland, Cal. 
Greene, Mrs. Chas S., Oakland, Cal. 
d Gunthorp, Pauline, Cat. Univ. of Cal. L., 

Berkeley, Cal. 

Hadden, Anne, Ln. P. L., Palo Alto, Cal. 

a Haines, Helen E., Managing Ed. Library 

Journal, 298 Broadway, New York, 

N. Y. 

Hall, Elizabeth C., Ln. P. L., North Ya- 

kima, Wash. 
Hall, F. C., Tr. North Yakima L., N. 

Yakima, Wash. 

Hall, Mrs. F. C., North Yakima, Wash. 

y Hanson, James Christian Meinich, Chief 

Catalog Division, L. of Congress, 

Washington. 

a y Hartwell, Mary A., Cat. Office Supt. of 

Documents, Washington, D. C. 
a Hassler, Harriot E., Children's Ln., L. 

Assoc., Portland, Ore. 
Hastings, C. H., Catalog Division L. of 

Congress, Washington, D. C. 
Hathaway, Caroline L., As. P. L., Spo- 
kane, Wash. 
Hathaway, Gretchen, Ln. P. L., Everett, 

Wash. 
Hawkins, Jean, Ln. P. L., Eau Claire, 

Wis. 
d Heatwole, Mrs. Ella R., Ln. P. L., 

Goshen, Ind. 

d Heatwole, Louise, Goshen, Ind. 
a y Hemson, Nellie E., Cat. P. L., Brooklyn, 

N. Y. 

Henry, W. E., Ln. Indiana State L., In- 
dianapolis, Ind. 

Henry, Mrs. W. E., Indianapolis, Ind. 
Henschkel, Martha, As. Ln. Carnegie P. 
L., Boise, Idaho. 



a Hill, Frank Pierce, Ln. P. L., Brooklyn, 

N. Y. 

a Hill, Mrs. Frank Pierce, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

a y Hill, Marion, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

a Hillebrand, Helen L., Ln. Honolulu Land 

Reading-room Ass'n, Honolulu, H. I. 

Hislop, Joanna, Cat. P. L., Spokane, 

Wash, 
a y Hitchler, Theresa, Supt. of Cataloging 

P. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Hitt, J. M., Ln. Washington State L., 

Olympia, Wash. 

a Hoagland, Merica, Sec'y P. L. Commis- 
sion, Indianapolis, Ind. 
Hoftman, Mrs. J. E., Portland, Ore. 
Hoge, Mabel, As. L. Assoc., Portland, Ore. 
a Hopkins, Anderson Hoyt, Ln. Carnegie 

L., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

a Hopkins, Mrs. Anderson Hoyt, Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 
a y Home, Edith Temple, Cat. Harvard Coll. 

L., Cambridge, Mass, 
a Hovey, E. C., As. Sec'y A. L. A., loYz 

Beacon St., Boston, Mass, 
a y Howard, L. Elizabeth, As. Inst. Mining 

Engineers, Brooklyn. N. Y. 
Howe, Harriet E., Instructor Illinois 

Univ. L. Sch., Urbana, 111. 
Howey, Mrs. Laura E., Ln. Hist. Miscel- 
laneous Dept. Montana State L., He- 
lena, Mont. 
Hughes, Alice M., Ln. Carnegie L., 

Pierre, S. D. 
Hughes, Florence, Cat. Leland Stanford 

Jr. Univ. L., Cal. 
a Humphrey, Gertrude Priscilla, Ln. P. L., 

Lansing, Mich. 
Huntington, Stella, Ln. State Normal 

Sch , San Francisco, Cal. 
Isom, Mary Frances, Ln. L., Assoc., Port- 
land, Ore. 

Jackson, Mrs. Arabelle Horton, As. Car- 
negie L., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Jackson, Emilie, Attendant P. L., Los An- 
geles, Cal. 

Jackson, Henrietta, As. Ln. P. L. Winni- 
peg, Manitoba. 

d Johnson, Marguerite, Michigan City, Ind. 
Johnston, W. Dawson, Division of Bib- 
liography L. of Congress, Washington, 
D. C. 
a y Jones, Ada Alice, Head Cat. New York 

State L., Albany, N. Y. 
Jones, Elizabeth D., As. P. L., Pasadena, 

Cal. 

Jones, Gardner Maynard, Ln. P. L., Sa- 
lem, Mass. 

Jones, M. Grnce, Prof, of Music, Whit- 
man Coll., Walla Walla, Wash, 
d Katz, Louise Waldman, Cat. Univ. of Cal. 

L., Berkeley, Cal. 
a y Keller, Mary L., Wells Coll., Aurora, 

N. Y. 

a Kelley, Helen T., Supt. Circulation P. L., 
Detroit, Mich. 



222 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



Kelliher, Mrs. A. T., Pres. P. L., Salem, 

Ore. 

Kimball, W. C, Chairman New Jersey 
F. L Commission, Trenton, N. J., and 
Tr. P. L., Passaic, N. J. 
a Koch, Theodore Wesley, Ln. Univ. of 

Mich. General L., Ann Arbor, Mich. 
Kuhnke, Hugo P., Invoice Clerk P. L., 

Seattle, Wash. 
Kumli, Bertha, Ref. Ln. California State 

L., Sacramento, Cal. 

Ladd, C. E., Tr. L. Assoc., Portland, Ore. 
Ladd W. M., Tr. L. Assoc., Portland, 

Ore. 

i Langworthy, Mrs. S. C, Library Com- 
mittee Neb. Federation of Women's 
Clubs, Seward, Neb. 

Leach, Camilla, Ln. Univ. of Oregon, Eu- 
gene, Ore. 
Leeson, Mayme, As. Brumback L., Van 

Wert, O. 

Legler, Henry E., Sec'y Wis. F. L. Com- 
mission, Madison, Wis. 

a y Leonard, Grace Fisher, As. Ln. Provi- 
dence Athenaeum, Providence, R. I. 
Lichtenstein, Joy, As. Ln. F. P. L., San 

Francisco, Cal. 
Lilley, Mrs. Adelaide, Ln. P. L., Eugene, 

Ore. 
d Lindsay, Mary Boyden, Ln. F. P. L., 

Evanston. 111. 
Lucas, Stella, Ln. Taintor Memorial P. 

L., Menominee, Wis. 
MacConnell, Christina, teacher, Portland, 

Ore. 
McCord, Bessie, Ln. F. L., Bozeman, 

Mont. 
McCullough, Elizabeth, Ln. P. L., Lo- 

gansport, Ind. 
MacDonald, Agnes D., As. Carnegie F. 

L., Duquesne, Pa. 
MacDonald, Katharine I., As. Sec'y F. L. 

Commission, Madison, Wis. 
ay McDonough, Agnes, Philadelphia, Pa. 
ay McDonough, Kathleen M., Philadelphia, 

Pa. 

ay McDonough, M. F., Philadelphia, Pa. 
MacLachlan, Margaret, As. L. Assoc., 

Portland, Ore. 
McLoney, Ella M., Ln. P. L., Des Moines, 

la. 

a McMicken, Mrs. Herbert, Seattle, Wash. 
a McMicken, Katharine, As. P. L., Seattle, 

Wash. 

McRae, Mary, As. L. Assoc., Port- 
land, Ore. 
Marple, Alice, Ref. Ln. P. L., Des Moines, 

la. 

Marple, Mrs. ]., Des Moines, la. 
Marsh, Prof. Joseph W., Ln. Pacific 

Univ., Forest Grove, Ore. 
Martin, N. M., As. P. L., Pasadena, Cal. 
Marvin, Cornelia, Sec'y Oregon F. L. 
Commission, Salem, Ore. 



Mead, Herman Ralph, Ref. Ln. Univ. of 

Cal. L., Berkeley, Cal. 
Mead, Mrs. H. R., Berkeley, Cal. 
Mendenhall, Minnie, Ln. P. L., Whittier, 

Cal. 
Meydenbauer, Mrs. Margaret Crane, Desk 

Clerk P. L., Seattle, Wash. 
a Millard, Jessie, As. L. Assoc., Portland, 

Ore. 

a Millard, Mary M., Teacher, Portland, Ore. 

Mills, A. L., Tr. L. Assoc., Portland, Ore, 

d Montross, Elizabeth, Asst. The John 

Crerar L., Chicago, 111. 
d Montross, Mrs. J. T., Chicago, 111. 
Moore, D. R., Ln. P. L., Berkeley, Cal. 
Mosse, Miss E. A., Ln . P. L., Santa 

Monica, Cal. 
Moulton, Ella V., As. Harvard Univ. L., 

Cambridge, Mass. 

Nichols, Sue C, Ln. P. L., Fort Atkin- 
son, Wis. 

a y Nolan, Dr. Edward J., Ln. Academy of 
Natural Sciences L., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Ogden, Jessie F., Chicago, 111. 
Olcott, Frances Jenkins, Chief Children's 

Dept. Carnegie L., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
a Osborn, Lyman P., Ln. Peabody Inst, 

Peabody, Mass. 

a Osborn, Mrs. Lyman P., Peabody, Mass. 
ay Palmer, Maud E., Wareham, Mass. 

Parker, Phebe, Ln. Sage L., West Bay 

City, Mich. 
a Parmelee, Mary E., Malone, N. Y. 

Patten, Katharine, As. P. L., Minneapolis, 

Minn, 
y Pease, C. Grace, Ln. Field Memorial L., 

Cohway, Mass. 

Peckham, Dr. George W., Ln. P. L., Mil- 
waukee, Wis. 

Peckham, Mrs. G. W., Milwaukee, Wis. 
a Penfield, Helen, Seattle, Wash. 

Pinney, Grace E., Attendant P. L., Los 

Angeles, Cal. 
a Plummer, Mary Wright, Director Pratt 

Inst. L. S., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Pomeroy, Edith, Pratt Inst. F. L., Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 

Porter, Washington T., Tr. P. L., Cin- 
cinnati, O. 
Pratt, Elizabeth, As. L. Assoc., Portland, 

Ore. 
Prentiss, Mabel E., Ln. P. L., Pomona, 

Cal. 
d Preston, Nina K., Ln. Hall-Fowler Mem. 

L., Ionia, Mich. 
Putnam, Herbert, Ln. L. of Congress, 

Washington, D. C. 

Putnam, Mrs. Herbert, Washington, D. C. 
a y Rabardy, Etta Lebreton, As. Boston Athe- 
naeum, Boston, Mass. 
Ranck, Samuel H., Ln. Ryerson F. L., 

Grand Rapids, Mich. 

a Rathbone, Josephine Adams. Head In- 
structor, Pratt Institute L. Sch., Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER 



223 



Reagh, Mary W., Cat. P. L., Toledo, O. 
Reed, Corinne, As. L. Assoc., Portland, 

Ore. 

Reid, Harriet, Norwood, Cincinnati, O. 
Reynolds, Mabel M., Ln. Washington 

State Normal Sch., Cheney, Wash. 
Richards, Miss D. Royall, As. Enoch 

Pratt F. L., Baltimore, Md. 
a Richardson, Dr. Ernst Gushing, Ln. 

Princeton Univ. L., Princeton, N. J. 
a Richardson. Mrs. E. C, Princeton, N. J. 
a' Richmond, Henry A., Ex-tr. Cor. Dela- 
ware and Tupper Sts., Buffalo, N. Y. 
Ripley, L. W., Ln. F. P. L., Sacramento, 

Cal. 
Ritchie, G. T., Catalog Division L. of 

Congress, Washington, D. C. 
Ritchie, Mrs. G. T., Washington, D. C. 
y Robbins, Mary Esther, Director L. Dept., 

Simmons Coll., Boston, Mass. 
Robbins, Ruth, As. P. L., Pasadena, Cal. 
Robertson, Mrs. Grace Barrett, Sec'y 
Board of Tr. F. P. L., North Yakima, 
Wash. 

Robertson, Prof. J. R., Pacific Univ., For- 
est Grove., Ore. 

a Robinson, Rev. L. M., Ln. Divinity Sch., 
5000 Woodland Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Rockwood, E. Ruth, As. L. Assoc., Port- 
land, Ore. 
Roden, Carl B., Supt. Ordering Dept. P. 

L., Chicago, 111. 

ay Rogers, Miss E. J., Wheeling, W. Va. 
a y Rogers, Mrs. James P., Wheeling, W. Va. 
a y Rogers, Miss L. K., Wheeling, W. Va. 
a Rowell, Joseph Cummings, Ln. Univ. of 

Cal. L., Berkeley, Cal. 
a ' Rowell, Mrs. J. C, Berkeley, Cal. 

Russ, Nellie M., Ln. P. L., Pasadena, 

Cal. 
Russell, Alma, Provincial L., Victoria, 

B. C. 
a Russell, Louise, Ln. Carnegie L., Alliance, 

O. 

Russell, J. R., Ex-ln., Butte, Mont. 
Salisbury, Grace E., Ln. State Normal 

Sch. Whitewater, Wis. 
a y Sanborn, Alice Evelyn, Ln. Wells Coll. 

L., Aurora, N. Y. 
Schafer, Joseph, Head of History Dept., 

Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, Ore. 
Scholefield, E. O. S., Provincial Ln., Vic- 
toria, B. C. 
Selden, Elizabeth C., As. Ln. P. L., Du- 

luth, Minn. 
y Sewall, Willis Fuller, Ln. P. L., Toledo, 

O. 
y Shaw, Lawrence M., As. P. L., Brooklyn, 

N. Y. 

a Shaw, Ruth C., Honolulu, H. I. 
d Sibley, Mrs. Mary J., Acting Ln. Syra- 
cuse Univ. L., Syracuse, N. Y. 
a y Skinner, Eliza Jane, Catalog Division L. 
of Congress, Washington, D. C. 



ay Skinner, Elizabeth M., As. P. L., Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 
a Smith, Charles Wesley, Ln. P. L., Seattle, 

Wash. 
Smith, Ella Louise, Ln. Brumback L., 

Van Wert, O. 

Smith, Elizabeth Church, Ln. Agricul- 
tural Coll. of Utah, Logan, Utah. 
Smith, Eva G., Principal P. Sch., Tacoma, 

Wash. 
Smith, Izola B., As. Ln. P. L., Tacoma, 

Wash. 
Smith, M. W., Treasurer Board of Tr.; 

L. Assoc., Portland, Ore. 
Smith, Mary Alice, Ln. P. L., La Crosse, 

Wis. 
Smith, W. K., Tr. L. Assoc., Portland, 

Ore. 

Spalding, Miss H. F., Portland, Ore. 
Stearns, Lutie E., Library Visitor Wis. 

F. L. Commission, Madison, Wis. 
a y Stechert, Mrs. G. E., New York City, 
ay Stechert, Hans, New York City, 
a Steiner, Bernard Christian, Ln. Enoch 

Pratt F. L., Baltimore, Md. 
a Stevens, Mrs. Alice F., Catalog Division 

L. of Congress, Washington, D. C. 
Stevenson, Harriet, Ln. Colorado State 

L., Denver, Col. 
Stetson, Willis K, Ln. P. L., New Haven, 

Ct. 
Storaasli, Miss Signe, As. P. L., Tacoma, 

Wash, 
y Stowell, Laura, High Sch. L., Calumet, 

Mich. 
Sutliff, Mary Louisa, Head Cat. Cal. State 

L., Sacramento, Cal. 
Swank, Minnie, with John Gill, Portland, 

Ore. 

Sweet, Belle, Grangeville, Idaho. 
Switzer, Grace E., Ln. P. L., Bellingham, 

Wash. 

Taber, Grace M., Ln. P. L., Corona, Cal. 
Taber, Josephine, Chief of Children's 

Dept. P. L., Seattle, Wash. 
Tarlton, Mrs. Lewis B., Watertown, Mass. 
Taylor, Anna F., Ln. City L., Baker City, 

Ore. 

Thayer, Maude, As. Ln. State L., Spring- 
field, 111. 
d Tichenor, Mrs. Adelaide, Director P. L., 

Long Branch, Cal. 
y Titcomb, Mary Lemest, Ln. Washington 

County F. L., Hagerstown, Md. 
Tobitt, Edith, Ln. P. L., Omaha, Neb. 
Todd, Marie, Asst. Cat. P. L., Minne- 
apolis, Minn. 
Tolman, Frank Leland, Ref. Ln. Univ. 

of Chicago, Chicago, 111. 
a Tolman, Mary M., Manchester, N. H. 
a Towar, Sarah L., St. Louis, Mo. 

Turner, Frances B., As. Ryerson L., 

Grand Rapids, Mich, 
a Turner, M. Ada, Janesville, Wis. 



224 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



Tyler, Alice S., Sec'y Iowa L. Commis- 
sion, Des Moines, la. 

a y Utley, Henry M., Ln. P. L., Detroit, Mich, 
ay Utley, Mrs. H. M., Detroit, Mich, 
ay Van Benschoten, Anna L., Wells Coll., 
Aurora, N. Y. 

Walker, Mrs. J. M., Ln. P. L., Aberdeen, 

Wash. 

d Warner, Alice MacDougal, As. Syracuse 
Univ. L., Syracuse, N. Y. 

Warner, Mrs. Ella G., Ln. State Normal 

Sch., Ellensburg, Wash. 

a Warren, Irene, Ln. Univ. of Chicago Sch. 
of Education, Chicago, 111. 

Waterman, Minerva H., Ln. P. L., Santa 
Cruz, Cal. 

Watson, William R., As. Ln. Cal. State 
L., Sacramento, Cal. 

Weed, Alice, Teacher, San Francisco, 
Cal. 

Weed, Ida B., As. F. P. L., San Fran- 
cisco, Cal. 

Weller, Eleanor G., As. F. P. L., Pater- 
son, N. J. 

Wentworth, Ethel, As. L. Assoc., Port- 
land, Ore. 

Wheeler, Henry M., Andover, Mass. 

Whitaker, Alfred E., Ln. Colorado State 
Univ., Boulder, Col. 



Whitney, Henry M., Ln. Blackstone Me- 
morial L., Branford, Conn. 

Whitney, Solon Franklin, Ln. F. P. L., 
Watertown, Mass. 

Whittier, Florence B., Head Cat. Mechan- 
ics' Inst., San Francisco, Cal. 

Wilbur, Earl M., Dean Theological Sch., 
Oakland, Cal. 

Wilkerson, Elizabeth B., As. Cossitt L., 
Memphis, Tenn. 

Willard, Eliza May, Ref. Ln. Carnegie 

L., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

a y Williams, Lizzie Annie, Ln. P. L., Maiden, 
Mass. 

Williams, Mary, Brookline, Mass. 
a Wilson, Jean, Sec'y L. Board, Alliance, 
O. 

Wilson, Dr. J. R., Principal Portland 
Academy, Portland, Ore. 

Wilson, Mabel Zoe, Ln. State Normal 

Sch., Bellingham, Wash, 
ay Wilson, Mary Harlow, Cat. P. L., Syra- 
cuse, N. Y. 

ay Winchell, F. Mabel, Ln. City L., Man- 
chester, N. H. 

Wyer, James Ingersoll, Jr., Ln. Univ. of 
Neb. L., Lincoln, Neb. 

Young, Prof. F. G., Univ. of Oregon, Eu- 
gene, Ore. 



ATTENDANCE SUMMARIES 
BY NINA E. BROWNE, REGISTRAR; SECRETARY A. L. A. PUBLISHING BOARD 



BY POSITION AND SEX 



Men. Women. Total. 



BY STATES 



Trustees 15 

Commissioners 4 

Chief librarians 48 

Assistants 12 

Library school instructors . 
Commercial agents and 

editors 3 

Teachers 6 

Others 7 

Total 95 

Deduct those counted twice 3 

92 

BY GEOGRAPHICAL SECTIONS 

8 of the 9 No. Atlantic states sent 



3 

2 

S 

-i 



9 So. Atlantic states 

8 So. Central states 

8 No. Central states 

8 Western states 

8 Pacific states 

British Columbia 

Hawaiian Islands 



Total 359 



6 
6 

63 
in 
6 

3 
8 
64 

267 

267 
s 


21 
10 
III 
123 

6 

6 

14 

362 
3 

359 


Me 


.' i Minn. 


... 6 


N H 




Iowa 


7 


Mass 


in 


Mo 


3 


R I 


I 


Kan 


i 


Conn 


7 


Neb 


5 


N Y 




S. Dak 


i 


Pa 


1C 


Mont 


4 


N T 


. . 6 


Col 


2 


Md 


i 


Utah 


I 


D C 


12 


Cal 


43 


W Va 


i 


Oregon 


. . . 49 


Tenn 


I 


Idaho 


2 


Kv 


I 


Wash 


... 36 


Ohio . . . 


2O 


B. C 


3 




18 


Ind 


O 


H. I 


2 




2 


111 


21 


Total .... 


. . . 359 




95 


Mich 


14 




. 13 


Wis 


. IS 




Park. 




3 


132 went 
70 went 


to Alaska, 
to the Yellowstone National 




2 






. 35Q 



NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF 
STATE LIBRARIES 

PROCEEDINGS AND ADDRESSES 
EIGHTH ANNUAL CONVENTION, PORTLAND, ORE., JULY 5-6, 1905 



FIRST SESSION 

(UNITARIAN CHURCH CHAPEL, PORTLAND, 
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5.) 

THE meeting was called to order at three 
o'clock by the President, Mr. GEORGE S. 
GODARD, of Connecticut, who spoke as fol- 
lows : 

In the absence of the secretary I will ask 
Mrs. Howey, state librarian of Montana, to 
act as secretary pro tern. 

First upon our program is an address of 
welcome by Mr. J. B. Putnam, state librarian 
of Oregon. Mr. Putnam seems to be absent, 
though perhaps he is present in spirit. How- 
ever, I think there is no occasion for any 
formal address of welcome on the part of 
anyone from Oregon or from the Pacific 
Coast, because many of us from the Far East 
have found as we have been coming West 
everything opening to receive and welcome 
us. I do not think the mountains ever looked 
higher, the chasms deeper, nor the prairies 
broader than they did as we came across 
the continent. It is said that the Cascade 
Mountain at Banff can be seen to its summit 
clearly only upon four or five days during the 
season, and yet all the while during the 24 
hours that we were in Banff it was in plain 
view, both staring at and welcoming us. It 
\va? the first place where I have seen the 
Arctic Zone shaking hands with the Tem- 
perate Zone and both apparently satisfied. 
When we arrived at Seattle each one of us 
\vas greeted with roses, as we entered our 
rooms, roses without number. So I say we 
have been welcomed all along the line, to 
such an extent that we already feel at home 
and ready to take up the work of the con- 
vention now before us. 

Mr. GODARD then delivered the 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS 

Another year has passed and we find our- 
selves assembled here upon the shore of the 
Pacific in Oregon under the shadow of Mount 
Hood in the beautiful City of Portland, amid 
most pleasant and "fair" surroundings. Less 
than a year ago we were holding conference 
in the midst of the "fair" surroundings of 
the great city of St. Louis upon the Great 
River. In 1903 our assemblies were held 
within the immediate presence of that won- 
derful and majestic cataract, Niagara Falls, 
while the year before our Fifth Annual Con- 
vention was held amid the beautiful sur- 
roundings of Magnolia, Massachusetts, upon 
the shore of the Atlantic. Our 1901 meeting 
was also held at a watering place, Waukesha, 
Wisconsin. It was at Waukesha that our 
Association began to hold its meetings at 
the same time and place as the A. L. A. 
This was the first of our gatherings which 
it was my privilege to attend. The meetings 
at Harrisburg, Indianapolis and Washington 
are known to me largely through tradition, 
as the Proceedings of our meetings at Wash- 
ington and Indianapolis are yet to be pub- 
lished. I am pleased to be able to state, 
however, that there are a few present at 
our meeting here who have been present at 
each session of our Association. 

The attendance at our several conventions 
has of necessity been more or less broken. 
Our country is large but our interests are 
one. While the distances to our several 
meetings are usually great, our available 
funds are always small. Moreover, while 
many states retain their state librarians dur- 
ing usefulness, there are some who appar- 
ently retain them only so long as they can 
be used. 

National conventions, like libraries, are 



226 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



here to stay. They are necessary to the proper 
understanding and development of any line 
of work which extends throughout the length 
and breadth of our land and where the per- 
fection of the entire work depends upon the 
efficiency and faithfulness of each individual 
official connected therewith. 

It was not until May, 1890, that there was 
an organized effort to get the state librarians 
of our country in line. At that time the State 
Librarians' Section of the A. L. A. was 
formed at St. Louis. For some reason these 
sectional meetings did not furnish that de- 
sired something so essential to a successful 
organization along our particular lines of 
work. So in November, 1898, in response 
to an apparently inspired invitation sent out 
to all the state librarians, the state librarians 
of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ne- 
braska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Penn- 
sylvania, Tennessee, and Vermont, assembled 
in the parlors of Cairo (not the "streets of 
Cairo"), Washington, D. C, and organized 
the National Association of State Librarians. 
Mr. Chase of New Hampshire called the 
meeting to order, Mr. Henry of Indiana was 
chosen chairman, and Miss Jones of Ten- 
nessee, secretary. 

In the discussion which followed all 
showed a kindly feeling towards the A. L. A. 
and expressed admiration for the great work 
which the A. L. A. was doing, but it was 
the unanimous sentiment that the objects de- 
sired by the state librarians ; viz., the devel- 
opment of the state libraries of the United 
States ; the broadening of their scope ; the 
binding of them into closer relationship; the 
perfection of a system of exchange between 
them ; and the accomplishment of other work 
of importance alone to state librarians, would 
be best served by a separate organization 
which would in no way be antagonistic to 
the A. L. A., but would rather supplement its 
work. Accordingly the National Association 
of State Librarians was formally organized 
in the City of Washington, November 17, 
1898. 

At this conference the system or lack of 
system in exchanges between state libraries, 
the method or lack of method in printing 
and binding, and the scope of the state library 



were discussed and active steps taken to 
standardize these several lines. 

As already stated, the next two meetings 
of our Association were also held independ- 
ently of the A. L. A. at Indianapolis, Indiana, 
and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, respectively. 
It was felt, however, that it would be desir- 
able in many ways to meet at the same time 
and place as the A. L. A. Accordingly the 
1001 meeting was so held at Waukesha, Wis- 
consin, and we have continued this method 
each year since. 

However, notwithstanding the fact that the 
National Association of State Librarians was 
doing the work of the State Librarians' 
Section of the A. L. A., which was dormant or 
dead, that section continued to be mentioned 
in the several publications of the A. L. A., in- 
stead of mentioning the National Association 
of State Librarians. Accordingly at our St. 
Louis meeting a year ago our Association 
passed the following resolution : 

"Whereas, There appears in the publica- 
tions of the A. L. A. mention of a State Li- 
brarians' Section, noted as dormant; and 
whereas the work of said section is being 
done by the National Association of State 
Libraries, which has been holding its meet- 
ings at the same time and place as the A. L. 
A. meetings are held ; 

"Resolved, That we the members of the 
National Association of State Libraries re- 
quest the Council of the A. L. A. to substitute 
in its several publications the name of 'Na- 
tional Association of State Libraries' for said 
'State Librarians' Section.' " 

This resolution has been presented to the 
Council of the A. L. A. and the request con- 
tained therein will be granted in such a man- 
lier as will clearly indicate the work and re- 
lations of our two associations. 

That the National Association of State Li- 
braries has already accomplished much is 
very evident. Thus, in our correspondence 
the "Dear Sir" or "Dear Madam" with its 
formal letter which may or may not be an- 
swered, has been giving way to "My dear 
Henry" or "Dear Mrs. Spencer," etc., fol- 
lowed by a brief letter to the point and 
heart. We come to know each other better 
as the mists are rolled away. Our exchanges 
are coming to us more regularly, better 
packed, more nearly complete, and usually 



FIRST SESSION 



227 



bearing the name of the state from which 
they come. And so too, the contents of the 
larger volumes are coming to be shown upon 
the labels. Uniformity in size and binding 
is becoming apparent where formerly there 
was no uniformity. Moreover, as a rule, 
public officials have not been slow in accept- 
ing and adopting suggestions and requests 
made by our Association along those lines 
over which they have direct control. 

While much has been accomplished there 
are many lines yet untouched. How a cheap 
parcels post or the franking privilege for 
certain purposes in library work can be se- 
cured and how the cheap politician can be 
eliminated from all library work are ques- 
tions still before us. Why the Government 
bindery continues to try to make one sheep 
do the work of many in binding certain pub- 
lications, when it would be much better not 
to disturb that sheep at all, is not entirely 
clear. It has been suggested also that we 
might with profit consider at some of our 
future meetings the following: Re-organiza- 
tion of state libraries; a cumulative system 
of state library statistics; preservation by 
state libraries of ballots and check lists; es- 
tablishment cf a department of libraries sim- 
ilar to department of education; how and 
along what lines can state libraries best work 
in the field of bibliography; what more can 
we do towards perfecting our system of ex- 
changes; the practicability of receiving from 
the several states the necessary standard 
catalog cards covering all the publications 
sent out by them upon exchange account ; 
relation of state library to state school system 
and state publications; proper books for the 
state library, the feasibility of giving library 
instruction at our state normal schools; and 
how to extend the influence of the Na- 
tional Association of State Libraries. 

As provision was made in the A. L. A. 
program for but two regular sessions of 
two hours each for our Association, our 
program which had been arranged for con- 
sideration at this conference has nominally 
been crowded into these two periods. I 
suggest, however, that, as has been done at 
former meetings, we hasten not hurry 
as much as possible our several reports and 



discussions, appointing if need be special 
meetings to continue our program and com- 
plete our business. 

In the selection of subjects and speakers 
for this meeting special emphasis was given 
to the replies received from the several state 
librarians in response to your president's 
circular letter of December last. It was a 
pleasure to read the interested responses 
contained in many of them. Some of the re- 
grets at inability to be present at this meeting 
contained words of encouragement, while 
others had an undertone of pathos. All 
wished the Association the success which 
it deserves. Effort has been made, however, 
to select timely topics and have them dis- 
cussed by members from widely separted 
fields of work. While no particular person 
or persons have been asked to discuss the 
various papers presented, it is hoped and ex- 
pected that all will feel free and inclined 
to add to or question any paper or report 
presented. 

The reports due from our several com- 
mittees appointed last year at St. Louis are 
upon topics of vital interest to the life yes, 
and ease of mind of every state librarian. 
By "state librarian" I mean state librarian 
according to the interpretation made last year 
when we changed the name of our Associa- 
tion from National Association of State Li- 
brarians to National Association of State 
Libraries and included all libraries doing the 
work of state libraries. 

Whether or not we are to receive tide- 
pages and indexes to periodicals regularly 
without sending for them; to what extent, 
how, and by whom shall the exchange and 
distribution of state documents be made; 
the possibility of a clearing house for state 
publications ; the question of the preparation 
and publication of session laws; how we may 
regularly know what official publications have 
been issued by the several states and how 
their contents may be easily learned, located 
and consulted ; how our several state libraries 
differ in size, scope, personnel and methods ; 
and how we may make our Association serve 
the largest number at a reasonable cost 
reasonable to the Association and reasonable 
to the one served and still have a dollar 



228 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



left, are questions in which we are all in- 
terested and which we have before us at this 
meeting. 

We now have printed in convenient and 
uniform style the Proceedings and Addresses 
for our Fourth meeting at Waukesha; the 
Fifth at Magnolia; the Sixth at Niagara 
Falls; and the Seventh at St. Louis. The 
abridged Proceedings of our Third Annual 
Convention at Harrisburg in 1900 were 
printed in the January, 1901, number of Pub- 
lic Libraries .(vol. 6, no. i.). As the papers 
and discussions of our gatherings for the 
most part deal with practical subjects in our 
work in a practical way, I wish to urge upon 
the Association, if practicable, at this time 
what was suggested by our president last 
year; viz., the advisability of collecting and 
publishing in a report uniform with the ex- 
isting series the Proceedings and Addresses 
of our First, Second and Third Annual Con- 
ventions at Washington, Indianapolis and 
Harrisburg respectively. Next to being pres- 
ent at our discussions is reading them, and 
as we cannot attend past conferences they 
should be brought to us. It should be made 
possible to have a file of our reports in every 
state library and the librarian might do very 
much worse than to glance through them oc- 
casionally. 

I desire in closing to thank the Association 
for the honor conferred upon me at our 
election last year. 

Looking forward to a successful meeting 
and trusting that we will all return to our 
several posts of duty refreshed, encouraged, 
and enlightened and feeling that it has been 
good for us to have been here, and wishing 
our Association that continued prosperity and 
growth which it merits, we will resume our 
regular order of business. 

The PRESIDENT: Our attendance here to- 
day is apparently small as we look at it bodily, 
but there are many who wanted to be here 
and sent letters of good wishes and regrets, 
among them being Edward M. Goddard, as- 
sistant librarian of Vermont; Reuben G. 
Thwaites, secretary Wis. State Historical So- 
ciety; E. N. Graves, assistant secretary of 
state, South Dakota; George P. Garrison, li- 
brarian, Texas State Historical Association; 



J. Schulthess, librarian, department of justice, 
Philippine Islands ; C. B. Tillinghast, state 
librarian of Massachusetts ; J. W. Cunshaw, 
librarian Arizona Terr. Library; Miss Mattie 
Plunkett, state librarian of Mississippi; E. A. 
Nelson; of Minnesota; Mrs. Maud Barker 
Cobb, assistant librarian, Georgia State Li- 
brary; Miles O. Sherrill, state librarian 
of North Carolina; John P. Kennedy, state 
librarian of Virginia; E. O. S. Scholefield, 
librarian Legislative Library of British 
Columbia. 

In the absence of Miss M. M. Oakley, her 
report as secretary-treasurer was duly pre- 
sented, as follows: 

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-TREASURER, 
1004-1905 

In accordance with the suggestion in the 
report of the committee on financing the as- 
sociation, made to and accepted by the asso- 
ciation, Oct. 19, 1904, Mr. Henry, chairman, 
the secretary prepared the proceedings of the 
St. Louis meeting for publication in the usual 
manner. Five hundred copies were printed 
by the Library Bureau uniform with previous 
issues, and distributed to the libraries in pro- 
portion to the amount of dues promised by 
the respective librarians, the secretary re- 
serving loo copies for purposes of exchange 
and discretionary distribution. 

The report of last year showed an indebt- 
edness of $24.25, which could not be dis- 
charged on account of lack of funds. In or- 
der to meet this deficit $20 was subscribed 
during the meeting, and $4.25 was afterward 
taken from the advance dues of 1905, thereby 
making it possible for the secretary to clear 
the record and cancel the indebtedness on 
Jan. 31, 1905. 

In response to personal letters sent by the 
chairman of the finance committee, pledges 
for annual dues were received from the fol- 
lowing state libraries: California, Connecti- 
cut, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, 
Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hamp- 
shire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ver- 
mont, Virginia, Washington, and from the 
historical societies of Kansas, Missouri and 
Wisconsin. 

Receipts to date: 

California State Library $10.00 

Connecticut State Library 10.00 

Illinois State Library 7.50 

Indiana State Library 10.00 

Iowa State Library 10.00 

Kansas State Library 5.00 

Michigan State Library 5.00 

Minnesota State Library 5.00 



FIRST SESSION 



229 



Montana State Library $5.00 pense of the state, or emanating from any of 

New Hampshire State Library. .. 5.00 its departments or institutions, and two hun- 

ghto Y s?ate 3GJK : : : : : : : 2 dred c p ies of each individual r <* rt and <> ub - 

Pennsylvania State Library 10.00 Hcation. This proposed law reads as follows : 

f m ^ Jt CnaCted bv the Senate and H USC f 

::::: x fe 1 ^ 5 in legislature assembled - as 

Kansas Historical Society 5.00 c . ' ,, , , ,. . , . 

bection i. That under the direction of the 

S 

* and empowered to exchange copies of every 

-D .- _ __iJ * T' book, manuscript, document and other publi- 

Proceedmgs sold 1.00 c?t j on isued by ^ t ' he departments and in P stitu . 

* tions of this state, with all the states and 
> 43-5 w i tn any institution or foreign country that 

Disbursements to date: shall send its own publications to the state 

Library Bureau for printing library in mutual exchange. 

500 Proceedings $91.00 Section 2. Be it further enacted, that at 

Library Bureau, balance on least 75 copies of public documents, so 
1904 bill 4-25 called, shall be delivered annually by the sec- 
Printing programs retary of state to the state librarian for the 

Stamps 4.10 purpose of exchange, and that there shall be 

~ printed, bound and delivered to said librarian 

$102.00 at i east 2OO CO pies of every issue of any re- 
port or other publication of each department, 

Balance on hand $41.50 bureau and institution of the state. All 

The Wisconsin Historical Society furnished books, documents, publications and manu- 

gratis the manila envelopes used for sending scripts received by any one through gift, pur- 

the 75 single copies of the Proceedings. chase , exchange or loan from any source for 

the use of the state, shall constitute a part of 

The report was accepted. the state library, and shall be placed therein 

In the absence of the chairman of the for use o f its patrons. 

special committee on TITLE-PAGES AND IN- There were other duties imposed upon your 

DEXES TO PERIODICALS no report for that com- committee. They were required to recom- 

mittee was presented. mend that every public document should have 

L. D. CARVER presented a report for the printed on the back thereof the name of the 

state from which it emanated, a table of con- 

COMMITTEE ON EXCHANGE AND DISTRIBUTION tentS > and the VCar COVCred ^ the Va " OUS re ' 

OF STATE DOCUMENTS P orts contained in the volume. 

It is questionable whether it was wise to 

Five years ago this association appointed demand so many radical reforms in one re- 
a committee and instructed the members p0 rt. Was it not asking too much at once of 
thereof to devise a more efficient system for poor human nature? The mind refuses to 
the exchange of documents and other publi- receive anything when confused by a multi- 
cations between the states. plicity of questions suddenly proposed for its 

Four years ago your committee reported consideration and instant action. Notwith- 
recommending the enactment by each state of standing this defect in the report, it produced 
a uniform law of exchange. This proposed good results. Near the close of 1902, Hon. 
law invested the state librarian with the sole Roland P. Falkner, chairman of that corn- 
authority and absolute power of making all mittee, caused copies of the report and recom- 
exchanges with other states and countries, mendations to be printed and sent to every 
That he might have the means and power of governor and prominent legislator in each 
performing this duty efficiently and well, this state. AS a result several states have adopted 
law gave him the absolute control and posses- laws somewhat similar to the one proposed, 
sion of seventy-five copies of every public doc- and nearly all the delinquent states have man- 
ument or other publication issued at the ex- ifested an increased interest and generosity 



230 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



in regard to exchanges. More than 50 per 
cent, of the states still persist in adhering to 
the inefficient and antiquated methods of ex- 
change adopted in the early days before large 
collections of books became a necessity, and 
before the vast importance and value of state 
publications became known and fully realized. 

More than 50 per cent, of the states still 
make exchanges through the secretary of 
state, or under his supervision. Several states 
have no law providing for exchange of pub- 
lications, but perform this function as a mat- 
ter of custom and courtesy. In two states 
this work devolves on each department. 

It is still evident that this association has a 
further duty to perform in this matter. Your 
committee believes the work should be di- 
rected along different lines than those here- 
tofore pursued. Any argument or appeal to 
high state officials who are not specially in- 
terested in our work is of doubtful expediency 
and uncertain value. 

If we ever hope to bring about an effective 
and uniform system of exchange of docu- 
ments, we must work with the men in each 
state whose interests should be identical with 
our own. The appeals and recommendations 
of this association in this behalf should be ad- 
dressed directly to the state librarian. He is 
the man whose business it is to be interested 
in this matter. He should be held personally 
responsible to us for any failure to bring 
about proper relations of his state in the mat- 
ter of exchanges. This association ought to 
inaugurate a movement towards the educa- 
tion of state librarians. It needs to establish 
a school of instruction, to teach its members 
more fully and clearly the surpassing interest 
and value of the despised public documents, 
and how to use them, before we can ever 
hope to give and receive complete sets of 
these publications. 

It should demand of each of us an account 
of our stewardship in the administration' of 
our office. If the exchanges of any state are 
not satisfactory, it is the duty of this associa- 
tion to ascertain the reason therefor and to 
put forth vigorous efforts to remedy the de- 
fects therein. The secretary of state or other 
officer who carries on the exchanges as a side 
line to his chief business should be notified 



and importuned to give us better and fairer 
methods of exchange. The state librarian 
should also be advised, instructed and urged 
to take upon himself this important function 
which so naturally and logically pertains to 
his department, and which is so essential to 
the growth, development and usefulness of his 
library. 

The vast sums now expended in producing 
the department reports and other publications, 
both state and national, are virtually wasted 
because of want of system. There is utter 
lack of any system in publication, binding, ex- 
change and distribution of these works. In 
many states there is no system governing 
their distribution except the will or notion of 
the department official whence the work orig- 
inates. We repeat that it is the duty of this 
association to give its own members instruc- 
tion concerning the value and use of these 
publications, and to put forth all its power to 
bring about more sane and uniform system of 
distribution and exchange. If this work is 
not soon done, the folly of printing material 
that is wasted will cease, by the demand of 
the people, who are now becoming alive to 
the uselessness of such expenditures. Unless 
there is a reform soon, much valuable infor- 
mation will hereafter be allowed to sleep in 
manuscript form in the files of the bureaus 
and departments. 

This condition of affairs calls for energetic 
and continuous action on the part of our asso- 
ciation. Our first duty is to induce each li- 
brarian to secure every publication of the 
sister states by fair exchange. Our second 
duty requires that we should ourselves learn 
the value and best use of these publications, 
and impart such knowledge to others. The 
preparation and publication of indexes and 
catalogs of state publications ought to be a 
part of our work. So far little has been done 
in this direction. We fail in our high calling 
if we fail to inform the world of the treas- 
ures in our possession which belong to all the 
people of our state and nation. 

i. In view of these conditions your com- 
mittee recommend that the report of 1902, as 
amended by this association, be reprinted and 
sent to each state librarian, with instructions 
that it be given to the state library commis- 



FIRST SESSION 



231 



Committee. 



sioners and trustees and to all persons in the 
state specially interested in library work. 

2. We would further recommend that some 
competent person be employed by this asso- 
ciation as a permanent lecturer and teacher, 
whose duty it shall be to visit any delinquent 
state when its legislature is in session and de- 
liver lectures before that body upon the sub- 
ject of exchange and distribution of state 
publications, and to awaken among librarians 
a desire to learn the use and value of this 
class of literature. 

3. W further recommend that a commit- 
tee of three be appointed to devise a system 
of uniformity in the binding and lettering of 
public documents and reports of the different 
states, with authority to send to every state 
printer, binder and state department the rec- 
ommendations contained in their report. 

L. D. CARVER, ) 
C. B. GALBREATH, j 

Voted, That the report be accepted and 
filed. 

In the absence of E. M. Goddard, chairman, 
no report was presented from the committee 
on 

CLEARING HOUSE FOR STATE PUBLICATIONS, 

but a letter was read from Mr. Goddard for 
the committee, in which he stafed that he 
feared that it would be difficult for his com- 
mittee to make a report at Portland for the 
reasons that Miss Hubbard, one member of 
the committee, was in Europe and so could 
not well be consulted, while Dr. Whitten and 
himself had had no time to give to it the 
necessary attention ; that he felt, however, that 
some such scheme would be of use to all the 
libraries and wished that they might get to- 
gether on it. 

The PRESIDENT: What is your pleasure in 
relation to this one sentence, which was to take 
the place of the report of the committee? 
Are there any suggestions to be made upon it, 
whether the exchange should be effected by 
shipping the documents to the Division of 
Documents, which would seem to be impos- 
sible, or whether the Division of Documents 
should be supplied with lists of the state du- 
plicates which each library has, and the gen- 
eral distribution be made through that office? 



Mr. BRIGHAM: We have forwarded to 
Washington a number of our surplus docu- 
ments and have received documents from 
them in exchange. In the A. L. A. Council 
meeting I have favored Washington as a 
place of meeting, and I had, among other 
things, this plan in mind. I think if we 
should go to Washington we would get in 
closer touch with and would more thorough- 
ly understand the work of the Congressional 
Library and how to utilize that for our 
benefit 

Mr. CARVER: I have received from Wash- 
ington several packages of duplicate reports 
of my own state, and just before I left I re- 
ceived perhaps 200. Some of them were very 
valuable to me, and I was very glad to re- 
ceive them, and I am constantly sending in 
return United States publications that are 
duplicates with us. I have not received from 
them any publications of other states. If I 
understand rightly this is intended to be a 
mutual exchange between states as well as 
between the United States and one's own 
state? 

The PRESIDENT : That is the point. 

Mr. HENRY : I am not quite sure what is 
meant by a clearing-house. The work that 
Washington is now doing is a house-cleaning 
instead of a clearing-house; that is, they are 
simply sending back to the various states a 
lot of stuff that they have on hand that is use- 
less to them. We received at the Indiana 
State Library three or four weeks ago some 
three or four hundred volumes, including 
pamphlets, and, as Mr. Carver says, many of 
them were valuable to us. But that is mere- 
ly a way they have of getting rid of stuff that 
they do not want and has become a burden to 
them, just as we send back to the Superin- 
tendent of Documents a large amount of 
United States documents that we have picked 
up around the state. And I do not quite see 
why each state cannot attend to its own busi- 
ness. For instance, if I have documents that 
Maine needs, why not send them right back 
to Maine? And if Maine wants Indiana doc- 
uments that she does not have, let her give us 
a list of what she wants. 

Mr. CARVER : I will send you a list in a few 
days. 



.232 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



Mr. HENRY: I shall not promise to supply 
all of them, but I will promise to supply all we 
can. In the last three or four years I have 
gathered up around the state something like 
three or four thousand volumes, running back 
to the very early documents of the state : and 
we have them stored in our basement ready 
for just such calls as that, and within the 
last few weeks have organized them so that 
we can put a finger on any document we have. 
I should be very glad to send to any library 
in the United States any document that we 
have in duplicate, and I do not see any reason 
why the several states cannot attend to their 
own business instead of having a common 
center do that work for them. 

Dr. DEWEY: I do not believe it is possible 
to do anything else, because the state is the 
publisher and people lacking any document 
will always send to the state for it. They are 
overcrowded in Washington, so that they are 
unloading all they can and they cannot take on 
anything more. We have got to face the fact 
that the state library ought to be the book 
department of the state, the publishing de- 
partment and distributing department, and I 
think one of the great functions before the 
state libraries is to help kill off a lot of this 
material. Certainly in New York we pub- 
lish a great deal of stuff that would be just 
as well unpublished, that nobody reads. My 
comment is summed up in this : that the state 
will have to take care of its book publica- 
tions; that the state library ought to be the 
book department of the state ; if the librarian 
is good for anything he ought to know about 
manufacturing books, printing and labels. 
The state librarian ought to be the book ex- 
pert of the state 

The PRESIDENT: I should like to say, yes 
to what Mr. Dewey says, but it strikes me 
that there is another side to it. I wouldn't 
think of sending down to Washington car- 
loads of anything. We know we have re- 
quests from all over the country asking for 
this, that and the other report. There is 
hardly a librarian who has not longed to sit 
down and make, once for all, a fairly good 
list of his duplicates, but he does not want 
to go through those duplicates once a week 
or a month; he gets tired of it. But he can 



give an approximate list of his duplicate* 
along certain lines. We know that the gov- 
ernment has in its national affairs govern- 
ment depositories. My idea is that there 
should be sent to some department of the 
Library of Congress, as far as possible, a 
complete list of our duplicates available for 
exchange, not merely those which belong to 
our own state but to sister states, also. 
From these several lists an inventory of avail- 
able duplicates with their locations can be 
compiled. Each state library might also make 
request for such publications of his own and 
the several states as are needed to complete 
sets. This request to our clearing house 
could be honored by requesting the needed 
items to be sent from the libraries having 
these duplicates, which are located nearest 
to the library wanting them. Let there be 
a clearing-house, as in banking, and a check- 
ing out of those documents to be forwarded 
to the library which is nearest where those 
books happen to be located. I believe it is 
perfectly feasible. I believe also if we had 
ideal state librarians, if we hac* ideal 
state libraries, if we had the franking 
privilege or an unlimited appropriation we 
could do what is apparently the ideal thing, 
but we have not. We are facing a condition 
rather than a theory. It needs united action 
and intelligent presentation on the part of 
the state libraries. I think there is some- 
thing to this that is going to help every state 
librarian in getting rid of his duplicates and 
putting them where they are wanted and can 
best be utilized, at the least possible expense 
in money and effort on the part of the libra- 
rian. I hope it will be discussed thoroughly. 

Mr. BRIGHAM : Excuse my rising with a 
suggestion, but Miss Haines is with us now 
and has a report on a subject of interest to 
us all, and as it is not always easy for her 
to get away from the main sessions, I move 
that this discussion be deferred and that we 
now call on Miss Haines. 

The PRESIDENT: I do not think it is neces- 
sary to make that motion. This is a pleasant 
surprise to all of us, because it does not ap- 
pear on the program. You have all seen 
"State publications," published by Mr. Bow- 
ker, which is an attempt to make a bibliog- 



FIRST SESSION 



233 



raphy of state official literature. Mr. W. N. 
Seaver, who has had in hand the compiling 
of these lists, has had the goodness to write 
out some of his experiences, and the answers 
he has received from state librarians and 
other librarians throughout the country who 
have charge of the state publications. Miss 
Haines has kindly consented to read this 
paper at this time. 

Miss HELEN E. HAINES read a paper by 
*W. N. SEAVER: 

NOTES ON STATE DOCUMENTS BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Of all printed things state documents seem 
to present the greatest perplexities and dis- 
couragements to the bibliographical worker. 
In the first place, the bibliographer finds his 
material fragmentary in the extreme, and ut- 
terly confused as to dates and series where 
clearness is of utmost importance ; in the sec- 
ond place, he finds library collections incom- 
plete and inaccessible, and comparatively few 
persons sufficiently intelligent, interested, or 
willing to assist him in his work or even an- 
swer his letters. He must in many cases bat- 
tle on single-handed, making the most of stray 
hints and forlorn hopes here and there. If 
his work were backed up with government 
funds, or even the pence of "pious petro- 
leum potentates," help would undoubtedly 
fly to him like steel filings to a magnet. Such, 
however, are not in these days the conditions 
under which the benevolent bibliographer 
works. 

1 he particular bibliography with which I 
have had some experience, Mr. Bowker's 
"State publications," begun some years ago 
in an endeavor to do for the several states a 
work which practically none of them had then 
done for themselves, is a purely unselfish un- 
dertaking of which he meets personally the en- 
tire cost an expense which would not be 
covered by the sale of the entire edition of 
500 copies. The work is pre-eminently a labor 
of love. Obviously, under these conditions 
it is impossible to send persons to examine 
the document collections in the several state?, 
or to pay for the help of local correspond- 
ents. This does not deter us, however, from 
asking for the practical cooperation of libra- 
rians and historical students, for we know that 



it is ultimately to their advantage to have the 
bibliography complete and correct in fact, 
it was originally planned largely with a view 
to assisting libraries in the perfecting of their 
document collections and our experience on 
Parts I. and II. of the work (the former pre- 
pared wholly and the latter in part by Miss 
Frances B. Hawley), covering the northern 
states from Maine to Wisconsin, had shown 
that there are here and there progressive li- 
brarians who are quick to recognize the value 
of cooperative work and to accept its respon- 
sibilities as a profitable investment of odd 
moments. 

But just what has been our experience in 
preparing Part III. of the bibliography, which 
covers the 20 states and organized territories 
west of the Mississippi except Arkansas, Lou- 
isiana, and Texas? In the beginning we sent 
out personally-addressed letters to the state 
librarians in the states concerned (using the 
word "state" in a general way to cover terri- 
tories as well), setting forth the nature of the 
work, showing the value it would have for 
them, and asking of each one his cooperation 
in preparing the list of his own particular 
state. In three states Iowa, Colorado, and 
Washington we already had lists previously 
prepared by former state or city librarians ; of 
the state librarians of the other states we asked 
frankly that they would have a list prepared 
for us "on the spot." What was the result? 

The state librarians or their assistants in 
the three states mentioned cooperated very 
effectively in revising and extending the lists 
prepared by their predecessors. Evidently the 
true library spirit was well established in those 
libraries. Out of the 17 state librarians who 
were asked for original lists, just three saw 
the value of the proposed work and complied 
with the request; this adds to the honor roll 
the state librarians of Minnesota, Wyoming, 
and California. This left 14 other lists to be 
provided. The state historical societies were 
next approached, and while as a rule they 
showed greater interest than the state libra- 
rians, they were too often handicapped by 
lack of material or the confusion of it Three 
secretaries or librarians of such societies, how- 
ever, prepared original lists, namely, in Mis- 
souri, Kansas, and South Dakota, and two of 






234 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



these are among the best lists in the entire 
book. Next there came original lists from one 
territorial secretary (New Mexico) and one 
state university librarian (Utah). This left 
nine states wherein no one could be found, 
through the usual channels, sufficiently inter- 
ested or disinterested to prepare an orig- 
inal list of the documents of his own state, 
for his own state's sake. The lists for these 
states, therefore, had to be prepared here 
in the East, chiefly from the extensive col* 
lection of state publications in the docu- 
ment department of the New York Public 
Library, where Miss Hasse afforded us every 
assistance, and from a few library catalogs, 
like that of the State Library of Massachu- 
setts and others deemed trustworthy. These 
lists are necessarily incomplete, yet no effort 
has been spared to make them accurate and 
reliable as far as they go. And of those origi- 
nal lists prepared in the states themselves, 
some were scanty and not very well done and 
had to be filled out and improved from similar 
material. 

A second attempt was now made to obtain 
local cooperation, and proofs of these East- 
ern-made lists were sent to state librarians, 
state historical societies, and state university 
librarians in the states concerned, this time 
with the simple request that the proofs be 
looked over, criticised, corrected, or extended, 
to the extent of available information. What 
came of it? Our former experience was re- 
peated. The total result was really effective 
cooperation from one more state librarian 
(Arizona), and from two state university li- 
brarians (Nebraska and Wyoming) with a 
promise of help from one other (Washington) 
not yet finally heard from. 

There are the statistics. In 20 states just 
seven state librarians and one secretary were 
willing to cooperate in preparing a bibliogra- 
phy intended to be of value first of all to them, 
which without their cooperation must be less 
complete and less accurate; 12 rendered no 
aid whatever, and this notwithstanding the 
fact that the result would have been a bibli- 
ography of the publications of their own states 
published without any expense to them save 
the labor of some assistant in odd moments. 
Without moralizing upon the statistics, let 



me throw a few side-lights upon the work 
that will perhaps disclose a moral, if there be 
any lurking in the dark corners. 

First of all, the success of the cooperative 
side of the work has probably depended very 
largely on the attitude of mind in which state 
librarians and others have received our cor- 
respondence. From Mr. Bowker's original 
appeal for original lists, of which I have 
spoken above, down through many subsequent 
appeals for the reading or revision of proofs, 
our letters have met with varying fates. Sad- 
dest of all is the serious probability that some 
state librarians, having abundant faith in the 
keenness of their instincts and but little in 
human nature, have cried out, upon reading a 
letter from us : "Aha ! a mere circular ! To 
the waste-basket with it !" And never an 
answer from them. Others, even more keen, 
have scented a confidence game; they do not 
understand the disinterested tone in which the 
letter is written at any rate they do not like 
it. And never an answer from them. After a 
month of weary waiting we stir up all these 
delinquents with a most polite letter of inquiry, 
and very likely receive a reply like this, which 
came on a scrawled postal-card from an in- 
dividual who claimed to be secretary of state : 

"DR. SIR: Your letter of Feb. 16 has been 
mislaid and we do not remember its con- 
tents Res. 

. . . , Secretary of State." 

Complete disregard of our letters occurred 
usually in states where the "state librarian" 
was merely the secretary of state "ex officio." 
A delicious morsel, that phrase "ex officio," 
but with secretaries of state it often means 
total inefficiency in the secondary office. I 
must, however, record a notable exception in 
the secretary of New Mexico, Mr. J. W. Ray- 
nolds, who has courteously furnished us with 
a careful list of New Mexico publications and 
exact data in answer to inquiries. But the 
state librarian, "ex officio" or other, who does 
not reply to straightforward, personally-ad- 
dressed correspondence on so vital a subject 
as the official history of his own state, nor 
even acknowledge registered letters, is entitled 
at any time to my private opinion of him in 
an envelope marked "Personal." 
Fortunately our correspondents are not all 



FIRST SESSION 



235 



like these. Others seem to realize the sin* 
cerity of the undertaking, and from them come 
replies of one sort and another. First of all 
are the prompt promises of help that make the 
heart tingle with joy and do honor to the 
sender, as for example, this from the state 
librarian of California: 

"DEAR SIR: We have vols. i and 2 of the 
'Bibliography of state publications/ and will 
make arrangements immediately to prepare 
the work for California and forward it to 
you at the earliest possible date. . . ." 

The same spirit is manifest in the following 
letters from states for which we already had 
lists and had asked for their revision to date. 
From the state librarian of Iowa, this : 

"DEAR SIR: . . . My assistant in the Docu- 
ment Department is making a careful check 
of our list of Iowa state publications com- 
piled for the forthcoming part 3 of Bow- 
ker's 'State publications.' The list will be re- 
turned to you in two or three days at the out- 
V si tie. 

"I regard these state publications as very 
valuable, and we are pleased to do our part 
toward making the same accurate so far as 
our own state is concerned." 

From the former assistant state librarian of 
Colorado, the state librarian de facto, this : 

"SiR: Yes, I am willing to take the list 
you have, bring it up to date and add a list of 
those documents to which Mr. Tandy may 
not have had access. 

"Send me two or three copies of the print- 
er's galley proof. 

"Tell me, please, the length of time at my 
disposal. I have all the work of this library 
to do, but I will try to have this work ready 
when it is needed, provided the time is not 
too short." 

A year later this latter correspondent wrote : 

"DEAR SIR: I am still working on the list. 
... It is not finished, and I cannot tell 
when it will be. You know that I have to 
work on it between times, and there are some 
days that I do npt have time to touch it. ... 
I have been in every room in the building in 
the interest of the list. Mr. Dudley, of the 
Public Library, kindly gave me permission to 
look over his set of Colorado documents. . . . 
I also planned to send to the state institutions 
outside of the city their lists, so they could 
add those that I had not. . . . Before send- 
ing on to you I ought to go over the whole 
thing again. ... I have access also to the 
documents in the State Historical Society." 

The cheerful good-will and patient toil 
which such men and women devote unsel- 



fishly to a cause cannot be too highly praised. 
Yet it rarely brings them actual expressions 
of the gratitude they deserve. 

Occasionally a promise of help is not pro- 
ductive of expected results. A letter like this 
brings cheer and hope that lasts for months : 

"DEAR SIR: ... I wish to say that I am 
deeply interested in this matter and would 
like to have our state fairly and fully repre- 
sented in part 3, which I understand is in 
preparation. 

". . . If you will be kind enough to give 
this matter your attention I will in turn 
promptly do my part of the work." 

But alas ! it took a year of constant urging 
and prodding to get the promised help from 
this good man. 

Others write pathetically that they appre- 
ciate the importance of the work, and would 
like to help a great deal, but that the legisla- 
ture has been stingy toward the state library 
from time immemorial and has never pro- 
vided it with the documents in question, or 
that their predecessors were incompetent and 
so the documents are dumped in chaos on the 
shelves or are down cellar moulding away. 

For instance, one lady-in-charge-of-a-state- 
library went to the trouble of making for us 
a list of general literature about her state or 
by citizens of the state, and when it was made 
clear to her what we really wanted she re- 
plied: "Our library is supposed to have a 
complete set of all officers' reports, but it does 
not have, and I have pleaded, coaxed, scolded, 
and all in vain in some cases." In the ad- 
joining state, the lady who has charge of the 
state library wrote: 

"DEAR SIR: ... I have not the documents 
you wish in my charge, only now and then a 
copy; they seem not to have been preserved 
in the library. I know of no one but the Sec- 
retary of State who might have them or be 
able to get them." 

The secretary of state, however, shoved the 
responsibility off upon the Oldest Inhabitant, 
and to him proofs were immediately de- 
spatched, in high hopes. A few days later the 
mail brought them back, with the following 
laconic but decisive message scrawled in 
pencil : 

"It would take ten days to veryfy and cor- 
rect this Statement and I havent the time to 
contribut" (sic). 






236 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



When our Eastern-made list was sent, a year 
later, to the lady-at-the-state-library, she re- 
turned the proofs quite uninjured, with this 
letter : 

"DEAR SIR: I return the enclosed matter, 
as I find it impossible to attend to it. You 
seem to have had access to very much more of 

history than is available to me in 

this library, where I find no complete sets of 

literature, except the supreme court 

reports and very little of her history. This 
library is entirely law, consequently other 
matters have small space here. . . ." 

The secretary of the South Dakota State 
Historical Society wrote as follows : 

"DEAR SIR: . . . We will 'have the South 
Dakota list ready in a short time, but we 
shall be unable to do anything at all compre- 
hensive with Dakota Territory. The circum- 
stances surrounding these territorial publica- 
tions render it impossible to do so without 
the most difficult research. ... In the early 
days officials were grossly careless about pre- 
serving published reports. Then the capital 
was removed from Y?nkton to Bismarck and 
in the transfer manv valuable publications 
were lost. Later the territory was divided 
and the books in the territorial library were 
divided upon the basis of so many feet of 
shelf room. The South Dakota allotment 
was boxed up and shipped to Pierre, where 
in the absence of room for its better disposal 
the boxes were piled up in the basement of 
the temporary capitol, where the accumula- 
tions of 14 subsequent years have buried 
them beyond hope of resurrection. We do 
not have a scrap of anything which assumes 
to be an index to these territorial publica- 
tions" 

This, unfortunately, is only typical of the 
widespread disregard and neglect of state 
documents by state officials. The governor of 
Arizona said in his message of 1899: 

"Hundrels of territorial books have been 
taken away by unauthorized persons and 
never returned, and books filched from this 
library can be found in many attorneys' offices 
in Los Angeles as well as in Arizona." 

The most discouraging obstacle of all is the 
frequent message that the guarantee of much 
fine gold is a desirable, in fact a necessary, 
prerequisite to carrying on negotiations for 
cooperation. Truly we must all over the 
world earn our livings, and that, too, at our 
set tasks, but why is it that some people are so 
glad to devote their odd moments out of work 
hours to labor that will be of value to the peo- 
ple of their state and to their fellow-librarians, 



without thought of reward, while the first 
question of others is, "What do / get out of 
it?" How discouraging is such a letter as 
this, from a denominational university in the 
state where your conference is to be held : 

"DEAR SIR : The enclosed papers were given 
me with a request that if possible I find 
some one who would do the work of looking 
up corrections, etc. The state librarian, how- 
ever, says that it would entail the work of 
probably two weeks or more. Since there 
are no funds provided as compensation for 
the one doing this work, I am compelled to 
return it to you undone." 

Why should it not have occurred to the 
writer that a work like this could be done 
without "compensation," from "funds" or 
otherwise? The most striking experience of 
this kind was in one of the interior states, 
where the lady-m-charge-of-the-state-library 
wrote : 

". . . We are so busy preparing to put up 
new shelving in our library and I am short 
of help. Would therefore recommend Mrs. 
X. to do your work. She has been in the 
employ of the . . . Magazine . . . for many 
years and is well qualified. . . . She will be 
aided so far as our limited time will allow." 

In the same mail came a letter from Mrs. 
X: 

". . . If you want these reports and are 
willing to pay a fair price for the labor in- 
volved in hunting up the statistics and pre- 
paring them for publication, I shall be glad 
to do the work." 

Upon explaining to Mrs. X that payment 
was out of the question she sent back word: 

"... I cannot afford to give my time for 
glory. I doubt if you could find any one here 
who would. Mrs. [Lady-in-Charge-of-the- 
State-Library] told me she would not, and 
strongly expressed herself against either of 
us so doing." 

I like, however, to cherish the fond belief 
that this spirit is not representative of the li- 
brary conditions of that state any more than of 
any other, but only stands forth in a particu- 
larly aggravated case. In fact, in this same 
state the attitude of the state law librarian 
was quite different. He wrote: 

"... I have taken the time to personally 
read and correct the strictly legal part of the 
proofs. . . . You certainly deserve praise for 
attempting such an herculean undertaking, as 
'State publications;' if completed it certainly 
will be of inestimable value. I wish you all 
success. . 



FIRST SESSION 



237 



So, in spite of many, many discouragements, 
such as those just related, the work has its 
encouraging side. And, strange as it may 
seem, it has also a humorous side. There's 
probably no dryer work in the world than 
compiling a bibliography of state publications. 
If there is, it would be interesting to know 
what it is. Yet into this dry-as-dust atmo- 
sphere enters now and then a breath of real 
human nature, or a breeze of real humor, that 
relieves and refreshes the nigh stupefied brain 
of the worker. There is humor even in the 
confusion of badly-numbered documents ; they 
get out their reports, those state officials, for 
no future bibliographer's convenience not a 
bit of it ! So long as the report is made and 
printed, what matter if it is numbered the 3d 
or the iQth? In fact, what harm in each new 
incumbent of an office starting a new series 
with his own first report who would dare 
or care to call this egotism? Or what mat- 
ter, again, if each biennial report of the Home 
for Feeble-minded for eight successive years 
is called the 5th biennial? The imprint says 
"Printed by the pupils" possibly, too, it was 
written by one, and allowances must be made. 
Indeed, one sometimes wonders if the writers 
of these reports are not graduates of such in- 
stitutions. Certainly some of then", could have 
spent little time in the public schools wit- 
ness this specimen of English in the report of 
a Soldiers' Home. Referring to the fact that 
by state law the old soldiers were not allowed 
to have their wives at the home, the writer 
says: 

"Their every necessary want is supplied, 
but their stay here is embittered because of 
the separation from the wife of their youth. 
Under our law she is debarred from accom- 
panying him and necessity compels them to 
separate." 

The most interesting humor, if not the fun- 
niest, is generally unconscious. For instance, 
who can suppose that the legislators of Ari- 
zona saw anything unusual in the title of a 
law passed in 1871 "An Act to Authorize 
the Compilation and Publication of Informa- 
tion to Promote Immigration"? Does the 
Oklahoma militiaman smile when he sees his 
blanket stamped "OK. N. G."? When Indian 
Territory had its own Assembly did the 
Indians in council at Okmulgee ever smile 
at remarks by Mr. Tehee? And even the 



scrawled postal-cards from men who "havent 
the time to contribut" and the women who 
"cannot afford to give their time for glory," 
as well as the declared horror of the state 
librarian at devoting two whole weeks "and 
possibly more," to a labor of love are 
funny at the same time that they are sad- 
dening. 

So the work is relieved from time to time 
by these stray breezes. But it is serious 
work as a whole, and it leads one to the in- 
evitable conclusion that while there are many 
devoted souls in state libraries who realize 
the value of a work of this kind and are 
willing to give their time and strength to it 
without thought of reward, many states 
have yet to learft the value of the history 
that lies in their own documents, to learn 
the real function of the state library and the 
real meaning of the office of state librarian; 
and to learn, moreover, that a political state 
librarian, or one of the ex officio kind, is 
worse than a dummy is really an obstacle 
in the way of state progress and development. 
If in the future this bibliographical ground 
is gone over again, let us hope there will 
be no occasion for such a letter as this re- 
ceived from the librarian of a state univer- 
sity : 

"... I cannot suppress a smile when you 
suggest that the work be done at the state 
library. This library is a political foot-ball, 
is not run at all, and there is no one who 
knows the first thing about such work. Any- 
thing you could get from them would be 5 
superficial botch. This is strong language 
but fully warranted. . . ." 

Let us hope on the contrary, that the state 
libraries then will all be established on 
modern lines and well organized for work of 
this kind, and that there may be no necessity 
to appeal to the lady journalist who "can- 
not afford to give her time for glory" nor 
to the Oldest Inhabitant who "hasn't the 
time to contribut." 

Mr. BRIGHAM : I have long been of the 
opinion that we were under many obligations 
to Mr. Bowker and to Mr. Seaver. My cor- 
respondence with Mr. Seaver has made a 
profound impression on me, that he is the 
right man in the right place. I move a 
vote of thanks to Mr. Bowker and Mr. 
Seaver for the work they have done in this 



238 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



bibliography of "State publications," and also 
to Mr. Seaver and to Miss Haines for the 
very interesting paper that has just been 
read. Voted. 

In the absence of Dr. R. H. Whitten, chair- 
man, the president read the report of the 

COMMITTEE ON UNIFORMITY IN PREPARATION 
AND PUBLICATION OF SESSION LAWS 

A circular calling attention to resolutions 
adopted by this association at its Milwaukee 
meeting has been sent again this year to the 
governor and secretary of state of each state 
holding a legislative session. Returns for 
the year are not yet available but a full re- 
port in regard thereto can be made next year. 
It is kno\vn however that progress toward 
the desired uniformity has been made in at 
least one state. 

ROBT. H. WHITTEN, Chairman. 

JOHNSON BRIGHAM, 

C. B. GALBREATH. 

In the absence of Miss Hasse, chairman, 
Mr. W. E. HENRY read the report of the com- 
mittee On 

SYSTEMATIC BIBLIOGRAPHY OF STATE OFFICIAL 
LITERATURE 

Your committee on bibliography begs re- 
spectfully to report that since the last meet- 
ing of the Association the sum of $4000 has 
been made available for the purpose of com- 
piling an index to those publications of the 
American commonwealths, having an eco- 
nomic bearing. 

The work will be done under the direction 
of the chairman of the present committee. 
The sum appropriated suffices to supply only 
the promoters of the work with copies of the 
cards. 

The documents indexed will include de- 
partmental and committee reports and legis- 
lative journals from the first printing to and 
including 1904, It is estimated that a set 
will comprise between 20,000 and 25,000 
cards. The subjects will include every 
branch of public finance, taxation, banking, 
insurance, public works, public industries, 
transportation, etc. The form of entry will 
be the single line entry familiar as the or- 
dirary book index. 

Work is to be begun at once and will 
proceed without delay. 



It has not been possible, so far, to make 
any arrangement by which state libraries, 
college libraries and public libraries could be 
supplied with copies of this work. 

There are two alternatives, viz., to supply 
libraries with copies of the cards, or to re- 
ceive sufficient guarantee to warrant the 
printing of the index when completed. The 
former is, by far, the more expensive and, 
in the end, the least satisfactory. Your com- 
mittee believes that the ways and means to 
provide libraries with copies of this work 
would be better devised by a specially ap- 
pointed committee, and respectfully asks that 
the present committee be discharged. 

A. R. HASSE, Chairman. 

Mr. HENRY: I do not understand what 
Miss Hasse means by "only the promoters 
of the work will be supplied with cards." 
That is, I do not understand who the pro- 
moters are that she refers to, unless it be the 
New York Public Library, because it seems 
the work is to be done under Miss Hasse's 
direction. There is no suggestion made here 
of how these cards should be supplied where 
they will be the most needed; that is, to the 
state libraries themselves. 

The PRESIDENT: I would like to take the 
liberty of asking Mr. Andrews, who has done 
work right along this same line at the John 
Crerar Library, his personal opinion as to 
which is the most desirable and best way to 
get at the contents of public documents of 
the several states, whether it would be better 
to take the cards as they are issued, or to wait 
until the whole thing could appear as an index 
in book form? 

Mr. ANDREWS : I answer with some dif- 
fidence, because perhaps my answer would be 
rather biased by our own processes of work 
and also perhaps by my experience, similar 
to that of Mr. Seaver, of the difficulty of 
obtaining material, not merely from state li- 
brarians, but with other state officials. If 
you could obtain your material promptly and 
get it in shape so that it could be indexed, 
I am inclined to think that book form would 
be the most available. But I think the only 
possible way is to use the card form, simply 
because experience shows that we cannot get 
the material promptly enough for annual 
issue, and anything later than an annual 



FIRST SESSION 



239 



issue, as the "Poole index" shows, does not 
satisfy the investigator. It is fair to say 
that the states which issue their publications 
promptly are the ones best worth consult- 
ing, and the ones that make the best pro- 
vision for distribution are the ones that are 
most used, and would be most used by in- 
vestigators in any case, as they have the most 
valuable material. 

Mr. CARVER: I have listened to this with 
great interest. It does seem to me that the 
use of the cards would give us instant use 
of a certain portion of the work, as soon as 
they are received, while if we waited for the 
matter to be printed we might have to wait 
many months or years. 

Mr. GALBREATH: It would seem, to begin 
with, that it might be best to have this printed 
index, if it is the purpose of the New York 
Public Library to bring it out in the near 
future. Then it could be supplemented by 
the cards from time to time. 

The PRESIDENT: It strikes me that the 
possession of such an index, whether it be 
card or book, is going to open up to us the 
contents of the whole field of the official publi- 
cations of the several states. It is going to 
save us a whole lot of shelving, by making 
available the contents of neighboring state li- 
braries. 

Mr. HENRY: I think the matter the pres- 
ident mentions is probably of the high- 
est value to us. All the documents we have 
we catalog, as we do the books we purchase. 
Any book we have from any state is cata- 
loged. So we are not helpless in our library 
in regard to the state publications that we 
have, but there are a large number of states 
from which we obtain nothing; and of course 
a large number of the older states that are 
now distributing to us very freely and fully, 
have not and never can have their old docu- 
ments to distribute, so that we are perfectly 
helpless for documents back of comparatively 
a few years ago. And it seems to me that 
this indexing process will be most valuable 
to us, not for what we have, but for what we 
have not. 

Mr. GILLIS: It appears to me that the best 
plan would be the cards, and the most imme- 
diate. It appears that it would be a very 
large work and very difficult to have it 



brought up to date. This matter is new to 
me and I am hardly prepared to discuss the 
subject, but it does seem to me as though the 
cards are the best and will bring the most 
immediate results. 

Mr. HENRY: I should like to inquire if 
you know or if anyone else knows what is 
probably the cost of subscribing for these 
cards? Miss Hasse says there will be from 
twenty to twenty-five thousand cards, to make 
it complete to date. There is nothing in the 
report that indicates how expensive it would 
be to obtain those. If there were such a 
report as that issued, I am sure that in the 
Indiana State Library we should want it at 
any reasonable cost, but I should like to 
have some hint, if anyone has any informa- 
tion, as to what it is likely to cost the state 
and whether that cost will be distributed, 
so that it can be met in a certain number 
of years as the work develops, or whether an 
appropriation will have to be made so that 
it should be available at once? 

The PRESIDENT : In my correspondence with 
Miss Hasse I received the impression, that 
if all the states subscribed to this work it 
would not require anything like $500 apiece, 
but in view of the possible few who might 
subscribe it would probably be not far from 
$500 apiece. I also gained the impression 
that this would not necessarily have to be 
paid at once but might be paid in instalments. 
This can be cleared up if we appoint, as Miss 
Hasse suggests, a committee of ways and 
means, to take up the matter and correspond 
with her, and find out what is expected in 
the way of contribution of material and con- 
tribution of money, and report at our next 
annual meeting. 

Mr. CARVER: In the law department of 
our state library we spend about $300 a year 
on digests and indexes which enable the at- 
torneys and the courts to get at any decision 
or any point decided in any of the courts of 
the states of the United States. Now it 
seems to me that public documents are of 
equal importance with the decisions of the 
courts, and I certainly would feel that in 
our state library we would be willing to 
subscribe $200 a year as the work goes on, 
to put this thing through, because I think 
it is of value to the people at large, not only 



240 



PORTLAND CONFERENCE 



to the law courts and to legislators, but to 
the literary man and to the historian. 

Mr. HEXRY: I move that the chair appoint, 
at some time during this convention, a com- 
mittee to undertake this work. Voted. 

It was also Voted that the report be ac- 
cepted and the committee discharged. 

Dr. DEWEY: This money has been given by 
some people who want to use the results of 
(he work. I stated to Miss Hasse that we 
must find some way by which the state libra- 
ries should have the benefit of this index. 
Of course that means either duplicating the 
cards or else printing it in book form. The 
latter, book form, we could circulate much 
more widely, but we want the record kept 
up. This index must be kept up every year, 
and I am inclined to think what we ought 
to do is to ask Mr. Putnam to print these 
cards and let us in the state libraries 
make up a subscription for this purpose. 
He has all the machinery for doing it and 
doing it well; Miss Hasse has the material 
all ready. If the state libraries could make 
a pool to insure its being printed at Wash- 
ington, anybody all over the world could get 
at it, we would be able to keep it up-to-date, 
and it seems to me that is the better way. 
Mr. Putnam has never failed to do what 
library interests demanded, if it was in his 
power, and I think it would be fair for us 
in the state libraries not go to him and say 
"Do this for nothing," but to say "Here are 
so many states ; we all want this and are will- 
ing to pay for it," and I think he would do 
it and I think he ought to do it. It is a 
service that affects the whole country. 

SECOND SESSION 

(UNITARIAN CHURCH CHAPEL, PORTLAND, 
THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 6.) 

President GODARD called the meeting to 
order at 8.15. 
W. E. HENRY spoke for the committee on 

STATE LIBRARY STATISTICS 

Mr. HENRY: On this subject I attempted 
to follow up the work that Miss Roberts, 
now of Missouri, had done when she was in 
the state library of Michigan; and at the re- 



quest of the Association made last year I sent 
out a list of questions to all the state libraries 
in the country and received back reports from 
somewhat less than half of them. Several 
of those reports came in only within the last 
two or three days before I left home, so that 
any report that I could have made from such 
statistics would have been practically worth- 
less. Further than that, when I began to read 
the answers to the questions, I discovered 
that I had not asked a very intelligent set of 
questions. That is, they did not bring out 
what I had hoped they would elicit and so 
I have no report to make. I am sorry that 
is the case; for I have tried always, in the 
Association and elsewhere, to do the thing 
that was assigned me to do, as best I could. 

I am going to make one suggestion to the 
Association, however, which it may take up 
or not as it may feel inclined; and that is 
that we ought to continue the work that Miss 
Roberts began, and it seems to me that a 
committee of three probably might consult, 
and formulate a set of questions that would 
bring out the yearly advances of the various 
state libraries. The same set of questions 
could be reported on year after year, so that 
in the course of five or ten years or any series 
of years we might have, perhaps in a single 
sheet, a recprd showing step by step how the 
various libraries had developed. Of course, 
one of the difficulties with most statistical 
work that we have done in our states is that 
one year the report deals with one thing and 
the next year with another thing, and in the 
course of ten years we have no record that 
will show whether we have progressed in 
any one particular line through a series of 
years or not. 

The PRESIDENT: Would it not be well to 
make a motion providing for a committee 
which shall formulate these standard ques- 
tions? 

Mr. CARVER : I move that one person be ap- 
pointed for that purpose by this association. 
Voted. 

The PRESIDENT : The vote is unanimous and 
I will appoint Mr. Henry. We will now pass 
to the next matter upon our program, and 
Mr. Henry will report as chairman of the 
committee on 



SECOND SESSION 



241 



CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 

Mr. HENRY presented the following: 

PROPOSED CONSTITUTION OF THE NATiONAL 
ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES 

Name 

Section i. The name of this Association 
shall be National Association of State Li- 
braries. 

Object 

Section 2. The object shall be to develop 
and increase the usefulness and efficiency of 
the several state libraries and other libraries 
doing the work of state libraries. 

Members 

Section 3. There may be two classes of 
members, regular and associate. 

Section 4. Regular members shall be 
elected from such persons connected with 
state libraries, state historical societies, state 
law libraries, and other libraries doing the 
work of state libraries, as may be recom- 
mended by their respective librarians. 

Section 5. Associate members may be 
elected from other libraries and shall have all 
the privileges of regular members except 
holding office and voting. 

Voting 

Section 6. In the election of officers the 
vote shall be by states as units. 

Officers 

Section 7. The officers shall consist of a 
president, first vice-president, second vice- 
president, secretary-treasurer, an executive 
committee, and a membership committee of 
three, all of whom shall be elected by ballot 
at the annual meeting and .serve until their 
successors are qualified. 

SectionS. The executive committee shall 
consist of three members, viz., the president, 
secretary-treasurer, and retiring president. 

Section 9. The membership committee 
shall consist of the president, vice-presidents, 
and secretary-treasurer. 

Section 10. Vacancies through non-accept- 
ance or resignation of office shall be filled by 
the executive committee. 

Section n. The duties of these several 
officers shall be those ordinarily assigned to 
said officers in similar associations. 

Meetings 

Section 12. Regi lar meetings of the As- 
sociation shall be held annually at such time 
and place as may be determined by the ex- 
ecutive committee, provided the same has not 
been determined Vy the Association. It be- 
ing expected that the meetings will be held 
at the same time and place as the annual 



meetings of the A. L. A., unless there are 
special reasons for holding them elsewhere. 

Section 13. Special meetings may be held 
at such times and places as the executive 
committee may elect or the Association di- 
rect. 

Reports 

Section 14. There shall be printed under 
the direction of the secretary-treasurer as 
soon as practicable after each annual meet- 
ing the Proceedings and Addresses of such 
meeting, to be printed uniform with recent 
issues ani to include all papers in full, unless 
cut by the author, all formal reports, resolu- 
tions, and recommendations, and such sum- 
mary of discussion as the secretary may 
elect. 

By-laws 

Section 15. Any by-law may be suspended 
by a three-fourths vote of those present and 
voting at any meeting of the Association. 

Amendments 

Section 16. This constituton may be 
amended by a three-fourths vote of those 
present and voting at two successive meet- 
ings of the Association, provided that notice 
of the amendments in their final form be sent 
to each member of the Association at least 
one month before their final adoption. 

BY-LAWS 

Section i. An annual due of not more 
than ten dollars nor less than five dollars, the 
specific amount to be determined by the libra- 
rian of said library, shall be assessed against 
each library of the Association and shall be 
due and payable at the annual meeting. 

Section 2. Five hundred copies of the an- 
nual Proceedings and Addresses shall be 
printed. 

Section 3. One hundred copies of each re- 
port shall be reserved by the secretary-treas- 
urer for exchange. The balance shall be dis- 
tributed to the several libraries of the Asso- 
ciation in proportion to the annual due paid. 
W. E. HENRY, 
GEO. S. GODARD, 
C. B. GALBREATH, 

Committee. 

It was Voted that the constitution and by- 
laws be adopted as read. 

NOMINATIONS 

The PRESIDENT: The next matter on our 
(program ; s "Miscellaneous business," and 
under this head I would announce as the 
nominating committee, for the nomination of 
officers for the coming year: Col. Carver, of 
Maine; Mrs. Howey, of Montana, and Mr. 
Hitt, of Washington. Knowing that there 
would now be no opportunity for them to 



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meet and report before we close the meeting, 
I advised them of their appointment at the 
last meeting, and if they are ready they can 
return their report at this time. 

Mr. CARVER: Mr. President, the committee 
has considered and begs to report the follow- 
ing : for President, John P. Kennedy, of Rich- 
mond, Va. ; First vice-president, J. L. Gillis, 
of Sacramento, Cal. ; Second vice-president, 
Mary C. Spencer, Lansing, Michigan; Secre- 
tary-treasurer, Miss M. M. Oakley, of Mad- 
ison, Wisconsin. 

The PRESIDENT: These nominations will lie 
upon the table until their regular turn in our 
program later. 

Mr. CARVER: Is there anything in the con- 
stitution to show when it goes into effect? 

Mr. GILLIS: It is necessary for this con- 
stitution to go into effect immediately, if we 
are going to have a membership committee 
elected as provided therein, and I move that 
the constitution go into effect immediately. 
Voted. 

The PRESIDENT: As unfinished business 
there is for further consideration the report 
of Col. Carver upon 

EXCHANGE AND DISTRIBUTION OF STATE DOCU- 
MENTS 

Mr. GILLIS : I move that that committee be 
continued, with power to act in regard to 
printing that part of the report of 1902 re- 
lating to distri