m> THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY V"^ ' . -■ V PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL MEETING AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA MAY 18-24, 1911 AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 78 E. WASHINGTON STREET CHICAGO, ILL. 1911 IZ- CONTENTS General sessions: PAGE Addresses of welcome and response 51 President's address: What the community owes the library James I. Wyer. Jr 55 Is library censorship desirable? Willard Huntington Wright 59 Exploitation of the public library Arthur E. Bostwlck 60 Secretary's report George B. Utley 65 Treasurer's report Carl B. Roden 82 Reports of boards and committees; Co-ordination Charles H. Gould 71 Co-ordination among college libraries William C. Lane 75 Co-operation with the National Education Association Mary Eileen Ahem 75 Bookbinding A. L. Bailey 7fl Library training A. S. Root 77 Brussels Congresses N. D. C. Hodges 79 Federal and state relations B. C. Stelner 79 Trustees of endowment funds W. C. Kimball 80 A. L. A. Publishing Board Henry E. Legler 83 Finance C. W. Andrews 90 Public documents G. S. Godard 90 Library administration H. W. Graver 91 Library work with the blind Emma N. Delflno 97 Effect of the commission plan of city govern- ment on public libraries Alice S. Tyler 98 Limitations of the branch librarian's Initiative. .C. H. Brown 105 Branch library and Its relation to the district. . .Clara E. Howard 109 Eternal "Or" of the librarian Francis F. Browne 112 Municipal civil service as affecting libraries J. T. Jennings 119 Humors and horrors of municipal civil service. .Jessie F. Hume 127 Administrative units in library extension M. S. Dudgeon 130 California county free libraries Harriet G. Eddy 138 County libraries In Oregon Mary F. Isom 144 An Ohio county library Corlnne A. Metz 146 Basis of support of organizations for public li- brary work F. F. Hopper 148 Increasing the educational efficiency of the library A. H. Chamberlain 154 Materials and methods in bookbinding Cedrlc Chlvers 164 Books and the efficient life J. A. B. Scherer 179 Report of resolutions committee G. S. Godard 188 Report of Executive board 192 Report of the Council 193 Report of tellers of election 195 Social side of the Conference 195 Travel side of the Conference 197 PAGE Aftlliated organizations: American association of law libraries.... 204 League of library commissions 206 National association of state libraries.... 21.^ Special libraries association 217 Sections: Catalog 21S Children's librarians' 240 PAGE Sections — continued College and reference 251 Professional training 263 Trustees' 271 Public documents round table 272 Attendance summaries 274 Attendance register 275 PASADENA CONFERENCE MAY J8-24, I9tl PRELIMINARY SESSION (Thursday, May 18, 1911, 8:15 p. m.. Hotel Maryland) The preliminary session of the Thirty- third annual conference of the American library association was called to order by Mr. E. L. Conger, of Pasadena, who spoke a few words of welcome and introduced the Rev. Dr. D. F. Fox, of Pasadena, who, in the absence of the mayor, welcomed the conference to the city in a brief, witty and pleasing address. Dr. Fox said he was sure that all the members were going to like Pasadena and feel that the Crown City was the real crowing glory in the realm of God's won- derful out-of-doors; that all were sure to be favorably impressed with the spirit of progress there displayed, and would be well repaid by a visit to some of the education- al institutions In the neighborhood as well as to the famous scenic attractions which he hoped all the delegates would see be- fore they departed; and that when they returned to their homes they would carry with them the best memories of delightful days spent in their beautiful valley. Following Dr. Fox, Mr. J. W. Wood wel- comed the members of the Association in behalf of the board of trustees of the Pasa- dena public library. He referred with pride to the fact that the people of the city had built their own library building, had bought its books and ably supported it, and that the character of the books read showed Pasadena to be an exceptional center of study and culture. The speaker said that the one note of sadness was the illness of the librarian. Miss N. M. Russ, who had planned and worked for two years for this Conference and now most unfortunately was sick and could only send her message of greeting with the hope that the visit would be pleasant and enjoyable to all. Mr. L, W. Ripley, president of the Cal- ifornia library association, was next intro- duced and in a few cordial words expressed the welcome of the state association. Mr. Ripley said that the influence left by the Association's visit of twenty years ago had not yet died away and that Californians anticipated from this visit even more bene- fit and uplift to their state. Dr. FOX: There is unusual Joy and pleasure in connection with the appearance of the next speaker. The response to the greeting, in behalf of the president of the American library association, in the ab- sence of your president, is to be made by Mr. Samuel Swett Green, of Worcester, Massachusetts, who, when your Associa- tion met in San Francisco twenty years ago, was the president of the American library association. I have the distinguished honor, ladies and gentlemen, of presenting to you Mr. Green. Mr. GREIEN: Angels' visits, Mr. Presi- dent, are generally far between. It is with the heartiest gratitude that the members of the American library association thank you for the offers of hospitality which you have made. It is with extreme regret that we have met in the absence of our presidentj but perhaps it was wise for him to select, in naming him who should respond, one who had already realized how fully you carried out your promises and how much better a time we had when here before than we had any anticipation of. Twenty years ago representatives of your state met us at the borders of the state. We received a dispatch as we were crossing Nevada, tell- ing us that representatives of libraries and of those interested in libraries, would meet us at Truckee, on the way to Sacramento. Those representatives reached Truckee be- fore we did and were there to receive us. They brought us fresh salmon they had caught the day before in the Sacramento ^~^r^t^,e^Yj^fi^\y 52 PASADENA CONFERENCE River. They brought a hamper of quail and a great abundance of the luscious grapes which are in such profusion in this state in the autumn and quantities of the rare and beautiful chrysanthemums which this state has the greatest reason to be proud of. Our cook took the provisions that were brought and served breakfast in the dining car to the members of the Association and the representatives from Sacramento. We were then taken down to that beautiful city and carried to the capitol, where we were received by one of the officials of the state, and there we found representatives from San Francisco, where the conference was to be held, waiting to escort us from Sacramento to San Francisco. After receiving profuse hospitality in the greatest city of the state, we started on a journey south. I well remember that sun- shiny morning that we came to Pasadena, and that before we had finished our breakfast your representatives were at our sides with a profusion of the fruits and flowers of the season, and with carriages in which you took us on a most interesting drive and then brought us to your beautiful public library building, where we met the assembled representatives of the refine- ment of the city, who gave us another cor- dial welcome. We find, of course, immense changes In California. We have just come here, but we know that we are to expect great changes. Twenty years ago, Pasadena had only a few inhabitants. To-day you have, as has been stated to-night, 30,000 people. Los Angeles had 50,000 inhabitants at that time, but now there are over 300,000. San Francisco has passed through a terrible calamity and is rising in triumph from its troubles. I remember that at certain places where the trains stopped twenty years ago, the citizens were there in their own carriages, driving their own horses, and came to the station and took us about the town and when spontaneously we ad- mired the beauty of everything we saw, they said to us, "You would hardly suppose that only three years ago there was nothing here but sage brush." No such story, I believe, could be told of the state to-day. My interest in California is a deep and binding one. I first became acquainted with this locality when I landed here after serving two years before the mast, when, in 1S49, I became quite excited over the sudden discovery of gold, and I have watched the progress and growth of the state with great Interest ever since. I am afraid we shall find many changes, immense changes, but whatever those changes may be, they cannot alter the beautiful surroundings of Pasadena. They cannot change its delightful climate, and we are finding here, and are sure we shall find while we stay here, that there is no change in the hospitality and hearts of its people. Dr. FOX: Secretary Utley has a letter which he will read you at this time. The SECRETARY: You will notice on your programs that the Rev. Dr. Robert J. Burdette was to have been with us to-night. 1 wish to read you a note from Dr. Bur- dette, who is in the East, to Mr. Wyer, the president. Boston, May 6, 1911. My dear Mr. Wyer: I am sorry as a boy who has played hookey and is facing the consequences. But I will not be at home to welcome the A. L. A. to our city. I had planned to re- turn home May 10th, but the Fates, re- morseless old girls, have crossed my wires and opened my switches and marooned me in Boston, this state. I am studying the language. I have already learned to drop both "R's" in Harvard and to add a final one to "Africar." Cordially yours, ROBERT .1. BURDETTE. An informal reception was held in the lobby of the hotel, at the close of the even- ing's program. FIRST GENERAL SESSION {Shakespeare Club House, Friday, May 19, 2:30 p. m.) In the absence of President Wyer, Mr. Henry E. Legler, as temporary chairman MEEKER 53 of the Executive board, called the session to order. Mr. LEGLER: In the absence of the president, Mr. Wyer, the duty devolves up- on me, as representative of the Executive board to call to order this, the Thirty- third Annual Session of the American li- brary association. We all regret Mr. Wyer's inability to be present with us to-day and we deplore the compelling cause that has made his ab- sence inevitable. In this emergency the Executive board members feel themselves particularly fortunate in having been able to persuade some of the ex-presidents of the Association to preside at the several meetings which comprise the program for this conference. Into their capable and experienced hands, therefore, the sessions of this Association will be placed, and I take great pleasure in yielding the gavel of the presiding officer to Mr. F. P. Hill, ex-president of the American library asso- ciation. (Mr. Hill takes the chair.) The CHAIRMAN: At this, the Thirty- third Annual Meeting of the American li- brary association, we meet with two un- usual handicaps; first, the illness of Miss Nellie M. Russ, the librarian of the Pasa- dena public library, and second, the ab- sence of our president, Mr. James I. Wyer, Jr. We are gathered here in this beautiful auditorium at the invitation of the Shake- speare club, and I have pleasure in in- troducing to you Miss Anna L. Meeker, the president, who will extend to us a hearty greeting on behalf of the club. Miss MEEKER: Members of the Amer- ican library association: On behalf of the Shakespeare Club, I am most happy to welcome you to our club house. We appre- ciate the honor of entertaining so large a body of distinguished people. It is safe to say that never before has there so large an amount of book lore been packed with- in these walls. It seems particularly fitting that the American library association should meet in the home of a woman's club, for the libraries and the women's clubs are mutually dependent. The women of our clubs are steady patrons of our libraries, many of which have been founded by wo- men's clubs. In our own state of California, before the state library covered the ground as completely as it does now, much of the energy of our women's clubs was spent in sending traveling libraries to communi- ties where there were no libraries at all, and so a great deal of library work was done by women's clubs. On the other hand, the woman's club would languish and die, perhaps, without the library. The library is the source from which we gather our mental food. It is our powder magazine from which we get our ammunition. It is our tool house from which we get our tools. The library is our school from which we get our training. It is the place in which we crystallize our ideas and it is our hospitable home where we are always sure of finding friends to talk to us. The library is essential to our well being and our well doing. Therefore, to you, representing all of the libraries of this great nation, our club is most happy to extend a cordial greeting and we are glad that you are here and we are happy to have the honor of offering you the use of our club house while you remain with us. We hope you will use it as freely as if it were your own homes. On behalf of the Club, I give you a most hearty welcome. The CHAIRMAN: In speaking of the officers, or the ex-presidents who are to preside, it may be well, perhaps, to let you know how they will appear. To-day, the librarian of the Brooklyn public li- brary; at to-morrow's session, Mr. C. W. Andrews of The John Crerar library will preside; at the next session, Mr. Henry J. Carr, librarian of the public library of Scranton; at the fourth session, Mr. A. E. Bostwick, of the public library of St. Louis; and at the fifth and last meeting, Miss Alice S. Tyler, of the Iowa library commission, who is not an ex-president simply because she would not stand for it, but who is an ex-vlee-president. A resolution of regret at the illness of Miss Nellie M. Russ, librarian of the Pasa- 54 PASADENA CONFERENCE dena public library, and of hope for her speedy recovery, was moved by Miss Alice S. Tyler, warmly and appreciatively sec- onded by Miss M. K. Ahem and passed unanimously by a rising vote. The CHAIRMAN: The program which is before you has been planned altogether by the absent president, Mr. J. I. Wyer, Jr., of the New York state library. He even planned that the ex-presidents should pre- side, so that everything up to and including this moment was outlined by the foresight of our president. We all regret his absence and I am glad to know that the Executive board has prepared a resolution in relation thereto, which I will call upon Mr. Henry M. Utley, ex-president of the American li- brary association and librarian of the De- troit public library to present. Mr. UTLEY: I am sure we all share the disappointment and regret of Mr. Wyer, our president, that he is not able to be present on this occasion. That he Is de- tained away is due to circumstances with which you are doubtless more or less fa- miliar. The burning of the capltol building at Albany, or the wing of the capitol in which the state library was situated, re- sulted in the almost entire wiping out of that library, and the Legislature which Is In session at this time, as 1 understand it, is considering a measure for the rebuilding and rejuvenation of the library Itself. Un- der these conditions, it seems necessary that Mr. Wyer should be at his post of duty. Therefore, he has given up the pleas- ure and satisfaction which he must have expected to obtain by being present at this conference. But the Association is under obligation to him for the wisdom and thought and time which he has given in the preparation of our excellent program. 1 am sure we shall all appreciate its ex- cellence as we proceed with its consider- ation from day to day. Recognizing these conditions, and the circumstances which detained Mr. Wyer, the Executive board has adopted a minute In reference thereto, which I have been asked to present. "The members of the American library association assembled in Pasadena for their annual conference, desire one and all, to express their regret that Mr. Wyer, their president, is detained at Albany by the du- ties and responsibilities of his office, and can not be with them and preside over their meetings. Regretting his absence for their own sake, they also realize the dis- appointment it must be to him to lose an ojiportunity which ordinarily comes to a man but once in a lifetime, and accom- panies the highest honor which the Asso- ciation can bestow. They unite in sending him a message of encouragement and confidence as he takes up the difficult task of reconstruction made necessary by the calamity which lately swept away the great library of the State of New York, and left the nation poorer by the destruction of the precious collections of books and manuscripts, and by the in- terruption of beneficent and widely effec- tive educational activities." Mr. Chairman, I move you, sir, that this minute be spread upon the records of the Association and that a copy of the same be forwarded to Mr. Wyer. The CHAIRMAN: You have heard the motion of Mr. Utley, is it seconded? Mr. RIPLEY: On behalf of the Cali- fornia library association, I take great plea- sure In seconding the resolution as read. The California library association, not to speak of the members of the American library association, have been greatly ani- mated through the last year by the asso- ciation with this extremely choice spirit of our profession, and we deeply deplore the unforeseen circumstances fhat prevent our coming in personal contact with this very livest of live wires. The CHAIRMAN: Mr. R. R. Bowker, who, by the way, is not an ex-president, was also to second this resolution, but he is not in the hall at present. We have, with us, however, one who is not only a friend of the Association but a personal friend of Mr. Wyer. Will Mr. Burpee also second the motion? Mr. BURPEE: I am sure that Mr. Utley and Mr. Ripley have expressed what we all feel in this matter. It must be a bitter disappointment to Mr. Wyer to be absent from this meeting, and it is equally dis- appointing to us. We miss Mr. Wyer not only as a friend, but also as one of the principal factors making for library prog- 55 ress in this country and throughout this continent. The destruction of the state li- hrary at Albany, it seems to me, is much more than a local loss, or a national loss. It is, in every sense, an international ca- lamity. As president of a Canadian library association, and as a member of the Amer- ican library association, it gives me very special pleasure to second this resolution. The CHAIRMAN: Anything further to be said? If not, as many as are in favor of the re.solution as presented by Mr. Utley, and seconded by Mr. Ripley and Mr. Burpee, will manifest it in the usual manner of to-day, by rising. (The entire assemblage rose to their feet and the motion was passed unanimously.) The CHAIRMAN: We trust that the Secretary will transmit this by lettergram to Mr. Wyer to-night. I am going to read a letter from him which he prepared in anticipation of not being able to be here and not as an answer to the resolution which has just been adopted. Albany, N. Y., May 13, 1911. Greetings to the A. L. A. There is a possibility that I may not be able to reach Pasadena. Aside from the strenuous conditions immediately resulting from the destruction of the State Library, important pending legislation is likely to reach a stage at any day that will make it impossible to be so far away or so long ab- sent from Albany. No one who has been chosen president of the American Library Association will- ingly foregoes the honor and pleasant priv- ilege of presiding over your annual con- ference. Nothing short of a great calamity such as that melancholy one, the stress of which threatens to detain me, would be counted a sufficient excuse for absence. Should it be imperative for me to remain at home, I can only hope that my plea of superior official duty will seem as adequate and convincing to you as it does to your president. For six weeks he has confidently planned to be with you, and has steadily hugged the precarious hope that he might cross the continent to this meeting, in the face of the knowledge that at the last moment, or at almost any moment, events might so shape themselves as to make it wholly out of the question. If finally he does not come, it will be only because it is quite clear that he has no right to be anywhere else than in Albany at this time — that there is too much now at stake, and that no reasonable conception of duty will warrant any other course. In this event the opportunity will be presented to utilize the corps of ex-presidents, those ornamental by-products of our organiza- tion. To their kind and experienced offices the conduct of the general sessions of the Association may confidently be entrusted, with the unique and attractive element of variety which has certainly much to com- mend it when contrasted with the monotony accruing to a series of meetings all con- ducted by the same person. Should it be necessary to read these sen- tences, they are offered with the keenest expressions of regret, a regret which you can not feel in equal measure, but with every confidence that beautiful and hospit- able Southern California, the five hundred enthusiastic librarians of the Golden State and the representative attendance now as- sured from all parts of the country will all conspire to bring about a thoroughly mem- orable meeting. J. I. WYER, JR. The CHAIRMAN: President Wyer's address will now be read by Mr. W. C. LANE, ex-president of the American library association and librarian of Harvard uni- versity, whom I have the pleasure of pre- senting to you. Mr. LANE: You understand, of course, the address I am about to read is Mr. Wyer's address, and not mine. I am simply a voice, and nothing more. The subject of the address is WHAT THE COMMUNITY OWES THE LIBRARY For fifty years the free public library has been "finding itself"; has been trying to discover its precise point of attachment in a complex social order; has been deter- mining and evolving its proper functions and seeking to fix the scope of its activities. During this experimental period there have been some excesses to curb, some fungous growths to lop off, and some mistaken policies to revise. These have been, how- ever, but the natural marks of quick growth. They have revealed no funda- mental malady or fault. All in all the notion of what a public library shall be and do has become steadily clearer and more definite. Through work preeminently characterized by earnestness and devotion 56 PASADENA CONFERENCE it has commended itself to the people, and its place In our intellectual life as an in- stitution and not as an appurtenance seems pretty securely fixed. What the library owes the community has been often dis- cussed, what the library can do for the community is being abundantly demon- strated every day in every corner of the land and will be demonstrated with more and more effectiveness each year. It is highly becoming that the library should thus first have considered its own debt and duties before inquiring too straitly into those of the public which it serves. The obligations are not all on one side, however. There are some things which the community owes the library, certain things which the community can do for the library which it can not do for itself and which can be done for it only by the organ- ized local government or by its influential individual members. Fundamentally every community owes it to itself to have a library. This is a statement which in the past it has been far more necessary to sup- port by argument than now in the day of its general acceptance. It is perhaps not too much to say that the burden of proof has somewhat shifted and now tends to rest upon the state, city, county or village which neglects suitable library provision for its people. Once a library is started, however, and by the very act of starting, obligations are assumed which are less generally and clearly recognized than would be well. Certain fundamental statutory provisions touching the organization and control of the library should be so shaped as to emphasize by law, and so executed as to establish by precedent and tradition, the fact that partisan politics and i)ersonal self-seeking have no place in the governing board of a library. No mere phrase in charter or statute will achieve this. No single mode of appointment holds sov- ereign virtue sufficient to insure the right sort of trustees. They will result only from the rooting and acceptance of a firm conviction that the library and school concern, not the externals of life — fire, water, police, roads and bridges — but the everlasting things of the spirit, the foundations of citizenship and character, and that on no account whatsoever shall their government be intrusted to that base metal which is welded into the links, wheels and shafts of a political machine. The ideal trustee is the active, clear- headed man of affairs, of large acquaint- ance with the city's business and its men of influence, who, if he does not believe thoroughly in the library, is open- minded and wholly free from pledge or prejudice, who knows or is willing to learn enough of its work to recognize its expert and specialized character, and so to avoid the melancholy confusion of legislative and executive functions which sometimes exists between trustees and staff. Such an appointive tradition and practice as is here urged is happily already widely prev- alent in this country and yearly becomes stronger and is more consistently fol- lowed. The community owes the library a com- petent staff as well as the right sort of trustees. It may be objected that the community has nothing to say about the personnel of the library staff. Indeed! Let a vacancy occur and every trustee will testify that numerous, insistent and very earnest citizens will instantly appear to urge certain candidacies on every ground except that of fitness as shown by tempera- ment, training or experience. Well-mean- ing and high-minded trustees are con- stantly importuned, and too often consent, to favor a local candidate or one who needs the money and will work for very little, or somebody's sister, cousin or aunt, upon grounds wholly irrelevant and immaterial. Some communities which maintain public libraries and seem to take a sort of pride in them, have but the faintest conception of the splendid work which such institu- tions can do in the hands of a carefully chosen staff of trained and experienced people who are filled with the spirit of service. What can be hoped from a library administration which tacitly assumes either that a candidate's need is a suflicient measure of ability or that all the talent needed to manage a library in the best way WYER 57 surely exists under the local vine and fig tree. This insistence on the mere accident of residence is one of the chief conten- tions of the merit system of civil service which librarians seem to be practically unanimous in condemning as thoroughly unsatisfactory for recruiting the staff in municipal public libraries. The community owes the library a reasonable financial support. Reasonable is here a relative term. It may be defined roughly as the amount, not extravagantly disproportioned to the total city budget, which a thoroughly competent librarian can spend wisely. Perhaps fifty cents per capita is not unreasonable though it is likely that no American city yet spends so much. In fixing the amount of the library budget, the community (that is, the press, the city council, sometimes even the library board) often unjustly compares the total library expenditure of its city with others of about the same size, unjustly — because the bare statistics are the only factors that can really be compared and they tell no vital part of the tale. The real factors are the energy, interest and wisdom of the library board, the competence of the libra- rian and the staff, the excellence of the library buildings and equipment, and to a lesser extent the character and temper of the people. The people of many cities cheerfully pay a library tax twice that of other cities of equal size and would be instant to oppose a reduction, because the policy and conduct of the library have been wise and able and have won for it a cordial and tacit approval. Yet the pet art of the demagogue bawl- ing economy is to marshal meaningless figures intended to show that a large ex- penditure necessarily spells waste, when the truth is likelier to be that an un- usually large appropriation shows an effi- cient administration which has been given the money because it has proved that it knows how to spend it wisely. The real waste is far oftener found in the very budget cited by the demagogue or the partisan paper to prove economy — a budget disproportionately small when compared with the size of the city, because an inert, incompetent administration has never won the confidence of the powers behind the purse. It is not just to a library or to any other municipal enterprise to start it and then starve it to the accompaniment of a running criticism of its inefficiency. Li- brary and school finances sometimes suffer temporarily because of maximum tax levy provision in state laws and in city char- ters. These fiscal safeguards probably originated when tax-supported schools and libraries were dubious innovations, worth a trial perhaps, but innovations which must be carefully hedged about till their useful- ness was proved. Now their usefulness is fully proved. No one seriously questions the propriety, the desirability nor the civic and social necessity of publicly supported and administered schools and libraries. The day is long past when statutory limita- tions on expenditures for education are regarded seriously. The history of library legislation shows that provisions limiting the tax levy to one-half a mill, one mill, two mills, or to any stated sum, are being con- stantly repealed or extended to reflect the growing willingness of the American peo- ple to invest in education and to emphasize their approval of the results which are being achieved. Why then, is there fur- ther need for such provisions at all? They are now purposeless hindrances set in the path of social and educational progress — they may add zest to the race but they assuredly delay arrival at the goal. The state and municipal fiscal machinery affords enough checks to extravagant appropriating without arbitrary and antiquated provisions in the organic and statute law. There is no recognized tax rate, expressed in mills, which by general agreement represents a fair, generous or proper appropriation for public library purposes. There never can be such a rate. Assessed valuations vary widely among the states. The rate in one state will produce twice as much money on the same valuation as in another. And worse than all — that imitation in legisla- tion which has modeled so many state constitutions on that of Ohio, tends to per- petuate in library laws and city charters with too little regard for differing condi- 58 PASADENA CONFERENCE tions, the provisions which some other city or state has found salutary. The community owes the library a taste- ful, substantial, reasonably adequate build- ing, the interior planned by library people for library purposes and the whole set upon a central site. Some of the most melan- choly chapters in municipal library annals treat of bitter personal or sectional squab- bles over where the library shall be located, out of what it shall be built, and the library buildings are many which were planned and erected before it be- came the fashion to let librarians have even as little to say about the interior as they now may. The library may not be housed in the city hall, a school house, in residence houses left as legacies, or in any building not primarily made for library purposes without serious administrative waste and loss of efficiency, and, more im- Iiortant still, without robbing the library iind its work of the dignity and inipressive- ness which belong to it. The entire community owes the public library open-mindedness, patience and a better understanding of its work and needs. This is especially true of those persons and institutions that are potent in civic affairs and in the making of public opinion — the press, public men, the pulpit, the chamber of commerce, etc. The city council should never consider the library budget as the measure of any jiarty — it is above party — nor regard the library staff as offering even indirect opportunities for patronage. The press should be as ready to commend as to criticize and both praise and blame should be discriminating and informed. Public men and influential citizens should be ready to say a good word for the library whenever it is de- served and equally ready to lend a hand and render it a service when help is necessary, for a library, like most public institutions, will have its ups and downs, depending usually upon the personality and power of the librarian and the most interested and influential men on its board. Once the community has decided to have a library its trustees and staff properly may assume that it wants the best possible library of size and scope commensurate with local conditions. This will require a home, books, competent help, in a word money. It will require more money than another community of equal size which is content with a library only half as good as it can be made. Out of this proper assump- tion, logically arise the obligations of the community to the library which have just been dwelt upon. These obligations depend upon and interact with those which the library owes to the community. Neither library nor community can furnish more than one of the oars by which the boat must be moved forward. A competent library board and staff without enough money is almost an unthinkable proposi- tion for such a board and staff assuredly will get money. A good building and more money than the library administration can spend wisely is a commoner condition. There are more libraries that are not returning to the community in service full value for the money spent than libraries that are without money for wise and really necessary development. In this somewhat formidable catalog of what the community owes the library, it must be ever in mind, despite the com- morcial sound of the phrase, that the com- munity and the library do not occupy towards each other the usual positions of parties to a commercial contract where each is seeking his own gain and is willing to secure it at the expense of the other. In a business contract the privileges and emoluments ceded and alienated by each party are parted with absolutely for some real or supposed advantage ceded and received in return. The reciprocal obliga- tions recognized between the library and the community, however, are but mutual privileges arranged between members of the same social family. No whit of good, no tithe of advantage can be lost to the larger community which includes both the library and its public, because of the fullest performance of their obligations by both parties. The resulting benefits are still "all in the family." There is, therefore, no excuse between library and community for that attitude of suspicion or distrust 59 which sometimes marks the strict enforce- ment of buiness contracts. There should be, there must be the frankest understand- ing, the heartiest cooperation arising from the knowledge that whatever benefits either library or community benefits both. The CHAIRMAN: In introducing the next speaker I can do no better than to use a quotation from President Wyer's letter of instruction: "Mr. Wright is vouched for by Mr. P. B. Wright, no relation, by the way, who has promised for him an inter- esting, vigorous and stimulating address." Mr. WILLARD HUNTINGTON WRIGHT, literary editor of the Los Angeles Times, will speak to us on the subject IS LIBRARY CENSORSHIP DE- SIRABLE? Mr. Wright said in part: Censorship unfortunately is not confined to public libraries, the most objectionable forms being found outside these institu- tions. Furthermore the problem of censor- ship is not so large an issue in libraries as the outsider supposes. Subterraneanly, however, it influences the board's selection of books. Though actively no intolerance may be shown, the principle is ever pres- ent. Censorship in libraries is an offshoot of the general practice of censoring letters, and censorship in general includes library censorship in particular, as the principle is the same. Censorship has had a long and inglori- ous career, dating from the days of early Rome to the present. Primarily it grew out of a sense of racial preservation; was originally in the hands of the church; and to-day is composed largely of that Pur- itan prejudice which is a survival of medi- eval superstition. Modern censorship is founded largely on the assumption that the sinner Is the man of gaiety and impulse, and that the path of virtue is a highway of solemn reason, trodden only by serious minded folk. As a result stupidity and so- lemnity have been considered by censors as synonymous with morality. The question of censorship hinges large ly on the question of morality, and morality depends upon nationality, civilization and period of development. What is strictly proper and moral in the heart of Africa would not be acceptable to the standards set by Americans of the present age, and consequently many things would pass cen- sorship there, which would be questioned here. Strictly the only proper literary cen- sorship is that exercised over wildly an- archistic philippics, diatribes against the government or hortatory tracts advocating lawlessness. The expurgation of memoirs, or the exclusion of erotic novels from li- braries are not acts of true moral cen- sorship, but are really only the practical application of Puritan prejudices. In literary censorship the term "im- moral" is often confounded with "sexual," and in consequence the works of Boccac- cio, Dumas /ilx, Pinero and Sudermann are often stamped as immoral when the mur- dering rascals of Hawthorne, Conrad and Conan Doyle, fully as immoral, pass muster at the library. In all these instances the rascally and erotic heroes and heroines are made to reap their just deserts and as soon as this is accomplished, the book, philosophic- ally speaking, becomes moral. Some, how- ever, will argue that the moral lesson is a hypocritical subterfuge and that the charm of the book lies not in the moral dicta, but in the glamour of the crime. How- ever this may be, it is an undeniable fact that books of ethical lectures and volumes of homiletics have never yet been tabu- lated among the best sellers; that it is a psychological fact that ethics and moral- ity appeal to us not through reason but through the emotions, and that the more attractively clothed the moral precepts are, the more apt we are to read them. Morality in its last analysis means but one thing — custom. The assertion that it means aught else places the ban of bigotry — or at least of incorrectness — on the per- son who makes it. Morality is the code of niiinuers adoiited by a people for its racial preservation. These manners are governed entirely by conditions. Thus as conditions have changed morals have changed; and as conditions are different In different countries, so are morals different in differ- 60 PASADENA CONFERENCE ent countries. Conditions and necessities are always transitional. Progress is merely a changing of values. All of these changes must have new codes of laws to govern them. The whole question of censorship hinges on the proper use of the word "moral." The confusion of immorality with sin leads many people into difficulties, al- though sin is no more invariable than im- morality. However, a distinction must be drawn between immorality and sin. Sin depends altogether on the individual's or institution's private belief; while morality is whatever the majority of the nation sanctions. Consequently any progress or upward step not sanctioned by the majority is really immoral, and nations have advanced by the courage of those who have dared to be "immoral." If the early nations had succeeded in preserving their morality, slavery would still be in vogue and the crucifixion of martyrs would still be en- acted in order to preserve the morals of the community. Only in leniency toward im- morality is progress possible. We have a law limiting the amount of benzoate of soda for preservative purposes in food to one-tenth of one per cent. Sup- pose, though, that some obscure govern- ment official should suddenly decide that the one-tenth of one per cent of this salt was injurious; he could not forbid the man- ufacturers who came under his jurisdiction to make use of this chemical. But this is precisely the principle involved in literary censorship. The law of our nation permits the publication of certain books, contain- ing the one-tenth of one per cent of pre- servative spice or of heretical doctrine, and the moral censor, standing outside the law, decides that these ingredients are not moral, and the book is excluded from public libraries. Thus, the law permits the publication of a book the circulation of which the moral censor inhibits. The un- fairness of this sort of thing is obvious. The danger of individual censorship, or of clique censorship, as opposed to legal censorship, lies in the fact that the one is governed by personal prejudice, belief and superstition; while the other is reg- ulated by what has been found to be the best for the people as a whole. No matter what a prosecutor's own personal convic- tions may be, his prosecutions are governed by the printed law. But in the case of the censor, this does not hold. A censor may ex- cise or abolish according to his individual opinion, irrespective of the fact that, from a legal point of view — which is the real moral point of view — the book is per- fectly proper. It seems to me that it would not be at variance with the American ideals of government — which, after all, are founded on our composite ideals of jus- tice and right — should librarians permit on their shelves any book whatsoever that the law countenances; provided, of course, there is a sufficient demand to warrant its purchase. The CHAIRMAN: I have the pleasure of Introducing Mr. ARTHUR E. BOST- W'lCK, librarian of the St. Louis public library, who will speak on the subject THE EXPLOITATION OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY Two and a half years ago; or, to be more exact, on January 22, 1909, in an address at the dedication of the Chestnut Hill Branch of the Free library of Philadelphia, the present writer used the following words: "I confess that I feel uneasy when I realize how little the Influence of the public library Is understood by those who might try to wield that influence, either for good or for evil ... So far there has been no concerted, systematic effort on the part of classes or bodies of men to capture the public library, to dictate its policy, to utilize its great opportunities for influenc- ing the public mind. WTien this ever comes, as it must, we must look out! . . . "Organizations . . . civil, religious, scien- tific, political, artistic . . . have usually let us severely alone, where their influ- ence, if they should come into touch with the library, would surely be for good . . . would be exerted along the line of morality, of more careful book selection, of judicial mindedness instead of one-sidedness. "Let us trust that influences along this BOSTWICK 61 line ... if we are to have influences at all . . . may gain a foothold before the oppo- site forces . . . those of sordid commer- cialism, of absurdities, of falsities, of all kinds of self-seeking . . . find out that we are worth their exploitation." There have been indications of late that the public, both as individuals and in or- ganized bodies, is beginning to appreciate the influence, actual and potential, of the public library. With this dawning appre- ciation, as predicted in the lines just quoted, has come increased effort to turn this influence into the channels of per- sonal or of business advantage, and it may be well to call the attention of librarians to this and to warn them against what they must doubtless expect to meet, in increas- ing measure, as the years go by. Attempts of this kind can hope for success only when they are concealed and come in innocent guise. It is extremely hard to classify them, and this fact in itself would indicate that libraries and librarians have to deal with that most ingenious and plausible of sophists, the modern advertiser. But in the first place I would not have it understood that the use of the library for advertising purposes is necessarily illegi- timate or reprehensible. If it is open and above board and the library receives proper compensation, the question resolves itself into one of good taste. The taste of such use may be beyond question, or it may be very questionable indeed. Few would defend the use of the library's walls or Vt-indows for the display of commercial advertising; although the money received therefor might be sorely needed. On the other hand, the issuing of a bulletin paid for wholly or in part by advertisements in- serted therein is approved by all, though most librarians doubtless prefer to omit these if the expense can be met by other means. Under this head come also the reception and placing on the shelves of advertising circulars or catalogs contain- ing valuable material of any kind. Here the library gets considerably more than its quid pro quo, and no librarian has any doubt of the propriety of such a proceed- ing. Again, where the advertising takes the form of a benevolent sort of "log-rolling," the thing advertised being educational and the quid pro quo simply the impulse given to library use by anything of this nature, it is generally regarded as proper. Thus most libraries display without hesitation advertisements of tree courses of lectures and the like. When the thing advertised is not free, this procedure is more open to doubt. Personally I should draw the line here, and should allow the library to adver- tise nothing that requires a fee or payment of any kind, no matter how trifling or nomi- nal, and no matter how good the cause. These thing are mentioned only to ex^ elude them from consideration here. The library is really exploited only where it is used to further someone's personal or busi- ness ends without adequate return, gener- ally with more or less concealment of pur- pose, so that the library is without due real- ization of what it is really doing. Attempts at such exploitation have by no means been lacking in the past. Take if you please this case, dating back about a dozen years: An enterprising firm, operating a department store, offered to give to a branch library a collection of several thousaad historical works on condition that these should be kept in a separate alcove plainly labeled "The gift of Blank Brothers." Nothing so unusual about this. Such gifts, though the objections to the conditions are familiar to you all, are fre- quently offered and accepted. In this in- stance, however, the name of the branch happened to be also the name of the enter- prising firm. The inference would have been overpowering that the branch had been named after the firm. The offer was accepted on condition that the books should be shelved each in its proper place with a gift label, to be of special form it desired, and that the donation should be acknowl- edged on the bulletin board. These condi- tions were not acceptable — a sufficient indication of the real object of the gift. Other cases might be cited, to say nothing of the usual efforts to induce the library to display commercial notices or to give offi- cial commendation to some book. 62 PASADENA CONFERENCE Several cases of the more ingenious attempts at exploitation having come to my notice during the past few months I set myself to find out whether anything of the kind had also been noted by others. Letters to some of the principal libraries in the country elicited a variety of replies. Some librarians had noted nothing; others nothing more than usual. One said frankly that if the people had been "working" him he had been too stupid to know it. But others responded with interesting in- stances, and one or two, in whose judgment I have special confidence agreed with me in noticing an increase in the number of attempts at this kind of exploitation of late. I may make my meaning more clear, perhaps, by proceeding at once to cite specific Instances which must be anony- mous, of course, in accordance with a promise to my informants. A photographer offered to a public library a fine collection of portraits of deceased citizens of the town. This was accepted. The photographer then proceeded to send out circulars in a way that rendered it very probable that he was simply using the library's name to increase his business. A commercial firm, which had issued a good book on a subject connected with its business, offered to print for various libraries, at its own expense, a good list of works on this subject on condition that it should be allowed to advertise its own book on the last page. Submission of a proof revealed the fact that this advertise- ment was to be printed in precisely the same form and with the same kind of head- ing as information about the library given on the preceding page. The reader's in- ference would have been that the matter on the last page was an official library note. Of the libraries approached, some accepted the offer without finding any fault with the feature just noted; others refused to have anything at all to do with the plan; still others accepted on condi- tion that the last page should be so altered that the reader could see clearly that it contained advertising matter. A lecturer gained permission to dis- tribute through a library complimentary tickets to a free lecture on an educational subject. When these arrived, the librarian discovered that the announcement of the free lecture was on the same folder with advertisements of a pay course. The free tickets were given out, but the advertise- ment was suppressed. Efforts of this kind are perhaps particularly noticeable in con- nection with the use of library assembly- rooms. There is no reason, of course, why libraries should not rent out these rooms in the same way as other public rooms, but it is usual to limit their use to educa- tional purposes and generally to free public entertainments. Some efforts to circum- vent rules of this kind are interesting. Application was made to a library for the use of an assembly-room for a free lec- ture on stenography. On cross-examina- tion the lecturer admitted that he was a teacher of stenography who desired to form a class, and that at the close of his lecture he intended to make announce- ment of his courses, prices, etc. He was told that this must be done outside the library. It is very common, where the exaction of an admission fee is forbidden, to take up a collection before or after the lecture. When told that this is inadmissible, the lecturer sometimes takes up his collection on the sidewalk outside. There have been cases where employees of a library have embraced this opportunity to gather con- tributions. A colored janitor of a branch library was recently admonished for stand- ing outside his own assembly-room door and soliciting money for a pet charity. Another janitor made a pilgrimage to the central library to collect from the staff. A classic instance of this kind is that of the street gamin who for several hours stood at a branch library door and col- lected an admission fee of one cent from each user. The branch was newly opened and its neighbors were unused to the ways of free libraries. An example of the difficulty of deciding, in matters of this kind, whether an un- doubted advertising scheme may or may not legitimately be aided by the public BOSTWICK G3 library is found in tlie offer, witli whicli all of you are familiar, of valuable money prizes for essays on economic subjects, by a firm of clothiers. The committee in charge of the awards is composed of emi- nent economists and publicists; the com- petitors are members of college faculties and advanced graduate students; the essays brought out are of permanent value and are generally published in book form. Under these circumstances many libraries have not hesitated to post the announce- ments of the committee on their bulletin boards. Others regard the whole thing as purely commercial advertisement and refuse to recognize it. One library at least posted the announcement of the com- petition for 1910, but refused to post the result. It would be hard to tell just how much altruism and how much selfishness we have here and the instance shows how subtle are the gradations from one motive to the other. Advertising by securing condemnatory action of some sort, such as exclusion from the shelves, has also not been uncommon. This requires the aid of the press to con- demn, abuse or ridicule the library for its action, and so exploit the book. The press, I grieve to say, has fallen a victim to this scheme more than once and has thereby given free use of advertising space ordi- narily worth thousands of dollars. A fla- grant instance of this kind occurred in one of our greatest cities about ten years ago. The work of a much-discussed playwright was about to be put upon the boards. A wily press agent, in conversation with an unsuspecting librarian, obtained an ad- verse opinion. The aiding and abetting newspaper, which was one of ostensible high character, proceeded at once to heap ridicule and contumely on the library and the librarian for their condemnation and exclusion of the play (which really wasn't excluded at all). The matter, having reached the dignity of news, was taken up by other papers and for a week or more the metropolitan press resounded with accusation, explanation, recrimination and comment. The gleeful playwright cabled objurgations from London, and the press agent, retiring modestly into the back- ground, saw advertising that would have cost him $100,000, at the lowest estimate, poured into his willing lap by the yellow, but easy, press of his native burg. It is possibly unfair to cite this as an attempt to "work" the library — it was the public press that was ingeniously and successfully exploited through the library. The fact that the mere presence of a public library is an advantage to the neigh- borhood in which it stands has led to nu- merous attempts to locate librai-y buildings, especially branches, in some particular place. These are often accompanied by offers of building-lots, which, it is sad to say, have occasionally appealed to trustees not fully informed of the situation. I recall several offers of lots in barren and unoccu- pied spots — one in an undeveloped region whose owner hoped to make it a residence park and another in the middle of a flour- ishing cornfield, whose owner considered it an ideal spot tor a branch library — at least after he had sold oft a sufficient number of building lots on the strength of his generous gift. These particular offers were declined with thanks, but in some in- stances members of boards of trustees themselves, being only human, have not been entirely free from suspicion of per- sonal or business interest in sites. Here it is difficult to draw the line between the legitimate efforts of a particular locality to capture a branch site and those that have their origin in commercial cupidity. Both of course have nothing to do with the larger considerations that should govern in such location, but both are not exploitation as we are now using the word. A curious instance of the advertising value of the mere presence of a public library and of business shrewdness in tak- ing advantage of it, comes from a library that calls Itself a "shining example of efforts to 'work' public libraries for com- mercial purposes." This library rents rooms for various objects connected with its work, and finds that it is in great de- mand as a tenant. Great effort is made by property owners both to retain and to move quarters occupied for library pur- 64 PASADENA CONFERENCE poses. The board has recently refused to make selection of localities on this basis. There is another respect in which the public library offers an attractive field for exploitation. In its registration files it has a valuable selected list of names and addresses which may be of service in various ways either as a mailing-list or as a directory. Probably there are no two opinions regarding the impropriety of allowing the list to be used for commercial purposes along either line. The use as a directory may occasionally be legitimate and is allowable after investigation and report to some one in authority. I have known of recourse to library registration lists by the police, to find a fugitive from justice; by private detectives, ostensibly on the same errand; by a wife, looking for her runaway husband; by persons search- ing tor lost relatives; and by creditors on the trail of debtors in hiding. Where there is any doubt, the matter can usually be adjusted by offering to forward a letter to the person sought, or to communicate to that person the seeker's desire and let him respond if he wishes to do so. One thing is certain: except in obedience to an order of court, it is not only unjust, but entirely inexpedient from the library's standpoint to betray to anyone a user's whereabouts against that user's wishes or even where there is a mere possibility of his objection, if it were clearly understood that such consequences might follow the holding of a library card, we should doubtless lose many readers that we especially desire to attract and hold. Of course the public library is not the only institution whose reputation has ex- posed it to the assaults of advertisers. The Christian ministry has for years been exposed to this sort of thing, and it is the belief of Reverend William A. Lee, who writes on the subject in "The Standard," a Baptist paper published in Chicago, that in this case also increased activity is to be noted of late. Persons desire to present the minister with a picture on condition that he mentions the artist to his friends; to give him a set of books or a building- lot that his name may be used to lure other purchasers; they even ask him for mailing- lists of his parishioners' names. "I am constantly being besieged." says Mr. Lee, "by agents of divers sorts, and of divers degrees of persistency, for indorsements of patent mops, of 'wholesome plays," of cur- rent periodicals, of so-called religious books, of "helps" almost innumerable for church-workers and of scores of other things which time has charitably carried out of memory." It is refreshing to find that the kind of li- brary exploitation most to be feared seems not yet to have been attempted on any considerable scale or in any objectionable direction. I refer to interference with our stock and its distribution — an effort to divert either purchases or circulation into a particular channel. My attention has been called to the efforts of religious bod- ies to place their theological or controvers- ial works on the shelves of public libraries. When the books are offered as donations, as is usually the case, this is hardly exploi- tation in the sense in which we are consid- ering it, unless the library is so small that other more desirable books are excluded. A large library welcomes accessions of this kind, just as it does trade catalogs or railroad literature. Attempts to push cir- culation are occasionally made, but usually without success. But up to the present time it is the glory of the public library that it knows neither North nor South, Catholic nor Protestant, Democrat, Republican nor Socialist. It shelves and circulates books on both sides of very possible scientific, economic, relig- ious and sectional controversy, and no one has raised a hand to make it do otherwise. We should be proud of this and very jeal- ous of it. As we have seen, there is some reason to think that newly awakened inter- est in the public library as a public utility has led to increased effort to gain its aid for purely personal and commercial ends. Naturally these interests have moved first. It is comparatively easy to steer clear of them and to defeat them. But attempts to interfere with the strict neutrality of the public library and to turn it into partisan- UTLEY 65 ship in any direction, if they ever come, should be at the earliest betrayal of their purpose be sternly repressed and at the same time be given wide publicity, that we may all be on our guard. We may legiti- mately and properly adopt a once famous and much ridiculed slogan as our own, in this regard, and write over the doors of our public libraries "All that we ask is, let us alone!" The CHAIRMAN: Now, I hope you will remain a few moments to listen to the re- ports of the Secretary and of the Com- mittees. Most of the committee reports have been distributed by placing them upon the chairs in the hall and will not be read. It falls to my pleasant lot to introduce Mr. George B. Utley, a worthy successor in the line of A. L. A. secretaries, who will now present the Secretary's report. SECRETARY'S REPORT The report which is here presented covers so far as a written statement can the work of the EJxecutive office since the report made by Mr. Hadley at the Mackinac con- ference. Mr. Chalmers Hadley, who became Secretary on October 1st, 1909, resigned in January of the present year to accept the llbrarianship of the Denver public library, and the present occupant began his work at the Executive office on February 13th. The Executive office finds itself still in possession of the roomy and commodious quarters generously given by the trustees of the Chicago public library and of the ex- cellent equipment donated by the Chicago library club, and the year's tenure has only deepened our feelings of gratitude and obligation for these beneficent acts which have gone so far toward making possible an Executive office for the Association. We are also the recipient of many other cour- tesies; from the Chicago public library, light, heat, excellent janitor service, and many acts of kindness on the part of the staff which help the work very materially; from Mr. C. W. Andrews the free services of his treasurer's assistant when the service of a notary public is needed, which happens at least once a month; from Mr. Henry E. Legler, the personal loan of pictures and furniture; and free clerical assistance from a number of friends of the work, which has enabled us at rush times to do more than our limited appropriation would have per- mitted. The present Secretary, as did, I am sure, his predecessor, feels that certain phases of the work are materially assisted by the fortunate location of the offices in the same building with a library of no mean refer- ence facilities and in close proximity also to two of the choicest refei'ence libraries in the country. During the past year Mr. Hadley succeeded in organizing much more perfectly the routine of the office than was possible the first few months, and the work is now moving forward with considerable smoothness. It is not necessary to remind the membership that the ordinary business routine of the office, about which little needs to be said in an annual report, is nevertheless the part that takes the most time, that which must be attended to before excursions are made into fields of new- activities, and which increases steadily in proportion to the success of the work ac- complished. The editing of the Bulletin and various publications of the Publishing board, the reading of large quantities of proof, the sale of publications with the attendant mailing, billing and bookkeeping, the distribution of the Bulletin and the Booklist, the necessary bookkeeping of membership dues, changes of addresses of members, attending to a correspondence averaging 35 to 40 letters per day, preparing copy for advertisements, arranging con- tracts with printers, and making the busi- ness arrangements for the annual confer- ence and mid-winter meetings; all these and many other matters must be regularly looked after each month as they come up. The remaining margin of time has been filled with a variety of activities of which it is only possible to give a suggestion, as work of this character is not easily classified, or reduced to statistics. The Sec- retary feels that the work of the Executive office is intensely interesting and respon- sible and fully deserving of the very best 66 PASADENA CONFERENCE thought and brain and business acumen that can be brought to bear upon it, and earnestly hopes that the efforts of the head- quarters office are contributing in some measure at least to the increase of effi- ciency in modern library development. The Executive office receives an immense amount of correspondence from library workers in all parts of this country, of the continent of Europe and of the world, letters not only coming to us from every state of the union and every province of Canada, but from Mexico, Cuba, Porto Rico, South America, England, Germany, France, Norway, Russia, Bulgaria, China, Austral- ia, Hawaii and Straits Settlements. This correspondence is an able argument for the service that an Executive office can render to a very wide circle of workers. In most instances the Secretary has been able either to give the desired information or to direct the inquirer to the proper source for ob- taining it. It can readily be seen that such a mass of correspondence occupies necessa- rily a donsiderable amount of the Secre- tary's time. As the Secretary pointed out In his last annual address, frequently the advice sought was of sufficient importance to require considerable thought and prepa- ration in replying. Among the many items of information which have been asked from the present occupant in the past two months It may be of interest to show their trend and scope by recalling the following: Assis- tance on book purchases from a library in Mexico; how to start a free library in a town of 800 people: establishment of a library school in Russia; information on library laws for use in Norway: particulars on our civil service system from a govern- ment official of Bulgaria; how one may learn to become an expert indexer; whether it would be well for a small village library and a small college library to combine; assistance in establishing a library com- mission in a state now without one; sug- gestions for a reading list for a boy's summer camp; opinion regarding the value of certain designated juvenile books for library use; correspondence and personal conference with several persons regarding proposed additions to their library build- ings; etc. In his report last year the Secretari' outlined the publicity work of the Execu- tive office, calling attention to the various articles written for newspapers and other periodicals, for encyclopedias and annuals and for convention bureaus and commer- cial clubs. Mention was also made of the publicity given through library school lec- tures, through the sale of publications to non-members, as well as through official representation at various state meetings and through other agencies. As very much the same policy has been carried out the past year it is unnecessary to repeat in detail these employed methods. Along some lines the office has been enabled to do more publicity work than last year, but, as pointed out by Mr. Hadley, more money is needed for this work, though a certain amount can be accomplished on the present income. During the year the Secretary has recom- mended about thirty librarians to positions, about half of whom received appointments; has been consulted regarding building plans by nearly twenty librarians or library trustees; has sent plans of buildings and photographs to eleven different cities; se- cured a valuable lot of magazines for one library; helped to select books for purchase by one of the three U. S. penitentiary libraries; and sent exhibits of library pub- lications to Germany and to Russia. These exhibits were sent at the request of Hugo Miinsterburg and Count John Tolstoi, re- spectively. Library building plans are proving very useful. Many requests are received for loans. We wish we might receive plans of all libraries erected in the past eight or ten years. Such a donation would be a real help to the cause of greater effici- ency In library administration, and would not be a very great expense to the con- tributing libraries. About one-fourth of the time of the Sec- retary, and about three-fourths of the time of the other staff members are occupied in work connected with the Publishing board. It is not necessary, however, to speak further of this feature of the Sec- retary's activities as the report of the A. 67 L. A. Publishing board covers this with sufficient fulness. The office has sold 10,273 copies of its various publications at an aggregate cost of $4,778.12. Membership. The Association needs more members, institutional and individual, and I believe just as firmly that the in- dividuals and the libraries need the Asso- ciation. Throughout the year a systematic and continuous campaign for new members has been conducted, and although our ef- forts have gained a fair addition of new names the number is woefully small com- pared with the total number of library workers in the country. Every library that has an income of at least $5,000 a year ought to belong to the A. L. A. both for its own good and for the help it can render the Association by its membership fee, and every librarian and library assistant whose salary is not less than $60 a month would find it a personal asset and an advantage to be allied with the national association. Many a library board who have decided they could not afford to have their institution placed on the membership roll would un- hesitatingly vote five dollars a year for pe- riodicals which are of far less service than the A. L. A. Bulletin and Booklist, which are secured free through membership, to say nothing of the other very substantial bene- fits derived. In addition to our desire to enroll a large number of libraries as institutional mem- bers, and entirely in addition to the pecuni- ary profit which membership brings to the work of the Executive office, we would like to welcome to the Association a host of library workers, in order that they may have the feeling of being a part of a great organized professional movement, of being one in a vast fraternity working for the uplift of their respective communities. We earnestly request librarians to recommend membership in the Association to their staff members. This, we are confident, can be tactfully done in a way to preclude any suspicion of duress on the part of the chief and to impress the assistants that it is solely for their good and advantage that the suggestion is made. A number of trus- tees are already members of the Associ- ation, several having recently joined. We recommend to librarians that they extend a cordial invitation to join the A. L. A. to members of their boards, explaining to them the advantages accruing, and the opportunity, on their part, by a very small outlay, of aiding in library development beyond the confines of their own com- munity. The library horizon of the aver- age trustee would be considerably broad- ened by the perusal of the papers of such a conference as we are now holding, and he might look at things thereafter more nearly from the same point of view as his librarian. The membership is far more than national, it is world-wide. Besides hav- ing our members in every state in the union, and in nearly every province of Canada, our Bulletin goes to members in England, Scotland, France, Germany, Nor- way, Denmark, China, Japan, India, Aus- tralia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Philippine Is- lands and Porto Rico. If the Secretary could find the time for the necessary corre- spondence our membership could undoubt- edly be widely extended among the li- braries of Great Britain, as only two of the English libraries are now institutional members. The Secretary hopes to take up this matter in the near future and suggests that as a return courtesy some of our large libraries join the British library association and receive their official publications. For the year 1910 only fourteen members of the Association were registered from Canada. The Secretary hopes to Induce more of our Canadian cousins to take an active part in the association. Here too he can be greatly assisted if Canadian libra- rians who are interested in the Association will urge membership to their friends when attending local meetings or writing other librarians. If an official representative of the A. L. A. could attend some of the provincial library association meetings, good returns in membership would prob- ably result. There are at the present time 284 insti- tutional members in the Association. The Secretary has recently addressed a special letter to the boards of about 350 libraries PASADENA CONFERENCE In various parts of the country placing before tliem the advantages of member- ship and heartily inviting them to join the Association. This will, we hope, result in quite a list of new members. California has more members, both institutional and individual, than any other state west of the Mississippi, and it is a pleasure to report this fact here on California soil. But we suspect that even California has some li- brarians who have not yet found their way into the folds of the A. L. A. On May 4th there were 2,118 members enrolled, of which 284, as stated above, were institutional members. From May 15, 1910, to May 4th, 1911, 29G new members have joined the Association as compared with 154 for the nine and one half months preceding — of this number 53 were insti- tutional members, and by a strange coin- cidence in numbers 53 of the 154 new mem- bers of 1909-10 were also institutional members. Notices regarding dues for 1911 were mailed the first of January; second no- tices were sent out the first part of April, and at the close of this conference third notices will be mailed, accompanied by a letter urging librarians not to let their membership lapse, and informing them that those who fail to remit before July 1st, will no longer be regarded as members. Until we know how many fail to respond to this notice it will be Impossible to state the net increase in membership over last year, but there will probably be some gain. In 1910, 320 new members joined the Asso- ciation, but 137 allowed their membership to lapse. It is a serious problem how best to combat the tendency to let membership lapse when the member cannot attend the conference. If those who join the Association with the serious desire and intention to receive good and impart good find that they cannot attend the annual conference they should be all the more desirous of having the con- ference come to them in the form of the printed proceedings. This point of view we are endeavoring to force to the attention of delinquent members. We sincerely trust t^at many library workers on this coast who have joined this year because the con- ference has been accessible to them will see wisdom in this position and will see to it that even though the next conference may not be near enough for them to attend they will keep in touch with the national movement by having the conference come to them in print. In urging and discussing membership extension the Secretary feels the firm con- viction that however much the Association may profit financially by an increased mem- bership that the institutions and individ- uals who join reap far more benefit, and that to persuade persons to join the A. L. A. is to bestow on them far more advantage than is represented in the small fee which is annually levied. A. L. A. Representatives at Other Con- ferences. The policy of sending official representatives of the A. L. A. to state library meetings proved even more popular this past year than ever before and more invitations were received than could be accepted. Unless, however, the pressure of work at headquarters was too great, or a conflict of dates prevented, either Mr. Hadley or some other delegated representa- tive responded to these calls from state associations. Unquestionably mutual bene- fit has resulted from this interchange of speakers and the policy has broadened the horizon of many library associations. Following the Mackinac conference Mr. Hadley was Invited to lecture at five sum- mer library schools, and three of these invitations were accepted. One talk was given on the A. L. A. and its work before the Minnesota summer library school, and the "Place of the library In a community" was discussed before all the departments at the University of Minnesota. A talk on the same subject was given at the Univer- sity of Iowa, at Iowa City, Iowa, and a general address was given at the Indiana summer library school, Earlham College, Kichmond, Indiana. In the latter part of September upon invitation from the University of North Dakota, Mr. Hadley represented the A. L. A. at the exercises incident to the inaug- uration of Dr. F. LeR. Macvey, as president of that University. The A. L. A. was one of twenty-five national organizations rep- resented on that occasion. As these exer- cises were attended while the Secretary was on his way to the meeting of the North Dakota library association no ex- pense was incurred either by the A. L. A. or by the state association. At the North Dakota meeting, Sept 30 and Oct. 1, Mr. Hadley spoke on "Affiliation of the state association with the A. L. A.," and also helped to conduct a meeting of the trustee section. On this trip he gave an address before the State normal school and opened the citizen's free lecture course at Fargo with a talk on the American public library. From North Dakota the Secretary went to Fairmont, Minnesota, to attend a meet- ing of the Minnesota library association, Oct. 4-6. Here he also spoke on the subject of State affiliation with the A. L. A., and gave an address before the general public on the "Place of the library in a com- munity." Mr. Legler represented the A. L. A. at the Illinois state meeting at Rock Island, Oct. 11-12, and spoke on "Extension work of the Chicago public library," and Mr. Hadley also attended in order to speak upon the subject of state affiliation with the A. L. A. Following this meeting the Secretary attended the Iowa state meeting at Davenport, Oct. 11-13, speaking on the state library association and its work, and also on the subject of affiliation with the A. L. A., and going on from there to Abi- lene, Kansas, to the Kansas state meeting, Oct. 13-14. Here he spoke on the importance of a state library commission and what it means to library work. The Nebraska state meeting, held at Lin- coln, Oct. 19-21, was attended officially by Mr. Legler who gave an address on the subject, "What of the rural library?" Mrs. Elmendorf, first vice-president of the A. L. A., attended the Michigan meeting at Jackson, Oct. 18-19 and spoke on "Child- ren's right to poetry." Dr. Bostwick attended, as the official representative of the A. L. A., a meeting of librarians at Little Rock, Jan. 26, at which time the Arkansas library associ- ation was most auspiciously and enthu- siastically organized and launched. Dr. Bostwick's principal address was on the subject "The public library as a public utility." He also addressed the business session and spoke on the subject of the public library movement before the Senate and House of Representatives. Although Mr. Hadley was unable to attend this Ar- kansas meeting he helped to draw up the plans for it. The present Secretary attended the Wis- consin state meeting at Milwaukee, Feb- ruary 22-23, and spoke on the work of the A. L. A. Mr. Wyer attended the Atlantic City meet- ing of March 9-11 and gave an address, "Outside the walls," and also discussed state affiliation with the A. L. A. Mr. Leg- ler attended the Georgia state meetings at Athens, April 17-19, and gave the prin- cipal address. In addition to these attended meetings Mr. Hadley spoke before the Milwaukee libi'ary club on the American library asso- ciation and its work and at the Wisconsin state normal school, in Milwaukee, on "The Place of the American Library." The Sec- retary was obliged to decline invitations from the State association of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and North Carolina, ow- ing either to conflicting dates or pressure of work at the Executive office. Changes in Officers and Committees. Mrs. H. L. Elmendorf, upon election to the position of first vice-president, i-esigned as one of the two members of the Execu- tive board whose terms expire in 1911 and Miss Alice S. Tyler was designated by the Executive board to serve pro tempore, un- til 1911, to succeed Mrs. Elmendorf. Chalmers Hadley's resignation as Sec- retary of the A. L. A., in January has al- ready been recorded elsewhere in this report. Asa Don Dickinson resigned in January from the Committee on work with the blind, and J. L. Gillis was appointed to succeed him. The present Secretary succeeded Mr. Hadley as member of the Program com- mittee. 70 PASADENA CONFERENCE Necrology. During the year the Asso- ciation has suffered the loss of eight of its members by death. The list includes a charter and life member who had served as treasurer; three library trustees who had sufficient interest in their trusts to look for support and inspiration beyond their local library horizons, and one who by his winning personality, his desire to be a "friend to man," and his accomplish- ments in the world of letters had endeared himself in the hearts of all of us whose fortune it was to know him. Sam Walter Foss, librarian of the Som- erville (Mass.) public library, and widely known also as a poet and lecturer, died February 26, 1911. Mr. Foss joined the Association in 1899 (No. 1851) and at- tended the conferences of 1899, 1900, '01, ■02, '03, '04, '06, '09. He served the A. L. A. as chairman of the finance committee 1904- 1906. James Madison Pereles, for 18 years president of the board of trustees of the Milwaukee public library and chairman of the Wisconsin free library commission since 1905. died December 11, 1910. Judge Pereles joined the A. L. A. in 1908 (No. 4514) and attended the Minnetonka con- ference. C. A. Preston, of Ionia, Michigan, died October 2, 1910. He joined the A. L. A. in 1910 (No. 4973) but had attended four conferences. Cass Richardson, who was with E. P. Dutton & Co. for many years, died June 9, 1911. He joined the .Association in 190.'5 (No. 2758), and attended the conferences of 1903 and 1908. Mary W. Taylor, librarian of the Bureau of chemistry, Washington, D. C, since October, 1905, died December 13, 1910. Miss Taylor joined the A. L. A. in 1904 (No. 3108) and attended the Minnetonka con- ference. Frank J. Thompson of Fargo, N. D., died Feb. 25, 1910. He was a director of the public library of Fargo, North Dakota, and for a time librarian; one of the founders of the North Dakota library association and its first president; active in the cre- ation of the North Dakota library com- mission and its first president. He joined the A. L. A. in 1906 (No. 3972). He never attended any of the annual conferences. Henry Mitchell Whitney, librarian of the James Blackstone memorial library of Branford, Connecticut, since 1899, died March 26, 1911. Before entering library work he was for many years a professor in Beloit College. Mr. Whitney joined the Association in 1886 (No. 568) and attended the conferences of 1886, 1900, 1902, 1905 and 1906. James Lyman Whitney, formerly libra- rian of the Boston public library, died at his home in Cambridge, September 25, 1910, after a professional service of nearly forty- one years. In 1868 he became assistant librarian of the Cincinnati public library, but the following year began his long con- nection with the Boston public library. From 1874 to 1899 he was chief of the Cata- log department; from 1899 to 1903 he was librarian; but finding the duties too oner- ous for his advanced years he resigned as librarian in 1903 and was appointed chief of the department of documents and statis- tics and of the manuscripts. As a bibliog- rapher and man of learning Mr. Whitney will long be remembered. Although not the author of the card catalog he did much to perfect its system and was one of its chief developers. He was a charter member (No. 59) as well as life member of the A. L. A., treasurer from 1882 to 1886, and an attend- ant at ten conferences of the Association, namely 1876, 1879, '82, '83, '85, '86, '96, '99, 1900 and 1902. He also attended the inter- national conference at London in 1897. For further particulars see "Librarj' Journal," v. 35, no. 10, p. 478; v. 36, no. 3, p. 146. Mrs. Agnes Fairbanks Willard, trustee of the St. Johnsbury (Vermont) Athenaeum, died March 15, 1910. She joined the Asso- ciation in in02 (No. 2512). and attended the Magnolia and Bretton Woods conferences. The following persons at various times belonged to the Association but were not n. ambers at the time of their death: George Hall Baker, librarian emeritus of Columbia university library, died March 27, 1911. Mr. Baker joined the Association in 1885 (No. 478), and attended the confer- GOULD 71 ences of 1S85, '86, '90, '92, '93, '94 and '97. For further particulars see Library Journal, 24; 23L Prof. Edward W. Hall, librarian of Colby College, died September 8, 1910. He was one of the early members of the Associa- tion, joining in 1877 (No. 76) and attended three of the early conferences. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, historian, author, minister, soldier, for many years trustee of the Cambridge, Mass., public library, died May 9, 1911. He joined the Association in 1897 (No. 1566). So far as recorded, Col. Higginson attended none of the annual conferences. Miss Mary F. Macrum, of the staff of the Carnegie library of Pittsburgh, died No- vember 1, 1910. She joined the A. L. A. in 1896 (No. 1481) and attended four con- ferences. Edward W. Mealey, trustee of the Wash- ington County free library of Hagerstown, Maryland, died April 28, 1910. He joined the Association in 1901 (No. 2298) and at- tended the conference of that year. James H. Stout, of Menomonie, Wis., a friend of libraries and active in library legislation and development, died Decem- ber 8, 1910. He joined the A. L. A. in 1896 (No. 1518) and attended two annual con- ferences. Rt. Rev. Alexander H. Vinton, bishop of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of West- ern Massachusetts, died Jan. 18, 1911. He joined the Association in 1889 (No. 769), and attended the conference of that year. The following reports were then read by title, received and referred to the Program committee: COMMITTEE ON CO-ORDINATION At a meeting of the Committee on Co- ordination, which was held at Mackinac last summer, the Committee decided that Its Report for the ensuing year should con- sist of a short series of special reports on divisions of the general subject. As a result, the following papers have been prepared by the gentlemen whose names are appended to them. They are now submitted as the Report of the Com- mittee on Co-ordination. C. H. GOULD, Chairman. Exchange of Duplicates The public library of Cincinnati has sent away tons of bound newspapers and unbound medical periodicals, and has other tons which it would be glad to send to any library of standing willing to accept them. What little has been received in return has been selected at great labor, and probably unprofitable labor, from lists of duplicates offered by other libraries. In a few words, the experience of the public library of Cincinnati in the exchange of duplicates has not been satisfactory, relief will now be sought in the auction room. But there are still exchange enthusiasts, and that this report may not seem biased, we give the views of two of these. The first writes: "My experience has been that duplicates, unless they are books of some considerable rarity or costliness, do not sell tor enough in the auction room to make that a very profitable device for handling them. I much prefer to send the titles to other libraries, when I can find a man who looks at the thing in the large and who will take what he wants and give me the same opportunity to select from his duplicates. A man who desires, how- ever, to figure out to a cent the value of each duplicate, and is always fearful lest perhaps he does not get his fair share in return, it is not of much use to bother with. I think a very generous policy on the part of libraries in exchanging duplicates, where there is a reasonable chance of return, is. on the whole, the best way of disposing of them, but the process must be reduced to a business system. Our own plan is to file away duplicates as they are received in a numerical order, this order being the key to the whole situation. A rough author entry is made for each duplicate and these entries are then sent, when a sufficient package has accumulated, to some library with which we have exchange relations. They select anything they desire and re- turn the slips to us. We can quickly find. 72 PASADENA CONFERENCE by the numbers, any given duplicates and ship them by freight. The expense of the entire transaction is not great, and, accord- ing to our experience, the returns abund- antly warrant the time and cost of the transaction. My own feeling is that this is a more desirable thing for libraries to do than to attempt to get money out of their duplicates through the auction-room. "One other way of obtaining money from them, however, is also feasible. I always go through the book wants columns in Publishers' weekly each week and send out from a dozen to twenty cards in response to titles asked for. Of these I usually sell enough so that the entire money receipts for the year represent practically all the expense that is put into our dupli- cate collection. In this way I feel that whatever we get out of our duplicates in the shape of exchanges is so much to the good. "I do not know as this will be of the slightest value to you but I infer from your letter that you are not much of a believer In the exchange of duplicates, and con- sequently I have written a little more at length to show you that in our case, at least, the trouble of handling them seems to be quite worth while." The second advocate of exchange is con- vinced that while It takes a great deal of labor to handle duplicates through corre- spondence, yet the results are usually en- couraging. Exchange work draws libraries closer together and promotes co-operation. "In medicine" he says, "we have acquired thousands of dollars' worth of journals through exchange and these have been in better shape and more complete than similar material bought from some of the New York medical booksellers." The above divergent views appear to us to formulate the chief arguments for and against the auction-room as a substitute for direct exchange of duplicates between libraries; also the arguments for and against such direct exchange. Both plans have disadvantages which, in the opinion of a third correspondent, go to show that a regular clearing house for duplicates is really essential. But, as he looks at the question, the clearing house, if it is to be thoroughly effective, should be connected with one, or more, great libraries: not much could be expected of it, if it were operated by itself. N. D. C. HODGES. Co-ordination In Library Work in California The term "state library" has almost as many meanings as there are states in which the institution exists. In some states it is a law library, owned by the state, and operated for the use of state ofHcials. In some, the state library is a historical de- partment, devoting Its chief energies to the collection of material bearing upon the state's history. In some, it is a division of the state's educational system. And in some, the state library is a general collec- tion of books. To appreciate fully the work of co-opera- tion and co-ordination already accomplished in California, and the possibilities for still broader work along this line, it is nec- essary to understand just what the term "state library" means in California, and the plan of its organization. The California ; State library is a library for the entire I state, and its first great advantage is that ' it is made up of all those departments usually operated by commissions, historical ' societies, law libraries, and so forth. These different activities are united under one management, with one head, and thus the first great step in co-ordination is taken, since each department operates as part of a whole, dovetailing into each other • part, but with no over-lapping of parts, nor ' chinks and spaces between. The Califor- ' nla State library thus comprises the fol- lowing departments: Books for the Blind, Callforniana. Catalog, Documents, Law,[ Legislative Reference. Reference, and; Traveling Libraries; and all are equally! in the service of the entire state. The State library Is moreover entirely inde- pendent of any other organization, being a complete unit in the state government, able to initiate and promulgate whatever is for the best library Interest. The second great advantage which is enjoyed by the California State library 73 and which makes possible a free play for co-ordination, is the elasticity of the laws creating and governing the institution. No hampering restrictions require legislation authorizing any enlargement of the work; and no iron-clad appropriation fixes the amount to be paid for a salary, or for books, or for other equipment. On the contrary, the management is left abso- lutely free to follow its own judgment in establishing or discontinuing any policy; and the funds are appropriated in lump, to be paid out as necessitated according to the policy adopted by the institution. As a result, this freedom, both in policy and in expenditures, makes possible a line of action scarcely to be hoped for in less favored states. With these two points gained, then, for complete freedom of action, namely, a union under one management of all state activities in library work; and second, freedom from any restrictive legislation, the California State library desired to find the most efficient means of reaching all the people of the state. The well perfected engine and machinery stood ready, the fuel and cargo were at hand, but sufficient track and stations were lacking. It must not be understood that municipal libraries do not offer means of co-ordina- tion with the state library, for the state library supplements In every way any li- brary in the state which asks such assist- ance. The fact remains, however, that an infinite multiplication of municipal libraries in California would not reach the entire people, nor, acting Independently, would they make for that co-ordination which is more and more becoming the accepted slogan of the library world. It was necessary, then, to find some agency by which all the people could be reached, and through which the State li- brary could become supplemental to the needs of the entire people. That agency has been found in the county free library, which, together with those municipal li- braries that prefer to act independently, will cover the entire state area; and it also affords opportunity by which the work of every library in the system may be com- pletely co-ordinated, no two libraries use- lessly wasting time in covering the same ground, but each one covering thoroughly the ground it starts out to cover. And this is how it is being done: In the counties which are operating county free libraries, the central library at the county seat owns all such books and material as is in usual demand in the county, and can be worn out there. Branches are established in different parts of the county, through which the books reach all the people. Bach branch keeps the books only as long as it has use for them. Books desired but not found in the collection are supplied from the central library. These branches are capable of develop- ment in an infinite variety of ways, but their aim is always to satisfy all the read- ing needs of the particular community. Nor is a community limited to one branch; it should have as many as the varied interests need. Every activity is to be served, and can always be served more effectively from a central reservoir of books than when each activity attempts to serve itself independ- ent of any other library. In one small com- munity there are already three branches — one for general use, one for a woman's club, and one in the high school, with a fourth contemplated, to be placed in the packing house, and to be made up of books for gen- eral reading, and also on that particular fruit industry. Railroad shops, factories, chambers of commerce, municipal refer- ence reading rooms, newspaper establish- ments, will have their special collection bearing upon their technical problems. Hospitals, asylums, prisons, reform schools, and all county and state institutions will be provided with branches of the county free library; for we believe that each in- stitution, whether county or state, should receive library service from the county in which it is situated, the same argument applying to this as to other service, namely, economy, professional oversight, care of books, access to greater collec- tions, a supply of books most appropriate to the needs of the borrowers, etc. Hence each county will consider any such insti- 74 PASADENA CONFERENCE tution as an integral part of itself, to re- ceive county free library service just as logically as the general public or the school or the clubs. Already several counties are turning over to the county free library their teachers' library, and the various district school li- braries with the money levied for their support; for the school people know full well that the best results can be obtained by this correlation of work, this wider ex- change that will result, the economy in purchase, the care for books beginning to wear out, and a wiser choice than the teacher has often time to make. More often than not, the law libraries of the various counties are unavailable be- cause of lack of care and cataloging. The county free library is helping to put them on a usable basis, and take charge of their care and distribution. By all these various ways of developing branches of the county free library, a high degree of efficiency can be obtained and economy of effort and expenditure result. But just as great opportunities for co-or- dination of effort are possible between county free libraries. The informal lend- ing of books across the border is but a first step leading to formal arrangements for loans between the different centers, for it will not be long before each county will have collections developed along cer- tain lines, which will be available to any other county. Another formal arrangement about to be adojUed is a borrower's card, enabling the patron to borrow not only from any branch within the county, but from any county free library in the state. With the counties taking care of the ordinary demands of their readers in this thoroughgoing manner, the State library is left to its legitimate business of further building up its permanent collections of material which have a permanent value, and which will mean something more to the people of the state than a collection of traveling libraries possibly can. At present, where county free libraries are just be- ginning, the State library is helping them with such material as they cannot afford to purchase. When they are once in run- ning order, however, they will own all the material which can be worn out in their own county, and the State library will sup- plement them with all material which they are not justified in purchasing either be- cause of cost, scarcity of request, or in- frequent periodic recurrence of use. To this end the State library will build up particular collections of music such as would be sought by the advanced student or the composer. Books for the blind are already available from the State library, and will be added to by the state rather than by the county, for no county could at present be justified in maintaining a col- lection, since demands would be too in- frequent. The State library tried the plan of keeping collections for the blind in different places, but it was not satisfactory, owing to the impossibility of having enough books of different type, and to satisfy the various classes and ages of the readers. A supply of material for visual instruction, such as slides, stereoscopic views, illustra- tions, mounts, and moving pictures is also being made. We recognize the bearing upon co-ordi- nation of the questions of storage, and means of information as to where any ma- terial is available, such as a union catalog will give. No definite plans have matured, however, for either, beyond legislation making it possible to establish branches of the California State library at I>os .\ngeles and at San Francisco. When these are realized, better means will be available of knowing the resources of different li- braries, and possibilities for gathering ma- terial and for storage will be offered which are now out of the question because of big distances and cramped quarters. The cost of transportation often offers a real difUculty to the would-be borrower. Where the county free library system is in operation all expenses within the county are paid from the county fund, and all car- riage to and from the State library is paid from the State library fund. We expect soon to obtain a reduction in express rates. Mr. Gould defines co-ordination as "planning and arranging for the advance- ment of co-operation on a large scale." 75 Someone else has said, "Co-ordination is that self-restraint on the part ot most li- braries which will cause them to mind their own business and look to national, state and special libraries as great store- houses and reservoirs of books." We be- lieve that it is all this, and even more. It is not enough for us to plan for systematic co-operation, nor for the small library to mind its own business. The large library must be alive to all the needs it will be called upon to supplement, and the trans- mission must be perfect. It co-ordination is to succeed, the central power house must be in perfect order, and the connection the best. If they fail, the small lights will go out. J. L. GILLIS. COMMITTEE ON CO-ORDINATION AMONG COLLEGE LIBRARIES The Committee on co-ordination among college libraries reports that it has little of importance to add to the report made to the Association last year and presented at the Mackinac conference. The general opinion of the Committee was at that time, and continues to be, that the plan for a Bureau of information and Central lending library, which had been submitted to it, is a plan which, if there were the means to carry it out on an effective scale, might render district service to American scholars and to college and reference libraries, but the Committee was not encouraged to think that such an endowment (from thirty to fifty thousand dollars a year) could be ob- tained. In the absence of support of this character, it was glad to recognize the practical aid in this direction which could be given by the Library of Congress and by other large libraries working independ- ently for the same general ends, and it hoped that the work already done by the Library of Congress in collecting informa- tion in regard to the resources of American libraries, and in making this information available to all inquiries, would be con- tinued and supported, and might even be increased by means of a special endowment therefor. The Committee has no further sugges- tions to make at the present time, and since the character of the subject referred to it, apart from the special proposal which was submitted, is covered in the field of an- other committee, it recommends that the Committee be discharged. W. C. LANE, Chairman. COMMITTEE ON CO-OPERATION WITH THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION The past year has witnessed a nearer approach to common ground in the in- terests of both the school teachers and librarians in the matter of co-operative work for young people, whatever may be said of the larger organizations to which librarians and teachers respectively belong. It will be remembered that there was a disposition, apparently without particular foundation, on the part of the management of the National Education Association to abolish the library department of that or- ganization. We are glad to report that owing to the united and emphatic protests of a large number of librarians and school authorities the disposition was abandoned without action, and the library department of the N. E. A. continues. In the judgment of this Committee, there still remains much ground to cover before it can be said truth- fully that there is active or continued co- operation between the A. L. A. and the N. E. A. The question of time and place of hold- ing their respective meetings has again been decided by each association without reference to the action of the other. There seems to have been an utter absence of consideration of the existence of the plans and purposes of the N. E. A. in providing for a meeting ot the A. L. A., and the time and place of meeting had been definitely settled when a letter from the Secretary of the N. B. A. asking for consideration of the matter was received. The meeting of the library department of the N. E. A. at Boston, July 5 and 7, 1910, was the occasion for the presentation of some very important papers and addresses. The set papers were all presented by 70 PASADKNA CONFERENCE school people, while the round tables and discussions were largely conducted by li- brarians. The report of the meetings in the Proceedings of the meeting of the N. E. A. tor 1910, furnishes some very valuable li- brary literature. An important meeting, which doubtless will contribute largely to a better under- standing between the libraries and schools, was that of the school librarians, who held a meeting under the auspices of the New York state teachers' association, Decem- ber 28, 1910. This illustrates what has been said before, that it is easy to interest individuals in the work that is common to both schools and libraries, but the national organizations do not seem to come any nearer cooperation or conservation of re- sults of the efforts of either or of both, in the furtherance of the use of books. The Committee would again make the suggestion, which may have grown familiar by oft repeating, that the governing au- thorities of the A. L. A. seek closer rela- tionship with the like powers in the N. E. A., to the end that a more serious consid- eration of the purposes and power of the A. L. A. may be brought to a fuller realiza- tion on the part of the N. E. A. As yet the N. E. A. Is apparently not sufTiciently im- pressed with the national body of librarians to invite a representative to a place on its general program, although such recogni- tion has been tendered at various times to persons prominent in law, literature, medi- cine, social welfare, statesmanship, religion and politics. It would further recommend that a defi- nite place on the annual program of the A. L. A. be provided for a discussion of the problems that are common to schools and libraries, particularly as a source of help- fulness to the constantly growing class of school librarians. Third, that a more definite understanding be developed in the majority of college and university libraries, both as regards their contribution to the training of all college students in the use of books and the stand- ing of the library among other departments of their respective Institutions. To this end, it Is suggested that the A. L. A. com- mittee on co-operation with the N. E. A. be enlarged sufllclently to cover the entire country, each member of the Committee re- porting the progress in the district assigned, in library instruction to teachers or students, in colleges, normal schools and public schools, with a view to finding out the needs and recommending definite assistance. While there is not much to say as to progress in cooperation, the Committee Is not on that account, the least inclined to discontinue Its attempts to bring about more real and effective co-operation be- tween these two great organizations which are attempting to effect real educational progress. For the Committee, M. E. AHERN, Chairman. COMMITTEE ON BOOKBINDING During the past six months nearly all the energy of the Committee on binding has been expended in inducing the publishers of the 11th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica to issue a special edition for the use of libraries. Early in November speci- fications for a special edition were sub- mitted. These specifications were sent to England and evidently not approved, since In December the Committee learned in a roundabout way that there would be two editions for library use, neither one of them following the specifications of this Com- mittee. One of these editions was to be bound by Mr. Chivers according to his own specifications and the other was to be in leather, bound according to rather elabor- ate specifications of the T^ibrary associa- tion In England. The specifications of the A. L. A. Committee were not nearly so elaborate as those of the English com- mittee, and called for cloth instead of leather. It was reported that the main reason that the specifications of this Com- mittee were not approved in England was because they called for cloth. In order that there might be no chance for argu- ment, forty letters were sent out by our Committee to librarians in this country, asking for an expression of opinion as to 77 the respective merits of cloth or leather for small libraries. Only four of those who re- plied favored leather. Therefore, the Com- mittee made a vigorous protest to the pub- lishers, with the result that it was decided to issue a cloth edition as well as the two leather ones. The other specifications, aside from cloth, correspond to those of the English committee. They should be amply sufficient to make the volume so strong that they never need be rebound. The prices of these different library bindings are, for Chivers, $5.75 a volume; for the Library association (Great Britain), Binding halt morocco, $5.50; for A. L. A. binding, bucl^ram, $5. It is a pleasure to record the fact that the Book production committee in England worked in harmony with this Committee, and perhaps it is only fair to say that more credit for the successful issue is due to that Committee than to this. Much interest in this special edition has been manifested by librarians all over the country. The Committee wishes that similar interest might be extended to other reinforced bindings. The combined pres- sure of the entire library world would enable us to get anything desired from the publishers. As matters now stand, only a few librarians make it a point to order books that can be obtained in reinforced binding. During the year the correspondence of this Committee has largely increased, many inquiries having been received from librarians, publishers and booksellers. In fact, owing to the limited time at the dis- posal of the members of the Committee, its chief function at present seems to be that of acting in an advisory capacity. Last year's report included an account of a brief examination of magazine binders. A supplementary report on this subject follows: Since the Committee's last report on binders for magazines two new varieties have been widely advertised. They are for current magazines intended to last, and are therefore somewhat expensive. Both are better than any previously reported to the Committee, and their faults are not particu- larly glaring. One is light but strong in construction, has pigskin back and keratol sides, and the metal strips that hold in the magazines are fastened by tying a string. The other has a wooden back covered with cowhide or pigskin, buckram sides, and the metal strip fastens with a sort of hook and eye. The former being light and flexible stands wear better, but the string is some- what bothersome. The latter's fastening is quicker, but being heavy and hard in the back, the binder shows wear sooner. The Committee has not tested either long enough to be dogmatic, but at present con- siders both improvements on other models, and pending further light as to durability, prefers the binder without strings. A. L. BAILEY, MARGARET W. BROWN, N. L. GOODRICH. COMMITTEE ON LIBRARY TRAINING Your Committee would report that during the year it made another attempt to secure from the Executive Board an appropriation sufficient to begin the examinations of li- brary schools contemplated in previous reports of the Committee. The Committee regrets to report that the effort again has been unsuccessful, although we were assured unofficially from members of the Executive Board that had the money been available it would gladly have been given. The Committee waits in hope that in the coming year it will be possible to begin this much desired work. Prom many of the library schools there have come ex- pressions of interest in the movement and the Committee has every reason to believe that prompt advantage of the opportunity for sucli examinations will be taken by many, if not by all, of the library schools. Since nothing has been done in this di- rection, the report this year must perforce be confined to a summary of such changes as have come under the notice of the com- mittee during the year. The parent school, the New York State Library School, suffered the loss of its quarters, together with its large collection of illustrative material, in the disastrous fire which destroyed the New York State 78 PASADENA CONFEREiXCE library and the west wing of the capitol building at Albany. The Committee de- sire to express their sincere sympathy in this loss and their confidence that the energy which has always characterized the school will result in the prompt re-equip- ment of the school for its work. Whether for the next year the school will be able to continue in its present quarters seems still undecided but it will be the hope of the entire library profession, already greatly indebted to the school, that the school will soon be re-equlpped and in con- dition to do the splendid worlt which has characterized it in the past. The changes which had occurred in the curriculum of the school prior to the fire indicate a dis- position on the part of the school to adjust Itself to the demand for library worli of varied sorts. Among these may be men- tioned the announcement of a course which was to have been given in 1911-1912 on law library and legislative reference work, thus making provision for training in a rapidly growing field of library service. Another course, also intended to be given in 1911- 1912, contemplated an extended study of a specific community with special reference to its present and possible future library activities. Such courses equip students to look at library service in the large and are greatly to be recommended. The summer session of the school was divided into two three-week courses, instead of one con- secutive course of six weeks, for the pur- pose of giving more work in a more limited number of subjects than has heretofore been offered in the course. The school connected with Pratt Institute reports having made arrangements for practice work on the part of its students In various high school libraries and branches of the New York public library, thus giving experience in a variety of types of library work. The school in connection with Drexel Institute, now under the charge of Miss Jane R, Donnelly as director, reports an increase in the number of lectures on cata- loging; a corresponding reduction in the practice time devoted to the subject; more attention given to the Expansion Classi- fication in the study of classification; a considerable expansion in the course of lectures on the history of libraries and a considerable enlargement in the attention given to children's work, in which provision is now made for practice work in a settle- ment library, each student being required to conduct four story hours. In practice work, one hundred of the two hundred hours required are now spent in a solid two weeks in a public library, the other hundred hours in work under supervision of the staff of the Drexel Institute library. The University of Illinois Library school announces the opening of a summer sesslou whose stalT for the first year is largely com- posed of the teachers in the regular school and in which cataloging, classification, reference work, children's work, book se- lection, loan desk work, accession work, binding and administration are given care, ful consideration. The library school of Western Reserve university adds two members to its staff, Mr. Strong, the new librarian of Adelbert, taking up the work in reference and bibli- ograi)hy. anil Miss Gertrude Stiles, super- visor of binding in the Cleveland public library, taking up the work of instructor in book binding and repair work. The department of library science of Simmons college reports the addition of Miss Isabella M. Cooper as instructor in reference and Mrs. Frances Rathbone Coe as general assistant. A course in docu- ments, national, state and municipal, by Miss Isadore G. Mudge; a course of thirty lectures on library work with children, under the direction of Miss Alice M. .lordan, of the Boston public library, and a course in advance cataloging given to the seniors once a weelc during the second term, by Miss Mary E. Robbins have been added to the curriculum. The library school of Syracuse univer- sity reports the addition of Miss Elizabeth Thorne, who gives instruction in classifica- tion, reference, library administration and book-binding, and Miss Edith Clarke, who gives instruction in government documents. The certificate course provides additional electives in reference work and cataloging, STEINER 79 and genetic psychology, taught by the dean of the Teachers' college, has been made an additional elective of courses A and C, a requirement in course B, and will here- after be required of all students intending to take up children's work. A general in- formation examination has been added to the requirements for admission to the cer- tificate course. The Wisconsin free library commission library school reports the addition to the faculty of Miss Helen Turvill and Miss Ethel F. McCoIIough. Miss Turvill gives instruction in cataloging and library econ- omy, and Miss McCoUough in book selec- tion and administration. Respectfully submitted, AZARIAH S. ROOT, Chairman. COMMITTEE ON THE BRUSSELS CONGRESSES Your Committee on the Brussels Con gresses respectfully reports that the Con gres International de Bibliographie et de Documentation was held at Brussels August 25 to 27 inclusive, and the Congrgs International des Archivistes et des Biblio thgcaires, August 28 to 31, inclusive. The official A. L. A. delegates were Dr. E. C Richardson, Miss M. E. Ahem, Messrs. G P. Bowerman, A. J. F. Van Laer, and Clement W. Andrews. In the absence of Dr. Richardson, Mr. Andrews acted as chairman. The Association was recognized at the first Congress by the appointment of Mr. Andrews as Vice-President, and at the sec- ond by his appointment as Vice-President. of Section 2, and by Mr. Bowerman's ap- pointment as Vice-President of Section 4. Provision was made for a permanent bureau, which will take charge of the ar- rangements for a meeting of archivists and librarians not earlier than 1913, not later than 1915. The American library asso- ciation will be asked to name one member of this bureau. The entire American repre- sentation numbered over forty. Respectfully submitted, N. D. C. HODGES, Chairman. E. C. RICHARDSON. FEDERAL AND STATE RELATIONS The Committee has no further report than that printed in the March A. L. A. Bulletin which for convenience of reference is here re-printed. The Committee on Federal and state re- lations came into correspondence with the Chairman of the Postal committees of Con- gress, and learning from them that there was no hope of any new postal legislation at the session of 1910-1911, has postponed any active attempt to obtain changes in the laws. It continues its recommendation that the American library association sup- port such changes as shall place all public libraries and library commissions in the list of institutions entitled to second class mail matter privileges. The association must determine its policy with reference to the sending of books through the mails. Three plans have been prosposed: 1. That we advocate a special library post. 2. That we join with the publishers in advocating a special book post. 3. That we support the movement for a general parcels post. BERNARD C. STEINER, Chairman. PASADENA CONFERENCE REPORT OF THE CARNEGIE AND ENDOWMENT FUNDS To the President and Members of the American Library Association, Gentlemen: The Trustees of the Carnegie and En- dowment funds, in presenting their annual report, are pleased to say that the interest upon all bonds held for account of the funds has been paid up to date. During the year one thousand dollars of U. S. Steel bonds were purchased for credit of Carnegie fund, and one thousand five hundred dollars of same bonds for credit of Endowment fund from moneys on de- posit in the Union Trust Company and Dime Savings Institution. The condition of the bond market so far as It affects the securities held by the Trustees has remained the same during the past year, so that they have not been able to change any of the securities for the betterment of the Trust. The Trustees watch the market con- ditions closely in the interest of their trust, and are very anxious to substitute for cer- tain pf their securities others which will bear a higher rate of income than is now obtained. While there is no question as to the stability aud value of all the securities they hold, yet certain of them do not bear as high a rate of interest as the Trustees desire and the needs of the Association de- mand. During the year, by direction of the Ex- ecutive committee, Mr. E. H. Anderson, of the New York public library, made a thor- ough and complete examination of the se- curities held by the Trustees and deposited in the vaults of the Union Trust company of New York, Fifth Avenue Branch, and audited the accounts of the Trustees. Every facility was accorded for the audit and inspection. He will report to the Asso- ciation at the annual meeting the result. Annexed will be found a detailed state- ment of all our transactions in both funds covering the period from January If), 1910, to January 15, 1911. W. C. KIMBALL, W. T. PORTER, W. W. APPLETON. Trustees of A. L. A. Endowment Fund. CARNEGIE FUND, PRINCIPAL ACCOUNT Cash donated by Mr. Andrew Carnegie ?100,000.00 Invested as follows: June I. 1908 5.000 4% Am. Tel. & Tel. Bonds 961/2 $4,825.00 June 1. 190S 10.000 4% Am. Tel. & Tel. Bonds 94% 9,437.50 June 1, 190S 1.5,000 4% Cleveland Terminal 100 15,000.00 June 1, 190S 10,000 4% Seaboard Air Line 95V4 9,550.00 June 1, 1908 15,000 5% Western Un. Tel 108^ 15,000.00 Jime 1, 1908 15,000 3%% N. Y. Cen. (Lake Shore Col.).. 90 13,500.00 June 1. 1908 15,000 5% Mo. Pacific 104% 15,000.00 May 3, 1909 15,000 5% U. S. Steel 104 15,000.00 Aug. 6, 1909 1,500 U. S. Steel 106% 1.500.00 July 26, 1910 1,000 U. S. Steel 102% 1,000.00 99,812.50 102,000 Jan. 15, 1911 Union Trust Co. on deposit 187.50 $100,000.00 In addition to the above we have on hand at the Union Trust Company $150.00 profit on the sale of the Missouri Pacific Bonds, which we have carried to a special surplus account. TRUSTEES ENDOWMENT FUND CARNEGIE FUND, INCOME ACCOUNT Cash on hand January 15, 1910 $2,245.23 F'ebruary 2, 1910 Int. N. Y. Central 262.50 March 1, 1910 Int. Missouri Pacific 375.00 March 2, 1910 Int. Seaboard Air Line 200.00 May 1, 1910 Int. Cleveland Terminal 300.00 June 16, 1910 Int. U. S. Steel 412.50 July 1, 1910 Int. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co 300.00 July 1, 1910 Int. Western Union Telegraph Co 375.00 July 1, 1910 Int. Dime Savings Bank 14.72 July 1, 1910 Int. Union Trust Co 25.83 August 5, 1910 Int. N. Y. Central 262.50 September 1. 1910 Int. Seaboard Air Line 200.00 September 1, 1910 Int. Missouri Pacific 375.00 November 5, 1910 Int. Cleveland Terminal 300.00 November 5, 1910 Int. U. S. Steel 437.50 December 31, 1910 Int. Union Trust Co 40.55 January 3, 1911 Int. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co 300.00 January 3, 1911 Int. Western Union Telegraph Co 375.00 Disbursements: February 21, 1910 Carl B. Roden, Treas $2,245.23 July 27, 1910 Premium U. S. Steel Bonds 26.25 July 27, 1910 Accrued Interest U. S. Steel Bonds 12.09 November 5, 1910 Carl B. Roden, Treasurer 2,000.00 November 15, 1910 Rent, Safe Deposit Co 30.00 January 1, 1911 Cash on hand 2,487.76 ENDOWMENT FUND, PRINCIPAL ACCOUNT Cash on hand January 15, 1909 $6,961.84 February 5, 1910 Lite membership Mrs. D. P. Corey 25.00 February 5, 1910 Lite membership Dr. G. E. Wire 25.00 December 27, 1910 Life membership Irene Gibson 25.00 December 27, 1910 Life membership Mary Failing 25.00 December 27, 1910 Life membership Bertha Gault 25.00 Invested as follows: June 1, 1908 2 U. S. Steel Bonds 9Sy2 $1,970.00 October 19, 190S 2 U. S. Steel Bonds 102% 2,000.00 November 5, 1908 IV^ U. S. Steel Bonds 101 1,500.00 July 27, 1910 IV2 U. S. Steel Bonds 102% 1,500.00 January 15, 1911 Cash on hand. Union Trust Co 141.84 ENDOWMENT FUND, INCOME ACCOUNT January 15, 1910 Cash on hand $167.32 June 16, 1910 Int. U. S. Steel 137.50 July 1, 1910 Int. Dime Savings Bank 26.09 November 5, 1910 Int. U. S. Steel 175.00 $6,801.33 $6,801.33 $7,111.84 $7,111.84 $505.91 Disbursements: July 27, 1910 Premium on U. S. Steel Bonds $39.38 July 27, 1910 Accrued interest on U. S. Steel Bonds 18.12 January 15, 1911 Cash on hand 448.41 $505.91 S2 PASADENA CONFERENCE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION Report of the Treasurer, January 1 to April 30, 1911. Receipts January 3: Balance, Union Trust Company, Chicago $2,425.97 February 1: George B. Utley, Headquarters collections 167.71 February 23: Trustees Endowment Fund, Interest 448.41 March 3: George B. Utley, Headquarters collections 1,297.90 April 5: George B. Utley, Headquarters collections 1,543.19 April 28: George B. Utley, Headquarters collections 736.40 Interest on Bank Balance, January — April 11.20 $6,629.78 Expenditures Checks No. 15-19 (Vouchers No. 267-322, inc.) Distributed as follows: Bulletin $297.43 Headquarters: Secretary's salary 663.28 Other salaries 807.00 Miscellaneous 255.92 Travel 35.40 Trustees Endowment Fund (Life members) 75.00 $2,134.03 Balance Union Trust Co 4,495.75 $6,629.78 CREDITS George B. Utley, Balance National Bank of the Republic $250.00 Cash on hand 23.05 Total Balance $4,768.80 Respectfully submitted, C. B. RODEN, Treasurer. A. L. A. PUBLISHING BOARD 83 REPORT OF THE A. L. A. PUBLISHING BOARD It is a quarter of a century since the Publishing board came into existence, though in the words of an early chairman, Mr. W. I. Fletcher, "its existence was pre- figured in the arrangements made ten years earlier for the production of the new edition of Poole's Index." In noting this twenty fifth anniversary date, the present board may fittingly record their apprecia- tion of the great service rendered under difficult and discouraging conditions by that able and far-seeing pioneer group who con- stituted the initial membership. That they planned wisely and builded enduringly is attested by the fact that the work to-day practically follows the scope and direction outlined by them. Perhaps even more helpful in the development of librarlanship than the printed aids which their efforts supplied the workers of their generation and of those who have followed, has been the fine spirit of co-operation and united effort which has made for greatest power, and permanency of results achieved. In a record of accomplishment during the earlier period of the Publishing board, the names of Justin Winsor. W. F. Poole, Mel- vil Dewey, W. I. Fletcher, \V. C. Lane, R. R. Bowker, S. S. Green, C. A. Cutter, J. L. Whitney and others are inseparably asso- ciated. In 1902, Mr. Carnegie made possible by his gift of $100,000 bibliographical under- takings of great importance to the library world. In announcing the gift in his presi- dential address at the Magnolia conference. Dr. Billings said: "In considering the questions as to the kinds of bibliographical work the results of which would be most useful to the great majority of the public libraries of this country and as to the means of doing such work, it appears to me that it is best that it should be done under the direction of the Publishing board of this Association, which has had practical experience in this line, and will always be well informed as to the needs of such libraries. "This opinion was brought to the atten- tion of Mr. Carnegie, with the suggestion that he should give to the American library association a special fund, the income of which should be applied to the preparation and publication of such reading lists, in- dexes, and other bibliographical and library aids as would be specially useful in the circulating libraries of this country. The main part of the income would be expended in employing competent persons to pre- pare the lists, indexes, etc., and to read proofs. The cost of paper and printing would be met by sales to the libraries. It was represented that such a gift would be wisely administered by the Publishing board of the Association, and that the re- sults would be of great value in promoting the circulation of the best books. "In response to this suggestion a check for $100,000 was sent to me as 'a donation for the preparation and publication of read- ing lists, indexes, and other bibliographical and literary aids as per (your) letter of March 14.' I shall take great pleasure in turning over this money if the Association accepts it for the purposes and under the conditions stated. It is a unique gift from a unique man. who deserves our best thanks." The Board think it desirable to place on record for the information of the mem- bers of the Association a statement as to their general policy. No such statement appears to have been made for some time. The income of the Board is derived from two principal sources, the interest on the Carnegie Fund and the receipts from the sales of publications. The Board feel that under the terms of the Carnegie gift, the income should be spent for the prepara- tion of more popular lists, and in fact by far the larger part is spent for the prepara- tion of the A. L. A. Booklist. It is intended to sell publications at a price which will just cover the cost of printing and dis- tribution. The price of others than the Booklist must be placed sufficiently high 84 PASADENA CONFERENCE to pay (or the cost of preparation aud editing as well, but in no case Is it in- tended to secure any considerable profit. The readjustment of the business affairs of the Association has enabled the Board to arrange a similar adjustment of its affairs. The Secretary of the Association serves as acting Treasurer of the Publish- ing board, and his accounts are audited by the Chairman of the Board monthly. All payments are turned over to the Treasurer of the Association at least once a month, and the accounts of the Treasurer as Treas- urer of the Publishing board have been made identical in form with those of the Association. The board have adopted a definite schedule of appropriations, and have based these appropriations upon estimated Income, approved by the Finance committee. Supplementing the reports of progress as to important publications in prepara- tion, as noted by their respective editors and hereto appended, it may not be amiss at this time to call attention to certain suggested policies which seem to be vital as to future procedure. Observation of the magnitude of the task of the revision of subject headings after a long interval; of the importance to a great majority of the profession of a competent list for this purpose; of the difficulty of finding a well-equipped, ex- perienced, practical person able and will- ing to take up such a piece of work as a temporary employment, forces upon the Board the opinion that the time Is not far distant — if it Is not already come — when it will be necessary to add a person able to cope with this problem to the per- manent staff at Headquarters. Constant development In the philosophy, sciences, arts, employments, productions and distributions of civilization involve constant changes and additions to the terminology used in the literature of these almost infinite activities. The task of collecting, ordering and connecting this vast terminology into an intelligent and intelligible scheme for practical use can- not be successfully disposed of by a mind new to the undertaking once In ten years. If the tool is to be fit and worthy for its use, it should be under constant con- sideration and improvement by an able, disciplined mind familiar with the task. A mind fit tor this task would, moreover, be of value In aiding and strengthenmg other enterprises of the Board. For ex- ample, the Booklist attempts to cover far more than book selection, as it Indicates classification, subject headings and author forms for its chosen books, and correct work in these matters is a severe addition to the labors of the editor. It is quite too much to expect of one human mind that it should be equal to the survey of the book out-put of each month, to choose wisely from It, and give atten- tion to expert professional details of this kind as well, especially, when the whole task is done in a race with time. Many worthy pieces of work are offered to the Board of value to the profession, and, therefore, desirable for the Board to publish; but, almost without exception, they need editing in some particulars be- fore it is possible to send them to the printer. A part of the salary of a new expert person could be saved by elimi- nating printers' bills for authors' correc- tions. There are also opportunities for original work in the compilation of aids which are not attacked by outside persons. So that, taken all in all, the lines of possible activity for a permanent editor would very easily occupy the time to advantage. Difficulties encountered in resuming work where dropped when the A. I.. A. Catalog was Issued in 1904 suggest the need for continuity of service in planning five-yearly supplements. That work was made pos- sible then through the good offices of the New York State library and the Library of Congress. This work ought to be organized with relation to the editorial necessities of the A. L. A. Booklist. When the initial number of the Booklist was issued in the beginning of 1905, the purpose sought was to furnish to the smaller libraries a suggestive list of books for current purchases, evaluated with such authority as to Inspire confidence of A. L. A. PUBLISHING BOARD 85 librarians anil book committees. It was also the aim to supply information as to classification, and subject headings for cataloging the bocl PASADENA CONFERENCE 9 give extra pay, 1 calls for volunteers unci 1 is open as usual. Sick leave. In Group A, 6 libraries pay full salaries for short sick leaves, 1 i-e- quires the absentee to furnish a substitute and 1 treats each case individually. In Group B, 6 libraries allow no sick leave, 3 require the absentee to furnish a substitute, 2 deduct the time from vaca- tions and 8 treat cases individually. One library allows 3 weeks sick leave annually, fi allow 2 weeks, 1 allows 16 days, 1 allows 10 days and 1 allows 6 days. Three deduct no pay for a month, 1 for three weeks, 2 for two weeks, 1 for ten days, 2 for one week, 1 for three days, 1 for two days. Twenty-one give full pay for sick leave in reasonable amount. In Group C, 2 libraries allow no sick leave, 3 treat cases Individually and 3 re- quire a substitute to be furnished. One gives one month annually, 1 three weeks, one 15 days, 10 give 2 weeks and 1 gives 10 days. Of the others one gives half pay for 1 week and one-quarter pay for 3 weeks. Two make no deductions for a month of illness, 2 for 3 weeks, 4 for 2 weeks, and 6 give full pay for an unspeci- fied length of time. Vacations. Six libraries in Group A give 1 month of vacation, 2 give three weeks and 5 give 2 weeks. One library in each of the last two classes gives an extra week to the librarian. In Group B. 20 libraries give a month of vacation, 4 give 4 weeks, 9 give 3 weeks, 24 give 2 weeks, and 1 no time. One library gives two weeks including sick leave. Four libraries give 1 month to the librarian, and three weeks to assistants, 4 give 1 month to the librarian and 2 weeks to assistants, and 3 give 4 weeks to the librarian and 2 weeks to assistants. In Group C, 1 library gives the librarian and heads of departments 2 mouths, other assistants 1 month. Seven give 1 month to all, 1 gives department heads a month and assistants 3 weeks. Four give 4 weeks to all. Sixteen give 3 weeks; one of these allowing an extra week to the librarian. Twelve give 2 weeks. Two of the last class allow 2 extra weeks and 2 allow 1 extra week to department heads. Staff Meetings. Only 1 library in Group A has formal staff conferences. In Group B, 27 do not and 36 do have them. Six of the latter hold their meetings at monthly intervals, 2 bi-weekly, 19 weekly, and 9 at irregular intervals. All these libraries but 1 require attendance, 27 give the time to the assistants and 8 require them to attend in addition to the regular time. Only 9 Group C libraries report no form of staff meetings, while 31 have them. Two libra- ries have weekly meetings, 4 have them every two weeks, 13 every month, 1 bi- monthly and 10 irregularly. Nineteen re- quire attendance and 11 do not. Three do not give the time, 3 give one-half the time and 23 give all time required. Annual Reports. In regard to the men- tion of special members of the staff in annu- al reports practice is about equally divided. In Group A, 5 libraries do and 4 do not mention individuals, in Group B the figures are 24 and 34 respectively and in Group C 19 and 16. The usual reasons given against the practice are that the reports are too brief to permit such mention, that it is unwise to discriminate between mem- bers of the staff and that those not men- tioned feel injured, that the library work should be presented impersonally or that it is impossible to differentiate accurately the work of individuals. The usual rea- sons for the practice are that justice re- quires credit to be given and that it en- courages members of the staff to do good work. Apprentice Classes. Eight Group A li- braries reported, 4 of which had appren- tice courses. All required a high school education for admission and none guar- anteed positions. One course is five months, 1 six months, and 1 two years. Two hours of formal instruction and 2 hours of practice work were required daily in each. Forty libraries of Group B give appren- tice courses, 28 do not. Twenty-three ad- mit on high school certificates, 1 requires a collegiate education and 9 give entrance examinations; the others admit at the dis- cretion of the librarian. The time required varies from 1 to 12 months, the periods of DELFINO 97 three, six and nine months being usual and equally popular. The one-month course calls for 208 hours of practice work. The twelve-month course averages 360 hours of formal instruction and 1,200 hours of practice. The nine-month courses aver- age 117 hours formal instruction and 1,300 hours of practice. The averages in the six-month courses are 215 and 872 hours respectively. In the three-month courses 400 hours is an average and very little for- mal instruction is given. Twenty Group C libraries have no ap- prentice courses; IS give them. Three courses cover 3 months' work, 9 six months' and 5 from 7 to 9 months'. The three-month courses call for an average of 52 hours of formal instruction and 400 of practice, the six-month courses for 145 and G50 hours and the others for 200 and 1,130 hours respectively. HARRISON W. GRAVER, Chairman. H. M. LYDENBERG, ETHEL F. McCOLLOUGH Committee. The CHAIRMAN: Another committee re- port not presented yesterday is that on library work with the blind, and Mr. J. L. Gillis, of the State library, Sacramento, will present a report from that Committee. Mr. J. U GILLIS: Mrs. Delfino, of Phila- delphia, was to present this, but was un- able to attend, and I received this part of the report yesterday afternoon, which is merely a statement of her work, giving the events that have taken place in the work among the blind within the last year. I don't know as it is necessary to read the report, but I move the adoption and recom- mend that it be referred to the Committee for printing. The CHAIRMAN: Unless there is ob- jection, under the rule, the report will be received and referred to the Program com- mittee, REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON WORK WITH THE BLIND The Committee on work with the blind reports as follows: Following the resigjiation of Mr. Asa Don Dickinson from the committee, Mr. James L. Gillis, state librarian of California, was appointed in his place. By request of the editor the report of the Committee presented at the Mackinac Island Conference, 1910, was reprinted in the Outlook for the blind, January, 1911, vol. 4, no. 4. With the exception of two or three hun- dred volumes in circulation at the time, the New York state library for the blind was totally destroyed by fire, March 29, 1911. After July 1, 1911, the reading room for the blind in the Library of Congress will be discontinued. The embossed books have been transferred to the public library of Washington, D. C, under whose auspices they will hereafter be circulated. The chairman of the committee attended the sessions of the Blind Workers' Exhibi- tion held in the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, April 26-29, 1911, under the aus- pices of the New York Association for the blind. The exhibit of the Department for the blind of the New York public library, in care of Miss L. M. Goldthwaite, was very complete and exceedingly well arranged. The Pennsylvania home teaching society also sent an exhibit in Moon type in charge of a home teacher. The New Jersey commission for the blind now employs two home teachers who in- struct the adult blind in their homes. The Free public library of Trenton, N. J., has begun the circulation of embossed books. The Perkins institution has about 1,000 old and new line type books for distribu- tion among libraries provided recipi- ents will pay freight charges. Any libra- rian desiring to take advantage of this offer may secure a list of the titles available by writing to E. E. Allen, Director, South Bos- ton, Mass. The New York Association for the blind of New York City issued a new magazine for children in American Braille entitled "The Searchlight." The plates for embossing the New Testa- ment in American Braille were recently completed by the Missouri School for the blind and transferred to the American Bible Society to whom orders for copies should be sent. 98 PASADENA CONFERENCE The Xavier Braille Publication society for the blind, 824 Oakdale Avenue, Chicago, was organized during the year. "The aim of the Society is to place gratuitously with- in the reach of the blind throughout the United States Catholic literature in raised Braille print, of which they have hitherto been wholly deprived." The Society for the promotion of church work among the blind, Philadelphia, is about to issue a second edition of the Hym- nal of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in American Braille, the first edition being exhausted. The Society has also arranged to publish the music of the Hymnal. The eleventh convention of the American association of workers for the blind will be held at Overbrook, Pa., June 20-21'. EMMA R. NEISSER DELFINO, Chairman. This brings us to this morning's program and the first item is "The effect of the com- mission form of government on library con- trol." I have the pleasure of introducing Miss ALICE S. TYLER. EFFECT OF THE COMMISSION PLAN OF CITY GOVERNMENT ON PUBLIC LIBRARIES In presenting so new a subject as this, it seems necessary to consider some fundamental facts regarding the origin and evolution of the commission plan, and also to note in some degree the rapid spread of the Idea in the few years since its Inauguration. The plan dates from the year 1901 after the disaster at Galveston, Texas, when the necessity for the immediate rehabilitation of that city was confronted by her people. The Texas legislature enacted the laws promptly which were urged by the Galveston citizens to meet the emergency, and other cities in that state seeing the success which attended the plan in Galveston also adopted it, no- tably the city of Houston, where with cer- tain modifications the plan has been equally successful. The splendid results which followed the new method of government inaugurated in Galveston became known throughout the country as the "Galveston plan." Other states, one after another, have followed Texas in enacting legislation, mak- ing it possible for cities within their borders to adopt a similar plan of local govern- ment, though in some it is greatly modified; the states being Alabama, California, Colo- rado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa. Kansas, Louisi- ana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota. Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin.* In New York state such legislation has been actively urged by the city of Buffalo and other cities but has not yet been en- acted. About 125 cities in 26 states have acted favorably upon the adoption of the commission plan of municipal government. What is the commission plan of govern- ment? The underlying principle is com- paratively simple. It centralizes municipal authority and responsibility in a limited group of men called commissioners. These with the mayor are elected by the city at large. The jilan does away with party nominations, ward divisions and aldermen, and with the petty prejudices and antag onisms of the various localities in the city This board or commission, (usually 5 mem bers) devote their entire time to the man agement of the affairs of the city, and are paid reasonable salaries therefor. They divide the duties of the city government among themselves into five departments, usually designated as public affairs, accounts and finance, public safety, streets and public improvements, and parks and public property. They then elect all the subordinate officers necessary to con- ducting the city business, such as chief of police, police judge, city clerk, library trustees, city engineer, city treas- urer, city auditor, etc. All other sub- ordinates, except common laborers, are selected under civil service rules adminis- tered by a civil service commission, and are removable only for misconduct or lack of attention to duties, or activity in political matters. The commissioners and mayor not only act as the administrative heads of their respective departments, but also con- • .Some of these slates allow cities to frame their own charters, and hence may be termed "home rule" states. 99 stitute the city council and as such legislate for the city. They are usually elected for a period of two years. Emphasis is laid upon a business-like administration, and responsibility is definitely fixed upon each commissioner who is the head of a special department. Publicity is one of the im- portant features of the plan. The meetings of the commission are open, and the public can easily know whether matters are man- aged with integrity and efficiency, or if a commissioner Is failing in his responsi- bility. It has been said that tlie commission system of government has in effect re- introduced the New England system of town government by a board of selectmen. We recognize the fact that large town meetings of all of the electors could not be conducted upon a deliberative basis, and the ballot must of necessity be made use of to secure an expression of the popular will. The election is therefore a substitute for the town meeting and the recall, initiative and referendum incorporated in most of the commission plan schemes give to the citizens all of the privileges reserved by the electors of the New England town. No attempt is here made to discuss the strength or weakness of the commission plan of city government, further than to consider such points as are related to library interests. It should be borne in mind, however, that under the plan, the council or commission is vested with all executive, legislative and judicial powers, formerly possessed and exercised by vari- ous boards and officers, under the ordinary method of city control. Those who ques- tion the wisdom of the plan find in this feature much to criticise; i.e. the difficulty of one body both legislating by determining policy, and at the same time administering; or, in other words, levying the taxes and also disbursing the funds. Within the last month, however, we have seen the declara- tion of so thorough a student as Governor Woodrow Wilson, of New Jersey, that it is not inherently impracticable to combine the legislative and executive functions In one body. He says, "There is no necessity tor keeping the three coordinate branches of government distinct, and free from inter- ferences. The pretense that the three branches are distinct is responsible for more corruption than any other single feature of our system. They are not, and cannot be kept separate, and all that the pretense accomplishes is that it substitutes underground relations for open, honorable i-elations."* Among the modifications of the original Galveston plan, one of the best known is that which is sometimes termed the Des Moines plan, which was secured by an act of the Iowa legislature in 1907. Inasmuch as the actual operation of this law is in a degree familiar to the writer, on account of residence within that state, some of the features of that law are the basis for certain statements made herein. In securing information for this paper a list of questions was sent to about 50 libraries in cities under the commission plan. The questions were: 1. How long has the commission plan been operative in your city? 2. Did it make a change in number of li- brary trustees and method of appointment? 3. Is the supervision of the library assigned to a department of the city govern- ment? Or, have the trustees full authority? 4. How many library trustees and how appointed and for how long a term? Is there provision for continuity by varying length of terms? 5. What is your method of levying the (ax for library maintenance? Does this differ from former practice? 6. Do you consider that your library has profited by the change of your city to the commission plan? In what way? 7. Does the plan place the librarian and staff under civil service rules? 8. Has there been any effort to include other eilucatioiial interests, (i.e. the schools) under the commission plan of your city? 9. Is the general law of your state rel- ative to public libraries still operative, even though the commission plan has been adopted? Replies were received from libraries ♦ Wo,y\ Work. M;.y. 1911. im PASADENA CONFERENCE located in nineteen different states. None of the great cities have adopted the plan except Boston, where It is greatly modiiied and does not in any way affect the public library. The majority ot those replying were unable to give definite answer as to distinct changes either for better or for worse in the library management under the plan. The entire limit of ten years is too short a period to enable conclusions to be drawn with certainty; the majority of the cities that have adopted the modified Gal- veston plan have operated under it much less than 10 years. A hopeful attitifde is manifest toward the results that are likely to come from the change, but lack of uni- formity in the various state laws makes generalization impossible as to results already attained. The liberty given in some states for cities to incorporate in their charters features that seem locally desirable is found exemplified in the state of Massachusetts, where Uie modified com- mission plan has been adopted in Bos- ton, Taunton, Haverhill, Gloucester, Chel- sea and Lynn, but where with the excep- tion of Lynn the new city charters do not affect the library situation. In that city, however, provision is made that the public library shall be under the exclusive man- agement and control of the municipal coun- cil, which shall have the power to name the trustees and remove them for cause. It further states that the municipal council may increase or diminish the number ot trustees, and make such rules and regula- tions concerning the public library as it may deem expedient. The librarian in Lynn writes that the present council seems to have full confidence in the trustees of the library, and has up to the present time made no change in the old method of government. As the charter does not make any one of the council a library trustee a method of Interesting them in the library has been to appeal to various commissioners for specific needs, e.g., if money Is needed over and above yearly maintenance fund the appeal is made to commissioner of finance; if additions to building, the appeal is made to commissioner of public prop- erty. In Texas, where the first commission plan law was enacted, we find that the libraries are under Boards elected by the commission, and are all reported as being free from the evil effects of political inter- ference. Dallas reports an increased main- tenance fund from year to year, which is now more than double the amount pro- vided by the city for library maintenance before the commission plan was adopted in 1907. In Galveston where the plan originated, the library is not affected, be- cause, as the librarian states, the Rosen- berg Library is a private corporation in- corporated under the state law, and is en- tirely independent of the city government. The revenues are entirely from endow- ment, and no money is received from taxa- tion. The librarian further states that while the commission plan has been very successful indeed in that city, it has affected the library in no way. The libra- rian at Houston writes: "I do not believe that the library has really been affected by the commission form except in the fact that the city's more economical administra- tion has probably made it possible to receive a more liberal appropriation, though this is far from satisfactory. I do think that the general improvement of the town through good administration helps the library indirectly in many ways." But one city in Wisconsin (Eau Claire) is actually operating under the plan, and the librarian writes that she believes the library^ has profited by the change. She states that the council seems interested In maintaining the standards of the library and are now willing that the necessary money for its support shall be appropri- ated. It is easier to bring matters to their attention and they act more promptly than heretofore. While several libraries in Illinois will be affected by the plan which has been inaugu- rated by a number of cities this spring, it is too soon for any report of the effect to be made; the law in that state, however, seems to have defects similar to that of Iowa in the indefiniteness of provision regarding the number of trustees, their powers and length of term. 101 In Minnesota the plan has been effective one year in Mankato, and the librarian writes that it has been a good thing for the library. The city ofTicers seem to recog- nize the value of the institution and in- creased the annual appropriation $1000 the first year. A municipal library has been placed in the city hall. Inasmuch as the recall feature of the commission plan was made effective In Tacoma, Wash., the past year, it is inter- esting to note the statement of the librarian, that the library there was saved from dis- aster by the result of the recall election for mayor, the deposed mayor having made political appointments on the library board. The librarian further adds, "What saved us was woman's suffrage added to the form of government." In the state of Kansas, where there are a large number of towns and cities operating under the commission plan, a considerable proportion of the public libraries are under the control of the local school board, while the others are managed by 12 trustees elected by the council, this matter seeming to be optional. One of the Kansas librarians reports that the chief effect of the commis- sion plan on her library is that it has done away with the librarian's two weeks' vaca- tion on pay, because of the fact that other city employees do not have one. In some instances the library appropriations have been reduced, not through antagonism to the library, but because of the avowed policy of securing an economical admin- istration of city affairs in all departments. In California the plan has been adopted by eleven towns and cities, and while in- formation was not secured from all of the libraries affected, the general opinion seems to be that the adoption of the plan has not caused any radical change in management, which Is by a board of trustees. Belief is expressed, in most instances, as to the library possibilities under the commission form of government. In Colorado Springs, the one city in Col- orado under this plan, the librarian writes that the chief difference has been in the mode of handling the finances of the library; the city auditor and treasurer receiving and disbursing all of the funds, otherwise the board of trustees elected by the council have control. In Iowa, where there are now seven public libraries affected by the law (Bur- lington, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Ft. Dodge, Keokuk, Marshalltown and Sioux City), there has been much uncertainty as to the intent of the law both as to the num- ber of library trustees to be elected by the commission and their powers; the Des Moines plan law is capable of two construc- tions as it now stands, as there is doubt as to whether the general law with 9 trustees holds, or whether there shall be only 3, which the commission law states are to be appointed by each new commission. Three of these libraries are operating with 3 trustees, three with 9, the seventh not having had the decision of their city at- torney. The problem of continuity with only 3 trustees is a serious one. Two able Iowa lawyers, who are also library trustees, prepared a bill providing for 5 trustees and continuity by one annual appointment, which was introduced in the last Genera! Assembly, but which failed to pass the House (in the midst of the senatorial deadlock) ; hence unless a decision of the state supreme court should be secured, there will be uncertainty for another two years (until another legis- lative session) as to whether the number of trustees and their powers, as fully set forth in the general library law of the state, still hold. The uncertainty of the law can in a measure be safe-guarded by a some- what detailed ordinance, and this has been done in some of these cities. However, the assignment of the library trustees and the library to the department of public affairs (or to the department of accounts and finance, as is done in one city) makes it necessary for the library board to have the approval of the head of that depart- ment for many details that have heretofore been decided by the library board. One of the Des Moines commissioners, who is recognized as one of the most thorough students of municipal problems in this country, and who is now secretary of the League of American Municipalities, 102 PASADENA CONFERENCE states that he has long advocated that the levj'ing ot all municipal taxes should be centered in one body, and that both library boards and school boards should be annexed directly to the city government; the fact that libraries are educational institutions is not a reason for separating them from municipal government. The Iowa law definitely classifies all of the city's activ- ities (except schools) under one of the five departments, each with a commissioner (or the mayor) at its head; but provides that libraries shall have further super- vision, hence provision is made for the appointment of three library trustees by the council immediately after they have been elected and assume office. These library trustees, however, do not seem to have full authority, but are the agents of the council to look after the details which cannot be classified directly under the duties of the commissioner. From the communications received it seems that the civil service feature of the municipal commission plan law as applied to libraries varies. It seems to be inci- dental and may or may not be included, according to the provision of the city or- dinance in most cases. It would seem that the sentiment of the librarians is not favor- able to this. Several did not reply to the inquiry, 24 stated that civil service rules did not apply and 5 that they did. One librarian writes in its defense, "There seems to be no other way of placing work on a merit basis. Whatever the conditions may be in individual cases, as a general principle, choice must be made in public work between civil service and the spoils system." On the other hand several who replied no. emphasized it by underlining or an exclamation point, and one librarian added with unction, "No, thanks be!" Another writes, "I would consider it very unwise to place the library under civil service — librarians are not made by rule." In some states the control of the library is not included in the municipal plan, but is placed under the direction of the school board or board of education, and hence is not affected in any way by this form of government. The educational function has thus been recognized, either consciously or unconsciously, as shown by such assign- ment. This leads to the consideration of a vital point in connection with any discus- sion of the municipal control of libraries, and that is the recognition of the educa- tional function of the library. The fact that the public library is unlike any other of the city's activities, such as parks, streets, police department, etc., led most states in the very beginning to the provision in the general law for a board of library trustees with separate functions, powers, responsibilities and funds; this being nec- essary because the requirements for the management of such an institution are as much out of the ordinary as those of the public schools with a separate board; while in others the library board is ap- pointed by the school board, as a sort of sub-educational interest. When we come to examine the commis- sion plan law, we find that there seems to be no definite recognition of the edu- cational functions of the municipality, and hence an uncertainty as to the exact place of the library in the general scheme; this seems to be the problem that now con- fronts the public libraries where this plan is likely to be adopted. It is the old and still new question of classifying and admin- istering civic educational interests, i. e., the schools, museums, libraries, art galleries, free lectures, etc., that may exist for the benefit of all the people under the possible direction of the municipality. Shall all educational interests be grouped under one management or board, one degree removed from the commission, by appointment, or shall they be separated or arbitrarily clas- sified in some entirely unrelated depart- ment of the city as is done in some cities? So far as information could be obtained, it would seem that in a number of states the recognition of the special function of the public library has usually been incorporated in the commission plan law in an indefinite way by the provision for a board of library trustees of varying number elected by the commission, but under the supervision of one of the commissioners or heads of de- partments. WOOD 1 OS Educational interests are certainly as vital a part of a municipality's responsibil- ity as the more material interests. If the chief value and strength of the commission plan consists in directness and simplicity and the concentration of responsibility and authority on a tew responsible men, it would seem that the separate and independ- ent organization of the school system in a commission governed city is scarcely any more defensible than that of a public li- brary system; while the scope of the school system and the funds involved in the school management are much larger, the principle is the same. It is found, however, that in very few instances, have the schools been placed under the commission plan; the most notable instance, however, seems to be that of the city of Houston, Texas, where a school board of seven members is ap- pointed by the city commission in a manner similar to the library board. The success of such centralization seems evident as set forth in an interesting article by the super- intendent of the Houston schools in the Ed- ucational Review, April, 1909. If we believe that the various means of popular education, outside the school room, should be strengthened and dignified in the municipality, there should be a serious ef- fort made to bring to the attention of those who are interested in commission plan leg- islation the most advanced and enlightened views regarding it. Can a comprehensive scheme of education such as is now being developed in the commonwealth of New York be applied to a municipality? If so, could a commissioner of education, as one of the city council or commission, wisely direct all of the educational interests of the city, i. e., the schools, libraries, muse- ums, etc? Or, is the present tendency of the plan to provide a small board of 3 or 5 members appointed under the commission, to have charge of the library, and another similar board to have charge of the schools, the better method? The election of a com- missioner of education ex officio chairman of these two boards would strengthen the latter plan greatly. It is of vital interest to librarians, in view of the popularity of the commission plan and the likelihood of its more extended adoption, that we give consideration, in a constructive way, to the securing of a more comprehensive recognition and classifica- tion of the public library as an educational factor in this new scheme of city govern- ment. There seems to have been no serious consideration given to this in the past and laws are taken over from other states without investigation. Whatever recog- nition there has been given the library In the plan seems to have been more by chance than by careful forethought. While the plan may be an experiment, it is one that continues to be tried. It is essential that active efforts be made to strengthen the weaknesses in the existing laws and safeguard those laws that are likely to be enacted in other states. The CHAIRMAN: Miss Tyler has pre- sented a subject entirely new to our pro- gram and, I think, to the thoughts of most of the members of the Association. It is a subject, as she says, which is now of vital importance to a large number of libraries and is evidently going to be of vital im- portance to a still greater number. We in the East and center of the country look rather to the western states for pioneer work, and I should like to have some ampli- fication of some of the details and perhaps criticism, or some tentative answer to Miss Tyler's last question, and I hope some of our western friends will speak. I under- stand Miss Harriet Ann Wood, of Portland. Oregon, has made some study of this sub- ject, and I will ask her to say a few words. Miss WOOD: I was librarian of the Cedar Rapids library when the city adopted the commission plan. All of the trustees of the library were very progressive, forming an ideal board in every respect. They were all ardent advocates of the commis- sion plan of government and worked very hard for its adoption in the city. One of the features of the commission plan of gov- ernment is that no man who has any con- nection with a corporation which holds a city franchise is eligible to membership on the library board. One of the strongest members of the library board, one w'ho had been a member from the first, who knew 104 PASADENA CONFERENCK the whole history of the library and who knew more about the conditions which pre- vailed than anyone in the city, was thereby made ineligible to membership. The city attorney was very much Inter- ested in the library, but he decided that three was the right number for the library board. A board thus constituted works very well, except in a crisis when it be- comes virtually a one-man board. After the plan had been working for about two years, the new set of city officials came in and a new city attorney, who decided that the library should operate under the regular state library law and that the proper number for the library board was nine, and that the old board should have been serving all the time. Therefore, he advised the council to this effect, and they reinstat- ed the old board. At the end of two years more there may be a new city attorney and under the law there is no way of telling whether the library will go back to the three-men board or not. Library affairs have progressed very smoothly. The library board has en- deavored to keep in touch with the com- missioners and has inspired so much con- fidence that the internal affairs of the library have not been interfered with. At one time, however, the council, without consulting the trustees, passed a resolution that the binding of the books which be- longed to the city, should not be done out- side of the United States. Of course, this was a matter which was very easily com- plied with, but it indicated the power that rested in the hands of the officials if they chose to exercise it. The appropriation was increased. It was evident that the new commissioners were anxious to make their city library what it should be and they worked with the trustees in perfect harmony to promote the interests of the library. The trustees of the library tried to promote the things that were of interest to the commissioners. The commissioners had Charles Mulford Robin- son make a plan for the beautification of the city, and this the library trustees circu- lated very freely and generously. This I simply mention as a method of keeping in close touch with the council and of ad- vancing all the interests of the city. We certainly feel that the commission plan, so far as the city of Cedar Rapids is concerned, is a success, provided the law can be properly amended. The CHAIRMAN: Miss Tyler has stated that there are eleven towns and cities in California who have the commission form of government and she has given us a gen- eral expression of the average opinion, but I thought perhaps we might receive from some representatives of those towns and cities further details of the question under discussion here. Is there anybody who represents a commission town or city who would tell us a little more in detail how it lias worked out? Mr. J. L. GILLIS: The city of Sacra- mento has not adopted the commission form of government, but the citizens there expect to do so. I am not very familiar with the changes in the law in regard to libraries in those cities where the commis- sion form of government has been adopted, but from what I do know, there has been very little change. The libraries are either to be operated under the state law as form- erly, or the changes are very slight. I do not believe it makes any particular difference in the government of libraries in this state. In Sacramento, it is proposed to place the library under the charge of one commis- sioner, the object being to get direct com- munication with the governing powers so that interest in the library may be taken by one who has the power to raise the money and to dispense it. Later perhaps we can tell you how it works out. The CHAIRMAN: While the question of the commission plan of government as it affects libraries is the particular phase which we are personally and most vitally interested in here, there is, of course, the wider aspect of the question, whether the educational interests of the city are suffic- iently distinct to be treated differently from the other interests of the city and whether the library is sufficiently distinct from the school to be treated differently from that interest. Mr. .John Judson Ham- ilton, author of the book, "The dethrone- 105 ment of the city boss," Is with us this morn- ing and perhaps will speak to us on that broader aspect of the question. Mr. HAMILTON: Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen: I should hesitate very much to put my own theoretical ideas on this question against either those of Miss Tyler, or against your personal experiences of the commission form of government, as some of you have had it in your capacity as librarians. I could not add very much, if anything, to what Miss Tyler has said on the general question. I don't believe that even Governor Woodrow Wilson him- self could have given a more statesman- like summary of this question than Miss Tyler has given and I will ask her to re- member that I don't offer this as an argu- ment for women's suffrage. I am willing that you draw your own conclusions. As to the question of including the education- al side of the community's work with the political, under the commission form of government, I agree with those in Des Moines who think that ought to be done. I heard a very interesting address by Gov- ernor Wilson at Los Angeles a few even- ings ago, in which he discussed the ques- tion of communities putting all their eggs in one basket, and then wateliing that basket, and I believe in doing that very thing. I think the educational and library work ought to be put in the full blaze of publicity along with the city's government, in cities having the commission form of govern- ment. I think there is no better informa- tion that your Association could get along this line than the individual experience of librarians in commission governed cities. You certainly have that which is of more value than I could offer. The CHAIRMAN: The question of "The relation between the library and the mu- nicipality" is really the main topic of the morning, and we shall revert to the ques- tion suggested by the latter part of Miss Tyler's paper, the question of the adminis- tration of civil service, later, but now Is the time to take up, according to the print- ed program, the question of branch library problems and I have the pleasure of intro- ducing to you Mr. CHARLES H. BROWN, assistant librarian of the Brooklyn public library, who will speak on LIMITATIONS OF THE BRANCH LIBRA- RIAN'S INITIATIVE As good American citizens we have from our earliest days been thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Patrick Henry, "Give me liberty, or give me death." We as libra- rians have sometimes applied this motto to our professional work, holding up before ourselves as our ideal, independent posi- tions. We dislike to be limited in our work in any way, and it is possible we may at times spend many minutes in thinking how much more successful our libraries would be if we were not hampered by what we may at times consider necessary evils, such as boards of trustees, chief librarians and and In our larger libraries superintendents of departments. It cannot be denied that there are many advantages in allowing heads of libraries, whether they be branch librarians or librarians of independent city libraries freedom of action. Why should not branch librarians be given the same privilege of initiative which the chief li- brarians expect in dealing with their boards? Those directly in charge of branches know the immediate needs of their own communities better than those at the head of large systems of libraries, many of which have to deal with different types and races of people. An over-cen- tralized system may involve the loss of originality and what is worse the loss of enthusiasm and interest among the assist- ants. Even in these days of mechanical progress a machine will not do as a refer- ence librarian or a loan desk attendant. If the decision of the small every-day prob- lems which are continually arising must wait until some administrative officer, usu- ally several miles away, can be consulted, we shall have continual trouble and vexa- tion of spirit not only on the part of the assistants immediately concerned, but also of the public. On the other hand, it Is obvi- ous that there are many reasons why it is inexpedient for a branch to be entirely in- dependent of its neighbors, as if it were in 106 PASADENA CONFERENCE another city. The economic loss in doing the work of ordering, accessioning and cat- aloging the same title 25 or 30 times in- stead of once, the confusion to the public through different rules in different branches and the unnecessary duplication of books are a few of the many arguments against a decentralized system which will at once occur to us. How tar, then, can we retain the advantages of decentraliza- tion and independent administration with- out injury to the service? To what extent must the initiative of the branch librarian be limited? Is it feasible to increase or decrease the limitation of freedom of ac- tion and what are the corresponding gains and losses? It may be of Interest to compare in a few points the administration of a branch library with that of an independent city library. How much of the authority that is usually given to the head of a city li- brary can be given to a branch librarian? What are the agreements and what are the differences in the underlying condi- tions? How much actual and absolute in- dependence of action can be given to the one and not to the other? bet us take as a basis of comparison branches and inde- pendent libraries of about the same circu- lation. At the head of the independent city library is the board of trustees with its various committees on administration, books, buildings, etc., to which the recom- mendations of the librarian are submitted. The branch librarian on the other hand has as her superior officers the chief libra- rian and the heads of departments to whom her recommendations may be sub- mitted. The chief librarian is an expert in library economy; the trustees usually are not. The assistants are appointed and re- moved in the one case by the board or a committee of the board after recommenda- tion by the librarian; in the second case the branch librarian may or may not make recommendations as to the appointment or transfer of the assistants employed In a branch. The rules and regulations for the public are in the case of the independent library fixed by the board upon the recom- mendation of the librarian; the assistant in charge of a branch may or may not make recommendations to her superior officers as to changes of rules. In rela- tion to other libraries and Institutions there is a marked difference. The inde- pendent library does not usually have to consider the limitation of scope due to other libraries in the same city doing the same general work; the branch library must bear this continually in mind. The main difference, however, is in the amount of money available for library purposes. 'Ihe circulation of the larger branches in New York and Brooklyn, such as Seward Park, Brownsville and Bushwick, com- pares not unfavorably in number with such cities as Worcester. Denver, Providence, Springfield, Grand Rapids and New Haven. The population of the districts reached by iliose branches varies from 50,000 to 150,- 000, as does the population of the cities mentioned, with the exception of Denver, which is larger. But the amount of money available for the support of these branches is, roughly speaking, in each case about one-half the library appropriation of the cities, even if the cost of the administra- tion of the central office is distributed pro- portionally among the branches. This means in the case of the branches smaller buildings, fewer assistants and lower sala- ries. As the circulation is the same and requires the services of the same number of assistants in both cases, there will ob- viously be in the case of the branch li- brary a smaller force available for other routine work. Now to what an extent do these differ- ences limit the comparative freedom of action of the branch librarian, and how far do the agreements permit it. Let us take it as granted that it is desirable to give the branch librarian as much initiative as is consistent with economical adminis- tration and satisfactory service to the pub- lic. Bearing these facts in mind, it is not difficult to come to some general conclu- sions with regard to the administration of a large system of branches. In the first place, the fact that the money available for a branch is much less than that for an independent city library 107 with the same circulation, must involve certain economies of cooperative adminis- tration. The saving in cataloging and accessioning at the general office is con- siderable and cannot be ignored. In the ordering of books and supplies there is even a greater economy in having the work done at one place for the entire sys- tem, for by this means larger discounts may be obtained through the purchase of large quantities at one time. However, this routine work is not such as affects the initiative of the branch librarian to any great extent, provided certain essen- tials of this work are left largely to her discretion. These essentials are first, rec- ommendation as to the selection of books and supplies, second, the addition in cata- loging of certain subject headings such as may be in her opinion needed in her special branch. In the selection of books the branch librarian may not have the knowledge possessed by the head of an in- dependent library. The former receives less salary and has a narrower experience. But, knowing her own community with its various factories and industries, she should be given the initiative as to what books should go into her special branch. Her recommendations may well be exam- ined at the central office, as the recommen- dations of the independent librarian are examined by his book committee. This is the more essential in the case of the branch library, as the chief librarian, while he may not know the 40 or 50 different communities of his city, does have a better knowledge of the value of various books and editions. The same argument ap- plies to additional subject headings. In a general book on technology a bibliography of steel works management may be worth a subject heading in a library near the steel mills. The addition of such subject headings and the analysis of special arti- cles or chapters may well be left to the branch librarian, if the headings selected by her are approved by the head of the cataloging department. It follows, there- fore, that although a certain part of the routine work must for purposes of econ- omy be done in the central office, yet this centralization does not necessarily lessen the branch librarian's initiative. In regard to the personnel, it has been found necessary in the larger libraries to conduct training classes for embryo libra- rians. It is not possible, even if it were desirable, for each individual branch with its small force to conduct its own school, but the apprentices may be given experi- ence in various branches, and the branch librarian allowed an opportunity to report and recommend as to their appointment. In the case of an undesirable assistant, the branch librarian may have even more opportunity for initiative than the inde- pendent librarian, for it is far easier for the former to transfer an assistant from one branch to another than it is for the latter to make an absolute dismissal. The branch librarian should know the efficiency of her various assistants and should be encouraged to report upon them to the chief librarian. If this be done, her initi- ative as to the personnel of her force does not compare so unfavorably with other librarians and is superior to the privileges many librarians enjoy under city civil ser- vice rules. The reference work is another depart- ment which calls for decentralization. Each branch should have its own refer- ence collection. Although it must of neces- sity be smaller than that of the inde- pendent library with its larger building and greater income, yet it should be suffi- cient to answer most of the questions that are asked. The remaining inquiries call for cooperation. If the information sought cannot be given at the branch, the reader should be referred to the central build- ing or the question should be forwarded to the chief reference librarian for investi- gation and report. This, however, is not so much a case of centralization as of cooperation, and would be found to a less extent perhaps in our larger libraries. The rules and regulations for the public must involve some degree of centraliza- tion, although even here the initiative of the branch librarian may not be necessa- rily limited. It is clearly desirable to al- low the public to use different branches 108 PASADENA CONFERENCE if they wish. This involves some uniform- ity as to registration, charging systems, etc. It also implies uniformity as to cer- tain regulations. It will not do to allow persons in one branch to take out 5 books at one time for 3 months, and in another branch a mile away to limit them to one book for 2 weeks. This uniformity does not imply, however, a central registration office. The branch librarian may well be given charge of her own registered list of patrons, thus keeping in closer touch with the people of her community. As the librarian makes recommendations to his board as to changes of rules, so should the branch librarian be encouraged to study and recommend any amendments to the regulations of her own library. She has the further assurance that any improve- ment she can propose will benefit not only her special branch, but all the branches of the city. Thus she may be given a great incentive for originality and initi- ative. So far, I have attempted to show that the opportunities for initiative of a branch librarian do not necessarily compare unfa- vorably with those of the independent li- brarian. While a certain portion of the routine work for purposes of economy must be done in a central ofiice, yet this does not affect necessarily the opportuni- ties in branch work, and this centraliza- tion may be even a. relief to the individual and thus an advantage to the public. Most of us will not consider that the decrease of routine work lessens our initiative. Centralization does not mean uniform- ity along all lines. The individuality of the branch and the brancli librarian must be retained. The branch librarian should and must study her community and the conditions in her neighborhood which may affect her branch, and should make recom- mendations embodying her conclusions. Different neighborhoods have different needs. A duplicate pay collection may be an excellent thing in a residential district and a total failure in Little Hungary. A collection of books in a Fifth Avenue branch on How to live on |500 a year would he absurd. The branch librarian should be given and should feel the re- sponsibility for the success or failure of her branch. She should make recommen- dations to the administrative officers as to the selection of books, changes of rules, the personnel of her force, and the exten- sion of the library's activities within her neighborhood, as the independent librarian makes his report to his trustees. How may the initiative and originality of the assistants in a large system of branches be encouraged? It is possible to foster the spirit of cooperation among the branches of a system. Advice and counsel should be given in place of direct orders in so far as may be possible. The military system is not to be commended in library work. It is perfectly feasible to discuss any proposed changes at the meetings of the branch librarians, who should be en- couraged to take part in such discussions. The assistants should be urged to recom- mend at any time possible improvements in the library service, and should feel free to talk over such recommendations inform- ally with those at the head. If this is done the originality and interest of the assist- ant will not be lost; the decision of every small point need not be postponed. It is not sufficient to say, the "Work for the work's sake." It is the "Work for the pub- lic's sake." You all have heard of the library assistant who exclaimed when in- terrupted in her routine work by a reader: "If the public would only let us alone, we could get some work done." Those of us who may be longing for independence should remember that there is no such thing as an absolutely independ- ent position in library work or any other work. Sometimes I think independence is what we think the other fellow has and the other fellow thinks we have. The head of the library has his trustees and the city officials, who, with their civil ser- vice rules and their inclination to cut our budgets, can make more trouble than any chief librarian would ever dare to make. No one ever accomplished anything by thinkin.g continually of the limitations in his work and by telling himself that op- portunity has knocked and fled, never In 109 return. Opportunities are always with us; it is for us to see how we can malte the best use of them. The CHAIRMAN: The discussion of this subject will be continued by Miss CLARA E. HOWARD of the Carnegie library, Pittsburgh, who will speak on THE BRANCH LIBRARY AND ITS RE- LATION TO THE DISTRICT Within the past ten years the duties of a branch librarian in Pittsburgh have changed. When the branches were first opened it was found necessary to keep a great many records, but since the running machinery is in order, many of the details of the organization have been done away with. At present the only records kept are those which are not obtainable at the central library. The branches depend upon the central for figures of additions and number of volumes in their collec- tions, and the central expects from the branches only those figures for which the branch is responsible. The monthly and annual statistical reports of each branch are now compiled in the central office where they have an adding machine. As much routine as possible has been done away with and as our books come to us already accessioned, shelflisted and cata- loged it remains for us only to check our orders, file our cards and get our books into circulation. The object of this change was, first to do away with unnecessary duplication of work, and secondly to give the branch li- brarian more time for field work which is much more vital. In some of the funda- mental principles a certain amount of uni- formity is required, but as the eight branch districts in Pittsburgh are so different and individual, it is the policy of the library to give the branch librarian full power to develop the district as she may see fit, so long as she keeps within her appropria- tion and the general policy of the library system. She has no limits except the phy- sical ones, the size of her building and staff. She is made to feel that the library uoard and the librarian particularly are in sympathy with what she is trying to do, and that she has their hearty cooperation. She becomes a part of the community in which she works, and is vitally interested in all its activities. In this respect a branch library closely resembles a library in a small community. The Wylie Avenue Branch is situated in the heart of what is known as the "Hill District." At one time this was a very well-to-do part of Pittsburgh with sub- stantial and well built homes, but for the most part this better class of people, the old families and even the lower middle class have left the district, and their places have been taken by foreigners and negroes. The homes were originally built for one or two families, but they have been changed to such an extent that we now find five or six families occupying the same building. Many of the parlors have been turned into storerooms and here we find tailors, grocers, butchers, bakers and toby-makers who make up the trades peo- ple of the neighborhood. The entire neigh- berhood is badly congested, and it is a com- mon occurrence for a family to move five or six times a year in their efforts to find more livable quarters. The nationalities represented at the branch are American, English, Jewish, Rus- sian, German, Austrian, Italian, Roumani- an, Hungarian, French, Negro, Scotch, and Irish. The district is essentially Jewish, but the people are divided into groups of German Jews, Russian Jews and Rouma- nian Jews, so there is a lack of community life and community interest. Few women among the foreigners use the library. Either they are suspicious of all reading on account of the years of oppression in their native land, or they have very little time from their household drudgery or they do not know how to read. The for- eign men seem more anxious to get books In their native languages and read con- stantly. The library has been working to get a good collection of books in the for- eign languages, as they are now looked upon as a means of establishing a home feeling in a new country where the for- eigner can be brought into a sympathetic no PASADENA CONFEREXCE understanciing of our lite and institutions. The public school looks after the children of the aliens, but the parents land in Amer- ica when they are beyond the age of the elementary school and very often the only way they can learn is through unpleasant experiences. Books which tell the parent that it is against the law to send his child to work before he is fourteen, what the taxes are for and where they go, where to get naturalization papers and questions of similar nature save the foreigner a great deal of embarrassment at times and ren- der him a service which he does not soon forget. It is really marvelous how readily the foreigners do assimilate. They are quick to learn and many times their ef- forts to secure an education after they are advanced in years is pathetic. They want to learn English and will even ask for a copy of the alphabet that they may learn to read and write at home. Primers, first and second readers are in constant demand by the parents, and the library buys all the so-called "Helps to Foreigners" that can be procured. One of the most important agencies of the district is of course the public school. Regular visits are planned in the fall when the schools are well started to meet the principal and new teachers, to tell them about the library and its catalogs especi- ally The Children's Catalog and Graded List of Books for use in the schools, the picture collection and the books on the Teachers' Reading Circle list. Our plan of cooperation is explained and the teach- ers are usually most cordial. One of the strongest points that we try to make is to get the teachers to notify us in advance if they are to assign a special topic for composition work or outside reading so that we may have the material looked up before the children come in for it. If the principal is willing, and usually she is most anxious for us to visit the different rooms, we tell the children about the library, how they may get cards to take books home and that the library has many books which their fathers and mothers might like. An announcement is also made at this time of the story hours for the little children and the older boys and girls. If requested to do so, we tell stories in the different rooms. In my own district we visit the schools only once a year, as each visit brings in such overwhelming results that we cannot take care of all who con^e. We also feel that we might wear out our wel- come if we visited more often. Friendly visits are made at other times, however, to see the work of the school. An arrangement is also made whenever possible with the two high schools in the district to enable us to have the material looked up and reserved before the demand comes. A very progressive night school is also conducted in one of our schools, designed especially to meet the needs of foreigners. The enrollment is 1,200 and 29 nationalities are represented. Old men and women, husbands and wives and half-grown chil- dren eager to learn take advantage of every opportunity. A great many of the teachers are regular borrowers at the branch and have asked for cooperation with their evening classes. Debates, reci- tations and questions in civics are looked up for them and a list of good books for foreigners to read after they have reached a certain degree of proficiency in E^nglish is about to be prepared. There are two large and very active social settlements in the districts. Kings- ley House conducts many classes in gym- nasium work, basketry and bead work, sewing, dressmaking, typewriting and stenography, telegraphy, domestic science, manual training, weaving and dancing and the library is constantly called upon for books along these lines. Just now the resi- dents are making their plans to open their summer home, about twenty miles in the country, where they entertain parties of 250 for two weeks at a time from the poorer districts of the city from June to October, besides many hundreds of visi- tors who go for one day only. The in- structor in manual training is having the boys make kites, stilts and bird houses and such things that will be used in the country, and the library was asked to fur- nish patterns and designs for this work. Ill We are also going to furnish a case of books about insects, birds, flowers and trees and a general collection of books for the children and mothers for use dur- ing their stay at the summer home. The other settlement is Jewish entirely and much of the class work is among for- eigners who have recently come to the city. The Jewish children are very preco- cious and much of the work done for them is along the line of debating clubs and lit- erary societies. This settlement has a large reading room for the use of the mem- bers, but for the most part the collection consists of books for recreation so that practically all of the reference work for the clubs is done at the branch. In this connection I may mention a se- rious defect of the branch library system and that is the lack of a Poole set of mag- azines kept at the branch. It is out of the question to buy a complete set even were there room at each branch to store it. The borrowers usually want the informa- tion right away and are unwilling to pay the car fare necessary to get to the cen- tral library, nor do they want to wait until the messenger can bring it. At present we have messenger service three times a week, but we hope some day to have a daily messenger and this will in a way alleviate this difficulty. We have esti- mated for this for several years, but the final appropriation has not warranted it. Each of the settlements has one or two friendly visitors and nurses with whom we cooperate. If children come to the library and we think they need attention or medi- cal aid we find out which settlement they attend and ask the nurse of that settle- ment to look after them. If not a member of either settlement we refer all Jewish cases to one and the rest to the other set- tlement. We are occasionally called upon to look after some of the proteges of the Juvenile Court who are released upon probation. They are allowed to come to the library for books and the assistants at the branch make a special effort to see that they get the proper sort of books. A children's librarian is occasionally sent down to the Temporary Home for Children to tell stories and the matron has at times brought the children to the regular branch for story hour. The Boy Scout movement has recently developed in Pittsburgh and within the neighborhood there are several patrols al- ready established. This gives rise to the demand tor Boy Scout books and also books on allied subjects such as camp-life, fishing and hunting. Besides the foreigners in the Hill Dis- trict there is also a large colored popula- tion. Very little is done for them in the city. While the settlements do not actu- ally bar their doors against them the ne- groes do not feel free to avail themselves of the privileges. The playground of the district admits them because it is more or less a city institution, but they have found that separate classes for them is the best plan. The library conducts a study club for colored women. The work taken up is literary in character and prominent men and women, both colored and white, have given their services for an evening's enter- tainment. For the basis of good work the club membership is limited to twenty-five, and all vacancies are filled from a waiting list. The members are the better class negroes, and most of the young women are employed in some kind of work, such as hair-dressing, dressmak- ing, stenography or general office work. While most of the members come from the district aroimd the branch a few are from the surrounding suburbs. The club is looked upon as one of the social organiza- tions of the city, its meetings are an- nounced from the pulpits, and at the an- nual open meeting there is usually a very representative negro audience. A list of books of interest to colored people was at one time sent to the local colored news- paper and this list has appeared weekly with the call number of the books. There was also an editorial urging the men and women to become familiar with the books which were to be found in the library. So far I have spoken only of the work that has been accomplished at the Wylie 112 PASADENA CONFERENCE Avenue Branch. We feel that very little has been done to advertise the library be- cause we have been handicapped by the size of our building and staff. The great- est problem has been to handle effectively the crowds that come of their own accord, for during the busy months our attendance is often over two thousand a day. We are looking forward to the time when our building can be enlarged, when we can take a more active interest in the district working especially through the toby-facto- ries. The other branches in the city have worked along different lines. The West End Branch has reached good results through several clubs conducted by the branch. South Side, which is in a great mill district, has found it advisable to open the branch as a social meeting-place for the men, and very crude quarters are pro- vided for them in the basement, where they may smoke if they wish. In the Homewood district the Board of Trade has been very much interested in the branch and its work, and there has been active cooperation with the Homewood Civic Club. The East Liberty Branch has co- operated with the local Board of Trade of that district and one of the strongest allies has been the churches. Mothers' meetings have also been a potent factor. The problems of the branches are so many and so diversified that once a week the branch librarians meet with the super- intendent of adult circulation to talk them over and make such recommendations as seem feasible. This meeting follows the regular weekly book order meeting. Once a month a meeting is held of all leading department assistants who can be spared and still keep the branches running. At this time there are usually one or two speakers from outside the field and one speaker from the library staff who tells of the special work she is trying to do. These meetings are planned to keep the assistants in touch with what is going on in their own library and round about them. The CHAIRMAN: The subject of branch libraries has been rarely treated in the programs of tie Association and is certain- ly one of the live questions, because I recollect reading, within the last two or three months, such very opposite opinions on the question of the use of our small parks for branches, as that of Chicago, which is enthusiastic over it, and that of Boston, which repudiates it entirely. The Association might well have a most inter- esting discussion following this paper, yet I feel obliged to remind the Association that they were very dilatory in assembling and there remains no time for such discus- sion. We are to have the pleasure of hear- ing an address on "The 'Eternal Or' of the librarian," from Mr. FRANCIS F. BROWNE, editor of "The Dial." I don't think that in an assemblage of librarians it is necessary for the chairman to refer to the position of "The Dial" as a literary paper. I need only recall the remark of a Bostonian of the Bostonians, the late Dr. William Everett, when he suggested that he would consider it a greater honor to write for "The Dial" than for the New York "Nation." More than that cannot be said. THE ETERNAL "OR" OF THE LIBRARIAN It could hardly be without a savor of presumption that one quite outside the field of practical library work should ven- ture to address a great body of experi- enced librarians on matters pertaining to any phase of library administration. Something of the disdain with which Othello spoke of one who "never set a squadron in the field, nor the division of a battle knows" might well be aroused among librarians at the pretense of in- struction from one whose practical knowl- edge of library work is almost nil — who never set a book-stack in its place, nor knows the divisions of the Decimal Clas- sification. But as libraries are made of books, and the collecting and dispensing of these is the chief end and aim of the librarian's life, there may be points of interest between him and one whose work, in quite a different way, has been con- cerned with books, — who, like the libra- rian, has lived his life among them; 113 who has written them, edited them, print- ed them, published them; who, most of all, has been engaged in attempts at es- timating them, trying to form a judgment of their rank and value, not only in cold and formal print, but often in a prior stage of their existence, before they were printed, with many aspiring manuscripts that were destined never to be books at all; who has always been glad to praise them when he could, sori-y to blame them when he must, and anxious chiefly to arrive as nearly as might be at a just and fair appraisal of their worth. And here, it would seem, might perhaps be found matters of common interest re- garding books, and topics bearing upon the work and problems of librarians. From the title of this paper one may sur- mise that it refers to what is oftentimes the most vexing problem of the librarian's professional life — the problem of book se- lection. The problem is ever present and ever pressing. Every new book that is presented or announced flings at them its disturbing challenge. The average library can buy comparatively few of all the books that are offered, and but few of those the librarian would really like to buy. Which shall it be?— This? or That? or T'other? Ever the Eternal "or," and ever the necessity of choosing. The problem is a doubly complex one, since every choice of a book for purchase involves the rejec- tion of others perhaps equally desirable. This rejection, indeed, is often the most trying part of the affair, since it seems to affix to many excellent books the stamp of the librarian's disapproval. His position is much like that of the boarding-house guest who, when his landlady sounded him as to his preferences with respect to pie — "mince, custard, apple, rhubarb" — ap- preciatively suggested apple and custard, only to receive the disconcerting rejoinder, '■What have you against the rhubarb and the mince?" While the most favored li- brarian can hardly hope for such prodi- gality of choice as was available to the pie-eater, who was granted two selections out of every four, yet their defense against the charge of unjust discrimination must be much the same; they cannot possibly take all the pie or all the books that are offered them. They must weigh, deliberate, and choose. And so to both comes the eter- nal "or," the hard necessity of choosing. And both must choose wisely — the one in peril of his stomach's peace, the other in peril of peace with his Directors, and with the Anxious Reader who is keenly disap- pointed if be does not find the special book he long has sought and mourns because he finds it not. The librarian might well take to heart a paraphrase of Carlyle's words from Goethe — Scan all the Book Lists — Study their pages Of bo6ks of all ages — Then hear the Voices: Choose well, your choice is Brief and yet endless. Brief indeed is the time for choosing, and endless are its consequences for the good or ill of the library, and possibly of the librarian. A consideration of some of the aids to this choosing process — to answer- ing the challenge of this "Eternal OR" — may justify the few minutes' attention called for by a brief discussion of the sub- ject in some of its more obvious phases. The problem of book-buying is obviously one of far greater difficulty for a librarian than for a private buyer. Not only is it harder for a conscientious person to spend another's money than to spend his own, but the considerations involved in the se- lection are vastly more complex. The pri- vate buyer, especially one with ample means, may buy what best suits his fancy or his needs, vt-ithout fear of being called to account by any one; if he makes mis- takes, it is his own affair, involving a loss which may be no serious matter to him. Or if his ability to buy books is lim- ited, he simplifies the problem by confining his selections chiefly to his favorite field of study or amusement; and thus his range of choice is comfortably narrowed. But the librarian must not only take the responsibility of making purchases for other people — he must distribute his pur- chases as judiciously as he can through all realms and provinces of literature. 114 PASADENA CONFERENCE Not ouly must his quest extend to the gen- eral fields of science, history, or philoso- phy, where tests of scholarship and knowl- edge may be more definitely applied and the judgment of experts be available for his guidance, but he must be alive to the claims of special works in the newer and more novel fields of research or specula- tion where the attempts to keep up with what is really new and vital, while at the same time shunning what is freakish and unworthy, may well bewilder him and make him wish there were no such things as "advanced thought" or any further "ex- tension of the boundaries of knowledge." Biography and memoirs and -'light essays" are perhaps less difficult — the name of the subject and of the writer being sufficient for at least a clue to the importance and interest of a book. It is In the fields of fancy and imagina- tion, however, that the task of selection is undoubtedly hardest — the books which ap- peal to the larger number of readers, and the ones in which the range in merit from worst to best is greatest. The most diffi- cult problem of all is probably the New Novel. Happy is the librarian who has a real book committee to take or share the responsibility In this field. Without this aid, he must seek light and guidance from whatever source he may. Perhaps he tries — often vainly — to read some of the newer books himself; or a member of the board may be willing to give the library the benefit of his literary zeal and knowl- edge; or friends of the librarian will re- port their impressions of a book — some- times in too diffuse a manner to be of much practical service, sometimes with the cryptic but expressive formula "n. g." — a formula hardly to be commended as a model of literary criticism, but having at least the advantage of deflniteness and brevity. In any event, not even the most catholic- minded and Impartial of librarians can succeed in satisfying all classes of readers. Any general approval of his selections he need hardly hope for; expressions of dis- approval are much more likely to be heard. The reader of fiction who is impa- tient for the latest if not the most sensa- tional novel is scornful at seeing good li- brary money spent for "poky old books" on religion and philosophy; while the reader of "solid literature" is pained to see the concessions made to the perverted tastes of readers of "silly novels." All these classes have their rights in the li- brary, and a right to the expression of their opinions. The librarian is a servant of the people, who are really his employ- ers. He is a literary caterer, whose busi- ness it is to find out what the public — his public — want, and to supply this want, within reasonable limits, to the best of his ability and resources. His business in buying books is to buy the best of those that are offered; not merely those that are best in themselves, or best for him, but those that are best for his library and his public — those that will give the most sat- isfaction and the most profit to the com- munity that supports the library and him. This does not mean that he is not to direct readers and raise the standards of taste whenever he can; he should try to lead and guide in the right direction — but he should not be too keen to officiate as guide, nor keep so far ahead as to be out of sight of the procession. It is time to narrow the discussion to what was intended to be its main topic — the printed aids available to the librarian in his task of book selection. In this, as in what has already been said, reference Is had chiefly to the average-sized public library, in which the task falls heavily upon the librarian, who must keep its re- quirements continually before him. And by "him" is of course meant always, and in a large sense, also her— the estimable and cultivated woman who has found a useful and honorable place in the ranks of library workers, as her presence adorns and her influence stimulates the national conferences of librarians. These printed aids are so varied and numerous that their very abundance may be an obstacle to their usefulness. They begin to appear before a book is born; they proclaim its advent, they accompany its birth, they at- tend the various processes of its introduc- 115 tion to the public and of finding its proper place and rank in the literary world. Sometimes they continue after it is dead; occasionally a belated review appears of a book so long in peaceful desuetude that no one remembers that it ever lived. Libra- rians must sometimes be wearily amused at reading enthusiastic laudations of "epoch- making" books that have long existed in their consciousness only as unvenerated ■plugs." The multiplicity and variety of these printed aids to book selection, with the diffi- culty that must be found in trying to keep track of them, suggests the query — if even a query may be ventured by an outsider on so practical a detail of library work and method — the query whether some practi- cable means might not be found tor a more systematic handling of this material; for classifying it, and keeping it in some simple and orderly arrangement. Possi- bly some such methods are already used by librarians — indeed, I have learned of two or three libraries in which they are used, but for more special purposes; and it may be that a system could be devised more general in character and suited to a larger number of libraries. The details of sucli a plan would of course have to be carefully worked out, and be matter for study and experiment. For purposes of illustration, it might be supposed that a librarian has a lot of convenient small hold- ers or envelopes — whatever form is sim- plest and cheapest — each endorsed with the title of a new book, starting with some printed item when it is first announced — • when, like a new planet it "swims into his ken." These announcements could be made up, to some extent, from the circu- lars and advertisements of publishers; but these have the disadvantage of not being at all uniform in style, and they are often indefinite as to the character of a book, and incomplete. Better results would doubt- less be had by taking the regular advance announcement lists given by some of the leading literary journals preceding the reg ular spring and fall publishing seasons. The best of these lists are systematically and accurately prepared, with uniform style of entry, classification showing kind of book, title, name of author and pub- lisher, illustrations if any, size and price; and as the lists are substantially comiilete, they afford a survey of all the forthcoming American books, and reprints of English books, that are likely to appear between one list and its successor. The cutting of these lists into slips and distributing them into their holders might be the first step toward this "working bibliography," a foundation on which to build. It will prob- ably be objected that such an apparatus would be too complicated and expensive — • far beyond the dreams of avarice of the average librarian; but we are not now con- sidering that part of the matter — rather, trying to see what results it might lead to. Into each packet might go, from time to time, items of information as to when the book was to appear; printed items of in- terest regarding it, or indicating its im- portance; clippings from the better class of trade lists and bulletins of new books; or any pencilled memoranda that might be worth making and saving. In a word, the packet would become the repository of compact and easily accessible information about that particular book; and it might perhaps contain also more private pencil jottings, such as "Mrs. Jones asks for this," "Dr. Pundit praises this author," "Miss Squeems thinks this is horrid," and similar illuminating intimations for the li- brarian's quiet hour. The result would be a collection of what might be called foun- dation knowledge about new books, in which each book could be considered by itself, without the confusion of impres- sions resulting from attempts to use the same material unassorted and in the mass. The librarian and assistants would at least know that a certain book was coming, and in a general way what sort of book it was to be; and the sometimes mortifying effect of the too ingenuous answer to an inquiring reader, "Never heard of it," would largely disappear. New information could be added at any time, and inquiries quickly answered by turning to these Easy Ref- erence I?nvelopes, which might appropri- ately be endorsed "Inquire within for what- 116 PASADENA CONFERENCE ever is now kuowu" about the particular book referred to. After a book was bought, the envelopes, permanently preserved, vvould show at a glance why the purchase was made, should it be found a question- able one. All this is suggested very ten- tatively, and with the thought that a consideration of it might possibly lead to the working out of some practicable meth- od for the plan desired — If desired it should prove to be. It might at least be better than carrying about unassorted and unassimilated material in the vest-pockets of men, or the shirt-waists or sleeves or whatever corresponds to pockets in the affairs of women. Our consideration of the general subject of printed aids to book selection brings us now to the most important part of all, and the most dilTicult to consider within due limits of time and space. This is the matter embraced under the general term of " Opin- ions," — including "book reviewing" or "no- ticing," "book booming" or "puffing," and other minor categories. Into the great field of literary criticism in general it is not intended here to go. The principles of lit- erary criticism are matters not for a para- graph in a brief address, but for a book or an extended and finished essay; and these are presumably as familiar to librarians as to other classes of cultivated readers. What most concerns the librarian as book- buyer is the practical appraisal of books — something which will aid him most in grappling with the problem of the "Eternal OR" with which this paper was begun. In this appraisal, as practiced in literary Jour- nalism, comes first what is known as the "Review," and next what is usually called the "Notice." The terms are rather loosely used; indeed, the one Is often only a briefer form of the other. The "Review" is more extended, and goes more deliber- ately into a description of the book, with a more careful consideration of its merits and defects; the "notice" is usually con- fined to description mainly — though in cases where approval or condemnation may be safely and unqualifiedly expressed, this is often done tersely and emphatic- ally; and the value of the opinion, unsup- ported by the citations or evidence that would be expected in a long review, will depend on the character of the journal or of the writer. Librarians of experience and insight learn how to judge literary crit- ics and literary journals, and what weight to give their opinions. The ideal apprais- al of a book, for the purposes of a libra- rian, would be somewhat like the analysis of a chemist, formulated in the verdict. "Here is what you gave me; here is what I find it to contain," signed ''Helmholtz, Chemist," or "Hazlitt, Literary Apprais- er." But such short-cut processes as are possible for insensate matter can hardly be applied to that living thing, that some- thing next to the human soul, a Book. Its qualities are too subtle and refined, its substance too ethereal, to be weighed in any chemist's scales; a higher alchemy and a clearer vision are needed to dis- cern spiritual facts and forces and expound their meaning and effect. In one respect, it is true, the really au- thoritative book review should resemble a chemical analysis: it should be the product of an expert, and bear the warrant of his name — the reputable historical scholar for the new book in the field of history, the biol- ogist for new researches into the origin and mystery of life, the geologist for geology, and so on down the list. Of course this method of treating books in the domain of exact knowledge, of science properly so-called, will not apply to books of a very different class — to poetry and fiction and some other categories whose appeal is to the taste and judgment and experience of readers, rather than to exact knowledge or established principles of science. In these cases, so long as taste is something not to be disputed about, opinions must continually differ. The most we can rea- sonably ask is that criticism in these fields shall represent a taste that is cultivated, and that rests upon such canons of liter- ary art as may fairly be called established It may also properly be required of all reviews in serious literary journals that they be intelligent and impartial, without predisposition either to praise or blame, but only to be just; they should be instruc- BROWNE 117 tive and informing to the reader; they should be interesting, or as interesting as the subject may reasonably allow; they should be appreciative and sympathetic rather than destructive and severe, not savage for the sake of appearing smart. They should above all be honest — as free from the suspicion of dishonesty as a li- brarian must be above the suspicion of stealing the books entrusted to his care. Indeed, the literary editor or reviewer who would praise books dishonestly, for per- sonal gain, is worse than the librarian who would steal them; the latter may cause his library the loss of a single book, while the former may cause a hundred libraries to be loaded with a worthless one. An editor is responsible for the honesty of his re- viewers, but not for their opinions when honestly given. He must leave their judg- ment free and untrammelled; if they prove unworthy of his confidence, he will soon drop them. "Tell us exactly what you think of this book — its merits and defects, and all about it that you think worth while," are the instructions, expressed or understood, sent out with every book that goes to a reviewer from the editor of any literary journal worthy of the name. Even such details as the amount of space to be given a book are left largely to the re- viewer, to be decided after examination, according to his judgment of the book's importance. The competent and experi- enced reviewer will rightly expect reason- able latitude in such matters; and he will rightly expect also freedom from editorial interference with his opinions and conclu- sions. With this freedom and confidence goes also the assumption of the good faith and fairness of the reviewer. He must write with a full sense of his responsibil- ity; he must not say things he is not pre- pared to stand by; and he must be per- sonally disinterested. Reviewers who. whatever their other qualifications, make their reviews occasions for "log-rolling" for friends or "getting even" with enemies quickly find themselves undesired by the discerning editor. This matter of honesty i.s not only one of conscience — it is essen- tial to the very existence of a literary jour- nal on any high and worthy plane. The whole success of such a journal is based on its reputation for honesty and fairness; its obligation is always to its readers, and its chief value is given by the hold it has on their esteem. A journal with influence and standing in the literary world could find no shorter road to suicide than by for- feiting the confidence of its readers by sor- did methods and unworthy aims. It is sometimes fancied that advertisers — pub- lishers of books — exert a pressure upon literary journals adverse to their literary independence. This would mean that the publishers — who are usually intelligent men — would try to destroy the one thing that gives a journal influence with its read- ers and its chief value for their advertise- ments; and publishers worthy of the name have not only too much self-respect and decency, but too much shrewdness for such a course. The hold a journal has on its readers is the very cause of their ad- vertising in its columns; otherwise they would do their advertising in papers of a different class but of far greater circula- tion. The misconceptions that sometimes pre- vail regarding the relations between book publishers and literary journals are not only unfounded, but do great injustice to a high-minded and honorable class of busi- ness men. The notion that publishers dis- pense advertisements to literary journals in consideration of their books being I)raised in their columns is too absurd to be treated seriously. If it be permissible to illustrate by personal evidence, it might be added that in an experience of thirty years in the conduct of a literary journal I do not recall an instance of an attempt io exercise an unworthy influence upon the review of a book by considerations of adver- tising patronage, from a house of estab- lished high standing in the publishing world. From houses of a different class, such attempts have sometimes been made, one of which may be permitted to enliven this discussion. A review of a certain book — a very favorable one, as it hap- pened — had been put in type and was awaiting publication, when a communica- 118 PASADENA CONFERENCE tion was received from the publishers of the book, enclosing a generous advertise- ment of it, to be published on condition that a "favorable review" of the book be given in the same issue. The only result was that the proof of the review was quickly cancelled, and it never saw the light of print. Aside from this misconcep- tion of the relations between book publish- ers and critical journals, the notions re- ferred to involve a conception of the rela- tions between editor and reviewer which is, to say the least, naive. These review- ers are scholars, often university profes- sors, scattered throughout the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific; and they neither know nor care whether the book they are reviewing ever has been or ever will be advertised in the journal for which they write. They have no more to do with the advertising columns of a journal be- cause they write for it than librarians have because they subscribe for it. Some interesting comments have lately been made by a competent observer (Miss Helen E. Haines) on the decline of book- reviewing in this country. If by this term Is meant the old-fashioned literary essay with some notable book serving as a text — the method used so cleverly by Macau- lay and Jeffrey in England, and by Ripley and Whipple and Lowell here — the state- ment is doubtless true. One explanation may probably be found in the decline of the literary essay; another in the immense increase in book-production, and in the de- mand of the book-reading public, not so much for elaborate essays on a few books as for information and appraisals on a large number of them. It is obviously im- possible for any literary journal to give extended reviews of all the books that might be thought deserving of such treat- ment; their number is far too great. In spite of the comparatively small number of extended critical reviews now published, there probably never was a time w'hen so much attention was given to books by the newspapers as now. Twenty years ago, the "literary department" or "supplement" was a feature of but a few of the larger dailies; now most dailies in the larger cit- ies make at least a pretense to a "literary supplement" which, while often having no great literary importance, at least attests the increasing volume of new books and the growth of interest in them. Authori- tative critical opinions are not usually looked for from such sources; but they may perform a certain service in the diffu- sion of literary news to the general public. Mention of the literary features of the daily press brings us back to the libra- rian's needs in the appraisal of books, and to the scheme of 'Easy Reference Envel- opes" suggested for his assistance — or his distraction, as the fact might prove. We left him at the point where he had accum ulated classified items of information about new or forthcoming books; and in some cases his order lists would now contain entries made up from these details, of books approved for purchase. But the most important part of his printed aids is ypt to reach him — the printed opinions whose character and varieties have led to a somewhat wandering survey of their quality and modes. The items and quota- tions sent by publishers would now begin to come in, with the short notices and ref- erences by the daily press; the clippings would increase rapidly, to be sorted and placed in their appropriate envelopes, ready to receive them. Then would come the more extended and searching reviews, and the longer and better notices. When these were too bulky to go into the envel- opes, or the journals containing them could not be cut into, short extracts could be copied on slips of paper giving the gist of opinions from the more authoritative sources. Some important aids would come later — such as the practical if necessarily belated "A. L. A. Lists, " the "Book Review Digest," and others whose handy use is known to all librarians. The suggestion of a possible method for handling material regarding new books is of course but an incident — a by-product, as it were — in the discussion of the main topic of the nature and value of printed aids to the librarian in his task of book- selection. How best to use these aids must be a not unimportant problem in li- 119 brary admiuistration. The objections to such a plan as has been outlined are ob- vious: the hard-working librarian and his staff might well complain of this addi- tional burden; they already have more woric than tliey can keep up with, and have little time or strength (or new and untried things while they are well-nigh submerged with the old ones. "Like children bathing on the shore. Buried a wave beneath, The second wave succeeds before They have had time to breathe." But, still, "their fate is the common fate of all"; in an age of stress and hurry, libra- rians, like other busy people, must feel the strain. Many things must be neglected — short-cuts are inevitable. Whether what has been suggested, or something that might be worked out from the first rude outline, might prove a short-cut and an aid in an important branch of library work, may possibly be worth considering. Next to solving problems, perhaps the most useful thing we can do is to state or re-state them. There is no ready solu- tion of all the problems of books, or of other problems; and to the librarian, as to other mortals, life will doubtless continue to present itself largely in terms of an "Eternal OR." The CHAIRMAN: On behalf of the Asso- ciation, Mr. Browne, I thank you for your very interesting and suggestive address. Ladies and gentlemen, I said suggestive be- cause I do think that while Mr. Browne has noted the difficulty of our taking more work on ourselves, yet we ought to have in mind the possibilities of doing exactly such work as he has outlined, through our cen- tral organization. You see, I am like Cato, though Instead of saying on all occasions, "Carthage must be destroyed," I say, "Headquarters must be enlarged." I will call on Mr. J. T. JENNINGS, of the Seattle public library, to speak to us on the subject MUNICIPAL CIVIL SERVICE AS AF- FECTING LIBRARIES In searching for the beginnings of civil service reform or the application of the merit system, we find that while the ma- jority of the appointments to the civil ser- vice in the British Empire previous to 1855 were made by nomination, still in some of the government departments in England examinations as a test for appointment had been in use since 1834. By 1870 the prin- ciple of open competition had been estab- lished there as a general rule. It was the intention of the founders of the American government that the tenure of office in the government employ should be permanent or at least during good be- haviour, and this laudable idea was rigidly adhered to during the first forty years in the life of the Republic. In 1820, however. Congress passed what was called the "Four years' tenure of office" act, which opened the doors of the service to all the evils of the spoils system. This act was suggested by an appointing officer, who wished to use the power It gave in order to secure his own nomination for the presidency, and was passed without debate and apparently without any conception of its effect. The theory that "to the victor belong the spoils" was not actually applied, however, until 1829, or nine years after the passage of the act. In 1836 the four-year rule was further extended to include postmasters, and it rapidly became the practice to re- gard public office not as an agency for the transaction of public business, but as a tremendous political power or piece of party machinery. These corrupting influ- ences steadily increased and developed a system of spoils and corruption that culmi- nated in the assassination of a president. The death of Garfield at the hands of a dis- gruntled office-seeker undoubtedly gave a great impetus to the civil service reform movement. The spoils system had previ- ously been vigorously opposed in the Sen- ate by such men as Clay, Webster, and Cal- houn, but the fight was long and hard and the sentiment in favor of reform gathered force slowly. In 1867 Thomas A. Jenckes of Rhode Island made a report to the House of Representatives recommending the establishment of a merit system. Thi.s report was submitted again in 1868. In 1871 a clause in the general appropriation 120 PASADENA CONFERENCE bill authorized the President to appoint a commission to prescribe rules for admis- sion to the civil service. Under this author- ity. President Grant named the first civil service commission, but this first move- ment was entirely suspended in 1875. Two years later, in 1877, the Civil Service Re- form League was organized and this league gave valuable help in bringing about the reform. The movement was also ably sup- ported by George William Curtis and other men of great prominence in public life. "Every four years," said Mr. Curtis, "the whole machinery of the government is pulled to pieces. The country presents a most ridiculous, revolting, and dishearten- ing spectacle. The business of the nation, the legislation of Congress, are subordi- nated to distributing the plunder among eager partisans." The real beginning of civil service in this country was made in 1883 when Con- gress passed the Pendleton act for the rem- edy of the abuse known as the spoils sys- tem. This act empowered the President to determine from time to time by executive order what classes of the public service should come under the civil service law. The national civil service at first covered only 14,000 positions, but its scope has been extended by each succeeding president uutil it includes at the present time about 240,000 positions or 60 per cent of the total number of government employees. The in- auguration of the system at Washington has been followed by its adoption in six of the states and in about 100 cities, and also in Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philip- pines. Unlike many of the other prominent re- form movements, such as woman suffrage, prohibition, popular election of senators, and uniform divorce laws, the civil service reform movement has steadily gained head- way and has at all times had popular sup- port. A somewhat significant indication of this public support is the fact that what was formerly known as "civil service re- form" has popularly come to be known by the shorter name of "civil service." The present sentiment in regard to the move- ment is well stated by the Board of Free- holders of Kansas City in the following words: "Any city in the present state of municipal advancement and progress which has no provision for civil service is as much behind the times as a city with- out electric lights, telephones, or street cars." The commission form of govern- ment now being adopted by so many cities usually provides for the selection of em- ployees by a civil service system, and there is little doubt that the popular support given to civil service reform will cause it to be adopted sooner or later for all mu- nicipalities. In view of these facts it is time that we as librarians and as the American library association should pause to consider the advantages and disadvantages of civil ser- vice especially as applied to libraries. Is it desirable that assistants in our city li- braries should be selected by municipal civil service commissions? Or to state the question in a broader way, what is the best and safest method of selecting library workers? Is there any better plan than that of selection by the civil service com- mission? One obvious method of ap- proaching the problem would be to ask: To what extent has municipal civil ser- vice been applied to public libraries? And with what result? Are public libraries under civil service better or worse than libraries not under civil service? Some two years ago when investigating this question in connection with the Seattle public library, which was at that time op- erating under a civil service law, we sent to .53 different libraries one of those ponder- ous communications so heartily welcomed by the busy librarian, a questionnaire. The 53 libraries to which this list of 25 questions was sent included all in cities of over 100,000 population, as well as all that we knew to be under municipal civil ser- vice, and a few smaller libraries because of their reputation for good management or because they were near Seattle. The answers sent us in reply to the question- naire showed that of the 53 public libraries only nine were controlled by municipal civil service, 8 of the 9 reported unsatis- factory results, although only 4 of the 9 121 were under as rigid restrictions as the Seattle public library then was. None of these nine civil service libraries took high rank among libraries. The nine were: Du- luth, Chicago, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Se- attle, Everett, New Haven, Syracuse, New Orleans. Perhaps I may be pardoned for mentioning the names since Seattle is in- cluded in the list. The general conclusions that may be reached, then, from this investigation are that civil service has been applied to com- paratively few of our public libraries, only about 17 per cent, and in these it has not been a success. The statement has just been made that eight of the nine libraries having civil service reported dissatisfaction with the plan. I might add that a short time after making this Investigation, it was my privilege to visit the ninth library — the one that had no complaint to offer when replying to our questionnaire. The assistant who showed me about had been employed there 17 years and he explained to me that the service in the library was much inferior in character and spirit since the installation of civil service. Several of the nine libraries mentioned were hop- ing to substitute internal for municipal civil service. The Brooklyn public library and the Queens Borough public library, two strong institutions, had already made this change, and with great joy I may add that Seattle has since followed suit. So that in Seattle we no longer have to say, ''We are nine," but rather, "They are eight." A second method of approaching this question might well be the reverse of the above, that is, of the 53 cities investigated, how many have municipal civil service sys- tems and of these how many exempt the public library from the contyol of such system. We find that 28 of the 53 cities have civil service commissions and that in 19 of these 28 the library is exempt. In many of these 19 cities, notably Pittsburgh and Buffalo, the libraries take high rank. From this point of approach, then, we learn that the majority of civil service cities have considered it advisable to exempt the public library and that the results seem to justify the exemption. The most notable exemption in this countiT is the Library of Congress. While civil service is in force in most of the departments at Washington, it is not applied to the Library of Congress. The Librarian of Congress has the author- ity to select and employ the best available assistants without examination. The ques- tion of placing the Library of Congress under national civil service was discussed at great length by a congressional commit- tee in 1897 when that library was thor- oughly reorganized and placed in its new building. Several prominent librarians were called to testify before this commit- tee. It was finally decided to leave the power of appointment in the hands of the Librarian without civil service restrictions. The wisdom of that decision has since been amply justified. It would be hard to find to-day a better managed library or a more efficient staff. A few extracts from the evidence given at this investigation are worth quoting. Mr. Spofford, Librarian of Congress, tes- tified: "I think that the librarian who is responsible tor the results in so great and useful an institution should have the selec- tion of the means of accomplishing those results." Melvil Dewey, state librarian of New York: "The head of the library should have power to dispense with the services of any one found incompetent for his place and of the people who become mere ma- chines and do their work perfunctorily, only to get out as soon as their hours are over." Representative Qulgg asked Mr. Herbert Putnam, then librarian at Boston: "Should you be willing to have the selection of your employees so tar taken out of your hands that you were compelled to choose from a list of two or three alleged-to-be- qualified persons, which list was submitted to you by a board of examiners over which you had no authority?" Mr. Putnam: "I should be willing only in place of worse evils, if I saw those to exist; I mean greater embarrassments. . . . It is much easier to test technical library training, library science, than it is to test persons of administrative ability. ... I 122 PASADENA CONFERENCE should say that if the Librarian of Congress is absolutely free from political control In the selection of his men, if he will not have to recommend persons who are forced upon him, then it is safe to leave it to him. . . . I believe that librarians in general if they have the responsibility vested in them . . . will not misuse their authority. . . . "I believe so much in the centering of responsibility and 1 deem it of so much advantage that the men that are finally re- sponsible should choose their subordinates that I would not altogether favor a civil service in the selection of the employees in the Congressional library." Mr. Fletcher, librarian of Amherst Col- lege, testified: "I am not prepared to recommend a system by which any library is brought under any sort of supervision from outside iiarties." Mr. Harris, Commissioner of Education, testified in favor of "efficient clerks, such as library schools furnish, because they can do more work in a day each than six unskilled persons can do." It seems quite evident that Mr. Harris had tried both kinds. Mr. Putnam was afterwards appointed Librarian of Congress and had an oppor- tunity to put his theories into practice. After nine years' experience, he wrote in answer to our questions: "During the past nine years, political influence has not impaired the efficiency of appointments to the Library of Congress, although this was not protected by the civil service system. That it has not done so is due in part to patient representation and consistent ac- tion by the librarian, but also to the funda- mental desire of Congress as a whole to promote efficiency in the service. . . . ■'Applicants quite commonly write to sen- ators or representatives asking their influ- ence or recommendations, and communica- tions are frequently received from sena- tors and representatives. They are treated as introductions, but see paragraph in red at the head of the application form." The paragraph which is printed In red at the head of this form reads as follows; "In view of these requirements, any recom- mendations or 'endorsements' of a politi- cal nature are not merely unnecessary but a disadvantage to the applicant as suggest- ing considerations in the appointment not recognized by law." He also adds: "The decision of the li- brarian in dismissal as in appointment Is final." In the scheme of library service adopted by the library board after the Seattle library became exempt is the following sentence: "Appointments to positions In the library service will, so far as possible, be based on merit only, and recommenda- tions from members of the board of trus- tees or the use of influence or pressure of any kind to secure an appointment will be considered prejudicial to the interests of the candidate." The scheme of library service, including this sentence, was unani- mously adopted by the board. Another important instance of the ex- emption of libraries is the new civil service law in the state of Wisconsin. This law was adopted in 1905 and is considered by experts as one of the best and most scien- tific codes. As stated in the Canadian Magazine for April, 1906 — "There are nec- essarily certain persons exempt from the control of the Wisconsin civil service com- mission. These comprise chiefly those se- lected by the people, all professors, teach- ers and librarians, and heads of the state reformatory, charitable and penal institu- tions." So far as I have been able to ascertain the British Museum is not under civil ser- vice, although it is practically a depart- ment of the government and appointments to positions in the English government de- partments are usually controlled by civil service examinations. If now we approach this question from still another viewpoint and compare the library with other similar institutions, we find that the public library is most often classed with the public school as an edu- cational institution. Every succeeding num- ber of the periodical "Public libraries" re- minds us that the public library Is an Inte- gral part of public education. The justi- fication for the support of libraries by pub- lic tax is chiefly on the ground that they 123 are educational institutions. To what ex- tent, then, we may aslj, are teachers se- lected by municipal civil service commis- sions? I have been unable to discover any city in the United States where teachers are chosen in that way. In investigating this subject we discovered a draft of a model civil service law for cities, prepared by Elliot H. Goodwin, secretary of the National civil service refoi'm league, and in this law superintendents, principals, and teachers in the school system of the city are placed in the unclassified or exempt class. This is strong testimony in view of the fact that the civil service reform league is composed of civil service enthusiasts and is usually exerting its efforts to extend the scope of the system. It is thought that character and person- ality are such important qualifications for successful teachers that they could not be well chosen by competitive examination. Also that the schools are so closely in touch with the people that there is little danger of their coming under political con- trol, and further that the schools are under the control of non-partisan boards of trus- tees, and therefore not in the same danger as the single headed city department. Every one of these reasons for exempt- ing schools applies with equal force to li- braries. It is true that every teacher is required to hold a state certificate and that this certificate is secured by passing an examination, but it is a qualifying, not a competitive, examination and the plan is entirely different from civil service. The advantages claimed for civil service are: That it prevents appointments through political influence; that it selects for each position the best qualified candi- date; that it promotes continuity of ser- vice by protecting employees from removal when the administration changes, or for insufficient reasons; that it is democratic, the opportunity for appointment being open to every citizen; and finally that it saves the time of the appointing officer. On close examination or in actual prac- tice many of these claims appear to be not well founded. It does, in the majority of cases, eliminate politics. This is the main purpose of civil service, and the strongest argument in its favor. If your library is under political control and there is no other way out, by all means take the civil service route, as it is undoubtedly better than the political road. There is no question but that the opera- tion of the civil service law has greatly im- proved the conditions in the government departments at Washington and elsewhere for such positions as could be fairly well filled by competitive examination and wliere the only alternative was the spoils system. It has produced greater economy and efliciency. Many unnecessary posi- tions have been abolished. Stability has been secured in the service. Superfluous positions are no longer desired since it is impossible to give such places to favorites. Employees are no longer required to con- tribute to campaign funds. It is claimed that a saving of from 10 per cent to 20 per cent in salaries has resulted. For these reasons the civil service com- missions and the advocates of civil service are always trying to extend the scope of its application and are constantly on the de- fensive to prove that it may be successfully applied even to positions requiring expert, or technical, or confidential service. By executive order in 1909 the President ex- tended the service to include the lower grades in the diplomatic service. By an- other order in 1908 over 15,000 4th class postmasters were placed in the competitive class. Chemists in the government service are now selected by civil service exami- nations. The additional clerical force for the 13th census was so chosen. In 1910 assistant postmasters and clerks in first and second class postofflces were included. In New York Mayor Gayuor has de- cided in favor of placing the selection of probation officers in the hands of the civil service commission. They were formerly appointed by a board of judges. 'This change has also been made in Buffalo in spite of the fact that many students of probation claim that the character of the work of probation officers demands pecu- liar personal qualifications that cannot be l)rought out in a competitive examination. 124 PASADENA CONFERENCE The civil service commissions and advo- cates are also constantly making and urg- ing changes in the rules to overcome the difldculties heretofore supposed to be in- herent in the system. One of the most important changes was that made last year in Chicago where the rules were so amend- ed as to provide for efficiency tests and records kept up to date in the office of the civil service commission for all civil ser- vice employees. The New York City scheme also provides for such efficiency records, but they are made by and kept in the department and submitted to the civil service commission only at annual periods. They apparently are not so thorough, nor are the results so rigorously applied as in the Chicago plan. Civil service rules have been confined heretofore to appointments and removals only, and paid no attention to the employee during his term of service. These new efficiency records, if widely applied, will probably have an important effect. In Chicago they are to form the basis for ad- justment of salaries and for promotions or reductions in rank, as well as for remo- vals. If applied to libraries this might have the obvious advantage of relieving the librarian of embarrassment, since pro- motions, removals, reductions in rank, and salary would be based on the candidate's own record, as shown by his efficiency card, and not on what he probably would regard as the bad judgment or personal enmity of the librarian. Most librarians, however, would prefer to submit to the embarrass- ment rather than have such important mat- ters taken out of their hands. Another change now being made is de- signed to overcome the objection that an examination is no test of personality. This is supposed to be accomplished by an oral test in addition to the written examination In spite, however, of these extensions in the service and improvements in the rules, we find that civil service is admitted even by its advocates to bo not ideal but merely better than the spoils system. Senator Lodge, who is an ardent advocate of civil service, made the following admission on the floor of the Senate: "Nor do I undertalce to defend the merit system as an ideal or as an absolutely perfect system. Very few things of human manufacture are perfect, certainly civil ser- vice is not. The real proposition is that it is better than the patronage system. If the head of a department could select his own subordinates there would be no need of competitive examinations, or of an arti- ficial system to select them for him. He would certainly select good assistants, for his own credit and reputation would be boimd up in the success of his administra- tion. But when they are forced upon him from outside then we have the injurious condition of one set of persons selecting subordinates and another being responsible for their work." C. D. Willard writing on civil service in the Outlook says: "The drawbacks of the civil service reform methods are those that arise inevitably out of the effort to apply any general system — necessarily more or less rigid — to so complicated a proposition as that of securing hundreds of helpers in a great variety of lines of work. The commission and their examining force un- fortunately are not inspired and they some- times make mistakes. Excellent men fail to pass examinations and those of medi- ocre ability manage to pull through. Heads of departments are often cursed with men who are too good to throw out and not good enough to keep. Worse than all else the commissioners themselves are now and then accused of playing politics, and in some cases the accusation has been true." It may be well at this point to outline some of the chief objections to civil service as applied to libraries. First among these I should place the fact that the examina- tion is not a satisfactory test. Many people can give good accounts of themselves in such tests but afterwards prove to be very poor and inefficient assistants. On the other band many industrious and reliable em- ployees are very much at a loss when they try to write or tell of their work. A writ- ten examination does not touch the qualifi- cations of character, personality, industry, gumption, integrity and tact; such consid- erations are of vital importance for any educational work, and if they are lacking. 125 the work must be, to a great extent, a fail- ure. Under the civil service system the ap- pointing officer is often required to appoint candidates against his better judgment, simply because they are on the civil ser- vice eligible list. Mr. Frank Vrooman writ- ing on this subject in the Arena says: "While possibly the best test in sight, the competitive e-\amination is an overworked idol. It is only better than the irresponsible power of partisan appointment to which no one but a spoilsman would return. The competitive examination is a register of too much of the memorizer and too little of the man. No one who has ever seen advanced standing given in college not to the ablest men but to the men with the most fatal facility for chattering their "Polly wants a cracker" forwards and backwards and sideways, can fail to see one of the pitfalls of the competitive ex- amination system. "Almost nothing of the educational side of competitive examination counts for standing but the fact that the candidate remembers so much of what he has been taught. It registers almost nothing of the ability to think, to act to do; only to re- member." As Ex-governor Black of New York pointed out: "Experience, character, tact, and even muscle may be of more import- ance in some cases than the fraction of a per cent in an examination." A second objection is the geographical limitation which forms a part of most civil service systems, and which requires that candidates for examination shall be resi- dents of the city, or the state, or the nation, as the case may be. The absurdity of this limitation ought to be apparent at a glance. Under such rules a government depart- ment at Washington may select from the entire country, a state department from the state only, and a city department from the residents of its own city. The state depart- ment is at a disadvantage since it cannot compete with a government department for good assistants unless they happen to re- side in that particular state, while the city is hopeless handicapped when it wishes to fill positions for which special training is required, and for which the number of de- sirable candidates is very limited. This residence rule is probably more burden- some to a library than to any other city department because of the limited number of trained or experienced library workers. There is ordinarily only one library in each city and that library usually has already on its staff those residents who are experienced in library work and who want positions. The number of library schools is also lim- ited as compared to the number of other special schools. If the city wishes to em- ploy an engineer, or a clerk, or a police- man, or a fireman, or an architect, there are plenty to choose from right in their own town. This is not true of the library. To be sure the civil service regulations per- mit the commission to waive the residence rule when in their judgment it is neces- sary. We had illustrations in Seattle of the fickleness of their judgment in this con- nection. How can they be expected to have judgment in such a matter? When asked to waive the rule for four positions, they granted it in two cases and declined in the other two. Of the two requests that were refused, one was to fill a vacancy, for which they had at a previous time waived the residence rule; the other position was that of confidential secretary, the kind of position for which commissions usually waive, not only residence qualifications but examination as well. But suppose the rule is waived, what hap- pens? The imported assistant is required to pass the examination after she arrives, sometimes after working for six months. If for any reason she fails to pass it, or is beaten by some other unexpected candi- date, who happens to be more glib at writ- ten examinations, then she loses her posi- tion. Having persuaded her to give up a position elsewhere, the librarian is now under moral obligation to take care of such an assistant and to find work for her else- where. Under such conditions, I need hardly tell you it is difficult to persuade good candidates to relinquish positions elsewhere to come to your library and take chances. 126 PASADENA CONFERENCE To my mind this residence restriction is only another liind of spoils system. In this rule the citizen practically says, "We pay the salaries, we ought to get the jobs." Like many other phases of civil service, es- pecially the restrictions on removal, its real result is the protection of the em- ployee, not the improvement of the service. A third difficulty, and perhaps a more serious one. Is the impossibility of remov- ing an employee except for charges of the most flagrant nature. When the assistant is removed, charges in writing must be filed with the civil service commission. The discharged employee then has the right of appealing within ten days. A trial is then held at which the librarian and members of the library board and library staff must appear as witnesses. The evi- dence is usually held and Judged by men who know little or nothing about library work and to whom the finer qualities of character and personality, that count for success in librarj' work, have little or no weight. If an appeal is sustained the employee is reinstated, and the last condition of that library is worse than the first. No librarian can afford to take such chances. No self- respecting man wishes to prefer charges or give testimony against a woman in such a trial. The scandal and newspaper noto- riety in such a proceeding will injure the library as an institution. Except for this right of appeal it would be possible for the librarian to remove in- competent or undesirable assistants qui- etly and without upsetting the whole li- brary and the whole staff. Under civil ser- vice, employees know that their positions are practically safe, and that fact alone, in many cases, destroys efficiency and pro- motes laziness and insubordination. In my opinion, it is poor business judgment to place a man in charge of a number of em- ployees and expect to hold him responsible for results unless these employees are strictly accountable to him. not only for their work, but for their tenure of office. This point can be appreciated fully only by those who have actually had the direction and control of a large force of people. Re- sponsibility and authority go hand in hand and without one it is useless to expect the other. If given this authority, his adminis- tration fails, the place to begin correction is at the top and not at the bottom, as civil service tries to do. The fourth objection is that the system wastes time through an unlimited amount of coi-respondence and interchange of blanks and "red tape" with the civil ser- vice commission. While we are manipu- lating the machinery it frequently happens that some other library not handicapped by civil service secures the good assistant whom we were trying to engage. The general conclusions that were de- rived from our study of this subject of civil service show that it has been applied to but few libraries, and in these libraries it has not been a success. The consensus of opinion is in favor of exempting libra- ries from civil service control, since there is just as much reason for the exemption of libraries as for the exemption of schools. The problem before us, as librarians, is the selection of the best persons to carry on the work of the library. The librarian should have more to say about this than any one else, since it is the most impor- tant duty he has to perform. If he is to be responsible for the success of the li- brary he should have authority here, as the institution may succeed or fail according to the judgment shown In appointments. The establishment of several good li- brary schools during the last 20 years has developed a corps of trained library work- ers, entirely removed from politics, that is helping rapidly to impove the library ser- vice of the country. If your library is to keep pace with those in other cities you must be able to compete with them in the open market for the best training your sal- aries will secure. The CHAIRMAN: Ladies and gentlemen, we had hoped to supplement Mr. Jennings' very instructive and very profitable expo- sition of the situation with some examples of experience from those who have been through the trials, and also I had hoped to call on Mr. I^egler for some statement as to the way in which those clauses which make 127 for the objections stated might be modi- fied. The objections Mr. Jennings stated are those of method, rather than those of principles. For instance, I suppose a good many of you know that Mr. Legler himself is under civil service rules; that the Civil Service Commission of Chicago does not determine individual cases, but states that certain positions are not subject to the residence rule, that ruling holding for all time. I had the honor to serve the city in its selection of its librarian. I hope you will agree with me in thinking that I did not fail in my duty in the selection which was made. Now, that selection was made under the civil service rule, unabridged and directly administered. I am not speaking so particularly of the examiners as I am of the board which laid down the conditions. They did allow us to give 50 per cent weight to the experience and arm to arm knowledge of the personality of the man. Without such a condition as that, we would have been unable to take the man whom we thought would succeed, and, I am glad to say, is succeeding. I had hoped to have Mr. Legler speak on the efficiency of the system as it exists in the city of Chicago, and also Miss Hume has prepared for us some of her experiences, but our time is now up and we must adjourn. (The following paper was prepared by Miss JESSIE F. HUME for this session, but was not read for lack of time.) HUMORS AND HORRORS OF MUNICI- PAL CIVIL SERVICE Had I the making of the title of this dis- cussion, the humor would have been left out, as there is no humor at the time in the activities of the municipal civil service commission. Afterwards perhaps, one sees a gleam here and there. The Initiative action of the municipal civil service commission is insidious. It is only later when struggling in the grasp of the octopus, that one realizes its power. We were required to send our pay roll for approval and did so. From that moment no change could be made in it without the approval of the commission, and of the board of estimate and apportionment, both of them bodies slow in movement and hard to convince when an expenditure of mon- ey is under consideration. Moreover, we found out all the restrictions through ex- perience, by the breaking of them and con- sequent friction and delay. Increases in salary were voted by our library board, entered on pay roll and forwarded. Increases in salary were de- ducted. Upon inquiry we were directed to obtain the approval of the board of esti- mate and apportionment. They were noti- fied, our letters were laid on the table or never taken up at all. Increases made in the salary of two of the highest employees in the library were thus refused or de- layed for more than two years, and were finally obtained only by the appearance before a committee of the board of esti- mate and apportionment of a representa- tive of the library who convinced them of the propriety thereof. This resulted in the resignation of some of our most efficient librarians who asked for and deserved in- creases, over which the various boards and committees delayed so long that resig- nations were filed. So the staff was de- pleted of its best equipped members. As to the filling of vacancies, this had to be done under set rules, fearfully and wonderfully made, obtaining an eligible list of not more than three names, and offering the position to each one of the three, selecting one. It commonly happened that all declined, usually on account of distance, and the whole process had to be- gin again. Thus it took two months to obtain a janitor for a Carnegie branch library. Three men were written to and all came. The first could speak no English at all, he came with an Italian interpreter, and as it was manifestly Impossible to engage the interpreter also, he was not considered. The next man had no fingers, but said he could do all that need be done. The third was an old German, in- troduced by Mr. Blank, the ward leader, as he told me twice over. The old man was irascible, stupid, and scarcely knew a dozen words of English. The ward leader was inclined to be masterful, but after a contemplative look at the old man, he 128 PASADENA CONFERENCE broke dowu, laughed and left, saying he had to bring him, it was expected of him, and we parted on friendly terms, — very neces- sary under civil service rules. When we were first marshaled in the ranks of the civil service commission, they called a general examination, and our li- brarians were notified. One of them came to my ofiice, a high school graduate, doing well in a subordinate position. She had a madonna face with great blue eyes. She assured me with tears standing in them that she could not undergo an examination, and would have to resign unless she was excused, and held to her resolution until I chanced to say that the civil service com- mission required the examination. Then a gleam of angelic joy crossed her features and she said in a low, confidential, happy voice, "Oh! is it a civil service examination? Then Papa'll fix it." And Papa did, and later when promotion was in question, Papa "fixed it" again, and others papas did like- wise, and the eligible list was a most re- markable thing. On the eligible list for assistant librarian, a grade higher than chief of department, we had people who commonly used such expressions as "I done It," and "I seen it," and "Them's the ones." There was only one course to pursue, we refrained from ap- pointing to any but the lowest grades, and for a time and quite a long time, tlie li- brary was conducted without the higher grade people needed for the proper devel- opment of the library. Then as to education — after our release, our board held a general examination for regrading, assuring the staff that none would be dismissed nor any salary reduced. Some forty or fifty candidates responded. I corrected the papers and as I read I was aghast, then wholly discouraged, till I passed the critical stage and became simply the looker on, whereupon I per- ceived through the meaningless verbiage, the throes of drowning ignorance, the mas- ter strokes of mother wit, and the engag- ing boldness of young America. They classed themselves into groups, the wily diplomat, whose answer would be partly right in any case; the boldly ignorant, who took chances gaily; the fine imagi- native; the common sense girl; and in a great majority, those of obscure mind; al! full of human nature. The questions were the usual ones, on natural phenomena, on noted people, on terms of expression, historical, et cetera. 1 give a few examples of replies, all ver- batim. Diplomatic. The Renaissance was a period in French history when the kings and queens were of a certain type. Ocean currents are caused by the water changing all the time. (How undeniable!) Trade winds were winds which start around the Gulf of Mexico and come west as far as the Pacific Ocean and go back again, and if a captain on a boat is caught in those trade winds, why, he wouldn't keep sailing, he would dock the boat right away and wait until they calmed down. Auto-suggestion deals with automobiles. Would be on explaining the mechanism and the working of the mechanics. Evolution. The general changes which take place the world over as time goes on. New York City churches. They are needed in this wide world. They do some good. Guesses. Out-door relief means that when one goes out of doors they find relief from the work inside. Mirage is caused by the meeting of heavenly bodies after a storm. (One of our trustees suggested that it must have been a brain storm.) Mirage. The cause of a mirage is the action of the wind and heat upon the naked eye. Balance of trade. Wien persons trade they trade equally, that is, both get trade alike or their trade balances. Balance of trade is if a man iS' failing very badly in business and he is loosing (sic) his customers the remainder of his customers would be called balance of trade. Watered Stock comes from other coim- tries, and has to cross the ocean. 129 Watered stock are fowls, such as ducks and geese. And one girl, led away by the liquid syllables wrote boldly that "Savonarola was noted for her beauty." Library Economy. Psychology. The language of the soul. Two books on the subject are The spirit in prison, by Robert Hichens. Science and health, by Mary Baker Eddy. A classic is something select, good Eng- lish, and good form, not too thrilling. 1 would look in the catalog for the wives of Henry VIII. under Polygamy. For the average boy who is anxious to educate himself after he leaves high school, or for one who would bother himself to ask conscientiously for a course of reading. I would suggest first, an excellent diction- ary, one of the modern encyclopedias and the Bible. When a book is to (sic) bad for mending and to good to throw away, it is sent to the binder. Obscure. Invincible Armada. A Spanish vessel, made in the shape of a half moon, to stand the siege of any country, finally captured by the British. Renaissance is a country in Italy, and it is noted for those fine laces which are sent to this country. Earthquakes are caused by overpressure of heat and gas in the earth, and it has to come forth some v/ay. In this state the earth cracks in the form of earthquakes. Marshall Ney is known for his wit and humor. Taking of Moscov/. I know that Cromwell was prominent in this event. Holy Roman Empire was that part of Europe governed by Augustus, the Holy Roman Emperor. But not all the civil service candidates are impossible. Here are some definitions from a mind of different type. St. Helena. The little island in the At- lantic where Napoleon I. ingloriously ended his glorious career. Hendrick Hudson. A Dutchman of the 16th century who discovered and sailed up the waters of our beautiful river named Hudson in his honor. Joan of Arc. The mystic and girlish lead- er of the French in the time of Charles VII. Holy Roman Empire was the empire established by Charlemagne, including all of Europe nearly, and never really holy. The exception proves the rule, and the clear and limpid mind which expresses it- self thus is a lone star in the sky of the municipal civil service eligible lists, reveal- ing the void in which it shines. Mr. HILL: I don't like to leave this hall without saying that I believe in civil service, that is, civil service within the library itself. I believe that such civil ser- vice is the very best thing for a library. In Brooklyn promotions are made under this system and I am sure from the experi- ence we have had in ten years in the Brooklyn public library that such civil service as obtains there does not lead to inefficiency, but on the other hand keeps every member of the institution up to the highest possible standard. The CHAIRMAN: I am very glad that Mr. Hill said what he did, because I think that is the ideal, and it is being carried out in a few libraries. Few of you realize the enormous prevalence that the patron- age system still maintains among libraries. Dr. STEINER: I don't want to leave the hall either without saying the same thing, that a system within the library is absolutely the proper way of administer- ing a library. We have had that system for the last twenty years in Baltimore and I would be ashamed to administer a library that did not have it. Mr. D. C. BROWN: I myself have been brought into contact with civil service boards for twenty years and I find all the objections of the spoils system of politics exactly the same as in the paper read this morning, and so I would like to move a postponement of this discussion to the next session of the association. The motion was carried, and the dis- cussion was postponed to the third general session. Adjourned. 130 PASADENA CONFERENCE THIRD GENERAL SESSION (Shakespeare Club. Monday, May 22, 9:30 a. m.) Joint session with the League o( library commissions, Mr. Henry J. Carr presiding in behalf of the American library associ- ation, and Miss Clara F. Baldwin in be- half of the League of library commissions. Mr. Carr took the chair and after brief preliminary remarks stated that the sec- retary had a telegram from President Wyer which would now be read. Secretary Utley read the following: Albany, N. Y., May 20, 1911. Geo. B. Utley, Secretary, Hotel Maryland, Pasadena, Calif. Please convey to the members of the Association my deep appreciation of the expressions of confidence and encourage- ment which reached me to-day in the message transmitted by you. (Signed) J. I. Wyer, Jr. The CHAIRMAN: This particular ses- sion is a joint one of the League of li- brary commissions and the A. L. A. Rep- resenting and acting as the chairman for the A. L, A. on this occasion, it gives me pleasure to call forward to the chair, for that part of the program which comes under the League of library commissions. Miss Clara F. Baldwin, president of the League. The CHAIRMAN: (Miss Baldwin takes the chair). The problem of library exten- sion is one in which we are all interested and one which we are all trying to solve. The first paper this morning is "The ad- ministrative units in library extension," a comparative study of the library exten- sions to the county, state and township, and this will be presented by Mr. MAT- THEW S. DUDGEON, of the Wisconsin free library commission. ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS IN LIBRARY EXTENSION— STATE, COUNTY, TOWNSHIP, CITY The most interesting feature of modern library work is the unanimity with which librarians are seeking to search out the unhooked individual — he who has no books within his reach — to make of him a booked if not a bookish individual. It is now as always the aim of all librarians to get the greatest number of the best books into the hands of the greatest number of the most book-hungry people at the least expense. In accomplishing this, how- ever, the definite emphasis seems at pres- ent to be placed upon locating the book hungry and giving to them a library re- lationship that will enable them to feed their book hunger. Standard of library efficiency. The suc- cess of any unit of any library extension system must be comparative. In order, therefore, to arrive at a just judgment upon the efficiency with which any system can be operated or any unit organized, some standard of efficiency must be em- ployed. Many a school boy reading present day periodicals can state with the greatest accuracy how many bricks a skilled brick- layer ought to lay under the efficiency sys- tem of scientific management. He can ex- plain just how many pounds and pieces of pig iron an efficient man under scien- tific management can jiile upon the plat- form of a flat-car in an eight hour day. When, however, one commences seriously to study the comparative efliciency of the different units of library extension, it de- velops that there seems to have been established no standards of efficiency with which to measure the comparative efficien- cy of any of the units under consideration. There seems, therefore, to be nothing to do but to make a standard of efficiency — to search for a standard in the records of the achievements of various library enter- prises. In this search, however, many diffi- culties arise; for books can not be counted as bricks, nor can the cost of the library work be placed on the same basis as the cost of moving blocks of pig iron. It seems, however, that four elements must be con- sidered in determining the efficiency of any literature work: 1. The book need — the acuteness of the book hunger of the person served. 2. The quality of the book, both intrin- sically and also with reference to its value to the individual who comes in contact with it. 131 3. The frequency with which the av- erage book on the shelves is delivered to the patrons of the system; and 4. The cost of distribution per booli. Just as Fredericli W. Taylor and those with him established their standard of former efficiency by measuring the ac- complishment of the average workman of average intelligence, performing the av- erage task in his trade or branch of work, so in seeking to establish a standard for library work, it seemed necessary to take the average performance of the average city library performing the average func- tions of such an institution, as representing average efficiency. It must, of course, be remembered that it is impossible to obtain definite results in establishing such a standard of excel- lence. Two of the elements that enter into the standard, first, that of the book need or hunger, and second, that of the quality of the book, are elements that cannot be measured in any definite way. Futbermore, until the need of the persons served by the unit has been demonstrated and the quality of the book delivered has been established, figures representing merely the number of books circulated by any unit and the cost of the circulation are empty and valueless figures. To deliver one book of great human value to one person greatly in need of it at a cost of one dollar for the single circulation might constitute a more efficient service than to deliver fifty less valuable books to fifty people needing books less, at a cost of one cent only for each circulation. It must be re- membered therefore that the application of this standard of efficiency, while it throws an interesting sidelight on the situation, does not always result in an accurate estimate of the efficiency of the institution investigated. If a library, however, realizes that it is costing it twice as much per circulation as it is costing some other instrumentality to do the same amount of work, an investigation of the reasons for the difference in cost as well as a com- parison of the character of the work per- formed is at once suggested, although it must be remembered also that this in- vestigation and comparison may lead to the conclusion that the more expensive, less extensive library work, is after all, the most efficient work. For purposes now under consideration, however, we think it will be found that to use some standard in comparing the work of the different administrative units with the work of the average public library doing the average city library work, is a profitable as well as an interesting proc- ess. In seeking to determine the efficiency of these various units, we therefore ask four questions: 1. Do these extension systems reach persons who need books as badly as do those persons who are reached by the av- erage city library? 2. Do these systems handle books of as high a quality as does the average city library? 3. Do they circulate each book as freely and as frequently? 4. Do they obtain as large results from the expenditure of their money? 1. The need of books. Let us consider first the question as to whether the need of the public reached by the extension work under consideration is as great as the need of the public reached by the average small city library. The very phrase, "rural extension," raises in the mind a definite conception of the isolation surrounding the rural in- dividual served. To those who know rural conditions at their worst the phrase im- plies not only scarcity of books but pov- erty of human interests. It implies an in- tellectual hunger that cries out for books, an intellectual hunger so great in some cases as to amount to an intellectual famine. We think, therefore, that we may safely conclude that extension work as performed by the units under discussion has in it the first element of efficiency in that it seeks to serve those whose need of books is great — greater far than the need of those served by the average city library. 2. The quality of books. In seeking to answer the question whether or not the quality of the book delivered under these 132 PASADENA CONFERENCE systems is as high intrinsically and as well fitted to the needs of those reached, as is the book in the average city library we observe: The very existence of any of the systems under discussion implies that at its head is an individual of force and intelligence. It is within the observation of all that noth- ing hampers a library more than the fact that the person in charge is some im- pecunious individual whose financial needs have been her recommendation for the position, or possibly some person of former influence whose days of usefulness have passed. There are, however, at the head of extension systems no "village widows," no local "lame ducks" pensioned off at the expense of the library funds. The heads of these extension systems are not "dead ones," but aggressive, progressive individ- uals with an intimate knowledge of the needs of the people whom they serve and an intense interest in the people them- selves. In such a leader we expect to find, and usually do find, somewhat unusual abil- ity for book selection. This ability is of a sort too which selects books which are not only intrinsically excellent but which are well suited to the particular needs of those who are to be served by the system. Our observation is also that those in control of such systems select the books to be used in the extension department of their work more carefully than they select books for the ordinary library work. They fully realize that, since the personality of the librarian is not back of the book to aid its circulation, the Inherent excellence of the book must be so great as to demand of its own weight consideration from the possible patron of the system. The book must of necessity be an attractive and suit- able one. In other words, the book must have v.ithin itself a vitality which enables it, without the aid of a skilled librarian, to go out to find a possible taker. The librarians in charge of such systems also realize that, while it is a poor investment to buy a book which will lie idle on the li- brary shelves, it is a disastrous Investment to buy a poor book for an extension system, since the selection of such a book makes necessary additional expenditure of effort and money in sending it to those to whom it is of no use. A poor selection for ex- tension work is, as the head of the system will discover, a greater mistake and a greater waste than a poor selection for regular city work. Accordingly she exer- cises great care in her selection work. Serious study group work is also often a part of an extension system. This study group is sometimes connected with univer- sity extension or rather organized educa tional work. Books selected for such ser vice will consequently be carefully and wel selected and of definite educational value These considerations as well as the ob servations of those who come in contact with the books selected for use in such systems justify us in the conclusion that the books in the systems are not only ex- traordinarily high in character, but also extraordinarily well fitted for the use of those to whom they are to be delivered; that their average quality is higher than that found in the average city or town library. 3. Frequency of circulation. Having found evidences, first that those reached by rural extension systems are in dire need of the books delivered to them and, second, that the books handled by these systems are of a high quality, we reach a point where we must consider the further questions, somewhat statistical in their nature, as to whether or not these books circulate as freely and frequently as the city books and whether the same amount of money invested in the maintenance of these systems produces as good results as money Invested in the maintenance of the average public library. In seeking to arrive at figures showing the frequency of circulation and the av- erage cost of circulating a book in exten- sion work, we find great difficulty in arriving at definite results. Those libraries which serve both rural and city residents often do not keep their rural circulation separated from their city circulation, nor do they keep the amount expended in each distinct from the amount expended in the other. We find also that some of the trav- 133 eling library systems do not record the exact number of home readers who take books from the traveling library station. Even those systems which seek to keep an accurate record find that the results are unsatisfactory In one particular at least. While every recorded circulation is an quently, and are, in a sense, therefore, earning a higher profit upon the capital invested. 4. Cost of service. By reference to this same table also it will be seen that the cost of circulating a volume in the exten- sion work is less than the cost of circulat- Cost of circulating Circulation per System 1. Average of all city libraries in six representative states 2. Portland, Oregon (city and country) . . . 3. Van Wert, Ohio (city and country) .... 4. Minnesota state traveling library sys- tem 5. Wisconsin state traveling library sys- tem 6. Hagerstown, Maryland (country circu- lation alone) 7. Wisconsin county traveling library sys- tem (incomplete) each volume .128 .126 .108 .077 .07 .052 volume 2.22 5.63 3.0 4.07 :.70 actual circulation, much of the actual cir- culation is unrecorded, since the books often leave the station without any record having been made of the loan. We assume, however, in the following table, that the actual circulation is no larger than the recorded circulation. By reference to this table it will be seen that these extension systems have dem- onstrated their efficiency so far as free and frequent circulation of the books upon their shelves is concerned. Every one of these extension systems has a higher cir- culation in proportion to the number of books at hand than has the average li- brary in t-he six representative states. Particular attention should be called to the Portland system which circulates each book on its shelves 5.63 times per year as against the average of 2.22 times per year for the average city library. If, there- fore, we take the average circulation per volume per year of the average city library as a standard of efficiency for frequency of delivery of books we can conclude that these extension systems are in this particu- lar more efficient than the average city library in that they have, as it were, turned over their stock in trade more fre- ing a volume in the average city library. It will also be noted that where the figures are given for the country service only, the cost is less than where it is given for city and country circulation combined. We wish also again to call attention to the fact that the recorded circulation of the country work is not as great as the actual circu- lation. We apprehend that someone will at once raise the point that the city library does reading room work, reference work, and is engaged in other forms of activities that are not paralleled in extension systems. In view of this situation we have excluded from our figures representing circulation in extension systems, a very large amount of study group work, which corresponds to the reference work of the city library. This study group work occupies fully as prominent a position in the extension sys- tem as does the reference work in the city library. We have also excluded from the consideration a vast amount of the miscel- laneous work done by the extension sys- tem, such as free distribution of magazines and periodicals to lumber camps, to indus- trial centers and to reading rooms of all sorts, as well as educational, art and Indus- 134 PASADENA CONFERENCE trial exhibits sent out in connection with the traveling libraries and otherwise. We have also not taken into consideration cor- respondence, which in some instances con- stitutes almost a correspondence course of an educational nature. We wish to repeat, however, that we are not enamored of the maxim that figures cannot lie. We are not disposed to insist that any one rely on the veracity of the results obtained but simply give the results of a rather interesting view of the recorded results of this class of worli. On the whole, however, we feel that so far as comparison can be made as to efficiency we may safely say: 1. That the need of books — the book hunger — which is met by the extension system, is greater and more intense than the book hunger of those who are served by the average town and city library; 2. That the quality of the book delivered is better intrinsically and better fitted to meet the needs of those receiving it than is the book which circulates within the city system; 3. That the extension systems circulate the books on their shelves more freely than do town and city libraries; 4. That it costs less to deliver good books in the book-hungry rural districts than it costs to deliver the poor and less needed books to urban dwellers. To address ourselves more particularly to a discussion of the units of extension work, it seems to us that these units drop naturally into two classes: first, state work, and second, local work. State traveling libraries needed. From correspondence and consultation, we con- clude that it is the consensus of expert opinion that local extension work will never attain a scope and an efficiency which will make unnecessary state travel- ing libraries. If we had ideal geographical, industrial, social and financial conditions, including distribution of population and population centers, state traveling libraries might become unnecessary. It has been suggested that possibly the state of Iowa was by reason of natural situ- ation and industrial development as likely to be able to dispense with traveling li- braries as any state in the Union. Inquir- ing more particularly, however, into con- ditions in that state, it develops that there are still many portions of the state which would be without books if not served by state traveling library systems. Those in charge of the work assure us that, after giving the matter careful consideration, they have come to the conclusion that even in that state they cannot in this generation at least dispense with the state traveling library. Conditions elsewhere are such as to make the state unit still more necessary. In such a state as Wisconsin, to cease to work under the state unit would be to starve certain portions of the state. We have for example, one county which has a total population of less than four thou- sand with a very small property valuation. The only concentration of population is in a village of a few hundred on the extreme edge of the county. This county has never appropriated anything for library service and would be unable to appropriate any considerable amount. The state, however, has stepped in, and by establishing seven active traveling library stations has at comparatively small cost placed books within fairly easy reach of every individual in the county. Such a system cannot be dispensed with. It only remains to make this indispensable unit as efficient as pos- sible, which, of course, is another story. Difficulties. To determine what unit system is the type for most effective local extension work is a difficult problem. The investigation along this line might be termed the unsuccessful search for the sys- tem which is inevitably successful. The search was necessarily unsuccessful. As might have been expected, the universally successful system has not been discovered. The system that will make library success easy, the system under which few books and little money and less effort achieves wide distribution of the best literature to an appreciative and book-hungry people, has not yet been discovered. Every unit fails. It is equally true, however, that every unit succeeds. Whether it succeeds or fails is due to the conditions under DUDGEON 135 which each system exists and the efficiency with which each operates. Certain essentials. From the data that has been obtainable as well as from the personal opinions that have been expressed, we have been able to formulate a state- ment of certain features of an extension system which present themselves as es- sential to efficiency. 1. No unit of extension work can suc- ceed unless it is gathered around and has as a center a library with considerable re- sources of books and funds. 2. A centralization of population and wealth found only in a city or large village Is necessary before there can exist a li- brary with resources of funds and books sufficient to form a center of a successful system. 3. Each unit for extension work must embrace a community of natural solidarity. Political divisions, whether they be coun- ties, towns or cities, are mere blocks of real estate bound together by artificial po- litical bonds. E?very farm family and every farmhouse, however, is a part of a natural community. The individual who has lived In a rural home knows that for every farm there is a city or village which is spoken of in the circle as "town." No one is in doubt as to what is meant by the word. Each farm naturally adheres to some city or village as its business and social center, and possibly also as its educational and religious center. On the other hand, an in- telligent general merchant in any village or city would take a map of the vicinity and with a pencil circumscribe the terri- tory which is naturally tributary to the city in which he operates. Our conclusion therefore is that the nat- ural unit for library work is the community which naturally centers itself around some city or village. No farmer and no farmer's family should be asked to travel in one direction for their books while they travel in another direction for their commercial, social, and Industrial associations. The ideal unit, as we have suggested, cannot be an artificial unit. We think we may go farther and say that no one, no matter how familiar with a community. should endeavor to prescribe the exact limits to its library activity. A library unit is a gradual development, not an arti- ficial structure completed according to pre- conceived policies, and with definite plans and specifications. Most commonly such a unit begins as a city or village library and extends its borders of effective extension service as the demands arise and as its re- sources grow. An instance of this natural development is the system as it has grown up at Port- land, Oregon. The process was, as we un- derstand it, as follows: First there was the central library furnishing service only to thosie who called at the central building. As distance increased and the demand for books as well as the resources of the li- brary grew, four branches in different parts of the city of Portland were established, all of them, however, in daily communica- tion with the central library. Later there were established what might be termed country branches, eleven in number. In each of these there was a reading room open at least five hours each day — each of these country branches was also in at least weekly communication with the cen- tral library. To reach a still more inac- cessible portion of the county it became necessary to establish a large number of deposit stations where groups of books in the nature of the traveling library groups were placed. I am informed that never has any city branch, country branch or de- posit station been established in accord- ance with any set plan. The development of the community has created a definite demand for each feature of the work, and each branch or station has been estab- lished as a special demand for it arose. The whole territory covered is the terri- tory naturally tributary to the city of Port- land. The boundaries of political units have been largely ignored. Opinion evidence. That the ideal unit cannot be an artificial political unit, but that the unit must change as the situation and surroundings vary is borne out by the opinion of those who have been instrn- mental in developing extension systems. Miss Margaret W. Brown, of the Iowa 136 PASADENA CONFERENCE library commission, says: "Rural use of books must be through a well organized center. A single township without a large town or city cannot provide sufficient funds to give this efficient service or adequate collections of books. Therefore, the logic- al provision should be through extension from a county seat center ... In some cases the center for county distribution may not be the county seat, but this would be the exception and not the rule." Miss Corinne A. Metz, of Van Wert, Ohio, says: "In an agricultural community like Van Wert County, with few large towns and with the central library located in the prin- cipal town of the county, 1 consider our county plan admirable, but with several cities of almost equal size In a county, 1 think this problem might be a live issue." Ida K. Galbreath, Superintendent of Ohio traveling library department, says: "In our traveling library experience we have found the township a most satisfactory ad- ministrative unit. It seems to me to be the best imit for rural library extension be- cause all persons are conveniently near to the point of distribution. Also, local pride in a township library would be much great- er than in a substation belonging to the county." (Miss Downey of the same commission, however, in response to an inquiry states that it is only in a township where there is a village of considerable size that they have been able to establish such a system.) N. D. C. Hodges, librarian of the public library at Cincinnati, writes: "The county extension system has been in force since 1898, thirteen years. It has worked well. The small outlying libraries, instead of be- ing dependent upon their own resources. have at their command all the resources of the central library. There is a large loan collection of books which are deposited in one agency or another in response to spe- cial needs of a locality, to be removed else- where when that need is satisfied. Finally, there is a well organized and central ad- ministration in place of the haphazard ad- ministration inevitable in a small com- munity." Carl H. Milam, secretary and state organ- izer of the Indiana public library commis- sion, summarizes the situation thus: "I believe the ideal arrangement would be for each city and large town to have its own public library and for each such library to serve the rural district of which the city or town is the business and social center. Thus each community would work out its own problem and no arbitrary rule would be adopted. Some libraries would serve one township, some several, some perhaps whole counties, and all the population of the state would be reached ... If such a system were perfected, the use of the traveling libraries would be in supplement- ing the limited collections in the small pub- lic libraries." Contributions from country districts. In view of the universal permanent paucity of funds it is but natural that libraries everywhere should cast about for addition- al sources of income. It has naturally oc- curred to library authorities in many places that the surroimding territory which could be served by the city library, might and should make contribution to the funds of the city library as a condition precedent to receiving service. In coming in contact with the rural au- thorities, therefore, they take the position that, If the rural authorities will contribute to the support of the city library, the city library will in turn extend the services to the rural residents. We make the sugges- tion that in reaching this conclusion rustic psychology has not been sufficiently con- sidered. Every farmer is psychologically from Missouri. You cannot imitate the pieman in his transaction with Simple Simon, and ask the town or county offlcial first to show his penny before you deliver your product to him. If you do not demon- strate to him the value of library service, if you do not, in other words, deliver the goods before you make demand for a show- ing of the money he Is very likely to make the same reply to you that simple Simon made to the pieman and inform you that indeed he hasn't any penny to exchange for the library service. I have in mind two cases illustrative of this principle. In one case a close-flsted farmer who was DUDGEON 137 the controlling spirit of the library board of a small city absolutely prohibited the li- brarian from furnishing any service to any individual outside of the city. He then went to the various town authorities of surrounding towns and demanded that each town should pay one hundred dollars to the city in order to secure library privileges for its residents. It was but natural that the equally close-fisted town authorities ap- proached in this abrupt manner made prompt reply that they did not propose to spend the public funds of the town for the private advantage of a few residents. As a result, antagonism arose between the city library and the country residents. The city library absolutely refused to deliver so much as an old magazine to any person residing beyond the city limits. A child who could not present a certificate of resi- dence was not permitted in the reading room. To a certain extent, the antagonism toward the library created an antagonism toward the city in general and a very un- pleasant and unprofitable condition result- ed. All hope of successful extension work in the neighborhood of that city is gone until God in his providence removes from the local library situation some of the ob- streperous members of the present g?ner- ation. In another instance it occurred to the li- brary board that the library could be made an instrument for attracting rural trade. They proposed to exploit it legitimately for civic advancement purposes. They passed resolutions freely extending the privileges of the library to all who lived in that por- tion of the county. The merchants adopt- ed the habit of recommending the library to all their rural customers. One member of the board who was a merchant made a practice of taking new customers to the city library and Introducing them to its privileges. He was convinced that, if he could make a library patron out of a rural resident, he had made a customer for the commercial interests of the city. He real- ized, of course, that the person who took the book from the library would return to the city when the book was due. It was but natural that upon his return he should deal with the local merchants and probably take another book from the library, estab- lishing an endless chain of visits to the city. It naturally followed that the com- mercial interests of the city were definitely advanced by the library service furnished to the country residents. The service thus rendered was probably as good an investment of city funds as could have been made, since the Increased circulation cost little. But a still more de- sirable result was that the country resi- dents became not only patrons of the mer- chants of the city but warm friends and supportei-s of the library. A point was soon reached where the surrounding towns became willing to make appropriations, which, while small, were probably ample to cover the expenses incurred in furnish- ing country service. Flexible law needed. From the principle that a library unit cannot be artificially created and cannot always be made co- extensive with a political unit, it follows that the law relative to the support of coun- try extension should be elastic. In some cases, it would be well to permit the coun- ty to contribute to the city library. In still other cases, one village or city should be permitted to contribute to the support of the library in another city or village, re- ceiving in return their traveling or branch library service in proportion to amount con- tributed. In short, the law should permit any political unit to make a contract with any other political unit for library service. And I believe that for demonstration pur- poses at least, any library ought to be legally at liberty to serve the people of any political unit without charge. RSsumfi. 1. Assuming that the efficiency of library service depends upon the need of the person served, the quality of the book furnished, the frequency with which the average book is circulated, and the cost of the service, experience demon- strates that every unit of library extension work, state, county, township, or city, is capable of being efficiently operated. 2. Under existing conditions it is for the present, at least, necessary to employ the state as a unit in traveling library work. 138 PASADENA CONFERENCE 3. The boundaries of a unit of local library extension work can not follow the boundaries of political divisions. 4. No unit is suited to all needs; the unit must vary with social, Industrial and educational conditions. 5. The essential characteristics of an efficient unit are: a. It must center in a library with considerable resources of books and funds. b. The existence of such a library presupposes the existence of a city or vil- lage of considerable size. c. Each unit must include a com- munity of natural solidarity bound together by social, industrial and natural interests. 6. The natural order of extending li- brary service into surrounding territory is that the value of library service must be demonstrated before funds are demanded. 7. The law providing for library exten- sion should be such as to render contri- butions by one community to another vol- untary rather than compulsory, and should permit any political division to contract with any other political division for library service. The CHAIRMAN; The library extension through the country has probably been de- veloped in California more than in any other state in the Union, and we are now to hear the story of that development from Miss HARRIET G. EHJOY, the county library organizer of the California state library. CALIFORNIA COUNTY FREE LIBRA RIES What justifies county free libraries in California? The answer is CALIFORNIA. From the Mexican line, 1000 miles to the north; from the Ocean, 3.50 miles to the east; down to hard pan, and two miles straight up, every inch of California justifies the idea and existence of a county tree library; from orange groves to snow banks every month in the year; from steam plows on the plains, to mills and mines in the mountains; from gas engine irrigat- ing plants in the valleys to stupendous en- gineering enterprises among the peaks. Single counties bigger than some states, where you take a sleeper on a fast train at the county line at sundown, and reach the county seat only in time for breakfast next morning! Our fathers thought of California as the land of gold. It is rather the land of grain and alfalfa, the land of lumber, of salt, and of borax, the land of oil, the land of fruit, and fast becoming the land of rice and of cotton. Its vast extent has scattered its population; its topog- raphy has isolated it; its varied industries have diversified it; and necessities have made much of it keen-witted and intelli- gent. Why county free libraries in California? Climb into a county automobile with me and glimpse some of our opportunities and responsibilities. Here is the beautiful Capay valley, settled by intelligent, thought- ful, reading-loving English people, living thirty miles away from a library. Forget your native tongue now while we go to a Portuguese settlement up near the San Francisco Bay, where only a year ago an attorney said discouragingly: "No use to put a branch of the county free library down there. The people won't look at a book." But to-day they tell me that nearly all the children, and at least half the grown people are reading. From there we would go to one of our large counties where until a year ago, when the county free library was started, there was not one free library privilege within its confines, save the state travel- ing libraries of 50 volumes. There you would see at least eight thriving towns, almost cities, eager to be abreast with the procession of library supporting towns, yet diffident about undertaking the establish- ment of what has so often proved a medi- ocre institution. We pass farm colony after farm colony, growing up all over California with mushroom-like rapidity, desirous of having the best and most re- cent books on farming, but unable to buy them while meeting the heavy expendi- tures incident to the development of the new ranch. Has the gasoline given out? Then we will stop at one of the many oil leases. EDDY 139 where you will be surprised, not only at the oil, but at the high quality of intelli- gence of the people, and where you will find your technical and professional books in steady demand. You will meet educated mothers who welcome your books by say- ing, "We do not want our children to grow up in bookless homes," a condition other- wise forced upon them as their nomadic life from lease to lease eliminates books from the home equipment. One mother wrote to the county librarian, "There's nothing out here to look at but the stars. Can't you please send us a book about them?" We would then visit a construction camp up in the Sierra Nevada mountains sixty miles from a railroad. Graduates and post- graduates from every notable college in the Union will greet you there, and you discover that the need for books is unpre- cedented, both because of previous oppor- tunities which made books their portion in life, and because of present isolation, which makes books doubly welcome. When we have taken this trip and many others like unto it, and only then, are we in a position fairly to consider the subject of ("alifornia county free libraries. They have been a natural and inevitable out- growth of California conditions and de- velopment. While the work of the county libraries in Maryland, Ohio, Oregon and other states has offered a background, those methods could be applied to Cali- fornia onlji when modified to meet Cali- fornia conditions. Owing to the reversal of ways of thinking and doing things which the newcomer must make it he will succeed here, it seems impossible tor a stranger, or anyone who has not had op- portunity to study conditions, to realize the problems which are confronted here in California, in attempting to provide com- plete library service. The immense size of the counties, with their population so scat- tered as to require endless small com- munity centers for marketing; the break- ing up of ranches into smaller acreages, and the consequent establishing of hun- dreds of colonies; the springing up of numerous small towns; the superior qual- ity of readers in the oil leases, construc- tion camps and other places calling for professionally trained men, all these rea- sons and undoubtedly many others have shown the futility of attempting to secure a library service for all the people by the use of the two conventional and time- honored methods, the municipal library, and the traveling libraries. Even though every municipality in this state were to have its own established library, nine-tenths of them would be too poorly supported to maintain more than a third rate reading room. And then what about the thousands of people living beyond the municipal line? The municipal library could not possibly shed its bene- ficent beam far enough to lighten the country gloom. Clearly, then, the muni- cipal library does not solve the problem of complete library service. And even if there were a traveling library in every unincorporated community in the state, what could it avail for full library service, with its fifty miscellaneous books kept for three months? What would it mean, for instance, to the engineer who wishes to spend his spare time studying some of the books published since he left school? or to the ranchman who wants the latest books on alfalfa? or to the union high school located out at some country cross-roads? But even granted that state traveling libraries could furnish adequate service, the extravagance of transportation and duplication would be prohibitive. It is. however, too highly theoretical even to suppose such a service, for with the state library as a wholesale distributor of books through unlimited traveling libraries, the medium of connection between book and borrower would be too elusive, too filmy. To get the best results, there must be more concrete relations, a definite means of service through a more personal super- vision. That is, in a huge state like this, traveling libraries have proved to be a good whetstone to sharpen a library appetite, but scarcely a good meal with which to satisfy it. Instead of having the state library deal directly with the people, it is better to have much smaller units 140 PASADENA CONFERENCE as a base, presided over by a live, enthu- siastic person who Ijnows the people and who gives them direct personal service, leaving the state library to its more legiti- mate worit of supplementing and co- ordinating the smaller units. The state library is usually an abstraction in the minds of most people. The institution that is most concrete and is personified in the work of its librarian can secure most effective results. With a conviction, then, that California had its ov.n peculiar problem to work out; that it wished only to evolve a plan by which all the people of this state might receive library service; that half service is not business-like; and that a library has demonstrated its right to be con- ducted along sound business lines, — with this conviction, California set herself single-mindedly to the task of looking towards the best library interests of her people. What factors must be considered before the best results could be induced? What conditions were hampering the present attempts at library service? First, not a library could be found in the entire state which had sulTicient funds to promote all the plans for advancement which it could well be justified and ex- pected to undertake; clearly then it was the part of wisdom to seek means to secure more funds; second, the endless duplica- tion in schools and libraries of the first few thousand books in numerous small towns showed the need of co-ordination with a larger unit as the base; third, the small libraries with their pittance of In- come prohibit trained workers, and it was clear that If library service Is to be- come a science, professional supervision must be provided. And finally what unit would insure service to everybody? Only one answer to these propositions was in- evitable: The county. In California the county is the unit of civil government which corresponds to the township of many of the eastern states. The county high school here corresponds to the town- ship high schools around Chicago. The county, then, offered a logical unit, al- ready organized, and affording machinery for library development which make arti- ficial organizations unnecessary. Then, too, the county represents enough valua- tion to insure adequate financial aid; more- over, its size is great enough to justify trained supervision. It would also furnish opportunity for co-operation and co-ordina- tion, checking useless duplication, minim- izing wasted effort and useless expense. And finally, with every county in the state organized, it would give all the people a library service. Every reasoning, tlien, justified the adoption of the county as a library unit, and with this base, the first county free library law was passed in 1909, with these as its principal features: 1. The entire county was made the unit for library ser- vice. 2. Any municipality might withdraw If it did not wish to be a part of the sys- tem. 3. The county librarian, who was to be certificated, was given large power in carrying on the work. 4. A committee of the county board of supervisors consti- tuted the library board. 5. An alternative or contract plan could be entered into be- tween the supervisors and any library board, by which the library could in return for an appropriation of county money render library service to the entire county. Probably no upward pull has ever been attempted in any undertaking by any or- ganization in history, but what has had Its dltficulties, its setbacks and its obstacles. And the progress of coimty free library work In California has been no exception. Its difficulties came from two widely dif- ferent sources: objections on the part of some library people, and defects In the law itself. The objections from the library side were that the county as a whole was made the unit, from which the munici- pality not wishing to be Included must withdraw; and even when withdrawn Its position was deemed to be Insecure, since the city trustees could cause It to be In- cluded by their own vote. The other ob- jection by some libraries was to the con- trol by the supervisors. As for the form of the law. It was fatally defective in the conflict between two sec- tions. The original plan had been to put 141 the county free libraries into operation through petitions, just as in the law pro- viding for the establishment of municipal libraries. But during the passage of the bill through the legislature, amendments were inserted requiring an election. The sections providing tor this did not accord, however, and so rendered the law inoper- ative, except in the section providing for a contract between the county and a city library. Notwithstanding the objections made to the content of the law from the libraries, and notwithstanding its inherent defects from the legal side, it was a matter of deep significance, and most encouraging to those whose hearts were alive to the hope of improving library service, that the work of organizing and developing the counties went forward with an impetus that nothing could stop. The eagerness of the people for the adoption of the plan was instantaneous, for they saw possibil- ities for library privileges such as they had not before dreamed of. The plan appealed to them as comprehensive, logical, economical, and business-lilie, designed to get what the business world is seelviug more and more these days — results. Eleven counties in quick succes- sion adopted the contract plan, making in all twelve counties in the state, which are now giving county free library service, for Sacramento county had pioneered the work even before the formal passage of the law. The mere mention of the Sacramento county free library is the touchstone to awaken the happiest and fullest feelings of reminiscence. I am glad that my first connection with the work was from the people's side of it; that my first impression, and the indelible one, of the true purpose of the county free library is service and always service, that every means to bring this about must always be a means, and only a means, and never magnified in its importance to endanger or overshadow the end. We never want to be in the embar- rassing position of the traveler who could not see the woods for the trees. Nor do we want to be like the business firm that had just adopted a new but complicated system of administration. On being asked how it was working out, the manager rubbed his hands in satisfaction and said, "Fine! just fine! We know to a cent about every department." "How's busi- ness?" the first man asked. The man- ager looked rather blank and then said, "Business? Wliy, we've been so busy getting the system to work that we haven't done any business." The teacher thinks because the class room order is good that the school is a success. Li- braries and librarians, like all other pro- fessions, are apt to confuse the issue, to mistake the means tor the end. In a big issue like this, the library is liable to entangle itself in meshes of confusion, mistaking the mechanics of organization for the single-hearted purpose — which is service. So I reiterate, that I am glad my first idea came from the people's end of It. I shall all my life be proud of that branch, acquaintance with the county free libran- number 1, which we had in our country high school. The library had the goods. We wanted the goods. The county free library established the connection. That was the whole story, a very simple one. If any of you have ever faced the problem of making bricks without straw, you can appreciate what it means to trv to make a first class high school without the labora- tory service that a library affords. But we got the service that year. Think of one country high school having over $2,000 worth of books put on its shelves for use as it needed them throughout the year! Is it any wonder that high schools all over the state, as they hear of this beautiful new plan, are eager for it! Is it any wonder that as the work of in- formation and organization has been carried on, people in the county make every effort in their power to help toward success. One high school principal said, "We'll go on our hands and knees to the county officials." Others said, "We'll snow them under with petitions." This method has been necessary in only one county, however, for usually the county super- 142 PASADENA CONFERENCE visors are as keen to see that the adop- tion of the plan will bring satisfaction to their people, as the people are eager to see it adopted. The time so far actually spent in the starting of county free libraries has been ten months. One ultra con- servative county required the combined efforts of two organizers for a month. No particular opposition existed, but merely a desire on the part of the offlcials to be thoroughly informed that the people wanted the library. The very next county required only four days, and resulted in an appropriation of $5,200. Another county bade fair to take up the plan with only a three days' canvass; the super- visors were ready to, but an unexpected legal question caused the final action to be postponed two weeks. The ultimate appropriation of $12,000 made the two weeks seem trivial. Still another county voted $10,000 after only a week's mission- ary work. They tell me that organizing work is easier here than in most states. I do not know, as my experience is limited. We have met temporary difficulties here in various ways. Sometimes the plea is that the county first needs good roads; some- times the bridges have all been washed out by last winter's rain; once the county superintendent of schools wanted us to waft till the county had voted bonds for a new high school. But opposition is never met from the general public, for they want the library service; and only one board of supervisors was completely in- different, but you will agree with me that the circumstances were extenuating; they really were not to be held responsible for their strange actions; they were in the throes of a hotly contested primary elec- tion, a condition which being undergone for the first time in our state produced symptoms of incipient insanity. The work of organization under the contract plan continued till it seemed wise not to carry it any farther, but wait for the new law, which was inevitable both because of the defects in the first one and the objections to it. The utmost care was taken to eliminate completely these two difficulties, by continued con- ferences and submitting the proposed bill to library folk who had found reason to complain; and by having the bill com- pletely constitutionalized by expert law- yers and approved from the attorney- general's office. Only expressions of satisfaction and congratulation have come from all sources over the result of these efforts, and there now stands as a conse- quence upon the statute books of California a county free library law which we are confident will prove to be all that every one hopes for — a medium of library ser- vice to all who wish. I do not mean by that, that we consider it final. We are seelving only results. If this plan does not give them the desired results, or if a better one appears, we shall greet the new, and lay aside the old, with the same open mindedness that now in- fuses itself into the present conduct of the work. We believe, however, that the new law offers an elastic medium to meet our present needs. It contains seventeen sections, and attempts to cover whatever points may be logically a part of the county free library's policy. It differs from the former law, which it repeals, in a half dozen or more vital features. First of all, the establishment of the county free library is left entirely permissive with the board of supervisors, no petition or election being called for, as it had been i)roved conclusively by the work of organization that boards of super- visors will, if they think best for the county, take up the work on their own initiative. A provision for a notice to be published three times before establish- ment gives sufficient publicity to the con- templated action. The second main point of difference is that while the former law included the entire county as a unit, with provisions for a municipality to stay out, the present law turns the whole plan dia- metrically around, making the unit to start with only that portion of the county not receiving public library service. If a town has no library, it is included; if it has a library, it is automatically excluded. Two plans are provided however, by 143 which a town thus left out may if it wishes enter the system. It may by action of its board of city trustees become an in- tegral part in event of which, notices of intention must be published, and the town is taxed as a part of the system; or it may contract with the county free library for any or complete service, in which event the town is not taxed, but it pays whatever sum is agreed upon by the contract. Under either plan a town may withdraw from the system. Counties may also contract with each other for joint service — a plan which will undoubtedly work out with advantage and economy, as in cases of a small and a large county close together, or two com- paratively small counties, or an inter- change of service along the dividing line, or for particular service of various kinds such as the use of a special collection ot books. The new law also provides for a board of library examiners, made up of three members, the state librarian, the libra- rian of the San Francisco public library, and the librarian of the. Los Angeles public library. This boai'd will issue certificates to any desiring to become county libraiians, whom they consider capable of filling the position. It is per- haps unnecessary to explain this provision of the law, as its wholesome intent is clearly manifest. It forestalls the appoint- ment of any but those qualified for the position, and thus insures the carrying on of the county work along efficient and professional lines. The suggestion has been made by the board of library exam- iners to prospective candidates that they spend a short time at the state library, since it is the clearing house, so to speak, for records and for information of the county free libraries already started, which will pi-ove helpful to those coming new into the work; on the same general principle that progressive teachers gather as often as possible for the summer ses- sion at the University, which in turn be- comes a clearing house of good ideas for the schools all over the state. The power to make rules for general supervision over the county free libraries is vested in the board of supervisors, an arrangement necessary to insure the library sufficient attention from those who fix the income; but maximum power is given to the county librarian, who determines what books and other library equipment shall be purchased, recommends where branches are to be established, the per- sons to be employed, and approves all bills against the county free library fund. Salaries are fixed according to the class of the county, and range from $2,400 to $500. The state librarian is authorized to co- operate with the counties, by sending a representative to visit them, and by call- ing an annual meeting of county librarians, just as the state superintendent of public instruction convenes the county superin- tendents of schools. An annual report Is required to be sent to the state library, just as at present municipal libraries send one. A tax ot not more than one mill on the dollar can be levied for the county free library on that part of the county receiving service from it, and the county is authorized to issue bonds for any part of its support. County law libraries, county teachers' libraries, and school libraries may be made a part of the county free library. The law also includes the con- tract section from the former law, in case any county should prefer that plan. Such are the salient features of the new law. It became operative less than a month ago, but already two counties have taken the first step in establishment. The growth is bound to be rapid, as has been evidenced by the enthusiastic but sober, serious way the work has so far been taken up. In the short time that county free libraries have been in opera- tion, over $70,000 has been appropriated by the different counties, 114 branches have been established, and over 12,000 people are reading county books. Com- pare that support with the $7,000 that the state library was able to spend this last year on traveling libraries! At the end of seven months one county librarian sent in the triumphant note that her card- 144 PASADENA CONFERENCE holders topped the thousand mark. An- other reported a circulation of over 37,000 for the first year. The work is already spreading itself into every branch of activity and industry. School libraries are being co-ordinated with the county work, women's clubs have their special study books, some fruit-packing houses have been made branches, a collection of books has been put into a jail, another at the agricultural farm, county teachers' libraries have in two instances been turned over to the county free library, and home libraries are being sent out in some counties. This is the merest beginning. It fur- nishes, however, some basis for prophecy; too often there Is too much talk, too little done, and California does not covet such a stigma; but in the light of what has already been accomplished I look forward to the time when our ideal shall have been realized; when the annual appropri- ations for library work by the counties shall aggregate half a million dollars; when in each of the 58 counties of this state there shall be a library centre with branches reaching out to every com- munity needing them; when in every county seat there shall be a servant — trained, indeed, in the technique of library work — but beyond this and above it and first of all, fired with the inspiration of a mighty ambition to make his library a living, pulsing power to broaden and deep- en and sweeten the whole life of his county; when in every little community there shall be a branch custodian, set on fire by the county leader, with vision wide enough to see that care of the branch li- brary is a minor incident — that to know all the people and their needs, to quicken the desire to read, to direct that desire when awakened, and to furnish the books for the satisfaction of the desire — that this is the real work. I love to dream of the time when library organi- zation and equipment and service shall be so complete and efficient that every resi- dent of this coast state, whether in the con- gestion of the cities, or the solitude of the farm distant on the mountain side shall have not only the opportunity, but the persuasion to read wisely and well. This was the vision seen by those who launched the plan. This is the daydream that has quickened the zeal and strength- ened the arms of those who have made the beginnings. In the gleam of this vision, under the inspiration of this dream, have we not the right to hope that the work will continue till our ideal shall become real, and the people shall enter into their true heritage of a home university. The CHAIRMAN: "We have time for a very brief discussion of the library sys- tems in other states. Miss MARY F. ISOM, of Portland, will give us a little dis- cussion on COUNTY LIBRARIES IN OREGON Library development is still in its be- ginning in the state of Oregon. The Port- land library has been a public institution only nine years, and for four or five years enjoyed the distinction, joyfully given up, however, of being the only public library in the state. It has been a county library for seven years. Consequently, with li- brary work slowly a-building and fairly well centralized, we do not meet the com- plications existing in California and other older and more fully developed states, and ii has been an easy matter to prepare and adopt a law simple in itself, but covering existing conditions and providing for future growth and extension. The Oregon library law as first enacted authorized any county containing a popu- lation of 50,000 or more to take advantage of its provisions, and limited the special tax for library purposes to 1-5 of a mill. This was passed primarily for the benefit of Multnomah County, the only county in the state whose population exceeded or equaled 50,000, and to enable the Portland library to extend its activities through the county, which it was exceedingly anxious to do. The Portland library was so eager for this privilege that an emergency clause was added and the bill became a law at once. The Library Association of Portland 145 is a private corporation. A contract was made with the county court similar to the one already existing between the city and the Library Association. Under these two contracts the county library was organized. Its work may now be summarized as fol- lows: The central library containing the ad- ministration offices and the usual depart- ments, reference, children's, circulating, etc.; four branches in the city with daily delivery from the central library; 406 class- room libraries in the city schools; traveling libraries in the engine houses and in the club houses of the street railroad men; then, through the suburbs of the city, where the population does not justify the main- taining of a branch, and in several of the small towns of the county, there are read- ing rooms, each open five hours a day, afternoon and evening, and containing a deposit for circulation of from 500 to 1,000 volumes. These have weekly deliveries from the central library. One of these reading rooms is a reference library of agricultural books and periodicals, with perhaps 75 volumes of general reading for circulation. In the country districts there are 16 de- posit stations of from 50 to 100 volumes each placed in the post-office, the general store, the hospitable farmhouse, the grange nail, occasionally the school house, in one instance in a barber shop, and in another in a church. These are practically traveling libraries, but a shifting collection and un- der elastic rules, for the interested custo- dian often brings in an armful of books for exchange to freshen up his collection, as he comes into town on his weekly or monthly errands. These deposit stations consist of adult books entirely. The juvenile libra- ries are placed in the country schools. There were over 60 of these libraries sent out last fall and placed in 89 class rooms. Does a county library pay? In the last ten years Multnomah County gained 119 per cent in population. In six years the circulation of the library increased 212 per cent. To meet the changing conditions, at the session of the Oregon legislature last win- ter, the county law was amended, removing the clause specifying the amount of popu- lation, and increasing the library tax to 1-2 a mill, so that now any county in Ore- gon can avail itself of this law. The sec- tion specifies that the tax shall be assessed, levied and collected in the same manner as other taxes for county purposes, the pro- ceeds to be known as the "library fund" to be expended solely for the purpose of es- tablishing and maintaining, or the assist- ing in the establishment and maintenance of a public library within the county. The second section of the law provides that the county court for any county which has levied this special tax may use the li- brary fund to establish, equip, maintain and operate at the county seat of the coun- ty, a public library, including branch libra- ries, reading rooms, lectures and museums and may do any and all things necessary or desirable to carry out this purpose. A clause follows which permits the county to contract for public library service with any corporation maintaining a public library at the county seat. This of course is equally applicable to a city library or to a private corporation giving public service, as is the case with the Library Association of Port- land. The third and fourth sections cover the usual provisions that no money can be expended except upon warrant drawn by the order of the county court and that every library so maintained by the county library fund must be entirely free to the inhabitants of the county, subject to such rules and regulations as are prescribed by the county court or the management of the library were not amended. These bills be- came laws on Thursday, the 18th of May, and Wasco County has already signified its intention of establishing a county li- brary and Hood River County is consider- ing the matter. The Library Association of Portland will henceforth enter into con- tract with the county alone, as the % mill tax will provide sufficient maintenance. In order to provide tor the housing of libra- ries under this act, a county library build- ing law was adopted. The first section of this law permits any county of the state 146 PASADENA CONFERENCE containing a population of 50,000 inhabi- tants or more, to assess, levy and collect in the usual manner a special tax not to exceed 1% mills on a dollar for the purpose of erecting a public library building. The Library Association of Portland is imme- diately taking advantage of this new law, and has plans under consideration for the much needed new building. The second section provides that this tax may be di- vided and may be assessed, levied and col- lected in not more than two successive years, but it shall never aggregate more than the 1% mills. The third section pro- vides that this tax shall be used solely for the erection of a public library building at the county seat upon a site approved by the county and conveyed to the county by any person, firm or corporation. The county court is also authorized to contract for the use and occupation of this building with any corporation maintaining and oper- ating a public library at the county seat. This contract may be upon such terms and conditions and extend for such a period as may seem advisable to the county court, but in the contract it is provided that the plans for the county library building are to be in accordance with the plans prepared by architects to be selected and under the control of the management of the library, subject to the approval of the county court. A fourth section reiterates the command that the library shall be free to all the in- habitants of the county. In addition to the amended county library law and the new law relating to county library buildings, the Oregon legislature also passed a bill concerning farm libraries. This bill was introduced by a legislator who quoted J. .1. Hill that "every farmer should have a library of agricultural books." This law provides that the county commissioners may appropritate $200 of the general fund of the county for the pur- pose of establishing farm libraries. The value of the Oregon law, it seems to me, is its extreme simplicity. No new elements are Introduced; no new boards are estab- lished. The contracts are made with the county court which consists of the county judge and two commissioners. This is the governing body of the county with whom all contracts are made. The power, the re- sponsibility, are left where they should be, with the librarian and directors of each county library. The CHAIRMAN; We will have a very brief presentation of an older library sys- tem, by Miss CORINNE A. METZ, of the Brumback library. Van Wert County, Ohio. AN OHIO COUNTY LIBRARY The Hrumback library of Van Wert County, Ohio, is the result of the liber- ality of a former citizen of Van Wert, John Sanford Brumback, who in his will directed that a sufficient sum from his estate be expended in the erection of a library building, on condition that the county equip and maintain it. The con- ditions of the will were accepted by the County t^ommissioners, who entered into a contract with the heirs of Mr. Brumback to name the library in his honor and for- ever maintain it by levying a tax on all taxable property of the county for its sup- port. In 1899 there was no county library to accept as a model, no county librarians with whom to compare notes, so the li- brary of Van Wert County has gradually worked out its own county library system. The library is situated in the county seat, Van Wert, a city of 8,000 inhabitants and the center of a prosperous agricultural district, the only town of considerable size in the county, with the exception of Del- phos, a city of 5,000 situated partly in Van Wert County and partly in an adjoin- ing county. There are, in addition to Del- phos, five towns with a population of 500 or over and each of these we have utilized as a distributing center. In addition we have selected other points of vantage, often the village jiost-offlce or the cross-roads store, from which the surrounding country can be served. Fixed collections of books are sent from the central library, accord- ing to a regular schedule, so that the sta- tions receive four times a year new col- lections of 125 books. Extra collections varying from 50 to 100 volumes are sent 147 to the stations requesting these and we urge the caretakers of the stations to send us titles of all books requested by their patrons. The branch librarians, as we call them, in most cases the postmaster, clerk or owner of the store, receive $50 a year for their services, in return for which we require of them monthly reports of circu- lation, careful attention to the packing and return of the boxes, and as much interest in the work as we are able to get, some- times not a very large amount. Our school collection, though a separate department, continues the work of rural extension, since we loan to any teacher of the country schools, collections of books for school room use, to be changed as often or as seldom as the individual teacher wishes to make the exchange. Our greatest development during the past year has been in this department, due partly, I think, to the fact that there are in several town- ships of the county school supervisors, whose co-operation we have been able to secure, and partly because we have this year placed a trained assistant in charge of the work, her duty being to aid the teachers in their selection of books, make up collections when these are called for, and compile lists of books for given grades. I have also attended a number of teachers' meetings and township institutes, some- times merely calling attention to the school collection, but more often talking about books themselves. We find that the teach- ers need not so much to have their interest awakened as to have their knowledge of children's books increased. We have no settled plan of distribution, but consider each case an individual one, even though extra time is consumed in doing so. In one town of SOO, the superintendent of the town schools is also superintendent of the township schools and we have sent to him a collection sufficiently large to supply each of the seven teachers under his direction. The teachers go to him to make their selection and when one collection is used up, he is promptly supplied with another. In another township the school supervisor in his visits of inspection, changes from one school to another the seventeen fixed collections sent out from the library. Both plans work admirably and the rivalry re- sulting further stimulates the work. We keep no separate record of town and country borrowers, since the library exists impartially for all, and we have placed the emphasis on the personal side of the work rather than on the compilation of statistics. During the past year, I have vis- ited each of the fifteen branch stations at least once and many of them several times, but in the future I hope to make a round of the stations at least three times a year. Last year we held a meeting of the branch librarians at the central library and although the attendance was small, we considered it worth while. We shall make it an annual event and shall also have, this year, a teachers' day, when the coun- ty teachers will be made welcome and an unobtrusive effort made to interest them in the school collection. With the impetus recently given in Ohio to the teaching of agriculture in the country schools, we shall be enabled to reach many teachers and individuals who have thus far been skeptical of the practical help to bo gained from the library. We are also gradually accumulating a comprehensive agricultural reference collection which we hope in time to make effective. With a state institute speaker on our library board we are able to keep in close touch with the granges and farmers' institutes and have secured from him invaluable aid in the selection of agricultural books. County fair is in Van Wert County an event looked forward to from one year to the next and we have utilized this opportunity to ex- ploit the library. We have had, at various times, exhibits of bulletins and lists, model children's collections, recent books on ag- riculture, etc. The direct results are not always easy to see but our endeavor is to relate the library to every activity of the county. In a sense I believe that the rural prob- lem is bigger than the city problem. As Liberty Hyde Bailey puts it: "We must do constructive work. We must inspire the reading habit, direct it and then satisfy it." Because of this we must, I think, devote 148 PASADENA CONFERENCE much of our time and energy to activities •wlilch have always seemed to me to lie rather outside of library work, the for- mation of clubs and debating societies, lectures and institute work, and story tell- ing in the country schools. The average man or woman dwelling In an agricultural community is both busy and independent and unless v.e can persuade him that what we have to offer is what he needs or wants we can accomplish little. Nor can we ap- proach the problem with any feeling of condescension or patronage. The idea that I occasionally find existing in the minds of librarians and trustees, that the people of rural communities will hasten to take advantage of an opportunity they have so long been deprived of, seems to me to be wholly without foundation. As a matter of fact, they are slow to seek of their own accord what they have for so long been able to do without. Tact and a knowl- edge of local conditions are necessary tools, together with a rigorous application of the golden rule. The advantages of the county as the unit have been too well brought out in the earlier discussions of the subject to re- quire repetition,— the disadvantages, as I know conditions in my own county, I have been unable to find. The CHAIRMAN: The next paper is by Mr. FRANKLIN F. HOPPER, librarian of the Tacoma public library on THE BASIS OF SUPPORT OF ORGAN- IZATIONS FOR PUBLIC LIBRARY WORK Taxation, a fundamental necessity for the maintenance of civilization, must in some form provide the chief means of sup- port of public libraries. In spite of the universal aversion to paying taxes, there is no one act which can be performed by a community, which brings in so large return to the credit of general happiness, as the judicious expenditure, for public purposes, of a fair percentage of general wealth raised by an equitable system of taxation. At the same time, consider the multitude of services and the tremendous demands for expenditure which are being forced upon local government by modern urban life. In a paper In the Atlantic Monthly for April, Ex-mayor McClellan stated that the gross municipal expenditure Is increas- ing at the rate of S.OS per cent per annum, which If continued will double in eleven years, and that the per capita cost is in- creasing at the rate of three per cent per annum, which, if maintained, will double in 33 years. He says that: "Even under normal conditions, if the present rate of increase In the cost of municipal government continues, the tax on city real estate must ultimately equal its rental value. Of course, the moment that this occurs taxation has become con- fiscation, and the dearest wish of the pure socialist has been realized. The only alter- native is retrenchment; retrenchment so merciless as to be beyond practical consid- eration until the pendulum of public opin- ion, having reached its collectivist limit, begins to swing in the opposite direction. Time alone can show whether we are on the eve of an Individualistic reaction or whether the present collectivist tendency is destined to grow stronger and more widespread until it commits us to a policy of governmental activity hitherto un- dreamed of. and only possible of realiza- tion through repudiation of public debt and the confiscation of private property." We must be awake to the tendency of the times, watchful that In the rapid social Hud economic changes the library is strengthened in Its position In our civic life. There Is nothing to fear for the li- brary in a possibly ultimate socialistic society or in a city supported by single tax, but we must be on our guard. It is time y/e studied more carefully taxation In relation to libraries, the principles which underlie their support, discover their present status in municipal activi- ties, and be prepared for the future. Four chief considerations are naturally suggested by the topic, "The bai-ls of li- brary support," first, the reasons for asking for support by taxation; second, methods of effectively presenting budgets to appro- priating bodies; third, principles which HOPPER 149 govern the amount of budgets; and, fourth, means by which libraries may secure con- tinuously progressive support in propor- tion to advance in efficiency and work ac- complished. The reasons why libraries are fully jus- tified in asking and expecting adequate support from their public, whether state, county or municipal, have been so often fully discussed in meetings of librarians that there is no need for me to dwell upon them here. Ample support of free public education needs no argument, and it is simple repetition to mention the solid basis on which libraries rest in that re- spect. It does remain our duty fully and finally to conrincc our citizens of our complete justification. Our position will never be without danger until fieri/ one in the community takes for granted the value of the public library, and the first impor- tance of its support as he does the public schools. Certainly such is not yet the fact, and we librarians are to blame. The so-called "leading classes," the large tax payers, are as yet merely tolerant, if even cognizant of the existence of the public library. We must prove to them the im- portant factor which the library is In pub- lic education, the elevating and enriching influence which it should have on the char- acter of the people, the economy which it is In the ownership and use of books, the increased value which it undoubtedly gives to property, the reduction which Its existence probably causes in taxes neces- sary for the care of crime, the slight per capita cost, the value the business and trades of the city may derive from the effi- ciently administered public library. The work which the library commissions are doing for the people in small towns, in remote communities, for granges and rural debating clubs, Is of the first importance in spreading broadcast the conviction of the library's value and necessity. The presentation of budgets to most city councils or state legislatures is one of the things which make us librarians gray before our time. Fortunate is the libra- rian whose board of trustees, presumably a sympathetic body, has the power to levy the library tax. Most of us must each year ask either for a lump sum or a per- centage of the tax levy from the general appropriating body. Difficult as may be the task, I believe the publicity and the struggle work together for the good of the library. If our appropriating bodies are made up of the strong business-like men they ought to be, they will rightly demand full justification for the increased appro- priations we are certain to ask. It is to be feared that few library budgets would stand analysis from the point of view of an experienced financial man. Our esti- mates for expenditure, for administration and books need more careful preparation. First, we must demonstrate that the li- brary is efficiently serving the community in strict proportion to its resources. We are judged not by our promises to do, but by what we have done. The more efficient a city administration is, the more explicit must be our facts. We must show exactly what we have done with the money we have already had, and we must be able to demonstrate by comparison with other li- braries of known efficiency in the same section of the country that the proportion of money spent for salaries, books, etc., is right. We must show that the cost per capita is attended by corresponding use per capita. I find that the Idea of trained, ex- pert people at the head of library depart- ments appeals to business men. They know the value of efficiency, but we ought to be able to prove that our experts keep down costs and increase use; that the li- brary receives proper return for the larger salaries paid. We should be able to show what it costs to run the different depart- ments in our libraries. For instance, what are the costs for preparing books for cir- culation. How many of us know just what we pay for ordering, cataloging and shelf- listing our books? Most of us do not care to know, for we realize we should be ashamed of the facts. We may never be asked for these figures by our legislatures and our city councils, but we should all of us be able to compare the cost of these phases of our work with those of other li- braries. How else are we to know If we 150 PASADENA CONFERENCE are getting due return for the money spent and at what points the outlay shows the best returns? But no one of us Is able to make any such comparison, because our bookkeeping is so bad and because we do not want to make it any better. Professor Goodnow says, "perhaps no re- form in municipal financial administration is so desirable as the general adoption of some effective form of uniform accounting, which shall be so framed as to make it possible to determine whether the adminis- tration of a given city is efficient." Can anyone doubt that the shoe fits the libra- ries? At the Narragansett Pier Confer- ence, the Committee on library administra- tion submitted an admirably simple form for an annual report, designed specially for the reports from libraries to state commis- sions. We have proved the value of this form and particularly of its classification of expenditures, but surely the time has come when the American library associa- tion needs to adopt and recommend to all libraries a more detailed form for expendi- tures and for circulation statistics, per- haps two forms, one for the larger and one for the smaller libraries. We have stan- dardized our catalogs, our charging sys- tems, our mechanical contrivances, our assistants, and our own qualifications until we are all so standard we bore one an- other; but two things which need stan- dardizing as much as any, we have pretty completely overlooked. May we not rea- sonably hope that some committee of the association, perhaps working with an ex- pert accountant familiar with our require- ments, will devise a scheme of accounts which will help us to know where we are extravagant and where stingy, to compare our own costs with those of our neigh- bors. We are neither businesslike nor sensible until we keep our books in such a way that comparisons can easily be made. The suggestion of the secretary of the A. L. A. In the last number of the Bul- letin for reporting and tabulating various library statistics is admirable. As to cir- culation statistics, a word later. In considering our library expenditures, it may be of some profit to study the re- cently issued fifth bulletin of the Carnegie Foundation for the advancement of teach- ing, giving results of investigations into what the author considers the extravagant and unsystematic administration of our colleges. Prof. Bushnell's acute criticism in the Atlantic of the standards and argu- ments presented in the bulletin is perhaps equally illuminating. Certainly the "stu- dent-per-foot-per-hour" or the "circulatlon- per-diem-per-dollar" standards are not the only measures of college or library effi- ciency. To return to the presentation of budg- ets: The average city official will do what he believes to be his duty by the library, but the demands for appropriations for many municipal enterprises are insistent, and we must never for an instant let him foryct his duty to the library. Of great value are tables and diagrams of increas- es in number of volumes and circulation, percentages of increase in appropriations for the different city departments, in pop- ulation, in valuation of property; such tables as we find in the last report of the Seattle public library. It pays to keep councilmen interested throughout the year, not only at the time for appropriations. Much depends on the personal relations between librarians and councilmen, even more, I think, than between board and councilmen. Influential men of the city, who have no official connection with the library, should see the councilmen in its behalf. Appro- priating bodies take it for granted that boards of trustees and librarians are inter- ested to" the point of bias, but it is another story to have leading business men talk library to them. Personally I believe that women's suffrage is a tower of strength for a library. There is no force so potent for civic betterment as the women's clubs as they are conducted on the Pacific coast. They Interest themselves actively in the best things, and I know from experience the wonderful work they can and will do for library efficiency. Powerful as were the women's clubs before women were en- franchised, they are to-day, in the state of Washington at least, holding the balance 151 of the power. May I also say that I per- sonally believe the presence of women on library boards is of great importance, par- ticularly where women's suffrage exists. The increased ease with which appropria- tions are secured from city councils when women members of the board appear be- fore them is a sidelight worth notice. All over the country the Socialist party is gaining strength. Socialists stand for lib- eral appropriations to public institutions, good salaries and efficient administration. Remember that they will work for us if we prove to them our cause is just. The principles which govern the amount of money libraries are justified in expect- ing for their maintenance have received little systematic investigation. My brief study and tentative conclusions I venture to consider merely an introduction to the subject. Given two cities, each having 100,000 inhabitants, other things being equal, a public library in one city should do as much worlc and be of as much service as the other. It should be possible to meas- ure in terms of use the normal efficiency of either library. It is safe to say that our first factor in determining the extent of work is population. But one city is prosperous, progressive, the other is not; one has a high property valuation, the other is poor. The former city can conse- quently afford to spend more for its public library. The library in the latter city will as nearly as possible approximate the ser- vice and use of that in the former city, and it can serve only in proportion as the means for service are provided. The sec- ond factor in determining our budgets is the amount of taxable property in the city and the income it will produce. Under present conditions, one ought also to take into consideration city income from li- censes, police court fines, etc. Single tax would remedy this complexity. These then are the two cliief factors in our budgets, first, population and library service per capita; and, second, property values. But other factors everywhere must be consid- ered; as the location of the city, the char- acter of the population (as in the South the use per capita will be reduced by the non-reading negro population), the density of population, affecting the number of branch buildings (which inevitably in- crease per capita cost), the special and endowed libraries which tend to reduce per capita use and also per capita cost, the plans of our library buildings, making great differences in the cost of adminis- tration. You say we cannot all fully con- sider all these factors; we take what we can get. Yes, but that is neither science nor business. Perhaps if we subject our budgets to scientific and business tests, what we get will more approximate our needs. Someone may say, "All these fac- tors of character of population, character of buildings and so on, completely alter my special problems." Do they alter the problem more than they do that of the pub- lic schools? The basis of support for the public school systems varies in almost as many ways as there are states, but school authorities have given the subject careful thought, and the foundation principles which they seem to be actually accepting are illustrated by the practice of some of the most advanced states. There seems to be a double basis for maintenance (buildings are a separate consideration). First, a per capita basis; that is the num- ber of children of school age in the state. A state tax is levied to produce say $10 per child. That gives a distinct and equitable foundation for every district of the com- monwealth. But the character of the coun- ties varies, so the county commissioners are instructed by law to levy a county tax which will produce up to a certain amount for each child of school age, say again |10. These two levies will produce in the max- imum, say $20. There is another basis in which one takes into consideration prima- rily property values and such other local factors as were referred to above. Local school boards decide how much the local property can stand for school purposes In addition to the two tax levies already men- tioned; just what are the local characteris- tics which cause the problem to vary; and they then make whatever additional levy is necessary to meet the needs. You will 152 PASADENA CONFERENCE observe that the law in so tar as it applies to the state and county tax provides an au- tomatic increase in the total income in pro- portion to the increase in the number of children of school age. The office and travelling expenses of the state boards of education are provided by direct appro- priations by the legislature. Now, it seems to me the conclusions of those states which have either adopted or are working toward the plan just outlined are sugges- tive as a basis of support for libraries. The population which the public schools consider is the number of children of school age; the population which libra- rians have to consider is the total popu- lation. The schools do not reach all their population; and certainly the libraries do not reach nearly as large a percentage of theirs, but the difference is not in kind, but one of degree only, and that difference will gradually disappear as our libraries grow in efficiency. The organization to- wards which the public libraries in many of the states are tending seems to be roughly about as follows: (j) A strong central library system con- sisting of commission and state library, supplying the rural districts, district schools and the small towns with library facilities, organizing new libraries, and in addition acting as the central library store- house on the lines of the New York State library whose collection was so recently destroyed. (2) A county library system, sui)plying the needs of every nook and corner of the counties. To support this dual system, a state tax might be levied, which would produce a certain sum for the service the commission should render to every inhabi- tant not served by the county libraries, and in case an efficient county organiza- tion exists, making it unnecessary for the commission to act, the amount raised for state tax for such a county could be paid over to the proper county library board. It should be possible to find a unit of per capita cost varying of course in different states in proportion to property valua- tion and other factors. Such a cost unit once discovered could be embodied in state law and the revenue would accord- ingly increase with the increase in popu- lation to be served. In this way a certain minimum amount would come automati- cally to every public library organization in the state, directly proportional to the population to be served. In addition each county should be empowered to levy a tax for libraries which would produce enough to meet estimated expenses. The millage of the state tax would vary with the num- ber of people to be served; the millage of the county tax would either remain the same from year to year, thus producing ad- ditional revenue as the county property valuations increase, or it would vary be- tween certain maximum and minimum lim- its, the degree of variation to be decided by the appropriating bodies. So we would have a dual basis of support, one a definite minimum income for the service of each person whom it is our duty to serve, and the other the additional income increasing or diminishing with property valuations. Under the present conditions it is possible for a municipal library partially to adopt some such method by determining what a fair cost per capita would be, taking into consideration local conditions and com- parison with other libraries. Once having determined such cost per capita, it is easy to find what millage of the tax levy would produce the total amount. Even if such millage is not prescribed by state law or city charter, it is not difficult to accus- tom an appropriating body to consider a certain rate of tax on property as the proper amount to appropriate each year. Until the relationship between state com- missions and state libraries becomes what it Is eventually likely to become, one or- ganization working for all the people of the state, it will be difficult to work out a proper basis of support for these state institutions, but as the organization is gradually perfected, it seems that it will become more and more easy to determine Lie proper method of their support by some form of combination of the per cap- ita and the property valuation bases. A corporation determines each year the degree of its success or failure by the re- II. STATISTICS FROM City 6 3 a, .26 >>. li < ■o 1 < a > £2 a Id §2 pi o -a £<:h2 Brookline, Mass 27.792 32,811 78,466 73,409 66,525 31,433 89,336 66.950 77.403 88,926 83.743 $25,000,000 00 41,385.224.00 57,408.430.00 25.254,803.00 20,000.000.00 72.648.640.00 20.548.876.00 37.743.520.00 119.081.778.00 69.939,177.00 100% 33 M% 100% 40% 100% 100% 33!.^% 60% 100% 60% $25,000,000.00 124,155,672.00 57.408,430.00 63,137,000.00 20.000,000.00 72.648.640.00 61,646,628.00 62,958.600.00 119.081.778.00 116.565.295.00 123,500. 00(?) 10,916.92 14,652.31 17,335.00 15.050.00 10,000.00 16,000,00 17,664.44 21.000.00 46,012.04 26,425.76 Fines etc. not re] $1,720.12 Duluth. Minn ... . Elizabeth, N.J 4,501.32 1,831.91 Peoria, III 3,449.00 1 . STATISTICS OF CITIES HAVING A POPULATION OF MORE THAN 100,000 City. 6 1 § a, Is ■3" > >. II •< •0 i 1 £ a. > |8 a £ So §2 u an Hi ■"38 th a "0.6 2SS III gl 111 Pl Rate of Levy in Mills in 1910. Based on Valuation of 100%. Rate of Levy in Mills Based on Valuation of 100%. Which would produce Total Income from All Sources. Eicept En- dowments. 1910. .2h ^£ ifi ■p. "is ii si ii ||2 i .1 bO ji Albany^N.Y^. 100.253 132,283 164,839 558,485 132,685 670.585 102.054 1,634,351 423,715 104,839 2,185,283 364,463 560.663 181,548 116,577 213.381 465,766 119,295 112,571 233,650 267,779 248.381 319,198 223,928 106,294 131,105 373,857 301,408 110,364 133.605 339.076 2,848.491 . The Bron 347,469 150,174 124.098 125.600 1,649.008 401,622 207,214 1 224,326 284,041 127.628 218,149 687,029 214.744 416,912 129,867 237.194 104,402 137,249 168,497 331,069 145,986 JIOO.000.000 00 (approximate) [nsulEcient report. Unusual part of inco New library. No 1,393,765,423,00 No report. 1,463,368,346.00 307.300.585.00 No report. 848.994.538.00 306.973,240.00 (Hamilton County) 274,970,605 . 00 No report. 62.631,280.00 132.909.000.00 377,335.980.00 92.488,520.00 85..324.200,00 135,986.655.00(real«Bt.) No report. No regular appropri 332,489,169 00 166.000,000.00 No report. 93.445.488.00 Valuation figures inc No report. 76,023,612,00 Insufficient data. No report. 5,613,546,713 00 X and Richmond) 348.105.216.00 Insufficient data. 28.607,002,00 No report. 1,458,851,880,00 709.905,751.00 231,161.600.00(City) 301.823,650.00 (Co.) 269.145.060.00 339.922,440.00 No public library. No public library. 664.875,720.00 126,281,180.00 492,329.885.00 74.364.445.00 186.317.470.00 85.619,406.00 106.498,627,00 83.002,450.00 Disregarded, becaus 141.212,607.00 90% ne from >uilding. 100% 100% 75% 33% 60% 36% 45% 50% 100% 100% 100% 60% ation. S 50% 80% 60% orrect. 80% 100% 100% 20% 66% 90% }76%{ 100% 100% 65% 60% 60% 75% 46% 60% 100% 60% e the figu 100% 8111.111,111 00 (approximate) no support. 1,393,765,423.00 1,463,368.346,00 409,734.113-00 Year ending 26.727,107.151.00 511,612,266 00 786,621,300.00 139,180,622.00 265.818,000,00 377.335,980,00 92.488,520.00 85.324,200.00 226.611,090,00 upported from schoo 664.978,300,00 208,250.000.00 156,742,480,00 95.029,515.00 5.613,546,713 00 348,105,216,00 143,035,010.00 2,244.387.507,00 788.784,167,00 308.216.333.00(City) 402.431.633.00 (Co.) 259,145.060-00 339.922.440,00 869,039.500 00 208,801.966.00 820,549,816 00 99,139,260,00 411.816,600.00 142.698.800,00 105.498.527,00 138.337,410,00 res are inadequate fc 141.212,607.00 (26,862.00 tted. »50.000 351,978 00 424,739.00 99.950,00 July 1. 1910. 328.729,90 149.312,47 253.574,38 23,041,98 30.000.00 104.717,86 26,134,04 34,129,63 71.860,00 1 funds. 132,775.00 60,567 . 68 26,000.00 16.000.00 620.812.00 109.308.00 29,000.00 234,600.00 226,000.00 J 61,822.30 Only small pa 120,207.00 212,137.22 29.000.00 74,309.36 18,300,00 99,555,43a 28.481.04 39,200,00 27,764 , 27 r purposes ol 44,000,00 ?'ines, etc. not reported from endowment: $20,000 Fines, etc. not reported {28,111.94 8.188, 60 Year ending July 1. '10. Fines, etc. not reported 6,191 63 15.596.01 Fines, etc. not reported. 3.000 00 11,613,00 6,329,97 7.625,52 2.634.11 4.034.56 4,178.00 Fines, etc. not reported. 798 47 34.834.06 11.373.00 1.500.00 3.000.00(7) 2,932.00 rt of funds come from city. Infornaation not full enoue SIO.OOO fines, eto. (approx. f $27,000 (rent) 1 3.000 (fines eto.) i $30,000 approx. ' 9.369.10 877.07 46,982,82 1,354,72 683,76 Fines, etc. not reported, comparison, more than 5 8,638.22 $26,862,00 3/11 ,24 ,24 rom city. 351.978,00 .264(lump8um) ,254 ,254 460.850,94 ,29 ,29 30 108.138.60 .32 (lumpsum) .24 .26 328,729,90 ,411 ,135 ,127 155,504,00 ,5 ,29 ,33 289,169,39 1,5 (?) 23,041,98 .4 .180 .180 33,000.00 .23 (lumpsum) .115 12 116,230,86 .25 .25 .36 32.464.01 .28 (lumpsum) .28 .36 41,755.15 .4 ,4 .48 74,394,11 .4 ,31 .32 138,809.65 ,4 ,20 .206 84,735,68 .325 ,29 31 26,000,00 .3 .16 .16 15,798,47 ,19 ,16 ,16 855,646.08 11 .11 116 120.681,00 ".SS^S **.33M •*.34 30,500,00 1 01 .20 .21 237,600,00 ,16 ,104 ,105 225,000 00 .32 ,288 ,288 64,754,30 ,26 .19 ,20 h for comparison. 222,137.22 .4 .24 25 59.000,00 .23 (lumpsum) .14 282 83,678 46 .15 .094 ,119 19,177,07 .246(lumpsum) .18 .19 146,538,26 .5045 .227 .355 29.835.76 .437 .19 .208 39.883.75 .37 (lumpsum) .37 .38 27,764 27 .36 .21 .21 ) % of the real esta te being exempt fr om taxat ion. 50.538 22 .31 (lumpsum) .31 35 3825 .218 1 .26 $0,154 .518 ,03 .24 .16 .18 ,18 .16 .205 .19 154 .26 061 .103 .18 .161 .127 ,28 ,134 .09 .105 .12 .17 .207 .21 .13 .34 .178 $0 203 ,524 ,276 ,26 .122 ,426 ,48 ,19 ,166 .25 .27 ,37 .35 ,42 ,28 ,19 .14 23 ,347 ,24 ,16 ,58 ,312 .323 .279 .20 .147 .617 .286 .363 .164 .346 .29 .86 2,36 54 2.5 .82 1 25 2,51 1,57 2.74 1,71 1,69 2 11 3.5 No library then. .5 No record. 1.33 1.3 2.2 1 94 1,41 1,33 Not established as public library. 1,23 1.01 1.861 1.08 1.91 88 1.5 1.68 1.7 1 617 1 17 2.38 2.48 3.2 .9? 2.93 3.99 2.38 1.73 1.78 1.68 2.73 2.13 2,74 16 1,32 2 64 2,7 2,91 2 16 1.17 2,8 2,86 2,49 1,73 1,726 .94 2,74 2,04 1,8 2,23 2.2 2.187 $0,158 BirminBham, Ala Boston. Mass Bridgeport. Conn Brooklyn, N. Y Buffalo. N. Y Cambridge, Masa Chicago. Ill Cincinnati. Ohio (County Library) Cleveland. Ohio Columbus, Ohio. .219 .11 .078 .16 .114 .12 .083 Dpover ' Colo Detroit, Mich Fall River, MaBa._ Grand Rapids, Mich. . . - Indianapolis. Ind Jersey City, N. J Kansas City, Mo Lob Angeles, Cal .17 ,136 20 .10 12 Memphis, Tenn Milwaukee. Wie Minneapolis, Minn Nashville, Tenn New Haven, Conn New Orleans, La NewYork. N. Y (Including Manhattan Newark. N. J .107 .08 .129 .11 Paterson. N. J Philadelphia, Pa .13 .19 (excluding Allegheny) 117 Providence, R. I Queens Borough Rochester, N. Y. St. Paul. Minn San Francisco, Cal .116 .156 ,226 ■ J39 ■j'55 .074 Washington. D. C Worcester, Mass .133 Averages 1 1 se from 1900 to 1910 82% 35% •This is the gross income; the city keeps $9,000 each "Including levy for the $9,000. o $99,555.43 is actual receipts from taxes in 1910. t The figures given for library income from taxes 11 collected, etc. year, towards interest and sinking fund charges on the building. , .. ;„ iQin would have been $93,492.66 baaed on a library levy of .5045 mills and _ :tTy"co?".pond^?h the' result oSed by multiplying .s«..ed valuation by rate of levy. The diflerenc. assessed valuation of $185,317,470.00, ally caused by receipts from overdue I II. STATISTICS FROM ELEVEN SMALLER CITIES City S .2d >>. < 1 1 1 > a £ id |S ts .-en III 11 i-l io-2 III Rate of Levy in Mills Based on Valuation of 100%. Whicii Would Produce Total Income from All Sources. Except En- dowments. 1910. ill D. O u£ Kt i|| ai £| III o a2 III G Is id Brookline, Mass 27,792 32,811 78,466 73.409 66.525 31,433 89.336 66,850 77,403 88.926 83.743 $25,000,000.00 41.385.224.00 67.408.430.00 25.254.803.00 20.000.000.00 72.648.640 , 00 20.548.876.00 37.743.520.00 119.081.778.00 69.939.177.00 100% 33H% 100% 40% 100% 100% 33 M% 60% 100% 60% 125,000,000.00 124,155.672.00 67.408.430.00 63.137.000.00 20.000,000.00 72,648.640.00 61.646.628.00 62.958.600.00 119.081.778.00 116,565,295.00 $23,600. 00(?) 10.916.92 14.652.31 17.335.00 15.050.00 10.000.00 16.000.00 17.664.44 21.000.00 46.012.04 26,425.76 Fines etc. not reported. »1.720.12 683 06 500.00 4.501.32 1.831,91 3,449.00 733.46 J23.500.00 13.637.04 15.335 36 17.355 00 16.050.00 10.500,00 20.501.32 19.496.35 21.000.00 49.461.04 27,159,22 (Lump sum) .44(?) .4 .33H ,628 6 .22(?)(1"™P«1M1) .4 .38 .5 .44 .11 .33K .238 .6 .22 .28 .33 .38 .22 .505 .12 .333 .238 .525 .282 .311 .33 .415 .232 1.05 .208 .19 ,39 .13 .28 .46 .16 .84 .38 .19 .236 .226 .334 .229 .291 ,271 ,556 .32 6.24 1.36 1.20 No library in 1900 2,7 3.30 2,99 2.6 1,53 6.176 3,6 2,25 1.85 2,8 2,88 2.69 3,09 2,6 5.9 2,66 ,132 .106 .087 Elizabeth. N. J .131 .082 .116 .088 .094 Taco^ 4 .304 ,329 .357M ,355 2 61 3.259 ELEVEN SMALLER CITIES a 0.0 111 ate of Levy in Mills Based on Valuation of 100%, Which Would Produce Total Income from All Sources, Except En- dowments. 1910. ■-Cd ■ a 5 c a£| |2 Is .S ft 3 G ij a " -' jorted. t23.500.00 (Lump sum) 1.05 .84 5.24 6.175 132 13,637.04 .44(?) .44 .605 .208 .38 1.35 3.6 .106 15.335 36 .4 .11 .12 .19 .19 1.20 2.25 .087 17,355 00 .33H 33H .333 .236 No library in 1900 1.85 .131 15,050.00 .628 .238 .238 .39 .226 2.7 2.8 .082 10,500.00 S .5 .525 .334 3 30 2.88 .116 20,501.32 .22(7) (lamp sum) .22 .282 .13 .229 2 59 .088 19,496.35 .28 .311 .28 .291 2 99 3,09 .094 21,000.00 .4 .33 .33 .271 2 6 .101 49,461.04 .38 .38 .415 .46 .556 2.6 5.9 .093 27,159.22 .6 .22 .232 .15 .32 1.53 2.66 .122 .304 .329 .357K .355 2.61 3.259 .106 153 turn on the investment. If the profits are less than they should be, considering the volume of business, an investigation of the different departments follows with a view to reduction in costs. There is no absolute test to a library's efficiency. Com- parative study of work accomplished and cost of maintenance must be our chief re- sources. In making comparisons of work, circulation is by no means the only test, for much of the work and expenditure of libraries is devoted to other fields, such as reference work and reading rooms. But it is still a fact that comparative statistics of reference work and reading room at- tendance are too inaccurate to form a basis for comparison. Neither is the num- ber of card holders as yet much of a test, as the life of the cards varies altogether too much. It remains true then that sta- tistics of circulation are the best compar- ative test we have of work accomplished. Unfortunately, even circulation statistics are not strictly comparable, so great Is the divergence in methods of counting. Next in importance to the adoption of some good definite system of accounting it seems to me that the American library association should adopt some standard system for counting circulation statistics. Varying rules in regard to the loaning of books for two weeks or four weeks, the counting of renewals, seven-day books, counting circulation of books loaned to schools, clubs, etc., are merely some of the reasons why accurate comparison is so difficult. However, in order to come to any conclusion at all, we must find some basis of comparison if it is only ap- proximate. In collecting some statistics of library support and use in the United States, I tried to get returns from each of the 51 cities which has more than 100,000 popu- lation, according to the census of 1910. Counting Allegheny, Brooklyn, and Queens Borough separately from Pittsburgh and New York, there are in all 54 such cities; three of them have no public libraries, and from 19 others insufficient data was ob- tained to make comparison possible. I was also able to secure figures from 11 cities, ranging in population from 27,000 to 90,000. To get a common basis of comparison for appropriations. I reduced the assessed val- uation of property in all the cities to a 100 per cent valuation, ascertained what millage on these property values produced the income for 1910 from taxes, even if ap- propriations were made in a lump sum, and what millage would have produced the total income for the year 1910 includ- ing income from dog licenses, police court fines, library fines, etc., but excluding in- come from endowments, because compara- tively few public libraries have more than very small endowments, and even in such cases the interest is usually spent for the purchase of certain classes of books, for which the library would, without the en- dowments, spend but little of its own appropriations. In the group of large cities the rate of levy in mills which produced the income from taxes in 1910 averaged .218 of a mill, and the rate of levy which would have pro- duced the total income, except from en- dowments, averaged .26 of a mill. The in- come per capita averaged 17.8 cents in 1900, and 29 cents in 1910, an increase of 62 per cent. The circulation per capita In 1900 averaged 1.617, and in 1910 averaged 2.187, an increase of 35 per cent. It is interesting to note that in 1910 the average expenditure for each book circu- lated was 13.3 cents (of course you remem- ber that for purposes of comparison we are considering only circulation, and disre- garding entirely reference work). The cor- responding averages in small cities are in- teresting. I venture to read the list of these 11 cities: Brookline (Mass.), Cedar Rapids. Du- luth, Elizabeth, Erie, Jackson (Mich.), Lynn, Peoria, St. Joseph (Mo.), Springfield (Mass.), Tacoma (Wash.). The rate of levy in mills which produced the income from taxes in 1910 (based on a valuation of 100 per cent) averaged .304 of a mill, and the rate of levy which would have produced the total income except from endowments averaged .329 of a mill. The income per capita averaged 35.7 cents in 1900, and 35.5 cents in 1910 (practically 154 PASADENA CONFERENCE the same), but the circulation per capita increased from an average of 2.61 in 1900 to 3.259 in 1910, or 25 per cent. The aver- age expenditure for each book circulated in 1910 was 10.5 cents. In 1910 the small cities received an average income per cap- ita of 22 per cent more than the larger cit- ies, and had an average per capita circula- tion of 49 per cent more than the larger cities. As showing the very distinct con- nection between income and circulation, it may be noted that in the two groups of cities, the one which has the largest per capita income (Brookline) also has the largest per capita circulation, and the one which has the smallest per capita income has the second smallest per capita circu- lation. Unfortunately, I could not obtain suffi- cient data to complete accurate compara- tive statistics of increases in appropria- tions for schools and libraries. It Is I think approximately correct to say that in 1910 appropriations for schools averaged about 15 or 16 times those for libraries, but the percentage of increase since 1900 was greater for libraries. According to the Census Bureau, in the 148 largest cit- ies of the United States, from 1902 to 1907. the per capita expenditures for the police departments increased 10 per cent; for fire departments 21 per cent; for schools 23 per cent; for libraries and museums 37 per cent. From these figures it seems evi- dent that the per capita expenditures for libraries have increased more rapidly than those for any other department of municipal activity. In conclusion, may I venture the opin- ion based on the comparative statistics studied, that the only way in which a li- brary may be sure of continuously pro- gressive support in proportion to growth of population and increase of library needs, is to secure either by state law or city charter a certain minimum millage of the annual tax levy, such minimum to be adequate for at least the essential needs of an efficient library, and to be determined in the first place by the amount needed to reach the present population, and by the necessary modifications of property val- ues, character of population, plan and number of library buildings, etc. Such a millage carefully determined will increase the library revenues each year, as the wealth of the community and its conse- quent ability to spend increases. At pres- ent the average rate which will produce our library incomes is approximately .3 of one mill on the dollar, reckoning on the basis of 100 per cent valuation. It is safe to say that this average rate is too small-, for the inadequately supported libraries are in the majority. The CHAIRMAN: (Mr. Carr here again takes the chair.) I think we owe a great deal to Mr. Hopper for the presentation of this most interesting paper. Few except those who have done this kind of work realize the amount of labor he must have put into that paper. I have no doubt it will be a great help to us in the future, and further suggestions in that line will amplify the results to be derived there- from. We have with us to-day Professor ARTHUR H. CHAMBERLAIN of the Uni- versity of California, who comes to us as the accredited representative of the Na- tional Education Association. I now have great pleasure in introducing Prof Cham- berlain. INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE LIBRARY AS AN EDUCATIONAL FACTOR On the fourth day of July and one year short of three quarters of a century ago the first real apostle of popular education in this country wrote in his journal: "The people who speak to me on the subject of my Secretaryship seem to think that there is more dignity or honor or something in being President of the Senate, than to be Missionary of Popular Education. If the Lord will prosper me for ten years, I will show them what way the balance of honor lies. But this is not a matter to be done sleeping."! And on October twentieth, seventy one years later, four months be- fore his death, a great soul said: "How do lal. Sec HuWiell, Horace .Ma 1 Horace Maitn'' nn. r. SI. CHAMBERLAIN 155 I know that life is worth living unless I learn that somebody else has found it so? Where shall I find that? In a book! How shall I know that victories are to be won unless I find the records in books? Men and women who have been successful in life are telling us of this on the printed pages. This is uplifting. A book is noth- ing but an individual. If you sit down with one of Howell's books you sit down with Howell. If you have a public library you have the best men and women of the world as neighbors. "2 Horace Mann was prospered tor his ten years. His work as secretary of the Board of education of Massachusetts laid the foundation of the most far-reaching re- forms in school administration that our country experienced to the sunset of the last century. And James H. Canfield as teacher, librarian, and man, performed a work in stimulating the individual and community mind for good books, that rises to-day his monument. East and west and from the Gulf to Canada, there are men and women, of whom those before me are wor- thy representatives, whose duty and de- light it is to bear witness to Mann's message of a rich and purposeful popular education. Daily these "Prophets in Israel," your fel- low workers and you, sit down with boys and girls as did Canfield. And as the artist traces with his brush upon the canvas the landscape that speaks to you from those yesterdays which were once to-morrows. or as the musician strikes the chord that sets vibrating the strings of memory; so do you spread before your boys and girls the lives and deeds of those who have been successful and of service — lives and deeds reflected in the pages of the book. Not mine the interesting task to trace the development of the school and library as factors in the life of the community. Our topic is the more circumscribed, if fully as intense and more important one, of how to increase the value of the library as a means of education. That the library is or should be one of the most vital of educational factors, you of all people need not be told, for it is you who have made it such. You agree with Draper that, "The state which can put a mark upon its map wherever there is a town or village library, and find its map well covered, will take care of itself."3 With MacCunn do you also agree that. "Many an end really within the individual's reach is never grasped simply because it is concealed by the screen of ignorance; and many a man in later years can, with bitter, unavailing regret, see clearly how his whole career might have been different if only this end or that had been brought within his ken by the written or the spoken word."-! The school and the library are parts of one and the same great organic institution. Whether housed in the school building or in a separate structure on the campus, or in a public building, managed by a special board and financed by the municipality, the library is part and parcel of the educational scheme. The books of the library are as much a part of the school machinery as are the various pieces of apparatus in the phys- ical laboratory, the biological specimens, the collections used in the study of miner- alogy, or the tools and materials in the craft shop or the school kitchen. To think of the library as apart from education and as simply a desirable aid to the school, is to place it in the amusement column. Al- ready some libraries, and the major por- tion of most, I fear, judged by the books on their shelves, belong with the theatre and the summer resort. A collection of books meeting this requirement merely is not a library. Of course we must have a care for relative values and your speaker fully realizes the legitimate place the li- brary plays as a means of entertainment and recreation. s "After the church and the school, the free public library is the most effective influence for good in America." said Theodore Roosevelt. This is stating in another form that the church, the school and the library are three of the elements. without which any educational organiza- tion is less than perfect. ^American Education, p. 4C. 4 The Making of Character, p. 193. SJewett. The public lihran- anri the public school. Public libraries. 14:119. 1909. 156 PASADENA CONFERENCE Your speaker had occasion to say re- cently tbat with building and equipment and playground and library facilities and all that goes to constitute the material and physical side of a modern school, the plant would prove inadequate to meet the de- mands imposed, unless the teacher of pur- pose and of power was the guiding genius of the whole. Personality in the teacher counts for more than all else on the success side of the balance sheet. So is it with your librarian. Before building or equip- ment or books, the librarian stands su- preme. The librarian is the center of the system and all else depends upon her. The first element necessary in making more efficient the library you represent is a more efflcient you. For what constitutes a library? A beautiful building construct- ed by private funds or public bond issue and raised amid charming surroundings of lawn and lake and grove? Furniture and equipment of the most modern type? A large collection of books? Too often this Is indeed the library. It is a show place. It constitutes "Erxhibit A" when visitors are taken proudly about town on a tour of in- spection. But what of the librarian? Do her townspeople, her friends and associ- ates, realize the part she is daily called upon to play in shaping the ideas and ideals of the community? A man or woman of personality, of tact, and one trained in li- brary lore and possessing a knowledge of books, of teaching, and particularly of in- dividuals — such will be the librarian in fact. And a humble structure housing a handful of well selected volumes may be the library of real educational value in any commun- ity. "There is, undoubtedly, a certain benefit to the growth of the civic spirit in a small town, in the presence of a beautiful, digni- fied library building, and where it can be maintained without detriment to the real service of books, it is the fulfillment of a commendable ambition to have such a building. But, oftentimes the library ser- vice would be stronger in rented quarters, appropriately and adequately equipped, with a sufficient collection of books, a sympathetic, up-to-date librarian in charge to make known the contents of the library to the community."' By all means have the beautiful building where possible. But am- bition to possess "the best library building in the state"; to be able to furnish on the initial request, the novel fresh from the press; or to show in the annual report an unparalleled percentage of increase in stock — these are not necessarily commend- able ambitions either on the part of libra- rian or board. The vital questions are: Has the individual been reading, what does he read, and how? Is taste develop- ing? Is there an increased demand for the best in history and biography and science and poetry and travel and art? Are books read, or do patrons go through the library as the average tourist visits an art gallery or "sees Europe?" How often has there come home to me the distinction as between a real library, and a collection of books, when in one or another city throughout the country I have been shown the library — a beautiful, cold, unsympathetic monument in stone and steel, its exterior without a blemish, its rooms palatial, its shelves spotless, and ninety per cent of the books light fic- tion, novels of the passing moment, origi- nally printed serially in the magazines. Or interest has been centered upon volumes of such specialized character that the dust of months is upon them or the leaves uncut. Fiction in this instance is fact. Here the main business of the librarian is indeed to be up-to-date with the latest fiction, and to see that the building is kept immaculate and the rooms absolutely quiet. Seeing this I have said: "What a waste of the people's money!" Other kinds of libraries there are and other types of librarians. This brings me to the second point in the discussion. All librarians must be teachers in spirit and temperament, and all teachers must under- stand how to work with books. Some one has truly said in speaking of the untrained that "you should not put drugs of which you know nothing into a body of which you know less." The individual who under- 6 BuililitiKs are not libraries. Eilitorial. Public li- l.iaries, 14:56, 1909. CHAMBEJRLAIN 157 stands books slightly and boys and girls not at all can not be expected to make eith- er a good librarian or an excellent teacher. It is then not only necessary to train libra- rians for their profession, but all normal and training schools must offer courses of instruction in the use of the library to pros- pective teachers. This suggestion has in it no element of originality. You remind me that already many schools are attempt- ing this work. And in any event, you say this is a matter for the school people and not for the librarians. It must, I submit, in point of fact, be worked out jointly by librarian and teacher, the training and ex- perience of the librarian being a positive force. The replies to a recent inquiry as to li- brary instruction in normal schools show that of thirty-two schools replying (and representing eighteen different states), twenty schools offer instraction in the use of the library. Four schools offer no in- struction whatever; one replies "yes and no"; in one school occasional instruction is given; in one instruction is incidental; in two there is individual instruction, and in three courses are in contemplation. The number of lessons per year range from one. two or four in several schools to sixty in one school. Between these limits one school offers ten to eighteen lessons, three give eighteen to twenty, one school thirty. In only twelve schools is the work obligatory and in all but three of these the instruction is given by the librarian. Where library work is optional, either the librarian or a faculty member gives the instruction.' While extremely suggestive as indicating the trend of affairs, it is quite evident that as yet few school boards, superintendents, principals, teachers or librarians have se- riously considered the necessity of prepar- ing all our teachers in the elements of li- brary work. Such work in normal schools and education departments in colleges must be obligatory, for regardless of grade or type of school, and in whatever subject, the teacher must handle books. And no stu- dent should graduate from such a school 7 Library Instruction in Normal Schools. Results of replies to a circular sent out from Newark, N. J. public library. Public libraries, 14:147. 1909. until he or she is proficient in the elements of library administration. This knowledge is of greater importance than much else the student is required to know. If programs are now over full, room must be made through the process of elimination; for library work is not a subject as in mathe- matics or Latin. "It is a method of work." Without it no work can be effective. We have thus to consider what should be taught to teachers in training. Since this depends upon what pupils should be required to know that they may use the library understandingly, we must here speak of library administration from the standpoint of the school. One has but to study conditions as they exist, whether in the public or the school library, to note that adults, not to speak of boys and girls, are practically at sea when making investigations. In a general way the location of certain books may be known. How to find books on a particular subject new to one; how to locate material bearing upon the text in use; how to find parallel studies, or substitutes, provided the required book be missing; how to separate the wheat from the chaff, and gather up the main points in a discussion; how to study to the best advantage — in fact how to use the library; on these matters the average boy or girl, man or woman is comparatively ignorant. Many well-meaning students spend more time in groping through the li- brary in a fruitless search than they give to reading, and many a one remains away from the library altogether when now and again he finds a few moments for study, knowing that only a prolonged period will reveal the desired material. And with the book in hand how few know how to use it. Surely you have all had occasion to wish that the school taught ))upils in the art of study. I sat recently in the library of a great university observing a number of young people, the product of our high schools, as they pursued their studies. In the make-up of most of them the art of concentration seemed entirely lacking. Pages were turned listlessly. Notes were made, passages were read and re-read, positions were shifted. Only for 158 PASADENA CONFERENCE the briefest periods were minds centered upon the subject In hand. Five minutes of concentrated, consecutive, understanding study will bring better results than will pro- longed reaches of time given under such conditions. And these college people, well meaning and ordinarily bright and intelli- gent are typical of those found the country over. Conditions with higli school and grade pupils are even worse. Not inter- ested, you say. They simply do not know how to use books. Is it then the duty of the teacher and the librarian to first in- struct readers in this art, or is the time to be given to the mechanics of school keeping and to library routine? Welcome the time when with Elizabeth l^arrctt Browning "We gloriously forget ourselves and plunge Soul forward, headlong, into a book pro- found, Impassioned for its beauty and salt of truth— 'Tis then we get the right good from a book."* Every well regulated school of several teachers should have a carefully selected list of books and a librarian to preside over them. This librarian should be a member of the faculty. Eveo' public librarian should possess the instincts of the true teacher. Much of the pupil's time during the first days of school (and here I speak particularly of the last two years of the ele- mentary and the secondary school period) should be spent in the library, or in the recitation room with portions of the library brought to him. Where the school is with- out a librarian, the public library should furnish a demonstrator. And in any event, all pupils should report to the public li- brary for instruction. They should be taught in groups. The first lesson should acquaint the students in a general way with their library home. They should know each member of the library staff, should visit every room and be told some- thing of the units composing the entire plant. They should know how a book is ordered, how shipped, what happens when it reaches the receiving room, how it is classified, cataloged and shelved. In the 8 Aurora Leigh. beginning, specific books need not be men- tioned, but those covering the general sub- jects In which the particular class is most interested may be located. Subjects over- lap and a given book may touch upon a va- riety of subjects while another may deal distinctly with a narrow phase of a given subject. This the pupils should under- stand, and thus they may more readily ap- preciate the basis of classification of books. The main features of the use of the card catalog may be illustrated, together with the value of the subject, author and title index and how to use the cross references. All of this. In simplified fashion, can be given to a class in one or two lessons. And together with the instruction on the use of the library there can be given, here and there, hints on authorship, the value of good books, methods of opening and hand- ling new volumes, the place of good litera- ture and of books as friends. All this will stimulate the class to a better care of books and an increased desire to begin a collec- tion that shall develop into a library. As opportunity offers, specific details should be presented. Many high school pupils and most children believe their text books contain practically all the informa- tion available on a given topic. Indeed, you librarians have still a task in convinc- ing many otherwise excellent teachers that they need go outside the prescribed text book for teaching material. When failing to find a particular reference the boy or girl does not know how to locate other ref- erences just as good perhaps; may not even know there are other references in existence. Or, having a subject to investi- gate, the student may have forgotten the name of the author cited to him. He may know the author and cannot recall the sub- ject or the title. A few minutes spent with a class, working on a typical case, will re- sult in the saving of hours to each pupil during the year. Nothing will tend to draw young people to the library for serious work as will a knowledge on their part of how to use the tools. Schools and libraries receive my first at- tention on visiting a city. Continually have I been disappointed on entering a library CHAMBEIRLAIN 159 for the first time, eithei' on a search for a particular item, or to study the library or- ganization. Being familiar with the num- ber of the book wanted I may be told it is not in unless upon the shelf where it prop- erly belongs. The library being new to me and my time limited, I may not be able to locate the shelf. Or, putting myself in th(> position of one who knows nothing of li- brary system, I cannot locate my book even though I have time. In matters of this kind it is the surriral of the iiisistevt. The timid go away mentally starved. The librarian must show the student how failure to find a given book in its accus- tomed place is no guarantee it is missing from the library. The book I ask for may simply be misplaced, but the pupil may not realize this; or he may be unable to trace a book so misplaced. A book may have been returned to the library and be lying upon the receiving trucks, or it may be re- served. It may be in the bindery. Just because these matters are not understood, and because of young and old, students and teachers, few know how to trace a subject unless they are in possession of all the data, or how to secure a substitute for a book that is unavailable, they go without. Human nature is much the same in all of us, and what we speak of as "our igno- rance" we do not wish to exhibit. We therefore prowl about here and there. We thumb this book and that, make a pretence at interest, and finally take ourselves from the library altogether, thenceforward to rest content with the dictionary and ency- clopedia, which by the way, we think we know how to use but probably do not. "The fact that many of those who frequent pub- lie libraries are inexperienced, and the still more obvious fact that a vast number of people who do not frequent public libraries, stay outside because they do not know what books to ask for, if they enter, leave a responsibility with the libraries and committees which they cannot escape."' Not only should the public librarian offer Instruction to the students who come from the schools, but many librarians will, if 9 Hill. Responsibility for the public taste. Library. Vew Series 7. p. 260. 1906. called upon, be ready to visit the schools, and there, in the absence of a trained school librarian, give instruction to the classes. Class room demonstrations on the care of books, opening and handling, keeping them unsoiled and sanitary, on the meaning of title, introduction, copyright and dedica- lions, how to use the table of contents or index — these topics can be made of interest and value to the pupils. The making of outlines, abstracts, or briefs, and the work- ing up of a bibliography are of prime im- portance and should be required of all high school students. The librarian should seek an early opportunity to address the school in assembly. Here can be brought out the necessity for an organic unity between li- brary and school. The pupils and public may be made to understand that to locate and hand out books is the least important part of the librarian's business. The great question is: "What will the library do if the people will permit it to do it?" As books of reference, our most common, the dictionary and the encyclopaedia are, as previously hinted, very little under- stood by the average reader. Practically the only use to which the dictionary is put is to give the proper spelling of a word, syllabification, and in all too few cases where the art is understood, of pronuncia- tion. The length of time required for most high school pupils to search out a given word is appalling. They know little or nothing of how to ascertain the various tones or shades of a word; how to get at the meaning through illustration In the con- text; to weigh the various forms of usage; to search for synonyms or derivations. For the one who knows how to use it to the best advantage, there is more real in- formation in the commonplace dictionary than comes to the ordinary reader from an armful of volumes. It can be easily under- stood how the 1.1 Die, Pilgrim's Progress and the dictionary laid ine foundation for a lib- eral education in the life of Abraham Lin- coln. The particular field and function of the reference books should be pointed out, and here the librarians will again find their first work with the teachers themselves. For 160 PASADENA CONFERENCE just as few teachers know how to use the Cumulative index, the Readers' guide to pe- riodical literature, or have the courage to work over public documents or state papers, so there is lost to them much of the wealth contained in manuals, yearbooks, alma- nacs, hand-books of dates, facts and quota- tions. The Readers' Hand-books, Adams' Manual of historical literature, and the many general and special bibliographies. Could librarians instruct the rank and file of the teaching profession in the technique of real reference work a new world would be opened to many a teacher. She could accomplish more in less time, and perhaps feel that she could afford to satisfy her desire for general reading for culture. You will not presume me so narrow as to hold the librarians entirely responsible for shortcomings in our schools, and tor all es- sential instruction in library and book use. But before the teachers can instruct the pupils the teachers must themselves be taught. Before class work opens in the fall the librarian should meet and instruct the teachers. In the elementary school this may be done by grades. In the high school the teachers of a given subject may form a group for instruction, or all may assemble in a body. It is absolutely necessary that teachers be proficient, for from no one can Instruction so well come as from the class teachers. Like morals, the use of books and the significance of good literature can best be taught incidentally to the Immature mind. While the set lessons of librarians must be in a sense abstract and formal, in- struction in class comes in such mannner and at such time as to show direct applica- tion to the work in hand.'" The teachers should submit to the libra- rian a list of topics upon which the various classes will be asked to report during the first days of school. Together with each list the teacher should give the titles of books she desires the class to study. No book or reference should be thus suggested with which the teacher is not perfectly fa- miliar. If she desires the librarian to add to this list she should make this known. The reference list should then be posted in 10 Mendenhall. Library Instruction in Normal Schools. Public libraries. 13. p. 39. 1908. the library. Both teacher and librarian must keep in touch with the progress of pupils, and encourage them to add to the lists any desirable references found. This will assist the pupils in working out their bibliographies later in the term. With this proper understanding between teacher and librarian, the former will not shoulder her responsibilities upon the lat- ter. Nor will the librarian fail to meet the emergency call of the student. If the teach- er does not inform herself on what the li- brary has to offer, but simply admonishes the student to "go and ask the librarian," both teacher and librarian lose cast with the student. The teacher is held to be ig- norant and the librarian a servant. The process as between school and library must be one of integration. The teacher and li- brarian must work together. Whether in school or in library we must realize the force of Dr. Harris's remark: "It is our pol- icy rather to develop ability than to give exhaustive information. The printed page is the mighty Alladin's lamp which gives to the meanest citizen the jjower to lay a spell on time and space." The teachers and the public librarian must strike hands in the matter of selecting books to be ordered. The librarian should be given extended powers in all matters of ad- ministration and then held for results. The board is an advisory body and must have the final word as to funds, but if the judg- ment of the librarian is not to be taken in the matter of selection of books, having first advised with the teachers, he had best seek a new field. The teachers should keep in touch with trade- list journals, catalogs, publishers' bulletins and review columns. Teachers themselves should keep a bibliography on each subject taught and add to it from time to time. They should work in the library side by side with their students, thus giving to the latter the same zest and enthusiasm as comes to them when their instructors take part in their games and sports. This will tend to relieve the library work of any ele- ment of drudgery that might attach to it in the pupil's eyes, did they think it was only for those who had to recite. CHAMBERLAIN 161 Librarians frequently remark: "We must order what our patrons demand. The peo- ple pay the bills. Our readers call (or nov- els and light literature; they do not call for the other Icind." This is in part an- swered by saying that one reason novel readers patronize the library and other readers do not is because the first find their wants gratified, while the others may not be so fortunate. Students can be made of novel readers, just as a course of treat- ment will make strong healthy boys out of weak and dissipated ones. Many times a boy may be led to better reading by en- couragement and by telling him he is capa- ble of going deeper into his subject than are those about him. The books he is read ing are interesting but you have something for him along the same line, only of a bet- ter order. Little by little a wrong tend- ency may be changed. The influence here of the teacher is of the utmost value. To preach a taste for good books and then be found reading trash, robs the teacher's opinion of weight and her advice of force. Many a library is rich along one line of school work and almost barren of books touching other phases. This will probably be due to the bias of the librarian, or more likely to the fact that some particular teacher requires considerable library work of his students, and little by little, books have been purchased for his department. Naturally, the English and history depart- ments in their various phases make the greatest draft upon the library. But care must be exercised lest the library become top-heavy. All subjects have a strong hu- manizing side and those who study science or mathematics or industrial or technical education must be made to feel that the library is for them as well. Too frequently we endeavor to force the boy who is me- chanically inclined to read poetry or Eng- lish history and try to turn the attention of his more bookish brother toward natural science and the industries. In this way, we say, we shall make well-rounded stu- dents. Librarian and teacher must beware lest the boy, halted in his purpose, stop reading entirely and forsake the library. By suggestion and careful direction the boy may be led where he can never be forced. That the school and library may inte- grate still further it has been found ad- vantageous in some localities to organize libraries and schools under one and the same management, or, as elsewhere, to have a member of the board of education a member also of the library board. The librarian may in fact be a member of the school board. The same argument would apply to the desirability of this double rep- resentation for library and school, as to playgrounds and schools. The same care shown in planning a school building should be exercised in planning a library, and experts should be intrusted with this work. Lighting, heating, ventilation, loca- tion of stacks and shelves, arrangement of rooms, offices and desks — these are mat- ters of the first importance. All of this suggests that from the financial side the advantages of the dual representation are obvious. No question would then arise as to the librarian giving necessary time to the school, and here could be located a branch library presided over by a librarian salaried by the school. Care should be taken not to duplicate unnecessarily the magazines and period- icals found in the school library and those in the public library. In so far as possible the permanent pictures should also be dif- ferent. Simple but artistic decoration and finishing should always be secured. Tactful librarians may be of great ser- vice in advising with school authorities and principals as to the location of the school library room. If space is at a pre- mium, as it usually is, the library will likely be found in a dark alcove, or in the base- ment, or on the third floor, or at one side of a dreary study room. Without excep- tion, the library should occupy the best lo- catiou in the building. It should preferably be removed from sound of playground or street, and be placed on the first or second floor. It should be sunny and commodious, and unless the school is unwieldy, the study periods should be spent here rather than in a study room. The books should be grouped as to subjects — ancient history, English literature, French, chemistry, ge- ography and the like. The pupil should report for study in the library, and take up 162 PASADENA CONFERENCE his position in the alcove where the books of his subject are grouped. The librarian or an assistant may thus, without loss of time, know what each student is doing and can lend aid or suggestion. If the book or books needed in a given instance are not available the librarian should know this. The pupil, with proper adjustment between teacher and librarian, may not return to his class unprepared and with the excuse that his book was "not in." The small room library with its selected list to meet the needs of the class from week to week, is essential to good work. However, too great a draft must not be made upon the public library. The subject will determine whether one copy of each of several books or several copies of one should be placed in the class room. It sometimes happens that teachers themselves, thoughtlessly or otherwise, have levied on all the reference books in a given subject and then refuse to accept the explanation from the pupils, that nothing can be found. And "Let the student be sent to the li- brary early and often; there is no more welcome visitor, but let him be sent upon an errand of dignity. Let the subject be one which will broaden his outlook, in- crease his store of valuable knowledge and increase his pleasure in the use of good books. Do not, I beg of you, even if he be sent, let him work so long over an allu- sion in a classic which he is studying that he lose all appreciation of the literature and go away from the library with a dis- taste instead of a taste for 'the best that has been thought and said in the world.' A teacher fails somewhat if the pupils are not led to books. What use if a child be taught to read if he be not taught what to read and where to get it? The teacher should seek to create an appetite for books, the librarian to gratify the appetite cre- ated."" Some of the money used in the purchase of new books could more profitably be spent in issuing a series of bulletins, these in sufficiently large editions to provide stu- dents and others interested. Clear, simple, 11 Jewett. The public library and the school prob- lem. Public libraries, 14:119. 1909. but comprehensive abstracts of books and articles should from time to time appear. Every dollar put into cheap novels, which, when read are out of date and will never again be referred to, would better be de- voted to securing additional library assist- ance and in publishing bulletins. Only in rare Instances should a book of fiction or a volume of more pretentious foundation, by an untried author, find place on the library shelves in less than a year from its appear- ance. The major portion of cheap books would thus never be brought within the li- brary. One authority advises against buy- ing for school libraries, literature less than twenty to twenty five years old. '2 One of the evils of the day is found in the unwhole- some novel, the cheap magazine, and the Sunday newspaper. The danger lies not so much in the story itself as in a warped habit of mind soon established in the reader. It is for the teacher and librarian to so analyze the mind of the boy as to properly direct his reading into normal channels. The children's or juvenile room, if prop- erly conducted, is of the greatest value. Because teachers have their own tasks to perform they can give little assistance here In person. Through counsel and advice they can do much. Story telling and reading to children should have a large place, and hence, to be of the greatest service a suffi- cient number of assistants or associates must be in attendance here. Our children's rooms in libraries must be modern in method. Stories and readings, given along the line of the school program and school activities, will greatly facilitate the regular teacher's work. If then the curriculum be crowded and the school system so rigid that no place re- mains for the humanizing Influence of good books, the teacher and the librarian must work the problem out between them. If the pupil's interest lies in statescraft and oratory give him Patrick Henry and Web- ster and Pitt and Lincoln; if he wishes verse, there is Stevenson and Lowell and Riley and Kipling; if applied science or In- 12 Public schools and their librari Bries 7. p. 373. 1906. Library, New 163 vention, then Franklin and Fulton and Morse and Edison. For each one, young or old, the library may be "made to talk" if only the teacher and the librarian are wise and tactful. The day of the few books is past, and it is worse than useless to de- plore the change from the few well known to the many scanned; but at least some good books revealing the life and times of the great epochs in all countries can be well assimilated. A few books should be well digested. But with our libraries overflowing with richness, with books and newspapers and magazines; with pictures and exhibits and lectures; with museums and concerts and recitals, and all given in the name of education, teachers and libra- rians have great opportunities and in- creased responsibilities. They must also pave the way that the pupil may gather the kernel from many books of many kinds, and from these manifold sources, all .of which are more or less closely related to the library. Modern methods of teaching lay more and more stress upon the use of the library as a working laboratory for all depart- ments, a means of supplementing the regu- lar text-book work in the class room by the use of books and illustrative materials so as to give the pupil a broader view of the subject and awaken an interest which may lead to further reading on his own account, to create a love of reading and develop a library habit which will lead him to the best use of the public library after school days are over as well as during his school life. "Through the cooperation of principal, teachers, and librarian, the library may be made the very center of the school work."'^ And if either teacher or librarian is disposed to be impatient or pessimistic or narrow she has but to say with Rizal, "Las ideas no tienen patria" — Ideas have no Fatherland. The CHAIRMAN: The discussion of municipal civil service as affecting libraries was postponed from the last general session to this. Is there any one who has anything lo say ou that subject? Mr. Jennings is 13 Elall. What the librarian may do for the high school. Library journal. 84:164. 1909. here and I presume he would like to ex- plain his position a little more thoroughly. Mr. JENNINGS: From the discussion which followed my paper on Saturday morning, it seems that I failed to make my meaning clear on one important point. The title of the paper was "Municipal civil service as related to libraries" and 1 thought it was understood that my criti- cisms were directed at external not at internal civil service. I am convinced that no outside commission should control in any way the library staff. 1 think we all agree on that. Two excellent arguments or illustrations have come to my attention during the last two days and 1 beg to mention them here. The employees of the state Department of Education and the state library at Al- bany have been chosen for years by the New York state civil service commis- sion. .The Commissioner of Education, Dr. Andrew S. Draper, has, however, come at last to the conviction that this system does not secure the best grade of men and women for positions above the grade of clerks and he is seeking either a modifica- tion of the system or a complete change that will enable the department to get the best. He finds the need sometimes of per- sons who do not happen to reside in the state of New York and he desires a method of selection sufficiently elastic to permit the use of judgment on the part of the appointing officer. The second illustration is the story of a town in the middle West, the name of which I am not at liberty to mention. The library board in this town decided that the library needed a change of librarians and presented their views as delicately as pos- sible to the person who was then librarian. She declined to resign and appealed to the Civil Service Commission and to the may- or. Her appeal was sustained. Now, the li- brary trustees in that town, as in all other towns, were appointed to control the li- brary and manage its affairs. Their first and chief duty, I take it, was to select a competent librarian. Civil service took this power from them and the librarian still retains her position. 164 PASADENA CONFERENCE The CHAIRMAN: We are very much obliged to Mr. Jennings for showing us a little further light. Is there anyone else In the room who wishes to speak on this subject? If not, the time has arrived when we ought to adjourn and I now declare this session closed. Adjourned. FOURTH GENERAL SESSION (Shakespeare Club, Tuesday, May 23, 9:30 a. ra.) (Mr. A. E. Bostwick, presiding.) The CHAIRMAN: When a serious problem comes up for consideration, it can be treated in different ways. Some people avoid it, others deny that there is any problem and others admit that there is a problem, but say that it is insoluble, and still others investigate it seriously and bring out at least something worth while. Those of you who listened to Mr. Chivers' paper at Bretton Woods know he has seri- ously investigated the question of book- binding. I now have the pleasure of intro- ducing Mr. CEDRIC CHIVERS of Brook- lyn. MATERIALS AND METHODS IN BOOK- BINDING (Supplementary to Bretton Woods Exhibit.) Speaking of the behavior of books in public libraries, as issued by the publish- ers, the report of the Binding Committee of the American library association says: "Cloth-bound books must be withdrawn from circulation and sent to the bindery when they have been in the hands of less than twenty readers. Larger books of travel, history, etc., can seldom be used more than ten times before being rebound, and it is not uncommon to have them torn from their covers before being in the hands of five readers." It is a matter of concern that we should recognize the seriousness of such a state- ment as this, and it is our business to remedy such a condition of things if we can. We recently learned in Investigating the qualities of paper of which modern books are composed, that they differ very greatly in so many ways and in such degree as is set forth In Fig. 1. These variations occur in ordinary books, having deleted all the books of extraordinary sizes and qualities, either of the poor or excellent varieties: 6%"x4%" will not be recognized as too small a book, and 10',4"xS" will be recog- nized as not too large a book. Books of less weight than % lbs. and greater weight than 5% lbs. may be dis- covered in a library. Thinner paper than 2.5M. and thicker than 13.25M. may be found. Tensile strength so slight that the ordi- nary machines would not record it, and again paper so stout as greatly to exceed 20 lbs. to the inch, occur in every library of any considerable size. There are also sections thinner and thicker than those recorded on the accom- panying diagram. It may, therefore, be taken that the va- riations of quality and condition here shown are such as have to be dealt with in the everyday handling of books in a lending library. It has been shown that previous to 1S90 papers in vital respects were more nearly alike and were stronger by more than 50 per cent than those used to-day. Indeed, the corhparison is as 8 to 3. There has been little effort made, except in one or two directions, to deal with these altera- tions in the qualities of books as far as their binding is concerned. Librarians and bookbinders are fully aware of the far greater use to which books are subject in the public library over the use they would got in the case of the private purchaser. We see clearly that the binding which would hold in the one case is totally in- adequate for the other. The cord holding the smaller weight in Fig. II is seen to be too slight to hold the larger weight. Yet this illustrates the state of the case as between the private use of a book and the public use of a book, with the additional disadvantage that ow- ing to the deterioration of paper the bind- 165 ing represented by the cord has been weakened. The improved methods which we recom- mended for dealing with the different classes of paper of which we had become cognizant, implied the use of the most ap- propriate materials for binding and cover- ing books. An examination of the more important of these is the matter in hand. Testing the various materials used for covering the books, we find, as we would expect, considerable difference between the breaking strain in the direction of the warp and the strain suffered by the woof, and on Fig. Ill is given the results of a num- ber of such tests. It will be seen that the ordinary edition cloth, chiefly used in pub- lishers' bindings, suffers a strain in the warp of 25 and in the woof of only 10 lbs. to the half-inch. With stouter library cloth the difference is even larger, being 30 for the warp and 10 for the woof. A practical suggestion is here made — that if the cloth were used so that the warp should run across the book rather than up and down the cover, a certain amount of strength would be added to the binding. It would not be as much as the difference between the two strains, because attrition and friction would be the same, but considerable additional strength would be obtained. An objection to using the cloth in this way would be urged, that the pattern or design, when it is not an all- over and even one will be found in the di- rection of the warp, and it is supposed aesthetically to be of more importance that such a pattern should be up and down the book and not across it. This may even on aesthetic grounds be an arguable point, but as a constructive advantage it would seem wise to adopt the suggestion to use the cloth in the strongest way of the threads. Fig. IV gives the result of testing a num- ber of materials one inch wide, used in bookbinding for end paper lining, plate lin- ing, jointing, etc. These again show the variation of strength value in the warp and woof. It would be evident that in the use of these materials, advantage should be taken of the stronger way of the warp, and use it in the line of strain. Figs. V, VI, VII show the warp and woof of several kinds of cloth photomicrographed to 56 diameters. They have been prepared in order to visualize the difference between the warp and the woof, which they there clearly do, but are of little importance or advantage to our inquiry, other than as il- lustrating this one point. It may be of a little interest to observe the penetration of the coloring matter in the case of the thinner face cloth, and the partial permea- tion with the thicker qualities. We now come to the consideration of the mechanical values of leather, the subject being of much rpore importance than that of dealing with cotton or linen materials. Leather has qaalities which no other ma- terials possess in adaptability to the bind- ing and covering of books, because If wisely chosen, it is of far greater variety in thick- ness, softness, pliability, tenacity of adhe- sion and strength, being capable of adapta- tion to the exceedingly varied conditions which our diagrams illustrate modem books to exhibit. The Royal Society of Arts of England appointed a committee in 1901 to discover the reasons for the decay observed with modern leathers, and their very valuable report dealt exhaustively with the phase of the subject they undertook to consider. Some amplification of their inquiry appears to be necessary along the lines we are now pursuing, for supposing leather to be properly tanned and dyed in the manner the report specifies, it is still desirable to know which leathers supply the best me- chanical qualities, as above indicated. Apart from the actual wearing of the leather in use, which it is impossible to follow for the purpose of testing, we may subject leather to tearing and breaking strains, and obtain some useful data of value. The tearing strain is ascertained in the fashion depicted by Fig. VIII. Fig. IX represents a skin of leather. A, B and C represent pieces of leather cut for the purposes of testing in different di- rections of the skin, A diagonally across the shoulder, B horizontally across the back, C vertically to the back. There is a grain with skins, but not so distinct as 166 PASADENA CONFERENCE with artificial materials, and a further test of breaking strain along the lines of A and B will demonstrate this. We have then a test with a piece cut as with C, with an- other as with B, and a third as A diagon- ally across the skin. In Fig. X we have set out the result of testing a number of different kinds of skins. First the thickness in thousandths of an inch is given, then the tearing strain in pounds. The strength ratio is shown and the order of value of the skins com- pared with each other. The first leather given, Niger leather un- pared, with the total thickness of 190, suf- fers a tearing strain of 1S9 lbs., with a strength ratio of .99. If this be taken as a standard one may readily appreciate the values of leathers in respect to thoir tear- ing strains. It is a valuable coincidence that the best leather gives a tearing strain of one pound for a thousandth of an inch in thickness, as it facilitates comparisons. An examination of these figures will be in- structive. Our experiences are ratified with the skins of poor quality. Their lives being short, we had become cognizant of their failure, but our interest is aroused by the results given of the more costly and the leathers of greater repute. We were pre- pared from our practical experience to see that the calf leather should be demonstrat- ed to be very weak, the strength ratio being .21, and the order of value to be 18 in the list given, but it must be viewed with some alarm to discover that French levant mo- rocco should show a strength ratio of .40, and to offer for a thickness of 242 thou- sandths a tearing strain of only 97 lbs. This is against Niger morocco 190 thou- sandths to 189 lbs. It arouses the reflec- tion that in the effort to obtain the colors and brightness required with modern book- binding, much of the strength and nature of the morocco has been destroyed. The leathers in the upper part of the table have been chosen with care, and the moroccos 7 and 5 and pigskins 6 and 12 have been prepared under the specifica- tion of the Society of Arts. The leathers under the title of odd pieces, were collected from a small book- binder's shop where library books had not been bound. In other words, no effort had been made to obtain the best leather of the different sorts. The results are seen to be bad. The deterioration of levant morocco is a matter to be viewed with alarm. The or der of value of one piece is 7, with a strength ratio of .63, while for another, the order of value is 16, and the strength ratio is only .29. These pieces of leather are similar in color, and were purchased from the same firm, but the poorer quality had been In house some fifteen years, showing a very serious deterioration. The high value which is shown by the Niger leathers is not a little surprising when it is remembered that these leathers have been tanned by uncivilized natives. The figures have been submitted to Mr. Seymour Jones, who was a member of the committee appointed by the Society of Arts above mentioned, and the following val- uable letter has been received, dealing with the subject from the point of view of an expert: "The breaking strains, as given in yours of the 5th, go to confirm my work in the same direction, and all I have written or spoken on the subject. Two anomalies would appear to require explanation. Le- vant 87 M. thick breaks at 36 lbs. 'Again, a piece 55 M. breaks at 35 lbs. Both, I assume, are unpared. You will find that substance, as it increases, does not carry with it a corresponding increase In strength, that is, strength In proportion to substance Increases at a decreasing ratio. This is due to the fact that as age creeps on the number of fibres do not increase, but do Increase in thickness and some mus- cular strength, but later not proportion- ately. Examples: a rope made of 6 strands of Vi" thick is not as strong as a rope made of 12 strands and Vt" thick in diameter. The more fibres to a given area, so is the increase in strength proportionately. Hence if you have a piece of leather 2" square and 87 M. thick, and assume you have 1,000.000 fibres, it will not have a breaking strain equal to a 2" say 45 M. CHIVERS 167 thick and containing 1,500,000 fibres. The second anomaly, namely, why does levant pared to 47 M. break at 22, and Niger pared to 32 M. break at 33? The explanation rests entirely upon two factors: 1. Levant contains from 40 to 50 per cent of tan, which implies over-tanning, whereas Niger contains about 27 per cent of tan. 2. The levant has been robbed of its nat- ural nourishing fat prior to tan. The small amount of fat in Niger has been left in. If the levant contains grease, and still has a lower tearing factor, it follows that the displaced natural fats have not been prop- erly replaced to insure absorption by the fibres as in life. The Nigerian tanner in his so-called ignorance, has been working along the lines of least resistance, allowing atmospheric conditions, temperature and time to operate, with results which give a higher satisfactory result than can be ob- tained under civilized conditions. In fact, we have much to relearn, but unfortunately the civilized tanner thinks he knows bet- ter. I do not know of any skin on the market at the present time which possesses the qualities appertaining to longevity, withstanding attrition, etc., as is pos- sessed by those tanned in Nigeria, and now- known as Niger skins. 1 am of the opinion that of the bookbinding skins on sale, the Niger skins are the most suitable and meet all the demands made by the Society of .\rts report. Upon that point I have no hesitation in expressing that opinion." It must be borne in mind that the figures here given deal with only one quality of the leathers under consideration, that is, their strength in resisting the tearing strain. Other important qualities are nec- essary. This may be illustrated by refer- ring to the hand-grained Persian goat, whose order of value is 10, and whose strength ratio is .52 in tearing strain. This leather has been subjected to the following criticism by the Society of Arts Commit- tee, and we may therefore expect to dis- cover very different results after two or three years' use in the library. The report says: "The Persian tanned goat skins are extremely bad. Books bound in this ma- terial are shown to have become unfit for use in less than twelve months after bind- ing." This doubtless because of bad tan- ning, the results of which are not immedi- ately apparent. The breaking strain of various leathers is arrived at by taking strips in the way depicted in Fig. IX, A and B. These will be found set out on Fig. XI, first the thick- ness, then the breaking strain, the strength ratio follows and its order of value. In a general manner the tests for break- ing coincide with the "tearing" tests, and become together valuable as giving data of the comparative mechanical strength of leathers. It is necessary always that this strength should be allied with good tan ning and dyeing, in order to obtain the full advantages required. This short inquiry has already shown the necessity for constant watchfulness in the selection of leathers for books requiring to be protected either for extra hard usage or for a very long lite. Until these tests were undertaken we have always assumed that the higher priced French levant moroccos were above any reproach, except that of their cost, but it is here demonstrated that they are not reliable, and that the native tanned skins of Africa are greatly their superior in both respects of strength and probable long evity. Are we therefore to select from the open market Niger leather when it is required for either of these two purposes — of strength and longevity — for the binding of books? The following experiment will show the danger of trusting with any confidence to the commercial use of the word "Niger." Leathers purporting to be Niger leather and to have the wearing qualities which have already become known In the trade, were recently offered for sale and were subjected to chemical and mechanial tests. The results showed that in one case the leather was decidedly not Nigerian, and in the other that if it were Nigerian it had been so abused in its tanning and dye- ing treatment as to destroy its distinguish- ing merits. The mechanical tests show the results 168 PASADENA CONFERENCE depicted upon Fig. XII. While real Niger- ian leather shows a tearing strain of 189 to a thickness of 190, the leather offered as Nigerian leather and now under ques- tion showed for a thickness of 88 a tear- ing strain of only 27. In other words, real Nigerian leather showed three times the strength of the imitation. This demonstrates either one of two cases: the leather, which we will call "Imitation," could not have been Nigerian leather at all, or it had become partially destroyed in fitting it for the market. The grain was evidently plated, the color far too even and the skin too perfect in ap- pearance to be real Nigerian leather. A breakdown in use would occur indubitably where strength would be required, and should the leather be used for books re- quiring to give long service, its treachery would become presently more apparent and disastrous. If the leather were real Niger- ian and had been dealt with so that two- thirds of its original strength would be lost, other results of premature decay would most certainly follow. It is, therefore, ap- parent that care and inquiry must be made by librarians who intend to have their books properly bound and covered. The importance of using the best of leathers for the binding of books cannot be overestimated. These are not necessarily high in price it fine finish is dispensed with. There is no material existing which can be compared with leather for lining or binding the backs of books. It is the only thing we know of which, with its many qualities of thickness, pli- ability, strength and tenacious adhesive- ness, is at all adapted to the varying quali- ties of modern books. Fig. I shows how many varieties there are. and a calculation from these data or the experience of any librarian or book- binder will tell of many hundreds of kinds of books. The range of appropriate materials when leather is not used is woefully short, and in no case can any of them be used for the linings of the backs of books; their effectiveness is limited to their service as covering materials only. Leather answers both purposes of covering and lining or binding the back. The statement in Fig. XIII will illustrate this point. While the books themselves have a very wide range of inconstancy, the materials at the disposal of the machine binder, as distinguished from the leather binder are, as seen, very limited. In cloth, endpapers, linings, etc., as here set out, the qualities are very few. The case is totally different with leather. A careful and informed binder is able to ob- tain such a range of qualities in leather as enable him appropriately and effectively to deal with the hundreds and more varia- tions of modern books. Much has recently been written of ma- chine sewing and its value for library books, but machine sewing can be used only by sewing through the fold, and it has been demonstrated that with 7,000 dif- ferent books published during the last three years, only 400 of them were of good enough quality to allow of being sewed through. All the other 6,600 books were of paper so bad that the act of folding deprived the paper of 50 per cent of its strength, while its original strength showed a deterioration of more than 50 per cent over that in com- mon use twenty years ago. Nearly all modern books must be hand- sewed in order to give reasonable service, and they must be bound and covered with pliable, tough and chemically pure leather to insure long life. The librarian who is interested enough to give the subject a little time and atten- tion, may obtain both these qualities for the books under his charge, and this at no greater cost than is often incurred for un- reliable work and materials. Mr. HILL: Mr. Chivers showed us a piece of levant morocco, a piece which had been in use fifteen years, and I wonder if he has a piece of pig skin for comparison in the same way. Mr. CHIVERS: No, I have not, but I can tell you about the pig skin. I was chiefly instrumental, twenty-five years ago, in bringing pig skin on the market. Pig skin Is only the grandson of hog skin. I never w en < U *^ UJ <( a: O _ a o < CQ < z Q DC O ■ ■ ■ ■ 1 ■ ■ 1 ■ CO -la- o T X CD 1 -iq- «0 -Q ok 1^ (M ^ 1 \ to (- to 169 (.'LOUIS i'i;sii;i) for uu i:akl\(; strain SIZK OF PIRCE TKSTEO 7's ini-h x ^i iiuti M \ 111;! \i |!i;i'.\kim; si i; \i\ I'iciri pm; Vu;i. Wm:i- \\\.,.i Ml VN Wlliiiii Hiiokraiu 70 4;! .">(; :> 41.- Ditto OG 42 54 34o Ditto ii;i 30 40 ■ 5 41c Ditto 5'> 38 40 • 5 41c Art Hiukrani (all liiioii) S3 44 Ol! 5 lie (."auvas Buikruui 41' U 28 ■ 5 2"^c Ditto :>;• 20 32 5 2Sc 11. Cloth ,;.-. 21' 47 25c I'liglazod Hiu-kraiii t!S 40 54 41c Library Cloth .">."• ;!!' 47 34c Ditto 30 10 20 21c All l.inon 1- :;.-, 11 :. 34c Durabliiif (thick) (!S 30 40 1 • 07c (Kxtni WWe) Ditto (thin) 45 IS 31-5 44c Kilitioiis Cloth -■' 10 17 5 20r Kio. Ill 170 IJ.\l.\(iS TKSTKI) KOU I',UKAKL\(i CHAINS Sl/,|-; ()!•' I'lI'lCh; 'n'",S'l'F,l) 7'.: in.-h V 1 iivli MATIOKIAr. liKIOAKlNti HTKAI.N PUKJK I'EB YaUD WaIII' WooK Mkan SilkcUf (.Slcf\(: l>iliili,U) 11 22 :;i 5 27c Ditto :;i 15 23 26c Taffetine 25 14 10-5 31c JiicDiiet 31 12 21 -5 1 5c Ditto w") 17 21 1 :.<• Ditto IS 15 1 6 • 5 14c Ditto 10 H 9 14c 73c Li lion 35 25 30 Ditt.i 55 28 41-5 52c Ditto 40 21 30 • 5 38c Liiieiielte 32 22 27 lOc Ditto 20 18 23 ■ 5 It;,: Cambric 31 10 20 ■ r> 12c Ditto 24 13 18-5 1 Oc Holland 33 27 30 24c Glove Liniiiif 32 18 25 UJc 171 PHOTOMICROGRAPHS OF TRANSVERSE SECTIONS OF "EDITIONS" CLOTH WARP (x 56) BREAKING 21 lbs WOOF {-kSQ) BRfAKlNQ ST/PWN nibs PHOTOMICROGRAPHS OF TRANSVERSE SECTIONS OF LIBRARY CLOTH WARP (x56) BAEAKINQ STJZAIfyf 55 lbs WOOF Cx56) BREAKINQ 5TRA/N 391bs 173 PHOTOMICROGRAPHS OF TRANSVERSE SECTIONS OF LIBRARY CLOTH i^SMO o rj-i suRj^^K C£:) V/ARP Cx56) B/i£AKINQ STPAIN eoibs "m^^^ WOOF BUEAKJNQ STRAIN 401bs "^^m^m- TEARINC^ STRAINS OF VARIOUS LEATHERS SIZK OF PIKCK TKSTP:I) -Ji, inch x l-'^^' in. -I, Ref No. Lf^ATHER TESTED Thickness in WHWIi 4 in. Th;,\kinc. Str.\in in llis. Strength Ratio Order cl Value A B C ToT.\L A K C ToT.\ L il Nijrcr Li'.ather(uii-pare<] ) 7(1 (15 5 5 I'.KI o:: 81 45 180 00 2 2 Niger Leather (goat) 45 40 30 124 31 40 32 lo;-! •83 4 — ;• ■• (sliee),) 4(1 40 3(; lie. 3(.! 41 35 112 •0(i 3 — " (i.are.l) H2 ob 3H OS 33 21 20 74 75 5 1 Soft Niger Leatlier 21 21 20 •32 k; 10 12 44 70 11 Imitation Niger Leatlier 2!:» 20 :!() S8 7 11 27 ■30 15 — Ditto 2 'J 20 20 87 10 11 10 31 35 14 — 'I'liick Levant (un-])ared) 87 SO 75 242 30 24 37 07 •40 13 3 Levant ilorocco 50 55 50 155 20 21 22 03 ■40 13 14 Ditto 45 48 45 08 10 10 2'.t ■20 Ki 10 Ditto 55 50 50 155 35 l!5 28 OS ■63 7 7 Morocco (thiclv) 70 57 55 182 20 21 23 73 ■40 13 5 Morocco (tliin) 37 37 30 113 15 1(5 10 50 •44 11 i:i Hard (ilrainM Persian Goat 31 32 :!4 07 10 2(1 12 51 52 10 i; Pigskin 3(i 34 32 1(12 14 IS 11 4:; 42 12 12 Pigskin 33 30 :!o 03 20 13 15 54 ■ 58 8 — Seal 40 45 3(j 121 2:'. 23 2(1 (iO 54 !( s Roan 22 22 23 07 20 15 12 47 7(1 — Cowhide 23 25 18 (o; 5 5 H ^H ■21 IS — Cowhide 12 12 12 ;!() 4 2a 21 i'l ■25 17 4 Calf 25 23 32 so 5 ''^ 171 .21 IS — Veihun 10 1(1 IS :is 11 14 20 45 ■IS 1 (»hl) lMi;( KS OF ISOdKl'.IXDFKS' IJ;.\T11FKS TESTFl) Moroci-o 34 — — 34 12 — — 12 :;5 Ditto ;>5 — — 35 20 — — 20 57 Ditto 31 — — 31 k; — — 1(1 ■51 Ditto 23 — — 23 •; — — (i ■20 Law Shee]) 38 — — 38 (1 — — ■15 Cowhide 28 — — 28 5 — — 5 ■17 Ditto 33 — — 3:; 7 — — 7 ■21 BREAKING 8T1IAINS OF VARIOUS LEATHERS SIZE OK PIECE TESTED 7'^ x 3 2 i"'"li Ref. No. LEATHER TESTED. Thickness thousandths of in. Bkkakinu Strain in 11)S. R.tio, DrJiT lif Value. .•\ B Total A B Total ;t Niger Leather 60 52 112 01 111 172 1 53 - - Niuer Leather (Goat) 4;! 40 SI! 7:; 105 1 118 1 1 11 Soft Niger Leatlier 21 21 42 21 28 41) 110 4 Iiiiilatioii Niger Leather :;o .'jO i;o ;ii 22 5 1 ! ■88 7 3 Levant Morocco ti:! (15 I2S 02 75 137 1 • 07 5 14 Levant Morocco 45 4S^ !l3i 18 28 40 ■411 12 10 Levant Morocco 5(1 52 lOS 32 33 05 ■ 00 11 7 Mciroeco (thick) (14 50 114 34 35 Oil 00 11 5 Morocco (thin) 40 4(;i SOI 30 32 02 ■71 10 13 Hard Grained Persian Goat .H H21 (i5 25 35 00 ■112 (> 1; Pigskin :;4 ■171 7U 43 53 '.to 1 34 ■' IL' Pigskin 2 HO 02i 25 28 53 ■84 8 8 Roan 27 24 51 20 18 38 ■74 ;i 4 Calf 24,1 25 4111 8 14 " 28 13 I H, M 177 I M I TAT I O N C30jLI> JJS /f^j^L.) NIGERIAN LEATHER THICKNESS TCAt^lNG STRAIN THICKNESS TEARINQ STRAW A 29 9 A 29 lO B 29 7 B 29 11 C 30 II C 29 lO 88 3^ 2r 87 Tfa-' 31 NIGERIAN LEATHER THIN HICK THICKNESS TEARING STRAIN THICKNESS TEARING STRAIN A 21 16 A 70 63 B 21 16 B 65 81 C 20 1 12 C S5 45 62 ^ f-, 44 190 ^ 189 N EAR LY CONSTANTS PR AC TICAL. VARIANTS INCONSTANTS Quality of eiorh . . jboards Thread J^lls, supers ar>d\ o//r)//D^s • • J o^pes ar)ds^/n^s. Ond-papers- . . . to cocrer. 3 Values 2 3 5 4 2 BOO/