. <^ ^>.\ S^ /f " ' *$zf A "* ^ a^^H '*| r** -, ~v>v- '""^"~ ^o^*\ fyy:}. '-'ffir^ t^^-l* ^MSiir^ ^ m'\ .f t * 3\; % \ .-/ ' < ^^ /^^\ /Si^A ^^ J iPSlp ^Pwf^P^ .. K -. ~j $&!**& * sir- /^L^v &i ^H ^3:^ ,^^ / ' '- iSf ,\ . :. / . .^ -.;-,, easfi*^ . . ^^ ^<& ? k '&$& " r*^%<- : ' ^ ;-^ v^/ iWHE;r&8Kff "k-^vVf^/A Of U JW- PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE ELEVENTH GENERAL MEETING OF THE j AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION HELD AT THE FABYAN HOUSE, WHITE MOUNTAINS SEPTEMBER 8-u IOQO BOSTON LIBRARY BUREAU, 146 FRANKLIN STREET 1890 CONTENTS. Title. President's address Classification from the reader's point of view The proper lighting of library rooms Report on library architecture Report on gifts and bequests Library experts Trustees of free public libraries Library work from the trustees' standpoint The duties of trustees and their relations to librarians . . . The function of the library and the school in education . . . On browsing How the books were bought for our library Antediluvian libraries The future of the free public library The South African Public Library, Cape Town Report on library legislation Report on reading for the young Libraries and the federal government Report on catalogs and classification Report on aids and guides Proceeedings 85-171 First Session 85-90 Hon. J. W. Patterson's address of welcome . 85-87 Secretary's report 87-89 Amendment of St. Louis proceedings .... 89 Stenographer 89-90 Second Session 90-105 Report of Finance Committee 90 Report of Cooperation Committee ... 90, 103-104 Reports on Library School 91-95 Report of Com. on Public Documents 95-100, 104-105 Dining by States and classes 100 Some thoughts on classification 100-102 Linderfelt's Dziatzko ' . . 101 Miscellaneous 102-103 Revision of the constitution 103 State librarians 104 Third Session 105 Fourth Session 105-114 Committees 105 Treasurer's report 106-107 Newberry Library 107-111 Worcester Free Public Library in Exhibit of library appliances 111-114 Mimeograph 113 Harvard College catalog books 113-114 Zinc guides 114 Fifth Session 114-116 Library work in U. S. Bureau of Education . 114-115 Library experts 115 Sixth Session 116 Seventh Session 116-118 Public documents 116 Relation of librarian to book committee . . . 116-117 Endowment 117, 123-124, 127, 128-129 Public library and public school 118 University extension 118, 120, 122 Eighth Session 118-127 Finance Committee 118-119 Sunday opening 119-120 University extension 118,120-122, 131 World's Fair library exhibit 122-123 Endowment 123-124, 127 Author. . F: M. Crunden . . . W: . Foster . . . . W: I. Fletcher . . . H: M. Utley . . . . Miss C. M. Hewins . jlfiss H. E. Green . . C: C. Soule . . . . J. C. Learned . . . . S: S. Green . . . . W: T. Harris . . . J. K. Hosmer . . . C: A. Nelson . . . . . C. Richardson . . L'. H. Steiner . . . D: P. Todd . . . . T. Soiberg .... . Mrs . M. A . Sanders . W.Flint . . . . . K. A: Linderfelt . . W: Beer . Page. i 6 9 , 75 M >5 '9 23 34 27 33 38 4 44 48 50 58 64 67 73 Next meeting 124, 125-128 Excursions 124-125 Ninth Session 127-130 Patent Office index 127 Endowment trustees 128 Endowment 117, 123-124, 127-129 Finances 129 Election of officers 129-130 Regrets 130 Questions 130 Tenth Session 130-139 International copyright 130, 133-134 Constitution 131 World's Fair 131 University extension 118, 120-122, 131 Members' expenses paid 131 Libraries in South Africa 131 Trustees 131-133 Mr. Rosenau 134 Questions 134-135 Trustees' Section 135-136 Book selecting 136-137 Vote of thanks 137 Officers 137 A. L. A. Publishing Section 139-140 College Library Section 140-143 Relation of librarian to faculty 140-142 Seminary library in the university 142-143 Association of State Librarians 143-153 Report on Exchange of State Documents . . 149-152 Trustees' Section, A. L. A 1 53~'54 New York Library Association 154-156 State clearing-houses for duplicates .... 154-155 Cooperation between the libraries and the edu- cational institutions of the State 155 Subsidies to public libraries '55-'56 Early libraries in New York 156 The social meeting 157 The Post-Conference Excursion 157-164 W: F: Poole's remarks at Boston 164-166 Necrolngical addenda 166 Attendance summaries 167 Attendance register 167-171 CONFERENCE OF LIBRARIANS. 4 *" * FABYANS, SEPT. 8-n, 1890. ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, FREDERICK M. CRUNDEN, LIBRARIAN OF THE ST. LOUIS "* PUBLIC LIBRARY. "^LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE AMERICAN jo LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: ^- Not being present when my election was ' announced, I find this the first opportunity I JThave had to thank you for the honor you con- ferred upon me in choosing me as your Presi- dent. I have tried to return my thanks in the most substantial and acceptable form, by mak- _ ing every effort to call out a large attendance, r and to make the meeting profitable and pleas- w * to those who come. One of these ends is already secured ; and it insures, I think, the ; attainment of the other. Aside from the natural beauties which have 'drawn us to this spot, it seems especially . appropriate that the A. L. A. should meet in 3 New Hampshire, which was the first State in Jthe Union to adopt a general library law, and tpOne of the first three States to form a State Library Association. New York, through the of our ever-alert Secretary, took the by two months ; and Iowa was the second to join this movement, which I trust l)vill spread rapidly throughout the Union. c Our meetings have covered a considerable portion of country, from the White Moun- >tains, in the Northeast, to St. Louis, in the Southwest; and this year invitations from ^the Pacific slope will be presented. The practical results of our conferences are seen Jn better library buildings and the begin- . .ning of a new era of library architecture, in improved methods of administration, in "~ Poole's Index and other working aids, in the rapid multiplication of libraries, in the eleva- tion of librarianship to the dignity of a pro- fession, and in the spread and development of the public library throughout the United States. Nor have the results of our asso- ciated effort been confined wholly to our own land. Our Association led to the formation of the L. A. U. K. ; and the name and fame of the A. L. A. are known throughout Western Europe. The events of the year in the bibliothical world will be fully set forth by the various re- porters. The year has been signalized by the opening of the Minneapolis Public Library and the Carnegie libraries at Alleghany and Edin- burgh, and the addition to the list of this philan- thropist's benefactions of $1,000,000 for a free library in Pittsburg. To these must be added the completion of the $400,000 fund for the Hartford Public Library, the adverse decision in the Fiske will case, and an adverse, though not a final, judgment regarding the Tilden trust. An exhaustive list of the year's bequests and endowments will be given in Miss Hew- ins's report; but special mention must be made of the magnificent fund left by John Crerar for the establishment of another free library in Chicago. I have already alluded to the initiatory steps which have been |taken for the forma- tion of three State library associations. The New Hampshire association, which meets with us this week, has back of it a State law 324923 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. the first legislation of the kind in the coun- try. Another admirable law passed this year by the progressive State within whose borders we are assembled, is that which authorizes the Trustees of the State Library to reprint each year ten pamphlets that have become out of print. The most important legislation since our last meeting is chapter 529 of the New York Laws of 1889. This goes deeper, and takes a broader view than has been before attempted. It recognizes the best libraries as " colleges for the people," and provides that such as have been inspected and found to meet the standard, shall have in the University Convo- cation a seat of equal rank with the colleges and universities of the State. It gives to the regents, who are the guardians of higher edu- cation in the State, with power to grant, amend, or repeal charters of colleges, the same powers over any libraries which they admit to the University. Such libraries must, like colleges, make an annual sworn statement, in such form as the regents prescribe, and are invested with various privileges in receiving State publications, loans from the State li- brary, etc. A law of great significance and potentiality is that recently passed in Massachusetts, providing State aid for establishing free libraries in all towns that do not already possess them. The effectiveness of this statute must depend on the character of the commission appointed to execute it. The A. L. A., I am sure, will watch its results with great interest. In my State, too, the first library has been organized under the law of 1885. The action taken by the citizens of St. Joseph, Mo., is noteworthy, as furnishing a pleasing and encouraging contrast between the old way and the new. Instead of fitting up rooms and arranging everything so as to make the administration of the library as troublesome and ineffective as possible and handicapping their librarian with conditions which only a new building and a complete reorganization could remedy, their represen- tatives wrote at once to the officers of the Association, asking how they should proceed. They were, of course, advised to choose a competent librarian first, and take all subse- quent steps in consultation with him. They further showed their wisdom in resisting the clamors of local applicants, in determining to get the best, and in offering sufficient induce- ments to secure no less a prize than the Treasurer of the A. L. A. Such action marks the advent of a new era, and is a cause for general felicitation. Two deaths have occurred in our ranks. The last was that of Dr. Edward Aken, of Amherst, N. H., who had done good work in the New Hampshire State Library. The other was that of John N. Dyer, a Councillor of the Association since its organization. In him I mourn the loss of a colleague and friend; and the profession loses one who, in many qualities, may serve as an exemplar. Mr. Dyer was a man of good business judg- ment and remarkably equable temper; and he possessed in the highest degree those essentials to success in the librarian's call- ing indefatigable industry and never-failing courtesy. He had reached the fruition of his life's hopes and endeavors, when he fell a victim to his over-conscientiousness in the discharge of what he believed to be his duty. To the credit of hjs fellow-citizens be it said that the good he did was not interred with his bones. It lives after him in the beautiful structure which owes its existence to his singleness of purpose, and in the hand- some bronze bust which his friends have placed therein to commemorate his twenty- seven years of faithful service. May all such earnest workers meet with the same measure of appreciation ! I desire to express my thanks to all who sent replies to my circular, and to acknowl- edge my indebtedness for the many valuable suggestions they contained. A majority of the recommendations, your Executive Com- mittee has carried out in the arrangements for this meeting. It was impossible to act on all at any one conference. Many were in the form of topics for papers or discussion. These could not all be included in one pro- gram. Others, again, relate to questions of CRUNDEN. policy, which the Association as a whole must determine. The chief of these is whether we shall continue to discuss elementary questions, or assume these to be settled, so far as they can be, and go on to higher things. One writer alone urges the latter course, referring novices to past proceedings and the columns of the Library journal ' ; but the general voice seems to be for more of this discussion of elemen- tary topics. If these suggestions can be taken as an index to the prevailing opinion, it is five to one in favor of the latter policy. The case calls for some nice adjustment ; but it is not so complicated as it appears at first glance. There is no doubt in my mind as to the proper course. We are likely always to have among us a large number of new members. I hope the number of such will increase rapidly, for we should rejoice more over the ten new mem- bers gained than over the one old member whom we know we shall always have with us. A majority of these new members are naturally novices. They are, so to speak, primary pupils. They want to study addi- tion, multiplication, and vulgar fractions. What interest can they have or what profit can they find in the quizzing of our senior wranglers on the intricacies of the differen- tial calculus ? On the other hand, our post- graduates and prizemen cannot be expected to sit contentedly on the hard benches of the lower preparatory forms, listening to an ex- planation of the square of (a + b) or the repetition of Latin paradigms through the whole conference. Clearly, then, the only plan is to arrange a program which shall offer something of interest and profit to all grades and conditions. This your committee has tried to do. The papers and addresses cover a wide range, and contain matters of interest to all from kindergartners to post- graduates ; while under the heading " General questions and informal discussion," which you will find repeated in several sessions, may be brought up any question, however simple, any topic, however elementary, that a member may wish answered or discussed. In deciding the question, how much of our time to give to primary and advanced work, these considerations, it seems to me, should be borne in mind : 1. That, while we are all much beholden to the Association, it is the novices whom it can most benefit, and that the development of the library system of America must depend on the general prevalence of correct methods through- out all our libraries, large and small, rather than on the existence of a few accomplished librarians in the great centers of population. 2. That, while new members can hardly be expected to take much interest in papers and discussions that are, to quote an expression used in more than one of the letters I received, " fired over their heads," older librarians ought, and doubtless do, find great interest and pleas- ure in helping their less experienced brethren to reach conclusions. And, finally, it must not be forgotten that we do not reach conclusions with the cer- tainty of a mathematical demonstration, that new solutions to old problems are constantly arising, and that veterans may sometimes learn from younger men, who approach a given subject without prejudice or prepos- session. In his old age Marshal Wiirmser learned the fundamental principles of the art of war from the youthful Corsican. And here let me urge that no one hesitate to put into the question box any topic on which he desires light. Put in all questions as soon as possible. So far as practicable they will be classified, and announcement will be made of the class of subjects about to be taken up. It is hoped that this special pro- vision for informal discussion will call forth a great deal of that spontaneous interchange of ideas, which is often the most valuable part of a conference. A word of comfort and reassurance to any who may be dismayed by the apparent length of the program. A more careful examination will show thatit is not so formidable as it looks. You will see that the afternoon sessions are given almost exclusively to section meetings, which will leave the great body of members free for excursions and other diversion. Another recommendation sent in response to my request for suggestions relates to a FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. subject which has been under discussion at several meetings. It is that the date of the conference come within the usual summer vacation. This question will necessarily come up Friday morning. I refer to it simply to say that the committee tried to have this meeting called for the first week in September, but found it impossible to secure the nec- essary accommodations for that time. The number of topics suggested for papers and discussions shows how idle was the fear, formerly expressed, that the Association would in a few years run out of subject matter, and must either die or resort to trien- nial or quadrennial sessions. All the suggestions made were good ; and, with regrets that they could not all be em- bodied in action at this meeting, I shall turn them over to the favorable consideration of my successor. And this leads me to a subject of the greatest importance, which I wish to lay before you. The continued growth I may say the very existence of an organization like this requires active work on the part of a permanent officer, who shall conserve all past achievement, and point out the paths of future progress. He must be a man of energy and resource and an enthusiast in the cause for which this Association stands. Such an officer we have had in our Secretary, who initiated the movement that resulted in the formation of the A. L. A., and who has labored faithfully in its interests for fifteen years. Always a busy man, he has lately assumed new duties, which make it impos- sible for him to give as much time to the affairs of the Association as he has done heretofore. He declared to me a few days ago his intention of resigning or declining reelection at this meeting. Since then I have given considerable thought to the ques- tion of supplying his place. While, of course, we have other men competent to fill the posi- tion, I think it is not too much to say that we can hardly find any one able and willing to bestow upon the duties of the office the time and energy which Mr. Dewey has so freely given in the past, not to mention the greater demands which will be made by the future. We can no longer expect Mr. Dewey to perform all the clerical work he has hitherto done for us ; but I hope that we may still retain the benefits of his resource and organ- izing ability, and, above all, his intimate knowledge of the affairs of the Association and his extensive acquaintance with its mem- bers (a knowledge and acquaintance pos- sessed by no one else), by giving him a paid assistant to attend to the clerical details under his direction. I therefore suggest that our present Secretary be reelected, and that a salary, not to exceed $200 a year, be paid to an Assistant Secretary, nominated by him and approved by the Executive Board. If this work could be done as well by dif- ferent persons succeeding each other, such action would not be necessary. The burden might well be borne by each of us in turn for a year; but this plan will not do. We must have a permanent officer who shall be a con- servator of past experience, a depositary of information, and a source of universal refer- ence on all matters relating to the Associa- tion. We can thus centralize the work, and put the responsibility on one person. The great trouble experienced in arranging for this conference arose from the want of some one whose service could be commanded as can only that service which is paid for. The Association has sponged long enough. It has now money in bank and an income sufficient to pay in some measure for the service it requires. If its present revenue is not large enough, it can be made so. My answer to the question, "Where is this proposed allow- ance to come from?" is that a thorough- going, as compared with a partial, attention to our affairs will easily make a difference of $200 in the money receipts. I would, however, further recommend an increase in the dues. On the exact amount of this increase I am not inclined to insist, except that I would make the annual fee $5 to all persons not connected with libraries. For librarians and library trustees, I would suggest the present annual dues, with a $2 entrance fee. I cannot leave this general subject without reference to the valuable work done for years CRUNDEN. 5 by Mr. Davidson. This service has been ren- dered to us individually, contributing greatly to our personal comfort and convenience, at cost of much labor and care, and with little honor and profit to him. There has been, in- deed, no profit, but a direct pecuniary loss to him and the corporation he represents. I trust that the Association will not fail to ex- press its appreciation of this service in an em- phatic manner. Permit me to make one more suggestion. It is that we all do our utmost to encourage every cooperative scheme. In no other way, I think, can we do more for our respective li- braries and for the library cause. I hope we shall hear from Mr. Lamed further particulars concerning a plan, proposed by a gentleman in Buffalo, for the collection and distribution of the reports and publications of charity or- ganizations and benevolent institutions. I fear it has fallen through for want of adequate support. If so, it illustrates the shortcoming with which we, as a whole, are fairly charge- able. In urging this, I do but ask you to do yourselves a favor. " T is as I should entreat you wear your gloves, ' Or feed on nourishing dishes, or keep you warm, Or sue to you to do a peculiar profit To your own person." The program of this conference marks a new departure in its provision for section meetings. The extension of this feature will serve to harmonize conflicting views on the character of topics for debate, to which I have before referred. The process of dif- ferentiation will probably go on until ulti- mately half our time will be given to meetings of sections, so arranged that no one need be perplexed by discussions beyond his range, or wearied and bored by those on questions aside from his interests or on others which he settled for himself years ago. I am particularly pleased to have the Asso- ciation of State Librarians with us, and to witness the inauguration of a movement to form State library associations. An active, wide-awake State librarian, gathering about him the librarians of his State, can do much to awaken general recognition of the impor- tance of libraries in a system of public educa- tion, to shape legislation, to influence public opinion, and to direct the current of private philanthropy in such a way as to promote the development of the free public library, which must eventually take its place by the side of the free public school, and which is already recognized by such thoughtful students as the late Prof. Jevons as the most effective of all means of social amelioration. I trust that the number and strength of these State associations will rapidly increase ; and I hope, too, that they will endeavor to hold meetings annually with the A. L. A. If, free from all exigencies of place and accommodation, it were left to me to fix a date for our annual conference, I should choose this time of year, when we can meet fresh from our vacations (except the President and the Secretary), and go back to our regular work full of that enthusiasm which is knowl- edge and strength combined. I trust that the present meeting will be fruitful of good to all of us ; that we shall return to our homes eager to embody in action the ideals which the fervor of associated effort and the flash of sympathetic contact have made clearer, more real to our vision. FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. CLASSIFICATION FROM THE READER'S POINT OF VIEW. BY W: E. FOSTER, LIBRARIAN PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY. T IBRARIANS have sometimes been re- proached with forgetting that the system of classification is or should be made for the reader not the reader for the system. In other words, the system of classification is a means to an end, not the end itself. We do not believe that this important principle has been very widely lost sight of by li- brarians. Nevertheless, it may be well for us to turn our attention to it for a short time to-day, particularly in some of its practical bearings. One antidote which ought always to be effectual in counteracting any tendency to regard classification as apart from any rela- tion to the use to be made of it by readers, is the fact that the librarian himself is a reader, and that he not unfrequently has occasion to appear in the character of a reader, rather than an official, at libraries other than his own. Nor does he always appear in the same character. Indeed, he is something of a Pro- teus. Sometimes he merely runs in to turn to a book of reference, and slip out again. Sometimes he goes to ascertain whether some specific book possibly a book coming under the description of light reading is in. Some- times he conies with a list of three or four or five books which are all he wishes to see. At other times, indeed, he is the true student, and requires to see, if possible, all that the library contains on the subject in question. There is really no reason, then, why, in decid- ing on this or that detail in the plan of classification at his own library, he should not be able to put himself in the reader's place, and see the subject with his eyes. Now, it is probably beyond question that skill and intelligence in working out a classification system were never known to be inherent reasons for its non-adaptedness to the reader. The non-adaptedness if it exist exists simply from a failure to connect the system with what are the reader's specific needs at the particular time under consider- ation. If he is coming for a copy of " Lorna Doone," and going out immediately if that is not in, an elaborate system is of no special use to him. A dictionary catalogue will serve his purpose better. Again, if, having read one of Tolstoi's books, he has simply a desire to get others by the same author, the dictionary catalogue will be his best reliance. Suppose, however, that his desire is not at all of this nature, but to obtain and use materials bearing on a given subject, it then becomes of the highest importance to us to dis- cover in what way best to serve his purpose. Let us clear a path by suggesting a few general principles. One of these is that it is useless to expect that individual minds will ever move in pre- cisely the same grooves in planning systems of classification, considered as logical crea- tions of the mind. As many as are the classifiers, so many will be your different systems. But the converse of this is equally impor- tant ; namely, that in order to use as a tool any system of classification, which is not needlessly obscure, one does not need to master the system, but only turn to its key, the subject index. The criticism, therefore, that you cannot expect the average reader at a public library to have exhaustively studied all classification theories has no weight. Again, as our associate Mr. Fletcher has well pointed out, so long as books are made up as they now are in innumerable in- stances made up of material on many different subjects, instead of on the plan of one subject to any given book, there is no such thing as an absolute classification of the contents of the library on the shelves. It is not possible to point to shelf after shelf, all through the library, and say : " Here you will find all that the library contains on the subject you wish." FOSTER. And yet, conversely, it does not follow from this that, by flying to the other extreme, and giving the books little or no classification on the shelf, you most perfectly serve the inquirer's purpose. If you are on a train running from New York to Chicago, and you wish to communicate for a moment with your friend, and find that he is not in the same car with you, it is something to be thankful for, is it not, if he is in another car of the same train, and that a vestibule-train, rather than on another train on a different railroad. Once more, a subject catalogue, while fur- nishing a certain assistance, cannot do all that a bibliography can, both because the latter confines itself to one subject, and does that exhaustively, and because the library of which it is a catalogue may lack some of the more fundamentally important works on the subject. Yet, conversely, as a guide to the shelves of the particular library which the reader is using, the service rendered by a subject catalogue has its own unquestionable value. Mr. Cutter's recent instance of etherization, in the Library journal, is a strikingly appo- site case in point. Moreover, in libraries other than its own, the subject catalogue fulfills a constant and indispensable service, by supplementing and complementing the less minute treatment adopted in the local catalogue, by permitting at one glance a view of many different sub-kingdoms of the gen- eral domain of knowledge, impossible in a separate bibliography, and in general by supplying an additional and reserve source of information to appeal to; just as in looking up the name of some public character in a biographical dictionary, the cataloguer is never known to complain of having too many different biographical dictionaries accessible, but not infrequently too few. These are the three main points under which this subject presents itself to the reader the scheme of classification not his own but the cataloguer's, and yet the key to it in his own hands ; the arrangement of the books on the shelves a close classification or the reverse; and the public catalogue of the library a subject catalogue or otherwise. And here, before we advance farther in our consideration of the subject, we find that we must face the subject of access to the shelves by the readers. All librarians are looking with undisguised interest at the experiment which Mr. Poole is about undertaking; they have read with scarcely less interest the account which Mr. Brett has recently given of his practical application of the principle at Cleveland. There is perhaps little doubt that in the future there will be decidedly more, rather than less, freedom of access to the shelves by readers, even in the larger libraries. Moreover, if we assume, in our consideration of the question of classification, access to the shelves by the reader, rather than the reverse, we cover both cases, in reality ; for even in those instances where the reader does not personally visit the shelves, he does so vicariously, so to speak, in the person of the librarian or assistant who looks up the subject for him. Once more, if we are to assume in our consideration of this question the conditions represented by the reader requiring most, rather than least, assistance, we adopt the principle which should govern. As in the case of a water supply contained in a reservoir, if the reser- voir contains too little water for the demand, the remedy is not an easy one. If, however, it contains too much, nothing is easier than to shut it off at a point exactly proportioned to the demand. I propose now to take up in succession a few applications actually made, during recent weeks, by readers at the library with whose workings I am the most familiar, which may fairly be considered typical of the different va- rieties represented. They will, I think, throw important light on the point which I wish to make prominent. No. i. A reader wishes to use whatever relates to electric motors. He can find the entry of this subject in the subject index, and is, therefore, readily enough guided to the page of the classed catalogue, where works on this subject are entered. He finds the classification a sufficiently close one to give him these en tries by themselves, instead of being mingled in with others on the electric light, electro- 8 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. metallurgy, etc., and in this way his time is saved, and his researches are expedited. Moreover, it so happens that he is one of those readers who are admitted to access to the shelves. He finds the arrangement on the shelves of inestimable service to him, so far as it goes. That is to say, he finds it a help that these works on electric motors stand by themselves on the shelves, and yet with the works on other applications of elec- tricity in close proximity. But, as Mr. Fletcher reminds us, in consequence of the failure of grouping in volumes, to correspond to abstract classification, he finds it necessary to go a little farther away for the equally essential material on his subject in files of electrical periodicals, and still farther away for that in the more general periodicals, in works of reference, volumes of scientific and other essays, pamphlets, etc. Here, of course, is where he appreciates the service of a sub- ject catalogue, which brings all this material together under his eye on a single page. He would appreciate also a separate bibliography devoted to electric motors, but he may not have this wish gratified. It may happen, how- ever, that the librarian has, within a day or two, posted a special list of references on this very subject, and this he, of course, makes use of. His access to the shelves, serviceable as it is, he finds it an advantage to supplement (and this, I think, we must regard as the ideal form in which to apply this important princi- ple), by the use of a special study-room, di- rectly adjacent to the book shelves, but where he can have books, etc., as above indicated, brought to him from all parts of the book- cases, by the library attendants. That is to say, he must have his own use of the shelves supplemented by that of the library attendants, especially in such a case as this of electric motors, where the reader or student, who is making any serious study of the subject, cares almost as much for what is to be found under electricity as a natural force (that is, natural science), and for works on railway transportation in general (that is, social science), in their bearings on his own subject, as he does for those on his subject (which is a matter of applied or practical science). Once more, in the case of a subject which is gath- ering volume, and growing almost appreciably from day to day, as in any one of these ap- plications of electricity, he will certainly do well to consult with the librarian, who, no doubt, can tell him of some patent specifica- tion, or annual report, or newspaper hearing, or testimony of an expert, which has come to hand even since the list of references was posted. That is to say, he must have all his own care and observation and familiarity sup- plementedand complemented by the librarian's. No. 2. A reader desires to construct some representation of the so-called ceremony of the " Marriage of the Adriatic," at Venice, by the study of Venetian costumes, vessels, scenery, etc. He is observed to have before him a certain number of volumes, all on Ven- ice. So far as this, the subject index has helped him, but it leaves him still unsatisfied. The librarian gladly undertakes to supple- ment the incomplete work of classification system, arrangement on shelves, subject catalogues, bibliographies, etc., for this is a case where the two last mentioned would not extend their aid, and, by searching through indexes to contents of picture galleries, in- dexes to bound volumes of the Art Journal, etc., works descriptive of the paintings of Turner and other artists, works on the tradi- tions of mediaeval Europe, etc., finally places in the hands of the inquirer all that he re- quires. Here, again, all that the general sys- tems of assistance can possibly do needs to be supplemented by specific assistance di- rectly adapted to the individual reader. No. 3. The applicant is an officer of a local School of Design, and wishes to have before him all that the library can yield, on neck- laces, particularly those of the bead descrip- tion, for the purpose of comparative studies of design. He may or may not find the subject index serviceable here. He will cer- tainly find access to the shelves of inestimable service. He will especially appreciate a close- ness of classification which not only places works on design apart from those on the more technical discussions of art, but those on de- sign in objects of ornament apart from those on architectural design, and which, moreover, FLETCHER. separates those on costume proper from all the other varieties. At the same time, the benefit of having these various gradations of the subject more or less directly at hand, that he may refer back to them, in his compara- tive studies, is fully appreciated. No doubt, therefore, his consultation and study of Raci- net, Kretschmer and Rohrbach, Gerlach, and others, will be full of benefit to him ; but you may be assured that he will least of all regret having asked the librarian for additional sug- gestions, which shall bring to supplement those just named, such works from other portions of the library as Schliemann's " Tiryns," Dennis's " Etruria," Jacquemart, Perrot and Chipiez, files of Gewerbehalle, L 1 Art pour Tous, Artistic Japan, etc. Once more, what the inquirer needs, is all the as- sistance that he can derive from all sources. The reply, over and over again, to readers at my own library, who hesitatingly inquire how many books they are at liberty to ask to have brought them, to look over in the library, is, as many as they wish 100 or 200, even, if necessary. What, then, is our conclusion from this brief study of specific instances ? What does the putting ourselves at the reader's point of view lead us to infer as to methods of classification, arrangement, and cata- loguing? In brief, this: Let the reader whose need is limited to finding a specific thing be able to find it by that ready refer- ence, the " dictionary arrangement." Let the reader whose need is that of the literature of a subject find the library classified by a com- prehensive system, sufficiently closely classi- fied to respond to his varying needs, supplied with a subject index, as a ready key to the whole, arranged on the shelves with as close an approach to correspondence to abstract classification as is found practicable, and the shelves accessible to the intelligent student wherever practicable. But even if he has all these, the reader must still have them, plus the privilege of a special study-room where the bringing of books from other por- tions of the library may correct the inade- quacy of shelf arrangement already referred to; plus the helps furnished by bibliographies in supplying a bird's-eye view of the subject, not possible in this particular library ;- plus the helps supplied by subject catalogues, for subjects on which no bibliographies have been printed ; plus all reference lists and other miscellaneous varieties of help and even this is not sufficient, unless we add, also, plus the librarian himself, that he may correct and supplement all deficiencies and inade- quacies of the various kinds specifically men- tioned above, by his own trained, interested, and effectual service of the reader. THE PROPER LIGHTING OF LIBRARY ROOMS. BY W: I. FLETCHER, LIBRARIAN OF AMHERST COLLEGE LIBRARY. T ET there be light ! " was the first creative word, and from that time to this, who- ever would accomplish any work worth doing, must have light. There are deeds of darkness, and men who love darkness, rather than light; but these are evil men and deeds. Good men are children of the day, and good deeds are best done with the fullest light. And there are many kinds of work that make special de- mands in this line. Among them, foremost I might have said, is work with books. This has always been recognized. From the first, schoolrooms and libraries were well supplied with large windows. An ancient engraving of the library of the University at Leyden shows a room in the form of a parallelogram, fully twice the height of the book-cases it contains (which, by the way, are arranged in two rows down the room, as in our modern libraries), the upper half of the side walls being full of large windows. Most libraries built with alcoves have had a good window in each alcove, so that the books were superabundantly lighted, the reading- tables in the middle of the room taking their leavings. But with the rapid growth of libra- IO FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. ries in recent years, and the consequent de- mand, especially in the cities, for economy of room, the wall space which would otherwise have been taken for windows, has been pre- empted by shelving, and light has been intro- duced at the top of the room, where shelving cannot be put by any device yet known, even to the Library Bureau. But roof light has its disadvantages; and, with the advent of the electric light, daylight has come to be at a dis- count with some librarians, the proposition be- ing gravely made and entertained, to dispense with it altogether as a means of lighting book- shelving. In Mr. Cutter's apocalyptic vision of the Buffalo library in 1983, he saw that there was no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to give light therein, for the electric light was there in all its glory. It is my present purpose to answer the question, " Shall daylight be abolished ? " and, answering it in the negative, to indicate how it may best be made available in rooms used for the storage of books. The coming man, as viewed in the light of current tendencies in civilization, is not an attractive figure. It has been demonstrated by our scientific friends that he will be sans hair, sans teeth, sans eyesight. The coming bookworm, built in this way, will, of course, work in the library at noonday by the electric light. But, after all, are we content to let this coming man hasten his coming? Some of us hope not to live to see him. We would rather place obstacles in his way. We would study the requirements of nature, and try to reintroduce the natural man, who seems to be disappearing, rather than give way to the reign of artificialism. To this end we are putting into our schoolrooms furniture calculated to check the stooping habit, so productive of myopia. Medicine is being reduced to a system of nature-aiding; and the remedies of nature, so finely set forth by Dr. Oswald a few years since, are the coming pharmacopeia. That which is natural, which smacks of out-doors and the clear sky, is recognized as more wholesome for both body and mind than the artificial, even though some of our devices "beat natur'all holler." This temper of mind prepares us to demand daylight in our libraries, as being worth the sacrifice of other apparent advantages. We may well say, " Give us daylight, even if we have fewer books, or have to travel farther to find them." After all, it is to compactness of storage that daylight has generally been sacri- ficed, and this needlessly. It might as well be frankly confessed here, that this paper is but another plea for a certain method of library construction ; namely, that so ably ad- vocated by Dr. Poole, and now so well exem- plified in the new building at Yale University. Approaching it from our present point of view, we recognize in this construction the ideal method of lighting book-shelving. It fur- nishes light in the form in which it is most useful ; namely, in a diffused form. Large side windows let too strong a light upon the books near them, to their decided injury. Roof light is not available in the lower part of a high building, and in the upper part it is accompanied by roof heat. Floors of per- forated iron or of heavy glass are only mod- erately translucent. In the central portion of a large stack, what do we find for light ? Looking directly upwards, we see that a few broken pencils of light reach our eye from the skylight. But when these touch the backs of the books, it is only vertically, and they give little help in reading their titles. From the large side windows, light is poured in abun- dantly ; but twenty feet away from the side of the room, one looks at the windows as a per- son standing in a tunnel looks out through its mouth. Not much of the light from the en- trance rests upon the side walls ; or, where it does, it is so lateral that its effect is confus- ing, rather than illuminating. So in these passages in the stack. There may be " all out doors " at the end of the passage, but, reaching the books only laterally, it does not make it easy, a few feet away into the pas- sage, to read their titles. One thus comes to see that the proper lighting of shelves is not a question of the way in which light shall be introduced in rays or streams, for neither vertical, lateral, or slanting streams of light will fall upon the backs of all the volumes in closely placed cases in such a way as to fairly light them up. By FLETCHER. ii only one method can this be accomplished, and that is by diffusion. And only one way of providing this diffused light between cases placed in rows has been suggested, and that is the method of construction I am advocat- ing, by means of which an ample space above the cases is flooded with light, which diffuses itself through the spaces between the book cases, and lights every part nearly evenly. It is not claimed that any room, even on this plan, gets a good supply of daylight in all weath- ers ; but this is the one known way by which what daylight there is can be appropriated. A room 60 feet wide can be well filled with diffused light by windows, 6 to 8 feet high, placed at the top of the side walls as thick as they can be placed without taking out too much of the wall. In the new Yale building they are not over 6 feet high, and occupy about one-half the wall space laterally. I am not sure, from an examination of those rooms, that the light is ample. The window area could easily have been 50 per cent greater, and then I feel sure it would be. The diffusion of the light, or, rather, its reflection downwards, is aided there, as it should always be, by white ceilings. Of course the near proximity of other high buildings will render nugatory almost any pro- vision for window light. But no library build- ing of any importance should be erected with- out at least two sides free from the possibility of the near approach of other buildings. In the larger cities, with the modern tendency to erect much higher buildings without widen- ing the streets, windows on the street may not be very productive of light in the lower sto- ries. But it is being shown by the Mercantile Library building in St. Louis, and the one now about erecting for the New York Mer- cantile, that a half-million volumes can be ac- commodated in the upper stories of a moder- ately high building. It may yet appear that the modern rapid-running elevator sets the key for city-library architecture more than any other influence whatever. The demand for a good diffusion of light among books in situ on the shelves, turns to some extent, it must be admitted, on the methods of use in vogue. If readers are confined to reading-rooms, and only attendants frequent the shelves, a good light there seems less essential. Even then, however, it is very desirable for the avoidance of the mistakes so constantly oc- curring, where attendants get and replace books in the dark. An electric light which can be turned on at any moment is only a partial, remedy, as an attendant, with hands occupied, will often work in the dark, to avoid the slight trouble of turning the button and handling the light. But the whole idea of library books being stored away in places whence they are to be brought to readers one or two at a time is falling into discredit. In the reports of some college libraries, special emphasis is, nowa- days, laid on the increase, year by year, of admissions to the shelves. In many of the public libraries, while the general access of the public to the shelves is not thought of, provision is made for those specially needing such access for purposes of study to have it. More and more students perceive the value of, and demand, opportunities for the use of books where they stand. Especially is this true if the classification is what it should be, and one can expect to find together the books on a given subject. If I am not mistaken, the genius of our public-library system, as so well set forth by the remarks of Senator Patterson at the open- ing of this conference, favors this idea of access to the book shelves for the student. It is safe to predict that there will be a con- stant increase of shelf use of our libraries, and to assert that it is a mistake to erect a new library building regardless of the exigen- cies of this use. One of the first of these exigencies is abundant and well-distributed light. Another is, room to work among the books. These combine to protest against an excessive economy of room in library build- ings. It ought to be accepted as an axiom in library architecture, as in all other, that room can be provided for all necessary pur- poses. When so necessary purposes as good light, comfortable temperature, and decent ventilation demand room, they can have it, whether in dwelling, school, or library. 12 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. REPORT ON LIBRARY ARCHITECTURE. BY H: M. UTLEY, LIBRARIAN DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY. HP* HERE is a story, probably of antediluvian origin, of a man who went forth to lecture on the subject of intemperance, and took along his brother, a picturesque drunkard, whom he exhibited as a " frightful example." In li- brary architecture it is not necessary to seek far to find things to be avoided ; for even in these modern times inexperienced, though well-meaning, architects and building com- mittees have erected library buildings that are little less than monstrosities. I visited one a few years ago that comes near deserv- ing this classification. It was built at public expense and at considerable cost. It con- sisted of a single room, with one gallery about nine feet above the floor. The books were arranged about the walls and in the gallery. There was a desk at one side, at which the public applied for books, being separated from the cases by a railing which ran between the posts which supported the gallery. There was no place for the librarian to sit down, or even to hang his hat; there was no place for the library assistants to deposit their umbrellas or to wash their hands. In fact, there was not a single one of the many conveniences necessary for doing the work of the library no place for unpacking, classifying, and cataloguing books ; no place for labelling, numbering, repairing books ; no place for reading or for anything except taking books from the shelves and handing them to applicants, or reversing the process. The people who contrived the build- ing apparently acted on the theory that this was the only thing to be done in a library. They grossly misappropriated even the space at their disposal, for they left the room open to a lofty ceiling, instead of converting their gallery into a second floor, which would have nearly doubled the floor area of the building. Then, with a few partitions they might have provided convenient rooms for all the various purposes desired. But they left the librarian and attendants to improvise the necessary conveniences as best they might. The li- brarian drove a nail into a window casing upon which to hang his hat ; he drove nails into the book cases upon which the attendants hung their wraps ; he put a table into one corner for his own seat, and into another for his cataloguer ; he fixed up a dark basement for a reading-room. If these people had been building a stable , they would have had some idea what was wanted ; but of a library they had no knowledge whatever. It is to be feared that there is more than one library in this country, fair without and impressive to look upon, but within as ill-contrived for its purposes as possibly could be. There is fashion in library architecture, as in other things. Probably it would be a better statement of this idea to say that there is a prevailing style, which varies at different periods. There was an era of the gothic cathedral style ; the interior one large and lofty room with galleries, and the books arranged in alcoves along the walls. This style is no longer popular. In some eastern cities where they have more churches than they know what to do with, it happens sometimes, even now-a- days, that they convert an old church into a library. The main floor and the galleries are utilized for book cases. But the old shell is usually supplemented by a modern wing, with reading-rooms, work-rooms and offices, for the convenience of all concerned. In this arrange- ment there is immense waste of room. But we cannot be altogether divorced from tradition, and it is not strange that some peo- ple should consider an old church just the thing for a library, especially if they cannot do better. In some western cities it is a popular expedient to move the library into the city hall, which is usually a central and com- modious building. This may answer as a temporary device, pending the construction of proper quarters. I have in mind a narrow UTLEY. escape from an attempt to remodel an old municipal building for library purposes. Fort- unately the trustees gave the matter a sober second thought, razed the old building, and commenced their new structure with the foundation. The current idea as to style of architecture for libraries of moderate dimensions is the Romanesque, generally modified in some particulars ; material, stone of two contrasting colors, or brick and stone ; roof, tile or slate. The interior shows a handsome vestibule, spacious hallway and offices for the librarian and cataloguers. There are separate reading- rooms for men and women and a room devoted to the public who seek books that circulate. All these are, or should be, on the ground floor. Usually provision is made in the basement for packing-room, with lift to the cataloguer's room, directly above it, as well as for heating apparatus and fuel storage. The second story is usually arranged for a lecture hall and art gallery, with possibly special reading and study rooms for seminary work, which is becoming one of the features of intellectual development in connection with enterprising libraries. The books themselves are stored compactly in closely arranged stacks, generally two stories of 7^ to 8 feet each in height. This stack-room is a rear wing of brick, severely plain both without and within, lighted by lofty windows, and separated from the main edifice by very solid walls, as security in case of fire. The book wing is properly so planned that it can be extended as the increase in number of books demands more room, while the front or main portion of the building remains unchanged. It is the book-quarters which are con- stantly crowding. If the library is to grow, wise foresight makes provision, not only for a reasonable period in the future, but plans for all possible enlargement without disturbing the general arrangement. I have in mind a building erected for a library, which was planned with a capacity of five times the number of volumes then on hand. This seemed at the time to be an immense number of books, and the date when that number would be reached appeared in the dim and hazy future so remote that it was not worth considering. Accordingly no possible loop- hole was left after the limit has been reached. The trustees must either destroy all that has been built, and begin anew, or they must erect a new and separate building, and divide the books, very greatly to the detriment of the interests of the library and its patrons. It is one of the advantages of the stack system, almost universally adopted in recent buildings, that it admits of indefinite expan- sion at a minimum of cost and inconvenience. A novelty in the stack, understood to be the suggestion of Prof. Dewey, has been adopted by the architects of the Albright Library, at Scran ton, Pa. The first floor of the stack- room is dropped 3^ feet below the delivery desk floor. The stacks are 7 feet high, and consequently the upper stack is 3^ feet above the delivery floor. This affords great convenience in taking books from the stack to the delivery desk or in returning them, as they can be handed by the attendant to the delivery clerk, or vice -versa, without making use of elevators. The facts gathered for this report show that the library interests of this country are advancing. The report presented last year by Mr. Van Name covered the ground very completely, and made mention of a large number of building enterprises then in con- templation or in progress. This confines me to strictly new projects, since I have not thought it worth while to further discuss any of the buildings heretofore mentioned. It is necessarily the case that important and exten- sive ones occupy several years in construc- tion, but, having "been once described, the limits of an annual report forbid repetition. Dealing, therefore, with the new enter- prises, I have specifically mentioned some forty, the aggregate cost of which exceeds $3,000,000. A considerable proportion of this sum is made up by the buildings of the Mercantile libraries of New York and San Francisco and the Public library of St. Louis, which are in a certain sense business schemes ; that is, the buildings are designed to produce a revenue from commercial uses and only incidentally for library purposes, though they FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. are none the less admirably adapted to such purposes. It is worthy of mention that activity in li- brary matters is confined to no section of the country, but prevails in the new states of the extreme west and in Canada, as well as in New England and in the central states. Com- paratively few in number, though some of the chiefest in importance, of the enterprises mentioned, are prosecuted with public funds. In several instances the municipality coop- erates with private munificence in furnishing a site, or in assuming to undertake and per- praiseworthy spirit of enlightened individual liberality mentioned in earlier reports on this subject, and more completely covered by another report at this meeting, is shown throughout the whole land. Men and women of wealth are founding in the places of their birth or residence perpetual memorials of themselves or members of their families, in the form of libraries. Best of all, these noble establishments or endowments are not now- a-days left as bequests to the tender mer- cies of heirs and executors, but are ante- mortem gifts, whose fruition the benefactors themselves in some measure share. petuate plans originated by others. The The detailed accounts of the buildings, which were not read at the Conference, will be published by the Bureau of Education, and should be bound at the end of this volume. REPORT ON GIFTS AND BEQUESTS. BY CAROLINE M. HEWINS, LIBRARIAN HARTFORD LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. T AST June, 800 postal cards, asking for statements of gifts and bequests received, were sent to the libraries in the United States reporting 5,000 or more volumes in the Library journal for January, 1887 and 1889. Only about 200 of these libraries have answered the cards. Some request more definite information as to whether all gifts, or only gifts of money, are to be counted. Others write, " no gifts, no bequests." Many send minute particulars, many more only vague generalities. Some tabulate their statements, others scatter them through let- ters of several pages. From these answers, and the files of the Library journal, some incomplete returns have been gathered. Many of the largest and best-endowed libra- ries in the country are yet to be heard from. Those from which reports have been gathered show that they have received $22,043,997.63 in money, and 268,401 volumes. In many cases, there is a delicious vagueness in the answers. One librarian reports, " Gifts of books, in the last few years, enough to make a library of respectable size." (Opinions vary concerning the stage at which the size of a library reaches respectability, and the imagination of the reader may play anywhere between the limits of ten volumes and 10,000.) The gifts, not uncommon in our New Eng- land libraries, of five, or ten, or twenty, or fifty thousand "dollars, look small beside the millions of Andrew Carnegie, John Crerar, Walter Newberry, Dr. James Rush, or our loved and honored brother, Lloyd P. Smith. These lesser gifts, however, must be held in grateful remembrance. They often reveal much of the giver's personality, tastes, and habits. It is a wise, far-seeing man of busi- ness who makes the provision that only three fourths of the income of his bequest shall be spent, and the other fourth added to the prin- cipal for a specified number of years. This is the best form in which a library can receive a gift. An old lady, living in a Massachusetts country town, left to the town library $2,000, all she had; another the income of $1,000, specifying, as Mr. Crerar did, that it was for purchasing books of a good moral character. One librarian suggests that, if her library were named for the town and not for the giver, it would receive more books. This is worth consideration. A building named in honor of the rich man who has founded it, or GREEN. the member of his family to whom he wishes to erect a memorial, never has the same hold upon the people of a town or city as the simple "Free Library" or "Public Library." Let his name be perpetuated in a hall, a collection, or an alcove ; but, unless he gives a sum which will keep the library in good condition, it is better that it should be known as the gift of Mr. Rindge is in Cambridge, by the name of the city. It is to be desired that librarians should urge the endowment of special alcoves or the purchase of special collections. Most libra- ries are cramped and crippled, unable to keep up with the newest works on any subject. Let the man who has $20,000 to give, endow an alcove of science, or history, or whatever subject he pleases, and allow one fourth of the income to accumulate, and he will do a library more lasting benefit than if he gave a building, or spent the whole of the money at once in books. The replies from the libraries, which were not read at the Conference, will be published by the Bureau of Education, and should be bound at the end of this volume. LIBRARY EXPERTS THEIR RIGHTS AND DUTIES. BY MISS H. E. GREEN, ASSISTANT, BOSTON ATHENAEUM. / T*HE ordinary dictionary definition of the word expert, used as a substantive is "one taught by use, practice, or experience." It seems to me that this is not quite enough; that it takes something more than experience alone to make a thorough expert. We have all, probably, seen, in various libraries with which we are acquainted, sundry persons of many long years' experience, if that were all, whose opinion no one would consider of any value, except, perhaps, in mere matters of fact, who have plodded along for years in the same rut, doing the same work, day after day, in the same perfunctory way, never think- ing of the reason for its being done in that manner, never improving on the old methods, and resenting the smallest attempt at change, because it involves the labor of accepting a new idea. Who would think of considering these as anything but fossil remains ? A better definition seems to be, " one thoroughly versed or skilled in any depart- ment of science or art ;" and, in the legal sense, " one possessing a knowledge of any subject greater than can be possessed by men in general." Both these definitions embrace the first one ; the knowledge must be neces- sarily based on experience, and on principles which have been tried and tested bv its light. J O The true expert, taught both by general knowl- edge, and by use, practice, and experience in applying it, not to one system alone, but to the best parts of as many as exist, has clear and well-defined reasons on which his prin- ciples rest. He does a thing in a certain way, not because he has always seen it done so, but because he has looked into the results of such a method, and, either by his own or others' experience, has found it best adapted to the end he has in view. And so he is able to accomplish whatever work he has in charge with the greatest thoroughness and economy, not of money alone, but of time, which is money, though, as every one knows, it does not always appear in the accounts ; he does not fall into the error of doing work which afterward turns out to be worthless. I have seen hundreds perhaps I might say, thousands of dollars as absolutely wasted as if they had been thrown into the fire, in doing a large quantity of work in a certain way, which was, a few years afterward, abolished, and every bit of it pulled out and destroyed. And it says a great deal for the progress of library science in the last twenty years, that the gentlemen by whose authority, and under whose direction, this work was done, were, at that time, considered experts than whom there were none greater. But they were not experti of this method ; they had not tried i6 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. it; they could evolve the system only out of their own inner consciousness, and it failed. Some people seem to use the word expert in the sense of a person who has studied any subject, no matter how short a time or how superficially. Not long ago, it was said to me> in speaking of some young man, " Oh, he is a chemical expert; he has been through the course at the Institute of Technology!'' Granting that the student had made the best possible use of his opportunities, I think no one who understood the meaning of words would take the one to be the consequence of the other. I have more than once been asked, when applied to for some piece of catalogue work which I had to refuse, " Could not we get a real expert from the Library School?" and I have had to reply that the Library School did not supply real experts. And I think, in this careless understanding of the idea, lies a danger for the school, even among its friends the danger of expecting too much. It turns out its students, just ready to begin the work of making themselves experts ; it gives them the thorough grounding in all the details of library work, which enables them to form opinions and principles, to be tested by after experience, which no working in one well-defined rut of any one library could give, in much more than the two years devoted to the school. But it cannot do more ; and this idea is constantly impressed on the pupils by the authorities of the school, who never lose an opportunity of inculcating this idea. An expert is not made by theories ; the familiarity with the practical results of differ- ent systems of work, which gives the power to extract and combine the best parts of each, to suit the needs of different surroundings, must come from the actual, practical, varied experience and responsibility of each person. I do not wish to convey the idea that none of the graduates of the Library School are fitted to undertake any work on their own responsi- bility. Not at all ; some of them have filled the posts to which they were appointed in the most satisfactory manner. Neither would I say that the very best among them have ever seemed to me in the least inclined to pose as experts ; on the contrary, they are apt to err on the side of too much diffidence. I think that, in cases where the personal re- sponsibility is an important one, there is a risk in entrusting it to a person who has not given proofs of excellence in that particular line of work. The student leaves the school, perhaps to take the whole responsibility of some library, or department of a library, where, little as he or she knows, in compari- son with the whole amount which needs to be known, it is more than the knowledge pos- sessed by any one else in the vicinity, even by those in authority. Work that is never criti- cised is seldom perfect ; the worker makes the blunders of inexperience, and, for want of a competent authority, these blunders repeat themselves. This danger seems to me greater in my own special line of work dictionary cataloguing than in any other. A dictionary catalogue is very much a thing of tradition ; that is, its headings are determined, in the majority of cases, by the usages of libraries whose cata- logues have been printed, and can be consulted. But it is impossible for the printed catalogue of a library large enough to be a model to others to keep up with the times ; and so the inexperienced worker is left, in many cases, without a precedent, and makes mistakes which are repeated, and, in time, -crystallize themselves, until the librarian awakes to the consciousness that some parts of his cata- logue are in a state of confusion, which it will take much time and money to set straight. I have seen some of my own pupils appointed to positions, to the needs of which, I felt sure, they were incompetent. Fortunately, my opinion was not asked on the subject ; and until a library examiner is appointed by the government to examine into the affairs of libraries, as a bank examiner does into those of financial institutions, it is very possible this incompetency may never be discovered ; and, if it is, I think the responsibility should rest with the authorities who were ignorant of the requirements of the case, and not with the Library School, which sent the best material it had, or the graduates, whose only fault was the lack of the experience, which no training school on earth could give. GREEN. An expert should have the courage of his opinions, and be ready to resist any undue interference with his work. There are many details in the arrangement and administration of a library, which are, after all, only matters of taste ; and in these a person of tact will know when to yield. But in matters affect- ing the real advantage of the library and its constituency, I believe in the expert standing by his colors, and maintaining the principles on whose justice he is, more than any one else, qualified to decide. I know a young woman I am proud to say, a pupil of the Library School who was employed to cata- logue and arrange a library. Her employer, one of those worthy persons whose principal idea of the arrangement of books is to have them look pretty, and who thinks that any- body can learn in a week to take charge of them, almost insisted on her doing her work in a certain way. My young friend, who had borne without question various things of which she did not approve, but in which, as she said, there was no real principle involved, at last resisted, and informed her employer that there was a right and a wrong way to do most things, and that, for the good of the library and her own professional reputation, she could not consent to the wrong way, as long as she had the responsibility of the work; she preferred to give it up entirely. The employer had the good sense to yield, and I believe the work was properly finished. It seems to me not only the right but the duty of the expert, for his own dignity and that of the whole profession, to resist non- professional interference in technical matters, which it is his business to know and judge of better than any one outside. The trustees of a hospital, when they have placed at the head of it a physician of whose character and general practice they approve, are not ex- pected to interfere with details of internal management, which can be settled by medical authority alone. They do not think of going into the wards, and issuing independent orders to the nurses as to the feeding and band- aging the patients, or the ventilation of the rooms. A member, even the chairman of the Congressional Committee on naval or military affairs, does not take it upon himself to interfere in the details of fitting out a frigate or garrisoning a military post. Yet I have seen just such interference as this exercised in the interior details of libraries, in some of whose departments the condition of the work has been assisted some distance toward a state of chaos by the unpractical and igno- rant interference of trustees, and, it must be confessed, the want of energy and decision of the executive heads. I hope to see the day when the legislative and executive branches of the government of a library will be as distinct in their authority as the re- spective branches of the State and national governments, and when it shall be as much a matter of course for the librarian to see and maintain the limits of his exclusive authority, as to be thoroughly acquainted with the details of his administration. One of the duties very often expected of a library expert, and one of the most difficult and least appreciated, is the training and education of local talent to take his place and carry on the work which he has begun. The persons who have it in charge to open to their community a well-arranged and useful library, can very seldom be made to see that one skilled permanent assistant will save the institution, in actual dollars and cents, the pay of two or three ignorant ones, who very often obtain their places through the influence of local politics, or the fear of the trustees of making themselves unpopular. And this raw material, often of the most hopeless description, must be worked over by the un- happy expert, in the time, always short enough, allowed for the task of bringing the library itself into condition to be thrown open to an impatient public, which cannot under- stand why there is so much work made in preparing the books to be issued. If it knew that the person who expected to devote his whole time to the cataloguing and arrange- ment of the books, was obliged to spend half of it in keeping an infant school for persons who, as happened in one instance, do not know whether to spell Europe with a capital E, or whether Washington Irving was a real name or not, the delay might be more intel- i8 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. ligible. In making an estimate of the time required to arrange a new, or, what is worse, to rearrange an old library, the question next after, " How many books does your library contain ? " should be, " How many raw recruits am I expected to drill?" or the expert will find himself far out in his calculation. It takes a long time enough to train the most promising subject ; and I believe it would be an actual pecuniary saving to every new library, if its places must be filled by local talent, to send some such promising subject to the Library School for a year, at the public expense ; its authorities would certainly find out how not to do it for a smaller price than by the present popular method. With the increase in the number of real and thorough library experts, comes an in- crease in liberality of the spirit in which their compensation is regarded. The days are gone by when any broken-down editor or clergyman, or any unoccupied woman, was considered entirely competent to be a libra- rian; when the librarian regarded his books as his own property, and resented any attempt by any one else to obtain one ; and when, as in a country town which I know, the librarian, a woman this time, could take it upon herself to force upon the applicants for books such as she considered it proper for them to read, with the alternative of none at all ; and gave as a reason for the delay in issuing some anxiously looked for new books, that "she had not read them herself yet; she had had too much dressmaking to do ! " Such officers as these might, perhaps, be considered amply remunerated by the smallest pittance which would keep soul and body together; but that old order has changed, and the pay of library experts is steadily growing better ; although there is still much room for improvement ; more, it must be said, here at the East, than in some places farther west, where ideas seem to broaden as they go toward the setting sun. I believe that in many a western city or town, where we hear every month of some new library being established, its trustees would consider it disgraceful to offer to its employe's such prices for their time and labor as are considered enough for skilled work in some of our old-established eastern libraries, where one would think the sun of enlighten- ment should have risen the highest. It was an old joke in a place where I once was, that the laboring men, who were employed to move the books in some grand house-cleaning con- vulsion, did not know enough to set them right side up, and were paid therefor three times the price per hour of the persons who catalogued them. Without going into the question of women's rights, for which this is not the place, and of which I am not a spe- cially zealous apostle, I must say, that it seems to me a relic of barbarism, that intel- lectual work, if it happens to be a woman's, is worse paid than the manual labor of the man who carries up and down stairs books which the woman must be acquainted with two or three languages to catalogue. In one library with which I am acquainted, there are women whose experience, faithfulness, knowledge, and general efficiency render them almost indispensable in the economy of their depart- ments ; and their pay is less than half that of men who might depart any day and hardly be missed. I remember remarking on the in- justice of such an arrangement, and being answered in perfect seriousness, " But you know that young man may want to get married some day!" It is unnecessary to say that it was not a woman who brought forward this weighty argument, which certainly had as much effect as another in silencing me. It is easy for such people to say that if women do not like their pay, they need not do the work. That is exactly the principle which some of us are trying to maintain. I have myself more than once refused work which I should have enjoyed exceedingly, because the com- pensation offered was so absurdly out of pro- portion to the ability and labor expected. It was not that I could not afford to do it ; I could have afforded it in a money point of view perfectly well ; but I did not choose to cheapen the work by performing it for less than a fair price. I am willing to do mis- sionary work, and have done it, but it must be for real objects of charity, and not for im- postors. I believe there is no other profession in which so much caprice, inconsistency, and SOULE. injustice is exercised toward its experts ; and I think the cause lies in the absolute ignorance of people in general of the details and value of careful library work. People whose first idea is to obtain a cheap librarian, will probably be perfectly satisfied with cheap work ; although we all know perfectly well that the one is by no means a natural consequence of the other. In no other profession is there more enthu- siasm, faithfulness, and absence of self-seeking than in ours. And I hope, as every year sends out a fresh class of devotees, armed and equipped for the task of making them- selves experts, that much of the injustice of which we complain may disappear. At pres- ent, the best advice I can give the student is in the words of Horace Greeley, " Go West, young woman, go West ! " or the discussion of this paper see PROCEEDINGS (Fifth session). TRUSTEES OF FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. BY CHARLES C. SOULE, TRUSTEE OF THE BROOKLINE, MASS., PUBLIC LIBRARY. [Mr. Soule said, in introduction, that on having this topic assigned to him, he had found there was little or nothing relating to it in existing library literature. It seemed necessary, therefore, to treat it in an elementary manner. In considering the subject, it became apparent that there were many kinds of trustees, with vary- ing relations to their libraries. To make the treatment practical, it appeared best to exclude the peculiar circumstances of State, college, and proprietary libraries, and of trusts established by private benefaction, and to confine attention to the most numerous class; that is, free public libraries. And as any essay on library affairs is valuable in proportion to the extent and variety of expe- rience it embodies, the first draft of this paper was shown to the librarians or trustees of a large number of libraries in different parts of the country, and has been considerably modified and developed in accordance with their suggestions.] This paper considers the constitution of elective boards of trustees of free public libraries, intrusted with the appointment of librarians and full control of their libraries. The subject can be naturally treated under the following heads : Size of the board ; term of office ; qualifications for the position ; duties, individual and collective ; organiza- tion ; and relations with the librarian. i. SIZE OF THE BOARD. The weight of opinion seems to be in favor of small boards ; and in small towns, where the duties are light, three trustees will usually work more harmoniously and effectively than a larger number. But in large towns and cities a more numerous board has two advan- tages there is more chance of securing among its members one or two men who are exceptionally active, intelligent, judicious, and interested in library science ; and the board may be made more thoroughly representative of different sections of the town and different elements in the population. 2. TERM OF OFFICE. The usual and undoubtedly the best com- position of a board of library trustees is to divide it into groups, one group going out of office each year. This provision secures sta- bility by preventing sudden changes of the whole board by intrigue or popular caprice, and is intended to allow opportunity for gradual change whenever it is needed. But does this provision alone insure suffi- cient change to prevent stagnation? The position of trustee of a library is so pleasant and honorable, that the incumbent may wish to retain it indefinitely. The men selected as trustees may be personally so worthy and popular that their townsmen are reluctant to retire them compulsorily, even when the feel- ing is prevalent that others might serve more acceptably. To effect a change under such circumstances requires an effort approaching revolution, with danger of that discord and bad feeling which are so unfortunate in library management. Would it not be wise, in view of this pos- sible danger, to follow the example of the graduates of Harvard College in electing overseers, and provide by law that no trustee shall hold office for more than (say) three successive terms of three years, or nine years 20 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. in all ? While a library might thus lose occa- sionally an active and efficient trustee (who could still be reflected after being only a year out of office), would it not gain much more than it could lose, in keeping that close contact with popular needs and with new ideas, which is so healthy and stimulating in the management of all public institutions ? 3. QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE POSITION. The ideal qualifications for a trustee of a public library (a fair education and love of books being taken for granted) might^be sum- marized somewhat thus : Sound character ; good judgment and com- mon-sense; public spirit; capacity for work; literary taste ; representative fitness. Men of character and position in the com- munity are usually selected as trustees ; but it may be assumed somewhat too confidently that, because a man has been prominent in political or business or social circles, he will make a good trustee. It is a mistake to put in such a position any man who has outlived his public spirit and energy. Literary taste is placed low on this list of qualifications, because in any administrative position, even in connection with a library, capacity and willingness to work, united with common-sense and a fair education, are much more useful than a taste for literature with- out the practical qualities. And of the differ- ent grades of literary taste, general culture and a wide range of reading are generally more serviceable to a public library than the knowledge of the scholar or the specialist. In selecting men of prominence for trus- tees, there is danger of excluding too rigidly the younger men who might contribute to the strength and efficiency of the board. There is so much activity and progress in the library work of this generation, that the adage " Old men for counsel, young men for action," is not wholly inapplicable to the choice of trustees, whose work requires coun- sel and action in nearly equal degrees. With a large board it would seem wise to select members with some reference to repre- sentation of different sections of the town, and different occupations, interests, or nation- alities among the inhabitants. This tends to prevent dissatisfaction, and to adapt the pur- chase of books and the general policy of the library to the needs of the whole community, rather than to the wishes of special classes. Neither politics nor religious opinion should of course enter into the choice of library trustees, except so far as it is unwise to constitute a board exclusively from one party or from one denomination. 4. DUTIES, INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE. As an individual, the trustee of a public library ought to realize that he holds a high and sacred trust from the people ; that he has been elected to preserve and extend the privileges and benefits afforded by the library in its modern development as " The People's University ; " that library science is not to be comprehended by intuition, but can be learned only by intelligent observation and study; and that he has no right to accept or hold the position unless he can take a lively interest in the library, be constant in attend" ance at meetings and diligent in committee work, keep himself informed of the current of library ideas by reading every number of the Library journal, and, if possible, by visiting other libraries than his own, and watch keenly the tastes and requirements of the constituency he represents. The collective duties of the board include the care of investments and funds, the care- ful and economical supervision of expendi- tures, the determination of the policy of the li- brary toward the public and in its interior ad- ministration, the general direction of the choice and purchase of books, the selection of the librarian and his assistants, constant and critical observation of their work, occa- sional reckoning up of work done and prog- ress made, comparison of results with those reached in other libraries, as a confirmation of merits and a corrective for errors ; and such active work of detail as will assist the librarian in performing his duties. 5. ORGANIZATION. A large board ordinarily transacts business through a chairmain, a secretary, a treasurer, and one or more committees. SOULE. 21 The chairman has few active duties, but the position requires judgment in appointing com- mittees, and tact in conducting meetings. The place is perhaps the highest public honor in small towns, and is usually and properly given to some trustee eminent for character and public services. In Mr. Perkins's article, "How to make Town Libraries Successful," in the " Govern- ment Report of 1876 on Public Libraries," it is suggested that the librarian should act as secretary to the board of trustees ; but, aside from the fact that he usually has more than enough work to do in his own department, is it not at least doubtful whether an official, whose conduct may at any time be a proper subject for confidential discussion before the board, should serve as their secretary, and so be obliged to be present throughout all meet- ings ? The duties of a secretary may properly provide occupation for some member of the board. The treasurer, if he holds funds in his hands, should always be put under bond. No matter how trustworthy he may be, it is a sound principle that no official should handle public money without giving bond. His suc- cessor may not be so careful or so honest, and, unless the precedent is established while the danger of loss seems small, it will be dif- ficult and invidious to insist upon a bond when occasion may require it. If no trustee is willing to accept the position of treasurer with bond, it is usually possible to leave the library funds in the hands of the already bonded town treasurer, and draw on them as needed to pay bills. As to committees, it is better to have as many as can be actively employed, in order to enlist the cooperation or advice of every trustee. In large boards, even with small li- braries, four standing committees can find oc- cupation ; namely, executive, book, finance, and progress. The executive committee can take charge of the daily work of the library, of purchases, and of the care of the building. They should be efficient men, with prompt business habits, with an active interest in the library, with leisure to attend to their duties during library hours, and with sufficient discretion to sift and formulate business to be presented at the meetings of the trustees. While discharging their executive duties promptly and thor- oughly, they ought to be careful not to assume too much of the power and responsibility which properly belong to the full board, whose will they are appointed to execute. [In very large libraries, these duties of an executive committee are sometimes subdivided among additional committees on building and grounds, on purchase of supplies, on reading- room, and so on, as different departments in- crease in importance.] Inasmuch as the range of reading, the literary taste, and the critical faculty, which qualify a man to select books for popular use, are not necessarily united with executive ability, it will often be best to intrust the choice of books to a book committee, selected for that purpose alone. This is a sufficiently important duty to 'occupy all the spare time of a committee, even where the initiative is taken by the librarian, and appeal on doubt- ful points is made to the full board. The duties of a finance committee are often confined to a perfunctory and occasional ex- amination of accounts, but they may be made very important. To make and watch invest- ments, to provide that money on deposit shall always draw the best interest, to see that purchases of books and supplies are made on the most favorable terms, to keep close watch on all the controllable expenditures,'to exam- ine and verify bills, and to audit carefully the treasurer's accounts, will give full employ- ment to a good committee of business men. In addition to these obviously useful com- mittees, there is another, a "Committee on Library Progress," which may often serve to increase the activity and efficiency of the library. Constituted from among the younger or more active men, and from those trustees who can find opportunity for visiting other libraries, such a committee can do good work in watching the experiments made elsewhere; in placing before the board information in regard to improved methods of library work; in comparing the library with other libraries similarly situated; and in encouraging their 22 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. own librarian, if he be progressive, or in stimulating him, if too conservative. In short, such a committee, if both active and wise, could keep even the smallest town library in the full tide of modern progress. It will be best not to leave too much dis- cretion or power permanently to any com- mittee, but to require all committees to report their acts and plans frequently for the approval or criticism of the full board. 6. RELATIONS WITH THE LIBRARIAN. The relations of the trustees with the libra- rian will vary greatly according to circum- stances. Some general principles may be suggested, subject always to "the exceptions which prove the rule." First of all, it should be borne in mind that the trustees are the responsible managers of the library, and that so far as they choose to act, the librarian is only their agent, bound in honor to carry out their wishes promptly, thoroughly, and cheerfully. If they are fortunate enough, however, to have a first-class librarian, with superior abil- ity, training, knowledge, energy, wisdom, and tact, the trustees ought to leave the manage- ment of the library practically to him, work- ing only to lighten his labors and strengthen his hands. But if as sometimes may happen the librarian has human limitations, and while strong in some directions is weak in others, it is the part of the trustees to try to supple- ment, without impeding, his abilities. If, after ascertaining his limitations, they decide that he is the best librarian they can get, under the circumstances of the case, they should note in what lines he needs help, and select for committees the trustees best fitted to do that part of library work which he can- not satisfactorily perform. If, however, the librarian has executive ability, it will be wise for the trustees to let him control the selection, management, and dismissal of all his assistants; if he has good judgment and what may be called "the libra- rian's faculty," it will be wise to let him arrange the methods and details of library work; if he has literary taste, it will be espe- cially wise to allow him at least the initiative in the choice and purchase of books, for he has (or ought to have) constant contact with the pub- lic and an intelligent knowledge of their wants. Although it may not be considered best for the librarian to act as their secretary, the trustees should take him into their confidence, consult him freely, and invite his presence during some part of each board meeting and of all committee meetings where his advice might be of service. The librarian can prop- erly reciprocate by allowing the board and the committees frequent opportunities for private conference and "executive session," unembarrassed by his presence. In brief, while the trustees cannot forget that they control both library and librarian, they should remember that the librarian is chosen to be their expert adviser and their executive officer, and, so long as he fills these positions satisfactorily, they ought not to hamper or interfere with, so much as to assist and sustain him by their actions. The relations of an active librarian with an active board of trustees demand discretion and consideration on both sides. But if the librarian is sensible, and not too sensitive, and the trustees are reasonably harmonious and judicious, the cooperation herein outlined may be carried out with success. LEARNED. LIBRARY WORK FROM THE TRUSTEES' STANDPOINT. BY REV. J. C. LEARNED, PRESIDENT OF THE ST. LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY. A N old play has it that " trustees are not to T*" be trifled with," and, as they are not only allowed but invited to come among the libra- rians to assert their rights and their authority, why should they not do it vigorously ? Did they not originate the librarian ? " Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, ' Why hast thou made me thus ? ' " Yet to assume such creative power must load us down with responsibilities greater, I fear, than some of us have joyfully accepted. In fact, do not trustees incline, as a rule, to throw too much of the burden of library ad- ministration upon the librarian? If the in- cumbent of this office is fairly willing and ca- pable, is he not suffered to do pretty much as he, pleases, except it .may be with regard to such large measures as the construction of buildings and the management of investments? Proportioned to the authority of trustees, however, is their responsibility. To whom much is given, of them much is required. And the position of the better sort of trustee valu- able to the best work of the librarian, is not that sinecure seat sometimes depicted. He must constantly stand as the able and ready adviser of the librarian, and for the honor and defence of the library. He will be made the court of ultimate appeal in many matters, both practical and curious. He will receive letters from all sorts of people, some with gifts in their hands, and some with complaints on their lips ; some seeking favors, possible and impossible. Col. Higginson's humorous way, recently, of introducing Phillips Brooks^as the man whom nobody in the Cambridge library could find out the height of, until at last the inquiry was brought to him as trustee to an- swer, may illustrate the point. Lately an article in one of the English reviews treats of the "Perils of Trustees." And while no statute makes us responsible, as innocent parties were held to be under British law, in the failure of the Glasgow Bank, yet the library trustee carries risks, both moral and financial, and the place should be offered to none who will not give it a bona- fide service. There is no room for a mere figure-head or ornamental name on a working library board. Every member of a directory, rightly organized, should take his share in the administration, and have some knowledge of what goes on in the library world. It is true there have been instances where some ambitious and irrepressible spirit has exceeded his official duties and privileges ; has been disposed to dictate the whole policy of the library, reducing the librarian's office to that of a mere secretary. I knew a direc- tor in a large library who resigned because he could not buy the books and write all the reports. He hungered for more to do. But I have known more than one to keep himself as far away from the board as possible, after one or two sessions of three or four hours each, in the necessary deliberations of the book committee. Edward Everett Hale says that the great essential for the directors or trustees of any institution is, that they "keep their end in sight," as Dr. Watts's hymn reads. If it is an institution to help old women, or save poor children, or find situations for the idle, does it really do it ? Or is it so taken up with the mechanism of the concern, so absorbed and happy over methods and details, that it loses sight of the object? This is especially to be considered in the management of a public library. What is the library for? Is it ac- complishing its work ? Is it doing its utmost to promote the virtue, refinement, and intelli- gence of the community ? A library may be likened to a bank where literary reserves are kept. It is organized to promote the circulation of a sound literary currency. The directors must see to it that, though there may be counterfeit and worth- less money in the vaults, the cashier or FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. librarian must pay over the counter for gen- eral circulation such only as will maintain the institution's standard of credit and con- fidence in the community. The gold basis must be maintained, and no "wild-cat" bills pass out through the window. It grows increasingly evident that very few libraries in the world can indulge in the luxury or license of buying all books written. The ambition to supply any man with any work he calls for must therefore be held in check. Thus it becomes increasingly impor- tant that much care and deliberation be exercised in the choice of books to be bought, whether to complete deficient depart- ments or for the daily circulation. The pur- chase of poor books makes a market for poor authorship. Hereafter, less than ever should libraries be the dumping place for indiscreet publishers, for questionable or incompetent authors. The public library exists for civili- zation ; that is, for moral ends. It is the record and history of civilization, as well as the ally of progress. It is "the friend and helper of all those who seek to live in the spirit." For this reason, therefore, the char- acter of the books in a library is of more importance than mere numbers; and the value of a library to the community may be imperfectly shown by the statistics of circu- lation. No aim can be higher, however, than having a good library, to make its resources known, and to multiply readers in the remotest and obscurest parts of our towns and cities. THE DUTIES OF TRUSTEES AND THEIR RELATIONS TO LIBRARIANS. BY SAMUEL SWETT GREEN, LIBRARIAN OF THE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY, WORCESTER, MASS. T N the symposium in which we are now engaged, I understand that I am to con- sider the subject which we are talking about from the standpoint of a librarian. The position can be stated in a few words. A librarian should be regarded as holding relations to his trustees similar to those held by the agent of a factory or the cashier of a bank to the governing board of the factory or bank. Some cashiers and some agents have more power than others. The power conferred depends upon the knowledge, training, expe- rience, industry, enterprise, good judgment, and ability of persons holding such positions. If the board of trustees of a library is more competent to manage its affairs than the librarian, and if it is ready to give the time that is necessary to the discharge of the duties of management, it has a perfect right to do so, and the librarian need then be only a clerk. So, too, if on any board of directors there is one man of leisure who has especial qualifications for conducting the affairs of a library, the board may delegate to him the performance of the more intellectual portions of the work of a librarian. Even, however, in such cases as those the individuality of the librarian should be con- sidered, because, although his position may- be very humble, yet he can do better work if allowed to work in his own way, rather than in accordance with the provisions of rules laid down by others which he is required to strictly observe. When a librarian is accomplished, it will be found wise for a board of trustees or directors to ascertain his views on most sub- jects before acting, and it will generally appear manifest that it is well to give very careful consideration to those views. A board which encourages its librarian to initiate measures, will administer its trust more satisfactorily than it can if it reduces him to the position of a mere executive offi- cer, who is only to carry out the plans which it has formed. I should say that the wisest course for a board of trustees to pursue is to let a good librarian do pretty much as he thinks best, only keeping a watchful eye on him for the GREEN. purpose of seeing that things are not going wrong under his conduct of affairs. It is better, generally speaking, for a board to change its librarian than to undertake to man- age matters, unless its members are willing to give much time and thought to the subject. Mr. Greenough, at that time the President of the Board of Trustees of the Boston Public Library, said to me, just after Mr. Winsor gave up his position of Superintend- ent of that library, that he wished in his successor the qualities of a librarian (using that designation in a restricted sense) and not those of a superintendent, and that the title of the new officer would be librarian and not superintendent. Mr. Greenough had had a long connection with the Boston Public Library as a trustee and as President of the Board of Trustees, and felt that he knew, better than any person whose services the library was likely to secure, how to conduct its affairs. Judge Chamberlain, Mr. Winsor's succes- sor, accepted the situation, and stated in an early report, in substance, that the duty of a librarian is merely to carry out the wishes of the board of trustees. But Mr. Greenough became disabled after a while, and Judge Chamberlain gained expe- rience ; and I venture to say that, during the latter portion of the short time which he was connected with the Boston Public Library, he found that in the long run a librarian must take upon himself the lion's share in the entire management of a library. Now that Judge Chamberlain has resigned his place, the Trustees of the Boston Public Library are understood to be looking around for an accomplished superintendent. The ideal executive head of a large public library let me say it emphatically should have the qualifications of both librarian and superintendent. Perhaps, in the case of some of the largest libraries, it is well to have both a superintendent and a librarian; but when such a distribution of duties becomes desir- able, it is certain that the superintendent should have something of the spirit of a libra- rian, and as much of his technical knowledge as possible, and that the librarian should be often consulted in regard to questions of management, and have, himself, no mean qualifications as an executive officer. A good librarian should be allowed to make experiments (observing, of course, reasonable limits), without consulting the board of trus- tees, with the purpose of satisfying himself as to the desirability and feasibility of adopt- ing new methods, and of obtaining evi- dence that will enable the board to form intelligent opinions in regard to the value of changes recommended by him. Experiments may often be undertaken, with good prospect of success, by persons familiar with kinds of work which a board of trustees, unacquainted with such kinds of work, would not care to try, but which, nevertheless, it is very important should be tried. A librarian should have the appointment of his assistants in his own hands, and should himself consult heads of departments in the choice of persons to serve under them. He should be allowed to buy such books as are needed between meetings of library com- mittees and boards of trustees, just as a trusted cashier is permitted to loan money to a bank's customers between meetings of its board of directors. Both the librarian and the cashier should, of course, give an account of such proceedings to the committee or board over him at the meeting next after the transactions. Generally speaking, a competent librarian should be allowed large freedom, and held responsible for wisdom in management. On the other hand, the board of trustees should insist upon the observance by the librarian of such forms as have been adopted as safeguards. While it should allow much liberty to its executive officer, it should also see to it that he keeps the machinery, by which work is done, in order; so that, if in the exercise of a careful oversight, it shall become advisable at any time for it to resume the power con- ferred on the librarian, it may be able to do it promptly. Trustees and directors may render ser- vices of the greatest value to libraries and librarians. 26 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. Not long ago I had upon my board of directors an influential member, who used to say regularly at the first meeting, after new men came on it, "Gentlemen, our only duty is to support the librarian." That is saying too much, certainly. It is, however, the duty of a board of trustees to second heartily a librarian in his efforts to make his administration energetic, useful, and progressive, and to do all that it can to secure patient and generous consideration by town and city governments, and by citizens, of all wise measures which he may adopt. Trustees are very influential in working individually to obtain for a library the sup- port in money which is needed. They can be of great service in showing their appreciation of good work done by the librarian, by word and act. It is almost too much to expect of a board of trustees that it should look out to see to it that a librarian receive a proper salary, and that his compensation be increased as his services grow in value, without being re- minded that remuneration is inadequate by a communication from that officer. Still it is very desirable that, when a communication is made, it should be sympathetically con- sidered, and that members of the board should point out to one another the excel- lence of the services rendered by the libra- rian instead of expecting him to enlarge upon their value himself. It should be understood, also, that it is a librarian's duty to state fully the worth of the services of his assistants, and seek adequate compensation for them. A board of trustees can do much, and should always do as much as possible, to keep the interests of a library and of a libra- rian from being sacrificed to supposed exigen- cies of politics. In some portions of the country the ap- pointment and removal of librarians for politi- cal reasons has become a scandal. A board of trustees owes it to its librarian to protect him from the vagaries of impracti- cable men who may by some chance become members of the board. For example, it should quietly vote down unwise propositions, as they are made by fussy or narrow men ; by those persons who, while they are self-confident, are also igno- rant ; by men who are so constituted as always to oppose or hold back, or go ahead reck- lessly; and by such persons as wish to have a hand in doing everything which it is the duty of the librarian to do, and yet are un- willing to give any time or thought to the conduct of affairs. There is a tendency in many boards of trus- tees, when a single member is urgent in oppo- sition to some measure proposed by a libra- rian, and the other members have no positive opinions regarding the matter, to yield to the objector. Such opposition may afford a proper excuse for delay, but should not be allowed to be- come permanently efficacious in preventing the execution of a project, without the libra- rian has been given ample opportunities for explaining the grounds of his recommenda- tion. The librarian should always be treated as a cooperator, and not as an unintelligent servant. It would always be unwise in him to press the adoption of measures until their wisdom is generally recognized by the trus- tees. Still his reasons for advising action should be ascertained and duly considered. A board of trustees will always do well to have the librarian present at its regular meet- ings. His knowledge and experience will be found of value. His plans will be the better understood. He, too, by being present will not only com- prehend better than in any other way the wishes of the board of trustees (and its mem- bers), but, that which is of great importance, will catch the spirit which animates it, and be- come aware of the general principles which it desires should underlie the administration of the institution. Trustees should bear in mind that unneces- sary delays are to be avoided, and that, in order to keep the members of a community in a contented frame of mind, their wants must not only be supplied, but supplied promptly. Trustees should remember that it is impor- tant to give librarians and some of their as- sistants time in which to aid users of libraries, HARRIS. 27 instead of keeping every attendant constantly employed about routine work. Trustees should guard themselves against the notion that library work is easy, and that it is only the occupations which they are usu- ally engaged in, in which employment is wear- ing and hard. It must not be supposed, from anything which I have said, that the position of a di- rector or trustee of a library is, in the opinion of librarians, a sinecure. Our idea is far from this, as will be seen if the remarks already made are carefully con- sidered. It should be said, in conclusion, that one of the most important duties of trustees is to look around among libraries in different towns and cities, to read library reports and ac- counts of meetings of librarians, with the pur- pose of finding out whether they are getting as much and as good service from librarians in the communities whose interests they have to look after, as citizens are obtaining in places where libraries and their management have attained a high standard of excellence. With the same end in view, they should see to it that librarians are provided with the current issues of the best library journals and with a collection of the best bibliograph- ical works. They should also put themselves, and in- sist upon librarians putting themselves, into vital relations with other libraries, and with the whole body of librarians. Librarians should never forget that the real authority in a library rests with the board of trustees, or fail to render immediate and cor- dial submission to its directions. They should also seek and accept with gratitude all practical suggestions that may be made to them by trustees or other persons. When any members of the board of trus- tees are specialists, they should be urged to give the library the benefit of their special knowledge, by proposing for purchase lists of books known to them to be of particular value. I wish to add to what I have written, the statement that I have always been very fortu- nate in having over me a body of directors of unusually good judgment, and of the kindest disposition towards me. In fact, the remarks which I have made re- garding the duties of trustees have been sug- gested to me by observation of the happy results which have followed the administra- tion of the affairs of my own library, by a board of directors who have governed them- selves by rules almost identical with those which I have recommended for use by boards of trustees and directors generally. THE FUNCTION OF THE LIBRARY AND THE SCHOOL IN EDUCATION. BY HON. W: T. HARRIS, COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION OF THE UNITED STATES. TN the year 1876, Gen. Eaton, then Com- missioner of Education, collected statis- tics giving information concerning 3,647 pub- lic libraries in the United States. This list included all public libraries containing 300 volumes and upwards that could be heard from. Ten years later (1884-85), undertaking to revise this list, he succeeded in obtaining returns from 5,338 libraries, thus increasing the former list by 1,691, or nearly 50 per cent. The expression "public library" in this list included school, college, and college so- ciety libraries; medical, theological, and law libraries ; historical, scientific, and sanitary libraries ; social libraries, society libraries, including those of the Y. M. C. A., those of I. O. O. F., and Learned Societies ; gene- ral libraries, including free libraries supported by taxation, and subscription libraries ; gov- ernment libraries ; and, in brief, all libraries for the use of the public at large or for insti- tutions, societies, or special classes of people. The aggregate of volumes of these 5,338 li- braries was 20,622,076, giving an average of nearly 4,000 volumes to each. Preeminent among States was the showing of Massachusetts, with its 569 libraries and 28 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 3,560,085 volumes. Next came New York, with 3,168,508 volumes in 780 libraries. During the past six years since the above list was made, there has been, it is believed, a quite unprecedented growth in the libraries of this country, both as to number of separate in- stitutions and as to volumes catalogued. There have been new State laws encouraging the support of town libraries by taxation. Each year many additional towns take advan- tage of such laws. Large benefactions have been left for the founding of new libraries. And, meanwhile, there has been an era of un- paralleled activity on the part of the librarians of the country; an era of wise activity because it has been concerted activity. This organ- ized association is the central vortex in this beneficent movement. The new statistics regarding libraries, which, it is hoped, may be tabulated the coming year by the Bureau of Education, will show the significance of these encouraging signs in the shape of results. All persons interested in the subject of education will note with satisfaction the prog- ress of the library. Next after the school and the daily newspaper comes the library in educative power. These three institutions are the great secular means which our people have to prepare themselves for their singular destiny. The school, for the most part, finds its function in teaching how to read. The news- paper and the library furnish what to read. We consider a person educated when he is qualified to add to his own experience the experience of his fellow-men. This is rather only the first stage of education, the pre- liminary preparation for education. For the person must not only be qualified to make this addition to his experience, but he must actually have done it to be worthy of the name of " educated." Hence we see that the school gives the preliminary preparation for education, and the library gives the means by which the individual completes and accomplishes his education. I have often pointed out that the Ameri- can school has some sort of justification for its much-blamed adherence to the text-book method of instruction. The pedagogues of other nations, and especially those of Ger- many, condemn our system for its worst features the slavish use of the book and the frequent acceptance by our teachers of parrot-like repetition of the text, in the place of an intelligent understanding of what is set down in the book and a critical investigation of the subject at first hand. This is doubtless the weakest side of our school education. But it has, I repeat, this great good thing to counterbalance in some measures its evil. It has by a happy sort of instinct been guided towards a new and higher method than that which our critics would put in its place. For they would sub- stitute the oral method for the text-book method, and thereby make the school boy more dependent on the living voice of his teacher for what he gets from mankind. The boy who is taught how to use the printed page properly how to weigh its statements, and critically test them by such experiments as he can make, or compare them with other authorities by aid of the library is a far more shifty boy than the one who has merely received his instruction orally. For it is not usual to receive from the living teacher his words in a critical and questioning attitude. Few teachers are able to encourage in their pupils the spirit of scepticism and independ- ent verification, to the extent of letting their own teachings submit to this treatment. There is something too personal in this exclusively oral method, this lecturing method, and it has its weak sides as weak as those it con- demns in the American school. For if there are pupils in every school and whole classes in exceptional schools that memorize the words of the book without comprehending their meaning, on the other hand there are pupils taught by the oral method who write out the words of their teacher, and piously repeat what has been dictated to them. Moreover, not having before them the full and well- balanced discussion of the text-book, they get a one-sided, distorted view of the subject matter. They cannot, if they come to a point where they lose the thread of the dis- HARRIS. 29 course, go back and pick it up. They are dragged from point to point by the necessity of keeping up with the lecturer, and lose entirely what they fail to grasp on first hear- ing. Such pupils, too, grow up with the tendency to require oral explanation made to them, and a reluctance to go to the scientific treatise, and dig out the whole subject for themselves. What there is good in our American sys- tem points towards this preparation of the pupil for independent study of the book by himself. It points towards acquiring the abil- ity of self-education by means of the library. Instead of parrot-like repetition of what is in the text-book, our model school requires the pupil to re-state, in his own language, the ideas of the book. But even this is a small part of what it requires ; for it insists on a critical examination of the statements of the book, in view of all the facts that can be other- wise ascertained and adduced by pupils and teacher, and also in view of the same author's statements elsewhere in the book. The text-book is impersonal, and does not impose on the individuality of the pupil the weight of authority that the living teacher car- ries with him, in spite of all efforts that he may make to encourage independent judgment. This is the good element in our American method, I repeat again, and, when our coun- try was everywhere sparsely settled (as it is even now, except in a few sections), it was ob- vious that the individual must depend on the printed page of the book for what he should get from his fellow-men in the way of scien- tific observation of the world and man, and in the way of thought and reflection on the data recorded. The library is the storehouse of the aggregate observations of all mankind on the phenomena of the universe, not of what the senses of one single man have perceived, but of what the senses of all men have perceived. More than this, the library holds the record of the reflections of all human brains on these data of observation. And even more than this, the library holds, in its works of literary art, the portrayal of human nature as it has been lived and is lived by all stages of civilization, and by the various races that people the earth. It holds this vast mass of observation, reflec- tion, and insight, not in its crude form, but winnowed out each grain that the library preserves was taken from a mountain of chaff. Doubtless it holds still on its shelves much chaff, but, considering the crude material of human experience from which it has been saved, it is all precious grain. The school is set at the task of teaching the pupil how to use the library in the best man- ner that, I take it, is the central object towards which our American school methods have been unconsciously guided. In order that the pupil shall acquire the ability to use the library, he must first learn to read. This involves learning the alphabet and the spell- ing-book, and much more. For the school- boy must in school set about acquiring a new and higher vocabulary of words. He brings with him from home a colloquial vocabulary, meagre in its number of words and in their quality to express subtle distinctions or pre- cise definitions, or elevated sentiment, or pro- found thoughts. In school he commences by learning first how to recognize the words of his colloquial vocabulary in a printed and written form. Before this epoch he has only known them by ear; they were sounds to him ; now they must be represented to his eye by conventional characters. After he has learned to recognize the words in printed form that were already familiar to him by ear, he is set to mastering a series of text-books which use strange tech- nical words, new to his ear, new to his eye, and likewise expressing ideas new to his mind. He learns a special vocabulary of these for arithmetic and other branches of mathematics ; another for geography and his relations to the earth and its inhabitants; another for history and his relations to his fellow-citizens, his nation, his race, and the stream of generation down which he and his contemporaries have descended. He learns to recognize in the institutions of society the organized form of his higher selves that have been unfolded and realized for him in those institutions. A special vocabulary has to be learned for these things and also for the study of language in grammar and philology. FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. Language is the first revelation of human nature, its structure being an embodiment of the logical laws of the mind. Every special science has its own special vocabulary, larger or smaller, of new words. The school-boy must learn their external forms and their Internal meanings. But literature is language as a fine art, and its content is the revelation of human life in its aspirations and actions, in its victories and its defeats. Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Goethe are the great leaders of the sacred army of men who have made and are making this revelation of human life. Every literary writer has a literary style of his own, which his readers must learn to master. The school teaches a hundred or more of these styles by choice extracts in the higher school-readers the selections being intense and impassioned pieces of prose and poetry calculated to arouse the imagination, refine the taste, and kindle the aspiration of the youth, as well as give him some acquaintance with the special vocabulary and peculiarities of style that he uses. For this purpose a book of selections like the typical school-reader is far better than any other device that can be thought of. But it should be supplemented by other read ing which deals with entire works of literary art. I come now to mention a practical device by which the common school can especially fit its pupils for the use of the library, and a device, too, that any library can aid indefi- nitely in carrying out in its neighborhood. The regular reading lesson in the school does not and cannot occupy much time on the daily program. Not many pages can be read over, because the pupil must be questioned and cross-questioned on the meaning and use of the words, and on the power and effect of the style used, and on the near and remote thoughts suggested. No pupil, after a good drill on a literary piece, ever reads a similar piece in book or periodical without looking, consciously or unconsciously, for some of the points that have been brought out in his les- son. He is now of a capacity to get more from his reading than was before possible to him. His vocabulary has been increased, but not so much as his power to increase it. If he would only take home with him a book from the library, and read a whole story writ- ten by the author whose literary gem he has carefully studied in school, he would be able to increase his higher vocabulary far more rapidly than he will do otherwise. He will moreover fix and assimilate this higher vocab- ulary in such a way that it will always remain his own. Still better, he will become a home reader and a user of the library for life. Let us suppose that he has read for the day, with his class at school, a charming selection from Walter Scott's " Lady of the Lake." The teacher has ten copies of " The Lady of the Lake," and lets the ten best pupils in the class take home the poem for a week, and read it through ; a week is sufficient for this. The entire poem is the topic for an hour's conver- sation on a Friday afternoon. The next week the second ten pupils take this poem to their homes ; a third week another set of ten ; and so on, until all the class has read this poem, which will make a memorable epoch in their lives. A selection from Swift's " Gulliver's Voyage to Lilliput, or to Brobidgnag " would perhaps be found in the child's fourth or fifth reading-book, and the whole story could be read at home by the children, if ten or twenty copies of the book belonged to the school library. In a town of Massachusetts where I was a member of the School Committee for three years, we appropriated fifty dollars ($50) for a few works of this character, buying ten cop- ies of each, and requiring the teachers to keep a record of the pupils who read these books. When one school had read the books, they were to be sent to another district. I think that the object was, to a degree, attained in that town, or was at least in a way to be at- tained. But I believe that the town library should provide itself with boys' and girls' classics in large numbers, ten or twenty copies of each, and that, by a little effort made by the librarian with the teachers, such a systematic reading of whole works of literary art could be brought about, and at the same time in such connection with the town library as would insure life-long continuance of a use of it. HARRIS. The library is the most important link in that great movement that has recently spread hither, into this country, from England. I re- fer to the university and school extension. Few children complete their course even in the primary school. Only one in four who enter the high school completes it. The great desideratum, therefore, is some method by which the school influence can follow the pu- pils who leave school before completing their work, or who, graduating from it, ought to continue their work. Having learned how to read, they should now use their acquired power to some purpose to master the fields of human learning. I have spoken of the preeminent value of works of literary art for giving the pupil a higher vocabulary of thought and feeling, and for making him acquainted with himself. By this self-knowledge I do not, of course, mean a knowledge of his own petty idiosyncrasies and peculiarities, but a knowledge of human nature at large, a knowledge of what is sub- stantial in character and profound in human thought. Literature is the best, but it should not by any means be the exclusive, course of reading. For the supplementary reading to be done at home, there should be intermingled books of history, books of travel, popular exposi- tions of the different sciences. Some people would have these books exclusively, and would call them alone the " solid " books, while the pure literary works they would de- nominate "trash." In my opinion they could not commit a more serious error. I have known many parents possessed of the science craze who tried to educate their children on science, to the exclusion of literature ; but their results were pitiable. Their children were deprived of an insight into human life into the springs of human character and the motives that prevail among the people with whom they must live. This knowledge of human life obtained through the writings of genius should occupy the first place on the list of studies essential to direct self-preserva- tion using the expression of Mr. Herbert Spencer, and pointing out, by the way, that his own scheme of studies is very far from corresponding to the requirements of the principles that he lays down. On the other hand, one must be careful not to commit the opposite mistake of excluding science and history, or of slighting these stud- ies for literature. They are all necessary. It must not be forgotten that this work in supplementary reading is a work of self-help on the part of the pupil, and is of very great value from this point of view. It assists very much to neutralize the effects of bad school methods, where they happen to exist. Another great point is that the books taken home by the pupils into families who have no ac- cumulation of books, or at best of such books as lack popular interest these books taken home are picked up by the parents and older brothers and sisters and read by them. This makes the supplementary-reading system an educator of the people as people an exten sion of the school that is of vital importance. The library should get hold of this phase of school extension, and so manage it that all who begin it are drawn into the use of the library. Fiction is the bait by which we create a love of reading, and it should lead out to other reading, especially in the line of science and history and philosophy. But I have tried to show that it is not a hopeless case if it does not lead out into these fields to any great extent, for the reading of fiction has the substantial benefits which I have stated. But there is fiction and fiction. Fiction writ- ten by an author who has deeply lived, deeply felt, and deeply thought is of value to all men, whether simple or learned. But the weak and shallow writer who has not sounded the depths of life, not seen its ethical sub- structure, such a writer is immoral and misleading in his views of life, even though he supposes himself to be very religious, and be, in fact, engaged in writing Sunday-school books. I think that our national system of educa- tion, or the system and methods generally prevalent in the United States, is destined to be vastly improved by the efforts of librari- ans. What is called the "seminary" method the method of studying up a topic, mas- FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. tering the wealth of knowledge extant on the subject, sifting and criticising what is recorded, and verifying what is true by ex- periment such a method can be carried out only by aid of the library, and it makes the library an essential instrument of school work. At present it is quite well developed in some universities (as at Johns Hopkins and Harvard and some others). But it can obviously be extended with profit to all col- leges and in some degree to high schools, yes, and even to lower schools. The libra- rian and the teacher working together can make this needed extension, and realize new and valuable features in our American school methods. The practice of forming select lists of works on special subjects is a good one. But any that I have seen may be greatly improved by helpful notes, telling the reader what to read if he is entirely unfamiliar with the subject, and then what to read after he has made the first studies in the subject. Graded courses of reading are most needed. To name a hundred books in a list for boys is not advisable. It is best to begin with a list of the ten best say the ten best books of travels, the ten best story books, or the ten best novels for youth, the ten best books of history for boys. The youth should be directed to such a number as he may hope by diligence to read. The librarian need not, unless he chooses, give out such a list as his own, unsupported by the authority of others. He may collect the votes of connoisseurs, and get a briefly expressed opinion from each, as was done in England for the hundred best books, or in this country for the ten best novels some years ago. What the young or the inexperienced reader wants is the names of a very few books that have the power of genius to arouse him and stimulate his attention as with the power of a magician. The book for the untrained reader must be intense in its power to charm, because it has to overcome the resistance which comes of the real labor involved at first in making out the words by the eye instead of the ear. The school teaches how to read ; how to use the printed page to get out of it all that it contains. The library furnishes the what to read ; it opens the storehouse of all human learning. These two are complementary functions in the great work of education. I would, however, call attention again to the periodical as the third great educational ap- pliance of our time, and especially to its most marvelous product, the daily newspaper. In this day we are all acquiring a new con- sciousness by the aid of this instrument. Every morning it is customary for the dweller in the city to take a survey of the en- tire life of the globe a brief glance at the nations most remote, a fuller view of those more nearly related to him, and a complete survey of what is in his neighborhood. The correlation of the near and remote, the cus- tom of carrying in his mind the world affairs, developes a sort of epic consciousness, vastly more educative than the former village gossip that prevailed in the tavern or in the shop. It elevates the individual into a higher plane of thinking, substituting the universal for the particular. It would seem as though the world, as a whole, is bound to grow into this newspaper civilization, and that it is a neces- sity of all newspaper civilizations to be demo- cratic in their form of government. But it is evident that this newspaper species of educa- tion needs the cooperation and perfecting in- fluence of the library. The school is essen- tial to the newspaper reader to give him that knowledge of a printed vocabulary of words, and that smattering of geography, history, grammar, and science required to understand and follow the newspaper articles. So the town library should have devices by which it may interest the reader of the daily newspaper in following up his topics into the weightier articles of the magazines, and still further into the literature of the subjects as treated in books. Reading circles are of prime importance in this work. The history of the Chautauquan movement is full of instruction to us, who are seeking to extend the influences of the library to the community, and to elevate a community of mere newspaper readers into readers of good books. The reading circle can create and retain an HOSMER. 33 interest in a subject which solitary reading cannot do so well. Discussion with one's fellows awakens questions that have slum- bered a dogmatic slumber. A hint still nearer to the librarians of this convention is to be found in the labors of such men among you as have in late years formed bibliographic lists in various fields, who have constructed indexes to periodical literature, and critical histories of America, and works of similar significance. Here is a field in which the librarian prepares the mass of human learning for the use of his less per- sistent or less plodding fellow-citizen the newspaper reader,;or at best the popular-book reader. The learned librarian leads him to original sources, and offers these sources in a compendious form for his use. Indexes and collections of original sources do wonders to deepen and make accurate the scholarship of a nation. Those familiar with German schol- arship need only to be reminded of the vast number of works of this order, which facili- tate the complete survey of special subjects. The school and the newspaper and the library working together may be each helped by the other, and all may be united into one very potent instrumentality of education for the universal democracy that is on its pro- cession in all the nations of the world. It is locally self-governed, but interested with a truly cosmopolitan spirit (and shall I not say with a missionary spirit ?) in all other peoples around the globe. On this line we see infin- ite possibilities of growth in perfection, infin- ite possibilities of that education which adds to the individual life vicariously the life and life's experience of all his fellow-men. ON BROWSING. BY A BOOK-WORM. BY PROF. JAMES K. HOSMER, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. '"THE writer of the present paper is a worm, a member of that class of the great family of annulata, known as the book worms. Hitherto the worms have been the most diffident of creatures, submitting to be squelched by every passing foot, and to be contumeliously cited on all occasions by human kind, as the very type of abjectness. Since Darwin, however, in the case of our kin, the earth-worms, has done a great work of vindication, proving that they possess no slight intelligence, and that upon their hith- erto despised activity rests the existence of the entire animal and vegetable world, the annulata in general have plucked up courage. Why do we need to be abashed in any presence ? Why should not the book-worms have a hearing even before a convention of librarians ? The present worm trusts that his effort before this august assembly will be received in a spirit of fairness, that he will not be captured to serve as fish-bait, or crushed by any sudden blow from the gavel of the presiding officer, or expelled from the apartment by the insidious application of any form of vermifuge. All professions tend to become narrow and technical. For ministers, lawyers, teachers, doctors, it is healthy to be struck now and then by a breeze from outside. Possibly even through a worm-hole an air may creep, which will ventilate, in a way not quite unsalutary, the atmosphere of the deliberations of bibliographers. From the vermicular point of view, what is often looked upon as the librarian's first task, namely, to keep safe the literary matters entrusted to his keeping, is to be esteemed of comparatively small importance ; while, on the other hand, what many hold to be the librarian's second duty, namely, to make access to these matters as convenient as possible to book-worms, and such others as may crave food of this kind, is of paramount significance. The duty of guarding books, the present worm, like his kind in general, looks upon derisively. We are sworn allies of the mice ; the spiders are congenial to us, with whose webs we gladly festoon ourselves, as we perform in alcoves our great work of perforation. We are, however, not withcu 34 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. candor, I hope. Conceding something to the prejudices of the unenlightened, I admit that the librarian must be, while facilitating access to his books, to some extent a guardian. How to strike a mean ? How combine safety for a collection while respecting sufficiently the demands of book-worms and others ? This is the point, I conceive, upon which the librarian should concentrate his attention, and I humbly submit that it is both fair and expedient for this body to understand and weigh the vermicular view. The moderate demand of the present worm for himself, and the great fraternity he represents, is that they may have the privilege of browsing. The book-worms, like cattle in general (surely, with horns, and tail, and a genius for hump- ing not surpassed even by the bison, we are cattle), find their chief felicity in browsing- What terms shall I use in order to magnify duly before my audience this great matter of browsing ? Once, while boring my way through a pon- derous tome, written, as I took pains to ascertain, by one Bacon, I penetrated to a sentence, which from internalevidence I am persuaded was especially designed to serve as advice to creatures of my kind. I quote from memory, but am sure of having caught the spirit of the passage referred to : " Some books," says Bacon, "are to be brushed merely by the feelers ; others to be touched by the mandibles in a mere cursory nibble ; into still others, you may expediently work your way in a considerable perforation ; while, in the case of a few, the demands of duty will not be satisfied until they are thoroughly honey- combed in a labyrinth of burrows." What is here advised, I conceive, is simply to browse. One catches a bite here in a momentary twist; elsewhere, he feeds at length, the pasture proving sweet and nutritious. Brows- ing is the proper Baconian method of reading. The rapture of having at command an entire alcove ! As you pass along the shelves, it is enough, in the case of most books, merely to touch the title page with the antennae ; with others, a paragraph may here and there be tasted ; as to a few, content does not come until a chapter has been devoured ; while, for two or three, the conscience will not be appeased until they have been chewed and digested from cover to cover. Who can tell what books he wants without preliminary tasting ? Titles often mislead, and never do more than hint at the contents. Time and again I should have starved had the catalogue and librarian's desk stood between me and my pabulum ; time and again I have failed to be adequately nourished until, having been turned loose among the shelves, by a nibble here, and a bolder bite there, I have hit at last upon the exact morsel I required. I assure my audience that (speak- ing always as I do from the vermicular point of view) no librarian performs his task in a proper manner unless, in the midst of his anxiety for the safety of his charge, he at the same time affords abundant liberty to browse a freedom of access to books far too rarely found, I fear. I have sometimes, indeed, found libraries the rules of which were as wise as if they had been made by the book-worms themselves. In July, 1886, crawling into the famous por- tals of the British Museum, I took my sinuous way to the library, there presenting a note of introduction from a brother book- worm to Mr. Richard Garnet, at that time a high official, and since then promoted to be "Keeper of the Printed Books," the chief librarianship. To receive a card of admis- sion, it was only necessary to be vouched for as respectable by some reputable citizen of London a requirement waived in my own case, for the letter of my congener was held to be sufficient. I was at once led into the main room, a vast circular space surmounted by a dome scarcely inferior in dimensions to that of St. Paul's Cathedral. Through this, upon long desks radiating from the circular table of the superintendent in the centre like the spokes of a wheel from a hub, fell an amount of light to true book-worms quite superfluous, but a concession necessary, no doubt, to mere human weakness. From the base of the dome to the floor below, the space was unbroken by windows, and occupied about the entire circumference of the room by con- centric series of shelves containing the refer- HOSMER. 35 ence library. The term " book of reference " has, in the British Museum, a most liberal interpretation. The number of such books must rise into the hundreds of thousands. In the department of English history, with which I was especially concerned, were not only dictionaries and encyclopaedias, biog- raphical, chronological, etc., but every stand- ard work upon English history, together with a great many of the documents which are to be regarded as the sources. In other depart- ments of knowledge, apparently, the term " reference book " was interpreted with equal liberality. To all these hundred thousand and more of books under the dome, access on the part of those admitted to the room was quite unrestricted. They were not be- hind glass or wire, or in any way shut in. All present, whether mere humble book- worms or great gods of the literary firmament, with or without advice and help from the at- tendants, were free to browse as they pleased along the shelves. As regards the million or more of volumes not in the main room, access was made almost equally easy. As is usual in libraries, anything asked for was brought by an attendant; as is not usual, the worm or the god, as the case might be, if wishing it, was conducted out to the shelves themselves. "Where," thought I, "shall I find for myself the juiciest banquet, most appetizingly seasoned with mold and mildew, and where I can be most sure of falling into the companionship of honest perforators like myself?" In a collection, I judged, known as the Thomasson Tracts, some 4,000 vol- umes, in which are bound up the fugitive literature of the iyth century,- sermons, political pamphlets, news-sheets, ballads, broad-sides, plays, even the hand-bills of the time. I was taken into the room in which they were contained, and allowed to inspect them on the shelves. As I could not con- veniently bring my mandibles to bear upon the feast as it stood thus arranged, I was placed close at hand, at an ample table, and the volumes were brought to me, a shelf-full at a time, twenty or thirty in number. There, with the help of a careful index the book- worm's bill of fare the present reptile bored at his leisure through some hundreds of volumes, biting his way forward on this side and that, and rolling under his tongue many a most satisfactory morsel, which he could never have come upon but for browsing. So far as my purpose was concerned, the great collection was put, as it were, into my clutches, the evident study of the manage- ment being to content every library appetite, however voracious, with the greatest possible expedition and convenience. The main room every day was thronged, crowded sometimes uncomfortably, with book-worms, and those having no use for books except to verify a reference or kill an idle hour. All were free to go to the shelves of the main room ; and to the spaces behind, to which reference has been made, all persons with a serious pur- pose, certainly all worms of sincere mind and sharp appetite, were freely admitted. There are, to be sure, certain rigid restrictions. Nothing short of an act of parliament would enable one to carry a book away from the Museum, or to set foot within it except during the proper hours. A Cerberus at the door makes sure that each visitor has his card ; and an army of attendants, while help- ing you in every way, watch carefully for thieves and mutilators. Within certain lines, however, the widest freedom prevails, and it is hard to see how 2,000,000 books, with regard for their preservation, can be made to afford a better field for Ijrowsing. But it is time to look at home. How fare the browsers in our American public libraries ? The present worm recalls an experience in one such library, located in a famous city. Entering its door, I found myself presently in a lofty hall, the floor of which was in great part occupied by the card catalogue, contained in innumerable drawers, all lettered alpha- betically. The hundreds of thousands of books in the library were visible only dimly and afar off, in alcoves at the side, carefully closed from entrance by screens of iron-work. To these alcoves there was no access, except in very special cases. To obtain a book, a title must be written on a card, with the name and residence of the worm attached ; this must be presented at a desk, the book in due FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. time to be handed out, and perused at a ta- ble. My appetite was keen, but precisely what viand I required I was not sure. Could I not look along the shelves, try here and there, according to my nature : in a word, browse, until I hit upon the exact bit ? By no means. The books in their distant isolation coldly turned their backs upon me ; they could only be touched on the lofty shelf by the of- ficial hand. I went from drawer to drawer, accumulating my list of titles. I presented myself at the desk among a throng of appli- cants, and, after a weary wait, found myself at the hole through the screen. An attendant con- fronted [me with an unsympathetic face. The glitter in his eye was as hard and pitiless as that from the diamond stud of the hotel clerk. He evidently at once recognized the applicant as a reptile, and the self-respect of your worm, not at that time having been fortified by a pe- rusal of Darwin's treatise, was quite inadequate to the situation. He writhed as only a worm can writhe, but presented his list, and, after another weary wait, received his volumes, with which he retired to his table. The books, se- lected almost at a venture, with only such slight hints as the cards conveyed, were none of them satisfactory. I had again recourse to the cards, made out another list, congealed myself once more before the ice of the atten- dant's countenance, returning with a new pile to the table, only to find them as unsatisfac- tory as the former. *O, for fifteen minutes' browsing along the shelves ! But it was out of the question. " I will go to the reading- room," said I, "and see what is new in the periodicals. Running over the tables of con- tents as they lie displayed on the desks, I can easily see what I want. I can read here a par- agraph, here a page, here a whole article if I choose, and so skim the cream of the month by a cursory dipping into a dozen or more, in the course of an hour or two." How vain the ex- pectation ! In the periodical room, reviews and magazines were out of sight, in a care- fully closed case, before which stood a guard, the frigidity of whose demeanor fairly pro- duced a fit of torpor. A sight of the pam- phlets could only be obtained by an elaborate application for each, a ponderous proceeding involving all sorts of tedious waiting and ex- planation. No quick browsing along an open display of the fresh pasture of the month. The appetite for it soon broke down beneath the delay and inconvenience in getting at the pabulum. The heart of the present worm sank within him. He looped off at last to a second-hand bookstore, under an old church, where, having propitiated the proprietor by a ten-cent purchase, he foraged unrestrained along the shelves, with far more satisfaction than he had been able to obtain in the great public library. Such amount of restriction as has been described, is, no doubt, unusual. I know of another public library in another large city, the system prevailing in which offers some mitigation of the rigor. Here the treasures can no more be come at by the general public of book-worms and others, than in the former instance. They stand in cases of glass which are always carefully locked, and no volume can be touched except by the intervention of an attendant. The essayist regards it, how- ever, as some alleviation of the hardship that he and his kind may pass before these locked doors, and through the glass darkly (some- times in that smoky atmosphere very darkly) read the lettering upon the backs. Access to the shelves is perhaps not entirely out of the question. A worm of pertinacity and dis- tinction may, if it be a quiet time in the library, have a case opened, and, with an attendant at his elbow, possibly, in rare instances, quite unattended, be allowed to taste, chew, and digest as he chooses. Such conduct, however, is certainly not encouraged, and the soul of any sensitive worm becomes abashed within him at the thought that he is the mark of special courtesy which must cause more or less of trouble. In the read- ing-room of this library the same half-way relaxation of the bond prevails. While maga- zines, reviews, and the more elaborate week- lies are kept shut up in a closet, only issued one by one upon an elaborately written appli- cation, the newspapers lie in files, open to all, offering to the brotherhood of browsers all needful opportunity. The book-worm knows of only one public HOSMER. 37 library whose methods he, in his present character of spokesman of thej browsers, can thoroughly approve. This library, the third American library touched upon in this brief review, has just been housed in a new build- ing, beautiful and in every way well adapted to its purpose. Every household in the city of 200,000 in which it stands, can have a membership without pay, and there is a broad hospitality for strangers. Users of the library for the most part receive and return their books at a desk, consulting the catalogue for what they wish, and presenting a card, the certificate that the easy conditions have been complied with. All, however, who have reached years of discretion, and can satisfy the librarian that they have a serious purpose, above all the great fraternity of book-worms, who must browse or starve, can be admitted to " shelf-room privileges," be allowed to go to the shelves upon which the books stand, where they may disport their joints, and per- forate as their appetites may require. The shelf-room is a spacious, airy, well-lighted hall, in which the shelves are arranged in alcoves, uninclosed by screens either of glass or wire ; chairs, tables, pens, and ink, con- veniences for note-taking, are at hand. Here the happy worm may work his will, applying his feelers superficially, as his fancy may dictate, or laboriously bringing to bear his powers of excavation, if a serious task opens before him. What books the burrower dis- places, he is expected not to put back him- self, but to leave on the tables, an attendant restoring each according to the library marks. As regards the reading-room, a similar liberty prevails. Newspapers in their files lie free upon racks, periodicals in alphabetical order upon open desks. Each visitor may browse as he pleases along the row, now straighten- ing his spine or rolling easily forward on his rings (according as he is a vertebrate or an annulate) while in two minutes he runs down the table of contents of halt a dozen maga- zines; now burying himself in an arm-chair, or squirming into whatever position of com- fort, while he fastens upon the solid article of the Edinburgh or the Quarterly. The libra- rian avers that this freedom of access is attended by no so great inconvenience or bad result as to make it inexpedient. Shelf- room privileges have too seldom been abused by the theft or mutilation of books to form a reason for abrogating them. The presence of worms and others in the alcoves has been no trial worth speaking of to the unhysteri- cal attendants ; the regulation requiring that books shall be returned to the shelves by an official prevents any disarrangement. A very few times in the course of a year periodicals disappear, and now and then, on crowded days, pamphlets and newspaper files fall into a confusion which the attendant cannot rec- tify in a moment. But the trouble arising from this freedom of access is slight, not to be weighed for a moment, against the advan- tages of the plan. I have in this paper discussed library man- agement as it presents itself to the vermicular apprehension. The question is embarrassed by the circumstance that it would be quite wrong not to show a certain respect to human ideas and conditions. I trust I have shown a spirit of candor. The custodians of the li- brary of the Vatican, unless report belies them, recognize only one duty, that of keeping their books safe, unconcerned by any consideration so entirely irrelevant as that the books should be used. The book-worms, on the other hand, recognize their duty of browsing, re- garding it in their hearts as quite irrelevant that books should be preserved. Between the Vatican and vermicular extremes, the precious brotherhood of librarians maybe found at vari- ous intermediate points, too often nearer to the good Roman fathers than to my own congen- ers. Let the humble plea of the book-worms be heard. We ask but a modicum of right. With us, it is browse or starve. We concede that our charge should be guarded ; but ex- clude not the browsers from their fit pasture. FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. HOW THE BOOKS WERE BOUGHT FOR OUR LIBRARY. BY C: ALEX. NELSON, LIBRARIAN HOWARD MEMORIAL LIBRARY, NEW ORLEANS, LA. TT may seem to many that showing how books were selected and bought for a li- brary will be simply repeating the A B C of the knowledge which every librarian already possesses ; but those of us who have forgotten the glimmering dawn of our library day in the flood of light which wide and varied experi- ence has shed about our noontide, should bear in mind that there may be in our midst some to whom the alphabet of finance in li- brary economy will not be unwelcome. My engagement with the Howard Memorial Library was made some months before the work upon the Astor Library catalog was finished in July, 1888. Therefore, as the new library was to be a reference library, modeled after the one whose catalog I was then com- pleting, the first list prepared was one of the books of reference most used in the Astor Library, supplemented by a list of the biblio- graphical works found most useful in prepar- ing the Astor Library catalog. Discretion, however, was exercised in ordering from these lists, as many of the works listed would not be absolutely necessary in a new library at its inception, but could be ordered as its lines of growth became more clearly defined. Late in July, 1888, there was offered for sale by auction in New York an admirably selected private library. The time of year was specially favorable for buying ; and, as the catalog contained many standard works in excellent editions and bindings, I decided that it was an opportunity not to be lost ; but it was not till the first day of the sale that I was able to submit the catalog for approval, and get permission to buy. Nearly 400 volumes were bought, at a cost much below usual auction prices. The catalogs of the leading American publishers Appleton ; Harper ; Putnam ; Scribners; Houghton, Mifflin & Co.; Little, Brown & Co. ; Roberts Bros.; Lee & Shepard; Lippincott; Dodd, Mead & Co.; Holt; Whit- taker; Armstrong; Funk & Wagnalls; and Van Nostrand ; and also those of Cassell ; Long- mans; Macmillan ; and Spon were carefully examined, and the books to be ordered from each were checked, the checked catalog serving as an order list by which the books were laid out by the publisher for examination before shipment. A long experience in the book trade and acquaintance with the publish- ers enabled me to make such terms that, with a few exceptions, the orders were placed di- rectly with each publisher. As the best books on each catalog were ordered, this arrange- ment was the more easily effected. The American and English catalogs were secured as early as possible, and the general encyclopaedias and dictionaries were among the first books ordered. Several sets of peri- odicals and some miscellaneous books were ordered of the Boston Book Co., and a large number of standard and miscellaneous works were selected from the general stock of the Putnams by personal examination. The vari- ous auction sales from August to October were attended, and many bargains secured, especially at the* fall parcel and trade sales. In order to avoid the purchase of duplicates, the books, as soon as ordered and bought, were cataloged on the standard order slips of the Library Bureau, which slips are used as the official catalog of our library. In checking off the books, careful attention was paid to providing for the probable de- mands that would be made upon the library. Naturally, everything relating to the history of Louisiana would be looked for on our shelves, and, as it is purposed to make the li- brary one of the leading reference libraries of the South, works relating to the South, or by southern authors, have been, and continue to be, purchased. For the same reason, books on Mexico, Central America, and South Amer- ica, and on inter-oceanic canals and railways are among our specialties. NELSON. 39 From an agricultural point of view, works on the culture of sugar-cane, cotton, rice, and tobacco, as well as those on the manufacture of sugar and cotton goods were selected. Ex- posed to the annual floods of the Mississippi River, we had to provide the best information on the hydraulics of rivers and canals, and the building of levees and embankments ; and on the subjects of drainage, sanitation, and yellow fever too much light could not be thrown. Water-supply, also ice-making, light- ing by gas and electricity, road-making, rail- roading, and electric engineering were sub- jects of vital interest and importance. New Orleans, being one of the largest ports of en- try and export in the country, the best works on harbors and docks were procured, and, with an eye to the future, on bridge-building, also. In view of the numerous branches of manufacture carried on in the city, mechan- ics and the useful arts were fully represented in the books selected. The catalogs named presented us with a liberal supply of admirable works in natural science, to which others were added of the popular order. A few hundred volumes, by some of the best writers on theology, were se- lected, a few shelves full of authorities in philology, and a full supply in sociology, es- pecially in political economy ; while liberal place was given to representatives of the va- rious schools of philosophy. In fine arts, general and special histories, and many of the leading books of ornament and design were secured, and especially books of costume ; and such as would give suggestions for the grand pageants of Mardi Gras. Athletic sports and yachting also received special attention. To meet the wants of the literary societies among the ladies of our city, of which I will name but two, the Geographies and the Quarante Club, works relating to the relig- ions of the East were procured for the first- named, and those on the literatures of Greece, Rome, Italy, Spain, and France for the other. The large French element in the city induced the selection of several hundred volumes in modern French literature. The standard Eng- lish and American poets were procured, but in fiction only a selection from the best books was made. Biography and history are very fully represented, and a good beginning has been made of a collection of books on our civil war, a department of the library which will be made as complete as possible. In checking off and ordering scientific books on the catalogs of Van Nostrand, Spon, and others, I had the advice and assist- ance of Mr. C: E. Speir, of D. Van Nostrand Co., whose wide knowledge of scientific pub- lications, sound judgment, and, I can also add, disinterestedness, proved of the greatest value to me, as I am confident they will also prove to others who may consult him in selecting this class of books. I wish also to acknowledge my indebtedness to the late Mr. G: E: Brett, manager of the American branch of Macmillan & Co., for his courtesy and full and free counsel in aiding me to cull from the admirable list of publications of this house those best adapted to library use. That librarian is wise who complements his own (shall I say it?) not always infallible judg- ment with what aid he can draw from such ex- perts ; for if he be discreetly silent (as per- haps I have not been), will not the net result redound to his own credit? 40 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. ANTEDILUVIAN LIBRARIES. BY ERNEST C. RICHARDSON, PH.D. paper has at bottom the sober, his- torical purpose of clearing the ground for the proper history of libraries. It is an introductory chapter on the mythical period of library history, and may perhaps be fol- lowed somewhere some time by a chapter on the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian libraries and their interesting library economy. Schmidt in his Handbuch d. Bibliotheks- wissenschaft (Weimar, 1840) contains (pp. 6 and 7) a list of treatises on antediluvian li- braries, and mentions also some earlier writers who have maintained the existence of libraries before the flood. As none of these were at hand from which to draw material, this paper is neces- sarily limited to the meager results of original investigation. It purposes to examine what accounts, if any, we have of antediluvian li- braries, their character, contents, extent, and methods of administration, with some critical examination of the relative value of those methods. Such an examination as this might perhaps begin with a study of Adam's library what it consisted of, how it was arranged and where kept, and whether it was formed before Eve was, and who was librarian; on all of which questions there are easily accessible sources. But there may perhaps be critical pre-adamit- ists here ; or one, perchance, who, fed by Plato or Wordsworth, thinks the soul is preexistent, and "... trailing clouds of glory do we come From God, who is our home." and if preexistent souls, why not preexistent libraries ? I do verily assure you that I do not believe the tales of pre-adamitic and pre- existing libraries to be wholly true ; but, to be scientific and forestall captious critics, we will begin before the beginning and treat : 1. Preexistent libraries. 2. Pre-adamitic libraries. 3. Antediluvian libraries proper. The first known library is what is now com- monly called the " Veda." This, you know, is a collection of various works, including poetry? philosophy, religion, theology, etc. It used to be thought that Brahma, the Cre- ator, existed first and produced the Vedas, but no, it appears from the Institutes of Manu* that this library existed even before the Creator created himself. After the Creator created himself in the form of Brahma, and had made the soul, consciousness, mind, he formed all creatures and assigned to them (1.21) "dis- tinct names, distinct acts, and distinct occu- pations, as they had been revealed in the preexisting Vedas" (Some books, you see, existed before mind was created, and this we can believe.) Kalluka Bhatta, in his commentary on this passage (Muir. Sanskrit texts v. 3 : 6) explains how the preexisting Vedas were preserved. " The same Vedas which existed in the pre- vious mundane era (Kalpa) were preserved in the memory of the omniscient Brahma, who was with the Supreme Spirit. It was these same Vedas that, in the beginning of the [present] Kalpa he drew forth from Agni, Vaya, and Surya"(Muir. v. 3). In other words, at the beginning of this world, the Creator first created himself, and then gathered from various sources whether libraries or publishers is not mentioned the collection of books known as the Vedas, and on the basis of this (cf. Ssk. texts, passim) all things were created. There was thus a library. Brahma was librarian, and kept all the books in his mind. Brahma was thus in him- self a library, and for a long time the deposi- tories of the Vedas were in the minds of men, but were, I venture to say, proper libraries. In the case of Brahma this literature was classified under four heads, in Dr. Poole's * Even if the Institutes of Manu do not, as Sir William Jones thought, date from 1250 B. C.) or even as Elphinstone claimed, from 900 B. C., yet it will be safe at least to take the testimony of Prof. Monier Williams (Sanskrit Wisdom, p. 215), that they cannot be put later than the fifth century, B. C., while portions of them are older still. RICHARDSON. compartment system, and, as in the Boston Public Library, different classes of literature were issued from different places. "From the eastern mouth of Brahma . . . issued . . . the rich verses. . . . From his southern mouth . . . the yajash verses. . . . From the western mouth . . . the saman verses and the metics. . . . From the northern mouth of Vedas (Brahma) was manifested the entire Atharvana" (Muir. 3 : 12) the classification being thus by subjects with notation accord- ing to the points of the compass. ODIN'S LIBRARY. A second group of preexistent libraries may be gathered under the head of Odin's Library. This is represented under various forms in the northern mythology, but these may be simplified to two, and these, in fact, are identical the fountains of Urd and Mimer and the mead of the gods. There is an exquisite philosophy under it all, but this in the main and all details of proof must be left, only saying that the points have been worked out with care. The history of the first form of this library is briefly as follows : It appeared first in the form of Kvaser. Kvaser was wisest of all the gods (Fooling of Gylfe, 54), so wise that no one could ask a question which he was not able to answer, and he traveled about the world to teach men knowledge. He was slain by the dwarfs, who gave out that Kvaser had drowned himself in his own wisdom, because, as it were, no one could ask ques- tions enough to draw off the superfluous learning (some members of the A. L. A. were not then born). His blood was saved in two jars Son (expiation) and Bodn (offering) and a kettle called Oclrorer (that which moves the mind). This blood, mixed with honey, constituted a mead, the drinking of which made a man a " poet and man of knowledge." The dwarfs bartered the mead with the giant Suttung, from whose daughter Gunlo'd Odin stole both heart and mead. Odin escaped, closely pursued by Suttung. Almost over- taken, he threw out a little of the mead, which, sprinkled about on earth, is what the poetasters have ; but the rest was saved, and, jealously kept in jars, is distributed to the gods and poets (Brage's Talk, 3sq). This mead is knowledge, the spring of life and thought, like the apples, which Iduna The sorrow-healing maiden, Who the Asa's youth-preserving apples kept, plucks from the tree of knowledge and of life, and is served, as you will remember, by the Valkyries. But the mead is said to be in part identical with the water of life in Urd, the fountain of heavenly wisdom, which, with Mimer (mem- ory), fount of terrestrial knowledge, waters Iggdrasil, the great tree of knowledge and life ; and this water of life is knowledge. The source of nourishment for the tree of life is thus represented to be a great library of universal knowledge, classified into theol- ogy, including fine arts and belles lettres, and natural science; the former being in charge of Urd and the three Norns wisest of women while the latter is under the charge of the grim Mimer. Every day Urd and the Norns sprinkle the tree of life from the foun- tain of knowledge, and everything which that water touches is purified to snowy whiteness. There is no time for philosophy now, but it is a curious and suggestive fact that, in all the ancient mythologies, the food and drink of life, whether nectar, soma, haoma, or mead, the apples of Ida or Iduna, or whatever the figure, are knowledge. Is it not Socrates who says : "What is the food of the soul? Why, knowledge, it is the food of the soul." As a man's knowledge is, so is his life in kind and amount; and those who feed the souls of men through books are forming lives. To return to this library, there will be noticed of it the predominance of female librarians. The mead of inspiration and life was served to gods and heroes by the Val- kyries, and the apples were in charge of Iduna; while in the great world library all literature and art were in charge of Urd and the Norns. The one prominent male librarian of this library Mimer appears in a most ungra- cious light; for so stern was he that even Odin, when he wished to draw a book, had to deposit one of his eyes as a pledge for its safe return. FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. This will do for preexisting libraries. It may be objected respecting them that it was knowledge thus gathered, not books ; but what are books but materialized knowledge, a sort of essence of truth ? It is a novelty to think of drawing books by the pint or quart from a spigot rather than as now by the pound or yard from a lot of boxes, but it amounts to the same thing. Any thought put in a fixed form of expression, for trans- mission in that form, is a book, whether writ- ten on stone or paper or the molecules of a brain; and where several are systematically stored, with a view to being drawn in that exact form, they form a proper library, so that, e. g., the early oral transmitters of the Vedas were real libraries. , 2. PRE-ADAMITIC LIBRARIES. Any librarian knows that dust gathers at a maximum rate of say one millimetre per year. Any book, therefore, found buried more than six metres deep must be Pre-adamitic Q. E. D. In modern excavations of Akkadian libraries, therefore, we are prepared for the statement of Berosus that the capital of the world 250,000 years B. C. was called Panta- biblionor the Universal Library, which shows that the Pre-adamites had advanced notions on the dignity of the profession. With this single mention in this class to which belong also the libraries of Egypt with their dynastic monstrosities of chronology, we pass into the region of conventional chro- nology, where the first library of which we have account is naturally that of Adam. 3. ANTEDILUVIAN LIBRARIES PROPER. ADAM'S LIBRARY. In 1884 Dr. William Galloway, of Edin- burgh, published " Dissertations on the Phil- osophy of the Creation," a very exhaustive and amusing study of traditions. It contains some interesting matter to our point. I draw from this and various old traditions found in various sources the following authentic details. On the seventh day Jehovah, it is said, wrote a work on the creation in several volumes, primarily, to teach Adam the alphabet, and secondarily, to preserve the record of the creation. For some time this seems to have formed Adam's entire library. After the fall, however, Jehovah published a new edition in one volume on stone, and added another work on another stone. These were placed by him in a " Beth" or " House " on a mount east of the Garden of Eden, which also contained the Cherubim. This was the first library build- ing, and presumably the Cherubim were the first librarians. The library was bequeathed by Adam to Seth, by Seth to Enoch. It formed a part of the library of Noah, and was consulted by Moses, who incorporated the Elohistic and Jehovistic accounts in the Pentateuch. But this was not the only pretended his- torical library. Besides this we have record of various collections, one e. g. of astronomi- cal and astrological works by the children of Seth; a collection of heretical writings by Ham, written before the flood, which he was not allowed to take into the ark with him (Joh. Cassianus); and the many libraries of Greek works destroyed by the flood, of which the Egyptian priest told Solon. But facile princeps in interest is the library of Noah. It contained that of Adam, with very many additions. At the time of the flood Noah was commanded to bury his books "the earliest, middle, and recent" in a pit dug at Sippara. From this it appears that the library must have been very large if there was room for all the animals, and not enough for the books. According to Joh. Cassianus, some books were taken into the ark prob- ably a select library suitable for ocean travel, or perchance the same ancient volumes now at times recommended for unwary travelers to take to foreign shores. After the flood this library was dug up by Noah, and preserved in his Beth at Nisibis in Peraea, or, according to Berosus, was dug up by the sons of Noah, after their father had been translated, and formed the nucleus of the Babylonian libraries. The Hindu account of this library (Sir William Jones i, 288) has an interesting variation and witnesses to the fact of the library. It states that the flood came be- cause the sacred books, having been stolen from men, men had become wicked. After RICHARDSON. 43 the deluge Vishnu slew the thief, and restored the books to Noah. Of course, seriously speaking, all these accounts point simply to one historical prob- ability the single grain of historic wheat in this bushel of chaff the probability that there were, in fact, libraries before the flood, or at least before the conventional date for the flood. This probability is emphasized by something like real evidence in the Akkadian works discovered in recent years. Up to within a few years 2200 B. C. was almost the earliest date really claimed ; but later discov- eries claim an earlier date, and antediluvian libraries may for the first time fairly demand the attention of the strict historian. But let us return to the chaff, yet not without hope of a second grain of wheat, and consider briefly what sort of libraries these were claimed to be, what they contained. One of the most curious lines of apocryphal literature is this class of works supposed to have been written by the antediluvians. Though not usually mentioned in histories of fiction, some have furnished suggestions for many a modern writer, including, perhaps, indirectly at least, Ame'lie Rives. The handiest collection of such pieces is Fabricius Codex Pseudepigraphus Veteris Testament! (Hamb. 1722). Asking what books Noah may have had in his library, we find that it may have contained, besides the Elohistic and Jehovistic docu- ments mentioned, the following works by Adam, e. g. (a.) " De nominibus animantium." (b.) A census report of the Garden of Eden, which included all living things and must have been of the greatest value to Noah in collect- ing the animals for the ark. (c.} The Q2d psalm, (d.) A poem on the creation of Eve, and various other works, all, it is to be pre- sumed, written after the fall ; for the very same authentic chroniclers who ascribe these works to Adam declare that he was born at three o'clock, sinned at eleven, was " damnatus " at twelve, and driven out of Eden early next morning which left little time for literary work, one may suppose. The library might have contained also works by Cain, Seth, Enos, Enoch, Methu- selah and others, and various works by Noah himself, including his history of the world to his own time written before the flood and published in two editions, one on wood and one on stone. One can imagine Noah's sons, "In the spring-time, when a young man's fancy Lightly turns to thoughts of love," drawing a slab or two of Adam's poem on the creation of Eve, and see their disappointment at the calm way in which he invites her to "shake hands and kiss him." The books were written generally on brick or stone, but sometimes on wood those on brick or stone furnishing a curious inversion of a modern problem by making the books fire and water proof instead of the buildings. Shall we perhaps come to asbestos books ? There has been much controversy as to the universality of the deluge, but there are right here in Amerca libraries which do not seem to have been touched by the flood, not even so much as to have had their floors cleaned. They cannot be post-diluvian, for they are very old, and it must have taken a great deal of time for them to become so old. I do not propose to enumerate such libraries, but only to give a very few characteristics out of our study of the traits which are peculiar to extreme antediluvian libraries ear-marks or rules for recognizing such libraries. By noting the fact that certain evolutionary stages were reached at certain times, it appears that 1. When a library (a) excludes poetry or fiction, (b) has no adequate protection against fire and water, (*r)has no special suitable build- ing or room, (3 19 4 40 16 88 19 4 21 57 19 25 38 75 8 39 64 18 16 20 29 10 15 25 84 15 M 769 523 1,156 560 1,018 184 89 92 "3 67 53 26 83 157 37 134 46 248 56 75 55 93 fl 146 64 9 116 214 42 54 214 69 70 193 58 62 53 165 125 22 8l F. S. Lewis. N. E. Norris. S. T. Solomon. A. Duncan. G. Oettle. A. Brown. H. L. Dampier. Miss Gunn. P. Behrens. P. Smeer. G. A. Whiting. F. J. M. Clementz. Miss A. S. Kidger. Miss Williams. Mrs. Nel. Miss Bayman. Miss Liesching. F. Melvill. A. Gedder. T. Ronne. M. Wimmer. A. Sheard. Mrs. G. Brider. Miss M. Wiggett. Mrs. Wilson. Mrs. Groenwald. W. J. Kleinschmidt. Miss Prouse. J. Rademeyer. Miss Smith. J. Mader. L. G. Rawstome. J. Hoare. P. F. McDougal. R. G. Pettit. Miss Uys. King William's Town Port Elizabeth 1861 1848 1870 1881 10,788 J6.493 2,225 267 4" 5* 75 250 27 2,729 4,759 1,695 ,6 2,100 165 301 Aliwal North Barkly East Beaufort West 1857 1874 1862 1,220 2,234 S* 55 IS 20 72 308 17 Bedford Carnarvon Ceres 1879 1883 1852 1865 1860 1875 1840 1847 1868 1,468 1.374 2^87 J.756 1,998 3,ooo 5,400 *9 42 47 120 5< 50 125 12 6 25 5 37 24 22 391 321 S3 4,010 13 6 14 400 16 Cradock East London Fort Beaufort Graaff-Reinst Komgha Lonsdale 1876 1868 1858 1,908 6,620 41 66 524 269 264 i 306 37 9 1 138 237 93 168 212 80 1877 1858 1858 1882 1,756 3,818 3,163 32 50 32 25 3 3 133 32 8 28 Murraysburg p aar l 1876 1872 1862 2,000 2,138 86 30 6 3 60 32 .... Queenstown Richmond 1859 '857 1874 1866 1859 1838 1877 1858 '859 1884 ',547 1,094 3,5oo 2,190 1,475 2,138 1,330 99 69 43 29 48 60 3 IS 30 6 25 IS 102 64 I? 1,262 266 67 674 77 23 61 22 3 2 IO 146 145 1 60 "64 136 IOO 25 27 88 31 26 27 5 32 26 3' Somerset East Stellenbosch Swellendam Tarkastad 4 232 29 190 i i 47 1858 1,848 36 5 16 20 Of the above the first five receive special grants ; the remainder, grants under governmental regulation. Libraries at Adelaide, Bredasdorp, Burghersdorp, Clanwilliam, Humansdorp, Ladesmith, Prieska, Riversdale, Wellington, and Woodstock have less than 1,000 but more than 500 volumes. Libraries at Barkly West, Butterworth, Caledon, Cathcart, Montagu and Mowbray have less than 500 volumes. The total of Receipts includes other items than are in the two previous columns. REPORT ON LIBRARY LEGISLATION, JANUARY, 1889- JUNE, 1890. BY THORVALD SOLBERG. npHE topic selected for me to make a report upon is library legislation not the ideal legislation which the A. L. A. might like to suggest, but the legislation actually passed, be it good, bad, or indifferent; and the period intended to be covered by the report is the year 1889 and the first half of 1890. The legislatures of most of the States and Terri- tories now hold biennial sessions, and the time of meeting of some of them was in the early part of this year; but for such legisla- tures as met in 1890 I have only been able to find for the States of New York and Massa- chusetts any printed volumes of laws. As SOLBERG. regards the session laws examined, I experi- enced the same difficulty as my predecessors who have reported on legislation, in feeling certain that I had always discovered all the new laws, owing to the wretched indexes so common in that kind of literature. The legislation relating to libraries falls readily into two divisions : first, that which may be deemed of purely private or local interest, such as the acts incorporating spe- cial libraries, the acts making appropriation for the support of libraries, or the salaries of librarians, etc. ; second, such as relates to the establishment or building up of public or free libraries a kind of legislation decidedly in- teresting to all librarians, without regard to the locality legislated for. In my report, I have intended simply to refer to the first sort of legislation in a way that would enable any one interested to discover what laws had been passed ; while the legislation of the second class has been summarized somewhat more fully. Here I will only advert to the leading provisions of the few more important acts of a general character, or of special interest. In Connecticut a law was passed whereby the State contributes $5 for each 100 pupils in the public schools of any town, for the pur- chase of books and apparatus to be used in such schools, provided the town contributes an amount equal to that paid by the State during the same year. The General Assembly of Illinois amended the library act of 1872 to the effect that the city council of each incorporated city shall have the power to establish a public library and reading-room, and maintain it by an annual tax of two mills on the dollar on all taxable property. In the case of cities of over 100,000 inhabitants, however, the rate of taxation is reduced to one-half of a mill on the dollar. An act was also passed, estab- lishing the State Historical Library at Spring- field for the preservation of books, manu- scripts, and other documents relating to the history of the State. The collection is to be placed in the State House, and is to be under the control of three trustees, to be appointed by the Governor. Two thousand five hundred dollars annually was author- ized to be paid out to establish and carry on the library, the librarian's salary being limited to $500 per annum. In Indiana an act was passed by the Gen- eral Assembly, which became law without the Governor's approval, authorizing cities having 30,000 or more inhabitants to levy a tax each year of two fifths of a mill on each dollar of taxable property, the proceeds to be distrib- uted by the boards of school commissioners in the purchase of books for free libraries in connection with the public schools. Impor- tant changes relating to the administration of the State Library were effected by another act ; and the State provided $60,000 for a fire- proof library building for the Indiana Univer- sity at Bloomington. This was, apparently, the only State aid furnished during the period of this report for library building. The tax-payers of Kansas are authorized by an act passed March i, 1889, to vote them- selves a public library in any township of more than 1,000 inhabitants, and maintain it by an annual tax of three mills on the dol- lar on all the taxable property in the town- ship, provided the citizens of the township first donate not less than $2,000 towards the library fund. An important act to promote the establish- ment and efficiency of free publicjilibraries was passed by the General Court of Massa- chusetts on the 28th of May of this year. Its chief provision is the establishment of an un- paid board of library commissioners, to be appointed by the Governor for a term of five years, a new member to come into office each year. The Board of Commissioners is author- ized to expend up to $100 for books for any town not already having a free public library, provided the town, at a regularly called town meeting, elects a board of library trustees who can assume the custody and distribution of the books, and also annually provides, by a dog-tax or otherwise, for the maintenance of the library not less than $50, if its last as- sessed valuation was $1,000,000 or upward"; or not less than $25, if the valuation was between $1,000,000 and $250,000; or not less than $15, if said valuation was less than $250,000. Per- haps the most important function of this FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. board is that of giving advice to any librarian or to the trustees of any public library who may ask for help in regard to the selection of books, the cataloguing of the books, or any other matter pertaining to the maintenance or administration of the library. The board is to make an annual report which is to be printed. During the year 1889, the laws relating to the University of the State of New York were revised and consolidated, and careful pro- vision was made for the increase, develop- ment, and proper administration of her great State library. Ohio amended her library law of 1888 by an act of March 12, 1889, to the effect that, in case the library tax of any city should pro- duce more than $15,000, the rate is to be re- duced, but not enough to make the result less than $13,000 annually. Provision is also made for selling $35,000 worth of bonds, the proceeds to become a fund for making new library buildings fire proof, and for furnishing them and ornamenting their grounds. Pennsylvania appropriated $50,000 to aid in the establishment of a memorial " Free War Library and Museum," this amount to be paid only when $100,000 has been raised by private subscription for the same purpose. ARIZONA. [" Acts, 1 5th Legislative Assembly, begun the 2ist of January, 1889."] An act was approved March 24, 1889, providing $1,750 for the expenses of shipping the territorial library from Prescott to Phoenix (p. 55). An act was approved April 10, 1889, appropriating $1,200 to pay the librarian of the Territory for the years 1889 and 1890 (p. 97). ARKANSAS. ["Acts of the General Assembly, passed at the session, Jan. i3~April 3, 1889."] In the act approved March 30, 1889, making appro- priation for the Branch Normal College of the Arkansaw Industrial University for 1889-90, pro- vision is made to pay for books for the library, $500 (p. 91). CALIFORNIA. [ " Statutes and amendments of the codes, passed at the 28th session of the Legisla- ture, 1889."] An act was passed March n, 1889, making an appropriation of $89.31 for the defi- ciency in the appropriation for the use of the library of the Branch State Normal School at Los Angelos (p. 138). In the appropriations for the years 1889-90, approved March 21, 1889, $15,400 is provided for the State Library; salary of State Librarian, $6,000 ; salaries of two deputies of the State Librarian, $7,200; porter, $1,800; contin- gent expenses, $400 (p. 441). - COLORADO. [ " Laws passed at the 7th session of the General Assembly, convened 2d January, 1889."] An act was approved April 8, 1889, appropriating $2,500 for the purchase of law books for the Supreme Court Law Library (p. 446). CONNECTICUT. [ " Public acts passed by the General Assembly, 1889."] By an act approved March 13, 1889, the joint board of selectmen and school visitors in each town are given power to appropriate money for the purchase of books and apparatus, to be used in the public schools of the town. The money thus appropriated is to be ex- pended by a committee on libraries and apparatus which shall be annually appointed by the school visitors. The treasurer of the State is ordered to pay annually, upon the order of the secretary of the State Board of Education, to such committee $5 for every public school within said town for each 100 scholars, or fractional part of 100 scholars in actual attendance, provided, however, that no greater amount is paid by the State than is paid during the same year by the town; and provided that any amount paid by the State under section 2,218 of the general stat- utes, to any district or for any high school, shall be deducted from the amount payable under this act. The books purchased are to become the property of the town (p. n). In the appropria- tion act of March 22, 1889, there is a provision to the effect that the " State Librarian may annually purchase for the State Library such elementary books and reports of foreign judicial decisions as the State Library Committee may deem necessary, at an expense not exceeding $1,000 in any one year" (p. 31). By chapter 104, approved April 17, 1889, section 1,428 of the general statutes was amended so as to provide that the wilful deten- tion of any book, belonging to any public or in- corporated library, for thirty days after notice, shall be fined not less than $i, nor more than $100 (p. 59). The appropriation act for the two fiscal years ending June 30, 1891, approved May 1 6, 1889, provides as follows for the State Library: salaries, $4,100; purchase of books, $2,000; in- cidental expenses, $800 (p. 186). SOLBERG. 53 [ " Special acts and resolutions passed by the General Assembly at the January session, 1889."] Various acts were passed incorporating new libraries, as follows : Liberty Hill Circulating Library, approved April 2, 1889 (p. 907) ; Bill Memorial Library, at Groton, approved April 10, 1889 (p. 950) ; Hebron Library Association, ap- proved April 10, 1889 (p. 951); Putnam Library Association, approved April 18, 1889 (p. 981) ; and an act confirming the charter of the Bradley Library Association was approved April 18, 1889 (P- 981)- DAKOTA. ["Laws passed at the i8th session of the Legislative Assembly, January 8-March 9, 1889."] The general appropriation bill for the ensuing two years, approved March 8, 1889, pro- vides #i,oooeach forjthe libraries of the University of Dakota and the University of North Dakota (p. 12). DELAWARE. [ " Laws passed at a session of the General Assembly, commenced Jan. i, 1889," v. 18, part 2.] A joint resolution was passed March 27, 1889, appointing a committee to "con- sider the necessity of repairs or improvements to the State House and Library," with powers to invite an architect to view said buildings and to pay him for it (p. 998). A joint resolution of April 24, 1889, appointed a committee to make a biennial settlement with the Attorney-General and State Librarian (p. 1007). FLORIDA. [" Acts and resolutions adopted by the Legislature of Florida, at its second regular ses- sion, (1889)."] In the act making appropriations for the years 1889 and 1890, approved May 31, 1889, the salary of the librarian of the Supreme Court is made $300 a year, and $500 each year is appropriated for the purchase of books (p. 61). GEORGIA. [" Acts and resolutions of the General Assembly, 1888-9."] ^ n * ne deficiency appropria- tion act of Nov. 12,1889, section 9 appropriates $350 additional salary for the State Librarian for 1889 and for 1890, and an equal amount for the assist- ant State Librarian for each of the two years (p. 7). ILLINOIS. [ " Laws passed by the 36th General Assembly at the regular biennial session, gth Jan.- 28th May, 1889."] The appropriation act for 1888-90, section 10, provides $1,500 per annum for the purchase of books and incidental expenses of the State Library ; also 1,000 per annum for the salary of the assistant librarian. Section 32 provides $350 per annum for the purchase of books for the library of the South Illinois Penitentiary, at Chester ; and section 33, $300 per annum for the purchase of books for the library of the Illi- nois State Penitentiary at Joliet (p. 39.) On May 25, 1889, an act was approved, amending a previous law of March 7, 1872, whereby the city council of each incorporated city shall have the power to establish a public library and reading- room, and maintain the same by imposing a tax of not to exceed two mills on the dollar annually on all the taxable property in the city, provided, however, that in cities of over 100,000 inhabi- tants, the tax shall not exceed one-half of a mill on the dollar annually. In cities of over 10,000 people this tax is not to be included in the aggre- gate amount of taxes as limited by law (p. 198). Another act approved May 25, 1889, provides for the " establishment of a State Historical Library at the Capitol." After a preamble to the effect that " it is important and desirable that all books, pamphlets and other printed matter, manuscript monographs and other writings, illustrative and descriptive of the history of the State, be col- lected and preserved in some permanent form, before it is too late to rescue from oblivion the memory of its earlier history, and those who founded it, as well as those who have been con- nected with its rise and progress in later days," the law provides that an ante-room of the State Library rooms in the State House shall be set apart for the use of the State Historical Library, and that free access to it at all reasonable hours shall be forever had and maintained. Section 3 provides that the library shall be under the con- trol and management of three trustees "well versed in the history of the State, and qualified by habit and disposition to discharge the duties of their office," who shall be chosen and appointed by the governor, by and with the consent of the Senate, for the term of two years. The said trus- tees shall receive no compensation except for actual expenses. By section. 4 the trustees are given power to make all necessary rules and regu- lations for carrying into effect the purposes of the act, and are authorized to procure from time to time, as may be possible and practicable, at rea- sonable cost, " all books, pamphlets, manuscripts, monographs, writings, and other materials of his- torical interest and useful to the historian, bearing upon the political, physical, religious, or 'social his- tory of the State of Illinois from the earliest known period of time," and to select a librarian, 54 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. who is to be paid not over $"joo per annum. $2,500 per annum is appropriated out of the State treasury to carry out the provisions of the act (p. 199). INDIANA. ["Laws of Indiana, passed at the 56th regular session of the General Assembly, be- gun loth Jan., 1889."] By chapter 21, the sum of $60,000 is appropriated to the Indiana Univer- sity, at Bloomington, " to erect, furnish, and equip a fire-proof library building," approved Feb. 23, 1889 (p. 30). The act (chapter 40, approved March, i, 1889, to take effect March 31, 1889) providing for the regulation and support of the State Library, etc., made important changes in relation to that library. The State Geologist, the chief of the Bureau of Statistics, the State super- intendent of public instruction, one member appointed by the Indiana Historical Society, and the State Librarian, with the latter as secretary, are constituted a purchasing board for the li- brary, and it is made the business of this board to decide what books, maps, etc., shall be purchased for the library, and to supervise and direct the expenditure of all appropriations for the purchase and binding of books. The board is ordered to report biennially to the Legislature on the con- dition and wants of the library ; $5,000 was appropriated by that act to be expended between April r, 1889, and April I, 1890 for books and binding, but not over $1,000 was to be used, in the discretion of the above board, for the prepa- ration of a card catalogue. It is also provided that thereafter $2,000 is to be used annually for pur- chasing books and for binding. The State Li- brarian is ordered to transfer to the library of the Supreme Court all state laws, except those for Indiana, or those of which the Supreme Court Library contains duplicate copies. The State Librarian is made the custodian of the State documents instead of the Secretary of State ; and it is made his duty to distribute them according to law, while the custody of the archaeological and historical relics is transferred from the State Librarian to the State Geologist. The salary of the State Librarian is fixed at $1,500, and he is authorized to appoint a first assistant at $1,100 a year, and a second assistant at $900 a year (p. 58). The general appropriation act of March u, 1889, appropriates for the State Librarian's office, as follows : Salary of State Librarian, $1,500 ; first assistant, $1,100; second assistant, $900 ; the distribution of documents, $900; janitor, $600; while for the salary of the law librarian, $1,200 is provided, and an extra compensation of $900 as payment for making the catalogue of books in the Law Library (p. 404). Chapter 233 became a law on March II, 1889, by lapse of time without the Governor's consent. By authority of this act, the boards of school commissioners in cities having thirty thousand or more inhabitants, according to the census of 1870, are authorized to levy a tax each year not exceeding two-fifths of a mill on each dollar of taxable property. This money they are authorized to distribute in the purchase of books for free libraries in connection with public schools, in fitting up suitable rooms for such li- braries, paying salaries of librarians, etc. The boards of school commissioners are also authorized to make and enforce, by prescribed penalties, such regulations as they may deem necessary for the proper care and circulation of the books be- longing to the libraries (p. 432.) KANSAS. [ " Session laws of 1889."] An act was approved March i, 1889, to the effect that, upon the written petition of fifty tax-payers, of any township, having more than 1,000 inhabitants, to the board of county commissioners, said board shall put the question of the maintenance of a free library before the legal voters of the township at the next annual or a specially called election ; and if the vote is affirmative, the township board shall thereafter annually levy a tax of not to exceed three mills on the dollar on all the taxable property in such township. But this election is not to be called until there shall have been donated to the township petitioning for the election, not less than $2,000 in money, or its equivalent in property, the title to which shall be vested in the township, for the use and benefit of the said library fund. This fund is to be under the control of the township board, which is to have charge of the construction of any library building, or the fitting up of library rooms, and shall purchase books, appoint libra- rians, etc., and make rules and regulations for the government of the libraries (p. 248). MAINE. [" Acts and resolves of the State of Maine, 1889."] By a resolve approved Feb. 19, 1889, $500 each for the years 1889 and 1890 was appropriated to purchase books for the State Library, and for incidental expenses, and $300 for the preparation of a catalogue (p. 83). On March 5, 1889, a resolve was approved to appropriate $200 for the purchase of books for the library of the State prison (p. 109). By an act approved Feb. 19, 1889, the salary of the State Librarian was in- SOLBERG. 55 creased to $1,000 per annum (p. 176). On Feb. 19, 1889, an act was approved to incorporate the Eliot Library Association (p. 597), and on Feb. 26, 1889, was passed an act incorporating the Buck Memorial Library, in Bucksport (p. 669). By an act approved Feb. i, 1887, the treasurer of each county was directed to pay to the treasurer of the law library association of his county, for the use and benefit of the county law library, 10 per cent, of all fines paid into the treasury in violation of certain laws, provided the sum so paid by the county treasurer should not exceed Jioo per annum. ("Acts and resolves, 1887," p. 6.) By an act approved Feb. 26, 1889, the limit of money to be so paid for the benefit of the county law li- brary was raised to $300 (p. 193). An act was passed Jan. 16, 1889, whereby all the powers, immunities, and franchises and affairs of the Portland Insti- tute and Public Library (which is henceforth to be styled the Portland Public Library) were passed to be perpetually governed by a permanent board of trustees, not exceeding twenty members, to be elected in the first instance by the life members of the corporation, with power to fill vacancies in their own ranks. The corporate property, it is declared, shall be used and improved for a free public library, and shall be exempt from liability to be taken by the city from the management, direction, and control of the said board of trus- tees, which is to make all laws and regulations for the government of the library, etc. (p. 469). MASSACHUSETTS. [ " Acts and resolves passed by the General Court in 1889."] The act of 1888 (chapter 304), relating to the election, powers, and duties of trustees of free public libraries and read- ing rooms in towns, was amended by an act approved March 14, 1889, whereby section 2, lim- iting the number of trustees not to exceed nine in all, was changed to provide that the board of trustees should consist of any number of persons divisible by three which the town might decide to elect, one third thereof to be elected annually for a term of office of three years. No person shall be ineligible by reason of sex. The board is to be elected by ballot, and shall organize annually by the choice of a chairman and secretary from their own number (p. 863). ["Acts and resolves passed by the General Court, 1890."] An act was approved on May 28, 1890, "to promote the establishment and efficiency of free public libraries," which is of more than usual interest.* It provides that the governor, *The full text of this act was printed in the Library journal tor July, 1890, p. 807. with the advice and consent of the council, shall appoint five residents to terms of one, two, three, four, and five years as a board of library commis- sioners, the subsequent term of office to be five years. Section 2 of the act provides that the librarian or trustees of any public library may ask said board for advice in regard to the selection of books, the cataloguing of books, and any other matter pertaining to the maintenance or adminis- tration of the library, and the board is directed to give such advice as it shall find practicable. The board is to make an annual report, which is to be printed as a public document. By section 3 of the act this board is authorized and directed to expend, upon the application of the board of library trus- tees of any town having no free public library, owned and controlled by the town, a sum not exceeding $100 for books for the town, the books to be used by the trustees for the purpose of establishing a free public library. The board of commissioners are to select and purchase the books. But, according to section 4, no town shall be entitled to the benefits of this act until it .has accepted the provisions of it at a regularly called town meeting, and has elected a board of library trustees, as provided in chapter 304 of the acts of 1888, and until said trustees shall have provided, in a manner satisfactory to the board of commis- sioners, for the care, custody, and distribution of the books furnished in accordance with this act. Section 5 provides that any town accepting the provisions of the act shall annually appropriate from the dog tax, or shall otherwise annually pro- vide for the use and maintenance of its free public library, a sum not less than $50, if its last assessed valuation was one million dollars or upward, or not less than #25 if said valuation was less than one million and not less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; or not less than $15 if said valuation was less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The board of library commis- sioners, according to section 6, are to receive no compensation, but provision is made to pay for clerk hire and other expenses up to #500 (p. 318). NEBRASKA. [ " Laws passed by the Legislative Assembly at its twenty-first session, begun Jan. i, 1889."] Section 59 of the act approved March 30, 1887, incorporation metropolitan cities, and defining, regulating, and prescribing their duties, powers, and government, was amended by an act approved March 16, 1889, so as to read as follows : " The mayor and council shall have power to FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. establish and maintain public libraries, reading- rooms, art galleries, and museums, and to provide the necessary grounds or buildings therefor; to purchase books, papers, maps, manuscripts, and works of art and objects of natural or scientific curiosity and instruction therefor, and to receive donations and bequests of money or property for the same in trust or otherwise. They may also pass necessary by-laws and regulations for the protection and government of the same " (p. 96). NEVADA. [" Statutes passed at the fourteenth session of the Legislature, 1889."] Chapter 96, approved March 9, 1889, appropriates $750 to be paid to Mrs. Jennie Fisher for the compilation of a catalogue of the State Library, after such com- pilation has been examined and approved by the justices of the Supreme Court. The catalogue is directed to be made to " conform substantially in method, as to system, form, and manner, with that of the catalogue of the State Library of California, by Wells, edition of 1886." The clerk of the Supreme Court is directed to have printed and bound 200 copies of the catalogue, and to distribute them. Ten copies are ordered inter- leaved for the use of the library, so that new books added may be catalogued in them (p. 91). An act (chapter 101) approved March 9, 1889, authorizes the State Librarian to sell such dupli- cates in the State Library as may be set aside for that purpose by the justices of the Supreme Court. The latter, however, are given authority at their discretion to reserve those of special value for the library of the State University, and to transfer them to that institution upon an appli- cation for them from the regents (p. 94). NEW HAMPSHIRE. [" Laws passed, June session, 1889."] An act was passed July 16, 1889, fixing the annual appropriation for the State Library at $2,500, " said sum to be expended as the trustees shall direct " (p. 34). NEW JERSEY. ["Acts of the ii3th Legislature, 1889."] On March 19, 1889, an act was passed supplemental to the Library Act of 1884, providing that at any election for municipal officers, the voters may place on their election tickets the words "for a public library " or " against a public library," and if the vote is in the affirmative then a free public library is to be established under the provisions of the act of 1884 (p. 75). Another act passed on the same day, seems worthy of special notice and imitation. This law provides that any public board, or any department of the government in any city where there is a public library, may turn over to the latter any collections of books in their offices or under their control, thus enabling public officers to place, where they may be useful, books which may have no further value for them or their departments (p. 65). NEW YORK. [" Laws passed at the i I2th session of the Legislature, January i-May 16, 1889."] By an act approved June 5, 1889, the mayor and com- missioners of the city of Brooklyn are authorized to designate and set apart certain parts of Pros- pect Park as building sites for museums of art and science and libraries, and to lease the land at a nominal rent and for a term of years, not to exceed one hundred years, to any corporation or corporations for educational purposes. No build- ings are to be erected until the plans have been approved by the mayor and commissioners ; and such museums and libraries are to be, at all reasonable times, free, open, and accessible to the public and private schools of the city, and to the general public on such terms of admission as the mayor and commissioners shall approve, and they are to be subject to the visitation of the Board of Regents of the State of New York (p. 497). Chapter 529, approved June 15, 1889, "An act to revise and consolidate the laws relating to the University of the State of New York," materially affects the State Library. According to section 16, that institution is put under the control of the Regents of the State University as a board of trustees. Section 17 provides that the library shall be open not less than eight hours every week- day in the year, and designates the officials who may borrow books from the library. The Regents are, by section 18, given charge of the State publi- cations ; and there is established in the library a duplicate department, to which is to be sent, when published, five copies of every State document, and any remaining copies after completing the distribution directed by law. These duplicates are to be sold or exchanged under the direction of the Regents. According to section 19, the sum of $15,000 is to be paid annually to the Regents for books, serials, and binding for the State Library (p. 724). The general appropriation act of June 15, 1889, provides $6,000 for the several judicial district libraries (p. 764) ; $15,000 for books and binding for the State Library, with $1,500 for salary of clerk in charge of documents and records; incidental expenses, $2,000; salaries, $9,500 (p. 768). SOLBERG. 57 [" Laws passed at the H3th session of the Legis- lature, January 6-May 9, 1890."] By the general appropriation act of March 31, 1890, $15,000 was provided for the State Library, as required by chapter 529 of the laws of 1889, for the purchase of books and binding ; and for salaries of officers, etc., $6,500; for furniture, fittings, and other incidental expenses, $3,000 ; and for the duplicate department, $900 (p. 243). A deficiency appro- priation act of May 6, 1890, provides $2,500 to enable the Regents to carry out the provisions of the law of 1889 in the administration of the State Library and its duplicate department for the two fiscal years ending Sept. 30, 1891 (p. 568). NORTH CAROLINA. [" Laws and resolutions passed by the General Assembly at its session of 1889."] By a resolution ratified Jan. 15, 1889, it was ordered that the record-room, formerly the library-room, be kept open during the session of the General Assembly ; and to effectuate this the State Librarian is authorized to employ a suitable person, at a cost not exceeding $i per day (p. 519). By another resolution of March II, 1889, it is ordered that the State Library is to be opened from 7 to 9 o'clock each afternoon, provided the expense involved is voluntarily paid by the Board of Trade of Raleigh (p. 530). On the same day a resolution was passed ordering the State Printer to do all the necessary binding for the State Library, provided the cost shall not exceed $100 (p. 534). By an act ratified March n, 1889, the State Librarian is directed to receive all State documents sent from other States and Territories (P- 55)- OHIO. [" General and local acts passed by the 68th General Assembly at its adjourned session, begun Jan. 8, 1889."] The Legislature of Ohio, on March 12, 1889, passed certain amendments of the law of April 12, 1888, "for the establishment and maintenance of public libraries in certain cities," whereby it is provided that if the library tax levy of four-tenths of one mill on the dollar shall produce a revenue in excess of $15,000, the levy is to be reduced so that the library fund will not in any year exceed that sum ; but it is not to be reduced below $13,000. The same act amends the section of the former law which relates to the providing of library buildings so as to provide for the selling of additional bonds to an amount not to exceed $35,000, the proceeds to be used for the purpose of making the new buildings fire proof, and to complete the buildings, furnish them, and grade and ornament the library grounds (p. 79). OREGON. [" Laws, resolutions and memorials of the 1 5th regular session of the Legislative Assem- bly, 1889."] By an act approved Feb. 25, 1889, the salary of the State librarian is fixed at $1,000 per annum (p. 56). PENNSYLVANIA. [" Laws of the General Assem- bly, passed at the session of 1889."] The Gen- eral Assembly of Pennsylvania approved May 29, 1889, an act making appropriations to aid in the establishment of a free war library and museum of the Military Orders of the Loyal Legion and of the Department of Pennsylvania Grand Army of the Republic at Philadelphia, and appropriated $50,000 for this purpose; the institution to be a sort of " memorial of the services and sacrifices of the soldiers who fought for the union in the War of the Rebellion." The above sum, how- ever, is only to be paid after $100,000 has been raised by private contributions for the same pur- pose (p. 394). RHODE ISLAND. [" Public laws passed at the May session, 1889."] By an act passed May 31, 1889, the sum of $2,000 annually is appropriated for the purposes of the law library, to be ex- pended under the direction of the Supreme Court, this being an increase from $500 per annum granted by the act of 1882 (p. 4). TENNESSEE. ["Acts passed at the 46th General Assembly, 1889."] The general appropriation act of April 8, 1889, grants $900 annually for two years to defray the current expenses of the State Library (p. 183). TEXAS. [" General laws passed at the regular session of the 2ist Legislature, Jan. 8-April 6, 1889."] The general appropriation act of April, 8, 1889, provides for the fiscal year from March i, 1889, to Feb. 28, 1891, $3,000 for the purchase of books for the Supreme Court Libraries, and $1,100 for salaries of librarians, as follows : One at Austin, $500; one at Tyler, $300; and one at Galveston, $300 (p. 64). VIRGINIA. ["Acts and joint resolutions passed by the General Assemblyi during the session of 1889-90."] In the recently codified laws of Vir- ginia, sections 254 to 258 contained provisions for the creation of a library committee, to be FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. appointed biennially, to have the direction of the State Library and the library funds. Section 256 authorized the said committee to purchase books, manuscripts, etc., relating to the history of Vir- ginia, and to print such manuscripts, but limited the amount to be expended for such printing to $1,000 during any one year; while section 257 restricted the amount to be expended by the com- mittee on the library, in any one year, to $3,000 in addition to the $1,000 mentioned above, the sum spent in the purchase of law books, and the amount paid for insurance. By an act approved March 4, 1890, these sections of the code were amended by striking out the limitations as to the amounts to be expended. WEST VIRGINIA. ["Acts of the Legislature at its i gth regular session, 1889."] By the general appropriation act of February 21, 1889, $1,200 is granted to pay the salary of the "Adjutant Gen- eral and ex officio Librarian, and Superintendent of weights and measures " (p. 55). REPORT ON READING FOR THE YOUNG. BY MRS. MINERVA A. SANDERS, LIBRARIAN FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY, PAWTUCKET, R. I. T N preparing this report, librarians were very largely called upon for " methods, results, and book lists ; also any items of interest that would be helpful." The response was cordial and interesting. I give, as far as practicable, the replies, for it is encouraging to see such interest manifested in a subject which we are daily estimating more and more at its true value. From the book lists, which range from " Mother Goose Melodies " to " Marcus Au- relius," I have selected a number of books with the thought that a list so generally en- dorsed will be of interest. To this I have added a few series of books both instructive and recreative. This list may be seen at any time during the session, and duplicated, if desired. My special endeavor has been to call forth the various methods employed by librarians to inspire the young with a taste for good reading. By good reading is not meant the book which treats of the saintly " Die-young-and-go- to-heaven-sure kind," with a moral guide board for a frontispiece, and a tombstone for a finis. For a child is better for believing the truth that the good do not " always die young ; " and that it is just such laughter-loving, mis- chievous natures as its own, full of mistakes and sweet repentance, that are needed in the world, and who live to bless it. Neither is it the book, whether of fact or fiction, whose hero's sole motive is ambition, and whose every thought and action is im- pelled by a vision ever before him of the judge's bench, or the White House. Nor is it the book that deals solely with cold, dry fact, unrelieved by a single scintilla- tion of wit or imagination. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, should confiscate such books, make one grand bon- fire, and let the children dance around it. I have in mind a girl well grown, who has been fed on just such mental pabulum all her life; who has never tasted that morsel of gracious sweetness, " Little Lord Fauntleroy," or drunk from the pure stream of Longfellow's " Evangeline," or Whittier's " Snowbound," or feasted on the more substantial " Ben- Hur," because condemned by her parents as too imaginative, therefore unnatural and un- wholesome. The myths and legends which make so large a part of the beauty and richness of literature, both ancient and modern, fall under the same ban. What can be done in such a case to overcome prejudices so deter- rent to a healthy mental growth ? This is not an exceptional case, yet where there is one like it, there are hundreds of parents who are utterly indifferent to the character of their children's reading, from the neglected culture of their own literary tastes, generally from want of opportunity. To influence the children by judicious guidance, and help them to such reading as will awaken the imagination, sharpen the SANDERS. 59 observation, develop the humanities, and culti- vate in them a respect for the English lan- guage pure and simple, is the librarian's privilege ; and, as our personal influence is ex- erted, in just such proportion will our com- munities be uplifted. That this is the grow- ing sentiment of librarians, is seen in the extracts from their letters received for this report. As a bee strikes at the heart of a flower for its sweetness, so a child should be taught to extract the leading thought from a book, by a few simple questions either at home, at school, or at the library, which will lead him to think and speak about it. By this means, we may now and again get a brief summary of the conclusions drawn from a book that would do credit to an older head. For example, on every list of books received, I find " Castle Blair " by Flora Shaw, a book much admired by John Ruskin. This book is a special favorite with all young people. One of the pupils of our public schools, a girl of eleven years, on being asked her impression of the book, gave me this written statement, unaided, and without a thought that other eyes would see it. "The story of 'Castle Blair' impresses upon my mind the importance of kind, pa- tient, considerate, firm, unselfish, noble ac- tion, and the forming of a character com- manding confidence and respect." Those of us who have read the book will appreciate this. Let me refer to one case, showing the help- ful influence of the books read by the young. An Italian boy of thirteen years, who at- tends school but twelve weeks in the year, and is employed in one of our manufactories, has read, for the entertainment of his mother and invalid sister during the winter and spring, " Livingstone's Travels in Africa," Lamb's "Tales from Shakespere," and the " Life of Savonarola," from " The Makers of Florence ; " in speaking of which, his dark eyes light up, and he expresses the most sin- cere gratitude for the privilege of reading books of such character. Doubtless parallel cases can be supplied by every librarian. It was my hope to call out some of them when I asked for "results and items of interest." I presume that, if the subject were care- fully investigated, we should find that at least 50 per cent of the books loaned on children's cards, and reported as children's reading, are read at home by the adult members of the family. This is the opinion of teachers whom I have consulted, and who give me assurance of the interest with which the parents both read and listen. Conversation with both parents and children at the library confirms this. Regarding the possibility of excessive read- ing, the fear of which was expressed by a librarian, in a letter received some months since, I would say: Except in a few cases we do not find excess of reading, since the novelty of a free use of a card is past ; nor do I think that we need fear it. While the forcing system of the public schools exists, which we deplore, and the interest in physi- cal culture, both in-doors and out, increases, in which we rejoice, the time for reading simply for recreation is too limited for alarm. When such danger presents itself, we make a limit of two books a week. There is not time to enlarge upon any of these points. As they have suggested them- selves, they have been noticed, with the hope that together with the interesting letters which follow, an interchange of thought and opinion may be called forth that will prove of mutual help in this growing work and respon- sibility of providing good reading for the young, and in assisting them to a wise and wholesome use of it. BALTIMORE, MD. Enoch Pratt Library. Louis H. Steiner, Libn. The librarian makes personal appeals to the clergy and parents, and addresses the Association of Public School Teachers, to secure supervision and cooperation in this branch of work. Personal attention is given to the young people by the assistants in the choice of books. BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY. Mellen Chamber- lain, Libn. About a year ago the trustees of our library opened the registration to all the inhabi- tants of the city of Boston above the age of twelve years. 6o FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. The children have eagerly availed themselves of the opportunity, and our already large number of juvenile readers has been greatly [increased, not only by those seeking books for home reading, but also by those applying for reading matter in our halls and reading-room. By some good luck, the opportunity was given them in a time of need the season of the yearly school examina- tions and, as all who had held pupil-cards became regular card-holders, and their numbers were largely increased by the newly registered, all our books which are fitted for young folks' read- ing in American and English history, our books of travel, and elementary science were in steady circulation until the close of the school year. During the long vacation, of course the greatest demand has been for stories; but, as for years we have been selecting the best and weeding out the unsatisfactory, it is quite safe to let them browse at will. The fairy tale is, as ever, the prime favorite ; books of action and adventure suit the boys and girls alike, and there is a strong appreciation of books of historical fiction ; the basis of central truth answering the demand for reality, or real stories. When vacation was over, the call for books in connection with school work was resumed, and continued until the end of the school year. Our sets of books for supplementary reading, furnished by the generosity of the former Presi- dent of the Board of Trustees and our libraries, have been in steady use ; and many teachers have, after consultation with us, advised and assisted their pupils in their selection of books. One thing a little out of the usual line has been the introduction of a set of young girls to several of Shakespeare's plays. We were puzzled by the persistency with which these girls sought for certain numbers in the alcoves devoted to the drama, and found upon inquiry that they liked to read plays and to act them, as they called it. It happened one day that a copy of the " Tempest " was given to one of these girls ; she was very much fascinated by it, and told the other girls about it ; they all wanted the same story* Copies were furnished them, and for several weeks they were quite engrossed with that play reading it, acting parts, and enjoying it. Next they took " Midsummer Night's Dream," and then they ambitiously attacked the " Mer- chant of Venice." We have many books relating to and explaining the plays for young readers, which have been shown to them and have been read. We do not expect to make Shakes- peare scholars of them, but to elevate their tastes and set them on a higher plane. The demand made upon us for personal assistance from our young friends is greater than ever ; in spite of their increased liberty of choice, their tastes are epicurean ; they desire the best, and appreciate our efforts to assist them. So. BOSTON. Josephine Bullard, Libn. I devote from four o'clock to six to the young people, recommending and selecting books for home and school use ; often pointing out interest- ing portions, and asking an opinion of the book on its return. The result is very satisfactory. BROCKTON, MASS. Myra F. Southworth, Libn. I recommend books and authors, and make selections for the young people, calling attention to works where interest is evinced in a special sub- ject. In that way some of my boys have read nearly everything in the L. on birds, insects, mechanics, and electricity. New books, except fiction, are placed uncovered on book shelves accessible to the public. I encourage the children to examine and make selections from these, and many a book of biography, travel, and natural history is taken in preference to the story book which they would otherwise select. DETROIT, MICH. Henry M. Utley, Libn. Our work with young people is done mainly through the public schools. It is found to be a good idea to have a considerable number of the pupils of a school reading the same book at once. They dis- cuss it among themselves ; they are quizzed upon it by their teachers, and sometimes are required to write essays upon it, and thus their interest is awakened, and their acquaintance with it when finished is increased. Outside of this scheme, efforts are also made to direct the young to good reading by the publication of a brief finding list, and by personal advice. You will observe that the " Good Books " which I published last October contains no fiction. My purpose was to turn their attention away from fiction ; but my present opinion is that the useful- ness of the list would have been increased by a judicious selection of imaginative literature. DOVER, N. H. C. H. Garland, Libn. I begin my care for children's reading at the fountain head, by seeing that none but fairly good books go into the library. But I know very well that SANDERS. 61 there is a vast difference among books, none of which are positively bad. Moreover, I don't con- sider some books bad that other librarians do. I put Oliver Optic into the library freely. We have some of Castlemon's books, and I have found these will attract young readers when better books will fail. If they do not go from these to better reading, they have at least not been harmed by the brief time spent reading these little tales ; and, if they do drop them for better, we can score a point gained. The first time a boy asks me to select for him, I give him, not what I think would be good for him, but what I think he would like. And then he asks me again, and I do that same thing, until I have thoroughly the boy's confidence that I know what an interesting book is. Then comes better fiction, talk about books, a little travel, and then history and biography. Each year there is less call for fiction, and our happiest results are in the good, clean tastes of our young men and women readers. KANSAS CITY. Carrie W. Whitney, Libn. I take entire charge of the reference work, and talk with the children individually. While I be- lieve lists of books to be of some value to students, I think a better plan is to come in direct contact with each pupil, and discover, if possible, the read- ing he really likes, not the books he thinks he should read. One boy of twelve may read a book with pleasure, and derive great benefit from it, while the same book might give to another boy of similar age a distaste for solid reading that would take years to overcome. I have known children to waste weeks trying to read " Macaulay's History of England," simply because it has been recom- mended in some " Best One Hundred Books." Ten minutes' talk would have shown that these children were not prepared to read Macaulay, and a preparatory course could then have been recommended. I have struggled with this subject for five years, and these are my conclusions. LOWELL CITY LIBRARY. C. Burbank, Libn. No special effort is made to circulate books among the young people, except in allowing teachers to take as many as they choose, and keep them during a school term. A teacher reports Miss Farmer's "Book of Queens," as read thirty-six times. MIDDLESEX MECHANICS' Assoc., Lowell, Mass. M. E. Sargent, Libn. The young people very much delight in the alcove and table set apart for their use. I know of nothing that gives such sat- isfactory results as a personal though unaggressive interest in each young person's taste and needs. MILWAUKEE, Wis. K. A. Linderfelt, Libn. A special effort has been made this year to bring the public schools and library into close relation ship. The teachers have the privilege of selecting an average of 45 books each. The teacher acts as librarian for her class, keeping the books under lock and key, and delivering them to the pupils once in two weeks, supplying the kind of literature best adapted to the needs of the pupil. This plan has been in operation 14 months, during which time 6,000 books have been sent to the schools, which have been issued nearly 19,000 times. The teachers report increased interest in read- ing, language, geography, and history. The decrease in circulation of fiction is from 59 to 46 per cent. A call slip with the titles of 150 best books for the young is placed in the pocket of each book, a check mark being placed after the number of the books desired. The benefits of any plan of teaching our young citizens the use of the public library are manifold. Aside from the elevation of the public taste which will follow careful guidance of children in the selection of their reading, there will be encour- aged in the community a feeling of interest in the public library, which will place this institution upon such a basis as will enable it to flourish, and continually enlarge its sphere of usefulness. NEWARK, N. J. Frank P. Hill, Libn. Our rule says, persons over fourteen years may use the library. I go beyond this, and extend the priv- ilege to any under that age whom I think will be benefited, provided they allow me to guide them in their reading. NEW ORLEANS. HOWARD MEMORIAL. C. A. Nelson, Libn. Among the gratifying features of the use of the library is the increasing use of en- cylopedias, historical works, and books of general literature by the pupils of the public schools in connection with their studies and literary exer cises. Full personal assistance is rendered in all in- vestigation when required. A pleasant incident occurred the other day, when three "sweet girl graduates" came into the li- brary decorated with three gold medals. 62 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. They were unanimous in their cordial expression of gratitude to the librarian and assistants for directing them to the books they had used, say- ing that they would not have won their medals for English composition but for the li- brary, adding that the only other gold medal awarded in their school was given to another girl who had made use of the library ; these four being the only girls in the school who had been regular visitors to the library. N. Y. FREE CIRCULATING LIBRARY. Ellen M. Coe, Libn. One plan to assist children to good reading, is to select a certain number of the names of the best juvenile books, bulletin them, and hang the bulletin on the wall with a heading such as " Best books for boys," or girls, as the case may be. Or, place several books in such a position that the titles may be read by the young, standing on the other side of the desk, without trouble. This latter has been found to be successful in our libraries. A book like " Boys' and Girls' Plutarch," which had n't been circulated for over a year, went out by this method three times in as many weeks. NORMAN WILLIAMS PUB. LIBRARY, Wood- stock, Vt. Mrs. O. B. Jaquith, Libn. I try to interest the young readers in such travels, biog- raphies, and histories as we have, rather than to read all stories ; but when so many grown people prefer stories, what can you expect of the younger ones ? PAWTUCKET, R. I. Supt. of Public Schools, H. M. Maxson. I am well pleased at the cordial and intimate relations between the schools and the library. I find the teachers a unit as to the value and usefulness of school cards. About one half of the pupils of the four higher grades have cards, one school showing as high as 97 per cent who have them ; still more are in use in the lower grades. About 50 per cent of the reading is re- ported fiction; but I think most of it is such fic- tion as "Boy travelers " and "Zigzag journeys." I give a few of the benefits and results of the use of the cards as reported by the teachers. " Enlarging the pupils' fund of information." "An increasing tendency to look up details, thus acquiring accuracy of description." " Forming a habit of comparing authorities, enabling them to form correct judgments." "The sentiment of the school is much higher and nobler than it was a year ago." " The increasing interest of the parents in the books that the children read and the elevating influence in the homes." PROVIDENCE, R. I. W. E. Foster, Libn. Un- der the new registration, 750 of the school teachers' card are in use. During the past year $200 has been set apart for duplicating books for school work. In some cases 15 copies have been supplied. Among the books most profitably read are: John Fiske's " War of Independence ; " " Wash- ington and his country," E. E. Hale ; " Life of George Washington studied anew;" "Franklin's autobiography ; " Drake's " The making of New England," and " The making of the great West ; " Brooks' " Abraham Lincoln." A course of" Old South " lectures in Providence on American history, by E. E. Hale, Mr. Meade, and other masters of the subject, has been of great value. Printed sheets of references with the book numbers were placed in the hands of each pupil as he entered the hall ; these lists were also posted at the library. This course of lectures was of great value in stimulating interest in American history, and especially so in the direct impulse supplied by the references. The marked effect of intelligent training in the use of books was shown at the graduating exer- cises of one of the schools, which consisted of studies of the early settlement of the town of Providence its geography, settlers, government, social life, etc. " Some of these sketches em- bodied gleanings made by the pupils in the com- parison of 30 or 40 different volumes, mostly at the Public Library, some of them by no means well-known works." Two books recently published, Miss Burt's " Lit- erary landmarks " and Charles F. King's " M^eth- ods and aids in geography," were so exceptionally made up of citations of the titles of books suited for the reading of school children, that he has caused the book numbers of the works to be en- tered in ink on the margin, thus making them in effect catalogues of what the library contains in the line of school children's reading. The Librarian refers to the close relation of the library and public school, as shown by a large and intelligent class o,f adult readers who had their reading habits formed when school children. Of equal significance is a statement made by a grammar school principal during the past year. Speaking of the effect of good reading in crowd- ing out the desire for worthless reading, he re SANDERS. marked, that " now a boy who brings nickel stories to school, is unpopular with his classmates." QUINCY, ILL. Arthur W. Tyler, Libn. All books suitable for the young are grouped in one depart- ment. In my opinion, the young people can be induced to read books in this way that they would never select if scattered through the library. We make written lists of additions by both author and title. I am gratified to find that our clientele is rapidly discarding titles and preferring authors. Those in charge aid the children in finding good books; when they get on long skirts (and some- times before) and get to asking for " fiction," we are helpless. ST. Louis, Fred. M. Crunden, Libn. Year by year I see more and more clearly that all hope of social reform and advancement must lie in the education of the young. I go to the public schools and talk to the chil- dren about the pleasure and profit of good read- ing ; tell them a story, or read extracts from some interesting book; and urge them to save their nickels there is the rub and get a library card. This personal canvass is the most effectual of all methods, but it takes time. We limit the supply of inferior books, and sup- ply numerous copies of the best. We have a large supply of Miss Hewins' " Books for the young," and also of Miss Eurt's " Literary landmarks," which gives not only information, but inspiration. We procured last year fifty copies each of " Franklin's Autobiography," "Evangeline," "Stories of the Old World," "Grandfather's Chair," and loaned them to four grammar schools. The experiment proved a success, and this year we have added Scudder's " Folk lore," Scudder's " Tales," Lamb's " Tales from Shakespeare," and have included three more schools. TOPEKA, KAN. Olin S. Davis, Libn. I had little to do with at Topeka, either of time or money. It is the line in which I am personally deeply interested. At Topeka I tried to get the teachers to cooperate with me by recommending certain books and authors to their schools, and by bringing their school as a whole to the library. When this was done, I selected a truck-load of books and ran it into a reference room that I devoted for a time to the visiting school. The room would hold fifty readily. When they came, I talked to them according to the grade of the school, about how to get the most help and enter- tainment from the library, and explained in a general way the requirements and methods of procedure. I then selected books from the truck and told them about them. I encouraged them to ask questions, and some did so freely. I then handed books around till each was supplied, and also provided them with book-lists to be filled out. When they had examined a book, if they did not like it, they passed it on to their neighbor and tried another. When a book took their fancy, it was put down on their list. They thus obtained a list of good books which they thought they would like to read. Many became interested in this way in the library. At such times I urged them to come to me freely in my office for help in selecting books and in writing essays, or preparing .debates, or selecting a piece to speak or a subject to write upon. When the classes from the High School came, I explained to them the reference resources of the library, how to use the catalogue, where to look for information, the reliability of various authorities, and their special scope. When I went there I found that no one thought of getting any help from the library. If they knew of a book they wanted, or a friend recommended one, they put it on their list, aud then any other books with interesting titles. Before I came away, probably a full hour a day, perhaps two, on the average, was spent with scholars who seemed to come as freely as they would go to their teachers for help. I sent many a boy away with points for his debate, to have him come to me afterward and tell me that their side won, until both sides came to me frequently. There were few debates at the High School the last year that I was there that I did not have a hand in arranging or suggesting arguments. We did not have books enough to use teachers' cards, or to send small lots of books directly to the schools, as I hope to do here in a few years. We had no special list, as I had no time to pre- pare one, except that we purchased the books that we did not already have in Mr. Sawin's list for 1888, and then obtained 2,000 copies with covers and our own title-page and preface. WORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY. Samuel Swett Green, Libn. The only new feature of work in the interests of the young is giving cards to per- sons under fifteen years of age. The children are making a considerable and growing use of these cards. All the officers of 6 4 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. the library are instructed, in dealing with young persons as well as older ones, to consider it a fundamental principle in library work to interest themselves in the wishes of users of the library, and take considerable time, if necessary, in attend- ing intelligently to the supplying of the wants, and in affording aid in making investigations. We prefer to have the whole force of the officers come in contact with seekers after books rather than to delegate it to a single person. The summing up of the whole matter seems to be briefly this : i. That a generous supply of reading matter should be provided for the young of an interesting and elevating character ; that fic- tion of pure tone and pure English the latter cannot be emphasized too strongly should form a fair proportion of the reading thus supplied. 2. That in the free use of cards, irrespect- ive of age, books are introduced into the fam- ily, which, being read by its adult members, tend to raise the mental and moral standard of the home. 3. That the librarians and the public school teachers should recognize the great need of harmonious systematic action in lead- ing the young people, step by step, to higher things; that, while book lists are of great value in directing their attention to good reading, it is only by the persistent, enthusiastic per- sonal interest and attention to the individual needs that the best results can be obtained. LIBRARIES AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. REPORT ON THE LIBRARY WORK OF THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION, BY WESTON FLINT, STATISTICIAN. / T"*HE work of the Bureau in reference to public libraries began in 1870, the year in which the first annual report was issued. It was in this year that the collection of statis- tics of libraries was commenced and the prep- aration of the material for the special report, issued by the Bureau in 1876. The work of the Bureau antedates the foundation of the Library Journal; and the librarian who looks back the past twenty years, and compares that day with the present, will be forced to admit that what has been done since that very recent period, is no small portion of the his- tory of library progress in this country. It is interesting to note that this special report, after giving a history of the first convention of librarians in 1853, called by Prof. Jewett, notices the call for the first meeting of the American Library Association to be held in Philadelphia in October in 1876, and then goes on to give entire the prospectus of the American Library Journal, with its list of editors, all familiar names, among them that of Dr. Harris, the present Commissioner of Education, whose interest in this part of edu- cation has not one whit abated in these six- teen years, and whose work in classification for the St. Louis Public Library was one of the earliest in the work, so much needed in library administration. Thus at the very be- ginning, this new factor in the administration of the educational affairs of the government, library interests were very prominent, perhaps more so than any other one thing, and with good reason. The Bureau of Education, considering the library as a most influential educator, and the founding and management of libraries an important element in the educational work of this country, at that early date undertook to give four distinct things : 1. The history of public libraries in the United States. 2. To show their present condition and ex- tent. 3. To discuss the various questions of library economy and management ; and 4. To present as complete statistical infor- mation of all classes of public libraries as possible. At that time these four points seemed to cover a great deal of ground, and they did. FLINT. Prof. Jewett, in his "Notices of Public Li- braries, " published by the Smithsonian Insti- tution in 1850, gave a summary of public libraries, amounting to only 694, and contain- ing 2,201,632 volumes. The census of 1850 seems to give the number of libraries (exclud- ing school and Sunday-school libraries) at 1,560, and the number of volumes 2,447,086. Mr. Edwards, in his summary in 1856, made a much smaller number of libraries only 341 but the number of volumes was nearly the same, 2,371,887, and was based on the census of 1850. Mr. Rhees, in his " Manual of Public Li- braries, " printed in 1859, gave a list of 2,902 libraries, and of this number only 1,312 had any report of the number of volumes they contained. Thus we find that all these re- ports vary but little in reality, giving about the same number of libraries and number of vol- umes contained, taking account of the changes in what was accepted or omitted as a library. The Reports of the Bureau of Education from 1870 to 1874 furnished meager statistics of a few hundred libraries ; but little was known, more than the fact that there were some 2,000 public libraries in the United States. After five years' labor in collecting material, the special report of the Bureau upon Public Libraries was printed in 1876, and gave lists of 3,469 libraries containing over 300 volumes, the total number of volumes being 12,276,964. The present number of libraries, as given in our report for 1884-85, is 5,338, an increase in ten years of 1,869, or almost 54 per cent. The volumes contained in these libraries was 20,622,076, an increase of almost 66 per cent in the same time. Upon a suggestion of the Secretary the other day, that many libra- ries on this list were small, I took the pains to see what proportion were under 500 vol- umes, and found only 1,042 of the number, or not quite 20 per cent ; so that the list is fairly representative as to the extent of the libra- ries, and far better than had been supposed. Part II. of the Special Report of 1876 was Mr. Cutter's Rules for a Dictionary Cata- logue, of which a very large number were dis- tributed in this country and abroad, and may be said to have popularized the system of cataloguing in this country. The importance of this part of library work has seemed suffi- cient to call for a new revised edition with cor- rections andadditions,which Mr. Cutter kindly prepared ; and late last year it was printed by the Bureau, and there is an increasing de- mand for this, especially from the smaller libraries, where such a work is needed. To make this great help still more practical and useful, Mr. Cutter suggested the need of an index to the Revised Rules, and this is already in preparation, and will be printed as soon as ready. The plan for this index is to have it very full and complete, with the rules so explained by examples and references, that it will aid the librarian practically in his work. It is proposed to have this index much larger than the Rules themselves, and so arranged than it can even be used by itself without the Rules. When this work is completed, it will be a step far in advance, in practical cataloguing. The dominant idea in Washington is to have great special libraries, different from those in any other city ; and we have the Li- brary of Congress, the Surgeon General's, the Patent Office, and other special libraries, and in this same line there is now in the Bureau of Education quite a fair pedagogical library ; and under the present administration of the office it is intended to make it, as far as possi- ble, entirely special, and to have it the most complete one in the whole country, as it ought to be a great reference library and so ar- ranged as to aid all investigators at home, as well as at the capital, by a plan of loaning books to special students ; a plan which has already been put into operation in a limited way. There is another question in regard to these reports upon libraries that I might mention. It is more for the purpose of throwing out this suggestion than anything else that in- duced me to attend this meeting. Part I. of the Special Report upon the Libraries of the United States, being the his- torical part, was exhausted long ago, there being not more than a dozen copies left ; and we lend one of them occasionally to some antediluvian librarian who wants to look over matters of twenty years ago and see what was, or was not, done then. It seemed to me about time that another report should be 66 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. issued by the Bureau, similar in character to the former volume ; and with this idea strongly upon my mind, I wrote this summer to some of the members of this Association for their views, and nearly all were in favor of such an undertaking. The only question of doubt seemed to be in regard to the great labor and expense of doing the work. I am satisfied that if the librarians here are sufficiently interested, and will cooperate as they generally did in prepar- ing the former work, we can easily issue another volume much more complete than the first. My idea is that perhaps we ought not to make it as large as that of 1876, but to make it more complete, get more statistical and other matter in smaller space ; to make it a compilation of the history and statistics of the libraries of this country; in fact, a hand- book of American libraries. I am not certain that this is a practical thing, but I believe it can and will be done at an early day. There is another important question the administration of libraries in connection with the public schools in this country, but of this matter you will hear from the commissioner himself to-night. A few other things I can only suggest. One is that the Bureau has done something. It was the pioneer worker in these library schemes you have planned. It took them up as readily as possible, and it is just as willing to work now. And I think, in regard to the distribution and publication of a great many of these plans and work that you are doing, we can do considerable during the next few years, and that the library interests of America will not fall short of receiving the proportion due to them from the present man- agement of the Bureau of Education. Now there is no other point that I might speak of. It was suggested the other night by the Secretary in his report, that it is possi- ble that the Bureau might in some way publish quite a portion of the proceedings of this con- vention. That has not been discussed by the Bureau at all, but it is a matter to me quite suggestive. I think certain papers read here, and which have been discussed, are as impor- tant as many matters we publish and give to the country. The idea was that, instead of sending out a few hundred copies, as you do now, to the members and through the Library journal, we should insert them in our report or our circulars of information, or both, and put them out by tens of thousands. It might be a matter of considerable importance if our 5,000 public libraries were all members of this Association,and all these librarians more than 5,000 of them had an active interest in the work ; we should then have a vastly more important work than we now have to do. And that is one of the things I think we are try- ing to carry out in meeting together as we do annually. And this is what the Bureau of Education will try to help you to do. I am not certain whether all this can be done. I am inclined to think something of that kind can be accomplished, and we may be able to assist this Association, and you may greatly aid us in the education of the people of this country into a more hearty cooperation with those engaged in library work. As you all know, Washington is not only the political centre of the country, but is fast becoming also the educational, scientific, and literary centre, and it may be easily claimed that it is soon to be the library centre as well, as statistics will show. The number of books in the public libraries of the whole countr} , according to our last report in 1884-85, was a little over 20,000,000 volumes, and of this large number Washington had 1,203,156, or about one twentieth of the whole of the library treasures of the United States. The popula- tion of the capital at that time was 198,000 ; and, according to its proportion of population, its libraries should have contained 67,000 volumes instead of over 1,000,000; that is, Washington, with only 36-10,000 part of the population of the country, has, in fact, over 5-100 part of its books in public libraries, or fourteen times its proportion ; and the above figures do not take at all into account the great increase in our libraries for the past six years, which would probably show the proportion still gre*ater than what is given. From all these facts as to what has been done, and what the possibilities are, I think it may be taken for granted that there has already been, is now, and ever will be, a very close relationship between the Bureau of Edu- cation and the American Library Association. For the discussion on this paper, see PROCEEDINGS (Fifth session). LINDERFELT. 67 REPORT ON CATALOGS AND CLASSIFICATION. BY KLAS A: LINDERFELT, LIBRARIAN MILWAUKEE PUBLIC LIBRARY. /^vF the two subjects that hav been assigned to me for report at this meeting, the cataloging part was treated fully by Mr. Lane in an excelent report to the conference at the Thousand Islands in 1887, and that of clas- sification by Mr. Bliss at the St. Louis confer- ence in 1889. The latter report gave a crit- ical review of the last schemes of classification that hav come before us in publisht form, and, during the period embraced in the present report, the inventivness of librarians in this particular field has furnisht no new complete classification, to giv your reporter an opportunity for airing his own opinions on this vext subject. The only publications of this nature, with which I am acquainted, ar the Classification of Sion College library of Lon- don, the Classification scheme of Minneapolis Public library, which is almost entirely that of Mr. Edmands, H. Steinach's article on Cataloging technical libraries in the 6th vol- ume of the Centralblatt filr Bibliothekswesen, and the Arrangement of titles under countries with full scheme for the United States, pub- lisht in Cornell University bulletin. I am told, however, that Mr. Cutter has begun the printing of his elaborate system of classifica- tion, so fully and favorably reviewd by Mr. Bliss in his report. Intimatly connected with classification is the subject of notation, and I regret to say that no one, so far, has presented or devised a system of shelf marks that is simple, clear, and tractable, and I greatly fear that no one who is rash enough to attemt a new classifi- cation (and that seems to be the ultimat des- tiny of every ambitious librarian) wil ever succeed in solving this difficult problem, until your secretary and reporter hav finisht their revision of both the English alfabet and the Arabic numerals. In markt contrast with the lull in new clas- sifications is the activity shown, during the period coverd by this report, in efforts to reduce the work of the cataloger to a system of order and uniformity. Facile princeps in this work is unquestionably the second edi- tion of Cutter's Rules for a dictionary cata- logue, publisht by the National Bureau of Education, which has been thoroly revised and greatly enlarged, until it is impossible to see what could be added to it, in order to make it more complete or more helpful to our craft. Tho following the former edition in all essential particulars, the author has made a few changes, which, in the eyes of your reporter, are changes for the better. We hav too long been accustomd to follow a series of rules, apparently adopted for the express pur- pos of showing the erudition of the cataloger, or els so arranged as to sacrifice the conven- ience of the users of our catalogs to the Moloch of grim consistency. When therfor Mr. Cutter, in his second edition, breaks away from the leading strings of the British Mu- seum, and boldly announces that authors known by invented, titular, or original names should be enterd under their pseudonyms, their titles, or their maiden names, to the exclusion of their real names, it must be haild as a long step in the right direction. I cannot refrain from expressing my own constant sens of astonishment at the unanimity of opinion ex- isting between Mr. Cutter and myself on this subject, as shown by the singular fact, that in preparing the English adaptation of Dziatzko's Card catalog rules, now in press, every change of importance made in the second edition by Mr. Cutter, which falls within the limit of this work, was made and decided on simultaneously by us both, without previous consultation or collusion. This would seem to show, either that the innovations ar founded on common sens, or els that they ar, as the term goes, "in the air", and in either case it is the duty of the practical cataloger to follow the evident tendency of the times. The value of this second edition has been 68 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. greatly enhanced by the addition of a supple- ment, containing reprints of the rules of the L. A. U. K. and of the Bodleian library, the report of the transliteration committee of the A. L. A., the paper of Mr. Edmands on alfa- beting, etc. The list of works most useful to the cataloger, however, remains substantially the same as in the old edition, and has not been subjected to the same thoro revision as the rest of the treatis. Fortunately, this omission has been, partly at least, supplied by the excelent account of the general biografical and other works of all countries, containing personalia, which Mr. C. H. Hull first publisht in vol. 14 of the Library journal, and has since reprinted in separat form under the title of Helps for Cataloguers in finding full names. It is to be hoped that Mr. Hull wil undertake to collect additions and suggestions for making this list practically complete and publish it again in an im- proved edition for the benefit of his fellow- workers. Mr. Dewey's Rules for author and classed catalogs as used in Columbia College library is a condensed statement of principles, with a series of illustrative sample cards, which can- not fail to be of great assistance to all cata- logers as a practical object lesson. The rules themselvs ar in the main those of the A. L. A., with very few changes, but occasional ex- pansion of details. In England, H. B. Wheatley has publisht, in the dainty form of the collection known as the " Booklover's library", his How to cata- logue a library. The author is to be congrat- ulated on having presented this usually dry subject in a very readable and entertaining form., Tho it is doutful if some of his con- clusions would find favor on this side of the Atlantic, his appreciativ account of the labors of Sir A. Panizzi and of the formulation of the famous 91 rules of the British Museum, as wel as his discussions of mooted points, de- serv to be carefully studied even by non-pro- fessional readers. It is a little remarkable, however, that with all the author's familiarity with the labors of his predecessors in the same field, he does not once mention the cata- loging rules of Dziatzko, of which it would seem that no writer on this subject can wel afford to be ignorant. Les catalogues de bibliotheques publiques by F. Nizet of the Royal library at Brussels treats of the comparativ advantages of alfa- betic and systematic catalogs, to the disparage- ment of both, and recommends the "catalogue ide'ologique ", in which books ar enterd under their most obvious subject, without attemting a very close classification. It has appeard in a third, improved edition. The French min- ister of instruction has issued rules for the uniform cataloging of incunabula in the public libraries of France, following the method adopted in the Bibliotheque nationale, and this subject has also been treated in a couple of German publications. But in no country has the modern library spirit made so much progress in late years, as evidenced by the careful and intelligent con- sideration of cataloging methods, as in Italy. Stimulated" by the wise policy of the Italian government of fostering library science and awakening renewd interest in the magnificent collections of books and manuscripts in that country, almost all treatises on this subject, new and old, hav been translated into the Italian language. To the translation of Cut- ter's and Petzholdt's works, which belong to a period antedating my report, hav now been added Dziatzko's by Angelo Bruschi, and Jewett's by Guido Biagi. Of original works ther ar Fumagalli's Cataloghi di biblioteche, ably reviewd by Kephart in the Library jour- nal 12:547, and Padiglione's Norme pratiche por la formazione dei cataloghi, both of them works of considerable merit, and showing an unmistakable tendency toward adopting prac- tices closely following those in favor among the bibliografers and librarians of our own country. The records of pseudonymous and anony- mous publications hav receivd several notable additions, first among which in importance to ourselvs must be counted a second series of Cushing's Initials and pseudonyms, and the same author's Anonyms. In the three vol- umes by Mr. Gushing, thus together forming a connected whole, this branch of American literature has for the first time receivd ade- LINDERFELT. quat treatment, and it is a source of gratifica- tion to be able to record the fact that the encouragement, without which the Anonyms would never hav appeard, was accorded him by American librarians. Of Halkett and Laing's Dictionary of the anonymous and pseudonymous literature of Great Britain, the fourth and concluding vol- ume has appeard and, while no one can help admiring the scholarly way in which this work has been carried out, and the extravagance with which it has been printed, it is to be hoped that some one wil be found, posessing sufficient knowledge and enthusiasm to con- tinue it in the same spirit and supply its numerous omissions. The indefatigable M. Brunei has publisht in one volume a supple- ment to Barbier's Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes and Querard's Supercheries litte- raires devoilees, carrying both down to the present time. C. N. Caspar's Directory of the American book, news, and stationery trade deservs men- tion in this report for its carefully selected lists of general and special bibliografies of all countries, and its complete lists of the period- ical publications connected in any way with bookmaking or bookselling. It also contains a valuable vocabulary of the terms, frases, and abbreviations in various languages, employd in literature, the grafic arts, and the book, stationery and printing trades, which, if not exactly the first attemt, nevertheless is by all odds the most complete compilation of the kind that has appeard in any country, and might easily be made the basis for a printing trades manual, indispensable to all who have anything to do with books in any form. A work which, it seems to me, has not re- ceivd the attention it deservs, is Drujon's Les livres a clef, publisht in Paris in two volumes of exquisit workmanship, both as regards the subject matter and the typografical execution. These volumes contain a list of books, in which real persons hav been described or commented upon under fictitious or disguised names, and, altho naturally more nearly com- plete as regards French works, includes a large number of examples from English and other literatures as wel. When it is remem- berd how frequently authors of the last cen- tury in particular resorted to the expedient of designating political and literary dignitaries by a puzzling array of initials, letters and dashes or stars easily recognizable, no dout, by their contemporaries, but mysterious and frequently undeciferable by the men of another generation and another place the value to the curious and the literary worker of such a publication, when as carefully and in- telligently done as that of M. Drujon, cannot be overestimated. Frey's Sobriqiiets and nicknames wil also be found useful some- times in the same direction. The present time has been aptly styled the "Age of biografies ", and if the same activity continues unabated to the end of the century, ther wil hardly be a country or a class of men that wil not hav its great luminaries repre- sented in a special biografical series. All the great works mentiond in Mr. Lane's report hav been steadily progressing at a more or less rapid rate. The English Dictionary of national biography is particularly noticeable for the speed with which it is being brought out and has now reacht to "Haighton" in 23 volumes. The Cyclopedia of American biog- raphy has been finisht in six portly volumes, and another work covering nearly the same field, but greatly exceeding it in the number of persons included, is now in activ prepara- tion under the editorship of J. R. Gilmore. Several other important works hav been com- menced, among which some relating to litera- ture deserv special mention. J. B. Halvorsen has issued two volumes of a Norsk forfatter- lexikon 1814-80, bringing the alfabet down to Ibsen, which is probably the most elaborat undertaking of the kind ever attemted. Not only are all Norwegian authors of books, even the smallest and most insignificant, included, but also all writers for the literary and period- ical press, and full bibliografies of their writ- ings ar given, with quotations of and refer- ences to critical articles on their literary ac- tivity, including those in daily papers, as wel as other minute details of information. Of very much the same character is Vengerof's Critico-biografical dictionary of Russian writ- ers and men of learning, which has only FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. reacht the end of the letter A in the first vol- ume, and possibly errs in the too great length and fulness of its biografical material. De Molins has commenced a Diccionario biogr&fico y bibliogrdfico de escritoresy artistas catalanes del siglio 19, and Gubernatis is publishing in French a Dictionnaire des dcrivains contem- porains, which is in reality a second and greatly enlarged edition of his Dizionario biografico degli scrittore contemporanei of 1879. Hirsch's Biographisches lexikon der hervorragenden drzte aller zeiten und vijlker, and the new edition of Meyer's Konversations- lexikon, both of which hav been finisht during the period embraced in this report, are very full in bibliografical details. In the department of select lists of books, Sonnenschein's The best books is a very valu- able contribution to a class of bibliografies which it has long been the dream of the A. L. A. to furnish, and on which considerable time and work has already been expended. Mr- Sonnenschein's catalog is admirably done? tho of necessity far from perfect, a defect which is inherent in the first edition of a work of such a magnitude. Arrangements hav been made, however, for a new edition, in the prep- aration of which the editor wil hav the assist- ance of specialists, so that the literary worker wil hav, for the first time, ready for his use, a view of the very best books obtainable in any department of human knowledge. The arrangement of the work is systematic under ii main classes, with a topical index. The cross-references to allied classes are quite full, but one thing, that is felt to be a most serious defect by those who use it, is the absence of critical estimates of the relativ importance of the books within each ultimat division of a subject. The attemt made a few years ago of deter- mining, by the consensus of opinions of English scholars and litterateurs, on a very select short list of the world's best books, has called forth a similar compilation in Germany, Die besten biicher aller zeiten und litteraturen, with the like result, the making of a list, with which no one can agree, but full of suggestions. Among other German select lists of books may be mentiond further Muster-katalogfilr vereins-, volks-, und schul- bibliotheken and a Fiihrer durch die deutsch- israelitische unterhaltende literatur, the for- mer in a second edition, which has its counter- part, in this country, in the Lists of books suit- able for the school district libraries^ author- ized by the laws of the state of Wisconsin, which hav been carefully prepared and pub- lisht by the State superintendent of public instruction. In national bibliografies, the usual annuals hav appeard with laudable regularity, and some works covering longer periods hav been finisht or ar in preparation. Heinsius has begun the publication of the new volumes of his Allegemeines biicher-lexikon for 188588, and T. O. Weigel has started a new series, called Systematisches verzeichniss der haupt- werke der deutschen literatur 1820-82, which wil in a measure serv as a subject-index to the author-catalogs of Kayser and Heinsius. Of this two volumes hav been publisht, one by Mollat, covering the branches of political and juridical science, the other, by Fromm, history and geography. The most serviceable of German bibliografies, however, is Georg and Ost's Schlagivort-katalog, a list of all the books and maps of 1883-87 enterd under their subjects, or more strictly their catch- words, in alfabetic order, with, on the whole, a satisfactory system of cross-references. It forms a volume of 1,074 pages in small, but clear type, and has been carried forward in two annual supplements, called Praktische biicher-" kunde, publisht in weekly parts, but now dis- continued. A unique work of great practical value is Reher's Titel-verzeichnis, a list of all German novels, including translations, and the principal works in history, biografy, and geografy, in the alfabetic order of their titles. This work has been very skilfully done, and in it, for the first time in German book lists, as far as I am aware, the rights of the first word of the title hav been recognized, in accordance with the principles with which we are familiar in our own catalogs. Francisco da Silva, or rather his continua- tor Aranha, has publisht the I4th volume of the great Diccionario bibliographico portuguez; and Lorenz has completed the three volumes LINDERFELT. of his Catalogue general de la librairie fran- gaise for 1876-85, in the last of which, the nth of the whole series and containing the sub- ject-index to the other two, the veteran bibli- ografer bids farewel to the public, and ex- presses the hope, that some one els wil be found, willing to continue the work wher he leavs it. In Sweden a continuation of the general catalog of publications, covering the period 1875-85, has been issued under the auspices of the Association of Swedish pub- lishers. Several new periodicals, devoted to the in- terests of the book trade, or of libraries, hav been started with varying degrees of success. Such are the Bibliographia brazileira, begun in 1888; the Revue bibliographiqiie beige, in 1889, containing also foreign books; The torch and colonial book circular, in 1887 ; the Rivista delle biblioteche in 1888, the first number of which is favorably commented on by Kephart in the Library journal 13 : 205. J. M. Hickcox has publisht since 1885 a very full Monthly catalogue of U. S. government publications, each yearly volume being provided with a good index, but the usefulness of which is considerably impaird by its failure to appear at the stated time. Two notable periodicals started out with flying colors, ran a short career of usefulness, and died from lack of support, the Bibliographer and reference list, of which 8 numbers wer issued in Buffalo, and the Wissenschaftliche bibliographie der ivelt- literatur, of which n numbers appeard in Berlin. The English Library chronicle ceased with the end of 1888, and has been succeeded by The library, which, tho no longer publisht by, or under the auspices of, the L. A. U. K., continues to be its mouthpiece. The bibli- ofilistic Le li-vre was changed, at the begin- ning of 1890, into the less pretentious, but probably more practical Le livre moderne. That the first five-yearly supplement to Poole and Fletcher's great Index to periodical literature, comprising the years 1882-86, has been issued during the period of my report, is so wel known, that it needs only to be men- tiond. Another similar work, for which Poole's Index furnisht the inspiration, is Jones' Index to legal periodical literature to the end of 1886, a work of the greatest merit and importance, even outside its proper legal sfere. On the other hand an Index to en- gineering periodicals 1883-87, compiled and publisht by F. E. Galloupe, falls far short of the excelence of these two works, and is remarkably ill-arranged and vexatious to use. The Cooperative quarterly index to period- icals, edited by Mr. Fletcher, was discontin- ued at the end of 1889, but is promist to ap- pear again as an annual, a change that I, for my part, think in a great measure destroys its usefulness. The live library of to-day needs a general index to articles in the current num- bers of its magazines more than an annual one, and, as the matter now stands, we must rely for this on the partial subject-indexes fur- nisht by Book chat, Literary news, Current literature, etc., since a new monthly started in England for this purpos, the Periodical press index, reacht only a second number, and Mr. Griswold's contemplated new monthly series of his continuous index has too limited a range. While on the subject of indexes, attention must be called also to Griffin's admirable Index of articles upon American local history, originally publisht in parts in the Bulletin of the Boston public library, and now issued in independent form. Among the works in bibliografy proper, publisht during the last three years, ther ar many important ones, which wil appear in the list accompanying this report, but space for- bids referring to any of them in particular, excepting a few treating of bibliografical works. These ar Stein's Travaux bibliographiques de 1878 a 1888, Ottino and Fumagalli's Bibliotheca bibliographica italiana, neither of which I hav as yet seen, and of which I am, therfor, unable to furnish an estimate. Of two others, Whit- ney's Catalogue of the bibliographies of special subjects in the Boston public library, and the third edition of the List of works of reference in the reading-room oj the British museum, it is impossible to speak too highly, but it is to be regretted that the typografical appearance of Mr. Whitney's catalog is not up to the usual standard of excelence in the publica- tions of his library. The absence of display type in the headings makes it somewhat diffi- FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. cult for the eye to follow its lines. The Library journal 15: 123 and 147 givs further particulars of both works. Among the catalogs of libraries that hav appeard during the period of my report, and of which a list wil be given, accompanying the same, I wish particularly to call attention to the publication by the Osterhout free library of a Class catalogue and author index, closely following the Dewey arrangement of classes, with a fine list of historical and descriptiv fiction, by the Toronto public library of a Subject-catalogue, by the Detroit public library of a General catalogue in dictionary form, by the Buffalo library of 2 parts of a Finding-list, which is a model of condenst information and excelent arrangement, by the Chicago public library of 4 parts of a new edition of its Find- ing-list, subdivided into class-lists. The Astor library catalog has been finisht, while the Peabody institute library has issued two more, and the Surgeon-general's office library three more, volumes of their great catalogs. Quite a number of libraries and associations in the country hav issued select catalogs of books for young people, as wel as class-lists of books in special classes or on special subjects. Three catalogs of libraries I hav reservd to be spoken of in greater detail, as they em- body some distinct features of advance in catalog making. The Catalogue of the Nevins memorial library at Methuen, Mass., in 2 volumes, by Miss Ames, who also selected the books, numbering about 10,000 volumes, and the Alphabetic catalogue of the English books in the circulating department of the Cleveland public library, about 32,000 vol- umes, by the librarian, Mr. Brett, ar both dictionary catalogs, remarkably wel prepared, and similar in arrangement to other catalogs of the same kind, but differing from all others in a skilful use of their material for the pur- pose of guiding readers to all available infor- mation on any given subject, even when it is not obtainable in independent publications or essays. Miss Ames has done this by a system of notes, containing helpful hints and sugges- tions for reading, and references to general works that may be consulted with advantage, while Mr. Brett has followd the example first set by the catalog of the Queensland parlia- mentary library some years ago, but on a much more extended scale. All thru the catalog, under almost every subject, wil be found these analytical references to parts of books, indicating even the exact pages of each one, and in order to show by an example selected at random, of what immens advantage such a system of cataloging is to the users of the library, as wel as to others who hav access to the same books, I find that, while ther ar mentiond 15 independent works on Abraham Lincoln, ther ar no less than 25 references to books in which his career is treated incident- ally or in part, some of which would never hav been thought of in this connection. Another evidence of the careful workmanship of this catalog is, that after the name of each author ar stated a few facts of his life, suffi- cient for his identification, such as position in life, or degrees and titles, nationality, dates of birth and death, etc. It might seem invidious to find fault with a catalog, which, tho belong- ing to a type that I do not consider the best for a general library, offers so many manifestly good points ; but, considering the fulness of other details, it is certainly a strange omission that dates and places of imprint hav been given only under author entries, and not under titles and subjects, wher the date at least is frequently of the utmost importance. The same "endeavor to utilize all the re- sources of a comparatively small but valuable library of reference," thru systematic refer- ences to the contents of books, distinguishes in a stil higher degree the Contents-index of the Library of the University of California, prepared by its librarian, Joseph C. Rowell, and printed by the state in a volume of 519 double-colum pages, with clear-cut good type. This volume is intended as a complement of the regular classified subject catalog and is just what its name indicates, an index to the contents of I don't know how many volumes, but, judging from an incidental remark in the preface, probably between forty and fifty thousand. In some cases, however, when the classificatio'n of the library was not minute enough to separate the books on a certain BEER. 73 subject, such as the names of individual cities and minor headings, as Gas engines, Idealism, etc., the names of books or works wholly devoted to a single subject hav been enterd. Otherwise, in general plan it is evidently modeld on Poole's Index, to which work it wil constitute a welcome supplement, since it includes quite a number of long sets of trans- actions of learned societies and foreign maga- zins, such as the Revue des deux tnondes Revue scientifiqiie, Deutsche rttndschau, Un- sere zeit, etc. When it is considerd that the entire work of the library, to which it forms an index, is performd by two persons, it be- comes a matter of considerable interest to know how time could be found for gathering the materials, and I therfor quote the librarian's own statement on this point : " To prevent the subject catalogue from attaining an unwieldy growth, and to retain its character as an actual shelf-guide, the experiment was made of writing the index upon sheets of note paper size, arranged alphabetically in boxes placed upon the librarian's desk, where it was centrally located for purposes of reference and available for the insertion of fresh entries at any moment. Fourteen years of trial have as a labor and time-saver in the daily assist- ance to readers ". I can fully concur in this opinion after six months' trial with the printed index at my elbow, and every librarian who uses it must be thankful to Mr. Rowell for the patience, energy, and intelligence displayed in the production of a work which would be deemd remarkable, even had it been the result of cooperation, instead of one man's industry. Finally I wish to call attention to the change in the make-up of the Bulletin of the Boston public library, which was made with the beginning of the pth volume in April of this year. The partial dictionary arrangement has been discarded, and the list of new books is now classified, the classes being sorted alfabet- ically, with author and subject indexes. The whole new arrangement is eminently satisfac- tory, but the author index commends itself especially to the librarian. In this full names ar given, and in so far as the Boston public library takes particular care in collecting these, and has unusual facilities for doing it thoroly, this index wil be of great assistance to all other librarians who ar so fortunat as to receiv this admirable list of new accessions to the foremost institution of its kind in the world. demonstrated the success of the experiment J^= The list of catalogs, etc., which was not read at the Conference, will be published by the Bureau of Education, and should be bound at the end of this volume. REPORT ON AIDS AND GUIDES. BY W: BEER, LIBRARIAN TOPEKA PUBLIC LIBRARY. AWHEN I accepted the invitation of the President to write the " Report on aids and guides " for the meeting of the Associa- tion at Fabyan's, I thought that it would be easy to find out just what was covered by the title ; but, to my astonishment, all my prede- cessors have differed in their treatment of the subject. Mr. Green, at Cincinnati, and Mr. Foster, at Buffalo, have taken the broadest, and, in my opinion, the correct, view. Subsequently Mr. Crunden and Mr. Lane have made reports dealing with what I venture to call side issues. I would suggest that in future the reporter should be selected as soon as possible after the annual meeting; and the preparation of the report should be by gradual accumula- tion, and not, as for some years, by a com- paratively sudden rush. , The technical periodicals relating to library work are few, our own Journal, the English Library, and the Leipzig Centralblatt fur Bibliotkekstvesen are the only ones contain- ing practical articles. They ought to be in the hands of all librarians. The following classified summary includes 74 FASYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. the more useful items noted during the period June, 1889, to June, 1890: On LIBRARIES in general have appeared the ad- mirable report of the President, on the "library as a factor in the intellectual life," on special libraries the " Annals of the Bodleian, " by Macrae, and the model bibliographical material contained in the collected papers of Henry Bradshaw, the Uni- versity Librarian of Cambridge, England. In the Centralblatt is a good article by V. Chanut on " Libraries in Belgium." The same publication, vol. 6, has papers on the regulations of the reading-room at Halle, of Italian libraries, of the reading-room at Na- tional library, Milan, and on Austrian library laws. The question of Sunday openings is very fully treated in Miss Cutler's paper. On the LIBRARIAN'S WORK, the Journal has published articles on the protection of rare vol- umes, on room fittings for cataloguers, on the Cole size card, and on check-lists for periodicals ; also reports of discussions of the New York Library Club on* BINDING and other subjects. The Library has a good paper on the Indicator, Mur- ray's Magazine a useful article on books and book- buying, and the Export journal, published by Hideler, of Leipzig, an excellent current list of the contents of all periodicals bearing on binding and book-making. Remarks on CATALOGUES are, perhaps, out of place, but I should like to call particular attention to one recently published at South Shields, Eng- land, giving contents of the longer sets of British government publications, to the new edition of Cutter's Rules, which is, in many ways, an im- provement on the original, and to the contents index of the University Library of California, a work admirable in design and execution. The following HELPS FOR READERS have been published in 1889-90: Berry: Good books, and how to use them. Burt, Literary Landmarks. Parsons, and others : the World's best books, and collections of papers ; books that have helped me, and books that have influenced me, written by persons of greater or less literary note. SCHOOLS. There is much to be learned from the practice of libraries guided by our more en- terprising fellow-workers. Providence and Mil- waukee and perhaps others are making the teachers of the schools distributors of good literature by issuing to them cards on which may be drawn from 10 to 50 books. The teacher assumes a qualified responsibility for the safety of the books, and is able to judge of the special fitness of the book to the applicant. Worcester issues cards of a different color for children. The Baltimore Mercantile Library has tried an experiment which deserved success. Persons interested in special subjects created by subscription a fund, and the books bought were reserved to the subscribers for 12 months, to be after that time merged in the general collection. If sufficient interest could be awakened in the more abstruse branches of science, this method should be the means of adding many useful books to libraries. As guides to the CHOICE OK BOOKS, the follow- ing may be named : a list of fiction for general use in Hudson's History of French literature, N. Y., 1889, a hand list of 100 books of English fiction, and 50 of translated fiction issued by Mr. Linder- felt, of Milwaukee, for use as call slips, to be followed by similar lists of children's books and of technical books, the latter to be sent in quan- tity to large employers. The Cosmopolitan has an article by M. D. Wig- gin on what shall children read, and to the Catholic World Brother Azarias has contributed a series of articles on " Books and how to use them." I had prepared for this report a list of all the BIBLIOGRAPHIES of the period covered, but they will appear partly in Mr. Linderfelt's Report and partly in the next Bibliographical Contribution of Harvard University. e list of bibliographies mentioned in the last paragraph, which was not read at the Con- ference, will be printed by the Bureau of Education, and should be bound at the end of this volume. UTLEY. 75 REPORT ON LIBRARY ARCHITECTURE. BY H: M. UTLEY, LIBRARIAN DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY. PART II. DESCRIPTION OF BUILDINGS* (For Part I., see p. 12-14.) "DESIDE the building projects here de- scribed in detail, there are several which are still in their incipient stages, not far enough advanced to merit particular mention. Most notable among these are the public libraries of Providence, Detroit, Chicago, the Gros- venor Library in Buffalo, Young Men's Asso- ciation Library in Albany, and the John Crerar Library in Chicago. Doubtless, when the next report is presented, some if not all of these may be included. For the present I limit myself to the following: BAT A VI A, N. Y. Richmond Memorial Library. On the 12th of March, 1889, the Richmond Memorial Library, at Batavia, N. Y., was form- ally opened to the public. This was the gift of the widow of Dean Richmond as a memorial of her son, Dean Richmond, Jr., to School District No. 2, Batavia. The Library journal, which gives a perspective view and floor plans, says the build- ing has a frontage of 87 feet and a depth of 87 feet, being T shaped. It is a modernization of the Romanesque in style, and is built of light gray Medina sandstone and red Albion stone. The roof is of red tile, the gutters and metal work of copper, and there is a liberal amount of carving. The interior is finished in oak. The stack-room has adjustable shelves for 20,000 volumes, about half of which number is now on hand. BEAVER DAM, Wis. Williams Free Library. The offer of J. J. Williams to build and equip a library building as a gift to Beaver Dam, if the city would provide a suitable lot, has been accepted. The city has purchased for $12,000 a lot centrally located and large enough to provide a lawn on each side of the building. The con- tracts for the work, aggregating $25,000, have been let, and it is expected that the building will be ready for occupancy by February next. The Milwaukee Wisconsin of July 3 gives a descrip- tion of the building. The extreme exterior dimensions are 72x74 feet and the height two stories, with a tower and open belfry at one corner. The style of architecture is Romanesque. The material is brick, the walls on all sides being faced with stone, the basement and first story, Wauwatosa limestone, and the second story, Cleveland sandstone, rock faced. The roof is of slate, terra cotta crested. The windows are large and numerous, abundantly lighting the interior. The entrance is through a vestibule in the tower, a hallway leading to the public delivery-room in the centre of the building. To the rear of this and separated from it by the delivery desk and railing are the book stacks, with a present capac- ity of about 28,000 volumes. At the left of the vestibule a door opens into the periodical reading- room. This is separated from the public delivery- room by a glazed partition. At the left of the delivery-room and separated from it by a glass partition are the ladies' reading-room, and refer- ence study. The latter also opens into the book- room, so that students can have access to the shelves, it being the intention to have the books as open and accessible as possible. The libra- rian's office is conveniently located and there are work-rooms, toilet-rooms, etc., at the right of the main hall. All the rooms are finished in hard wood and there is tile flooring in the corridors. The second story is in one large room, designed for a hall for lectures and public gatherings. CHICAGO, ILL. Newberry Library. The trus- tees of the Newberry Library have selected for the new building the Ogden block, bounded by Dearborn avenue, Lafayette place, Clark and Oak streets, near Washington Park, toward which it will face, and comprising 68,000 square feet. The plans for the permanent building to be erected on this lot have not been approved at the date of closing this report. Mr. Poole informs me that, if there is anything to be said on the subject at the time of the meeting of the Association, he will * After the note on p. 14 was printed, there was a change of plan, and the matter there omitted is therefore given here. 7 6 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. say it. It has been found necessary to erect a temporary building for the use of the library until the permanent building can be completed. This is on the corner of State and Oak streets, one block distant from the block selected for the permanent location. It is 60 x 160 feet in size and two stories high. The shelving capacity is 200,- ooo volumes. CLEVELAND, OHIO. Public Library. The Library journal of May last gives a sketch of the new arrangement of the Cleveland Public Library. The statement is made that the building, which is owned by the Board of Education, was not origi- nally intended to be used for library purposes. The second and third floors, each 63 x 58 feet, how- ever, are so occupied. These have recently bee*n enlarged by the erection of an addition, 40x58 feet in size. This increases the floor space devoted to book storage purposes more than 100 per cent and relieves the library from its greatly over- crowded condition. CRAWFORDSVILLE, IND. Wabash College Li- brary. The new building for Wabash College Library, the funds for which were given by Simon Yandes, is already in course of erection. The construction is fire proof. The foundation is of limestone, the walls of brick, the sills, girders, rafters, etc.. of iron, and roof of slate. The ex- treme exterior dimensions are 90 x no feet, height two stories. The building is in the form of a cross, that portion of the front projecting beyond the arms being semi-circular in form. At the northeast angle is a square tower, rising to a height of 90 feet from the ground. The entrance is by a broad flight of stone steps to a doorway 7 feet wide in the tower. Inside is a vestibule 15 feet wide. The angle between the tower and the projecting arm, being carried out in semi-circular form, affords a stairway 10 feet wide to the second story. From the vestibule opposite the main door is a doorway to the book desk and at the left is the doorway to the reading-room. From the vestibule a corridor leads to the librarian's office. The reading-room is in the semi-circular projection of the front, is 15 feet in height, and is abundantly lighted by 9 lofty windows. Its ex- treme depth is 35 feet, extreme width 40 feet, with one 12-inch column in the centre 20 feet from the walls. At the left, in a rectangular projection corresponding to the tower on the other side, is a writing-room about 1 5 feet square. The librarian's office is 15 x 17 feet in size, opens into the corridor and also into the book-room. It has a handsome fireplace, and at one side is the lift connecting with the unpacking-room in the basement and also a room of same size above, which perhaps may serve for cataloging purposes. The book stacks are two tiers in height and occupy all the central portion of the building and left arm of the cross, being separated from the reading-room only by a light iron railing. The stacks are 5 feet 8 inches from centre to centre, and are arranged at right angles to the front for the admission of light. In the rear extension these stacks are arranged parallel to the front, the light being admitted through the windows in the side walls. The front of the upper tier recedes about 2 feet, to afford a gallery passage which rests on the top of the lower tier. The whole arrangement seems to be very compact and convenient. The second story contains an art gallery, a statuary hall, and a trustees' room. The building is of very pleasing effect architecturally and seems to be wisely planned to serve all the purposes for which it was designed. The cost was about $35,000. DENVER, COL. Public Library. This institution, organized about twelve years ago in connection with the High School, has grown into a collection of upwards of 5,000 volumes. Late in 1889, it was moved into the west wing of the High School building, on igth and Stout streets, which has been specially fitted up for the purpose, and has a shelving capacity of 100,000 volumes. It was originally a school library, but has now become a free public library, open to all, and has been placed in charge of Mr. J. C. Dana, as librarian. Beside the library hall, there are three reading- rooms, one of which is set apart for ladies. The new quarters are in every respect admirable, and the library has apparently started upon a career of great and extended usefulness. HAMILTON, ONT. Public Library. This library was organized in 1889, under a general law of the Dominion. This law permits the Board of Man- agement, upon the consent of a majority of the ratepayers once obtained to that effect, to levy a tax, not exceeding half a mill on the dollar, for the support and maintenance of a free public library. The citizens of Hamilton having accepted the free library act, the Board of Management immediately procured a very desirable lot, for which they paid $6,000. They also appropriated $50,000 for a building; and this has progressed so far toward UTLEY. 77 completion that its formal opening and dedication is announced for October, 1890. The architect of the building, Mr. Wm. Stewart, of Hamilton, promised me a description of it, but was not will- ing to furnish it until after the formal dedication, which is, of course, too late for this report. I can only say that the building is of stone and brick and is considered architecturally an orna- ment to the city. It has a frontage of 70 feet, and a depth of 125 feet, and is three stories in height above a high basement. There is a square tower at the corner, rising considerably above the roof, and a projection at the other angle is gabled, with pleasing effect. The entrance is at the cen- tre of the front, and over it is a very beautiful rose window. The entire ground floor is occupied by reading-rooms and library. The former are elegantly fitted up, and the latter is conveniently arranged. The upper floors will for the present be used for art-school purposes and picture gal- leries. A considerable number of books for the library has been already procured. Mr. Richard T. Lancefield has been chosen librarian and has been for some time hard at work classifying and arranging the books, the library having been opened with the first installment in temporary quarters. HARTFORD, CONN. Free Library. Through the labors and generous gifts of friends of the enter- prise, the sum of $400,000 has been raised for the benefit of the libraries of the city. The Athen- aeum building is to be reconstructed and enlarged. The work is in the hands of Mr. I. Cleaveland Cady, of New York, the architect who designed the new library of Yale University. At the time of closing this report the full details had not been perfected, but Miss Hewins has kindly furnished m'e a general description of the plans. Nearly the whole of the main floor will be devoted to the pur- poses of the free library. This floor will be en- tirely remodeled and the low wing in the rear will be torn down. In place of this, and also taking up a considerable portion of the old courtyard will be built the stack-room, one story high, but containing two tiers of stacks, capacity 90,000 volumes, lighted from the roof. The delivery- room will be in the centre of the old building, where was formerly the statue gallery, and the passages from it to the stack-room are by two doorways through what is now the rear wall. Special pains will be taken to make the building as nearly fire proof as possible. At the right of the main entrance will be rooms for the librarian and cataloguers, and in rear of them and at the right of the delivery-room, will be the general reading-rooms. The arrangement seems to be very convenient for the public and also for the economical administration of the library. An en- tirely new wing, two stories high, will be built in the rear for the Watkinson Library ; and the quar- ters heretofore occupied by that library will be de- voted to the library of the Connecticut Historical Society. The art collection will be incorporated with the free library and will be placed on the second floor, in the front portion of the building. The entrance will be through the same general en- trance as to the library and offices. A very con- siderable accession to the number of volumes in the free library is certain, as soon as the new building is ready to receive them. The improve- ments of the building are to cost $75,000. HIGHTSTOWN, N. J. Lon'gstreet Library. The building, the memorial gift of Jonathan and Mary A. Longstreet, has been completed and dedicated. It has a very attractive exterior. The interior is both pleasant and convenient, with separate reading-rooms, book-rooms, and an office for the librarian. The shelving capacity is 10,000 volumes, and about 4,000 are now on hand. The cost of the building was $12,000. JOHNSTOWN, PA. Cambria Library. The Cambria Library, in Johnstown, was completely wiped out by the flood which destroyed that town in May, 1889. Mr. Andrew Carnegie volunteered to restore the building at his own expense, and the work is now in a forward state of progress. The new building is 65 feet front by 85 feet deep, and its construction is intended to be fire proof. It is of salmon-colored brick, trimmed with free- stone, and is of good substantial appearance, though no special attempt at ornamentation has been made. The interior will be finished through- out in natural wood, and all the rooms are con- venient, pleasant, and well lighted. The library and reading rooms will be placed on the second floor. The first floor will be devoted to a large audience-room for lectures, etc., and on the third floor there will be a gymnasium and class-rooms. The library has now on hand about 1,200 volumes. KALAMAZOO, MICH. Public Library. The city has appropriated $15,000 for the purchase of a suitable and conveniently located lot, and Dr. and Mrs. E. H. Van Dusen have announced their in- tention to give $50,000 for a building. The plans are now under consideration, though nothing defi- FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. nite has yet been decided. It is expected that the new building will be completed by July, 1891. This library is a public-school library under the general laws of the State, and is managed by the Board of Education. It numbers about 17,000 volumes, and employs a librarian and two assist- ants. It has always received generous support at the hands of the tax payers, and has proved very popular and useful. Dr. and Mrs. Van Dusen, by their munificent gift, have commended them- selves to the reverent affection of their towns- people. Their monument is more enduring than brass. KANSAS CITY, Mo. Public Library. The new building erected for the public library was opened Sept. 2, 1889. It is of brick, two stories in height. It has a frontage of 50 feet and a depth of 140. The entire first floor is devoted to library pur- poses, including reading-rooms, chess and checker rooms, librarian's room, and book cases. On the second floor are the offices of the School Board. The building is on leased ground, and cost $10,000. On one side is a handsome lawn, sur- rounded by iron railings. The book cases are separated from the public by counters, at which books are given out and returned. To the right of these is a passage-way to the reading-room, in the rear. This is a well-lighted apartment 50 x 75 feet in size, with high ceiling. Four small rooms adjoining are used for chess and checker rooms, which is something of an innovation. This library, which now numbers upwards of 15,000 volumes, was first opened in 1876, and had hitherto occu- pied rented quarters. Library journal. Thomas H. Swope has purchased a piece of ground 161 feet, on I5th street, by 265 feet deep, upon which he proposes to erect a magnificent library building and art gallery, to be presented by him 10 the city. LAFAYETTE, IND. Public Library. The new building was completed and occupied early in the present year. Its cost was about $50,000, and it was built by public taxation. The entire first floor is taken up by the library and reading-rooms, offices, etc., and the upper floor is used for high- school purposes. The building is of brick with stone dressing, and the general architectural effect is very pleasing. The library has the use of three large rooms one for a general delivery-room, with the book stacks in the rear and conveniently arranged; the others are used for reading and consulting rooms. The library numbers about 12,000 volumes. LAWRENCE, MASS. Public Library. The trus- tees of the White fund have entered into a contract with the city government to erect a library building, costing $40,000, the city to accept the same for thirty years, keep it in repair, and pay an annual rental of $1,600. The plans have been adopted and the work is in progress. The architecture is the modern Romanesque, the en- tire exterior of brownstone, the trimming, same material hammered. The building has a frontage of 89 feet on Haverhill street, and a depth of 124 feet. At the northeast corner is a tower, first square, then octagonal, rising to a height of 70 feet. The entrance is through this tower into a vesti- bule, whence there is a passage into the delivery- room, 26 x 30 feet. North of the delivery-room, and connecting with it by an arch, is the reading- room, 30 x 70 feet in size. The octagonal end on Haverhill street admits light through six small windows and one large one 10 feet wide. At the northwest side is the reference-room, 22 x 32, connected with the reading-room by two arches, between which is an open fireplace. West of the reference-room is the librarian's room, 17 x 27^ feet in size, with an open fireplace. The book-room is a rear extension, one story high* 37 x 45 feet, with a basement 6 feet high. There are three tiers of iron book stacks, one in the basement, one on the main floor, and one above it. The estimated capacity is 75,000 volumes. The library now contains 32,000. The entire woodwork, except that of the book-room, is oak. On the second floor is the trustees' room, 15^ feet square, and a hall, 30 x 60, to be used as a lecture-room, picture gallery, etc. MAGNOLIA, MASS. Public Library. A hand- some building, costing $8,000, designed by Cum- mings & Sears, architects, of Boston, has been erected. The lower story is arranged for library and reading-rooms, and the upper story is used as a lecture and concert hall. The money for the enterprise was raised by private subscriptions and public entertainments. MEADVILLE, PA. Theological School Library. This library building, which was erected at a cost of $6,000, chiefly contributed by Alfred, Miss E. G., and Prof. F. Huidekoper, was dedicated June 4. It is a substantial fireproof structure of stone and brick. There are three commodious, well-lighted and well-ventilated reading and study rooms and one apartment used as a reference library. The UTLEY. 79 woodwork of the interior is native pine in its natu- ral state. The heating is by steam. The book- room is in a wing, separated from the rest of the building by a heavy brick wall. It has a capacity of 40,000 volumes. MEMPHIS, TENN. Cossitt Library. The con- struction of the Cossitt Library, now in progress, is required by contract to be finished by first of July, 1891. The building is irregular in outline, but has a frontage of 131 feet, by an extreme depth of no feet. The style of architecture is Roman- esque. The material is red sandstone, from Mich- igan quarries. The window courses, caps, gables, and columns are made quite ornate by elaborate carvings. The roof is of red tile. The building stands well up above the street, which relieves it from what might be otherwise a squatty appearance. It is two stories in height, and a circular tower near the centre of the front is carried far above the roof of the main structure, and is finished with open belfry and sharp-pointed tiled roof. The most striking feature of the fa9ade is the entrance porch and its treatment both above and below. From the plaza on which the building stands, the porch is reached by a flight of nine broad stone steps. It shows three faces, each pierced by a wide arched entrance. The arches are sup- ported by five polished marble columns. Each of the faces shows a gable and double arched windows in the second story. From this entrance wide double doors open into the vesti- bule, from which a door leads into the delivery hall. Near the vestibule is a cloak-room. Oppo- site the main entrance is a spacious fireplace, at the right of which is a door leading into the com- mittee-room, in the rear ; and still further to the right is the counter for the delivery of books. Between the counter and the book-room in its rear, is the librarian's desk. Conveniently placed are stairways and also a lift to the basement and to the work-rooms above. At the left of the deliv- ery hall is the ladies' reading-room, provided with a fireplace and convenient toilet-room. The magazine-room and the general reading-room are in front of and to the right of the delivery hall, and are connected with it and with each other by broad arched openings. They are admirably lighted, and so placed as to prevent disturbance of the occupants by the bustle and confusion of the delivery-room. The south end of the reading-room is rounded at the corners, and shows a handsome fireplace at the centre. In the second story is another reading or study room, the passage to which is from the delivery hall by a stairway in the circular tower. The book-room is in a rear extension, one story high, and so arranged that it can be added to as occasion may require. The windows are in the side walls and high, so as to permit the placing of book cases along the walls as well as across the centre of the room. The present capacity of this room is 40,000 volumes. The cost of the building is to be about $75,000. Mr. L. B. Wheeler, of Memphis, is the architect, and to him I am indebted for information respecting the plans, etc. MENOMONEE, Wis. Tainter Memorial Library. This building, the memorial gift of Andrew Tainter, has been completed at a cost of about $18,000. It was opened July i, 1890, with 5,000 volumes. The property has been put into the hands of a corporation for management, but the library is practically free to the citizens. There are in the building, in addition to the library and reading-room, a public hall or lecture-room, and parlors and other suitable rooms for a young peo- ple's club. The building is Romanesque in style, and is constructed of sandstone. It has a frontage of 80 feet and an extreme depth of 90 feet. Its height is two stories above a lofty basement. The library and reading-rooms are on the first floor, and the book stack is in a fireproof wing. The floor of the library is tiled with marble. The staircase and wainscoting are marble. The wood- work and furniture are mainly oak. The building is heated by steam and lighted by electricity. There are two large and beautiful memorial win- dows one for the daughter of Andrew Tainter, who erected this building in her memory, and the other designed to perpetuate the memory of Cap- tain and Mrs. Tainter themselves. MIDDLETOWN, MASS. Public Library. The people voted in town meeting to purchase a site and erect thereon a suitable public library build- ing. The town pays for the site, and will take care of the expense of maintaining the library. The Flint fund of $10,000 will be devoted to the erection of a building. The Emerson fund of $10,000 will be set aside as endowment, the income of which will be appropriated to the purchase of books. The new building will be a handsome and commodious structure, planned in accordance with the latest ideas on the subject. 8o FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. MILWAUKEE, Wis. Public Library. The Legis- lature of the State, at its last session, authorized the city of Milwaukee to issue its bonds to the amount of $60,000 for the purchase of a site for a public library and museum building. In like manner it is proposed to ask the next Legislature to give authority to the city to raise the requisite funds for the erection of a building. Mr. Linderfelt writes: "A lot has been purchased, consisting of a piece of ground nearly 35,000 square feet, corner of Grand avenue and gth street, which I am pleased to say is one of the most beautiful and commanding situations in the city. On this ground a building will be erected large enough to accom- modate both the public library and our extensive public museum. I have every reason to hope that the building will be as good as it can be made, so far as construction is concerned, and imposing archi- tecturally. We shall probably require about a quarter of a million dollars for its erection. But no detailed plans have yet been made, nor can any- thing be done toward commencing it before next spring at the earliest." MOUNT HOLLY SPRINGS, PA. Free Library. Miss Amelia S. Given, of Mount Holly Springs, Pa., an heiress, has given the little mountain vil- lage where she was born a free library. The build- ing is of the modern renaissance style, while the rooms are finished in Moorish designs and fitted with modern conveniences and comforts. Har- per's Weekly. NEBRASKA. State Library. The library was moved into its new quarters in the second story of the south wing of the Capitol in August last. The library-room is 75 x 30 feet, and has one gallery extending around all sides of the room, reached by spiral stairways at the corners. Only the main floor has been fitted up, and this has a capacity of 30,000 volumes. The gallery will be occupied when required. All the woodwork, including the furniture, book cases, etc., is of polished oak. There are six reading-tables. The ante-rooms, of which there are two, are used, one by the librarian as an office, and the other for storing Nebraska reports, having a capacity of 5,000 volumes. The library is heated by steam and lighted by electricity. There are two large open fireplaces at opposite ends of the room. NEWARK, N. J. Public Library. A full des- cription of the new building for the Newark free public library, with illustrations of the exterior and interior, and floor plans, is given in the Library journal for November, 1889. The new building, which seems to be a model of its kind and admir- ably arranged, was formally opened to the public, with appropriate dedicatory exercises, on the even- ing of Oct. 16, 1889. The capacity of the shelving is 60,000 volumes, which can be easily increased to 100,000. The present number of volumes is about 25,000. NEW HAVEN, CONN. Public Library. The city issued its bonds in the sum of $100,000, and takes care of the annual interest. The proceeds of the bonds amounted to $110,888. Of this sum, $70,000 was used for the purchase of the old Third Church property, opposite the green, and in a very convenient and satisfactory location. The remodeling and furnishing of the building are expected to cost about $30,000. The equipment is intended to be very complete, with steam heat- ing, electric lighting, and special attention to ven- tilation. The building will be ready for occupancy about the 1st of January next. The old church is of Portland brownstone, about 60 feet wide by about 1 20 feet in depth, with a two-story addition in the rear. The exterior will not be altered, except that skylights will be placed in the roof. The interior was divided into nave 30 feet wide, and aisles on each side 15 feet wide, with columns supporting the roof and galleries over the aisles. The plan is to leave the nave still open to the roof, from which it will be lighted by skylight, and to fill in the space between the columns with glazed partitions. The central portion of the building will be used as the library proper, the public delivery-room occupying the front for about one third of the floor space, separated by a counter from the book-room, which occupies the remain- der of the nave and the rear extension. The galleries will be reconstructed and used for book storage when required. The spaces under the galleries on either side will be used for reading- rooms. At the front and upon the right and left of the main entrance are small rooms suitable for librarian and assistants for work-rooms. These are so arranged that the supervision of the several rooms devoted to public use can be maintained with great economy in the employment of assist- ants. The catalogue is placed near the reference- room, and the card catalogue and the librarian are located conveniently to the public as well as the library employes. The city makes an annual appropriation of $10,000 for the maintenance of the library, and it is expected that the building as UTLEY. 81 now remodeled will suffice for its needs for twenty years to come, and additions can then be made which will provide for a much longer period. NEW YORK CITY. Mercantile Library. Mr. Peoples writes that the new building for the N. Y. Mercantile Library is now in course of erection on the site of the old building in Astor place and 8th street. The lot is irregular, measuring 159 feet on 8th street, 149 feet on Astor place, 52 feet on the end which faces an open square, and 98 feet on the opposite end. The building will be seven stories high. The first two stories will be of pink sandstone. Above this, the material used will be brick of a buff color, interspersed with sandstone. The library will occupy the sixth and seventh stories, and will be reached by two steam elevators. The other stories, from the first to the fifth inclusive, will be rented for stores and offices. The building will be heated by steam and lighted throughout by electricity. The sixth floor will be used for the reading-room and reference department, and will be 17 feet high. The circulating department for home use will be on the seventh floor. This room will be 25 feet from floor to roof. We shall have windows on all sides and a skylight in the roof. At present the book stack will be two tiers high, of 7 feet each. The storage capacity is estimated at 800,000 volumes. The cost of the building will be about $500,000. NORTH GRANBY, CONN. Cossitt Library. The Springfield Republican of April 26, 1890, gives a view of the public free library building erected at North Granby. Frederick H. Cossitt, of New York, who left $75,000 for a library at Memphis, Tenn., left also $10,000 for a library at North Granby, his birthplace. The people of the town contributed funds to include a public hall in the structure and leave $5,000 for the permanent support of the institution. The plans were drawn by J. D. Sibley, architect, of Middletown, Conn. The first story is of brick, and the upper story of wood. The library and reading-room are in the upper story, the centre of the room being devoted to reading-tables, and the book cases arranged in alcoves around the walls. The interior is lighted from above by a lantern in a dwarf roof. This lantern is supported by ten columns, and contains twenty-six windows of ground, plain, and stained glass, producing a pleasing effect. The whole woodwork of the interior is of light and dark colored cypress, finished in the natural wood. The building is heated by a furnace. There is a neat vestibule. The architecture is unique, and the general effect is said to be pleasing. OLNEYVILLE, R. I. Public Library. The citi- zens have undertaken to establish a public library. Sufficient subscriptions have been secured to assure the success of the movement. The town is to provide for the maintenance and for the pur- chase of books. Plans for the building have been adopted, and the cost is estimated at $30,000- They show a substantial stone structure of the modern style of architecture, two stories in height, with a high and well-lighted basement. The li- brary will be on the main floor, and there will be separate reading-rooms for ladies and gentlemen. PITTSBURGH, PA. Carnegie Public Library. Mr. Jas. B. Scott, Chairman of the Library Commis sion, writes under date of July 2, 1890: "The Carnegie Library project in Pittsburgh has not more than started. The enterprise is now await- ing a decision regarding the definite location of the principal buildings; and in consequence there are yet no plans, which will have to be adapted to suit the location when selected and secured. In a general way the project in Pittsburgh will have a central organization, which will include the library building, hall, picture-gallery, and museum. There will be, in addition, four or five branch libraries, to be located in as many several thickly populated districts of the city. Mr. Carnegie has definitely given one million dollars for this general enter- prise. He has also made the provision for a rev- enue at 5 per cent of another million dollars, said revenue to be specifically spent in connection with the art and museum features. The first million is given outright for building purposes, the second million being in the nature of an en- dowment for above purposes. PORTLAND, OR. Portland Library. This is an Association Library, established in 1864. It has about 18,000 volumes, a membership of 250, paying annual dues of $9. By the sale of per- petual memberships a book fund endowment of $25,000 has been accumulated. M. W. Fech- heimer, for many years a director of the Association, left upon his death a bequest of the value of about $5,000 for building purposes. A subscription to enlarge this fund was started, and it was increased to $45,000. Oct. i, 1889, Miss Ella M. Smith, of Portland, died, leaving, by last will and testa- 82 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. ment, her whole estate, valued at $100,000, to the Association to aid in the erection of a suitable building for the library and maintenance of the same, or to furnish it with works of art. Plans for a building were immediately procured from Chamber- lain & Whidden, architects, of Boston, a half-block of ground in a central location was purchased, and the erection of the building, to cost $100,000, was begun, to be finished in 1891. The building has a frontage on Stark street of 64 feet and an extreme depth of 144 feet. It is two stories in height. above a high basement. The material is stone, roof of slate. The entire build- ing will be devoted to library purposes, and will afford spacious reading-rooms for ladies and for gentlemen, as well as art-rooms, study or lyceum rooms, and ample book-storage facilities. The arrangement of the rooms is according to the latest approved methods, and is believed to be very convenient. The heating is by steam, and special attention has been paid by the architects to ventilation and lighting. RoCKTON, ILL. Talcott Free Library. A hand- some free library building was opened in Rockton, a suburb of Rockford, 111., on Aug. 22, 1889. The building was erected at the expense of the Talcott family of that place, and Mr. Thomas B. Talcott presented nearly 1,000 volumes as a memorial of his wife, so that the library has a fair start. ST. Louis, Mo. Public Library. Plans pre- pared by Isaac Taylor, architect, of St. Louis, have been accepted by the Board of Education for a public-school library building, to be erected at an estimated cost of $350,000. The location is a central one, being at the corner of gth and Locust streets. The building is designed to furnish a revenue from business uses of the lower floors, like that of the Mercantile Library in the same city. It is to be 127 x 112 feet in size, six stories high, and absolutely fire proof. The basement and four lower floors will be rented to one tenant for business purposes, probably a wholesale dry-goods store. The Board of Education will use the fifth floor for its offices, committee-rooms, etc. The sixth floor will be given up wholly to the library, and will be arranged in the most convenient man- ner. At the date of closing this report, July i, the details of this arrangement have not been settled. I am informed by Mr. Crunden that the plans will be exhibited at the conference for exam- ination and criticism The entrance to the li- brary will be at the west end of the building on Locust street. There will be an elaborate vesti- bule, the walls, floor, and ceiling of Italian marble. A marble staircase and three passenger elevators will land the visitor to the library floor in a com- modious lobby, from which doors lead to the pub- lic delivery-room. Back of the delivery desk is the stack-room. This is 92 x 43 feet in size, and runs the entire length of the building. It is sep- arated from the delivery-room by" a glazed parti- tion, which affords the public a glimpse of the resources of the library. The reading-room is also separated from the delivery-room by an orna- mental glass partition, 8 feet high. At the west end is a gallery for patent documents. There are convenient rooms for librarian, for cataloguers, for reference study, toilet-rooms, etc., etc. The heating, ventilating, and electric light plant are in the basement. SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. Mercantile Library. The Mercantile Library Association of San Fran- cisco has sold its property for $157,000 to the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company, with the privilege of occupying that part of the premises used by the library at a monthly rental of $500. A new site has been purchased for $70,000, 1 20 x 109 feet, corner of Van Ness and Golden Gate avenues, running through to Elk avenue on the north. On this lot a five-story brick, stone, and terra cotta building is being erected, which will furnish admirable and convenient quarters for the library; while a large portion of the building will be devoted to business uses, from which sufficient revenue will be derived to take care of the indebtedness, maintain the building, and leave a surplus for the purposes of the library. SCRANTON, PA. Albright Memorial Library. The heirs of Joseph J. Albright, late of Scranton, consisting of John Joseph Albright, of Buffalo, and H. C. Albright, Mrs. James Archibald, and Mrs. R. J. Bennett, of Scranton, have given the homestead lot, situated in the centre of the city, on the corner of Washington avenne and Vine street, for the purpose of a library. John Joseph Albright donates the building, and is superin- tending its erection. The value of these gifts exceeds $100,000. It is to be known as the Al- bright Memorial Building, in honor of the parents of the donors. The citizens and the municipal authorities supply the books and maintain the library. This is tha first and only public library in Scranton. UTLEY. Mr. Albright takes very great interest in this enterprise, and has visited numerous libraries, and consulted the best-known authorities, with a view to make this building a model of its kind. It has been so planned as to admit of enlargement, as the wants of the public and the uses of the building require. The architects are Messrs. Green & Wicks, of Buffalo, who furnish the following description : The style of the building is the French renais- sance of the Chateau period. The lot being on the corner, we have adopted the "L" shaped plan, which gives in its re-entering angle a court to the streets, which we think will be very attrac- tive. The long side of the "L" is 36 x 132 feet, and this contains the entrance, with the stairs to the second story and reading-room, 32 x 50, open to the roof, with a gallery around it 8 feet wide. It is divided into alcoves, giving quiet places or retired nooks for special reading. Directly upon entering and straight ahead are the stairs. To the left of this, entering -directly from the hall, are the delivery desk and the card catalogues. These are so arranged that they can be used from the stack-room, the reading-room, or the librarian's room. To the right of the entrance is a news- paper-room, 32 x 32. Directly above this is a lecture-room, 30 x 40, combined with a trustees' room, which may be used as a small class-room or an ante-room for the hall in case of entertain- ments, etc. The book-room or stack-room is built in the " L " of the building, and is entirely inde- pendent of it, having a brick wall with fireproof doors between. Its capacity when entirely filled will be 125,000 volumes. It is thoroughly well lighted, the windows being the exact width of the aisles between the book stacks. Through a clever suggestion of Prof. Dewey's (and this is only one of a great many) the first floor of the stack-room is dropped 3^ feet below the delivery-desk floor, and the stacks, being 7 feet high, places the next one 3^ feet above the delivery floor ; consequently it gives great convenience in taking books from the stack-room to the desk, as a boy can be on each floor and hand books to the delivery clerk without making use of the elevators. The librarian's room is in one corner of the stack-house. Under this comes the bookbindery and the receiving-room, entered at grade directly from the outside. The whole building will be heated with hot water. It is to be entirely fire- proof throughout, with ample plumbing facilities. The material is stone for the foundation and up to the first-floor window sills. Above this the building is to be of Pompeian brick, enriched with terra cotta. Sioux CITY, IOWA. Public Library. The city, which owns a lot on the corner of 6th and Douglas streets, bought for library purposes, has entered into a contract with a private corporation to erect thereon, in accordance with plans furnished by the city, a building costing not less than $25,000. The city on its part agrees to pay an annual rental of 6 per cent on the investment, and has the privi- lege of buying the building at its cost price at any time after completion. The upper part of the building is devoted to library and reading-room, while the city offices take up the ground floor. SKANEATELES, N. Y. Library Association. The new building was dedicated Feb. 7, 1890, with appropriate addresses by officers of the Association and others interested in library work. The build- ing is a model of convenience and taste, and there is much enthusiasm in the community respecting it. SOUTH DARTMOUTH, MASS. Southworth Li- brary. The Library journal of December, 1889, contains a view of the library building presented by John H. Southworth, of Springfield, Mass., to his native place, South Dartmouth, near New Bedford. It is 34 x 40 feet in size, one story in height, and has an ample porch. It is of rough pasture stone, trimming of brick, sills and belts of rock-faced granite. The public-room is 16 x 20 feet in size, book-room 12 x 20, and reading-room 20 feet square; ceilings, 16 feet in height, of Florida pine, divided into panels by ribs of California redwood. The woodw&rk finish is also of redwood. The building cost $5,000. Mr. Southworth also gave to the library 3,400 volumes. TORONTO, ONT. Public Library. A branch on Dundas street was completed and occupied last January. ' It is of brick, 30 x 90 feet in size, the front portion two stories high. There is a general reading-room, 77 x 30 feet, lighted by windows on one side, and by skylights, a ladies' reading-room, 17 x ii feet, with two large windows, and book counter and shelves. The second story is occupied as a living room by the attendant, who receives $300 a year, with free fuel, gas, and water. The cost of the building was $4,500; fittings, furnace, etc., $2,000 more. The reading-rooms are abund- antly supplied with magazines, newspapers, etc. Books are delivered from the central library daily orders being transmitted by telephone. Plan 8 4 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. have been prepared for an addition to the main library building, but work will not be commenced thereon until next year. The addition will be 91 x 68 feet in size, and will be fire proof. It will be devoted principally to book storage. TORONTO, ONT. University Library. On the evening of Feb. 14, 1890, fire, caused by the over- turning of a lamp, broke out in the east wing of the main building of the University of Toronto. The library was situated on the second floor front of this wing, and was completely destroyed, not a thing being saved. The University authorities at once set on foot measures for replacing the library by appealing for assistance to its friends, both in England and America. After considerable con- troversy over the matter, it has finally been de- cided, in rebuilding, to place the library in a sepa- rate building, specially designed for it. Members of the faculty and governing board have visited the chief libraries in the United States, for the purpose of investigation. The result is, that the building of the Michigan University Library, at Ann Arbor, is to be taken as the model. The general characteristics of that building will be adopted, but the details will be modified somewhat to suit special needs. As there are to be no art galleries in the Toronto building, those portions so used at Ann Arbor will be devoted to the semi- naries, and the stacks will be arranged with refer- ence to their convenient use. This use of the second-floor rooms will give abundant facilities for special students, and also for conversation- rooms. The stack will also be so planned as to admit of indefinite enlargement. The librarian's quarters, and the work-rooms in conuection there- with, will be planned on a more liberal scale than at Ann Arbor. TRENTON, Mo. Public Library. Mr. Jewett Norris, for thirty-five years a resident of Trenton, made to the School Board of that city a proposition that he would give the sum of $50,000 for the pur- pose of establishing and maintaining a free public library and reading-room, on the condition that the board would procure a site, erect thereon a suitable building, equip it with furniture, fixtures, books, etc., and provide for its perpetual maintenance as a free public library. He stipulated that of his gift $30,000 might be used for building purposes, and, when the building is completed, equipped, and in running order, the balance of his gift may be invested as a permanent endowment. The board accepted this generous offer, and at once purchased a site and procured plans for a building satisfac- tory to Mr. Norris. The work of construction has begun, and the building is to be completed in 1891. It is a very handsome two-story structure of the modern Romanesque style of architecture, of stone and brick, with a square tower at one angle and large arched windows. There is a spacious deliv- ery-room, with a stack-room in the rear, and there are also ample reading-rooms, which will be sup- plied with periodical literature of th'e best class. The building will be one of the finest and most complete and convenient of its kind in the State of Missouri. WOLFBORO, N. H. Brewster Library. The late John Brewster, of Cambridge, left upwards of $1,000,000 to Wolfboro, his native town, to be spent for the intellectual and physical well-being of the people. Of this sum $50,000 was devoted to the erection of a memorial hall and library. The building is conveniently located, and is most substantial in its construction and imposing in its appearance. The upper story is used as a hall for public gatherings, while the ground floor is devoted to the purposes of a public library and reading-room. The building was dedicated Feb. 21, 1890. WORCESTER, MASS. Public Library. The new building, which is now being put up, is to be used in connection with the older building, being . on an adjoining lot, and united with the earlier structure by passages in different stories. It will not be finished until Jan. I, 1891, and will be fully described and illustrated before that time in the Library journal, and perhaps elsewhere. The basement is of granite ; the rest of the front is of freestone, Pompeian brick, and terra cotta. The basement is high, and is to be used as a great reading-room for newspapers. The three stories above this will be occupied by the stack for the reference (Green and intermediate) libraries, and, in the rear, a large room for use in consulting the books in those libraries, a lecture-room, a seminary, or directors' room, rooms for private study, a room for art publi- cations, a cataloguing-room, general room for librarian and assistants, librarian's private room, etc., etc. The circulating department, reading- rooms for magazines and reviews, scientific, art, industrial, and literary papers, will remain in the old building. The new building above the base- ment is to be kept very quiet. No books are to be given out there to be taken home. There will PROCEEDINGS. be stairs at both ends of the new building, a large elevator for the use of attendants only, generally, but so situated that it can be used by the public when necessary, a smaller elevator to be used in the stack, besides the stairs and elevator in the older building. Mr. Green, the librarian, from whom this infor- mation is derived, informs me that the plans of the new building were made to meet the particular wants of the library as they have manifested them- selves during the last twenty years ; and, as those have been somewhat peculiar under the man- agement which has existed in those years, the plans show some unusual features. No further description seems called for until a later time. The interior was sketched by the librarian. The cost of the new building, including the land, will be at least $135,000. THE PROCEEDINGS. FABYAN HOUSE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, TUESDAY - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9-13, 1890. FIRST SESSION. (TUESDAY 'EVENING, SEPTEMBER 9.) F: M. CRUNDEN, President, called the meeting to order at 9 p. M., and introduced the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, who gave the following address of welcome : Hon. JAMES W. PATTERSON. Ladies and Gen- tlemen of the American Library Association : In the unavoidable absence of His Excellency, Gov. Goodell, I have consented at the last moment to come here this evening, and bid you a cordial welcome to this high place of our small State. We do not boast of our acreage, but what we lack in latitude and longitude we make up in altitude. If any of you doubt this, you will please to climb some of the surrounding mountains. We do not boast, sir, of the multitude of our libraries or of their magnitude; but, if there are "books in the running brooks and sermons in stones," you have come into the neighborhood of one of the largest libraries in New England. At any rate, you will find here pure a'ir, magnificent scenery, and warm- hearted men and women to welcome you. Scattered through our State, there are many, though perhaps not largely represented at this meeting, who take a very deep interest in the establishment and maintenance of public libraries. The collection of books, especially the public col- lection of books, is the measure, the meter, I may say, of the scholarly spirit of the community, and determines its strength and its character. It does more than this. A library of books of good books is a creator of that hunger for knowledge which is the foundation of individual and public intelligence, alike essential to the maintenance of our institutions, to the prosperity of our business, to the happiness of our social and our domestic life. Therefore libraries should supplement all our schools of learning. Not many of the chil- dren of the land can enjoy the advantages of our higher, our advanced institutions of learning; but all children of the rich and the poor alike may avail themselves of the inexhaustible treasures of thought that have been accumulated in the public libraries of the country. Why, sir, the past pours its history, its customs, its science, its arts, and all the rich products of its thought down to the future ; so that civilization is a movement, not, as Landor says, in spirals, but in continuous prog- ress. It does more than this. It engenders an inspiration for learning. We are told that Goethe, by reading the " Vicar of Wakefield," was awakened to a sense of the mighty spirit, of the vast intellectual powers that he possessed; and, thus awakened, he afterwards breathed a new vitality into the German tongue, and shed a light, not only upon his own country, but upon all lands. And so our own countryman, Prof. Henry, to whom we are perhaps more indebted than to any other living man for the telegraph, the telephone, and all the practical uses of electricity, was turned into the main drift of his life by a little volume that fell into his hands when a child. And so other Goethes and other Henrys in other lands and other ages, inspired by some little volume that may by chance fall into their hands, will kindle a flame that will shed a light upon all succeeding generations and all countries. We are told that in this country the average age at which children leave our schools is fifteen, and that the average period of schooling is thirty 86 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. months; that is, three years of ten months each. Now consider how brief the period which is given to the children of the republic in which to fit themselves for the grandest and most responsible duties that ever rested upon the citizens of any country, in any period of the world's history. If we are to maintain self-government, if we are to succeed in the competitions of business, then our children must secure intelligence as to the nature of government, the nature of business, and the sources of social and political happiness. With only thirty months' schooling, and with the age of fifteen at which the children leave the schools, we must do something to supplement the educa- tion of the people ; and, in my apprehension, the newspapers, and the magazines, and the collec- tions of books in the libraries in our country are the people's university, in which the children of this country are to be fitted for the political, the business, and the social duties which must devolve upon them, in the stirring times in which we live, and the more trying times that are to come. Sir, they cannot be educated as a whole, or any large fraction of them, in our universities and colleges. They must get that learning, which is to fit them for their duties, after they have left the school ; and where shall they get it, if they don't secure it from the thought, from the science, from the art, which has been handed down by the generations that have gone before ? It is a curious fact that most of the libraries of this country have come into existence in very mod- ern times. Before the Revolutionary War we had but few libraries in this country ; very few indeed, and for the most part they were connected with our older colleges or in the larger cities. During and immediately subsequent to the revolutionary period, the people were too poor to collect libraries for the use of the children of the country; and their number increased very slowly until within the last fifty years, no, I may say thirty years. Since then they have increased with great rapidity ; and this to my mind is evidence, notwithstanding the pessimistic views we hear on all sides, that the ad- vance of the people and the growth of civilization is constant. There may be corruption in public and in private life, but there is a growing intelli- gence among the people of this country, as well as of other countries, and in that we find hope for the future; in that I anchor my faith that our institutions will be maintained, and that the prosperity of our country will continue. In my own State in this little State, as it is sometimes called, sir we had perhaps five libra- ries before the Revolutionary War; hardly that number, I think, but we will call it five. Some of these were private libraries, or we might say town libraries. Of course the college library is the old- est, or one of the oldest. We had a library estab- lished at Exeter, one at Rochester, and one or two connected with old schools that have perished. I remember a small country town in which there was an academy in which Chief Justice Chase was fitted for college, and in which he laid the founda- tions for that education that made him the leading statesman of this country. That academy is dead, and the library connected with it is dead; but there is an odor hanging about the old town still that is good for one to realize when he goes there. There is another library, one of the old libraries that you will allow me just to speak of, the one established in the last century in the town of Wai- pole. There was, I think, one quite as early at Peterboro, but this at Walpole was started by the friend of Daniel Webster, Jeremiah Mason, the great lawyer. As a very young man he established himself in that little town ; and the first thing he did after going there was to get together some books, and lay the foundation of the town library, he himself acting as librarian. When his reputa- tion began to widen, and his business to increase, he went to Portsmouth ; and it was there that he came into that series of conflicts with the great Webster, which developed the powers of both, and led Mr. Webster to pronounce him the greatest lawyer that he had ever met. He was a man of massive intellect, as he was of massive frame. Well, sir, I apprehend that, among the many things for which Jeremiah Mason will be remembered, there will be nothing more pleasing, nothing that will fix the affections of mankind upon him more than the fact that, early in life, as a young man, he established that library, and undertook himself the labors of librarian. Why, sir, the librarians of the country, what are they ? They are the min- isters of a revelation fromjhe past to the future. Its thought, its study, its inventions, its discus- sions, all that it has achieved that is grand and permanent, has been revealed to the future through these books. And you, ladies and gentlemen, are the ministers at the altar of this revelation. God grant that the number of synagogues where you serve may be increased. Our own State, I be- lieve, was one of the foremost to pass the right kind of a law for the establishment and mainte- nance of libraries. I understand the librarians of the State now propose to form a State organiza- tion. I hope they may prosper in this. While PROCEEDINGS. technical duties of the librarian are not in my line of work, my whole heart is bound up in the estab- lishment of school libraries, not subservient to, but a part of the educational system of the State, wrought into the laws that establish our system of education, and guarded and guided by those who administer the educational affairs of the State. In conclusion, sir, let me again offer a hearty welcome to the librarians of America, to this blessed old State of New Hampshire. Pres. CRUNDEN. I have the honor to thank you, in behalf of the American Library Association, for your cordial welcome, and still more for those words of commendation and encouragement which you have uttered. Your encomium of the work in which we are engaged, frees us from the fear we may have had that we were too much given to magnifying our office. We are glad, sir, to meet in this picturesque spot, among these beautiful moun- tains of your Granite State ; a State whose impor- tance is not to be measured by her acreage or the fruitfulness of her soil ; a State that may say with pride that men, sturdy, self-reliant men and women who have gone through all this land to set an example of energy, industry, and enterprise, are the chief product of her rugged soil, and her prin- cipal export. We have among us some of the sons and daughters of New Hampshire, who have gone out on this civilizing errand, and we, strangers here, esteem ourselves fortunate to behold this scene, and to join the yearly throng of those who, like Antaeus, return to their mother to renew their strength for future contests. A stern and rugged mother she is, a mother with a Spartan disposition ; but her knowledge of her sons measures her dis- cipline, and her severities are merely those of the wise and far-seeing parent, who has more regard to her children's future welfare and success than to their present ease and comfort. Again I thank you for your cordial welcome. Your words of wisdom will be treasured in the memories of those who heard you, and will be preserved in our records for the inspiration of those who come after us. Now, to you, ladies and gentlemen of the Ameri- can Library Association, I have something more formal to say. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. Pres. CRUNDEN then read his address. (Seep, i.) Sec. DEWEY made extemporaneously his SECRETARY'S REPORT. The necessity for a secretary's report has been almost entirely done away with by our system of annual reporters. The title on the program, " Past, Present,. and Future of the A. L. A.," was put there without my knowledge. I will make only two or three points, for it is 10 p. M., and I think the immediate future of the A. L. A. should be in bed. We have spent fifteen years in this work. What have we done ? The report of a little conversation, of which I heard a day or two ago, may serve better than to discuss the point. A man who does not attend our meetings, though a prominent librarian, said to another : " What good is the A. L. A. ? what has it accomplished?" And the answer was so good and so true that I give it to you. He said: "For one thing, it has made you a great deal better librarian than you otherwise would have been." And it was true. For you could put your finger on individual cases where that man had waked up, and reached out, and done work that he would not have thought of but for the A. L. A. My friend said : " All your work is measured by new standards. You don't dare do work now that you thought satisfactory before. 7 ' The A. L. A. has already accomplished a great deal, but I believe that the time has come when we should go earnestly and rapidly forward. I would like to adopt the motto of the " Fabian Society." Some feel disappointed if they fail to get every- thing wanted at an early day. That society be- lieves it wiser, instead of pushing agitation with- out due consideration, to bide their time; and their motto applies thoroughly to our purpose : " For the right moment you must wait, as Fabius did most patiently when warring against Hanni- bal, though many censured his delays. But when the time comes, you must strike hard, as Fabius did, or your waiting will be in vain and fruitless." We have waited patiently these fifteen years for many things which ought to be done by this Association. Our iron is now hot. Let us strike hard. Now a word as to the scope and function of the American Library Association. Its field of work is very much like that of the public school society, or other societies that recognize some great good which the public is not yet ready to take up. It is as when some man believes a thing to be for the public good, e. g. opening a new street, and does it at his own expense. After a few years the town recognizes its value, and is glad to take it off his hands and pay for it. As a result of the early missionary work of the public school society and similar agencies, every State now has its system of public schools as much as its system of govern- 88 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. ment. An entirely analogous process of educa- tion is going on, till the public library has its place as the necessary complement of the public school, and the A. L. A. has this work to do. But we cannot afford to do it always. Librarians, as a class, are underpaid. We are poor. It is absurd that this great work, of the highest public impor- tance, should be maintained at the cost of men on notoriously insufficient salaries. In the language of Emerson, we should " hitch our wagon to a star." I believe the public is now educated to a point where the States and the United States are ready to help in this work, if we are wise and do not undertake too much. The State Superin- tendent of New Hampshire, in his address of wel- come tonight, voiced the feeling of the best edu- cators of the country and of the world. It is not a local movement; it is not a matter of any State, or the United States alone, though I am proud to say that in this we lead the world. The sphere of our work is as widely extended as civilization. We have come to the recognition of a new and prodigious force, that must work side by side with the schools. The wiser ones of those who look after the education of the people, see that schools are only the first step in education. They are now laboring, not only for those who can go to higher schools and colleges, but also for those who must stay at home, and for those who, after leaving the institutions of learning, must come within our library field if they wish to continue their education through life. I know of no intelli- gent student of education who does not admit that the position is well taken that the library is the college for the people, that it reaches all classes of people, and that it reaches all through life. Edu- cation must go further than to give the little taste of learning here and there, as is done in the high school and college. Even at the best, those of us who look back know how little came from the college course, and how much from reading after- wards. The problem is to go on through life with one's education. If this is so, it is high time the State recognized it practically. The President has mentioned some very significant recent legisla- tion in New York. The work is going forward. The question before us is, What can we do? One of the things I believe essential is the organization of State associations. Of this I shall have more to say on Thursday, at our N. Y. Library Association meeting, to which you are all most cordially invited. We shall then confer as to the work such associations can do. Lest some fail to understand our motive, I may say that we hesitated to organize any new body. I often think I would like to join one more society; that is, a society to prevent the formation of new societies. I hesitated many years before taking the steps which led to the N. Y. Library Association. We want to see what we can do for New York library interests Thursday. Our New Hamp- shire friends will try to do something better for public libraries than New York. Nineteen people got together the other day, and discussed the same problem in Iowa. In every State, sooner or later, a little coterie will make such an associa- tion. If only three earnest men form such an association, they might do more good than 300 members who are only half-hearted. Every news- paper is open to this work, as is every educational convention. Every man interested in public prog- ress is open to it, and ready and willing to hear our theory of libraries, and he will help if we give him a chance. These State Associations should lead in every State to a law that exempts all library property from taxation; that gives a proper distribution of public documents and vari- ous other privileges ; that requires a sworn report for public printing to the State librarian, or to some other officer who should correspond to the Superintendent of Public Instruction ; that pro- vides some central office, to do the work which the Regents' office in New York and the new commission of Massachusetts hope to do. The new law in New Hampshire points this way. The best library men in Massachusetts, the home of the library, say that most libraries in their State could do double the good they are now doing, if they could have the best guidance and help from the State. How far to go, we shall learn by trial. There is certainly a great field in the mere giving of information to those starting new libraries, or reorganizing old ones, and in doubt what cata- logs to make, what books to buy, what help to employ. All such would be only too glad if they could have the assistance of a central office. There is also a great work to be done by the na- tional government. We have a Bureau of Educa- tion, happily now in charge of a man in thorough sympathy with libraries ; for Commissioner Harris, when Superintendent of Schools in St. Louis, was intimately connected with the library over which our honored President presides. We have also with us tonight Colonel Weston Flint, one of our old members, and now happily the statistician of the Bureau. It seems an auspicious time to begin national library work at Washington. The Bu- reau of Education has no more important work PROCEEDINGS. 89 before it than to make a distinct library section. The best thinkers favor a library section that can devote its entire fostering attention to the library interests of the United States. We have over 5,000 big and little libraries on the list. Some of our best A. L. A. material and some of the annual reports and papers, giving the best thought on certain subjects, should be printed by the govern- ment, and made available to all these libraries. Though we do now an admirable work, we can and ought to do a great deal better. Not one li- brary in ten ever sees our proceedings. There are not copies enough printed to give every fifth li- brary one. If printed by the Bureau of Educa- tion, that difficulty would be overcome by its edition of 20,000 or upward, which would supply every eager applicant freely. What is your judg- ment in regard to this ? As with the States, so with the national government we should "hitch our wagon to a star." The States and the gen- eral government not only could well afford to do it, but they cannot afford not to do it. We ought to double our membership next year and to double it again the year after. We are not strong enough. I shall move later that there be prepared for the usejof our members a little folder, similar to our small program, perhaps, containing a list of our annual meetings, the officers for the year, and other interesting facts, with a statement of what the A. L. A. aims and hopes to accom- plish, and a cordial invitation to join with us. People who know nothing of this association often, on learning its objects, say at once that they would like to join it. The number of our mem- bers who have made a distinct effort to secure new members is very small. Very few come in except through individual efforts. My proposition is to print a little folder, containing the statements in- dicated, with instructions where to send the fees, all in the compass of perhaps four pages about the size of a postal card, and to give to every member as many as he can use. Where shall we hold our next annual meeting ? This question in geography is a pretty serious thing. We have pressing invitations to go next year to San Francisco, which certainly offer great attractions. But I think the time is near at hand when we shall have biennially a general national meeting, and get all our best men together from all parts of the United States. The Association, except at this general meeting, could divide, and meet in four or five sections of the country; the North Atlantic States at some convenient place for that section, as would also the Lake States, the Pacific Coast, and, as interest and libraries increased, the South Atlantic and the Gulf States. These four or five meetings of li- brarians by sections would thus reach a large class of small libraries, whose officers think they cannot afford to travel long distances, yet who would like to come in contact with other librarians, and get new inspiration for their work. I have several propositions to bring up at the proper time at this meeting, for I believe we ought to make this week a point of distinct advance ; that the time is thoroly ripe for it ; that in the different States, the different departments of education, the national government, all the way thru, it is a singularly happy time, and we shall make a mis- take if we do not move now. We have waited 15 years, and the "iron is now hot." Let us at this Fabyan House meeting, in confidence and strength, as did Fabius, " strike hard." Pres. CRUNDEN. Our Secretary began by de- claring himself to be a Fabian, but he concluded by showing that he held simply to the last part of Fabius' policy ; that is, striking hard. AMENDMENT OF THE ST. LOUIS PROCEEDINGS. On motion of Secretary DEWEY, it was voted that the following words be inserted at the end of page 277 of the printed report of the St. Louis Conference : The result of the ensuing ballot was the election of the five persons first mentioned on the above list. The printed proceedings as thus amended were approved. STENOGRAPHER. S: S. GREEN. I now move that in the future, as to-day, a stenographer be employed to report the proceedings of the Association. I am led to make this motion because I find it of great advantage in another organization of which I am a member. Within a year or two, The American Antiquarian Association has employed a stenographer. As a result, a great many things which are said in our meetings, which were formerly lost, are now re- ported in the proceedings. When a gentleman makes extended remarks, they are sent to him for revision. The committee of publication of course does not publish everything as presented by the stenographer; but the full report, thus obtained, makes the published proceedings much more inter- esting, and of greater value. Sec. DEWEY. I move that motion belaid on the table. That is the most obvious thing to do. We are trying an experiment this year. We have the stenographer of the Court of Appeals in Al PABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. bany, one of the best \ve could obtain. \Vc had two at our New York meeting in 1877, but the work was not a great success. It was my inten- tion to organize a little reporting staff of our own members, who could divide the duty and get a good report. There are other aspects to the matter with which Mr. Green will sympathize ; first, to get a good stenographer to report our proceed- ings, ought to cost us for the amount of talking we do here, over $200 for the notes transcribed ; secondly, this gives so large a mass for publication as to largely increase our printing bills ; and, finally, it is a very hard thing indeed for a stenographer who is not a librarian to make a report that will come out all right. As he transcribes his brief outlines he sometimes makes marvelous blunders. I am talking about good stenographers now. Motion to lay on the table was carried. Adjourned at 10.30 p. M. SECOND SESSION. (WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 10.) Pres. CRUNDEN called the meeting to order at 9-35 A- M. W: E. FOSTER read the REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, which 'was received and placed on file. The Finance Committee* begs leave to report that, in accordance with the vote of the Associa- tion passed at the last meeting (at St. Louis, May 9, 1889), $400 of the Association's funds was placed on interest at 4 per cent, in the Grand Rapids Savings Bank, Aug. 26, 1889, as a special " time deposit." The advantages of such a course are not only that funds derived largely from life memberships are in this way placed where they will be most pro- ductive, but that the taking of so large a sum from the funds currently drawn on relieves the Associa- tion from the temptation to enter inconsiderately upon large expenditures. WILLIAM E. FOSTER. CHARLES C. SOULE. W. S. BISCOE read the REPORT OF THE CO-OPERATION COMMITTEE. The report of the Cooperation Committee this present year must be brief, and in the nature of inquiry and suggestions rather than a record of accomplished work. From the discussion at the last meeting it is evident that its field of work and what it is proper for it to do, is not well de- fined in the minds of members of the Association. Its work in the past has been perhaps most largely in the way of recommendations of best methods and appliances, as a guide to the small libraries just beginning work. This phase of its work was most successfully accomplished when all its members were taken from one city and its vicinity, and could meet for frequent consultation and study of details. It seems to your committee that this branch of work, if continued, should again be placed in the hands of those who could thus consult and work together. The report on cooperative work, which had been done by others outside the committee, seems to belong to a yearly reporter, or perhaps is already largely covered by the report on cata- logues, and should not be done by the present committee. The remaining branch of work, viz. the biblio- graphical as distinguished from the library econ- omy, first spoken of, is a wide field, and admits of indefinite extension. It has seemed to some of your committee that this perhaps belongs to the Publishing Section, and should be turned over to them entirely. It seems desirable that there should be an expression of views by the Associa- tion, and that the duties of the committee should be more clearly defined. Does the Publishing Section aim, as a rule, to prepare material as well as to publish it ? or does it expect matter to be prepared and submitted to it either by individuals or cooperative work, which it will then print and distribute ? If this kind of work is expected from the Co- operation Committee, it seems to us that the work to be undertaken should be decided on by the whole Association rather than by a small com- mittee. We would suggest that the members of the Association hand in to the committee brief state- ments of such work as they desire to have done by cooperation ; that these be read and perhaps posted up for the information of the Association; and that then a written ballot be taken, each member designating his first choice of work, and signing it, and that the committee from this vote make its selection of work for the coming year. For this bibliographical work it is not necessary that the members of the committee be from one place, as the necessary consultation can be done by correspondence. If these two features are to be preserved in one committee, we would recom- mend that the committee be increased to five members, three of whom should be so situated that they can easily come together for consultation. PROCEEDINGS. E. C. RICHARDSON read Miss C. M. HEWINS'S REPORT ON THE LIBRARY SCHOOL AS IT IS. The first impression of a visitor to the Library School, in its present lofty and spacious quarters, is of unbounded light and air. Instead of the old, ill-ventilated room at Columbia, the school has the southwest corner of the third story of the Cap- itol, overlooking the steep streets of Albany, the Hudson, and the Catskills. The windows admit all the winter sunshine, and the room has no dark corners. A smaller room adjoining is used for lectures and the Bibliothecal Museum. Is the change of place a loss or a gain? A loss, so far as opportunities for visiting libraries, print- ing and publishing houses, and binderies are con- cerned. It is easy, however, to devote a week, as the junior class has done this year, to libraries in other cities. During the first year or two of the Library School's existence, there was a constant temptation for the pupils to listen to all the lectures on subjects connected with literature or history, freely offered them by the faculty of Columbia. The result was, in many cases, mental indigestion. It is better, as students and gradu- ates have found, not to attempt to listen to or make notes on lectures on subjects not in the direct line of library work while taking the school course, and it is therefore a gain to be in a city like Albany, which is not under the constant stim- ulus of metropolitan life and thought. The quality of the classes entering the Library School has never been allowed to deteriorate, and even more care is taken every succeeding year to select from the candidates who offer themselves only the very best of the very best. College graduates are preferred for the reasons stated in Library notes, knowledge of languages and habits of trained attention and methodical study, power of comparison, and analysis. Once in a while, as Mr. Dewey says, appli- cation is made by a candidate not college- bred, whose natural fitness for library work out- weighs years of training, but such an instance is not common. Searching inquiries are made into the scholarship, fondness for books, executive ability, health, and common sense of all applicants. They must have no serious physical defect, must be young enough not to have outgrown habits of study, and, above all things, must be full of en- thusiasm and the modern library spirit. If their references are satisfactory, and their own answers to questions sent out by the School show their fitness for library work, they are summoned to an examination in October. It is difficult to frame an examination paper which is a real test of the answerer's knowledge or capacity, but it is fair to suppose that a candi- date who knows something of the author of Lycidas, or the Faerie Queene, can locate Nydia or Puck, has a general idea of the anti-slavery ques- tion and its agitators, can name the present Pope and a dozen leading newspapers of this country, and has kept up well enough with current events to know at what colleges Greek plays have been acted in the last few years, will be more useful as a librarian or assistant than another who confesses to reading nothing but third-rate novels since leaving school. No test of familiarity with lan- guages is given, except the ability to translate a Latin, German, and French title-page with a dic- tionary. It is not worth while for any one to offer herself, or himself (for there is a small minority of men among the students) as a candidate for examina- tion, who has not already learned how to use common books of reference, or is not as familiar with English classics and their authors as with old and dear friends. The work in the Library School is so constant and exacting, that students have no time to spare in reading Scott or Shaks- peare, Motley or Lamb, all of whom they might have known years before, instead of the Duchess or the author of Mr. Barnes of New York. The junior class spends its first term chiefly in cataloging, but has also to vary the routine introductory lectures on the qualifications of a librarian, decimal classification, the order depart- ment, the oversight of binding, some phases of bibliography, etc. In the second month one week is devoted to the accession book, and another to shelf lists and book numbers. Information is also given on library agencies and the best reference books. Wednesday throughout the year is known as " book-day," one of the most profitable days in the week. AJ1 members of the school are ex- pected to read the Publisher's Weekly thoroughly, and decide what books are best to order from the list. Besides this, they must devote an hour a day to browsing on the library shelves, and keep- ing up with new magazines, while special subjects for hunting down and discussion are given out for every week. This supplies as nearly as possi. ble the lack of the professorship of library mind- reading which has been suggested, the holder of which can immediately decide that the reader who asks for Brown's History of Mexico means Bancroft's Native Races of the Pacific States, or FAZYAN ffOUSE CONFERENCE. that Hfftuis Hazards of House-hunting is merely another phrase for Howells's Hazard of New Fort- unes. Members of the School are expected to be able to give an intelligent account of famous books like Don Quixote, Frankenstein, or Pepys* Diary, and to refer to reviews of the important works of the year in English or American periodi- cals. One or two magazines are assigned to each student, for brief reports on their aim, editor, most valuable features, and make-up, and sugges- tions of improvements. In January Mr. Biscoe begins his lectures in general bibliography, and Miss Green her lessons in dictionary cataloging. The latter require sim- ple subject and author cards for eight out of fifteen books bulletined every day. These books are on all subjects, and in English, French, German, and Latin. The month of February is devoted to the deci- mal classification. In March and April Mr. Biscoe continues his instruction in bibliography, Mr. Johnston, of the State Library, gives lectures on periodicals, and visiting librarians speak upon their specialties. Last April, most of the students, under the guid- ance of Miss Cutler, made the visits to libraries in and near Boston which she has reported in the Library journal. In May and June, lessons in bibliography, reference work, and loan systems go on, with the lectures on library economy which Mr. Dewey has given through the year. After the close of the lessons in dictionary cataloging, the class has practice in cataloging for the State Library. Library hand is recommended for prac- tice before entering the school, but this year the feeling increases that printing is easier for all the students to learn. In June, examinations on all subjects studied close the year. Mr. Biscoe and Mr. Dewey continue their lect- ures on classification and library economy through the senior year, and during this year also seminars are held weekly. For these, subjects of more or less difficulty are assigned to one or two students for each week. In some cases, students have written to many of the larger libraries for facts to support an argument. I remember especially the different opinions collected on variety of work versus specialization for assistants in large libra- ries. The course in advanced dictionary cata- loging extends through two weeks. During the last year, members of the school have had valuable practice in the library of the Young Women's Christian Association, both in charging books and finding out the actual needs and tastes of readers. Some of the senior problems in bibliography show the useful and practical character of the instruction given. "Prepare a list of twenty-five best books on the history, religion, and literature of India. Give place, publisher, cost, and source of information. Record time spent on problem. Omit travel. Books may be either in this library or not." " Select $100 worth of books for a library just starting on the subject 420 English philology. Give full bibliographical details." " Twenty-five books of travel from the publica- tions of the last year, 1889." "List of fifty books for use of children, ten to fifteen years old, in a district school. . . . Mostly history, biography, and fiction, very largely fiction, written in a good style, with healthful tone. Give bibliographical details." All the students who visited the Boston libraries were expected to make a report on whether the stack or alcove system, gas or electricity, is used ; whether the library is open on Sunday, the loca- tion of books is fixed or movable ; whether a dic- tionary or classed catalog is used; with written, printed, or type-written cards ; if scrap books are kept; books covered; arranged by subject or author ; whether classification is broad or close, and the special collections and charging system of each. One of the lectures given last year was on the health of librarians, and it is perhaps in conse- quence of this that a Physical Culture Club has been formed among the students and graduates of the school. The members promise to practice simple gymnastics a given time every day, and to take a proper amount of out-of-door exercise. The danger of overwork in the school is less now than it was in the first year or two, on account of a case or two of breaking-down among students who undertook outside work in addition to their long library hours; but the tendency of pupils who undertake the course is to let their ambition and enthusiasm overcome their sober judgment as to hours of labor. There is now little of the fever- ish, unrestful atmosphere which was criticised in the first year of the school, and that little should be allowed to become less. Several of last year's students had had practical experience in libraries, and therefore were quick in understanding the needs of librarians and read- ers, and in noticing all the details given by lect- urers. I should recommend, as a preparation for the Library School course, as much volunteer work as possible in a town or village library ; not PROCEEDINGS. 93 necessarily one where the methods of the school, or of large libraries are used, but where an assist- ant can come into contact with books, and the men, women, and children who read them. Between the junior and senior years, a year's work in as many departments as possible of a large library will be a great help in grappling with the school problems. (Postscript to Miss Hewins's report.) A word should be added to this part of the report respecting the examinations which Miss Hewins simply mentions. They are in truth a most characteristic fact in the development of the school. They are rigid and as broad as the course of the school, and on the basis of them diplomas are now given. An examination of some of the papers shows that Miss Hewins's judgment of the quality of the students admitted to the school is not amiss, for the really searching examinations are admirably passed. E. C. R. Mr. RICHARDSON continued with his own re- port on THE LIBRARY SCHOOL AS IT SHOULD BE. It is a matter of personal as well as of official regret to us all that Mr. R. C. Davis, the chairman of this committee, was unable to visit the school this year, or to be present at this time. The report of those members who have visited was divided by agreement, so that the resume of what is being done at the school fell to Miss Hewins, and the less gracious task of criticism and suggestion to Mr. Richardson an uncour- teous division of labor that criticism should fall to the man in a matter where there is so much to praise and so little to criticise. Acting under the instruction of your resolution, the members of your committee inquired early in the year how they might be of service to the school, and were invited to offer suggestions. This has been done from time to time, and this doing will be continued in this report. The report is based on two personal visits to the school, with examination of examination papers, of individual teachers, and of individual scholars all of whom passed creditably, it may be said. The critical librarian, thus, acting in behalf of the Association, has studied I. The aim of the school. II. The apparatus for carrying it out. III. The present course of instruction. I. AIM. The aim of the school is to teach library economy. It makes little pretension to covering the field of library science. This is to be regretted, and it is to be hoped that the broadening, already carried to a considerable and gratifying extent, will be extended to cover all the branches in which an ambitious librarian needs to be grounded. II. APPARATUS. 1. The rooms used for the Library School are two in number, beautifully located in the Capitol at Albany, one used for lectures, and the other for study and practice, the latter being also the cata- logue room of the State library, a condition of things which has advantages and disadvantages. 2. The Board of Instruction consists of Mr. Dewey, Mr. Biscoe, Miss Cutler, and Miss Wood- worth, with more or less instruction from Mr. Johnston and Miss Jones, and more from various outside lecturers. Mr. Dewey's various duties have made his instruction for this year somewhat less, and per- haps more irregular than during past years ; but, on the other hand, the patient, determined, intelli- gent, and over-conscientious labor of Miss Cutler has been given almost wholly to the school, with marked results of practical improvement. Mr. Biscoe, whom all those of us who have had the advantage of being trained under him, know to be peculiarly fitted for his work, and Miss Wood- worth, who has proved herself to be almost equally so, have given a large amount of time and atten- tion to the school, and one can but wish that their whole energies might be devoted to the work. Altogether there is a compact faculty of well- fitted, enthusiastic teachers, which could be en- larged to advantage, but which is equal to good work for the small classes admitted. 3. The Library^ that most fundamental basis for such a school, is the N. Y. State library, not so well adapted in some respects as the Columbia College Library, but larger and more varied than most State libraries. Its department of bibliog- raphy, admirable as it is, is not all that could be desired for such a school. The pupils also have charge of the Y. W. C. A. Library, which affords an admirable school for practice. 4. The Museum is a most important adjunct to the system of instruction. A well-systematized museum of this sort will almost entirely do away with the need for a large class of lectures, and it is to be hoped that the present collections may 94 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. find a more adequate place for exhibition, and be greatly enlarged. III. THE PRESENT COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. This has been fully outlined by Miss Hewins. It shows a marked improvement over past years in system, and covers a wide range. It shows very clear evidences that those in charge are not only open to suggestions, but adopt what- ever seem good to them with the same ready facil- ity for assimilation which is characteristic of the head of the school. It is, in brief, a broader, more compact, more systematic course than has charac- terized previous years. It is a credit to the zeal, the wisdom, and the patience of its conductors. The hours devoted to mechanical details have been reduced greatly, and those devoted to bibli- ography increased. Nevertheless the school is not destined to die in its fifth year of chagrin that there are no more worlds of excellence to conquer. There are two or three small imperfections, by virtue of which it still holds a lease on life. 1. The "dangerous high pressure" reported as present in former years, but as absent last year, was distinctly present again this year, though in a less acute form. 2. The conduct of the school is with decision, and commands respect ; but it may be questioned whether, in the evolution of the school, it might not gain somewhat in soberness and consequent force by eliminating all traces of the go-as-you- please, as e. g., in the matter of extra and irregular lectures. 3. Great progress has been made in instruction in bibliography, but it is still disproportionately subordinate. The teaching of the school is still open in some slight measure to the criticism of teaching method without science, praxis before principle. It is of little use to teach how to order a book if one does not know what to order, or to collate a book if one does not know how to find what a perfect copy requires. Many will consider it an open question whether the great amount of time spent in learning the library hand and the printing hand is worth the while, and some will think it hardly an open question whether the subject of " Fountain pens" really requires a full hour for its exposition. This is, however, a matter of detail, and will doubtless be worked out with that same intelligence of adjustment which has already accomplished so much. Enlargement of the course, too, is a matter of judgment, and those in charge have shown them- selves alive to the possibilities of extension. The question of introducing instruction in the languages has been discussed and various other lines con- sidered. For my own part I still venture to hope that the time will sometime come when at least elementary instruction in the handling of mss. will be given. One of the certainties of the im- mediate future is that of the many thousands of ancient mss. which can now be acquired many will come to America as soon as librarians and givers are awake to the possibility and to the great value for scholars of mss. collections. Even now the vast ingathering of mss. relat- ing to American history, with their antiquated handwriting and the various puzzling questions of handling and classification, demand some careful instruction in the special problems of mss. col- lections. There is, therefore, in the school a rather defi- nite but somewhat limited aim ; an apparatus, ex- cellent in many respects, but with various needs which only more money can meet ; and a course of study which is broadening surprisingly from year to year, and gives promise of still farther improvement in the years to come. If one might suggest what seem the most practical things for the immediate betterment of this admirable school, he would mention, 1. Such sober adjustment of work that students should not be subjected to the dissipation of hurry. This would include a probable reduction in hours of recitation, or at least in the number of extra and irregular hours. 2. The laying out of a systematic coordinated curriculum, with a certain number of hours pro- portioned to importance of the subject assigned to each department. 3. The publication of this early in the year, along with the calendar of the year, and such other information regarding instruction and appa- ratus as is customary in such schools. It is a matter for real gratitude that the Board of Regents for the State of New York has under- taken this work, which has such important possi- bilities for the future of librarianship. It is to be earnestly hoped that the regents may see their way clear to providing the necessary means for its enlarging needs and for future broadening. To Mr. Dewey, whose indefatigable energy and patience have originated and sustained the school, and whose enthusiasm and power of stimulating enthusiasm have contributed more than any one factor to the success which the school, under somewhat adverse conditions, has certainly at- tained, is due our thanks and renewed recognition. PROCEEDINGS. 95 Sec. DEWEY. Regarding the remark in the Li- brary School Report in reference to printing offices, binderies, etc., in Albany we have two or three of the largest in the State, and our facilities for that kind of work are perhaps as good as in New York. There are advantages in the great book-stores in New York and Boston, but we take each class for a week to both places. We have in Albany the Y. M. C. A. library, the library of the Y. W. C. A., the Cathedral library for the use of the whole diocese, the public library in the high school building, be- sides several society, school, and other collections. So there are numerous libraries in Albany outside the State library. Obviously, in building up the school, it will take some time to secure all the books we require. But the bibliographic collec- tion is being rapidly increased, and, as many of you know, is already one of the largest in the coun- try. The course of instruction in bibliography that has been mentioned has been enlarged sub- stantially during this vacation, and next year is to be still further increased. The curriculum was laid out last year'as recommended, and it is even more strictly laid down this year. It is to be printed withm a few weeks. Mr. Richardson speaks of the stud^ of mss., etc., and also of restraining enthusiasm. If you think a moment, you will see that we are trying to do in a two years' course, that for which, if we carry out all these suggestions, four years would be too short. We have the very best candidates the whole coun- try canjgive us men and women, often, who have borrowed money to pay their expenses through college, and who feel that they must get to earn- ing their bread and butter. Many say If I could come for one year, I could manage it ; but two are impossible. Others can afford to come only for one or two or three months. It is perfectly hopeless to think of getting enpugh candidates to take the long course. Many can't even come for a single week to the meetings of the A. L. A. Those people come to us, and can stay only the minimum time. Many borrow money, and exer- cise the greatest economies to get through, and are anxious to do all they can in the time. I have absolutely to order these people out of the build- ing. I have threatened to lock them in. They come the first thing in the morning, and stay till the last thing at night ; sometimes I shut off the electric light. One thing mentioned in Miss Hew- ins's paper, the Physical Culture Club is car- ried on successfully. Miss Cutler leads the movement, and secures from nearly every pupil a solemn pledge to take certain carefully selected exercises daily. We mean to improve the health of most our pupils during their stay. You must bear in mind that, with people who are borrowing money to pay expenses, and who are trying to do, in the compass of a single year, the work of four years, it is pretty hard to keep from being under high pressure. I confess I am not clear what ought to be done in such cases. I sometimes doubt if I am specially well calculated to repress their enthusiasm. And my experience has been that several prominent members of the A. L. A., who have come to lecture to the school, have been equally unsuccessful. They come and tell them in three or four lectures something of our great work and its possibilities. One of our pupils said : " I felt as though I must go right out and do some great thing for libraries, when I heard Mr. Crunden speak." If any one faces this prob- lem, reads the letters we receive, comes to the school and sees the enormous amount of work that is to be done, he will see that it is next to impossible to keep out all high pressure. For 15 years I have studied this general ques- tion of libraries. As you know, my interest has not been altogether with one library, but with the general library interest. My cool judgment is that the most important thing we have before us is to develop this Library School. We must train peo- ple to take our positions. Every well-informed li- brarian in this room knows the difficulty of se- curing the right kind of people, specially in the larger libraries, that want to do the best work. The men and women we know to be of proved capacity and are willing to trust, are needed where they are, and cannot be had. There is a dearth of competent men and women to take these best places. Appreciating keenly that dearth, it is a very hard position for me to occupy, to be sur- rounded by 20 or 30 pupils, all filled with enthu- siasm to acquire as soon as possible the requisite knowledge and skill, and then to be told that I must keep them from feeling a deep interest in their work ! You might as well put in one glass two different seidlitz powders, and then pour in water, and say, " Do be quiet." S: S. GREEN read the REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC DOCU- MENTS. Judging from remarks made by Mr. William Beer at the conference of this Association held in St. Louis, it would appear that he had not heard of the efforts made a few years ago in foreign countries, by Mr. George H. Boehmer (an officer 9 6 FAB Y AN HOUSE CONFERENCE. of the Smithsonian Institution), with the purpose of securing for the Congressional Library the gov- ernment publications of those countries, and of the success of the endeavors of Mr. Boehmer and others. The late Mr. Spencer F. Baird wrote in his annual report as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, dated July I, 1885: "By enactment of Congress of March 2, 1867, the Institution was appointed the agent of the United States, in an exchange of official public documents with foreign governments. . . The conditions of this exchange having been accepted by 38 governments, of which 19 are European, one box (the 23d of the series since the establishment of this exchange) of United States publications was sent to each of these governments in April, 1885." The returns having, for some years, fallen con- siderably short of expectations, Mr. Boehmer was sent abroad on a mission to look after the matter. He left this country " on the 24th of July, 1884, and returned on the 2Oth of February, 1885, dur- ing which time he visited consecutively nearly all the European states, obtaining satisfactory results, and securing large and valuable additions for the library, consisting mostly of parliamentary papers and compilations of the laws of the various gov- ernments." In reply to a letter addressed to Mr. Boehmer, inquiring where the documents of foreign govern- ments are accessible in this country, Mr. G. Brown Goode, Acting Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- tion, replied under date of September I, 1890 : " I have the honor to say that the only fairly complete collection in this country of the official publications of foreign governments is in the Library of Con- gress. Owing to the crowded condition of that library, however, the books themselves are prob- ably not now accessible, but I am inclined to think that the cataloging is carried pretty well to date." Mr. Spofford, Librarian of the Congressional Library, writes under date of August 6, 1890 : " All these files (namely, the blue books of Great Britain) are here (in the Congressional Library), back to 1816, with portions earlier. Also laws and documentary publications of nearly all Euro- pean and South American nations, catalogued in ms., but no printed lists." Mr. James L. Whitney, of the Boston Public Library, wrote under date of July 3, 1890, that, in addition to documents from Great Britain, that library gets "regularly the documents of the Assemblee Nationale and many publications of the French departments. The city of Paris sends " the Boston Public Library " many docu- ments." Mr. Whitney supposes, however, that the library does not get more than a small pro- portion of what it would like. Mr. C. B. Tillinghast, Acting Librarian of the State Library, Massachusetts, writes under date of Aug. 20, 1890: "We have a very fine col- lection of the Laws of Foreign Countries. The extent of it can be best gathered from the annual reports of the library for the past seven or eight years. They are also all catalogued in the lists of additions contained in the reports." In many libraries complete or partial sets of the public documents of Great Britain are, of course, accessible.* From what has been written in this report, it is also apparent that in Washington, and, to a certain extent elsewhere, publications of the other govern- ments of Europe and America can be consulted. As appears from the letter of Mr. Spofford, quoted above, no printed lists of the publications of foreign governments, excepting those of Great Britain, a"re to be seen in the Congressional Library. The same is the case in the Boston Public Library, as I learn from Mr. Whitney. In both libraries, however, manuscript catalogues of such publications as belong to the libraries are available. Mr. Goode writes from the Smithsonian Institu- tion that it " has, since the beginning of 1888, kept a list of titles of foreign official publications sent to the Library of Congress through the Bureau of International Exchanges; and to this list, which is on file in the Exchange Bureau, will shortly be added the titles of the official and parliamentary publications of the English government from 1882 to 1888, which are now on their way to this country. This latter series is the only complete one received from any foreign government." This committee had intended to give some ac- count of such lists of the Public Documents of the United States as are obtainable. It has found, however, that it is unnecessary to do so, as the work in this direction, begun in the Supplement of the American Catalogue, is to be continued and added to in the second Supplement, which will soon be forthcoming. At the beginning of the present session of Con- gress, the joint resolution (see L. J. Vol. 14, p. * Had inquiries been made by the committee at other libra- ries than those already mentioned, it would undoubtedly have been found that portions of sets of the public documents of other countries than Great Britain are also contained in several of the larger libraries of the country. PROCEEDINGS, SECOND SESSION. 97 268), which embodies the wishes of the members of this Association in regard to the first steps to be taken by Congress in improving plans for the distribution of public documents, was again intro- duced into the United States Senate by Mr. Hoar of Massachusetts. It was referred to the Com- mittee on Printing. Later, Mr. Crunden of St. Louis sent a circular letter to members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives for Missouri, asking them to try to secure the legislation desired by this Association. This committee seconded Mr. Crunden's efforts. The result was that our resolution was again intro- duced into the United States Senate, this time by Mr. Cokerell, of Missouri, and again referred to the Committee on Printing. There the resolution still lies. Mr. John G. Ames, Superintendent of Public Documents, Interior Department, has had a joint resolution, similar to ours, introduced into the Senate this session. It was read twice, and re- ferred to the Committee on Printing. Mr. Ames has also had the following bill ($ist Cong, ist sess. 3341) introduced : BILL To provide for the appointment of an official indexer of public documents. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives of the United States of America in Con- gress assembled, That the Joint Committee of the two Houses of Congress on the Library be, and they are hereby, authorized and directed to appoint an official indexer of public documents, and upon the occurrence of vacancies in the office to appoint his successors, and said indexer shall be entitled to receive a salary of three thousand dollars per annum. SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the indexer of public documents to prepare an index of all publications of the United States Government issued subsequently to his appointment, upon such plan and in such manner as shall be approved by the Joint Committee on the Library. Said index shall be prepared as soon as practicable after the documents are published, so*as to be available without unnecessary delay for purposes of reference, and the index for each fiscal year shall be printed and bound and ready for delivery to Congress on the first Monday of December fol- lowing. SEC. 3. That the index for the second fiscal year shall be combined with that of the first, and that for the third year with those that have pre- ceded it, and so on, in one general index, until the combined index forms a volume of convenient size, the period covered by the same not to exceed ten years, to be succeeded in like manner by other volumes. SEC. 4. That the Public Printer shall, immedi- ately upon its publication, deliver to the indexer of public documents a copy of each and every docu- ment printed at the Government Printing Office, and the head of each of the Executive Depart- ments, offices, and bureaus of the ' Government shall deliver to the same office a copy of each and every document issued or published by such department, office, or bureau not printed at the Government Printing Office and not confidential in its character. SEC. 5. That the Public Printer shall, upon the requisition of the indexer of public documents, supply such stationery and do such printing and binding as may be required for his office, to be charged against the appropriation for printing and binding for Congress. SEC. 6. That such sum as is required for the payment of the salary of the indexer of public doc- uments for the present fiscal year is hereby appro- priated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and hereafter provision for said salary shall be made in the annual appropria- tion acts of Congress, and said salary shall be paid through the disbursing officer of the Senate. This bill was referred to the Committee on the Library. Mr. Ames's resolution and bill lie in the hands of the committees to which they were referred. Appended to this report rs a letter from Mr. Ames, written at the request of the committee. It contains an account of his recent efforts, and suggestions for the action of this Association. This committee had its functions enlarged and permission given it to add to its membership on motion of Mr. Bowker at the conference in St. Louis. It was wished by the gentleman who made the motion that the committee should seek for the passage of other laws relating to public documents besides such as refer to their distribution. Neither Mr. Bowker nor the other members of the com- mittee have thought it desirable either to seek for the passage of other laws or to enlarge the com- mittee, considering the fact that the committee has been unable to procure even the legislation, which is considered by the Association of primary importance, namely, our joint resolution. The committee would recommend that the American Library Association, through the com- mittee, again petition Congress to pass the joint resolution, and also to appoint an official indexer of public documents, in accordance with the provisions of the bill given in full above. The committee would also express its readiness, in so far as it represents the views of its successors , to cooperate with any committee of the Associa- tion of State Libraries in doing work which that branch of this Association desires to do in matters 9 8 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. such as have been intrusted to this committee by the general association. In regard to the suggestion of Mr. Ames, that a committee of influential librarians, from different portions of the country, be appointed by this Asso- ciation to visit Washington at the beginning of the next session of Congress, to urge personally the passage of laws which we desire, this committee wishes that it were practicable to secure the ser- vices of such a committee, but fears that it is not so. It makes this suggestion, however, that, at no distant day, the Association might hold a confer- ence in Washington, while Congress should be in session, and at that time, through its members, try to exert influence by appearing before commit- tees of the Senate and House of Representatives, and by conversation with members of Congress. Still, it must be added that efforts of the kind con- templated, were, to a certain extent, made at the time of the meeting of the Association in Wash- ington, nine years ago. SAMUEL SWETT GREEN. WILLIAM I. FLETCHER. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, WASHINGTON, Sept. i, 1890. MY DEAR MR. GREEN: I have, as you see, returned from my sojourn in Ohio, and am at my old post again. I find that it will hardly be practicable for me to be present at the approaching Convention of the Librarians' Association, which I would be exceedingly glad to attend for the sake of meeting the librarians, and of presenting some facts and of making some suggestions regarding the matter of public docu- ments. As I cannot do this in person, I will, so far as possible, do it through you, as representing the cause before the Association. I regret to say that during the past year very little progress has been made toward accomplishing any reforms in the matter of publishing and distributing docu- ments, or in securing additional legislation in behalf of libraries. One thing, however, gives me satisfaction, and that is that the Committees on Printing of both Houses are at length, I think, fully committed to the establishment of a single Bureau of Documents, from which all distribution shall be made. If this is accomplished, it will be one large step made in the direction of simplify- ing the work and of promoting economy and convenience. It is the purpose, as I understand, of the com- mittees, having at this session secured an appro- priation for the site of the new Public Printing Office, to move at the next session, or very soon thereafter, an appropriation for erecting not only a printing office, but a building adjoining, which shall become the distributing centre of all docu- ments issued for gratuitous distribution. So far, so good. I had hoped that during the present session the committee could be persuaded to add to the list of documents supplied to depositories at least the following documents; viz. the Congres- sional Record, Statutes-at-large, all volumes of legal decisions issued by the different depart- ments, and some few other publications. This matter has been very strongly urged upon the Senate Committee, not only by myself, but by many of the Senators ; but they (the committee) have not yet taken any action in the premises. Another matter of prime importance in this con- nection is the Official Index of Public Documents, which question I discussed at some length in my last report. The suggestions there made have met with the warm approval of many of our best librarians. A bill providing for the appointment of an official indexer was early in the session offered in the two Houses and referred to the Committees on the Library. A large number of letters urging favorable action in the matter has been sent to the Senate Committee, of which Mr. Evarts is Chairman, and I myself have urged upon both committees the importance of some such provision, not only with reference to the conven- ience of libraries, but especially with reference to the convenience of members of Congress, who have constantly to consult public documents. So far, however, no action has been taken by either committee. I attribute the delay in regard to both these matters to the fact that the committees are exceed- ingly anxious not to increase appropriations at this session ; and they decline, so far as they can, report- ing measures involving expenditures ; in fact, the Chairman of the House Committee has several times told me that it would be impracticable at this session to get a bill through which involved the creation of any new office or the expenditure of money for the purpose of an index. At another session this might be done. It is, of course, in the main a politician's view of the matter, for every one acknowledges the great importance of having such an index, and wonders why it has not already been provided for. Referring again to the matter of adding the few documents indicated to the list of publica- tions supplied to depositories, I cannot myself PROCEEDINGS, SECOND SESSION. 99 understand the hesitation on the part of the Senate Committee to report favorably the resolution which is before them. The Chairman said to me that it would involve in the matter of the Record alone an expenditure of forty or fifty thousand dollars annually ; whereas I submitted a statement to him, based upon the actual cost of the docu- ments as sold by the public printer, showing that the cost would be only $8,000 per annum. When we consider the value to depositories of having a full set of government publications, and the relief that it would afford members of Congress in sup- plying depositories from their own quotas, it would seem that the committees of both Houses would without further urging recommend that adequate provision to this end be made. Under the circumstances, I beg leave to suggest, in the first place, that the conference pass a resolu- tion requesting and urging these committees to report favorably the resolution covering this sub- ject, a copy of which I herewith enclose, being Senate Resolution No. 70, and also the bill providing for the appointment of an official indexer of public doc- uments, a copy of which is also herewith enclosed, being Senate Bill 3,341.* This bill in its first section will probably need to be changed, in view of the objection that has been suggested, that the Joint Committee on the Library has not the authority to make appointments. That difficulty, however, can be very easily remedied if the committee is willing to provide for an indexer. In the second place I would suggest and urge the appointment by the conference of a committee of at least five prominent librarians representing New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and the Middle and Western sections of the United States, whose duty it shall be to visit Washington early in December, on the convening of Congress at its next session, to urge upon the committees imme- diate action upon these subjects, and upon others in which the conference feels a special interest, and thus bring their own personal influence and the influence of friends to bear upon these com- mittees, and upon their respective friends in the two Houses. I believe that if this were done action i n the premises would be secured. You understand fully that a vast deal more can be accomplished by such a committee coming in person and sitting down with the committees of Congress to discuss fully the whole subject, than by any amount of correspondence by the librarians in their indi- vidual capacity. I hope, therefore, that such a *See p. 97. committee will be appointed, and that it will act vigorously when the time comes. There are other subjects in which I feel an inter- est, relating in large measure to the comfort and convenience of those who handle public docu- ments, but with which I will not at present trouble you or the conference. One other point, however, I will allude to : I am in receipt of many requests from libraries for the Congressional Record, made under the impression that this depaitment is sup- plied with this work for distribution. The fact, however, is that not a single copy is published for distribution by any executive department, said dis- tribution being limited exclusively under the pres- ent law to members of Congress ; so that if our public and college libraries wish the work they must apply directly to their Senators and repre- sentatives in Congress. The only copies that come to me are those forwarded by libraries that have them in duplicate, which in the aggregate is a large number. These, so far as available, are used in supplying deficiencies in libraries making application for the same, but they go compara- tively a little way in supplying the demand. The work of re-distributing public documents forwarded to this office by libraries having them in duplicate is still carried on just as far as I have time to devote to the work. It is an entirely ex- tra and gratuitous service, involving, as you readily see, a large amount of labor, which I have been very glad to render in the interests of our public libraries. I am this week sending out three additional check lists, copies of which I also enclose, which I hope will reach many of the librarians before they leave for the conference. About 100,000 volumes of duplicates have come into my hands since this work began. I anticipate for you all a very pleasant meeting at the Fabyan House a more delightful place could not have been selected, which will in itself attract a very large attendance. Regretting very much that I cannot have the pleasure of joining you there, and trusting that the conference may be altogether delightful and satis- factory, and with kind regards to my friends among the librarians, I remain Very sincerely yours, JOHN G. AMES, Sttpt. of Docs. In this connection I would say that perhaps good results would follow if the attention of the conference were again called to the matter of exchange of public documents through this office. I hope, inasmuch as this work has been entered IOO FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. upon, that all the principal libraries will cooperate with me to make it as largely successful as pos- sible; and to this end will forward promptly all duplicates that they may have for re-distribution. Very sincerely yours, JOHN G. AMES. Pres. CRUNDEN. I am glad to hear that Mr. Ames is still going on with that work. I suppose all of us have accumulated a new lot of duplicates for him. S: S. GREEN. Mr. Ames gives all the attention to this matter that his other work will allow. W: BEER. There is now appearing in the Review of reviews a list of British public docu- ments as they are issued. It contains some very valuable notes, especially on the reports of the English inspectors of mines and factories. I would call the attention of those receiving the reports of the U. S. Geological Survey to the valuable notes on the first page suitable for sub- ject and author cards. I wish such slips could be affixed to every volume issued by Congress. They cost little to complete, and can be easily transferred to cards. Cataloguing comes very hard on the small libraries. DINING BY STATES AND CLASSES. Sec. DEWEY. The Standing Committee, whose duty it is to arrange for this meeting, have agreed on a plan that we should like to put in operation in regard to one dinner. People often come here to meet those they are anxious to see, but fail to do so and go away disappointed. It was thought it would be well to dine once by States, all from one State to sit at one table. States having large delegations can occupy adjoining tables. To-day, if those who wish to conform to this plan will inform the head waiter as they enter the dining- room, he will place them accordingly. You can find from the registry summary how many are from your State. It might also be arranged so that people who come here to meet others working in the same lines need not go away without seeing them at all. We proposed to have a meal another day by types of libraries ; to have the college and school librarians at one table and the State librarians at another, and so with the proprietary librarians and the law and medical librarians, and also the trustees and other officers of libraries. Each class would thus have an opportunity to take a meal together ; they would meet, get acquainted, and exchange views. A third suggestion was to take another meal by positions occupied ; there are the catalogers, those who work in reference depart- ments, those in the accession departments, etc., and thus the Association for an hour would be broken up into sections formed by people in dis- tinct lines of work. One of the great objects of our meeting is to compare notes with the people who do the same kind of work. Of course this is entirely voluntary. Any one who objects to sit with the people from his own State or kind of work, is quite at liberty to go and sit by himself. B: P. MANN. If this rule is adopted, I suggest that the tables be labeled so that we shall know where to go. W: I. FLETCHER. I should like to inquire if this matter about dining in this manner has been fairly brought before us. Unless we are subject to dictation from our Standing Committee, a good many of us are disposed to kick, as they say in our town. It seems to me, if it is to be carried out at all, it should be carried out according to the wishes of the Association. Pres. CRUNDEN. The Secretary stated that there is no compulsion or coercion about this. It is only suggested that we dine in this way. W: I. FLETCHER. My remark was that the carrying out of such a plan at all ought to be at the wish of the Association. I wish to ask if this question is fairly before us for a motion. If it is, I move that it lay on the table. I don't care which table. The table of Texas will do as well as any. Voted that the Association dine by States, as suggested. W: BEER read his report on AIDS AND GUIDES. (Seep. 73 .) C: A. CUTTER, in place of his paper entitled SOME THOUGHTS ON CLASSIFICATION, which he had not been able to complete, pointed out some things to be avoided in preparing a scheme for classing books, as (a) too minute classification, where nature has not made the dis- tinction between different divisions clear, which occurs especially in abstract subjects, where the classifier would often be in doubt under which of two subjects a book should be put, and the public would be still more in doubt under which to look for it; and (b) too coarse classification, where the divisions are well known, and therefore a thor- oughgoing scheme is easily made and applied by the classifier, and easily understood by the public. This occurs especially in concrete subjects, partic- ularly in Geography and History. The classifier ought, in preparing his scheme, PROCEEDINGS, SECOND SESSION. 101 to try to arrange it so as to have a superfluity of room in all historical and geographical sections, so as to divide it to the very minutest extent with- out giving long class marks. Not merely should he present all books treating of a continent together, but all the books on a single country; and, not only that, but sometimes all the books on a single city. In my collection, for example, the books on London would fill as large a space as that window, so that it would be desirable to pick out even the books on single buildings of London. I have two announcements to make. Here is a class-list in Philosophy, printed in very large type, and provided with an index, making a pamphlet of ten pages, which is to hang up in the alcove devoted to Philosophy, and to be distributed to such of the users of the library as desire it. This will be the first of a series of such pamphlets, which ultimately will include the whole classification, each subject (as Religion, Law, Medicine, Physical sciences, Natural sci- ences, etc.) to be printed separately, so that it can be hung up in its appropriate alcove, the whole collected together to be also placed in every room, in as many copies as prove to be needed. When the Philosophy has been printed off, I intend to alter the notation from that used at the Boston Athenaeum to the one which I prepared for the Lexington Library (in which letters alone are used to mark subjects instead of a combina- tion of letters and figures), and shall print another edition. The classification, you will observe, is very full, suitable for a library having from 100,- ooo to many million volumes, or to a special philosophical library. When this edition has been printed, I intend to cut out the minuter subdivisions, leaving such as may be needed in a 50,000 volume library, and print an edition ; and then to excise still more, to fit the scheme to a still smaller library, and print a fourth time. In place of the omitted sections I should insert notes, showing what sort of books were intended to go into the sections that are left. On the full scheme that information is given by the subdivi- sions themselves. For instance, under the head- fng " Ethology (Character)," the sub-headings, Genius, Habit, Psychical heredity, Influence of sex, Temperament, Eccentricities, show at a glance where to put and where to look for certain special books. When the sub-headings are out, that in- formation must be supplied by a note, "Here will be put Genius, Habit," etc. There is one other matter which it. will be appropriate to speak of now, because it relates to the gentleman who will read the next paper. As the funds of the Association were not sufficient to afford the publication in last year's Proceed- ings of Mr. Linderfelt's adaptation of Dziatzko's Rules for cataloging, I attempted to get the Pub- lishing Section of the A. L. A. to undertake the work ; but it was obliged to refuse for the same reason, want of funds. Being unwilling that so much good work should be lost, I am printing it myself. I am sure that it is not the foolish affection of a foster-father that makes me believe the book to be of the very highest im- portance to all catalogers. While I naturally hope it will not entirely supersede my own Rules, I see that it presents the subject under a very different aspect and in a new order. A cataloger who loves his profession, and wishes to broaden his views, will profit greatly by comparing the two treatises. Then again, examples are always inter- esting; Herr Dziatzko was profuse in examples, and Mr. Linderfelt has supplied still more. Besides this, Mr. Linderfelt has added, in an appendix, a list of Oriental titles, with their translations, some- thing that is not to be found, so far as I know, any- where else in literature. We hoped to have the book ready three months ago ; but the preparation of the appendix, and the necessity of cutting many matrices for the accented letters required in print- ing Oriental words and names, has delayed us. The appendix will be found worth the delay. The Library Bureau will be the selling agents, and they are ready to receive orders. K. A. LINDERFELT read his REPORT ON CATALOGS AND CLASSIFICATION. (Seep. 67.) On motion of R. B. POOLE, voted that the Com- mittee on Printing decide which list of titles of works on catalogs and classification should be printed, that of Mr. Linderfelt or Mr. Beer, or whether the two should be combined. J. EDMANDS. I should like to ask Mr. Cutter if, in printing the classification of his library, he cannot adapt it to libraries of different sizes, by the use of different kinds of type ? C. A. CUTTER. I use many different sizes of type, but for another purpose. Sec. DEWEY. I suppose Mr. Cutter uses his type as we do, with different sizes for different grades of subjects. We have adopted the plan, in some cases, of simply drawing a pen through the minuter divisions, leaving the type legible, so as to explain what was covered by the heads in larger type, though not used in the classification. 102 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. This secures in a single copy that the user, when he sees a generic head, will also see the cancelled lines, and know what is included under the major head. Each library will use it differently. In a town full of manufactories, one would use most of the manufacturing heads ; in a college community, the heads under philology. It would involve printing forty different editions of the classifica- tion to meet this ; whereas, if you print a full edi- tion, by cancelling the small type not needed, each librarian can adapt it to his own use very easily. J. EDMANDS. An additional help is to indent the smaller subdivisions, so as to make a distinc- tion between the primary and subordinate classes. C: A. CUTTER. Mr. Dewey was right in saying that I use the variety of type as he does, to show the grades in the hierarchy of classification, and I cannot use it to give the relative importance of the different classes in different libraries. My reason for cutting out part of the classes, and printing a smaller edition, is that I find if a per- son, not an expert in classification, once looks at a system of classification drawn out minutely, he looks at it no more. You may explain as much as you please, he will not use the scheme, but will be frightened away. So I would rather go to the expense of printing another small edition, with a great deal left out, or thrown into the form of explanatory notes. Sec. DEWEY. Do you agree that, for the use of a classifier and librarian, the other form is better ? C: A. CUTTER. Certainly. Sec. DEWEY. Then would it not be better to print broadsides to^hang in the alcoves, as they do at Harvard ? As I understand, you propose to hang up a pamphlet of, say a dozen pages in the alcove. Tell us your opinion of posting a short summary on a placard. C: A. CUTTER. I posted such summaries in the Athenaeum twenty-one years ago. The indexed pamphlet is merely the development of the broad- side summary. The full apparatus is this: In each room one or more copies of the complete classification ; at the beginning of each depart- ment, a pamphlet of perhaps eight pages, the first page having a summary of the whole (this classifi- cation of Philosophy is an example) ; next, placards around the room, showing the separate subdivisions. For instance, at the alcove of Physical science, there would be one of the pamphlets ; then over each section of the shelves, such heads as Astronomy, Chemistry, Electrics, etc., so that a person, glancing around, Qould at once see where each division is. The fourth guide would be little shelf labels, just as wide as the shelf, one of them for each sub- division. But as some persons might not be sure under which of these general heads they would find the subdivision sought, we cannot dis- pense with a detailed classification and index. W: E. FOSTER read his paper on CLASSIFICATION FROM THE READER'S POINT OF VIEW. (Seep. 6.) MISCELLANEOUS. Pres. CRUNDEN mentioned, to illustrate the influence of the Association in other matters than those purely technical, the receipt of a request from England for a copy of the A. L. A. singing book, and to show a lack of attention to the printed proceedings, a request for statistical in- formation respecting Sunday opening from one who would naturally have received Miss M. S. Cutler's exhaustive paper on that subject. He read the following extract from a letter of regret from R. C. WOODWARD, Librarian of the Warder Library of Springfield, O. : For with every librarian, I trust, the aim is to magnify our office and duties, not so much by doing and striving for some great thing that may add to personal fame, as to do the many little things so thoroughly well that the results attained will be for the highest good of the community in which we dwell. To my mind, our work is part of God's work; for are we not truly teachers and aiders also in helping others to secure noble and true characters that time cannot destroy? In this lies the secret of our best efforts, which can- not be remunerated by dollars and cents. The librarian or assistant who works mechanically for the pay only, has not experienced the highest joy and reward. The true librarian often needs, not so much an increase of salary, as greater freedom and enlarged opportunity for usefulness, that he may develop talents to the full in the execution of plans for the good of all. Sending my regrets but mildly and inadequately expresses my disap- pointment in not being present at the Fabyan council. Pres. CRUNDEN. I hope the members will not engage in any excursions that interfere with our business. I have been exceedingly gratified at the spirit shown so far. Attend as many sessions as possible. We have tried to arrange it so that those not interested in certain topics can omit some, but I hope most of you will attend all, tak- ing as your motto, Bibliothecarius sum : bibliothe- cale nihil a me alienum puto. PROCEEDINGS, SECOND SESSION. On motion of S: S. GREEN it was voted that Justin Winsor, LL. D., be a delegate of this Association to the meeting of the L. A. U. K. at Reading. The motion in regard to the employment of a stenographer having been taken from the table, the following substitute was moved by S: S. Green and adopted : Voted, That the Standing Committee be empow- ered, not instructed, to employ a stenographer at future meetings of the Association. REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION. S: S. GREEN. The matters brought forward by the President in his address, and by the Secretary in his report, contain many valuable recommenda- tions, and ought of course to be attended to. At the meeting of the Association held in St. Louis, a committee was appointed, of which Mr. R. R. Bowker was chairman, to revise the present con- stitution and by-laws, and present them in print to every member three months before this meeting. That report has not been made. It seems to me that similar action ought to be taken by this conven- tion. I therefore move that a committee of five be appointed ; that this committee include Mr. Crun- den and Mr. Dewey, and, as soon as practicable after this meeting, present in print to every mem- ber a copy of the revised constitution and of the by-laws that they may think it advisable for the Association to adopt. I make this motion not at all with the purpose of preventing the Secretary or the President from getting the sentiment of the meeiing in regard to the matters which they pro- posed, but rather to evoke discussion as to whether it is desirable to make those changes. Mr. Green's motion was carried. Pres. CRUNDEN. That motion necessarily in- cludes the discharge of the former committee, which has made no report. Sec. DEWEY. Mr. President, as we are both named as members of this committee, I should like to say what I think will voice the sentiment of this Association. It was an experiment 15 years ago when we drafted this constitution. As you remember, last year at St. Louis the sharpest criticism that was made on it was by Mr. Winsor, upon the section which Mr. Winsor drew himself. Now that was done when the work and functions of libraries were not as well defined as they are now. There is another committee that is really a ten- der to this committee, that is, the committee suc- ceeding Mr. Foster's committee last year. They were instructed to gather resolutions and by-laws, and print them ; and that committee should cer- tainly be merged in this committee of five, which covers the same field. I move that that commit- tee be discharged, and its duties transferred to this new committee, which shall cover consti- tution, by-laws, and rules. It seems desirable to revise a number of things in our constitution. One part of the plan was to elect an executive board of five, who should elect all the officers. I think it would be well to elect our President, Vice-Presi- dents, and perhaps one or two other officers, by a direct vote of all the members, and would like to draw out the sentiment of the Association on this question. Committees that could meet and work together, could be chosen by a board after execu- tive discussion, better than we can elect them in open meeting. The motion of Secretary Dewey was carried. COOPERATION COMMITTEE. Pres. CRUNDEN. I call up the report of the Co- operation Committee again, in order that it may be taken up section by section to see if any action is required. J. EDMANDS. I move that the whole matter be referred to the Committee on Constitution and By-laws. W: I. FLETCHER. I suppose our constitution defines, of course in somewhat general terms, the duties of the Cooperation Committee. I should like to see it so arranged that the committee on revision of the constitution and by-laws can have the benefit of these suggestions, in so far as they may affect the general statement to be put into the rules. Beyond that, it seems to me, the ground is be^t covered by referring it to the dis- cretion of the Cooperation Committee. Part of this plan suggested in the report is an admirable one; but I think it can be left to the wisdom of successive Cooperation Committees to devise means by which they can carry out views suggested by the members. Sec. DEWEY. (After reading section 6, article 4 of the constitution.) The work of this commit- tee has never been closely defined. It has simply drifted on the strength of this simple statement. The committee do nothing in a case that is left to their discretion or wisdom. They simply wait. It seems to me it would be wiser to read this report by sections, and be sure how far it meets approval, so that the Committee on Constitution can take these references and notes, and go forward. We should, while this discussion is fresh in mind, have rules drawn up which would express the sentiment of the Association. IO4 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. W. S. BISCOE read the first recommendation of the committee. C: A. NELSON. I move that this still be con- sidered part of the work of the CoSperation Committee. Voted. W. S. BISCOE read the rest of the report. B: P. MANN. I move that all matter relating to bibliography be referred to the Publishing Section. Voted. C: A. NELSON. I move that the committee consist of three from the same section of the coun- try. Voted. STATE LIBRARIANS. Sec. DEWEY. I would like to say, on behalf of the Association of State Librarians who meet at 2.30 P. M., that the meeting is not for State librarians alone, but we expect all members interested in developing State libraries to attend, and join in the discussions. We shall have up the question whether State libraries should lend their books to other libraries; the formation of clearing-houses for exchange of State documents, and a dozen other questions of interest to all librarians. I hope it will not seem unfit if I say, what many of you know, that many State librarians are ap- pointed to the positions they hold as a mere matter of form. Only the other day a friend told me of a certain librarian whom he never could find in his library, no matter how often he called ; but he never failed to find him outside in a saloon. We don't expect a man of that sort to come to a meeting of State librarians. We do not want him. He would want to go on excur- sions all the while, morning, afternoon, and even- ing. We would like to see our way to get better support from the State treasuries, and the way to do it is by doing in the State libraries certain useful things for all libraries in each State. All interested in this phase of the State library should come in, and see what can be done. Your right on the floor will be just as good as if you were a State librarian, and every one of us will be glad to hear what you think can be done. PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. S: S. GREEN. I move, in behalf of the Com- mittee on Public Documents, that our joint resolu- tion (printed in Library journal ', v. 14, p. 268) be introduced into Congress again. Voted. S: S. GREEN. I move that the Association recommend the passage of the bill offered by Mr. J. G. Ames for the appointment of an official indexer of public documents. W. M. GRISWOLD. I would like to ask how the proposed index would differ from the publica- tion of Mr. Hickox. S: S. GREEN. Mr. Hickox's is a list. This is an index. WESTON FLINT. I think it is better for our Association to pass a resolve in regard to the desirability of this work, and let the administra- tion of it be settled in Congress. W: I. FLETCHER. I move as a substitute that the Association memorialize Congress for the publication of official indexes to current public documents. Voted. J. EDMANDS. Is it not well to make a sugges- tion also in regard to title-pages and contents of books ? It seems to me that the documents issued by Congress are in this respect very bad. S: S. GREEN. I am afraid that would network well. It is not well to seek for too many things at once. We know we want this general resolution of ours. As soon as we have got that, we want a selection of government publications, those of the most popular interest, sent to the smaller libra- ries. I think that thing would come before even this important matter Mr. Edmands suggests. It is hard enough to get anything done, even when we try for one thing. I wish to express, on the part of the committee, a desire to act cordially in connection with the committee of the State Library Association ; also to remind the Association that ours is not one of the regular committees, and has to be appointed by the convention. Sec. DEWEY. We all feel that this question of public documents is one of the most important with which this Association has to deal. I should be glad to have light on the subject. We have been at work on this for 15 years. Some things have been accomplished, but we have not accomplished as much as we ought. I don't be- lieve we are going to accomplish much by passing general resolutions. The right thing to do would be to pick out the right man, and send him to Washington to find members of Congress and sen- ators who would follow this up. I don't think there is any real opposition to a reform. S: S. GREEN. There is a decided opposition. The Committee on Printing of the Senate is un- willing to spend any money. Mr. Manderson, Chair- man of that committee, has been favorable; but in- fluential senators especially Senator Hawley, of Connecticut are dead set against any movement for the expenditure of money, even for providing these few public documents which the depositories PROCEEDINGS, SECOND TO FOURTH SESSION. 105 require. We meet his opposition every time we make an effort. Sec. DEWEY. A great deal less money is re- quired to do what we want done than is now spent on public documents. Does any one bring up any specific argument except the expense ? S: S. GREEN. No, that is the argument. Mr. Ames shows them how little it costs. They will spend money for other things, but not for this. Sec. DEWEY. There are many people outside this Association disgusted with the wastefulness of Congress in this matter. There is more money spent by the Federal government in botching it, than is necessary to do the work well. We may get together and pass resolutions, write them out, and send them to Congress. It will do no good. All of you know that petitions go on there signed by 50,000 names, yet they go into the waste-basket. I be- lieve we have had the Fabian policy in this long enough. After what cropped out in regard to the Senator from Connecticut, my suggestion is that we should try to send the right men there ; follow the matter up by individual effort till we get strong men to push it through. Another point of attack is through the State legislatures. Those who saw the address drawn up by the State Librarians' Association, will remember we laid great stress on this matter, and we had answers from governors of States and others of powerful influence, who were ready to cooperate with us. Would it not be well if we could get each legislature to pass strong resolutions, asking the passage of this measure, and then have strong men go to Congress with the requests of the legislatures ? That might carry our point. Our old way is like trying to drive a tenpenny nail with a shingle. S: S. GREEN. This Association is very much indebted to Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, for the manner in which he has worked in our behalf, and particularly to get this A. L. A. resolution through Congress. Not long ago he came home to Worcester and said to me, " Your resolu- tion is in Abraham's bosom." He said somebody proposed certain documents to be sent to the depositories, and he had that matter referred to the Committee on Library, of which he was acting chairman. " I am going to report your resolution as a substitute for the resolution which has been referred to us." He did so. Hawley and others immediately arose and attacked the resolution and killed it. Mr. Ames's recommendation to the committee is to have leading librarians go to Wash- ington and exert their influence by going before committees and talking with members. That is an admirable thing to do, but seems to be imprac- ticable. I would like very much if that suggestion of Mr. Dewey's could be carried out, of getting State legislatures to take this matter up, and to have somebody in Washington to represent us, who could be working all the time. Knowing as I do the fruitfulness of the suggestions which are likely to come from the State Association, I said it was with the greatest cordiality this committee desired, so far as it could bind its successors, to act in cooperation with the committee having similar plans to accomplish, connected with the State Library Association. Pres. CRUNDEN. In this connection I will read a question. How far are the printed catalog slips occasionally provided in government and other publications really useful ? B: P. MANN. I should use them if I found them. Of the 15 who had noticed these slips, 3 found them useful ; 12 did not. Pres. CRUNDEN. I have a letter asking how to use government documents. S: S. GREEN. There was a question asked me a week or two ago about a certain piece of ord- na^ce. I thought the most natural thing in the world was to refer to the report of the department of ordnance. There I found the information desired. Sec. DEWEY. This letter is a type of many written since the Association was founded. I move that our committee on public documents be requested to submit to the Association at its next meeting a paper on utilization of public docu- ments, pointing out definitely how to get the most good out of such collections. Voted. Adjourned at 12.45 p - M - THIRD SESSION. (WEDNESDAY, 2.30 p. M.) MEETING OF STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. ( The report is given after the report of the College Section.) FOURTH SESSION. (WEDNESDAY, 7.45 p. M.) Pres. CRUNDEN announced the following com- mittees : Resolutions. W : I. Fletcher, W: H. Brett, W: C. Lane, J: M. Glenn, J: V. Cheney. Social evening. Miss Mary S. Cutler, Miss T. H. West, Miss H. P. James, Miss Ada Bunnell, Mrs. M. W. Loomis, with A: W. Whelpley, C: C. Soule, C: R. Dudley, and G. M. Jones. io6 HOUSE CONFERENCE. 1400 Reception. Miss M. S. Cutler, ex officio, Mrs. H: J. Carr, Miss E. M. Coe.Miss C. H. Garland, Miss F. E. Woodworth,. Miss L. S. Cutler, Miss S. Johnson and C: C, Soule, H. E. Davidspn, W: E: Parker, H: J. Carr, C: A. Nelson, W: I. Fletcher, and F. B. Gay. H: J. CARR read the TREASURER'S REPORT. HENRY J. CARR, Treasurer, in account with the AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: 1889. DR. May I. To balance on hand from last report (St. Louis Confer- ence) May 8 to Dec. 31, 1889. To 7 temporary member fees (St. Louis) ....... To annual membership fees, viz. : For years 1887, 1888, 1889, I . $600 For years 1888-89, 21 .8400 " " 1888, i . 200 " " 1889, 32 . 6400 15600 1890. Jan. 25. To interest on deposits (Grand Rapids, 1889) 1325 Mar. 20. To interest on deposits (Con- cord, 6 months, 1889) . I 80 July 23. To interest on deposits (Grand Rapids, 6 months, 1890) . . 3 52 Feb. 10. To i life membership (Mrs. Moses Wadley) 2500 Aug. 29. To sale i copy proceedings, 1886 i oo Jan. 2. to Sept. 4, 1890. To annual membership fees, viz. : For years 1888-89, i . $400 " " 1888-89-90, i . 600 " " 1890. 1 66 33200 34200 Total $i,37340 1889. CR. May ii. By R: R. Bowker, bill of Elleard Floral Co., St. Louis, May 9, 1889, cut flowers for Dyer testimo- nial $500 May 18. By W: E. Foster, Providence, bill of April 30, 1889, envel- opes and stamps in mailing constitution and member lists 3 88 By Snow & Farnham, Provi- dence, bill of April 30, 1889, printing 500 copies of constitution and mem- ber list 28 oo May 29. By R. B.Poole, bill of Nixon- Jones Printing Co., St. Louis, May n, 1889, print- ing i oo copies Cooperation Com. report $7 S June 15. By Library Bureau, Boston, bill of May 28, 1889, circu- lars and expenses prelim- inary to St. Louis Confer- ence 74 22 Aug. 26. By special deposit in Grand Rapids Savings Bank, in name of A. L. A. . . . 400 oo Oct. 10. By Library Bureau, 2 bills, viz. : July 10, 1889, for i attendance register 3 oo July 30, 1889, for i seal press 5 oo Nov. 19. By Library Bureau, bill of Oct. 22, 1889, for 350 copies Proceedings St. Louis Conference (160 pp.) . . 46933 Also for envelopes, directing and delivery of 229 copies distributed 18 68 ($445 paid on account, Nov. 19, 1889, and balance $43 01 paid Feb. 7, 1890) 1890. Feb. 24. By Publishers' Weekly, bill of Nov. i, 1889, paper for Proceedings, St. Louis Conference ..... 20 54 Apr. 1 8. By Library Bureau, bill of March 19, 1890, 1,100 let- ter heads for various officers of A. L. A. ... 9 oo May 18, 1889, to Feb. 11, 1890. By current expenses of Treas- urer's office, for postage, express, and printing, as per detailed account voucher 15 45 Aggregate payments . . . $1,059 60 Sept. 4. Balance on hand to be accounted for, on deposit at Grand Rapids, Mich. . 313 80 Total $i,373 4Q B. The membership status, at the 6th of Septem- ber, 1890, is as follows : Life members 25 Regular members paid to 1890, inclusive . . 167 192 Also owing for 1890 only, . . . . . 51 " " " 1889 and 1890, .... 9 " " " 1888, 1889, 1890, ... 38 98 Total ... 290 PROCEEDINGS, FOURTH SESSION. 107 Proceedings remaining in hands of Treasurer : 12 copies Milwaukee Conf., 1886. 42 " Thousand Islands Conf., 1887. 4 " Catskill Meeting, 1888. 90 " St. Louis Conf., 1889. The special deposit of $400 has been made by the Treasurer, with advice of and under direction of the Finance Committee, with a view to carrying out the vote of the Association at the St. Louis conference, looking towards an accumulation of an interest-bearing fund to offset the paid-up life memberships which do not afford annual contri- butions. The deposit is at the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Savings Bank, at 4 per cent interest, compounded and added to the deposit each six months. By the terms of the deposit (which stands in the name of the A. L. A.) it may be added to at will, but is not subject to current draft, nor to with- drawal, except upon vote of the Association at a regular meeting, duly certified under its seal by signatures of the President, Secretary, and Treasurer. In conclusion the Treasurer urges that in any contemplated revision of the constitution of the Association, careful attention be given to the question of both increasing the current revenues and of reducing the expenditures upon the Pro- ceedings. While the latter publications are es- sential and of value to the library world (especially so to such members as cannot attend the con- ferences), they do absorb so great a proportion of the present income from membership fees as to really prevent the Association from obtaining that strength in a financial way which is really essential to a due growth of its effectiveness as a working institution. Respectfully submitted, H: J. CARR, Treasurer. Report referred to Finance Committee. H: M. UTLEY read his report on LIBRARY ARCHITECTURE. (See p. 12 and p. Jff.) W: I. FLETCHER read his paper on PROPER LIGHTING OF LIBRARY ROOMS. NEWBERRY LIBRARY. W: F. POOLE. Within the past week the trustees, in conference with the librarian and archi- tect, have decided upon plans which I will briefly explain. If any one, at this time, when the old is going out and the new is coming in, mainly in consequence of what has been done in this As- sociation, supposes that it is a simple problem to make the plans of a large library building, he is mistaken. There is no model structure which we could reproduce. Besides the inherent difficulties of the undertaking, it is not easy, when we step out of the beaten track, for a number of thoughtful per- sons to concur in adopting a design based on new principles, although each desires to avoid the acknowledged faults of construction in what is known as the conventional library building, of which the plans of the Astor Library of New York, the Baltimore Peabody Institute, the Con- gressional Library, and the Boston and Cincinnati Public Libraries are types. We have sought to avoid (i) the great loss of space in the middle of the building; (2) the difficulty of heating uni- formly the large rooms, 50 or 60 feet high, which, when the temperature is agreeable on the floor, is so hot in the galleries as to destroy the bindings of books, and injure the health of attend- ants. It is a fact not generally known, that, in a room artifically heated, the temperature rises one degree with every foot of elevation. We wished (3) to get rid of tramping up four, five, or six stories of galleries for books the most unprofit- able and injurious physical exercise a person can engage in. We wanted (4) a plan by which the building could be enlarged in harmony with the general design and without disturbing what had already been built. The common gothic structure can be enlarged skyward by taking off the roof, and laterally by taking down one side and spoiling the the original plan. We sought (5) to provide every possible protection from fire which may start inside of the building. If fire begins in the conventional structure, it has a free range through the whole building ; and the books which the fire does not destroy, water and smoke will. We have, therefore, arranged our building in compartments of moderate size, each of which is fire-proof, and is separated from every other by a fire wall, so that fire could not spread from the room in which it began. We wanted (6) to secure to readers the best facilities for readily procuring the books they need, and the opportunity to read them quietly and undisturbed by noise and visitors. The reading-rooms with which scholars are familiar do not furnish these advantages. We wished (7) to escape the un- necessary expense of erecting the usual gothic building with its columns, heavy girders, and lantern of iron and glass. If it be finished in FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. wood, it is a tinder box ; if in iron, it is very costly. These matters have been discussed in this Association for the past ten years ; and there has been a general consensus of opinion that these objections to the usual style exist and ought to be remedied. One of the methods devised for obviating these objections is the stack system, first constructed in the annex to the Harvard University Library. When I first saw that stack I was impressed with its resemblance to the interior of a model prison. I saw my favorite authors " in quod," and felt that they deserved better treatment. This ar- rangement does not contribute to aesthetic de- mands, nor meet the difficulties which have been mentioned. The heat problem is unsolved if the room be heated in winter ; and I am told that in summer the heat is terrific in the upper galleries. Then there is the old-fashion tread-mill exercise of climbing these four and five stories of galleries. Perhaps the greatest objection is the impossibility of lighting the narrow passage-ways in a stack uniformly. Mr. Fletcher, who has a stack in his (the Amherst College) library, has just com- mented on this fact from his own experience. The ends of the passage-ways are easily lighted ; but the light diminishes as one enters, and in the middle of the stack it is so dark that the titles of books can with difficulty be read. He says the light which gets in strikes the shelves vertically, and is not effective. I am told by employes in the Harvard library that in afternoons and in cloudy weather, the titles of books in the two lower tiers of that stack cannot be read. Students in their investiga- tions often need access to books upon the shelves and sufficient light to read them. The narrow, ill-lighted passage-ways of a stack are unfavorable conditions for such consultation. Our method has been very different. We have adopted a compartment system. The books are Q A Auditorium seating 450 persons. Over A, B, F, G, and P are book rooms ; over D, C, and E, one reading room. B Reception rooms and bibliographical exhibit. C Porter and cloak room. D Hall. E Business offices of the Newberry Estate. F Trustees of library. G Books on Bibliography. H, I, and J Library administration, librarian's room, cataloguing, etc. M Reading-room in second story, over C, E, and D. K, L, O, and P Book-rooms in second story, over A, B, F, G, and P. The third, fourth, and fifth stories will contain similar rooms, and also study rooms. The capacity of the structure when full will be 1,000,000 volumes; convenient working capacity, 600,000 volumes. PROCEEDINGS, FOURTH SESSION. 109 classified by their subjects into departments, and each of the departments has a separate room assigned to it, where the books are read, as well as shelved. Each of these rooms is fitted up with all the conveniences for study, and will have an attendant in charge who is familiar with the sub- ject and the books in the department. The fine arts will constitute one of these departments, and its shelving, fittings, and general arrangement will be different from those of the departments of hj^- tory or religion. An art student wishes to consult a volume of Piranesi containing views of ancient Rome. He goes to the fine art room, asks for the volume, and it is laid on the table before him immediately, without the delay of looking up its press-mark, and waiting for a runner to bring it on a truck from some remote part of the library. If the volume has not the point he is in search of, he can readily exchange it for another. If he does not know the book he needs, the attendant will assist him. When used the volume is carefully restored to its place. Fine books in fine bindings are more injured by runners in transporting them to and from a general reading-room, than by their legitimate use. This system is not adapted to a circulating library, nor to a reference library where the num- ber of volumes is not large ; but in a library which is likely to have half a million volumes in twenty- five or thirty years, and to go on increasing, at that or even a more rapid rate, the segregation of books into departments, and giving each classi- fication a separate room, seems to us a convenient method of treating this vast accumulation of material. At first, when the number of books is not large, the departments will be few, and allied subjects will be shelved in the same room. Later, as the collection increases, these will be separated and assigned to new rooms. When the depart- ment of history is becoming full, it will be divided, and American history made a new department, and later, English history another. It will be seen on this outline sketch that the lot, 318x212 feet, containing 67,400 square feet, occu- pies a whole city block, and is bounded by Walton place, Dearborn avenue, Oak and Clark streets. The block, not shown in the sketch, south of Wal- ton place (a street 60 feet wide), is Washington Square, a public park, with trees, walks, and lawns, but no buildings. On Clark street is a cable line of street railway, which gives easy access to the business center of the city. The building will cover the whole south front, and there is space for extension on the east, north, and west fronts, leav- ing a court for light in the centre, as indicated by the dotted lines. The height of the first story will be 1 6 feet, the second 15, and the upper stories 14. A peculiar feature in the plan is the outside cor- ridor (Q), 7 feet wide, by which access is had to all the rooms above the first story. The wall on the inside of the corridor will have windows which will admit as much light as is possible through the corridor into the rooms. This fact is not made clear in the drawings above, as the win- dows in the inner wall are not as well indicated as they might be. Every room will therefore be lighted on two sides. The elevators and stairway are put outside the building and the corridor. Glass will be used in their construction, so as to interrupt as little light as possible. There will be a general reading-room (M), 61 x 56 feet, in the second story, where the encyclopaedias, dictionaries, and bound sets of literary periodicals will be kept, and where persons who prefer to have books brought to them can read. The advantages of reading in the rooms where special subjects are kept are so great, it is probable that not many persons will use that room for study. It is the experience in all libraries, where the books and readers are constantly increasing, that the general reading-room in a few years becomes too small to meet the demands upon it. This con- dition of affairs has already been reached in the great reading-room of the British Museum. Read- ers who come simply for amusement or recreation are not admitted ; and persons must show that that they have some scholarly or important subject of study before reading-desks are assigned to him. In the system here exhibited, it is not likely that the reading-room will be crowded. As the readers increase, the number of book-rooms will increase, and they will take up what in the British Museum is the overflow of readers. If, on the other hand, it shall be found too small, other rooms can be taken for the same purpose. It is this flexibility of adaptation to different conditions which constitutes an important feature in this plan of construction. The increase in the number of rooms is limited only by the size of the lot ; and when in the remote future the entire structure covers the whole block, it will have a capacity of about 4,000,000 volumes. The arrangement of one of the department rooms, say th'at of political economy and social science, is shown in the drawing on next page. The room is 30 x 50 feet. The reader entering from the corridor finds a space for study 12x30 110 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. feet, supplied with reading-tables. The books are shelved behind a railing in cases 8 feet high, so that a person of ordinary stature may reach any book without step or ladder. The wall cases are deep enough to receive folios and quartos. The central cases are double, or open on both sides, and will shelve royal octavos and smaller sizes. The capacity of the room is 27,200 volumes. There will be no galleries or upper tier of book cases, the space being needed for the distri- bution of light and air. There will be an auditorium, classrooms, small study-rooms, where authors may be alone and un- interrupted, as well as all the conveniences for I ^^ ^^ ^^ *^ E* C0PB1DOP TABLE 1 PAG (_ *-3 e 3 - PLAN OF ONE carrying on the work of " University extension," which Professor Adams, of Johns Hopkins, is here to talk to us about. It is the intention to make the Newberry Library a live educational in- stitution, and not a mausoleum of dead books. QUESTION. You say this room 30 x 50 feet will contain 27,200 volumes. I would like to ask what proportion of the space is left for the consultation of books ? Dr. POOLE. About one fifth. In this room, which is smaller than the average size, a little more space for readers is given. Some of the rooms will contain 50,000 volumes, and the largest 70,000 volumes when the shelves are full ; but they will not be worked to much more than half that capacity. Crowded shelves in a growing library are very inconvenient. The total capacity of the structure shown on the sketch, not considering the rooms used for administration and other purposes, will be more than 1,000,000 volumes, and the con- venient working capacity will be 600,000. Judge CHAMBERLAIN. How do you propose to get light into the rooms ; for instance, those on the court ? Dr. POOLE. From the outside and from the inside, through the corridor, which will be of glass. There will be no court (represented by the dotted lines) until the library has 2,000,000 volumes, which will be many years hence ; and, when there is a court, I have no doubt that the light will be abundant from the court. CHAMBERLAIN. Have you made experiments to see what the penetrative power of light is ? POOLE. I have been observing and making these experiments for the past ten years, and am confident that the views I here state are correct. CHAMBERLAIN. Will not the corridors obstruct the light ? POOLE. To some degree, doubtless. They cer- tainly will not improve the light ; but there will be an abundance of it, nevertheless. In this age of steel construction they can be made very light, and are only 7 feet wide. The wall on the inside of the corridor is constructed to admit as much light as possible. Still I am willing to give con- sideration to the doubt which my friend entertains. In the drawing of a single room, I have placed the reading-tables on the inside near the corridor. If on the construction of the building it shall appear that the light is insufficient, the reading-tables can be placed at the other end of the room, near the outside walls, where there will be no question as to light. CHAMBERLAIN. What will be the width of the court when the whole lot is built upon ? POOLE. Sixty feet ; and by building on the rear line of Oak street, instead of 10 feet from it, as indicated in the sketch, it will be 70 feet wide, and 190 feet in length inside of the corridors. CHAMBERLAIN. Why not experiment by put- ting up a portion of the building, and see what is the penetrating power of light ? POOLE. I have done a good deal of experi- menting, enough to satisfy me; and I recommend that the judge, if his doubts continue, do some on his own account. I think we should then agree. PROCEEDINGS, FOURTH SESSION. m DEWEY. The space from which the light enters the corridors is as wide as an ordinary street. CHAMBERLAIN. I still doubt whether you will get light enough through the corridor and the outside walls to light the inner portion of the rooms, even if the court was wider than it will be. This is an experiment which can be made by the erection of a temporary structure, or by testing it where buildings are being erected in the city. QUESTION. How high are the stories ? POOLE. The first story is i6feet, the second 15, ' and the upper stories 14. It will be seen that the first story is devoted almost exclusively to special and administrative purposes. The audi- torium (A) will seat about 450 persons. The next room (B) is a reception room for visitors, where bibliographical and typographical rarities, illuminated manuscripts, and incunabula will be exhibited. These are objects which visitors want to see, and when they have examined them think they have seen the library, and retire. Ordinary sight-seers wandering about among the book- rooms are a nuisance to readers, and the reception room will reduce the annoyance to a minimum. The four rooms on the east end (G, H, I, J,) will be used for administrative purposes. Catalogu- ing, and preparation of books for the shelves will be done in the large room (H); bibliographical books will be shelved in G ; and the librarian's and assistant librarians' offices will be in I and J, with windows on the north wall. The elevations are not yet ready, and hence they are not here shown. C: A. NELSON. How is the shelving arranged ? W: F. POOLE. In double cases 8 feet high, in rows running from the front windows to the corridor. B: P. MANN. Where are the windows placed ? W: F. POOLE. It is not yet fully decided, but the sills will be nearly if not quite as high as the cases. WORCESTER FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. S: S. GREEN explained the new building erected for the Worcester Free Public Library. It ad- joins the old building, which is now given up to the circulating department and reading-rooms for magazines. It is so built as to be open to air and light on all sides. The basement, connected with the upper floors by a hydraulic elevator, is devoted to a large newspaper reading-room. The first floor has in front a large reading-room for students, into which opens the librarians' room, where several members of the staff are ready to aid inquirers. On the second floor are a cataloging room, a trustees' or seminary room, and a hall. The third floor is devoted to housing and display- ing books and pictures. The tower, which pro- jects slightly from the corner of the faade, contains the librarian's private room and rooms for the use of students making special or extended investigations. In construction the front is slow- burning rather than absolutely fire proof. The huge two-story box, which adjoins it on the rear, is absolutely fire proof, and protected by tin- covered shutters, to be placed, it is hoped, on the inside. It is arranged to have on each floor a two-story iron stack, capable of holding respec- tively 65,000 and 75,000 volumes, in all 140,000 volumes. The heating apparatus for both the new and old buildings is placed in a low building between the two. The building has been planned with reference to felt needs, and in accordance with the experience and views of the librarian. B: P. MANN. What are the means of com- munication between the stack and the rest of the building? S: S. GREEN. Iron doors or else ordinary doors covered with tin. E. C. HOVEY. Mr. Atkinson, one of the most prominent of Boston underwriters, regards iron doors as dangerous, and has recently ordered them out of many mills in New England. T: L. MONTGOMERY. Philadelphia underwrit- ers required their use in a recent case coming under my observation. H: M. UTLEY. In Detroit they insist on our having them. C: A. NELSON. In a recent fire in New Orleans iron shutters kept the firemen out until the fire had done its work. F: H. HEDGE explained the plans of the new library at Lawrence, Mass., expected to accommo- date 75,000 volumes, and to be built for $40,000. EXHIBIT OF LIBRARY APPLIANCES. Sec. DEWEY showed the new shelf list, the arrangement cards, and the " best books " cards recently issued by the Library Bureau. (For description see " Illustrated Catalog," pp. 64 and 68.) He also showed sample drawers for card catalog, intended to be removed from the case for consultation. The prospective growth of the card catalog in his library having made necessary some change from the usual methods, it was thought best, instead of reducing, as was possible, the thickness of the cards used, to utilize the wall 112 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. WORCESTER FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. BASEMENT. SECOND STORY. f :. ,,'j j] FIRST STORY. THIRD STORY. PROCEEDINGS, FOURTH SESSION, space to the height of six feet with cases of these drawers, which are to be placed on an adjoining table for consultation. MIMEOGRAPH. Pres. CRUNDEN. The mimeograph is the best duplicating process I have yet tried. Here are samples of its work. HARVARD COLLEGE CATALOG BOOKS. W: C. LANE exhibited a new appliance for bind- ing catalog cards together so that they might be handled like a book instead of being kept in drawers. These " catalog books " have been recently brought into use in the Harvard College Library as an experiment. For the present they supple- ment, not replace, the general card catalog in drawers. The slips used for this are of a rather heavy manilla paper, 7x4 in., considerably larger than the cards in the catalog, and on each slip one title is printed. We are able to print these titles cheaply, because we can use the same type which is set up for the list of accessions in the Bulletin. The printer takes each title sepa- rately and prints it off for us on cards, as many as we want for the card catalog, and at the same time prints one more copy on the larger slips for these " catalog-books." This form of binder is made by Mr. Thomas Towndrow of New Rochelle, N. Y. Its advan- tages are that the book is easily and quickly taken apart at any point for the insertion of new slips, that it holds the slips very solidly when clasped to- gether, and allows no wear or strain to come on them at the point where they are held. The es- sential part of the binder is a pair of small metal tubes, 2 inches apart, fastened upright in one cover, and a pair of metal rods which slide into these tubes, fastened into the other cover, both rods and tubes passing through holes punched to cor- respond in the end of the slips. The two covers are then fastened together by a brass clasp, which is easily loosened when it is desired to take the books apart. Notice that the slips are bound to- gether at their right-hand margins, not by the left margin, as is customary, so that the books turn backward like an Arabic or Hebrew text. The object of this is to display the catch-word of the title on the miter- margin, not conceal it on the inner. The book should be held in the right hand, and the leaves turned or released by the left. Sec. DEWEY. Do you still continue to put cards into your drawers ? W: C. LANE. We do. These slips are simply duplicates of what goes into the catalog drawers. The system is purely an experiment. We mean to keep it up for a number of years, and see how it develops. Sec. DEWEY. Why do you have your slips so large ? W: C. LANE. They are easier to handle. Sec. DEWEY. Do you intend to put two or more titles on a page ? W: C. LANE. Only one. It is not practicable for us to do otherwise, as these slips are printed. If written or made in some other way, it might be done perfectly well. W: I. FLETCHER. Can Mr. Lane state where in Europe this system is used ? W: C. LANE. At the University of Leyden. Their slips are simply tied together, however. This binder is an American invention. Sec. DEWEY. The same place where they had an excellent system of lighting some years ago. W: C. LANE. The Society Library in New York also uses this system. In space we estimate that it saves about one third. In consultation it saves more than that, because a person using one volume does not prevent some one else from using the next, as happens continually with catalog drawers. More- over, fewer cards are in use at once. Sec. DEWEY. Your motive in using it is not so much to save space as for convenience ? W: C. LANE. It saves space for the same reason that your sliding boxes save space. You can build them higher and also bring your case nearer the floor. Sec. DEWEY. This indicates your purpose to abandon the drawers for this or something better if you can find it ? W: C. LANE. Possibly. I want to see how it will work. I think it is likely to be most con- venient for small libraries that have not a very large number of borrowers coming in at once. A MEMBER. When you throw away the draw- ers you will have to throw away all the cards you have written. B: P. MANN. It seems to me this is going to be a very expensive binding. Do you know what the cost of it is ? W: C. LANE. Mr. Towndrow asks about 75 cents a pair for covers this size. This which I have our binder in Cambridge bound up, having obtained the sliding back from Mr. Towndrow. B: P. MANN. This seems to me a very expen- sive form of getting up the contrivance. Instead of FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. having these pins, which must be set into these stiff covers, perforated covers would be better, to be connected by cord or wire. When these books are arranged in a series on shelves, and persons freely consult them, they will soon get so mixed up it will be difficult to find what you want. Again, half that height of book would be fully as conven- ient to use. I have followed the suggestions which were made, I believe, at the Round Island Confer- ence, that we should have books gotten up in that way. I tried some for experiment with cards. I had to tear them apart after a while. I also use perforated sheets. I keep a great stock of Miller's sheets on hand, cut at stated intervals, so that I can select any lot and bind them together. It seemed to me, in looking at some of these blanks, that not sufficient attention has been paid to the distance apart at which the holes are made. The Library Bureau should establish a standard distance apart of any two holes intended to be used in the same work or kind of work, so any one can put any two things together and find the holes correspond and in proper position. Then when you have two sheets of paper, you can shape them on the bottom and front edge, and run a needle straight through, and it is all bound together. W: C. LANE. The objection to Mr. Mann's plan for fastening these covers together with wire is twofold it would take too long to unfasten the book, and the fastening could not be made so solid and firm. As to keeping the books in order on the shelf, some one will have to keep a con- stant eye on them. ZINC GUIDES. C: A. CUTTER, explaining an improvement in his zinc guides for card catalogs. I found that, although the platinic chloride lettering retains its blackness, the zinc gets darker and darker, so that the writing is hard to read. I have therefore had some of these enameled of a light buff color by a tinman. We write upon them with black paint and find the names much more distinct than before. G. M. JONES briefly described the bibliographi- cal cards with the public library shelf marks placed, at his suggestion, on specimens in the Academy of Science at Salem, Mass. (See Li- brary journal, 16: 307.) Hon. ANDREW S. DRAPER, Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of New York, telegraphed : " Have delayed answering your letter in hopes of attending your meeting. Now I find it impossible. I can only assure you that my belief that the library may, and must be made more of a factor in the common educational work of the country, strengthens continually. I shall always be glad to cooperate with others to that end." Adjourned at 10 P. M. FIFTH SESSION. (THURSDAY, 9.30 A. M.) THORVALD SOLBERG read his report on LIBRARY LEGISLATION. (See p. 30.} WESTON FLINT made report on LIBRARY WORK OF THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION. (See p. 64.) Sec. DEWEY. There were two matters of pri- mary importance brought to our attention by Col. Flint. One relates to the pedagogic library they are building up. I think an appropriation should be made to enable them to employ the best bibli- ographer in the country, and thus make the Bureau a place we could all go to as headquarters for all educational literature. They have a mag- nificent collection of works on this subject. We should have the best educational library in the world at our national educational library; we should all feel it a .decided gain to have a headquarters of that kind for bibliographical work in that line. We are trying to make as good a second-best educational library as we can in New York, where our State library is now made a part of the University. The other point is the publication of our best material by the Bureau. If it is possible to do that, it will popularize our movement. We have not money enough to put this information in the hands of i-io of i per cent of the people who would read it, if we could reach them. Our wild- est hopes have been to get the attendance of 1,000 persons. I believe that for some years past there are more than 100,000 people, who would be glad to read a great deal of our proceedings, if they could get them. I hope, before we go away from this meeting, that some arrangement will be made, by which we can meet this want. It will do more than anything else for the Association. We should double our membership every year, for the men who read our reports will be prepared to ac- cept our invitation to join the Association. H: J. CARR. I wish to reinforce, if possible, PROCEEDINGS, FIFTH SESSION, what Sec. Dewey has said, and to urge that some steps be taken to relieve us from the printing that absorbs our limited revenues. If we increase our dues, we frighten out many of the small libraries. Carrying out these suggestions would not only in- crease our educational influence, but would also leave this Association in better shape to continue with the same fee we now have. W: I. FLETCHER. Two or three years ago, the Bureau of Education expressed a willingness to pub- lish suitable matter that might be suggested by this Association, but we learned that the state of the government printing-office was such that we might have to wait two or three years after the matter was ready, before it could be published. Is there a less congested state of the printing-office now? WESTON FLINT. That is a pretty large ques- tion. To answer it implies ability to manage Con- gress. We have tried to but cannot. We keep a good deal of matter way ahead. If you have no- ticed the Congressional record for the last three months, you will wonder we have got anything printed at all. Sec. DEWEY. What is your judgment as to the chances of getting the proceedings of this meeting out? WESTON FLINT. I sometimes think the Bureau would get them out as quickly as the Library Association does. We publish the reports of the department of superintendents of the National Educational Association only about six months behind time. The superintendents meet in the spring, and receive their proceedings in the sum- mer or early fall. Sec. DEWEY. The question is whether any advantages would accrue if we could have the pro- ceedings printed even a year late. We could go on with a summary for immediate use, till they brought out the full edition. T. SOLBERG. I think the Bureau favors the idea of issuing its report in sections, instead of waiting for a full volume. If that should be car- ried out, there would be no reason for great delay in printing our reports. Pres. CRUNDEN. It is very clear we must find some way of relieving ourselves of this great bur- den of expense, and of more effectively distribut- ing our publications. This is one way. Another suggested by Mr. Glenn is to collect a fund by private subscription. Miss C. M. HEWINS being absent, Pres. Crun- den read by title her REPORT ON GIFTS AND BEQUESTS. (See p. fj.) Miss H. E. GREEN read her paper on LIBRARY EXPERTS. (Seep, jj.) Pres. CRUNDEN. It is such papers as this that we want widely distributed throughout the country. I wish the Bureau of Education would send that out in pamphlet form by the hundred thousand. If the author could be duplicated in that number, that would be better still. Sec. DEWEY. Miss Green is one of the faculty of the Library School, and it is one of our aims to duplicate the author in her pupils, whom she teaches, not only by precept, but by example. From the beginning of the school we have emphasized these points, that our young graduates (and much less our pupils) have no more right to go out and pose as library experts than the student who has just entered a medical college has a right to call himself a medical expert. But sometimes it is not entirely the pupil's fault. People come to us and say, " We have one of your trained experts in our town." When we inquire we find that the expert had been in our school perhaps one or two weeks as a visitor or on probation. Then again some- times the local paper comes out with a notice that the new librarian has received a thorough train- ing as an expert, with no authority beyond hear- ing that she has been at the Library School. Any of our pupils that apply to you for positions should show you our certificate of just exactly what they have done, and you can give it what weight it deserves. It is impossible for us, as it is of any school, to compel our pupils to go out and give a just estimate of their own value. We now issue pass cards, certificates, and diplomas, which are explicit and may be relied on. They do not say that the holder is an expert, or will suc- ceed as an apprentice, but they do say all we can safely say that he has successfully completed cer- tain studies and work, under careful supervision. But, as Miss Green has said, it has oftener hap- pened that they have not given themselves enough credit for what they are able to do. O. L. Whitelaw read a paper by J. C. LEAR- NED on LIBRARY WORK FROM THE TRUSTEES' STANDPOINT. (See p. 23.) C: C. SOULE read his paper on TRUSTEES. (Seep. 19.) FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. S: S. GREEN read his paper on TRUSTEES OF FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. (Seep. 24.) Pres. CRUNDEN. I regret that this morn- ing's session has been broken into by this excur- sion up Mt. Washington. It seems to me after coming several hundred miles to get together for business, we ought to put off the climbing of mountains till some other time. I hope all who intend to take this excursion will take it to-day and not forget to-morrow's session. REPORT OF THE PUBLISHING SECTION. W: I. FLETCHER. It is desirable for the in- terests of the publishing section that this report should be presented to the whole body. The meeting of the section will occur this afternoon. I hope those officers not compelled by arrangements to go upon a picnic will be present. Report read, received, and filed. Adjourned at 11.50 A. M. SIXTH SESSION. (THURSDAY, 2 p. M.) MEETING OF THE A. L. A. PUBLISHING SECTION (See p. 139.) and MEETING OF NEW YORK LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. Reported after the Trustees' Section. SEVENTH SESSION. (THURSDAY EVENING, 8.05 p. M.) PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. S: S. GREEN. At a meeting of the S. L. A. a gentleman offered his services as a special com- mittee in the matter of securing a proper distribu- tion of public documents. That gentleman was Mr. Hovey, of Brookline. If he undertakes this work, it is very important that librarians in dif- ferent parts of the country should help him in getting the desired legislation. If one is asked, for instance, to write a letter to the congressmen of the State in which he lives, he should do it. If I understand Mr. Hovey aright, he would have a simultaneous movement of this kind all over the country. Then he would appear himself in Wash- ington, and urge the passage of such legislation as we desire. I move that we ask Mr. Hovey to act as special committee for the general association in securing such legislation as is necessary. Voted. E. C. HOVEY. Mr. Green has voiced my senti- ments on the matter. I think that action should come from the States simultaneously, and, coming so to the different members of Congress and the different senators, will be effective. I think that law will be passed before another year. S: S. GREEN was called on by the President to answer the question, What is THE RELATION OF THE LIBRARIAN TO THE BOOK COMMITTEE ? He said: That of hearty cooperation, when things are as they should be. Subordination, if insisted on by the committee, must be cheerfully acknowledged by the librarian, but, hand in hand with the assertion of authority, should be manifested a marked courtesy. A librarian cannot effect his purposes by force. He must seek to accomplish them by tact, and by aiming to secure, by meriting, the confidence of the committee. A librarian must avoid carefully the appearance of trying to manage the book committee, and must see to it that neither open nor concealed hostility grows up between him and his superior officers. It seems to me that it helps greatly, in preserv- ing good feeling, to send out to every member of a book committee lists of books which the librarian proposes for purchase, a few days before the time of the meeting of the committee. Thus every member has the opportunity of considering recom- mendations deliberately. Perhaps no member will study the lists, pos- sibly no one will* read them. Still, by pursuing such a course, a librarian is relieved from all suspicion of trying by underhanded means to smuggle into the library books that some member of the book committee might be unwilling to have there. It seems to me well, after the book committee has determined what books to buy, to send a list of them to members of the board of trustees, not on the book committee, if the full board has to act before books can be bought. If a book committee allows a librarian to hold the reins, the librarian should be careful to ease the harness if it galls anywhere. When an earnest member of a committee objects to buying a book, or a certain class of books, bear in mind the fact that he has a right to do so, and that, very likely, he represents a large number of similarly thinking citizens. Sometimes, when it is of little importance whether a book should be bought or not, it is best to withdraw the recommendation of purchase. It is never best to urge it unless you can give weighty reasons for carrying it out. Even if you can do that, it is frequently best to advise delay for consideration. A conscientious committee- PROCEEDINGS, SEVENTH SESSION. 117 man will, if time is given him, often come to the conclusion that after all the librarian, having, as he has, superior opportunities for judging what books are needed in the library, has probably made a wise selection. Whether he comes to such a con- clusion or not, the delay has been serviceable. When a librarian has reason to believe that the proposition to buy a book will appear at first sight objectionable to a committee-man, let him state his reasons for the purchase to the gentleman beforehand, and in private, so that he may have time to think over the matter, and not be guided hastily by a first thought when the meeting of the committee takes place. Sometimes it is best to see more than one mem- ber of a committee in private before a meeting, so that the friends of a purchase may be prepared to defend the proposition to buy. It is evident that members of a committee should not be allowed to commit themselves to a certain line of action publicly, until their minds are made up, as it is hard to retract statements publicly made. A chronic objector may often be won over to a wise course by preparatory consultation. If a member of a committee is narrow, or other- wise objectionable, when the other members are men of knowledge and experience in affairs, they will generally vote him down quietly. Generally, too, members of a committee, in case of a difference of opinion between the librarian and one or more of its members, will be found ready to lay the matter before the full board of trustees, if the librarian desires them to pur- sue such a course. It is often useful to get a matter under discussion before the full board. Some member of the full board is commonly ready to introduce the matter, if the committee is very wicked, and will not be courteous to the librarian, if, as would rarely be the case, the libra- rian thought it wise to put himself in the position of opposition to an influential committee. Librarians should remember that members of committees are human, and that, becoming con- scious that the librarian is making all the selec- tions of books, and being a little worried by the discovery, they sometimes make one or two trivial criticisms with the idea of maintaining the dignity of their positions. Do not be too hard upon your fellow-men nor insist upon having every thing precisely right, according to your notions of what is right. Be content to have things about right. Remember, too, that members of a book com- mittee have common sense as well as the librarian, and that they may sometimes realize better than he what action a community will sustain, and what it will refuse to countenance. It will generally be found that in the long run book committees will leave more and more of the work of selection of books in the hands of libra- rians. Committees and trustees should allow librarians to buy books between meetings unless the govern- ing bodies are ready to decide regarding purchases every day or two. Librarians should always be patient and remem- ber that objectionable men who are on committees will go out of office in the course of time ; while librarians, in well-regulated libraries, have the privilege of remaining in office until death re- moves them to a more congenial sphere, and they are called upon to occupy the rocking-chairs pro- vided in the mansions beyond for faithful, tired members of our profession. In dealing with some book committees no course will answer but the exercise of the most delicate tact or profound management. The li- brarian must in some cases meet politics with politics and be himself a politician. A friend of mine told me recently of an occur- rence in a large city which shall be nameless. An eating-house keeper, we will say, who was also trustee of a library wished to have some French books bought. A German liquor seller thought that there was no money to spend for French books, but desired some German books. The librarian desired both kinds of books, but not being, in himself, quite equal to the occasion, sent for a prominent citizen who had considerable influence with Germans to come and help him. He came and after a little conversation convinced both parties that it was best to do what the li- brarian desired, and buy both French and German books. ENDOWMENT. J: M. GLENN. The Association should be in possession of the published proceedings, just as they are, whether short or long, and have as many copies as they please, independent of the Li- brary journal, so they can distribute them freely. This can be done in two ways. One way is by raising a fund of $5,000 or $ 10,000 by small sub- scriptions; the other by getting a large gift from Mr. Carnegie, or some other wealthy friend of li- braries. I have no doubt that, with a little trouble, we can establish a fund to be used for the publica- tion of these proceedings. I offer two resolutions to this effect. u8 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. Resolutions referred to Committee on Resolu- tions to report Friday morning. Pres. CRUNDEN. We are much honored in hav- ing with us to-night a man who occupies a position which, if properly recognized, would be second to none ; a man whose reputation is not confined to this country, but who, years ago, was known by thinking people throughout Europe ; and who has given the results of his great experience and ripe judgment to this important cause, the education of the people. I take great pleasure in introduc- ing Dr. William T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education. W: T. HARRIS read his address on THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL. (Seep. 27.) Pres. CRUNDEN. This has removed any linger- ing doubts as to the high calling in which we are engaged. We had most of these doubts dissi- pated by Senator Patterson the other night. All are removed now. Dr. Harris alluded in his ad- dress to the seminary method as one of the best of modern methods of teaching. We have with us one of the most distinguished exponents of that system in America. I have the pleasure to intro- duce to you one who has always been with us in spirit and often in person, Dr. Herbert B. Adams, Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. ADAMS spoke for fifty minutes on UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. But at his request, no report was made, as he is about to publish the matter in full, in a Bureau of Education Circular of Information. The thanks of the Association were ordered by a rising vote to the two distinguished speakers of the evening. Pres. CRUNDEN. One of the gentlemen to whom Dr. Adams alluded as a co-worker, is with us to-night. We would like to hear a few remarks on this subject from Prof. Jameson, of Brown University. J: F. JAMESON. I have shared the profound interest and enjoyment with which it is evident the conference has listened to the paper of Dr. Adams. I can cordially reinforce what he has stated in respect to several points. Lectures of the heterogeneous sort accomplish very little in com- parison with those pursued upon some settled plan. I especially agree with what he said of the ne- cessity of avoiding the appearance of handing down something to those to whom the lectures are given. The average American knows a great deal more than at first sight appears. He does not need to be patronized, to be talked down to, be- cause he has already a good basis of information. He ought not in justice to be underestimated. I have been greatly interested, aside from these practical questions, in the aspect of the movement as a sign of the times. In the middle ages there was no barrier between the students of England and the country people. Education was profoundly democratic. The reformation and the national movement came at the end of the I5th century, and education began to be an aristocratic thing. Higher education especially came to be the pos- session of the favored few. Now following the movement towards political democracy has come this movement towards democracy in education, and one of its fruits is university extension. One of the last aristocracies of the world is the aris- tocracy of education. It is being broken down by such movements as these of which Prof. Adams has spoken. I should like to say one word as a teacher of history to the librarians here assembled, whom I have never had the pleasure of meeting in this way before. I was asked this evening by a friend what could be done to arouse a certain educa- tional institution from what seemed like a tend- ency to provincialism. I said to him, make the professors come to these meetings and meetings like these. I have realized more fully than ever before the many points of contact there are be- tween the work of the professor of history and the work of the librarian. Also as an historical student I would add that any man in America who has occupied himself at all with studies in history, has found himself more profoundly in- debted to librarians than to any other class of men. Adjourned 10.05 P. M. EIGHTH SESSION. (FRIDAY, 9.45 A. M.) W: E. FOSTER read the following report of the FINANCE COMMITTEE. The Finance Committee, to whom was referred the annual report of the Treasurer for auditing, would report as follows : They have examined ,the report, with the accompanying vouchers and bankbooks, and find the entries to be as therein shown, and the footings and balances accurately drawn. They wish in this connection to draw the atten- PROCEEDINGS, EIGHTH SESSION. 119 tion of the Association to the gradually increasing amount of the regular items of expense from year to year. They find, on consultation with the Treasurer, that even with the prospective pay- ments from membership fees, the available funds in his hands are not likely to exceed $550, while the prospective expense from three main items alone ; namely, preliminary expenses, proceedings, and stenographer, is likely to exceed $750. They would therefore earnestly suggest the adoption of one of the two propositions for relieving the Association from the heaviest of these items the proceedings that referred to in Mr. Flint's remarks, publication by the Bureau of Edu- cation, or that referred to in Mr. Glenn's resolution, the raising of a special fund. Other- wise it will undoubtedly be necessary to withdraw the special deposit of $400, made in 1889. WILLIAM E. FOSTER. CHARLES C. SOULE. Report was accepted and placed on file. To provide for an emergency, which it was hoped would not occur, the Finance Committee offered the following : Resolved, That the Treasurer be hereby author- ized, in the event of a lack of funds from other sources, after consultation with the Finance Com- mittee, to withdraw from the Grand Rapids Savings Bank the special time deposit of #400 made in 1889, or any part of the same. S: S. GREEN. I hope that special deposit will not be disturbed until the plan for the permanent fund can be matured. We can make up any deficit by subscription. I think the Finance Committee could easily collect $400 or $500 by sending a circular to the members and friends of the Association. E: C. HOVEY. I hope sincerely that nothing will be done giving authority to any one to with- draw that deposit. I look upon a deposit of that kind as sacred ; not to be used for any yearly expense. It seems to me that this subject is germane to the resolution which I understand is coming up later as a report from the Committee on Resolutions. I move the resolution coming from the Committee on Finance be allowed to lie on the table, without prejudice, until the Com- mittee on Resolutions reports. Carried. B: P. MANN moved the following : Resolved, That unless provision be made for printing the papers, papers read at the meeting be not printed in the proceedings, but only ab- stracts be printed, together with the discussions. Referred to Committee on Resolutions. W: C. LANE read a report of the meeting of the publishing section, Thursday, p. M. C: A. NELSON moved that the publishing sec- tion be requested to publish the essay part of the index as outlined in Mr. Fletcher's report, as soon as possible. B: P. MANN moved to amend, by inserting the words " whatever material is now on hand." Lost. Mr. Nelson's motion carried. SUNDAY OPENING. Pres. CRUNDEN. I am requested to call for new experience regarding Sunday opening. W: E. FOSTER. On the nth of May the Prov- idence Public Library opened for the first time on Sunday, from 2 to 9. So far the use on Sunday is an assured success. Though there was the usual dropping off towards the middle of the summer, with the coming fall months we expect to see the attendance very largely increased. It has already been gratifyingly large. One feature is represent- ative in its character. A gentleman told me he wished me to know how much service it had been to men engaged as artisans who were anxious to avail themselves of the collections connected with the library, but who had been unable to do so during the week, either in the day or evening. Find- ing the opportunity looked for in the opening of the library on Sunday, they had improved it with great regularity. It is precisely such cases as these which give us the greatest gratification for opening. It was the question of additional ex- pense which caused us to hesitate. The library would have been opened on Sunday in the begin- ning but for that. The Sunday service involves one additional employe ; but, in connection with what is known as the special Sunday service, the other attendants are taken in rotation. C: C. SOULE. I should like to ask Mr. Foster whether he and his assistants have given personal observation to the character of the reading on Sundays ; whether the people that come there come simply as to a place of recreation to look at illustrated papers, or whether they come for im- proving reading, that is, reading which those inclined to a strict observation of the Sabbath would call proper reading for the day. W: E. FOSTER. It is largely made up of the latter class. S: S. GREEN. I can give emphatic testimony in answer to Mr. Soule. All the books in our library are available as well as all the magazines and newspapers. The people who want amuse- ment go to Lake Quinsigamond and to Elm Park. The number of illustrated papers or serials called for is simply insignificant. 120 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. Mrs. M. A. SANDERS. Last year I said that our trustees opposed Sunday opening, but in April we fell into the line of progress. The results show that it ought to have been done long ago. The Sunday we opened there was an attendance of 150. The least we had on the warmest day in summer was 56. Now the attendance is beginning to increase again. I have no doubt our rooms will be full during the winter. As to the character of the reading, some come to look for pictures, some come to read, and all can have any book they please by asking for it. F: H. HEDGE. Our readers at Lawrence chose the lighter class of literature. A. W. WHELPLEY. At Cincinnati we have all kinds. W: J. HILLS, of Bridgeport, Conn., reported the same experience as Mr. Green. MELLEN CHAMBERLAIN. Sunday opening I regard as a success. Some years ago our trustees requested an expression of public opinion on the question of opening the library on Sunday after- noon and evening. Public notice was given that this measure would be considered. There was no attendance whatever, except on the part of the trustees. I think that a similar attempt to get an expression of opinion was twice made, and the result in both cases was the same. So the trustees did not open the library on the Sabbath, being satisfied that there was not such a general demand on the part of the public as would justify the increased expense. Within the last year or two, without waiting for any general demand, they opened in the evening, and also in the afternoon. The experiment on the whole was successful. A number of people repair to the library ; go there on Sundays and on week days because the rooms are well lighted and well warmed. There are con- venient chairs in which they can repose. We have always been troubled with those vulgarly called " bummers." They are a distress to us and to those who are called upon to associate with them. Notwithstanding, the library is a suc- cess. It has done and is still doing good work. Now the same may be said with regard to the extension of its privileges on Sunday afternoon and evening. There are indications that about the same percentage of the class to whom I have referred repair to Bates Hall for the pur- poses I have mentioned. But we have enough of true, genuine people, boys and girls, who avail themselves of the privilege otherwise denied them to consult literature, both standard and periodical. I see no reason why the trustees and the public who support the library should not be well satis- fied, and congratulate themselves on the effect of this step forward. I wish to speak of the matter precisely as it is. There are those who take enthusiastic views with regard to the eagerness of the public to avail themselves of such opportuni- ties. We have no indication of that, but an exhi- bition of a desire on the part of a number that is steadily increasing to inform themselves about matters. O. L. WHITELAW. Is there any library repre- sented here that opens on regular holidays ? Some pressure has been brought to bear to have our library open every day in the year. On show of hands, 16; 12 being open every day in the year. C: A. NELSON. We are open every day except Mardi Gras. Our Sunday opening has not added to our expenses. Miss E. M. COE. We are open every day ex- cept 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. This applies to our circulating as well as to the reference department. How many libraries have their circulating departments open every day ? Five answered in the affirmative. W: C. LANE. The Publishing Section has for sale, at $20, nine sets of Cushing's Anonyms. Sec. DEWEY. In this work the Publishing Sec- tion invested $100, and for that $100 we shall get back $200 quickly. In many cases that come up the Executive Committee can carry a good thing over the dead line by such aid as this, which is not always a loss. In this first experiment we shall clearly double our money. We need a small work- ing capital for such uses. UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. I should not have time to say what I want to say on university extension if we stayed here for a solid week. I simply want to make a point in three or four sentences. I earnestly ask the attention of the librarians to that point. Prof. Adams presented last night some facts about this great movement of university extension, but I doubt if many of you have looked deeply enough to recognize what it really means. This idea is endorsed by others who have looked into it with considerable care. The world's notion of education was originally a very limited, elementary education, confined to the aristocratic few, a very few indeed. It was for the rich, not for the poor ; for man, not for woman ; for white, not for black ; for native, not for Chinese or In. dian. It was the least possible education to the smallest possible number. Then the idea grew PROCEEDINGS, EIGHTH SESSION. 121 that education ought to be universal, and it spread through the civilized world till the belief became general that elementary education should be uni- versal. Then higher education, a thing for the aristocratic few, began to go through the same stages ; it was for man, not woman ; for rich, not poor ; for white, not black. This idea took the same course as the former one. Instead of sim- ple elementary education, we have higher educa- tion, and the theory is now dominant to make higher education for woman the same as man. Look, for instance, at Vassar, Wellesley, Smith and Bryn Mawr, and at our Association of Colle- giate Alumnae, representing almost a score of high grade colleges for women, or open to women on equal terms. This summer the girls have led at Cambridge at home, and at Cambridge abroad, where a girl, Miss Phillipa Fawcett, ranked the senior wrangler, the highest honor in England. It is not only in the colleges, but all over the country, that women are doing wonderful work. We are just on the eve of another great broad- ening. The old belief was that education was for the young; that it was to be given wholly in schools from kindergarten to college. Now it is in the air, not only in this country but abroad, that there is one step more to be taken ; that education is not simply for the early years of life, and not simply to be carried on in schools, but that it must be carried on by other institutions and through life. This last broadening means that the library is the necessary complement of the school. The library is the natural centre for this work. The point I want to lodge in your minds is this : This subject of university extension is to us specially interesting, because it is around the library's work that it must revolve. If education is to go on through life, it must be done by insti- tutions outside of the school. In recognition of this, the library claims a place among the colleges and universities. It is an idea which the State now recognizes. After all most of our education comes through what we get from the printed page. The library is the college, not only for the poor but for the rich ; not only for those who leave the common school but for those who leave the university. We have in our State, and you have in all your States, hundreds of men, graduates of colleges, teaching school, engaged in business, and in professions, who want encouragement and stimulus. Besides the library I believe the museum is to take an important place. I do not dare enlarge on that ; it would take too much time. The lecture system, as Dr. Adams pointed out, is changing from the old notion of popular enter- tainment, which was most fragmentary. It was as if you went to college to-day and had one subject, and to-morrow you had quite another. In the course of a year or two, you had the old subjects again. We still have the lecture, but organized systematically and producing good results. The people's university means this that every city and town of any size will in the future, and not so very far ahead, have its schools for its young and its people's college for the rest of the community, both young and old. A people's col- lege means the library as a central factor. This idea is gaining ground very rapidly, and we are beginning to get that broader view of our mission. I expect that you will read carefully the volume on university extension which Prof. Adams is going to bring out for the Bureau of Education. I am glad that he discussed it in that judicial spirit. Had he given only the rose-colored view, some would go home from here, and make the experiment; and when it did not succeed, it would be like a bucket of cold water. If we face the fact that we succeed after making mistakes, we shall be safer. University extension is our peculiar province. We must recognize our duty, and do this work. I hope Dr. Adams will add his own opinion as to whether this is not the true view, and whether the library is not the most natu- ral local centre all through the country for these influences emanating from our best universities. H: B. ADAMS. What I said last evening was in the direction of a description of the move- ment of university extension rather than its relation to libraries. I spoke of that three years ago, and the practical fruit of that discussion has been seen in the work of Mr. Crunden at St. Louis and Mr. Larned at Buffalo. It is part of a great democratic movement be- longing to the i pth century; it is organized effort on the part of university men to raise, uplift the masses, to carry out from academic cloisters the fruits of the higher learning. Now I want to bear a little more upon the practical point as to what librarians can do in the promo- tion of this great movement in America. Very little has been done. What I described last night was tinged with some degree of failure; it was in the line of initial experiments, and only partly successful. What remains to be done is organ- ized systematic work in connection with existing institutions. Librarians cannot work alone. You cannot institute university extension in your libra- 122 FAS VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. ries without the cooperation of the highest forces in the community. There must be cordial and sympathetic alliance with the college, with the university, with the mechanics' institute, the labor union, the literary club, all the forces of the country, town, or city, that make for the elevation of the people. I hope when these librarians go home to their own towns and cities, they will study the situation, and attempt to work in line, not individually, but in cooperation with the best forces of their communities. Discuss the matter with the school teacher, the local clergyman, the trustees of the library, the mayor, or selectmen, or public men of influence, and try to organize a student association, an educational society, at the head of which there shall be some prominent man who will command the respect of all sects. In its unsectarian character the library commands the respect and confidence of the Roman Catholic, of the Jew, and of all Protestant sects. It is better fitted to give us an educational clearing-house than any institution in the country. The work of organizing and preparing this course can best be done by the friends of the library. My second point is this. In those communities where there is prospect of a new library building, the librarians and the trustees of libraries ought to see to it that there is some provision made for the classroom. Mr. Dewey said that the public library is the people's college. If it is the people's college, it must become the people's class- room. It must not depend upon the college or town hall. It must have its own, and you should be very careful to have it of a size adapted to the classes. No class of twenty-five or fifty will fill a big audience room seating 1,000 to 1,500 people. I am authorized to say that the great Newberry library in Chicago, in its plans of the new building, has provided for classrooms of moderate size, seating an audience such as university extension lectures can command. As you know, there are already libraries in this country, as in Buffalo, where classrooms exist. In the future, such pro- vision should be always made. Again, librarians can render a very important service in classifying library materials for specific purposes. They can make their library focus upon such questions as those raised by Henry George, or the Socialists. If a man like John Fiske comes to lecture on American history, books should be grouped, lists posted in the library, printed in the newspapers. Thus Mr. Crunden, of St. Louis, cooperated with the lect- ure course of Dr. Bemis. There are certain great forces in every town and city that by cooperation can make for what they call university extension. Those foremost are the library and school system. You all know how these cooperate. Second is the church, the church guild, the church club, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Young Women's Chris- tian Association. That is the religious group. Then in certain towns there is a college or univer- sity, the culmination of the educational system. In most towns there are also institutes of one sort or another, like the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. There are mechanics' institutes in the manufact- uring towns, and labor unions. These are the units for composition. If the libraries work upon these units, they can stimulate them. These forces are all in sight. They are not to be sought for ; they are here, and only need to be properly utilized. And they are advancing more clearly into view, just as these mountains around you take shape with the rising of the mist. One point more in closing. Mr. Dewey said I was to prepare a report for the Bureau of Educa- tion on this subject of university extension. There is very little to report, except on the English side. I want to have something to report on the American side. I hope before another year is passed that there will be a great many of these assemblies in American cities. I wish to ask this favor of American librarians : Kindly send me at Baltimore whatever accounts may appear in the newspapers, in the reports of libra- ries or of local societies, that may come to your attention. I shall endeavor to utilize all such material in the construction of this government report. You all know that something concrete, something with flesh and blood, influences the public mind a great deal more than philosophical theory. The fact that this thing has been done in Buffalo and other towns of America will have more weight with the community than any recom- mendation by a theorist. An ounce of fact is worth more than a pound of theory. WORLD'S FAIR LIBRARY EXHIBIT. F. P. HILL presented the following suggestions in regard to A. L. A. exhibit at the World's Fair, in order to bring out discussion and the views of different members of the Association. 1. That the A. L. A. should be represented at the World's Fair, and represented in such a way as to reflect credit upon the Association. 2. That this matter should be taken up by the Association and not left to the individual libraries to attend to. PROCEEDINGS, EIGHTH SESSION. 123 3. That a committee be appointed at this meet- ing to perfect plans and present them at the next meeting. 4. That a competent person be placed in charge of the exhibit whose duty should be to answer all questions and explain such systems of classifica- tion as may be represented. 5. That the exhibit be a comparative and ex- haustive one. 6. That a model library, showing modern meth- ods of classifying and cataloging books, be ar- ranged in one of the rooms of the building. 7. That the matter be placed in the hands of such a person as Miss Cutler, of the Library School. The lively interest of teachers and pupils would result in giving us the very best plans. 8. That each library be represented by plans, methods, blanks etc., but that it should be through the Association, sent to this committee and ar- ranged in a systematic manner. 9. That at the proper time, say next year, a com- mittee, consisting of members of the A. L. A. in and near the city of Chicago, be appointed to see that a good position is assigned, and attend to such other matters as would naturally come before such a local committee. On motion of W: I. FLETCHER, seconded by C: A. Nelson, the first suggestion was adopted as the sense of the meeting. On motion of Sec. DEWEY, the remaining sug- gestions were referred to a special committee of five. The chair subsequently appointed F: P. Hill, Weston Flint, 'Miss M: S. Cutler, C: A. Nelson, C: R. Dudley. B: P. MANN presented a resolution in regard to an index to technological literature in preparation by the Patent Office. Referred to Committee on Resolutions. ENDOWMENT. W: I. FLETCHER offered from the Committee on Resolutions the following: Resolved, That there be added to the Standing Committee a Committee on Publication, to consist of three members. Resolved, That the Committee on Publication be requested to consider, and authorized to carry out a plan by which a permanent fund may be provided, the income of which shall be devoted to the publication of the proceedings of the A. L. A. and of other publications issued under the aus- pices of the "A. L. A. Resolutions were adopted. E. C. HOVEY. What are the prospects of a report from this committee on that subject ? Pres. CRUNDEN. They will have to report through the Library journal, for there will not be another meeting of the Association till next year. E. C. HOVEY. It seems to me that what we want now is to take some action for the raising of money. If it go to a committee to be considered this will take some time, and will not be effective in procuring immediate funds. We, coming from the different States, should make it our business to collect this money. We need not join in any compact or offer resolutions. Let us make up our minds to have it paid in before a certain time. There are two ways to raise money one is to re- solve to raise it, and that is not very successful ; the other way is to raise it. I move we raise this money before the first of January, and not be con- tent with any sum less than $10,000. It must be understood that the money is for a permanent fund, only the income of which is to be used. I will pledge the State of Massachusetts to send to the Treasurer of this Association $500 on or before January i. J: M. GLENN. I think if this is left in this way, that many of us will not act. If we have an active committee, of which Mr. Hovey will be one, they may get the money by the ith instant. There will be no trouble in raising that money before the ist of January, but I think the best way to do it is to have an active committee of busi- ness men. E. C. HOVEY. I don't antagonize that resolution. You can pass it and as many as you please. In my opinion that is not the way to accomplish the object. I don't wish nor do I intend to be on the committee for raising money. Furthermore, if I have in my possession on the 3ist day of Decem- ber $500 for this purpose, and if by that time the rest of that fund shall not have been secured from other sources, the A. L. A. does not get a cent of that money. I intend to collect this money indi- vidually ; going to my friends and telling them of the object. If the members of the A. L. A. don't show enough enthusiasm in other States to raise money, they can't have mine. Perhaps I shall turn it into the publishing section. But money is not to be raised by me and paid into the Associa- tion unless other States do the same thing. Here I am a new member, a novice, yet I see the abso- lute need of money. It is all very well to appoint a committee and give them a resolution, but when will they come in and make their report? And when they do, I can hear even now the president say, " The report has been received and will be placed on file." Sec. DEWEY. I have started a list with Massa- 124 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. chusetts, $500. If a man is in earnest, he will undertake to raise a certain sum in his State, though it be only $100. Such pledges are made on the condition of $10,000 being raised. E. C. HOVEY. I will pay the $500 if I have the assurance of the President that the other members are working. C: A. NELSON. If this committee is appointed, every member of this Association can go out and say, I am raising this money by endorsement of the Association. If without this resolution I go to a rich acquaintance and ask for $100, he will say, To whom are you going to pay this money ? W: I. FLETCHER. I suppose an old war horse like me can always be permitted to instruct a nov- ice, as Mr. Hovey calls himself. E. C. HOVEY. Not in raising money ! (Laugh- ter.) W: I. FLETCHER. Perhaps Mr. Hovey does not know that the State of Massachusetts is half of the United States in library matters. Let him look up the evidence in this matter, and see if I am not instructing him correctly. It was the inten- tion that this committee should at this meeting provide some means by which we could be de- livered from this difficulty in publishing our proceedings. An hour's work might enable them to present a financial means afforded by Mr. Hov- ey's suggestion of having it pledged on the spot. Sec. DEWEY. It seems to me the best solution will come in this way: Our constitution provides that the Finance Committee shall have charge of all collections. Now we put on the Publication Committee men to do work that is not in the line of the men who can raise money best. The Finance Committee, carefully guarding expenses, might not be the most enthusiastic, energetic men to push the fund. We have work for the Finance Committee and work for the Publication Com- mittee, and we have a special object at this time, the raising of a working fund. It seems to me we should appoint a special committee, to report this evening or to-morrow morning on a plan for rais- ing the fund. Pres. CRUNDEN. That will involve a recon- sideration of the resolutions. Resolutions reconsidered and ordered to lie upon the table. Sec. DEWEY. I move a special committee to devise a plan for raising an endowment. Voted. Pres. CRUNDEN. I appoint as a committee to devise that plan, and to report as soon as pos- sible, Messrs. Glenn, Hovey, Carver, Sexton, and Whitelaw. On motion of C: A. Nelson, the matters of the increase of dues from $2 to $6 for persons not en- gaged in library work, either as librarians or trus- tees, and of salary for a paid assistant secretary, were referred to the Finance Committee. PLACE OF THE NEXT MEETING. Pres. CRUNDEN. There has been an invitation from a State noted for boundless hospitality, Cali- fornia. The following letter, from Miss Tessa L. Kelso, was read : " As Secretary of the A. L. A., I wish to extend to you, in behalf of our community, as represented by the Board of Directors and Librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library, an invitation to visit our city in 1891, to hold the annual conference of the Association. "Mr. J: V. Cheney, Librarian of the San Francisco Public Library, will be in attendance at the meet- ing this year, and can present the attractions and advantages of our country in a satisfactory manner. " Should you conclude to come to the Pacific Coast and make San Francisco the objective point, it would still afford us an opportunity to entertain you in the southern part of the State, which we would take the greatest pleasure in doing. " I trust this matter may have your serious con- sideration, and regret exceedingly that I cannot be present to discuss it with the members of the Association." J: V. CHENEY. I call for the reading of several other letters relating to this invitation. Letters were read from Miss Ina D. Coolbrith, of the Oakland Public Library, from J. C. Rowell, Librarian of the University of California, from W. F. Poole, of Chicago, and Herbert Putnam, of Minneapolis. EXCURSIONS. Pres. CRUNDEN. If Mr. Cheney will allow me, I wish to make one remark. In addition to this letter from Mr. Putnam, which charges us with making excursions, I received one from a libra- rian, not here, because he did not dare to present again to his trustees this matter of the A. L. A. conferences, as they were so opposed to anything that looked like a pleasure excursion. If they re- quested him to attend, he would be glad to go, as he knew well there was something besides junket- ing in them. With these facts in view, the committee planned a convention which should be a business conven- tion. That is the reason my remarks about ex- PROCEEDINGS, EIGHTH SESSION. 125 cursions have been rather severe, and have, per- haps, shown more feeling than they should. Miss M. I. CRANDALL. I had special instruc- tions from my trustees to go up Mt. Washington. A. W. TYLER. There are very few librarians who have time or money to take long vacations, and a majority do come to these meetings with the intention of making some trip. I attended every session of the Round Island meeting, and did not catch one fish. There are two sides to the ques- tion. As I was faithful there, I speak for the other side here. Pres. CRUNDEN. I will say, as I said last night, that any librarian whose expenses are de- frayed by his library, has no more right to spend time in making excursions than a commercial traveler has to go fishing on his firm's time. PLACE OF NEXT MEETING. J: V. CHENEY. If you can throw your minds back over the chasm which has intervened be- tween this moment and the reading of the letters of invitation, I would add to them such words as I can with this Boston attachment to my voice. I need not explain that you are invited to meet next year on the Pacific Coast. I suppose there may be raised'one objection ; I can conceive of but one, the expense, and I ask you to let that rest for a few minutes until I have finished, when my friend Pickett, of Chicago, will present to you the figures, and utterly banish it from your minds. This invitation is broad and long, Mr. President. It is broader and longer than any that could come from New England; and if as did our learned friend in his address of welcome the other night you choose to consider altitude rather than acre- age, it comes from heights that range so far above these that bid the sunlight smile over the land, that they dwindle to the size of a nine-pin. If I wished to show you that this invitation is from a land of beauty, I should point you to that queen city sitting by the gate of the sea; I should point you farther down the coast to that stray bit of paradise, Monterey ; or I should point you still farther down to Santa Barbara, where lingers yet the old Spanish language, and where it is always afternoon. And as a contrast to this, I should lead you suddenly to the Yosemite, whose invita- tion to you is in a voice far kinder than the thun- der that rattles from crag to crag of the Sierra Nevada; and lastly, I should bring you to that peak, 15,000 feet high, sovereign Shasta, bowing to welcome you as you approach. Now, if you were a selfish body, California could address you on the selfish side. But I utterly waive that. I wish you to put that out of your minds as much as possible. Think first of your duty. You remember the old master who had a mon- arch for a pupil. The monarch was continually pressing him for some word as to his progress. " Well," said the master one day, " there are three kinds of violin players ; the first cannot play at all ; the second can play badly, and the third can play well. I congratulate your majesty on having reached the second stage." That is about our situation on the Pacific Coast with regard to libra- ries ; we are in the second stage. I have crossed the Rocky Mountains, and these letters have fol- lowed in my wake, to ask this body, in the legiti- mate prosecution of its business, in the legitimate doing of its duty, to come to that coast which it has neglected for fifteen years in other words, since it was born and push us on to the third stage. We have money ; we have some books, but we need library buildings. Why, you who sit here in the centres of culture, you who sit here in your old world complacency, know not the need of us who wrestle in the sage brush and track the yellow sands of the prairie. I simply say to you that the presence of this national association on the Pacific Coast would, in my judgment and I think you will agree with me do more good the coming year than would result from its meeting in any other place. There is no place that needs you so much ; no place has been so much neglected. Even if we had material enough, we need the stimulus which it is the particular province of the Association to provide. When it was learned that I was to come on here, the editor of our leading State paper, the oldest of them, paused in the heat of a political con- flict in which he himself was very much interested, to write words which prove that San Francisco will know you when you come, and take care of you while you stay. [Mr. CHENEY read an extract from a San Fran- cisco journal.] Even the invitation I have given you, the in- vitation from the city of San Francisco and the State of California, the invitation from the li- braries, the invitation from San Diego to Siskiyou, from the region of the orange to the region of the pine, from the entire Pacific coast, is to be sup- plemented. I will call upon Mr. Dudley, of Denver, and then upon Mr. Pickett, of Chicago. C: R. DUDLEY. I came here with the idea that, as the Association had never met in a west- ern city, Denver was the place for meeting next year. I was fully prepared to extend in a very 126 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. amiable way an invitation to that effect ; but after talking with Mr. Cheney I have decided that Denver is not the place. Yet I will say this :" In that little frontier town which is sometimes spoken of poetically as the Queen City of the Plains, there are two small libraries, doing pretty well for their size and the light they have had. I think they would be immensely benefited by a stop over of the Library Association, and I supplement what Mr. Cheney has said by inviting you to take in Denver on your trip either going out or coming back, and to allow us to see and entertain you. C: C. PICKETT. The light from Chicago will now give you the cold facts. It has been said in this meeting that we are working towards junk- eting trips. It was precisely because we under- stood that a junketing trip was in preparation, and that there was great danger it might be made, that a number of gentlemen have considered favorably this trip to San Francisco. A scheme had been proposed for an eight weeks' trip to Europe to gratify those librarians and their friends who want an opportunity to go "abwoad." We have routes over the Canadian Pacific and connecting lines which, I think, will convince you that in doing your duty by going to San Francisco, and giving the assistance needed there in building libraries, you will spend no more than the Chicago party have been compelled to pay this year to come to the White Mountains. The proposed itinerary is from Chicago (or from Boston and New York by way of Montreal), by the Canadian Pacific to Vancouver, thence by rail or water to San Francisco, returning by the Denver & Rio Grande to Denver, there to disperse as you please; $ no is the rate. I undertake to fill two sleepers from Chicago. We shall have an oppor- tunity to visit Los Angeles and the coast, to see both North and South California, and to combine a library conference with a profitable vacation trip. Therefore I invite your serious consider- ation of this question. I believe you all will come to the conclusion that San Francisco is the place, and that if you go there the conference will be a success. There you can make a large number of excursions without interfering with your legitimate business, and when you are through you will have helped the libraries of the West, have received a return for your money, and will not have gone on a junketing trip at all. Pres. CRUNDEN. Oratory, poetry, and cold facts all call us west. C: A. NELSON. The West has given an invi- tation ; it is seconded by the central cities, Denver and Chicago ; and, speaking for the sunny South, I would heartily accept it. W: F. POOLE. I move that the invitation from California and the West, to hold our next meeting on the Pacific Coast, be accepted. C: A. CUTTER. I had intended to say some- thing in favor of the motion, as I seconded it, but I shall have to reverse the old saying, and praise those who have said all my good things before me. One point, however, I wish to make. I second the motion precisely because California offers the most facilities for excursions of any part of this country. I have attended every convention held from the beginning of the Library Association, and each session of every convention from opening to end. Therefore I feel justified in saying that I do not come to these meetings simply to transact the business of the Association. I come, of course, to help in transacting it, and also to get ideas, and, if possible, to impart them ; but I also come to join in the little talks on the train, in the lobby, and on the excursions, for these talks give us fully as much benefit as anything that goes on at the regular meetings. I am sorry that any trustees know so little about our assem- blies as to suppose that the junketing interferes in the least with the profit which we get from them. They ought to have read last year's proceedings, and they ought to have talked with a bolder, more persevering, and more experienced librarian, who would tell them what really is done here. I come, too, to learn something of the geography of our country, for this is the only way in which poor librarians are likely to get any practical acquaint- ance with it. And I come to indulge once a year a love of nature. So I second this motion, be- cause I wish to see a mountain with a snow line, as well as one with a tree line. Also, I should like to see Mr. Cheney wrestle in the sage brush. R. A. GUILD. I fully agree with Mr. Cutter. I have attended all the meetings of the Associa- tion, and I have always paid my own expenses. From the beginning it has been our aim to com- bine pleasure and profit. A. W. WHELPLEY. Cincinnati votes heartily for San Francisco. S: S. GREEN. I hope to see this motion pass. W: BEER. It is the custom of the British Association, in selecting a place of meeting, not to fear any diminution of the attendance. The attendance has sometimes -"been enormous, rising into the thousands ; but another year, in going a great distance, the number has fallen exceedingly, but good missionary work has been accomplished. PROCEEDINGS, EIGHTH AND NINTH SESSIONS. 127 That is what we are called to do on the Pacific Coast. We may suffer the loss of some librari- ans, but the work will not be diminished upon fresh ground. WESTON FLINT. I was opposed to this Cali- fornia trip when I came here, but those two weeks of conference we shall have on the cars will be a most interesting and valuable part of the meeting. Motion carried unanimously. Pres. CRUNDEN. Since I have been put in the attitude of defence, I wish to say that I am not a stern Puritan who does not believe in any sort of amusement. My conduct on post-conference excur- sions will compare favorably with that of any one as to the readiness and zest with which I have entered into all the entertainments. But I am not willing to see such an important meeting as yesterday's broken up by an excursion. Our pri- mary business is to attend the meetings, getting all the enjoyment we can between them. TIME OF THE NEXT MEETING. J: V. CHENEY. In San Francisco in July and August the wind blows from the sea, and some- times particles of sand are in the air. Those per- sons who are accustomed to looking at the clear sky might be disappointed. September and Oct- ober are lovely months, so also are the winter months. You would not strike as much rain as we have had here unless it was a very strange season. It rains in the night, and occasionally for two or three days together. So it seems to me it does not make much difference about the weather. If it is a little windy in San Francisco, we can go to Monterey. I would myself say May or June, September or October. C: R. DUDLEY. If you are going through Col- orado, there is no better time to see the Rocky Mountains than September. On motion of WESTON FLINT, the time of the next meeting was referred to the Standing Com- mittee. ENDOWMENT. J: M. GLENN, for the special Committee on Endowment, reported : Resolved, That a permanent standing com- mittee of three be appointed at once, to be called the Endowment Committee, with power to devise and put into execution immediately plans for the raising of an endowment fund only the income of which shall be devoted to the purposes of the A. L. A. That the custody of the Endowment Fund shall be committed to three trustees to be elected at this meeting ; one to hold office for three years, one for two years, and one for one year, and that hereafter one trustee shall be elected at each annual meet- ing of the Association, to hold office for three years. That each trustee, before entering upon the duties of this office, shall qualify therefor by giv- ing a bond in such form, and for such amount and with such sureties as shall be approved by the Executive Committee of the Association. The resolutions were adopted, and the President announced as permanent committee : Pliny T. Sex- ton, J: M. Glenn, and E. C. Hovey. P. T. SEXTON. Mr. Hovey has pledged Massa- chusetts for a contribution of at least $500. I recognize the fact that the fund cannot be made too large, and that a corresponding income can be used advantageously. I will pledge, in behalf of New York State, $1,000. E. C. HOVEY. Massachusetts cannot be out- one by New York. Massachusetts pledges $1,500. Sec. DEWEY. Bibliothecal poker. Let the game go on. P. T. SEXTON. I move we proceed to the election of trustees for this fund. Voted. S: S. GREEN. I move a committee of three be appointed to nominate trustees. Voted. The President appointed R. A. Guild, S: S. Green, and K. A: Linderfelt. B: P. MANN moved a resolution on international copyright. Referred to Committee on Resolutions. Adjourned at 12.30. NINTH SESSION. (FRIDAY, 2.50 p. M.) PATENT OFFICE INDEX. Committee on Resolutions reported the follow- ing, which were unanimously passed : Whereas, it has been stated that the Library of the U. S. Patent Office has in preparation an index to a portion of the literature of technology, Resolved, That, in the opinion of the A. L. A., the speedy publication of such an index would be of very great service to inventors, scientists, and the public generally. Resolved, That the governmental authorities having control of such work be urged to prompt and liberal action in placing the work of the Patent Office within reach of the public. NEXT MEETING. PROGRAM. Sec. DEWEY. What meeting is this ? Our programs do not agree. The Philadelphia and Catskill meetings are sometimes counted and sometimes omitted. Here on my table are three documents giving three different numbers to this meeting. All our meetings should be counted ; and to settle the usage, I move that the next meet- ing of the A. L. A. be considered the I3th. Voted. 128 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. Sec. DEWEY. I move the Secretary be au- thorized to issue a postal size folder, respecting the meeting, three months in advance. Voted. Sec. DEWEY. Our proceedings are printed in two places, separately, and in the Library journal ; the consequent variation of paging causes much annoyance in case of references. I move that hereafter the paging of the Library journal be followed in the proceedings. Voted. Sec. DEWEY. In view of the number of sub- jects to be taken up at our meetings, I move that speakers be limited to five minutes. Voted. Sec. DEWEY. If we could agree here on some matters in regard to our annual programs, it would save much discussion later. I am not at all strenuous except to find out what the majority of the Association wants. I suggest we instruct the standing committee to lay out a program for four days of two sessions a day, thus allowing the odd half day or evening for excursions and social meetings. We have already voted in the Associa- tion of State Librarians to meet two days before the A. L. A., thus getting out of the way, and having ample time for our own work. Another plan would be to make our general Association meeting five days or a full week, and to put in the middle a day or more for excursions or social features. Your standing committee may be entirely unanimous on something that most of the Association will criticise. An expression of preference here will relieve the poor committee from this criticism. Some wish to put all the ses- sions together, and then the junketing at the end. The best results might come from carrying our work through the week, and spending the next Sunday together, and going home Monday. That dodges the difficulty of Sunday travel. This year's program, you have noticed, has made larger pro- vision for questions and discussion. Every year come requests for more opportunity for discussion. I believe heartily in what Mr. Cutter said, that a great deal of good comes from the informal meetings, and piazza and picnic conferences. The criticism which Pres. Crunden quoted about junk- eting came from a man who knows little of our meetings, and jumps at his conclusion. He has attended few of our meetings. This Association justly has the reputation of being one of the very hardest working associations in this country. Let us adopt a policy, and not have the whole thing turned up fresh every year. I propose to offer some resolutions to save these discussions. One is a standing order to issue our programs at least two or three months before the meeting; especially as we are to meet at the latter part of our vaca- tions, and most people wish to decide about com- ing before arranging their summer's outing. The Association ought to maintain its dignity by making a program as good as it can, and stick- ing to it, as we have this year, in spite of request to change it for the most trivial reasons. S: S. GREEN. These questions ought to be de- cided by the Standing Committee. ENDOWMENT TRUSTEES. R. A. GUILD, for the Committee on Nominating Trustees, reported the following, who were elected : For three years, Pliny T. Sexton, of Palmyra, N. Y., Regent of the University of the State of New York. For two years, Norman Williams, of Chicago, 111., President of Trustees of Crerar Library. For one year, E. C. Hovey, of Boston, Mass., Trustee of Brookline Public Library, Mass. ENDOWMENT. E. C. HOVEY. The Permanent Committee on the Endowment Fund and the officers of the Association think it would be well to pledge a part of the fund here and now. New York and Massachusetts have already been heard from, and we wish to know if the scheme has the earnest and practical endorsement of other States repre- sented here by librarians or library trustees. Miss H. P. JAMES. I cannot speak for the State of Pennsylvania, but I can for Wilkesbarre, which will give #100. The same amount was pledged from Chicago by C. C. Pickett, from Cincinnati by A. W. Whelp- ley, from Milwaukee 'by K. A: Linderfelt, from Rhode Island by R. A. Guild, from St. Louis by O. L. Whitelaw, from New Jersey by F. P. Hill, from Detroit by H. M. Utley, from Denver by C: R. Dudley. Individual gifts of the same amount were announced from S: S. Green and G. E. Stechert. Mrs. C. W. Whitney pledged $50 from Kansas City. $25 was pledged from Gloverville, N. Y., by A. L. Peck ; from Lawrence, Mass., by F: H. Hedge; from Topeka, Kan., by W: Beer; from Pawtucket, R. L, by Mrs. M. A. Sanders; from Salem, Mass., by G. M. Jones; from Brookline, Mass., and from Cambridge, Mass., and from the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y. F. C. Patten, H. Kephart, G. W. Cole, W. H. Brett, Miss C. H. Garland, agreed to be responsible for $10 each, and $10 was promised from Staten Island. The Library School pledged $100. PROCEEDINGS, NINTH SESSION. 129 C: C. PICKETT. I will be responsible for another hundred from Chicago. W: F. POOLE. I am sure Chicago will give as much as Massachusetts. Sec. DEWEY. We have raised $4,000, but that is not decimal nor the place to stop. New York will add $500 to her pledge if the rest of the country will bring the total pledged here to $5,000. E. C. HOVEY. Two hundred more from Massa- chusetts. Sec. DEWEY. New York will not consent to be outdone in any good work. We wish to file a standing order with the Subscription Committee to increase the pledge of New York as fast as any other State raises the present limit. K. A: LINDERFELT. Milwaukee doubles her pledge. P. T. SEXTON. I wish to suggest what is obvious to all, that the gentlemen making these pledges expect to do far better. On reflection they will think of friends who will be glad to help in soliciting for the fund, and in contributing toward it. This organization will grow beyond all our expectations, and the need and demand for money will keep pace with its growth. I therefore request, on behalf of the committee, that every one who expects to solicit subscriptions will kindly send his name and address to me [Pliny T. Sexton, Palmyra, N. Y.], and also add the names of those that occur to them, as likely to be interested, so that all can work together for a com- mon purpose. S. F. WHITNEY. I suggest that the committee prepare a statement of the condition in which the pledges place this fund, to present to people interested in our work, and to aid those who solicit further subscriptions. I move that the Standing Committee prepare a circular which will aid in collecting this money. Voted. FINANCES. W: E. FOSTER reported for the Finance Com- mittee: The Finance Committee do not advise against raising the amount of the annual dues, as has been suggested, but would point out the probable increase of expense in the item of the stenographer, already voted, which will require over $100, and for a paid Assistant Secretary, which will require $200, whereas the estimated addition to our funds by the proposed increase of dues will not exceed $100 per annum. It would seem just to provide a paid assistant, since there is so much work of detail; but the present income of the Association will not allow any provision for salaries, if the expense of publishing the proceedings shall be borne by the Association. E. C. HOVEY. We have about 200 members; the aggregate fees from those members will be about $400 ; while the special deposit, as I under- stand from the Finance Committee, is under $400. Would not the members be willing to anticipate that $2 in order to put the Treasurer in funds? W: F. POOLE. Put off action in this matter. The Association has many needs that it cannot supply. The Treasurer needs pay for his work as well as the Secretary. Our present Secretary has been a martyr to the cause for years, but we can- not excuse him until he has trained up others to take his place. Leave out the $200 for the Secre- tary's assistant, and we shall be able to make both ends meet. W: I. FLETCHER moved that the annual dues of members of the Association not connected with library work, either as librarians or as trustees, be raised to $5. After discussion by J: Edmands, S: S. Green, S. F. Whitney, and W: F. Poole, the motion was referred to the Committee on Constitution and By-laws. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. Sec. DEWEY. At the Thousand Islands the plan was adopted of taking an informal ballot for President. This was put in the hands of the Executive Board without announcement. The constitution provides merely for the election of five members who serve as an Executive Board with full power to. act for the Association in all matters. An informal ballot was taken for this board, and then the ten highest were counted as candidates for the formal ballot. Each member simply puts five names on one of these ballot cards. Voted, That an informal ballot for Executive Board be had. Voted, That an informal ballot for president be conducted as heretofore, for the guidance of the Executive Board. B: P.MANN. Who should vote? I was, but am not now connected with a public library. C: C. SOULE. Once a librarian, always a libra- rian. I move that the Committee on Constitution and By-laws be requested to provide that the president, two vice-presidents, the secretary, and the treasurer be elected directly by the Association, and that these five shall constitute the Executive Board, with power to appoint the other officers and standing committees. 130 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. WESTON FLINT. I doubt the wisdom of chang. ing our present plan. Select five men, and trust them. This is the practice of most well-managed societies. On motion of H: M. UTLEY, the matter was referred to a special committee, consisting of C: C- Soule, W: E. Foster, and H: M. Utley. The tel- lers announced the following result of the informal ballot for the Executive Board : F: M. Crunden, C: A. Cutter, W: F: Poole, Melvil Dewey, W: I. Fletcher, K. A: Linderfelt, C: C. Soule, 58 S: S. Green, 54 W: E. Foster, 50 C: A. Nelson, 48 H: J. Carr, 46 C: R. Dudley, 30 A: W. Whelpley, 28 H: M. Utley, 25 20 16 ii 7 Twenty-six others receiving less than five votes each. Voted, That the Secretary cast a single ballot for Messrs. Crunden, Cutter, Poole, Dewey, and Fletcher as members of the Executive Board. REGRETS. Sec. DEWEY announced the receipt of letters of regret from Prof. R. C. Davis, of the University of Michigan ; President S. C. Bartlett, of Dart- mouth ; Mr. W. T. Peoples, of New York; Mr. P. L. Ford, of the Library journal ; Mr. G: W: Curtis, Chancellor of the University of the State of New York; Mr. Anson J. Upson, Vice-Chan- cellor ; Dr. W: H. Watson, Regent of the Univer- sity of the State of New York ; Mr. J. N. Larned, of Buffalo, N. Y. The last mentioned is given below : MY DEAR MR. DEWEY, Circumstances again prevent my attendance upon the Library Conference. . But this counts only two delinquencies in eleven years ; and I assure you that it does not signify any lessening of attachment to the A. L. A., or of interest in its meetings, or appreciation of the teaching which I always get from them. The Buffalo Library will be represented at the meeting by Mr. Ives. Please express to the Association my longings to be with it at Fabyans, and my heartiest wishes for best of good fortune to attend its meeting. Yours faithfully, J. N. LARNED. QUESTIONS. What is the best all-round art magazine ? K. A: LINDERFELT. Magazine of Art. A. N. BROWN. Art Amateur. How often should the card catalog of the library be consulted in deciding the entry of new books ? W. S. BISCOE. That depends on the character of the catalog. We consult ours constantly. How long should new cards accumulate before distributing them in the catalog ? Miss T. H. WEST. Not at all. B: P. MANN. Not less than 100 or 200 cards should be distributed at a time. More frequent distribution involves waste of time. Pres. CRUNDEN. Once a day. Sec. DEWEY. For personal use Mr. Mann's plan may do, as he alone needs them, and recalls his latest cards. For public use cards should go in at least daily, and oftener, if there are many. What is the proper width between stacks ? W. S. BISCOE. Three feet is the common width ; thirty-two inches does well. K. A: LINDERFELT. Thirty-one inches does well in Milwaukee. Miss H. P. JAMES. I have had experience with aisles twenty-one inches in width. It was a trying experience. I would recommend three feet. W: F. POOLE. I regard three feet as necessary. K. A: LINDERFELT. The hight of the stack must be considered ; in some cases thirty inches will be found sufficient. C: A. CUTTER. The alley need not be very wide on the floor if the upper shelves are narrower than the lower, giving room for the elbows and for piles of books carried in the arms. I find thirty inches on the floor, with thirty-eight above the ledge, gives ample room. Adjourned at 4.40 P. M. TENTH SESSION. (SATURDAY, 9.15 A. M.) INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT. The Committee on Resolutions reported the following, which were unanimously adopted : Resolved, That the American Library Associa- tion is deeply impressed with the feeling that the passage of an international copyright law is de- manded in the interests of common justice and national honesty. Resolved, That a member of the American Li- brary Association be elected to represent this Association in the Joint Conference Committee of the American Author's Copyright League, and the American Publisher's Copyright League, with power to vote for the American Library Associa- tion. Resolved, That the Standing Committee be di- rected to secure the earliest possible distribution, by the United States Bureau of Education or otherwise, of printed copies of the papers pre- sented at this meeting on the position and duties of library trustees, and any other papers which may seem to them germane to this subject. PROCEEDINGS, TENTH SESSION. CONSTITUTION. Pres. CRUNDEN. The Committee on the Con- stitution and By-laws will consist of the two named in the resolution, Crunden andDewey, and Messrs. Cutter, Soule, and Lane. C: C. SOULE, of the special committee on the mode of electing president, reported the follow- ing: The committee recommend for adoption this resolution : Resolved, That it is the sense of the Association that the constitution should be so amended as to provide that the president, two vice-presidents, the secretary and treasurer, shall be elected directly by the Association, and that these five shall constitute the Executive Committee, with power to appoint other officers and standing com- mittees. Adopted. WORLD'S FAIR. F. P. HILL, of the temporary committee on the World's Fair, reported as follows : The committee to whom the matter of an A. L A. exhibit at the World's Fair was referred would recommend that a permanent committee of five be appointed to arrange plans for an A. L. A. exhibit at the World's Fair. Said committee to report details at the next conference. The committee also recommend that, in addition to the working committee mentioned above, an advisory committee of five be appointed. The recommendation of the committee was adopted, and the chair appointed the following as a permanent working committee : Miss M. S. Cutler, Miss F. E. Woodworth, Messrs. F. P. Hill, F: H. Hild, and Melvil Dewey. And the following as an advisory committee : Messrs. W: F. Poole, Weston Flint, C: C. Soule, C: A. Nelson, and Miss E. M. Coe. UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. Miss H. P. JAMES read a private letter from Dr. Alexander Hill, master of Downing College, Cambridge, relating to university extension. An extract is printed below : " We have been doing something in trying to persuade people to cultivate their book life. Since its formation, twelve months ago, I have been chairman of the Executive Committee of the 'National Home Reading Union," which already numbers 7,000 members. ... I want to keep it under the influence of the universities, and to insure that in choice of books and arrangement of courses the standard is always a little above the people, being determined by competent specialists. We have had two very successful " summer assemblies," the program this year especially being truly marvelous, and, I am glad to say, appreciated by our audiences who, if they can remember and reflect upon their fortnight's lectures, will have had a working substitute for a liberal education ; for, after all, the virtue of education is not that it leaves a store, but that it develops a habit of acquisition and shapes a taste." Mrs. M. A. SANDERS read her report READING FOR THE YOUNG. (See p. 58.} Pres. CRUNDEN read the following from a letter from Rev. J. C. Learned, of St. Louis, Mo. : " Please make me a member of the Association, and subscribe for the Library journal for me." MEMBERS' EXPENSES PAID. Pres. CRUNDEN. To answer a question asked yesterday, I will request all librarians present whose expenses were paid by their libraries, to rise. Twenty-six rose. How many have their time given them ? Forty-seven rose. S: S. GREEN. My trustees would do both if I asked them. How many came entirely at their own expense ? Thirty-two rose. Miss E. M. COE. I had money, but not time given. S. F. WHITNEY. I wish to express gratitude for the circular letter sent to trustees. On motion of W: I. Fletcher, it was voted to print the paper contributed by Prof. D. P. Todd on LIBRARIES IN SOUTH AFRICA. (Seep. 48.) A. W. TYLER. South Africa has over thirty American librarians. W: I. FLETCHER. These libraries, however, are British in their origin and administration. Mrs. MELVIL DEWEY. Shall we meet there next ? TRUSTEES. E. C. HOVEY read a resolution adopted by the trustees present. (See report of Trustees' Section.) Miss E. M. COE. I wish a resolution would be added to that one, urging all trustees to attend these meetings themselves. We librarians need the presence and advice of the practical, level- headed business men who largely constitute our boards. 132 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. Sec. DEWEY. Speaking of trustees brings to my mind something in the past which this meeting promises to free us from in the future. Nathan Hale, when things were not going quite to suit him in the Board of Trustees, would say in his peculiar tone, " Boards are long and narrow ; they are made of wood." And it was sometimes effective in changing the drift. Pres. CRUNDEN. I call upon Mr. Sexton to say something on the duties of trustees, and their relations to librarians. P. T. SEXTON. I doubt if I can add anything to what has been already so well said on that sub- ject. The thought uppermost in my mind is, that trustees should segregate their duties distinctly from those of the librarian, and be earnest and diligent in the performance of those duties, leaving to the librarian the largest possible latitude within his special sphere. It is hardly necessary for me to assure you who know so well the capacity of the director of the New York State Library, that this policy is carried out there. We leave to Mr- Dewey almost entirely the matters of detail and policy that relate to the special function of the library itself. It would be folly to do otherwise. If we bear any proper relation to his action upon those subjects, it is that of restraint more than anything else. I vividly recall at my first meeting with the Board of Regents, when one of the old mem- bers, expecting to see what he did on my face, an expression of amazement at the marvelous energy with which Mr. Dewey was cutting out work for us, and doing it almost all himself, said : " Mr. Sexton, about the only duties we have since Mr. Dewey came here is to sit on his coat tails." J: M. GLENN. I think the papers which have been read so completely cover the ground that there is nothing left to be said as to what trustees ought to do ; at the present, at any rate. I heartily endorse the views set forth in them. I hope they will be promptly printed and distributed. I wish to thank you for the information and the inspira- tion I have gained at this meeting. Pres. CRUNDEN. I may say, in behalf of the Association, that we are very well satisfied with the work of this year. The work done by the few trustees who have been here has exceeded our most sanguine expectations. W: I. FLETCHER. I fear the sample has been a little beyond the average stock. E. C. HOVEY. If the statement Mr. Fletcher has just made is true, that the sample is better than the stock, it is your own fault. I contend that the position of a trustee of a public library is more important, more honorable, and contains a field for greater usefulness, than that of any other honorary position. It is a position of the greatest trust, and one that requires qualifications which we should like to see but do not very often see in bank directors ; viz. a careful study into the duties which they have accepted, and a determination to attend to those duties for the best interests of the institution. I feel that our libraries are suffering today very largely for want of earnest, intelligent workers on the boards of trustees. The librarians of the country can do nothing better than to insist that their trustees should be men of enthusiasm and earnestness. I agree heartily with what a libra- rian said to me the other day, in describing the relation which should exist between trustee and librarian, " the librarian should push the trustees, and the trustees should push the librarian." I hope between this and the next conference there will be a great deal of pushing on both sides. W: E. FOSTER. As a librarian I wish, for the moment, to take seriously Mr. Fletcher's humorous suggestion, and to say that, in my judgment, the sample present is quite representative of the qual- ity of trustees at large. I know of so many instances in which it has been the practice of trustees to be present at these meetings, who are not here now on account of unavoidable detention, and of engagements over which they had no con- trol, that I am very sure to speak in derogation of trustees in general would do injustice to a large number. P. T. SEXTON. I request that after this session adjourns the trustees will remain for the purpose of making an organization for our own personal satisfaction, and to strengthen our hands in this effort to enlist the assistance and secure the pres- ence of library trustees at future meetings of this Association. H. B. ADAMS. Some gentlemen have asked me to join this party of trustees, saying they were a somewhat small and persecuted body. As a trustee of my Alma Mater (Amherst), which has a library and one of the best librarians in the country, I think it is quite proper for me to accept. This organization surely should include representatives of college and university libraries. I am very confident, from what I know of some collegiate institutions, that both librarians and trustees need enlightenment upon library methods and upon good administration. You may think, from what has been said of colleges and universi- ties, that they are very modern and progressive PROCEEDINGS, TENTH SESSION. 133 institutions; but you will find that in some as antiquated methods of distributing books obtain, as anywhere in the country. INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT. Pres. CRUNDEN. We are fortunate in having with us a gentleman, who, although not a library trustee, has always manifested his interest in libra- ries in a practical and substantial manner. He is also a gentleman to whom the whole country is indebted for his efforts in behalf of the interna- tional copyrights. I am very sure you will all be glad to hear from the distinguished Senator from Rhode Island. Senator CHACE. I feel a little trepidation in speaking in the presence of those who represent the garnered wisdom of all the ages, so to speak ; for I always, when I see a librarian, carry in my mind a certain impression that he or she, whichever it may be, knows the contents of all those books stored away on the shelves; but I will be brief, because I know your time is precious. I want to congratulate you on the step you have taken in publishing to the world that you are heartily in accord with the movement to remove this blot from the escutcheon of the American people. If you will pardon me, I want to suggest a line of action. This matter, like all others, is found, when you come to grapple with it, to be covered up by that everlasting influence the money influence the selfishness of mankind. Really, the strongest opposition to the enactment of an international copyright law has come from the press ; from those papers called " outsiders," that is, the papers which buy their sheets printed on one side, with certain advertisements paid for. These sheets are distributed throughout the country in great quan- tities. Editors of country newspapers buy them from the central organization or company in New York or Philadelphia. This company, or rather companies for there is one in the West, I think are in the habit of pirating foreign novels. They stereotype them, offer so many columns at so much a foot, and then appeal to their clients to stand by them and protect them from being obliged to pay for what they steal. They oppose this law. because they say it is going to add very largely to their expense. This is not exactly true. The average cost of these novels and stories is not more than $100. Of some of them, a great many thousand copies are printed. There has been an estimate made that the additional cost to the ordinary country newspaper would be about twelve dollars a year. Yet these newspapers are Strong opponents to the passage of a copyright law. The point I wish to make is this : You, from your position, come in contact constantly with the reading members of your different communities, and, by dropping a word here and there, I have no doubt you can exercise a very strong influence in overcoming this false and pernicious sentiment which exists in many communities. The opposi- tion to the copyright bill is in a very small degree metropolitan. It is mostly in the country districts. There is one other suggestion I wish to make. From many years' residence in the city of Wash- ington, and from having had frequent occasion to use the Congressional Library, I have come to feel very deeply the immense loss that the people of the United States are suffering for the want of a cordial support of that great, tremendous affair on the part of the representatives from the country districts. I have myself frequently heard on the floor of the House of Representatives propositions made that the library should be burned up. The books and pamphlets are jammed into as little space as possible, and now and then they appro- priate a few hundred dollars for the library pur- poses, instead of appropriating a large sum, as the government ought to do every year, to purchase the best foreign publications. That library ought to be the pride of the country. At present one of its most valuable collections is stored in the cellar of an old building largely constructed of wood, and liable to be burned up at any time. There are, however, some things in the city of Washington we have cause to feel a national pride in. We have the finest medical library and collection in the world. Dr. Billings says there is scarcely a day in the year that physicians from all parts of the world do not come for the especial purpose of consulting that library. It is the outgrowth of the medical department of the army, and began dur- ing the war. It has been persistently built up by the medical directors of the army. I know your duties are numerous, and your work never done ; yet if you can find time to drop a word here and there, as I have suggested, you will accomplish much for the causes mentioned. You have come here, I suppose, to exchange ideas, and I am sure good will result from it. I have been reminded, while sitting here, of a story connected with a little village among the moun- tains, in the northern part of this State. Three horse jockeys were once traveling in the vicinity, when the roads became so blockaded with snow that they could not get out of the village all win- ter. Now these horse jockeys must have some vent to their disposition to trade, so they traded 134 FAS VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. with each other, and in the spring each found he had the same horse with which he began trading, and had made a hundred dollars to boot. I sincerely hope you will come out as well. Sec. DEWEY. There are a number of people here present whom we have not formally welcomed to the Association. I think I voice the sentiments of all present when I say the Association hopes that those who have dropped into these meetings, if they feel so inclined, will join with us in full membership. The Executive Committee has authority to elect ;any persons interested in our work ; and you must all see from our spirit that nothing would give us greater pleasure. We hope all who have met with us have enjoyed our sessions, even though they do not care to be considered permanent members. Both the New York Li- brary Association and the State Library As- sociation have voted this week to ask those in- terested in their work to join with them, and there must be numbers of librarians interested in the special work going on in these sections who ought to be recorded as members. This involves practically no expense, and insures that you get promptly all printed matter pertaining to the work. Every public librarian has deep practical interest in this work, which underlies the specific work of his own library. Voted, That the final adjournment of this meet- ing be at Boston, Sept. 19, 1890. MR. ROSENAU. W. H. BRETT. I wish to ask for information in regard to the attempt of a gentleman in Buffalo to furnish, by cooperation, libraries with publica- tions relating to sociological subjects. Pres. CRUNDEN. Mr. Rosenau, Secretary of the Charity Organization Society of Buffalo, pro- posed to collect reports of all charitable and benev- olent institutions, also State reports on health, labor, statistics, etc., and send them to libraries that subscribe towards the cost of collection and trans- portation. Those interested can get full par- ticulars by writing to Mr. J. N. Larned. W: I. FLETCHER. I received this circular from Mr. Rosenau with Mr. Larned's endorse- ment. It goes to my heart not to fall in with any cooperative movement ; but I laid the matter before my library board, and I have been obliged to concur in the opinion of a practical member of that committee, that the cost was too great. For the first year we were to become liable to a payment of $50 for what Mr. Rosenau might be able to send us. A small amount expended in postage would secure a much larger portion of these reports than we are now receiving. I will say, however, that from Mr. Rosenau's point of view, the sum was not too large, considering the few subscriptions he was likely to receive. I had hoped some arrangement might be made by which the charge to libraries could be proportioned to the things received. Sec. DEWEY. I said at once, when this Buffalo plan was first proposed, that we would subscribe for it, but I pointed out to Mr. Larned that it would result as it has. We are very unlikely to find any man or institution that will do this work for any length of time without compensation. The price fixed will not pay, but it is so large as to defeat the plan. My invitation to those inter- ested to join the State librarians or local State associations, hits exactly this point. This is one definite work for these associations. A State clearing-house for duplicates, reports, etc., is the only satisfactory plan yet proposed, and in every State library there should be a distribution agency at State expense, which would be so trifling that the bill could be passed by any de- cent legislature. We can do what Mr. Rosenau seeks to do for charity in all other lines. Every library in the State will benefit by it without fees. If you help us we will get this great work done. We will put this plan in operation in New York within a year, I think. The New Hampshire people will also promise to do it. We must follow this plan up State by State, till we have this matter of pamphlets, reports, duplicates, etc., taken care of. W: I. FLETCHER. We may have to wait till Mr. Bellamy furnishes us with decent legislatures. Pres. CRUNDEN. It is one of the delightful things of this conference to find so large and attentive an audience here the last morning. We have a number of questions which I should like answered before we separate. QUESTIONS. What is the best covering for floors in reading- rooms, passages, etc., with regard to noiselessness, durability, cheapness, odorlessness ? Five librarians recommended linoleum. Sec. DEWEY. On the other hand, I have been disappointed in it. I prefer oak floors with rugs. But I have made only a single experiment, and am not ready to declare against linoleum or corticene (which is also made of ground cork) as the best for many library uses. Why is there objection to the slips in the front of the Geological Survey Reports? PROCEEDINGS, TENTH SESSION. 135 W: I. FLETCHER. They are not and cannot readily be adapted to the requirements of differ- ent card catalogs. Is it advisable to give to certain persons un- restricted access to the shelves of a public library ? Questioner referred to recent symposium in the Library journal. Would it not be wise and useful to adopt some concerted plan of library statistics to be followed by our libraries ? Sec. DEWEY. The value of statistics is greatly decreased from the lack of uniformity in tabula- tion. I move that a committee be appointed on the uniformity of library statistics. Voted. The Chair appointed Messrs. Flint, Biscoe and Foster. Should new books be loaned to library attend- ants? A: W. WHELPLEY. Yes, unless they abuse the opportunity afforded them by their position. It is desirable that they should become acquainted with the character and scope of accessions to the library. G. M. JONES. At Salem we have found it necessary to forbid our attendants this privilege. Pres. CRUNDEN. Our experience has been the same. A. W. TYLER. I have always insisted that the public should have the first chance at the new books. Miss E. M. COE. Our assistants are allowed to take them out only on special permission. How far should works of fiction be duplicated ? A. W. WHELPLEY. This is a vexed question. We find it best to have fifty copies of Ben Hur. Pres. CRUNDEN. We have a duplicate collec- tion of popular works of fiction, and charge an extra fee for their loan. What are the advantages of iron uprights and shelves ? Sec. DEWEY. My opinion of their advantages is steadily decreasing. C: A. CUTTER. I still believe in the iron stack ; it is cheaper than wood ; it takes less room ; it does not obstruct light and air so much. B: P. MANN. The roughness sometimes com- plained of in case of iron work can be overcome by the Bower-Barff process. W: I. FLETCHER and F. B. GAY reported trouble from the wooden shelves slipping from the supports in iron stacks. C: A. NELSON and Miss H. P. JAMES reported an opposite experience. What is the best appliance for adjustable shelves ? Sec. DEWEY. The cranked pin which I found first in the Bibliotheque Nationale, and now made by the Library Bureau, is much the best pin. The Scott-Smith system used by the Providence and Detroit public libraries so successfully, has also great merits, and has been put in the Bureau catalog. In England Tonk's system is much used. In case of wooden uprights, screw eyes are cheap and effective, though less convenient than the others mentioned. A. W. WHELPLEY. How many had difficulty in getting Stanley's last work after having sub- scribed for it ? Twenty raised their hands. How many received a discount? Six. W: I. FLETCHER. This discount must have been received from the agent, and not from the publishers. On motion of K. A. Linderfelt it was voted that the session be continued till all papers had been read. C: A. NELSON read his paper on HOW BOOKS WERE BOUGHT FOR OUR LIBRARY. (Step. 38.) J. M. GLENN presented a report of the organiz- ation of the TRUSTEES' SECTION. (See p. 133, fj4.) While this report was read, the members of the section stood, in order that the meeting might know what trustees were present. P. T. SEXTON. We trustees feel it great cause for congratulation, and the gentlemen of the As- sociation who have become accustomed to recognize the value of woman's cooperation will heartily congratulate us that there is among our number one noble woman. If I could single out any one ground of encouragement for the hope which this Association gives to humanity, it is based upon the fact that so large a number of the librarians of the country are women. I have been highly gratified in seeing here so many charming and cultivated women engaged in this work. I have always been an admirer of woman, and since my marriage a confessor of her superiority. All men who have made their mark in the world find 136 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. that whatever has made them worth being remem- bered canjae easily traced back to the tutelage of the good mother. When such influences shall dominate our land, when all men shall come to be of the character of these women we are meeting here, surely, my friends, the millennium will have dawned. E. C. RICHARDSON read his paper on ANTEDILUVIAN LIBRARIES. (See p. 40.) L. H. STEINER read his paper on THE FUTURE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. (See p. 44.) BOOK SELECTING. Sec. DEWEY. In organizing and getting the A. L. A. into good running condition, we have almost totally neglected what most people would expect to be its chief work. For the past I presume this has been wise, but it is high time that we do more with practical bibliography, for after all has been said about methods and appli- ances, legislation and buildings, catalogs and classifications, they are all tributary to the main thing, the supply of the best books. I propose, therefore, as one of the significant steps to be taken this coming year, that we have a biblio- graphical session of the A. L. A., devoted, not to the antiquarian or curious, but to practical cooperation in finding out the best available books on those subjects oftenest wanted in our library. We had a taste of this work over the question, " Which is the best all-around art magazine ? " and I doubt if any session would be more profitable than one confined to comparing judgments and experiences of individual books. No work proposed by the A. L. A. met with warmer approval, and promised greater usefulness than the A. L. A. catalog which I outlined in olume i of the Journal, and which in 1879, at the Boston meeting, we enthusiastically decided to push through, Mr. F: B. Perkins taking editorial charge. His appointment a little later as librarian in San Francisco stopped the work, and, while no one has lost faith in its value, we have not done much actual work. The committee of seven appointed at Buffalo placed the matter in my hands, but I have as yet made little progress. The promise that it should be printed by the Bureau of Education in sections, made by Gen. Eaton and confirmed by Commissioner Dawson, will, I hope, be carried out, as we have in the new com- missioner a man especially identified with library interests. Without rehearsing the manifold uses of this A. L. A. catalog as a check list in selecting books for buying or reading, either in private or public libraries, I must sum it up as the most important single thing that the A. L. A. can do. While we were delaying for want of men and money to carry out our plans, Mr. Swan Sonnen- schein, a London publisher, put his own time as author and his capital and facilities as publisher enthusiastically into the work, and brought out under the title " Best Books " a selection of about 25,000 titles. The book was remarkably well received, and the edition soon exhausted. When I was in London some months ago, he insisted to me that the first edition was so faulty that he was heartily ashamed of it, and showed me the im- provements he proposed to introduce in a second edition. This contains about 50,000 titles, repre- sents American literature much better, and gives much more of the brief annotations which serve as a guide to the character of the book. I was convinced, in looking over Mr. Sonnenschein's ms., that if he would bring out the new edition it would be by far the most available basis for our A. L. A. catalog work ; and, feeling sure of the cooperation of all librarians interested, I promised to take at least 100 copies if he would bring out the enlarged edition. I have here on the desk advance sheets of perhaps half the book for your inspection. The plan decided on is to place in the hands of those interested in the A. L. A. catalog scheme these copies, each one having its number recorded. The price is not yet fixed, but it will be much cheaper in proportion than the first edition, probably about $6. Those who order will be guaranteed the largest discount obtainable. As we get this edition at a special price, it will leave a margin, which will be used wholly for improving the book in the interest of these numbered copies ; e. g. we plan to send printed slips of corrections or additions, and we hope that each one will send to me at Albany any suggestions. Chiefly this addition will have large margins for ms. additions, and we hope to profit greatly by getting together at each A. L. A. meeting and comparing notes, so that all may have the benefit of any correction or valuable addition that any one has found during the year. We shall agree on certain classes, to which we will give special attention for the first year; and, with so much of the work already done, the A. L. A. catalog will soon be a reality. I hope every librarian interested will give me his name PROCEEDINGS, TENTH SESSION. 137 for one or more copies at this meeting, or will send it as soon as possible to me at Albany. Another feature, which I hope to develop next year, might be called A. L. A. vacation camps. All have found the great practical value of spend- ing a week or more with other librarians, where both, being free from the daily cares of their libraries, have leisure for comparison of experiences and views. Many of us are in doubt where to spend our summer outing, and would be glad to give the choice to some place where we should meet a few congenial library spirits. My plan, already partly completed, is to select desirable hotels, at the seashore, White Mountains, Adiron- dacks, Thousand Islands, Niagara, and similar attractive points where specially low rates will be offered to members of the A. L. A. for the sake of securing a party; e.g. the charming hotel near Lisbon, the Breezy Hill House, where Pres. Crunden, Mr. Soule, and several others of us have been spending some time before coming here, offers to take a party at greatly reduced rates, and over twenty members will be there from a few days to two or three weeks after this meeting adjourns. Members could send to the secretary and learn who was going to any one of the A. L. A. camps for the summer, and so choose the place that would give more pleasure and at less cost than to take the chances of the usual summer boarder. A fair representative member of the A. L. A. is a most charming summer companion. We shall occasionally get in our party some of Brother Richardson's antediluvians, but in such cases you can be a bibliothecal Pharisee, and go around the corner from the old fossil and say, " I thank thee, Lord, that I am not as this libra- rian, for I keep my library open evenings and holidays, annotate my catalog, post bulletins, read the Library journal, and, above all, attend the meetings of the A. L. A." VOTE OF THANKS. Voted, That the following resolutions be received and spread upon the records : Resolved, That the representatives of libraries from Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska, Indiana, and Kansas express their hearty thanks to Mr. Utley for his entertainment of their party in Detroit, and for his thoughtful provision for their needs in the journey. Resolved, That the librarians of Western libra- ries, who joined the Chicago party, express their thanks to Mr. Pickett for his efficient traffic arrangements, and pledge themselves to give him their hearty support for the management of the excursion to the Pacific Coast. The Executive Board announced the following OFFICERS FOR THE ENSUING YEAR. President. Melvil Dewey. Vice-Presidents. C: C. Soule. W: T. Harris. W: I. Fletcher. K. A: Linderfelt. Secretary. W: E. Foster. Assistant Secretaries. Recording. G: T. Little. General. W: E: Parker, Miss M.. S. Cutler. Travel. H. E. Davidson, C: C. Pickett. Treasurer. H: J. Carr. Finance Committee. S: S. Green. J: M. Glenn. W: C. Lane. Cooperation Committee. C: A. Cutter, Miss H. E. Green, Gardner M. Jones. Library School Committee. J. N. Larned, F. P. Hill, Miss E. M. Coe. Public Documents Committee. E. C. Hovey, R. R. Bowker, S: S. Green, Weston Flint, J. P. Dunn, Jr. Standing Committee. The President, the Secretary, F. M. Crunden. Endowment Committtee. P. T. Sexton, J: M. Glenn, E. C. Hovcy. Trustees of Endowment Fund. P. T. Sexton, Norman Williams, E. C. Hovey. Councillors. Justin Winsor, W. F. Poole, C: A. Cutter, F. M. Crunden, W. H. Brett, C. R. Dudley, R. A. Guild, K. A. Linderfelt, C: A. Nelson, H: M. Utley, A: W. Whelpley, A. Van Name, John Edmands, L. H. Steiner, J: V. Cheney, Miss H. P. James, Miss M. E. Sargent. S: S. GREEN announced that he should be unable to serve as chairman of the Finance Committee. On the motion of A. N. BROWN, Voted that, in the opinion of the Association, the next meeting should be held the first week in September. Sec. DEWEY. You all know how intensely I am interested in the work of this Association, which is infinitely more important than any per- sonal considerations or ambitions. We have an unusually large proportion of members willing to 138 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. lay aside personal feeling, and work directly for the thing that promises the highest permanent good. The work involved in looking after A. L. A. affairs properly throughout the year is beyond the understanding of any one who has not had much similar experience. Some of you perhaps think to be secretary is like being chairman of the resolutions or reception committee ; i.e. to sit at a certain table and be occupied during the week much more than those on the floor. It is like the conception that all there is to a dinner is the eating. But it is quite another matter if you must catch the fish, hunt the game, raise the vegetables, dress and cook the dinner (very likely sawing your own wood), and finally carve and wait on the table, and after it all wash the dishes ; yet this is about the proper function of general secretary, supposed to do almost all the work between' meetings. If this work is not done the highest success is impossible. It has been quite impossible for me to do all I wished^ to do in these fifteen years, because of other imperative engagements ; still you would be astounded if you could see in a single view how much time and labor and money it has cost to do even what has been done. If each of several hundred members refers on an average only one person or letter each quarter to the secretary, where usually it ought to go, the aggregate is something formidable ; but the labor involved is not the chief reason that leads me to decline office. I believe that any association tires of one person andjone voice year after year. If you had an angel at the desk, you would probably be glad of a change after a few years. At Lake George, at the completion of our first ten years, I urged the wisdom of getting out of the rut of reelecting the same executive board and officers year after year. You approved, and we adopted the policy of change, except that you insisted on having one permanent officer, as is customary in such bodies, and, in spite of my resignation, again made me Sec- retary. I consented to do what I could, fixing my term in my own mind at another five years, which term expires with this meeting; and we have agreed on Mr. Foster as my successor. I shall now feel at liberty to insist on our giving him adequate support, as I could not while I held the office. The solution I suggested many years ago ought soon to be found; viz. the U. S. Bureau of Education should have a distinct library section in charge of a capable permanent officer, who would be in the best possible position to act as secretary of the A. L. A., and for whose services, for the benefit of the country at large, the U. S. would pay. Those who know anything of my real feelings in this matter, well know that I had neither ambi- tion nor expectation of any such honor as you have been kind enough to confer upon me. My baby showed a presidential disposition when he seized the President's gavel this morning, but that is as much your fault as mine ; he is the A. L. A. baby, and I was attending a session of this Asso- ciation when he was born. I am very grateful to you for what you have done; but I have said to my special friends when asked about this, " it is simply out of the question," and I am sure they did not cast these ballots. I objected to this in the Standing Committee, and did not consent to be reported as President. It seems to me, there- fore, that it would be wiser now to let me take a seat on the floor, and to let somebody else have the honor, for which I am as much obliged as if I accepted it. It is not your votes nor honors I have valued in the work we jhave been doing together for fifteen years; but I have cared, above all, for the cordial clasp of the hand and the sympathetic flash of the eye. When a man visits my library and says flatter- ing things about what I am trying to do, I feel foolish and annoyed, and the old proverb rings in my ears, " Praise to the face is an open disgrace ; " but I am deeply grateful if he says : " I believe you are right in this new thing, and I am going home to adopt something similar, and help on the good work." I am proud and happy to learn that any man or woman is doing better work because of anything I have said or done, but it requires no effort to give up the honors, as I beg you will let me do in this case. Circumstances have made me President of the Association of State Librarians and of the N. Y. Library Asso- ciation for the coming year, and it seems hardly fitting that I should occupy the three positions; therefore I move, as it has been quite enough satisfaction to me to receive the tender of this honor, that my declination be accepted, and that a new ballot be taken for president. W: I. FLETCHER. I second the motion in order to say a word. I have a feeling it is possi- bly a mistaken one that the gentleman whom we have just elected remembers some feeling which may have been displayed by a class in this body, of which I am a representative, and which is known as belonging to the other school from that represented by Mr. Dewey. I want to say for that school I believe I can say it if I cannot, I PUBLISHING SECTION, 139 beg to be excused from misrepresenting any one I want to say that the vote which some of us, at any rate, have given to him for President was given without the slightest hesitation; and not only that, but because we felt he was worthy of the presidency in every sense. And especially I think is the feeling strong among us that, as next year we take something of a new departure, and go to the Pacific Coast to hold a meeting that will be a marked one in our history, and open a new era, this Association wants Mr. Dewey to occupy the honorable position of President, and feels it will be an honor to the Association for him to occupy it. Pres. CRUNDEN. It has been said that the presidency is the highest honor to which any member of the Association can aspire, and I think it has been truly an honor to all those who have held it, certainly a great honor to me. But Mr. Dewey is a man who occupies in this Association a position analagous to that of Daniel Webster in the United States Cabinet, as Secretary of State, when he was greater than the President whom he served. I take this opportunity to thank you cordially for the hearty support you have given me during my occupancy of the position. B: P. MANN. I move that in voting Mr. Dewey's resignation the vote be a rising vote, and I call for the question. Motion to accept Mr. Dewey's resignation was lost. On motion of C. A. NELSON it was Resolved, That the Association vote an expres- sion of our thanks and appreciation of the most able and business-like manner in which the President has conducted this meeting of the Association. Voted, to take a recess, to meet at the call of the President. Recess declared. A. L. A. PUBLISHING SECTION. Sept. ii, 1890. The meeting was called to order at 2.30 p. M., and in the absence of the President and Secretary it was voted that Mr. F. M. Crunden take the chair, and that Mr. W: C. Lane be Secretary pro tern. Mr. E. C. Richardson moved to adjourn until evening on account of the absence of many members, but the motion was lost. Mr. Melvil Dewey spoke at some length of the aims and con- stitution of the Publishing Section. On motion of Melvil Dewey, it was voted that it is the sense of this meeting that Art. 4, Sec. i of the constitution should be changed, so as to read : " The officers of this section shall be a president, a secretary and treasurer, and an executive board of five, of which the above officers shall be members. The meeting chose the following officers for the ensuing year: W: I. Fletcher, President; W: C. Lane, Secretary and Treasurer ; W: I. Fletcher, W: C. Lane, Melvil Dewey, C: A. Cutter, and C: C. Soule, members of the Executive Board. Voted, To instruct the Executive Board to push forward the work of the section as rapidly as the means at its disposal allow. Voted, That the name of the general index to literature, in course of preparation, be the A. L. A. Index. Voted, That it is the sense of this meeting that the ownership and copyright of the A.L. A. Index should be held by the Association. Voted, That the Executive Board be directed to open a subscription list, and receive subscriptions to supply the requisite working capital to carry on the work of the Section. Voted, That the Executive Board be authorized to receive associate members at an annual fee not exceeding $2, and to determine what privileges shall be accorded such members. Voted, That the Executive Board be authorized to extend the privileges of regular membership to those who render equivalent services to the section. Mr. S. F. WHITNEY and Mr. C: A. NELSON advo- cated the immediate publication of the Essay Index separately from the larger and more general A. L. A. Index, on the ground of the pressing need for the work, and the state of forwardness of the material for it. Several others expressed the same desire. Voted, on motion of Mr. R. B. Poole, That the publication of a library manual be recommended to the Executive Board. The meeting then adjourned. WM. C. LANE, Secretary. REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD FOR THE YEAR 1889-90. For the first time the Executive Committee of the Publishing Section place before you a finished work, " Reading for the young," a manual com- piled by the late John F. Sargent, and re-edited with great faithfulness and zeal by his sisters. This is much more than a new edition of Miss Hewins's work published some years ago. It con- tains many more titles, is classified and annotated, and provided with a complete author-index; in 140 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. fact, it is just what is needed in every library, and in every home where there are children who read with intelligence, and parents who care what they read. But it has been found experience with Miss Hewins's book taught Mr. Bowker so that the time is not yet ripe for the publication of such a work through ordinary channels. After having met with difficulty in this direction, the Misses Sargent, whose own labor has been given to this work, with no thought of compensation, turned it over in ms. form to the Publishing Section. It has been well and handsomely printed by the Li- brary Bureau, and copies are now ready for distri- bution. A fair price has been placed upon it, $i for single copies in cloth, and 75 cents in paper, and it is hoped and expected that copies enough will be sold to pay the bill for printing and bind- ing, so that the funds of the section will not be permanently impaired. This book '' Reading for the young," has been issued by the Section in the hope that some libra- ries would find it desirable to take large numbers of copies for sale, or free distribution, to their readers. It can be furnished by the hundred copies at a very low rate ; and if any library should wish to take an edition of 1,000 copies, and use it as if it were its own issue, putting its own title page to it, the cost of such an edition, now that the plates are made, would be slight. The tangible work of the Publishing Section during the year, beyond the issue of this book, has been confined to the Index to General Literature, the " A. L. A. Index," we are agreed to call it, which has simply been pushed forward another stage. Having collected the material in the main for that portion of the work which is properly called the Essay Index, covering essays and sketches, literary, biographical, and miscellane- ous, we are now at work on the sociological part, which is to cover the reports and transactions of the various boards and societies dealing with social problems education, health, labor, chari- ties, the civil service, etc. This part is well under way, and much of the material in it is already filed away awaiting alphabeting and editing. Some other departments which have been contemplated as furnishing possible additions to the scheme of the Index will be laid aside for the present, and it is proposed to issue it in its first edition with about the limits indicated above. The large amount of material in hand has to be edited and alphabeted, and will then be ready to put to press. Our word to those who ask when it will be pub- lished is : " Not this year or next. Rome was not built in a day." We find many librarians still slow to fall in with our rather ardent hopes and expectations, but the sixty who have volunteered assistance on the A. L. A. Index, and thus testified their faith by their works, are but a portion of those who are ready to join in these efforts to save our libraries from the wicked waste of repetitive ms. work in the libraries of the country, by substituting for it cooperative printed work more valuable, and at an expense which need be but a fraction of that of the written work. With the large increase evi- dent here in the membership of the Association, we ought to have at this time a decided addition to the membership of the Publishing Section. Agreed to by W. I. FLETCHER, MELVIL DEWEY, C. A. CUTTER, W. C. LANE, R. B. POOLE. COLLEGE LIBRARY SECTION. FABYAN'S, SEPT. 12, 4 P. M. At the meeting of college librarians the follow- ing institutions were represented : Harvard by W: C. Lane ; Yale by E: J. F. Werder; Princeton by E. C. Richardson ; Columbia by G: H. Baker; Brown by R. A. Guild; Dartmouth by M. D. Bisbee ; Bowdoin by G: T: Little ; University of Vermont by H: L. Koopman; Amherst by W: I. Fletcher; Colby by E: W. Hall ; Hobart by C. D. Vail ; Oberlin by A. S. Root ; University of State of New York by D. V. R. Johnston ; Cornell by G: W: Harris; Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology by T. L. Andrews. W: I. Fletcher was chosen Chairman and G: T: Little Secretary. From a letter by R. C. DAVIS, Librarian of the University of Michigan, was read the following on THE RELATION OF THE LIBRARIAN TO THE FACULTY. It is agreed, I think, that the college librarian should be on an equality with the members of the faculty in all the particulars that make up the standing of a professor. COLLEGE SECTION. 141 He will come into close relations with the members of the faculty, as individuals, in the fol- lowing ways : 1. In the selection of books that are bought especially for the departments of instruction. The librarian can assist here, materially, by his bibliographical knowledge. Pressure may be ex- erted on him to make excessive purchases in these special directions ; but if expenditures for books of this character are limited by regulations, and the titles are all passed upon by a library com- mittee or council, symmetry in the growth of the library will be preserved, while at the same time friction is avoided. 2. In the classification of the books on the shelves. The chance for friction is, probably, greater here than elsewhere. Professors will wish to have some hand in this matter. It is my practice to consider their wishes as far as possible in the arrangement of the literature of their subjects on the shelves, and in the disposition of books that may reasonably be claimed by two or more depart- ments. But this accommodation, of course, can- not go so far as to confuse the general scheme of classification for the library. 3. In supplementing the work of instruction in the class-room. The librarian can be of the greatest assistance to the professor in putting into the hands of his students the books bearing upon the work which he is doing. I assume reciprocity in the matter, or an ex- change of service and courtesy. For the libra- rian's knowledge of books in general, the professor will give his special knowledge of subjects. W: C. LANE presented the following on the same subject: While the personal relations of a college libra- rian to the members of the college faculty must necessarily be intimate if the library is to take its place as an integral part of the college organism, the librarian may or may not have an official con- nection with the faculty itself. At Harvard, the librarian is not a member of the faculty, and is, I think, inclined to congratulate himself on being relieved from the duty of attending faculty meet- ings. There is, however, a library council com- posed of six professors, the president, and the librarian. The chief duty of this council is to apportion the year's income for the purchase of books among the different departmeftts. It also establishes rules in regard to the use of the li- brary, and any matters of library administration might be brought before it. The librarian not being a member of the faculty, library measures seldom or never come before the faculty for dis- cussion, but are considered and decided upon by direct consultation between him and the profes- sors interested. At Harvard we do not feel that there would be any advantage in the librarian's being a member of the faculty ; but in a smaller college, especially in one where the librarian is able to come into personal communication with most or all of the students, his presence at faculty meetings would probably be valued, and, if the college were just beginning to develop the methods of instruction which are now becoming common, the adminis- tration of the college and the library would doubt- less be made more harmonious if the librarian were a member of the governing body. If a college is still in the text-book-learn-it-by- heart stage, the librarian, if he has come to feel what his books might be worth in education, may and should be the means of bringing the instructors to see that there is a more excellent way, a way in which the library may be made to supplement the text-book and develop an independent and critical habit of thought on the part of the student. On the other hand, if the college has already begun to advance on these lines, and its instructors are awake to its advantages, the librarian becomes, or should become, their ready and responsive assistant to carry out their wishes to the last degree his resources allow, and to mould all the administrative details of the library to this end. In this respect the conditions of a college library differ noticeably from those of a public library. That mythical person, the general reader, occupies an altogether secondary place, and the whole or- ganization of the library is directed to supplement the work of the various courses of .study in the college. While the librarian holds himself ready to carry out the ideas of the instructors, and to make the collections under his charge accessible and con- venient to their use, they on their part may relieve him of one of the most responsible and difficult parts of his duty; namely, the selection of books. On all accounts it is best that this should be given over in large part into their hands. Each is presumably better acquainted with the literature of his subject, and with the weaknesses of his department in the library, than the librarian; and, as the books of a college library are mainly de- signed to assist or supplement the instruction, the 142 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. instructor can generally select what he wants better than the librarian. The only difficulty with this arrangement which we find is that certain instructors are apt to neglect their duties or privileges, and their departments accordingly fall behind. Others are unsystematic or fitful in ordering, and it is discovered later that important books are lacking, which no one else has taken the trouble to order, in the expectation that the professor in whose department they naturally fall will look after them. A considerable reserve, of course, has to be left in the hands of the librarian to cover those books which do not fall strictly to any teaching department, but which, nevertheless, cannot be omitted from a working library. If the instructors will do their part conscientiously and steadily in this line, the college library is better organized for the purchase of books than any other library can be. In short, to come back to a commonplace, not always made common enough, the relations of a college librarian and the mem- bers of a college faculty must be characterized by a spirit of mutual helpfulness, and the one or the other takes the lead according as the one or the other is the more far-sighted, the more alive to the movements of the day, and the more interested in the success of his work. In the informal discussion that ensued it ap- peared that in four of the colleges represented the librarian was a member of the faculty by virtue of his duties as an instructor, in two others he regu- larly attended faculty meetings, and in case of the remainder held the rank in point of salary and social position of a full professor, though not con- nected with the governing body. All reported that either the division between the different departments of the funds for the purchase of books or the final decision as to what volumes should be bought, rested with a library committee of which the librarian was invariably a member, and that in practice he generally found himself possessed of greater power in this direction than a strict interpretation of existing rules would imply. Two papers were read on the topic next con- sidered. PLACE OF THE SEMINARY LIBRARY IN THE UNIVERSITY. R. C. DAVIS. The advantages of the seminary library to the average student have been exagger- ated, I think. It is only the advantage of access to a greater number of books, and the actual gain for him is in a bibliographical direction, rather than in a knowledge of the contents of the books, i. e., of the subjects of]which they treat. My experience leads me to think that what is known as the alcove system is sufficient for this average student. Here the literature of the subject he is studying passes in review before him, and he is afforded an opportunity to acquire all the famil- iarity with it that he would acquire under any circumstances. For a thorough, long-continued investigation of a subject by a student properly equipped for the work, the seminary library, with its special and ample furnishing, and its comparative seclusion, is of the greatest importance. W: C. LANE. In some other colleges the sem- inary library is more fully developed in certain respects than at Harvard; but, having had no time for correspondence, I must confine what I have to say to a notice of how such libraries have developed with us, and leave to others to add par- ticulars relating to other colleges. It has been with us the practice now for some years to place in the reading-room of the library a certain number of volumes selected by the professors to be used by the students in connection with the work of the various courses of instruc- tion. Each professor's books are kept by them- selves and marked with his name or the name of his course. These books are freely and directly accessible at any time, and are used in the reading- room only, except that they can be taken out at the close of library hours, to be returned early the next morning. These we call our reserved books, being withdrawn from general circulation. The historical, economic, philosophical, and literary courses naturally have the most extensive col- lections of this kind; but during the years 1888-89 sixty instructors, more or less, had books reserved for the use of their classes, and 5,848 volumes in all were used in this way, the larger part remaining on the reserved shelves throughout the year while others were placed there for a shorter period. So far we have only one step toward the seminary library. As this practice of reserving books be- came more common, and as the reading-room became more crowded, and especially since our library has no means of artificial light, relief was naturally sought from these inconveniences by establishing separate working libraries in connec- tion with the class-rooms of the various depart- ments. We have now eleven of these class-room or seminary libraries (Greek, Latin, U. S. History, Political Economy, Mathematics, French, English, Sanskrit, German, Philosophy, and Social Ques- tions), containing in all about 3,500 volumes, the ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIANS. 143 largest and the first to be established being the American history and political economy collec- tions. These libraries are usually under lock and key, but all the students working in that depart- ment have keys which admit them day or evening. They are in rooms adjoining those used for lectures and other class exercises, and thus form a natural centre for the work of the department, and a meeting-place for instructors and students. There is also attached to them a feeling of privacy and independence impossible in the general library reading-room. They are attended, it is true, with certain difficulties of administration. It is im- possible with us, and I judge it generally would be, to keep a library assistant in each room. All we are able to do is to send one of our assistants to each library two or three times a week to keep the books in order on the shelf, and check them off in his list. So far this has served very well, and the losses have been few, not more, I think, than those from the reserved shelves in the general reading-room. When we have a new library building or an addition to our present one, it may be best to bring these collections under the same roof with the main library, but they would thus be necessa- rily to some degree separated from the class work of all but the smallest and most advanced classes, and the advisability of such a step seems to me questionable. The purpose of both the reserved book collec- tions and of seminary libraries is of course the same, and I need not enlarge upon it. It is to bring the student face to face with a collection of materials, to teach him not to follow one book or one author implicitly as a master, but to exam- ine what has been said on different sides of a question, to compare and to select, and thus to become responsible for his own opinions, and capable, it may be, of grasping some aspect of Truth more accurately and more faithfully than has been done before. But whether his opinions become of value to the world at large or not, such training will at least have helped him to accurate and independent habits of thought. A. S. ROOT then read his REPORT ON COLLEGE LIBRARIES. ( This report was not furnished for publication,} ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIANS. SEPT. 10, 1890. [The object of the meeting was chiefly for full informal conference over State library interests. Of many of the interesting discussions there was no record. The notes below give an imperfect idea of a part of the very interesting and profitable discussions. For the later sessions only votes were recorded.] Pres. DEWEY. Those who have not had it, will find convenient this address from last year's proceedings, as printed in the Library journal of August, 1889, page 241. We have duplicate copies here for distribution, and you will all want it for reference hereafter. This address was sent to all governors of States, superintendents of pub- lic instruction, and to leading newspapers, by many of which it was reprinted and commented on most favorably. Not one printed anything not in most hearty sympathy with the views there expressed. Regarding some details, questions might arise; but this general warm reception of our platform has shown conclusively, that there is work needing to be done in this direction. Some of us felt that it was wiser not to attempt as yet a vigorous campaign, but to try to make an active, strong organization with the handful we had to begin with ; to adopt the Fabian policy, and wait patiently for the time to strike, and to build up this Association as rapidly as we saw our way clear. The Executive Board have done during the year some very able " waiting," beside preparing this address. We ought at this session to take up these matters anew, and see what we can do further. The difficulty with our address is that it points out many admirable things to do, but is not definite enough in recommendations. We ought to have a bill prepared embodying a model State law, covering these points. First, we should check off existing laws, and see what is needed in addition in each State. Very few people to whom this address is sent are sufficiently interested to take the matters up and prepare a bill out of whole cloth. By the method suggested we could see what existing legislation harmonizes with our platform, and supplement this with a definite bill, ready for the legislature. The first report of the Committee on Binding, Charles C. Soule, Chairman, refers specially to documents and law books, so largely making up State libraries, as it is not our purpose to take up subjects covered by the general association, but rather those of special interest to State and law libraries. . - 144 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. C: C. SOULE. I regret to say that I have been unable to prepare the report expected. When talking on the subject last year, I had in mind the employment of a special binder, to make experi- ments myself; and I intended to put him on several styles of binding, and be able to make a practical report to this meeting as to price, wear and tear, etc., of each. I did not employ the binder, consequently did not have the opportun- ity. During the last summer I was out of health, and unable to do any extra work beyond my paper on trustees for the general association. I will just sketch briefly the treatment which I pro- posed in the paper. There are two classes of books. One class of books, the binding of which is to be considered in State libraries, is law books and public documents bound in the style of law books. There is another large class of public documents issued in the shape of pamphlets, with such imperfect binding that the librarian naturally wishes to put them in shape before setting them on his shelves. In law books it is the general cus- tom, sanctioned by long usage, and dear to the hearts of users of the books, to bind them in sheep. Calf or half calf is used in England, and sheep in this country. Unfortunately the sheep now used is prepared by chemical process, and is conse- quently friable antf easily injured by weather and use. It fades, discolors, and is very objectionable as a binding. All attempts to substitute anything else, however, and all advice in that direction got from judges and lawyers, bring out an expression of feeling that they prefer the look of the old binding, uniform on the shelves. For myself I think the time has arrived to get some other bind- ing, perhaps as near as possible in color and effect to the old one, but something more durable, more useful, more sensible. For pamphlets and public documents it was my intention to experi- ment to find what binding would last longest and look best at a very low cost. The element of use, the wear and tear of the hinges, and so on, need not come in where documents are used only occasionally. The desideratum is to get them at the least possible expense on the shelves in such shape that they may stay there 50 or 100 years, and look well. It might be well to experiment with different labels, to test different colors, styles, and types. If any one here has experience or ideas, I would like to have them brought out in discussion. Pres. DEWEY. We have all had experience with law books and public documents, and know they are the meanest of books as to bindings. I have in mind whole tiers of books that have crumbled to pieces, having been bound with sheep as now used. Yet the average lawyer feels it is not good law unless bound in that old foolish form. I experimented in Columbia in 1883, when I went there. Knowing the strong prejudice for the old style, I said to Dr. Dwight, warden of the law school, " There is not a particle of doubt that $100 spent in A. L. A. binding in half goat, sewed all along, with vellum corners, will last twice as long as the present style. But a volume does n't look like a law book." I was surprised and delighted when he said, " By all means bind in the more durable, sensible way." For five years I followed this plan, and never learned that the law gotten from the books was less binding. Our question now is, Shall we have reports bound in half goat ? Let us have any light on this point that any one here can give us, and see whether we are agreed that it would be wise to try to induce our different legislatures and those responsible, to use a sensible binding. Sheep cer- tainly is bad. We cannot wait to educate lawyers up to this point ; it would be too difficult and too slow. T. L. COLE. I can say a little by way of repre- senting a member of the New York Bar Associa- tion, which has perhaps the best law library in the country. I spent most of Monday with the gentle- man in charge of that library, and the subject of binding came up. He said that the great difficulty with sheep binding, as Mr. Soule said, is that it crumbles to pieces ; it falls into a brown powder, and the book is not only unserviceable but very dirty to handle on that account. He has within three or four years adopted a " cow skin " bind- ing, which is the tanned skin of the cow instead of the calf or sheep. It is of a roan color. Perhaps it is familiar to some of you. He said it was not American Russia. Pres. DEWEY. American Russia is cow skin of a red color. T. L. COLE. The difference is, it is not artifi- cially colored to deceive. It probably is the simon-pure thing. He has found it to be a desira- ble binding. The objection that Mr. Soule raises does not seem to apply here, or at least is not strong enough to prevent use. He says the law- yers use the books and find no objection to them. It makes the library look bad at first. He has not used it in sets of reports. Where a few books out of a set of fifty or more need rebinding, he has used sheep; but he thinks he will change that and commence to bind them in cow skin as they wear out. ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIANS. 145 Pres. DEWEY. Had he any reason for taking this reddish tint ? Could he not have used a color that would match the old binding better ? T. L. COLE. I judge that was the natural color of the skin. Pres. DEWEY. I am very positive it can be made much nearer the color of law sheep. There is a split cowhide of that reddish tint. T. L. COLE. I thought it was either painted or colored. I asked him that because I have seen binding in other libraries which I was told was sheep or some other skin painted. Another law library is using a white-colored skin. Do you know what they call it ? Pres. DEWEY. I think likely it is pig skin. A MEMBER. I think it is. It is a similar skin to that used on the Virginia and West Virginia Reports. D. V.R.JOHNSTON. That is sheep skin, sumac tanned. T. L. COLE. That is so. The sumac, instead of the hemlock tan, like that used on the re- ports of Grattan, of the Virginia Court of Ap- peals, and the early West Virginia reports, is a very durable binding. It costs about a half more than other sheep. The cow skin binding of the New York Bar Association costs the same, I am told, in half leather with board sides and cloth cover on the board. Some have the board sides covered with marble paper. Pres. DEWEY. Does Mr. Johnston know when the Virginians gave up that sumac tanning ? D. V. R. JOHNSTON. I think some six or seven years ago. Mr. Griswold told me it was only made in one tannery, and that tannery failed. A binder tried to get some skins to repair with, and he succeeded, up to five or six years ago, but lately the tannery has gone out of business. T. L. COLE. Many law libraries experience little trouble with sheep. It is certain ones only, and it is due to heat, light, or something. The St. Louis Law Library and the New York Bar Association are suffering very severely. Others, again, have no trouble at all ; their sheep binding lasts. Pres. DEWEY. Do you know any law library using sheep that can keep it sound for a long series of years ? T. L. COLE. I don't find many others that have such serious trouble as I found in the two I speak of. Pres. DEWEY. Do you mean to imply that it is something in the locality or climate ? T. L. COLE. Well, yes. In St. Louis I think it was due to gas ; and so in the New York Bar Association. There was also the soft coal smoke prevailing in St. Louis. I can't say about every city in the West where they use bituminous coal. Perhaps Mr. Pickett might tell us something about that. C: C. PICKETT. Our experience has been something similar to that of New York and St. Louis. Our library was given us after the fire of 1871, to the value of some $7,000 or $8,000. We started with the American State reports in very bad condition. We used gas till 1880 ; since then we have used electric light. We have not income enough to rebind the entire library. Last year we spent over $1,000 in rebinding. I had instructions from the committee to cut the bind- ing expenses down one^half. Pres. DEWEY. Have you made any change in style? C: C. PICKETT. We have changed our rebind- ing from half sheep to half morocco. We intend to put an entire set of Illinois in half morocco. Some we have in sheep are in very bad condition, but not so bad that there is any danger of their falling from the covers ; but the books are crack- ing, and the leather is pulling from the covers. Pres. DEWEY. Do you have trouble from the crumbling of the leather ? C: C. PICKETT. That is the great trouble. We shall put the entire set of Illinois into morocco. I would like to get some definite infor- mation on this subject of comparative cost. I find when I talk with gentlemen who have a great deal of binding to do that the difference is not considered excessive ; but I don't want to commit our library to the policy of rebinding in half morocco unless the price is not very much in excess of sheep. I understood it was not much so. We pay 55 cents for half sheep, 75 cents for full sheep, and $1.10 for half morocco. Pres. DEWEY. This is a thing that is perfectly obvious, whatever any one may say. You can buy Hausmann skins, which are the best goat made, from responsible dealers, for $30 to $33 a dozen. Call it $36 a dozen. From one of those large skins you can cut out nearly twenty backs, wide enough to accomplish all purposes of ser- vice, and make a complete hinge. At $3 a skin that leather costs 15 cents a book. The rest of the price is the cost of boards, thread, papers (which is the same whether goat or sheep is put on the back), labor, and the profit of the binder. The price is largely in excess of extra cost, owing to the custom of binders. Certain trades have 146 FAS VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. customs and fashions. Binders know that people don't order half turkey morocco unless they can pay a good price. There is another element. Binders are in the habit of giving this work to their best men, and they use better thread, better lining paper, better board, and a better quality of morocco. But chiefly they use a better profit. Are you doing this experimenting, Mr. Pickett, with this single set, or have you adopted the policy for the whole library ? C. C. PICKETT. I am making experiments to see how far it is safe to go. Pres. DEWEY. Librarians should study this question. We agree that Russia, sheep, and calf are among the bad leathers that we want to get rid of. Turkey morocco or goat is most durable. The other materials we look to for durable bind- ing are pig and cow skin. Other durable bindings are in vegetable materials. Books bound in them stand on the shelves for years ; indeed, so far as my observation goes, books that are not required to be handled a great deal, are much more durable in buckram, or duck, or even muslin, than in any leather ; the animal element in the leather decays, and the vegetable bindings last longer for that rea- son. For those that are going to be used much, it is between goat, pig, and cow skin. Mr. Soule made the point, which Mr. Johnston illustrated further, that sheep as now used is tanned in a way that causes it to powder. The sumac-tanned leather seems to be strong, if we could get it. I found last year in Scotland the libraries using pig skin. It shows a handsome grain, and looks very much like morocco. The pig skin which we find on old books warps and twists badly ; I think this serious fault came from the failure to prepare it properly. They are doing admirable work on the other side in pig skin. My impres- sion is formed, not by personal experience, but by what has been said to me by others. If we could introduce pig skin successfully, it might be well because of the enormous quantity of the material we could get in this country, thus reducing cost. That is an important point to look at, whether it be pig skin, or cow skin, or goat ; it is a duty of every librarian to try to induce his State, when sending out documents all over the world, to use the most durable binding it can find, and he should understand all the practical aspects of the ques- tion. Can we get any further light ? MEMBER. Has pig-skin binding been tried to show whether it will stand this climate or not ? I have one book with that kind of binding a dictionary. I don't think it will stand the action of gas. I think it will crack. G: C. GILMORE. Pig skin has been found more durable for saddles than anything else. It would be well to find out some factory where they tan pig-skin leather for saddles to find out how cheaply it could be furnished and also something about its durability in saddles. Pres. DEWEY. We all know the pig-skin sad- dle is exposed to rain and sunshine. J. P. DUNN. The pig is one of the pachyderms, and its skin is much thicker than that of the goat ; but when you come to make a hinge out of it and put it on the back of a book, it must be reduced to a thinner condition. These goat skins are Ger- man morocco, are they not ? Pres. DEWEY. What do you mean by German morocco ? J. P. DUNN. Morocco made in Germany. That is perhaps what Mr. Pickett is talking about when he said $1.10 for half morocco. The state- ment is made as if that is genuine Turkish mo- rocco. I find the price of German morocco is the same all over the country ; it runs from 85 cents to 95 cents, which is the cheapest that can be had. Pres. DEWEY. The Hausmann morocco is the best grade. It is Turkey morocco, but not nec- essarily made in Turkey. It is a goat skin with a strongly marked grain. Persian morocco is goat also, but from a smaller animal, and it is a poorer and much cheaper skin. J. P. DUNN. The cheapest I can get German morocco for is 80 cents to 85 cents for ordinary 8vo. I get good full sheep binding for 55 cents. My impression is that the trouble with the binding is not in the way the skins are tanned, but it comes a good deal from the way they clean them in the bindery. The binders use oxalic acid to wash off the book, and unless it is very carefully used it spoils the skin. I have my binder put on very little and take it off very quickly. I think that is the cause of most of the binding rotting. Pres. DEWEY. Why do you use full instead of half sheep ? J. P. DUNN. Because it is the custom of the country. Pres. DEWEY. Do you think it is a good custom ? J. P. DUNN. Yes. When I rebind part of a set of books, I don't want to put them in a differ- ent binding. Pres. DEWEY. Half and full sheep look exactly alike on the shelves ? J. P. DUNN. Yes. As matter of fact, a full ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIANS. 147 side will wear better than a paper side, if you don't get a skin that will rip and tear. Some skins, you know, will roll up and spoil. F: M. CRUNDEN. My experiments have shown results exactly as indicated ; viz. that morocco is the best leather, and sheep skin is out of the ques- tion. As regards pig skin I know nothing. For books that remain on the shelves without much handling, vegetable materials are best. After being on the shelves thirty years, they seem to be just as good as ever, whereas books handsomely bound in leather ten years ago, begin to show signs of crumbling and weakening at the hinges. These points we can consider fairly settled. Of the leathers, so far as I know, setting aside pig skin, about which I know nothing, morocco is best ; for books used but little, duck or buckram. R. B. POOLE, of N. Y. I agree with what Mr. Crunden said about morocco. The question is whether you get morocco or not. Persian and German morocco are two different things. Persian morocco is even worse than sheep skin. The dark color turns brown and breaks at the hinges. My binder has discarded it. There is a great variety of moroccos. Of course you know the genuine Levant morocco is the best thing to use, but it is very expensive. We have a great deal of sheep skin that is worked up into morocco. They take a mould with the stamp of a genuine goat skin and then stamp the sheep skin, and so get regular morocco grain. Only an expert can determine whether it is sheep or goat skin. Pres. DEWEY. Some of the best binders can- not distinguish it. I had a book bound in what purported to be morocco, and brought it to a skilful binder, and asked if the leather was gen- uine morocco. He examined it carefully, and finally said : " I cannot tell unless you let me take the book to pieces and get at the back side of the leather." J. P. DUNN. For how much can you bind octavos in half morocco ? A MEMBER. From $i to $1.25. J. P. DUNN. There is that much difference between genuine Turkish morocco and the Ger- man morocco. A MEMBER. The Turkish Levant is the most expensive skin. I have had small 8vos bound for 75 cents in Turkish morocco, and Harper's for $1.25. The book comes to pieces before the cover breaks. That is the greatest difficulty I have, altogether the greatest. D. V. R. JOHNSTON. Do the signatures fall out, or does the book break in two at the back ? ANS. Sections fall out ; pull right out. I had some books bound for 90 cents a volume. I would rather pay $1.10 now and get stronger binding. F: M. CRUNDEN. I don't know what may be the different prices of things in the different parts of the country, but the lowest price mentioned yet I can beat by at least ten per cent. For such books as you have referred to, we should not pay more than 80 cents. $i or $1.25 seems a very high price. We get genuine morocco binding, Harper 's magazine, I think, for 60 cents. Pres. DEWEY. Is yours genuine morocco ? F: M. CRUNDEN. Yes, genuine morocco. I am not quite sure whether it is 60 cent or 80 cent. Take the highest price, and it is lower than any mentioned yet. J. P. DUNN. Can you tell whether this leather is Persian or German morocco ? F: M. CRUNDEN. It is Turkey morocco. It has a good grain, and the books are well sewed. We have no trouble, except with those books that are subjected to hard usage; then the difficulty is with the sewing. We often rebind in the same covers. I want to speak of a paper prepared so as to look like parchment. I have seen it used for the corners of books. It seemed to me to be a very durable substance. It is parchment paper. H. H. COOK. We have used it in binding I2mos, or something like th'at, and it is very durable. The $1.10 binding for 8vos is the bind- ing we put on our books for retail trade; it is the best morocco binding that can be had, and is as cheap as it can be done in this quality. There seems to be a difference between Persian and German morocco. It is out of my line. We have bound i2mos and volumes close to that size, in quantities, as low as 55 cents. I suppose it is as good as the average library uses. We have an enormous amount of binding to do in the course of the year. Pres. DEWEY. There was a point brought up by Mr. Johnston regarding sumac tanning. A binder who uses large quantities of leather wished a certain leather, and found that he could not get it in this country. He imported some of it from England, and brought a sample to a number of leather men in New York, and said, " If you can furnish leather like that, I can use so much every year." And they furnished it, though it took them some months to learn to match their samples. If we want sumac-tanned sheep or pig skin, or what- ever it may be, this Association, through a compe- tent committee, can certainly induce some tanner to tan leather suitable for the purpose. 148 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. I think New York pays less than 20 cents a volume for binding our session laws. You can understand that a man who contracts to bind doc- uments at such a price, to furnish the leather for the book and the leather for the labels, and so on, at 20 cents a volume, must use everything of the cheapest and most shoddy kind. A good many other States do the same thing. If you could get two or three States to bind a book properly, it would serve as a model for the rest. I understand from most of you that you have very little tooling on your books. Our binding bills are large enough to secure us a discount from the binder's regular prices of 25 per cent. They were so at Columbia! and will be even larger at Albany. But that point was based on the specifications as to the leather, the board, and the quality of thread. I think we get as low a price as can be got for good work. I feel as I did at Milwaukee when some figures were giverr from Indianapolis, where they claimed to bind for 50 per cent of what it cost us, there must be some mistake as to quality or as to cost. I have tried very hard to do it, and doubt if you can get below 90 cents for 8vos, in the best A. L. A. Turkey binding. F: M. CRUNDEN. We pay 60 cents for Har- per's magazine bound in full duck. We always bind our reference copies in full duck, because it lasts better than the 1 best leather. We get half- morocco at 80 cents. Pres. DEWEY. Does the duck last better than the 8o-cent morocco ? F: M. CRUNDEN. I think that the magazines kept on the shelves for reference will be in better condition twenty years from now than those bound in full morocco. MEMBER. Does it pay to use silk, for strength purely, on a volume like an index, used for refei ence purposes right along ? Pres. DEWEY. Would it not be wise to con- tinue this committee on binding, and let them take the results of this discussion and of the investiga- tions during the year, and have next year definite recommendations for binding law books and State documents ? D. V. R. JOHNSTON. I ask Mr. Crunden if his books are burnished and have vellum corners, or are simply sprinkled. F: M. CRUNDEN. Simply sprinkled, and not vellum corners, but leather corners. Occasionally, when we have a set of nice books come in, we have them burnished or gilded, but the binder don't charge us anything extra for it. He puts them in for the regular price 40 cents for half morocco, I2mo. We make the binding as simple as possible. D. V. R. JOHNSTON. Our binder told me he must have 15 cents for burnishing a book. Pres. DEWEY. Fifteen cents will cover the ex- pense of gilding the top of an ordinary 8vo. The burnishing alone costs only 2 or 3 cents. Was Mr. Cook, of A. C. McClurg & Co., binding edi- tions of 100 copies ? H. H. COOK. They were sets of Holmes, and Dickens, and books of that kind 1 5 or 20 sets at a time ; and we were trying to make a handsome book. Pres. DEWEY. The gilt of course is very hand- some. The point is get the top burnished. With a sprinkled top the dust will work in and soil the pages. We have practised treating a book as if it were to be gilt, polishing the edge down with agate. We thus get a surface from which the dust is very easily brushed. To gild all the volumes would cost considerable. This costs only a few cents. Shall we continue this committee for another year, with the view of getting definite recommenda- tions ? I move Mr. Johnston be appointed a com- mittee on binding for the ensuing year, for the special purpose of continuing this investigation. Voted. Pres. DEWEY. Two or three have asked me in regard to membership in this section. Our con- stitution provides (reads). As I said this morning, the interests of State libraries are in the hearts of many besides the incumbents of the position of State librarian. We wish to give to all of you the most hearty welcome. That of course is not nec- essary for participation in this discussion. I hope any of you wishing to join this section will give in your names a* the close of this session. G: C. GILMORE. I think the splitting machine is at the bottom of this trouble. I have never had any book -covering experience, but in roll-covering I have. When we get a splitting machine that can split a 10 dollar bill or a one dollar bill, sev- eral times, it can easily make three or four thick- nesses of this leather. Pres. DEWEY. Binders use split leather for titles. D. V. R. JOHNSTON. Pig skins are split or scraped. Pres. DEWEY. Mr. Johnston will get much information next year that will be of great value to us. I had a strange experience not long ago with binders in New York, illustrating the diffi- culty of being certain about skins. I ordered some books bound in genuine Turkish morocco, ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIANS. 149 Hausmann skin, without limit as to price. The books came, and I wrote back that they had used Persian morocco. They sent four or five letters, and tried to convince me that I was mistaken; and finally sent up an agent of the dealer from whom they bought the skins. That rascal tried to convince me that the leather was genuine Turkish morocco, till I asked him, " For how much did you sell that leather to this firm ? " He dodged the question, but finally I found out that the price was $22 a dozen. I said, "You know you cannot buy Hausmann skins for less than $33 a dozen in New York." Yet the men who sent him up were men who had been all their lives in that business. They believed what they told me, and they thought they were sending up a man to prove to me what they, with their life-long experience, be- lieved. After such experiences I felt a little thin- skinned when Brother Dunn said I was using German morocco. We will now take up the question of- the exchange of State documents, with suggestions for improving it. Mr. Dunn is Chairman of that committee. J. P. DUNN, Jr., State Librarian of Indiana, read his REPORT ON EXCHANGE OF STATE DOCUMENTS. The resolution under which the committee on existing laws for interchange of documents among the States was appointed, provided that the Chair- man should appoint two other members to act with him. On account of the nature of the work and the somewhat discouraging results of my efforts to secure cooperation, I decided to per- form the duties of the committee myself, and have done so, with the exception of some assistance rendered by W. W. Thornton, Librarian of the Indiana State Law Library. I have not appointed the additional members contemplated by the resolution. As a preliminary step, in February last I sent out explanatory circulars to all the State and Territorial librarians, asking a brief statement of their system of exchange, with references to the statutory authority, and an expression of opinion as to whether the system in use was satisfactory. At the same time I forwarded the latest Indiana documents and a check list of older ones, offering to supply deficiencies as far as possible. I re- ceived answers from ten libraries ; viz. Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachu- setts, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and several of these gave wrong references to their laws on the subject. I have therefore pre- pared the following synopsis of the laws of the States and Territories, from the best authorities accessible, and offer it for what it may be worth. I think it is accurate hi the main, but do not guarantee any part of it. ALABAMA. Distribution is made by Secretary of State, under sees. 232, 236 of the Code of 1887. The law requires him to furnish two copies of laws and one of other documents to other States. ARIZONA. Distribution is made by Secretary of the Territory under sec. 2950 Rev. Stats, of 1887. It is expected that the system will be changed at the next session of the Legislature, and the duty of distribution given to the State Libra- rian. ARKANSAS. The distribution is made by the Secretary of State, who is ex-officio librarian, under sees. 3137, 3140 of Mansfield's Digest (1884). There is no specific requirement to furnish other States. The system is considered satisfactory in the State. CALIFORNIA. The librarian is authorized to exchange all documents with other States by sec. 2295 Deerings Statutes, Vol. i (1886). COLORADO. Distribution to other States is made by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who is ex-officio librarian, under sec. 2081 Gen'l Stats, of 1883. It is wholly discretionary with him. CONNECTICUT. Distribution is made by the Secretary of State under sec. 317 Gen'l Stats. 1888, State Librarian under sec. 321 of same, etc. Supplying other States is obligatory as to some documents, discretionary as to others, and appar- ently not provided for as to others. (See sec. 425 as to journals.) DELAWARE. Distribution is made by the Sec- retary of State under chaps. 4 and 6 Rev. Stats, of 1874. Supplying other States is obligatory. FLORIDA. Distribution is made by the Secre- tary of State, who is ex-officio librarian, under chap. 140 of McClellan's Digest (1881). Supply- ing other States is obligatory. GEORGIA. Distribution is made by the State Librarian under sees. 118, 121 of the Code of 1882. Supplying other States appears discretion- ary, except that it is put on a basis of exchange as to Supreme Court reports. IDAHO. ISO FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. ILLINOIS. Distribution is made by the Secre- tary of State, who is ex-officio librarian, under sees. 58-60 of chap. 127 Rev. Stats, of 1889. Supplying other States is obligatory. INDIANA. Distribution of laws is made by Secretary of State (sec. 5594 Rev. Stats., 1881), of journals by the State Librarian (Acts of 1889, p. 59), Supreme Court reports by the Law Libra- rian in his discretion. Supplying other States is authorized only on a basis of equal exchange. Department reports are in discretionary control of the departments. Some advance towards re- form in exchange was made at the last session of the Legislature, and more is expected at the next. INDIAN TERRITORY. IOWA. Distribution of documents is made by the Secretary of State under sec. 126 McLains Rev. Stats. (1888). He is required to supply States that reciprocate in kind. The law is con- sidered satisfactory in the State. KANSAS. Distribution is made, as to other States, by the State Librarian, excepting depart- ment reports, which are sent out at the discretion of the departments. The Librarian's authority is found in sees. 1953, 3646, 3648, and 6682 of the Gen'l Stats, of 1889. The Librarian is of opinion that all exchanges should be made through one officer. KENTUCKY. The State Librarian is required to furnish session laws to the other States by sec. 8, chap. 67 of the Gen'l Stats, of 1888. There appears to be no provision as to any other documents. LOUISIANA. Distribution is made by the Libra- rian under direction of the Secretary of State, by whom he is appointed. Other States are author- ized to be supplied on the exchange system. The law is not satisfactory, but it is thought that no change involving additional expense could be made. MAINE. The Governor is authorized to furnish three copies of the laws and one each of the Supreme Court reports, and all other documents printed by the State, to the governors of other States, by sec. 84, chap. 2, Rev. Stats. 1883. MARYLAND. The State Librarian is required to send one copy each of the laws, journals, and documents to the executive departments of other States, art. 55, sec. 7 Public Gen'l Laws (1888). MASSACHUSETTS. Distribution is made by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, under chap. 440, Acts of 1889, and other laws. The system is considered satisfactory. MICHIGAN. The State Librarian is authorized to make exchanges with other States of all docu- ments printed by the State, by sec. 303 of HowelPs Statutes (1882). MINNESOTA. The State Librarian is required to furnish other States with laws, reports, and documents, by sec. 60, p. 92 of vol. i, and sec. 34, p. 62, vol. 2 of the Statutes (1878 and 1888). MISSISSIPPI. The Secretary of State is required to famish two copies of the laws and journals to the executive of each State, by sec. 209 Rev. Code of 1880, and to exchange Supreme Court reports by sec. 266 of the same. MISSOURI. The Secretary of State is required to furnish three copies of the laws to other States, by sec. 6578 Rev. Stats, of 1889; and the State Librarian is authorized to exchange reports of Supreme Court by sec. 8212 of the same. MONTANA. NEBRASKA. The State Law Librarian is re- quired to furnish one copy of every book or pamphlet published by the State to each other State, for use of the State Library, by sec. 14, chap. 85 of the Compiled Stats. (1885). NEVADA. The Secretary of State is required to furnish copies of the laws, journals, and Su- preme Court reports to other States, by sees. 1793 and 2561, Gen'l Stats, of 1885. The system is con- sidered satisfactory, but an improvement would probably not meet with opposition. NEW HAMPSHIRE. The Secretary of State furnishes copies of State publications to other States on an exchange basis, under various laws (see sec. 6, p. 71, sec. 7, p. 50, etc., Gen'l Laws of 1878. The system gives satisfaction, and is accompanied by a practice of cutting off States that do not reciprocate, which is worthy of imitation. NEW JERSEY. The State Librarian is required to supply other States with all State publications, by sec. 9, p. 425 of Supplement to Rev. Stats, of N.J. (1887). NEW YORK. Distribution to other States is made by the State Librarian under the authority of the Board of Regents of the University of the State, conferred by chap. 529 of the Laws of 1889. NEW MEXICO. Distribution to other States is made by the Territorial Librarian under super- vision of the Board of Trustees of the library (Laws of 1889, p. 93). The system is considered ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIANS. fairly satisfactory, but could be amended without much opposition. NORTH CAROLINA. The Secretary of State is required to supply laws and Supreme Court reports to other States by sees. 3632, 3635, and 3641 of the Code of 1883. No provision is made as to journals and other documents. NORTH DAKOTA. OHIO. The Governor is made the agent for supplying other States with documents by sec. 73 Rev. Stats, of 1890, but I am informed that the distribution is in fact made by the Secretary of State. The library does not take any care of any- thing but laws and Supreme Court reports, and, judging from a recent article in the Library jour- nal, is not in a hopeful condition. OREGON. The Secretary of State is required to furnish copies of laws and journal to other States by sec. 3964 Hill's Annotated Laws of 1887. PENNSYLVANIA. The laws of this State con- cerning public documents were revised in 1887, and the State Librarian was given entire control of the distribution to other States of all public documents. Brightly's Purden's Digest, Supple- ment, p. 2373. RHODE ISLAND. Distribution of laws is by the Secretary of State, who is ex-officio librarian, under sec. 8, chap. 20, Public Stats. 1882; and Governor is authorized to exchange any public documents with other States by sec. 9, chap. 20 of same. SOUTH CAROLINA. The State Librarian is required to furnish copies of the journals, acts, reports, etc., to other States by sees. 37, 38, and 2107 of the Gen'l Stats, of 1882. SOUTH DAKOTA. TENNESSEE. The State Librarian is required to furnish all documents to other States, by sees. 34, 35 and 39 of the Code of 1884. TEXAS. The Secretary of State is required to furnish all documents to other States, by art. 2723 Sayle's Civil Stats. (1889). UTAH. VERMONT. The Secretary of State is required to supply the laws to the other States, by sec. 4572 Rev. Laws of 1880. The State Librarian is given custody of the Supreme Court reports, but no provision is made by law for supplying them or the legislative documents to other States. VIRGINIA. The Secretary of the Common- wealth is required to supply laws to other States, by sec. 278 Code of 1887, but no provision appears as to other documents. WASHINGTON. The Librarian is authorized to exchange Supreme Court reports with other libra- ries, by sec. 2611 Code of 1881, but no provision appears as to other documents. WEST VIRGINIA. The Secretary of State is authorized to furnish copies of State publications on an exchange basis, by chap. 13, sec. i, and chap. 15, sec. 4 of the Code of 1887. WISCONSIN. The Librarian is authorized to supply other States on an exchange basis, by sec. 372 Sanborn and Berryman's Annotated Stats. (1889). This system is satisfactory to the State. WYOMING. The Secretary of the Territory was authorized to exchange publications with other States, by sec. 1428 Rev. Stats, of 1887. What the State has done is not known. From the foregoing it is evident that there is an injudicious diversity of systems in the States ; but it is more painfully evident that there are a num- ber of librarians and other distributing agents who are not doing their duty. A few States evidently do not contemplate furnishing some of their documents especially legislative and docu- mentary journals to other States, as they have only 200 or 300 of them printed. A number of State libraries do not keep anything but laws and Supreme Court reports, do not desire to receive other documents, and will make no endeavor to furnish other documents to other States. On the whole, I think the most serious question confront- ing us is how to induce State librarians to perform their legal duties. I see no solution for this question, except a resort to the boycott by those librarians who are ready and willing to furnish their documents to other States. So long as they continue to do so, without exacting an equivalent in return, the whole evil will continue as it exists. The avail- able fulcrum for this lever will in all cases be found in the session laws and Supreme Court reports, which all State librarians are desirous of obtaining, and which are of sufficient importance to impress the minds of higher officials, in case the librarian continue derelict. I therefore rec- ommend, i, that the members of this Association enter into a solemn compact not to furnish, or, so far as in their power lies, permit to be fur- nished, any State publications of any kind to any State that will not hereafter furnish all its publi- cations to all the States represented in the com- pact; 2, that a circular be sent to all State 152 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. librarians not originally in the compact, asking them to join in it ; 3, that all those who do not reply by a fixed time, and all those who, on account of the condition of their laws, cannot comply, be blacklisted, and cut off from any supply until they are ready to enter the compact, and supply deficiencies from this date ; 4, that those entering into the compact pledge their words to supply past deficiencies as far as possible; 5, that a State which furnishes all its publications be entitled to receive all the publications of the other States without regard to the number or character of such publications ; 6, that when any State is blacklisted, the Governor and Judges of the Supreme Court thereof be notified of the same and the reasons therefor, and be furnished copies of the circular sent to the Librarian. Respectfully submitted, J- P. DUNN, JR. D. V. R. JOHNSTON. What good will it do if they don't care ? There was a box sent by us to a certain State library, with freight paid as far as we could pay it in advance. A small balance was due, and they would not pay the charges on the box. We sent word that, if they would pay the balance, and report the amount, we would send it back to them. This was not done, and the box came back to Albany. A. S. BATCHELLOR. I favor the general prin- ciples involved in the report. We have practiced them in New Hampshire, so far as we have had control of the State publications in the State Library, and we need a little legislation, which we expect to get this winter, putting more complete control in the hands of the State Librarian. Mr. DUNN moved the adoption of his report. After general discussion G: C: GILMORE moved that the report be accepted, and laid over for the year. Voted. J. P. DUNN moved the adoption of the resolu- tion adopted by " The American Association for the Advancement of Science," in regard to the distribution of U. S. documents. D. V. R. JOHNSTON. I move that Mr. Hovey be appointed a committee to form a plan of action, to act upon that plan, and report the results of his action at the next annual meeting. Voted. T. L. COLE. I move a committee of five to draft, in the form of a bill for the legislatures, a definite proposal of library laws for the govern- ment of State libraries and the distribution of public documents, embodying our platform in the bill form, and such other matters as the com- mittee may see fit, in harmony with the platform adopted at St. Louis, as contained in the printed address in the hands of the members. Voted. Voted that a committee be appointed, whose business it shall be to examine into the laws re- quiring the distribution of documents, to bring to bear, for the enforcement of those laws, such pres- sure as is in their power, and, if necessary, to write to governors and secretaries of State that the des- ignated officers are not carrying out the laws. T. L. COLE reported at length on the present condition of State and law libraries. This report was accepted and will be printed by the Bureau of Education, with other statistical reports laid before this Conference. A recess was taken till 8.30 Thursday morning. THURSDAY, SEPT. II, 1890, 8.30 A. M. Pres. DEWEY read a letter from R. R. Bowker, and exhibited proofs of the lists of the recent State publications of New York and Massachusetts, and explained the importance to State libraries of having the same work printed for all the States. Voted, That a committee be appointed to notify the State librarians that Mr. Bowker is doing this work at his own expense, and to urge their coop- eration in making the work accurate and com- plete. A number of letters were read from gov- ernors, secretaries of State, State superintendents of education, and State librarians, approving the work of the Association and promising cooperation. Also letter from Chairman Russell, of the House Committee on Printing, and from the Postmaster- General as to reduction in postage on library books. Also, as a " pickle to go with our maple sugar," an extract, remarkable for its discourtesy and its ignorance of the character, aims, and methods of the American Library Association, from the report of the New Jersey State Libra- rian, Nov. 1889. After discussion regarding appointments of State librarians, it was Voted, That when there shall be a vacancy in the position of State librarian, an impersonal petition, mentioning no candidate, be made by this Associa- tion, that the place be filled on account of qualifi- cations, and not by reason of the politics of the applicant, and that the Executive Board inform the members of opportunities for making such petitions. Voted, That if the Executive Board shall deem it advisable, this Association shall meet in Decem- ber, 1890. Voted, That the meeting in San Francisco be called two days before the A. L. A., in order to give the entire time to the work of this Association. TRUSTEES' SECTION. 153 FRIDAY, 8.30 A. M. The following officers were elected : President. Melvil Dewey, Director N. Y. State Library. Vice- President. W: H. H. Taylor, State Librarian of Minnesota. Secretary and Treasurer. C: C. Pickett, Assistant Librarian Chicago Bar Association. Executive Board. The above officers and William H. Egle, State Librarian of Pennsylvania, Talbot H. Wallis, ex-State Librarian of California. Mr. PICKETT gave notice of a proposed amend- ment to the constitution, changing the name to "American State and Law Librarians' Associa- tion," and it was voted to submit it for action as provided by the constitution. Voted, That those not directly connected with any State or law library, but who are specially interested in the work of the Association, be cordially invited to attend the next meeting, and join with us in our work. SATURDAY, 8.45 A. M. Voted, That the Executive Board have power to change time and place appointed for meetings in case of urgent reasons. Mr. PICKETT moved that a meeting of State librarians be called at Chicago, on or about the second Tuesday in December, 1890. After protracted discussion of times and places, it was decided to leave the whole matter of meetings in the hands of the Executive Board. Adjourned, subject to the call of the Executive Board. The register shows an attendance of 3 trustees, 22 State librarians or assistants, 5 represent- ing law library interests, beside others interested in the special work of this section. TRUSTEES' SECTION, A. L. A. A meeting of trustees of libraries present at the twelfth annual meeting of the A. L. A. was held for the purpose of organizing a " Trustees' Section." There were present Dr. Herbert B. Adams, trus- tee of Amherst College, Mass. (Prof. History Johns Hopkins Univ.) ; N. H. Cooke, Public Library of Hinsdale, 111.; Thomas B. Garland, Public Li- brary of Dover, N. H. ; John M. Glenn, New Mercantile Library, Baltimore, Md. ; E. C. Hovey, Public Library of Brookline, Mass. ; Rev. Henry F. Jenks, Public Library of Canton, Mass. ; J. C. Kittredge, Public Library of Tewksbury, Mass. ; Jas. P. Parmenter, Public Library of Arlington, Mass. ; Pliny T. Sexton, Regent of University of State of N. Y., Palmyra, N. Y.; Miss D. K. Sherman, Y. W. C. A., N. Y. City; Charles C. Soule, Public Library of Brookline, Mass. Mr. Sexton was elected temporary Chairman, and Mr. Glenn, temporary Secretary. It was moved that this Association be called " The Trustees' Section of the American library Association," and that it be composed of all mem- bers of the A. L. A. who are, or have been, or at any time shall be, members of governing boards of libraries. Adopted. It was moved that the temporary officers be elected to the same positions for the ensuing year. Adopted. It was moved that the President and Secretary should constitute the Executive Committee, with full powers. Adopted. The Secretary was instructed to report to the general meeting of the A. L. A., the organization, and names of members of the section. On motion of Mr. Hovey, the following resolu- tion was adopted : Resolved, That the trustees of libraries attending the Twelfth Annual Conference of the American Library Association having been deeply impressed with the benefit which these meetings confer upon the librarians of the country, and realizing that the benefit derived is eventually for the public good, earnestly urge upon their fellow-trustees the great importance of sending their librarians to these conferences, and to pay their expenses and give them the time in addition to their regular vacation. And realizing the benefit which they themselves have derived from these meetings, they earnestly urge upon their fellow-trustees throughout the United States the importance to them and their libraries of trustees also attend- ing these annual conferences. The Secretary was directed to append to this resolution the names of the members present, and to endeavor to get permission to add their names thereto from all trustees who were pcesent during the current meeting of the A. L. A. It was moved that the papers read Sept. 12, 1890, with reference to the relation of trustees to libraries, together with the minutes of the organ- ization and proceedings of the first meeting of the. 154 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. Trustees' Section, be printed immediately, and distributed to libraries and trustees. Adopted. Mr. Soule and Mr. Glenn were appointed a com- mittee to have printed and distributed these pa- pers ; and $55 were subscribed by the members present towards defraying the expenses of this work. On motion the meeting adjourned. Note. All trustees and members of governing boards of libraries of any kind are invited to unite with us in perfecting and strengthening this organ- ization ; and those who are willing to do so, are requested to send to our Secretary, Mr. Glenn, with their names and official designations, $2, the annual fee needed to constitute them members of the A. L. A., of which we are a section. PLINY T. SEXTON, Chairman, Palmyra, N. Y. JOHN M. GLENN, Secretary, 12 St. Paul St., Baltimore, Md. NEW YORK LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. THURSDAY AFTERNOON. Pres. DEWEY, on taking the chair, described the movement which resulted last July in the for- mation of the Association at Albany, and the favorable circumstances under which it began its work for the 880 libraries in New York. He then introduced the first topic, STATE CLEARING-HOUSES FOR DUPLICATES, and showed that the work of receiving, arranging, and distributing duplicates could be done effect- ively and successfully only at the expense of the State by an officer especially selected for that purpose at the State library. A MEMBER. Is it proposed to catalog dupli- cates ? Pres. DEWEY. That would be too expen- sive. My idea is to make brief slips of the books received, to send to a library a package of the slips for any subject, and after it has made its selection to forward the volumes. Again, a libra- rian gets together and sends his duplicates to the capital. He is informed that he has, say $60, to his credit; he looks over our 100,000 duplicates and picks out what he wants, up to $60. D. V. R. JOHNSTON. We have many tons of pamphlets. To simply cord them up took over a week. A MEMBER. If a librarian had books of con- siderable value, he might want to put some price on them. Pres. DEWEY. If dissatisfied with the price given them by the expert, he can easily buy them back at the same figure. Every State has tons of printed matter that it does not want, and very often choice things are destroyed. Many people clear their book-shelves and throw away pam- phlets which librarians are delighted to have. A. L. PECK. I wanted a certain number to complete a set of pamphlets, and the dealers asked me $9 for it. In a house cleaning I found that number in a grate. If we could send to the State library all we do not want and select what we need, the privilege would be invaluable. Pres. DEWEY. The State, by paying a trained man to do this kind of work, would give its duplicates twenty times their present value. One of the brightest and broadest of the professors at Columbia once spoke of a lot of waste pamphlets he had. A gentleman, looking anxiously for certain things in that line, spoke to him about them. "I have been all over them," said he, "with the greatest care ; there is not a thing there that is of the slightest use." " But," says the other, " will you let me have them if I send for them ? " " Certainly, send for them ; but I am ashamed to give such rubbish to any one, for I have taken out everything of value." They were brought and dumped in a corner. Before half of them had been looked over $13 worth of pamphlets were found that had been ordered, and for which the gentleman was waiting a chance to pay. It is a most pernicious policy for a librarian to assume to say of a lot of pamphlets, Send that to the paper mill, we don't need it. He should pay close attention to what he thinks is valuable, and send the rest to an impartial authority. On motion it was unanimously Voted, That the Board of Regents of the Univer- sity be requested to establish a clearing-house for duplicates, and to offer to librarians the privilege of sending to this clearing-house all publications for which they have no use. P. T. SEXTON. While much interested in the idea as already elaborated, it has occurred to me that it may be pushed still further. Among small libraries, whose resources are limited, there may be those that will at times find upon their shelves books which have been read in the community, have ceased to be of special use there, and which N. K LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 155 it would be well to exchange for other books. Could not the clearing-house be useful in that direction ? Pres. DEWEY. There may be a scientific Ger- man periodical in a library in a community where there is not a man that can read it. Some libraries have gifts of excellent novels, when they use only scientific books. Two libraries like these could send into the clearing-house what each did not require, and take what each needed. CO-OPERATION BETWEEN THE LIBRARIES AND THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF THE STATE. A. L. PECK. The State of New York annually sends out a trained corps of teachers to give instruction at teachers' institutes. I suggest that these instructors be requested to give at least one session, or part of a session, to showing the usefulness of the library to the public school. Let the teachers interest themselves in the reading of the children, and in this manner interest the children in what is most helpful and elevating. Pres. DEWEY. The Regents have lately intro- duced in the academies of the State a new course in American and in English literature, and a course in English reading. Both look in this direction. The proposition to do this was most warmly endorsed by the principals who considered it. The country is ripe for this thing. The best teachers are all anxious to cooperate with us, as witness the admirable address of Senator Patterson the other night. SHALL THE STATE GRANT SUBSIDIES TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES CONTROLLED BY INDIVIDUALS? Pres. DEWEY. Most of you know that some States feel apprehensive of this giving of bounties. The New York law began by granting to the larger libraries in the larger cities a subsidy of $5,000 for every 75,000 volumes circulated, and later, through the efforts of Mr. Peck, who is with us, the law was extended to smaller libraries on the basis of $1,000 for each 15,000 of circulation A. L. PECK. For the last fifteen years I have had the pleasure of being a teacher under the supervision of the Board of Regents. During that time I had the selection of all the books and all the apparatus that has been bought with the Regents' money, and with the appropriation of my own city. You will remember that the Regents first published a small manual called the University Manual. In that manual you will find a list of books. The Regents recommended that all books purchased with their money for union schools should be selected from this list. They then got out a second edition. This was enlarged. Finally the list became so large that it was printed as a separate book. I believe every cent of money spent for books was well spent. The books were constantly used. I also believe that libraries with these subsidies have no right whatever to purchase books that would be worthless or injurious to the community. I think that the Board of Regents should annually prepare a list of books, and that only books mentioned therein should be counted in awarding the subsidy. The State should act as a supervisory board in the selection of books, and librarians alive to this question, who are willing to improve the public taste, will fall in line immediately. Miss E. M. COE. Of the expediency of censor- ship I have not the slightest doubt, because it is perfectly plain to my mind that the generosity of the State of New York has been abused, and is being abused, in some libraries which are bene- ficiaries. A class of books circulate with great freedom which should not be in the hands of our young people. To have a censorship is a wise thing, which I hope may be arranged. It certainly could not be done in the manner Mr. Peck suggests, by a list, because that would cut out a very large number of new publications. Stanley's book, for instance, could not be purchased under such a censorship, until it had appeared on the list. What would be right in a school library might not be right in another library. A censor- ship over such a library as mine must be exercised in a different way. I think the board of super- visors should be named and elected by the State, or perhaps by the Board of Regents themselves. In either case this board should inquire into the actual circulation of every library that receives subsidies from the State. Pres. DEWEY. The recent action of the Board of Regents indicates that this supervision is in their line. They expect every library that enjoys the privileges of exemption from taxation to make a sufficient report to the proper officer. I believe that officer should be the State Librarian. As soon as competent librarians can be put in charge of the work, they should make sworn reports of the facts. These reports would be made a basis to determine what libraries should enjoy from the State further advantages. Again, in case of secondary schools, we issue a certificate giving the standing of each, after inspection by the Regents' inspector. In that way once a year 156 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. we might get sworn reports from the libraries, and those circulating proper books in a proper way could be entitled to various privileges. Miss E. M. COE. That would be the better way for the school libraries, because it gives more scope to the teacher himself. He knows the needs of his scholars and what books are best for them. He should have perfect liberty in the purchase of his books ; but he should come under the ban if he did not show good judgment in their purchase. Pres. DEWEY. Would not the case be met by a very full list of books, constantly enlarged ? You instance Stanley's book. That book is known as safe and desirable, before it is printed and could be placed on the list. Scholars could thus have it promptly. Then a school that has to buy $100 worth of books has a wide freedom; and as fast as a teacher sees a book that ought to go on there it is immediately added. It would be thus easy to weed out anything improper from the list selected. Prof. BISBEE. Can you dodge the religious issue on this question of censorship ? Pres. DEWEY. One way to dodge it is to omit all partisan books. A MEMBER. In the subject of history, Boston finds it difficult to arrange that matter. Pres. DEWEY. Some people would reject the Bible on the same score. Prof. BISBEE. Would it be possible to secure harmony without the exclusion of all religious books ? Would not that be a very decided bar to this whole matter of censorship ? I do not see how it could be done in a city like Manchester in this State, under the municipal government. W. S. BISCOE. It seems to me there would not be great difficulty in a majority of cases. The libraries are ready to put into their collections books written from a different standpoint. Ob- jection is made only to very strongly partisan books. On the lines of general historical work there would be no particular difficulty. A MEMBER. Suppose a condition of affairs where the Catholics were in the majority, and wanted the censorship ? Pres. DEWEY. If they were a majority in the State, and were paying the largest amount of taxes, some think they ought to have it. P. T. SEXTON. It had not occurred to me that any one supposed the censorship would go beyond the interests of morality in the selection of books that might fall into the hands of the young people. I do not think the State would assume to say certain books should not be placed in the library, but would refuse to grant any public money by reason of the addition of such books. Libraries draw public money only in proportion to the books approved by the State. A. L. PECK read a very entertaining paper on EARLY LIBRARIES IN NEW YORK. On motion of D. V. R. JOHNSTON, Voted, That the Association incorporate into its by-laws and rules a provision that it meet each year with the A. L. A. for the purpose of doing both home and foreign missionary work; to get New York librarians at the convention, and also to disseminate the principles of library work through the State. Pres. DEWEY. The trustees will send the li- brarians, because they not only go to the National Association but to the New York Association. P. T. SEXTON. The annual meeting for the election of officers might profitably be held during the University Convocation at Albany, when we have a larger attendance of members of the Association. I feel much interested in this work, and think that many others, not librarians, but deeply interested in the subject, will be gathered at the Convocation, while very few would be found at the meetings of the A. L. A. I would therefore move that the annual meeting and annual election be at the time of the University Convocation. Passed. Voted, That the present officers continue until the time of the next meeting. Voted, That Geo. B. Gallup be Secretary and Treasurer for the remainder of the year. SOCIAL MEETING. POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 157 THE SOCIAL MEETING. FRIDAY EVENING. The spacious dining-room at Fabyan's, and the cosy corner in the entrance hall, with its attractive fireplace, offered many facilities for social inter- course, which were constantly improved during the week of the conference. The social feature of the meeting, however, was the entertainment admirably planned by a special committee, and successfully carried out on Friday evening. Meet- ing in the parlor at 7.00 P. M., the Association proceeded to the dining-hall in a procession so long that it seemed to those at the end of the line the capacity of that apartment was to be seriously tested. All, however, were finally seated about the tables, skillfully arranged with reference to the subsequent speeches. Grace was said by Rev. H. F. Jenks, and ample justice done the excellent menu offered by the Messrs. Barren. The post- prandial exercises were conducted by Dr. L. H. Steiner, who read a pseudo letter of instructions as to the conduct of the festivities which dealt sharp hits right and left. The following gentle- men then made remarks of the typical after-dinner order, pleasant to hear, hard to report : F. M. Crunden, M. D. Bisbee, J. P. Dunn, Melvil Dewey, Mellen Chamberlain, P. T. Sexton, C. D. Vail, H. B. Adams, W. I. Fletcher, and W. F. Poole. The speeches were interspersed with the singing of selections from the forthcoming A. L. A. song- book, to familiar tunes. After a brief intermission the members re-assembled in the parlor, where the gentlemen had the pleasure of five-minute interviews, after the manner described on page 240 of the Library journal for 1890, with the " living literature " represented by the following titles : " Golden butterfly," " Middlemarch," "Gold Elsie," "Portrait of a lady," "Moods," " Initials," " But yet a woman," " Essay on man," " Figs and thistles," " Harvard graduates I have known," " Three feathers," " Heartsease," " Inno- cence abroad," " Oliver Twist," " Looking back- ward," " The ring and the book," " Vice versa," " Heart of the White Mountains," " Chain bearer," " Portraits of places," " Two daughters of one race," " In darkest Africa," " We two," " Ferns of North America," "Cutter's rules," "Old maid's paradise," " Wing and wing," " Lamplighter," " Pair of blue eyes," " American notes," " Hannah Thurston," " Norwood," " Flowers, fruits, and leaves," " It is never too late to mend," " Ivanhoe," " Moonstone," " Florentine Mosaic," "^Plain tales from the hills,'' "Broken chains," "She," "A faded leaf." The award for the most apt repre- sentation of the title chosen was voted to Mrs. Whitney, of Kansas City, who was charmingly attired as " She." A close second was Mrs. Melvil Dewey, who simply carried a toy hoe, of course personating "I've an hoe." Dancing and conversation prolonged, the pleas- ures of the evening till a late hour. THE POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION.* BY MARY IMOGEN CRANDALL, LIBRARIAN OF THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. T IBRARIANS are modest creatures, and have * ' no idea of posing as suitable story-book ma- terial ; yet who can more appropriately preserve in a prosaic age the atmosphere and traditions of poetry and romance than the guardians of books ? And so is it not very natural and proper that the annual pleasuring of librarians should have, as it does, a sort of Robin Hood flavor, in its freedom and gayety, its good fellowship and unconventionality ? And what journey could be devised in modern times more like that of the magic carpet of the " Arabian nights," than the one of the lucky librarian for whom a beneficent board of trustees dispatches a mysterious bit of paper to "the library centre of the country," and who straightway sets forth on his journey and accom- plishes a royal progress, without money and with- out price no sordid bills to settle ; no trouble- some trunks to check ; not a thought to give any- thing his only duty to eat, drink, and make him- self agreeable ; for lo, a soulless corporation is his servitor, and bids him do this, and straightway he doeth it, and go thither, and behold, he goeth, and so avoids that greatest trial of a truly soulful librarian on a vacation deciding what to do and where to go. And then all this pleasant and care- *This account is printed mainly at the expense of the Library Bureau. 158 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE, free journey is taken with a choice company of the elect, those clever and congenial people who constitute the noble army of book-lovers, and who are, indeed, the chosen out of all the earth. Truly, the journeyings of the A. L. A. are "worthy of the golden prime of good Haroun Alraschid," and the September journey of 1890 surpasses all its predecessors in the picturesque quality of its method and setting. A living writer successfully accomplished the description of the " Strange adventures of a phaeton ; " but there has lived but one, I believe, who could grapple with the much more exalted and comprehensive theme, the " Strange ad- ventures of three tally-hos," and that one unfort- unately died some five centuries ago. All the efforts of our Recording Secretary to come into communication with the spirit of this Great Departed, and induce him to undertake the nar- rative of the A. L. A. excursion as the theme of an epic poem have proved unavailing. He was not to be found " With the Immortals " whom Mr. Crawford's electrical researches have again ren- dered visible to mortal eyes, and we can only imagine how the tale of our mountain pilgrimage would be told by Chaucer. Might it not fitly begin ? : Whan that Septembre with his schowres swoote The drought of August perceth to the roote Byfel that in that sesoun on a day In Hampshire, at the Profile, as I lay, Redy to wenden on my pilgrimage To Jefferson with ful devout corage, At night was come into that hostelrie, Wei nyne and thirty in a compainye Of sondry folk, by aventure i-falle In felaweschipe, and pilgrims were thei alle That high on tally-ho coaches wolden ryde. His modern pilgrims having increased by the addition of ten, he might this time think it " accordaunt to resoun " to omit something of the " Condicioun of eche of hem, And which they weren, and of what degre ; And eek in what array that they were inne," but could not omit to state how " wel we weren esed atte best." What a crowning touch to the Aladdin's carpet journey if Chaucer only would appear to tell its story 1 With what deft touches could he depict our Monk, "to ben an abbot able ;" our Sergeant of Lawe, " war and wys ;" our Doctour of Physik ; our learned clerks of Oxenford, with "bookes blak and reede ; " our Nonnes and Prioresses so " amyable of port," and he, who, as they sang the " servise divyne," bare to them " a stif burdoun, was nevere trompe of half so gret a soun." But the great magician will not be wooed ; a plain grey glass must suffice the unfinished window in Aladdin's tower, and we must "forther in this tale pace," abandoning the hope of such pleasant company, but following once again in the foot- prints of that early narrator, for "At a Knight than wol we first bygynne." The night at which we begin, is the Saturday night at the Profile House, and an excellent be- ginning for the recreation half of the conference it proved. A railway ride of a few minutes, dur- ing which we obtained refreshing glimpses of a wooded wilderness with mountain streams and lakelets, transferred us from the bustle and confu- sion, and the prosaic surroundings of Fabyan's to the calm serenity of the Profile House. A chorus of acclamations bore witness to the pleasant im- pression made upon us, and from that time the disposition " care and toil to lay aside," became increasingly manifest. At supper, a viand with the beguiling title, " coddled apples," was in popu- lar demand, and a further yielding to the flesh was evidenced by an early adjournment of the tired party to the Land of Nod. Indeed, the atmos- phere was so inimical to a resigned acceptance of care and toil as one's lot in life, that the recently elected Secretary of the Association was moved to cast his burden from him without further delay, and during the stilly watches of the night arose and thrust his unqualified resignation beneath the door of the president-elect. Sunday broke bright and clear, and was the one jewel set solitaire in the prevailing cloud effects of our mountain sojourn. Those who properly observed the day went reverently and alone be- fore breaking their fast to question fate in the form of the Old Man of the Mountain. If fro.m his stern face set towards the sky and the ever- lasting hills, there came down any reply, the questioners have never said. The devotional exercises of the day began early, with a Sunday-school class conducted during the intervals of breakfast by the President, assisted by a member of the Cornell University faculty. The class originated in a praiseworthy endeavor to convert from his cannibalistic tendencies the Epicurean from the City of Brotherly Love who announced that he was engaged on "the first Christian steak he had tasted since leaving Philadelphia ! " How to absorb in one short day the greatest possible share of the beauty of the Franconia mountains was a puzzling problem to our party. As the roads were rather wet, the majority decided to drive to the Flume, the Pool, and the Basin, in the morning, and to take a mountain climb in POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 159 the afternoon. The drive was of singular beauty and interest. The wet leaves of the trees were shining in the morning light, and here and there a brilliant scarlet or golden bough flamed out amid the green. The hidden Pemigewasset made charming music for all who had an ear to give it, and now and again smiled shyly at us from among sheltering trees and fringing lichens. After exploring the rocky fissure down which the Flume Brook rushes, up to the point where enthusiasm was either dampened or drenched, according to the loftiness of its flight, the party resolved itself into chapters for contemplation and sun-baths on the lower rocks. Afterward, through the media of ginger ale and other mystic rites, a number of the ladies were installed as regular members of the Agre- garian Libation Association by one of its past masters. A brief inspection of the Pool and the Basin need not detain us, for a hasty reference to any trustworthy guide-book will remind the forgetful visitor that the " Stygian Pool is surrounded by cliffs whose shadows enhance its weirdness and gloom," while the Basin is " filled with cold and pellucid green water." If we did not pause to coin poetic phrases in which to describe their charms as well as others', was there not Starr King, and Ward, and Ticknor, lurking about in corners, so ready to "interpret," and to whom we could grant a protracted audience, when we had bidden the mountains a long farewell but dinner was a poem, the interpretation of which might not be deferred however long protracted. On comparing notes with the select minority, who in the morning hours went up into a mountain, their report with the trifling exception in re- gard to a " standard luncheon " not quite meet- ing the high bibliographical standard was of so enviable a character that some of the mundane majority were fain to confess that they, too, would gladly have attended divine service on the moun- tain peaks. The tramp to Bald Mountain was at a fortunate hour. The level rays of the afternoon sun flooded the northern valleys with a sea of light, and threw dark contrasting shadows across the crags and ravines of Mt. Lafayette ; while every tip of foliage in the green gulf below us was thrown up in exquisite relief. As we lingered until the sun had almost set, the distinction between the aspir- ing and the grovelling souls was clearly brought out. The latter huddled themselves into some sort of rickety wooden concern, defacing the brow of the hill, and pored over " Baedekers ;" the former, carefully adjusting this group into the background, established themselves on the eternal rocks, and obeyed that latest mandate of the dear old Autocrat " Look on the mountains : better far than speech Their silent promiselof eternal peace." A brisk descent through shadowy woods brought us down to Echo Lake just in time to see a glori- ous flush of rosy sunset color reflected in its shin- ing waters, while the wonderful echoes wakened by the bugle were floating back from cliff to cliff. The sudden burst of beauty brought a sudden hush of spirit, as though we stood at the entrance of some great cathedral ; and no one blamed the feeling of the spectator whose devotions we inter- rupted, who turned away quietly as we appeared, saying, " You '11 spoil it ! " When the rose color faded from Echo Lake, we watched the marvelous changing crimson-purple hues on Eagle Cliff, and so on in silence through the twilight, until " a new planet swam into our ken," shining through the Notch, and we went in to the blazing logs, and the admonishing of one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Monday morning brought a time of general parting and hasty leave taking. The attractions of the Profile House still held a number ; a small party decamped to Breezy Hill, and a large num- ber of busy mortals must hasten back to the dusty towns. But the noble nine-and-thirty, " warranted to wash, all wool, and a yard or so wide," just filled the assembled drags. There was the Crawford House coach drawn by handsome bays, the artful Smuggler and the coquettish Daisy to lead, the steady General and the tricky Colonel for wheel- ers, and the musical driver, so fond of "Mush, mush, mush, tu-re-li-ah-dy ; " the six Fabyan grays, decked with yellow plumes, and driven by a picturesque villain in a slouch hat ; and the Twin Mountain vehicle drawn by mingled grays and bays sporting green plumes, and fated to encoun ter whatever trifling accidents came in our way. And then there was Carlo, a running attachment to the Fabyan coach, and the baggage wagon steered by " Louis," who " knows enough to drive a tally-ho, but has n't the nerve ; " and lastly, there were the thirty-nine, producing the impression of six hundred, with bags, and bundles, and mackin- toshes untold. Napoleon or Mr. Gladstone might have evinced dismay if he had been suddenly asked what was to go where, and who, on which. Not so Maj.-Gen. H. E. Davidson, the accom- plished tactician. With a calm and practiced eye he surveys the group, gently but firmly packs each i6o FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. coach. A dulcet voice in the advance caravan starts the cry, " Hark, I hear a voice 'way up in the mountain-top ! " and behold we are merrily tooling toward the "ultima Thule of grandeur," Jefferson Hill. That first forenoon gave us the finest views of all our journey. Such magnificent stretches of mountains, distant enough to appear in heavenly hues, and given an aspect of poetic mystery by the light, wreathing mists which softened every ruggedness. And all along our nearer route September had stationed his royal standard- bearers, golden-rod and asters, to greet us, and we moved through a maze of dainty color ; or, if nature needed brightening, there was the gay tally-ho winding ahead, a picture in itself, with the bright cap on some fair lady's crown furnish- ing the " red note " so dear to Whistler. Like the girl on the Grand Canal in Venice, we " simply drank it all in, and life never seemed so full before." Yet every one arrived at the Waumbeck House with a famous appetite for a delicious dinner. A pleasant incident of our brief sojourn here was the meeting with the aged Dr. McCosh, who went from table to table greeting the libra- rians, "without whom we authors cannot get along." At one table we did not recognize " Jamie," and so, asking the name of our welcom- ing host, were told : " My books always stay on the shelves McCosh ! " The sight of his honored and kindly face was a pleasure to all of us, and added to the home-like, hospitable im- pression made on us by this cheery hostelry. Our welcome was from the white-haired phil- osopher ; and the children, drawing up in a merry group, gave us a " send off " by letting loose the Waumbeck tiger to speed the parting guest. For their benefit we displayed in return our tiger, reared by the wayside " A ! L ! A ! ! A ! L ! A ! ! Here we go! Rah ! Rah! Rah ! A! L! A ! ! ! ' So on we drove along Israel's River, and past Jefferson Highlands, the clouds shutting us in and darkness gathering as we left the Moose River, and carefully felt our way along the wooded Peabody, which we could hear on our right, rush- ing through what seemed a narrow gorge. A light rain came on, but when we left the forests the stars were shining brightly, and in less time than it requires for that improper young person, who chose such a roundabout way home from Aunt Dinah's quilting party, to reach her destination, we had arrived at the Glen House. One of the coaches, after seeing Nellie all the way home, evidently tried to return by way of the "Lost Nation Road," for it went very much astray. It is probably superfluous to note that the same dis- tinguished librarian was aboard whom it was necessary to rescue from his steaming consomme in Memphis on the last excursion. It was pleasant to come in from our last twelve miles or more in the darkness to the gloriously blazing fireplace of the Glen House, and bask in the warmth of that great bed of coals below the blaze, taking solid comfort, and suggesting to one another all the vari- ous jolly roasting frolics possible with such a fire for somehow the mountain air did contrive to give our thoughts a utilitarian cast. A ten o'clock supper, after a forty-three mile drive, put us in a mood to appreciate the superlative com- fort of the Glen House beds. The bells of a herd of cattle wakened us in the morning, with a momentary impression that we were in Switzerland. Consulting our guide books, we found that we " looked out on the five highest mountains of New England, which are not masked by any intervening objects." But for us, the " mas- sive crest of Jefferson," as well as the " low humps of Clay," might as well have been situated in Kam- chatka, for all we were able to see of them, a few in- tervening objects in the way of molecules of aque- ous vapor effectually obscuring them. It was very warm, and after breakfast the Sachems held a pow-wow in the little summer house, while poetic maidens plucked the primrose by the river's brim. The second start was made about ten, after a little marshalling of his forces by the general to see that every one set forth in a different coach from the one taken the day before, and that parties were not allowed to " crystallize." Our route lay through the Glen to Jackson ; and as we drove through charming woodland ways it was evident that the Robin Hood atmosphere was beginning to affect the spirits of the party, and every one carried a merrier heart and was in a gayer mood than on the previous day. There were sporadic outbursts of atrocious puns, but every one bore up under them wonderfully. And songs were sung in various tongues, not excepting the "yet more various langwidges of Billy Moon." Was it possible that the A. L. A. had subscribed to the Bacchanalian couplet, " Wer liebt nicht Wein, Weib, undGesang Der ist tin Narr sein Leben langl " IVeib and Gesang were surely plentiful, and " wine " was forthcoming ; for behold, a sign by the wayside, evidently erected for our benefit by our thoughtful Secretary, as he had passed before, bore POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 161 the legend, " BLACKBERY WINE I " And there was a thrifty housewife with a shrewd, kindly face, and a goodly store of blackberry shrub and maple sugar, for which the " lords " contracted in wholesale quantities, and which may have pre- vented the broiling of a Christian steak that day, for we did not dine until four. We stopped to view the Crystal Cascade and Glen Ellis, with its beautiful fall ; and the frivolity of the party became increasingly manifest in the bedecking of their steeds, their persons, and their carryalls with scarlet moosewood berries and bright leaves, and in the flaunting of sprays of golden-rod, and the waving of silken ensigns tied to walking- sticks, until the unregenerate state of one party reached its fit expression in the hoisting of the black flag of piracy, and the taking to highway robbery as a profession by all those children of Beelzebub thereon assembled. The breaking of a king-bolt of the Twin Moun- tain coach retarded our progress, but every one was safely bestowed in due season at the sign of the Lion Rampant, where Gen. Wentworth gave us cor- dial entertainment. Wentworth Hall, set among its banks of flowers, remains a bright picture, and a charming view of the town, with its white church spire against the hills, was obtained from the falls of Wild-cat Brook. Here the wild West, of re- cent transplanting, reinforced itself with tin-horns, the guests of Wentworth Hall gave us a parting salute, and we were off for North Conway, well wrapped in our tarpaulin jackets, for the first rain of any account was settling down on us. But no note of discouragement was audible in the lusty blasts of the horns, and every one seemed as bent as ever on going the longest way around with Nellie, who evidently had not yet arrived. A compilation of the songs, which did such excel- lent service on this trip, if brought out by the pub- lishing section, would have great vogue. No coach- ing party likely to encounter showers, would be equipped without it. It would make a bulky volume, for the ambition of the party took a wide range from " Annie Rooney " and her kin, to Haydn's " Creation " and the Pilgrim chorus, from Tannhauser ; but every selection could be warranted water-proof, and equal to any amount of wear and tear. There was something in the character of the songs fitted to marvelously counteract the effects of a falling barometer, or else there was such an irrepressible and un- quenchable spirit of levity and hilarity rife in the party, that even the perpetual companionship of Nellie could not depress us. As the com- mander-in-chief expressed it, nothing could dampen the ardor of librarians. " Singing we were, or floyting all the day, We were as fressche as is the monthe of May." " Wrap me up in my tarpaulin jacket," became a frequent request during this evening's drive and throughout the following day. " A capital ship for an ocean trip the rollicking window blind," seemed strikingly appropriate to the exigencies of life on a tally-ho. Poor Heiden Roslein, and dar- ling Clementine, the Nut Brown Maid, Rosalie, and the Lorelei all led to the "Tavern in the town ;" and " Pipes and punch " were called for and then " Each heart recalled a different name But all sang Annie Laurie ; " and Annie introduced " Robin Adair," who showed the way to " Twickenham Ferry " and the " Birks of Aberfeldy '' and so around to " Bonnie sweet Bessie " and all her friends of the " North Countree." And if the stars should deign to steal out shyly it was " Hutelein still und klein, Blinken. sanft im Sternemckein ; " and if the storm-clouds lowered and we went a per- ilous way by rushing torrents through dark ravines, " Lead kindly light " became our thought, and Car- dinal Newman's fine hymn would ring out with such sincerity of feeling as atones for faulty rendering. That night we were treated to a new scenic effect not announced on the program. A vivid flash of lightning, followed by a sudden heavy thunder clap, showed our coaches close together on a down grade in a thick wood, and the startled horses plunging excitedly, and then all was black again, and we skurried on in a lively pour. Ar- rived at the Kearsarge House, our tiger displayed the advantages of his literary training, and the attendants were electrified by a portentous roar of " Up drawbridge, grooms ! What, warder! Ho! Let the portcullis fall ! " No one was really wet, of course, but a few felt just a trifle moist, and our appearance was, per- haps, not the most presentable in the world ; but quite a different party bobbed down serenely at supper, bright and smiling in best bibs and claw- hammers, with a fresh color caught in wind and rain, and bouquets of asters or nasturtiums, or sweet peas obtained of the cunning little flower girls in the hall. Dancing, whist, and music filled out the evening, and mutual congratulations were in order on being so particularly English, don't you know, as to have this delightful rainy weath e l62 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. for coaching. It could n't have been more so, if we had all been Mr. Carnegie's guests for a Scot- tish tour. The continued " cloudiness, with chances of light rain " Wednesday, made the climbing of Kearsarge a vain pastime, and Diana Baths superfluous; so it was decided to push forward on the last stage of our journey, through the Intervale to Upper Bart- lett, and on through the Notch to the Crawford House. Only light passing showers encountered us during the morning, but all who wished to avoid a wetting were comfortably bestowed inside, and then the sailors went climbing up aloft, to enjoy ever-changing views of the lovely and idyllic Inter- vale, with the Saco, brown and swollen, rushing through, in its stony bed. The forest trees had colored more brilliantly than any we had yet seen, and gold and crimson grew more frequent as we approached the Notch. Dr. Johnson's famous remark in regard to "a good tavern or inn," seemed very applicable in our case to " George's " in Upper Bartlett. Thirty-nine unexpected guests for dinner is a formidable array, but " George " was equal to the emergency. It was like the famous "moving of the barn to North Braintree " " then ran Jerusha and dropped the potatoes in the pot, and Abigail ran with knives and forks to set the table," and while Mr. George put salt on the tails of his wary fowls, or lassoed the steak running at large in the pasture, his guests sought diversion each after his kind. One took a last good-by stroll with Nellie, who, every one will be relieved to learn, reached home at last ; others arranged Peter Gray, " Over the banisters," with original effect ; and in less time than one would have deemed it possible for any apple on the tree to be metamorphosed into pie, a plentiful dinner was served. Observing that, in the hurry of preparation, an orchestra to accompany the repast had been overlooked, a self-sacrificing contingent, less eager to satisfy hunger than to give others pleasure, supplied the deficiency by a vocal rendering of the " Animal fair," an appropriate selection, with a singularly poetic and inspiring refrain. Naturally such mag- nanimous people found sufficient reward in the high appreciation of their efforts evinced by the company. Afterward we learned that some of our exceptionally appreciative and intelligent waitresses were guests of the house, who had quietly taken their part in the frolic, while kindly assisting in the assuaging of our hunger. With umbrellas discarded and the peaked hoods of their mackintoshes drawn up, giving the caval- cade a more pilgrim-like aspect than ever, those nuns and prioresses, and faithful brothers of the " ordres foure" who " liked to feel like vegetables, and grow in the rain," took their accustomed places, and once more entuned their customary service. The constant warning, "low bridge!" necessitated a low celebration; but solemn high mass might fitly have been celebrated in the beau- tiful temple enclosing the remainder of our way. Gothic aisles of slender white columns, golden- vaulted, their delicate leaf tracery overlaid with yet daintier lace-work of silver rain, led to the mountain altars. Scarlet and rose and crimson glowed in the windows of the temple, and pure baptismal waters gushed within it, and the mur- muring wind was the Voice of the Priest " O lift thine eyes unto the hills, whence cometh help ! " Can the irreverent have the effrontery to sug- gest that the cathedral roof leaked badly all through service, and that the anthem of the Im- provisatore was not devotional in character ? The candid reader shall judge as to that, for the Im- provisatore sang "There's moisture in the air When the A. L. A. are nigh ; And down their necks it drips From a most unfeeling sky; But before the fire we '11 dry, Or we '11 know the reason why, And our spirits will be high Spite of moisture in our hair." All too soon we reached the drying fires for those who thought, with Tennyson's Ulysses, that it was extremely dull " to pause and make an end." For our adventures with " Smuggler " and " Louis " and the rest were over, and our drive of ninety-nine miles, the longest coaching trip taking in the mountains this year, had come to an end. The weather and the appetites have been the main business of the recorder; the latter, rising inversely as the barometer, mounted alarmingly at the close of this day's journey, and threatened to create a famine in Crawford House buns and rolls. A question of voracity, exciting some feeling, came up at the President's table, the spectators being divided as to how many plates of cakes had already been consumed by this high official, and how many more might, with impunity, be attempted. If the Crawford House guests had planned a special entertainment for our benefit, they could have devised nothing prettier than the quadrilles and Swedish dances in which they took part that night. They could not guess, as they wove their intricate figures, that they themselves were woven into the thoughts of so many; for who forgets the lady of the soft blonde hair, or the charming POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 163 children dancing with such spirit, or the lovely girl in the autumn-leaf gown, with her dainty distinc- tion of bearing, at whose feet the A. L. A laid its collective heart ? Thursday morning was still rainy, and most of the party were content to rest on their laurels and take life easily ; but the inde- fatigable climber and waltzer walked up to the cascades, and " there on the little bridge the winds and water made delightful music, and I had a little dance all by myself." By two o'clock, just as we took our departure, the sun came out with a broad smile, and our study of cloud effects was over. One by one the peaks receded and reappeared, until we bade a last farewell to Chocorua, and went inside, glad that our last glimpses of the Delectable Moun- tains had shown them of ethereal hues, and bathed in sunshine. A beautiful sunset, a new moon, and Venus, resplendent in the west, made pleasant our approach to the fit termination of a book- lover's pilgrimage the fair city of Boston. Of course no house could be more appropriately our abode than the historic Parker House, with its memories of famous bygone banquets to give anticipative flavor to our own, and where we could look down to Ye Olde Corner Book-shop ; or see through the leaded windows the ivy reddening on King's Chapel, as we munched the rolls and chops so kindly provided by our Assistant Secretary. Bohemian parties of the barbarians, or non-Bos- tonese, sallied forth after supper in search of cult- ure, bon-bons, and Faneuil; Hall, and, after view- ing the elephant with enthusiasm, and making repeated and vain requests to " mamma " to " buy them that," were lulled to rest by airs from Trova- tore, played by the strolling musicians, who seemed to haunt the corners of School and King streets, and whose harp, violin, and flute created a really charming effect. Our entertainment for the following day had been delightfully planned, and was carried out to perfection in all its details. The " meet " was at the Athenaeum Library, where the party was taken in charge by the local committee, consisting of Col. Lockwood, Mr. Davidson, and Mr. Parker. Once more bestowed on the tops of tally-hos, we were driven to the Public Library, and then, to the gay accompaniment of the tally-ho horn, through the stately Back Bay region to Cambridge, where we took the venerated university by storm in a most audacious fashion. After a brief inspection of the library and its treasures, and a hasty glimpse of Memorial Hall and the Gymnasium, we were driven past the Longfellow House and Mt. Auburn, through Watertown and Newton to Chestnut Hill, and back to Boston and Freeman Place Court, by way of Beacon street. The balmy, June-like day, which we were as- sured had been specially ordered for us by the thoughtful local committee, put every one in a sunshiny mood ; but the place being Boston, and the company so literary, if any one dared mention the weather, it could only have been in some such classic fashion as this : " What sound was that, O Socrates? and how melodious it was! " "That, Chaerephon, is the Halcyon not a large bird, though she has received large honour from the gods. For whensoever she makes her nest, a law of nature brings round what is called Halcyon's weather days distinguisha- ble among all others for their serenity days like to-day ! See how transparent is the sky above us, and how motionless the sea !" " True ! a Halcyon day indeed !" There was never a luncheon combining such charming effects as that provided for us by the Boston Book Company. A flood of sunshine streaming down through the windows of the little gothic chapel, which once vibrated to the sweetly earnest tones of James Freeman Clarke, now fell on bright bunches of golden rod, and gay little knots of people, grouped picnic fashion in alcoves of well-bound books, and happy as the gods on Olympus, with cream cheese and water biscuit for ambrosia, and chocolate for nectar. A sail down the harbor followed, in the steamer kindly put at our service by Mayor Hart, to whom the librarians might say with Whittier, "The millennium began when thee was elected." At Deer Island we landed, and the boys of the re- form school went through their musical drill with much spirit and precision. The beautiful views of the harbor enjoyed by the inmates of the place impressed us favorably with the charms of Deer Island as a summer resort. Music, lemonade, and a few barrels of olives had been thought- fully provided for the refreshment of our return voyage, and we reached the steamer's dock in good order, with minds "perfectly clear and not at all preoccupied," just as the sun was setting behind that gilded dome round which the universe is said to revolve. The banquet given in our honor by the publishers and booksellers brought to a climactic close this day of delightful festivity. Our entertainers were the firms of Houghton, Miff- lin & Co.; Little, Brown & Co; Estes & Lauriat ; the Boston Book Co. ; the Library Bureau ; Roberts Bros. ; De Wolfe, Fiske & Co ; D. Loth- rop Co.; T. Y. Crowell & Co.; Damrell & Upham; Lee & Shepard ; Ginn & Co.; C. F. Libbie & Co. ; D. C. Heath & Co. ; the American Book Co. ; and Silver, Burdett & Co. 164 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. Mr. Dana Estes presided over tables strewn with roses ; near him were seated Dr. Phillips Brooks, Dr. Edward Everett Hale, Judge Chamberlain, and Dr. Poole. Authors who were present were Rev. W. E. Gritfis, George Makepeace Towle, and Rev. Julius H. Ward. We feasted to the music of the Cadet Band until summoned to attend the feast of reason and flow of soul. Mr. Estes expressed a graceful wel- come, and called on Mr. Crunden, Dr. Hale, Dr. Poole, Judge Chamberlain, Mr. Green, Mr. Soule, Mr. Hovey, Mr. Wilder, and Mr. Fletcher for speeches. Dr. Hale, who has the reputation of being the best after-dinner speaker in Boston, was particularly bright and felicitous in his remarks; but the expression which the librarians will long- est remember was that pretty figure, used with such sincerity of feeling by our president be- cause for all of us as well, the gracious courtesies of our Boston hosts had " crowned our cup of happiness with a garland of forget-me-nots." The banquet was the official termination of the post-conference excursion, but few were stoical enough so soon to cease conferring, and little parties were planned for Salem, where Mr. Gard- ner M. Jones acted as host, and to the shrine of the Concord prophet, and many remained over Sunday and enjoyed the rare pleasure of hearing Phillips Brooks in beautiful Trinity. One by one, however, the convocation melted away, and by the following night few remained ; for we packed our trunks " like the Arabs, and silently stole away," carrying off with us for future refreshment and delectation countless numbers of those mental photographs, which only grow brighter with years " So through a golden haze in years to come, When the long summers burn, ' And in the rainless hills the brooks are dumb, The glory will return. Then thou shall hear the cool sea billows break Across the harbor bar, And the blue ripple of the mountain lake Shall glisten from afar. For this is Nature's largess: color, tone, Splendor of land or sea, All that she once reveals becomes thine own . For days that are to be. " MR. W. F. POOLE'S REMARKS AT THE PUBLISHERS' AND BOOKSELLERS' DINNER.* Mr. Crunden, our President, has expressed the thanks of the members of the Library Association for the charming courtesies extended to us this day by the publishers and booksellers of Boston. I wish also, in behalf of the western librarians, of whom there is a goodly number present, to repeat these acknowledgments, and express the delight with which we have participated in these generous and unexpected hospitalities the coaching ex- cursion to the suburbs, the lunch, the sail in the harbor, and now this elegant and bountiful ban- quet. These are features which were not in our original program, and they are the more accept- able because they were not anticipated. Boston was once familiar ground to me. Here I spent the first twenty years of my life as a li- brarian ; and then I thought I knew the city well, and something of its suburbs. Although a fre- quent visitor, I have not been able during my twenty-one years of residence in the West to keep up with the progress and development which has here been going on. If I had been dropped off one of the tally-ho coaches to-day, I should have had to inquire the way back to my lodgings. * Mr. Poole, not being satisfied with the report in the Boston newspapers, has revised his remarks, were not furnished for publication. The physical changes, the expansion, and the im- provement in the style of buildings during two past decades have been amazing. The only characteristics of Boston which have not changed are its narrow streets and its ancient reputation for generous hospitality to visitors. We accept these courtesies as librarians, and our generous friends and hosts I know will expect us to behave very much as we do at our own gatherings; and if our remarks should take a practical turn, it ,is because that is our way. If any one supposes the American Library Associa- tion to be a junketing institution, or one for the indiscriminate distribution of taffy, he is mis- taken. We meet for solid work, for improve- ment, for investigation and criticism in all the de- partments of library economy. We do not spare each other when our schemes deserve criticism. Wherever we assemble we look over the institu- tions we find there, compare views, commend whatever is new and commendable, and comment in a charitable spirit on whatever we find which is otherwise. We have thus, after an activity of fourteen years, arrived by a common consensus of The other speeches POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 165 opinion at some fixed principles in library econ- omy which we use for the benefit of the communi- ties in which we practice our profession. If our comments at any time shall take on the form of sharp criticism, there is nothing in it of personal- ity or bitterness. Besides the memories of these delightful hospitalities from the Boston book publishers, are there no practical suggestions in the line of our work to be gathered here, which we may carry away to our widely scattered fields of labor ? Boston is now engaged in the most interesting experiment of constructing a building for one of the largest libraries in the country. It is an undertaking in which not only the Boston public is interested, but other cities as well where large library structures are needed. On our return we shall be questioned by our trustees and directors as to the plans and progress of this building. Among the principles of library construction, which with us have become common law, are these : to secure the comfort and quietude of the readers, a suitable shelving of the books, where they will be readily accessible, security from fire, and a convenient scheme for the administration of the library. These are matters of primary im- portance, and the first to be considered ; and fur- thermore, that these essential conditions shall never be sacrificed for architectural effect. It is a fact that these conditions admit of aesthetic treatment as readily as any other, provided we approach them from the useful and practical side, instead of the architectural, as is usually done. Readers need to be quiet and to be let alone; and the presence of visitors among them is annoy- ing. Does the reading-room of the new building, 220 feet long, 47 wide, and 60 high, meet the con- ditions which readers require ? Will it not be an architectural show-room rather than a study-room for scholars ? It seems to be especially designed for the delectation of visitors who will wander about among the readers, admiring and comment- ing on the immense space overhead, and the artis- tic skill displayed in the decorations. So far as the facilities of study are concerned, they will be quite as favorable outside, in Copley square, as in the hall. Is it not the repetition on a larger scale of the inconveniences of which students have complained in the present reading-room on Boyls- ton street, and in those of nearly all the large libraries of the country ? Can any sensible reason be assigned why a reading-room should be sixty feet high, and made a show-room ? Again, the reading-room is in the front of the building, and the books, as appears on the plans sent to me from the library some time ago, are in the rear of the building in stacks, one above the other, seven stories high. Is this providing ready access to the books ? I am told it will not be practical to have windows in the rear stacks, and hence by day they will be lighted by electricity. It is often necessary for students to examine books on the shelves, and to do it under these condi- tions, without natural light, appears to be very inconvenient. The growing tendency in large libraries is to bring books of the same class together and shelve them in separate apartments. The department of the fine arts and others of much importance, which ought to be readily accessible, have, on the plans I have seen, been placed above the stack-room under the roof. The space which has been sacri- ficed, in order to give the reading-room a height of sixty feet, would have accommodated these special departments. The fa9ade is a beautiful specimen of the Florentine renaissance style, and in Italy the style is appropriate to the uses to which buildings are put. In our country the first story is the most valuable. In Italy it is used for secondary and menial purposes, hence it has few and small win- dows. In Venice that story has no practical value on account of dampness, the buildings all standing in water. As one stands in Copley square, he wonders how the first story, with such a meagre display of windows, is to be lighted. As I yesterday passed through that story, which seemed like a crypt, I was amazed at the intention of the trustees and architect to place in such a location the cataloguing department of this library, which requires the best and most abundant light which the building affords. I saw, as I remember it, one room about twenty-five feet high and thirty- five feet square with two small windows. I had no guide to inform me where the rooms for cat- aloguing were to be, and hoped no part of it was to be in that room. It may be said : " Why not have more and larger windows ? " The architect would probably reply: "The Florentine renaissance style requires small windows and few of them in the first story. The style originated long ago, during troublous times; and with few and small windows the build- ing was more easily fortified. The same con- struction, and for the same reason, is seen in the old buildings of Paris." But the times have changed. We live in peaceful communities. The i66 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. skulking Indian has departed. The ministers and deacons have now no occasion to take with them to church their flint-locks and powder-horns. With this change in the times, should there not be a corresponding change in our every-day archi- tecture ? In libraries abundant light is more essential than facilities for fortification. I have talked with persons here who base their opinion of this building upon that beautiful fa9ade, and have not given a thought to what is to be on the inside, or the uses to which the space is to be applied. I suppose, in case my remarks are re- ported in the morning papers, that only the few persons here and there who have given the matter attention, will agree with me in these suggestions ; but this I predict, that, unless the plans are changed, time will bring us all to one mind. I saw in print, at the time the plans were first made public, that the estimated cost of the build- ing would be about $1,300,000. I have since learned that $1,500,000 has been appropriated, and that another appropriation of a million would be asked for. I also noticed yesterday that the roof was not on. I am rather interested in the cost of large library buildings, for there are three to be built soon in the city where I reside, and I shall be glad to learn what the cost of the struct- ure on Copley square will be. There is another rather remarkable fact con- cerning this building which deserves mention that it was planned without consultation with the accomplished Librarian of the Boston Public Library, or with any other librarian, as will appear from the incident I am about to relate. Mr. Henry Ives Cobb, one of the leading architects of Chicago, under an engagement with the trustees of the Newberry Library, visited Boston and all the other Eastern cities to examine buildings and confer with librarians and trustees. He fort- unately took down these interviews in writing. He called, when in Boston, on Mr. Wm. W. Greenough, the late President of the trustees of the Boston Public Library, and, in the conversation, asked Mr. Greenough what librarians he had consulted in making the plans of the new build- ing, and received this reply : " We have con- sulted no librarians, not even our own. Libra- rians are not practical men, and all have bees in their bonnets.'' This opinion of librarians, in- dividually and collectively, has rather encouraged me to express, when I have a proper occasion, my opinion as to the success of the experiment of constructing a library building without taking counsel with persons whose experience enables them to know what the essential requisites of a library building are. I do not know the reason for my being called up this evening, unless it be that the general sub- ject of my remarks has been frequently discussed since we came to the city, and my views upon it are well known in the Association and to some members of the committee. Until we were seated around these tables, I was not informed that I was expected to speak, and I have said more than I intended when I arose, but nothing, I think, which I wish to retract. Your kind attention, and what seemed to me like sympathy and approval, must be held responsible for much that I have said, which in Boston may seem like heresy. NECROLOGICAL ADDENDA TO THE TREASURER'S REPORT, 1890. Two members of the Association, and one who had been a member, have died since the last report. They are mentioned in the order of their deaths, and the registration number of each is appended : John N. Dyer, Libn. Mercantile L., St. Louis, Mo., died July 3, 1889 (75). Frederic Vinton, Libn. College of New Jersey, Princeton, N. J., died Jan. i, 1890 (26). Dr. Edward Aiken, Amherst, N. H., died Aug. 16, 1890. Indexer in office of Sec. of State, Con- cord, N. H., 1889 and 1890 (489). Mr. Vinton had ceased to be connected with the A. L. A. for a number of years past ; the other two were active members at the time of death. ATTENDANCE. 167 ATTENDANCE SUMMARIES. BY REGISTRATION SECRETARY, NINA E. BROWN, NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY. BY POSITION AND SEX. Men. Women. 20 5 64 36 14 31 3 8 2 7 22 10 12 40 138 136 II 21 127 115 ECTIONS. Sent Total. 2 S ICO 45 3 10 29 10 5 1 274 32 241 ..176 Me BY SI A AXES. Carried forward, 193 Ohio '. c N. H .... It. Sub-librarians and assistants.. Vt 8 Ind Mass 65 Ill 1C R. I 7 Mich c Conn 12 Wis i " Bureau, publishers, etc. N. Y Minn Penn 4 la 2 Deduct those counted in two classes N. T.. 6 Mo 10 Md 4. Kan I D. C 10 Neb . ... I Np BY GEOGRAPHICAL S 9 of the 9 No. Atlantic States. 3 " 9 So. Atlantic States I " 8 Gulf States 8 " 8 Lake States 3 " 7 Mountain States i " 8 Pacific States Total La . . . . 2 Cal I 193 Total 241 2 . AA > I . .241 ATTENDANCE REGISTER. Adams, Harriet A., Ln. P. L., Somerville, Mass. Adams, Herbert B., Trustee Amherst College, Prof, in Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, M. D. Allan, Jessie, Ln. P. L., Omaha, Neb. Andrews, Clement W., Ln. Mass. Inst. Technol- ogy, Boston, Mass. Arms, Lillian D., Springfield, Mass. Arnold, G: N., Ln. Rogers F. L., Bristol, R. I. Bagg, M. M., Ln. Oneida Hist. Soc., Utica, N. Y. Baker, G: H., Ln. Columbia College, New York City. Baldwin, Elizabeth G., Cataloger Columbia Col- lege L., New York City. Bardwell, W : A., Ln. Brooklyn L., Brooklyn, N. Y. Bardwell, Mrs. W: A., Brooklyn, N. Y. Barnum, T. R., New Haven, Conn. Batchellor, A. S., Trustee N. H. State L., Little- ton, N. H. Bean, Emma J., Cataloger Andover Theological Sem. L., Andover, Mass. Bean, J: U., Brookline, Mass. Bean, Mary A., Ln. P. L., Brookline, Mass. Beer, William, Ln. F. P. L., Topeka, Kan. Binion, Dr. S. A., New York City. Bisbee, M. D., Ln. Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H. Biscoe, Walter S., Catalog Ln. N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y. Bixby, E: C., As. Ln. P. L., Providence, R. I. Blake, Clara S., Ln. F. L., Westborough, Mass. Bonney, Mrs. A. P., Lowell, Mass. 1 68 FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. Bonney, Clara, Lowell, Mass. Borden, W: A., Ln. Young Men's Inst., New Ha- ven, Conn. Bradley, I: S., As. Ln. State Hist. Soc., Madison, Wis. Bradley, W: C., Ln. F. L., Brattleboro, Vt. Brett, W: H., Ln. P. L., Cleveland, O. Brolley, A. S., Ln. N. Y. State Court Appeals, Albany, N. Y. Brown, A. N., Ln. U. S. Naval Academy, Annap- olis, Md. Brown, Nina E., Shelf-lister N. Y. State L., Al- bany, N. Y. Bunnell, Ada, Class '91, Library School. Burnell, Kittie, Cataloger P. L., Boston, Mass. Burr, J. L. Cady, Mary R., Book Com. F. P. L., North Adams, Mass. Carr, H: J., Ln. P. L., St. Joseph, Mo. Carr, Mrs. Edith Wallbridge, ex-Ln. 111. State L., St. Joseph, Mo. Carver, H. L., Director P. L., St. Paul, Minn. Chace, Jonathan, U. S. Senator, Providence, R. I. Chamberlain, Mellen, Ln. P. L., Boston, Mass. Charlton, Julia E., E. Windsor Hill, Conn. Cheney, J: Vance, Ln. F. P. L., San Francisco, Cal. Clarke, Edith E., Cataloger Newberry L., Chi, cago, 111. Clary, E. Tracy, Norwood, Mass. Cochrane, Sarah A., Cat. dept. P. L., Detroit Mich. Coe, Ellen M., Ln. P. L., N. Y. Free Circulating L., New York City. Cole, G: Watson, As. Ln. Newberry L., Chicago, 111. Cole, Mrs. G: Watson, Chicago, 111. Cole, T. L., Law bookseller, Washington, D. C. Cooke, H. H., Manager Library dept., A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 111. Crandall, Mary Imogen, Ln. Brooklyn Inst., Brooklyn, N. Y. Crunden, F: M., Ln. P. L., St. Louis, Mo. Crunden, Mrs. Kate Edmondson, ex-As. Ln. P. L., St. Louis, Mo. Cutler, Louisa S., Ln. Aguilar F. L., N. Y. City. Cutler, Mary Salome, Vice-director Library School- Library examiner University of State of N. Y., and Ln. of Diocesan Lending L., Albany, N. Y. Cutter, C: A., Ln. Boston Athenaeum, Boston, Mass. Cutter, W: R., Ln. P. L., Woburn, Mass. Davidson, Herbert E., Sec. Library Bureau, Bos- ton, Mass. Dewey, Melvil, Director N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y. Dewey, Mrs. Annie, Chairman Library Com. Y. W. C. A. and Diocesan Lending L., Albany, N. Y., ex-Ln. Wellesley College. Dewey, Godfrey, " A. L. A. Baby," Albany, N. Y. Dickson, Mrs. Nellie A., Springfield, Mass. Dudley, C: R., Ln: Mercantile L., Denver, Col. Dunn, Jacob Piatt, jr., Ln. Ind. State L., Indian- apolis, Ind. Dunton, C. Augusta, Ln. P. L., North Adams, Mass. Eaton, Julia A., Littleton, N. H. Eddy, Mary A., Ln. F. P. L., Coldwater, Mich. Edmands, John, Ln. Mercantile L., Philadelphia, Pa. Edmands, Mrs. Ellen M., Philadelphia, Pa. Farr, Stella B., Ln. P. L., Littleton, N. H. Fassig, O. L., Bibliographer and Ln. U. S. Signal Service L., Washington, D. C. Feary, Charlotte S., Cataloger Columbia College L., New York City. Fletcher, W: I., Ln. Amherst College, Amherst, Mass. Flint, Bessie F., Haverhill, Mass. Flint, Weston, Statistician U. S. Bureau Educa tion, Washington, D. C. Flint, Mrs. Weston, Washington, D. C. Flint, Master Weston P., Washington, D. C. Foster, W: E., Ln. P. L., Providence, R. L Gallup, G: B., Ln. Y. M. A., Albany, N. Y. Ganley, Mary, Cat. dept. P. L., Detroit, Mich. Garland, Caroline H., Ln. P. L., Dover, N. H. Garland, T: B., Trustee P. L., Dover, N. H. Gay, Clara F., Norwood, Mass. Gay, Frank B., As. Ln. Watkinson L. and Ln. Conn. Hist. Soc., Hartford, Conn. Gaylord, W: M., Trustee Forbes L., Northampton, Mass. Gill, C: G., Ln. Tulane Univ., New Orleans, La. Gilmore, G: C., Trustee N. H. State Library, Man- chester, N. H. Glenn, J: M., Manager and Treas. New Mercan- tile L., Baltimore, Md. Goddard, E: N., Ln. and Trustee Windsor Library Assoc., Windsor, Vt. Godfrey, Mrs. B. D., mother of two libns., Welles- ley, Mass. Goss, E. H., Chairman Board of Trustees P. L Melrose, Mass. Green, Harriet E., Instructor in Library School Cat. dept. Boston Athenaeum, Boston, Mass. Green, S: S., Ln. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. ATTENDANCE. 169 Griswold, W: M. ex-As. Ln. L. of Congress, Cam- bridge, Mass. Griswold, Mrs. W: M., Cambridge, Mass. Guild, Reuben A., Ln. Brown Univ. L., Provi- dence, R. I. Hagar, Sarah C., Ln. P. L., Burlington, Vt. Haines, Martha B., Cataloger F. P. L., Newark, N.J. Hall, E: W., Ln. Colby Univ., Waterville, Me. Harris, G: W., Ln. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N. Y. Harris, W: T., U. S. Commissioner Education, Washington, D. C. Hayward, Almira Leach, Ln. P. L., Cambridge, Mass. Haywood, Mary A., Teacher, New York City. Hedge, Frederic H., Ln. P. L., Lawrence, Mass. Hill, Frank P., Ln. F. P. L., Newark, N. J. Hills, G: W., Editor Evening Post, Bridgeport, Conn. Hills, Mrs. G: W., Bridgeport, Conn. Hills, H. J., Supt. P. L. and R. R., Bridgeport, Conn. Hitchcock, Anna C., Suffield, Conn. Hovey, E. C., Trustee P. L., Brookline, Mass. Hovey, Mrs. E. C., Brookline, Mass. Hull, Fanny, Ln. Union for Christian Work, Brooklyn, N. Y. Ives, William, Ln. Buffalo L., Buffalo, N. Y. Jackson, Annie Brown, Book Com. F. P. L., North Adams, Mass. James, Hannah P., Ln. Osterhout F. L., Wilkes- Barre, Pa. Jameson, J: F., Prof. Brown Univ., Providence, R. I. Jaquith, Mrs. O. B., Ln. Norman Williams P. L., Woodstock, Vt. Jenkins, Mary A., As. Ln. P. L., Boston, Mass. Jenks, Rev. H: F., Trustee P. L., Canton, Mass. Jenks, Mrs. L. H., Canton, Mass. Johnson, (Miss) Sumner, Ln. P. L., Waltham, Mass. Johnston, D. V. R., Sub-Ln. N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y. Jones, Ada Alice, Cataloger N. Y. State L., Al- bany, N. Y. Jones, Clara A., Ln. F. L., Warwick, Mass. Jones, Gardner M., Ln. P. L., Salem, Mass. Kephart, Horace, Ln. Mercantile L., St. Louis, Mo. Kimball, Arthur R., Acting Ln. N. H. State L., Concord, N. H. Kittredge, J. C., Trustee Tewksbury P. L., Brook- line, Mass. Koopman, H. L., Cataloger Univ. of Vermont L., Burlington, Vt. Laidley, Caroline S., Ln. P. L., Northampton, Mass. Lane, Charlotte G., Cataloger Bowdoin College L., Brunswick, Me. Lane, W: C., As. Ln. Harvard College L., Cam- bridge, Mass. Lang, Sallie, Cataloger Columbia College L., New York City. Latham, Lucy E., Boston, Mass. Leavitt, Charlotte D., Ln. P. L., Elyria, O. Leavitt, Frank M., Boston, Mass. Linderfelt, K. A:, Ln. P. L., Milwaukee, Wis. Little, G: T., Ln. Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me. Lockwood, J: S., Vice-Pres. Library Bureau, Bos- ton, Mass. Loomis, Mrs. M.. L., Accession dept. N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y. Lounsbury, Prof. T: R., Ln. Sheffield Scientific School, Yale College, New Haven, Conn. McCaine, Mrs. Helen J., Ln. P. L., St. Paul, Minn. McCaine, William, St. Paul, Minn. McNeil, Abbie M., Ln. Athenaeum, St. Johnsbury, Vt. Mann, B: Pickman, Bibliographer, Washington, D. C. Mann, Mrs. Louisa, Washington, D. C. Mann, Frances M., Ln. P. L., Dedham, Mass. Matthews, Harriet L., As. Ln. F. L., Lynn, Mass. Medlicott, Mary, As. City L., Springfield, Mass. Metcalf, Edith E., Cataloger Newberry L., Chi- cago, 111. Miller, Mrs. M.. H., Ln. Iowa State L., Des Moines, la. Montgomery, T: L., Ln. Apprentices' L. and Wag- ner Free Institute of Science, Philadelphia, Pa. Moses, John, Sec. and Ln. Chicago Hist, soc., Chicago, 111. Mosman, Mary C., Reference Ln. Pratt Inst. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. Muller, Dr. R: W., memb. N. Y. F. Circ. L., New York City. Muller, Mrs. R: W., New York City. Nelson, C: Alex., Ln. Howard Memorial L., New Orleans, La. Nelson, Mrs. C: Alex., Brooklyn, N. Y. Nelson, Martha F., Ln. Union L. (W. C. T. U.), Trenton, N. J. Neumann, C: G., Bookbinder, New York City. Parker, W: E., Treas. Library Bureau, Boston, Mass. Parmenter, James P., Trustee P. L., Arlington, Mass. 170 FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. Patten, Frank C., Curator of catalog, N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y. Patterson, J. W., Supt. Public Instruction, N. H., Hanover, N. H. Paul, H. M., As. Astronomer and Ln. U. S. Naval Observatory, Washington, D. C. Paul, Mrs. H. M., Washington, D. C. Peck, A. L., Ln. F. L., Gloversville, N. Y. Peters, Fannie R., Bangor, Me. Pickett, C: C., As. Ln. Law Inst., Chicago, 111. Plimpton, C: W:, Class '91 Library School, Charles River, Mass. Plummer, Mary W., Ln. Pratt Inst. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. Poole, Mrs. C. Clarence, Evanston, 111. Poole, Reuben B., Ln. Y. M. C. A., New York City. Poole, W: F:, Ln. Newberry L., Chicago, 111. Prescott, Harriet B., Cataloger Columbia College L., New York City. Pride, Rev. E. W., Trustee P. L., Tewksbury, Mass. Prince, Howard S., Ln. Sci. L. U. S. Patent Office, Washington, D. C. Ramsdell, L. Atlanta, Cataloger Pratt Inst. L., Brooklyn, N. Y. Rice, H. R., Lowell, Mass. Richardson, Ernest C., Ln. College of N. J., Princeton, N. J. Rockwell, Anna G., Class '92 Library School, East Windsor Hill, Conn. Root, Azariah S., Ln. Oberlin College L., Ober- lin, O. Rounds, C: C., Principal State Normal School, Plymouth, N. H. Salvene, Sarah, As. Ln. Aguilar F. L., New York City. Sanborn, Kate E., Loan dept. Boston Athenaeum, Boston, Mass. Sanders, Mrs. Minerva A., Ln. F. P. L., Paw- tucket, R. I. Sargent, Abby L., Ln. Library Assoc., Wilming- ton, N. C. Sargent, Mary E., Ln. Middlesex Mechanics As- soc., Lowell, Mass. Secomb, D. F., Ln. P. L., Concord, N. H. Selby, Emily H., As. Ln. 111. State L., Springfield, 111. Sexton, Pliny T., Regent Univ. State of N. Y., Palmyra, N. Y. Sexton, Mrs. Harriot H., Palmyra, N. Y. Seymour, May, Classifier N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y. Shaw, W: B., Ln. Y. M. C. A., Albany, N. Y. Sherman, Deborah Keith, Trustee Y. W. C. A., New York City. Simpson, Alphonso, Chelsea, Mass. Simpson, Medora J., Ln. Fitz P. L., Chelsea, Mass. Sleeper, Lydia B., Woodstock, Vt. Smith, Clara M., Peterboro, N. H. Smith, Irving, Peterboro, N. H. Smith, Mrs. Irving, Peterboro, N. H. Solberg, Thorvald, ex-As.-Ln. Library of Congress, Boston Book Co. Solberg, Mrs. Adelaide, Boston, Mass. Soule, C: C., Trustee P. L., Brookline, Mass. Southworth, Myra F., Ln. P. L., Brockton, Mass. Stechert, G. E., Foreign bookseller, New York City. Steiner, Lewis H., Ln. Enoch Pratt F. L., Balti- more, Md. Stetson, Willis K., Ln. F. P. L., New Haven, Conn. Stetson, Mrs. Willis K., New Haven, Conn. Stone, W: C., As. Ln. City L. Assoc., Springfield, Mass. Sutermeister, Louise, Class '91 Library School, Kansas City, Mo. Thurston, Elizabeth P., Ln. F. L., Newton, Mass. Timmerman, Charlotte, Class '93 Library School, Sycamore, 111. Timpson, Mrs. J. A., Teacher, New York City. Truax, Ella S., As. Ln. Athenaeum, St. Johnsbury, Vt. Tyler, Arthur W., Ln. F. P. L., Quincy, 111. Underbill, Caroline M., Cataloger F. P. L., New- ark, N. J. Utley, H: M., Ln. P. L., Detroit, Mich. Utley, Mrs. H: M., Detroit, Mich. Vail, C: D., Ln. Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y. Walker, H. A., Class '92 Library School ; Ln. Oli- vet Church L., New York City. Ward, James W., Ln. and Sec. Grosvenor P. L., Buffalo, N. Y. Ward, Mrs. James W., Buffalo, N. Y. Waterman, Lucius, Trustee P. L., Littleton, N. H. Weatherbee, Julia M., Dedham, Mass. Werder, E: J. F., Classifier Yale College L., New Haven, Conn. West, Theresa, Deputy Ln. P. L., Milwaukee, Wis. Wetenskamps, Frank, Patent dept. Astor L., New York City. Wetmore, Miss, Des Moines, la. Whelpley, A: W., Ln. P. L., Cincinnati, O. Whelpley, Mrs. A. W., Cincinnati, O. Whitelaw, Oscar L., Trustee P. L., St. Louis, Mo. Whitelaw, Mrs. O. L., St. Louis, Mo. ATTENDANCE. 171 Whitney, Mrs. Carrie W., Ln. P. L., Kansas City, Wire, G: E., M. D., Supt. Medical dept. Newberry Mo. L., Chicago, 111. Whitney, Solon F., Ln. F. P. L., Watertowfl, Mass. Woodman, C. Belle, As. City L., Springfield, Mass. Williams, Norman, Trustee Crerar L., Chicago, Woodworth, Florence E:, Cataloger N. Y. State 111. L., Albany, N. Y. Winchester, G: F., Ln. P. L., Paterson, N. J. Yerker, Susan H., Ln. Arthur Winter Memorial Wing, J. N. (of C: Scribner's, Booksellers), New L., Stapleton, Staten Island, N. Y. York City. The Treasurer reports five names not registered. &Ek %'( , x*iv- '.\t^6b Y>*\ fciiiiic^j \*$BIF : !$ '^ |fe ^tP ^ li^^^ ^* > > -* V^i*. '-v^%? 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