m 



N??S 

JS^^^*^r^7 
'%& 






** 



/>' V : li^ v^/:y vf^B 






at 

<3 



THE UNIVERSITY 

OF ILLINOIS 

LIBRARY 











T.-V-: 

$&&%& (^Sil^ll ; S 









ffSf'^.-i !:*&:: A tietitik 

'^J:- 






$$&J \s "?*y 









*^' ^ f 



r^; N^vf 7 v^vggi ^**5j 
^^^^ 



^^^ 






jjjk^Vjt '<fe Vi -* ; " v 3ik'''-'^ ''<]*. 

T^r^ liwl'VTt-T^ ^"*\Y7A. . _j*W*<_' --C1r^ j-*'-~ *-,. ^\T.LX ^^*;.i\ f-^^f^ ,~ _ ^*^.11-X -> 



,x- .* 

l-jSttV^& : 

^E^'4 4* -t^J 
J^ 






'Av^ 

^ t|^ 'v> 

: : i :'<&: 




. P^/jsL^ 



'V. ." .N^' 



^^ 



PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



OF THE 




HELD AT 



SAN FRANCISCO 



OCTOBER 12-16 



18911 



BOSTON 

AMERICAN PRINTING AND ENGRAVING Co 
189^ 



CONTENTS. 



Title. Author. Page. 

President's address S: S. Green i 

Binding and binderies D. V. R Johnston 9 

Points of agreement among librarians as to library architecture .... C: C. Soule 17 

Reclassification and renumbering of the Detroit Public Library . . . . H: M. Utley *o 

Libraries and schools S: S. Green 22 

Economical, educational, select catalogues for public libraries . . . . W.K. Stetson 26 

Annual report on gifts and bequests Miss C. M. H twins . 27 

Use of the Public Library in the Cleveland schools W: H. Brett 30 

The best library legislation W: I. Fletcher 31 

Access to the shelves in the Cleveland Public Library W: H. Brett 34 

Contagious diseases and public libraries G. M.Jones 35 

The argument for public support of public libraries W: E. Foster 39 

Impressions in foreign libraries M.. S. Cutler 48 

Tabulated reports of state library associations H. E. Green 52 

Uniformity in public libraries or individuality L.H.Sieiner 57 

Method of cataloguing U. S. public documents and periodicals in the San 

Francisco Public Library J, Vance Cheney 61 

Access to the shelves a possible function of branch libraries H. Putnam 62 

Proceedings 68-124 Endowment 112 

First Session 68-81 Seventh Session 112-116 

Miscellaneous 68 State library associations 112-113 

Secretary's report 68-69 Library receipt book 113 

Treasurer's report 69-70 Renumbering and reclassifying 113 

Necrological addenda 70 Normal schools and libraries 113-1 14 

Public documents 7~74 "8, 120 Cataloging 114-116 

Endowment 74~8o, 83, 97, 112 Eighth Session 116-124 

Cooperation Committee 80 Miscellaneous 1 16 

Committees 80 Election of officers 116-117,127 

F. P. Hill 81 Place of meeting 116-117 

Second Session 81-88 Copyright 117-118 

Miscellaneous 81 Special report on public documents 118-120(56670-74) 

Catalogue of the publications of the igth century 81-83 Executive committee 120 

Endowment 74-80,83,97, 112 Thanks 120 

Miscellaneous 83 The new cataloging 120-121 

Binding 83-85 Adjournment, when 121 

New York library school 85-87 Japanese libraries . . ....>... 121-122 

Pratt Institute training class 87 Resolutions 123 

Amherst summer library school 87,88 Officers for the ensuing year 123-124 

Third Session 88-95 Santa Barbara Session 124 

Importance of public libraries 88-95 Thanks 124 

Miscellaneous . . 95 Train Session 124-126 

Fourth Session 96-104 Place and time of next meeting 124-126 

State libraries 96, 128-129 Revision of constitution 126 

Trustees' section 96 Program of next meeting 126 

Subject index 96 Train Session 126-127 

Invitations for the conference in 1893 .... 96 Thanks 126-127 

Finance committee 97 Officers chosen 127(566116-117) 

Endowment fund 97 Chicago Session 127 

Points of agreement in library architecture . . 97-4 Publishing section 128 

Fifth Session 104-107 Association of state librarians ........ 128-129 

Libraries and schools 104-107 From N. Y. to the Golden Gate, D. V. R.Johnston 129-133 

Sixth Session 107-112 At San Francisco Jessie Allan 133-136 

Miscellaneous 107 Public reception in the Palace Hotel 136-138 

Contagious diseases . 108 Reception at Oakland 138-140 

Access to the shelves 108 Speeches at the banquet at the Palace Hotel . . . 140-148 

Prehistoric Poole loS-m From San Francisco to Chicago . M..E.Ahern 148-153 

Columbian exhibition in Attendance register '53-154 



CONFERENCE OF LIBRARIANS. 



SAN FKANCISCO, OCTO3EK 12-16, 1891. 






ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, SAMUEL SWETT GREEN, LIBRARIAN OF THE FREE PUBLIC 
LIBRARY, WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS. 



The function of a library is to serve its 
users. 

It is the duty of a public library to serve 
the public. 

The trustees and librarians of a public 
library are ministers of the people. They are 
to be ministered unto, aside from what the 
dictates of humanity demand, only in so far as 
provisions made for their comfortable per- 
formance of work may enable them to render 
service of increased efficiency and value. 

The service to be rendered by a librarian, 
however, it should be remembered, in the case 
of a very large portion of the community, is 
that of the parent and teacher and never that 
of a slave. 

A trustee of a large library wisely writes : 
" The community * * very rationally prefers 
the library which furnishes the greatest num- 
ber of facilities, the need for which is felt by 
the community (with a corresponding dead- 
ness in regard to facilities desired only by the 
librarian), and will do most for the reputation of 
the librarian who best administers the trust." 

Usefulness, then, is the test of successful 
library management. 

That statement, however, let it be distinctly 
understood, does not necessitate sympathy 
with a library officer who looks with contempt 
upon what have been happily called the me- 
chanic arts of our occupation. In 1876 I 
assisted in the formation of this association, 
and for fifteen years have been proud to work 
side by side with Winsor and Poole and Cut- 
ter and Dewey, while they, and others with a 



spirit like theirs, have labored to propagate 
correct ideas regarding library architecture 
and the cataloguing and classification of 
books. The work of these men has been a 
noble one. 

In places where persons are allowed to go 
to the shelves of libraries, it is a matter of 
prime importance that they should find the 
books systematically arranged and so placed 
that such as treat of similar subjects may be 
found in close juxtaposition. In all libraries 
a good system of classification must be in use 
if librarians are to aid inquirers expeditiously 
and even with certainty of finding answers to 
their questions. 

It is also indispensable that a library should 
be thoughtfully, scientifically, and adequately 
catalogued. 

Neither can people be well served in a poor 
library building. 

The public is concerned in having rooms 
for unpacking boxes and examining and cat- 
aloguing books ; well arranged and ample 
shelving; and in the provision of facilities 
for quick delivery of books to users within the 
building, and expeditious distribution of 
them to persons wishing to take them home. 
It is especially concerned to have well-lighted, 
ventilated and heated study, reading, and wait- 
ing rooms. 

Hearty praise, then, belongs to the men who 
have labored to improve the cataloguing and 
classification of libraries, and to exert an influ- 
ence in behalf of correct principles of library 
architecture. 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



It is evident that their efforts must be con- 
tinued. 

Especially needful is it that they still pro- 
claim the gospel of convenience and suita- 
bility respecting library buildings and the 
equipment of libraries. 

Thanks largely to the influence exerted by 
this association in its corporate capacity, and 
through the individual efforts of its members, 
immense strides have been made in the libra- 
ries of this country in cataloguing and classi- 
fication during the last fifteen years. 

One or two of the systems in vogue here 
have attracted much attention in foreign coun- 
tries also, and the names of Cutter and Dewey 
are mentioned with respect not only in this 
country, but in England, Germany, and Italy. 
But while this is so, the public needs further 
education in regard to the principles which 
should govern communities in making plans 
for library buildings. 

It is the business of the architect, said Pro- 
fessor H. W. Ackland, in my presence in one 
of the buiidings of the University of Oxford, 
to consider carefully what uses a building is to 
be put to, and listening attentively to the sug- 
gestions of persons who are to occupy it and 
work in it, to embody their wishes in plans 
that can be followed by the practical builder. 

Generally speaking it will be found in case 
of the larger libraries that the librarian and 
his assistants can best tell what accommoda- 
tions are required by the convenience of mem- 
bers of a community and the working force of 
the library better than anybody else. Whether, 
however, this knowledge is possessed by the 
librarian'or by one or more trustees, it should 
be sought out and availed of by the architect, 
if the proposed building is to prove to be well 
arranged and satisfactory. 

The community has yet to learn that it is 
important to consult a librarian in the first 
place in regard to the form of its building, 
and that it does not work well in practice to 
put up a building without consultation with a 
librarian, and then when the building is done 
engage an executive officer to occupy the 
structure, and do the best he can to make up 
for its shortcomings by the adoption of such 
makeshifts as are practicable. 



Let it never be forgotten, however, that in 
adopting systems of cataloguing and classsifi- 
cation and in putting up library buildings and 
furnishing them, a community is only pro- 
viding means for attaining an end. The end 
to be sought is the satisfactory service of the 
public. Tools are needful, and they must be 
of a kind to do well the work for which they 
are provided, but they must be taken in hand 
and used before the expense incurred in ob- 
taining them is justified. 

Incidentally, it is well, also, to add the im- 
portant remark that the community which 
wishes for good library service must not only 
have good tools and tools adapted to do the 
work desired, but also, and certainly, a skillful 
and industrious workman to handle the tools. 
Provide a good collection of books and facili- 
ties for their use and for doing the work of 
the library, but whether you do these things 
or not, secure at the start as accomplished and 
enthusiastic a librarian as you can lay your 
hands on. More, very much more, good can 
be accomplished by a good librarian with a 
poor library and an unsuitable building than 
by an incompetent librarian provided with the 
best of material and facilities. 

A good librarian will aim to accumulate a 
large collection of the best books and to 
secure the best facilities for handling and dis- 
playing them. He will aim to obtain a well- 
planned building. 

He will seek for these things, however, 
mainly as auxiliaries in enabling him to do 
well the work, which he will keep con- 
stantly in mind, of giving as much pleasure 
as possible to users of the library, and of 
exerting as widespread and elevating an 
educational influence as circumstances will 
allow. 

The test of the success of a library is its 
usefulness. That library best fulfils its mis- 
sion which, well housed, arranged and cat- 
alogued and well manned, studies the needs 
of the community in which it is placed and of 
students generally, and then addresses itself 
earnestly to the work of awakening interest 
in study and good reading, and shows the 
greatest and best regulated zeal in dissem- 
inating information and bringing about as 



GREEN. 



large as possible an increase in knowledge 
and wisdom. 

The chief purpose of a library is to stim- 
ulate and encourage persons of all ages, 
learned and unlearned, to make investigations 
and read good books, and to help them cor- 
dially and persistently in finding answers to 
their inquiries and in getting at books of 
standard value adapted to supply their special 
needs. 

Fifteen years ago, at the conference of 
librarians held in Philadelphia, at which this 
association was formed, I read a paper in 
which I said : " I wish to say that there are 
few pleasures comparable to that of asso- 
ciating continually with curious and vigorous 
young minds and of aiding them in realizing 
their ideals." 

It is because the members of this associa- 
tion, while providing carefully for the wants 
of scholars, properly so called, have engaged 
earnestly also in the work of popular educa- 
tion ; have considered questions of library 
economy largely from the point of view of in- 
creasing the usefulness of their libraries to 
the public ; and have by their increasing in- 
telligence and faithfulness year by year 
become in a higher and higher degree con- 
scious of the joy of stimulating and aiding in- 
quiry and cultivating a taste for good litera- 
ture, that I am especially proud of having had 
a hand in its formation, and of having taken 
constantly an active part in its deliberations 
and work. 

Librarians are working to-day in a gratifying 
spirit of helpfulness to special students, those 
of more extended interests and the general 
public, and the growing and already great 
earnestness and intensity of that spirit as dis- 
played at the present time, is largely owing to 
the movement started and promoted by this 
association and its members. 

I can give only a few examples of the mani- 
festation of that spirit. 

At the well-known convention of " librarians 
and others interested in bibliography" pre- 
sided over by Professor C. C. Jewett, and 
held in New York in September, 1853, it was 
resolved, on the motion of Charles Folsom of 
Boston, " That we have examined the work 



entitled 'Index to Periodicals,' by W. F. 
Poole, librarian of the Mercantile Library of 
Boston, and that we approve of its plan and 
execution, and we recommend that a similar 
system of indexing be extended to the transac- 
tions and memoirs of learned societies." 

The second edition of Poole's Index was 
published in 1853, and it was owing to the en- 
couragement which Mr. Poole, then librarian 
of the Chicago Public Library, received 
at the conference of librarians at Philadel- 
phia in 1876, that he felt emboldened to under- 
take the preparation and publication of the 
greatly enlarged and revised third edition of 
the work. 

It is matter for congratulation that this as- 
sociation was instrumental in hastening and 
securing the publication of a work which is 
one of the most useful of the aids available by 
scholars and popular investigators, which is 
prized throughout the literary world and re- 
garded as an indispensable tool by the libra- 
rian of every library in this country, and by 
the custodians of all the larger libraries in 
England and on the continent of Europe. 

In this connection I wish to call attention 
to the much-needed index of essays which 
Mr. Fletcher is preparing with the coopera- 
tion of other librarians, and under the pat- 
ronage of the publication section of this 
association. 

It is to be hoped that the movement which 
was auspiciously started last year for securing 
an endowment for that section, may receive a 
new impetus at this meeting of our association 
and be carried on to successful completion. 

Congratulations are here in order on account 
of the admirable work in useful indexing that 
has recently been done on the Pacific coast. 

Of the class list of Mr. Cheney I shall 
speak later. Now, I wish to' extend the 
thanks of all librarians and students to Mr. 
Rowell of the library of the University of 
California, for publishing a valuable volume 
containing a subject index of large portions 
of the library of the institution with which 
he is connected, and for the example that he 
has set to other librarians in preparing so 
useful a work. 

In passing, although I have no time to 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



dwell upon it, I must express the apprecia- 
tion which librarians have of the very valua- 
ble bibliographical work of Winsor, Foster 
and others, and extend to them the thanks of 
all users of libraries for the assistance they 
are constantly giving in both scholarly and 
popular investigation. Librarians are mind- 
ful also of the great importance of the ser- 
vices which have been rendered by two pow- 
erful allies whose work in behalf of libraries 
began at the same time as the formation of 
this association, namely, the Bureau of Edu- 
cation at Washington and the Library journal. 

We remember with gratitude the very effi- 
cient and valuable aid afforded by General 
Eaton and his successors, United States 
Commissioners of Education, in promoting 
improvements in library arrangement and 
making libraries of greater usefulness in the 
community. Well, too, do we remember the 
self-sacrificing spirit shown by the late 
Frederick Leypoldt of New York in issuing 
the Library journal 'at a considerable loss in 
money, because he could not help doing a 
thing which he saw that it was desirable 
should be done, even when he knew that he 
must impair his capital in undertaking the 
new venture. 

The librarians of this country feel very 
grateful to the gentlemen who supported the 
journal as workers and literary contributors 
at the start, and men who like Bowker and 
Cutter and Ford have in later years labored 
earnestly Disinterestedly, and successfully to 
make the publication valuable. 

We congratulate them on the great ad- 
vance which they have made and upon the 
power which they show to add every year to 
the interest and satisfactoriness of the journal. 

The usefulness of a library depends pri- 
marily upon its having a good librarian. 

But a libraraian must have good assistants. 
The head of a library has to look after its 
general interests; to keep in touch with the 
wishes and real needs of his constituency and 
show prevision in supplying their wants; when 
his institution is not properly appreciated he 
has to study means for making it indispensa- 
ble to a community and conquer for it recog- 
nition and support. 



He must meet the every-day users of his 
library to a great extent through his assis- 
tants. 

If, then, the public is to be well served, the 
librarian must have accomplished assistants. 

I can mention more than one large library 
in which ignorance or a spirit of parsimony 
prevails, or where political considerations or a 
disposition to nepotism is influential, in which 
the service is wholly insufficient and inade- 
quate, although the librarian is justly regarded 
as a leader in his occupation. 

It is interesting to note a growing apprecia- 
tion of the importance of having good library 
service, and it is because this is a crying need 
that this association has watched with great 
interest and growing admiration the work of 
the Library School started in connection with 
the library of Columbia College and now con- 
nected with the State Library of New York. 

The work of that school is practical, and 
becomes year by year increasingly thorough. 
Above all it stimulates and feeds the spirit of 
usefulness to the public. 

If a library is to do really good work, libra- 
rians must not only be well trained and have 
technical knowledge, but they must be well 
educated. 

Mr. John Winter Jones, late principal libra- 
rian of the British Museum, spoke as follows 
in his introductory address, as president of 
the international conference of librarians held 
in London in October, 1877, which I had the 
pleasure of attending, and at which the Li- 
brary Association of the United Kingdom was 
formed : 

"The learned author of the life of Isaac 
Cassaubon, Mr. Mark Pattison, says, ' The 
librarian who reads is lost;' and this is to a 
great extent true. It was certainly true in the 
case of Cassaubon, who, in his love for the 
contents of the books placed under his 
charge, forgot his duties as a librarian. The 
license which a librarian may be allowed to 
take while in the discharge of his duties was 
well indicated by the amiable Gary, the trans- 
lator of Dante, who used to describe himself 
and his colleagues, while engaged in the task 
of cataloguing the books of the British Mu- 
seum Library, as sheep traveling along a road 



GREEN. 



and stopping occasionally to nibble a little 
grass by the wayside." 

Certainly it is very dangerous to form the 
habit of reading in a library that is much used 
during office hours. While the library is open 
there is generally time only to become famil- 
iar with title-pages, page headings, prefaces, 
and tables of contents, and to glance hastily 
through books to gain an idea of their scope, 
style, and plan of treating subjects. 

That fact, however, does not prevent men 
and women from studying and reading outside 
the library building, and when not regularly 
engaged in library work, or in getting a good 
preparatory education before undertaking such 
work. 

I remember once to have heard of the su- 
perintendent of a National Gallery of Art, 
who, being himself an artist, was allowed to 
spend a portion of every day in painting. The 
governing body of that institution was wise in 
giving its manager time to practice his art. 

That man alone is capahle of rendering the 
best assistance to other persons who knows 
by personal experience how to do good work 
himself. 

The librarian who has made researches him- 
self can best aid investigators not only in de- 
partments of knowledge with which he is 
familiar, but in all departments of knowledge. 
The methods of investigation are the same 
everywhere. A student can best help a stu- 
dent. 

Officers of libraries then should, in so far 
as is practicable, be well-educated men and 
women, and constant students. They should 
be readers also, and acquire a knowledge of 
languages and literature and the elements of 
all branches of inquiry. 

I have known both men and women who 
have made excellent library attendants, who 
had had but little education, and who, with 
good powers of observation, learned to do 
their work well, although mechanically. 

Still, generally speaking, a good education 
and habits of reading and study are of the 
highest importance to the librarian who wishes 
to make his administration useful to the com- 
munity. 

In what I have said thus far I have mainly 



mentioned certain things which have been 
done in the United States since the forma- 
tion of this association to advance the use- 
fulness of libraries to all investigators and 
the general public, and have dwelt upon some 
considerations that must be had in mind if 
good library service is to be rendered. 

I wish to speak briefly, in conclusion, of a 
facility which with growing frequency is now 
being offered to scholars, and of a few espec- 
ially important undertakings which have of 
late years been engaged in, largely as the re- 
sult of the influence of this association and 
its members, in behalf of the cause of pop- 
ular education. 

When the first number of the Library jour- 
nal was about to be issued in the latter por- 
tion of the year 1876, the editor-in-chief wrote 
to me to ask if I had not some contribution to 
make to it. I immediately sent a communi- 
cation, which was inserted, on " The lending 
of books to other libraries," in which I 
advocated earnestly the plan, which had long 
been in practice in some of the libraries of 
Europe, of lending of books by one library 
to another for the use of students. 

No greater boon can be afforded a scholar 
than the privilege of receiving through the 
library of the town or city in which he lives 
the loan from other libraries, in other towns 
or cities, of books not to be had from the 
library of his dwelling place. 

Within a few years there has grown up in 
this country a great library which has been 
conspicuous in extending privileges of this 
kind constantly and systematically to students 
all over the land. 

Perhaps the largest medical library in the 
world is the one which has lately been 
rapidly built up in Washington, in connection 
with the Surgeon-General's office, by Dr. 
John S. Billings, its librarian. 

This library now contains 102,000 volumes 
and about 152,000 pamphlets. 

The next largest medical library in this 
country is that of the College of Physicians 
of Philadelphia, which contains, I understand, 
about 47,000 volumes. 

Wishing to be able to state here to what 
extent the privilege of being able to borrow 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



books by investigators living at a distance 
from Washington is availed of, I wrote to Dr. 
Billings to ask him, and received, under date 
of July 31, the following answer : " The priv- 
ilege of borrowing books from this library is 
used to a very considerable extent through 
the medical libraries of Boston, New York, 
Philadelphia, and by the workers at various 
universities, especially Cornell, Johns Hop- 
kins, Clark University, etc. The library is 
essentially a reference and not a lending li- 
brary, that is to say, it is not a circulating 
library for lending books to read merely ; and 
as it is required that the books shall be sent 
and returned by express, and not by mail, and 
at the expense of the borrower, it does not 
pay to borrow a single book as a rule. When, 
however, a person is working up a subject 
and collects a number of references, it be- 
comes worth while to pay for the transmission 
of ten or a dozen volumes in many cases. I 
am sure that the privilege of using the library 
is very highly esteemed by a number of our 
best writers and workers." 

It may here be remarked that the objection 
of expense does not apply to borrowing a sin- 
gle book from a library in a town or city which 
is near to the borrowing library. 

It is matter for profound thankfulness that 
other libraries, besides that of the Surgeon- 
General's office, have adopted the generous and 
admirable policy of aidinginvestigators by lend- 
ing books to them through out-of-town libraries. 

The two which have especially attracted my 
attention are those of Harvard University and 
the Boston Athenaeum Corporation. It was to 
be expected that institutions presided over by 
librarians of such far-reaching and broad views 
as Messrs. Winsor and Cutter, seconded by 
great intelligence in the governing bodies of 
their libraries, would labor in every way to 
have the books under their charge accomplish 
the greatest attainable good and render the 
most extended service. 

I have received most valuable aid in help- 
ing persons in Worcester to make investiga- 
tions by the loan of books, not only from all 
the libraries already mentioned, but from 
those of Yale and Columbia Colleges, and 
other institutions. 



I have had a very valuable manuscript lent 
to me by a law library in Boston. In fact, I 
have seldom applied to a library and asked 
for the use of books that my request has not 
been granted. 

It is to be regretted that some institutions 
are governed by rules which will not allow of 
such an interchange of favors or such unpaid 
generosity on the part of librarians as those of 
which I am speaking. That is the case in the 
Astor Library of New York and in the Library 
of Congress. 

That great institution, the Boston Public Li 
brary, is constantly growing in respect to the 
value of its collections, but its management 
has lately very much restricted the privileges 
which it formerly granted with great freedom to 
libraries and investigators outside of Boston. 

Since the organization of this association, 
the disposition of librarians to engage in per- 
sonal intercourse and render personal aid to 
the users of libraries has grown apace. 

All over the land earnest and well-directed 
efforts have been successfully made to render 
libraries useful to the teachers and pupils of 
public and private schools. 

I shall read a paper on the subject of Li- 
braries and Schools at another session of this 
meeting, and so will say nothing about that 
matter here. 

Many libraries are striving fruitfully to aid 
persons to get at books that will aid them in 
an increasedly satisfactory performance of the 
duties of their daily occupations. 

All that there is time to do in speaking of 
this kind of work is to refer inquirers to a 
paper on " The library in its relations to per- 
sons engaged in industrial pursuits," read by 
me two years ago at the meeting of this asso- 
ciation held in St. Louis. 

I must not fail to remind you that a year ago 
the Publication Section of the American Li- 
brary Association put forth a very useful list 
of books, entitled " Reading for the Young," 
which was prepared by Mr. and the Misses 
Sargent, and which embodied, with large addi- 
tions and with improvements, the excellent 
work published by that warm and judicious 
friend of children, our respected associate, 
Miss C. M. Hewins of Hartford. 



GREEN, 



October 22, 1890, the Governor of Massa- 
chusetts appointed the members of the Free 
Public Library Commission, which was pro- 
vided for in a law enacted in the previous May. 

The purpose of the establishment of that 
commission was twofold, namely, to furnish a 
competent body to answer questions regard- 
ing the maintenance and management of libra- 
ries, and to encourage and assist towns which 
did not already have public libraries to estab- 
lish them. 

The commission first addressed itself to 
the work of stimulating an interest in towns 
which had no public libraries, to establish 
them. 

From its first report presented to the Legis- 
lature of Massachusetts January 30, 1891, it 
appeared that only 103 of the 351 towns and 
cities of the Commonwealth were without 
public libraries. Even in some of the towns 
lacking them there were small association 
libraries. 

I have now to report, as a member of the 
Massachusetts Free Public Library Commis- 
sion, that, largely owing to the work of the 
commission, led by its hard-working, thought- 
ful, genial and efficient chairman, the State 
Librarian, Mr. Caleb B. Tillinghast, thirty-five 
of those 103 towns at the town meetings held 
last March and April accepted the provisions 
of the State law and organized library boards. 
The commission has been kept very busy 
since spring in selecting and buying the libra- 
ries for those towns which the State had 
promised to give them. The wants of every 
town have been considered by themselves ; 
its wishes have been ascertained, and stren- 
uous efforts have been made to supply the 
best of literature, and to provide as many 
books as publishers could be induced to fur- 
nish the commission for the amount of money 
at its disposal. 

The commission has always been able to 
furnish 1 50 volumes to every town, and gen- 
erally, by the addition of gifts from friends, as 
many as 200 or more volumes. 

Massachusetts makes a good showing in 
the matter of furthering the cause of popular 
education by the establishment of public li- 
braries. 



While noticing the fact that at the time of 
writing the first annual report of the Free 
Public Library Commission, 248 towns and 
cities had libraries in which the people had 
" rights or free privileges," Mr. Tillinghast 
wrote: "There are about 2,500,000 volumes 
in these libraries, available for the use of 
2,104,224 of the 2,238,343 inhabitants which 
the State contains according to the census of 
1890. The gifts of individuals in money, not 
including gifts in books, for libraries and li- 
brary buildings, exceed five and a half mil- 
lion dollars." 

Massachusetts is able to say to-day that of 
the 103 of the smaller towns, having accord- 
ing to the census just taken a population of 
134,719, which had no public libraries January 
30 of the present year, less than seventy out 
of a total of 351 remain which have not taken 
steps to establish them. 

May I be permitted, in closing, to call atten- 
tion to a kind of work which I am just now doing 
with considerable zeal in the library in Wor- 
cester, Massachusetts, over which I preside. 

In the new building which we have been 
occupying for a few months, and which the 
city committee, under whose auspices it was 
built, allowed me to plan, there is provided a 
hall which is to be used for various purposes, 
but which it is intended to use often for the 
display of pictures belonging to the library. 
The whole upper story of the building is so 
planned also that whatever use may be made 
of it eventually, it can for several years cer- 
tainly be used for hanging paintings, engrav- 
ings and photographs. 

In every large library there are collections 
of photographs, chromo-Jithographs and en- 
gravings, and finely illustrated books, out of 
which the illustrations can be temporarily 
taken, which are seldom seen. These col- 
lections and illustrations I am now placing 
on the walls of the hall spoken of above, and 
when the pictures are too numerous to be 
accommodated there, on those of the upper 
story, and inviting the public to come to the 
library to look at and study them. 

I did enough of this kind of work in our 
old building to show that it was feasible and 
desirable to have exhibitions of the kind indi- 



8 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



cated, and find that in our new quarters they 
are attracting much attention and giving gen- 
eral satisfaction. It is only necessary to re- 
mind librarians that for large displays they 
have such works as the publications of the 
Arundel Society, the Piranesi's Rome, great 
works on Egypt, the famous Italian work on 
Pompeii just being completed, collections of 
photographs of pictures by Raphael, Michael 
Angelo, and other artists, as well as numer- 
ous other works and collections. 

For the first small exhibition I showed 
the sixty-three chromo-lithographs in sepia 
finish provided by Langl, to teach the history 
of architecture in German schools, and which 
give striking and picturesque views of ruins 
in Egypt, India, Persia, Assyria, Greece and 
Rome, and representations of fine old 
Christian, Moorish, pre-gothic, gothic, re- 
naissance and Russian buildings. 

I made the exhibition tell its own story by 
placing by the side of ruins, restorations of 
the buildings representing the opinions of the 
best authorities, exterior views of buildings 
where the interiors were given in the set of 
pictures, ground plans of buildings, etc. 

I saw to it, too, that the names of the build- 
ings and ruins were written distinctly in Eng- 
lish below the pictures, and had cards printed 
inviting persons wishing for further informa- 
tion regarding any of the objects represented 
to apply for books describing them in the ref- 
erence library down stairs. 

There was no expense incurred in the exhi- 
bition. The attendant who sat in the hall to 
guard the property did work which she would 
have been doing in some other part of the 
building if she had not been sitting there. 

This exhibition was kept open a month and 
a half. 

The first of September I opened a second 
exhibition in the same hall, of United States 
Army and Navy uniforms, and pictures repre- 
senting scenes in the war with Mexico and 
the civil war. 

I am convinced that a very important influ- 
ence in the direction of popular education can 
be exerted by exhibitions of this kind. 

I will remark, also, incidentally, that our 
new building, while planned to do such work 



as we have learned by experience may well 
be undertaken by us, has also been so ar- 
ranged that courses of study, such as those 
contemplated by the promoters of university 
extension, may be conveniently pursued in it. 
Much has been done in the last fifteen years 
to add to the usefulness of libraries. Much 
remains to be done. 

The question as to how far it is safe to pro- 
ceed in allowing users of libraries to go freely 
to the shelves, among the books of libraries, 
is one of great importance, and being a burn- 
ing question to-day, will be discussed at this 
meeting. 

No step has been taken towards co-opera- 
tive cataloguing, and for stopping the great 
waste which attaches to the present plan of 
doing work in every one of a thousand libra- 
ries which is needed in all, and it would seem 
might be done in some way at one centre or 
by one institution for all the thousand li- 
braries. 

That problem was vigorously attacked by 
Professor Jewett at the convention in 1853 ; 
it was earnestly discussed by members of the 
conference of which this association is the 
offspring, in 1876; it is yet unsolved. 

So, too, is the problem of dispensing with 
type-setting for catalogues every few years, 
when large numbers of new books have been 
added to libraries, and convenience demands 
that no more supplements shall be issued, but 
all the entries be gathered together again in a 
single alphabet. 

An index to periodicals has been issued. 
It is kept up to date. An index to essays is 
in the state of forward preparation. 

Mr. Cheney has just done an admirable 
piece of work in behalf of popular education 
in preparing and publishing a very much 
needed list of books in the San Francisco 
Free Public Library, namely, " Classified Eng- 
lish Prose, Fiction, etc., with notes and index 
to subject-references." The list will be found 
very useful in the libraries of the country. 

We have all these much needed facilities, 
but where is the index of transactions and 
memoirs of learned societies which the con- 
vention of 1853 thought it so desirable should 
be prepared ? 



JOHNSTON. 



The convention of 1853 was the first large 
meeting of librarians in this country. Profes- 
sor Jewett said that, so far as he knew, it was 
the first meeting in the world of librarians and 
bibliographers who had come together to see 
how they could make public collections of books 
more useful to communities and individuals. 

The gentlemen who met in 1853 meant to 
have held annual meetings. They did not 
meet a second time. 

In 1876 practical library workers came to- 
gether in the spirit of the men of '53. 



They have met almost every year since. 

Yesterday we began the first large meeting 
of librarians and persons interested in libra- 
ries on the Pacific Coast. 

The movement which is now started should 
lead to frequent meetings on this coast. 

It will do so, I am confident, and as the re- 
sult of your deliberations the libraries of the 
land will be enabled to render themselves 
increasingly serviceable to scholars and the 
general public. 



BINDING AND BINDERIES. 



BY D. V. R. JOHNSTON, REFERENCE LIBRARIAN N. Y. STATE LIBRARY, ALBANY. 



T T is hardly supposable that with the present 
knowledge of library economy many li- 
brarians can be ignorant in matters pertaining 
to book binding. The special report on 
" Public Libraries in the United States'" is- 
sued by the Bureau of Education in 1876, the 
proceedings of the A. L. A. and L. A. U. K., 
and the volumes of the Library journal, all 
contain much valuable matter relating to the 
subject, and any one so wishing can get about 
all needed information from these sources. 
The aim, therefore, of this paper is simply to 
bring together information already contributed 
in one way or another, and to add a few facts 
discovered by observation and experience. 

While of course it is necessary to be in- 
formed of all the processes through which a 
book must pass in being bound, such informa- 
tion must be gathered from practical mechan- 
ics or text books prepared for them, rather 
than from this association. For those who 
can not come in contact with skilled workmen 
it may be well to mention here that there are 
two good books now in the market, namely, 
W. J. E. Crane, Book-binding for Amateurs, 
London, 1885, 2s. 6d., and Joseph W. Zaehns- 
dorf, Art of Book-binding, second edition, 
London, 1890, 55. These, on account of their 
clear and concise character, are now used with 
satisfaction as text books in the Library 
School, and can be recommended. 



What a librarian must constantly study is 
the economic side of binding, so that he will 
not fall into extravagance, which is bad, or be 
led into habits of false economy, which are far 
worse. Strong, solid work and good mate- 
rials are worth paying for, and 25 per cent 
added to the first cost of a book may often be 
regarded as insurance against rebinding, which 
means not only replacing the material worn 
out, but also duplicating the labor already ex- 
pended. Then, too, each rebinding seriously 
deteriorates volumes subjected to the pro- 
cess; besides which, while the sacrifice of our 
books to cheap binders leads to the added 
expense entailed by inferior work, it is well 
known that handsome binding promotes a 
desire on the part of the public to protect the 
library from injury or loss. The waste in li- 
brary work generally comes from not using 
the material suited for the conditions to which 
the volume is to be subjected. The labor ex- 
pended on a book properly bound in one-half 
morocco, calf or sheep is nearly the same, and 
on a cloth book it is not much less, and this 
is all lost if the material used is unsuitable. 
Under certain conditions a cheap cloth bind- 
ing will outlast the best leather, and if a libra- 
rian does not know these conditions he can 
not profit by them. 

Then, too, the market is full of frauds, and 
if one is not informed as to the character, 



10 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



value and strength of materials, he will be 
the prey of dishonest binders and publishers. 
Of course frauds are practiced which will de- 
ceive an expert, and against these all knowl- 
edge is -vain. 

The most important material is that which 
is used to cover the back and to form the 
hinge at the side, which has the hardest 
usage, costs the most, and represents the 
greatest expense in labor. The preservation 
of this is the preservation of the binding. 
It is consequently of the utmost importance 
to know not only what is the best kind of 
material for different uses, but also what 
grades of material give the greatest service 
for the cost. 

It is held by all having a knowledge of the 
subject that morocco is without any ques- 
tion the best material in which to bind a 
book which is to have considerable use, 
but which is to be preserved and not worn 
out in circulation. Morocco, which is goat- 
skin, has a long, tough texture by nature 
and is tanned without aid of chemicals, and 
so will stand not only hard and constant 
usage but will resist far better than any other 
leather the corroding influences of heat, foul 
air, and gas. But moroccos vary greatly in 
price and are imitated in very many ways, so 
one must always watch, not only to get the 
best morocco but to get morocco at all. 

It is said that you should always get the 
best and only the best morocco. This is not 
strictly true. Get the best for the purpose 
intended. The best morocco is Levant, 
which costs from $42 to $60 per dozen, or 
from $3.50 to $5 per skin. Levant is not only 
the handsomest morocco but it will outlast all 
others. Still the use of it in a library is an 
extravagance, because while it costs from 
25 to 50 per cent more than the so-called 
Haussmann skin, its endurance is but little 
better. There is no saving in labor to be 
effected by its use, since binders class it as 
fancy work and charge a fancy price for it. 
Of course where a library does its own bind- 
ing this does not hold good, but even then it 
is very doubtful whether the use of Levant 
for other than fancy work can be recom- 
mended. 



The morocco which is best suited for 
library work is the grade known in the market 
as "genuine morocco," which costs, according 
to size, thickness, and finish, frorn $18 to $33 
per dozen or from $1.50 to $2.75 per skin. 
All this grade of leather is good for one kind 
or another of work, but in the majority of 
cases the leather which costs the highest 
price is the most enduring, and the cheapest. 
Morocco, which costs from $26 to $33 per 
dozen, if it is of a proper finish and thickness 
for good work, will cost just about the same 
per square foot, namely, from 38 cents to 40 
cents, the difference in price representing 
the difference in size only. 

Now since the smaller skins are always 
open to a slight suspicion as to their general 
quality, and will sometimes show a large 
wastage, the use of the skin costing from $30 
to $33 per dozen is always recommended in 
the absence of some special reason to the 
contrary. This is known as the Haussmann 
skin, and measures on an average 7 square 
feet per skin, which at $2.75 per piece equals 
in round numbers 40 cents per square foot, 
being, as near as can be estimated in the long 
run, from 13 cents to 15 cents for a half-bound 
8vo. Please bear in mind that all binding fig- 
ures are approximations, as price of leather, 
size of skins, size of books, amount of wast- 
age, etc., are inconstant quantities. 

The cheaper grades of "genuine morocco" 
costing from $18 to $24 per dozen are not 
only thinner but smaller skins, and can be 
used to advantage only on small work and on 
books having but moderate use. In cost 
this leather is about the same as the best 
Persian morocco, but for ordinary purposes 
it is to be preferred to it. Persians are 
quoted at from $10 to $24 per dozen, though 
that which is commonly used costs from $15 
to $20. This skin is about the size of the 
cheaper "genuine morocco," and contains 
about 6 square feet, though some of the 
higher grades are as large as the Haussmann 
skins. Averaging as well as can be the 
ordinary sizes and prices of Persian morocco, 
it seems to cost about from 20 cents to 25 
cents per square foot, or approximately, and 
8vo will cost from 8 cents to 10 cents. 



JOHNSTON. 



II 



There seems to be but little use for Per- 
sian, as only the better quality can be trusted, 
and this overlaps in price the grades of " gen- 
uine morocco." Librarians in this country 
have given it a trial and report it unsatisfac- 
tory, though at the present time in England 
the circulating libraries like Mudie's and 
Smith's use a great deal of it. Persian is a 
good-looking leather, and wears quite well. 
It is, however, more apt to fade than " genu- 
ine morocco," and on exposure to heat it be- 
comes hard and brittle. The lighter shades 
of it are apt to streak and scratch, so that the 
darker shades only are commonly in the 
market. 

There are other grades of morocco which 
are very small and thin, and cost from $6 to 
$12 per dozen, but they have no place in li- 
brary work, and indeed are not much used 
for binding at all. 

The so-called imitation French and German 
moroccos, which cost from $15 to $18 by the 
dozen, or from 7 cents to 9 cents per 8vo, are 
not much used in this country for library 
binding, though we are apt to get it in quan- 
tity through our foreign agents. While it is 
a fact that this leather is made from sheep- 
skin, yet it is so well tanned that it will wear 
only a trifle poorer than Persian, and Euro- 
pean binders do not hesitate to advertise and 
use it by name. 

Another imitation of morocco made from 
the Persian sheep is known as "bock." It 
is a small skin and costs by the dozen from 
$9 to $11, or from 5 cents to 7 cents per 8vo 
back. It is a bad leather, giving scarcely bet- 
ter wear than good roan, and is a dangerous 
imitation, being often hard to distinguish 
from morocco when fresh on a book. A case 
is known where a binder informed a customer 
that bock and morocco were the same thing, 
and persuaded him to make out specifications 
for " bock or morocco." Other imitation mo- 
roccos are often made from common sheep- 
skin and from buffing, but they are not hard 
to detect. 

We are informed (see J. B. Nicholson, 
Manual on the Art of Bookbinding, Phila., 
1856, p. 1 6) that "there are in the British 
Museum books bound in calf supposed to 



have been bound in the time of Henry VIII." 
Whether this is true or not, it is certain that 
no calf binding done to-day will ever reach 
such antiquity. Though no one can find 
fault with the use of calf in private collections, 
as it is one of the handsomest of bindings, 
yet it must be condemned as worthless for 
library purposes. It costs from $21 to $29 
per dozen for the grades commonly used, and 
the cost per book of the different grades 
is about the cost of the different moroccos. 
As it requires careful handling in the bindery 
to keep it from soiling and needs extra finish- 
ing, the cost is apt to be rather high for calf 
work. Calf has many fatal objections. It 
becomes brittle and wears out at the joints ; 
it reduces itself to powder under the action 
of heat and gas, so that volumes will often 
break their own bindings by their weight on 
the shelves, and on account of the even, 
close grain it is liable to be soiled and 
scratched in use. Although these bad quali- 
ties have long been known, some librarians 
prefer to stand the trouble and expense of 
using it rather than to change the binding on 
long and handsome sets. It is a matter of 
regret to all having to do with law books that 
full calf bindings are so largely used by Brit- 
ish and Colonial law publishers, as this style 
of binding is very dear and yet hardly more 
useful than common half law sheep. 

Sheep-skin, too, whether in the form of 
blank sheep, roan or skiver, ought to be 
avoided when possible, as it is thoroughly un- 
reliable. Roans cost from $8 to $11 per 
dozen, and vary much in durability and ac- 
cording to no known law, except that the 
black and very dark leather is apt to be the 
poorest. 

Skiver, or split roan, costs from $5 to $9 
per dozen, and varies in strength from paper 
upwards, some being more lasting than some 
roans. Skiver, of course, can only be used on 
very thin books, but even here cloth will 
answer much better if the book is not worth a 
morocco binding. In the same way it is wise to 
substitute morocco or duck for roan on much- 
used books, or cloth, if the book will spend 
much of its time on the shelves, as roan will 
stand neither the effects of usage or of time. 



12 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



Law sheep, which costs from $6 to $12 per 
dozen, and law skiver, which costs the same, 
though used in this country more than any 
other binding leather, as they are the standard 
bindings for law books and public documents, 
are thoroughly bad, as they look mean, wear 
poorly, and are dirty to handle. However, the 
use of sheep-skin is compelled on sets of law 
reports, etc., as the legal profession demands 
it. Its use in a library, however, should be 
curtailed as much as possible, even for law 
work. 

There is no doubt that a better sheep-skin 
could be made than what is now in the mar- 
ket. Specimens of sheep and skiver bindings 
which have been in use for 40 or 50 years are 
not uncommon, and the New York State li- 
brary copy of Grattan's Virginia Reports, first 
issued in 1850, still preserves intact its orig- 
inal binding of sumac-tanned sheep, though 
worn and soiled from constant use. The use 
of this white sheep was suggested at last 
year's conference, but inquiry has failed to 
discover any quantity of it in the hands of 
dealers in binding materials, and such sam- 
ples as were procured from publishers of 
medical works, who still use it, were by no 
means satisfactory. 

Another bad leather is Russia, but as it is 
expensive, costing from $3.50 to $5.50 per 
skin, according to size, it is not used to any 
extent. It is stronger than calf, but, like it, 
wears out at the joints and crumbles under 
the action of heat and gas. The theory that 
its peculiar odor preserves it from worms, 
though long exploded, is repeated to this day. 

Much better than genuine Russia is its im- 
itation, American Russia, or buffing, as it is 
called, when split quite thin. It is made from 
cowhide and is a good, strong leather, and next 
to morocco, the best for binding. American 
Russia costs from 12 cents to 18 cents per 
square foot when plain, or from 16 cents to 
24 cents when grained to imitate morocco, 
seal, etc. Buffing costs from 5 cents to 10 
cents per square foot. The durability of this 
kind of leather depends very much on its 
thickness, and while it can be used on maps, 
newspapers, etc., quite well, for most purposes 
duck will answer better ; and while it is much 



better than roan calf or Russia for smaller 
books, duck or morocco or cloth, used as 
mentioned above, will be much more satis- 
factory. However, for those who wish a 
cheap leather binding, American Russia is 
recommended in preference to all others. 

All pig-skin which is now in the market 
has a handsome finish and a grain quite as 
good looking as morocco. It costs from 
$7.25 to $11.75 P er skin, in accordance with 
size, quality, and finish of the leather, each 
skin measuring from two to four times the 
size of genuine morocco ; so it is by no 
means a cheap material. It is a rather in- 
tractable leather and requires careful skiving 
to make it look well on a book. As it shows 
a tendency to harden and became brittle if 
not handled often, and is suspected of mildew- 
ing and engendering mildew in other books, 
it seems unwise to bind in it for general use, 
at least until its qualities are better known. 
However, it seems to be a very good if not 
the best material for table books, such as 
dictionaries, catalogues, etc., as it will stand 
rough usage without scratching or becoming 
shabby. It may also be used on encyclo- 
pedias and books of constant reference, but 
for other purposes its use must be regarded 
at present as doubtful and inexpedient. 

Most librarians have been forced to aban- 
don the use of buckram. It is not at all a 
cheap cloth, as it costs from 40 cents to 50 
cents per yard. It is hard to work on a book, 
since it takes both glue and gold badly, and 
on exposure becomes brittle and is liable to 
soil and fade like any book cloth. Linen 
buckram, which is the highest priced and the 
best, has been practically unknown to the 
American market from the first, though, as it 
is hard to tell it from the cotton cloth, the 
fact was not generally known. In all cases 
where buckram was used duck will be found 
to answer the purpose better, as it costs only 
from 10 cents to 20 cents per yard, is easily 
worked, and in fact possesses all the require- 
ments for a strong, cheap binding suitable 
for circulating libraries, over-size books in 
little use, maps, and newspapers. On the 
other hand, duck is rough to handle, is not 
good looking, and will not take gold lettering 



JOHNSTON. 



well ; and as it is not wise to letter on labels, 
one is confined to limited shades of color, 
since they must be light enough to show ink 
lettering and dark enough to be used without 
soiling. With very large volumes, as the 
friction of duck sides is great, it is always a 
good plan to bind in half duck with paper 
sides, and indeed the custom of using half 
duck on 8vo and smaller books is growing in 
favor. 

Books having infrequent use of not over- 
size will last just as well in cloth as in any- 
thing else. Book cloth, costing from 12 cents 
to 20 cents per yard, will answer as well as 
high-priced morocco, and indeed better, since 
heat and gas have no effect on a cotton fibre. 
Remember, though, that cloth work is case 
work and will not stand usage. 

In binding in leather avoid both the very 
light shades, which are the most expensive 
and will not keep clean, and the very dark, 
especially the black and very dark green, 
which are tender. Binders prefer the blacks, 
but only because they are easy to match and 
can often be bought lower than other shades. 
Skins which are failures in lighter shades 
are often dyed black, and this tends to rot 
the fibre of the leather. The best colors for 
wear are the lighter browns, greens, olives> 
cochineal red, blue, and maroon. 

The effect desired to be produced by the 
binding should be pleasing to the eye and 
sufficiently diversified not to rob the books of 
their individuality. But as it is an annoyance 
to choose a color for each book and to have 
innumerable styles which must be matched, 
different schemes of color have been devised 
and used by different librarians, some assign- 
ing colors to subjects, some to the language 
of the text, etc. None of these schemes are 
without objections, and, indeed, their advisa- 
bility depends entirely on circumstances. 

The binding of pamphlets depends of 
course on the resources of the library, the 
largest libraries binding the most important 
singly and the others in groups, while the 
small ones bind but few, and those in col- 
lections. It is important in making these col- 
lections to have them closely classified, and if 
the sizes are unequal, to arrange them flush at 



the top so that dust can not find its way into 
the volume. 

Reports of societies, institutions, etc., are 
most useful if bound by regular periods, such 
as decades or semi-decades. 

Some of the larger libraries now bind the 
covers of their periodicals, pamphlets and 
books issued in parts, some placing them 
at the end of the volume and others binding 
them as published. In this way much valu- 
able historical as well as bibliographical 
matter is often preserved. The custom, too, 
is coming into favor with the larger libraries 
of binding half titles, advertising leaves, etc., 
with the covers. This custom is not endorsed 
for any but the very large reference libraries, 
as it materially adds to the expense, but for 
them it is strongly recommended. The public 
have the right to expect that a library main- 
tained in part for collecting and preserving 
the records of human thought and action 
will not neglect to preserve in original form 
the issue of the contemporary press. Any 
one who has done reference work for a 
cultivated community will hardly have to be 
informed how greedily odd scraps of informa- 
tion, found only in the advertisements of old 
publications, are sometimes sought for, and a 
proper regard for the future would seem to 
indicate the preservation of all the printed 
matter possible. 

In the mechanical processes of binding 
there are some points to be carefully noted. 
Sewing, when properly done, will often out- 
last the leather. But to get this result not 
only should the best thread be used, but every 
fold of more than four leaves should be sewn 
"all along" whenever possible. If, however, 
this will compel the use of very small thread 
in order to get the correct swell to the back, 
it is better to sew alternately with a stronger 
thread. Hayes' thread, costing from 90 cents 
to $1.10 per pound, will be found the best for 
library work. 

Every volume above a i6mo should be 
sewn on at least three bands, and as the vol- 
ume is larger and thicker, the number should 
be increased in proportion. The thread 
should in all cases completely encircle each 
band, and the first and last signatures should 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



be overcasted. When the bands are laced 
into the boards they should pass through 
grooves cut to each hole, so that in " knocking 
down " bands will not be cut or frayed. This 
last precaution, unfortunately, is seldom ob- 
served, and our binding suffers. 

All maps and folding plates in books that 
have much use should be backed with muslin, 
but as this costs about 6 cents per piece, for 
books with moderate use a muslin joint at the 
fold can be employed at a cost of only about 
one-third as much. All plates, however, in 
large volumes should be mounted at least on 
a cloth guard, or they are apt to be crumpled 
or torn. 

Books which are sewn on tapes, parchment 
strips or other raised bands last better and 
open freer than others, and have the added 
advantage of not being deeply sawed. There 
is an idea that they are not sawed at all, but 
as a rule a small cut is made on each side of 
the band to guide the sewer. Raised band 
sewing is not generally practiced, and sewers 
are unskillful in doing the work, so the cost is 
apt to be high. If tape sewing were more 
commonly used there is no reason why the 
cost should be more than 5 cents or 10 cents 
per volume higher than good band sewing; 
but at present the cost is often twice that 
much. Outside the large cities almost the 
only place where tape sewing is practiced is 
in the bindery where a certain kind of blank 
book work is done, and such a place, as a 
rule, does not do good library binding. 

Tapes are not generally laced into boards, 
but are glued on the inside of the cover. This 
is certainly dangerous, and we have had some 
trouble from it, though but little complaint 
has been made of bands pulling off. Though 
the looks of tight-backed books is injured by 
tapes and loose backs are not improved in 
appearance by them, if it were not for the 
present high cost they would be advantageous 
for library work, especially on loose- backed 
books. As it is, books of music, volumes of 
maps, plates and manuscripts, and other works 
that should open with great freedom, should 
always be sewed on them. 

Every book, if well bound, should have a 
vellum corner, which, if properly put on, is 



almost a perfect protection in case the book is 
carelessly dropped, as it will easily dent hard 
wood. These corners should be carefully 
skived down, so as not to make a protuberance 
against which the siding will wear itself out, and 
should not be less than 3cm long on a book 
larger than a I2mo, as in case of a fall a small 
corner will help to break off the board enclosed 
by it. There is practically no difference in 
the cost of vellum and leather corners, some 
binders charging more for one and some 
for the other. 

As between tight back and loose back, the 
testimony is strongly in favor of the former, 
while the latter is much more commonly used. 
In a tight back, the leather, being fastened to 
the back, forms part of the book itself, bind- 
ing it close at every point, and acting as a 
hinge joint at each place where the book is 
opened. In a loose back, the leather is hardly 
more than a connection between the boards, 
the first linings being all the support to the 
back. Hence, at the joint where the bands 
are seen on the edge of the board, there is a 
constant strain which must result in breaking 
the cord if the book is in frequent use. Un- 
less a tight back is well bound, it will not open 
as well as a loose back, but if the work is well 
done the difference between them is not worth 
mentioning. A loose back is better looking, 
especially when fixed out with false raised 
bands, but as these bands add nothing to the 
strength of the book, and may often weaken 
it, their use ought not to be advised. 

Every item of cost in finishing the tops and 
edges should be cut off, as there is no need of 
doing more than burnishing the top with an 
agate, the cost of which ought not to be more 
than i 1-2 cents per volume. This burnishing 
is almost as perfect a protection against dust 
as gilding, which will cost from 15 cents to 
20 cents per top, or marbleing at from 3 cents 
to 5 cents, or coloring at 10 cents per volume. 

In finishing the back all tooling and orna- 
mentation should be avoided except plain gilt 
cross lines and blind tooling, to divide the 
back into panels, and perhaps a plain gilt 
fillet where the leather and sidings join. The 
lettering should be in the most used form of 
Roman capitals and Arabic numerals, large 



JOHNSTON. 



and clear enough to be easily read, and should 
be stamped on the back and never on labels, 
which are liable to come off. The use of old 
English, German or other fancy types, punctu- 
ation marks and Roman notation, is confusing 
to the eye and should not be allowed. 

It is a good plan to have the lettering al- 
ways in the same relative position, and the 
following arrangement is considered the best : 
Put the author's name in the top panel, with 
initials if needed ; a brief, comprehensive title 
made up from the title page if possible, in the 
second ; the editor, translator or commenta- 
tor, if necessary, in the third ; and the year, 
whole number of the volume, the series and 
series volume, in the order mentioned, without 
prefixing v., vol., Band, etc., in the fourth. In 
some rare cases, as on newspapers, it is well 
also to add the months. When books are 
bound together put the author of the leading 
book in the top panel and its title in the sec- 
ond, and the author and title of the second 
book in the third panel. When books have 
fixed class and book numbers they should be 
gilded on in the bottom panel of 8vo and 
smaller volumes, and in the top of the first 
panel of larger volumes. Lettering costs only 
from 3 cents to 5 cents per line, and the sav- 
ing in time and trouble spent in constantly 
replacing paper numbers will warrant the 
outlay. 

Paper sidings will ordinarily give the best 
satisfaction, as they cost 2 cents to 3 cents 
less than cloth and will wear about as long. 
They give but little friction on the shelves, 
and do not curl up at the edges, fray out at 
the ends, nor blister with moisture, as cloth 
will. Moreover, paper when worn out can be 
easily replaced. Full leather work, except in 
rare cases, has no place in a library. 

The cost of binding varies so much in dif- 
ferent places, and with the style and quality of 
work, that it is hard to give any figures which 
will be "of value. An 8vo in one-half morocco 
will cost from 75 cents to $1.25 ; a I2mo from 
50 cents to 80 cents ; a i6mo from 35 cents to 
70 cents, etc. At the New York State library 
we have adopted the following schedule, which 
we think represents a fair price for the very 
best style of library work : 



SIZE. 

Q=3ocm 
" =28.5 
0=25 

D=20 

8=17.5 



% GOAT. 
$1.25 
I.I5 

95 
75 
.60 



% SHBBP. 
$I.OO 
.90 

75 

.60 
.50 



CLOTH. 

$ -75 

.70 
.60 
.50 
35 



Bear in mind, however, that the cheaper 
grades of this leather work are in all respects 
equal to the morocco binding except as to the 
leather and finishing used. While it is cer- 
tain that in parts of the country, owing to 
competition and other causes, the price of 
binding has gone down within the last few 
years, yet, as in most European countries the 
cost has risen in spite of competition, we have 
no reason to expect that work will ever be 
very much cheaper here than at present. 

Of the work that comes from abroad, the 
French is the cheapest and the most satisfac- 
tory. English binding, when in morocco, is 
excellent, especially in the forwarding. And 
German work, while not so well forwarded as 
either of the others, is good in the finishing 
and leather, and is certainly much more satis- 
factory than German work of a few years ago. 
Figures furnished on Aug. i show the price 
of an 8vo in one-half morocco to be, in London, 
35. 6d. ; in Leipzig, 2mk. 25pf . ; in Paris, 2 fc. ; 
so money can still be saved by having books 
bound abroad. 

The temptation to start a bindery in a li- 
brary is often very great to any one familiar 
with the cost and character of good work. 
Binders who do good work at fair prices are 
not numerous even in our large cities, and in 
places removed from these large centres book- 
binding is either practiced in a crude state or 
is charged for at fancy rates. It is easy to 
reason, " I pay $1,500 for binding, but as I can 
get a binder for $1,000 and can hardly use 
$200 worth of material, I can save money." 
Under certain conditions this reasoning may 
be good, but in the vast majority of cases it is 
wrong. A library which wishes to do first- 
class work of all kinds suitable for its use, 
repairing, relettering, cloth case work, well 
forwarded duck work on large volumes, and 
extra one-half morocco, will almost certainly 
lose money by doing its own work if its bind- 
ing bill is no more than $2,500 a year, and if it 



i6 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



expends from $2,500 to $3,000 it will still be 
on the doubtful list. But on any larger 
amount it should save money. The success 
of the enterprise depends entirely upon a 
proper subdivision and supervision of labor, 
and no bindery can hope to make a profit if it 
has not work for at least three hands. The 
experiment has been thoroughly tried and 
enough data have been collected to make it 
certain that none but the larger and rapidly 
growing libraries can expect to run a bindery 
at a profit, and that even these can hope but for 
only small financial gain. There is one excep- 
tion to this rule which should be noted here. 

Some of the rapidly circulating libraries in 
the large cities where books are bound for 
constant use, and with the expectation that 
many of them will wear out in service, have 
found that they can save money by doing 
their own work. They employ one all-'round 
binder at about $1,000 a year and perhaps 
$200 worth of assistance, and turn out work 
which costs from 20 cents to 30 cents per vol- 
ume. This style of binding is usually in duck, 
with little or no lettering. That it is suitable 
for the purpose to which it is put, the charac- 
ter of the libraries which use it leaves little 
doubt, but it has no place in a library which 
binds for preservation. But even in doing 
this kind of work, where the annual cost of 
running will not exceed $1,200 to $1,500 a year, 
it is easy to see what a large number of vol- 
umes at from 20 cents to 30 cents must be 
bound to cover expenses. 

But for first-class library work the case is 
far different. Suppose you have your plant, 
which will cost from $650 to $800, all paid 
for, and are willing to leave out from your cal- 
culation the interest on both plant and stock ? 
the cost of. light, heat, book-keeping, insur- 
ance, etc., and you set out to do work which 
is worth $2,500 a year. To do this work you 



will require three hands, a finisher at $20 a 
week, a forwarder at $12, and a sewer at $6, 
so that in round numbers the labor will cost 
$1,975 a year. But the stock used in doing 
this work, if the conditions are the same as at 
present exist in the New York State library, 
will cost from $575 to $625, so that your total 
cost will be from $2,550 to $2,600. If, how- 
ever, you do $3,000 worth of work, you may 
require another hand, an apprentice at $4 a 
week, which will make your labor cost in 
round numbers $2,185, a d the stock will cost 
from $690 to $750, so that the total cost will 
be from $2,875 to $ 2 93S- 

These approximations, though deduced 
from the practical experience of the New 
York State library bindery, are meant to rep- 
resent in all cases the highest cost and the 
most disadvantageous circumstances. How- 
ever, as we are actually doing work at the rate 
of from $3,100 to $3,200 per year, and that too 
largely of the very best quality, the quality on 
which binders make their greatest profit, and 
are not showing any great direct financial 
gain, your reporter is inclined to doubt the 
wisdom of any attempt at library binding in 
any library which has not other objects in 
view than the mere saving of money on the 
current contract rates, unless that library is 
very large. 

The indirect advantages, however, are nu- 
merous and valuable, namely, safety, conven- 
ience, saving in time, the certainty of having 
work done as wanted, and the ability of hav- 
ing outside work done at figures much lower 
than binders would give if they did not have 
to compete with you for your own work. 
These advantages are not to be disregarded 
or underestimated, but if we are to consider 
the direct money gain alone, we must con- 
clude that it can not be looked for in a library 
bindery. 



SOULE. 



POINTS OF AGREEMENT AMONG LIBRARIANS AS TO LIBRARY 

ARCHITECTURE. 

BY CHARLES C. SOULE, TRUSTEE OF THE BROOKLINE (MASS.) PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



T T has been stated that architects can get 
little help from librarians in planning libra- 
ries, because librarians do not agree as to 
what they want. This misapprehension prob- 
ably arises from the fact that library litera- 
ture, while it abounds in discussions of 
mooted points of construction, contains ap- 
parently no recent statement of elementary 
principles. To elucidate these principles 
some preliminary knowledge of the subject 
is required, and architects, asking advice 
without experience of their own, draw out 
and emphasize the striking differences of 
opinion, rather than the substantial agree- 
ments among librarians. 

It is the purpose of this paper to state cer- 
tain principles of construction, as to which 
those prominent American librarians who 
have had occasion to consider problems of 
building, appear to be unanimously agreed. 

To librarians, most of these propositions 
will appear like truisms ; but the necessity 
for formulating them appears in the fact that 
very few library buildings erected in this 
country during the last ten years conform to 
all, and some of them conform to none, of 
these axiomatic requirements. 

Librarians are generally agreed as to the 
following fundamental principles of library 
architecture. 

A library building should be planned 
for library work. 

The work of a library is (or should be) as 
definitely marked out as that of a school, or a 
hospital, or a factory ; and the building to 
contain it should be planned with as much 
care, and as intelligent a regard to its proper 
functions. 

Every library building should be 
planned especially for the kind of 



work to be done, and the community 
to be served. 

Libraries differ widely in scope. The col- 
lege library, the State library, the reference 
library, the circulating library, the profes^ 
sional library, the town library while they 
have much in common have different re- 
quirements as to rooms and arrangements ; 
and libraries of the same class may differ as 
to probabilities of growth, conditions of equip- 
ment, and opportunities for usefulness. 

The interior arrangement ought to 
be planned before the exterior is con- 
sidered. 

Within such necessary limitations as the 
size and shape of the lot and the amount of 
money available, the first consideration of 
librarian, building committee, and architect 
should be, not what exterior style, but what 
interior plan, is best for the library. 

No convenience of arrangement 
should ever be sacrificed for mere 
architectural effect. 

While the architect may suggest changes 
of plan which will improve the appearance of 
the building without sacrificing any point of 
usefulness, no essential conveniences for 
library work ought to be surrendered. It is 
far better that a library should be plain, or 
even ugly, than that it should be inconven- 
ient. A steam-engine, superb in finish but 
faulty in construction, is properly condemned. 
A library is a literary engine requiring equally 
perfect construction to do economical and 
efficient work. 

The plan should be adapted to prob- 
abilities and possibilities of growth 
and development. 



i8 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



In constructing a library building, it may be 
wise to build only for the needs of the present 
generation ; but room and opportunity should 
always be allowed for future development. 
The community may grow, the library may 
increase beyond expectation, its methods may 
change, its sphere may enlarge, or the progress 
of library science may develop improvements 
in administration, requiring changes and en- 
largement. 

Simplicity of decoration is essential 
in the working-rooms and reading- 
rooms. 

If money can be spared, the exterior of a 
library building, its approaches, entrances, 
and corridors, may be embellished to any 
extent ; but the rooms intended for use, while 
they ought to be attractive in form and color, 
should be free from that showy decoration 
which attracts sight-seers to disturb the quiet 
and distract the attention of workers and 
readers. 

A library should be planned with 
a view to economical administration. 

No library can be so liberally endowed as 
to be beyond the need of economy, in time as 
well as in money. A well-planned library can 
be administered more smoothly and less ex- 
pensively than one badly planned. In order 
to save money, expedite work, and insure 
prompt service to the public, the rooms of a 
library should be so arranged as to require as 
few attendants, as few steps, and as little labor 
as possible. The librarian's room should be 
near the centre of the system, within easy 
reach of the public on the one hand, and the 
working-rooms on the other. 

The rooms for public use should be 
so arranged as to allow complete 
supervision with the fewest possible 
attendants. 

The danger of mutilation or theft of books 
or periodicals is lessened, if every part of a 
reading-room is in plain view of the delivery 
clerk or of some other attendant. 



There should be as much natural 
light as possible in all parts of the 
building. 

No artificial light can be as healthy for at- 
tendants and for books, so agreeable to the 
eyes, or so economical, as daylight. 

Windows should extend up to the 
ceiling, to light thoroughly the upper 
part of every room. 

With high windows, and walls and ceiling 
of a light color, the upper part of a room 
holds and diffuses daylight. With low win- 
dows it may be a cavern of gloom. 

Windows in a book-room should be 
placed opposite the intervals between 
book-cases. 

In planning a book-room or stack the book- 
cases ought to be located and the windows 
ought to be so arranged as to cast light, and 
not shadow, down all the aisles. 

The arrangement of books in tiers 
of alcoves and galleries around a 
large hall (exemplified in the Public 
Libraries of Boston, Cincinnati, and 
Detroit) is considered entirely obso- 
lete. The old style of shelving around 
the walls, in alcoves, and in galleries, 
has been generally superseded by the 
use of "floor-cases," that is, double 
book-cases arranged in parallel lines 
across the floor of a room, or 
"stacks," which are tiers of floor- 
cases, one close above the other. 

Shelves around the walls, and in 
alcoves, are still used in small libra- 
ries not likely to grow much ; and in 
libraries where access to the books is 
unrestricted and space can be spared. 

A form of shelving which is grow- 
ing in favor, is an arrangement of 
floor-cases in large rooms, with space 



SOULE. 



between the tops of the book-cases 
and the ceiling, for ventilation and the 
diffusion of light. 

[This form of shelving is sometimes called 
a "one-story stack," but the term does not 
appear to be as appropriate as " floor-cases."] 

There is considerable difference of opinion 
in regard to the " stack " method of shelving 
books. All librarians recognize the objec- 
tions to the " stack," but most of them believe 
that economy of cost, room, and work re- 
quires its use to some extent in large libra- 
ries. Prominent librarians urge, on the other 
hand, that the inconveniences of the system 
are very great, and that, as a rule, its use 
should be avoided. 

The plan for reference libraries so 
strongly advocated by Dr. Poole (clas- 
sifying the books in departments and 
arranging them for storage and study 
in separate rooms, under one roof) has 
so far influenced library construction 
that modern library plans provide ac- 
commodations for readers near the 
books they want to use, whatever sys- 
tem of shelving is adopted. 

In a circulating library the books 
most in use should be shelved in floor- 
cases close to the delivery desk. 

In the floor-cases of a reference 
library the upper shelves should be 
narrower than those below, with a 
ledge about three feet from the floor. 

This form of shelving leaves more elbow- 
room in passing, admits more light, and pro- 



vides a temporary resting-place for books in 
use or in transit. 

Three feet between floor-cases is 
ample for all purposes of adminis- 
tration. 

No shelf, in any form of book-case, 
should be higher than a person of 
moderate height can reach without a 
step-ladder. 

Shelving for folios and quartos 
should be provided in every book- 
room. 

Straight flights are preferable to 
circular stairs. 

Communication by speaking tubes 
and bells should be arranged between 
the working-rooms of a library. 

So far, prominent librarians who have 
given special study to library construction 
appear to agree unanimously. Other points 
of general agreement such for instance as 
objection to lofty halls for use as reading- 
rooms or delivery-rooms have been omitted 
where any one could be found who doubted 
their universal application. On many such 
points librarians are approaching unanimity 
through frank discussion and practical 
experiment. 

If this paper serves a useful purpose, the 
writer may offer at some future conference a 
discussion of "Tendencies in Library Archi- 
tecture," covering more fully and systemati- 
cally the whole subject from the librarian's 
point of view. 



2O 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



HOW THE RE-CLASSIFICATION AND RE-NUMBERING OF 60,000 VOL- 
UMES WAS DONE IN THE DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY 
WITHOUT CLOSING THE LIBRARY OR STOPPING THE 
CIRCULATION OF BOOKS. 



BY H : M. UTLEY, LIBRARIAN. 



TN 1886 the Detroit public library, which 
then numbered about 80,000 volumes, was 
arranged upon the fixed location system. 
The library has four galleries, which, with 
the main floor, give five tiers of book cases, 
divided into twenty alcoves in each tier. The 
alcoves are numbered from one to one hun- 
dred, beginning at the southwest corner of 
the main floor, and counting from left to right, 
making five circuits of the building and end- 
ing at the top. Each alcove is divided into 
nine divisions, and each division, when the 
sizes of books permit, has nine shelves. The 
books were numbered for alcove, division, 
shelf, and number of book on shelf. They 
had no accession number or other identifica- 
tion mark. If a library were absolutely fin- 
ished this system of numbering would be the 
ideal one. It fixes a definite place of resi- 
dence, a home for every book; and books are 
not naturally migratory in their character. 
The system of numbering had been employed 
in this library many years, and frequently the 
books had been re-adjusted and re-numbered 
to meet the difficulties occasioned by rapid 
accessions. Only five years before the date 
mentioned, the library had been closed three 
and a half months, to the very great annoy- 
ance of the public, to permit such re-adjust- 
ment, and the then librarian estimated that 
this would not need to be done again for a 
period of at least ten years. But before five 
years had passed it was found that some 
classes had grown much more rapidly than 
had been anticipated, and though plenty of 
space for growth had been left, on the whole, 
it had not always been left with prophetic 
precision. The result was that confusion was 
becoming worse confounded every day. 

Then the library board gave orders for 
printing a catalog, and it became evident that 



if the fixed book numbers were embalmed in 
a printed catalog the future diffculties of ad- 
justing the library into any sort of order would 
be greatly enhanced. I determined to discard 
the old inflexible system and make a radical 
change to one better adapted to the needs of 
a rapidly growing library. The commissioners 
assented to the change and the consequent 
delay in issuing a catalog, but only on the 
condition that the library should not be closed 
nor its use practically interrupted. Librarians 
consulted agreed that there were better sys- 
tems than ours, but none thought that the 
conditions of a change imposed by the board 
could be fully observed. The best advice 
was to number the accessions by a new sys- 
tem and then gradually take up the old books 
and fit them into new places. But this plan 
would be interminably slow and would post- 
pone indefinitely the printing of a catalog, 
already in a forward state of preparation and 
for which the public was clamoring. So there 
seemed to be no other course but to boldly 
assault the main collection. 

There was already in the library a some- 
what crude classification, apparently based on 
the leading principle of the decimal system 
that is, the books were grouped under nine 
general heads with a few subdivisions. But 
under the cast-iron arrangement of book num- 
bers several of the classes were necessarily 
broken and scattered. 

Upon consideration I adopted the decimal 
classification system entire with the Cutter 
system of author notation, the two combined 
to form the book number, and never went to 
the trouble of assigning accession numbers. 
In January, 1887, two library assistants were 
set to work. They had had only limited study 
of the systems and practically no experience 
in their application. Their plan of action was 



UTLEY. 



21 



first to make the entire round of the building 
for the critical inspection of every book to 
determine its subject or class, and they be- 
gan by selecting such sections as threatened 
the fewest difficulties to their inexperience. 
Having decided upon a class figure, it was 
entered upon the upper left-hand margin of 
the title page with pencil, subject to erasure 
if a change was finally thought desirable. 
This done, the book was put back in its old 
place on the shelf to be used by the public 
freely, as before. Such books as were out 
from any section undergoing classification 
were, upon their return to the library, placed 
in the hands of these assistants for classi- 
fication before being put on the shelves. 
New books added to the library were treated 
in like manner before going upon the shelves 
In due course of time the circuit of the li- 
brary had been completed and every book had 
received its class number. The public had 
not suffered the slightest inconvenience on 
account of the work, in fact, could not have 
suspected that anything unusual was going 
on in the library. The books were freely 
drawn for home reading and no restriction 
whatever was placed on their use on account 
of the operation described. This was the 
most difficult portion of the work and con- 
sumed the largest proportion of the time. 

The next step was to assort and bring to- 
gether all the books bearing the same class 
figure, and to assign to each book its proper 
author designation and its consequent place 
on the shelf. This step compelled the stop- 
page of the circulation, but only of one class 
at a time and that for a very limited period. 
Ninety-nine per cent of the library was still 
as freely used as ever. This plan when put 
to the test caused no dissatisfaction on the 
part of the public and proved to be entirely 
convenient. When one subdivision was com- 
pleted it was released for use and another was 
taken up. And so in due time the second 
round of the library was made and the work 
was done. 

As before stated, the work was begun 
about Jan. I, 1887; it was finished in May, 
1888, a period of one year and five months. 
All the books in the library were thus classi- 



fied and renumbered, except fiction, books in 
the German language, and government docu- 
ments. The work was done by two persons, 
with the help of a third for two or three 
months, and it involved the handling of 
60,000 books. The cost in money was 
$1,595, salaries of assistants engaged on the 
work, to which should be added $347 paid for 
labor, shifting books, pasting labels, etc., 
making a total outlay of $1,942, an average of 
a trifle over three cents per volume. 

The expense involved in such an under- 
taking would depend, of course, in every in- 
stance upon the rate of salaries. In the case 
stated no outside expert was employed, and 
our own assistants, being inexperienced, nec- 
essarily worked slowly at the outset and in 
some few instances found it advisable to 
revise their work of classification. So it is 
an open question whether it would not have 
been economy to employ a thoroughly skilled 
expert to take charge of the work. Some- 
thing might undoubtedly be gained in the 
matter of time, if that were important, and 
probably an expert could better deal with 
some close questions in classification. 

In conclusion, I have to say that the change 
was not made a moment too soon and that I am 
satisfied with the system adopted. The move 
was an economical one for the library, be- 
cause the books are now numbered for all 
time, and that work will not have to be re- 
peated every ten years, as was contemplated 
by my predecessor. The new system has 
now been in full use something over three 
years and has been found to be all that was 
expected. It was easily learned by the 
library assistants, who have never had any 
trouble in keeping the books in their proper 
order. It is economical of room. Very 
much less space is left for growth than for- 
merly, and if the space left does not prove to 
be exactly where needed, none is wasted, for 
the books may be pushed either forward or 
backward. It permits new books to be put on 
the shelves exactly where they should be, so 
that all the books in the library on a given 
topic are compactly grouped together and 
always in strict alphabetical order of authors. 
The book numbers are not cumbersome. 



22 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



They are usually composed of six or seven 
characters, and in very few cases, such as 
local or town history, run up as high as nine 
or ten. In arranging the books in the library 
their numerical order was not strictly fol- 
lowed, but classes most used were placed in 
the most convenient locations. In two or 
three instances it has been found desirable to 



transfer groups or subdivisions from one 
place to another to make room for some over 
crowded group. This caused no confusion 
for it was only necessary to notify the library 
assistants of the change. 

In all respects the system seems to be 
simple, flexible, elastic, practical. 



LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 



BY S: SWETT GREEN, LIBRARIAN OF WORCESTER FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



A FEW years ago no aid was afforded sys- 
^^ tematically by public libraries to schools. 
Now, on the contrary, in a very large number 
of towns and cities libraries are closely con- 
nected with schools. 

To judge from statements in the annual 
reports of such libraries as come to me I 
should say that almost all public libraries in 
the United States are trying in one way or 
another to be of assistance to schools. 

Gen. Eaton, late United States Commis- 
sioner of Education, stated a few years ago 
that no library had aided schools so systemat- 
ically, in so many different ways and so suc- 
cessfully, as the Free Public Library in Wor- 
cester, Massachusetts. 

It is because I am the librarian of that 
library, I presume, that I have been re- 
quested to prepare the paper which I am 
now reading to you. 

Teachers and librarians are co-educators. 

Librarians should cultivate friendly rela- 
tions with teachers and let them understand 
that they are ready to afford them any avail- 
able facilities for using books and getting at 
information, and to join them in endeavors 
to make the books of the library serviceable 
to their scholars. 

First, however, start with the knowledge 
and approval of the Superintendent of 
Schools, or such other person or body as 
may have the authority to decide what work 
is to be done in schools. 

In making arrangements to assist teachers 
and their pupils consult freely with the super- 
intendent and teachers, and make up your 
minds in regard to what it is practicable to 



undertake with the books at your command 
and without interfering unwarrantably with 
the school curriculum. 

Before going further let me state distinctly 
that if the work contemplated is to be done 
librarians must be allowed time in which to 
confer with teachers and help them and their 
scholars, or be supplied with accomplished 
assistants to attend to this branch of library 
service. 

I wish also to add that many duplicates are 
needed in doing school work. Such as are 
called for, however, accumulate gradually if a 
few books are bought every year with espe- 
cial reference to that kind of work. 

A close connection between libraries and 
schools is practicable everywhere ; in large 
cities, small cities, large towns, small towns, 
and villages. 

Generally speaking, libraries do not provide 
many books with especial reference to the 
wants of young children ; still teachers in the 
lower grades of schools will find in all libra- 
ries books that are useful to themselves, and 
in almost all libraries others which they can 
use without change for the benefit of pupils. 

For example, a book which contains pic- 
tures and descriptions of animals may be used 
in training the eye and cultivating the power 
of observation in children. 

Passages in books taken from libraries are 
read to classes to illustrate lessons in geog- 
raphy. 

In one instance that I know of lines from 
Longfellow's poem of Evangeline were read 
aloud, and when an interest had been awak- 
ened in the scenes and incidents described in 



GREEN. 



it, numbers of children were carried to a 
library to see certain elaborate illustrations 
of the poem which were published several 
years ago. 

When teachers have talks with pupils about 
countries and read extracts from books to 
them, the boys and girls wish to borrow the 
books to take home to read. 

They are given to them, and others are fur- 
nished describing travels and adventures or 
containing fairy tales or good stories. 

The habit of reading and a taste for good 
reading are thus formed together, and if chil- 
dren have begun the use of poor books, that 
use is supplanted. 

It is probable that many of the boys and 
girls thus served would not go to libraries 
themselves ; nor, should they go, would they 
make a judicious selection of books. 

Then, too, it is well to begin early to culti- 
vate in school a taste for good reading on the 
ground that large numbers of boys and girls, 
and particularly such as are children of uned- 
ucated men, whose judgment regarding the 
character of books is defective, leave school 
before reaching the higher grades even of the 
grammar schools. 

Many books from libraries are used as 
reading books. Teachers have reported to 
me that great improvement in reading 
aloud had been remarked as a consequence 
of using books that particularly interested 
children. 

Advance has been noted, too, as a result of 
the use of library books, in general in 
telligence, and in readiness in answering 
questions. A large use may be made of 
pictures and of books that are generously illus- 
trated in rendering assistance to younger 
children. 

In schools of the 7th, 8th, and pth grades 
and in high schools a very large use is 
made of library books in the school room. 

Some of these are used in the exercise of 
reading at sight or after a minute's examina- 
tion of the passage to be read. 

More are used as aids in studying geogra- 
phy. Some of the books used for that pur- 
pose are read by teachers in preparing them- 
selves for recitations. Teachers also select 



passages from works for pupils to read aloud, 
n a class exercise, or silently in their seats. 

Books are given to scholars to read, after 
they have learned their lessons. Many vol- 
umes are taken to homes to be kept over 
night, over Sunday, for a few days, or for a 
week or more. 

In some school rooms 100 volumes are to be 
found at one time in readiness for immediate 
use. 

In some schools scholars are allowed 
to examine the collections of books from 
libraries and to select such as interest them 
to read, or have their attention called to vol- 
umes which illustrate lessons. 

Sometimes a thousand volumes from a 
library on an average will be found in use 
every day of the school year for school pur- 
poses. I remember making an estimate of 
the average number of volumes in the Free 
Public Library in use in the schools of Wor- 
cester, daily, during two of the busiest 
months of the winter term and finding it to be 
1,666. 

That number was additional, of course, to 
that of books taken out on cards held by indi- 
vidual boys and girls and to such as were 
used within the library building. 

The librarian of an important library stated 
a few years ago that he found that 626 out of 
1,024 books taken out in a given time on 
teachers' and pupils' cards were stories. No 
such abuse of privileges is necessary, how- 
ever. Nor should it be tolerated. Those 
cards should be used almost exclusively for 
procuring from libraries books needed for 
educational purposes. 

In Worcester the rule is that teachers 
shall take out on teachers' cards only one 
story at a time for entertainment merely. 
That rule is strictly enforced, and all the 
books taken from the library in that city, by 
teachers, with the exception mentioned, are for 
purposes of study or serious reading, or for 
use in putting wholesome literature into the 
hands of children. 

Many of the books provided for children, 
however, are of course stories. The stories 
furnished, however, are only such as possess 
real merit. 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



By availing themselves of privileges af- 
forded by libraries which are working in sym- 
pathy with the purposes of teachers, instruc- 
tors are doing a great service to the pupils 
in supplanting the use of worthless books and 
papers, by stimulating an interest in good 
books which they introduce them to. 

The advantages obtainable from the use of 
books by teachers and scholars are greatly in- 
creased when a collection of such books as 
are most needed is made constantly availa- 
ble. For that reason some libraries have al- 
lowed schools to keep a considerable number 
of their books in school rooms for a term or 
even for a longer period of time. 

I know of one principal of a grammar school 
who with his assistants has been so success- 
ful in awakening an interest in subjects of in- 
quiry in connection with daily school work, 
that by putting books into the hands of his pu- 
pils to answer such inquiries, he has, without 
the use of force, controlled nearly the whole 
of the home reading of the children attending 
school in the building under his charge. 

It should be added, moreover, that a great 
many of the books given to children to take 
home are read by their parents and older 
brothers and sisters. 

That fact is not surprising, for librarians 
know that books which are attractive to school 
children are very commonly found entertaining 
to men and women. 

Another kind of service which libraries in 
Worcester and other places have rendered to 
schools consists in furnishing them with 25 or 
50 copies of some work adapted to the mental 
capacity of young persons on the American 
Revolution or our Civil war, so as to enable 
a class to study some period of American his- 
tory with minuteness in a graphic and inter- 
esting narrative. 

Numerous copies of choice specimens of 
English and American literature have also 
been supplied to schools, to aid in the careful 
study of certain authors and for the purpose 
of cultivating the habit of reading with atten- 
tion and comprehension of the meaning, and 
with appreciation of skill in presentation of 
a subject, and of the beauties of style and 
composition displayed in literary productions. 



So much good has come from work of this 
kind done by the aid of libraries, that in some 
cases school committees have taken hold of 
the matter and bought books needed in doing 
it from school funds. 

In doing this kind of work a different book 
may be given to every pupil, he being re- 
quired to read the book so carefully that he 
can give a good account of its contents in 
writing or orally. 

Some teachers see that pupils are provided 
with blank books in which to write down lists 
of interesting good books which have been 
previously written on a blackboard, and ques- 
tions which they are to find answers for by 
going to libraries. 

If a teacher wishes to make his scholars 
feel how much our ancestors suffered in first 
peopling this country and preparing it to be- 
come a pleasant habitation for their descend- 
ants, he goes to a library and is there aided 
to select a book which contains a vivid de- 
scription of pioneer life, and gives it to the 
members of a class, in turn, to read. 

To aid in the study of American literature 
in the high school in Worcester it has been 
our custom to furnish two or three copies of 
the best works of such authors as Irving, 
Holmes and Hawthorne to the principal, to be 
used by pupils in becoming familiar with whole 
works of an author. Some of the books fur- 
nished are used by every member of the class. 

In teaching natural history interesting 
books on various subjects are sought by in- 
structors and furnished by libraries. 

Twenty-five books at a time are sometimes 
sent to a high school to illustrate an epoch in 
history when an effort is made to study some 
period topically. 

Simple and pure French and German stories 
are furnished to teachers to give to scholars 
to read at home, for the purpose of making it 
easy for them to read books in the French 
and German languages. 

In giving out subjects for compositions, 
such as are closely connected with studies 
are selected, and scholars in getting the infor- 
mation needed before writing use library 
books either in the school room or at the 
library building. 



GREEN. 



In some schools an hour is set apart every 
week for the teacher to use as he pleases for 
the benefit of scholars. 

That hour is used by some teachers in find- 
ing out what pupils are reading and how they 
read. 

Teachers learn in this way much about the 
occupations and minds of the boys and girls 
under their charge, and are thereby enabled 
to give a useful turn to their thoughts and 
employments. 

The number of books that teachers are al- 
lowed to take away from libraries for their 
own use and that of children varies in differ- 
ent places, according, mainly, to the size of 
libraries and their interest in school work. 

In Worcester we allow teachers to take 
home or to the school room six books for their 
own use and twelve for the use of pupils. If 
they need more books and ask for them they 
generally get them. 

Teachers are everywhere held responsible, 
I presume, for the use of reasonable care in 
keeping books from being lost or injured. 

Books sent to school rooms are sometimes 
picked out by librarians, sometimes selected 
by teachers. In some places baskets are pro- 
vided by the school authorities which scholars 
use in carrying books to and from school- 
houses. Horse cars are freely used in such 
places. In Newton, Mass., which is a collec- 
tion of villages separated by considerable dis- 
tances, books are distributed from the central 
library to schools through local expresses. 

Lists of books for young persons are issued 
by some libraries. Superintendents of schools 
sometimes print lists of good books for use in 
schools at the end of their reports. 

I have space now only to call attention to 
the excellent collection of books for children 
contained in Sargent's " Books for the 
Young," issued by the publication section of 
this association. 

In doing the kind of work which I have been 
describing, there is danger of interfering with 
the normal mental development of children 
by putting ourselves in a position of opposi- 
tion to the gratification of natural and harm- 
less tastes, which we may not happen to sym- 
pathize with, and so in weakening the desire 



to read at all. That danger, however, can be 
guarded against. 

Many persons are surprised when they find 
out what a good class of books children will 
read, when their attention is called to them 
and judgment is used in exciting an interest 
in them. 

So much for the work done in the school 
room. 

A word now in regard to that done in the 
library building. 

The librarian helps teachers to get at such 
books as they need to give them information, 
or aid them in making investigations. 

When questions are asked in schools which 
cannot be answered with sources of informa- 
tion at hand, a scholar is sent for a book at 
once if the school house is near the library, or 
the teacher or scholar goes to the library 
after the close of school and gets the facts 
sought for, for use the following day. 

The librarian helps in carrying out the 
wishes of teachers regarding their pupils. 

If they are set to make little inquiries he 
puts into their hands books on the subject 
adapted to their ages, and shows them how to 
get information out of them by the use of in- 
dexes, tables of contents, page headings, etc. 
He introduces them to encyclopaedias and 
atlases, and to gazetters and dictionaries of 
biography and those treating of other 
branches of knowledge. 

The librarian sets aside books which a 
teacher wishes scholars to see, so that they 
may be always at hand for use. 

He helps children to pick out good books 
to read. He gives them collections of pieces 
to speak and helps them to get at material to 
use in debates. 

In some libraries systematic instruction is 
given by librarians. 

Classes go in squads to libraries and are 
given books illustrative of some period in his- 
tory, some country or other subject that they 
are studying about, and taught how to use the 
books. 

Some librarians go into schools and talk to 
the children about books and their value in 
connection with school work. 

Teachers carry classes to libraries to look 



26 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



at large illustrated works, throwing light on 
their studies. They are given a room where 
they can be by themselves and talk freely. 

These and other kinds of work done by 
libraries and schools together have been fully 
described in articles in the Library journal. 
Several of the best of these I collected into a 
little volume, " Libraries and Schools," pub- 
lished by the late Frederick Leypoldt of New 
York. I fear that it is now out of print. 

In some libraries, for example in Pawtucket, 
R. I., great attention is given within the 
library building to little children. 

Assistants can readily be trained to render 
aid to inquirers. 

Decided improvement in the character of 
the reading of young persons has been 
remarked in places where there has been an 
intimate connection between libraries and 
schools. 

In doing the different kinds of work de- 



scribed in this paper, the exact form which 
they are to take should be decided upon after 
consultation between individual teachers and 
librarians, and, of course, with the approval of 
persons in power. 

The work done in different places will vary 
according to diversity in the character of 
libraries, schools, teachers and librarians. 

Teachers soon learn the value of being ac- 
corded a free use of books for themselves and 
scholars. Little libraries are often bought for 
schools, in consequence of the recognition of 
the advantages that follow ready access to 
books for reference, study and collateral read- 
ing. In these cases public libraries supple- 
ment the school library. 

No extraordinary qualities are required by 
librarians who undertake to do work in con- 
nection with schools. Those really needed are 
interest in the work, knowledge of books, a 
good education, good manners, and good sense. 



ECONOMICAL, EDUCATIONAL, SELECT CATALOGUES FOR PUBLIC 

LIBRARIES. 

BY WILLIS K. STETSON, LIBRARIAN NEW HAVEN FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



'T'HE Boston Public Library class list of 
History, Biography and Travel, and the 
Quincy, Mass., catalogue, both issued nearly 
twenty years ago, were so successful, appar- 
ently, in accomplishing a most important 
object, that it has seemed strange to the 
writer that they have not had more imitators. 
Of course it was not to be expected that 
many libraries could equal these in respect to 
the elaborate notes, but something more could 
be done than has been done. Everything 
which can be added to a catalogue, to help 
the reader ignorant of books, repays for the 
effort and expense, within certain limits. 
There is no library which cannot give some 
information, and most libraries can add con- 
siderable information to the titles of the 
books. A mere sign, distinguishing juveniles, 
will prevent much disappointment, and help 
in selecting books. Misleading titles can be 
explained in a few words. Books of especial 
importance might be indicated by special 



signs or styles of type. As to notes, such as 
those in the catalogues above cited, there is, 
of course, more difficulty ; yet it seems to me 
perfectly feasible to insert many helpful notes 
in most library catalogues. 

Perhaps the chief obstacle is the cost of 
printing. Twenty-seven per cent of the Bos- 
ton class list was in note type, roughly indi- 
cating the increased cost in consequence of 
notes. How shall the cost be met? Is not 
the answer make the catalogues select, and 
not complete. If notes would be more useful 
than the titles of some books, omit such titles 
and print the notes. We suppose the library 
to have a complete card catalogue. The card 
catalogue is not sufficient for the public, in 
case of the most popular books, and hence 
these titles should be printed ; but the least 
popular or least important may be omitted. 
A complete printed catalogue of a growing 
library is impossible in reality, and special 
means might well be taken to impress the 



HE WINS. 



fact on the public, and certainly should be in 
case of a select catalogue. If we can sacri- 
fice the only completeness which is possible, 
and make the catalogue select, then there is 
possibility, or greater possibility, of printing 
an annotated catalogue. 

Still keeping in mind that the printed cata- 
logue is to be especially planned for the aver- 
age reader, the select catalogue might contain 
analyticals, just as the Cleveland Public 
Library catalogue does to cite a notable 
example. Selection is, of course, eminently 
necessary here. The principle is to give the 
most help to the reader, and analytical refer- 
ences on popular topics are more useful than 
entries of books of little interest and value. 

Select catalogues might be kept within such 
limits of size and price that the public could 



purchase them. Whatever may be the utility 
of ownership and home use of catalogues, the 
price of catalogues must be low if the public 
are to buy them. Few libraries can afford to 
print complete catalogues at all, except brief- 
est-title lists, still less to make the price pop- 
ular. Perhaps the select, educational cata- 
logue might be the best thing viewed from 
this standpoint. 

The whole question of printed catalogues 
for public libraries has not, it seems to me, 
been adequately treated in print, and the pur- 
pose of this mere note is to excite discussion. 
I doubt not that many share with me the 
desire that the views and experiences of the 
librarians at San Francisco may be expressed 
for the benefit of others. 



ANNUAL REPORT ON GIFTS AND BEQUESTS. 

BY MISS CAROLINE M. HEWINS, LIBRARIAN HARTFORD LIBRARY. 



T AST year's report on gifts and bequests 
to libraries in the United States, which, 
it may be remembered, was in an express 
office at Burlington, Vt., all through the con- 
ference at Fabyan's, contained returns from 
libraries to the amount of more than $22,000,- 
ooo. Answers were received from only one- 
fourth of the libraries from which information 
had been requested. On this account the 
Bureau of Education was asked last January 
to undertake the work of collecting and tabu- 
lating statistics, and has had the matter under 
consideration and last year's report in its 
possession for six months, without any appar- 
ent result.* 

This year, gifts or bequests, present or 
future, to fifty libraries, have been reported. 
Their value, as nearly as it can be estimated, 
is $1,400,000, of which more than $1,000,000 is 
in money, the rest being in land, buildings, 
books, manuscripts, collections of pictures 
and coins, etc. Only sixteen States are 
represented. 

The most important work of the year, in 

* The Bureau is now (Dec. 7) preparing a series of questions. 

C. M. H. 



bringing the subjects of gifts and bequests 
before the public, is the report of the Free 
Public Library Commission of Massachu- 
setts, with photogravures of sixty-eight free 
library buildings. Of these forty-eight are 
gifts, four bequests, one both gift and bequest, 
six partly gifts, and nine built by appropria- 
tions from towns or cities. They are, how- 
ever, only a small part of the buildings which 
house the books in the free libraries of 246 
of the 351 towns and cities of the State. Mr. 
Tillinghast, the State Librarian, said not long 
ago that sixty memorial library buildings had 
been erected, and $5,500,000 given outright 
by individuals for them. 

It is recommended that the American Li- 
brary Association take measures, through the 
State associations or every State represented 
in the conference, to establish Library Com- 
missions for the purpose of obtaining and 
publishing library statistics as a first step 
towards planting libraries where they have 
never been before, and to secure as many 
illustrations as possible of libraries which 
have been erected by gift or bequest, making 
most prominent those given during the 
donor's lifetime. 



28 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



State. 


City or Town. 


Name of Library. 


Gift or 
Bequest 


Source. 


Value. 


Money. 


California. 


San Francisco. 
Stockton. 


Wells, Fargo & Co. 


Gift. 
Bequest 


Adolph Sutro. 
Wells, Fargo & Co. and employe's 
Wm. P. Hazleton. 


Not stated 
$75.000.00 




Connecticut. 



Ansonia. 
Branford. 
Bridgeport. 
Canaan. 
Danielsonville. 
New Haven. 


Ansonia Lib. 

Bridgeport Free Lib. 
David M. Hunt Lib. 
People's Library. 
Yale University. 

u ii 
u u 


Gift. 
Bequest 

Gift. 

Bequest 
Gift. 


Miss Caroline Phelps Stokes. 
T. B. Blackstone. 
Catherine E. Hunt. 

Judge Almond M. Paine. 
Alvan Talcott. 
Rev. Dr. H. M. Dexter. 
James Terry. 
Ex-Gov. James L. English. 
Mrs. Henry Farnham. 
Hon. Robbins Battell. 
Prof. Henry W. Farnham. 


30.000.00 
125,000.00 
2,000.00 
1,000.00 

10,000.00 

25,000.00 
10,000.00 

10,000.00 
500.00 
500.00 
223.50 


$ 2,000.00 
1,000.00 
10,000.00 
25,000.00 

10,000.00 

500.00 
500.00 

223.50 


it 


North Granby. 


Frederick H. Cossitt Lib. 


" 


Heirs of Frederick H. Cossitt. 


10,000.00 


10,000.00 


" 


Stafford Springs 
Torrington. 


Torrington Lib. Assoc. 


Bequest 


Arba G. Hyde. 
Lauren Wetmore. 


30,000.00 

22,000.00 


22,000.00 


Illinois. 


Chicago. 
Durand. 
Merrill. 


Chicago Pub. Lib. 
Durand Lib. Assoc. 


Bequest 


Jerome Beecher. 
Andrew Ashton. 
T. B. Scott. 


2,OOO.OO 
IOO.OO 

10,000.00 


2.OOO.OO 
IOO.OO 
10,000.00 


Louisiana. 




La. Historical Soc. 










Maine. 


Machias. 




Bequest 


Henry L. Porter. 




10,000,00 


Maryland. 


Baltimore. 


Manual Training Sch. 
Johns Hopkins Univ. 
Peabody Institute. 


Bequest 
Gift. 


J. E. A. Cunningham. 
J. R. Gilmore. 
W. H. Rinehart. 


95,000.00 


95,000.00 


Massachusetts. 


Boston, 
pswich. 
klarlboro. 
tfethuen. 
Newburyport. 


Boston Public Library. 
Ipswich " 

Kevins Memorial. 
Newburyport Pub. Lib. 


Bequest 


Joseph Scholfield. 
Albert Farley Heard. 
Levi Bigelow. 
Mary A. Nevins. 
Abram Williams. 


11,766.77 

10,000.00 

500.00 

20,000.00 
1,000.00 


11,766.77 

10,000.00 

500.00 
1,000.00 


it 


Salem. 


Salem Pub. Lib. 


Gift. 


Hon. J. B. F. Osgood. 


IOO.OO 


IOO.OO 


" 


" 


< ii ' 


" 


fames D. Perkins. 


IOO.OO 


IOO.OO 


Minnesota. 


St. Paul. 




Bequest. 


Judge Henry Hall. 


500,000.00 


500,000.00 


Nebraska. 


Omaha. 




Bequest. 


Byron Reed. 


90,000.00 




New Jersey. 


iightstown. 
3 aterson. 


L.ongstreet Library. 


Gift. 


Fonathan & Mary A. Longstreet. 
Mrs. Ryle. 


12,000.00 

1,000.00 


12,000.00 
1,000.00 


New York. 


Buffalo. 
Jeneva. 
tfarathon. 
New York. 


Buffalo Library, 
iobart College. 

Ames Museum of Nat. Hist. 
Astor Library. 


Bequest, 
ii 


_.e Grand Marvin. 
[. L. Swift, 
rtrs. Marsena Brink Peck. 
Mrs. M. Schuyler Elliot. 
L J. Astor. 


19,000.00 

20,000.00 
15,000.00 
75,000.00 


19,000.00 
20,000.00 


" 


<" 


Columbia College. 


Gift. 


Mr. and Mrs. S. P. Avery. 




30,000.00 


ii 
u 
ii 

u 


Southampton. 


r ree Circulating Lib. 


Bequest. 

Gift. 

Jequest. 


C. M. Da Costa. 

-lenry G. Marquand. 
Mrs. Harriet J. Rogers. 


1,500.00 
5,000.00 


1,500.00 
5,000.00 
10,000.00 


Ohio. 


lendale. 




Bequest. 


Mrs. Mary Allen. 


50,000.00 


50,000.00 


Pennsylvania. 
u 


tfeadville. 
Pittsburg. 


tfeadville Theol. Sem. 
3 ittsburg Lib. Assoc. 


Gift. 


Juidekoper Family. 
William Thaw. 
H. Phipps, Jr. 


6,000.00 
5,000.00 
50,000.00 


5,000.00 
50,000.00 


Rhode Island. 


Olneyville. 




Gift. 


MissS. J.Eddy. 


1,000.00 


1,000.00 


" 


'rovidence. 


'ublic Library. 


Bequest. 


Albert J. Jones. 


2,000.00 


2,000.00 


Vermont. 


Jurlington. 


Jniversity of Vt. 


Gift. 


Frederick Billings. 


50,000.00 


50,000.00 


ii 


Jutland. 


lutland Free Lib. 


" 


ieuben Rose. 


500.00 


500.00 


Wisconsin. 


5reen Bay. 
llenomonie. 


label Tainter Memorial. 


Gift. 


Rufus B. Kellogg. 
Capt. and Mrs. Andrew Tainter. 


500.00 

18,000.00 


500.00 



HE WINS. 



29 



Books. 


Manuscripts, etc. 


Land. 


Building. 


Conditions or Remarks. 


40,000 








For public use. 










For public library. 






Land. 


Building. 


Books about $10,000 more. 
Memorial to his father. Includes house for librarian. 










In addition to a fund of $5,000. 


1,850 


1297 






Also a valuable medical library. 
On history of Congregationalism. 
Connecticut sermons, etc. 










For a seminary lib. in Amer. hist. 










| For building and books, given on account of a 
\ memorandum among Mr. Cossitt's papers. 
For library on death of his wife and sister. 
Subject to life interest of widow. 




Papers of Jefferson Davis. 












Land. 






2,000 


1,000 Autographs. 






Also book-case. 











Income to be spent for books. 
Income to be used as long as library lasts. 










Income to be spent for books. 
IFor reference books, in addition to $1,000 pre- 
viously given. 
Unconditional. 










{For Public Library and other such institutions as 
Common Council shall determine. 




Mss. and Coins, val. $50,000. 






On condition that city erect building. 










For altering building given last year. 


Napoleana. 
Books. 

Architectural lib. 


Art Collections. 






Last instalment of a bequest of $54,000. 
To found a free public library. 

{$15,000 for care and increase of collection; $15,000 
for immediate use. 


Law and misc. lib. 














Land. 


House. 


Subject to life interest of a cousin. 










For erection of school library. 








Lib. Bld'g. 












On condition of Sunday opening. 










For building fund. 
( Income of half for Italian books and half for books 
( on design. 










{For management of library, in addition to $200,000 
for building. 










Besides $15,000 in 1889. 
Building. 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



USE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY IN THE CLEVELAND SCHOOLS. 
BY W: H. BRETT, LIBRARIAN CLEVELAND (0.) PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



17 OR several years past the teachers in the 
* Cleveland schools, both public and pri- 
vate, and also some teachers of private classes 
have been allowed to draw from three to six 
additional books, and in some cases to retain 
them longer than the usual time. 

This, though an advantage prized by the 
more efficient teachers of the city, was not 
sufficient for the needs of the schools. 

During the year 1889 the issue of books to 
the teachers in the names of their pupils and 
for their use was begun. In addition to sev- 
eral smaller selections of books, earlier in the 
year, fifty volumes were placed in each of 
eleven schools, which remained through the 
last semester of that year. During 1890 col- 
lections numbering, except in a few instances, 
50 volumes each, were placed in 61 schools 
and remained until the close of the year. 

As I write, at the beginning of the school 
year, the applications already indicate a very 
large increase. 

At first the books were issued in the name 
of the pupils, the teacher being responsible 
for them. This was merely to comply with 
the rules, as the teacher actually divided the 
books among her pupils as she saw fit. 

Lately the rule was modified to permit the 
issue of books directly to the teacher for the 
use of her pupils without the formality of 
charging them to the pupils. 

One of the library assistants who has had 
charge of this work from the beginning has 
been accustomed to visit each school once 
each month, to check up the books and see 
that they were properly cared for. This fre- 
quent oversight is important to protect the in- 
terest of the library, to call the attention of 
the teachers promptly to any deficiency, and 
also to give the assistant opportunity to make 
helpful suggestions to the teacher. 

Teachers were permitted to return any 
books they chose at any time and draw others, 
but very few exchanges were made. The 
selections of books first made were usually 



retained with very little change to the end of 
the year. They were used by the teachers at 
their own discretion. In almost every in- 
stance they were issued to the pupils for use 
at home, where they were read by other mem- 
bers of the family; and as most of the books 
were placed in schools remote from the 
library, these were in effect small delivery 
stations, operated without expense to the 
library for the benefit of the group of families 
represented in the schools. It places books 
in many families which have not been using 
the library, and to many children it is their 
first introduction to good reading. 

One teacher told me an incident showing 
the hunger for books. A copy of a favorite 
story disappeared. It had just before been 
reluctantly returned by a bright girl of her 
class, and the teacher's suspicions were 
aroused that the desire to possess the book 
had proved too strong a temptation for her. 
When questioned she finally admitted that 
she had taken the book, but bursting into 
tears, she exclaimed : " I did want it so 
bad. I never had a book in my whole life. " 

At the close of the last year a little circular 
was sent to the teachers having books, asking 
each what the result had been in her school, 
whether it was desirable to continue the issue, 
and inviting suggestions as to the best books 
and methods. The answers received were 
almost uniformly enthusiastic as to the value 
of the books in the school, and were 
unanimous in their wish to have the 
issue continued. Some reported that the in- 
fluence of the books was very marked upon 
the school work and that it inspired an inter- 
est in the school which had a favorable effect 
upon the deportment. 

I happened to hear of two schools in each 
of which the collection included a bound 
copy of Harper's Young People. The pupil 
making the best record for the week was per- 
mitted to draw and use this for the next week. 
It proved a capital stimulus to exertion and 



FLETCHER. 



good behavior. To conclude, I think I may 
regard the work thus far as altogether fav- 
orable and encouraging. It has not been 
done in accordance with a plan, but has been 
an attempt to occupy what appeared to be a 
new field of usefulness in which we have only 
gone forward step by step, as the way opened. 
I believe, however, that the time is coming, 
if indeed it is not already here, when the use 
of a collection of good books in the school 
room will be regarded as not merely desirable, 
but as an absolute necessity ; when the in- 
troduction of our children to good literature 
and the formation of the reading habit will be 
regarded as the most important work of the 
school course. What the best method 
for placing books in the school room may 
be, the future must develop. I am convinced 
now that it should be the central library under 
one management rather than by independent 
libraries for the separate buildings or roomsi 
whether this central library be a public library 
or a special one for the schools. Practically, 
however, the public library already organized 
and equipped for work offers a means of be- 
ginning the work at once. 

The essentials for successful work from the 
library, I think, are simply the duplication to a 
sufficient extent of the best books and the fre- 
quent oversight of its collections when placed 
in the school rooms. The advantages I have 



already sufficiently mentioned. In what I 
have written I have merely, in accordance 
with the request of our president, given an 
account of the work on our own library. Work 
in the same line is being done in the Mil- 
waukee library, I believe, also in the Detroit 
library and elsewhere, from which I hope we 
may hear. 

Permit me to add a few supplementary 
words in regard to another direction in which 
the library may work outside of its own walls. 
We have during the last few years been issu- 
ing books to a few manufacturing firms for 
their employes. They give us the names and 
addresses of their employees who wish to 
draw books, they become responsible for the 
books, send for and return them, usually once 
a week. We place catalogs in the works, 
make out a card which accompanies the book, 
which taken out and filed at the office of the 
works charges the book to the person, so that 
the work involved to the manufacturer is very 
little. 

Of the 300 names now registered and using 
the library from the different manufactories, 
not more than 20 had ever used the library 
before. 

I mention this not as a record of achieve- 
ment, but as suggesting a hopeful field for 
library extension. 



THE BEST LIBRARY LEGISLATION. 



BY W. I. FLETCHER, LIBRARIAN OF AMHERST COLLEGE. 



T HAVE been asked to present a paper on 
this subject, not of course with the idea 
that I should bring forward anything ideal, 
although "the best" might suggest that. 
Rather am I desired, I suppose, to set forth 
the best results of the experience practically 
had in this line, in those States which have 
taken the lead in the establishment of libra- 
ries. 

Library legislation is plainly in a course of 
evolution, in which we may observe four 
stages already past or being attained and a 



fifth plainly foreshadowed. The best library 
legislation in any time or place is that which 
secures, or conduces to, the best results in 
library development and administration, time 
and place taken into account. 

Passing by. as not pertinent to our discus- 
sion, all legislation for the establishment of 
State libraries or other institutions not for the 
benefit of the public, we find that the first 
stage in legislation for public libraries con- 
sisted in laws incorporating society libraries, 
the first of which in this country was the Phil- 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



adelphia Library, started by Benj. Franklin in 
1732, and incorporated in 1742. From the 
first, these libraries were recognized as pub- 
lic benefits, and their establishment was en- 
couraged by exemption from taxation. At 
least sixteen States now have general laws 
under which such libraries may be estab- 
lished, and twenty-three States exempt them 
from taxation, thus drawing a clear line be- 
tween library associations and clubs, in which 
the benefit is supposed to accrue only to 
members, the library, even in the hands of a 
society, being regarded as a public good. 

The second stage in the development of 
library legislation appears in the laws passed 
in twenty-one States, beginning with New 
York in 1835, for the establishment of district 
school libraries. New York has expended 
over $50,000 annually in this direction for 
fifty-five years, but there, as elsewhere, the 
system has proved on the whole a failure, 
although it was at one time regarded as a long 
step towards universal popular culture. It 
was indeed such a step, in the sense that it 
prepared the way throughout the country for 
what was to follow, educating public senti- 
ment, and creating a desire for better things. 

In the third stage of laws for the further- 
ance of the library interest we come to the 
beginning of the public library strictly speak- 
ing, i. e., the library " of the people, by the 
people and for the people. " 

In 1849 ^e Legislature of New Hampshire 
passed the first act of which we have any 
record, empowering towns and cities to estab- 
lish and maintain public libraries by taxation. 
Massachusetts followed in 1851, and other 
States later. The history of this movement 
\vas concisely given by Dr. Poole in his ad- 
dress before this association in 1887; and an 
article by our associate, Mr. C. Alex. Nelson, 
in the Annual Cyclopasdia for 1887, gives a 
resum of the then existing laws of this char- 
acter. In looking for the best of these laws 
we observe that the differences are chiefly in 
two points : the amount of tax levy allowed, 
and the provisions made for appointment of 
trustees or directors. As to the amount, it is 
somewhat singular that while New Hamp- 
shire at the very first left the power of taxation 



for this purpose in the hands of the towns 
without limit, and has never found reason to 
amend that provision, nearly all the States 
have limited the amount, as has Great Brit- 
ain. Massachusetts began with a limit, 
which was soon abolished. The limit in a 
few representative States is as follows : New 
Jersey, one-third mill ; Indiana, three-fourths 
mill ; Connecticut, 2 mills ; Illinois, towns 2 
mills; cities of less than 10,000 population, 
i mill; cities of over 10,000, one-fifth mill; 
New York, $i per poll for establishment, 50 
cents per poll for maintenance ; Vermont, the 
same amounts doubled. It seems to be diffi- 
cult to say whether it is best to have this 
limit fixed by State law or not. Those States 
which fix no limit are quite satisfied with the 
result. In other States the circumstances 
may be so different as to make it expedient 
to impose a limit on possibly hasty and ill- 
considered local generosity towards the libra- 
ries, leading to the neglect of other proper 
expenditures. 

The policy of providing for the support of 
libraries out of fines taken in the courts, and 
licenses of various kinds, is hardly a wise one. 
It tends to degrade the library in the eyes of 
the public to have its prosperity dependent 
on the wickedness of the people, and also 
renders the support of the libraries too pre- 
carious for regular and satisfactory work. A 
direct tax levy is more dignified and puts the 
library where it belongs, on a par with other 
educational institutions of the State. 

The provisions for the care of public libra- 
ries vary greatly in different States. As an 
extreme example of unwise simplicity in these 
provisions, I cite Colorado, where the mayor 
of a city having a public library is required 
to appoint annually a library committee of 
three to serve one year. Libraries cannot 
flourish under such a regime. No stability of 
management or policy is possible, as no offi- 
cer could be sure of his place except for the 
current year, and where there are shifting 
local politics the library will inevitably be- 
come a party football. 

In most of the States larger boards are 
required, and their election is provided for 
under such restrictions as to secure compar- 



FLETCHER. 



33 



ative permanence in office, and to remove the 
election out of politics. The best legislation 
in this respect is that which provides wisely 
for a non-partisan board of from seven to 
twelve directors, only a portion to be chosen 
at a time, and all to hold office for a term of 
years. But there are two opposite dangers 
to be guarded against here. While library 
management must be kept out of politics, care 
must also be taken that it be not committed 
to a close corporation tending to become a 
one-man power. The Boston Public Library, 
having suffered from the first of these evils, 
sought relief in a special act of incorporation 
under which the direction was placed in 
the hands of five trustees, one appointed an- 
nually by the Mayor to serve five years. The 
recently printed report on the expenditures 
so far made on the new building for that 
library, consists mainly of the testimony of 
the president of the board, in which he makes 
it appear plainly that the government of the in- 
stitution has in a few years drifted into an early 
complete one-man power, and that its present 
awkward position as to the new building (and 
in other respects as well) is due to this fact. 

Legislation of the permissive sort just con- 
sidered, with proper regulations as to govern- 
ment, is undoubtedly the best yet attainable 
for most of the States, nor can anything 
further be well attempted until some years' 
experience of the great benefits of public 
libraries has prepared a community for yet 
higher ground. 

But there is higher ground to be taken, as 
already shown by Massachusetts and New 
York, which have added to their permissive 
legislation, laws intended to encourage ac- 
tively the establishment of town libraries, and 
providing for assistance from the State for the 
poorer towns. 

In Massachusetts the State Library Com- 
mission in less than two years from its estab- 
lishment, and by the judicious expenditure of 
a very small appropriation, has secured the 
founding of libraries in over thirty of the one 
hundred towns in the State which were with- 
out them, and its members look confidently 
to the near future when every town shall have 
such an institution. 



In New York legislation was had three 
years ago providing for subsidies from the 
State to free libraries of a certain size and 
having a given circulation. While this has 
done much to aid and stimulate the library 
interests of the State, further legislation is 
pending, intended to increase largely the aid 
furnished by the State, not only in money but 
in assistance and advice through the State 
Library, serving as headquarters for the 
entire public library system of the State. 

This stimulative legislation is readily seen 
to be a step beyond that which is merely per- 
missive, but it is a step which can hardly fail 
to be taken by all the States as they are 
gradually educated to an appreciation of the 
value to the State of good public libraries. 
Nor can it well be doubted that this evolution 
of library legislation will ultimately bring 
forth the ideal library law, that is to say, the 
one which shall make it obligatory on towns 
to have and to properly maintain libraries, 
just as it is now required that schools be pro- 
vided. Some years ago a member of the 
Library Association of the United Kingdom 
presented a resolution that Parliament be re- 
quested to pass a bill making this requirement 
of towns. It did not meet the approval of the 
meeting, but the confident expectation ex- 
pressed by the mover " It will come!" 
is certainly justified by the course library 
legislation has thus far taken. 

To the features of library laws already 
referred to must be added another the pro- 
tective. It has been found necessary, where 
public libraries exist, to make the willful or 
careless defacing or injuring of library books 
a penal offence. Only when some prosecu- 
tions under such laws have taken place, have 
library books been safe in the hands of a cer- 
tain portion of the community. 

In closing I may be permitted to speak of 
some points on which national "library legis- 
lation " may be improved. 

1. We want laws providing for the regular 
and prompt supply to libraries of the United 
States public documents. 

2. We want an amendment of the postal 
laws by which library books may pass through 
the mails at second-class (i. e. pound) rate. 



34 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



3. We want to be allowed to import books 
for our libraries without the tedious and 
vexatious delays and formalities involved in 
the present system. Although public libra- 
ries do not have to pay import duties, prob- 



ably no class of people would more sincerely 
hail the removal of the duty on books than 
the librarians. 

Such, then, is the " best library legislation." 



ACCESS TO THE SHELVES IN THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

BY W: H. BRETT, THE LIBRARIAN. 



*T*HE library is classified upon the decimal 
system of Mr. Dewey, worked out as far 
as the third or fourth figure of the decimal 
fraction, if necessary. 

The circulating department, except fiction, 
is arranged in open alcoves, convenient of 
access. Each contains a reading table for 
the use of visitors. They are so arranged 
that they may, with the ordinary business of 
the library, be overlooked by four assistants. 
In especially busy times more are needed. 
The books are in cases with glass doors, but 
these are opened freely for visitors, and left 
open as long as desired. The novels are on 
open shelves behind a counter, and are given 
out by assistants on application. These are 
shown freely on the counter for selection. 
The arrangement of the circulating depart- 
ment is shown by a diagram in the Library 
journal of May, 1890, which is substantially 
as it has been operated since March, 1890, 
except that the railing and gates there shown 
as closing each alcove have never been put 
in place, as we found no need of them. The 
disadvantage feared from this plan was that 
books might be carried away without being 
charged. I say carried away without being 
charged, not as an euphemism, but because I 
think that when this does occur it is some- 
times through carelessness rather than delib- 
erate thieving. Our loss since opening the 
library is slight, not apparently larger than 
before, and is rather more than proportion- 
ately shared by the class fiction which is not 
open. 

It was also feared that the books would 
be so misplaced on the shelves as to become 
a serious objection, and I intended to have 
little notices posted, asking that books be not 
replaced on the shelves, but left on the ledges ; 



this, however, has never been necessary, as 
the inconvenience anticipated has never 
existed to any serious extent. 

The advantages gained have been, first, the 
greatly enhanced value of the library to its 
users. The importance of being able to look 
over the books upon any subject is obvious to 
every student and reader, and can hardly be 
overestimated. To those who are undecided 
as to what they want, an assistant can readily 
show an attractive shelf of books, or make a 
suggestion. 

In the history and travel alcoves the assist- 
ants usually keep a few attractive volumes 
on the tables, from which visitors may select. 
The new books are also shown on open 
shelves in a rack, and selections may be made 
from them at once. These books are checked 
each morning, so that I know that we are not 
losing books from them. Another important 
advantage is the increased speed with which 
books may be selected and drawn. 

The circulation of the library has largely 
increased. For the year ending August 3ist, 
1889, the issue of books for home use was 
about 200,000. For the next year, during the 
last five months of which the library was 
open, it was 235,000, and for the year just 
closed it has been 280,000. This increase is 
in part due to the growth of the town, but I 
attribute much of it to the favor which our 
change in method has found with our reading 
people. 

In addition to the issue of books, there has 
been a considerable use of the circulating 
department as a reading and study room, of 
which no account is kept and no figures can 
be given. A fourth advantage, and a very 
important one, is the economy of the plan. 
Speaking from our experience thus far, I 



BRETT. 



35 



believe that the expense per volume of issuing 
books by this plan will not be above two- 
thirds as great as that by any plan which 
involves bringing the books to the reader, and 
gives him any reasonable opportunity to look 
them over and select. Perhaps I should 
speak more definitely and say that it is not 
more than two-thirds as great as it was in our 
own library on the old plan, as that is the 
only standard of comparison I have. I say 
this advisedly, as I find it impossible to 
gather from published library statistics any 
accurate estimate of the cost of issue per 
volume, so difficult is it to separate the 
amount paid for that especial work from the 
other expenses of the library. To sum up, I 
think I may say that our own experience of 
the open library has been altogether favorable. 
I should say, perhaps, in addition, that I 
regard it as essential to its success, first, that 
a library should be arranged upon a plan 
which will afford well lighted, convenient 



book rooms, or alcoves, which can be econom- 
ically overlooked; and, second, that it should 
be systematically and closely classified upon 
the shelves. The more broadly a library is 
classified, that is to say, the nearer it approxi- 
mates to no classification at all, the less use 
will it be. I do not in this undervalue the 
catalogue. The value of a catalogue still con- 
tinues in a library open and carefully classi- 
fied, in that it shows books upon a subject 
which may be off the shelf, parts of books, 
chapters, essays, etc. ; and it may be used out 
of the library. 

As I look over what I have written, I fear 
that I may be open to the charge of Unser- 
bibliothekismus (permitting me to coin a 
word), but I have only intended a frank state- 
ment of our own experiences in an important 
phase of library management, hoping to con- 
tribute a little toward the solution of a puz- 
zling problem. 



CONTAGIOUS DISEASES AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 

BY GARDNER MAYNARD JONES, LIBRARIAN OF THE SALEM PUBLIC LIBRARY, SALEM, MASS. 



pvR. W. F. POOLE, at that time librarian 
of the Chicago Public Library, read a 
paper on this subject at the Boston Con- 
ference of the A. L. A. in 1879 [L. J. 4: 
258-262], giving special attention to the 
opinions of medical men as to the danger of 
contagion. 

In compiling the present report for the 
conference of 1891, I have approached the 
subject from the opposite side, that of the 
actual experiences of libraries, and precautions 
adopted. To get at the facts, I sent a cir- 
cular containing 7 questions to 66 represen- 
tative librarians of the United States, Canada, 
England and Scotland (52 American and 14 
foreign), to which I have received 52 replies 
(43 American, 9 foreign). In 8 cases the 
librarians had no experience bearing on the 
subject or the replies were not in such form 
as to admit of tabulation, although I have 
sometimes made quotations from them. 

The 44 other replies are summarized as 
follows ; 



Have you any reason to think that disease 
has been carried by books delivered from 
your library ? 

Three do not answer; 39 say "No. " The 
following extract from the reply of Mr. K. A. 
Linderfelt, Milwaukee Public Library, is an 
expression of the general tone of the replies: 
" For my own part, I do not believe that any 
serious danger of carrying contagion by 
means of library books exists, but there are 
in every community quite a number of per- 
sons who feel nervous on this subject, and for 
their sake it is well to take every reasonable 
precaution. " 

Mr. J. Schwartz, New York Apprentices' 
Library, says : " My opinion, founded on an 
experience of twenty-eight years, is that con- 
tagious diseases are not spread through the 
circulation of books from libraries. In my 
experience I never heard of any reader to 
whom a disease was communicated through 
a book loaned by the library. And while the 
attendants at the desks handled hundreds of 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



thousands of books every year which had 
been circulated among all parts of the city 
and suburbs there has been only one case 
where any of the library employees was even 
sick of a contagious disease. This case oc- 
curred about 27 years ago, and from the cir- 
cumstances attending it, could not have been 
contracted at the library. " 

Mrs. M. C. Norton, assistant librarian of 
the Minneapolis Public Library, says : " We 
have had but one case brought to our notice 
where it was claimed by the family that the 
poison was carried to them through books 
from the library, but that was mere conjec- 
ture." 

Miss Ellen M. Coe, librarian of the New 
York Free Circulating Library, says : " The 
only case of infection known to us in the ten 
years since we opened our library is one 
where a somewhat alarming ulcerous skin 
disease attacked one of the librarians ; this 
was plainly from the soiled book covers." 

What means are adopted to prevent the 
spread of contagious diseases ? 

Have you any special arrangements with 
health officers ? 

The most general plan adopted is that men- 
tioned by Dr. Poole at the close of his article 
[L. J. 4 : 262] and which may be called " the 
Chicago plan." 

This is as follows : The health officer 
notifies the library of all cases of contagious 
disease, and books are not loaned to residents 
in such houses until notice is received that all 
danger is passed. All books returned which 
have been exposed to infection are disinfected 
or destroyed before they are replaced on the 
shelves of the library. 

Twenty-three librarians report that this 
plan is regularly followed in their libraries. 
In one city, there being no efficient Board of 
Health, an arrangement has been made with 
the physicians to report direct to the library, 
and one library receives reports from either 
health officers or physicians. Another libra- 
rian says : " Health officers sometimes re- 
port." Seven depend on report from the book 
borrower. Eleven report no special arrange- 
ment, and one says : " When there is an 
epidemic we stop circulation." In several 



cases the regulations of the library contain a 
clause requiring notification from the reader. 
The following from the by-laws of the Chicago 
Public Library is a sample of such regula- 
tions : " It shall be the duty of all persons 
having the privileges of the library to notify 
the librarian of the existence of any con- 
tagious disease in their residences or families, 
and for failure to do so their privileges may 
be declared forfeited by the Board." One 
librarian, who followed "the Chicago plan" 
for three years, reports : " The conjunction 
of books and contagious disease happened so 
rarely, however, that the reports were finally 
discontinued." 

In six cases special blanks used for notifi- 
cation have been sent to me, and some libra- 
rians speak of notices which are posted in the 
delivery room. 

Do you disinfect books returned yourself, 
or is it done by the health authorities ? 

How is this done ? By sulphur, hot air, or 
otherwise ? 

Twelve librarians report that disinfection 
is always done by the health officers, 10 
that it is always done at the library, and 4 
that it is done by either. Three simply report 
that it is done before the book is returned. 
At 2 libraries the book is destroyed and fine 
remitted, at i the book is not received and 
borrower is required to pay for it. At Brad- 
ford, England, the book is taken to the fever 
hospital for use there, the sanitary committee 
paying the value of the book. 

The method of disinfection used is as 
follows : Sulphur fumes 13, hot air 5, sun- 
light I, fresh air i, vapor of carbolic acid in 
an air-proof oven heated to 100 or 120 
degrees i. At 9 libraries it is considered so 
difficult to disinfect thoroughly that the books 
are destroyed by burning or otherwise. One 
librarian reports " Serious cases destroyed 
and mild disinfected. " 

Miss. Coe says, " We also use a liquid dis- 
infectant to sprinkle the paper removed from 
the books (covers), as it accumulates in some 
quantity before it can be removed. The 
floors of reading rooms and waiting rooms are 
sprinkled at least once a day. Disinfectant 
is used in the cleaning water and of course in 



JONES. 



37 



all basins and closets constantly, also for the 
hand-bathing of the assistants. " 

Miss H. P. James, of the Osterhout Free 
Library, reports : " We disinfect books our- 
selves with sulphur. A large piece is put on 
a plate of tin, set on fire, the book is placed 
upright and open near it, and both are 
covered by a tight box for a day or two. The 
sulphur of course is consumed, but the per- 
fume remains. " 

Mr. James Bain, jr., of the Toronto Public 
Library, where now the health officers destroy 
all books found in houses reported infected, 
says, " Have the whole question of disinfec- 
tion under consideration." 

What diseases are considered contagious 
in your city ? 

Thirteen do not answer this question. 
Many of the others only answer partially, giv- 
ing a brief list, and adding " etc." This will 
account for the small numbers attached to 
such diseases as cholera, yellow fever, etc. 
Twenty-eight mention scarlet fever, 28 diph- 
theria, 27 small pox, 1 1 measles, 1 1 typhoid 
fever, 5 typhus fever, 3 membraneous croup, 
3 scarlatina, 3 cholera, 2 chicken pox, 2 whoop- 
ing cough, i each glanders, yellow fever, ery- 
sipelas, itch, pneumonia, rotheln, mumps, in- 
fluenza. One says "all zymotic diseases." 
The English " Infectious disease (notification) 
act, 1889," under which the English libraries 
work, specifies a long list of diseases, includ- 
ing all fevers. A circular from the Bootle 
Free Public Library gives a list of fevers by 
name. 

Have you any medical opinions to quote ? 

C: V. Chapin, M. D., Supt. of Health, 
Providence, R. I., writes to Mr. Foster as fol- 
lows : "In reply to your inquiry in regard 
to the Public Library and infectious diseases, 
I would say that I have never known, in my 
own experience, diseases to be transmitted by 
means of library books. Nevertheless there 
is no question that such is possible and is 
quite likely to occur, if no precautions are 
taken. Certainly no books should be issued 
to a family in which there is a case of conta- 
gious disease, and none should be received 
from such a family until disinfected. How 
to disinfect is a problem which has not been 



satisfactorily solved. At present dry heat is 
the only agent that we can employ, and this 
often with the greatest care injures the books, 
if the disinfection be thorough. Disinfection 
by this agent can only be properly accom- 
plished in an oven with a thermometer at- 
tached, and ought to be done by the sanitary 
authority." 

Miss H. P. James says : " The physicians 
thought it a good plan to be on the safe side, 
but I do not remember that any of them felt 
there was much danger of contagion from the 
books." 

Mr. C : Evans, Public Library, Indianapo- 
lis, Ind., says : " Physicians generally hold 
a different opinion from librarians, but I have 
never known one who could specify any par- 
ticular case in support of his belief, either 
from books or from practical experience." 

Miss A. L. Hayward, Public Library, Cam- 
bridge, Mass., says : " Physicians have told 
us that scarlet fever is given by the particles 
of skin dropping from convalescent patients, 
and that therefore there was most danger of 
books giving this disease. " 

Mr. J. N. Larned, Buffalo Library, writes : 
" A few months ago our rule in this matter 
was called in question, and I procured the 
opinions of a dozen of the leading physicians 
of the city on the subject. Most of them sus- 
tained our action [stopping circulation and 
destruction of books returned], but they dif- 
fered quite widely in their several estimates 
of the danger to be apprehended. Some 
thought disinfection sufficient; but those who 
evidently had studied the matter most care- 
fully found the burning of the exposed books 
none too serious a precaution. We have no 
arrangement with the -health authorities for 
having cases of contagious disease reported 
to us. I think we ought to have it, and we 
probably shall. " 

Dr. G: E. Wire, librarian of the Medical 
Dept. of the Newberry Library, says : " These 
diseases are not contagious at all periods of 
their existence, and in their worst stages there 
is no reading done by patients or attendants. 
Of course if you really go into extremes as do 
the bacteriologists, there would be no chance 
for any one to live ; germs would be all-power- 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



ful and everywhere. But the human race has 
survived thousands of years before disease 
germs were thought of and still survives, 
despite the germ theorists. " 

Dr. L. H. Steiner, Enoch Pratt Free 
Library, Baltimore, says: "The whole sub- 
ject of disinfection is treated at length and in 
a very practical way, by writers in the Trans- 
actions of the American Public Health Asso- 
ciation, to whose papers I would refer for 
further information. " 

The following is a bibliography of the sub- 
ject so far as contained in English and Ameri- 
can library publications. I have not been able 
to obtain access to the Transactions of the 
L. A. U. K. later than the sixth meeting. 

Library journal, 2 : 23-24. Brief discussion 
at New York conference. 

4: 258-262. Dr. Poole's paper. 

7: 234. Extract from report of Chicago 
Public Library. " During the recent severe 
scourge . . . no .case of transmission of 
the disease was traced to a library book, and 
no suspicion was raised that it had occurred." 

8 : 336-7. By C : A. Cutter. 

1 1 : 1 23-4. Report of State Board of Health 
of Iowa that no case of conveyance of conta- 
gious disease by second-hand school books 
had been found. 

ii : 166-7. Persons imagine diseases of 
which they read. 

13: 105-6. Description of oven and process 
of disinfection by means of carbolic acid used 
at Sheffield, England. 

16 : 80. A number of medical opinions. 

Library chronicle, 5 : 24. Methods of pre- 
caution adopted at Bradford, England. 

Library,' 1:171. " The free library and its 
books are the last sources from which infec- 
tion is to be feared." This statement is based 
on the strictness of the English laws regard- 
ing infectious diseases. 

2 : 442. At Derby, England, " a list of in- 
fected houses is supplied to the library 
weekly." 

2 : 443. At Plymouth, England, the lending 
department was closed for nearly six months 
during prevalence of a scarlet fever epidemic 
in 1889-90. 

Greenwood, T : Public libraries, 3d ed., 



1890, p. 493-5. Speaking of the carrying of 
disease by books he says : " The statement 
is monstrously untrue, and invariably ema- 
nates from the avowed enemies of these in- 
stitutions. " He advocates precaution, pro- 
hibition of circulation, required notification, 
disinfection. Describes apparatus used at 
Dundee, Sheffield, and Preston, which is 
recommended as simplest and best. A sketch 
is given. It is a case of thin sheet iron, with 
perforated shelves. Compound sulphurous 
acid is burned in a small lamp. 

The conclusion to be drawn from the 
authorities cited above, as well as the whole 
tone of the replies received, seems to be 
this : No librarian actually knows of a case 
of contagious disease being carried by a book 
either to a reader or library attendant, that 
cited by Miss Coe alone excepted, and this 
is not a case of what is usually considered 
contagious disease. The medical authorities 
are divided in their opinions, but most of 
those consulted consider that the danger of 
contagion through books is slight. 

What is our duty then as librarians, care- 
ful of the health of our readers ? It seems to 
be this : Prohibition of circulation to houses 
where contagious diseases exist, and either 
disinfection or destruction of books returned 
from such houses. For obtaining a list of 
infected houses the best method seems to be 
to request notification from the board of 
health or other health officers of the city or 
town, and in absence of such officers to make 
arrangements with physicians to send notice 
direct to the library. In either case the 
library would usually furnish addressed pos- 
tal cards for such notification. As to whether 
books returned should be disinfected or de- 
stroyed, that can wisely be left to the opinion 
of the board of health or other competent 
local authority. Destruction is certainly the 
safer, because of the difficulty of opening a 
book so that the surface of every leaf shall be 
exposed to the disinfecting process. These 
precautions are recommended not because the 
danger is considered great, but to prevent all 
possible chance of contagion, and to allay the 
fears of unduly sensitive persons, of whom 
there are so many in every community. 



FOSTER. 



39 



THE ARGUMENT FOR PUBLIC SUPPORT OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 

BY W: E. FOSTER, LIBRARIAN OF THE PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



*T*HE rise of the public library system both 
in this country and Great Britain, during 
the past half-century, has been almost coin- 
cident with the very noteworthy reexamina- 
tion of every phase of social economy now 
so powerfully influencing the thought of the 
world. In this discussion the contributions 
of Kaufmann, of Fawcett, of Graham, of 
Jevons, and above all, of Herbert Spencer, 
have been more than influential they have 
been almost epoch making and whatever 
view one may hold in regard to the social 
question, in its various phases, one cannot 
fail to acknowledge the deep debt which we 
owe to these profound thinkers. 

No book, from Mr. Spencer's point of view, 
which has appeared within recent years, is 
worthy of a wider reading than the volume 
entitled " A plea for liberty ; an argument 
against socialism and socialistic legislation," 
which appeared about the beginning of the 
present year. In it thirteen writers, whose 
point of view is very nearly identical, have 
discussed in successive chapters such topics 
as postal communication, electric communi- 
cation, investment, improvement of working- 
men's homes, free libraries, education, and 
other subjects, in their relation to the ques- 
tion, " What action shall the State take in re- 
gard to them?" The underlying purpose of 
the book is thus expressed in the words of 
Mr. Mackay, the editor of the volume : "If 
the view set out in this volume is at all cor- 
rect, it is very necessary that men should 
abandon the policy of indifference, and that 
they should do something to enlarge the 
atmosphere of liberty. This is to be accom- 
plished not by reckless and revolutionary 
methods, but rather by a resolute resistance 
to new encroachment and by patient and 
statesmanlike endeavor to remove wherever 
practicable the restraints of regulation, and 
to give full play over a larger area to the 
creative forces of liberty, for liberty is the 
condition precedent to all solution of human 



difficulty." Surely this is a statement of the 
case which must powerfully appeal to all 
thinking men, and lead them to reexamine, at 
least, the principles on which State support 
of the various institutions referred to is 
based. 

In such a spirit, a reexamination of the argu- 
ment for public support of public libraries 
must be regarded as entirely germane to the 
objects which the American Library Associ- 
ation has at heart. In such a spirit the pres- 
ent paper proposes to weigh once more the 
principles which underlie our American library 
system, and the considerations brought for- 
ward by Mr. O'Brien in the chapter devoted 
to " Free libraries " in the volume referred to. 

The half-century of discussion of " socialism 
and socialistic legislation " already referred 
to has made few things so clear as the fact 
that the arguments employed on any subject 
social subjects in particular are weakened 
in almost the exact ratio in which they are 
allowed to be tinged by passion and excited 
feeling. It must therefore be regarded as 
unfortunate that Mr. O'Brien's chapter suffers 
most emphatically from comparison with the 
generally high level of calm and unimpassioned 
argument, characterizing the larger portion of 
the book. Whether this is to be explained on 
the basis of the apocryphal legal maxim, 
' When you have no case, abuse your oppo- 
nent," or whether Mr. O'Brien entered the lists 
fresh from some too recent participation in a 
personal contest over the question, we do not 
undertake to inquire. The fact remains that 
not only do the writers of the other chapters 
of the book appear from a careful reading to 
state their arguments more effectively, but 
that the reader is also impressed with the fact 
that they have a case which admits of more 
effective argument. 

Let us glance in succession at the points 
which Mr. O'Brien has aimed to make. They 
may be grouped in general under two heads ; 
first, those which relate to the injury (in Mr. 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



O'Brien's view) inflicted on the individual 
user of a free library from having it aided by 
public support, and second, those which relate 
to the tax-payer's grievance (in Mr. O'Brien's 
view) in helping to support it. The former is 
of course the side of the question most ger- 
mane to the general purpose of the book, and 
it is therefore an occasion for surprise to 
notice that in Mr. O'Brien's enumeration of 
arguments those coming under the other 
class outnumber it in the ratio of six to one. 
First of all, to use Mr. O'Brien's own language, 
is " the argument that if readers were left to 
pay for their own books, not only would books 
be more valued, but the moral discipline 
involved in the small personal sacrifice 
incurred by saving for such a purpose 
would do infinitely more good than any amount 
of culture obtained at other people's expense." 
And he takes occasion to suggest that "possi- 
bly the advocates of literary pauperism will 
see little force in" this argument. Possibly; 
we are not familiar with the train of reasoning 
which leads to an advocacy of " literary pau- 
perism." For ourselves, we have been accus- 
tomed, long before the appearance of Mr. 
O'Brien's chapter, to attach exceptional impor- 
tance to the principle which he has here indi- 
cated, somewhat awkwardly, to be sure. 
There can be no doubt that the appreciation 
of any object is in almost the exact ratio of 
the effort expended to procure it. This is 
why teachers and librarians in American 
communities, at least have so often had 
occasion to rejoice at seeing a taste not only 
for reading, but for owning books inspired in 
a young man or woman by access to a noble 
collection of books for the use of the public. 
For " owning books," we say ; but the limits 
of a collection so owned are too soon reached 
in the case of even the best-endowed pockets 
of individual readers. Were the intelligent 
teacher who takes an interest in the reading 
and intellectual growth of the pupils, from the 
various walks in life represented in our 
schools, to find a pupil whose interest in pur- 
suing further some lines of thought therein 
suggested, extended no further than to the 
books at home on his own book-shelf, we can- 
not doubt that it would give occasion to ques- 



tion the efficacy of the teaching imparted. Mr. 
O'Brien's objection to the enjoyment of these 
reservoirs of enlightenment, by a portion of 
the community, where the community as a 
whole is responsible for their support, is as if 
a man should be told that he would do well 
not to walk abroad at night by the light of the 
public street lamps, but rather enjoy the light 
kindled in his own house. The latter is cer- 
tainly important, but not even Mr. O'Brien's 
reasoning is likely to persuade us that it pre- 
cludes the former. Mr. O'Brien, in the sec- 
ond place, deeply feels for the reader who, in 
being brought in contact with the benefits of 
the library, is, he thinks, subjected to a wrong 
system of education. To quote his language : 
"Just at the time when a child is beginning 
to form his tastes, just at the period when the 
daily habituation to the simple duties of farm 
life would lay the foundation both of sound 
health and practical knowledge, he is taken 
out of the parent's control, and subjected to a 
mind-destroying, cramming process, which 
excludes practical knowledge and creates a 
dislike for all serious study." One is com- 
pelled on reading this extraordinary deliver- 
ance to cast one's eye to the heading at the 
top of the page, " Free Libraries," and 
ask what this formidable indictment not one 
count in which has any bearing on libraries 
can mean in this connection. The only con- 
clusion possible is that it was written with a 
view to appearing in some other chapter of 
the book. 

But Mr. O'Brien's concern is manifested 
also for the tax-payer who unites in the pub- 
lic support of the library. If we understand 
him correctly, his contention is that the enor- 
mity of this tax consists largely in the repre- 
hensible nature as represented in his pages 
of the institution itself. For from this 
short chapter one gradually frames a picture 
of the free library as a place which tramps 
frequent for sleeping off the effects of dissi- 
pation; as a place used by commercial trav- 
ellers for exhibiting their samples ; as a place 
from which in one instance " a respectable 
thief took away ,20 worth of books" ; as a place 
used in an almost exclusive degree for read- 
ing fiction; as a place where the time pre- 



FOSTER. 



scribed for keeping books makes ' serious 
study ' impossible ; " and, more serious than 
all the rest, as a place which, he says, "favors 
one special section of the community at the 
expense of all the rest." Let us do Mr. 
O'Brien the justice to add that for the first 
three of these counts he gives " chapter and 
verse " for his charges, quoting, namely, from 
various (English) library reports. No one will 
therefore wish to dispute his well-fortified 
statement that in such and such an instance 
an unseemly incident occurred. But even a 
child can assuredly see the difference between 
a statement of an isolated occurrence and an 
inference that it is a necessarily characteristic 
and inherent quality of the institution in ques- 
tion. Were this latter true, then we might 
well cry out for abolishing our churches, side- 
walks, and railway stations, for in them these 
very same three things respectively are 
known at some time to have been done. In 
the last three of these counts, however, we 
have only Mr. O'Brien's assertions as the 
basis, and we are obliged to add also that 
even these are found to be conflicting. On 
one page his language shows that he is pained 
that a certain percentage of readers in the 
libraries named should prefer to call for 
works of fiction. Can it be that he has for- 
gotten this, when on another page he cites it 
as a grievance that "it is a frequent occur- 
rence for a reader to wait for months before 
he can get the novel he wants ! " On page 
333, after quoting, from the annual report of 
one of the English libraries, the statement as 
to the use of works of fiction^ nothing but a 
resort to italics can sufficiently emphasize his 
lamentation that " the more instructive books 
in the other classes circulate only once during 
the same period.' 1 '' Mr. O'Brien is not the 
only observer who has failed always to 
observe, when commenting upon percentages 
of fiction, that "any book requiring serious 
study cannot be galloped through, like a 
novel, in the week or fourteen days allowed 
for use," yet who would have believed 
that "out of his own mouth " would he be so 
completely answered, for this remark, as well 
as the one which it answers, is found in his 
decidedly interesting chapter (p. 348). But 



here it is evident that the bearing of the two 
upon each other was not in his mind in writ- 
ing it, for his purpose in the sentence last 
quoted was plainly to make it appear that the 
customary regulations of public libraries were 
such as to render " serious study " impossible. 
The limitation of "a week or fourteen 
days " for a book of the kind which he here 
indicates he instances by name Kant's 
" Critique of pure reason " and Smith's 
" Wealth of nations " is practically unknown 
in American public libraries. In most of 
those known to the present writer a book of 
this kind can be charged in the first instance 
for fourteen days and then renewed, making 
twenty-eight days in all, and in still others for 
a longer period. It can then, after being 
returned to the library to give any other 
reader who may need it a chance at it be 
taken out again after remaining on the shelves 
twenty-four hours, for another twenty-eight 
days' use by the same reader. The annual 
report of an American library which lies 
before us contains a case in point. Speaking 
of Bryce's " American Commonwealth," it 
states : " Of this, seven copies were added 
in succession." It names 101 as the total of 
the issues of this work during the year; but 
considering the truth expressed in Mr. 
O'Brien's own very just words, that "any 
book requiring serious study cannot be gal- 
loped through, like a novel," the statement is 
added that " such a record, for a book like 
this, constantly in the hands of readers, may 
be contrasted with the more than ten times 
greater number of times that some work of 
fiction might be read through, returned, and 
taken out again, requiring but a part of a day's 
attention." In fact, 101 is very likely to be 
the total number of issues possible in the case 
of seven copies of this book, while 700 would 
probably fall far short of the total possible 
issues of the same number of copies of a story 
like " The Wreck of the Grosvenor." Again, 
Mr. O'Brien not only tells us that "a free 
library favors one special section of the 
community " at the expense of all the rest, 
but throughout his chapter recurs again and 
again to the case of the " workingman." On 
page 330, for instance, we are solemnly told : 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



" If the workingman cannot come by his 
books honestly, let him wait until he can." 
This is indeed somewhat summary, particu- 
larly when, being interpreted, it is found to 
mean, Let there be no free libraries supported 
by the public. And yet, on page 344, with 
no less certainty, we are assured that " there 
is little doubt that at least forty-nine out of 
every fifty workingmen have no interest 
whatever in these institutions." 

Where the deliverances from one and the 
same source are so contradictory, the impar- 
tial inquirer will doubtless feel like looking 
for some other source of information. From 
the materials accessible to the present writer 
in regard to American libraries and the new 
edition of Mr. Greenwood's " Public libra- 
ries " appears to tell the same tale in regard 
to Great Britain the interest of working- 
men in the opportunities afforded by public 
libraries is everywhere emphatically shown; 
but he who sets out with the purpose of 
showing that there is any one exclusive class 
to whom the public library is of service and 
to no other be that class workingmen, or 
students, or manufacturers, or scientists 
will find the facts singularly obstinate and 
unresponsive to his purpose. The truth 
is Mr. O'Brien's confident assertion to the 
contrary that there is no more "universal" 
and non-partisan institution than a public 
library. This is undoubtedly the highest 
among its several claims to public support. 
Few among the objects to which the public 
funds have been appropriated, in American 
cities, have met with so hearty and unques- 
tioning approval as public parks, and it is 
right that it should be so. Yet there are 
whole classes in every community who not 
only never do enjoy the public parks, but 
never care to enjoy them. Even the public 
schools are for a certain fraction of the 
population only the younger portion. In 
contrast with both these, the public library 
extends its resources to the children and the 
adults alike, and contains materials indis- 
pensable to each alike. Perhaps, however, 
the fundamentally important question of uni- 
versality, in the sense of non-partisanship, is 
one which is seldom appreciated in its full 



force, as applied to a public library. An 
independent position, one entirely free from 
bias, a non-partisan attitude, in fact, is an 
ideal repeatedly set before the conductors of 
a school or a newspaper. In both these 
cases, however, there is too often an element 
of practical difficulty in carrying these praise- 
worthy intentions into practice, which is 
almost completely wanting in the case of a 
public library. The policy of the latter is, in 
its very essence, catholic. It places on its 
shelves the volumes which represent, not one 
side, but both, or rather all sides of any sub- 
ject on which the sentiment of the public 
divides ; and thus, whether the user be Demo- 
crat or Republican, protectionist or free- 
trader, Catholic or Protestant, the aspect 
which this collection of books presents to 
him is no less free and uncircumscribed than 
the illimitable air. 

Again, it is important that the relation of a 
public library to the question of entertain- 
ment should be clearly understood. Enter- 
tainment is not an element totally foreign to 
the purposes of a public library the same 
kind of public benefit accrues in this case as 
in the case of public parks but in the light 
of the infinitely more important functions 
which it renders, this must of necessity occupy 
a subordinate place. The primary function 
of a library is to render a service, to supply a 
need, to respond to a demand. In this respect 
its value to the community is of the same 
description as the postal system, the bank at 
which one may cash a check, or the reservoir 
from which one may "turn on " a supply of 
water. 

One of the points which Mr. O'Brien aims 
to make, and which proceeds from a manifest 
confusion of thought, can be appropriately 
noticed here. His contention is that a public 
library is for the " class " who may be desig- 
nated " book-readers," that these form but a 
small percentage of any community, and that 
therefore it is obviously wrong that the library 
should receive public support. This is ingen- 
ious, as is also his eloquent, though somewhat 
contemptuous setting of their supposed special 
needs over against those of others. "Are 
theatre-goers, lovers of cricket, bicyclists, 



FOSTER. 



43 



amateurs of music, and others to have their 
earnings confiscated," merely that the " book- 
reader" may gratify his peculiar craving? 
Like many other ingenious theories, however, 
it leaves out of account certain fundamentally 
important bearings of the subject. There can 
be no doubt that in any community " the book- 
reader " is not synonymous with the entire 
population. Some of the population are 
children in arms ; some have never learned to 
read: the sight of some who have learned 
has failed ; others again are too fully occu- 
pied to find time for it; others find their 
inclination drawn more strongly in other direc- 
tions ; others still have more or less to do 
with reading, yet are not, in the strict sense, 
" book-readers." Yet we shall err very widely 
if we lose sight of the fact that even those 
who do not personally perform the role of the 
" book-reader " do nevertheless benefit by the 
existence of the library, by proxy. The young 
child is read to, by his mother : or is cared for 
by her, by methods learned through her use 
of books. The busy " captain of industry," 
whose large profits are due to a skillful appli- 
cation of scientific principles, may find his 
own time so closely occupied by details of 
administration that, personally, he seldom 
opens the treatises which bear upon the sub- 
ject, but he has under him a staff of men 
whom he expects to keep abreast of the ever 
unfolding science, by the consultation not 
only of such works as private ownership may 
provide, but the more nearly complete collec- 
tion in a great public library. 

This principle of "community of interest" 
and interdependence has an even wider bear- 
ing; for it applies not only to the family and 
the business firm, but to the community as a 
whole. A public library report now before 
the writer contains several instances of this 
kind. Speaking of the systematic efforts 
made to build up an approximately complete 
collection of works on industrial and decora- 
tive subjects, the report states that in this 
way " the library is gradually becoming the 
possessor of a scientifically selected set of 
volumes and plates which cannot fail to leave 
a distinct impress on the character of the 
work done in the various industries of the 



city." Another portion of the same report 
illustrates the direct service rendered by 
such an institution to the interests of the 
municipality. To quote the language there 
used, " Instances of the last named, both 
striking and tangible, are of by no means 
exceptional occurrence, sometimes an appli- 
cation of this kind being presented from 
more than one city official on the same day," 
the foregoing having reference to the city in 
question. " A well-authenticated instance," 
it continues, " in one of the largest cities of 
the country, of the saving of a sum of many 
thousand dollars, in the matter of a contract, 
due to the opportunity for consulting the 
requisite data comprised in works of author- 
ity in the public library of that city, is but an 
indication of the possibilities of a public 
library." 

It is fitting that where funds are to be 
appropriated, collected by taxes levied on 
the tax-paying population, there should be 
possible so tangible a presentation as the 
above, of the direct relation of the institution 
supported, to the question of "profit and 
loss," as affecting those who are taxed. And 
yet it is well to remember that it is as true 
now as twenty centuries ago, that " man does 
not live by bread alone ; " and that the public 
support of the institutions referred to can be 
justified by other arguments than that of the 
material interests just cited. 

No aspect of the library's operation is more 
full of interest than that which takes account 
of its uplifting influence. The analogy be- 
tween its service and that of the postal 
system has been noticed; but it has a no less 
real analogy to the work of the school, the 
pulpit, or the press yet without the propa- 
gandist principle which so often attaches to 
these latter namely, in the principle of 
growth or advance. In the earlier portion 
of this paper a little space was devoted to 
showing that in the nature of the case the 
number of copies of any work of fiction used 
in the course of a year would immensely out- 
number those which could possibly be read 
in the more solid departments of reading. 
Even were the constituency of the library 
confined to a selected few, to whose minds 



44 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



the higher class of reading was congenial, 
this would be the case. Nor should we 
forget that the ground of distinction between 
a " public " library and any other, as the 
library of a scientific society, a debating 
society, a theological school, or a teachers' 
club, is that its constituency is not thus 
limited to a selected class, but is broad as 
humanity itself, with all its enormous inequal- 
ities of condition, taste, and mental growth. 
Like a mirror, therefore, the recorded classi- 
fied circulation reflects this variety. Even 
with this apparently almost unmanageable un- 
evenness, appreciable improvement in stand- 
ards of reading is by no means an unknown 
experience. There lies before the writer, for 
instance, a library report which is able to 
make such a statement as this : " The fiction 
percentages of the seven successive years, 
beginning with 1883 and ending with 1889, 
show an uninterrupted decline, as follows : 
70+, 66+, 62+, 6i+, 58+, 57+, 56+." But 
it must be remembered also that figures such 
as these, though they may tell a part, and a 
very gratifying part, of the advances which 
individual readers have been helped to make, 
fall very far short of expressing the whole. 
It would be entirely possible for individual 
after individual thus to advance from good to 
better, and from better to best, and yet the 
figures which express the aggregate use of 
the year remain stationary (or even retro- 
grade), because the constituency of a public 
library (particularly in a large city) is all the 
time being reenforced by new readers. And 
these new readers comprise both those who 
are children in age and those who are chil- 
dren in mental growth, who begin at the foot. 
When, therefore, there is anything more than 
a preserving of a uniform level as in the 
noteworthy figures above quoted it stands 
for a very striking advance indeed, on the 
part of a very large portion of the community. 
Probably every librarian in charge of a public 
library in a large city has had an opportunity 
of observing these advances in innumerable 
individual instances. And this class of re- 
sults, while distinctly following the "order of 
nature," does not by any means come about 
through a view of library administration which 



regards either books, readers, or librarian as 
inert masses. Much of it is the result of 
individual interest expressed by the librarian 
in some reader, whose mind receives an 
awakening impulse. 

More than one well authenticated instance 
exists of an individual beginning life as a 
newsboy or an elevator-boy, and through his 
use of a public library finding his intellectual 
powers unfolding until he has entered one of 
the learned professions. The relation of the 
library system to the school system opens an 
almost boundless field of thought, and it is a 
fact of deep significance that the profound 
principle involved in it, after having engaged 
the attention of English and American libra- 
rians for years, has been recognized in the edu- 
cational steps recently taken by the government 
of Japan, where the two systems are placed on 
a plane of equality. In the experience of one 
of the American libraries already referred to, 
almost the chief hope of the library for the 
future is placed upon " a class of readers," 
every year largely increasing in numbers, who 
comprise the "graduates from the various 
institutions of learning" in the city, and 
whose "lines of study and reading" "may 
be characterized as a carrying forward of 
those impulses in the direction of right read- 
ing which were received in school and col- 
lege." The library has a no less direct rela- 
tion to the needs and ambitions of those who 
have received the invaluable training of "the 
practical duties of the world," to use Mr. 
O'Brien's phrase, and it responds with equal 
readiness to these. There is concentrated in 
the contemptuous phrase, " book-learning," a 
popular judgment of condemnation which is 
for the most part just, on the spurious variety 
of knowledge which knows the expression of 
certain principles in books, but knows noth- 
ing of their practical embodiment in the life 
and work of this world. We are glad to ob- 
serve that Mr. O'Brien's antipathy to this 
pseudo-knowledge is almost as profound as 
our own, but his expression of it seems singu- 
larly out of place in a philippic against public 
libraries ; for one will seek far before finding 
an institution more perfectly suited to be a 
corrective of such a tendency than the mod- 



FOSTER. 



45 



ern public library. Does any one claim that 
the public school system sometimes has an 
unfortunate tendency to repress individuality 
and turn out a set of pupils of uniform mould ? 
If so, the public library supplies a means of 
supplementing and complementing this uni- 
formity by its infinite variety and universality, 
and it is continually doing this, indeed. Does 
any one regret that the school system at its 
best reaches but a fraction of the population, 
and that fraction for but a few short years of 
their life, and that in too many instances there 
is a tendency on the part of even these few, 
educated in the schools, to conceive of their 
education as " finished," and allow the fabric 
to become hopelessly ravelled ? If so, the 
public library stands to these members of the 
community in an almost ideal relation, not only 
fulfilling very perfectly Mr. Carlyle's charac- 
terization of a " collection of books " as " the 
people's university," but in the peculiarly 
wide range shown in the demands made upon 
it, almost as properly rendering it the people's 
workshop, or laboratory. 

The same library report which has several 
times been cited printed several years since a 
record of the inquiries made on specific sub- 
jects during a single month, which throws 
significant light upon this subject. Another 
report of the same library declares that " few 
can adequately conceive to what extent the 
inquiries made at the library have become 
specialized, and require trained facility and 
research " on the part of the library staff. 
The library thus becomes a laboratory, in 
which the reader gains not only the specific 
information, but the method. 

An observation of popular movements in 
their relation to political or economic princi- 
ples reveals few facts so plainly as that an 
almost insuperable narrowness of view is, in 
much the greater number of instances, the 
barrier to advance in those questions decided 
mainly by the popular voice. Why then 
should any one wish to perpetuate the condi- 
tions which make this possible? In Mr. 
O'Brien's view the workingman, and we 
ought not to forget how large a percentage of 
the community this word " workingman " 
represents, both in England and America, 



will be a fortunate man when the contents of 
free libraries are no longer rendered every- 
where accessible to him by public support, 
for then the workingmen "for one 'penny' 
can buy their favorite newspaper, which can 
be carried in the pocket and read at any 
time !" It is well nigh incredible that an 
ideal such as this should be looked forward 
to by thinking men. Whatever may be the 
fact in regard to the workingmen of Great 
Britain, and Mr. O'Brien of course knows 
them better than we do, it may confidently 
be asserted that the American workingman 
would strike no such false note. Mr. Lowell 
in one of his admirable orations quotes from 
a Wallachian legend of a peasant who was 
" taken up into heaven " and offered his 
choice among the objects to be seen there. 
He chose a half worn-out bagpipe, and with 
this returned to the earth. " With an infinite 
possibility within his reach, with the choice 
of wisdom, of power, of beauty, at his 
tongue's end, he asked according to his kind, 
and his sordid wish is answered with a gift 
as sordid." The newspaper is well enough 
in its way, even a "penny newspaper," 
but to condemn whole masses of the popula- 
tion to limit themselves to this, is to incur 
the condemnation of Mr. Lowell's fine scorn 
when, in another portion of the oration just 
referred to, he says : " It is we who, while we 
might each in his humble way be helping our 
fellows into the right path, or adding one 
block to the climbing spire of a fine soul, are 
willing to become mere sponges saturated 
from the stagnant goose-pond of village gos- 
sip." It is more. It is to help develop a 
community from whom in the end every 
spark of uplifting influence shall have van- 
ished. Does any one say that this is a result 
impossible of attainment by any people ? 
The scientifically true, yet brutally summary 
record given by the distinguished European 
savant, Elise*e Reclus, of a certain European 
stock which has found and occupied virgin 
soil in the South of Africa, is a sufficient 
answer. " In general," he says, " the Boers 
despise everything that does not contribute 
directly to the material prosperity of the fam- 
ily group. They ignore music, the arts, liter- 



4 6 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



ature, all refining influences, and find little 
pleasure in anything," except stolid amassing 
of wealth. 

A few additional points remain to be noted. 
It is an entirely pertinent question whether 
every public library in England and America 
improves its high privilege, uses to the full 
the peculiar opportunities open to it, places 
itself in close communication with the pub- 
lic school system, with the university exten- 
sion movement, and with the influences con- 
tinually at work in industrial and artistic 
development. And we need not hesitate to 
answer in the negative. Yet the significant 
fact is, that everywhere the tendency is in 
this direction with a stronger and stronger, 
momentum. The advance made in 'this coun- 
try, within the last decade even, in this direc- 
tion, is among the most striking phenomena 
of the time ; and no less striking is the almost 
overwhelming percentage of the body of libra- 
rians in this country whose entrance upon the 
work from a deep-seated love for it, rather 
than as furnishing a means of livelihood, sup- 
plies one of the strongest guarantees against 
the invasion of the perfunctory spirit in the 
future. Again, it is equally pertinent to ask 
whether, granted that the benefits of such an 
institution as the public library are unques- 
tioned, dependence may not be placed on 
funds entirely unconnected with those of the 
public, for its support. It would ill become 
the citizen of a country where private munifi- 
cence has accomplished so much in channels 
of public spirit, to overlook these noble 
memorials of enlightened private action. Yet 
it remains true, nevertheless, that were 
dependence to be placed on these alone, a 
map of the country on which public libraries 
should be dotted down would show as partial 
and inadequate a supply furnished to the com- 
munity, as the very instructive " annual rain- 
fall map " published by the government shows 
in the matter of rain. What we are accus- 
tomed, in the eastern portion of this country, 
to consider the rain in its universal benefi- 
cent service and in its indispensableness 
that also is to be associated with the "reser- 
voirs " comprised in these public collections 
of books. For, after all, valuable as are the 



books themselves, even in their material 
aspect, as pieces of handiwork, still more in 
the specific items of information and admoni- 
tion contained in them, yet in the deeper view 
these are but symbols of their real signifi- 
cance and service. To place one's self in 
communication with them, as contained in 
these libraries, is to bring ourselves in con- 
tact with the stored-up thought of the world 
thus far. We have just adverted to the fun- 
damental bearing which this has upon the 
deeper or spiritual side of man's life. But 
the two-sided character of these collections 
of books follows us even here, for their indis- 
pensableness in the material point of view is 
almost as striking, and this, not only whether 
we consider the statesman planning measures 
of public weal, while neglecting to inform 
himself of the recorded conditions which 
necessarily must determine such measures ; 
or whether it be the inventor spending long 
years of his too brief life in perfecting a 
machine which his consultation of the recorded 
patents would have shown him some one else 
had anticipated him in thinking out ; or 
whether it be the day laborer submitting with- 
out an effort to violations of his rights, which 
a single glance at the recorded statutes would 
have shown him he had a remedy for. 

How like all this is to the supposed state 
of things which one of the most suggestive 
writers of our day has thus expressed : " Our 
early voyagers are dead : not a plank remains 
of the old ships that first essayed unknown 
waters ; the sea retains no track ; and were it 
not for the history of these voyages contained 
in charts, in chronicles, in hoarded lore of all 
kinds, each voyager, though he were to start 
with all the aids of advanced civilization," 
would be in the helpless position of the earli- 
est voyager. 

Once more, each reader of the strongly 
written book which we have been con- 
sidering should ask the question for him- 
self, whether all of the various propositions 
maintained therein necessarily stand or fall 
together. Because the compiler has chosen 
to bracket together two such headings as 
" Free libraries " and " The state and electri- 
cal distribution," it certainly does not follow 



FOSTER. 



47 



that the argument which carries conviction in 
the one case must in the other also. We shall 
not be suspected of having our judgment in 
this regard swayed by the natural weakness 
with which, to use Mr. O'Brien's illustration, 
the shoemaker is inclined to think that "there 
is nothing like leather," if we suggest, what 
the public at large in this country is very 
plainly persuaded of, that, for one person who 
has appreciated the need for public action in 
the latter case there are thousands in the 
former. The writer lives in a city in which 
for more than eleven years the public library 
was administered by funds not in the least 
degree derived from municipal appropriations. 
Yet the character of its service to the public 
had so widely impressed itself upon the com- 
munity that, largely from sources outside of 
the library board, a movement arose for recog- 
nizing the closeness of the relation, by public 
support. A report by a committee of the city 
government, recommending this course, signi- 
ficantly declares: "Your committee are unani- 
mously of the opinion that this public library, 
already existing in the city, is a useful and a 
necessary adjunct to the educational system 
sustained by the city in its public schools, and 
properly appeals to the treasury for an appro- 
priation towards its support." After eleven 
years' opportunity for observation and com- 
parison, such a judgment as this has the 
merit of deliberation and conviction. 

It is true that by far the greater part of the 
considerations which lead the present writer 
to find Mr. O'Brien's view untenable are 
drawn from observation and experience of 
conditions existing in this country. Yet it is 
to be noted that his position is also contested, 
so far as Great Britain is concerned, by an 
article in the March number of The Library 
(of London), which shows, not only that our 
English cousins are fully able to take care of 
themselves, but also that on many of the 
questions of fact, about which his arguments 
turn, he is painfully wide of the mark. Few 
students of social conditions have left so note- 



worthy an impress on contemporary thought 
as the late William Stanley Jevons. Of the 
free public library he held a view radically 
opposed to that of Mr. O'Brien, believing it 
to be "an engine for operating upon" the 
community, in ways at once protective and 
ennobling. As to the universality of its benef- 
icent service, he was equally convinced, 
declaring not only that "free libraries are 
engines for creating the habit and power of 
enjoying high-class literature, and thus carry- 
ing forward the work of civilization which is 
'commenced in the primary school,"* but also 
that they are "classed with town halls, police 
courts, prisons, and poor-houses, as neces- 
sary adjuncts of our stage of civilization. "f 
The experience of one community or one 
nation is repeatedly serviceable to another; 
but, after all, it is the local conditions which 
must finally determine in any case. Even 
if a different conclusion were to be reached 
in this matter in Great Britain, it would still 
remain true that for us in America it is one 
of the highest duties of self-preservation to 
keep alive the uplifting influences represented 
in the public support of these institutions. 
The future of this country, even more than 
its past, will be irrevocably committed to the 
democratic principle in government. As is 
the people in the widest sense of the word 
so will be the national life and character. 
In the future, even more than in the past, 
crudity, narrowness, well-meaning ignorance, 
and low standards of taste and ethics will, 
unless met with corrective tendencies, color 
our national life. The public school and the 
public library "instruments equal in power 
to the Dionysiac theatre, and vastly greater 
in their range of power," % to quote the lan- 
guage of one of the most thoughtful of our 
men of letters will stand more and more, 
in our American communities, as such cor- 
rective tendencies. 

* Contemporary review, v. 39, p. 388. 
t Ibid, v. 39, p. 385. 

t George Edward Woodberry, in the fortnightly review, 
v. 35, p. 615. 



4 8 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



IMPRESSIONS IN FOREIGN LIBRARIES. 

BY MARY S. CUTLER, VICE-DIRECTOR OF THE LIBRARY SCHOOL. 



T) Y the beautiful law of compensation which 
rules the universe one is continually los- 
ing a certain good only to gain another, it 
may be more or less desirable. In giving up 
reluctantly, for the first time since my con- 
nection with library work, the annual gather- 
ing of librarians at home, it was my good 
fortune to attend the meeting of the L. A. U 
K. in Nottingham and to see the interior 
workings of a few English and French 
libraries. 

I readily assented to the request of our 
president that I should send for the con- 
ference a little account of my library obser- 
vations on this side, as it furnished an excel- 
lent excuse for stealing the time from sight- 
seeing to clarify my ideas by expressing 
them. I shall attempt no Gradgrind exhibi- 
tion of facts, only a record of impressions, 
realizing well that quite unconsciously I may 
be giving a false coloring. 

In the quaint old town of Canterbury 
where I lingered for several days, the cem- 
etery was pointed out by a cab driver with 
the remark that in this half lay the church- 
men and on the other side nonconformists. 
Quite hastily but perhaps naturally I rushed 
to the concluusion that this was a usual 
separation, and was indulging in some unchar- 
itable reflections, when the driver quietly 
added that this was the only churchyard of 
the kind he had ever seen. Now it is quite 
possible that I may more than once mistake 
the exception for the common custom, thus 
doing injustice to those who so kindly re- 
ceived me. My only comfort will be that 
others far wiser have done likewise. I was 
accompanied by Miss Ada Bunnell, a recent 
graduate of the Library School, whose intel- 
ligent interest added much to my pleasure in 
making these visits. 

I was provided with a general letter of in- 
troduction from Mr. Dewey, which opened all 
doors and secured a most generous welcome. 
The whole management of the library was 



set forth, and my desire for samples of blanks, 
etc., for the Library School collection was 
many times anticipated. Even in those few 
cases where I did not make myself known, 
but showed my interest by questions, my re- 
ception was most kind. (Were it not ungra- 
cious to single out individual names when all 
were so kind, I would mention Mr. Jenkinson, 
the librarian of Cambridge University library ; 
Mr. Borrajo, sub-librarian of the Guildhall; 
and Monsieur Ruelle of St. Genevieve, Paris, 
who showed us special favor. With the lat- 
ter we conversed through the media of written 
English on our part, and on his, a slow and 
laborious speech, but it only served to accent- 
uate our hearty welcome from this most 
delightful old gentleman. I am quite safe in 
being personal, since Vol. i No. i is the only 
copy of the Library journal in the St. Gene- 
vieve.) From Miss James, a not unworthy 
namesake of our own beloved fellow-worker, 
I received in advance a pleasant invitation to 
the People's palace library, of which she is 
librarian. 

In Paris I presented my letter at the 
American legation and received an introduc- 
tion from the Hon. Whitelaw Reid to the 
director of the Bibliotheque Nationale. There 
we were put in charge of Monsieur Havet, the 
keeper of printed books, and later of the 
keeper of manuscripts, both speaking English 
fluently. The French secretary of the Ameri- 
can minister asked if I were the author of the 
" American system of cataloging," and I was 
forced to reply that I could only claim a simi- 
larity in name and the honor of an acquain- 
tance with my distinguished compatriot. 

Dr. Garnett, whom I expected to see where 
he used to sit in the centre of the great circu- 
lar reading room of the British Museum like 
a spider in his web, I found instead in a pri- 
vate office reached by an electric button pressed 
in an inconspicuous part of the King's library, 
having been recently promoted to the head- 
ship of the department of printed books. The 



CUTLER. 



49 



only library which we did not have an oppor- 
tunity to see as we wished was the Cathedral 
library of St. Paul's in London. This was 
reached by paying sixpence and climbing a 
laborious flight of circular stairs. A few 
curious books lay under a glass case in the 
centre of the room, while the rest were shut 
from public gaze by a railing. The librarian 
was not there, and the "care taker" assured 
us that it was quite impossible for us to pass 
within the gates. We did not press the mat- 
ter when he insisted that it would endanger 
his position if he were to let us inside, think- 
ing our probable gain too small to justify the 
slightest risk. The Cathedral libraries of 
England are valuable collections, but seem to 
be little used. 

It is hard to describe the peculiar pleasure 
of seeing for myself, the two largest libraries 
in the world and the libraries of the great 
English universities. It was my good fortune 
toenterthe British Museum and the Bodleian 
many times as a reader. 

Can any one enjoy so thoroughly as a libra- 
rian the luxury of solid hours of reading in a 
great library? The charms of Canterbury, 
Oxford, Westminster, and the Inner Temple 
were enhanced a hundred-fold when interpreted 
by Stanley, Matthew Arnold, Irving, Haw- 
thorne, and Lamb. 

REFERENCE LIBRARIES. 

There is one striking characteristic of all 
the reference libraries which we have visited ; 
namely, the reading-rooms are treated as 
work-rooms and are invariably kept free from 
the inroads of mere curious sight-seers. 

In the Bibliotheque Nationale there is pos- 
itively no admittance to this class. In the 
British Museum, a visitor by giving his name 
receives a ticket which admits him with a 
guard just inside the door of the reading-room 
long enough for a bird's-eye view. Oxford 
and Cambridge admit only when the visitor 
is accompanied by a fellow in academic dress. 
At the South Kensington Museum the Art 
library, the Science and education libraries, 
and the Dyce and Foster collections, require 
a ticket. A sixpence entitles students to 
the use of all the libraries for a week, a mere 



nominal fee which secures exemption from 
the thousands of visitors frequenting this 
marvelous museum. All these libraries rec- 
ognize the distinction, which I believe is an 
essential one, between the reading-room, a 
place for study, and the show-rooms, where 
rare and curious books, handsome bindings, 
and fine prints are exhibited. Do not 
some of our American libraries, well known 
for their wise and effective administration, 
weaken their influence by subjecting readers 
to the distractions of a curious mob, under 
the specious plea that a free library must be 
open to all who come ? If actual restriction 
is inexpedient, certain hours or days could be 
arranged for sight-seers which the real 
student would soon learn to avoid. 

The British Museum was phenomenally 
quiet. I spent many half days there, and 
although there are no signs exhorting to silence 
oftentimes the subdued rustling of leaves 
would be the only audible sign that the great 
room was filled. 

It is with profound sorrow that I record the 
reference libraries of the old world, like those 
of the new, are not free from those two foes 
of serious study, the reader who talks and the 
librarian who talks. 

The University library at Cambridge is a 
notable example of the utmost freedom in 
using the shelves. With the exception of 
incunabula, manuscripts and certain others of 
special value or rarity, the books stand un- 
guarded on the open shelves, inviting use 
from every reader. The other libraries ex- 
pose a fine collection of reference books, but 
carefully guard the great mass of their 
treasures. 

The short hours of opening, of which Mr. 
Richardson complains so bitterly in his ac- 
counts of continental libraries, seem not to 
be a vice of English or Parisian libraries. 
The British Museum, being now lighted by 
electricity, is open except in the summer 
months from 9 A. M. till 8 p. M. The modern 
department of the Bodleian contained in the 
Radcliffe building is open from 10 to 10, the 
old library from 9 to 3, 4, or 5, varying with 
the season and the natural light. The St. 
Genevieve in Paris fromii-4 and 6-10. 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



Ladies are not admitted in the evening. If I 
mistake not these hours compare favorably 
with those of American reference libraries. 

One serious obstacle to the pleasures of 
research is the time spent in waiting for books. 
My own experience is that one waits on an 
average forty minutes at the British Museum. 
I am told that at the Guildhall one can se- 
cure any book at five minutes' notice, but I 
did not have the pleasure of verifying the 
statement by reading in that new and hand- 
some hall. 

The Bodleian, in which I am now writing, 
has by far the most attractive interior. The 
charm of the university life hangs about the 
beautiful roof, the red-gowned portraits, the 
broad alcoves, and the ivy-circled windows ; 
and the spirit of " peace, beauty, and leisure " 
wraps it about like a garment. 

FREE LIBRARIES. 

The free library movement in Great Britain, 
dating from 1850, when Mr. Ewart put through 
Parliament the Public Libraries Act, has made 
most -rapid progress within a few years. Like 
our own country, the metropolis is far behind 
the large towns in providing library privileges, 
but it is rapidly coming to the front. A pe- 
culiarity of many library buildings in London 
is that they are provided with a residence for 
the librarian. 

I saw no covered books, and to my surprise, 
even in the smaller libraries it was not un- 
common to find the call numbers gilded on 
the backs. In a majority of these libraries 
readers' tickets are issued to rate-payers and 
their families. All others must secure a rate- 
payer as guarantee, or deposit a sum of money, 
usually i os. A delivery room with stack ad- 
joining, a news room for daily and weekly, 
papers, and a reference department, contain- 
ing also the monthlies, are regular features. 
A boys' room is carried on at Manchester 
and at Chelsea with most gratifying results. 

I was able to visit only two of the large 
public libraries, Birmingham and Nottingham ; 
these are doing a magnificent work. The 
Nottingham library, under Mr. J. Potter Bris- 
coe, has a central library and 11 branches, 
one of them a children's library. It contains 



69,000 volumes in all, issues 433,000 books 
yearly, and has an attendance of 1,790,000, a 
daily average attendance of 6,000. 

CATALOGS AND CLASSIFICATION. 

The British Museum form of catalog is 
almost universal in England. It may be seen 
in the Young Men's Christian Association of 
New York, and so far as I know in no 
other place in America. It consists of 
large blank folio volumes provided at inter- 
vals with guards like a scrap book. The 
catalog slips, either printed or written on thin 
paper, are pasted by two edges upon the book, 
and when a rearrangement is necessary, are 
"lifted "by a paper knife and remounted 
to make room for new slips. In the Bodleian 
library this is done very deftly and rapidly by 
boys. It is quite obvious that it involves 
more labor than the slipping of cards once for 
all into a drawer. On the other hand dupli- 
cating processes can be used with thin slips. 
The two methods are about equally bulky 
(see Library notes i : 179-195). Of course 
the argument for this form is the greater ease 
of running the eye over a printed page than 
of handling cards in a drawer. 

On trial the book form seemed very conve- 
nient, except in the case of voluminous 
authors, where the American card catalog has 
a decided advantage if properly provided with 
guides. Many pages of the book must be 
scanned for a particular entry, like Gothe ; 
whereas the special guide-cards for Collected 
works, Biography, Criticism, or the colored 
cards used in some libraries, attract notice 
instantly. 

At the University library in Cambridge an 
ingenious device does away with some objec- 
tions to the book form. The sheets are not 
regularly bound, but are laced into the covers 
by pieces of cat-gut which pass above the mid- 
dle of each signature and are knotted on the 
ouside of the cover at top and bottom. This 
secures greater flexibility, and subjects or 
letters may be passed from one cover to an- 
other as the catalog grows. 

In some of the free libraries card catalogs 
are used. At the St. Martin's free library, 
London, the books are cataloged on the type- 



CUTLER. 



writer, with two or three duplicate copies 
which are pasted neatly on cards with very 
good effect. In the Bibliotheque Nationale 
the public use for accessions since 1882 a 
catalog similar to the Leyden catalog, a de- 
scription of which was read by Mr. Cutter at 
the Lake George meeting (see Library jour- 
nal 10: 206-8). Substantially the same form is 
used also in the Society Library, New York, 
and is now being tried in Harvard College. 
The French catalog differs in having three 
rows of cards instead of one. The official 
catalog is on cards, in drawers upon the wall, 
like the plan adopted for the New York State 
library. The Bonnange catalog cards, con- 
sisting of cards with cloth hinges, the lower 
parts clamped together in a box, were on sale 
at the "Library Bureau "in Paris, but I did 
not see them in use. For description see 
"Public libraries in the United States" pt. i, 
p. 558-60. 

Great saving of time and legibility is secured 
in many libraries by cutting up printed cata- 
logs and regular lists of accessions, and 
mounting them for the public catalog. Some 
American libraries with limited funds, and 
nearly all place themselves in that category, 
might profitably learn this lesson in economy. 
What is lost in beauty is gained in legibility, 
and uniformity is sacrificed for the sake of 
practical utility. There is great danger of re- 
garding the catalog too much as a work of 
art instead of a key to the contents of the 
library, and of wasting upon its elaboration 
time, and therefore money, which could be 
better employed in the purchase of books, or 
if that is too trite a statement, in paying 
higher salaries. The European method re- 
minds me of the plan in use at the St. Louis 
public library, of mounting titles from the 
Publishers' 1 weekly for order lists and catalogs. 
It is a most practical method of utilizing ma- 
terial already in print, and I wonder it is not 
more widely followed. 

There are few striking variations in catalog- 
ing entries. It was a comfort to find George 
Eliot's works under that name in the British 
Museum catalog, but I felt like grumbling, 
when looking for the Library journal venter the 
title, to be referred to " Periodical publications, 



New York." In like manner the Proceedings 
of the L. A. U. K. must be sought under 
"academies." 

Classification is a subject which has appar- 
ently received much less attention than with 
us. Most libraries which we visited are clas- 
sified roughly on the shelves, the public libra- 
ries using a letter to denote the class, then 
figures in accession order. The Bodleian li- 
brary is the only example which we found of a 
library closely classified on the shelves. The 
catalog is classed and arranged numerically. 
At the Guildhall library there is a classified 
card catalog on the decimal system. Subjects 
in which the library is specially rich, e. g. Lon- 
don, are further subdivided. The class num- 
bers are utilized only for the arrangement of 
cards, and the press-marks on a fixed location 
are added for use till they can get time to re- 
arrange the shelves. The sliding book press 
of the British Museum, by which the book ca- 
pacity is trebled (described in Library notes, 
2 : 97-99), is a most interesting and ingenious 
invention. Though so heavily loaded, it works 
with perfect ease. 

CHARGING SYSTEMS. 

The use of the indicator is very common in 
circulating libraries. It is so little known in 
America, probably owing to its trial and re- 
jection by Mr. Winsor in the Boston public 
library, that a slight sketch of its workings is 
offered. Each book in the circulating depart- 
ment is represented at the charging desk by a 
tiny book 7x2}4x]4 cm., which lies in a pigeon 
hole just large enough to contain it. Both 
ends of the tiny book are enclosed by a stiff 
projection bearing the call number, one end 
being red, the other blue ; one color meaning 
" in," the other " out." The reader turns 
from the catalog to the indicator, till he finds 
by the color towards him a book that is in, 
which he then calls for. The clerk enters in 
the indicator book the number of reader's 
card and date of issue, and lays in the proper 
pigeon hole the reader's card and indicator 
book, reversed to show that the book is out. 
One foot of counter space is required for 1,000 
numbers. 

This is Cotgreave's indicator, the one in 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



most common use, though there are several 
variations. In some libraries the indicator is 
used only to show what books are in, as in 
Birmingham, where a burdensome ledger sys- 
tem is combined with it, and in the Chelsea 
free library, where a card system is used simi- 
lar to one popular in the United States, i. e. 
a book card arranged (i) by time, (2) by call 
number. In the latter library the indicator is 
used only for fiction. Indicators as a system 
of charging impressed me as inferior to the 
card methods, because slower, and because 
failing to show overdue books in a satisfactory 
manner. Their advantage is the saving of 
time spent by our method in looking for books 
already loaned to other readers. The use of 
an indicator or of the indicator principle, for 
the class fiction combined with a card system 
of charging, is worth consideration by American 
librarians. A working model of Cotgreave's 
indicator, containing 1,000 numbers, will be in 
operation at the Library School during the 
coming winter, and can be studied there by any 
member of the A. L. A. A sample book and 
card will be shown at the California meeting. 
At the London institution a subscription 
library is used, a most ingenious and original 
system invented by the sub -librarian, Mr. 
George Parr. It is a card system by which 
the reader's time and book accounts are kept 
without stamping or writing, by means of 
arrangement, color, and a series of projections 
on the cards. The trays are a perfect Joseph's 
coat of contrasting colors, and one gains an 
impression of extreme intricacy, but great 
speed is claimed for it. 



BOOK-BINDINGS. 

Those who are fond of handsome bindings 
can here delight their eyes in the most 
curious and costly that the art of the binder 
can devise or the purse of a sovereign com- 
mand. In the King's library at the British 
Museum, which is now open on alternate eve- 
nings, and in the manuscript department of 
the Bibliotheque Nationale, are the finest dis- 
plays. At Zaehnsdorf's handsome show- 
rooms in London I was allowed to handle 
some fine specimens of modern work. Ex- 
actly what a Roxburghe binding is, seems to 
be a matter of dispute and uncertainty among 
American librarians, and since Roxburghe is 
distinctly an English binding and Zaehnsdorf 
confessedly the best binder in England, his 
definition is worth record. Roxburghe is a 
leather-backed book with lettering in a panel, 
having no corners, no bands, and no ornamen- 
tation. Cloth sides are frequent but not es- 
sential. The kind of leather makes no differ- 
ence. Mr. Dewey has alluded to the exhibi- 
tion of artistic book bindings at Nottingham. 
It contained among other treasures the three 
by Cobden-Sanderson, which were pictured in 
the English illustrated magazine, Jan., 1891. 
They were especially beautiful. 

Mr. Dewey's notice of the L. A. U. K. 
leaves nothing to be noted except the absence 
of women. Miss James of the People's 
palace and three American delegates were 
the only representatives of the sex, surely a 
most striking contrast to the San Francisco 
meeting. 



TABULATED REPORTS OF STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS. 

BY H. E. GREEN, CATALOGER IN THE BOSTON ATHENAEUM. 



[In arranging these reports I have quoted 
the words of the respective secretaries as far 
as possible. Some needed to be very much 
condensed, in which cases I had, of course, to 
use my own words. H. E. G.] 

WHEN AND WHERE ORGANIZED. 

MAINE. Augusta, March 19, 1891. 
N. H. Fabyan's, Sept. 12, 1890. 
MASS. Boston, Nov. 13, 1890. 



CONN. New Haven, Feb. 23, 1891. 

N. Y. STATE. Albany, July n, 1890. 

N.Y. LIB. CLUB. Col. Coll., N. Y., June 18, 
1885. 

NEW JERSEY. Trenton, Dec. 9, 1890. 

PENN. An attempt made to form an association 
without success. 

WISCONSIN. Madison, Feb. n, 1891. 

IOWA. Des Moines, Sept. 2, 1890. 

MICHIGAN. Detroit, Sept. i, 1891. 



GREEN. 



53 



NEED OF STATE ASSOCIATION. 

MAINE. For arousing an interest in, and 
demonstrating the need of, libraries in small towns. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. To secure cooperation 
among libraries, to improve methods of working ; 
to encourage the establishment of new libraries, 
and render those already established more useful 
as a means of education ; to facilitate the collection 
of literature relating to the State, and promote a 
more economical distribution of government 
documents. 

MASS. For arousing an esprit de eorps and an 
interest in the general good in the librarians of 
town libraries, of which there are many. 

CONN. For discussing library interests, and 
promoting the formation of free libraries, of 
which there are few. 

NEW YORK STATE. To promote library inter- 
ests as a part of the educational system of the 
State and bring New York abreast of other States 
in the matter. 

N. Y. LIB. CLUB. " For knowledge of each 
other's work and plans and for cooperation." Mr. 
Dewey 1 ! letter, L.J., 1885, p. iff. 

NEW JERSEY. To improve lines of work by 
organization and cooperation. 

PENN. 

WISCONSIN. To arouse a more intelligent 
interest and enthusiasm in library work, and to 
secure the establishment of additional libraries. 

IOWA. Librarians were unacquainted with 
each other, and little was known of their libraries 
outside of their localities. There was little or no 
indication of progress. 

MICHIGAN. " For having library work carried 
on in the broadest, most progressive way, and for 
the help that a State organization can give to 
librarians who cannot attend the A. L. A. meet- 
ings. " Mr. Utley's address at first meeting. 

WORK ACCOMPLISHED. 

MAINE. None as yet, except organization. 

N. H. Organization. 

MASS. Many members drawn in who have not 
been in the habit of attending the A. L. A. meet- 
ings, and some interesting questions discussed at 
the three meetings which have already been held. 

CONN. Little as yet. One town librarian has 
been induced to take the course at Mr. Fletcher's 
summer school of library economy. 

N. Y. STATE. An attempt made to establish 
a clearing-house for duplicates. 

N. Y. LIBRARY CLUB. A union list of periodi- 
cals taken in libraries represented in the club 



compiled; was the pioneer of local library asso- 
ciations. 

NEW JERSEY. Interest awakened in A. L. A. 
Endowment Fund. Attention called to Sonnen- 
schein's "Best Books." The Library School and 
university extension brought to the notice of 
librarians. Resolution passed that the N. J. L. A. 
cordially indorse the name of Hon. T. W. Bick- 
nell of Boston as head of the educational exhibit 
at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago. 

WISCONSIN. No special results as yet; has 
been of general interest among the leading citi- 
zens of the State in its purposes. 

IOWA. Librarians are no longer strangers to 
one another. They have adopted a system of 
annual reports to the State librarian. One of 
their number has visited during the year the lead- 
ing libraries, and written a sketch of their present 
condition. 

MICHIGAN. Organization. Papers on inter- 
esting topics read at first meeting. 

WORK FOR THE FUTURE. 

MAINE. No definite plans as yet, but hope to 
accomplish something in awakening interest. 

N. H. Committees have been and are to be 
appointed to work up the bibliography of the 
State. 

MASS. Three or four meetings a year in dif- 
ferent parts of the State, with a subject for dis- 
cussion announced in advance, and a short address 
from some noted speaker, not necessarily on the 
subject under discussion. 

CONN. Missionary work in the smaller towns 
and villages. 

N. Y. STATE. To promote cooperation be- 
tween the libraries and educational institutions of 
the State, and the passing of effectual library laws. 

N. Y. LIB. CLUB. Publication of a manual 
giving comprehensive information in regard to 
libraries in the city of New York and its neighbor- 
hood ; also the evolution of a plan whereby the 
reference work done by certain libraries, especially 
on special topics of general interest, can be utilized 
in other libraries. 

N. JERSEY. Committee to draft a new law 
relating to town and village public libraries to be 
presented at next session of the Legislature. Dis- 
cussion of the distribution of State documents. 
Rev. T. B. Thompson of Trenton to explain the 
object and scope of university extension. 

WISCONSIN. No special plan as yet. 

IOWA. To examine the laws relating to libra- 
ries and suggest improvements; make monthly 



54 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



reports on an agreed plan. To seek to awaken 
the public to a new interest in libraries. 
MICHIGAN. No plans reported as yet. 

SPECIAL FEATURES. 

MAINE. None. 

N. H. Whatever the Association accomplishes 
in the direction of a N. H. bibliography or other 
transactions of a permanent value or interest will 
be, according to the provisions of the act of 
incorporation, collected by the State librarian, 
and published as an appendix to his report to the 
Legislature. 

MASS. An objectionable feature of this club 
is the exclusion of every one not directly con- 
nected with library work as librarian, assistant, or 
trustee, no matter how deep his interest in the 
good cause.* 

CONN. None. 

N. Y. STATE. The State library system, ad- 
ministered through State officers. 

N. Y. LIB. CLUB. [The convivial element 
appears to be a special feature of this club, to 
judge from the reports of teas and entertainments 
by Messrs. Bowker and Ford, collations at Co- 
lumbia College, etc.] The club not confined to 
New York city or State, but embraces libraries in 
the city and vicinity. 

NEW JERSEY. None. 

WISCONSIN. None. 

MICHIGAN. None, as yet 

IOWA. Several libraries not represented at 
the organization meeting sent members this year, 
paying their expenses. The librarians ask for a 
two days' session. The President of the Associa- 
tion is a woman, as are most of the officers. 

NUMBER OF MEMBERS. 

MAINE. 21. 

N. H. 60 ? [The Secretary says about 60.] 

MASS. 143. 

CONN. 50. 

N. Y. STATE. 

N. Y. LIB. CLUB. 121. 

NEW JERSEY. 60. 

WISCONSIN. 29. 

IOWA. 23. 

MICHIGAN. 37. 

INTEREST TAKEN BY LIBRARIANS AND OUT- 
SIDERS. 

MAINE. Interest very slight, as shown by 
membership. 

*This mistake was corrected at the meeting held Dec. 16. 



N. H. Members generally interested, though 
not many librarians among them. 

MASS. Librarians mostly interested ; not much 
effect apparently produced on outside public. 

CONN. Libraries of the State well represented 
at the May meeting ; a number of outsiders came 
in. 

N. Y. STATE. 

N. Y. LIB. CLUB. Members much interested ; 
have members in foreign countries : Boston, 
Chicago, and Rangoon, Burmah. Many outsiders 
members. 

N. JERSEY. Considerable interest manifested 
at the meetings. 

WISCONSIN. Leading citizens of the State 
interested in the Association. 

IOWA. Interest encouraging. Three members 
of the Association are trustees of libraries. 

RESULTS IN COMMUNITIES WHERE THE ASSOCIA- 
TION HAS MET; NUMBER OF MEETINGS. 

MAINE. In most cases very slight ; only one 
meeting. 

N. H. Three meetings. 

MASS. Five meetings to Sept. 30 ; not much 
effectas yet. -. 

CONN. Two meetings ; interest awakened in 
the Association. 

N. Y. STATE. Two ? or three ? 

N. Y. LIB. CLUB. Twenty-five meetings; 
increase of spirit of fraternity and cooperation. 

N. JERSEY. Two meetings ; results yet to be 
seen. 

WISCONSIN. One meeting ; no special results. 

IOWA. Two meetings. A decidedly greater 
interest in library matters and a better apprecia- 
tion of librarians hip among leading men and 
women. 

MICHIGAN. No results reported as yet. One 
meeting. 

CONSTITUTIONS. 

MAINE. Printed in Lib. Journ., Apr., 1891, p. 
114. 

N. H. L. J., Feb., 1891, p. 50. 

MASS. L. J., Jan., 1891, p. 19. Amended con- 
stitution annexed. 

CONN. Annexed ; condensed in L. J., March, 
1891, p. 81. 

N. Y. STATE. L. J., July, 1890, p. 212. 

N. Y. LIB. CLUB. L. J., Aug., 1885, orig. 
const, amended Feb., 1891. 

N. JERSEY. L. J., Jan., 1891, p. 16. 



GREEN. 



55 



WISCONSIN. L. J., March, 1891, p. 81. 
IOWA. L. J., Jan., 1891, p. 18. 
MICHIGAN. 

CONSTITUTION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS 
LIBRARY CLUB. 

1. Name. 

This organization shall be called " The Massa- 
chusetts Library Club." 

2. Object. 

Its object shall be to promote the library inter- 
ests of the State of Massachusetts. 

3. Members. 

Any librarian, library assistant, or trustee of a 
library in the State of Massachusetts may become 
a member upon payment of the first annual assess- 
ment, and remain a member as long as dues are 
paid. Any person eligible to membership may 
become a life member and be exempt from future 
annual assessments on the payment of $5.00. 
The money received for life memberships shall be 
safely invested and only the interest shall be 
spent.* 

4. Officers. 

The officers of the club shall consist of a Presi- 
dent, two Vice-Presidents, a Secretary, and a 
Treasurer, to be elected by ballot at the annual 
meeting, who shall together constitute the Execu- 
tive Committee, and serve till their successors are 
chosen. 

j". Meetings. 

There shall be two or more meetings of the 
club in each year, one of which shall be the 
annual meeting to be held the first Wednesday in 
October, provided that the annual meeting shall be 
called to take place in some other month than 
October in any year when all the members of the 
Executive Committee agree to the change. 

6. Dues and Debts. 

The annual assessment shall be fifty (50) cents. 

No debt or obligation of any kind shall be con- 
tracted by the club, or by any committee, officer, 
or member thereof on its behalf. 

7. Amendments. 

This constitution may be amended by three- 
fourths vote of those present at any stated meet- 

* Amended Dec. 16, by striking out the word " first," and 
adding the provision "Other persons interested in library 
work may, with the consent of the Executive Committee, 
become members on the same terms." 



ing, notice of the proposed change having been 
given in the call for the meeting. 

CONSTITUTION OF THE CONNECTICUT LIBRARY 
ASSOCIATION. 

1. Name. 

This Association shall be called the CONNECTI- 
CUT LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 

2. Object. 

Its object shall be to promote the library inter- 
ests of the State of Connecticut. 

3. Members. 

Any person interested in the object of the Asso- 
ciation may become a member upon payment to 
the Treasurer of the annual assessment. 

4. Officers. 

The officers of the Association shall consist of 
a President, five Vice-Presidents, a Secretary, an 
Assistant Secretary, -and a Treasurer, to be elected 
by ballot at the annual meeting, who shall 
together constitute the Executive Board, which 
shall have power to act for the Association 
in intervals between its meetings. 

5. Meetings. 

There shall be not less than three meetings in 
each year to be held in February, May, and 
October, at such places as the vote of the mem- 
bers present at each meeting may decide. The 
meeting in February shall be the annual meeting. 

6. Dues and Debts. 

The annual assessment shall be fifty cents. No 
debts or obligation of any kind shall be contracted 
by any member of the Association unless author- 
ized by a specific vote of the Executive Board. 

7. Amendments. 

This constitution may be amended by a three- 
fourths vote of those members present at any 
stated meeting, notice of the proposed change 
having been given in the call for the meeting. 

CONSTITUTION OF THE MICHIGAN LIBRARY 
ASSOCIATION. 

1. Name. 

The name of this Association shall be the 
Michigan Library Association. 

2. Object. 

Its object shall be to promote the library inter- 
ests of the State of Michigan. 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



j. Members. 

Any person interested in advancing its object 
may become a member of this Association by vote 
of the Executive Board and payment to the Treas- 
urer of the annual assessment. 

4. Officers. 

The officers of the Association shall consist of 
a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Secretary, and 
a Treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot at the 
annual meetings, and who shall constitute the 
Executive Board, which shall have power to act 
for the Association in intervals between its meet- 
ings. 

/. Meetings. 

There shall be one or more meetings each year, 
the time and place of which shall be fixed by the 
Association or by the Executive Board, and ample 
notice of such time and place shall be furnished to 
each member. 

6. Dues and Debts. 

The annual assessment shall be fifty cents. No 
officer, committee, or member of the Association 
shall incur any expense in its name, nor shall the 
Treasurer make any payment from its funds, unless 
authorized to do so by vote of the Executive 
Board. 

7. Amendments. 

This constitution may be amended at any meet- 
ing, notice of the proposed change having been 
previously furnished each member in the call for 
the meeting. 

OFFICERS. 

MAINE. President, L. D. Carver, State Lib'n, 
Augusta. Vice-Pres'fs, E: W. Hall, Lib'n Colby 
Univ. ; G: W. Wood, Lib'n Bates College. Treas- 
urer, G: T. Little, Bowdoin College, Brunswick. 
Secretary, Harriet E. Fernald, Lib'n Maine State 
College, Orono. 

N. H. President, N. P. Hunt. Vice-Presidents, 
E. H. Oilman, John Kivel, E. P. Jewell, J. S. 
Nash, J. E. Pecker, W: W. Bailey, F. C. Faulk- 
ner, J. M. Parmlee, Cyrus Sargeant, I. W. Drew. 
Cor. Secretary, A. S. Batchellor. Rec. Secretary 
and Clerk of the Corporation, A. R. Kimball. 
Librarian and Treasurer, D. F. Secomb. Execu- 



tive Committee, N. P. Hunt, M. D. Bisbee, Geo. C. 
Gilmore, E. H. Gilman, and S. M. Richards. 

MASS. President, W: C. Lane, Harvard Coll. 
Lib. Vice-Presidents, W: Rice, J. C. Houghton. 
Treasurer, Miss M. E. Sargent, Lib'n Medford 
Pub. Lib. Secretary, Miss E. P. Thurston, Lib'n 
Newton Pub. Lib. 

CONN. President, Addison Van Name, Lib'n 
Yale Coll. Lib. Vice-Presidents, Walter Learned, 
Trustee New London Pub. Lib. ; Frank B. Gay, 
Watkinson Library, Hartford ; Willis K. Stetson, 
New Haven Pub. Lib.; Chas. D. Hine, State 
Board of Educ. ; Louise M. Carrington, Beardsley 
Lib., West Winsted. Secretary, Caroline M. 
Hewins, Hartford Lib. Asso.; Ass't Sec., Mrs. 
Martha Todd Hill, Stonington Free Library. 
Treasurer, W: J. Hills, Bridgeport Pub. Lib. 

N. Y. STATE. 

N. Y. LIB. CLUB. President, Frank P. Hill. 
Vice-Presets, Mary W. Plummer, R. B. Poole. 
Secretary, Mary I. Crandall. Treasurer, Silas H. 
Berry. Exec. Committee, George Hall Baker, W: 
T. Peoples, R. B. Poole, Ellen M. Coe, Mary W. 
Plummer. Pres. and Sec. ex officio. 

N. JERSEY. President, Rev. W. Prall, South 
Orange. Vice-Presets, F. P. Hill, Lib'n Newark 
Free Pub. Lib.; Prof. E. C. Richardson, Lib'n 
Princeton College. Secretary, Martha F. Nelson, 
Lib'n Union Lib., Trenton. Treasurer, G: F. 
Winchester, Lib'n Free Pub. Lib., Paterson. 

WISCONSIN. President, K. A. Linderfelt, Lib'n 
Milwaukee Pub. Lib. Vice-Preset, R. G. Thwaites, 
Sec. State Historical Soc. Secretary and Treas., 
F. A. Hutchins, office State Superintendent. 

IOWA. President, Mrs. Mary H. Miller, State 
Lib'n, Des Moines. Vice-Presets, W. H. Johnston, 
Fort Dodge, Mrs. Clara E. Dwight, Dubuque. 
Secretary, Mrs. Ada North, Iowa City, Univ. 
Lib. Treasurer, Miss Clara M. Smith, Burling- 
ton. 

MICHIGAN. President, H. M. Utley, Lib'n 
Detroit Pub. Lib. Vice-Presets, Mrs. Calhoun, 
State Lib., F. E. Morgan, Trustee Coldwater Lib. 
Secretary, Mrs. Annie F. Parsons, Bay City. 
Treasurer, Miss Lucy M. Ball, Lib'n Pub. Lib., 
Grand Rapids. 



STEINER. 



57 



SHOULD UNIFORMITY MARK THE ARRANGEMENT AND ADMINIS- 
TRATION OF OUR PUBLIC LIBRARIES, OR SHOULD INDIVID- 
UALITY BE PERMITTED TO ASSERT ITSELF IN EACH? 

BY LEWIS H. STEINER, LIBRARIAN, ENOCH PRATT FREE LIBRARY, BALTIMORE. 



*"pHE profession of public librarian has be- 
come so important that this question is 
not without interest to those who are devoting 
their time, energies and lives to library work. 
If it is answered one way, then all that will 
be required is the creation of a model which 
shall be strictly followed in every Library, 
irrespective of its environments and the 
special wants of the community it is intended 
to supply, irrespective of the varying forms 
of architectural structure which varied tastes 
and earnest desires for that which is novel 
and different from all other buildings erected 
for like purposes, may present, and irrespec- 
tive of the peculiar mental and moral equip- 
ment of the librarian and his available assist- 
ants and of their tact and ingenuity. If all 
are to be alike, and one dull uniformity to 
govern all, then a result will be attained dif- 
fering from that secured in any other occupa- 
tion, pursuit or profession. 

Methods of legal procedure differ but little 
in the different States, and yet the buildings 
constructed for the accommodation of the 
courts of law differ both externally and in- 
ternally in the arrangements, as well as in 
the administration of the methods ; churches 
are erected with but one main object in 
view the worship of God and yet arch- 
itects are controlled by influences that modify 
not only external plans but also the internal 
plans and provisions for the decent conduct 
of worship, and the accommodation of the 
worshipping congregation, the music and the 
officiating clergymen. Similarly, great build- 
ings for manufacturing purposes, private resi- 
dences, edifices devoted to educational pur- 
poses and those to pleasure, monuments to 
the mighty dead, and halls for the accommo- 
dation of legislative bodies, reject the idea of 
dull uniformity, and furnish opportunity for 
the exercise of the inventive faculties of 



those constructing them, as well as the desire 
to improve upon other structures, and to 
adapt them to the individual tastes of those 
for whom they are constructed. 

There is advance in everything in this age. 
We are not content to tread solemnly and 
slavishly in the footsteps of our predecessors. 
Our form of government, in our opinion, is a 
grand advance beyond that which satisfied 
mankind in previous ages. Science has fur- 
nished us with so many discoveries in public 
and social appliances that we eagerly seize 
these and use them for the necessities and 
comforts of life, speedily rejecting them for 
others that are of more recent discovery and 
better adapted for our uses. 

We have, indeed, a great horror of what is 
called old-fogyism, and find that we must em- 
ploy new discoveries and new methods, or we 
shall be left behind in the race for life. Even 
in the art of war, where so much seemingly 
depends on uniformity of action and mechani- 
cal drill of the individual soldier, this principle 
of adaptation and use of new discoveries finds 
a home. At one time, the efficiency of an 
army depended upon the solidity and strength 
of the phalanx ; then, when firearms began to 
take the place of personal strength, the solid 
phalanx gave way to the three-rank formation, 
supposed to be required to make the employ- 
ment of these most efficient ; then it was found 
to be a useless exposure of life to retain even 
three ranks of men in the making or resisting 
a charge, and the two-rank formation was con- 
ceded to be the best fitted for the purpose, 
with bodies of troops held in reserve for their 
support. But now the improvement of weap- 
ons of precision has been so great that all old 
plans are giving way to the deployment of 
troops as skirmishers, where each man acting 
by himself, although under general orders, 
can exercise his best skill on the enemy, 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



while he is exposed to a minimum of danger 
to his own body and life. Similarly, naval 
warfare has undergone change, and close- 
range engagements would seem to have given 
place to the free use of long-range artillery, 
worked with skill and scientific accuracy. 

Libraries in former days were intended 
chiefly for the safe keeping of books, with 
their possible use under exceptional circum- 
stances by the occasional scholar. Now, and 
reference is here made especially to those de- 
signed for the free use of the public, the ob- 
ject is to make them of the greatest possible 
advantage to the community for which they 
have been established. This necessarily im- 
plies that their books should be so arranged 
that the inquiring visitor could most readily 
have access to their contents, and could se- 
cure in the speediest manner information on 
all subjects claiming his attention. Arrange- 
ment and administration are the chief practi- 
cal duties that demand the public librarian's 
attention. Can these be bound by the fetters 
of uniformity, and that librarian be called best 
fitted for such duties who recognizes any 
model, that must, like the laws of the Medes 
and Persians, be absolute and final for his 
government in either ? Is he to be a simple 
machine, free from the employment and exer- 
cise of his individual peculiarities, and for- 
bidden to use all suggestions and improve- 
ments that an intelligent study of arrangement 
and administration would suggest to his active 
mind ? These questions seem to demand 
negative replies from every one interested in 
the greatest possible efficiency of our public 
libraries, because it requires but little study 
of the subject to reach the conclusion that li- 
brarians must be men alive to the require- 
ments of their calling, not satisfied with a me- 
chanical performance of their duties, and ever 
on the alert to discover or employ improved 
methods for the execution of the same, if they 
would not be left behind in this active, pro- 
gressive age. Where there is absolute con- 
tent with methods of administration or ar- 
rangement, whether proposed by themselves 
or by others and the result is worse in the 
latter case than in the former perfect satis- 
faction that no improvement can be found out- 



side of their present methods, and an inflexible 
determination to persevere in the same, there 
is the prophecy of living fossilization, which 
will soon be recognized by the people as a 
disgrace and reproach to the profession. 

Nowhere more readily than in a public 
library should everything be open to change, 
if this promises improvement. It is a pro- 
duct of the age and must keep pace with the 
latter. It dare not claim that its present 
methods are the best possible that can be 
devised, and thus calmly rest from all activity 
and be converted into a mere machine for 
literary convenience. The librarian who 
accepts such a situation is a disadvantage to 
the trust he is expected to administer, and 
should give place to some one more alive to 
progress and improvement, and more in sym- 
pathy with the age in which he lives. 

But if blind obedience to authority be 
objectionable, let us see what advantages may 
be expected to result from free play given to 
individuality in arrangement and administra- 
tion. And these advantages must show 
themselves in the librarian and in his library. 

I. THE LIBRARIAN. 

We must take it for granted that he is a 
scholarly man, who by constant association 
with books has learned to love their con- 
tents, and not to be satisfied with their titles 
simply or their mechanical form. He should 
know much of literature and of its rela- 
tions to all other forms of human know- 
ledge. How much, no one can prescribe, 
but he must be more than a mere book- 
worm. His business is not to be a lit- 
erary anatomist, but rather a literary physi- 
ologist. Books should glow with life and 
be made to do good service in the busi- 
ness of making mankind wiser, happier, and 
better. Hence their custodian the literary 
purveyor of the community must be on the 
alert to discover what plans are best adapted, 
in his particular location and environment, to 
accomplish this work. The printed page is 
to be made useful in a grand missionary work 
among all ages and classes. Should he be 
content with what has been done by others, 
no matter how vast their experience and 



STEINER. 



59 



justly celebrated their authority, he cannot 
secure the best results. The great librarians, 
nullius addicti jurare in verba magistri, have 
acknowledged no masters in their profession 
whose rules they were obliged to obey, but 
have become masters themselves by dint of 
their own earnest grappling, each day of their 
lives, with the problems that demanded 
answers. If truly great they did not wish to 
force their own methods upon those who 
were fast moving on to assume the places in 
the ranks which they in time would be com- 
pelled to leave. It was their pride to see 
others develop independence of thought, 
construct new plans and devise new methods. 
The secret of their reputation and honorable 
position, and that of those whom we all recog- 
nize as now in the front rank of the pro- 
fession, is at the command of any one who 
has the requisite culture and knowledge of 
the contents of books, combined with the 
practical bent that fits a man to command his 
situation, to know the peculiarities of his 
environment, and to adapt means to the 
desired end. 

The assertion of individuality must not pro- 
ceed, however, from a mere desire to differ 
with others unless such difference will give 
him greater freedom of action and make his 
plans and methods more useful. Nay, he 
should learn what others have done and are 
doing, by studying their methods and witness- 
ing the practical operations of the same in the 
libraries under their control, by familiarity 
with the journals devoted to imparting infor- 
mation on such topics, and, above all, by fre- 
quent familiar intercourse and conference 
with those who are students of the same sub- 
ject. He must strive to be in touch with 
other officers in the army of which he is a 
member. Starting out with the determination 
to get the best, he will soon acquire ability to 
select that which will suit his own peculiar 
situation, and, what is more to the purpose, 
to develop new methods and plans, which will 
be, at least for him and his particular sphere 
of work, better than all the rest. And, as he 
progresses in his life-work, he will learn not 
to disdain suggestions that even the least 
scholarly of his assistants may make, as to 



management and administration. Where 
these are conscious of the fact that, while they 
must recognize and conform to the rules and 
methods provided for their government by 
their chief, he will not thrust aside sugges- 
tions that may result from their own ingenuity 
and study of any portion of the details sub- 
mitted to their oversight and care, their use- 
fulness is greatly increased. Under such a 
system of recognition, the assistants them- 
selves rise from the lower mechanical level to 
become intelligent, all-alive, active participants 
in the spirit of the librarian and invaluable 
partners in his work. And this is no small 
advantage in the conduct of any business. It 
reduces perfunctory performance of duty to 
the minimum, and, in our calling, makes each 
member of his staff a tower of strength to the 
librarian. 

The development of broader and clearer 
ideas of the nature of his profession, that 
takes place as he throws off servitude to oth- 
ers and begins to make his library a part of 
himself and to identify himself with it, is also 
a result that is of incalculable value. But few 
have had the pleasure granted them to have 
been called in consultation in the construction 
of their library buildings. These have been 
mostly furnished before the appointment of 
the librarians, or, if constructed during their 
terms of service, their counsel has been some- 
times rejected as that of "cranks " who are 
deemed hardly practical enough to aid the 
architect in the planning of the building, 
which is to be the focus of their activity and 
usefulness 1n the community. Hence the ne- 
cessity for the development of the individ- 
uality and independence of thought that will 
make the librarian able to adapt the building 
to the best accomplishment of the purposes 
for which it has been constructed, and to make 
his plans so that he and it may be married 
one to the other and the twain be united in 
an indissoluble unity. True, there is great 
difference in the arrangements and plans of 
libraries, and some are infinitely better adapted 
for their purposes than others, but the wise 
librarian, who has learned to think and plan 
and adapt for himself, laughs at the inconven- 
iences with which he may be surrounded 



6o 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



and forces them all to contribute to the suc- 
cess of his own plans. 

The modern chemist, in his well-appointed 
laboratory, with its wealth of appliances, con- 
ducts his researches with great comfort, con- 
venience and success, but a Faraday puts in 
a few glass tubes and ingenious makeshifts 
along with his indomitable determination to 
succeed, and secures discoveries that make 
him known to the scientific world as a master 
of his profession. Similarly, the wise libra- 
rian, who acts independently, will find that, 
although he is denied many aids and conven- 
iences which his more fortunate brother has 
at his command, he can contrive to force 
what he has into subjection to his wants and 
make everything useful in the execution of his 
plans. 

But, while thus getting perfect command of 
the building devised or employed for the pro- 
tection and arrangement of the books that he 
is enabled to purchase, he will probably feel 
the necessity for modifications of the very 
classification that is used for his own con- 
venience and that of his borrowers. This 
must needs be modified to suit the nature of 
the library whether it be only for reference 
or circulation, whether intended for the gen- 
eral public or for a more or less limited num- 
ber of subscribers. So, the details of ad- 
ministration must be largely determined in 
accordance with the peculiarities of the per- 
son in charge, the nature of the building, and, 
to a certain extent also, the character of the 
assistants that he is likely to have. He can 
usually not regulate this portion of his duties 
by what others have employed, but he must 
select, appropriate, adapt and devise what 
will be best fitted for his peculiar situation. 
Where the librarian thus thinks and acts for 
himself, after a careful study of what others 
have done, he becomes master of the situa- 
tion, and an honor to the profession of which 
he is a member. His staff respect him as 
their leader, are ready to carry out his views 
or to submit their contributions or sug- 
gestions for improvement of methods to his 
good judgment, and the whole library force 
can claim special respect from those who re- 
sort to its shelves for aid in their studies or 



for that which will bring amusement and 
comfort in their hours of fatigue. His own 
labors are lessened, and duty becomes a 
pleasure under such circumstances. 

2. THE LIBRARY. 

The benefits thus received by the li- 
brarian are, however, not confined to him; 
they extend to the reputation the library 
itself will acquire in the community. 
It will soon be found out that it has 
an individuality of its own, in the formation 
of which the convenience of the community 
and its special adaptation to the wants of the 
people have been earnestly considered. 
These facts will create pride in it as 
peculiarly their own, not a slavish copy of 
another, but a creation adapted to their own 
needs, and this is not to be considered as of 
little moment. Town pride and personal 
pride will beget greater respect and love for 
the library, and will insensibly win friends not 
only for the architectural structure, but also 
for the books on its shelves. Its reputation 
will increase its friends, and so whatever it 
may possess of literary treasures will attain a 
wider sphere of usefulness. Individuality in 
anything commands respect, if not admiration, 
and, in the case of a library, this is very 
strikingly shown in any community. Every 
one feels that an active brain is at work for 
his benefit, which is not content with servile 
imitation of any one model, but strives to 
create its own, and that the best possible one 
for its peculiar limitations and environment. 
And so the labor, that has been expended on 
arrangement and administration, receives rec- 
ognition outside of the library itself, adding 
to its popularity with the people and its con- 
sequent increasing usefulness. 

The conclusion arrived at in this discussion 
is based upon the hypothesis that the librarian 
possesses the literary culture and book-know- 
ledge required for his position, sufficient judg- 
ment to weigh properly all the needs of the 
institution under his care, and an ambition to 
make his library of the greatest benefit to its 
natural constituency. If he does not possess 
these he is out of place, and should be sup- 
planted by some one who does, because to the 



CHENEY. 



61 



former the rules and regulations which have 
been made by another will always be blindly 
accepted as guides to control his action. He 
begins his work mechanically and will con- 
tinue it thus until he lays it down. He is as 
little fitted to judge of methods as many of the 
pupils who flock to our normal schools, to 
learn the methods of teaching, before they 
have even acquired an accurate knowledge of 
the branches they are expected to teach. 
These make their teaching mechanical, dry, 
and lifeless, and drive their pupils along roads 
they know not themselves, which are crowded 
with obstacles, instead of leading them along 
paths lined with attractive and lovely flowers. 
He is simply an echo of what others have ut- 



tered, a slave to a system instead of master of 
one evolved out of his own study of the situ- 
ation as presented in his own library. 

Let the profession of public librarian, which 
the nineteenth century has created, be filled 
not only with enthusiastic lovers of the con- 
tents of books, but also with earnest students 
of the best methods of arranging the same 
and administering their libraries, so that they 
may be animated with friendly rivalry, ready 
to seize and appropriate the best that others 
employ, as well as to devise from their own 
individual resources whatever may be best 
adapted to make their life-work redound to 
the greatest profit of their own readers. 



METHOD OF CATALOGUING THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC DOCU- 
MENTS AND THE PERIODICALS IN THE SAN FRANCISCO 
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

BY j: VANCE CHENEY, THE LIBRARIAN. 



The United States Public Documents. 

The letter U indicates the class, U. S. Pub. 
Docs. Place after these the number of the 
Congress, and after this the number of the 
session ; then add, as a decimal, the number 
adopted in the following scheme of classifica- 
tion : 

SENATE. 

Senate Journal I 

Exec. Docs. (Sen. Docs.) .... 2 

Misc 3 

Reports 4 



HOUSE. 

House Journal 

Exec. Docs. (House Docs.) 

Misc 

Reports 



Suppose, for example, we wish to catalogue 
House Exec. Docs., No. 16, 38th Congress, 
ist session. First comes the class letter U, 
and the number of the Congress, 38 : U 38. 
Add the number of the session, I, we have 
U 381. It remains simply to add, as a deci- 
mal, the number in the scheme, 6 : U 381.6. 
Where there is a second or third volume, 



it may be written as follows : U 381. & or 
U 38 1. 6 3 . 

The public documents being catalogued by 
this method, reference may be readily made 
to any article found in Poore's " Catalogue of 
the Government Publications of the United 
States," covering the period Sept. 5, 1774, to 
March 4, 1881: Hickox's "Monthly cata- 
logue " is not so easily managed, but with 
some ingenuity it becomes reasonably ser- 
viceable. 

About a year after the adoption of the 
above method, Mr. W. A. Merrill's paper 
appeared in the Library journal for April, 
1891. Very much the same device is hit on 
there, but the method is not quite so simple, 
as will be seen by the following comparison : 

S. F. Free Public Library: U 381.6 U- 3 8i.6 2 U 3 8i.63 
Miami University Library : 328.3816 328. 328. 

By the latter method it becomes necessary, 
at times, to write nine figures. 

The Periodicals. 

This method applies only to such periodicals 
as appear in Poole's Index. 



62 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



The letter P indicates the class, Periodical 
Literature. Place after it the number set 
against the name of the periodical in Poole's 
Chronological conspectus, and add, as a dec- 
imal, the number of the volume. Suppose, 
or example, we wish to catalogue the six- 



teenth volume of Scribner's monthly. First 
comes the class letter P. The number in 
Poole's Conspectus is 198, and the number of 
the volume is 16. Add these, and we have 
P 198.16. 



ACCESS TO THE SHELVES A POSSIBLE FUNCTION OF BRANCH 

LIBRARIES. 

BY HERBERT PUTNAM, LIBRARIAN OF THE MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



T~*HE question of free access to the shelves 
may on the whole be regarded as under 
debate, not with reference to an ideal to be 
attained so much as to the practicable mech- 
anism by which it is to be effected. The 
problem of informal contact, which, to a library 
in a small space or to a specialized library, 
presents no difficulty, to a city library, with a 
large constituency, does present some embar- 
rassments in a measure harassing. There 
are books upon the shelves of unique value, 
which if destroyed could not be replaced; 
there are others of high intrinsic value which 
might be ruined by careless or malicious 
hands ; the books are carefully classified, and 
no classification, however methodic, can with- 
stand the turmoil of ignorant disarrangement ; 
there is a large public to deal with ; their 
admittance to the book rooms would crowd 
the alcoves and impede the work of issue ; this 
public is composed, nine-tenths or even ninety- 
nine one-hundredths, of persons unknown 
to the attendants and without credentials ; and 
finally there is an ample card catalogue. There 
are copiously suggestive reading lists ; to 
what purpose were the thousands of dollars 
and years of labor expended upon these save 
to render access to the shelves superfluous ? 

So for the time freedom of access is declared 
impracticable, or rigid exclusion is palliated. 
For the time, I say ; for I cannot believe that 
the most of the obstacles indicated are other 
than temporary or relative. It is indeed true 
that every large library contains books that it 
cannot afford to have destroyed. Its contents 
may probably be divided into three groups: 
(i) books which are rarities, and these must 
be treated somewhat as curios in a museum ; 



(2) books which are documentary sources, and 
these must be treated as legal records ; and 

(3) books which are literature, and these 
should be treated as living instruments of 
education. Now, assuming that these first 
two classes do exist in every library and in 
each department of every library, and that a 
rule must be made especially to guard them, 
must such a rule be made a blanket rule for 
the whole library ? Is it not possible to 
seclude them so that the rigidity necessary in 
their case shall not need to encompass the 
entire collection? Is it not possible to set 
them apart, as already we are obliged to set 
apart folios from octavos, and even entire 
special collections within the library, to assign 
them perhaps a special section in each case, 
behind a screen if necessary, and still leave 
the main body of the department open for free 
handling ? And as for the confusion of free 
handling, the disarrangement results not from 
taking books down but from trying to put 
them back again ; a simple prohibition to 
readers against the replacement of any vol- 
ume upon the shelves is ample to secure the 
integrity of the classification. 

The public must to a large extent, to be 
sure, remain individually unknown to the 
attendants ; but not without credentials ; for 
as to a church, so to a library, a man brings 
the best credentials who brings himself; and 
the chiefest sin he can commit against it is to 
remain away from it. What would we have ? 
Surely a chief lesson these books are to teach 
is faith in one's fellow-man ; and how can the 
books teach faith when the library itself 
teaches suspicion? 

But the catalogue and reference lists, do 



PUTNAM. 



not they suffice? Do they? Does a cata- 
logue stand for a book, for a collection .of 
individual books ? For two reasons not : in 
the first place it covers only the literature of 
knowledge ; in the second place it begins at 
the wrong end, begins with the trained mind 
which seeks direction, while the library has 
usually first to do with the untrained mind, 
which needs stimulus. And yet note the 
inconsistency it is the disciplined reader, 
the reader for whom this apparatus is most 
effective ; it is this reader, if any, that we 
admit to the shelves ; while it is the crude and 
vagrant mind, the mind that is essentially 
diffident and unenterprising, the mind in awe 
of the catalogues and most in need of the 
incentive of direct contact with the books it 
is this one that we rigidly exclude. 

Is there an influence exerted by a collection 
of books not exerted through the best of cata- 
logues ? We know there is ; we recognize it 
when we speak of the companionship of books, 
when we speak of books that are our friends 
and intimates. Surely we could not call that 
man an intimate in whose ante-room we must 
sit and wait and send up our cards, and whom 
we can come into touch with only through 
systematic endeavor. To be friends with 
books, as with men, we must be able to drop 
in upon them, to jog about among them, 
exchange a look or a word with them, or seek 
a deep confidence among them, as the spirit 
may move us. Every one who loves books, 
every librarian, feels this power of humanity 
stirring amongst them. He feels also a power 
of humanizing latent within them. He feels 
it in the books ; but no most inveterate classi- 
fier could assert it in a catalogue. 

No librarian of today would content his 
ambition with the passive response to trained 
inquiry. He likes to feel himself an educator. 
He is to stir up an interest in good books. How 
then ? How would he stir up an interest in 
botany in a child ? Would he set him down 
at a desk with the scheme of Linnaeus, or 
would he turn him loose in an open field and 
let him mark for himself the fresh and deli- 
cate individuality of each appealing flower ? 
How to stir up an interest in good books ? 
Why not stock the shelves with them, and 



turn the public loose among them ? Books 
can speak for themselves ; and eagerly enough 
the people will respond, if not shut out from 
them by a seven-barred catalogue. 

Toward three classes of readers access to 
the shelves is potent : first, toward those who 
have not yet the ambition or impulse to read 
at all, and of these I have just been speaking; 
second, toward those whose reading has been 
a monochrome and who need to be diverted ; 
and third, toward those whose tastes are 
below the standard of the library, who fre- 
quent it and call for books, and don't get them, 
and grumble and wonder why the library sets 
up for a public library, and doesn't get the 
books the people want to read. (I omit the 
fourth class of students proper because the 
gain to them is self-evident and generally 
admitted.) Every librarian of a public library 
has a certain number of readers who per- 
sist in adhering to two or three authors 
Mrs. Holmes or Augusta Wilson, perhaps. 
You have tried to wean them from this exclu- 
sive devotion, and been often rebuffed and 
mortified. Have you ever tried turning them 
loose among the shelves ? Ten to one they 
would select a new author ; and in their con- 
dition of mental inertia a new author is for 
them the best author. I would indeed go 
further, and assert that any undisciplined 
reader is likely to select a better book from 
the shelves than he will select from the cat- 
alogue. Timidity hampers him. Certain 
authors he has read ; he is at least sure of 
them ; he dares not go outside of them ; and 
so he keeps rotating through the list of the 
flabby familiar, and his influence upon cir- 
culation is a horror to us. But in the book 
rooms the fancy is captivated toward a score 
of books novel to his experience; the individ- 
uality of the books in their mere physique 
attracts him (to a less degree of course in 
libraries where this individuality has been 
suppressed to a barbarous uniformity by 
manila covers) ; and in a twinkle this lethargic 
imagination is fluttering to a thousand new 
impressions from East and West. 

As to the grumbler who calls himelf " the 
people," I have never yet found the grumbler 
who couldn't be turned into an enthusiast by 



6 4 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



being turned loose in the book rooms. What- 
ever the occasion of his complaint, it usually 
rests on an ultimate suspicion of the good 
intent of the library. Generally, of course, it 
is that the library doesn't provide him, and 
promptly, with the book he wants. Take this 
reader, tell him it is true the book he asks for 
can't be supplied, but that whatever the library 
has is open to him and turn him into the book 
rooms to pick for himseif. The effect is mag- 
ical ; the most desperately disgruntled natures 
are veered to confiding faith and loyalty. 

One final consideration pends from this. 
Every library contains certain flabby books. 
The librarian is ashamed of them ; he would 
not recommend them ; he puts them there 
merely as toll bait. But he puts them there. 
He then covertly (that is among the profession) 
boasts that they are at least supplied in inad- 
equate quantities ; they appear on the finding 
lists, but they are rarely on the shelves when 
called for. As if one should make it an excuse 
for administering poison that it was adminis- 
tered in small doses ! Yet this is extreme ; 
for the books are not quite poison, they are 
not vicious ; but they are flabby ; and in con- 
trast to the work the library has to do can it 
afford to supply even the flabby books? It 
countenances them by placing them upon its 
finding list ; it countenances the interest of its 
readers in them; and then it frustrates their 
attempts to read them. Surely such subter- 
fuge is both cowardly and unworthy of an edu- 
cational institution. Why is it necessary? 
Is it not because we rely upon the catalogues 
to attract our readers instead of relying upon 
the books themselves ? At present the stan- 
dard must be low, because the crude reader 
is reached only through the catalogues, and 
in these only the familiar appeals. But with 
free access to the books the standard might be 
high ; for he would then be reached by the 
novel individuality of the books appealing for 
themselves. 

I have little need to be urgent in such a 
cause, before such an audience. I cannot 
believe there is a librarian who has felt as a 
reader and would not himself be urgent for 
freedom of access. The problem is one of 
means. I believe that before long an effort 



will be made even in the largest libraries to 
differentiate; so that if all the books cannot 
be made free, part will be made free ; that if 
access cannot be granted at all seasons and at 
every hour of the day, it will be attempted in 
seasons of less pressure and at quiet hours of 
the day ; that if it cannot be granted to all 
persons it will at least be granted as of course, 
and only withheld as an exception and a pen- 
alty; and finally, that where it may not be con- 
trived immediately in great central libraries, 
in which the division between records and 
literature must be a slow process, and whose 
architecture does not provide for comfortable 
shelf reference, in such cities it will be 
undertaken without delay in the branch libra- 
ries to which no such obstacles adhere. 

The suitabilities of branches for the inaug- 
uration of such an experiment need only to be 
enumerated to be accepted. A branch has a 
small, a localized constituency. Most of its 
readers soon become personally known to the 
attendants. The collection of books is almost 
purely a collection of literature, the books 
that are to make character first, and then, and 
only in a lesser measure, the books that are 
to give knowledge, of matter of record almost 
none at all ; the pressure on the issue desk 
need never be so heavy as to crowd unduly 
the alcoves. And finally, whatever the pur- 
pose of the central library, the purpose of the 
branch is to enlist the sympathy and arouse 
the intellectual impulse of the section of the 
community in which it is placed. It is a 
feeder from the main library ; it should also 
be a feeder to the main library. It should 
make the most of that humanizing element in 
books which needs only to be let work in 
order that it should work; and so far as can 
be, should be exempt from that rigidity of 
system which formalizes a book a friend 
into a library, a mere institution. 

To constrain it within the regulations 
deemed necessary in the central library is to 
suppress a function peculiarly its own, to 
deprive it of an opportunity for which its 
circumstances peculiarly adapt it. For a 
branch library in a large city may, if it will, 
gain something of the potency of a village 
library, which the village folk haunt with a 



PUTNAM. 



friendly persistence which they feel to belong 
to them, and which is to them in effect a 
week-day union of church and club and higher 
school. 

In Minneapolis we have been putting these 
theories into practical operation. I have felt 
diffident about reciting our experience because 
"it has been but a short one. But I am told 
that an ounce of experience is worth a pound 
of theory, so will adduce it for what it is 
worth. Our friend Brett has been trying 
similar experiments in Cleveland, and very 
likely has gone a step beyond us. I shall 
hope that he will add his testimony as to 
results. 

The Minneapolis Public Library is a free city 
institution, free for circulation as well as for 
reference. It was opened to the public in 
December, 1889. The city is one of 165,000 
inhabitants, and has practically no other pub- 
lic library. The library opened with about 
30,000 volumes, and additions are being made 
of about 13,000 volumes yearly. By the end 
of the first year about 15,000 cards had been 
issued, and 200,000 volumes circulated for 
home use. In point of circulation, therefore, 
it ranked in 1890 about seventh of American 
public libraries. The building has three main 
reading rooms, that have sufficed for the 
entire body of readers at any one time. 

From the first, however, we intended that 
readers (at least certain of them) should have 
access to the book rooms ; and these were 
arranged with a view to admit of this. The 
stacks were planned on a modified alcove sys- 
tem ; and they present some sixteen large 
alcoves (8 feet by 10) and over thirty narrower 
ones (3> feet from face to face, and 10 feet 
deep). Every alcove has an individual win- 
dow. The large alcoves have sloping desks 
across under the windows ; the small alcoves 
have drop tables. On every case or stack 
the shelves below three feet have a depth of 
16 inches (above only 8 inches); so that to the 
face of every stack there is a ledge of three 
feet from the ground for the student to rest 
his book upon. 

From the first, also, the books were arranged 
with regard to safety of access. Certain of 
the larger art folios (as the Napoleon and Lep- 



sius Egypt, Piranesi, Prisse d'Avennes, etc.) 
were put in special cases with sliding shelves 
and locked doors. It has always been under- 
stood, however, that any inquirer whatever 
might examine any book in the library. And 
if a schoolboy asked to see, e. g., Lepsius, he 
was never refused permission ; only the book 
would be brought out and set upon the special 
folio table, and he cautioned as to its proper 
handling; and an attendant occasionally pass 
his way to see that he was not sprawling his 
elbows upon it. We find that such small 
thoughtlessness is the only impropriety we 
have to guard against. The really superb 
books carry their own lesson of awe and 
respect. 

Certain other works in our art department 
(Owen Jones, for instance, and Racinet) were 
in too constant use to be put behind glass. 
We gathered these into a stack by themselves, 
and at first stretched a cord across the alcove 
with a sign enjoining " special permission." 
But we found the cord superflous and removed 
it. The fiction was massed in small alcoves 
nearest the issue desk ; and to this access 
has not been given until recently. It was 
refused, however, only because people in the 
alcoves might interfere with the work of the 
pages. So, when the summer came and the 
pressure slackened, these alcoves also were 
thrown open. 

With 15,000 card-holders it did not seem 
practicable to admit every reader as of course. 
We issued shelf perrnits for certain periods, 
from a day to a year. Clergymen and teach- 
ers had these cards as a matter of course ; 
and any reader could get one who could assert 
that he was pursuing some definite course of 
reading. But beyond this we tried to make it 
understood that, without a written permit, any 
reader could by request get admitted to the 
shelves. The librarian's office is in full view 
of the issue desk, and the door is always open ; 
and I have never yet refused an application 
for a shelf permit. In my absence and at all 
times the attendants are instructed to take to 
the shelves any inquirer who seems inade- 
quately supplied through the ordinary chan- 
nels. Our catalogue facilities are as yet mea- 
gre, and we have to depend largely upon this 



66 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



personal mediation coupled with freedom of 
access. We find, as no doubt other librarians 
have found, that this personal mediation may 
often gain a warm friend to the library, where 
a catalogue would have left only an irritated 
client. 

In other ways where we couldn't bring the 
people to the book rooms, we tried to bring 
the book rooms to the people. A large num- 
ber of books were always out upon the refer- 
ence shelves in the reading rooms. Current 
periodicals have always been kept in open 
pigeon-hole cases in the reading rooms. And 
on Sundays and holidays trucks of miscella- 
neous entertaining books have been set out in 
the reading rooms to be used without record. 
A few books and several dozens of magazines 
have disappeared each year. But we lay the 
theft to one or two systematic depredators, 
and should never think of making the entire 
reading public suffer for it by abridging the 
general freedom. 

Now this admission to the shelves "upon 
request " and special application, which alone 
we thought practicable at first, did not accom- 
plish all that we desired. No matter how 
broadly we advertised our willingness to grant 
formal permits, we found that people were 
diffident about applying for them. The idea 
of having to prove some systematic course of 
reading under way embarrassed many from 
asking time permits; and the ordinary reader 
didn't feel like repeating a request for admit- 
tance at each visit to the library. When this 
summer came, therefore, we had a sign printed : 
" At this hour readers may enter the book 
rooms and select their own books." And at 
all times when there is not a crowd the sign is 
displayed before the issue desk. I need not 
say that the privilege has been appreciated. 
It has added fifty per cent to the summer use 
of the library. Indeed, it so far approximated 
the summer pressure to that of the winter that 
the hours during which the privilege may be 
extended have constantly to be reduced. So 
that, oddly enough, it is likely to be defeated 
by its very success. In casting about, how- 
ever, for a field within which the freedom 
might be 'continued in cases not reached by 
the main library, and independent of the con- 



ditions to which it might there have to be 
subjected, we hit upon the branches. In 
these we have extended the freedom of access 
without limitation. Each branch occupies a 
couple of rooms, one of which is a reading 
room. The books are shelved in ordinary 
open cases behind the issue desk. Every 
reader goes in and picks out a book for him- 
self. There are not as yet many books to pick 
from ; until recently the branches have been 
chiefly delivery stations. But each branch 
had to start with several hundred books of its 
own ; and each receives current additions in 
the duplicates that can be spared from the- 
main library. In each, therefore, there are 
over a thousand volumes of miscellaneous 
literature; and these volumes have become 
absolutely accessible to the readers. There 
is no permit necessary, not even a verbal per- 
mit or nod from the attendant. "The books 
are here; come and help yourself; make 
friends with them," is the common under- 
standing. 

Now as to results these questions present 
themselves : 

(i) What is the loss to the library in the 
way of books stolen or mutilated ? (2) Does 
not the freedom of access cause disarrange- 
ment of books and impede the work of issue ? 
(3) Does freedom of access (a) add to the 
number of books read, (b) improve the quality 
of books read ? 

In stating our conclusions it must be 
repeated that they are based upon a very brief 
experience ; that the library has been open 
less than two years ; that the public, never 
before accustomed to a public library, might 
very naturally at first be constrained to an awe 
and respect which might easily rub off upon 
extended familiarity; the honestly-inclined 
may become careless, while the reprobates 
may discover easy methods of rascality. 

(1) The total ascertained loss in the past 
year and a half from theft has aggregated 
about twenty-five books and twice the number 
of magazines. The total cost of replacing 
this material has not exceeded fifty dollars. 
Of mutilation we have not thus far discovered 
more than one important instance. 

(2) The presence in the alcoves of the entire 



PUTNAM. 



67 



body of readers would at the crowded hours 
of the day be a serious impediment to the 
work of issue. At the central library, there- 
fore, we find it necessary to limit the access 
"as of course " to certain hours of the day. 
We are still enabled, however, to admit at all 
times a large body of persons holding shelf 
permits, and every reader whose inquiry is 
serious enough to move him to a special 
application for admittance. And in the 
branches the freedom is possible without 
limitation or distinction. The rule against 
replacing of books on the shelves provides in 
the main library against disarrangement. In 
the branches the number of volumes is small, 
and any disarrangement can be easily recti- 
fied. 

(3) The number of books drawn has cer- 
tainly been increased by the privilege of 
access. This is especially the case in the 
summer season, when the mind is naturally 
listless and shuns the formal effort demanded 
by a catalogue. As to the quality of the 
reading, the period is too brief to point to a 



definite improvement ; my conviction, how- 
ever, is firm, as I have declared it, that, as a 
rule, the general reader will select a better 
book from the shelves than he will from the 
catalogue ; and I certainly see nothing in our 
experience to weaken that conviction. I am, 
at any rate, clear as to this, that the open and 
candid system, by winning the interest and 
confidence of our readers, will enable us 
gradually to drop from our shelves the books 
we are ashamed of, and to leave there only 
the books we are glad to have people read ; 
and in this way a certain betterment must 
result. 

Whatever the perplexities of detail, free- 
dom of access cannot long be refused. As 
librarians, we are, of course, to guard the 
books. But let us not be accused of making 
this guardianship a deprivation of the proper 
beneficiary. Let us send these books them- 
selves down to posterity, if we can ; but let us 
remember that the best way we can send them 
down is to send them down in the persons of 
sound men and women. 



68 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



THE PROCEEDINGS. 
PIONEER HALL, SAN FRANCISCO, MONDAY-FRIDAY, OCT. 12-16, 1891. 



FIRST SESSION. 
(MONDAY AFTERNOON, OCTOBER 12.) 

President GREEN called the Convention to order 
at 3.15 P.M. 

Mr. Fletcher was elected Temporary Secretary, 
to act during the absence of Mr. Hill ; Mr. John- 
ston Recording Secretary, to act in the absence of 
Professor Little; Miss Van Zandt Treasurer, to 
act during the absence of Mr. Carr. Messrs. 
Utley and Soule and Miss Bean were instructed 
to act as a Finance Committee, and Mr. Hild to 
act as Secretary of Transportation. 

The proceedings of the last Convention, as 
printed, were adopted and placed on file. 

The report of the Secretary, Mr. HILL, was 
read by Mr. Fletcher and placed on file: 
SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

For fifteen years the office of Secretary has been 
filled by one of the brightest and ablest men in 
the profession. At no time is it an easy task to 
take up the work connected with the Secretary- 
ship, and it becomes doubly hard when one is 
obliged to follow such an active, energetic, 'and 
conscientious man as Mr. Dewey. You all know 
how he has given the best years of his life to the 
furtherance of the interests of this Association, 
and what that labor of love has resulted in, so it is 
unnecessary, at this time, to go into any extended 
praise of his work; sufficient to say that the 
growth and success of the A. L. A. are due, in 
a great measure, to the very able efforts of Melvil 
Dewey. 

We regret that he is not with us this year to 
take part in the exercises; and, while we may not 
be willing to own it, if there is any lack of enthusi- 
asm shown at the meetings we shall ascribe it 
largely to his absence. 

Of necessity the report of the Secretary must be 
one of progress at least from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific coast. Certainly in distance never before 
have we made such headway, while in matters 
pertaining directly to our welfare it is safe to say 
that we have enjoyed a good degree of prosperity. 



From the East we did not bring so many libra- 
rians as we had reason to expect early in the 
summer; but the presence of so many new faces 
from the Pacific slope not only makes up, in point 
of numbers, for the absent ones, but also shows 
that the missionary spirit which prevails in this, 
as in similar organizations, is very necessary to its 
existence. 

The Secretary of your local committee reported 
some weeks ago that he was doing all he could to 
gather a large number of librarians and other 
interested persons, but despaired of success on 
account of distances. If such is the case here, 
you can understand how difficult it has been to 
get even this small number to cross the continent 
for the purpose of attending this year's Confer- 
ence. We shall try to overcome this shortcoming 
by a greater degree of enthusiasm. This is a 
large field to work in, and the harvest should be 
abundant, as becomes the glorious State of Cali- 
fornia. 

One sentence in Mr. Dewey's report of last year 
struck me very forcibly. "Not one library in ten," 
he says, "ever sees our proceedings." 

Why is this? "No money," answers the Treas- 
urer. Well, let us get the money some way. 
Every library ought to have a copy. It is good 
missionary work and a practicable way of increas- 
ing our membership. 

The folder, authorized by the last Convention, 
containing interesting facts about the A. L. A., 
has been printed and is ready for distribution. 
Members are requested to help themselves from 
the box on the Secretary's desk. 

Last year President Crunden recommended 
" that a salary, not to exceed $200 a year, be paid 
to an Assistant Secretary," this Secretary to be 
appointed by the Secretary and approved by the 
Executive Board. Something of the sort ought 
to be done, and if the Assistant (who ought to be 
a good short-hand writer) should be the Record- 
ing Secretary it is very certain the Association 
would get the worth of its money. 

Before we started from the East some doubt 



PROCEEDINGS. 



69 



was expressed as to the success of this Confer- 
ence, but that feeling disappeared soon after 
leaving Chicago. This has been, and will con- 
tinue to be, one of the most interesting and bene- 
ficial meetings the A. L. A. has held. The little 
conferences we have held on the train during our 
long journey across the continent, and shall enjoy 
on our return trip, are of at least equal importance 
with the papers which will be read. Such an 
ample opportunity for interchange of ideas and 
opinions has never before been given us, and we 
have made the most of it. 

I would call your attention to the Attendance 
book. Enter your name at once, and scan the 
book to see who is here ; then you will not go 
away disappointed at not meeting the very per- 
sons whom you have come to consult. 

It is hoped that this meeting in San Francisco 
will result in the establishment of new and the 
increased usefulness of old libraries. It is also 
hoped and believed that all persons in attendance 
here today will become members of the Associa- 
tion. The cost is only two dollars a year, and the 
return will repay the outlay ten times over. On 
receipt of the money the Treasurer, who is pres- 
ent, will be pleased to issue certificates of mem- 
bership. 

The progress for the year will be reported in 
detail by the several committees, and, while the 
absence of some of the prominent members may 
necessitate postponement of action on a few mat- 
ters, still you will find in the reports as well as in 
the papers plenty of food for thought, reflection, 
action, and congratulation. 

It was voted unanimously to recommend to the 
Executive Board to make Mr. ADOLPH SUTRO 
an Honorary Member of the American Library 
Association. 

The report of the Treasurer was then read by 
Mr. DUDLEY and referred to the Finance Com- 
mittee. 

TREASURER'S REPORT. 
HENRY J. CARR, Treasurer, in account with the 

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 
1890. DR. 

Sept. 6. To balance on hand from last 
Report (White Mts. Con- 
ference, p. 106) . . . $31380 

Sept. 6 to Dec. 31, 1890. 

To fees from 43 temporary 
members (White Mts.) . 86 oo 



Brought forward $399 80 

To fees from annual mem- 
bership, viz. : 
For years 1888, '89, 

and '90, 4 ... $24 oo 
For years 1889 and 

1890, 3 .... 12 oo 
Year 1890, 106 . . 212 oo 
Year 1891, 7 ... 14 50 

$262 50 

1891. 

Jan. i. To interest on deposits(Grand 

Rapids, 6 months, 1890) . 9 22 

Feb. 23. To Finance Committee, loan 
from A. L. A. Endowment 
Fund Trustees .... 200 oo 

April 7. To sale 2 cop. Proc., 1890 . 2 oo 

" 21. " 5 " " " 5 oo 

July 27. To interest on deposits (St. 

Joseph, 6 months, 1891) . i 55 

Aug. 8. Tointerestondeposits(Grand 

Rapids, 6 months, 1891) . 343 

Jan. 24 to Sept 30, 1891. 

To fees from annual mem- 
bership, viz. : 
For years 1890 and 

1891, 5, .... $20 oo 
Year 1891, 208 . . 416 oo 

" 1892, i . . 2 oo 

438 oo 

Total $1,321 50 



1890. 



CR. 



Carried forward $399 80 



Sept. 13. By A. S. Brolley; expense of 
stenographer to and at 
White Mts. Conference . $28 17 

Oct. 2. By Miss C. M. Hewins, 
Hartford, Conn., bill of 
Aug. 29, 1890; postals and 
printing for report on be- 
quests, etc 10 25 

Nov. 5. By A. S. Brolley, Albany, 
N. Y., bill of Oct. 6, 1890; 
reporting proceedings at 
White Mts. Conference . 74 oo 

Nov. ii. By Library Bureau, Boston, 
'bill of Sept. 25, 1890 ; cir- 
culars and sundry expenses 
preliminary to and at White 
Mts. Conference ... 154 70 
By Library Bureau, second 
bill; 1,000 circulars for 
same (Secretary) ... 7 oo 

Dec. 9. By Hoffman Press, New 
York, bill of Aug. 21, 
1890; Dewey circulars . 2 50 

1891. 

Jan. 30. By Library Bureau, bills of 
Dec. 20, 1890 ; for 400 
copies Proceedings White 
Mts. Conference (174 p.) . 413 61 
Also for envelopes, directing 
and delivery of 348 copies 
distributed 31 44 

Carried forward $721.67 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



Brought forward $721.67 

Also for 500 circular letters 

concerning meeting of 1891 n 70 

(Note. $200 paid on account 
Jan. 10; $156.75 paid Jan. 
30 ; $100 balance paid Feb. 
25, 1891.) 

March 17. By Miss Mary S. Cutler, 
Albany, N. Y., bill of Jan. 
i, 1891 ; prizes for social 
evening at Fabyan's, Sep- 
tember, 1890 2 50 

April 14. By Publishers' Weekly, bill 
of Feb. 7, 1891 ; 5 reams 
of paper for Proceedings, 
White Mts. Conference . 13 oo 

April 21. By Library Bureau, bill of 
March n, 1891; mailing 
index to Proceedings . . 7 32 

June 8. By Finance Committee; loan 

of Feb. 23, 1891, from A. 

L. A. Endowment Fund 

Trustees, repaid .... 200 oo 

Also interest on same loan 

($3.75) and exchange (25C.) 4 oo 

Aug. 17. By Publishers' Weekly, bill 
of June 30, 1891 ; notes on 
American State Libraries 
(Dewey) 4 oo 

Sept. 3. By Grover Brothers, Newark, 
N. J., bill of Aug. 1,1891 ; 
envelopes for notices, etc. 
(Secretary) 7 oo 

Sept. 10. By Secretary's office ; current 
expenses for stamps, post- 
als, express, etc., July 20 
to Aug. 22, 1891, per de- 
tailed voucher .... ii 15 

Sept. 30. By Treasurer's office ; cur- 
rent expenses for postage, 
exchange, and envelopes, 
Oct. 2, 1890, to Aug. 22, 
1891, per detailed voucher, 1468 



Aggregate payments . 
Sept. 30. Balance on hand, viz. : 
On deposit at Scran- 
ton, Pa. . . . $172 93 
On deposit at St. 
Joseph, Mo. . . 151 55 



$997 02 



3 2 4 48 
Total $1,321 50 

A. 

The special deposit of $400 belonging to the 
Association has continued to draw its semi-annual 
compounding of 4 per cent interest, and amounted 
to $430.11, July i, 1891. 

The financial status of the Association for the 
past year has not admitted of making any addition 
to the capital sum on special deposit. Whether 
another year will prove more favorable remains to 
be seen. 



Membership status at the close of September, 
1890, is as follows : 

Life members . , 25 

Regular members, paid to 1891, inclusive . 215 

Also owing for 1891 only 84 

" 1890 and 1891 16 

Total 340 



C. 



NECROLOGICAL ADDENDA. 

One active member has been lost by death since 
the last report, viz. : 

Mrs. GEORGE WATSON COLE, who died at 
Chicago, Jan. 13, 1891 (registration No. 618). 

FREDERIC W. CHRISTERN, bookseller, New 
York city, who died April 24, 1891 (registration 
No. 86) ; had formerly been an active member in 
the A. L. A., though he was not so at the time of 
his death. 

Peabody Institute of Baltimore, Md. (registra- 
tion No. 164), by the death, in 1890, of its Provost, 
N. H. MORISON, becomes also an indirect subject 
for notice in this connection. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

HENRY J. CARR, 

Treasurer. 

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 

Mr. BOWKER offered the majority report on 
Public Documents, signed by Messrs. Hovey, 
Green, Bowker, and Flint, and the minority report 
signed by Mr. Dur/n. Both reports were ordered 
to be placed on file. 

Majority Report. 

The Committee on Public Documents, appointed 
at the last meeting of the Association, begs leave 
to hand you herewith a report of its doings for 
the year last past. It regrets that no conclusion 
has been reached in the work which was particu- 
larly submitted to its charge, namely, an arrange- 
ment with Congress for the better and more equit- 
able distribution to libraries of the public docu- 
ments issued by the Government. 

The chairman visited Washington last year for 
the purpose of meeting the committees of the Sen- 
ate and the House, which committees have charge 
of this matter, and while there saw a good deal of 
both Senators Manderson and Hawley, on the 



PROCEEDINGS. 



part of the Senate, and Mr. O'Neil, the chairman 
of the committee, on the part of the House. The 
committee has to report that, although no definite 
conclusion was reached, enough seems to have 
been said, showing the irregular, improper, and 
wasteful way in which public documents have 
heretofore been distributed, to move the Congres- 
sional Committee to some action looking toward 
improvement in this matter which will be of ben- 
efit to libraries. Both the Senators and Mr. O'Neil 
agreed that something should be done, and done 
at once ; that the printing of so much government 
matter (a large part of which is stored in the 
basement of the Capitol and never called for) is a 
waste of public money ; that a more systematic 
scheme of printing should be adopted ; and that 
copies of the documents, when published, should 
be distributed among those public depositories de- 
sirous of putting such matter before their readers. 

The result of the repeated interviews had by us 
has been the appointment of a joint committee on 
the part of the House and Senate, to which has 
been referred the entire matter of the distribution 
of public documents, with this aim in view, 
namely, to decide what documents, if any, shall 
be dropped from the list of publications sent to 
the public depositories ; what additional docu- 
ments shall be sent to them ; and in what manner, 
that is, through what bureau, they shall be so dis- 
tributed. The investigation which this commit- 
tee is making is still broader than that above 
referred to, for it is its intention to inquire into the 
abuse and misuse of such public documents. 

Mr. John G. Ames, the Superintendent of 
Public Documents in Washington, was of very 
great service to your committee, to which fact 
your committee here desires to call special 
attention. 

The Joint Congressional Committee, above 
referred to, has had several meetings. Mr. Ames 
appeared before that committee, and in his capac- 
ity as Superintendent of Public Documents, and 
also as a friend of the American Library Associa- 
tion, has laid before them very thoroughly the 
views which this Association entertains. The 
Congressional Committee will renew its hearings 
in the fall, and we beg to suggest to the Associa- 
tion that it would be advisable for our committee 
to appear before them at that time, and reinforce 
Mr. Ames in the good work which he has done. 
Mr. Ames will keep us informed as to the time at 
which a hearing can be had, and your committee 
is very sure that a delegation from this Associa- 
tion would receive most careful attention and a 



cordial welcome from the Senators and Represent- 
atives of the Committee of Congress. 

E. C. HOVEY. 

SAMUEL SWETT GREEN. 

R. R. BOWKER. 

WESTON FLINT. 
BOSTON, Sept. 15, 1891. 

Minority Report. 

I regret that I am unable to join in the hopeful 
view entertained by the majority of the committee. 
I visited Washington while the joint congressional 
committee was in session, and, at the request of 
Mr. Ames, appeared before it for the purpose of 
testifying. At the request of Senator Manderson, 
chairman of the committee, I did not testify. 
That gentleman informed me, in the presence of 
the remainder of the committee in attendance, and 
of several witnesses from government offices, that 
State libraries had nothing to do with the business 
of the committee ; that they were getting all the 
government publicatious they ought to get; that 
the difficulty was that the government was print- 
ing too much ; and that if I desired to present any 
" views " I might write them out and send them in 
by mail. (The last seemed to be tendered in a 
spirit of compromise, after a little controversy on 
the subject.) 

In my opinion Senator Manderson has not the 
slightest comprehension of this subject from the 
library standpoint, and never will have until he 
permits some one to give him some information. 
I do not think the committee is considering the 
needs of the libraries at all. Their only object, so 
far as I could learn, was to arrive at some method 
of cheapening or lessening governmental publish- 
ing expenses, and possibly some changes in the 
arrangement of documents. Perhaps they may 
be brought to see the error of their ways, but if so 
it will be through the influence of some more per- 
suasive person than myself. 

I wish to say, however, that the agitation of this 
subject at our last meeting has been of some bene- 
fit. Indeed, the present investigating committee, 
which unfortunately is investigating something 
else, is in part a result of it. There has been an 
improvement in several of the departments in 
sending out documents, but there are still several 
laboring under the delusion that they exist by 
divine grace, and whether the public is served or 
not served, it is to their eternal glory. The pi ess 
of the country has paid some attention to the mat- 
ter, and has shown some intelligence in discussing 
it. If the librarians would agitate the subject at 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



home bring it to the attention of the local press 
and of their Congressional representatives the 
reform could easily be accomplished. At present 
no library in the country receives all government 
publications, and only a favored few receive .the 
most valuable ones. There are a number of valu- 
able current publications of which the State of 
Indiana is unable to secure one copy for her State 
library, and at present Indiana is faring better 
than the average. J. P. DUNN, 

State Librarian, Ind. 

A letter of Mr. J: G. Ames was read : 
I am very sorry to be unable to report any 
material progress in the matter of additional legis- 
lation regarding public documents in behalf of 
public and college libraries. I have for years 
been repeatedly disappointed in finding at the 
close of each successive session of Congress that 
bills which have been introduced and urged upon 
the attention of the proper committees failed to 
receive attention, or at least action, but I have 
nevertheless continued to labor in the same direc- 
tion, feeling confident that at last something would 
be done. A few measures which have been 
deemed advantageous to our public libraries have 
indeed been enacted, but the most important ones 
have hitherto been either entirely ignored or laid 
aside for future consideration. During the last 
session of Congress little if anything was done in 
which libraries had an interest, with the exception 
of one very important measure, viz. : the appoint- 
ment of a joint commission of the two Houses to 
sit during the recess to consider the whole matter 
of the publication and distribution of documents, 
with a view to the amendment of the laws govern- 
ing the same in such way as to reduce the expense 
of printing and to secure a better system of dis- 
tribution. 

This commission has held quite a large number 
of sittings during the summer and will be in ses- 
sion again during October and November. It has 
already gathered a very large amount of statistics 
from various officers of the government, having to 
do with public documents, and I think it is deter- 
mined to formulate some bill for presentation at 
the next session, making possibly some very radi- 
cal changes in this whole matter. There is there- 
fore now an opportunity for the librarians, through 
the conference, to bring to bear upon this com- 
mission their combined influence to secure the 
recommendation from it of such legislation as they 
desire in regard to supplying, especially deposit- 
ories of public documents, with the publications 



that are not now included in the set furnished 
them. I think it therefore very important that 
there be a strong committee appointed at this con- 
ference, who shall appear before this commission 
at the earliest opportunity, to present the views of 
the conference and to urge upon the commission 
the adoption of these views in any new legislation 
proposed. Such an opportunity has not hitherto 
occurred, and if it is neglected, it will be to the 
lasting detriment of our public libraries. I would 
suggest therefore that not only such a committee 
be appointed, but that the conference pass a reso- 
lution, or resolutions, indicating as fully as practi- 
cable just what is desired. * * * 

It is possible that by the adjournment of the 
conference the commission may be again in ses- 
sion in this city, and if so, would it not be a prac- 
ticable thing for the committee appointed to stop 
for a day or two in Washington for consultation 
with the commission? It will, after this is done, 
be very desirable that the librarians in the several 
sections of the country shall put themselves in 
communication with their Representatives and Sen- 
ators, urging upon them the importance of this 
legislation, and securing their favorable action 
when the matter comes before the two Houses, 
for usually it requires all this sort of influence to 
carry a measure of this kind through the Senate 
and House. 

There are several other matters about which I 
would like to speak, but I will touch only upon 
one or two. First, the exchange of public docu- 
ments through this office, which I have been car- 
rying on for the last three or four years, greatly, I 
believe, to the advantage of our public libraries 
and to their satisfaction. In conducting this work 
I have had to encounter considerable opposition 
from certain quarters in this department, in spite 
of which, however, I have continued it just as far 
as my time and strength would permit. * * 

One other point I would suggest, viz.: some ac- 
tion with regard to a comprehensive index of pub- 
lic documents, such as I suggest in my last annual 
report. That such an index is almost a matter of 
necessity if our public documents are to be of the 
largest avail, is evident to any one who has fre- 
quent occasion to consult them, and it might be 
well for the conference to pass some resolution 
urging, in behalf of the interests of our libraries, 
that provision be made, without further delay, for 
such an index. I send you a copy of my last re- 
port, in which some of these matters are dis- 
cussed and which you may not have at your com- 
mand. 



FIRST SESSION. 



73 



I trust that the meeting of the Association will 
be very delightful, as previous gatherings of the 
sort have always been. I wish I could make one 
of the number going from this section of the 
country, but, as hitherto, my work ties me very 
closely to the office, so that, especially at this sea- 
son, I am unable to absent myself from the city. 

Hoping that this may come to hand so that you 
can lay the matters suggested before the confer- 
ence, I remain very sincerely yours, 

JOHN G. AMES, 
Superintendent of Documents. 

Mr. BOWKER made a general statement of the 
situation and moved that a Committee on Resolu- 
tions, to consist of three persons, be appointed by 
the President, to report to this conference on the 
whole question of public documents. The value 
of this work is very great in collecting matter of 
value to the public at large, contained in public 
documents unindexed. 

This motion was seconded by Col. LOWDERMILK 
and carried. The President appointed Mr. Bow- 
ker, Col. Lowdermilk, and Miss Hewins. 

Col. LOWDERMILK said : 

There is probably no matter pertaining to 
books so little understood as the printing and 
distribution of the publications of the United 
States government, and it is certainly true that 
there is great lack of system in the method of 
doing the work. While the laws and resolutions 
relating thereto are sufficient to make a book of 
good size, they have .been passed at various times 
as occasion seemed to demand, and are very in- 
harmonious and often conflicting. For a long 
while past the printing laws have remained un- 
codified, and it requires a good deal of research 
to learn just what they provide for. A very ex- 
cellent compilation of all such laws and resolutions 
has been made by Capt. H. T. Brian, the foreman 
of printing, and I hope it may be printed soon for 
general use. 

While many libraries justly complain that they 
are unable to procure documents that they greatly 
need, I apprehend that the most serious cause for 
dissatisfaction is to be found in the long delay ex- 
perienced in securing those which are pretty sure 
to be sent to libraries which have been designated 
as depositories. All the documents ordered by 
Congress are sent to such depositories, bound up 
in the series of Congressional documents. The 
delay is always for months, and often for years, 
and when sent they are found to be simply an in- 
discriminate collection, the documents in a volume 



having no relation to each other. Here is room 
to remedy two evils the great delay and the 
want of system in arrangement. Some means 
should be adopted whereby kindred matter may 
be kept together, and by which all the documents 
of one session of Congress may be issued before 
the next session begins. There should also be a 
radical revolution in the system now employed in 
designating the volumes, which in many cases is 
almost incomprehensible. The wretched binding 
should also give place to better and more attrac- 
tive work. There should also be uniformity in 
size and a supression of big quartos and large 
type. 

The lack of a proper catalogue or index to all 
government publications has long been a crying 
evil, and should meet with early attention and 
earnest effort, as the entire legislative history of 
the country is embraced therein, officially, and they 
are constantly being made use of by the schools 
and students of American history. It is the most 
valuable material of the kind in existence, covering 
all affairs of the colonial period, as well as early 
and late explorations, surveys, foreign relations, 
finance, revolutionary, 1812, Mexican, and civil 
wars, roads, rivers, harbors, bridges, ethnology, 
geology, mineral resources, etc. Spasmodic ef- 
forts at indexing have been made from time to 
time, but beyond the lists found in the American 
catalogue, Hickcox's monthly catalogue for five 
years past, and the index to reports of committees 
made by Capt. T. H. McKee, and which are inval- 
uable, nothing at all satisfactory has been pro- 
duced. In 1882 I aided in securing the passage 
of an act providing for a complete alphabetical, 
subject-index catalogue, and the work was put in 
the hands of Major Ben : Perley Poore, who pro- 
duced a chronological list with an index. The 
arrangement was poor and altogether contrary 
to the provisions of the law, and inasmuch as 
wholly inexperienced persons were employed it 
has only served to show how valuable a really 
good catalogue would be. I have indexed for my 
own use several thousand titles, and last winter 
submitted to Congress specimen sheets of such a 
work as I thought might meet the necessities of 
the case. In this plan the arrangement was by 
subject, alphabetically, and under a general head 
the subject was exhausted. In addition to the 
title was given a brief of the contents, the charac- 
ter of the document, date, number of pages, and 
location by Congress and session or department 
from which issued. With this specimen as a basis 
a bill was introduced in both Houses of Congress, 



74 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



and referred to the committees on printing, both 
of which would have reported favorably but for 
lack of time in consequence of the political dead- 
lock. Some $55,000 had already been expended 
upon an index to the journals of Congress, and as 
it was likely that some $60,000 more would be re- 
quired to finish it the appropriation was suspended, 
as it was concluded that the work would not be of 
sufficient value to justify its continuance. 

I have found that when Senators and Members 
have been fully informed upon any matter of 
importance in which libraries are interested, they 
have been most liberally inclined, and I am quite 
sure that there will be no difficulty in inducing 
Congress to grant whatever reasonable relief may 
be asked. What is wanted is that every librarian 
shall induce the Senators and Members of their 
respective States to take a personal interest in the 
matter, and make the library cause their own 
cause. It is not so much that the libraries are not 
given all they want, but that what is given comes 
to them so tardily aud in such questionable shape. 
The law provides that all documents printed by 
order of Congress for free distribution shall go to 
the libraries designated as -depositories. If they 
are not so sent, it is the fault of the administration. 
It may be desirable to have the list of depositories 
enlarged, and also to include in the distribution 
some things which are printed from department 
funds, and for which no provision for distribution 
has been made. 

My opinion is that every State should have at 
least one library in which there may be found a 
complete set of the publications of the govern- 
ment everything from the begining, if possible, 
and every great centre of population should pos- 
sess all that librarians may designate as useful or 
desirable at that place. 

Professor ROOT spoke further on the subject of 
the distribution of public documents, urging 
action and the necessity of personal application to 
Congressmen and others in authority. 

The PRESIDENT. For several years before 
the present I was chairman of the Committee on 
Public Documents, and always found Senator 
Manderson very ready to try to do for libraries 
what they wish for. Senator Hoar has always 
assured me that Senator Manderson has been 
our friend. I am glad to see that Mr. Hovey 
has secured the support of Senator Hawley. -It 
is my opinion that we have made a real advance 
this year and that we are acting on the right line. 
I hope the majority report will be adopted. 

Mr. BOWKER. Next year the Committee on 



Public Documents will be able to go much further 
in this work, as the public is beginning to under- 
stand the value of having government publications 
at hand for consultation. 

The PRESIDENT asked Dr. Wire to take charge 
of the museum of articles for exhibition. 

Mr. WOODRUFF exhibited the Leyden and 
Florence catalogues, and spoke in praise of Italian 
library work. 

ENDOWMENT. 

Mr. DUDLEY read the report of the Endow- 
ment Committee. 

As it is usual for the several committees to 
make reports at each annual meeting of the Asso- 
ciation, it devolves upon us to say something. 
Such committees are expected to report progress, 
and then, after the acceptance of their reports, to 
ask for their discharge. If by progress is meant 
the accomplishment of the work which has been 
set us to do, we must humbly but consciously 
confess, at the outset, that our labors have been 
largely in vain, and that such progress as is above 
referred to does not appear as yet to be even 
within the limits of our vision. In short, as a 
committee whose duties are to draw money out of 
other people's pockets, we regretfully admit that 
we do not appear to have been a signal success. 
The members of the Association must decide 
whether this is our fault or theirs. 

In living over the enthusiasm shown at the 
Conference last year, and recalling the spontane- 
ous pledges of money made by the several States, 
it seemed to us that it would not be necessary 
even to jog the memory of those earnest men and 
women who, in their eager enthusiasm to help 
along the good cause, pledged not only their own 
money, but the entire wealth of their respective 
States as well ; while there seemed to be no ques- 
tion that the first matter which should receive their 
attention on their arrival home would be the send- 
ing of these pledged amounts to the members of 
your committee, who rested confident in the be- 
lief that the whole amount would be deposited in 
the bank and be drawing interest within a month. 

The fact must not be lost sight of that the mem- 
bers of your committee were among those who 
pledged their States for sums of money, the in- 
come of which should be used for the benefit of 
the A. L. A., and they are obliged reluctantly to 
admit that, in their eagerness to dun others, they 
have somewhat forgotten the obligations which 
they themselves assumed. The strenuous efforts 



FIRST SESSION. 



75 



which, as creditors, they have put forth, must be 
made to stand as an excuse for their inaction in 
the capacity of debtors. 

Rhode Island is always pointed out as one of 
the smallest States in the Union. Hereafter one 
of the events in her history will be the fact that 
she early made good her pledge to the A. L. A. 
To this action her citizens and their descend- 
ants may ever point with pride, and may with 
entire propriety say to her sister States : " While 
in area we may indeed be small, we certainly are 
not in other ways. " 

Michigan stretches out her hand to Pennsylva- 
nia, not forgetting to take in Ohio by the way, 
and together these three States have poured into 
the ever-ready coffers of your committee moneys 
to which they stood pledged. Topeka smiles 
from afar on New Jersey, New Hampshire, and 
Massachusetts, and with them sends evidence that 
her word is as good as her bond. Surely these 
eight are not the only States in the great sister- 
hood of States, and yet none others have com- 
pleted their promised contributions. Perhaps, in 
their unfriendly rivalry to secure the World's 
Columbian Exposition, the great and prosperous 
States of Illinois and New York have forgotten 
their more than friendly rivalry for supremacy in 
the amount of their individual subscriptions to our 
endowment fund. Who can forget the glance of 
injured feeling which stole across the face of Dr. 
Poole, when, it being intimated that Illinois had 
pledged nothing, he replied : " Illinois will do as 
much as New York." This proves to have been 
a Western boast. New York has raised $110, 
but where, oh ! where is Chicago ? We cannot 
refrain from contemplating the feelings of shame 
and remorse which will chase each other over the 
face of Dr. Poole, when his attention is called to 
his earnest pledge and idle boasting, now, no 
doubt, long since forgotten. 

What with the Grant Monument still unfin- 
ished, and the Directors of the World's Fair 
appealing to the government for aid, offering a 
mortgage on the gate money as security for 
the loan, your committee are of the opinion that 
perhaps there are better fields than these for 
raising money. 

A full year has passed by since your committee 
was appointed, and since the Association, at its 
conference, appointed a board of trustees to man- 
age this fund. The duties of the trustees have 
not as yet been very onerous. Your committee 
finds itself confronted today with the same prob- 
lem as twelve months since. At the conference 



held at Fabyan's in 1890 the sum of $5,000 was 
pledged by the several States. Of this amount 
only $3,2 1 5 has been raised, leaving quite a bal- 
ance to be taken care of. 

It seems to your committee that there is no rea- 
son why a very substantial fund should not be 
raised for the use of the Association, and we are 
confident in the belief that efforts properly put 
out would result in the end desired. True, a fund 
of $5,000 would be a good beginning, but our ef- 
forts should not stop when we have succeeded in 
raising this amount. 

How best this can be done your committee is at 
a loss to say. We have had printed and sent out 
a great number of circulars, with an extra sheet 
containing copies of letters of indorsement sent 
to us by some of the more prominent educators 
in the country, these letters heartily indorsing our 
scheme. These, of course, we did not expect 
would in themselves bring contributions, but we 
did hope that they would form an opening wedge 
for future personal solicitations. Personal solici- 
tation is, after all, the only trustworthy way of 
raising money ; and if the members of the Ameri- 
c'an Library Association cannot put their shoulders 
to the wheel and raise this money, we may be sure 
that no one from outside will do it for us. The 
committee wrote personally to all who had not 
sent in their pledges by the ist of August last. 
In answer to some of the letters the amount of the 
respective pledges was sent ; to others no reply 
whatever was vouchsafed. 

We would suggest that those members of the 
Association who shall attend the Conference at 
San Francisco shall renew their pledge of sup- 
port to this good cause, and return to their homes 
determined to leave no stone unturned to do what 
is in their power to make the contributions from 
their State as large as possible. We must not be 
satisfied with $5,000, nor need we be if we will all 
turn to and work. We must use every channel 
that is open to us for the securing of this money, 
remembering that a large number of small con- 
tributions is oftentimes as good as a few large 
ones. If every trustee of public libraries through- 
out the country would give one dollar, it is a mat- 
ter of very simple arithmetic to see that the fund 
would already amount to much more than $5,000. 
If every librarian will make this a personal mat- 
ter, starting with the trustees of his own library, 
and gradually extend his efforts to wider fields, 
there is no doubt that in 1892 we shall have a 
fund, the income of which would be of very great 
service to the American Library Association. 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



In closing, your committee begs to call your 
attention to the Trustees' report herewith, with 

exhibits, as indicated. 

JOHN M. GLENN. 
E. C. HOVEY. 

BOSTON,' September 30, 1891. 

Dr. POOLE. Mr. Norman Williams has been 
in Europe all summer and could, consequently, do 
no work, but will report to the committee later. 
The money can be raised and will be raised, and 
Chicago will do as much as New York. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. Mr. Pliny D. Sexton has 
promises that all the money pledged by New York 
will be raised, and the Convention may be certain 
that it will be raised. 

Mr. DUDLEY. Colorado did not raise the $100 
pledged by it, because no circulars have been 
sent as promised. 

Mr. COOK also complained that no circulars 
had been received. 

Mr. HILD. The Chicago Public Library Trus- 
tees are now considering whether they can legally 
appropriate money for this end from their funds. 
If they determine that they cannot do so, I have 
no doubt that they would raise the subscription 
personally. 

Mr. SOULE. I think the situation is not with- 
out hope; Mr. Hovey has raised $2,500 by his 
own efforts, and others can do the same. 

Dr. Linderfelt read the 

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE ENDOWMENT 
FUND. 

BOSTON, MASS., September 28, 1891. 
We inclose exhibit marked A, a statement show- 
ing names of those who pledged themselves at 
Fabyan's last year, with the amounts of their re- 
spective pledges, and also another column of fig- 
ures, indicating what proportion of these amounts 
has been raised. This shows that the total 
amount raised amounts to $3,215. From this 
amount we have paid out the following sums for 
expenses incurred during the year: 
Nathan Sawyer & Son, for printing cir- 
culars $121.25 

Library Bureau, for distributing same . 13.85 



Total cash received 3,218.75 

Total amount paid out I 3S- 1 



$135.10 

We have also received interest amounting to 
$3.75 on a note given us by Treasurer Carr, to se- 
cure the payment of a loan of $200, which loan 
has since been paid. Our condition, therefore, is 
as follows : 



Deducting this latter item, we have . $3,083.65 

This is represented by cash on hand and in the 
bank, by amounts subscribed and not yet collected, 
and by a note for $500, sent by the officers of the 
publishing section to secure a loan made by us to 
them, and bearing interest at six per cent per 
annum. 

W 7 e inclose as exhibits B and C copies of our 
letters of indorsement and circular, which we dis- 
tributed widely throughout the country. 

E. C. HOVEY. 

(EXHIBIT A.) 

TRUSTEES OF ENDOWMENT FUND in account with 
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 



Name. 

H. M. Utley, Detroit, 
O. S. Whitelaw, St. Louis, 
H. Kephart, " " 



Ami. 
Raised. 



Ami. 
Pledged. 

$IOO.OO $IOO.OO 

100.00 50.00 

IO.OO O 

Mrs. C. W. Whitney, Kan. City, 50.00 o 

W. Beer, Topeka, 25.00 25.00 

C. R. Dudley, Denver, 100.00 o 

K. A. Linderfelt, Milwaukee, 100.00 o 

A. W. Whelpley, Cincinnati, 175.00 175.00 

W. H. Brett, Cleveland, 10.00 10.00 

Miss H. P. James, Wilkesbarre, 100.00 100.00 

F. P. Hill, Newark, 100.00 100.00 
R. A. Guild, Providence, 100.00 100.00 
Miss C. H. Garland, N. H., 10.00 10.00 
W. F. Poole, Chicago, 2,000.00 o 

C. C. Pickett, " 200.00 o 
Dewey & Sexton, New York, 2,000.00 no.oo 

G. E. Stechert, " " 100.00 100.00 
Library School, " " 100.00 100.00 
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, 25.00 o 
A. L. Peck, Gloversville, 25.00 o 
F. C. Patten, State Library, N. Y. 10.00 o 
Staten Island, 10.00 o 
E. C. Hovey, 2,000.00 2,000.00 
S. S. Green, 100.00 100.00 
Brookline, Mass., 25.00 35-OO 
Cambridge, Mass., 25.00 o 
Lawrence, Mass., 25.00 25.00 
Salem, Mass., 25.00 50.00 
Lowell, Mass., 10.00 
A. N. Brown, Annapolis, 10.00 10.00 

D. Mann, Washington, 5.00 5.00 



$7,665.00 $3,215.10 



FIRST SESSION. 



77 



(EXHIBIT B.) 

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 
Organized in i8"j6. 

President: MELVIL DEWEY, Albany, N. Y., Sec- 
retary University State of New York ; Director 
New York State Library. 

Secretary: WILLIAM E. FOSTER, Providence, R. I., 
Librarian Providence Public Library. 

Trustees of the Endowment Fund: PLINY T. SEX- 
TON, President First National Bank, Palmyra, 
N. Y., Regent of University of State of New 
York; NORMAN WILLIAMS, 1007 Tacoma 
Building, Chicago, 111., Trustee Crerar Library; 
E. C. HOVEY, Merchant, Box 1753, Boston, 
Mass., Trustee of Brookline (Mass.) Public 
Library. 

If you have not time to read this circular when 
received, please preserve it for later (not late) 
examination. 

Or, if you will not soon be able to carefully consid- 
er the subject it presents, or do not need such inspi- 
ration as may be incited by its suggestions, please 
give us immediately all the money you can rea- 
sonably spare and raise to help create an Endow- 
ment Fund, whose income may be used by our 
Association in support of its earnest efforts to 
develop, multiply, and improve valuable library 
aids and methods, and stimulate and elevate the 
character and capacity for usefulness of librarians. 

Contributions to such endowment will in no 
slight degree discharge the duty which all self- 
helpful persons owe to their fellow-creatures, and 
will be likely, directly and indirectly, to return 
much good to the givers themselves. 

Trustees of libraries and librarians are requested 
to act as agents in soliciting and forwarding con- 
tributions, which may be sent to either of the 
above-named trustees of the Endowment Fund, or 
to John M. Glenn, 12 St. Paul street, Baltimore, 
Md., manager of the New Mercantile Library, 
who is the associate member of the Special Endow- 
ment Committee. 

AN APPEAL TO FRIENDS OF LIBRARIES FOR 
HELP. 

The American Library Association, during its 
fifteen years of life, has been constantly hindered 
from the higher degree of its possible usefulness 
bv a lack of money, and it now seeks to obtain an 
Endowment Fund whose income may be a peren- 
nial resource for aid in executing its well-matured 



plans, and which shall encourage and extend (as 
may be done indefinitely) its work, which is of the 
most promising missionary character. 

Librarians, whether or not affiliated, need no 
reminder of the helpfulness of our Association. 
Nor can thoughtful lovers of humanity doubt that 
the time is near at hand when well-equipped and 
properly-conducted libraries are to be most effec- 
tive agencies in enlightening, purifying, and ele- 
vating mankind. 

Vice incubates in ignorance. The world cannot 
successfully quarantine itself against the former : 
the hot-bed in which it breeds must be destroyed- 
Existing educational methods are valuable but 
insufficient. The work of our present schools 
must be supplemented by multiplying and enlarg- 
ing in scope public libraries. The libraries of the 
past have been mainly cloisters of exceptional and 
profound scholarship. Excellent in their charac- 
ter, they have garnered the experience and wis- 
dom of the past, and kept alive the divine spark 
of mental culture. The libraries of the future 
should be made the lifelong schools of the people 
at large schools from which graduation will be 
only into the life to come. 

The hope and safety of organized society depend 
upon the wide diffusion of intelligence and cul- 
ture ; and from no centres can such influences be 
so beneficently extended as from generously sup 
ported and wisely-managed public libraries. 

It is manifest, however, that before libraries 
can generally attain to such popular usefulness 
there will need to be much educating and training 
of librarians for their part therein, and that they 
must devote much study and experimental treat- 
ment to the subject of the necessary changes and 
improvements in the construction and arrange- 
ment of libraries in the details of library work 
involving, doubtless, among other things, the pre- 
paration and printing of manuals of instruction 
for both librarians and the people, but whose 
limited use in the earlier stages of the movement 
would preclude expectation that their cost would 
be reimbursed by their sale. 

The work already accomplished by the Ameri- 
can Library Association is seen throughout the 
country in better library buildings and in the 
beginning of a new era of library architecture; in 
improved methods of administration ; in new labor 
and time saving working aids; in the rapid multi- 
plication of libraries; in the promotion of benefi- 
cial legislation ; and in the elevation of librarian- 
ship to the dignity of a profession. 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



So far this work has been done (almost unaided) 
by a few of the librarians of the country, who, at 
considerable loss of their own valuable time, and 
usually at their own expense, which could illy be 
afforded from their meagre salaries, have been 
meeting together on occasions for the past fifteen 
years, educating each other by comparing views 
and reporting experiences, and devising and exe- 
cuting, as well as they could with their limited 
resources, plans for increasing the usefulness of 
libraries. 

Having so clearly demonstrated what they 
mjght and would do if properly supported, it is 
certainly time now that the material burdens of 
such missionary work should be lifted from their 
shoulders ; and it should be made possible, not 
only that the present competent laborers in the 
good cause may accomplish more, but also that 
others equally competent may be enabled to 
cooperate with them. 

Any one interested in library work who has ever 
attended a meeting of our Association will readily 
appreciate the great worth of the papers there read 
on the various branches of library science, as well 
as the almost equally valuable interchange of views 
that are drawn forth by the subsequent discus- 
sions ; and yet much that is of the highest value 
to library interests is often practically lost to the 
profession and to the public at large because of 
lack of means to promptly publish and widely dis- 
seminate the record of our proceedings. 

As instances of the high character and impor- 
tance of the work done by our Association, it is 
only necessary to mention two most able and com- 
prehensive papers read at the recent annual meet- 
ing : the one on " The Public Library and the Pub- 
lic School," by Dr. William T. Harris, United 
States Commissioner of Education ; and the other 
on " University Extension and its Relation to Li- 
braries," by Dr. Herbert B. Adams, professor 
of history in Johns Hopkins University. There 
could be no subjects more important or of greater 
interest to all classes. 

Proper reading for young people is a subject of 
great importance, and one that causes much con- 
cern to parents and thoughtful librarians. It was 
one of the earliest subjects to engage the atten- 
tion of our organization, which has long had in 
hopeful contemplation the preparation and publi- 
cation of a carefully-selected list or catalogue of 
suitable books that could be safely recommended 
for the entertainment and instruction of children. 

The printing of such a work would not be 
undertaken as a business venture by any pub- 



lisher, for its probable sale would be too limited. 
It could be done only by co-operative effort, and 
it is only in this year that our Association has 
finally been able to issue such a manual. The 
book is called "Reading for the Young," and 
was mainly compiled by the late John F. Sargent. 
It is an excellent illustration of the good work that 
might be done under the auspices of the American 
Library Association if it had adequate pecuniary 
resources at its command. 

A copy of said manual will be mailed to every 
contributor to our Endowment Fund. 

And now, one and all, give us a prompt and 
liberal response to this appeal, and have a share in 
the good work waiting to be done. 

We desire to call your attention to the copies of 
letters received by us in indorsement of this En- 
dowment Fund, which will be found on separate 
sheet inclosed. 

Respectfully submitted by the* Endowment 
Committee. 

PLINY T. SEXTON. 
JOHN M. GLENN. 
E. C. HOVEY. 

(EXHIBIT C.) 
LETTERS OF INDORSEMENT. 

ASHFIELD, MASS., Sept. 16, 1890. 
MY DEAR MR. HOVEY : 

I have seen with great interest and pleasure 
that a subscription has been auspiciously begun to 
raise a fund for the publication of the important 
papers which are read by the best librarians in the 
country at the annual meeting of their Association. 
The New York member of the committee, Mr. 
Pliny T. Sexton of Palmyra, I know well as a fel- 
low regent of the university, and a more fortunate 
selection could not have been made. 

It is only very recently that the service of 
the library in our system of education has 
been properly understood. As actual forces of 
education, many libraries have been practically 
moribund. The methods of making their re- 
sources practically useful have been but recently 
studied and applied. Happily they share in the 
impulse of the modern college movement. In 
New York the State Library has just been made 
part of the university in the State, and every 
library in the State will be touched into new life. 
The training school for librarians has already 
proved its great benefit to the more general and 
more intelligent use of the libraries. 

The publication of the views and of the results 
of experience in all the great libraries in the coun- 



FIRST SESSION. 



79 



try which are represented in the Association will 
be of the greatest value to all library officers and 
trustees, and its advantage to the public is 
obvious. I am very glad to know your interest 
in the subject ; and the more persons you can 
interest in it, the better for us all. 
Very truly yours, 

GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY, 
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., Oct, 8, 1890. 
Dear Sir : Your effort to raise a permanent 
fund for the American Library Association de- 
serves to have prompt success. For all the higher 
education libraries are indispensable auxiliaries ; 
and for elementary education, such as towns and 
cities provide by taxation, one of the best tests of 
success is the use subsequently made of libraries 
by the population trained in the public schools. 
Elementary schools which do not implant in a 
large proportion of their pupils a taste for reading 
books, fail of their principal object. The wise 
development and management of libraries are, 
therefore, of fundamental and lasting public inter- 
est. Under our laws and customs it is quite as 
necessary to train library trustees as librarians for 
the intelligent discharge of their duties. Com- 
mending your undertaking to the generous sup- 
port of all persons who take satisfaction in using 
their private means for the promotion in sure 
ways of the common good, I remain 
Very truly yours, 

CHARLES W. ELIOT. 
Mr. E. C. HOVEY. 

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, 

BALTIMORE, Sept. 24, 1890. 
My Dear Sir : --In reply to your inquiry, I am 
very happy to say that I am well acquainted with 
the purposes, history, methods, and influence of 
the American Library Association, and I am sure 
that it has made important contributions to the 
literary and educational progress of this country. 
The proposal to raise a fund for the partial en- 
dowment of the Association meets with my hearty 
concurrence. The librarians should not be ex- 
pected to pay all the expenses of meetings which 
are maintained, not for their personal advantage, 
but for the public good, and which merit the finan- 
cial support of the public for the same reasons 
that educational and charitable conferences are 
the recipients of aid. It appears quite reasona- 
ble that trustees of libraries should be asked to 
contribute to the proposed fund, and also to make 
it easy for librarians in their service to attend 



these annual conventions, because all who resort 
to public libraries are sure to be benefited by the 
discussions, suggestions, and recommendations 
formulated by the librarians in respect to the con- 
struction, arrangement, heating, and lighting of 
buildings, the selection, purchase, and care of 
books, the preparation of catalogues, the duties of 
librarians, and the most effective ways of meeting 
the wants of the varied classes in the community 
Everybody is interested in securing the very best 
administration of libraries. Toward that end the 
Library Association effectively works. 

Yours sincerely, 

D. C. OILMAN. 
JOHN M. GLENN, Esq. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION, 
WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 23, 1890. 
Mr. E. CLARENCE HOVEY, Boston, Mass. 

Dear Sir : I am very glad to learn that the 
librarians, at their recent meeting in New Hamp- 
shire, have formed a section of their Association 
to include trustees of libraries only. Much good 
will come from this organization if it can be suc- 
cessful in securing attendance on the part of 
library trustees over the country. While there 
are many trustees who are very distinguished and 
proficient persons in the work of libraries, and 
who are competent to superintend and direct the 
institutions under their charge, there are, of 
course, very many persons selected by the pub- 
lic or appointed by stockholders who are not com- 
petent in the details of library management, 
although they are good financiers and business 
men. The discussions of the Librarians' Con- 
gress furnish just the educational element that 
is needed to aid trustees in their work. I feel 
quite sure, therefore, that this movement will 
assist substantially the work of librarians by 
effecting a change for the better in the Boards of 
Trustees scattered over the country. 
Very respectfully yours, 

W. T. HARRIS, Commissioner. 

Mr. HlLD moved that the report of the Endow- 
ment Committee be placed on file and that the 
report of the trustees of that fund be referred to 
the Finance Committee. Carried. 

Mr. Hild read Mr. Sexton's letter. 

PALMYRA, N. Y., Sept. 17, 1891. 
SAMUEL S. GREEN, Esq., President American 

Library Association. 

Dear Sir : Absence and illness have delayed 
reply to your card, in which you politely expressed 



8o 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



the hope that we might go to the San Francisco 
meeting of the A. L. A. a pleasure which I very 
much regret to say we will be compelled to forego. 
We have never been on the Pacific coast, and the 
opportunity will not likely occur again of making 
the trip under such favorable circumstances ; 
but we find it impossible to go. 

Concerning the A. L. A. Endowment Fund, I 
am sorry to have little to report; less probably 
than either of the other members of the commit- 
tee, who I presume have already made their 
reports to you. 

I have received only the following amounts : 
From Charles D. Vail, Librarian of 

Hobart College, at Geneva, N. Y., $10.00 
From Hon. Jona. Chase, of Valley Falls, 

R. I., through Reuben A. Guild, 

Librarian of Brown University, 50.00 

From the members of the Library School 

at Albany, N. Y., 100.00 

To which Mrs. Sexton and I add 100.00 



Making a total in my hands of $260.00 

In this connection I wish to explain that I have 
been unable to make personal solicitation of con- 
tributions to the fund. Great numbers of circu- 
lars have been sent out, inviting gifts, but have 
failed to call forth responses. The lesson seems 
to be that such begging can only be successfully 
done in person, and that I have not been able to 
do. Long continued illness kept me so much a 
prisoner, that many most imperative duties have 
been entirely neglected. 

And the present state of my health admonishes 
me that the coming year is so likely to repeat the 
experience of its predecessor, that I feel I ought 
to, and I do now, respectfully resign to the Amer- 
ican Library Association my positions of member 
of its Endowment Fund Committee and as Trus- 
tee of its Endowment Fund. 

This costs me some pangs, for I gratefully ap- 
preciated the honor which those appointments 
conferred upon me ; but it would not be honora- 
ble to retain them without such measure of use- 
fulness as I see no possibility of my rendering in 
the near future. 

Congratulating you and the Association on 
your presidency, and earnestly wishing for and 
confidently anticipating its continued and enlarged 
prosperity and beneficence, I am 

Very sincerely yours, 
PLINY T. SEXTON. 

Mr. HILD moved that the Finance Committee 
present two names to the convention to fill the 



vacancies in the Trustees of the Endowment Fund. 
Carried. 

Mr. CUTTER presented a verbal report of 

THE COOPERATIVE COMMITTEE. 

The Cooperative Committee have had very 
little in the way of library helps brought to their 
attention in the past year, but are agreed in 
recommending : 

1. H. H, Ballard's klips and binders. (Pitts- 
field, Mass., P. L.) 

2. C: A. Cutter's colored and larger initial 
labels for card drawers. 

3. C: A. Cutter's shields for movable electric 
lamps. 

Mr. Lane's card-volume system for holding 
catalogue slips (in place of drawers) has been 
studied by Miss Green, and will be reported upon 
for the Library journal. 

Mr. Cutter also mentioned on his own responsi- 
bility, not having been able to consult the rest of 
the committee about these matters : 

1. K. A: Linderfelt's plan for a card catalogue, 
with cards written on both sides, and drawers 
pulling out on both sides of the case, enabling the 
public on one side and the attendants on the 
other to consult the same catalogue. 

2. S. C. Dana's shelf groove for labels.* (Den- 
ver P. L.) 

3. S. C. Dana's card box. 

4. S. C. Dana's periodical card. 

5. Fitch's combined shelf-list, classed catalogue, 
and indicator.* (Sacramento P. L.) 

Mr. CUTTER stated that the Committee on Re- 
vision of the Constitution had done nothing. 

Mr. DUDLEY moved that a committee of five on 
Revision of the Constitution be appointed by the 
chair. Carried. Messrs. Soule, Winsor, Cutter, 
Crunden, and Dewey were appointed. 

COMMITTEES. 

The President appointed the following commit- 
tees: 

Reception: Messrs. Nolan, Hild, and Whelpley, 
and Misses Allan and Sherman. 

Resolutions: Messrs. Scudder, Jenks, and Dana, 
and Misses Hewins and Harbaugh. 

GIFTS AND BEQUESTS. 

Miss HEWINS read a report on gifts and be- 
quests. (See p. 27) 

*See Miss Plummer's "Western Libraries," in Library 
journal, 16: 335. 



SECOND SESSION. 



81 



Mr. BOWKER offered the following resolution : 

The American Library Association cannot close 
the first union of its San Francisco Conference 
without expressing, as strongly as it is possible to 
do, its unbounded indebtedness to its Secretary, 
Frank P. Hill, for the pleasures of its trans- 
continental journey and for the promise of an 
unusually successful conference here, and 
recognizing that it is his self-sacrificing devotion 
and his unsparing attention for weeks past to 
every detail of preparation and management, 
which has resulted in his temporary illness and 
deprived us for some days of the pleasure and 
benefit of his presence, it sends to him, with its 
best wishes for his speedy recovery and return to 
our deliberations, its loving sympathy and its 
heartfelt thanks. 

Adjourned. 

SECOND SESSION. 
(TUESDAY AFTERNOON, OCTOBER 13.) 

The PRESIDENT called the convention to order 
at 2.15 p. M. 

Mr. CUTTER exhibited and explained a novel 
paper file, in use in the Sacramento Public Library. 

The PRESIDENT announced that a photographer 
would take a photograph of the Association at 
Palo Alto. He also announced that Miss Hewins 
had resigned from the " sub-committee on imme- 
diate action in regard to public documents." The 
resignation was accepted and Miss Ahern was 
elected to fill the vacancy. 

CATALOGUE OF THE PUBLICATIONS OF THE NINE- 
TEENTH CENTURY. 

Mr. BOWKER. This subject is brought before 
the Association at the present time, largely for the 
purpose of getting, either publicly in the confer- 
ence or privately, any criticisms of this plan of 
work, and any suggestions that may be made. I do 
not think that this general work will be more than 
twice or three times the size of the original cata- 
logue of 1876. Our work will give us an English- 
speaking bibliography approximately complete. 
The following is a memorandum on a General Cata- 
logue of American Publications of the Nineteenth 
Century. 

(From the Preface of the American Catalogue, 
1884-90.) 

In the preface to the volume of The American 
Catalogue of 1876-84, the present writer outlined 
a scheme for the publication of a General Cata- 
logue of American Publications of the Nineteenth 
Century. We are now within the last decade of 
that century, and face its end. The work, if it is 
to be done, must be begun almost at once, and it 



is the intention of the present editor to organize, 
during 1892 or 1893, preparations for the collection 
of material, provided there is reasonable hope of 
obtaining guarantees against too great pecuniary 
loss. The cost of such a work would scarcely be 
less than $50,000, and might out-reach that figure. 
Efforts will therefore be made to procure sub- 
scriptions for 500 guarantee copies, at $100 each, 
from libraries, publishers, the leading booksellers, 
clubs, private collectors of books, and public- 
spirited citizens interested in such national under- 
takings ; and as collections are made, either of 
individual subscriptions or of installments as re- 
quired for the work of compilation, which will be 
the main element of cost, they will be placed in 
deposit with some trust company in the name of 
trustees, to whom the work will be secured as it 
progresses, thus affording a guarantee in case of 
the death of the editor or his inability otherwise 
to complete the undertaking. His personal work 
will be, of course, chiefly of organization, plan, 
and general control, nor could the present writer 
undertake, in view of other responsibilities press- 
ing upon him and personal literary work in plan, to 
do more than act as general-in-command in view 
of which he is willing to put aside, until the work 
had paid all other expenses, any question of per- 
sonal pecuniary profit or other compensation, and 
indeed to contribute his share toward such other 
expenses. As planned, the work would make 
several thick octavo volumes, ranging not with 
the present series, but with the Trade List Annual 
volumes. Two of these, at least, would be devoted 
to main entries, by author and title ; one to sub- 
ject entries ; one to government publications ; and 
a fifth (possibly conjoined with the former) to 
State publications, books issued by societies, books 
in series, and omissions and errata in the first 
volumes. 

The most practicable method of compilation 
would probably be to cut from the American Cata- 
logue of 1876, and later volumes and slip, that ma- 
terial by authors (titles in case of anonymous 
works), insert in the alphabet the Kelly and Roor- 
bach entries, and fill out American titles from the 
copyright-deposit records, from the early trade 
publications and publishers' lists, and from the 
printed catalogues of the larger libraries. Pub- 
lishers would for this purpose be asked to report 
any of their publications since 1876 not given in 
the American Catalogue volumes, and the cooper- 
ation of libraries would also be asked in the com- 
parison of their catalogues. It might be desirable 
to print as proofs the shortest possible title-a-line 



82 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



list of books uncatalogued in the existing Ameri- 
can catalogues, starring those points on which 
further particulars are needed, that libraries might 
add omitted titles or fill out needed bibliographi- 
cal data. It would be desirable to give birth and 
death dates of American authors, but this is prob- 
ably too much to undertake. It would probably 
be well to confine the catalogue to books actually 
printed in America, or having the imprint of 
American publishing houses, omitting the impor- 
tations of English branch houses or American im- 
porters, which are included in the current Ameri- 
can catalogues. The first two volumes should be 
published in 1902 and 1903: As soon as these 
were printed, it would be expected that all inter- 
ested, particularly libraries and second-hand book- 
dealers, would cooperate in furnishing lists of 
omissions, and filling bibliographical deficiencies, 
so that the work, in its final form, might be ap- 
proximately complete. 

Meanwhile, work on the subject-volume would 
be progressing, but this should not be sent to the 
printer until reasonable time after the publication 
of the main-entry portion had been given for the 
record of omissions, which, as also possibly gov- 
ernment and State publications and the issues of 
societies, either in detail or by general cross ref- 
erences, should be covered in the subject-entries. 
The United States Government publications, by 
the cooperation of such bibliographers or experts 
as Messrs. Hickox, Lowdermilk, and J. G. Ames, 
preferably on the plan adopted for the current 
volumes, which permits extension backward as 
well as forward with a minimum of work and of 
space, could meantime be published, and the 
State publications also could be separately edited. 
These departments should assure more or less 
national and State support for the work in the 
shape of guarantee subscriptions. The publica- 
tions of societies, which, when complete for the 
century, would be of the greatest value to schol- 
ars, the lists of books in series, including the indi- 
vidual issues in nonpareil, and similar features, 
could also be separately and simultaneously edited, 
on the lines already laid down. 

If this series of volumes should be finished, as 
they ought, by 1905, it would then be compara- 
tively easy to complete the national record, as 
would not be possible in an older nation, by the 
issue of a prefatory volume, through library coop- 
eration, giving American publications in the eight- 
eenth and previous centuries. America would 
then have the most complete national bibliog- 
raphy in the world. 



Pres. GREEN. How do you propose to have 
the expense paid ? 

Mr. BOWKER. I propose, as in all the work I 
have undertaken, to make it a private enterprise. 
If government publications are included, it will be 
very proper to look to the government and State 
Departments and libraries for individual subscrip- 
tions to the work. I think that $50,000 is a very 
moderate estimate. The expense of this cata- 
logue will be very much greater than that of 1876. 
Pres. GREEN. Then you propose to issue a 
prospectus in due time, to see what support you 
can get ? 

Mr. BOWKER. My present desire is, that this 
matter should be discussed as fully as possible in 
our meeting this year. Afterward, as the plan 
grows, steps will be taken to send out a pros- 
pectus and see what guarantee of subscriptions we 
could get. This is on a footing with the great 
catalogue of 1876, which was presented at the 
Philadelphia Exposition and was, in a sense, one 
of the results of the feeling of national enterprise 
prevailing at that time. This will come, in its 
preparation, about the time of the Columbian 
Exposition, and I have no doubt Dr. Poole will be 
ready to have Chicago guarantee about half the 
expense of the work. (Laughter.) 

The libraries and second-hand booksellers 
ought to take some pains to fill up the omissions 
in the American catalogue and then those omis- 
sions should be included in the second volume. I 
think it is of very great importance to get this 
into shape, because it would present a very good 
bibliography of American publications during the 
time, except for secular purposes. Of course, 
when you get back of the year 1800, you have 
trouble, merely from the number of books. 

Mr. CUTTER. I hope the publications of 
societies will be entered in the author catalog 
as well as in the society list, and will be included 
in the subject catalog under their proper sub- 
jects. 

Mr. BOWKER. We have a list of the societies 
for the third volume of the American catalogue, 
but it has been impossible to get them in the cur- 
rent volume of authors. Entries should be made, 
both under authors and under subjects. Library 
people should be of assistance in stirring up the 
societies to report. In regard to the publications 
of societies, there is an utter absence of biblio- 
graphical record, except it is an accidental one in 
those few libraries which have collected the pub- 
lications of the few societies in their neigh- 
borhood. 



SECOND SESSION. 



Mr. CUTTER. I also hope that it will not be 
found too costly, at least in the majority of cases, 
to give the birth and death of the author, and, 
perhaps, some slight biographical data by which 
to identify him. 

Mr. BOWKER. That would be a matter of great 
cost. I suppose in the present volume it will cost 
two thousand dollars, out of the eight or nine, to 
remedy deficiencies in the publishers' lists. The 
delay in holding type, altering proofs, etc., is an 
enormous expense in the work of cataloging. 

Dr. POOLE. This work being begun so long 
beforehand, possibly some of these matters can 
be supplied in the manuscript. I am pleased to 
hear this report, for it looks like the beginning of 
an "American Bibliography," which we so much 
want. We have nothing which compares with 
the English catalogues. My objection to the 
"American Catalogue " has always been that it is a 
booksellers* catalogue. I think the booksellers' 
feature ought to be eliminated altogether. The 
books we want most to know about are the books 
which are rare ; and the principle of the "Ameri- 
can Catalogue " is to omit books which are not 
for sale. After an edition has run out and cannot 
be supplied, the title has not been furnished by 
the publisher to the "American Catalogue." The 
matter of the selling of books has nothing to do 
with bibliography. I have printed several tracts 
which have never been on sale, but they are none 
the less valuable for that. It has been my prac- 
tice to print monographs and give them away, and 
then I am sure to get some good readers. I think 
it due to the writers in this country who print 
books at their own expense and give them away, 
that we should have an "American Bibliography." 
We should have one which will be a scholar's 
bibliography, and not simply a bookseller's cata- 
logue. I want the titles given in a bibliographical 
way, and the dates of publication given. The 
dates are commonly omitted in the "American 
Catalogue," because the booksellers did not want 
it known that the edition appeared a good many 
years ago, for fear that it would not sell as well. 
But the date when a book did appear ought to 
appear in the catalogue. Now let us have a good, 
square, honest catalogue, if we are going to have 
an "American Bibliography," and not one simply 
for the selling of books. I think this feature will 
pay. I hope Mr. Bovvker will keep the fact in 
mind, and I believe, from what I have heard, that 
Mr. Bowker intends to give us a genuine biblio- 
graphical catalogue. 

Mr. BOWKER. Mr. President, apparently Mr. 



Poole has not had much occasion to consult the 
" American catalogue." Every effort was made for 
it to obtain the titles of books, whether in print or 
out of print. Every effort was made to procure 
full bibliographical data ; dates were given where 
it was possible to obtain them, and when not 
given, it was because it was impossible to obtain 
them. There has been every intention to pre- 
serve the highest bibliographical standard that 
can be attained. If we had waited until we could 
publish the catalogue on other than commercial 
principles, we should not have had it at all. 
While I pledge for myself the strongest en- 
deavor to reach thfe highest bibliographical stan- 
dard and include all the most valuable class of 
books of which Dr. Poole speaks, I do think that 
there should be some appreciation of the " Ameri- 
can catalogue " as it exists at the present time. 

ENDOWMENT. 

Mr. SOULE read a telegram just received from 
Mr. Hovey : 

" Massachusetts sends greetings and adds $500 
more to Endowment Fund." 

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 
Pres. GREEN then read his address. 

(Seep, i.) 

A recess of ten minutes was taken to examine 
specimens of binding exhibited by Mr. D. V. R. 
Johnston, of the State Library, Albany, New 
York. 

Announcement was made of visits to China- 
town, also of visits to libraries Friday afternoon, 
and of the excursion on Saturday to Santa Cruz, 
etc. 

BINDING. 

Mr. D. V. R. JOHNSTON read his paper on 

BINDERS AND BINDING IN LIBRARIES. 

(Seep. 9.) 

Pres. GREEN. This subject is now open for 
discussion. 

Mr. BOWKER. We want to hear from Mr. 
Cutter on that subject. 

Mr. CUTTER. We employ a binder or 
rather, we let a room in our building, at a cheap 
rent, to a binder who works for us at contract 
prices. The gain to him is low rent and small 
insurance premium; to us safety and quickness, 
the books being bound in the building and all re- 
turned to us at the end of each month. In cases 
of extra haste we require return within three 
days. I have lately had all books bound without 



8 4 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



any gilt bands. The lettering shows much better 
in that style. 

Dr. LINDERFELT. We tried the different bind- 
eries in the city, and have found it impossible to 
get work done satisfactorily. The last bindery 
had our work for four or five years. The binding 
itself was satisfactory, but the difficulty was in the 
slowness of the work. When the question of a 
new building came up our trustees wanted to do 
the work ourselves. We began it in June, pur- 
chasing machinery of the very best kind, for over 
$700. Our old binder offered to finish the work 
quicker for an advance of 10 per cent on the price, 
but we did not accept his proposition. We had 
not room in the building, so rented a room for 
$20 a month. We employed a workman as super- 
intendent at $18 a week, an assistant at $12, 
two girls at $5 each, and one at $4 a week. We 
will probably not save any money, but we get our 
work quicker. They have turned out 200 to 300 
books a week. To determine the difference in 
cost between our present method and the old 
way, we keep an exact account of the number of 
books bound and what they would have cost by 
the old method, so that I can lay before the Asso- 
ciation at the end of the year a statement of the cost 
by both methods. We have adopted sewing on 
parchment strips, and I have yet to find a single 
book which has broken the cover itself. That 
binding is of the very best kind. 

I am inclined to take exception to the statement 
of Mr. Johnston that the roans are to be dis- 
carded. For some time we have used a prepara- 
tion of roan which we get from a Philadelphia 
house, Schwartz & Co., which is far superior to 
any roan I ever had, and just as serviceable, 
and much cheaper. We pay about $10 a dozen 
less for them, and they can be had all colors. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. Even at that you only save 
about 10 cents per volume. 

Mr. BOWKER. Dr. Linderfelt, how much was 
your bindery bill last year ? 

Dr. LINDERFELT. It amounted to about 
$2,500, or not more than $3,000. Our intention 
now is to go thoroughly through the entire library, 
and rebind every volume that needs it, before mov- 
ing to the new building. 

Mr. BOWKER. I want to inquire from Mr. 
Cutter whether he had an arrangement with his 
binder to give the preference to his work. At 
certain seasons of the year, when there is a great 
demand for blank and other work, the binder is 
inclined to put off his library work for other work, 
which accounts for much of the delay. Any 



arrangement with a binder should take this into 
consideration. 

Mr. CUTTER. We did not make any agree- 
ment to have preference in our work. I put a 
clause in the contract that we could terminate it 
at a month's notice, at any time, and that we 
might send as much work as we chose, but did 
not bind ourselves to give him any work at all. 
Therefore, if there is any delay we have an easy 
remedy, because there are several binders who 
would like his rooms. Besides, if any schedule is 
not returned by the end of the calendar month, 
he gets no pay for it till the end of the next 
month. As, like all the binders whom I have 
known, he is in a state of permanent impecunios- 
ity, the schedules always are sent up within the 
month. 

Mr. BOWKER. Did he buy the plant, or did 
you ? 

Mr. CUTTER. He owned the plant and moved 
it in from his former rooms. He is an indepen- 
dent binder and he does work for us under con- 
tract, and for any one else who will employ him, 
and as he is one of the best binders in the city, 
and perhaps the best, he gets plenty to do. 

Mr. BOWKER. I think that in any town where 
there are private libraries the best location for a 
bindery would be near the public library, because 
it would suggest to people going into the library 
the convenience and advisability of having books 
rebound ; and I do not see why the plan of Mr. 
Cutter, if applicable to large libraries, should not 
be applicable to libraries in moderate-size towns. 

Miss TESSA L. KELSO. We use ordinary buff- 
ing mounted on tag board, and find it very satis- 
factory and very cheap. It is flexible and people 
enjoy using it. We have used it for two years. 
The binder told me of a thing which has helped 
wonderfully; bending a book at three or four 
places and bringing a great pressure to bear upon 
it. I have found this to save half our binding of 
fiction and current periodicals, breaking them be- 
fore they go on to the shelf. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. A good fall may break flexible 
work. Buffing is very good as far as it goes, but 
it is an uncertain leather to use. 

Miss KELSO. It is cheap. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. It is better than roan or 
skives, but I think if in the place of that burring 
you should use morocco or half duck, you will get 
much more satisfactory results. Dr. Linderfelt's 
roan is buffing. 

Dr. LINDERFELT. I use silver for lettering 
instead of gilt, and find it cheaper. 



SECOND SESSION. 



Mr. JOHNSTON. But the amount of gilt on a 
book is a very trifling matter; a leaf of Vallou's 
best gold costs hardly a cent, and you would not 
use that much. I have never seen library books 
in silver. I have seen it used on cream tinted 
fancy work. It makes a handsome book, but you 
cannot read the title. 

Miss SHERMAN. Before this question is 
closed I would like to ask for a satisfactory way 
of mounting plates, so that they will be neither 
clumsy nor destroyed. Do any librarians mount 
plates ? 

Miss KELSO. We have art plates, ordinary 
supplements which come with the Graphic, and 
so on, which we want to circulate in the schools 
for the use of the pupils. The teachers some- 
times paste a strip of adhesive library paper over 
the corner and hang them up on the wall. 

Miss SHERMAN. I mean art plates. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. The only things I know 
about are charts, which are mounted on cambric. 

Miss SHERMAN. We mount them on card- 
board, so that they can be carried through the 
streets. They are clumsy, but they last, and I 
know of no other way. 

Mr. WHELPLEY described at length the method 
of binding in Cincinnati. We have, he said, a 
binder who gives the utmost satisfaction, both as 
to time and to quality of work. He is the son of 
an old German bookbinder who came to our city 
forty years ago, and made library work his busi- 
ness, and trained his boy to help him. This son, 
now a man with a family, knows exactly when 
and how to bind the library books, and all about 
putting on titles without being told. We can get 
our books bound in two weeks if we want them. 

NEW YORK LIBRARY SCHOOL. 

Mr. HILL'S report on the Library School was 
read by Dr. Wire. 

As Mr. Lamed and Miss Coe, the other mem- 
bers of the committee, were unable to attend this 
meeting, you must be content with only one-third 
of a report. 

The Library School is no longer an experiment. 
It has been in active operation for five years, open- 
ing its doors Jan. 5, 1887, and it is time to look back 
upon its record, and see if the result aimed at by 
its founder and instructors has been secured; and 
what is of greater importance, learn, if we can, 
whether trustees and librarians have been benefited 
by its establishment. 

Some of you possibly will not agree with me as 
to the worth of the school, but my estimate is 



made up from visits, questions, and trial of several 
graduates. 

It was my intention to give a short sketch of 
the institution, but the new circular issued by the 
director gives all necessary information, and re- 
lieves me of that duty. 

Very briefly I will state a few facts. The school 
was opened Jan. 5, 1887, with twenty students. 
The course extended over four months. The 
school opens this fall with thirty-five members. 

For three years the school was under the fos- 
tering care of Columbia College, but after the 
election of Mr. Dewey to the secretaryship of the 
University of the State of New York, it was trans- 
ferred, by agreement between the Columbia trus- 
tees and the regents of the University, to the 
State Library at Albany. 

Here in October, 1889, it began the fourth year 
of its existence. 

During the three years at Columbia no entrance 
examinations were held, but since the removal to 
Albany candidates have been examined in litera- 
ture, language, and general information. At the 
last examination Tuesday, 9 June, 1891, thirty- 
two questions were asked. From October, 1889, 
through June, 1891, sixty-one persons were ex- 
amined, each having taken from one to nineteen 
examinations. Of this number thirty-five failed 
in one or more studies. In June, 1891, twenty- 
four took the entrance examinations and twelve 
failed to pass. 

Nine of the twelve tried again in September. 
Since June all applicants have been told that the 
entering class for 1891 is already full, and their 
only chance of entering this year is from vacancies 
which may occur. This year entrance examina- 
tions have been held in twelve places in the States 
of New Hampshire, Maine, New York, Illinois, 
and Michigan. 

Graduating exercises were held for the first 
time Wednesday, 8 July, 1891. 

The school now occupies four rooms, a gain of 
two over last year. 

The faculty consists of eight regular instructors 
and twenty non-resident lecturers. 

That there was need of just such a school is 
shown from the fact that of all the graduates who 
wanted library positions, only one failed. 

The last few years have seen such an increase 
in the number of libraries and improvement in 
methods of managing them, that trained assistants. 
have become a necessity. 

The most perplexing task of a chief librarian is 
to teach beginners to take such material as the 



86 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



trustees see fit to give him, and try to mould it to 
the proper library standard. 

Happily this state of things is fast passing 
away, and the selection of assistants is being left 
more and more to the librarian. The A. L. A. 
Library School helps us out by doing away with 
the necessity for individual schools. 

I recall the remark of a distinguished craftsman 
who said that he could fill his library with men 
and women anxious to learn the work, and willing 
to serve months without pay; but his answer 
always was the same : " I haven't the time to 
give to such labor." 

Let us see what the school does. 

1. It offers the aspirants for library honors the 
same opportunities granted the lawyer, the doc- 
tor, the minister, each in his chosen profession. 
The students have a well-defined purpose in view 
and intend to carry it out. 

2. It brings together those who are completely 
interested in the subject. The very elect go there. 
No drones are admitted, or, if they do get in, 
soon find the pace too fast and quietly retire. 

3. It starts and educates the pupils in the right 
way, and prepares them for the real work which 
begins in the library proper. 

4. The course of training gives the pupils an in- 
sight into the most approved methods of manage- 
ment and systems of classification adopted by the 
larger libraries in the country ; and by occa- 
sional visits to the library centres they are enabled 
to see how the work is carried on. And so when 
the graduates go forth they are not wedded to one 
particular theory, but are prepared to grasp any. 
I am aware that some librarians prefer to train 
their own assistants, feeling sure then that they 
will be brought up in the way they should go. In 
the long run this may pay, but I doubt it. Excep- 
tions only prove the rule. If I had my way every 
recruit should come from another library or the 
Library School, in order that new ideas might be 
brought in, fresh inspiration infused into the old 
soldiers, and a higher standard set for their emu- 
lation. 

Just as one returns from a conference of the 
A. L. A. quickened by the intercourse with brother 
librarians, and ready to keep in line with all that 
is best in library work. 

5. It keeps librarians and assistants on their 
mettle all the time. They don't want the school 
to get ahead of them. One good Library School 
girl will put more snap into a staff than any 
amount of scolding, flattery, or A. L. A. confer- 
ence. 



6. It places library work on a more elevated 
plane, by making of it a recognized science. 

7. It teaches trustees and the public to have 
greater respect for the calling of a librarian ; for 
they find at the school not mere enthusiasts, but 
earnest, thoughtful, far-seeing students fully alive 
to the requirements of the times, and prepared to 
enter whole-souled into this great educational 
work. 

8. It shows trustees where they can find compe- 
tent employees. I do not mean to say there isn't 
good material in the libraries today ; but I do con- 
tend that there is a surplus of poor stock among 
us, and whatever can be done to improve the 
quality merits approval. 

9. It has resulted in giving to new libraries 
trained and competent people, who could lay a 
good foundation and build upon it ; and where a 
Library School pupil has been put in charge of an 
old library better service has been the outcome. 

10. Wherever its existence is known would-be 
applicants are deterred from becoming candi- 
dates. Boards of trustees now recognize the fact 
that local talent is not always the best. Really, 
the people do not care whether or no an employee 
is a resident what they want is the service. 
Trustees no longer find it necessary to select a 
local candidate whenever a vacancy occurs. They 
can look only to the good of the library. 

The time will come, and that soon, when trus- 
tees will no more think of taking an inexperi- 
enced person for librarian or assistant, than they 
would of engaging the services of a mining engi- 
neer to erect their building. Before the school 
was established trustees seldom thought of going 
outside the city for library help. They felt they 
must select some local man or woman. Times 
are better now. 

Finally: Every graduate is a living example of 
the usefulness of the Library School. 

Rapid strides have been taken since 1887. 
Every year adds to its reputation, and in this 
success librarians rejoice. The school has settled 
down to staid, definite work. The hurry and 
drive, accompanied by high nervous tension, are 
gone. There is still plenty of interest and enthu- 
siasm left, but one no longer notices that attempt 
to do too much in a short time. This year the 
instructors, not the pupils, seem to be the ones 
who need restraint. 

From inquiries made of other librarians, sup- 
ported by my own experience, it is conclusively 
proven that the pupils, as a rule, underrate rather 
than overrate their own ability. 



SECOND SESSION. 



A few words in the way of criticism : If any- 
thing, the entrance examinations are too severe. 
Perhaps not too much so to secure the best 
material; but it seems to me just as good results 
might be obtained with a little lower standard. 
For instance, applicants who have had library 
experience, and appear to be imbued with the 
" proper library spirit," might be taken on trial 
even though they fail to pass the examinations, 
for it isn't always the best educated person who 
makes the best librarian. It is quite as necessary 
to know how to meet and treat people who visit 
the library as to know books ; and the former is 
as hard for some to learn as is the latter for 
others. A happy medium is desirable. 

The pupils should not be rushed. It were bet- 
ter to lengthen the course and not make them 
think they can learn everything in two years. It 
would be a good thing if the old library hand 
were taught as some libraries prefer the written 
to the printed card. 

To librarians I would say : Steer clear of the 
Library School unless you are as enthusiastic as 
the instructors and pupils, and are fully pre- 
pared to answer all manner of questions. 

It is a mistake that the name of the school 
should be confined to a single State ; and I hope 
the Board of Regents having control of the school 
will consent to drop the words New York State 
from the title, and let it be known as " The Library 
School." 

In my judgment the school is here to stay, and 
will continue to increase in usefulness until it shall 
be recognized and accepted by the great brother- 
hood of librarians and the community at large, as 
the most powerful agent in shaping successful 
library workers. FRANK P. HILL. 

BROOKLYN LIBRARY TRAINING CLASS. 

Miss PLUMMER was called on by the President 
for an account of her training classes in Brooklyn. 
She was out of the room, but has since furnished 
the following report : 

These classes were started in 1890, in response 
to a well-defined and frequently expressed need. 
People came to them who could not afford the 
longer time or the greater expense of the Library 
School, who could not, in some cases, have availed 
themselves of the school advantages for lack of 
college education, who were satisfied to learn the 
system of cataloging, or the technical processes 
of the Pratt Institute Library only, and who did 
not feel at finishing that their brief training en- 
titled them to such positions as the Library School 
graduates may justly hope for after their longer, 



broader, and more arduous course. As in the 
Library School, a majority of the students were 
young women. The instructors were all members 
of the Library staff, each of whom took charge of 
the training class when it entered her peculiar 
province, while the two cataloging classes, which 
were quite distinct from the other, were under one 
person's charge throughout the year. 

The course begins in November, and consists 
of two terms, each three months long, during 
which instruction and practice-hours alternate. A 
third term, called the apprenticeship term, is given 
to those whose record has been most satisfactory. 

No degree or certificate is given as yet, but the 
library consents to act as reference, and to recom- 
mend for positions those of the students whose 
work has been praiseworthy, and who seem fitted 
in other ways as well for library Work. 

The cataloguing classes use the A. L. A. rules 
as authority, with Cutter's rules for reference. 

The training classes begin their course with les- 
sons in the library hand, after which the class 
takes up the library processes in systematic order, 
beginning with the order department and follow- 
ing a book through its course into the hands of 
the borrower and back again. 

A detailed list of the subjects dealt with is as 
follows: Library hand, order department work, 
accession work, classification, finding-list rules, 
alphabeting, shelf-listing, preparation for the 
shelves, stock-taking, binding and rebinding, 
reading-room work, keeping of statistics, care of 
supplies, desk-work throughout both terms, refer- 
ence work and bibliography, English composition, 
and English literature. Desk-work includes regis- 
tration and circulation. 

A simple entrance examination, to test the gen- 
eral information of applicants, is now held at the 
beginning of each school year. 

Some very good material has offered for these 
classes, and in all cases where a more advanced 
course has been practicable and the student could 
profitably go further, the Library School has been 
recommended. 

Two rooms have been fitted up during the sum- 
mer for the use of the classes, and all work is done 
in these rooms that can be carried on there to ad- 
vantage. Shelves and blackboards, desks with 
lids, and other appliances make the rooms very 
convenient, though the space is pretty well occu- 
pied when the whole class is in attendance. 
AMHERST SUMMER LIBRARY SCHOOL. 

Mr. FLETCHER gave an account of his library 
school. 



88 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



The course in library economy at the Amherst 
Summer School was held this year in response to 
a demand from several quarters for a brief course 
calculated to give beginners in library work, or 
the librarians of small libraries who have not been 
brought in contact with modern improved 
methods, enough instruction in such methods to 
answer their immediate demands. Two hours a 
day, five days a week for five weeks, were given to 
instruction and two hours a day to practice. Each 
afternoon one hour was devoted to instruction in 
cataloging, and one hour to other branches of 
library work, the twenty-five hours proving suffi- 
cient time to go through pretty nearly all depart- 
ments. In the forenoon, two hours daily were 
given to practice following the instruction of the 
previous day. The instruction in cataloging was 
given by reading aloud from Cutter's rules and 
giving a running comment with constant reference 
to Linderfelt's and Perkins* rules. The work 
done in cataloging for practice was also criticised 
each day by myself (I was sole instructor), for the 
benefit of the class. 

There were eleven in the class during the entire 
time besides three others who attended one week 
each for special work. As to results, I can only 
say that they seemed to be highly satisfactory. 
Three members of the class expressed a desire 
and some intention to attend the library school at 
Albany, the brief course having awakened an 
appetite for a thorough training such as the 
school can give. All apparently felt that they 
were greatly profited by the course and abundantly 
repaid for the time they had spent. 

Miss HEWINS. I was at the Ainherst School 
from the first week, and want to bear testimony 
to the influence it has on the librarians of small 
libraries. Most of the class had had experience 
in small libraries in Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
and other places. They were people who did not 
know a shelf list from an accession book, and had 
very few ideas about catalog cards. It was rev- 
elation to them when they found library work 
could be done in a systematic manner, and when 
they learned what could be done in library work 
in a thorough way, it was like going to a new 
world for them. 

THIRD SESSION. 

(TUESDAY EVENING, OCT. 13.) 

IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 

The PRESIDENT called the meeting to order at 

8 o'clock, and said that it would be addressed by 

visiting and California librarians on the subject of 



the value of public libraries, and the importance 
of providing facilities needful in order that good 
work may be done in them. 

Dr. POOLE. If this meeting had been held at 
Richmond, Virginia, or at Mobile, Alabama, or 
even in Louisville, Kentucky, the subject which 
has been given us tonight "The Value of Public 
Libraries to Communities" would be a very 
simple one to treat; for in those communities 
they do not exist, and I have never heard that 
they were wanted there. But on the Pacific 
Coast, and in the communities represented here 
by delegates from the Eastern States, the discus- 
sion of this subject seems a good deal like the 
treatment of an axiom. We all cordially admit, 
without discussion, that the whole of a thing is 
greater than a part. It was also ascertained in 
New England 250 years ago, and has since been 
regarded as an axiom, that public schools and 
general education were good for communities, 
and more economical than general ignorance. It 
was further discovered by New England people 
more than forty years ago that public libraries, 
maintained by municipal taxation, supplemented 
the work of the public schools, and were also 
good for communities. It was my fortune to take 
up library work in a college society library of 
10,000 volumes forty-five years ago, before the 
principle of public libraries was discovered. I 
have been in library work ever since, and have 
been conversant with the progress since made. 

There was in 1847 little or no interest in libra- 
ries. It was not known how many libraries there 
were in the country, or how many books the larger 
libraries had. In fact, there were no statistics on 
the subject ; no treatises on library management ; 
no practical works on bibliography; and there 
was no one who had studied library administra- 
tion scientifically and could impart information to 
learners. It might be called the pre-historic age 
of libraries. The average librarian then was usu- 
ally a keeper of books that is, one who did not 
allow them to get away, and kept as many persons 
as possible from using them. He was commonly 
a college professor who could not teach, a minis- 
ter who could not preach, or a physician who had 
no patients. The salaries paid were very small. 
Being a college student I took the position for the 
purpose of being in contact with books, and not 
for the pay, which the first year was thirty dollars. 
The second year I was promoted to be full libra- 
rian, and I think my salary was raised to fifty 
dollars. They were the two most profitable years 
I have spent in libraries ; for I had the opportunity 



THIRD SESSION. 



89 



to work out alone the main problems of library ' 
administration, with no books on the subject to 
read, and no person about me to whom I could go 
for advice or information. 

The year 1848 is a sort of era in the history of 
American libraries. John Jacob Astor then died 
in New York city, and by his will founded the 
Astor Library, the first free reference library in the 
United States. He gave it $400,000, which was 
then thought to be an immense sum, and for that 
time it was so. George Peabody, Walter L. New- 
berry, John Crerar, and Andrew Carnegie have 
since given their millions. In the splendid gift of 
Mr. Sutro, San Francisco will have a noble refer- 
ence library during the lifetime of the donor. It 
would be well if all public-spirited men of wealth, 
who intend to make such gifts in their wills, would 
follow Mr. Sutro's example and do it while living. 
The tidal wave of benefactions for libraries is on, 
and will rise higher. Such gifts usually come in 
pairs. Mr. Newberry's gift of three millions to 
Chicago was followed by Mr. Crerar's with 
another three millions. Some San Francisco citizen 
will doubtless duplicate, and perhaps exceed, Mr. 
Sutro's gift. The endowment of a great public 
library is now ascertained to be the straight path- 
way to heaven. Some years ago there always 
appeared in the will of a rich man or woman, 
who died in Boston, a legacy to Harvard College, 
and another to the Massachusetts General Hos- 
pital. Much of this money-now goes to libraries 
and to the erection of memorial library buildings. 

I was speaking before this digression of what 
had happened of importance concerning the 
library interests of the country in 1848. Profes- 
sor Charles C. Jewett, who had been the librarian 
of Brown University, was then appointed librarian 
of the Smithsonian Institution ; and his is about 
the only name, with a reputation as a librarian, 
which comes down to us from the pre-historic 
period. Under his guidance the Smithsonian 
Institution, which has since changed its functions, 
assumed the same relations to the libraries of the 
country which the Bureau of Education now 
holds. He went about collecting and arranging 
the statistics of the libraries of the United States ; 
and his valuable report he printed in 1850. It 
was then known for the first time what libraries 
there were in the country, their origin, history, and 
contents. 

The most important event of the year 1848 was 
the initiatory step taken which led to the estab- 
lishment of the Boston Public Library, the first 
free library in the world supported by municipal 



taxation and administered for the benefit of every 
class of citizens. Josiah Quincy, Jr., then Mayor 
of Boston, conceived the idea of petitioning the 
Legislature to allow the city to raise money by 
taxation for creating and supporting a public 
library; and the authority was granted. Subse- 
quent legislation extended the right to all the 
cities and towns of the State. Similar legislation 
followed in other States and in England ; and the 
public library has become as universal and as 
beneficent as the public school. The first edition 
of the Index to Periodical Literature, prepared by 
a student in Yale College, was printed in 1848, 
and was the precursor of much voluntary and sim- 
ilar bibliographical contributions done by librari- 
ans for the benefit of students. 

In Prof. Jewett's report of 1850 on the libraries 
of the United States, several which are now 
among the largest do not appear, for they did not 
exist. The Library of Congress, now with more 
than 600,000 volumes, then had 50,000 ; and a few 
months later a fire occurred in the building and 
burnt up 30,000 of these. The great library of 
the country then was that of Harvard College with 
84,200 volumes. The Philadelphia Library Com- 
pany came next with 60,200, then Yale College 
with 50,481, and Boston Athenaeum with 50,000. 
Of libraries containing 1,000 volumes or more 
there were 432, and containing less than 1,000, 
271. Excluding public school libraries, the whole 
number was 694, and the aggregate number of 
volumes 2,201,632. The last report on libraries 
by the Bureau of Education, 1885, gives the 
whole number 5,338, and the aggregate number of 
volumes 20,622,076. This brief retrospect shows 
the enormous development of interest in libraries 
during the past forty years and growing apprecia- 
tion of their value in intelligent communities. 
The intelligence of communities is now measured 
largely by its libraries and other facilities for 
popular education. The large number and the 
excellent administration of public libraries in 
California are among the most pleasant and, I 
must confess, surprising incidents I have met 
with on the Pacific Coast. We, the visitors from 
the Eastern States, have little we can tell which 
will be new to our brethren in California. 

I understand that one library building is now in 
process of construction, and that it is proposed to 
erect others in San Francisco. I am told, also, 
that the views of Eastern librarians on this subject 
are desired, and that tomorrow forenoon the 
methods of construction will be discussed. I do 
not, therefore, intend this evening to go into the 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



matter of specific plans, but will venture a few 
remarks on the subject of a general nature. My 
first remark is that in putting up a library build- 
ing we should use common sense. The sense used 
is too often "uncommon sense." The board or 
committee do not go about the work as they would 
if they were building anything else. Their ten- 
dency is to put up an architectural monument or 
a memorial of somebody or something, or a show 
structure, when what is wanted is a library build- 
ing. These men, if they were a committee to erect 
a mercantile block, a church, or a theatre, would 
use common sense; for these structures are 
intended for a specific, practical purpose, and can- 
not be trifled with. So has a library building a 
specific, practical purpose, and ought not to be 
trifled with. When a sensible man intends to 
build a house and has selected his lot, he decides 
about how much money he will put into it, and, 
taking his wife into consultation, they decide how 
many rooms they will want for their family, pres- 
ent and prospective, and their visitors. They 
decide on the size and location of the rooms, and 
as many other details as occur to them concerning 
the interior construction and arrangement. They 
are then ready to consult an architect who will 
group and artistically harmonize their preferences, 
give suggestions as to elevations, etc. This is pre- 
cisely the common sense which ought to be used 
in constructing a library building. The interior 
of the building ought first to be considered, and 
every detail concerning the present and future 
wants of the library should be thoroughly studied 
and decided upon before a thought is given to ele- 
vations or fa9ades. The librarian should be first 
taken into consultation, and he will furnish the 
committee with the information which will enable 
them to decide with reference to future growth, 
how much space will be needed for the storage of 
books, how much for the delivery-room, the refer- 
ence reading-room, the periodical reading-room, 
the librarian's room, the rooms for administrative 
work, etc. The librarian will base his estimates 
on the space now occupied and the prospective 
growth of the library for at least twenty-five, 
or, what is better, fifty years. An architect can- 
not supply this information, and no one except the 
librarian can, for he knows all the conditions of 
the library and of its growth. If the building is 
intended to be permanent, the committee should 
consider how and where it can be enlarged in 
future years ; for it is the inevitable law of libra- 
ries to outgrow any limits which may be assigned 
them. 



After these questions have been decided, it is 
time to call in the architect. Hitherto there has 
been nothing for him to do. Now he has work to 
do. The plans and sketches of the committee and 
librarian will be crude, and the rooms may not be 
grouped in the best manner. They are to be har- 
monized and expressed in artistic drafts, and plans 
for heating and lighting and ventilation supplied, 
as well as the elevations. The trouble with many 
library buildings, which have resulted in failures, 
has been that the work was begun at the wrong 
end upon the elevations and fa9ade, instead of 
the interior of the structure. Committees, whose 
chief interest consists in having a showy and 
artistic front, are usually responsible for the error. 

Now, if you have an " art crank " in this city, 
pray keep him off a library building committee. 
Perhaps I ought to explain what I mean by an 
"art crank." I do not mean a man who loves art, 
for all educated and cultured men and women love 
art ; but I mean a man with very little brains who 
loves art in the abstract, without any reference to 
time, occasion, or fitness of things. He talks 
loudly about art, and judges everything by its 
artistic qualities. He visits Italy and sees a beauti- 
ful palace of the Florentine renaissance style, and 
he admires it. He would like such a building for 
a library in San Francisco, it is so lovely ! He 
could sit up nights and look at it by the light of 
the moon. And why not? Confessedly it looks 
well where it is, and why would it not answer for 
a library in San Francisco ? The conditions are 
different. The admirer has given no attention to 
what is inside the building or its adaptation for a 
library, and has considered only the fa9ade. The 
structure was erected several centuries ago, when 
revolutions and mobs were of common occurrence 
in Italy, and hence the first story was built with 
very few and very small windows. In Paris the 
same construction is seen in the old buildings. 
The first story of fashionable residences, which 
with us is the most valuable, is there the quarters 
of the servants and scullions. The family live in 
the stories above. The first story was intended 
simply for fortification and protection. When the 
mob appeared, the gate and iron screens were let 
down and the place was closed up. 

This is the plan of the new public library building 
on Copley square in Boston, and the one which 
some art enthusiasts in that city are admiring and 
worshiping. The plan was not taken directly from 
Italy, but second-hand from the Ste. Genevieve 
Library in Paris. Abstractly, and as a production 
of the sixteenth century, the facade is pretty ; but 



THIRD SESSION, 



how strangely it looks where it is, and for the pur- 
pose of being used as a public library, with those 
few and small windows in the first story, and in a 
peaceful community where there are no mobs, and 
no occasion to fortify libraries ! The first requi- 
site in a public library is light, and all the light 
that can be had. Nothing in architecture is truly 
beautiful which is not appropriate, reasonable, and 
useful. The error has occurred through a mis- 
taken love of art, and ignoring the advice of libra- 
rians, one " art crank " will cause you much 
trouble. If you have one in San Francisco, bottle 
him up until your plans are made. (Applause.) 

Mr. FLETCHER. Perhaps the first feeling that 
is natural to one of us, coming across the conti- 
nent, and undertaking to say a word about public 
libraries is a feeling of caution. We ought to re- 
member that we are a long way from home. I am 
reminded of an incident that occurred in one of 
our towns near Boston. A clergyman who had 
occasion to preach away from home took a written 
sermon which he had already delivered at home, 
and did not take the precaution to read it over care- 
fully before going into the other pulpit; so, when 
he came in the course of his sermon, to describe 
the evils that would befall young men going into 
bad ways, he said, with a good deal of earnest- 
ness, " I would sooner have a son of mine an 
inmate of yonder institution, than that he should 
fall into these courses, " when he suddenly real- 
ized that he was pointing in the direction of the 
theological seminary, his remarks having been in- 
tended to refer to the insane asylum near his own 
church. It would not do for one of us to come 
with a sermon prepared for the longitude of Bos- 
ton and deliver it here. On the other hand, we 
have to be careful not to go to the other extreme. 
Perhaps, some of us came here like missionaries 
to the heathen ; if there is anybody with such 
ideas among us he has had the conceit pretty well 
taken out of him, coming into your libraries and 
seeing what has been done and what is to be done 
for libraries in this city in the future. We heard 
yesterday of what is to be done for the future of 
libraries in this city and of the excellent libraries 
that are springing up in different parts of this 
State. It will not do for us to conclude that we 
from Boston way are in such a very different 
longitude that we can come over here with our 
hands laden with benefits to confer upon you poor, 
ignorant, destitute people. What is the situation ; 
what have we come here for ? There seemed to 
be a great desire on the part of some of the peo- 
ple interested in library work in this part of the 



country, that we should come here and hold this 
meeting, and that desire came, if I am not mis- 
taken, with the greatest force from those whom 
we should pick out as the least needing any mis- 
sionary effort that we could bring. 

Now, what does this mean ? It means, for one 
thing, that those on this coast who are familiar 
with the subject, having read the Library journal 
and being themselves interested, want others to 
become so. They have come to appreciate the 
advantages which we derive from living closer to- 
gether in the East. What are those advantages? 
They are not what can be learned at a college, 
nor what can be read in a paper before a library 
association, but they are largely matters of per- 
sonal contact and acquaintance. I do not know 
what impressions prevail on the Pacific Coast, as 
to what real live librarians look like, but we under- 
stand that one of your number who came over the 
mountains to meet us, had to revise his impres- 
sions of us, and sent back word to his home that 
we were "'not such a bad lot after all. " 

We have learned to know each other and in 
that we have learned a great deal about library 
work. This contact of one with another has done 
more to advance library work among us, than 
years and years of the reading of library journals 
and proceedings of conventions. One can read of 
the methods which a person employs in doing his 
work and they may commend themselves to his 
judgment, but when one gets into a company of 
people, is brought into personal contact with them, 
and, by question and answer, gets things put in 
just the shape in which they will fit one's personal 
needs, then one begins to learn, as one never 
can by mere listening or reading. I remem- 
ber hearing an homely figure used by a clergy- 
man, in speaking of the influence of a Sunday 
schobl teacher, compared with that which he had 
with his congregation. He said it seemed to him 
as if there was a row of bottles on the seat before 
him, and as if he must take a pitcher of water and 
try to fill those bottles by pouring from the plat- 
form, while the Sunday school teacher, sitting 
down there among the bottles, takes one at a time 
by the neck and pours the water in. It is cer- 
tainly true, that beyond everything that we can 
analyze and understand, there is a peculiar growth 
that comes from being brought into personal con- 
tact with an enthusiastic worker and thinker in 
our own line of work. 

I suppose you, of the Pacific Coast, feel that you 
have not the conditions that we have in the East- 
ern country in the matter of libraries. Certainly, 



9 2 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



you have not the number of libraries that we have 
in proportion to the number of communities we 
will not say in proportion to the population, be- 
cause that is not the thing to be attained. You 
want a library in every community, no matter how 
small, and the work of carrying them into every 
town has been pushed in some of the Eastern 
States far beyond what it has been here. 

Many of you feel interested to know how you 
are going to carry on the work of seeing that every 
community has access to a public library. 

The subject of the best legislation for libraries 
conies up, and it is certain that right legislation is 
at the bottom of advancing public library work. I 
say at the bottom ; it is in one sense so ; but it is 
certain that you never can have right legislation 
until you have a certain public sentiment back 
of it. 

The town libraries, which are now so abundant 
in Massachusetts that hardly one town in ten is 
without one, grew, in almost every case, from very 
small beginnings. And not until numerous hum- 
ble library associations had been at work some 
years educating the people up to an idea of the 
value of town libraries, was the legislation obtained 
under which their growth has been so rapid. 

Even Yale University, with its library of some 
200,000 vol umes was commenced, it is recorded, 
by a few poor clergymen coming together and con- 
tributing each a few books, such as he could spare 
from his scanty library, to form the nucleus of the 
library for the college and so of the college itself. 
Over and over again the same method has been 
employed in the starting of a library, which has 
afterwards come to be one of our large institu- 
tions. 

So the lesson that comes from experience in the 
East, more strongly than any other is, to make a 
beginning, no matter how small, and from that 
small beginning, it is perfectly surprising in the 
case of libraries, what a growth there will be ; 
everything tends that way when a beginning has 
once been made. When you have begun to put 
into a community good reading, it will drive out 
the bad reading to a great extent. People read 
trash, because they do not know of anything bet- 
ter. You cannot teach them in any better way 
than by putting the better reading within their 
reach. Perhaps no greater sermon has been 
preached in modern times than that of Thomas 
Chalmers, on " The expulsive power of a new 
affection. " If you want to get rid of the bad, you 
must put in the good. 

Some people are so misguided that they oppose 



public libraries, on account of some of the litera- 
ture which they are disseminating. It may be 
true there are a few books circulated from libra- 
ries that are below your standard or mine. But 
we must remember that we are assured by those 
best qualified to judge, that people read above 
them, and if we find them reading trash, it is be- 
cause their ordinary plane of thought is below 
the level of even these books. However, this may 
be, people will be elevated by the presence in the 
community and in their homes of the better books 
freely supplied by the public library. Drive in the 
small wegde of good reading, and it will gradually 
elevate the public taste and force out that which 
is low in either a library or a moral sense. 

There is nothing for which people are more 
ready to work and to make donations than a pub- 
lic library. It is not necessary that every library 
should be just like every other library ; that is to 
say, that a system should be employed which re- 
quires just so much elaboration and just so much 
expense. It is not necessary that a learned libra- 
rian should be employed in the beginning, nor a 
person be employed to give his whole time to it. 
In many communities can be found a person to 
carry on the library in connection with other work 
and at very little expense. 

But all these things are familiar to you, and as I 
said at the outset, it is hard for us to bring any- 
thing to you which will be new. If this meeting is 
to be beneficial to the people of this coast, it will 
be through the personal contact that we and you 
here interested in library work have with one an- 
other, and so in ways far better and far more wide- 
reaching than would result from any addresses and 
discussion of papers which we can present. 

Pres. GREEN. Is there not considerable skep- 
ticism among practical men as to whether libraries 
are doing much good in communities ? It is readily 
acknowledged that they afford a large amount of 
entertainment to the citizens of communities, both 
young and old ; but do they do them much real 
good ? Suppose they only add to the happiness 
of the people of a community ? Is not that doing 
a great work ? An anecdote told by Miss Jenkins, 
of the Boston Public Library, is interesting. She 
was speaking of a woman who did her washing 
and wanted her to bring her every Saturday night 
an interesting book. The books which she liked 
best were Mrs. Southworth's novels. There is 
nothing harmful morally in the novels of that 
author, but they are exciting works which we do 
not care to encourage people to read ; we would 
rather have them read what we consider better 



THIRD SESSION, 



93 



books. But this woman wanted Mrs. South- 
worth's novels every Saturday night, and so her 
friend carried them to her. Miss Jenkins asked 
her why it was that she liked that kind of books. 
She answered, " Because such books take me 
out of myself. For the time being I associate 
with people who live in palaces and are sur- 
rounded by the luxuries which riches can buy. I 
feel as those people feel, get out of the squalid 
conditions which are usually about me, live with 
great people, and temporarily get the enjoyment 
which comes from living so." Now none of us 
would wish to deprive that poor woman of the 
enjoyment which she gets from reading exciting 
stories. There are many deaf persons who are 
denied the privilege of being much in society, 
because it is difficult for others to talk with them. 
Such persons often get an immense amount of 
enjoyment out of novel reading; so do invalids 
and convalescents. While librarians seek to 
afford entertainment, however, they try to im- 
prove the taste of readers. They try to carry 
persons forward just as fast as they will go; to 
lead them from lower to higher kinds of reading. 
But that does not necessarily mean leading them 
from stories to other kinds of reading. It means 
often, so far as stories and novels are concerned, 
conducting them from a lower kind of novel to a 
higher kind of novel; for some of the best litera- 
ture that we have is, of course, in the form of 
stories. One can hardly do better than to read 
thoroughly the works of such writers as Thack- 
eray and George Eliot. It is well, too, to have 
sympathy for the poor awakened by becoming 
familiar with the writings of Charles Dickens. It 
should always be borne in mind that one of the 
most forcible ways of giving instruction is by 
telling stories to children and giving them stories 
to read. I well remember that some of the choic- 
est instruction, and that which has stood longest 
by me, came from stories which were told to me 
when I was a child. I like to remember, too, 
that the great teacher, to whose teachings Mr. 
Fletcher referred, chose that way of teaching, and 
that many of his choicest lessons come to us in 
the form of parables, which are, in reality, nothing 
but stories. 

But, ladies and gentlemen, while I prize highly 
the influence of stories in awakening good impulse 
and think that we get a great portion of our knowl- 
edge from them today, I do not by any means 
advocate their exclusive use. I am very glad when 
persons use only the highest class of novels and 
turn their attention also to other kinds of reading. 



A great many persons think that our libraries 
are simply storehouses of novels. Stories form 
a considerable portion of popular libraries, and it 
is very proper that they should do so. A large 
portion of the community, if it did not read novels, 
would not read anything. 

It is infinitely better that people should be em- 
ployed in reading any book, magazine, or paper 
that is not bad, rather than not read at all. Mrs. 
Kate Gannett Wells of Boston, whose whole life 
is devoted to philanthropic effort, told me that she 
had great hopes that the poor people with whom 
she came in contact would turn out well, if they 
had a taste for reading and took to it readily as a 
means of recreation. It is a great safeguard, if 
you have tastes which lead you when in search of 
amusement to take up a book or paper instead 
of associating with idle men, or such as think only 
of eating and drinking. 

But libraries are not merely storehouses of 
novels. Such as have novels, also have books of 
all kinds, and they regard it as their main function 
to give instruction. When I face an audience like 
this, made up of practical men, I like to say a few 
words to show how valuable libraries are in sup- 
plying the average every-day wants of the business 
man. They gratify the natural thirst for knowl- 
edge. They are also of great use to the mechanic 
in his daily occupation and do much to add to the 
material prosperity of communities. 

I like to relate an anecdote such as this one 
which is told of Captain Eads, the great engineer 
who built one of the famous bridges which cross 
the Mississippi River at St. Louis. When Eads 
was a young man he was very fond of reading. 
During that period of his life a vessel containing 
a cargo of iron had been wrecked on the Missis- 
sippi River and was at the bottom of the river. 
His reading had given him such a knowledge of 
the principles of science and such confidence that 
the laws of nature might be relied upon, that he 
made a rough kind of a diving bell, and as he 
could get nobody to go down under water in it, 
descended in it himself to the bottom of the river, 
and after numerous descents brought up the cargo 
of iron. He made considerable money in that 
way. His confidence came to him as the result of 
having used books and learned from them the 
principles of science and the constancy of the 
laws of nature. 

Knowledge is of money value. Captain Eads 
profited by his early experience. He kept on 
studying and finally performed greats feats of 
engineering, which I presume enriched him, which 



94 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



certainly gave him a great name. It would be 
easy to multiply examples of the value of books 
in promoting material interests. Richardson, the 
great architect, liked to have the buildings which 
he planned put up by a large contractor with 
whom I am acquainted. That contractor told me 
that if he had had any success as a builder it was 
owing to the fact that he had always been a great 
reader on subjects connected with the occupation 
in which he is engaged. He has been a constant 
user of books belonging to the public library in 
Worcester, and often sends to me for books con- 
nected with work which he is attending to. 

In what does reading and studying consist but 
in supplementing your own experience and the 
knowledge which you have obtained from persons 
who have taught you trades, or with whom you 
have come in contact in your various occupations ? 
You add to the information which you obtain in 
other ways the knowledge which other persons 
have acquired, as you find it recorded in books. 
In using industrial books you are adding to your 
own experience the experience of other men, and 
often the experience of men distinguished in the 
avocations in which you are engaged. Would it 
not be of great advantage to individuals if all the 
foremen and workmen in the great shops of this 
city, in addition to acquiring the practical experi- 
ence which they get every day in their work, were 
also students, and had formed the habit of going 
to a library and reading scientific papers and books 
which give the principles of science and relate to 
the industries in which they are engaged? Is it 
not of great advantage to a community to have 
the workmen in its shops become readers and stu- 
dents ? Now I have no hopes that all the work- 
men of any shop can be induced to become 
readers, but I know that a great many of the 
artisans of a town or city may be stimulated to 
become so. When libraries are open to workmen 
and they avail themselves of the privileges 
afforded by them, inventions will surely be multi- 
plied, and the value of the products of the manu- 
factories and machine shops of towns will be 
greatly increased. 

Now and then some great invention will result 
and an immense new industry be built up. But I 
need not speak longer on this subject. It is evi- 
dent, is it not, that no community can afford to be 
without good libraries. They need, too, compe- 
tent librarians to select the proper works to put 
in those libraries ; librarians who will also receive 
persons who come to use books cordially and sym- 
pathetically, and with an earnest desire to find 



out their wishes and put into their hands proper 
books to give them the knowledge they want. 
With good libraries and librarians an immense 
amount of service may be rendered to a commu- 
nity. Consider one way not yet mentioned in which 
this may be done. Suppose, for example, that 
you put into the hands of your school teachers 
everything that is needed to help them in their 
studies ; do you realize how much more valuable 
the results of those studies are if a teacher has 
access to all kinds of books that will enable him 
to prepare himself for the recitations and lectures 
which he has to conduct or deliver ? His instruc- 
tion becomes much more valuable than it would 
be if he did not have access to a large number of 
books. It is of great advantage to school children 
to have libraries to go to, and to be able to con- 
sult a librarian who will help them get informa- 
tion on any subject that they may be interested 
in and in any little investigations they wish to 
make, and to whom the teacher can send them in 
confidence for answers to questions which come 
up in school. 

Thoughts crowd upon me as I stand here and 
try to tell you how valuable libraries may be to 
communities. Do you realize of what great value 
they are in promoting good morals in a commu- 
nity ? What better thing could you desire than to 
have the members of all the families of this city 
engaged in reading evenings, instead of being on 
the street, or in other places where it is not best 
for them to be? It is a fundamental principle in 
philanthrophy that if you wish to wean a man 
from a baneful pleasure it is best to give him 
some other entertainment that is harmless. Read- 
ing, when encouraged by the establishment of 
libraries, is influential in satisfying men and in 
keeping them from unwholesome occupations. 

Ladies and gentlemen, excuse me for speaking 
so long. There were a few minutes to be filled 
up and this fact tempted me to speak. 

Mr. ROWELL. We have heard this after- 
noon that of 350 towns in Massachusetts four- 
fifths have public libraries. This year the first 
annual report of the Massachusetts " Public 
Library Commission " was published, and from 
that report we find that a large proportion of 
these public libraries bear the name of some indi- 
vidual. I mention one, the public library of 
Cambridge, Mass. And so on all through these 
little towns, the library in many cases bearing the 
name of its donor, a man who had bequeathed his 
wealth to it or established the library. There is 
no one here who would venture to say that we 



THIRD SESSION. 



95 



have not made a start in this work on the Pacific 
Coast. The largest single donation that has been 
made is in Portland, Oregon, where Mrs. Green 
has donated $250,000 for the establishment of a 
public library. The University of California has 
received the second largest gift for library pur- 
poses. Mr. Henry D. Bacon of Oakland some 
of you will remember him in connection with 
library work at St. Louis presented $25,000 in 
money and his private library of 14,000 volumes, 
and his collection of art works, the whole amount- 
ing to $100,000 in value. And I wish to call to 
mind a name, to Californians almost forgotten 
Michael Reese. In the. University there is a 
marble tablet which bears the inscription, " In 
commemoration of the gift of $50,000 by Michael 
Reese." He died ten years ago, and in that short 
time his name has almost vanished from the talk 
of men, but that tablet will preserve it. 

Very few of our libraries have been endowed 
by private munificence. The Los Angeles Public 
Library as yet has not been the recipient of any 
large gift, but in the last three years $60,000 has 
been raised by municipal taxation for its support, 
and I am sure that later on some of the citizens 
of that town will be endowing it in a way which is 
commensurate with the generosity, the hospitality, 
and the philanthropy of the people of the south- 
ern part of this State. 

Mr. President, in this year another large dona- 
tion has been made, and I would ask you to call on 
Mr. Cloudsley, the librarian of the Stockton Pub- 
lic Library, for a few points on that subject. 

Mr. CLOUDSLEY. Our library was organized 
in 1880 and it has grown until now it is a library 
of 15,000 volumes. It has received numerous 
gifts and, as Mr. Fletcher has said, grows grad- 
ually and continually. It has had gift after gift of 
books in small numbers of 20, 30, 50, 100, 200 or 
300 volumes. A few years ago it received a be- 
quest of $5,000. The city gave us $6,000 more 
to add to that $5,000. We put this out at inter- 
est and erected a small building, about 50 by 80 
feet, two stories high. Within the past year the 
library has been given $75,000 by Mr. Hazelton, of 
Tarrytown, New York, who was formerly a citi- 
zen of Stockton, but who died at Tarrytown. 
This is part of the tidal wave which Dr. Poole 
tells us of ; it has reached that far and I hope it 
will reach San Francisco, and give you a public 
library. (Applause.) 

Pres. GREEN. I said this afternoon that be- 
sides expenditures for putting up a large number 
of library buildings, in Massachusetts, besides gifts 



from individuals of many libraries, and besides 
large sums of money raised by taxation for the 
establishment and support of libraries in that 
State, $5,000,000 has been given in money for the 
benefit of that class of institutions in Massachu- 
setts. Soon after I made that statement, one of 
the members of the Association rose, and in speak- 
ing of the little permanent publication fund of 
$10,000, which we are trying to raise, of which we 
had raised $3,200, Massachusetts having given of 
that amount $2,000), said that he had received a 
dispatch from Mr. Hovey saying that he had 
raised $500 more. I have now another telegram 
from Mr. Hovey, saying that he has secured 
another $500; so that Massachusetts has now 
contributed $3,000 towards the fund. I knew that 
you would all be glad to hear this statement. I 
am glad to read this dispatch now, because it 
shows forcibly what one man may do. Of the 
money already raised, $3,000 out of about $4,000 
has been raised by this one man. He felt 
interested in the work, and went around among 
his friends and raised it. I think he has raised 
nearly the whole of it in Boston and vicinity in 
$500 subscriptions. If anybody feels a real interest 
in library work, he can raise money in this way. It 
is almost the only way in which money can be 
raised by persons interested in the matter going 
to other persons and getting them interested, and 
soliciting subscriptions for this kind of work. If 
the libraries here need endowments, the endow- 
ments will come largely in this way. Frequently a 
rich man will become interested in a library, and 
will make provision for it in his will. Why 
should not all of us who are interested in libraries 
do as this gentleman in Boston is doing go to 
friends who have money and create the same 
interest in them, and get them to do something 
for such of our institutions as are in need of 
assistance ? 

The PRESIDENT requested the members to meet 
punctually at 9.30 for tomorrow morning's session, 
as the members would visit Stanford University 
in the afternoon. He also announced that the 
section of State librarians would meet at 9 A. M. 

Mr. FLETCHER. It is very desirable that any 
one present, whether a member of the Associa- 
tion or not, who is associated in any way with 
State libraries, should attend that meeting. 

The PRESIDENT announced that the Trustees 
of Libraries would also meet at 9 A. M. tomorrow. 

Adjourned. 



96 



SA N FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



FO UR TH SESSION. 
(WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14.) 

The PRESIDENT called the convention to order 
at 9.40 A; M. 

STATE LIBRARIES. 

The resolutions adopted by the Executive Com- 
mittee of the Section of State libraries were read 
by Mr. Wallis. 

Mr. WALLIS. There is not a State in the 
Union, except California and Nevada, which has 
on the title page of its legislative reports the date 
of the session which the volume contains, and there 
is no way of telling when the Legislature meets. 
In Nevada they have adopted a rule by which the 
title pages in each session bear the dates of the 
commencement and adjournment. Many States 
in the Union have not the money to send out their 
documents. In California, for example, there are 
fifteen or twenty documents, large books, and they 
have not the means. If Congress will provide 
the means whereby a State library can send to 
another State library all the publications and the 
public laws free, we can distribute the documents 
of every State in the Union to the public libraries. 
The government ought to do this. I desire to 
thank the Association for the help they have 
given, for without it we could have done nothing, 
and I expect that before long every State in the 
Union will be improved. As Dr. Poole says, it is 
the beginning of a revolution. 

The report was accepted. 

TRUSTEES' SECTION. 

Mr. SOULE reported that the meeting of the 
Trustees' section was adjourned until next year, 
and this report was accepted. 

Mr. FLETCHER announced that an invitation had 
been received through Mr. Hill, from Mr. McWil- 
liams, for the delegates to stop over at Fresno 
on their way south, and the President announced 
an invitation to lunch under the " Big Trees." 

Mr. FLETCHER. Our Secretary, Mr. Hill, 
called me to his room this morning and said that 
he had attempted to write out an expression of 
his feelings on receiving the minute regarding 
himself adopted by the Conference day before 
yesterday, but had found it too much of a strain 
upon him in his present nervous condition. He 
wished me to express to the convention, verbally, 
his most hearty appreciation of the kind words 
in the minute and to express his feeling of un- 
worthiness of it. I simply speak for him. 



SUBJECT INDEX. 

The PRESIDENT then read two letters from Mr. 
Wm. C. Lane, Assistant Librarian of Harvard 
College Library. The first expressed regret that 
imperative work had prevented his preparing a 
report on Aids and Guides in time to be read at 
the meeting of the association ; the other follows : 

"I take pleasure in forwarding to you, to be laid 
before the Library Association, a copy of the 
Index to the subject catalogue of Harvard Col- 
lege Library, on which I have been at work for 
the last eight years, and which has just been 
finished. 

"Although its principal value is in its usefulness 
in our own library, I think it will not fail to be 
of interest and in some cases of use to other libra- 
rians. 

"I am glad that, although this library is absent 
from your meetings in the person of its officers, it 
may nevertheless be represented by one of its pub- 
lications just issued. 

"You will notice that two hundred copies of the 
Index have been printed for the Library Bureau 
in Boston, where copies may be obtained by those 
who desire them." 

The PRESIDENT. The Index is here; it is very 
interesting and of great importance, for use in 
connection with such catalogues as are to be 
found at Harvard College Library. 

INVITATIONS FOR THE CONFERENCE IN 1893. 

The SECRETARY read a letter dated October i 
from John G. Shortall, as President of the Board 
of Trustees of the Chicago Public Library, inviting 
the Association to hold its meeting in 1893 m 
Chicago, in view of "the important gathering of 
public men, in the various departments of interest 
to the civilization of our time, intended to be pres- 
ent during our Columbian Exposition," and two 
letters dated October 8, from Norman Williams 
and Huntington W. Jackson, trustees of the 
Crerar Library, and from E. W. Blatchford and 
Wm. H. Bradley, trustees of the Newberry Li- 
brary, uniting in the invitation. 

The letters were referred to the Executive Com- 
mittee. 

Pres. GREEN. The Standing Committee have 
authority to employ a stenographer to report the 
proceedings of this meeting, and at the last con- 
ference it was proposed that they should do so, but 
not then voted. Do the members approve of the 
action of the Standing Committee in employing 
a stenographer ? 



FOURTH SESSION. 



97 



On motion of Mr. BOWKER this action of the 
committee was approved. 

FINANCE COMMITTEE. 

Mr. UTLEY read the report of the Finance Com- 
mittee : The Finance Committee, to whom was 
referred the annual report of the Treasurer 
respectfully report that they have examined the 
same. The Treasurer's statement of receipts has 
been compared with the statement of the bank in 
which the funds are deposited, and they are found 
to agree, except that the funds in bank show $1.55 
in excess of the Treasurer's account, which is prob- 
ably interest on the deposits for the last quarter 
and which will go into the next year's statement. 
The vouchers and disbursements agree. 

The report of the Trustees of the Permanent 
Endowment Fund, showing the condition of that 
fund, we recommend be accepted and published in 
the proceedings. 

We nominate for Trustees of the Permanent 
Fund for three years (to succeed himself) E. C. 
Hovey of Brooklirje, Mass. For the unexpired 
term of two years in place of Pliny T. Sexton, 
resigned, John M. Glenn of Baltimore. All of 
which is submitted. 

CHARLES C. SOULE. 
H. M. UTLEY. 
MARY A. BEAN. 
Acting Finance Committee, 

That portion of the report of the Finance Com- 
mittee referring to the Treasurer's report and to 
the publication of the report of the Trustees of 
the Endowment Fund, was adopted. 

ENDOWMENT FUND. 

The PRESIDENT. Mr. Hovey has been a very 
efficient trustee, as shown by statements made in 
this meeting from time to time ; he has raised 
$3,000 of the small sum which has been raised. 
and I earnestly hope that he will be elected a 
member of the Board of Trustees on the Per- 
manent Fund, for three years. 

Mr. Hovey was elected, and Mr. John M. Glenn 
of Baltimore, Md., was elected to fill the unex- 
pired term caused by the resignation of Mr. 
Sexton. 

A letter from NORMAN WILLIAMS, Trustee 
of the Crerar estate, Chicago, 111., dated Oct. 8, 
1891, relating to the Endowment Fund, was read. 
I beg to report, as one of the Trustees of the 
Endowment Fund, that I hold, subject to draft by 
the proper officer, the sum of $600, being the con- 
tributions of ten individuals of Chicago to the 



Endowment Fund. These contributions were 
recently made at my solicitation, no contributions 
having been received from any public library. 
Although under your circular "Trustees of libra- 
ries and librarians are requested to act as agents 
in soliciting and forwarding contributions," I 
have not received any subscriptions from any pub- 
lic library or through any librarian for the reason, 
as I understand, that it is deemed a doubtful ques- 
tion whether the public libraries have any right to 
make a subscription for the purposes contem- 
plated in your circular, under act of their incor- 
poration. A prolonged absence has prevented 
me from making a personal solicitation until quite 
recently, and also from sending forward an earlier 
report. 

I beg to suggest that a just and fair estimate be 
made of the proportionate amounts which should 
be contributed from the various States, and that 
it should not be left to the activity of any one par- 
ticular locality to secure the entire amount 
required. 

Mr. SOULE read his paper on 

POINTS OF AGREEMENT IN LIBRARY 
ARCHITECTURE. 

(Seep. 17.) 

The PRESIDENT. It has been arranged that 
two or three gentlemen, particularly conversant 
with the principles of library architecture, and 
whose attention has been recently called to the 
subject, should be first called upon to speak on 
this matter. I call upon Dr. Poole. 

Dr. POOLE. The very excellent paper which 
has been read expresses, I believe, the average 
opinions and experience of all librarians. It 
certainly expresses mine. Perhaps I might go 
over it and desire to make here and there some 
changes of expression, but they would not affect 
the general issue. I am thankful to Mr. Soule 
for having contributed this paper, and believe it 
will be useful in disarming prejudice, and will 
refute the statement, often made by architects and 
others who have some special scheme to promote, 
that there is no harmony among librarians as to 
the principles of construction, and that each has 
his own plan and is striving to secure its general 
adoption. 

Since the formation of this Association, fifteen 
years ago, a great change has been going on in 
our country in methods of construction, as well 
as in other matters of library economy. This 
result has been brought about by papers which 
have been read and discussions held at the meet- 



SAJV FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



ings of the Association. All the library buildings 
which have been erected in our country during the" 
past ten years and they have been many 
give evidence, with two exceptions, of judicious 
progress and of the influence of our Association. 
The exceptions are the unfinished structures of 
the Boston Public Library and of the Library of 
Congress. If there be anything in either of these 
buildings which has been approved of in this 
Association I have not discovered it. The Presi- 
dent of the Boston Public Library expressly 
stated that its new building was planned without 
consulting his own or any other librarian. The 
result has been an " Iliad of woes " to the trus- 
tees, the city government, the architect, and the 
tax-payers, and the end is not yet. That library 
has no representative with us at this meeting, and 
yet it was one of the leading supporters of the 
Association in earlier years, when Dr. Winsor and 
later Dr. Chamberlain were its librarians. Dr. 
Winsor would be with us today representing 
Harvard University Library if he had not just 
returned from a protracted European tour. Neither 
has the Library of Congress any representative 
here, and its librarian was formerly one of our 
most prominent members. The plans of the new 
building of that library have been earnestly and _, 
sharply criticised at our meetings and never 
defended by a librarian. Hence the absence of 
its chief official is accounted for. The discussions 
of the original plans of that structure have been 
beneficial, for they defeated the scheme and saved 
the country many million dollars. 

The subject had been incidentally treated earlier, 
but the first general discussion concerning library 
buildings took place at the meeting at Washington, 
in February, 1881, where I had the honor of read- 
ing a paper on the subject. At the same meeting 
Mr. J. L. Smithmeyer read a paper on the same 
subject, and brought out for the first time his 
plans for the new building of the library of Con- 
gress. Both these papers appear side by side in 
the Library journal for that year ; and mine was 
printed with drawings by the Bureau of Educa- 
tion and the American architect. Mr. Smith- 
meyer made no estimate of the cost of his build- 
ing ; but architects who examined the plans placed 
the cost at fifteen millions, and some of them 
higher. 

The Congress Committee on the Library 
accepted Mr. Smithmeyer's plans and urged Con- 
gress to make an appropriation for beginning the 
construction. A strong opposition arose in the 
House, partly on account of its being a build- 



ing devised for show rather than for legitimate 
and convenient library use, but chiefly on 
account of the immense and unknown 
cost involved. The measure was discussed 
from time to time with considerable feeling 
and personality, and it went over from session to 
session without final action. At one time a motion 
made by Mr. Holman of Indiana was carried, 
that the cost of the building should not exceed 
two millions, which made the use of Mr. Smith- 
meyer's plans impossible. After further delay, 
without a change of this general character, were 
cut down and modified with the intention of bring- 
ing the expense within four millions. The limit 
was later raised to six millions, and the work 
of construction was begun under Mr. Smithmeyer 
as architect. He was soon relieved, and the work 
was placed with full power under General Casey, 
engineer of the War Department. General Casey 
made the judicious appointment of Mr. Bernard R. 
Green as superintendent and engineer, who has 
made modifications and improvements in the plans 
committed to him. It will be a better building than it 
promised to be under Mr. Smithmeyer's charge ; 
but will be far from what the average American 
librarian regards as an ideal library structure. 

Allow me to state briefly some of the objections 
to plans of that building. The main structure, 
which measures on the outside 470 by 338 feet, 
incloses a quadrangle, in the centre of which is an 
octagonal reading-room 140 feet in diameter, with 
very high ceiling, and surmounted by a dome. In 
this reading-room are book-cases, and from it 
radiate into the open area of the quadrangle 
book-stacks which are nine stories high. Every 
one who has visited Washington in summer is 
aware that the climate is very warm it is hot. 
Some visitors make the expression stronger than 
that. (Laughter.) The reports of the Naval 
Observatory show that the mercury in the sun 
at Washington often stands from 160 to 165 
degrees. A piece of iron at that temperature is 
too hot for the hand to hold without pain. The 
corridors of the book-stacks are to be lighted by 
skylights in the roof. Imagine the heat there 
must be in the stacks and the reading-room shut 
up in the quadrangle, with high walls on the four 
sides and cut off from the natural circulation of 
air ! What a time the readers will have with the 
sun at 165 degrees blazing down into that quad- 
rangle ! We may be told that the terrors of such 
heat to the readers and the books will be obviated 
by mechanical circulation. The success of this 
remedy seems to me improbable. Is that good 



FOURTH SESSION. 



99 



construction which shuts out the essential por- 
tions of the library from the natural air currents ? 
Excessive heat is the great enemy of books. 
Other points of criticism on these plans may 
appear later in my general remarks. The fact is 
the American Library Association did not begin 
its work soon enough. If it had started in five 
years earlier and taken up the examination and* 
discussion of library construction, Mr. Smith- 
meyer and his scheme would never have had a 
hearing in Congress. The erection of the two 
great library buildings at Washington and Boston 
furnished the most favorable opportunities for 
showing practical and sensible progress in ideas, 
and what library architecture should be; but, 
unfortunately, both have failed in producing 
model buildings. 

When the American Library Association began 
its work, all the chief library buildings of the 
country were constructed on the same principles 
Harvard College Library, Boston Public Library, 
Boston Athenaeum, Astor Library, Baltimore Pea- 
body Institute, Congress Library, Cincinnati Pub- 
lic Library, and many others. The same design 
may be seen in every part of Europe. It is the 
gothic ecclesiastical style, and has been the 
common form for library buildings for the last 
four or five centuries. During the middle ages 
the church was the conservator of letters and 
learning. Its libraries, composed chiefly of relig- 
ious books, were put in religious buildings planned 
after the style of its gothic cathedrals, and like 
cathedrals, were not heated. Later the secular 
libraries adopted the same construction ; and so 
the fashion came down through the centuries to 
our time as the only correct library style. There 
is no necessary or logical connection between 
library arid ecclesiastical architecture, and it is 
probable that the last of this class of buildings 
has been erected in this country. The prominent 
features of this style are briefly these : Two rows 
of columns supporting a clear story which takes 
in light on both sides, the open nave between the 
columns, and aisles between the columns and the 
walls. The lofty nave is used as a reading-room, 
and the aisles for shelving books in galleries from 
four, six, or more stories high. As the clear story 
admits but little light, some of the buildings have 
a large lantern or skylight in the roof. In our 
northern climate these rooms must be warmed in 
winter, and it is desirable that they should be cool 
in summer. In winter we provide radiators, or 
turn in a volume of hot air from furnaces in the 
cellar. That air, being lighter than the cool air 



in the room, rises to the ceiling like a balloon. 
Hence the temperature becomes very hot in the 
upper strata where heat is not needed, while it is 
cool near the floor where it is needed. In order 
to get the proper warmth near the floor, it is 
necessary to overheat the upper strata, and this 
excessive heat destroys the bindings of books 
which are stored there. A test with a thermom- 
eter will show that the temperature in such a 
room increases one degree for every foot of eleva- 
tion above the floor. Leather is a substance 
which will not stand excessive heat, and it begins 
to deteriorate when the temperature is higher 
than is comfortable to ourselves. Books cannot 
live where we cannot live, and should be shelved 
near the floor where we live and are comfortable, 
but never in galleries. This injury to books by 
heat goes on in rooms which are not as high as 
those I have named ; even on the high shelves in 
book-cases in private houses. The reading-room 
of the Boston Athenaeum is only twenty feet high 
and has but one gallery. If you go into that 
gallery and examine the books which have been 
stored there for some years, you will find your 
clothes covered with a red powder, which is the 
ashes of the bindings destroyed by excessive heat. 
In winter you will also find the temperature 
uncomfortably hot. It will be readily conceived 
what the heat must be in winter in galleries 
and it is the same with stacks four, five, or six 
stories high, and especially in the Congressional 
building, where the stacks are nine stories high. 
The alternative is not to heat these buildings in 
winter, which will be very inconvenient for readers. 
My remedy is in the construction, and is very 
simple. Do not have high rooms; have no gal- 
leries ; and shelve the books in a single tier of 
book-cases on the floor, and not higher than a 
person of average stature can reach any book 
without step or ladder. 

Another objection to the common construction 
of which I have spoken is the annoyance of climb- 
ing stairs from one story and gallery to another. 
This is the most tiresome, wearing, and unhealthy 
exercise a human being can take. Years ago an 
ingenious person in charge of a penitentiary in Eng- 
land invented the treadmill. He found that by 
putting lazy criminals upon a rotating wheel they 
would have to keep moving or they would fall 
into a pit. He found also that the apparatus fur- 
nished an economical power for propelling machin- 
ery, and that he had made a great discovery. The 
treadmill was introduced into other penitentiaries ; 
but it turned out that the criminals who were exer- 



100 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



cised thereby became ill. They had pulmonary 
trouble, their breath was short, they had sciatica, 
and became lame. This result was so common 
that a public investigation by scientific men was 
ordered, and the whole trouble was traced to that 
infernal treadmill that constant going up stairs 
for that is the essential principle of a treadmill. 
They also found it to be the most uneconomical 
mode of expending human energy, for only eleven 
per cent of the energy which a man can expend on 
a level and without injury to himself can be utilized 
on a treadmill. The government, therefore, 
expelled the treadmill from the prisons of England 
as a barbarism, a cruel and unusual punishment. 
It is not to our credit that the principle is still 
found in American libraries as an exercise good 
enough for runners and attendants. In the Boston 
Public Library young girls were first used to run up 
and down stair*, and they soon gave out. Boys 
have since been employed as runners. Boys can 
stand almost anything in the'way of abuse and live, 
and when a boy drops out of the ranks, lame and 
crippled, another poor boy, with perhaps a mother 
dependent on him, is waiting to take his place. 
President Gilman gave the name of " statistical 
devil " to crankism in statistics. For the fiend 
we now have under consideration the name 
" treadmill devil " is appropriate, which, on the 
score of humanity, ought to be turned out of all 
the libraries. By abolishing galleries and not 
introducing stacks I have made the barbarism 
unnecessary. 

The nave of the conventional and mediaeval 
reading-room, as I have stated, is used as a read- 
ing-room, and it is the most inappropriate place in 
the world for such a purpose. The reader needs 
quiet and to be let alone, and they ire constantly 
disturbed by visitors walking around among them 
and perhaps talking. This is usually the show- 
room, and is made as elegant as possible for the 
purpose of attracting visitors who have no purpose 
to study. If such a building be not fire-proof it is 
the most conbustible of structures, and if fire- 
proof it is needlessly expensive. The style admits 
of no accommodations for carrying on the adminis- 
trative work of the library, the selection and 
ordering of books, the receiving, the cataloguing, 
and preparing them for the shelves. Very little 
of this work was done in the middle ages, and 
hence there was no need to provide for it. 

The tendency in late years, especially in college 
and university libraries, has been to adopt the 
stack system a series of iron book-cases, one 
above the other, from five to nine stories high, 



and accessible by galleries. Compactness and the 
capacity of storing a large number of books in a 
limited spaee are regarded as the chief advantages 
of this construction. The merits of this system 
have never so impressed me that I was ready to 
adopt it or recommend it to others. In the case 
of colleges where it has been adopted there was 
no occasion for economy in ground space, as the 
building was to be built on a campus where there 
were many acres of unoccupied ground. I am 
not satisfied that there is either financial economy 
or convenience to readers in the plan. On the 
other hand, it seems to me to have some very 
notable disadvantages. The stacks I have seen 
do not meet one's aesthetic idea of how books 
ought to be treated. Inside trie walls the structure 
looks like a model prison with tiers of cells rising 
one above the other, and without an incident of 
beauty or cheerfulness to relieve the sombre 
picture. The galleries are narrow and not in- 
viting, the light is uncertain and insufficient, and 
diminishes as you enter the stack. If the stack- 
room be heated in winter you have the " heat 
fiend" in the upper galleries. In summer this 
fiend there holds undisturbed possession. If you 
climb the stairs from gallery to gallery the " tread- 
mill devil " is at your heels. The stack with 
which I am most familiar is that of Harvard 
University, the first which was constructed. Be- 
sides my own observations I have the concurrent 
testimony of several of my assistants who have 
been employed in that library. The heat in sum- 
mer in the upper galleries is excessive. The light 
in the galleries is generally poor, and in the lower 
ones the numbers and titles of books cannot be 
read in cloudy weather or after three o'clock in 
the afternoon. The galleries are not convenient 
or light enough for the consultation of books. I 
have never met a person who had used or been 
employed in the library who spoke well of that 
stack. 

Another form of stack is now coming to the 
front ; and, if I am correctly informed, it is pro- 
posed to introduce it into two public libraries in 
that portion of the West where I reside. We 
shall probably hear its merits extolled in this dis- 
cussion. It is not the ordinary stack from four or 
six stories high, but a three-story stack a little 
devil with the second story on the level of the 
delivery room, the first story being below and the 
third story above that level, so that the attendant 
in any event can have only one flight to climb. 
This is better than having two or more flights ; 
but it is better still to have no flights to climb, and 



FOURTH SESSION. 



101 



to have all the books in the circulating department 
on a level with the delivery counters. A person 
may ascend stairs a few times a day without appar- 
ent injury; but when often repeated the exertion 
becomes wearisome and positively injurious to 
health. On account of the general introduction of 
elevators, stairs are more unusual and more of a 
nuisance than formerly. Physicians state that in 
cities where little of dwelling houses is on the 
ground floor and much in the air, the health of 
women is undermined by stairs. Many years ago, 
when I had charge of the Mercantile Library in 
Boston, a delivery counter was put in which was 
six inches too high, and there was a step of that 
height for the attendants to stand upon when 
changing books. A strong, healthy man, who had 
been in the library for several years, was in service 
at the delivery counter. In less than a year after 
putting in that step his health began to fail, he 
was lame, had sciatica, and the same symptoms the 
treadmill prisoners in England exhibited. We did 
not suspect the cause, and sent him away to recu- 
perate. He came back all right and went to 
work ; but the old troubles came on again and he 
had to leave. Taking up other work, his health 
was perfectly restored. Another person took his 
place in the library, and in about six months he 
was affected in the same way. Since my attention 
has been directed to the subject of library con- 
struction, I have no doubt that the troubles of 
these men were brought on by that one step which 
their duties required them to ascend constantly 
during the day. The work of attendants in our 
libraries, who are generally women, is now very 
fatiguing, even when they work on a level with the 
delivery counters; and it is a question worth the 
consideration of a Humane Society whether it is 
justifiable to burden them further with the cruelty 
of climbing stairs, even if it be only a single flight. 
Another objection I have to a three-deck stack 
is that the galleries cannot be sufficiently lighted. 
Light has the peculiarity that it always moves in 
straight lines, and will not turn a corner unless it 
be reflected. No high light, that is, light from the 
sky, which is the only effective light, reaches any 
part of the interior of the stack, for it is cut off by 
the floor of the gallery above. The only light 
taken in, therefore, is the horizontal light reflected 
from the opposite side of the street ; it may be a 
dingy brick or stone building which gives off little 
reflection in clear weather, and on cloudy days 
scarcely any. The tunnel between the book-cases, 
from 20 to 25 feet long, is to be lighted, if at all, 
by this weak horizontal reflection, and through a 



window with an opening of about six by two and 
a half feet, I do not believe the stack can be so 
lighted. It may be lighted by electricity, and so 
may any dark room ; but to suggest this alterna- 
tive is a confession of weakness in the scheme. 
No light is so effective and essential in a library as 
natural light. It is a sufficient reason for condemn- 
ing any plan of library construction which does 
not furnish an abundance of natural illumination. 

I believe in shelving books in a single tier of 
cases not more than eight feet high, in rooms of 
moderate height, from fourteen to sixteen feet, and 
with no galleries. The space above the book- 
cases is needed for the distribution of light and 
the circulation of air. These book rooms are 
always light. When 250,000 volumes can be 
shelved in this manner, in a space one hundred 
feet square, or on 10,000 square feet of floor 
space, it seems unnecessary to talk about stacks. 
It is desirable to have all the books in the library 
on one floor ; but if there be not space enough, 
take two, three or four floors, and have an elevator 
running to each. Classify the books into depart- 
ments, and assign these departments to the several 
floors as will be most convenient to'readers. When 
a person wants a book he goes to the department 
where it belongs. This principle is applied in the 
large retail stores in every city, and is regarded as 
a convenience to all concerned. I have never seen 
it applied to a library, but see no reason why it is 
not practicable. It may be asked what classifica- 
tion of departments I would make for the several 
stories. I have not given special thought to the 
matter, but will throw out some suggestions. As 
prose, fiction, and juvenile reading form nearly 
three-quarters of the circulation in popular libra- 
ries, we will assign these books and readers to the 
first story. In the second story we will place his- 
tory and biography, travels and geography, 
poetry and drama, essays and miscellanies, 
language, French, German, and Italian liter- 
ature. In the third story we will place fine 
arts, practical and useful arts, natural sciences, 
religion, philosophy. In the fourth story, politi- 
cal economy, social science, education, politics 
and government, public documents. 

I am not prepared to say that I would not under 
any circumstances recommend the construction of 
a stack ; but I will say that I have never seen an 
instance when I thought it advisable. If we can- 
not get the thing we want, it is good policy to get 
the best thing we can. I should not like to go to 
sea in a bowl ; but if it were necessary to go and I 
could get nothing better, I think I should try it. 



IO2 



FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



I have said nothing about the plans of the New- 
berry Library which I fully explained at our last 
meeting at the White Mountains, and I have omit- 
ted speaking of them now because few members 
here are interested in a purely reference library 
where no books are circulated. I may say in brief 
that our method is to classify books into depart- 
ments such as Fine Arts, Practical and Useful 
Arts, History, Political Economy, and Social Sci- 
ence, Religion, etc., and to give each of these 
departments a separate room, where the books are 
read as well as shelved. We begin with a few 
departments, and as the number of volumes 
increase and more space is needed, the depart- 
ments are subdivided and each of the subdivisions 
are given separate rooms. For instance, when the 
room for History is becoming full, the American 
history is taken out and assigned to another room. 
We have a large number of rooms, and when these 
are occupied, which will be some years hence, 
there is opportunity for extending the structure 
and providing more rooms. It is, in short, many 
special libraries under one roof and one adminis- 
tration, and each having attendants familiar with 
the specialty which the room contains. The 
library in temporary quarters has now about 80,- 
ooo, and the new building is in progress of con- 
struction. The reference library which Mr. Sutro 
is collecting and generously proposes to give to 
the citizens of San Francisco, will have the same 
general character as the Newberry Library, of 
Chicago, and in the building he will construct 
for it some of the principles described may be 
applied ; but for ordinary and circulating libraries 
they have no adaptation. 

The PRESIDENT. In regard to going up and 
down stairs, I found that on account of econ- 
omy of space I must have a stack in the new 
building just put up in Worcester, and I have a 
little elevator running through its four stories. 
I do not mean that the young ladies shall run 
up and down stairs at all, but that they shall use 
the elevator. 

Mr. WHELPLEY. I was very much in hopes, 
before the convention closes, to have Dr. Poole 
tell us who was responsible for the Cincinnati 
Public Library. That appears to be a library in 
which all the bad features which are spoken of 
from time to time are grouped. We have had the 
reduction of the bindings to powder carried on 
probably as successfully as it could be done 
anywhere, or more so; and not only the 
reduction once to powder, but the books have 
been rebound and have again undergone the 



same process. We have had the climbing of six 
stories of iron stairs, adding to that another story 
between the two roofs, and all the remarks that 
have been made by Dr. Poole, in regard to the 
health of those who are required to make a tread- 
mill journey from day to day, I could supplement. 

The PRESIDENT. You have no elevators ? 

Mr. WHELPLEY. We have no elevators and I 
cannot see where we could have them. 

The PRESIDENT. Yours is not the stack sys- 
tem? 

Mr. WHELPLEY. No, it is the old cathedral 
system. We introduced the electric light and it 
has purified the atmosphere. I can see that it has 
stopped the deterioration of the books in the 
upper stories. The same rules are to be applied 
to the health of books as to the health of men. 
We want less heat and better ventilation, to pre- 
serve the books, and I think the use of the electric 
light will influence this. I should like to have a 
little of the searching criticism of Dr. Poole and 
others who know about the Cincinnati Public 
Library, for I think it would produce a beneficial 
effect and probably lead towards a new library. 

Dr. POOLE. When I was called to Cincinnati, 
in 1869, the lot had been bought, the plans of the 
building had been made, and the superstructure 
was already put in, so that I had nothing to do 
with the plans of construction. Besides, if I had 
had the opportunity, I do not think I should 
have made changes, for my attention had not 
been called to the subject of construction at that 
time. 

The PRESIDENT. I suppose that everybody 
thinks that Dr. Poole's plans for the arrangement 
of his library building are excellent ; but most of us 
believe that we must have stacks for various consid- 
erations, and I want to point out two or three facts. 
One is that you avoid the treadmill by having an 
elevator ; another is that, although you may not 
leave space above your stacks, yet, with' the elec- 
tric light and ventilation, you can prevent largely 
the deterioration of books. 

Dr. POOLE. Does the attendant run the ele- 
vator ? 

The PRESIDENT. I have a little hydraulic 
elevator running through the different stories of 
the stack, which the attendants run for them- 
selves. Then we have two other large elevators 
for other purposes. 

Mr. BOWKER. May I put in a word? The 
development now is in the direction of the appli- 
cation of the same current which supplies the 
light to running the elevators. It will be a very 



FOURTH SESSION. 



103 



important development in library architecture, so 
that you will not have to use hydraulic power. 
You can improve in the matter of light by putting 
windows opposite every column of the stack and 
having them as high as you can, and by white- 
washing or painting the walls of the buildings 
opposite you can do a great deal to get in light 
even in the city. Then you have these electric 
lights with long hose in the middle of each set of 
shelves that are long enough to be carried to the 
end of your stack. These are ways in which you 
get over the difficulties in a stack, and most of us 
believe that a stack is the form that we must have 
in our libraries. 

Miss HEWINS. In the conditions of our build- 
ing in Hartford we have two problems to con. 
sider. One is the circulating library, where we 
have the stack on the ground floor, and the other 
is the Watkinson library of reference, where the 
" alcove system " is to be followed, so that persons 
coming into the hall can see at once that beautiful 
collection of books. I think that this is some- 
thing to be considered. 

The PRESIDENT. Will the public be allowed 
to go to the shelves ? 

Miss HEWINS. That has not been settled, but 
I think that it will be allowed in the reference 
library. 

The PRESIDENT. That is, in the alcoves ? 

Miss HEWINS. No, all the work at present is 
done in the middle room. Arrangements will be 
made for sitting in the alcove ; there will be a 
window put in. 

The PRESIDENT. I will call upon Mr. Cutter. 
We must all be brief in order to finish by half- 
past eleven o'clock. 

Mr. CUTTER. I shall have to lead your 
thoughts in a little different direction from that 
which they have lately been following and take up 
another side of the subject. When in the Buffalo 
convention we were considering whether it was 
worth while to have a school for librarians, I remem 
ber thinking, and I believe saying, that it was even 
more important to have one for library trustees, 
and perhaps there is no matter in which it is more 
desirable that the trustees should be instructed 
than that of library architecture. Every other 
mistake which a Board of Trustees may make in 
regard to the administration of a library can be 
corrected, but a mistake in a building it is almost 
impossible to correct. To re-catalogue your 
library, if catalogued on a wrong principle, would 
be very expensive ; still more expensive would it 
be to re-classify it ; but to re-build is ruinous. Yet 



judging from the results one would suppose that 
many building committees did not know that there 
is any difference between the good building and 
the bad building, from a library point of view. 
Their attention is almost always centered on the 
appearance of the edifice ; they want (very prop- 
erly) to make a structure which will be an honor 
to the city. Even from a library point of view 
that is very desirable, beciuse the library building 
ought to be attractive to draw people into it. 

Nothing is to be said against that. But they do 
not feel what we feel strongly, that the success of 
the library, in a very great degree, depends upon 
the adaptation of the building to its purpose. 
They do not understand that the cost of running 
the library will depend largely upon whether it is 
suited to its purpose, and whether it is constructed 
so as to admit of economy of administration. In 
many of our libraries this is an extremely impor- 
tant matter. Suppose a city has a certain sum 
given to it for a building on condition that it fnr- 
nishes the money to buy the books and run the 
library afterwards. It will make a great difference 
in the annual expense whether the library is so 
built that the attendants go for each book an 
average of 50, or of 100, or of 150 feet; whether 
it is so planned that it requires a great deal or a 
very little supervision, a great many or a very few 
attendants in the different rooms. 

Of course it is not feasible to have a school for 
building committees. The only thing we can do 
is to get as many trustees as possible to attend 
these conventions and listen to what is said in 
regard to library architecture. We must work up 
public opinion, so far as we can, as to the superi- 
ority of a good library building over a bad library 
building. 

Mr. Soule has given us a most excellent state- 
ment of what is desirable in library buildings. 
There is another side to the question ; one may 
make a statement of what not to do. I could not 
pretend to do it with his fullness, but taking my 
own library as an example, I can indicate several 
points which I advise you should avoid. The 
Boston Athenaeum is remarkable in this, that 
although it was not designed by an architect, it 
was for many years held to be one of the hand- 
somest buildings in Boston ; and although it was 
not planned by one who knew anything about 
building libraries, and I do not think the advice of 
any librarian was asked in regard to it probably 
no librarian could have given good advice at that 
time, forty years ago yet it has served the 
purpose of a library fairly well. But there are 



IO4 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



several features which stand much in the way 
of good work and of comfort, and make it more 
expensive to run the library. 

We have very low windows, their tops six or 
eight feet below the ceiling. The consequence is 
that the whole room is badly lighted and the upper 
part is simply a reservoir of darkness. Of course, 
according to the modern doctrine, we ought to put 
no books up there. But what are we to do when 
the lower shelves are full and many have double 
rows of books upon them ? We must put books 
in the galleries though we cannot see them when 
they are there. 

We have the alcove system, and a window in 
each alcove. The window is not as wide as the 
alcove, leaving a wall space at the side. It is 
necessary to have shelves on that wall space. The 
result is that when one wants to get a book by the 
side of the window the light dazzles one's eyes and 
no light falls upon the book ; and as the public go 
to our shelves, they are subject to the same dis- 
comforts as we. 

We have high shelves, ten feet high, compelling 
the use of ladders. Ordinary light ladders are 
dangerous ; people tumble off of them. Solid step 
ladders which can be rolled around occasion more 
or less loss of time. 

The railings of our galleries as originally put in 
were so low that many persons complained of 
dizziness, and we were obliged to raise them. 

We came near having some very objectionable 
stairs. There was a room sixty feet long, with 
galleries; it was entered at the west end; the 
staircase to the gallery was put at the east end. 
A person going into the room in search of a book 
at the west end of the gallery, though it might be 
almost within reach as he entered, must go sixty 
feet to the end of the room, sixty feet back to the 
west end of the gallery, and then retrace all those 
steps. The borrower, for whom he was getting 
the book, had to wait while he walked forty yards 
unnecessarily. I did not see this design before it 
was carried into execution. When I did, it was 
onlv necessary to point out to the arcbitect the 
result of his plan to get him to put another stair- 
case in the west corner near the door. I have 
seen almost exactly the same thing done in two 
other libraries, showing the foolishness of having 
plans made and accepted by men who do not 
know what library work is. 

We have, as I said, the alcove arrangement, 
which obliges us to go twice as far as there is any 
need of, because a large part of the books might 
just as well have been stored in a compact stack. 



One feature, which would generally be objec- 
tionable, I like. All our work is done in public 
the cataloging, classification, collating, pasting, 
everything. This arrangement brings myself and 
my assistants into closer contact with the public, 
and I think it worth while to endure all the 
inconvenience for the sake of that. 

Mr. ROWELL. Would you recommend it ? 
Mr. CUTTER. Not for all libraries, but it 
suits us. I should certainly urge that there should 
be proper rooms for all mechanical work, and that 
books necessary for cataloging should be close 
to the catalogs. 

We have no space whatever where a teacher 
can meet her class and look over large books or 
engravings. Our library is much used in that 
way. Teacher and pupils have to crowd into a 
small room where the art books are kept. Some- 
times two classes are there at the same time, with 
resulting confusion. From my own experience 
one of the most important things in a library of 
any size is that there should be some place where 
a class can be met by their teachers, and not 
interfere with the regular work of the library; yet 
I have heard of a library just built at a cost of 
$250,000 that has no class-rooms for the public 
and no working-rooms for the force. 

These evils that I have pointed out may seem 
to you small matters. And each by itself is ; 
but taken together, and each one working its 
little hindrance or annoyance many times a day, 
they produce an amount of delay and discomfort 
that cannot be neglected. I doubt if it is too 
much to say that by reason of them every real 
scholar who goes to the library is prevented of 
something that he might be able to accomplish, 
or is obliged to spend more time about it than he 
need in a well-planned building. Surely it is 
worth while to avoid such a result by a little 
forethought. 

FIFTH SESSION. 
(WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 14.) 
Owing to the lateness of the hour of the return 
from Stanford University, in order to give mem- 
bers time to dine, the President did not call the 
meeting to order until 8.30 P. M. 
President GREEN read his paper on 

LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 

(Seep. 22.) 

Miss HEWINS. When I first went to Hart- 
ford, sixteen years ago, the reproach was thrown 
at the library by the principal of a large school, 
that it was of no benefit whatever to his pupils, for 



FIFTH SESSION. 



105 



the only use that they made of it was to read 
trashy books, which lowered their standing in 
school. So far as I know, however, he never made 
any suggestions as to the better reading to be found 
in the library. We did not try to do much work 
in the schools until about seven years ago, when 
an old teacher resigned, and a young man trained 
in modern methods of teaching took his place. 
He at once began to take an interest in the pupils' 
reading, and imparted an entirely new spirit to his 
school. He took a subscription at the library 
which gave him ten or twelve books at a time, to 
be kept in the school room. The pupils have ever 
since made a record of what they read there and at 
home, and every winter this record is sent me for 
notes and comments. I have observed steady 
growth in power of expression besides marked 
improvement in the reading of the successive 
classes. After a while one or two of the other 
schools began to take books. Last year the 
amount was raised to make our library free, but 
the building is still unfinished, and we charge a 
nominal sum for subscription in order to keep 
away a larger crowd of readers than we can handle. 
After the larger sums for the library had been 
subscribed smaller gifts were called for, and the 
school children, even in the kindergartens, gave so 
generously in proportion to their means that 
we decided to offer them the first use of 
the free library. Last winter, at a special meet- 
ing of our Board of Directors, it was decided to 
spend a hundred and fifty dollars for duplicates of 
interesting books on American history and add 
them to what we already had for the use of the 
schools. The duplicate books are Abbott's Miles 
Standish, Mrs. Austin's Standish of Standish, 
Brooks' Abraham Lincoln, Mrs. Catherwood's 
Romance of Dollard, Coffin's Boys of '76 and 
Building the Nation, Cooke's Stories of the Old 
Dominion, Cooper's Lionel Lincoln and Wept of 
Wishton-Wish, Eggleston's Montezuma, Pocahon- 
tas, and Tecumseh, Fiske's Civil Government in the 
United States and War of Independence, Goss' 
Jed, Hale's Philip Nolan's Friends and George 
Washington, Miss Hale's Mexico, Harte's Thank- 
ful Blossom, Henty's By Right of Conquest, True 
to the Old Flag, and With Wolfe in Canada, Mrs. 
Jackson's Ramona, Markham's Colonial Days, 
Munroe's Flamingo Feather, Scudder's George 
Washington, Mrs. Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, 
Thompson's Green Mountain Boys, and Mrs. 
Wright's Children's Stories in American History 
and Children's Stories in American Progress. We 
have in our bulletin for July, 1891, a list, arranged 



under periods, of all the books in the library which 
we recommend for school use in connection with 
United States history, and we have another now 
out of print, of the best books of travel for refer- 
ence in geography. Sixteen schools use our books. 
Some of them are two or three miles out in the 
country, away from even a Sunday school library, 
and, in order that the pupils may form a habit of 
reading, we send them interesting stories, besides 
books directly connected with their studies. 

Mr. BRETT'S paper on 

THE CLEVELAND LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS 

was then read by Miss Allan. 
(See p. 30.) 

Mr. UTLEY. Some three years ago an arrange- 
ment was made between the Board of Education 
of our city and the public library commission, by 
which the Board of Education became responsible 
for the preservation and safe return to the library 
of books specially procured for use in the schools, 
and they also provided transportation between the 
library and the school houses. A number of boxes 
were furnished in which the books are placed. 
The principals of the schools made the selection 
of books. The high school grades are provided 
with a list of something like 1,500 books. The 
books were purchased expressly for this use and 
were not taken from the library shelves ; they 
were in all cases duplicates, so that the library was 
left with its usual number of copies to be used in 
the ordinary manner. In the high school grades 
the number of copies of each book was designated by 
he principal and ran from a single book to as high 
as fifty copies, depending on the size of classes and 
the extent of use desired. When a subject is 
taken up upon which special reading is required 
by the teachers, these books are called for by the 
principal and sent to the school. When the class 
passes beyond that study and a new series is 
required, the old list is returned to the library and 
a new list is sent out. 

In the grammar schools in the 7th and 8th 
grades we have children from ten to thirteen years 
of age. In these grades the number of copies of 
a book is usually twenty, and the custom is to 
make up the list about once in five weeks, sending 
out the books seven or eight times a year. The 
team comes to the library for the books, and they 
are all sent out at the same time, generally occu- 
pying about two days in making the delivery. At 
the end of the five weeks the books are returned 
to the library to be redistributed and sent out 



io6 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



again. The same books do not go back to a 
school ordinarily more frequently than once in 
two years. 

These books are treated in different schools in 
different manner. In some they are read in the 
school houses, being given to the pupils when 
they have accomplished their lessons or have con- 
ducted themselves in such a manner as to merit 
some reward. In most schools, however, they are 
circulated as they are circulated from the library; 
that is, the children are allowed to take them 
home to be read. From records kept at some 
schools it appeared that every one of these books 
is read about three times during this period of five 
weeks. In the 5th and 6th grades, there being a 
larger number of children, a larger number of 
books was prepared. In some instances 100 
copies of the books are furnished, and they are 
circulated in the same manner as in the 7th and 
8th grades. This plan has been in operation 
about three years, and I think it is eminently 
successful. 

Of course, very much depends upon the teachers 
themselves ; if they are not interested the children 
are not likely to become so, but I notice that the 
plan is becoming more and more popular, as time 
passes and as teachers and children see its advan- 
tages. The effect is seen already in the circula- 
tion of books from the library itself ; a decided 
improvement in the character of books called for 
by young people is manifest. 

Miss KELSO. Do you permit the pupils to take 
books from the library, as well as from the 
school, giving them a library card at the same 
time ? 

Mr. UTLEY. The pupils may have library 
cards, and many of them do, and go to the 
library and borrow books, in addition to those 
which they get from the school ; but there is no 
arrangement for distributing books to the schools 
upon special cards held by teachers, as is done 
in some libraries. I think that was mentioned by 
Mr. Brett and some others. The plan of distrib- 
uting the books in the schools is a distinct 
arrangement, separate and apart from the ordi- 
nary circulation of library books upon cards. 
Children under fourteen years of age do not have 
library cards in their own name, but they may use 
the cards of their parents We give books when the 
cards are presented, to any child, no matter how 
small. 

Mr. GREEN. In Worcester we have a blue 
card which we give to persons too young to have 
the kind of card usually given out, but whom we 



think it desirable should have cards, and they may 
take books out on those cards. The attendants 
are all instructed to look after the reading of per- 
sons having the blue cards, so as to see that they 
get books adapted to their age, and good books. 
We should like to hear from Dr. Linderfelt as to 
what has been done in Milwaukee in this line. 

Dr. LINDERFELT. I have very little to report 
unlike what has already been said. There may be 
some slight difference in the methods used in our 
library, but the results are substantially the same. 
Our system of distributing books directly to the 
schools through the teachers was inaugurated 
something like four years ago, for the purpose of 
reaching a large class of the community to whom 
the existence of the library was practically 
unknown. The method which we employ in carry- 
ing on this work is this : The teachers of any of 
the upper grades in a public school either 
come to the library and select for themselves, or 
send into us a list of a number of books sufficient 
to go around among the scholars under their charge, 
generally thirty to sixty books each. These are 
then sent from the library to the school, and from 
the school back to the library, at the expense of the 
library, the work of transfer being attended to by 
the person employed for delivering books every 
day to the regularly established delivery stations. 
The books are kept by the teacher two months, 
which is twice as long as any other books can be 
kept out of the library, and then returned ; but, 
of course, there is nothing to prevent the teacher 
returning them before the time or from taking the 
same books, or a part of them, back again, if he 
choose, though, as a rule, it has been found that the 
time allowed is amply sufficient. While the books 
are at the schools they are given out by the teacher 
in the same manner as at the library, so that the 
school practically, for the time being, becomes a 
branch of the public library. No child in the 
school can take home any of these books unless 
provided with a regular library card, in no way dif- 
fering from the card used at the library itself. This 
prevents drawing more than one book at a time, 
whether from the school or from the library, the 
only restriction being that a book drawn from a 
school must be returned at the same school. The 
teacher, by this means, is relieved from all personal 
responsibility as to the library books that he gives 
out at his school, since, as soon as a book is drawn 
from the teacher on a regular library card, the 
father of the child, or whoever else serves as his 
guarantor, becomes responsible for the safe return 
of the book. With each book we furnish a card, 



SIXTH SESSION. 



107 



which is a fac simile of the charging slip used in the 
library, but of a different color, and which the 
teacher uses for charging the book each time it is 
given out. This slip is returned to the library with 
the book, and tells its own story, as to what books 
are most used and consequently need to be fur- 
nished in a number of duplicates. We have at 
various times expended $500 each time in duplicat- 
ing substantially the same list of the books 
most frequently called for, and, as the system of 
school delivery is being extended so as to include 
more and more of the lower classes and younger 
children, this duplication of books must be carried 
on contiuually. We thoroughly believe, however, 
that we can in no other way better serve the pur- 
poses for which the library has been established, 
than by furnishing a sufficient amount of the best 
literature, even if we thereby should be obliged to 
curtail the amount available for the purpose of 
what may be styled ornamental literature. 

As regards the books which the teachers select 
for use in the school room, they are generally such 
as are intimately connected with studies of the 
class, though not necessarily restricted to books 
directly discussing the subject in hand, but con- 
sist of illustrative fiction and supplementary read- 
ing of all kinds. So thoroughly is this system of 
school work now organized that if a school or a 
single teacher in a school is not making use of the 
privileges that we offer, we send our superinten- 
dent of that particular branch of the library ser- 
vice to ascertain the reason. With special refer- 
ence to this school work, there was, a few years 
ago, appointed as superintendent of the delivery 
department of the library a lady, who, while a 
teacher herself in one of the schools, had been 
found to be particularly interested in that part of 
the work and exhibited a great deal of ingenuity 
in interesting her scholars in the reading of good 
books. Thus, when a great many of her pupils 
were tardy in attendance, and every other means 
of correcting the vicious habit had failed, she 
adopted the plan of reading to the class every 
morning, for ten minutes before school com- 
menced, the then new story of Little Lord Faunt- 
leroy, on the condition that if any one were late 
the reading was postponed until the next morn- 
ing. After this had been done a few mornings 
every single scholar was present promptly ten 
minutes before school time, and it was not long 
before, in case there was danger of one being 
tardy, the other children would start out to find 
him and bring him in on time. Under this lady's 
guidance the school delivery work in Milwaukee 



has become an eminent success, and we would 
sooner think of giving up any other department 
of the library than that. 

Before sitting down I wish to mention a spec- 
ial experiment made by one of our school princi- 
pals, who made an application to the library for 
permisssion to keep 40 or 50 books during a whole 
school year, for carrying out a plan of work 
which he had conceived, outside of the ordinary 
school work. These books all related to ancient 
Greek and Roman history and were given out to 
be read in the usual way by the members of the 
highest class of his school, but every Friday after- 
noon, after school hours, the class met for an hour 
or so and discussed what they had read during 
the week. Each time three or four of them were 
required to give a resume, in their own words, of 
any passage that had impressed them favorably, 
either in its treatment of the subject or as illus- 
trating any particular phase of it. These exer- 
cises were kept up during the entire school year, 
and when at the end of the year a final exercise 
was held in public, it was astonishing to find what 
a depth of knowledge those children possessed in 
the main facts of ancient history, all of which was 
acquired outside of the regular routine. This 
year the same principal intends to take up modern 
history in the same manner, and I have no doubt 
that when his children leave school they will be 
far in advance of other children of the same age 
who have not had such training. 

Mr. FLETCHER then gave a synopsis of his 
paper on 

LIBRARY LEGISLATION. 

(See p. 31.) 

The PRESIDENT announced invitations to Oak- 
land tomorrow. 
Adjourned. 

SIXTH SESSION. 
(THURSDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 15.) 

Called to order by the PRESIDENT. 

An exhibition of articles from the Library 
Bureau of Chicago, on the platform, was 
announced. 

A letter from Miss HANCOCK, tendering some 
souvenirs of Pescadero beach in the shape of 
small bottles of variegated pebbles, was read : 
President and members of the A. L. A., assembled 

in San Francisco, Oct., i8gi: 

I spent my vacation this year at Pescadero 
beach, and became so fascinated picking up peb- 
bles that I did nothing else. As a partial result 



io8 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



of that pastime I have prepared these souvenirs for 
the members of the A. L. A., and hope that in 
your distant homes you may enjoy in looking at 
them a little bit of what I did in picking them up 
on the beach. 

Yours fraternally, 

CAROLINE G. HANCOCK. 

The thanks of the Association were extended 
to Miss Hancock. 

CONTAGIOUS DISEASES IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES, 

a paper by GARDNER M. JONES, was then read 
by Dr. WIRE, who at the end said : In conse- 
quence of the peculiar character of the library 
with which I am connected, I have had no expe- 
rience whatever in the dissemination of disease 
by my books. People with small pox and typhoid 
fever are not likely to consult books in a medical 
reference library. 

Mr. PUTNAM'S paper on 

ACCESS TO THE SHELVES 

was read by Mr. Jenks. 

(Seep. 62.) 

Mr. BRETT'S paper on the same subject was 
read by Miss Sherman. 

(Seep. 34.) 

Mr. DANA. From the day the Denver Public 
Library was opened the conduct of it has been 
based on the principle that the books and papers 
it contains are the property of the public, and that 
the institution serves the purpose of its existence 
only when those books and papers are actually 
used. 

It is not worth while, with our limited experi- 
ence, to do more than to say that our conclusions 
as to access to shelves are exactly in harmony 
with those of Mr. Putnam. The Denver Public 
Library is entirely free to any resident of the city. 
Books are lent, for the most part, on the simple 
promise bf the applicant to observe the library's 
regulations. There are, properly speaking, no 
printed rules as to the conduct of the users of the 
library, and so far, the need for them has not been 
felt. The gate in the fence which separates the 
cases from the reading tables is sometimes closed, 
but never locked. Readers who wish to use the 
reference books, which for want of space else- 
where are kept behind this fence, are asked to 
step in, and told to enter without asking the next 
time they may wish to use them. School children 
in particular are urged to come in and use the 



reference books and make themselves acquainted 
with books, guides, and indexes of all kinds. 
Book borrowers, who ask for a work not in, are 
shown the way to the shelf containing similar 
books and told to help themselves. Those who 
wish to look over the library in a general way, or 
for the purpose of acquainting themselves with its 
resources in particular lines, are given every pos- 
sible facility for doing so. Want of space makes 
it impossible to permit readers to go to the fiction 
cases, though we are confident, from experiments 
we have tried in a small way, that Mr. Putnam is 
entirely right in his conclusion as to the advisa- 
bility of so doing. 

Very few books are lost or mutilated possibly 
forty or fifty dollars' worth in two years. The 
books are disarranged, but this is a small matter, 
relatively. Probably ten persons are accomo- 
dated by access to the shelves where one is incon- 
venienced by the disarrangement. The quality of 
reading done is certainly improved by giving bor- 
rowers liberty to choose for themselves, and the 
number of books read, as well as the number of 
users of the library, are increased by the liberal 
policy pursued in its management. Our library, 
it will be seen, has so far, both in size and general 
conduct, much resembled the branch library of 
which Mr. Putnam speaks, and bears him out in 
his conclusions. 

Order, obedience to rules and regulations, 
silence, comfort or convenience of librarian and 
attendants, library traditions, all these are made to 
give way to the one essential thing the putting 
the people, for whom the library is established 
and by whom it is supported, in actual touch, in 
intimate personal relations, with that which con- 
stitutes a library, the books themselves. As it 
is true on the one hand, as Mr. Putnam says, that 
the worst sin one can commit against a library is 
to stay away from it, so, on the other hand, we 
have been of the opinion that the worst sin against 
the public the library can commit, is to deny it 
access to the books themselves. 

There is nothing sacred about a book after all ; 
it is merely a tool whose value is in its use, and we 
take pleasure in adding the evidence of our limited 
experience to the truth of the proposition that a 
good book well worn out is the best of all books, 
and in protesting that the notion that books are to 
be preserved as a sacred trust is but an unfortu- 
nate survival. 

The PRESIDENT. We should like to have a 
discussion on this subject, but as the time is lim- 
ited, I think the only way for the ladies and gen- 



SIXTH SESSION. 



109 



tlemen who are interested in the matter, is to talk 
to one another in an informal way. I will now 
call on Mr. Rowell to tell us about the 

PREHISTORIC POOLE. 

Mr. ROWELL. We have all been puzzled, I 
suppose, or some of us at least, by the question 
" Who was the original Mr. Jacobs ? " It is not a 
very intelligent man who requires to ask that 
question ; but I have found a little difficulty in 
solving the question " Who was the original 
Poole ? " 

I have in my hand an eight-page pamphlet, 
entitled " Subjects for debate, with references to 
authorities." The numbers refer' to volumes in 
the Brothers Library. It is published by John 
Edmands, of the Mercantile Library, Philadelphia. 
At the bottom of the page is " Yale College, Jan., 
1847. It consists of general topics. The first is 
" May an advocate defend a client known to be 
guilty?" the second is "Ancient and modern 
eloquence compared ; " others are " Buonaparte," 
" Aaron Burr," " Byron's Works," " Capital pun- 
ishment," "The Crusades," "The Holy Alliance," 
" Is a lie ever justifiable ? " and many others. 
Under the last heading are Wayland's Moral 
science, 301 ; Dymond's Essays ; R. Hall's Works, 
i. 96; Bacon's Essays, 13; Bentham's Works VI, 
267; New Englander, I, 184; N. E. Mag., VII, 
302. These show you at once the character of 
the little book. 

Knowing that Dr. Poole was a graduate of Yale 
College, I at once looked in the 1882 edition of 
" Poole's Index " and read in the preface, as follows : 
" Thirty-five years ago, when a student of Yale Col- 
lege, and engaged as the librarian of one of the 
library societies, I caused examination of such 
references as were accessible and arranged sub- 
jects under topics, for the preparation of the 
student. I had noticed that the contents of 
standard periodicals with which the library was 
filled were not indexed, although they were rich 
in the treatment of subjects about which inquiries 
were made." So he prepared his first index, the 
Periodical publisher, 1848, 154 pages, 500 copies; 
second edition 1853, 521 pages, 1,000 copies. In 
this preface there was no allusion to the pamphlet 
which I have here. So I wrote Dr. Poole about 
it, and received the following letter in reply : 
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY, 

CHICAGO, Jan. 31, 1888. 

Mr. ROWELL. I did not prepare " Subjects for 
debate, with reference to authorities, Yale Col- 
lege, Jan. 1847, 8 pp. 8," and I do not now recol- 



lect that I ever saw it. I did not go into the 
Brothers Library until 1847. I think it was done 
by John Edmands, now of the Philadelphia Mer- 
cantile Library, who was, in January, 1847, librarian 
of the Linonian Library, and graduated that year. 
I think I have heard him say that he had done 
something of the kind. I have just written to him 
to inquire, and when I hear from him will write to 
you. I am obliged to you for calling my attention 
to the matter. I am very sure, however, that I 
did not get my ideas from him, or this list. 
Yours very truly, 

W. F. POOLE. 

Mr. EDMANDS then wrote the following letter 
to Dr. Poole : 

THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY, 

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 3, 1888. 
MY DEAR POOLE : Alas for fame ! I have 
been flattering myself for these long years that I 
had an assured place, high upon the roll of liter- 
ary fame, as author of " Subjects for debate," and 
now it appears that the foremost man in the 
nation is ignorant of the fact. Well, such is 
life ! Yes, I did prepare it. 

And now, what about the conference number of 
the Library journal ? 

Yours sincerely, 

JOHN EDMANDS. 

I then received the following letter from the 
Newberry Library : 

NEWBERRY LIBRARY, 

CHICAGO, Feb. 6, 1888. 

Mr. J. C. ROWELL. Dear Sir : Saturday 
morning Mr. Poole fell on the ice and sprained 
his wrist; being thus temporarily deprived of the 
use of his right hand, he has requested me to reply 
to your inquiry of the 26th of January. 

John Edmands, Librarian of the Mercantile 
Library of Philadelphia, is the author of " Subjects 
for debate." 

Respectfully yours, 

ANNIE E. HUTCHINS, Assistant. 

On Feb. i6th Dr. Poole apologizes for his acci- 
dent and he says : " It is very singular that I never 
saw it; but it is. probably accounted for by the 
fact that I did not go into library work until six 
months after it appeared. I will ask Mr- 
Edmands if he has a copy. 

Yours very truly, 

W. F. POOLE. 



1 10 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



The following postal card came from Mr. 
Edmands : 

MERCANTILE LIBRARY, 

PHILADELPHIA, 2, 8, 1888. 
" I am not the fortunate possessor of that rare 
and invaluable literary work. Should be glad to 
get one. 

JOHN EDMANDS, Librarian. " 

Dr. Poole next wrote : 

NEWBERRY LIBRARY, 

CHICAGO, Feb. 23, 1888. 

"DEAR MR. ROWELL: I enclose postal from 
Mr. Edmands. You see you have got hold of 
something which is rare, and so far as now 
appears, unique. I have not made inquiry of Pro- 
fessor Van Name, of Yale University Library, but 
shall do so. 

You see, moreover, that the ' claimants ' for 
your find are increasing, that is, if you are inclined 
to part with it. If you should wish my advice, I 
should say, keep it, and put it among your 
curiosities. Yours truly, 

W. F. POOLE." 

The last letter is from Addison Van Name, 
Librarian of Yale University Library. 

NEW HAVEN, Oct. i, 1891. 
"MY DEAR MR. POOLE: I have had many 
things on my mind the past few days, and I cannot 
remember whether I answered your inquiry, as I 
fully intended to do, when it first came. At the 
risk of repeating, I beg to say that we have the 
pamphlet in question (8 pp. 8 vo). Mr. Edmands 
was the Librarian of the Brothers University 
during his senior year. 

I should 'have been glad to join the party of 
librarians who have just started for your coast, 
but it was not possible. 

Very truly yours, 

ADDISON VAN NAME." 

You are going tomorrow afternoon, I presume, 
to visit Mr. Sutro's collection, and there you will 
see some original authentic memoirs. I think this 
little book I have resurrected is quite a biblio- 
graphical memoir, and I think it is about the first 
thing of the kind on record. It differs from 
Poole's Index in this way : We have all cooperated 
together in taking a series of magazines, arrang- 
ing the topics as they occur, and writing the name 
of the article down. This list of subjects for 
debate proceeds on quite a different plan. He 
selected a list of topics which were interesting at 



that time, and then he looked through all the 
books in his library, and his magazines, and 
picked out the different articles relating to the 
different subjects. It was evidently an interest- 
ing and very valuable work. 

The PRESIDENT. Do you not think that the 
subjects which were presented for debate were 
those on which he sought references ? 

Mr. ROWELL. Possibly, but he took others, 
such as Capital Punishment, Scriptures and The- 
ology, and National Copyright they were agi- 
tating that question then. It was rather unusual 
for a thing of this kind to appear in a college cata- 
logue and it had evidently never been tried before. 

In February, 1847, it merited these words from 
the editor of the Yale Literary Magazine (page 
192): 

" We were prevented by excess of matter from 
noticing in the last number a little pamphlet com- 
piled by the librarian of the Brothers in Unity, 
entitled "Subjects for debate, with references to 
authorities." The very title is enough to insure 
it a hearty reception in this world of ours, and the 
slightest examination of it must convince every 
one of its great utility. They who have spent 
hours in guessing what books contained the desired 
information, without finding the right ones, and 
have been tempted to believe that college libraries 
had nothing but their number of volumes to rec- 
ommend them, will know how to appreciate the 
labors of the industrious compiler of the pam- 
phlet. We congratulate him on the prospect of 
immediate relief from the many and annoying 
inquiries for " Something on the Hartford Con- 
vention," " Capital Punishment," " The Tariff," 
" Thomas Jefferson," etc., etc. 

We congratulate the Society, too, on the pos- 
session of a chart which not only reveals to them 
the resources of their library, but enables each 
member to make a profitable use of them. The 
avidity with which copies have been bought up 
shows the interest taken in the matter, and we 
would advise those who have not yet furnished 
themselves with a copy, to secure one before the 
edition is exhausted." 

The edition probably was exhausted, because six 
months later Dr. Poole became librarian of that 
very library, and he had not seen a copy of it. At 
that time in Yale College there was the Brothers 
Library and the Linonian Society Library, and 
Dr. Poole in his first letter says that he was the 
librarian of the Linonian Society. I cannot do 
justice to this interesting matter in five minutes, 
but this little pamphlet on the Doctor's authority 



SIXTH SESSION. 



in 



was produced by Mr. Edmands, the librarian of 
the Brothers Library. I want to call attention to 
the fact that it is not only interesting as the 
precursor to Dr. Poole, but to the Fletcher Essay 
Index. 

The PRESIDENT. As I understand the matter, 
very little can be done this year in regard to pre- 
paring for our exhibit at the Columbian Exposi- 
tion ; the arrangements will have to be made at our 
next meeting. Mr. Hild has a communication on 
this subject. 

Mr. HILD. This is a report of what it is pro- 
posed to do, which was printed in the August 
number of the Library journal. Owing to the 
illness of Mr. Hill, the secretary, who has been 
the most active member of the committee, we 
have not been able to make a fuller report, but 
we have some correspondence here. I will read 
one letter which may be interesting to the Asso- 
ciation. 

Boston, Oct. 3, 1891. 

Mr. FRANK P. HILL, Chairman of the Sub-Commit- 
tee on the World's Columbian Exposition Amer- 
ican Library Association. 

SIR: I beg to inform you that the Governor 
and Council of our State have granted the request 
made by our commission that the sum of $1,000 
be appropriated for the use of the American 
Library Association in its intended exhibit of the 
libraries of the United States. 

It must be understood that this contribution 
from our State can only be counted upon after 
the other States have contributed a sufficient sum 
of money to render the exhibit a success, and 
that it is of course made with the understanding 
that the libraries throughout the country will 
have no other exhibit than that under the auspices 
of your Association. 

Very respectfully, 

E. C. HOVEY, Secretary. 

Mr. HILD. I think the matter of this exhibit 
should be referred back to the same committee 
with the addition of a new list of Advisory Coun- 
cil, to act and report at the next meeting of the 
Association. 

The PRESIDENT. One word about this com- 
munication from Mr. Hovey. He is the gentleman 
who did us so great service in Washington last 
winter in the matter of the public documents ; he 
is the gentleman who has raised so large a portion 
of the permanent fund of the Association, which 
is raised for the purpose of helping us in issuing 
books and pamphlets. He is a member of the 



Massachusetts commission on the Columbian 
Exhibition, and is a very active member of that 
commission. In that capacity he has induced the 
Governor of Massachusetts to appropriate $1,000 
out of $10,000, at his disposal, to be used for our 
advantage at the exhibition. I think that special 
thanks should be extended to Mr. Hovey for his 
energy and good judgment in working in the 
interest of the Association. 

The special thanks of the Association were 
unanimously extended to Mr. Hovey, as recom- 
mended by the President. 

The PRESIDENT. The Committee on the 
World's Fair has one vacancy ; I would suggest 
the name of Mr. Johnston to fill it. Mr. John- 
ston has been selected by the rest of the com- 
mittee as a man who would be very useful to them 
in furthering the work placed in its hands. 

Mr. D. V. R. Johnston was elected to fill the 
vacancy. 

The PRESIDENT. It is well to keep these 
matters in the hands of persons who have 
already acquainted themselves with the subject, 
that we may have the advantage of the knowledge 
which they have already acquired. An Advisory 
Committee will have to be appointed ; why would 
it not be well to reappoint last year's Advisory 
Committee ? The Advisory Committee was re- 
elected. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. I want to say that a short 
time before we left the East I had a long talk 
with Mr. C. Wellman Park of the Rensselaer 
Polytechnic Institute of Troy, N. Y., who has 
been selected by the Bureau of Education to have 
charge of the educational exhibit at the Colum- 
bian Exhibition, and I asked .him as to the desir- 
ability of our Association considering the matter 
of this World's Fair exhibit. If he had been a 
librarian for many years he could not have been 
any more enthusiastic over the question of a 
library exhibit as part of an educational system 
than he was. He has since assured Mr. Hovey, 
and, I believe, other members of the Association, 
that he will cooperate with us most extensively to 
make that exhibition a success, and will try to 
secure a part of the appropriation which they 
hope Congress will make for that purpose. There 
was one difficulty which he did not see the way to 
overcome, and which we will have to overcome 
ourselves ; that is, the question of sufficient room. 
He doubted if they could give us much more than 
400 square feet, which, of course, would be utterly 
inadequate. Mr. Park had charge of the educa- 
tional exhibit at Paris, and is certainly a very 



112 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



competent man, or he would not be selected to 
take this second exhibit. He is thoroughly 
familiar with all the details and execution of 
matters of that kind, and I think he will be a 
very valuable assistant to us. He has already 
sent on many suggestions to us as to the as- 
sembling of the exhibit, the shelving, and the 
charge of it. We can rest assured that the United 
States authorities are in hearty cooperation 
with us. 

A note from Mr. KEPHART, librarian of the 
Mercantile Library, St. Louis, was read : 

ST. Louis, Mo., Oct. 2, rSgi. 
Mr. JOHN M. GLENN Dear Sir : I returned 
from a vacation in the East too late to finish my 
collecting for the A. L. A. before the 'Frisco meet- 
ing. I have collected so far 5140.00, and will send 
you not less than $150.00 within a few weeks. 
That is to say, the Board of Direction of the Mer- 
cantile Library contributes $150.00, but I hope to 
secure more outside. 

SEVENTH SESSION. 

(FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH, OAKLAND, THURS- 
DAY EVENING, OCTOBER 15.) 

Called to order by the PRESIDENT at 8.30 P. M. 
Mr. FOSTER'S paper on the 

PUBLIC SUPPORT OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES 

was read by Mr. Beckwith. 

(Seep. 39.) 
Miss MARY S. CUTLER'S paper, 

IMPRESSIONS IN FOREIGN LIBRARIES, 

with notes on the recent meeting of the Library 
Association in England, was read by her niece, 
Miss Louisa S. Cutler. 

(See p. 48.) 

Pres. GREEN. The next paper is one by Mr. 
Chas. A. Cutter, of the Boston Athenaeum, and 
Miss Harriet E. Green, of the same library, on 
" STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS. " 

(Seep. 52.) 

Mr. CUTTER. It is not quite correct to say 
that this paper is by Mr. Cutter and Miss Green. 
The written paper, which is purely statistical, is 
entirely by Miss Green. She sent out the circu- 
lars and she digested the replies. The spoken 
part will necessarily be by myself, and as I see so 
many here who are not members of the Associa- 
tion, I shall venture to insert a few items of infor- 
mation, perfectly familiar to our members. 



In 1876 it occurred to a young college graduate 
that it would be a good plan for librarians to get 
together and exchange their information and 
make one another's acquaintance. The first 
meeting, therefore, of the American Library Asso- 
ciation was held in connection with the Exposi- 
tion in Philadelphia. Since then meetings have 
been held nearly every year. Simultaneously with 
these meetings a library journal has been pub- 
lished, and at the same time there has been a most 
important development of libraries ; enormous 
amounts of money and of books have been given 
to them and great improvements have beeu made 
in library administration. I take it, it would be 
claiming altogether too much to assert that this 
great development of libraries has been caused by 
the stimulus of the Library Association and the 
Library journal, but I have not the least doubt 
that it has been very much assisted by our exist- 
ence, by the discussions which we have held, by 
the notices in the papers, and by all our meetings, 
and by the efforts which we have made to adver- 
tise the improvement of libraries and the advance- 
ment of Library Associations, from time to time, 
and by progresses, such as we are now making 
through the country. We have caused the library 
idea to be more in the air than it would otherwise 
have been. 

But it was found that library conventions had 
to be held in different parts of an enormous coun- 
try and that a very small part of the librarians 
could attend. There are in the United States 
some 6,000 libraries ; there are probably almost as 
many librarians. There are at least 1,000 libra- 
rians of important libraries, and we bring here 
from beyond the mountains only fifty ! It is evi- 
dent that there are a great many more who could 
be benefited and who should receive all the good 
which comes from library conventions, who are not 
among our members. It was thought, therefore, 
to be a good plan to have associations which 
would not cover so large a ground ; one associa- 
tion for each Stats, one association, if necessary, 
for each county. That idea came to a head in 
1890. Before that, in 1885, the New York Library 
Club had been founded in New York and was, in 
some sort, a State association. Not merely the 
libraries of the city of New York met in the 
Library Club, but those of the whole State. New 
York was followed by New Hampshire, New 
Jersey, Massachusetts, and in the present year by 
Wisconsin, Maine, and Michigan, and an attempt 
has been made in Pennsylvania which was unsuc- 
cessful. But we notice that there is not in that 



SEVENTH SESSION. 



list the name of California, nor the name of any 
State on the Pacific Coast. Why should you not 
have an association for the Pacific Coast ? You 
certainly cannot be expected to come across the 
mountains for our annual meetings ; neither can we 
come here more than once in a generation, until, at 
least, an air-ship is made which shall bring people 
across the continent in a day or two. Why not 
have an association which shall combine together 
all your librarians ? If, as I dare say you will, you 
tell me that your coast is as long as the Atlantic 
Coast, and the difficulties would be as great as, 
in the American Library Association, why not 
have an association for Southern California, and 
another one for Northern California, and perhaps 
for States still farther North ? You will find it is 
very rare for librarians with any brains to be blind 
to the real advantages of renewing their acquaint- 
ance with one another and exchanging their ideas. 
Twenty of you, I believe, have already met this 
year. I am sure you must all be convinced it is 
worth while. As the result of your meeting, you 
will have many new ideas and make many new 
experiments, and I think you will be very glad to 
see one another again. 

Perhaps those who are present now may think 
it is not worth while to come from a considerable 
distance and meet in such an assembly as this, and 
listen to papers which might elsewhere be read, 
in the report of the proceedings or in the Library 
journal. There is something in this, but I have 
always been of the opinion that the great good 
that comes from these library conventions is not 
in listening to papers. It is a great deal more in 
listening to the discussions which follow the 
papers, and more even than that in the little 
private conferences which are going on all the 
time on the street cars, in the railroad cars in 
which people come to the conference, in the hotel 
corridors, and elsewhere, in which the librarian 
privately gives his experience, his difficulties, and 
the way in which he has overcome them. That is 
what makes these conventions important; audit 
is just as likely to be useful in a State association 
as in the American Library Association. (Ap- 
plause.) 

LIBRARY RECEIPT BOOK. 

Mr. ROWELL I slept very poorly last night, 
and, getting up rather early in the morning, having 
nothing to do, I thought I would commence a 
library receipt book, patent applied for. The 
first receipt which I thought necessary to put 
down was, " How to endow a library." This is 
the receipt : _ . 



Take 50 rich men (trustees of libraries preferred). 

i dextrously persuasive librarian-chef. 
20 Ibs. flour of urgent reason. 
10 Ibs. mixed spices to tickle fancy. 
5 Ibs. salt of wit. 
5 pints yeast of desire. 
200 Ibs. sugar of flattery (more or less to suit 

taste). 
% Ib. dynamite oT determination. 

Directions: The librarian-chef takes in turn 
each of the fifty R. M., and having stuffed and cov- 
ered him with a thick batter of above ingredients 
carefully mixed in due proportions, sets him aside 
to simmer gently, the fire being closely tended and 
the heat gradually increased without singeing or 
scorching one. When all have become thoroughly 
heated, clap them quickly in the pot, pour in more 
spices, and stir hastily for a few moments. With 
a long-handled spoon drop in the dynamite, cover 
all, and retire with speed. 

In ten seconds with a loud report the cover will 
fly off and the chef will find done to a beautiful 
brown fifty non-transferable ten-year endowment 
life insurance policies of $2,000, each written in 
favor of his library. 

Mr. UTLEY read his paper on 

RE-NUMBERING AND RE-CLASSIFYING, 

prefacing it by saying there are many librarians who 
are not satisfied entirely with the arrangement of 
the books upon their shelves. In most instances 
these libraries have grown up from very small 
beginnings, not expecting to amount to very much 
within a reasonable period of time. Therefore 
their arrangements have been more or less guided 
by inexperienced persons. Generally small libra- 
ries could not afford to employ experienced libra- 
rians and so the arrangements have been largely 
haphazard. Persons see the defects of their sys- 
tem and desire to change them, but dread to do so. 
It occurred to me that information respecting the 
manner in which a library of considerable propor- 
tion was changed, might be useful to such persons. 

(Seep. 20.) 

NORMAL SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES. 

The PRESIDENT. We had a very interesting 
meeting last evening, in which the question how 
libraries could be made of use to schools was 
brought up and considered with a good deal of 
thoroughness. A paper was read and then gentle- 
men and ladies from different States gave their 
experience in the matter, Among those, Dr. Lin- 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



derfelt of Milwaukee told us what had been done 
there. I understand that he did not have time to 
tell us at all fully about the work that has been 
done in connection with the normal school. I 
think it would be very interesting to hear about 
that in a five minutes' talk. 

Dr. LINDERFELT. There are at present, in 
the State of Wisconsin, five normal schools, in 
which teachers are trained for the various public 
schools of the State. Of these, one is situated in 
Milwaukee, and we have the same connection with 
that school that we have with the public schools 
of the city ; the books are given out to the 
teachers and the books are used in the school 
without any restriction whatever. We found in 
our dealings with the schools that the difficulty in 
the proper use of books was not so much with the 
schools as with the teachers. The average 
teacher of a public school, particularly from the 
country districts, is not what he ought to be, as 
far as regards the direct education or preparation 
for their work ; they are particularly lacking in a 
proper preparation in the manner of making use of 
books. After considering for a long time how to 
improve the teachers, as well as the schools them- 
selves, we concluded the safest plan was to com- 
mence with the teachers themselves. For that 
purpose, at the last session of the State Legisla- 
ture, which was last winter, we obtained authority 
for the Board 'of Regents of the normal schools 
to employ a competent cataloguer, so called, for 
taking charge of the libraries of all the normal 
schools of the State. The proper person was 
selected and has been at work in Milwaukee since 
the latter part of last August, ostensibly merely 
for the purpose of arranging the libraries that 
already exist in the normal schools, but with the 
full understanding with the Board of Regents that 
this position is to be made permanent, and that 
the object of the superintendent of the State nor- 
mal school libraries being employed in this way 
is to train the students at the schools in the 
proper use of books, to instill into their minds an 
appreciation of what books can do, outside of the 
ordinary text books, in educating children to 
obtain a bibliographical knowledge, and the pos- 
sibility of selecting out of the vast quantity of 
material that exists, the proper books for the use 
of the children. I think that beginning in the 
way we have done and securing for the position a 
very excellent person, as we have, we shall be 
able in the course of a very few years to scatter 
all over the State library missionaries, who, 
before they enter upon their temporary or life 



work as teachers, know how to handle books and 
what use to make of them for the children. I 
think it is the first attempt of the kind made in 
the country. 

CATALOGING. 

The PRESIDENT. We have about half an hour 
before adjourning, and I will call upon one of the 
gentlemen of this city now in the audience, Hon. 
John P. Irish, President of the Starr King 
Fraternity. 

Colonel IRISH. I have scarcely more voice 
this evening than can be used in saying that the 
people of Oakland feel very highly honored in- 
deed to receive a visit from the National Associa- 
tion of Librarians. I have listened with much 
pleasure to the reading of the technical papers 
that have been read by the members of the 
Association to their fellow-members this evening. 
I am moved to say one thing to the librarians. I 
have raised the suggestion from a remark made 
by a young lady (and I am surprised to find that 
all the lady librarians are young ladies ; it is an 
evidence of the very early intellectual attainments 
of the women of America that the librarians here 
are all young). The suggestion came to me from 
a remark she made on cataloging, that, instead 
of putting so much expense into catalogs of 
libraries, a little more might be added to the 
salaries of librarians. I stand here to defend the 
salaries of librarians, and of everybody else who has 
to work for salaries. But I wish to say to the pro- 
fessional librarians here that books are the lenses 
through which we look at past civilizations and at 
the different phases of our homes. And when we 
reflect upon the very small number of books 
through which we look as through lenses to the 
great civilizations and to the great libraries of the 
past, we are moved to have very great faith in 
condensation and in the belief that, after all, all 
that there is in a library of value may be easily 
and very readily condensed in the small space of 
a catalog. 

I believe that the problem for librarians to 
solve, that the subject for them to study, is the 
problem of cataloging the library so as to render 
it by condensation easily available without un- 
necessary loss of time. I think that in a few 
years all the concentration and experience of the 
genius of the professional librarians upon this 
subject will be found in every library in the civil- 
ized world a book more vitally interesting than 
all the other books upon their shelves and 
that book will be the universal catalog of the 
libraries of the world. In that will be contained 



SEVENTH SESSION. 



all that there is in these libraries, so that the 
student, the scholar, the professional man, the 
pupil in the public school, or whoever may wish 
to consult that library, may go to the catalog 
and th.ere find a list of authors upon any given 
subject and a sufficient guide therein to what they 
have written upon the subject pro and con. That 
is the sort of catalog that is needed. The art 
of printing has enabled such a wonderful elabora- 
tion of the very few ideas there are in the world 
and there are very few ; some of us haven't any 
(laughter) ; sometimes I have not one. A great 
many people have not one idea, and live in fear 
that their lack of ideas will be discovered. 
(Laughter.) The art of printing has enabled 
such a wonderful elaboration of the very few 
ideas in the world that the work of the profes- 
sional man requires consultation of a large number 
of books. I say this as a man who has been 
busy a great many years past in one of the pro- 
fessions that requires the frequent consultation of 
libraries and of books. The professional man 
cannot afford to dissipate his time in searching 
over the shelves of a library ; and a library with- 
out a complete, efficient, properly condensed cata- 
log is just as useless for library purposes or for 
consultation as that wall which stretches before 
me on the right hand or that on the left it is a 
closed and a sealed book without a catalog. 

Now, it is very easy to see that you mean to 
make that kind of a catalog, and I am here to 
tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that you must con- 
centrate your energies, your experience, genius, 
and judgment upon the creation of a catalog of 
this kind. When you have done this, you will 
have done a work that is as important and profit- 
able to the users of books as that work which was 
done by the people who wrote and printed the 
books upon the shelves. Then you will have 
opened the library to the public schools, and to 
those who desire them, and to those who desire 
to receive that air of refinement and intellectual 
grace which may be had in the library alone. 
(Applause.) 

President GREEN. Ladies and Gentlemen, if I 
understand Mr. Irish, the thing which he desires 
is a good subject catalog, in which under every 
imaginable subject may be found references to the 
best works, the best magazine articles, the best 
essays, etc., on that subject, so that, desiring to 
know something about any given subject, you can 
instantly turn to that subject in the catalog and 
find references to books under the heading, or 
under sorne other heading or headings to which it 



will refer by cross references. Such a catalog 
is something which is to be found in manuscript, 
in a somewhat imperfect form, of course, in many 
of the larger libraries of this country, and it is one 
of the most useful facilities that can be afforded 
in a library. In Poole's Index, under a great 
variety of headings, are found references to the 
different articles in periodicals, which treat on 
given subjects, and Poole's Index covers along list 
of the periodicals in the English language. I wish 
also to call attention to the fact that under the su- 
perintendence of the acting Secretary of this Asso- 
ciation, Mr. Fletcher, the Librarian of Amherst 
College, there is being prepared, by cooperation 
(just as Poole's Index was prepared) of many of 
the librarians of the country, an index of essays. 
It is the particular province of the publishing 
section of this Association to attend to that kind 
of work. I have said nothing about the numer- 
ous bibliographies which exist ; works which give 
all the literature on specific subjects. The kind 
of work which Mr. Irish wishes to have done is of 
great importance; a good deal of it has been 
done; much of what has been done is in manu- 
script and much in print. 

Mr. FLETCHER. Allow me to call attention to 
the fact that one of the best pieces of work in this 
direction is that which has been done by the Libra- 
rian of the University of California, at Berkeley, in 
the Topical Index, of which he will soon publish 
the second volume. In this there is a surprisingly 
large amount of material. This volume we have 
found in the extreme East, and I dare say all over 
the country, very useful in doing just this work 
which Mr. Irish so appropriately noted as the work 
which needs to be done, to put before the eyes in 
compact shape the condensation of that which is 
in the books in the libraries on all these different 
subjects. 

Pres. GREEN. Mr. Irish will undoubtedly take 
an early opportunity to go to the University of 
California to look at this work. 

Mr. WENDTE. That book is on our library 
table. 

Pres. GREEN. However, the existence of the 
volume mentioned does not diminish the force of 
Mr. Irish's suggestion, for there is a great deal 
of room for work still to be done in the direction 
pointed out by him, as Mr. Rowell himself knows. 

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a few minutes 
left before we have to take carriages for the station. 
Now is the opportunity, if anybody has any ques- 
tions to ask upon any subject connected with the 
papers of the evening, or any other atter relat- 



n6 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



ing to library economy or library management. We 
have some papers that I can have read, but I think 
it would be pleasant if the few remaining minutes 
should be spent in an informal way. Isn't there 
some Californian who wants to ask a question of 
some Eastern librarian ? 

Colonel IRISH. There may be some Califor- 
nia librarian who desires to. " pop the question " 
to an Eastern librarian. (Laughter.) 

The PRESIDENT. The Eastern librarians are 
very responsive. (Laughter.) 

Mr. WENDTE. As a friend of librarians I 
would like to ask a question. Is there not some 
way in which Mr. Irish's suggestion can be carried 
out? In Poole's Index, for instance, on any given 
topic, the eye is appalled by a long list of refer- 
ences and you have no means of knowing which is 
desirable. Many essays are of no account. In 
cataloguing such an enormous quantity of material 
could not something be done to condense it so 
that sae could see what is useful and what is use- 
less ? 

The PRESIDENT. We have long thought that it 
would be desirable to have a single volume, in 
which about ten thousand volumes should be cat- 
alogued under subject headings and in which indi- 
cations should be given in regard to the character 
of each of the books catalogued, as well as refer- 
ences to important articles in periodicals, valua- 
ble essays, etc. The ten thousand books should 
be the best books in the English language, and 
explanatory notes should be added to entries when 
needed. Librarians are very busy men and nobody 
has as yet taken hold of this matter. The impor- 
tance of it we all realize. 

Mr. WHELPLEY. Mr. Stetson's paper to be read 
tomorrow covers that ground. 

Adjourned. 

EIGHTH SESSION. 
(FRIDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 16.) 

Called to order at 10.30 A. M. by the PRESI- 
DENT. 

The PRESIDENT. The Local Committee wishes 
me to announce that the November number of the 
Overland Magazine will be called " The Library 
Conference number," and will contain historical 
and descriptive notices, with illustrations of sev- 
eral California libraries, and who are members of 
this association. 

The photograph taken at the Stanford Univer- 
sity is now ready and can be had on rollers. It 
is very large and is an admirable photograph, and 



the likenesses of the different people can be seen 
as you would like to have them. 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 

The first business this morning is the election of 
officers. The provision of the constitution is that 
the Association shall choose five persons as an 
Executive Committee. This committee adds to 
its numbers as many names as it pleases and enough 
to fill all the different offices of the society. It is 
intended to revise the constitution. It is expected 
that a more republican form will prevail, namely: 
that the President, Secretary, Treasurer, and one 
or two others, perhaps five, will be elected directly 
by popular vote, but until that revision is made it 
is necessary to proceed under the provisions of 
the constitution as they are. You will now elect 
five members of the Executive Committee, and 
it is desirable that you elect persons now present. 

Mr. BOWKER nominated Mr. Frank P. Hill and 
Mr. S. S. Green. 

The PRESIDENT. The best way would be to 
have nominations from the floor of persons for 
the Executive Committee ; then to make a list and 
take an informal ballot, and see which five per- 
sons stand highest. You will then be ready for 
a formal ballot. 

Mr. BOWKER moved that the procedure sug- 
gested by the President be adopted. Carried. 

The nominations were continued, and Mr. 
Fletcher, Dr. Linderfelt, Mr. Dudley, Mr. Utley, 
Mr. Rowell, and Mr. Cutter were named. 

PLACE OF MEETING. 

Mr. BOWKER. Before a formal ballot is held 
there should be discussion as to the place of hold- 
ing the next meeting ; it is thought that it should 
be held near the centre of library population. I 
recommend Washington. 

The PRESIDENT appointed Messrs. Cutter, Bow- 
ker, and Utley a committee to consider all sugges- 
tions made with reference to the place of meeting 
next year, and report later in the session. 

Mr. FLETCHER read invitations received from 
Chicago, to hold the meeting in that city during 
the year of the World's Fair. 

Mr. HILD. As chairman of the Sub-committee 
on Libraries I would like to know whether the 
permission is given by the Association to hold the 
conference in Chicago in 1893. We intend to 
have an international Congress of libraries on the 
largest scale possible, to bring together more than 
ever before in this country. With that view we 
have already 'Selected about 150 librarians in all 



EIGHTH SESSION. 



117 



parts of the world to act as an Advisory Council 
to this committee. Many of you will receive invi- 
tations. This World's Congress Auxiliary would 
like to know whether the Association wishes to go 
to Chicago in 1893, and all the libraries of Chicago 
join in extending this invitation to the Association 
to come to Chicago. 

The PRESIDENT. I have no doubt we shall 
decide to go to Chicago in 1893, but I think it 
would expedite matters to refer this invitation 
to the committee chosen to make recommenda- 
tions. 

Mr. WHELPLEY. Why not decide the Chicago 
business here now ? 

The PRESIDENT. I think it had better go to 
the committee in connection with the other mat- 
ters ; then we can have a vote on it. 

The question of going to Chicago in 1893 was 
referred to the committee with instructions to 
report. 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 

Mr. DUDLEY. Mr. President, has it been the 
practice to choose the President from this Execu- 
tive Committee ? 

The PRESIDENT. Not necessarily, but I think 
it has commonly been so ; this, however, is not 
necessary. 

Mr. CUTTER. It has been an unbroken 
custom. 

Mr. FLETCHER. On one occasion it was pro- 
pos^d to take an informal ballot for President 
merely for the guidance of the Executive Com- 
mittee, but it has not been the usual custom. 

PLACE AND TIME OF MEETING. 

While the voting was going on the President 
requested expressions of opinion as to where the 
next year's meeting should be held, and he sug- 
gested Nantucket. He said that Mr. Soule had 
suggested chartering a steamer and making a trip 
along the Atlantic Coast early in June. 

Mr. CUTTER. The committee on the place of 
meeting for the following two years recommend 
for 1892, Washington and Baltimore, preferably 
in May, but the time to be left to the decision of 
the Executive Committee; in 1893, Chicago. 
That should be an International Conference, and 
should meet in May, when all the educational 
bodies meet. 

Mr. HILD. It has not been definitely settled 
that the educational bodies shall meet in May ; 
it was recommended in the programme of the 
World's Congress Auxiliary, but it has not been 
fixed upon. 



The PRESIDENT. Strike out the word May. 

Mr. CUTTER. I am sure the committee will 
agree to this. 

Mr. HILD. The time could be fixed next year. 

The report of the committee as to the places of 
meeting for 1892 and for 1893 was divided, and 
the different recommendations adopted separately. 

It was suggested that the Standing Committee 
be given power to change the place of meeting for 
1892 if it were found impracticable to go to Wash- 
ington, but after some discussion the suggestion 
was not adopted. 

COPYRIGHT. 

Mr. BOWKER. I wish to offer a series of reso- 
lutions which I have not had an opportunity to 
bring before the committee, so that I offer them 
on my own individual responsibility. The reason 
for offering them is this : The Association took 
some action relating to the passage of the Copy- 
right act. One of the questions of the Copyright 
bill was the provision of a weekly list of copy- 
righted books, which has been since sent to the 
Treasury Department in a more roundabout way 
since the ist of July. It may be worth while to 
call the attention of this conference to the fact 
that this list contains the name of every book and 
pamphlet copyrighted in this country. It is, 
therefore, a most thorough foundation for a 
national bibliography, and I have had some talk 
with Mr. Spofford as to the desirability of making 
this a bibliographical record : 

Resolved, That the A. L. A. records its gratifica- 
tion at the passage of an international copyright 
act, as promoting justice to authors of books and 
the development of American literature. 

Resolved, That the Association suggests to the 
librarian of Congress, that in the weekly list of 
copyright deposits full bibliographical data of 
books and pamphlets (except those solely com- 
mercial) be given, as the best possible basis for an 
adequate national bibliography. 

Resolved, That, in case of the amendment of 
the act, the Association suggests that the publica- 
tion of the weekly list be transferred to the juris- 
diction of the librarian of Congress, and that he 
be authorized to receive subscriptions for, or to 
provide for, the distribution of the list. 

Resolved, That the American Library Associa- 
tion heartily congratulates the nation on the 
progress made toward the final completion of a 
worthy and adequate building for the national 
library, and its members especially felicitate their 
associate, the librarian of Congress, on the fact 
that in Capt. B. R. Green (?), of the Engineer 
Corps, U. S. A., Superintendent of Construction, 
he has a coadjutor who, as architect and engineer, 
has shown both the desire and the ability, in his 
modifications of the previous plans, to provide 
for practical library requirements, both in his 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



general plans and in his novel and ingenious 
treatment of detail, such as shelving and transfer 
arrangements ; and 

Resolved, That we trust every endeavor will be 
made to provide as early as possible for the 
partial occupancy of the new building, so that the 
books now clogging the work of the present 
library rooms, and the records and other material 
already disintegrating in the vaults of the Capitol, 
may be saved from their threatened decay, and 
the treasures of the library made available to 
scholars and to the public. 

The resolutions offered by Mr. Bowker were 
adopted. 

Mr. BOWKER then read the 

SPECIAL REPORT ON PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 

Mr. BOWKER. I should explain that this report 
has not been signed by the members of the com- 
mittee, because we have not been able to get 
together. It is, however, the result of long con- 
sultation on the part of the members of the 
committee, and, I think, represents the views of 
allr-with one possible exception, which I will point 
out. 

Your special Committee on Government Publi- 
cations submit that a satisfactory system of gov- 
ernment issues should embrace the following 
conditions : 

Public documents should be printed on durable 
paper, in permanent standard size, except where 
there is specific reason for variation, and in suffi- 
cient minimum number, .under general pro- 
vision of law, to supply the Executive and Con- 
gressional libraries, each Senator and Representa- 
tive, each issuing department, bureau or commit- 
tee, with the necessary copies for record and office 
use ; each public depository, and a moderate sur- 
plus for general use or public sale. Additional 
copies to be printed only from department appro- 
priations or by specific legislative provision. 
Public documents should not be understood to 
include office blanks, confidential instructions, or 
other routine papers not of public concern. 

Each document, in addition to separate publica- 
tion, should have its proper place in one series, and 
the binding up of one document in several shapes 
or series should as far as possible be avoided. 
Except where numerical or chronological arrange- 
ment is desirable, as in the case of bills and jour- 
nals, the classification and binding should be such 
that the issues of the same department or bureau 
should be together, and cognate subjects should be 
bound in the same or in adjacent volumes. Each 
volume in a series should have lettering showing 
its individual character. These conditions might 
best be met by substituting for the present Senate 



and House executive and miscellaneous series one 
comprehensive series to be known as United 
States general or miscellaneous documents, to 
embrace department reports and all other docu- 
ments not properly belonging in the several series 
specifically connected with the two Houses of 
Congress or not special sets of publications. 

Each volume or set should have at its end an 
index to that volume or set only; there should be 
a separate annual index to all government publi- 
cations of the year, whether by government sub- 
scription to individual enterprises or by public 
provision ; and there should be ultimately a sys- 
tematic and comprehensive subject-index to all 
governmental publications, but not until a plan 
has been matured after full consultation with the 
best bibliographical authorities inside and outside 
the government service. 

Every government publication should be sent, 
as soon as issued or bound, to public depositories 
of the first class, which should include every State 
library and the leading library for public use in 
great centres of population. A select list, to 
embrace the Statutes, President's Message, Cen- 
sus volumes, Copyright lists, and other issues of 
universal interest, and such other issues as may 
be of special local interest, should be sent 
promptly to public depositories of the second 
class, which should include such other libraries 
as can make good use of such documents such 
libraries to be registered on application of the 
librarian or proper officer, stating the locality*and 
character of the library, its present or prospective 
shelf-room, its facilities for reference use, the 
character and distribution of its readers, and the 
lines of documents serviceable to its constituency, 
such application to be indorsed by the proper 
Senator or Representative. 

All documents deposited to be subject to trans- 
fer or recall, in case the library becomes dead 
or fails to provide adequate accommodation and 
facilities for their use. 

The distribution should be through a central 
mailing office and bureau of distribution, except 
where, as in the case of serial issues which should 
be sent in first mail, time can be saved by mailing 
direct from the office of publication, such bureau 
to be a division of the Government Printing 
Office, or Library of Congress, or Department of 
the Interior. This bureau should receive all 
orders from Congressmen, the departments, etc., 
and should keep check-lists to prevent unintended 
duplication. This bureau should also be the gen- 
eral depository of all unissued documents. 



EIGHTH SESSION. 



119 



Recognizing that such results must be accom- 
plished step by step, yonr committee would con- 
fine present action to the following resolutions : 

Whereas, The present lack of system in the 
printing, binding, indexing, and distribution of 
government publications results in great waste, 
probably exceeding $500,000 yearly, with a max- 
imum of inconvenience to Congressmen as dis- 
tributors, and a minimum of convenience to their 
constituents ; in supplying to libraries publica- 
tions which they do not and cannot use, and deny- 
ing those which would be especially valuable to 
their local public; and in an entire confusion as to 
arrangement, indexing and binding ; 

Resolved, That the American Library Associa- 
tion, assembled in conference at San Francisco, 
learns with gratification of the special investiga- 
tion into the printing and distribution of pub- 
lic documents, undertaken by the Joint Committee 
on Printing of the two Houses of Congress ; and 

Resolved, That this Association proffers to said 
Joint Committee, through its Standing Com- 
mittee on Public Documents, its hearty coopera- 
tion in promoting better methods of issuing and 
distributing the manv valuable issues included 
among government publications, 

Resolved, That the A. L. A. hereby extends its 
hearty thanks to the Honorable, the Secretary of 
the Interior, for the useful work accomplished in 
his department in utilizing government publications 
by the exchange of volumes to complete sets, and 
trusts that this work may be continued and 
extended. 

Resolved, That the A. L. A. appreciates heartily 
the enterprise shown by Mr. J. K. Hickox in his 
valuable Monthly Catalogue of Government Pub- 
lications, and commends the work to libraries for 
the support which will insure its completion and 
continuation. 

Respectfully submittted. 

R. R. BOWKER, Chairman. 

The PRESIDENT. This report was evidently 
prepared by persons entirely conversant with the 
subject. Is there any difference of opinion ? 

A MEMBER. The quickest results could be 
obtained, first, by securing the prompt delivery of 
such books as are now printed and by abolishing 
the index which now precedes each volume, so 
that they would not have to wait until all the 
books are published, in order to make out the 
index. We could save from three to nine months. 
Each volume should be sent out in paper ; they 
are now sent out in the cloth edition. The Offi- 
cial Index for each session could be afterwards 
secured. 

The PRESIDENT suggested referring the report 
to the standing committee for consideration by 
it. Mr. BOWKER recommended that it be dis- 
cussed in the convention. 

A MEMBER. The State libraries receive their 
public documents only through the courtesy of 



the Senate now ; there is no law for the distribution 
of the public documents to them. 

Dr. LINDERFELT. The members of the Amer- 
ican Library Association have, to my certain 
knowledge, for ten years considered the subject at 
every meeting, and I have yet to find a single per- 
son, either publicly or in private conversation, dis- 
agreeing in the slightest particular from the 
report put before us by Mr. Bowker and his com- 
mittee as expressing the views of the American 
Library Association. I think if there is anything we 
can publicly do to indorse these views, we should 
do it. I think we have delayed long enough in 
this matter and we should not put any restriction 
on the Standing Committee. This policy should 
be indorsed to the fullest extent now, in the pub- 
lic meeting. There is one little word in the 
report, however, which it seems to me might be mis- 
understood. Mr. Bowker said "through reference 
libraries." That is a word that has caused a great 
deal of mischief already and it ought to be elim- 
inated. Some of these libraries have been 
hampered to an astonishing degree in getting the 
government publications, on that technical ground. 
I know that the Buffalo library with some 
hundreds of thousands of volumes, one of the 
most important in the country, has the greatest 
difficulty in getting the reports that are given 
out to the public libraries, 500 volumes at a time. 

Mr. BOWKER. "Through reference libraries 
in centres of population." The members of the 
committee present would modify that by having 
it read, "and the leading reference libraries for 
public use in great centres of population." 

The PRESIDENT. That may be allowed by 
unanimous consent. It is allowed. 

Mr. BOWKER. Mr. President, may I ask if you 
yourself disagree with the report ? 

The PRESIDENT. I am very glad to have that 
go out as the expression of the opinion of this 
Association. All I want is that the Standing Com- 
mittee, when it begins to arrange matters with the 
members of Congress and with the Committee of 
Congress, may be left free to agree to whatever in 
its own judgment is thought best at the time when 
action is called for. 

The report presented by Mr. Bowker was 
unanimously adopted. 

The resolutions proposed by the Special Com- 
mittee were adopted. 

Mr. BOWKER. I now ask the discharge of the 
Special Committee. 

The Special Committee was discharged. 

Mr. WALLIS. The Standing Committee on 



I2O 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



Public Documents relates to documents of the 
United States. Could there not be a resolution 
passed here, giving the Standing Committee 
authority also to make recommendations, such as 
they desire, upon State documents? There is no 
provision for the transmission of public docu- 
ments between one State and another, and the 
result is that many of the States cannot afford to 
send their voluminous publications to the several 
States of the Union. 

On motion of Mr. Wallis the Standing Com- 
mittee was instructed to take into consideration 
the whole question of the exchange of books 
between States, the question of the exchange of 
State publications, as well as that of government 
publications. 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

The tellers reported the informal vote for 
Executive Committee as follows : 

Scattering. 

F. P. Hill, 27. C. C. Soule. 

W. I. Fletcher, 25. F. H. Hild. 

J. C. Rowell, 25. J. V. Cheney. 

C. A. Cutter, 23. Miss Hewins. 

S. S. Green, 21. E. J. Nolan. 

K. A. Linderfelt, 19. A. S. Root. 

C. R. Dudley, 18. J. C. Dana. 

H. M. Utley, 13. D. V. R. Johnston. 

It was moved that the informal vote be declared 
formal, and that the five persons receiving the 
highest number of votes be declared elected 
members of the Executive Committee. 

Mr. ROWELL. In the interest of the Associa- 
tion I wish to decline the nomination, which 
would necessarily be enforced upon me by that 
action, for this reason : We out here on the 
Western slope are very distant from you of the 
East. Our means of communication are slow, 
and it is necessary that the gentlemen or ladies 
serving on this committee should be in quick 
communication, and sometimes that they have 
personal interviews. I think, therefore, it is 
eminently proper that I should decline to serve. 

The PRESIDENT. I would state, for the infor- 
mation of the convention, that the arrangements 
for this convention have been made entirely by 
mail. If the committee takes hold of matters at 
once I think there would be no difficulty, even if 
one member of the committee is in California. I 
I hope Mr. Rowell will not decline. 

Mr. DUDLEY. I think every member of the 
Association would be glad to have Mr. Rowell 
serve on this committee, but I do not think we 



should try to compel him to do so. Therefore, if 
he asks to be released from the burden, I ask 
that his resignation be accepted simply on that 
ground. Carried. 

The motion to make the informal ballot formal 
was withdrawn after some discussion. 

The Secretary presently announced the result of 
the formal ballot, as follows : 
F. P. Hill, 30. K. A. Linderfelt, 28. 

C. A. Cutter, 26. C. R. Dudley, 24. 

W. I. Fletcher, 24. 

THANKS. 

Mr. WHEPLEY offered the following resolution: 
Resolved, That Mr. F. H. Hild, librarian of 
the Chicago Public Library, be requested to return 
to the trustees of the Newberry Library, the 
Crerar Library and the Public Library of Chicago, 
the thanks of the Association for their invitation 
to meet in that city in 1893, an d report that the 
Association has unanimously voted -to accept the 
invitation. Carried unanimously. 

The PRESIDENT. I will now call on Mr. 
Cheney to give his five-minute talk. 

THE NEW CATALOGING. 

Mr. CHENEY. Matthew Arnold has said that 
we cannot do without religion ; I have long been 
of the impression that we cannot do without cata- 
logs, and I am firmly convinced of it. Cata- 
logs, with all due deference to the gentlemen 
who have reported here in favor of " Access to 
the shelves," properly made, give the borrower an 
opportunity to get at the contents of the library, 
without the aid of access to the library himself. 
Such is the experience in the library with which 
I am connected, and it must be so with any large 
library. I have been continually working to see 
what we can do to produce a better catalog, so 
that we shall not be doing each other's work over 
again, but when the work was once done it could be 
utilized. Fortunately I have associated with me 
a gentleman who goes beyond theory into the 
more solid realm of practice, and this has given us 
a new method of cataloging which is the result of 
large experience of a practical man, a man versed 
in practical mechanics and in library matters. 
Now, what I am about to read you is somewhat 
revolutionary. I have taken the precaution, being 
a young member of the Association, to procure the 
opinion of one of your oldest members and one 
of your most skilled and thoroughly versed libra- 
rians, Mr. Fletcher, to say whether or not I am 
justified in these rather startling remarks which I 
have to make upon this subject. Without further 



EIGHTH SESSION. 



121 



ado, I say simply to the good librarians and to 
the young librarians who are about making a 
catalog I suggest to them most emphatically 
that they wait for a few months until the things 
which I here speak of can be laid before you. I 
am daily in receipt of communications from per- 
sons who want information as to how they can 
get along with this catalog; it has been on our 
minds day and night, and we think we have con- 
tributed something here toward the solution of 
the great catalog question. (Applause.) 

To the Members of the American Library Associa- 
tion in Convention. 

It seems not quite right to allow the librarians 
to return to their several places of toil without 
mention of a matter that may considerably affect 
their plans for future catalog work. Though it 
it is impossible to give details for perhaps six 
months to come, a general statement will suffice 
by way of notice. Mr. A. J. Rudolph, first assist- 
ant librarian of this library, will bring out at an 
early date a new method of cataloging, the 
adoption of which bids fair to amount to some- 
thing like a revolution ; this for the following 
reasons : 

1. It does away with that very cumbrous thing, 
the card catalog. 

2. It renders unnecesary the printing of cata- 
logs and bulletins in volume form. 

3. The pen is pretty much dispensed with, the 
most of the work not only being printed as it 
proceeds, but the subject-headings and the sub- 
divisions being distinguished by colored inks. 

4. It solves the long-standing problem of a 
universal catalog. 

5. The method insures not only economy, but 
accuracy and fullness hitherto impossible. 

6. It insures speed, one assistant being able to 
do the work of five using the old methods. Books 
arriving in the morning can be fully cataloged 
the same day, and the catalog put before the 
public. 

I have said that the new method will accom- 
plish these rather astonishing things. I believe 
it will, and, acting on the belief, I have suggested 
to our own Board of Trustees the advisability of 
delay in further printing until the time is ripe for 
a thorough examination of it. 

Fraternally yours, 

J. V. CHENEY. 

Mr. FLETCHER. You will at once see that I 
am put in an embarrassing position by being 
called upon to say whether the claims made in 



this document are justified. I am not prepared 
to accept that position. Like the man who was 
to stand in front of the cannon and catch the ball, 
I feel like saying, " Touch it off easy." All I am 
prepared to say now is that it has commended 
itself to me as worthy of the claims of those 
interested in it. How far those claims will be 
substantiated remains to be seen. But I should 
probably claim as much for it if it was of my own 
contrivance. 

On motion the paper prepared by Mr. Stetson 
on 

ECONOMICAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND SELECTED 
CATALOGUES 

was read by title. 

(Seep. 26.) 
On motion the paper prepared by Dr. Steiner, 

SHOULD UNIFORMITY MARK THE ARRANGEMENT 

AND ADMINISTRATION OF OUR PUBLIC 

LIBRARIES? 

was also read by title. 

(Seep. 57.) 
ADJOURNMENT. 

A motion by Mr. Root was carried that when 
the Association adjourn today it should not be 
the final adjournment, but that the final adjourn- 
ment shoujd take place at a meeting after the 
excursion train should reach Chicago. 

JAPANESE LIBRARIES. 

A letter from Mr. J. E. TANAKA to President 
Green was then read by Mr. Johnston : 

TEIKOKU DAIGAKU (Imperial University}. 

TOKYO, JAPAN, Sept. 23, 1891. 

Dear Sir: To the Conference of the Amer- 
ican Library Association, which is going to be 
held at San Francisco, I beg to send greetings, 
with my sincere wishes for its every success, 
while I regret very much at my inability to have 
the honor and pleasure of meeting all the veteran 
librarians of the United States, from whom I 
cannot fail to derive much benefit by coming 
among them. 

I take this opportunity of giving to the Confer- 
ence a short account of the Tokyo Library, of 
which I am the librarian, and also something 
about other libraries of Japan. As to the details 
of the management of the former, however, I bet- 
ter wait for another opportunity to describe ; for 
it is in the period of transition from the old method 



122 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



to the new. By the new method I mean the 
American method more or less modified accord, 
ing to circumstances, especially in the case of the 
treatment of Japanese and Chinese books. I am, 
therefore, only to introduce the Tokyo Library to 
the notice of the American Library Association, 
incidentally touching all other libraries in Japan. 

TOKYO LIBRARY. 

The Tokyo Library is national in its character, 
as the Congressional Library of the United States, 
the British Museum of Great Britain, etc. It is 
maintained by the State, and by the copyright 
Act it is to receive a copy of every book, pam- 
phlet, etc., published in the empire. 

The Tokyo Library was established in 1872 by 
the Department of Education with about 70,000 
volumes. In 1873 '* was amalgamated with the 
library belonging to the Exhibition Bureau and 
two years later it was placed under the control of 
the Home Department, while a new library with 
the title of Tokyo Library was started by the 
Education Department at the same time with 
about 28,000 volumes newly collected. Thus the 
Tokyo Library began its career on a quite slender 
basis ; but in 1876, the books increased to 68,953, 
and in 1877 to 7 l $S3- 

Since that time, both the numbers of books and 
visitors have steadily increased, so much so that 
in 1884 the former reached 102,350 and latter 
115,986, averaging 359 persons per one day. The 
library was then open free to all classes ; but the 
presence of too many readers of the commonest 
text-books and light literature was found to have 
caused much hindrance to the serious students, 
on whom the greatest favor ought to be con- 
ferred, while any discrimination between the two 
was entirely impossible. This disadvantage was 
somewhat remedied by introducing the fee system, 
which, of course, placed much restriction to the 
visitors of the library. This seems to be in con- 
tradiction of the generally recognized principle of 
public libraries, but it was sheer necessity of the 
time, when there were not many available resorts 
for serious students, for whom this library was 
chiefly intended. With this object in view, a 
large number of books, mostly consisting of works 
of light literature, was withdrawn from the reading 
room. These measures naturally caused a great 
decrease in the number of readers, but an improve- 
ment in the quality was distinctly observable. 

Up to that time the library was in the old Uni- 
versity Hall, which, though quite spacious, was 
very inconvenient for the use of library. A new 



building was, therefore, erected in the Uyeno 
Park, to which the library was removed in 1886. 
The place is away from the bustle of the city 
with fresh air and evergreens round and about. 
The reading room accommodates about 200 read- 
ers and is divided into three compartments viz. : 
"special," "ladies," and "ordinary." 

We have two sets of catalogues, viz. : " card 
catalogue " and printed catalogue, both classified. 
It is now proposed to improve them upon the 
principle of dictionary catalogue. 

It is very clear from the character of the library 
that it is a reference library and not a circulating 
library. But as there are not any other large and 
well-equipped libraries in Tokyo, a system of 
" lending out " is added, something like that of 
Konigliche Bibliothek zu Berlin, with a subscrip- 
tion of 5 yen (about $5) per annum. The sub- 
scriber has the privilege of taking books out of 
the library for a term of ten days, subject to a 
renewal should the subscriber so desire. 

The Tokyo Library now contains 97,550 Japan- 
ese and Chinese books and 25,559 European 
books, besides about 100,000 of duplicates, popu- 
lar books, etc., which are not used. 

The average number of books used is 337,262 a 
year. By applying, therefore, *Jevons's principle 
of the multiplication of utility, the average turn- 
over of each book is about 2.5 + and by dividing 
the total expenditure by the total issue of books, 
the average cost of each issue is 2.3~sen (about 
two cents). Again by comparing the number of 
books used and the classes of books read during 
the last year, we see that t2i-5 per cent is in his- 
tory, geography, etc.; 21 per cent in literature and 
language ; 17.2 per cent in science, mathematics 
and medicine ; and 13.4 per cent in law and poli- 
tics. In other subjects the percentage is less than 
10. This comparison gives some idea of the incli- 
nation of the reading public. 

THE LIBRARY OF THE IMPERIAL UNIVERSITY. 

The Library of the Imperial University, which 
is also under my charge, comprises all the books 
belonging to the Imperial University of Japan. 
These books are solely for the use of the in- 
structors, students, and pupils, no admittance be- 
ing granted to the general public. The library 
contains 77,991 European books and 101,217 Jap- 
anese and Chinese books. 

*The Rationale of free public libraries, in his Method of 
social reform, pp. 29-30 
t Extract of Tokyo Library Report, 1890, p. a. 



EIGHTH SESSION. 



123 



OTHER SMALLER LIBRARIES OF JAPAN. 

As to other smaller libraries of Japan, there are 
eight public and ten private libraries in different 
parts of the empire. The books contained in 
them are 66,912 Japanese and Chinese books and 
4,731 European books with 43,911 visitors! 

Besides these, in most of towns of respectable 
size, there are generally two or three small private 
circulating libraries, which contain books chiefly 
consisting of light literature and historical works 
popularly treated. 

The proprietors of these libraries or their as- 
sistants go about from patron to patron every day, 
leaving with him the books he requires. These 
books are loaned for a small sum, which varies 
according to. the quality of books and also the 
length of time during which the books are to be 
kept. There are about 60 libraries of this de- 
scription in the city of Tokyo alone. 

I. TANAKA. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Mr. SCUDDER. The Committee on Resolutions 
recommends to the Association to spread the fol- 
lowing minute upon its records, and to transmit 
the same, duly certified, to each of the parties 
named therein: 

The American Library Association cannot close 
this the last session of its thirteenth general meet- 
ing without expressing its warmest thanks for the 
unbounded hospitality with which it has been 
received in California from the moment it touched 
the borders of the State until the time of its de- 
parture. Much, very much, was expected of a 
State the prodigality of whose natural resources 
was reputed to be reflected in the hearts of its 
citizens, but the overflow of good feeling and gen- 
erous action must be placed to the credit of Cali- 
fornia's full appreciation of the work of the Asso- 
ciation as an important agent in the education and 
culture of the people and in the elevation of the 
standard of citizenship in our common country. 
Where all have acted with such liberality and 
done so much to render the visit of the Associa- 
tion to California a success and pleasure in every 
possible sense, time fails to specify our indebted- 
ness ; but the members present can never forget 
the untiring devotion of the local Executive Com- 
mittee of San Francisco, upon whom by far the 
heaviest burden of responsibility has fallen and 
who have responded thereto with such cordial 
good will and fellowship as to win all our hearts ; 
nor the fervor of the citizens of Sacramento, our 



first and brief hosts, whose generosity outran their 
boundaries, but did not stay without the gates ; 
nor the local committee of Oakland, who made us 
mark with a red letter the day we spent across 
the bay. No less can we allow ourselves to for- 
get the welcome as received at Sutro Heights, 
where body and mind were refreshed under the 
personal guidance of our generous host, Adolphe 
Sutro, Esq. ; and at Palo Alto, where the Oxford 
of the Pacific slope, born in a day, delighted us 
only less than the courteous, graceful, and bounti- 
ful reception of Senator and Mrs. Stanford. To 
all these we offer most heartfelt thanks and 
express our fervent wishes for the unchecked 
growth of California in those intellectual and 
moral directions in which she is now advancing 
with such rapid strides. 

The Association cannot forget, also, its indebt- 
edness to the Committees of the Mercantile and 
Public Libraries of Denver, the University Club of 
the same city, and the President and Faculty of 
Colorado College, Colorado Springs, who made 
the short stay of the Eastern party in the Centen- 
nial State a delightful remembrance. 

Resolved, That the Association offers its 
grateful thanks to the officials of the Pennsylva- 
nia Railroad accompanying our party to San Fran- 
cisco, for the liberality and convenience of all 
their arrangements for our comfort, which have 
been fully appreciated by all the travellers. 

This resolution was unanimously adopted. 

Mr. FLETCHER then read for information the 
report of the Executive Committee, naming the 
following list of 

OFFICERS FOR THE ENSUING YEAR. 

President. 

K. A. Linderfelt, Milwaukee. 
Vice Presidents. 

W: I. Fletcher, Amherst College Library. 

L. H. Steiner, Enoch Pratt Library, Baltimore, 
Md. 

C: C. Soule, Brookline, Mass. 

[Mr. Soule resigned, and Mr. Utley was elected 
in his place.] 

J. C. Rowell, University of California. 

C.. M. Hewins, Hartford Library, Conn. 

[Fred'k H. Hild also was afterwards chosen.] 

Secretary. 

Frank P. Hill, Free Public Library, Newark, 
N.J. 



I2 4 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



Assistant Secretaries. 

GENERAL. 

W: E: Parker, Treas. Library Bureau. 
M.. Salome Cutler, Vice Director Library 
School. 

TRAVEL. 

H. E. Davidson, Secretary Library Bureau. 
Fred'k H. Hild, Chicago Public Library. 

RECORDING. 

Prof. G: T. Little, Bowdoin College Library. 

Treasurer. 
H: J. Carr, Albright Library, Scranton, Pa. 

Finance Committee. 
W: C. Lane, Harvard College. 
J. M. Glenn, Treasurer New Mercantile Library, 
Baltimore, Md. 

Cooperation Committee. 

Gardner M. Jones, Public Library, Salem, 
Mass. 

Harriet E. Green, Cataloger, Boston Athe- 
naeum. 

M.. A. Bean, Brookline, Mass. 

Library School Committee. 

M.. W. Plummer, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, 
N. Y. 

Dr. G. C. Wire, Medical Librarian, Newberry 
Library. 

W. K. Stetson, Public Library, New Haven. 

Public Document Committees. 
R. R. Bowker, Vice-President Brooklyn Library. 
E. C. Hovey, Trustee Brookline Library. 
T. H. Wallis, Ex-State Librarian of California. 
J. P. Dunn, jr., State Librarian, Indiana. 

Standing Committee. 
The President, ex-officio. 
The Secretary, ex-officio. 
F: M. Crunden, Public Library, St. Louis. 

Endowment Committee. 
J: M. Glenn. 
E. C. Hovey. 
R. R. Bowker. 

Trustees of Endowment Fund. 
Norman Williams. 
E. C. Hovey. 
J: M. Glenn. 

Councillors. 
Justin Winsor, W: F. Poole, C. A. Cutter, 



F: M. Crunden, Melvil Dewey, S: S. Green, 
Ex-Presidents, and W: H. Brett, C. R. Dudley, 
C. A. Nelson, H. M. Utley, A: W. Whelpley, J: 
Edmands, J: V. Cheney, Miss H.. P. James, 
Miss M.. E. Sargent, J: C. Dana, Tessa A. Kelso, 
Alfred E. Whitaker, Horace Wilson, W. C. 
Fitch, D. V. R. Johnston. 

It was moved that the Committee on Public 
Documents have power to add to its number and 
elect its own chairman, but the President advised 
the convention that according to the constitution, 
while the Executive Committee could add to the 
number of any one of its committees, the Associa- 
tion had no authority to do so. 

Adjourned. 

SANTA BARBARA SESSION. 
(FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21.) 

At a meeting held in the parlors of the Arling- 
ton Hotel, Santa Barbara, President GREEN in the 
chair. 

The PRESIDENT stated that the object was to 
express the thanks of the Association for the 
courtesies which had been extended to it. 

Mr. SCUDDER from the Committee on Resolu- 
tions offered the following: 

Resolved, That the members of the American 
Library Association here present return thanks 
to the Librarian and Trustees of the Free Public 
Library of Santa Barbara for the generous hospi- 
tality which enabled them to see thoroughly and 
pleasantly a place of whose attractions they have 
often heard, and in taking leave extend their 
heartiest wishes for the prosperity of both the 
library and the city. 

This being duly seconded was unanimously 
carried. 

Adjourned. 

TRAIN SESSION. 
(FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30.) 

Pres. GREEN in the chair. 

Dr. NOLAN, in order to bring the matter before 
the meeting, moved to re-consider the resolution 
passed at San Francisco to meet in Washington. 

Mr. WHELPLEY objected on the ground that 
the regular meeting in San Francisco should not 
be superseded by a smaller meeting at which 
only a few members were present. 

Mr. CUTTER stated that it was not well to give 
up Washington or Baltimore, but it would be a 
good plan to have some quiet place where the 
A. L. A. could conduct its business without dis- 
traction which is not possible in a large city. 




K. A. LINDERFELT. 



TRAIN SESSION. 



125 



Mr. DUDLEY also objected to large cities and 
stated that the experience of the A. L. A. in cities 
had not been such as to create any desire to try it 
again. Meetings held away from the seductive 
influences of the town were to be preferred. 

Mr. SOULE called attention to the fact that next 
year it would be well to devote our time to making 
preparations for the World's Fair, and conse- 
quently close attention to regular business was to 
be desired. 

Mr. BOWKER thought that it was unwise to ignore 
the action taken at San Francisco, but as it was 
well to modify its action he offered the following 
resolution : 

Resolved, that the Standing Committee be 
authorized, in arranging for the Washington-Bal- 
timore Conference, to provide that the first ses- 
sions of the conference shall be held at some 
quieter resort (preferably Annapolis, if satisfactory 
hotel accommodations can be had, otherwise in 
New York and Washington, and at some point 
as near Washington as practicable) ; also that the 
committee be requested to arrange for an optional 
post-conference trip to include Old Point Com- 
fort, Richmond, White Sulphur Springs, Luray, 
the Natural Bridge, and Gettysburg or other con- 
venient points. 

Dr. NOLAN withdrew his motion to reconsider 
in order to give Mr. Bowker's resolution a chance 
for consideration. 

Mr. SOULE moved to strike out "Preferably 
Annapolis, provided satisfactory hotel accommoda- 
tions can be had," on the ground that in his opin- 
ion Annapolis could not offer accommodations at 
all suited to the wants of the A. L. A. 

Mr. LOWDERMILK did not think that Annapo- 
lis was so bad, but in his opinion Old Point or 
Luray were much better; he confessed that he 
had never been at Annapolis. 

Dr. POOLE objected to Washington because it 
was too hot and because in the South there were 
few libraries belonging to the A. L. A,,' and 
because we could hope for but little support there. 

Col. LOWDERMILK urged the advisability of 
meeting in the South in order to give aid to the 
librarians in that section who were striving to do 
their best under adverse circumstances, and who 
deserved great credit for very excellent work. 

Mr. HILL objected to Washington and thought 
that the Association had the power to change the 
action of the San Francisco meeting whenever it 
wished. He favored Col. Lowdermilk's sugges- 
tion to go to Old Point or Luray. He also 
thanked the A. L..A. in touching words for the 



resolutions of sympathy for him. They had been 
of great comfort to him when sick and far from 
home, and as he had thought far from friends. 

Miss SHERMAN stated that there were in the 
South many devoted librarians who could not 
give the time and money to attend the sessions in 
the North, who ought to be aided by a session in 
the South which they would gladly attend. 

Dr. NOLAN did not like to override the action 
taken in San Francisco, but thought that a session 
near Washington would answer all the conditions 
demanded. He was in favor of Luray as he 
knew the place to be good from his own personal 
experience. 

Mr. CUTTER called attention to the fact that 
next year should be devoted to business only, in 
order that the Association might get itself into 
condition to make a creditable exhibition in Chi- 
cago in 1893. He thought the Executive Com- 
mittee should have the largest powers to chose 
time and place of meeting. In his opinion the 
session should be in the North, so as to get the 
largest possible delegation to attend. 

Dr. POOLE moved to la'y both Mr. Bowker's 
resolution and Mr. Soule's amendment on the 
table. Lost. 

Mr. JENKS moved to strike out the words 
" Between New York and Washington." 

Mr. DUDLEY raised a point of order that the 
convention had adjourned to meet in Chicago. 
The chair held the point not well taken. 

Messrs. SOULE and JENKS withdrew their 
amendments. 

Mr. DUDLEY moved to amend by striking out 
the words " As near Washington as practicable." 
" Lost, yea 12, nay 13." 

Miss AHEARN moved to strike out the words 
" Between New York and Washington." Car- 
ried. 

Mr. BOWKER'S resolution as amended was then 
adopted, reading as follows : 

Resolved, That the Standing Committee be 
authorized in arranging for the Washington and 
Baltimore conference to provide that the first ses- 
sions of the conference shall be held at some 
quiet resort, preferably Annapolis, if satisfactory 
hotel accommodations can be had, otherwise as 
near Washington as practicable ; and that the 
committee be requested to arrange for an 
optional post-conference trip to include Old 
Point, Richmond, White Sulphur Springs, Luray, 
the Natural Bridge, and Gettysburg, or other 
points. 

On being asked, the chair ruled that the Execu- 
tive Committee has full power to fix the time of 
meeting at any date in the months of May and June. 



126 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



Dr. POOLE moved that the Executive Commit- 
tee have power to name any time. 

Mr. HILD thought this unwise, as it was impor- 
tant to have an early session to provide for the 
World's Fair. 

Dr. POOLE'S motion was lost. 

Mr. SOULE declined to accept his election as 
Vice-President. 

The chair ruled that Mr. Soule must offer his 
resignation to the Executive Committee, as the 
Association had no voice in the matter. 

Mr. BOWKER appealed from this decision, but 
in answer to a question from the President said 
that he did not wish to make the appeal at this 
meeting. 

Mr. HILD moved that when the Committee on 
Revision of the Constitution make its report a 
printed copy be sent to each member of the Asso- 
ciation at least three months before the confer- 
ence. Carried. 

Mr. DANA offered the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the Standing Committee be 
requested to consider the advisability of printing 
at least two-thirds of the papers to be presented 
at the next conference of the Association, and 
distributing the same among such members as 
are to attend said conference two weeks before 
the date of the same. 

Mr. BOWKER moved as an amendment that the 
Standing Committee see that at the next confer- 
ence the bulk of the time be given to discussion 
and not to papers. 

Mr. CUTTER opposed the amendment as being 
no more than a recommendation that had been 
tried and had failed at every conference. He 
urged that Mr. Dana's experiment be tried once at 
least. 

Mr. Bowker's amendment was lost, and Mr. 
Dana's motion was carried. 

Adjourned. 

TRAIN SESSION. 
(SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31.) 

President GREEN in the chair, Mr. Scudder 
from the Committee on Resolutions offered the 
following resolutions, which were unanimously 
adopted : 

Resolved, That the members of the A. L. A. 
attending the San Francisco conference who have 
taken part in the journey across the continent and 
through Southern California, under the manage- 
ment of the Pennsylvania Railroad, express their 
cordial thanks to that company and especially to 
Assistant General Passenger Agent George W. 
Boyd, for the very satisfactory manner in which 
the journey has been planned and conducted, and 
the special train equipped and manned, affording 



the very perfection of travel and avoiding com- 
pletely the discomforts and inconveniences usually 
incident to long journeys; and they especially 
appreciate the good faith of the company in that 
although the number of passengers fell short of 
original expectations, it has fulfilled to the utmost 
the liberal arrangements of the original pro- 
gramme. 

Resolved, That in tendering their especial thanks, 
individually and collectively, to Tourist Agent 
J. P. McWilliams and to Mrs. H. F. Bender, 
chaperon, representing the management of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad, they recognize to how 
large an extent the proper arrangement of detail 
has been due to their efficiency and constant 
courtesy. 

Resolved, That they appreciate heartily and 
fully how much they are indebted to the excellent 
service and unfailing good-nature of Pullman con- 
ductor Backus, Dining-car Conductor Erhart, and 
other train officials, and to the porters, waiters, 
and others of the train crew, for the comfort and 
convenience which they have enjoyed throughout 
the journey. 

Resolved, That they thank also the Southern 
Pacific Railroad General Passenger Agent Good- 
man and its other officials for their courtesy in 
making special arrangements for the side trips 
from San Francisco and in affording other conven- 
iences on their road. 

The American Library Association wishes to 
return its hearty thanks to the Kansas Library 
Association, and especially to the librarians present 
at Topeka on the last day of October, for their 
very gracious welcome and cordial hospitality, for 
the delicate music of the Mandolin Club, and the 
personal attentions of the young ladies of the U 
and I Club, all of which gave to the Association's 
brief stay at Topeka a peculiar charm. 

The A. L. A., recognizing how greatly the 
pleasure and interest of its California Conference 
and of the trip across the continent have been 
increased by the abounding generosity with which 
it has been welcomed at every turn, wishes to 
place on record its warmest thanks to the follow- 
ing parties, in addition to those that have already 
received recognition : 

To the press of San Francisco for its excellent 
and full reports of the meetings of the conference, 
which were satisfactory in a high degree. 

To the citizens of Santa Cruz who spread for us 
a lunch in that noble forest of Big Trees, which 
lies at their border, and received us with such 
warm hospitality. 

To the good people of Pasadena, under the 
leadership of Willis M. Masters, Esq., President 
of the Board of Trade, and Mrs. Merritt of the 
Public Library for a bountiful lunch and a drive 
under personal guidance through their fruitful 
valley and a visit to the library, where the school 
children fairly loaded us with flowers and fruit. 

To the Board of Directors of the Public Library 
of Los Angeles, and a committee of citizens, to 
Miss Tessa L. Kesso, the chief librarian, Miss 
Adelaide R. Hasse, her assistant, and the entire 
library staff, for a most cordial reception at the 
Public Library, a collation under the presidency 
of His Honor, Mayor H. T. Hazard, where the 



TRAIN SESSION. CHICAGO SESSION. 



127 



tables were decorated with flowers and palms in a 
manner befitting Southern California, and a drive 
with the citizens about the growing city ; also to 
Mr. and Mrs. T. S. C. Lowe of Pasadena, who 
supplied our train with the choicest flowers on our 
departure. 

To the Trustees of the Free Public Library of 
San Diego, and the indefatigable Miss Lulu 
Younkin, librarian, for a most enjoyable visit to 
their border city, where the Association badge 
was honored on ferries and railways ; yachts and 
carriages were provided for our pleasure; a ball 
given by the Mizpah Club on our arrival, and a 
reception by Mrs. H. L. Story on our departure ; 
and not the least a trip to Mexico allured us. 

To Mrs. G. L. Smith, librarian of the Public 
Library of Riverside, and to its citizens for a drive 
through the place under individual guidance, an 
informal reception at the library and a generous 
collation. 

The members of the Association, so fortunate 
as to be able to make this trip and attend the 
Conference cannot fail to carry with them through 
life a high appreciation of the generous culture, 
the prodigal hospitality, and the devoted patriotism 
of the good people of California. 

Dr. Nolan offered the following : 

Resolved, That the thanks of the American 
Library Association be tendered to its President, 
Samuel Swett Green, for his courteous and effi- 
cient discharge of his responsible duties during 
the San Francisco session of the Association. 

This being duly seconded, Dr. Nolan himself 
put the question. Carried with applause. 

The Executive Committee through Dr. Linder- 
felt reported that they had accepted with reluc- 
tance Mr. Soule's resignation. They also reported 
that they had elected Mr. H. M. Utley to fill the 
vacancy (applause), and furthermore that they had 
elected Mr. Fred'k H. Hild a Vice-President, in 
order that he might represent the Association with 
full powers before the Committee of the Colum- 
bian Exposition. (Applause). 

Mr. Utley thanked the Association in a few 
words for his election. 

Adjourned. 



CHICAGO SESSION. 
(MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2.) 

The final meeting was held at the Newberry 
Library, Chicago, President GREEN in the chair. 

Mr. SOULE discussed the nomenclature of 
library architecture and proposed that hereafter 
the " single stack " be hereafter known as " floor 
cases," and that systems of this character be 
called the " range system." 

Mr. UTLEY moved that the Committee on Reso- 
lutions prepare a vote of thanks to the citizens of 
Chicago for their generous hospitality. Carried. 

The following was afterwards prepared by 
them : 

Resolved, That the cordial thanks of the A. L. A. 
be given to our kind Chicago friends and particu- 
larly to the authorities of the Public and New- 
berry Libraries, for their very generous attentions, 
by which our visit to their city was made as 
attractive and useful as was possible in so brief 
a stay. 

Mr. CUTTER read his report on personal statis- 
tics. 

Mrs. DIXON outlined the system of sliding book 
presses as used in the British Museum, the Bod- 
leian Library, and in Mr. Gladstone's private 
library. 

Mr. BOWKER made a report on the model library 
as conducted in the Brooklyn Library. He hoped 
that the A. L. A. members would communicate 
criticisms on it to the Library journal. 

Mr. FLETCHER offered the following resolution 
which was carried : 

Resolved, That the librarians in foreign countries 
be urgently invited to attend the library conference 
to be held at Chicago in 1893 ; and also to con- 
tribute as largely as possible to the library exhibit 
to be there made. 

Mr. FLETCHER offered the following : 

Resolved, That Messrs. Melvil Dewey, W. S. 
Biscoe, and Miss Mary S. Cutler, and Mrs. Dixon, 
who attended the meeting of the L. A. U. K. at 
Nottingham, be recorded on the minutes of the 
A. L. A. as duly accredited delegates. Adopted. 

The President thanked the people of Chicago 
for their cordial invitation to the A. L. A. to 
attend the World's Fair in 1893. 

Adjourned. 



128 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



PUBLISHING SECTION. 



The annual meeting of the section was called to 
order at 10 A. M., October 15, by the President. 
No formal report was presented by the Executive 
Board, all points of interest in the year's work 
appearing to be covered by the report of the 
Treasurer. 

The Treasurer's report was read, and it was 
voted to refer it to Mr. J. L. Whitney of the 
Boston Public Library as auditor, and that if 
approved by him it should be filed. 



The President stated that the A. L. A. Index to 
essays, e^:., was actually at press, and specimen 
copies of a provisional first page were distributed. 

A ballot being taken for officers for the ensuing 
year, the old board were reflected as follows: 

President, W. I. Fletcher. 

Secretary and Treasurer, W. C. Lane. 

Executive Board, The President, the Secretary 
and Treasurer, Melvil Dewey, C. A. Cutter, C. C. 
Soule. 



ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIANS. 



The Association of State Librarians beg leave to 
report that it has been deemed advisable not to 
call a meeting this year for the purpose of dis- 
cussion owing to the fact that few of the mem- 
bers could be present in San Francisco. How- 
ever, the Association wishes to report that much 
good has been accomplished since its organization 
in 1889. Many of the States have changed their 
laws in accordance with the principles advocated 
by us and have increased their appropriations for 
library purposes. We wish to call attention to 
Chap. 126 of the New Hampshire laws for 1891, 
approved April n, 1891. This act passed 
annually on the recommendation of our Associa- 
tion provides that the Senators and Representatives 
in Congress from New Hampshire be instructed 
to favor (i) free transportation through the mails 
for all matter between State libraries ; (2) free 
transportation between State libraries and foreign 
governments ; (3) a lower rate of postage on books ; 
(4) that State libraries have the privilege of 
importing books free from custom duty. This 
resolution has already secured the endorsement of 
the New Hampshire delegation in Congress. And 
on the recommendation of Senator Gallinger a 
petition is being prepared for him to present to 
Congress. 

In February, 1890, a circular letter was sent out 
to the Governor, and Superintendent of Education 
of every State in the Union, and to other interested 
people, outlining the policy of the Association and 
requesting aid and cooperation. Starting from 
the proposition that a State library should not 
only be a complete reference library for all 
branches of the government, executive, judicial, 
and legislative, and the repository of all materials 
for local history and biography, it was urged that it 



should also contain ancj furnish abundant facilities 
for using all desirable books of information relating 
to special industries and pursuits of the State, or 
calculated to lead to the introduction of industries 
and pursuits suited to it, but hitherto neglected. 
In short, it should be fitted to serve all interests 
of the State by infusing into their conduct the 
highest intelligence and skill. On the following 
points we requested assistance: 

That there be a uniformity in the laws govern- 
ing State libraries and regulating exchanges of 
public documents. 

That each State provide for the main- 
tenance of a State library, by creating a fund, and 
not by annual or biennial appropriations. 

That the salary of each State librarian be made 
proportionate to the salaries of other State offi- 
cers. And that the terms of office depend on 
efficiency solely, and not on changes of administra- 
tion. 

That each State provide for the speedy trans- 
mission, under the direction of the State librarian, 
to all State libraries and to foreign governments, 
of all public documents and State publications, 
directly to the libraries. 

That each State should provide by law 

That all books published under its authority be 
properly indexed by a uniform topical alphabet, 
preserving the same heads of reference from year 
to year. 

That the title pages of all statutes and journals 
of the Legislature show the dates of convening 
and final adjournment of the sessions. 

That law reports give the extreme dates of the 
decisions on the title pages, and the date of the 
rendition of each decision above the title of each 



STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 



129 



That each volume of law reports contain a 
table of cases, plaintiff and defendant, and 
vice -versa, 

That the name of the State, with year and num- 
ber of the Legislature where practicable, be let- 
tered on the back of every volume. 

That each State provide for the proper cata- 
loguing and indexing, under the direction of the 
State librarian, of all publications that have been 
or may be issued by authority of the State. 

That each provide for the preparation and pub- 
lication of a list of the sessions of its Legislature, 
from the first session to date. 

That each State provide for the proper 
exchange and disposition of duplicate books. 

Owing to the cooperation received from persons 
not librarians and correspondence by individual 
members of this Association, rather than to any 
official action perhaps, we are happy to report 
that many things have been done in accordance 
to our wishes. And while much yet remains to be 
accomplished, we have great reason to feel 
encouraged. 

Besides these requests from the States we asked 
from the National government the following : 

That Congress should provide 

For free transportation by mail between State 
libraries. 

By international arrangement, for free transpor- 
tation of books and other printed matter between 
State libraries and departments of foreign govern- 
ments. 

For a lower rate of postage on books. 

That the privilege now en joyed by the Library of 
Congress, and by societies, colleges, and schools, 
in the exemption of books from import duty, 
should be extended to State libraries. 

Though these demands are reasonable and for 
the public good, we regret to say that we have as 
yet met with no response or encouragement. 

Books addressed to the Library of Congress are 
carried free through the mails, because of the high 
public utility of this institution. For the same 



reason the official libraries of the several States 
should be exempted from postal charges on mat- 
ter transmitted between them, since securing full 
sets of the documents of each State in the libra- 
ries of other States is a part of a national and 
interstate polity rather than a mere local exi- 
gency. 

Great difficulty is now experienced and great 
expense incurred in trying to make exchanges 
between State libraries and foreign governments. 
Whatever Congress and the Department of State 
can do to facilitate exchanges and lessen expense 
would benefit individual States and the country. 

Reducing postage on books would facilitate 
diffusion of good literature, and would aid popu- 
lar education through the libraries, by removing 
what the Librarian of Congress recently character- 
ized as " the present unwise and unjust discrimina- 
tion against good books, which permits all the 
cheap libraries of novels to go by mail at i cent a 
pound, while all the other books must pay 8 cents 
a pound, thus putting a government premium 
upon trash, and taxing the diffusion of knowledge 
eight times as much as the diffusion of fiction. " 

Through an apparent oversight, State (and pub- 
lic) libraries are riot mentioned in the statutes as 
entitled to import books free of duty. The 
rulings of the Treasury Department allow libra- 
ries exemption from duties, but the law should be 
so explicit as not to leave libraries dependent on 
the rulings of the Treasury or the decisions of 
Collectors of Customs. 

We greatly regret the absence of our President, 
Melvil Dewey, who has been so faithful to our 
cause, and who has given it such hearty assistance. 

We further report that the officers of last year 
have been reflected and the Association has 
adjourned to meet at the next session of the 
A. L. A. 

Respectfully submitted, 

T. H. WALLIS, 

For the Association. 



FROM NEW YORK TO THE GOLDEN GATE. 

BY D. V. R. JOHNSTON. 



At 7.30 A. M., Oct. i, 1891, four travelers, 
partly refreshed by sleep under the auspices of 
Jersey mosquitoes, stepped over from Taylor's 
Hotel in Jersey City to the Pennsylvania R. R. 
station and formed the nucleus of a company of 
faithful members of the A. L. A. bound for the 



setting sun conference. In the course of a few 
minutes a local train brought into view the 
smiling face of our Secretary, who, being used to 
the insects of the locality, had without doubt 
enjoyed a good night's sleep; and soon the New 
York and Brooklyn ferries brought in the rest of 



130 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



our party, and at a minute or two before 8 the 
special train was off one locomotive, four cars, 
about twenty officials, and nine tourists. These 
latter had by the time of starting all been thor- 
oughly waked up by astonishment at finding 
their luggage by some unknown power all present 
and accounted for, and were in fact in thorough 
harmony with their environment, bent on having a 
good time of pleasure and profit and fearing not 
the dangers of the road. 

In less than ten minutes from starting we had 
our first proof that our fame had gone abroad, for 
at Newark we were stopped by the staff of the 
public library who gave us a hearty God-speed 
and a bean-bag outfit. It would be hard to say 
what were the feelings of this party of higher 
culture on being presented with the appliances of 
such a simple and homely amusement, but it may 
as well be frankly confessed that culture and bean 
bags got on well together. 

As the New Jersey State fair was being held at 
Trenton, and of course the railroads were running 
many extra trains, we lost time on the way to 
Philadelphia, that is, our train lost time ; we 
personally did not, we talked shop and were 
happy. At 10.30 we rolled into the Broad Street 
station and found there the Philadelphia delega- 
tion, who having slept and breakfasted at home, 
sported a superior air, and the New England 
contingent, weighed down with luggage and a 
night in a sleeping-car. However, it took but a 
moment for the whole party to flutter round the 
train and alight each one in his proper nest. The 
signal dropped, the conductor called "all aboard," 
and with a clear track before us and with engine 
running wide open, our train started for the West. 
With nothing to stop for but the southern 
delegation, which marched aboard with true 
military promptness at Harrisburg, we had a free 
run for Pittsburg and such a run ! On we rushed 
through the glory of an October day, the moun- 
tains in their splendid livery one by one falling 
behind us, along the Susquehanna, up the valley 
of the Juniata, over Blue Ridge and Alleghany, by 
the busy hives of mountain industry, past ill-fated 
Johnstown, and in the dusk stopped at Pittsburg, 
glowing with its thousand furnaces. A few 
minutes here to chat with those who welcomed us 
at the station, and we were off again through the 
night. 

The morning found us on time again rapidly 
nearing Chicago, and at 9.30 we were most heart- 
ily welcomed by our Chicago friends. Though we 
had but two hours to spend, yet, so well were we 



taken care of that we had the chance of visiting 
the libraries and "doing" the business part of 
the town. Chicago was very hot, however, and 
when, at 11.30, we drew out into the open country, 
we found the slightly cooler air agreeable. We 
were the less sorry to leave, moreover, because 
our party now contained the best of Chicago's 
citizens, according to our standards. We now 
numbered forty-one, and as it was understood that 
each individual possessed at least one new idea 
on library matters, we all set to work to inter- 
change a work, by the way, which completely 
lasted out the trip. 

So we imbibed information and dust till even- 
ing, when we crossed the Mississipi and found a 
cooler atmosphere. Then it was discovered that 
there were some who would condescend to amuse 
themselves, even with bean bags, and later it was 
found, with some difficulty, that a few confessed 
to singing. In fact we then came to the under- 
standing that pleasure and profit should be mixed 
in fair working proportions. 

That evening at Ottumwa, la., we found a 
county fair in " full blast " within a structure which 
at first appeared to be made of coal, and by the 
courtesy of the management we were taken in to 
spend what few minutes were allowed us by the 
schedule of our train. 

About the middle of the same night, at Pacific 
Junction, the Omaha delegation joined us. The 
next afternoon, after a warm and rather monoto- 
nous but not unprofitable nor unpleasant day, 
over the Nebraska and Colorado plains, we saw 
(many of us for the first time) the snow-capped 
peaks of the Rocky Mountains, and as darkness 
was settling down over the valley beautiful Den- 
ver received us in hospitable embrace. We had 
been promised at last year's conference a taste of 
wild and woolly hospitality, and we thought our- 
selves prepared for great things; but we were not 
prepared for the generous, warm-hearted recep- 
tion which we received. The librarians of the 
Mercantile and Public Libraries, with their assist- 
ants, and a delegation of leading citizens, wel- 
comed us at the station and gave us the freedom 
of the city. As all the clubs opened their doors to 
us, most of the men in the party spent the evening 
at one or the other of them, thus at once becom- 
ing acquainted with very many representatives 
of Denver's culture and progress. Others, how- 
ever, escorted such of the ladies as were not too 
tired to the theater, and all of us retired for the 
night quite convinced that Denver was all that 
was claimed for it, and more. 



TO SAN FRANCISCO. 



The next day being Sunday, we were supposed 
to be left to ourselves, but this was not carried 
out literally, as our entertainers were ever at hand 
to point out new ways of enjoying the time. Many 
of us attended divine services in the Cathedral, 
and other places of public worship, and all of us 
found more or less time for walking or riding 
through the city and its suburbs. 

Monday morning, bright and early, our hosts 
were at hand, with carriages to show us the city. 
And, after that sunny autumn morning spent in 
such surroundings, and in such good company, we 
could not but love Denver. 

At noon we left on a special train placed at our 
disposal, for Argo and the silver smelting works, 
where we were welcomed by the president of the 
company, ex-U. S. Senator N. P. Hill. Under 
his guidance we inspected these interesting works, 
and left with a great admiration for the Senator as 
a gentleman and as a scientist, and with at least 
a general knowledge of the art of reducing silver 
ores. 

One accident, however, befell us and marred the 
pleasure of the day, for while leaping over a 
stream of molten slag one of the Columbia College 
representatives fell and sprained her ankle so 
badly that she was deprived of many of the pleas- 
ures of the trip thereafter. 

In the afternoon, as if to show us all the phases 
of her nature, Denver treated us to a regulation 
dust storm, which was^followed by rain, which in 
turn gave way to snow. But we were not daunted. 
We made thorough inspection of the libraries 
while there was yet day, and in the evening 
attended a most enjoyable reception extended to us 
at the house of the University Club. Late in the 
evening Denver gave us a hearty God-speed, and 
taking away two of her librarians and two other 
travelers who there joined us, we went our way. 

The early morning found us at romantic Manitou 
Springs, we having changed our schedule and run 
through Colorado Springs in the night. The sun- 
shine, tempering the cool mountain breeze, made 
the day most pleasant for a run in the open air. 
The morning was spent in driving about, the 
majority going to the Garden of the Gods, while 
some explored the caves and canons, and a few 
devotees of Ramona took the longer drive to the 
grave of Helen Hunt Jackson, on Cheyenne Moun- 
tain. No one was disappointed, and each thought 
that his party had a little the best of it. 

In the afternoon, thanks to the courtesy of the 
management of the Manitou and Pike's Peak 
Railway, we all had a chance to make the ascent 



of Pike's Peak, which was towering above us 
covered with fresh-fallen snow. All who were cer- 
tain of their soundness in wind and limb were on 
hand when the train started. True, we were 
informed that there was no certainty of our ever 
reaching the top, and, for that matter, there was 
no certainty of our ever coming back ; but our 
honored President cheered us up as we said good- 
bye by stating that if the worst came to the worst 
all the papers to be read before the A. L. A. were 
in his keeping, and so the world would not be a 
total loser if we concluded never to come down 
from the mountain at all. But, with the latest 
invention of modern engineering to push us from 
behind, and a gang of stalwart aliens to shovel the 
drifts in front, we took the chances. And we made 
no mistake. Up and up we went, through constantly 
changing mountain views, stopping now and then 
to be shoveled out of a drift, and at last, just as 
the sun was dipping behind a range of a thousand 
snowy mountains, we stood on the summit of the 
king of the Rockies. As we knew that we must 
expect most bitter cold, and had with us no cloth- 
ing suitable for such a temperature, we wore the 
blankets belonging to the Pullman Palace Car 
Co., and without doubt some thirty able-bodied 
citizens so wrapped in red blankets that the letters 
P. P. C. were worn on the small of the back, 
walking in solemn procession around the mountain 
top, was a sight for gods and men. Nevertheless 
we drank in the wonderful scenery with pleasure ; 
we drank in some coffee at the Summit House 
with much less pleasure ; and there were some 
who imperiled their constitutions with the sand- 
wiches of the country ; yet we all lived and were 
happy. It seemed as though we tarried but fora 
moment, yet that moment was worth traveling 
hundreds of miles for ; it was such a perfect moun- 
tain day. Having come within an inch of leaving 
behind to the tender mercies of Pike's Peak coffee 
and sandwiches one of our most valued members, 
we started for the valley ; and, as the darkness 
suddenly fell on us, and we were all very hungry 
we were glad to remember that the hotels of the 
land were both numerous and excellent. How- 
ever, we kept up our spirits and sang songs until 
we were at Manitou once more. Then, after a 
hasty dinner, we made our way over to Colorado 
Springs, where we enjoyed a most hearty recep- 
tion at the hands of its cultured citizens, in the 
halls of the rising young university. As one of 
our members, with his Pullman blanket, was rush- 
ing from the hotel at Manitou to catch the cars for 
Colorado Springs, he overheard a voice from the 



132 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



piazza calling, " Hurry, Mary, hurry, there goes 
the last of them." Then in a tone of great disap- 
pointment he added, " There, now, you have 
missed seeing those interesting Ute Indians." 

Early Wednesday morning we started again, 
and all that day we were in the mountains. 
Through the Royal Gorge, through the canon of 
the Arkansas, by mountain peaks innumerable, 
past busy Leadville to the top of Tennessee Pass, 
and then we plunged over the Divide; then 
through the ever-changing Eagle Canon, with 
scenery as grand as before, we ran down the 
mountain side, until evening, when we stopped at 
Glenwood Springs. It is with sorrow that we 
have to chronicle that crossing the Divide was 
too much for our genial Secretary. Some of the 
more profane say that his lungs, long used to 
New Jersey malaria, could not stand the pure air 
of 10,000 feet elevation; but the more thoughtful 
said that the pressure of work in getting up the 
trip had exhausted his strength. However, be 
that as it may, the fact remains that we lost the 
services of a most competent officer for the bal- 
ance of our trip. 

Having swum in the wonderful sulphur baths 
of Glenwood in the evening, and covered our- 
selves with alkali dust crossing the plains in the 
night, in the morning we found ourselves running 
through Utah, through new valleys and by differ- 
ent mountains which were quite as beautiful to 
look upon as those which we had already seen. 
We steamed through several thriving Mormon 
towns, by Utah Lake, and through the passes, 
and at noon were at Salt Lake City. Having 
lunched at the fine new hotel, we all took car- 
riages to do the City of the Saints, which, it must 
be confessed, was not up to our expectations 
except as to natural beauty. We, however, saw 
all the law allowed and more, for some of the 
party on being informed that no Gentile foot had 
ever entered the sacred precincts of the Temple 
straightway entered therein, and, what is more, 
climbed up to its highest pinnacle. 

A trip to Fort Douglas to see dress parade and 
sunset on the Great Salt Lake and a visit to the 
library wound up the day. 

That night, five hours ahead of time, we were 
off, hoping by an early start to get through the 
snow-sheds on the Sierras by night. But it was 
not so to be, for at Ogden we received a telegram 
from the Sacramento committee warning us by no 
means to reach there ahead of time, as they had 
their plans already made for a public reception in 
our honor. However, we were gainers by the early 



start, as we not only had a good chance to view 
Great Salt Lake and its weird, unnatural scenery, 
but also had time enough on our hands to run 
very slowly over the desert plains of Utah and 
Nevada, so slowly, indeed, that we raised but little 
of that awful alkali dust which is such a nuisance 
to travelers. At Carlin, Nevada, in the afternoon 
we found, to our surprise, a library. It was like a 
voice crying in the wilderness, and with one accord 
we rushed in upon the librarian, and wished him all 
manner of good luck. We found that the few inhab- 
itants of Nevada were of a most extraordinary men- 
tal development and worthy of many libraries ; for at 
one of the stations we overheard a citizen inviting 
a friend to come and inspect our party, on the 
ground that " it was the smartest lot of people 
which had ever been seen in the State." " Are 
they all from Boston ? " asked the other. " Nop, 
they are not, for they don't all wear glasses ; but 
they look almighty wise just the same." 

The morning our train was " held up " in true 
western style by the State Librarian of California, 
with Judge R. O. Cravens, T. H. Wallis, ex-State 
Librarian; W. C. Fitch, President of the Sacra- 
mento Library ; and J. A. Woodson, President of 
the Sacramento Art Museum, and the librarian of 
the Alameda Public Library. This party took the 
train at Truckee, and as we were conducted west- 
ward, leaving behind us for a day or so the chair- 
man of the Committee on Resolutions for a raid on 
the grasshoppers of that locality, we were their 
captives body and soul. They came not empty- 
handed, but brought with them quail, salmon, and 
the choicest of California's golden fruits. With 
laughter, feasting, and good fellowship we were 
carried on our way, and being so well-conducted 
none of the glorious scenery of the Sierras was 
allowed to pass us unnoticed. Romantic Donner's 
Lake was pointed out and its sad story rehearsed. 
The canons were introduced to us one by one, and 
at Cape Horn we had a full hour to revel in the 
morning beauty of the " heart of the Sierras " so 
famed on canvas and in print. But the party did 
not give up its search for solid information, and 
from the President on, all, with few exceptions, 
made personal examination of that marvelous 
product of the country, the red bat of Tuckalook 
Canon. True, we had studied the species before, 
but never under circumstances so favorable for 
scientific investigation. It was unanimously voted 
that the bat was a brick. As we were whirled 
rapidly down the mountain side, only stopping for 
fresh relays of fruit and flowers, which our captors 
had provided at every station, our spirits rose 



TO SAN FRANCISCO. 



133 



higher and higher at the prospect of enjoying a 
conference among people who were as hospitable 
as cultured. At 1.30 p. M. we drew up in the 
Sacramento station, and were immediately taken 
possession of by a delegation of citizens who 
escorted us in carriages to the Crocker Art Gal- 
lery, where His Honor, Mayor Comstock, gave us 
the freedom of the city. Mr. Woodson welcomed 
us to the gallery in a very neat speech. After hav- 
ing admired the fine collection of paintings, which 
are the memorial of one of Sacramento's best- 
known citizens, Judge Crocker, the whole party 
went to the State capitol, where in the halls of the 
State Library we were welcomed by the Hon. E. G. 
Waite on behalf of Gov. Markham, who was absent 
from the city. Our President answered in one of 
those pithy, witty speeches which have made his 
administration famous in the annals of the A. L. A. 
and after inspecting the library and the capitol, 
under the guidance of the State Library staff, we 
were taken to drive through the city, carrying 
away with us baskets of fruits and flowers and a 



large floral book made with most exquisite taste, 
which afterwards we used to ornament our parlors 
in San Francisco. 

At 4.10 P. M. we were turned over to the San 
Francisco committee, who had come up to take 
care of us, ten librarians, all known to us by 
reputation ; and turning our back on the good peo- 
ple of Sacramento we started on our final run for 
the Golden Gate. We found that although we 
were tired with much sight-seeing and merrymak- 
ing, in the heat of a most sultry and oppressive 
day, our San Francisco friends could still keep us 
in full enjoyment of the passing hours, and after 
what seemed a short run through the darkening 
fields and along the bay we rolled into the 
Oakland station and our railroad trip was ended. 
A short wait for the ferry, a short ride in the cool 
fog drawing in from the sea, a twinkling of electric 
lights and a jingling of bells, the wheels ceased 
churning the water, and our journey was done. 
Three thousand five hundred and forty-five miles 
of thorough enjoyment and solid profit. 



AT SAN FRANCISCO. 



BY JESSIE ALLAN, LIBRARIAN OMAHA PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



The entertainment of the members of the 
American Library Association by the San Fran- 
ciscans virtually began at 5 p. M., Saturday. Oct. 
10, when we left Sacramento accompanied by the 
vanguard of citizens of 'Frisco and Oakland, 
namely Messrs. Cheney, Cleary, Doxey, O'Conor, 
Peterson, Rowell, Symmes, Warren, Whitaker, 
and Wilson, 

Arrived at the Palace Hotel, which was to be 
our home for a week, each member realized that 
for thirty-six hours he was a free agent, and 
knowing the proverbial hospitality of Californians, 
and that every hour of the next six days would be 
fully occupied by the regular program, resolved to 
make the most of his opportunity. 

Newspapers and correspondence demanded the 
attention of many, but a number of the vvisemen 
decided without hesitation to see Market street on 
a Saturday night. This is a feature of San Fran- 
cisco, and the endless throng composed of 
Caucasians, Negroes, and Mongolians, passing up 
" two bits " side, then down " three bits " side, 
give an air of cosmopolitanism not equalled in 
any city of the United States. 

The unique program designates Sunday by the 
single word " rest." If to change is to rest, we 



rested ; but " perpetual motion " would more 
happily describe our condition. 

The different churches claimed most during the 
hours of morning service. Then to see the 
beauties of the city seemed to be the main object 
of life. To see San Francisco, patronize the 
street railways. No city in the world may be 
seen so quickly and so easily as on this the most 
perfect cable-car system in the world. The rides 
are full of delightful surprises, of superb views of 
city, mountain, and sea. Californians say that 
the city is built on a hundred hills, and those who 
have fully experienced the ups and downs of cable 
life must agree that this is not a western 
exaggeration. 

Golden Gate Park was the destination of many 
of our people, and it was hard to believe that even 
such indefatigable perseverance had in so short a 
time transformed desolate sand hills into a trop- 
ical vision of lovliness. 

A kind providence in the guise of a Chinese 
funeral led a few of us to the Chinese cemeteries, 
where in addition to the peculiar burial service we 
witnessed the interesting ceremonies incident to 
the semi-annual feast of the dead. The celebra- 
tion continues all day, and we saw all the steps in 



134 



SAN- FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



the service from the arrival laden with meats, rice, 
liquor, cigarettes, etc., the explosion of fire- 
crackers, the burning of religious paper repre- 
senting money, prayers, and messages for the 
departed. 

As a grand finale we were at 1 1 o'clock treated 
to the heaviest earthquake shock that has been 
experienced in many years. As one of our bright 
Southern California hostesses remarked, " The 
people of San Francisco said they would move 
heaven and earth for you. As far as the latter 
is concerned they could not have been more 
successful." 

At 9.20 A. M. Monday, conducted by the mem- 
bers of the local commtttee, we started on a trip 
that had not a single marring feature. Sutro 
Heights and the Cliff House were points of desti- 
nation, and the mode of transit, a train, decorated 
with flags and flowers. The ever-changing pano- 
rama of this ride on the edge of the cliff must be 
seen to be fully appreciated. 

Arrived at Sutro Heights we were welcomed by 
Mr. Sutro, aud his daughter Dr. Merritt. A stroll 
through the grounds was followed by a visit to 
the Cliff House ; a view of the famous seal 
rocks, and a cursory inspection of the mammoth 
baths in course of construction. Returning to the 
residence of our host, we were served with an 
elaborate luncheon, during which Messrs. Sutro, 
Green, Poole, Linderfelt, and Cheney made some 
brief and felicitous remarks. Return to the city 
was made by the Park and Ocean road in time for 
the opening session at Pioneer Hall. 

Monday evening, at 8 o'clock, the members of 
the Association were most delightfully received by 
the citizens of San Francisco. Owing to illness, 
Mr. W. H. L. Barnes was unable to make the 
opening address, Rev. C. W. Wendte, who was 
introduced by Mr. Cheney, kindly filling his 
place. In welcoming the members of the Asso- 
ciation, he said that he had often wished to be 
a librarian, just to be free from the cares, annoy- 
ances, and exactions of an ordinary mortal's life, 
and to seek rest and quiet in the dim, still alcoves 
of some great place of books. Mr. Wendte 
might find the dimness and stillness in many of our 
cathedral libraries ; but would soon acknowledge 
that rest is in the vocabulary of few librarians. 

Mr. Green responded in his usual happy style, 
when the official program was closed by Mr. 
Cheney, who read an original poem called " A 
Librarian's Trials." It was a decided hit, being a 
humorous allegory, not long, and written from a 
true standpoint. 



Conversation was resumed and continued for an 
hour, during which we learned by actual experi- 
ence the charming heartiness with which San 
Francisco treats the strangers within her gates. 

Tuesday at 9 A. M., under the thoughtful and 
kind guardianship of Messrs. Whitaker, Wilson, 
and Rowell, we were conducted to the steamer 
" Tiburon " for a trip around the bay. The 
names Hunter's Point, Raccoon Straits, Alcatraz, 
Man and Angel's Island, and El Campo became 
realities to us. Our friends regretted the clouds 
and the wind, but the scenery in these circum- 
stances was so beautiful, and the kindliness of the 
ladies and gentlemen of San Francisco and Oak- 
land so delightful that I doubt whether a clear 
atmosphere could have made the day more satis- 
factory. With the usual hospitality, a bountiful 
luncheon was served on the return trip. 

Until I P. M., Wednesday, business meetings 
claimed our undivided attention. At this time in 
response to an invitation tendered by Senator and 
Mrs. Stanford, the party to the number of 60 
boarded a special train for Palo Alto. The prime 
motive of this excursion was a visit to the Leland 
Stanford, Jr. University. This beautiful and mag- 
nificent institution was opened October i, about 
four and a half years after the laying of the corner- 
stone. 

In accordance with Senator Stanford's desire 
to perpetuate pioneer customs, all the buildings 
are in the old mission style of architecture, with 
broad, low arches, high, pitched roofs, and red, 
curved tiles. With the exception of the last 
named, California has furnished all the materials 
for construction. 

After a general view of the buildings and satis- 
fying the omnipresent photograph fiend, we were 
conducted to the chapel, where a brief address of 
welcome was made by President Jordan, and 
responded to by the President of the Associa- 
tion. 

Carriages then conveyed us to the Palo Alto 
stock farm, where even the most ordinary horse 
lover became wildly enthusiastic over the beauties 
of Sunol, Palo Alto, Bellbird, Ladywell, and hun- 
dreds of lesser lights in the equine world. Per- 
haps it is only fair to presume that the wonderful 
breaking of records in the following week was 
due to the visit of the members of the American 
Library Association. One of the horses was 
introduced to the party as Librarian. 

From the Kindergarten we were driven to Menlo 
Park, where we were most charmingly and heart- 
ily received by Mr. and Mrs. Stanford, Miss Upson, 



AT SAN FRANCISCO. 



135 



and others. Two hours were spent in conversa- 
tion, in promenading through the beautiful 
grounds, and in doing justice to the dainty colla- 
tion. It was late in the afternoon when the train 
left Menlo Park. Air, clear and balmy, an indigo 
sky, and charming fellowship added to the 
delights of a most delightful day. 

Tuesday and Wednesday nights, after the ses- 
sions, parties were arranged, each under the guid- 
ance of an officer, for the purpose of visiting 
Chinatown, a small part of the city as regards 
area, but harboring 50,000 Celestials. 

We were first given.a general idea of the streets 
or alleys, lined with small shops, where curious 
groceries are sold, and still more curious meats 
and vegetables ; booths where we saw confections, 
books, newspapers, curios, and around, above, 
and below the, to us, cabalistic red scrolls, all as 
distinctly Chinese as if we were in the Flowery 
Kingdom. 

Suddenly we were conducted through a dark 
passage, down steep and narrow stairs to the 
squalid, crowded, ill-smelling, living places of 
these human beings; to their opium dens, mere 
closets having several bunks, in each of which 
lies a Chinaman in different stages of intoxication ; 
to the public kitchen, to see the blind woman and 
the disgusting Chinese idiot. It was a relief to 
again reach the street where, foul as the air was, it 
seemed like purity itself compared with that of 
the subterranean haunts. 

The restaurant was a pleasant surprise, with its 
beautiful lacquered chairs and tables, its dainty 
china, real tea, and strange sweetmeats. From 
here we went to the Joss House, but recently 
finished and gorgeous with its bronze and gilt 
carvings and richly embroidered hangings. 

Our last visit was through long underground 
passages to the theatre. This is almost indescrib- 
able. We were seated on the stage which is 
entirely without scenery. Near us was the orches- 
tra composed of a gong, cymbals, a violin 
resembling a croquet mallet, an embryonic banjo, 
the whole making a discordant din, which, added 
to the falsetto voices of the actors, made one 
think of the infernal regions. A part of the party 
viewed the closely packed audience from a window 
at the back of the stage, where they looked over 
the heads of the actors who were some ten feet 
beneath them. After visiting the "green room" 
to see the robes heavy with gold and silver 
embroidery, we left the building, and returned to 
the American city via Murderer's Alley and the 
the Chinese Dupont street, having been sur- 



feited with Chinese men, women, and children, 
shops, dens, and, above all, the all-pervading, 
monopolizing, come-to-stay Chinese odor. 

Thursday afternoon Rev. C. W. Wendte, Dr. 
S. H. Melvin, Dr. B. A. Rabe, Miss Coolbrith, 
Messrs. H. F. Peterson, J. C. Rowell, C. B. Mor- 
gan, J. B. McChesney, S. G. Hillborn, J. A. 
McKinnon, and J. E. McElrath met us at the Palace 
Hotel to conduct us to Oakland, where elaborate 
preparation had been made for our entertainment. 

The University of California at Berkley was 
first visited, President Kellogg welcoming his 
guests, and President Green returning thanks. 
An hour and a half was spent in enjoying the 
art gallery, library, and university buildings, when 
much to our regret we were obliged to again 
take wing. 

Returning to Oakland, a brief visit to the library 
preceded a ride to Piedmont Heights. At 5.30 
p. M. we entered the spacious and beautifully- 
appointed home of the Starr King Fraternity, a 
most ideal memorial of a man who 

" The truth half jesting half in earnest flung ; 
The word of cheer, with recognition in it, 
The note of alms, whose golden speech outrung 
The golden gift within it." 

After being pleasantly received by many cul- 
tured citizens, we were led to the dining-room, 
where a ravenous appetite, gained during the long 
ride, was more than satisfied. The inner man 
appeased, adjournment was made to the parlors, 
where pleasant addresses were made by Rev. C. 
W. Wendte, Dr. Melvin, and President Green. 
This delightful informal reception was followed 
by a business session, when carriages conveyed us 
to the train in time for the 9.30 boat for San 
Francisco. 

Friday evening was devoted to a banquet at the 
Palace Hotel, the close of a most delightful series 
of entertainments. This final act was planned by 
Mr. Horace Wilson and carried out to perfection 
in every detail. The beautiful floVers and fruits 
arranged with artistic carelessness, the banks of 
palms and foliage plants, the brilliantly-lighted 
white-and-gold room, the hidden orchestra, all 
conspired to make a veritable fairy land. 

The unique menu, a fac-simile of the outer page 
of the Library journal, brought us to earth again, 
and it was nearly eleven when Mr. F. J. Symmes, 
as toastmaster, stopped the merry conversation 
with a few well-chosen remarks. President Green 
replied. 

Toasts were then responded to by Dr. Linder- 



136 



FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



felt, Dr. Nolan, Mr. Irving M. Scott, Professor 
Kellogg, and Mr. R. R. Bowker. 

The hour of twelve brought with it a realizing 
sense that we were to leave San Francisco early 
in the morning. 

To adequately describe the entertainment ten- 



dered us, would require a gifted pen and many 
pages of the Journal. In the words of one of the 
best and busiest of our colleagues, " I would not 
have missed it for anything. It was thoroughly 
enjoyable, and will furnish food for pleasant rem- 
iniscences a long time to come." 



PUBLIC RECEPTION IN THE PALACE HOTEL. 



MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 12. 



Mr. J. VANCE CHENEY called the meeting to 
order and introduced Rev. Dr. Wendte of Oak- 
land, saying : 

The shadow is always crawling on the bright 
place, even in this sunny land. At the last 
moment, I learn that Gen. Barnes, who was to 
deliver the address of welcome, is prostrated by 
illness. This is a severe disappointment; but it 
must not be thought that, on this prolific shore, 
all hangs upon any one man. I shall introduce 
presently one (his modesty forbids my mentioning 
his name till the proper time) who will convince 
you instantly that many a tongue among us is 
tipped with the hallowed fire. I shall say but 
enough to decently bid him step forward. 

No words of mine or another are needed to 
assure you of your welcome. Did we not meet 
you, at the boundary line of our great State, with 
the true hospitality of the wild, with the fish 
from our waters and the game from our hills; 
and, a little later, did not our capital city chariot 
you up and down its flowery ways, its chief officer 
heading the procession ? And thereafter did not 
a gallant band escort you with due honor down 
here into the wind and fog ? Ay, have not the 
very elements conspired with us to give you greet- 
ing ? Last night the rejoicing of the under-gods 
was such as to shake these solid walls. 

An American poet, years ago, styled our State 
"the leopard of the splendid hide." Our leopard 
was wilder then than now ; we have led her down 
from her haunts on the brown and yellow hills, 
and it is only too evident that she can, on occa- 
sion, kneel submissively in the presence of beauty 
and chivalry. Yes, our leopard begins to respect 
the keeper's hand; still we have need of you 
tamers from the East who have come to give her 
such lessons as you may in the course of a short 
week. We expect much from the next seven 
days ; indeed, it may be that when, three or four 
thousand years hence, some Flinders Petrie 
unwraps the mouldy swathings of this once 



glorious State, his eye \vill pause with special 
delight on this bright little point of her history. 

But, members of the American Library Asso- 
ciation, that you may know just how welcome you 
are, I must introduce the Rev. C. W. Wendte of 
Oakland. 

Dr. WENDTE welcomed the Association in a 
fluent speech, which unfortunately was not 
reported. 

President GREEN said : 

Your welcome is cordial and warm ; its cor- 
diality and warmth are only equalled by the sin- 
cerity of our gratitude. I thank you in the name 
of the members of the American Library Associa- 
tion, and of all the librarians of the country, and 
of the towns, cities, and States which they rep- 
resent. We come from Connecticut, Rhode 
Island, and Massachusetts, from New York, New 
Jersey, and Pennsylvania, from Indiana and Illi- 
nois, from Michigan and Wisconsin, and from 
other States of the Union, including those on this 
coast, and we come one and all in hearty apprecia- 
tion of the warm-hearted and generous hospitality 
of the citizens of San Francisco and California. 

Among the remembrances of my boyhood are 
the stirring accounts which appeared in the news- 
papers of the battles of the Mexican war. I 
call to mind the fact, as I stand here tonight, that 
it was a native of Worcester and, at the time, 
a citizen of Massachusetts, who at the beginning 
of that war gave the order to the commander of 
the naval squadron on this coast to take posses- 
sion of California in the name of the United 
States. I refer, of course, to George Bancroft, 
Secretary of the Navy, in the Cabinet of President 
Polk, and historian of the United States. 

I carry the history of this great State of Cali- 
fornia in my memory. As I think of the earlier 
incidents in its history and remember the crises 
through which it has since, passed, I am filled with 
renewed confidence in the conservative character- 
istics of human nature, as shown in the manifesta- 



SAN FRANCISCO RECEPTION. 



137 



tions of the character of the better portions of the 
American people. Once aroused we grapple in a 
death struggle with the elements of disorder, and 
the contest is sure to end in victory for what is 
highest and best. 

As I think of what has occurred in this State, I 
am forcibly reminded of the great picture of Sir 
Joshua Reynolds, called the Infant Hercules. In 
that picture the limbs and stature of the child are 
those of a babe, but they are instinct with strength. 
The face, too, manifests a determined spirit. The 
infant holds in either hand a serpent which it is 
crushing. 

The better portion of the people of this State 
crushed out the disorder and vice that existed here, 
and in the place of chaos and iniquity established 
order and virtue. 

I well remember, sir, the days of 1849. My 
father fitted out two men who came here to dig 
for gold. This gold pencil, which I hold in my 
hand, was given to me in the same year by a gen- 
tleman who made a pet of me in my boyhood, 
just as he started to come herein a vessel which 
went around Cape Horn. It is inscribed "T. H. 
S. to S. S. G." I am very sorry that Thomas H. 
Selby is not here tonight to welcome us, as I am 
sure he would be were he alive. He came here, 
was successful as a merchant, and so won your 
confidence and esteem that you made him Mayor 
of the city. 

In the early days of California we sent you from 
the East some of the choicest of gifts. We sent 
you large numbers of well-trained young men. I 
need not remind you that Thomas Starr King, 
whose public services you have always appreciated, 
was a gift from Massachusetts. 

What we gave you in days gone by you are 
returning to us today. 

We never can forget how gloriously you came 
forward during the civil war and poured your gold 
into the treasury of the nation. 

As a distinguished citizen here has just estab- 
ished a university in this State, so another gentle- 
man, formerly resident here, has founded an insti- 
tution of the highest importance in Central 
Massachusetts, in the city of Worcester. I refer, 
of course, to Jonas G. Clark and Clark Uni- 
versity. After serving California and San Fran- 
cisco faithfully as a citizen, in his quiet way, doing 
what Starr King did more publicly to keep this 
State loyal to the Union, he left here, and after 
traveling, and living in New York, went home to 
his native county of Worcester, Massachusetts, 
and settled in its chief town. 



There he has endowed an institution which has 
been in existence for two years and which shows 
vigorous life, the central idea of which is to 
afford a place where the whole body of instructors 
and students shall be made of men every one of 
whom is engaged in making investigations and 
aiming to add to the sum of human knowledge. 

Nobody is admitted to the university who is 
not an enthusiastic and advanced student, and 
everybody connected with it is engaged in original 
research. For Jonas G. Clark who is spending, 
for the benefit of the whole country, a fortune the 
foundation of which was laid here, we thank you 
most heartily. 

In former days some persons, residents else- 
where, thought that our country could dispense 
with New England. 

There was a time, sir, when there was much 
talk about a Pacific republic. 

What, sir, could a bird do without its wings ? 
How couid the mutilated creature fly onwards and 
upwards ? 

What a country would this be without New 
England and the States on the Pacific coast ! 

New England is bound to California by bands 
of iron, and these pass over the breasts of our 
sister States. 

But they are bound together and united with 
those sister States by the still stronger bonds of 
respect and affection. 

God bless Massachusetts and California. God 
bless our whole country. 

A LIBRARIAN'S DREAM. 

BY JOHN VANCK CHENEY. 

The catalogue finished, I slipped away 

Farewell, it's ho for a holiday ! 

I pitched my tent by a mountain stream, 

And, lulled by the water, fell in a dream. 

Slow rose a building, solemn, old, 

A dingy building, crammed and cold, 

Wherein sat toiling, wan and lean, 

A spectacled man, huge books between^ 

Busier by far than the man of the law 

Once on a time Dan Chaucer saw. 

" Enough, enough ! the night is come, 

I go," he cried, " to the wife at home." 

He spoke and paused, gazed wistfully round, 

And spoke again 'twas a feeble sound : 

" Before I go, look kindly down, 

Bless me, ye mighty in renown ; 

From shelf to shelf, you know how true, 

Long years have I looked up to you." 

I said to myself, 'tis a pitiful sight, 

The grizzled man in the dismal light ; 

And how came his voice so far and faint ? 

There's something about him that smacks of the saint. 



138 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



While yet in thought I softly spoke, 

Out of the dusk a strange light broke, 

And, one by one, from the walls came down 

Grave files of the mighty, the sons of renown. 

I stood by a pillar, still as a stone, 

While every writer on bark or bone, 

Every sage, it seemed, who had uttered word 

That, spoken once, is forever heard, 

Philosophers, prophets, of every clime, 

From the hour of dawn on the hills of time 

Came down, as only the kingly can, 

And clustered about the queer little man. 

Kalidasa, Sadi, Xenophon, 

Herodotus, Hafiz, Anacreon, 

Homer, Ferdusi, ./Esop, and Bion, 

Every son of man that the world sets high on ; 

Solon and Cesar and Socrates, 

Confucius, Buddha, Sophocles, 

Josephus, Philo, Ptolemy Soter 

No shadow of mortal was ever devoter 

Livy and Virgil and Tasso and Dante, 

And he of the knight on his good Rosinante ; 

And these were but children compared with some others, 

Startlingly filmy, primitive brothers, 

Who must have flourished, if Nature had 'em, 

In the reign of his Serpentship and Adam. 

Shakespeare I saw, and Rabelais, 

And Newton, and Milton, and Bacon and Gray, 

Herschel and Hervey, DeQuincy and Lamb, 

All shapes of the mighty, all you could cram 

In a list as long as a Norway mile ; 

And every soul of 'em wearing a smile, 

A smile of blessing, which golden ran 

All over the queer little spectacled man. 

Never before was creature of dust 

Encircled by shapes so exceeding august ; 

Never was greater obeisance paid 

To mortal being, monarch or maid. 

They bowed and they smiled and the time went on ; 

I looked lo, every shape was gone ! 

And in their places there stormed a band 

Of the light peculiar to sea and land, 

Un-Wordsworthian wholly, a crowd 

Which rushed so fierce and howled so loud 



I thought he had come to the end of his span, 

The little old saintly spectacled man. 

They coaxed and questioned, they queried and quizzed, 

Till the windows winked and the pillars whizzed : 

O, heavens, the things they wanted to know 

From Moses' tomb down to dynamo ! 

" I should like to make some Ozokerite ; " 

" A cure, if you please, for potato-blight ; " 

" What is the catch of Saskatchewan River? " 

" What have you got on the spleen and liver? " 

" The pedigree of the monkey-wrench 

Had I better look in Darwin or Trench ? " 

" Is there any new trick for coloring butter? 

By the way, do you swear by Dewey or Cutter?" 

" What smarty started the question of sex ? " 

"Who wrote the Brando Multiplex?" 

" Is Harrison after a second term ? " 

" What have you anent the army-worm? " 

" What becomes of the flies in winter?" 

" Is there anything sure to kill a printer ?" 

" Where shall I find a pithy quotation 

To stick in a skit on immigration ? " 

" Did Marlowe write the ' Ricketty Hand?' " 

" Can the women vote in Ashantee land? " 

" Say, what the deuce is a deodand ? " 

And so they plied him, and after and ; 

There isn't an accent in any tongue 

But over and over 'twas rung and rung 

Tumultuous, terrible interrogation, 

Enough for a Solomon's ruination. 

I counted up to a million and stopped ; 

But what did the worn saint do? He dropped 

In his chair, unflinching took shock after shock ; 

Without so much as a glance at his clock, 

He answered 'em, yea, by Peter and Paul, 

Serenely he answered 'em, one and all. 

His dinner at six, 'twas now quite eleven, 

But there he sat, as the saints sit in Heaven ; 

The friend, the peer, of the shades on the wall, 

There he sat with an answer for all, 

Sat wise and calm, tipped back in his chair. 

This very hour I should look for him there 

Were it not that, up in the hills by the stream, 

I woke, and he slipped through the doorway of dream. 



RECEPTION AT OAKLAND. 



Before the regular session, the Rev. C. H. 
WENDTE, Pastor of the First Unitarian Church, 
addressed the company in the reception room. 

It seems my duty to act as a substitute for 
others who do not put in an appearance. It is a 
pleasant obligation to address a few words of 
welcome on behalf of the citizens of Oakland and 
members of the Starr King Fraternity, and 
especially for those engaged in the noble course 
of library work, to tender you a hearty welcome 
to our city and our hospitalities. I have been 
asked some questions about our young city, and 
if you will pardon me for a matter of advertising, 



I will give you a few facts. Oakland is a younger 
city than San Francisco ; it has perhaps 70,000 
people. It is a pleasant city to live in, a city of 
homes, schools, and churches. We have the larg- 
est Congregational church on this coast, whose 
pastor, Dr. McGee is with us ; we have the larg- 
est Presbyterian church, the largest Methodist, 
and so on. The seminaries of learning, Berkeley, 
you visited this morning; we have institutions of 
learning for the young men of this coast ; at 
Berkeley we have a school under a professor 
whom many of you have known in the East in 
past years. Some of his teachers are here this 



OAKLAND RECEPTION. 



139 



evening. We have high schools, grammer schools, 
and so on, which I wish you could haye seen more 
of as you traveled about today. We have factories 
of various kinds, iron works, refining works, car 
shops we have a large plant in this Western 
city, and some day this will be the Brooklyn of this 
State. Oakland and San Francisco will correspond 
to Brooklyn and New York. We think this is a 
very pleasant place to live in. 

As to the library, we have one with us this 
evening who can speak on that subject, and I 
shall call upon him presently. Your presence 
with us has given us a great impetus. We are 
informed that it is the intention of one or two 
wealthy persons in our community to found some 
institution among us, and we hope and trust that 
one of these may be the public library of our city. 

Miss INA D. COOLBRITH, librarian of the 
Public Library of Oakland, read a poem. 

IN THE LIBRARY. 

Who say these walls are lonely, these, 

They may not see the motley throng 
That people it as thick as bees 

The scented clover-beds among. 

They may not hear when footfalls cease, 

And living voices for awhile, 
The speech, in many tongues and keys, 

Adown each shadowy aisle. 

Here are the friends that ne'er betray; 

Companionship that never tires ; 
Here voices call from voiceless clay, 

And ashes dead renew their fires. 

For death can touch the flesh alone ; 

Immortal thought, from age to age 
Lives on, and here, in varied tone, 

It speaks from many a page. 

Here searching History waits, the deeds 

Of man and nations to rehearse ; 
Here clear-eyed Science walks and reads 

The secrets of the universe. 

Here lands and seas, from pole to pole, 

The traveler spreads before the eye ; 
Here Faith unfoids her mystic scroll 

The soul to satisfy. 

Here Homer chants heroic Troy, 

Here Dante strikes the harp of pain, 
Here Shakespeare sounds the grief, the joy, 

Of all of human life the strain. 

Alone and silent ? Why, 'tis rife 
With form and sound ! The hosts of thought 

Are dwellers here ; and thought is life. 
Without it earth and man were not. 

To war and state-craft leave the bay, 

A greater crown to these belongs: 
The rulers of the world are they 

Who make its books and songs. 



Dr. MELVIN, chairman of the Board of Trus- 
tees of the Public Library, said : 

It would be manifestly improper for me to 
detain you with any extended remarks, if it had 
been my pleasure to do so, further than to say 
that we enjoy your visit very much, and on behalf 
of the trustees we extend to you a cordial invi- 
tation to our city and hope we shall see some of 
you again before we leave. I did not have the 
pleasure of seeing you this afternoon and accom- 
panying you, but I am told you saw part of our 
city, and I hope you enjoyed it. It is quite a new 
thing for us to have a visit from librarians some- 
thing unique in fact. We have had representa- 
tives here from scientific bodies, political and 
non-political bodies ; so many that conventions 
coming to this coast excite but little attention. 
But it is different with librarians. We never 
have had a visit from librarians from all parts of 
the Union before, and our people have taken 
much interest in your trip. 

Dr. Wendte has spoken to you of some things 
we have here; it has occurred to me I might sup- 
plement his remarks by telling you of some things 
which we have not here. For instance, we have 
here no blizzards of any sort, and very rarely any 
lightning; no extremes of heat or cold. We do 
not happen to have Plymouth Rock, but we have 
the Seal Rocks, and we think we have the most 
enjoyable climate on the face of the globe. I 
hope you will enjoy it fully, and that we may have 
reason to feel that some of you will return again 
to remain permanently. (Applause). 

Pres. GREEN. I thank you, Mr. Wendte, ladies 
and gentlemen, and through you the citizens of 
Oakland, for this hospitable reception. You have 
spoken of the library here as not being so good as 
you desire. We certainly have found it a very 
cosey and attractive place. It is also certain that 
you only have to become aware of the value that a 
library can be to the community, to induce you to 
make it larger and to give it the means of doing a 
great work in the city. 

But there are only a few minutes before we must 
begin our regular meeting, so I must say no more. 
Then, too, the dinner was so good and I partook so 
heartily of it, that really I am too full for utter- 
ance. We were very hungry and you fed us. 
(Applause.) 

I could speak better in a humorous than a seri- 
ous vein. It has occurred to me, as I looked 
around in the hall above and saw how many libra- 
rians there are here, that if those officers are such 
a blessing as we claim that they are, many commu- 



140 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



nities in the East must be suffering, now that we 
are all here in California. 

There was a wit in Boston, who said that if peo- 
ple were very good, when they died they would go 
to Paris ; now we have come to the conclusion that 
if we are considered worthy of reward when we die, 
the thing we should desire most, after leaving the 
States or cities in which we are now engaged, 
would be to come through the Golden Gate to 



San Francisco and Oakland. Once more, gentle- 
men, I thank you most heartily on behalf of the 
American Library Association, for the very cor- 
dial reception you have given us and for the royal 
hospitality you have extended to us. (Applause.) 
Mr. WENDTE. I always thought librarians 
were slow and not quick of speech, but I have 
listened to President Green on several occasions 
within the past few days and find I was mistaken. 



SPEECHES AT THE BANQUET AT THE PALACE HOTEL. 



Mr. SYMMES. Ladies and gentlemen and mem- 
bers of the American Library Association : Owing to 
remarkable modesty on the part of the chairman of 
the Banquet Committee, it has devolved upon me, 
as an appointee under him, to preside upon this oc- 
casion, and I start with this explanation of the 
honor which has devolved upon me. I thank you 
for the attention which you have given up to this 
moment to the services which have been rendered 
by the Banquet Committee, and I trust that you 
will be equally attentive for the few moments 
which we expect to occupy. 

My chief instructions from the Banquet Com- 
mittee were, not to make a long speech; and 
certainly nobody else will make one that will 
bore anybody else. 

We desire to extend to you, now that your duties 
are over, a cordial welcome, and we hope by this 
meeting to impress upon you the fact of its cordi- 
ality. 

It is related that once upon a time, when a cer- 
tain people were about to elect a new ruler or gov- 
ernor, they agreed mutually among themselves, 
that he should be their chief who first of all, upon 
a certain day, should behold the rays of the rising 
sun. Accordingly, upon the morning of the day 
appointed, they gathered with great anxiety and 
earnestness and looked out upon the eastern skies. 
With one exception, however; one man turned his 
back upon the rising sun and looked west with 
equal anxiety. Whereupon the others laughed at 
the idea that he should look in a western direc- 
tion for the light which was supposed to come 
from the east. But nevertheless, when the sun 
rose in his glory, he first painted with his rays the 
western hills, and this man, of all the company, 
was the first to behold the rays of the rising sun. 
Now, when you left your eastern homes, in the 
centre of civilization and culture and refinement, 
to come and visit us in this far-away west, it 
perhaps seemed to you equally absurd that you 



should find out here anything which might en- 
lighten you. It has, therefore, been the special 
aim of the Library Committees here and of the few 
citizens who have joined them in their efforts to 
entertain you, to enable you to behold such a rise 
of civilization and culture and refinement as we 
have here with us to develop. 

We have completed our attentions, so far as we 
have been able to give them, for the reason that 
your time is now over and you are about to leave 
us, and this is the conclusion of the attentions 
which we have been able to give. 

I have it upon the authority of Mr. Rowell, that 
the Right Honorable Mr. Gladstone once gave 
this definition of the word " Deputation," as " a 
multitude, signifying many but not much." It has 
been held that the American Library Association 
can be considered a deputation, not in that light, 
however, but as an organization consisting of 
" much, but not very many." (Applause.) 

On behalf of the American Library Association, 
therefore, we shall ask your honored President, 
Mr. Green, to address us. 

President S. S. GREEN. Ladies and gentle- 
men : I remember a story of a good clergyman 
who, being entertained on a certain occasion, when 
he came to dinner found two turkeys on the table 
and two kinds of pies, and I don't know how many 
other sorts of good things. When he saw the boun- 
tiful repast that was spread before him, he was 
moved to exclaim in saying grace, "Oh, bountiful 
Jehovah, we thank Thee for all these blessings." 
He was so pleased with the fare that he concluded 
to stay two or three days in the family of his host. 
The next day for dinner there was only one turkey 
and one kind of pie. That day his grace was, " Oh, 
Lord, teach us to be thankful for all thy favors." 
The next day there was nothing but turkey hash 
and no pie at all, and he prayed piteously, " Oh, 
Lord, teach us to strive to be thankful." We 
have some fear that with all the luxuries with 



BANQUET. 



141 



which you have regaled us the past week, you will 
suffer when we go away, but we trust that as you 
will have the productive soil of California left 
to you, you will not be forced to " strive to be 
thankful." 

Two or three months ago I had the pleasure of 
visiting Quincy, Massachusetts, on the invitation 
of Mr. Charles Francis Adams, in a party led by 
Senator Hoar of Worcester, and made up of offi- 
cers of the American Antiquarian Society, which 
has its headquarters at Worcester, and of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society, which has its 
headquarters in Boston. We were taken to see 
the house in which John Adams, the second 
President of the United States, was born, and 
the house where John Quincy Adams was born. 
We were taken to the church, in the basement of 
which are buried the remains of those two Presi- 
dents, and Mr. Adams opened the vault in which 
they are contained, saying that he was not aware 
that it had* been opened since the remains of 
John Quincy Adams were placed there. Then we 
sat down to lunch in Mr. Adams' house in Quincy, 
and afterwards, having visited several graveyards 
in Quincy, were conducted to the house of Mr. 
Adams' father, the late Charles Francis Adams, 
who served as our Minister to England during the 
Civil War. There we were shown a building in 
the rear of the house in which are contained the 
archives of the Adams family : the diary and 
correspondence of John Adams, the diary and cor- 
respondence of John Quincy Adams, and the diary 
and correspondence of Charles Francis Adams. 
In that building, sir, we had the history of the east- 
ern portion of our country and of New England. 

This afternoon I was taken to a little building 
in a distant part of this city and shown a collec- 
tion which Mr. Bancroft has made : the archives 
of this Pacific Coast. I congratulate you, sir, 
that here on this Pacific Coast the archives of 
this portion of the republic are being carefully 
preserved, and that under the guidance of Mr. 
Bancroft an epitome of them is being presented 
to the world in printed form. 

It is a source of great satisfaction to the mem- 
bers of the American Library Association that 
they have been received with so much kindness 
here in San Francisco. This is the centre of men- 
tal activity in California, and to a considerable ex- 
tent the centre of political activity in this great com- 
monwealth. Hence the pleasure we have felt, sir, 
because you have been moved to show us so great 
kindness, and because you felt us worthy of the 
royal hospitality which we have enjoyed. 



There is a little story of the late Charles Dick- 
ens, one of the lesser known of his stories, " The 
Haunted Man," which describes an institution in 
the dining-room of which there was a portrait un- 
der which was the motto, " Lord, keep my memory 
green." We have made, sir, in this city and in 
California, many acquaintances and some friends. 
It is our sincere hope, this evening when we 
are parting from the city, that our memory may 
remain green in your hearts. (Applause.) 

Mr. SYMMES. I think Mr. Green need not ex- 
press or feel any anxiety about our going hungry 
after he leaves. I think he might well be reminded 
of the story of the darkey who was questioning the 
efficacy of prayer. He said that it depended a 
great deal upon the prayer, and that the efficacy 
of prayer depended largely upon a man's discrim- 
ination. He said, " Now, if I pray for a chicken 
the Lord is not going to bring me a chicken, but if 
I pray the Lord to send me after a chicken, I gets 
one every time." The American Library Asso- 
ciation have been here and they have gotten their 
chicken, such as it is. 

We recognize the fact that you have today 
placed at the head of your Association for the 
coming year, and honored with the highest honors 
which you have to give, Dr. Linderfelt of Mil- 
waukee. (Applause.) 

Now, we are a long way from Milwaukee, and it 
is not as well known here as, perhaps, some Mil- 
waukee people think it is. It is chiefly known out 
here for its supply of a most excellent beverage. 
We will ask Mr. Linderfelt to tell us where Mil- 
waukee is. 

Dr. LINDERFELT. Ladies and Gentlemen, 
Citizens of San Francisco: It is a great pleasure 
to me to stand here to-night as the representative 
of a municipality which your chairman has justly 
designated as distant, and that I have been al- 
lowed to come out here, bringing with me the 
greetings of our fair city on the shores of the great 
inland sea, to this other fair city, behind whose 
hills the sun sets at night, only to rise again in re- 
newed glory out of the ocean that laves the 
eastern coast of this our common country. 

You, Mr. Chairman, have intimated that you 
need to be told where Milwaukee is, and that it is 
known here chiefly for the beverage you take so 
kindly to in this part of the world, and I infer that 
the mention of Milwaukee instantly conjures up 
before the mental vision of the Californian a 
foaming beer mug. Well, we do use the hops and 
the malt to good advantage, but at the same time 
I wish to say emphatically that we have other 



142 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



things and make other things in Milwaukee 
besides beer. It is, in fact my honest opinion, 
and in spite of my friend across the table, who 
has just warned me not to say it, I will proclaim 
it fearlessly, that next to San Francisco there is 
not another place on this continent equal to Mil- 
waukee ; next to California there is not a State in 
the Union equal to Wisconsin. (Applause.) 

And the mention of Wisconsin brings to my 
mind the shock I received when, on my arrival, 
one of the gentlemen here present, who is at the 
head of one of your foremost libraries, coolly and 
unblushingly located Milwaukee in the State of 
Michigan. Not that I want to disparage in any 
way our sister State across the unsalted'sea, since 
that would immediately bring me into conflict 
with my friend from Detroit, but I do think Wis- 
consin is fully able to take care of her own. If 
he had placed us within the confines of Illinois, I 
should have thought it less strange, for we of Mil- 
waukee have long been accustomed to be consid- 
ered merely an outlying ward of our grasping 
neighbor on the south ; and it is not entirely be- 
yond the range of possibility that Chicago may 
yet " take us in,' 1 in order to improve the general 
average of her citizens. Well, you all know Chi- 
cago, know what she is and what she aims to be, 
and that you don't know Milwaukee equally well 
is due entirely to the singular modesty which is 
the most distinguishing trait of her inhabitants. 
And this modesty prompts us on all occasions to 
concede the first place to somebody else, a trait of 
which I have already unwittingly given you an ex- 
ample. Not so with Chicago. 

I have a friend in Chicago who has two lovely 
little girls, eight and ten years of age. They went 
to Boston a few years ago to visit a relative, and 
while there some callers entertained themselves 
talking to these little folks from the West, and 
among other things said, "You must see a great 
mauy things in Boston you have not in Chicago ?" 
The girls opened their eyes, and the elder asked, 
in astonishment, " What?" 

"You have not the ocean, for instance !" 

" Oh, but we have the lake ! " 

" But that is not as big as the ocean." 

" It looks just as big." 

" But you certainly have not any mountains." 

" Mountains ! If we wanted any we'd make 
them ! " 

Now, that is the kind of hairpin a Chicagoan is, 
even while a child. A Milwaukeean would have 
conceded the point at once. 

And yet, while not considering Milwaukee and 



the universe synonymous terms, we are proud of 
our city, proud of our men, proud of our women ! 
You should see Milwaukee nestling among shady 
bowers on her seven hills, overlooking a bay that 
has been compared with the celebrated Bay of 
Naples for beauty ; her streets lined with homes of 
men and muses, her valleys teeming with industry, 
and these industries more varied and extensive 
than any other city of its size in the country. And 
as for those who make up the city, I dare say there 
is not one person present in this room who will 
dispute that we have the right to be proud of our 
men, when I call to your minds, ladies and gentle- 
men, that the gentleman whom you have called to 
fill the Governor's chair in the great State of Cali- 
fornia until a few years ago was an honored citi- 
zen of the Cream City. (Applause.) 

I am told that this banquet is somewhat of an 
innovation in your beautiful city of San Francisco, 
in so far as ladies are not usually present at 
gatherings of this kind. In Milwaukee, on the 
contrary, we would not know how to get along 
without our women ; we must have them by our 
side, to share our joys as they share our sorrows. 
And what men can do in Milwaukee, women can 
do. Men will have their clubs to keep them busy 
of an evening, and our Milwaukee women have a 
flourishing women's club, which has been a guid- 
ing-star for similar institutions throughout the 
entire country. When a home was wanted for 
that club, the women started a stock company, 
and they put up a building and furnished it with- 
out invoking the aid of a man in the whole enter- 
prise. They made it one of our notable edifices, 
which has become the centre of the literary and 
intellectual life of the city; and what is more, it 
pays its stockholders handsome dividends. Can 
you match this in California ? 

I am afraid I am going beyond the time that I 
ought to have, particularly as it has been devoted 
mostly to self-glorification ; and I shall tax your 
patience only a few minutes longer, while I thank 
you and all the inhabitants of San Francisco, both 
on my own behalf and on behalf of the whole 
Library Association, and to assure you that your 
warm welcome to, and generous reception of, what 
President Kellogg termed the "circulating libra- 
rians," have made it impossible for us ever to for- 
get our trip to California. 

I have seen many cases, in my day, of California 
fever, and I have always had a slight contempt for 
the unfortunates thus attacked ; but after seeing 
what this country has done for you and what you 
have done for the country, I begin myself to feel 



BANQUET. 



143 



severe symptoms of that disease. Its most evident 
effect is a desire to live in California, but if our 
reception continues to the end as it has begun, I 
fear you will have to bury me in California. (Ap- 
plause.) 

Mr. SYMMES. Dr. Linderfelt has alluded to the 
remarkable circumstance that we find ladies pres- 
ent at a banquet of this kind, which fact I have 
no intention to ignore, but I was afraid that the 
Presidents might feel that they should be first 
recognized. 

It is a remarkable fact that certainly never be- 
fore in this building, and I question if ever on 
this coast, has there been an entertainment of 
this kind, graced, as this has been, by so many fair 
women. 

It is a favorite method of the mathematician, 
when he wishes to discover the true value of any 
quantity, to map out a theory and then follow out 
his conclusions. Did it ever occur to you, my 
friends, what a forlorn and desolate condition this 
globe would be in if it had not been for women ? 
Can you imagine the condition of our poor old 
Adam, wandering alone in the Garden of Eden, 
companionless, without any woman to pluck his 
apples for him, or to throw the blame upon, when 
he found they were bitter and sour ? Think of 
poor little Moses ; he might have been floating up 
and down among the bulrushes yet but for the fair 
woman who came to his relief. And we need not 
go so far back as that, but look to our own later 
times. Think of the long line of American 
Smiths; where would they be today had it not 
been for that dear little Indian girl, Pocahontas ? 

Without the ladies, what light would be lost 
throughout the libraries all over the country ; and 
when we realize, as well we may, our dependence 
upon them, the pleasures and joys which we have 
with them, certainly we cannot overlook the honor 
which they have conferred upon us by their attend- 
ance here tonight. If I mistake not, Dr. Nolan, 
of Philadelphia, is a man who has learned to appre- 
ciate the ladies, librarians or otherwise. I call 
upon Dr. Nolan. 

Dr. NOLAN. Ladies and Gentlemen : We were 
received at an inconveniently early hour in the 
morning, by the good Samaritans from Sacramento, 
who came to us at Truckee, laden with the fruits 
. and flowers of the soil. They brought us roses, 
chrysanthemums, grapes, pears, figs, and last, but 
not least, salmon and quail. The latter was after- 
wards placed on toast. Since that time until the 
present moment, or until a very few moments ago, 
everything was so gracious, graceful, well-consid- 



ered and well-ordered, that not only were those 
men from Sacramento, but all the men we have 
met in California were Sacramento men, in view 
of the fact that they are evidently outward signs 
of an inward grace. 

But our toastmaster has made the first break, in 
calling upon me to respond to the toast. I do not 
know how to do it. In the first place, our toast- 
master has spoken some of the best things I was 
going to say and appropriated them to himself. 
He has spoken of the obligations of Mrs. Adam, 
formerly called " Eve," to Mr. Adam, and of our 
little friend Moses to the daughter of Pharoah, in 
taking him out of the water to save him from a 
watery grave, and doubtless other incidents would 
have occurred to him, as they might have occurred 
to me, if I had had more time to think about it. 
(Laughter.) 

In view of the dreadful experience that I knew 
I would undergo in considering the proper lan- 
guage to use on this occasion, my first intention 
was to decline positively and absolutely to go into 
the room, when I knew that I would be called 
upon to speak upon "The Women," but in view of 
the wonderful kindness and attention we have ex- 
perienced at the hands of the gentlemen of the 
San Francisco Committee, and in view of the very 
satisfactory bill of fare that we have been called 
upon to discuss, I thought that I would have to 
be guided by the words of Luther at the Diet of 
Worms, when he declared, " I can take no other 
course." 

Mr. Jackson would be a far better man to call 
upon to speak to the toast of " The Ladies." I 
have never had any experience in this direction; I 
am a practitioner a poor practitioner of medi- 
cine ; I am afraid my clients sometimes find me a 
poor practitioner, but not always. Nevertheless, I 
am not entirely without resources. When I find 
myself in a predicament, I can generally find my 
way out of it. This occasion is not an exception 
to the rule. When called upon I immediately 
looked about for assistance and I went to a lady 
and entreated her to act as special providence on 
this occasion. She prepared something for me, 
and I now have the pleasure of responding to the 
toast of " The Ladies." (Producing manuscript.) 
I will endeavor to deliver the lines with an im- 
pressiveness worthy of the subject : 

" Under the divine guidance of this charming 
toast, my tongue feels its inadequate ability to 
express the devoted sentiments of an overflowing 
heart. Beneath the lovely radiance of the beam- 
ing eyes and witching smiles which surround us 



144 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



tonight, the blushes of even California roses pale 
in comparison. The sincerity of their counten- 
ances, the gentleness of their demeanor and the 
charm of their society form a triumvirate stronger 
to control the actions of all true lights than any 
that cross the page of history. He that bends 
not his will to their persuasive mandates and 
bows not his head in reverence to their worth, is 
beyond the pale of true manhood. The ladies, 
our comfort in times of trouble, our solace in the 
hours of pain, source of light and joy forever." 
(Applause.) 

Now, ladies and gentlemen, that is the orthodox 
way of doing it, and I am thoroughly persuaded 
that it cannot be well improved upon. I would be 
well contented to leave it right there, but under 
the influence of my emotions I intend to say a few 
words more. (Applause.) Mr. Toastmaster, may 
I go on ? 

The TOASTMASTER. Yes, four minutes more. 

Dr. NOLAN. The ladies are responsible for a 
great many things. I have no hesitation in saying 
that the decoration of this room must have been 
ordered and supervised by a lady. I do not think 
that a male biped could have done it. How far 
the ladies have been responsible for the cuisine 
and cookery, I do not know, but we all know that 
among the attainments of our American women, 
the making of pie is one that has the most far- 
reaching influence from Maine to California. The 
American pie is noted, not only at home, but its 
reputation has gone abroad, and the people from 
other countries come over here to enjoy the protec- 
tion accorded the American industry, "pie making." 

In this connection I am reminded of a story 
which has been heard, perhaps, by some of the 
members of this Association, but it will bear re- 
peating because there are some persons present 
who are not members of the Association, and, 
therefore, have not heard this story. There are 
very few stories known to any member of the As- 
sociation which all those on that train across the 
continent did not hear during the journey many 
times. It is said that an English gentleman who 
journeyed across the ocean and arrived in Boston, 
thinking that when in Rome he must do as the 
Romans did, immediately decided that he would 
sample the great American dish, pie. So he sat 
down at the lunch-table at the Parker House, and 
told the colored individual who waited upon him 
that he wanted pie. 

The waiter said : " We have apple pie, cherry 
pie, peach pie, plum pie, pumpkin pie, lemon pie, 
and custard pie." 



Said the Englishman : " I'll take some apple pie, 
cherry pie, peach pie, plum pie, pumpkin pie, and 
lemon pie." 

The waiter looked at him and said : " Well, 
what's the matter with the custard pie ?" (Laugh- 
ter.) 

Upon the train leaving Boston our English 
friend met a countryman of his to whom he re- 
lated the story, and he wound up by saying : 
" And now, old chappie, what do you suppose was 
the matter with the custard pie ?" (Laughter.) 

We have to be thankful to the ladies, among 
other things, for their presence across the Conti- 
nent. If the San Franciscans, as reported, have 
not yet had an opportunity to have the ladies pres- 
ent on such occasions as this, it is their loss, and 
I hope that one of the literary works with which 
we will be credited is to teach them to associate 
themselves with the ladies hereafter. 

" Oh, woman ! in our hours of ease, 
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, 
But seen too oft, familiar with her face, 
We first endure, then pity, then embrace." 

Mr. SYMMES. I do not think I mistook my man. 
Among the many things of which California has 
cause to be proud are the recent growth and en- 
terprise of our city, in respect to manufactures, and 
the building up of enterprises which will make this 
portion of the globe independent of the Eastern 
States ; among the citizens of this place who are 
here to enjoy your society this evening, there is 
one who has, perhaps, done more than almost 
any other man in furthering the interests of 
manufacturing, and who knows and appreciates 
the value of books, paintings, and works of art, as 
well as the more practical details of mechanics, 
and whose enterprise and industry have given to us 
one of the largest manufactories of this coast, one 
which will compare well with any enterprise of its 
kind in the East or in any country. We shall ask 
Mr. Irving M. Scott of this city to say a few 
words. 

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman and our Visiting 
Guests : In rising to respond to a toast here to- 
night, at this library meeting, I want to congratu- 
late the librarians of the United States upon the 
progress that they have made. Some few years 
ago I was connected with the library interests of. 
this city, and we never had anything like this. We 
had our dinner in a plain and simple manner, and 
we passed down to our library meeting and attend- 
ed to our business, like old-fashioned fellows. If 
there is anything I congratulate you upon, it is 



BANQUET. 



145 



that you have broken through the solid lines of 
business and carried on your meetings under such 
a roof as this, surrounded by flowers and fruits, 
and the fairest product of any land, the ladies. 
Neither do I yield to our friend from Milwaukee, 
that the people of his city are more gallant than 
we are. While you of Milwaukee were building 
houses in which women had no share, we were 
taking into full partnership all our wives and 
endowing them with one-half of all our accumula- 
tions. California is making no show in buildings, 
but on her laws she has grafted the central truth, 
that woman is the equal of man and entitled to 
the same rights and to a full share of all that is 
accumulated in their partnership. 

I speak not only to Milwaukee, but to all the 
cities that cluster around the lakes on the north, 
or the ocean on the east, and I tell our other 
friends that Californians left the land where pie is 
a luxury; we have better things than turkey and 
beans and pie ; we have the teeming fruits and 
flowers and all that belongs to a land that blos- 
soms with milk and honey, and we ask all of you 
people from those regions where pie is a luxury 
and beans are an absolute necessity, to come over 
and spend the winter with us. (Applause.) 

Alluding to the labor question, in the modern 
system of economy, where the telegraph is an 
instrument of every-day use, a man telegraphs to 
save time. There is no employment so impor- 
tant in the economy of the present civilization as 
that of the librarian, for the time has passed when 
any man can afford to crowd his brain with dry 
statistics which are better kept in books, to which 
we can refer with greater assurance of accuracy 
than to any man, however learned, however inde- 
fatigable he may be in the pursuit of knowledge. 
To the great libraries we turn at the hour and the 
time when they are needed. We have in this 
growth of the modern library and its association 
with other indispensable adjuncts, the librarian. 
We no longer turn over our leaves in searching 
for facts, but we ask for the librarian and we tell 
him what we want ; he tells us to look on shelf A 
for volume B, page 10, and paragraph 2, as the case 
may be, and get what we want. It is absolutely 
indispensable that with the great libraries of to- 
day, and the great economizing of time and space, 
and the great crowding of great events into a 
small space, and of the gradual shortening of the 
diameter of the earth, and of the methods of inter- 
course, that we should have a librarian who can 
at once put his finger upon the topic which is 
wanted, and give us, not only the best book, but the 



best paragraph at the least possible expenditure of 
time and trouble. That is what your libraries 
have produced, a phenomenal man. Why, the 
librarian of that sacred library at Washington can 
multiply eleven figures in his head, besides quoting 
every paragraph in astronomy. 

Now, the libraries which you have been super- 
vising, the dissemination of this great fund of infor- 
mation which you are engaged in collecting, are 
becoming better understood and better known. 

Mr. Scott referred to his experience in the British 
Museum in London, some years ago, and the great 
improvements made in British libraries since then, 
mentioning their system of cataloguing and taking 
care of the books. He then said : 

You, as librarians of the United States, have a 
duty which you owe to your fellow-citizens in 
showing that intelligence of which the library it- 
self is an exponent, by inducing the highest pos- 
sible circulation, and in giving the greatest amount 
of information to every mother's son who is aspir- 
ing for fame. 

And believing that you are competent to take 
care of this great matter, and that these meet- 
ings are full of interest and full of learning and 
progress, we of California welcome you all from 
all the lakes and rivers and States ; I say unto 
you, with all respect, come over and see us and 
bring your wives and your daughters, for we are . 
100,000 women short in this State. (Laughter). 

Mr. SYMMES. Of course you all recognize that 
one of the most important requisites to the progress 
and improvement of the nation is popular instruc- 
tion. Next to that I think, perhaps, you are will- 
ing to admit that universities, colleges, and other 
centres of information can, perhaps, be rated. We 
have with us tonight the President of the Univer- 
sity of California, an institution of which we are 
exceedingly proud, an institution which is un- 
doubtedly the most valuable and important of any 
upon our coast. I ask you to listen to a few words 
from President Martin Kellogg, of the University 
of California. 

Pres. KELLOGG. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and 
Gentlemen : It gives me pleasure to see the faces 
of the librarians. Certainly the universities and 
libraries and higher educational institutions are 
all very closely connected ; they are all bound 
up in one bundle and look toward the eleva- 
tion of the community. Here in California we 
are glad now to feel that great progress has been 
made. I remember the time when there were not 
many libraries in California. There were a few 
private libraries, like that of Judge Hoffman, 



146 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



who lived in this city, and those of some 
gentlemen who have passed away, that were 
noted for their excellence, but very few libra- 
ries existed in this State, and few institutions of 
learning. Their time had not yet come. But far 
back in past years there were a few men who looked 
forward to the time when universities, colleges, 
academies, and high schools should exist, and now 
they have won. There has been a great deal of 
progress, and this year, 1891, has witnessed a very 
remarkable event. The university that existed is 
not now alone ; another university has been placed 
alongside of ours, and we feel that now it will be 
like Oxford and Cambridge in England, or, if you 
choose, like Harvard and Yale in New England. 
These two, emulating each other in all good 
works, will efficiently forward the power of educa- 
tion more rapidly than either one would have 
done alone. We believe that the time which 
remains of this century will be productive of good 
to California, as well as to other States. 

The President, a few years ago, began to speak 
to the young men under his care, to prepare them 
to be messengers of truth in the century to come. 
And now we are in the ninth decade of the igth 
century. Some of our Regents of the University 
have been assigned to terms that reach far over 
into the next century sixteen years is their term 
of office. How near we are to that dividing line ! 

It seems to me that when the 2oth century 
opens, it will not be in quiet, and with no throb of 
feeling from a people who desire the best things 
for themselves and their race, but that there will 
be a great outburst of feeling, a shout arising, as 
it were, to Heaven that there has never been such 
progress in all the past here on this coast and 
throughout the American nation. Is it not so ? 
I believe California will not be left behind. 1 
believe California will take its part ; that it will 
stand among the foremost States then. 

How old is the Library Association, Mr. Pres- 
ident ? 

Pres. GREEN. Fifteen years. 

Mr. KELLOGG. You will not come to San 
Francisco again very soon. There are so many 
other places, so many places like Milwaukee, that 
think themselves the center of the Union, the Li- 
brary Association will have to go to them, to many 
cities, and see many men, like Ulysses of old, be- 
fore it comes again to San Francisco. But I ven- 
ture to say, when it does come again, it will see a 
far different state of things. If you had come in 
1849, or tne Y ear immediately succeeding, you 
would have seen little to remind you of the educa- 



tional feeling known in the Eastern States ; you 
would have seen little of those things here, but 
when you come again to San Francisco I trust 
you will find California in the front rank of States. 
There is a spirit here that has received an 
impulse within the last few years, an evolution, 
a force patiently at work underneath the con- 
suming forces prevalent within the State, and 
this has been powerful for good and now is 
beginning to tell. And more and more, as the 
years pass, there will be seen here in California 
progress in all that has to do with the welfare of 
man. 

I do not believe that the horse races that are at- 
tended from day to day are the best things in 
California ; I do not believe that the speculation 
upon our streets is the best thing to be seen here. 
I do believe that while these things last there will 
be also in the community things which are better 
and which appertain to the immortal mind of man ; 
that these things are the things which are to pre- 
vail in California. While some of us will not be here 
when we next meet, some will be here. Any man 
and any woman who gives his presence then ask 
him if there has not been progress here on this 
western coast, if there has not been development. 
We must do more and more for the enlightenment 
of the States along this coast, for the enlighten- 
ment of the shores beyond the seas, of the na- 
tions with which our commerce brings us in con- 
tact, with the nations with which our internal 
commerce brings us into intercourse even to 
the Atlantic shore. I firmly trust that will be 
the case. I believe in the future of California. I 
do not believe in egotism or boasting on the part 
of the people of California. I believe this is to be 
one of the great empire States of the Union, and I 
am thankful that we see our friends here tonight. 
I wish I could go with them to see some of the 
libraries they have built up in old New England, 
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the rest of 
the States. I know they are doing a great work 
for our nation. I bid them God speed in the 
efforts that they make. (Applause.) 

Mr. SYMMES. We realize that you have to make 
an early start in the morning, and, while we feel 
that we have many other good men among us 
whom we should like to call upon to say a few 
words to you in the interest of California, such as 
the Mayor of the city and an ex-Mayor, the mem- 
ber of Congress and the new judge, and that we 
have not begun to display our talent yet, I remem- 
ber that it was a part of the contract that I should 
not bore you nor let any one else do so. Therefore 



BANQUET. 



147 



we shall close our entertainment by simply asking 
you to wait for one more speaker. We think it 
would be well to turn upon us the electric light 
of one of your editors and publishers, one who, if 
he is like all the editors we know, will speak the 
truth and perhaps shame the devil. He will not 
be afraid to say anything he likes and we promise 
to put up with it. We will ask Mr. R. R. Bowker 
to tell us what he thinks of us. 

Mr. BOWKER. Mr. President, Ladies and Gen- 
tlemen of San Francisco: When midnight is near 
and the roses of the banquet begin to fade, al- 
though I am told that the roses of California never 
fade, he speaks best who speaks least, and I am 
rather disposed to quote Mr. Hale and say that, on 
the whole, there has been so much said and so 
well said, that I will not further occupy the time. 
But I have been asked to say good-bye, and to say 
a word as to what we have seen and as to what we 
of the Library Association think of California and 
our California hosts. I cannot, after the numer- 
ous scriptural allusions of the evening to Adam, 
to Moses, and to quail, which we did not expect to 
hear in this biblical land, suggest the striking out, 
between sacred and profane history, of much 
which we have had an object lesson of at your 
hands. 

The ancient Israelites passed forty years getting 
through a very small piece of desert, and when 
they reached the promised land and the mountain- 
tops which overlooked it, they had to send out spies 
to bring back to them the grapes of Israel. We 
passed through what used to be the Great Ameri- 
can Desert, that is now marked only by a spot on 
the map, in a few hours, and instead of sending 
out spies we found the inhabitants of the promised 
land coming to us with grapes to which the grapes 
of Israel could not have been a circumstance. 
And when from that splendid height of Cape 
Horn we looked down upon the land of promise, 
we were sure that no people before the Americans 
had looked upon such a landscape for their 
promised land. And when descending to the 
plains we reached the land of promise, we found 
it already a land of fulfillment. A generation ago 
you found your gold below the surface ; now you 
are finding your golden harvests on the richest 
soil that has been given to man, and you are look- 
ing forward to that greater harvest which grows 
six feet above ground, the harvest of brain. 

It has been a great pleasure, not a surprise, but 
a great and growing pleasure to see how much 
attention California has given to the intellectual 
development of your State and to the country. It 



is the librarian's honor and pleasure to serve in 
the development of that harvest. It is the libra- 
rian's aim, and particularly of those librarians 
gathered in this American Library Association, to 
be the great saving instrument and to amplify a 
frequent motto of our Association. The American 
Library Association works " to give the best 
views to the greatest number of people at the 
least cost, with the least trouble and in the short- 
est time." 

We are glad to find here in the city of San 
Francisco a staff of librarians whose equals we 
have scarcely found in any city which we have 
reached ; and I say that in all sincerity and with 
no tinge of insincere flattery. If the visit of this 
Association helps you to appreciate more fully 
the men you have about you, to assist them more 
heartily in their work of helping to develop brain, 
we shall be glad we have come. 

We hope that another result of our visit will 
be the formation of a library association in this 
State, that will make you all feel how useful an 
association is in this work of development. 

Let me call your attention to, perhaps, the most 
interesting fact about this Association, in con- 
nection with other national associations of its 
kind; that these journeys from one city to another 
are knitting together with golden threads, giving 
to it a closeness of texture, making it a cloth of 
gold, such as no other nation has been. It is 
time, sir, to say good-bye. I cannot tell you what 
we think of California, because it will take to- 
day, tomorrow, and the day after, and all the 
time until we leave. We say good-bye in the old 
English sense, and I can assure you, sir, that, 
though to some of us California seemed a long way 
off, California will ever be very near to us, and as 
we leave this land of gold, with its magnificent 
approach at the Golden Gate, our memories of it 
will be, to the end of our days, golden memories. 
(Applause.) 

Mr. SYMMES. As the hour of midnight ap- 
proaches, it seems wise that we should close our 
proceedings at this time; we will therefore now 
adjourn. 

The guests present were : 

GENTLEMEN. 

Badlam, Alexander. Layman, Jos. D. 

Baker, L. L. Linderfelt, K. A. 

Barnes, Gen. W. H. L. Morgan, C. B. 

Bauer, Emil. Morrow, Judge W. W. 

Bean, John D. McChesney, J. B. 



148 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



Beckwith, Daniel. 


McNulty, Bert. 


THE 


PKKSS. 


Bigelow, S. C. 


McWilliams, J. P. 


Argonaut. 


Report. 


Bowker, R. R. 


McKinnon, J. M. 


Examiner. 


Wave. 


Boyd, C. M. 


Nolan, Dr. E. J. 


Post. 


Chronicle. 


Brady, Henry J. 


O'Connor, Prof. Hos. 


Call. 




Cheney, John Vance. 


Perkins, Dana. 


LADIES. 


Clark, George T. 


Peterson, H. F. 


Ahern, Miss M. E. 


Kirkland, Miss C. S. 


Cleary, A. 


Pond, E. B. 


Allan, Miss Jessie. 


Kumli, Miss liertha. 


Cloudesley, W. F. 


Richardson, Dr. G. M. 


Badlam, Miss. 


Linderfelt, Mrs. K. A. 


Cooke, H. H. 


Root, A. S. 


Baker, Mrs. L. L. 


Lippett, Miss Julia. 


Coues, Prof. Elliott. 


Rowell, J. C. 


Barr, Miss Belle. 


Macy, Miss L. F. 


Cutter, Charles A. 


Rudolph, A. J 


Bauer, Mrs. Emil. 


Marble, Mrs. E. C. 


Cutting, Gen. John T. 


Sanderson, Mayor. 


Bean, Miss M. A. 


Metcalf, Miss Anna. 


Dana, John C. 


Scott, A. W. 


Bigelow, Mrs. S. C. 


Morrow, Mrs. W. W. 


Davis, Chas. H. 


Scott, Irving M. 


Boyd, Mrs. C. M. 


O'Brien, Miss. 


Day, Clinton. 


Scudder, S. H. 


Beaver, Miss Kate. 


Plummer, Miss M. W. 


Doxey, William. 


Shaw, Geo. T. 


Cheney, Mrs. J. V. 


Pond, Mrs. E. 15. 


Dudley, C. R. 


Soule, Prof. F. 


Cole, Miss. 


Prescott, Miss H. B. 


Easton, Wendell. 


Starbird, A. W. 


Coolbrith, Miss Ina D. 


Rust, Mrs. M. C. 


Ewing, Robert. 


Stechert, G. E. 


Coues, Mrs. E. 


Rowell, Mrs. J. C. 


Fletcher, W. I. 


Sutro, Adolph. 


Crooks, Miss Alice. 


Rudolph, Mrs. A. J. 


Gale, Prof. 


Symmes, F. J. 


Cutler, Miss L. S. 


Scott, Mrs. A. W. 


Gilmore, L. B. 


Tanszky, E. 


Davis, Mrs. Charles H. 


Scott, Mrs. Irving M. 


Goodwin, William. 


Terrill, C. C. 


Dexter, Miss Lydia A. 


Shaw, Mrs. Geo. T. 


Green, S. S. 


Todd, Prof. 


Easton, Mrs. Wendell. 


Sherman, Miss D. K. 


Greenblatt, Moses. 


Utley, H. M. 


Ewing, Mrs. Rob't. 


Smith, Mrs. G. R. 


Halladie, A. S. 


Wetherbee, L. B. 


Gilmore, Miss L. S. 


Soule, Mrs. F. 


Harkness, H. W. 


Whelpley, A. W. 


Halladie, Mrs. A. S. 


Taft, Miss E. A. 


Hild, F. H. 


Whitaker, A. E. 


Hancock, Miss C. G. 


Terriir, Mrs. C. C. 


Jellison, A. M. 


Wilson, H. L. 


Harbaugh, Miss May C. 


Van Zandt, Miss M. 


Jenks, Rev. H. F. 


Wilson, Horace. 


Harris, Miss Emma G. 


Wade, Miss E. J. 


Johnson, A. J. 


Wire, George E. 


Hasse, Miss. 


Whelpley, Mrs. A. W. 


Johnston, D. V. R. 


Woodruff, E. H. 


Hewins, Miss C. M. 


Whitaker, Mrs. A. E. 


Kellogg, George H. 


Wallis, G. H. 


Hitchcock, Miss A. G. 


Wilson, Mrs. Horace. 


Kellogg, Prof. M. 




Jellison, Mrs. A. M. 


Younkin, Miss Lulu. 



Kelso, Miss Teresa. 



FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO CHICAGO. 



BY MISS M.. E. AHERN. 



It was a party somewhat worn out bodily, but 
still fresh in enthusiasm, that left San Francisco at 
9.30 A. M., Saturday, Oct. 17, on its way to view 
the wonders that lie between that city and Mon- 
terey. For about two hours every one tried to 
prove to his neighbor that he had brought away 
the largest amount of enjoyment that could pos- 
sibly have been crowded into the previous week. 
The route lay through a broken but very pictur- 
esque part of the country, with many points of 
interest about which the party were informed 
through the kindness of Mr. Whitaker of the 



Mercantile Library, and Gen. Wilson of the Me- 
chanic's Institute, who accompanied the librarians, 
and laid them under a lasting obligation for their 
unceasing efforts in behalf of the comfort and 
pleasure of the A. L. A. At noon the party 
reached the Big Trees, where they were met 
by a delegation of citizens from Santa Cruz. 
An appetizing lunch was spread under the shade 
of the forest giants, and the most hearty apprecia- 
tion of the genial hospitality of the good people 
of Santa Cruz was very manifest. Very happy 
after-speeches were made by the Mayor and other 



FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO CHICAGO. 



149 



citizens of Santa Cruz, which were responded to 
in like manner by Pres. Green, Mr. Linderfelt, and 
others. A stroll through this grove made one feel 
the aptness of the lines which declare " The groves 
were God's first temples," as the majesty and 
power of these mighty forest giants filled the soul 
with wonder and admiration. With the usual bad 
taste, names of distinguished people have been 
given to various trees, so that visits were made to 
Gen. Sherman, Gen. Grant, Jumbo, and to Gen. 
Fremont's Camp, which latter is entirely lined 
with cards bearing the names of those who have 
been there. A beautiful stream flows through this 
forest. I will not chronicle the pleasures and 
mishaps of the young ladies who enjoyed its pel- 
lucid waters. 

After we had been subjected to the magic 
power of the camera, the journey was resumed, 
and Santa Cruz was soon reached. Two of the 
party had tramped the six miles from Big Trees 
through a romantic canon. The short time 
between trains was occupied in a visit to the 
public library under the guidance of Miss Water- 
man, the efficient librarian. Santa Cruz contains 
7,000 people and the library 8,000 books. While 
waiting for the train the hospitality of the Hotel 
on the Beach was extended to the librarians, and a 
choice collection of beautiful flowers was placed 
at their disposal. A heavy fog came up which 
proved nearly disastrous to many who were gath- 
ering up the shells from the seashore, for 
" Maud " came near being lost. The party 
reached Monterey about 7 P. M. After dinner 
little parties of twos or fours started out to enjoy 
the moonlight and the beautiful grounds. The 
fog still was very heavy, and so no one knows who 
it was that was lost in the Maze, or who it was 
that looked out for Aunt Lu, but certain it is that 
much unwritten history happened under cover of 
that fog. All that art can do, combined with the 
most profuse luxuriance of nature, makes the 
neighborhood of the Hotel del Monte, the choice 
garden spot of the Pacific coast. We thoroughly 
enjoyed the grounds, the views, the beach, and the 
Long Drive. Visits were made on Sunday to the 
old missions founded in 1770 by Father Junipero 
Serra, which by the liberality of Mrs. Leland 
Stanford are in good repair. 

Early Monday morning the return to San Fran- 
cisco was made, and the day was spent in viewing 
many places of interest, which, in the press of busi- 
ness and pleasures of the week before, had not been 
visited. Some of the party, however, stayed in 
Monterey to take the "long drive "of seventeen 



miles along the shore, one of them taking it for the 
second time with even increased pleasure. With 
many pleasant and lasting memories of San Fran- 
cisco the party took up its former quarters in 
" Scotland " and " Belgium," and at 10.00 P. M., 
amid hearty good-byes and good wishes on both 
sides, left for the tour through Southern Cali- 
fornia. All Tuesday the road lay through the 
various kinds of Calif ornian country. Now the 
land was fruitful, covered with vines and fig trees; 
again, we were climbing the mountains going round 
the Loop and through the mountain tunnels and over 
the wastes of the Mojave Desert. About the mid- 
dle of the afternoon a bare, bleak mountain was 
pointed out, on the summit of which rose a white 
cross, and a librarian from the region thereabouts 
is authority for the statement that it was the grave 
of Ramona, who, according to another account, is 
still alive. This is the region from which H. H. 
took the scenes and people described so graphic- 
ally in her tale of wrongs done the Indian. 

Tuesday evening Santa Barbara was reached, 
and a stay of twenty-four hours made in one of the 
most interesting places of California. Santa 
Barbara lies on a narrow strip of land facing the 
sea, and some beautiful islands on the south, a 
picturesque mountain range, about 5,000 feet high, 
lying some two miles back to the north. The 
most beautiful sunset that was seen was that 
watched from the beach at Santa Barbara. The 
climate is equable and drowsy ; rest seems to fill 
the air. The citizens displayed a rather peculiar 
hospitality in furnishing carriages, by means of 
which the day was pleasantly spent, but denying 
to the librarians the pleasure of their company. 
The public library, in charge of Mrs. Rust, the old 
mission, the mammoth grapevine, the cliffs, from 
which there were magnificent views, and the Hard 
Road were visited during the day. When the 
shades of Wednesday fell, the party, unlike the 
Arab, departed with song and noisy laughter, and 
was seen no more until it rested by the sea wave 
of Santa Monica in the early morn of the next 
day. A stay here of several hours was employed 
by some in gazing into the calm eye of the festive 
ostrich, which is " farmed " here, and by others in 
the sportive display of anatomy among the foamy 
billows. At 1 1 o'clock the train pulled out with, 
its beaming party for Redondo Beach, which was 
reached about 2 p. M. Some of the party stopped 
off at Los Angeles, and they will always have 
cause for regret at missing the pleasures of Re- 
dondo. The surf-baths, the shark which was drawn, 
ashore by the President elect, the impromptu dance,- 



150 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



on the $2,000 floor, the moonlight walk through the 
beautiful gardens, will long furnish pleasant 
thoughts. 

The early morning of Friday, October 23, found 
the party ready to enjoy the genial sunshine and 
generous hospitality of Pasadena. Before break- 
fast was despatched the citizens were abroad with 
fruit and flowers and bade a hearty welcome to 
the tourists. Carriages were in readiness, and a 
pleasant drive of three hours through this beauti- 
ful city and its suburbs, out to the Raymond and 
back through the Carr place, showed good reason 
for its popularity. A pleasant little visit to the 
public library enabled the librarians to meet many 
of Pasadena's people who were in waiting with 
fruit, flowers, smiles, and welcome. Luncheon 
was served at the Green Hotel and was followed 
by appropriate speeches from Mr. Masters, Pres. 
Green, Mr. Whelpley, and others. With grateful 
feelings for a very pleasant visit, the librarians 
proceeded at 3.30 P. M. and in an hour found 
themselves in comfortable quarters at the West- 
minster Hotel in Los Angeles. Various little 
excursion parties started out before the dinner 
hour, and visited the display of fruity flowers, 
vegetables, etc., not to omit the babies at the dis- 
trict fair, the Chinese quarters, the churches, and a 
part of Spanish town. To say the entertainment, 
socially, of the A. L. A. here was in the hands of 
Miss Kelso and her able assistant Miss Hasse, 
declares at once its high order. A very elegant 
and cordial reception of the A. L. A. was held in 
the evening in the handsome rooms of the public 
library, where youth, beauty, and intellect bade a 
hearty welcome to this vigorous city. A late 
hour found the party wending their way back to 
the Westminster, the gentlemen with ghosts of 
bright eyes and echoes of silvery voices keeping 
company with their reluctantly returning steps, 
and the young ladies wishing Tempus wouldn't 
fugit, and willing to " trade off " even the " Big 
Four " for some of the gallant gentlemen who 
seemed so concerned for their welfare. Next 
morning, Miss K. with her able co-adjutants were 
at the hotel at an early hour, and the librarians 
were taken around to see the city. Down the 
wide avenues the party wended its way, each 
carriage with some fair or brave resident in it, to 
point out the places of interest or beauty, or even 
to " give a tip " on the price of corner lots. The 
wonderful stories of wealth and progress, where 
just a few years ago " the rank thistle nodded in 
the wind," were amazing. 

At noon, with many regrets, the librarians were 



compelled to say farewell to Los Angeles. The 
train rolled on during the afternoon through great 
fields evidently earlier in the season covered with 
wheat, stretching as far as the eye could reach. 
The afternoon was spent in musing over the pleas- 
ures of the past few days, the only ripple being 
caused by one of the ladies absent-mindedly placing 
her hat outside the window. It was carried away 
on the wings of the winds, or mayhap by the wings 
on its side exerting themselves once more. At any 
rate, it was two days before she saw it again. As 
the evening came on the whiff of the Seabreeze 
became more perceptible, and as the darkening 
shades of night appeared, the broad expanse of 
old ocean again spread its billows beside the 
train, but was soon shut out from view by a dense 
fog rolling in. At the beautiful Hotel del Coro- 
nado the party was met by Miss Younkin and a 
committee of San Diego citizens, who cordially 
welcomed them and extended the freedom of the 
city. A charming program of entertainments 
offered and a badge of " open sesame " were pre- 
sented to each of the party, and they again saw 
that the lines were falling to them in pleasant 
places. In the evening a number accepted the 
invitation of the Mizpah Club to " trip the light 
fantastic," and Boston again vied with Chicago in 
graceful movement* 

Sunday, Oct. 25, was undecided what kind of 
weather to give the tourists, and by turns furnished 
fog, smoky cloudiness, sharp winds, and finally 
flashed the sunlight over the mountains in a warm 
good night. The day was variously spent by differ- 
ent persons, but by the most part the comforts of 
the hotel and a good rest were enjoyed. In the 
afternoon many of San Diego's best people made 
friendly calls on the librarians. In the evening a 
party, under the guidance of Major Forney and 
his wife, made an underground tour of this seven 
acres of hotel. Wonder and amazement kept 
step with the company from the time of entrance, 
when the young lady with an historical name, 
insisted on tasting the beautiful red liquid, much 
to her after regret, through the cooling rooms, 
through the electric plant into the ice manufactory, 
where the process was shown and explained, and 
out again on the beautifully-lighted grounds. The 
next day one party went for a sail in the yachts on 
the bay, others, in the carriages placed at their 
disposal, viewed places of interest in and about 
this enterprising city, which is fast turning from a 
sleepy Spanish town into an American commercial 
centre. Still others, by the power of the pretty, 
white badge, took the train to Tia Juana. Aside 



FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO CHICAGO. 



from the fact of being in a foreign country there 
was little to excite interest or admiration. Badges 
were stamped at the custom house, the curio-shop 
was nearly emptied, and the garrulous darkey who 
drove the coach over the line recognized his 
friend from " Injianny." In the evening a delight- 
ful reception of the librarians was held at the 
residence of Mrs. H. L. Story, where, in addition 
to many other charming people, they were greeted 
by the gifted poetess, Mrs. Rose Hartwick 
Thorpe, who, at the solicitation of the company, 
recited her own poem, " Curfew shall not toll 
tonight." 

Early on Tuesday morning Riverside was 
reached, and the citizens headed by Mrs. Smith, 
the librarian, came aboard bearing their greeting 
in fresh fruit and flowers. The Magnolia avenve, 
the broad and heavily laden orange groves and 
vineyards, the beautiful views of the mountains 
and valleys, as seen in the pleasant ride about this 
lovely city, will long linger in the minds of the 
tourists. A lunch was spread at the Glenwood, 
where, in the parlors, formal speech-making pre- 
ceded its discussion. Much surprise and com- 
ment were excited by the peculiar views on the 
education of women and their position in life, 
drawn out from members standing high in A.L. A. 
At 2 P. M. the journey was resumed, and in 
an hour the party came to Redlands. Why a stop 
of three hours was arranged in this queer place of 
dust, burros, and consumptives no fellow has yet 
found out. Some efforts at amusement and 
killing time were made by one of the young 
women running off with a burro, and three others 
eloping with the street-car driver, mules and all' 

With the first sunshine of Wednesday, Oct. 26, 
the train had reached The Needles, a small town 
so called from the form of a mountain group near 
by. Immediately, as if up from the ground, came 
a swarming crowd of wretched-looking Indian 
squaws with rude clay pottery for sale. The 
interest in these specimens of Poor Lo brought 
out the inmates of the cars in every stage of rob- 
ing, and as long as the train waited the barter 
kept up. At every stop during the day these 
creatures appeared, and each time were greeted 
with the beaming smiles and gleaming coins of the 
gentlemen of the party, who exchanged their " bits " 
for different specimens of animate as well as inan- 
imate objects, once paying two " bits " to see the 
papooses. The way lay through a sandy desert, 
but towards evening the road wound up into the 
mountains, and the day closed with magnificent 
views of mountain gorges, canons, valleys, and 



towering rocks. The tour across Arizona, all 
things considered, was a very pleasant disappoint- 
ment, and as the crowd gathered as usual in the 
evening on the " back porch " of the observation 
car, no one felt it had been tiresome. Ah, that 
" back porch ! " Night after night, as the evening 
shadows fell, " by ones and twos the company 
came." As over and over the bliss of that mem- 
orable and historical walk from "Aunt Dinah's 
Quilting Party" was related, and over and over the 
threat was made to " Hang my Harp on a Weep- 
ing Willow Tree," grasshoppers became a burden 
and were barred out, " electric sparks " were crys- 
tallized into a study flame. Even the sarcastic 
disciple of Esculapius, if it were not fish day, 
joined in declaring the reality of the " Hole in the 
Bottom of the Sea." During the day, this same 
back porch served as debating ground, resting 
place, meeting place, studio, and it was said poetry 
was inspired on that platform on several occa- 
sions. 

When the party awoke to consciousness on 
Thursday, they found a decided change in the tern- 
peiature and realized that they had passed out of 
the land of flowers andjsunshine. The route still 
lay through the Indian country, and the bartering 
was kept up quite as vigorously as on the 
previous day. The Indians, however, and their 
dwellings also, were a decided improvement over 
those seen before. The most interesting place 
was Laguna where the town and people seemed 
to have lifted themselves from the adobe mud 
into a better atmosphere. Upon inquiry it was 
found that many had been at Carlisle, Hampton, 
and other schools. At every opportunity a fresh 
supply of pottery was laid in, and the eagerness 
of the young ladies of the party to possess the 
silver ornaments of the Indians was outdone by 
that of the gentlemen, who captured even the pins 
which held together their unique attire. Late in 
the afternoon the old town of Santa Fe was 
reached. Here the relic-hunter, curio-seeker, and 
sight-seer had full play, and the energy dis- 
played in the pursuit until seven o'clock in the 
evening would have cleared the waiting desks in 
the libraries at home. A visit was made to the 
Helen Hunt Indian School, which was found 
filled with mischievous boys and girls not unlike 
their lighter brethren. The view from Fort 
Phillips was beautiful, but a drive over this quaint 
old town with its narrow streets, queer adobe 
houses, dusky faces peering curiously from every 
quarter, a foreign language heard everywhere, 
gave one the impression of being in another coun- 



152 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



try, instead of under the bonny stars and stripes. 
Though it is the oldest town in the United States, 
it is far from being an American city. When the 
train again proceeded on its way, the cars pre- 
sented the appearance of a junk-shop, and the 
tales told of bargains made would have done 
credit to an Uncle Solomon. 

Friday, Oct. 30, began for the tourists in one of 
the most beautiful places visited on the whole way, 
Las Vegas Springs. The train had stopped at 
the side of a small valley surrounded closely by 
mountains, and within sight and sound of a clear 
stream, the outlet of the springs. The mountains 
were covered with the evergreens, between which 
jutted out the huge, red granite rocks. On the 
lower heights, as well as in the valley, were the 
variously-tinted deciduous trees, which flamed out 
in their autumnal colors. A blue haze hung over 
the tops of the mountains, but the flashing rays 
of the morning sun threw a golden radiance over 
all. A beautiful hotel, the Montezuma, " way up 
on the mountain " side, furnished a good break- 
fast, after which the search for curio-shops began. 
It was noticeable that the zeal was somewhat 
dampened, whether from the increase of material 
or decrease in the wherewithal, but there was an 
interest in the financial condition of one's neigh- 
bor, which had not been observed before. After 
witnessing the spectacle of some of the more dig- 
nified ladies of the party trying to persuade a 
burro, the party proceeded on its way. 

A meeting was called in the observation car at 
1 1 A. M., where a lively discussion, participated in 
by nearly all, showed that the spirit of business 
was not dissipated by the pleasures indulged in for 
the past week. It was pleasant to see the President 
trying to keep his feet in the swaying car and 
order at the same time, energetically waving an 
Indian war club by way of a gavel, surrounded by 
the members, each anxious for his own peculiar 
views to be adopted. The first break in the party 
was made on Friday evening by the departure of 
Messrs. Dana and Dudley for Denver. These 
two could ill be spared, as they had made them- 
selves particularly pleasant and helpful on the 
journey, the first to all who came in his way, and 
the last as a member of the Big Four, and in the 
musical line. 

Saturday morning the train wound its steady 
way across what evidently in some past day had 
been the booming part of Kansas, judging from 
the straggling, deserted villages plentifully 
sprinkled along the line. At about 2.30 p. M. 
Topeka was reached, and a most satisfactory stay 



was made there. Through the courtesy of State 
Librarian Dennis, Mr. Wilder, Librarian Beer, 
and other citizens, a delightful view of the city 
Washburn College, the Capitol, the libraries, and 
other points of interest were obtained. A very 
pleasant reception was given in the parlors of the 
public library. One of its features was an address 
of welcome from Mr. Chief Justice Horton, of the 
Kansas Supreme Court. President Green re- 
sponded. Dainty refreshments were served by a 
collection of the prettiest girls seen on the whole 
route. Over and over again the gentlemen of the 
party allowed themselves to be served, for the 
mere pleasure of meeting again their bright eyes 
and witching smiles. 

Good-bys were finally said, and the train was 
soon on its way to Kansas City. Eastern Kansas 
wore a more pleasing aspect, and this last even- 
ing's ride was very beautiful. The road lay along 
the bank of the Kansas River, which seemed per- 
fectly still, and reflected on its placid surface 
the bordering trees in all their autumnal tints. 
Broad fields of well-kept farms lay on the other 
side, while over the cloud mountains the setting 
sun flooded the heaven with yellow and rose. It 
was a scene of delight long to be remembered. 
Shortly after dark the train rolled into Kansas 
City, and the cars were again forsaken for the 
hotel. As the long line of carriages wended its 
way to the Midland, speculations were heard on 
the streets as to whether it was a funeral or an 
opera troupe. No social entertainment was 
offered here, and the librarians spent the day as 
their individual inclination prompted. A subdued 
feeling seemed to take possession of them, the 
shadow of the approaching end to a very pleasant 
month. With sincere and oft-expressed regret 
the party on Sunday evening bade adieu to Miss 
Allan of the Omaha Public Library, than whom 
none brighter nor more earnest in purpose are in 
the A. L. A., and at 6.00 P. M. the librarians again 
began their homeward journey, and the early 
morning found them within the great Chicago. 
Who can tell of Chicago ? She is incomparable, 
for there is none like unto her ; no, not one ! 

The librarians were met by committees from the 
Public Library, the Newberry, and the Crerar, 
and were gracefully and cordially entertained till 
their departure. After finding pleasant quarters 
at the Auditorium, the party was taken to the 
Public Library, where Mr. F. H. Hild, High 
Sachem of the Mandarins, and librarian of Chi- 
cago, was their genial host. After a pleasant 
hour with him, the Newberry Library was visited, 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



153 



where a meeting was called to attend to some 
unfinished business. When this was accomplished 
the A. L. A. of 1891 was at an end. After luncheon 
at the Auditorium the party was driven in car- 
riages to the Columbian Exposition grounds, 
and a slight idea of the monster " show " to be 
held in 1893 was obtained. In the evening an 
informal reception was given the librarians in the 
parlors of the Auditorium, and the good-bys of 
many who had formed warm attachments in the 
trip across the continent, were spoken. At II 
o'clock the best wishes of those left behind went 



with the eastern contingent as they proceeded on 
their way. 

[At Pittsburgh the party were shown the library, 
the public green-houses, the city hall, the jail, and 
other public places by the Rev. Dr. W. J. Hol- 
land, and seven of them had the good fortune to 
see the wonderful collection of butterflies in his 
house. The troop gradually dwindled as it passed 
Philadelphia, Newark, New York, and Putnam, 
and it was a lonely seven that reached Boston at 
6 P. M., Nov. 4, having traveled over 9,000 miles 
in five weeks lacking half an hour.] 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



Ahern, Mary Eileen, Cataloger State L., Indian- 
apolis, Ind. 

Allan, Jessie, Ln. P. L., Omaha, Neb. 

Barr, Isabel, New York City, N. Y. 

Bean, J: D., Brookline, Mass. 

Bean, Mary A., Ln. P. L., Brookline, Mass. 

Beckwith, Daniel, Ln. Athenaeum, Providence, 
R. I. 

Bowker, R. R., Vice-President Brooklyn L., 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Cheney, J: Vance, Ln. P. L., San Francisco, Cal. 

Clark, G: T., Asst. Ln. Cal. State L., Sacramento, 
Cal. 

Cleary, A. J., Ln. -Odd Fellows' L., San Fran- 
cisco, Cal. 

Clowdsley, W. F., Ln. F. P. L., Stockton, Cal. 

Cooke, H. H., Liby. Dept, McClurg & Co., 
Chicago, 111. 

Coues, Dr. Elliott, Washington, D. C. 

Crook, Alice B., Yonkers, N. Y. 

Cutler, Louisa S., Ln. Aguilar L., N. Y. 

Cutter, C: A., Ln. Boston Athenaeum, Boston, 
Mass. 

Dana, J: C., Ln. P. L., Denver, Col. 

Davis, C: H., Worcester, Mass. 

Davis, Mrs. Adelaide, Worcester, Mass. 

Dexter, Lydia A., Cataloger, Newberry L., 
Chicago, 111. 

Dudley, C: R., Ln. Merc. L., Denver, Col. 

Ewing, Robert, Trustee Mech. Inst., San Fran- 
cisco. Cal. 

Fletcher, W: L, Ln. Amherst Coll. L., Amherst, 
Mass. 

Gilmore, L. B., Asst. Ln. P. L., Detroit, Mich. 

Gilmore, Leonora S., Somerset, Mass. 

Goodwin, Helen M., Los Angeles, Cal. 

Goodwin, W:, Philadelphia, Pa. 

Green, S: Swett, Ln. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 



Haines, Estelle, Cataloger P. L., Los Angeles, 

Cal. 

Hancock, Caroline G., Ln. F. P. L., Sacra- 
mento, Cal. 
Harbaugh, Mary C., Asst. Ln. F. L., Alameda, 

Cal. 

Harris, Emma J., Woonsocket, R. I. 
Hasse, Adelaide, Asst. Ln. P. L., Los Angeles, 

Cal. 
Hewins, Caroline M., Ln. Hartford L. Assoc. 

Hartford, Conn. 

Hild, F: H., Ln. P. L., Chicago, 111. 
Hill, Frank P., Ln. F. P. L., Newark, N. -J. 
Jenks, H: F., Trustee P. L., Canton, Mass. 
Johnston, D. V. R., Ref. Ln. N. Y. State L., 

Albany, N. Y. 

Kelso, Tessa L., Ln. P. L., Los Angeles, Cal. 
Kumli, Bertha, Ln. F. L., Santa Rosa, Cal. 
Layman, Joseph D., Asst. Ln. State Univ. of 

Cal., Berkeley, Cal. 

Linderfelt, K. A: , Ln. P. L., Milwaukee, Wis. 
Linderfelt, Mrs. K. A: , Milwaukee, Wis. 
Lippitt, Julia, Providence, R. I. 
Lowdermilk, W. H., Bookseller, Washington, 

D. C. 

Marble, Mrs. E. C., Florence, Mass. 
Metcalf, Anna, Ln. Harris Inst. L., Woonsocket, 

R.I. 
Morrison, G: H., Sec. Bancroft L., San Francisco, 

Cal. 

Moss, G:, Act'g Ln. Sutro L., San Francisco, Cal. 
Nolan, E: J., Ln. Acad. of Natural Sciences, 

Phila, Pa. 
O'Brien, Margaret A., Asst. Ln. P. L., Omaha, 

Neb. 
Perkins, Sarah H., Cataloger F. P. L., San 

Francisco, Cal. 



SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. 



Plummer, Mary W., Ln. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn 

N. Y. 

Poole, W: F:, Ln. Newberry L., Chicago, 111. 
Prescott, Harriet B., Cataloger Columbia CoIl.L., 

N. Y. 

Root, Azariah S., Ln. Coll. L., Oberlin, Ohio. 
Rowell, Joseph C., Ln. State Univ. of Cal., 

Berkeley, Cal. 

Rudolph, Alexander J., Asst. Ln. P. L., San Fran- 
cisco, Cal. 
Rust, Mrs. M. C., Ln. F. P. L., Santa Barbara, 

Cal. 

Scudder S: II., Cambridge, Mass. 
Shaw, G: T., Trustee F. P. L., San Francisco, Cal. 
Sherman, Deborah Keith, Yonkers,N. Y., Trustee 

Y. W. C. A. Lib., N. Y. 

Smith, Mrs. G. L., Ln. F. P. L., Riverside, Cal. 
Soule, C: C., Trustee P. L., Brookline, Mass. - 
Southworth, Mrs. M. E., Cataloger State L., 

Sacramento, Cal. 

Stechert, G. E., Bookseller, New York. 
Sutro, Adolph, Hon. Member, San Francisco. 
Taft, Emma A., Providence, R. I. 
Terrill, C: C., Trustee F. P. L., San Francisco, 

Cal. 

Utley, H: M., Ln. P. L., Detroit, Mich. 
Van Zandt, Margaret, Order Dept., Columbia 

Coll. L., N. Y. 
Wade, Emily I., Cataloger P. L., San Francisco, 

Cal. 
Wallis, Talbot H., Ex. State Ln., Sacramento, 

Cal. 

Waterman, Minerva, Ln. F. L., Santa Cruz, Cal. 
Whelpley, A. W., Ln. P. L., Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Whelpley, Mrs. A. W., Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Whitaker, Alfred E., Ln. Merc. L., San Francisco, 

Cal. 



Wilson, Horace, Ln. Mech. Inst., San Francisco, 

Cal. 
Wire, G: E., Supt. Med. Dept., Newberry L., 

Chicago, 111. 
Younkin, Lulu, Ln. P. L., San Diego, Cal. 

ATTENDANCE SUMMARIES. 

BY POSITION AND SEX. 



Men. Wmen. Total. 



Trustees and other officers 
Chief librarians 
Sub-librarians and assistants 
Publishers and booksellers . 
Others 



8 
21 
6 
3 
6 



Total ......... 44 



i 

13 
n 

o 
n 
36 



8 

34 
17 

3 
17 
80 



BY STATES. 



Mass 


12 


111 




R. I 


C 


Mich. . . . 


. . 2 


Conn .... 


I 


Wis 


2 


NY 


IO 


Neb 


. 2 


Penn 


2 


Col 


. . 2 


NT 




Cal 


, iQ 


J 
D. C 
Ohio 


2 


Total . . . 


. . 80 


Ind. . 


I 







BY SECTIONS. 

6 of the 9 No. Atlantic States Sent 

1 " 9 So. Atlantic States " 

" 8 Gulf States " 
5 " 8 North Central States " 

2 " 8 Mountain States " 

1 " 8 Pacific States 



3* 

2 

O 

13 

4 
30 



Total 80 



/^IJI A f**-ly 
f ' A 

. f-idKGr'&.-'^i ''^V^.*-- T 



f^fv V-^V^^vfe^^^ 

^<^7 ^^' T v^> '"''<% M^-* ' vjlr ^r 

V^i/' r '^ " ^ V 'i>^v* 

;^A; :X &$$. \ ^8K" '' '*$$& 1 f "^^iS '-fi^* j '' -^ 



^'L\ y? 'w^-i'^si^\/^- w^ v /.^ek:\- 



^^^^F-v 

: 




> }''.->? ^. 'a^S'- v jf v^ 






M^- a*> $* 

&;:>. /i^ 



^^;^ ; V^^W ??W ' 

^? : V '^ 

#^!i 
p| 

. f'-^' . '.i? V* "^i?t. >'<y 

. . t^A *y* 




P| 



SK 



sr 



rv5rf 













-t. 



A. SU^- K&- *^^*&H&*$c- 
^^^T>^ P ^ > ^ r T7Sv^y > ^*-T> ^P^ 

i^i 

/\ N^ 



M 



* -!i^>^M> 

'^;v> 

'V; 

KsTST'^feffl! 

^^ 

-r^^Nv"'-". a 

^^>y' ->f^-' ; ^ / v -T^>s3^^,^^ 



a 



-it a 

& ^ 



:: W! 



UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBAN*