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PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 

& 

f's 

SIXTEENTH GENERAL MEETING 



OF THE 



AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 



HELD AT 



LAKE PLACID, N. Y. 

SEPTEMBER 17-22 

1894 



PUBLISHED BY THE 
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 

1894 



CONTENTS. 



Title. 



Author. 



Page. 



President's address 

The present problem 

Home libraries 

Common novels in public libraries . 



Functions of a university library 
Selection of books 



Supplying of current daily newspapers in free library i . 

reading-rcoms ( . 

Periodical library bulletins 



Report on library progress 

Report on gifts and bequests to libraries 

Report on" university extension and public libraries . . . 

Report on local history collections in public libraries . . . 

Report on classification and catalogs 

Report on aids and guides 

Report on reading for the young 

Report on access to the shelves 

Report on library architecture 

On library floors and floor- coverings 

Work of the Publishing Section 

Law books for general libraries 

"Don't," warnings of experience 

Proceedings 109-173 

First Session 109-122 

Secretary's report 109-110 

Treasurer's report 110-112 

Necrology 112-114 

Report of Executive Board 115 

Report of Finance Committee 115 

Report of Cooperation Committee .... 115-116 
Report on Library School and Training 

Classes 116-120 

Report of Endowment Fund 120 

Report of Columbian Exposition Committee 120-121 

Libraries in the South 121 

Bureau of Education and A. L. A. Manual . 122 

Second Session 123-126 

Report on library legislation 123 

Foreign documents 123-126 

Third Session 126-136 

Public documents 126-134 

Selection of books 134-135 

Place of next meeting 135-136 

Fourth Session I 36-i37 

Reading for the young 136 

Common novels in public libraries .... 137 

Fifth Session 137-146 

Report of Executive Board 137 

Index to subject headings 138-139 

Library architecture 139-140 

Library floors and floor-coverings .... 140-143 
Daily newspapers in library reading-rooms 143-146 

Sixth Session 146-154 

Periodical library bulletins 146-147 



J.N. Lamed x 

W. H. Brett 5 (157) 

C. W. Birtwell; Mils M. S. Cutler .... 9, 13 

Miss C. H. Garland ; Miss E. P. Thurston . . 14,16 
G. W. Cole: A. W. Whelpley ; Mist E. M. Coe 18, ax, 23 

H . L Koopman 24(151) 

Miss E. M. Coe ; Miss C. M. Hewins .... 30, 32 

W. E.Foster: D. V.R.Johnston 34,36 

W. A. Bardwell; W. H. Brett 37, 38 

H. M. Utley ; F, M. Crunden 39, 41 (134) 

A. W. Whelpley; H. M. Utley; F. M. Crunden 42, 44, 46 

John Thomson ; James Sain, Jr 47, 49 (143) 

G. M.Jones : G. W. Cole : Miss C. M. Hewins 50, 51, 52 

Jqhn Edmands; J. C. Dana ; W. H. Brett . 54, 55 (146) 

Frank P. Hill 56 

Horace Kephart 61 

T. L. Montgomery 64 (147) 

Henry J. Carr 67(154) 

C. Alex. Nelson 69 

W.H.Austin 77 

Miss L. E. Stearns 81 

B.C. Steiner and S. H. Ranch 87(160) 

Miss T. H. West 96(139) 

William Beer 100 (140) 

W.I. Fletcher 102 

C. C. Soule 103 

Sundry contributors io4 

Public libraries and university extension . . 147-151 

Functions of a university library .... 151 

Better editions of popular books 152-153 

Dictionary of library economy 153 

Nominations for officers 154 

Seventh Session 154-157 

Local history collections in public libraries . 154-156 

Report of Executive Board 157 

Eighth Session 157-163 

The present problem 157-160 

Law books for general libraries 160 

Hart wig's project for manuscripts .... 160 

Access to the shelves 160-162 

W. C. Lane's communication 163 

Ninth Session 163-165^ 

Place and time of next meeting 163 

Election of officers 163-164 

Bibliographical Society of London .... 164 

Report of Committee on Resolutions . . . 164-165 

Tenth Session '65-173 

In memory of Dr. W. F. Poole 165-171 

Invitation from L. A. U. K 171 

Amendment to Constitution 171 

Miscellaneous business 172 

Adjournment 173 

A. L. A. Publishing Section 173-175 

College Library Section 175-176 

Social side of the Conference 176-177 

Post-Conference Excursion 178-186 

Attendance register 186-189 

Attendance summaries 190 



'/ / 



CONFERENCE OF LIBRARIANS. 

LAKE PLACID, SEPT. 17-22, 1894. 



ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, J. N. LARNED, SUPERINTENDENT OF 
THE BUFFALO LIBRARY. 



TT was my misfortune to be absent from 
the meeting at which you did me the 
honor to elect me to this place, and I had no 
opportunity, either to give my advice against 
that action, or to thank you for the distinc- 
tion with which it clothes me. The advice 
I would have given is now belated ; but my 
thanks have lost no warmth by the delay, 
and I pray you to accept them with belief in 
their sincerity. At the same time I shall 
venture to draw from the circumstances a 
certain claim upon your generosity. If it 
happens to me to be tripped in some of 
those tangles of procedure which, in such 
meetings as this, await the stumbling feet of 
an untrained presiding officer, be good enough 
to remember the warning I would have given 
you if I had had opportunity. 

We are gathered for the sixteenth meeting 
of the American Library Association, in the 
eighteenth year of its existence. Our league 
of the libraries is young ; its history is 
unpretentious ; but it is the history of a 
movement of higher importance to the world 
than many others that have marched with 
trumpets and drums. Eighteen years ago, 
the conception of the Library militant, of 
the Library as a moving force in the world, 
of the Librarian as a missionary of literature, 
was one which a few men only had grasped ; 
but with which those few had already begun 
the doing of a revolutionary work. To-day 
such ideals are being realized in most cor- 
ners of the American republic. The last 
generation, and the generations before the 
last, were satisfied with the school as an agent 
of popular education. In our time we have 



brought the library to the help of the school, 
and the world is just opening its eyes to per- 
ceive the enormous value of the reinforcement 
that is gained from this new power. 

And the discovery has come none too 
soon ; for a desperate need of more and 
stronger forces in the work of popular 
education is pressing on us. If we reflect 
on the social conditions of the present day, 
and review a little the working of the 
ferments in civilized society during a few 
years last past, we shall marvel, I think, at 
the timeliness of the movement which brings 
the public library, just now, to the front of 
action among the instruments and agencies 
of popular education. It is our fortune, good 
or ill as we may regard it, to be unmistak- 
ably passing through one of the greater 
crises of human history. In the last century, 
modern democracy got its political footing 
in the world. Its birth was older, and it had 
been cradled in divers nursing-places, Swiss, 
Dutch, English, and New English ; but last 
century it stepped into political history as 
the actor of the leading part ; as the sover- 
eign of the future, mounting his throne. 
From the moment it came on the stage, all 
wise men knew that its need above every 
other need was education. They made haste, 
in our country, to build school-houses and to 
set the school-master at work ; seeing plainly 
that all they might hope for and strive for in 
the future would depend on the intelligence 
that could be put into the brain of this 
omnipotent sovereign who had risen to rule 
the world. 

Well, the schools and the school -masters 



299C 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



^erved their purpose reasonably well for a 
season. Democracy was fairly equipped 
Vith a spelling-book and a quill-pen for the 
duties and responsibilities of a simple, slowly- 
moving time. The mass of its members, 
the every-day people of the farm and the 
shop, read the pamphlets and the weekly 
gazettes of their day, and were gently drawn, 
with unconfused minds, into one or the other 
of two straightly opposed political parties 
which sought their votes. If they lacked 
knowledge, there was a certain ingenuous- 
ness in their character which paid respect to 
the opinions of men who had more. If 
blundering in politics occurred, it was blunder- 
ing leadership, for the most part, and more 
easily corrected than perversity in the ranks. 
So the reign of democracy was successful 
enough while society kept the simpler state. 
But that simpler state is gone. We who 
are beyond middle age may say that we have 
seen it disappear. We have witnessed a 
miraculous transformation of the earth and 
of the people who dwell on it. We have 
seen the passing of Aladdin, who rubbed his 
magical electric lamp as he went, calling 
Afreets from the air to be the common ser- 
vants of man. A change has been wrought 
within fifty years that is measureless, not only 
in itself, but in its effects on the human race. 
The people who whisper in each other's 
ears across a continent ; who know at noon- 
time in Nebraska what happened in the 
morning at Samarcand ; the people to whom 
a hundred leagues are neighborhood, and a 
thousand but easy distance ; for whom there 
is little mystery left on the face of the earth, 
nor anything hidden from their eyes ; these 
people of our day are not in the likeness of 
the men and women who ambled horseback 
or rode in coaches from town to town, and 
who were content with a weekly mail. The 
fitting and furniture of mind that would make 
a safe member of society and a good citizen 
out of the man of small horizons, who lived 
the narrower life of a generation or two ago, 
are perilously scant for these times. 

It is true that all the wonderful quickening 
of life which has occurred carries something of 
education in itself, and that men learn even 
by living under the conditions of the present 
day; but the learning caught in that way is 
of the dangerous kind. It is the delusive 



knowledge of the surface of things ; the 
deceitful lore which breeds mischievous beliefs 
and makes them fanatical. It goes but a 
little way, if at all, toward the saving of soci- 
ety, as against the unrest, the discontent, the 
desire, which torment such an age of revolu- 
tion as ours. 

And the threatening fact is this : that igno- 
rant opinions have acquired at the present 
day a capacity for harm enormously increased 
over that of the elder times. They share the 
magnified potency that is given to all things, 
good or ill, by the science of the modern man. 
Its million tongues are lent to them for pro- 
pagation ; but that is a matter of small serious- 
ness compared with the boundless ease of com- 
bination which it offers to them at the same 
time. It is in that appalling facility of alliance 
and organization, which present conditions 
have given to men and women of every class 
and character, for every kind of aim and pur- 
pose, that the greatest peril of society lies in 
our day. A peril, that is to say, so long as 
society has no assurance that the leagues and 
confederacies formed within its bosom will be 
prevailingly well instructed and intelligently 
controlled. 

As a serious danger this is something quite 
new. It has come upon us within recent years. 
I can remember a state of things in which it 
was difficult for a man in common life to join 
himself with other men, much beyond his own 
neighborhood, in any effectual way, excepting 
as he did it on the lines of an old political 
party or an older church. But, to-day, leagues, 
unions, federations, associations, orders, 
rings, form themselves among the restless, 
unstable elements of the time as easily as clouds 
are formed in the atmosphere, and with kind- 
red lightning flashes and mutterings of thunder. 
Any boldly ignorant inventor of a new econom- 
ical theory or a new political doctrine, or a 
new corner-stone for the fabric of society, 
can set on foot a movement from Maine 
to California, between two equinoxes, if he 
handles his invention with dexterity. This 
is what invests popular ignorance with terrors 
which never appeared in it before, and 
it is this which has brought the real, respon- 
sible test of democracy, social and political, 
on our time, and on us. 

Democracy, in fact, has remained consider- 
ably, hitherto, an unworked theory of society, 



LARNED. 



even in communities which have supposed 
themselves to be democratically constituted. 
It has remained so through want of conditions 
that would give a clear sound to the individ- 
ual voice and free play to the individual will. 
Those conditions are now arriving in the world, 
and the democratic regime is consequently 
perfecting itself, not politically alone, but 
economically, and in all the social relations of 
mankind. 

So it is not exaggeration to say that we have 
come to a situation in which society must fight 
for its life against popular ignorance. The old 
agencies of education are inadequate, when 
the best has been made of them. The 
common school does not go far enough, and 
cannot. Its chief function is to prepare a soil 
in the young mind for the after seed-planting 
which will produce fruits of intelligence. Un- 
supplemented, it is well-nigh barren of true 
educational results. The higher schools and 
colleges reach too small a number to count for 
much in a problem which concerns the teaching 
of the universal millions. What agency, then, 
is there, that will prepare the democracy of the 
present and the future for its tremendous 
responsibilities ? 

Some may say, the newspaper press : and I 
would rejoice if we could accept that reply. 
For the press is an educating power that might 
transform the civilization of the world as 
swiftly in mind and morals as steam and elec- 
tricity have transformed its material aspects. 
There is nothing conceivable in the way of light 
and leading for mankind which a conscien- 
tious and cultivated newspaper press might 
not do within a single generation. But a press 
of that character and that effect seems possible 
only under circumstances of disinterestedness 
which are not likely to exist. The publication 
of a newspaper may sometimes be undertaken 
as a duty, but not often. As a rule, it is a busi- 
ness, like any other, with the mercenary 
objects of business ; and as a rule, too, the gain 
sought is more readily and more certainly 
found by pandering to popular ignorance than 
by striving against it. A few newspapers can 
secure a clientage which they please best by 
dignity, by cleanness, by sober truthfulness, 
and by thoughtful intelligence, in their col- 
umns ; but the many are tempted always, not 
merely to stoop to low tastes and vulgar 
sentiments, but to cultivate them ; because 



there is gravitation in the moral as well as 
the physical world, and culture in the down- 
ward way is easier than in the upward. 

The vulgarizing of the news press has been 
a late and rapid process, nearly coincident in 
cause and event with the evolution of this 
modern democracy which it makes more 
problematical. We need not be very old to 
have seen the beginnings : the first skimming 
of the rich daily news of the world for the scum 
and the froth of it ; the first invention of that 
disgusting brew, from public sewers and private 
drains, with which the popular newspapers 
of the day feed morbid appetites. We can 
recall the very routes by which it was carried 
from city to city, and taken up by journal after 
journal, as they discovered a latent, undevel- 
oped taste for such ferments of literature in the 
communities around them. The taste was 
latent, potential ; it did not exist as a fact ; it 
was not conscious of itself; it made no de- 
mands. The newspapers deliberately sought 
it out, delved for it, brought it to the surface ; 
fed it, stimulated it, made it what it is to-day, 
an appetite as diseased and as shamefully 
pandered to as the appetite for intoxicating 
drams. 

And, so far as I can perceive, this action and 
reaction between what is ignorant and vulgar 
in the public and what is mercenary and 
unscrupulous in the press will go on until 
popular education from other sources puts an 
end to it. For it is the saving fact that there 
are other sources ; and foremost among them 
are the public libraries. If it has been our 
privilege to see, and for some in our circle to 
bear a part in, the beginnings of the active 
educational work of the libraries, I am per- 
suaded that it is only the beginnings we have 
witnessed as yet. I am persuaded that the 
public library of the future will transcend our 
dreams in its penetrating influence. Consider 
for a moment what it is, and what it offers to 
the energies of education which a desperate 
necessity is awakening and organizing in the 
world ! It is a store, a reservoir, of the new 
knowledge of the latest day and the ripened 
wisdom of the long past. To carry into the" 
memory and into the thought of all the people 
who surround it, in a town, even some little 
part of what it holds of instructed reasoning 
and instructed feeling, would be to civilize 
that community beyond the highest experience 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



of civilization that mankind has yet attained to. 
There is nothing that stands equally beside it 
as a possible agent of common culture. It is 
the one fountain of intellectual life which can- 
not be exhausted ; which need not be 
channeled for any fortunate few ; which can 
be generously led to the filling of every cup, of 
every capacity, for old or young. There is 
little in it to tempt the befouling hand of the 
politician, and it offers no gain to the mercan- 
tile adventurer. For those who serve it on be- 
half of the public there are few allurements 
of money or fame. Its vast powers for good 
are so little exposed to seduction or corruption 
that it seems to give promises for the future 
which are safer and surer than any others that 
society can build hopes upon. 

In this view, those who serve the public 
libraries have a great responsibility laid on 
them. They hold in their hands what would 
give to civilization an ideal refinement if it 
could be distributed and communicated to all. 
As we know very well, that is impossible. 
There is a part of mankind, in every com- 
munity, which never will feel, never can be 
made to feel, the gentle attractiveness and 
influence of books. The fact is one not to be 
disputed or ignored. At the same time it is a 
fact to be treated practically as though it did 
not exist. It is our business to assume that 
the mission of good books, books of knowledge, 
books of thought, books of inspiration, books 
of right feeling, books of wholesome imagina- 
tion, can be pushed to every hearth, and to 
every child and parent who sits by it. And 
it is our business to labor unsparingly toward 
the making of that assumption good, without 
reckoning any fraction of hopelessness in it. 

That is the business to which we are appoint- 
ed in the world. Let us be careful that we do 
not misconceive it in one most important 
particular ! It is not the mission of books that 
we are charged with, but the mission of good 
books. And there lies a delicate, difficult, very 
grave duty in that discrimination. To judge 
books with adequate knowledge and sufficient 
hospitality of mind ; to exercise a just choice 
among them without offensive censorship ; to 
defend his shelves against the endless siege of 
vulgar literature, and yet not waste his 
strength in the resistance these are really the 
crucial demands made on every librarian. 



For the first condition of successful work is 
a good tool ; and our tools are not books, but 
good books. These given, then follow those 
demands on us which we sometimes discuss 
as though they came first of all : the demands, 
that is, for a perfected apparatus in the working 
library, for a tireless energy in its motive forces, 
and for a large intelligence in the directing of 
them. 

Not many years ago, our missionary under- 
takings from the library seemed to be bounded 
by its own walls. The improving, annotating, 
and popularizing of catalogues ; the printing 
and distributing of bulletins and reference 
lists ; the surrounding of readers and seekers 
in a library with willing help and competent 
suggestion ; these labors seemed, only a few 
years ago, to include almost everything that 
the librarian most zealous as a missionary could 
do. But see what doors have been opening in 
the last few years, and what illimitable fields of 
labor now invite him ! Through one, the great 
army of the teachers in the common schools is 
coming into co-operation with him. Through 
another, he steps into the movement of univer- 
sity extension, and finds in every one of its 
servants a true apostle of the library mission 
of good books. From a third, he spreads his 
beneficent snares about a city in branches and 
delivery stations ; and by a fourth he sends 
"traveling libraries " to the ends of his State. 

The arena of our work is large enough 
already to make claims on every faculty and 
power we can bring to it ; and yet our plainest 
duty is to enlarge it still. I think we may be 
sure that there are portals yet to open, agents 
yet to enlist, alliances yet to enter, conquests 
yet to make. And in the end what ? 

Those of us who have faith in the future ot 
democracy can only hold our faith fast by 
believing that the knowledge of the learned, 
the wisdom of the thoughtful, the conscience of 
the upright, will some day be common enough 
to prevail, always, over every factious folly and 
every mischievous movement that evil minds or 
ignorance can set astir. When that blessed 
time of victory shall have come, there will be 
many to share the glory of it ; but none among 
them will rank rightly before those who have 
led and inspired the work of the public 
libraries. 



BRETT. 



THE PRESENT PROBLEM. 

BY WM. H. BRETT, LIBRARIAN OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



"'T'HE old order changeth, giving place to 
the new, and God fulfils himself in 
many ways." 

The period since the Civil War has been 
fraught with many changes in our own 
country. The United States of 1894 is not 
merely a greater and more populous, but a 
vastly different country from that of 1864. 

The reasons for this are manifold. The 
emancipation and enfranchisement of an 
enslaved race, the influx of a large foreign 
population, the settlement and development 
of the West, the concentration of business of 
all kinds into great establishments, the shifting 
of population from the abandoned farm and 
the depleting village to the congesting city, all 
conspire, not merely to alter the circumstances 
but to radically change the very texture of 
our national life. With these changes has 
come an increasing hardness of the conditions 
of life for many classes of workmen, produ- 
cing industrial discontent and growing antag- 
onism between employers and employed ; 
religious unrest evinced on the one hand 
by an apparently spreading skepticism, and on 
the other by the wonderful growth of the 
most earnest and enthusiastic associations for 
the spread of practical Christianity; political 
and social dissatisfaction leading to visionary 
political projects and the earnest advocacy of 
various social panaceas. 

Amid all this turmoil, the great danger to 
our country, the danger which is fundamental 
to all the rest, is the failure of a large portion 
of our citizens to appreciate the importance of 
the duties of citizenship, and in the corruption 
of the ballot due to ignorance and vice. The 
growing complexity of political questions 
increases the difficulty. The young man of 
to-day may well envy the young man of ''sixty- 
one" in that for him the issue was clearly 
made, the lines were sharply drawn, the path 
of duty was clearly marked. 

The voter of to-day has to decide and act 
upon questions of the functions of government, 
of finance, of the tariff, about which the wisest 
disagree ; and upon the decision of a voting 



" population which includes a formidable number 
of the corrupt, the venial and the ignorant, and 
a vast majority too meagrely informed, rests 
the welfare of our country. The remedy for 
this serious condition can only be found in 
more thorough and general education, with 
special emphasis upon the duties of citizenship 
and preparation for them. 

The first to recognize the necessity of this 
more thorough political education were our 
colleges. This recognition was coincident 
with, or followed hard upon the Civil War, 
raising as it did so many new national and 
international questions. Since that time 
schools of political science have been made a 
part of the leading universities and colleges. 
Their graduates, largely engaged in teaching, 
or in journalism, and scattered throughout the 
country, form a leaven of sound political 
opinion. 

The great Society of Christian Endeavor has 
paid especial attention to this subject and 
proposes as a most important part of its work 
during the coming year, while carefully avoid- 
ing any partizanship, to emphasize the im- 
portance of an intelligent and conscientious 
performance of civic duties. Clubs and asso- 
ciations are being formed throughout the 
country and journals published. While much 
of this effort is undoubtedly diverted from 
its legitimate purpose to the promotion of 
political schemes and the propaganda of new 
theories, it at least shows a widespread 
awakening to the importance of the subject. 

In view of this serious condition, this press- 
ing danger, this widespread interest, it is per- 
tinent to enquire what our libraries are doing, 
what more they can do to ameliorate this 
condition, to avert this danger, to promote 
good citizenship. The growth of libraries in 
America during the last twenty years is 
unprecedented. The figures as set forth in 
the report of the Commissioner of Education 
are familar to you. There were twelve millions 
of volumes in the libraries of the United States 
in 1876, thirty-two millions in 1892. It is diffi- 
cult to discriminate, in the figures given in 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



these reports, between those libraries which 
are supported solely by taxation and are abso- 
lutely free, and those whose support is derived 
wholly or partly from other sources. From 
what does appear, however, it is evident that 
the number of volumes in those libraries to 
which the term "public" may be applied in 
the same sense in which it is applied to our 
free schools, numbers several millions, and 
that their annual use is measured by an 
increasing number of tens of millions. 

The public school and the public library 
stand together. Together they form our pub- 
lic educational establishment, the equipment 
which is provided by the people acting collect- 
ively for the education of themselves and their 
children in the duties of citizenship. They 
are established for the same ends, supported 
by the same means, and must be judged by the 
same standards. 

If we are content in regard to the schools, 
with knowing that there are in this country 
tens of millions of dollars expended, tens of 
thousands of teachers employed and millions 
of pupils taught each year, and satisfy our- 
selves with the belief that in some way these 
pupils are the better for this instruction and 
that a vast amount of good is being done, if we 
go no farther than this we fail to arrive at the 
root of the matter, we do not apply the proper 
test. The public schools are established for a 
single purpose, all their work should tend to- 
ward that purpose, and by their failure or 
success in accomplishing that purpose, and by 
that alone can they be judged. Divested of 
every thing extraneous that purpose is a 
single and simple one. 

It is not that the pupil may enjoy the 
beauties of literature, that he may become 
familiar with the great events of history, that 
he may investigate the wonders of nature to 
the end that his own life may be richer and 
more enjoyable. He is not being educated 
for his own sake, but for the good of the com- 
munity of which he will form a part. The pur- 
pose of educating the child is that he may be 
kindly, honorable and serviceable in every 
social relation, wise and strenuous in the 
performance of every public duty, in short, a 
good citizen. 

It does not follow, by any means, that the 
course of study should necessarily consist of 
sociology and ethics and of such elementary 



studies as may lead to them. Literature and 
art should be studied in order that the taste 
may be cultivated, the sympathies quickened ; 
history, in order that the lessons of the past 
may throw light on present questions ; nature, 
that on the one hand the greatness of creation 
may strengthen faith in the Creator, on the 
other that the forces of nature may be still 
further developed for the benefit of man ; and 
thus every study may be properly introduced 
which serves to render the student a more 
valuable citizen, and for that purpose alone. 
True, these studies tend to make life broader, 
richer, sweeter and more enjoyable to each 
individual pursuing them ; but that result, to 
use a manufacturing phrase, is a by-product 
and not the main object, which is simply 
citizenship. It may seem that this is a distinc- 
tion without a difference and that I have been 
spending your time to arrive at an accepted 
truism. The distinction nevertheless is clear 
and important. Applied to our public schools 
it may reveal little to change. Applied to our 
public libraries it may reveal some things 
which should be eliminated, others which 
might be added. 

The reason why good citizenship is the only 
object of the schools is clear when we consider 
what the process of raising money by taxation 
and spending it for public schools really is. It 
consists mainly in taking the money of those 
who are able to educate their own children 
outside of the free schools, including those who 
actually do so, and spending it for the education 
of many who pay taxes sufficient to meet only 
a part of the expense and many others who 
pay nothing at all. It is simply taking one 
man's money to educate another man's child. 
This can only be justified on the ground of the 
public welfare, and the larger enforced contri- 
bution of the rich man on the ground that 
having a larger interest in the prosperity of the 
country, the stability of its institutions and the 
maintenance of order, he should be willing to 
pay more liberally toward that end. 

Now taxation and expenditure for the public 
library is essentially the same thing. It con- 
sists in taking the money of those who are able 
to buy their own books and using it to buy 
books for those who are not able to do so. 
Therefore, the only sufficient justification for 
this is that those using the library, become 
thereby better citizens. That individual lives 



BRETT. 



will thereby be enriched is happily true, but 
this is, in a strict analysis of the purposes of 
of the public library, not even a secondary 
consideration. 

I have said that the question of promoting 
good citizenship is an important one to libra- 
ries generally. It is not too much to say that 
for the public librarian it is the important 
question, the only question. All other ques- 
tions should be considered in their bearings 
on this. Every method should be devised, 
every department managed toward that end. 
Nor is the case especially different with many 
semi-public endowed libraries. The endow- 
ments are usually funds held in trust for the 
public good and the purposes essentially the 
same. 

The citizen in his public capacity as a voter 
or official, or as a student of public affairs, 
will of course be more directly reached and 
his opinions more definitely moulded by those 
classes of books which fall under the general 
head "sociology." No other department of 
the library needs wiser management, for in no 
other department is the possibility greater of 
doing evil as well as good. In no field of 
human investigation about which books are 
written, has so much been published that is 
worthless, so much that is misleading and 
injurious. The field is so broad, the -subjects 
so interesting, the difficulty of obtaining exact 
and full information so great, the temptations 
to theorize so strong, that an immense 
amount has been written and printed which 
is false in statement and visionary in theory. 
It is certainly better to exclude such and 
duplicate the better books. The person in 
charge of this department should be well in- 
formed of the important literature of the sub- 
jects, old and new, should keep up with the 
latest, should know the books of the most 
important writers holding different opinions 
upon the various subjects, even those most 
keenly controverted, and should use this in- 
formation and a discriminating judgment both 
in the selection of books for purchase and in 
the guidance of readers. All of this is quite 
consistent with an entire lack of partisanship 
or any attempt at propaganda. 

The work which is open in this field in any 
of our larger libraries requires equal ability 
and preparation, does not especially differ in 
kind, and I believe exceeds in importance 



that of a college professor in that department. 
Less directly other departments of the library 
may be made to bear upon education for civic 
duties. History, as past politics, may help to 
solve present political problems. Travel 
throws light upon social conditions in other 
lands. Even fiction is used to more vividly 
portray social conditions, to arouse sympathy 
for the wronged and oppressed, bring odium 
upon the wrong-doer and oppressor, to hold 
up for admiration and imitation the lovelier 
phases of character, and to work out with 
greater freedom social theories. 

To the education of the citizen in his private 
capacity, to stimulating his patriotism, to in- 
creasing his intelligence and capacity for 
affairs, to enhancing his value to society, the 
whole library is subservient. Its fitness for 
this end is the sole test of every method in 
use and of every volume on the shelves. To 
every department as well as to that of sociol- 
ogy, the same discriminating care in the 
selection or exclusion of books, the same 
judicious guidance of their use should be ap- 
plied. The experience of American librarians 
during the last twenty years, the free inter- 
change of opinion at the meetings of the 
Association and through the pages of the 
" Library Journal " have developed a scheme 
of library economy which is exceedingly 
valuable and has resulted in a practical agree- 
ment upon most important library methods. 

Permit me, however, to speak briefly of two 
questions upon which some difference of 
opinion and practice exists and which are ex- 
ceedingly important to the full performance of 
the function of the library. In the selection 
of books, no more fallacious or misleading 
idea can prevail than that a strong demand 
for a work constitutes a sufficient, or, indeed, 
in itself, any reason at all for placing it upon 
the shelves. It is said sometimes that this 
is the people's library and should contain the 
books which the people ask for. This is sheer 
sophistry. The people who clamor for books 
are not usually the people who pay for them, 
nor those whose opinions are best worth 
having. The critical opinion, the matured 
judgment, the valuable suggestion, is not ob- 
trusive, is not usually volunteered. It must 
be sought for and invited and may well be 
followed, but this is a very different thing from 
being controlled by clamor. It is the people's 



8 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



library and should contain the books which 
they need, but it would be as reasonable to let 
the pupils in school select their own text- 
books as to follow much of the popular enquiry 
for books. To do this would load our shelves 
with the worthless and pernicious. We should 
have not merely the empty productions of 
some of our modern story-tellers but much 
else that is not merely valueless but absolutely 
harmful. In travels we would have the glib 
garrulity of sensational sight-seers. In litera- 
ture, in religion, in other departments, it leads 
to scarcely less dangerous absurdities. We 
must discriminate between a need and a mere 
want. 

The proper care of the books is an exceed- 
ingly important function of the librarian, but 
it is possible to pay so much attention to this 
as to seriously impede their use. The duties 
of a librarian in the Middle Ages were simple. 
Books were usually either heirlooms or gifts, 
were exceedingly costly, and used by few. He 
had little to do but take care of them and he 
guarded them as he would the relics of the 
saints. The stress still laid upon the care of 
books in some of our libraries is an uncon- 
scious survival of this mediaeval spirit and 
arises also from a failure to discern the dif- 
ferent amount of care necessary for a popular 
library and for a museum of curios like a library 
of first editions or other rare books. Other 
things being equal that library will do the best 
work which allows the most unrestricted use 
of its books. Good work is being done to-day 
in some of our smaller libraries. Given a col- 
lection of books which though not large is well 
selected, in charge of a librarian intelligent 
and devoted, who keeps in touch with teachers 
and the best readers, with energy and strength 
for boundless work and unlimited tact, and 
you have the ideal condition. To accomplish 
this work in a large library is vastly more 
difficult. It requires system, a more complete 
organization, effective and harmonious work 
in every department. 

The best-organized college libraries of to- 
day are doing most effective work and the 
greater public libraries may learn much from 
them. The college librarian is fortunate in 
having the assistance of a corps of educated 
men, each an expert in an important field, 
both for the selection of books and guidance 
to readers. He is also fortunate in that his 



readers are a selected group presumably above 
the average and are pursuing definite courses 
of study, which, though broad enough to in- 
clude almost everything about which books 
have been written, still connect their reading 
in some sort of logical sequence. Macchiavelli 
in "The Prince" says, "There are three 
generations of brains, those who can see a 
thing for themselves, those who see a thing 
if another doth show them, and those who 
can see a thing neither for themselves nor if 
another doth show them." The users of a 
college library are presumably drawn from the 
first two classes. 

The growth of both our schools and our 
libraries during the last third of a century has 
not been merely an increase in size, but has 
been accompanied by great modifications of 
method, and to some extent on the part of the 
library at least, by a change of its purpose, or 
rather by an awakening to the real purpose of 
its existence. While formerly the course of 
study in the schools was fixed and the work 
mainly confined to the text-books and recita- 
tion-room, greater latitude in the choice of 
studies is now allowed, and the laboratory and 
seminary inviting to original research and in- 
vestigation, form an important part of the 
course. The school is approaching nearer to 
that perfect freedom in study which is to be 
found at its best in the library. On the other 
hand the library is no longer content to remain 
passive, merely a magazine of information, but 
is more and more aiming to assist and guide 
the reader, and to become an active teaching 
force. The library and the school are approach- 
ing each other. 

The oft-quoted saying ofCarlyle, "The true 
university of these days is a collection of 
books," is true; but it contains but half the 
truth, except for those who, like Carlyle him- 
self, clearly belong to the first class designated 
by the Italian diplomatist. Garfield in his 
later days, at a reunion of his old Hiram 
teachers arid pupils, emphasized the import- 
ance of the work of the true teacher. He said 
that a pine bench in a log cabin with Mark 
Hopkins on one end of it and himself as a pupil 
on the other would be more than the greatest 
university with the most elaborate equipment. 
Here we have the other half-truth. A great 
collection of books with a man in it comes 
nearer, certainly, to the ideal of a university ; 



BIRTWELL. 



and it is the only university which is available 
to the less favored majority. 

During all these years of increasing unrest 
and turmoil, when it has seemed not merely 
that the old order was changing, but that all 
order was in danger of being swept away, this 
people's university, the library, has been grow- 



ing, quietly, steadily, and 'even now it is 
increasing in material strength more rapidly 
than ever. The possibility of its power for 
good or evil can hardly be estimated. Is it 
not, indeed, one of the ways in which God is 
fulfilling himself? 



HOME LIBRARIES. 



BY C. W. BIRTWELL, GENERAL SECRETARY, BOSTON CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY. 



T T OME libraries, as the name implies, are 
libraries in homes. I suppose every one 
here has a library in his home ; he therefore 
has a home library. I am asked to talk of one 
particular type of libraries in the home. 
Libraries have been established in the homes 
of poor people first in the city of Boston and 
later elsewhere. The scheme had a very 
natural and simple origin. Some six or seven 
years ago, while busy among the poorer 
children of Boston, I found myself now and 
then placing a good book in the hands of a 
boy or girl ; and after a time found it desirable 
that in some way I should be able to distribute 
books and multiply the personal work that I 
could do and economize time. I could not 
keep pace with the demands upon my time 
made by the children brought to my attention. 
So this thing occurred to me : to organize little 
groups, to arrange little sets of bogks, place 
them in the homes of poor children, have some 
reliable lad or young girl 12 or 13 or 14 years 
of age serve as librarian, and so get the books 
distributed by the children themselves. 

To make the thing somewhat shapely and 
tidy I designed a neat book-case, attractive 
enough so that it would be an adornment to a 
wall of a home rather than a disfigurement. 
I selected some sets of books and spoke to a 
few juveniles and asked them if they would 
not like a little library. All the children I 
spoke to were quite taken with the idea, so I 
simply took to one and another home this 
little book-case with a carefully selected set of 
15 books and some juvenile periodicals ; 
placed the little case on the wall of the home 
and organized a group of 15 little boys and 



girls into a home library. We sometimes had 
to search rather hard to find a place on the 
wall that would hold the book-case with 15 
books in it, but we always succeeded. The 
children sometimes wanted to put the books 
off in the chambers away from the living-rooms 
for fear harm would come to the books, but 
we always insisted on having the book-case 
where they had only to reach their hand up to 
take a book down. To be a genuine home 
library it must always be accessible to the 
family. Presently the demand became quite 
urgent for libraries here and there in different 
parts of the city. Benevolent associations, 
associated charities' agents and visitors, and 
people connected with different lines of benev- 
olent endeavor, and the children themselves 
were clamoring for libraries. So we put out 
one after another till the city became to be 
quite dotted with them. I found it was im- 
possible for me to attend to all of these li- 
braries, so I asked some of my friends to take 
each of them a library, and in this way the 
largely increasing load was carried more easily 

Then I found the work multiplying in the line 
of the exchange of the sets of books. When 
a group of children had read a set of books that 
set was returned to the office of the Children's 
Aid Society, and another, a fresh set, was sent 
in its place. 

The selection of books became quite a task, 
and so the whole thing called for a little further 
planning. The visitors also came to me with 
all manner of questions, so that these two new 
features were added. In the first place, we 
had a monthly conference of the visitors, so 
that the dozen or fifteen people who were 



10 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



visiting each a group of children met with me 
once a month and spent an hour or so talking 
over the problems that arose in regard to the 
work. The second fresh development was the 
use of volunteer readers. I started it with the 
idea that I would not waste any of my time 
taking to poor children books that were not 
worth reading. I never could quite see any 
decided advantage in that. So I started out to 
choose good books, and if the children would 
read them they should have all they wanted of 
them. If they would not read them we could 
see some better way to use our time. We 
started out therefore with a high standard ; 
every book was to be read from cover to cover 
by competent people. Written reviews were 
submitted to me and I passed on the questions 
as to whether the book would be suitable in a 
home library group. 

Then came the necessity for a paid assistant. 
After the libraries had been running about 
two and a-half years the work in connection 
with them became sufficient to demand a paid 
assistant, and I emphasize that as a pretty im- 
portant item. I do not think you can get very 
much done in this world without having some 
one to devote himself or herself to a work and 
carry it as a definite responsibility ; and sal- 
aried officers are the ones who are apt to feel 
that responsibility. So I engaged from among 
the ladies who had served as volunteers a 
young lady who agreed to give her whole 
time to the work on salary. We pay that 
young lady $650 a year and we ought to pay 
her $1,000. Then we proceeded to put out 
libraries very rapidly, and the number has 
now grown to 69 in the different parts of Bos- 
ton and the immediate suburbs. From my 
merely going with a set of books came these 
69 libraries, each with its group of 10 young 
readers, each library actually in the home of 
a poor family, each library provided with a 
volunteer visitor, and each library group and 
visitor meeting together once a week for an 
hour or more in the home of the librarian. 

Along with all that development had gone a 
very natural enrichment of the whole program 
of the libraries. In the first place, we had to 
develop, as is a melancholy necessity, a set of 
forms and some arrangement for keeping the 
facts in hand. First of all a little card on 
which each little child who wishes to join a 
group records that fact, and the parents sign, 



or more often merely make their cross, indi- 
cating a willingness that the child should join. 
Then we also planned a registration card, a 
rather elaborate one, on which a visitor should 
record the facts in regard to each member on 
the inception of the library, as to the character 
and occupations, ages and general conditions 
of the members of the family, and the family 
as a whole, and the reading that was found 
in the home when the library was first estab- 
lished ; and then later on, from time to time, 
any change in the circumstances or status of 
the family. These original statements of the 
conditions of these families, and the subsequent 
story, are full of interesting facts. Their object 
of course is to enable us always to know 
whether we are still keeping to our true pur- 
pose of working among the very poor, and 
also to note the effects of the libraries. 

Then we also arranged a form on which the 
children record their opinions of the books ; 
and it is one mark of the growth of a group 
that while they start out perhaps by saying 
"nice," and "very nice," gradually these 
opinions become more elaborate. Thus while 
the original adjectives still appear even in old 
groups we once in a while get "good," and 
"no good," "I like it," etc. ; and sometimes 
a lad with an element of fun and frankness 
in him says, " Pretty good, what I read of it." 
The boys and girls show themselves in these 
comments on the books. We test the books 
in that way and we also learn the difficulty of 
making children read intelligently and then 
digest what they read, and be able to talk 
about it. A word about the selection of 
books. I have said that we use volunteers in 
that connection, and I could not state too 
strongly my belief that on that hinges a great 
deal. 

It was very soon found that in connection 
with the books we could develop things of 
another sort. We urged the children to read 
to their parents and to each other. Some- 
times the hour of the meeting is devoted partly 
to reading by the children. Sometimes the 
visitor reads to the children, perhaps a 
book outside of the library. Then we 
found that we could touch a further need 
of the children of the poor ; the need of 
amusement, home amusement, an amusement 
that they do not have to run into the street or 
dime show to get. The parents of the. poor 



BIRTWELL. 



n 



are busy at work ; they are drudging from 
morning till night. We found the children 
very ignorant of the commonest games, so we 
added home amusements to the curriculum, 
so to speak, of the home libraries. It is now 
one of the duties of the visitors to learn all 
they can about games ; standing-up games, 
sitting-down games, noisy games, quiet games, 
games that tax the brain and games that do 
not ; and any visitor who discovers a new game 
places it on file for the use of all other visitors. 
Then we had festivities at Christmas time. 
The children began to enjoy their festivities 
together, and that was very admirable in pro- 
moting courtesy, kindness and real generosity 
and friendship among them. In the summer 
the groups take outings together. All through 
this summer the visitors and groups have 
been wending their way to the quiet little 
pleasure-grounds about Boston ; and again 
if anybody finds a new nook anywhere he or 
she reports it and we pass it along to all the rest. 

Three or four years ago we started a little 
plan of having sales of plants for club gardens. 
Every spring we sell three or four hundred 
plants. Then in the fall we have a festival 
and lunch, and all who can bring live plants. 
We are to have our fall festival within two or 
three weeks. Last fall 60 plants were brought 
in, some of them two years old. A good 
many other plants had lived, but some of the 
children worked and could not attend the day 
festivals. 

The visitors resort to various schemes for 
interesting and improving the children; in fact, 
the libraries afford unlimited scope for the 
visitors. In one group the children of a very 
poor locality made a plan to help out a poor 
old woman who kept a candy-store. One boy 
sawed her wood, others took turns attending 
to the store, etc. And then they have sewing- 
classes. The visitors follow out all suggestions 
that come to them as to the way of interesting 
children. Some make quite a point of music. 
Recently we had a little group going all to 
pieces. The children were losing their inter- 
est and the parents were rather adverse to 
keeping a library. We got them to keeping it 
for a time and then an earnest visitor started 
it up and made quite a use of music. Part of 
the time was given to songs and inside of a 
few months that was one of the most successful 
libraries in the whole list. 



Visitors were interested also in matters 
affecting the whole neighborhood. Over in 
South Boston an effort was made by a visitor 
to get electric lights put in streets that were 
dark and where things that were decidedly 
harmful were going on, as we learned through 
the children. In fact, the electric light is quite 
a moral item in some of these dark quarters. 
Visitors report cases of illegal liquor-selling to 
law-and-order leagues. We had a hand in 
stopping some gambling going on among the 
children. Some men were systematically 
working the poorer part of the west end of 
Boston principally among the poorer children. 
Cases of all sorts come to the notice of the 
visitors. They bring them up at the confer- 
ences or they come to the office and discuss 
them with myself and assistants. Cases of 
truancy have come up, and just now one of the 
visitors is working hard over a girl of 15 who 
is intemperate, and the girl is strongly and 
conscientiously endeavoring to overcome her 
taste for liquor. In another instance one of the 
worst cases came up, which was discovered by 
one of the visitors, a case of moral exposure 
that would be absolutely indescribable here. 
Now you see how our conferences may be 
loaded up with problems. We meet once a 
month, except in summer, and canvass these 
varjous subjects. 

Now you see also why we limit a group. At 
the beginning we started with 15 children, and 
later we decided that 10 was a sufficient num- 
ber. A visitor must go once a week to meet 
the group. Now and then she must go with 
the children with their savings to the bank. 
She needs (I say she ; some are men and some 
are women) to know the families of all the 
children who are members ; and at least once 
a month visitors aim to put in a forenoon or 
afternoon visiting among the families repre- 
sented in the library. As the children grow 
older they naturally still cling to their friend- 
ship with the visitors ; and to allow a margin 
of the time and strength among the graduates 
we hold the number down to 10. When a set 
of books has been read by a group the set is 
exchanged for a fresh one. That change is 
usually made once in 10 or 12 weeks, so that 
the children get of course the perennial supply 
of good literature. One temptation often 
comes to people to establish libraries in halls 
or rooms specially set apart for them. We 



12 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



have persistently refused to establish anything 
but home libraries, and we find that by doing 
that we get the home libraries ; but if we 
should start the other plan our strength would 
go in that direction. 

Libraries have been established in various 
other cities within the last two or three years. 
Lynn has had successful ones, and their vis- 
itors attend our conferences. Indianapolis 
and Cincinnati have them, and the College 
Settlement in New York city has half a dozen. 
In Albany the library work has been started, 
and of course under peculiarly promising 
auspices. 

If there were time I should like to give a 
word as to the relation of this to public libra- 
ries. We buy all our books from the funds 
of the Boston Children's Aid Society ; but I 
see no reason why a public library should not 
honor the draft of a responsible group of 
children for a set of books, and it becomes 
merely a little administrative question as to 
how that demand may be best provided for 
and met. The books of course are read by 
the children, their parents, and lodgers and 
friends. We have had a book read by the child 
that took it out, by six or seven brothers and 
sisters, by the father and mother, and by six 
or seven lodgers. We have never yet asked 
the Boston Public Library to supply us with 
books, because that thought did not occur to 
us in the first few years of the enterprise, and 
by that time we had a pretty fair equipment of 
books. We always buy three copies of a book 
because it will go out of print rapidly. I think 
that when the Boston Public Library is housed 
in the new library building it will receive a 
petition from us and we will see if we can not 
establish a closer relation between this work 
and that of the public library. At present we 
are at work on a list of books for our grad- 
uates, and propose printing and placing against 
the names of the books the numbers that they 
bear at the public library and its branches. 
We mean to graduate children from the home 
libraries into an intelligent use of the public 
library. 

I am asked how young the children are ad- 
mitted to the libraries. They are admitted as 
early as they can read. That means anywhere 
from 8 to 16 or 17. 

I am asked what I mean by graduates. In 
time boys and girls do become young men 



and young women. They sometimes think 
they are young men and young women rather 
before they are. But you have to yield to the 
sense of increasing years and added import- 
ance on the part of boys and girls, and it is 
one of our standing problems how to have the 
work that has been done in the libraries con- 
tinue on into the later years, the later teens, 
when certainly the temptations and difficulties 
of lads and misses in the poorer quarters of 
the city are not apt to diminish. The visitors 
are urged to keep up their personal relations 
with the children. One visitor is now trying 
the experiment of letting the library group 
grow into a working boys' and girls' club. If 
the club should extend a little farther it is 
possible they might absorb some of our 
children. They have already in one or two 
instances. In one or two other cases little 
dramatic clubs are being formed, and we are 
waiting for some of our boys to be old enough 
to join the Wells Memorial Workingmen's In- 
stitute. 

An item that ought not to be overlooked is 
this : That the ideal library group is made up 
of boys and girls younger and older. In that 
way we strike the maximum range of rela- 
tions. There is hardly any problem that can 
arise in the life of a family that can not arise in 
the home library in such a way that a skillful 
visitor can do something about it. The rooms 
in which the children read are, many of them, 
very crowded ; being tenement-houses where 
every now and then there is a sick woman across 
the hallway and the children must go and come 
quietly, and not to bring dirt into the house of 
the poor old, hard-worked woman whose hos- 
pitality they are enjoying. The boys learn to 
be courteous to the girls, and the girls look 
upon the boys in the right way. We look 
upon this healthful association of the sexes in 
the libraries as one of its chief features. 

What do the parents think of this work and 
how do they look upon it ? Parents look upon 
it variously. Sometimes when a prospective 
librarian and a group of little children are 
very anxious to have a library go to a house, 
the important masculine head of the house not 
having been notified at the beginning by my 
assistant, who usually sees the people with 
whom we propose to place a library, thinks 
that it would be an intrusion ; that the children 
would be apt to come in while he is at supper, 



CUTLER. 



or that they will make a noise, or interfere 
with him and his pipe, and so on. Then I 
simply despatch my assistant to conquer the 
man. It can always be done. We simply 
acknowledge our grievous error in not having 
seen him first. We flatter his vanity, and 
usually inside of from 25 to 45 minutes we can 
make him cordial. 

What about the spreading of contagious 
diseases ? We have arrangements with the 
board of health by which the visitors learn 
through the librarian whether any child is suf- 
fering from a contagious disease. Then word 
goes from the librarian to the visitor and is 
reported to the board of health. In the same 
way the board of health reports to us any 
cases that break out in houses where we have 
libraries. We depend upon them to report to 



us the greater part of the time, but in case of 
an epidemic my assistant goes to the office of 
the board of health and scans their reports. 
Of course she is familiar with the situation of 
all the libraries. As to what shall be done 
with the books if a disease has broken out in 
a house ? The books that are out, stay out ; 
and the books that are in the family are 
treated according to the plan that has been 
outlined by the medical council of the Child- 
ren's Aid Society and the Boston Board of 
Health. So that, although the visitors are 
going week after week, and have been for 
years, to these various homes, we have never 
yet had any complaint or difficulty arise. We 
can not say what mischief we have done, but 
nothing has been charged against us. We burn 
books once in awhile to be on the safe side. 



HOME LIBRARIES. 



BY MARY S. CUTLER, VICE-DIRECTOR, NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY SCHOOL, ALBANY. 



TT seems to me a significant fact that the 
American Library Association has no mo- 
nopoly of the modern library idea. The 
association may be directly or indirectly 
responsible for it, but the idea at any rate is in 
the air. Impressed with this thought, I picked 
up a copy of the New York Herald and found 
it carried out under the heading of a platform 
adopted by certain labor organizations for the 
fall's campaign : " Resolved, That we demand 
that the city shall establish a central municipal 
library with branches." 

Another illustration came to me this summer 
in Troy, N. Y., where a children's library has 
been started by the pastor of a Unitarian 
church. The library is used by children of all 
classes and denominations in the city. It was 
opened in the spring and has had a very large 
circulation even during the summer months. 
I expressed my interest in the library and said 
that by all means it ought to be carried on till 
a public library could take up the work. The 
founder of the library said that would be all 
very well except that the public library would 
not have the missionary idea ; they would 
simply let out the books in a mechanical sort 
of a way; he wanted to help the children person- 
ally. I tried to show him that the ideal public 

3 



library as understood by the library association 
had a little bit of that spirit, and he seemed 
convinced ; but finally added, ' ' Well, at least 
it would not be an attractive place, and I want 
to make the children's library an attractive 
place." The point of this is simply that the 
plan was apparently worked out independently 
of any knowledge of the work that is being 
done by the librarians of the country. 

The founding of the Home Libraries is 
another marked illustration. Miss West, in a 
visit made to the Library School last winter, 
gave us an idea which is to be adopted in 
the home libraries of Albany. It is the 
circulation of framed pictures. It has not 
been carried out in Milwaukee, but is 
planned for the new building. You will see 
that it fits admirably the home library idea. 

The home libraries in Albany developed in 
about the same lines as the Boston libraries, 
and have been, for the two years in which 
they have been carried on, a decided success. 

This summer I had the pleasure of being for 
a little while a visitor in one of the libraries in 
order to get a more practical idea of the work, 
and this is the result of the experience. I 
was very much struck by the fact that the 
children needed exceedingly personal help ; 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



that although they were interested enough to 
take the book home many of them had not 
cared enough about it to read it through. 
Very often they brought it back saying they 
liked it very much ; that they read it almost 
through, at least they read so many pages. 

One of the most important considerations 
before the librarian to-day is the selection of 
books ; another is the infusion of a stronger 
human element into the work. It is not enough 



for us to circulate books, or to circulate good 
books ; we must in some way insure that the 
children and all those who need individual 
help get this help in some way or other. If 
we as librarians cannot provide it as fully as 
we wish, we should co-operate with home 
libraries, with clubs, and with various other 
agencies that can supply this personal element 
and make the books more useful. 



COMMON NOVELS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES.* 



BY CAROLINE H. GARLAND, LIBRARIAN, DOVER PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



HPHE actual necessities'of life are very few. 
The physical life requires only eating, 
drinking, sleeping. The demands of spiritual 
life are also very simple, being love to God 
and love to fellow-man. The elements of 
mental life are also few, being something to 
think of and the process of thinking of it. 

It is the development and demands of taste 
that complicate life, and as the physical life 
may be developed so that the time, the 
material, and the manner of our eating may, 
and generally does, assume proportions of 
magnitude ; and as spiritual taste is devel- 
oped, not to say forced and distorted, until 
spiritual brothers make war upon one another 
and eminent scholars are expelled from the 
communion of their faith for telling the truth ; 
so mental taste may be fostered and forced 
until details are apotheosized and the aim of 
the public library (which I take to be the wel- 
fare of the individual and the best interests of 
the community) is lost sight of in the con- 
sideration of the different ways leading to that 
aim. 

It is a question of development of taste that 
we consider this evening. The question, as 
stated, reads: "Is a free public library jus- 
tified in supplying to its readers books which 
are neither for instruction nor for the cultiva- 



tion of taste ; which are not books of knowl- 
edge nor of ideas, nor of good literature ; 
which are books of entertainment only such, 
for example, as the ruck of common novels." 

The word ruck sent me to the dictionary ; 
it sounds formidable, but means only the 
common run, the commonplace. This ques- 
tion then, refers not to books that are pos- 
itively degrading, like Laura Jean Libbey and 
her ilk (indeed I cannot conceive any sane 
public library using that material); nor even 
to the mawkish sentimentalities of Mrs. South- 
worth, Mrs. Stephens, and Bertha Clay ; nor, 
of course, to works with any taint of unclean- 
ness, by any author whatever. But I take it 
to refer to those moral commonplace produc- 
tions, represented by Amanda Douglas, Rosa 
Carey, and Mrs. Holmes, possibly, but first 
and always by poor old Roe. 

Now the taste that, uncultivated, desires 
Roe, is the taste that, cultivated, desires 
Henry James. Neither author writes novels 
of ideas, nor of instruction, nor of knowledge. 
One, however, is called a writer of good 
literature, by reason of artistic merit, and the 
other is not. Yet as regards the presence of 
the two in our libraries, I do not think the 
arguments are all in favor of James. Take, for 
example, two types familiar in all public 



*A series of papers in discussion of the following questions : 

Is a free public library justified in supplying to its readers books which are neither for instruction nor 
for the cultivation of taste ; which are not books of knowledge, nor of ideas, nor of good literature ; 
which are books of entertainment only such, for example, as the ruck of common novels ? 

If so, what are the justifying considerations ? Do they differ essentially from the reasons which might 
be urged in favor of free theatres? 



GARLAND. 



libraries: One is the woman who married 
young, lives in a small house in a crowded 
street, has a family of children, and expends 
her mental energy and taste chiefly in making 
the most of life for her family on her husband's 
small income. She comes to the library in a 
home-made gown, waits patiently her turn in 
the line, and asks for a volume of Roe, from 
whose perusal she derives a commonplace but 
solid pleasure. The other is a woman who 
has not married so young, having waited for a 
husband who has money ; and she lives in a 
house so excellent in its sanitary arrange- 
ments that a microbe would not have a fight- 
ing chance of life in it. She has no children ; 
and she comes to the library in a tailor-made 
gown, wants to be served at once, no matter 
how many are waiting, and asks for the latest 
volume of Henry James, from the perusal of 
which she acquires an added analytical and 
critical self-consciousness. And I boldly avow 
that the welfare of the individual, and the 
interests of the community, are as highly sub- 
served by the circulation of that volume of 
Roe as by that volume of Henry James. 

If it be a problem with librarians why so 
many people in the world desire common- 
place books, I suspect the answer is found in 
the fact that so many persons are merely com- 
monplace people. This would be an appalling 
fact, were it not that outside of their own line 
of work librarians are often quite gloriously 
commonplace themselves, without feeling 
grieved about it. It is quite probable that if 
some great singer were to come walking into 
the room here, and offer to sing whatever we 
wanted to hear, some one might ask for "Old 
Folks at Home," instead of artistic opera. 
Fancy the feelings of a musical critic who is 
trying to elevate the popular taste in music, at 
such a choice as that ! Fancy, too, the feel- 
ings of the librarian if this same musical critic 
shall forbid to him the use of songs that are 
not songs of ideas, nor of knowledge, nor for 
the cultivation of taste ; but are songs of 
entertainment only ! 

In painting, too, some good librarian may 
not be quite what he ought. Quite possibly 
at the Fair he preferred Hovenden's " Break- 
ing Home Ties " to Zorn's "In the Omnibus." 
How sad for the artist, who is striving to bring 
the world up to the artistic heights of Im- 
pressionism, with no less conscientious zeal 



than librarians are using for fictional real- 
ism ! 

Now, just as I admit the right of existence 
for the merely entertaining in other branches 
of art, so I admit that right for fiction in a 
library. Otherwise. I think we would be in- 
sufferable prigs ; and, if that common argu- 
ment is made that all aching voids can be 
satisfied with artistic literature, I can only say 
that in my experience, readers of Roe are no 
mor,e satisfied with Henry James than readers 
of James are satisfied with Roe ; and their 
reasons, to me, seem often as well-founded. 
Any one who knows by experience just how 
agreeable it makes one feel to have what he 
wants taken away from him, and what some 
one else deems better for him, substituted, 
may put in practice his theory if he like. 

When we are not ourselves the persons to 
be operated upon, we all recognize the fact 
that advancement in taste is a thoroughly de- 
sirable thing, to be achieved by all possible 
means save that of deprivation ; and when one 
is the person operating, the same principle 
holds. Therefore, we lend vigorous hands to 
the forwarding of all movements for pushing 
good literature, remembering, too, that all 
things are possible to the young. Book lists, 
school work, newspaper items, clubs, univer- 
sity extension lectures, personal intercourse ; 
all these we cheerfully undertake, as a matter 
of course. But, personally, I would not de- 
prive readers of novels for entertainment only, 
provided, always, that they shall be clean and 
free from immoral taint ; although my obser- 
vation would testify that the commonplace 
reader does not desire and will not tolerate so 
much immorality as will the person of highly- 
cultivated literary taste. 

Moreover, there is the better and the best. 
If a librarian does not himself always read the 
highest fiction (it will be remembered that 
Paradise Lost is fiction), he should not cast a 
stone at him who is less advanced on the 
artistic road ; any more than he who smokes 
a cigar should cast a stone at him who smokes 
a pipe. 

There are, however, those who may throw 
a stone at readers of fiction for entertainment 
only. Number one is that woman who, with 
an hour to herself and some chosen friend, sits 
down and discusses, not the interesting details 
of recent happenings, but the tariff bill. She 



i6 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



may cast a stone at readers of Roe. Number 
two is that man who, clad in the garb of 
social functions and standing in the doorway 
of the lighted parlor to survey the array of 
beauty massed therein, passes by the pretty 
society girl about whom half his acquaintances 
are gathered, but whom his feminine friends 
declare to be quite commonplace, and seeks 
out with deliberate choice some woman of 
superior cultivation, who will elevate his 
mind. That man may cast a stone at readers 
of books for entertainment only. Number 
three is that librarian who, with a week to 
spend at the World's Fair last year, spent 
much of his time in the Anthropological Build- 
ing, studying improving statistics of charities 
and correction, and wasted no part of his time 
down the frivolous Midway. He may cast a 
stone ; but it is not probable that any one who 
went to Buffalo Bill will think of even picking 
up a stone. 

To the second part of the question, "Do 
these considerations differ from those justify- 
ing a free theatre?" the answer must be 



given, yes, decidedly. The matter of expense 
alone would differentiate the questions so de- 
cidedly that in a brief paper like this no other 
need be noted. A single dollar expended in 
the equipment and maintenance of a theatre 
could not be seen with a microscope. A 
single dollar expended in a library buys a 
book that lasts years, accommodates many 
people, and builds up the permanent value of 
the library. 

In conclusion then, it seems to me, a public 
library is justified in supplying to its readers, 
along with books of ideas, and books of 
knowledge, and books of instruction, some 
books that are for entertainment only ; just as 
I would say that a public library is justified in 
paying the expenses of its librarian to a meet- 
ing of the A. L. A., even though at that meet- 
ing the librarians not only consider questions 
of ideas, and of instruction, and of knowledge, 
but also indulge themselves in a few excur- 
sions and a little general hilarity that must be 
conceded to be for entertainment only. 



COMMON NOVELS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 



BY ELIZABETH P. THURSTON, LIBRARIAN, NEWTON FREE LIBRARY. 



"PHE question whether novels shall be 
put into public libraries has now, I sup- 
pose, become rather a question of the past 
with the American Library Association, the 
matter having been practically settled, even if 
there is still theoretically a difference of opin- 
ion. In nearly every free library the public 
expects to find the good novels and to be 
denied the morally bad ones ; and, therefore, 
the form of our query to-day is, not shall we 
have novels, but shall we have those neither 
good nor bad, that mass of indifferent litera- 
ture which is now being poured upon the 
market in such quantities ? 

What can be said in favor of having it ? ist. 
The public demands it. Those readers who 
devour their seven books a week, must have 
" a new novel " each time ; that seems to be 
the only requisite of the book to be drawn 
author is of no consequence, subject of no 
consequence, the only important inquiry" Is 



it a new story that I have not read?" and their 
argument is that it is the money from their 
pockets that is supporting the library. Shall 
their wishes be considered ? 

ad. These are books that people in general 
do not care to buy for home libraries ; they 
only wish them for a few hours, and never care 
to see them again. If there is a common 
centre where they may be found and passed 
around to one and another, they are serving 
their turn, saving individual outlay, and grati- 
fying a desire to see and read what so many 
are talking about and discussing. 

3d. We are dependent upon them for reach- 
ing a certain class of readers who will come to 
the library if they can find such material, other- 
wise not. In some communities especially, 
young boys who would be reading dime novels, 
police news, and the lowest form of literature 
might be led to a higher class of reading 
through these very books, which may be re- 



THURSTON. 



garded as neither instructive nor elevating, 
but merely entertaining. 

On the other hand, have we the right to en- 
courage our readers in their contentment with 
this trash ? Ought we not to lead them up to 
a better class of reading, and save them from 
the waste of time ; for is it not a waste of 
time to devote it to such use? Is there not 
enough that" is entertaining and restful among 
the fictitious works of the master writers, the 
classics of fiction, or at least the better class of 
stories? Can we not counteract the dime 
novel, and encourage the habit of reading 
without recourse to these ordinary novels ? 
We can find something several grades better 
to put before our readers, and we need not 
reason as did a great-uncle of mine, an old 
bachelor, who is reported to have said of a 
little visitor with unquestionably strong lungs, 
' ' Why, give her some cake, the child cries for 
it!" It is not necessary to be wholly cast 
down by the indignant remarks we sometimes 
hear from our patrons. A lady assured me 
two or three years ago, that public libraries 
ought not to buy fiction, that it was not in 
their province and all wrong to do so ; and yet, 
as we have noted the class of books she has 
called for from that day to this, I think, with- 
out exaggeration, it has been nine-tenths 
fiction. 

After all, the great difficulty with regard to 
this question is in the definition. What novels 
shall we class as belonging to the ruck of 
common novels ? for one man's meat is another 
man's poison. The primer is better for one 
mind than Shakespeare, but we do not there- 
fore expel Shakespeare, and we must reach all 
classes. Some not finding trash will take 
what can be had, but we must be ready for 
those who, not finding trash, will not read at 
all ; and it is generally conceded that it is 
better to read something than not to read at all, 
in spite of statements occasionally met with in 
the magazines like the following: "The 
general diffusion of education, from which a 
generation ago, so much was expected, has 
utterly failed [to check the. increase of crime] ; 
for statistics show that literates contribute a 
larger percentage of their class to the criminal 
ranks than do the illiterates." What an 
alarming reflection upon librarians, who have 
as largely contributed towards this "general 
diffusion of education ! " 



Neverthless I think we do not need to close 
our library doors quite yet, nor to fear the in- 
fluence of books, if applied with moderation 
moderation, at least, as regards this trashy 
class ; not, perhaps, the moderation of the old 
Scotchman, who said : "I believe in temper- 
ance ; of course I like my glass before break- 
fast to begin the day right, and one with my 
breakfast ; but I don't believe in dram, dram, 
dramming ! I want one in the middle of the 
forenoon, and one with my dinner, and one 
after dinner; but none of your dram, dram, 
dramming ! I find I need a glass to set me up 
in the course of the afternoon, and at night I 
am tired and ought to have one with my sup- 
per, and I always take one before going to bed , 
but I don't believe in this constant dram, dram, 
dramming!" This is somewhat the sort of 
temperance many of our readers would be in 
danger of falling into, were we to present a too 
generous display of these frothy (c)glasses. 
We should be doing a good work if we could 
lead people to read fewer books and spend 
more time, or no less time, in the reading 

We shall probably have to compromise a 
little in this matter, as we are forced to do in 
almost all difficult positions. We can find 
enough that is. reasonably worth putting be- 
fore our readers, enough to attract the boys 
and girls, but we need not overstock our 
shelves with the poorer material ; and we may 
always choose, to the best of our judgment, 
the upper border of the "ruck," the higher 
grades of it, and let the rest go, watching all 
the time to plant the right seed. It is very 
distressing to see the children satisfied with 
the lighter class of books, when you feel they 
ought to be reading something better. There 
is one boy I have especially in mind who has 
come for years at Newton, day after day, 
wanting a fresh book who would have been 
satisfied with "Frank in the Mountains," or 
"Elsie's fioyhood," (really asked for once) 
a boy who read so voraciously that I felt he 
was almost a hopeless case ; but who is now, 
at seventeen years of age, just as rapacious 
for every new book on electricity or yachting. 
No need, perhaps, of discouragement ; he may 
come out all right in spite of his early appren- 
ticeship with the trash, although I cannot but 
sympathize with the grammar-school teacher 
who said to me recently: "Encourage my 
pupils to read ? I only wish I knew of some 



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LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



means of stopping their reading ; they read 
too much." 

It is probably easier to influence the read- 
ing of boys than girls, to lead them away from 
the inane. We have doubtless all met the 
little girl of twelve years coming for a good 
book, a story, and a book for her brother of 
fourteen, please. "What does he want; a 
story, too?" "Oh.no! A history." So off 
she goes, with her story for her, history for 
him. 

We have it in our power to guide and in- 
fluence the choice of literature in many ways, 
directly and indirectly, and we are often doing 
it when we are quite unaware of it ourselves, 
and feel we have made a disappointing failure ; 
but perhaps we have as good reason to think 
we are making an impression in the right 
direction, as the minister's wife when her 
efforts for the moral advancement of her child 
were met with the announcement from the 
little girl that she did not believe there was 
any God, she knew there was not any God ; 
and answered as cause of her sudden attack 
of atheism, in response to her mother's remark 
that she thought she heard some one praying 



God last night to make her a good little girl, 
"Well, He didn't." 

I do not think public libraries in general are 
justified in attempting to meet the demand for 
every new book that appears ; the book that 
these indomitable readers have heard men- 
tioned by some friend, whose friend had read 
it, naming it often by a title as foreign to its 
real title as the book when bought (if ever 
found) would be to the wants of the library. 
Circulating libraries are fitter places for keep- 
ing this class of literature ; and then in our 
free libraries the children, the students, the 
knowledge-seekers may have just so much 
more chance of finding what you would have 
them read, and just so much less temptation 
to squander their time and the higher faculties 
of their minds in useless reading. 

Have not the librarians an opportunity I 
know the process must be gradual, very 
gradual in many communities of slowly elim- 
inating the worthless trash, so that the reader 
may oftener and oftener be able to say with 
Emerson, that "he shuts the book a richer 



FICTION IN LIBRARIES : A PLEA FOR THE MASSES. 



BY GEORGE WATSON COLE, LIBRARIAN, JERSEY CITY FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



T^HIS question brings forward anew the old 
one as to the functions of the free public 
library. Shall it supply its patrons, to whom 
it owes its existence and support, what they 
ask for and demand in return for their sup- 
port? 

Members of mercantile libraries justly feel a 
sort of proprietary interest in them, and this 
feeling is recognized in giving them large num- 
bers of duplicate copies of current popular 
fiction. The public library, with a more gen- 
eral patronage, attempts to break away from 
this practice by purchasing only a limited 
number of duplicate copies. The question is 
virtually the same in both cases, except that 
in the public library the readers, who just as 
truly pay for its support as do the members of 
a mercantile library, are not brought into such 
close relationship with the library ; and hence 



are not able to bring that individual pressure 
to bear upon its management, by threats of 
withdrawing their support or otherwise, which 
can be done by a dissatisfied member in a 
mercantile library. He says, and with appar- 
ent reason and justice : "I want such or such 
novels. I joined this library to get such books 
to read as suit my tastes. If I cannot get 
them here, I will withdraw my support from 
this library and go where I can procure 
them." 

The reader in the public library has just as 
much right, and often more, to insist that the 
money he pays as taxes towards the library's 
support shall be expended to supply him with 
popular fiction. The library is in existence 
by the grace of the public, and it is its duty to 
cater to all the classes that go towards making 
up the community in which it is established. 



COLE. 



The late Dr. Poole, with his usual sound 
common-sense, has said upon this point : "In 
the public libraries which are growing up in 
our land, fully four-fifths of the money appro- 
priated for books is spent in works adapted to 
the wants of scholars. In the larger libraries 
the proportion is even greater. It is hardly 
becoming for scholars, who enjoy the lion's 
share, to object to the small proportional ex- 
penditure for books adapted to the wants of 
the masses who bear the burden of taxation." 

A word here may not be out of place as to 
the statistics of fiction-reading when compared 
with those of standard literature. They are 
not the true criteria by which to judge of the 
amount of solid reading, so-called, done in the 
community. In the first place it takes longer 
to read a book of the latter class than a work 
of fiction. The omnivorous reader will devour 
several novels while the studious reader is read- 
ing a single standard work. Then, again, it 
takes so much more time to read standard 
works that they are more frequently bought for 
the home library ; but it must be a good novel 
indeed that is welcome to these same shelves. 
For fiction in general such readers rely almost 
entirely upon the public library. 

No one, so far as I know, defends the ad- 
mission of impure or immoral fiction into the 
public library ; and few, scarcely any, I sur- 
mise, would exclude the works of the standard 
novelists. The whole question, then, hinges 
upon the admittance of works of inferior 
merit, so that it ceases to be one of the class 
of works to be admitted (as in the German- 
town Library, where fiction is with consistency 
entirely excluded), and becomes one entirely 
of degree. In this respect it differs intototrom 
the question of free theaters and other amuse- 
ments of a similar nature, about which we 
have, as yet, no generally accepted standard 
of dissent or approval. 

Much has already been written upon the 
subject now under discussion ; it is cropping 
out here and there almost constantly. Such 
being the case, it is hard to say anything new 
concerning it, and I may be pardoned if I 
quote at length from those writers whose 
opinions are entitled to weight on this point. 
The conditions remain unchanged from what 
they were twenty or thirty or more years ago. 
We are all familiar with the antipathy or 
prejudice which existed fifty or sixty years 



ago, especially in New England, when novel- 
reading was almost classed among the deadly 
sins. Time has wrought a great change in 
this sentiment, and, as we believe, for the bet- 
ter ; but the old prejudice dies hard, and every 
once in a while some one voices the argu- 
ments of years ago, now happily exploded. 
Even as far back as 1864 a writer in the Lon- 
don Spectator very wisely said : 

"On the whole, the verdict must, we think, 
be in favor of the novels, though with more 
reserves than it is quite the fashion to make. 
The objection rests, we think, upon the as- 
sumptions, neither of which is more than par- 
tially sound, that the evils produced by read- 
ing are confined to novels, and that there is 
no positive good to counterbalance the 
possible ill result. ... It is, however, 
pretty safe to say that novel-reading brings to 
the ordinary mind at least as much good as 
ill. . . . Reverie is of itself beneficial, and 
all that novel-reading can produce is 'reverie 
about characters and situations imagined by 
one's self." 

Mr. Samuel S. Green, a well-known mem- 
ber of this Association, in 1879 wrote a paper 
for the Boston Conference on the subject of 
"Sensational Fiction in Public Libraries," 
from which I make the following extract : 
" When called upon recently to select a few 
hundred dollars' worth of books for young 
persons in such a town" (meaning one that 
was well satisfied with all sensational novels 
left out of its library), "I did not put on the 
list a single book by Adams, Alger, Kellogg, 
Mayne Reid, Fosdick ("Castlemon "), or any 
other sensational writer for the young. Had 
there been a great shoe-shop or cotton-factory 
in the town for whose people I was providing 
books, and sensational works of a good 
quality had not been elsewhere accessible to 
operatives, I should have put a small sup- 
ply of the books of the authors just mentioned 
into the library." 

Dr. Poole was accustomed to take a thor- 
oughly practical and sensible view on all 
questions of library management that came to 
his attention. I think he never said more ap- 
propriate or truer words than he uttered upon 
this very subject in a paper which appeared in 
the second number of the Library Journal, 
entitled "Some Objections to Public Libra- 
ries." In answer to the objection, which "re- 



20 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



lates to the kind and quality of books circu- 
lated," he said : 

"The mass of the community have very 
little literary and scholarly culture and need 
more of this culture, and the purpose of the 
library is to develop and increase it. This is 
done by placing in their hands such books as 
they can read with pleasure and appreciate, 
and by stimulating them to acquire the habit 
of reading. We must first interest the reader 
before we can educate him ; and, to this end, 
must commence at his own standard of intel- 
ligence. The scholar, in his pride of intellect, 
forgets the progressive steps he took in his 
own mental development, the stories read to 
him in the nursery, the boys' book of adven- 
ture in which he reveled with delight, and the 
sentimental novel over which he shed tears in 
his youth. Our objector supposes that the 
masses will read books of his standard if they 
are not supplied with the books to which he 
objects ; but he is mistaken. Shut up to this 
choice, they will read no books ; when the 
habit of reading is once acquired, the reader's 
taste, and hence the quality of his reading, 
progressively improves. . . . 

" If our objectors mourn over the standard 
of books which are read by the public, they 
may be consoled by the fact that, as a whole, 
people read books better than themselves, and 
hence are benefited by reading. A book of 
a lower intellectual or moral standard than 
the reader's is thrown aside in disgust, to be 
picked up and read by a person still lower in 
the scale of mental and moral development. 
. . . My observation, addressed to this 
point, and extending over a library experience 
of thirty years, has confirmed me in the belief 
that there is in the mental development of 
every person, who later attains to literary 
culture, a limited period when he craves 
novel-reading, and perhaps reads novels to 
excess ; but from which, if the desire be 
gratified, he passes safely out into broader 
fields of study, and this craving never returns 
to him in its original force." 

One more quotation and I am done. Mr. 
F. B. Perkins, in his article on "How to 
Make Town Libraries Successful," printed in 
the "Special Report on the Public Libraries 
of the United States," in 1876, says : 

"'Silly reading,' 'trash,' at least what is 
such to many persons, must to a considerable 



extent be supplied by the public library, and 
those who intend to organize a library for the 
public, for popular reading, and who intend 
to exclude 'trash,' might as well stop before 
they begin. But what is trash to some, is, if 
not nutriment, at least stimulus, to others. 
Readers improve ; if it were not so, reading 
would not be a particularly useful practice.* 
The habit of reading is the first indispensable 
step. That habit once established, it is a 
recognized fact that readers go from poor to 
better sorts of reading. No case has ever 
been cited where a reader, beginning with 
lofty philosophy, pure religion, profound 
science, and useful information, has gradually 
run down in his reading until his declining 
years were disreputably wasted on dime 
novels and story weeklies. The idea is 
ridiculous, even on the bare statement of it. 
But the experience of librarians is unanimous 
to the contrary, that those who begin with 
dime novels and story weeklies may be ex- 
pected to grow into a liking for a better sort 
of stories, then for the truer narrative of 
travels, of biography and history, then for 
essays and popular science, and so on upward. 

" If those who cannot make use of any bet- 
ter reading than novels and stories and jokes, 
are not furnished with these, they will not 
read at all, and this is a worse alternative ; and 
to exclude such reading from a public library 
will, in general, reduce the extent of its use to 
one-quarter of what it would otherwise be. 
The records of our libraries show that about 
three-quarters of the reading in them is light 
reading, and but little alteration in this pro- 
portion results from the greater or less pro- 
portion of novels and other light books to the 
whole collection." 

Libraries should be carried on just as we 
would conduct any other business ; the libra- 
rian should not carry his head so high in the 
clouds as to forget that the vast majority of 
people are bowed down by their cares and 
burdens, and care more for mental relaxation 
than instruction. The business maxim that 
favors quick sales even at small profits, 



* The continued high percentage of fiction, shown by a 
library's statistics year after year, does not disprove this 
assertion. New generations of readers rapidly arise, 
which take the place of the older ones, and these must go 
through the ascending grade of reading, from the lowest 
upward, as have their predecessors. 



WHELPLEY. 



21 



applies just as surely to library work as to 
business. The merchant is well satisfied if he 
sees crowds thronging his place of business, 
although many of them are in search of a ten- 
cent bargain. It is much better for him to 
have his store filled with a crowd, eager for 
the ten-cent bargain, than to have only an 
occasional customer in search of his more 
costly wares. 

The comparison is obvious. The librarian 
in like manner enjoys seeing his library 
crowded even by those in search of novels. I 
know that it is now quite the fashion for the 
librarian who has a smaller circulation than a 
neighboring rival, to say that the amount of 
good a library does is not to be judged by the 
number of books it circulates. It seems to 
me that the matter reduces itself to a question 
of pure mathematics. It is generally con- 
ceded, I believe, that, whether large or small, 
the rate per cent, of library circulation is 
nearly uniform in all libraries, showing that, 
for every one hundred persons who come to 
the library, from twenty to thirty come for 
something better than fiction. Such being the 
case, at the end of the year, when you figure 
up your year's work, which of these two 
showings would you prefer? A circulation. of 
100,000, with twenty per cent. (20,000) of 
standard reading ? Or a library which, by ex- 
cluding trash, has reduced its usefulness to 
one-fourth of what it might be which, Mr. 



Perkins says, will be the result and can show 
a circulation of 25,000, but with the same 
twenty per cent. (5,000) of solid reading? 

Time forbids that I should go further into 
the discussion of this subject. From what has 
already been said, it will be plainly seen that 
I favor the freest admission into our public 
libraries of all kinds of fiction, except that 
which is positively impure or immoral. To 
use a familiar quotation: "It is a condition 
and not a theory that confronts us." Say 
what we will, we cannot get rid of the facts as 
they exist. We are not called upon to 
apologize for the taste of the masses, which 
finds expression in the large percentage of 
fiction shown by our library statistics. The 
fact, unwelcome as it may be to the theorist, 
remains that, uniformly in all libraries, this 
percentage is high, and but one conclusion 
can be reached, namely, that there exists a 
craving or demand which must be satisfied, 
and which, if properly directed, will result in 
much good. If the public library is for the 
benefit of the general public, which supports 
it, and not for the benefit of a few scholarly 
men, who may happen to live in each com- 
munity where it is located, it must supply this 
demand, or the public will be perfectlyjustified 
in withholding its support from what ceases to 
be of the greatest good to the greatest num- 
ber. 



COMMON NOVELS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 



BY A. W. WHELPLEY, PH. D., LIBRARIAN, CINCINNATI PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



" '"THE ruck of common novels," spoken of 
in the question under discussion, sug- 
gests another inquiry, namely, "Is the devil 
as black as he is painted ?" Modern opinions 
seem to agree that the devil is not half-way a 
bad fellow ; in fact, that he is sometimes quite 
a gentleman. And are the "ruck of common 
novels" quite as bad as the present somewhat 
fashionable idea prevailing would make them ? 
For one, I think they are not. I take it that 
it has to be a remarkably shallow book that 
has not some good in it for some one. It may 
be that the book would not suit my own taste ; 



it may be that it would not strike a responsive 
chord in the breasts of some of my learned 
and critical friends among the librarians ; but, 
somewhere, that book will find a place where 
it is appreciated. 

Take, as an extreme example, the books of 
the story-writer, Mrs. Holmes ; or the inter- 
minable volumes of the author of "The Gun- 
maker of Moscow," the late Sylvanus Cobb, 
Jr. These books have been constantly read 
and re-read, in the newspapers in which they 
were originally published, and in the collected 
book form, for at least a third of a century. 



22 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



Their popularity, as I know, from testing the 
matter and keeping an account of their circu- 
lation, has not, in all these years, at all dimin- 
ished. The mothers, and then the daughters, 
the fathers, and after them, the sons, have 
been interested in them, to put it mildly ; and 
yet these books would fall under condemna- 
tion of the "ruck of common novels." 

In this library, it is not possible to keep 
any supply on the shelves. They are called 
for as fast as they are returned, and it would 
be necessary to purchase copies by the whole- 
sale, were we to endeavor to meet the demand 
for them ; and yet I feel that our novel-readers 
do not fall below the same class in other cities 
and other free libraries, and that their wants 
should be met. The class of novels I am 
instancing are very much to the liking of 
youths of both sexes, and this is made evident 
from the way they express their feelings on 
the blank leaves and the margins. These 
books have no vicious tendency, and while I 
acknowledge their lack of educational quali- 
ties, I know they have the merit of being 
entertaining. 

I wish to distinctly make it understood by 
those I have the honor of addressing, that I 
make open war on a class of novels, which 
are boldly displayed in shop-windows, which 
also disgrace the counters of many respectable 
book-stores, the contents of which outrage 
good taste, and decency. Their name is 
legion. And it seems as if the proper time 
had arrived to put such books under rigid 
censorship. These, I take it, every librarian 
avoids ; and if, once in a while, a book of 
this character finds its way into the library, it 
is by pure accident. I have that high opinion 
of all the librarians I have associated with to 
feel that it must be so. We put many dull 
novels in our lists that is hardly to be 
avoided but the bright, vicious ones let us 
beware of. And, in any well-regulated library 
thank fortune, there is little demand for 
them. 

But for the people who desire to read the 
average fairly-written novel, which, I frankly 
admit, is "not a book of knowledge, nor, 
generally, of ideas, nor of the higher class of 



literature," I feel that their wants should re- 
ceive attention at the public library. These 
books, in my estimation, do a good work. 
Only a certain class of people read them, yet 
to this class they open wide the doors of the 
great world. They suggest the noble deeds 
and noble thoughts of humanity, knightly 
daring, generous striving, honor and love. 
They have something to tell ; not, perhaps, 
of " antres vast and deserts idle," but they 
suggest them. At the worst they can do no 
harm. They are not vicious ; they are enter- 
taining. 

And what so large a part of the people in 
all great cities need, is something to entertain 
them, something to take them away from 
their own cares, and make them interested 
in other things than the petty matters of their 
every-day lives. And if the " ruck of common 
novels" can do this, I shall not object to see 
their circulation increase ; for I believe, in 
time, the reading of them, in a great number of 
cases, will lead to a want for literature of a 
higher order, other than fiction. 

As for free theatres why, there were free 
shows long before there were free libraries. 
We do not, I know, have them now, but why 
we should not have them is not altogether 
plain, except that they might be more expen- 
sive than the State could afford. But a free 
theatre would be apt to greatly purify the 
present condition of the drama. A free 
theatre, where a high style of drama could be 
acted, is a great want. The present state of 
the drama calls for reform, both in its litera- 
ture and its personators. 

I need not enlarge on this subject, but would 
merely direct your attention to the bills of the 
play throughout a season in our large cities. 
You will then readily see the application. The 
theatre as originally intended, is an expression 
of art and so many other forms of art are 
provided free for the edification of the public. 
There are free art-galleries, free schools, free 
concerts, free lectures, free exhibitions of one 
kind and another, and FREE LIBRARIES and 
there might, with no great fracture of the exist- 
ing order of things, be free THEATRES, too. 



COR 



COMMON NOVELS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 



BY ELLEN M. COE, LIBRARIAN, NEW YORK FREE CIRCULATING LIBRARY. 



T AM very glad that I did not write this paper 
before coming to the conference, for now I 
have only, in answer to all arguments plead- 
ing the adoption of any other than the highest 
standard in the selection of novels for public 
libraries, for any politic or other reason what- 
soever, to refer to the stirring address of our 
President, which must have sunk deep into 
every earnest heart, and then to bid conscience 
speak for truth. Some phrases in the address 
still ring in my ears. Mr. Larned spoke of 
librarians as "missionaries of literature, " and 
said "the library mission is not the mission of 
books, but of good books." He charged us 
to "defend our shelves." He reminded us 
that ' ' in these troublous times popular ignor- 
ance is invested with terrors unknown be- 
fore ;" that "society must fight for its life 
against popular ignorance ; " " that democ- 
racy's need above every other need is educa- 
tion." 

I was constantly reminded, during the ad- 
dress, of the wise and patriotic words of 
Lowell and Curtis, and the heavenly host of 
Americans who saw clearly, and spoke 
bravely, and loved their country so well as to 
give their best for its purification in politics, in 
society, in education. I can have nothing 
more nor less to say than they have said. I 
remember Lowell's plea for fiction (but it was 
for pure fiction), and the phrase "we hold the 
best things of this life as tenants of the 
imagination." 

Certainly I feel that there is great force in 
the argument that for the unlettered, half- 
educated classes of our communities the pub- 
lic library must be made attractive first, educa- 
tional afterwards. The point I wish to press 
is, however, that a certain unmistakable good 
literary quality should be maintained, and 
that it is quite possible and easy to find suf- 
ficient number of books for even the largest 
libraries, which books are extremely light, 
entertaining, amusing, which the people will 
gladly, even eagerly, read, and which still 



unquestionably possess the desirable qualities 
of literary and moral excellence. 

The plea which often misleads those who, 
themselves loving good books, wish their 
fellow-men to love them too, is that by means 
of poor books, " the ruck of common novels," 
taste for the best may be created and devel- 
oped. This is doubtful and is experimentally 
most dangerous taste for the pure and good 
is by such food most often utterly destroyed. 
That it is a needless risk to take I am con- 
vinced from the experience of fourteen years 
in the lower part of New York city. 

If the age-limit for readers is withdrawn, as 
is suggested in Miss Stearns' excellent paper, 
all argument for the lowest grades of 
literature falls to the ground. Having the 
reading of children of the tenderest years 
almost entirely in the control of the library 
will give practically just the result desired. 

The second part of the proposition as stated 
in the program is "What are the justifying 
considerations? Do they differ essentially 
from the reasons which might be urged in 
favor of free theatres?" This turned my 
thoughts at once in the direction of the various 
ways in which knowledge of art, musical, 
graphic, and dramatic, as well as literary, may 
be brought into the lives of the working 
people, giving them "higher pleasures, nobler 
ideas, and a broader and more satisfying 
humanity." These considerations are not far 
from the lines laid down in the program. 

Our authors, Hall Caine, Robert Buchanan, 
and others, have just held an animated dis- 
cussion on the " Moral responsibility in the 
Novel and the Drama," in which many wise, 
thoughtful, and suggestive things have been 
said. Mr. Caine evidently has constantly be- 
fore him, in the writing of his wonderfully 
artistic studies of life and character as deveW- 
oped in the Isle of Man, the fine possibilities 
his dramatic incidents and situations afford for 
representation on the stage. Mr. Caine is right. 
His work will be as truly elevating in the one 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



presentation as in the other, and he is helping 
the world np. We Americans cherish mem- 
ories of Charlotte Cushman and other fine 
dramatic artists ; we have just buried Edwin 
Booth, whom posterity will name as one who 
blessed his fellow-men. Give the people farce, 
comedy, possibly melodrama (here would be 
room for discussion, its principles and 
methods being nearly always false), certainly 
tragedy these have their place on the stage 
as on the book-shelf. Let the people laugh 
and cry their fill over imaginary situations, 
and be by this means heartened up to "bear 
the ills we suffer." 

Let us have schools of dramatic art, too, 
and teach the approved standards, develop 
talent, and cultivate the critical faculty. I 
know many a bright, clever, interesting, 
wicked little rascal of a "Bowery Boy," who 
has learned ardently to love and eagerly to 
read his Shakespeare ; he has made a good 
beginning, and is doubtless the better able to 
appreciate and demand good acting at the 
"Thalia" and "London" theatres. 

Mr. Frank Damrosch is doing splendid 
work in his "People's Singing-Classes" and 
"Choral Union." He wisely places some of 
the light and popular airs of the street on his 
programs along with the works of classic 
and standard composers, but he teaches his 
pupils to discriminate and to judge according 
to the strict laws of musical composition and 



harmony. His circular for this season gives 
voice to sentiments inspiring and suggestive 
to us librarians : " We think your interest will 
be aroused to learn of such an educational 
movement in your city." . . . 

The Fine Arts exhibitions at the University 
Settlements, and the free days at the Metro- 
politan Museum of Art, have revealed among 
the people of lower New York unexpected 
love and appreciation of the best works in 
painting and sculpture. 

The author of "Art in America " has as his 
purpose, "to raise art to its rightful place in 
the scheme of education by educating the 
children, studying the new system of educa- 
tion, finding out what place art holds in it, 
and rounding out children according to God's 
plan." An earnest plea for art-education 
from the kindergarten up. 

Ah, yes ! The libraries are splendidly help- 
ing the good work in giving out art-studies, 
music-scores, etc., as books, in placing on 
their walls fine copies of the works of the 
masters of painting and sculpture, and, in 
many places, in connecting the libraries with 
art museums. 

Let us have all these institutions for popular 
education alongside our free libraries, but let 
us be always true to the highest standards of 
literary as of all other art. Let us follow Art 
for her own dear sake, for she leads up to the 
perfect life. 



THE FUNCTIONS OF A UNIVERSITY LIBRARY. 



BY HARRY LYMAN KOOPMAN, LIBRARIAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY. 



TN the following paper I shall attempt to 
discuss the functions, or kinds of service, 
fulfilled by a university library ; noticing at 
greatest length one function which is not yet 
recognized, and in regard to which I must 
appear in the character rather of advocate 
than expositor ; but which, I trust to show 
you, represents an educational potency as 
vast as any that has yet been drawn from the 
still unexhausted resources of the library. In 
the limits of this paper the historical develop- 
ment of these functions can only be hinted at. 
Suffice it to say that they have all arisen in 
response to the single demand of use, that 



principle which I take to be the rule of all 
sound library development. We all know 
how imperfectly it is still applied ; in how few 
libraries the searching challenge of utility is 
passed upon either the new books that come 
in or the old books that burden the shelves, 
or any other of the library's manifold prob- 
lems. The demand of utility is simply a de- 
mand for fitness, the principle according to 
which libraries as well as vertebrates have 
been evolved. 

What, now, are the functions that in the 
university library have grown out of the orig- 
inal simple service of displaying or lending 



KOOPMAN. 



books? A satisfactory university library of 
the present day must provide : 

1. Reference-books of a temporary char- 
acter. These are represented by the current 
numbers of periodicals and the various year- 
books and annual indexes. 

2. Reference-books of a permanent char- 
acter. These may be divided into direct and 
indirect helps, or epitomes and bibliographies, 
more familiarly known as reference-books 
proper, and catalogues ; the former contain- 
ing in condensed form the information sought, 
the latter telling us where to find it. Under 
the head of epitomes should be classed cyclo- 
paedias, and the various dictionaries, whether 
of language, literature, history, dates, biog- 
raphy, geography (including atlases), classical 
lore, theology, quotations, or synonyms. To 
these must be added concordances and 
indexes. Bibliographies are general, like 
library catalogues, or special, like catalogues 
of individual subjects. The works of this 
class are often found in manuscript, and rep- 
resent almost the only department of intel- 
lectual activity not yet subjugated by the 
printing-press. 

3. Reserve books of a temporary character. 
These are familiar to us from the reserve 
shelves of most college libraries, but may per- 
haps best be illustrated by the collections in 
the reading-room of the Harvard University 
library, where books to the number of 
hundreds are reserved by the different depart- 
ments for periods varying from a week to a 
year or more. These books are reserved in 
connection with the current work of the classes, 
and have their own card-catalogue. But even 
in the largest departments they fill only a few 
shelves, or, at most, a case or two, often in- 
cluding several copies of the same work. 
Under this head belongs also the temporary 
display of new books. 

4. Reserve books of a permanent character. 
These constitute the department libraries, 
which form so important a feature of the 
modern university. They should contain all 
books likely to be referred to with any fre- 
quency in the work of the department. The 
size of the collection will, of course, vary with 
the nature of the department. Five hundred 
volumes might represent, I should think, a 
full-sized department library in any of the 
exact sciences, while 5,000, or possibly 10,000 



volumes, might be needed for a language de- 
partment ; though, I confess, the latter num- 
ber seems to me excessive. Frequency of use 
should be the test of a book's fitness for the 
collection, its importance otherwise being not 
in point. Books ceasing to be frequently 
used should be returned to the main library. 
For, the smaller a library is, the more useful it 
is, provided it contains the books needed. A 
collection of 1,000 books in frequent use will 
be much less available if mixed with 4,000 
books never or seldom consulted. Unneces- 
sary duplication is certainly an evil, since it 
wastes both money and space. But duplica- 
tion has, nevertheless, a place in library 
management, which has hardly yet been 
appreciated. 

A department library is, in my judgment, 
most satisfactorily formed by duplication of 
appropriate portions of the university library. 
In other words, a book gains its admission to 
ths department library by being in sufficient 
demand to make a second copy of it desirable, 
the additional copy being placed for con- 
venience in the working-room of the depart- 
ment. This I should take to be the rule, 
without insisting upon its invariable observ- 
ance. To build up the department libraries at 
the expense of the university library is, of 
course, to deprive the latter of its most 
valuable reference-books on every subject. 
Moreover, there are many books which are of 
importance to several departments, and must 
either be duplicated in all or kept in the main 
library. 

There is a further consideration that in 
practice will be found to weigh heavily against 
the over-enlargement of department libraries ; 
and this is the fact that beyond a certain point 
they can no longer run themselves, or be 
managed with little or no extra effort on the 
part of the professor in charge ; but, in order 
to be manageable, require the services of a 
special attendant or librarian. Even with 
this functionary I doubt if the plan would be 
a success, because the enlargement would 
involve the dilution of much-used with little- 
used books ; which, as already pointed out, is 
simply to destroy the character of handiness 
and ready consultation that, next to its con- 
venience of situation, is the department 
library's chief excuse for being. 

5. The great store-house of the library, 



26 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



corresponding to the "stack" at Harvard, 
where all but the reference and temporarily- 
reserved books should be found. It is the 
building-up and management of this library 
that forms the chief task of the librarian and 
his directors. Around this collection cluster 
the great problems of library administration, 
such as that of selecting from current publica- 
tions the books of permanent value and only 
these, with the parallel task of supplying the 
library's deficiencies of this character in 
respect to past literature ; such, again, as the 
admission of the whole body of the students 
to the shelves (a question which, as our libra- 
ries increase, will, in my opinion, have more 
and more to be answered in the negative, and 
that for two purely mechanical reasons, lack 
of standing-room, and confusion caused by 
disarrangement); such a problem also as the 
disposal of wholly superseded books, which 
make up from one. to seven-tenths of every 
library, a problem which can be solved in one 
of only two ways, enlargement of the building, 
or "weeding out " of the books. 

6. "The student's library;" or, a library 
for general culture specially designed for un- 
dergraduates. Such a library, so far as I 
know, does not exist ; but I think of four 
libraries that by their defects as well as their 
excellencies may serve to indicate what such a 
collection should be. 

It is still a source of gratification to me that 
my start in the scholarly use of books was 
made amid such favorable surroundings as 
those of the library of Colby University. 
When I entered college in 1876 the books 
under Professor Hall's charge numbered about 
18,000, of which the less-used half was rele- 
gated to the second floor, leaving on the first 
floor one of the best working libraries for 
student use that I have ever had the pleasure of 
seeing. This is not merely my undergraduate 
opinion. I have visited the library twice after 
intervals of work in great reference libraries, 
and each time the impression was only deep- 
ened. The elements which go to make up 
the excellence of this little collection are, in 
brief, the following : convenient size, not too 
great to prevent the studious students' ac- 
quiring a real knowledge of the library's con- 
tents ; good selection of books with reference 
to mere undergraduate work, and within the 
scanty means at the librarian's disposal ; 



entire accessibility, convenient arrangement, 
and a satisfactory catalogue ; above all, a 
skilled and helpful librarian. The faults are 
those of poverty, and such as a scholar will 
find in the best of "student's libraries," when 
he attempts to use them in research. 

For, such a collection, even for undergrad- 
uate work in a progressive institution, needs 
to be backed up by a genuine "scholars' 
library" of ten times its size. This is the 
more favorable situation of the Linonian and 
Brothers' Library of Yale University, which is 
a separate collection of some 30,000 volumes 
adjoining the main library, and having its own 
librarian, hours of opening, and general ad- 
ministration. This library is supported by a 
special tax on the undergraduates, its growth 
being about 1,000 volumes a year. The history 
of the collection is an interesting one, as the 
library represents the fusion of the libraries of 
the two public societies, the Linonian and the 
Brothers in Unity, which, after about ioo - years 
of usefulness, disbanded in 1871. Such libraries 
were found during this period in most Ameri- 
can colleges, and have usually either been scat- 
tered or turned into the college library. 

At Yale, it was the happier fate of two such 
libraries to be preserved and continued as 
one. The value of this collection to the 
students of Yale it would be hard to over- 
estimate. But the library is much larger than 
is necessary for its object, a fault which is due 
to the mistake of keeping all its old books 
after they have been superseded ; and, per- 
haps also, to a not sufficiently rigid selection 
in purchasing. But the Linonian and Brothers' 
Library comes, after all, nearer than any other 
that I know to what I have in mind for 
a "student's library." It has its own librarian 
and management, it is self-supporting, and is 
kept up to date. All that is needed to im- 
prove the collection as it now stands would 
be the exclusion of disused and unworthy 
books, and perhaps a more careful system of 
additions ; together with such an improved 
catalogue as I shall describe later. 

A third library, and one with which I am per- 
sonally acquainted, is the Phoenix collection 
in the Columbia College Library, which num- 
bers about seven thousand volumes. The 
collection contains many choice editions, and 
much elegant binding ; but it represents too 
many out-of-the-way subjects and is too un- 



KOOPMAN. 



27 



even for an ideal "student's library ;" but its 
size is not too great for familiarity, and it adds 
the educative value of good editions. 

The fourth library, which I may claim to 
know well, is the private library of the scholar 
and diplomat, George P. Marsh, now in the 
possession of the University of Vermont. 
This collection contains 12,500 volumes, gath- 
ered for purposes of self-culture by one of our 
noblest specimens of the cultivated American ; 
and therefore is, and for years will remain, a 
source of inspiration and culture to the 
students within reach of its privileges. But 
for their purposes the collection includes too 
many books in foreign languages, and is too 
exhaustive in special subjects, like physical 
geography and philology. The library enjoys 
a beautiful setting, a high and well-lighted 
room of its own, finished in oak, with an 
immense stone fire-place, opposite which is a 
large window looking out on the Green 
Mountains. The collection, however, is not 
intended to be increased, and, while it has 
been elaborately catalogued, it is not admin- 
istered as a student's library of general culture, 
though it has excellent material for the found- 
ation of one. 

But before I present more definitely my con- 
ception of an ideal "student's library," let me 
ask you first to consider some of the reasons 
why such a library is desirable in a modern 
university. There is first the general reason 
of the desirability of culture, and the fitness of 
such a library to promote it. But there are 
also three special reasons. One is the fact 
that the modern family library has by no 
means the standard character possessed by 
that of two generations ago. Any dealer in 
second-hand books will confirm this state- 
ment. As a result of this condition the boy of 
to-day comes to college with little of that 
educative experience of having "tumbled 
about in a library," which Dr. Holmes sets so 
much store by. Another reason is that the 
size of the university library, even if it 
does not forbid his access to the shelves, suf- 
ficiently bewilders the student to prevent him 
from picking out the books he needs for per- 
sonal culture. Where access to the shelves is 
denied, the difficulty of getting at books by 
means of the catalogue at once restricts the 
student's use of the library to reading for 
amusement or for production. 



The result is that a man can go through 
college and take high rank, and yet enter the 
world a thoroughly uncultivated man. I do 
not say that he might not do this with the best 
of all "student's libraries" within reach; but 
he would not have the same excuse. In fact, 
while we furnish opportunity for special re- 
search to the graduate or university student in 
the modern sense, if we provide no corre- 
sponding privilege for the undergraduate or 
college student, we are discriminating harshly 
against the college. Now, if those are right 
who hold that the two functions of higher 
education are best performed in concert, our 
institutions must beware lest, by a neglect of 
the college library as opposed to that of the 
university, they starve out the corresponding 
function of the institution itself. 

The third of the special reasons for the 
"student's library" is found in the character 
of the modern university curriculum ; which, 
to parody Shakespeare's Caesar, tells us rather 
what is to be learned than what we learn. In 
our larger institutions the elective studies 
offered are so numerous, that the most in- 
dustrious student finds a four years' course 
too short for more than a small fraction of 
them. In consequence of this, I prophesy 
that, while the courses chosen by different 
students will vary greatly, the wiser student 
will seek thoroughness rather than quantity ; 
will endeavor to gain at least the foundation 
of knowledge in what seem to him the most 
important subjects, and will relegate the rest 
to systematic general reading. 

The character of the library in question will 
be determined at every point by adaptation to 
its purpose ; and that purpose we have taken 
to be the supply of books for the furtherance 
of general culture in undergraduates. 

President Eliot has repeatedly asserted that 
he knows of no intellectual qualification 
essential to a lady or gentleman except the 
ability to use the mother-tongue correctly. The 
"student's library " will do much, will do more 
than a college course generally accomplishes, if 
it ensures this attainment. But it must obvious- 
ly attempt more than this. Let us take a hint 
from the German name for cyclopaedias, 
"dictionaries of conversation, " and set as the 
lower limit of our endeavor such intellectual 
furnishing as shall put the student at his ease 
in intelligent company, an attainment con- 



28 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



spicuously greater than is achieved to-day by 
the average Bachelor of Arts. 

If there is such a thing as a college's duty to 
itself, or a student's duty to his college, it 
seems to me that the two obligations should 
combine to prevent any student from getting 
through college without an intelligent, all- 
round interest in the world he lives in, 
together with some satisfaction to that inter- 
est. I am not sure that the extent of our 
modern elective system has not somewhere 
near its sources a thought of this kind. But 
the elective system, so far as the individual 
student is concerned, breaks down by its own 
weight. What I offer has, it seems to me, at 
least the merit of being practicable, and may 
deserve consideration as complementing the 
inevitable deficiencies of the elective system. 
Even if the duty of the college to itself and the 
duty of the student to the college are ignored, 
it seems to me that the college owes it to the 
student to provide him the possibility of such 
training, whether or not he chooses to avail 
himself of it. 

But is not the standard we have set absurdly 
too low ? Is it not rather the obligation of the 
university to provide for the student such a 
fuller degree of culture as involves an intel- 
lectual rapport with the true and the fine in 
human attainment as recorded and expressed 
in the world's masterpieces of science and art ? 
The masterpieces of the world's science and 
art : this phrase furnishes the outline we have 
been seeking for our library ; or, to employ 
the familiar, but practical and suggestive, dis- 
tinction of DeQuincey, the literature of knowl- 
edge and the literature of power should' be 
made accessible to the student with such ful- 
ness and in such form as his capacities 
determine. 

The fittest size for such a library could be 
decided only by trial. Perhaps the most natural 
suggestion would be 10,000 volumes as the 
best number for experiment, though the actual 
number of volumes might be increased by 
additional copies of the works most in demand. 
Beginning with the literature of knowledge, 
the student should find in this library informa- 
tion, in its most authoritative form, in regard 
to the world of matter and of men, in which 
his lot has been cast. 

First, there should be at his disposal what- 
ever is known of the earth itself, with its two 



great divisions of life, and the inorganic basis 
of that life, all in their past no less than in 
their present conditions. In the course of this 
study he would find more than one link to 
bind him to the orbs of day and night that 
once seemed so remote from all connection 
with himself. Selecting for special study the 
highest form of life, his own species, he would 
find in the many-sidedness of this subject, in 
its present and its past history, the larger part 
of all the books before him. He would be 
confronted by the record of man on the 
material side, in all that is implied by the 
science of medicine, with an inclusion of 
higher elements in anthropology and eth- 
nology. Taking a still higher plane of obser- 
vation he would have unfolded to him man's 
social life, on the destructive side, in whatever 
pertains to war and its organized agencies, 
and on its constructive side, in the slow- 
development of that which is still so far from 
maturity, human civilization. Passing to the 
literature of power, the student would find as 
elements of this civilization the aesthetic 
unfolding of the race, with its results in art 
and literature; and, lastly, the parallel if not 
higher development of humanity represented 
by the words of the world's masters in 
philosophy, ethics, and religion. 

Even the sight of these books in plainly- 
marked arrangement would be in itself no 
slight education ; for it must not be forgotten 
that the ordinary student, especially in our 
larger colleges, never has an opportunity to 
see such a conspectus of human knowledge, 
and might even greet as a novelty the idea of 
a classification of the sciences. 

Viewed from the librarian's position rather 
than from that of the student or teacher, this 
means the ten thousand best books for readers 
of the degree of intelligence represented by 
the college student. But there are several 
matters that need to be further specified ; they 
are, to be sure, mainly concerned with the 
material side of the enterprise, but are of 
sufficient importance to make the difference 
between success and failure. 

First, the building. If the collection is so 
fortunate as to possess a room of its own, and 
is not perforce consigned to a corner of the 
university library, I should like to imagine for 
it a room high enough for easy ventilation, 
and sufficiently large to contain the 10,000 



KOOPMAN. 



29 



volumes ot the library on wall-shelves, the 
highest of which should not be above the reach 
of a person of middle height. Such a room 
might most advantageously be lighted from 
above, and its generous floor space should be 
provided with large and small tables and con- 
venient chairs for readers. Here should be 
the desk of the librarian in charge, with a case 
for his most-used reference-books. 

In a well-lighted spot would be found the 
second matter of importance, the catalogue, 
which should differ from all existing catalogues 
by giving after the title of every work the 
reason for its presence in the library ; indicat- 
ing, if the work be one of pure literature, the 
author's school and relative standing ; and, if 
a work of information, the relation of the work 
to the subject, with reference in either case, 
where necessary, to the character of the 
edition. In other words, the whole catalogue 
should be an annotated bibliography. This 
plan would apply within the scope of the 
library, and with some extension, the "evalua- 
tion of literature" so strongly advocated in 
catalogue-making by Mr. George lies. In 
these notes commendation would be out of 
place, because the admission of the book to 
the library would be praise enough ; but they 
should give in terse form the author's attitude 
toward his subject, and his weak points should 
be indicated, with references in important 
cases to his opponents and defenders. 

Thirdly, as to the books themselves, per- 
haps their general character has been suf- 
ficiently indicated. But it should always be 
remembered that the collection is a living one, 
new tissues constantly replacing those that are 
worn out. Whenever a book appears on an 
important subject, new or old, it would be 
added, only to be displaced like all the rest 
when superceded ; so that the library would 
always represent the world's best books for 
the intellectual latitude and longitude of the 
college student. This should be equivalent 
to saying the best ten thousand books for the 
intelligent English reader not a specialist on 
any subject. It would be the privilege of the 
library to include a few of the first-class 
periodicals of the English world, like the 
Atlantic Monthly and the Nation in our own 
country, and the Nineteenth Century and 
Academy in England. 

The librarian would also have the grim 

5 



pleasure of barring out every made-to-order 
book, the mere response to market demand, 
literary slop-work ; likewise every cheap and 
unworthy reprint or other edition of books to 
be had in reputable shape. Of course, if the 
reprint were better than the original, it would 
be preferred. Editions de luxe would be ex- 
cluded, as tney emphasize mere externals, and 
do not represent for the purposes of such a 
collection a value corresponding to their cost. 
But the library should certainly offer an 
object-lesson in sound book-making. No 
wood-pulp-paper should 'be admitted if avoid- 
able, and if ever it had to be accepted, the 
catalogue should call attention to the cheat. 
The library would not attempt to make a dis- 
play of fine bindings. Books issued in cloth 
binding should be so acquired as thus clad 
most distinctively : but whenever re-binding 
becomes necessary an opportunity would arise 
for displaying sound and durable book- 
binding. 

What would be the cost of such a collection ? 
Perhaps ten or fifteen thousand dollars ; with 
an annual requirement, for purchase and 
binding, of from five hundred to a thousand 
dollars. A force of at least two persons would 
be required to run the library, as it would 
need to be open from eight in the morning 
until ten at night. The duties of the librarian 
would be to supplement his catalogue in every 
possible way, not necessarily confining his 
advice within the limits of his own collection. 
He should be the university's professor of 
books and reading, and should lecture to the 
students collectively as well as give personal 
advice. It might also be his province to offer 
an advanced course in bibliography, which 
would draw on the resources of the university 
lihrary ; but for his more primary lectures on 
the use of books the student's library would 
suffice, forming his own "department library." 

As I think of the work of such a librarian, 
I do not find it easy to overrate, nay, rather, 
difficult adequately to estimate, the educa- 
tional importauce of such a position. Including 
all that the old college librarian might have 
done, but never did, it supplements the almost 
purely administrative duties of the modern 
university librarian with a service, which, I 
say frankly, I do not believe the great univer- 
sities can afford to leave undone. There will 
always be men whom the work of direction 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



and management, without participation in the 
literary side of the librarianship, will attract ; 
and let us trust that they may be found in 
number and ability sufficient to the need of 
them. But another quality, which we may 
call the spirit and power of helpfulness, is 
required for the successful working of a 
"student's library ; " and I am not sure that 
this gift, when found in conjuction with the 
requisite training is not an even rarer occur- 
rence than the former. I am sure, at least, 
that if the " student's librarian " fills a posi- 
tion humbler in the eyes of the world than the 
university librarian, or the regular professor, 
as a wielder of power over future generations 
he need fear no rivalry from the occupant of 
any chair or throne. 



NOTE. The writer is pleased to add that the discussion 
following his paper called out the statements that the 
reading-room of the Cornell University library contains 
a collection corresponding in almost every particular 
with that here outlined; and that the new reading- 
room of the Harvard University library will contain 
a similar "student's library;" while,much the same idea 
is to be carried out at Columbia ; so that, had the presen- 
tation of the paper been delayed, the suggestions it offers 
must needs have assumed the form of history. The 
writer would also remark that the additional function 
of a university library specified by Mr. Austin of 
Cornell, namely, that of giving personal instruction to 
all the students in the use of reference books and cat- 
alogues, was in his own mind as one of the regular 
functions of the "student's librarian;" while he would 
express his obligations to Mr. Tillinghast of Harvard, 
for reminding him that he had failed to emphasize the 
important service of the "student's library" as a stim- 
ulus and guide to the students in the formation of their 
own private libraries. 



SELECTION OF BOOKS* 



a ELLEN M. COE, LIBRARIAN, NEW YORK FREE CIRCULATING LIBRARY. 



I. Methods employed for purchase or recom- 
mendation. My own reading of reviews, 
criticisms and book-lists, of course, constantly 
suggests books for purchase for each or sev- 
eral of our Branch Libraries (for it is an inter- 
esting fact that these libraries more and more 
differentiate the public of Bond Street de- 
siring quite different reading from that of 
Forty-second Street). My six librarians are 
also always considering the needs of their 
own special libraries, and meet with me once 
a month when the purchase-lists are made up. 
Readers also are encouraged to suggest 
books, and many give us really valuable 
assistance. Slips headed " Books called 
for" and "Books reserved" are used which 
slips give me information as to new books and 
duplicates needed. After the lists are made 
up they are submitted to some member of the 
library committee for approval. 

I make free use of the friendship of many 
literary people and specialists in the city who 
send me cuttings, criticisms, and suggestions 
most generously. The libraries have made 
most valuable friends who give much time and 



thought, as well as money, to their interests. 
In the matter of editions I am under great 
obligation to two of the best book-men of the 
city Mr. Morris, of D. Appleton & Co., and 
Mr. Wing, of Charles Scribner's Sons always 
deferring to their judgment in any case of 
doubt or difficulty. In the matter of selection 
and purchase I have tremendous advantage 
over most of my confreres in that my libraries 
are placed in the great book-centre. Besides 
the New York publishers there is hardly any 
prominent book-house of the United States, 
England, France or Germany that has not its 
branch house or special agency here where 
the books can be seen; and, after all, more 
judicial work can be done by an intelligent 
librarian in a half-day at a good book-store 
than by many hours tedious poring over re- 
views. 

2. Guides most useful ; criticisms we place 
most confidence in. I cannot limit the reviews 
to so few as to make suggestion valuable 
since I use very many, most of which are 
doubtless within reacli of even the small 
libraries of rural towns, and are well known 



* A series of short papers by several librarians, setting forth the methods which they severally employ in the 
selection of books for purchase or recommendation ; the guides they find most useful ; the criticisms they 
place most confidence in ; the considerations which determine their expenditure in the various departments 
of literature, and classes of books, etc. 



COE. 



to you all. I suppose if I had to choose two or 
three they would be, Publishers' Weekly (for 
the fulness of its lists, not for its criticisms) ; 
Literary World; Current Literature; and 
possibly Publishers' Circular; this last is 
specially valuable because it gives so much 
news as to English books, etc., in advance of 
reprint or publication here. 

Of periodicals professedly critical (and pro- 
fessedly impartial), I use with most confidence 
the Nation, and Critic though both come 
too late to help in making up purchase-lists 
for libraries that keep strictly "up to date" 
because I know in whom I am confiding. 
Many reviews and criticisms, which are doubt- 
less fair and just, lose their value to me from 
being unsigned. Unless I know and trust my 
critic I must perforce review the book myself. 
This is what makes the task of book-selection 
so difficult. I suppose I read, or rather glance 
over, three books a day I think that average 
low. If it be 900 or 1,000 books a year that is a 
prodigious task, and one from which I should 
be relieved by trustworthy critical reviews. 
Besides in only a few classes of literature can I 
trust my own judgment. , I wish the A. L. A. 
would express itself strongly in some public 
manner as to the necessity for signature in all 
cases. I know and trust the fiction-editor of 
the Times, but she is one of the few whom I 
do know. Would it be possible to have a list 
of editors and reviewers, and the periodicals 
they represent, in order that uninformed 
librarians and book-committees might know 
to whom their selection of books is intrusted, 
for I imagine most are practically dependent 
on the reviews in this matter ? 

Many publishers send out admirable lists, 
and, as these are always signed, we gain the 
knowledge of our authorities. Of course, the 
best, most favorable criticism is always given ; 
but, on the whole, the lists are wonderfully 
air. Wanamaker's Book News is impartial in 
so far as is independent of the publishers, and 
I use it much. But, after all, it is from the 
literary columns of the (pernicious?) news- 
papers that I get most help ; Tribune, Times, 
Evening Post, Boston Transcript, etc., (sev- 
eral librarians have spoken highly of the 
Chicago Dial ). Criticisms from these are 
cut out and preserved, as well as criticisms 
from periodicals. 

My order-slip is much like that furnished by 



the Library Bureau, but varied to meet the 
need for indicating in which of the Branches 
any book is contained, as well as the number 
of copies. Criticisms are pasted on the back 
of the slips, sometimes several in number and 
of different estimate. Slips are made out for 
all books which are considered desirable 
( either for purchase immediately or later as the 
book-fund will permit!, and are arranged in al- 
phabetical order as " Books desirable." As 
the books are ordered these slips are taken 
out and re-arranged in the package "Books 
ordered" (each one dated on the day of 
ordering). When the books arrive slips are 
filled out with date received, actual cost, num- 
ber of copies to each library 'indicated by 
initial of Branch), etc., and are finally placed in 
the trays which constitute my own official list 
of the "Books approved, ordered, and pur- 
chased." To this list are referred all questions 
as to date, publisher, price, purchase, etc., 
which may come up in reference to any book 
(not a gift), at any library ; as also, the de- 
cision regarding purchase of duplicates (re- 
corded on original slip). 

The great value of criticisms thus preserved 
will be at once seen. The purchase-list as sub- 
mitted to the Branch librarians and to the com- 
mittee is not thus wholly dependent on my 
judgment or my memory for good reasons for 
approval or disapproval to my assistants this 
is specially valuable and, in case annotations 
should be at anytime used in printed lists, the 
best material for these notes is already at hand. 
A friend has suggested, that, by clipping crit- 
icisms in this way I destroy the files of my 
journals, but I submit that the value of the 
criticisms as attached to the slip is vastly 
greater than as hidden away in the files of 
periodicals most often without index to assist 
in its discovery and that, if it is important to 
keep the files perfect, it will rather pay to sub- 
scribe for another copy than not to adopt 
this plan. 

3. Considerations which determine expendi- 
ture in various classes of literature, classes of 
books, etc. Expenditures are regulated by the 
needs of the hour, though per cent of fiction is 
not allowed to exceed twenty. We have so 
many books "worn out" to replace each 
month that this often absorbs the larger part 
of the appropriation. As there is never half 
money enough, we (my librarians and I) go 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



over the cards and select such books as will 
not admit of delay in replacing ; then the few 
new and important books, and "books called 
for" are chosen ; and we are happy indeed if 
any money remains with which to purchase 
some few books to fill the gaps remaining in 
our class-lists of science, art, reference-books, 
etc. The slips for "books considered and ap- 
proved," only awaiting money to purchase, 
number many hundreds when some kind 
friend gives us a special gift of money for 
books these thin out a little but the addi- 



tions each month of "books wanted" far 
out-number "books purchased." 

Last year the largest number of volumes 
purchased (exclusive of fiction) was in the class 
History ; the greatest cost in the class Useful 
Arts. We buy direct from the publishers at 
special discounts, and derive other favors from 
the friendly interest felt for our libraries by 
the literary profession and trade generally. 
Book-auctions and sales are carefully watched 
of course, and most advantageous opportuni- 
ties are often obtained by this means. 



SELECTION OF BOOKS. 



BY CAROLINE M. HEWINS, LIBRARIAN, HARTFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



HTHE Hartford Public Library buys most of 
its American books through a local firm 
at 30% discount. In the long run it is better 
to receive them every week, and oftener if 
necessary, at this reduction, than at the 33% 
which some firms in the large cities offer, with 
express paid, once in two or three weeks. 
Besides, the trouble of sending back imperfect 
copies is much less than that of mailing or 
expressing them to New York or Boston. 

Three of our twelve Directors form our 
library committee, and meet on Saturday 
afternoons. The new books of the week are 
sent us in the morning, and if there are any 
below our standard, too expensively bound 
and illustrated for circulation, or for other 
reasons not fit for our use, they are returned 
before the committee-meeting. Last year one 
of the members devised a blank form, headed 
"Attendant's Weekly Report." Below that 
heading and the date is printed : "In order 
to supply the demands of readers, the library 
needs more copies of the following books." 
All the desk-assistants keep a record on such 
blanks of the books which are " always out," 
old or new, of every class, from St. Elmo to 
Kidd's Social Evolution or Macaulay's His- 
tory. 

Every Thursday the reports are gathered up 
and brought to me to be formulated for Satur- 
day, on ruled sheets made to order for the 
library committee. If there is a difference 
in the estimates of committee and librarian as 
to the number of copies needed of a book, 



that decided on is written at the right of the 
"approved" column. The books when or- 
dered are checked on the left of the sheets. In 
addition to those suggested by the desk-assist- 
ants are the books sent from the bookseller 
every week which are worthy of approval, and 
also any others that I think should be ordered. 
If an auction or sale-catalogue offers anything 
attractive, a fair price for it is put in the esti- 
mate column. 

We buy in New York or Boston, at auction 
or from dealers, as occasion offers, and some- 
times in Philadelphia or Providence. The 
purchases are miscellaneous, to supply de- 
ficiencies in various departments. Every few 
months I spend a day or two in the smaller 
shops in New York or Boston, looking up 
second-hand copies of novels which have been 
worn out on our shelves and are hard to re- 
place. In this way I often find copies of 
others much below price, usually from thirty 
to thirty-five cents a volume. We also pick 
up many books of this kind at clearance sales 
in our own city, and at a second-hand shop 
where books are bought and sold with house- 
hold furniture. We find, both at this place 
and in New York, many books in perfectly- 
good condition, at about one-third the regular 
price, which come to second-hand shops from 
editors and reviewers who are glad to sell 
their copies for a small sum. 

We order our English, and sometimes our 
French books, through an agent in London. 
We make up our orders from the various 



HEWINS. 



33 



second-hand sale catalogues which he sends 
us, and buy many of our books from the 
London circulating libraries, Mudie's, the 
Grosvenor, or Smith's, often paying anywhere 
from three to ten shillings for books published 
at more than twice that amount. Our agent 
is instructed to have books bound if necessary, 
and sends them to us handsomely and sub- 
stantially clothed in half-morocco at an average 
cost of two shillings and sixpence. The 
French books, also from the second-hand 
circulating library catalogs, are well bound for 
a shilling and fourpence. Our last order, 
just at hand, has ^13 worth of binding to gj 
of books, not a disproportionate allowance. 
We have not yet begun to keep a standing 
order with an English agent, and therefore 
do not get English books, not republished in 
this country, until they are several months old. 
In making up our orders, we try to anticipate 
the needs of our best readers, especially the 
two or three hundred members of clubs for 
which the library makes reading-lists every 
year. The subjects for the winter are an- 
nounced as early as possible in the summer, 
and the library immediately sets to work to find 
out its weakness and strength, ordering if ne- 
cessary duplicates of important books and 
supplying deficiencies as far as possible. For 
example, last year a club studying the reign 
of Victoria expressed a wish to see Lady Sale's 
Journal of the Retreat from Cabul in 1843, 
quoted in McCarthy's History of our own 
Times ; and, although the book is fifty years 
old and not common, our agent was fortunate 
enough to find it at a moderate price. This 
year we are buying with reference to clubs 
studying The Reign of Victoria ; America be- 
fore 1600 ; four of Shakespeare's Comedies ; 
Napoleon ; Modern Novels ; Rome ; Social 
reforms in England during the nineteenth 
century, etc. 

We follow the advice of experts in buying 
books on scientific and technical subjects. 
Within a year, we have ordered books from 
lists prepared by the best organist and choir- 
master in the city, a veterinary surgeon of 
large experience, the American editor of 
Bagehot's works, an amateur astronomer, 
well-read in several departments of science, 
the principals of the Hartford schools, and the 
colonel of the best-drilled regiment in the state. 
Our proportion of expenditure for different 



classes of books is so peculiar that the reason 
for it must be briefly explained. There are 
three libraries in our building ; the Watkinson 
Library, an endowed library for reference 
alone, containing between forty and fifty 
thousand volumes ; the Library of the Connec- 
ticut Historical Society ; and our own. The 
Watkinson Library buys the publications of 
learned societies such as the Transactions of 
the Philosophical Society, or the reprints of 
the Chaucer and Early English Text Society, 
besides all the other rare and expensive books 
in the building, except those on genealogy 
and local history, which are to be found in the 
Historical Society's Library. The Watkinson 
Library is above all a library for students, who 
can work undisturbed in the well-lighted 
alcoves. We therefore buy almost no books 
for reference, and none that are too costly for 
circulation. We have a small reference-room 
with the few hundred volumes of encyclo- 
paedias, dictionaries and hand-books which 
every library needs as tools. They may 
be freely consulted by all our readers and 
are used to determine disputed points in 
pronunciation or history, and by pupils in 
the public schools. It is the intention of 
the three libraries not to buy duplicates 
of each others' books, except in a case where 
a book in the Watkinson Library is needed 
for the use of some club or class. Then, 
unless it is too costly, a duplicate (or more 
than one if necessary), is ordered by the 
Hartford Public Library. 

Copies of our mimeographed club-lists 
show how the three libraries in the building 
work together. The State Library in the 
Capitol has a large collection of books on 
jurisprudence and United States documents ; 
therefore we do not buy law-books or receive 
documents except Consular Reports and Offi- 
cial Reports of the Civil War, the Bureau of 
Ethnology, or Bureau of Education, etc., which 
we place in their respective classes. Trinity 
College makes a specialty of Greek inscriptions, 
higher mathematics, and certain departments 
of theology. The library of the Theological 
Seminary is especially rich in hymnology and 
original sources for the history of the Reforma- 
tion in France and Germany, and allows the 
free use of its books both in and out of the 
building to all who wish them. What is left 
for the Hartford Public Library to buy ? 



34 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



Our last year's report shows that out of 
about 6,000 volumes, less than 200 of which 
were gifts, we received 330 of Magazines and 
Bibliography ; 50 of Philosophy ; 70 of Theol- 
ogy ; 200 of Sociology ; 100 of Science; 150 of 
Useful Arts ; 150 of Fine Arts ; 400 of Essays, 
Poetry, etc ; 50 of French ; 200 of Travel ; 200 
of Biography ; 250 of History ; 2,000 of Novels 
and Short Stories ; 900 of Children's Stories ; 
225 of other books for children ; 575 school 
duplicates. We also bought 20 books of 
reference, and received as gifts 30 volumes 
in raised type for our many blind readers. 

We buy freely of the best novels that our 
readers demand. We have twenty-five copies 
of some of Crawford's, for example, and any- 
where from six to twelve of Mrs. Barr's and 
Captain King's. One of our fads is for good his- 
torical novels, and we encourage reading such 
books as Conan Doyle's White Company, and 
Refugees, and Bynner's Begum's Daughter, 
and Zachary Phips, by buying half a dozen at 
first and more if necessary. Every few months 
we have to increase our stock of Charlotte 
Bronte's novels, and it was a long time before 
we could fill the demand for the Scarlet Letter. 
We keep our stock of Mary J. Holmes, the 
Duchess, Mrs. Southworth, and novelists of 
that grade, down to one copy of each novel, 
and do not often pay more than thirty-five 
cents for replacing it. 

Our other fad is books for children, and we 
have from six to twelve copies each of books by 



writers like Miss Alcott, Aldrich, Alden, Susan 
Coolidge, Henty, Kirk Munroe, Stoddard, 
and of the best fairy-tales, old and new. We 
have no age-limit, and find that many of our 
readers enjoy the little blue-covered books 
adapted and simplified from Andrew Lang's 
Blue, Red, and Green Fairy Books. We are so 
near what is usually known as " The Ward," 
that home-libraries are not needed in Hartford, 
for the children can come to us in five or ten 
minutes. We have a supply of duplicates of 
Mrs. Bolton's Girls who became Famous, and 
her other books, Rideing's Boyhood of Living 
Authors, Harris's Pleasant Authors, and other 
such books, for use in school, or to be taken 
out at the suggestion of teachers, but these 
are not on the regular school duplicate 
shelves. 

The book-reviews of the Spectator, Nation, 
Critic, Book-Buyer, Literary World and 
Atlantic Monthly are all useful for general liter- 
ature. Jt is not possible, however, for even 
the all-roundest librarian to buy books on every 
subject without consulting experts. There is 
nothing more helpful for a librarian than a 
"day off" among the shelves of some other 
library. This year, the libraries in Albany, 
Boston, Cambridge, Worcester, Springfield, 
New Haven, Bridgeport, Brooklyn, Jersey City 
and Newark, have all materially aided us in 
strengthening our weak spots, especially in 
Science and Useful Arts. 



SELECTION OF BOOKS. 



BY WILLIAM E. FOSTER, LIBRARIAN, PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



HPHE subject of the selection of books covers 
' the whole field which contributes the 
springs having their sources in different direc- 
tions and centering at the purchasing point 
in the library. The books which are added 
are partly books which have been nominated 
by a great body of readers, either verbally at 
the information desk or on the printed blanks 
which are supplied for that purpose ; but there 
are also books which we have directly sent 
requests to specialists for suggestions in re- 
gard to books which have been brought to 
our notice by the various official lists such as 



the weekly record in the Publishers' Weekly, 
or the various critical journals. A certain 
number, also, are sent on the authority of the 
bookseller, which we may not have personally 
asked for. The books are sent for examina- 
tion, so far as possible. It still remains true 
that we are thrown back to a much larger ex- 
tent than we wish to be on the testimony of 
printed matter the various reviews, etc. 

I am exceptionally fortunate in my pur- 
chasing committee, which consists not merely 
of men of wide intelligence but men who 
themselves read widely in the critical journals, 



FOSTER. 



35 



and 1 myself endeavor personally to cover 
that ground as far as I am able. But besides 
that I depend upon the additional assistance 
supplied by the members of my staff; and at 
the monthly staff meetings there is always 
a report from the various critical journals, one 
(such as the Spectator, the Nation, etc.) be- 
ing assigned to each member of the staff, to 
report noteworthy instances of books which 
have made their appearance but have escaped 
the line of our purchases. 

The subject of the guides found most useful 
brings one back to this question of the critical 
journals, and I do not know that I can sum up 
more briefly and perfectly what I have to say 
on that point than to express my very strong 
wish that the suggestions brought to a pre- 
vious meeting of the association by Mr. lies 
may still find some definite and regular and 
permanent embodiment. The critical journals, 
as I have said, we are obliged to make more 
or less use of, and every librarian of course 
comes to form his own conclusions as to the 
relative amount of dependence he can place 
on this or that one. After all is said, the per- 
sonal element is to be taken into account in 
these various reviews. A critical writer is 
none the less a man because he is a critic, and 
he writes as a man, expressing his own per- 
sonality in the review, though he may fight 
against it. 

We start the year with an entry in one of 
our record books, called a "Record of bills 
audited," with the total amount of money at 
our disposal for the purchase of books. Each 
successive purchase of books from a given 
bookseller through the year is subtracted from 
that, so that we know at any moment what 
our balance is for the remainder of the year. 

As regards distribution among different 
departments of literature, that is distinctly 
governed by several considerations. A cer- 
tain amount of it each year is applied to the 
purchase of what we call school duplicates. 
A certain less regular amount is applied to 
special books for industrial purposes and 
others, and the remainder we aim more or 
less carefully to distribute among the different 
departments of literature. I could not help 
being impressed, while Mi-.s Coe was giving 
an account of her method, with the fact that 
we had not so successfully solved the question 
of an exact settlement of a proportional 



amount as she seems to have done, in the case 
of current publications at least. Our method 
in standard literature is very similar to hers. 
We have full memoranda of deficiencies in the 
library which we are gradually filling out, as 
we are able to pick up here and there. In the 
matter of current literature it seems to me 
that her suggestion is worthy of very wide 
copying not living from hand to mouth, but 
of making memoranda that will cover the 
widest possible supply of actually desirable 
books and then making inroads into that as 
fast as the money will allow and opportunity 
offers. 

This whole subject has engaged the close 
attention of my purchasing committee and my- 
self, for several years ; and I must emphasize 
the point that while I have detailed these var- 
ious features in our method, it is a method 
that we do not regard ourselves as perfectly 
satisfied with. We consider that it has several 
obviously weak points. Three years ago 
many of the librarians here present received 
a set of questions from me, covering such 
points as these : The authority to whom the 
purchasing is committed ; Whether there is a 
separate purchasing committee or not ; How 
often it meets; The extent of the librarian's 
functions in purchasing ; The extent of the 
committee's functions ; The amount of de- 
pendence placed on reviews ; Whether the 
books themselves are examined ; How much 
dependence is placed on the reputation of the 
author ; How much on the reputation of the 
publisher ; How much on requests from read- 
ers ; How much on calculated demand ; How 
much on the general nature of the subject ; 
What attempt there is at discrimination ; 
W'hether aid is sought from outside to any 
extent ; Whether in specialties only ; etc. 

Those replies when received were tabulated 
with the expectation that they would at once 
furnish us some new light on the subject, and 
in this change our own method very much for 
the better. But I regret very much to say that 
we were disappointed. The weak point is 
that there are many classes of books which 
the purchasing committee themselves have no 
leisure to arrive at a satisfactory opinion about 
and which cannot be referred to specialists. 
Take, for instance, books on electricity. With 
such a matter, of course, there is no difficulty; 
instead of troubling over it yourself you refer 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



it to your specialist in whom you have confi- 
dence. But take as an instance of the other 
type, a work of fiction, or a volume of col- 
lected essays, or a work of travel. Those 
books can not be turned over and tested so 
readily as a work on history in which, even 
though you were not familiar with the subject 
as a specialist would be, you could soon weigh 
the merits of and the method of the author by 
examining the book here and there. Here 
you are quite as likely to purchase a book, on 
superficial examination, and later be disap- 



pointed and find that it is not by any means 
the book which you had in view. 

It seems to me that this matter of the pur- 
chase of books is analogous to the transfer of 
a given amount of water from one of two 
globes of equal size, to the other. One of the 
two may stand for the total volume of desirable 
books already represented in the library and 
the other for those not yet represented in the 
library. The problem for the librarian and 
his purchasing committee is to make that 
transfer as steadily and as successfully as he can. 



SELECTION OF BOOKS. 



BY D. V. R. JOHNSTON, REFERENCE LIBRARIAN, NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY. 



T N the New York State Library a selection 
of books is complicated by the fact that in 
reality we are buying books for more that one 
library. For the State Library proper our 
selection is a simple matter. We know very 
well along what lines purchases must go and 
in a general way how much money we have to 
spend in each class. Time has shown us 
much that we must do, and so our principal 
work is keeping posted on all the publications 
in certain branches of knowledge rather than 
in exercising much discrimination. To a cer- 
tain extent we commit the recommendation 
of books in special subjects to members of the 
staff charged with keeping track of the publi- 
cations in that subject. This is carried to an 
extreme in the department of law, to a limited 
extent in history and to a slight extent in 
some other subjects. If a library had the 
funds for extensive purchase of books in all 
departments, this system would be ideal and 
imperative. But for us it has been found to 
pay only in such departments as must be kept 
practically complete. 

In most cases the recommendation virtually 
vests in the reference librarian who must know 
what the public wants and who receives recom- 
mendations and criticisms from readers. It 
therefore becomes his duty to keep posted in 
all the general book reviews, in special pub- 
lications which will throw light on branches of 
knowledge specially important for us to keep 
strong, and to watch the second-hand and 



auction markets. All recommendations (with 
the exception of law), from whatsoever source 
received, are submitted to a book-board com- 
posed of five members of the staff, which 
passes on all purchases, balancing the recom- 
mendation with the state of funds. It is the 
duty of this book-board also to pass upon all 
bibliographic and critical notes which are to 
appear in our printed catalogs. 

In addition to the fund for additions to the 
State Library, the state makes a considerable 
annual appropriation for fostering public 
libraries and a good portion of this money is 
spent in books. With a portion of these funds 
we maintain a circulating library for the use of 
state employees, known as the Capitol Library; 
and for this, as well as for state library pur- 
poses, we have such of each week's publica- 
tions sent as in the opinion of our New York 
agent we may want. These books are placed 
on public inspection one night in each week 
and the opinion of any interested person is 
invited. As a matter of fact while many look 
over the books, we receive but few suggestions 
and are left to make up our own minds. Of 
course we can not find time to read or even 
closely examine all these books, but they are 
nevertheless a great help to us in making a 
choice and very few unworthy books find their 
way into the library. Sometimes books are 
rejected which, when their character is re- 
vealed later in reviews, w are glad to order. 
All the books for the Capitol Library are 



BARD WELL. 



37 



passed upon in the book-board, each member 
of the board having previously voted on each 
separate book, having in mind the wants of a 
well-selected circulating library made up al- 
most exclusively of new books. 

From the same funds are purchased the 
books sent out to the university extension 
centers. But these works are almost wholly 
selected by the lecturers and all the library 
does is to settle on the editions and value of 
the books to be sent. Somewhat allied in 
character to the university extension library- 
are the special subject collections sent out 
by the traveling library department. These 
collections are made up in different ways. 
If, for instance, we should wish to send out 
a library on bee-keeping, we should try to 
enlist the services of some specialist, bee- 
keeper, agricultural editor, or professor in 
some agricultural college. This list would 
be edited by us for bibliographic details 
and perhaps changed in some particulars ; 
but for all technical subjects in which biblio- 
graphies are not to be found we rely as much 
as possible on specialists. For libraries on 
more general topics such as history, eco- 
nomics, etc., we make our own lists, using 
such bibliographies, university extension 
syllabuses, etc., as we can find to supplement 
our own knowledge. 

But the chief work of selection comes in 
making up the traveling library of general 
interest and not for special study. As the 



number of volumes in each library is small and 
the object is to furnish the best reading for a 
community poor in library facilities, very care- 
ful treatment is required. Occasionally we 
have a list submitted by some one on whom 
we may depend, made up of old favorites ; 
but in the majority of cases the traveling 
libraries are composed of new or recent books 
and are chosen by the book-board. We have 
found it an advantage, for this purpose and also 
for making annotations to our catalogs, to 
keep an index of book-reviews, noting on the 
slips whether the criticism is favorable or not. 
With the aid of this list and from the know- 
ledge we have already obtained by buying 
many of the books for other purposes, we are 
able readily to select a tentative list of books 
for a traveling library. These books are then 
brought together and are carefully gone over 
by each member of the book-board, who marks 
his criticism and vote on each book, taking 
into consideration both its desirabilty in gen- 
eral and its adaptability to this special library. 
If there is any conflict of opinion the question 
is fully discussed in the board and a decision 
is reached on each library. 

All questions of purchase in all departments 
of the State Library when settled by the book- 
board are transmitted to the director for his 
approval, not only as head of the library, but 
as Secretary of the University, which stands to 
us in the relation of board of trustees. 



SELECTION OF BOOKS. 



BY WILLIS A. BARDWELL, LIBRARIAN, BROOKLYN LIBRARY. 



T N the Brooklyn Library the librarian attends 
personally to the selection and purchase of 
books. With costly works, or those of ques- 
tionable desirability, or whenever he prefers 
not to rely entirely on his own judgment, he 
can at any time confer with the library com- 
mittee. In the choice of new books the author- 
ship and the publisher are considerations 
which influence the acceptance or the rejection 
of a work. If a book is by such a writer as 
John Fiske, or if it is published by a house 
like Houghton, Mifflin & Co., there need be 
6 



no hesitation in buying it if the subject is of 
interest. But with many authors, known and 
unknown, and where title-pages bear the im- 
print of certain firms and publishing-houses, 
one feels that a careful examination should 
precede purchase. 

A daily inspection of the publishers' an- 
nouncements in the advertising columns of 
the newspapers keeps one informed regarding 
new books as they are issued. The New 
York Tribune usually contains, on Saturdays, 
a page (more or less) of advertisements of 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



new books and a compact list of "books of 
the week." The latter is found useful in 
making up order-lists. Titles of books that 
are desired are sometimes clipped from this 
list, pasted on a sheet and sent to our agent, 
after being copied in the order-book. This 
saves some of the copying necessary in mak- 
ing up order-lists. 

The Publishers' Weekly is found helpful as 
an aid in the selection of books. It frequently 
gives a brief notice of the contents of a book, 
or mentions prominent incidents in a story. . 
If a book is bad the Weekly does not hesitate 
to say so ; and if it has been previously pub- 
lished under a different title the fact is often 
stated, thus saving a duplication of books 
already on the shelves. The book-reviews in 
the daily papers, and in such periodicals as 
the Nation, the Critic, etc., are glanced over 
as time permits ; and nearly every periodical 
will contain a notice of something not found 
in the others. 

Bargains are often found in the auction cat- 
alogues. Many desirable and scarce books 
may be secured at auction sales and at prices 
not to be obtained elsewhere. The catalogue 
is marked, a list of the numbers wanted (with 
limit of price offered) is sent to the auctioneer, 
and he does the rest. As a rule we are treated 
very fairly, often buying at prices much below 
our limit. 

The Publishers' Circular is useful in the 
selection of recent English books. Longmans, 
Macmillan, and others send, periodically, lists 
of their own publications, which are always 
carefully inspected. Every mail brings its par- 
cel of the catalogues of second-hand dealers, 
American and foreign, which sometimes con- 
tain items that are wanted. In ordering from 
our agent in New York it is understood that 



any work that is found on examination to be 
unsuitable for our use can be returned if this 
be done promptly. 

The book-stores are occasionally visited. 
An hour's examination of the shelves of a well 
stocked store will usually bring to notice books 
that one has not seen advertised. In ordering 
duplicate copies of popular books the supply 
is largely regulated by the demand. It is, how- 
ever, thought better to buy many copies of 
books like "Marcella," or "The Prince of 
India, ' ' and to furnish a scant supply of litera- 
ture of the ' ' Dodo ' ' type. Suggestions from 
readers regarding the purchase of books are 
always welcome, and are usually acted upon. 
The advice of specialists on works in their 
own departments is especially helpful. At 
times certain very alert readers will fill out 
order-blanks with titles of books of which they 
have seen advance notices. No plan, how- 
ever, has yet been devised by which books can 
be put in circulation before they are published. 

Our library, while rather strong in Biog- 
raphy, History, Travel, Theology, and Fiction, 
is not planned to be especially strong in any 
one department. The additions of books new 
and old, that are being made almost daily, are 
designed to increase the collection symmet- 
. rically and to steadily improve what is al- 
ready a very good working library. While no 
effort is made to favor the growth of certain 
departments to the neglect of others, we have 
one small fund the income of which is devoted 
to the purchase of works on the Arts and 
Sciences, History, etc., but of no works of 
Fiction. The proportion of annual income 
applied to the purchase of books in all depart- 
ments is about 20 per cent, of the total receipts 
from all sources. 



SELECTION OF BOOKS. 



BY WILLIAM H. BRETT, LIBRARIAN, CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



'"THE Cleveland Public Library is controlled 
by a Board of seven members. From this 
is appointed a book-committee of three. To 
that committee and to the librarian, all matters 
pertaining to the purchase of books are referred 
for consideration and report. The committee 



may purchase books during the month to the 
amount of $100.00 without reference to the 
board. This is used for the purchase of cur- 
rent books and others which are needed 
promptly. 
In the selection of new books the leading 



UTLEY. 



39 



critical journals are followed, although not 
always with safety and profit. All professional 
criticism is not of equal value. Much may be 
gathered from those journals which do not 
make a specialty of book-reviews. For in- 
stance : the current number of Life, apropos 
of a new book of "Ouida," points out clearly 
the merits and the weakness of "Ouida's" 
work, compares her with Bulwer and accom- 
panies this by a paragraph on the elements 
essential to the permanent popularity of fic- 
tion which touches the root of the matter. 

As to the selection of other books an en- 
deavor is made to consider the needs of the 
city. Having extensive manufacturing inter- 
ests special attention is paid to the department 
of useful arts, and expert opinion is obtained 
so far as possible. Some time since about 
three hundred circulars were sent out to 
manufacturing establishments in the city, invit- 
ing suggestions of books which might be of 
use in their several lines. The response was so 
small as not to encourage further attempt. 
The main reliance is upon the advice of a 
few specialists, who are interested in the li- 
brary and willing to give some time to it, and 
on the professional journals. 

Much attention is also paid to professional 
reading for teachers and the books most in. 
demand are largely duplicated. These are 
bought upon the recommendation of the depart- 
ment of instruction. In the selection of books 



for a new branch library the "A. L. A." 
catalogue of the model library at Chicago has 
been valuable, both as a guide to subjects and 
as suggesting books. 

The great weakness in the plan of selecting 
books practiced at Cleveland is that it leaves 
the work entirely in the hands of a board 
(which, though able and willing, is composed 
of those prominent in professional and busi- 
ness life who are among the busiest men in 
town), and of a librarian who has many other 
. duties. It has occurred to me that valuable 
assistance might be had by the formation of 
an advisory board. This should be large 
enough for division into a sufficient number of 
sub-committees to consider each general sec- 
tion of the library. It should be composed of 
those competent to pass a critical judgment 
upon the books submitted, and with leisure 
sufficient to give the necessary time to it. Ar- 
rangements might be made to procure new 
books promptly ; possibly advance copies 
might be procured from the publishers. Books 
reviewed, about which any doubt existed, 
would be sent to the proper sub-committee to 
be read, and returned promptly with a written 
opinion. Such a committee might render aid 
to the public library similar to that which the 
college faculty renders to the college library. 
Too much stress cannot be laid upon the care- 
ful selection of books. 



SELECTION OF BOOKS. 



BY H. M. UTLEY, LIBRARIAN, DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



HPHE Detroit Public Library has had for 
several years a contract with a local dealer 
by virtue of which he undertakes to furnish on 
approval any book sold regularly in the 
American market, whether printed in Amer- 
ica or Great Britain. This he is bound to do 
when requested. But it is his practice to send 
twice a week to the library such books as 
have come into his hands. Knowing quite 
well from experience what books we would be 
likely to buy, he has an arrangement with 
publishers to send him immediately at least 
one copy of every such book. This plan 
brings into the library for inspection the great 



mass of new books, and the book committee 
of the Board devotes a portion of each Satur- 
day afternoon to an examination of the 
accumulation of the week. Thus the books 
are made ready for the catalogers with com- 
parative regularity and promptness. 

But we cannot rely on the local dealer 
altogether to send us everything wanted. It 
is necessary to watch the Publishers' Weekly, 
publishers' announcements in the current 
magazines and elsewhere, and to keep track 
quite generally of new publications. The 
dealer, from one cause or another, occasionally 
fails.to send over promptly a desired book, or 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



one that it is thought best to examine. So, 
once a month we give him a list of books to 
be furnished for inspection. Especially is it 
necessary to watch for books issued by out-of- 
the-way publishers, or privately printed, or 
subscription books. Incidentally I may say 
that I have never yet failed to get through this 
dealer any desired subscription book, and 
often at a good discount. I rarely if ever, deal 
with subscription agents, although they persist- 
ently declare that it is not possible to get what 
they offer in any other way. 

English publications not sold regularly in 
this country are specially ordered from an 
agent in London. It is necessary to watch 
London and Edinburgh announcements and 
reviews through publishers' circulars and the 
literary publications. So also of French and 
German new books, which may be got either 
in this country or abroad. 

On several occasions I have made up lists 
of out-of-print books and sent them to respon- 
sible dealers, with the understanding that the 
books were to be furnished at actual cost plus 
ten per cent, for trouble and expense of find- 
ing them. This is generally regarded as a fair 
bargain. But it is best to put such commis- 
sions into the hands of only persons of estab- 
lished reputation. My experience with Amer- 
ican, as distinguished from English, lists is 
that the former are much more expensive and 
difficult to fill than the latter. As an illustra- 
tion : checking the A. L. A. INDEX imme- 
diately after it was issued, I found that about 
200 of the books there indexed were not in 
the library. A list of the English imprints, 
somewhat more than half of the shorts, was 
at once sent to London, and another of Amer- 
ican imprints to one of the best houses in New 
York. The former supplied 85 per cent, of 
the order at very reasonable prices ; the latter 
only 68 per cent, at very high prices. 

The printed catalogs and monthly or quar- 
terly lists of other libraries are useful in the 
way of suggestion and information. Great 
numbers of catalogs of second-hand dealers 
are constantly coming. These are all ex- 
amined with more or less care, and this work 
takes much of my time. More attention is 
given to auction catalogs than any others. 
The bids have been invariably sent to the 
auctioneers, with satisfactory results. 

The L. B. order-blanks are distributed about 



the library and everybody is encouraged to 
recommend books. There is extensive use 
of these blanks. The books recommended are 
bought, if possible, unless there is some good 
ground for refusal. Friends of the library or 
librarian have from time to time assisted in 
making up lists. Their services have been 
valuable, especially if they were expert in 
special subjects, such as architecture, music, 
industrial art, electricity, etc. Such aids have 
been especially grateful in the case of books in 
foreign languages, when educated natives of 
foreign countries have been disposed to lend 
a hand in the matter of selection. 

The policy which has thus far prevailed in 
the choosing of books has been to secure all 
books in English which, in the judgment of the 
librarian and the book committee, appeared to 
be good books and desirable for a general 
public library, and which could be bought at a 
reasonable price. Quite free purchases have 
been made in American local history and in 
the literature of our civil war. All the period- 
icals indexed in POOLE have been bought as 
they could be found. Nearly all the publica- 
tions of societies, clubs, etc., issued in series, 
especially those of a historical and literary 
character, have been secured, both in this 
country and in Great Britain. A special effort 
has been made to keep abreast of the times in 
all living subjects, sociological, political, in- 
dustrial, and scientific. To this end, the cata- 
logs and announcements of publishers of those 
classes of books have been carefully scanned. 
We have bought no technical, law, or medical 
books, and quite sparingly of theological lit- 
erature. 

Within the past year a considerable sum has 
been expended on books in the fine arts. This 
has been done, because there is a large and 
growing demand for works of that class, be- 
cause the library had hitherto been quite de- 
ficient in that respect, and because it has lately 
provided excellent conveniences for their use. 
These books were mostly chosen from a large 
number submitted by dealers and their agents 
for inspection and selection. In some special 
instances books known to be desirable and 
which could not be got in this country were 
ordered abroad. 

No definite apportionment of the income of 
the library has been made among the several 
classes of literature. We have felt free at all 



CRUNDEN. 



times to buy any and all good books that came 
to hand which would in our best judgment im- 
prove the character and add to the usefulness 
of the library. The fact has been kept in view 



that the library is maintained at public ex- 
pense, and that its officers are bound in faith- 
fulness to their trust to consider strictly the 
interests of the whole people therein. 



SELECTION OF BOOKS. 



BY FREDERICK M. CRUNDEN, LIBRARIAN, ST. LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



'"pHE methods adopted for the selection of 
books for the St. Louis Public Library 
are, I presume, much the same as those used 
in all other public libraries. 

In the first place, we try to provide the 
books that people want not those we think 
they ought to read. To this end we invite all 
users of the library to recommend books for 
purchase ; and assistants are instructed to 
note books frequently called for that are not 
possessed by the library or are generally 
"out." Call-slips that fail to secure a book 
are kept and collated, to ascertain what books 
are wholly lacking or frequently "out." As- 
sistants engaged in reference-work are also 
expected to report the lack of books necessary 
to supply information called for. 

All books recommended are not, of course, 
purchased. Some are not worthy of a place 
in the collection ; and others are too costly, 
or of too limited interest, to justify the neces- 
sary outlay. This calls for the exercise of 
judgment on the part of the librarian and the 
book-committeejudgment based on knowl- 
edge of the conditions. With all possible 
care mistakes will sometimes be made and a 
book bought that is a clear waste of money 
except in so far as it satisfies the person who 
wants the book and thereby makes him a 
friend instead of an enemy of the institution. 

I remember an instance. Some ten years 
ago or more a prominent citizen, an ex-judge 
and a scholarly man, called persistently for a 
certain book which I had never heard of be- 
fore and could obtain no information about. 
After several oral requests he put in a written 
recommendation for its purchase. He knew 
nothing about author or publisher, but was 
most urgent that the library should get the 
book. With much trouble it was found 
and he drew it immediately on notification of 



its arrival. Shortly afterwards I asked him 
what he thought of it, whereupon he con- 
firmed the opinion I had formed at a glance, 
by saying he was sorry he had wasted his 
time on such a book. I doubt whether it 
has been read five times since then its ab- 
sence from the collection certainly would 
never have been noticed. 

Since then I have informed many people 
that the books they have recommended were 
not worth reading and would inevitably dis- 
appoint them. But unless there is a positive 
reason for not doing so the cost of the book, 
its worthlessness, or its extremely technical 
character combined with a high price a book 
recommended by a reader is bought. Next to 
the replacing books worn out these are the 
first to be considered ; and in times of the 
smallest expenditure they have constituted 
the sole purchases. 

However, as must be the case in all libraries, 
most of the purchases are of books selected 
by the librarian and submitted by him to the 
book-committee. St. Louis not being a good 
book-market, librarians there must depend 
almost entirely on book-reviews and the Pub- 
lishers' Weekly. I have found the Nation, 
the Literary World, and the Literary News 
the most useful guides the two latter because 
they are almost wholly given to book-reviews ; 
the Nation, because its "Notes" contain 
concise and positive statements concerning 
publications that often I do not find noticed 
elsewhere. 

I always feel safe in buying a book recom- 
mended by the Nation, because I know that 
its reviews are written by specialists and well- 
informed critics, and because it seldom, if 
ever, errs on the side of leniency. In my per- 
sonal copy I mark all notices of books 
that I think desirable for purchase, selecting 



44 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



have many interests outside of their own com- There was a necessity for the reading-room in 



munity, bound files of local papers, while 
essential as matters of record, would be no 
good substitute for a newspaper reading-room. 
That has its place, and its sphere. It is, in 
Cincinnati at least, always crowded, and the 
time has passed when it could be abolished. 



the public library there will not come a 
time when it can be done away with without 
sensibly feeling the loss. The library would 
be doing only a half duty in binding its local 
files. 



SUPPLYING OF CURRENT DAILY NEWSPAPERS IN FREE LIBRARY 

READING-ROOMS. 

BY H. M. UTLEV, LIBRARIAN, DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



TN the general reading-room of the Detroit 
Public Library there are only magazines, 
journals, and newspapers no books. Every 
reader gives a receipt for the periodical which 
he uses, so that it is possible to know exactly 
what is read. In the first four months of the 
present year there were 66,142 readers. Of 
these 15 per cent, read the six local dailies, 27 
per cent, read the 28 other daily newspapers, 
leaving 58 per cent., or somewhat more than 
one half, of the reading to be distributed 
among the other 250 magazines and journals 
on file. 

This appears to me to indicate a demand for 
newspapers. There would now be a strong 
protest against a proposition to discard them 
altogether. There is no other place in the city 
where dailies of other cities are accessible to 
the public. The Board of Trade has a reading- 
room, but for the use of its members only. 
The daily newspapers on its tables are limited 
to the mercantile and marine interests which 
concern those who frequent the place, and to 
the newspapers of those cities with which the 
members have business relations. There is no 
ground, either in equity or policy, on which the 
business community could be called upon to 
supply a public demand for the free reading of 
the leading newspapers of the country. Their 
supply for their own use is in the direct line of 
their business. They serve their own specific 
purpose at their own expense. They are tax- 
payers and as such contribute to the support 
of the public library. 

If there is any public demand for daily 
newspapers which may be considered a pro- 
per and legitimate one, it appears to me that it 
is the province of the free public library, and 



not of the business community, to supply it. 
The Y. M. C. A. also maintains a reading-room 
for the convenience more especially of its 
members, though nominally free to the public. 
Comparatively few persons make use of it. 
The argument with reference to the Board of 
Trade applies equally to this organization, or 
to any other which might undertake to supply 
the public demand by private subscription. 

It is not worth while to discuss the value of 
newspaper-reading as compared with other 
kinds of reading. The same arguments apply 
to it which apply to any desultory reading. 
It is really no better, no worse. But the fact 
must be borne in mind that there are some 
people who have no time for any other kind. 
Wearied with toil, or anxious care, they find 
relief or relaxation in this temporary diversion 
of the mind. No one can say it is harmful in 
itself. 

There are, of course, good newspapers and 
bad newspapers, as there are good books and 
bad books ; and it may be taken for granted 
that the same care in the selection will be ex- 
ercised in the one case as in the other. No 
intelligent person would advocate the supply- 
ing of newspapers to free reading-rooms upon 
any other basis. Unfortunately there are many, 
too many, newspapers to which the scathing 
criticism made by the President in his address 
can be applied. They pander to a low and 
depraved appetite, not necessarily a low and 
depraved class ; but to a pleasant sensation 
which many persons who lay claim to good 
social standing and some culture experience 
when they discover the frailties and follies of 
others. 

It is apparently human .nature to derive 



UTLEY. 



45 



satisfaction from the thought that we ourselves 
are a little better at least no worse than 
some of our neighbors. It is not surprising, 
therefore, that publishers of newspapers, like 
publishers of books, having discovered this 
weak point in the average human being, are 
ready to pander to it, for revenue. But all 
newspaper publishers do not come within this 
category. There are some high-minded, con- 
scientious managers who exercise the utmost 
care to keep their columns clean and whole- 
some. It is not difficult to find in every city at 
least one such newspaper which you are willing 
to bring into your house for family reading, 
and which, therefore, you could not refuse 
on moral grounds to place on your library 
table. 

It is a fact which cannot be controverted 
that the progress of the newspaper has been 
quite as great as that of the magazine. The 
development and extension of the telegraph 
system has enabled it to furnish the daily cur- 
rent history of the whole world, not only in 
the domain of statecraft and politics, but also 
in science, literature, and the arts. No person 
can be well informed in these days who does 
not read the newspaper, and the person who 
reads nothing else is at least not altogether 
ignorant. 

Whether the 28,000 people who read news- 
papers, as mentioned above, would have read 
something else or would have stayed away 
from the library altogether, if there had been 
no newspapers on file, can only be conjectured. 
Probably some would not have come to the li- 
brary, others would have read something else, 
but whether they would thereby have been the 
gainers is an open question. 

The vagrant and mal-odorous class undoubt- 
edly takes to the newspaper. But the exclus- 
ion of the newspaper will not exclude it. It is 
a mistake to suppose these people are attracted 
by the newspaper. A warm, comfortable room 
in inclement weather, with easy chairs and 
7 



nothing to pay, is an invitation to the loafers 
which infest every community. So long as 
they violate no rule it is not easy to be rid of 
them. I believe in discouraging them as much 
as possible and rigidly enforce rules against 
lounging. But tramps will gather in a free 
public resort. If the newspapers are fastened 
to stand-up desks this class of gentry will be 
found preferring something which they can 
read sitting. In view of the fact, however, 
that newspaper readers are generally men, 
who are most interested in war, politics, and 
public affairs, I would, if possible, have a 
newspaper-room separate and apart from 
other reading-rooms. 

If planning a building with this in view, I 
would use a ground-floor room and have an 
entrance directly from the sidewalk. The 
room should be specially well ventilated, well 
lighted, and attractive in all respects, but not 
furnished with luxurious divans and rockers. 
Make it accessible and pleasant as possible 
and keep it open every day and evening, to 
counteract the attractions of the saloon and 
billiard-room. 

A library maintained at the public expense 
and for convenience of the public is in one sense 
educational. It justifies its existence on the 
ground that public enlightenment concerns the 
general welfare. But even if it were solely 
for pleasure and comfort its maintenance 
would be no more beyond a proper public 
purpose than is that of parks and city fountains, 
upon which hundreds of thousands of dollars 
are annually expended. True, the library 
should strive to educate and elevate the peo- 
ple. It cannot be proved that the reading of 
newspapers does not tend in that direction. 
At least, it will be conceded that such reading 
is not demoralizing. Then, if the public de- 
mands a newspaper reading-room and is willing 
to pay for it, and it serves a wholesome pur- 
pose, the library must supply it. 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



SUPPLYING OF CURRENT DAILY NEWSPAPERS IN FREE LIBRARY 

READING-ROOMS. 



BY FREDERICK M. CRUNDEN, LIBRARIAN, ST. LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



"DEFORE coming I gave only a passing 
thought to this subject, and I think that 
the matter should take more the form of a free 
discussion than a paper. This certainly is a 
thing on which all must have views. I want 
to get at the consensus of opinion. I do not 
care to listen to papers by two or three people 
expressing their opinions, but I want to know 
what everybody's opinion is on the subject. 
I am free to confess that I am not entirely 
clear in my own mind ; and I shall not, 
therefore, speak dogmatically. My views I 
am afraid will not be popular ; they cer- 
tainly are contrary to what has been a pop- 
ular custom. It seems to be the proper thing 
to supply newspapers in abundance ; but I 
have always questioned whether it was ad- 
visable to spend so much money for a thing, 
which to-day is and morrow is cast into the 
fire. 

On taking my position in the library one of 
the first things I did was to cut down the ex- 
penditure for newspapers. I began by get- 
ting the city newspapers to give us their 
papers which formerly we had paid for. If 
we could obtain the papers all over the country 
gratuitously we could give them room. I de- 
cidedly object to spending, as we were at that 
time, about |i,ooo a year for newspapers. It 
certainly seems to me that that money could 
be put to better use. We have reduced the 
newspaper expenditure from, I think, $900, to 
about $150. Of course that does not please 
everybody. We have had some complaints 
about it. The only ones that deserved atten- 
tion were from visitors who thought it strange 
that a public library should not have a daily 
paper from their respective towns. If, how- 
ever you try to suppy that demand it will be 
very hard to draw the line. Everybody com- 
ing from the way-back corners wants to see 
his local paper. 

Let me take up the questions the President 
asks, which may, or may not, reflect his own 
opinions about it. The first question is : " Do 



the people who are attracted to a library by 
the current daily newspapers kept on file, 
ever read anything else ?" I should say, gen- 
erally, that people who come to a library and 
read the newspapers, who are attracted to the 
library by the newspapers, and who would 
not come otherwise, do not read anything 
else. We had a good chance to observe that 
in our old reading-room, where the news- 
papers were on a long file just in front of the 
assistant's desk. As a rule, the men who 
came to read the newspapers marched right 
into the reading-room door and went straight 
to the newspaper file ; and after spending more 
or less time there, from a quarter of an hour 
to six hours, marched straight out again. Of 
course there are exceptions. I remember one 
gentleman who came regularly to read the 
London Times and stayed to read magazines ; 
but generally speaking the newspaper readers 
constitute a distinct class. 

The second question : "Are they not for the 
most part, a vagrant and mal-odorous class, 
whose presence in the reading-room repels 
many who would receive more benefit from 
it?" I should say decidedly, yes, to that. 
They are, as a class, very objectionable, and 
moreover many of them use the newspapers 
as a mere pretext for coming to the place at 
all ; and unquestionably the presence of such 
people does repel other people. As soon as 
we got rid in the beginning of the distinctly 
tramp class there was a large increase in the 
attendance in the reading-room. I do not 
mean that we put out all the poor people and 
that rich people came in ; but we simply ex- 
clud^d tramps who used to come from the 
soup-house after getting their dinner there and 
sit down for the whole afternoon in the read- 
ing-room. We got rid of them, and their 
places were taken by respectable people, not 
necessarily well-dressed people, who came 
to read the Scientific American and other 
periodicals ; and then the room was made 
habitable by people of refined senses. We 



CRUNDEN. 



47 



have solved the problem pretty well now by 
having our newspaper reading-room on the 
second floor, and we do not take up the news- 
paper readers in elevators. They are expected 
to walk up the one flight of stairs. 

" If the greater part of the contents of the 
daily newspapers most in demand was put be- 
tween book-covers, would any library think 
of buying it, to place it in circulation?" I 
think that requires no answer. However, it is 
a very significant question. 

"Considering the functions of the public 
library as an educational institution, are there 
good and sufficient reasons for making it a 
purveyor of daily newspaper reading?" It 
would be hard, I think, to justifiy the outlay 
on that ground. 

" So far as concerns the business need in a 
community for some collection of current news- 
papers from many cities, should not that be 
met by a Board of Trade, or other commer- 
cial organization, rather than by the public 
library ? " There again we open up the ques- 
tion of what is the function of the public 
library ? It is being broadened continually so 
that it will very soon include everything. We 
had magic lanterns and games here the other 
night, and tennis racquets. If it is proper for 
the public library to supply tennis racquets 
and other games there can be no inconsistency 
in supplying newspapers. I do not object to 
having all these things in connection with the 
public library if you have the money. 

My ideal city would be arranged in this way : 
I would have, about every quarter of a mile in 
the city, five blocks set apart for community 
use. In the center block I would have a free 



bath-house and a public library. The other 
four blocks around this center block I would 
have laid out for pleasure-grounds. I would 
have one place in which the men could smoke 
their pipes and have no smoking allowed in 
the other three, one of which should be for 
women and children to enjoy the air in the 
evening, and the other two, for play-grounds 
for boys and girls, supplied with tennis-courts 
and every sort of games. I would thus make 
the library the center of wholesome influences. 

I consider that that would be the most effi- 
cient method of building up the social health 
of a community ; but I do not know that we 
are ready to do that. The question is, how 
can we best use the money that we have at 
our disposal along the lines that are recognized 
as the proper functions of the public library. 
If you have unlimited funds there is no reason 
why you should not have unlimited news- 
papers. This would seem to me, however, to 
be more nearly akin to the work of a Board of 
Trade. The legitimate use of the newspaper 
from all parts of the world seems to be to 
supply information on important commerical 
points which is wanted either by citizens or by 
travelers. 

" Is not the duty of the library done when it 
preserves files of local daily journals, with 
possibly some others, and binds them for 
reference?" It seems to me that it is. We 
preserve our local journals and we bind the 
London Times and the New York Tribune, 
as they have indexes. That money I do not 
consider wasted, but I think that a large part 
of the money that we used to spend for daily 
papers was wasted. 



SUPPLYING OF CURRENT DAILY NEWSPAPERS IN FREE LIBRARY 

READING-ROOMS. 

BY JOHN THOMSON, LIBRARIAN, FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA. 



A LL printed published matter ought to be 
^* collected and preserved. The question 
is, by whom and in what places shall the 
collection be made ? 

How far free public libraries ought to be 
providers of daily newspapers for general 
readers is a difficult subject and one of grave 



importance. A difference of opinion may be 
looked for between the managers- of the libra- 
ries in large cities, and those situated in small 
places, which latter may, perhaps, be classed 
as the average free public library. 

The directors and librarians have two duties 
and these are as patent as the sun in a cloud- 



4 8 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



less noonday sky. First, their duty towards 
those whose funds they administer, whether 
the funds are provided from municipal or pri- 
vate sources. Secondly, their duty towards 
their readers. 

Every person born is entitled to an educa- 
tion, and if unable to procure it otherwise is 
to be provided with one at the expense of the 
community. It would be impossible to deny 
that it must surely be the wisdom of a com- 
munity, even if not its imperative duty, to 
continue that which it is bound to begin. 
The admission of the public duty to provide 
schools almost of necessity involves the duty 
of free public libraries, so that every individual 
may have at hand the tools necessary to en- 
able him to intelligently pursue the studies 
which will make him a useful citizen and good 
head of a family. 

The trusteeship involved in the first duty 
requires that no free public library shall spend 
its funds except in the promotion of the edu- 
cational improvement of its readers. Hence 
arises the absolute duty of exercising a care- 
ful supervision over the printed matter placed 
in its rooms. 

The very form and construction of news- 
papers constitute the difficulty of deciding 
how far they consist of published matter that 
is required to be found in our free public libra- 
ries. They are daily records of daily events, 
many of which have no permanent interest; and 
as to a large part they are what may be desig- 
nated as advance-sheets of forthcoming books. 

The really valuable articles most worthy of 
preservation are almost invariably reproduced 
in volume form not long after their appearance 
in the daily column. The reports of the mag- 
nificent speeches made in the parliaments of 
the world are best searched for in the Con- 
gressional Record, Hansard, and other like 
volumes. Such addresses as that recently de- 
livered by Lord Salisbury before the British 
Association, and the similar weighty speeches 
addressed to the multitudes of Congresses 
that meet in every part of the world, form part 
of the periodical records of the societies before 
whom they are delivered. The earliest ac- 
counts of discoveries and inventions are only 
tentatively described in the newspapers and are 
very speedily reduced into the more carefully 
written text-books that form one of the back- 
bones of a free public library ; and a similar 



remark would dispose of almost every import- 
ant subject treated of in the daily papers. 

Newspapers are necessarily, to a large extent, 
repetitions one of another. The events of the 
world are told in each, and in given radii they 
have the same news to tell ; and it is only in 
matters of local progress, and in the record of 
local events, that the material differences are 
found. Nevertheless, when you consider how 
large a proportion of those for whom the free 
public libraries are established consist of per- 
sons anything but well off pecuniarily, there 
remains, after all the deductions I have alluded 
to, so much matter in the local papers to which 
they need to have access that I venture to sum 
up my opinion in the two or three following 
sentences. 

Every free public library should have copies 
of the local papers published in its own town, 
or city, on file for perusal ; and where there is 
a free public library in a town or city, an extra 
copy of the local paper should be obtained for 
binding and to be preserved on its shelves. 
There should, however, always be an assistant 
in charge of the reading-room ; and if per- 
sistent, aimless readers make it day after day 
a mere loafing-spot for hours at a time, they 
should be refused the right of entry except for 
limited periods. They will then either take 
themselves off or resort to the reference-room 
and perforce take to more useful reading. It 
cannot be overlooked that on many questions 
raised in the minds of readers by the articles in 
the daily press, desultory readers are perhaps 
for the first time in their lives led to use en- 
cyclopedias and dictionaries and so have im- 
planted in them a useful desire for knowledge. 

In large cities it is desirable to do more ; and 
gradually, as means and space permit, to have 
in these rooms not only the local papers but 
one or more of the leading papers from other 
great centres, unless the free library building 
is in close proximity to some other public read- 
ing-room to which inquirers can be directed. 

It may well and prudently be left to his- 
torical associations, and such institutions as 
the Boston Public Library (which has a sum 
of $ 50,000 bequeathed to it for this special pur- 
pose), the British Museum, the Bibliotheque 
Nationale of Paris, and so on, to collect and 
file all they can procure. The average free 
public library should restrict itself to binding, 
and preserving its local papers. 



BAIN. 



49 



SUPPLYING OF CURRENT DAILY NEWSPAPERS IN FREE LIBRARY 

READING-ROOMS. 

BY JAMES BAIN, JR., CHIEF LIBRARIAN, TORONTO PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



T FANCY the experience of most librarians 
is that no common rule can be laid down 
as to what extent reading-rooms should be 
maintained and what newspapers supplied. 

For a great many reasons a considerable 
number of people in every city want to see, 
regularly or irregularly, the daily papers. 
Some because of information or advertise- 
ments contained in those for which they do 
not subscribe ; others because they hope to 
see something which will interest them ; still 
others who cannot afford to buy all, and yet, 
as old citizens, are interested in the small 
items of local news. If there are no other 
more conveniently placed reading-rooms they 
naturally turn to the public library. These 
people have a right to demand that the daily 
papers be placed on open file. Unfortunately 
the comforts of heat, light, and rest which are 
found in our reading-rooms are such as to 
attract the tramp and loafer whose presence 
renders the room disagreeable and mal-odor- 
ous, and drives away the legitimate readers. 
The managing Boards have the choice of three 
ways of preventing this : 

ist. Exclude all tramps. This necessitates 
a door-keeper gifted with special powers of 
discrimination, and it is doubtful, in this dem- 
ocratic age, whether the working-class would 
permit it. 

2d. Remove all daily and other papers likely 
to attract them. To this it may be said that 
apart from the legitimate claims of regular 
readers, the attraction in reading-rooms is 
not the reading-matter but the shelter, heat, 
and rest ; and that if you remove everything 
out of the rooms except the chairs and tables 
you would make little difference in the num- 
ber of loafers. Nothing shows this better 
than the fact that in summer this class of 
people are not found in any numbers about 
the library, but as soon as winter comes they 
gather from east, west, north, and south. 

3. Entice them away. The tramp and loafer 
does not want to be in the presence of better- 
dressed people longer than he can help ; so 
that, if you can provide some special place for 



him where he can obtain shelter from the 
weather, sit down, be able to talk, and oc- 
casionally read, he won't trouble your reading- 
room. Call your room the reading-room for 
the unemployed not second-class reading- 
room to offend the false pride of the loafer 
unless you are prepared to acknowledge the 
fact that all citizens are equally clean and 
equally educated. 

Last year in Toronto we tried the experi- 
ment ; and, after consultation with the chief 
of police and city authorities, prepared and 
opened a room about 90 x 40 in the basement 
of our building. A table was placed the whole 
length of the room and on it were laid loosely 
a number of old newspapers and magazines 
utterly unfit for any other purpose ; and 
painted on the table were six draught-boards. 
We bought TOO common wooden chairs at 
25C. each, which we afterwards increased to 
200 to meet the demand. 

The chairs and rough table were our only 
first expense ; a member of the Board pre- 
sented them with a number of games of 
draughts, and the item for gas was not ex- 
travagant. A visit about once an hour from 
the janitor was quite sufficient, as there was 
nothing to steal. Every night after closing, 
the hose was turned on and the asphalt floor 
washed from end to end. The brick walls and 
ceiling were occasionally touched up with a 
little whitewash so that it always looked clean. 

Loafer and unemployed both found in it a 
congenial place to read and talk without being 
restricted by the rules of the reading-room. 
It remained open until April ist, and thus we 
succeeded in removing almost entirely the 
mal-odorous class from the reading-room. 

The public library is rather more than an 
educational institution, in that it is a reposi- 
tory of facts, and place of reference and, 
therefore, the necessity for the daily paper. 

Board of Trade reading-rooms and other 
similar institutions require cash subscriptions, 
and public libraries and reading-rooms have 
been organized for the very- class who cannot 
afford to pay annual fees. 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



PERIODICAL LIBRARY BULLETINS.* 



BY GARDNER MAYNARD JONES, LIBRARIAN, SALEM PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



Size and cost. The bulletin of the Salem 
Public Library is published monthly. Each 
number contains 8 pages, 25 x 17.5 cm. 
(9^x6^ in.); type 20.5x13.2 cm. (SxsXin.). 
The contents are an editorial (about one 
page) in long primer, and lists of new books 
and reading lists (6>p. ) in brevier, with notes 
in nonpareil. The leading word of each title 
(generally author's surname) and call-mark 
are in antique. Type is set solid, without in- 
dentation, as in the later issues of the Boston 
Public Library Bulletin. It would be better 
to indent all but the first line, as titles would 
stand out more clearly, and practically no 
space would be lost. 

We formerly printed 2,000 copies monthly 
at a cost of 134.84. Beginning with volume 
2 the number was reduced to 1,500 at a con- 
tract price of 131.14, with a deduction of $2.00 
per day for each day's delay beyond 12 work- 
ing days. 

Frequency. Monthly. This seems best in 
a library adding 2,000 to 3,000 volumes a 
year. 

Annotation is very desirable, as frequently a 
book's title does not show its character. It 
also serves to call attention to books of local 
or timely interest. 



Advertisements should be excluded if funds 
allow. Many merchants never advertise any- 
thing outside their own business, and the 
library should follow the same rule. It's dig- 
nity and self-respect demand this. 

Free distribution or sale. Free by all means . 
This is the only way to get it into the hands of 
all readers. 1,200 copies answer the ordinary 
demands in our city of 30,000 inhabitants and 
a home circulation of over 100,000 volumes. 
It might be well to fix a mailing price for 
copies sent by mail. 

Value to the public. A list which can be 
used at home leads to a more careful selection 
of books. A bulletin also gives opportunity 
for the publication of lists on subjects which 
are, or should be, of special interest to the 
public. The statistics of circulation may not 
indicate that much use is made of such lists, 
but they serve as a running advertisement of 
the educational intent of the library. 

Regularity, promptness, and uniformity are 
as desirable in a library bulletin as in any 
other periodical. A failure in either of these 
points indicates either a lack of funds or of 
consistent purpose in the management of the 
library. 



PERIODICAL LIBRARY BULLETINS. 



BY GEORGE WATSON COLE, LIBRARIAN, JERSEY CITY FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



1VT O public library that endeavors to keep up 
with the times can hope to succeed with- 
out furnishing its readers with information as 
to its most recent accessions. This may be 
done in several ways : by posting lists of new 
books ; by a card-catalogue for the public ; or 



by printed lists. The disadvantage of the first 
two methods lies in the fact that the readers 
must come to the library to consult them, 
whereas, printed lists can be carried away and 
consulted at all times and anywhere outside 
the library. It is safe then to say that the 



* On the publishing of library bulletins. A written presentation, by various librarians, of experience and 
opinion on questions connected with the publishing of library bulletins ; their cost, frequency of publication, 
expediency of annotation, admission of advertisements, free distribution or sale, value to the public, etc. 



COLE. 



printed list or bulletin supplies information to 
a greater number of people, with less incon- 
venience, and at a smaller cost, than can be 
done by any other means. It is presumed that 
as fast as new books are added to the library 
and catalogued they are put upon inspection 
shelves where the public can examine and 
handle them, under proper supervision, and 
that they are kept there until a bulletin is 
issued, or until they are crowded out by still 
newer books. This, in a measure, does away 
with the necessity of posting lists or of a public 
card-catalogue, which at best are but substi- 
tutes for the books themselves. 

In taking up the order of topics laid down 
for the discussion of this subject, we come first 
to their cost. It has been the policy of the 
Jersey City Free Public Library to issue its 
"Library Record" without expense to the 
library. In order to do this it has started out 
with the assumption that such a publication 
furnishes one of the best possible means for 
advertising to be found in the community ; for, 
unlike daily papers and other periodicals, 
which are read and then thrown away, this is 
preserved month after month for reference. 
We have therefore tried the plan of going to 
the printer or publisher and interesting him in 
the matter, by showing him the excellence of 
the sheet as an advertising medium, and en- 
gaging him to undertake its publication ; it 
being understood that he is to have all he can 
make, over and above the cost of production, 
from the amount paid him for advertisements. 
After several unsuccessful efforts, we have at 
last found an enterprising printer who is mak- 
ing it pay for itself and still give him some 
small profit for his labors. 

Before the outside cover was added to the 
" Library Record," the printers estimated that 
it cost them about $45.00 for an issue of 3,500 
copies. It contained 8 pages of 3 columns 
each, measuring 10 x 8 inches excluding the 
running title. Our proposition to the printer 
was to reserve 12 columns of the inside, includ- 
ing the entire first page, for the use of the li- 
brary ; allowing him to use all the rest for 
advertising purposes. We supply reading- 
matter for any space which he is unable to fill 
with advertisements.. 

One of our former printers has given the 
following estimate of actual cost in getting up 
the sheet as at present issued : 



ESTIMATED ACTUAL COST TO PRINTER FOR AN 
EDITION OF 3,500 COPIES. 

Stock i. Cover, 48-lb. stock, . . . $10.00 
2. Paper (inside) 6o-lb. stock, super- 
calendered, machine finished, . 12.60 
Composition i. Catalogue and reading-matter, 
12 columns brevier (including ist 
page) of 2,500 ems to column, 12.00 

2. Advertising matter, 24 columns, (J 

inside and 4 pages of cover), . 24.00 
Press Work i. Corrections, making ready for 

press, and locking up, . . . 4.00 
2. Press work, .... 5.00 

Binding Folding, binding with wire, and trim- 
ming, ...... 3.50 

Total, $71.10 

Item No. 2 of "Composition" appears to 
me to require some explanation ; as it is here 
given the printer's figures may be misleading. 
Matter supplied in stereotypes, as well as adver- 
tisements kept standing from month to month, 
and those leaving much blank space, or fat, 
as the printers call it, would all tend to lower 
these figures. The estimate, on the whole, I 
consider a fair one. 

If the library expects to secure its own ad- 
vertisements, and receive pay for them, an 
additional amount of $10 or $15 should be 
added to these figures for a reasonable profit 
to the printer. The estimate of printers will, 
of course, vary somewhat according to locality, 
competition, and capacity for turning out work. 
So much then in explanation of the expense 
connected with such a publication for those 
who have the problem yet to face. 

As to the frequency of appearance, it would 
seem that once a month is about a reasonable 
term. The Boston Public Library last year 
tried the experiment of issuing a weekly bul- 
letin of additions, but after a year's exper- 
ience, has given it up. No other library, to 
my knowledge, has attempted a weekly bul- 
letin. The Mercantile Library of Philadelphia, 
the Public Libraries of Milwaukee, Cincinnati, 
and Boston, and the libraries of Harvard and 
Cornell Universities all issue quarterly bul- 
letins. The Public Libraries of Newark, 
Springfield, Wilkes-Barre", Cleveland, and 
Jersey City, and a few others, issue monthly 
bulletins. The weekly period seems too 
short for most libraries to make up a list of 
respectable size, and in three months matter 
for too large a list is apt to accumulate ; so 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



that, upon the whole, the monthly bulletin 
seems to be a happy solution of the difficulty. 

The disadvantage of numerous alphabets, 
which is necessarily incident to periodical 
bulletins, is admirably solved by the Cin- 
cinnati and Milwaukee public libraries, where, 
at the end of one or two years, respectively, 
the bound volumes are provided with an alpha- 
betical index to their contents. 

There is no question as to the usefulness of 
annotations, if properly made, but as to their 
expediency, especially in a class of work which 
is necessarily so ephemeral in its character as 
the library bulletin, I have grave doubts. The 
bulletin at frequent intervals must be supple- 
mented by a catalog or a supplement to it. 
Again, annotations to be of the highest value, 
should be very carefully prepared, and this 
requires more time than the ever-busy librarian 
can give to the work, especially when a bul- 
letin must be put through the printer's hands 
every month. As a matter of expense, and 
in the interest of careful and valuable work in 
this line, I should say ' don't' throw your anno- 
tations away on the bulletin, but reserve them 
for the catalog. 

The question of admission of advertisements 
has been fully taken into consideration as far 
as our own practice in Jersey City is concerned, 
so that but a word further need be said. I 
should draw the line every time at the bul- 
letin, saying "thus far and no farther." 

As to free distribution, that question is also 
settled, for us, by our method of getting our 
' ' Library Record ' ' printed. Even if we had 



to pay for its printing, I believe it would be 
politic to give it out freely to all patrons of the 
library. I cannot see how an equal amount 
of money can be better spent in popularizing 
the library, than in the free distribution of its 
lists of new books. 

Before closing I wish to say a word upon a 
point not down in the list of suggestive topics 
which have been given for our guidance in the 
discussion of this subject. It is one which, I 
hope, will give rise to a thorough discussion. 
I refer to the admission of such periodical pub- 
lications of libraries as second-class mail-mat- 
ter in the United States mails. I have made 
two applications to the post-office authorities 
to get our ' 'Library Record' ' entered as second- 
class matter, and the application has, in each 
case, been rejected. It is a positive disgrace 
that libraries cannot send these publications 
to other libraries upon their exchange lists, as 
well as to others, without being compelled to 
pay for them as third-rate matter. I should 
like to know how many of the libraries here 
represented, that issue periodical publications 
of this nature, have made application to have 
them carried at pound rates and with what 
success. I can see no good reason for ex- 
cluding this class of publications from the mail 
as second-class matter, especially when pub- 
lishers are permitted to enter their paper- 
bound novels, issued in series, in this class. 
I should much like to see some resolution, 
favoring the entry of all library periodical bul- 
letins as second-class mail-matter, passed be- 
fore the adjournment of this Conference. 



PERIODICAL LIBRARY BULLETINS. 



BY CAROLINE M. HEWINS, LIBRARIAN, HARTFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



T^HE Hartford Library Association, stim- 
ulated by accounts of advertising bul- 
letins in the Library Journal and other peri- 
odicals, began to publish a i2mo quarterly 
in December, 1878. The advertisements were 
solicited by members of the Board of Direc- 
tors, and the receipts the first year were 
$104.12, and the second $156.40, which a little 
more than paid expenses. At the end of the 
second year, the Board decided that the time 
spent in seeking advertisements was worth 
more than the money received for them, and 



the expenses of the bulletin were paid out of 
the library receipts until 1887, when we began 
to charge ten cents a number, or twenty-five 
cents a year. The bulletin was printed by the 
same firm who bound books for the library, 
and there is no separate record of its cost in 
our printed reports. In 1887, the receipts, at 
ten cents a number, or twenty- five cents a year, 
were $26.75 ; in 1889, $14.10; in 1890, $35.33 ; 
in 1891, $25.89. Since opening the Hartford 
Public Library two years ago we have re- 
ceived a little more than $300, and our ex- 



HEWINS. 



53 



penses have been about |ioo more than that. 
We have therefore made no money on our 
bulletins. 

We have usually printed them once in three 
months, but have sometimes "doubled up" 
numbers, and have always kept the i2mo 
form with which we began, instead of the 
monthly 4to which has been adopted by 
many libraries. At one time we investigated 
the cost of manilla paper, but found the differ- 
ence in cost so slight that we never used it. 

We have always annotated our bulletins 
freely, and in almost every number have shown 
the public the resources of the library on some 
special subject. From 1878 to 1889 we printed 
notes on Art, Africa, Summer books, French 
and German books, English language, Chil- 
dren's vacation, United States government, 
Christmas holidays, Going abroad, Longfellow, 
English and American history for children, 
English literature, 1700-1750 (suggested by a 
course of lectures ), House-building and 
house-furnishing, Music, Architecture, An- 
atomy, physiology and hygiene (to illustrate 
"First aid to the injured " lectures), Mythology 
and folklore, History of Greece and Rome for 
boys and girls, French and English history, 
1600-1800, India, Electricity, Education, Italy, 
Russia, Sociology, Spain, How to find quota- 
tions, Connecticut, Cookery and housekeep- 
ing, Books for teachers of geography, and 
Plays, charades and tableaux for home acting. 

In January, 1890, we began to print an au- 
thor-list of novels, in four numbers, with notes 
on those illustrating history or life in different 
countries. This list was sold out soon after 
we became a free library, and we reprinted it 
in one twenty-five cent number, in the spring 
of 1893, after suspending the publication of the 
bulletin for a year. It has been continued 
irregularly since then, one of the numbers 
containing in addition to new books, a list of 
all in the library upon science and useful arts, 
except those so old as to be useless to general 
readers ; others, all our books on education 
and fine arts. We have printed in every 
number the percentage of different classes of 
books circulated, and other items of library 
news, given tables of contents, and paid es- 



pecial attention to suggesting books leading 
out from or connected with our new ones, 
histories and biographies for verifying histor- 
ical novels, etc. 

When we opened the Hartford Public Li- 
brary we printed a classified and annotated 
list of books for boys and girls, which we sold 
for five cents, about half its cost. The edition 
of a thousand copies was soon exhausted, and 
we have printed a revised and enlarged 
one. 

One argument in favor of printing a month- 
ly or quarterly bulletin is that it prevents the 
public from demanding a full and expensive 
printed catalog. At a fair estimate, three- 
fourths of the readers who depend on a public 
library care for nothing but novels, and the 
simpler a list can be made, the better they like 
it. We do not even print book-numbers in 
our novel-list, and require only authors and 
titles to be written on the call-slips, as all our 
novels in English, whether translated or not, 
are arranged alphabetically under authors with 
the Cutter numbers. 

A second plea is that a bulletin keeps the pub- 
lic informed as to new books much better than 
a card catalog with manuscript or typewritten 
lists posted in the library. It is a medium for 
conveying knowledge of current books to read- 
ers, who are much more willing to study a 
pamphlet at home than to search for and copy 
titles in a card-catalog. 

Every number of a bulletin can be made to 
show the resources of the library on some 
special topic. It can direct attention to the 
best new books, and suggest for children's 
reading many things not written especially for 
them. If a printing or publishing firm will 
take it in hand as a business venture, it often 
adds materially to the funds of the library ; but 
if it has no advertisements it must be sold at a 
price far below cost in order to attract buyers, 
as in the Boston Public Library. I am in favor 
of a merely nominal sum, say five cents a num- 
ber, unless a library has to choose between 
spending money for printing or books. In that 
case, the advertising bulletin should be 
adopted. 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



PERIODICAL LIBRARY BULLETINS. 



BY JOHN EDMANDS, LIBRARIAN, MERCANTILE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA. 



T^OR some years it was the practice in the 
Mercantile Library of Philadelphia to in- 
sert, once a week, in a daily paper, a list of 
the principal additions to the library, with an 
occasional article of special interest to readers. 
These lists did not seem to attract much at- 
tention, and apparently did but little good ; 
their cost was about $200 a year. 

In October, 1882, we began the issue of a 
quarterly bulletin as a substitute for the week- 
ly lists. This bulletin has been continued to 
the present time. The number of pages has 
ranged from sixteen to twenty. The cost is 
about $225 a year. For several years the 
numbers were sold at 5 cents each, and mailed 
to subscribers at 20 cents a year. The num- 
ber of regular subscribers ranged from fifty 
to one hundred, in addition to those sold 
singly at the desk. We sent copies without 
charge to about seventy-five libraries. Since 
January, 1892, the bulletin has been distributed 
to members of the library without charge. 

The bulletin contains a brief title, with im- 
print, of nearly all the books added to the li- 
brary (including continuations), and with the 
shelf-marks appended. The titles, by authors 
only, are arranged alphabetically under the 
twenty-two main classes of the library. Of 
many books the contents are given. In many 
cases selected and original notes are inserted, 
to explain the scope or the purpose of the 
book, or to give some intimation of its merit. 

A considerable space in each number has 



been taken up with some special article. There 
have been Reading Notes, or prepared lists, 
on Spencer, Webster, Luther, Gothe, Wy- 
cliffe, and Columbus ; and on Education, 
Indexes, Catacombs, Electricity, Music, Cur- 
rency and Finance, Income Tax, and Ha- 
waii. The bibliographies of Dies Irae and of 
Junius, are the fullest that have appeared in 
print. The list of Historical Novels, which was 
continued through seventeen numbers, from 
1885 to 1889, was the most extended that had 
been printed up to that time. 

The considerable time required for the 
preparation of those notes and those special 
articles is believed to have been well spent. 
A library is a great possibility for good. In 
order that it may actually be the good that is 
possible, there is need, besides a live librarian, 
of some printed guide or introduction to its 
contents. In view of the impossibility of hav- 
ing an up-to-date catalog of a growing library, 
some means of giving information as to new 
accessions, and as to special treasures, like 
the modern bulletin seems imperative. 

At one time our Board entertained a propo- 
sition made by an outsider for the insertion of 
advertisements interleaved in our bulletin, with 
the view of lessening the cost. The scheme 
did not materialize, and the Board has not 
thought fit to enter into the plan. It seems to 
me they have taken the right view of the 
matter. 



PERIODICAL LIBRARY BULLETINS. 



BY J. C. DANA, LIBRARIAN, DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



\A7~E have no printed finding-list except for 
fiction. In our bulletin we print from 
time to time lists of additions, lists on special 
subjects, and complete lists of one and another 
department. Several of these we sometimes 
reprint in a small pamphlet which we sell for 



5C. The expense of our bulletin to the library 
is, perhaps, about what it would be if we 
printed each month a book-list, with no read- 
ing-matter. 

The special lists, and the reading-matter 
about our library in particular, and about 



BRETT. 



55 



library work in general, and the continuance 
of something of the nature of a journal, are the 
results of considerations like these : 

The journal itself advertises the library in 
the community and especially in the schools. 
It is possibly a little more attractive than a 
bare list would be. The special lists, over and 
above the occasional lists of additions, aid in 
making attractive other lines than fiction 
and are especially useful in view of the fact 
that we have no complete printed catalog. 

The library notes, the descriptions of library 
work, the suggestions about books and meth- 
ods for village and school libraries aid, we 
think, in increasing library interest throughout 
the State. As yet there is no library commis- 
sion in Colorado. The State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction has no funds or facilities for 
doing anything, of note, in the way of library 
propagandism. Denver is Colorado, to a con- 
siderable extent. The Public Library, in Den- 
ver, is the only library there which is just now 
in a condition to put forth either money or 
energy in spreading the faith. 

It has seemed then, to us, very fitting that 
we should take this duty in small measure on 



ourselves. We send our bulletin each month 
to all high-school principals, librarians, and city 
and county superintendents throughout the 
State. 

We do a good deal of missionary work in 
other ways, and it is impossible to say how 
much of the increase of interest in libraries 
throughout the state and the increase has 
been very notable in the past few years is 
due to the circulation of our bulletin. We 
think it justifies the outlay in money and time. 

As I have intimated, the bulletin is not quite 
self-supporting. The management of the busi- 
ness side of it is not in the library's hands. 
The labor connected with it under this 
management is not very great. 

Under ordinary library conditions my expe- 
rience would lead me to think that the best 
thing in the way of a bulletin would be a series 
of leaflets, perferably small, containing each 
a short list of additions or special books ; 
annotated where possible, and so brief as not 
to confuse or discourage the humblest and 
most ignorant reader. 

The bulletin of the Salem Public Library 
seems about the ideal thing. 



PERIODICAL LIBRARY BULLETINS. 



BY WILLIAM H. BRETT, LIBRARIAN, CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



T N regard to the publication of library bulle- 
tins, the experience of the Cleveland Pub- 
lic Library is about as follows : 

The library has not until recently attempted 
the publication of any regular bulletin or peri- 
odical. In January of the present year it be- 
gan the issue of a monthly book-list, "The 
Open Shelf." The expense of publication is 
a serious objection. The cost of this, the page 
being about 2^ by 6% inches, is $75.00 for an 
edition of 2,000 copies of 48 pages with a 
cover (making 52 pages in all), or a little less 
than 1.50 per page. 

As to the frequency of the publication, the 
librarian finds himself between the Scylla on 
the one hand, of having his bulletins issued 
long after many of the best books have been 
placed in the library, if he publish at too l(5ng 
intervals ; and Charybdis on the other, of a 
rapidly accumulating pile of lists increasingly 



inconvenient to consult. The choice proba- 
bly lies between a monthly and a quarterly 
issue. The Cleveland list is published each 
month, while an alphabetically arranged list of 
the books of the year is kept in a Rudolph In- 
dexer book. 

The value of annotations to the entries is 
not doubtful, and their admission can hardly be 
an open question except where the increased 
cost is too serious an objection. No part of 
our own bulletin has received so much favora- 
ble comment from our readers at home. 

The question of admitting advertisements is 
a difficult one. On the one hand they mater- 
ially lessen the cost of publication ; on the 
other they introduce a business element for- 
eign to the purpose of the publication and 
possibly distracting from it. The plan now 
adopted in Cleveland, and which is a com- 
promise, is to admit advertisements of books 



54 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



PERIODICAL LIBRARY BULLETINS. 



BY JOHN KDMANDS, LIBRARIAN, MERCANTILE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA. 



"TJ*OR some years it was the practice in the 
Mercantile Library of Philadelphia to in- 
sert, once a week, in a daily paper, a list of 
the principal additions to the library, with an 
occasional article of special interest to readers. 
These lists did not seem to attract much at- 
tention, and apparently did but little good ; 
their cost was about $200 a year. 

In October, 1882, we began the issue of a 
quarterly bulletin as a substitute for the week- 
ly lists. This bulletin has been continued to 
the present time. The number of pages has 
ranged from sixteen to twenty. The cost is 
about $225 a year. For several years the 
numbers were sold at 5 cents each, and mailed 
to subscribers at 20 cents a year. The num- 
ber of regular subscribers ranged from fifty 
to one hundred, in addition to those sold 
singly at the desk. We sent copies without 
charge to about seventy-five libraries. Since 
January, 1892, the bulletin has been distributed 
to members of the library without charge. 

The bulletin contains a brief title, with im- 
print, of nearly all the books added to the li- 
brary (including continuations), and with the 
shelf-marks appended. The titles, by authors 
only, are arranged alphabetically under the 
twenty-two main classes of the library. Of 
many books the contents are given. In many 
cases selected and original notes are inserted, 
to explain the scope or the purpose of the 
book, or to give some intimation of its merit. 

A considerable space in each number has 



been taken up with some special article. There 
have been Reading Notes, or prepared lists, 
on Spencer, Webster, Luther, Gothe, Wy- 
cliffe, and Columbus ; and on Education, 
Indexes, Catacombs, Electricity, Music, Cur- 
rency and Finance, Income Tax, and Ha- 
waii. The bibliographies of Dies Irae and of 
Junius, are the fullest that have appeared in 
print. The list of Historical Novels, which was 
continued through seventeen numbers, from 
1885 to 1889, was the most extended that had 
been printed up to that time. 

The considerable time required for the 
preparation of those notes and those special 
articles is believed to have been well spent. 
A library is a great possibility for good. In 
order that it may actually be the good that is 
possible, there is need, besides a live librarian, 
of some printed guide or introduction to its 
contents. In view of the impossibility of hav- 
ing an up-to-date catalog of a growing library, 
some means of giving information as to new 
accessions, and as to special treasures, like 
the modern bulletin seems imperative. 

At one time our Board entertained a propo- 
sition made by an outsider for the insertion of 
advertisements interleaved in our bulletin, with 
the view of lessening the cost. The scheme 
did not materialize, and the Board has not 
thought fit to enter into the plan. It seems to 
me they have taken the right view of the 
matter. 



PERIODICAL LIBRARY BULLETINS. 



BY J. C. DANA, LIBRARIAN, DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



\A7"E have no printed finding-list except for 
fiction. In our bulletin we print from 
time to time lists of additions, lists on special 
subjects, and complete lists of one and an other 
department. Several of these we sometimes 
reprint in a small pamphlet which we sell for 



5C. The expense of our bulletin to the library 
is, perhaps, about what it would be if we 
printed each month a book-list, with no read- 
ing-matter. 

The special lists, and the reading-matter 
about our library in particular, and about 



BRETT. 



55 



library work in general, and the continuance 
of something of the nature of a journal, are the 
results of considerations like these : 

The journal itself advertises the library in 
the community and especially in the schools. 
It is possibly a little more attractive than a 
bare list would be. The special lists, over and 
above the occasional lists of additions, aid in 
making attractive other lines than fiction 
and are especially useful in view of the fact 
that we have no complete printed catalog. 

The library notes, the descriptions of library 
work, the suggestions about books and meth- 
ods for village and school libraries aid, we 
think, in increasing library interest throughout 
the State. As yet there is no library commis- 
sion in Colorado. The State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction has no funds or facilities for 
doing anything, of note, in the way of library 
propagandism. Denver is Colorado, to a con- 
siderable extent. The Public Library, in Den- 
ver, is the only library there which is just now 
in a condition to put forth either money or 
energy in spreading the faith. 

It has seemed then, to us, very fitting that 
we should take this duty in small measure on 



ourselves. We send our bulletin each month 
to all high-school principals, librarians, and city 
and county superintendents throughout the 
State. 

We do a good deal of missionary work in 
other ways, and it is impossible to say how 
much of the increase of interest in libraries 
throughout the state and the increase has 
been very notable in the past few years is 
due to the circulation of our bulletin. We 
think it justifies the outlay in money and time. 

As I have intimated, the bulletin is not quite 
self-supporting. The management of the busi- 
ness side of it is not in the library's hands. 
The labor connected with it under this 
management is not very great. 

Under ordinary library conditions my expe- 
rience would lead me to think that the best 
thing in the way of a bulletin would be a series 
of leaflets, perferably small, containing each 
a short list of additions or special books ; 
annotated where possible, and so brief as not 
to confuse or discourage the humblest and 
most ignorant reader. 

The bulletin of the Salem Public Library 
seems about the ideal thing. 



PERIODICAL LIBRARY BULLETINS. 



BY WILLIAM H. BRETT, LIBRARIAN, CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



T N regard to the publication of library bulle- 
tins, the experience of the Cleveland Pub- 
lic Library is about as follows : 

The library has not until recently attempted 
the publication of any regular bulletin or peri- 
odical. In January of the present year it be- 
gan the issue of a monthly book-list, "The 
Open Shelf." The expense of publication is 
a serious objection. The cost of this, the page 
being about 2^ by 6% inches, is $75.00 for an 
edition of 2,000 copies of 48 pages with a 
cover (making 52 pages in all), or a little less 
than $1.50 per page. 

As to the frequency of the publication, the 
librarian finds himself between the Scylla on 
the one hand, of having his bulletins issued 
long after many of the best books have been 
placed in the library, if he publish at too l(3ng 
intervals ; and Charybdis on the other, of a 
rapidly accumulating pile of lists increasingly 



inconvenient to consult. The choice proba- 
bly lies between a monthly and a quarterly 
issue. The Cleveland list is published each 
month, while an alphabetically arranged list of 
the books of the year is kept in a Rudolph In- 
dexer book. 

The value of annotations to the entries is 
not doubtful, and their admission can hardly be 
an open question except where the increased 
cost is too serious an objection. No part of 
our own bulletin has received so much favora- 
ble comment from our readers at home. 

The question of admitting advertisements is 
a difficult one. On the one hand they mater- 
ially lessen the cost of publication ; on the 
other they introduce a business element for- 
eign to the purpose of the publication and 
possibly distracting from it The plan now 
adopted in Cleveland, and which is a com- 
promise, is to admit advertisements of books 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



and of things pertaining to books and libraries, 
and no others. These may fairly be regarded 
as of interest in connection with the prime 
purpose of the publication. If a bulletin can- 
not be supported without the publication of 
the ruck of advertisements, possibly it had 
better be discontinued. 

As to their distribution, the plan adopted in 
Cleveland is to sell them at one cent per copy 
in the library, on the theory that a thing 
which costs nothing is not appreciated nor 
taken care of. To those receiving them by 
mail a price is charged which covers cost of 
mailing. 

The question of their value to the public is 
important. This consists principally in fur- 
nishing a list of additions to the library for the 
use of its readers, and also as forming a con- 



venient medium for announcements and news 
of any kind in regard to the library. Our ex- 
perience is so brief that it may be regarded as 
in the experimental stage. 

There is a question which is really a part of 
the last ; that is, the question of the right of 
the library to publish. To issue a periodical 
containing reading-matter and advertisements, 
as well as book-lists, is practically to go into 
the publishing business. The propriety of a 
library doing this depends entirely upon the 
purpose. If all other features are subordinated 
strictly to the purpose of rendering the library 
attractive and useful, there should be no ques- 
tion as to its propriety. If business purposes 
are allowed to control it, it is manifestly im- 
proper. 



REPORT ON LIBRARY PROGRESS. 



BY THE SECRETARY, FRANK P. HILL, LIBRARIAN, NEWARK FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



'"PHIS is an outline presentation of library 
progress in the several states during the 
past year. By year is meant the time from 
Conference to Conference. 

Early in July the following circular was sent 
out : 

DEAR SIR : Will you kindly give me for use of 
the A. L. A., such matter relating to library affairs in 
your state as may be of interest to the fraternity 
at large? 

I particularly desire to obtain the following in- 
formation : 

1. Is there a state commission? If so, give name, 
date of appointment and number of commissioners. 

2. Is there a state association ? If so, give title. 

3. Names of any clubs. 

4. Membership of each. 

5. Frequency of meetings. 

6. What are these organizations doing to promote 
library interests? 

7. Number and location of new libraries or old 
ones taking on new life (1893-1894). 

8. Other state items of interest. 

The report which follows includes only 
those states from which items of interest and 
information have been received. It may be 
taken for granted that the omission of the 



name of a state means that library matters are 
at a stand-still in that state. 

ALABAMA. The Mobile Library has been 
started, and the Mobile Reading Club, with a 
membership of fifty, and meetings every two 
weeks, is doing all in its power to quicken li- 
brary interests. 

CALIFORNIA. While this state has no State 
Association strictly speaking it has the South- 
ern California Library Club, which has done 
much good work in the lower counties of the 
state. The club was organized November, 
1891, and has a membership of forty. The 
efforts of the club have resulted in establishing 
closer relations between all libraries in Cal- 
ifornia, in raising the standard of library work, 
and in supplying trained help to new libraries. 

The state librarian "is collecting statistics of 
public libraries which will be published in 
[his] biennial report." 

COLORADO. The Colorado Library Asso- 
ciation, organized December 29, 1892 has not 
been a very successful affair. An effort will 
be made to start anew next winter. 

With regard to new libraries, Mr. Dana re- 



HILL. 



57 



ports that there are lots of little ones starting 
up all over the state. Apparently that is a 
true statement, inasmuch as the number of 
libraries has increased 75 per cent, since 1892. 

CONNECTICUT. Under the law relating to 
libraries, passed by the General Assembly of 
1893, the State Board of Education must an- 
nually appoint five persons who shall be known 
as the Connecticut Public Library Committee. 
One good section provides that no person 
shall be ineligible to serve on this committee 
by reason of sex. 

The first committee, consisting of Chas. D. 
Hine, Chairman, Caroline M. Hewins, Secre- 
tary, S. O. Seymour, Nathan L. Bishop, and 
C. E. Graves, was appointed in September, 

1893. As a result of the work of this com- 
mittee new libraries have been started in sev- 
eral towns. The report of the committee, to 
be published in January, 1895, will contain full 
statistics of libraries in the state. 

The Connecticut Library Association, organ- 
ized February 22, 1891, has a membership of 
seventy-eight. It meets three times a year, in 
February, May and October. Miss Hewins 
writes : "Besides promoting a friendly feel- 
ing among librarians, the association is of 
great use in stimulating the smaller libraries, 
and has been the means of forming the Li- 
brary Committee." 

A new library has been opened at Seymour ; 
and the Otis Library, Norwich, Suffield Pub- 
lic, and Wethersfield Public, have been made 
free. 

DELAWARE. From this state the only 
cheering bit of news comes from Wilmington, 
where the institute has been made a free li- 
brary. 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. The Washington 
Library Association was organized June 15, 

1894, with a membership of twenty-five. The 
constitution provides for monthly meetings, 
except during the summer. 

GEORGIA. Miss Wallace of Atlanta writes : 
" Library growth in the South has been slow 
owing to the impoverished condition of the 
country ; only in recent years has library in- 
fluence been felt." 

ILLINOIS. The Chicago Library Club, or- 
ganized December 17, 1891, has a member- 
ship of ninety. Meetings are held once a 



month from October to March. There is hope 
of a state association in the near future. 

INDIANA. The Library Association of In- 
diana was organized in the winter of 1891. It 
meets once a year and has a membership of 
thirty-eight. 

The meetings are not largely attended, ow- 
ing to the fact that, while every little cross- 
roads town in the state has a library of some 
sort, the librarian is usually a person who 
cannot afford the time and money to attend. 

The report says: "We have aroused in- 
terest, and are stimulating library spirit in the 
state ; we are helping the new librarians and 
encouraging the old." 

It would appear so, as seven new libraries 
at Bluffton, Anderson, Richmond, Kokomo, 
Fort Wayne, Logansport, and Frankfort 
were opened to the public during the year. 

Mr. Dunn's pamphlet on the libraries of In- 
diana is an interesting document, and con- 
tains valuable material. 

IOWA. The Iowa Library Society was or- 
ganized September 2, 1890, and has a mem- 
bership of thirty-three. It is attempting to 
bring the State Teachers' Association into 
closer and more harmonious relations with 
the Library Society, besides advancing general 
library interests throughout the state. 

"It has influenced legislation, and secured 
the adoption of a new library law which went 
into effect July i, 1894." 

New libraries have been founded at Boone, 
Independence, Keokuk, and Fairfield. Also 
a Y. M. C. A. library at Cedar Rapids, Public 
School Library of Marshalltown, Normal 
School Library, Woodbine, and Des Moines 
College. 

MAINE. Maine has a state association 
called the Maine Library Association, organ- 
ized March 19, 1891, membership twenty -two. 
It holds infrequent meetings. 

Several expensive library buildings have 
been erected during the year. A school for 
teaching library economy has been estab- 
lished at Orono, in connection with the State 
College of Agriculture. 

MARYLAND. Reports the opening of the 
Jacob Tome Institute at Port Deposit. 

MASSACHUSETTS. The work in this state is 
so important that it deserves a separate paper. 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



I will merely allude to the organization of the 
Free Public Library Commission, October 22, 
1890, composed of five commissioners ; to the 
Massachusetts Library Club with a member- 
ship of two hundred ; and to the seven new 
libraries established during the year. The 
commission is doing splendid work. Besides 
the seven new libraries first mentioned seven 
others are ready to accept the law, and are 
only awaiting the completion of details. 

Out of 352 towns and cities in the state only 
31 are without free public libraries. Mr. Til- 
linghast reports at length : 

" Vigorous effort, which will soon bear fruit, 
is being made in most of these [31] towns. 
All the spare time I can find is given to the 
immediate care of this work and I have never 
had the time to make anything more than the 
brief administrative statement contained in 
our annual reports. How far-reaching our 
work has been is known only to the members 
of the commission. It has involved corres- 
pondence in every state and territory of the 
Union, every Grand Division and nearly every 
civilized country of the globe. The private 
inquiry and conference in regard to the pro- 
posed erection of library buildings by bequest 
or otherwise, necessarily private in its nature, 
is very extensive." 

MICHIGAN. The Michigan Library Asso- 
ciation has a membership of fifty. It was or- 
ganized September i, 1891, and meets once a 
year. 

"The meetings are well attended and 
spirited, and doing much to instruct and en- 
courage the librarians of the smaller and 
weaker libraries. They also do a good work 
in awakening public opinion and strengthen- 
ing the hold of the library upon the commu- 
nity." 

" We expect to have the transactions of our 
State Library Association printed by the Supt. 
of Public Instruction in connection with his 
annual report and the transactions of the State 
Teachers' Association, and thus distributed 
throughout the state. We also have a scheme 
to be put through when the legislature meets, 
by which the State Library will be brought in- 
to closer relations with all the people, who 
will be permitted through the local libraries to 
borrow from the State library certain volumes 
not to be found in the local collection." 



" Handsome new buildings have been dedi- 
cated recently at Kalamazoo and Jackson, 
both gifts of public-spirited citizens. In ad- 
dition, bequests have been made to the li- 
brary of the State University, and to the City 
of Big Rapids." 

MINNESOTA. Minnesota has a State Li- 
brary Association (organized in December, 
1891), which meets annually. A circular has 
been issued by this association calling atten- 
tion " to a plan by which every small town and 
village in Minnesota may be supplied with a 
circulating library." 

New libraries have been started at Anoka 
and Redwing ; and Mankato has just decided 
to establish one. The hard times have pre- 
vented any action, but a great amount of in- 
terest has been awakened in many localities. 
It is expected that the legislature to convene 
this coming winter will pass a law establishing 
a library commission. 

MISSOURI. Mr. Crunden writes that he 
knows of but one new library established under 
the state law. He says further : 

" There has been in Missouri, in the last 
two years, a movement for the establishment 
of school libraries, analogous to that of New 
York some generations ago. The state super- 
intendent, Mr. Wolf, is heartily in sympathy 
with the library movement. He has gone 
through the state and stirred up the farmers to 
establish district-school libraries. He told me 
that he had gathered and placed in small 
school libraries not less than 25,000 volumes." 

Incidentally Mr. Crunden mentions that the 
St. Louis Public Library, in becoming a free 
one, has entered upon a new career. In my 
opinion the change at St. Louis is one of the 
most important events in library history dur- 
ing the year, and Mr. Crunden is just the man 
to take advantage of such an opportunity. 
The report from his state is " of progress. " 

MONTANA. Cheering news comes from this 
state in the shape of two new libraries opened 
to the public one, at Butte, the other at Mis- 
soula ; the latter is supported by a tax of Y* 
mill on the dollar. The Bozeman library has 
changed from a private to a city library. An- 
aconda is to have a $50,000 building, and the 
library will be liberally endowed. Great Falls 
also has a new library. Better library legisla- 



HILL. 



59 



tion is needed, as the present law is inade- 
quate. 

NEBRASKA. New public libraries have been 
started in Beatrice, Plattsmouth, York, Te- 
cumseh, Webster, and South Omaha. Miss 
Allan writes : 

"On Library Day, as adopted by the 
Teachers' Association, hundreds of small 
school libraries were organized all over the 
state. There are undoubtedly a number of 
Library Clubs, but they all seem to be too 
lady-like to respond to my newspaper notices." 

To show just what Library Day means in 
Nebraska some extracts are given from a cir- 
cular of the State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction dated September 19, 1893 : 

' ' In accordance with a resolution of the 
Nebraska State Teachers' Association, passed 
at its last annual meeting, a program has been 
prepared by the committee appointed for that 
purpose looking to the observance of the anni- 
versary of the discovery of America as Library 
Day in the schools of the state. 

" It will be remembered that October 2ist 
was celebrated all over the country last year 
as Columbus Day ; it is the thought of the 
promoters of Library Day that it would be 
well if Columbus Day could be perpetuated 
as an annual festival for awakening interest in 
the schools, and especially for the building up 
of school libraries in every district in Ne- 
braska. 

" It is well known that books of special in- 
terest and profit to children are no less inter- 
esting and profitable to adults, and that the 
books of the children are read with avidity by 
the teachers and by the parents of the chil- 
dren. 

' ' Good books put into the school library 
soon find their way to the homes in the dis- 
trict ; they are read by both the school chil- 
dren and the home children ; a habit of read- 
ing is thereby encouraged, or engendered, 
and the good reading takes the place of no 
reading, or of bad reading, in the community. 

" It gives me pleasure to call the attention 
of the teachers and patrons of the schools to 
this matter and to recommend that Friday, 
October 2oth, or so much thereof as may be 
deemed expedient, be devoted to the per- 
formance of the program published in the 
September number of the North-Western 



Journal of Education, and to efforts to arouse 
an interest in the subject of school libraries 
among the children and the patrons. 

" I especially recommend that an effort be 
made in connection with this celebration to 
create a fund, be it ever so small, for the pur- 
chase of books for the school that may serve 
as a nucleus for a school library." 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. The legislature of 1891 
passed a law establishing the Board of Library 
Commissioners. Four of the five commis- 
sioners are appointed by the Governor and 
Council, the fifth member is the State Librarian, 
ex-officio. 

The work of this commission has been of 
the most excellent character. About 60 new 
libraries have been started during the past 
year. Of the 233 cities and towns in the state 
there are not more than 60 without libraries 
owned and controlled by the town ; and many 
of the 60 so reported have excellent associa- 
tion libraries, to which all persons in the town 
have access. A good authority says that 
there are not more than 30 towns in the state 
unsupplied with libraries. (This compares 
favorably with Massachusetts. To those in- 
terested in state commissions I would suggest 
writing to Hon. J. H. Whittier, Secretary, 
East Rochester, N. H., for reports and other 
pamphlets. ) 

This state also has a Library Association 
organized in 1889, which meets three times a 
year, and has a membership of forty. The 
Cocheco Library Club, composed of librarians, 
trustees, and other persons interested in 
library matters, residing in the southeastern 
part of the state, has a membership of forty- 
five, and meets three times a year. It was 
formed at Dover, September, 1892. 

NEW JERSEY. Once upon a time there was 
a New Jerley Library Association with a 
membership of about forty. The organization 
was effected December 29, 1891. At the an- 
nual meeting in Oct. 1893, officers were elected, 
but the president declining to accept office 
nothing has been accomplished during the 
year. An effort will be made this fall to 
effect a working organization. 

No library commission can be established 
in New Jersey for some years to come. 

NEW YORK. Rev. W. R. Eastman reports : 



6o 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



' ' There is no state library commission in New 
York as in some other states, but library in- 
terests are cared for by the Public Libraries 
Department, which is a part of the state library 
and in charge of the regents of the University. 
The secretary of the University is director of 
the department, and it employs the whole 
time of an inspector with two trained assist- 
ants, besides clerks. Its work is, 

1. To promote the organization and devel- 
opment of libraries. 

2. To distribute the public library money 
appropriated by the legislature for buying ap- 
proved books. 

3. To visit the libraries under state super- 
vision. 

4. To select and buy books and prepare 
them for lending under the traveling library 
system. 

5. To prepare annotated lists of traveling 
libraries and of best books on special sub- 
jects. 

6. To send out traveling libraries of 50 or 
loo volumes each and receive them again, 
keeping full statistics of the use of books. 

7. To obtain and publish annual statistics 
of all libraries in the state. 

" Some 30 libraries have been organized or 
reorganized under the University charter dur- 
ing the past year. Others have been regis- 
tered by the University as maintaining a proper 
standard and entitled to public money. ' ' 

The New York Library Association was 
organized July n, 1890. Its membership in- 
cludes all the prominent libraries in the state. 
The New York Library Club, organized June 
18, 1885, has a membership of one hundred. 
Regular meetings are held on the second 
Thursday of November, January, February, 
March, and May. 

OREGON. An effort will be made at the 
next biennial session of the legislature to 
secure additional library legislation. 

PENNSYLVANIA. The Pennsylvania Library 
Club was organized January 29, 1892. It has 
thirty-eight active and seventy-five interested 
members. The club meets five times a year. 



Occasional papers have been published ; and 
it is in contemplation to issue a map of Penn- 
sylvania indicating the locations of public 
libraries. 

The Free Library of Philadelphia was 
opened March 12, 1894. 

RHODE ISLAND. So far as library associa- 
tions and clubs are concerned Rhode Island is 
satisfied to join hands with Massachusetts. 

" For the last two years Rhode Island libra- 
rians have been eligible to membership in the 
Massachusetts Library Club, and have availed 
themselves of this privilege to a considerable 
extent." Only one new library Willetteville 
Free Library, Saunderstown, North King- 
ston has been founded in the past year. 

TEXAS. As an item of interest, Mr. W. C. 
Felton, of. Galveston, writes that the only 
free library in the state is located at Galves- 
ton. It is also stated that Dallas and Deni- 
son are each about to establish free libraries. 

UTAH. This territory reports only one pub- 
lic library " worth mentioning " the Pioneer 
Library Association of Salt Lake City. 

WASHINGTON. There are two free public 
libraries in the state one at Seattle, the 
other at Tacoma. 

WISCONSIN. The Wisconsin State Library 
Association was organized March n, 1891. 
The twenty-four members encourage the im- 
provement of old libraries, and the founding 
of new. The towns of Chippewa Falls, and 
Belleville have opened new libraries this 
year. 

"A special clerk in the office of the State 
Superintendent of Schools is detailed to take 
charge of the district libraries ; being a specially 
well informed and conscientious man, he is 
decidedly a library missionary." 

SUMMARY. 

The returns show that three states have 
library commmissions ; in thirteen states, there 
are library associations ; and in four states 
there are what may be termed local organiza- 
tions. 



KEPHART. 



61 



REPORT ON GIFTS AND BEQUESTS TO LIBRARIES. 

BY HORACE KEPHART, LIBRARIAN, ST. LOUIS MERCANTILE LIBRARY. 



'"TO gather the data for this report, inquiries 
were sent to a thousand libraries, including 
nearly all of those within the United States 
which contain 5,000 volumes and upwards. A 
few items are taken from the Library Journal, 
as indicated. 

It was at first my intention to include men- 
tion of all the more noteworthy gifts of books, 
but when the returns came in I found that such 
gifts had been so numerous that the shortest 
practicable list of them would swell this re- 
port to undue dimensions, and I have reluc- 
tantly confined myself to gifts and bequests of 
money, or property yielding a revenue. 

The report aims to cover the year from 
August, 1893, to July, 1894, inclusive. In a 
few instances it was found impracticable to 
cover this period exactly, but they were of 
slight consequence. 

This year has been marked by one of the 
most serious commercial and industrial de- 
pressions that our country has suffered, and 
we could not expect that at such a time the 
gifts or bequests to public institutions would 
be many or great. Returns were received 
from over three hundred libraries, with the 
following result : 

CALIFORNIA. 

LELAND STANFORD, JR., UNIVERSITY, Palo 
Alto. Timothy Hopkins, $5,000 for purchase 
of works relating to railroads and for biologi- 
cal works. 

MERCED, etc. " By the will of the late John 
W. Mitchell, of Turlock, Cal., the towns of 
Merced, Modesto, Turlock, and Atwater each 
are given $5,000 for a public library." Lib. 
/., 19:29. 

NUEVO. ' ' Work has been begun on a pub- 
lic library building given to the town by a 
wealthy citizen. With the building, which 
will cost $10,000, will be given a library of 
5,000 volumes." Lib. J., 18:443. 

SAN FRANCISCO MERCANTILE. A. B. 
McCreery, $1,000. 

CONNECTICUT. 

CASK MEMORIAL, Hartford. Aggregate 
gifts of money, $1,343. 
9 



CONN. HISTORICAL Soc., Hartford. Ag- 
gregate, $3,750 for purchase of library of the 
late D. W. Patterson. 

OTIS, Norwich. Bequest of Wm. W. 
Backus, $15,000. Popular one-dollar subscrip- 
tions for purchase of books, $150. 

SHELTON. Bequest of David W. Plumb, 
$25,000 for lot and library building. Lib.}., 
18:443. 

WALLINGFORD. The Ladies' Library and 
Reading Room Assoc. received by will of the 
late Samuel Simpson $25,000 for a building 
and $20,000 as a permanent fund. Lib. J., 
19:214. 

WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, Middletown. Al- 
umni, $400 towards a fund of $2,500, for the 
purchase of books. 

YALE UNIVERSITY, New Haven. Mrs. 
Azariah Eldridge, bequest of $15,000. 

ILLINOIS. 

ALTON PUBLIC. Aggregate, $280.95. 

CHICAGO UNIVERSITY. " It was announced 
on Jan. 2 that John D. Rockefeller had sent 
$50,000 to the University of Chicago Library 
to be spent at once for books. This gift is 
distinct from the $500,000 due after July next." 
Lib. /., 19:67 (Feb., '94). My two requests 
for information remain unanswered. 

EAST ST. Louis PUBLIC. J. T. McCasland, 
and others, $7,550 for site of new building. 

GAIL BORDEN PUBLIC, Elgin. A. B. 
Church and S. M. Church, $12,500 for site of 
new building. 

INDIANA. 

NEW HARMONY WORKINGMEN'S INST. Dr. 
Edward Murphy, $20,000. 

IOWA. 

CORNELL COLLEGE, Mt. Vernon. Willard 
Stuckslager, $200 for books. 

UPPER IOWA UNIVERSITY, Fayette. Cash, 
$100. 

LOUISIANA. 

HOWARD MEMORIAL, N. O. R. E. Moon, 
$i,ooo. Mrs. Annie T. Howard, $600. Both 
for books. 



62 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



MAINE. 

BANGOR PUBLIC. Nathan C. Ayer, lot cost- 
ing $7,500. 

DYER, Saco. Sarah C. Bradbury, building, 
furnishings, and lot, costing $24,000. 

HUBBARD, Hallowell. (Formerly Hallo- 
well Social Library.) Gen. Thos. Hubbard, 
$20,000. 

MARYLAND. 

MARYLAND HISTORICAL Soc., Baltimore. 
Bequest of J. Henry Stickney, $1,000. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

BOSTON PUBLIC. " Wm. C. Todd of Atkin- 
son, N. H., has given to the trustees of the 
Boston Public Library the sum of $50,000 to 
be so invested as to secure a permanent an- 
nual income of $2,000, to be devoted to main- 
taining a newspaper reading-room in which 
newspapers representing every large city in 
the world may be obtained." Lib. J., 18:300. 
No answer to my inquiry. 

GARY, Lexington. Bequest of Geo. W. 
Robinson, $1,000. Lib J., 19:66. 

CONGREGATIONAL, Boston. Estate of Dr. 
L. P. Langworthy, former librarian, $10,000. 
Estate of J. H. Stickney, $5,000. 

GROTON PUBLIC. Bequest of Sarah P. 
Blood, $1,000, income for books. 

HAVERHILL PUBLIC. Hon. Jas. H.Carlton, 
legacy of $15,000, not available during lifetime 
of an only sister. 

LENOX. Prof. Thomas Egleston and others, 
$680. 

LEOMINSTER PUBLIC. Bequest of Alvah 
H. Burrage, $5,000. Lib. /., 18:522. 

LYNN PUBLIC. Bequest of Mrs. Elizabeth 
M. Shute, about $100,000 for new building. 

MANCHESTER PUBLIC. Mrs. Geo. D. Howe, 
$100. 

MELROSE PUBLIC. Bequest of Wm. Bailey, 
about $2,000. 

NEWBURYPORT PUBLIC. Bequest of Rev. 
Wm. O. Moseley, $10,000 for permanent fund. 

NEWTON THEOL. INST., Newton Centre. 
$50,000 for new library building, donor not 
named. 

No. ATTLEBOROUGH. Mrs. John A. Tweedy, 
Edmund Ira Richards, and Miss Hattie T. 
Richards, a building for memorial public li- 
brary, to cost about $25,000. Lib.J., 18:443. 

ROBBINS, Arlington. Henry Dexter, $100. 



SALEM PUBLIC. Hon. J. B. F. Osgood, 
$100. 

SOCIAL LAW, Boston. Bequest of Abbott 
Lawrence, $10,000. 

SPRINGFIELD PUBLIC. Bequest of Horace 
Smith, $50,000. Subscriptions for new build- 
ing. $71,000 (largest single donor, John 
Olmsted, $10,000). 

WALPOLE PUBLIC. Bequest of Francis W. 
Bird, $2,000 (and $30,000 prospectively). Lib. 
/., 19:246. 

WEST BROOKFIELD PUBLIC. Bequest of 
Henry Stickney, $500. 

WESTON PUBLIC. Bequest of Chas Hast- 
ings, $i,ooo. Francis Blake, $65. 
MICHIGAN. 

BIG RAPIDS. Bequest of Mrs. Fitch Phelps, 
$50,000 for a public library. Lib. J., 18:443. 

HILLSDALE COLLEGE. Bequest of Albion 
S. Jaquith, property valued at $60,000. 

SAGE, W. Bay City. Wm. Sage, $1,000 for 
books. West Bay City, $1,000. 

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor. 
Bequest of Dr. Corydon L. Ford, $20,000. 
Bequest of Miss Jean L. Coyle, $10,000. Both 
for permanent library fund. 
MISSOURI. 

DRURY COLLEGE, Springfield. Mrs. M. G. 
Moen, $i,oco towards new library building. 

ST. Louis MERCANTILE. Robert S. Brook- 
ings, $1,200. Isaac W. Morton, $500. Both 
for electric lighting plant. 

ST. Louis PUBLIC. With McAnally collec- 
tion of books comes not less than $50 a year 
for maintenance. 

NEBRASKA. 

DOANE COLLEGE, Crete. Estate of W. H. 
Whitin, $5,000. Jacob Taft, $1,000. N. A. 
Slater, $1,000. Others, $3,000. All for new 
library building. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

JAFFREY. Bequest of Susan B. Clay, $10,000 
(and $10,000 more, prospectively). Bequest 
of Joel Parker, $10,000. Both for public li- 
brary. Lib.J., 19:214. 

MARLBOROUGH. Bequest of Rufus S. Frost, 
$5,000 conditionally. Lib.J., 19:145. 

NEW JERSEY. 

COLLEGE ^OF NEW JERSEY, Princeton. C. 
S. Green and C. E. Green, $3,500. Class of 
'83, $1,000. 

ORANGE. Bequest of Mrs. Pamela A. 



KEPHART. 



Butterfield, piece of land and $500, condition- 
ally, for free library. Lib. J., 19:67. 

PLAINFIELD PUBLIC. Bequest of Geo. H. 
Babcock, $10,000 for scientific and technical 
books, and real estate yielding $r,ooo a year 
for maintenance of this collection. 

NEW YORK. 

BROOKLYN. Cash donations aggregate 
$450. 

BUFFA o. Hon. James M. Smith, $5,000. 

BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Hon. 
James M. Smith, $5,000 to building fund. Be- 
quest of Michael Hutchinson, $500. 

CENTURY ASSOCIATION. Bequest of Rich- 
ard S. Ely, $10,000. 

COLUMBIA COLLEGE, N. Y. Samuel P. 
Avery, $10,284.69. H. T. Imbrie, $250. Wm. 
Ziegler, $1,000. Anonymous, $20,000. W. 
C. Schermerhorn, $5,000. A. C. Bernheim, 
$100. F. A. Schermerhorn, $500. Henry 
Adams, $1,000. 

CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca. W. H. 
Sage, $5,000 for purchase of Zarncke collec- 
tion. Geo. Wm. Harris, $1,000 fund for form- 
ing collection of Victorian poets. H. B. Lord, 

ISO- 
GEN. THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, N. Y. So- 
ciety for Promoting Religion and Learning in 
the State of N. Y., $1,500 for books. 

GLOVERSVILLE. D. Hays, $100. Bequest 
of A. J. Kasson, $25,000. 

HAMILTON COLLEGE. Aggregate, $495, be- 
sides trustees' appropriation. 

I LION PUBLIC. Clarence W. Seamans, 
$30,000 for new building. Citizens of Ilion, 
$6,000 for books. A. H. Kellogg, $469 for 
printing catalogues. 

N. Y. FREE CIRCULATING. Catherine 
Bruce, $10,000. Oswald Ottendorfer, $1,000. 
Thomas Baring, $200. Wm. Salomon, $200. 

N. Y. MERCANTILE. Bequest of Thos. 
Parsons, $100. 

N. Y. Y. W. C. A. Aggregate, $1,142. 

TROY Y. M. A. L. Mrs. Mary E. Hart, new 
building and site valued at $30,000. 

UNION COLLEGE, Schenectady. Aggregate, 
$580. 

VASSAR COLLEGE. John D. Rockefeller, 
$i,ooo. Class of '92, $75. Class of '93, $150. 
All for books. 

WESTFIELD. Bequest of Hannah W. Pat- 
terson, $100,000 for a public library. 

OHIO. 

HISTORICAL AND PHILOS. Soc. OF OHIO, 
Cincinnati. Aggregate, $547.55 

WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, Cleve- 
land. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Mather, $2,180. 
Hon. John Hay, $1,000. Others, $320. 

PENNSYLVANIA,. 

BRYN MAVVR COLLEGE. Miss Mary Garrett, 
$i,ooo. Francis Cope, $500. Anonymous, 
$200. 



MEADVILLE THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL. Mrs. 
H. P. Kidder, $1,000 ; and collected by her, 
$2,000. Anonymous, $200. 

PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS. 
John D. Griscom, $5,000 for book fund. 

PHILADELPHIA CITY INSTITUTE. Aggre- 
gate, $1,159,92. 

RHODE ISLAND. 

PAWTUCKET PUBLIC. Bequest of Hon. Wm. 
F. Sayles, $100,000 for building. Lib. J., 
19:214. 

PROVIDENCE PUBLIC. Mrs. Cornelia R. 
Thurston, $1,000 for books. Bequest of Miss 
Julia Bullock, $5,000. Others, $125. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

CHARLESTON LIBRARY SOCIETY. City 
council (donation), $500 for binding. Ladies' 
Committee of Columbian Exposition, $100 for 
same. Miss Elizabeth Ann Pinckney, $100 
for Shaksperiana. 

VERMONT. 

ST. JOHNSBURY ATHEN/EUM. Mrs. Horace 
Fairbanks, $5,000 for books, $2,400 for en- 
largements, $4,000 in real estate for revenue. 

WINDSOR LIB. Assoc. Bequest of Mrs. 
Rebecca Harlow, real estate yielding $275 
yearly. 

VIRGINIA. 

ROSEMARY PUBLIC, Richmond. Anony- 
mous, $5,000. 

SUMMARY. 



California, 


$ 36,000.00 


Connecticut, 


105,643.00 


Illinois, .... 


70,330.95 


Indiana, . . . 


20,000.00 


Iowa, 


300.00 


Louisiana, . . . . 


1,600.00 


Maine, . . ... 


51,500.00 


Maryland 


1,000.00 


Massachusetts, 


i" 409,545-00 


Michigan, .... 


142,000.00 


Missouri, . 


3,700.00 


Nebraska, 


10,000.00 


New Hampshire, 


25,000.00 


New Jersey, 


35,000.00 


New York, . . . 


273,145.69 


Ohio, . 


4,047-55 


Pennsylvania, . , . 


11,059.92 


Rhode Island, . ; . . 


106,125.00 


South Carolina, 


. 700.00 


Vermont, i . 


16,900.00 


Virginia 


5,000.00 



Total, . 



$1,328,597-11 



In the above table, the gifts of which capital 
is not stated are calculated on the basis of 
yielding 5 per cent, yearly. 



6 4 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



REPORT ON PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. 



BY T. L. MONTGOMERY, LIBRARIAN, WAGNER FREE INSTITUTE, AND 
PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



A SERIES of questions concerning the re- 
lation of public libraries to University 
Extension was submitted to all the free public 
libraries having a circulation of 45,000 vols. and 
over, named in the list prepared by the Bureau 
of Education, and to certain other public 
libraries that were known to be equipped for 
University Extension work. The list com- 
prised some ninety libraries, and answers were 
received from sixty-three. 

Of the sixty-three answers, twenty-five re- 
port that their libraries are connected with the 
work, and thirty-eight report that they are not. 
In only five cases is the work carried on under 
the auspices of the library. Eight will provide 
class-rooms and lecture hall, and two will do 
so next year. Eight provide duplicate copies 
of books needed, six print lists of books, and 
ten furnish single copies and reserve them for 
the use of University Extension students. 

The lecturers come from a dozen universities 
and a college, and a few are editors or clergy- 
men. 

Two libraries report giving courses them- 
selves, but a course in Bibliography did not 
prove attractive. Eight libraries report that 
the courses were self-supporting, three say 
nay, and three are doubtful. Two libraries 
report that ten per cent, of the audiences did 
the class work and attended examinations, 
one from twenty to fifty per cent., and four 
say the percentage was very small. The aver- 
age number of courses given per year is three, 
while a considerable number have only tried 
one course and are doubtful about trying 
another. 

Thirteen libraries report constant use of li- 
brary by University Extension students, thirteen 
report marked effect upon the character of the 
reading, and five say the effect is not notice- 
able. To be frank in the matter I would say 
that the answers that have been received are 
of very little value in estimating the aid that has 
been given to the movement by the libraries. 

I have never been able to understand why 



the public librarian should be expected to act 
as the business manager of an educational 
movement in order that the books on certain 
shelves of his library should be appreciated. 
He is busy enough without this and some 
branch of his work will suffer if he becomes 
an enthusiast on the subject. 

It would be safe to conjecture that, in ninety 
per cent, of the cases where University Exten- 
sion has been successful in creating a real 
desire for study in the subjects covered by the 
lectures, the librarian has done all the hard 
work. The majority of the eight libraries that 
report the courses as self-supporting probably 
owe that result to the fact that the librarian 
devoted his attention to the business arrange- 
ments, and acted as advance agent without 
any remuneration except in the fact that the 
books on (say) Political Economy were being 
read. 

This, I regard as one of the chief objections 
to the public library being the instrument for 
the advancement of this work. It seems to 
me that the University Extension lectures are 
rather a development of the courses that used 
to be given in the Institutes, and that these 
are the proper authorities to provide facilities 
for the work, and so allow the public librarian 
to devote his superfluous energies to furnish- 
ing book-lists and seeing that students have 
a quiet place in which to consult the reference- 
books which relate to the subject they are 
working upon. In looking over the "remarks" 
made by librarians one cannot fail to notice 
the number who think it necessary to say 
' ' We have no University Extension ( So-called ) 
here." They also use a capital S for so- 
called, which would indicate that they feel 
deeply on the subject ! 

Whether the name University Extension is 
a good one or not has very little to do with 
the merits of the movement. Experience has 
proved that very good work can be done, if 
the students are given an opportunity to attend 
courses arranged in sequence, and the least 



MONTGOMERY. 



that can be expected of librarians is that they 
should not discourage such an improvement 
over old methods without a better cause for 
complaint. 

Of the work done by libraries during the 
past year that at the Newark Free Public 
Library calls for especial mention. Three 
courses of twelve lectures each were given, 
the subjects being Painting, Literature, and 
Astronomy. The library furnished hall, du- 
plicate copies of books, and printed lists. The 
committee held themselves responsible for 
expenses to the extent of $25 each. A fee of $3 
was charged for one course, $1.50 for second. 
The expenses were |i, 268.03 f r the three 
courses, and a balance of $190 is reported 
after two years' work. Literature paid well and 
covered deficit in other courses. From twenty 
to fifty per cent, of attendance did class-work, 
which is a very good showing. 

The Paterson Free Public Library furnished 
excellent lists for Extension students. The 
report states, however, that some of the lec- 
tures were not strictly of the University Exten- 
sion order, as no class-work was done. 

CALIFORNIA. 

The Los Angeles Public Library reports that 
the result of the courses was very satisfactory-. 
The town is 500 miles from the universities 
and professors can only be secured when they 
are examining high schools in that district. 
Special lists of books are provided . and a 
special attendant is deputed to assist the stu- 
dents. Miss Kelso adds that the influence of 
the courses is permanent, and the demand 
continues for books and lists of books on 
subjects considered two years ago. 

CONNECTICUT. 

The Bridgeport Public Library reports, "As 
is usual in such cases the Extension Lectures 
largely increased the number of readers of 
Political Economy. As is also usual, the de- 
mand for those special books ceased with the 
cessation of the lectures and has never since 
been renewed. This has been the invariable 
experience of this library with Chautauqua 
courses and all similar royal roads to learning. 
They create a demand for certain books as long 
as certain courses last, but they fail to make 
students . . . who are eager to read new books 
upon those subjects as soon as they are added 
to the library." 

New London Public Library reports that the 



lectures "Though called University Extension 
have been practically little more than popular 
lectures." 

ILLINOIS. 

Peoria Public Library reports, "Somebody 
wiser than young Ph. D.'s would be needed 
to make the name ' University ' respected 
here." 

INDIANA. 

Indianapolis Public Library reports, "Con- 
stant and thorough use of library by Extension 
students." 

LOUISIANA. 

Howard Memorial Library, New Orleans, 
reports that "Funds were provided by Tulane 
University ; three or four courses were given 
in a year, and the students used the library 
in considerable numbers." 

MARYLAND. 

Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore. Libra- 
rian Steiner remarks, " You know there hasn't 
a single (so-called) University Extension 
course been heard of in this town since the 
University of Pennsylvania stole all the thun- 
der thereof from H. B. Adams." 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Springfield City Library Association reports 
that lecture-rooms will be furnished when new 
building is completed. Furnishes lists of 
books and reserves books for students. Libra- 
rian Rice says, " I will only add my most 
hearty approval of the University Extension 
idea." This is the only report from a Massa- 
chusetts library that is in any way favorable to 
University Extension, and the opinion of some 
of them seems to be summed up in the remark 
that " President Eliot is not in sympathy with 
University Extension under that name." 

MICHIGAN. 

Detroit Public Library reports that "The 
work has been very successful under the di- 
rection of Mr. C. K. Backus. The small num- 
ber of those who secure certificates is the most 
discouraging feature of the work ; the library 
is largely used by students." 

Grand Rapids Public Library. "The work 
has been dropped because it was not self-sup- 
porting ; while the lectures were being given 
the library was constantly used." 

MINNESOTA. 

Duluth Public Library. "The management 
is in entire sympathy with the work and 
would be glad to help." 



66 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



Minneapolis Public Library states that " For 
several years courses have been carried on 
here, for the most part in the library building, 
with constant use of our books. For a year 
or two interest has languished, but for the 
coming fall and winter vigorous work is 
planned." 

St. Paul Public Library. "Work was car- 
ried on successfully one winter only." 

MISSOURI. 

Kansas City Public Library provides four to 
six courses of twelve lectures each. " About 
ten per cent, do class work." 

St. Louis Public Library. "Our experience 
is too limited to warrant conclusions except 
the general one that University Extension is a 
good thing, and that a library is the proper 
agent to carry it on." 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Dover Public Library. " University Exten- 
sion is to be undertaken next year under au- 
spices of the library, which will furnish lecture- 
room and books." 

NEW YORK. 

Gloversville Public Library. Mr. Peck's 
letter is so interesting that I give it in full : 
"This being an inland town, we have not 
been able to secure lecturers, as the time 
wasted in coming and going is too great, and 
this would not only increase the expense for 
the lecturer but also make it inconvenient for 
him to accept a call in case one should be ex- 
tended. However, I am not so easily dis- 
couraged, and during the last three years I 
myself conducted these classes in the follow- 
ing manner : I generally organize two 
classes each winter. I select the subjects 
which I think would be of greatest interest to 
the largest number ; so, for example, last 
year we took up Monetary Science. I use the 
syllabus prepared by Prof. G. M. Forbes of the 
University of Rochester. Each student is 
provided with one copy of the syllabus and 
the books recommended are furnished by the 
library. We meet once every week, discuss 
the matter read, and the members prepare 
papers, and from time to time hand in some 
written work on the subject in hand, which 
papers are again discussed by the class. Our 
students being of older age are diffident in try- 
ing the Regents' examinations, but otherwise 
I think good results have been obtained. ' I 
try to interest the members of the legal frater- 



nity, and they have frequently taken hold of 
the subject and given brief talks before our 
classes. You see, though working under dis- 
advantages, I am not discouraged." 

Buffalo Public Library. "Our experience 
was at the very beginning of the introduction of 
University Extension in this country, and it 
only half applied the principles. It belongs to 
the past." 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Carnegie Free Library, Allegheny. "Uni- 
versity Extension here was a failure from 
the lack of some public-spirited man to take 
the lead. There was no fund wherewith to 
hire lecturers. Last year the lectures were 
donated and were well attended." 

Mechanics' Library, Altoona. " Nearly 
self-supporting ; ten per cent, did class-work. 
An attempt was made to have courses in 
sequence, but lack of interest seemed to fol- 
low." 

Scranton Public Library. "'Barkis is 
willin', ' but University Extension does not 
seem to go here. ' ' 

Osterhout Free Library, Wilkes-Barre. 
" No work done last year." 

RHODE ISLAND. 

Providence Public Library. "The influ- 
ence of the University Extension movement is 
felt in every department of the library work." 

Pawtucket Public Library. "University 
Extension has not been the success that it 
would be under different management. The 
first year it was self-supporting ; the second it 
was a failure ; the third year funds were raised 
by the efforts of two ladies on the committee 
and the course was successful. Courses were 
discontinued last year owing to the financial 
depression, but another attempt will be made 
this winter." 

WISCONSIN. 

Milwaukee Public Library. "Generally 
self-supporting. The percentage of those at- 
tending lectures who do class-work is very 
small." 

The character of work done seems to vary 
very much in the same state, and in some 
cases certificates are given without any class 
work having been required. It is a mistake, in 
my opinion, to suppose that graded courses of 
study can be supported by the sale of tickets. 
There must be a fund on which the committee 
can depend, or else one of two things will 



CARR. 



happen. Either there will be a bewildering 
change from Electricity to Sculpture and 
thence to Economics, to attract audiences, or 
else the lectures will be attended by students 
only and financial disaster will follow. Very 
few centres have been able to extend these 
courses beyond the second series. If public 
libraries had a lecture fund at their disposal 
this work could be done well, but most of them 
are complaining that they have not enough 
money to carry on the work of the library- 
alone. Whether it is wise to maintain such 
work at the expense of the library funds is a 
question that admits of some argument. 

If the work is given up to the Institutes hav- 
ing a lecture fund the case becomes more hope- 
ful. When the University Extension movement 
was started in Philadelphia the Wagner Free 
Institute of Science was one of the first centres 
organized. (Courses of lectures in sequence 
had been given there, however, each year 
since 1855. ) At that time two of the Trustees 
were in favor of University Extension, two 
were opposed, and two didn't care anything 
about it as long as the lectures conducted by 
the trustees were not affected by it. We gave 
six courses, in two years, on English Literature, 
and Psychology, and at the end of that time 
the trustees were so much impressed with the 
success of the experiment that they ordered a 
syllabus to be prepared for each of the Insti- 



tute courses, and that a class be formed to 
meet the lecturer as in the Extension lectures. 

Now, forty lectures are given on each sub- 
ject extending over two years. The result has 
been that we have five students where we 
formerly had one and the audiences have in- 
creased slightly. No certificates are granted 
without the student has been regular in attend- 
ance and has done the work required. Forty 
lectures may not cover very much of the sub- 
ject, but it is a vast improvement over the 
"Sculpture, Music and Astronomy" arrange- 
ment. 

These courses are not given to "twenty- 
three private governesses, ten employes, four 
artisans and a house-maid, ' ' as were those on 
Greek Tragedy described by Charles Whibley 
in a paper in the Nineteenth Century called 
"The farce of University Extension." The 
people come because they cannot devote time 
during the day to college work. There are 
school-teachers and college-students in the 
classes, manual-training school boys, clerks and 
mechanics. If they are not able to do the work 
they soon drop out, and only qualified stu- 
dents remain. It is not a royal road to learn- 
ing by any means, and the young man who 
devotes his leisure time to these courses cer- 
tainly deserves some substantial acknowledge- 
ment. 



REPORT ON COLLECTIONS OF THE MINOR LITERATURE OF 

LOCAL HISTORY. 

BY HENRY J. CARR, LIBRARIAN, SCRANTON PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



'""PHE inquiry circulars sent out for the pur- 
pose of this report were aimed more large- 
ly at those public libraries which by reason of 
size, age, or location, might be supposed like- 
ly to have done something, directly or indi- 
rectly, in the line of work under consideration. 
For the sake of learning about the practice, or 
methods, of other institutions of a kindred 
nature, quite a number of proprietary, refer- 
ence, state, and some strictly historical libra- 
ries and societies were also included in the 
questioning. 

Circulars and query forms were sent to 350, 
and answers were received from 167, or 48 



per cent. ; 108 of those came from the north 
Atlantic states. Of such replies 112 were 
from " public libraries " as that term is com- 
monly understood. 

Of those responding 122 indicate a disposi- 
tion to obtain and use these petty materials of 
local history. For the 45 who reply in the 
negative it may be said that, usually, some 
good reason or local circumstance to the con- 
trary was adduced. Such, for instance, as 
limited quarters or opportunity ; or, the fact 
that another institution near by already 
covered the same ground sufficiently. 

As regards the 183 who did not make any 



68 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



reply, it is not safe to assume that none of 
them come within the category of libraries 
which might have answered yes. 

It is no easy matter (within the proper lim- 
its of this paper) to specify the various kinds 
of material sought and given place in our li- 
braries, etc., as constituting such minor litera- 
ture. "Everything in print, which comes into 
our possession," seems to be the rule of 
some ; but in more general terms it may be 
said that the subjoined list includes the chief 
items which usually receive any consideration 
other than in some exceptional cases : 

Annual reports of local societies, associa- 
tions, and institutions ; those of municipal 
and other corporations ; handbooks, manuals, 
and proceedings, of district, town, borough, 
city, and county executive, and governing 
bodies, or organizations ; newspapers ; local 
periodicals of every nature, however ephemer- 
al ; illustrated catalogs of local manufacturing 
or industrial establishments ; church-lists and 
their other publications ; club-lists ; school 
catalogs, circulars, and commencement pro- 
grams ; topic-lists, and reading-courses, of 
literary, scientific, or other clubs and classes ; 
programs of literary, musical, theatrical, or 
amateur entertainments ; sermons ; addresses; 
speeches in newspaper print as well as pamph- 
let ; newspaper accounts of important events, 
kept as scraps in envelopes, or made up into 
scrap-book pamphlets, or (sometimes, when 
extensive) into scrap-book volumes ; and bi- 
ographical and obituary notices treated in 
similar manner. 

The sources from which the material in 
question is usually obtained, and the methods 
of so doing, may vary according to local cir- 
cumstances. They chiefly resolve themselves, 
however, into a matter of close attention and 
continued efforts on the part of some one or 
more persons, together with repeated and per- 
sistent individual requests and searching. 
Varied phases of all such appear in the sundry 
replies received. 

Some more or less effective variations and 
supplementary measures have been applied, 
too, in the shape of circulars, advertisements 
in the local press, and special printed appeals. 
Eight especial instances of such were brought 
to the notice of the reporter, respectively, from 
Bowdoin College Library ; Historical Society 
of the State of Montana (Helena); Iowa Ma- 



sonic Library (Cedar Rapids); Jersey City 
Free Public Library ; Kansas State Historical 
Library (Topeka); Providence Public Li- 
brary ; Y. M. C. A. Library, of New York 
City ; and the Y. M. C. A. Historical Library 
at Springfield, Mass. 

Scarcely any of our older libraries have 
failed to receive from time to time, in a casual 
way, somewhat of this minor literature. Some- 
times it has been properly esteemed and pre- 
served and become the nucleus of collections 
now quite extensive and highly valued. In 
other cases it met with the neglect usually ac- 
corded to inexpensive productions and was 
counted as worthless lumber. 

In more recent years better ideas have be- 
gun to prevail and both our English cousins 
and our American libraries have awakened to 
a realization of the fruit which might be 
gathered from the hitherto neglected ephem- 
era. A few references and quotations may 
here be of interest and service in that connec- 
tion. 

Mr. Cutter, in his President's address at 
the St. Louis Conference (Lib.J., 14:151), laid 
down a good rule to follow in saying : " Every 
town library must collect exhaustively and 
preserve tenaciously every book, pamphlet, 
map, placard, poster, every scrap of written or 
printed matter relating to that town, and less 
exhaustively to the neighboring towns." 

Mr. Justin Winsor, at the dedication of a li- 
brary building at Somerville, said : "I think 
there is no more important purpose of a local 
library than to preserve its local literature, 
and the writings of its local authors. There is 
no other sure way of preserving such books. 
It is those books and tra*cts which are so in- 
significant in their day of freshness, because 
we are too near to them to discern their rela- 
tions, that are preserved in obscurity, to be- 
come in one time the treasures upon which 
the binder's skill is exhausted. The common- 
ness which makes us despise them now, gives 
the flavor which makes them representative 
then." 

In the Proceedings of the Catskill Confer- 
ence (Lib.J., 13:310-311), is reported an in- 
teresting and instructive discussion concern- 
ing the "Collection of local history by a li- 
brary." 

Mr. W. R. Cutter has given in Lib. J., 
17:420-422 an interesting description of the 



NELSON. 



69 



formation of a local collection in the Woburn 
Public Library and of the practical manner in 
which it was treated. 

In connection with the report of a meeting 
of the Massachusetts Library Club (Lib. J., 
17:428), is an account of the local collection of 
the Concord Free Public Library. That li- 
brary is credited with being, perhaps, the first 
to make an especial collection of its particular 
class. 

The " Lancastriana " of the Lancaster 
Town Library (brought together largely 
through the continued diligence of Hon. 
Henry S. Nourse of the Board of Trustees, 
with the painstaking care and continued as- 
sistance of Miss Alice G. Chandler, for seven- 
teen years the librarian), and referred to in 
Lib.]., 19:236, is a notable and model collec- 
tion of the kind. It is described at some 
length in the first report of the Massachusetts 
Free Library Commission (1891) 

That same Commission, in its report of 1894 
(quoted in Lib. J., 19:198), gives good sugges- 
tions for the making, by town libraries, of col- 
lections of local historical or geographical in- 
terest. Also suggests utilizing the collec- 
tions in a practical way, when made, in a con- 
nection between libraries and schools. 



In conclusion it may be said that study of the 
various replies received seems to show that all 
through our country the chief difficulty in the 
way of due preservation of material for local 
history lies in the indifference and apathy of 
the very public that produces it and supplies 
it. Nor do such institutions as the historical 
societies, which exist almost solely for that 
very purpose, appear to fare materially better 
in that respect than mere public libraries, un- 
less some one person makes a specialty of 
continually urging and seeking for that which 
is wanted and may be had for the asking. 

There probably exists a greater need, there- 
fore, for educating all people into a disposi- 
tion for saving and placing the various ma- 
terial with some kind of an institution (library 
or other), than for spurring the librarians 
themselves into any efforts for making such 
useful. Genuine librarians may be trusted to 
do the latter, once they obtain possession of 
the desired material. 

Noi^t. Many persons having responded at some 
length, giving instructive experiences, the reporter had 
prepared, in narrative form, quite a number of abstracts 
from the more striking replies and illustrative letters re- 
ceived. Owing to considerations of space and expense, 
however, it seems best to omit such appendix in the 
present printing of this report. 



REPORT ON CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGS. 



BY CHARLES ALEXANDER NELSON, COLUMBIA COLLEGE LIBRARY. 



j\/T R. Richard Bliss in his Report on Classifi- 
cation, read at the St. Louis Conference, 
1889, discussed the question of classification 
so fully and clearly, and Mr. Kephart gave so 
admirable a summary of the subject in the 
abstract of his paper presented at Chicago last 
year, that your reporter does not deem it 
necessary to renew the discussion at this time. 
He will simply endeavor to collect what of 
major importance in this field has been noted 
in the Library Journal or has otherwise come 
to his attention since the report of 1889 was 
published. 

The Italian renaissance in bibliography gave 
the first important contribution in Dr. Giuliano 
Bonazzi's Schema di catalogo sistemalico per 
le bibliothece, Partna, 1890, of which Mr. 

XO 



Bliss gives a careful critical notice in Library 
Journal, 16 : 5. It is a strictly systematic clas- 
sification, Mr. Bliss says, with class-marks, 
suitable for libraries of moderate size, and, 
though Dr. Bonazzi is a believer in close classi- 
fication, and recognizes that it gives the most 
satisfactory results, he has not worked out his 
Schema with anything like minuteness, though 
he has carried it out on these lines. Mr. Bliss 
points out the limitations of a base of twenty- 
five capital letters to which Bonazzi confines 
his main divisions or classes using but one letter 
for each, in which respect he declares Bonazzi's 
device shows no advance on the schemes of 
twenty years ago. At the same time he com- 
mends some felicities of sub-classification and 
concludes that " Dr. Bonazzi has attained a fair 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



measure of success in his attempt to compile 
a logical and simple classification for a small 
library." 

His arrangement of classes is as follows : 
A, General works ; B, Ethnic religions, my- 
thology, etc. ; C, Christian religion ; D, Juris- 
prudence ; E, Sociology ; F, Philology ; G, 
Literature ; H, Philosophy ; I, Science, physi- 
cal and mathematical ; K, Chemistry ; L, 
Natural science ; M, Medicine ; N, Surgery ; 
O, Pharmacy ; P, Veterinary science ; Q, Ag- 
riculture ; R, Industry and manufactures ; S, 
Fine arts ; T, Music ; U, Recreative arts, 
sport, theatre ; V, Geography ; W, Voyages 
and travels ; X, Archaeology ; Y, Biography ; 
Z, History. 

The Classification of the Cornell University 
Library is briefly outlined by G. W. Harris in 
Lib. J., 16:138. He says: " Hardly a single 
professor whom I consulted about the arrange- 
ment of the books in his special line of work 
was willing to accept any of the printed classi- 
fications without more or less modification. 
The result is that ours is a classification based 
rather upon practical convenience than any 
strictly logical method. Our classes are asso- 
ciated rather than subordinated one to another. 
We begin our numeration with Language, 
followed by Literature ; History conies next, 
its arrangement and position largely the con- 
sequence of the terms of the gift of the White 
Library, which had to be placed in a separate 
room, and which we desired to bring into as 
close relation as possible with allied subjects 
in the General Library. After History comes 
Law, followed by a group comprising Political 
science, Political economy, Social life and 
Education. Next comes Philosophy, then 
Religion, followed by Ecclesiastical history. 
In the division Arts and Sciences, we have 
first the Fine arts, including here Music and 
Dramatic art. We make no general separa- 
tion of the Sciences from the Useful arts, as 
is done in most systems. The applications of 
any science are for the most part associated 
with the science itself, an arrangement the re- 
sult of consultation with the professors most 
interested in the various subjects. The ar- 
rangement is somewhat like this : 

"Mathematics, followed by Astronomy, 
Naval and Military science. 

Engineering, Civil and Mechanical. 

Technology and Domestic arts. 

Physics. 



Chemistry, followed by Chemical technology. 

Mineralogy, followed by Metallurgy. 

Geology and Petrography. 

Palaeontology. 

Botany, Forestry, Horticulture, Agriculture. 

Zoology, Anatomy, Physiology, Medicine. 

"Of Biography we have made no separate 
class except for dictionaries and collective 
biographical works, our biographies being 
distributed throughout the different classes, 
the life of an author with his works, lives of 
statesmen with the history of their time, etc. 
Travels too, are, for the most part, distributed 
in a similar way. Bibliography is placed next 
to general literature. Folklore we have de- 
cided to place with the books on Social life, 
between Political economy and Education. 
. . . Much of their work is done by our 
professors and advanced students among the 
books, and the arrangement of biographies 
and travels in separate classes would be 
extremely inconvenient to the students who 
wish to study the history or literature of a 
particular period, while it is, as we know by 
experience, a great convenience to our histor- 
ical students to have the lives of statesmen 
with the histories of their time. The same 
thing is true of our literary students, and so we 
have no separate class of Fiction. 

" The literature of a country we arrange 
chronologically by periods, sub-dividing, 
where it seems desirable, the literature of a 
period by classes, as Poetry, Drama, Fiction. 
For many libraries this would be, no doubt, a 
very inconvenient arrangement. For us it 
seems much the best. 

"As to notation we have adopted, in the 
main, an expansive system of press-numbers 
on the British Museum plan, taking the num- 
bers from loo to 9,999 for the presses in the 
stacks, and leaving gaps between the numbers 
actually used at present. A letter denotes the 
shelf, and to each shelf, we allot 99 numbers, 
leaving gaps to be filled by future additions. 
In this way we think we have combined many 
advantages of the fixed and relative location 
systems. Such is a brief outline of our scheme, 
which seems to suit our needs, though for 
another library with different needs and a 
different constituency it might not be found at 
all satisfactory. " 

This last sentence of Mr. Harris' brings us 
at once to C: H. Hull's notice (in Library 
Journal, 16:118) of Dr. Arnim Grasel's 



NELSON. 



Grundzfige der Bibliothekslehre mit biblio- 
graphischen und erlautemden Anmerkungen. 
NeubearbeitungvonJ. Petzholdts Katechismus 
der Bibliothekslehre, 1890 ; though not a clas- 
sification the point emphasized by Mr. Hull 
bears distinctly upon the relative merits of clas- 
sifications, and may well be brought out here. 
Referring to Dr. GrasePs notes Mr. Hull says : 
' ' On account of the fulness with which they 
cite the literature, especially the American 
literature, of each subject discussed, they are, 
for American readers, not the least valuable 
part of the book. ' ' Much of value was buried, 
too, in the foreign literature. "Dr. Grasel 
attempts to be the needed miner . . . preserv- 
ing most of the gold and washing away most 
of the gravel. ... If we find in his book 
much to disagree with, we shall find much, 
perhaps more, that we can approve. Nor,, 
indeed, need dissent from some of the opinions 
advanced blind us to the force with which 
they are presented. Indeed, if we feel that 
library methods should be adapted to the 
library in which they are used, that they are 
relative, not absolute, we may profit most by 
the very passages from which we dissent. Dr. 
Grasel himself is fully convinced of the rela- 
tivity of library methods. He thinks 'that 
system the best which most appropriately and 
completely corresponds to the special pecu- 
liarities and real needs of the library.' His 
book is, therefore, rather suggestive than 
dogmatic. It is, perhaps, allowable to empha- 
size this one of Dr. Grasel's many merits be- 
cause the spirit which produces it seems to be 
vanishing from among us. The writer (Mr. 
Winsor) of the first paper ever printed in the 
Library Journal appreciated this relativity 
fully. But that was in the Dark Ages in 1876. 
Since our Renaissance we are prone to at- 
tempt the solution of all, or nearly all, problems 
without reference to their conditions. Hence 
the frequent advocacy of various schemes 
suited, perhaps, well enough to the ideals of 
the schemers, but without adaptability to any 
collection of existing facts in the heavens 
above or the earth beneath or the waters un- 
der the earth." 

Minute Classifications for Education are 
given in Lib. J., 16:329, one by Mr. Linder- 
felt, the other the Seventh scheme from C: 
A. Cutter's "Expansive classification," of 
which more will be said later on. 



W. A. Borden's Sub- classification for Pho- 
tographic collections (Lib. J., 17:195) is carried 
out to eighteen divisions which are very un- 
evenly sub-divided. For example, Arts and 
trades are sub-divided into General, Extrac- 
tive arts, Chemical arts, Fabricative arts, Con- 
structive arts, Commercial arts, Recording 
arts, Domestic arts and Miscellaneous, and 
these have forty-four additional sub-divisions 
providing special places for such peculiar sub- 
jects of the photographic art as lumber, chem- 
icals, bleaching and dyeing, beverages, busi- 
ness, book-keeping, stenography and type- 
writing. On the other hand, Medical science 
has no sub-divisions, and Fine arts but nine 
of the most general character, such as Sculp- 
ture and allied arts, Painting and decoration, 
Furniture and fabrics (decorative). 

Mr. John Parker, Assistant-Librarian, ex- 
plains the Peabody Institute system of press- 
marks (Lib. J., 17:233) which may be briefly 
condensed as follows : The stories are num- 
bered from i to 6 and the alcoves from i to 
7, and on the wall of every alcove is placed its 
proper number. An alcove contains ten 
presses, each having seven shelves, except 
those on the first story, which have eight ; 
the presses are numbered from i to 10, and 
the shelves from i to 7 or 8, as the case may 
be. The books placed in these alcoves have 
corresponding numbers, and no press-mark 
exceeds four figures. A book marked 1436 
(to be read one four three six) belongs on 
the first story, fourth alcove, third press, and 
sixth shelf. The same numbers are used for 
both sides of the library, the sign (minus) 
being placed before the press-marks of all 
books on the east side of the hall. 

Nothing is said about any other book -num- 
ber, the press-mark simply indicating the 
shelf on which the book maybe found, and 
it appears that the reader must give the title 
of the book wanted upon the call-slip. This 
somewhat resembles the fixed location shelf- 
number of the Astor Library. 

Mr. J. C. Rowell, Librarian of the University 
of California, prints (Lib. J., 17:447) the Clas- 
sification of pure mathematics devised for that 
library by Prof. Irving Stringham of the Uni- 
versity. Mr. Rowell says: "The new clas- 
sification and notation has a base of 999, lower- 
case letters being appended for sub-divisions 
and minor classes. The letters a, b, c, inva- 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



riably represent bibliography, dictionaries and 
cyclopaedias, and periodicals respectively. 

" The principle guiding the classification is 
to arrange the subjects in the ' natural order,' 
the natural,. consecutive order of study ; to 
place related subjects in proximity to each 
other, and theories, generals, history, etc., 
before applications, particulars. The numerals 
from i to 999 are distributed throughout to 
the end that no principal class shall have more 
than three figures as its class-mark. Author 
numbers are added to the class-marks for 
each book." 

Mr. C. R. Olin, Librarian of Buchtel College, 
Akron, O., has devised An order table for col- 
lective biography (Lib. J., 18:144). " I have 
made," he says, "a table to be used in con- 
nection with Cutter's, to bring together in any 
given class of biographies all of those works 
which treat of the lives of several persons, 
and at the same time to have them arranged al- 
phabetically by their authors, editors, or col- 
lectors, as the case may be, immediately pre- 
ceding the individual biographies of the same 
class (Decimal classification)." 

The use of this table does not seem neces- 
sarily to be limited to the Decimal classifica- 
tion. 

Miss Mary E. Hawley, of the Library 
School, in an admirable notice of Ed. Reyer's 
Entwicklung und Organisation der Volksbiblio- 
theken, 1893, (Lib. /., 19:97) condenses the 
author's observations on classification as fol- 
lows : " As to classification, in the interest ol 
international comparison a scheme should be 
adopted not too far differing from the English 
and American. The classes recommended 
are, in brief: i, Religion, philosophy, educa- 
tion ; 2, History and biography ; 3, Geog- 
raphy and travel ; 4, Political economy and 
sociology ; 5, Household or domestic matters 
(for the benefit of feminine readers); 6, Man- 
ufactures, technology ; 7, Natural science 
and mathematics ; 8, Art, including art indus- 
tries ; 9, Language and literature ; 10, Poetry 
and drama ; n, Fiction." Juveniles should 
be classified and distributed among the other 
books, but indicated by J. Periodicals also 
should be classified. 

Mr. W: I. Fletcher in his Public Libraries in 
America devotes chapter 5 to " Classification 
and catalogues," and submits in Appendix i, 
a Scheme of classification, which is also pub- 



lished separately as Library classification ; re- 
printed, with alterations, additions, and an 
index-, 1894. Both of these books are noticed 
in Lib. J., 19:237. Your reporter is inclined 
to the opinion of this critic when he says "it 
is perhaps to be regretted that librarians, 
especially younger librarians, should be con- 
fronted with still another 'system,' and that Mr. 
Fletcher's influence should add an additional 
perplexity to the troublesome decision as 
to whether 'Dewey,' 'Cutter,' or (now) 
'Fletcher' shall be adopted in individual li- 
braries." 

Mr. Fletcher is somewhat dogmatic in his 
denunciation of the "'multitudes of schemes 
[of classification that] have been contrived 
which," he says, " have had more or less ac- 
ceptance, especially with librarians not qual- 
ified or not disposed to do independent work 
of this sort." 

Mr. Fletcher's own admissions that his first 
small alphabetical scheme will be changed in 
a larger library to one in which the classes will 
be numbered, and that "when the library has 
outgrown such a system and requires a more 
definite arrangement, a scheme of classes can 
be made out with reference to the books in 
hand and to those likely to be added," simply 
throw into the future an amount of work and 
expense which, in a rapidly growing library, 
can not be economically undertaken or met, 
and which can be wholly avoided by the 
adoption in the beginning of one of these ob- 
jectionable "schemes," in which the lesser 
needs of a small library are embraced without 
confusion in the provision made for the ever 
expanding and varying needs of the largest. 

It may be questioned, too, in what respect 
the "sub-divisions" in his own scheme of 
classification (as under Physics) and such 
other " as may be needed in any class " differ 
from "minor classes " subordinated " to more 
general ones, and these to others, as happens 
in the logical classifications." Verily the 
cacoethes classificandi seems to prevent Mr. 
Fletcher from seeing that since "no com- 
pletely satisfactory results can be obtained in 
the effort to apply to an individual library a 
scheme imported from without " his own 
scheme of classification necessarily falls into 
the same category with "all the classification 
schemes." 

If Mr. Fletcher had been less sweeping in 



NELSON. 



73 



objection to " all the classification schemes" 
his own would have been less open to attack 
from his own words against them. 

His classes and sub-divisions differ in order, 
though but very little in name, from those oi 
all the other schemes. His numerical nota- 
tion, awkwardly expansive as it is, is prefer- 
able to the simple " press-marks " which have 
proved satisfactory in instances referred to 
above, as it will allow of separate book-num- 
bers. Many town libraries will doubtless find 
his Library classification sufficient for their 
needs, as they would also find any other 
scheme or part of scheme of equal scope. 

Apropos to our subject a letter of Mr. 
Kephart's (Lib. J., 17:228) deserves reproduc- 
tion here: " For a long time I have not written 
about my struggles with the classification 
problem. This was not from lack of interest 
in the matter, but because I had vowed not to 
say anything about it until I had either adopted 
'Cutter' or finished something more to my 
taste. Being of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, 
and consequently stubborn, I hammered away 
on my scheme, until at last it is fit to test side- 
by-side with 'Cutter.' The test has been 
made, and I am not sorry to say that 'Cutter' 
has won. My classification was really not 
bad (pardon the egotism), and my notation 
was good in many ways. But neither of them 
is an all-around improvement. They are sim- 
ply a little better in some ways and a good 
deal worse in others. 

" I do not regret the time and energy con- 
sumed. The disciplinary value of the work is 
worth what the fury cost me; and I can now 
appreciate the tremendous labor represented 
by cumulative classification the strain upon 
knowledge, skill, and common sense, that Mr. 
Cutter has borne with a smile all these years. 
Make any use of this confession you please." 

This brings us to a brief consideration of 
Mr. Cutter's Expansive classification, Part i: 
The first six- classifications, 1891-93. Of the 
Seventh classification the sections Philosophy, 
15 p., part of Religion and religions, 48 p., and 
of History, 20 p., and the Local list, 35 p., 
have been received. Mr. Cutter's own words 
from his Introduction are moderate and to 
the point: "We must not expect too much 
from classification. It will never enable us 
to do away with either the author or subject 
catalogue. . . . But within the proper limits of 



its work, and in connection with the catalog, 
classification is of the greatest value as one of 
the keys that unlocks the treasure-house of 
knowledge. . . . However well a librarian may 
know the position of his books, however in- 
dependent he may be of catalog and classifi- 
cation, when he dies or resigns he will take 
away his knowledge with him. There is no 
way in which he can transmit part of it to his 
successor so quickly and so effectually as by 
leaving the books well classified." 

" Libraries might be arranged in an ascend- 
ing series, with reference to the need and 
gain of order. . . . The three factors, size, use 
and degree of shelf access enter in varying 
proportions into each library's character, and 
by the resulting product its managers can de- 
termine how minute shall be its classification." 

Referring to the necessity of changing the 
marks when change is made from a broad to 
a closer classification, he warns "against the 
inexpediency of selecting a too simple clas- 
sification for a fast-growing library. Always 
classify ahead of your stock of books. I am 
tempted to say the farther ahead the better." 

The first six classifications have a general 
index. Each division of the Seventh will have 
its own index. While a general library may 
find its needs fully met by the Fifth or Sixth, 
a special or sudden development in any one 
or more directions can be met by adopting the 
corresponding divisions from the Sixth or 
Seventh classifications. 

There is neither time nor space for your re- 
porter to mention all the catalogs and bulle- 
tins worthy of special mention that have been 
published since the report of 1890. The selec- 
tions made must therefore not be considered 
in any way invidious. 

Mr. Paul L. Ford reviews in terms of high 
praise in Lib. J., 16:14, The Charlemagne 
Tower Collection of American colonial laws 
(by C: R. Hildeburn), 1890, published for the 
Historical Soc. of Pa., and at p. 55 of the same 
volume the Catalogue of the N. Y. Southern So- 
ciety " Gat den library" of Southern Americana, 
1891. 

A partial bibliography of the published 
works of members of the American Hist. Assoc. 
by Paul L. Ford, 1890, is given, p. 163-427 of 
the annual report of the Assoc., and is 
noticed Lib. /., 16:150, by W: I. Fletcher. 
Mrs. Mary. H. Miller's Biennial report of the 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



State Librarian to the Gov. of Iowa, July i, 
1892, contains " a very creditable attempt to 
catalog the publications of the State govern- 
ment " in chronological order ; there are 
adeed a "Check list of Iowa laws, 1838-90," 
a " List of Iowa authors with their publica- 
tions," and a table of "Statistics relating to 
public, university, and school libraries in 
Iowa." 

Mr. Ford, Lib. J., 17 : 61, pronounces "A 
descriptive catalogue of the official publications 
of the Territory and State of Indiana from 
1800 to 1890," by far the fullest and most care- 
ful list of State publications which has yet ap- 
peared, ' ' one which should serve as a model for 
other catalogs of the kind. In Lib. J., 16:54, 
17:174 and 18:51, Mr. Ford reviews respectively 
the 2ist, 22d, and 23d annual Report of the State 
Librarian of New Hampshire, Arthur R. Kim- 
ball. These notices must be read or the reports 
themselves be examined to understand the 
amount of careful and valuable work they 
contain. The twenty-first gives : i . " The N. H. 
official publications, 1889-90," continued in 
the others ; 2. "A list of reports of depart- 
ments, etc., 1822 to 1889," extended to 1892 
and indexed to 1891 ; 3. "A list of N. H. 
regimental historians and histories ;" 4. "A 
check-list of N. H. laws from 178910 1889," 
also extended to 1892 ; 5. " An author-list of 
N. H., 1685-1829." " An alphabetical classed 
list of all the libraries in N. H." is given in the 
twenty-third report, and other valuable mat- 
ter is also given in this as well as in the 
twenty-second report. 

Mr. J : G. Ames* ' ' List of Congressional doc- 
uments from the isth to the sist Congress, 1892, 
is or should be in the hands of every librarian, 
and is invaluable wherever government doc- 
uments are to be collected and preserved. 

Mr. J. C. Filling's Bibliography of the Al- 
gonquian languages, 1891, and his bibliogra- 
phies of other Indian languages are wonder- 
ful contributions " to our knowledge of Amer- 
ican literature as a whole." 

Mr. W: C. Lane's Index to recent reference 
lists ; No. 4, 1890, with its predecessors, fur- 
nishes a key to a vast amount of otherwise ab- 
solutely buried information, and adds greatly 
to our general indebtedness to the Harvard 
Bibliographical contributions, of which this is 
No. 40. No. 45, also, containing Notes on 
special collections in American libraries, by 



W: C. Lane and C: K. Bolton, will prove in- 
valuable to students in special lines of work. 
Mr. Ford, Lib.}., 17:461, has done good ser- 
vice in showing up, in his notice of the work, 
those libraries which neglected to make care- 
ful response to the circular letters of inquiry 
that were issued. 

A topical outline of the courses in con- 
stitutional and political history of the U. S. 
given at Harvard College, 1889-91, by Prof. 
A. B. Hart, though not a catalog, is of so great 
value to librarians in general as to call for 
mention here. 

Prof. H: Carrington Bolton deserves the 
gratitude of all librarians for his labor of love 
in compiling A select bibliography of chemistry, 
1492-1892, published by the Smithsonian In- 
stitution, Miscel. coll. v. 36, no. 851. 

Mr. W: C. Lane, Lib. J., 16:148, reviews 
carefully and fully the Eclectic card-catalog 
rules by Karl A. Linderfelt, and makes the 
general criticism that "too many distinctions 
and special classes of books are made," but 
he adds "The book may advantageously be 
used as a text-book in connection with Cutter's 
for training assistants, and in all libraries as a 
record-book in which to set down the details 
and methods of work peculiar to each." The 
book is of value to every cataloger because in it 
are incorporated the rules of all the other 
systems of cataloging known to the compiler, 
thus making it "a digest of the accepted 
practices of the art and mystery of catalog- 
ing." 

The St. Louis Mercantile Library Catalogue: 
Sec. i, English prose fiction, 1892, is a catalog 
of 14,000 v. and was compiled in five months. 
" It reflects," says the late Miss H. E. Green, 
" the greatest credit both on the library, and 
on its compiler, Miss Kate E. Sanborn. It 
shows no sign either of haste, or of a ' 'prentice 
hand,' but is a model of clearness, conciseness, 
and economy of entry. The book-numbers 
are given for all titles, being the Cutter author- 
numbers, preceded by the number 7, denoting 
the class English prose fiction, and followed 
by the initial letter of the special book-title ; 
thus rendering the catalog doubly valuable for 
use in its own library, and taking nothing from 
its value to persons who wish to consult a 
thoroughly well-arranged fiction catalog." In 
the appendix is given a valuable chronological 
list (18 pages) of historical fiction. 



NELSON. 



The Association of the City of &. Y. Library 
catalogue, 1892, contains 1135 p. and includes 
nearly 40,000 v. ; is in two parts, an author cat- 
alog in large type, with medium titles and 
imprints ; and a subject-index with very short 
titles, compiled by W. J. C. Berry and J. H. 
Senter. 

The Catalogue of the Marsh library, Uni- 
versity of Vermont, 1893, complied by H. L. 
Koopman, is a handsome volume of 742 p. 
giving in a dictionary form the contents of that 
important philological collection of 13,000 
volumes. The work has been carefully and 
admirably done. 

A subject-index of the modern works added 
to the Library of the British Museum in 1885- 
90, by G. K. Fortescue, 1891, notwithstanding 
its high cost (ten dollars) is a volume of great 
value to the librarian who would keep his selec- 
tion of important books fully up to date, 
covering as it does the best of recent publica- 
tions of all lands arranged under the subjects of 
which they treat. 

An interesting paper on How to catalog 
books, byj. Taylor Kay, is reprinted Lib. J., 
19: 125 from the Nineteenth Century for July, 

1893- 

Librarians collecting works in the Italian 
language will welcome Imigliori libri Italiani, 
consigliati da cento illustri contemporanei, 
Hoepli, 1892, a volume of about 450 p., made 
up from lists selected by a hundred of the best 
known literary men and scholars of Italy, who 
were requested to name what they considered 
the best books in the various departments of 
Italian literature. It contains about 5,000 
titles of ancient and modern works. 

Signora Giulia Sacconi-Ricci contributes 
a paper entitled "Observations on the. 
various forms of catalogues used in modern 
libraries, with special reference to a system of 
mechanical binding " to Lib, J., 18 423, which 
will interest most librarians, and deserves 
special mention here for its admirable state- 
ment of the points covered. 

The Harlem Library catalogue, 1893, in- 
cludes the 17,000 volumes in the library in a 
simple dictionary catalog of 948 p., compiled 
under the direction of Geo. M. Perry, librarian, 
by Rev. Albert Lee, formerly of Columbia 
College Library, and F. Weitenkampf of the 
Astor Library. 

Poolers Index to Periodical Literature : The 



second supplement from Jan. i, 1887, to Jan i, 
1892 ; by W: I. Fletcher and others, 1893, 
needs only that its title be rcorded, as its 
value is familiar to all, and so also of the 
Annual literary index for 1892 and 1893, which 
every library should have. 

The A. L. A. Index to general literature, 
etc., 1893, may not, but should, be as well 
known as Poole's Index, for they belong side 
by side in every library. Indeed the A. L. A. 
Index should find a place in even the smallest 
library, where Poole's would not be needed 
because the sets of periodicals indexed by it 
might never find place on its shelves. While 
the list of those books indexed in the A. L. A. 
Index would be a constant reminder of the 
books to be bought for its small collection. 

Vol. 1 5 of the Index-catalogue of the Library 
of the Surgeon-General's Office, U. S. A., has 
recently been published, covering from Uni- 
versidad to Vzorotf. This volume includes 
6,152 author-titles, representing 3,312 volumes 
and 4,235 pamphlets. It also includes 8,596 
subject-titles of separate books and pamphlets 
and 35,667 titles of articles in periodicals. 
The fifteen volumes include 163,605 author- 
titles, representing 80,806 vols. and 139,891 
pamphlets ; and also include 160,245 subject- 
titles of separate books and pamphlets and 
497. 8 3 2 titles of articles in periodicals. The 
amount of labor involved in these figures can 
best be appreciated and understood by the 
catalog-librarian, who knows what analytical 
work means. The wonder is how Dr. Billings 
has been able to secure the appropriations 
needed to carry on this magnificent work, the 
completion of which seems to be clearly in 
sight. This is the work which a library trus- 
tee in New York once told your reporter "had 
turned the heads of all the librarians in the 
country." As in almost the same breath he 
said that "all librarians were cranks," the 
enormous amount of ' ' conservation of en- 
ergy" in this grand Index is evident. The 
vision of Dr. Billings transfusing some of his 
magic power into the library committees of 
Congress, and the staff of the Library of Con- 
gress, with the joined possibilities ol the co- 
operation of the ever-ready and ever-willing 
workers in this Association, rises in the ima- 
gination, with a promise of results that seem 
chimerical to us ; but why should a General 
subject-index to American libraries seem more 



7 6 



LAKE PL A C1D\ \ CONFERENCE. 



of a chimaera to us than this Index would have 
seemed to the librarians of twenty-five years 
ago? 

One of the handsomest catalogs yet pub- 
lished is the Catalogue of the Library of the 
Long Island Historical Society, 1863-93, l8 93- 
We quote from the preface: "The present 
catalogue makes no attempt to classify books 
by their subjects, or to give an index to the 
contents of them, but simply to present 
a list of those now possessed by the Society. 
It is strictly a catalogue of books, not a dic- 
tionary of the subjects treated in books ; and 
it assumes that those using it will know what 
authors they wish to consult, and on what sub- 
jects these have written. Each book has, 
therefore, commonly but one full title, under 
the name of its author. Almost the only ex- 
ception to this rule occurs in biographical and 
genealogical works, where the full title is given 
under the name of the person or the family 
with whom the book is concerned, with a 
cross-reference to or from the author. ' ' The 
catalog was made by Miss Jessie E. Prentice 
" with the utmost care, and, the Directors be- 
lieve, with an exact and elegant accuracy. ' ' 
It contains 801 p. in double columns of a very 
clear and distinct type the author's surname 
in a full-face type, and the contents, when 
given, in a smaller type than the regular 
titles. The pages average a little over 50 
titles each. The book is beautifully printed, 
and bound in plain gray buckram with a white 
paper label. 

It may not be out of place to mention here 
the Catalog (now printing) of the Avery Me- 
morial Library, Columbia College, of archi- 
tectural and related works. The collection 
covered by the catalog embraces about 12,000 
vols. presented to the Library by Samuel P. 
Avery, Esq. The catalog will contain 1,100 
or more pages, large octavo. The type is 
small pica for titles of books, the authors' 
names in pica of De Vinne full-face, with con- 
tents and notes in nonpareil. The book-num- 
bers are printed on the right of the titles. 
The paper is a dead white and the page is re- 
markably clear and almost sumptuous in bril- 
liancy. The classification and notation were 
especially devised by Mr. Geo. H. Baker for 
the collection. 

The Catalog of the "A. L. A." Library, 
1893, calls for mention only for the sake of 



record. Like good wine it needs no bush. 
Not that it is perfect ; each one of us could, 
of course (!), strike out a score of titles and 
replace them with better ones, and these 
would all be different. But the A. L. A. cat- 
alog stands as the model for the general li- 
brary of its size. 

Mention must be made, too, of the Los An- 
geles Public Library List of novels in the En- 
glish, French, German and Spanish lan- 
guages, 1894. It is an author-index of English 
and foreign writers, in one alphabet. "The 
main features of the catalog are the simple 
brevity of the entries author, title and call- 
number only the system of annotation, the 
list of books of criticism, and the arrangement 
of the subject-index." It was compiled by 
Miss Adelaide R. Hasse, assistant librarian, 
aided by members of one of the training- 
classes of 1893. 

It does not often fall to the lot of a reporter 
to include the romance of a library in his re- 
port, but the chance now offers in the case of 
the Guille-Altzs Library ; Encyclopedic cat- 
alogue of the lending department compiled un- 
der the direction of A. Cotgreave, Guernsey, 
1893. This fat duodecmo volume contains an 
introduction of 47 p., an English section of 
1220 p. and a Section Francaise of 273 p. It 
contains 8,000 author, 7,000 subject and 
12,000 title entries ; 3,000 biographical and 
2,000 explanatory notes ; 50,000 references to 
other works (or analytical) and the contents 
of 3,000 works have been given. Mr. Cot- 
greave 's claims for novel features are dis- 
posed of in the notice in Lib.J., 18:445. The 
romance comes in the history of the founding 
of the Library. 

In 1832 Thomas Guille, a lad of fourteen, 
left his home in Guernsey and came to New 
York as apprentice to Daniel Mauger, a car- 
penter and builder. The boy was fond of 
reading and his master's books were made 
free to him for use. Among them was Dr. 
Adam Clarke's Scripture Commentary and " it 
was through the Doctor's clever and striking 
explanations of several passages of Scripture 
by the aid of physical science, that the youth- 
ful student's taste for" the study of natural 
science was aroused. In 1834 he was intro- 
duced to the privileges of the Apprentices' 
Library. " Never shall I forget, " he writes, 
" the emotion of wonder and delight which 



AUSTIN. 



seized me, when, for the first time, I entered 
that Library. . . . Up to that evening I had 
never seed so many books gathered together, 
and what more especially surprised and de- 
lighted me was the assurance that they were 
all intended for the special benefit of young 
apprentices like myself." 

On his way home that night there flashed 
into his mind the need of just such a library as 
the Apprentices' for his native island. He re- 
solved to save every penny possible for the 
purchase of books which should form a nucleus 
for a future " Guernsey Library. " "Ere I had 
reached home," he says, a "tolerably com- 
prehensive outline of the projected institution 
was actually sketched in my mind . . . and to 
this early outline I have, as regards its main 
features, ever since adhered. ' ' The same year 
F. M. Alles, an old schoolmate, came from 
Guernsey also as apprentice to Mr. Mauger. 
They renewed their companionship and having 
similar tastes Alles joined in the plans of young 
Guille. The latter kept his book-case in his 



employer's office where his selection of books 
attracted the attention of Wm. C. Bryant, 
Horace Greeley, Dr. Draper and Francis 
Lieber. 

The young men worked together for years 
and as partners were afterwards successful in 
business and amassed fortunes. In 1856 Mr. 
Guille established the " Guille Library " and 
supported it for twenty-five years. In 1881 
Mr. Alles joined him in the good work, and in 
Nov., 1888, the new and enlarged home of the 
Guille- Altes Library and Museum was thrown 
open. Just one hundred years earlier, in 1788, 
Adam Clarke, with a young bride, had settled 
in Guernsey and resumed his classical and 
scientific studies (which six years before had 
been relinquished at the bidding of a bigoted 
and ignorant brother-minister, who had per- 
suaded him that "the learned languages" 
were soul-destroying snares of the devil), 
little dreaming where the seeds of his sowing 
would fall or what fruit would ripen when 
a century had passed. 



REPORT ON AIDS AND GUIDES. 



BY WILLARD H. AUSTIN, REFERENCE LIBRARIAN, CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY. 



'T'HE reports on aids and guides that have 
thus far been given before the Associa- 
tion have not taken on any uniform character, 
or been based upon any one principle of se- 
lection. They have largely been the follow- 
ing out of that which seemed to the reporter 
to be the most important phase of the com- 
prehensive subject. This report, perhaps 
more than any other, ought to be from its 
very nature, one of the most important that is 
presented, since it contains something for 
every working librarian whether his field for 
usefulness be large or small. It ought to be a 
brief characterization of all the bibliographi- 
cal aids and guides that have appeared during 
the year, should define their exact scope, and 
call attention to their good and bad qualities. 

The difficulties attending the making ol 
anything like a satisfactory report of this na- 
ture must surely be realized by every one who 
has ever made the attempt. In the first place 
no one person is in the position even to know 
about all the bibliographical helps that appear, 

II 



much less to have a knowledge of their 
merits and defects that would make his opin- 
ion a safe guide for others to follow. Hun- 
dreds of titles of works of this character ap- 
pear in the various reviews and book journals 
every year, and the sight of them there is all 
the knowledge that many ever get of a large 
part of them. How unsatisfactory this is we 
all know. In so many cases the titles are 
misleading, giving one a right to expect more 
than the work actually gives, and in so many 
instances failing to indicate all that the books 
themselves do contain, that an opinion of a 
work based upon other than a personal ex- 
amination must be, necessarily, very unsatis- 
factory and not altogether a safe one to follow. 
For this reason any attempt at a selection 
from a great many titles as I have been forced 
to do is attended by a great liability to err on 
the side of keeping some which should be 
thrown out and omitting others which should 
be included. 
These difficulties forced me to conclude 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



that this is a report peculiar in itself, that 
never can be made satisfactorily by one per- 
son without the aid and assistance of many 
others. That it can and ought to be made an 
invaluable feature of these annual conferences 
no one doubts. Indeed, I cannot think of 
any one thing in the way of practical help, 
especially to librarians of libraries limited in 
resources, that would be more helpful than to 
get a reliable opinion of the exact scope and 
value of the principal helps that have appeared 
during the year, from persons who have ac- 
tually used such helps. But no one person is 
in a position to have used more than a small 
part of all that appear, nor consequently able 
to speak with authority of any but a limited 
number of such aids. 

Realizing this I have thought I might make 
a suggestion that would, theoretically at least, 
solve the problem. The suggestion is that 
this most important report be made coopera- 
tive. That the work of this report be done by 
a committee composed of members whose 
work familiarizes them with the value of some 
portion of all the helps that appear during the 
year. Under the direction of a chairman the 
work could be so apportioned that it would 
not fall heavily on any one save the chairman 
who would still be the person responsible for 
the results obtained. In this way, while it 
may not be possible to cover all the works 
issued, we would get valuable opinions of the 
worth of a large number from those who had 
actually used them. This committee, which 
should be large, could have its work in hand 
from the close of one conference to the open- 
ing of the next, and in this way gradually ac- 
cumulate its material for the report. 

When the force of this plan came to me, and 
I realized that I should add one more to the 
list of unsatisfactory reports, I thought that 
possibly I might secure something like the 
same results as would be obtained by the co- 
operative plan, which I have mentioned, by 
getting from the many specialists, which one 
finds at a university center, an opinion of the 
value and scope of the several bibliographies 
that had appeared in their line during the 
year. The thought, however, came too late 
for me to act upon it to any extent, since these 
men were already scattering for the summer, 
and I could therefore reach but very few, and 
not enough to appreciably change the char- 
acter of this report. 



There remained, therefore, nothing for me to 
do but to gather from the Publishers' Weekly, 
Literarische Centralblatt, Library Journal, 
and the various other publications of a like 
character, such information as it was possible 
to obtain, with the feeling that, however un- 
satisfactory it must be, it perhaps would be 
better than no report. 

In doing this I was confronted by such a 
mass of material as to cause me to realize that 
some limitations must be sought within which 
to confine the lists of works given, in order 
that they might not prove too large to come 
within the measure of such a report. This 
treatment was made particularly necessary in 
the present case, because of the fact that four 
years had elapsed since the last report of this 
character was made. It became a question 
whether it would be the better plan to cover 
the more important works of the whole peri- 
od, or to attempt to cover as far as possible 
all the works of the brief period of one year. 
The first of these two plans seemed to me to 
be the more desirable. In order to do this, 
however, I found it necessary to eliminate 
great classes of helps which seemed to be of 
less importance to the general reader and, for 
this reason, of corresponding less importance 
to the librarian in his work of assisting the 
general reader. 

The first large class of books that I thought 
it possible to omit was that of place biblio- 
graphies, which I have done ; not because 
these works are not important, but because 
their greatest usefulness is local in the main, 
and they are quite sure to be in the hands of 
those who want to make use of them. Another 
class which could be omitted was the biblio- 
graphies of special subjects confined to spe- 
cial collections, unless there was good reason 
for believing that such collections were un- 
usually full and complete. For purposes 
other than purely bibliographical, it seems of 
comparatively little importance to consult the 
bibliography of a subject contained in a 
special collection which is not accessible and 
which makes no claim to completeness. For 
similar reasons it was thought advisable to 
omit bibliographies of special subjects cover- 
ing only a short period of time, as such works 
are sure to be incorporated sooner or later in 
a more general bibliography of the subject. 
Also lists of works on special subjects cover- 
ing a long period of time, but restricted to 



AUSTIN. 



79 



some particular place, have been omitted, un- 
less the subject was one peculiar to the place. 

Again, catalogs of inaccessible libraries are 
of little practical use as aids and guides, un- 
less they are of such size and importance as 
to be really valuable contributions to the bib- 
liography of a subject such as the Peabody 
catalog, the catalog of the Surgeon General's 
Library, and similar works. 

Lest to many it may seem strange that all 
works on library economy and such works as 
a librarian uses for his professional growth 
have been omitted it must be said that for the 
most part such works are pretty sure to be 
known to all live librarians and it is safe to 
assume that this Association includes no dead 
ones. Readers of the Library Journal all 
know how very careful our official organ is to 
call attention to all works of this character, 
and it is only necessary to turn over its pages 
for the period of time covered by this report to 
get more than it would be possible to give 
here. Finally I have thought it safe to omit 
bibliographies of special subjects which are 
so technical in their nature as to be of little 
use to others than specialists, since those per- 
sons who are capable of making use of such 
works are sure to have a knowledge of them 
without the assistance of any librarian. 

After eliminating all these special classes 
that have been named there are yet remain- 
ing the great number of general and special 
bibliographies ; the indexes to periodical lit- 
erature, both general and technical ; together 
with the large number of general indexes to 
sets of periodicals and Society transactions 
and proceedings that have been issued. Dic- 
tionaries and encyclopedias, both general and 
special, and the miscellaneous helps which 
cannot be' grouped with any of the foregoing 
classes, complete the list of those which were 
deemed essentials in such a selection. 

The increasing tendency to issue subject 
catalogs of such portions of large collections as 
can really lay claim to a considerable degree 
of fulness is enriching the field of special sub- 
ject bibliographies. Worthy of mention in 
this class are the printed portions of the 
White Historical Library at Cornell Univer- 
sity, covering thus far the works in that col- 
lection on the Protestant Reformation and 
the French Revolution. The catalog of the 
most complete Dante collection given to Cor- 



nell University by Mr. Willard Fiske, which 
is now being prepared, will be the latest 
contribution of real value to that subject. 

A large number of the really good diction- 
aries, both biographical and of special sub- 
jects, that are now appearing, give full biblio- 
graphies at the end of each article. The 
"Dictionary of National Biography," begun 
by Leslie Stephen, which has now reached 
its 4oth volume, is very valuable for this fea- 
ture. Schaft's " History of the Christian 
Church" likewise gives very valuable biblio- 
graphical matter of the subjects of which it 
treats. 

Similarly many of the leading periodicals 
devoted to special fields of thought are follow- 
ing the very general disposition to .give com- 
prehensive bibliographies of the subjects 
treated. The Quarterly Journal of Econom- 
ics issues four times a year elaborate classed 
bibliographies which include both books and 
periodical articles. The Zeitschrift fur Lit- 
teratur und Geschichte der Staatswissen- 
schaft published at Leipzig contains in the 
January number for 1893, a classified biblio- 
graphy including books and selected peri- 
odical articles in all languages of Political 
economy, Statistics, Administrative law and 
administration, Constitutional law and politi- 
cal institutions, International law and treaties. 
It is the intention of the editor to issue from 
time to time exhaustive bibliographies of 
special subjects. 

Miiller's "Handbuch der klassischen Alter- 
tumswissenschaft ;" Paul's "Grundriss derGer- 
manischen Philologie," and Grober's "Grund- 
riss der Romanischen Philologie," all have 
valuable bibliographical contributions to their 
special subjects. In Ecclesiastical history two 
very excellent works have appeared : 
Thayer's "Books and their use," and Jack- 
son's "Bibliography of American Church 
History." 

Worthy of mention in the subject of history 
is the work of Lavisse and Rambaud, 
" Histoire ge"ne"rale der quatrieme siecle a nos 
jour," of which the first three volumes have 
appeared, and cover the Middle Ages. At 
the end of each chapter the several authors 
contributing to the work add a select biblio- 
graphy of the subject they treat, including 
both sources and modern authorities. Books 
in other languages than French receive ample 



8o 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



recognition. Tourneaux's " Bibliographic de 
1'histoire de Paris pendant la revolution 
Francaise," draws into its scope all the more 
important general works on the period, with 
admirable descriptive and critical notes. 
" Le Livre d'or de Jeanne d 1 Arc, "by Lanery 
d' Arc, is, probably, the most complete biblio- 
graphy of the subject ever issued. The In- 
ternational Congress of Geologists have de- 
clared their intention to issue a general bib- 
liography covering their field of work, as have 
also the Geological Survey of the U. S. ; the 
latter limiting the subject to the United 
States. 

Most excellent are the bibliographies ap- 
pended to the little volumes of the " Great 
writer series ;" they are to be recommended 
for editions of the works of, and periodical 
articles about, the authors included in the 
series. 

In the way of indexes to general periodical 
literature, a number have sprung up along- 
side of the annual edition of the continuation 
of Poole ; the most noteworthy, perhaps, be- 
ing that of the Review of Reviews, which has 
recently added an index to portraits. For 
technical literature, the Rcpertorium der 
technischen Journal - Litleratur is the most 
comprehensive. It covers a period from 1823 
to 1893, indexing all the important technical 
journals. The special feature which makes it 
desirable to mention it here is that, beginning 
with the 1892 number, the index gives the 
German equivalent for the English technical 
terms, which practically serves for the use of 
English readers as a key to all the previous 
volumes. 

We are promised anew edition of the "Index 
to law periodicals," by L. A. Jones, the last of 
which appeared in 1887. A large number of 
special indexes to sets of periodicals, and 
Society transactions, and publications of a like 
nature, have appeared within the period cov- 
ered by this report. Closely allied to this class 
of works are J. G. Ames's "Lists of Con- 
gressional Documents" and "Finding- 
lists" which so materially aid the consultation 
of these most perplexing publications. What 



promises to be an exceedingly valuable con- 
tribution to this class is the subject-catalog of 
the scientific papers of the Royal Society which 
has been recently announced as among the 
probabilities. The index of these papers has 
been confined thus far to an author-index, 
which is of little use for the assistance of 
readers ; and all will hail with delight the key 
that unlocks this storehouse of knowledge. 

Some important works in the general class 
of cyclopedias and dictionaries have appeared. 
Kirk's "Supplement to Allibone's Diction- 
ary" is so well known that it needs no special 
mention. The supplement to the " Reference 
handbook of medical sciences," which brings 
the large work edited by Buck down to date, 
and adds a number of new articles not found 
in the original work, is of great value. The 
great English dictionary, edited by J. A. H. 
Murray on the historical principle, continues 
to grow, having reached the letter E, with D 
yet to make its appearance. 

Among the great many miscellaneous helps 
and aids few, if any, call for special mention 
here. A useful little manual is that called 
"Minerva," nowinits third year of publication. 
Matson's " References for literary workers" 
does not prove so helpful as at first it was 
thought it might, owing to its too general 
character ; but it is worth having at hand for 
the cases in which it does give just that in- 
formation which is wanted. 



NOTE. Owingpartly to the number of years covered by 
Mr. Austin's report, the several exhaustive lists compiled 
by him as an appendix number several hundred entries, 
notwithstanding the limitations which he has specified. 
The lists were not read to the Conference and the major 
portion of the titles included have been named in the 
Library Journal, from time to time, in its department of 
Bibliography. Many of the references also,*are to works 
in foreign languages. 

Considerations of space seem to require omission of 
the appendix here, as was the case in 1890 (White Mts. 
Conference) with that prepared by Mr. Beer in connec- 
tion with the last previous report on the same topic. 

Publication of the compilation in question, with possible 
additions, as a bibliographical contribution in one of the 
University library bulletins (such as that of Cornell or 
Harvard), would render it even more serviceable to 
probable users than its printing in this connection. 



STEARNS. 



81 



REPORT ON READING FOR THE YOUNG. 



BY LUTIE E. STEARNS, MILWAUKEE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



T7OR the purposes of this report fifteen ques- 
tions, indicated by the headings below,' 
were sent to one hundred and ninety-five li- 
braries in the United States and Canada. Full 
and complete replies were received from one 
hundred and forty-five librarians to whom 
grateful acknowledgment is now made. 

i. At what age may children draw books? 
Why do you have an age limit ? 

Thirty per cent, of the libraries reporting, 
have no age limit, the seventy per cent, vary- 
ing from eight to sixteen years of age the 
average age requirement being thirteen years. 

Various reasons are given for an age restric- 
tion. " We must preserve our books " is oft 
repeated. 

Milwaukee has never had an age limit, and 
the first case of malicious destruction or injury 
is yet to be reported. No better recommenda- 
tion can possibly be given for a good book 
than to have it literally wear out. 

"We must draw the line somewhere," say 
other librarians. 

At the London Conference of 1877, Sir 
Redmond Barry, Librarian at Melbourne, said 
that if it were necessary to deprive people of 
seven years' reading, it would be better to 
strike off the seven years at the other end, and 
disqualify people at sixty-three ; adding, that 
that view of his was a very unprejudiced one, 
as such a one would exclude himself. 

"Our books are not suited to young 
people." 

Nothing is of more importance in education 
than furnishing young people with the best 
literature. Mr. Horace E. Scudder has said : 

"There can be no manner of question that 
between the ages of six and sixteen, a large 
part of the best literature of the world may be 
read, and that the man or woman who has 
failed to become acquainted with great litera- 
ture in some form during that time, is little 
likely to have a taste formed later." 

There has never been a time when a little 
money, judiciously expended, would go so far 
in the purchase of the best literature for chil- 



dren. Stories, fables, myths, and simple 
poems, which have been read with delight by 
countless generations, may be purchased in 
most durable cloth bindings, at, an average 
cost of thirty-two cents. 

Children will read ; if wholesome reading- 
matter is not furnished them, they will read 
what they can get of their own accord. 

Many libraries report that there is practically 
no limit, as children under fourteen use the 
parent's card ; but through this method the 
parent suffers from the restriction, as it is 
obvious that the parent and his son cannot 
use the card at the same time. The greatest 
complaint among the librarians is the lack of 
supervision of the children's reading, on the 
part of the parents ; and yet these same neglect- 
ful parents are entrusted with the task of taking 
out cards so that their children may receive 
books at the library ! 

The tendency among progressive libraries is 
toward the abolishment of the age restriction. 
J. C. Dana, of Denver, Col., writes : 

" We give a child a card as soon as he can 
read. Children too young to read, get cards 
for books to be read to them." 

Miss Perkins, Ilion (N. Y.) Free Public 
Library, writes : 

"We have no age limit, because we wish 
children trained to love books from their ear- 
liest recollection. Our library contains linen 
and pasteboard nursery books which are 
drawn on card in name of child, with parent 
for guarantor." (And this in a library of 6,000 
volumes, in a city of 4,000 inhabitants.) 

Miss Hasse, Asst. Librarian of Los Angeles, 
writes : 

"We have an age limit of twelve years, for 
no other reason than because we are the vic- 
tims of an absurd library custom, adopted be- 
fore we knew better." 

Mr. Crunden, St. Louis, Mo., says : 

"No age limit. Don't believe in it. Let 
children take books as soon as they can 
read." 

Mrs. Wrigley, Richmond, Ind., says : 



82 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



"A child may take a book when he can 
carry it home safely." 

Mrs. Sanders, Pawtucket, R. I. : 

" We have no age limit. Every pupil of the 
schools, either public or private, is expected 
to have a card." 

The librarian at Greeley, Col., writes : 

."Children take books when they are old 
enough to know pictures usually at five 
years." 

The librarian of a Vermont library, who shall 
be nameless, for obvious reasons, writes : 

" Our trustees are not progressive, and not 
willing to change." 

Miss Hewins, Hartford, Conn., says : 

" We have no age limit. A child may draw 
a book as soon as he can write his name. I 
wish that the age limit might be abolished in 
all libraries." 

The librarian who studies school statistics 
cannot help being impressed with the grave 
necessity for the extension of library privileges 
unto the smallest child. In Milwaukee, out of 
5,766 children who entered the schools in 1885, 
we find but 687 graduating eight years later. 
If we had an age limit in Milwaukee, we would 
reach but twelve per cent, of the number in 
school, to say nothing of the thousands out of 
school. 

In Jersey City (school census of 1891), we 
find more than half of those attending school 
in the first four grades, from six to ten years of 
age. San Francisco (census of 1892) has 
87,000 children between five and seventeen 
years of age. Of this number, 40,000 attend 
school (less than half), and sixty-four per 
cent, of the number attending are found in the 
first five grades. Of Boston's school popula- 
tion, ninety-three per cent, are found in the 
primary and grammar departments. Minne- 
apolis has 25,000 school children 22,000 
under fifteen years of age. St. Louis has 
56,000 children under fourteen, each one of 
whom may have a card as soon as he can 
write his name. 

One library with an age limit of fourteen 
years, reports that not more than half a dozen 
children under twelve, use the library and 
this in the face of the fact that there are 41,000 
children under fourteen in that city. 

Protect the library's interests by a proper 
form of guarantee, remove the age restriction, 
and bid every child welcome. In this age of 



trash and printed wickedness, when a professor 
in one of our western universities feels tempted 
to say that the youth of this country would 
grow up to better citizenship and stauncher 
virtue, were they not taught to read, and when 
Frederic Harrison sees on every side the 
poisonous inhalations of literary garbage, and 
bad men's worse thoughts, which drive him to 
exclaim that he could almost reckon the print- 
ing press as amongst the scourges of mankind 
when we hear all this, and see for ourselves, 
bad literature on every hand, is it not a pitiful 
spectacle to see this sign conspicuously dis- 
played in one of the circulating libraries in this 
country "CHILDREN NOT ALLOWED IN THIS 

LIBRARY." 

In opposition to such cruelty as this, let us 
quote the words of the late Dr. Poole of 
Chicago : 

" I could never see the propriety of exclud- 
ing young persons from a library, any more 
than from a church. From ten to fourteen is 
the formative period of their lives. If they 
ever become readers, and acquire a love of 
books, it is before the age of fourteen years. 
No persons return their books so promptly, 
give so little trouble, or seem to appreciate 
more highly the benefits of a library, as these 
youth of both sexes. 

"The young people are our best friends, 
and they serve the interests of the library by 
enlisting for it the sympathies of their parents, 
who are often too busy to read." 

No assistant should be employed in the cir- 
culating, reference, or reading-room depart- 
ments of a library, who will not give a child 
as courteous and considerate attention as 
she would a member of the Board of Trus- 
tees. 

ii. Do the children use the library to an ap- 
preciable extent ? 

This is answered in the affirmative in nearly 
every case ; variously stated as one-fifth, one- 
fourth, one-third, and one-half of membership 
under sixteen years of age. 

in. Is the number of books a child may 
take per week, restricted ? 

One hundred and fifteen libraries report no 
restriction. Oswego, N. Y., Portsmouth, N. 
H., Terre Haute, Ind., allow but one book 
per week. Hartford, Conn., and Cleveland, 
Ohio, issue but one story-book to children 
under fourteen, while schools are in session. 



STEARNS. 



Newburgh, N. Y., allows those under ten 
years, but one book per week. 

Two books per week Germantown, Penn., 
Memphis, Tenn., Grand Rapids, Mich., La 
Crosse, Wis., Richmond, Ind., Kalamazoo, 
Mich., Nashua, N. H., Hamilton, Ont, Evans- 
ville, Ind., Watertovvn, Mass. 

Three books Fond du Lac, Wis., Evans- 
ton, 111., Fitchburg, Mass., Springfield, Mass., 
San Francisco, Cal., Barry, 111. 

Twelve per week Elgin, 111. 

iv. What per cent, of your circulation, is 
children's fiction ? 

The average is about twenty per cent, of the 
entire circulation. 

v. Do you circulate Alger, Optic, Castle- 
mon, Trowbridge, and kindred authors ? 

Nine libraries report that they do not circu- 
late any of the above-named. Eighteen 
libraries are allowing the first three to wear 
out without replacing. Twenty-five libraries 
circulate Trowbridge only. There seems to 
be a great difference of opinion in regard to 
the relative value and worth of these authors. 
One librarian writes : 

"Our set of Alger and Trowbridge are worn 
out and not replaced. Poor, thin, much-abused 
Optic helps boys to read, and leads up to 
stronger books ; ' ' while another librarian 
says : " I consider that Alger and Castlemon 
have done irreparable injury to our boys, in 
their taste for more solid reading. Since 
their purchase, solid reading for children has 
fallen off ten per cent. ' ' 

Buffalo, N. Y., (partly subscription) re- 
ports : 

"One set of Alger, some of Optic and Cas- 
tlemon's issued on demand to holders of 
membership tickets, but their use is discour- 
aged, and hone given to holders of school 
tickets." 

Pawtucket, R. I., removed Castlemon from 
the shelves, two years ago, but circulates 
Trowbridge. Milwaukee, Wis., has Trow- 
bridge, only, for which there is but little de- 
mand. Trowbridge is not sent to schools, 
and we find, at the main library, that our boys 
prefer something better. 

vi. Do you have special lists or catalogues 
for children ? State price, if not free. 

The majority of libraries merely designate 
children's books by some sign in the main 
catalogue. Twenty-five libraries report special 



printed catalogues, varying in price from one 
cent to fifteen cents. Many are issued free. 
Many libraries use Sargent's and Hardy's lists, 
with numbers inserted. Four have special 
card-catalogues for children's use. Some 
designate a child's book by a colored card, 
while one librarian enters books for children 
under twelve, on yellow cards, and from twelve 
to eighteen years of age, on blue. Pough- 
keepsie, N. Y., has a set of nine small lists 
adapted to various ages. Miss Hewins' 
(Hartford, Conn.) catalogue is worthy of 
special commendation. The "List of books 
for Township Libraries," prepared by Mr. 
Frank A. Hutchins, State Superintendent's 
Office, Madison, Wis., is a model list, in 
every particular, and may be obtained for the 
asking. 

Milwaukee, Wis., has a children's catalogue, 
and also prints little lists of "150 good books for 
girls," and " 150 good books for boys," which 
are issued free, and used as call-slips by the 
children. The list is kept in the pocket of the 
book with the card. These lists are used by 
ninety-nine per cent, of the children. We 
thus direct the reading of the young by calling 
attention to the best books. (We shall be 
glad to send these lists to all who desire 
them. ) 

vii. Do you have Teachers' cards ? How 
many books may be drawn at a time ? Are 
these books issued by teachers to pupils, or 
used solely for reference ? 

One-third of those reporting make no distinc- 
tion between teachers and other borrowers. 
Others issue a card upon which teachers may 
take from two to twenty books the average 
being six. Some libraries restrict the use of 
these books to reference in the school-room, 
while others leave it optional with the teacher. 

If the object of this privilege is for purposes 
of reference, it is a wise one to follow ; but if 
its aim is to supply additional reading-matter 
to pupils, it is meagre in the extreme the 
tendency being to get books dealing with 
studies taught, rather than good literature for 
children. To " Let teachers have as many as 
they can use " is the rule in an increasing 
number of libraries. 

vni. Do you send books to schools in pro- 
portion to size of classes, i. e., fifty pupils 
fifty books, to be issued by teachers to pupils 
for home use ? 



8 4 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



Some one has truly said, "In the work of 
popular education through libraries, it is, after 
all, not the few great libraries, but the thousand 
smaller ones that may do most for the peo- 
ple." Greatness of cities hampers individual 
work. The librarian knows, from the school 
census, that there are 34,000 children, between 
six and fourteen years of age, in his city. By 
abolishing the age requirement, he may reach 
those in the vicinity of the library ; but what 
of the thousands in the home districts many 
of whom have never heard of the existence of 
the library ? 

It seems to us that the teacher, the one who 
guides and educates, the one who knows best 
the individual preferences and capacities of 
her pupils it is the teacher who should di- 
rect the reading. The process is most simple. 
The teacher comes to the library and selects 
from the shelves a number of books, in pro- 
portion to the size of her class, i. e., fifty 
pupils fifty books. These are sent to the 
schools, and issued by the teachers for home 
use. The selection is made from all branches 
of literature mythology, science, useful arts, 
fine arts, poetry, history, travel, biography, 
fairy stories, stories of adventure, &c., &c. 
The books are not intended, primarily, to 
supplement the school work. They should 
be "books of inspiration" rather than those 
of information; for "knowledge alone can- 
not make character." Another great ob- 
ject should be to create a love for books ; for 
" What we make children love and desire is 
more important than what we make them 
learn." 

Each pupil should be provided with a library 
card with parent as guarantor thus reliev- 
ing the teacher's responsibility. 

Cleveland, Ohio, Los Angeles, Cal., Hart- 
ford, Conn., Grand Rapids, Mich., Bridgeport, 
Conn., Lancaster, Mass., Chicago, 111., Bur- 
lington, Vt., Dover, N. H., and Milwaukee, 
Wis., carry on this work to a greater or less 
extent. Los Angeles, Cal., sent 14,075 books 
to the schools from September 1893 to May 
30, 1894, a remarkable showing. Grand 
Rapids, Mich., issued 3,415 books, which were 
circulated 15,905 times. Cleveland, Ohio, sent 
4,708 volumes, the number of issues being 
38,031, the books being kept at the school 
during the school year. (See "The Open 
Shelf" for June 1894, published by Cleveland 



Pub. Lib. for description of school circu- 
lation. ) 

A few statistics may demonstrate the growth 
of this plan in Milwaukee. In 1888 the 
year of its inauguration, 1,650 books were 
issued by teachers, 4,702 times. During the 
school year 1893-94, 14,990 books were is- 
sued 42,863 times the number of books 
sent being limited only by the supply at our 
command. The books were returned to the 
library at the expiration of eight weeks, when 
a new selection was made by the teacher. It 
must be understood that this represents the 
number of books read at homely the children. 
Much of the eighty per cent, increase in the 
circulation at the library, during the past win- 
ter, was due, not alone to the hard times, but 
to the advertising which the library received 
in the homes, through the schools. 

Many teachers select books for the parents 
and older brothers and sisters of their pupils. 
The system of school circulation is being 
gradually extended, until it will eventually 
embrace every grade of every school public, 
private, parochial and Sunday-school, which 
can be induced to avail themselves of the 
privilege. 

There are many methods of awakening the 
teachers' interest in the matter of school dis- 
tribution. We visit the class-rooms of the 
public schools and tell the children stories, 
thereby arousing a desire for books ; we urge 
upon the teachers the necessity of furnishing 
the young with the best literature. Our su- 
perintendent of schools gives our system the 
heartiest encouragement and support. That 
he deems the plan of the greatest importance, 
will be shown in an article by him on "The 
Public Library and Public Schools," in the 
Educational Review (Nov. 1894). 

ix. Do you send a number of copies of 
the same work to schools for supplemental 
reading ? 

Detroit, Jersey City, and St. Louis carry on 
this work extensively. St. Louis, Mo., has 
six sets of fifty copies each of Scudder's Folk 
Tales, Franklin's autobiography, &c., which 
are sent from one school to another. Jersey 
City, N. J., issued 11,844 volumes (twenty 
sets), in this manner, during the past year. 
The books are carefully graded, and meet 
with much favor. Detroit sent 17,290 books 
to the schools, for supplemental reading-mat- 



STEARNS. 



ter. The superintendent of schools of De- 
troit, in his annual report (1891) says : 

"The benefits to the higher grades, from 
the circulating library, furnished by the Public 
Library, are very decided, and there is a per- 
ceptible change for the better in the choice 
of selections made by the pupils ; and it is the 
universal testimony, that there is a growing 
taste for good reading, among our school 
children." 

This plan of school distribution has much 
to commend it. Educators are coming to 
realize that the modern school readers the 
"five inanities" are directly responsible for 
the habit of desultory reading. But we main- 
tain that the furnishing of supplemental read- 
ing-matter to be read in school lies wholly 
within the province of the school authorities 
of our cities. As Mr. Cowell, of Liverpool, 
says : "We leave the school-board to provide 
their own books, as they have more funds a 
their disposal than we have." But few libra- 
ries can afford to furnish such books, the de- 
mands of the individual tastes of the child 
being more than can be ordinarily supplied. 

x. Do you circulate pictures in schools and 
homes ? In what form issued ? 

Newton, Mass., Ilion, N. Y., Wilkes-Barre", 
Penn., and Milwaukee, Wis., circulate linen 
and pasteboard picture-books among the 
smallest children. Gloversville, N. Y., sends 
portfolios of photographs to teachers who wish 
to illustrate certain lessons. 

Los Angeles, Cal., Denver, Col., and Mil- 
waukee, Wis., select suitable pictures from 
Harper's Weekly and Bazar, Leslie's, Scien- 
tific American, &c. , &c. , which are mounted 
on manilla, gray bristol, or tag-board, and 
sent to the schools. In selecting pictures, it 
should be the aim to choose those of aesthetic 
value training the child's sense of beauty 
and imagination. Many, of course, may be 
used for language, geography, and history 
work. Teachers of Milwaukee organize "past- 
ing and cutting bees," thus relieving the 
library of much of the work. 

As an evidence of the popularity of the 
pictures, in Milwaukee, we have but to cite the 
fact that thirteen hundred pictures were cir- 
culated in the schools, during May and June. 
Los Angeles has fifteen hundred pictures at 
the disposal of teachers. (For "Pictures in 
Elementary Schools" see Health Exhibition 

12 



Literature, vol. 13, pp. 54-77, and Prang Edu- 
cational Papers, Nos. i and 4. ) 

xi. Do classes visit the library ? 

Forty-four libraries report visits of classes 
for the purpose of viewing art works, illus- 
trated books of travels, &c., &c. Lack of 
room, prevents many libraries from extending 
this privilege. 

Gloversville, N. Y., organizes children's 
reading circles, and prepares a list of books to 
be used in connection with the courses of 
reading. The topics selected are generally 
supplementary to the school work. At the 
weekly meetings of the circles in the class-room 
at the library, the current events of the week 
are also discussed in this way guiding the 
children in proper newspaper reading. 

xii. (a) Have you a children's reading- 
room? (b) Is there a special window in cir- 
culating department, for children ? 

(a) Minneapolis devotes the lower corridor 
to children. They are admitted to cases and 
tables containing their books books being 
charged by an attendant at the gate. 

Watertown, Mass., gives up one reading- 
room to children, placing therein periodicals, 
bound and current, and other books suited to 
the young. Cambridge, Mass., are adding a 
children's room, in which they intend to charge 
books. Cleveland, Ohio, has a special alcove 
for children. Omaha, Neb., has a special 
department, in its new building, for book and 
picture displays, special study rooms, and 
one "sample" room, in which will be placed 
the best books for children, and where chil- 
dren, parents and teachers may make selec- 
tions. 

Some libraries set aside a certain part of 
their reference and reading-rooms for chil- 
dren's use. 

(b) Special window for children : 

Los Angeles, Cal., "Disapproves decidedly 
of all such segregation." 

Dayton, Ohio, has special window for dis- 
play of children's literature. 

Aguilar Library (New York City) does not 
permit children to change books after six p. m. 
(How about boys and girls who work from 
seven a. m. to six p. m.?) 

Dover, N. H., "Have no such pernicious 
things as windows in our circulating depart- 
ment. We have an open counter across which 
human intercourse is easy." 



86 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



xin. Have you a special supervisor of chil- 
dren's reading ? 

Many librarians report that they overlook 
the matter in a general way, some making it 
their specialty. St. Louis, Mo., has just en- 
gaged an experienced teacher for that purpose. 
Any one taking this work could find an 
exhaustless mine of opportunities some of 
which have been hinted at under the question 
of school circulation. 

xiv. What other important work are you 
doing for children, not included in these ques- 
tions ? 

Indianapolis, Ind., Cambridge, Mass., and 
San Diego, Cal., publish, each week, in one of 
the daily papers, a list of books for younger 
readers, on electricity, travel, stories, &c., or 
on some special topic of the times. These 
lists are very popular. 

Many libraries place books pertaining to 
school studies, on special shelves, to which 
children have free access. 

Bridgeport, Conn., and Fitchburg, Mass., 
have art departments with well-qualified assist- 
ants to show pictures to children, and adults. 

Medford, Mass., has had talks given to the 
children, upon various subjects, by friends of 
the librarian. 

Omaha, Neb., is planning delivery stations 
for the children. 

San Diego, Cal., "Turns children loose 
among the shelves on Sundays." 

Dover, N. H., issues student's cards, on 
which any student, old or young, may take 
out a number of books on any special topic. 

Peoria, 111., gives two cards to each child or 
adult one for fiction and another for purposes 
of study. 

Portland, Ore., Beaver Dam, Wis., Greeley, 
Col., and others allow children free access to 
the shelves. 

Free Circulating Libraries, of New York 
City, have "Children's Shelves" containing 
the best books, from which parents and the 
young may make selections. 

Many libraries report special assistance 
rendered to Youths' Debating societies, essay 
writing, &c. 

Gloversville, N. Y., organizes reading circles 
(to which reference has already been made). 

The library classes at Pratt Institute, Brook- 
lyn, and Armour Institute, Chicago, are start- 
ing home libraries in slum neighborhoods. 



Miss James, of Wilkes-Barre', has organized 
a boys' and young men's reading-room in a 
similar locality. 

Brookline, Mass , places college and school 
catalogues in reference- room at the end of 
each school year. 

xv. What ideas would you like to see de- 
veloped in connection with the broad subject 
of Reading for the Young ? 

Miss James, of Wilkes-Barre\ voices the 
sentiments of many, when she says : "I 
would like to educate the grandparents for 
three generations back ditto, the teachers." 
Twenty-five per cent, of the librarians deplore 
lack of interest and supervision of the child's 
reading, on the part of the parents. "Over- 
reading" on the part of many children is 
another cause for complaint. The idea may 
have its objections, but we think that a kindly, 
tactful letter to the parent, might have its in- 
fluence. 

Great care should be exercised in the se- 
lection of books for the young. Purity of 
English is a primary consideration. Books 
"written down" to children should be avoided, 
also those books which do not, at once, fix the 
attention of the child. What the boy world 
needs, are books of incident, of lively action, 
of absorbing interest, wholesome, interesting, 
attractive, in good English, and yet free from 
the ghastliness and vulgarity of the alluring 
dime novel. 

Many librarians advocate courses of read- 
ing in connection with the school work; certain 
books to be read at home, by the children, and 
then discussed in the school room. Much 
latitude should be given children in the choice 
of books to read thus not making it a task 
but encouraging a love of reading. 

By addressing Teachers' Institutes and 
meetings, the librarian or supervisor of chil- 
dren's reading can do much in the way of 
enlisting the aid and support of teachers. We 
think the work done by the State Normal 
School, and Public Library, of Milwaukee, is 
unique in this particular. A course of library 
reading of the best authors is required of the 
Normal students, thus cultivating the tastes of 
the future teachers and bringing them in 
contact with the resources of the library. 
Hundreds of copies of the best books for 
children are sent to the Normal school, and 
there read and criticised by the students. Lists 



STEINER AND RANCK. 



of the best books are printed for future refer- 
ence. Children in neighboring schools send 
in lists of books they prefer, thus giving the 
students knowledge of what children really like 
to read. By talks to the students at the Nor- 
mal school, we emphasize the importance of 
the work from the librarian's, teacher's and 
child's point of view. 

We believe there are many fields still un- 
explored in the provinces of children's read- 
ing. Some mgans, for example, should be 
devised, in the large cities, to send books to 
factories where children are employed. 

Reading rooms should be opened, evenings, 
in school buildings. They should be supplied 
with the best periodicals for old and young, and 
if possible, interesting books adapted to all 
ages. 

Besides study and class rooms, the modern 
library should contain a hall, to which children 
may come for instructive and entertaining lec- 
tures. That this plan is feasible is shown by 
the course of free lectures given in the reading 
room of the library at Alameda, Cal., during 
the past winter, to which extended reference is 
made in the August (1894) Library Journal. 

The circulation of lanterns and lantern 
slides, tennis and croquet sets and the best 
indoor games a plan advocated by Miss 
Kelso (Los Angeles, Cal.) meets with the 
wannest approbation from all lovers of chil- 
dren ; for if "Books of Refreshment," why not 
" Games of Refreshment " ? 



That the child is a volume to be studied, ap- 
plies as well to library as pedagogical science. 
We deprecate the spirit which prompts a 
librarian to say, "We prefer to transact 
business with older persons, as we lose time in 
making infants understand." As opposed to 
this are the words of another who writes, "Each 
assistant has instruction by no means to neg- 
lect the children for the adults." The modern 
library spirit may be expressed in the words 
of Miss Perkins of Ilion, N. Y., who says : 

" We always treat children with the same 
consideration and courtesy as grown people. 
We make them love to come and stay here, 
and keep in touch with them in every way 
possible." 

In closing our report, we desire to submit 
five questions for consideration : 

How may we induce parents to oversee their 
children's reading? 

How may we make the guiding of her pupils' 
reading a part of the teacher's work ? 

What can be done to help a boy to like good 
books after he has fallen into the dime novel 
habit ? 

What methods have been used with success 
in developing the taste of children ? 

What form of catalogue, if any, is of interest 
and value to children ? 

A full discussion of these questions will be 
helpful to many librarians who have the best 
interests of their child patrons close at heart. 



REPORT ON ACCESS TO THE SHELVES. 



BY BERNARD C. STEINER AND SAMUEL H. RANCK, ENOCH PKATT FREE LIBRARY OF 

BALTIMORE CITY. 



A \J"E beg to submit the following report on 
access of the public to the shelves in li- 
braries. A series of sixteen questions was 
prepared, which we believed would cover the 
field, and these were sent to about 135 of the 
representative libraries of the English-speak- 
ing world. From 105 of those libraries re- 
plies have been received most of them very 
promptly. 

The experience of libraries is such that it is 
impossible to present the results, with any de- 
gree of satisfaction, in tabular form. There- 



fore, abstracts of the reports of libraries, for 
the most part those that have had some ex- 
perience in granting access to shelves, are 
given in detail. 

On only one point are libraries generally 
agreed : The public will misplace books, not 
only occasionally, but always, or at least, 
" whenever they get the chance." Only four 
report that books are not misplaced, and in 
these there are special reasons ; one of which 
is that the rule is obeyed, forbidding the pub- 
lic to return books to the shelves. In some li- 



88 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



braries the misplacement is reported to be of 
no serious consequence, though it occurs fre- 
quently ; and it is interesting to note that even 
library attendants occasionally put books 
where they do not belong. 

Most libraries restrict access to certain 
classes of books, and some, to certain hours. 
Access to fiction and juvenile books is very 
generally denied, at least during the busiest 
hours. Nearly all libraries grant access to a 
few, and many, to all, or nearly all, reference 
books. As to the desirability of such access 
almost all are agreed. The practical difficul- 
ties in the way often prevent it. Of the li- 
braries allowing access to the circulating de- 
partment the general verdict is against access 
to fiction and juvenile books, which usually 
comprise from 75 to 80 per cent, of the total 
circulation. In this connection it is interest- 
ing to note that three libraries ( Alamada, Cal. ; 
Ames Free Library, North Easton, Mass. ; and 
Worcester, Mass.) report an increased per- 
centage in the reading of books of the better 
class, and a corresponding decrease in the 
reading of fiction, as a result of allowing ac- 
cess to the shelves. 

Six libraries that have tried access to the 
shelves in some of its forms have discontinued 
it. They are the following: Bangor, Me.; 
Kansas City, Mo.; Liverpool, Eng.; Lynn, 
Mass.; Rochester, N. Y.; and Springfield, 111. 
To this list might be added the Mercantile Li- 
brary of Philadelphia which has restricted the 
freedom of former years. The experience of 
each may be found in the detailed reports. 

Twenty-seven libraries report access by 
permit of the librarian or board of officers. 
The greatest variety in the extent of this priv- 
ilege is found, no two following exactly the 
same practice. Thirteen libraries allow free 
access and ten restricted access to the refer- 
ence department. Of the thirty libraries re- 
porting "no access" three have stated their 
reason to be "lack of room ;" three "don't 
believe in it ;" two cannot on account of the 
"present arrangement;" one, each, on ac- 
count of "increased expense," "insufficient 
help," "misplacing of books," and because 
" it does not seem possible." 

But one large library (Cleveland, Ohio) re- 
ports unrestricted access of all persons, to all 
books, at all times, with the exception of a 
few medical and special books. The Appren- 



tices' Library, of Philadelphia and the library 
of Galveston, Texas, report the same. We 
learn from annual reports, and know from per- 
sonal observation, that there are others. For 
interesting opinions on the matter of access 
we would call attention to the detailed reports 
of Jersey City and Salem. As to types of li- 
braries and forms of access the following re- 
ports may be mentioned : Alameda, Cal. ; 
Auckland, New Zealand ; Boston Athen- 
aeum ; Carnegie, Braddock, ^Pa.; Clerk en- 
well, Eng.; Denver, Colo.; Hamilton, On- 
tario ; Minneapolis, Minn.; Newark, N. J.; 
Princeton College ; and Stockton, Cal. 

The verdict of experience is that for the suc- 
cessful operation of general access, the stack 
system is not suited. Some form of the al- 
cove arrangement is the only one that is satis- 
factory. Those libraries having general ac- 
cess have been obliged to adopt this arrange- 
ment, or at least find it most advisable to do 
so. High shelves, also, are found unsuited 
for general access. In other words, access to 
shelves demands more space. 

There is the greatest diversity of experience 
on the labor question. Some libraries find 
they can save the salaries of several attend- 
ants, while others find that more attendants 
are needed. The saving in salaries justifies 
the increased space and loss of books, in the 
opinion of some, and the greater satisfaction to 
the public counterbalances added cost of labor, 
in the opinion of others. 

In a large library the labor involved in 
keeping books in their proper places is no 
small matter. The shelving now in use in the 
Central library building alone, of the Enoch 
Pratt Free Library is more than two miles in 
length. The expense and time involved make 
it practically impossible to verify the order of 
those two miles of books every day, much 
less "every morning while dusting." This 
library allows free access to nearly 200 dic- 
tionaries, encyclopaedias, etc., in the reading- 
room. These must be placed in order every 
morning, and sometimes again during the day, 
by the attendant in charge. Though the 
room is visited by hundreds of people daily, 
but one or two books have been lost in the 
history of the library. To the other parts of 
the library, persons desiring to consult a great 
number of books may have access, by ob- 
taining permission from the librarian. The 



STEINER AND RANCK. 



89 



cases of access, however, are rare, as we prefer 
to send an almost unlimited number of books 
to the reading-room. With us the great disad- 
vantage is the narrow space between the 
stacks, which prevents an attendant from pass- 
ing through if any one is there at work. 

The loss of books, while considerable in 
many instances, is not so general as always to 
be a serious objection. It depends on the 
community and the arrangement of the books. 
The same is true of the increased wear and 
tear. 

The advantages claimed are : (a) The pub- 
lic better served, because they get the books 
they want and do it in less time; (b) the 
economy in administration, requiring fewer 
attendants; (c) a better class of reading. 
The disadvantages claimed are : (a) More 
space for books and consequently a larger 
and more expensive building ; () misplace- 
ment of books ; (c] loss of books ; (d) in- 
creased wear and tear of books ; (e) expense 
in administration, requiring more attendants ; 
(f) general confusion in the alcoves, loitering, 
etc. 

From the detailed reports it will be noticed 
that, as a rule, the time of trial in most of the 
larger libraries granting access is comparative- 
ly short, much less than the time of trial of 
those libraries that have discarded the system. 

The facts brought forth by this report seem 
to indicate that satisfactory results of access to 
the shelves depend almost entirely on two 
factors: (a) Arrangement of books so that a 
large number of people may move about free- 
ly without causing confusion ; (d) the charac- 
ter of the users of the library, which must 
include honesty and the exercise of a reason- 
able amount of care and good sense. It is 
obvious that these factors can be dealt with 
much more easily in a small, than in a large 
library ; and each library must deal with them 
in its own way. The library must be ad- 
ministered for the good of all its patrons, and 
we believe that while good results would be 
obtained in some instances by extending the 
freedom of access, in others the usefulness of 
the library would suffer. 

ABSTRACTS OF REPORTS. 

ALAMEDA (Cal.) Free Library. 16,724 v. 
The I5th annual report of this library contains 
the most glowing account of free access we 



have seen. The number of volumes issued 
for home use for the year ending May 31, 1891, 
was 45,645 ; 1892, 51,332 ; 1893, 57,949 ; 1894, 
101,404. The last year the library had free 
access, and most of the time the entire desk 
work was performed by one assistant. The 
year showed a decrease in the demand for 
fiction. Of the total issue of books for the 
year 48.3 per cent, was fiction, 18.4 per cent, 
juvenile, 33.3 per cent, other classes. The 
preceding year, under the old system of de- 
livery, the figures were as follows : Fiction, 
62.8 per cent., juvenile, 26.3 per cent., and 
other classes 10.9 per cent. "The public has 
shown its appreciation of the confidence re- 
posed in it, and of the great and undoubted 
advantages of the new system over the old, by 
seeing to it that out of over 100,000 books 
issued for home use, 39 only were missing." 

AMES Free Library, North Easton, Mass. 
JS^S 1 v - Access has been granted to a very 
limited extent since its opening in 1882. More 
freedom given since the fall of 1892. Permis- 
sion of librarian required ; usually desired by 
students. ' ' Would certainly need more clerks 
if it were often applied for." Replacing 
books on shelves generally forbidden, be- 
cause books are so often misplaced by those of 
the public having access to them. It seems 
to encourage the public to read a better class 
of books, but at the same time increases work 
for the librarian. 

APPRENTICES' Library Co., Philadelphia. 
16,200 v. For eleven years this library has 
granted access to the shelves. There is abso- 
lute freedom. Books are misplaced and 
shelves must be gone over twice a day for 
fiction, and 2 or 3 times a week for the rest of 
the library, to get books in order. On the 
whole, open shelves are most desirable. 

AUCKLAND (New Zealand) Free Public Li- 
bra'ry. 28,000 v. A reference, with lending 
library attached. Incunabula and large art 
works only are kept under lock and key to be 
given out when asked for. The public for- 
bidden to replace books on the shelves, which 
are roughly scanned over every morning for 
one hour by two assistants, to keep the books 
in order. The increased wear is about 2 per 
cent, for books in leather and 5 per cent, for 
cloth. 40 to 50 shillings would cover the 
yearly loss. " Every inducement is given here 
to the people to enter the library. There are 



9 o 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



no barriers in the way, not even compelled to 
sign the visitors book. We have not found 
the library abused in any way by its free and 
open facilities to all." 

BANGOR (Maine) Public Library. 36,408 v. 
Access granted only in case of books too 
large to be carried to the reading-room. "The 
loss of 500 books in 2^ years by theft, and 
disarrangement of books on the shelves, 
caused the closing of the shelves to the public 
in 1876. We have not since thought it ad- 
visable to repeat the experiment." 

BERKSHIRE Athenaeum, Pittsfield, Mass. 
23,000 v. Access granted under favor or by 
request. "Those who request access to the 
shelves are almost invariably those of suffi- 
cient intelligence to use books properly. To 
such persons the utility of the library is im- 
measurably enhanced by free access to the 
shelves." 

BOSTON Athenaeum, Boston, Mass. 183,000 
v. Unrestricted access to the shelves is 
granted to all persons who have a right to use 
the library, the families of the owners of the 
1049 shares and, in addition to these, about 
800 persons who have cards of admission from 
the proprietors. Free access has been the 
practice since the foundation of the library. 
The only exception is the collection of news- 
papers and one locked room where particu- 
larly valuable books are kept. Access to the 
shelves has no necessary effect on the capacity 
of the library, but it makes high shelves most 
undesirable, and a stack system less conven- 
ient than an alcove system. The number of 
delivery clerks and runners for books is much 
less, as most people prefer to go to the shelves 
themselves and pick out what they want. 
Readers are requested not to return books to 
the shelves, but they are just as likely not to 
observe this as to do so. The misplacement 
of books is not such as to produce any seri- 
ous inconvenience. The shelves are gone 
over carefully with the shelf-list every year, 
but the attendants are always on the lookout 
for misplaced books and put them right. The 
privilege of going to the shelves directly is 
considered the distinguishing and principal 
advantage of this library, and the withdrawal 
of it would be considered by the proprietors 
as taking away what is half the advantage of 
owning a share here. People can be helped 
much more effectually in this way to find what 



they want than if they had the catalogue alone 
to consult. 

BRIDGEPORT (Conn.) Public Library. Ac- 
cess not allowed. " The subscription library 
which was the parent of the present free li- 
brary permitted unrestricted access, and the 
results \vere altogether disastrous. In con- 
sequence of this, I think public feeling wonld 
be against open shelves, and with us there is 
no demand for them." 

BROOKLYN Library, Brooklyn, N. Y. 116,- 
090 v. Access in special cases has been 
granted for 25 years or longer. Books are 
quite often misplaced and the shelves 
"should be examined every time they are 
used by an outsider." 

BUFFALO Library, Buffalo, N. Y. 73,000 v. 
For seven years some 2,000 reference books 
have been open to everybody. Access to 
other shelves is allowed to any person who 
has a good reason for examining a considera- 
ble number of books. " I think that if our 
library was constructed with reference to it, I 
should wish to make the admission to shelves 
more general, but I doubt the expediency of 
throwing them entirely open." 

CAMBRIDGE (Mass.) Public Library. 42,000 
v. Grants access now and then, but general- 
ly sends an attendant with the reader. Were 
the practice general it would require a re- 
arrangement of the library. 

CARNEGIE Free Library, Alleghany, Pa. 
26,000 v. Shelf-permits are issued on appli- 
cation to all who are in search of solid read- 
ing. No shelf-permits for fiction. The con- 
struction of the stacks will not permit general 
admission. 

CARNEGIE Free Library, Braddock, Pa. 
10,000 v. Books in cases with glass doors, 
which trustworthy people may have unlocked 
so as to go to the books at any time. " The 
special advantage of our system is that it al- 
lows our readers to see the outside of the 
books and get some idea of size, etc., which 
seems to give them an indefinable satisfaction ; 
that it exhibits, as it were, a classed catalogue 
of the books which are in ; that it protects the 
books from dirt in an exceedingly dirty town ; 
that it serves as an indicator to show whether 
the book wanted is in or out, and this saves 
the time of the attendants." 

CHICAGO (111.) Public Library. 200,000 v. 
Access not granted. In the new library build- 



STEIN ER AND RANCK. 



ing it is proposed to have a large number of 
reference-books accessible to readers, but no 
access to the stacks. 

CLERKENWELL Public Library, London, 
Eng. 14,000 v. So far as we know this is the 
only public library in England that permits 
public access to its shelves in both the lending 
and reference departments. It has been tried 
in the reference department since 1890 and in 
the lending department since May i, 1894. Jn 
the lending department admission to the 
shelves is "only allowed to borrowers who 
hold ticket .vouchers ;" reference unrestricted, 
though the reference access is confined to 
directories, annuals, &c., "but will likely be 
thrown open all over, soon." It was necessary 
to change the arrangement of the shelves. 
The salary of one assistant saved, which will 
go a long way toward covering losses and 
additional wear and tear. The public may 
return books to the shelves and the misplacing 
of books is " hardly worth reckoning ; but this 
is due to our special method of marking." 
Shelves are gone over morning, afternoon 
and night (ten minutes each time suffices) to 
get misplaced books in order. No loss dis- 
covered from May i, to Aug. 4, the date of 
the report. 

CLEVELAND (Ohio) Public Library. 80,000 
v. This library has granted access for more 
than four years ; there are no restrictions, save 
that the medical cases and a special collection 
of about loo volumes are not not open to 
boys and girls. It requires more room, but 
fewer assistants. Very few books misplaced ; 
loss of books "more than double in four 
years." It is an economy. It increases the 
use of the library and renders it much more 
satisfactory to users, and more valuable. It 
is superior in every respect to the old plan. 

COLUMBUS (Ohio) Public Library. 20,000 
v. Access has been tried five years, but not 
permitted to fiction cases, nor on Saturdays 
or busy hours. Scientific and historical 
books rearranged. Increases the use of the li- 
brary and calls for more clerks. The public 
will misplace books eight times out of ten. 
No noticeable increase in loss, or wear and 
tear of books. Deem it a wise policy for as- 
sisting students and special workers. 

CONCORD (Mass.) Free Public Library. 
26,000 v. Free access to the reference de- 
partment since 1873, and the past two years 



new books are kept on shelves open to the 
public, about three months. "Our loss is 
very small, but fully half of it comes from free 
access to the shelves." 

DENVER (Col.) Public Library. 20,000 v. 
"To every one if clean and quiet," the library 
grants access to all books except fiction (for 
lack of room), and " a few nice books." Re- 
quires more space and adds to the work. The 
public forbidden to return books to the 
shelves, but they do, and misplace them. 
Shelves should be looked after constantly to 
keep books in order, but manage to get along 
by going over them about once a month. Ac- 
cess is popular and "to keep the public away 
from the books is not one of the best ways of 
increasing the usefulness of the library." 

DETROIT (Mich. ) Public Library. 125,000 v. 
The arrangement of the main portion of the 
library makes it impossible to admit the pub- 
lic freely on account of lack of space. Last 
November the reference-room, containing in 
addition to strictly reference-books, all Poole 
sets, patent specifications, &c., was opened 
freely to the public. Visitors instructed to 
leave books on the tables after using them. 
Always one or two attendants about the 
room watching. The privilege greatly appre- 
ciated, and, as far as known, no books have 
been stolen or damaged. 

FISK Free Library, New Orleans, La. 
14,000 v. A reference library ; reports small 
increase in loss on account of access to the 
shelves, but lessens library force. 

FRIENDS Free Library, Germantown, Pa. 
17,500 v. Access to shelves not restricted ex- 
cept to cases containing valuable books. Ju- 
venile shelves must be looked after weekly, to 
keep books in order. " Rather a decrease " 
in loss of books. Disadvantage arises from 
young persons who are not earnestly looking 
for information, but advantages outbalance 
disadvantages. 

GAIL BORDEN Public Library, Elgin, 111. 
15,000 v. This library does not grant access 
and the librarian says : "We have the vanity 
to believe that we can suit our patrons better 
than they could do it themselves and I think 
that might\)& true generally of small libraries. " 

GENERAL Society of Mechanics and Trades- 
men (Apprentices' Library), New York City. 
100,000 v. For more than 31 years this library 
has granted access "to any who has a good 



9 2 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



reason that commends itself to the librarian." 
Books often misplaced by employes. Of in- 
estimable advantage to students "decidedly 
opposed to allowing the general reader to use 
it as an excuse for laziness." 

GRAND RAPIDS (Mich.) Public School Li- 
brary. 38,500 v. Access granted oply to 
teachers, except reference department, where 
any one may have access to the shelves. Ar- 
rangement of circulating department makes 
free access impossible. 

HAMILTON (Ontario, Canada) Public Library. 
21,175 v. Access to all books, except fiction 
and juvenile, to those who ask for it. General 
admission would require more space. Access 
requires less force. Books occasionally mis- 
placed, but no increased loss. The librarian 
is a strong advocate of access, with proper 
restrictions. "Experience leads me to state 
that a comparatively small library, if carefully 
classed and with fairly free access to the 
shelves, will confer as much practical good on 
the community and give greater satisfaction to 
readers, than a library twice its size which is 
not classified, and in which access to the 
shelves is practically prohibited." Extract 
from notice : ' ' Take only one book at a time 
from the shelf, and replace it in its proper 
place, or give to library attendant to replace. 
Be very particular about this." 

HARTFORD (Conn.) Public Library. 40,000 
v. Access granted since opening as a free 
library, Sept., 1892, to all shelves except 
novels and children's books. "Our boys 
misplace more books than the public. ' ' Never 
publicly announced, but practically any one 
may go to the shelves for purposes of study. 

HOWARD Memorial Library, New Orleans, 
La. 22,000 v. Access granted whenever it 
will be useful to readers, only about 30 per 
cent, of whom are students ; the rest enter to 
fill up time. Public forbidden to put books 
back on the shelves, because they misplace 
them "whenever they have the chance." 

INDIANAPOLIS (Ind.) Public Library. 55,513 
v. Access granted upon application to libra- 
rian, to any books except fiction. "Our plan 
benefits those who really need to use the 
shelves, while the other people are deterred 
from seeking the privilege simply because they 
have to ask permission." 

JERSEY CITY (N. J.) Free Public Library. 
42,051 v. "In rare cases, where the privilege 



is asked, we allow the applicant to visit the 
shelves under the guidance of an attendant." 
Free access is given to all books in the refer- 
ence room. The whole library is inspected 
for misplaced books every Wednesday. At- 
tendants are instructed to show borrowers as 
many books as they desire to see at the de- 
livery counter. "A library's efficiency is de- 
termined by the rapidity with which any one of 
its. thousands of books can be produced, and 
placed before the applicant at the delivery 
counter or in the reference room, and this can 
only exist where every book is in its proper 
place on the shelves." A great many people 
know what they want when they come to the 
library and they will suffer from the delay. 

KANSAS CITY (Mo.) Public Library. 20,000 
v. "We tried the experiment, for a few 
months last winter, of placing the new books 
on a table in the delivery room, for the public 
to see and handle. The experiment was not 
a success, as we had about thirty books stolen 
during that time." 

LIVERPOOL (Eng. ) Free Public Library. 
105,280 v. "Some years ago, in the reference 
library, a number of shelves were stored with 
dictionaries and other books of reference to 
which the public had access ; but after some 
eighteen months' trial the privilege was with- 
drawn, owing to thefts, to people loitering 
before the shelves, and to the misplacing ol 
the books after consulting them." 

Los ANGELES (Cal.) Public Library. 
36,000 v. Access granted to teachers and 
specialists, except on Saturday afternoon. 
Use is limited to some 500 people. Want ol 
space between stacks prevents general access 
"the only plan if one has space," but would 
not have access to fiction. 

LYNN (Mass.) Free Public Library. 
49,000 v. For three years the library has granted 
access to the shelves in the reference rooms. 
Shelves are inspected daily for misplaced 
books. Increased wear and tear is considera- 
ble, 15 per cent, at least. A great accommo- 
dation to people who wish to examine books 
without reading them. Do not believe in ad- 
mitting the general public to fiction and juve- 
niles. 

MILWAUKEE (Wis.) Public Library. 74,077 
v. Access allowed in reference library only. 
"We shall hope to try, at least for certain 
hours of the day, access to shelves when our 



STEfNER AND RANCK. 



93 



rooms permit." Arrangement not suited for 
general access. 

MINNEAPOLIS (Minn.) Public Library. 
70,000 v. The library was built for access to 
the shelves. A shelf-permit is given to every 
mature person having a library purpose. 677 
such permits issued for 1893, twice as many as 
in 1892. Fiction alcoves open to public only 
at slack times. The public not allowed to 
put books back on the shelves, which are 
constantly watched to keep books in order. 
No increase in loss of books, and wear and 
tear rather diminished by doing away with 
carrying a long distance to the reference room. 
" Great advantages no disadvantages." 

NEWARK (N. J.) Free Public Library. 
46,319 v. Access to the shelves of the reference 
department has been in operation five years ; 
other departments (except fiction) two years. 
The privilege is denied on Saturdays from i 
to 8:30 p. m. The arrangement, capacity of 
the library and number of delivery clerks, has 
not been affected by granting access. The 
public may return books to the shelves and 
they do "not very often" misplace them. 
No increase in loss or in wear and tear of 
books. The books are placed in order 
"every morning by messengers while doing 
the general dusting." "The system is a 
great advantage to readers." 

NEW BRUNSWICK (N. J.) Free Public Li- 
brary. 12,471 v. Access within certain lim- 
its has been in operation one year. Readers 
excluded from fiction shelves. Slight changes 
in arrangement were necessary. Public may 
return books to the shelves. As to loss and 
wear and tear, "cannot tell till longer trial is 
given." "All departments, and all classes of 
books except fiction, should be open to the 
citizens. It has given much satisfaction 
here." 

NEW YORK City Y. M. C. A. Library. 
42,000 v. Access granted at discretion of libra- 
rian, to persons known or introduced, for a 
period of thirty years or more. Hight of 
shelves should be reduced for public access. 
Some increase in wear and tear, but little or 
no increased loss. "Access to shelves must 
be modified by circumstances, location, class 
of readers, object of library, etc. No general 
rule can be given." 

OAKLAND (Cal.) Free Public Library. 
25,000 v. This library has wire doors to the 

13 



cases. The public can see the books, but not 
handle them. It has been in operation ij 
years and it has increased the patronage of 
the library, as well as the force. 

OTIS Library, Norwich, Conn. 19,181 v. 
Access to the shelves since 1891, to all classes 
except fiction. No additional capacity or ser- 
vice needed. The public misplace books 
sometimes, but not very often. Shelves 
looked after about once a week. " The ad- 
vantages to special students, teachers, and 
even general readers seem to me too obvious 
to need explanation. The disadvantages are 
trifling in comparison, being only displace- 
ment of books, slight additional risk of loss, 
and possibly a little more wear and tear." 

PHILADELPHIA (Pa.) City Institute. 42d 
Annual Report, March 26th, 1894. "We 
again commend to all free libraries the prac- 
tice of keeping the doors of the book-cases 
wide open and unobstructed by wire netting 
or wooden fences, so that visitors or readers 
may have free access to the books during the 
hours the libraries are open, and have the 
privilege of selecting books, they may desire 
to examine, without being obliged to call up- 
on the librarian. This privilege to the reader 
is a great convenience and makes him feel 
that to some extent he is the custodian of the 
books and responsible for their safe return to 
the shelves. No library without this privi- 
lege can really be called a free one." 

PHILADELPHIA (Pa.) Mercantile Library. 
172,000 v. "Until three years ago all mem- 
bers had unrestricted access, at all hours, to 
the cases, excepting a few that contained 
books of special value. Now, regular mem- 
bers have such access on depositing 25 cts. 
for a key." Free access requires more room. 
" Since the railing was put up three years ago 
the same force has kept the books in better 
order." Some time every day is devoted to 
putting books in order, which are often mis- 
placed. "A great advantage to students, but 
of little to the general reader. I think the 
damage outweighs the good." 

PHILADELPHIA (Pa. ) Public Library. (Four 
branches.) 45,000 v. "Does the library- 
grant access to the shelves ?" " YES ! ! ! ah 
initio!!" Some books withheld from chil- 
dren, the only restriction. " Would require at 
least three more assistants in each branch, if 
shelves were closed. Books are often mis- 



94 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



placed, hence the shelves are inspected "at 
least once a day." " Increases wear and tear 
very much." " People read what they choose 
from the shelves. They are attracted by look- 
ing over a book which they would never think 
of choosing from a list." 

PRINCETON College Library, Princeton, N. J. 
95,000 v. For the last three years all regis- 
tered borrowers have access to the shelves on 
signing a "blue" alcove admission slip and 
leaving it at the desk. Something of the kind 
has been in use "off and on" for twenty 
years. Users often misplace books and the 
library thinks of forbidding them to put books 
back on the shelves. The "boys" when not 
otherwise occupied are straightening books 
on the shelves. 

PROVIDENCE (R. I.) Public Library. 
63,355 v. " We do not supply the privilege of 
access to the shelves, in the full sense. How- 
ever, we place several thousand volumes, 
which are works of reference, on open shelves 
in the portion of the public room outside the 
counter, where access is free. We also place on 
open shelves in the same part of the room all 
the new books, for 12 weeks back ; putting in a 
new lot each week and taking out a lot 12 weeks 
back. These begin to circulate as soon as 
they are placed there. We also several years 
ago, began trying the experiment of making 
access to the shelves in one department of the 
library fine art free. This has worked 
well ; it has a room by itself. In all three of 
the above instances we have to ' verify the 
shelves ' each morning, to see that the books 
are in the right order. In the new building 
which we are planning to erect soon, we hope 
to embody as much of the Newberry library 
principle as is practicable under our condi- 
tions." 

ROCHESTER (N. Y.) Central Library. 
23,000 v. Access only to encyclopaedias, dic- 
tionaries, etc. "Until 1892 the public had 
access to the shelves. We were losing books, 
books were misplaced, which were almost 
the same as lost. We reorganized the library, 
adopted the Dewey classification, catalogue 
cards, etc., and put up railings around book- 
cases, alcoves, etc. The books on the shelves 
are kept in perfect order, and the people do 
not complain. We no longer lose books off 
the shelves." 
ST. Louis (Mo.) Mercantile Library. 



88, ooo v. ' 'Access to main book collection only 
granted to those engaged in serious research. 
Our membership does not include many ad- 
vanced students or thorough-going scholars. 
If possible, would have a selected library of 
perhaps 20,000 vols. in a public room, alcove 
system, with free access. This collection 
would be constantly weeded out and added 
to, the object being to give unrestricted access 
to the 20,000 books 'best' for our readers. 
The other books to be kept in stacks no 
access." 

ST. Louis (Mo.) Public Library. 92,000 v. 
Access granted to about 30,000 vols. in the 
several reference-rooms and to the juvenile" 
collection. " During school term juvenile col- 
lection restricted to the hours from 3 to 6 p. m., 
and from 9 a. m. to 6 p. m. during vacation." 
Any one giving a good reason may go to the 
shelves of the circulating-department. Little 
or no friction ; plan not tried long enough to 
draw conclusions. 

SALEM (Mass.) Public Library. 30,000 v. 
Access allowed only in the reference depart- 
ment. " I think, in the ideal system, readers at 
a library will be served as are customers in a 
store, by clerks thoroughly posted as to the 
stock on hand. There is no reason why the 
public should be allowed to pull over the 
general stock. They do not in that way come 
any nearer to having their real needs sup- 
plied. They are as apt to get hold of the 
antiquated, or unsuitable, as much as when 
they select from the catalogue. One librarian 
who admits to the shelves tells me that read- 
ers select the dirtiest books. There may be 
bargain-counters of new books and those to 
which the librarian wishes to call special atten- 
tion ; and here the public may be allowed to 
handle freely." 

SCRANTON (Pa.) Public Library. 22,000 v. 
Free access to about 4,000 vols. in reference 
department and reading-room. Books for 
circulation are in stack-rooms. Individuals 
specially desirous are granted the privilege of 
going to the stacks, exceptionally. Narrow 
aisles would not admit general public. In the 
reference department books are misplaced 
more often than correctly placed ; shelves 
verified weekly ; an occasional theft ; and in- 
creased wear and tear, "perhaps one or two 
percent." " Would gladly grant free access 
to the circulating department if our quarters 



STEfNER AND RANCK. 



95 



could be so arranged as to admit of it. I 
believe, however, that such would not decrease 
number of attendants, but rather require 
more, if anything. It entails endless work in 
going over the shelves day by day, if the de- 
sired freedom of access is granted." 

SPRINGFIELD (111.) Public Library. 24,437 v. 
Access not granted " except to pastors of the 
city churches." " Years ago the library lost too 
many books by giving free access, to try the 
plan again." 

SPRINGFIELD ( Mass. ) Public Library. 87,000 
v. For several years access has been granted 
to some extent, for special purposes. "We 
place all new books, when ready for circulation, 
where they are accessible to all our readers. 
Very many who visit the library are accustomed 
to make their selections mainly from the 
shelves." (33d Annual Report, May, 1894.) 
"The free use of books for purpose of special 
investigation, and the free use of reference 
books, we regard as exceedingly desirable." 

SPRINGFIELD (Ohio) Public Library. 16,000 
v. Card-holders have free access to the 
shelves from 9 A. M. log P. M., others can 
have access to the reference books on permis- 
sion. " Free access to this department should 
continue, but there is need of such restrictions 
as will protect valuable books from careless 
handling, and prevent interruptions from those 
who through mere pretext use it to promote 
their social pleasure." (226 Annual Report, 
May, 1894.) "We have tall stacks very much 
against our convenience; are desirous to 
change to the alcove plan." The increased 
wear and tear is very little more than the in- 
creased circulation would naturally give. "I 
am decidedly in favor of bringing books of the 
library close to the people; have advocated it 
for 17 years, and for 13 it has been tried with 
success in this library. The day for storing up 
useful books from the people should pass into 
ancient history; nothing good should be re- 
stricted, futher than order and proper records 
require." 

STOCKTON (Cal.) Free Public Library. 
20,000 v. Access allowed to all books, except 
art works, for four years. Increased loss of 
books covered by about $35 per year. The 
library can do with one assistant less, which 
affords a net saving of $385 per year. The 
public is better satisfied and "the general 
handling of books is good for them gives 



them fresh air." "The disadvantages are: 
Crowding about the cases, with the noise at- 
tendant thereon; and disarrangement of books 
which is hard on lazy assistants." 

" A library that can have a separate room for 
fiction and juvenile works, and a good finding 
list, would do well to close it up and allow 
none to those cases. . . . The novel-reader and 
the juvenile person are the ones that make 
most trouble." 

SYRACUSE (N. Y.) Central Library. "We 
do not allow the multitude to go to the shelves, 
but those whom we know, and can trust, we 
allow to come in. Our help is inadequate to 
doing what I could wish, but with proper 
oversight, the more people that can be admit- 
ted to the shelves the better the results to the 
readers." 

TAUNTON (Mass.) Public Library. 37, 257 v. 
Access to reference department and new books. 
" I see no advantages, but apprehend the re- 
verse. Better make the catalogue serve at- 
tendants and readers." 

TOLEDO (Ohio) Public Library. 36,000 v. 
Access to the shelves in the reference depart- 
ment. Would be absolutely necessary to 
change the present arrangement of cases for 
general free access, requiring about twice the 
room and twice the number of assistants. "I 
have not found the general public to know 
what they want." 

VICTORIA Public Library, Melbourne, Vic- 
toria, Australia. 133,301 v. Since its founda- 
tion, in 1854, this library has granted access to 
the shelves. There is " no restriction, except 
in regard to medical and art books. A per- 
mit from the librarian is required, but once a 
visitor is admitted to the medical and art gal- 
leries he has free access to the shelves during 
the hours the library is open, viz., 10 a. m. to 
10 p. m." "Upon the principle upon which 
this library is constructed access to the shelves 
involves a great loss of space, so much so that 
accommodation cannot be provided for the 
books if the present system is continued for 
many years. The trustees have decided, 
when a new library is being erected, to give 
access only to a portion of the books, and to 
store the rest in cases about three feet apart. 
The cost of administration is seriously in- 
creased by the present system." Books must 
not be returned to the shelves by the public, 
still they are often misplaced. For misplaced 



9 6 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



books " a portion of the library is gone over 
every morning, the whole circuit of the library 
being completed in a month." No serious 
loss of books only about 75 a year and 
these are of small value. The tear and wear is 
increased. No doubt the public consider ac- 
cess to the shelves a great advantage, but I 
think they would be better served by a good 
subject catalogue. The advantage is more 
imaginary than real." 
WOBURN (Mass.) Public Library. 34,000 



v. All persons, properly introduced, may have 
access to all classes of books, except fiction and 
juveniles. "The general objection, besides 
danger of theft is the temporary loss by mis- 
placement of books. " 

WORCESTER (Mass.) Free Public Library. 
The 34th annual report states that new books 
are placed on shelves outside of the counter. 
" It is the belief of the officers of the library 
that solid reading is much promoted by thus 
displaying additions to the library." 



REPORT ON LIBRARY ARCHITECTURE. 



BY THERESA H. WEST, LIBRARIAN, MILWAUKEE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



INSTEAD of the usual annual report on 
library buildings, I have ventured to offer to 
the Association a paper somewhat elementary 
in character. It is founded on observations 
made while acting as secretary to the trustees 
of the Public Library and of the Public Mu- 
seum of Milwaukee during a competition which 
decided the choice of an architect for their 
joint building. 

It certainly is not necessary, before the A. 
L. A., to dwell on the fact that during the 
building of a library the whole function of the 
librarian is advisory ; he is never the deciding 
power. Sometimes, indeed, his opinion is 
not once consulted ; but most librarians believe 
that it is common sense that the executive 
officer of an institution should be an influential 
advisor. 

Unless a librarian has taken pains, however, 
to make his knowledge of the subject in hand 
broader and more sound than that of any 
other person connected with the project, there 
is no real reason to expect or desire that he 
should be consulted. It should not be thought 
in the least disloyal to the craft to say that a 
very good librarian may yet have no great 
fitness for the task of planning a building. 
Little in his training and less in his daily life 
tends toward education in this direction. 

Usually there is a long preliminary talk 
about a new building, and during this time of 
air-castle building the librarian is able, has 
time at least, to put foundations under his 
knowledge of the subject. He has a chance 



to consider carefully, once more, the character 
of his library and its consequent policy, and 
from that to conclude the probable growth for 
which it is the part of wisdom to provide. 

He will look far for a building wholly satis- 
factory even to those who built it, but by com- 
parison of what exists in various places he 
may form a fairly trustworthy ideal toward 
which to work. He will learn almost as much 
from the failures of others as from their suc- 
cesses. 

In all this study and thought he has been 
making his advice worth asking, and certainly 
this is the surest course to cause it to be asked 
and followed. A librarian's opinion will often 
be consulted when it is not worth regarding ; 
but an end soon comes to such asking, just as 
it should. Knowledge is power here as else- 
where. 

Trustees usually face this problem of a 
library building as new to the task as the 
librarian ; and, if he has been wise, with not 
half his preparation. Boards of trustees are 
usually made up of men each of whom has a 
life-work of his own. He has succeeded 
in this life-work because to it his time is given, 
and in it his attention centers. As a rule 
trustees do not, comparatively speaking, give 
much time or thought to the institution which 
they govern. It is not, and cannot be, ex- 
pected that they should. They do wish, how- 
ever, that the institution should be a distinct 
success ; that it should be a recognized power 
in the communitv. This wish is rooted not 



WEST. 



alone in their interest in the institution, but 
also in a wholesome desire for public ap- 
proval. A well-managed institution is the 
best proof of the wisdom of its trustees. 

A librarian usually comes into office with 
the confidence of at least a majority of his 
board. If, as the months go by, they find 
him quietly equal to every emergency, if they 
find his policy steadily wise and trustworthy, 
he is likely to be given all the latitude which 
he can possibly desire. Such freedom ought 
not to be granted if these tests are not so ful- 
filled. 

In library-building, the experience of others 
is the most available help to a wise policy. 
Under such circumstances that debt which 
every man owes to his profession demands 
that each one of us should frankly record the 
results of his own experience for the common 
good. 

Former papers and reports on the subject 
of library architecture from some of the most 
revered members of the A. L. A. give many 
sound principles and much practical sugges- 
tion. 

In my own need I found little or no help on 
a difficulty which is met at the very threshold 
of the subject. Any discussion of the ways by 
which the architect may at first come into re- 
lation with the trustees and the librarian, has 
been almost wholly omitted. This is an im- 
portant matter. The choice of an architect 
involves much more than the selection of that 
technical skill which produces good plans and 
a fine design. The well-being of the enter- 
prise depends almost as much upon the char- 
acter and integrity of the architect as upon 
his professional ability. 

This choice of the architect is usually the 
first public step after the necessary funds are 
in hand or, at least, in sight. It is not pos- 
sible to say what is abstractly the best course 
in all cases. It would have been useful to us 
to have had the fact placed clearly before us 
that there were not only different roads to our 
goal, but that there were in each road certain 
rocks and ruts. To change the metaphor, it 
is well to keep in mind that in avoiding Scylla 
it is also necessary not to fall into Charybdis. 

A public library is usually a relatively large 
building in a town. Its erection is, therefore, 
a piece of work likely to be sought, or at least 



desired, by all the architects of the town. In 
case the town is a city the work will be sought 
too by architects of other places. How, from 
among these candidates, shall the architect be 
chosen ? There are three common methods : 

First. The board of trustees may select out- 
right a man whom they have reason to believe 
competent and trustworthy and instruct him 
to prepare plans. 

Second. The board of trustees may select a 
number of men, all of whom they believe to 
have the wished-for qualifications, and invite 
each of them to prepare plans in competition 
with one another. 

Third. The board of trustees may inaugur- 
ate what is known as an open competition ; 
/. e., they may advertise in the public press and 
in the architectural journals that they are 
ready to receive plans for such and such a 
building. There are various possible modifi- 
cations of the method, but it is, practically, a 
free for-all. 

It may as well be accepted from the outset 
that some criticism will be incurred by those 
having the enterprise in charge, whatever 
method of choice is adopted. "Public office 
is a public trust " and, in common with other 
trusts, is apt to be regarded with doubt by 
those on the outside. Under the first two 
methods, criticism is encountered from the 
first. Under the third it is usually deferred 
until a decision is reached ; it does npt there- 
by lose. I have yet to find record of the 
modern public building which has not in some 
way provoked criticism. It is certainly worth 
while to take every care to forestall just crit- 
icism. No other to be dreaded. 

The first method, the choice of the architect 
outright, has much to commend it. It is by 
far the simplest, most direct solution of the 
problem. If honesty and intelligence go to 
the choice, perhaps the chances for mistake 
are not greater than by any other method. 
The individual man usually acts in this way 
when he has a building to erect and this is a 
fair argument for its practical good sense. 
When a man conducts his public duties on the 
lines upon which he does his private business, 
he is apt to be using the best sense that he 
has. 

The glitter of a famous name is apt, under 
these circumstances, to attract the eyes which 
govern the choice. Unfortunately a famous 



9 8 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



name is not an unfailing mascotte for suc- 
cess. The board of trustees, under this 
method, will have the ideas, suggestions and 
resources of but one man, or firm, to draw 
on. But on the other hand, this man will be 
able to go directly and hopefully at the prob- 
lem, sure of the cordial co-operation of all 
concerned. 

The plans first submitted by an architect so 
chosen will be sketch-plans, without working 
drawings or specifications for building. These 
sketch-plans are, of course, simply the archi- 
tect's solution of the problem and are suscep- 
tible of modification to any extent that the 
desires of those concerned may indicate and 
the capacity of the architect work out. 

If, however, the architect is unable to pro- 
duce a satisfactory scheme, the experiment 
proves an expensive one. Even if his design 
is entirely rejected he has earned and can col- 
lect his fee. This fee is somewhat of the 
nature of a lawyer's retainer, and is usually 
reckoned as one per cent, on the proposed 
cost of the building. If the plans are accepted 
this fee is merged in the commission, which 
varies from three per cent, to seven and one- 
half per cent, on the cost of the building, ac- 
cording to the fame of the architect and the 
locality. The American Institute of Archi- 
tects recognizes as just and right five per 
cent, as a minimum charge for full services. 

Almost all of the famous Richardson libra- 
ries, the Newberry library, and the beautiful 
and practical new Albright memorial building 
at Scranton, were designed by architects thus 
chosen. 

The second method, the limited competi- 
tion, gives an opportunity for a somewhat 
wider range of choice. Men eminent for their 
treatment of various styles of architecture may 
be chosen and thus a comparison of the rel- 
ative adaptation of the style to the problem 
may be had. Each man knows his compet- 
itors and is thus spurred to do his best. In 
the selection of six competitors, which is a 
common number, the standing of all the men 
may be such that the enterprise will be safe 
in the hands of any one of them. 

In this, as under the first method, the man 
with the very best ideas for the work in hand 
may be overlooked. But there is small 
chance that a real incompetent will be 
chosen. It is usual under this form of com- 



petition to offer a series of prizes, graduated 
in value according to the adjudged merit of 
the designs submitted. The value of the 
premiums is, of course, dependent upon the 
proposed cost of the building. 

The architects of the Buffalo library, the 
Minneapolis public library and the new Chicago 
public library were chosen after this form of 
competition. 

The third method, the free-for-all, is very 
common in the erection of public buildings of 
all sorts. It is eyed askance by architects. 
It is less than thirty years since the discussion 
of the subject of competitions was admitted to 
the professional papers. Some able men will 
not enter an open competition however fair 
the conditions may seem to be. There is 
probably reason for this feeling in the profes- 
sion, for many of the scandals about public 
buildings have arisen under competitions of 
this kind. 

And yet a revered and much-loved profes- 
sor of architecture defended the custom by 
saying that few men had opportunity to de- 
sign more than three or four great buildings, at 
most, in the course of their professional career. 
The open competition, he said, gave the op- 
portunity to attempt such designs under ac- 
tual conditions, and whether successful or not 
the education of the attempt was secured. 

Whatever may be the truth of the matter 
from the architect's point of view, the prac- 
tice involves some serious considerations 
from the layman's side. In the first place, in 
order to attract competitors of a high order 
of talent the conditions must be favorable, 
must promise a reasonable degree of fairness. 
A competition which does not succeed in at- 
tracting such competitors is a dreary waste 
indeed. 

If, however, the conditions are such as to be 
satisfactory, there will be submitted a great 
mass of mediocre drawings which are of no 
possible value to the enterprise. That is, if 
a large, well-baited net is spread, along with 
the big fishes will be gathered a great num- 
ber of little, useless, ones which add seriously 
to the weight of the net. A few figures will 
demonstrate clearly how considerable the 
burden of drawings in an open competition 
may prove. The design of a large building 
cannot be adequately set forth in less than 
eight drawings to the set. In many cases it 



WEST. 



99 



is necessary to call for more. The drawings 
to be clear must be of large scale, making 
them awkward to handle. The Milwaukee 
competition, not a specially attractive one, 
contained seventy-four sets of plans. The 
reception, care, exhibition and return of five 
hundred and ninety-two drawings is not a task 
to be desired. 

Still another consideration is that, for this 
style of competition, the architects are de- 
pendent for guidance upon a printed scheme 
called, usually, the ' ' Instructions to Archi- 
tects." The conditions of the competition 
and the needs of the building must be plainly 
set forth. In order to do this some one must 
have the scheme very clearly in mind. It 
may seem very easy to know what you want ; 
it does not prove so easy to say it so that 
there is no chance for serious misunderstand- 
ing, by those whose only information is gained 
from a printed description. 

Moreover, it is next to impossible to make a 
printed scheme which cannot be supplemented, 
to the great advantage of the enterprise, by 
word-of-mouth interviews between the archi- 
tects and those to be served. The trained, 
perceptive minds of the architects see possi- 
bilities and difficulties of which the layman 
would never think. Practical alternatives can 
usually be arranged by discussion. To fore- 
go these discussions is a great loss to the en- 
terprise. On the other hand, however, if 
some competitors have this advantage and 
others do not, an inequality of conditions re- 
sults, which justly enough makes dissatisfac- 
tion. 

It must be faced, too, that it is not possible 
for any board of laymen, however honest and 
intelligent, to form a just judgment, architect- 
urally, of a large number of plans. The lay- 
man thinks that he knows what he likes. 
What he likes may very possibly be as far as 
possible from bearing any relation to the real 
merits of the case. The question is not a 
matter of taste, it is a matter of knowledge. 
The layman is not versed in the laws which 
govern this realm. 

The resource is to take the verdict of a pro- 
fessional expert ; but here again there may 
be danger. An unprejudiced professional 
man will probably know nothing of the in- 
dividual needs, or ideals, of the given institu- 
tion. He may give the wisest possible 



judgment from the architectural point view of 
and yet leave out of consideration items of 
the utmost practical importance. One horn 
of the dilemma is not much more comforta- 
ble than the other. If the expert is so quick, 
so open-minded, so kindly-courteous as to be 
ready to hear and weigh with patience the 
comments of the librarian, the resulting judg- 
ment is likely to be a wise one. 

There is one consoling fact which may be 
considered when in fear of the neglect of in- 
terior convenience for exterior beauty, or vice 
versa ; an architect who is capable of working 
out a simple, convenient, symmetrical plan for 
the interior is usually able to clothe it in a 
reasonably effective and correct design. 

The matter of expense is also to be consid- 
ered under the open competition. The pre- 
miums, prizes, or price, of the best plans (the 
charters of some cities forbid the payment of 
prizes) are a part of the necessary attractiveness 
of the conditions. They are proportioned, as 
in the limited competition, to the magnitude 
of the building. An unwise economy in this 
direction defeats itself ; the prizes must be ad- 
equate, or desirable competitors will not enter. 

The expense does not end with the prizes, 
however. The advertising for plans ; the 
printing of instructions, with the necessary 
plats, etc. ; the reception, care, exhibition and 
return of the drawings ; and the professional 
expert's fee form no inconsiderable items. To 
these actual money outlays will be added a 
voluminous correspondence and innumerable 
interviews for the librarian ; and interminable 
meetings, not to mention inexhaustible lobby- 
ing for the trustees. 

Some modifications of the open competition 
might do much to obviate, or at least amelior- 
ate, some of the most trying and dangerous 
conditions. 

First. The board of trustees may select at 
the very outset an adviser in whom the archi- 
tects of the country have confidence. The 
name of this adviser, will form a part of the 
official advertisement. This first modification 
is by far the most important of all because 
nearly all the rest will come as natural sug- 
gestions from him. 

A wise adviser not only ensures a just judg- 
ment of the plans in the end but gives the 
dignity of his name as a guarantee of the good 
faith of those having the enterprise in charge. 



ioo 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



The advertising of the fact of the willingness of 
a board to call such wisdom to their help will 
go far toward encouraging just the talent that 
is desired to enter the competition. 

Many minor difficulties disappear at once by 
the help of his counsel. For example, a board 
of laymen will find it difficult to know just how 
to specify the drawings which are required to 
perfectly reveal the merits and defects of a 
design. Uniformity of size of drawings, of the 
point of view of perspectives, of the finish of 
drawings, greatly aid a just comparison of de- 
signs. All these things a thoughtful, experi- 
enced adviser makes perfectly plain. 

Second. The competition should be abso- 
lutely anonymous. It is hard to be unbiassed 
in judgment when the names, characters, and 
previous records of the architects are known. 
The professional adviser will find an easy way 
to obviate the only honest objections to this 
plan. 

Third. The name and address of the person 
from whom any additional information or ex- 
planation may be had should be printed plainly 
in the advertisement. It might be wise for the 
committee to announce that no inquiries ad- 
dressed to individual members of the committee 
would be answered. 

Fourth. The imperative instructions to ar- 
chitects should be few. The general descrip- 
tion of the accommodations required should be 
headed by a most explicit statement that the 
description is intended to be suggestive, not 



imperative. The really imperative require- 
ments should be grouped by themselves. 
With this understood the explanations may 
wisely be quite voluminous. All the benefit 
that the experience and ideals of the librarian 
can give may thus be brought to the help of the 
architect without crippling him unnecessarily. 

Fifth. In cases where it is believed that cer- 
tain arrangements are very desirable, or neces- 
sary, it is wise to give brief reasons. An 
able architect will see and often concede 
a practical point even when it conflicts with 
an effect which he would like to produce. 
Sometimes he will reach the same end by 
another course. The architect is anxious not 
only to make a fine building but one that is 
esteemed a practical success. It is immensely 
for his interest to so succeed, as well as for 
his pride and pleasure. 

Finally it may be conceded that, as the open 
competition is still interesting and still popular, 
in spite of any and all objections, there are 
likely to be many more as time goes on. Un- 
der such circumstances it is wise to use every 
possible means to promote cordial relation- 
between architects and librarians. If there is 
any lack of mutual appreciation the cause may- 
be illustrated by a story told of Charles Lamb. 
Lamb said one day to a friend, "Oh ! I hate 
So-and-So ! " "Why, Charles," said his friend, 
"you don't know him !" "No, I don't," said 
Lamb, "that's why I hate him." 



ON LIBRARY FLOORS AND FLOOR-COVERINGS. 



BY WILLIAM BEER, LIBRARIAN, HOWARD MEMORIAL LIBRARY, NEW ORLEANS. 



T IBRARY floors are not often beautiful. 
Few, it is hoped, possess that element of 
beauty which Ruskin found in the floor of the 
Duomo of Venice. To him, it recalled the 
rippling surface of the Adriatic, on whose 
waters the warlike Venetians had gathered 
the treasures they lavished on their Cathedral. 
Except in a few monumental buildings, the 
intrinsic beauty of a flooring is a secondary 
consideration. To most of us, that floor on 
which the footprints of time and of the ever- 
increasing c rowd of readers shall make no 



change, and in the cleaning of which no dust 
shall be raised, is the best. 

It is the object of my paper to bring out in 
discussion the varied experience of those who 
hear it. In order to leave as much time as 
possible I shall merely lay before you a few 
general considerations and give the result of 
five years' wear on the flooring of my own 
library. 

The following letter from the architects of 
our building sufficiently describes our 
flooring : 



BEER. 



101 



" If we were building another library we do 
not know of any more satisfactory floor than a 
Georgia pine, rift-sawed, floor. Any wooden 
floor will show wear, where the crowds pass 
over it, provided it is not repolished every 
year. Of course, a floor of marble could be 
put down which would not show the wear, 
but it would be very uncomfortable for people 
to stand on. In order to keep your floor in 
good condition the hard oil finish should be 
renewed once a year ; or, if it is desired to re- 
new it more frequently, orange shellac which 
dries very rapidly, may be used." 

After five years, in which the repolishing 
has been neglected, we find in the reading- 
room, the floor of which is unprotected by 
covering, that the frequented paths have 
not only lost their polish, but have become 
indelibly stained black from the quantity of 
soot and acid in the air, coming from the 
smoke of a neighboring brewery. The un- 
trodden parts retain their pristine beauty. 

By the use of soda and ammonia we have 
brought about a not very beautiful uniform- 
ity ; but, by those who know the beauty of 
the room, it will be easily understood that 
this floor will not be allowed to remain in this 
condition the question is, what had best be 
done? 

The local architect recommends planing off 
an eighth of an inch and putting on fresh oil- 
polish. Experience shows that in a shorter 
time than before a repetition, and shortly a 
new floor, would be needed. As there is no 
way of restoring the color of the surface we 
have to choose between painting, which 
would in that room be a crime, waxing with a 
colored wax so as to bring the whole to a 
uniform but deeper color, and a new depart- 
ure covering with some textile fabric. 

The use of fiber matting in libraries is, I 
think, wrong from the two most important 
points of view those regarding sanitation 

14 



and dust. On fibre matting every footstep 
sends into the air an impalpable and, occa- 
sionally deadly, dust which either enters the 
lungs of the unsuspecting reader or adds to 
the already too large quantity of dust on the 
books. The following letter from Mr. Hos- 
mer of the Minneapolis Public Library gives 
an admirable answer to the question "What 
shall we use as a cover to library floors ?' ' 

" As you remark, our building is handsome ; 
it is also, I believe, in every way well con- 
structed. The floors are primarily of iron and 
masonry upon which has been put, for con- 
venience, a layer of maple. This in our more 
frequented rooms, again, is covered with 
corticine or linoleum the difference is 
small, I believe, between the articles. The 
corticine we find thoroughly satisfactory'. It 
deadens noise, is easily cleaned, and wears 
like iron. 

"The spots most trodden wear best. In 
nearly five years hard and constant service we 
see no signs of wearing out. Our floors are 
entirely satisfactory. The maple layer has in 
one of the rooms of the basement, to some 
extent, rotted out ; but it was exposed in a 
peculiar way to dampness. Elsewhere it is 
sound ; it does not make the building any 
less fire-proof, and, when covered by the lin- 
oleum, with the substruction of iron and mas- 
onry, gives us something very firm, quiet and 
safe." 

There is one other matter on which I will 
touch it is of importance to all. The Use of 
the dry bristle brush for sweeping ought to 
be absolutely prohibited in a library. The 
mop, or damp cloth, dragged in a holder, or 
else damp saw dust, is the only means where- 
by dust can be removed from floors, covered 
or uncovered, varnished or painted, without 
sending the larger proportion into fresh circu- 
lation, generally to rest on the books. 



102 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



THE WORK OF THE PUBLISHING SECTION. 



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



'"PHE Publishing Section was organized in 
* 1886, so that we have eight years of its 
work under review. In that time much less 
has been accomplished than some of us hoped, 
but enough has been done to show the need 
and use of its efforts. Financially the Section 
has been a success, having to-day a small bal- 
ance in its treasury over all claims against it, 
and owning some valuable copyrights and 
other property. 

Of Sargent's "Reading for the Young," 
which was its first publication, several editions 
have been published, and it is still much in 
demand. The editors have material in hand 
for a supplement to bring the work down to 
date. 

The "A. L. A. Index," the most important 
work yet brought out by the Section, has 
met all the expenses of publication and 
is beginning to yield a profit ; of which, by 
the original arrangement, the editor is to re- 
ceive the first $750. This work, while it is far 
from being as complete and accurate as it 
should be, is finding a place in most libraries 
and can hardly be dispensed with. Material 
for an extensive supplement is being accumu- 
lated which should be published before long, 
and will add greatly to the value of the book. 

The "List of Subject Headings" prepared 
by a committee of the A. L. A., of which sam- 
ple pages have been distributed at this 
meeting, should be issued at once, and an 
edition of 500 copies, if sold at $1.00, will 
cover the expense and more. 

A carefully annotated list of select books for 
girls' and women's clubs is in preparation by 
Miss Ellen M. Coe, of New York, with the col- 
laboration of several very competent persons. 
This list will be useful not only to the clubs, 



but to all libraries where the reading of the 
young is an object of attention, and is a very 
appropriate publication for the Section. 

In order to carry out the wish often ex- 
pressed for large editions of some of the im- 
portant papers (such as President Larned's 
address) presented to the A. L. A. meetings, 
it seems quite feasible for the Section to se- 
cure electrotype plates from the types set up 
for the Proceedings, for the pages containing 
such papers, and thus be prepared to fill orders 
for them in large or small quantities. 

When the Section was started it was hoped 
that it might secure electrotype plates or at 
least special editions (paying the cost or a 
little more) of many valuable pieces of index 
or bibliographical work done by individual 
libraries for their own benefit as, e. g., in 
the bulletins of some of the leading libraries 
and so extend the usefulness of these pub- 
lications far beyond the small circle of libra- 
ries to which they are likely to be sent as a 
gift. No success has as yet attended efforts 
in this direction, but there are evidently great 
possibilities here if the larger libraries can be 
induced to co-operate. 

With all these openings for valuable work 
before the Section, it is highly desirable that 
its membership be increased, and that all who 
are interested in seeing the. good work de- 
scribed in this paper go forward should lend 
the aid of their subscriptions, and of their per- 
sonal help, in advancing this most practical 
and effective agency for library co-operation. 
It cannot be doubted that there is sufficient 
enterprise and intelligent skill, in the American 
Library Association, to make this work much 
more effective and useful if it were fairly 
brought to bear upon it. 



SOULE. 



103 



LAW BOOKS FOR GENERAL LIBRARIES. 



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



paper fulfils a promise made several 
years ago to the Association the ex- 
ecution of which has been deferred by illness 
and absence. It is intended to suggest a prac- 
tical answer to the question pressing on many 
libraries : " How far shall we yield to the de- 
mand of lawyers or law students, in putting 
law books on our shelves ?" If an intelligible 
rule or principle can be found, to solve this 
problem, it may serve further to simplify simi- 
lar problems as to other technical literature. 

The embarrassment in considering the 
purchase of law books for general libraries 
lies in the fact that the topics included under 
the phrase, " Law and jurisprudence," border 
upon, or interweave with History, Sociology, 
and Political Science. Is there any definite 
line of demarcation between those law books 
which most interest the general reader, and 
those which have only, or mainly, professional 
application ? 

A rule of exclusion suggests itself first, which 
may be thus stated: No law book should be 
bought for a general library, which is merely 
a tool for the practising lawyer. 

This rule is easy of application by lawyer 
and layman alike. If adopted, it rules out 
nearly all the reports, text books, and digests 
which constitute the bulk of legal literature. 

A proper rule of inclusion cannot be so con- 
cisely or definitely stated. Certain groups of 
law books however, can be included as the 
means and shelf-room of a library allow. 

Even a small library may properly contain: 

1 . One or two of the classic summaries of law, 
such as Blackstone and Kent ; with such pop- 
ular compendiums as Parsons' Laws of Busi- 
ness, and a few of the best general introduc- 
tory or review books for students. 

2. A good law dictionary, defining legal 
terms. 



3. Histories of the law in its different 
branches. 

4. The Statutes of the State in which the 
library is situated, and of the United States; 
with a digest of the Statutes of the other States. 
This feature, in a large library, may properly 
be expanded to include all the session-laws, 
older compilations, and legislative journals of 
the State in which the library is situated 
which are in the nature of historic material. 

5. The best and latest books on Constitu- 
tional law. 

6. The best books on International law. 
For large libraries there is a narrow range 

of legal bibliography, a wide range of legal 
biography and humor, a number of entertain- 
ing special reports of trials (the raw material 
of romance), and a few works on the philos- 
ophy of law and the science of jurisprudence. 
If it is considered desirable to go further, 
there are certain topics of every day business 
such as Wills, Patents, Landlord and Ten- 
ant, Municipal law, etc., which the reader 
might like to look up for himself, without the 
intervention of a lawyer, and which may 
therefore properly be represented on the 
shelves by a selection of the best and least- 
technical text-books. 

For the largest libraries, those series of law 
magazines which contain biographical, socio- 
logical, political, and critical articles, will be 
found to be of general interest especially 
since they have been rendered accessible by 
Jones' Index to Legal Periodicals. 

In the larger libraries, also, it might possi- 
bly be interesting to include the early editions 
of the English statutes, the Year-Books, and 
those old Abridgments and treatises which 
are so ancient as to fall as much under the 
head of history, as of law. There are also 
old books on Civil, Feudal, and Ecclesiastical 



IO4 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



law, which are interesting historical material. 
The choice among these will be governed by 
the circumstances of the library, and the 
scholarly tastes of the librarian and trus- 
tees. 

Even if all these classes were accepted, they 
do not include five per cent, of the entire mass 
of legal literature ; and the rules of exclusion 
and inclusion here outlined may therefore 
suggest to librarians a practical line of pur- 



chase, not only in regard to law, but also, by 
analogy, as to other sciences.* 

*NOTB. By vote of the Conference, Mr. Soule was 
requested to furnish, for publication with the above 
paper, a list of one hundred best law books for general 
libraries. 

Being suddenly called away, afterwards, and pressed 
with other duties upon his return, he was unable to fully 
prepare the list in time for its printing here. 

It is hoped that this list may be given subsequently 
in the Library Journal. 



"DON'T;" WARNINGS OF EXPERIENCE.* 

COMMUNICATED BY A NUMBER OF LIBRARIANS.* 



T^ON'T attempt to go on with your work 
without a high " ideal" towards which 
you can constantly approach, even if you 
cannot quite reach it. 

Don't forget that the chief aim in library 
work is usefulness therefore don't be care- 
less in the choice of books for purchase. 

Don't be satisfied with anything less than 
full systematic records. 

Don't have much " red tape." 

Don't waste time and money in rebinding 
old books that can be dispensed with or re- 
placed by new copies of the same. 

Don't lose sight of the "golden rule" in 
your dealings with the public ; and 

Don't fail to impress the same spirit upon 
book-takers, old and young, and upon all per- 
sons who are employed with or by you in the 
library service. 

Put your dont's, if possible, into the Gen- 
eral Rules of the library, and don't say "don't" 
too often. 

IF you are librarian of a library which 
changes hands every three or four years, and 
whose income is not large "Don't " hamper 
your successor with subscriptions to works 
issued in parts and at long intervals. 

DON'T apply number-tags, nor place 
gilded call-numbers or class-marks upon 
books for public circulation, at or near the 



lower part of the backs. At all events not 
within a hand's width of the under edge, if 
possible to avoid doing so. 

Don't try to make the open, public rooms 
of a library an awful tomb of silence, and there- 
by chill or drive away the very persons who 
most need the influences of the library. In 
other words, except for marked reasons or in 
case of special study-rooms, such signs as, 
"Silence is the law of this room," had bet- 
ter be relegated to the attic or the stack- 
rooms. 

DON'T buy any books issued by those pub- 
lishers who resort to the cheap, nasty, spongy, 
and altogether objectionable quality of paper 
now so frequently used in this country since 
the days of wood-pulp prevail. 

The best print and paper attainable at this 
time from our American publishers, are none 
too good or too durable for library use ; and 
if a bookmaking concern begins to sin by 
using anything else, then it is liable to apply 
such to all of its issues, sooner or later. 
"Shoddy" is evidently in vogue among the 
publishers as among other manufacturers, and 
with a similar result. 

Happily the question of excluding poor or 
objectionable fiction from library shelves may 
thus meet its solution in a certain degree, 
since the publishers of much of the trashy and 



*To Miss Ellen M. Chandler, of the Buffalo Library, credit should be given for the happy suggestions 
which led to the collection of these interesting and varied expressions from individual contributors. 

As some of the writers preferred not to be named, while others had no objections, it seemed best 
to treat them all as anonymous and thus avoid making any invidious distinction. 



DON'TSr 



105 



least desirable writings are seemingly the most 
prone to take advantage of the cheapening of 
quality in manufacture. Whatever may have 
been the reasons for retaining Southworth, 
Stephens, Dupuy, and the like, among library 
lists in the past, the present material used for 
their production certainly removes all excuse 
for continuing the practice. 

DON'T rush into print with your experi- 
ments directly you begin them. Many things 
appear to succeed at first. Wait a year. 

Don't change the library routine too often. 
It is bad for the library staff, and worse for 
the public. 

Don't imagine that elaborate catalogs 
can take the place of educated attendants. 
Spend less in machinery and more for brains. 

DON'T fill up the catalog with references 
which are in the A. L. A. index. Keep the 
index near the catalog case, and have library 
numbers written against the references. 

Don't waste time pasting labels on new 
books, if these are placed where patrons can 
handle them. When the books are old 
enough to be placed on the shelf is time 
enough ; and time and trouble have been 
saved. 

DON'T employ a binder because his prices 
are lower than any one else's. 

Don't let readers come to your library in 
vain, if you can possibly help it. If you 
haven't the special book they inquire for, you 
may have what will answer their inquiries. 

Don't make purchases too hastily, and fill 
your shelves with what will soon be dead 
wood. 

Don't hesitate too long about buying cer- 
tain limited editions. 

DON'T answer to-day' s letters to-morrow. 
Don't fail to ask for what you need nor to 
be thankful for what you have ! 

DON'T pay too much attention to other 
people's Don'ts. Many a person makes a 
success of what another has failed on. If you 
have a plan to try go ahead and try it, and 
very likely you can make a success of it, even 
f some one else hasn't. 

DON'T employ young ladies who are too 



good-looking, or young ladies with marriage 
anticipations ; they become uneasy and soon 
leave, or have callers of the male persuasion 
who take up their attention in working-hours, 
and hence follows a row. Besides, such young 
ladies expect too much and need too many 
favors. Women of middle life are preferable, 
and having no unreasonable expectations 
devote themselves more thoroughly to their 
work, and for the amount they accomplish are 
worth three to one of the susceptible young 
girl. 

Young girls, also, are apt to be too conceited, 
especially if trained in some theoretical school 
of instruction. A busy librarian has no time 
to explain the why and wherefore of what he 
does. 

DON'T employ a boy or young man who is 
old enough for sentiment, and not old enough 
for sense. 

DON'T withhold a borrower's card for one 
unpaid fine. Let him take a book and pay 
the fine next time. If not paid then, withhold 
card. 

Don't use a double charging system if you 
have a large circulation and a small force. 

Don't have a single rule that you will be un- 
willing to break for a reasonable patron. 

DON'T transfer books from one person to 
another. 

Don't, out of the kindness of your heart, 
make exceptions to rules unless you wish to 
be imposed upon. 

DON'T publish a monthly magazine in 
connection with a library, unless you have 
time to spare and money to spend. 

DON'T separate volumes, when there are 
but two ; especially in the case of the pre- 
vailing two-volume novels. There is no gain ; 
and there is frequently the great annoyance of 
a long waiting for the second part of a work 
that should have been in one set of covers. 

Don't require .the return of books to the 
library when a renewal is desired. If but one 
renewal be permitted, as is usually the case, 
there is little gain, and unnecessary risk of in- 
jury or wetting is constantly incurred. 

Don't make renewals or the getting of 



io6 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



books needlessly difficult. Simplify every- 
thing possible, keep up with the times, and 
popularize your library in every possible way. 

Don't confuse new copies, or new pur- 
chases, with new publications. This besetting 
sin of the now popular "bulletins" causes 
needless and constant trouble to readers who 
really want the most recent works in their line 
of research. Therefore: 

Don't fail to give the true date of publica- 
tion in bulletins as well as in catalogs. 

Don't use a for A, capital. In a new Find- 
ing List, just issued, two of the most aggra- 
vating blunders in the shelf-marks were 
caused by this fault. The A, N, and M, that 
resemble printed capitals are in every way 
preferable to those that resemble enlarged 
lower-case letters. 

Don't fail to remember that a library is as 
much a business house as is a bank, and that 
a borrower or reader's' time may be of great 
value to him. Therefore be courteous and 
expeditious in all things, so that time, pa- 
tience, and temper may be saved to both 
visitor and attendant. 

WHEN you are asked for a communication 
by the President of the A. L. A. don't put off 
answering, thinking that you will get time to 
do it later. 

Don't fail to attend the A. L. A. meetings 
unless you have good reasons for staying 
away. 

Don't kick against the goad. For myself I 
am fortunate in having a driver whose goad 
one would have to kick in order to reach, but 
I have seen librarians pricked and kicking 
when they might much better pick up their 
feet "for business " and break the yoke. 

Don't allow too much kicking in your own 
team. Feed well. House well. Don't over- 
work, and do as you would be done by on 
kicking. 

Don't get a (too) cheap typewriter. 

Don't economize on labor-saving apparatus. 

Don't hesitate to waste a penny and save a 
pound in discarding one instrument or system 
for one clearly better. It is hardly necessary 
to say that this law needs the greatest care in 
its operation. The rule is, don't change un- 
less the gain is clear, but hesitation often 
invites great loss when a stitch in time would 
save nine. Finally there are two great don'ts : 



Don't do yourself, anything which one 
poorer paid can do as well, and so on through 
the whole organization. This is the bottom 
principle common to all business organiza- 
tions and one a good deal violated in library 
administrations. 

" Don't bite off more than you can chew." 
One must, in a library, keep a vast number of 
jobs going. There must be many unfinished 
lines all the time, but everything must be 
clearly " in hand," and a good bit of time put 
on thinking down the work in hand is well 
spent. On the other hand, one must not over- 
time, push, and worry himself and his force and 
produce general dissatisfaction in the public, 
in his force and in himself, and in the end have 
less substantial results, if he over-plans his 
time and strength. 

DON'T, in arranging the rooms of a library, 
put your administration rooms, especially the 
rooms for the catalogers, at any distance from 
the reference or circulating rooms. They 
should be adjoining, with the catalog between. 
. . . Isolate the catalogers, give them quiet 
and absolute freedom from disturbance, but 
do not place distance between them and the 
readers who want the same reference-books 
and the same catalog. 

Don't systematize so much as to render 
your helpers entirely ignorant of any branch 
of work in the library except their own, unless 
you intend to employ none but those trained 
in all departments by a library training-school. 
Workers work so much better to have variety 
in their work, and to know their part in the 
grand total. 

DON'T erect a barrier between your cata- 
logers and your desk-attendants. Draw on 
your cataloging force during busy times at the 
desk ; and, when they can be spared, borrow 
from the force at the desk for office-work. 
The change of work is pleasant for all, enables 
one set to see the catalog from the reader's 
side and the other to keep in touch with the 
newly arrived and ordered books, and pro- 
vides you with substitutes in case of absence. 
By keeping your force flexible you can con- 
centrate it where needed and save in numbers. 

IF the librarian who reads is lost, don't fail 
to lose yourselves. 



"DON'TS." 



107 



Don't make your cataloging^mill grind so 
fine that the newness of new books is worn off 
in the hopper. 

Don't distribute your orders among more 
booksellers than you are obliged to. 

Don't lavish hospitality on the books of 
those writers who rub some French nastiness 
into their ink and spatter it as an offering to 
" Art for Art's sake." 

Don't try to find a convenient form of ar- 
rangement for maps. There is none. 

DON'T arrange dissected maps on rollers 
unless you have need of a corrugated roof. 

Don't open a ladies' reading-room unless 
you can provide an attendant for it ; unless, 
indeed, it is near enough the desk or office to 
be under general supervision. It will only 
attract picnickers. 

DON'T ornament your lobby with statues 
or busts, for boys to hang their hats on. 

Don't screen thieves and mutilators of mag- 
azines by placing high cases of pigeon-holes 
in the center of your periodical room. 

Don't employ cheap labor unless you have 
enough work of the kind it can do, to keep it 
busy all the time. If it is not sufficiently in- 
telligent to learn you will waste an amazing 
amount of time trying to teach or providing 
work. 

Don't omit to enter date of ordering, on 
your order-list, even though this item is not 
included in the list given in the excellent 
"Hints to Small Libraries" recently issued 
by Pratt Institute. 

Don't invest in the Van Everen adjustable 
book-covers called " Fitsanybook." There is 
more tear than wear in them. 

DON'T allow your attendants to tell readers 
that the library does not possess or has not 
yet received a certain book, especially if it be 
a new one, without inquiring in the catalog 
department, after consulting catalog and bul- 
letins. The reader will gladly wait ten or 
fifteen minutes for a newly arrived book to be 



made ready, rather than go without it. Our 
motto is " Cataloging done while you wait." 

Don't have your cataloging department so 
far away from the desk that this is impossible. 

DON'T expect to reform, all at once, sub- 
jects you are laboring with. 

Don't recommend your favorite books and 
pet passages miscellaneously. Only rarely 
one finds a kindred soul. 

Don't do too much searching, especially for 
scholars. Help them wisely to help them- 
selves. 

Don't expect the boy who has been indulg- 
ing in Alger one day, even though a bright 
boy, to take up the study of bacteria the next. 

Don't allow people with soiled hands to use 
your books Germs ! 

DON'T allow books to go to branches with- 
out charging at the central library. 

IF any one is planning to introduce the 
Leyden book catalog as used at Harvard 
College, don't do so without first communicat- 
ing with that library. 

DON'T begin to print your catalog till the 
whole is ready for the printer. 

DON'T try to re-dlassify a library, especially 
one of 35,000 volumes, while it is lying on the 
floor of a large room with a leaky ceiling. If 
the books have to be moved to keep them out 
of the wet, volumes get separated, and are 
sometimes found after a year or two in differ- 
ent classes. 

DON'T buy incomplete sets, especially of 
periodicals, hoping to complete them at a 
trivial cost. Ten to one the missing volumes 
are those most rare and difficult to procure. 

Don't fail to put the accession number on 
the book-card, if your charging system makes 
use of the latter ; especially so in the case of 
duplicate copies. 

Don't send personal mail-matter to librarians 
under their official addresses. 



PROCEEDINGS. 



109 



THE PROCEEDINGS. 



LAKE PLACID, N. Y., MONDAY SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17-22, 1894. 



FIRST SESSION. 

(GRAND VIEW HOTEL, MONDAY MORNING. 
SEPTEMBER 17.) 

President J. N. LARNED called the meeting 
to order at 9. 50, and announced the following 
committees : 

Reception. Mrs. Henry J. Carr, Mary S. 
Cutler, Katherine L. Sharp, Mary E. Sargent, 
Melvil Dewey, F: M. Crunden, C: C. Soule, 
Frank P. Hill. 

Place of next meeting. C: A. Cutter, C: C. 
Soule, H : M. Utley, Theresa H. West, G : E. 
Wire. 

Social evening. New York State Library 
School, Mary S. Cutler, chairman. 

Resolutions. James K. Hosmer, G: H. 
Baker, W: H. Brett, Edith E. Clarke, Caroline 
H. Garland. 

CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF LAST MEETING. 

Voted. That the report of the Chicago 
meeting be approved and adopted as printed. 

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 

After expressing his regret at not being able 
to attend the Chicago meeting, and thanking 
the Association for his election to the presi- 
dency, President LARNED read his address. . 

(See p. /.) 
Secretary HILL read his 

SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

Without interfering with the reports of the 
various committees, the Secretary has attempted 
to give a rough outline of library progress in 
the several States since the last Conference. 
(.See Report on Library Progress, p. 56.) 

Last year every effort was put forth to make 
the Chicago meeting the most eventful one in 
the history of the Association. By the assi- 
duity of the then President the conference was 



indeed a success. The attendance was larger 
than at any previous meeting, and the interest 
manifested at each session was as marked as 
though no World's Columbian Exposition 
offered its many attractions to our members. 

Undoubtedly much of this interest was occa- 
sioned by the fact that it was to be "review 
year;" the time when we were to learn from 
competent reporters just what was best in li- 
brary science. Were we not preparing for that 
great A. L. A. manual ? Indeed we were. 
Some one asked me the other day where that 
long-looked-for manual was, and I replied that 
I knew nothing about it, except that it was still 
long-looked-for. "Well," she said, "please 
remember that we are looking longingly for 
it." And I remembered. But I am not going 
to tell you anything about it, for at some later 
session you will hear from Mr. Dewey all the 
various reasons for its non-appearance. 

Changes in the library profession are of in- 
frequent occurrence. At the time of making 
this report the great Boston Public Library is 
still without a head ; the Crerar has no 
librarian ; and the Tilden remains an unknown 
quantity. 

The death of Dr. William F. Poole (to whose 
memory the A. L. A. gives up one session) 
created a vacancy at the Newberry, not yet 
rilled. 

Dr. Reuben A. Guild, who resigned his 
position as librarian of Brown University, after 
a continuous service of forty-six years, has re- 
cently been made librarian emeritus. A 
merited recognition, we all say. 

We note, with pleasure, that Mr. Charles K. 
Bolton (Miss Bean's successor, at Brookline, 
Mass.) is taking up the work with vigor, en- 
thusiasm, and ability. His scheme for issuing 
two books on the same card has attracted de- 
served attention, and has served to stir up 
some of the older librarians, who are ever 



no LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 

ready to accept a good, though new thing, for move, that when the type is set up, extra 

free public libraries. copies be stricken off and sold at cost price. 

Mr. Charles A. Cutter is once more a full- The motion of Mr. Crunden was supported, 

fledged librarian, having assumed his duties and Mr. S: S. Green moved, as a substitute, 

as head of the Forbes Library, at Northamp- that the whole matter be referred to the execu- 

ton. tive board, to report at a later period. 

Finally, the A. L. A. Library has been Mr. Crunden accepted the substitute offered 

ordered by at least three libraries. by Mr. Green. Secretary Hill put the question, 

DISTRIBUTION OF PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. an & ** was carried unanimously. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. I think that the address of F: M. CRUNDEN. -I suggest that the Secre- 

our President was such an able one, will be so tary, if possible, send a copy to the New York 

valuable as an educational document, was so papers. 

broad, and took such high ground, and, as a SEC'Y HILL. We have with us a representa- 

whole, is of such general interest, that we tive of the Associated Press, and a representa- 

ought to take measures to circulate it as widely tive of the United Press, and each on e has 

as possible. It ought to go beyond the bounds requested the paper for the purpose of making 

of our Proceedings, and I would suggest, and extracts. 

TREASURER'S REPORT. 
GEORGE WATSON COLE read his report, which was referred to the Finance Committee. 

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

1893. DR. 

July ID. To old balance (Chicago Conference, p. 3) $181 72 

July 10 to Sept. 7, 1893: 

To fees from Annual Memberships, at $2.00 each: 

Dues for 1891, 2; for 1892, 2; for 1893, 171 ; = 175 350 oo 

To fees of Fellows additional, at $3 . oo each : 

For 1892, i ; for 1893, 25 = 3 9 oo 

To fees from Library Memberships, at $5 . oo each : 

For 1893, i 5 oo 

Total $545 72 

1893. CR. 

July 1 8. Paid Frank T. Boland, Stenographer, bill of July 22, for reporting 

Chicago Conference $i 1 1 35 

July 20. Paid Frank P. Hill, bill of July 18, expenses of Secretary's office, 

1892-93 34 05 

Sept. 4. Paid A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, bill of July 10, 360 badges for 

Chicago Conference 33 oo 

Sept. 13. Paid Frank T. Boland, Stenographer, bill of July 8, transcript of 

Proceedings, Chicago Conference no 75 

July 14 to Sept. 9. Expenses of Treasurer's office, viz. : 

July 14. Express on money to bank $ 35 

July 20. Telegram (Secretary to President) 25 

Aug. 7. Postage stamps 2 oo 

Sept 9. " " 25 

Sept. 9. Blank Book 75 3 60 

$292 75 
Sept. 13. Balance transferred to Geo. Watson Cole, Treasurer 252 97 

Total $545 72 

Attest: HENRY J. CARR, Treasurer. 



FIRS T SESSION. 1 1 1 



B. 

GEORGE WATSON COLE, Treasurer, in account with the AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 
1893. DR. 

Sept. 18. To balance received from Henry J. Carr, Treasurer $ 252 97 

Sept. 18, 1893, to Sept. 12, 1894: 

To fees from Annual Memberships, at $2.00 each: 

For 1891, i $ 200 

For 1892, 2 4 oo 

For 1893, 172 344 oo 

For 1894, 394 788 oo 

For 1895, 3 600 

For 1895, i (part payment) i oo 

To fees for Annual Fellowships, at $5.00 each: $i.i45 oo 

For 1893, ii $ 55 oo 

For 1893, 6 (balance of $3 . oo each) 1800 

For 1894, 18 90 oo 

To fees from Library Memberships, at $5.00 each: $ x ^3 oo 

For 1892, 5 (balance of $3.00 each) $ 15 oo 

For 1893, 20 loo oo 

For 1 894, 26 130 oo 

To 3 Life Memberships, viz. : ~ $ 245 oo 

George lies $ 25 oo 

Weston Flint 25 oo 

Mrs. Frederick M. Crunden (balance) 23 oo 

To i Life Membership, increased to Life Fellowship, viz. : $ 73 

(Melvil Dewey) 75 oo 

To Interest on deposit, Sept. 18. 1893, to date 15 54 

Total $1,969 51 

1893. CR. 

Oct. 17. By Grover Brothers, Newark; bill for 1,500 envelopes, leaflets, and tags for 

Secretary $ 12 25 

Oct. 28. By L. J. Hardman, Newark ; bill for 300 circulars and stamped envelopes 

for Secretary 1025 

1894. 
Feb. i. By Publishers' Weekly; bill for printing 550 copies Chicago Proceedings 

(106 pages) and postage on same 385 49 

Feb. 13. By same ; bill for additional postage on Proceedings i 35 

Feb. 13. By A. L. A. Endowment Fund; transferred to E. C. Hovey, Treasurer, 

amount of Life Membership of George lies 25 oo 

Feb. 21. By Library Bureau; bill for 250 letter-heads for President 3 50 

Feb. 24. By same ; bills for 250 letter-heads for Treasurer, and 500 letter-heads for 

Secretary 8 15 

March 2. By A. L. A. Endowment Fund; transferred to E. C. Hovey, Treasurer, 

amount of Life Membership of Weston Flint 25 oo 

May 23. By C. F. Williams, Albany ; bill for 4,500 Year Books for 1894 86 50 

Aug. i. By same; bill for printing 11,000 Year Books 1893, 1,000 Programmes of 

Chicago Conference, 4,500 envelopes, circulars, slips, etc., for Mr. Dewey. 258 85 

Aug. 4. By Melvil Dewey ; cash paid by him for various printing bills 13 47 

Aug. 8. By A. L. A. Endowment Fund; transferred to E. C. Hovey, Treasurer, 

balance of Life Fellowship of Melvil Dewey 75 oo 

Aug. 14. By F. P. Hill ; bill for postage on circulars of Lake Placid meeting 9 oo 

Aug. 27. By John E. Rowe & Son, Newark; bill for 500 Membership cards and 100 

solicitation slips, for Secretary 4 oo 

Aug. 27. By W. B. Morningstern, Newark : bill for clerical help for Secretary 4 35 

Sept. 12. By Matthias Plum, Newark; bill for 1,000 envelopes, for Secretary 3 oo 

Sept. 12. By A. L. A. Endowment Fund; transferred to E. C. Hovey, Treasurer, 

amount of Life Membership of Mrs. Frederick M. Crunden 25 oo 

Sept. 12. By Treasurer's office ; current expenses, Sept. 18, 1893, to Sept. 12, 1894, as 

per detailed voucher 55 25 

Aggregate payments $1,005 41 

Sept. 12. Balance on deposit with the N. J. Title Guarantee and Trust Company. . . . 964 10 
Total , $1,969 51 



112 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



The present status of membership (Sept. 12, 
1894) is as follows : 
Honorary Member (Dr. Henry Barnard). . . i 

Life Fellowships 2 

Life Memberships 29 

Annual Fellowships, paid for 1894 18 

Annual Memberships, paid for 1894 394 

Library Memberships, paid for 1894 26 



Total 470 

During the period covered by this report, 54 
new members have joined the Association, 38 
have resigned, and death has removed 8 from 
our ranks. Three have become life members, 
and one life member has become a life fellow. 
Your Treasurer has put forth every effort in 
his power to collect all outstanding dues, yet 
there remain unpaid on his books : 

28 Annual Memberships for 1893, 

78 Annual Memberships for 1894, 

2 Annual Fellowships for 1894, 

2 Library Memberships for 1894, 

representing a total of $232 still due. There 

is reason to believe that little of this amount 

will ever find its way into the treasury of the 

A. L. A. , as most of those in arrears seem to 

take but slight interest in the cause which this 

Association represents. Certainly no future 

financial policy should be adopted which calls 

for the expenditure of a larger amount than is 

now in the treasury. 

No sales of the papers and proceedings of 
prior years have been made during the year. 
Several copies have been sent to members 
who have rejoined the Association ; to those 
who have reported gaps in their series ; to re- 
place several lost in the mails ; and to complete 
the set in the Secretary's office. 
There are now on hand the following : 

4 copies of Milwaukee Conference (1886). 
36 " " Thousand Islands Conference 

(1887). 

79 '' "St. Louis Conference (1889). 
22 " " White Mountains Conference 

(1890). 
25 " ' San Francisco Conference (1891). 

7 " " Lakewood Conference (1892). 
1 8 " " Chicago Conference (1893). 

NECROLOGY. 

During the year just passed the Treasurer 
has learned of the death of eight member? of 



the Association. With two of these he was 
for a time most pleasantly associated in the 
Newberry Library, at Chicago, and it is with 
sincere sorrow that he now finds it his duty to 
here chronicle their lamented deaths. He de- 
sires to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. 
Frederick M. Crunden, Librarian of the Public 
Library of St. Louis, Mo. ; Mr. Addison Van 
Name, Librarian of Yale University; Presi- 
dent James H. Baker, LL. D., of the Univer- 
sity of Colorado, Boulder, Col. ; the June (1884) 
number of The Library; and the Library 
Journal, for several of the appended sketches. 
They have been arranged in the order in which 
the deaths took place. 

I. Miss MARY ABBIE BEAN, Librarian of the 
Public Library of Brookline, Mass. , died Sep- 
tember 4, 1893, at her home in Brookline, after 
a painful illness of eight weeks She joined 
the Association in 1876 (registration No. 87). 
She had been Librarian of the Brookline 
Library for 22 years, and by her enthusiasm, 
capability, and unselfish devotion to her work, 
had raised the library to an exceptionally high 
standard of efficiency. Miss Bean was born 
in Laconia, N. H., March 23, 1840, and entered 
her chosen career of library work at the age 
of fifteen, when, after graduation from the 
schools of Boston, she became an assistant in 
the Boston Athenaeum, where, under the 
guidance of Dr. William F. Poole and Mr. 
Charles Russell Lowell, she acquired a good 
knowledge of library work. After nine years' 
connection with the Boston Athenseum she re- 
signed, and with Miss Ames, also a graduate 
of the Athenaeum, catalogued the Naval 
Academy Library, at Annapolis; the Fairbanks 
Library, at St. Johnsbury ; the, private library 
of Henry Probasco, of Cincinnati; and the 
Public Library of Brookline. 

In the autumn of 1871, she was appointed 
librarian of the Brookline Library, which posi- 
tion she held until her death. She was of the 
older race of librarians, and clung to the tradi- 
tions of time-honored practice, but acquiesced 
cheerfully in changes which she found to be 
inevitable. She was very proud of her library 
and her profession, and had many friends 
among library workers generally. She was a 
member of the Massachusetts Library Club. 
(Library Journal, 18: 443.) 



FIRST SESSION. 



II. Miss BESSIE LANNING, an Assistant of the 
Free Public Library of Paterson, N. J., died of 
consumption, December 3, 1893. She joined 
the Association at the Lakewood Conference, 
May 17, 1892 (registration No. 1,069). She was 
connected with the Paterson Free Public Li- 
brary for about two years, until she was 
obliged to relinquish her position in June, 

1893, because of failing health. She was a 
bright and talented young lady, and by her 
sunny and social disposition had endeared her- 
self to a large circle of friends. 

III. REV. JOHN C. LEARNED, who died De- 
cember 8, 1893, was born in Dublin, N. H., 
August 7, 1834. He joined the Association 
in 1890 (registration No. 879). He prepared 
for Dartmouth College in 1853, but was pre- 
vented from entering that institution. He 
went to Missouri about 1856 and taught school 
at Ozark for several years. Returning to the 
East, he entered the Divinity School at Har- 
vard University in 1859-60, remained three 
years, and then spent a few months in Europe. 
He received his first call as a Unitarian minis- 
ter to the church at Exeter, N. H., in 1863 ; 
was married to Miss Lucelia Wakefield in 
1864, and in April, 1870, removed to St. Louis 
and became the first pastor of the Church of 
the Unity, which position he retained till death 
removed him. His wife and three children 
survive. 

For eight years, from 1884-92, Mr. Learned 
was a member of the Board of Managers of 
the St. Louis Public Library, serving half the 
time as Vice- President and the remainder as 
President, with two years as Chairman of the 
Book Committee. (Frederick M. Crunden.) 

IV. DR. WILLIAM FREDERICK POOLE, LL. D., 
Librarian of the Newberry Library of Chicago, 
died at his home in Evanston, 111., March i, 

1894. He joined the Association in 1876 (regis- 
tration No. 45). He was one of the original 
founders of this Association, and a regular at- 
tendant at nearly all, if not all, of its meetings. 
So prominent has been his connection with 
this Association that it is unnecessary here to 
recall in succession the meetings he attended, 
the offices he held, or the papers he read. His 
death has left a gap among American libra- 
rians that cannot be readily filled. He digni- 
fied the library profession of this country by 



his profound learning and extended expe- 
rience, and honored this Association by his 
timely counsels which always displayed his 
practical good sense. Now that he is no more, 
the members of his profession, here assembled, 
consider it a privilege to set apart a portion of 
the time allotted to this conference, for a me- 
morial exercise in his honor. It is unneces- 
sary to say more, at this time, as an apprecia- 
tive and timely tribute to Dr. Poole, written by 
Mr. William I. Fletcher, appeared in the March 
number of the Library Journal, to which those 
desiring full biographical details of Dr. Poole' s 
extended career are referred. 

V. MRS. JOHN W. NOBLE, Library Trustee of 
the St. Louis Free Public Library, died March 
18, 1894. She joined the Association in 1893 
(registration No. 1134). Mrs. Noble, prior to 
her marriage, was Miss Elizabeth Halsted, 
and was born at Northampton, Mass., in 1837. 
She was one of a family of six sisters, four of 
whom survive her. She was married to Gen- 
eral Noble in 1864. He was then at the front, 
but came home on a furlough to be married, 
his bride accompanying him on his return. 

Mrs. Noble was well known for her great 
work in behalf of the poorer classes, especially 
of her own sex ; and her death came as a great 
blow to the many enterprises with which she 
was connected for bettering the condition of her 
unfortunate sisters. She was the only woman 
on the first Board of Trustees of the St. Louis 
Free Public Library and did not live to serve 
out her term. (Frederick M. Crunden. ) 

VI. W. J. HAGGERSTON, Librarian of the Free 
Public Library of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Eng., 
died May 6, 1894. He joined the Association 
in 1877 (registration No. 105). He had been ill 
for the last two years, and the Library Com- 
mittee had on several occasions given him pro- 
longed leave of absence, but no permanent 
good ensued. He was born in 1848 at Brecon, 
Wales. In 1861 his parents removed to New- 
castle-upon-Tyne, and in 1867 young Haggers- 
ton was appointed junior assistant in the library 
of the Library and Philosophical Society. 
Five years afterwards he obtained the position 
of librarian of the new public library at South 
Shields, which was opened in 1873; and in 
1879 ne was appointed first librarian of the 
Newcastle Public Library. This library was 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



opened in 1880 with 20,000 volumes, a number 
which has increased in fourteen years to 
nearly 80,000, a result greatly due to the 
marked ability with which he advised the pur- 
chases of the Books Committee. 

Mr. Haggerston was present at the Library 
Conference held in London in 1877, and was 
for many years a member of the Council of 
the L. A. U. K. , but he had not attended an 
annual meeting since that of Dublin in 1884. 

( The Library, 6 : 1 89. ) 

VII. EDWARD J. F. WERDER, for the past 
four years assistant in the catalogue depart- 
ment of Yale University, died May 26, 1894, at 
the Yale Infirmary, of heart failure, following 
an operation for appendicitis. He joined this 
Association, April 2, 1889 (registration No. 
745), and attended the St. Louis and Fabyans 
Conferences. He was born February 2, 1846, 
at Sagan, Silesia, where he also pursued his 
gymnasial studies. At the outbreak of the 
Prussian-Austrian War of 1866, he entered the 
army, and in 1868, after the prescribed course 
of study in a military school, was appointed 
lieutenant in the Sixth Battalion of Prussian 
Rifles. He remained in service until the close 
of the Franco-German War, when he resigned 
his commission, and in 1872 came to New 
York. Here he lived for sixteen years, em- 
ployed at first as a private tutor, and later in 
the study and practice of law, having received 
the degree of LL.B. from the University of 
the City of New York, in 1880. Becoming in- 
terested in library work, he secured, in 1888, a 
position in the Newberry Library, which he 
held until his removal to New Haven. In 
both libraries he rendered most faithful and 
efficient service, and in both he gained, by his 
character and attainments, the respect and es- 
teem of his associates. (Addtson Van Name.) 

VIII. PROF. CHARLES EMMET LOWREY, Libra- 
rian of the University of Colorado, at Boulder, 
Col., died August 18, 1894. He joined the Asso- 
ciation in 1891 (registration No. 904 . Prof. 
Lowrey was born at Hackettstown, Warren 
Co., N. J., July 6, 1855, and received his prep- 
aration for college in the academy of that 
place. In 1873 he entered the University of 
Michigan, and after four years was graduated 
A. B. From 1877-79 he taught at Anderson, 
N. J., and privately prepared two young men 
for the sophomore class at Lafayette. During 



the following two years he was Principal of 
the Calumet, Mich., high school. In the au- 
tumn of 1881 Mr. Lowrey returned to Ann Ar- 
bor for advanced studies, supporting himself 
by private tutoring and engaging in various 
literary enterprises. Hundreds of students 
came under the influence of his thorough in- 
struction, and received inspiration from his 
enthusiastic scholarship and noble life. In 
1882 he received, on examination, the Master's 
degree, and in 1884 became Doctor of Philos- 
ophy, presenting as his dissertation "The 
Philosophy of Ralph Cudworth," published by 
Phillips & Hunt. 

Dr. Lowrey enjoyed for many years the in- 
timate friendship of Drs. Cocker and Morris. 
He had a decidedly philosophical turn of mind, 
idealistic in tendency, and was a great admirer 
of Plato and Aristotle, being thoroughly con- 
versant with the Greek originals. He re- 
mained at Ann Arbor until the fall of 1886, be- 
ing associated with Dr. Wm. H. Payne in 
editing and translating pedagogical literature, 
when suddenly his greatly impaired health 
compelled him to seek relief in the climate of 
Wyoming and Colorado. In 1889 he had suffi- 
ciently recovered to take charge of the library' 
of the University of Colorado, and in 1890 was 
duly elected librarian. He at once applied 
himself with the same conscientiousness, so 
characteristic of his mind, to his new field of 
labor, and for five years the university was the 
beneficiary of his systematic mind and broad 
scholarship. He always manifested intense in- 
terest in all educational matters, and fre- 
quently contributed valuable articles to var- 
ious prominent periodicals. In 1893 he was 
ranked as full professor, and delivered, during 
two semesters, lectures on " Library Technics" 
and ' ' Systematic Bibliography." But the close 
confinement of his literary duties gradually 
undermined his constitution, and on Sunday 
evening, August 18, 1894, he quietly passed 
away at Gold Hill, whither he had gone for 
temporary relief. He made an heroic struggle 
for life, and nothing but his indomitable will 
sustained him so long. His body rests in 
Boulder Hill Cemetery. {Dr. James H. Baker.) 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

GEORGE WATSON COLE, Treasurer. 
JERSEY CITY, N. J., Sept 12, 1894. 



FIRST SESSION. 



REPORT OF EXECUTIVE BOARD. 

Pres. LARNED. The single meeting of the 
executive board was held in November last, 
and was reported in the Library Journal. I 
think it is sufficient to refer to that report as 
printed, and say nothing further about the 
subject. 

C: C. SOULE read the 

REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE. 

Section 14 of the constitution prescribes that 
"The finance committee shall make all needed 
appropriations, audit bills, and give orders on 
the treasurer for payment; and no expense 
shall be incurred on behalf of the Association 
by any officer or committee, in excess of the 
appropriation made for the purpose by the 
finance committee." 

The committee, during the last year, has 
discharged its duties so far as auditing bills is 
concerned, and has been ready to make appro- 
priations when applied to, either formally or 
informally. It has been somewhat embarrassed 
by the inattention of officers and committees 
to this provision of the constitution, and by 
the presentation of a large number of bills for 
expenses for which no appropriation had been 
asked. In such cases the committee has only 
considered whether the expenses were incurred 
prudently, and in good faith, and has given 
audit and ordered payment on all bills which 
appeared to come within these limits. It ven- 
tures to suggest, however, that the officers and 
committees appointed for the coming year 
should read section 14, and comply with its 
requirements. 

The treasurer's report gives evidence of 
assiduity in collections, and of a healthy state 
of the treasury. The Association should bear 
in mind, however, that the present balance of 
nearly a thousand dollars is subject to drafts 
for the expenses of this Conference, and the 
printing of its proceedings. Over $600 will be 
required for these purposes, which will leave 
$300, or less, as the actual cash on hand at the 
end of the financial year. This is far better 
than some former experiences, when Confer- 
ence expenses have drawn on the income of 
the following year ; but the balance is not large 
enough to justify extravagance. 

The committee has audited the treasurer's 
accounts as presented to this Conference, and 



finds them to be correctly cast, with proper 
vouchers, and bank book showing balance on 
hand as reported. 

Respectfully submitted, 

JAMES L. WHITNEY, \ 
CHARLES C. SOULE, v Committee. 
A. W. WHELPLEY, ) 

Voted. That the report of the finance 
committee be received and placed on file. 

REPORT OF COOPERATION COMMITTEE. 

JAMES K. HOSMER, Chairman, made the fol- 
lowing verbal statement : It has been felt that 
the way in which statistics were presented in 
annual reports was not convenient. It seems 
to me, and I think that the committee are 
with me in the matter, that it is quite im- 
possible there should be a uniform scheme of 
statistics. The libraries which we represent 
are exceedingly varied in their character. 
Some are state libraries, some city libraries, 
some proprietary libraries, while others are 
school and college libraries. The conditions 
in each case require a different scheme of 
statistics. It is quite impossible that there 
should be anything like a uniform scheme. 
However, it has seemed to the committee 
possible to make the matter of comparison 
somewhat more convenient by providing at 
the end of the detailed scheme of statistics, a 
summary in which the more salient things 
could be given. In the case of the library at 
Minneapolis, my predecessor, Mr. Herbert 
Putnam, was in the habit, in his annual reports, 
of presenting his statistics in that way. He 
gave in the first place the scheme in detail 
such as the conditions of the situation de- 
manded. Then he gave in the space of one 
page, a summary. The plan has been con- 
tinued by me. The aim in the summary is to 
present the most essential things, and any 
librarian wishing to make comparisons, if he 
has before him in each annual report such a 
summary, will not need to search long to hit 
upon the item which he requires. 

It has been impossible for the committee to 
meet until this morning, when our conference 
was very brief; but I believe I am right in 
saying they recommend that in the statistics, 
in the annual reports, there should be in the 
first place a detailed statement, and after that 
a summary; the summary to consist of the 



n6 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



essential things given in the shortest and 
briefest form. As we talked about the sum- 
mary these points came up : in the first place, 
an itemized financial statement; under that 
would come salaries, binding, insurance, and 
books. Then, second, a head relating to cir- 
culation ; book issue might be a general title, 
subdivided into issue for home use, and issue 
for library use. Then there might be a gen- 
eral heading relating to the number and con- 
dition of books. The committee have not 
agreed upon what the essential things are for 
such a summary, and perhaps the matter had 
better be recommitted. 

I am not able, Mr. President, to make any 
more coherent or satisfactory report than this. 

Voted. That this matter be recommitted to 
the present committee for a printed report of 
what this summary should be. 

The following is the subsequent written 
report of that committee, in accordance with 
the vote. 

The cooperation committee report concern- 
ing a proper form for a scheme of statistics, 
as follows : 

That inasmuch as libraries vary widely in 
their character, and inasmuch as the demands 
of constituencies as regards statistics also 
vary widely, it is impossible to settle upon any 
one form which all may adopt. We recommend 
the scheme suggested by the cooperation com- 
mittee of 1877, and published in the Library 
Journal for that year, as a good example of a 
form of statistics, though it will undoubtedly 
need to be modified wherever used, as the 
conditions of each case may require. We 
further recommend : That at the end of the 
detailed scheme of statistics, a summary of 
statistics be supplied, in which the information 
previously given shall be repeated in a form 
as condensed as possible, and in the following 
order: 

i st. Number of books in the library; acces- 
sions; losses, etc. 

2d. Circulation; number of cards issued; 
home issue for Central and Branches; library 
issue for Central and Branches (a careful dis- 
tinction to be made here between home and 
library use). 

3d. Receipts: From appropriations; from 
special funds; from fines; from sale of cata- 
logues ; from fees ; from other sources. 



4th. Expenses: Salaries; janitorial; books; 
building; repairs; binding, etc. 

We believe that in such a summary, an 
approach may be made to uniformity, how- 
ever varying the conditions, and that thereby 
the task of comparison will be much alleviated. 
Respectfully submitted, 

JAMES K. HOSMER, 
For the Cooperation Committee. 

G: T. LITTLE read the report of the com- 
mittee on 

LIBRARY SCHOOL AND TRAINING CLASSES.* 

In presenting the seventh annual report on 
the Library School, your committee are com- 
pelled to devote less space than usual to this 
admirably conducted institution in order to 
briefly characterize the various training classes 
which are for the first time included in the 
province of this report. The fact, however, 
that four out of the eight other places in which 
formal instruction in library economy is now 
given, are under the direction of graduates of 
the New York State Library School, indicates 
clearly the important and widespread influ- 
ence exerted by its curriculum and its in- 
structors. 

The members of your committee, who were 
able to visit the school, selected a day when it 
was in its ordinary running order, so that a 
typical day's work might be seen. No day can 
be more profitably spent by a librarian . The 
school is magnificently housed. The state 
capitol is set on a hill, and there is a sense of 
dignity in the very approach. The visitor is 
conducted through long corridors, past marble 
columns, along arched passages to a large cor- 
ner room, where sit the faculty and members 
of the Library School. 

The room is a very handsome one. The 
ceiling is rich, the walls handsomely panelled 
in oak, the carpets soft, the view from the 
windows delightful. Fireplaces, upholstered 
chairs.hassocks, give the impression of physical 
comfort. But while the eye is gratified by all 
this, the mind of the librarian is turning 
towards utility. Here again it is at once satis- 
fied. Every member of the faculty and every 

* The statistics and material of this report were 
collected previous to the appearance of an article on 
the same subject in the Library Journal for Sep- 
tember. 



FIRST SESSION. 



117 



pupil in the school is provided with a desk of 
ample size, and the desks are well littered. 
Around the room appliances of every kind 
abound. Lifts, speaking tubes, pigeon holes, 
bulletin boards, memorandum trays, all are in 
active use, and accustom the librarian-in-train- 
ing to use and devise for himself and others 
those minor conveniences that add greatly to the 
efficiency of library service. 

There were, in June, twenty -three pupils in 
the school. A list of the faculty and statistics 
as to expenses and the curriculum are given 
in the little hand-book which the school issues, 
entitled, Course and Expenses. A complete list 
of the students, from the first, is printed in the 
Library Journal for September. It is, there- 
fore, unnecessary to summarize that material 
here. Former reports, too, have given so full 
an account of the work of the school, that it 
will be best to notice, especially at this time, 
the changes and additions that have been made 
the last year. 

The requirements for entrance have been 
advanced, as, indeed, has been the case each 
year, and new details added to the curricu- 
lum. In order to receive a diploma, it is now 
necessary, besides passing satisfactory exam- 
inations in each of sixteen subjects, for each 
pupil to obtain from his teachers in the respec- 
tive subjects, a pass card, stating that the class 
work has been done satisfactorily. No pass 
card, no diploma despite good examinations. 
This adds importance to the regular daily 
work, and makes it impossible for the one who 
can pass good examinations to have an undue 
advantage over the one who can live up to 
good standards in daily work. 

Another new feature is the encouragement 
of the collecting of sample cards and blanks 
from different libraries. A good collection 
would count towards a degree. The notes 
taken of lectures are also inspected by the 
teachers, who require the notes of the two 
years' course to be preserved in convenient 
form for future reference. 

The classes have had reading seminars once 
a week since 1889, the subject being settled by 
the vote of the class. This year, however, a 
systematic course has been pursued. For the 
first half of the first year American authors 
are considered ; the second half, foreign 
authors, except French and English ; for the 



first two-thirds of the second year, English 
authors ; the last third, French. 

One of the most useful of the new features 
is the establishment of physical culture as a 
part of the regular course. This practical 
study made its way into the curriculum by 
force of its own merits, and has evidently come 
to stay. Three years ago the class took up a 
course voluntarily, the members uniting to pay 
the necessary expenses. The next year the 
alumni clubbed together, and each one gave 
an amount equivalent to that received for a 
day's work, so that a regular teacher was se- 
cured. It is now a part of the regular course, 
one lesson a week being given. 

Excellent language work is done under the 
direction of Miss Hawley. Reyer's Entwick- 
lung, a history of the library movement in 
Germany, is used as a text-book, in German, 
so that the information gained, as well as the 
work of translation, is of value. This course 
belongs to the senior year, but many juniors 
elect it. A good working vocabulary is ac- 
quired even by one previously unacquainted 
with the language, and this vocabulary, pre- 
served on slips, forms part of the equipment 
each pupil carries away with him. In Latin, 
the work consists largely of translating title 
pages. In Italian, instruction is given by Miss 
Edith Fuller. 

There have been improvements also in the 
accommodations. A gallery newly built around 
the room gives space for enough additional 
desks to accommodate the pupils, and electric 
lights have been added. The Hammond Type- 
writer Company have put in five machines, so 
that all may become familiar with their use. 
A library has been established for the benefit 
of the hundreds of workmen in the capitol. 

No one who visits the school can fail to be 
impressed with the active, workful purpose 
that pervades the place. As late as six, that 
June afternoon, everything was in full opera- 
tion. Yet, recreation is insisted upon. Bicy- 
cles are rampant. Pupils and faculty ride; to- 
gether, separately, on different makes, in 
varying ways. The bicycle house, on a neigh- 
boring street, to which all piiptls are made 
welcome, and from which they may ride at 
their pleasure, is a curiosity. It is also a strik- 
ing example of the open hand and heart of the 
director of the school. 



n8 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



In 1 890 the Pratt Institute of Brooklyn be- 
gan a training class in library work to meet 
the need of those who could not afford the 
time or the money necessary to attend the 
New York State School. The courses in cata- 
loguing and in library economy have from year 
to year been supplemented by courses in 
American and English literature, in composi- 
tion and in German, until the class entering this 
fall will have before it a well-arranged course of 
three terms, extending from October to June. 
The total tuition charges are sixteen dollars a 
term. The total number of pupils has been 
ninety-five, and forty-four of these have subse- 
quently entered upon library work. A class 
of more than twenty-five persons is not desired. 

The Drexel Institute of Philadelphia, in Oc- 
tober, 1892, and the Armour Institute of Chi- 
cago, the following September, organized simi- 
lar library classes, which have been success- 
fully conducted. At the former, twenty-four 
pupils have been enrolled, of whom twelve 
have found positions as library assistants. The 
tuition for each of the two terms which make 
up the course, is twenty dollars. At the Armour 
Institute the school year is divided into three 
terms, and the tuition fees amount to sixty -dol- 
lars. The course can be supplemented, if de- 
sired, by a second year of advanced work. The 
first class consisted of twelve, of whom eight 
have already secured positions in libraries. 

In these three Institutes the requirements for 
admission are essentially the same, a good ed- 
ucation, equivalent to that afforded by a high 
school course, and examinations to test the 
candidate's knowledge of literature, history 
and current topics The Drexel Institute gives 
a fine course of lectures by its president, James 
MacAlister, LL. D., and other eminent special- 
ists, on bibliography and general literature, 
besides its well mapped out course of instruc- 
tion in English literature given by the librarian 
and her assistant. The Armour Institute has 
also made excellent progress during the first 
year of its existence, in the arrangement of its 
lecture courses on bibliography and general 
library topics. The curriculum in library 
economy at all three present no striking points 
of difference, and to enlarge upon their com- 
parative merit as far as differences do appear, 
would be as unwise as unjust. Each seems 
well adapted to enable a high school graduate 



of industry and natural aptitude for library 
work, to prepare himself or herself as an effi- 
cient library assistant. In each, the experience 
of succeeding years is constantly changing and 
improving the curriculum pursued. 

The Los Angeles Public Library Training 
Class, as its name indicates, is a modification 
of the apprentice system of making librarians. 
It was started primarily for the advantage of 
the library itself, as a method of training ap- 
plicants for library positions, before, rather 
than after they began to receive a salary, and 
of avoiding all danger of political or personal 
influence by making appointments depend 
solely on individual merit. The systematic 
curriculum, the number of those who have 
completed it, the character of the instruction 
as indicated by the examination papers, estab- 
lish clearly its right to be ranked as a school 
of library economy. 

The first class was organized in November, 
1891. Of thirty-three pupils, seventeen have 
completed the course and fourteen have en- 
tered upon library work. The class is limited 
to six young women, who must be at least 
seventeen years of age, and satisfy the com- 
mittee of examination that by previous educa- 
tion and natural adaptability they possess 
qualifications sufficient to warrant their under- 
taking library work. Five or more classes 
may be conducted at one time. After giving 
three hours daily for six months to the first 
course, presenting a thesis upon some ap- 
proved subject of library economy, and passing 
satisfactorily a technical examination in acces- 
sion, reference, shelf and loan department 
work, the pupil is entitled to a place on the 
list of substitutes, and to enter upon the second 
course. This is of the same length as the first, 
and is devoted to cataloguing and to theoret- 
ical work in library administration. There is 
no charge for tuition, and the attainment of 
eighty-five per cent, in examinations, ensures 
the pupil six months' half-day service at the 
rate of ten dollars a month. 

Somewhat similar in purpose and in certain 
details is the Denver Public Library Training 
Class, which was organized last September, 
with five pupils and which is described in the 
current number of the Library Journal. 

The Amherst Summer School of Library 
Economy, organized in 1891, has had four well 



FIRST SESSION. 



119 



attended sessions, the total registration 
amounting to ninety-eight, of whom over one- 
half have entered upon library work. In- 
struction is given entirely by the well known 
librarian of Amherst College. The aim is to 
afford as complete and thorough a course in 
the theory and practice of library work as can 
be given in five weeks. ' ' The course of study 
is as follows: Two hours daily of instruction, 
and two hours of practice work. Of the first 
two hours, one throughout the course is de- 
voted to Cutter's rules [running exposition and 
explanation] ; and in the other, the following 
subjects are taken up successively: library 
hand, selection and purchase of books, pre- 
paring new books, accession catalogue, shelf 
list, charging systems, reference work, bind- 
ing and repairs. Of the practice time, about 
one-half is devoted to actual cataloguing, and 
the other half to the review of the same by the 
instructor, with constant use of the black- 
board." 

It is obvious that so brief a course is best 
adapted to those who have had either some ac- 
quaintance with library work, or are possessed 
of especially well trained and receptive minds. 
To the many custodians of small libraries, who 
have come to feel their ignorance, and to 
quick witted men and women, who need a 
basis for future study and self instruction, 
this course offers special advantages at a slight 
expenditure of time and money. 

The latest additions to the facilities for for- 
mal instruction in library science, that have 
come to the knowledge of your committee, are 
in widely separated states, but in somewhat 
similar surroundings. They are conducted by 
college librarians in connection with their reg- 
ular work, and the technical courses are sup- 
plemented by instruction in the college classes. 
The course offered at the Maine State College 
of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, at 
Orono, is described in the August number of 
the Library Journal, and no further informa- 
tion is necessary, save to remark that it has 
already attracted pupils. The last catalogue 
of the University of Colorado, at Boulder, de- 
scribes two courses : one in library technics, 
the other in systematic bibliography, which to- 
gether extend throughout the academic year, 
and are conducted by the librarian of the Uni- 
versity. Though intended primarily for the 



general student, a limited number of those who 
take them have the privilege of learning the 
practical details of library administration un- 
der the personal supervision of the librarian.* 

When the founder of the Library School 
brought his project before the Association in 
1883, a prominent librarian expressed his be- 
lief " that practical work in a library based on 
a good previous education in the schools was 
the only proper way to train good librarians." 
To ascertain how far it is possible at the present 
time to enter the profession in this way, your 
committee have written to one hundred libra- 
ries throughout the country, selecting those 
that from their size or circumstances could be 
supposed to offer facilities for training in 
library work. Out of eighty replies, only 
seven express a willingness to receive appren- 
tices. These seven, however, represent libra- 
ries in large cities, where this pathway to the 
librarian's vocation will surely find some to 
walk in it. 

The following, from the librarian of the 
Minneapolis Public Library, indicates at once 
the advantages and the limitations of this 
method of learning library work: "We have 
in this library a system of apprenticeship 
which is working satisfactorily. Last January 
an examination was held, at which forty can- 
didates appeared. Out of this number eight 
were successful. One received an appoint- 
ment, two resigned, five are now connected 
with us as substitutes. They are given an op- 
portunity to learn library work, but receive no 
pay, except when serving as substitutes for 
regular members of the staff. They are then 
paid at a low rate, twenty cents per hour for 
day work, twenty-five cents an hour for even- 
ing and Sunday work. Any vacancy in the 
staff will be filled by the appointment of the 
most promising apprentice. We do not care 
to have our class of apprentices larger than 
it is at present, and should admit to it only 
such as have passed our examinations." 

Of the seventy-three libraries that did not 
care to receive apprentices, a majority said 
that they trained their own assistants. This 
circumstance shows if, indeed, any one 
doubted it that despite the growing demand 
for trained assistants and librarians, most po- 

* The recent death of Dr. Lowrey will probably lead 
to the discontinuance of this course. 



120 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



sitions continue to be filled, so to speak, with 
raw material. 

The report on Library School and Training 
Classes was accepted and placed on file. 

S: S. GREEN. At the University of Mich- 
igan there is a good deal of bibliography in- 
struction by Mr. Davis, and I understand that 
at several other colleges instruction is given. 
I would suggest that in future reports cf this 
committee, that kind of library instruction be 
also considered, and the place mentioned 
where it is given. 

Treasurer COLE read the 

REPORT OF TRUSTEES OF THE ENDOWMENT 
FUND. 

E. C. HOVEY, Treasurer, in account with 

A. L. A. ENDOWMENT FUND. 
1893. DR. 

July 19. To balance old account $199 63 

To Life membership 
fees received from 
Mr. Cole, Treas. 
American Library 

Assoc'n $125 oo 

To Interest received 
on bank balance 
and investments. . . 380 95 

$505*95 



$705 58 



CR. 



By amount invested in bond 
and mortgage $400 oo 

By accrued interest on said 
mortgage 25 oo 

By amount paid for rent of 
safe. . 10 oo 



$435 oo 

By balance 270 58 



$705 58 

E. & O. E. Sept. ist, 1894. 

E. C. HOVEY? Treas. 
Examined and approved. 

JAMES L. WHITNEY, 
CHARLES C. SOULE, 
A. W. WHELPLEY, 



Of Finance 
Committee. 



E. C. HOVEY, Treasurer, in account "with 
A. L. A. ENDOWMENT FUND. 

DR. 
To subscriptions received . . $4, 540 50 

To Life memberships 747 47 

To interest on bank balances 
and from investments 658 93 



CR. 

By amount invested $4, 800 oo 

By note of publishing 

section 650 oo 

By printing bills 135 10 

By accrued interest 71 22 

By rent of vault 20 oo 



By balance . 



$5,676 32 

270 58 

$5,946 90 

E. & O. E. Sept. ist, 1894. 

E. C. HOVEY, Treas. 

FINANCIAL CONDITION. 

ASSETS. 

Invested in mortgage $4, 800 oo 

Note of publishing section. . 650 oo 
Cash in bank 270 58 



There are no Liabilities. 
MARY S. CUTLER read the 



5,720 58 



E. C. HOVEY. 



$5,946 90 



FINAL REPORT OF THE A. L. A. COLUMBIAN EXPO- 
SITION COMMITTEE. 

Your committee reported in July, 1893, the 
remarkable interest displayed by visitors con- 
cerning the library exhibit. This interest was 
kept up till the close of the Exposition. At the 
time of that report, parts i and 2 of the cata- 
log were in type. They were completed 
and a partial distribution made July 25. The 
printing of part 3, the dictionary catalog, 
still remained. Owing to the press of work in 
the Government printing office, caused by the 
special session of Congress, this was not com- 
pleted till the middle of February, 1894, and 
then 20,000 copies were printed. Many letters 
of appreciation and commendation have been 
received by the chairman. 

The A. L. A. Library is deposited with the 
Bureau of Education, Washington, where visit- 
ors are made welcome by the officials of the 
department. The comparative exhibit is ar- 
ranged in ample and convenient quarters, in 
the New York State Library, and awaits the 
inspection and study of all interested in library 
methods, during every week day in the year. 

A complete report is given below of the 
emergency fund which was raised to finish the 
work of the A. L. A. catalog, owing to the 
unexpected reductions in the appropriations 
of the Bureau of Education. Vouchers for the 
expenditure of the entire amount are deposited 
with the treasurer of the Association. 



FIRST SESSION. 



121 



CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED. nected with the exhibit were defrayed by the 

Massachusetts World's Fair Com- Bureau of Education, through its regular 

mittee, through B.C. Hovey. . . $1,000 33 agent. 

R. R. Bowker 100 oo The committee desires to thank the Asso- 

Hannah P. James 50 oo ciation for its very sincere and hearty appre- 

psterhout Free Library 50 oo ciad fa . k 

John M. Glenn 25 oo 

Anonymous donor 100 oo Respectfully submitted, 

Mary S. Cutler 14 36 MARY S. CUTLER, Chairman. 

FRANK P. HILL, 

$1 ' 33 9 6 9 C. ALEX. NELSON, 

PAID OUT FOR SERVICES ON A. L. A. CATALOG. WESTON FLINT, 

Louisa S. Cutler, March, April and CHARLES A " CuTTER ' 

May, 1893 $300 oo FREDERICK H. HILD, 

Bessie Baker, March i to April 15, HANNAH P. JAMES. 

Henrietta Church; March, Aprii and A The ^airman added : I wish to remind the 

May 1803 150 oo Association that to Mr. Frank P. Hill belongs 

John G. Moulton, 100 hours special the honor of conceiving the idea of a library 

work 20 oo exhibit, and of first presenting it; also, that on 

William S. Burns, April, 1893, to Jt fi presentation, September, 1890, Col. 

January, 1894 516 40 

Helen G. Sheldon 66 oo Weston P lint immediately suggested the coop- 
Mary E. Fair 14 oo eration between the Bureau of Education and 

Mary L. Jones, special work 6 25 the American Library Association, which was 

John McDonald, special work, 23 so happily carried out. 

hours 2 30 

The report was accepted and placed on file. 

EXPENSES OF COMMITTEE. WILLIAM BEER made a verbal report on 

Frank P. Hill 49 50 TRP ARTFS IN THF SOUTH 

Charles A. Cutter 24 50 )UTH ' 

Hannah P. James 20 50 When I was asked to make this report I 

Mary S. Cutler 62 50 wished to bring up to date the statistics given 

in the report of the Bureau of Education. I 
PRINTING. 

think every one present who received those 

C. F. Williams 6 90 statistics has recognized in them that many 

2 5 libraries were not named, and that a great 

" Q 40 

many others that were named should not have 
MISCELLANEOUS. been there as public libraries. The statistics, 

too, were statistics of a very ancient date. I 

Supplies 10 64 h to comp ji e a complete list for the southern 

Sign for A. L. A. Library 375 T^TT- j t. : 

states. I have seen Dr. Harris, and he is pre- 

$1,339 69 pared to publish corrected statistics in leaflets 

~, r ... , . for distribution. 

The following money transaction was also ... . .. , T 

carried out by the chairman: In speaking of the libraries of the South, I 

have particularly examined those which are 

Received from Com. W. T. Harris.. $100 oo concentra ted almost entirely in New Orleans. 

There is one thing that has recently occurred 

PAID OUT, SERVICES FEBRUARY 15 TO MARCH I, , ' 

there that will help very much the cause or 
education in the state and in the city. The 

Louisa S. Cutler > . . $ 50 oo Tj n i ve rsity of Tulane, which occupies the old 

Bessie Baker 25 oo , ,, . . / 

Henrietta Church 25 oo buildings in the heart of the city, has recently 

built some very handsome buildings, and two 

$100 oo of the libraries which were in the same build- 
Vouchers for the same are also deposited ing the library of Tulane University, and the 
with the treasurer. All other expenses con- Fisk Free Library have been separated. They 



122 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



now start out each one free to build itself up : 
the Fisk Free Library on popular lines, and the 
Tulane University on the lines of the chairs 
on which lectures are given in the University 
Therefore, instead of their being two half 
libraries, fitting one into another, there will 
now be created two separate libraries for the 
good of the city. 

There is one other thing in the South that is 
very encouraging. A gentleman in Galveston 
has recently left a sum of money, the residue of 
which will amount to over $500,000, and this 
will be used in Galveston to found a great free 
library. My paper on The Libraries of the 
South will really consist of statistics which are 
not adapted for reading here, but will be very 
interesting, and will appear in due course in a 
leaflet furnished by the Bureau of Education. 

MELVIL DEWEY. May I say a word about 
the Bureau of Education ? Those of you who 
know how that is organized, know that the 
annual report comes out two, three, and almost 
four years behind time, on account of pressure 
of work in the office. Our arrangements in 
regard to getting out the library volume were 
made with Commissioner Harris last year. 
He wrote me a letter some time ago, asking 
that it be confidential, and in it explained to 
me what had happened. The appropriation 
to the Interior Department had been used up 
by the Patent Office and some others of the de- 
partment, so that the Bureau of Education 
was stranded, but he did not care to have the 
matter made public. He was very anxious to 
publish our volume. The committee said to 
him that unless he could publish it we would 
find means of publishing it otherwise, and we 
felt the Association would be with us in the 
matter. 

It was very desirable to have it published by 
the government, because that would give it 
a large circulation. We could thus put it in 
every library in the United States, and make 
exchanges abroad, which would be infinitely 
more desirable than to have a publishing 
house issue it. I told Dr. Harris that there 
were publishers who would take it, and that 
some of the states were willing to publish it, 
but that it was of vital interest that it should 
be printed by the government. He felt a 
keen interest, but the matter was deferred 
every little while. I wrote him two or three 



months ago that we must have the thing de- 
cided at this meeting as to bow it should be 
published. He expressed the hope that he 
mfght manage it, and sent on for the manu- 
script. He wrote me after going over that, 
that he was more than pleased with it, and 
that it was much better, even, than he expect- 
ed, and he hoped that it could be carried 
through. I wrote him some two weeks ago 
asking him to write, and if he were out of town 
. to telegraph us, before the close of this meet- 
ing the strongest assurance he was able to give 
as to the time when he would be able to publish 
it. The delay is exasperating, but the gain is 
so great that I am sure we will all be patient. 

I ought to say, that of the people who con- 
tributed to the work at Chicago, nine-tenths of 
them got their manuscript in in time. Dr. 
Harris said that he would probably be able to 
take it in October, and the two or three who 
were delayed in the matter held themselves in 
readiness, if the work was begun, to push it 
through; so I notified Dr. Harris that the 
manuscript was ready for him any time that he 
would give us two weeks' notice, and then I 
would be able to telegraph those people who 
were crowded with work when we began to 
print it. I hope in this way that it will be 
printed. Dr. Harris did not know for some 
time whether he would be continued in the 
office or not, and that delayed matters. My 
last letter from him was the most encouraging 
that I have had for nearly a year. I hope we 
will have the telegram before the end of the 
week, and if not, we must decide how long we 
will wait, and if it cannot be done there, how 
we will get it in shape. 

S: S. GREEN. I would ask whether the pa- 
pers read at the International Congress are to 
be printed or not. 

MELVIL DEWEY. Mr. Hild had charge of 
that. Their plan was to bring out a library 
volume. I do not know whether that is to go 
through or not. It would be a very good idea, 
if that fails, to include it in the government 
volume. You understand, of course, that of 
all the papers read at Chicago, each author 
revised his paper in the light of the discussion 
that was held there ; and it might be possible, 
if the Commissioner should say to us that he 
could print this, that that might allow each 
man to read his manuscript still again, touch- 



SECOND SESSION. 



123 



ing anything that has arisen since he saw it, 

so that when it is printed it will be up to date 

as the best thing we can do as an Association. 

Adjourned at 12.30 P.M. till Monday evening. 

SECOND SESSION. 

(GRAND VIEW HOTEL, MONDAY EVENING, SEP- 
TEMBER 17.) 

President LARNED called the meeting to 
order at 8.00 P. M. 

C: W. BIRTWELL, general secretary, Boston 
Children's Aid Society, spoke upon 

HOME LIBRARIES. 

(Seep. 9.) 

Miss MARY S. CUTLER spoke upon the same 
topic. 

(See p. 13.) 
MELVIL DEWEY gave orally his 

REPORT ON LIBRARY LEGISLATION. 

It was in the main a chronological summary 
of the legislation of the past four years, point- 
ing out the steady trend toward recognizing 
libraries as an essential part of the educational 
system; the establishment of state commis- 
sions, or departments, to promote the forma- 
tion and development of public libraries ; the 
increase in salaries; the assignment to state 
libraries, of various function sin regard to state 
publications, exchange of duplicates and allied 
duties, which formerly were in the hands of 
other officials; and, in short, a steady incor- 
poration in the statute laws of the various 
states of the spirit that underlies the modern 
library movement. 

The record of the library legislation for all 
the states is published in a summary of com- 
parative legislation issued by the New York 
State Library on January i of each year ; and 
as this record, with comments, is shortly to be 
printed in a bulletin on library legislation, the 
report of Mr. Dewey's remarks is omitted in 
these proceedings. 

W: H. BRETT read the 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN DOCU- 
MENTS. 

The committee on the official publications 
of foreign governments begs to report that 
during the year it has endeavored to ascertain 
what is being done in this country to procure 
their publications, a consensus of opinion as 



to what is advisable, and information as to 
what is possible to do. They regret that the 
information which they are able to lay before 
the Association is so meagre. Many libraries 
are doing nothing. Some even doubt the use- 
fulness of it. The general opinion, however, 
coming from the larger libraries is that a sys- 
tematic effort to procure them is desirable, 
though the opinion is expressed that the 
reports of the English-speaking countries are 
the most important. Buffalo, Detroit, Cleve- 
land, and Yale are receiving the Canadian 
publications very fully. Detroit is receiving 
the British abstracts of patents, and has a set 
of Hansard's Parliamentary reports (which is 
of interest in this connection, though not a 
government publication). Several other libra- 
ries note that they buy such as are of special 
interest to them. Among the subjects noted 
are patents, labor, hygiene, and education. 

As is well known, the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion has been engaged for several years past, 
through the international exchange service, 
in distributing to foreign governments the 
publications of the United States, and receiv- 
ing in return similar publications of other 
governments, and depositing these in the 
Library of Congress. The United States is 
under treaty to maintain this exchange with 
several of these countries, while with others 
special agreements are made to that end. 

The Smithsonian Institution is informed that 
a number of state libraries are engaged in 
negotiations looking to the establishment of 
similar exchanges. The Smithsonian Institu- 
tion assures the American Library Association 
that it will co-operate in any way practicable. 

From the Library of Congress it is learned, 
that the documents received in this manner 
are at present packed away and inaccessible 
for lack of room to handle them. 

From the Smithsonian Institution we also 
learn, indirectly, that any detailed information 
in regard to this subject has never been col- 
lected. That they recognize its desirability, 
but, owing to their limited clerical force, have 
never been able to undertake it. 

For much of the information received from 
Washington we -are indebted to Mr. Francis 
H. Parsons, late librarian of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey. Mr. Parsons also makes a 
suggestion, which we think it well to adopt, 



124 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



and therefore make it part of our report. It 
is as follows: We would recommend that this 
Association pass a resolution asking the Secre- 
tary of State to obtain from the United States 
legations abroad full information upon this 
subject ; and that this resolution be trans- 
mitted to the Secretary of State by the secre- 
tary of the Association. 

Possibly it would be well to secure the co- 
operation of the Bureau of Education and the 
Smithsonian Institution. The questions should 
be carefully drafted to cover the ground fully. 

The results of our own attempts to collect 
the information have been very meagre. We 
are, however able to give some details as to 
the following countries : 

Austria publishes nearly all through the 
government printer. These can be purchased, 
and, to some extent, are distributed free. 

Costa Rica, published by the government, 
and distributed by the various departments 
issuing them. 

France, partly by government and partly 
by private enterprise. The government pub- 
lications are difficult to obtain, the private ones 
can be purchased. 

Germany, same as France, except that more 
are published privately. 

Great Britain, published entirely through 
Her Majesty's Stationery office. Free distri- 
bution limited, but they can be purchased at 
cost. They publish a quarterly list. 

Newfoundland, published privately and 
sold. 

Victoria, New South Wales, and New Zea- 
land, are distributed free. 

Servia, printed at the government printing 
office, can be obtained through booksellers; 
free distribution limited. 

Sweden, published by a private house and 
distributed by the authorities issuing them. 

Switzerland, published by the government, 
which exchanges with foreign governments, 
and publishes an annual list. 

Uruguay, distributed free ; has a ' ' Bureau 
de Depot, Distribution et Echanges Interna- 
tionaux de Publications." 

The Argentine Republic, Bermuda and 
Denmark appear to publish through private 
houses. All others, so far as ascertained, 
publish through government houses. 
Respectfully submitted, 

WILLIAM H. BRETT, 
CLEMENT W. ANDREWS, 
JAMES BAIN, JR., 

Committee. 



W. P. CUTTER. I may say that in a great 
many libraries there are sets of publications 
from foreign governments. In the Bureau of 
Labor at Washington, they have an almost 
complete set of the reports from every country. 
In the Bureau of Education they have com- 
plete sets of the educational reports of other 
countries. It is the same in the Patent Office. 
In the Surgeon-General's Office they have com- 
plete sets of the reports of the medical depart- 
ments and surgical departments of every 
country. In the Department of Agriculture I 
have sets of almost all of the agricultural 
reports. In the Bureau of Statistics and 
in the Treasury Department they have 
sets of the statistical publications of other 
countries. I think that any one coming to 
Washington will find in the various libraries 
there all the publications of almost every 
country, separated in this way by subjects. 

I might say that almost all of these are ob- 
tained by exchanges. Of course, the govern- 
ment is more able to exchange than a private 
library, but I should think that state libraries 
might be able to carry out the same scheme. I 
have always found that the foreign govern- 
ments were very glad to exchange publica- 
tions. They are very kind indeed in sending 
complete sets of their publications. 

C. W. ANDREWS. I think, so far as private 
libraries are concerned, that the experience in 
procuring public documents from foreign 
countries is entirely against the possibility of 
obtaining them by exchange, or gratis. I am 
speaking largely from the experience of the 
state librarian of Massachusetts, with whom I 
had a long conversation on this subject ; and 
certainly he can approach a foreign govern- 
ment much better than any one else except an 
official of the United States government. I 
have not any doubt that what has been said 
just now is perfectly true of an official of the 
United States government, but when it comes 
to us, who are not, then, I say, it might go 
under the head of " Don'ts." Don't try to get 
foreign publications by exchange. It is wear- 
ing on your temper, and it is very expensive in 
time and stationery. 

Mr. Tillinghast has a collection of replies 
from the various governments which is ex- 
tremely instructive, and closely confirms the 
results of my own experience. In one case I 



SECOND SESSION. 



125 



mentioned to him the fact that I had written 
twice, and sent the publications of the Insti- 
tute to a minister of public instruction, think- 
ing that the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology could claim some consideration from 
such an official. There was no reply to the 
letter, and I was inclined to consider it some 
fault of the mails, till my talk with Mr. 
Tillinghast. He said : " Did you get an 
answer to this ? I ask, because that minister 
wrote to me for certain documents which I 
sent to him, requesting something in return ; 
but I have never received the slightest an- 
swer." I doubt if any of us would be more 
successful. 

I should like very much to obtain official in- 
formation as to where government publications 
can be obtained by purchase. I do not think 
that the Institute cares to become a beggar in 
the matter. As it happens now, we can not 
get publications in any way. 

G: H. BAKER. We have been paying some 
attention to foreign documents, in our library ; 
and in some respects our experience has not 
been so unfortunate. It is very true that the 
public documents of some of the European 
states cannot be obtained usually by gift. The 
German publications, I think, can all be ob- 
tained in the regular book trade. They are 
not very voluminous, nor are they particularly 
expensive. The most expensive publications in 
Germany are the reports of the Reichstag. 
Executive reports, like those which make up 
the great bulk of our public documents at 
Washington, are comparatively small in their 
volume, in Germany. 

It is difficult to get the English public docu- 
ments. I suppose a set comes to Washington, 
and to one or two other places ; but, so far as I 
know, no private library gets blue books with- 
out paying for them. The subscription is 
about $90 a year for all the blue books, and 
about $28 or $30 for the debates, besides the 
cost of binding. The country that has been 
the most liberal with us is Italy. I think the 
Italian public documents can be obtained by 
those libraries that will go rightly about it, 
and show that they have need of them here, 
and that they will be of use. My opinion is 
that there are very few libraries in the country 
that will find it worth while to go very largely 
into the matter of foreign public documen s. 



We have bought for our library, during the 
last few months, one immense set of public 
documents, the French legislative debates 
from the French Revolution down to the pres- 
ent time. I do not know whether this could 
be gotten by request, or not ; but my impres- 
sion has been that a library which can ap- 
proach the French authorities carefully, per- 
haps through our minister or otherwise, might 
get them. We have never done it, nor have 
we anything except this one set. 

R. G. THWAITES. Last winter in the inves- 
tigation of the railway question in Wisconsin, I 
sent to the railway bureaus of the leading 
countries for reports. I must say that in sev- 
eral instances we were accorded the utmost 
courtesy in England, France, and Germany. 
We were told that they were printed by pri- 
vate firms, but the commissioners offered to 
get them for us on receipt of the price. From 
all the other countries the documents were 
sent very promptly, and in some cases a great 
many more than we requested. We asked for 
the documents of the past five years, and in 
some cases we got them for the last ten ; 
amongst all the rest, I think, Italy, Belgium, 
and the various provinces of Australia, and 
the Central American countries were most 
generous. Our experience in getting railway 
reports was so interesting that it has quite en- 
couraged us to go into other fields. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. I should like to know how 
many members receive sets of the British 
patents. 

H: M. UTLEY. There are two forms of the 
British patents : an abridgment, and the full 
specifications. I think that in the Chicago 
Public Library they have the full specifica- 
tions. In my library we have the abridgment, 
which, to all practical intents and purposes, 
proves quite as satisfactory and can be easily 
gotten. I doubt whether the full specifications 
could be so readily obtained. 

S: S. GREEN. I think the British govern- 
ment has a strict rule in regard to giving sets 
of the patent reports to localities m the United 
States. They are ready to give one set to a 
state, to be deposited at the capital; and, in 
case the capital is not the largest city, they 
are willing to give two sets one for the 
largest city and another for the capital. In 
Massachusetts, Boston is the largest city, and 



126 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



is also the capital, so that it is the only city in 
the state that gets a set. 

J. K. HOSMER. The question I was about to 
ask has been largely answered. Minneapolis, 
like Worcester, is a centre of invention. It 
would be of great value in my library if we 
had a set of the British patent reports. I have 
not known how to go to work to obtain them. 
I know that in Chicago, as Mr. Utley has 
said, they have a complete set of the specifica- 
tions. I would like to know what they cost. 

R. G. THWAITES. We have a full set of those 
specifications, and also of the abridgment. We 
get them for nothing, but upon agreement 
to bind them in half calf. 

MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 

MELVIL DEWEY presented an invitation from 
the manager of the Mirror Lake Hotel, invit- 
ing the Association to a social evening at that 
place, on Friday evening. 

Sec. HILL. I move that the social meeting 
be held at the Grand View Hotel. 

MELVIL DEWEY. I move that this matter be 
referred to the executive board. 

Voted, Sec. Hill having withdrawn his mo- 
tion. Adjourned at 10.15 P. M. 

THIRD SESSION. 

(GRAND VIEW HOTEL, TUESDAY MORNING, SEP- 
TEMBER 18.) 

Pres. LARNED called the meeting to order at 
9.45 A. M. 

Sec. HILL. I have an amendment to offer 
to the constitution, viz. : That the recorder be 
made a member of the executive board, and 
be an elective officer. It will necessitate in 
ser ting the word "recorder" after "secretary" 
n article 9 of the constitution. He is at pres- 
ent chosen by the executive board, not by the 
Association. 

W: I. FLETCHER. I second the motion. 

MELVIL DEWEY. I think we ought to pass 
that resolution, for if we are going to elect the 
treasurer, and the vice-presidents, and secre- 
tary by ballot, the recorder certainly ought to 
be in. I vote for it heartily, but suggest that 
we all observe the working of this new consti- 
tution. We are entering on a new plan. 
Twenty different people said to me last year 
that they should like to change their votes, 



after the new constitution was adopted, which 
reversed the practice of the Association in 
electing officers. The recorder certainly be- 
longs on the board. The question next year 
will probably be, whether we shall vote to have 
the president elected by the Australian ballot, 
and have the recorder, treasurer, and perhaps 
others, elected by the executive board. I 
should say, vote for it, now ; but bear in mind 
to consider next year, whether we shall pass 
the whole amendment, or put the treasurer 
with the recorder, in respect to election by the 
board. 

Sec'y HILL'S motion was carried. 

D. V. R. JOHNSTON, in the absence of chair- 
man R. R. Bowker, read the 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC DOCU- 
MENTS. 

The public documents committee has, as 
usual, acted chiefly by correspondence and by 
the individual efforts of members, rather than 
by formal meeting ; the chairman of the com- 
mittee has twice visited Washington with refer- 
ence to the passage of the bill. 

The public documents bill was prepared 
under a concurrent resolution of the two houses 
of Congress, passed on the last day of the fifty- 
first Congress ; chiefly under the direction of 
Senator Manderson, then chairman of the joint- 
committee on printing. In the fifty-second 
Congress, the bill passed the Senate, and was 
considered and passed with some amendments 
in the House. But the House amendments 
were not considered by the Senate and it did 
not then become a law. The same bill, with 
some modifications, was introduced into the 
present Congress ; and under the leadership of 
Mr. Richardson of the House, passed the 
House in December, 1893. The political com- 
plexion of the Senate having meanwhile 
changed, Senator Manderson, the former chair- 
man of the joint committee on printing, be- 
came the minority member; and Senator 
Gorman, formerly the minority member, be- 
came chairman, with Senator Ransom as his 
associate. Senator Manderson, though the 
father of the bill, was no longer charged with 
its progress in the Senate, the responsibility 
for which came into the hands of Senator 
Gorman. Endeavors were made to bring the 
bill to passage in the Senate previous to the 



THIRD SESSION. 



127 



tariff debate, but Senator Gorman did not find 
opportunity to formulate the amendments 
which he desired to offer, until too late in the 
session for that purpose. After the tariff de- 
bate in the Senate, the bill was brought to a 
vote and passed in August last, with the 
amendments submitted by Senator Gorman. 
It was then returned to the House with the 
amendments for consideration and for ap- 
proval or conference. 

The objection was raised, however, by 
Representative Warner in the House, who was 
in general a friend of the bill, supported by 
other friends of the bill, that the amendments 
introduced in the Senate, while not curtailing 
the library privileges, put into the bill provis- 
ion for a political machine in connection with 
the Government Printing Office, and with the 
distribution of documents outside the civil 
service rales, and decidedly objectionable as a 
' ' rider " on this bill. Under the circumstances, 
Representative Warner insisted that the 
amendments should be duly considered by the 
House, and declined to assent to its passage 
with the Senate amendments. Mr. Richard- 
son offered to modify one of the obnoxious 
amendments, but others remained. The con- 
sequence was that for a second time Congress 
adjourned, both houses having acted favorably 
on the bill without its final passage. 

As the December session will be a continua- 
tion of the present Congress, the bill is in a 
favorable position for action, and it is to be 
hoped can be passed before March 4, 1895, 
when the present Congress comes to an end. 
In other words, the bill is in a more favorable 
position than ever before," and there is good 
hope of its passage. Doubtless, librarians 
who, perhaps more than any one class, have 
reason to emphasize the importance of sepa- 
rating business administration from political 
control, will agree that the postponement of the 
bill is preferable to accepting it with objection- 
able provisions of the kind indicated. 

The essential portions of the bill as origi- 
nally reported by Senator Manderson, January 
12, 1892, are given in the Library Journal for 
January, 1892 (17:8-17), and the amendments 
of that session are given in the February num- 
ber of the Journal (17:53-54). A circular let- 
ler from the president of the American Library 
Association and Mr. Bynum's substitute bill 



were given in the number for April, 1892 
(17:123-124), and further amendments are 
printed in the May number (17:165). The bill, 
as amended and passed by the House during 
the recent session, was, as stated, much the 
same as the bill of the previous session ; but 
the important amendments are given in the 
Library Journal for December, 1893 (18:507-8), 
as also the amendments suggested by Mr. 
Dunn and Miss Ahern, of the Indiana State 
Library. 

The amendments offered and passed in the 
Senate have not been given in the Journal, as 
they related to the administrative rather than 
to the library side of the bill. The postpone- 
ment of the passage of the bill to the next ses- 
sion of the present Congress will give oppor- 
tunity, doubtless, for some modification sin the 
library interest; and it is gratifying to note 
thot both in the Senate and in the House, a 
large majority of members desired the passage 
of the bill, and are cordially willing to accept, 
as far as practicable, the suggestions of the 
American Library Association towards its 
perfection. It is probable, however, that not 
everything desired by the library interest can 
be had in the bill, and it would seem to be the 
policy of your committee to labor for the pas- 
sage of the bill, even in an imperfect shape, 
but not with provisions that would deteriorate 
the distribution of public documents by mak- 
ing the personnel a political machine. 

In regard to state publications there is little 
to report, the present year. The chairman of 
the committee has visited several state libra- 
ries, particularly in the Northwest, and some 
progress has been made both toward making 
state libraries, in general, repositories of the 
historical documents concerning the state as 
well as of a complete set of state publications, 
and toward more careful record and better 
bibliography of state publications. It is pro- 
posed to continue in the American Catalogue 
for 1890-1895 the record of state publications, 
inaugurated in the previous volume as one of 
the appendixes. Advantage will be taken of 
this opportunity to endeavor to obtain as 
nearly complete lists, as practicable, of the 
publications of the several states from the 
beginning ; with a view of making these a fea- 
ture of the catalogue of books from 1800-1876, 



128 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



not otherwise recorded. The increase of in- 
terest in bibliographical work among state 
librarians, since the efforts of the American 
Library Association were turned in that direc- 
tion, has been very satisfactory and creditable. 
Very respectfully, 

R. R. BOWKER, ) 

D. V. R. JOHNSTON, \ Committee. 

MR. JOHNSTON also read a set of resolutions 
relating to the distribution of United States 
documents, and bill H. R. 2,650. 

DR. JOHN G. AMES, Superintendent of Docu- 
ments, Washington, D. C., following there- 
port of the committee, and its resolutions, 
spoke on 

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 

Before addressing myself to the subject un- 
der discussion, I wish to say that it gives me 
very great pleasure to meet so large a number 
of the members of the American Library Asso- 
ciation, with many of whom I have been in 
correspondence for years, and with whose au- 
tographs, therefore, I am very familiar. I de- 
sire also to express my great obligation to the 
members of the Association, for their cordial 
and generous support, and encouragement in 
the efforts I have been making, especially in 
behalf of public and college libraries, in the 
matter of the distribution of public documents, 
and also for their very warm and liberal com- 
mendation of my work. 

Turning now to the subject of public docu- 
ments, I cannot attempt to discuss this, in its 
general features, in the time that it will be 
proper for me to take here this morning. I 
should want the whole day for that. There- 
fore, my remarks will be limited chiefly to the 
present status of legislation in regard to doc- 
uments, and to certain suggestions as to what, 
in my view, ought to be done by the members 
of this Association towards securing such ac- 
tion on the part of Congress as will be satis- 
factory. 

You all know that the efforts for some reform 
in the matter of printing and distribution of 
public documents has been a very protracted 
one, both on the part of members of this Asso- 
ciation and among the friends of libraries at 
Washington. We have been laboring for the 
last ten or fifteen years to secure some legisla- 



tion more favorable to public libraries than 
now exists, but have all along encountered 
obstacles and met with frequent opposition 
from quarters where we did not expect it. 
Accordingly, this legislation, though proposed 
from time to time in Congress, has never been 
consummated. I suppose that few of the 
members of this Association have any adequate 
conception of the difficulties which beset a 
question of this character when presented for 
consideration to a body composed of 400 men 
from all sections of the country, many of whom 
feel very little interest in the subject, while 
some, at least, are always ready persistently 
to oppose favorable action. 

These efforts, as has been stated in the report 
just read by Mr. Johnston, culminated about 
three years ago in the preparation of a com- 
prehensive bill, formulated chiefly by Mr. 
Manderson of the Senate and Mr. Richardson 
of the House. This bill contained, to all intents 
and purposes, what the librarians desire, and 
was presented in the Senate and in the House 
at the same time during the fifty-second Con- 
gress. After it had been very briefly discussed 
in the House, a member from a distant part of 
the country moved that the bill be laid upon 
the table. As I was afterwards informed, he 
remarked to a friend that he had never read 
the thing and never intended to read it. Never- 
theless, on his motion, the bill was laid upon 
the table. This is a sample of the difficulties 
which a bill of this character has to meet. 

Afterwards, however, it came up in the 
Senate and passed that body, and so came over 
to the House as a Senate measure, thereby 
securing another opportunity for being con- 
sidered. This time, in virtue of what had been 
heard from friends of the bill at home, it was 
fully discussed and passed with sundry amend- 
ments. It then went into conference six weeks 
before the expiration of the fifty -second Con- 
gress. There was, therefore, an abundance of 
time for its full consideration by the conference 
committee, but the six weeks passed and no 
conference was held, and so the bill was al- 
lowed to die in the house of its friends. It is a 
matter of conjecture why this was permitted. 
I merely state the facts. 

This rendered it necessary to begin de novo. 
Accordingly, the same bill in substance was 
introduced in both houses early in the present 



THIRD SESSION. 



129 



Congress, and was first taken up for considera- 
tion in the House of Representatives, which it 
passed during the first session, and then went 
to the Senate. The silver and tariff bills oc- 
cupied the attention of that body so exclusively 
that it was not until near the termination of 
the second session that the printing bill was 
reported, with sundry amendments, by the 
committee, and after brief debate was passed. 
It then went back to the House, and Mr. Rich- 
ardson, the chairman of the committee, re- 
ported it at once, with the recommendation 
that all the Senate amendments be accepted 
in bulk. Immediately objections were urged 
against this on the ground that some of the 
Senate amendments interfered with the rights 
of certain executive departments in the matter 
of appointments: and accordingly, after some 
discussion, the bill was referred back to the 
joint committee, as a committee on conference, 
in order that Senator Gorman and Mr. Rich- 
ardson, having heard these criticisms, might 
together eliminate the objectionable features 
and secure a bill that would pass the House. 

The conference was duly held. Mr. Richard- 
son informed me that the Senate committee 
had receded from certain of its amendments, 
notably the one giving the joint committee on 
printing the control of the appointment of 
chief clerk and other officers of the printing 
office, but they had insisted upon retaining 
that clause of the bill which puts the office of 
superintendent of documents under the public 
printer on the nomination of the joint commit- 
tee. Mr. Richardson was ready to report the 
bill, but unfortunately, before he could call it 
up, the tariff bill again intervened, and made 
it necessary to defer final action till the next 
session. He can therefore report the results of 
the conference immediately upon the conven- 
ing of Congress in December. Such is the 
present status of the bill. 

It is the central portion of the bill in which 
we are all specially interested. This relates 
chiefly to the distribution and to the catalog- 
ing and indexing of public documents. What 
advantages does the bill give to public libra- 
ries that they do not riow enjoy ? I reply, first, 
it increases the number of depositories. These 
cannot at present exceed 420. This bill in- 
creases the number to 500. So, by its provis- 
ions, a larger number of libraries can be 



regularly supplied with government publica- 
tions. In the second place, it adds to the set 
that shall hereafter go to depositories a great 
many valuable documents. Depositories are 
now receiving a copy, each, of what is known 
as the congressional set ; that is, the journals, 
the reports of committees, the executive and 
miscellaneous documents of the two houses of 
Congress bound in leather. There, existing 
provisions stop. You will see at once that 
there are many documents which are not now 
being sent to depositories. This defect is 
remedied by the present bill. For instance, it 
puts the Congressional Record, which is 
perhaps the most valuable of all the publica- 
tions of the government, upon the list. This 
is true, also, of the pamphlet edition of the 
laws passed at each session ; and of the Sta- 
tutes at Large, a biennial publication, contain- 
ing all the laws, proclamations, etc. , of the 
entire Congress. 

It puts on the list, also, a large number of 
the special publications of the different execu- 
tive departments, that are now received only 
by virtue of the courtesy of the heads of these 
departments or bureaus ; as, for instance, the 
circulars of information of the Bureau of 
Education, certain publications of the War De- 
partment, and of the Navy and other depart- 
ments. All these are added to the documents 
to be sent to the 500 depositories, so that there 
is to be a large increase in the number of 
government publications received by them. 
This, I think, is a very great gain over any- 
thing which we have had before, and it is one 
of the special things for which the librarians 
have been asking, for the last 10 or 15 years. 

If this bill, therefore, becomes a law, there 
will be comparatively few valuable publica- 
tions of the government that will not go to 
depositories. Certain documents, however, 
are still omitted. I call attention to one which 
is referred to in one of the resolutions just re- 
ported by the committee ; namely, the journals 
of the two houses of Congress. The House 
bill contained a provision that 500 copies of the 
journals should be sent to the superintendent 
of public documents for transmission to depos- 
itories. The Senate struck that out, and, 
therefore, if the bill becomes a law with the 
Senate amendment, depositories will hence- 
forth not receive the journals. I regard this 



130 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



as a very serious omission. I think that per- 
haps depositories would prefer to have some 
other document left out. The resolution 
referred to is designed to bring about the re- 
cession of the Senate from that amendment. 

I call attention to another provision which 
passed the House and was cut out by the Sen- 
ate, namely, that providing that depositories 
should be supplied with bills, and joint and 
concurrent resolutions. It is the wish of some 
depositories, at least, that immediately upon 
the introduction of bills into the two houses of 
Congress they shall be supplied with copies in 
order that- their patrons may examine them at 
once I think that is a very important pro- 
vision. Not more than one-quarter of the de- 
positories might desire these bills, but those 
who do wish them should have the privilege of 
securing them. It is not mandatory ; it simply 
says that upon application of the depositories, 
they shall be supplied. I think if the influence 
of this Association is brought to bear upon 
Congress in the matter of these bills, and of 
the journals, there will be very little difficulty 
in securing the desired provisions in the bill. 
The additional expense would be very trifling 
compared with the advantages that would be 
secured. 

You will all be glad to know that one sec- 
tion of the bill authorizes and directs the public 
printer to give precedence, in the matter of 
binding, to the volumes that are to be dis- 
tributed to depositories. Heretofore these 
" reserve" documents have been put away in 
the storehouse, to be bound whenever most 
convenient for the public printer. This might 
be one or two years after the document had 
been printed. Hereafter, if the bill becomes 
a law, they will be the first to be bound. 

So far we have dealt only with depositories, 
but, unfortunately, not all depositories are first- 
class libraries. The designation of deposi- 
tories in the several States and Congressional 
districts is made exclusively by Senators and 
Representatives, who sometimes name inferior 
libraries for this purpose. The executive de- 
partments have no authority over this matter. 
There are, therefore, many important libraries 
which can find no place in this list. 

The needs of these libraries are in a meagre 
and altogether insufficient measure met by 
that section of the bill which provides for the 



distribution of the surplusage assigned to the 
Senate and House. Under our methods of 
doing business in Washington, resolutions 
authorizing the printing of documents gener- 
ally provide a definite number for the Senate 
and tor the House, and often for the depart- 
ment or bureau from which the document 
emanates. In dividing those assigned to the 
two Houses of Congress, there is almost 
always a number of copies of each document 
left over. This surplusage sometimes amounts 
to 50,000 volumes per Congress. The new 
bill provides for the turning over of all these 
publications to the superintendent of docu- 
ments for the benefit of libraries, thus secur- 
ing their proper distribution. 

A much more satisfactory provision for 
libraries, not depositories, is found in section 
66 of the bill as it passed the House, to the 
effect that when a document is ordered for the 
use of Congress, one-tenth of the edition, the 
entire number of which does not exceed 5,000, 
shall be delivered to the superintendent of 
documents, to be distributed to said libraries. 
This was intended to secure to nearly 500 
libraries, additional to those known as deposi- 
tories, nearly all the most valuable publica- 
tions of the government. Unfortunately this 
section was struck out in the Senate, and if 
not restored the libraries in question will be 
left as heretofore, to depend upon the inter- 
mittent courtesy of Senators and Representa- 
tives. There is a further provision which 
will accrue to the benefit of libraries, if libra- 
rians will -take heed to the matter. I refer to 
that section which turns over to members of 
Congress the accumulations of past years, 
which are supposed to amount in the aggre- 
gate to nearly 1,000,000 volumes. These are 
stored about the basement of the Capitol, and 
in other places, many of them old documents 
running back thirty or forty years. Some of 
these are very valuable, and especially so for 
filling gaps in libraries. I endeavored to 
secure all these documents for libraries, but 
when the matter came up for discussion it was 
decided that all these publications should be 
assigned to Senators and Representative for 
distribution, rather than turned over to any 
officer of the government, even for the benefit 
of libraries. However, you can secure some 
of them if, when the bill becomes a law, you 



THIRD SESSION. 



apply to your Senators and Representatives 
for your portion. This should not be forgotten. 

These are the principal provisions of the 
bill redounding to the advantage of the libra- 
ries in the matter of the distribution of public 
documents. 

While I am on this point, I may remark that 
the bill makes no change in the general sys- 
tem of distribution. This system is in an ex- 
treme degree unbusiness-like, wasteful and un- 
satisfactory. The propositions which, as many 
of you know, I have from time to time made 
in my reports, for the consolidation of the 
whole business of the distribution of docu- 
ments in a single bureau, so as to simplify, 
unify and economize the business, and which 
were, in a large measure, embodied in the 
first draft of the bill presented to the two 
houses of Congress, did not prove acceptable 
to those bodies. 

Such arrangement would, I think, commend 
itself to the approval of any business man, and 
also to that of almost all members of Con- 
gress as individuals; but when it comes to be 
presented in Congress there is always a suf- 
ficient number opposing it to prevent its 
adoption. 1 have therefore given up all hope 
of securing, at present, any improvement in 
the system of distributing documents. 

Turning now to another point, I am glad to 
say that this bill contains adequate and satis- 
factory provision for cataloging and indexing 
public documents, as it authorizes and directs 
the superintendent of documents to prepare 
at the close of each regular session, a com- 
prehensive index of government publications 
issued during such session. He is further- 
more required to prepare and print a consoli- 
dated index of Congressional documents, and, 
in addition, to publish a monthly catalog of 
government publications, of which an edition 
of 2,000 copies is authorized for distribution. 

Should this bill, therefore, become a law, we 
will have secured what many regard, and that 
justly, as the most important desideratum in 
connection with public documents. In my 
judgment, the bill contains no provision more 
important than these. 

In this connection I would say that I have 
been working for the last two or three years as 
opportunity offered, upon a comprehensive 
index of the publications of the last four years 



the four years covered by the fifty-first and 
fifty-second Congresses. It will be published 
about the first of December. Of this index, 
which will contain about 500 quarto pages, the 
libraries represented here will receive each a 
copy. If any desire additional copies, they 
will have to secure them through their Senators 
or Representatives. 

. Any one who has considered the subject of 
indexing will understand, at once, that a satis- 
factory index of public documents cannot be 
made on any plan or system that would be 
applicable to an ordinary series of documents. 
Their classification is so complicated, and edi- 
tions so multiplied, that a form peculiar to 
itself must be adopted. I have endeavored in 
this index to cite, under its proper title, every 
document published during those four years. 
In the first column is indicated the origin of 
every document, the department of the 
government from which it emanates, and in 
most cases the author. The second column is 
the index proper, in alphabetical arrangement. 
This column shows the subject of the docu- 
ment and its date. If it is a report of a com- 
mittee of Congress the serial number of the 
bill of the Senate or House upon which the re- 
port is based is given, so that the discussion of 
the subject in Congress can be readily traced 
by referring to the history of the bill in the 
Congressional Record. If the bill becomes a 
law, a reference to the law as found in the 
Statutes at Large is also added. In the last 
column the Congressional classification of the 
document is shown ; i.e., whether it is a Senate 
or House executive, or miscellaneous docu- 
ment, or report of committee, together with the 
Congress and session to which it appertains, 
the volume in which it is found, the serial 
number of the document, and the number of 
pages it contains. If the document is published 
in two or three editions, reference to the other 
editions is found in the main column, and 
whenever it is published in a separate edition, 
as an extract from a larger work, this is shown 
by the abbreviation " sep." When this index 
is published I shall be very glad to receive 
your criticisms, for the purpose of embodying 
in a final edition anything that may be wisely 
said in the way of suggestion. 

Provision is made in the printing bill for the 
future indexing of documents. No provision, 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



however, is made for those prior to the fifty- 
first Congress. This ought to be done, and it 
might very appropriately have been added as 
an amendment to this bill. A bill, how- 
ever, was reported in the Senate by the com- 
mittee on printing, and passed that body dur- 
ing the last days of the session, providing for 
a catalogue and index similar to Major Poore's 
catalogue, covering the forty-eighth to fifty- 
second Congresses, inclusive. This work is to 
be done under the direction of the joint com- 
mittee on printing, and $2,500 is appropriated 
for the same. The bill went to the House, and 
Mr. Richardson reported it favorably on the 
second day before adjournment. This gave 
rise to a brief discussion, which is found in the 
Congressional Record of August 25th, from 
which I read: A member says, "Who is to 
prepare this list ?" to which Mr. Richardson 
replied: "It has been prepared, as I under- 
stand, under direction of the Senate com- 
mittee, and by the clerk of said committee." 
A member asks, ' ' Does the bill provide for 
paying him for preparing it ?" On being as- 
sured that it does, he then objects to the bill. 
Another prominent member of the House rises 
and asks: "What is the necessity for this 
work anyway ? I never saw any good in a 
publication of this kind," adding, " I have 
heard a great deal about these catalogues, and 
have seen some of them. I believe that about 
the only utility they have is to inform the 
junk shop dealers what publications we are 
making, so that they may get hold of them. 
I think we ought to discountenance this whole 
business, and ought to repeal any law which 
authorizes it. I object to the consideration of 
the resolution." And so the bill went over to 
the next session. This is a fair and forcible 
illustration of the difficulties encountered in 
our efforts to secure any adequate legislation 
on this subject. 

Let me refer now, for a moment, to the mat- 
ter of the exchange of documents. You all 
know somewhat of the work I have been doing 
in making my office a clearing house for libra- 
ries. This work is going on, interrupted occa- 
sionally because I have not the time to give to 
it. We shall resume it as soon as I return, 
and I want to ask the cooperation of all the 
librarians here. Let us have your duplicates, 
and we will turn over the publications that are 



accumulating, supplying, as far as possible, 
deficiencies reported by you. 

My last point is this: The bill which has 
been the basis of most of my remarks will 
come up for final action on the convening of 
Congress in December. I would therefore sug- 
gest that you appoint a committee of at least 
three, who will make it their business, without 
fail, to come to Washington at that time to in- 
terview the committee on printing of the two 
houses, and to do missionary work among 
members of Congress in advocacy of this bill. 
This must be done. It will not do for this 
committee to stay at home and write letters. 
The committees of the two houses are very 
anxious that the bill pass. They will, I am 
sure, be glad to meet a committee of this body 
and to have the aid of its influence in securing 
its passage. 

I hope, furthermore, that the resolutions 
which have just been presented by our com- 
mittee on public documents will meet the 
unanimous approval of this body, so that the 
secretary can communicate them to Congress 
as the united voice of the American Library 
Association. Such an expression of the wishes 
of this body will have large influence ; for, as 
Representative Cooper, of Indiana, said, it 
is only the librarians that can get this bill 
through. 

Then I would suggest that each individual 
member of this body use his influence with 
Senators and Representatives in this matter. 
Some can reach them personally and others by 
letter, urging the passage of this bill in the in- 
terest of libraries. It is the best bill we have 
ever gotten or are likely to get. 

MissM. E. AHERN. When I talked with Mr. 
Cooper about the document bill once, he said: 
' ' What is it you want ? I have heard about 
this distribution, but what is it you want ?" 
That suggested to me that the reason why 
there has been such an utter failure to get 
something that was definite and in shape, was, 
perhaps, that we did not know definitely what 
we wanted. I have not the least desire to criticise 
the committee appointed by the A. L. A. ; but 
when we said to our Representatives that we 
wanted to have certain amendments made in 
the House bill, although it was a machine 
letter, it stated just what was wanted, and 
through the combined efforts of the Represent- 



THIRD SESSION. 



'33 



alives from the several states backing up 
those of Mr. Cooper, we got this amendment 
that Dr. Ames thinks will be stricken out. 
That was the only thing I wanted. There was 
a number of other librarians asking for it, and 
not the committee appointed by the American 
Library Association. Librarians are intelli- 
gent enough to know what they want, and the 
point that Dr. Ames made in his closing state- 
ment seems to me the key to the whole situa- 
tion. The thing that we want we must ask 
from the man that goes from our own neigh- 
borhood, and if we want any extra help we 
must rely on the committee appointed by the 
Association. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. There is nothing in my 
experience that has been more aggravating 
than this public document matter. It seems 
so absurd for a great country like ours to be 
spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in 
printing matter which finds its way back to the 
paper mill, and in the meantime has served no 
particular purpose. In farm houses through- 
out the West you can find public documents 
used for scrap-books. 

A few years ago a member of the school 
board (who by virtue of his office in the school 
board was also a member of the Library 
board, and who was also a saloon keeper) came 
into the library one day with a report of the 
Commissioner of Education, and wanted to 
know if I would not like to have it. He said a 
hack driver brought it over to him and asked 
him if he wanted it. So he took it, having the 
library in mind. That document had been 
sent to the hack driver by a member of Con- 
gress in recognition of his services at the last 
election. Let me give you another illustration. 
There was an important document that I had 
in vain tried to get through the department, 
and through the three Representatives from St. 
Louis and the two Senators from Missouri, 
receiving word from those men that their 
quota had been already distributed. Finally I 
secured it through a personal friend of Senator 
Evarts, of New York. 

All talk about expense is ridiculous in view 
of the enormous waste and extravagance that 
goes on in the printing and distribution of 
public documents. Therefore I would like the 
Association to speak out plainly and tell what 
it believes on this subject, and let Congress 



then do as it pleases about it. In all my let- 
ters to our Senators and Representatives, I 
have always argued that these documents 
were printed at the expense of the people, and 
for the information of the people, and that 
people therefore had the right of access to 
them ; and that access could be obtained only 
in one way, by sending them out freely and 
promptly to public libraries. Therefore, while 
Mr. Ames was talking, I jotted down this reso- 
lution, which I would suggest as an amend- 
ment: 

Whereas, All government documents are 
printed at the expense, and for the informa- 
tion, of the people of the United States; and 

Whereas, The present method of distribu- 
tion is extravagant and wasteful, and fails to 
accomplish the purpose of such distribution ; 
and 

Whereas, The only practicable method to 
make the information contained in public 
documents accessible to the people is to place 
them in the libraries of the country ; therefore 
be it 

Resolved, That a copy of every volume, 
pamphlet, bill or broadside not of a confiden- 
tial character, should be sent promptly to 1,000 
libraries of the country, to be selected accord- 
ing to their size, character and location. 

W: I. FLETCHER. It seems to me that Mr. 
Crunden is a little up in the clouds, and while 
such a thing as he speaks of is ideal, and I 
should go for it every time, yet it seems to me 
for all practical purposes it is in the clouds. I 
do not care what becomes of any such resolu- 
tion as that. It does not seem to me that it 
would ever do any good. 

I was going to speak entirely on another 
line. I myself occupy a very hopeful attitude 
in regard to this matter of public documents, 
in connection with the bill in its present state. 
I am hopeful that there is going to be a great 
improvement accomplished through that bill, 
and that is all we can expect, I think. We 
ought to appreciate the fact that a good many 
members of Congress have taken a great deal 
of pains to help the libraries of the country. 
We owe them our thanks, and I should not 
like to see the Association seem to go before 
Congress in a scolding attitude, representing 
that we know a great deal more about the 
matter than they do, and altogether that we 



'34 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



are in an attitude of disrespect and contempt 
for Congress in the matter. We ought to 
recognize the great services that have been 
rendered to the public in connection with this 
movement, and I can speak with special sig- 
nificance as to the Congressman from my own 
district, and the Senators from my own state. 

I should like to suggest that we have these 
resolutions, if adopted, printed in such shape 
that every librarian who cares to do so might 
send them to his member of Congress, incor- 
porating them in a letter explanatory of his 
own ideas on the subject. It seems to me that 
that would be of great value. 

I want to say a word about this index. It seems 
to me that we ought most heartily to approve 
such an admirable index of documents as this 
of Dr. Ames. If this index can be out and in 
use for a while before any measure has been 
passed in Congress to get out another index 
like Major Poore's, it seems to me that men of 
sense in Washington would understand that if 
any model was to be taken his should be 
the one. 

S: S. GREEN. I think we ought to bring this 
discussion to a close, and I am going to ask 
Mr. Crunden if he will withdraw that amend- 
ment. It is very important that we should be 
united in our action. We have before us the 
bill that is now in Congress, and it seems to 
me that the wise thing now is to second the 
movement already on foot. 

J: G. AMES. Lest a misapprehension may 
exist in the minds of any as to the attitude of 
members of Congress in general towards the 
legislation desired by this Association, I wish 
to say that I believe a large majority of both 
houses are favorable to nearly all the pro- 
visions of the bill which we have been con- 
sidering. It is only here and there a member 
that will urge any general opposition to i. 
If a few of the amendments which were at- 
tached to the bill in the Senate were with- 
drawn, it would, in my judgment, pass with- 
out any serious opposition and with little delay. 

I should, therefore, advise the association to 
accept the bill as it is, with the few amend- 
ments suggested in the resolutions proposed 
by our committee. We shall then have secured 
nearly all that we have been urgently seeking 
for years. Afterwards, if further action is de- 
sired, I think we shall find Congress ready to 



pass such supplemental legislation as the 
librarians will unite in requesting. 

W: I. FLETCHER. I move that the resolu- 
tions, read by Mr. Johnston, be referred to the 
committee on resolutions. Voted. 

Successive papers were read, by those named 
below, on 

THE SELECTION OF BOOKS. 

Miss ELLEN M. COE (see p. 30); Miss CARO- 
LINE M. HEWINS (see p. 32); W: E. FOSTER 
(see p. 34) ; D. V. R. JOHNSTON (see p. j6) ; 
W. A. BARDWELL, by title only, in his absence 
(see p. 37); W: H. BRETT (see p. 38); H: M. 
UTLEY ( see p. 39) ; F : M. CRUNDEN (see p. 41). 

J. K. HOSMER. My own methods do not 
differ essentially from those which have been 
described. It has occurred to me, as I have 
listened to the discussion of the subject by my 
predecessors, that one or two points might be 
dwelt upon. 

As regards the book committee, I think it 
is an excellent thing if a library has an effi- 
cient one ; and, as I look back upon my St. 
Louis days, I remember with great interest my 
service on Mr. Crunden's book committee. I 
think that as Mr. Crunden managed the mat- 
ter, we approached the ideal state of things in 
that book committee. It consisted of a clergy- 
man of the city, who was noted as a scholar 
and as a man of the finest intellectual tastes ; 
of a strong business man; of two strong 
women who were among the best teachers of 
the city ; and of myself, then a professor in the 
university of St. Louis. We met every fort- 
night on Saturday afternoon. Mr. Crunden 
had prepared, before each meeting, a list of 
books which he presented to us, and each title 
was discussed. We spent hours in that way, 
each one of us reading as he had oppor- 
tunity. The work was faithfully done, and I 
do not know how it could have been better or 
more effectively done than it was by that 
committee. Since I have been in Minneapolis, 
I have often wished that my own book com- 
mittee would take a similar interest, but the 
selection is left almost entirely to me, and I 
feel that the responsibility is very great. I 
receive quantities of books on approval, which 
I examine. The only books which I carefully 
read are novels. All the novels that come to 
us are carefully read, not necessarily by my- 



THIRD SESSION. 



self, but by people in whom I have confidence. 
If not carefully read, they are so far examined 
that their character can be thoroughly ascer- 
tained. We have a feeling that that is a mat- 
ter of considerable importance. No novel 
comes into the library whose character we do 
not know fully about. 

With regard to critical aids, I have been 
accustomed to depend upon the authorities 
which have been so frequently mentioned by 
my predecessors in this discussion. I would 
like to say this: That I dissent from what 
seems to be the almost universal feeling of the 
Association, with regard to the plan which Mr. 
lies presented at Chicago last year. It does 
not seem to me at all likely that we should get 
any better criticisms, than we have now in the 
best critical reviews. Take the Nation, which 
Mr. Crunden has spoken of in so nattering a 
manner. Whatever may be the character of 
the Nation, politically many of us, no doubt, 
differ from it very much there we must ad- 
mit that, as regards its literary articles, it is a 
publication of the very highest character, and 
that those who write the articles are experts 
and men of scholarship and ability. Is it at 
all likely that in any periodical that could be 
established by the Library Association, we 
should have any better state of things than 
when we have at hand the present aids ? I 
have no reason to believe that any better 
thing would come out of the proposition which 
was submitted last year by Mr. lies. 

Miss ELLEN M. COE. I am under commission 
from Mr. lies to say a word. Since his plan of 
annotation has been alluded to twice, I feel 
that it is right for me to make the communica- 
tion here. 

I have been in constant communication with 
Mr. lies this year, in the work of preparing a 
list of 1,000 volumes best suited to working- 
girls' clubs. He has given a great deal of time 
to it, and is being aided by experts. Mr. lies 
asked me to say to the publication committee 
that he had further promises of immediate 
help. 

I want to say, just now, that with the anno- 
tations which we are making we use these 
criticisms, which, as Mr. Hosmer says, can not 
be bettered. It is not intended that the experts 
shall in all, or in many cases, give their own 
opinions. I wish I had here the list on zoology 



which Olive Thorne Miller has just sent me. 
She does not use her own words. I wish, also, 
that I had the list on kindergartening sent me 
by Miss Brooks of the Teachers college, and 
the list on self-culture from the same college. 
They almost always give their authority, per- 
haps Ruskin or the Nation. These experts 
have each undertaken the criticism of perhaps 
one hundred volumes. They would not admit 
anything that had not commendation from 
these reliable critical journals. They would 
only use, I think, their own words if others 
failed to express the purport of the book. I 
believe that this terrific problem that is before 
libraries, as to the selection of books, can be 
solved in no other way than that which Mr. lies 
so ably presented. 

F:M. CRUNDEN. Miss Coe has already said 
what I had a mind to say. Dr. Hosmer over- 
looks the time-saving feature of this, which is 
one of the great considerations with us. You 
take a long book review in the Nafion it may 
be four or five columns. All that I care to 
know about it is the little extract of four or 
five lines. That will be a great saving to us. 
If we can get the work Miss Coe has outlined, 
done and presented to us in that size and form, 
it will save us a great deal of time. 

W: I. FLETCHER. I would ask Mr. Utley 
how much he has to pay for getting books twice 
a week ? 

H: M. UTLEY. The discount on regular 
American books is 34 per cent., and the dis- 
count on educational books and other special 
books varies from 12 j to 15 and 20 per cent. 
But on the great mass of books the discount is 
34 per cent. ; and that, I think, is as favorable 
an offer as librarians usually get. It has not 
cost us any more to have the privilege of look- 
ing at these books, because the booksellers can 
sell them to some one else if we do not want 
them. 



REPORT OF 



COMMITTEE ON 
MEETING. 



PLACE OF NEXT 



C: A. CUTTER. It is very appropriate that 
our report should come immediately after this 
discussion, for the selection of a place of meet- 
ing is quite as hard as the selection of books. 
I will divide this report into two parts: the 
news department and the editorial. 

The news department is simply this: We 



i 3 6 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



have been favored with two invitations and 
one suggestion, which I will give in the order 
in which they came. The first is the Chau- 
tauqua region, and the arguments urged in 
favor of our going there are, that we can do 
good missionary work in Jamestown ; that it is 
easy of access; and that the railroads and 
hotels are accustomed to handling large crowds 
of people. 

The second is Denver, where we were in- 
vited by both librarians, and the arguments in 
favor of our going there are, that we can do 
good missionary work, which is very much 
needed; and that we shall meet a reception 
only second to that which we received in Cali- 
fornia. Their words were more modest than that, 
but I fancy their intention w r as, probably, less 
modest. Furthermore, that all the librarians 
in the Mississippi valley are immensely desir- 
ous that the Association should meet there, and 
would be very glad to have us go there. Also, 
that we can have a very good post-conference 
trip, as we who were to California well know. 
I should mention, also, that that was one of the 
advantages urged in favor of the Chautauqua 
invitation, because the country around there 
is attractive and pleasing. 

The third, which is merely a suggestion, for 
we have received no invitation, is that we 
should meet next year in some seaboard city, 
and afterwards make a post-conference trip to 
England. It is said that we can do that in five 
weeks at a moderate expense, or for not much 
more than the excursion to Denver would cost. 
So much for news. 

For the editorial remarks, it is no part of the 
committee's duties to give advice to the Asso- 
ciation, and they will not attempt it. They 
have been warned what would happen if they 
did attempt it. They have been sufficiently 
supplied with coffee at the regular meals of the 
hotel, and they have no pistols, not even 
pocket pistols. 

But we do desire to remind the Association 
of the traditional practice, which, probably, 
is a very good one, and has gradually grown 
up like the constitution of England. It has 
been our wont to go first to the West, and then 
to the East ; to meet first in a city where we 
can do missionary work and see libraries and 
the ladies can do shopping, and then to go to 
a summer resort where we can attend to busi- 



ness and have a good time and talk shop. We 
want to call your attention to the fact that a 
seaboard city and Denver are both cities, and 
that we met this year at a summer resort ; that 
we are not doing any missionary work here, 
and that we can do missionary work at Chau- 
tauqua and Denver. As to the seaboard city 
it would depend a great deal on where it was, 
and as to whether our missionary work would 
be likely to be effectual. 

MELVIL DEWEY read a telegram from George 
E. Vincent, of Chautauqua, inviting the Asso- 
ciation to meet there next year, in either the 
first week in July or the last week in August. 

Recess was declared till 7.15 P.M. 

FO UR TH SESSION. 

(GRAND VIEW HOTEL, TUESDAY EVENING, SEP- 
TEMBER 1 8.) 

Pres. LARNED called the meeting to order at 
7.30 P. M. 

Sec. HILL announced that the meetings of 
the Association, commencing with Thursday 
morning, would be held at the Mirror Lake 
Hotel. 

W: R. EASTMAN read his paper on 

TRAVELING LIBRARIES OF THE STATE OF NEW 
YORK. 

(Mr. Eastman's paper appears, subsequently, 
in the forum for January, 1895, and is not 
printed in the Conference report. Copies of 
the paper can be obtained on application to the 
Public Libraries Department, Albany, N. Y.) 

Miss LUTIE E. STEARNS read her report on 

READING FOR THE YOUNG. 

(Seep. <?/.) 

S. H. BERRY. One field in which there has 
been considerable work done as to reading for 
the young, Miss Stearns has overlooked, 
namely, the junior departments of the Young 
Men's Christian associations, with one of 
which I am very closely associated in our own 
city of Brooklyn. I can speak for them defi- 
nitely. Others, I know, are doing very excel- 
lent work, and taking great pains to get the 
right sort of reading into the hands of boys, 
having an age limit, of course, from about 
seven years up to sixteen. 

In our association we circulate the books 
from the boys' department, throughout all the 



FOURTH SESSION. 



branches of the association in the city, just the 
same as we do from the men's library; the 
books go by the hands of the same messen- 
gers, and are doing excellent work. They 
have a secretary in charge of the boys' branch, 
who pays special attention to getting the right 
sort of books, and seeing that they are cata- 
loged by authors and subjects, and the boys 
are taking great interest in the work in this 
line. Of course there are others in the city, 
such as the Newsboys' Home and the Chil- 
dren's Aid Society, who are doing a large work 
for young people's reading in what, sometimes, 
is called the lower wards. But now we are 
having a great influx of something that is 
much worse than the dime novel that has been 
spoken of. We are having a good deal of the 
nickel library, and a great deal of the " Old 
Sleuth " material ; and perhaps we may expect 
more of that, now that "Old Sleuth" has re- 
signed from the school board and may have 
more time. We are trying to do a good deal 
for the boys' department toward having this 
sort of material suppressed. 

Short papers were read, by those named be- 
low, on 

COMMON NOVELS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 

Miss CAROLINE H. GARLAND (see p. 14); Miss 
ELLEN M. COE (see p. 23); Miss ELIZABETH P. 
THURSTON (see p. 16); GEO. WATSON COLE (see 
P. 18); A. W. WHELPLEY, by title only, in his 
absence (see p. 21). 

A. L. PECK. I request that the subject of 
novels be continued in some other session. 
There are some points that ought to be brought 
to the attention of the Association. Although 
I have tried very hard to have only the best 
novels on my shelves, I find that some of my 
younger readers will go to book dealers and 
get books that are absolutely worthless, trashy, 
immoral in fact there are no adjectives bad 
enough to express what they are. Every year 
we find in some of the schoolrooms bad liter- 
ature cropping out, and we have had to go from 
store to store, where these books came from, 
and even to make inquiries at the post office. 
It is not only our duty to buy good books, but 
also to prevent the sale and distribution of bad 
and poor books. The same thing is true of the 
penny dreadfuls and the Police News and 
Police Gazette. I think it is the librarian's 



duty to suppress the sale of the Police Nevus 
and the Police Gazette ; especially in New 
York State, where there is a good law. I think 
it can be done ; I did it. I simply sent to the 
Secretary of the State of New York for copies 
of the law, and then took the District Attorney 
by the hand, and went from book store to book 
store and said the Police Gazette shall not be 
exhibited here hereafter. I did the same thing 
with black literature. I bought it myself and 
had the salesman convicted. 
Adjourned at 10.15 P - M - 

FIFTH SESSION. 

(GRAND VIEW HOTEL, WEDNESDAY MORNING, 
SEPTEMBER 19.) 

Pres. LARNED called the meeting to order at 
9.45 A. M. 

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD. 

Sec. HILL. The matter of printing the presi- 
dent's address was referred to the executive 
board, and the board wishes to report the fol- 
lowing recommendation : 

The executive board recommend that 1,000, 
or as many more extra copies of the president's 
address as may be subscribed for, be printed, 
and that they be sold by the treasurer at cost 
price. 

W. I. FLETCHER. It seems to me that the 
wisest course in the matter would be to have the 
address electrotyped in such form that the execu- 
tive board can furnish copies at any time on 
order. The Massachusetts Library club has 
some money in the treasury and does not know 
what to do with it ; and I said we could buy 
enough copies of the president's address to 
give one copy to every man, woman and child 
in the state. There should be a provision for 
many thousand extra copies. 

Sec. HILL. There have been requests for 
several papers read before the Association. In 
this connection I was going to bring up the 
matter of printing extra copies of such papers 
as may be subscribed for at this meeting, and 
have that referred to the executive board for 
consideration, to report at a later meeting. I 
think that we ought to print some of these 
papers every year, enough so that those who 
want these extra copies to distribute among 
friends of library interests can do so at a very 



'38 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



little cost, and if we could have them electro- 
typed, so much the better. 

GARDNER M. JONES. I move that this whole 
subject of printing extras from the proceedings 
of the Association be recommitted to the execu- 
tive board for further consideration. Voted. 

WILLARD H. AUSTIN read his 

REPORT ON LIBRARY AIDS AND GUIDES. 

(See p. 77.) 

Pres. LARNED. I would suggest a reference 
to the executive board for the coming year, as 
to the recommendation made by Mr. Austin, 
regarding a committee on aids and guides. 

W: I. FLETCHER. I move that it be so re- 
ferred. Voted. 

GARDNER M. JONES read a 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON AN INDEX TO 
SUBJECT HEADINGS. 

The committee is pleased to report that the 
Index to Subject Headings is now practically 
completed, and after final editing and copying 
will be ready for the printer. The sample 
page in your hands shows the proposed form of 
publication. 

Most of the members of the A. L. A. prob- 
ably know the object and scope of this index, 
but for the benefit of those who do not, the 
committee makes the following statement : 

Every compiler of a dictionary catalog 
finds two great difficulties: ist, the choice 
between synonymous or related headings ; 2d, 
the making of the necessary cross-references. 
The best catalogs show great diversity of 
usage, and it has often been suggested that by 
a collation of these catalogs, a list of subject 
headings might be made, which would sim- 
plify the work of the cataloger and lead to 
more uniformity. At the Lakewood confer- 
ence a committee for this purpose was ap- 
pointed. At Chicago, the committee reported 
progress, and to-day announces the approach- 
ing end of its work. The catalogs on which 
the index is based are the Boston Athenasum, 
Peabody Institute, Cleveland, American, and 
the Harvard subject index. 

Of course no such list can be complete, nor 
is this intended to be so. It is limited to the 
headings most often needed in the small, or 
medium sized, public library. The following 
classes of headings have been omitted : 



i. Personal names. 

2 Geographical headings, such as names of 
countries, places, languages, literatures, 
etc. (See Library Journal, 18: C 79-80, 
for treatment of these.) 

3. Technical and scientific names, unless there 

are equivalent common names and for 
purposes of cross-reference. 

4. Animals, and plants, and chemical and 

medicinal substances. 

5. Books and other parts of the Bible. These 
should be entered as sub-heads under 
Bible, with reference from their names. 

6. The following special classes : Names of 
months, days, processes in arithmetic, 
parts of speech, headings beginning with 
numbers (as eighteenth century), virtues 
and vices, diseases (with a few exceptions). 

7. Other specific headings where there seemed 

to be no doubt as to name or references, 
as most games, foods, etc. 

It is thought that the list is sufficiently full 
for ordinary use. The headings for any new 
subject can be settled by the application of the 
rules given below, and by the analogies of 
headings already in the list. For full discus- 
sion of principles the cataloger is referred to 
Cutter's rules. Any cataloger having to deal 
with unusual books will consult special cata- 
logs, or reference books, such as the Surgeon- 
general's catalog, Soule's Lawyers' reference 
manual, Bouvier's Law dictionary, McClintock 
and Strong's Cyclopasdia, etc. 

It. will be asked, What have been the prin- 
ciples of decision ? 

The general principle is that the heading 
should be that under which it is supposed that 
the majority of educated Americans would 
look, with cross-references from other forms of 
headings. 

In carrying out this principle the following 
rules have been observed as far as possible : 

1. Use common names instead of technical, 

English instead of foreign ; but not if the 
common or English name is ambiguous or 
of ill-defined extent. 

2. Use singular rather than plural ; but many 

subjects are only thought of under the 
plural. 

3. Use headings most generally found in the 

leading catalogs ; but usage is changing. 



FIFTH SESSION. 



An example is, Moral philosophy, now 
almost universally called Ethics. 
4. Put compound names under the first word, 
unless some other is more significant 
(Agricultural botany, rather than Botany, 
agricultural). 

The opponents of the dictionary catalog 
claim that it fails to bring together all the 
books on a subject. This is a valid objection 
unless cross-references are liberally supplied. 
For this reason the list of "see-alsos" is 
especially full. 

Particular attention is called to the "refer- 
froms." These are the " see-alsos " reversed, 
and group under each heading the references 
that should be made from other subjects. Of 
course these references are not to be made un- 
less the book cataloged actually illustrates the 
subject from which reference is made. They 
are suggestions, rather than directions, and do 
not relieve the cataloger from using his 
brains. 

The index should be printed with a single 
column, the other being left blank for addi- 
tions. The cataloger can check headings and 
references, as used, and add new headings 
when necessary. A complete list of all the 
subject headings and references in his catalog 
will then be at hand without reference to the 
catalog itself. Unless the library is quite 
small, personal and geographical headings 
should be kept on slips as a supplementary list. 
When there is a great accumulation of 
entries under a heading, it is well to subdivide. 
The Boston Athenaeum and Peabody Institute 
catalogs, furnish good models for such sub- 
divisions. 

At the Chicago conference the Publishing 
Section was instructed to proceed with the 
publication of the list as soon as practicable. 
We hope that in a few months the Index will 
be printed and in your hands. Notwithstand- 
ing its many defects we are satisfied that it 
will be found useful. 

GARDNER M. JONES. 
CHARLES A. CUTTER. 
G. E. WIRE. 
Miss THERESA H. WEST read her 

REPORT ON LIBRARY ARCHITECTURE. 

(See p. 96.) 

C: C. SOULE. As chairman of the committee 
on architecture I would like to say a word. 



I think the architects are earnestly desirous of 
following the principles we have laid out, that 
is, of studying up the utility of the building 
first of all. I think also, that what has been 
done and said by the American Library Asso- 
ciation, and individual librarians, has had a 
great deal of effect. While we see a good many 
buildings not appropriate to library purposes, 
the trend and tendency is in the right direc- 
tion. The architects are awakened, and I think 
the work of this Association has had a great 
deal to do with the improvement in library 
architecture. Such intelligent initiation as is 
shown in the course of the Milwaukee library 
building, and in what the Providence library 
is now doing, will be of great help. There are 
a few architects who will sacrifice the exterior 
to the interior, but I think the fault is very 
largely with the trustees and building com- 
mittees. They do not take proper advice and 
formulate their conditions of use for the archi- 
tects, early enough before plans are decided 
upon. 

Let me tell a little anecdote. Some little 
time ago a firm of celebrated architects came 
to me and said: "Mr. Soule, you are chairman 
of the committee on architecture of the Ameri- 
can Library Association?" "Yes." "You 
have given considerable study to library con- 
struction ?" "I have given some study to the 
principles of it." "You can get the advice of 
leading librarians ? " "Yes." " Will you join 
us in preparing plans for such and such a com- 
petition?" I said yes, and we made up some plans 
which I think were fairly good. I took the 
advice of a great many librarians, and studied 
up the interior with the idea of concentration, 
proper distribution of the administrative de- 
partments, ease of access to the public, and all 
other points essential in a library building. 
The architects made many successive sketches, 
and we thought and worked over the thing for 
several weeks. 

When we got through with the plans, being 
optimistic in my disposition, I thought that 
they would be ranked high among those sub- 
mitted. The architect who had been working 
them up, thought, on the contrary, that they 
would not be accepted because they were a 
little too conscientious. He said: "From my 
point of view we come too much within the 
limits of the competition. Our building is 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



planned and can be built for the money speci- 
fied. When the plans come in there will be 
some very taking exteriors. The trustees will 
have a committee and won't ask the opinion of 
librarians about the matter. There will be one 
or two fascinating plans there, whose architect- 
ure will be so much finer than ours, that they 
will capture the prizes. You will find that the 
plan selected will take more money than the 
amount mentioned in the competition, but by 
that time the trustee will have become so 
taken with the idea of architectural adornment 
that those plans will get prizes, and plans like the 
one that we have worked out will be set aside." 
He was right, and a plan was selected for the 
library which certainly cost more and was not 
as good, from a library standpoint, as the plan 
we had submitted. 

I am very glad, however, to say to the Asso- 
ciation that such instances are becoming rare, 
and that practicable library buildings are get- 
ting to be the rule rather than the exception. 
Many architects have been to me for sugges- 
tions and criticism, and all have said that they 
were willing, if necessary, to sacrifice the ex- 
terior in order to get for the public a good 
working library. 

W: E. FOSTER. I wish to corroborate very 
emphatically what Mr. Soule has said in regard 
to the readiness existing on the part of archi- 
tects to ascertain, first of all, what appears to 
be the principles regarded as important from 
the point of view of librarians, and to endeavor 
to approach as near to those principles as pos- 
sible. For several years past it has been the 
practice of a large number of architects to bor- 
row of me those publications which contained 
the discussions on library architecture on the 
part of the American Library Association, and 
those discussions have received very thorough 
study. In the case of the local chapter of the 
American Institute of Architects the subject 
has more than once been before them for dis- 
cussion, and on one occasion I was called in to 
participate in the discussion with them. 

R. B. POOLE Architects in New York who 
are bidding for the building of library build- 
ings often come to my library to consult the 
Library Journal. They seem to find that a 
valuable source of information and help, and 
appear desirous to know what librarians think 
about library architecture. They therefore 



come and take out, sometimes, the whole set 
of the Journal and study out that phase. 

F. B. GAY. I have been through part of this 
mill. If you are choosing an architect, choose 
a young man well trained in a good office or 
good school. You will find his adaptability 
will make up, possibly, for his lack of a wide 
experience. You cannot tell an old architect 
what you can a younger one. An old architect 
made my shelves 52 inches long. 

WILLIAM BEER read his paper on 

LIBRARY FLOORS AND FLOOR COVERINGS. 

(See p. 100.) 

Pres. LARNED. I can add my testimony in 
regard to the virtues of corticine on library 
floors. We covered the floors of the Buffalo 
library with corticine material seven years 
ago, and last year we had occasion to renew 
the small section in front of the delivery desk, 
where it had been ground under the heels of 
many thousands during the seven years. 
With that exception, there is no sign of its 
wear anywhere in the building as yet. 

WII.LARD H. AUSTIN. We covered the new 
university library building floor with corticine 
three years ago. Our library is a centre of 
student congregation, but the corticine does 
not yet show any sign of wear, and it has a 
tendency to harden as it grows older. In my 
opinion, it ought to be redressed with oil occa- 
sionally, although the makers claim that the 
more frequent mopping given it the better it 
is. In my investigation of floor covering, it 
seems to me the best thing that can be used. 

J. N. WING. In the book store of Charles 
Scribner's Sons, just finished, there is a new 
floor of oak. It is polished, and is a very 
beautiful floor indeed. The ceiling is of a 
light sky blue, and this oak floor has a very 
beautiful effect. The first men who dressed it 
put on some kind of a dark substance. Then 
they planed off the whole floor. A new set of 
men came in and repolished it with a peculiar 
substance, so that the floor, when I left it 
and it had been in use for three or four weeks 
with a great deal of tramping on it was per- 
fectly clear. They left a certain preparation, 
which, they said, if used, would always keep 
the floor perfectly bright, if our janitor would 
follow instructions. Thus far it has remained 
so, and he goes over it every morning with a 



FIFTH SESSION. 



141 



heavy cloth. When he gets through, it shines 
perfectly, and every bit of dust is swept up. 
How this will wear, in time, I do not know ; 
but the architect assures us that the floor will 
last for years and years, and always look 
bright with a reasonable amount of care. 

S. H. BERRY. Quartering oak is the only 
process that will prevent the wood from 
splintering up. The best of wood needs to be 
quartered before it is sawed, in order not to 
have slivers that will sometimes run under the 
soles of people's shoes. If it is quartered be- 
fore it is sawed you will not have any of that 
difficulty, and you will have a perfectly smooth 
floor. And if it is waxed you will have some- 
thing that is very easily kept clean, and very 
easy to slip down on, too. 

F. B. GAY. May I ask Mr. Wing what that 
preparation is that is put on the floor? 

J. M. WING. It seems to be a kind of wax 
varnish. It is somewhat of the tint of oak, 
and with its use the handsome floor gives an 
altogether different appearance to the building. 
The floor is now a most attractive part of the 
store, and it is claimed that it can be kept in 
good repair and bright and nice for years. 

F. B. GAY. I have quartered oak floors 
in my halls. They were very carefully pol- 
ished down four or five times with pumice in 
oil and then covered with some sort of a dress- 
ing on top. It was very beautiful for about 
four weeks. Now, after two years' use, that is 
all worn off where people go. It was an ex- 
ceptionally well done job. Men who have had 
a wider experience than I have said that 
there was only one way to keep oak keep it 
clean and kept it well oiled ; then if the dirt 
works in you have a still more solid surface. 
Oil an oak floor once in six months, or a year, 
and you will have always a handsomer floor ; 
but do not put on any substance that will not 
thoroughly soak in. 

J. N. WING. This, that we use, is a prepara- 
tion supplied by the man who made the floor. 
He puts on a very small quantity, and the 
moment he puts it on you can walk over it. It 
is put on about once every week. 

WILLIAM BEER. I very much admire the 
floor of which Mr. Wing speaks. It is the only 
floor of the kind in the United States. The de- 
sign was taken from one in Paris. The ground 
work is concrete ; on that was laid hot asphalt, 



and into the hot asphalt were fitted small pieces 
of oak about twelve inches by four, two inches 
thick, and in the bottom of each piece a dove- 
tail is cut. The oak pieces were pressed down 
in to the hot asphalt so that the asphalt has got- 
ten into these dovetails, and there they are 
firmly fixed. After that was done the surface 
was planed ; and the substance for the dressing 
spoken of, is paraffine. Mr. Scribner gave me 
these particulars. It is a very beautiful floor- 
ing, and I advise every one who passes through 
New York to see it. I should also say that it 
is silent, and that there is no spring whatever. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. I want to add a word from 
our experience in the matter of flooring. My 
advice to any one who was thinking of fancy 
flooring, such as you see in private residences 
and clubs, would be "don't." Don't spend 
your money in that way. 

I got our board to appropriate money for 
putting down a polished floor. One of the 
members of the board, when he saw it, thought 
it was all right, and wished that we had had 
the whole building done in that way. The 
beauty of it lasted about three weeks. There 
is one room, the floor of which is not walked 
upon much, which still retains some of it, but 
the rest has disappeared utterly. Unless you 
can afford to have hard wood, and unless you 
can have the janitor polish it every few days, 
it is not an advisable thing to do. After the 
wear had gone on for perhaps a couple of 
months, I set one of my janitors at work with 
one other man, and got a lot of wax and a 
heavy brush. They worked several days and 
brought it back to its former state, but it dis- 
appeared sooner than before. 

My conclusion is that the best way is to have 
the ordinary wood floor, and cover it with lino- 
leum and corticine. 

Miss ELLEN M. COE. Mr. Crunden will do 
well not to use the linoleum. I had to give it 
up. I tried it twice, and had to give it up in 
the space of three years. 

I want to give you a very simply way of keep- 
ing oak in good order. In the first place get a 
conscientious janitor. If you begin with oak, 
or any other hard wood, and a conscientious 
janitor who will follow this process, you will 
have no difficulty. I suppose where the floors 
are used as much as mine are, in the reading 
room and the delivery room, a broom has to be 



142 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



used. But it should not be used except with 
quite a quantity of slightly moistened sawdust. 
After that the floor should be wiped up with a 
damp, or sometimes very wet cloth. We use 
after that a flannel cloth which has been sat- 
urated with crude oil. One floor is treated one 
day, and is left to become perfectly dry before 
it is used. 

If the oily cloth is allowed to become per- 
fectly dry it can be used as a polisher. It can 
be used as a duster at the same time. If the 
wood is polished off every day or two with the 
dry but oily cloth, it is kept in perfect condi- 
tion. 

J. K. HOSMER. I think an uncovered floor 
is out of place in a library, because such a floor, 
either of wood or of stone, is noisy. I should 
say that one of the great advantages of using 
the corticine, which we find so satisfactory, is 
that the floors approximate to noiselessness. 
That is a primary consideration. 

Pres. LARNED. There are two qualities of 
the corticine. We have used them both in the 
Buffalo library. The corticine, which is a de- 
sirable article, is called noiseless corticine. It 
is an English product. Whether it is manu- 
factured in this country of the same quality or 
not I do not know. I know that this which 
comes from England, the noiseless corticine, 
which is of a thickness of very nearly half an 
inch, is a very desirable floor covering. It is 
noiseless, and assumes after a little use a slaty 
color, which is not at all a detraction from the 
appearance of any room, I think. In our 
library it is mopped every morning. There is 
no broom used in the library. We have plenty 
of dust and dirt which comes from the air out- 
side, and not from the floor. I think that when 
the surface becomes hardened it is mopped 
easily every morning, as a floor might be. It 
seems to me that it is more easily treated, is 
more durable and more noiseless than any 
other library floor covering that I have ever seen. 

HENRY J. CARR. I have had occasion to use 
both linoleum and corticine, more or less, for 
eight years, and will simply say in answer to 
Miss Coe, that there is linoleum and linoleum. 
There are two distinct qualities of it : the best, 
known as tile or inlaid, and a cheaper kind, the 
printed. Corticine is usually without figure 
and of one uniform plain color; either light 
cork, or slate, or other tints of that kind. 



In the cheaper grades of the linoleum, the 
printed, the pattern which is on the surface 
only, will wear off, and then you have an un- 
sightly article underneath. Then there is the 
other linoleum, the inlaid, in which the figure 
goes through the entire fabric. That will wear 
clear down to the fibre backing and yet retain 
a fair appearance. The plain cork carpet 
sometimes used is not as good as the corticine. 
To guard against dry rot, where these impervi- 
ous covenngs are applied, the floors should first 
have had a chance to become thoroughly dry. 
With well seasoned floors there is usually no 
trouble on that score. 

The secret of satisfactory use of linoleums, or 
corticine, lies in always getting a first-class 
article. The original expense of such is about 
the same as Brussels carpet. Linoleums can be 
had in many different patterns, as well as very 
wide, and will resist wear very well in the places 
most used, even before the delivery desk. At 
Scranton we saved quite a little money by 
placing printed linoleum in the galleries where 
we have the least tramping ; but in the places 
where it is subject to much wear we used none 
but the ver y best quality. 

Miss A. V. MILNER. I would say a word 
about fibrous floor coverings. Our library is a 
school library placed in a large campus, two 
miles from any factories. The reading-room 
floor is covered with plain matting. It wears 
excellently, and has been used for two years. 
We take it up once a year for cleaning. The 
only places that are worn at all are in front of 
the two entrance doors. It is perfectly noise- 
less. It is cleaned every morning with a carpet 
sweeper, and the dust that comes from it is so 
little that I have not noticed it, although the 
room is in constant use by many people all day 
long. I can recommend it to small libraries, 
at least. 

Miss EDITH E. CLARKE. One word in favor of 
stone floors. At the Newberry we have brick 
floors throughout, except in the hallways, 
where we have mosaic floors. It was stated a 
moment ago that they were noisy. We do 
not think so. Our cataloging room has no 
matting- of any kind on it. There is a fibrous 
matting in the hall. The floor is not cold, be- 
cause of the steam pipes. It is .washed off 
every morning, and the only criticism against 
it is that it is slightly cheerless. 



FIFTH SESSION. 



G. M. JONES. I wish to say a word in favor 
of the stone or tile flooring in preference to the 
wood floor, if you use uncarpeted floors of any 
kind. Our room where the most tramping oc- 
curs is tiled, and we do not notice the noise. 
Our difficulty is with the hard-pine floors, which 
are very noisy. In the Salem law library they 
have a brick floor, with the brick set on edge, 
and that is very nearly noiseless. 

F: M. CRUNDEN spoke on 

SUPPLYING OF CURRENT DAILY NEWSPAPERS IN 
FREE LIBRARY READING-ROOMS. 

(Seep. 46.) 

Papers in discussion of the same subject were 
read by 

H : M. UTLEY (see p. 44) ; JOHN THOMSON 
(see p. 47) ; A. W. WHELPLEY (see p. 42), and 
JAMES BAIN, JR. (see p. 4^). The last two 
papers by title only, in the absence of their 
writers. 

R. B. POOLE. There is another aspect of this 
question when applied to the library of the 
Young Men's Christian Association. 

I think what Mr. Crunden has said applies to 
the public library. Newspapers in a public 
library are for the citizens of the place and not 
so much for those who come as strangers to the 
city. There is nothing that we read more than 
the daily newspapers. Every one of us reads 
the daily papers, and if a man comes into 
the city as a stranger he wants to see a paper 
from his own part of the country. The New 
York Association takes a paper from about 
every state in the United States ; from our 
leading cities ; and from London, Paris, Berlin, 
Liverpool, Glasgow, and Dublin ; and some of 
the weekly papers from other points, like 
Stockholm and Amsterdam. These papers, I 
think, are as a rule well used. They are in a 
room separate from the library, on the floor 
below. We take, I should think, about 75 
dailies. These papers, after they have been 
removed from the files are sent to the U. S. 
army posts. Four of the New York dailies are 
taken for binding, and these are in constant 
daily use in our library. 

There has been sometimes a question whether 
we should take so many daily papers. They are 
costly, but on some of them we get 50$ off, and 
in almost every case a reduction of from 20$ or 



more is allowed to the Young Men's Christian 
Association. 

Our library is different from the public 
library. Young men come to New York from 
every part of the country and from every part 
of the world, and they are pleased to find in our 
reading-room a paper from the locality from 
which they come, or somewhere near it. In 
this way the daily papers are made of great * 
value and use to the young men who come to 
the city. 

J: C. DANA. The question of newspapers in 
libraries would seem to be purely a relative 
one. No matter how large the fund may be 
that a city gives for the support of a public 
library, no matter if it is as generous as that 
given, for instance, to the public library of 
Detroit, there is a limit to the work that that 
fund will do. It is very manifest that if a 
certain amount of it be diverted to the pur- 
chase of newspapers and to the keeping open 
of a reading-room for the use of those news- 
papers, then that part of it cannot be used, for 
instance, for work in the schools, or for the 
hiring of more, or more expert assistants who 
shall give particular and personal attention to 
the people who come to the library for pur- 
poses that we consider more serious and of 
more importance than the reading of the daily 
paper. A little consideration of the subject 
from this point of view answers once and for 
all, it seems, in most cases at least, the ques- 
tion whether or not it is desirable to keep a 
supply of newspapers in a public library. The 
question is not, Is this a thing well to be done ? 
but, Is this a thing that is the best that can be 
done with the means and money in hand ? 
If you put the question in that form it seems 
to answer itself at once. 

A. L. PECK. I represent a small library, 
but it is one with large aspirations. From the 
very beginning of the library, fourteen years 
ago, in a small community mainly consisting 
of working men and working women, we estab- 
lished a public reading-room. From the first 
day we supplied twelve daily papers. We 
tried very carefully to get the best daily 
papers. We also tried as carefully to do 
justice to political parties. 

I find that as soon as the morning papers are 
received our reading-room is filled with a cer- 
tain number of so-called professional news- 



144 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



paper readers, whom my assistants call ' ' the 
boarders." Between twelve and one o'clock a 
different aspect is presented. Then the young 
men and some of our young women will come 
in, look at the headings of the large daily 
papers, get the main events, go to their dinner 
and afterwards return to their shops. A little 
past one o'clock there is still another assem- 
blage in that reading-room. These are the boys 
and girls who are appointed by their teachers, 
as reporters of daily events. If you will step 
into the Gloversville schools, no matter how 
small the children are, you will see a black- . 
board set aside for current events ; and every 
child has the privilege of going to the black- 
board and writing down what he considers the 
current event of the day, even if it is the an- 
nouncement of a marriage. 

Between two and four o'clock our lady visit- 
ors come, and they patronize the daily news- 
papers fully as much as the others. Immedi- 
ately after four o'clock our rooms are filled with 
school children, and there I begin my work. 
When the children come in I believe it is the 
librarian's duty to be there, and not to wait 
till the children come to him, but to go to the 
children. The boys and girls will inquire for 
all our illustrated papers and will ask whether 
anything has happened that is worth putting 
down on the blackboard. They bring topic 
lists from school, such as, " Please give Mary 
something on the Nicaragua canal," etc. 

I believe that in our place the daily news- 
paper is very much needed, and that it is a 
real educator. I do think that these children 
and these young men and young women who 
come to the resfding-room to get the current 
events of the day, and thereby get in touch 
with the world, will grow up bright minded 
and cultured men and women ; and despite 
certain unpleasant things about the so-called 
" boarders," we are very glad to welcome even 
them. We have a small town and we have 
only a few tramps. Those we refer to police 
headquarters. On the other hand, we wel- 
come every man, no matter whether he 
comes for newspaper reading or for picture 
gazing. I am making a plea for newspapers 
in libraries, and especially in small libraries ; 
therefore, I think it would be wrong to banish 
newspapers from free libraries. 

W: I. FLETCHER. I feel deeply on this sub- 



ject. I wish Dr. Poole were here to give, in 
his broad way, his idea of the reasons why 
newspapers should be in our public libraries 
and why the newspaper reader should be wel- 
come. It is singular that people can hardly 
talk upon any subject to-day but that the 
character and tendency of the newspaper press 
must enter into discussion. I applauded every 
word of our president's address upon the news- 
paper as a possible supplanter of other methods 
of public enlightenment. The newspaper is 
not to supplant the church or the school, or 
the library; but it has a proper place, and I 
wish we had some of those men who are 
prophets and apostles of the newspaper era to 
tell us what is the function of the daily press. 
I do not want to be deprived of my newspaper 
or novel. We have no right to deprive the 
public of its newspaper any more than others 
have a right to deprive us. I read newspapers 
very little indeed, but I could not do without 
them in the effort, so necessary for us all to 
make, of keeping abreast of the world-move- 
ment in literature, in science, in politics, in 
sociology, and in every other department that 
we might name. 

F. B. GAY. Is there not a slight misunder- 
standing of this question ? It is not as to our 
taking some newspapers, but all the daily 
newspapers. I come from a small, inland 
city, but I see no reason why Mr. Crunden 
should spend $8, $16, or $24 a year to take the 
three Hartford daily papers, and I suppose 
that is the question. Mr. Crunden will prob- 
ably not debate about taking New York papers, 
but whether he should take the thousands 
of other papers through the country. The 
local news of the Hartford paper would inter- 
est few or none in St. Louis. It would interest 
me if I were in St. Louis, but ought Mr. Crtrn- 
den to spend $24 a year to supply me with 
home news when I go to St. Louis ? 

H : M. U.TLEY. I understand the question 
to be whether we should have any newspapers, 
not how many. The number and the selec- 
tion would be a mere matter of judgment and 
discretion on the part of the management of 
the library. The question, as I understand it, 
is whether we should exclude newspapers 
altogether. 

J: C. DANA. I have not attended many of 
the conferences, but when I am fortunate 



FIFTH SESSION. 



enough to attend, I get well filled with ideas. 
Mr. Fletcher just now added certain new in- 
formation to my stock in hand. He would imply, 
though he did not say so directly, that the 
purpose of the public library is to supply those 
who wish it, with newspapers and novels, for 
he protested against what some of us have 
said here in favor of excluding newspapers, 
and to some extent novels, from public libraries, 
intimating that we thereby express a wish to 
"deprive" people of their novels and their 
newspapers. His thought apparently is, you 
see, that if the library does not supply them, 
nobody will. Omitting newspapers from libra- 
ries is not " depriving" anybody of them, any 
more than omitting Sanskrit texts is " depriv- 
ing " any one of his due philological privileges. 

The question seems to be, not whether it is a 
proper thing for people to read newspapers, 
or whether it is a desirable thing. Nobody 
questions that. The question is this, whether 
the proper function, or a proper and primary 
function of the public library, is to furnish 
free newspapers, and, to any large extent, free 
fiction. Taking money by force from the pock- 
ets of the taxpayers to support a free library 
is, after all, only justified when the library is 
at the highest pitch of its efficiency. Is a 
library at the highest pitch of its efficiency when 
it spends, let us say, $1,000 a year in the fitting 
up of a reading room and supplying it with 
daily newspapers ? I would ask Mr. Peck if in 
his own case the money he has spent on his 
daily newspapers, and the room that he gives 
up to his " boarders," as he calls them, and to 
others who read the daily papers, are not all 
needed for books asked for by the children or 
by the students; and if the time and energy 
ajid money that go into those newspapers, and 
that newspaper room, could not in his opinion 
be better spent in work that we believe to be 
of a higher class ? 

A. L. PECK. I simply say, emphatically, no. 
I think that money is well employed. We have 
made a great many readers by starting them 
with the daily newspaper, and we have kept 
many a man from the saloons by having the 
newspapers. They brought their children 
there first to read the newspapers, and we gave 
them books. I think newspapers in a small 
library are very important; more so than the 
Encyclopaedia Britannica. 



F: M. CRUNDEN. No appreciable portion of 
the St. Louis public comes to our newspaper 
reading-rooms; no considerable number that 
counts for anything. The people whose 
opinions amount to anything get the papers 
somewhere else. So far as the trend of opinion 
on current events is -concerned, that is to be 
obtained very much better from newspapers 
like Harper's Weekly and others, of which we 
have an abundant supply in the regular read- 
ing-room. There is scarcely anything in the 
daily newspapers which is not to be had in 
much better shape in the weekly period- 
icals like the Nation, Harper's Weekly, 
etc. So far as I have observed, the people 
who come to the newspaper reading-room 
only are the people who really do not count for 
much, anyway. They are the driftwood of 
society that has little influence one way or 
another. 

The question is whether it would not be 
better to apply the $ 1,000 that is spent on the 
newspaper reading room to the hiring of a 
competent woman to look after the children's 
reading where there is some hope. There is very 
little hope in men who drift around the public 
reading-rooms. The best thing that I can say 
of it is that it keeps those men out of the 
saloons. That is in itself a good thing. They 
go, perhaps, some of them, to the saloon be- 
cause they have nowhere else to go. The 
question arises whether it is not better to 
spend the $1,000 in hiring a competent woman 
to direct the children's reading. In other 
words, is not the money spent for Miss Stearns' 
salary much better employed, and would it 
not be better to take the rest of the money, 
that is now spent in the newspapers in Mil- 
waukee and get another woman like her (if 
she could be duplicated), and expend that 
money in still further stimulating and guiding 
the reading of those children ? 

Pres. LARNED. I think, for my own part, 
that I would rather pay $1,000 for Miss Stearns 
than pay $1,000 for all the newspapers pub- 
lished on the American continent. 

F:M. CRUNDEN. In reply to Mr. Peck about 
the current events, I think that is going off on 
the wrong track. Sending children to the 
newspapers is one of the last things I should 
do. All the current events that those children 
need to know can be had from good period- 



i 4 6 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



icals like the Youth 's Companion. If you are 
talking about that kind of newspaper, it is a 
different thing; but we are not speaking of 
that kind. I would get forty copies of the 
Yoief/i s Companion, if necessary, in order that 
every child should have a copy of it. There 
he will get the news condensed. It will save his 
time, and save the demoralization that comes 
from miscellaneous newspaper reading. 
Recess taken till 2.30 P. M. 

SIXTH SESSION. 

(GRAND VIEW HOTEL, WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, 
SEPTEMBER 19, 1894.) 

Pres. LARNED called the meeting to order at 
2,45 P. M. 

PERIODICAL LIBRARY BULLETINS. 

Papers on the publishing of library bulletins 
were read by 

GEO. WATSON COLE (seep. 57); GARDNER M. 
JONES (see p. so); W: H. BRETT (see p. 3-5) ; J: C. 
DANA (see p. 54); Miss C. M. HEWINS(J^/. 32); 
JOHN EDMANDS (see p. 54). The latter by title 
only, in the absence of the writer. 

J: C. DANA. I notice that some of the older 
members of the Association, when they rise to 
speak on the special subject under discussion, 
occasionally take advantage of the possession 
of the floor, and slide gently off onto some 
other topic. I would like to ask that the same 
obiter dicta privilege be extended to me. 

It is not on another subject really that I wish 
to speak. I have told you something of the 
missionary work we have tried to do in the 
State of Colorado. It has many times occurred 
to me that such work would be furthered to 
a large extent if we had available certain 
library tracts. I would prefer, of course, that 
they should not be in such form that they 
would be mistaken for religious tracts. But 
something of the nature of bibliothecal dodgers 
would be, I believe, quite valuable, in certain 
parts of this country at least, in the matter of 
arousing library interest ; reprints, for instance, 
of articles, or parts of articles, from the 
Library Journal or from the proceedings of 
this Association. We would ourselves very 
gladly pay for such of these as we could 
use. I would have my library print them 
if it could afford to do it. Something of 



the kind might be undertaken, perhaps, by 
the Publishing Section, and offered for sale 
to those libraries throughout the country 
which are inclined to attempt to arouse in 
neighboring towns some interest in library 
matters. I have long been of the opinion that 
it is doubtful if the American Library Associa- 
tion itself uses sufficient printer's ink. The 
Library Journal is expensive, and cannot 
expect a wide circulation. It is, perhaps, im- 
possible that it should be otherwise. Under- 
stand me riot as criticising the people who 
have been active in pushing forward the work 
of the American Library Association, and cer- 
tainly not those who have supported and 
carried on the work of the Library Journal. 
But I believe it would be possible either to 
reduce the price of the Library Journal, or 
else to supplement it by some such device as 
I suggest, so that more good literature could 
be at hand for libraries in country districts, 
and especially, if yon will permit me, on the 
populistic plains and in the mountain fast- 
nesses of Colorado. 

F : M. CRUNDEN. I think that is an excellent 
suggestion of Mr. Dana's and ought to be 
further considered. I move its reference to 
the Publishing Section. Voted. 

GEO. WATSON COLE introduced a resolution 
to the effect that all periodical bulletin publi- 
cations of libraries issued to their own readers, 
and for the purpose of exchange, should be 
admitted in the mails as second class matter. 

Referred to committee on resolutions. 

C: C. SOULE. I want to enter an earnest 
protest against the practice of interweaving 
advertisements and catalog matters in 
bulletins. If the advertising is worth any- 
thing, it weakens the effect of the library 
announcement. Any publisher will tell you 
that it is very unwise to put by the side of the 
chief features any other interesting matter 
that diverts attention. It is on the ground of 
good taste that I wish to emphasize this idea. 
What would you think of a book for your library 
with advertisements and text, side by side ? 
What would you think of a first-class maga- 
zine that had advertisements of Pear's soap, in 
with a poem or essay? What do you think of 
a newspaper that interweaves advertising 
matter with its editorials? Is it not ranked at 
once as being either provincial or sensational? 



SIXTH SESSION. 



If the great aim of the library is education, 
why should you educate the public taste down- 
ward? It seems to me that if a library has 
funds for educational work it had better issue 
its bulletin without advertisements. If it 
must admit advertisements, let the librarian 
first try to place his advertisements without 
mixing them with the printed matter. Have 
them as a magazine does, on separate pages. 
Take them under the canons that are accepted 
by publishers as deciding what is good taste. 
Do not mix your advertisements with your 
lists, unless poverty compels you to do so. 

Sec. HILL. Some libraries cannot afford 
to issue a bulletin unless they do get adver- 
tisements. Some libraries cannot have en- 
tire control of the bulletin, and unless they 
can put in advertisements can issue no 
bulletin; and thus the public does not have 
any knowledge of the new books that are 
placed in the library. 

I would like to ask Mr. Brett as to whether 
he feels that the result has justified the large 
sum which his bulletin costs, and as to whether 
he intends to continue the issue of that 
bulletin. 

W: H. BRETT. The bulletin has been pub- 
lished for so short a time that I regard it as an 
experiment. I may say, however, that with- 
out interweaving the advertising matter with 
the book list, but confining it to a few pages, 
the net cost is not very large. The advertis- 
ing in our bulletin is $10 a page, and thus far 
we have had no difficulty in securing several 
pages. In addition to that, we have a paid 
subscription list of something like 300. The 
aim in issuing the bulletin was to make it so 
attractive that it would be an advertising 
medium of some value ; and the hope was that 
it would eventually be a matter of very slight 
expense to the library. The gross amount is 
$75 a month, and (then there are several adver- 
tisements to be deducted. The final expense 
has been less than half of that. If we could 
reduce the net amount to $300 a year we 
should be satisfied. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. It used to cost $300 a year, 
advertisements and all, net cost, when we 
published a bulletin, as we did for several 
years. 

W: H. BRETT. I believe now, with the ex- 
perience I have had, and knowing what Mr. 



Jones is doing, that I should prefer to keep 
clear of advertisements entirely. 

S. H. BERRY. I found that we were able to 
issue a bulletin of new books, every time we 
had enough new books to make a list of about 
75 or 100 titles, and sell it at one cent apiece 
to pay the cost of printing. The people are 
anxious for it, but there is no money with 
which we can print it. We could easily sell 
enough to pay the cost of printing. 

GEO. WATSON COLE. In regard to the in- 
sertion of advertisements, as I said in my 
paper, our policy has been to produce the bul- 
letin without cost to the library ; but the libra- 
rian is not always able to determine the 
policy, and has to do as his trustees say, in the 
matter. One of the redeeming features is, 
that the $300 or more money which would go 
to the printer for this bulletin, we save for 
buying books to send to schools and for work 
in other directions. It is better to have half a 
loaf than no bread. 

Miss L. E. STEARNS. I find that upon the 
program only the larger libraries are repre- 
sented. I think that in this discussion you are 
helping only the larger libraries. It is the 
country towns and the smaller libraries here 
represented that should receive consideration. 

GARDNER M. JONES. I can speak from knowl- 
edge of my sister's library, which is in a small 
country town. When they buy books the list 
is printed in the county newspaper. It makes 
a short list, and I think the smaller libraries 
can easily do that. The issue of a library 
bulletin, monthly, would only be necessary in 
a place of some size. 

T : L. MONTGOMERY read his report on 

PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. 

(Seep. 64.) 

W: H. TILLINGHAST. I would like to say a 
word in regard to the impression which Mr. 
Montgomery may have given in regard to the 
attitude of Harvard University toward univer- 
sity extension. It is true that no scheme of 
university extension is carried on under the 
direct influence of the college. At the same 
time, it should be said that in the city of Cam- 
bridge there is a movement, constantly in- 
creasing, in very much the direction of uni- 
versity extension, although not appealing to 



148 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



precisely the same class which receives, and 
could not be carried on without, the cordial 
though unofficial aid of officers and students 
of the university. 

In 1891, a clergyman in Cambridge estab- 
lished what is now known as the Prospect 
Union. That movement has two objects: 
First, to give the advantages of university 
education to the working classes ; secondly , to 
provide a place where people of all intellectual 
grades, and of all beliefs, religious or eco- 
nomic, can meet socially on a common basis. 
The Union was organized among working 
classes, and is supported, so far as money is 
concerned, almost wholly by them. They 
obtain teachers and lecturers from among the 
advanced students and the professors of the 
university ; but the university, officially, has no- 
thing whatever to do with the movement. 
There were last year some 600 members who 
took the courses at the Prospect Union, besides 
a number who used the rooms, and they expect 
this year to increase the membership at least 
one half. 

The courses given are regular college 
courses, repeated by advanced students who 
show an aptness for teaching. The courses 
are supplemented by numerous lectures given 
by the professors, on various topics. It is a 
peculiar feature of this work that it does good 
in the university as well as in the town, and if 
I had time, I should be glad to read some selec- 
tions from letters to the superintendent of the 
Prospect Union from college students who had 
taught there, showing the good which they 
believed themselves to have got from the 
teaching and from the personal intercourse 
with the people whom they met in their classes. 
This is not what is understood by university 
extension, but it is in somewhat the same 
direction. Under more favorable circum- 
stances, when we have better facilities for 
dealing with large numbers, I do not doubt 
that a satisfactory arrangement could be made 
with the college library for helping in that 
work. 

MELVIL DEWEY. It is a fashion with many 
people to get every little while a new fad, and 
say it is something the librarian surely ought 
to do. It was seven years ago that Herbert 
Adams presented, at our meeting at the Thou- 
sand Islands, the idea of the university exten- 



sion movement for American libraries. A good 
many experiments have been tried since. Some 
of you were discouraged when you heard Mr. 
Montgomery's report this afternoon on univer- 
sity extension, and of the trials, where during 
the first year it was a success and the next 
year almost a failure. It is of vital importance 
to us in this country that the librarians should 
look at this soberly and seriously, and recog- 
nize their duty in connection with this move- 
ment. 

" I have been carefully studying it for seven 
years, and have gone twice to England to 
study the question there. We have organized 
a distinct department for this work in the Uni- 
versity of the State of New York. From the 
first, we have given constantly this warning 
against the people who injure a cause by their 
unwise advocacy and by their wild notions of 
the wonderful things to be done. Any intelli- 
gent man knowing the history of similar move- 
ments, could predict in advance what you find 
recorded in our printed matter. I have said, 
over and over, that as a rule the first course was 
likely to be successful, and the second to fail, 
and perhaps go down for three, four or five 
years. Still, it is a permanent movement ; it is a 
permanent force in education, and if you 
neglect it you will throw your libraries just so 
much out of the trend of the time. The libra- 
rian who says, My business is to circulate books 
and that only, is belittling his profession. He 
must have a lively interest in any great educa- 
tional movement. 

Education is divided into two great lines, 
school and home education. Home education 
is divided into five groups, of which the library 
is first, most important, and in fact the 
corner stone. School education includes kin- 
dergartens, elementary schools, high schools, 
colleges, universities, and professional and 
technical schools. All these are marked by the 
peculiarity that their students get their educa- 
tion in residence; theoretically they reside at 
the school, and their time is chiefly given to 
acquiring an education. This school plan ha-> 
been tried for centuries, still we have learned 
the lesson that it is not enough. By it the 
masses can learn only to read and write before 
they must earn their bread. 

What is to be done ? The public library came 
as a partial answer to that question, but we 



SIXTH SESSION. 



149 



are doing only a part of our work. It is a great 
work, and the world is recognizing what we 
are doing, but we have a great deal more to 
do. The educational people of the world (I am 
not speaking from a library standpoint now), 
the best educators, not only of this country but 
abroad, all recognize that the time has come 
when we must distinctively recognize educa- 
tion in two parts, the old education of the 
schools and the new, or home education; the 
education that is not only in the institutions 
but in the home ; not only for youth but from 
boyhood to the grave. That education is 
divided into five parts : 

1. The library. That takes all reading, 
the periodical, the press, reading-room, refer- 
ence, and circulating libraries. 

2. The museum. It has been the fashion 
to decry associating the museum with the 
library, but it is an essential part and belongs 
in the same building, and should be associated 
with it, not only in the great city but in the 
little village. In Lake Placid, for instance, if 
some one has something of general interest he 
has in our little public library the best place to 
put it. If the town grows into a large one, the 
library and the museum grow together. By 
the museum I mean not only a collection of 
pictures, works of nature, or works of art, but 
all education, except reading, that comes 
through the eye. 

3. Then there is the great field of extension 
teaching, by which we mean all teaching done 
outside ordinary schools ; teaching by corre- 
spondence and by lectures ; that class of help 
that comes from the older brother, or friend, or 
that help that comes from any wiser or more 
experienced person outside the ordinary teach- 
ing of the schools. 

4. Then there is what comes from associa- 
tion, clubs, reading circles, anything that 
brings people together, where a subtle mental 
chemistry helps people to think and say and do 
things, that they never would attain to other- 
wise. We get it in Chautauqua, we get it here 
in this meeting, 

5. Finally, the tests of examinations and 
credentials showing what has been already ac- 
complished and stimulating to new endeavor. 

The library is the corner stone of the whole 
movement. It is the easiest institution to start. 
It is the cheapest method by which to advance 



popular education. The ideal library will no 
longer content itself with being a mere dis- 
tributer of books, but will feel that it is re- 
sponsible for the education of the community 
outside the schools, and yet will always be in 
hearty cooperation with the schools. 

Without expecting to do wonderful things in 
the first one, or two, or three years, bear in 
mind that this extension movement is no longer 
a fad or experiment. It has been going on for 
20 years. It has been studied by the most care- 
ful men, and the people who know about it are 
the people who believe in it ; the people who 
write doubtful articles on it are the superficial 
observers who have fluent pens, perhaps, but 
competent men read the articles and see that 
the writers have not studied the question 
deeply. I do not know a competent educa- 
tor who has really studied this question 
thoroughly in this country or in Europe, who 
is not clear that it is a permanent movement. 
In England I find growth in the cities and 
towns, a steady growth, and the people are 
united in recognition of this great educational 
force. There was, the other day, an inter- 
national conference on university extension in 
London, to which we sent over a delegate. 
He came home with a new outlook and a broader 
idea of what the movement is. He said that 
there had seldom been a meeting in the metrop- 
olis of the world that was so representative of 
the greatest interests. The best men from the 
different European universities and the best 
men in the government, the richest and the 
poorest, came together in recognition of the 
fact that this work was a permanent move- 
ment of the first importance. It is no longer 
an experiment, but after 20 years' of trial it has 
forced its way till Oxford and Cambridge, and 
other conservative institutions of the Old 
World, are vying with each other in offering 
freely to the artisan and laborer, to the son and 
daughter of the poor, the best that they have. 

Be not discouraged because some writer tries 
the experiment and says that the first year it 
was a success, and the second year a failure. 
Some of the strongest institutions in the world 
have had that experience, but year after year 
the strong, splendid work has gone on. 

Miss M. E. AHERN. I have been worrying 
for fear that I should go away from this con- 
ference without getting very much encourage- 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



ment. I can now go home with the feeling 
that I obtained some satisfaction from this ses- 
sion, at all events. 

In Indiana our library movement is at a low 
ebb, but I can give a glowing report of our 
university extension. It not only is so-called, 
but it really is university teaching extended to 
our teachers, to our professions, to our arti- 
sans and mechanics, and to every other class. 
We have in that state seven centers of univer- 
sity extension in a flourishing condition. We 
are entering the fourth year of it in Indian- 
apolis, and for three years the gatherings 
have been compelled to move from one build- 
ing to another, because the audiences were so 
large that they could not be accommodated. 

I may say, however, that they have been 
organized and carried on without very much 
help from the librarians, except in so much as 
the public library and the state library have 
placed at their disposal the books Vhich they 
needed, and extra sets, so that those who were 
interested in the university extension move- 
ment could have access to the books without 
purchasing them. Mr. Montgomery asked the 
question, I believe, if any one had gone be- 
yond the second year. We are entering now 
on the fourth year. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. It is a far cry from Lon- 
don to St. Louis, and a great falling off from 
the well organized university extension move- 
ment in England, to the one sporadic attempt 
made under the auspices of the St. Louis Public 
Library. The one fact that I want to call atten- 
tion to is, that seeming failure, or rather lack of 
success, is not always a real failure. At the 
close of that course I had a feeling of disap- 
pointment. Not everything had come up to 
my expectations. There were not nearly so 
many people in attendance as I had hoped. 
Moreover, I had a considerable deficit to face. 
But the work did not stop there ; it has gone 
on ever since. I have been able to trace it 
from one channel to another, and have contin- 
ually seen it crop out in various places. 

The following year a small class was organ- 
ized that met every second week in my office. 
The course was on economics. It was com- 
posed of two or three lawyers, four or five 
business men, and five or six mechanics. The 
mechanics were always regular in attendance ; 
they missed scarcely a meeting. Among the 



business men was one who told me, not long 
ago, that he has since become quite active in 
the study of economics. He said he had be- 
fore simply followed out the economic ideas 
connected with his political party, without giv- 
ing them any thought, but that since then he 
has become a very close student of economics. 
So then, if you try a course, and it does not 
meet your expectations, does not result in a 
grand movement that upheaves the entire 
community, do not be discouraged. It may 
work silently and quietly, but the work is 
going on. 

J: C. DANA. Some one asks why people 
object to university extension. I do not like 
the term, or the thing itself, for several 
reasons. It is Walter Bagehot, I believe, who 
speaks often in his essay on politics about the 
" cake of custom," and of the danger there is 
that a community of intelligent people should, 
in the course of their development, stiffen into 
a cake; that they should cease to be plastic, 
cease to have that flexibility of mind to which 
Matthew Arnold is fond of alluding. Uni- 
versity extension, one feels, goes against 
plasticity and makes toward the "cake." 

The university extension scheme, again, is 
in direct opposition to the spirit of a remark 
that a friend of mine is fond of making, to the 
effect that we shall not have true education in 
this or any other country until we have utterly 
eliminated the teacher. There is a grain of 
truth, perhaps more than a grain, in his para- 
dox. We are in danger of being overtaught. 
We are always in danger of submitting too 
much to authority. There is a growing tend- 
ency in this country, as in others, to unify all 
systems of education ; so far to unify them that 
the child shall be, from the beginning to the 
very end of his school life, though he graduate 
from university or technical school, in the 
hands of people of one mind and one thought 
as regards what constitutes education, and 
what are the proper and axiomatic views on all 
questions. I question if this tendency is 
altogether desirable. The trend of it goes 
naturally with the trend towards socialism 
which we have in this country to-day; with 
the wider and wider acceptance of the thought 
of a general supervision of all people, and so 
of all education, by a comparatively few heads 
of departments. 



SIXTH SESSION. 



If this university extension work can be 
kept, in the main, apart from the universities, 
and be work of the kind of which Mr. Crunden 
speaks, in which he and a few other men sit 
down and discuss things frankly and freely, 
with no thought of subjection to text-books, 
teachers, university degrees, or accepted 
canons, each one putting forth heartily his own 
ideas, it would be difficult to offer any objec- 
tion to it. But for a man from an old established 
university (which is, in all likelihood, a part 
of the great systematized and unified educa- 
tional system of a given state or of the United 
States), to go from one community to another, 
and attempt to fasten onto those communities 
the ideas dominant in that university, is to 
some extent an injurious thing. You can have 
one student, and another student with him, 
and even students by the scores and the 
thousands ; but the moment one of them steps 
out of the student world and into the teachers' 
world, you have handicapped the student spirit, 
and love of learning is diluted with the egotism 
of teaching. The university has enough to do 
at home, and though it stay at home its influ- 
ence will be as potent as, if we are wise, we 
shall permit it to be. 

H. L. KOOPMAN read his paper on 

THE FUNCTIONS OF A UNIVERSITY LIBRARY. 

(See p. 24.} 

W. H. AUSTIN. Mr. Koopman was formerly 
of Cornell, but has not been there recently 
enough to know what we are now doing. I 
have followed the outline of his plans as 
closely as I was able to do, and think that we 
have exactly that kind of a library of which he 
speaks. It will eventually be 10,000 volumes 
as he said. Mr. Koopman and I have ex- 
changed not a word on this question, but our 
figures and everything else seem to agree. We 
do not call it a student library. We call it a 
reference library and reading-room. That 
takes in a great deal, reading-room meaning 
that this room is not for periodicals. 

We do not have a special catalog that is in 
form to be consulted by the students. This 
library is but three years old. Eventually 
when the shelves shall become pretty well 
filled, when we shall approach the number of 
10,000 volumes, we shall print a catalog. At 
present we designate in our general catalog, 



by a certain device, what books are to be found 
in this library. We do just as he recommends 
to do. We supplement the books there by new 
books as fast as they come out. Books that 
are later may take the place of books that 
were there before. 

I want to add a word on the general subject 
of the duty and position of the university 
library, which seems to me of very great im- 
portance and of which Mr. Koopman did not 
speak at any length ; and that is, the manner 
of instructing the students in the university, 
in the use of catalogs and helps, and those 
things. A large part of my work is person- 
ally teaching the students how to use the 
catalog and on what principles the catalog 
is constructed. 

W; H. TILLINGHAST. Mr. Koopman's sug- 
gestion of a student's library needs no praise. 
It is very evident that Cornell has in this re- 
spect considerable advantage over Harvard at 
present. But when our longed for and hitherto 
illusive reading-room becomes a fact, we shall 
have a library on those lines. 

It will, I hope, fill one need which has not 
been mentioned, to meet which should be one 
function of the university library. There is 
no doubt that a private library is not esteemed 
as it used to be, although its value is quite as 
great to-day as it ever was. There is a vast 
difference between owning books and borrow- 
ing them, even on the most approved system. 
Any one who turns from his work to take up a 
book for relaxation takes it with the most 
satisfaction from his own collection. Another 
privilege the public library cannot give the 
tired student : I am not ashamed to say that 
I have spent sometimes an hour, after work, 
in deciding what book I would read for rest 
and enjoyment, and then found that it was too 
late to read any. But that hour, if given to 
looking over the shelves and considering the 
character of the books, was, I maintain, not 
wasted; certainly it was not unpleasantly spent. 

A university library might do much worse 
than to devote a part of its strength to urging 
and to aiding students to buy books of their 
own and to keep them after they are bought. 
A great many students acquire the books 
necessary to their work, and at the end of four 
years sell them for what they can get. They 
used to get 10 cents a volume. I sold mine, and 



152 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



have been buying them back ever since and 
paying from 40 to 50 cents a volume for them. 
The university library can do much to induce 
students not only to keep their text-books, 
but to buy more freely than they do in general 
literature and on a well-considered plan, and 
can aid them, also, in selecting the proper edi- 
tions and the proper authors to meet each case. 
I think such a library as Mr. Koopman out- 
lines, would be a very good object-lesson, and 
help in that work. 

W : E. FOSTER. I am not a university libra- 
rian, but it has occurred to me, in listening to 
this paper, that it becomes a librarian of a 
public library to reflect whether there may not 
be in it something which he can turn to advan- 
tage in his own field. 

MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 

C: R. DUDLEY. There was a distinct under- 
standing between my colleague, Mr. Dana, and 
myself before coming here, that I should not 
speak at any of the meetings. I was to pre- 
pare the addresses and he was to deliver them. 
As he has taken up so much valuable time 
talking about unimportant matters, I feel justi- 
fied in breaking the agreement. 

There is one thing that I think this Associa- 
tion ought to consider which has, so far as I 
know, never received any attention, and that 
is obtaining better editions of popular books. 
There was printed in the Library Journal of 
May, 1893, a letter written to me by the chair- 
man of our library committee, asking if it 
were not possible to induce publishers to issue 
substantial editions of popular and standard 
works, and thus reduce the losses to libraries 
from worn-out books. I sent the letter to Mr. 
Dewey, and he forwarded it to the Library 
Journal with a note added, saying that he 
thought the suggestion had merit and would 
be a good subject for discussion at the next 
meeting of the Association. Nothing was done 
with it, as I understand, at the meeting last 
year. 

The idea as it occurs to me is, that this 
Association with the combined efforts of the 
libraries of the country, can force publishers to 
issue editions of books for library purposes 
that will outwear one usage. Take, for in- 
stance, the popular juvenile books. Every one 
knows what miserable paper they are printed 



on. The works of Mayne Reid are printed on 
paper that will haraly hold together for one 
opening. It is almost impossible to have the 
books rebound on account of the pulp-paper 
from which they are made. The covers come 
off after one or two usings. 

It seems to me that a library edition of the 
books that are most used could be provided 
for, by the publishers, and would be if the 
thing were brought to their notice by the 
Library Association, and if asked that they 
publish a certain number of their popular 
books on paper, say, something like that used 
in the Oxford Bible, a very tough and a very 
flexible paper that does not tear the bind- 
ing to pieces every time the book is opened. 
Those books should be sewed on tapes and 
more substantially bound than the average 
cloth binding. The expense for paper and the 
extra binding, it seems to me, would not be 
more than 25 per cent, of the present price 
of the books, and they would wear four or 
five times as long as the editions issued 
to-day. 

Miss THERESA H. WEST. The office of the 
State Superintendent, in Wisconsin, has car- 
ried on a system of district libraries under the 
charge of a clerk, who is called the library 
clerk. This district library business is calling 
for a great many books, and it is found that 
many publishers are paying more or less atten- 
tion to the contracts which are to be let by the 
state in that way. 

I can give you some instances of changes in 
books, that have resulted from it: The Bird's 
Christmas Carol has been changed in cover en- 
tirely. The design for the Riverside Young 
Folks' library was submitted to Mr. Hutchins 
before it was adopted, and the new edition of 
Stoddard's Little Smoke has been changed to 
suit Mr. Hutchins' views. You will find that 
most of the books in that list are supplied in 
reasonable bindings and on reasonable paper ; 
and Mr. Hutchins is of the opinion that if we 
will all combine in this matter we might have 
a very wholesome influence on our book pub- 
lishers. He will not put into that list a book 
that he believes is unworthy of the place, ex- 
cept in very rare instances when he cannot 
help himself. 

J : C. DANA introduced the following resolu- 
tion: 



SIXTH SESSION. 



Resolved, That the Publishing Section be 
requested to look into the matter of library 
editions of certain popular books; that it be 
requested further, after having obtained such 
information as necessary, to send to all libraries 
of any consequence in the country a circular 
making a general statement in regard to the 
possibilities of library editions, and asking 
which of these libraries will agree to purchase 
hereafter the library editions of certain books 
that may be published by any given publishing 
house; and then that the Publishing Section 
proceed to do what next it can. 

MELVIL DEWEY. I rise to second the reso- 
lution. Five or six leading publishers have 
sent their representatives to our office to see if 
we would tell them what we wanted, and said 
they were prepared to make any kind of an 
edition that there was a demand for. They 
send out these cheap books to meet the bargain 
counter trade. If the libraries want good books 
they will make them . If the Publishing Section 
will take the matter up and carry out Mr. 
Dana's suggestion, saying that there are so 
many libraries wishing a certain form, with the 
understanding that that edition is made as the 
fruit of the effort of the librarians, they would 
be very glad to bring out a special library 
edition at a somewhat higher price. 

J. N. WING. This is a matter purely of 
dollars and cents. You will remember that 
most of the libraries have been already sup- 
plied with these cheap books. The plates 
have become worn, and were publishers to now 
print them on better paper there would be but 
little improvement. The only way to get good 
books and good type is to set them up again, 
and that, I assure you, is a very expensive 
operation. If you can make the publishers 
believe that it will prove a financial success 
for them to set those books up again, they will 
do it for you. 

With the new books I do not think you have 
so much cause for complaint ; I mean the new 
editions, coming out fresh from the press. 
You must remember that editions are soon ex- 
hausted or the demand ceases for those books, 
and they soon go out of fashion. If you can 
arrange with publishers to send you word 
when they are prepared to publish a new 
edition, and then let them know how many 
you will take, they certainly will print an 



edition such as you want, every time, provided 
you can make it an object for them to do so. 
The resolution was adopted. 

INVITATION FROM CLEVELAND. 

W: H. BRETT presented an invitation from 
the board of the Cleveland Public Library for 
the Association to meet in Cleveland in 1895. 

DICTIONARY OF LIBRARY ECONOMY. 

J: C. DANA. I would like to refer to the 
Publishing Section the question of the possi- 
bility of the Association's compiling, within a 
few years, a dictionary of library economy. 
This would not be exactly the book which is to 
be published by the Bureau of Education, nor 
would it be a library handbook. It would be 
arranged on some such plan as that admirable 
dictionary of electricity you are all familiar 
with, giving briefly, each under its proper 
entry, directions in regard to the minor details 
as well as the more important subjects in 
library work. 

I would like to make another suggestion. 
We come a long distance, some of us, to attend 
this meeting, and the greatest benefit we get 
from it, if I may judge from my own experi- 
ence, is from personal contact with the mem- 
bers of the Association, and from listening to 
their views as struck out in the heat of dis- 
cussion and enforced by personal presence. It 
is sometimes, by no means always, a bit of a 
disappointment to us that so much time is 
taken up with the reading of a paper. This 
matter has been spoken of before. Of course 
1 know that the element of personal presence 
adds to the value of a paper, as it does to the 
impromptu expression of opinion or statement 
of experience. But the plan suggested at the 
San Francisco Conference and carried out last 
year might be adopted ; let all papers be pre- 
viously printed and distributed to all members 
of the Association ; and then, at the meeting, 
let there be presented, as I understand was 
done at Chicago last year, merely the briefest 
syllabus of the contents of the papers, and 
thus let the rest of the time be given up to dis- 
cussion. Such papers as would be; in the 
opinion of the proper committee, better fitted 
to be read to us in full by the writer at the 
Association meeting, could and should be so 
read. 



154 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



NOMINATION OF OFFICERS. 

For the office of president there were placed 
in nomination : H : M. Utley, of Detroit ; Miss 
Theresa H. West, of Milwaukee; W: H. Brett, 
of Cleveland. 

For vice-presidents: F: H. Hild, of Chicago; 
Miss Ellen M. Coe, of New York; A. W. 
Whelpley, of Cincinnati; W: E. Foster, of 
Providence ; Miss Mary S. Cutler, of Albany. 

For secretary : Frank P. Hill, of Newark. 

For treasurer: Geo. Watson Cole, of Jersey 
City. 

For trustee of the endowment fund : J : M. 
Glenn, of Baltimore, for a term of three years, 
to succeed himself. 

For A. L. A. Council, its committee pre- 
sented eight nominations, from which to elect 
four, for a term of five years: H: M. Utley, 
of Detroit; W: C. Lane, of Boston; Miss Caro- 
line M. Hewins, of Hartford; Miss Theresa 
H. West, of Milwaukee; G: T. Little, of 
Brunswick; Miss Caroline H. Garland, of 
Dover; George lies, of New York City; G: W: 
Harris, of Ithaca. 

Sec. HILL gave an explanation of the 
Australian ballot form, which had been pre- 
pared for the purposes of the election of officers 
at this Conference. 

Voted. That there be three ballots, one for 
president, one for the three vice-presidents, and 
one for the remaining officers. 

The matter of ballot box, hours for deposit- 
ing votes, and of counting and reporting the 
same, was referred to the executive board. 

Session adjourned at 5.45 p. M. 

SEVENTH SESSION. 

(MIRROR LAKE HOTEL, THURSDAY MORNING, 
SEPTEMBER 20, 1894.) 

Pres. LARNED called the meeting to order at 
11.35 A - M 
HENRY J. CARR read his 

REPORT ON LOCAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 

(Seep. 67.) 

G. M. JONES. Perhaps you know about the 
old school system of Massachusetts, where the 
town was divided into districts and each dis- 
trict had its record book. One of the trustees 
of our public library has succeeded in getting 



a complete set of the record books of these 
various school districts. In running them 
through I found most interesting material; 
not especially for the history of education, but 
concerning economical matters, such as the 
rate of pay and the rate of board for school 
teachers. 

I was very much interested early in this year 
by an article of Mr. Cole's in the Library 
Journal on the limits of local bibliography, 
and I had hoped that somebody might take up 
the subject and carry it through. The question 
is: What ought to be its limitations ? If we 
should include everything that some people 
might wish, it would make a very large book. 
I hope that at some meeting of the Associa- 
tion the subject may be thoroughly talked out. 

C: C. SOULE. At a previous meeting I was 
reported to have said that the town of Brook- 
line had adopted the system which I described. 
I said, on the contrary, that it had not been 
adopted. I would like to say again what I said 
then. 

We were considering the matter in the town 
of Brookline, and we found that as much work 
as could be done in two or three years, bad 
already been planned out for the librarian. 
When this question came up there was a great 
deal more material than we could handle, and 
it was suggested that it should be done with 
the aid of a local historical society, formed and 
conducted as an adjunct to the library. Our 
plan was to organize a society in which we 
should enlist every one in the community who, 
we thought, would be willing to do any of the 
work. We should ask rich men to become 
paying members, charging them $5 a year. 
We should invite other people to become mem - 
bers, as a class to subscribe material other than 
money. Then we proposed to enlist another 
and still more important class of the community 
in the way of active workers who should pay 
for their membership by personal services ; and 
here is where the strong point of this plan 
comes. There is so much that you want to 
preserve (especially if you include as you 
ought to include cuttings from newspapers 
of the neighboring cities and counties of 
the state, and if you include an index of the 
new and old material), that you have an im- 
mense amount of work to be done. The way 
we proposed to get it done was to harness in 



SEVENTH SESSION. 



the "antiquarian cranks" in their specialty, 
and also pupils of the public schools. I am 
very confident that in every high school there 
will be found a number of intelligent scholars 
who will be very glad to devote an hour or two 
a day to that kind of work. Our plan was to 
assign the clipping and the pasting of the ma- 
terial to these young people, who should be 
assessed nothing in the way of material or 
money, but only in the way of work. 

C : K. BOLTON. Late in the spring we suc- 
ceeded in getting a number of the high school 
boys together and I told them of our collections. 
I succeeded in getting a sufficient number 
promised, to take each a volume of the Brook- 
line papers and make an index, so eventually 
we hope to have an index of subjects of all of 
the home newspapers. It seems to me that 
the papers, after all, are one of the chief 
sources of local history. 

WILLIAM IVES. A few years ago there were 
deposited in the Buffalo Library the first vol- 
umes of a newspaper covering a number of 
years. I had copied from those volumes the 
marriage notices running all through those 
years, and indexed them, giving the maiden's 
name and the priest or squire doing the job. 
A few years after a pension agent came in to 
see if we had the notice of such-and-such a 
marriage. I turned to the date and found to 
my amazement that the wedding notice was 
cut out. 1 told the agent I had a copy of that. 
I went to my book and found it, and he took 
my sworn statement as to the truth of it, and 
got a pension for the widow of an 1812 
soldier. 

H: J. CARR. I am satisfied from the answers 
I have received that if one could make a proper 
sort of inquiry, probably enough information, 
similar to that of Mr. Ives' showing the value 
of this material to individual persons through- 
out the country, could be obtained to fill a very 
large book. 

I had one strong reply from a gentleman 
who has had experience in handling these 
matters. He urges making the material use- 
ful as you go along, unless the expense is very 
large, and not to attempt anything more than 
index. To not catalog it, but thoroughly index 
it, from the very beginning. The application 
of the term index might vary with different 
people. 



R. B. POOLE. I had a volume of pamphlets 
relating to the Northwest territory, and also 
another pamphlet in regard to a convention 
which was held in the State of Ohio. One day 
a librarian came in from the law library (he S, O 
had been in some time previous) and said he 
would give me $50 for the book if I would sell 
it. I got permission from my board to make a 
disposition of the book, but first inquired of 
some experts as to its value, and found it was 
worth a great deal more money. It resulted 
in my getting $275 from a dealer. It is now 
in the Lenox Library. 

The library with which I am connected is 
engaged in collecting the reports of societies 
in New York City, and some of those of state 
and national societies, and preserving them. 
There are some pamphlets that come in that I 
think should be bound and put into the library 
at once ; but the question is, as to how much 
money should be spent upon them. I find I 
can get them done for 12 cents by getting a 
cheap board, or manila paper, and writing the 
title on the backs. We then put them into the 
library, and when cataloged they are ready for 
immediate use. 

F. B. GAY. I had some experience last 
spring in the line of which Mr. Poole speaks. 
I had a number of pamphlets that needed to 
go on to the shelves immediately, and we 
bound them for fifteen cents in a board cover, 
cloth sewed, and then used the Dennison 
shipping tag for the title. I would like to ask 
if that is a fair price to pay for pamphlets put 
up in that condition ? 

W: I. FLETCHER. I think it is worth three 
cents more to put in cloth than paper, as Mr. 
Poole does. 

S. H. BERRY. As to the price of binding 
pamphlets, I have seen in the Long Island 
Historical Society (which binds up everything 
in the way of pamphlets, each one in a sepa- 
rate cover) a great many pamphlets done at 
fifteen cents apiece, sewed and laced in cloth 
covers, with a straight line of gilding length- 
wise with the back of the book. 

Miss MARY MEDLICOTT. May I say a word 
on the line of national history collections? 
Within the course of a few months we hope to 
be able to move into the new building that has 
just been completed, to be used for the art 
museum and also a natural history museum. 



156 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



In the museum local collections are to be kept 
distinct from those of more general interest. 

In one of our late monthly bulletins is an 
v s^ N article prepared by the science teacher in the 
high school, who is going to take special 
charge of this natural history museum, and 
he has outlined a brief plan not merely a de- 
scription of the building, but has given the 
floor plan in the way in which the cases are 
to be divided between the different collec- 
tions. Being so near our high school, the mu- 
seum will be used as a laboratory for science 
work in that school, and will be so closely con- 
nected, also, with our library, that they can 
have access to all the books. I think it will 
lead in a short time to having duplicate copies 
of books or, at least, to having a library 
more specially in connection with their science 
work in the museum. 

The way I thought the connection came 
with the topic under discussion was the way 
in which we hope to increase our collections 
of local interest. Dr. Rice told me, just before 
I left, that he had made arrangements with 
the ornithological society to obtain a collec- 
tion of the birds in our neighborhood ; also 
with the botanical society that they should 
procure specimens and place them there. 
Nothing has been done, as yet, to bring the 
high school scholars directly into the work, 
but I hope that that will grow out of it. 

R. G. THWAITES. It is so delightful to hear 
my genial friend from Massachusetts speak of 
members of historical societies as "antiquarian 
cranks " ! What interests me very largely in 
this discussion, is the matter of local collec- 
tions. We do a great deal of that sort of thing, 
in the library of the Wisconsin Historical So- 
ciety. I do not like to hear the constant stress, 
laid by so many librarians who have spoken 
this morning, on the immense amount of time 
it takes on the part of the librarian to make 
these local .collections. The librarian, if he 
amounts to anything, must expect to work, 
and to work hard. It seems to me that if the 
thing is systematically done, it can be accom- 
plished without very great addition to the 
amount of labor which is already placed upon 
the librarian. Let me speak for a moment, 
merely upon our treatment of newspaper clip- 
pings, as one of many means to this desirable 
end. 



A bright young lady has charge of our de- 
livery counter. Occasionally there are days 
when, for an hour or two at a time, especially 
in the morning, when the State University 
students are in at their classes and lectures, 
she has a little time to spare. We take every 
important local paper in Wisconsin, perhaps 
325 weeklies and a dozen dailies in all. Be- 
sides these Wisconsin papers we take from 
other parts of the country, for binding, possi- 
bly 175 reputable news journals, many of them 
dailies. It is the business of this young lady 
to scan all these newspapers. Sometimes we 
have from 100 to 125 students and professors 
in the reading-room of an afternoon, and it is 
busy times at the delivery desk. Yet this 
young lady does it all, and very well, too. 
Being an old newspaper man myself, I trained 
her somewhat as to the manner of rapidly 
reading the papers. The country papers are, 
for the most part, "patent insides." In Wis- 
consin papers our "exchange editor," as we 
call her, looks out for pioneer reminiscences ; 
sometimes there is an account of a pioneer 
picnic, at which speeches have been made ; or 
there may be obituary notices of more or less 
distinguished pioneers. She marks such arti- 
cles and items with a colored lead pencil, and 
lays them aside. We use blanks, whenever 
they can be used. She sends out a blank to 
the publisher, asking for an extra copy of the 
paper. If the article runs on to two pages she 
gets two copies; when it comes she clips it. 
She mounts all these clippings in pamphlet 
form, save in some cases, when indexed scrap- 
books of manila paper are used. If the 
mounted clippings, done into pamphlet 
form, are large enough to be cataloged, 
they are promptly cataloged and placed in 
their various alcoves. In the papers outside 
of Wisconsin she is looking for historical items 
of a unique character that are not likely to 
soon get into books: for instance, something 
new on archaeology, something new about our 
Indian races, reminiscences brought out by 
notable events or anniversaries, etc. 

As an example, when Jefferson Davis died, 
we sent for all the leading newspapers in his 
section of the country, that were likely to 
mention him in detail. We sent to seventy-five 
representative papers of the South for two copies 
of each, until the funeral had occurred. These 



EIGHTH SESSION. 



papers were brim full of excellent material, 
which we mounted and made up into a con- 
siderable volume : " The Opinions of the South- 
ern Press on Jefferson Davis." We did the 
same with General Lee, with General Sheridan, 
with General Grant, and with others of our 
distinguished men ; and shall keep on doing it 
for others yet to come. When systematically 
done, this sort of thing does not take so much 
time as one is apt to suppose, who never did it. 
In any event, it is, in my estimation, well worth 
doing. 

W: I. FLETCHER read his paper on 

THE WORK OF THE PUBLISHING SECTION. 

(See p, 102.) 
Sec. HILL read the following 

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD. 

The board recommends that the vote for 
president of A. L. A. be taken at 10 A. M. Fri- 
day ; for vice-presidents, at 10. 30 A. M. ; for 
other officers, at n A. M. 

That members in attendance and duly reg- 
istered, but unable to be present at those hours, 
be permitted to leave endorsed ballots with 
the tellers. 

That H: J. Carr and F: M. Crunden act as 
tellers. 

Also recommends the adoption of the A. L. 
A. badge in form of pin or button. Miss Nina 
E. Browne, assistant secretary, is prepared to 
take subscriptions at $2. 50 each. 

It further recommends that the A. L. A. 
subscribe for the Library Journal. 

Also recommends that the Publishing Section 
be requested to take subscriptions for copies of 
the president's address and such other papers 
as may be requested by members, and to 
formulate some scheme by which papers, in a 
uniform and numbered series, may be printed 
as called for by interested members. 

And further recommends adoption of the 
following by-law : 

The executive board shall provide a printed 
ballot containing not less than three nominees 
for each office, including any names filed with 
the secretary 48 hours before the election by 
five members of the Association. 

The report of the executive board, as a whole, 
was unanimously adopted. 

Recess taken at i p. M. 



EIGHTH SESSION. 

(MIRROR LAKE HOTEL, THURSDAY AFTERNOON, 
SEPTEMBER 20.) 

The meeting was called to order at 2.45 p. M. 
by the president. 

W: H. BRETT read his paper on 

THE PRESENT PROBLEM. 

(Seep.j.) 

W: I. FLETCHER. I am not at all prepared to 
enter upon any discussion of this paper, which 
would demand preparation to do it any justice. 
I would like, however, to call attention to 
certain features of the paper which seem to 
me ought not to pass with a mere approval 
such as I should most heartily give to the whole 
paper. All human thought passes on by action 
and reaction ; we seem now to be at the top 
wave of that opinion with regard to the func- 
tions and value of the work of the public 
library, which may be expressed by saying that 
its object is education. We have been climb- 
ing that wave, and it is hard to see how we can 
be nearer to the top of it than we are in the 
paper now presented. I heartily agree with 
what has been said, so far as it is true that the 
function of the library is an educational one. 

The paper has dealt largely in analogies. 
We are often reminded that analogies are 
dangerous. They are well in their place, but 
likely to lead us astray. Are there good 
grounds for making a complete analogy be- 
tween the library and our educational institu- 
tions ? If that were granted the paper seems 
to be absolutely true. But it seems to me that 
that is an analogy that can be followed too far. 
Supposing I, for instance, should take another 
analogy, which would lead to quite different 
conclusions that of the public park and 
museum ? The library has numerous func- 
tions, as the park and museum have, and it 
requires better thought than I could give, even 
if I had time, to define and limit those func- 
tions. 

I should, at least, say that to make the func- 
tion of the library strictly educational, in the 
sense in which we apply the word to our 
schools, is seriously to narrow it. Beyond the 
merely educational influence of the library it 
has a large mission to enrich the individual life 
and mind, the end being the greatest good to 



'58 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



the greatest number. Utilitarianism seems to 
be the central principle of this paper, and I 
prefer a different and a higher idea as the 
watchword of the public library movement. 

J. K. HOSMER. I have found the paper of 
Mr. Brett very suggestive. I wish to address 
what I have to say to one point which he con- 
sidered in the paper only briefly, and that is 
the matter of unrestricted access to books. 

I am a great advocate of making the re- 
strictions just as slight as they possibly can 
be. I am glad to make that statement, because 
I judge from some things that have been said 
to me here, that a wrong impression prevails 
in regard to the library with which I am con- 
nected. I have been asked if it is not the case 
that the Minneapolis Public Library has intro- 
duced restrictions, and whether it does not find 
that the policy which it has pursued is a bad 
policy. I wish to say emphatically, no; that 
with us the tendency is all in the other direc- 
tion. My impression is that the library world 
shows a general tendency to do away with 
restrictions. 

A few months ago the Library, the organ 
of the Library Association of the United 
Kingdom, contained a crisp article, which ad- 
vocated putting the public inside of the 
library, and the staff outside. We do that to 
some extent. For instance, our children's de- 
partment is, as was stated in the paper of Miss 
Stearns, in the lower corridor of our building. 
The greater part of the space is railed in. 
Within the railed space are racks, in which 
are plated all the children's books that the 
library contains. The children are admitted 
to these racks, which slope up, the books being 
all within easy reach. The children go in and 
help themselves to these books, having free- 
dom within the railed space. There is only 
one way of getting out of the railed space, and 
at that one egress sits an attendant ; but within 
the space the children are free. To that ex- 
tent the public is inside the library and the 
attendant is at the outside. 

Again, at the right-hand end of our issue- 
desk there is a railed space within which stand 
six large racks. Into those racks go all the 
new books as soon as they enter the library. 
Two racks are given up to novels, the other 
four to books of other classes. There is only 
one way of getting into the space, and only 



one way of getting out. The public have 
freedom within the space, but at the one egress 
sits an attendant, and no book can go out of 
this space till it is charged. 

It is in contemplation with us to make a still 
farther extension of this idea. If I can get my 
board to allow me to do so, I propose, when 
our new building is completed, to take one 
large room for fiction. I should have a room 
fitted up, not with ordinary cases but with 
racks, such as I have described. Upon these 
racks the books of fiction should be displayed 
within easy reach of the hand. To that room 
there should be only one place of ingress, and 
one of egress. The public should be admitted 
freely to the room ; while in the room they 
should have freedom of handling, reading, and 
consulting ; but nothing could be taken out of 
the room without being charged, for at the 
door would sit an attendant. At present, in 
our library, there is granted to every mature 
person making application for it, who has an 
earnest literary purpose, a permit for admis- 
sion among the alcoves ; but full freedom exists 
as regards the departments that I have men- 
tioned the children's department and the de- 
partment for new books. 

In a late number of the Library an account 
is given of the opening of the library at Clerk- 
enwell, which is said to be administered upon 
the principle I have endeavored to outline, 
and which is described as going forward, so 
far, with entire success. I feel that in allow- 
ing this freedom we are doing a great thing 
for our readers. Our book issue this year will 
be close upon 500,000; and although the num- 
ber is large, we have had no excessive loss 
and no great inconvenience. At least, the loss 
and inconvenience which we have suffered are 
very much counterbalanced, we think, by the 
advantages which have resulted. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. It seems to me there is a 
little bit of false premise on one point, and 
that is the statement that was rather dwelt on, 
that there are some people who are paying for 
privileges that other people enjoy. We are, to 
a certain extent, a cooperative community, but 
it is not right to assume that we are collecting 
taxes from A for B's benefit; for A gets just 
as much benefit as B does. Edward Everett 
Hale said it was just as important that your 
neighbor's children should read good books as 



EIGHTH SESSION. 



'59 



your own. I think you will all agree with that. 
And he said, too, " I would advise any man or 
woman to give time and money to the building 
up of a library for the community or neighbor- 
hood, rather than his private library." 

As a cooperative community, it is a perfectly 
legitimate thing for us to combine for any- 
thing which may be considered to inure to the 
general benefit. Under this head come parks, 
and the music in the parks, and the lighted 
streets. It may be said with regard to that 
that we are collecting from A for the benefit of 
B. The rich man may be one who goes to 
bed early and has no need for street lamps, 
and can have his own premises surrounded by 
lamps ; but he has to pay for lighting up the 
premises where poor people live. Yet it is for 
his benefit that all the city should be illumi- 
nated. It is the same with the light of in- 
telligence that flows from the public library. 

J: C. DANA. I would like to call Mr. 
Crunden's attention to the fact that there is a 
great difference between cooperations. There 
is voluntary cooperation, and there is com- 
pulsory cooperation; and the running of a 
public library is the outcome of compulsory 
cooperation. You introduce the element of 
force when you collect the taxes for a public 
library. I was pleased to hear Mr. Brett offer 
the opinion that if you do introduce the ele- 
ment of force into the collecting of books for 
a public library, you must be careful to justify 
yourself by the results. 

So far as I understand the doctrine of pessi- 
mism I am a thorough going pessimist ; but as 
regards the present social condition of the 
people of this part of the world, I am by no 
means so. The very things that have been cited 
here as reasons for a pessimistic view of the 
present social condition, are the things that 
should give us comfort. The president in his 
address, and, as I understood him, Mr. Brett 
again in his paper, alluded to the social unrest, 
and to the wild and ignorant theories, and to 
the strikes and disturbances of one kind and 
another, that are continually taking place in 
this country, as themselves ills, and as omens 
of greater ills. It takes, however, only half a 
thought to gather from these things comfort 
and consolation. May we not believe that the 
fact that the people are in a state of unrest is a 
good thing rather than a bad one ? It assures 



us to a degree, of the continuance of the pro- 
gress we think we have been making in the 
last 200 years. 

Toward this belief in new doctrines, toward 
this acceptance of the latest startling fad in 
sociology, toward all these things factors in 
the general unrest the public library happily 
does its part. It does its part in this way, 
that it is not an institution in which the ac- 
cepted canons alone are taught. It is not the 
university extension, it is not the extension of 
any set system of instruction. It is the exten- 
sion into every man's home of the possibility 
of knowledge, of the opportunity of wisdom. 
It is the extension to the humblest of the 
chance of learning the latest thing that is being 
taught and being said. The average man will 
go wrong at first, no doubt. But if the world 
is to go on, its units must at least " go." 
Wrong views are the steps to the right views. 
No views are not even the beginnings of wis- 
dom. So, the public library is, above all things, 
educating the individual, educating for per- 
sonality, educating for the one thing that it 
seems to me is to be desired, .and is above all 
others essential for the continued progress of 
the human race, that there shall be a multitude 
of differing opinions. 

From this point of view, you see, it is not 
altogether correct to consider that the public 
library is primarily a great engine for creating 
good citizens. It is primarily a great engine 
for creating good individuals. Let us bear in 
mind the remark that a good man will not obey 
the laws too well. We should rejoice that we 
have in our hands an instrument by means of 
which we may create, perhaps, not the man 
who fits exactly into the social order to-day, 
but possibly here and there the man who does 
not fit into the social order to-day, but may, 
none the less, prove to be the man who will 
give the world a fillip on its way. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. I want to back up what 
Mr. Dana said, heartily. Especially his last 
statement, that it is the man who does not fit 
into the social order of the day that is likely to 
be the man who is working the most for progress. 
In so far as Mr. Brett's paper deprecated the 
use of the library in exploiting new opinions, 
I disagree with him. I welcome to the library 
all sorts of opinions, on all sorts of subjects. 
Some of them are perfectly ridiculous, it seems 



i6o 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



to me, and yet they may be the opinions that 
fifty years from now will be accepted. 

W: H. BRETT. I do not see that any of the 
comments touch the pith of the paper at all. 
Mr. Crunden furnished me two or three further 
anolagies: one, in quoting the remark of Ed- 
ward Everett Hale, in which he said that it was 
just as important that my neighbor's children 
should read a good book, as that my own child 
should. That is true ; but for this reason, that 
my neighbor's child will therefore become a 
better neighbor and more valuable, not only to 
me and my child, but to all the other families 
in the community ; and unless my neighbor's 
child was going to be bettered by reading a 
good book, I do not see why I should pay any 
money to have it do so. We have no right to 
spend money for public libraries unless the 
community is thereby benefited by it. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. The reason why a com- 
munity can support a public library is because 
it chooses to do it. It says we want a public 
library; we want a place where we can go and 
get the new books that come out without each 
of us having to. buy them ourselves. It is a 
general principle of cooperation. We want a 
public library for the same reason that we want 
a public reservoir. So far as compulsory co- 
operation is concerned, all governmental co- 
operation is compulsory ; that is, it is the law 
of the majority expressed in governmental or- 
ganization, even against the will of the mi- 
nority. 

C : C. SOULE read his paper on 

LAW BOOKS FOR GENERAL LIBRARIES. 

(See p. foj.) 

Request was voted that Mr. Soule add, for 
publication, a list of one hundred best law 
books, within the scope indicated by his paper. 

DR. O. HARTWIG'S project for the 



REPRODUCTION 



AND INTERCHANGE OF 
SCRIPTS 



was to have been presented by Justin Winsor. 
It was necessarily omitted, both on account of 
his absence and because the paper itself was not 
at hand. 

Pres. LARNED. It is estimated that, at a 
cost of 100 francs to as many libraries as might 
reasonably be expected to take part in this 
scheme, there can be an extensive reproduc- 



tion of certain rare manuscripts. The feeling 
of my trustees is that we should not hesitate 
for a moment to become subscribers to this, 
and for two reasons. If it is not done now it 
will not be proposed again for a long time to 
come. It might afford librarians the only 
opportunity they may have for a century, to 
get copies of these manuscripts. In the second 
place, even if we are poor, we ought to be 
willing to give at least $20 a year for the en- 
couragement of such a proposition as this of 
Dr. Hartwig's. 

WiI. FLETCHER. What sort of manuscripts 
were referred to ? Are they those of a literary 
value or historical value; more one or the 
other ? 

Pres. LARNED. It is my impression that 
they refer more to the manuscripts of literary 
value. As I remember the paper I do not 
think that there was a very definite statement 
as to the character. The idea, generally, was 
that libraries would be able in that way to get 
copies of manuscripts which scholars wanted 
and could not borrow. 

R. B. POOLE. I do not think we can do very 
much without more" exact information. Some 
would like one class of manuscripts and some 
another, and the question would arise what 
number of manuscripts we should get. It de- 
pends very much on the character of the manu- 
scripts. Some of us might like Biblical manu- 
scripts, and others might like those of a 
historical nature. 

Sec. HILL. I move that this matter be refer- 
red to the cooperation committee, with the 
request to investigate and get as much informa- 
tion on the subject as they can. Voted. 

B. C. STEINER and S: H. RANCK being absent 
Recorder CARR read their 

REPORT ON ACCESS TO THE SHELVES. 

(See p. 87.) 

W: H. BRETT. As to the displacement of 
books on the shelves, it is a slight objection, 
but not at all a serious one. In our library we 
are doing our work with not more than three- 
fourths the attendants and are saving not less 
than $3,000 in salaries every year. 

As to the question of more room, it should be 
borne in mind that all floor space in the alcoves 
is so much space added to the public room. If 
you shut the books up you must still provide 



EIGHTH SESSION. 



161 



sufficient public room. The difference is not 
so large as might appear at first thought. 

As to its being experimental, the plan has 
been in operation in Cleveland for four and a 
half years, and the circulation of the library 
has considerably more than doubled. I think 
it is beyond the experimental stage there. 

Miss THERESA H. WEST. I should like to 
ask what is the definition of access to shelves. 
Can a library be said to grant access to shelves 
when it has glass doors in front of its cases ? 

W: H. BRETT. The Cleveland Public Library 
has glass doors. They serve the very useful 
purpose df protecting the books from dust 
while the janitor is sweeping. They are 
thrown open with the utmost freedom, and left 
open during the day. 

Sec. HILL. The Newark Free Public Li- 
brary grants access to shelves in all depart- 
ments except fiction. It would be very glad 
to open the fiction department if the books 
were easily accessible, but if three or four 
persons get into the passageway it blocks it 
up so that we can not get at the books to issue 
them from -the delivery desk. 

We have had this open privilege for some 
two years and a half. The reference depart- 
ment has been free for five years, or ever since 
we started. Our total loss from home issues 
and the use of books in the library in the ref- 
erence department', and with free shelves, has 
amounted to 32 in a year, which I think is say- 
ing a good word for the free use of the library 
or access to shelves. 

A quotation is made in Dr. Steiner's report in 
regard to looking over the shelves every morn- 
ing, when the dusting is done. That quota- 
tion, I presume, is from a letter which I wrote 
Dr. Steiner. When he sent his paper to me he 
said that he did not think it could be done. I 
did not mean to state that every book was 
taken down every morning, and carefully 
dusted and put back in its place and the shelf 
list verified at the same time. What I did 
mean to say was, that the six or seven messen- 
gers and the three or four delivery clerks do 
go over the shelves with dust cloth, etc., and 
read the shelves as they go along and put the 
books up in their places. They do that every 
morning, and we have very little trouble with 
the books being out of place. We are very 
well satisfied with our experiment with open 



shelves, and if we had plenty of room, lack of 
which is the only drawback, we would open 
our fiction department to the public absolutely 
free. 

Miss THERESA H. WEST. It seems to me 
there is one point in favor of free access that 
has not been brought out, which is that our 
assistants have certain rights we ought to re- 
gard. If assistants are given the charge of 
certain classes of literature they can fit them- 
selves to know about and assist users of each 
class. They can make themselves specialists 
in history, sociology, or science. They cannot 
well spread themselves all over the library, 
but can know fully the one class that they 
have charge of. 

J : C. DANA. I think that question might be 
put personally, like this: Which of these two 
plans would any of you prefer if you were 
students, or wanted to be students, or thought 
you were students ? Suppose you go to a pub- 
lic library, or any other library, and are inter- 
ested in the money question. You may say 
you would like to read something on the sub- 
ject, or that you are preparing a paper on that 
subject. This special librarian who is familiar 
with books on social science, and perhaps with 
books on finance, may say to you, " I made for 
several years a study of familiarizing myself 
with books on finance. I can tell you all you 
want to know about it." You then say, " Well, 
tell me what kind of books I ought to read." 
She tells you. She brings one or two or three 
books to you. Are you satisfied ? I think not. 

But supposing she shows you the shelves of 
books on finance. She stands beside you and 
says: " This book is now out of date, but here 
are fifteen books written recently on the 
finance question. Sit down here and look 
them over, and when satisfied what you want, 
you can take it away with you." 

G. M. JONES. Mr. Dana has given the best 
possible explanation of the practical working 
of my idea. The readers who come to the 
library are of two classes first, the readers 
that want a particular book; second, those 
that do not know what they want, and, unless 
the attendant knows something about the sub- 
ject, are more likely to get the wrong book 
than the right one. This work requires a 
higher class of attendants than we usually 
have. Mr. Green, of Worcester, in a letter to 



162 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



me in regard to the number of attendants, 
pay, etc., spoke of having the very best class 
of attendants and paying them well. I think 
he partly applies that plan in his library. 

J: C. DANA. When I go to a drygoods store 
I stand on the outside of the counter. I ask 
you again if, when you to go to a library to 
make investigations, you want to stay on the 
outside of the counter ? I do not pretend to 
say that we have in the libraries of Denver 
assistants who can tell anybody what is the 
right book to read in finance, but we do have 
somebody in the library who can say : ' ' We 
have not a great many books on finance, but 
we have a few here. We have Bowker and 
lies' "Reader's Guide;" take this guide and 
pick out what you wish." This differs, accord- 
ing to my observation, from the personal feel- 
ing of being fed with the books through a hole 
in a wire fence. 

H: J. CARR. I think that if Mr. Dana will 
take a little broader view he will find three of 
us here in accord. It depends on the cus- 
tomer, the kind of stock, and what he wants. 
I have frequent occasion to buy hardware, 
and it's a matter I know something about, 
yet I go to the store, sometimes, and say % "I 
want to accomplish such and such things; 
what is there that will fit my purpose ? " The 
clerk produces an article that answers my 
purpose, and I take it and go away. I go 
into the store another time and he starts to 
show me some goods. I say, " Can't I go in 
there to the shelves and see those things ? " 
He serves me that way. Again, I go to the 
store, and desiring something not commonly in 
stock, I ask to see the catalog. We look over 
the catalog together, and he helps me about it. 
I think that if we take a broad view of it we 
will find there are several ways of arriving at 
the same result. 

J. K. HOSMER. Mr. Carr says he knows 
something about hardware, and so he describes 
what he would like to do if he went into a 
hardware store. People who come to us know 
something about books; they know a good 
deal about books, too, and it seems to me such 
a course as would be congenial to him would 
be congenial to the borrowers who are search- 
ing for books. I think I may have been mis- 
apprehended, perhaps, in what I said about 
putting the public inside, and the staff outside 



of the library. I would by no means have 
only an attendant at the gate. It seems to me 
that there should be intelligent guidance 
among the alcoves and about the racks 
wherever they are. In our own library, at 
Minneapolis, when a person makes application 
for books the catalog is first put at his dis- 
posal; then the reference librarian, or some 
one of the attendants, or myself, is in the 
habit of going to the shelves with the applicant 
and doing what we can towards pointing out 
what is a good book and what is an undesirable 
one. Then we leave the individual free to 
choose. 

W. H. AUSTIN. It seems to me that at 
Cornell we have arrived at a solution of the 
problem that is quite as near as we can hope 
for. We put out in the reading-room the best 
books on all subjects and let users go to the 
books freely, and make them feel that we give 
the best general selection of the latest books. 
It is only a specialist wanting to get at the 
whole literature, good, bad, or indifferent, of 
any subject, that needs to go into the large 
reservoir of books kept in the stack-room s. To 
such persons, of course, we do as you all do, 
grant free admission. But those books that 
are put out where they can get to them freely, 
in most cases answer all purposes. 

R. G. THWAITES. My own library is prac- 
tically a college library; 90 per cent, of our 
users are college students. I have somewhat 
the same experience as the speaker preceding 
me. We put in our reading-room all ency- 
clopaedias, and all the special handbooks, and 
everything of that sort. We find that the 
students in the freshman and sophomore classes 
are not benefited at all by being let into the 
reservoir, as he says, of general literature. 
Their researches are of a very limited char- 
acter. They state to the attendant what they 
want, and as we are fortunate in having a grad- 
uate of Brown University for an attendant, 
who is very competent indeed, we find that the 
students are much better served by letting him 
select their books for them. The professors, 
and the students who are doing more serious 
work, are allowed the utmost liberty of the 
shelves. They get whatever assistance we 
can give them in the alcoves; but, certainly, 
with the lower-class men an intelligent at- 
tendant at the counter will be of more use than 



NINTH SESSION. 



163 



to allow them to ramble among the shelves. 
Many a young freshman has come back to the 
attendant saying, " I don't know what I want, 
give me something." We practically let every- 
body go to the shelves who can use them 
properly and understandingly. 

Miss ELLEN M. CHANDLER read the general 
contribution of 

" DON'TS." 
(See p, 104.) 

Sec. HILL read the various items and queries 
which were found in the 

QUESTION BOX. 

W: C. LANE'S letter of September 12, 1894, 
was read by the secretary. It described with 
considerable detail certain experiments in li- 
brary work at the Boston Athenaeum, now 
communicated by Mr. Lane as suggestions, as 
well as furnishing, perhaps, a basis for some 
cooperative work on the part of other libraries. 
The points which he named included more 
particularly : 

1. A plan of using a special card with a 
printed scheme upon it, for cataloging portraits 
and other illustrations, including photographs 
separately mounted or in albums, and engrav- 
ings and other plates in book's. Samples of 
the various cards accompanied the letter. 

2. A method of consolidating and making 
most useful the various reading lists and spe- 
cial bibliographies published in library bulletins 
or in separate pamphlet form. Mainly by 
cutting out the sundry items and mounting 
them on sheets of manila, six by nine inches 
in size, bearing the name of the subject on 
upper margin and placed alphabetically in 
boxes for consultation. Brief descriptive no- 
tices of new books, also treated in a similar 
manner, and arranged alphabetically in a box 
kept in the same room where new books are 
exposed for inspection, taking the place, in 
some respects, of the notes formerly inserted 
in printed " Lists of Additions." 

Adjourned at 5:55 P.M. 

NINTH SESSION. 

(MIRROR LAKE HOTEL, FRIDAY MORNING, 

SEPTEMBER 21.) 

Pres. LARNED called the meeting to order at 
9.45 A.M. 



PLACE OF NEXT MEETING. 

Advice came by cable through the Library 
Bureau that there had been mailed by Secretary 
MAcALisTER^of the L. A. U. K., an invitation 
to meet with that association in International 
Conference in London, in 1895. 

That invitation, bearing date Sept. 10, 1894, 
was subsequently received and read at the 
loth session. 

W: R. EASTMAN read a telegram from the 
mayor of Jamestown inviting the Association 
to hold its 1895 meeting in that city. 

R. B. POOLE. As we have met in New York 
state this year, I move that we omit Chautau- 
qua from the list of places under consideration. 
Voted. 

C: C. SOULE. I move that the executive 
board arrange for a conference at the seaside, 
to be followed by an excursion to England to 
attend the proposed International Conference ; 
the time to be determined by later information 
in regard to the date of that meeting. Lost. 

W: I. FLETCHER. I move that we take an 
informal ballot for place of next meeting as 
between Denver and Cleveland. Voted. 

The secretary and recorder were appointed 
tellers, and the result of the informal ballot 
showed a majority for Denver. 

R. G. THWAITES. I move that the informal 
ballot be declared formal. Voted. 

W: H. BRETT. I move that the vote be 
made unanimous. Voted. 

MELVIL DEWEY. I move that the invitation 
for a meeting in England be accepted for 1896, 
if agreeable to the L. A. U. K., and practicable 
to do so ; and that otherwise it be left to the 
executive board wkh power. Voted. 

On motion of Mr. Utley, and amendment by 
Mr. Jones, it was Voted That it is the opinion 
of the Association that the next meeting 
should be held about the middle of June, but 
that the whole matter be referred to the exec- 
utive board. 

ELECTION OF PRESIDENT. 

First ballot. Number of votes cast, 138 ; of 
which H : M. Utley received 64, W: H. Brett 
43, Theresa H. West 29, Caroline M. Hewins 2. 

The name of Miss West was withdrawn. 

Second ballot. Number of votes cast, 108 ; 
of which H: M. Utley received 64, W: H. 
Brett 42, Caroline M. Hewins 2. (The first 



164 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



ballot contained many endorsed votes left with 
the tellers on the part of those going away 
before the hour set for close of the voting as 
authorized; and those absentees had no par- 
ticipation in the second ballot.) 

W: H. Brett moved that the election of Mr. 
Utley be made unanimous. Voted. 

FURTHER NOMINATIONS. 

J: C. DANA, W: C. LANE, W: H. BRETT, and 
THERESA H. WEST were put in nomination for 
vice-president. 

C: C. SOULE was nominated for trustee of 
the endowment fund. 

Sec. HILL. I move that in the vote for vice- 
president the three highest on the list shall be 
declared elected. Amended to the effect that 
the same rule be applied in the case of the 
other officers. Voted. 

ELECTION OF OTHER OFFICERS. 

Vice-President J: C. Dana, 70; Mary S. 
Cutler, 58; Ellen M. Coe, 44 (seven others 
received votes varying from 2 to 41). 

Secretary Frank P. Hill, 77 (eight others 
scattering). 

Treasurer George Watson Cole, 89 (two 
others scattering). 

Trustee of Endowment Fund C: C. Soule, 
48 (38 votes were cast for J: M. Glenn). 

Council W: C. Lane, 72; Theresa H. West, 
61; Caroline M. Hewins, 57; Caroline H. Gar- 
land, 48 (four others received votes from 28 
to 35 each). 

Voted. That the above be declared elected 
unanimously. 

MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 

J. N. WING explained the work of the Book- 
sellers and Stationers' Provident Association, 
and presented a resolution recommending said 
Association to librarians as a desirable, safe 
and economical means of life insurance. 

MELVIL DEWEY. There is a provision in our 
constitution which forbids this Association 
promulgating any recommendation in regard to 
library administration till approved by the 
council. I therefore move that we refer the 
resolution to the council. I do it as a friend 
of the movement, but think we ought to act 
in this matter as individuals, not as an Asso- 
ciation. Voted. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 

GEO. WATSON COLE. Early in April or May 
it came to my knowledge that the Bibliograph- 
ical Society of London had determined to close 
their list of membership and I immediately 
sent on my subscription. Since then the mem- 
bership has been extended and fifty members 
have been allotted to America. I understand 
that fifteen vacancies have occurred, and it 
seems to me that this is in the line of our 
work. This society was formed in 1892. Its 
objects are stated to be: 

1. The acquisition of information upon sub- 
jects connected with bibliography. 

2. The promotion and encouragement of 
bibliographical studies and researches. 

3. Printing and publishing of works con- 
nected with bibliography, and the formation of 
a bibliographical library. 

There were eight meetings held this year, 
and they have already issued their first volume 
of transactions. One of the works which this 
society proposes to undertake is a bibliography 
of English literature; also monographs on 
other bibliographical subjects. The edition of 
their publications is restricted to the number of 
members. That number is limited, and the 
librarians in this country ought to be well 
represented. The price of membership is a 
guinea a year; and the publications which 
have already been prepared, including the 
volume of transactions, the annual year book, 
and other papers, can be supplied for $7. 75. 

If any would like to become members of the 
society they can communicate with Mr. Wing 
or with me, and we shall be glad to forward 
their names to the secretary in New York. 

J. K. HOSMER, chairman, presented the fol- 
lowing as the 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS. 

Resolved, That the A. L. A. hereby expresses 
grateful appreciation of the consideration given 
by the committee on printing of the Senate 
and House of Representatives to requests 
for more favorable legislation in the matter 
of distributing public documents to the libraries 
of the country, as shown by the incorporation 
in the printing bill H. R. 2,650, now pending 
in Congress, of a provision for supplying de- 
positories of documents with many publications 
not hitherto regularly furnished them, and for 
cataloging and indexing documents hereafter 
to be issued ; which bill the Association most 
earnestly hopes may become a law. 



TENTH SESSION. 



165 



Resolved, That inasmuch as regular de- 
positories are limited in number to 500 (or less 
than one-tenth of the libraries of the country), 
and therefore many important libraries cannot 
be placed upon the list of depositories, the 
Association respectfully urges that original 
Sec. 66 of the bef orementioned bill be retained, 
to the end at least 500 additional libraries may 
be regularly, and in virtue of statutory enact- 
ments, supplied with the more valuable publi- 
cations of the government. 

Resolved, That in view of the utility of 
satisfactory indexes of public documents and 
of the great need of a comprehensive index of 
all documents heretofore published, the Asso- 
ciation most earnestly recommends that pro- 
vision be made by Congress for the early prep- 
aration of a complete alphabetic index of said 
documents ; or, at least, of all documents issued 
since the publication of the catalog prepared by 
the late Major Poore. 

Resolved, That it is the judgment of this 
Association, that depositories should by all 
means be supplied with the journals of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, and it 
therefore requests the Senate to recede from 
its amendment No. 85, and allow the original 
provision of the bill to stand; also, that the 
Senate likewise recede from its amendment 
No. 77, and substitute therefor a provision for 
supplying such depositories as may desire 
them with copies of all bills and resolutions. 

Whereas, The libraries of the United States 
find it difficult to procure desirable official pub- 
lications of foreign governments, owing to lack 
of full and definite information in regard to 
them, 

Resolved, That the A. L. A. request the 
Secretary of State of the United States to pro- 
cure, if possible, through the accredited agents 
of the diplomatic service abroad, such detailed 
information as shall furnish the material for a 
list of the official publications of foreign gov- 
ernments. 

A I so, That the secretary of this Association 
forward a copy of this request to the Secretary 
of State, and that the Bureau of Education be 
requested to cooperate. 

Also, That the matter be referred to a spe- 
cial committee, which, in the event of the Sec- 
retary of State acceding to this request, shall 
furnish full details of the information desired. 

Resolved, That the A. L. A. requests that all 
periodical library publications issued to give 
information on new books and kindred sub- 
jects, even though distributed gratuitously, be 
permitted to be entered as second-class mail 
matter by the United States Postal authorities. 

Also, That a copy of this Resolution be sent 
by the secretary of this Association to the Post 
Master General. 

Resolved, That the A. L. A. desires and will 
encourage by every means in its power the use 



of strong paper and substantial binding in book 
publishing, and that it urges all publishers to 
supply good library editions fulfilling these re- 
quirements. 

Resolved, That the A. L. A. requests pub- 
lishers of magazines, who do not fold title 
pages and indexes with their publications, to 
forward to all libraries on their mailing lists 
title pages and indexes as soon as published. 

Resolved, That it is with sorrow this Associa- 
tion learns of the death of one of its members, 
Charles E. Lowrey, librarian of the University 
of Colorado, a man distinguished among his 
co-workers for the deep interest he took in his 
profession and for his high scholarship, and 
tenders its earnest sympathy to the family of 
the deceased. 

Resolved, That the executive board be in- 
structed to obtain, when possible, all papers to 
be read at an A. L. A. meeting, at least one 
month before the meeting ; that they cause to 
be printed and distributed to all members of 
the Association such of those papers as in their 
opinion it would be advisable to have read at 
the meeting in abstract only, and that such 
papers be so read. 

Resolved, That the A. L. A. greets with 
pleasure the publication of a compend of liter- 
ary routine, such as " Hints to small libraries," 
prepared by Miss Plummer and published by 
the Pratt Institute, and recognizes it as a useful 
and timely addition to library science. 

The several resolutions were all adopted ex- 
cept the last one, and that was accepted and 
referred to the council. 

The matter of the appointment of a committee 
to visit Washington at the proper time to aid 
in the passage of the bill relating to public 
documents, was referred to the executive 
board. 

Adjourned at 12.55 p - M - 

TENTH SESSION. 

(MIRROR LAKE HOTEL, SATURDAY MORNING, 
SEPTEMBER 22.) 

The meeting was called to order by Pres. 
LARNED at 9.45 A. M. 

The session was chiefly devoted to remarks 
by various speakers 

IN MEMORY OF THE LATE WILLIAM FREDERICK 
POOLE, LL.D. 

W: I. FLETCHER. I have been asked to 
speak to-day of "Dr. Poole as an indexer," 
but 1 am unwilling that the inference should 



i66 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



be drawn by those not familiar with the 
circumstances, that my acquaintance with Dr. 
Poole was mainly in connection with the index, 
on which we collaborated for years. On the 
contrary, this was but one of the ways, and 
not the chief one, in which I had been asso- 
ciated with him. 

Beginning in my boyhood, I was in daily 
association with him for five years, as his 
assistant in the Boston Athenaeum library, 
and then it was that I came to love and honor 
him as a man and a friend. He was one of 
God's noblemen, and while he was highly ap- 
preciated and honored by the great world in 
which he came to be so well known, there was 
a tender and intimate phase of his character 
which only those who were privileged to know 
him well could rightly estimate. 

To have known him well, to have felt the 
sweetness of his loving disposition, was a 
blessing for a lifetime . How much those of us 
who grew up under his guidance and thought- 
ful oversight owe to him we shall probably 
never know ; but we do know that the world 
seems empty with him no longer here. 

There are some things about Dr. Poole' s 
work as an indexer which it may be interest- 
ing to recount. The origin of his index work 
is significant. It grew out of the demands of 
his work as a librarian, and not from any 
desire to figure as an author or editor. Find- 
ing that there was a mine of wealth hidden 
away in the sets of old periodicals which were 
accumulating dust on the shelves of the college 
society's library, of which he had charge, he 
began a manuscript index to them, without 
thought of printing it. But by his indefati- 
gable industry, his index was soon so complete, 
and it became so useful, that its printing was 
demanded. The first edition was printed in 
1848, while he was yet a junior in college. 
[Mr. Fletcher exhibited a copy of this first 
edition, which was passed about the room.] 

Dr. Poole's method as an indexer is worth 
noting. He always had a definite idea of the 
superiority of purely alphabetical arrangement, 
and would never hear of any form of classi- 
fied list to be substituted for the alphabetical. 
If you will look at this first edition, you will 
observe that while some of the details are 
different, the same general methods and prin- 
ciples are employed that appear in the latest 



edition. That this junior in Yale College 
should have been able to decide upon the 
arrangement of this index so well that in all 
these years it has not been found expedient to 
make any radical change, is an indication of 
his clear-headed appreciation of library wants, 
and how to meet them. 

As collaborator with Dr. Poole in this work 
for many years, I have to testify that in nearly 
every case where I differed from him as to a 
question of arrangement or style, I became 
satisfied that he was right. He was so self- 
reliant a man that he was impatient of rules 
when they became a restraint. I venture to 
say, however, that from the standpoint of 
practical utility his decisions of most points, 
even against well-accepted catalogue rules, will 
be generally accepted. 

I remember when the question arose about 
the different St. Thomas's, and I was in favor 
of a simple adherence to the rule that all per- 
sons canonized should be entered under the 
Christian name. But the Doctor would not 
allow Becket to follow this rule. As between 
Aquinas and Becket, he offered to compromise 
with me, I to take Aquinas for the Thomas's, 
he to take Becket. 

A strange way, this, to settle such a ques- 
tion ! the martinet in indexing would say. 
But, as I have already intimated, Dr. Poole's 
common sense taught him when rules should 
be broken in the interest of intelligent readers, 
unfamiliar with technicalities, and it can hardly 
be doubted that his index is more useful than 
it would be without these departures from 
established usage. 

As the principal collaborator with Dr. Poole 
in his index-work, I am glad of this opportunity 
to testify to my admiration for his qualities, 
not only as a man and a friend, but as a 
literary workman, especially as an indexer. 
To him, mainly, still belongs the credit for 
whatever is good and useful in the great work 
which will always be his chief monument. 

Dr. G: E. WIRE. Mr. Fletcher has just 
given you some reminiscences of Dr. Poole, 
particularly of his earlier years. He has also 
spoken quite at length as to his characteristics 
and his peculiarities. Mr. Fletcher had known 
him for many years, and been associated with 
him at an earlier period of his life. I am to 
make some remarks on the later years of his 



TENTH SESSION. 



167 



life, when I was thrown into daily contact with 
him in the library. We also lived in the same 
suburb, and frequently used to be on the same 
train, either going or coming. 

My acquaintance with Dr. Poole dates from 
1887, when I first met him in the Chicago Pub- 
lic Library. I had the pleasure, too, of being in 
the office when he announced to us that he had 
been elected librarian of the Newberry Library, 
and of being one of the first to congratulate 
him on his appointment. I remember with 
what eagerness and with how much enthu- 
siasm he entered on this work, which he be- 
lieved to be, and which was, the crowning 
work of his life. In 1890 I entered the New- 
berry Library, and for three and a half years 
was associated with him very closely, as I 
have remarked. My impressions of him will, 
of course, be those of one whom time has 
already touched, gently and lightly, but none 
the less surely of one who was ripening to 
good old age. 

Born of sturdy New England stock, blessed 
with splendid physique and always gifted 
with good health, it was amazing to see him 
at his work of building up a great reference 
library. I have just alluded to the eagerness 
and enthusiasm with which he entered on this 
work. He, of course, realized that his days 
were fast numbering, and that what he did 
must be done quickly. 

Those of us who were with him know how 
hard he worked, bending all his energies and 
exerting all his strength to this pleasing task. 
All the immense bibliographical knowledge 
which he had gained in his long life as a libra- 
rian, all the knowledge of details, was available 
and freely used to further his aim. His eye was 
as bright, his brain as active and his wit as keen 
as it had ever been. There still remained all of 
his old versatility to give flavor and piquancy 
to his conversations, and it was gratifying to 
see the zest with which he entered into a dis- 
cussion on some of his favorite topics, with 
any of his friends. 

He had the advice and assistance of scores 
of people whom he had made his friends dur- 
ing the long years of his varied career. His 
friends were warm friends, and he loved them 
dearly. He was never too tired nor too busy 
to greet them. I remember, particularly, his 
habit of taking their hand in both of his while 



his handsome brown eyes would gleam and 
his face light up with a benignant smile. 

As to his enemies, I know not whether he 
had any. His criticisms were sharp and pun- 
gent and awakened hostility in some quarters, 
I believe, but I am not aware that the hos- 
tility extended to him personally. It was im- 
possible that a man living as he did and think- 
ing as he did, a man of positive convictions 
and extreme opinions on so many subjects, 
should not excite opposition. As a historian 
he pricked more than one historic bubble. 
It will be remembered that his solution of 
the witchcraft delusion was one of the first, if 
not the first, rational explanations of that 
strange and unfortunate phenomenon. His 
work in other fields was equally important, but 
we know him best as an all-round librarian, 
combining many qualities in one man. 

He gained his knowledge by experience, and 
came to be known as a library expert, so that 
his advice on matters of library economy was 
much sought after. He was constantly con- 
sulted on these subjects by architects, college 
presidents and librarians ; and many of those 
in the Association will bear witness to the 
patience and kindness with which he dealt 
with persons seeking his advice. As a coun- 
selor of the newly elected librarian the person 
who wanted to know all about the craft in 
one short morning he was unique. During 
the time that I knew him, however, he did not 
pay so much attention to details of adminis- 
tration, having able assistants in the library, 
to whom were left many of the details. This 
gave him more time for his own particular 
work, which he alone could do, the selection of 
books for this great reference library. 

Outside of library hours he was no less in- 
dustrious. He invariably read on the trains, 
both night and morning, and usually carried a 
bundle of books home for evening work. Not 
only his evenings, but a good share of his nights, 
were devoted to this work, which he used to call 
play. In fact, most of his work on the third 
edition of his index was done after the hours of 
evening were over; and sometimes his work 
went far into the night. He was, in no sense 
of the word, a society man, and preferred his 
home to all the allurements of a social life. 

He was not only an indefatigable worker, 
but always on hand when the library opened 



1 68 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



in the morning. Few men of his age could, or 
would, work as he did. He took no long 
vacations, and sometimes no vacation at all. 
His family often begged him to spare himself ; 
but his heart was in his work, and he was 
happy only when at work. The year of the 
World's Fair he took no vacation, and did not, 
I believe, visit the Fair, except to attend some 
A. L. A. meetings. Holidays, when the 
library was closed, were generally spent at 
the library, and he used to say they were his 
best times for work. 

I have before alluded to his splendid 
physique. The strength of his constitution 
was seen in his recovery from a fall, which 
broke his right arm and dislocated his right 
shoulder, besides bruising and jarring him 
generally. He sustained this injury the day 
before election, in November, 1892, yet he per- 
sisted in going out the next day to vote the 
straight Republican ticket, as if nothing had 
happened to him. He was at his desk again 
by New Year's time, but never fully recovered 
from that accident. Although, as I have said, 
he continued to work all through 1893, it was 
evident to those of us who saw him daily and 
watched him closely, that he was failing. 

Those who met him at the Chicago Confer- 
ence must have noticed the change which was 
then apparent. It was touching to see the 
mellowing effects of time on him. He seemed 
more kindly than ever, if possible, in greeting 
his friends, and loved especially to meet those 
who, like him, were in the autumn of life. 

He did not say anything to either his family 
or to his assistants about himself, as was his 
wont ; yet they could see that the accident of 
a year before was but the beginning of the 
end. He continued at his work until within a 
couple of weeks of his death. For a few days 
his illness was not serious, but soon symptoms 
of the disease common to elderly people, 
atheroma of the blood vessels, set in. It is a 
comfort to know that his end was peaceful, and 
that without any pain whatever he sank to his 
long rest. 

S: S. GREEN. Mr. Ward Poole, the father of 
William Frederick Poole, resided in Worcester, 
Mass. , at the time when William went to col- 
lege. The records of Yale College state that 
the latter was a resident of Worcester when he 
entered college in 1842. 



When eleven years old, William gave up the 
idea of becoming a student, and he told the 
writer the following anecdote to show how he 
was induced to change his plans. In 1839 he 
was acting as a teamster for a tannery in Salem 
or Danvers. His mother was unwilling that 
he should not pursue his education further, 
and went from Worcester to the house of a 
friend in Danvers, past which she knew that her 
son often had to drive, to await his appearance. 
While he was passing the house she had him 
stopped, and in a conference pleaded with him 
to go home to Worcester and go to school. He 
yielded, and in the autumn of 1839 entered 
Leicester Academy, graduating in 1842. 

In the latter year, as stated above, he entered 
Yale College. 

Dr. Poole, as is well known, when in his 
junior year in college, 1848, published the first 
edition of his famous index. He told the 
writer of this notice that after he had prepared 
the manuscript of this edition for the printer 
he carried it from Boston to his home in Wor- 
cester one afternoon in 1848, and, as the late 
Hon. Charles Allen was to speak in the evening 
in the City Hall, waited in the centre of the 
town to hear him before returning home. He 
left the manuscript in a buggy near the hall 
while he went in to listen to Mr. Allen. On 
coming out he found that it was gone, and had 
to do the work over again, aided in doing it 
only by unsatisfactory memoranda. 

Several persons in Worcester remember Mr. 
Ward Poole, the father of William F. Poole. 
Not long after the occurrences mentioned 
above he moved, with his family, away from 
Worcester, and went back to Salem or 
Danvers.* 

Pres. J. N. LARNED. I think it is difficult 
for those of us who were intimately acquainted 
with Dr. Poole only in his later years, when 
the library movement of our generation had 
overtaken him, to realize how much of a pio- 
neer and leader he really had been in that 
movement. It seems to me that, more than 
any other man of his time, he imparted to the 
library movement its character and purpose at 
the beginning. 

* NOTE. Mr. Green was not present at this session, 
but submitted his remarks, as above, in writing after- 
wards, having been so requested at a previous session 
upon announcing that he would unavoidably be away 
at the time set for the memorial session. 



TENTH SESSION. 



169 



If there is one thing more than another 
which differentiates the American librarians 
from those of other countries, it is the eager- 
ness and earnestness with which they dig for 
buried treasures in the "tells" and dust-heaps 
of literature to find what there is out of sight 
that can be brought into sight and made valu- 
able. There were librarians before Dr. Poole 
who had done a great deal in the way of per- 
fecting catalogs and cataloging systems, but 
all that was rather a continuation of older 
work. Dr. Poole's undertaking to index peri- 
odical literature, was more an origination of 
what has since distinguished the work of the 
American librarians. 

He was not only a pioneer and a leader in 
that direction, but, more than any other man, 
he popularized the idea of librarianship as a 
profession. There were others, like Dr. 
Jewett, who had made it a profession in the 
understanding of the more learned part of the 
community, but it was Dr. Poole who brought 
librarianship as a profession distinctly before 
the public. I can remember the impression to 
that effect which was made on my mind in the 
first instance of my hearing of Dr. Poole. It 
was in connection with a discussion that arose 
in my city concerning the library that was 
then known as the library of the Young Men's 
Association, now called the Buffalo Library. 
There had grown up much discontent with the 
mode in which it was being formed, and a 
good deal of discussion as to what could be 
done to better that mode by those who were 
then in charge of the library. Among the 
managers were some who happened to know 
Dr. Poole, and he was called into consultation. 
He came among us in Buffalo, and there was 
considerable talk with reference to his becom- 
ing temporarily connected with the library for 
the purpose of organizing some system in it. 
I can remember very well the new impression 
that was made upon me at that time the reve- 
lation, as it were, that the librarian was some- 
thing more than we had been accustomed to 
consider him. It was just as though in a 
country town an architect had been called in 
to take part in the discussion of plans for a 
new church, and had given to the people for 
the first time the idea that the village carpen- 
ter was not sufficient for all that ought to be 
done. I think that Dr. Poole carried that idea 



into many places, and did much in this country 
to lift the profession of the librarian to a new 
height. 

Then again he did another great work, and 
that was to break the antique type of what he 
called "cathedral architecture" for libraries. 
We may not all of us agree with the ideas of 
library architecture which he promoted and 
advocated for so long a time, but we certainly 
can recognize the fact that he did break the old 
type, and that he cleared the ground for the 
construction of library buildings of a new 
character and of newusefulness.inour country. 

These alone would be great distinctions, and 
I think that they all belonged to Dr. Poole, 
along with very much besides, that was noble 
and dignified and most interesting and lovable 
in his character. 

Miss THERESA WEST. Possibly it may be 
well to add, from the immediate neighborhood 
in which Dr. Poole worked, a word as to the 
patience and kindness with which he always 
treated those of us who were starting the work, 
and of the solid foundation he gave us to build on. 
Our circumstances might make us change our 
methods from those originally devised by him, 
but we have all of us very great occasion to be 
grateful for that first help, for that first wise 
and trustworthy foundation which he gave us. 

MELVIL DEWEY. Mr. President, I want to 
say what I so often have said to the students in 
the Library School about Dr. Poole, and what 
you have already said here to-day, that this 
later generation did not realize how much Dr. 
William F. Poole had been and done in the 
American library movement a quarter of a 
century ago. He was the man that stood most 
for the stimulating element in organizing new 
libraries and giving them some tangible method, 
and a great many who knew him in these last 
years after he had worked for so many years as 
the leader and recognized expert (he said some- 
times in our meetings with more frankness 
than modesty, that he thought he knew all 
that was worth knowing about librarianship), 
forgot that for many years he stood for as 
much as almost all the rest of the librarians 
together . 

Another thing is to me a very delightful 
memory ; his best friends were those who knew 
him best. His associates were his most loyal 
and enthusiastic friends. He was a born 



170 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



fighter. Nothing would bring him to his feet 
so quickly as a chance to attack something. 
When we. were in England seventeen years 
ago, we were all proud when Dr. Poole took 
the floor to make an address. With his fine 
presence, his strong voice and earnest manner, 
there was no man in either Association that 
made so splendid an impression as he. Those 
of us who used to have frequent tussles with 
him have always retained our affection for the 
man, though we may have differed on some 
question of policy. 

I remember well my first meeting with Dr. 
Poole. He brought out his index the year that 
I was born, and I had from boyhood known his 
name as the great librarian. When coming 
out of college in 1876 the notion took possession 
of me that we should have a library asso- 
ciation, but I was very shy about the first 
approaches for calling a meeting. The same 
was true of Mr. Winsor. The one man who 
from the first, through the whole history of 
the Association, has always had faith, not only 
said, "I think it can be done," but also "I 
will help," and did help, was Charles A. 
Cutter of the Boston Athenaeum. The other 
older librarians were often in doubt, but Mr. 
Cutter never failed to join heartily in every 
advance movement. In the early years, 
especially, as some of you know, there was a 
great deal of distrust as to what we should 
accomplish, and Dr. Poole was very shy in- 
deed. At first he withheld his name entirely, 
but, at the last, consented to have it appear on 
the organizing committee with that of Mr. 
Winsor, Mr. Lloyd P. Smith of Philadelphia, 
and myself. 

We met first in Mr. Smith's house, and it 
was the first time I ever saw Dr. Poole' s face. 
As I came into the parlor late in the evening, 
he came across the room and drawing himself 
to his full height burst out laughing. " Well," 
he said, " Dewey, you are a better looking 
man than I thought you were. I had a clear 
picture in mind of you as about 70 years 
old, with white hair and glasses and round 
shoulders." In fact I was then the youngest 
man in the association. My picture of our 
Nestor was equally wide of the mark. Dr. 
Poole's soldierly bearing gave me the im- 
pression of a generation younger than I had 
been prepared to meet. The surprise was a 



most delightful one to me, and from that time 
till he died I always enjoyed very much my 
relations with Dr. Poole. When an issue came 
up you did not lose your affection for him if 
you voted on the other side or differed from 
him. If the people who work with a man and 
know him intimately like him best, it is a very 
good sign. I am afraid of the man who is 
liked best by those who know him least. 

William F. Poole, far above all others, was 
the apostle of the modern library movement 
for many years. Nearly a quarter of a cen- 
tury ago he stood almost alone in his active 
and earnest efforts for library advancement. 
As I have dipped here and there into the his- 
tory of American libraries this fact has con- 
tinually come back to me, as I have found 
traces of his work in stimulating and shaping 
their growth. No other man deserves so much 
credit for those early years as our dear friend, 
Dr. William F. Poole. 

R. B. POOLE. We as librarians knew Dr. 
Poole as a librarian and as an architect. He 
was known in wider circles, perhaps, as a 
writer, but he was known in a still wider sense 
for his Index. Every day, as I am in my 
library, I hear expressons of appreciation of 
that work. A young man comes in and says, 
" Where can I get some information to prepare 
a debate on such-and-such a question," and I 
refer him to Poole's Index. An old gentle- 
man comes in and he is referred to Poole's 
Index. Constantly we are referring people to 
Poole's Index, and they are delighted with the 
fund of information that they obtain through 
this great work. Dr. Poole's name is, I think, 
going down to posterity through this great 
work of his more than in any other way. 

I am proud to have in my library the small 
volume which Mr. Fletcher showed us, indicat- 
ing how from this small beginning in college 
his work has grown to be of such magnitude 
and to be of such public importance. The 
man who does not know Poole's Index is cer- 
tainly far behind the times. Everybody has 
heard of it and everybody is using it. 

W: H. BRETT. 1 had not so good an oppor- 
tunity to know Dr. Poole as those older in the 
profession, but I shall never forget the one 
visit he paid to the Cleveland Public Library 
since I have been connected with it. It was 
on the occasion of the meeting of the Mission- 



TENTH SESSION. 



171 



ary Society in Cleveland. He came into the 
library with his usual dignified and leisurely 
air and spent an hour, perhaps, and his kindly 
interest in the work I was attempting to do, 
and his wise comments and advice on some 
points, and his general interest in the work 
going on, made an impression on me that I 
shall never forget. The advice that he gave me 
on some points was a help to me, and it has 
been an inspiration, I think. I saw very little 
of Dr. Poole after that. I met him at nearly 
every meeting of the Association, and always 
took him by the hand and had a few words 
with him. Though I never had a chance to 
see him much, his influence on me has been 
great. 

Mrs. MELVIL DEWEY. I remember a pleasing 
incident that occurred in our library confer- 
ence trip abroad in 1877. I think it was in one 
of the Scotch libraries in Edinburgh. As the 
party were introduced to the librarian he 
stepped to the shelf and took down a well worn 
copy of Poole's Index. I remember exactly 
how the book looked, and the expression of 
pleasure and pride that came over Dr. Poole's 
face as the book was placed in his hands. 

Pres. LARNARD. Miss Hewins asked me to 
say on this occasion that she owed to Dr. 
Poole her first introduction into library work. 
In her girlhood she was engaged during one 
winter in some work of study or investigation 
in the Boston Athenaeum, and became exceed- 
ingly fond of the place, and exceedingly 
unwilling to surrender the privilege which had 
been temporarily conceded to her. She 
mustered courage one morning to say to Dr.' 
Poole that if there should be a vacancy in the 
library which she could fill she would be very 
glad to have the opportunity. He asked her 
name and address, and about a month later she 
received notice of her appointment to a place. 
This was the beginning of the library career of 
Miss Hewins, and there she received her first 
education in library work. I think Dr. Poole 
was the teacher of many who have risen to 
prominent places in the library world. 

INVITATION AND RESOLUTIONS. 

Pres. LARNED read the following invitation 
from the Library Association of the United 
Kingdom, dated London, Sept. 10, 1894: 

"At the seventeenth annual meeting of the 
Library Association, which has just been held 



at Belfast, it was unanimously resolved that 
the next annual meeting should be held in 
London ; and that the American Library Asso- 
ciation should be cordially invited to hold its 
next annual meeting at the same time and 
place. Permit me to say on behalf of my 
fellow-members that a large delegation from 
your body would be most heartily welcomed ; 
and if at your present meeting you resolve to 
accept our invitation, I shall endeavor to secure 
the adhesion of librarians from France, Ger- 
many and Italy, and thus make our joint meet- 
ing an International Conference." 

W: H. BRETT, from the committee on reso- 
lutions, submitted a resolution expressing the 
cordial appreciation of this Association for the 
courtesy extended to it by the invitation from 
the L. A. U. K. 

W: I. FLETCHER. I move that this resolu- 
tion be referred to the executive board with 
power. 

MELVIL DEWEY. I move to amend the mo- 
tion to the effect that we instruct the board to 
say that we have received with great pleasure 
the invitation of the L. A. U. K. to an Interna- 
tional meeting to be held in London. That as 
the invitation arrived just at the adjournment 
of this conference we are unable to accept it 
for 1895 because arrangements had been defi- 
nitely completed to meet in Denver, but that a 
large delegation have signified their intention 
of attending a meeting in London if it can be 
fixed for 1 896. And, furthermore, that our re- 
sponse be a cordial acceptance, without any 
tinge of regret. Voted. 

W: H. BRETT read the following resolution 
of thanks to the hotel proprietors, which was 
adopted unanimously : 

Whereas, Appreciating the courtesy and 
kindness which the members of the A. L. A. 
have received during their stay at Lake Placid, 
and realizing also that the managers have done 
much which is not required by the ordinary 
relations of guest and hotel proprietor to render 
that stay a pleasant one, 

Resolved, That a vote of thanks be hereby 
tendered to the proprietors of the Mirror Lake 
and Grand View Hotels. 

AMENDMENT TO CONSTITUTION. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. I desire an amendment to 
the constitution, so that we may return to the 
former way of electing officers. These two 
years' experience have shown that the old way 
was the better one, and the result, it seems to 
me, is about the same. I feel certain that last 
year at Chicago our present president would 



172 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



have been elected under the old method. Also, 
that under our old method Mr. Utley, as now, 
would have been elected just the same, this 
year. The net result is the same, but the 
machinery is much more complicated, cum- 
brous, and wasteful of our time. 

Mrs. H: J. CARR. I, for one, want to go 
back to the old way, and I should like to see 
an amendment, such as Mr. Crunden mentions, 
voted on this year. 

MELVIL DEWEY. I think that over 20 mem- 
bers of the Association have said to me, since 
last year, just what Mrs. Carr has said now. 
I was heartily opposed to that change, but 
having done it, let us stick to it long enough 
to try it. Mr. Hill arose once yesterday to 
offer an amendment to the same effect. The 
election next year would be taken on the pres- 
ent system. After we have tried three years 
by the ballot system the Association can see 
whether it likes that better. That would give 
us a chance to perfect the ballot system, 
and then perhaps we would be satisfied 
with it. 

It seems bad practice to be dodging back 
and forth, yet I should vote in favor of an 
amendment now. You can not always, by the 
ballot system, fit the right people into the 
right office. A man nominated for an office, 
who is singularly unfit for it, may yet be 
elected, if he is a popular man. The point that 
was forgotten last year was that we can have 
our Australian ballot system apply on electing 
five members of the executive board. I think 
I would have the president elected by direct 
ballot, too. If you elect a president, and then 
elect five men by ballot, those people can after- 
wards take all day long in canvassing further 
matters. They can best decide where we 
should meet, and would be guided in the 
selection of officers by the place of next 
meeing. 

W: I. FLETCHER. I am entirely in agree- 
ment with all that Mr. Dewey has said upon 
the subject. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. I move that the executive 
board be instructed to prepare an amendment 
to the constitution to that effect, and have 
it printed a month before the next meeting, so 
that all members can have it ; and that it be 
considered at the next meeting, at which the 
first vote will be taken. Voted. 



MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. I hesitated during the 
memorial session in regard to Dr. Poole to offer 
any undigested remarks. I might have said 
something on one topic, if I had not been an- 
ticipated and what I had in mind been said 
much better than I could have said it, regard- 
ing the debt which the Association owes Dr. 
Poole for what he has done to give a recogni- 
tion to the profession and make the work 
enjoyable. 

What I have now to say, at the close of this, 
which I consider the most successful convention 
of the Association, is what leads out from that. 
In preparing my paper for the Chicago confer- 
ence last year, I was struck with the amount of 
work that had been done by a few men, by half 
a dozen men, perhaps, towards creating a 
library science creating a science on which 
our profession was based. I was struck by 
the amount of writing that had been done by 
Dr. Poole, Mr. Dewey, Mr. Cutter, Mr. Green, 
Mr. Fletcher, and Mr. Foster, and I felt a sense 
of gratitude towards those men for the pioneer 
work that they had done, by which I, in com- 
mon with others, was profiting. 

It seems to me, that never before has there 
been such an outlook. The pleasing thing is to 
see the young men and young women coming 
in who are going to raise the profession to still 
greater heights. On those of us who occupy, 
as it Were, the middle position, it is incumbent 
to hand down augmented the contributions 
which we have gratefully received from Dr. 
Poole and our earlier contemporaries. Espe- 
cially am I pleased to see so many young men 
and young women fitting themselves in their 
youth for this work. That was one of the 
causes, I think, of Dr. Poole's success, that he 
began in his youth to fit himself for his pro- 
fession. In the case of many of us we did not 
start out to be librarians. 

I am pleased, too, to see an increasing num- 
ber of young men. It was to be expected that 
young women would take advantage of the 
new field opened to them ; but the particularly 
gratifying thing is that young men at the out- 
set of their careers are fitting themselves for 
this profession. This promises a success that 
heretofore none of us have attained, for I think 
that the ideal librarian is yet to come. 

I congratulate the Association on the success 



PUBLISHING SECTION. 



of this meeting, and I think that great thanks 
are due to the president for his admirable 
management. 

J. N. WING. First of all I am a librarian. 
I used Dr. Poole's Index a great deal, and use 
it at the present time. It has occurred to me 
that it would be a suitable thing for this Asso- 
ciation, in recognition of Dr. Poole's great ser- 
vices, to erect either a monument or a tablet 
in some appropriate institution, college or 
library of this country, which would be known 
as the monument or tablet erected by the A. 
L. A. in memory of Dr. Poole. I, for one, 
would be willing to subscribe. I make a mo- 
tion to this effect, and you may put me down 
for $5. 

F: M. CRUNDEN. I second the motion and 
make the same contribution. I suggest that 
the most appropriate place would be the New- 
berry Library. 

G: W. COLE. It seems to me that it would 
be well to add an amendment that a committee 
be appointed to carry this through. I move 
such an amendment. 



Mr. WING asked to be excused from acting 
as a member of that committee. 

(Neither the recorder's notes nor the stenog- 
rapher's report shows any vote or further action 
to have been taken upon the above motions.) 

MELVIL DEWEY. I had another scheme to 
suggest which I think will approve itself to the 
members. I move that the Publishing Section 
be directed to prepare a suitable inscription for 
one of its principal works, as a memorial to 
Dr. Poole's distinguished services. Voted. 

Pres. LARNED. Before we adjourn I beg 
leave to thank the Association for the great 
considerateness with which my inexperience 
has been borne, the kindness with which my 
duties have been made easy, and the very 
happy memory which I shall keep of what I 
anticipated as a serious trial. 

MELVIL DEWEY. I move that we now take a 
recess, and that final adjournment be made at 
the close of the post-conference excursion. 
Voted, 11.30 A. M. 

Final adjournment was made at Caldwell, 
Lake George, Friday, September 28, 1894. 



A. L. A. PUBLISHING SECTION. 



The Publishing Section met in the parlor of 
the Mirror Lake Hotel on Friday, Sept. 21, at 
2.30 P.M. President DEWEY in the chair. In 
the absence of the secretary, W. I. FLETCHER 
was chosen secretary pro tern. The secre- 
tary's report, including a statement of the 
financial condition of the Section, was read as 
follows : 

The executive board of the Publishing Sec- 
tion having held no meetings since the Chicago 
session of the A. L. A., the secretary is obliged 
to report in its behalf that no progress has 
been made during the past year in developing 
the future work of the Section. Several 
changes were made in the membership of the 
board last year, but none of the members, espe- 
cially the older members, have found time that 
they could take from other engrossing duties 
to set the wheels in motion. 

At the last meeting the annual fee of mem- 
bership in the Section was set at $5.00 instead 
of $10.00, with the understanding that the 
money should be collected annually ; and that 
the members should receive in return one copy 
of every publication issued, and might take the 
balance, if any, of what was due them in addi- 



tional copies at their pleasure. It was the in- 
tention also to issue immediately a small hand- 
book giving information about the Section, 
what it had done and what it intended to do ; 
and by distribution of this handbook and in 
other ways to enlarge the membership of the 
Section. The handbook has not been made, but 
it continues to be the first need of the Section. 
The secretary has many times during the 
past year received enquiries in regard to the 
Section, and its publications, to which he has 
had to reply by hand, and necessarily in brief 
form, not giving as satisfactory information as 
could be conveyed in a few printed pages. 
Before any respectable attempt can be made to 
increase the membership, one other thing in 
addition to the handbook is equally necessary, 
viz., some more definite plan for the future 
work of the body. Libraries and bibliogra- 
phers cannot fairly be asked to subscribe five 
dollars a year toward the work of a society or 
board without being told somewhat definitely 
what the board wants to accomplish, and with- 
out being assured that there is some proba- 
bility that what they want they have the 
means to bring to pass. 



174 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



The financial condition of the Section is ex- 
cellent. The treasurer states, with satisfac- 
tion, that the A. L. A. Index has already paid 
for all its expenses of publication, and that we 
were able to pay over to the editor on the first 
of September the sum of $127.77 as a first in- 
stalment of the payments to be made him 
under his agreement with the board. 

The items of expense of publication have 
been as follows: 
Expenses of preparation under Mr, 

Fletcher $750 oo 

Composition and electrotyping 1,029 4 1 

Printing and paper 219 65 

Binding 371 03 

Distribution, etc 98 37 

Advertising* 106 37 

Total $2,574 83 

644 copies out of 750 printed have been 
sold; 254 of these by the treasurer of the 
Section directly to members, and on advance 
orders to others, bringing in $1,303.90; and 
390 through Houghton, Mifflin & Co. after pub- 
lication, from which the Section has received 
$1,398.70; making the total receipts to August 
31, 1894, $2,702.60, and giving us a balance of 
$127.77 to pay to the editor. 

Our arrangement with Houghton, Mifflin & 
Co. for the sale of the work after publication is 
a reasonable and customary one, but it is in- 
teresting to remark that a very considerable 
saving has been made by keeping the original 
distribution of members' copies, and those 
ordered in advance, in the hands of the 
Section. The 254 copies distributed by the 
treasurer directly, brought in $1,303.90; de- 
ducting from this $98.37, expense of wrapping, 
express, etc., leaves us $1,205.53 as the net re- 
ceipts from these copies. If, however, they 
had been sold by an agent on the same terms 
as the copies distributed later we should have 
received only $909.32; which shows that 
$296.21 has been saved in the distribution. 

Only 77 copies remain unsold. It is there- 
fore evident that the work will before very 
long go out of print, and it is not likely that 
we should want to reprint the book in its pres- 
ent form, or be able at present to print an en- 
larged edition. In spite of its many short- 
comings, which have been repeatedly pointed 
out, and which the executive board is quite 



ready to acknowledge beforehand, it is a book 
of reference which no well-equipped library 
should be without. Those libraries which have 
not yet purchased it should take warning that 
they will soon be unable to do so, and should 
order it promptly. 

The financial result of the publication of 
" Reading for the Young" is not so good, but 
still not unsatisfactory. A new edition, of a 
thousand copies, was needed a little more than 
a year ago, and of the whole number of 4,250 
copies printed, 3,464 have been sold, from 
which the receipts have been $1,572.02. The 
expenses to date have been $1,729.16, so that a 
balance of $157.14 still remains to be made up 
by sales before the expenses will be covered. 
The sales of the twelve months, July, 1893, to 
June, 1894, have been 117 copies, netting $84. 62. 

The expense for stationary and postage 
since January i, 1892, has been but $12.22, and 
the interest received from money on deposit, 
$8.91. 

For the publication of the A. L. A. Index 
$650 was borrowed from the Endowment Fund. 
The cash on hand in the Charles River Bank, 
Cambridge, and the Cambridge Savings Bank, 
amounts to $613.82, while $55. 77 is due from 
the Library Bureau. It will be seen therefore 
that the larger part of the money borrowed 
might be now repaid to the Endowment Fund 
if it is desirable for either party that it should 
be, and as far as the Publishing Section is con- 
cerned, this depends upon whether any plans 
which it is about to set on foot will require the 
immediate expenditure of money or not. If 
the sum is simply kept as an investment, it is 
better off in the hands of the Endowment 
Fund's trustees and should be returned to 
them. 

All the financial operations of the Section are 
comprised in the above statements, and make 
any more formal treasurer's report unneces- 
sary. The treasurer's journal and ledger, with 
a trial-balance, and the corresponding bills and 
vouchers since January i, 1892, are presented 
herewith to be audited. 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the ex- 
ecutive board, 

WM. C. LANE, 
Secretary and Treasurer. 

Voted, That the secretary's report be re- 
ceived and placed on file. 



COLLEGE LIBRARY SECTION. 



Voted, That a committee to audit the treas- 
urer's accounts be appointed, to act under 
direction of the executive board, and to con- 
tinue in office through the year, in order that 
next year's report and accounts may be 
audited before the annual meeting. Commit- 
tee : Gardner M. Jones, J. N.Wing, A.L. Peck. 

Voted, That the treasurer be instructed to 
pay to W. I. Fletcher the balance of $127.77 
due him under the agreement as to the prepar- 
ation of the A. L. A. Index. 

Voted, To refer to the executive board with 
power, that part of the secretary's report re- 
lating to the Endowment Fund and its loan to 
the Section. 

Voted, That the executive board be in- 
structed to proceed at once with the publica- 
tion of 'the Index of Subject Headings, reported 
as nearly ready by the committee, G. M. 
Jones, chairman, charged by the A. L. A. 
with the preparation of such a list. 

Voted, That a committee of three be ap- 
pointed by the chair to submit to the executive 
board a revised scheme for the various publi- 
cations of the Publishing Section, including 
for each series, name, size, paper, type and 
other mechanical features. [This committee, 
appointed later, was J. N. Lamed, R. R. Bow- 
ker, Miss Ellen M. Coe.] 

Voted, That the executive board print a 
schedule of leaflets, or minor publications 
issued or prepared by the Section, if the de- 
mand warrants; such schedules to be dis- 
tributed to libraries as an order-list. 

Mr. lies of the executive board, being unable 
to attend, sent a letter relative to the annotated 
list of books for girls' and women's clubs, in 



preparation by collaboration under direction of 
Miss Ellen M. Coe. 

Voted, That the executive board be in- 
structed to publish this work by sections as 
fast as completed, and in the form of leaflets 
for each subject. 

The subject of a new edition of " Reading 
for the Young " was discussed, and it was 

Voted, That a Supplement to " Reading for 
the Young" be issued, including an index to 
the leading children's periodicals. 

Voted, That arrangements be made for 
bringing out a brief selected list of children's 
reading that can be distributed at a cost of 
about five cents, so that libraries can use them 
very freely. 

Voted, That a circular be sent to libraries 
inviting notice to the Section of" suitable manu- 
script material which the Section ought to 
publish. 

Voted, That the executive board be rec- 
ommended to establish as a part of their 
work a distributing agency for gifts, if found 
practicable. 

Voted, That the executive board prepare 
for private circulation an annotated list of un- 
desirable fiction. 

On motion of Mr. Lamed it was 

Voted, That the officers of the Section for 
the past year be re-elected for the year to 
come, as follows : President, Melvil Dewey ; 
Secretary and Treasurer, W. C. Lane; Ex- 
ecutive Board, in addition to the above, W. 
I. Fletcher, R. R. Bowker, George lies. 

Adjourned. 

W. I. FLETCHER, 

Secretary pro tempore. 



COLLEGE LIBRARY SECTION. 



At the preliminary meeting, Wednesday, 
September 19, in the absence of Professor 
Harris, Mr. W. I. Fletcher, of Amherst 
College, was asked to act as chairman at the 
meetings of the Section. 

Two regular meetings were held, on the 
afternoons of Thursday and Friday, Septem- 
ber 20 and 21. At these meetings no formal 
papers were read, but the time was occupied 
by brief statements of the practice of the 
institutions represented, on some points of 
particular interest to the Section. 

At the first meeting, in the absence of the 



secretary, Mr. Austin, of Cornell University, 
acted as secretary pro tern. The subject dis- 
cussed was "Departmental and Seminary 
Libraries." Amherst and Bowdoin colleges 
have no such libraries ; the other institutions, 
so far as reported, all have them, though in 
varying numbers and under varying conditions 
of use and control. Opinions on the advis- 
ability of their establishment were divided, 
but^heir especial usefulness to those depart- 
ments in which the instruction is given in 
special laboratories was generally admitted. 
It was also agreed that it is difficult to obtain 



i 7 6 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



satisfactory supervision without having an 
attendant in each library. 

At the second meeting the subject-catalogue 
of a college library, access to the shelves, and 
instruction in the use of the library*, were dis- 
cussed. As to the second point it was found 
that Amherst College, the Illinois State Normal 
University, and the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology give free access to all students, 
and Harvard and Cornell to all graduate stu- 
dents and to specially recommended under- 
graduates. In regard to the third point, the 
opinion of those who had tried class instruction 
in the use of the library by lectures was against 
the method and in favor of instruction of in- 
dividuals or of small sections in the library itself. 

The chairman's suggestion that the subject 
of ' ' Specialization in college libraries, is or is 
it not made at the expense of general culture ?' 
be considered at the meeting of the Section 
next year, was approved. 

The Section voted that the Executive board 
of the A. L A. be requested to assign to some 
one session those subjects which are not 
particularly interesting to the College Section, 
and to allow the latter to hold its meeting at 
the time of that session. 



On motion of Miss Milner it was voted that 
the Executive board be requested to consider, 
when determining the time for the next con- 
ference, the facts that the vacations of school 
and college librarians begin in the very last of 
June, and that the first two weeks in Septem- 
ber are the most convenient for them. 

Mr. Clement W. Andrews, of the Massachu- 
setts Institute of Technology, was chosen chair- 
man, and Mr. W. H. Austin, of Cornell Uni- 
versity, secretary, for the ensuing year. 

The Section then adjourned. 

CLEMENT W. ANDREWS, 

Secretary. 

Libraries of the following institutions were 
represented: Amherst College, Armour Insti- 
tute, Bowdoin College, Brown University, 
Columbia College, Cornell University, Uni- 
versity of Colorado, Harvard University, 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mc- 
Gill University, Illinois State Normal Univer- 
sity, University of Nebraska, Teachers' 
College, N. Y., University of Vermont, 
Wellesley College, Wesleyan University, and 
University of Wisconsin. 



THE SOCIAL SIDE OF THE CONFERENCE. 



There was abundant liberality displayed in 
planning the social features of the Conference 
of 1894. Three entire evenings were given up 
to enjoyment. On Wednesday evening, Sep- 
tember 19, there was " a social meeting under 
the auspices of the Library School ;" Thursday 
evening was the occasion of the annual dinner; 
and Friday evening was given up to a dance 
and "social" arranged by the entertainment 
committee. Lack of space forbids even brief 
mention of the many pleasant details of these 
three evenings. A bare outline of the whole 
must suffice enough, it is hoped, to revive 
and freshen pleasant memories. 

Chronologically, the social evening conducted 
by " the" Library School deserves first place. 
At half -past eight on Wednesday evening the 
members, some 200 strong, gathered in the 
big hall of the Grand View Hotel, about the 
great open fireplace, where a cheery fire 
burned. Mr. Crunden made an effective 
master of ceremonies. The evening opened 



with a little music ; then came a ' ' fagot 
party," when various persons were called upon 
to amuse the company while their "fagots" 
burned on the hearth. The fagots, by the 
way, were fragrant bundles of fir branches. 
Among those who contributed fagots to the 
social blaze were Mr. Dewey, Mr. Cutter, Mr. 
W. I. Fletcher, Mr. Soule, Mr. Bolton, Miss 
McMillan, Miss McGuffey and Miss Browning. 
An interesting debate was held on the ques- 
tion, "Did Mr. Cutter ascend Whiteface?" 
Mr. Dewey taking the negative, Mr. Fletcher 
the affirmative ; after which, Mr. Crunden gave, 
in inimitable French-English, a Frenchman's 
views on " Hamlet." Then followed the sing- 
ing of college glees and choruses by the whole 
gathering, given with hearty good will, for by 
this time every one was at ease and " went 
in" with enthusiasm. " America" was sung, 
standing, as a finale, and then refreshments 
were served, consisting of crackers and cheese, 
doughnuts and cider, peanuts and maple 



SOCIAL FEATURES. 



177 



sugar a regular mountain Hallowe'en spread. 
This closed a program that was not only 
enjoyable but delightfully original and un- 
expected. 

The annual dinner on Thursday evening 
differed little from its predecessors of former 
conferences. It was served in the dining- 
rooms of the Grand View Hotel, and the menu 
"d la Dewey and Cutter" deserves to be 
commemorated in the records of the A. L. A. 
It consisted of: 

613.28 plus 536.42 a la 396.923.144 

RN phis MJB a la e u 3 

614.324 of 583.32 a la 944.36 

RNC of RGP a la 39 



974.16 597.5 0944.270 

8 4 iK PBS D 18 

583.32 a la 944 

RGP a la 39 



636.2591.49 a la G 54 

RM a la G 54 

583.79 944.36 

RGP 39 P 



957 621.96 



RRLP 65 



598.6 plus 614.132 plus 536.46 

RJND plus RZQ 

583.55 plus 665.3 Plus 664.5 

RGL plus RRBV plus RRBO 



945.73 642 RZU 35 N 
613.19^1641 MHJ RZT 



634 613.38 RH and R. 2 B. C. 

Fortunately, a " key " was appended, where- 
by the poetry of Dewey and Cutter was ren- 
dered into plain English prose. After the 
dinner came the toasts and speeches. Find- 
ing, however, that it was impossible, as the 
tables were arranged, for all to hear, the 
diners carried their chairs into the spacious 
parlors, where they settled themselves for "the 
feast of reason and the flow of soul " that ac- 
company all A. L. A. festivities. Mr. Soule 
presided, and made the first speech of the 
evening, tendering to Pres. Larned the con- 
gratulations of the Association on the comple- 
tion of his great work, "History for Ready 
Reference." Mr. Larned's happy response 
was followed by brief and witty speeches from 
Mr. Crunden, Dr. Wire, Miss Ahern, Major 
McClintock, Mr. Thomson, Mr. Cutter, Mr. 
Thwaites, Mr. Gould, and others. Mr. H. L. 
Koopman read an original poem, and the fol- 



lowing verses, by Miss Almira L. Hayward, 
were listened to with interest and amusement : 

" A Larned company met one day 
Upon a Hill not far away, 
Each having first his views expressed 
By Carrs they came, from east and West, 
From Dewey Lane and lies so Green, 
From Glenns where Garlands Gay are seen, 
From quiet Pools where Clouds look down 
To Seymour clear where they will drown. 
On Mundy Sharp these wise ones met, 
The King had called, the time was set. 
The Faxon which they then debated, 
Each Bill they passed, opinion stated, 
Are they not entered in his book 
Who'll Dana 'nother year to brook 
The Pecks and frowns of thankless men, 
And be our secretary again ? 
This lesson learn, if you would Winsor, 
Keep watch and Ward o'er every Mann, sir; 
Maintain the Chase by Wing and Wire, 
And time will bring your heart's desire. 
The memory of this time we'll treasure, 
And Foster well these springs of pleasure; 
Each Little Cole of fire we'll cover 
As tenderly as bashful lover; 
Thus keeping each, within his Soule, 
The fire of loyalty and truth. 

Indeed so abundant was the supply of wit 
and wisdom, that it was "all hours" when the 
sixteenth annual dinner of the A. L. A. was 
declared finis. 

As if one social evening was not enough, the 
entertainment committee had arranged that 
Friday evening, September 21, should be given 
up to festivity at the Mirror Lake Hotel. 
Large placards conveyed the information that 
this was "A LAst night;" but even this fact 
could not cast a gloom upon the evening. 
There was dancing from 9 till u, followed by 
a "sing." The fascinations of an "Art 
gallery" and a "Hall of curios" combined, 
attracted those who were not disciples of 
Terpsichore, and when the dancing was over, 
refreshments were served in the pleasant 
dining-room of the hotel. A vote of thanks 
was unanimously tendered to Mr. Martin, 
proprietor of the Mirror Lake Hotel, and of 
course there were more speeches, recitations 
and toasts. Among those who thus helped to 
speed the hours of the "A LAst night" were 
Messrs. Crunden, Thwaites, Soule, Dudley and 
Dana. Then the "good nights " were said, and 
the social features of the Conference were at an 
end, save as they should be continued, in modi- 
fied form, during the Post-Conference week. 



7 8 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



THE POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 
SATURDAY-WEDNESDAY, BY HELEN E. HAINES. 



First, it was one of the largest parties that has 
ever taken a Post-Conference trip; secondly, 
the Weather Bureau had frowned upon frivolity 
and had so arranged that the Conference week 
proper was kept clear (indoors) for business, 
with but few pleasure trips, so that when play- 
time came all were ready for it; lastly, the 
sentiments of the party were fitly expressed by 
a member when she said, " When I am at play 
I play just as hard as I can; when I am at 
work I work just as hard as I play and you 
see how hard I play!" Therefore, the Post- 
Conference was a SUCCESS, in big capitals. 
Q. E. D. 

It began on Saturday, September 22, when 
at 2.30 P. M., the members gathered about the 
Mirror Lake and Grand View Hotels, ex- 
changed adieus with their friends, old and 
new, who were not "in it," mounted tally- 
hos, ensconced themselves in carryalls and 
mountain wagons, and were driven through the 
September sunshine to the little Lake Placid 
railway station, bidding a regretful farewell 
to the beautiful twin lakes, to Little Cobble, 
Big Cobble, and Old Whiteface, for by this 
time we 

"Hailed in each crag a friend's familiar face, 
And clasped the mountains in our mind's embrace." 

Then came the rapid run by the Chateaugay 
R. R. to Saranac Lake. Here all emerged; 
bags, portmanteaus and " sich " were stowed 
away in the waiting wagons, more farewells 
were exchanged with those whom unkind fate 
sent homeward, and the Post-Conferrees, 
numbering sixty-odd, again piled into tallyhos 
and coaches and were conveyed along the 
winding road to the hotels Ampersand and 
Algonquin. 

But fifteen were quartered at the latter house ; 
the others nocked into the Ampersand, pre- 
empted all available rooms, and overflowed into 
tents, cabins and "annexed districts," whence 
after some sprucing up they emerged ready for 
supper and plenty of it. What befell after 
supper this chronicle saith not. It is rumored 
that there was dancing ; but this is not credited, 
as the Mountain Climber and Devotee of Terp- 
sichore is known to have retired at 8. 30. Most 
of the members soon followed his example and 



sought repose some in prosaic hotel chambers, 
some in airy tents, where the wind whistled, 
the canvas flapped, and all was eerie, queery 
and skeery ; some in quaint little cabins hidden 
in the birch grove, and some in the humble 
"annex" over the woodshed. 

On Sunday the librarians followed their own 
sweet wills. They walked and talked, and ex- 
plored the woods and shore, they held learned 
discourse upon the raison d'etre of the word 
"ampersand" (&) as applied to the adjacent 
lakes and mountain ; some went to church a 
morning service was held in the hotel parlors 
and a few lucky mortals spent the day in a 
never-to-be-forgotten trip up the Lower Sar- 
anac, through the Saranac River, across Round 
Lake, to Saranac Club Inn and back again. 

Just a word for this trip: it deserves more 
than a brief title entry. The parties, two boat- 
loads, left at 9.30 A. M., were rowed by the 
guides to Saranac Club Inn, where they dined 
(and such a dinner!), and returned, reaching 
" home" at six. Literally, the day was far from 
perfect, but practically it was better than per- 
fect, for it showed the lakes under the varying 
aspects of storm and quiet, sunshine and cloud, 
wind, rain and calm. On the homeward way 
there came a smart shower ; but then the setting 
sun shone out, and that sunset was, in truth, as 
though our eyes had ' ' seen the glory of the 
coming of the Lord." There was no warmth 
of color, no red glow, but all the world was 
bathed in paly gold, lighting up the brown and 
olive storm clouds, turning the hills into a glory 
of greens and browns and reds, casting myriad 
halos upon the dancing water, while to the 
east shone steadily the bow of promise. 

The Weather Sharp said it meant rain. Anp 
it did. That night we could say with Long- 
fellow : 

" The wind is rising, it seizes and shakes 
The doors and window-blinds, and makes 
Mysterious meanings in the halls " 

and especially in the tents. As the wind rose 
the temperature fell, and the warm wraps 
which Mr. Dewey had so emphasized, and 
which had until now been a delusion and a 
snare, were rummaged out and donned three 
deep. 



POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 



179 



On Monday morning, fortified by a good 
breakfast and well wrapped, the party set forth 
for the ten-mile drive by tallyho to Paul 
Smith's. It was arranged that those who 
rode outside in the morning should ride inside 
in the afternoon, during the drive from Paul 
Smith's to Bloomingdale, and it proved that 
the self-sacrificing ones who gave up first place 
chose literally " the better part." The coaches 
were full, outside and inside, and the on- 
toppers packed themselves in so closely that it 
was hinted that the roof of one coach was 
weakening, in which case, some one said, there 
would be a fine mess of library jelly. 

That morning's drive was not hilarious. The 
coaches rattled over the " thank-you-marm's," 
through the pines, over the hills and far away ; 
but the wind and the rain and the cold had 
apparently a soothing effect on the spirits of 
the party. But when will we forget the blazing 
wood fires in Paul Smith's hospitable parlors ? 
How we stood around them and revelled in 
their warmth, thawing by degrees, relaxing 
stiffened muscles, and deciding that life was 
worth living after all, and that the half-hour 
before dinner had best be spent in exploring. 

Out then the clans trooped, by twos and 
threes and half-dozens, rambling among the 
big pines, along the lake, past the charming 
log cabins summer homes available only for 
capitalists down the wooded knolls to the 
lake shore, and then doing it all over again. 
There was but one little rift within the lute. 
This was no lodge in a vast wilderness, but a 
civilized, expensive summer hotel, with modern 
improvements, and the untamed librarians 
yearned for forest solitudes, for wilderness 
and " b'ars." But civilization has its compen- 
sations : 

" All human history attests 
That happiness for man the hungry sinner 
Since Eve ate apples, much depends on dinner," 

and that dinner at Paul Smith's reconciled us 
to Nineteenth Century existence, as demon- 
strated in fried chicken, venison a la chasseur, 
Neapolitan macaroni, and accompaniments. 

Then came the eight mile drive to Blooming- 
dale station, when the former outsiders went 
inside and the insiders came out. By this 
time the storm had cleared, the sun smiled in 
a wintry way but with signs of relenting, and 
the wind had subsided. It was a very jolly 



drive among the pines, first going up, up, up, 
then coming down, down, downy, and, in the 
words of the poet, 

" There was music in the air as the A. L. A. went by, 
And clear their voices rang in the gray September 
sky!" 

By the time the coaches reached Blooming- 
dale station the star spangled banner had 
waved, the gem of the ocean had sparkled, 
Bonnie had been brought back several times, 
Nellie had been seen home assiduously, and 
the yearnings of the librarians had found vent 
in musical appeals for " Mush, mush, mush ! " 

Bloomingdale station was taken by a strategic 
movement, and the host rested on their arms and 
entertained "the lively shadow-world of song," 
to the edification (?) of the natives, until the 
Loon Lake train appeared, and was promptly 
carried by assault. From Loon Lake station 
to Loon Lake House was a three mile drive 
through the lengthening shadows, among the 
loveliest surroundings, each woodsy vista 
revealing fresh beauties of tinted foliage, 
purple hills and glimpses of the hidden lake. 

Loon Lake House "is chiefly noted for" its 
supper and those members who expatiate, 
instead, upon the attractions of the charming 
views, the wooded hills and the lakeside paths, 
are to be regarded with distrust. After supper 
the party gathered in the delightful main hall 
and office, around the blazing open fires, where 
some wrote letters, but the majority talked and 
talked and talked again. 

It is the opinion of the Outsider that libra- 
rians are distinctively a Gregarious Species, 
and it is another opinion of the same observer 
that had an American librarian participated in 
the famous talking match between the French- 
man, the Englishman and the German, the re- 
sult of that contest would have been different. 
It was amusing to listen to the babble of con- 
versation and to note how "shop" was omni- 
present even in playtime, and how, though the 
talk might stray far afield from shelf-lists, 
fixed location, catalogs and stacks, it was sure 
to return anon to those mysterious library 
realms. 

It has been intimated that the spirits of the 
party were high ; but how unrestrained those 
spirits were was not known until that evening 
at Loon Lake House, when they (the spirits) 
performed weird antics of table-tipping, and 



i8o 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



even sent a solemn grand piano curveting 
about the room, much to the delectation of the 
guests of the hotel, who in common with the 
ordinary folk at most of our stopping-places 
seemed to regard the A. L. A. party as a 
"sideshow" provided for their special enter- 
tainment. 

At nine o'clock on Tuesday morning, in a 
misty rain, the tribes left Loon Lake for 
Plattsburgh, the indefatigable secretary being 
reenforced by the courteous agent of the D. & 
H. C. Co., who was to "personally conduct" 
us as far as Lake George. The trip from Loon 
Lake to Plattsburgh occupied about two hours, 
and was chiefly given up to watching the mag- 
nificent mountain panorama that was unrolled 
as the train rushed up the steep grades, " way 
up on the mountain top, tip-top," or swung 
around sharp curves that left one breathless. 

A few enterprising spirits stationed them- 
selves on the rear platform of the train 
and drank in the wonderful view, imbibing at 
the same time a plentiful modicum of coal dust 
and cinders. Specially interesting were the 
deserted villages, formerly thriving charcoal- 
burning or iron-mining settlements, now bare 
and desolate, the cabins, workshops and general 
store shuttered up or gaping forlornly. Dan- 
nemora, too, was interesting, with the battle- 
mented walls of the prison, which, a small boy 
informed us, contained "more'n a thousand 
men." 

During the trip the mist cleared away and 
the sun shone fair and promising, turning the 
hills into wonderful kaleidoscopes of greens, 
bronzes and reds. Plattsburgh was reached 
at noon, and the company trooped into Paul 
Smith's Fouquet House, whence some made 
their way to the town and invested in "rub- 
bers," "goloshes" and "gums" according to 
where they were "raised" with which to 
brave the slipperiness of Au Sable Chasm, and 
which, parenthetically, were quite unnecessary. 
Dinner over, the train was boarded for the 
Chasm, stopping by the way at Bluff Point, 
where all baggage was left, to be taken to the 
Hotel Champlain. 

The Chasm was reached at three o'clock, 
and the party made their way to the little pa- 
goda, the entrance to the gorge, where they 
peered through the panes of blue and yellow 
glass and exclaimed at the wonderful color 



effects cast upon the rocks and the river below. 
Then down the winding stairway to the Chasm 
they filed, enthusiastic at first, exclaiming 
over the coloring, the rocks, the sky, the sun- 
light and the river, but gradually growing 
silent as the full beauty of the scene made it- 
self felt. Frederika Bremer once said that " a 
visit to the Chasm would reward a voyage from 
Europe," and this afternoon was undoubtedly 
the crown and climax of our trip. 

Turn for a moment to the guide-book: 
' ' Near Keeseville the Au Sable River flows over 
the Alice Falls, and then descends, a line of 
swirling rapids, to the Birmingham Falls. 
Below it grows narrower and deeper, and 
rushes through Au Sable Chasm, where, at the 
narrowest point, a wedged bowlder cramps 
the channel to the width of six or eight feet. 
Still lower down, the walls stand about fifty 
feet apart, and are more than one hundred 
feet high, descending to the water's edge in 
sheer perpendicular line." For nearly two 
miles the river makes its way within these 
rocky walls, breaking out into wonderful 
fissures, clefts and gullies; now fretting and 
storming in a foaming torrent; now hardly 
moving, a waveless, inky pool ; while on either 
side the sheer cliffs rise like piers of masonry, 
crowned with cedars, and fringed and garlanded 
with moss and evergreens. 

There was no order in our wanderings. By 
twos and threes we visited the deep cave, 
peered down the great pot-hole known as 
"Jacob's Well," clambered over the rocks, 
and mounted the winding galleries and stair- 
ways. The Western Antiquarian and the 
Mountain Climber held sage 'ological discus- 
sions upon Potsdam sandstone, volcanic forma- 
tions and friable rock; some grosser souls 
were not above the charms of peanuts, and 
others loaded themselves with stone "relics" 
of the trip. Then came the gathering on Table 
Rock, where the boat landing is, and where 
photographs and "soft" drinks are obtainable; 
then, the too short "boat ride," the shooting 
of the rapids; and then 'twas over, and the 
librarians stowed themselves into the waiting 
wagons, and were driven in hilarious mood to 
the little Au Sable station, whence the train 
was to convey them to Hotel Champlain. 

Here, in the rustic shed that served as depot, 
the meeting was called to order, and the closing 



POS T- CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 



181 



exercises of " Au Sable Day" were held, 
Secretary Hill reading the following communi- 
cation, which had reached him that morning 
and been held in reserve all day : 

Au SABLE CHASM, September 23, 1894. 
This comes to inform you, O dear A. L. A.. 
Who are just in the midst of a week's holiday, 
That we two, who cut across country, instead 
Of following where the Post-Conference led, 
Are here at this chasm, which some people label 
Au Sahble, some Ossible, others Au Sable. 

We left the hotels in most excellent style, 

And went without stopping for nearly a mile, 

When we paused to take on summer boarders and 

trunks 

(The latter might well have been fitted with bunks, 
And each used for a cottage, so bulky were they, 
But at last on a buckboard they hied them away). 

Then we stopped for a bundle. "This side up, with care, 

Leave at Toby's old tenant-haouse, I'll pay the fare." 

After this nothing happened till Wilmington Notch, 

Where a strap badly fastened created a botch, 

For just as we came to the foot of the hill, 

A passenger cried, " Look behind ! There's a spill ! " 

And suddenly, with a dull, sickening thud, 
Down went the librarian's trunk in the mud ; 
This being recovered, we saw a fresh trail 
On Whiteface's eastern side scarred and pale. 

'Twas a serpentine path, made in order to guide 

A party of six through waltz, polka and glide, 

Led on by one Cutter, of catalog fame, 

To keep up their spirits, as downward they came, 

Wet and chilled, but still dancing with zeal ever new, 

Over ten miles of road, till they found the Grand View. 

At noontide, we halted at Baldwin's good inn, 
Where everything's tidy, and neat as a pin. 
'Twas there we changed horses, and sped to the town, 
Where Au Sable's two branches come rapidly down. 

We had brought such a thirst from the top of the 

mountain, 

That we instantly looked for a near soda fountain; 
In the shop where we found it, were watches and drugs, 
Huyler's candy (not fresh) and some gilt cups and 

mugs. 

And Miss Garland will doubtless be happy to know, 
Books by Mary J. Holmes, and our friend, "poor old 

Roe." 

Lest this statement should give any A. L. A. pain, 
Let me say that beside them were Scott and Montaigne. 

It was just five o'clock when we drove to the door 
Of the quiet "Lake View," close to Champlain's west 

shore; 

To-day we have come to the Chasm with speed, 
For "the better the day, the better the deed." 

And we think, as we sit in a cave in the wall, 
And hear the wild roar of the river and fall, 
'Tis a bit of the Rockies, a canon that we 
Only wish our " Arapahoe " friends here to see. 

C. M. H. | X their 
M. F. j X marks. 



It was a very merry party that boarded the 
train at Au Sable. The half-hour's wait had 
been employed in scrambling about, taking last 
looks at the Chasm, and gathering " weeds" ; 
indeed, almost every one was more or less 
decorated with goldenrod, asters and bitter- 
sweet berries, and laden down with ferns, 
vines and autumn leaves. At Port Kent there 
was a wait of three-quarters of an hour, chiefly 
given over to a musicale, the crowning feature 
of which was "John Brown's Body," "cur- 
tailed" in good, old-fashioned style. A small 
boy with a big basket full of apples, pears and 
plums, wandered into the Port Kent station 
while it was in the hands of the library horde ; 
in less time than it takes to write it his basket 
was empty, and the youth, in a state of happy 
bewilderment, was counting over the ' ' thirty- 
nine or forty cents," which was, he said, the 
most he had ever made " 'cept once two weeks 
ago, When he'd made mor'n thirty-five cents 
off n 'nother lot o' people." 

Bluff Point was reached at 6.50; there was 
a short drive to the hotel, and soon all, clothed 
and in their right minds, were doing justice to 
the elaborate menu of the Hotel Champlain, 
which stated in a footnote, ' ' Hotel Champlain 
will close September 26, after breakfast." It 
was a pleasant surprise, at supper time, to be 
greeted by the Arapahoe and the Lady from 
Milwaukee, who were bound for Burlington by 
Wednesday's steamer. The Arapahoe, being 
a sceptic as well as a pessimist, had travelled 
down from Lake Placid for the express purpose 
of disproving and confounding the table-tippers. 
So that evening the " spirits" had another ses- 
sion, which was satisfactory in that it confirmed 
both parties in their previous convictions . 

After supper there was a display of fireworks 
on the hotel grounds, which the A. L. A. ac- 
cepted, perhaps mistakenly, as a tribute to 
their presence. There was also a concert, the 
sixth number being "March: American Library 
Association," and then an informal meeting 
was held in the white parlor, where resolutions 
were passed thanking the proprietors for their 
courtesy in keeping the hotel open for the 
special accommodation of the A. L. A. 

Let us draw a veil over Wednesday morning. 
It is not a pleasant memory. It recalls the 
stentorian voice of the porter, as he thundered 
at each door "Five-thirty!" " Five -thirty !" 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



But five-thirty it was, perforce, so the unwilling 
ones arose, donned their clothes, and went in 
search of the magnificent view, which had been 
ingeniously used as a reason for this early 
reveille. And it was magnificent, that glo- 
rious morning, from the observatory of the 
hotel, to gaze upon the beautiful lake, the 
wooded shores, the distant hills, and to feel 
the intoxication of the sunshine and the fresh, 
invigorating air. Breakfast was at 6. 30, and 
all was business and activity, for the hotel 
force were intent upon the closing that was to 
follow. Then came a brisk walk to the dock, 
and soon the whole party, with bag and bag- 
gage, were on board the Vermont, bound for 
the Sagamore, Lake George. 

That lake trip is another " white day" which 
will long remain a delightful memory. It was 
glorious "A. L. A. weather," the scenery, the 
company, each was perfect what more could 
one desire ? For hours the white hotel was in 
view, overlooking the beautiful expanse of the 
lake, and all the morning Mount Mansfield 
bore us company, glistening with the first snow 
of the season. Nor did we simply gaze and 
admire. Being "a literary lot," we sought in- 
formation likewise. 

The Western Antiquarian, being naturally 
at home upon an historic waterway, was all 
that morning the centre of an animated 
"history group" devoted to the discussion of 
the War of Independence, the French and 
Indian Wars, the early voyageurs and pioneers, 
and the historic episodes brought to mind by 
the region through which we were passing. At 
Burlington we said farewell to the Arapahoe 
and his companion, but here there was a 
pleasant surprise as well, for two members 
who had been left behind at Saranac station 
made their appearance, to accompany the 
party as far as the Sagamore. Dinner was 
served on the steamer, and at noon Fort 
Ticonderoga was reached, whence the train 
bore us to Baldwin and Lake George. 

What can be said of that voyage down Lake 
George on the Hortcon ? It is reiteration to 
say that this was the loveliest of all; never- 
theless it was. Every one was forward on the 
upper deck, giving themselves up to rapt en- 
joyment of the glorious day, the beautiful 
shores, the islands, the glittering expanse of 
sunlit water. Here, too, we had a cicerone. 



The captain, animated by a laudable desire to 
"beat the Adirondacks," pointed out the 
features of the route. He showed us Rogers' 
Slide and told its story ; he told the tale of 
Sabbath-day Point; he showed us Anthony's 
Nose, the Elephant, sunning himself lazily 
upon the mountain side, the Old Man, with his 
magic transformations, the Shanghai Cock, 
precariously perched upon the rock wall; he 
told the history of the lake steamers, pointed 
out Black Mountain and the Sugar Loaf, and 
showed us an eagle, idly resting on a ragged 
pine tree. 

Three o'clock came all too soon. Hasty 
farewells were exchanged with the two we left 
behind us, and with our kindly "personal 
conductor," to whom was tendered an informal 
but hearty resolution of thanks. Then the 
cohorts trooped from the steamer to the Saga- 
more, where they were quartered in luxurious 
rooms with open fireplaces and long French 
windows opening on broad verandas. After 
removing an upper layer of dust the visitors 
hurried down and out to explore the beautiful 
island, and the rest of the afternoon was given 
up to a lovely ramble along the shore, over the 
rustic bridge, out to the summer-house on the 
furthermost point, and then to the hotel by a 
charming path through the woods, bordered 
with ferns, with moss and scarlet partridge- 
berries. Then, to come down to material 
needs, how good the supper was, in the big 
dining-room, and how heartily every one ap- 
preciated the skill of the Sagamore's chefs, 
especially as illustrated in milk-toast and pota- 
toes hashed in cream. 

After dinner the tribes separated. Some 
gathered about the great wood fires, toasted 
their toes, and talked. Four indefatigable 
dancers, who had been denied their favorite 
pastime till patience was no longer a virtue, 
assembled in the great dancing hall, illuminated 
with a few melancholy jets, and while one 
played and one looked on and waited " turns," 
the solitary couple had a solitary but satisfac- 
tory dance. Then all gathered for a meeting, 
held in the deserted dining-room, where Pres. 
Larned presented for discussion the history 
division of Miss Coe's list of books for work- 
ing girls' clubs, which was amended, criti- 
cised and dissected until fatigue conquered 
and the session was declared adjourned. 



POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 



183 



THURSDAY-SATURDAY. 
BY CAROLINE HARWOOD GARLAND. 

Thursday was the one day for which no pro- 
gram had been arranged, the itinerary reading 
modestly: " Thursday, at Sagamore House." 
There were those who believed that simple 
legend, and having been told that the Saga- 
more was the most delightful place in the 
world, innocently supposed that the day was 
to be devoted to a quiet and peaceful contem- 
plation of its delights. 

In point of fact, the company had hardly 
arrived before a stalwart Appalachian was in 
active circulation inciting a party to go off and 
climb Black Mountain, over on the other side 
of the lake. Incredible to say, he found ardent 
supporters, and on the morning of Thursday 
twenty-five persons, goaded by evil consciences 
or some other cause of restless activity, turned 
their backs on the most delightful place in the 
world and set sail in a steamer for the foot of 
Black Mountain. 

The clouds were threatening and the wind 
was chilly, but nothing venture, nothing 
have. So the weather, taken by the horns 
if the figure may be permitted capitulated. 
The clouds broke up into masses of white on 
a clear, blue sky. The wind came out west- 
erly. The view of the heavens, as well as of 
the earth that day from the mountain, was 
something to see but not to describe. 

There were fourteen people who climbed the 
mountain. The other eleven kept on in the 
steamer, went around Paradise Bay, landed, 
explored, lunched mostly on sorrel and de- 
clared, on their return, that their day had 
been the best day of all. Those who did not 
leave the Sagamore hotly disputed this, con- 
tending that no day could be so fine as theirs. 
The president, who had resisted all tempta- 
tions to drive, or walk or climb, boldly declar- 
ing that on this one day he wanted to loaf 
and invite his soul, lent the dignity of his sanc- 
tion to a similar verdict. 

Those who followed Artist's Brook a little 
ways above the saw-mill, and sitting down 
quietly in an opening of the woods, let 
the picture before them imprint itself slowly 
and indelibly upon their minds those are 
more than content to believe that the best was 
theirs. As for that vain-glorious fourteen who 



scaled the mountain heights, they were so sure 
that they were to be envied of all men, that 
they sat down on the summit and begged the 
Antiquarian to write some verses, with the fol- 
lowing result: 

A HILL-TOP MEDLEY IN DOGGEREL. 



Top of Blackface Mt., Lake George, I 
i P. M., Thursday, Sept. 27, 1894. ) 

TO THE FAINT-HEARTS WHO TURNED BACK FROM 
WHITEFACE : 

I. 

Here on top of Blackface Mountain, 
Which for hours we have been mounting, 

Our thoughts are fondly with you, far away; 
For though Whiteface not ascending, 
You have been most condescending, 

To praise the toilsome effort of that day. 

H. 

There had spread a queer impression, 
During the labors of the session, 

That Whiteface was the fable of a day ; 
Mayhap there was apparent reason, 
In that very gruesome season, 

For misbelief in even Cutter's say. 

in. 

But very sad this harsh reflection, 
On the mountaineering section 

Of the worthy A. L. A.; 
Hence to save its reputation, 
Eat we here a slight collation 

In the middle of the day. 

IV. 

We have clambered to the top, 
Into limping verse to drop, 

As we our bones are resting on the way ; 
For we wish you all to know 
That we are in the land of snow, 

And find our mountaineering only play. 

ENSEMBLE. 

In the distance, clouded Whiteface, 

Finest mountain of the chain, 
And here about us Blackface, 

With^nary a drop of rain, 
Which hill is the grander, 

"Pis not for us to choose. 
Just as an Ampersander 

Would his bottom dollar lose, 
Than express a cold opinion 

On tents or annex sheds, 
Or whether neck or pinion 

Is better than chicken legs. 



184 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



Over there, is Loon Lake Station; 

Just beyond, the Singing Sand, 
And the warriors of the nation 

On Plattsburg's glist'ning strand. 
Paul Smith's a trifle yonder, 

With his white-horse tally-ho, 
Which makes the yokels wonder 

That a man can ride below. 
At our feet the limpid George, 

And the turreted Sagamore, 
All by the mountain gorge, 

And lovers' leaps galore. 

But why linger here much longer, 
Courting the muse on lofty plane, 

When we are beset with hunger, 
And to have more lunch would fane. 

No Grand View sandwich doth regale 

The heroes of this limping tale : 

They naught but oxygen inhale, 

Lacking "The Bottle of Kinsale." 

Oh, how can Muse her lovers 'thuse, 

When famine dread doth rear its head ? 
'Tis enough to create defection 
E'en in the mountaineering section. 

From all quarters of the globe, the parties 
returned with singular unanimity for dinner ; 
and the short afternoon was spent in driving 
happy were they who took the magnificent 
drive over Federal Hill in walking a little, in 
talking a good deal and in being photographed. 
Then there was the sunset, with the shadows 
creeping upward on the mountain sides, the 
warm flush, pink, and then fading to tender 
gray, and later the soft, bright after glow. 
And who that came walking up that woodland 
road from the little rustic observatory to the 
hotel, can ever forget it ? the gathering 
shadows ; the stately trees almost meeting far 
overhead ; the springy loam, yielding to the 
foot at every step; the air laden with fra- 
grance of balsam and pine ; and at the end, a 
rocker and an open fire. 

That evening was devoted to social features. 
At the supper tables a more or less suppressed 
excitement made itself felt. Certain import- 
ant personages " wanted to see" somebody in 
the little parlor, in the writing room, in the 
room at the head of the stairs. The result 
was that everybody went to everybody else's 
room, which did not mix matters up at all, but 
only made them more entertaining. Once 
gathered in the parlor, charades were an- 
nounced, in the course of which were dis- 
played several clever bits of impromptu act- 



ing. The audience was equal to the demands 
upon it and guessed successively, Catalogue, 
Periodical, Cross-reference, Poole's Index, but 
had to be assisted to Bibliography. 

Charades gave way to characters, and after 
these were guessed, divers dignified members 
of the party got down on their knees before 
the open fire and popped corn and roasted 
chestnuts. It had been planned that at this 
point the Recorder of the A. L. A. and his 
wife should present the balcony scene from 
Romeo and Juliet the Sagamore being the 
place of tender memory to them but they 
were not to be found, so the evening wound up 
with a Virginia reel, after which some folks 
went to bed immediately and some folks 
didn't. 

On Friday morning that which had befallen 
us at Hotel Champlain again befel us. Be- 
ing the last guests of the season we saw the 
shrouding of the carpets and furniture, and the 
ghostly array of white served to lessen the 
sorrow with which the pilgrims took a farewell 
of the house and went out to be photographed. 
From the lawn to the steamer landing was 
only a step ; a reluctant step at the time, yet 
once embarked there was no occasion for lin- 
gering regret. 

The morning was royal. Clear fine air, 
bright sunlight, blue water. Two little steam- 
ers placed themselves on either side a great 
scow, and the pilgrims were invited to the 
steamers, and the trunks were rolled into the 
scow. It required but a glance to windward 
to see that the scow was a more excellent place 
for view, and presently every trunk had a pil- 
grim sitting on it. 

Caldwell is only ten miles from the Saga- 
more, so there was only about an hour's sail. 
But what an hour! The lake lay blue and 
sparkling in the sunlight. On the east rose 
Buck Mountain, lofty and fair, and Pilot, with 
its divided peak. Behind was Black Mountain, 
gaunt and rocky. Away to the south stretched 
French Mountain. By turning our heads we 
could stiil see Dome Island, its slopes covered 
with the greens of many varieties of tree. 
Further on the Three Sisters greeted us, as 
had, down the lake, the Three Brothers. For 
miles along the shore line no house would be 
seen, and then an opening in the woods would 
reveal a group of summer cottages, more or 



POST-CONFERENCE EXCURSION. 



185 



less pretentious. But these did not seem so 
much a part of it all as did the little village of 
Hillville, sitting close to the water's edge at 
the westerly base of the hills, its one little 
church sending a white spire heavenward. 

Of all the company who took that beautiful 
ride no two saw or heard or felt the same 
things. One, remembers the hawk that sailed 
over. One, will say that never was blue like 
unto the blue of the water that morning. 
Another, will close his eyes and feel again on 
his face the keen freshness of that September 
air. But no one of us all can have had that 
hour of nature without being the better 
for it. 

It was a chattering throng that scrambled 
off the trunks and out of the boats and 
clambered up on to the wharf to identify bag- 
gage. In the midst of it all a business meeting 
was called. And here, on the morning of the 
28th, with trunks thumping in the hands of 
sprightly baggagemen, an engine puffing on 
the track, amid the amazement of the small 
boys and the mild curiosity of the dignified 
guests of the great Fort William Henry House 
the A. L. A. adjourned sine die, and President 
Lamed turned over the reponsibilities to Presi- 
dent Utley. 

From Caldwell to Saratoga the car ride was 
not particularly interesting. Moreover the 
shadow of coming farewells made itself felt. 
A procession of autograph seekers and 
souvenir collectors filed through the car. One 
or two began counting up to see how much 
money they had left, with very gloomy results. 
Here, too, a calamity befell us. This was no 
less than the loss to the company of Mr. 
Reuben Gold Thwaites, who elected to "go 
right on." Even in a company where eaeh 
member contributed to the general fund of 
entertainment, it will be cheerfully conceded 
that to his ready tongue and fertile mind there 
was a special indebtedness. 

At Saratoga colored porters took us in 
charge, led us through the dreary, magnificent 
courtyard of the United States Hotel, and de- 
posited us in the office, where our arrival, 
important as it was, produced not a ripple of 
excitement among the blase bell boys. A 
large Unitarian conference had that morning 
left the house. The librarians were quickly 
stowed away in their vacant rooms, and find- 



ing there was still an hour before dinner time, 
scattered to see the sights. 

It was evident that city influences made 
themselves felt at once. The men furtively 
bought newspapers. The women began to 
wear gloves. All talked in subdued tones, and 
nobody whistled. After the fashion of the 
place, we loitered about the office, strolled out 
along the broad pavements, and gazed at the 
marvels in <the shop windows. Part of the 
company went across the street to Congress 
Park, and recalling as best they could after 
such a sojourn in primeval wilds, the traditions 
of city life, kept off the grass and demeaned 
themselves with propriety as they wandered 
along the well-kept paths, and admired the 
varying rainbow effects in the elaborate foun- 
tains. There were a few who adventurously 
tried the waters, which bubble up invitingly 
in the great glass globes, but the after- 
pucker was generally too strong to be con- 
cealed. 

The afternoon was superb in air and tempera- 
ture, and was devoted to exploration. Some 
went to Mt. McGregor, made famous by the 
last hours of General Grant; some took the 
electric car and rode their money's worth; 
some drove through Hilton Park and out along 
the grand boulevard to the Lake and then to 
the Geyser and the Vichy Springs. 

In the evening the librarians accepted in 
body the invitation of Mr. Franklin W. Smith 
to visit the House of Pansa and listen to a 
lecture on the manners and customs of the 
ancient Romans. The house is a perfect re- 
production of aPompeian villa, and is a treasure- 
house of beauty and information. The lecture 
was extremely interesting ; but the hour was 
late, the day had been long and eventful, and 
though the spirit was willing, an occasional 
eyelid droop'ed, and shortly after the close of 
the lecture the librarians hied them hotelward 
and sought repose. 

The next morning we were astir betimes, 
and gathered at the breakfast tables with 
lengthening faces. The melancholy hour had 
come, the saddest of the trip. Goodbyes began 
to be said. Last entries were made in memo- 
randum-books. A sober-faced and lugubrious 
company reluctantly shouldered wraps and 
grips and filed along the courtyard corridor to 
the station. Here were more adieus several 



i86 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



times repeated, for the train was late. When 
at last it rolled into the station it was pretty 
well filled, and the librarians, who had become 
accustomed to special cars and monopoly 
privileges, found themselves obliged to take 
seats where they could. Thus rudely were we 
brought back to the rough world again. 

At Albany the station resolved itself into a 
great clearing-house. Many of the party re- 
mained in the city several hours, making a 
delightful and profitable visit to the Library 
School, and later started westward. Some 



went on at once. The Boston party, few but 
very select, took the eastward bound train at 
ten o'clock and arrived at the Hub that after- 
noon. 

The trip was over. It had been a delight to 
body and spirit from beginning to end. It 
will be a delight to recall in fancy when the 
winter storms howl and the work presses close 
upon hard-driven fingers. Many and warm 
thanks are cordially given by those who en- 
joyed it to those who planned it and made it 
possible. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 

ABBREVIATIONS: F., Free; L., Library; Ln., Librarian; P., Public; As., Assistant ; R-R. Reading-room. 
* Prefixed indicates participation in part, or all, of the Post-Conference Excursion, Sept. 22-29. 



*Ahern, Mary E., Ln. Indiana State L., In- 
dianapolis, Ind. 

Ames, Rev. J: G., Supt. of Documents, Dept. 
of the Interior, Washington, D. C. 

Andrews, Clement W., Ln. Mass. Institute of 
Technology, Boston, Mass. 

Austin, Willard H., Reference Ln., Cornell 
University, Ithaca, N. Y. 

Avery, Myrtilla, Albany, N. Y., class '95, N. Y. 
State Library School. 

Baker, G: H., Ln. Columbia College L., New 
York City. 

*Baldwin, Elizabeth G . , Reviser in Cataloging 
Dept. , Columbia College L. , New York City. 

Barnum, T: R., Ln. University of Vermont, 
Burlington, Vt. 

Bartlett, Louise L., Ln. St. Johnsbury Athe- 
naeum, St. Johnsbury, Vt. 

Beckwith, Daniel, Ex-Ln. Providence Athe- 
naeum, Providence, R. I. 

Beckwith, Mrs. Daniel, Providence, R. I. 

Beer, William, Ln. Howard Memorial Library, 
New Orleans, La. 

Berry, Silas H., Ln. Y. M. C. A., Brooklyn, 
N. Y. 

Bill, Mrs. Mary E., Ln. P. L., Waltham, Mass. 

Birtwell, C: W., General Secretary Boston 
Children's Aid Society; in charge of Home 
Libraries. 

Biscoe, Walter S., Catalog Ln. N. Y. State L., 
Albany, N. Y. 

*Boardman, Anna E., Brookline, Mass. 

Boland, Frank T., Stenographer N. Y. State 
L., Albany, N. Y. 



Bolton, C: Knowles, Ln. P. L., Brookline, Mass. 
Bowerman, G: P., Cataloger N. Y. State L., 

Albany, N. Y. 

Brainerd, Helen E., Cataloger Columbia Col- 
lege L. , 'New York City. 
*Brett, W: H., Ln. P. L., Cleveland, O. 
Bronner, S., Trustee Syracuse Central L., 

Syracuse, N. Y. 
*Browne, Nina E., Ln. Library Bureau, Boston, 

Mass. 
*Browning, Eliza G. , Ln. P. L. , Indianapolis, 

Ind. 
Bullock, Edna D., Cataloger State University 

L., Lincoln, Neb. 
Bunnell, Ada, Classifier N. Y. State L., 

Albany, N. Y. 

*Carr, Henry J., Ln. P. L., Scranton, Pa. 
*Carr, Mrs. Henry J., Scranton, Pa. 
*Cattell, Sarah W., Ln. Y. W. C. A., New York 

City. 
*Champlin, G: G., Cataloger N. Y. State L., 

Albany, N. Y. 

*Champhn, Mrs. G: G., Albany, N. Y. 
*Chandler, Ellen M., Cataloger Buffalo L., 

Buffalo, N. Y. 
*Chapell, Mrs. Cornelia W., New London, 

Conn. 
*Chapell, Cornelia W., jr., Trustee P. L., New 

London, Conn. 

*Chapell, Elizabeth H., New London, Conn. 
Chase, F: H., Ln. City L., Lowell, Mass. 
*Churchman, Anna L. , Indianapolis, Ind. 
*Clarke, Edith E., Head of Catalog Dept, 

Newberry L. , Chicago, 111. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



187 



Cleveland, Josephine P., Ln. Illinois State 
Historical Society, Springfield, 111. 

Cloud, H. Carrie, Ln. F. L., Gilberts ville, N. Y. 

Cloud, Josephine, Supt. of Circulation P. L., 
Minneapolis, Minn. 

Coe, Ellen M., Ln. N. Y. Free Circulating L., 
New York City. 

*Colby, Adah M., As. Ln. P. L., Concord, N. H. 

*Cole, G: W., Ln. F. P. L., Jersey City, N. J. 

*Cole, Mrs. G: W., Jersey City, N. J. 

Collins, Alfred S., Ln. Reynolds L., Roches- 
ter, N. Y. 

Cone, Jessica G., Eaton, N. Y., class '95, N. Y. 
State Library School, Albany, N. Y. 

Creighton, Mrs. Laura, Ln. State L., Des 
Moines, la. 

Crew, Florence B., As. Apprentices' L., Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

Crunden, F: M., Ln. F. P. L., St. Louis, Mo. 

Curran, Mrs. Mary H., Ln. P. L., Bangor, Me. 

*Cutler, Louisa S., Ln. P. L., Utica, N. Y. 

*Cutler, Mary S., Vice-Director N. Y. State 
Library School, Albany, N. Y. 

*Cutter, C: A., Ln. Forbes L., Northampton, 
Mass. 

Cutter, W. P., Ln. Dept. of Agriculture, 
Washington, D. C. 

*Cutter, W: R., Ln. P. L., Woburn, Mass. 

Dana, J: C., Ln. P. L., Denver, Col. 

Davis, Mary L., Ln. Lawson McGhee L., 
Knoxville, Tenn. 

*Day, Mrs. Robert E., Hartford, Conn. 

Denio, Herbert W., Cataloger N. Y. State L., 
Albany, N. Y. 

*Denio, Lilian, Ln. Bryson L. , Teachers Col- 
lege, New York City. 

Dewey, Melvil, Director N. Y. State L., Al- 
bany, N. Y. 

Dewey, Mrs . Melvil, Chairman Albany Y. W. 
C. A. and of Diocesan Lending L., Albany, 
N. Y. 

Dexter, Lydia A., Cataloger Newberry L., 
Chicago, 111. 

*Doren, Electra C., As. Ln. P. L., Day ton, O. 

Dudley, C: R., Ln. City L., Denver, Col. 

Dunton, C. Augusta, Ln. P. L., North Adams, 
Mass. 

*Eastman, Linda A., As. P. L., Cleveland, O. 

Eastman, Rev. W: R., Inspector P. L. Dept, 
N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y. 

Ellis, Mary, Cataloger P. L. Dept., N. Y. 
State L., Albany, N. Y. 



Elmendorf, H. L., Ln. F. P. L., St. Joseph, 

Mo. 
*Fassig, Oliver L., Ln. U. S. Weather Bureau, 

Washington, D. C. 
*Faxon, F: W., Library Dept, Boston Book 

Co., Boston, Mass. 
*Feary, Charlotte S., Cataloger N. Y. State L., 

Albany, N. Y. 
Fletcher, F. Richmond, Library Bureau, 

Boston, Mass. 
Fletcher, W: I:, Ln. Amherst College L., Am- 

herst, Mass. 
Foote, Elizabeth L., As. P. L. Dept. N. Y. 

State, L., Albany, N.Y. 
Forsyth, Walter, G., Reference Ln. Library 

Co. of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Foster, W: E., Ln. P. L., Providence, R. I. 
Francis, Mary, Hartford, Conn. 
Fuller, Edith D., Ln. Episcopal Theological 

School, Cambridge, Mass. 
*Garland, Caroline H., Ln. P. L., Dover, N. H. 
Gay, Clara F., Norwood, Mass. 
Gay, Frank B., Ln. Watkinson L., Hartford, 

Conn. 

Gay, Mrs. Frank B., Hartford, Conn. 
Godfrey, C: B., Library Bureau, Boston, Mass. 
Godfrey, Lydia B., Ln. Wellesley College L. , 

Wellesley, Mass. 

Gould, C. H., Ln. McGill University L., Mont- 
real, P. Q. 
Grant, W. Henry., Honorary Ln. Board of 

Foreign Missions Presbyterian Church, New 

York City. 

Green, S: S., Ln. F. P. L., Worcester, Mass. 
*Hagar, Sarah C., Ln. Fletcher F. L., Bur- 
lington, Vt. 
*Haines, Helen E., As. Library Journal, New 

York City. 

Harrison, Joseph L., Ln. Providence Athe- 
naeum, Providence, R. I. 
Hawes, Clara S., Ex-Cataloger Young Men's 

Library Association, Palmer, Mass. 
Hawley, Mary E., Cataloger N. Y. State L., 

Albany, N. Y. 

Hayes, J: S., Ln. P. L., Somerville, Mass. 
Hayward, Almira L., Ln. P. L., Cambridge, 

Mass. 
*Hazeltine, M. Emogene, Ln. James Prender- 

gast F. L., Jamestown, N. Y. 
Herrick, Cate E., As. F. P. L., New Haven, 

Conn. 
*Herzog, Alfred C., Ln. F. P. L., Bayonne, N. J. 



i88 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



Hewins, Caroline M., Ln. P. L., Hartford, 

Conn. 
*Heydrick, Josephine S., Ln. Pequot L., 

Southport, Conn. 

*Hill, Frank P., Ln. F. P. L., Newark, N. J. 
*Hill, Mrs. Frank P., Newark, N. J. 
Hills, Mrs. Agnes, Ln. P. L., Bridgeport, 

Conn. 

Hopkins, Anderson H. , As.' University of Mich- 
igan L. , Ann Arbor, Mich. 
Hosmer, James K., Ln. P. L., Minneapolis, 

Minn. 
Hull, Fanny, Ln. Union for Christian Work, 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 

*Hutson, Cecilia M., As. P. L., Cleveland, O. 
Ives, William, Ln. Buffalo L., Buffalo, N. Y. 
Jacobs, Mary C. , Dorchester, Mass. 
James, W. J., Ln. Wesleyan University L., 

Middletown, Conn. 

James, Mrs. W. J., Middletown, Conn. 
Jenks, Rev. H: F., Trustee P. L., Canton, 

Mass. 

Jenks, Mrs. H: F., Canton, Mass. 
Johnston, D. V. R., Reference Ln. N. Y. 

State L., Albany, N. Y. 
Jones, Ada Alice, Head Cataloger N. Y. 

State L., Albany, N. Y. 

*Jones, Clara A., Ln. P. L., Warwick, Mass. 
*Jones, Gardner M., Ln. P. L., Salem, Mass. 
Kates, Clarence Sears, Ln. P. L. Branch 

No. 4, Philadelphia, Pa. 

Kates, Mrs. Clarence Sears, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Keating, Jeraldine, K., London, Eng., class 

'96, N. Y. State Library School, Albany, 

N. Y. 

*King, Anna, C., Albion, N. Y. 
Koopman, H. L., Ln. Brown University L., 

Providence, R. I. 
*Lane, Charlotte G. , As. Bowdoin College L. , 

Brunswick, Me. 

*Larned, J. N., Supt. Buffalo L., Buffalo, N.Y. 
*Larned, Mary, Buffalo, N. Y. 
*Lemcke, Ernst, of B. Westermann & Co., New 

York City. 

*Lemcke, Mrs. Ernst, New York City. 
Lemcke, Master E. G., New York City. 
Lemcke, Master G. R. , New York City. 
*Little, G: T., Ln. Bowdoin College L., Bruns- 
wick, Me. 

M'Clintock, C. W. M., Oil City, Pa. 
M'Clintock, Mrs. C. W. M., Oil City, Pa. 
M'Clintock, Miss F. B., Oil City, Pa. 



Macdonald, G: A,, Publisher, New York City. 

McGuffy, Mrs. Caroline V., Cincinnati, O. 

McGuffy, Margaret D., Cincinnati, O., class '95, 
N. Y. State Library School, Albany, N. Y. 

McMillan, Jessie, Ln. Minneapolis Athenaeum, 
Minneapolis, Minn. 

Mann, Frances M. , Ln. P. L. , Dedham, Mass. 

*Medlicott, Mary, Reference Ln. City L., 
Springfield, Mass. 

Merrill, W: Stetson, Accession Dept. New- 
berry L., Chicago, 111. 

*Millard, Mrs. E. M., Albany, N. Y. 

Miller. Eleanor S., Ln. Adirondack L., Saranac 
Lake, N. Y. 

Milner, Angie V., Ln. Illinois State Normal 
University, Normal, 111. 

Montgomery, T: L., Ln. Wagner Free Insti- 
tute of Science, and Philadelphia P. L., 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mundy, Rev. Ezekiel W. , Ln. Syracuse Cen- 
tral L., Syracuse, N. Y. 

Neisser, Emma Rittenhouse, As. Philadelphia 
P. L. Branch No. 2, Philadelphia, Pa. 

*Nelson, Sarah C., Cataloger Institute F. L., 
Wilmington, Del. 

Neumann, C : G. , Bookbinder, New York City. 

Newell, Margaret F., As. Ln. St. Johnsbury 
Athenaeum, St. Johnsbury, Vt. 

Peck, A. L., Ln. F. L., Gloversville, N. Y. 

Plympton, C: W., Accession Dept. N. Y. 
State L., Albany, N. Y. 

*Poole, Reuben B., Ln. Y. M. C. A., New 
York City. 

Prescott, Harriet B., Cataloger Columbia Col- 
lege L., New York City. 

Rathbone, Josephine A., As. Pratt Institute, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 

*Rice, Mrs. David Hall, Brookline, Mass. 

Ricker, Oliver P., with Neilson Mfg. Co., Bos- 
ton, Mass. 

*Richardson, Mary A. , Ln. P. L., New Lon- 
don, Conn. 

R.upp, G: P., As. Ln. Philadelphia P. L., 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

*Sargent, Abby L., Ln. Middlesex Mechanics' 
Assoc., Lowell, Mass. 

*Sargent, Mary E., Ln. P. L., Medford, Mass. 

See, Cornelia A., Ln. F. P. L., New Bruns- 
wick, N. J. 

*Selby, Emily H., Springfield, 111. 

Seymour, May, Sub-Ln. N. Y. State L., 
Albany, N. Y. 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



189 



Sharp, Katharine L., Ln. Armour Institute, 

Chicago, 111. 
*Sheldon, Helen G., Ln. Tome Institute, Port 

Deposit, Md. 
Sherman, Deborah Keith, Director Y. W. C. A. 

of N. Y., and Woman's Institute, Yonkers, 

N. Y. 

Soule, C : C . , Trustee P. L. , Brookline, Mass. 
Stearns, Mrs. C. M., Milwaukee, Wis. 
Stearns, Lutie E., Supt. Circulating Dept. 

P.L., Milwaukee, Wis. 

Stechert, G. E., Bookseller, New York City. 
Stechert, Mrs. G. E,, New York City. 
Stetson, Willis K., Ln. F. P. L., New Haven, 

Conn. 

Stevenson, W: M., Ln. Carnegie F. L., Alle- 
gheny, Pa. 

*Stewart, Rose G., Cataloger F. L., Philadel- 
phia, Pa. 
Sutermeister, Louise M., Cataloger Library Co. 

of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Talcott, Eliza S., Cataloger P. L., Hartford, 

Conn. 
Temple, Mabel, Cataloger Brown University 

L., Providence, R. I. 
*Thwaites, Reuben G., Sec. State Historical 

Society of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. 
*Thompson, Leonard, Trustee P. L., Woburn, 

Mass. 

Thomson, John, Ln. F. L., Philadelphia, Pa. 
*Thurston, Elizabeth P., Ln. F. L., Newton, 

Mass. 



*Tillinghast, W: H., As. Ln. Harvard College 

L., Cambridge, Mass. 

*Tillinghast, Mrs. W: H., Cambridge, Mass. 
Titcomb, Mary L., Ln. F. L., Rutland, Vt. 
Truax, Ella S., As. Ln. St. Johnsbury Athe- 
naeum, St. Johnsbury, Vt. 
*Tyler, Charlotte, Hartford, Conn. 
Underbill, Caroline M., Derry, N. H. 
*Utley, H: M., Ln. P. L., Detroit, Mich. 
*Utley, Jennie M., Detroit, Mich. 
Ward, Anna H., Amherst, Mass. 
Watson, W: R:, class '95, N. Y. State Library 

School, Albany, N. Y. 

West, Theresa H., Ln. P. L., Milwaukee, Wis. 
Wetzell, Bertha S., Ex-Cataloger P. L., 

Scranton, Pa. 
Wheeler, Martha T., Cataloger N. Y. State 

L., Albany, N. Y. 
White, Andrew C., As. Ln. Cornell University 

L., Ithaca, N. Y. 
Whittier, J. H., East Rochester, N. H., Sec'y. 

N. H. Board of Library Commissioners and 

Trustee Rochester P. L. 

*Williams, Lizzie A., Ln. P. L., Maiden, Mass. 
*Wing, J. N., Bookseller, with Charles 

Scribner's Sons, New York City. 
*Wing, Mrs. J. N., New York City. 
*Wire, G: E., Supt. Medical Dept., Newberry 

L., Chicago, 111. 
Woodworth, Florence, Directors' Assistant, 

N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y. 
Woodworth, Margaret, Indianapolis, Ind. 



190 



LAKE PLACID CONFERENCE. 



ATTENDANCE SUMMARIES. 
BY ASSISTANT SECRETARY NINA E. BROWNE, LIBRARIAN OF LIBRARY BUREAU, BOSTON. 



BY POSITION AND SEX. 

Men. Women. Total. 



BY STATES. 



Trustees and other officers. . 5 3 
Chief librarians 50 39 


8 
89 
52 

49 

12 

39 
249 

44 
205 


A cataloger living in one State and engaged for a year 
in another is recorded as from the State in which the 
library represented is located. Library School students 
residing in New York during their two years' course, are 
registered from New York State. 

Me i Tenn i 


Sub-librarians and assistants 15 37 
Library school, present and 
former students 10 39 


Library Bureau, publishers, 


Others 4 35 


N H 




Ohio 




94 155 
Deduct those counted in two 
classes 9 35 


Vt 


6 


Ind......... 




Mass. 


7Q 


Ill 


8 


R I 


g 


Mich 




85 120 
BY GEOGRAPHICAL SECTIONS. 


Conn 


. 17 


Wis 


4. 


N. Y 


66 


Minn 


3 


Penn 


. 17 


La 


i 


3 " 9 So Atlantic States " 




N T 


f. 


Mo 


2 


2 " 8 Gulf States " 


. . . 2 


1N J 

T)fA 




Neb 


I 


8 " 8 Lake States " 


...30 


Md 


I 


Col 


2 


2 " 8 Mountain States " 


3 






Canada " 


i 


D. C 




Canada 
Total.. .. 


I 
2O5 


Total 


. .-zne 


La 


I 



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