Chapter XVIII: Section 3: of the By-laws to include representation of state, (6)

My fourth plea for a library within the high school building is that it is absolutely necessary as a connecting link between the high school and public library in our large cities. Wonderful things may be accomplished by the high school librarian, who believes the most important work of the school library is preparation for the best use of the public library and who encourages the use of the public library through all the four years. She can be an excellent "go between" not only for pupils who do not use the public library, but between public library and principals and teachers who have no idea what it can do for them. She can enlighten them on the functions of this institution of the people,--show them how much more it is than what they suppose it to be, "a collection of fiction for those too poor to buy their own books." She can enlighten teachers as to the necessity for giving the reference librarian due notice when material is to be needed by classes on a special topic, and the need for ascertaining whether there really is any available material before requiring reports from students on impossible subjects. She can bring about a personal acquaintance of high school teachers and librarians in public libraries and invite the library workers in public libraries to conferences with teachers in the school library.

She can take a census of each entering class at high school and find how many are not using the public library and why. Such a census shows usually 30% who have no library cards. Some have their cards taken from them by parents when they enter high school lest they read so many books it interferes with their studies. This is a frequent occurrence. In other cases a heavy fine has made a drain upon the purse of some poor mother and she has vowed that not one of her children should have a card in the public library. Many of this 30% have never cared enough for books to have a card in the public library. The librarian who finds these conditions early in the term explains to parents by personal notes and interviews that library cards in the public library will be an absolute necessity for high school work. Students who have never had cards are urged to apply for them at once and they are sent to just the right person in the public library who will take an interest in them, often a personal note of introduction being given to the pupil to make that first visit to the public library easy and pleasant.

In addition to the possibilities in high school library work already mentioned the librarian has opportunities for doing many things not possible or not done so easily in the public library.

1. Creating the right attitude towards the library reading called for by the modern high school.

The old time school library was not a pleasant place. She can introduce public library methods,--an attractive room, plants, pictures, bulletin board, etc. Let them feel an atmosphere of friendliness from the start and bring in the spirit of joy rather than stern duty by making the first visit a delight. An informal "library reception" to each entering class or to groups of 40 or more as they enter the school until all have had this meeting with the librarian, makes a good start. Here the students are shown the beautiful illustrated books, pictures, etc., and librarian and pupils talk over the books they have read and liked. Teacher and librarian call attention to books they may like to read during free study periods and pupils are made to feel that the library reading is one of the pleasures of high school life.

2. The study period.

This has marvelous opportunities for the librarian. Here, every 40 minutes come from 60 to 100 pupils, filling every available seat. Many come for definite reference work, special topics, required reading,--many just to spend a free period in browsing. In our best high school libraries there is as little red tape as possible, even "library passes" being dispensed with at times. Pupils are free to use books as they choose. They crowd around the library bulletin boards for suggestions as to good books to read, interesting magazine articles, a glimpse of the day's news as it had been clipped by seniors and posted in the form of a "model newspaper" under heading, "Foreign affairs, National, State, City, Art, Civic and social betterment, etc." The bulletin boards call attention to special art exhibits in the city, to musical opportunities in the way of opera and concerts, etc. Teachers in the various departments make the department bulletin boards in the library a constant means of awakening interest. The French department posts post cards showing views of places mentioned in their reading. Latin teachers post reading lists on life in the time of Cicero, and pictures of Pompeian houses, furniture, cooking utensils, etc., to make the life real. Often at the close of a study period if all are through their regular work the librarian gives an informal three minute talk on some interesting thing on the bulletin boards, urges the reading of some poem or essay or new book of biography, such as Mary Antin, calls attention to some unusually good magazine article, or to some good edition of a book to buy and own,--Hugh Thomson's illustrated Silas Marner in the Cranford series, Pride and Prejudice in Everyman's series, library binding, as a good edition to take out into the country for summer reading.

3. Instruction in use of books.

In the school library far better than by sending classes out to the public library definite and systematic instruction can be given by librarian on the uses of books. A regular schedule for this work is prepared by principal or head of English department and lessons, lectures, quizzes and problems are given by teacher or librarian as a part of the school work. By working in this close touch with teachers, problems will relate directly to their every day class work.

4. The library as a social center.

Here the librarian in the school finds boundless opportunities not possible in public library work. Parents' receptions are held in the evenings in the large and beautiful library room and the librarian acts as hostess. Here come rich and poor of all nationalities,--learned and unlearned and the librarian meets them all, talk over with them, the boys and girls, shows them what the library tries to do for them and goes over the parents' problems with those who read too much or those who are reading trash,--and last but not least those who do not like to read. The librarian suggests good books and good editions for parents to buy and the number of note books and pencils at work show how eager many are for this help--they delight in the beautiful illustrated books almost as much as the boys and girls.

The noon hour offers great possibilities to the school librarian. Here she is "at home" to all students who want to talk about books. Around her desk is held a daily "book symposium." Absolute freedom and frankness is encouraged. She is aided in her recommendations by the pupils' own comments of approval and their word goes farther with a doubting soul than any word of hers. If a pupil returns a book with "I don't like it," the librarian tries to find where the trouble was. If it was the first page or chapter which seemed uninteresting she points out the place just ahead where it begins to be most interesting, gets a student nearby who read and liked the book to tell just enough to show the doubting pupil what he is missing by not reading it. Or, if on talking with the pupil it seems he would not like that particular book she assures him it is nothing to be ashamed of if one does not like all great books,--that we have to grow up to some, that some may never be interesting to us while absorbingly interesting to others. The personal equation has to be considered.

Library reading clubs are a great power for influencing the reading of high school pupils. It is the age of clubs and organizations. In the books the pupils choose while browsing the librarian finds a point of contact and by the reading clubs can direct the voluntary reading. Interests unsuspected by teachers are revealed to the school librarian. An interest in art by a pupil thought hopeless in mathematics and physics and only a fair student in other things. The librarian in the school has expert aid in this club work. For the library reading club on art she selects the most inspiring and sympathetic art teacher on the faculty. For those who are reading Darwin and Spencer and Huxley, the finest teacher in biology who thoroughly knows the literature and can make the reading mean much. For those interested in civic and social questions, clubs for discussion and debate are formed with English and history teachers for advisers, but all center in the school library and meet there after school. After school, also where the library is large or there are two rooms, students may stay to study,--tenement homes and apartments are often difficult places for quiet work. For our own school a biography reading club has been a great success, the students reading interesting biographies of famous women, Alice Freeman Palmer, Carla Wenckebach, Jane Addams, Florence Nightingale, etc. Also lives of great explorers, artists, musicians, statesmen, etc.

5. Vocational guidance.

This is coming to mean great possibilities. If the librarian is sympathetic and has won the hearts of the students they will come naturally to her as a source of information on what a boy or girl can do to earn a living. It is a serious problem to the high school pupil,--often there is no one at home to help. The librarian must be ready with books, pamphlets, clippings to lay before the student the many possibilities in choosing a vocation. The books on these subjects are the most popular books in the library of a large boys high school. Catalogs of technical and trade schools, etc., should be on file for reference for students desiring to plan special courses in high school to meet their entrance requirements. Where there is a committee of teachers on vocational direction the librarian can be of great service in aiding in collections of books, magazines and pamphlet material.

These possibilities of the high school library make it a most tempting field for any one interested in work with the older boys and girls. The librarian has the opportunity of making the school library: (1) A great working laboratory for all departments which will meet their needs for reference and serve to stimulate interest or awaken interest in the work of class room or laboratory. (2) A preparatory school for the best use of college or public library by training students in the use of a library during the four years in school. (3) Compensation to the students for the lack of a home library. Carefully selected, largely a collection of the best books on the subjects which high school pupils would be interested in and containing all the really great things in the world's literature it affords a browsing place which should mean that inspiring and stimulating contact with books which many have felt in their home libraries, and it should mean also that personal guidance of the reading of the individual which in more fortunate homes parents give to their children. And perhaps quite as important as any other is the possibility of opening up to the high school students and teachers the great resources of the public library. The success of the high school library of the future will depend largely upon its relation to the public library. We are just at the beginning of things today in this matter of co-operation and shall probably see important developments along this line during the next five years.

Mr. Gilbert O. Ward, supervisor of high school branches, Cleveland public library, led the discussion on Miss Hall's paper. He said in part:

High school pupils after all are a very small proportion of the
school community. Why should a public library put an expensive
assistant into a high school, where, after all, the actual numbers
affected are small? One answer is this: High school students like
college students, though in a less degree, are a chosen few. They
are in a position to become naturally leaders in the community.
And it seems to me that public libraries which have the chance to
establish high school branches should consider the possibilities
of the indirect influence on the community as well as the direct
influence on the limited number of high school students.

In considering now the relation between high school library and public library, let us first sum up the needs of the high school, the points in which the public library fails to meet the situation, and the points in which the independent high school library is liable to failure:

The high school needs:

1. Books, freely duplicated, including general reference books, books relating to school work and selected general reading adapted to the abilities and appreciation of high school students.

2. A trained librarian.

The progressive high school needs these in the building as it needs a chemical laboratory in the building. There is no better reason for making a student go to the public library for an ordinary bit of class work, than for sending him to the Y. M. C. A. for his gymnasium work.

The public library fails with the high schools as follows:

1. It generally lacks official standing in the school plan, hence it has to work with the individual teacher or principal as chance offers.

2. Teachers are often too indifferent, careless, or over-pressed by work to come to the public library.

3. Visits to the public library for reference work, inside or outside of school hours, takes up pupils' time, even if the school is convenient to the public library. This difficulty gets worse as reference work increases.

4. Library instruction should cover a number of periods, and if given in the public library, the necessary number of visits deranges schedules, wastes time and raises questions of discipline.

5. The public library is sometimes unable or unwilling to duplicate books freely enough to meet school needs.

6. The public library is not on the spot to answer instant needs.

The independent high school library meets peculiar difficulties and dangers in fulfilling its duty. It is right to say here that the highest point of development in high school libraries has, to the best of my knowledge, been reached in certain high schools in which the library has no connection with the public library, but where it is managed by a well-paid, trained and experienced librarian. Generally speaking, however, especially in the case of high schools which do not employ a trained librarian, I think I may say that the independent high school library at present is likely to be narrow in scope, badly administered, self centered and neglectful of co-operation with the public library, and hampered by red tape getting books promptly through boards of education.

Neither school library nor public library, it seems to me, can alone meet high school needs. The school library needs the public library because of the broadening influence of the usually larger institution. It needs the resources of the usually larger collection. It can often benefit by suggestion and aid in administrative details, especially when in untrained hands.

The public library needs the school library, among other reasons, to bring it into closer contact with the school system officially. The public library, it seems to me, should require the high school librarian to attend its regular staff meetings if she be a public library official or invite her to attend them if she is not. The high school librarian in many cases attends school faculty meetings, and by regularly attending public library staff meetings she can intelligently interpret school to public library and vice versa. The public library needs the high school library so as to get earlier and more certain information of books needed for class use, for the purpose of reserving in the public library or of concentrating them in the school library. Six copies of a title concentrated at call in the high school library and lent from there for short loans, prevent a few students from monopolizing books, and so do much more satisfactory work than twice the number lent from the public library in the usual way. In general, the public library by working through the high school library should work more effectively by meeting the school on its own ground.

It is pretty clear, I think, that the school library and the public library need each other. The questions remaining are: What kind of co-operation is most effective? How can that co-operation be brought about?

I doubt if there is a universal answer for either question. I think that local conditions will have to be studied in each case, and under local conditions I include the school situation, the public library situation, personalities, local politics, etc.

Miss Hall has found a satisfactory answer for the library controlled by the school. The solution which has come under my observation is the administration of the school library by the public library, with a division between school and public library, of the expense.

This plan in one form or another is now being tried with the high school libraries in five cities--Cleveland, O.; Madison, Wis.; Newark, N. J.; Passaic, N. J.; and Portland, Ore. This includes eleven libraries actually in operation, and five others in contemplation. The plan has also been adopted, I am informed, by a number of towns in New Jersey.

In bringing about co-operation, the first step is to make a careful, thorough study of conditions, not forgetting the questions, "What is the attitude of the principal?" and, "Which can pay the higher salary--public library or high school?"

The results under any plan, may we add, depend on the high school librarian. She should have a college education to put her on a par with the teaching staff. She must be adaptable. She must have solid book knowledge, especially of English and history. She must be able to manage a room full of students without fuss or strain. A raw high school graduate with a smattering of technique will not do.

Finally, whatever the public library's part in the scheme of co-operation, the public library must be willing to view the subject from the school side, and be willing to adapt its methods to school needs.

A short business session of the active members of the session followed this meeting. Upon recommendation of the Nominating Committee the following officers were elected: Chairman, Miss Effie L. Power, supervisor of children's work, St. Louis public library; vice-chairman, Miss Alice Goddard, head of children's department, Washington County free library, Hagerstown, Md., and secretary, Miss Hannah M. Lawrence, children's librarian, Buffalo public library.

COLLEGE AND REFERENCE SECTION

FIRST SESSION

(Friday, June 28, 8:15 p. m.)

The first session of the College and Reference section was held on the evening of June 28, in the banquet room of the Chateau Laurier, about 75 people being present. In the absence of Dr. A. S. Root, chairman of the section, and Miss Irene Warren, secretary, the meeting was called to order by Mr. P. L. Windsor, who had at the request of Dr. Root and of Mr. Utley, arranged the program; Mr. S. J. Brandenburg acted as secretary.

Mr. THEODORE W. KOCH, librarian of the University of Michigan, read the first paper entitled

SOME PHASES OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES[8]

The development of college and university libraries has been so rapid during the past score of years that it may be worth while to turn back for a moment and collect a few illustrations of early ideas of library management from the history of the older universities. The most interesting ones for this purpose are those of Oxford and Cambridge, Harvard, Yale and Columbia universities.

[8] Abridged from an address delivered before the New York State Library School and the University of Michigan Summer Library School.

The Bodleian in its reorganized form was opened in 1602 with a stock of two thousand five hundred volumes--a fairly large collection for those days. It had been established in Duke Humphrey's day in a suite of rooms over the Divinity School "far removed" as the old university records put it, "from any worldly noise." The first rules for the government of the library were drafted by Bodley himself. While in general they were wise ones, they reflected the spirit of the times in which they were written. Sir Thomas objected to the inclusion of belles-lettres as beneath the dignity of the institution he was fostering. "I can see no good reason," said he, "to alter my rule for excluding such books as Almanacks, Plays, and an infinite number that are daily printed of very unworthy matters. Haply some plays may be worthy the keeping--but hardly one in forty.... This is my opinion, wherein if I err I shall err with infinite others; and the more I think upon it, the more it doth distaste me that such kinds of books should be vouchsafed room in so noble a library." Scholars were required to leave a deposit in cash as a pledge of good faith when borrowing books, but the deposit was usually a mere trifle compared with the value of the loan. Unscrupulous borrowers willingly forfeited the money and kept the manuscripts. Some volumes were stolen, while others were entered in the catalog as "missing," a distinction with perhaps very little difference. Tradition says that Polidore Virgil had stolen so many books that the authorities were finally compelled to deny him access to the library, whereupon he promptly obtained from Henry VIII a special license to borrow whatever manuscripts he desired and the librarian had to bow to the ruling of the King.

In a manuscript copy of the works of St. Augustine and St. Ambrose in the Bodleian, is written, "This book belongs to St. Mary of Robert's Bridge: Whosoever steals it, or sells it, or takes it away from this house in any way, or injures it, let him be anathema maranatha." Underneath another hand has written, "I, John, Bishop of Exeter, do not know where the said house is: I did not steal this book, but got it lawfully."

At one time folios in the Bodleian were chained to the shelves but the custom was given up and the chains sold for old iron in 1769. That the arrangements at the Bodleian were viewed with favor by library benefactors can be seen from a letter which the worthy John Hollis of London, second founder of Harvard College library, sent to the authorities at Cambridge in 1735: "You want seats to sit and read in and chains to your valuable books like our Bodleian library or Zion College in London. You let your books be taken at pleasure to men's houses and many are lost, your boyish students take them to their chambers and tear out pictures and maps to adorn their walls."

Gibbon in his autobiography has commented upon the sloth of 18th century Oxford and its absolute indifference to study. The records of the Bodleian substantiate the low point to which the intellectual life of the university had ebbed. The registers of books borrowed for the decade 1730-1740 show that only rarely were more than one or two books asked for in a day. In some cases a whole week is passed over without a single entry being made. The indifference throughout the university showed itself in the management of the library. For 92 years, that is, from 1768-1860, the Bodleian was so unfortunate as to be in the hands of only two men, the Reverend John Price, of Jesus College, who died in his eightieth year, and Dr. Bulkeley Bandinel, his son-in-law, who lived to be even a year older than his predecessor. As an illustration of Price's ideas of librarianship we have it noted by Professor Beddoes that "he discouraged readers by neglect and incivility, was very careless in regard to the value or condition of the books he purchased, and had little knowledge of foreign publications." When Captain Cook's Voyages were first published there was quite a demand for the work. Librarian Price promptly loaned it to the Rector of Lincoln College, telling him that the longer he kept it out the better, for as long as it was known to be in the library he would be perpetually plagued by inquiries after it. Price has been compared to the verger who sorrowfully complained that people were continually invading his church and "praying all over the place." However, it must in justice be said that Price's correspondence as printed by John Nichols in his "Illustrations of the literary history of the 18th century," shows him to have been helpful to some of the scholars of his day.

Bodleian's librarians in the eighteenth century were mostly clerks in holy orders and it was not uncommon for them to fail to open the library at all on a Saturday if they were "taking duty in the country," on the following day. There is preserved in the Bodleian a scrap of paper which an angry scholar affixed to the door of the library in 1806 when he found it closed contrary to the statutes. On it were these words in Greek: "Woe unto you who have taken away the key of knowledge! Ye enter not yourself and hinder those who come."

How striking is the difference between the lax administration of the 18th century and that of the 20th can be seen by a study of the Bodleian staff-calendar, an annual of over 400 pages in which are listed day by day the special duties of various members of the staff, with all sorts of suggestions for the improvement of the service.

King George III in his famous interview with Dr. Johnson asked whether there were better libraries at Oxford or at Cambridge. The sage replied that he believed the Bodleian was larger than any library they had at Cambridge, at the same time adding, "I hope whether we have more books or not than they have at Cambridge we shall make as good use of them as they do,"--a reply which I always like to associate with the remark of Dr. Cogswell: "I would as soon tell you how many tons the Astor Library weighs, as how many volumes it contains."

While the university library at Cambridge has never been the recipient of such large and rich donations as has the Bodleian, it is today one of the best stocked university libraries in the world. Its first benefactor was Thomas Scott of Rotheram, archbishop of York, who not only gave 200 books and manuscripts, but also the first library building. Despite other benefactions the collection appeared "but mean" in the eyes of John Evelyn when he visited it in 1654.

Among the earliest gifts to one of the college libraries at Cambridge there are some volumes which raise curious questions. According to Dr. Montague R. James, the provost of King's College, Cambridge, one book has the Bury bookmark and evidently came from that source; another belonged to the canons of Hereford, another to Worcester, and another to Durham. How and under what conditions did the early collegiate and monastic bodies part with these? "Was there not very probably an extensive system of sale of duplicates? I prefer this notion," writes Dr. James, "to the idea that they got rid of their books indiscriminately, because the study of monastic catalogs shows quite plainly that the number of duplicates in any considerable library was very large. On the other hand it is clear that books often got out of the old libraries into the hands of quite unauthorized persons: so that there was probably both fair and foul play in the matter."

The most famous librarian of Cambridge University library was Henry Bradshaw, who not only left a strong impress upon the paleographers and historians of his day, but did much for librarianship by his contributions to bibliography and his work on the printed catalogs issued by the Cambridge University library. He believed in making the library as accessible as possible to those who were entitled to its use. The watchwords of his administration were "liberty and discretion," liberty for the people to go freely about the whole library, examining and borrowing such books as they liked, and discretion on the part of the administration in putting such extremely moderate restrictions upon this freedom that the security of its most precious books were safeguarded and the presence of the books most constantly needed for reference was assured without undue interference with freedom of access to the shelves or the borrowing of books from the library.

His management of the university library was not in all respects satisfactory, due mostly to the fact that the staff was very inadequate to the task of the attempted reclassification of the large collection of books, and also to the crowded condition of the building. Bradshaw did not have a marked capacity for working through subordinates. "He could not," said one of his assistants, "bring himself to allow any one to answer letters for him." He used to carry large numbers of unanswered letters in his coat pockets and would sometimes take them out and show them with a certain mischievous glee and say in his droll way, "I am too wicked. What shall I do?" No one knew this failing better than himself. He once remarked to Thomas Buchanan Read, who wanted some information from him, "You had better come and get what you can by word of mouth. I offend lots of my friends by not answering their letters, or by losing them like yours." One friend, to whom he had long promised a visit and who could not get a definite answer to his invitations, sent Bradshaw two post cards on one of which was written "Yes," and on the other "No," asking him to post one or the other. Bradshaw promptly posted both, although by the next mail he wrote to say that he would come,--and he kept his promise.

Bradshaw used to say that whenever he was asked to send back an interesting book he "suffered from a chronic paralysis of the will and could not return it until the fit had passed away." In matters of routine business he was, however, seldom behind time and his library accounts were always accurately kept. He was very strict about the observance of the library rules and could never tolerate seeing books mishandled. Dr. Zupitza, a great friend and admirer of Bradshaw, tells how one day he was making notes in ink from the famous manuscript of Bede's "Ecclesiastical history," in the Cambridge University Library when Bradshaw happened to notice him. "You Germans have no reverence," said the librarian as he rushed at the ink bottle and carried it away. A manuscript of that character was not to be approached with anything more dangerous than a lead pencil.

Bradshaw had no personal ambition and was only too eager to give away such information as he possessed. He put his vast store of knowledge at the disposal of his large group of friends and their books were all the better for his bibliographical zeal. He himself left comparatively little finished work. "My province," he once wrote, "is to give help on certain details which most people don't care about."

Before leaving Oxford and Cambridge, a word must be said about the individual college libraries. Many of these date from the 15th century when it was the exception rather than the rule for university students to own books. Books were rented from both booksellers and tutors. The college libraries then, as today, did not have enough copies of text-books to go around. The statutes of St. Mary's College, Oxford, dating from 1446, forbade a scholar the continual use of a book in the library for more than one hour or at most two hours, for fear that others wanting the book might be hindered from the use of it. Most of the two score colleges of Oxford and Cambridge have their own libraries, many of them filled to overflowing with precious manuscripts and old authors. While the manuscripts, like those of Corpus Christi, naturally attract scholars from all over the world, the libraries are now comparatively little used by the students of the universities themselves. This is not surprising when it is known that to some of them no books have been added for a century or more. There is no union depository catalog in a central place showing what these libraries contain and very little correlation, although there has been some specialization, as in the dramatic collection at Trinity College, Cambridge, or the modern history at Merton College, Oxford.

Several years ago when I visited the Bodleian Library, I was shown around the portion known as "Duke Humphrey's library," and when I admired the old parchment bound volumes in the alcoves my guide remarked sententiously: "These books were on these shelves when the Pilgrims sailed for America." That remark points to an essential difference between many of the old world libraries and those of this country. The museum feature which is so strong in the administration of some of the European libraries is much less prominent in those of the United States.

Illustrations of university library history in this country naturally begin with Harvard. The library there was begun on the death of its first benefactor in 1638 with his bequest of 320 volumes. The Mathers were among the largest collectors of books in their day in New England but few of their possessions passed into the college collection, most of the Mather library having been destroyed in 1775 during the battle of Bunker Hill. About the close of the 17th century Cotton Mather said of the Harvard College Library that while it was "far from a Vatican or Bodleian dimension" he considered it the "best furnished that can be shown anywhere in the American regions." The fire of 1763 which destroyed the first Harvard Hall destroyed also the entire college library, housed in an upper room, with the exception of one volume: Downame's "Christian Warfare," which was out in circulation at the time. "May Harvard Library," wrote John Barnard of Marblehead, "rise out of its ashes with new life and vigor, and be durable as the sun, tho' the building is a nuisance." This contemptuous sounding phrase, intended to describe the ruined building, can again almost be justified in connection with the overcrowded and outgrown structure of today. The first general catalog of the library, printed in 1790, containing 350 pages, devotes 100 pages to theological tracts, 50 to religious books, 3-1/2 to Bibles, 3/4 of a page to periodicals, 4 to books of travel, and ten to Greek and Latin authors--all of which shows how closely the college had held to its original purpose as a training school for the ministry.

There was practically no change in the curriculum at Harvard College during the first two centuries of its existence. The old classical course as pursued by our forefathers required comparatively few books. With the introduction of such studies as modern history and languages, the sciences and economics, came the demand for access to many books, both old and new.

That books were regarded as a first essential in the establishment of colleges in the New World is shown not only by the terms of John Harvard's will, which bequeathed one-half of his estate and all his library "towards the erecting of a college," but also by the picturesque founding of Yale College. Eleven ministers met in New Haven in 1700 agreeing to form a college. Each member brought a number of books and presented them to the body, and laying them on the table said these words, or to this effect: "I give these books for the founding of a college in this colony." Then the trustees as a body took possession of them and appointed the Rev. Mr. Russel of Branford as keeper of the library, which at that time consisted of about 40 folio volumes. The library with the additions which came in was kept at Branford for nearly three years, and was then carried to Killingworth. In 1765 the library had grown to 4,000 volumes, showing a growth of only 60 volumes a year through two generations.

Other American university libraries showed equally modest beginnings. In a letter from President Manning to Dr. Llewellyn, 1752, is found the following reference to the early efforts made on behalf of the library of Brown University: "At present we have but about 250 volumes and these not well chosen, being such as our friends could best spare," a statement which was equally true of many other college libraries of that period.

The vicissitudes of American university libraries in their early years would seem to have been enough to discourage any but the stoutest hearted librarian. Thus the King's College buildings in New York having been required by the British for a military hospital, the books were deposited in the City Hall or elsewhere. Three years later some 600 or 700 volumes were found in a room in St. Paul's Chapel. How they got there is a mystery, but they were all that remained of the nucleus of what is today the Columbia University Library. Mr. John Pintard, the founder of the New York Historical Society used to say that he remembered seeing the British soldiers carry away the books from the college library in their knapsacks and barter them for grog. Horace Walpole in his Memoirs sneers at the Prince of Wales, afterwards George III, for presenting a collection of books to an American college during the Revolutionary War, and says that, instead of books, his Royal Highness ought to have sent arms and ammunition.

In his report as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution for 1850, Prof. C. C. Jewett wrote: "Our colleges are mostly eleemosynary institutions. Their libraries are frequently the chance aggregation of the gifts of charity; too many of them discarded, as well-nigh worthless, from the shelves of donors. (But) among them are some very important collections, chosen with care and competent learning, purchased with economy and guarded with prudence."

In 1850 Marshall College at Mercersburg, Pa., reported that "the college library is distributed among the professors--each professor having charge of those books pertaining to his department." Until comparatively recent years the periodicals subscribed to by one of our western state universities were sent direct to the homes of the professors interested and whether they were brought to the library later for binding depended upon the whim of the professor.

One of the striking contrasts between the college library of today and that of the middle of the last century is shown by a comparison of the hours of opening. The Chinese character for "library" means "a place for hiding books," and if some members of the present day faculties think there is still justification for this pictograph, what would they say of the apology for a library which their predecessors had to contend with? In 1850 the libraries at Amherst and Trinity, for example, were open once a week from 1 to 3 p. m., at Princeton one hour twice a week, at the University of Missouri one hour every two weeks. At the University of Alabama there was a rule that "the books shall ordinarily be received at the door, without admitting the applicant into the library room." Harvard with its 28 hours of opening per week was as usual in the vanguard of progress, but contrast even those liberal hours with present day schedules of 89 hours and even more per week and you see that there has been considerable progress along this line.

"A quarter of a century ago the library in most of our
institutions," said the late President Harper in an address
delivered in 1894, "even the oldest, was scarcely large enough, if
one were to estimate values, to deserve the name of library. So
far as it had location, it was the place to which the professor
was accustomed to make his way occasionally, the student almost
never. It was open for consultation during perhaps one hour a
day for three days a week. The better class of students, it was
understood, had no time for reading. It was only the 'ne'er do
well,' the man with little interest in the class-room text-book,
who could find time for general reading. Such reading was a
distraction, and a proposition that one might profit by consulting
other books which bore upon the subject or subjects treated in the
text-book would have been scouted. All such work was thought to
be distracting. The addition of one hundred volumes in a single
year was something noteworthy. The place, seldom frequented, was
some out-of-the-way room which could serve no other use. The
librarian--there was none. Why should there have been? Any officer
of the institution could perform the needed service without
greatly increasing the burden of his official duties."

That the college library of the middle of the last century was little more than a storehouse for books, in which the undergraduate had very little interest, is amply substantiated by the reminiscences of older graduates. "To those of us who graduated thirty, or forty, or more years ago," said the late William Frederick Poole, "books, outside of text-books used, had no part in our education. They were never quoted, recommended, or mentioned by instructors in the class-room. As I remember it, Yale College library might as well have been in Wetherfield, or Bridgeport, as in New Haven, so far as the students in those days were concerned."

In the old days at Columbia College, freshmen and sophomores were allowed to visit the library only once a month to gaze at the backs of books; the juniors were taken there once a week by a tutor who gave verbal information about the contents of the books, but only seniors were permitted to open the precious volumes, which they could draw from the library during one hour on Wednesday afternoons. In 1853, the salary of the librarian of Columbia was raised to three hundred dollars! Professor Brander Matthews, who graduated from Columbia in 1871, says that the library was at that time small and inconvenient and that he never entered it to read a book and never drew one from it during all the time he was an undergraduate.

The rules of the old days forbade the use of any lights in the Harvard Library, "excepting only when the librarian is obliged to seal official letters with wax he may with proper precautions use a lighted taper for that purpose." This recalls an entry in the diary of John Langdon Sibley, who records spending "four hours with a lantern and cloak in the chilly cellar" where he found many books and pamphlets not in the College Library.

Mr. Sibley, who spent 36 years in the service of the Harvard Library, has frequently been pictured as typical of the old style collector and custodian of books. The story is told of his having once completed an inventory of the library and, when seen crossing the yard with a particularly happy smile, was asked the reason for this pleased expression. "All the books are in excepting two," said he. "Agassiz has those and I am going after them." Exaggerated as this picture of him undoubtedly is, it must be said that he did lay much more emphasis upon the collecting and preservation of books than upon their use.

His successor, Justin Winsor, was the author of the remark which has come to be regarded as one of the truisms of modern librarianship: "A book is never so useful as when it is in use."

In his second annual report (1879) Mr. Winsor thus summed up his idea of library management: "Diligent administration, considerate forbearance, care that no rule is enforced for the sake of mere outward uniformity, and the establishment of reciprocal confidence between the government and the users of the library, open the way to many relaxations of old established prohibitions, which could not be safely allowed if a less conciliatory spirit prevailed. There should be no bar to the use of books, but the rights of others, and it is to the credit of the mass of library users that, when a librarian manifests that single purpose, he can safely be liberal in the discharge of his trust."

Mr. Winsor had an exceptional faculty for organization and administration. For some time after he left the service of the Boston Public Library it was hardly noticeable that there was no librarian. This was due to the fine organization which Mr. Winsor had effected and did not prove, as Alderman O'Brien of Boston argued, that Mr. Winsor's services could easily be dispensed with. He found time for writing history during the years of his librarianship at Boston and at Harvard because he knew how to administer. No doubt in his later years the historian in him overshadowed the librarian.

The salient feature of Mr. Winsor's administration of the Harvard College Library lay in the fact that he extended very materially the use of books by students. He instituted the system of "reserved" books by which the instructor is enabled to have gathered in an accessible place the reading which he required of his classes,--a device absolutely essential in the new method of teaching which substitutes the reading of authorities for the old time study of text-books.

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And what as to the buildings in which these libraries are housed? The earlier ones like those of Harvard and Yale, were suggestive of Gothic chapels, while the later ones, like Michigan, Illinois and Cornell, are based upon an ecclesiastical motif, and have the questionable addition of a clock tower, the usual accompanying chimes helping to break into the quiet which it is so desirable to maintain in any library. Harvard's Gore Hall was an attenuated copy of the chapel of St. John's College, Cambridge, England, and necessarily ill adapted to the needs of a library. It was poorly lighted, poorly ventilated, hard to warm in winter, damp in parts during the spring and autumn. There were no private rooms, no working room, no conversation room, and no reading room worthy of the name. The only saving thing about the management was that the advice of old John Hollis was not followed and both students and professors were allowed to draw books for use in their rooms and homes.

* * * * *

In some cases where the library building has been presented as a gift or as a memorial, trouble has arisen from the proverbial difficulty about examining too closely into the lines of the proposed gift. Notable illustrations of this are found in the libraries of Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and the late but not lamented library of Leland Stanford University. The Columbia University Library, the gift of ex-President Low in memory of his father, was designed by McKim, Mead & White after the plan of the head of the firm, the late Mr. Charles F. McKim. Some of you may be familiar with the story of the visitor to Mr. McKim's studio asking how he was getting on with the plans for the new library. "Oh, everything is going lovely," said he. "You see there on the wall the outline of the facade and the layout of the building. I have worked up all the details of the reading room and the large dome--but I don't know where to put the darned books."

"Today," wrote President Harper, "the chief building in the college, the building in which is taken the most pride, is the library. With the stack for storage purposes, the reading room for reference books, the offices for delivery, the rooms for seminary purposes, it is the center of educational activity. The staff of assistants is often larger than the entire faculty of the same institution thirty years ago."

The importance of the university library in the educational work of the institution is being recognized more fully each year. "Much of the usefulness and attractiveness of the university for its students," said President Eliot in his annual report for 1905-06, "depends on the size of the library, on the promptness with which it obtains the newest interesting books, and on the efficiency and liberality of its administration. Any need of the library is therefore a need of the whole university."

The second paper was then read by Mr. WILLARD AUSTEN, assistant librarian of Cornell University. His paper, an abstract of which follows, was entitled

RIGHTS OF THE USERS OF A COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY LIBRARY AND HOW TO PRESERVE THEM

The problem of administering a college or university library with due regard to the rights of all the users is far from simple. A college or university community is not a democracy, where all have equal rights. The natural division into two great classes, the mature teacher and the immature student is the first apparent cause for the modification of privileges. The need of materials for teaching as opposed to the needs of the student suggests other modifications. The need for books of research at home or in the laboratory that may also be wanted for general reading, introduces a third factor that may disturb any set of rules that may be framed.

Any reader should be allowed to use any book in the library when and where it is most convenient to do so, so far as this can be done and preserve the rights of other users and preserve valuable materials not easily replaced for future generations of users. The ability to shift any book from the place where it is little needed to the place where it is much needed, at a moment's notice, is the ideal.

Users may be roughly grouped as follows:

1. Instructors of all grades, those whose need for books is primarily for teaching.

2. Those doing research work, which class may include teachers, graduate and undergraduate students.

3. Students needing books for collateral reading.

4. General readers of all classes, and all persons are general readers when not reading for a definite purpose, but for general culture.

Obviously the rights of all these classes are not of equal importance.

To outline the means of protecting their rights, it is necessary to classify users by certain of their characteristics which bear no relation to the groups named above. First, the conscientious worker who, while using many books, never retains one beyond his real need for it, and who constantly bears in mind the possible need that others may have for a book he is using. Library rules are not made for such. The next and most difficult class to deal with are those who want to gather about them all the books they can conveniently lay hands on, with the thought, that they will "come handy some day." A large class, running down to the lowest ranks of college students, comprise those who think they must have all the material on a subject at hand at one time. Another class, largely college students, is made up of those selfish persons who, having a task, ride rough shod, if necessary, over the rights of others in doing it. Then there is the small class that can be designated by no other names than thieves and vandals, those who steal books, and cut out text or illustrations.

An adequate code of rules and regulations should be drawn up, care being taken that all rules should be made for the sole purpose of preserving rights and property. Of first importance are the regulations for getting books back into the library. A time limit of one month on all books not in use for instruction or research has been fairly successful. All bound volumes of periodicals may be limited to two weeks or one month. A limit may be put on the number of volumes a user may have out at any one time. A requirement that all books must come back to the library, once a year, regardless of the use being made of them, will keep in the library many books that have been left lying around after being used.