Chapter III: Science for Children (3)

One thing has been left out in the various interests which have been brought forward, and that is the part of the trustee in the state association meetings. A librarian may have all possible inclination, and all the enthusiasm that we can give her, but if she does not have the co-operation and the kindly sympathy of her library board, or at least a majority of its members, life is to her a burden. Her condition is worse than when she did not know, and did not know that she did not know. The state associations have not so far been open enough to the trustees. It seems to me that this is a subject well worth taking up, and we should try to do more for the library trustees of the state than we have done heretofore. Necessarily they take rather a material view of the situation, and we should try to lead them away from the dollar-and-cents view of library work. These two things need to be emphasized--keep in mind the small librarian, and educate the trustee. Some one has said that we need a library school for trustees quite as much as we need a library school for librarians, and the more I see of libraries the more I believe that.

Mrs. E. J. DOCKERY spoke on

HOW A LIBRARY COMMISSION WAS SECURED IN IDAHO.

I bring to you an accurate and complete history of the course adopted by the club women of my state in securing library legislation, as I personally participated in the work with other members of the Woman's Columbian Club, the organization that had the direct and immediate charge of the subject.

It is a somewhat embarrassing confession to make that Idaho, with its area of 87,000 square miles and a population of 164,000 souls, and its sobriquet of "The gem of the Mountains," has not a free circulating library. I make this statement, however, to emphasize the virgin field in which we had to labor and the munificence of our legislators when we consider the various tax burdens are so many and the number so few to bear them.

Boisé City, the capital of our state, with a population of 10,000, is the home of the Woman's Columbian Club of 200 members. This club, among its many achievements, established and almost wholly supports a public library of 2750 volumes at Boisé; and its members stand in the vanguard and do yeoman's service as leaders and in the ranks in all causes to advance the moral, intellectual and material good of all the people of the state that has granted women equal suffrage with men.

The club strongly urges the formation of other woman's clubs throughout the state, and encourages at all times the organization and development of free libraries.

The first really effective and aggressive step of the club in this direction, and which led to important results, was the adoption of the free travelling library scheme. Its zealous members, by united action and individual effort, accumulated sufficient funds to put into circulation 15 travelling libraries with a total of 800 volumes, and invited discussion of this work in the public press.

At the 1899 state teachers' meeting representatives of the club, on invitation, espoused the cause of the travelling library and libraries generally. The demand for library cases soon exhausted the Columbian Club's ability to respond, and then an appeal for legislative aid was determined upon, and systematic methods, principally through the press, were pursued to awaken public sentiment favorable to the election of friendly legislators.

After the election of the legislators in 1900 the Columbian Club sent circular letters to each one, setting forth the merits of the two bills the club had prepared and upon which its energies were concentrated, namely: a bill creating a state library commission, and a bill authorizing common councils of cities and governing bodies of communities to levy a tax not to exceed one mill on the assessed valuation of property for the establishment and maintenance of free reading rooms and libraries.

Similar circular letters were sent to each of the 75 newspapers published in the state. All women's clubs were importuned to co-operate, and also all public school officials, teachers and educators of the state. The press responded right royally with one single exception, and book lovers and educators of high and low degree lent their willing assistance. Representatives of the club again appeared before the 1900 annual state teachers' meeting, and secured an official endorsement from that body for the proposed library legislation. The state teachers' association, in addition, advocated a law requiring that three per cent. of all school moneys be set aside as a fund for school libraries, to which the club women gave their aid and which also became a law.

At the convening of the legislature in January of this year the leaven had begun to work, thus paving the way for the successful lobbying by the official representatives of the Columbian Club.

The first step was the selection of a conspicuous legislator to stand sponsor for our bills. In this we encountered an embarrassment of riches in capable legislative material, but finally selected Senator S. P. Donnelly, who cheerfully assumed the duty, and exerted the full force of his wide popularity and marked ability from the time of his introduction of the bills until the final vote upon them.

The club members held frequent conferences with the educational committee of both houses of the legislature and other legislators specially interested in educational matters, and made plain to them the inestimable benefits of the bills we championed.

And in this connection I desire to make graceful acknowledgment to the library workers of Wisconsin, as it was while a resident of this state I received from them my first library inspiration; and particularly do I desire to acknowledge our indebtedness to Mr. F. L. Hutchins, whose personal communications and generous supply of library literature enabled us to fully present our subject and to meet all objections raised by some of the legislators.

Every member of the legislature, with the exception of one in the lower house, was buttonholed, and the consequence of that oversight was manifested on the final voting day.

In the meantime the club requested the home papers of the legislators to continue to urge favorable action; and the club women from all parts of the state, by letters, personal visits and petitions to the legislators, did likewise.

The instinct of partisanship, a peculiarity of all legislative bodies, was not manifested in the least.

On the day for the final action in the Senate Committee of the Whole the Columbian Club was notified and attended in a body, the courtesy of the floor being extended to us.

Imagine our consternation, when the question was submitted to an aye and nay vote, at not a voice being raised in its favor save Senator Donnelly's. For a few moments silence so profound that it was almost palpable prevailed, when presently Senator Kinkaid, who was in the chair, without calling for the nays, solemnly announced, "The ayes have it"; and delight supplanted our agonized distress as the pleasantry at Senator Donnelly's expense and ours dawned upon us.

The bill was then placed upon its final passage, and the senators, who hesitated in their support on the ground of economy only, announced that they would vote in favor of the bill, but desired it expressly understood that they did so because they were intimidated by the presence of the Columbian Club. The best of spirits prevailed, and our bill providing for a state library commission of five members, two at least to be women, passed the senate unanimously, the president of the state university and the superintendent of public instruction to be _ex officio_ members and the other three members to be appointed by the governor; and the law appropriated $6000 for the purchase of travelling library books and the maintenance of the commission for two years.

The bill was sent to the lower house to take its course in that body, but we were denied the privilege of practicing intimidation there. Immediately upon its arrival in the house a member moved that it be made a special order of business and be immediately placed upon its final passage, and that a polite message be sent the president of the Columbian Club that the house would perform its solemn duties without the assistance or coercion of that club.

The bill passed the house unanimously save for the solitary negative vote of the member whom, by an inexplicable oversight, we failed to interview, and who announced he so voted for that reason.

This library commission bill was by all odds the most conspicuous matter before the legislature, and the enrolled bill submitted to the governor for signature was elaborately prepared and adorned with the club colors by the attaches of the legislature.

The commission has been in existence three months, or more properly speaking, less than two months, for the necessary preliminary work did not enable us to get before the public until May. Already we have been invited to assist and direct the formation of six libraries and to select books for the penitentiary library, have placed in circulation 10 new travelling library cases in addition to the 15 cases donated to the state by the Columbian Club, and have 20 more cases in preparation.

While the law provided for the appointment of at least two women on the commission, the governor appointed three, two of whom are members of the Columbian Club; and our superintendent of public instruction being a woman, we have four of the five members, and what is more especially to the point, they are all club women.

Woman's clubs may with propriety, I think, lay claim to some credit for library laws in Idaho, and yet it is significant that the reason for their power lies in the fact that the women of our state have in their hands the wand of progress and civilization, the most powerful and bloodless offensive and defensive weapon on earth--the ballot. In the hand of the frailest of our sex this powerful weapon can strike as deadly a blow at evil or as strenuous a blow for good as it can in the hands of the brawniest of fighting men; no moral wretch of whatever size and strength but what the very gentlest of our number can cancel his registered will on election day; for an aspiring public servant to dare oppose a righteous cause means sure defeat--for womanhood inevitably arrays itself against the hosts of error.

The women of our state, marshalled under the leadership of women's clubs, stood in an unwavering and united array for all our library laws and every other law that stood for good; and there were, all told, 15 bills affecting education enacted into laws at the last session.

Whatever of inspiration and encouragement the success of women's clubs in Idaho may give our sister clubs in sister states, the success of woman's suffrage there at any rate will help to silence the scoffers' sneers and help put this ballot-sword, forged in the workshop of right and justice, in the hand of every woman.

In the absence of Mr. John Thomson Miss Neisser read Mr. Thomson's paper on

HOW TO SECURE A STATE LIBRARY COMMISSION.

I am asked "How to secure a state library commission?" I answer:

_Ask for it._

_Urge it on the legislature._

_Strive persistently._

Without these three methods, there is little hope of getting a library commission or the passage of good library legislation.

Pennsylvania has been behind every other state in the Union in the matter of library legislation and principally because hardly any effort was made to procure the assistance of the legislature. Outside of a dog-tax paid over for the support and maintenance of public libraries, under an act approved in May, 1887, no real step was taken in this state to secure the benefits of the public library movement until 1895. In that year, it was sought to pass an act to authorize all cities and boroughs of the commonwealth to levy taxes and make appropriations for the establishment and maintenance of free libraries. Unfortunately, this bill was stoutly opposed and was finally amended so as to affect only cities of the first class. The most important subsequent legislation was the approval by the governor in May, 1899, of a bill providing for the appointment of a free library commission and defining its powers and duties. Under this act, the governor had power to appoint five persons, who with the state librarian, constitute the free library commission--the state librarian being _ex officio_ secretary of that body. The commission has power to give advice and counsel to all free libraries in the state and to all communities which may propose to establish them, as to the best means of establishing and administering such libraries, the selection of books, cataloging, and other details of library management; and the commission has certain powers of general supervision and inspection. The section closes with the following words:

"The commission shall also establish and maintain out of such sums as shall come into their hands, by appropriation or otherwise, a system of travelling libraries as far as possible throughout the commonwealth."

Legislature adjourned without making any appropriation and the commission found itself in the position described by Dickens when Mr. Pickwick and his friends were authorized to travel where they liked, make such investigations as they thought good, and generally to promote science at their own expense. The commission was authorized under the powers conferred upon it to purchase books, provide book-cases, print whatever matter seemed good to it, and generally develop a travelling libraries system throughout Pennsylvania _at its own expense_. Nothing daunted, the members of the commission met in the state library on April 25, 1900 and organized, and being absolutely without funds, efforts were made to secure contributions from benevolent friends of the movement and $2800 were raised from 29 persons who generously placed in the hands of the commission sufficient funds to enable it to start the work. In a recent circular issued by the commission, the secretary calls attention to the fact that Ohio already had more than 800 travelling libraries and an appropriation of $5000 per year with which to carry on the work. Michigan has many libraries and an appropriation of from three to five thousand dollars per year. Wisconsin has six or seven hundred travelling libraries, and New York nearly one thousand. Every state of any importance in the Union has established and is maintaining travelling libraries on from three to five thousand dollars per annum. A few travelling libraries only at present have been sent out in Pennsylvania. These are now in use, but the commission was afraid to undertake much work, as it did not know how soon its funds might be exhausted, and it might find itself unable to grant the applications for travelling libraries which are steadily coming in.

When it is asked how to secure a state library commission the second question how to secure an appropriation with which to carry on the work of the commission is necessarily involved. In the case of Pennsylvania (just brought to a happy issue,) the active interest of many of the leading newspapers throughout the state was sought and obtained. The editors of these papers were written to in person and a statement describing the scope and needs of the library commission and the amount of the appropriation hoped for was forwarded to each. With one or two exceptions, the editors printed much of this material as news, and a considerable number added editorials urging the importance of the movement. More valuable help could not have been secured. The smaller papers, which of course draw their material largely from the papers published in the larger cities, followed suit, and practically reprinted the same matter. Copies of the papers containing these articles were secured, and marked copies were sent to the representatives from their own neighborhoods. In this manner nearly three hundred of the newspapers throughout the state were communicated with, and their assistance had a great deal to do with the final granting of the appropriation. In this way information was laid before thousands of citizens who would otherwise have been uninformed on the matter. Beyond all this an explanatory letter fully detailing the position of the commission was sent by one of the commission to every member of the legislature and the secretary of the commission issued the excellently prepared circular (above referred to), several copies of which were sent to every member of the legislature and to others. The result has been that an appropriation of $3500 has been passed by both houses, and there is no reason to doubt that the bill will receive the governor's signature when the time comes for him to sign the appropriation bills for 1901-1902.

It would be waste of time at a round table meeting like this to dwell upon the benefits of the travelling libraries movement. The free library commission of Pennsylvania has determined to do its utmost to develop the movement throughout the state, and if a practical answer is to be given to the question, How to secure a state library commission?, I would say, Recognize the importance of the movement, strive early and late, through the newspapers, by means of circulars and by personal interviews, to interest the members of the legislature, and persevere unintermittingly in impressing your needs upon those who have the power to grant the necessary legislation and appropriation. Work early and late and do not stop working until you have secured what you want.

Mrs. BELLE M. STOUTENBOROUGH spoke on

WHAT WOMEN'S CLUBS CAN DO TO FURTHER THE WORK OF THE LIBRARY.

I trust you will pardon me for adding the word "Nebraska" to my topic. Six years ago last October the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs held its second annual meeting at our state capital. Some two weeks before the meeting Mrs. Peabody, a name familiar to every librarian in this room, who was at that time our president, wrote me: "I am very anxious to bring the travelling library movement before the women of our state. Will you talk for 15 or 20 minutes on this topic before the Lincoln meeting?" If she had asked me to talk on the study of comparative anatomy, I should have been just as familiar with the topic, but in the reference room of the Omaha Public Library, I held a consultation with Poole's index, and succeeded in finding just one article on travelling libraries; it was in the January _Forum_ of 1895, and if I am not mistaken, it was a brief history or sketch of the traveling library movement in New York. Here was my opportunity; what had been done in New York, could be done in Nebraska, although upon a smaller scale, by the Federation of Women's Clubs. I shall not forget how I trembled as I stood before that large audience and made my first plea for a travelling library. However, the secretary, in reporting the meeting, was kind enough to say that the audience at once caught the speaker's enthusiasm, and a committee was appointed for the formation of plans for a federation travelling library. A hundred dollars was subscribed, and sixty books purchased and sent out to eight clubs that first year. I know it seems like a small beginning to-day, but it was serious, earnest, and full of possibilities, and to-day the work is an educational factor in our state. I believe that these books which have gone out to the club women have not only enabled them to pursue certain lines of study, which otherwise it would not have been possible for them to have taken, but they have created in the minds of other members of the family a desire to possess good reference books. These books are sent out from my own home. The clubs receiving them are at no expense except in paying express charges for their return. The work is supported by voluntary contributions, and as to the salary of the librarian, she is paid over and over again in the thankful letters which she receives from the people who are using the books.

In 1897, the Nebraska Library Association succeeded in introducing a bill in the legislature, creating a library commission for travelling libraries. It passed the lower house, and went into the senate, where it was "lost to sight, though to memory dear." In 1899, nothing daunted, the Nebraska Library Association was there again with its library bill. It passed the lower house, but it never reached the senate. Last June, the National Federation of Women's Clubs was held in the city of Milwaukee. Mrs. Buchwalter, of Ohio, the chairman of the program committee, planned for a bureau of library instruction or information, and this bureau was located in an upper room in the Milwaukee Public Library. The presiding genius in the room was Miss Stearns; I always think of her as the pioneer travelling library woman of the northwest. A clubwoman from Nebraska was in attendance at that meeting and instead of spending her time listening to the program, she passed the greater part of the week in that upper room, and there she learned the work which is being done by women's clubs throughout the length and breadth of our land in this library field, and she went back to Nebraska determined, if possible, to secure legislation for free travelling libraries in the coming year. It was a strange coincidence, that last October the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs again held their annual meeting at our state capital, and as before, the same woman who had presented six years before to that meeting, a plan for a Federation travelling library, was there to present a plan for free travelling libraries and a state library commission for Nebraska. The plan was formally and unanimously adopted, and a committee was appointed to co-operate with the Nebraska Library Association to secure legislation. In all this work, we never had any one who assisted us more ably than Mr. Wyer, the librarian of the state university, who was never too busy to advise us or to see a man that we could not reach, and he it was who drafted our bill and saw it through. To make a long story short, the first thing we did was to send out circulars suggesting that "a library day" be observed in the clubs; this library day was generally discussed throughout the state. Then we sent a petition which was circulated, not only in the towns, but among the farmers and their wives; and finally one March morning I received the following telegram: "Rejoice and be exceeding glad"--and I have been rejoicing ever since, for house bill no. 20, carrying with it an appropriation of $4000 for free public libraries, for free travelling libraries, and for the state commission, had passed, not only the lower house, but the senate. It received the governor's signature, and it means we are to have travelling libraries in Nebraska.

Miss FREEMAN: Mrs. Morris, of the Wisconsin Free Library Commission and the General Federation of Women's Clubs, will be unable to be with us this morning on account of illness. We are, however, fortunate in being able to hear from Mrs. Youmans, the president of the Wisconsin Federation of Women's Clubs.

Mrs. YOUMANS: I cannot possibly fill Mrs. Morris' place, but I should not like to have this subject discussed without Wisconsin being represented.

We may gather from the deliberations of this association, that Wisconsin keeps a prominent place in library work among the states of the Union. If this is so, and I do not doubt it, it is, as we all know, due to the enthusiasm and energetic efforts of the Free Library Commission, and this commission will assure you that its members have had no more enthusiastic allies than the club women of the state. Work for libraries was the first work undertaken by Wisconsin women's clubs--the first work outside of their regular literary programs--and since the organization of the federation in 1896, it has been one of its most prominent lines of work. I suppose there are few clubs among the 150 in the federation that have not done something, sometimes important and sometimes unimportant, for the library movement. They have established libraries and free reading-rooms; they have helped to support libraries; they have made donations of books and money; they have sent out travelling libraries on their errands of usefulness; and they have also sent out travelling reference libraries especially for the uses of the study clubs. The federation at the present time is making a special effort toward securing as many of these travelling reference libraries as possible. The club women in the interior of the state have very inadequate reference facilities; we have now only six or seven of these reference libraries, and we feel comparatively rich that we are soon to have half a dozen more.

A great many of the public libraries in Wisconsin are due directly to efforts of club women. The public library of Waukesha is due directly to the efforts of a little coterie of club women; they started seven years ago, with prospects that could not possibly be called brilliant. They kept the library going for seven years from one month to another, in some way securing the money, and finally the burden was taken from their shoulders by the city council. Now, the library is not large; it is not, from a technical point of view, fine; and it certainly lacks many things that we hope to have in the future; but it has 2500 volumes, generally read and much valued by the people, it has become established as a regular necessary part of the municipal life, and I think it is sure of a regular though moderate support from the public funds. In a city a few miles north of here a woman's club has a fund of $500 towards a library building. It does not intend building a library with that sum; it does not intend to go on earning money by rummage sales and private theatricals; but it does expect to use that money and to use the interest of the members of the club as a center for developing library interests in the vicinity.

This work is illustrative of what is being done all over the state, and it is not so much the money that the club women collect for the libraries, nor the books they may secure, nor even the direct work that they do; it is the feeling that they disseminate as to the value of public libraries. The club woman, in her club work, finds the need of a good library; her associations and connections are such that she learns to value books more than she ever did before; she learns, too, that for the intellectual life of her vicinity it is necessary to have a public library; she helps to develop the public spirit that demands a public library; she helps to bring out an atmosphere in which public libraries germinate and grow and flourish. This, it seems to me, is the most important part of club work among club women. This is what they are doing in Wisconsin, and what they will continue to do.

Mr. HUTCHINS: I have been watching for years the work of the women's clubs and their enthusiasm for libraries. They are accomplishing a great deal, and there is just one thing I would like to say to the club women of the country, "Plan a study club, and in a few years you get a public library. Plan a library, and in a few years you get five study clubs."

CO-OPERATION BETWEEN A. L. A. AND GENERAL FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS.

Miss STEARNS: The American Library Association has fallen into a most successful alliance with the National Educational Association, as is demonstrated by the continuation of our meeting at Detroit. Now, the A. L. A. has never realized all that the General Federation of Women's Clubs has done for the promotion of library interests. This is the first time in the history of the A. L. A. that the women's clubs have been recognized on our program, and I move that the A. L. A. Council be requested to form an alliance between the American Library Association and the Federation of Women's Clubs for the promotion of library interests. _Voted._

In the absence of Miss MARIE S. DUPUIS, the chairman read by title her paper on

THE WOMAN'S CLUB AND THE TRAVELLING LIBRARY.

The woman's club and the travelling library seem made for each other. So perfectly does the travelling library supply a suitable channel for the energies of the woman's club, and so admirably does the woman's club seem fitted for the work of sending out travelling libraries, that the one seems the natural and perfect complement of the other.

What a box of well-selected reading matter means to a rural community probably only those know who have lived in a rural community without the box. Others must draw upon their imaginations to picture farm homes without other current literature than a weekly local paper whose "patent inside" contains all the news they receive of the world's work; homes where the family Bible--not always present--and the children's school books form the only bound volumes of the family library, where even the deservedly ephemeral literature of the daily paper and the 10-cent magazine are unknown, though rural free mail delivery will soon alter this.

With numberless such communities on the one hand, we have on the other numerous women's clubs organized for self-improvement and "mutual aid," to use the fine phrase of Prince Kropotkin. And so closely are human interests interwoven that "mutual aid" means self-improvement, and self-improvement "mutual aid." It is doubtful if any form of educational endeavor undertaken by women's clubs is so fruitful in good results as the travelling library. It is the most practical form of educational work as yet undertaken by these organizations. The work of the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs in this direction has been under the supervision of the library extension committee of that organization. More than one-third of the clubs of the state are now engaged in travelling library work. The number of libraries in circulation has doubled in the past year.

The plan usually adopted in the formation of a travelling library is for each member of a club to donate one or more books. A Parmelee or other suitable trunk bookcase is purchased for the collection, usually consisting of about 50 volumes, a record-book is provided, each volume is furnished with a library catalog and the rules for borrowers recommended by the committee, and the library is then ready to begin its travels.

Several libraries are grouped into county circuits--a unique feature of the Illinois plan--of four or more to a circuit. Two years has been found to be the average life of a travelling library, and a circuit of four libraries remaining in each community for six months will thus supply four communities with travelling libraries for two years.

With regard to the composition of the travelling library, the committee recommends that each library consist of about 50 volumes; that of these one-half shall be juveniles; that fiction shall be carefully selected, preference being given to standard works, those which have stood the test of time; that everything of a theological bias shall be excluded; that biographies, travels and nature studies and stories are particularly desirable, with other suggestions for particular communities or of a general character. We lay particular stress upon the proportion of juveniles being at least one-half, for the reason not only that children and young people are generally the most numerous class of readers, but also because many adults, unaccustomed to much reading, find juvenile literature more readily comprehensible. Considering the fact that our libraries are almost wholly the result of voluntary donation, it is remarkable and, indeed, extremely gratifying that the libraries sent out are of such a high degree of literary excellence. The outcome of the heterogeneous tastes of club members, they seem admirably adapted to the equally heterogeneous tastes of the communities to which they are sent. Improvement, however, is always possible, and for the coming year we have model lists of books drawn up as guides, if not patterns, for future libraries.

In states where a public travelling library system does not yet exist, the women's clubs seem excellently qualified for inaugurating and maintaining such a system until the time comes, as it surely will, when every state has its library commission and its travelling library fund.

TRUSTEES' SECTION.

A meeting of the Trustees' Section of the A. L. A. was held on July 6 in parlor C of the Fountain House, with Dr. Leipziger in the chair and Thos. L. Montgomery acting as secretary. There were 75 persons present. Dr. Leipziger made an opening address, outlining the work that might be discussed by the section.

Mr. Soule urged the election of trustees for a term of years only, and in the opinion of those present three years seemed the proper limit.

The question of whether members of the board of education should be admitted to library boards excited considerable discussion, in which Mr. Cooke, of Iowa, Mr. Porter, of Cincinnati, Mr. Crunden and the secretary took part. It was generally conceded that members of the board of education should not be trustees of libraries _ex officio_, but that there was no objection to electing them as individuals.

Mr. EASTMAN then read his very interesting paper on

LIBRARY BUILDINGS.

(_See_ p. 38.)

Mr. MAURAN, of St. Louis, spoke on

THE RELATION OF THE ARCHITECT TO THE LIBRARIAN.

(_See_ p. 43)

Mr. Patton, of Chicago, said that the two papers showed the lack of any antagonism between the professions. He considered it absolutely necessary that the architect should be selected before anything else, in order that he should be familiar with all the librarians' requirements, and that the interior arrangement was the only matter that should be thought of then. The plan of giving premiums is bad, because it is no temptation to the skilled architect, but it is to the mere draughtsman. He also thought that library architecture must become a specialty.

Mr. Dewey asked, "What is the best way to get the combined judgment of several architects without offence to the profession, and yet give a proper remuneration for their labor?"

Mr. Patton answered that there was no objection to such consultations on the part of the profession, and that it was becoming more common every year. The objection to competitions was that there was no expert to make a fair decision. Competitions, as a rule, did not produce such good results as the appointment of a well-equipped and competent architect, to plan and oversee the work from the beginning. Under any circumstances expert advice might be had and should generally prove useful, especially when members of a library board were not prepared to give thorough attention to the architectural problems. Personally, he had often been employed as consulting architect, just as a physician might be called in that capacity.

Mr. Eastman stated that in the case of the Utica Public Library $150 had been given to each of ten architects for small sketches or outlines incorporating the requirements of the board.

Mr. Dewey thought that every state commission should have an expert, to whom should be referred all suggestions for plans for libraries, in order that the bad features may be called to the attention of the library board. In the case of very large institutions the national library should be appealed to.

This was by far the most interesting meeting that has been held by the section, and the interest taken in the discussion promises well for the future meetings.

Dr. Leipziger declining to serve as chairman, and the secretary having declined the nomination, Mr. D. B. Corey was elected chairman and T. L. Montgomery secretary for the ensuing year.

THOMAS L. MONTGOMERY, _Secretary_.

PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTION IN BIBLIOGRAPHY: ROUND TABLE MEETING.

An informal "round table" meeting for the consideration of present and possible methods of professional instruction in bibliography, was held on the morning of Monday, July 10, in one of the parlors of the Fountain Spring House. A. G. S. JOSEPHSON was chairman, and J. I. WYER, Jr., acted as secretary.

The meeting was called to order at 10.30 a.m. by Mr. JOSEPHSON, who opened the session with a paper on

A POST-GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BIBLIOGRAPHY.

In looking over the various definitions of the word bibliography, I have found two main groups, one narrow, one broad.

The narrow definition has been thus expressed by Prof. C V. Langlois: "Bibliography is the science of books. As library economy treats of the classification, the exterior description of books, of the organization and history of libraries; as bibliography treats of the history of the book as a manufactured product (printing, bookbinding, bookselling); so bibliography in the precise meaning of the word, is that particular part of the science of the book which treats of the repertories and which provides the means of finding, as promptly and as completely as possible, information in regard to sources."

As an example of the broad definitions I choose the one by M. E. Grand in "La grande encyclopédie" He defines bibliography as "the science of books from the point of view of their material and intellectual description and classification," and goes on to say that "there are three principal things to be considered in the study of bibliography: classification of books, ... (_bibliographical systems_); description of books (_bibliographical rules_); and the use of _bibliographical repertories_."

If we compare these two definitions we see that here the same word has been used for two distinct subjects, the one of which includes the other. Without here going deeper into the intricacies of these definitions, I will, for the purpose of this discussion, accept the broader of the two.

The question what instruction in bibliography should contain is already answered in the above definition itself.

The study of _bibliographical systems_ for classification of books presupposes the study of the theoretical systems of classification of knowledge and this presupposes the study of the history of the sciences.

_Bibliographical rules_ govern the practical art of book description, what is technically known as cataloging. There are various codes of rules, more or less arbitrary, as they are more or less the outcome of a compromise. But under all arbitrariness one will discern some underlying theory as to what a description of a book should contain. Such theories are founded on the practice of printing and publishing: thus the intelligent study of bibliographical rules presupposes the study of the history of printing and publishing.

_Bibliographical repertories_ contain the systematic records of printed documents and the study of these repertories is what is called bibliography in the narrow sense. While the branches of study previously referred to may by some be regarded as of less value to the librarian there is surely none who will deny the necessity of his being thoroughly familiar with the literature of bibliographical repertories. However, I do not think that I am alone in the contention that all the different branches of bibliography in the broader sense are of the utmost importance to the librarian.

Dr. Dziatzko has pointed out that in such an eminently practical occupation as that of the librarian it is particularly important not to neglect altogether some kind of theoretical studies. There can be no studies of greater importance to the librarian than those just enumerated, namely, history of literature--the word taken in its broadest sense--history of the book in all its phases, and the study of bibliographical literature.

The library schools have done much to encourage the professional spirit of librarians and to develop the technical side of their work. It is, however, felt that something more is needed, something that a professional school or a training class cannot give, namely, solid bibliographical scholarship. This can, in my opinion, not be acquired except at a university with a faculty of specialists and an extensive equipment of bibliographical literature as a part of a large university library.

A post-graduate school of bibliography, such as I have in mind should offer instruction to two classes of students. The one class would be students in the other branches of instruction who would select as a minor one of the subjects offered by the school, and who should be required to pursue in the school the bibliographical study of their main topics and the preparation of the bibliographies that should be required as a necessary accompaniment to every dissertation. The other class would consist of persons wishing to prepare themselves for the professional work of the librarian and bibliographer. They would choose as their majors the studies offered at this school, and could choose as a minor any other scholastic subject. It would be of great importance to the would-be librarian, could he, while pursuing his special studies, be allowed to do university work in some other subject of his choice, such as literary history, philosophy, American history, mathematics, or the like.

As thorough bibliographical knowledge is the foundation for the work of the librarian, the central subject of instruction in the school should be the study of bibliographical repertories and of the record literature. This study should include seminar work in the handling of literary tools, in hunting up references on special questions, and in the preparation of bibliographical lists. This leads to the study of bibliographical methods. The principles of book description should be discussed, the leading codes of rules studied comparatively, their merits and defects discussed, but none should be taught as the one to be absolutely followed.

History of printing and bookselling comes next, preceded by an introductory consideration of palæography, particularly that of the 15th century. The steps leading to the discovery of printing with movable types, and the spread of the art over the world should be followed. Examples of the products of the first printing presses should be studied and described. Of later periods in the history of the book the most important seem to be the later 16th and the 17th centuries in England, and the 19th century in Germany.

A parallel study with that of the history of printing might be classification of knowledge and of books, with the history of science. The student might well be given his choice between these two topics, while that of bibliography in its narrower sense should be required of everyone. The history and interrelation of the various sciences is a subject of great importance not only to the classifier, but to the library administrator in general. It should be covered by special lectures by the representatives of the various sciences, connected by a theoretical course in the theory of classification, and followed by seminar work in classification of books.

A course preparing for the professional work of librarianship cannot be complete without the study of library administration. While we are not particularly concerned with this to-day, it should be said that this subject would naturally be a required one, and would cover particularly the history of libraries and of the methods of library administration. The technical training in the minor topics of library economy would not have any place in a school of this description.

I had hoped to be able to present at this meeting some statements from university authorities in regard to the establishment of a post-graduate school of bibliography at some university. I have not, however, succeeded in getting any statement of such definiteness that I can present it here. I can only say that the president of one of the larger western universities seems to look with some interest on the proposition. A letter from Dr. W. T. Harris, Commissioner of Education, says:

"It is very easy for me to say that I believe post-graduate courses in bibliography to be a most excellent thing, but whether there should be such a school established in Washington--I have no conviction on this question. I am not in a condition to say whether it would not be a most excellent thing to establish such a school in connection with the Library of Congress. Mr. Putnam is proceeding in a very intelligent manner to make the Congressional Library of use to the whole country. Would not a school of bibliography here in Washington have the best opportunity to do, so to speak, laboratory work in bibliography, and this in connection with the national library? I am not able to affirm an opinion on this question. The subject is very important and your letter was a letter which I wished to answer to some purpose, but I have not been able to do it, and this is merely an explanation of why I have not been able to do it.

"You very well name the studies of such a school: The literature of the subject; the use and handling of books as literary aids; bibliographical methodology; comparative history of literature and the sciences; classification of knowledge accompanied by the study of the various systems of classification of books; palæography, history of printing.

"It seems to me that one-tenth of all the librarians educated for the purpose of working in a library should take just such a course of instruction as this. This would give them directive power in the most important part of the librarian's duty."

The secretary read a paper by Dr. JOH. LECHE describing the

COURSES IN BIBLIOGRAPHY OFFERED BY PROF. DZIATZKO AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
GÖTTINGEN.

The first and so far the only professorship in the auxiliary sciences of librarianship in Prussia was founded in 1886 in Göttingen as a consequence of the growing importance of libraries. This professorship has been filled since its foundation by Professor Dr. Carl Dziatzko.

The courses of lectures given have so far been as follows:

Library administration.
The laws of authors and publishers in the history of bookselling.
Books in the Middle Ages.
(The above courses have not been given in later years.)
Books and writing in ancient times.
History of printing and bookselling:
(_a_) previous to the Reformation.
(_b_) since the Reformation.
History and development of modern librarianship.

The lectures are held three times a week and have the same strictly scientific character as other university studies.

They demand therefore real co-operation between lecturer and students, putting before the latter, as they do, a rich and critically sifted material which gives them, in a way, a sharp outline only which they will fill out more or less fully according to their diligence in carrying on their studies. The lectures are made particularly attractive and stimulating through the exhibition of important examples of printing, if possible original works referred to or quoted in the lectures, etc.

Beside these public lectures, Prof Dziatzko gives once a week a bibliographical seminar for a smaller circle. The majority of the members of this seminar are the library volunteers who naturally are more numerous in Göttingen than at other Prussian university libraries. If it is true of the public lectures that valuable results are gained only by real co-operation of the students, these seminars directly demand independent work of the members. A considerable part, in fact half of the allotted time, is given to description of incunabula according to the rules formulated by Prof. Dziatzko and published in no. 10 of his "Sammlung bibliothekswissenschaftlicher Arbeiten." Apart from the importance of incunabula for the history of printing, they are particularly suited to bring out questions of various kinds relating to bibliography and librarianship. The remaining seminar hours are given up to reviews and papers by the members. In most cases the subjects are selected at the suggestion of Prof. Dziatzko, but it is preferred that the members should select their own topics. The papers deal with the most varied subjects: questions of a purely practical nature alternate with scientific and historical investigations of bibliographical topics. (Several of these papers have afterwards been prepared for publication in Prof. Dziatzko's "Sammlung bibliothekswissenschaftlicher Arbeiten.") The papers are followed by judicious criticism by Prof. Dziatzko and discussion by the members of the seminar. Whatever time is left is devoted to reading of old manuscripts, exhibition of bibliographical rarities and curiosities, important new publications, etc.

In connection with the palæographical studies just mentioned it should be noted that a special seminar in palæography, given by another professor, Dr. Wilhelm Meyer, is attended by many as a supplement to their bibliographical studies.

A. S. ROOT, librarian of Oberlin College, supplemented this letter with a description of his work with Dr. Dziatzko, stating that the real strength and power of the work consisted in the bibliographical seminar and the work with incunabula. In this work each student has assigned to him the work of a special city or a special press. He studies the books, catalogs them, and submits his work to Prof. Dziatzko for review. These papers are then discussed by the members of the seminar and sharply criticised by Prof. Dziatzko. The new literature of bibliography added to the library is periodically examined and discussed by the class.

G. W. HARRIS, librarian of Cornell University, gave in outline, the substance of a course of 15 lectures on bibliography, delivered one each week during a half year at Cornell. The nature of these lectures is general because in each department more or less stress is based on the use of special bibliographies, and each thesis for an advanced degree at Cornell must be accompanied by a satisfactory bibliography of the subject treated. The large collection of early imprints representing many of the different presses affords excellent opportunity to inspect and study examples of early printing. Mr. Harris was of the opinion that work in the bibliography of special subjects should be given by the heads of the departments concerned. Mr. Harris gave the following

SYNOPSIS OF LECTURES ON BIBLIOGRAPHY, CORNELL UNIVERSITY.

LECTURE.

I. Definition--Advantages of knowledge of bibliography; Range of
bibliography; Antiquity of books. Ancient materials--Clay tablets
of Assyria, Assyrian libraries--Palm leaf books of India--Birch
bark books of Cashmere--Maya books and mss.

II. Papyrus and its importance, preparation, grades, roll form of
books--Papyrus mss. and Egyptian literature.

III. Papyrus paper among Greeks and Romans--Methods of bookmaking and
publishing in Greece and Rome. Writing instruments and inks--Mss.
of Herculaneum--Public libraries of the ancients--Alexandrian and
Roman libraries.

IV. Wax tablets of the Romans--Introduction of parchment--Change from
roll form to square form of books--Results of this
change--Palimpsests.

V. Latin palæography and various styles--Bookmaking in the Middle
Ages--Schools of calligraphy--Scriptorium and its
rules--Colophons--Monastic libraries.

VI. Secular scribes of Middle Ages; Gilds. Art of illumination with
examples of illuminated mss.--Changes resulting from introduction
of paper--Cotton vs. linen paper--Block printing in China and
Europe--Block books.

VII. Invention of printing--Career of Gutenberg--Earliest printed
books--Spread of the art in Germany, Italy, France,
England--Printing in America.

VIII. Incunabula--Characteristics--Types, abbreviations, signatures,
colophons with examples.

IX. Technical terms for sizes of books--Confusion of size and
form--Signatures, water-marks, size notation.

X. Bindings of books--Historical sketch--Processes of book
binding--Examples.

XI. Rare books--Fashions in books--Famous presses--Famous editions.

XII. Illustrated books--Methods of illustration--Manuals for
collectors.

XIII. Classification of books in libraries; various systems briefly
described, with examples.

XIV. Catalogs and cataloging; various kinds of catalogs briefly
described, with examples.

XV. Aids in use of the library--Reference lists--Bibliographies,
national and special, with examples.

Prof. CHARLES H. HASKINS, professor of European history in the University of Wisconsin, presented an outline of his

COURSE IN HISTORICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN.