SMALL 
 SCHOOL LIBRARIES 
 
 G. M. WAI/TON 
 
 RIAN OF MICHIGAN STATE NORMAL COLLEGE 
 
 YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN 
 
 1904 
 
SMALL 
 SCHOOL LIBRARIES 
 
 <* 
 
 'M. WAI/TON 
 
 LIBRARIAN OF MICHIGAN STATE NORMAL COLLEGE 
 
 YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN 
 1904 
 
PRI NTED BY 
 
 AU GU ST 19O4 
 
 ***L*H - 
 
Introductory Note 
 
 THE following chapters were written 
 for the Normal College News, to 
 give information to old students who have 
 the care of small school libraries. Letters 
 asking for help are received almost daily. 
 The size of the libraries is usually from 
 two hundred to one thousand volumes. 
 The specific questions asked have been 
 classified and answered, and are gathered 
 into this little pamphlet which may some- 
 times settle difficulties, and may often 
 form a basis for further questions which 
 will be gladly answered, as in the past, 
 through personal correspondence. 
 
 The smallest school must have a library, 
 and these very elementary and practical 
 suggestions are offered in the hope that 
 they may be of service to the teacher- 
 librarian. 
 
 G. M. WALTON 
 August 1904 
 
 353 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE: 
 
 I ACCESSIONS 1 
 
 II CATALOGUING 5 
 
 III CATALOGUING 13 
 
 IV CLASSIFICATION 21 
 
 V ADMINISTRATION 29 
 
 VI REFERENCE; BOOKS 37 
 
 VII PUBLIC DOCUMENTS .... 45 
 
ACCESSIONS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 Accessions 
 
 THERE are two lists of books that are 
 absolutely indispensable to the 
 smallest library, one list to show the 
 number of books, their cost, and material 
 value; the other to give information re- 
 garding the contents and use of the books, 
 their authors, titles and the special sub- 
 jects treated. The latter is called the 
 Catalogue, its importance b^ing marked 
 by the absence of any qualifying word . The 
 former was long called the Numerical 
 catalogue, but has been re-christened the 
 Accession book. It is a record of each 
 book acquired by the library (of each 
 accession to the library), entered in con- 
 secutive numerical order, with the author, 
 title, publisher, place of publication, cost 
 and other details necessary to a history of 
 each volume on the shelves. 
 
ACCESSIONS 
 
 The accession book may be an ordinary 
 blank book, ruled off with the headings 
 written in by the librarian, or a book made 
 for the purpose may be bought of the 
 Library Bureau, Chicago. The smallest 
 edition is made for 1,000 volumes, and 
 costs $1.00. If a blank book is used, one 
 8x10 inches is convenient, and the double 
 page is necessary for the complete entry. 
 (See opposite page). 
 
 Every book, pamphlet, or volume of a 
 set of books, is given an accession number 
 and occupies one line. If a book is worn 
 out, lost, or withdrawn the fact is noted 
 in the columns for remarks. Gifts are en- 
 tered as other books except the word 
 "gift" is written in the cost column. 
 Bound periodicals are entered as other 
 books, but cost of subscriptions, and of 
 binding are kept elsewhere, in separate 
 note books. 
 
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4 ACCESSIONS 
 
 Each book should be marked with the 
 name of the Library, on the inside of the 
 front cover, either with a printed label, or 
 a rubber stamp, in either case a blank 
 being left, that the accession number 
 may be added. E. g. : 
 
 RICHMOND, MICHIGAN 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBRARY 
 
 NO 
 
 The accession book is of specific value. 
 It is the business ledger. In case of fire 
 it is the basis of estimating losses, and 
 securing insurance. It is the catalogue 
 which answers many purposes, among 
 them that of taking account of stock It 
 is the most important record book of the 
 library. 
 
CATALOGUING 5 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 Cataloguing 
 
 THE catalogue of a library is very 
 like the index of a book, and the 
 statement may be strengthened by adding 
 that a library without a catalogue is 
 deprived of its usefulness even more than 
 a book without an index. 
 
 All questions which must be answered 
 in a library fall under three heads: (1.) 
 Have you a book by a certain author? 
 (2.) Have you a particular book? 
 (3.) What have you on some specific 
 subject? The first requires that all books 
 be catalogued by authors. The second 
 necessitates writing titles of books. The 
 third demands the careful examination of 
 the books, that each may be entered 
 under the general subject class to which 
 it belongs, and still further that the 
 volume be analyzed and special chapters 
 
6 SMAU, SCHOOIv LIBRARIES 
 
 noted, to which neither the title nor the 
 general subject of the book would give 
 any clue. Take for example Wilson's 
 Division and reunion. Our first question 
 would be answered by a card written for 
 the author; our second by one for the 
 title, but the third would not be covered 
 by one under the subject of U. S. His- 
 tory, and an examination of the chapters 
 would at once furnish headings for such 
 subjects treated, as Slavery, Banks, Se- 
 cession, Reconstruction, etc. 
 
 There are two forms of catalogue the 
 printed catalogue and the card catalogue. 
 The former is the most expensive and the 
 least useful. A printed catalogue is 
 always out of date, and the books which 
 it does not catalogue are always the 
 newest, and often the best on a given sub- 
 ject, in the library. Take a library of five 
 hundred volumes, prepare a printed cata- 
 logue, and $5.00 would be a very conser- 
 
CATALOGUING 7 
 
 vative estimate for the printer's bill. The 
 following year perhaps fifty volumes will 
 be added to the library, a printed supple- 
 ment would cost at least a dollar, and 
 the catalogue would not be in alphabetical 
 or classified order. Each year will add to 
 the expense and to the inconvenience. A 
 card catalogue, on the other hand, has the 
 twofold advantage of economy of expense, 
 and of always being up to date in one 
 alphabet. A card catalogue case, which 
 will hold 2000, 4000, or 6000 cards can 
 be bought (of the Library Bureau, Chi- 
 cago) for $5.00, $8.00 and $12.00 
 respectively, and cataloguing cards cost 
 $2.25 per thousand. 
 
 The one absolutely essential detail in 
 the mechanical part of the catalogue, is 
 the use of the standard sized card. This 
 is made in various qualities and by 
 several library supply houses, but the 
 card made by the Library Bureau, Chi- 
 
8 SMAU, SCHOOL LIBRARIES 
 
 cago, at $2.50 per thousand, is perfectly 
 satisfactory. If it is inexpedient to pur- 
 chase a catalogue case at once, the box 
 in which the cards are shipped may serve 
 the purpose temporarily the standard 
 size insuring their fitting into the better 
 case, which may be provided later. 
 
 Before a book is ready to catalogue it 
 should have been accessioned, and the 
 accession number (or individual num- 
 ber of the book) entered in the book, 
 and also the name of the library en- 
 tered in the book. A book should be 
 catalogued from the title page, which often 
 differs from the title printed on the back. 
 The author card should be written first, 
 and should contain the author's name, the 
 title of the book, and at the lower part of 
 the card the accession number. If the 
 book has illustrations the abbreviation 
 lllus. should be added, and if there are 
 
CATALOGUING 
 
 more volumes than one the fact should be 
 noted E. g. 3 vol. 
 
 Take for example Fiske's Critical 
 period: 
 
 
 Pis 
 
 ke, John 
 
 
 
 Critical period of American 
 
 
 hist 
 
 ory, 1783-1789 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 208 
 
 
 
 Author card (reduced; actual size, 7^x12% cm.) 
 
 This card answers our first question, 
 have you <( a book by a certain author?" 
 moreover when it is put into the catologue, 
 if there are other books in the library by 
 John Fiske, they will all be together in 
 the catalogue. 
 
 The next card to write, which would 
 answer the second question: "Have you 
 a particular book? M is the title card. Here 
 the order is reversed, Critical period, etc., 
 
10 SMAU, SCHOOL, UBRARIES 
 
 appearing on the top line, and author's 
 name (inverted as before) on the second 
 line. 
 
 Our last question remains: "What 
 have you on a specific subject?" Of what 
 then does this volume treat as a whole, 
 and of what specific subjects? The 
 main subject would be U. S. History, 
 (written on the top line of the card,) the 
 author's name following. Looking through 
 the table of contents we find many chap- 
 ters, among them, one on the Federal con- 
 vention. For this we write our subject: 
 Federal convention on the top line, the 
 author's name follows in the same place, 
 on the second line, and then the name of 
 the book, see his Critical period of U. 
 S. History, p. 230-305. 
 
 Let me cite one more book, and I have 
 chosen books that should be in all Public 
 school libraries Jane Austin's Standish 
 of Standish: a story of the Pilgrims. This 
 
CATALOGUING 11 
 
 is a historical novel, and the author 
 card would be written as the Fiske 
 card, but this book should be made avail- 
 able also under U. S. History Colonial, 
 and under Pilgrims for subject headings. 
 Now let us arrange our cards. Supposing 
 we have catalogued all the books men- 
 tioned, we will have in our author cards 
 as follows: 
 
 Austin, Jane. Standish of Standish; A story of the 
 Pilgrims. 
 
 Fiske, John. Critical Period of American history 
 1783-1789. 
 
 Hart, A. B. American History as told by contem- 
 poraries. 4 vol. 
 
 Wilson, Woodrow. Division and reunion. Maps. 
 
 If a student comes to look up a topic in 
 
 U. S History, under that subject he will 
 
 find: 
 
 U. S. History. Fiske, John. Critical, period, etc. 
 
 U.S. History. Hart, A. B. American history, etc. 
 
 U. S. History. Wilson, Woodrow. Division and 
 reunion. 
 
 U. S. History. Colonial. Austin. Jane. Stand- 
 ish of Standish, etc. 
 
12 SMAI,!, SCHOOL LIBRARIES 
 
 If he wants something specially on the 
 Federal convention he will find an admir- 
 able reference, and the same in looking for 
 Slavery, Banks, Pilgrims, etc. 
 
 There is no work in which it is truer 
 that one must learn in the doing than 
 cataloguing. The two points to be em- 
 phasized are: First Be careful and con- 
 sistent in deciding on subject headings, 
 and second, try to catalogue from the 
 point of view of the class of students, as a 
 whole, who will use the catalogue for in- 
 stance, do not let the general head U. S. 
 History cover specific subjects. If t( a 
 spade is a spade, M use Spade for subject 
 heading, and not Farming implement. 
 
CATALOGUING 13 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 Cataloguing 
 
 THE cataloguing of books in a library 
 implies systematizing their contents 
 and thus, bringing together in the cata- 
 logue ,books and chapters of books, which 
 treat of the same subject. In other words, 
 it classifies the material at our disposal, 
 and makes available the resources of many 
 hundred or many thousand books, as an 
 index serves to make available the contents 
 of one book or one set of books. 
 
 When cataloguing a book, look carefully 
 at the title page, and put so much on the 
 card as may be necessary to define the 
 scope of the book. Often the sub-title is 
 absolutely essential. For E. g. : MacDon- 
 ald's Select documents, needs the qualifi- 
 cation of its sub-title Illustrative of the 
 history of the United States 1776-1861. 
 If catalogued under the subject-heading, 
 
14 SMAIvI, SCHOOL UBRARIKS 
 
 U.S. Original documents, we would know 
 from this sub-title, that we would find in it 
 neither the Colonial charters, nor the last 
 Treaty with Spain. Next a careful ex- 
 amination of the preface, and table of 
 contents is necessary, to decide just what 
 material in the book will be of absolute 
 service and under what head or title it will 
 probably be called for. Shall we write a 
 specific card for the Articles of Confedera- 
 tion, and for the Ordinance of 1787, or shall 
 we trust to their being found under U. S. 
 Original documents. In many cases, in 
 the school, there is a certain periodicity 
 about the references. Each semester cer- 
 tain references are wanted, and it is well 
 to note these, and enrich the catalogue 
 from all good sources. 
 
 Decide on subject headings with ex- 
 treme care that they be clear, explicit 
 and exact. If several entries have been 
 
CATALOGUING 15 
 
 made under U. S. History-Colonies, do 
 not forget and make an entry under some 
 new form, as U. S. Colonies. If the 
 word Bank has been decided on, do not 
 enter a book under National banks, but 
 rather write a card, National banks see 
 Banks, and keep the several references 
 on banking together. If uncertain about 
 a heading consult your catalogue to 
 see if you have already decided on one. 
 It is well to leave the cards in the 
 books catalogued on one day, to be read 
 and verified the next day. If a book is 
 uncut, write the word cut on a slip of 
 paper and place it in the book, that it 
 may not reach the shelf uncut. Having 
 carefully re-read the cards, divide them 
 into two lots, one the author cards, the 
 other the title and subject cards. The 
 word author card is used technically to 
 stand for main card, that is, the card 
 
16 SMAI,!, SCHOOL 
 
 which contains certain specific information 
 usually of importance chiefly to the cata- 
 loguer, for example: the accession 
 number, or a note to state that one vol- 
 ume out of a set is lost, or that two vol- 
 umes only of a set are as yet published, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 Periodicals, cyclopedias, atlases, year 
 books of schools and certain reference 
 books which are known almost exclusive- 
 ly by title are catalogued with the titles 
 for the main card, arid a regular title 
 card is also written to go with the titles 
 and subjects. For example, The Edu- 
 cational review, Universal cyclopedia, 
 Rand, McNally's atlas, Century 
 dictionary of names, and the States- 
 man's year book the five most essen- 
 tial reference books after Webster's Inter- 
 national dictionary each should have as 
 a main or author card, the title of the 
 
CATALOGUING 
 
 17 
 
 work, with the name of the editor entered 
 on it, if necessary, and also a title card, 
 that it may be found in whichever place 
 it is looked for. Further, these main- 
 title cards are treated alphabetically as 
 proper names. The main card for a peri- 
 odical would be written as follows: 
 
 
 Edu 
 
 cational Review 
 
 
 
 1900-date 
 
 
 
 vol 20-date 
 
 
 
 ed. by Butler, Nicholas 
 
 Mur- 
 
 
 
 ray 
 
 
 
 over 
 
 The card shows exactly what years and 
 what volumes are in the library. The 
 word date signifying to the present time. 
 
 In the case of a periodical, or of any 
 work which is published at intervals (gen- 
 erally called, Continuations,) it is well to 
 write the word over at the bottom of the 
 
18 SMAI,!, SCHOOL UBRARIES 
 
 card, and put the accession numbers on 
 the back, opposite the vol. E. g. : 
 
 Vol. 10. 247. 
 
 Vol. 11. 293. 
 
 Vol. 12. 344. 
 
 The same rule would apply to such 
 books as the Normal College Year book, 
 The School laws of Michigan, Report of 
 the Supt. of Public instruction, Report of 
 the U. S. Commissioner of Education. 
 The cards would be written and alpha- 
 betted as follows with the author cards 
 already in the catalogue. The word date 
 is also entered on these cards, and care 
 should be taken that they are kept up to 
 date. 
 Austin, Jane. Standish of Standish; A story of the 
 
 Pilgrims. 
 
 Century dictionary of names. 
 Educational review. 1900 date. Etc. 
 Fiske, John. Critical period of American history. 
 1783-1789. 
 
CATALOGUING 19 
 
 Hart. A. B. American history as told by contem- 
 poraries. 4 vol. 
 
 MacDonald, William. Select documents illustrative 
 of the history of the United States. 1776-1861. 
 
 Michigan Public instruction, Report of the Super- 
 intendent. 1897 date. 
 
 Michigan State Normal College, Year books. 1895 
 date. 9 vol. 
 
 Rand, McNally & Co. Indexed atlas of the world. 
 
 Statesman's Year book. 1900 date. 4 vol. 
 
 U. S. Education, Bureau of. Report of Commis- 
 sioner of Education. 1892 date. 
 
 Universal Cyclopedia. 12 vol. 
 
 Wilson, Woodrow. Division and reunion. Maps. 
 
 In the same way the duplicate title card 
 for each would be alph abetted into the 
 catalogue of titles and subjects. When a 
 new volume of a periodical is bound, or a 
 new year book or other continuation 
 received, it is accessioned, and the 
 number of the volume and the accession 
 number is added to the card already 
 written. 
 
 Do not attempt to make a catalogue 
 without some books on library methods. 
 For any one who has had little or no ex- 
 
20 SMAU, SCHOOIy UBRARIES 
 
 perience, the simpler and briefer these 
 helps the better. The best book I know 
 is Hints to Small libraries, by Miss 
 Plumtner, librarian of Pratt Institute, 
 Brooklyn, N. Y., and most easily obtain- 
 ed direct from the author, price 50c. 
 
 The best help one can have is to visit 
 other libraries and study their catalogues, 
 and ask questions of the librarians. Keep 
 a list of questions and be ready to seize 
 any opportunity which offers to have 
 them answered. 
 
CLASSIFICATION 21 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Classification 
 
 THE subject of classification falls into 
 two divisions: (1.) The books and 
 their contents for the purpose of catalog- 
 uing; (2.) The arrangement of books on 
 the same subject into groups, for conve- 
 nient placing on the shelves. 
 
 The former has already been considered. 
 Regarding the latter, books in all libraries 
 large or small, public or private, naturally 
 fall into much the same arrangement, but 
 in a large library, or a public library, it 
 becomes necessary that each book shall 
 have some distinctive mark that it may 
 easily be replaced on the shelves. We 
 place together general reference books, 
 books on science, and histories, and lit- 
 erature, etc., etc. 
 
 Many systems have been devised for ar- 
 ranging and marking books in a logical 
 
22 SMAI,!, SCHOOL LIBRARIES 
 
 and scientific manner. The one most in 
 use and most simple in its application is 
 the Dewey Decimal classification. 
 
 This classification groups all knowledge 
 into ten classes: General Works, Phil- 
 osophy, Religion, Sociology, Philology, 
 Natural Science, Useful Arts, Fine Arts, 
 Literature, History. Each of these classes 
 is subdivided into ten, as the Natural 
 sciences. Mathematics, Astronomy, 
 Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Paleontol- 
 ogy, Biology, Botany, Zoology. These 
 again are subdivided, as Mathematics 
 into Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, etc. 
 Of course in a very large library the sub- 
 division goes on indefinitely. In a small 
 school library many of the numbers would 
 not be used in the table of one hundred 
 Headings . Before beginning to classify the 
 books, decide under which headings the 
 library has enough books to make a group, 
 and underscore these numbers in the 
 table. 
 
CLASSIFICATION 23 
 
 DIVISIONS 
 
 000 General Works. 
 
 010 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 020 LIBRARY ECONOMY. 
 
 030 GENERAL, CYCLOPEDIAS, 
 
 040 GENERAL COLLECTIONS. 
 
 050 GENERAL PERIODICALS. 
 
 060 GENERAL SOCIETIES. 
 
 070 NEWSPAPERS. 
 
 080 SPECIAL LIBRARIES. POLYGRAPHY. 
 
 090 BOOK RARITIES. 
 
 100 Philosophy. 
 
 110 METAPHYSICS. 
 
 120 SPECIAL METAPHYSICAL TOPICS. 
 
 130 MIND AND BODY. 
 
 140 PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS. 
 
 150 MENTAL FACULTIES. PSYCHOLOGY. 
 
 160 LOGIC. 
 
 170 ETHICS. 
 
 180 ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS. 
 
 190 MODERN PHILOSOPHERS, 
 
 200 Religion. 
 
 210 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 
 
 220 BIBLE. 
 
 230 DOCTRINAL THEOL. DOGMATICS. 
 
 240 DEVOTIONAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 250 HOMILETIC. PASTORAL. PAROCHIAL. 
 
 260 CHURCH. INSTITUTIONS. WORK. 
 
 270 RELIGIOUS HISTORY. 
 
 280 CHRISTIAN CHURCHES AND SECTS. 
 
 290 NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS. 
 
24 SMALL SCHOOL LIBRARIES 
 
 300 Sociology. 
 
 310 
 
 STATISTICS. 
 
 320 
 
 POLITICAL SCIENCE, 
 
 330 
 
 POLITICAL ECONOMY. 
 
 340 
 
 LAW. 
 
 350 
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 360 
 
 ASSOCIATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 370 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 380 
 
 COMMERCE AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 390 
 
 CUSTOMS. COSTUMES. FOLK-LORE, 
 
 400 
 
 Philology. 
 
 410 
 
 COMPARATIVE . 
 
 420 
 
 ENGLISH. 
 
 430 
 
 GERMAN. 
 
 440 
 
 FRENCH. 
 
 450 
 
 ITALIAN. 
 
 460 
 
 SPANISH. 
 
 470 
 
 LATIN. 
 
 480 
 
 GREEK. 
 
 490 
 
 MINOR LANGUAGES. 
 
 500 
 
 Natural Science. 
 
 510 
 
 MATHEMATICS. 
 
 520 
 
 ASTRONOMY. 
 
 530 
 
 PHYSICS. 
 
 540 
 
 CHEMISTRY. 
 
 550 
 
 GEOLOGY. 
 
 560 
 
 PALEONTOLOG v . 
 
 570 
 
 BIOLOGY. 
 
 580 
 
 BOTANY. 
 
 590 
 
 ZOOLOGY. 
 
CLASSIFICATION 25 
 
 600 Useful Arts. 
 
 610 
 
 MEDICINE. 
 
 620 
 
 ENGINEERING. 
 
 630 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 640 
 
 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 
 
 650 
 
 COMMUNICATION AND COMMERCE. 
 
 660 
 
 CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY. 
 
 670 
 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 680 
 
 MECHANIC TRADES. 
 
 690 
 
 BUILDING. 
 
 700 
 
 Fine Arts. 
 
 710 
 
 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
 
 720 
 
 ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 730 
 
 SCULPTURE. 
 
 740 
 
 DRAWING, DESIGN, DECORATION. 
 
 750 
 
 PAINTING. 
 
 760 
 
 ENGRAVING. 
 
 770 
 
 PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 780 
 
 Music, 
 
 790 
 
 AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 800 
 
 Literature. 
 
 810 
 
 AMERICAN. 
 
 820 
 
 ENGLISH. 
 
 830 
 
 GERMAN. 
 
 840 
 
 FRENCH. 
 
 850 
 
 ITALIAN. 
 
 860 
 
 SPANISH. 
 
 870 
 
 LATIN. 
 
 880 
 
 GREEK. 
 
 890 
 
 MINOR LANGUAGES. 
 
26 SMAI,!, SCHOOL, LIBRARIES 
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION. 
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 ANCIENT HISTORY. 
 
 EUROPE. 
 
 ASIA. 
 
 AFRICA. 
 
 NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 OCEANICA AND POLAR REGIONS. * 
 
 Taking some of the books we have 
 already mentioned in the chapters on 
 cataloguing, we would place Austin's, 
 Standish of Standish, with American 
 literature ; the Century dictionary of names, 
 with the General cyclopedias ; Educational 
 review, with works on Education; and 
 Fiske's Critical period, with N. Ameri- 
 can history. Having found from the 
 table the number of the group, mark it in 
 the book on the inside of the cover under 
 the stamp which has the accession number, 
 and place it also in the upper left hand 
 corner of each card that is written for the 
 
 *Reprinted from the DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION by permission 
 of the publishers, library Bureau, Boston. A forty-page 
 pamphlet with explanation and detail, will be sent free to any 
 applicant. 
 
CLASSIFICATION 27 
 
 book. It is generally more convenient 
 to assign the class No. before cataloguing 
 the book, as then the number is ready to 
 be added at once to the cards. 
 
 The books are now divided into groups 
 and each group has its distinctive mark, 
 or number. The next process is to place 
 the books on the shelves First come the 
 General reference books, followed by 
 those on Philosophy, where probably all 
 will be included in the No. 150 Psychol- 
 ogy. Under Religion there will perhaps 
 be the two divisions 220 Bible, including 
 any works relating to the bible, as a con- 
 cordance, a life of Christ, or a book of 
 bible stories ; and 290 Non-Christian relig- 
 ions, where the Greek and Roman myth- 
 ology would be placed. 
 
 The general groups being together, the 
 books must be placed on the shelves in 
 some regular order, and this means 
 arranging them alphabetically by the 
 author. To this rule there is one exception, 
 A biography is alph abetted by the name 
 of the person whose life is written , as this 
 allows two or more lives of the same 
 
28 SMAI,!, SCHOOL 
 
 person to stand side by side, and also in 
 many cases by the side of the works of 
 which he is the author, as in English 
 literature the lives of Addison would 
 stand next to the Spectator. 
 
 All individual biography is more useful 
 in a reference library (and all school 
 libraries are such) if placed in its own 
 group. Lives of American statesmen 
 should go into American history. 
 
 There should be no fiction in a school 
 library that is not worthy to be classed 
 Literature. There are plenty of good 
 stirring stories for the boys and girls, by 
 such authors as Alcott, Bouvet, Jewett, 
 Stockton, Scott, Mark Twain, Stevenson, 
 and Mulock, nor shall we bar out Capt. 
 King, Henty and Otis and good 
 books for pure enjoyment should make 
 a fair percentage of school library books. 
 
 This system of classification has the 
 peculiar advantage of expansion through 
 placing new books in each group in their 
 alphabetical order, on the shelves, in the 
 same manner that new cards are inserted 
 in the catalogue. 
 
LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION 29 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Administration 
 
 UNDER the heading Administration 
 will fall such details as, regulations 
 for drawing and charging books; use and 
 care of periodicals ; selecting and ordering 
 books; and library tools, both mechanical 
 and literary. In some of the smaller 
 schools the teacher best adapted for the 
 work is appointed librarian and given time 
 from regular work, or given extra pay for 
 extra work. It is also expedient to select 
 one or two of the senior class who are 
 usually glad to give their time for the bene- 
 fit and the honor of having charge of the 
 library during their free class periods. 
 Too often the entire work falls on the 
 superintendent. 
 
 The smaller the library the greater the 
 necessity for allowing all kinds of books 
 
30 SMAU, SCHOOL LIBRARIES 
 
 to be taken from the room, and also the 
 more urgent the requirement that they be 
 taken at such time only as will not inter- 
 fere with their use as needed in the room, 
 and that they be returned with absolute 
 promptness at the time stated. No book 
 should be taken from the library, even for 
 a few minutes, by either teacher or 
 scholar, without a charge being made. 
 The simplest charging system, is the use 
 of slips of paper, cut to uniform size 
 about 2x4 inches. Write name of author at 
 top, and below, title of book, accession 
 number, and sign with name of person 
 drawing the book. These slips should be 
 kept in alphabetical order, snapped to- 
 gether with a rubber band, convenient for 
 immediate reference when a book is wanted 
 which is not on the shelves When the 
 book is returned the slip is destroyed. It 
 is well to add date, and sometimes to note 
 length of time the book is to be kept out. 
 
LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION 31 
 
 The periodical list should receive early 
 attention. It will be limited by the funds 
 at the disposal of the library, and by the 
 judgment of the individual librarian. 
 About one quarter of the annual fund 
 should be allowed this might, or might 
 not include binding. No periodical should 
 be subscribed for that would not be of per- 
 manent worth. With $100 a year for the 
 library, $25 should be spent for period- 
 icals with ten on the list, there would 
 be nearly twenty volumes to bind, as most 
 bind two volumes to the year. Binding 
 costs from 50 cents to $1.00 per volume. 
 Allowing $10.00 for binding there would 
 be $15.00 for the subscription list. The 
 following list comprises those periodicals 
 found most often, to have successfully 
 stood the test of usefulness: 
 
 Youth's Companion ^ weekly), illus. $1.85 
 
 St. Nicholas (monthly), illus. . . 3.00 
 
 Kindergarten Magazine (monthly), illus. 2.00 
 
 Scribner's Magazine (monthly), illus. 3.00 
 
32 SMAU, SCHOOI, 
 
 Cosmopolitan (monthly), illus. . . $1.00 
 
 Outlook (weekly), illus. . . . 3.00 
 
 Review of Reviews (monthly), illus. 2.50 
 
 World's Work (monthly), illus. 3.00 
 
 Educational Review (monthly), illus. 3.00 
 
 Public Libraries (monthly), . . 1.00 
 
 The Educational review and Public 
 libraries are for the use of the teachers. 
 In a library of less than 1,000 volumes it 
 would be inexpedient to buy any books on 
 methods for the use of the teachers, but 
 all should have access to the Review, 
 which is invaluable and should be cata- 
 logued and bound promptly. Public 
 libraries contains a great deal of helpful 
 material, suggestions, reading lists, etc., 
 for school libraries. 
 
 There are many articles in the period- 
 icals that should be catalogued. A con- 
 venient form is Subject, periodical, vol., 
 page, date, E.g.: 
 
 Postoffice: World's Work, v 7: p. 4075: Nov. '03. 
 All periodicals are arranged on the shelves 
 alphabetically. A discount of about 15 
 
LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION 33 
 
 per cent is given by subscription agencies, 
 and a careful record should be kept, of the 
 date of ordering, agency from which or- 
 dered, cost, and date of beginning and 
 ending of subscription. Each number is 
 to be entered on a check list as received, 
 and when a volume is complete it should 
 be bound at once. 
 
 The selecting and ordering of books is 
 the most important part of library work. 
 The best helps are to be found in looking 
 over a well selected library, and in the 
 personal recommendation of books that 
 have been used successfully by teachers 
 in whose judgment confidence may be 
 placed. Keep a memorandum of such 
 books, noting author, title, and person by 
 whom recommended, and specific use of 
 book. Then when money is available, 
 and book lists are to be made out, there 
 will be a reliable beginning. 
 
 Publishers catalogues are supplied for 
 
34 SMAU, SCHOOI, 
 
 the asking, and those of such houses as 
 Ginn & Co., D. C. Heath, Houghton & 
 Mifflin, American Book Co., Macmillan, 
 and Scribner's Sons are indispensable. 
 There are certain classics that must serve 
 as the basis and nucleus of every library, 
 and these firms each supply some of these 
 in the most convenient and attractive of 
 editions, and several of them publish 
 special catalogues of books adapted to 
 school libraries and reading, for the young. 
 To cite one example from each of these 
 particular houses, Ginn & Co., publish the 
 Jane Andrews series of books, containing 
 Ten boys, Seven little sisters and others. 
 D. C. Heath's series of Home and School 
 classics, offer such books as Mrs. Swing's 
 Jackanapes, and Miss Mulock's Little 
 lame prince. Houghton & Mifflin are 
 richest in American authors, and their 
 Cambridge edition of the poets is indis- 
 putably the one to be bought for Long- 
 

 LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION 35 
 
 fellow, Whittier, and other poets which the 
 smallest library must have. The Eclectic 
 series of the American Book Co., is the 
 most inclusive in its scope, with a range 
 from children's fairy tales, through famous 
 stories in literature, geography, history 
 and the English classics. The Macmil- 
 lan's publish Hart's American history told 
 by contemporaries, and Hart's Source 
 readers of American history. Scribner's 
 Series of school reading, furnish several 
 things at a reasonable cost, that are not 
 published elsewhere in convenient form 
 as Thompson-Seton's Animal series, and 
 Wright's American literature stories. 
 These catalogues should be kept together, 
 and in alphabetical order by name of pub- 
 lishing house. 
 
 There are so many good lists to assist 
 one that a selection is difficult. First and 
 most easily available is the one printed by 
 Hon. Delos Fall, Supt. of Public Instruc- 
 tion, in the State manual and course of 
 study last edition. This is sent free 
 upon application at the Superintendent's 
 office, Lansing, Michigan. 
 
36 SMAI,!, SCHOOL LIBRARIES 
 
 An ideal list is published by the Buffalo 
 Public Library called Class-room libraries 
 for Public schools, and covering the 1st to 
 9th grades. The first part is arranged by 
 grades, the second part is an author and 
 title index in one alphabet, the third is a 
 subject index to the graded list. Opening 
 at random the following occur: Firemen, 
 Flag day, Japan, Pilgrims and puritans, 
 Ships and sailors. This catalogue will 
 be mailed on receipt of 10 cents. 
 
 Further lists are found in educational 
 papers, which with such periodicals as the 
 World's work, Outlook, and Review of 
 reviews should be read regularly for notices 
 of new books. 
 
 Finally, present a book list of exactly 
 what is most wanted, and that exactly 
 meets the amount of money to be spent. 
 Do not send in a $30.00 list, when there 
 are but $10.00 to spend, first because it is 
 unbusiness like, second because the Board 
 will unfailingly cut out the particular 
 books you consider most valuable. 
 
REFERENCE BOOKS 37 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Reference Books 
 
 Two things are absolutely indispensable 
 in any library, large or small, public or 
 private good books, and intelligence in 
 their use. The smaller the library the 
 more necessary is a discriminating knowl- 
 edge of its resources. Broadly speaking, 
 in a very small library all books may be 
 considered reference books, for one could 
 so master their contents as to make them 
 answer many questions which, in a larger 
 library, might more quickly be found 
 elsewhere. For example, certain text- 
 books in science and history indicate the 
 pronunciation of proper names, and might 
 be referred to in case there were no 
 dictionary ; or a geographical reader might 
 give information which could more quickly 
 and conveniently be found in a general 
 cyclopedia. 
 
38 SMAI,!, SCHOOL IvIBRARIES 
 
 In a more restricted sense a reference 
 book is one to be consulted for definite 
 points of information, and is arranged for 
 ease in looking up specific facts. Its 
 arrangement may be either alphabetical, 
 topical, or chronological and it is pro- 
 vided with tables of contents, and with 
 indexes, which lead one quickly to the 
 information desired. 
 
 The intelligent use of such books de- 
 pends very largely on two things: First, 
 to quickly sieze on the scope and ar- 
 rangement of the work; second, the 
 habitual use of the index. The old joke 
 of reading through an encyclopedia fre- 
 quently materializes, as in the case of a 
 student referred to the Statesman's Year 
 Book to find the number of members in 
 the House of Commons. The .student re- 
 turned next day to his teacher saying he 
 had read three hours in the book and had 
 not found what he wanted. However, the 
 
REFERENCE BOOKS 39 
 
 same illustration points another lesson 
 besides the lack of knowledge in the use 
 of an index, namely, that of personal 
 help, for the teacher at once gave assist- 
 ance that was thenceforth valuable in the 
 use of all reference books. 
 
 A few moments of individual help in 
 the use of books and catalogues aud dic- 
 tionaries is of inestimable value, and the 
 oft-repeated "send the student to the cat- 
 alogue/' should rather read "take the 
 student to the catalogue " and explain 
 the particular reference in hand, for in 
 nothing does a concrete example more 
 surely illustrate general principles than 
 in reference work. 
 
 The corner stone of every library 
 should be Webster's International dic- 
 tionary. It is the standard American 
 dictionary, being used far more generally 
 than any other, and also being the official 
 standard of the U. S. Supreme Court, of 
 
40 SMAI,!, SCHOOI, UBRARIRS 
 
 Congress, and of many U. S. and indi- 
 vidual state departments. Besides its 
 general use for the derivation, definition, 
 and pronunciation of words, it is inval- 
 uable for its appendix, containing a dic- 
 tionary of noted fictitious persons and 
 places; pronouncing gazetteer or geo- 
 graphical dictionary; dictionary of classi- 
 cal and foreign words and quotations, etc. ; 
 pronouncing biographical dictionary; and 
 other supplementary helps. 
 
 The best cyclopedia for a small school 
 library is Johnson's Universal Cyclopedia, 
 in 8 volumes, ($48.00). This edition was 
 thoroughly revised under the direction of 
 C. K. Adams as editor-in-chief, between 
 1893-95. A subsequent so-called edition 
 extending the work to 12 volumes, under 
 the name of Universal Cyclopedia, is not 
 a revision, the old plates being used, and 
 an appendix being added to each volume, 
 giving some later data, which were 
 
REFERENCE BOOKS 41 
 
 more conveniently found in a good year 
 book. The older edition can now be 
 bought for about half its original cost, 
 from its publishers (D. Appleton, New 
 York), or from second-hand dealers for 
 still less. 
 
 There are several year books which are 
 indispensable. First, because most easily 
 available, the World Almanac, the annual 
 publication of the New York World. 
 This contains all kinds of information 
 both forthell. S. and foreign countries, 
 as election returns, statistics, political 
 information, etc. (Indexed, 40c. cloth.) 
 
 The Statesman's Year Book (published 
 by Macmillan, $3.00), contains both 
 statistical and descriptive information re- 
 garding all of the countries of the world, 
 and has so much of permanent value that 
 in very small libraries it would not be 
 essential that it be bought each year, as 
 forms of government, trade and industries, 
 
42 SMALI* SCHOOL LIBRARIES 
 
 commerce, etc., do not materially change 
 from year to year. 
 
 The International Year Book (published 
 by Dodd, $4.00), is a compendium of the 
 world's progress and history, with bio- 
 graphical studies, particularly oi great 
 men who have died during the year. This 
 should be bought each year.- 
 
 Three smaller books of first importance 
 are Champlin's Young folks' cyclopedia 
 of persons and places; Young folks' 
 cyclopedia of common things ; Young folks' 
 cyclopedia of literature and art, (Holt, 
 $2.50 each). Their names define their 
 scope, and next to Webster's dictionary 
 they would be the most useful and avail- 
 able reference books for young students. 
 
 Brewer's, The Reader's handbook of 
 allusions, references, plots, and stories, 
 supplies a mass of information in brief, 
 lucid accounts of names and allusions 
 which the reader is constantly meeting. 
 (L,ippincot, $3.50.) 
 
REFERENCE BOOKS 43 
 
 Walsh's Curiosities of popular customs, 
 rites, ceremonies, observations, and mis- 
 cellaneous antiquities, is particularly help- 
 ful for special days, as Hallowe'en, St. 
 Valentine, Christmas and others. 
 
 A good book of quotations and a collec- 
 tion of poetry concludes the list of most 
 indispensable books of reference. Bart- 
 lett's Familiar quotations and Bryant's 
 Library of poetry and song, are still among 
 the best books of their kind. 
 
 A strong word of caution is urged 
 against the purchase of the numerous 
 "collections" and "libraries" of history, 
 of literature, of science, of universal 
 information, and what not, which are 
 flooding the country through subscription 
 agents. Never buy a subscription book 
 on the sole recommendation of its agent. 
 It will surely be matter for serious regret, 
 and the money which has gone into a 
 large and probably cheap set of books, 
 
44 SMAI,!, SCHOOI, LIBRARIES 
 
 cheap in every way, could be expended 
 for good books that are of known value 
 and utility. 
 
 The selection of books for reference 
 and collateral work in history, civics, 
 literature, and science, should be made 
 with due care to proportion and to adapta- 
 bility to the work of the school. In his- 
 tory, shorter works have taken the place of 
 the old many-volume histories. In sec- 
 ondary schools Fiske is certainly better 
 than Bancroft, and by the side of Fiske's 
 American Revolution, put Mitchell's 
 Hugh Wynn: Free quaker, both for the 
 enjoyment of good literature, and for the 
 character studies of Washington, Hamil- 
 ton, and Benedict Arnold. In literature 
 let the editions be standard, of the few 
 poets, and one or two volumes of the best 
 essayists, as Emerson, Carlyle, Arnold, 
 and Lamb. In biography choose from 
 such series as the American statesmen, and 
 the English men of letters. 
 
PUBLIC DOCUMENTS 45 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Public Documents 
 
 TEACHING has changed its methods 
 and the old books of reference no 
 longer suffice. In the so-called laboratory 
 work, required in all studies, primary 
 material has become a matter of necessity. 
 History, civics and geography for exam- 
 ple, all demand original documents and 
 data on historical, judicial, industrial, 
 commercial and municipal subjects. Much 
 of this material is to be found in public 
 documents which are indispensable in the 
 smallest library. They are too often quite 
 neglected, possibly because they are so 
 easily obtained, for they may literally be 
 had for the asking. 
 
 These documents are divided into three 
 classes: those of the federal government, 
 published by the government at Washing- 
 ton; those of the state governments, 
 
46 SMAI^I, SCHOOI, LIBRARIES 
 
 published by the several commonwealths ; 
 those of the municipal goverment, pub- 
 lished by the individual city or village. 
 
 The three questions which a librarian 
 must consider regarding public documents 
 are, what do we need, how can we get 
 them, and how shall they be classified and 
 catalogued. 
 
 Among the government documents of 
 first importance are the annual reports of 
 the U.S. Commissioner of Education, the 
 Year book of the Department of Agricul- 
 ture, the Compilation of Treaties in force 
 in 1899, annual reports of the Civil service 
 commission, and the U. S. Consular re- 
 ports. 
 
 The reports of the Commissioner of 
 Education are of the greatest value to the 
 teacher, being a record of educational 
 progress and containing papers on special 
 subjects, as well as full statistical tables. 
 Glancing at the table of contents in the 
 
PUBLIC DOCUMENTS 47 
 
 last report, one notes the following: 
 School supervision ; Free text-books, bene- 
 fits, objections, cost; Agriculture in Rural 
 schools; Rural school libraries; Child 
 study in Chicago. This file should be 
 begun at once and kept up-to-date, as it 
 is an authoritative work in educational 
 history and is of permanent value. 
 
 The Agricultural year books are well 
 illustrated and not confined to technical 
 matters of interest to the farmer only, but 
 treat many subjects of general interest, 
 as the beet sugar industry, irrigation, 
 uses of wood, olive culture in the IL S. 
 etc. Of such reports as the Civil service, 
 and the Consular, occasional volumes 
 would be sufficient, and those of particu- 
 lar importance are frequently noted in the 
 bibliographies and reference lists in the 
 text-books on history, civics and geog- 
 raphy. 
 
 There are two ways to obtain these 
 
48 SMAI.lv SCHOOL LIBRARIES 
 
 documents. First, through the Supt. of 
 Documents, Washington, D. C. Write 
 for what you want and state that it is for 
 a school library. If he cannot supply, he 
 will tell you how to procure it. Second, 
 through the congressman of your district 
 who is entitled to copies of all documents 
 for distribution. 
 
 In cataloguing these documents the 
 author entry is under the name of the U. 
 S. department or bureau by which the 
 document is issued, for E. g., U. S. 
 Education, Bureau of. Reports of Com- 
 missioner of Education, 1902. One au- 
 thor card, of course, is sufficient for the 
 set, the new books being entered on the 
 old card. The subject card would be U. 
 S. Education, as this would bring the 
 card in the subject catalogue next others 
 on education in the U. S. In some li- 
 braries all books on education are entered 
 under Education. It is a matter for the 
 

 PUBLIC DOCUMENTS 49 
 
 individual librarian to decide, but having 
 decided, care is always necessary that 
 uniformity be maintained. The other 
 author cards would be U. S. Agricul- 
 ture, Dept. of; U. S. Civil Service com- 
 mission, etc. In classifying, place the 
 books with others on the same subject. 
 The Treaties in 973 with U. S. History, 
 the Commissioner of Education in 370, 
 the Agricultural Year book in 630. 
 
 State documents follow very much in 
 the order of U. S. documents, and the 
 first on this list should be the Annual 
 report of the Supt. of Public instruction, 
 it being an indispensable reference book 
 for the school board, the school principal, 
 and the school teacher, containing not 
 only the report and recommendations of 
 the Superintendent and summary of school 
 legislation and statistics, but also articles 
 on practical school problems. 
 
 Next on the list of state documents is 
 
50 SMAI,!, SCHOOL LIBRARIES 
 
 the book familiarly known as the Michi- 
 gan manual, or the red book. This is the 
 official hand-book of the legislature. It is 
 the book from which the text-books of civil 
 government of Michigan are almost liter- 
 ally and bodily taken. 
 
 The annual reports of the Bureau of 
 labor contain chapters on important 
 manufacturing industries, as the pepper- 
 mint industry, the silk industry, manu- 
 facture of Portland cement, etc., etc. It 
 will be a surprise to many to learn here 
 that the largest producer of pepper- 
 mint oil in the world is the A. M. Todd 
 Co., of Kalamazoo, and the largest pep- 
 permint farm in the world is owned by 
 this company, and 90 per cent of all the 
 peppermint oil in the world is distilled 
 within a radius of 75 miles of Kalamazoo. 
 
 Other reports of which occasional vol- 
 umes would be of value, are the Commis- 
 sioner of Railroads, the Geological 
 
PUBLIC DOCUMENTS 51 
 
 survey, the Pioneer and historical collec- 
 tions. 
 
 When the legislature is in session the 
 Legislative journal should be added to 
 the list, and request made for it to the 
 representative from the district. For all 
 documents it is best to address the state 
 librarian, Mary C. Spencer, she being also 
 secretary of the State library commission, 
 through which office she is entitled to 
 certain privileges in the distribution of 
 documents. 
 
 Municipal publications are so limited in 
 number in small towns that a few words 
 will suffice to enumerate them. A city or an 
 incorporated village has its charter, which 
 is readily obtained. The records of the 
 council are published in one of the local 
 papers. This practically exhausts the 
 list, but there are other unofficial records 
 of local character that should be gathered 
 and kept. Historical notices regarding 
 
52 SMALI, SCHOOL LIBRARIES 
 
 the town, biographical sketches of prom- 
 inent townsmen, dedicatory exercises in 
 connection with public buildings, pro- 
 grams of entertainments, school com- 
 mencements, and exercises. All of these 
 are the material from which history is 
 written. To keep them is an easy mat- 
 ter, if nothing more is done than to put 
 them in a box, with no present attempt at 
 classification. One thing is of absolute 
 importance in newspaper clippings, write 
 the date and name of the paper on the 
 margin. Two boxes, one labelled SCHOOL, 
 the other labelled with the name of the 
 town, would be all the apparatus neces- 
 sary to begin a local historical collection, 
 which would soon become invaluable, in 
 the small school library. 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED; 
 
 -:L LIBHABX 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 
 on the date to which renewed. 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 JAN 
 
 
 JUL 241969 
 
 LD 21-50m-8 '57 
 
 General Library 
 University of California