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 ^PRESID. 
 
THE WORKING 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 
 / print and circulate this pamphlet with the hope that those 
 who receive it will read it, or pass it to some one who may wish to 
 read it. It deals with the working oj an Educational institution 
 of great value to all the people of the City and of the Common- 
 wealth, and as to which they ought to have the most full informa- 
 tion possible. 
 
 J. H. BENTON, 
 
 Public Library, Boston. 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 The Rockwell akd Churchill Press 
 
 1914 
 
THE WORKING 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSIAH H. BENTON, LL.D. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE LIBRARY TRUSTEES 
 
 REVISED EDITION. 1914 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 The Rockwell and Churchill Press 
 
 1914 
 

 " A good hook is the precious life-blood of a 
 master-spirit, embalmed and treasured tip on 
 purpose to a life beyond life." 
 
 — Milton. 
 
THE WORKING OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 OF THE CITY OF BOSTON. 
 
 e^ e^ e^ 
 
 THE people of Boston have always been fond of 
 reading. One of the pnrposes of the original 
 Boston Town House, built in 1657 on the present site 
 of the Old State House, was a free circulating public 
 library. Such a library, the first of its kind in Amer- 
 ica, was maintained in the building until its destruction 
 by fire in 1711, and attempts appeal' to have been 
 made to continue the maintenance of a library in the 
 old State House until its substantial destruction by 
 fire in ]747. From that time, however, there was no 
 free public circulating library in Boston until the 
 present Public Library was opened on May 2, 1851:, 
 in two small rooms, also used for other municipal 
 purpose, on Mason street. 
 
 The Library then had less than ten thousand vol- 
 umes, mostly acquired by gift, and its entire expense 
 for the first year was |13,838.07, of which |6,247.30 
 was for books. It has grown to its present condition 
 where its annual expenses are $426,381.68 mainly by 
 taxes willingly paid by the people, and is therefore 
 peculiarly a Library made and maintained by the people 
 for the people. 
 
 The Library has developed into a library system 
 
,[2] 
 which is not only a collection of books, maps, manu- 
 scripts, and other literary material unequalled, in some 
 respects at least, by any of the great Libraries of the 
 world, but is also a large, complicated, and delicate 
 business machine. Its proper management not only 
 requires wide literary knowledge and sound scholar- 
 ship, but also excellent executive, business, and admin- 
 istrative ability. The conduct of its business involves 
 the disbursement for books, supplies, transportation, 
 salaries and other expenses, many very small in amount, 
 of about $35,000 every thirty days. 
 
 It is in charge of five Trustees appointed by the 
 Mayor and approved by the State Civil Service Com- 
 mission to serve without compensation for terms of five 
 years. 
 
 A special statute law of the Commonwealth con- 
 stitutes the Trustees a corporation, with authority to 
 take and hold real and personal estate which may be 
 given to it and accepted by the Trustees for the benefit 
 of the Library or any branch thereof, or for any pur- 
 pose connected therewith. This law also requires the 
 Trustees to have the general care and control of the 
 Central Public Library and of all its branches, and of 
 all the expenditures of money appropriated therefor, 
 and authorizes them to appoint a librarian and other 
 officers and employees and to fix their compensation. 
 
 I desire to tell about the working of the Libiary 
 system, and to do this I must explain what the system 
 is. What is it as a physical thing, simply as real and 
 personal property? 
 
[3] 
 
 LIBRARY REAL ESTATE. 
 
 As real estate the Library consists of thirty pieces 
 of land and buildings or parts of buildings in different 
 parts of the City, of an aggregate value of about four 
 and a half million dollars. The Central Library build- 
 ing has cost up to the present time, exclusive of the 
 land upon which it stands, $2,762,38475. 
 
 The City also owns thirteen other pieces of real estate 
 occupied either wholly or in part for library purposes, 
 and the other buildings or parts of buildings occupied 
 for library purposes are leased at an annual rental of 
 $16,500. Li addition to rental paid for these leased 
 premises, sums which in the aggregate are large have 
 been paid for the necessary and proper adaptation of 
 the premises to library uses. 
 
 The floor area in daily use in these premises amounts 
 to 304,000 square feet, or nearly six acres. All these 
 different buildings and premises must be kept in repair, 
 cleaned, policed, heated, lighted and maintained in 
 proper condition for library use. The care of the 
 Central Library building alone comprises the protec- 
 tion, repair, cleaning, lighting, heating and mainte- 
 nance of a building which covers 65,000 square feet of 
 land, and has a floor area in daily use of 150,000 
 square feet. 
 
 This building is also a beautiful architectural monu- 
 ment, and as such has given distinction to the City, and 
 attracts visitors from every part of the world. It con- 
 tains fine statuary, valuable marbles, expensive wood- 
 
[4] 
 work, and elaborate and unique decorations, all of 
 which must be at all times carefully guarded and pro- 
 tected and suitably maintained. It contains among 
 other machinery and appliances a heating, lighting, 
 ventilating and electric power plant with three 100- 
 horse-power boilers and two tandem compound engines 
 of 150-horse-power each; also two dynamos with 
 capacity for 3,600 sixteen candle-power, 110 volt elec- 
 tric lamps; eight pumps; four ventilating fans; eight 
 electric motors with capacity of from 2 to 20-horse- 
 power each; two passenger elevators; ten electric book- 
 lifts; a vacuum cleaning apparatus with piping so 
 arranged that all the books on any floor can be cleaned 
 by the use of it. 
 
 The building is also equipped with a pneumatic tube 
 and electric carrier system for the transmission of call 
 slips for books between the different departments and 
 the book stacks, and of books between the stacks and 
 the different departments. It has seating capacity for 
 about 900 readers and a lecture room which will seat 
 500 persons. 
 
 The operation of this building alone requires about 
 sixteen hundred tons of coal annually, and current is 
 supplied by its dynamos for nearly 4,000 electric lamps. 
 
 Its care and operation require the constant service of 
 a force of engineers and firemen, janitors, and watch- 
 men, and a carpenter, painter, expert electrician, and a 
 marble cleaner. 
 
 The ordinary daily cleaning of the building requires 
 a force of a matron and twenty scrub-women, whose 
 
work must be done at hours which will not interfere 
 with the use of the building by the public. They work 
 from six until nine in the morning and on Saturday 
 evenings from five o'clock until eleven, and render an 
 annual service in this work of about 20,000 hours. 
 
 Such is the library system considered only as real 
 estate. 
 
 LIBRARY PERSONAL PROPERTY. 
 
 As personal property the Library is primarily a col- 
 lection of more than one million volumes of books, 
 accurately speaking 1,067,103, of which 813,533 are in 
 the Central Library and 253,570 are in the various 
 Branches and Reading Rooms. The principal Branches 
 are considerable libraries in themselves, the nine largest 
 Branches having an average of over 20,000 volumes 
 each. 
 
 There are also in the Central Library about 35,000 
 separate manuscripts and about 150 volumes of manu- 
 script books, over 200 atlases, about ten thousand 
 maps, and over forty thousand photographs, prints, 
 engravings and other pictures, and 4,400 lantern slides. 
 
 Each branch has also its own collection of photo- 
 graphs and pictures varying in number from 1,000 to 
 2,000, in all about 30,000. 
 
 The catalogues of this collection comprise 3,500,000 
 separate cards, and the cases containing them placed 
 end to end would extend about a mile. 
 
 ]Nineteen different card catalogues, containing about 
 three million cards are necessary for the working of 
 
[6] 
 the material of the Central Library, and fifteen sepa- 
 rate card catalogues, containing 450,000 cards are 
 employed in working the collections in the different 
 Branches and Reading Rooms. The shelves required 
 for the books in the Central Library and Branches 
 would extend a distance of over twenty miles. 
 
 The Library also has a printing office, employing 
 seven persons, where an average of over 200,000 cata- 
 logue cards, half a million forms, nearly two million 
 call slips for the use of books, and the various weekly 
 lists of new books, quarterly bulletins, finding lists, 
 and other publications, amounting annually to about 
 70,000 copies, are printed, for distribution among the 
 people; and a bindery employing twenty-nine persons, 
 where photographs and engravings are mounted, vol- 
 umes repaired, periodicals stitched, library publications 
 prepared for use, and about 30,000 volumes annually 
 bound. 
 
 There are also about 375 different newspapers and 
 nearly 1,700 different periodicals in daily use in the 
 Central Library and the Branches. There are many 
 valuable paintings, photographs, busts of distinguished 
 persons, and statuary, mainly, but not entirely, con- 
 tained in the Central building. 
 
 The aggregate commercial value of this personal 
 property is more than three million dollars, and much 
 of it is unique, so that if destroyed or sold it could not 
 possibly be replaced. Much of the most valuable of 
 this personal property has been freely given to the 
 Library. 
 
[7] 
 
 In 1873 the Library had 209,466 volumes, of which 
 92,333 had been given to it, and although the gifts 
 since that time have not been proportionately as large, 
 they have been constant, and in many cases large in 
 amount and of great value. 
 
 There are 24 different special collections of books, 
 manuscripts, and engravings, varying in number from 
 129 to 14,888 titles, substantially all of which have been 
 given to the Library with varying conditions as to 
 their care and use. It is, perhaps, not invidious to 
 mention among them the almost priceless collection of 
 Shakespeariana, the famous Prince collection of rare 
 early Americana, the unique Chamberlain collection of 
 manuscripts, and the Theodore Parker library contain- 
 ing rare and valuable books in forty different languages 
 and dialects. 
 
 One of the Chamberlain manuscripts is in the hand- 
 writing of Governor Bradford and is signed by him 
 and by four other persons who came over in the May- 
 flower, including John Alden and Miles Standish. 
 
 TOTAL VALUE OF LIBRARY PROPERTY. 
 
 The aggregate commercial value of the real and per- 
 sonal property devoted to free public library purposes 
 in the City of Boston is at least seven and a half million 
 dollars, and in addition to this, gifts have been made 
 by thirty-five different persons or societies, in sums 
 varying from |100 to |100,000 for the benefit of the 
 Library and its Branches to the amount of $450,000, 
 
[8] 
 
 making an aggregate amount of property of at least 
 $8,000,000 employed in the library work of the City. 
 
 COMPARATIVE VALUE OF LIBRARY PROPERTY. 
 
 In 1905, the latest date available for comparison, 
 Boston, with less than one-half the population of all 
 the other 32 cities in the Commonwealth combined, had 
 approximately twice as much money invested in public 
 library property as all the other cities combined. It 
 had 29 3/10 per cent of the population of the 33 cities, 
 and the other 32 cities have 70 7/10 per cent, that is, 
 there were about seven persons in the other 32 cities 
 combined as against about three persons in Boston. 
 But Boston has about $60.43 invested in its public 
 library property as against about $39.57 invested in 
 similar property in all the other 32 cities combined. 
 
 Stated in another form, the comparison is this : Bos- 
 ton had 41 5/10 per cent of the entire population in all 
 the other 32 cities, while the amount invested in public 
 library property in these 32 cities was only 65 5/10 per 
 cent of the amount invested in public library property 
 in Boston alone. That is, with a population only four- 
 tenths as large as the combined population of the other 
 32 cities, Boston put to the use of its public library 
 system property nearly 4/10 greater in value than all 
 property put to similar uses in the other 32 cities com- 
 bined. 
 
 If we compare the value of the public library prop- 
 erty of Boston with the value of such property in all 
 the other cities and towns in the Commonwealth, we 
 
[9] 
 
 find that with a population of 19 8/10 per cent of the 
 entire population of all the other cities and towns, Bos- 
 ton had public library property of 71 1/10 per cent of 
 the value of all such property in all the other cities and 
 towns in the Commonwealth. 
 
 ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY. 
 
 From 35,000 to 40,000 volumes are added to the 
 Library collection each year. During the last year, 
 1912-1913, the number was 37,606. Of this 27,316 
 were purchased by, and 6,855 were given to the Library, 
 and the remainder were received by exchange, binding 
 of periodicals into volumes, etc. ; 11,860 volumes were 
 purchased for the Central Library, and 15,166 for the 
 Branch Libraries and Reading Rooms. 
 
 The total amount expended for books, including 
 $7,452.72 for periodicals and f 2,000 for newspapers 
 and $823.36 for photographs, was $49,094.70, or 12 3/10 
 per cent of the entire expenses of the Library for all 
 purposes. 
 
 The average cost of all books purchased was $1.42 
 per volume. Of these 22,445 were bought from money 
 appropriated by the City at an average cost of $1.02 a 
 volume, and 4,871 were bought with the income of 
 Trust funds at an average cost of $3.23 a volume. 
 Among the more expensive books purchased lately is a 
 rare edition of Ptolemy's Cosmography, Ulm, 1482, 
 for $390 ; The Grimani Breviary, 13 volumes, with 
 reproductions in gold and colors of the famous miniature 
 paintings, for $500 ; The l^orth American Indians by 
 
[10] 
 
 E. S. Curtis, eight volumes of a series of twenty vol- 
 umes, which will ultimately cost about $3,000. 
 
 The most expensive books increase in value with the 
 lapse of time, and most of the less expensive rapidly 
 wear out with use or become of less value from the 
 issue of other books on the same subjects. It is esti- 
 mated that about 150,000 of the books in the Library 
 are not worth commercially more than ten cents 
 apiece. 
 
 Books are purchased only by vote of the Trustees, 
 and at prices fixed by the vote. The titles of the 
 books recommended for purchase by the Librarian are 
 put upon cards and submitted to a Committee of two 
 of the Trustees weekly. A list of the titles and prices 
 of books which that Committee recommend for pur- 
 chase is then made, and copies of it sent to each of the 
 Trustees at least two days before their weekly meeting. 
 This list as revised and voted by the Trustees is sent to 
 the Ordering Department as authority for the purchase 
 of the books. Duplicate bills of the books are required 
 to be sent to that department with the books ; one bill 
 is filed at the City Hall, as required by law, and the 
 other entered alphabetically by the Ordering Depart- 
 ment in its bill book with the entry date and alphabeti- 
 cal designation recorded on the bill and on the reverse 
 of the title-page of each book charged in the bill, by 
 which the book can always be traced from the bill and 
 the bill from the book. The book is then examined, 
 page by page and plate by plate, to see if it is perfect, 
 the book-plate of the Library pasted in and the original 
 
[11] 
 
 card upon which its title was written placed in the 
 book, and it is sent to the Catalogue Department. 
 This bill is certified by the Ordering Department as 
 correct and sent to the Library Auditor, by whom it is 
 compared with the list and price voted by the Trustees, 
 entered and audited for payment, and finally returned 
 to the Ordering Department, where it receives a file 
 number and remains on file. 
 
 METHOD OF WORKING THE LIBRARY. 
 
 Such is the property and plant of the Library system. 
 But it is of value only as it is worked. The books, 
 manuscripts, and other material are useless except 
 when they are being read and examined. And the 
 Public Library plant, like every other, should be 
 worked, if it is worth working at all, to the limit of its 
 capacity. It would be as absurd to work the Public 
 Library plant to half its capacity for profitable use as to 
 work only half the spindles in a mill, or half the loco- 
 motives upon a railroad. The problem of working the 
 Public Library, therefore, is the problem of bringing 
 its books and other material into the most general and 
 extensive public use within the limit of the amount of 
 money which the taxpayers are willing to pay for that 
 use. 
 
 The system is worked, as you will see from what I 
 have said and from the map of the City, through the 
 Central Library and a large number of Branches and 
 Reading Rooms scattered over the entire 47 square miles 
 
[12] 
 
 of the territory of the City. How can such a collection 
 be efficiently worked? 
 
 CATALOG^UING THE LIBRARY. 
 
 In the first place it is obvious that it cannot be 
 worked at all without suitable catalogues, and the 
 making of suitable catalogues for such a system is a 
 most complex, delicate, and difficult task. The cata- 
 logues of the Lihi^ary are the eyes through which 
 people who use it can see what there is in it, and find 
 what they want. Its system is the card catalogue 
 system which is the most easily used, and within the 
 limits of a library of its size is the best.* 
 
 The making of a card catalogue seems a very simple 
 thing until you try to make it. The simplest form of 
 cataloguing, however, requires at least two cards for 
 each book, — one with the name of the book, the date 
 of printing, number of pages, edition, size, etc., the 
 other with the name of the author and the other 
 information which is noted upon the first card. This 
 applies to the ordinary book of fiction, but if the book 
 of fiction be historical, its scene laid in some partic- 
 ular country, a third card is desirable containing the 
 name of the country and the other information upon 
 the other two cards. 
 
 If the book, however, relates to some department of 
 human knowledge, — as for instance, botany, — there 
 must be a card with the name of the book, its subject 
 
 * The British Museum catalogue in printed volumes contains 2,738,745 titles, 
 which it is estimated would require about 5,477,499 cards in a card catalogue. 
 
[13] 
 matter, — botany, — date of publication, size, pages, etc., 
 and a similar card with the name of the author, and a 
 third card with the title. Botany, at the head, and if 
 the book relate to the botany of a particular part of the 
 world, — for instance, Massachusetts, — a fourth card 
 is required under the title Massachusetts. 
 
 And if a book is upon a general subject which 
 embraces several subordinate subjects in the book, 
 further cards are desirable with the title of each of the 
 several subjects. So you see the cataloguing of a book 
 may be simple, or it may be very complex, according to 
 the character of the information which a person might 
 obtain if they were looking over the catalogue to find 
 information as to any particular subject or person. 
 
 If the book is printed in English it may be cata- 
 logued by a person trained in cataloguing who knows 
 only the English language, but if it is in German, Rus- 
 sian, Greek, Latin, Spanish or any other foreign or 
 dead language, the person who is to catalogue it must 
 be an accurate scholar in the language in which the 
 book is printed. The Chief of our Catalogue Depart- 
 ment has a working knowledge, I believe, of about 
 eleven foreign langT^ages, and one assistant in that 
 department, who works at a salary of $28.76 a week, is 
 not only an accomplished general scholar but has a 
 working knowledge of eight foreign languages. 
 
 But when all this is done, the cards are of no use 
 until there is put upon them numbers indicating where 
 in the library the book is to be found. To enable this 
 to be done the departments of human knowledge are 
 
[14] 
 
 arbitrarily designated b}^ numbers, differing somewhat 
 in different systems of cataloguing. For instance, 
 Botany might be represented by the number 16, indi- 
 cating that under the number 16 in the library stacks 
 books on botany are to be found. To this class 
 number are added other numbers indicating the shelf 
 in that portion of the stacks where the book is to be 
 placed, and the position of the book on that shelf. 
 These three numbers enable the person knowing their 
 significance to go to the place in the Library where the 
 book is to be found. 
 
 When these numbers are put upon all the cards rep- 
 resenting the book, the cards must be printed in the 
 Printing Department, the proof of *the cards must be 
 read in the Catalogue Department, and the proof again 
 read in what is called the Shelf Department, that is, 
 the department having charge of the shelves where the 
 books are placed. All this must be done with absolute 
 accuracy. There is no room for mistakes in the 
 Catalogue Department, because if a book is improperly 
 catalogued, or improperly numbered, it may as well be 
 lost, for nobody can find it to use it. 
 
 But after this is done the book is not ready for use. 
 The book-plate of the Library must be pasted in, the 
 plates, if there be any in the book, must all be stamped 
 with indelible ink to show that they belong to the 
 Public Library, the title-page must be stamped, — 
 " Boston Public Library," with a perforated stamp, and 
 then a slip must be pasted into the book upon which 
 
[15] 
 when it is issued for use the date and the fact of issue 
 can be noted. 
 
 All these things must be done in a more or less 
 simple or complex form before any book can be placed 
 in the Library in a condition and position to be used. 
 Each of the three million catalogue cards in the 
 Library system has required these various processes of 
 work. In addition to all these, there are notes as to 
 different editions, as to the real name of the author, 
 where the book is written under a fictitious name, cross- 
 references to other books relating to the same subject, 
 and an amount of information more or less extensive, 
 according to the importance of the book and of the 
 subject to which it relates, which it is desirable and 
 often necessary to place upon the cards to enable them 
 to be conveniently and efficiently used. 
 
 Of course, catalogues of engravings, pictures, photo- 
 graphs, newspapers, and other material do not require 
 the same elaborate treatment as cards for books, but 
 they do require equal accuracy, and in many cases 
 details quite as extensive as those required upon the 
 cards for books. 
 
 Li 1896, the Examining Committee spoke in their 
 report on this part of the Library work as follows : 
 
 " Few people probably realize the vast amount of work 
 which is accomplished by the Cataloguing Depai-tment, 
 and it is possible that still fewer fully realize how 
 comparatively useless a large Library would speedily 
 become if this department were not maintained with the 
 highest degree of promptness and efficiency. This 
 
[16] 
 
 demands the highest abihty, the ripest experience, and 
 most discriminating judgment, a quick sense of the 
 scientific relations and the relative values of every 
 department of human knowledge, and the most alert 
 ajid efficient executive administration." 
 
 SHELVING AND TRACING OP BOOKS. 
 
 To keep track of the contents of the Library after 
 they are thus catalogued, it is necessary to keep a list 
 called a shelf list, showing the number of books that 
 belong on each shelf, and by this list the shelves are 
 read each year, so that if a book is not on the shelf 
 and is not properly charged out, as being in use, its 
 absence is detected. This process requires the service 
 of six competent persons working each forenoon of 
 each working day throughout the year in the Central 
 Library alone. The same process of reading is applied 
 also to the shelves in the Branch Libraries. 
 
 About 200,000 volumes in the Central building are 
 on shelves where they can be taken down and con- 
 sulted, without the service of an attendant, as in Bates 
 Hall, or with the service of an attendant, as in the 
 special collections and in the Fine Arts, Patent and 
 Music Departments. 
 
 There are certain portions of the Library collection, 
 however, which for proper convenience of public 
 use must be separated into specific departments. An 
 illustration of this is found in the Patent Depart- 
 ment. There the books and specifications, of which 
 the Library has an exceptionally large and complete 
 
[17] 
 collection, can only be conveniently consulted where 
 they can be examined together, and one specification 
 or drawing compared with another. And this requires 
 a specially fitted up room, shelving, tables, etc., and 
 the services of an attendant. This is also true of the 
 Special Libraries, and of those collections of books 
 which are not issued for use outside the Library, and 
 are so valuable that examination of them can only be 
 permitted in the presence of an attendant. This 
 includes the Shakespeare collection and many other 
 exceedingly rare and valuable books. 
 
 PERSONS AVHO WORK THE LIBRARY. 
 
 The regular Library staff, so-called, that is, the 
 persons employed in working the books, maps, manu- 
 scripts, and other material in the Library, consists of 
 two hundred and thirty-eight persons, of whom forty- 
 five are employed in the Ordering, Cataloguing, and 
 Shelf Departments, thirty-one in the Issue Department 
 of the Central Library, ten in Bates Hall, thirteen in 
 the department of Special Libraries, Fine Arts, Music, 
 etc., twelve in the Branch Department at the Central 
 building, and ninety-six in the Branches and Keading 
 Rooms. The remaining thirty-one are employed in the 
 Children's, the Registration, Statistical, and Executive 
 Departments, and in the Patent, Newspaper, and 
 Periodical Rooms. 
 
 For the Sunday and evening service the employment 
 of one hundred seventy-one persons in the Central 
 Library and in the Branches is required. Much of this 
 
[18] 
 service is performed by persons employed from outside 
 the regular library force, and paid by the hour for 
 actual service according to a schedule of the posi- 
 tions and rate per hour to be paid authorized by the 
 Trustees. 
 
 The Branches and Reading Rooms each have an 
 " extra " service, that is, persons who work during 
 busy hours only and are paid by the hour as needed. 
 There are about 60 persons in this " extra " service. 
 
 Three grades of educational qualifications are re- 
 quired of these persons and determined by competitive 
 examinations. The lowest grade, which includes a 
 comparatively small number of pages, sub-assistants, 
 etc., requires a training equivalent to a grammar school 
 course. The middle grade requires qualifications 
 equivalent to a high school training and familiarity 
 with one foreign language. The third grade, including 
 seventy-seven persons, requires qualifications equivalent 
 to those obtained by a college course, and familiarity 
 with two foreign languages. 
 
 The proper cataloguing and classifying of books and 
 the reference work necessary to aid those using the 
 Library, also requires in many positions much higher 
 qualifications than those which could be obtained by 
 the ordinary college course. 
 
 WORiaNG HOITRS OF THE LIBRARY. 
 
 The Central Library and the Branches open and 
 their work begins at 9 o'clock in the morning. The 
 Reading Rooms open in the afternoon at varying 
 
[19] 
 hours. The service continues until 10 o'clock at night 
 at the Central Library building and at the West End 
 Branch, and until 9 at the other Branches and Reading 
 Rooms, except during the summer months. During 
 June, July, August and September the Central 
 Library and West End Branch are closed at 9 o'clock. 
 The other Branches and Reading Rooms during a 
 shorter period close earlier than in winter, but at vary- 
 ing hours. The Central Library is in operation one 
 hundred nineteen days of twelve hours each, and two 
 hundred forty days of thirteen hours each, making an 
 aggregate of 359 days, and 4,548 hours during each 
 twelve months. 
 
 LIBRARY DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 The persons employed in working the Library 
 are organized under the following heads: Executive 
 Department, including the Librarian, Assistant Libra- 
 rian, Auditor, Clerk, Custodian of the Stock-room, etc.; 
 Catalogue Department, including the Chief Cataloguer 
 and assistants; Ordering Department; Shelf Depart- 
 ment; Bates Hall, including the Custodian and assist- 
 ants; the Special Libraries, including also all persons 
 employed in the Departments of Music and Fine Ai'ts; 
 Statistical Department, including documents and manu- 
 scripts; Periodical and NewspajDer Rooms; Patent 
 Department; Issue Department; Children's Room; and 
 the Registration Department, which registers card 
 holders entitled to take out books for home use. All 
 these are in the Central Library. 
 
[20] 
 
 In each department a Time-book is kept, in which all 
 employees are required to enter the exact time that they 
 arrive on duty each day, and their absence from duty 
 during regular hours is also noted thereon. 
 
 In addition to these there is in the Central Library 
 building the Branch Department, in charge of the 
 Supervisor of Branches and Reading Rooms, who has 
 supervision of the entire machinery of working the 
 Branches and Reading Rooms individually and in con- 
 nection with the Central Library. 
 
 Bach of the thirteen Branches has a Custodian in 
 charge of the work of that Branch, with necessary 
 assistants, and in most cases a janitor to care for the 
 premises. And each of the seventeen Reading Rooms 
 has a Custodian in charge of its work. 
 
 BOOK CIRCULATION AND USE OF THE LIBRARY. 
 
 Through this organization the general work of the 
 Library is carried on, and there are annually issued for 
 direct home use nearly 300,000 volumes at the Central 
 Library, and from the Central Library through the 
 Branches about 85,000 more, while the Branches and 
 Reading Rooms also issue more than a million three 
 hundred thousand volumes for home use, making the 
 direct issue for home use nearly 1,650,000 annually. 
 
 The use of the Library for general reference and 
 study is so unrestricted that no accurate statistics of it 
 can be given. Its extent, however, is shown by the 
 fact that during one year about half a million call slips 
 for the table use of books in Bates Hall alone were 
 
[21] 
 necessary. The daily use of books and other library 
 material in the Central Library and in the Branches is 
 doubtless many times greater than the home use of 
 books drawn out upon cards and requires constant and 
 accui-ate service by a large force of employees. 
 
 The mere obtaining and delivering of a book to a 
 reader in the Bates Hall Reading Room of the Central 
 Library requires the intelligent and accurate service of 
 six different persons, if the book is in its proper place 
 in the stacks. The return of the book to its place 
 requires the service of four persons. 
 
 The obtaining and delivering to a card holder of a 
 book for home use requires the services of four persons, 
 and the return of the book to its place requires also the 
 services of four persons, none of whom must make any 
 mistakes, and all of these services require the perfect 
 and efficient working of the book cari'ier system. 
 
 Most of these persons who perform this accurate 
 service receive only |8.00 a week, and the highest paid 
 to any of them is $15.00 a week. 
 
 HOW THE LIBRARY SYSTEM IS WORKED AS A UNIT. 
 
 The great problem in w^orking the Library is to 
 handle and work its collections in the Central Library 
 and the Branches and Reading Rooms as a whole. If 
 each Branch was worked as an independent Library, its 
 work, though important, would be of very much less 
 public benefit than it is when worked with the Central 
 Library. This is done to a large and increasing extent. 
 If a person using any one of the Branches desires a 
 
[22] 
 
 book which is not in the Branch collection but is in the 
 Central collection, application is made by the Branch 
 Library to the Central and the book is sent to the 
 Branch. The same is true of applications at Reading 
 Rooms. 
 
 All books issued for home use are issued upon cards, 
 and may be returned at the Central Library or any 
 Branch or Reading Room upon these cards, without 
 I'eference to where the book was taken out. 
 
 This requires transportation, and the Library hires 
 four wagons at a cost of over $7,000 a year, and also 
 uses local expresses somewhat in addition, to transport 
 books between the Branches and Reading Rooms and 
 the Central Library, and to engine houses, public insti- 
 tutions and public and parochial schools. In the month 
 of December last, nearly 11,000 books were sent to the 
 Branches from the Central Library upon such indi- 
 vidual applications, and over 3,000 volumes were sent 
 on deposit to the various Reading Rooms. During the 
 same month over 18,000 books were carried by these 
 wagons from the Branches and Reading Rooms to the 
 Central Library. The State law, which is construed as 
 limiting the hours the drivers of these wagons can 
 work to eight hours a day and not to exceed forty-eight 
 hours a week, limits this method of transportation and 
 makes the service somewhat more expensive than for- 
 merly. 
 
 LIBRARY COOPERATION WITH SCHOOLS, ETC. 
 
 During the past year the Library has been daily sup- 
 plying with books oO Branches and Reading Rooms, 62 
 
[23] 
 
 engine houses, 36 institutions, and 139 public and 
 parochial schools, and sending to them an average of 
 about 414: volumes every day by its delivery wagons. 
 In addition to this the Branches themselves and two of 
 the largest Reading Rooms are sending out books on 
 deposit distributed among 157 places and amounting to 
 over 44,000 volumes annually, of which over 18,000 are 
 sent to schools. That is to say, not only is the col- 
 lection of the Central Library used as a reservoir from 
 which books may be drawn for use in the Branches 
 and Reading Rooms, but each of the Branches and 
 Reading Rooms is in itself a reservoir from which 
 books are drawn for use by teachers in schools in its 
 immediate vicinity. 
 
 This applies not only to books, but to photographs 
 and pictures of different kinds mainly for use in schools 
 in connection with the work of the teachers. These 
 are sent out from the Central Library to the Branches, 
 and also from the Branches to the teachers in their 
 vicinity in portfolios each containing about 25 pictures, 
 which when used by the teachers are returned. These 
 collections consist of illustrations of Fine Arts, Physi- 
 cal and Commercial Geography, colored views of all 
 countries, types of peoples, industries, transjDortation, 
 etc. Li November last one Branch issued 200 pictures 
 in this way, another 350, and another 822. About 
 40,000 pictures from the Branch collections are annu- 
 ally lent to reading-rooms, schools and study clubs, 
 and the Fine Arts Department of the Central Library 
 also sends out over 2,500 portfolios of pictures to 
 
[24] 
 
 schools. From the Branches, Reading Rooms, and the 
 Central Library about 950 teachers are supplied with 
 books for use in their work, and the school circulation 
 is about 160,000 volumes a year. 
 
 In addition to this cooperation in the work of the 
 schools, there is also the work which is done by the 
 Library employees in providing selected lists of books 
 asked for by teachers to aid them in their work. 
 In one month 30 requests by teachers for books were 
 received at the Central Library, accompanied by lists of 
 books desired, varying in number from four volumes to 
 239 volumes, and 29 similar requests were received 
 where the teacher gave only the subject upon which 
 books were desired. Some of these requests may 
 interest you : — " Moths, butterflies and insects. — King 
 Arthur and his Knights. — Fifty books pertaining to 
 geography and American history. — A set of books on 
 Mohammed, the Koran, Ottoman Empire and Sultans. 
 — Works of American poets — as many as possible; 
 Works of English poets — a few. — A set of books on 
 Africa or United States history. — Books on Indians, 
 transportation, days of the ' Forty-niners,' Great Lakes, 
 Mississippi River, homes of people of different nation- 
 alities, Hudson Bay Co. — A set of books on the 
 colonization and development of the country. — Two 
 hundred books, if possible, on Greek history, Greek 
 literature, Greek plays, travel and social life in Greece, 
 Greek art, and English and American fiction, myths 
 of all lands, American literature, nature books. — 
 American history from the close of the Revolution to 
 the end of the Civil War." 
 
[25] 
 
 The following books were recently sent to a teacher 
 of a grammar school upon an application which stated 
 only the subjects upon which books were required: 
 
 Betty Alden. Standish of Standish. Little women. 
 Little men. Historic boys. Godson of Lafayette. In 
 Leisler's time. Century book of American colonies. 
 Historic Americans. Discovery of the old Xorthwest. 
 Stories of the Old Bay State. Benjamin Franklin. 
 Cln-istopher Columbus. Heroes of the Middle West. 
 Modern Europe. Cable story book. Story of the Iliad. 
 Hans Brinker. Wonder book of old romance. Making 
 of New England. Our first century. Peeps at many 
 lands. Story of the thirteen colonies. American 
 leaders and heroes. In Eastern wonderlands. Arabian 
 nights. Wanderings of ^neas. Colonial children. 
 The heroes. Northern Europe. True story book. 
 Animal story book. Book of ballad stories. Heroines 
 every child should know\ Old Greek folk stories. 
 King Arthur. George Washington. American 
 Indians. Strange peoples. Lobo, Rag, and Yixen. 
 Hans the Eskimo. Every day life in the colonies. The 
 colonies. Life in Asia. Toward the rising sun. Biog- 
 raphy of a grizzly. Under sunny skies. Story of 
 Japan. Children's stories in American literature. 
 
 The following selected from the last monthly request 
 of 90 books from the State Prison at Charlestown, 
 shows the wide range of subjects asked for: 
 
 Arabic language. 
 
 Science of jurisprudence. 
 
 Key to Italian conversation grammar. 
 
[26] 
 
 Freehand drawing. 
 
 Instruction in wood carving. 
 
 Decorative brush work. 
 
 The dawn of day. 
 
 The heart of Scotland. 
 
 Sign lettei'ing. 
 
 In the old chateau. 
 
 The art of singing. 
 
 Stearns family genealogy. 
 
 Our eyes and how to care for them. 
 
 Constitutional history of England. 
 
 Humanity. 
 
 The ship dwellers. 
 
 Chemistry. 
 
 Cosmetics. 
 
 The gem speaker. 
 
 The practice of diplomacy. 
 
 HELP GIVEN PERSONS USING THE LIBRAKY. 
 
 There is also the constant service of the Library to 
 children and others who come to find books upon 
 subjects which they wish to study or write about. On 
 a single day in one month 158 children by actual count 
 came into the rooms of a single Branch Library between 
 three and five o'clock in the afternoon, and this was 
 not regarded as an unusual number. 
 
 The following are some of the inquiries made for 
 information at one Branch during three days: 
 
 " Please tell me the author" of Kenilworth? 
 
 " " " " " " Tom Brown at Rugby ? 
 " " " " '* " Birds' Christmas Carol ? 
 " " " " " " Tom Sawyer? 
 
[27] 
 
 In connection with literature : 
 Something on the life of Socrates. 
 " " " " " Coleridge. 
 
 about William Tell. 
 " " Robin Hood. 
 
 " on Burns's love of nature. 
 
 In connection with geography : 
 Something on Asia. 
 
 " " Africa, rivers, etc. 
 
 " about the boys of diflfei'ent counti'ies. 
 
 In connection with science : 
 
 " Can you give me a book explaining the causes of moisture in the 
 
 atmosphere ? " 
 The origin of the tides ? 
 The dragon fly ? 
 
 In connection with the study of history : 
 Something on Draco. 
 
 " " the Persian Wars. 
 
 " " " " Holy Crusades." 
 
 " Sir Walter Raleigh. 
 " " George Washington. 
 
 " " General Custer. 
 
 " •' any American leaders or heroes. 
 
 " " PequotWar. 
 
 " " the English settlers in America. 
 
 " " Salem witchcraft. 
 
 " about the Lewis and Clark expedition. 
 " " Barbai'a Frietchie. 
 
 *• A book about the Civil War, for a man." 
 
 General requests : 
 Christmas stories, poems, the stoiy of the first Chi'istmas. (Many 
 
 times.) 
 Life of Christ. 
 New Year's poems. 
 Lives of the Saints. (Many.) 
 St. Nicholas. 
 Life and work of Jean Francois Millet. 
 
[28] 
 
 •• Who was tlie best author of the life of Napoleon ? What a pity 
 
 Carlyle did not write his life." 
 " Please find " : My hunt after " the Captain/' 
 
 Breathes there the man, etc. 
 
 The discontented pendulum. 
 ' ' Have you the Speeches of Henry Grattan ? " 
 " Can you give me a Polish book ? " 
 " Have you something on Phonics ? " 
 "Have you something on Whitney's cotton-gin?" 
 " Have you the Directory for 1907 ?" 
 " Do you have the daily papers ?" 
 
 A young lady having an old violin asked for some book giving the 
 name and history of the old makers, violin being dated 1524. 
 
 At the Reading Room, 13 Broadway Extension, 
 among other inquiries for information during two suc- 
 cessive days were the following : 
 
 John Law. His method of finance. 
 
 Nationality of Cooper's mother. 
 
 Enough about the Star Spangled banner for a composition. 
 
 How does the number of words in Greek compare with the number 
 
 in English ? 
 What does Good-bye really mean ? 
 All about the Lion of St. Mark's. 
 Stoi-y of Daniel Boone, for 4th Grade. 
 Book on initial letters. 
 Story of Thor. 
 What books beside stories for a mother to read ? Anything on the 
 
 training of children. 
 Book on the Desolation Islands. 
 
 Some of the subjects asked for by readers at Bates 
 Hall during a few weeks were: 
 
 Treatment of the Indians by the United States government. 
 Theocratic government of New England. 
 
[29] 
 
 Emulsions in three coloi' photography. 
 
 A dream book to tell the meaning of dreams. 
 
 Picture of a pallium. 
 
 The habitat of the razor fish. 
 
 Illustrations of flying machines. 
 
 Effects of the Distinct Option law. 
 
 Rate of insurance on a building containing a paint shop. 
 
 Christmas in Spain. 
 
 Identification of a religious order from the dress on a doll. 
 
 The canon of Ptolemy. 
 
 " Some nice book." 
 
 Shakespeare's Taming of the " Crew." 
 
 '♦ Casero's Essays on senility and friendship" for 
 Cicero's Essays on old age and friendship. 
 
 Mark Antony's Meditations, i.e., Marcus Aurelius Antoninus's 
 Meditations. 
 
 Picture of an apricot for a grocer's label. 
 
 The Grub Street Journal. 
 
 Coloring of metals. 
 
 Silvering of mirrors. 
 
 An automobile road book for England. 
 
 A medical book for a young man studying to be an undertaker. 
 
 The mail-order business. 
 
 An occupation adapted to a nervously prostrated man. 
 
 King Leopold and the Congo. 
 
 Sanctification. 
 
 Veal. 
 
 Tara and its harp. 
 
 Etiquette of mourning. 
 
 Effect of coloi-s on human conduct. 
 
 The saloon. 
 
 Wall street terms. 
 
 Astrology. 
 
 Chiromancy. 
 
 History of pantomime. 
 
 Education of the nervous system. 
 
[30] 
 On one day in a single month readers in Bates Hall 
 asked information on the following subjects: 
 
 Polish books. Who predicted the greatness of New York City? His- 
 tory of the United States. Martin's History of Franklin County, O. 
 Expi'ess 4 962 000 in Roman characters. Shakespeare's songs. Voca- 
 tional schools in Boston. Commercial law. Walt Wiiitman's Avorks. 
 Dead Sea. Lassalle, the socialist. Notable Americans. Use of egg 
 albumen. Home gymnastics. Lowell Institute lectures. United States 
 fisheries. Poem of Singing Leaves. Glaucoma of the eye. Shake- 
 speare's Henry VIII. Emma Marshall's novels. French and German 
 indexes of magazines. Russian books. German socialism. Electric 
 meters. Heads of families in First Census of United States. Morse's 
 telegraphic code. Bunyan bibliography. Lieutenant Totten's works. 
 Livery companies of London. Scharf's history of Texas. Wool waste. 
 Water gas. Class mottoes. Stories for Junior Christian Endeavor work. 
 Poetry of the American Revolution. A portrait of Sir Francis Bernard. 
 Milton books. List of public schools in Boston. City of Seattle, Wash- 
 ington. Philippine Islands. Life of Nero and newest fiction. Foreign 
 menus for Christmas dinners. Boys' clubs. Climate of Para, Brazil. 
 Statistics of deaths in Boston, London, Dresden, and Munich. Boston city 
 government. Bigelow genealogy. Pictures of wood nymphs. Biogra- 
 phies of prominent men of to-day. Who was Gassendi ? Open shelf sys- 
 tem in libraries. Electrical apparatus. Bible stories. Bible characters. 
 " New Thought" books. Forestry bill in last session of Congress. Parks. 
 Greek architecture. Psychic treatment of nervous diseases. Agriculture. 
 American Book prices current. Telegraphy. East India Company. 
 Laundries. Coffee-houses. English heraldry. Greek drama. Municipal 
 elections in Boston. United States consular service. Signs of the Zodiac. 
 Predestination. English composition. Text-book on Zoology. Hypnotic 
 therapeutics. United States War Department reports. 
 
 Many books were asked for by name, and numerous 
 routine questions were also asked and answered. 
 
 RELATION OF THE LIBRARY TO SCHOLARSHIP. 
 
 It is true that the primary purpose of a free public 
 library supported by taxation is to give good books to 
 
[31] 
 
 those who would not otherwise have them, and to afford 
 instruction by the intelHgent use of books to those who 
 would not otherwise have it. But the Boston Public 
 Library also has another purpose not less important to 
 the welfare of the people, though less in the public 
 view, and not so obvious to the public at large. It is 
 a scholar's library, and it is of public importance that it 
 should be maintained as such. It is only by the 
 scholar's work that the primary purpose of a public 
 library can be accomplished. 
 
 Good books do not come by chance. They come 
 only by the work of scholars. The scholar writes the 
 text-book that the child studies; he discovers the law 
 by which the inventor improves an existing industry, 
 or creates a new industry. The scholar recreates a 
 period of history from its scanty records and manu- 
 scripts; he constructs a grammar by means of which 
 civilization makes its way into new territories, or the 
 new world shares its knowledge and its traditions with 
 the old. The scholar's work is manifold, and that time 
 and that state are poor indeed which are without it. 
 
 The scholar's work is nowhere more important than 
 in our City, Avhich is preeminent in the work of educa- 
 tion, linearly 20,000 students are pursuing their studies 
 either within immediate reach or within easy access of 
 the Central Library building. The teachers in these 
 institutions are scholars, many of them not only teach- 
 ing students directly, but working in the preparation of 
 books for students. Their work covers language, art, 
 literature, economics, science, music, sculpture, applied 
 
[32] 
 mechanics and every other form of intellectual instruc- 
 tion. These institutions of learning not only give 
 dignity and importance to our City, but they also aid 
 its material prosperity, and even in that aspect are as 
 important as factories and warehouses, railroad and 
 steamship lines, or wharves and docks. 
 
 Our Library is therefore not only an important means 
 of popular education, but it is also a valuable business 
 asset of the City. It not only gives instruction for the 
 people, but it provides material for the work of the 
 scholar without whose work popular education and 
 instruction could not go on. The Boston Public 
 Library was founded by scholars and from the begin- 
 ning recognized its duty to scholarship. The roll call 
 of its special collections tells the story of provision for 
 the scholar, not only by private gift but by public 
 expense. Dr. Bowditch brought to it his rare and 
 valuable books on pure mathematics. The unique col- 
 lection made by the Rev. Thomas Prince, surpassingly 
 rich in books relating to early New England history, 
 has found its proper place here. The Ticknor library 
 offers opportunity to scholars for study in the French, 
 Spanish and Portuguese languages which is probably 
 not to be found elsewhere in America. The Barton 
 library, with its priceless Shakespeareana, acquired 
 partly by the generosity of Mrs. Barton, and partly by 
 the expenditure of City money, is the crown of the 
 Library's collections. The Allen A. Brown Music and 
 Dramatic collections, the Thayer library, the Parker 
 library, the John Adams library, the Chamberlain 
 
[33] 
 
 manuscript collection, and many other important and 
 some unique collections, justify the claim of our Library 
 to be the Mecca of America for those men and women 
 who are pledged to the service of learning. 
 
 This Library has thus a great inheritance of material 
 upon which the scholai* can work. The City cannot 
 afford to regard these collections with indifference, or 
 even with inactive respect. They must be kept up, 
 cared for, extended, made more perfect, so that people 
 will continue to come to our City for the purpose of 
 using them. It is good for Boston that men should 
 come to it as they go to Rome, or London, or Paris, 
 that they may find the great rare books of the world 
 and use them. Boston is bound in honor to keep alive 
 its traditional hospitality toward scholarship. Kare 
 books, books for scholars, as well as books for children, 
 and books for the people, must be continually acquired. 
 The money spent for a rare book which is needed for 
 but one scholar, and by him but twice in a lifetime, may 
 be well spent if it brings him to Boston for that book 
 and saves him a journey half around the world to find 
 it and use it. It may lead him, as is often the case, to 
 make this City his home because he can here best find 
 help in research and study. The Library must continue 
 to employ scholars. It must recognize scholars. It 
 must help scholars in their work. Only by doing this 
 can it be worthy of its own history, and be of the 
 greatest benefit to our City. 
 
 The following classification of books called for and 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
[34] 
 
 used in Bates Hall reading room during three days of 
 1912 tells the story, and it is this: 
 
 No. of 
 Classification, Volumes Used. 
 
 Bibliography 74 
 
 History, Genei'al . 205 
 
 American 1,075 
 
 English 620 
 
 French 293 
 
 Italian 59 
 
 German 138 
 
 Greek and Latin classics 108 
 
 Theology 219 
 
 Social Science 305 
 
 Political Economy 132 
 
 Jurisprudence 171 
 
 Natural Science 237 
 
 Mathematics 154 
 
 Useful and mechanic arts 243 
 
 Fine arts and music 35 
 
 Foreign languages, unclassified 134 
 
 English literature, unclassified 19 
 
 Periodicals, unclassified 24 
 
 Transactions of societies 22 
 
 Encyclopasdias 118 
 
 Fiction 74 
 
 Total 4,432 
 
 It is to be observed in connection with this list that 
 it represents only books called for and brought to 
 the readers by attendants, and does not include the 
 very large number of books taken by the readers 
 directly from the open-shelf collection of 10,000 vol- 
 umes, placed in Bates Hall for use in real research and 
 study. In addition to these there are the collections in 
 
[35] 
 
 the Fine Arts Department, the Barton-Ticknor room 
 and the Patent room. All books in these departments 
 are for study and research. 
 
 The statistics in the annual reports of the special 
 libraries give but slight indication of the importance of 
 these collections to students. Many of the most 
 important books are restricted to use within the library 
 building and the circulation of these volumes is not 
 apparent. The photographs, which do not circulate 
 out of the Library, are especially valuable in class and 
 exhibition work and are in constant demand. The 
 larger cabinet folios and the more expensive volumes 
 relating to the arts of architecture, painting and decora- 
 tion are extensively used, but their use is not recorded 
 statistically. Students from the art schools, or sent by 
 private instructors, are engaged in tracing, or are 
 otherwise employed with drawing materials, using the 
 books which the Fine Arts Department gives to them, 
 without formality, upon tables set apart for this pur- 
 pose. The entire Allen A. Brown Music Collection is 
 reserved for hall use. The tables in the Barton Gal- 
 lery are reserved for persons engaged in authorship or 
 in extended research and this quiet reading room is 
 largely used by i-eaders whose books are not enumer- 
 ated in the tables of circulation. 
 
 The same is true of the Department of Statistics 
 and Documents and of the Department of Patents. 
 The number of persons who have consulted the files in 
 the Patent Department during the last year was 13,430, 
 a gain of 2,114 as compared with the previous year. 
 
[36] 
 
 They have used 97,945 volumes as compared with 
 81,397 volumes consulted the previous year. And in 
 addition to this there is the constant use of this depart- 
 ment by students direct from the shelves, which is not 
 recorded. 
 
 The use of the Library has grown so quietly that its 
 importance to the interests of real education is not 
 understood. In fact it ma}' fairly be said that this use 
 of the Library is the supplement and complement of all 
 the educational institutions in and about Boston. It is 
 unthinkable that the great w^ork of education which 
 gives so much dignity and importance and profit to the 
 city could go on for a single day without the assistance 
 of the Library. 
 
 NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS. 
 
 The newspaper room at the Central Library, the 
 papers for which are mainly purchased from the 
 income of a bequest of the late William C. Todd for 
 that purpose, has 355 different papers filed for current 
 reading, of which 267 are in the English language, 16 
 French, 16 German, 7 Italian, 7 Spanish, 7 Swedish, 
 and the rest in 14 other languages, including one in 
 Old Hebrew, published in Jerusalem, and one in 
 Tagalese and English, published in the Philippines, 
 also Greek, Russian, Armenian, Polish, Welsh, Hun- 
 garian, etc. 
 
 One paper at least, from every civilized nation, when 
 obtainable, and at least two papers from every State in 
 the Union, are taken. Among them are papers from 
 
[37] 
 
 Buenos Ayres, Rio de Janeiro, Valparaiso, Melbourne, 
 Sydney, Auckland, Cape Town, Alexandria, Yoko- 
 hama, Shanghai, Bombay, Calcutta, Hawaii, the Philip- 
 pines, Cuba, and Porto Kico. Fourteen papers are 
 taken from Canada and sixty from Massachusetts. The 
 papers from Boston comprise one in Lettish, three in 
 German, one in Italian, one in Swedish, and all the 
 English dailies and weekhes. 
 
 The mere opening, filing, and caring for the use of 
 these papers and selecting from them those which are 
 to be bound into files, is no inconsiderable task. The 
 Boston papers and also the leading papei's from other 
 places are bound and preserved in newspaper files 
 which now include over 7,000 bound volumes which are 
 much used. During the last year about 32,000 news- 
 paper volumes were consulted by readers. 
 
 One thousand two hundied forty-nine different peri- 
 odicals are regularly filed and used in the periodical 
 rooms at the Central Library, 224 in the Statistical, 
 Music, and Fine Arts Departments and in the Children's 
 Koom, making with the 115 taken at the Branches, 
 1,588 in all. These include all the leading periodicals 
 of the world in every department of literature and 
 science and in almost every language, all of which find 
 ready readers in the periodical room. 
 
 Frenchmen, Germans, Russians, Italians, Spaniards, 
 Poles, Greeks, Scandinavians, Bohemians and Lithua- 
 nians, Arabs and Turks are among the i-eaders who 
 regularly come to the periodical room as the cur- 
 rent numbers of those periodicals are received. The 
 
[38] 
 workmen of various trades come regularly to read their 
 trade journals which are not always accessible to them 
 elsewhere. 
 
 The periodical room is generally filled with readers, 
 and the bound files of periodicals are also extensively 
 used, the largest use being by students from colleges 
 and other schools in the vicinity. Four hundred and 
 seventy-seven different volumes were consulted in one 
 day by students from a single college, and requests for 
 information from bound volumes of periodicals made to 
 the attendant in charge of the room cover a very wide 
 range of subjects. The following requests illustrate it: 
 
 Ancient Babylon, its social and political condition; 
 Modern Turkey and the social revolution there; Arti- 
 cles relating to members of the Cabinet; Poems and 
 pictures on special subjects; Secret Societies in China; 
 Designs for and descriptions of Floral pageants; 
 Psycho-therapy; What Jews have done to promote 
 civilization in England; The Course of noted Irishmen 
 in the world; Technical information on various sub- 
 jects; Recipes for condiments; Material for use in 
 school and in college debates. 
 
 Periodicals are also taken and on file in the different 
 Branches, the largest number being 66 at the "West 
 End Branch, and the smallest 12 at Orient Heights 
 Reading Room. 
 
 INTER-LIBRARY LOANS. 
 
 There is another work performed by the Public 
 Library, which, although not extensive, is still impor- 
 
[39] 
 tant, and that is its participation in what is called the 
 inter-library loans. It frequently happens that a per- 
 son in another city or town desires a book which his 
 local library does not have, but which the Boston 
 Library has. In that case, if the local library makes 
 application to the Boston Library the book will be lent 
 to it upon its responsibility for its care and return, and 
 thus the person who desires it in his own town or city 
 can have the use of it. 
 
 In this way there were lent to libraries during the 
 year 1913 about 1,179 volumes, all of which were safely 
 returned; and there were also lent to libraries outside 
 Massachusetts 230. On the other hand, a person by 
 this arrangement can obtain from other libraries books 
 which the Boston Library does not have in the same 
 way, but, of course, the balance is very largely in favor 
 of the outside library, only a small number of books 
 being borrowed of them by the Boston Library for use 
 by our citizens. 
 
 children's department. 
 
 This is the most interesting as it is one of the most 
 useful departments in the Library. It is required prim- 
 arily because children are unable to use a catalogue under- 
 standingly. Books for children must either be selected 
 for them by some older person, or the children must see 
 the books so that they can select for themselves. 
 
 The beginning of this department was in a very small 
 way, when the Central Library was opened in the new 
 building in Copley square, in 1895. Children did not 
 
[40] 
 
 much frequent the old Library building on Boylston 
 street where there was no room for them and nothing 
 to attract them. But when the new building was 
 opened children came in large numbers and there was 
 space for them to run about. They soon began to say : 
 "Please give me a book," " Please, can I see a book?" 
 and interfere more or less with the working of the 
 Library for others. As an experiment a large round table 
 was put in a vacant room off Bates Hall and filled with 
 books suitable for children. It was soon surrounded 
 by a fringe of small heads of all colors intently examin- 
 ing the books. Then another table with books was 
 added, and still another, until the room was filled with 
 them. This, of course, required an attendant for that 
 room, and a competent woman was placed in charge 
 of it to aid the children and to issue books to them 
 if they had cards upon which they could take them 
 out. 
 
 Six months after, the Trustees spent about $3,000 in 
 purchasing books for children, and placed them upon 
 open shelves in this room. Since that time I think the 
 room has been the most interesting part of the Library. 
 Children of all nationalities use it, with perfect good 
 order, and with a degree of attention to the books 
 which many older persons might well emulate. 
 
 Of course, the success of this experiment at the 
 Central Library was followed by a demand for similar 
 work at the Branches, and one Branch after another 
 was fitted up with what is called a '' Children's Room,'' 
 — a separate room where space will admit, and where 
 
[41] 
 
 sj3ace does not admit a part of the larger room set 
 apart for the use of the children, — until each Branch 
 and Reading Room now has special accommodation for 
 children, and special books and pictures for their use. 
 At the Central Library the care of the Children's 
 Room, issuing the books, answering questions for infor- 
 mation, etc., requires the constant service of four 
 competent persons. At the Branches and Reading 
 Rooms this work for children is done by the Custodian 
 and assistants. 
 
 The following requests for help were made of the 
 Custodian of the Children's Room at the Central 
 Library in three days, and the proper books to meet 
 their needs were recommended to the applicants. It is 
 not always jDOssible to furnish the best book on any 
 required subject, as it may be out of the Library, and 
 the books advised were from those available at the 
 time : 
 
 Story of the Wooden Horse. 
 
 When was the Battle Hymn of the Republic written ? 
 
 A Poem about a boy pardoned by Lincoln. 
 
 Five requests for material on both sides of a debate on Chinese 
 
 Immigration. 
 Rules of order for presiding at a debate. 
 Music as sound, for a composition. 
 Battle of Lexington. 
 
 Information about the buildings and streets of Paris. 
 Name of the present Secretary of State. 
 The oath of Athenian citizenship. 
 Sir William Wallace. 
 
 A request for " Geology" in which to look up ancestors. 
 Story of Roland. 
 
[42] 
 
 Story of Bayard. 
 
 Story of the golden touch. 
 
 Comparative greatness of Washington and Lincoln. 
 
 A story to read aloud to a group of children. 
 
 Story of Massachusetts. 
 
 How to organize a club. 
 
 Number of deaths from tuberculosis each month for two years. 
 
 Christmas plays. 
 
 A piece to speak in school. 
 
 Pantomimes. 
 
 A good book to give an elevator boy. 
 
 A present to a little gii'l of six. 
 
 Description of Christmas. 
 
 Description of Murillo's paintings. 
 
 The Poem, Night after Christmas. 
 
 Many other requests for poems and stories about Christmas. 
 
 STORY TELLING POR CHILDREN. 
 
 Story telling, by accomplished persons, for children 
 is now successfully practised at the Central Library and 
 ten branches and stations. It is found to be of great 
 educational value for the children and very important in 
 causing them to read books. The stories told are the 
 old ones, like " Robin Hood,'' " The Knights of King 
 Arthur," and other stories drawn from the classics for 
 children. The demand for this instruction is increasing 
 rapidly, and the extent to which it can be carried is 
 probably only measured b}^ the money which can be 
 appropriated for it. 
 
 EXHIBITIONS OF BOOKS, PICTURES, ETC. 
 
 When the Central Library was opened in its new 
 building in 1895 the rare books, engravings and other 
 
[43] 
 treasures of the Library which had been before inacces- 
 sible to the public, were placed upon exhibition in the 
 Fine Arts Room from time to time. This was found 
 to be of so much public interest that exhibitions of this 
 character are now systematized and programmes of 
 them published at the beginning of the winter season 
 in connection Avith the programmes of lectures. 
 
 The exhibitions of pictures are mainly arranged to 
 illustrate the Library lectures, but outside lectures, such 
 as those of the Lowell Institute, are also illustrated here 
 when practicable, and events either of artistic, historical, 
 or national importance are noticed. Many of the 
 exhibits have been lent by friends of the Librar}^ as — 
 Issues of the Kelmscott Press, Portraits of George 
 Washington, Bookplates by Boston artists, Prayer 
 Books, Fine Book Bindings, the Joan of Arc exhi- 
 bition lent by the Joan of Arc Statue Committee of 
 Xew York, etc. 
 
 Among the historical exhibits may be mentioned 
 those in celebration of the anniversaries of Sebastian 
 Cabot, Americus Vespucius, Hans Holbein, W. L. 
 Garrison, H. W. Longfellow, John Milton, Charles 
 Dickens, Wendell Phillips, Harriet Beecher Stowe, 
 Transfer of the Bradford Manuscript, and among 
 important events illustrated, the death of Pope Leo 
 XIII., coronation of Edward YIL, and George Y., 
 the War with Spain, visits to Boston by Admiral 
 Dewey, by Prince Henry of Prussia, and by General 
 Kuroki of Japan, the Conventions of the Music 
 Teachers' National Association, the IST. E. Histoi-y 
 
[44] 
 Teachers' Association, Eastern Art and Manual Train- 
 ing Association, I^ational Association for the Promo- 
 tion of Industrial Education, and the N^ational City 
 Planning Conference. 
 
 Exhibitions of pictures are also regularly held in the 
 Branches and Reading Rooms, the programme of them 
 being published in the quarterly bulletin. The pictures 
 are mainly furnished from the Central Library and 
 hung upon rods in the Branches and Reading Rooms. 
 They are designed to illustrate matters which are of 
 immediate general interest to the public, like the cruise 
 of the United States Fleet, which was illustrated each 
 month by a different set of pictures of scenes in the 
 different countries visited by the fleet; or subjects 
 which are being studied at the time by persons using 
 the Library. The following list of recent exhibitions 
 at one Branch and one Reading Room may be taken 
 as illustrative: 
 
 Branch Exhibition. 
 Industrial Arts. 
 Historic Boston Houses. 
 American Cities. 
 Alaska and the Eskimos. 
 American Indians. 
 Lake Scenery. 
 Mountain Scenery. 
 Children of all Nations. 
 
 Reading Room Exhibition. 
 Evolution of the Printed Book. 
 Bi'eathing Places in Boston. 
 National Parks. 
 Types of Slavic Peoples. 
 Foreign Ports and Harbors. 
 Opportunities for Industrial Educa- 
 tion in Boston. 
 Picturesque America. 
 Old Washington Street, Boston. 
 
 LECTURES. 
 
 Regular courses of lectures are now given on Sunday 
 afternoons and Thursday evenings, also shorter courses, 
 
[45] 
 under auspices of the Field and Forest Club and the 
 Archaeological Institute of America, admission to 
 which is free to all, and for which no compensation is 
 paid by the Library to the persons who lecture. These 
 lectures are mostly on subjects connected with the fine 
 arts, and with special regard to the aesthetic develop- 
 ment of cities. Connected courses on the Drama and 
 the Stage and the History and Appreciation of Music 
 are included. Courses have also been given on Civic 
 Art, the Resources of the Library, Museum of Fine 
 Arts, the three Museums of Harvard College by the 
 Curators of each, the Harvard College Library by its 
 Librarian, Library of Congress, etc. Some of the 
 lecturers have been Charles W. Eliot, Thomas W. 
 Higginson, Edward Everett Hale, A. Lawrence 
 Lowell, Dr. William Everett, and many of the leading 
 Boston architects. 
 
 The course of lectures being delivered this season 
 includes among others, " Color in Dress," " Welfare 
 Work for Birds," "Conquest of the Ocean," "The 
 Canadian Rockies," "The Argentine Republic," "Muni- 
 cipal Gymnasiums," " Great Emigration Ports," " The 
 Cape Cod Canal," " IS'ew Zealand." 
 
 The recently erected Branch buildings, at Jamaica 
 Plain, North End, Charlestown and East Boston, are 
 all provided with Lecture Halls, where occasional 
 lectures are given ; at the North End a course of 
 lectures in Italian, on the history and art of Italy, was 
 recently given under the auspices of the local Dante 
 Alighieri Society; in this Branch a course of seventeen 
 
[46] 
 
 " Talks on Vocations," given in cooperation with the 
 Placement Bureau by prominent educators of Boston, 
 is in progress at present. 
 
 PINES FOR DETENTION OF BOOKS. 
 
 Books are issued for home use either for seven or 
 fourteen days. In order to secure their return within 
 that time a fine of two cents a day is imposed after the 
 expiration of the time, to be paid by the card holder 
 before any more books are issued upon the card. The 
 approximate number of persons paying such fines 
 during the year 1913 was 72,044, who paid an average 
 per person of 8.4 cents, amounting in the aggregate 
 to $6,099.81. This was all paid into the City Treasury, 
 as required by law, although the work of collecting 
 and accounting for it in such small amounts was not 
 inconsiderable. 
 
 SUPPLIES, REPAIRS AND CONTRACTS. 
 
 'No supplies are purchased or repairs made without 
 vote of the Trustees. At each weekly meeting the 
 Librarian submits a list of these which, upon examina- 
 tion and revision, is voted by the Trustees, and then 
 transmitted to the Library Auditor as authority foi* 
 the purchase and repairs. All orders for such supplies 
 or repairs are in writing, signed by the Librarian, and 
 numbered to correspond with the stub record, upon 
 which is minuted the date of the list authorized by the 
 Trustees on which the item appears, and the number 
 of the item on that list. Bills rendered are checked 
 
[47] 
 
 up from the stub record, and the receipt of the goods 
 or the completion of the repairs is certified by the head 
 of the department to which the goods are deUvered, 
 or in which the work is done, or if the receipt is for 
 suppHes to be kept in stock their receipt is certified by 
 the custodian of the stock room. The bill then goes to 
 the Library Auditor, who certifies it as correctly fig- 
 ured. It is then endorsed by the Librarian, presented 
 to the Trustees, and its payment voted by them. A 
 requisition is then drawn by the Library Auditor upon 
 the City Auditor for the payment, which is signed by 
 the President of the Trustees, and attested by the 
 Clerk of the Corporation. 
 
 Supplies are disbursed from the stock room only 
 upon requisition by the head of each department for 
 which any supply is needed, which must be approved 
 by the Librarian, and is then honored by the custodian 
 of the stock room, who keeps a record showing all 
 purchases, from whom purchased, amount paid, dis- 
 tribution by day, month and year to the several depart- 
 ments of the Library, and at the end of each year 
 makes a summary account showing under each depart- 
 ment the amount and cost of the supplies furnished to 
 it, itemized under the several articles. 
 
 The originals of all contracts made are filed with the 
 City Auditor, and a duplicate copy with the Library 
 Auditor, and under the State law requiring it a copy 
 of each contract is also deposited in the office of the 
 City Clerk. 
 
[48] 
 
 WAGES AND SALARIES. 
 
 The employees in the Binding and Printing Depart- 
 ment are paid union wages and work union hours. 
 All other employees who are classed either as " laborers, 
 workmen or mechanics " are employed at wages prevail- 
 ing in those employments and at hours fixed by the 
 State law applicable to cities which have accepted its 
 provisions, as Boston has, at "■ not more than eight 
 hours in any one calendar day, or more than forty-eight 
 hours in any one week." 
 
 The other employees of the Library, constituting 
 the regular Library staff, to which I have before 
 referred, are two hundred thirty-eight in number. 
 These employees are paid salaries fixed by votes of the 
 Trustees, and of these employees 69 are males and 169 
 are females. The average compensation of all these 
 persons, including the Librarian, Assistant Librarian 
 and Heads of Departments, is $715 a year, the average 
 of all the males being $932 and of the females $626 a 
 year. 
 
 Excluding the Librarian, Assistant Librarian and 
 nine other persons employed as Heads of Departments, 
 the average salary paid to the remaining 227 persons is 
 $637 a year. Of these 227 persons, 60 are males, who 
 receive the average salary of $673 a year, and 167 are 
 females, who receive the average salary of $621: a year. 
 
 The Custodians of Branches, which are really libra- 
 ries in themselves, are all women, and the highest 
 salary paid to any one of them is $1,000 a year. 
 
[49] 
 
 A vacation without loss of j^ay is allowed to each 
 employee in the regular force of two clays in each 
 month, or twenty-four days for each full year's service. 
 One-half of this vacation is allowed to all other 
 employees. Beyond this no person is paid while not 
 actually on duty, except by special vote of the Trustees 
 in an occasional case of extreme hardship from sickness. 
 
 'No person is added to the regular pay-roll, nor is 
 the salary of any employee on the pay-roll increased, 
 without a specific vote of the Trustees in the form of 
 an order in each case, an attested copy of which is 
 filed with the City Auditor. 
 
 PUBLICITY OF THE LIBRARY WORK. 
 
 The following regular reports and official statements 
 are made relating to the administration of the Library : 
 
 1. A monthly report is made to the Mayor showing 
 the receipts and expenditures for the current month. 
 
 2. A complete statement must be made to the 
 Mayor, for printing in a report issued May 1st in each 
 year, showing the name, residence, rate of salary or 
 wage and the kind of work done by each employee. 
 
 3. An annual report is made by the Trustees to the 
 Mayor, and with this are incorporated the reports of 
 the Librarian and Library Auditor showing in detail 
 the condition and operations of the Librai-y for the 
 year, and also the report of the Examining Committee. 
 This annual report is printed and publicly circulated, 
 sent to the press and to other libraries. 
 
 4. The weekly pay-rolls are made in duplicate, 
 
[50] 
 
 showing the name of each person employed, the char- 
 acter of the service performed, the rate of salary or 
 wage, and the amount payable to every such person for 
 the week. These are prepared and signed by the 
 Library Auditor, and aftei- the approval attested by 
 signature of the Librarian, must be signed and sworn 
 to by the President of the Trustees. Each set of rolls 
 requires 19 large sheets. They are sent to the State 
 Civil Service Commission, and their certification of 
 approval affixed, after which one set is sent to the City 
 Auditor as the warrant for the weekly payment of the 
 employees, and the duplicate set is filed in the office of 
 the State Commission. 
 
 5. Besides these regular reports and statements 
 others are made from time to time as requested by the 
 Mayor or other officials entitled to receive them. 
 
 6. The bulletins, weekly lists of books added to the 
 Libi-ary, special finding-lists issued from time to time, 
 and othei" libi-ary publications also give information 
 as to the work of the Library. 
 
 An Examining Committee is also annually appointed 
 of citizens residing in different parts of the City to 
 examine the Library and report upon its condition and 
 operation as required by the City ordinance. Their 
 report is required to be printed with the annual report 
 of the Trustees to the City government, and is of 
 much value in the working of the Library. Our most 
 eminent citizens have been willing to serve on this 
 important Committee. Among others may be men- 
 tioned Phillips Brooks, William Byrne, Patrick A. 
 
[51] 
 Collins, Samuel Eliot, Ileiiry L. Pierce, William H. 
 Prescott, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Alexander H. Rice, 
 Benjamin F. Thomas, George Ticknor, Carroll D. 
 W>ight, Walbridge A. Field, Chief Justice of the 
 Supreme Court, Robert Grant, Hasket Derby, Robert 
 C. Winthrop, and Lucius Tuttle. 
 
 LIBRARY REVENUE. 
 
 Strictly speaking the Library as such has no revenue. 
 It has only receipts which must be paid into the City 
 Treasury as follows, viz., in 1913-14: 
 
 From sale of Catalogues, etc $67.52 
 
 From pay telephone commission 227.10 
 
 Sale of waste paper 94.88 
 
 Money found 14.64 
 
 Fines for detention of books 6,099.81 
 
 Substantially all the money which the Trustees can 
 use for the maintenance and working of the library 
 system comes from the annual appropriation by the 
 City Council. The income from Trust funds, that is, 
 property given to the Trustees in trust for the uses of 
 the Library, amounts to about $17,500 a yeai-. These 
 funds are by law required to be invested by the City 
 Treasurer under the direction of the Finance Com- 
 mittee of the City, and are invested in bonds of the 
 City, which makes the income from them small. 
 
 January 1, 1914, $466,917 of these Trust funds was 
 invested in City bonds. Of this $10,500 bore three 
 per cent interest; $202,800 three and a half })er cent; 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
[52] 
 
 $253,450 four per cent. The income received from them 
 annually is $17,551. This income can only be used for 
 the specific purposes of the several trusts under which it 
 is held, which vary widely. Some are for the purchase 
 of books for a separate branch; some for the addition of 
 books to special collections, such as books on govern- 
 ment and political economy, books in the Spanish and 
 Portuguese languages, valuable rare editions of books, 
 books of a mihtary and patriotic character, books in 
 memory of specific persons, and in one case only for 
 books published before 1850. 
 
 The appropriations by the City Council are made 
 upon detailed estimates annually submitted by the 
 Trustees to the Mayor, showing what they think will 
 be required for the work of the Library during the next 
 financial year. These estimates are made in detail, and 
 show in parallel columns the amount expended in the 
 previous year for each item of expense, as for instance, 
 fuel, postage, salaries, printing, supplies, etc., and the 
 amount estimated to be required for the same item the 
 next year, with a specific note of the increase or 
 decrease in each item. These estimates are transmitted 
 to the City Council by the Mayor with his statement 
 of the total amount he recommends should be appro- 
 priated, and the City Council then appropriate a total 
 amount which the Trustees are to spend upon the 
 Library for the next year. 
 
 The Trustees have no control over the amount of 
 money which is to be made available to them for the 
 work of the Library. They must maintain and work 
 
[53] 
 the Library as well as they can upon the amount which 
 the City Council appropiiate. During the i)ast ten 
 years the estimates of the Trustees, the recommenda- 
 tions by the Mayor, and the amounts appropriated by 
 the City Council have been as follows : 
 
 1904 
 1905 
 1906 
 1907 
 1908 
 1909 
 1910 
 1911 
 1912 
 1913 
 
 Estimates 
 OP Trustees. 
 
 $320,414.00 
 325,466.00 
 324,550.00 
 326,100.00 
 332,800.00 
 335,200.00 
 351,978.00 
 359,497.00 
 374,665.00 
 391.996.00 
 
 Amounts 
 
 Recommended 
 
 BY Mayor. 
 
 $300,000.00 
 310,000.00 
 320,000.00 
 325,000.00 
 325,000.00 
 335,200.00 
 351,978.00 
 355,200.00 
 367,165.00 
 380,000.00 
 
 Amounts 
 
 Appropriated 
 
 BT City Council. 
 
 $305,000.00 
 310,000.00 
 324,550.00 
 325,000.00 
 310,000.00 
 349,455.00 
 351,978.00 
 355,200.00 
 367,165.00 
 380,000.00 
 
 The appropriations for these ten years have averaged 
 |6,431 less than the estimates of the Board. In 1906 
 and 1910 the appropriations equalled the estimates, but 
 in 1913 the appropriation was $11,996 less than the 
 estimate. This is not said by way of complaint, because 
 I am aware of the limitations which necessarily govern 
 the Council in making appropriations for maintenance. 
 It is only stated to dispel the illusion which many per- 
 
[54] 
 
 sons seem to have that the Trustees have only to ask 
 for money to get it. 
 
 The percentage of increase in these appropriations 
 during these years has been about the same as the 
 percentage of increase in the population of the city 
 during that time. But although the service of the 
 Library has been extended in various directions for the 
 public convenience the Trustees have not been able 
 to spend more than the amount annually appropriated 
 for it, nor have they received by transfer, or otherwise, 
 anything from the city treasury in addition to the 
 amount of the appropriation in each year. 
 
 The principal increase in the expense of the adminis- 
 tration of the Library since 1904 has been caused by the 
 establishment of Reading Rooms and delivery stations, 
 now in every case transformed into Reading Rooms, 
 in different parts of the city, by means of which the 
 people in outlying districts have the collections of the 
 Central Library brought near to them, and may receive 
 books therefrom, without the necessity of coming to 
 the Central Library Building in Copley square. The 
 work of the Branches and Reading Rooms, including 
 important work with the schools of the city, is of very 
 great benefit to the various parts of the city in which 
 they are located, and promotes the convenience of the 
 public by extending their use of the Library. 
 
 The payments made from the city appropriations for 
 the expenses of the Central Library, including the 
 printing and binding departments, increased from 1904 
 to 1914 less than two per cent, while the payments from 
 
[55] 
 
 the same source for the expenses of Branches and 
 Reading Rooms increased about twenty-five per cent. 
 
 COMPARATIVE EXPENSES FOR MAINTENANCE. 
 
 Boston expends annually for free public libraries 
 $45.83 as against $54.17 expended in all the other 32 
 cities in the Commonwealth combined, that is to say, 
 with a population of only 41 5/10 per cent of the popu- 
 lation in the other 32 cities combined, Boston spends 
 annually for public library purposes 84 6/10 per cent of 
 the entire aggregate ex2)ense of all the other 32 cities 
 for similar purposes. Or, stated in another form, with a 
 population four-tenths as large as the combined popu- 
 lation of the other 32 cities combined Boston expends 
 for public library maintenance more than eight-tenths 
 as much as the other 32 cities combined. 
 
 Boston expends annually for public library purposes 
 about 56 cents per capita of all its population; Avhile 
 the other 32 cities expend only 27 1/2 cents per capita 
 for their entire combined population. 
 
 The expense for public library purposes in the towns 
 of the Commonwealth is not reported so as to be avail- 
 able for comparison, but if such expense corresponds 
 with the value of the property put to public library 
 uses in the towns, which may perhaps be fairly 
 assumed, it would appear that Boston, with less than 
 20 per cent of the aggregate population of all the other 
 cities and towns in the Commonwealth, expends for 
 public library purposes about 71 per cent of the expense 
 for similar purposes by all the other cities and towns. 
 
[56] 
 In this connection it may be noted that Boston 
 spends annually for all municipal purposes $26.69 per 
 capita of its population, while the other 32 cities 
 together expend annually for similar purposes only 
 f 1.3.97 per capita of their combined population. The 
 average annual expense per capita for municipal pur- 
 poses of all the cities including Boston is $17.70, vary- 
 ing from $9.58 in Chicopee to $26.69 in Boston. 
 
 If it is asked why the working of the Boston Public 
 Library should be so much more expensive than the 
 working of the libraries of other cities in Massa- 
 chusetts the answer is obvious. First, because the 
 Boston Public Library is much larger and is worked to 
 a greater degree of efficiency than the other libraries. 
 It has more to do with and it does more with what 
 it has than the other libraries. It does more things 
 to cause books and other library material to be 
 conveniently and extensively used, and it works over 
 a very much larger area and with more diiferent 
 instrumentalities than the other libraries. 
 
 Second, because it is the only great free library 
 for all the people of Massachusetts. The Common- 
 wealth gave the City of Boston a considerable portion 
 of the land upon which the Central Library building 
 stands upon condition that the building erected thereon, 
 and its contents, should at all times be free to the use 
 of all citizens of the Commonwealth. The land thus 
 given to the city for this purpose is now worth about 
 $1,000,000 as land. The Library is also the only free 
 scholars' library in Massachusetts, that is to say, it is 
 
[57J 
 
 the only free library where scholars can conduct 
 scholarly research. It is situated at the center of a 
 district containing at least a million and a half people 
 who can by modern means of communication go to the 
 Library and return to their homes each day, and many 
 of them do so. The citizen of Lowell or of Taunton, 
 or of any other place within no greater distance from 
 Boston, who wishes to use a library in the preparation 
 of a book, or in some matter of scholarly research, 
 would not go to his local library because he would 
 know that while he might find there some of the 
 material required, he would not find sufficient for his 
 purpose, and therefore he would go to the Boston 
 Public Library, where he would find a larger amount 
 of material than could possibly be given by any other 
 free library in the Commonwealth. 
 
 The result, therefore, is to throw upon the tax- 
 payers of Boston not only the expense of working the 
 books and material of its own library for the benefit of 
 its own citizens, but also the expense of working much 
 of its books and library material for the benefit of all 
 the citizens of the Commonwealth who desire to use it. 
 Every municipality within fifty miles of Boston governs 
 its own library expenditures for buildings, books and 
 maintenance by this fact. It knows that, as its people 
 who require the most expensive books, the most valu- 
 able library material for their use, will find them in the 
 Boston Public Library, therefore it does not need to 
 provide them itself. 
 
 To illustrate, — the town of Brookline, with ample 
 
[58] 
 
 means to build an expensive library building, did, as I 
 am told, reduce the cost of the building to be erected 
 to a much less sum than was originally proposed, 
 because it was said that every inhabitant of Brookhne 
 could go and come from the Boston Public Library 
 and use that. 
 
 It is also true that the expense of working a large 
 library system over a large area is proportionately 
 greater than the expense of working a small library. 
 
 One peculiarity of the working of a library system 
 is that the expense and waste of the worling increases 
 disproportionately to the additiotis which are made to 
 the collection. A library system is like a telephone 
 system, where each additional subscriber dispropor- 
 tionately increases the cost of working the whole 
 system. The expense and waste of efficiently working 
 a collection of a million books is more than ten times 
 as great as the expense and waste of working one 
 hundred thousand books, because each book is worked 
 in connection with every other. 
 
 As it is true that the Public Library system is of 
 value only as it is used, and that to produce the 
 utmost value from its use it should be used to the limit 
 of its capacity, so it is equally true that the increasing 
 use of it produces a disproportionately greater increase 
 in the expense and waste of working. Books that 
 are transported frequently and over a large area of 
 use wear out proportionately faster than they would if 
 they were transported less frequently and over a smaller 
 area. 
 
[59] 
 Again, books for genei-al use wear out very rapidly. 
 Volumes that are purchased at an average cost of 
 $1.02, which, as I have said, is the average price paid 
 for books bought with appropriations by the City 
 Council, are not only books which wear out because 
 they are in constant use, but they are necessarily of 
 such paper, typography, and binding as to wear out 
 rapidly by use. The cost of replacing such books, 
 either with new books of the same kind or with new 
 editions or other books upon the same subject, is veiy 
 great, and causes a great and constantly increasing 
 expense. 
 
 PURPOSE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 
 
 The primary purpose of a free public library, sup- 
 ported by taxation, is to give the use of good books 
 and other educational library material to persons who 
 might not otherwise enjoy such use. But it is also of 
 great public importance that a library should within 
 the means at its command afford opportunity for study 
 and research by scholars and students. In doing this 
 our Library supplements the work of our public schools 
 and of the university. It places the highest special 
 knowledge at the service of all our citizens without 
 charge and without unnecessary detail or formality. 
 It touches the elementary and common need, and begins 
 with the child who has just learned to read and aids 
 him in the common school. To most of the graduates 
 of our grammar schools who pass at once into active 
 life, the Library stands in place of the high school, the 
 
[60] 
 
 academy and the college, and it is to them a university. 
 In the aggregate of all its services, the Boston Public 
 Library should be and I believe is in itself a system of 
 education for all and free to all. 
 
 The distinguishing characteristic of the education 
 given by a public library is that it is not imposed 
 upon the person who has it. The education of the 
 schools is to a greater or less extent imposed upon 
 those vv^ho receive it, and it is necessarily general in 
 its character, without regard, to any great extent, to 
 the individual needs of the persons who receive it. 
 The schools must educate persons in classes and upon 
 general lines of knowledge. The Library, however, 
 educates only in response to individual wants and 
 demands. Everything that is done by it is done in 
 response to requests from individuals who ask for that 
 which they each want most. Every one of the one 
 million six hundred and fifty thousand volumes issued 
 by the Boston Public Library in a year for direct home 
 use is issued because some particular person wants that 
 book. Every book consulted in the Central Library or 
 its Branches or Reading Rooms, every newspaper con- 
 sulted, every manuscript, every picture furnished for use 
 is furnished because some particular person asked for 
 it, presumably because he needed it. It is obvious that 
 education of this kind is likely to be more effective in 
 the development of individuals along the lines of which 
 they are each capable than any system of education which 
 deals with individuals in classes, and imposes upon them 
 certain required courses of study and investigation. 
 
[61] 
 
 One of the most interesting things about the Boston 
 Pubhc Library is the extent to which it has been 
 created, developed, and worked by voluntary and unpaid 
 service. jN^one of its Trustees has ever received any 
 compensation, a large part of its collections have been 
 given to it, while nearly five hundred citizens have 
 served from time to time upon its important Examining 
 Committee, many of whom have given much time and 
 performed excellent service in that capacity. I am 
 sure there is no similar institution anywhere which has 
 been promoted and developed by more unselfish, con- 
 stant, and effective civic efibrt. The City government 
 representing the taxpayers has also been liberal in its 
 appropriations for the support of the Library. In its 
 appropriation for the erection of the Central Library 
 building Boston has been munificent beyond any other 
 American city. 
 
 All this has been, I believe, because the Library has 
 been a library for the people, free to all, for the intelli- 
 gent education of all. 
 
 It was the original design of the wise, sagacious, and 
 public-spirited citizens who promoted the foundation of 
 this great Public Library that it should be a means of 
 education for all. Such has been the course of its 
 development up to this time, and such, I believe, should 
 be its future development. Of course, this means con- 
 stantly increasing appropriations of money by the tax- 
 payers. In my judgment the proper maintenance and 
 working of the Library system as it is now maintained 
 and worked as a means of popular education, for which 
 
[62] 
 
 taxation can be well justified, now requires an annual 
 appropriation of not less than $450,000. Without this, 
 the Library system will fail to be efficiently worked to 
 its capacity for the education of our people, and its 
 usefulness will surely decrease. The Library cannot 
 simply mark time. It must either march forward, or 
 fall behind in its work. 
 
 I know the sum I have named is a large sum of 
 money, but it is only two one-hundredths of one per 
 cent of the tax valuation of the City and only one and 
 fifty-eight one-hundredths per cent of the annual tax 
 appropriation. I believe it will be well spent in aiding 
 to produce that intelligence of our people upon which 
 security of person and property in a free state must 
 ultimately depend. 
 
 Cities and states are not made great by economy, 
 but rather by judicious and even lavish expenditure 
 for proper public purposes. It is true in civil as in 
 personal affairs that " There is that scattereth and yet 
 increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than 
 is meet, but it tendeth to poverty." No money spent 
 for the education of the people, whose intelligence is 
 the only basis of good government, is ever wasted. 
 Property in a civilized state is only a creation of the 
 law of the state. Our title to our houses and lands, to 
 the goods and wares in our shops and stores, to the 
 stocks, bonds, and other obligations which we call 
 investments, depends solely upon the law which secures 
 us in the enjoyment of them and permits us to trans- 
 mit them to our children and others by will. 
 
[63] 
 This law i-ests either upon that inteUigenee which 
 creates just laws and causes them to be willingly 
 obeyed, or upon force, which compels them to be 
 obeyed. Security of property, therefore, depends upon 
 education or upon force, and I believe that free public 
 libraries worked for the education of the people are 
 better safeguards of the rights of person and property 
 than policemen and battalions. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Adams library. See John Adams li- 
 brary. 
 
 Alden, John, 7. 
 
 Allen A. Brown Dramatic library, 32. 
 
 Allen A. Brown Music library, 32, 35. 
 
 Americana, Prince collection of. See 
 Prince library. 
 
 Appropriations by City Council for 
 Library maintenance, 51-54; for 
 Central Library building, 61 ; con- 
 stantly increasing appropriations 
 necessary for efficient working of 
 the Library, 61-63. 
 
 Auditor, City, 47, 49, 50. 
 
 Auditor, Library, 11, 46, 47, 49, 50. 
 
 Barton, Cora Livingston, her gener- 
 osity in matter of Barton library, 
 32. 
 
 Barton library, 32, 35. 
 
 Bates Hall Reading Room, 19 ; use of, 
 20, 21. 
 
 Bindery, 6. 
 
 Bonds owned by Library, 51. 
 
 Books, number of, in Library, 5. 
 
 Boston Town House, circulating pub- 
 lic library in, 1. 
 
 Boston Public Library, establishment 
 of, 1 ; size and expense of, first 
 year compared with present, 1, 2 ; 
 administration of, 2 ; Trustees, 
 appointment, powers, and duties 
 of, 2; real estate held by, 3; 
 extent of floor area, 3 ; Central 
 Library building an architectural 
 monument, 3 ; its decorations and 
 works of art, 3, 4, 6 ; machinery 
 and appliances, 4 ; seating capac- 
 
 ity, 4 ; lecture room, 4 ; heating 
 and lighting, 4 ; general care of 
 building, 4, 5 ; books, manuscripts, 
 etc., owned by the Library, 5; 
 Branches, 5; catalogues, 5, 6; 
 printing office and bindery, 6 ; 
 newspapers and periodicals taken, 
 6 ; value of property, 6, 7, 8 ; gifts, 
 6, 7 ; special collections, 7, 17, 32 ; 
 value of library property in Boston 
 as compared with other cities of 
 the state, 8, 9 ; current additions 
 to the Library, 9 ; current ex- 
 penses, 9 ; method of purchasing 
 books, 10 ; general remarks on 
 working of the Library, 11 ; cata- 
 loguing, 12-16; shelving, 16, 17; 
 the Library staff, 17 ; Sunday and 
 evening service, 17, 18 ; grades, 
 18; working hours, 18, 19; depart- 
 ments, 19, 20; circulation, 20, 21; 
 Central Library and Branches 
 worked as a unit, 21, 22 ; coopera- 
 tion with schools, etc., 22-26 ; help 
 given to individual readers, 2G ; 
 inquiries received, 26-30; service 
 to scholarship, 30-34; importance 
 of special libraries, 35 ; News- 
 paper Room, endowment, equip- 
 ment, and use of, 36, 37 ; inter- 
 library loans, 38, 39; Children's 
 Department, 39-42 ; story-telling 
 for children, 42 ; exhibitions of 
 books, pictures, etc., 42-44; lec- 
 tures, 44-46; fines, 46; supplies, 
 repairs and contracts, 46, 47 ; 
 wages and salaries, 48 ; vacations. 
 
 [65] 
 
[ 
 
 49; reports, official statements, 
 etc., 49, 50; pay-rolls, 49, 50; 
 bulletins, finding-lists and other 
 publications, 50; Examining Com- 
 mittee, 60, 51; revenue and ap- 
 propriations, 51-55 ; comparative 
 expenses of maintenance, 55-59 ; 
 purpose of the Library, 59-61 ; 
 appeal for larger appropriation, 
 61-63. 
 
 Bowditch, Dr. Nathaniel, gift of math- 
 ematical library from, 32. 
 
 Bowditch library, 32. 
 
 Bradford, Gov. William, autograph 
 manuscript of , in Chamberlain col- 
 lection, 7 ; exhibition occasioned 
 by recovery of his manuscript 
 history of Plymouth Colony, 43. 
 
 Branch Department, 20. 
 
 Branches and Reading Rooms, 11 ; 
 equipment of, 5, 6; "extra" ser- 
 vice in, 18 ; working hours in, 
 18, 19 ; circulation through, 20, 
 21-24; unity of, with Central 
 Library, 21, 22; lists of inquiries 
 received at, 26-28 ; periodicals 
 taken at, 37, 38 ; children's depart- 
 ments in, 40, 41 ; story-telling 
 provided, 42 ; exhibitions of pic- 
 tures held, 44 ; lecture halls in 
 recently erected Branch buildings, 
 46 ; salary of Custodians, 48 ; 
 expense of maintaining, 54, 55. 
 
 British Museum Catalogue, 12 (note). 
 
 Broadway Extension Reading Room, 
 inquiries received at, 28. 
 
 Brookline Public Library, 57, 58. 
 
 Brooks, Phillips, member of Examin- 
 ing Committee, 50. 
 
 Brown Dramatic library. See Allen 
 A. Brown Dramatic library. 
 
 Brown Music library. See Allen A. 
 Brown Music library. 
 
 Bulletins, finding-lists, etc., 50. 
 
 Byrne, William, member of Examin- 
 ing Committee, 60. 
 
 66] 
 
 Cards, issuance of books by, 22. 
 
 Catalogue Department, work of, 11, 
 14, 15, 16; organization of, 19, 
 
 Catalogues, 5, 6; importance of, 12, 
 14 ; card catalogue used, 12 ; prin- 
 ciples of its construction, 12, 13, 
 15; size of catalogue, 15. 
 
 Central Library building, Copley 
 Square, an architectural monu- 
 ment, 3 ; its decorations and works 
 of art, 3, 4, 6 ; machinery and 
 appliances, care of, etc., 4, 5; 
 date of opening, 39. 
 
 Chamberlain manuscript collection, 7, 
 33. 
 
 Charging system, by cards, 22. 
 
 Children's Department, 19 ; origin of, 
 39, 40 ; equipment of, 40, 41 ; intro- 
 duction of Children's Rooms in 
 Branches, 40, 41; inquiries re- 
 ceived, 41, 42; story-telling, 42. 
 
 Circulation, 20, 21, 24, 34. 
 
 City Auditor. See Auditor, City. 
 
 City government. Trustees report to, 
 50; liberality of, 61. 
 
 City Treasurer, Library funds invested 
 by, 51. 
 
 City Clerk, copies of Library contracts 
 deposited with, 47. 
 
 City Council, appropriations of, for 
 maintenance of Library. See 
 Appropriations. 
 
 Civil Service Commission of Massa- 
 chusetts, Trustees approved by, 
 2 ; pay-rolls certified by, 50. 
 
 Classification, 13, 14. 
 
 Collins, Patrick, member of Examining 
 Committee, 50, 51. 
 
 Contracts, filing of, 47. 
 
 Conventioni, exhibitions in honor of, 
 43, 44. 
 
 Curtis, Edward S., his work on North 
 American Indians, 9, 10. 
 
 Custodians of Branches, 48. 
 
[67] 
 
 Dante Alighieri Society, lectures un- 
 der auspices of, at North End 
 Branch, 45. 
 
 Delivery stations, 54. 
 
 Department of Patents, 16, 19 ; in- 
 crease in use of, 35, 36. 
 
 Department of Statistics and Docu- 
 ments, 19; use of, 35. 
 
 Departments, organization of, 19. 
 
 Derby, Basket, member of Examining 
 Committee, 51. 
 
 Dramatic library. See Allen A. Brown 
 Dramatic library. 
 
 Education greatly promoted by li- 
 braries, 59-63. 
 
 Eliot, Samuel, member of Examining 
 Committee, 51. 
 
 Endowment. See Trust funds. 
 
 Engine houses, library service at, 23. 
 
 Estimates of appropriations needed, 
 52, 53. 
 
 Examining Committee, 49; extract 
 from report of, relating to cata- 
 loguing, 15, 16 ; appointment and 
 work of, 50 ; citizens who have 
 served on, 50, 51, 61. 
 
 Executive Department, 19. 
 
 Exhibitions of books, pictures, etc., 
 42-44 ; historical exhibits, 43. 
 
 Expense of maintenance, 53, 54 ; causes 
 of increase, 54, 58, 59; compari- 
 son with other cities of the State, 
 55-58. 
 
 Express service, use of. See Trans- 
 portation. 
 
 Field, Walbridge A., member of Ex- 
 amining Committee, 51. 
 
 Finance Committee, approves invest- 
 ment of Library funds, 51. 
 
 Fine Arts Department, use of, 35 ; 
 exhibitions in, 43. 
 
 Fines, system and amount of, 46, 51. 
 
 Foreigners, their use of the Periodical 
 Room, 37. 
 
 Funds. See Trust funds. 
 
 Grant, Robert, member of Examining 
 Committee, 51. 
 
 Gratuitous service of Trustees and 
 others, to Library, 61. 
 
 Grimani Breviary, 9. 
 
 Holmes, Oliver Wendell, member of 
 Examining Committee, 51. 
 
 Income of the Library : from trust 
 funds, 51, 52; annual appropria- 
 tions by City Council, 51-54. 
 
 Inquiries of readers, received at Cen- 
 tral Library and Branches, 26-30, 
 38, 41, 42. 
 
 Institutions, library service at, 23. 
 
 Inter-library loans, 38, 39. 
 
 Issue Department, 19. 
 
 John Adams library, 32. 
 
 Labor laws, as affecting library work, 
 22, 48. 
 
 Lantern slides owned by Library, 5. 
 
 Law, state, relating to Boston Public 
 Library, 2. 
 
 Lecture halls in new Branch buildings, 
 45. 
 
 Lectures, purpose and subjects of, 
 45; noted lecturers who have 
 spoken, 45. 
 
 Librarian, 19, 46, 47, 49 ; appointed 
 by Trustees, 2. 
 
 Loans to the Library, for exhibition, 
 43. 
 
 Manuscripts in the Library, 5. 
 
 Maps, 5. 
 
 Massachusetts, contributes part of 
 land occupied by Central Library, 
 56 ; its citizens have free use of 
 Library, 5G, 57. 
 
 Mathematical and astronomical library. 
 See Bowditch library. 
 
 Mayor, reports of Library work made 
 to, 49 ; appropriations recom- 
 mended by, 52, 53. 
 
 Mayflower, ship, 7. 
 
 Music library. See Allen A. Brown 
 Music library. 
 
[68] 
 
 Newspaper Room, 19 ; endowed by 
 William C. Todd, 36 ; equipment, 
 use and care of, 36, 37. 
 North American Indians, E. S. Cur- 
 
 tis's work on, 9, 10. 
 Old State House, attempts to maintain 
 
 library in, 1. 
 Open shelves, use of, 16, 34. 
 Ordering I3epartment, 19 ; work of, 
 
 10, 11. 
 Parker library, 7, 32. 
 Patent Room. See Department of 
 
 Patents. 
 Pay-rolls, 49, 50. 
 Periodical Room, 19 ; equipment and 
 
 use of, 37, 38. 
 Photographs, engravings, etc., 5 ; loans 
 of, to schools, 23, 24; use of, in 
 class and exhibition work in the 
 Library, 35. 
 Pierce, Henry L., member of Examin- 
 ing Committee, 51. 
 Placement Bureau, cooperates with 
 North End Branch in giving Talks 
 on Vocations, 45, 46. 
 Portuguese and Spanish library. See 
 
 Ticknor library. 
 Prescott, William H., member of Ex- 
 amining Committee, 51. 
 Prince, Rev. Thomas, his library de- 
 posited in Boston Public Library, 
 32. 
 Prince library, 7, 32. 
 Printing Department, 6, 14. 
 Proof reading, 14. 
 Ptolemy's Cosmography, 9. 
 Public library, first in America, 1. 
 Public Scliools. See Schools. 
 Questions. See Inquiries. 
 Reading Rooms. See Branches and 
 
 Reading Rooms. 
 Real estate of the Library, 3. 
 Registration Department, 19. 
 Repairs, routine of authorization, 46, 
 
 47. 
 Reports and official statements, 49. 
 
 Revenue. See Income. 
 Rice, Alexander H., member of Exam- 
 ining Committee, 51. 
 
 Salaries of Library employees, 21, 48. 
 
 Scholarship, service of the Library to, 
 30-34, 35, 56, 57. 
 
 Schools, cooperation of Library with, 
 22-26. 
 
 Service, gratuitous. See Gratuitous 
 service. 
 
 Shakespeareana, collection of. See 
 Barton library. 
 
 Shelf Department, 19 ; work of, in 
 numbering and preparing books 
 for the shelves, 13, 14; shelf-list- 
 ing and verifying lists, 16. 
 
 Spanish and Portuguese library. See 
 Ticknor library. 
 
 Special Libraries, 7, 17, 19, 32, 35. 
 
 Staff, size of, 17 ; extra force for Sun- 
 day and evening service, 17, 18 ; 
 grades of service, 18. 
 
 Standish, Miles, 7. 
 
 State Prison, Charlestown, library ser- 
 vice at, 25. 
 
 Statistical Department. See Depart- 
 ment of Statistics and Documents. 
 
 Story-telling, in Children's Room, 42. 
 
 Students, use of Librarv by, 31, 32, 35, 
 38. 
 
 Study clubs. Library lends pictures to, 
 25. 
 
 Supervisor of Brandies and Reading 
 Rooms, 20. 
 
 Supplies, purchase and distribution of, 
 46, 47. 
 
 Thayer library, 32. 
 
 Theodore Parker library. See Parker 
 
 library. 
 Thomas, Benjamin F., member of 
 
 Examining Committee, 51. 
 Ticknor, George, member of Examin- 
 ing Committee, 51. 
 Ticknor library, 32, 35. 
 Time-book, 20. 
 
[ 
 
 Todd, William C, endows Newspaper 
 Room, 36. 
 
 Town House, Boston. See Boston 
 Town House. 
 
 Transportation of books between Cen- 
 tral Library and Branches, 22. 
 
 Treasurer, City. See City Treasurer. 
 
 Trust funds, 9; income from, 51, 52. 
 
 Trustees, appointment, powers, and 
 duties of, 2, 10, 46, 47, 49, 50, 52; 
 service given without compensa- 
 tion, 61. 
 
 Tuttle, Lucius, member of Examining 
 Committee, 51. 
 
 69] 
 
 Union laborers, 48. 
 Vacations, 49. 
 
 Vocations, talks on, at North End 
 Branch, 45, 46. 
 
 Wages. See Salaries. 
 
 Wagons, daily service by, to Branches. 
 See Transportation. 
 
 Wear and tear of books, 58, 59. 
 
 Wright, Carroll D., member of Ex- 
 amining Committee, 51. 
 
 Winthrop, Robert C, member of Ex- 
 amining Committee, 51. 
 
 Working hours, 18, 22. 
 
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