USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1898 > Part 13
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Lord Hobhouse expresses the conviction that it makes "the use of Sunday more beneficial and more adapted to the varieties of human character and conditions . . . not adding any- thing appreciable to the labor which is necessary under any system to keep the world going; not detracting from public worship, yet providing more varied mode of enjoyment, whether intellectual, or æsthetic, or muscular, to give refreshment to people differing in temperament or in condition of life."
The greatly increased use of the library in all departments, the utter inadequacy of the delivery-room, long painfully apparent to the public -a room which must soon be further encroached upon by the case of the card-catalogue - the over- flowing of the children's room, and the many uses to which the
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 257
cataloguer's room has been put, have compelled the trustees to look about for necessary increased accommodations. They believe that the time has come when the library can no longer perform its proper duty to the public as an educational institu- tion, unless its quarters are enlarged. All available space above ground is fully utilized. A large room in the basement is already in use as a storeroom, and a part of the boiler-room must ultimately be taken for the same purpose. It is believed that any serious attempt to establish a children's room in the basement, which has been in contemplation, requiring as it would important changes in the distribution of the steam-pipes, the building of a suitable entrance and the underground enlargement of all the windows, would involve an expense of several thousands of dollars, and when finished would prove to be, on the ground of health alone, an unsuitable place for chil- dren to resort to.
Therefore, after careful consideration, the trustees feel it to be their duty to recommend to your Honorable Board and to ask for an addition to the library building, as the only satisfac- tory way out of the difficulty, and the cheapest in the end. In the hope that this relief might be facilitated, they have provided themselves with a plan and general outline of what seems to them required. These will be presented under another commu- nication.
If the Somerville Library is expected to do the work given a library to do to-day, the Trustees do not see how this work is to be done without larger space to do it in and greater means to do it with.
Respectfully submitted for the Board of Trustees,
CHARLES S. LINCOLN, President.
December 31, 1898.
REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE SOMERVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY : -
I herewith submit the Librarian's twenty-sixth annual report.
Assuming the duties of the position last May as the suc- cessor of one who had made a place for himself among the most efficient librarians of the day, the responsibilities of the untried position were duly realized, and the desire to keep the library up to our standards of the past and our hopes for the future were naturally very strong. In the pursuance of this aim a number of changes have been inaugurated.
A CHILDREN'S ROOM.
The most important work of a public library is to reach the young and influence them beneficially. If this is not done, all our advanced appliances, all our highly organized systems are simply noisy machines, grinding out but little product. The youth of Somerville, both directly and through the schools, have come into very close relations to the library, and in this way its influence for good has been incalculable. This influ- ence has been greatly enhanced the present year by the opening of a special children's room.
The old reading-room on the first floor has been remodelled, its sides have been lined with shelves which have been filled with the best juvenile books the library affords. The selec- tion of these books have been made with great care. No books of known worthlessness can find admittance upon these shelves. Books entertaining without sensationalism, instruc- tive without pedantry, and moral without "goody-goodiness" are the ones that have found a place in our new children's
260
ANNUAL REPORTS.
room. The best biographies, the best books of travel, the best books on nature study, the best selected juvenile fiction, the best juvenile periodicals, a good assortment of picture books for the very young, make up the collection. The books arc free of access to all occupants of the room, and can be read in the room or taken out on a regular library card. The success of the room has been great, even to embarrassment. Since its opening the utter inadequacy of the library to accommodate its patrons has once more been strikingly emphasized. After school hours on school days, and on Saturdays and Sundays, the room is sometimes suffocatingly crowded. The children of the city appreciate such a room as this so thoroughly that it is a matter of great regret that we are not able at present to supply them with a room sufficiently spacious for their com- fortable enjoyment.
The books placed upon the shelves of this new children's room are almost exclusively duplicates. Unless we have more than one copy of a book we have allowed it to remain upon the shelves of the stack room, and we have not deemed it right to rob the other children of the city of its reading for the sake of giving it to the children who visit the children's room. Con- sequently the number of books in the children's room is not as large as might be desired. I recommend that two hundred and fifty dollars be used during the coming year for the purchase of new books for this room.
A NEW READING ROOM.
The changing of the old reading room into a children's room necessitated the changing of the study and reference room upstairs into a general reading room. This room is the largest and most sightly room in the building, and the public has been greatly appreciative of the more commodious accommo- dations it furnishes. This is attested by the greatly increased numbers that frequent it. Since this room has been made into a general reading room its average daily attendance has been seventy-six. Before the change the attendance was twelve. So this room, although twice the capacity of the old reading room, is at times seriously overcrowded. This congestion has been so
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 261
great at seasons that the exclusion of children from the room has been contemplated. But such a step should not be taken without deliberation. A child who is really interested in the books and periodicals in this room should not be debarred from the privilege of using them. To do so would be to stunt the development of a growing mind. A boy who desires to read the literature of a man should no longer be treated like a child.
A ROOM FOR QUIET STUDY.
The public documents, which were formerly stored in the little room over the hallway, have been removed to a room that has been fitted up for them in the east wing of the basement. Since the removal of the documents the room has been used as a room for quiet study by those desirous of making special investigations. When the room is not occupied it can be obtained by any one for this purpose by applying to the attend- ant in the reading room. This room should be supplied with a better table.
By these recent changes the rooms in the second story of the library are used to a greatly increased extent ; and the time may come when the second floor will be utilized to some- thing like the extent of the first floor. In our present over- crowded condition, it is desirable that the people should be distributed as evenly as practicable throughout the building.
A CARD CATALOGUE.
The need of another catalogue has been felt for some time. Our present finding-list was published in 1895, when the num- ber of books in the library was less than thirty thousand. The number has now increased to over forty-four thousand, and thus nearly fifteen thousand books now in the library are not mentioned in any printed catalogue, or in any single catalogue of any kind. Early in the summer it was voted by your Board to prepare a new complete card catalogue, with each book men- tioned under its author, under its title and under its subject, with all the cross references necessary to make it easily acces- sible to the average reader. The work of preparing this catalogue progresses slowly, and as it must be done by the cataloguer and
262
ANNUAL REPORTS.
her assistants in addition to the regular work of her depart- ment, much time must necessarily elapse before the work is completed. The need of such a catalogue is so apparent and urgent, the securing of some extra help while the making of the catalogue is in progress seems to me desirable.
CIRCULATION.
During the past year the number of volumes taken out has been 212,817. Of these, 18,874 were distributed through the West Somerville agency, 8,986 through the agency at East Somerville, and through the South Somerville agency, 4,545. The number of books distributed through the grammar schools has been 10,755. The aggregate increase of the library's cir- culation during the year has been 19,326.
GIFTS.
The Library has received the following donations of books during the year :
LIST OF DONATIONS, 1898.
Vol.
Pamph.
Period.
Adams, Mrs. M. L.
1
American Irish Society
1
1
Austin, A. O.
Barnes, W. A.
1
Benton, J. B.
1
Berry, Charles W.
16
Boston, City of
6
Boston Book Co.
5
Boston Transit Commission
1
Chandler, L. B. .
1
Chelsea, City of .
1
Christian Register
12
Christian Science Journal
Christian Science Weekly
12
Amounts carried forward .
. .
29
4
81
Ashton, W. H.
1
1
Cambridge, City of
1
52
263
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
LIST OF DONATIONS. - Continued.
Vol.
Pamph. Period.
Amounts brought forward
29
4
81
Codding, W. M. .
Comey, Mrs. E. L.
Cook's Excursionist
Crain, C. H.
2
Creighton, Mrs. H. R.
Cummings, S. S. .
1
4
Davis, W. A.
1
Detroit, City of
1
Dodge, Martin
2
Dolbear, A. E.
1
Eliot (Me.) Historical Society
1
Elliot, Charles D.
1
1
Elliot, Mary E.
1
Food, Home and Garden
8
Foss, Mollie
6
Foss, Sam Walter
3
26
Foss, Saxton C.
Goldsmith, B. W.
7
Goss, George H. .
2
Green, S. A.
1
Hapgood, Warren
1
Hayes, John S.
114
Hayes, Mrs. John S.
1
Hichborn, William
1
Holt, Harry
1
12
Howe Memorial Press
13
1
Lake Mohonk Arbitration Conference
1
Land of Sunshine, Los Angeles, Cal.
12
League of American Wheelmen
52
Lee & Shepard
1
3
Libbey Glass Co.
1
Lincoln, Charles S.
2
1
Literary News ·
12
Loring, G. F. .
·
2
Amounts carried forward
203
19
209
1
5
6
1
Daughters of Maine Club, Somerville
Home Market Bulletin
Johnson, J. B.
264
ANNUAL REPORTS.
LIST OF DONATIONS. - Continued.
Vol.
Pamph.
Period.
Amounts brought forward .
203
19
209
McGlenan, E. W.
Manifesto
12
Massachusetts, State of
48
Massachusetts Prison Association
1
Massachusetts Public Library Commissioners
1
Meadville (Pa.) Theological School
1
Medical Record
1
Minneapolis (Minn.), City of
1
Morse, Alice W. .
4
Neily, S. T.
1
New England Anti-Vivisection Society
12
New York, State of
3
New Philosophy .
7
Nicolls, W. J.
1
Olmstead, D. H. .
1
Our Outlook
24
Palmer, C. F.
1
Parsons, Frank
1
Parsons, J. R.
1
People
52
Perkins, G. W.
2
Perry Mason Co.
1
Plummer, E. M.
1
Public Libraries : -
Allegheny, Pa.
1
Amesbury
1
Baltimore, Md., Enoch Pratt Library
1
Bangor, Me.
1
Boston
1
12
Brookline
1
5
Brooklyn, N. Y.
1
Brooklyn, N. Y., Pratt Institute
1
Burlington, Vt.
1
Cambridge
1
10
Chelsea
1
Cincinnati, O.
1
Amounts carried forward .
·
267
36
345
1
2
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
LIST OF DONATIONS. - Continued.
Vol.
Pamph. Period.
Amounts brought forward . Public Libraries (Continued) : .
Clinton
1
Council Bluffs, Ia.
1
Dedham
1
Detroit, Mich.
1
Dover, N. H.
1
Everett
1
Fall River
1 1
6
Hartford, Conn.
1
5
Jersey City, N. J.
1
2
Lancaster
1
Lawrence
1
4
Leeds, England
1
Leicester
1
Littleton, Reuben Hoar Library
1
London, Eng., Clerkenwell Library
1
Lowell
3
Lynn
1
3
Malden
1
Manchester, N. H.
1
Medford
1
Melrose
1
Milwaukee, Wis.
2
Minneapolis, Minn.
1
Natick
1
New Bedford
1
8
New Haven, Conn.
2
12
New London, Conn.
4
New York, N. Y.
12
Newark, N. J.
1
10
Newton
1
North Adams
1
Northampton
1
Norwich, Conn., Otis Library
1
8
Paterson, N. J.
1
6
Amounts carried forward .
267
69
430
267
36
345
Concord
1
Fitchburg
265
266
ANNUAL REPORTS.
LIST OF DONATIONS. - Continued.
Vol.
Pamph. Period.
Amounts brought forward .
267
69
430
Public Libraries (Concluded ) : - Peabody
1
Peoria, Ill.
1
Philadelphia, Pa. .
2
Pittsburgh, Pa., Carnegie Library
1
Pittsfield
1
1
Portland, Me.
1
Providence, R. I. .
1
12
Providence Athenæum Library
1
1
St. Louis, Mo.
1
St. Louis Mercantile Library
1
Salem
2
10
San Francisco, Cal.
1
10
Scranton, Pa.
1
2
Springfield
1
10
Syracuse, N. Y.
1
Taunton
1
Waltham
1
9
Winthrop
1
Woburn
1
Quinn, J. C.
Radiator, Somerville High School
10
Raymond & Whitcomb, Publishers
2
Reform Club Committee
1
Rock, Lulie M.
3
Sanborn, Helen J.
1
Schurman, Pres. Cornell University
1
Scot's Charitable Society
1
Scott, Rev. W.
8
Simms, Joseph
1
Somerville, City of
2
Somerville Historical Society
4
Somerville Journal
104
Towle Manufacturing Co.
1
Tuftonian, Tufts College
5
Amounts carried forward .
280
104
611
8
Quincy, Thomas Crane Library
1
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 267
LIST OF DONATIONS. - Concluded.
Vol.
Pamph. Period.
Amounts brought forward .
280
104
611
Tufts Weekly, Tufts College
Turner, Walter F.
1
United States
27
82
Walker, Col. E.
1
4
West, C. A.
1
5
Whitaker, J. E.
1
Willis, C. W.
2
Woman's Journal
Wood, Mrs. A. H.
1
Woodman, Mary S.
1
Totals
315
104
790
36
Washington News Letter
West & Jenny
52
As will be seen by the above table, the library has received gifts of books during the past year of considerable value. People are growing more into the habit of giving books to their public libraries, although the habit is not as widespread as it might easily be. There are thousands of books in private libraries that after the first reading are never read again. They may be intrinsically valuable, but they are practically useless. They are lumber, waste, superfluous, sealed as securely as the books mentioned in the Apocalypse. These books might do a world of good if they were in a public library where the people could read them. The public library should by no means supersede private collections, but every owner of a private col- lection, after he has used a book and it has served its purpose, can do nothing better than to present it to a public library, that the same purpose may be served repeatedly with other people. It is a tremendous waste of intellect and a woful misapplication of brain when a book capable of teaching, delighting and inspiring thousands is simply given one careless reading by one careless man. If all the owners of books in
268
ANNUAL REPORTS.
every community, instead of hoarding their volumes after they are once through with them, should present them to their public libraries, the sum of human intelligence in those communities would be appreciably increased. If such a practice should become common in Somerville, it would not take many years for such a collection of books to be gathered together as could not be easily matched in other communities of equal size. It is true that in some cases a vast number of duplicates would be donated ; but these duplicates could easily be exchanged for other books, and thus prove real accessions to the library. The best book in the world is no good in the world, if nobody in the world reads it. The best disposition that can be made of such a book is to put it in the public library, where the largest possible number of people can obtain it.
A good library is justified in expecting other gifts, also. There are very few public libraries that are supported exclu- sively by the appropriation of the towns or cities in which they are situated. Many of them have, indeed, been built by private gift, and afterwards generously endowed by private bequests. The Somerville Public Library has not been fortunate in this respect. The Pitman fund of one thousand dollars is the only considerable money gift it has ever received. It is well for our philanthropic people to know that there are many lines, some of which are outlined in this report, along which the library could develop if the necessary means were at its disposal. In fact the library has now reached a point in which its onward course of almost unparalleled development must be retarded unless it is put in possession of largely increased means. It should be our aim to place and keep the library in the front file of the progressive institutions of its kind. Our sanguine hopes that means to this end will be furnished is based upon the public spirit of our citizens. It is true local patriotism for a public library to be somewhat audacious in soliciting gifts, and he who responds to the solicitation is more patriotic than the solicitor in the proportion that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
LIBRARY AGENCIES.
During the present month a new library agency has been established at the drug store of Mr. Herbert E. Bowman at
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 269
Magoun square. Our other three agencies are doing a steadily increasing work, and it is anticipated that this new agency will furnish convenient library facilities to a large number of people in the vicinity. There is still room for one or more agencies which could be established in localities so that they would 'not interfere with the work of the agencies already established. The librarian, in the time of my predecessor, was given authority to establish an agency on the southern side of the Fitchburg Railroad, but no place entirely satisfactory, on the score of location and desirability, has yet been found for this purpose.
SUNDAY OPENING.
Since early in November the two reading rooms of the library have been open to the public on Sundays from 3 to 7 P. M. That this new privilege has been greatly appreciated has been evidenced by the great number of visitors to the library during those hours. At times both rooms have been filled considerably beyond their comfortable capacity.
EVENING OPENING.
In opening the library on Sundays, it seems to me we have done an excellent but incomplete work. No library as large as our own, in a city as large as Somerville, should be closed dur- ing any evening of the week. A public library should be opened to the public when the public wants it opened ; and of course there are no other hours of the twenty-four when a great proportion of our citizens can find an opportunity to visit the library at all. To keep the public library closed at the very hours when the public most wishes it open is not according that respect to public opinion demanded in a demo- cratic community, and is defeating the very aim for which a public library is instituted. It is shutting the public from the books it has paid for, during the hours it most desires access to them. People would doubtless be less inconvenienced to have the library closed forenoons than to have it closed evenings. But a library in a city of nearly sixty thousand inhabitants should be opened at least from nine in the morning until nine
270
ANNUAL REPORTS.
at night. While I earnestly recommend evening opening, I feel strongly that it should not be attempted with our present force. None of the attendants should be required to work dur- ing the entire day and the entire evening, too. A couple of extra attendants should be hired for evening service. This could be done without a largely increased expense.
THE LIBRARY AND THE SCHOOLS.
There is a very close co-operation between the library and the schools, and many of the teachers are enthusiastic in their appreciation of the good the library has done their pupils. During the past year we have sent to the schools 10,755 vol- umes to be taken out by the pupils by card, and 13,265 to be kept in the schools as school libraries. These school libraries, which have usually consisted of twenty-five books to a room, are as a rule selected by the teachers themselves, who naturally choose the books they think most suitable to the ages and requirements of their scholars. I am sorry to say that our facil- ities for supplying these requests of the teachers are inade- quate. The various teachers naturally ask to a great extent for the same books. Consequently the first applicants are approx- imately supplied with the books they ask for and the later appli- cants, in some instances, have not been able to obtain a single volume they requested. These latter applicants, consequently, are not to be blamed for thinking that our system of giving out school libraries is something of a farce. We now know to a considerable degree of exactness just what books are liable to be called for : and these books should be purchased by the library in sufficient numbers to supply the legitimate demand. At least two hundred and fifty dollars should be expended in this way at once, and at least one hundred dollars a year should be expended regularly for this purpose.
BULLETINS.
Eleven bulletins have been issued the present year, the September and October numbers being brought out as a single issue. A new plan has been adopted in the bulletin, of giving short reviews of the most notable books purchased during the
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 271
month. No book receives such a notice unless it is regarded as a real contribution to human thought. In this way the atten- tion of the public is called to the books of real excellence, and the best of our current literary product receives a wider reading. It is hoped to make these little reviews even more a feature of our monthly bulletins during the coming year.
MUSIC.
The library already contains a fair number of books about music and musicians, but of music itself it has no supply what- ever. This is a lack that should be filled, and a musical depart- ment should be started. If such a department existed in the library, I believe it would be patronized to as large an extent as any other division of the library, with the exception of the fiction division. A thoroughly equipped musical department would cost a considerable amount of money ; but it should be a matter of gradual growth, as has been all the other divisions of the library. For the sum of two hundred dollars a good musi- cal nucleus could be established, which by gradual accretions would develop into a symmetrical musical outfit. For the ben- efit of the large number of music-lovers in Somerville, I trust that the means may be given us to start such a department early in the coming year.
STATISTICS.
CIRCULATION.
Total number of books delivered .
212,817
Through agency at West Somerville
18,874
66 66 " East Somerville
8,986
66
" Somerville ave.
4,545
grammar schools .
10,755
Special libraries, including high schools .
13,265
BOOKS WITHDRAWN.
Number of books worn out . 365
66 66 lost by general readers 17
66 66 66 lost in schools . 10
Amount carried forward .
392
272
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Amount brought forward . . 392
Number of books burned by order of Board of Health, etc. 5
Total number withdrawn
397
Total number of books withdrawn to January, 1898
3,194
66 66
66 " January, 1899 .
397
Total
3,591
BOOKS ADDED.
Accession number, January 1, 1898
40,902
January 1, 1899
44,307
Total number of books added during 1898
3,405
New books to the library
2,490
Duplicates in the library
915
Total number withdrawn .
3,591
Total number of books in the library
40,822
BINDING.
Volumes rebound
1,801
Periodicals
202
Paper-covered books
108
Pamphlets .
76
.
Total for year 1898 2,187
ADDITIONAL ROOM. .
The time has arrived when the need of increased room in the library has become very urgent. Our work in many of our departments is hampered exceedingly, simply for the lack of adequate space in which to perform it. We have no accom- modation whatever for a packing department, and our boxes for the schools and for our agencies, our special libraries, and all our books sent to and received from the bindery, we are obliged to pack and unpack very largely in the cataloguer's room, which also, in addition to its legitimate purpose, serves the double use of an Art room and a room for our local Somerville books. As a matter of fact, the art collection is very seldom accessible to the public, and its books remain on our shelves almost absolutely unused. The public is practically prohibited
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 273
from access to them. As a matter of simple justice, this state of affairs should be remedied.
Perhaps the most serious problem with which the library has to grapple is the utterly inadequate size of its delivery room. This is, at times, cruelly overcrowded. The congestion is so great that visitors have serious difficulty in crowding forward to the delivery desk to return their old books or receive their new ones. The crowd has been so dense at times as to result in actual stoppage of all the library machinery. The books have been ready to deliver to the card-holders, their names have been called, but no one, on account of the crowd, has been able to come forward and receive his books. In one instance, nothing could be done until some one penetrated the crowd from the rear, and standing before the delivery desk, received the books and handed them out over the heads of the people. This is a condition of affairs that, of course, should not be allowed to continue.
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