Report of the city of Somerville 1899, Part 17

Author: Somerville (Mass.)
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Somerville, Mass.
Number of Pages: 430


USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1899 > Part 17


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1904 Massachusetts ave.


600


1897


2


Emma F. Bradley,


7 Buckingham st.


600


1896


2,1


Grace B. Tibbetts,


9 Miller ave., Cambridge.


600


1890


1


Erminnie A. French,


Waltham.


600


1898


4


Charlotte M. Jepson,


Watertown.


53 Laurel st.


500


1898


Ethel F. Morang,


10 Fairlee st.


200


1899


Martha E. Hale,


144 Highland ave.


600


1897


K'g'n Ass't


Mrs. Etta D. Ellsworth,


Emma E. Norcross,


MORSE.


202


ANNUAL REPORTS.


TABLE 30 .- TEACHERS IN SERVICE DECEMBER, 1899 .- Concluded.


Grade.


NAME.


Residence.


Salary.


Beginning of Service.


BURNS.


5


LAURA J. BROOKS, Principal,


31 Stevens st., Stoneham.


$700


1883


4


Elizabeth A. Davies,


37 Meacham st.


600


1893


3


Minnie S. Turner,


153 Lowell st.


600


1885


3,2


A. L. Brown,


281 Summer st.


600


1885


2


Mary E Lacy


63 Cherry st.


600


1890


2


Amy W Freeman,


49 Marshall st.


500


1899


1


Florence M. Hamlin,


128 Orchard st.


600


1889


1


Alice A. Beckwith,


13 Brastow ave.


600


1897


4


J. LOUISE SMITH, Principal,


36 Hamilton ave., Lynn.


$675


1896


3


Charlotte F. Mott,


86 Charles st., Boston.


600


1886


2


Martha A. Jencks,


2 Kenwood st.


600


1899


1


Eliza H. Lunt,


50 Curtis st.


600


1890


9


ARTHUR L. DOE, Master,


83 Chandler st.


$1,900


1896


9


Alice M. Winslow,


53 Chester st.


675


1896


8


Edith W. Emerson,


600


1896


7


Alice S. Hall,


Arlington.


600


1896


6


Mrs. Gertrude W. Leighton,


600


1896


6


Berthe M. Jones,


54 Paulina st.


600


1894


5


Flora A. Burgess,


183 Ash st., Waltham.


600


1894


5


Mrs. N. Agnes White,


53 Chester st.


600


1896.


4


Helen A. Wooster,


37 Meacham st.


600


1898


3


Katherine M. Fox,


53 Chester st.


600


1896-


2


Ida May Pettee,


53 Chester st.


600


1899


1


Mrs. Marion I. Noyes,


16 Winter st.


600


1896


1


Almena J. Mansir,


77 Albion st.


500


1899.


SPECIAL TEACHERS.


MUSIC.


46 Pearl st.


$1,500


1869


60 Bow st.


900


1898


DRAWING.


9-1


Mary L. Patrick,


Newtonville.


$1,000


1895


SEWING.


8-5


Mary L. Boyd,


432 Medford st.


$600


1888


8-5


Sarah I. Stanton,


211 Summer st.


600


1895


Ass't


Georgie E. Platt,


Cliftondale.


500


1899


PENMANSHIP.


9-1


Wm. A. Whitehouse,


94 Summer st.


$1,200


1895


9-7 6-1


S. Henry Hadley, 4 days,


Charlotte D. Lawton, 5 days,


Arlington.


Jay st.


LINCOLN.


WM. H. HODGKINS.


203


SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.


TABLE 31. - OFFICERS IN SERVICE DECEMBER, 1899.


NAME.


Residence.


Salary.


Beginning of Service.


SUPERINTENDENT.


Gordon A. Southworth,


40 Greenville st.


$3,000


1893


CLERK.


Eleanor L. Hannay,


273 Medford st.


$650


1897


TRUANT OFFICERS.


Lemuel H. Snow, Jairus Mann,


81 Benton ave. 80 Porter st.


$1,000 50


1886 1872


204


ANNUAL REPORTS.


.


TABLE 32. - SCHOOL JANITORS, DECEMBER, 1899.


SCHOOL.


Name.


Residence.


Salary.


Latin High, S


Joseph Young.


51 Oxford St.


$1,000 00


English High, S


H. B. Sellon.


9 Stickney Ave.


1,200 00


Prescott, S, 12 .


Frederick A. Mansfield.


50 Pearl St.


830 00


Edgerly, S, 12 .


David G. Marston.


20 Everett Ave.


830 00


Davis. F, 4. .


N. L. Pennock.


54 Putnam St.


320 00


Bell, S, 12 .


F. S. Dickinson.


1 Putnam St.


830 00


Cummings, F, 4


William T. Higgins.


1 Avon St.


315 00


Knapp, S & F, 13


Bernard F. Sheridan.


84 Prospect St.


830 00


Pope, F, 12


Hiram A. Turner.


16 Gibbens St.


830 00


Prospect Hill, F, 6.


Edward T. Peterson.


18 Stone Ave.


420 00


Bennett,. St., 4


Alfred Shiner.


Schoolhouse.


165 00


Jackson, St., 4


Albert Shiner.


Schoolhouse.


174 00


Forster, S, 13


James L. Whitaker.


146-R Sycamore St.


865 00


Glines, S, 14


Roy C. Burckes.


249 School St.


950 00


Bingham, S, 8 .


John F. O'Brien.


5 Richardson St.


500 00


Morse, F, 12


·


Charles Gale.


10 Brastow Ave.


830 00


Durell, S, 4


John C. Sampson.


64 Flint St.


480 00


Burns, S, 4


Charles Weston.


23 Conwell St.


500 00


Highland, F, 12


E. P. Cook.


241 Elm St.


770 00


Lincoln, S, 4


E. S. Haradon.


29 Claremon St.


480 00


Hodgkins, S, 12


Andrew B. Colesworthy.


35₺ Day St.


00


Hanscom. S, 6 .


Albert Gilman.


44 Lake St.


480 00


Carr, S, 15 . .


James W. Rich.


206 Highland Ave.


1,080 00


Perry, S, 6 ·


Frank Miller.


School St.


600 00


Buildings heated by steam are marked "S," by furnace " F," by stove "St." The numbers show the number of rooms.


The high schools are heated by a single plant in Latin building.


PUBLIC LIBRARY.


Board of Trustees and Officers


OF THE SOMERVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY, YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1899.


Trustees.


CHARLES S. LINCOLN.


CHRISTOPHER E. RYMES.


CHARLES H. BROWN.


CHARLES A. WEST.


EDWARD C. BOOTH, M. D. GEORGE W. PERKINS. JOHN B. VIALL. J. FRANK WELLINGTON.


CHARLES W. SAWYER.


Officers.


CHARLES S. LINCOLN


President.


SAM WALTER FOSS


Secretary.


Committees.


Building and Grounds .- Rymes, Viall, and Brown. Administration .- Wellington, Sawyer, and Perkins.


Books and Catalogues .- Lincoln, ex-officio, Rymes, Viall, Brown, West, and Booth. Finance .- Sawyer, Wellington, and Perkins.


Librarian. SAM WALTER FOSS.


Assistant Librarian.


ADELE SMITH.


Cataloguer. F. MABEL NORCROSS.


ANNA L. STONE. MARY J. WARREN. ESTHER M. MAYHEW. MABEL E. BUNKER.


Assistants.


MARY S. WOODMAN. EDITH B. HAYES. FLORENCE D. HURTER. F. EDWARD KAULA. AUBREY A. HILLS.


Janitor.


CHARLES A. SOUTHWICK.


REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES.


To the Honorable, the Mayor, and the Board of Aldermen of the City of Somerville :-


Gentlemen,-The annual report of the Trustees of the Public Library is herewith respectfully submitted.


The Library, during the last year, has continued its work on the same general lines as those of the preceding year, and, in spite of annoyances to patrons and attendants incidental to the close proximity of carpenters and masons, with an increased measure of success.


Naturally, the enlargement of the Library building is the most important and interesting topic of the present year. The appro- priation for building an addition to the Library building was voted by the City Council on January 10; on April 11 the Trustees met with the Public Property Committee of the City Council and the Superintendent of Public Buildings, when plans for the pro- jected work were examined, explained, and discussed. Early in July the excavation was finished and the cellar walls were well under way. Since then the construction has steadily progressed, till there is now a reasonable expectation that the added wing will be ready by March to receive the necessary furniture and fit .. tings. By this addition the capacity of the Library will be doubled, and it may be incidentally remarked that the building itself already presents a more substantial and imposing appear- ance than before.


For an understanding of the operations of the Library for the last year, reference is made to the report of the Librarian, which is appended to the Trustees' report, and made a part of it. Here will be found in detail the statistics of the Library as to circulation, the number and condition of its books, and the nature and extent of the work done, together with recommendations aiming at a greater efficiency of the institution, which are in general accord with the policy of the Trustees.


It will be further observed that the Library has reached a greater number of readers than ever before, and this, in spite of the unavoidable annoyances of dust, noise, and encroachment on the working space of the building, and a decreased leisure of the people, owing to the general revival of business. The circula- tion of the Library is, at present, greater than that of any other city in the Commonwealth, except Boston, which betokens a highly· satisfactory diffusion of intelligence throughout the com- munity. Although this proportionately large use of the Public Library may be owing, in some degree, to the nearness of our city and its free accessibility in every part to a great metropolis, which


207


PUBLIC LIBRARY.


largely determines the class of our citizens and the general nature of their pursuits, it is undoubtedly, in a large measure, owing to the hearty co-operation of the Library with the schools that this circulation has grown out of all proportion to the size of the in- stitution and the population of the city. If in half a dozen years something substantial has been effected by these methods, how much greater results may be accomplished by a more highly per- fected co-operation between these two educational institutions ! Special libraries of twenty-five volumes have been supplied to eighty-five schoolrooms; 132 yet remain unsupplied. It is the wish of the Trustees that practically all of these 132 rooms shall likewise receive the loan of these libraries, or, at least, have the opportunity of receiving them. It is the wish of the Trustees, by means of these libraries, to furnish teachers with plenty of good, suitable reading material, which may be placed before the pupils in a way that shall be of the most benefit at the formative period of the child's life. Thus, by the willing and intelligent co-opera- tion of the teacher, the Library can best lend a helping hand to the young when it is most needed. If the child has access to the best literature, and receives from his teacher, who has presumably gained an insight into his mind, and is often the one best fitted to give direction to it, some help in what to read, in the method of reading, in forming habits of due reflection on what is read,- guarding against the morbid habit of aimless and excessive read- ing, which occasioned the significant remark of Bishop Butler, endorsed by Matthew Arnold, that "really, in general, no part of our time is more idly spent than the time spent in reading,"-sub- stantial and far-reaching results have already been accomplished. Some such instruction regarding books and how to use works of reference at this period, of all ways, furnishes the greatest likeli- hood that the child will acquire a taste for good reading, carry it through life, and in turn impart it to those who come after him. If the result of good reading is to make a man broader and better fitted for the duties of life, the value of such a relation between the Library and the schools cannot be overestimated. In this connection the Trustees wish to express their appreciation of the hearty co-operation of the Superintendent and the teachers of the public schools in this branch of the Library's work.


The children's department was continued with encouraging results till the necessities of the building operations rendered further use of the room impracticable.


The Sunday opportunities of the Library have been also cur- tailed for the same reason.


A musical department was established in the spring by the purchase of books of standard music and the better popular music of the day. In the selection of this collection the Library is much indebted to S. Henry Hadley, teacher of music in the public schools. This department has already fulfilled the favorable ex- pectations as to its success.


208


ANNUAL REPORTS.


In presenting the needs of the Library for the coming year, as required by charter, the Trustees are confronted by the un- pleasant duty of asking for a considerably larger appropriation than has hitherto been granted for the maintenance of the Li- brary. Owing to the sharp advance in the price of nearly all building materials between the time of the Trustees' estimate of the cost of the addition and the time of giving out the contract, the appropriation voted by the City Council has been found in- sufficient to complete the work designed. Consequently, the fin- ishing of the new stackroom is still unprovided for.


No appropriation was asked for last year for furnishing the new wing, but it is obvious that such an appropriation will be- come a necessity this year if library work is to be carried on in the new part. The Trustees estimate the cost of the required furni- ture and fittings at about $3,000.


It has been elsewhere observed that the capacity of the Li- brary will be practically doubled with the completion of the new addition. This increased accommodation will entail a consider- able increase in the regular current expenses of the year. More light, more heat, more insurance, and more salaries will be re- quired. To these increased current expenses and the cost of fur- niture for the new wing should be added the cost of the small li- braries for the unsupplied schools, the expense of evening open- ing of the Library, which is clearly demanded for at least a part of the year, and the expense attending the preparation of the card catalogue, with its 150,000 cards,-a work which, with some extra help, may be ready for casing before the close of another year. All these unusual sources of expense, the Trustees feel, should be fully laid before Your Honor and your Honorable Board for your appreciation and consideration.


A comparison of the financial resources of our Library with those of other cities in the Commonwealth has shown that, while our Library carries on a business notably larger than the average, it has a very considerably smaller sum than the average with which to carry on that business. This institution is as yet with- out the considerable endowments of many other public libraries, but we live in hope that there may be found among our generous, public-spirited citizens some who will recognize the high impor- tance of the mission of the modern library, and add to the number of our invested funds, which at present are limited to the single benefaction of Mrs. Harriet Minot Laughlin.


The Trustees are glad to testify to the intelligent zeal and sympathetic spirit displayed by the Librarian in his new profes- sion, and to the faithfulness and enthusiasm and the noticeable spirit of helpfulness and harmony prevailing among his assistants.


Respectfully submitted for the Board of Trustees,


CHARLES S. LINCOLN, President.


December 31, 1899.


REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN.


To the Trustees of the Somerville Public Library :-


I herewith submit the Librarian's twenty-seventh annual re- port.


The business of the Library during the past year, considering the interruptions to which we have been subjected, incident to the erection of the new annex, has gone forward with about its usual ratio of increase. The exact circulation of the Library and its. branches is herewith appended :-


Circulation.


Total home circulation .


215,448


West Somerville agency


20,003


East Somerville agency


8,069


South Somerville agency


5,047


North Somerville agency


1,198


Grammar Schools


7,387


Special libraries, including high schools


32,040


Percentage of fiction taken out . other works taken out 33.8


Books Withdrawn.


Number of books worn out


367


66


66 lost by general readers


23


66


burned on account of infectious exposure .


9


Total number withdrawn


401


Total number of books withdrawn to January, 1899


3,591


66 66


66 during 1899


401


Total


3,992


Books Added.


Accession number, January 1, 1899


44,308


6 January 1, 1900


47,423


Total number of books added during 1899


3,115


Books new to the library


2,593


Duplicates


522


Total number withdrawn


3,992


Total number of books in the library


43,431


Visitors in Reference and Reading Room.


January


1,900


February


1,629


March


2,036


April


1,670


May


1,376


June


1,029


July


916


August


879


September


1,642


October


1,964


November


2,442


December


2,251


Total


19,734


66


in schools


2


66.2


.


210


ANNUAL REPORTS.


Binding.


Volumes rebound .


1,849


Periodicals bound


218


Paper-covered books bound .


28


Pamphlets


21


Total


2,116


Card Catalogue.


The work on our new card catalogue is being pushed to the full extent of our facilities. Already the fiction and biography are completed, and a good start has been made upon the history. In all, about 40,000 cards have been written. The process is a slow one, and one that, from the nature of the case, must be done with great care and exactness. As large a portion of the force of the Library as can be spared from other duties are engaged con- stantly upon this work. It is progressing with all possible rapidity.


The Library and the Schools.


During the past year we have sent to the schools 7,387 vol- umes to be taken out by the pupils on cards; and the circulation of our special libraries in the schools has been 32,040. It will be seen that there has been a decided increase in the circulation of these school libraries. I am becoming convinced that it is through the agency of these libraries that we can help the schools more than by any other method. In fact, it is about as near an ideal way of getting good literature before the young as has yet been devised. Select libraries of books best fitted for the years and requirements of their readers, under the oversight of compe- tent teachers, are by this method placed within the reach of boys and girls in their most susceptible and formative years. The statement sounds incredible, but yet it has been demonstrated, that these special libraries in the schools furnish a large number of our boys and girls with the only books they ever see. Before this system of putting these special libraries in the schools was inaugurated, the principal of one of our large grammar schools made a careful canvass of his various rooms, with a view to dis- covering how many of his pupils were readers of books. He learned by this canvass the really astounding fact that from twelve to sixteen pupils in each room had never read a book. Outside the text-books handled in the schoolroom, these pupils were as absolutely bookless as the aborigines of America. This state of affairs shows that, in spite of the vast amounts of money spent on schools and libraries, an alarming percentage of the peo- ple remain practically illiterate. To reduce this percentage to the lowest possible figure is the urgent business of the Public Library. And I know no better way that this can be done than by


211


PUBLIC LIBRARY.


furnishing all the schools with these well-selected libraries, which the children use with great eagerness and with great intellectual improvement to themselves.


Some effort has been made during the past year to discover to how wide an extent the Library is known in the community. Through the courtesy of an enterprising and enthusiastic lady, a limited portion of the city was canvassed, and application blanks were offered the people, and incidentally many questions were tactfully asked. By this means, and by much indirect informa- tion that has come to us, I have every reason to believe that there are still a certain number of people within the limits of the city who do not know that there is a library here. There are many others who may know, in a vague way, of the existence of the Li- brary who are uncertain of its location, and who never visit it. There are some who do not use the Library because they do not understand the process of taking out a card, or how to use the catalogue and finding list. A little instruction in the schools as to such points as these might be of material help. There are still some who have the impression that the Library is not a free li- brary, and that pay is exacted for the books. There is even now a small remnant of people who still cherish the fear that reading is dangerous, and that a library exerts a pernicious influence in the community. It has been my impression that all such people as the above might be reached by a personal canvass. But this would be expensive, and might, in some instances, give serious offense. Perhaps the best method, after all, to reach them is by way of the younger generation and through the schools. The children in the schools, I am told, eagerly use these special libraries, take home the books to their parents, and the instances are many where the parents themselves become interested in the books, and urge their children to bring home more of them. Here, it would seem, is one of the most practicable ways of getting the books of the Library before the people.


I am very glad to report that we have been able to supply the demands of the teachers the present year with much more full- ness and promptitude than in previous years. It is now known approximately what books the teachers will request, and these books have been gradually purchased, from time to time, so that the present supply is equal to the present demand. I hope that it is not equal to the future demand, and that the increasing inter- est of teachers in this method of disseminating literature will create a necessity for a much larger equipment on our part in the future.


We have been supplying, as a rule, twenty-five books to a room. I believe that each room should be furnished with at least one book for every pupil. Although many of the teachers have availed themselves of these special library privileges, there is still a larger number that has not done so. There are at present in the grades below the high schools 217 teachers. Only eighty-


212


ANNUAL REPORTS.


five teachers out of these 217 have, as yet, applied for these special libraries, leaving a balance of 132 teachers whose rooms have no library books. The rapidly-growing interest of the teachers in these libraries, however, leads me to infer that prac- tically all of them will eventually desire this privilege; and it should be our aim to be sufficiently well-equipped to supply the demand the moment it begins to exist. The Library notes with gratification the growing tendency of the pupils of the schools to visit the Library and draw upon its resources. The Library staff, personally, exerts every effort their limit of time will permit to help the school pupils in their studies, to assist them in their ref- erence work, and to point out to them the proper sources of in- formation. Special lists of books suitable to the different grades are being published from month to month in our bulletins. Teachers have been personally asked to send their pupils to the Library for assistance and consultation ; and it is the aim of the Library to give such pupils such a reception that the most shy and timid will be encouraged to come again.


A Reading Committee.


A reading committee, consisting largely of competent and intelligent women, has been organized during the past few months to read the new novels before their admission to the Li- brary. This work is performed by the committee gratuitouslv. Although the decisions of this committee will not always be ac- cepted as absolutely final, their judgment of a book deserves weighty consideration. This reading committee was organized simply because time will not permit the Librarian to read the new novels purchased, and it is somewhat unsafe to put in modern novels indiscriminately without previously reading them. A rigid and narrow censorship is not the purpose of this committee, and a wide and liberal latitude, with an eye to the limitless diver- sities of human tastes, should be exercised in the choice of a pub- lic collection of books. Neither a prudish squeamishness nor a finical fastidiousness should determine such choice. But when there are novels published that are grossly indecent, and novels that are insufferably dull, a weeding-out process is a salutary thing. It is worth while to take some pains, when our purchas- ing power is so limited, to buy good novels rather than bad ones. And it was solely to further this design that this reading com- mittee was organized.


Gifts.


The Library has received the following donations of books, pamphlets, and periodicals during the past year :-


213


PUBLIC LIBRARY.


LIST OF DONATIONS.


Vols.


Pamph.


Period.


American Cultivator


27


American Swedenborg Society Amherst College


2


Anderson, Rev. G. S.


Atlanta, Georgia


1


Bennett, Col. E. C.


1


Bisbee, Rev. C. E.


113


4


Book Reviews


Booth, Dr. E. C.


81


1


Boston Transit Commission


1


Bostonian Society


1


Brooks, E. S.


4


Cambridge ( Mass. ) Congregational Church


1


Canfield, Mrs. A. K.


9


Chicago Educational Commission


1


Christian Register


52


Christian Science Journal


12


Christian Science Sentinel


52


Cone, Joe .


1


Colorado ( State ) Normal School


1


Conant, Mrs. S. P.


2


Cook's Excursionist


12


Creighton, Mrs. H. R.


11


1


Davis, Walter A.


1


Dawson, Howard


1


Depew, Chauncey M.


1


1


Elliot, C. D.


6


12


Foss, Sam Walter


2


Foss, Saxton C.


1


Foster, W. H. .


50


Gleaner


10


Goldsmith, B. W.


8


Gosse, George H.


1


Hackett, C. C. .


1


Harvard University . Helper . .


1


12


Hersey, Hattie B. ·


1


Hoar, G. F.


1


Home Market Bulletin


4


Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.


2


Human. Alliance


6


Journal of Orthoepy and Orthography


1


Kaan, Frances W.


4


Land of Sunshine


12


Lee & Shepard


1


Lexington, Mass.


1


12


Lincoln, G. A.


10


Literary News


12


Lord, Annie S.


1


Loring, G. F.


1


McDonald, Arthur


1


1


Carried forward


321


15


254


1


1


18


Boston City Hospital


Food, Home, and Garden


Life and Light for Women


214


ANNUAL REPORTS.


List of Donations. - Continued.


Vols.


Pamph.


Period.


Brought forward


321


15


254


McQueen, Rev. Peter


Manifesto .


12


Mason, C. A.


1


Massachusetts .


11


2


Massachusetts Agricultural College


3


Massachusetts Institute of Technology


1


Massachusetts New Church Union


1


Massachusetts Volunteer Aid Association


1


Maulsby, D. L.


1


Mayflower Descendant


3


Mead, E. D.


1


Mills, B. Fay


1


Minneapolis, Minn.


1


Moore, John


2


New England Anti-Vivisection Society


19


New York ( State ) University


1


1


Norcross, F. Mabel .


1


1


People


Public Libraries : -


Allegheny, N. Y.


1


Amesbury .


1


Baltimore, Md. .


1


Boston


2


10


Brockton


1


Brookline


1


4


Brooklyn, N. Y.


1


Cambridge


2


10


Chelsea


1


Clerkenwell, London




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