USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1909 > Part 19
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number of borrowers living within it is approximately 1,815, of whom 991 are new card holders and 824 who have likewise been card holders at the main library. Beyond the half-mile circle, towards the main library, the number of borrowers at the branch shades off rapidly. Eight hundred and forty-nine patronize the branch who live nearer to the branch than to the main library, but the larger number of these come from the north end of the city.
After passing a point midway between the two libraries towards the main library, but 210 have taken out cards at the branch. There are no noticeable barren spaces within a half- mile of the branch where there are no library patrons, and every one of the 100 streets within this limit has its borrowers. One observation that can be drawn from these researches is that the patrons of a public library decrease in number in pro- portion to the distance that they are called upon to travel for library privileges,-a very natural conclusion, confirming previ-
253
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
ous experience, and showing that, were it not for the cost, branches could advantageously be established in other parts of the city. Undoubtedly the publicity connected with the estab- lishment of the branch brought to many for the first time a knowledge of where our libraries are located, but it is feared that many people in the city are still uninformed of the location or even of the existence of such institutions in the community.
Before dismissing this subject, we would say that we be- lieve that it would be profitable to extend these investigations to the remaining parts of the city, as time permits, until finally the relationship or non-relationship to the library of every household in the city is recorded.
In regard to the appropriations to be asked of your honor- able body for the coming year, we believe that the requirements of the main library will be $18,000 and the usual dog tax, and of the branch $5,000. This is slightly more than has been granted hitherto, but an insufficient number of books have been purchased for the main library for several years past, and in each department there is a call for a little greater expenditure, as its work enlarges with the growth of the city. The branch has been carried on for the first seven months of its existence at the rate of $1,285 per annum. Salaries will be somewhat increased, as was adverted to last year, and an extra attendant needed at the present time will soon become necessary, on ac- count of the unexpectedly large business which has developed since the inauguration of the branch.
We are again glad to bear witness to the faithfulness and efficiency of our librarian, Mr. Foss, and the staff in both libra- ries, and we also wish to record our appreciation of the services of the branch librarian, Miss Whipple, who for the last year has enthusiastically devoted herself, regardless of hours, to the opening and management of the new institution.
Respectfully submitted for the board of trustees,
EDWARD C. BOOTH. President.
December 28, 1909.
REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN.
To the Trustees of the Somerville Public Library :-
I herewith submit the librarian's thirty-seventh annual re- port. Following my usual custom, I append a somewhat de- tailed statement of the work done by each department :-
The Cataloguing Department.
The cataloguing department, Miss Esther M. Mayhew, cataloguer, has had an unusually busy year. In addition to the regular work ordinarily done, much extra labor was involved in cataloguing nearly 7,000 books for the branch library. These books were acquired by the branch library by transference from the central library and by direct purchase. In either case, con- siderable work was necessitated for the cataloguing depart- ment. The shelf list for the branch library was prepared by Miss Duddy. There are probably more than 15,000 cards in the main catalogue at the central library. All the cataloguing work of the branch will continue to be done at the central library.
Below are given the general statistics of this department :-
Books Added.
Accession number January 1, 1909
99,197
1910
108,105
Total number added during 1909 :-
Main library
7,502
Branch
1,406
Total
8,908
Books new to library ·
4,023
Duplicates
4,885
Total number withdrawn
17,682
Total number in library :- Main library
83,543
Branch "
6,880
Total
90,423
Books Withdrawn.
Books worn out
798
66 lost in schools
66
by general readers
257
66
in agencies .
184
66
burned per order Board of Health .
60
Total number of books withdrawn .
1,365
·
.
.
·
.
.
.
.
255
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Total number of books withdrawn to January 1, 1909 66 66 66
16,317
during 1909 . 1,365
Total
17,682
7,469 catalogue cards have been purchased from the Li- brary of Congress during 1909.
Binding.
Main. Branch.
Volumes re-bound
2,751
360
Total. 3,111
Periodicals
243
243
Paper-covered books
253
35
288
Repaired
40
1
41
3,287
396
3,683
The Children's Department.
The children's department, Miss Anna L. Stone, librarian, has during the year had a circulation of 60,839 fiction and 14,841 other works, making a total of 75,680. It may be in- teresting to know that of the "other works" circulated Gen- eral Works were 1,628; Philosophy, 25; Religion, 376; Soci- ology, 2,543; Philology, 200; Natural Science, 984; Useful Arts, 508; Fine Arts, 1,167; Literature, 2,092 ; Travel, History, and Biography, 5,318.
The children's department of the public library does a work for the community whose value it is difficult to over-estimate. The work is not performed under the most favorable condi- tions. The room is damp, and perhaps sometimes unwhole- some in the summer season, and is poorly heated in the winter. There is, under present conditions, no adequate way of venti- lating it. The children themselves are uncomplaining patrons, but criticism on the part of adults is not infrequent. The often- repeated recommendation that an entrance to the children's room be made directly from the outside, if carried into effect, would do much to abate the noise in the general reading room caused by the passage of large numbers of children up and down the stairs.
The School Department.
The school department, Mary S. Woodman, librarian, is an agency that brings the public library into direct contact with the public school. Libraries usually consisting of about forty books are now sent to 165 schoolrooms of the city. This prac- tically means 165 distributing agencies for the circulation of public library books, and enables the library to reach hundreds of families that would not otherwise be reached.
256
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Below are the statistics of this department for the year :-
Books in library
8,274
Increase during year
773
Libraries out
165
Libraries delivered
171
Volumes out
6,819
Volumes delivered
7,698
Circulation during year :
Fiction
51,240
Non-fiction
67,224
Total
118,464
Reference and Art Department.
The reference and art department, under the supervision of Miss Mabel E. Bunker, has accomplished its usual amount of work during the year.
Below is given the monthly attendance for the year :-
January
1,018
February .
986
March
896
April
718
May
679
June
610
July
343
September
567
October
771
November
1,065
December
668
Total ·
8,731
Number of registered visitors to the Art Room .
215
66
Americana Room 105
Total
320
This does not give the complete number of persons who use the books in the Art and Americana rooms, as many books are brought to the main reference room to be consulted there.
Number of volumes in Reference and Art Department 9,993
Number of volumes withdrawn for the West Somerville branch 26
Increase of volumes during the year
314
During the year there have been seventeen art exhibitions, as follows :-
Norway, No. 1, Bergen, Hardanger Fjord, and Lognfjord. Walter Crane, No. 1, Pictures for Children, Art for the Nursery.
Rise of Sculpture, No. 1. Rise of Sculpture, No. 2.
Fourteen Famous Pictures. Greece, No. 3. 1
·
410
August
.
257
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
City of Rouen.
Views of New England Scenery.
Famous Pictures, No. 3.
Amesbury, Mass.
Audubon Bird Plates.
Millet (drawings reproduced).
Granada and the Alhambra.
Photograph of Boston Parks and Metropolitan Parks of Massa- chusetts (our collection). The Song of Hiawatha.
Etchings of William Unger, No. 2, of Dutch and Flemish Schools.
Boydell's Illustrations of Shakespeare, Part 1.
Some of the books purchased during the year for this de- partment :-
Buckley, Hoppin & Churchill, ed., (The) Fine Arts, 2v.
Bunce and Owen, Nature's Aid to Design.
Cutter, W. R., comp., Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical Memoirs Relating to the Families of Middlesex County, Mass., 4v.
Cyclopedia of Automobile Engineering, 4v.
Cyclopedia of Building Trades, 6v.
Cyclopedia of Civil Engineering, 8v.
Cyclopedia of Heating, Plumbing, and Sanitation, 4v.
East, Alfred, Landscape Painting.
Hind, C. L., Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
Klassiker der Kunst-Memling.
Knowlton and Ridgway, Birds of the World.
McSpadden, J. Walker, Famous Painters of America.
Meister der Farbe, 1908.
(The) Old Masters, 100 Examples in Color, 2v.
Rhead, G. Woolliscroft, Studies in Plant Form.
Schriever and Cummings, ed., Complete Self-Instructing Library of Practical Photography, 8v.
Standard Library of Natural History, 5v.
Stearns, Whitcher, and Parker, ed., Genealogical and Family His- tory of the State of New Hampshire, 4v.
Williams, H. S., History of the Art of Writing, 4v.
The need of more room in the reference department be- comes increasingly apparent each year. Whether it is possible to secure this room by any alteration in the building, by the removal of partitions, or by increased height of shelving, is a matter to be determined after consultation with a building expert.
Binding.
During the past year more than usual attention has been given to the subject of binding. It has been felt for a long time that a more expert knowledge of the details of binding- the knowledge of leathers, sewing, joints, tapes, etc .- should be possessed by some member of the library staff in order to deal with the matter intelligently. Librarians have learned by many exasperating experiences that a book may be outwardly beautiful, but yet be very flimsily bound, and fall to pieces after a few readings. Expert knowledge is necessary in a library in
258
ANNUAL REPORTS.
order to detect this flimsy work. Accordingly Miss Alice W. Sears, of the staff, volunteered to make a study of this subject. She spent a week in one bindery, learning the principal details of the work. She has spent several days, also, at two other binderies, has visited the bindery of the Boston public library, and has tried in every way to thoroughly inform herself in re- gard to the work. As a result of her experience, she has es- tablished a bindery department in the library. A press, a sew- ing frame, cloth, thread end-papers, and other paraphernalia of a bindery have been purchased, and she has set about the actual work of repairing books. Since April, when she first began the work, she has repaired 3,366 books. The reduction in binding bills for the year, largely in consequence of her work, in the library has really been astonishing.
In 1908 our entire binding bills amounted to $3,680.53. In 1909 our entire bills amounted to $1,832.13, a saving of $1,848.40, or about fifty per cent. This is a remarkable evi- dence of the utility of her work.
Miss Sears has also instructed Miss Cobb, of the branch library, in the details of the work, and repairing of similar na- ture is now carried on at the branch.
Agencies.
Since the closing of the three agencies at West Somerville the library has been in a condition to supply the demands of the remaining agencies. The South Somerville agency does not circulate any books from a shelf supply. But for Union square and East Somerville, where shelf supplies are kept, many more of the new books than ever before have been purchased. Miss Florence M. Barber, who has charge of the agencies, visits them regularly, reports their needs, and recommends the purchase of books. The work at the agencies, as far as can be learned, has given better satisfaction the present year than ever before.
In the natural course of evolution, a prosperous agency ought in time to develop into a reading room, and the reading room eventually develop into a branch. There is already a considerable public demand for reading rooms both at Union square and at East Somerville.
259
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Below is a table of circulation of the different agencies dur- ing the year :-
Agencies.
Teele
Square.
West
Somerville.
East
Somerville.
South
Somerville.
Union
Square.
Highland.
January . Shelves
252
230
7
192
6 436
3 96
February Shelves
250
272
9
189
5
2
1,100
1,579
876
473
1,099
March
280
402 1,949
26
228
10 579
578
April
198
278
3
146
6 485
Closed Mar. 9, '09
May
201
255
4
162
7
Shelves
974
809
417
June
149
70
2
216
13 374
July Shelves
Closed
26
2
183
16
August
56
7
206
13
Shelves
818
455
September
47
6 774
381
October
52
3
161
5
Shelves
808
409
November
87
2
201
10 566
December
38
8
145
6
Shelves
796
388
Totals .
7,580
6,936
10,255
2,156
5,495
2,651
Grand Total
·
.
4
·
· 35,073
General Work.
The general work of the library, under the supervision of Miss Florence D. Hurter, shows a slight decrease, due to the opening of the branch library in West Somerville.
The general circulation figures of the year are as follows :-
6
Shelves
1,417
1,000
Shelves
1,078
820
Shelves
601
959
127
2
Shelves .
June 19,'09
679
433
1,099
Shelves
1,080
1,595
738
260
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Fiction.
Other Works.
Total.
January
27,438
13,033
40,471
February
28,388
13,554
41,942
March
36,260
16,956
53,216
April
25,597
12,831
38,428
May
24,006
12,513
36,519
June
23,926
9,808
33,734
July
15,914
3,286
19,200
August
17,675
3,746
21,421
September
14,165
4,382
18,547
October
19,269
9,551
28,820
November
27,093
14,922
42,015
December
21,528
11,624
33,152
Total
281,259
126,206
407,465
Below is given our shelf circulation figures (books deliv- ered from library shelves) :-
Fiction.
Other Works.
Total.
January
16,057
5,677
21,734
February
16,050
5,790
21,840
March
21,333
7,640
28,973
April
15,913
5,257
21,170
May
14,613
4,773
19,386
June
15,615
4,512
20,127
July
13,718
3,056
16,774
August
14,576
3,440
18,016
September
10,940
3,187
14,127
October
12,099
4,171
16,270
November
17,083
5,822
22,905
December
13,172
3,977
17,149
Total
181,169
57,302
238,471
Below is given our circulation by classes, exclusive of fiction :-
General works
7,992
Philosophy
1,499
Religion
8,584
Sociology
20,248
Philology
1,633
Natural science
13,682
Useful arts
5,426
Fine arts
7,837
Literature
15,688
History
28,776
Total of general delivery .
111,365
Delivered from children's room
14,841
Total of other works
126,206
Fiction
281,259
Other works
126,206
Total
407,465
Percentage, fiction
69.03%
·
Percentage, other works .
.
30.97%
.
.
261
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Below is the statistical statement of the general work of the year :-
Accession number
108,105
Main.
Branch. Total.
Volumes in library
83,543
6,880
90,423
added
7,502
1,406
8,908
discarded
1,350
15
1,365
Total circulation 66
407,465
62,381
469,846
Shelf
238,471
62,381
300,852
Children's room circulation
75,680
19,539
95,219
Cards issued
7,016
2,532
9,548
Delivered from Teele Square agency 66 shelves
*1,330
60
66
West Somerville agency
shelves
5,123
66
East Somerville agency
79
66
66
shelves
10,176
66
Union Square agency .
6
66
66
shelves
388
66
Highland agency
§11
66
66
shelves
2,640
66
Knapp school
1,522
Volumes delivered to school libraries
7,698
Volumes delivered to Sunday schools, clubs, hos- pitals, etc.
1,209
Visitors in reference room
8,731
Received, fines
$868 29
books
93 86
telephone
7 24
Total
$969 39
By sundry expenses .
$200 89
cash to City Treasurer
768 50
Total
$969 39
*Closed June 19, 1909.
*Books taken April, 1909.
-
§Closed March 9, 1909.
-
Below is given the circulation figures of main library and West Somerville branch :-
Fiction :-
281,259
West Somerville branch
50,808
Total
332,067
Other works :-
Main library
126,206
West Somerville branch
11,573
Total
137,779
Fiction
332,067
Other works
137,779
Total
. 469,846
66
South Somerville agency
145
6,250
+1,813
66
66
·
Main library
262
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Percentage, fiction 70.68%
Percentage, other works . 29.32%
Circulation of three agencies in 1908, during the months in which they were closed in 1909 :-
Highland agency, March-December 9,354
Teele Square agency, June-December 8,879
West Somerville agency, April-June 6,136
Total
24,369
This amount, added to our total circulation for the year, 407,465, makes a total of 431,834. Last year our total circula- tion was 448,224. So the net loss of circulation in the general library, due to the opening of the branch, is 16,390.
During the year 472 vacation cards were issued, on which 2,796 books were taken out, 2,434 being fiction and 362 other works. Thirty-seven sets of stereographs are now owned by the library. The circulation of these sets during the year amounted to 1,462.
The following Sunday schools take books from the library : Bow-street Methodist, Flint-street Methodist, Highland Con- gregational, Prospect-hill Congregational, Second Advent, Sec- ond Unitarian, West Somerville Baptist, Winter-hill Congrega- tional, and the Winter-hill Universalist.
Books are also sent to the Somerville Boys' Club, Somer- ville Y. M. C. A., Somerville hospital, Home for the Aged, and the police station. There were 1,209 books sent to the various Sunday schools, clubs, etc., of which 1,042 were fiction and 167 other works.
The 1915 Exhibit.
The Somerville library, together with the Boston library, the Cambridge library, the Atheneum, "and the State library, installed an exhibit at the Boston 1915 exposition. This ex- hibit, like most of the exhibits at that exposition, consisted largely of photographs. The Somerville photographs were ar- ranged to show the progressive growth of the library, and con- sisted of interior and exterior views. The West Somerville Carnegie branch library was represented by a group of photo- graphs showing all the rooms of the building and several ex- terior views.
263
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
The library has received the following donations of books, pamphlets, and periodicals during the past year :-
List of Donations.
Vols.
Pamph. Periods.
Adams, Charles F.
Allen, George W.
American School of Metaphysics
1
American Sports Publishing Co.
1
Amherst College
1
Benton, Josiah H.
2
Booth, Edward C., M. D.
1
25
Boston Transit Commission
2
British and Foreign Unitarian Association
1
Cambridge Bridge Commission .
1
Carrick, Samuel P.
2
Casson, Herbert N.
1
Charities Publishing Com. .
1
Choates, Joseph H.
1
Collins Memorial Committee
1
Cutler, S. Newton
4
Dana, John Cotton
1
Dartmouth College
1
Densmore, Emmet, M. D. .
2
Dexter, Mrs. E. Alline Osgood
(Music)
167
Emerson, Francis P., M. D.
1
Farnsworth, Edward C.
2
Fifth Maine Regiment
1
Free Religious Association
1
Foss, Sam Walter
4
Fryer, Thomas T.
1
Green, S. W.
1
Green, Samuel S.
1
Greene, John M., D. D.
2
Harvard University
1
Haseltine, M. W.
1
Hunnewell, James F .
1
Jeffers, LeRoy
1
Kaan, Frances W.
1
Lake Mohonk Conference
1
Lee, Thomas Z. .
1
Library Bureau
1
Loring, George F.
7
Massachusetts
37
Massahusetts Historical Society
Massahusetts Institute Technology
2
Merchants Association of New York
Metropolitan Water Board
1
Middlesex County
1
Miller, Leslie W.
1
Moody, J. H.
1
Moon, James H.
1
Municipal Ownership Publishing Bureau
1
National Civic Federation .
1
Carried forward
257
20
25
1
2 2121 1 2 1
Middlebury, Vermont, College
2
2_
1
Civil Service Commission
1
Emerson, Gilbert D.
1
264
ANNUAL REPORTS.
LIST OF DONATIONS .- Concluded.
Vols.
Pamph. Periods.
Brought forward
257
20
25
N. E. Anti-Vivisection Society New Zealand
1
Ohio State University
1
Ohio Wesleyan University
1
Pearson, R. A. .
1
Perkins Institution for the Blind
3
Publicity Commission, North Adams
1
Public Libraries
95
Rawson, Frederick W.
Raymond, George Lansing
9
Rowland, Dunbar
2
Sanborn, Mrs. Carrie A.
1
Smithsonian Institution
4
4
Somerville. Mass.
2
Stickney, Rufus
21
2
Stimson. John W.
1
Sturgis, R. C.
1
Towle Manufacturing Co.
1
Tufts College
1
Tufts, Martha B.
96
45
Union University, Albany
1
United States
14
U. S. Brewers' Association
2
Valentine, H. E.
1
1
36
Varilla, P-B.
1
Webster, Miss E. S.
26
49
0
Whitaker, George E. .
1
Woods, Hon. John M.
10
Totals
459
26S
70
West Somerville Carnegie Branch Library.
On the evening of May 26 the West Somerville Carnegie branch library was dedicated. with appropriate ceremonies.
Addresses were given by his Honor Mayor John M. Woods and John F. Foster, through whose efforts the gift of $25,000, which made the building possible, was secured from Andrew Carnegie.
A short address by Walter T. Littlefield, commissioner of public buildings, was made, in which he tendered the keys of the building to the library trustees. Owing to the unavoidable ab- sence of the president, the keys were accepted by William L. Barber, of the board of trustees, with an appropriate speech of
441 1
Underhill, Charles L.
Union Steamship Co.
265
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
acceptance. Dr. Horace G. Wadlin, the librarian of the Boston public library, gave the formal address of the evening, an effort of unusual fitness and power. All the addresses given on this occasion will be found in full in an appendix to this report.
From the beginning the West Somerville branch has been a success. An unexpected amount of business has been done, a business that, considering the number of books contained in the library, has been really phenomenal. Miss Nellie M. Whipple, a member of the general library staff, was appointed librarian of the branch library, and the success of the institu- tion has been due in no small degree to her organizing ability, her tact and courtesy, and the hard and persistent effort she has put into the work.
Below is given in detail the statistics of the work accom- plished :-
Fiction.
Other Works.
Total.
June
7,897
2,017
9,914
July
6,973
1,395
8,368
August
7,469
1,457
8,926
September
6,495
1,315
7,810
October
6,938
1,655
8,593
November
8,738
2,185
10,923
December
6,298
1,549
7,847
50,808
11,573
62,381
Below is given circulation by classes, exclusive of fiction :--
General works
2,586
Philosophy
276
Religion
198
Sociology
369
Philology
10
Natural science .
327
Useful arts .
453
Fine arts
816
Literature
1,067
History
1,443
Total of general delivery
7,545
Delivered from children's room
4,028
Total of other works
11,573
Fiction
50,808
Other works .
11,573
Total
.
62,381
Percentage, fiction
81.44%
Percentage, other works
18,56%
266
ANNUAL REPORTS.
The branch library has received the following donations of books during the past year :-
Vols.
Bailey, Robert M.
9
Brewster, C. A.
5
Bryant, Mrs. G. W.
23
Clough, G. M.
14
Dickson, John L.
6
Hunnewell, Miss Alice
1
Little, Brown & Co.
2
Morse, L. T.
6
Somerville, Mass.
1
Wyorke, G. H.
1
Total
68
Conclusion.
The year 1909, on the whole, has been a successful and prosperous one with the library. The increase in circulation has not been as large as it would have been if two of the West Somerville agencies had not been closed early in the year, in anticipation of the opening of the branch library. With the opening of this branch, a large permanent increase in the amount of business done may be confidently expected.
I wish to express my thanks to the staff and to all the members of your board for hearty help and co-operation.
Respectfully submitted, SAM WALTER FOSS, Librarian.
December 28, 1909.
DEDICATORY EXERCISES
AT THE CARNEGIE WEST SOMERVILLE BRANCH LIBRARY
May 26, 1909.
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INTRODUCTORY.
The most interesting and important event of the year has been the establishment of a branch library at West Somerville. An increase of library accommodations at West Somerville had been considered and urged by the trustees for many years, but the city government felt that the financial condition of the city would not warrant any considerable expenditure for the pur- pose. In the report of 1906 the trustees recommended that a reading room be fitted up with books and magazines and placed in charge of an assistant, and this temporary expedient would undoubtedly have been adopted, had not the problem been solved in an unexpected way. The citizens of West Somerville had long wished to have a special building erected for this pur- pose, but the subject was first publicly discussed at a meeting of the West Somerville board of trade on September 10, 1906, when a committee, consisting of Howard D. Moore and Winsor L. Snow, was appointed to arrange for a public meeting in the following month in furtherance of this object. This public meeting was held on October 25. It was largely attended, much interest and enthusiasm were manifested, and the pre- vailing opinion was for a building to be erected on the Lincoln schoolhouse lot. It was voted "that it is the unanimous sense of the community that we should have a branch library prop- erly housed in West Somerville," and a committee of three citi- zens was appointed to co-operate with the committee of the board of trade and "continue the efforts to secure favorable action by the city government towards locating a branch library in West Somerville."
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