Report of the city of Somerville 1909, Part 19

Author: Somerville (Mass.)
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Somerville, Mass.
Number of Pages: 510


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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