USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1872 > Part 15
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The Committee on Finance, consisting of Henry A. Marsh, Esq., Stephen Salisbury, and T. L. Nelson, Esq., by their Chair- man, Mr. Marsh, present two reports. The report of the re- ceipts and expenditures from the city appropriation gives the financial details of the last year in statements so plain as to require no explanation. The Green Library Fund, committed by the founder to the custody of the City Treasurer, under the over- sight and direction of the Finance Committee, elected by ballot, has been as heretofore, examined carefully by the Committee twice in the last year, and the accounts are found to be well kept by W. S. Barton, Esq., the City Treasurer, and the money is not suffered to be unproductive. Under the requirement that one- fourth of the income should be added to the invested fund, that fund has been increased in the last eleven months to the end of the fiscal year of the city,
From amount January 1, 1872, $33,142 28
To amount November 30, 1872, 33,759 40
And there has been appropriated for the purchase of books, 1,851 38
The Directors call attention to the fact that a part of the city appropriation for the Library is required to be expended for in- surance against fire of the property of the city in this building and in the books, and this cost is now much increased by the worth- lessness of policies from companies of the best reputation, which
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was occasioned in the wide-spread injury of the fire in Boston. With more satisfaction the Directors mention that the applica- tion to the State Legislature at its last session for a return of the Bank tax, that was exacted on part of the investments given in the wise generosity of Dr. John Green, was successful, and it may be expected that the liberality to all the agencies of learning for which Massachusetts has been distinguished, will not be withdrawn. The Directors are informed that the balance of the appropriation for this Library unexpended at the end of the fiscal year of the city, has been withdrawn and carried to the Sinking Fund of the debt of the city. Though the Di- rectors do not presume to offer opinions on the financial interest of the city, they cannot forbear to urge that monies contributed through taxation by the citizens for the support of this institu- tion, cannot justly be used for other objects. And it is also unjust to subject the Library to the odium that may arise from two successive taxes to produce one amount of help. The Librarian states that the large balance, that appeared to be in the treasury at the end of the year, would have been greatly re- duced by bills of purchases presented since November 30, and by payment for costly books ordered and not received from Europe. But no anxiety or distrust is felt in regard to the important object committed to the care of the Directors, for there is a sure reliance on the intelligence of the municipal government and the · character of the citizens.
By order of the Directors.
STEPHEN SALISBURY,
President.
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY, January 17, 1873.
REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN
OF THE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
To Honorable Stephen Salisbury, President of the Board of Directors of the Free Public Library.
Herewith I send to you my second annual report as Librarian, to be laid before the Board of Directors. Contained in it will be found a recital of a portion of the work done in this institution during the year which has just closed, and a statement concerning some of the features of its present condition. All that can be added to this are a few suggestions in regard to our policy in the immediate future. Executive duties press too heavily to allow of extended discussions of questions in library economy, or to make it feasible to shadow forth plans to be adopted as the institution grows in importance. We must confine ourselves to the exigencies of the hour, and while we keep in mind a well defined policy for general guidance, yet address ourselves mainly to present necessities.
NUMBER OF VOLUMES IN THE LIBRARY.
Certain inquiries made by the United States Commissioner of Education led to a re-count of the number of books in each department. The whole number of volumes belonging to the Library, November 1, was 26,983. These were distributed among the different departments as follows : 0
Green library, 16,012
Circulating department,
10,291
Intermediate
680
26,983
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The Library of the Worcester District Medical Society con- tained November 1, 3,547 volumes. Since this date 268 volumes have been added to the Free Public Library: 3 to the Green library, 131 to the circulating department, and 134 to the intermediate department. Additions have also probably been made to the Medical library since it was counted. It thus ap- pears that at the time of writing this report, December 25, 30,798 volumes, exclusive of additions to the Medical library since November 1, are accessible to residents of Worcester within the building of this institution. It is proper to add, however, that the numbers just given fall short of perfect exactness. There are more volumes in the Medical library, say one hundred more, than have been assigned to it in this examination. The number of duplicate volumes in the circulating department has been estimated. No record of duplicates in this department has been kept until within the last two years, and the number now in the Library cannot be ascertained accurately without much labor, perhaps not without closing the Library for a short time. The number was estimated as 648.
It may be of interest to some persons to know that of the books in the Free Public Library, about 1,287 are in other languages than the English, divided among the commonly enumerated classes of languages, approximately, as follows : Latin and Greek, say four hundred and sixty-four; continental (in modern Europe,) eight hundred and thirteen ; Oriental, ten.
According to a not very close estimate there are in the Library some 2,000 volumes which may be placed under the general head of Natural Science. There are large numbers of books of a similar character in the Medical library.
It will be noticed that in enumerating the contents of the dif- ferent departments, no mention has been made of pamphlets. These have only been counted when contained in bound volumes. We have many pamphlets, but have made no especial efforts to collect them, this work is already done so admirably by another institution in this city, which renders the results of its labors accessible to residents of Worcester.
We have therefore, while gratefully accepting gifts, made no attempt to do this kind of work now so well done by the
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American Antiquarian Society. Economical considerations have led to the adoption of this plan.
ADDITIONS
To the Library during the past year, that is, from December 1, 1871, to November 30, 1872, have been as follows:
BOOKS. PAPERS AND PAMPHLETS.
Gifts to the Green Library,
4
7
Purchases for this department out of the Green
Library Fund, 571
Additions to Green Library from other sources,
2
577
7
Gifts placed in the Intermediate and Circula- ting departments,
427
240
Volumes bound and placed in one or the other of these departments:
Magazines, 173
Newspapers, 98 271
Purchases for Intermediate and Circulating de-
partments, 2,482
3,180
240
It will be seen that 573 volumes have been added to the Green library, which were obtained otherwise than by gift. The num- ber added during the eleven months covered by the last annual report, from similar sources, was 325.
The number of volumes bought for the circulating and inter- mediate departments during the year just closed was 2,482. The corresponding number for the eleven months of the pre- ceding year is 663. This was a small number to add in eleven months, but was as large as the resources of the institution seemed at the time to warrant us in buying.
It will be noticed that the bound magazines and newspapers have been counted this year as additions to the intermediate and circulating departments, instead, as before, to the Green library and circulating department.
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Gifts, also, where no preference to the contrary has been expressed by the giver, have been considered as additions to the intermediate or circulating departments, whereas large num- bers of unrestricted gifts have hitherto been counted as belonging to the Green library.
The number of reviews, magazines and papers added to the Library is not so large this year as last. The reasons of the un- usually large addition last year were given in the report for that year.
The number of pamphlets and papers given to the Library ap- pears smaller than the number of gifts of this kind in the previous year. The decrease, however, is only apparent, since the number of last year was swollen by counting the accumula- tions of a previous year that had not been put into the Library when received.
The number of books given to the Library during the year covered by this report is 431, against 419 reported in the year preceding.
Annexed to this report may be found a list of the givers.
It is proper to make especial mention of a few of the gifts. During this year, as in previous years, the Library has been much indebted to Honorable George F. Hoar. The Librarian is personally indebted for valuable suggestions in regard to the pur- chase of books and the management of the Library, and for generous efforts of assistance wherever we might find it con- venient to avail ourselves of his services. Besides distributing to us such official documents as he has had at his disposal, he has presented to the Library a complete set of the Journal of the Society of Arts, consisting of 66 volumes, bound in one-half calf. This is a valuable periodical, of which we have long desired to have a complete set. Mr. Hoar left it to a committee consist- ing of Hon. Stephen Salisbury and Professor C. O. Thompson, to decide whether the work should be placed in this Library or in that of the Technical School. The committee decided, after deliberation, to place it here. Mr. Hoar has also given us the 17th volume of Thomas' Massachusetts Spy, published in 1788.
At his suggestion, also, we have received from John L. Hayes, Esq., Secretary of the Wool Manufacturers' Association, two
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rare volumes of the Bulletin of Wool Manufacturers and a vol- ume of Memoirs upon the Wool Industry.
We have received a very liberal gift from the State of Massa- chusetts, of volumes of Public and Legislative documents, and other books amounting in number to more than one hundred. Thanks for courtesy extended in this connection are due to George Julian Harney, Esq., the head of the document room, in the Secretary's department at the State House.
The Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, through the thoughtful kindness of its Librarian, Julius Dexter, Esq., has sent us the rare first volume of the Ohio Geological Survey, and some pamphlets of interest. We are indebted to the Public Library of Cincinnati for a subsequent volume of the Ohio Geological Survey.
Mention should be made of the kindness of Oliver B. Green and E. S. Chesbrough, of Chicago, in sending us, at our request, certain valuable reports relating to engineering operations in that city. Greater thanks are due, as they were given to us since the great fire, in which most of the copies of one at least of the reports were consumed.
Among other valuable gifts to the Library during the past year are Van Lennep's Oriental Album, presented by Charles F. Washburn, Esq .; Herder's Werke, in 27 volumes, from Rev. Wm. R. Huntington; volumes of the London Musical Times, containing the numbers from 1852 to 1866, inclusive, from W. H. Daniell, Esq., of the Worcester Conservatory of Music; 58 volumes and 2 pamphlets from Judge Francis H. Dewey ; 36 volumes from Mr. James L. Burbank; two valuable old books from Rev. George Allen ; volumes of the publications of the U. S. Naval Observatory, through the kind offices of Professor J. E. Nourse ; a set of the reports of the Connecticut Board of Education, through Secretary Northrop; volumes from the Cobden Club; Hon. Andrew H. Green, of New York City ; and Wm. Sumner Barton. Valuable pamphlets and papers have been received from Samuel A. Green, M. D., of Boston ; and Henry Wheatland, M. D., of Salem. Honorable Charles Sum- ner, and Honorable Henry Wilson have continued the favors shown in past years, during the one just brought to a close.
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The thanks of the Library are due to Wm. R. Hooper, Esq., for his successful efforts to be of aid to us in Washington.
It is practicable only to make the briefest mention of the books added to the Library during the past year by purchase. Particular notice can be taken of but few of the 2,482 volumes added in this way to the circulating and intermediate depart- ments, and of the 573 volumes similarly added to the Green library during the same time. Several sets of periodicals have been recently acquired. Such are sets of The Popular Science Review, 10 vols., The Engineer, 31 vols., Engineering, 5 vols. needed to perfect our file, Mechanic's Magazine, 94 vols., Quarterly Journal of Science, published in London, American Journal of Education, 22 vols. The New Englander, 30 vols., and Bibliotheca Sacra, 23 vols.
Dictionaries of languages, and on special subjects, such as Biography, the useful and Mechanic Arts, Chemistry, &c., have been freely added during the last year, in accordance with our now well established custom. Among the additions of this kind are Dictionnaire de l'Académie Francaise, with the Complément de Dictionnaire, 3 vols. Watts' Dictionary of Chemistry, with Supplement, 6 vols. The latest edition of Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines, 3 vols., a Technological Dic- tionary of terms used in the arts, &c., German-French-English, 3 vols., and Latham's edition of Johnson's Dictionary, 4 vols.
Volumes of Specifications and Drawings of Patents have been received as issued. We now have 54 vols. of this continuous work.
Students in Botany will be glad to know that we have procured a copy of De Candolle's Prodrumus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis, 19 vols. in 16.
A complete set of Black's Guides to Great Britian and of Murray's Hand-books for the rest of the world, in so far as this is covered by them, can now be found here. A generous supply of Novello's edition of the Scores of Operas and Oratorios, and of the Masses of the great composers have been bought.
A good beginning has been made for a collection of hymns and of books relating to woman's work in the church, under the
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superintendence of Rev. Mr. Huntington, of the Library Com- mittee.
Good library editions of the works of Goethe, Schiller, Less- ing and Heine, and selections from the writings of Auerbach, Börne, Paul Heyse, Blumauer, Freytag, Spielhagen, Büchner, Perty, Gutzkow, and Gustav Spiess, have been secured for the benefit of Germans and students of German. Spruner's elaborate Historisch-Geographischer Hand-Atlas, 3 vols., has also been bought. Johnston's Royal Atlas, published in Great Britain, is likewise now in the Library.
Addition has been made to our small collection of French classics by buying library editions of the works of Corneille and Racine.
The following books have also been bought.
Burton's History of Scotland, Gilbert's Pictures of English History, Yule's edition of the Travels of Marco Polo, the nice edition of the Percy Reliques, published from the folio manu- script, the late elaborate edition of Ossian's Poems, Muir's Original Sanscrit Texts, Dennis's Cities of Etruria, the library edition of Carlyle's works, such volumes as have been published of the new edition of Ruskin's works, Delamotte's Art of Sketching from Nature, Chaffiers' Keramic Gallery, and his Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain, Molesworth's edition of Hobbes' works, Humber's Iron Bridge Construction and his Records of Modern Engineering, Turner's Domestic Architecture of the Middle Ages, Smith's Drawing Books, Ivories Ancient and Modern in the South Kensington Museum, Cos- tumes des XIIe, XIIIe, XIVe et XVe Siècles, 3 vols., McIan's Costumes of the Clans of Scotland, and a large paper copy of Little, Brown & Co.'s edition of the works of Edmund Burke. We have also received a large portion of a set of the Philo- sophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. We expect to secure the remainder and make the set complete during the coming year.
Many of the books particularly specified belong to the interme- diate department of the Library, and may, under certain restric- tions, be taken out of the Library building, The few volumes
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mentioned give no adequate notion of the character and value of the additions of the year.
It may be stated, in general, that a very generous selec- tion of books to gratify all tastes has been made from the current publications of England and America, and that many standard works not before in the Library have been procured. These books have been placed in their proper places in the different departments of the Library, and particular care has been taken to supply the wants of users of the circulating de- partment. That this care has been appreciated will appear when we come, as we shall immediately, to speak of the use made of the Library during the year. I wish before passing to a new subject to remind users of the Library that it lies largely in their hands to make it what they please.
Their wants when made known to us are supplied with great readiness, and students and readers can be of great service to us, in suggesting the purchase of books whose value has become apparent to them.
Cooperation is desirable in the conduct of a Library as well as in business operations. Should every student jot down the titles of works of value or authority is his department of literature and hand to us the memoranda, it would be found that the Library would gradually gain a completeness not otherwise attainable. Read books with pencil in hand and make note of the authorities cited, documents as well as books, and give the lists resulting to a Librarian, and the institution thus favored will present unusual facilities for investigation.
USE OF THE LIBRARY.
In the Circulating Department, 73,264 volumes have been given out during the year. 62,954 is the number of volumes de- livered to holders of cards during the eleven months covered by the previous report.
The books given out this year were distributed among the sev- eral months as follows :
December, 1871, 6,145 February, 7,495
January, 1872, 7,436
March, 7,947 April, 6,771
May, 5,851
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June, 4,818 August, 5,261
October, 5,767
July,
4,504
September, 5,214
November, 6,055
In all, numbering 73,264 books.
It will be noticed that more books were given out during each of the months, except July, than in the corresponding months of the previous year. In July, 4,504 volumes stand against 4,764 in the previous report.
The largest number of books were taken out in January, Feb- ruary and March ; and more were taken out in Spring than in Autumn, thus duplicating last year's experience.
The circulating library and reference department have been kept open 308 days during the year. The average daily issue of volumes in the first-named department is 238, against 224 in the previous year. During the months of June, July and August, this average daily issue was 187 volumes, against 178 the year before.
During the months of January, February and March, the num- ber of books given out daily was, in the average, 297 volumes, against 281, the record in the last report.
The largest number of books issued in any one day is 632, the number given out February 24. The largest number last year was 614. This number was given out March 4th.
The smallest number of books given out in one day is 80, which number is the record of delivery for June 25. It is very seldom that the number given out falls short, as in this case, of 100 volumes.
The number of persons who have availed themselves of the privileges of the circulating department for the first time during the past year, or after a long disuse of them, is 2,412. The num- ber in the eleven months reported on last year was 2,019. It thus appears that about eight persons have added their names to the list of users of the circulating department every day that it has been open during the year covered by this report.
There are 7,432 accounts with users on the ledger of the circu- lating department. Of these 5,185 are open accounts.
In the Green Library applications for information have been met by giving out to 8,272 persons the books needed for answer-
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ing their inquiries or to give them enjoyment. Reckoning, as we may do, with perfect assurance we are not exaggerating, that one- half as many more persons have helped themselves to information from dictionaries, encyclopædias, &c., which class of books can be consulted without application to an officer, information or pleas- ure has been obtained by 12,408 persons from the reference de- partment during the past year. That is to say, 27 persons, on an average, have been assisted to information, or put in the way of enjoyment, and 13 more have helped themselves to information, or have derived enjoyment, from the use of books within the library building, every day of the 308 during which the library has been accessible in the course of the year.
7,321 persons were reported as having received benefit or pleas- ure from this department during the eleven months of the pre- vious library year. In this number were included 1,600 persons who had used literature of which illustrated papers are represen- tative. Perhaps the same proportion of persons have used the library for recreation merely during the past year ; but they have been older and cannot have failed to carry away much informa- tion, even from the use of such a kind of literature.
It is very gratifying to find that so large a use of the Green Library has grown up during the last two years, and that its use has very greatly increased during the past year over that of the previous year. It should be remembered that very little use was made of the books in this department before two years ago. I need not say that the change has been effected by diffusing throughout the library an air of hospitality and by the assump- tion, on the part of the librarian, with the hearty sanction of the board of directors, as a principal portion of his duties, the labor of meeting inquirers cordially, for the purpose of affording them any information in his power regarding the sources of informa- tion. The policy has been eminently successful, and has un- doubtedly added much to the enjoyment and profit of residents of Worcester and visitors to the city.
EXAMINATION OF THE LIBRARY.
It is a part of the duty of the Committee on the Library to "make an annual examination of the library and report its con-
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dition to the Board." The duty of examining the circulating library, at least for several years, has generally been delegated to the librarian and his assistants.
It was stated in the last report of the librarian that the usual annual examination had been made, but so recently that the results could not be given at the time of writing that report. Since then it has been ascertained that some 200 volumes dis- appeared during the year then reported on. In the course of the year just passed the loss has probably not been less than 175. This number of missing books remains, after the putting forth of strenuous efforts to get back the lost books. In view of these facts I have given much thought to the consideration of different methods of keeping accounts with borrowers. Our own method is in some respects sadly defective. We have not the means of knowing at a glance when books have been kept out over time. It is a work of considerable labor, under our system of keeping accounts, to find out on a given day just what books are withheld longer than the rules of the library allow. The admirable system in use in that excellently managed institution, the Boston Public Library, is one which reduces the loss of books to a minimum, and makes the actual loss in that great institution insignificant. I am informed by its polite and accomplished superintendent that in one of the branches of that library, which gives out about the same number of books that we do in our circulating department, not a single book has been lost during the year.
Such results lead to the most favorable consideration of the system under which they are reached. I am not, however, pre- pared to recommend its adoption here, at least for the present. I estimate it would cost, say $225 to establish the new system. This expenditure would have to be made for carpentering, stamps and ribbons, the services of a messenger and printing. The running expenses of the system for the first year would be, say $400. The items in this estimate are for postage, the services of a messenger, printing, and increased service in attendance.
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