USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1874 > Part 19
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H. A. MARSH,
Chairman of the Finance Committee.
A larger sum, it appears, has been spent for library service out of the money received for fines and the sale of catalogues during the past year than in the year before.
This will surprise no one, however, when the growth in the use of the library during the year is considered.
The growth has even made it necessary to employ another per- manent assistant. Miss Lucie A. Young was elected to the position July 1, and has served in this capacity since that date.
Miss Ellen L. Otis was chosen a permanent assistant last January. Her appointment was rendered necessary, however, by the increase of work previous to the beginning of the past year, and was not in consequence of the growth in the use of the library in this year.
Two permanent assistants have thus been added to the corps of officers since the last report was written.
LOSSES OF THE LIBRARY.
These have been insignificant. The new system of keeping accounts introduced here a year ago last July has worked admira- bly the past year. It has been well tested, too, the number of books given out has been so large.
The accounts indicate that only four books have been lost and not paid for. A few others have been lost, paid for, and replaced in the library.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 29.
The number of books given out in the circulating department the past year has been, it will be remembered, upwards of 102,000. We have lent, then, 102,000 books, and lost only four of them.
Before we introduced the present system we were losing books at the rate of 200 a year.
CATALOGUES.
A printed supplement to the catalogue of the circulating department was issued early in the year. It contains records of such books as were added to this department after the issue of the catalogue in 1870, and before January 1 of the present year.
A printed list of books, added to the circulating department of the library from January 1 to June 1, with a record of some of the books placed in the intermediate department between these dates was issued in the middle of the year.
It is proposed to publish as soon as possible after January 1, a list of the books added between the dates June 1, 1874, and January 1, 1875.
Notwithstanding the great increase during the year in the routine work of the library, much labor has been expended in remedying the defects of the manuscript accessions catalogue of the circulating department, and considerable progress lias been made in this direction. This piece of work will probably be concluded the coming year.
BUILDING.
The space now appropriated to books in the circulating depart- ment will be entirely filled during the coming year. This, too, notwithstanding provision has been made the past year for the ' accommodation of 2,500 volumes by shelving a gallery, and pro- viding stairs to reach it. It will, therefore, become indispensable to arrange, during the coming summer, for the accommodation of at least 2,500 more volumes. It will be wiser to get ready to re- ceive 5,000 volumes. To obtain the needed room it will be nec- essary to resort to the basement of the building and use such
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FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
apartments there, that have not hitherto been occupied by the Library, as may be needed for our immediate wants. It will soon become needful, also, to arrange for the occupation of all the remaining portions of the upper story of the library building for the use of the reference department.
In providing for this immediate growth of these two depart- ments of the Library, the problem has been to arrange for easy access from the main floor of the building, both to the basement and to the upper story. After careful consideration of a unani- mous report of the building committee recommending it, you have declared it to be your conviction that an elevator is needed to solve the problem.
Although particular mention will probably be made of the ele- vator in the report of the committee on the building, it is proper for me to say here, that in recommending the further use of the basement and upper story, a single eye has been had to economy. The recommendation has been made with the sole purpose of utilizing all the remaining available space in the building, and in the belief that, if adopted, the necessity for the enlargement of the building, or removal to a new site, can be postponed several years.
In order to obtain money for the elevator, and yet act heartily in conjunction with the other branches of the City Government in securing retrenchment, the estimates for the running and other expenses of the Library for the coming year, have been made very low, as low indeed as the demands of citizens and the great use now made of the Library, render possible.
WORCESTER, ENGLAND.
A pleasant episode in the current of the affairs of the library during the past year is the interchange of civilities, which has taken place between this institution and the goverment of the city in England, whose name our city bears .*
*Copies of the letters sent to the city government of Worcester, England, and received in reply, may be found in Appendix No. 2.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 29.
I superintended with hearty interest the preparation of the volumes, the selection of which you sanctioned, and it is a source of real satisfaction to me, as well as to you, that our advances were so cordially responded to by our elder brothers in the mother country.
It is my duty to acknowledge in this report the valuable gift of books which the Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of Worcester, England, have made to us.
Accompanying a letter reciprocating the kindly feeling ex- pressed in yours were the following books :
Dr. Nash's valuable and expensive work entitled, Collections for the History of Worcestershire in 2 volumes folio.
The History and Antiquities of the City and Suburbs of Wor- cester in 2 volumes 4to, by Valentine Green.
In this place it is proper also, to acknowledge the receipt of a gift from John D. Washburn, Esq., who acted as our messenger to carry your letter to Worcester, England. Mr. Washburn brought us, on his return, a copy of Thomas's Survey of the Cathe- dral Church of Worcester.
I wish to join my thanks to Mr. Washburn with yours for the admirable way in which he appears to have discharged the deli- cate duties entrusted to him.
I would suggest that you make it my duty to send yearly to the Mayor of Worcester, a copy of the document containing the annual reports of the different departments of our city. In this way something will be done to keep up the acquaintance which has been so pleasantly renewed.
CONCLUSION.
It only remains for me to congratulate the board of directors upon the fact that the library has grown much in value and usefulness during the past year, and to express satisfaction that the institution under our charge is becoming every year more and more firmly rooted in the affection of the citizens of Worcester.
Respectfully submitted,
SAMUEL S. GREEN,
Librarian.
APPENDIX NO. 1.
LIST OF GIVERS.
Books.
Pamphlets and Papers.
Books.
| Pamphlets
Francis E. Abbot, Edwar | G. Allen,
4
Lancaster Town Library,
Lawrence Public Library,
1
N. T. Allen,
] Library of Congress,
American Antiquarian Society,
7 Lynn Public Library,
2
Amherst College,
1 Memorial Hall, Andover,
1
Edmund M. Barton,
1 Mercantile Library Association,
Boston City Clerk,
1
2 Baltimore,
Boston Young Men's Christian Union,
11 San Francisco,
Brown University,
1 Mercantile Library, Brooklyn,
Chicago City Engineer,
1 Milford Town Library,
G. W. Childs,
1 New York State Library,
Henry Clarke,
1 Newton Free Library,
Cobden Club,
3 Providence Athenæum,
E. N. Coburn,
1 Public Library, Charlestown, 1
Cincinnati,
College of New Jersey, Connecticut, Secretary State Board of Education,
2
66 Indianapolis,
1
Dartmouth College,
2
Leicester,
Edward L. Davis,
1
Quincy,
Drew, Allis & Co.,
1 map,
4
5 St. Louis Mercantile Library Association,
Edward Earle,
2
51 324 Silas Bronson Library, 8 3 Warren County Library, Mon- mouth, Ill.,
1 6 co 3
Henry Edwards, Commissioner Soldiers' National Cemetery, 1 George E. Francis, D. A. Goddard,
1
2 Edward W. Lincoln,
8
Samuel S. Green,
3
7 J. Berrien Lindsley,
Grout & Putnam,
1 2 Louisiana Sate University,
Edward H. Hall,
261 James McDonald,
Dexter A. Hawkins,
1 Massachusetts Sec'y of State, 32 Massachusetts State Board of Health,
8
E. H. Heywood,
Hingham Agricultural and Hor- ticultural Society,
1 Massachusetts State Lunatic 86 Hospital, Northampton,
1
William R. Huntington,
1
1 Massachusetts State Normal 1 School, Worcester,
2
D. F. Lamson,
1 Massachusetts Agricultural Col- 1 lege,
3
Astor Library,
3 D. S. Messinger,
36
Boston Athenæum,
1
1 George P. Paine,
Boston Public Library,
2 Nathaniel Paine,
1
Chicago Public Library,
2 Peabody Institute, Peabody Museum,
3 1 7 1 2
Concord Free Public Library, Concord, Mass.,
1 Josiah Quincy, C. Reinwald et Cie,
4
1
Free Public Library, Oxford,
1 Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti- 1 tute, Troy, N. Y.,
1
1 A. J. Rice,
1
1 Edmund Rice,
1
1 2 2 1 2 1 1EN N N FNHand Papers. 1 2 1 1 1
1 1 1 2
Estate of J. M. Earle,
Sarah F. Earle,
1
Young Men's Mercantile Li- brary and Mechanic's In- stitute, Pittsburg, Pa.,
1
Andrew H. Green,
1 1 1 2
2
Elmer P. Howe,
1
Samuel Johnson,
David Landreth & Son, Libraries :
Massachusetts General Hospital, 1 1 2
City Library Association, Springfield,
1 People's Club, Providence City Engineer,
Concord Public Library, Con- Cord, N. H.,
Free Public Library, Watertown, Holden Public Library, Brighton,
1
2 1
Mercantile Library Association,
2
Fall River,
16 66 Taunton,
Ann B. Earle,
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FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Books.
Pamphlets
and Papers.
Books.
Pamphlets
and Papers.]}
St. Louis Superintendent of Public Schools, 14
William B. Washburn,
8
1
Stephen Salisbury,
2
John F. Smith,
Smithsonian Institution,
3
3
1
Stevens Institute of Technology, .
1
66 City Hospital, framed photograph,
E. M. Stockwell, 1
Tufts College,
11
Union College,
1 Worcester Superintendent of Schools,
1
3 1
Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
1
Commiss'er of Internal Revenue,
1
Worcester County Mechanics
Secretary of the Interior,
118
2 Association,
2
Secretary of the Treasury,
1
Worcester Fire Society,
1
Secretary of War,
2 Worcester Free Institute, Young Men's Association, Albany,
1 3
George F. Verry,
1
1 Young Men's Association, Buffalo, Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, Worcester,
1
H. D. Warner, 27 photographic views,
Various Friends, 1
15
Charles Warren, jr.,
John D. Washburn,
1
288 929
United States :
Commissioner of Education,
2 Worcester Agricultural Society, Worcester County Horticultural Society,
1
Commissioner of Patents, 7
2 Worcester Commissioner of Public Grounds,
1
Jessie E. Tyler,
Williams College, Worcester, England, Worcester City Clerk, 66 City Auditor,
4 1
1
Superintendent of Naval Ob- servatory, 1
APPENDIX No. 2.
LETTERS EXCHANGED BY THE DIRECTORS OF THE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF WORCESTER, ENGLAND.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the City of Worcester, England, the Directors of the Free Public Library of Worcester, in New England, send greeting :
On three several occasions during the past fifty years, once in 1846, and twice since, expressions of kindly feeling have been interchanged between your citizens and our own.
In each of these instances the first word has come from you, and the response from us Encouraged by the memory of these friendly advances, we have thought the present not an unfavorable moment for renewing, by a voluntary act of our own, an acquaintance which we value and should be sorry to see forgotten.
We feel sure that you cannot be wholly uninterested in the fortune of your oldest, if not your only namesake on this side of the ocean, and that you will rejoice to know how God has blessed her with an abounding prosperity.
We therefore take advantage of an opportunity given us by the proposed visit of our fellow townsman, Mr. John Davis Washburn, to your country, to send you certain books and documents relating to our local history and affairs which we judge may possess an interest for you.
We beg you to receive Mr. Washburn as our accredited representative, and we leave with him the duty of expressing, by word of mouth, more fully than in this brief address it is possible to do, those sentiments of respect and affection which we desire to have accompany our gift.
The circumstances of our respective communities are in certain important points not unlike.
The books and papers now transmitted will show you at a glance how much the two Worcesters, yours and ours, have in common. Both cities are cen- tres of a busy agricultural life, both possess manufacturing and commercial industries in singular variety, and both have it for their boast that notwith- standing the pressure of these material interests they have not suffered them- selves to forget the claims of sound learning and true religion.
35
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 29.
May your ancient city prosper and increase. For our own we ask no better fortune than that she may deserve the title yours has borne so long without dispute,-
Civitas in bello et in pace fidelis.
WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, U. S. A., April 28, 1874.
(Signed.) THOMAS LEVERETT NELSON, President.
CALEB B. METCALF,
HENRY A. MARSH,
NATHANIEL PAINE,
WILLIAM R. HUNTINGTON,
CHARLES O. THOMPSON,
CHARLES H. MORGAN,
THOMAS E. ST. JOHN,
CHARLES H. DOE,
JOHN J. POWER,
GEORGE E. FRANCIS.
EDWARD EARLE,
SAMUEL S. GREEN, Librarian.
To the Directors of the Free Public Library of Worcester, in New England, we, the Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the City of Worcester, in England, in Com- mon Council assembled, send greeting :
We have received with feelings of the liveliest pleasure and gratification, your graceful expression of the good will you entertain towards us, and of the kindly interest you take in the welfare of our ancient city.
We cordially reciprocate your kindly feelings, and rejoice in the knowledge that though divided from you by the vast expanse of the Atlantic, we are drawn near together by community of origin, of name, of interests, and of all that makes a people great, prosperous and happy.
We rejoice at the tidings of your prosperity, and sincerely hope that this prosperity will continue to increase more and more.
The books and papers you have sent us reflect the greatest credit on your city and its inhabitants. We accept with gratitude your valuable presents, and assure you that the volumes you have sent will form an acceptable addition to our civic library, and the information they afford as to the conduct of your municipal affairs will prove a source of interest to us.
We confidently trust that the interchange of friendly greetings you have now renewed in so well-timed and graceful a manner, may result in a continuing bond of amity between your city and our own, and awaken and keep alive a mutual interest in each other's welfare.
Given under the Common Seal of the Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the City of Worcester, this 12th day of October, 1874. (Signed.)
H. G. GOULDINGHAM, Mayor.
[L. S.]
REPORT OF THE LIBRARY COMMITTEE.
To the President and Directors of the Free Public Library :-
THE Committee on the Library appeal with confidence to the' statistics given in the Report of the Librarian as evidence that the affairs of the institution have never been more efficiently administered or its privileges better appreciated than during the past year. In the light of this fact, they desire to add such weight as their testimony can carry to what has been urged by both the Librarian and the Committee on the Building with reference to the need of enlarged facilities for the accommodation of books. A growing library, like a growing city, is liable con- tinually to find itself straitened for house-room. Sooner or later, from the necessity of the case, either an enlarged building, or a new one, will be the only remedy for the evil now beginning to be felt; but, meanwhile, your Committee believe that the expedi- ent suggested in the way of temporary relief will secure, in addi- tion to many direct advantages this indirect one, namely, further leisure for the patient and intelligent study of our real needs. The longer we can postpone enlargement, the more wisely shall we enlarge.
In the discharge of their duty of censorship, your Com- mittee have been governed by the same general principles that have guided their action in previous years. They conceive that the collection of literary rarities, as such, is no part of their duty. A public library is not so much a cabinet of curiosities as it is a tool chest. Hence, while they have sought to define utility in its highest sense, they do not deny that utility has been their main criterion in determining which books ought and which ought not to go upon the shelves.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- NO 29.
These remarks, however, must be understood as applying only in part, and under limitations, to the purchases made for the Green Library. In supplying this department, the Committee have felt that they might rightly exercise a larger liberty in the direction of luxury, than would be reasonable or just in their use of money raised by taxation. In a permanent collection of books, quality is a consideration of more moment than quantity, and our ambition for the Green Library ought to be not so much that it may rank among the largest of American libraries, as that it may, in time, take its place among the best.
Your Committee have during the year recommended for pur- chase 3,180 volumes for the Circulating Department, and 580 volumes for the Green Library. They have, through their secre- tary, approved bills to the amount of $6,633.14 for the Circulating Department, and bills to the amount of $1,464.20 for the Green Library.
It only remains to speak the word of annual commendation, none the less genuine because now often repeated, of the efficient and acceptable manner in which the attendant officers, the Librarian and his assistants, have discharged their varied, labori- ous and, in some respects, perplexing duties.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM R. HUNTINGTON,
Chairman.
REPORT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON THE READING ROOM.
To the President of the Board of Directors of the Free Public Library :-
THE Committee on the Reading Room beg leave to present their annual report for the year ending December 1, 1874.
It will be convenient to divide the publications which this Committee have in charge into two classes : those devoted to the news of the day, which are to be found in the Reading Room, and the periodicals and illustrated papers now placed in the Green Library. It may be said, in a general way, that the use of these two classes of reading matter is distinct. Those who visit the Reading Room care mainly for facts and actual events ; those who spend frequently their leisure hours over the magazines and illustrated and scientific journals, in the Green Library, are accustomed to give more play to their imaginations, and have special tastes, literary or mechanical. It was probably the recognition of the fact that there were these two classes of readers, added to the inducement of immediate convenience, which led originally to the separation of the newspapers from the periodicals. Yet it is certain that no defined line can be drawn between those who make use of the two departments, and it may be well to consider whether it would not be advantageous to the community to eventually present to them in the same room both kinds of reading. The hall of the Green Library contains mainly
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 29.
books for the aid of those engaged in thoughtful and laborious study. It is certain that its use by those who are wandering naturally, and sometimes aimlessly, from magazine to magazine, must in time become a distraction and a nuisance. These points seem to the Committee worth careful consideration in the event of any re-arrangement of the rooms of the building.
In regard to the periodical department, the Committee consider the list of magazines and weekly publications to which the Library subscribes ample for the wants of the public. It is believed that no American magazine especially desirable is omitted, and although subscription for foreign periodicals might be considerably extended, it will hardly be desirable for some time to come. The committee have been empowered to add from time to time any publication which was new and praiseworthy, or for which a need existed, and this policy can be continued by an occasional pruning of the list, without materially increasing the expense.
The news department, the Committee consider less satisfactory and complete, although they desire to say explicitly that it has been built up with uncommon discretion and judgment by their predecessors, considering the means at their disposal ; they could hardly have used the same money to better advantage. The Boston and New York lists for which we subscribe are sufficiently full, but with these exceptions, the Worcester papers, and a single journal published in Germany, the only cities of the world repre- sented in our Reading Room by dailies are Springfield, Provi- dence, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Louisville-the last a gift. Weeklies and semi-weeklies, from various points, cover the ground respectably, but the citizens of many centres of business and population, coming to Worcester temporarily or for a permanent residence, will not find here any newspapers of their section. Our foreign list might also be increased to advantage. The Committee go no farther into details, because nothing more can be done without more money, and the present is clearly not the time when that ought to be asked.
The popular use of the Reading Room has grown larger during the year, and it is often crowded. This is partly owing to the increased leisure of many citizens, but the habit of using the
1
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FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
room will outlast the season. More commodious quarters are needed, although the convenience and capacity of the apartment has been slightly increased during the year by the addition of a few new stands.
The greater part of the periodicals and the most important newspapers are bound at the end of the year, and these volumes already nearly fill the two rooms assigned them in the second story of the building.
The report of the Librarian gives the statistics of the attend- ance on Sunday.
The whole number of publications received is now 189, of which 37 are gifts and 152 are taken by subscription. The num- ber of journals devoted to news includes 22 dailies, 1 semi-week- ly, 4 tri-weeklies, and 18 weeklies ; in all 45.
Practically, no publication has been cut off during the year. One railway guide-book has been exchanged for a larger one, and one weekly eclectic, to which we subscribed, has been merged in another, also on our list. There have been added the art jour- nal called the Aldine, the Traveller's Official Guide, covering every railroad station in the United States, the Engineering and Mining Journal, Van Nostrand's Eclectic Engineering Maga- zine, and the United States Official Postal Guide.
To the gifts acknowledged in former reports may be added : the Congressional Record, in place of the Globe, from Hon. George F. Hoar; the Daily Louisville Commercial, from Mr. L. S. Howlett, formerly a Worcester journalist ; the Y. M. C. A. Monthly, in place of Our Paper, from the Young Men's Chris- tian Association of Worcester; and The Word, from Mr. E. H. Heywood of Princeton, Mass. The National Temperance Ad- vocate, a gift from Rev. H. T. Cheever, is no longer received.
The Committee desire to acknowledge the faithfulness and gen- eral efficiency of the Librarian and his assistants.
For the Committee,
CHARLES H. DOE, Chairman.
WORCESTER, Dec. 28, 1874.
REPORT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON THE BUILDING.
To the President and Directors of the Free Public Library :
GENTLEMEN :- The Committee on the Building has to report that its principal items of expenditure during the past year have been for a stair-case, shelving and whitening.
The additional shelving will accommodate about 2,500 volumes, according to the Librarian's estimate. All the available space for the use of the circulating department in the first or principal story of the Building has been furnished with shelving. Further additions will soon be required, and should be made, according to the judgment of the Librarian and Committee, in the basement, where there is as much space that may be used as is now used by the circulating department. Therefore, the question has arisen, how can this space be made available in the best way ? After long and careful consideration, we recommend the construction of a Water Pressure Elevator ; to be operated by the city water, and to be made of sufficient capacity to carry a person and about 200lbs of books at a time. The books may be placed in a light carriage, which can be run on to the elevator and about the floors of the Building, for the collection and distribution of the books. This kind of elevator, operating as it does with great rapidity, will enable a person to get books from the room below and return them nearly as quickly as they could be got and returned on the main floor.
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