USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Municipal government history and politics, Vol. V > Part 34
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to supply losses by means of duplicates. At any rate, the Harvard University Library has every internal appearance of being able to swarm into a dozen or more seminary libra- ries on very slight provocation.
If book reservations in the alcoves are fostering the seminary idea at Harvard, certain experiments in the book-stack and vicinity have evolved the seminary itself. Some years ago, Professor Emerton, who now occupies the chair of Church History, was allowed by Mr. Winsor to hold historical con- ferences with a few advanced students in a small room in close proximity to the main collection of books, the so-called "stack." Thus the historical resources of the entire library were made immediately available for reference or special use upon the premises. Access to the shelves of a great collection of books is an inestimable boon to both teachers and students who are blazing their way through some forest of original research. It is easy to say that a man will not see the forest on account of the trees, if he is turned loose in a vast library wilderness. It is, however, as easy to reply that a student does not care to gaze at the whole forest for a permanent occupation ; he wants to become a good woodman, and to learn to find his way through every wood and thicket. That is what Professor Emerton and his students learned to do in their original studies of medieval history. Through the great and tangled mass of literature pertaining to their subject they cut vistas of interest, light, and usefulness to historical science. The same kind of work has been done during the past year or two in the field of American history by Dr. Edward Chan- ning, who encamps weekly with his woodcutters in a corner of the book-stack itself. The good work which they have done indicates that it is worth the while of every enlightened library management to permit vigorous young men to enter their choicest reservations and to bring forth what the great historian Ranke called "timber." Such is the very stuff out of which history is made.
At Yale University Professor Dexter has instituted book
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reservations in the alcoves of the general library. A special collection of books for the use of his classes in History has been made and set apart by Professor Arthur M. Wheeler. This is the end to which the whole matter must come; for, with the growing number of students and lecture-courses re- quiring private reading or original research on the part of students, there will be no possibility of the university or college library supplying all the literary demands made upon it. Each instructor will need to have his own class-equipment of books, his own literary laboratory, as truly as every pro- fessor of natural science has his own special apparatus. It is not possible to specialize permanently and completely the main library in the interest of particular departments of humanistic culture, for these overlap and dovetail into one another in such a way that reservations for one class of men interfere with the rights and interests of another class.
At Columbia College there is an interesting and suggestive phase of library-cooperation with the seminary method of work, which is becoming more and more prominent at that institution. There is a special librarian of the historical and political sciences, who gives an annual course of lectures upon the bibliography of his department to members of the School of Political Science, thus teaching students the ways and means of inquiry in their particular field. This librarian is stationed at the entrance to the political science section of the main library, and there serves as an efficient mediator between men and books. Like the person whose duty it is in our great railway stations to answer the questions of perplexed travellers, Mr. George H. Baker, in the Columbia College Library, informs every inquirer where to go for what he wants. In the next place, all special works in political science have been grouped in one large room, which, with its private desks and conveniences for individual research, serves alike all classes and seminaries connected with the department of historical and political science, although seminary meetings are held elsewhere. It has been clearly recognized by the 2
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trustees of Columbia College that a well classified, well ad- ministered library is the corner-stone of the new School of Political Science and of the coming University. Such should be the foundation of every department of sound learning. Professors change; students come and go; but the library remains and upholds forever the best work of every individual builder and the whole superstructure of Science.
Various experiments have been tried by the historical de- partment of the Johns Hopkins University in the way of associating seminary work with a good library environment. In 1876, immediately upon the opening of the institution, an attempt was made to associate a Seminary of American His- tory with the Library of the Maryland Historical Society, which has a remarkably fine collection of public documents, and is fairly supplied with Americana. The experiment of a weekly meeting of advanced students around a long table, in one of the rooms of the Society, was continued for three years with gratifying success. But the distance of the place from the University, the weakness of the Historical Society Library in European history, and a broadening of department plans for historical study, caused a change of base to the Library of the Peabody Institute, where in a small lecture-room, around a long table, students met their instructor from week to week for a study of the sources of English constitutional history, for which the Peabody Library was well equipped. Books were brought in for use during the session of the seminary, and then they were put upon a reservation in the large read- ing-room of the main library for further consultation during the week. This was a combination of the Harvard ideas of book-reservations and of a seminary-room adjoining a great library ; and a very good combination it proved to be.
Circumstances, however, such as the acquisition of the Bluntschli library and a working collection of books and documents, forced the seminary to a second change of base, and this time back to the University and into a suite of nine rooms vacated by the biological department upon removal to
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its new laboratory. The influence of the newly acquired environment had, perhaps, some effect upon the develop- ment of the historical seminary. It began to cultivate more and more the laboratory method of work and to treat its book collections as materials for laboratory use. The old tables which had once been used for the dissection of cats and turtles were planed down, covered with green baize, and con- verted into desks for the dissection of government documents and other materials for American institutional history. In- stead of cupboards for microscopes, instruments, and apparatus -instead of show-cases for bottled snakes and monkey-skele- tons, the visitor now beholds book-cases full of books, pam- phlets, manuscripts and coins under glass, a growing museum of prehistoric, Egyptian, and classical art. These collections are frequently used for purposes of historical illustration. The idea that the sources of history are more extensive than all literature, begins to dawn upon the student as he explores the environment of this seminary-library which is also a seminary-museum.
All seminary libraries should be working collections, dupli- cating if necessary works already owned by the university. Duplication, which is the horror of some librarians, is one of the advantages of the seminary system when fully carried out; it doubles, trebles, or quadruples scientific resources in a par- ticular field and masses them with overwhelming power upon a definite scientific object. In every working collection of books the principal authorities are brought together as in a focus, and it is through this seminary-focus that the strength of the main university library first becomes thoroughly special- ized and able to concentrate itself, if required, upon one point. Seminary libraries should be the arms of the library body, organs of strength in themselves but depending upon and constantly invigorated by vital forces proceeding from the central trunk. It is not enough that a great library should be able to deliver on call a single book. Parturiunt montes, ridiculus mus seems to be the ideal of delivery in some insti-
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tutions. That ideal is good so far as it goes. It is a good thing to be able to find the needle in the haystack ; but it is a much finer thing to be able to gather quickly all the needle- guns from a great armory and equip a band of trained men instantly with all that they need for the advancement of science.
There are libraries in the world that are grand, solemn, and stately, like the Egyptian pyramids, and in some cases quite as inaccessible. Some libraries have, indeed, their Grand Gal- leries and their King's Chamber, but the great mass of books is impenetrable; its treasures are unknown. The enormous size and dead weight of many famous library collections stand in the way of their practical usefulness. They are an unwieldy bulk, monumental and impressive. The student is awe-struck by the very approaches to these wonderful and mysterious structures. The writer remembers seeing in a great library in Europe a sphinx-like, double row of great folio catalogues, filling a large room which was the literary avenue leading to a city of the dead. To decipher the paper labels distributed through those ponderous tomes was like making one's dusty way through Egyptian tombs and attempting to read the writing on the walls or on mummy cases. The writer speaks feelingly as well as symbolically upon this subject, for he has experienced the practical difficulties of using to good advan- tage certain European libraries. He is confident that the prac- tical, administrative skill of American librarians can work out better things for the benefit of American students than the antiquated arts and clumsy devices of the old world have accomplished. Pyramids and cathedrals, and the libraries which resemble them, may stand forever. No one wishes to see historic monuments destroyed. But such monumental methods of building are not to be imitated in the twentieth century. In this country we shall construct neither Mauso- leums nor Ramseums, but palaces for the instruction and delight of the people and of their sons and daughters. We shall build and rebuild our public schools, libraries, and universities, until the whole building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy and living temple.
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III.
SEMINARY LIBRARIES FOR THE PEOPLE.
My plea to American librarians is to popularize the semi- nary method. Set apart special rooms where classes and clubs can meet under competent direction for the special use of books. Convert your library into a popular laboratory. This idea has been evolved in various localities, notably in Worcester under the able management of Mr. S. S. Green, and in Providence under the efficient guidance of Mr. W. E. Foster, who have brought the school systems of their respective cities into organic connection with the public library. Mr. Green's original idea has found cordial recognition and active propaganda through the American Librarians' Association. The thought of higher education for the people through libraries, which are the highest of high schools, is in the air and sooner or later it will find a lodgment in all our great towns and cities. It is not enough to connect public libraries with the work of public schools. You must connect your institutions with the educa- tional wants of the people. There should be in every great community organized instruction, through public libraries, for the graduates of public schools, for persons past the school age, for mechanics and the working classes in general. Desul- tory reading and individual use of the public library are not sufficient. There must be methodic and continuous work under proper guidance. There must be concentration of energy on the part of both readers and managers in our public libraries. The way to accomplish this desirable end is to institute :
1. Library courses of instructive lectures upon social sci- ence, political economy, modern literature, and modern history. The day of popular Lyceum lectures, or the variety show of literary fire-works, has gone by. Continuity of instruction rather than varied entertainment is what our people need
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to-day. Short courses of twelve lectures, one lecture a week, given in a simple, conversational style, with a printed sylla- bus of topics and definite references to authorities in the public library, are the kind we want. The course should be paid for by subscriptions from public spirited men and women. Boys and girls should be sent around to sell course-tickets to work- ingmen and women at as cheap a rate as possible. One-half of the lecture-fund should come from capital or philanthropy ; the other half, from labor or sales.
2. Class courses for the discussion of the lectures. In every popular audience there is a " saving remnant" of earnest hearers who would be glad to learn more of the subject. The lecturer should gather this student-element into a weekly class, or con- ference, before or after each lecture, to review previous work. Questions should be asked and answered on the part of both students and teacher. Topics for investigation and report should be assigned to individuals, who should be referred to the proper authorities in the public library. The latter should make temporary reservations of books to meet the demands of the class and should not hesitate to institute duplicate collec- tions, if justified by the demand. The temporary grouping of a few standard authorities upon one of the reading-room tables, or in the class-room, if that is near the main library, will have an excellent effect in stimulating interest and enquiry.
Public librarians are the men to institute this higher educa- tion among the people by organizing instruction. They can enlist any amount of cooperation in a progressive community. They can call a caucus of teachers, ministers, intelligent citi- zens, young men and maidens, and unite all the best forces of society in something higher than sect or party. An active librarian, or his assistant, with a good working committee of young people, can manage this higher educational enterprise, which should have the patronage of the mayor or some lead- ing man in the community. The lecturers should be obtained from the best local talent or from the nearest college or university-centre of supply, after the manner of the " Uni-
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versity Extension "1 system which has been so wonderfully successful in England. At trifling expense university educa- tion has been carried into many of the great towns and district- unions of the mother country. University Extension tends to break down antagonism between the classes and the masses and to harmonize the highest interests of capital and labor. It substitutes intelligence for ignorant agitation and induces a better understanding of social questions. If a local demand should arise for systematic instruction by lectures, our Ameri- can colleges and universities would soon rise to the needs of . the situation and would train their best graduates for precisely this kind of work. In the meantime, communities must help themselves through their public libraries and the best local talent that may be available. Some day university culture will be brought into all the great towns of this republic with- out bricks and mortar. Monastic walls are not essential to the People's University. Its faculty will be drawn from all parts of the country and its seminary libraries will be as numerous as are the towns of men.
' The English system of University Extension is more fully described by the writer in a subsequent special paper.
THE WORK OF LIBRARIES.'
At a recent meeting of the American Library Association, upon one of the Thousand Islands, an idea was suggested which met with the hearty approval of many competent managers of libraries. The idea will be speedily acted upon by the Worcester public library, which is one of the best administered in all New England and which has done most of all in mediating between good literature and the public schools. The librarian of that new and model library building in the city of Buffalo proposes also to act upon the suggestion, and it is looked upon with great favor by the librarian and trustees of the recent $3,000,000 Newberry foundation in Chicago. These facts will perhaps justify me, a disinterested friend and no longer a resident of Northampton, in recom- mending the project to the consideration of intelligent citizens
1 The above article, written by request for a local exposition and a local application of the idea of seminary-libraries and class-courses for the people, was printed in the Springfield Daily Republican, September 26, 1887. Its republication in connection with the original paper, presented to the American Librarians, may serve a practical purpose in other localities than Northampton and New England Towns. Indeed, the above article has already been partly reprinted in Buffalo and Chicago in the interest of library-work. The experiment of a library-course of instruction for the people is to be tried in Buffalo this very winter. The chosen subject is The Relation of Capital and Labor. The course will occupy twelve weeks, with one public lecture and one class exercise for discussion each week. The sum of $300 has been guaranteed by subscription and a competent teacher has been secured, who will devote his entire time for twelve weeks to the direction of the course and to an efficient use of the public library
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through the columns of The Republican which has already made some allusion to my recent address to the librarians. The Forbes library offers such a superb vantage-ground for planting a new idea that my zeal as a propagandist has been easily excited by inquiries from one or two of your readers.
My idea in brief is this : every great public library should become, in its own local field, a people's university, the highest of high schools in the community. It should be the roof and crown of organized public instruction not only for existing schools, but also for the graduates of schools, for studious persons already past the school age, whether in the higher or the lower walks of life. There is a most extraordinary move- ment in England called "university extension." It means the extension of university instruction, in popular form by lecturers from the great university centres of Oxford and Cambridge, throughout the great towns and manufacturing districts of England. Educated young Englishmen are begin- ning to realize what Lord Bacon long ago said, that " learning for man's self is, in many branches thereof, a depraved thing." In response to local demands for systematic instruction in political economy, social science, English history, English politics, etc., university men are now going forth from their academic cloisters to meet the social wants of their time. During the last ten years the University of Cambridge alone
on the part of his class. This novel experiment will be watched with great interest. Its novelty consists in the conversion of the economic sec- tion of the library into a public seminary or popular laboratory, for definite, progressive, continuous instruction under a teacher employed by a local library association of subscription members for a particular course. Con- tinuity of instruction and an economic interest in the course on the part of every hearer distinguish the experiment from the antiquated lyceum- course or literary variety show, and from the modern free entertainment or mental soup-kitchen. In Buffalo the effort is made to have every attendant upon the public course pay $1.50 for the twelve lectures; and every atten- dant upon lectures and the class for discussion to pay $2.50 for the double privilege. The deficit of labor, or self-help, in this enterprise will be met by a subscription-fund from capital.
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has supplied 600 popular lecture courses and reached 60,000 Englishmen. Antagonism between the classes and the masses has been broken down. Capital and labor have joined hands for the elevation of society. The attention of entire communi- ties has been directed to the burning questions of our time. Public reading, instead of being frivolous and desultory, has been led into profitable fields. Intellectual energy has been concentrated upon particular subjects for sufficient time to create some mental and moral impression. Now, my notion is that these same results can be accomplished in America through the agency of our great public libraries, by utilizing the highest educational forces within their reach.
In order to organize and shape instruction for the people in a large community like Northampton, various things are needed. First, an educated librarian of the modern type. The administration of libraries has become a distinct pro- fession, requiring special training of the highest order. The idea that a broken-down or feeble-minded person can manage a great library containing the wisdom of all the world has pretty generally died out. A man or woman is needed who has been educated for the profession of librarian as a lawyer is educated for the law, or as a physician is educated for his practice, although the liberal professions are sometimes poor models for the training of specialists.
Second, under the direction of a competent librarian, library lectures should be instituted in courses of twelve plain talks, one each week, upon one great subject, like labor and capital, social problems, history of the nineteenth century, etc. Con- tinuity of ideas and plainness of speech should be cultivated. The old-fashioned lyceum course on heterogeneous topics was a distracting variety-show, and is a thing of the past. Public interest should be awakened and held to particular themes of some moment to society.
Third, class courses. In every popular audience there is always a "saving remnant" of earnest students, although they may never have graduated from college or even from
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a high school. Such persons, whether clerks or mechanics or cultivated book-worms, whether male or female, in society or out, should be gathered by a person of tact and sense into a class-course for a discussion of the previous lecture and for guidance in private reading. Topics should be suggested for individual study and report to the class. Printed references to standard authorities in the public library should accompany the printed syllabus of the public lectures. Book reservations corresponding to this list should be set apart for consultation upon a reading-room table.
Fourth, a lecturer or instructor should be engaged for the library and class course. When one course is ended another should be organized, with a new man. Competent specialists can be secured from the nearest college or university, and they should be paid, not only for their expenses, but $10 or $20 for each lecture. The local rate for sermons would be a fair basis for the lecture tariff. It is an imposition to ask scientific men to lecture for nothing. Moreover, free lectures have more or less pauperized intellectually every community. They are almost as bad in their way as Roman circuses or free lunches. No dead-heads should be the rule in all higher education. Free scholarships, premiums on poverty, something for noth- ing, will be the ruin of students if a halt is not called. Of course, all education is more or less a charity, but the economic element should not be wholly eliminated. Some quid pro quo should be given for teaching as for preaching. In England one-half of the expense for university extension lectures is usually defrayed by the sale of tickets by canvass among the people. The other half comes from the subscriptions of public- spirited citizens. The more generous the subscription, the cheaper the tickets and the greater the sale.
The practical conclusion of these suggestions is that the trustees of the Forbes library ought to arrange, in their plans for its construction for (1) a small lecture hall, seating perhaps 300 people. A small hall is preferable for higher educational purposes. People want to come when the company is neces-
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