DEWEY (order).pub. weekly.bookseller and newsdealerpublisher's circular00Collected and mis. works.Literature and coll. works.Unclassified.Misc. includ. pamphlets,not sermons010Bibliography.Period. and proceedingsYear b'ks and serials in vols.070Newspapers.100Philosophy.Philosophy.Philosophy.230Theology.Theology and religionReligion. Christ sci., occultism, theosophyTheol. sermons, Biblical.320Polit. Sci. and Law.Law.Law, tech. PoliticsLaw, jurisp.Economics and social rel.Polit. and soc. sci.Sociological subj.Polit. and soc. sci. Trade and commerce370Education.Education.Education.Education, classical and philological400Philology.500Natural sciencePhysics and math. sci.Mathematics, chem. and physic. sci. Biology. Nat. history(See below).600Useful arts, Gen.Useful arts.Technology.610Medicine.Medicine and hyg.Medicine.Medicine, surgery.630Agriculture.Domestic and rural.Farming and gardening.Art of war.700Fine arts, Gen.Fine arts, il. gift books.Art, architecture.Art, science and il.books.780Music.On music and musicians790Games and sportsSports and amusements.Sports and games800Literary hist. and crit.(See below).Poetry and dramaPoetry and drama.Poetry and drama.Poetry and the drama.Fiction.Fiction.Fiction.{Novels, tales, juvenile works and other fictionJuveniles.Juvenile.Juveniles.Other forms.Humor and satire.Belles lettres, essays, monographs, etc.900History.History.History.Hist., biog., etc.920Biography.Biog. and correspond.Biography.910Geog. travels and descrip.Descrip., geog., trav.Travel.Voyages, travels, geographical researchDEWEY (order).bibliog. ital.hinrich.reinwald.00010070100Collected and mis. works.Bibliography.Period. and proceedings.Newspapers.Philosophy.Enciclopedia.Bibliografia.Atti accademici.Giornale politici.Filosofia-Teologia.{Bibliothekswesen, encyklopädien,Gesammt. werke. Sammel werke, Schriften Gelehrten. GesellschaftenUniversatätswesen, etc.Divers.230TheologyPubbl. relig. e pie. lett.Theologie.Religion ((Philos. morale)320Polit. Sci. and Law.Legislazione, Guirisp., Atti del senato, atti duputati.Rechts u. Staatswiss.Droit et économie polit.Economics and social rel.Scienze polit. soc. Stat. bilanci ecc.Handel, Gewerbe Verkehrswesen.370Education.Instruzione. Educaz. Libri scolastici.Erziehung u. Unterricht. Jugendschriften.Education.400Philology.Filologia storia lett.Sprach u. Litteraturwissen.Linguistique.500Natural scienceScienze fisiche, mate. e nat.Naturwiss. Math.Sciences, medicales et naturelles.600Useful arts, Gen.Ingegneria-Ferrovie.Bau u. Ingenieurwissenschaft.Technologie.610Medicine.Medicina.Heilwissenschaft.630Agriculture.Agricolt. Industr. comm.Haus, Land u. Forstwiss.Art of war.Guerra Marina.KriegswissenschaftArt militaire et marine.700Fine arts, Gen.Belle arti.Kunst.Beaux arts.780Music.790Games and sports.800Literary hist. and crit.Poetry and dramaLett. contemp. Poesie. Teatro.Schöne Litteratur.Littérature.Fiction.Romanzi e nov.Juveniles.Other forms.Misc. e lett. popol.900History.Storia-Geografia.Geschichte.Histoire, Biog. polit.920Biography.Biografia contemp.910Geog. travels and descrip.Erdbeschreibung, Karten.Geographie.
{
Mr. Bowker, in behalf of the committee, has submitted the matter, through Mr. G. H. Putnam, to the International Congress of Booksellers, and it is hoped that there may be a committee appointed or empowered to confer with this committee, and that some practical result may be reached in spite of various difficulties. This committee therefore recommends for the purpose of library reports, etc., the use of the Dewey order and divisions given in the accompanying table, with such modification as may be necessary to meet book trade requirements, but in the case of all recommendations begs to make them subject to an international understanding, and asks that the committee be continued and given full power to adopt a recommended order, providing an understanding can be reached with a representative of the booksellers. If such an understanding is reached, efforts should be made to get the further concurrence of other library associations and bibliographical bodies generally.
Ernest C. Richardson,Chairman,for the Committee.
J. C. Danafor the
COMMITTEE ON LIBRARY TRAINING
made a brief statement, that the committee as a whole had been unable this year to visit and report upon the schools. He presented, as the report of the committee, a letter from Dr. E. C. Richardson, one of its members who had visited several of the schools as lecturer.[D]
William Beerspoke briefly on
COLLECTION AND CATALOGING OF EARLY NEWSPAPERS.
The few remarks I have to make on this subject are prompted by a recent effort to collect from printed catalogs the scattered newspaper material for the first 15 years of the 19th century. The collection of information on the locality of files of newspapers up to 1800 has been commenced, and will in time be completed by Mr. Nelson, who publishes his results in the "Archives of the State of New Jersey." Many corrections will be necessary to his list, but it will even in its present shape be of great advantage to historical students.
The difficulty of the work increases almost in geometrical proportion as the dates approach the present era. The great increase of newspapers renders it necessary to divide the work into decades. I have chosen to carry it to 1815 on account of the importance to Louisiana history of the reports on the battle of New Orleans.
The particular feature in cataloging which I would fain see carried out in every library is the chronological conspectus, of which so admirable an example exists in Bolton's catalog of scientific documents, which is, or ought to be, familiar to all present.
It is exceedingly simple and easy to prepare and is of the greatest possible service, both to the librarian and the student.
Take any folio book ruled in wide columns with an ample margin. For my purpose I start by heading the first column 1800, and so on to the end of the page. Taking material from Mr. Galbreath's useful compilation, I find that in the libraries of Ohio there is only one title which will appear under this head, theWestern Spyin the collection of the Cincinnati Young Men's Mercantile Library. Enter in the marginal column the full details of the publication of this newspaper and draw a horizontal line across the column. The years 1802-3-4, etc., present an increasing number of titles. The horizontal lines in the columns present an immediate summary of all the newspaper literature on the subject.
Dr.G. E. Wireread a paper on
SOME PRINCIPLES OF BOOK AND PICTURE SELECTION.
(Seep. 54.)
Melvil Dewey: I want to say a word about that New York list of pictures. When we printed that bulletin a great chorus of criticism arose from among the newspapers, and we smiled; we said it was characteristic of newspapers to discuss a thing without knowing at all what they were talking about. But I did not suppose that same characteristic would appear in this Association. Our bulletinstates very distinctly what it is for, and it makes its own case absolutely infallible. We had to meet the problem in the state of New York, of circulating pictures bought with the taxpayers' money, to be put on the walls of the school houses—Jewish schools, Roman Catholic schools and schools of many denominations. Under those peculiar conditions it was a question whether we could carry the movement at all, and we selected about 50 people, whose judgment was most reliable, and asked them, out of several hundred pictures, to select 100 that would be open to no objection of any kind. There was no effort whatever to select the hundredbestpictures. They simply made a list that would pass the legislature. It included pictures that people ridiculed sadly; and yet we had on file letters from prominent people in the state to the effect that they would protest against certain well-known pictures, and we thought it wiser not to raise issues over minor details. Our bulletin is simply a list of pictures that have been passed by representatives of various religious and ethical interests. You may think it most absurd that certain pictures, perhaps the most famous, should have been voted out of such a list, but if you were to go through the schools of the state of New York or any other state you would find that there are conscientious mothers and fathers, who have had no opportunity for art training, who would get down on their knees and pray that some of these pictures might not be put on the walls of the school room. If you do not know that, you are not familiar with the sentiment in the rural districts. There was a specific purpose in our action; we heard all of these criticisms, and we did the thing that seemed right and best under the circumstances. There are about a hundred of us on the state library staff, but we do not yet, as a body, venture to feel as omniscient as some single individuals regard themselves. I strongly believe that it is not a bad thing to take the opinion of experts. We are perfectly willing to show respect to the specialist in his own field, and I think it is mighty unwise advice to give young librarians, when they are told not to ask the opinion of a good specialist, whose verdict commands the confidence of the public.
Adjourned at 12.05 p.m.
(Library Hall, Madison, Wis., Monday afternoon, July 8.)
PresidentCarrcalled the meeting to order at 2.25 p.m., and in a few words expressed the appreciation of the Association for the delightful arrangements that had made "Madison day" so interesting and enjoyable.
MissMary W. Plummerthen spoke on
SOME EXPERIENCES IN FOREIGN LIBRARIES[E]
MissPlummerdeprecated any desire to make a comparison between foreign and American libraries. They served so different a purpose, for the most part, that comparison was impossible. Libraries, like systems of education, were an outcome of the history, of the race-temperament and characteristics, and of the social conditions of a people. And it was according to one's point of view whether such a comparison would be favorable to one side or the other. One thing seemed almost predicable—that, wherever democracy was making its way, there the library supported by the people and for the use of the people had a tendency to appear patterned more or less after those of England and America.
English libraries were not touched upon, but the leading collections of Germany, France and Italy were briefly described. At the Bayreuth and Nuremberg libraries books were secured without formality, and all privileges were extended to the visiting colleague, with entire trustingness and fraternity. In Italy more formality was required, the libraries being government institutions for reference use, but courtesy and a desire to be of service prevailed throughout. Considering the question, "What do people do who want to read fiction in Italy—the same people who are always wanting the new novels in this country?" Miss Plummer said: "Apparently, these people do not exist in sufficiently large numbers to be considered in the libraries. If a work of note comes out, such as a new novel by d'Annunzio or Fogazzaro, it can be had at the book shops in paper for two lire or two and a half,i.e.,40 to 50 cents, and people buy it and lend it. In some of the
little book shops books circulate for a small fee, but not by any means the best class of books. The government libraries may purchase the novels of such authors as those I have mentioned, but they do not make haste about it, and in one library (a municipal, circulating library) no book can go out that has not been in the library's possession three months. The novel-reading class is chiefly composed of visiting or resident English and Americans, and in all Italian cities of any size there is a subscription library where books in English can be had."
At Florence, when one discovers the large and enterprising subscription library which the Viesseux, father and son, have carried on for several generations, one's troubles in getting books seem ended, for they have all the books that the government libraries cannot and do not buy—a large subscription list of periodicals, open shelves, late books separated from the rest, and they will get what one asks for if they haven't it already. If American publishers sent their lists regularly to Viesseux one would probably find more American books there. Further than this, one's subscription entitles one to a book or books by mail to any place in Italy or in the surrounding countries where one may be staying. Of the Florentine libraries, the Marucellian is the nearest our ideal of a modern reference library in its collections as in its methods. It has, as its chief field of purchase, the best modern books in belles-lettres, and as it is open in the evening its rooms are often crowded with students and readers until closing time. It has a card catalog by subjects and a duplicate card catalog of part of the collection of the National Library of Florence; a ms. catalog in book form by author, which is accessible to readers; a room set apart for women students, with a woman, a university graduate, to preside over it. The National Library is a much greater collection and older, in its 87 rooms; and its periodical room is the most modern of all, with its magazines from all countries, even our ownHarperandCenturyshowing their familiar faces on the racks. A special room here is devoted to the catalogs, which were partly in ms. book form and partly on cards, and students were always searching the pages or the cards without let or hindrance.
At Rome the Victor Emanuel Library had a small room shelved with the Leyden catalogs, in constant consultation. As in most of the government libraries, there was a table reserved for women, though it did not seem to be much used.
Among the Paris libraries described were the Ste. Geneviève, the Sorbonne, and one of the ward or "arondissement" libraries. The latter was in the Mairie, and open at 8 p.m. only. The books were in floor cases, with a counter between them and the people, and on the counter lay small pamphlet finding lists. It is not hard to keep these up to date, since the libraries themselves are far from being so, and new books are not often added. The librarian, who had some other occupation during the day and served here in the evening, to add a trifle to his income, got books and charged them in a book as people asked for them. Use of the library was permitted only after obtaining as guarantor a citizen living in the same arondissement with the would-be borrower. While this kind of library is of course much better than none, and the situation in Paris is that much better than in Italian cities, the fact that the hours of opening are only in the evening is a barrier to much usefulness. On the other hand, a library to each arondissement is a fair allowance, and no one has to go very far to reach his library. For the most part they are patronized by the small tradesmen of the neighborhood and their families. A large proportion of our reading public is missing from these municipal libraries—they buy their own books, in paper, at the department stores, and make no use whatever of the government libraries or of these small circulating centers.
In conclusion, Miss Plummer said: "If I were asked what sort of library was most needed in France and Italy, I should say firstgoodlibraries for children and young people. The children of these countries read earlier than ours, the language presenting fewer difficulties of spelling and pronunciation, and many of them are fond of reading. Good material is not plentiful, and what there is the child has no help in getting hold of. Bad reading there is in abundance, in the shape of so-called comic papers, etc., at every turn and for an infinitesimal price. One is ready to say that it is better not to know how to readthan to be induced by one's knowledge to make such acquaintance as this."
Dr.J. K. Hosmerfollowed with an amusing fable, entitled
FROM THE READER'S POINT OF VIEW, AND THE ERA OF THE PLACARD.[F]
The subject was presented in the form of a clever parable, satirizing the present-day "booming" of popular books, and the unseemliness and vulgarities of modern advertising methods. It concluded with an "imaginary conversation" between a librarian and a reader, as follows:
"'A fellow-librarian?' said I.
"'Not quite that,' said he, 'but one who uses libraries—a reader, in fact.'
"I felt a sudden thrill of satisfaction. Here at last I had found my reader, and I faithfully proceeded at once to get at his point of view. 'Well,' said I, 'is it not an inspiration to live in the era of the placard; and what do you mean to do for the Great American Bill Board Trust?'
"We walked down the street arm in arm, and this is the rather unsympathetic monologue in which the reader indulged:
"'The bill-board—and I mean by the bill-board coarse and obtrusive advertising in general, whether shown in this defacement of natural objects, road-signs, street car panels, or in newspaper columns—an evil from which even the public library is not free—the bill-board is an evil, but after all only a minor evil. If we had nothing worse than that among our social problems to vex us, we should indeed be fortunate. Advertising is a legitimate incident of commerce. The merchant who has wares to sell may properly make his commodities known. I own I study the advertising pages of myCenturyandScribnerwith scarcely less interest than I do the text. But the world is so full of bad taste! There is no sanctity or silence through which the coarse scream of the huckster may not at any time penetrate. The loud bill-board is but the scream of the huckster transmuted so that it may attack still another sense. The wonder is that this bill-board, and its fellow enormities in the street car panel and the newspaper columns, do not repel instead of attract. In the case of refined minds certainly repulsion must be felt. Now for myself,' said the reader, and here I thought he spoke conceitedly, 'the fact that a thing is coarsely and loudly advertised is a strong, almost invincible reason for my not buying it, however necessary it may seem. With the world in general, however, the standard of taste is low. Coarseness does not offend; also, it pays to use it.
"'I have sometimes seen on library walls placards sent in with the demand, 'Please display this prominently,' that have exercised upon me an immediate deterrent effect. Still,' said the reader, with his superior air, 'do not think me ill-natured. The best thing we can do is to keep our temper, stamp down as we can what becomes too outrageous and indecent, and labor and pray for the refinement of the world's taste. This no doubt will come very slowly.'
"'Can we help the thing forward at all?' said I, falling in for the moment with his humor.
"'Only as we can promote in general the diffusion of sweetness and light,' said the reader. 'If a man should be aroused to attack directly I believe he might strike a more effective blow through ridicule than through denunciation. Keep denunciation for the more weighty and ghastly evils that beset us; a mere annoyance it is better to laugh away if we can do it.'"
Adjourned at 3.30 p.m.
(Fountain Spring House, Tuesday morning, July 9.)
The meeting was called to order by PresidentCarrat 10.20 a.m.
The president announced the receipt in pamphlet form of the
REPORT ON GIFTS AND BEQUESTS.
(Seep. 87.)
This was read by title, and filed for publication in the Proceedings.
W. I. Fletcherpresented the
REPORT OF THE A. L. A. PUBLISHING BOARD.
(Seep. 103.)
Mr.Dewey: I wish to remind some of you who were with us 25 years ago in Philadelphia, when we organized the A. L. A., and who, during that whole period, have studied its interests so closely, that the time has come at last when we are really on the way to secure one of the things we have always thought most important—co-operative printed catalog cards. This will make for all of us less drudgery and more inspiration, for there is not much inspiration in writing out author's names; it will relieve us of a considerable burden; it will produce economy and increase efficiency; and it appeals strongly to our trustees and business men. It is perhaps the most important thing we have to do, and there have been apparently insuperable obstacles to success; but we have always hoped for one complete solution. And this was that it could be done at the National Library in Washington, with its printing presses, post-office facilities, copyright department and great central collection. You remember that when the Pacific railroad was built, and as the ends came together to make the connection, a great celebration was held through the country, a thrill that the work was at last done; and I feel to-day, now that we hear in this able report that printed catalog cards are really to be undertaken at the National Library, that what we have waited for over 20 years and what we have been dreaming about has come to pass at last. After serving my term on the Publishing Board—this is my valedictory—I feel to-day that I must say just this: Now that we have reached this point, that every one has hoped for so long, we must see to it that this agency is utilized and appreciated. Every one of us ought to watch those printed cards, and make suggestions as to their use. If we utilize them, and prove their value and their economy, we can rely on the great support of the National Library in many other movements.
The secretary read a letter from the Hon. Secretary of the
LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM,
inviting the A. L. A. to be represented at its annual meeting, to be held in Plymouth, England, Aug. 27-30, 1901; and, on recommendation from the Council, it was voted that members of the A. L. A. abroad at the time of the English meeting be authorized to represent the American Library Association on that occasion.
The president announced that the polls would be open for
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
in the library exhibit room at the Fountain House from 8 to 10 Tuesday evening, and that J. I. Wyer and J. G. Moulton would serve as tellers.
In the absence ofF. J. Teggart, chairman, the secretary read the
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN LIBRARIES.
Since its appointment this committee has worked steadily towards the accomplishment of the object of the handbook. Specifically this object is the collection of the statistics, history and bibliography of all libraries in the United States having 10,000 or more volumes on Dec. 31, 1900.
While about 80 per cent. of the circulars sent out in 1899 were returned, the cases in which the bibliographical and historical data was supplied were too few in number to be of much assistance. The work which has therefore fallen on the chairman of this committee is neither more or less than the preparation of a check list of all the publications of American libraries. The need of this work must be apparent to any librarian who considers that there is at present no bibliographical source in which information regarding library publications may be found. The "American catalogue," for example, ignores such publications altogether.
In beginning this work the chairman of your committee indexed the set of theLibrary Journaland all available bulletins and catalogs of libraries for library publications, and cataloged the similar material existing in the libraries of San Francisco. Approximately the list now includes between 8000 and 9000 cards.
This large body of material has been reduced to shape, and the greater part has been typewritten on sheets. What now remains tobe done is that some person conversant with the library literature of a state or city should take the sheets representing that district and carefully compare the entries with the books themselves, supplying omissions and correcting errors. This certainly is no light piece of work, but it is essential to the success of the undertaking.
The historical notices have been prepared in part, but the statistics obtained in 1899 must of necessity be renewed to bring the entire work down to the end of the century.
As the manuscript can be completed by Jan. 1 next, there is every reason to believe that this large piece of work can be presented in completed form to the Association in 1902, with one proviso. When the committee was appointed in 1899 it was given a general authorization to incur expenditure—in fact, without doing so no work could have been done. Again, in 1900, an authorization for expenditure was passed by the Association. Up to the present the chairman of the committee has expended directly on this work on postage and printing about $150. Owing apparently to the general terms in which the authorizations for expenditure were made at previous meetings, the officers of the Association have not so far made any appropriation towards this amount, and it would seem proper that some definite provision should be made by the Association at this meeting to cover a part at least of this expenditure if the handbook is to be considered an "A. L. A." undertaking.
Frederick J. Teggart,Chairman.
C. W. Andrews: As the third member of the committee, I may supplement this report, and state that the matter of obtaining the consent of the Bureau of Education to undertake the publication of this handbook was left to me, and that I have pleasure in informing the Association that there seems every prospect that at least a portion of this material will be published by the Bureau of Education, and that we may hope to have made available in this way a much-needed tool for practical use and a mass of information which cannot fail to be of value outside of this country.
W. I. Fletcher: The matter of the publication of this handbook was referred to the Publishing Board, but if the plan for its publication by the government is carried out, the Publishing Board understands that will take the publication out of its hands. I move that the executive board be requested to inquire into the matter of the expense incurred by Mr. Teggart, and provide for meeting it, if this is found possible.Voted.
The secretary read the by-laws to the constitution, prepared by special committee and adopted by the Council, as follows:
BY-LAWS.§1. The annual dues of the Association shall be $2 for individuals and $5 for libraries and other institutions, payable in advance in January. Members who are one year in arrears shall, after proper notification by the treasurer, be dropped from the roll of membership.§2. Nine members shall constitute a quorum of the Council for the transaction of routine business, but no sections of the Association shall be established and no recommendations relating to library matters shall be promulgated at any meeting at which there are less than 17 members present. The records of the Council, so far as of general interest, shall be printed with the Proceedings of the Association.§3. In case of a vacancy in any office, except that of president, the Executive Board may designate some person to discharge the duties of the samepro tempore.§4. No person shall be president, first or second vice-president, or councillor of the Association for two consecutive terms.§5. The president and secretary, with one other member appointed by the executive board, shall constitute a program committee, which shall, under the supervision of the executive board, arrange the program for each annual meeting and designate persons to prepare papers, open discussions, etc., and shall decide whether any paper which may be offered shall be accepted or rejected, and if accepted, whether it shall be read entire, by abstract or by title. It shall recommend to the executive board printing accepted papers entire, or to such extent as may be considered desirable.§6. The executive board shall appoint annually a committee of five on library training, which shall investigate the whole subject of library schools and courses of study, and report the results of its investigations, with its recommendations.§7. The executive board shall appoint annually a committee of three on library administration, to consider and report improvements in any department of library economy, and make recommendations looking to harmony, uniformity, and co-operation, with a view to economical administration.§8. The executive board shall at each annual meeting of the Association appoint a committee of three on resolutions, which shall prepare and report to the Association suitable resolutions of acknowledgments and thanks. To this committee shall be referred all such resolutions offered in meetings of the Association.§9. The objects of sections which may be established by the Council under the provisions of section 17 of the constitution, shall be discussion, comparison of views, etc., upon subjects of interest to the members. No authority is granted any section to incur expense on the account of the Association or to commit the Association by any declaration of policy. A member of the Association eligible under the rules of the section may become a member thereof by registering his or her name with the secretary of the section.§10. Provisions shall be made by the executive board for sessions of the various sections at annual meetings of the Association, and the programs for the same shall be prepared by the officers of sections in consultation with the program committee. Sessions of sections shall be open to any member of the Association, but no person may vote in any section unless registered as a member of the same. The registered members of each section shall, at the final session of each annual meeting, choose a chairman and secretary, to serve until the close of the next annual meeting.
BY-LAWS.
§1. The annual dues of the Association shall be $2 for individuals and $5 for libraries and other institutions, payable in advance in January. Members who are one year in arrears shall, after proper notification by the treasurer, be dropped from the roll of membership.
§2. Nine members shall constitute a quorum of the Council for the transaction of routine business, but no sections of the Association shall be established and no recommendations relating to library matters shall be promulgated at any meeting at which there are less than 17 members present. The records of the Council, so far as of general interest, shall be printed with the Proceedings of the Association.
§3. In case of a vacancy in any office, except that of president, the Executive Board may designate some person to discharge the duties of the samepro tempore.
§4. No person shall be president, first or second vice-president, or councillor of the Association for two consecutive terms.
§5. The president and secretary, with one other member appointed by the executive board, shall constitute a program committee, which shall, under the supervision of the executive board, arrange the program for each annual meeting and designate persons to prepare papers, open discussions, etc., and shall decide whether any paper which may be offered shall be accepted or rejected, and if accepted, whether it shall be read entire, by abstract or by title. It shall recommend to the executive board printing accepted papers entire, or to such extent as may be considered desirable.
§6. The executive board shall appoint annually a committee of five on library training, which shall investigate the whole subject of library schools and courses of study, and report the results of its investigations, with its recommendations.
§7. The executive board shall appoint annually a committee of three on library administration, to consider and report improvements in any department of library economy, and make recommendations looking to harmony, uniformity, and co-operation, with a view to economical administration.
§8. The executive board shall at each annual meeting of the Association appoint a committee of three on resolutions, which shall prepare and report to the Association suitable resolutions of acknowledgments and thanks. To this committee shall be referred all such resolutions offered in meetings of the Association.
§9. The objects of sections which may be established by the Council under the provisions of section 17 of the constitution, shall be discussion, comparison of views, etc., upon subjects of interest to the members. No authority is granted any section to incur expense on the account of the Association or to commit the Association by any declaration of policy. A member of the Association eligible under the rules of the section may become a member thereof by registering his or her name with the secretary of the section.
§10. Provisions shall be made by the executive board for sessions of the various sections at annual meetings of the Association, and the programs for the same shall be prepared by the officers of sections in consultation with the program committee. Sessions of sections shall be open to any member of the Association, but no person may vote in any section unless registered as a member of the same. The registered members of each section shall, at the final session of each annual meeting, choose a chairman and secretary, to serve until the close of the next annual meeting.
Dr.J. K. Hosmerreported for the committee on
MEMORIAL TO JOHN FISKE.
Dr.Hosmer: The committee to whom this matter was referred thought it best to prepare, instead of a formal preamble and resolution, a minute to be entered upon the Proceedings of the convention. That received the approval of the Council. The minute is as follows:
"The news having reached us of the untimely death of John Fiske, once our professional associate, we, the American Library Association, desire to make record of our profound grief at the departure of a writer who was a dominant force in American literature, and to express our sense that in this passing of a great thinker, historian, and spiritual leader, our land and our time have sustained irreparable loss."
"The news having reached us of the untimely death of John Fiske, once our professional associate, we, the American Library Association, desire to make record of our profound grief at the departure of a writer who was a dominant force in American literature, and to express our sense that in this passing of a great thinker, historian, and spiritual leader, our land and our time have sustained irreparable loss."
PresidentCarr: This minute will be spread upon the record of the Proceedings, having taken the regular course.
CO-OPERATIVE LIST OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS.
C. R. Perry: At the last session of the Children's Librarians' Section action was taken looking towards a co-operative list of books for children. There were some features connected with it that were of such a general character that we thought it essential that the plan come before the Association in general session, to secure proper authority for us to proceed with the work; furthermore, there was no further session of the Children's Librarians' Section, so if a report was made at all it would have to be made to the A. L. A. in general session. The report is as follows:
To the American Library Association:At the last session of the Children's Librarians' Section a committee was appointed to formulate some plan whereby a co-operative list of children's books may be produced, this committee to report at some general session. We now are ready and beg leave to report progress.We have interviewed over 50 members of the A. L. A. within the last two days, and find a general desire for such a list. Moreover, the people interviewed have expressed their willingness to subscribe among themselves a sum of money necessary to cover the cost of preparing such list (postage, typewriting, stationery, printing, etc.).Your committee have found that one or two days are hardly sufficient to enable us to bring our plan into perfection. We desire very strongly to accomplish the results for which we were appointed, and therefore ask for more time. We do respectfully recommend and ask that authority be given to our committee to proceed with the following plan:(1) Committee on co-operative children's list to appoint six people to collect the subscriptions which have been promised.(2) Some one experienced and well-known librarian to be appointed by our committee to undertake the preparation of the said list.(3) When such person has been appointed and has accepted, the money raised to be turned over to that librarian.(4) Our committee to suggest to the person undertaking this work a plan whereby not only may be secured the approval or disapproval of librarians and teachers as to the books of the tentative list, but also a report as to the manner in which these books have been received by the children in all parts of the nation.(5) A final and definite report to be submitted at the next conference. This report to include the books generally accepted and those rejected as well.Respectfully submitted,Chesley R. Perry,Chairman,J. C. Dana,Eliza G. Browning
To the American Library Association:
At the last session of the Children's Librarians' Section a committee was appointed to formulate some plan whereby a co-operative list of children's books may be produced, this committee to report at some general session. We now are ready and beg leave to report progress.
We have interviewed over 50 members of the A. L. A. within the last two days, and find a general desire for such a list. Moreover, the people interviewed have expressed their willingness to subscribe among themselves a sum of money necessary to cover the cost of preparing such list (postage, typewriting, stationery, printing, etc.).
Your committee have found that one or two days are hardly sufficient to enable us to bring our plan into perfection. We desire very strongly to accomplish the results for which we were appointed, and therefore ask for more time. We do respectfully recommend and ask that authority be given to our committee to proceed with the following plan:
(1) Committee on co-operative children's list to appoint six people to collect the subscriptions which have been promised.(2) Some one experienced and well-known librarian to be appointed by our committee to undertake the preparation of the said list.(3) When such person has been appointed and has accepted, the money raised to be turned over to that librarian.(4) Our committee to suggest to the person undertaking this work a plan whereby not only may be secured the approval or disapproval of librarians and teachers as to the books of the tentative list, but also a report as to the manner in which these books have been received by the children in all parts of the nation.(5) A final and definite report to be submitted at the next conference. This report to include the books generally accepted and those rejected as well.
(1) Committee on co-operative children's list to appoint six people to collect the subscriptions which have been promised.
(2) Some one experienced and well-known librarian to be appointed by our committee to undertake the preparation of the said list.
(3) When such person has been appointed and has accepted, the money raised to be turned over to that librarian.
(4) Our committee to suggest to the person undertaking this work a plan whereby not only may be secured the approval or disapproval of librarians and teachers as to the books of the tentative list, but also a report as to the manner in which these books have been received by the children in all parts of the nation.
(5) A final and definite report to be submitted at the next conference. This report to include the books generally accepted and those rejected as well.
Respectfully submitted,
PresidentCarr: This report comes before you in the nature of a recommendation, and suitable action would be to move that the Association appoint a general committee to carry out the recommendations of the report. That committee might consist of the members of the present committee, who drew this report—Mr. Perry, Mr. Dana and Miss Browning.
R. R. Bowker: Is not this a matter which should come under the jurisdiction of the Publishing Board? It would then give this proposed committee somewhat the relation to the Publishing Board that is borne by the advisory committee on printed catalog cards. Otherwise we might have a confusion of results.
Mr.Perry: That matter was discussed, but we felt that we were preparing something which at the next convention might be submitted to the Association, and then referred to the Publishing Board. We are not expecting to prepare a list for general printing and circulation, but a list which may be brought up at the next conference as something definite to be referred to the Publishing Board.
It wasVoted,That the committee acting for the Children's Librarians' Section be appointed to carry out the work outlined.
PRINTED CATALOG CARDS.
Herbert Putnam: I ask your indulgence, Mr. President, for a few words. The readiness of the Library of Congress to take up the work of supplying printed cards has been stated. For the Library of Congress, I wish to say that we do not repudiate anything of what has been stated as to our readiness; it must be understood, however, that we are justified in entering upon this undertaking only in case it presents a reasonable probability of success. Now, for that probability three elements are essential. First, some body that should represent judgment and experience, in such co-operative work, and be in touch with the interests at large of the Library Association. That body is furnished by the Publishing Board. Second, there was necessary some office that was directly in relation with the publishers of this country. That office is thePublishers' Weekly,and thePublishers' Weeklyhas generously offered to place at our disposal all of its facilities for securing prompt information as to every recent publication. Third, there is a strong probability that during the first year at least there will be some deficit, while the experiment is merely beginning. That danger has been met. Mr. Bowker, personally, has tendered a guaranty amounting, if necessary, to $1000, to meet the possible deficit of the undertaking during the present calendar year. Repudiating nothing of what has been said about the readiness of the Library of Congress to serve in this undertaking, I nevertheless wish this matter to appear in its proper proportions, and we should not be willing to have these other elements overlooked.
In the absence ofThorvald Solberg,J. C. Hansonread Mr. Solberg's paper on
BOOK COPYRIGHT.
(Seep. 24.)
George Ilesread a paper on
THE TRUSTEESHIP OF LITERATURE.
(Seep. 16.)
Mr.Iles: I may add, that when I was in England three years ago and talked about this scheme, one or two asked me, "Who is going to meet your libel suits?" I explained that there was already a very large body of responsible critics who contribute in this country, especially in this field; as, for instance, the critics of theAmerican Historical Review,and the notes that I have in mind are very much of the color of the notes one reads in such reviews—not many of them very black, not many of them very white; most of them a whitey brown. I have never heard yet of any libel suits against the editors of theAmerican Historical Review,even when their reviews have not been particularly amiable. I do not think we need to dread any litigation. Mr. Larned went to work in organizing his staff of contributors with great caution and good judgment. He did not choose them from any one particular university, but when he heard that at University "A" there was a man who was acknowledged to know the literature of the Columbian period of American history better than anybody else, he sought to enlist that man. And Mr. Larned has been limited, of course, in various ways that you can readily understand, as for instance whensometimes a contributor has given him notes which he has felt obliged to discard. And let me say also that in the main the most important work has been done by the professors of history in the colleges and universities, except for the period of the Civil War, where the late General Cox, who had made a special study of that field, was his contributor. Mr. Larned's idea is simply to find throughout this country in any particular field—the Civil War period, or the pre-Columbian period, or the settlement of the Northwest period, or the war of 1812—the most authoritative and trustworthy man and enlarge his audience to take in all the readers and students in this country, instead of having him speak merely to the students of a particular university or to the readers of a particular review.
Dr.Richard T. Elyread a paper on the same subject.
(Seep. 22.)
Mr.Bowker: Can't we have a word from Mr. Thwaites on this question?
R. G. Thwaites: I do not suppose I ought to speak on this matter, for I am one of Mr. Larned's contributors. I have done a good deal of annotation, or evaluation, of this sort, upon request; I have a fair acquaintance with reviewers, and have done a good deal of reviewing myself. I know the limitations of reviewers, and there is, I think, a great deal of truth in what Dr. Ely says. I always want to know, when I read a review, who wrote the review; after I know the individual who has written the review, I make up my mind more or less regarding its verdict. Often, in writing annotations for this work of Mr. Larned's I have felt the very serious responsibility which rested upon me as an individual contributor, in seeming to crystallize judgment for generations perhaps—if this book is to be used for generations—and the possible harm that might result from such crystallization. I know that my point of view will be entirely different from another man's point of view. You take four or five men and ask them to write a note on the same book for this annotated list, and you will have four or five different judgments—absolutely, radically different. It is perhaps, a dangerous thing to crystallize these judgments; and yet, after all, I sympathize very greatly with Mr. Iles' position. I think the thing should be done. Librarians are asked for such judgments all the time. All of us who write text-books are continually asked for annotated bibliographies for students to follow, and we are always passing judgments—other people might call them "snap" judgments—upon various books. Great wisdom is necessary in this matter. For instance, the other day Mr. Larned sent a note to two of us who are contributing to this annotated bibliography. It happened through some editorial mistake that two notes, asking for comment on a certain book, were written to different individuals. It was Dr. Davis Dewey, of the Institute of Technology, who happened to cross my path and wrote a note on the same book. Now we had two absolutely different opinions about this book. And yet it was very natural. I had looked at this book as the story of an exploring tour down the Mississippi valley; he had looked at it as a study in sociology from an economic standpoint. It was exceedingly interesting from my standpoint; it was filled with fallacies and whims from the standpoint of an economist and sociologist. Well, I threw up my note and let his stand. What are we going to do about it? Some work of this kind ought to be done, because it is most useful; but after all, I think Dr. Ely's word of warning is one that we should take to heart very thoroughly. Personally I really don't know whether we ought to "evaluate" literature or not; and yet I am doing it all the time.
Mr.Iles: We expect that this bibliography of Mr. Larned's, and any others in the same series which may follow, will appear also in card form, and I very much desire when the central bureau finds that a particular note can be replaced by a better one, in the light of further developments, that that particular note should be withdrawn, and a better and more nearly just note be substituted; all gratuitously to the subscribing libraries.
F. M. Crunden: I realize the force of what Dr. Ely has said, but I still believe that this work is worth doing, because it is exceedingly valuable to us. We have got to have some guide. We cannot all of us read in all lines and so far as the contradictory notes referred to go, it seems to me that all that was necessary was for the editor to apply to those twodivergent notes just the remark that Mr. Thwaites made—that one was written from the standpoint of the sociologist and economist, the other from that of the historian and geographer. From one side it was a good book; from the other side a bad book.
Mr.Putnam: I speak on such a subject as this with very great reluctance, and yet, as a librarian who has had occasion in times past to select—I do not have so much occasion now, because so much matter comes to us without inspection—I wish to draw a distinction between selection and exclusion. Now, when Dr. Ely speaks of anindex librorum prohibitorumor anindex expurgatorius,the implication is that the libraries of this country, on advice or of their own motion without advice, are deliberately excluding from their collection books of which they disapprove. The librarian, however, approaches the matter in an entirely different way. He has at his disposal, for purchase, a very limited sum of money; a very limited sum of money, no matter how large his library, for the amount of literature put upon the market is practically limitless. Men of science themselves, after contending for liberty of expression, do not always use that liberty with discretion or to the advantage of the community. Now, there must be a selection. That is the point we start from as librarians; that is the duty laid upon us—to get, with the means at our command, the books that will be most useful to our constituents. Now, that means choice. How are we to make a choice? I do not believe there is a librarian in the United States who would set himself up as an arbiter or an expert in every department of literature; who would claim to determine the value of doctrine, either in religion or in economics, the two departments of literature as to which the discrimination must be most difficult and most dangerous; and yet even in those departments we must choose. That means a selection. What is the alternative, in case we have no guide? What would Dr. Ely offer us? Dr. Ely, of course, as any university professor, has his students, who are studying not merely one subject in which they wish to get the best and final opinion, but all opinions, from which they are to draw conclusions. Now, the duty of the librarian is simply to represent all opinions, and not his own opinion, or his notion of the best opinion, or somebody else's notion of the best opinion; but, given a doctrine which is important, which is attracting attention, he assumes that this doctrine must be represented in his collection. It is only a question of what represents this doctrine best—not whether the doctrine is right or wrong. If there is a book regarding which there are two opinions, the appraisal may give the two opinions, as all appraisals should, so far as it can be done. The substance of what I wish to say is this: our duty is not one of exclusion; it is one of selection, and that fact is as little understood as any element in library administration to-day—and I am sorry to say that the misunderstanding is apt to be countenanced by the librarian. Take for instance the case of the Boston Public Library, berated all over the country for excluding certain books from its collection. Now, the Boston Public Library deliberately excludes, to my knowledge, almost no book. Its process is of selection. It receives about seven hundred volumes of recent fiction a year, to consider for purchase. It believes that it is for the best interests of its constituents to buy less than two hundred titles and multiply copies. Now, how is it going to dispose of the other five hundred? They are neither rebuked, disapproved of or placed in an index. They are simply left out, because in the process of selection, the first two hundred seem most useful for the purpose of the library.
Dr.Ely: I was not thinking about the librarians in my remarks. They must, of course, make their selections of books, but what I had in mind was the bringing, especially in the form of a card catalog, these judgments and these appraisals before the reading public all over the entire country, and so possibly forming opinion, along one line. Formerly librarians have had a great many facilities to aid them in making this selection of which Mr. Putnam has spoken. They have had the various periodicals with their reviews; they could read these and base their selections upon these. I had especially in mind the objections to crystallizing opinion and bringing a one-sided opinion, or one kind of an opinion, before the entire United States, instead of having opinions of one sort in oneplace and opinions of another sort in another place. Also, it is the impartial nature, or the apparently impartial nature, of the proposed "evaluations" which seems to me especially objectionable. Of course, in our college classrooms, we give our estimates of books, but Professor A will give one estimate, and then the students go to Professor B's class-room, and they hear another estimate, so that they soon learn the personal inclinations and preferences of the various professors, and can soon offer some explanation of the conditions and the circumstances under which these estimates are formed. And the views expressed in one university are criticised very largely by another university. Not so I take it with the person who ordinarily consults the card catalog of a public library.
R. R. Bowker: May I take a moment from my own paper to say just a word on this subject? Questions are asked of the librarians, and they must be answered. To answer them in the fullest light instead of the scantiest is, as I understand, the purpose of what Mr. Iles calls "evaluation." If Miss Smith—I think there are six of her, so that my remarks are not personal—comes from the library school, or after the library school training, to a public library desk, she is sure to be asked questions, we will say, in American history. There may be an information clerk to refer them to, or there may not; but, as I understand, this work of Mr. Iles is intended, not to exclude other sources of information, but to give Miss Smith opportunity to inquire and obtain the best and widest available information as to the character of a particular book, or as to its rating. If this book were to be the sole and exclusive authority, then of course we might have a censorship in literature, but I do not understand that in the minds of the promotors of this plan there is any such design to make an exclusive and solely authoritative work.
W. Millard Palmerread a paper on
THE RELATIONSHIP OF PUBLISHERS, BOOKSELLERS, AND LIBRARIANS.
(Seep. 31.)
R. R. Bowker: There is, or should be, I take it, a large purpose common to all who have to deal with books, as intermediaries between the author and the reader, whether from the altruistic side, as the librarian, or from the commercial side, as the publisher and bookseller. We are familiar with one expression of that purpose, to get "the best reading for the largest number at the least cost"; and I, for one, am firmly of the opinion that that function is properly shared by the two classes of whom I have spoken, that they are not in competition but in co-operation; I mean the librarian and the bookseller. It is a narrow view, it would seem, which puts the two in opposition, or even in the position of competitors. And just as it seems that the bookseller is wrong in feeling that the librarian is interfering with his business, so I think it is wrong for the librarian to feel that the bookseller should in any way be limited or hampered or belittled in his kind of work of getting books to the people. It seems to me a truism, indeed, that there is one thing better than a book loaned, and that is a book owned. The ideal library community is, after all, one in which the people are so well supplied with books in their own homes that the function of the library is not so much a great circulation, however fine that may look in the statistics, but rather that of guide and helper to readers in the selection, and, if you please, in the "evaluation" of books. The board of health in a city or in a state is, perhaps, a fair illustration of the final function of the librarian; a health board, in its ideal, is a body to promote sanitation, to warn people against errors, to get rid of the mistake that tuberculosis is a hereditary disease from which people have to suffer, instead of one which is communicated and which can be avoided; rather than a body to furnish free medical attendance like a dispensary. So I start with the proposition, that it is desirable for librarians, for public librarians, as such, to encourage most of all the formation and owning of private libraries throughout their bailiwicks.
Now, there has been one difficulty of late years in bringing about this result, in the most effective way, and that difficulty has been felt not only in this country, but throughout most countries—the fact that competition, not in quality but in "cut rate" price, has practically taken away the living of the commercial intermediary in the distribution of books, the hire of the laborer who is working in that particular vineyard. That has been true in Germany, in France, in England, and in this country. It has not prevented the sale of books; itseemsnot to have limited the sale of books; but it is probably true that the dissemination of the best literature among the mass of the people, in private libraries, while it has been immensely improved by the library system, has not been promoted by the bookselling system under present conditions as it should be. In Germany, a movement has been on foot for a few years past, and has been quite successful, to give that particular kind of librarian, the bookseller, a fee more worthy of his function; a profit which makes it possible for him to keep that sort of library which is distributed into private libraries,i.e.,the book store. In France a very curious difficulty is in illustration. There the price of books had come to be very low, so low that when a rise in the price of paper came, the publisher's business was found to be almost impossible. The remedy naturally took the shape of a general rise in price, a considerable rise in price in cheaper books, sufficient to meet that particular difficulty and to make possible at the same time a better recompense, a living wage, to the intermediary. Now, the whole tendency of modern industrial development is to get rid of the intermediary as much as possible;i. e.,to have as few steps, of person and of cost, between the producer and the consumer as is practicable. This we may take as fundamental to-day. It remains true, nevertheless, that there must, as a rule, be somebody between the producer and the consumer, between the person in the great manufacturing center and the remote distributing points on the circumference to bring the thing wanted to the person who wants it; and it is only in view of that requirement that the bookseller is to be considered. In that sense, as I have said, he seems a complement of the librarian, and the book store the complement of the library. Now, a librarian cannot live without salary, though many live on very small salaries, in the hope of better things—and one of the accomplishments of the American Library Association has been to bring better things to the librarian. Both the dignity and the emolument of the library profession have been, I believe, increased greatly by the existence of this Association. The librarian receives a salary, and it is not true, as we all know, that books can be circulated freely from public libraries in the sense of their being circulated without cost. Indeed, we have occasion to lament often that the cost of circulating a single volume is so great. It is a fair question whether the cost of shelving, preparing for the public, and in many cases, of circulating a volume, is not greater than the fee which the bookseller asks as his profit, his wage in transferring that volume from the publisher to the reader. Therefore it seems to me that the suggestion of which Mr. Dewey is the apostle, that the public library should take the place of the book store, that it should exhibit recent books to the public and take the public's orders for those books, rests both on an economic and on a social fallacy. In a word, work cannot be done for nothing, and whether that work is paid for by the public in the shape of salaries or by the private buyer in the shape of profits is a matter of comparison.
About the time at which the A. L. A. was organized, in 1876, there was an attempt on the part of the book trade to deal with this question, and at Philadelphia, in 1876, a meeting was held at which a reform plan was initiated. That plan, it seemed to me then as it seems to me now, involved a fundamental mistake, in that it did not deal with the question of published prices. It is evident that books cannot be increased in price, unless there is a specific reason in the price of paper or some such reason, without interference with their sale and wide distribution. It is poor policy for the publisher to limit the sale of his ware by putting a higher price on it than the traffic will bear. At that meeting it was proposed not to alter the published prices of books, but to recognize formally the custom of giving twenty per cent. discount to the retail buyer. The reform proceeded upon that basis, and the system presently broke down. Within a year past there have been shaped two organizations, the American Publishers' Association and the American Booksellers' Association, which are working in harmony on another plan. That plan is that new books, new copyright books (fiction and somespecial classes excepted for the time), should be published at a price which recognizes the fact that the published price hitherto has not been the real or standard price. In other words, a book which was priced at $1.50 it is expected to publish at twenty per cent., more or less, below that price, and to make a $1.50 book, say, $1.25 or $1.20; a $2 book $1.60 or $1.50, and a $1 book 75 or 80 cents. This plan recognizes the existing situation, and the proposal is that the plan shall be enforced by the publishers declining to supply books to booksellers who fail to maintain those standard prices. The plan has worked out with other classes of specially owned articles, in that respect similar to books, and it has worked with fair success.
There is only one exception which the bookseller is permitted under the proposed regulations to make, and that is a discount to the library. That discount is limited to ten per cent., and I think it should fairly be stated that this may increase, perhaps by five or ten per cent., the actual prices which some libraries, at least, have been paying for their books. That is a disadvantage from the library point of view which must be faced. I do not know that it will increase the price in the case of libraries generally. In the case of the public, it has been true that while many have paid the lower price for the books, others have been asked the full published price, so that there has been an inequality of price where the person best equipped in one sense, least equipped in another, has had the advantage of the lower price. In other words, the person who had most books and knew most about them, got the book at a very low price, and the person who was really most in need of the book, because he knew less, had to pay the full price for it. I do not believe myself that that is the right or a good way of doing business. It would not be the method which you would permit in libraries, of treating one person differently from another, because the fundamental proposition of this Association is that the public should be treated equally and justly. Take it altogether, I for one believe that although in some cases there may be this slight rise in cost to the library, the whole library situation, or, I should say, the whole book situation, would be so much improved by the proposed change that it would be to the general advantage of the libraries to suffer that specific disadvantage.
Nevertheless, there is a good deal of grasping in human nature, and it might be very wise for the American Library Association, in one sense representing the public, to come into official relation with this matter and be the guardian of the buying interests, to the extent of making sure that there is a real reduction in the prices of books on this scheme. The large-minded publishers will doubtless see their interests in making the reduction throughout on the copyright books which are to be published on this plan. There are others who may not see this advantage, and who may attempt, under the new plan, to set as high a price on the book as under the old plan. If we had a committee of this Association on relations with the book trade, it might be possible for such a committee, known to be on the alert, to prevent or remedy cases of that sort, and I trust such a committee will be appointed by this body, or by its Council, as I shall take the liberty of moving.
I should feel some hesitancy in speaking to this Association from the two points of view, of relation with the book trade and of relation with the library interests;i.e.,of speaking as the editor of thePublishers' Weeklyand as the editor of theLibrary Journal,but for the fact that I believe the interests to be one. I may, however, make the personal explanation that while it seems to me that a journalist cannot write that in which he does not believe, on the other hand, a journalist who is responsible for the conduct of a representative journal cannot interpolate his own opinion to the exclusion of the opinion of the class whom he is supposed to represent; for that reason I have taken the position in my own office that in case the library interests should come in conflict with the publishing interests, I will give over that particular subject to some librarian, who, using the editorial columns of theLibrary Journal,will represent distinctively, free from any interest in the book trade, the views of the Library Association and of the library interests at large. I take this opportunity to say that in case the opinion of this Association is adverse to the plan which I have been outlining, theLibrary Journalwill take thatcourse in presenting fairly and fully the views of the profession. When the whole question is threshed out; when such a committee has discussed, perhaps with the publishers' association itself, whether there should not be a somewhat greater discount to the librarian, to equalize the old rates; when such a committee expostulates with individual publishers against an abuse of this plan, I believe that the result will be, on the whole, to promote the wide and useful dissemination of books, and I trust that any action which is taken, if action should be taken by the Association or by its Council, will be in view of the wider co-operation in which these two interests should work. Let me remind you that the bookseller cannot live without earning his living any more than the librarian, and it is not quite fair perhaps for those of us who are protected by salaries to impeach the fair living which the bookseller earns in another way. The book store should exist in every community, alongside the library. We know as a matter of fact that even our large cities, certainly our small cities, even more our towns, are very ill equipped with book stores; that in many places they are notable for their absence rather than for their presence. This element of active work in the distribution of books should, I believe, come back more to our American life. It cannot come back, apparently, under present conditions, and any movement, it seems to me, should have the helping hand of the A. L. A. that tends to put the American bookseller on a plane with the librarian as an agent for the dissemination of the best books at the least cost to the most people, and I emphasize "at the least cost," meaning the least cost at which the service can be rightfully performed.