108 REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1913. 



regard has consisted of the Museum's own publications, constituting 

 an important asset for exchange, through which have been secured 

 the publications of most of the scientific institutions of the world, and 

 also those of many individuals. The hbrary has likewise been fortu- 

 nate in receiving a large number of donations, and while some of these 

 have come from friends not connected with the Museum, the most 

 constant contributors have been members of its staff. Notwithstand- 

 ing these several sources of acquisition, however, there are many very 

 necessary books published privately from year to year which, under 

 present conditions, must continue to be classed as important desid- 

 erata. 



Maintained solely for promoting the work of the Museum, the 

 Hbrary is administered with special reference to the convenience of 

 the staff, and besides the central rooms in which are kept all general 

 works and those treating of two or more subjects, each division and 

 each principal office is allowed to have in its immediate possession 

 such of the pubhcations relating wholly to its province as may be 

 desired. These several branch collections, of which there are 33 at 

 present, are known as sectional libraries. They are imder the super- 

 vision of the main library, from which the books assigned to them are 

 withdrawn as by any borrower and with the same responsibilities. 



With the moving of the collections of anthropology, zoology, and 

 geology, it was important that the books relating to the same subjects 

 be also transferred to the new building. This has now been done, 

 leaving the pubhcations on the arts and industries and history in the 

 older building, and likewise the botanical library, which is there most 

 conveniently located for the division of plants. In view, moreover, 

 of the more ample accommodations afforded by the new building and 

 the fact that the larger proportion of the pubhcations were included 

 in the transfer, it has seemed best that the library there estabhshed 

 should be the central one for the receipt, recording, cataloguing and 

 distribution of all books and for all other preparatory work, and this 

 plan has been carried out. 



The equipment of the library space in the new building having been 

 completed early in the autumn of 1912, the moving was begun about 

 the middle of October, and, including the placing of the books on the 

 shelves, was finished in the course of a month. Wliile much still re- 

 mained to be done in the matter of verifying and perfecting the 

 arrangement, at no time was there any serious interruption in the use 

 of the hbrary or in the continuity of its relations to the sectional 

 branches. The rearrangement and cataloguing of the pubhcations 

 left in the older building were also taken up and well advanced by the 

 close of the year. 



The library received 1,690 books, 2,213 pamphlets and 159 parts of 

 volumes during last year, and contains at present 43,692 volumes and 



