REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1013. Ill 



The main reading and consulting room has also a gallery contmuous 

 with that in the smaller room and of the same width and floor con- 

 struction, which extends along the three walls other than that occu- 

 pied by the windows. The space above it is filled with wall book- 

 stacks of the standard pattern and size. Below the gallery the stacks 

 are the same on the east side, but on the south and west sides they 

 are deepened to 16f inches and modified to accommodate the cata- 

 logue cases. Beginning at the top of a shelf space, 1 foot 9^ inches 

 above the floor, are the series of compartments for the cards, followed 

 above by another open shelf space, 2 feet 4^ inches high to the under 

 side of the gallery. The catalogue cases are, with one exception, of 

 a size to receive 7 drawers in height and 5 in width adapted to the 

 standard 5 by 3-inch cards. There are 8 of these cases on the south 

 wall and 6 on the west wall, with an additional case of the same height 

 but only 4 drawers wide. Their aggregate capacity is 518 drawers, 

 all of which can be conveniently reached from the floor. The drawers 

 operate on cushioned slides, and securing rods are used. They hold 

 about 1,000 cards each. Extendmg along the bottom line of these 

 cases is a continuous projecting metal shelf or rest 9 inches wide. 



Each of the two windows in the room will have, attached to the 

 frame and sill, two oak shelves, divided into low compartments, for 

 laying out the periodicals as received pending their assignment. 

 The room also contains two large reading tables, measuring 6 by 8 

 feet. The entire library space above described is provided with a 

 very complete and convenient arrangement of electric lighting. 



The office or preparatory room, which is separated from the library 

 proper only by a corridor, contains no gallery, but is fitted up with 

 standard cases, 7 feet 6 inches high, which occupy most of the wall 

 space and form two stacks extending partway across the room, 

 dividing it into three sections or alcoves. The other furnishings 

 consist of plain office furniture and such accessories as are needed for 

 the preparation, cataloguing, etc., of the books before they are placed 

 on the library shelves. The aggregate length of the shelving in all 

 four rooms is approximately 5,663 feet. 



The library space in the older Museum building is being used with- 

 out material change, though one of the rooms, containing 610 square 

 feet, has been assigned to the sectional library of admmistration. It 

 consists of the groimd floor and two galleries of a large room adjoining 

 the northwest pavUion, and an enclosed gallery extendmg along two 

 sides of the west north range, with a total floor area of 2,814 square 

 feet. The furnishings, which are partly of wood and partly of metal, 

 are of old and simple patterns, but the quarters as a whole are suitable 

 and convenient for their present purpose. 

 32377°— NAT Mus 1913 8 



