658 Wisconsin Acaderny of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 



new building, call for a great deal of work in properly arrang- 

 ing and cataloguing the books so as to make them readily avail- 

 able. A good card catalogue should be prepared and kept at the 

 library, and members should be furnished a new printed list of 

 exactly what the library contains. Many of the volumes are 

 still unbound. Before the work of binding can proceed, how- 

 ever, the numbers that are lacking to complete various sets must 

 be secured. Besides looking over the entire library carefully, 

 this will involve considerable work in the way of correspondence. 

 The effort of the Academy should be to get its library into such 

 condition that the treasures which it contains may be readily 

 accessible to all. 



To do the work here outlined requires time and skilled help ; 

 indeed the services of an expert librarian are indispensable for 

 its accomplishment. Again, to issue promptly at any time such 

 books as may be required necessitates the presence of the li- 

 brarian in the library building. An opportunity has now hap- 

 pily presented itself to accomplish all that ought to be done 

 with little or no expense to the Academy beyond what has 

 usually been annually expended for assistance in the library. 

 Since the books have been moved into the new library building 

 Mr. W. M. Smith has kindly consented to act as my deputy in 

 arranging the volumes, acknowledging the receipt of exchanges, 

 etc. On becoming acquainted with the value of the library and 

 its actual needs, he has kindly offered to enter into the work of 

 securing additional exchanges, of completing the sets already 

 at hand and preparing them for the bindery, and of arranging 

 the books systematically on the shelves, and cataloguing them in 

 a proper manner. He has offered further to issue promptly at 

 all times such books as may be wanted, thus making the volumes 

 of the Academy properly accessible for the first time. All this 

 he has offered to do, as already stated, without expense to the 

 Academy beyond what it has been accustomed to pay for cleri- 

 cal services. This Vv'ork on the part of Mr. Smith would be 

 simply a labor of love. The offer has been prompted solely by 

 a sincere desire to make the librarv of use as it should be. 



AVhen I accepted the office of librarian I had but a faint idea 

 of the true condition of the librarv and of the lareie amount of 

 expert work that ought to be done upon it. I must confess 



