WOOD-WORKING SHOP 



In September, the carpenter shop was equipped with motor and 

 wood-working machines which will improve the quality and greatly 

 reduce the cost of case construction and other shopwork. These 

 machines have been needed for several years, but the condition 

 of the general account has not warranted their purchase earlier. 

 As soon as the building repairs are completed, case construction 

 will proceed more rapidly than in the past. It will now be a 

 question only of how rapidly funds for the purchase of plate 

 glass and lumber can be made available. The working depart- 

 ments are all well equipped and the entire organization can be 

 concentrated upon installation in the exhibition hall. 



THE LIBRARY 



Gratifying progress in binding, rearrangement of shelves and 

 cataloging was made in May and June, and a new stock of pam- 

 phlet binders was purchased in July in order that this work may 

 be continued. 



The development of a library of approximately five thousand 

 volumes with very limited funds has been one of the remarkable 

 achievements of the past ten years. The problems involved in 

 the proper cataloging and arrangement of these books are those 

 of a large library, for our books are confined to subjects treated 

 by the Museum and are of a highly technical character. The 

 reference systems have had to be planned slowly and with great 

 care in order to meet future needs. The great diflficulty, how- 

 ever, in the organization of the library has been that the staff 

 has been called upon so constantly for services in other depart- 

 ments that it has been extremely difficult to keep up routine 

 technical work. 



Miss Laura M. Bragg, curator of books and public instruction, 

 was taken seriously ill in Yonkers, N. Y., at the very beginning of 

 her vacation. She was absent from the Museum through Sep- 

 tember and has not fully regained her strength, but is planning 

 the winter's work with her accustomed enthusiasm. 



