408 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903. 



tion,'^ 8 per cent literature, 6 per cent history, 3i per cent travels, 3 

 per cent natural sciences, etc. As many as 684,000 volumes were 

 borrowed from the main library, and 204,000 from the seven deliver}^ 

 stations in the city, which have been established for the convenience 

 of the public, or indirectly through schools or travelino- libraries (see 

 below). In the reading- room, moreover, 37,000 volumes were called 

 for from the main librar3\ Since the opening of the pu])lic library, 

 out of 2,000,000 volumes loaned, about 1,000, to the value of $725, 

 have been lost in two years and a half; the present rules, however, 

 encourage the hope that the number will diminish with time. Oth(n' 

 special arrangements are the following: 



Series of books are loaned to schools for a considerable time, accord- 

 ing to the choice of the teacher. The children take these books home 

 with them. Thus in 1899, 22 primary and secondar}^ schools, with 

 358 classes, received 153,000 volumes and 5,000 pictures. Further, 

 well-selected series, called traveling libraries, are likewise loaned to 

 certain institutions. Thus in 1899, 127 series, with over 1,000 books, 

 were loaned to 28 fire-engine houses, to 7 police stations, and to 5 hos- 

 pitals (for the employees), which in all brought 8,600 into circulation. 



Especial care is also bestowed upon a children's library, which is 

 much frequented. It is for children under 11 years of age. When they 

 come with dirty hands they are sent into the wash room. In a pleas- 

 ant, well-lighted room, with pictures on the walls and adorned with 

 growing plants and cut flowers, 9,000 books are displa3'ed in open wall 

 cases, freely accessible, under proper supervision, to everybody. Four 

 thousand of these books are fiction. In 1899, 115,000 volumes were 

 lent out of this department for home use. Even colored picture 

 books are lent to small children. On Saturday mornings and Sun- 

 day afternoons the assistant in charge spends an hour reading to the 

 children or telling them stories. At Christmas time an exhibition, of 

 l)ooks Avhich are suitable for presents is held and printed price lists 

 tire distri})uted; for example, see List of Books recommended as 

 appropriate for Christmas (iifts to young Folks (November 28, 1898, 

 6 pages), in which is noted the age for which each book is suitable. 

 A library assistant is in attendance to give advice on tiiis matter to 

 visitors. There are also printed reading lists — for example, Ameri- 

 can History for young Folks (4 pages). 



About once a month lists of the new acquisitions are posted on bulle- 

 tins and larger lists are from time to time printed; for example, " No. 

 17, July 1, 1899, recent additions: History and biography, sociologj', ■ 

 science and arts, philosophy and religion, general literature, fiction" 



«The fact must not be lost sight of that such books maybe read much more 

 (luickly than others, and that only good ones are procured. See explanatory 

 remarks on this subject by Herbert Putnam, North American Review, CLXVl, 1898, 

 p. 664. 



