transactions should be prepared for the binder, together with 
many paper-covered books and pamphlets which are worthy of 
a permanent place in our classified groups. 
Summary of Work 
Summing up in brief the work of this department for 1915, 
it must be said that while the amount accomplished falls short 
of what was planned, yet in the lack of a full-time library 
assistant perhaps little more could have been done. 
In addition to accessioning and putting through the various 
processes of the library mill the 771 volumes and 2,235 pamphlets 
received in 1915, we have entered about 1,356 single numbers of 
current publications which are received monthly, weekly or daily, 
making a total of 4,362 fresh publications which have passed 
through our hands this year. Moreover, the 3,514 publications 
received in 1914 had to be in part entered, and in part examined 
for statistics, besides the 2,000 pamphlets already in the library, 
so that more than 9,800 publications have been worked over 
during the year. 
The accession catalog, which records books in the chronolog- 
ical order of their receipt, has been brought down to date, cover- 
ing the entry of 1,898 volumes. The last entry which had been 
made was on March 17, 1914, so that our year’s record includes 
the accessioning of all books received between that date and De- 
cember 31, 1915. Small lots can now be entered on the day of 
receipt, unless there is an unusual pressure of library work, and 
larger collections within a few days after receipt. 
The system of classification outlined during the administration 
of Miss Stelle has this year been worked out in detail, and all 
bound books have been classified, or re-classified, and shelf-listed, 
except the sets of periodicals and society transactions. It is felt 
that a highly-specialized library like that of the Brooklyn Botanic 
Garden should have a classification sufficiently elastic to permit 
of expansion in all departments, and in assigning class numbers 
the future growth of the library has always been kept in mind 
even at the risk of making a call number less simple in its nota- 
tion than the needs of the present moment demand. A shelf- 
