78 



M\ 



100 YEARS EXPLORING LIFE, 1888-1988 



Cornelia Clapp, early librarian, shown here circa 1933 with the 

 board of trustees, of which she was a longstanding member. 



roundings in the new Crane Building. They used a wheelbarrow to haul all 

 the books across the street. For the first time someone was actually paid to 

 run the library. In 1919 Priscilla Montgomery took the assistantship role. 

 She became librarian in 1925 and continued in that position for many years. 

 The widowed wife of University of Pennsylvania cytologist T. H. Montgomery, 

 she was part of the MBL community and understood what the scientists 

 wanted. 



During that time, the library and its holdings continued to expand, even 

 during World War II, and moved into larger quarters in the new Lillie 

 Building when it opened. A section of that building was specially designed 

 for stack floors. There the library remains, now complete with up-to-date 

 computerized interlibrary loan and other searching services. Further ex- 

 pansions and additions have continued to help the facilities keep pace with 

 demand, more or less. 



Open windows bring in the fog, which threatens tlie books at times, but 

 the staflF keeps tlie books and bound periodicals in order, properly on the 

 shelves, and in good condition so that the volumes are often in fai- better 

 shape than those in a fancy, environmentally conti-olled setting where they 

 are never used. Leather-bound books like to be handled, and respectful use 

 over the century has caused little damage beyond normal wear. The greatest 



