DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES 281 



cepted any rubbish that booksellers might offer. Such libra- 

 ries, of course, did not attract readers. In 1892 New York 

 wisely separated school libraries confined to school use under 

 direction of school authorities from town libraries for public 

 use under direction of trustees. 



The century's hbrary history falls into two main periods, 

 the first three quarters and the last quarter. The first was char- 

 acterized by paucity, poverty, slow increase, slow develop- 

 ment of purposes and methods, by conservatism, limitation, 

 and restriction. The latter period shows an astounding in- 

 crease in number and size, money given in an increasing ratio, 

 Hbrary buildings going up all over the land, their suitaljility 

 to their purpose impro\dng, experiments making in adminis- 

 tration, new channels of library influence constantly opening; 

 the collection of books, though no longer considered the main 

 object, going on more rapidly; the use of the books, now re- 

 garded as the supreme consideration, daily spreading in all 

 directions. The causes of this luxuriant growth are many. 

 Chief, no doubt, was the increase in population and wealth, 

 which has at the same time led to the foundation of hosts of 

 new Ubraries and quickened the growth of those planted during 

 the first period. Another cause was the spread of education and 

 culture, furnishing an army of readers, wdth awakened minds. 

 But it is to the librarians that are due the enlarged ideas of the 

 library's mission and the discovery of the quicker and more 

 effective ways of working which, by doubling the reach and 

 power of libraries, have strengthened their hold upon popular 

 favor and reinforced their appeal for philanthropic support. 

 The change began when a hundred Hbrarians met at Phila- 

 delphia during the Centennial exhibition to exchange views 

 and make one another's acquaintance. The Hbrarian of 1876 

 was busy in his ow^n library, and seldom heard what others 

 were doing. There was little spread of professional ideas and 

 no cooperation. The American Library association, which 

 was the result of the Philadelphia meeting, and the Library 

 Journal, founded at the same time, changed all that and 

 brought improvement into every branch of Hbrary economy. 

 A previous convention in 1853, though it promised wtII, came 

 to nothing. The greater success of the meeting of 1876 was 



