THE LIBRARY 201 



tialities are as great as those of the school. As our Board of Directors 

 said, in its appeal to the Exposition Directors for a separate library 

 building: ' The library, besides being the most efficient and most 

 economical agency for popular education, represents all the Fair 

 will have to show. It stands for the sum total of human knowledge. 

 It is the instrumentality through which knowledge has been conserved 

 and cumulated. Only through the library can civilization con- 

 tinue to advance. Books are the most potent factors in progress. 

 Without books we should have had no powerful locomotives to show, 

 no wireless telegraphy, no wonder-working machinery, no beautiful 

 buildings, no impressive statuary, no paintings to arouse wonder 

 and yield delight, no World's Fair to draw distinguished scientists 

 and educators from all over the world.' 



" By way of introduction to the comprehensive addresses of the 

 two distinguished delegates who have traveled four or five thous- 

 and miles to lay before this section, and, through publication, before 

 the world, the past history and the present problems of the library, 

 it has seemed to me appropriate that, as chairman, I should present 

 a brief plea for the consideration of the library as one of the greatest 

 factors in human progress. It has existed, though not in its present 

 form or with its present functions, from the dawn of recorded civili- 

 zation. It is itself the record of civilization, and without it there can 

 be no records and no civilization. It is the repository, the custo- 

 dian, the preserver of all the arts and sciences, and the principal 

 means of disseminating all knowledge. With the school and -the 

 church it forms the tripod necessary to the stable equilibrium of 

 society. Let me briefly summarize the functions of the public library. 



" (1) It doubles the value of the public school instruction, on 

 which is expended more than ten times the cost of the library. 



" (2) It enables the children who leave school at an early age 

 (an overwhelming majority) to continue their education while 

 earning their living. It provides for the education of adults who 

 have lacked, or failed to utilize, early opportunities. This is of special 

 importance in a country like the United States, where one of the 

 greatest political problems is the assimilation of a vast influx of 

 ignorant foreigners of all races and languages. 



" (3) It supplies books and periodicals needed for the instruction 

 of artisans, mechanics, manufacturers, engineers, and all others 

 whose work requires technical knowledge l all persons on whom 

 depends the industrial progress of the community. 



" (4) It furnishes information and inspiration to ministers, teach- 

 ers, journalists, authors, physicians, legislators all persons on 



1 The information furnished by a book in the Cincinnati Public Library once 

 saved that city a quarter of a million dollars. This, in numerous instances, but 

 on a smaller scale, is a part of the e very-day work of every library. 



