the desire to present a centennial report on 

 the development and growth of the library 

 interest, made a special and systematic inquiry 

 a necessity, and it was also thought best "that 

 the result should be accompanied by the sug- 

 gestions and conclusions of librarians and 

 others, whose ability and experience enable 

 them to speak with authority ou library sub- 

 jects.' 1 



The special report named shows the thor- 

 oughness and completeness with which this 

 inquiry was made. Within the twelve hun- 

 dred and more pages of the first part were 

 given not only the history, extent, and condi- 

 tion of the several classes of public libraries in 

 the United States, but there also were formu- 

 lated for the first time the principles of the 

 new science of library economy, these in the 

 second part taking the definite form of Mr. 0. 

 A. Cutter's "Rules for making a Dictionary 

 Catalogue," which has becoaie the standard, 

 and is the only complete authority in this de- 

 partment of literary work. 



This special report supplied to all the libra- 

 rians of the country a text-book of methods 

 and appliances for library management and 

 administration, in which some of the most 

 eminent of their number gave the results of 

 their experience and best thought, and it also 

 revealed to most of them the possibilities of 

 making their profession second to none in its 

 educating power upon the people. The fol- 

 lowing are some of the titles of papers on li- 

 brary economy given in the first part: "Li- 

 brary Buildings" and "Library Memoranda," 

 by Justin Winsor; "The Organization and 

 Management of Public Libraries," by William 

 F. Poole; "Library Catalogues," by C. A. 

 Cutter; "Catalogues and Cataloguing," by 

 Melvil Dewey, S. B. Noyes, Jacob Schwartz, 

 and J. J. Bailey; "Library Bibliography," 

 "Works of Reference for Libraries," "Bind- 

 ing and Preservation of Books," and "Period- 

 ical Literature and Society Publications," by 



A. R. Spofford ; " College Library Adminis- 

 tration " and " Titles of Books," by Prof. O. 

 H. Robinson; and "Library Reports and Sta- 

 tistics," by the editors, S. R. Warren and S. N. 

 Clark, who also wrote on " College Libraries 

 and Free Town Libraries." W. I. Fletcher 

 contributed papers on "Public Libraries in 

 Manufacturing Communities" and "Public 

 Libraries and the Young " ; and Frederick 



B. Perkins, "How to make Town Libraries 

 successful." 



A convention of librarians, probably the 

 first ever held in the world, assembled in New 

 York city in September, 1853, at which eighty 

 librarians and others interested in bibliography 

 were present. It was presided over by Prof. 



C. C. Jewett, of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and according to Dr. William F. Poole, who 

 was one of its members, it " made a lasting 

 impression on the minds of all the librarians 

 who were present, and must be regarded as an 

 era in American bibliography. ... It aroused 



LIBRARY ECONOMY AND STATISTICS. 



475 



a spirit of inquiry and search after better 

 methods." At the close of its sessions it was 

 " Resolved, That this convention be regarded as 

 preliminary to the formation of a permanent 

 Librarians' Association." A committee, with 

 Prof. Jewett as chairman, was appointed to 

 draft a constitution and by-laws, and to pre- 

 sent them at the next meeting of the conven- 

 tion, to be held at Washington City. But that 

 convention never reassembled, and it was 

 twenty-three years afterward, at a conference 

 of librarians held in Philadelphia October 4-6, 

 1876, that the American Library Association 

 was organized, having for its object " exchang- 

 ing views, reaching conclusions, and inducing 

 co-operation in all departments of bibliothecal 

 science and economy." 



The " Library Journal," the first number of 

 which appeared in September of the same 

 year, was made the official organ of the Asso- 

 ciation, and, in addition to its regular contents, 

 the eleven volumes already published contain 

 one hundred and twenty-one papers on topics 

 relating to library economy, read at the eight 

 meetings of the Association which have been 

 held, together with full reports of the proceed- 

 ings and discussions at these meetings, filling 

 in all some 827 pages. These volumes of the 

 " Library Journal " constitute a body of bib- 

 liothecal literature unsurpassed in value and 

 extent, and " accepted as the highest authority 

 in this country as well as in England and on 

 the Continent." Here may be found practical 

 and suggestive discussions on the construction 

 of library-buildings, on the classification of 

 books, on cataloguing with condensed rules 

 for the same, reports on library aids, on read- 

 ing for the young, on libraries and schools, on 

 fiction in libraries, on library legislation, on 

 methods of co-operation (one result being the 

 publication of Poole's " Index " and its current 

 continuation), and all the details of the inter- 

 nal administration of a library. 



The publication of the proceedings of the 

 Philadelphia Conference of Librarians in 1876 

 attracted the attention of English librarians, 

 and in 1877 a number of American librarians, 

 by invitation, attended the International Con- 

 ference of Librarians in London, at which the 

 Library Association of the United Kingdom 

 was founded, modeled after the American As- 

 sociation. Similar associations in Germany 

 and Italy have also been established. A West- 

 ern Library Association was formed, Nov. 22, 

 1881 ; and on June 18, 1885, the New York 

 Library Club was organized, "by consultation 

 and co-operation to increase the usefulness 

 and promote the interests of the libraries of 

 New York and vicinity." The opening of the 

 proposed School of Library Economy at Co- 

 lumbia College, New York city, in January, 

 1887, will mark another important era in the 

 development of the new science. 



Library Economy. In general terms we may 

 say that there are four grand divisions of this 

 subject: 1. Library-buildings; 2. Selection of 



