428 



LIBRARY ECONOMY, PROGRESS OP. 



volume contains only those of 1 ? 000 volumes and over. 

 To make a comparison, therefore, between the two 

 it is necessary to deduct from the list of 1885 all 

 libraries so small as to be excluded from the list of 

 1893. Omitting these, the report for 1885 contained 

 '2,987 libraries. The present report gi ves 3,804, or an 

 increase of over 27 per cent. The proportion of 

 growth averages nearly 2,000 volumes to each library, 

 or an increase in books of P>6 per cent. In other words, 

 in less than a decade the number of books accessible 

 to readers has increased 12,000,000, or rather more 

 than 1 book to every 6 inhabitants. 



In the main list, which fills all but 33 pages of the 

 report, the information is entered under the following 

 heads: State and post-office; name of library; 

 founded; own or rent ouilding; how supported tax- 

 ation, rent, corporation, fees; circulating, reference, or 

 both ; free or subscription ; class general, theologic- 

 al, school, college, society, medical, law, etc. ; num- 

 ber of bound volumes; number of unbound pam- 

 phlets ; number of bound volumes added during 1891 ; 

 number of unbound pamphlets added during 1891 ; 

 number of volumes issued for home use ; number of 

 volumes issued for use within the library ; amount 

 received from taxation, 1891 ; amount received from 

 other sources ; amount of permanent endowment ; 

 amount expended for books in 1891 ; value of build- 

 ing ; librarian or reporting officer. 



Mr. Flint, in his introduction, has tabulated a most 

 interesting series of statistics, covering the following 

 subjects : Statement of statistics of libraries in the 

 United States in former reports, 1870-'90; libraries 

 in the United States in 1891 of 1,000 volumes and 

 over, summary of statistics of, classification according 

 to size summary of statistics as to support of libraries 

 in the United States ; summary of statistics of libra- 

 ries in the United States as to ownership of build- 

 ings, circulating or reference, free or subscription, etc. ; 

 summary of statistics of libraries as to class ; general 

 summary of statistics of libraries in the United States 

 as to number of volumes, population to library, and 

 books to every 100 of the population in 1891 ; distri- 

 bution of libraries in the United States, and the num- 

 ber of volumes, by geographical divisions; increase 

 in number and size of libraries from 1885 to 1891 ; 

 general summary of statistics of number of libraries, 

 volumes, population to library, and books to every 100 

 of tne population, in 1885 ; increase in number of libra- 

 ries from 1885 to 1891 ; increase in number of vol- 

 umes in libraries from 1885 to 1891 ; increase in aver- 

 age size of libraries from 1885 to 1891 ; decrease of 

 population to a library from 1885 to 1891 ; increase in 

 number of books to every 100 of the population from 

 1885 to 1891, with percentages ; summary of statistics 

 of libraries of the Dominion of Canada for 1891, by 

 provinces; classification of libraries in Canada, by 

 provinces ; statistics, by provinces, showing how libra- 

 ries in Canada are supported; summary, by prov- 

 inces, showing whether or not fees are charged in the 



libraries of Canada; summary, by provinces, showing 

 the number of libraries in Canada that are reference, 

 or circulating, or both ; detailed statistics of libraries 

 of over 1,000 volumes in the United States in 1891, arr 

 ranged by States and Territories. 



There are now 25 libraries in the country exceeding 

 100,000 volumes, and 65 exceeding 50,000. In the 

 total libraries of over 1,000 volumes, half are in the 

 division called in the report "the North Atlantic," 

 which includes the New England States, New York, 

 New Jersey, and Pennsylvania ; and an even greater 

 proportion is shown in the relative number of books 

 in these various divisions, the North Atlantic having 

 over 16,500,000 of the total of 31,000,000. Other 

 figures under these groupings show even more Strongly 

 this condition. Thus, omitting fractions, every 9,000 

 people in the North Atlantic section have a library, 

 while it takes 26,000 in the South Atlantic, 42,000 in 

 the South Central, 20,000 in the North Central, and 

 15,000 in the Western division. So also in the aver- 

 age number of books. In the North Atlantic section, 

 to every 100 of population there are 95 books; in the 

 South Atlantic, 48; South Central, 12; North Cen- 

 tral. 33 < and Western division, 53. 



The tables appended are drawn from Mr. 

 Flint's lists, and are presented in this form to 

 show more clearly the provision made by each 

 State for reading for the people, and the respond- 

 ing use made of such provision by the people 

 through a few of the larger libraries. 



The average number of volumes in libraries to 

 every 100 of population is shown in the follow- 

 ing table : 



Minnesota 20 West Virginia 5 



Indiana 25 j Texas 4 



The libraries in the United States of 60,000 

 volumes and over, in 1891, were as follows: 



State and Post-Office. 



NAME OF LIBRARY. 



Bound volumes. 



1. Washington, D. C 



2. Boston, Mass , 



8. Cambridge, Mass 



4. Chicago, 111 



5. New York city, N. Y 



6. New York city, N. Y 



7. New Haven, Conn , 



8. fan Francisco, Cal. . 



9. Chicago, 111 



10. Boston, Mass 



11. Cincinnati, Ohio 



12. Philadelphia, Pa 



13. Philadelphia, Pa 



14. Albany, N. Y 



15. New York city. N. Y 



16. Washington, D. C 



17. Brooklyn, N. Y 



18. Ithaca, N. Y 



19. Baltimore, Md 



20. Detroit, Mich 



21. Baltimore, Md 



Library of Congress 



Public Library 



Harvard University Library 



University of Chicago Library 



Mercantile Library Association 



Astor Library 



Yale College Library 



Sutro Library ". 



Public Library 



Boston Athen*um Library 



Public Library 



Mercantile Library Company 



Library Company of Philadelphia 



New York State Library 



Columbia College Library 



House of Representatives 



Brooklyn Li brary 



Cornell University Library 



Peabody Institute Library 



Public Library 



Enoch Pratt Free Library 



659,848 

 556.288 

 400.332 

 380,000 

 239,793 

 238,946 

 234,500 

 200,000 

 175,974 



mssi 



169,225 

 166,000 

 165,487 

 157,114 

 135,000 

 125,000 

 118,251 

 111,007 

 110,000 

 108.720 

 106,663 



