6io PARKS 



reports for reference purposes and refer to them but rarely except for inter- 

 esting pictures and plans. 



A much more effective distribution of information would be to limit the 

 distribution of annual reports which deal with the achievements of the 

 park departments for the past fiscal year to those particularly interested 

 in that particular park system. For all others, a pamphlet giving information 

 concerning the size, importance, special features, costs and achievements of 

 the park system, would be much more interesting and instructive than 

 mere annual reports. The distribution would naturally be much larger than 

 that of annual reports. 



Some park departments of the country are already issuing general 

 descriptive pamphlets, some of them very beautifully illustrated and others 

 very simply gotten out, giving only statistics and general information. 

 Other departments are actually getting out two sets of booklets, one of 

 them an illustrated booklet with but very brief descriptive matter con- 

 taining over ninety per cent pictures, and the other containing no pictures 

 but all descriptive and statistical matter. Regardless of whether one or 

 two booklets in this class are issued, the information which is compiled is 

 usually of the following classifications: 



A brief history of the city. A brief history of the park and parkway 

 system. A chart of the political organization of the park department. 

 Statistical information which includes the number, size, value of parks as 

 a whole and all sorts of interesting information as well as statistics on the 

 various facilities in the parks such as playgrounds, athletic fields, skating 

 rinks, craft on the lakes, water areas, shore lines, etc. Current expense 

 budget. List of the capital investments made in the last five years. A 

 chart or table comparing park taxes with city taxes. Description of the 

 methods of financing capital investments. A complete list of parks and 

 parkways with their acreage, the year they were acquired, the cost of the 

 department and their location. A listing of historical parks and the inci- 

 dents of history connected with them. A listing of the special points of 

 interest. A list of the statues, tablets and memorials. A listing of the special 

 recreational and entertainment features. An outline of one or more itin- 

 eraries of the park system. A listing of the interesting views from various 

 points of vantage. A few general city statistics and statistics on private 

 enterprises which include the number of railway lines, miles of street car 

 lines, number of factories, wholesale firms, and the value of their output, 

 number of hospitals, churches, theatres, the bank clearings, etc. 



Office libraries. It is probably well understood by park executives that 

 a reasonable number of volumes on specialized subjects should be available 

 to the employees for reference and for study. It is not often that a park 



