THE soiTii cmiRcii. 27 



were appointed " a committee to examine; tlie Sunday-school 

 library, to see what books are needed, and wliether some books 

 of a higher order may not be useful;" they were also to recom- 

 mend such books as they shall think conducive to tin; interest 

 and welfare of the school. This committee seems to have taken 

 a broader view than simply to provide books for the Sunday- 

 school, for in a few months a collection of nearly four hundred 

 books was secured and catalogued to constitute the " New 

 Britain South Church Congregational Library." The books 

 seem to have been selected for a parish library and intended for 

 older persons than the classes then found in the Sunday-school. 

 Among these books were secular, or political, histories of Amer- 

 ica, Europe, India, China, etc. , books for farmers and for trades 

 and professions, the English dramatists and poets, translations 

 of the Latin and Greek classics, and some religious works. The 

 perusal of these volumes, whether by old or young, must have 

 helped to strengthen character and to train up thoughtful men and 

 women. This library was in use several years, the books being 

 exchanged on week days, or on the evenings of the conference 

 meeting. 



When the first meeting-house was to be moved and the 

 basement rooms where the library was kept were demolished, 

 the books were placed in the rooms of the New Britain Insti- 

 tute. It w^as found that many of the books were missing, and 

 as the Sunday-school library was enlarged, and the town library 

 increased the number of its volumes, there was little demand 

 for the parish library, and it has never been recalled from the 

 Institute. 



The Sunday-school library had received additions of new 

 books from time to time, but some had become worn out or lost, 

 and in 1862, after the library had been carefully renovated, 

 some of the books rebound and new books added, the little 

 twelve-page catalogue published of all the books in the library 

 had titles of only 330 books. Other books were added, and in 

 1868, another catalogue, three and a half inches by two in size, 

 with twenty-two pages, and names of 463 books, was issued. 

 In 1870, through the generosity of Dr. Lucius Woodruff, the 



