Annual Reports 175 



and variety of the material in our possession can not be made available for the 

 benefit of the public. 



The Museum as a Civic Center and Bureau of Information 



As in former years the Museum has served the purpose of a meeting place 

 for civic organizations and for others with objects and aims similar to those 

 of the Association. 



The Richmond branch of the visiting committee of the State Charities Aid 

 Association, the Class Teachers and Principals Association, the executive board 

 ot the Women Teachers' Club, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and 

 the Bird Lovers' Club, have all availed themselves of the privileges accorded, 

 either for stated meetings or for meetings of committees. 



One of the most gratifying evidences of the usefulness of the Museum, 

 however, is to be seen in the increasing number of visitors who come here for 

 actual study of the collections and research work in the library. A number 

 have come from considerable distances to consult our literature, maps and 

 documents relating to local history and antiquities. Teachers and students 

 from the public schools have made use of the facilities for obtaining information 

 in natural science to a much greater extent than heretofore. The members of 

 the museum staff have constantly been called upon for information on subjects 

 connected with the museum activities and frequently for information of a 

 miscellaneous character, and adults as well as children are constantly bringing 

 specimens of plants, insects, minerals, etc., to be identified and named. The 

 amount and variety of information sought and supplied through the medium 

 of the museum would surprise anyone not familiar with the facts. 



Museum Exhibits 



Every effort has been made to maintam on display material such as is 

 likely to be attractive to the casual visitor, and other material of an educational 

 value or which might tend to inspire an interest in local natural history and 

 antiquities, and these have been supplemented by loan exhibits secured tTirough 

 the activities of the Section of Art. One the most ambitious and dignified of 

 these was the sculpture exhibit installed last June, which was a credit to the 

 museum and a unique educational feature for the community. Descriptions^ 

 of new material placed on display and a full account of the sculpture exhibit 

 were printed in the Bulletin at the times of installation. 



School Lectures 



If there is any one feature of the museum work that may be regarded as 

 having met with unqualified success the free illustrated lectures for school 

 children should be specially mentioned. The attendance at last sea- 

 son's course of twenty-three lectures was greater than ever before, and this 

 public educational work alone would seem to justify the municipal support 

 of the museum, which has made this work possible. The interest evinced by 

 the children would never be questioned by anyone who once observed the 

 patience with which they stand in line, some of them for almost an hour, 



