6 



CITY LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 



to be decoded; another wanted to learn all the localities where a certain 

 kind of timber was to be found; another sought assistance in translating 

 foreign correspondence. Details of different manufacturing processes 

 are constantly sought. These are but samples. Manufacturers and 

 business houses are continually calling on the department for all sorts 

 of commercial information, while from individuals the questions are so 

 various as to make any description impossible. There is scarcely a point 

 in science, literature, education, or economics which is not liable to be 

 the subject of inquiry at any moment, necessitating a broad collection 

 of reference books and a staff of alert and intelligent reference librarians. 

 Information too recent to have become embodied in books is furnished 

 by a file of clippings, pamphlets, and other current or ephemeral mate- 

 rial, which it is attempted to keep constantly up to date. During the 

 period of unemployment a notable increase has been observed in the 

 number of men and women using this department to make themselves 

 more valuable employees, and very many have prepared here for civil 

 service examinations. 



The Art Department. 



The art room is another department where a large amount of refer- 

 ence work is done, pertaining especially to the applied arts as well as 

 the fine arts. Its rich collections are used by designers, advertisers, 

 printers, interior decorators, furniture collectors, and others, as well as 

 by artists, illustrators, and students of architecture and painting. In 

 this room is housed the picture collection comprising probably a quarter 

 of a million prints grouped according to subjects. Of these, 131,988 were 

 borrowed from the main library and the branches, including 71,311 from 

 the Forest Park Branch. Somewhat more than half were sought by 

 teachers to illustrate history, geography, natural science, and industrial 

 processes; and of the others about one-third related to the fine arts, 

 and the remainder were travel and religious subjects or miscellaneous 

 illustrations used for all sorts of purposes. Among the exhibitions held 

 were a number of unusual note, including colored woodcuts by Miss 

 Eliza D. Gardiner, water colors by W. Russell Flint, Japanese prints 

 by Hiroshigi, beautiful textiles lent by the Cheney Silk Company, very 

 remarkable photographs taken in Japan by Mr. Henry Eichheim, and 

 an interesting collection of playing cards of many nations lent by Mr. 

 Fred A. Eldred. A series of exhibitions was also held to illustrate the 

 subjects of study by various women's clubs; and through the courtesy 

 of Miss Estelle L. Dunn a fine display from her splendid collection of 

 war posters, representing enemy as well as allied countries, was held in 

 the library hall, giving pleasure to many visitors. 



The Branch Libraries. 



The branch libraries have all enjoyed increased patronage. The cir- 

 culation at Memorial Square amounted to 216,849 volumes, at Forest 

 Park 217,135 volumes, and at Indian Orchard 58,855 volumes, repre- 

 senting gains of 2%, 14%, and 19%, respectively. The Forest Park 

 library building is so crowded that it seems doubtful whether its activi- 



