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CITY LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 



almost every subject under the sun — economic, literary, historical, 

 and very often technical questions relating to business or manufactur- 

 ing. To answer these inquiries satisfactorily the reference librarians 

 must be alert, sympathetic, and possess a very wide range of informa- 

 tion. 



For a number of years past, especial effort has been m.ade to pro- 

 vide enough copies of standard books so as to supply the reader with 

 the book that he wants v/hen he wants it. Few things interfere more 

 with the usefulness of the library than repeated failures to obtain 

 desired books. One Saturday in March a test was made to ascertain 

 how successfully the library was meeting these demands. The attend- 

 ants in Rice Hall kept a record of every book asked for that they were 

 unable to supply. Five hundred and fifty-six books other than fiction 

 were taken out during the day, while the number of books asked for 

 that could not be supplied was twenty-eight. Only three of these books 

 were not owned, and two of them were law books outside the scope of 

 the collection. Five of the books were new, and so particularly likely 

 to be out. Five others were temporarily in request because of lectures 

 or other special reasons. The remaining fifteen were miscellaneous 

 books which happened to be in circulation. The result would indicate 

 that in general the demand is being met with reasonable success. 



Rice Hall, in spite of its size, is becoming overcrowded, especially 

 during the hours when it is used extensively by pupils from the high 

 schools. It has happened more than once, for example, that several 

 hundred pupils have come almost simultaneously to look up an assign- 

 ment, and almost continuously through the winter they filled the room 

 at certain hours. They are considerate in their conduct, but their 

 presence in such numbers inevitably hinders the use of the room by 

 adults. It seems very desirab e that provision should be made in some 

 other part of the building where the books set aside for high school use 

 may be shelved and the pupils consult them freely without interfering 

 with other readers. 



Gifts. 



The library is indebted to many citizens for generous gifts of books 

 and periodicals. Even popular works of history, biography, travel, 

 fiction and the Uke, of which there are already copies in the collection, 

 often serve a useful purpose at the hospital, or in some of the many 

 deposits which the Kbrary maintains at different points in the city. 

 Among the unusual gifts may be mentioned valuable bound files of 

 Springfield newspapers received from the Springfield Union; a silver 

 medal commemorating the opening of the Hampden County ^Memorial 

 Bridge, presented by Mr. George Dwight Pratt, chairman of the dedi- 

 cation committee; a bound typewritten manuscript entitled, ''The 

 Springfield Mihtary Census of the World War," received from the city 

 clerk, which, together with the cards made by the Hampden County 

 chapter of the Red Cross presented previously, give us a very complete 

 record of the names and service of all Springfield men who participated 

 in the war; and a typewritten transcript, "Vital Records of Wilbraham, 



