FIFTY YEARS OF MUSEUM WORK 



37 



great museums of science it is no longer deemed sufficient to present the 

 truths of science in a bald, unattractive manner; it no longer suffices for 

 the exhibits to be instructive only, they must be attractive as well. It 

 was all right for truth to be naked so long as she dwelt at the bottom of 

 a well, but when she was haled forth and placed upon a pedestal to be 

 gazed at, drapery became necessary. Art and Science, though usually 

 depicted as sisters, have, as sisters often do, dwelt apart from one another 

 in our museums until recently. But with the continued evolution of 

 museums, Science has called Art to her aid, in order to clothe her facts 

 in attractive form, and possibly the elder sister Art may now profitably 

 use a few pages from the book of Science. 



Museums and Libraries 1 

 The functions of museums and libraries are essentially different so 

 far as the public is concerned; the one endeavors to interest through its 

 exhibits, and its work, with the vast majority of its visitors, must be done 

 mainly by what they see rather than by what they read. A museum is a 

 book in which the pictures are more important than the text. Some of our 

 artistic friends, in fact, go so far as to say that in their case no text is 

 necessary, though few there be who will subscribe to this. In a library 

 the text is everything, the pictures incidental. The museum, that is, 

 the exhibition portion of it, is for the man who is not looking for informa- 

 tion but for amusement; the library is for him who is deliberately seeking 

 after knowledge. 



So great is the difference between a museum and a library that my 

 friend Mr. Ward has written a very able paper to show that the two can 

 not be successfully combined and administered, and I confess that, so 

 far as large institutions are concerned, I fully agree with him, even 

 though a library be a most essential part of a museum. And yet there 

 are many and important relations between the two. In a way, indeed, 

 the museum has a double relation to the public library, or to its own. 

 The reader learns of certain natural facts, remarkable animals or of 

 pictures, statuary and other objects of art, of the rituals, or the cere- 

 monies of certain savage tribes and seeks the museum for an illustration 

 of these facts, or a sight of the things he reads about. Conversely the 

 museum visitor has his interest aroused by the objects he sees, and hies 

 himself to the library in search of further information. 



I am bound to confess that this is partly a matter of theory, but we 

 know this relation does exist and if more readers do not seek the museum, 



'Read at the Brooklyn Meeting of the American Library Association, September 29, 1911. 



