THE UNIVERSITY
OF ILLINOIS
LIBRARY
%
2 C ^ _ m\yiw-
BULLETIN
' ' ilUfi'i], iT> / '
OF THE
AMERICAN Library Association
Entered aa second-class matter December 27, 1909, at the Post Office at Chicago, III., under Act of Convreas of
July 16, 1894. Acceptance for aailine at special rate of postasre prorided for in section 1103.
Act of October 3. 1917. authorized on July 8, 1918.
Vol.12.no. Km^'] CHICAGO, ILL. Siptoibih. iwi
CONTENTS
Papers and Proceedings of the Saratoga
Springs Conference
OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION
PRESIDENT
Thomas L. Montgomery - - - Pennsylvania State Library
FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT
JUDSON T. Jennings - . - . Seattle Public Library
SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT
Linda A. Eastman - - - - Cleveland Public Library
TREASURER
Carl B. Roden . _ . . . Chicago Public Library
SECRETARY
George B. Utley - - A. L. A, Executive Office, Chicago
A
PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
FORTIETH ANNUAL '"^;
MEETING ^
OF THE
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
HELD AT
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y.
JULY 1-6, 1918
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
CHICAGO, ILL.
1918
CONTENTS
Title
President's address: Civilization
Address of welcome
The future of library work
What the city library is doing to help win the war .
The spirit of the war literature: Prose ....
The spirit of the war literature: Poetry
Canadian libraries and the war
The A L. A. follows the flag overseas ....
The cooperation of the Y. M. C. A. and the A. L. A.
Library work with children in war time ....
The war and library training
The library war service .........
The work of the A. L. A. war service committee
The A. L. A. war service committee report
The A. L. A. campaign for $1,000,000
Sending books "over there'
Libraries and the United States Food' Administra-
tion
A call to service
What the library commission is doing to help win
the war
What the county and rural library is doing to help
win the war
What the state library is doing to help win the war
What the university library js doing to help win the
war
Is camp library service worth while?
The United States Boys' Working Reserve .
The day's work in Hoboken
Government documents relating to the war .
Present discontents with newsprint stock ....
A neighborhood apprentice class
Elimination of the use of readers' cards in the
public library
What men read in camps
What men read in hospitals
A woman among ten thousand bluejackets
From camp to camp: the work of a field represen-
tative
What a base hospital librarian should know .
The organization of hospital library service
How the camp library reaches every man . . '.
How the camp library reaches every man
A day at a camp library
A day in camp
Camp library work at a naval training station
A day at Fort Leavenworth
War department indexes
Cost reduction in cataloging
Cataloging economies: Meeting the demands of war
service cataloging
Cataloging economies: How Rochester economizes '.
Cataloging economies: The care of gift pamphlets
Reports of officers and committees
AtJTHOR
Page
Thomas L. Montgomery 45
Charles B. Alexander 48
Arthttr E. Bostwick 50
Hiller C. Wellman 57
George F. Bowerman 60
May Massee 72
George H. Locke 78
M. Llewellyn Raney 81
William Orr 93
Caroline Burnite 9S
Frank K. Walter 98
Herbert Putnam 103
/. /. Wyer, Jr 106
107
Frank P. Hill 163
W. H. Brett 183
Edith Guerrier 184
William Warner Bishop 185
Julia A. Robinson 186
Mary L. Titcomb 187
/. I. Wyer, Jr. ... 189
/. C. M. Hanson 192
Adam Strohni 196
H. W. Wells 198
Asa Don Dickinson 200
H. H. B. Meyer 202
H. M. Lydenberg 211
Emilie Mueser . 217
Jeannette M. Drake 219
M. S. Dudgeon 221
Miriam E. Carey 222
Blanche Galloway 223
Miriam E. Carey 225
Edith Kathleen Jones 226
Caroline Webster 231
Joy E. Morgan 233
Frederick Goodell 236
John A. Lowe 237
Lloyd W. Josselyn 239
Herbert S. Hirshberg 240
Mary L. Titcomb 241
Willis F. Sewall 242
T. Franklin Currier 243
May Wood Wigginton 245
Grace B. McCartney 247
Adah Patton 249
251
Proceedings of general sessions 276
Executive board 291
Council 295
Agricultural libraries section 295
Catalog section 30O
Children's librarians section 301
College and reference section
Professional training section
School libraries section ....
Camp hospital librarians round table
Lending department round table
Public documents round table
303
304
306
307
308
309
Round table of the libraries of religion and
theology 311
Round table of training class teachers . . 312
Exhibits 312
Post-conference notes . . . . _ . . . . 313
National association of state libraries . . . 314
American association of law libraries . . . 366
League of library commissions 366
Special libraries association 369
Attendance summaries 371
Attendance register 372
Index 379
mi -^
C-rsrD •'2-
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
JULY J.6, I9J8
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS: CIVILIZATION
By Thomas L. Montgomery, Librarian, Pennsylvania State Library, Harrisburg, Pa.
I would not for a minute keep you in
suspense in the adopting of such a title
as I have given, nor alarm you with the
thought that the whole of this meeting
is to be given to a discussion of things
from their beginnings. In the choosing
of this title I have had in mind certain
subjects that are interesting to me, tus-
socks, so to speak, in the oozy swamps
of human activities, which enable one to
bound lightly over the intervals of time
and arrive at a triumphant conclusion
within forty-five minutes. I hope to be
pardoned for the few allusions that I make
to my native state in a discourse of this
kind. It is much better for a person of
my limited horizon to speak of things
with which I am familiar rather than to
adopt sounding phrases dealing with il-
limitable space.
If you will look In the dictionary as I
have you will probably agree with me that
the word "civilization" is the most unsat-
isfactory in the whole Webster concatena-
tion. It bears very little relation to the
word "civil" which precedes it and is even
less satisfactory than the word "civilize"
which follows it. Its definition contains
no thought of charity, kindness, literature,
music, nor goodness. It refers simply to
advancement in the arts with a rather
weak notion of refinement. Until it has
been reorganized and rehabilitated it does
not as a term deserve the respect of men.
But grant that after this war is over it
should be made to mean more, that some
of the qualities which I have mentioned
are Included in its definition. Where
should we look in the past for inspiration?
The Egyptians were advanced in the arts
but you would not seek it there, nor in
Babylon, nor in Persia. Rome would give
us little satisfaction and even Greece can
only inspire us with a few years of her his-
tory. Her wonderful literature, we are
told by statisticians, was produced by some
eighteen men only, nevertheless Greece
was and is a satisfaction. In her archi-
tecture and in her sculpture the Greeks
sought to make things more beautiful. It
would have been impossible for a Greek to
follow Rodin's example and depict "A man
with a broken nose." True civilization
was not found in the time of King John In
spite of Magna Carta and all that meant
to mankind. It was not much better after
the introduction of the printed book, and
in the times of Charles II. people were
robbing each other and the government,
and acting as if they were possessed of
devils. Yet in the reign of the Merry
Monarch a son was born to a distinguished
man who was probably one of the worst
grafters of his time, a child who was to
become, in my humble opinion, the great-
est contribution to civilization in the two
hundred years that preceded and the two
hundred years that followed that event.
I allude to William Penn, the founder of
Pennsylvania.
His history is familiar to all of you. He
is pictured in the beautiful series of paint-
ings in the Pennsylvania Capitol as a stu-
dent at Oxford where he had been sent to
fit himself for the life of a courtier. He
listens to the argument of the travelling
Quaker and is impressed by the honesty
and simplicity of his ways. Having adopt-
ed this faith he is driven from home by his
irate father and is thrown into prison for
his profane utterances. He is even shown
writing tracts in his cell and upon his re-
lease visiting the prisoners and perform-
ing various kindnesses to the poor and
neglected. Another picture shows him in
the act of receiving the Charter for the
46
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
State of Pennsylvania from Charles II.
Whenever Charles II. was not engaged in
anything else he gave Pennsylvania to
someone. Lord Baltimore thought the
land belonged to him but Charles II. owed
a large sum of money to Penn's father and
this had to be liquidated whether Lord
Baltimore liked it or not. The King jest-
ingly alluded to Penn's ultimate consump-
tion by the savages. He replied that he
would have little trouble with them as he
intended to buy their lands equitably.
"Why," said the King in astonishment, "is
not the land mine?" "No," replied Penn,
"they are the original occupants of the
soil and you have no more right to claim
them by discovery than they would have
for discovering Great Britain." His fa-
mous treaty with the Indians was never
sworn to and never broken. Such was the
influence which he exerted by his kind-
ness, consideration and tact that for sev-
enty years from the time of his coming
there were neither wars nor even rumors
of wars. Penn wrote to Thomas Holme,
"When the great God brings me among
you I intend to order all things in such a
manner that we may live in love and
peace one with another, which I hope the
great God will incline both you and me to
do." Even the Walking Purchase of 1737
did not in its rascality cause a break with
the redskin, although by it the Delaware
lost their most highly prized lands. It
was not until the Indian learned that the
white man could not keep his word that
the Delaware, the Shawnee and the Mingo,
oppressed from without by the unfriendly
Iroquois and cheated from within, moved
gradually westward, pressed by the throng
of land-thirsty settlers who invariably by
their association with the rum traffic made
the Indian more savage than he had been
before, and this disgrace has been per-
petuated to the present time. The Indian
has been routed out of each place assigned
to him by the greed of those having charge
of his affairs, but a kind Providence has
always seen to it that the place to which
he is banished provides riches for him in
the form of mineral wealth or oil so that
he again becomes subject to the cupidity
of those who should be his best friends.
The utter absurdity of the provisions
which allow an uneducated and brutal
foreigner the full rights of citizenship and
deny to the native American the right to
dispose of his property except through a
trustee, must be manifest to the crudest
intellect I like to think of American de-
mocracy as having had its birth at Valley
Forge. It is impossible, however, to in-
clude the history of the Iroquois in such a
conclusion. Its confederacy of five tribes,
the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayu-
gas and Senecas to which the Tuscaroras
were afterwards added was associated un-
der a plan which has lasted for more than
three centuries and still exists today.
Their importance is not due entirely to
their early acquirements of firearms but
to the wisdom of their system of govern-
ment. The council of matrons, the con-
struction of the clans (the members of
which were not allowed to intermarry
within the same clan) and their admit-
tance of captured enemies to full tribal
rights, all stamp them as of an advanced
intelligence. Through a long series of
years they held the balance of power be-
tween the French and English in America.
They were good agriculturists and grew
corn, tobacco and fruits. They also made
splendid pottery and kept their public rec-
ords upon wampum. Most certainly those
who are Interested in the equal rights of
women must regard the Iroquois as a very
advanced type of civilization. The limita-
tion of descent belonged exclusively to the
woman. A chieftain's son did not succeed
him in office, but his brother. If there
were no brother then a son of his sister or
some descendant of the maternal line was
chosen. When a decision had to be made
it was by unanimous agreement. It was
no wonder that such a people approved of
Penn's League of Amity. Unfortunate as
it was that warfare had to enter Into the
relations of the three nations, now joined
together for the protections of the rights
of man, these early contests with the In-
dians unquestionably developed a hardy
MONTGOMERY
47
people whom even the sufferings of Valley
Forge could not overcome, and the subse-
quent victory at Yorktown was due in no
slight degree to the heroism engendered
here in spite of privation and disease.
The free public school system forms an-
other attractive stepping-stone in the path
of general civilization. In my own state
a system had prevailed for years of fur-
nishing free schooling only to self-con-
fessed paupers. This was based upon the
old Friends' public school established in
1697, whereby the rich were schooled at
reasonable rates and the poor for nothing.
A class distinction was thus engendered
which resulted in the poor people staying
at home. Philadelphia was the first to
cast aside this system and provide free
schools at public expense. Agitation for
the extension of this system finally cul-
minated in an act of the legislature pre-
sented in 1834 which was passed with
only one dissenting vote. On account of
the taxation necessary for carrying out the
act about one-half the districts rejected it
and sent representatives to the legislature
to have the law repealed. The Governor
was told that any favorable consideration
of the act on his part would result in his
defeat for re-election. At this time there
appeared upon the scene one who by his
energy and ability immediately took front
rank in the affairs of the Commonwealth.
When I was a small boy I used to be told
of the pithy remark of Mr. Chauncey De-
pew that the three great Pennsylvanians
were Benjamin Franklin of Massachusetts,
Albert Gallatin of Switzerland and Thad-
deus Stevens of Vermont. Slightly worn
by the repetition of this bon mot I re-
marked that I would like to add another,
George Washington of Virginia. When-
ever George Washington wished to do any
thing he came to Pennsylvania. His ex-
peditions through western Pennsylvania in
1753, 1754 and 1755 are well known. He
was at Brandywine, Whitemarsh, German-
town and Valley Forge and while President
of the United States he resided In Phila-
delphia, except during the short visits that
he paid to New York. Incidentally I be-
lieve it is part of the education of every
gentleman that he should pay short visits
to New York. George Washington, how-
ever, seldom went to Virginia except to
look after the crops or to attend a fox hunt.
The speech of Thaddeus Stevens in sav-
ing the free school act from defeat was
one of the most masterly in his career.
"If," said he, "the opponent of education
were my most intimate and personal polit-
ical friend and the free school candidate
my most obnoxious enemy, I should deem
it my duty, as a patriot, to forget all other
considerations and I should place myself
unhesitatingly and cordially in the ranks
of him whose banner streams in light."
People who had no children said that the
tax was unjust to them, and he replied
that the wealthy farmer was taxed to sup-
port criminal courts and jails, although
never tried for a crime nor having enjoyed
the hospitality of a prison. Of course. It
was understood that a great part of the
opposition to the free schools was on the
part of the sectarian Institutions, the pro-
jectors of which did not wish to be taxed
for both.
Only second to the public schools has
been the civilizing effect of our public li-
brary system. In some respects It Is more
Important, for Its Influence extends from
the cradle to the grave. I don't know
whether It is a general feeling but I have
myself an Intense and loving respect for
the men who first forwarded the Idea of
the free distribution of books. Of those of
our guild who met In 1853, Mr. Lloyd P.
Smith, Dr. W. F. Poole and Dr. Edward
Everett Hale are the only ones whom I
knew and of these Dr. Poole was the only
one associated with the free library move-
ment. It Is wonderful, however, to think
that such an assemblage of librarians
could take place at that day. The opening
remarks of the President show why. "To
every one who knows the nature of the
librarian's duties, the details which con-
sume his days and render absence from
his post impossible, except at the cost of
severe labor on his return. It must be
manifest that we have met at considerable
48
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
sacrifice. We obey some strong heartfelt
impulse in incurring the expense of this
gathering." How expensive it was may be
gained from the report on salaries. Only
twelve men at that time received for their
services $1,000 or upwards and the high-
est salary in the country was $1,900, given
to the state librarian of Massachusetts.
Nevertheless we find these men going
forth to spread the doctrine throughout the
country and in 1876 they met almost spon-
taneously to form the association of which
you and I are proud. It Is no easy task to
accomplish the results which have been
attained by enthusiasm alone, yet such has
been the fascination of our propaganda
that it has increased in influence year by
year with but one important gift to help
the cause, and now in this year of the war
we find ourselves the trustees of books
and dollars by the million in the effort to
preserve civilization in the soldiers' and
sailors' rough life. This work has been
well done. It has been well done because
the former President of the Association
had a thorough grasp of the situation and
appointed a committee upon which it
would have been very hard to improve, and
that committee being thus intelligently
constituted knew that the Librarian of
Congress should be given the widest lati-
tude in prosecuting the work. I shall re-
frain from speaking of the events of the
past year. The future I have consigned to
one far abler than I, but I should like to
bring this before you. After the war is
over, where are the youths of the nations
to assemble to accomplish their post-gradu-
ate work under competent supervision? It
is not likely that they will submit them-
selves to the influence linked with the
Prussian propaganda. England cannot re-
ceive them. France is far-spent. It may
be that America may be called upon, with
its great educational foundations, to pro-
vide a center for the students of the whole
civilized world. God grant that she may
prove equal to the demands which may be
made upon her! It is evident that the
German language is to be driven from our
schools. I hope that Portuguese and Span-
ish may be substituted, so that we may un-
derstand our neighbors to the south and
thus lead up to a United States of Amer-
ica extending from Tierra del Fuego to the
Arctic Ocean, its citizens fighting shoulder
to shoulder for the protection of the rights
of man.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME
By Charles B. Alexandeb, Regent of the University of the State of New York
Conscious as I am of the honor ac-
corded me as the representative of the
Regents of the University of the State of
New York, really representing the State
of New York, of extending a word of wel-
come to this distinguished conference of
the American Library Association, yet it
is with a new spirit of appreciative un-
derstanding that I bring to you the greet-
ings of the governing Board of our educa-
tional system.
I feel an added pride in greeting you in
renowned and historic Saratoga. This re-
gion has a particular interest to us at this
time when our minds are so often turning
for inspiration to the glories of our past
history and to the heroes who made us a
nation. This region, because of its won-
derful water routes, has been the great
strategic point in the wars waged for the
control of this continent. The battles of
Saratoga in 1777 and the surrender of
General Burgoyne broke up the great cam-
paign which was planned to sever and con-
quer the warring colonies; they aroused
great enthusiasm throughout the country,
and were the determining event which led
France to form the alliance which assured
our independence. George Washington,
Alexander Hamilton, George Clinton and
ALEXANDER
49
Philip Schuyler are early names in the
long list of distinguished personages who
have enjoyed the benefits and pleasures of
this great resort. One may drink deep of
patriotism, too, at these Pierian springs.
I am, however, here primarily to extend
to you the cordial invitation of the Re-
gents of the University of the State of
New York to visit another historic place,
a few miles south of us. This year we
celebrate the centennial of the New York
State library. We feel a pardonable pride
In its history — in its growth and achieve-
ment and service to the educational life of
our State. There is needed only your
presence to make this the notable occasion
we wish It to be and which we believe it
deserves to be in the library and educa-
tional history of the country. We expect
to have the honor of welcoming you at Al-
bany next Saturday, July 6, 1918.
Merely to glance over your program is to
gain an inspiring realization of the myriad
activities of our libraries which touch all
phases of the nation's life, and of their ef-
ficient adaptation to the great emergency
which we face. The theme of your pro-
gram is the war and your consideration
will be the utmost utilization of your or-
ganized activities In bringing the victory
that will assure the permanence of the In-
stitutions built by the world-old struggle
for freedom and human happiness.
The French Army has a saying: Pourvu
que les civils tiennent; that is, that victory is
certain, "if the civilians hold out." I have
wondered If this aphorism was born of
the bitterness of those whose lot it was to
suffer and die or of a deep understanding
of the essential truth of it. We have
looked with a horrible loathing at the trav-
esty on civilization which prostituted the
entire efficiency of a modern nation's so-
cial and economic life to the work of con-
suming and destroying. But the enemy
has employed brute force as his funda-
mental argument and we have no alterna-
tive but to answer It in kind. To-day na-
tiOTis war, with all their stupendous and
marvelously organized forces. Lloyd
Oeorge has said that he feared the thor-
ough organization of Germany's civil life,
educated and drilled during a generation
to obedience and efficiency, more than the
armed forces of the enemy. Our armies
cannot be defeated if your civil popula-
tion, their indispensable foundation. Is
strong and unyielding. The democracies of
the world, which live In the intelligent sup-
port of the people, are warring with a
power which exacts a blind, pitifully blind,
obedience of its myrmidons. It is a mat-
ter of training, of education. This is well
recognized. Everywhere posters confront
us, exhorting, admonishing, advising; the
government disseminates Information
throughout the land; public speakers pro-
vide enlightening knowledge; our great,
free press Is ubiquitous. The people must
be Informed — must be taught what to do
and how to do — to conserve and bring to
bear the great, latent strength of the na-
tion.
In this world conflict the war has illum-
ined things hitherto unnoticed. Among
other things, it has illumined the Idea of
duty. Today this does not consist In doing
the immediate thing for which one Is em-
ployed, but in doing the best thing pos-
sible in the service of the nation. This
was well illustrated when one of our of-
ficers checked the advance of the foe the
other day by marshaling around him cer-
tain cooks and other camp followers. The
cooks might very well have said that they
were not there to fight but to cook, but
each man of the miscellaneous gathering
surrounding the officer left his immediate
occupation and they baffled the foe. So
for example the idea of sacrifice, which
until the war was treated by many as an
obsolete function; but now with millions
making sacrifices and ready to make the
great sacrifice, the world is enlightened,
fio also the old phrase, "a life for a life,"
is constantly illustrated, as it was the'
other day where the enlisted man carried
his officer along the deck, and just as he
got the officer in a place of safety was
himself killed.
In the ability to reach, educate and af-
fect the adult population the library o<;cu-
48
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
sacrifice. We obey some strong lieartfelt
impulse in incurring ttie expense of this
gathering." How expensive it was may be
gained from the report on salaries. Only
twelve men at that time received for their
services $1,000 or upwards and the high-
est salary in the country was $1,900, given
to the state librarian of Massachusetts.
Nevertheless we find these men going
forth to spread the doctrine throughout the
country and in 1876 they met almost spon-
taneously to form the association of which
you and I are proud. It Is no easy taslc to
accomplish the results which have been
attained by enthusiasm alone, yet such has
been the fascination of our propaganda
that it has increased in influence year by
year with but one important gift to help
the cause, and now in this year of the war
we find ourselves the trustees of books
and dollars by the million in the effort to
preserve civilization in the soldiers' and
sailors' rough life. This work has been
well done. It has been well done because
the former President of the Association
had a thorough grasp of the situation and
appointed a committee upon which it
would have been very hard to improve, and
that committee being thus intelligently
constituted knew that the Librarian of
Congress should be given the widest lati-
tude in prosecuting the work. I shall re-
frain from speaking of the events of the
past year. The future I have consigned to
one far abler than I, but I should like to
bring this before you. After the war is
over, where are the youths of the nations
to assemble to accomplish their post-gradu-
ate work under competent supervision? It
is not likely that they will submit them-
selves to the influence linked with the
Prussian propaganda. England cannot re-
ceive them. France is far-spent. It may
be that America may be called upon, with
its great educational foundations, to pro-
vide a center for the students of the whole
civilized world. God grant that she may
prove equal to the demands which may be
made upon her! It is evident that the
German language is to be driven from our
schools. I hope that Portuguese and Span-
ish may be substituted, so that we may un-
derstand our neighbors to the south and
thus lead up to a United States of Amer-
ica extending from Tierra del Fuego to the
Arctic Ocean, its citizens fighting shoulder
to shoulder for the protection of the rights
of man.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME
By Charles B, Alexandeb, Regent of the University of the Stat.e of New York
Conscious as I am of the honor ac-
corded me as the representative of the
Regents of the University of the State of
New York, really representing the State
of New York, of extending a word of wel-
come to this distinguished conference of
the American Library Association, yet it
is with a new spirit of appreciative un-
derstanding that I bring to you the greet-
ings of the governing Board of our educa-
tional system.
I feel an added pride in greeting you in
renowned and historic Saratoga. This re-
gion has a particular interest to us at this
time when our minds are so often turning
for inspiration to the glories of our past
history and to the heroes who made us a
nation. This region, because of its won-
derful water routes, has been the great
strategic point in the wars waged for the
control of this continent. The battles of
Saratoga in 1777 and the surrender of
General Burgoyne broke up the great cam-
paign which was planned to sever and con-
quer the warring colonies; they aroused
great enthusiasm throughout the country,
and were the determining event which led
France to form the alliance which assured
our independence. George Washington,
Alexander Hamilton, George Clinton and
ALEXANDER
49
Philip Schuyler are early names in the
long list of distinguished personages who
have enjoyed the benefits and pleasures of
this great resort. One may drink deep of
patriotism, too, at these Pierian springs.
I am, however, here primarily to extend
to you the cordial invitation of the Re-
gents of the University of the State of
New York to visit another historic place,
a few miles south of us. This year we
celebrate the centennial of the New York
State library. We feel a pardonable pride
in Its history — In its growth and achieve-
ment and service to the educational life of
our State. There is needed only your
presence to make this the notable occasion
we wish it to be and which we believe It
deserves to be in the library and educa-
tional history of the country. We expect
to have the honor of welcoming you at Al-
bany next Saturday, July 6, 1918.
Merely to glance over your program is to
gain an inspiring realization of the myriad
activities of our libraries which touch all
phases of the nation's life, and of their ef-
ficient adaptation to the great emergency
which we face. The theme of your pro-
gram Is the war and your consideration
will be the utmost utilization of your or-
ganized activities in bringing the victory
that will assure the permanence of the in-
stitutions built by the world-old struggle
for freedom and human happiness.
The French Army has a saying: Pourvu
que les civils tiennent; that is, that victory is
certain, "if the civilians hold out." I have
wondered If this aphorism was born of
the bitterness of those whose lot it was to
suffer and die or of a deep understanding
of the essential truth of it. We have
looked with a horrible loathing at the trav-
esty on civilization which prostituted the
entire efficiency of a modern nation's so-
cial and economic life to the work of con-
suming and destroying. But the enemy
has employed brute force as his funda-
mental argument and we have no alterna-
tive but to answer It In kind. To-day na-
tions war, with all their stupendous and
marvelously organized forces. Lloyd
George has said that he feared the thor-
ough organization of Germany's civil life,
educated and drilled during a generation
to obedience and efficiency, more than the
armed forces of the enemy. Our armies
cannot be defeated if your civil popula-
tion, their indispensable foundation, is
strong and unyielding. The democracies of
the world, which live in the intelligent sup-
port of the people, are warring with a
power which exacts a blind, pitifully blind,
obedience of its myrmidons. It is a mat-
ter of training, of education. This is well
recognized. Everywhere posters confront
us, exhorting, admonishing, advising; the
government disseminates information
throughout the land; public speakers pro-
vide enlightening knowledge; our great,
free press is ubiquitous. The people must
be Informed — must be taught what to do
and how to do — to conserve and bring to
bear the great, latent strength of the na-
tion.
In this world conflict the war has Illum-
ined things hitherto unnoticed. Among
other things, it has Illumined the idea of
duty. Today this does not consist In doing
the Immediate thing for which one Is em-
ployed, but In doing the best thing pos-
sible In the service of the nation. This
was well Illustrated when one of our of-
ficers checked the advance of the foe the
other day by marshaling around him' cer-
tain cooks and other camp followers. The
cooks might very well have said that they
were not there to fight but to cook, but
each man of the miscellaneous gathering
surrounding the officer left his Immediate
occupation and they baffled the foe. So
for example the Idea of sacrifice, which
until the war was treated by many as an
obsolete function; but now with millions
making sacrifices and ready to make the
great sacrifice, the world is enlightened,
fio also the old phrase, "a life for a life,"
is constantly illustrated, as it was the'
other day where the enlisted man carried
his officer along the deck, and just as he
got the officer in a place of safety was
himself killed.
In the ability to reach, educate and af-
fect the adult population the library 0|ccu-
60
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
pies a position of great responsibility and
Is a great power for national defense. This
situation, which offers our libraries the
greatest opportunity in their history to
demonstrate their educational value to the
nation has been fully realized and thor-
oughly acted upon by the American Li-
brary Association.
With its watchword, "War service," this
Association has bent its fullest energies to
the duty, and its splendid work forms an
Inspiring chapter In the history of the
war. Educational results are mostly In-
determinable, but some tangible accom-
plishments are noted with marveling grati-
fication. I wish all of our people could
know of the great fund raised for the war
work; of the acquisition of Innumerable
books; of the erection of the many library
buildings and the establishment of branch
libraries In our camps; of the library work
In hospitals; of the technical and recrea-
tive books placed In our forts, naval ves-
sels, camps, and sent abroad; of the labor
and time given by trained men to the
work; and of the other countless activities
of the "Library war service." It is demon-
strated that the library provides as high
and important a war service as any other
field of effort.
To many this realization of the great
power and influence of the library comes
with some surprise. The extraordinary
development of this branch of our educa-
tional system has not been generally com-
prehended. Indeed, it is a far cry from
the modest beginning of the American LI-
brary Association in that convention at
Philadelphia in 1876 to this great business
organization which affects our entire edu-
cational and social life. By its progress-
ive methods, this Association has estab-
lished the public library as a familiar and
potent agent of our civilization; and it
has made library work a science Indeed,
efficient, economical, practical. And one
has only to study the library history of
Europe to realize that you have done pio-
neer work, and furnished a vitalizing spir-
it to the library life of the world.
THE FUTURE OF LIBRARY WORK
By Aethtjb E. Bostwick, Librarian, St. Louis Public lAbrary
When a railroad train is on Its way, its
future history depends on which way It Is
heading, on Its speed, and on whether Its
direction and Its speed will remain un-
changed. With these premises, one may
confidently predict that a train which left
Chicago at a given hour on one day will
reach New York at a given hour on the
next. Of course, something may happen
to slow the train, or to wreck it, or even to
Bend It back to Chicago, in which cases our
predictions will come to naught. This Is
what the weather man finds. His predic-
tions are based on very similar data. Our
weather conditions travel usually across
the continent from west to east at a fairly
uniform rate. If that rate is maintained,
and the direction does not change, and
nothing happens to dissipate or alter the
conditions, we can predict their arrival at
a given place with a fair degree of accu-
racy. Those who rail at the weather man's
mistakes are simply finding fault with our
present inability to ascertain the causes
that slow up storm centers, or swerve them
In their course, or dissipate them. When
we know these things, and know In addi-
tion what starts them, we can give up mak-
ing forecasts and write out a pretty def-
inite weather time-table — as definite and
as little subject to change, at any rate, as
those issued by the railroads.
My business at this moment Is that of a
forecaster. We know just where and what
the library situation is at present, and
some of us think we know where it is head-
ed. If It should keep on In the same di-
rection and at the same rate, we ought to
BOSTWICK
51
be able to describe it as it will be, say, in
1950. Of course, it may get headed in some
other direction. It may slow down or
speed up; it may melt away or strike a
rock and be Irrecoverably wrecked. If I
see any chances of any of these things, it
is my business to mention them. If my
forecast should turn out a failure no one
can prove it until 1950 arrives, and then I
shall not care.
To begin with the necessary prelimina-
ries of our forecast — what and where are
we now? I have said that I know; prob-
ably you think that you do; but as a mat-
ter of fact our knowledge is neither com-
prehensive nor accurate. We need a gen-
eral library survey. We have, as a sort of
statistical framework, the figures now
printed annually in tabular form in the
A. L. A. Proceedings, but probably no one
would maintain that these do, or possibly
could, give an adequate idea of the char-
acter or extent of the work that our libra-
ries are doing. Those of us who think we
know something of it have gained our
knowledge by experience and observation
and neither is extensive enough in most
cases to take the place of a well-consid-
ered and properly-managed survey of ex-
isting conditions and methods.
In default of a survey, we must, as I
have said, fall back upon observation and
experience. I can certainly claim no mo-
nopoly of these, and what I say in this re-
gard is, of course, largely personal. But it
seems to me that the distinguishing marks
of library work, as at present conducted,
include the following. As you will see,
they are all connected and overlap more or
less. They are all growth-products. They
are:
1 Size and expense
2 Socialization
3 Professionalization
4 Popularization
5 Nationalization.
First, library work in our country to-
day is large and costly. Extensively it
covers a great territory and reaches a
huge population. Intensively it embraces
a largo variety of activities — ^many that
one would hesitate, on general principles,
to class as "library work."
Secondly, a large amount of this in-
crease of activity has been of a kind that
we are now apt to call "social." It deals
with bodies or classes of people, and it
tends to treat these people as the direct
objects of the library's attention, instead
of dealing primarily with books, as for-
merly, and only indirectly with their read-
ers. In fact, the persons with whom the
library now deals may not be readers at
all, except potentially, as when they are
users of club or assembly rooms.
Thirdly, librarians are beginning to
think of themselves as members of a pro-
fession. At first sight this may seem to be
a fact of interest only to library workers,
and not at all to the public. Its signifi-
cance may appear if we compare it to the
emergence of the modern surgeon with his
professional skill, traditions and pride,
from the medieval barber who simply fol-
lowed blood-letting as an avocation. Pro-
fessionalism is a symptom of a great many
things — of achievement and of conscious-
ness of it and pride in it; of a desire to do
teamwork and to maintain standards; to
make sure that one's work is to be carried
on and advanced by worthy successors.
Fourthly, libraries are now conducted
for the many; not for the few. It is our
aim to provide something for every one
who can read, no matter of what age, sex,
or condition. We do not even limit our-
selves to readers, for we provide picture
books for those who are too young to read.
We are transferring the emphasis of our
work from books to people. This charac-
teristic is closely connected with what I
have called "socialization," but it is not the
same thing. An institution may deal with
all the people without dealing with them
socially or in groups; and it may deal en-
tirely with groups without dealing with
everybody. The library now does both.
Fifthly, the library is now a national
institution, at least in the same sense as is
the public school. It is national in extent,
national in consciousness, if not national
in administration. Our own association
52
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
has played its part In this development;
the present war has given it a great stim-
ulus. Those who see no nationalism with-
out complete centralization and who say
that we are not yet a nation because all
our governmental powers are not centered
at Washington, will doubtless deny the na-
tionalization of the library. They take too
narrow a view.
We may now combine two or more lines
of inquiry. In what direction is the libra-
ry moving in each of these respects? Is it
speeding or slowing up? Is there any rea-
son to look for speeding or slowing up in
the future?
As regards size and cost, our develop-
ment has been swift. We cannot, it seems
to me, keep up the rate. Twenty years ago
the institutions now constituting the New
York Public Library circulated a million
books. They now circulate ten million.
Does anyone believe that twenty years
hence they will circulate one hundred mil-
lion? There must be further increase, be-
cause we are not now reaching every per-
son and every class in the community, but
it will not and cannot be a mere increase
of quantity. We must do our work better
and make every item and element in it tell.
We must substitute one book well read for
ten books skimmed. In place of ten worth-
less books we must put one that is worth
while. There are already signs of this
substitution of quality for quantity in our
ideals.
Extension, as opposed to intension, has
appealed to many enthusiastic librarians
as "missionary work." Perhaps the term
is well chosen. Some of it is akin to the
missionary fervor that sends funds to con-
vert the distant heathen when nominal
Christians around the corner are vainly
demanding succor, material, mental and
spiritual. We have too much of this in the
library; attempts to form boys' clubs with
artificial aims and qualifications when
clubs already formed to promote objects
that are very real in the members' minds
are ignored or neglected; the provision of
boresome talks on "Rubber-culture in
Peru" and on "How I climbed Long's
Peak," when members of the community
would be genuinely interested in hearing
an expert explain the Income tax; the pur-
chase of new books that nobody wants
when an insistent demand for old stand-
ards of sterling worth has never been ade-
quately met; all sorts of forcing from the
outside instead of developing from the
inside. This kind of thing, like charity,
begins properly at home, and the real mis-
sionary takes care to set his own house in
order before he goes far afield — to fill the
nearby demand, when it is good, before at-
tempting to force something on those who
do not want it.
It is in this direction that our promise of
continued progress lies when we cannot
see grounds for expecting great future in-
crease of income.
This leads us naturally to discuss what
I have called our socialization, which Is
just beginning. It is running strong, but
there is room for a long course, and that
course, I believe, it will take. In the first
place, we are functioning more and more
as community centers, but there is enor-
mous room for advance. We are strag-
gling all along the line, which is one sign
of an early stage. Some of us have not
yet awakened to the fact that we are
destined to play a great part in commu-
nity development and community educa-
tion. Others are reluctantly yielding to
pressure. Others have gone so fast that
they are in advance of their communities.
Take, if you please, the one item of the
provision of space for community meet-
ings, regarded by some as the be-all and
the end-all of the community center idea.
It is really but one element, but It may
serve as a straw to show which way the
wind blows. Some libraries are giving no
space for this purpose; some give it grudg-
ingly, with all sorts of limitations; others
give quite freely. None of us gives with
perfect freedom. I suppose we in St.
Louis are as free as any. In 15 assembly
and clubrooms we house 4,000 meetings
yearly. Our only limitations are order
and the absence of an admission fee. I
incline to think that the maintenance of
BOSTWICK
53
order should be the only condition. If an
admission fee is charged, part of it should
go to the library, to be devoted to caring
for the assembly and clubrooms and im-
proving them. There are many commu-
nity gatherings that can be best adminis-
tered on the plan of a paid admission.
These ought not to be excluded. Most of
our restrictions are simply exhibits of our
reluctance to place ourselves at the com-
plete social disposal of the community.
A community is not a community unless it
has political and religious interests. If
we are going to become socialized at all,
why balk at these any more than we
should exclude from our shelves books on
politics and religion? I look to see so-
cialization, in this and other directions,
proceed to such lengths that the older li-
brary ideals may have to go entirely by
the board. Some of them are tottering
now. I have said that I consider this mat-
ter of the use of assembly rooms only one
item in what I have called socialization.
It may all be summed up by saying that
we are coming to consider the library
somewhat in the light of a community club,
of which all well-behaved citizens are
members. Our buildings are clubhouses,
with books and magazines, meeting rooms,
toilet facilities, kitchens — almost every-
thing, in fact, that a good, small club
would contain. If you say "then they have
ceased to be libraries and are something
else," that does not affect me any more
than when you show that we are no longer
speaking Chaucer's language or wearing
the clothes of Alfred the Great.
When we were trying to explain to the
architects of the New York branch build-
ings exactly what we wanted in those
structures and met with the usual miscon-
ception based on medieval ideas of a libra-
ry, one of the most eminent architects in
the United States suddenly sat up and took
notice. "Why, these buildings are not to
be Uhraries at all," he said, "they are to
be reading clubs." He had learned in a
few minutes what many of us still see
through a glass darkly.
An even more important manifestation
of what I have called socialization is the
extension of occupation groups to which
the library is giving special attention and
special service. The library has always
had in mind one or more of these groups.
Once it catered almost entirely to a group
of scholars, at first belonging predominant-
ly to the clergy. In later years it added
the teachers in schools and their pupils,
also the children of the community. These
are definite groups, and their recognition
in the rendition of service is a social act.
Other groups are now being added with
rapidity, and we are recognizing in our
service industrial workers, business men,
artists of various kinds, musicians and so
on. The recognition of new groups and
the extension of definite library service to
them is progress in socialization, and it is
going on steadily at the present time.
Just now the most conspicuous group
that we are taking in is that of business
men. In adjusting our resources and meth-
ods to the needs of this group we are
changing our whole conception of the scope
of a library's collection. As Mr. Dana has
pointed out, we now collect, preserve and
distribute not books alone, but printed
matter of all kinds, and in addition rec-
ords of other types, such as manuscripts,
pictures, slides, films, phonograph discs
and piano rolls. Some of these, of course,
are needed to adapt our collection to oth-
ers than the business group— to educators,
artists or musicians. We shall doubtless
continue to discover new groups and un-
dergo change in the course of adaptation
to their needs.
The recognition of special groups and
the effort to do them service has proceeded
to a certain extent outside the public libra-
ry, owing to the slowness of its reaction
to this particular need. The result has
been the special library. I am one of those
who are sorry that the neglect of its op-
portunity by the public library has brought
this about, and I hope for a reduction in
the number of independent special libra-
ries by a process of gradual absorption and
consolidation. The recent acquisition of
some formerly independent municipal ref-
54
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
erence libraries by the local public libra-
ries is a case in point. There must always
be special libraries. The library business
of independent industrial and commercial
institutions is best cared for in this way.
But every group that is merely a section of
the general public, set apart from the
rest by special needs and tastes, may be
cared for most economically by the public
library. If its service is not adapted to
give such care, rapid and efllcient adjust-
ment is called for.
In a library forecast made several years
ago, Mr. John C. Dana stated his opinion
that the library, as it is, is "an unimpor-
tant by-product," that it is to be of impor-
tance in the future, but will then have de-
parted from the "present prevailing type."
Without necessarily agreeing to our pres-
ent insignificance, we may well accept, I
think, this forecast of future growth and
change.
Professionalization, too, has by no means
reached its limit. As has been pointed
out, it is a symptom, rather than the
thing itself. It is like a man's clothes, by
which you can often trace the growth or
decay of his self-respect. Pride in one's
work and a tendency to exalt it is a
healthy sign, provided there is something
back of it. The formation of staff associa-
tions like that recently organized in New
York is a good sign, so is the multiplica-
tion of professional bodies. The establish-
ment of the A. L. A. in 1876 was the be-
ginning of the whole library advance in
this country. It was only a symptom, of
course, but with the healthy growth of
libraries I look for more signs of our pride
in what we are doing, of our unwillingness
to lower it or to alter its ideals.
The familiar question, "Is librarianship
a profession?" reduces to a matter of def-
inition. We are being professionalized for
the purposes of this discussion If we are
growing sufficiently in group conscious-
ness to let it react favorably on our work.
One of the earliest developments of a
feeling of professional pride In one's work
is an insistence on the adequate training
of the workers and on the establishment of
standards of efficiency both for workers
and work. Here belongs a forecast not
only of library school training, but of offi-
cial inspection and certification, of sys-
tems of service, etc. Standardization of
this kind is on the increase and is bound
to be enforced with greater strictness in
the future. In our professional training
as in other professions the tendency is to-
ward specialization. With us, this spe-
cialization will doubtless proceed on the
lines of facilities for practice. An engi-
neering school cannot turn out electrical
engineers if the only laboratories that it
has are devoted to civil and mechanical
engineering. A specialist in abdominal
surgery is not produced by experience in a
contagious disease ward. Similarly we
ought not to expect a school remote from
public library facilities to specialize in
public library work, or a school in close
connection with a public library to produce
assistants for the work of a university
library. Increasing professional spirit
among us will demand specialization ac-
cording to equipment.
Popularization, some may think, has al-
ready gone to the limit. How can we be
more of the people than we are today? Are
we not, in sooth, a little too democratic,
perhaps? Personally I feel that a good
deal of the library's social democracy is
on the surface. Any member of a priv-
ileged class will assure you that his own
class constitutes "the people" and that the
rest do not matter. The Athenians hon-
estly thought that their country was a
democracy, when it was really an oligarchy
of the most limited kind. England hon-
estly thought she had "popular" govern-
ment when those entitled to vote were a
very small part of the population. A li-
brary in a city of half a million inhabit-
ants honestly thinks that a record of 100,-
000 cardholders entitles it to boast that
Its use extends to the whole population.
We cannot say that we reach the whole
number of citizens until we really do
reach them. The school authorities can
go out to the highways and hedges and
compel them to come in; we cannot.
BOSTWICK
55
Herein doubtless lies one of our advan-
tages. Our buildings are filled with, willing
users. It is our business to universalize
the desire to read as the schools are uni-
versalizing the ability. But we have not
yet done so, and popularization proceeds
slowly. I cannot say that I see many in-
dications of speeding up in the rate, al-
though our increase in the recognition of
groups, noted above, may have an influ-
ence here in future. As groups develop
among that part of the population that
uses the library least, our opportunity to
extend our influence over that part will
present Itself. One such group is ready
for us but we bave never reached it — that
of union labor. The recognition of the
unions by the library and of the library
by the unions has been unaccountably de-
layed, despite sporadic, well-meant, but in-
effective efforts on both sides. No more
important step for the intellectual future
of the community can be taken than this
extension of service.
Nationalization has just begun. It is
speeding up and will go far, I am sure, in
the next twenty years. Our libraries are
getting used to acting as a unit. We
should not like administrative national-
ization and I see no signs of it; but na-
tionalization in the sense of improved op-
portunities for team work and greater
willingness to avail ourselves of them we
shall get in increasing measure. For in-
stance, one of our greatest opportunities
lies before us In the inter-library loan. It
knocks at our door, but we do not heed it
because in this respect we have not begun
yet to think nationally. But having be-
gun national service in the various activi-
ties brought to the front by the war, we
shall not, I am sure, lag behind much
longer. The national organization of the
A. L. A. has long provided us with a
framework on which to build our national
thoughts and our national deeds, but hith-
erto it has remained a mere scaffolding,
conspicuous through the absence of any
corresponding structure. The war is teach-
ing us both to think and to act nationally,
and after it is over I shall be astonished
if we are longer content to do each his own
work. Our work is nationwide, in peace
as in war and our tardy realization of this
fact may be one of the satisfactory by-
products of this world conflict.
Now it is not beyond the possibilities
that the library movement, headed right
and running free, may still fail because it
meets some obstacle and goes to pieces.
Are there any such in sight? I seem to
see several, but I believe that we can steer
clear. If we split on anything it will be on
ah unseen rock, and of such, of course, we
can say nothing.
One rock is political interference. The
library has had trouble with it of old and
some of us are still struggling with it. It
is assumed by those who put their trust in
paper civil service that it has now been
minimized. This overlooks the undoubted
fact that in a great number of cases the
civil service machinery has been captured
by politicians, and now works to aid them,
not to control them. The greatest danger
of political interference in public libra-
ries, now lies in well-meant efforts to turn
them over to some local commission estab-
lished to further the merit system, but actu-
ally working In harmony with a political
machine.
Another rock on which we may possibly
split Is that of formalism. Machinery
must be continually scrapped and replaced
if progress is to be made. It will not grow
and change like an organism. The library
Itself is subject to organic growth and
change, but its machinery will not change
automatically with It. If we foster in any
way an idea that our machinery is sacred,
that It is of permanent value and that con-
ditions should conform to it instead of its
conforming to them, our whole progress
may come to an end. I have called this a
rock, but it is rather a sort of Sargasso
Sea where the library may whirl about In
an eternity of seaweed.
Another obstacle, somewhat allied to
this of formalism. Is the "big head" — none
the less dangerous because it Is common
and as detrimental to an Institution as It
is to an Individual. Just as soon as a per-
58
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
motors, and a host of similar topics. In
fact, no day passes without many calls for
technical books directly or indirectly bear-
ing on the war.
When the American Library Association
imdertook last fall to raise a million dol-
lars to supply books and libraries for our
soldiers and sailors, public libraries
throughout the country conducted the cam-
paign. That was almost the first of the
national campaigns for funds, and showed
splendid vision on the part of the Amer-
ican Library Association's leaders. But
projects of the kind were novel; it was
necessary to convince librarians, trustees,
and public of the necessity of the work.
In the light of later campaigns, the amount
required seems trivial; but at the time the
quotas assigned to each library looked
formidable indeed, and I suspect many a
librarian confronted the problem with mis-
giving. The occasion, however, furnished
an exceptional opportunity for impressing
on the public the importance of books and
libraries. In Springfield the task was ren-
dered easier by the city's being made a
center for western Massachusetts, and
holding a large meeting addressed by
speakers furnished by the Association. The
program suggested was followed, and a
committee organized consisting of seventy
patriotic women who canvassed the city.
•By the middle of the campaign week,
Springfield's quota was fifty per cent over-
subscribed. The experience raises a query,
however, as to the best method of proceed-
ing in subsequent campaigns. It is desir-
able that contributions should come from
as many individuals as possible, and yet
the total amount to be raised seems hardly
great enough to warrant the time and en-
ergy of a large organization and a house-
to-house canvass.
Just as soon as war was declared, as
already stated, large contingents of sol-
diers were stationed in Springfield to guard
the Armory, the Watershops, and certain
other places. The need of recreational
reading by these men was so obvious that
the library supplied deposits of books be-
fore the American Library Association be-
gan operations; and it has continued to
care for these groups, requisitioning from
the American Library Association the more
technical books and special publications
not obtainable by gift in the city. Books
for the soldiers have been solicited con-
tinuously, and have been shipped to the
camps and dispatch offices. Pictures have
been gathered and classified for use in
military instruction at Camp Devens, and
scrapbooks have been made for the hos-
pitals. In March when the book campaign
week was instituted, the plan was tried of
enlisting the pupils in the high schools.
In proportion to the effort involved, the
results were surprising. The newspapers
responded generously, and for seventeen
days contained items ranging from a few
paragraphs to special articles of two or
three columns. The cooperation of the
high school principals was obtained, and
an opportunity secured to address the pu-
pils in each of the three schools. They
were asked to assume entire responsibility
for gathering the books; and they took
hold with a will. A wholesome rivalry be-
tween schools set in, and the result was
more than 34,000 excellent books. Mem-
bers of the Woman's Club lent automobiles,
a local box company presented packing
cases, trucking companies furnished trans-
portation, and the Woman's Committee of
the Council of National Defense helped in
plating and preparing the books for circu-
lation.
The library has, naturally, been active
in the movement for food conservation. It
promptly printed lists of books to help the
housekeeper make the best use of food sup-
plies, and it has, of course, displayed all
sorts of charts and posters showing the
nutritive value of foods. The newspaper
is doubtless the best medium for arousing
widespread interest, but you cannot de-
pend upon people's taking the trouble to
clip; for recipes, food cards, or other ma-
terial which is to be kept and consulted
frequently, other methods of distribution
are desirable. In this connection, the pub-
lic library affords an admirable channel
for reaching the homes of the people. Be-
WELLMAN
69
sides printing lists on gardening, beekeep-
ing and similar subjects, the Springfield
library has procured and distributed thou-
sands and thousands of pamphlets on diet,
canning, vegetable raising, thrift, etc.
With the aid of the high schools and of the
Hampden County Improvement League, it
prepared model meals for meatless, wheat-
less and other days, all showing a correct-
ly balanced diet. Throughout these ex-
hibitions the cases were surrounded by
housewives copying the recipes and dili-
gently figuring the calories. The library
then arranged with the Committee of Pub-
lic Safety for a continuous series of ex-
hibits and demonstrations in the main
building and also in the branches. It has
tucked in library books, when borrowed,
thousands of excellent recipes to encour-
age the use of substitutes for meat, wheat,
sugar, fats and oils — and please note the
adjective excellent, for many of the recipes
printed have been almost as deadly as en-
emy shells. In the same way, at appro-
priate branches recipes have been distrib-
uted in foreign languages, and in one in-
stance a speaker was obtained to address
a gathering of foreign housewives.
Of course, pictures, notices, posters and
lists have been constantly displayed in aid
of all patriotic movements, and the month-
ly Bulletin has constantly urged their im-
portance. The reference department has
gathered material on women's war work,
and maintains also a directory and regis-
ter of local organizations engaged in war
work. The hall and rooms of the library
and museums have been placed freely at
the service of patriotic organizations, and
parties have been held for the soldiers.
Precedent has gone to the wall, and solici-
tation in the library of contributions for
furthering patriotic work has been al-
lowed. Campaigns for the Red Cross, the
Red Triangle, the War Chest, Liberty
Loans, and allied projects have been as-
sisted, the librarian and other members
of the staff have served as canvassers, and
they have also represented the library on
committees for food conservation, Ameri-
canization, draft registration and the like.
A meeting of librarians in the western
part of the state was called to further war
gardening, conservation and thrift. A
booth was installed to raise money for the
Young Men's Christian Association; a sta-
tion established for selling thrift stamps
to the public; and thrift clubs were or-
ganized among the children. In short, like
public libraries everywhere, the institution
has tried to cooperate in every possible
way with food and fuel conservation com-
missions, with the Council for National De-
fense, the Committee of Public Safety, and
all similar organizations. But the signifi-
cant fact is that while for months with
perhaps a single exception, all work of
this kind in the library was undertaken by
the initiative of the library, the field of
its usefulness is now recognized. Within
the space of two days, for example, it has
been asked to further the Red Cross knit-
ting campaign, to distribute circulars for
thrift stamp week and to take charge of
the distribution of sugar cards.
Not least important in these trying times
Is the opportunity the library affords for
relaxation from nervous strain. With this
in mind, incidentally, a little booklist was
printed entitled "Nonsense and humor."
The war is continually present, conscious-
ly or subconsciously and the resulting ten-
sion Is depressing. Many a man or woman
finds in books which lead the thoughts
Into other fields, the relief and refresh-
ment that make for sanity and emo-
tional poise.
We should not forget, however, that
probably the most fundamental service Is
rendered by the library through Its large
collection of books on the war. A catalog
with descriptive notes was printed and
4,000 copies distributed, listing the best
and most popular. Books of this kind ex-
ert a powerful Influence In educating pub*
lie opinion. Circulated by the thousands
throughout the whole commimity, they
give an Intelligent comprehension of the
issues at stake, further unity of thought
and action, stiffen the determination to
win, and promote in no small measure In-
creased willingness to bear the deprlva-
60
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
tions, hardships and losses necessary for
success.
The record, In truth, is modest enough,
especially when contrasted with the serv-
ice and sacrifice of those who hazard their
all in the battle front. But no great war
nowadays can be won in the field alone;
the men in khaki, to win, must be backed
by the whole civil population at home.
Here lies the opportunity of the library.
Through the public library system, the
people can be reached as by no other
agency save the press, and with an influ-
ence in some ways different and more en-
during. In aiding the production of muni-
tions and food, in assisting all forms of
community effort necessary to maintain
the fighting forces, in making known and
reenforcing the wishes of Governmental
agencies and commissions, in stimulating
informed and intelligent patriotism, and in
sustaining the morale of the nation, the li-
brary finds a work by no means to be de-
spised. And library workers may take
comfort in knowing .that their effort in
their home libraries forms a real and im-
portant, if humble, part of the vast war
machinery.
THE SPIRIT OF THE WAR LITERATURE: PROSE
By George F. Bowerman, Librarian, Public Library of the District of Columbia
The student of the prose writings of this
war is already confronted with an em-
barrassment of riches perhaps unequaled
in the history of literature. Incomplete
bibliographies have recorded more than
15,000 titles of books and pamphlets on the
war. The purpose of this paper is to se-
lect from this mass a very few of the most
important and typical books for comment.
I do not intend to be critical, but I shall
attempt to show something of the spirit
of the books selected for consideration.
Although an interesting subject for
study, the books generally considered to
have had an influence in fathering the war,
such as the writings of Treitschke, Bern-
hardi and Nietzsche must be omitted, as
must also the writings treating of the
causes and political aspects of the war,
even though they include the signiflcant
and eloquent utterances of President Wil-
son, watched for the world over; the books
by James M. Beck that did so much to
bring to America conviction of the jus-
tice of the cause of the Allies; Friedrlch
Naumann's "Central Europe," regarded as
the official statement of Germany's terri-
torial ambitions in this war; the answer
to Naumann by Andr6 ChSradame in his
"Pangerman plot unmasked" and other
writings, and the group of books by Ger-
mans who have left Germany and are now
opposing her, "J'accuse, by a German" and
"The crime," by the same author, and "Be-
cause I am a German" and "The coming
democracy" by Hermann Fernau. Limita-
tions of time compel me to represent this
phase of my subject by two books only,
treating of the psychology of the war in
England and France, with mention of a
third book on the psychology of German
kultur.
The spirit and temper of England can-
not be better shown than by a brief ex-
tract from a fascinating book by Profes-
sor Gilbert Murray, entitled "Faith, war,
and policy" (1917). From this gentle Ox-
ford don and classicist we have the right-
eous indignation that any right-minded man
must feel at the present time. We must
not hate, we are told (in August, 1914),
but there is to be no softening of fiber —
resolution rather "to face death and kill."
"For there Is that side of it too. We
have now not only to strain every nerve to
help our friend — we must strain every
nerve also to injure our enemy. This Is
horrible, but we must try to face the truth.
For my own part, I find that I do desper-
ately desire to hear of German dread-
naughts sunk in the North Sea. Mines are
BOWERMAN
61
treacherous engines of death; but I should
be only too glad to help to lay one of them.
When I see that 20,000 Germans have been
killed in such-and-such an engagement, and
next day that it was only 2,000, I am sor-
ry. That is where we are. We are flight-
ing for that which we love, whatever we
call it. It is the Right, but it is something
even more than the Right. For our lives,
for England, for the liberty of western
Europe, for the possibility of peace and
friendship between nations; for something
that we would rather die than lose. And
lose it we shall unless we can beat the
Germans."
Something of the French spirit may be
gathered from an unusual book by Gustave
LeBon, "The psychology of the great war"
(1916), which aims not to examine the
historical events of the war but rather "to
analyze the psychological phenomena which
surround its genesis and evolution." His
theme is the preponderance of what he
calls the mystic over the rational bases of
action in the present struggle. To quote a
few extracts from his introduction:
"The present war is a contest between
psychological forces. Irreconcilable ideals
are grappling with one another. Individual
liberty is drawn up against collective
servitude, personal initiative against the
tyranny of state socialism, old habits of in-
ternational integrity and respect for
treaties against the supremacy of the can-
non. The ideal of the absolutism of force,
whose triumph Germany is now striving to
secure, is nothing new, for in antiquity it
reigned supreme Men were beginning
to forget the dark ages in which the weak
were pitilessly crushed, the useless bru-
tally cast off, and the Ideals of the nations
were conquest, slaughter and pillage. But
the belief that the progress of civilization
had once and for all destroyed the barbar-
ous customs of primitive periods was a
dangerous illusion, for new hordes of sav-
ages, whose ancestral ferocity the cen-
turies have not mitigated, even now dream
of enslaving the world that they may ex-
ploit it."
And from the concluding chapter:
"Even though the German armies should
win a hundred battles and lay a hundred
cities waste, the world needs liberty so
much and has so many means of defense
that no Caesar may hope to subject it to
his laws."
And again:
"All these disasters will have no result
if our will to win persists, for the conquest
of a nation's territory is not enough. To
dominate a people its soul must be van-
quished too — Germany has not enfeebled
the will of any nation which she has in-
vaded. All of them would rather die than
submit The future depends, beyond all
else, upon the continuance of our will.
CONQUER OR DIE, BUT NEVER YIELD!
must be the brief watchword of the na-
tions which Germany would enslave.
Neither Nature, nor Man, nor Fate itself,
can withstand a strong and steadfast will."
Although published early in the war and
then criticized by some as not sufficiently
judicial, Dr. Thomas F. A. Smith's "The
soul of Germany" is now, in the light of
Germany's crimes, seen to be an acute and
illuminating study of German character
and ideals. The author, an Englishman,
spent twelve years in Germany as a stu-
dent and teacher and as a lecturer in the
University of Erlangen and throughout the
country. His book is especially important
for its analysis of the German system of
education, in which he characterizes the
German schools as intellectual barracks
and the universities as high schools of
kultur and brutality. Defending his state-
ments from German official statistics of
vice and crime, the author makes an ajH
palling but unanswerable indictment of the
moral state of the German people that
helps to explain their conduct of this war,
without regard for honesty, honor, decency,
pity, or chivalry.
From the books of discussion and criti-
cism let us turn to the literature of per-
sonal experience.
One of the most interesting and widely
read contributions to the literature of the
war is a book so unique as almost to defy
classification. I refer to Sir Oliver Lodge's
"Raymond, or life and death," a memoir
of the great scientist's youngest son who
was killed in action. The exceptional
character of the book lies in the fact that
it not only pictures the son while alive
and doing a man's work in the trenches,
but also follows him beyond the grave and
by means of what the father regards as
authentic messages received through a
trance medium represents him as a still
62
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
living personality, exhibiting the same in-
terest in and affection for his family that
he felt in his life on earth. As is well
known, Sir Oliver Lodge, a scientist of the
first rank, has long been a believer in
psychic communications between the living
and those who are physically dead. From
these communications the author argues a
certainty of the continuity of life. He
holds also that without such a belief all
the great sacrifice of human lives that the
war involves has no meaning. Dr. Conan
Doyle says of this book:
"It is a new revelation of God's dealing
with man, and it will strengthen, not
weaken, the central spirit of Christianity.
It is one of the few books of which it can
be said that no one can read it with care
and understanding and be the same man
or woman afterward. If you are a be-
liever in such things already it will have
left that belief wider and more definite.
If you are not a believer you will find
opened up to you a new world which you
cannot lightly dismiss from your philos-
ophy of life."
The books that make the widest appeal
to those who are taking only a distant and
safe part in the war are those which re-
late the experiences of combatants and
noncombatants in camp, trench, hospital,
and throughout the belligerent and invaded
countries.
From the large and growing list of books
by fighting men it is possible to choose
only five or six of the most vivid.
"Over the top," by Sergeant Arthur Guy
Empey, is deservedly the most popular
war book by a soldier. Empey, or "Emp,"
as he calls himself when, on the public
platform, he puts the punch of his vigor-
ous personality into the interpretation of
his thrilling story, has lived a great deal
in his relatively few years. After sixteen
years spent in knocking around the world,
including service in the United States Reg-
ular Army, he had settled to his engineer-
ing profession when the European War
broke out. The news of the sinking of the
Lusitania caused him to write emergency
telegrams to the members of his National
Guard command ready to be sent as soon
as the expected order should come from
Washington to report for duty. One day
after the messages had been covered with
months of dust, a lucrative professional
offer came over the 'phone and to his
own surprise he found himself declining
it because he was off for England. Arriv-
ing there he enlisted in the British army,
went to the front, always volunteered for
extra hazardous duties, was wounded three
or four times, once lying for thirty-six
hours unconscious in a shell hole. His
necessary surgery included a pretty opera-
tion in facial restoration. A wound in the
shoulder prevented further fighting, so
that after eighteen months he was dis-
charged as "physically unfit for further
war service." Since his return to America
he has written "Over the top," and other
sketches first published serially and later
issued in book form as "First call."
"Over the top" is a perfectly direct ac-
count of his experiences as a British Tom-
my. One gets no heroics, but rather the
hard work, the fatigue, the discomfort, the
filth, the torture endured from cooties, the
danger and suffering, and also the humor,
the fun, and the practical jokes. Early in
his book he speaks of some conversation
as happening after he had learned to "un-
derstand English," meaning of course the
Cockney and other dialects of unlettered
Englishmen. For his readers he has fur-
nished a thirty-five page glossary entitled
"Tommy's dictionary of the trenches."
Some of these terms are "Blighty," mean-
ing home; "No man's land"; "Carry on,"
keeping at it; "the best of luck," the Jonah
phrase of the trenches, used whenever a
man goes "over the top" or Into extra
hazardous duty ; '^gone west," to have been
killed.
From a book all so quotable it is diffi-
cult to choose, so I will content myself
with this bit from his hospital experi-
ence:
"Some kindly looking old lady will stop
at your bed and in a sympathetic voice
address you, 'You poor boy, wounded by
those terrible Germans. You must be suf-
fering frightful pain. A bullet, did you
say? Well, tell me, I have always wanted
BOWERMAN
63
to know, did It hurt worse going In or
coming out?'
Tommy generally replies that he did not
stop to figure It out when he was hit.
One very nice looking, over-enthusiastic
young thing stopped at my bed and asked,
•What wounded you In the face?'
In a polite but bored tone I answered,
•A rifle bullet.' With a look of disdain she
passed to the next bed, first ejaculating,
•Oh! only a bullet? I thought it was a
shell.' Why she should think a shell
wound was more of a distinction beats
me."
Almost his closing words are:
"War Is not a pink tea, but In a worth
while cause like ours, mud, rats, cooties,
shells, wounds, or death Itself are far out-
weighed by the deep sense of satisfaction
felt by the man who does his bit."
I am Informed that "A student In arms,"
by Donald Hankey, has become almost a
second Bible with all Y. M. C. A. men en-
gaged in war work. The author was an
Oxford man, a student for the ministry.
He was killed in October, 1916, leading his
men. The two volumes published under
this title are made up of short essays, and
imaginary conversations, originally pub-
lished chiefly in the Spectator. They are
filled with lofty Idealism and charged with
religious spirit. They deal not so much
with the actual Incidents of the war as
with soldiers' attitude toward life at the
front, toward religion, the church, their
officers and each other.
The character of the books may be gath-
ered from this brief extract from a chap-
ter entitled, ••Of some who were lost and
afterward were found," meaning the black
sheep In his command, the men who, he
says, "would not fit into any respectable
niche in our social edifice," who '•were in-
curably disreputable, always in scrapes,
always Impecunious, always Improvident,"
"drunken and loose in morals." But this
is the way they acted in an engagement:
"Then at last we 'got out.' We were
confronted with dearth, danger and death.
And then they came to their own. We
could no longer compete with them. We
stolid respectable folk were not in our ele-
ment. We knew it. We felt It. We were
determined to go through with it. We suc-
ceeded; but it was not without much in-
ternal wrestling, must self-conscious effort.
Yet they, who had formerly been our de-
spair, were now our glory. Their spirits
effervesced. Their wit sparkled. Hunger
and thirst could not depress them. Rain
could not damp them. Cold could not chill
them. Every hardship became a joke.
They did not endure hardship, they derided
It. And somehow It seemed at the moment
as if derision was all that hardship existed
for! Never was such a triumph of spirit
over matter. As for death, it was. In a
way, the greatest joke of all. In a way,
for if it was another fellow who was hit it
was an occasion for tenderness and grief.
But if one of them was hit, O Death, where
is thy sting? O Grave, where Is thy vic-
tory? Portentous, solemn Death, you
looked a fool when you tackled one of
them! Life? They did not value life!
They had never been able to make much of
a fist of it. But if they lived amiss, they
died gloriously, with a smile for the pain
and the dread of it. What else had they
been born for? It was their chance. With
a gay heart they gave their greatest gift,
and with a smile to think that after all
they had anything to give which was of
value. One by one death challenged them.
One by one they smiled in his grim visage
and refused to be dismayed. They had
been lost, but they had found the path that
led them home; and when at last they laid
their lives at the feet of the Good Shep-
herd, what could they do but smile."
John Masefield's ••Galllpoli" deserves to
be Included in this study because, as one
critic has said, it Is "literature so magni-
ficent, so heroic, so heartbreaking, that it
sends us back to the Greek epics for com-
parison." Though he does not say so,
Mr. Masefield was at Galllpoli and partici-
pated In the events he records. The book
is a clear and connected account of the
Dardanelles campaign from the landing at
Cape Helles to the final evacuation in Janu-
ary, 1916. The author refers to the cam-
paign as "a great human effort, which
came, more than once, very near to
triumph, achieved the Impossible many
times, and failed in the end, as many great
deeds of arms have failed, from something
which had nothing to do with arms nor
with the men who bore them..." "This
failure," says Masefield, ••is the second
grand event of the war; the first was Bel-
gium's answer to the German ultimatum."
64
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
The strength of the book consists not in
its arguments against the military blun-
ders of the campaign, but in its recital of a
pathetic and dramatic human story, a
breathless story, filled with disaster and
death. The quality of the story is shown
by this passage, at the close of the book.
Until the truth is known, he says, as to
why the Peninsula was not won, let oui-
enemies say this:
"They did not win, but they came across
three thousand miles of sea, a little army
without reserves and short of munitions, a
band of brothers, not half of them half
trained, and nearly all of them new to
war. They came to what we said was an
impregnable fort on which our veterans of
war and massacre had laboured for two
months, and by sheer naked manhood they
beat us, and drove us out of it. Then ral-
lying, but without reserves, they beat us
again and drove us further. Then rallying
once more, but still without reserves, they
beat us again, this time to our knees. Then,
had they had reserves, they would have
conquered, but by God's pity they had none.
Then, after a lapse of time, when we were
men again, they had reserves, and they
hit us a staggering blow, which needed
but a push to end us, but God again had
pity. After that our God was indeed piti-
ful, for England made no further thrust,
and they went away,"
Mr. Masefield has since written a book
on the war on the western front, "The old
front line," and has recently been lectur-
ing in this country. Those who heard him,
as I suppose many of you did, will not
»oon forget his sad face and his melancholy
voice as he told of the war.
The little book by Lieutenant Coningsby
Dawson, "Carry on," consists of a collec-
tion of letters to his family characterized
by vividness of impression, sympathetic
insight, and a spirit of heroism. The au-
thor on his graduation from Oxford came
to America and spent a year in Union
Theological Seminary. Giving up the min-
istry he turned to writing and published
two or three novels including the "Garden
without walls" and "The slaves of free-
dom," the latter early in 1916. Securing a
commission in the Canadian field artillery
he was soon in France. These letters,
which are most intimate and personal,
were written from dugouts on the Somme
battle front in the intervals of artillery
fire. They were published altogether with-
out the knowledge of the author, with a
biographical introduction and editorial
notes by his father, the Reverend Dr.
W. J. Dawson. For its size this book is
quite the most abundant in quotable pass-
ages:
"We have got to win," he writes, "so
that men may never again be tortured by
the ingenious inquisition of modern war-
fare."
"If unconscious heroism is the virtue
most to be desired, and heroism spiced
with a strong sense of humor at that, then
pretty well every man I have met out here
has the amazing guts to wear his crown of
thorns as though it were a cap-and-bells.
To do that for the sake of corporate stout-
heartedness is, I think, the acme of what
Aristotle meant by virtue."
"All night the machine guns tap lik€
riveting machines when a New York sky-
scraper is in the building."
"There's a picture in the Pantheon in
Paris, I remember; I believe it's called
'To glory.' One sees all the armies of the
ages charging out of the middle distanc€
with Death riding at their head. The only
glory I have discovered in this war is in
men's hearts — it's not external. Were one
to paint the spirit of this war he would
depict a mud landscape, blasted trees, an
iron sky; wading through the slush and
shell-holes would come a file of bowed fig-
ures, more like outcasts from the Embank-
ment than soldiers. They're loaded down
like pack animals, their shoulders are
rounded, they're wearied to death, but they
go on and go on. There's no 'to glory'
about what we're doing out here; there's
no fiash of swords or splendor of uniforms.
There are only very tired men determined
to carry on. "The war will be won by tired
men who could never again pass an In-
surance test, a mob of broken counter-
jumpers, ragged ex-plumbers and quite un-
herolc persons. We're civilians in khaki,
but because of the ideals for which we fight
we've managed to acquire soldiers' hearts."
Lieutenant Dawson has since published
"The glory of the trenches," likewise filled
with inspiring idealism, and has been sent
by the British Government to France to
make a study of the American army there.
A book recording his observations is an-
nounced with the title, "Out to win."
Another recent lecturer is the author of
BOWERMAN
66
two books on England's early experiences
in the war, "The First Hundred Thousand"
and "All in it — K (1) carries on," by Ian
Hay, that is, by Captain, now Major John
Hay Beith, also a novelist of note. These
sketches of "the personal adventures of a
typical regiment of Kitchener's army" give
a detailed, unofficial chronicle of a unit
of "K (1)," a company of Scotch High-
landers of which the author was a mem-
ber. He says that the "characters are en-
tirely fictitious but the incidents described
all actually occurred." He shows how a
green regiment is whipped into shape, how
it behaved under fire, and how irrepressible
humor, his own and his companions', could
lighten any situation. As the reader fol-
lows the unit through these two volumes
he comes to know by name and character-
istics and so much to love the individual
officers and men that when each engage-
ment is over he is eager to learn whether
Bobby Little, Captain Wagstaffe, Corporal
Mucklewaine, Privates Cosh and Tosh and
all the other kilted Jocks and Jimmies,
Sandies and Andies are still alive and safe.
The first volume closes with the Battle of
Loos; the Second extends to "profitable
participation" in the Battle of the Somme-
The author announces that there will not
be a third volume, for the First Hundred
Thousand, as such, says he, are no
more. As Sergeant Mucklewaine observed,
"There's no that mony of us left now, ony-
ways."
These books also afford abundant mate-
rial for quotation, of striking and humor-
ous incident and dialogue; much of the
latter, however, is in Scotch dialect that
needs the tongue of a Scotsman for its
proper rendition.
In view of the criticisms formerly lev-
eled at our own earlier official manage-
ment of this war, there is pertinence in
Major Beith's chapter on "Olympus" which
is divided roughly, he says, into three de-
partments :
(1) Round game department (including
dockets, indents, and all official correspond-
ence); (2) Fairy godmother department;
(3) Practical joke department.
"The outstanding feature of the round
game department is its craving for ir-
relevant information and its passion for
detail Listen, and we will explain the
rules of the game. Think of something
you want immediately — say the command
of a brigade, or a couple of washers for
the lock of a machine-gun — and apply to
us. The application must be made in writ-
ing, upon the army form provided for the
purpose, and in triplicate. And — you must
'put in all the details you can possibly
think of.' "
For instance in the case of the machine-
gun washers — by the way in applying for
them you must call them "gun, machine,
light Vickers, washers for the lock of two."
That is the way they talk at the ordnance
office. An ordnance officer refers to his
wife's mother as "Law, mother-in, one."
You should state when the old washers
were lost, and by whom; also why they
were lost, and where they are now. Then
write a short history of the machine-gun
from which they were lost, giving date and
place of birth, together with the exact
number of rounds which it has fired — a
machine-gun fires about 500 rounds a min-
ute— adding the name and military record
of the pack animal which usually carries
it. When you have filled up the document
you forward it to the proper quarter and
await results.
The game then proceeds on simple and
automatic lines. If your application is
referred back to you not more than five
times, and if you get your washers within
three months of the date of application,
you are the winner. If you get something
else — say an aeroplane, or a hundred wash
hand basins — it is a draw. But the chances
are that you lose."
Of the books of personal experiences by
noncombatants the most interesting to me,
the most sprightly and entertaining, the
most moving is Hugh Gibson's "Journal
from our legation in Belgium." Written
for the eye of his mother, it covers the pe-
riod from July 4 to December 31, 1914. The
author was first secretary of the American
legation in Brussels. He -begins by lament-
ing that he had been sent to such a quiet
post and expressing his resolution to ask
for a transfer to some busier place. Then
comes the end of July. From that time on
the reader is constantly wondering how he
found time to sleep, much less keep this
journal. Indeed, there are days at a time
when he was absent in Louvain, Antwerp,
66
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Havre and London, when he slept little,
and wrote nothing. He was often in places
of great danger, as for example in Louvain
while street fighting was in progress; his
official duties took him back and forth be-
tween the German and Belgian lines dur-
ing engagements. Through it all he was
ever cheerful and helpful and was espe-
cially active in carrying messages of good
cheer between Belgian husbands and fath-
ers and their beleaguered families in Brus-
sels. His sympathies were at all times
clearly with the Belgians and his book con-
stitutes a strong, first hand indictment of
German treachery. Anyone who doubted
the stories of German atrocities has only
to read this record of our own representa-
tive in Belgium to find on almost every
page unstudied testimonies to robbery,
pillage and murder committed by the Ger-
mans everywhere in the most deliberate
and systematic fashion.
Mr. Gibson was not in Louvain at first,
but arrived in time to see much of the
work of destruction. It is his conviction
based on first-hand evidence that for six
days the German army indulged in an orgy
of bestiality and murder, and that "the
whole affair was part of a cold blooded and
calculated plan to terrorize the civilian
population." At this time all of the de-
tails cannot be published without endan-
gering the lives of people remaining in
Belgium, but later on "the true facts of the
destruction of Louvain will startle the
world — hardened to surprise at German
crimes though it has become." When food
was nearly exhausted someone remarked
that the Germans must not let the Belgians
starve. General von Luttwitz replied with
warmth that the Allies might feed them;
if they did not, they were responsible for
whatever might happen; that if there were
riots, the whole civil population might be
driven into some restricted area and fenced
in and left to die.
From pages crowded with tragic events
the difficulty is in deciding what not to
quote. There was the morning when the
German army occupied Brussels, going
through it* streets, haughty, contemptuous.
in marvelous array and equipment. "It
was a wonderful sight, and one which I
never expect to see equaled as long as I
live. They poured down the hill in a
steady stream without a pause or a break;
not an order was shouted or a word ex-
changed among the officers or men. All
of the orders and signals were given by
whistles and signs."
At Louvain an officer declared to Mr.
Gibson: "We shall make this place a des-
ert. We shall wipe it out so that it will
be hard to find where Louvain used to
stand. For generations people will come
here to see what we have done, and it will
teach them to respect Germany and to
think twice before they resist her. Not
one stone on another, I tell you — kein
Stein auf dem andern!"
Mr. Gibson reports that the Germans
had trained the population to throw up
their hands as soon as anyone came in
sight. One of his most moving experiences
at Louvain was when in going around a
corner in the motor they came on a little
girl of seven carrying a canary in a cage.
As soon as she saw them she threw up her
hands and cried out something that they
did not understand. Thinking that she
wanted to give them some warning they
put on the brakes and drew up to the curb.
"Then she burst out crying with fear and
we saw that she was in terror of her life.
We called out to reassure her, but she
turned and ran like a hunted animal."
Later when the German authorities be-
gan to appreciate the loathing of the world
at the crime of Louvain the order was is-
sued to stop the work of destruction. Mr.
Gibson says: "It was only when he learned
how civilization regarded his crimes, that
the Emperor's heart began to bleed."
He tells of another case when a troop train
passed over a railway crossing and there
was an explosion like the report of a rifle.
The train was promptly stopped, and the
officer in command at once collected all of
the men in the vicinity and had them
stood up against a wall and shot. After
they were all safely dead the German
switch tender got a chance to explain that
BOWERMAN
67
he had placed an explosive cap on the
track as a signal to stop the train before
reaching the next station.
But Mr. Gibson's book is by no means
grim and gloomy. Every day's record is
lightened by humor, especially by the au-
thor's dry comments on the stupidity and
asininity of German officialdom.
Visitors to Belgium in peace time who
remember the omnipresent dog drawing a
milk cart will here find him hauling ma-
chine guns and ammunition carts.
Throughout the book one is impressed
by the different attitudes of the Belgians
and Germans toward the Americans. The
Germans were usually polite, affable and
correct in form, profuse in promises, but
showed clearly their distrust and their
underlying hostility, and seemed to as-
sume that American sympathies were not
with them. The Belgians, on the other
hand, always took it for granted that the
Americans were friendly to them. The
American flag on the legation motor was
always cheered. He relates that on his
memorable trip to Louvain the citizens
"were pathetic in their confidence that the
United States was coming to save them.
In some way word had travelled all over
Belgium that we have entered the war on
the side of Belgium and they all seem to
believe it. Nearly every group we talked
to asked... when our troops were com-
ing A little boy of eight asked if we
were English and when I told him what
we were, he began jumping up and down,
clapping his hands and shouting, 'The
Americans have arrived.' "
It is quite natural that Ambassador
James W. Gerard's "My four years in Ger-
many" should be eagerly read because of
its first-hand, inside, authoritative informa-
tion about America's relations with Ger-
many. The book more than meets one's
expectation of it. The value consists not
only In its account of the diplomatic mat-
ters which the author handled with so
much credit to his country, but also for his
pictures of German conditions, tempera-
ment and psychology, for his rehearsals
of his conversations with the Kaiser and
German ministers of state, for his ac-
counts of prison camps and of conditions
among working men.
In reading this book every American is
thankful that we had at Berlin a man who
could tell the German foreign office that
if an insult to this country, hung by the
League of Truth in a conspicuous place,
was not removed he would go with a mov-
ing picture operator and take it down him-
self; who could tell the Chancellor that he
would sit in the street in front of his of-
fice until attention was paid to a proposal
about the war prisoners; who could tell
Zimmermann that there was a lamp post in
America for every German here who would
rise against this country; who could tell
the foreign office that he would stay there
"until hell freezes over" before he would
sign the treaty demanded of him as a con-
dition of the embassy's safe-conduct out
of Germany — and carry his point in each
case.
This is a book that should be read entire
by every "American for its illuminating pic-
ture of our enemy. Nearly every page
has something worthy of quotation. Most
noteworthy perhaps Is Mr. Gerard's inter-
view of over an hour with the Emperor in
October, 1915 — an audience had been re-
fused for more than six months — in which
the Kaiser showed intense bitterness
against the United States. Standing very
close to Mr. Gerard, the Kaiser said re-
peatedly: "America had better look out
after the war"; and, "I shall stand no non-
sense after this war."
The ambassador gives it as his opinion
that "the Germans believe that President
Wilson had been elected with a mandate
to keep out of war at any cost, and that
America could be insulted, flouted and
humiliated with impunity." He also says:
"I believe that today all of the bitterness
of the hate formerly concentrated on Eng-
land has now been concentrated on the
United States." He adds that German-
Americans are hated worse than other
Americans because they have neither as-
68
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
sisted Germany nor kept America out of
the war.
In closing his book Mr. Gerard says of
the causes and the outcome of the war:
"It is because in the dark, cold, north-
ern plains of Germany there exists an
autocracy, deceiving a great people, poi-
soning their minds from one generation
to another, and preaching the virtue and
necessity of war; and until that autocracy
is either wiped out or made powerless
there can be no pe&,ce on earth And
there must be no German peace. The old
regime, left in control of Germany, of
Bulgaria, of Turkey, would only seek a
favorable moment to renew the war, to
strive again for the mastery of the world.
Fortunately America bars the way."
Mr. Gerard has since published "Face to
face with Kaiserism," described by the au-
thor as a continuation of his earlier book.
Out of the large number of novels the
war has brought forth, I can name only a
few, grouping them under the countries
that they In a sense represent. For Ger-
many I shall mention Cholmondeley's
"Christine"; for Russia, Walpole's "The
dark forest"; for France, Benjamin's "Pri-
vate Gaspard" and Barbusse's "Under
fire," and for England, H. G. Wells' "Mr.
Britling sees it through" and May Sin-
clair's "The tree of heaven."
In spite of the fact that it is slight and
intrinsically not very important, I include
"Christine," by the author who writes un-
der the pseudonym of Alice Cholmondeley,
because it has been widely read and be-
cause it probably gives a better and a
more accurate picture of Germany at the
outbreak of the war than does any other
novel. It is written in the form of letters,
vivacious and readable, from a young Eng-
lish girl to her mother. Christine Is study-
ing music in Germany and becomes en-
gaged to a German officer. The story
brings out with quaint humor the German
servility toward the offlcier, and authority
generally and the adoration of the Kaiser.
When she was simply an English girl she
was nothing, was crowded off the sidewalk;
when she was betrothed to an officer she
was petted and congratulated on the fact
that she was going to be a "good German" ;
when Great Britain declared war her lover
was practically commanded to give her up
and she was humiliated and insulted.
One of the best touches is that of the
transformation of Kloster, her great mu-
sic master, from a rebel who constantly
denounces the authority of the military
caste to a good yeoman in the Kaiser's
service by his decoration with the Order of
the Red Eagle, first class, with title of
Wirklicher Geheimrath mit dem Pradikat
Excellenz. On receipt of that honor he
casts off his former confidante and most
promising pupil (Christine) without a
word of explanation.
While war was brewing she was com-
pelled to hear much of Germany, its his-
tory, achievements and character,
"By the time the servant came to take
the tea things I had a distinct vision of
Germany as the most lovable of little
lambs with a blue ribbon round its neck,
standing knee-deep in daisies and looking
about the world with kind little eyes."
After the Austrian note had been sent to
Serbia she had this conversation with her
hostess, who said:
" 'Russia and France will not interfere
in so just a punishment.'
'But is it just?' I asked.
She gazed at me critically at this. It
was not, she evidently considered, a suit-
able remark for one whose business it was
to turn into an excellent little German.
'Dear child,' she said, 'You cannot suppose
that our ally, the Kaiser's ally, would make
demands that are not just.'
'Do you think Friday's papers are still
anywhere about?' was my answer. 'I'd like
to read the Austrian note, and think it
over for myself. I haven't yet.'
The Grafin smiled at this, and rang the
bell. 'I expect the butler has them . . . But
do not worry your little head this hot
weather too much.'
'It won't melt,' I said, resenting that my
head should be regarded as so very small
and also made of sugar.
'There are people whose business it is to
think these high matters out for us,' she
said, 'and in thein hands we can safely
leave them.'
'As if they were God,' I remarked.
'Precisely,' she said, 'Loyal subjects, true
Christians, are alike in their unquestion-
ing trust and obedience to authority.' "
I am able to offer no opinion as to wheth-
BOWERMAN
69
er the real author of "Christine" is or is
not Ihe writer usually known in literature
as the Countess von Arnim, author of
"Elizabeth and her German garden."
Some may think that to represent Rus-
sia in war fiction I ought to include An-
dreyev's "Confessions of a little man in
great days," since it is by a prominent
Russian novelist and is about the war.
However, as I detest the whining, self-
pitying tone of its soul analysis, I prefer
to include a more robust book, "The dark
forest" by the English novelist, Hugh Wal-
pole, author of "Fortitude." In "The dark
forest," the story is concerned with a Red
Cross "Otriad" or surgical unit whose
members follow the Russian armies on
their advance and their great retreat in
Galicia. Types of English and Russian
character are contrasted and the Russian
myatlcal temperament and belief in psychic
phenomena play an important part in the
development of the story. The atmosphere
is that of war and of Russia. There are
many vivid impressions of actual warfare.
One has to do with the lack of ammuni-
tion which caused the Russian breakdown.
The following is an extract from Tran-
chard's diary:
"They say that the Austrians are strain-
ing every nerve to break through to the
river and cross. We are doing what we
can to prevent them, but what can we do?
There simply is not ammunition! The of-
ficers here are almost crying with despair,
and the men know it and go on, with their
cheerfulness, their obedience, their mild
kindliness — go into that green hill to be
butchered, and come out of it again, if
they are lucky, with their bodies mangled
and twisted, and horror in their eyes. It's
nobody's fault, I suppose, this business.
How easy to write in the daily papers that
the Germans prepared for this war and
that we did not, and that after a month or
two all will be well After a month or
two! tell that to us, stuck here in the for-
est and hear how we laugh!"
To Ren6 Benjamin was awarded the Gon-
court prize for 1915 for his "Private Gas-
pard, a soldier of France." The slang of
the original is almost untranslatable and
though the book has been reproduced in
good American slang, the spirit of France
breathes in spite of the inadequacies of the
translation. The hero is a Montmartre
snail merchant, but he is also the tradi-
tional gamin grown up; according to one
critic he is the Gallic cock of legend. He
is irrepressible, bubbling over with assur-
ance, humor and sympathy. We find in
Gaspard the spirit of France, gay and
brave, despite the horrors of war, the
France that so marvelously disappointed
her enemies, the France that recreated her-
self out of the war. The buoyancy, cour-
age and vigor that pervade the story are a
fitting symbol of the land that produced
it. These extracts illustrate the quality
of the book:
"Gaspard Inquired: 'What do you call
this place?'
The sergeant replied: 'They tell me it's
G— .'
'G — ?' said Gaspard. 'Never heard of it.'
He was obviously dissatisfied. No one
ever heard of G — . What he wanted was
the name of one of the great battles of
history. To have been wounded at G —
would mean nothing, however great an es-
cape from death he might have had. He
had seen so many fall and die! The only
ones he hadn't seen were the Germans.
He asked the others: 'Did you see the Ger-
mans?'
A wounded man replied: 'Much do I wor-
ry about that! I don't want to see them.'
'Well, you think like a fool. He doesn't
care to see them!... Well, who does?...
Only I sure didn't think that war was any-
thing like this. And I'm not the only one
at that. When I fight I'm not afraid to
show myself; I don't go into hiding! But
with these swine, they stay at home and
fire at you all their rotten steel and iron.
We were willing to go right to it; all we
wanted was a hand to hand fight'
A voice from the shadows said: 'Unfor-
tunately those are no more the conditions
of modern warfare.'
'Modern be damned!' said Gaspard. 'I
don't know any big words like that but I
know what I'm talking about. And if I'd
known before I wouldn't have gone into
the infantry.'
'Where would you have gone?' said the
same voice.
'Where would I have gone? Why, In a
flying corps! I would have applied for a
job as an aviator. . . and that's the kind of
a job I'd like, because I could spit on the
Germans!'
Gaspard was allowed to go home on
70
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
three days' leave. He hurried to Paris,
arriving at his home at midnight and
waked up his mother, his mistress Marie,
and his little son and told them all of his
experiences at the front.
During the night of his arrival, after
drinking the coffee which she prepared
for him, all the memories of the past
months came back to him; he was happy
to find his home in such good condition
and looked affectionately first at Marie and
then at the boy. While thinking over the
past he became suddenly aware of a deep
feeling of gratitude toward this brave
woman who had brought up his son and
taken such good care of him. He said:
'I'll tell you what we'll do I just got
an idea. . . . This is war, you know. . , and
there Is nothing like war to give you an
Idea... not that there's anything new
about it, but war changes everything
Listen here, Bibiche, don't you think it
would be better. . . if we went out. . . and
got married?'
This was entirely unexpected and she
was so happy she could hardly reply.
Gaspard, with all the frankness of his
simple soul, went on:
'I just came to think of it... and when
you think of it you might as well do it. . .
because, you know... later on we might
forget all about it.'
His mother began to worry.
'You're not afraid that you're going to
be killed when you go back, are you?'
•Killed!' Gaspard cried, 'killed!' Well
I don't think! Never. . . but this is the
way; so long as we're doing a general
cleanup we might as well settle up our
own private affairs. Here's a little kid
who doesn't know just what he is. That
was all right before the war. But when
it is all over everything will be straight-
ened out and we don't want to be behind
the others.'
Married he was, though it took him five
days and his leave was only three and
this resulted in imprisonment when he
reported back for duty, which seemed
pretty hard when he had been to such
pains to marry his wife and give his son
a father."
Although Henri Barbusse's "Le Feu"
(English translation entitled "Under fire")
received the Goncourt prize for 1916 and is
by some French critics regarded as the
book of the war most likely to hold a per-
manent place in literature, I mention it
not to commend it but to condemn its
spirit and effect. Most French people de-
plore the vogue It has gained in America
and even charge its circulation here to
German propaganda. They resent the book
as a false picture of the poilu. With ex-
treme naturalism the author dwells on the
filth and the stench of trench life and on
the animalism of the common soldiers who
are for the most part pictured as without
ideals, without a spirit of patriotism, as
simply dragging out a sordid existence in
the trenches until they get to billets where
they can be gluttons and become sodden
with drink. A book that has been so gen-
erally read and so violently discussed can-
not be ignored. However, it comes so far
short of doing justice to the sufferings, the
heroism and the patriotism of the French,
that in spite of its brilliancy, the general
effect of this book by an avowed pacifist
is unwholesome and its circulation is not
designed to help win the war.
I fancy that it is not necessary to make
any extended comment on H. G. Wells'
"Mr. Britling sees it through," probably
the most widely read novel that the war
has produced. Published before we went
into the war, this novel of England in war
time has peculiar interest for Americans,
for it is through the eyes of an American
visitor that Mr. Wells first shows us
Matching's Easy, with its lighthearted. In-
consequential life running with ordered
smoothness. All through the story Mr.
Direck remains as representative of Amer-
ica, torn between two conflicting states of
mind by the war, just as Herr Heinrlch,
the German tutor, simple, methodical to
the point of absurdity, stands for the de-
luded, docile German people. But in its
essentials this Is the story of Mr. Britling,
and through the story of what the war is do-
ing to England, taking from him, as from
thousands of others, his best loved son,
but also making him look beyond the
personal love, beyond nationalism to find
a meaning that will justify the sacrifice.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about
the book is that in it Mr. Wells through
Mr. Britling gives an amazingly frank,
transparent portrait of himself, his ideas,
his sympathies, his character as a man of
letters and finally that he sets forth what
BOWERMAN
71
may be called his own conversion to reli-
gion. The most quoted passage of the
book is the letter written by Mr. Britling,
after the loss of his son Hugh, to Hein-
rich's father, whose son has also been
killed. After many futile attempts he con-
cludes:
"Religion is the first thing and the last
thing, and until a man has found God and
has been found by God, he begins at no
beginning, he works to no end. He may
have his friendships, his political loyal-
ties, his scraps of honor. But all these
things fall Into place and life falls into
place only with God. Only with God. God,
who fights through men against Blind
Force and Night and Non-Existence; who
is the end, who is the meaning. He is
the only King. Of course, I must write
about Him. I must tell all my world of
Him. And before the coming of the true
King, the inevitable King, the King who is
present whenever just men foregather,
this bloodstained rubbish of the ancient
world, these puny kings and tawdry em-
perors, these wily politicians and artful
lawyers, these men who claim and grab
and trick and compel, these war makers
and oppressors, will presently shrivel and
pass — like paper thrust into the flame.
. . . Our sons who have shown us God."
Mr. Wells has continued the explanation
of his theory of religion with God as the
militant king of a united world^in his es-
say, "God the invisible King," and in his
recently published novel, "The soul of a
bishop."
A novel which is perhaps fully as signi-
ficant as "Mr. Britling" in its portrayal of
England's gradual progress from stunned
incredulity regarding the war to intense
and grim absorption in it, and a novel
which is certainly far more artistic as
literature than "Mr. Britling" is May Sin-
clair's "The tree of heaven." The over-
whelming effect of the war on one pros-
perous and comfortably self-satisfied fam-
ily is made to seem typical. Miss Sinclair
has intensified the impression she gives of
the war as fate by devoting over half of
her book to the life of the family before
the war begins. We see the four children
growing up about their mother, who is
complacently contented with herself, her
home, her husband, and above all her
children whom she secretly holds dearer
than her husband. She has a complacent
feeling of pride too that England is her
country, when she gives the matter a
thought, but for the most part England
means little to her but her own immedi-
ate surroundings — her home with its
charming garden in which stands the
"tree of heaven." Anthony, her husband.
Is absorbed in his thriving business and
In providing generously for the demands
of his family.
Then the war comes. At first their life
goes on very much as usual; then they are
all drawn ^gradually into its vortex, until
finally the old placid personal life is a
thing of the past — never to return. Trag-
edy has come to the household through its
children, but with tragedy has come the
awakening of something in the souls of
Anthony and his wife of which they had
never before been really conscious —
passionate devotion to England and Its
ideals of liberty.
The presence in this novel of more than
a suggestion of belief in spirit communica-
tion with the living Is very interesting be-
cause it is one of many illustrations of the
turning of English thought and belief In
that direction since the outbreak of the
war. ' fi|
It should be observed that America has
not produced any great war novel, perhaps
for the reason that not yet has the iron
really entered into her soul.
The books I have commented upon form
but a very small selection from the elig-
ibles. Though several of them were pub-
lished somewhat early in the war, their
value Is attested by their continued popu-
larity. Another paper of similar length
might be devoted to an altogether differ-
ent group of war books that taken to-
gether would probably prove only a little
less interesting than those I have treated.
I have tried to communicate something
of the spirit of the prose literature of the
war by means of abstracts of and extracts
from some of the most Important and
typical books produced by the war; that
Is, I have aimed to be as direct a means as
72
SARATOGA SPRING'S CONFERENCE
possible of communication from the au-
thors to my hearers, instead of interpos-
ing my own reactions between my audi-
ence and the writers whose books I have
chosen for comment and quotation. To
summarize briefly some of the impres-
sions I have gained from my reading, I may
instance as most prominent these charac-
teristics:
Everywhere there is loathing for the
Germans — the men as well as their mili-
tary masters — for their treachery and de-
ceit— they don't fight fairly or like good
sportsmen — for their cruelty, for their
dastardly attitude toward women and chil-
dren and noncombatants. It is quite as
evident to the fighting man as to the
statesman that the Germans have carried
the world back to a state of savagery from
which it must be rescued. The fighting
men among the Allies believe themselves
to be engaged in a high crusade, not sim-
ply to make the world safe for democracy,
but something more elementary than that,
to make it a place in which human beings
may again live in safety. And the hope is
everywhere present that this may prove
the last and final war and that civilization
may never again be put to the torture.
Though the sense of danger, the apprehen-
sion of death, the grumbling at the dis-
comforts incident to life in camp and
trench, the irritation at the injustice at
being uprooted from habitual life and em-
ployment and at being forced by the Kai-
ser to clean things up are always present,
in most of the books I have read, cheer-
fulness, good spirits, take it as it comes,
be a good sport, fun, practical jokes, com-
radeship, goodfellowship, sympathy, helt-
fulness and tenderness are much more
prevalent. Finally the will to victory, the
spirit that has dominated France and
made her the marvel of the world, is the
spirit that pervades all of this literature,
and will prove, I believe, the strongest
factor in bringing the war to the only
conclusion that America will tolerate.
THE SPIRIT OF THE WAR LITERATURE: POETRY
By May Massee, Editor, The Booklist
The two great mysteries of this life are
love and hate, and as war is such a mar-
velous manifestation of both in their high-
est and lowest expressions it intrigues the
minds of men to find the answer, to under-
stand, to explain, to glorify in all its won-
der and to hideously expose in all its hor-
ror.
When men are moved to the point where
they can interpret their own emotions,
their speech becomes the speech of poets,
the seers, and as never before have so many
men been shaken to the depths, never be-
fore have there been so many poems to
voice the immediate feelings of a genera-
tion. They express every shade of feeling
from the lightest to the deepest, from
poems which are inspired to those which
are — not inspired, until one who reads hun-
dreds of these expressions is divided be-
tween sincere admiration and half-ashamed
appreciation of Mr. Dooley's idea that the
bombardment of defenseless citizens by
"concealed batt'ries iv poets" adds a new
terror to warfare.
Most of the men are young, and glorious
youth thrills through their poems — "The
ungirt runners," "The soldier's game,"
"The river bathe" — numberless poems of the
joy of living. It makes a sporting propo-
sition of the first fighting, with dare-devil
boys shouting "Over the top with the best
of luck and give 'em hell!" You will find
it in the trench ditties like the one which
sprang from nowhere in the first year of
the war when the regulars were waiting
for Kitchener's army:
"Who are the boys that fighting's for.
Who are the boys to win the war?
It's good old Kitchener's army.
MASSES
73
And every man of them's tr^s bon,
They never lost a trench since Mons,
Because they never saw one."
Or this song from the French, translated
in "The A. E. F.:"
Madelon*
For all the soldiers, on their holidays.
There is a place, just tucked in by the
woods,
A house with ivy growing on the walls —
A cabaret — "Aux Toulourous" — the goods!
The girl who serves is young and sweet as
love.
She's light as any butterfly in spring,
Her eyes have got a sparkle like her wine.
We call her Madelon — it's got a swing!
The soldiers' girl! She leads us all a dance!
She's only Madelon, but she's Romance!
When Madelon comes out to serve us
drinks.
We always know she's coming by her
song!
And every man, he tells his little tale,
And Madelon, she listens all day long.
Our Madelon is never too severe —
A kiss or two is nothing much to her —
She laughs us up to love and life and God —
Madelon! Madelon! Madelon!
We all have girls for keeps that wait at
home
Who'll marry us when fighting time Is
done;
But they are far away — too far to tell
What happens in these days of cut-and-
run.
We sigh away such days as best we can,
And pray for time to bring us nearer
home,
But tales like ours won't wait till then to
tell—
We have to run and boast to Madelon.
We steal a kiss — she takes it all in play;
We dream she is that other — far away.
A corp'ral with a feather in his cap
Went courting Madelon one summer's
day.
And, mad with love, he swore she was su-
perb.
And he would wed her any day she'd say.
But Madelon was not for any such —
She danced away and laughed: "My stars
above!
Why, how could I consent to marry you.
When I have my whole regiment to love?
I could not choose just one and leave the
rest.
I am the soldiers' girl — I like that best!"
When Madelon comes out to serve us
drinks,
We always know she's coming, by her
song!
And every man, he tells his little tale,
And Madelon, she listens all day long.
Our Madelon is never too severe —
A kiss or two is nothing much to her —
She laughs us up to love and life and God —
Madelon! Madelon! Madelon!
^Reprinted by permission from "The A. E. P.,'!
by Heywood Broun. (Appleton.)
The Bairnsfather of trench poetry has
not yet appeared, but when he comes be
sure he will have the spirit of youth.
But this youth now is filled with a great
purpose, such purpose as in ordinary times
comes only to genius and demands years
for its accomplishment, while to-day youth
must accomplish in a few days, perhaps
in a crowded hour, for death is always just
ahead.
Now we feel the shudder of the first rec-
ognition, then the growing intimacy with
death, and finally we know that to this
glowing resplendent youth has come the
completed wisdom of old age, the realiza-
tion of death as a mere part of life, bearing
great gifts, with the certainty that though
each individual life is but, "a pulse in the
eternal mind," it has given its part to the
life of the great cause which lives forever.
The spirit of youth going into battle Is
typified in this poem by Julian Grenfell:
Into Battle'
The naked earth is warm with spring.
And with green grass and bursting trees
Leans to the sun's gaze glorying,
And quivers in the sunny breeze;
And life is colour and warmth and light,
And a striving evermore for these;
And he is dead who will not fight;
And who dies fighting has increase.
The fighting man shall from the sun
Take warmth, and life from the glowing
earth ;
Speed with the light-foot winds to run.
And with the trees to newer birth ;
And find, when fighting shall be done
Great rest, and fullness after dearth.
All the bright company of Heaven
Hold him in their high comradeship,
The Dog-Star, and the Sisters Seven,
Orion's Belt and sworded hip.
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SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
The woodland trees that stand together,
They stand to him each one a friend;
They gently speak in the windy weather;
They guide to valley and ridge's end.
The kestrel hovering by day,
And the little owls that call by night,
Bid him be swift and keen as they.
As keen of ear, as swift of sight.
The blackbird sings to him, "Brother,
brother.
If this be the last aong you shall sing.
Sing well, for you may not sing another;
Brother, sing."
In dreary, doubtful, waiting hours.
Before the brazen frenzy starts.
The horses show him nobler powers;
O patient eyes, courageous hearts!
And when the burning moment breaks,
And all things else are out of mind.
And only joy of battle takes
Him by the throat, and makes him blind,
Through joy and blindness he shall know,
Not caring much to know, that still
Nor lead nor steel shall reach him, so
That it be not the Destined Will.
The thundering line of battle stands.
And in the air death moans and sings;
But Day shall clasp him with strong hands.
And Night shall fold him in soft wings.
Julian Orenlell.
^Reprinted by permission from "The muse
in arms," edited by EJ. B. Osborn. (Stokes.)
Rupert Brooke's sonnets voice their real-
ization of death.
The Dead*
Blow out, you bugles, over the rich Dead!
There's none of these so lonely and poor of
old.
But, dying, has made us rarer gifts than
gold.
These laid the world away; poured out the
red
Sweet wine of youth; gave up the years
to be
Of work and joy, and that unhoped serene.
That men call age; and those who would
have been
Their sons, they gave, their immortality.
Blow, bugles, blow! They brought us, for
our dearth,
Holiness, lacked so long, and Love, and
Pain.
Honour has come back, as a king, to earth.
And paid his subjects with a royal wage;
And Nobleness walks in our ways again;
And we have come into our heritage.
Rupert Brooke.
^Reprinted by permission from "The col-
lected poems of Rupert Brooke." (Lane.)
Soldiers do not spend much time describ-
ing the horrors of war, they have to live
them, but now and then a man is able to
look at them straight and to give them to
us straight, as in the "Night bombard-
ment" and "Assault" of Robert Nichols,
some of Gilbert Frankau's, and "The rear-
guard," by Siegfried Sassoon; which I shall
read because it is necessary to visualize
this hell which forms the constant sinister
background, even though here and there
it does flash to sudden beauty in the light
of some great truth shining above its hor-
ror:
The Reab-guabd*
(Eindeniurg Line, April 1917)
Groping along the tunnel step by step.
He winked his prying torch with patching
glare
From side to side, and sniffed the un-
wholesome air.
Tins, bottles, boxes, shapes too vague to
know, —
A mirror smashed, the mattress from a
bed;
And he, exploring, fifty feet below
The rosy gloom of battle overhead.
Tripping, he grabbed the wall; saw some
one lie
Humped and asleep, half-hidden by a rug;
And stooped to give the sleeper's arm a
tug.
"I'm looking for Headquarters." No re-
ply. . . .
"God blast your neck" (for days he'd had
no sleep),
"Get up and guide me through this stink-
ing place."
Then, with a savage kick at the silent heap.
He flashed his beam across the livid face
Horribly glaring up; and the eyes yet wore
Agony dying hard ten days before;
And twisted fingers clutched a blackening
wound.
* * * « *
Alone, he staggered on until he found
Dawn's ghost, that filtered down a shaft-
ed stair
To the dazed, muttering creatures under-
ground.
MASSEE
75
Who hear the boom of shells in muffled
sound.
At last, with sweat of horror in his hair,
He climbed through darkness to the twi-
light air.
Unloading hell behind him, step by step.
Siegfried Bassoon.
^Reprinted by permission from "The muse
in arms," edited by E. B. Osborn. (Stokes.)
We feel this sinister background con-
stantly but the spirit of the poems seems to
be to dismiss it with the one word "Hell,"
and to express in poetry the ever recurring
beauty in nature and the nobility in men.
Where the war has devastated the fields,
the men find beauty and wisdom from the
birds which must have brought great com-
fort, for poem after poem pays tribute to
their singing, such as this refrain, "I thank
the gods that the birds are beautiful still,"
or
"And in the sky the larks, still bravely
singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below."
Or in this, which is one of the beautiful
poems of the war, with a real philosophy:
Magpies in Picaedy*
The magpies in Picardy
Are more than I can tell.
They flicker down the dusty roads
And cast a magic spell
On the men who march through Picardy,
Through Picardy to hell.
(The blackbird flies with panic,
The swallow goes like light,
The finches move like ladies,
The owl floats by at night;
But the great and flashing magpie
He flies as artists might.)
A magpie in Picardy
Told me secret things —
Of the music in white feathers,
And the sunlight that sings
And dances in deep shadows —
He told me with his wings.
(The hawk is cruel and rigid.
He watches from a height;
The rook is slow and sombre.
The robin loves to fight;
But the great and fiashing magpie
He flies as lovers might.)
He told me that in Picardy,
An age ago or more,
While all his fathers still were eggs.
These dusty highways bore
Brown, singing soldiers marching out
Through Picardy to war.
He said that still through chaos
Works on the ancient plan.
And two things have altered not
Since first the world began —
The beauty of the wild green earth
And the bravery of man.
(For the sparrow flies unthinking
And quarrels in his flight.
The heron trails his legs behind,
The lark goes out of sight;
But the great and flashing magpie
He flies as poets might.)
Tipuca.
♦Reprinted by permission from Westminster
Gazette and Literary Digest.
And as men are stirred by the Immediate
beauty about them, they are inevitably re-
minded of the beauty at home with all its
loved associations, their passionate faith in
the flght to save that beauty and their be-
lief that if death keeps them in the field
their spirits will return
"They also will come home."
There is one poem which gives the beauty
of England as home, speaks for men's love
of it, shows the sorrow of parting and the
bravery of the sacriflce, the faith in the
cause and the hope of the spirit's return if
the flnal sacriflce is needed. This one
poem gives it all — I mean, of course, Mr.
Masefield's "August, 1914":
August 1914*
How still this quiet cornfield is to-night!
By an intenser glow the evening falls.
Bringing, not darkness, but a deeper light;
Among the stooks a partridge covey calls.
The windows glitter on the distant hill;
Beyond the hedge the sheep-bells in the
fold
Stumble on sudden music and are still;
The forlorn pinewoods droop above the
wold.
An endless quiet valley reaches out
Past the blue hills into the evening sky;
Over the stubble, cawing, goes a rout
Of rooks from harvest, fiagging as they
fly.
So beautiful it Is, I never saw
So great a beauty on these English fields.
7«
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Touched by the twilight's coming into awe,
Ripe to the soul and rich with summer's
yields.
*****
These homes, this valley spread below me
here.
The rooks, the tilted stacks, the beasts in
pen,
Have been the heartfelt things, past-speak-
ing dear
To unknown generations of dead men,
Who, century after century, held these
farms.
And, looking out to watch the changing
sky.
Heard, as we hear, the rumours and alarms
Of war at hand and danger pressing nigh.
And knew, as we know, that the message
meant
The breaking off of ties, the loss of
friends.
Death, like a miser getting in his rent,
And no new stones laid where the track-
way ends.
The harvest not yet won, the empty bin.
The friendly horses taken from the stalls.
The fallow on the hill not yet brought in.
The cracks unplastered in the leaking
walls.
Yet heard the news, and went discouraged
home.
And brooded by the fire with heavy mind,
With such dumb loving of the Berkshire
loam
As breaks the dumb hearts of the Eng-
lish kind.
Then sadly rose and left the well-loved
Downs,
And so by ship to sea, and knew no more
The fields of home, the byres, the market
• towns.
Nor the dear outline of the English shore.
But knew the misery of the soaking trench.
The freezing in the rigging, the despair
In the revolting second of the wrench
When the blind soul is flung upon the air,
And died (uncouthly, most) in foreign
lands
For some idea but dimly understood
Of an English city never built by hands.
Which love of England prompted and
made good.
*****
If there be any life beyond the grave,
It must be near the men and things we
love.
Some power of quick suggestion how to
save.
Touching the living soul as from above.
An influence from the Earth from those
dead hearts
So passionate once, so deep, so truly
kind.
That in the living child the spirit starts.
Feeling companioned still, not left be-
hind.
Surely above these fields a spirit broods,
A sense of many watchers muttering
near
Of the lone Downland with the forlorn
woods
Loved to the death, inestimably dear.
A muttering from beyond the veils of
Death
From long-dead men, to whom this quiet
scene
Came among blinding tears with the last
breath.
The dying soldier's vision of his queen.
All the unspoken worship of those lives
Spent in forgotten wars at other calls
Glimmers upon these fields where evening
drives
Beauty like breath, so gently darkness
falls.
Darkness that makes the meadows holier
still.
The elm-trees sadden in the hedge, a sigh
Moves In the beech-clump on the haunted
hill,
The rising planets deepen in the sky.
And silence broods like spirit on the brae,
A glimmering moon begins, the moon-
light runs
Over the grasses of the ancient way
Rutted this morning by the passing guns.
John Masefield.
^Reprinted by permission from "Philip, the
King, and other poems," by John Masefield.
(Macmillan.)
Yesterday you heard one of America's
gifts to the spirit of war poetry in Carl
Sandburg's "The four brothers" and an-
other in Dr. Raney's report of his work for
books for the soldiers in France.
Here is another poem which voices the
ideas met everywhere in America where we
have the memory of the great man who
typified them:
MASSEE
77
Abbaham Lincoln Walks at Midnight*
(In Springfield, Illinois)
It is portentous, and a thing of state
That here at midnight, in our little town
A mourning figure walks, and will not rest,
Near the old court-house pacing up and
down.
Or by his homestead, or in shadowed yards
He lingers Where his children used to
play,
Or through the market, on the well-worn
stones
He stalks until the dawn-stars burn
away.
A bronzed, lank man! His suit of ancient
black,
A famous high top-hat and plain worn
shawl
Make him the quaint great figure that men
love,
The prairie-lawyer, master of us all.
He cannot sleep upon his hillside now.
He is among us: — as in times before!
And we who toss and lie awake for long
Breathe deep, and start, to see him pass
the door.
His head is bowed. He thinks on men and
kings.
Yea, when the sick world cries, how can
he sleep?
Too many peasants fight, they know not
why,
Too many homesteads In black terror
weep.
The sins of all the war-lords burn his heart.
He sees the dreadnaughts scouring every
main.
He carries on his shawl-wrapped shoulders
now
The bitterness, the folly and the pain.
He cannot rest until a spirit-dawn
Shall come; — the shining hope of Europe
free:
The league of sober folk, the Worker's
Earth
Bringing long peace to Cornland, Alp and
Sea.
It breaks his heart that kings must mur-
der still.
That all his hours of travail here for men
Seem yet in vain. And who will bring
white peace
That he may sleep upon his hill again?
VacJiel Lindsay.
^Reprinted by permission from "The Congo
and other poems," by Vachel Lindsay. (Mac-
miUan.)
And I would like to read one which ex-
presses what we find again and again in
the soldiers' poems, their insistence on the
universal brotherhood of common men:
Five Soxjls*
First Soul —
I was a peasant of the Polish plain;
I left my plow because the message
ran:
Russia, in danger, needed every man
To save her from the Teuton; and was
slain.
I gave my life for freedom — this I
know;
For those who bade me fight had told
me so.
Second Soul —
I was a Tyrol ese, a mountaineer;
I gladly left my mountain home to
fight
Against the brutal, treacherous Mus-
covite :
And died in Poland on a Cossack spear.
I gave my life for freedom — ^this I
know;
For those who bade me fight had told
me so.
Third Soul—
I worked in Lyons at my weaver's loom.
When suddenly the Prussian despot
hurled
His felon blow at France and at the
• world;
Then I went forth to Belgium and my
doom.
I gave my life for freedom — this I
know;
For those who bade me fight had told
me so.
Fourth Soul —
I owned a vineyard by the wooded Main,
Until the Fatherland, begirt by foes
Lusting her downfall, called me, and
I rose
Swift to the call — and died in fair Lor-
raine.
I gave my life for freedom— this I
know ;
For those who bade me fight had told
me so.
Fifth Soul—
I worked in a great shipyard by the
Clyde,
There came a sudden word of wars de-
clared.
Of Belgium, peaceful, helpless, unpre-
pared.
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SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Asking our aid: I joined the ranks, and
died.
I gave my life for freedom — this I
know;
For those who bade me fight had told
me so.
W. N. Ewer.
Parts of President Wilson's speeches
give form to the best spirit of war poetry
and are real poetry though not technically
poetry and so denied to this paper. And
if I have confined myself to war poetry in
English, it is simply because it is most
available to us and the spirit is the same,
though each country's expression has its
6wn special beauty and fire.
We have found in these poems glorious.
^Reprinted by permission from "From the
front ; trench poetry," edited by C. B. Andrews.
(Apple ton.)
resplendent youth with its love of life,
fired with a great purpose, and the recog-
nition of death as a mere part of life.
The realization of Hell — that wonderful
word which it seems was created ages ago,
and gathered in power on the tongues of
men through the generations, that to-day
it might symbolize the fact.
The love of the homeland, with the per-
sonal love for individuals so beautifully ex-
pressed and merging into the wider love of
all mankind as brothers — does it dream a
hope that Heaven, too, that magic word
which has been growing in the hearts of
men through all the generations, may find
its realization in the years to come? —
when all that is remembered of this war
shall be that it was fought to prove man's
faith in the brotherhood of man.
CANADIAN LIBRARIES AND THE WAR
By George H. Locke, Chief Librarian, Toronto Public Library
To a nation or rather a colony — for we
are not ashamed of being a colony — with
no standing army, with no regular troops
and no garrisons, the great war came with
a suddenness that was terrific in its ef-
fect. It is true we were not close to the
war and liable to invasion. Therefore we
were not panic-stricken in any way. In-
deed, we were so far from the center of
difiiculties and so imbued with the idea
that war was impossible because of the
peacefulness of our immediate neighbors,
that we could only with difficulty realize
that war was on. But we recovered our
breath, sent over to London our good
wishes, and offered to help out with men
and munitions, our principal munitions
being wheat and flour.
We did not wait for our offer to be ac-
cepted. The wheat and flour left in the
first available steamers. The "fiery cross"
set all the country afiame and thirty-three
thousand men gathered at Valcartier near
the historic port of Quebec, the flower of
the nation and eager for the fray.
Everything was done in feverish eager-
ness and within six weeks of the declara-
tion of war this Armada left Quebec to
help the Motherland. We were in it be-
cause Britain was in it and we were to
stay in it because it was a fight for justice,
liberty, and the right of the small and
the weak.
As Sir Wilfrid Laurier expressed it on
the eve of the sailing of the Armada:
"We are British subjects and today we
are face to face with the consequences
which are involved in that proud fact.
Long have we enjoyed the benefits of our
British citizenship; today it is our duty
and our privilege to accept its responsibili-
ties; yes and its sacrifices. It is our duty,
more pressing on us than all other duty,
at once, on this first day of debate In the
Canadian Parliament, to let Great Britain
know that there is in Canada but one mind
and one heart, and that all Canadians
stand behind the Mother Country, con-
scious and proud that she did not engage
in war from any selfish motive, for any
purpose of aggrandizement, but that she
engaged in war to maintain untarnished
the honor of her name, to fulfill her obliga-
LOOKS
79
tions to her allies, to maintain her treaty
obligations, and to save civilization from
the unbridled lust of conquest and power."
For every man who went five had vol-
unteered and at once we began the work
of training in our various camps the rein-
forcements which we knew would be nec-
essary. The work was carried out with an
intensity of purpose and a feverish haste,
both of which were natural in the face of
the great emergency, but which made drill
and food the great essentials of the mo-
ment. When, however, the work of the
camps got into its stride, so to speak, it
was seen that the organized force of the
Y. M. C. A., which was handling with such
great success the canteens, "was the best
agency through which to help the soldier
in his leisure and sometimes lonely hours.
The public libraries near the training
camps, the schools in the larger cities,
the church societies and the clubs became
the feeders of the Y. M. C. A. canteens
and there poured in books and magazines
in great quantities. The work was not
highly organized and was indifferently
done as one might suppose in the midst of
the confusion of the early days. It might
have been done better if we had had the
warning and experience of other nations.
With us the personnel of the camps was
changing so rapidly because of the use of
training camps in England, that we con-
sidered that backing up the Y. M. C. A.
was our best plan. And we did. What we
might have done if there had been time to
organize would make quite another story.
Certainly we should have done it "on our
own" as you are doing and not trusted to
any other organization.
When there was a great winter camp at
the National Exhibition Grounds at To-
ronto in 1915, the Toronto Public Library
installed a war camp library of specially
selected books in charge of a librarian
from its own staff, who now is serving in
the artillery in France. This was greatly
appreciated by the men, so much so that
many of the books accompanied them
abroad. When the camp broke up, the
library was kept in readiness for use and
when the Y. M. C. A. opened their Red
Triangle Hostel in Toronto this library
was given place in their building, where
to-day it is doing duty for the returned
soldier.
.^nd so from Victoria In the extreme
west (where Miss Helen Stewart, the libra-
rian, not satisfied with providing for the
men in camp, went herself to the front for
a year and a half as a voluntary worker,
and since her return has been providing
for the men in hospital, in camp and in
vocational training centers) to Calgary
and Edmonton, where the public libraries
have cooperated with the Military Y. M.
C. A., and furnished books and magazines
to the great Sarcee Camp; to Regina and
Moose Jaw, where Camp Hughes of that
province was supplied by those public li-
braries with books through the chaplains
and the Military Y. M. C. A. to Winnipeg,
where there were many soldiers and where
the public library established special read-
ing rooms, branch loan stations, and fur-
nished discarded books to the camps and
departing military trains; to Ottawa, which
cooperated with the Y. M. C. A., bought
quantities of inexpensive but interesting
reprints for the camp and opened rooms
for instructional purposes; to Westmount,
Quebec, where Miss Saxe organized the
women of the city in her usual efficient
manner, this work, new then to all the
world, has been in progress.
And of the library with which I am
identified let me say that we supplied
25,000 books, most of which were from
our own stock, some given to us, and some
specially purchased by us. The range of
our activities may be seen when I enu-
merate the soldier circles which we have
entered by peaceful penetration: Camp
Borden; Niagara Camp; Exhibition Camp,
which had the first "War Library" on the
continent; Barriefield Camp in Eastern
Ontario; Ketchum Barracks; Ravina Bar-
racks; Gerrard Barracks; Gerrard Base
Hospital; Spadina Hospital; College Hos-
pital; Kapuskasing Internment Camp;
Muskoka Sanitarium; Great War Veterans
80
SARATOGA SPRIN(J8 CONFERENCE
Club; Maple Leaf Club; and Red Triangle
Club.
We had no government aid and little
government sympathy. We were not dis-
appointed in this, for we have been identi-
fied too long with the promotion of intel-
ligence in communities to hope for imme-
diate and complete recognition.
But what was the most important re-
sult of all our efforts was the feeling, new
to many in our country, that libraries were
a necessity to the communities and that
they had a definite value. In many places
there had been a vague and hazy feeling
that this was so but now this became clear
and definite.
It was a war which needed explanation
and description. It came without any
warning and in the midst of peaceful un-
preparedness. At once the library was
discovered as the place for public infor-
mation and was visited and talked about.
It became socially recognized. Where
there was an efficient librarian or an in-
telligent library board this responsibility
was greatly welcomed, in other cases there
was a local panic or a hopeless recrimina-
tion.
But more than this it was a war which
demanded intelligent mobilization of so-
cial effort, and the knowledge that here in
a town was a social institution already
established which could be used came al-
most as a shock. There were no sec-
tional, denomination, or social jealousies
to be considered in the use of this public
institution and so it became the organiz-
ing center for all the committees engaged
In patriotic effort.
As a result the public library has be-
come better known in the community, and
in its case to be better known is to be
better appreciated. Library grants were
not cut by the municipal councils except
in some isolated communities handicapped
by poor library boards who had little or
no influence in the community.
And now we have had over three years
of experience and let me give you the
cheering word that appropriations for
public libraries in the province of Ontario
have advanced forty per cent and that cir-
culation of books has increased thirty-five
per cent. This has not come without ef-
fort, and most of all in Ontario we owe our
progress to the superintendent of public
libraries for the province, Mr. W. O. Car-
son, to whom be praise and honor, a gov-
ernment official all too rare, full of energy
and intelligence in regard to every phase
of his work.
There may be a tendency In some places
to neglect the regular work for the spe-
cial and more spectacular. There is a
glamor about war work, there is a feeling
with many persons and Institutions — If
such can be said to have feelings — that
there must be the "soldier contact" and
that to miss that experience is to be neg-
lectful of one's duty. We have passed
through this stage. It has been difficult
sometimes to persuade people that to do
their work efficiently and to cooperate so
far as time and strength will permit in
the patriotic efforts is the best way to
serve their country. An efficient cataloger
is restless to become a Red Cross worker,
at which work she would be but an aver-
age person. Her idea is that she would
then be doing something for her country
— especially if she had a uniform.
And this same phase of unrest imperils
our libraries themselves. The spectacular
work of the camps and of societies In con-
nection with patriotic effort — all necessary
to be done and to be encouraged — makes
our regular work of supplying information
and going through the routine of daily
duties, "the keeping of the home fires,"
seem gray and uninteresting. Let me
warn you as one who has come through
this and is now interested in the soldiers
who are returning in large numbers
maimed and broken in health but cheerful
and wanting to get into harness again,
that the public library which has been
kept lively — not merely alive — in the in-
terval will have won its very way Into
the lives of the people to such an extent
that it will be the center for cooperation
with government commissions, schools,
vocational training centers, hospitals and
RANEY
81
convalescent homes and thus will be a
positive and permeating influence.
That is what we are trying to do in To-
ronto. We have many discouragements
but we are not easily cast down. There Is
a big job ahead of us in trying to get suit-
able literature to the convalescent sol-
dier in hospital, rest homes and club. This
will be difficult as we have found already,
for government officials often "fancy
themselves" and their choice of books is
too often without intelligence. I am sure
from your experience you can picture the
official who says that anybody can run a
library and choose books. He is sure he
can and does not see the obvious moral
the librarian draws.
In this connection let me urge that you
keep your work organized for the years
after the war and you may be able to help
very definitely the soldier in his efforts to
re-educate himself. The theory that the
unambitious man can be made ambitious
by education or that the war can bring out
ambition and talents in a man who had
them not is a fallacy that needs to be
dealt with at once. We are suffering from
some of that kind of false educational doc-
trine in our efforts towards re-education.
We are on the threshold of a vast edu-
cational undertaking too vast and far
reaching for most of our educators, just
as the conduct of the war itself has been
too vast for those trained under former
conditions. Let us throw aside that faith
in experience which hampered the early
conduct of the war and which will likely
hamper us in dealing with that most con-
servative social force, education. Let us
acknowledge that experience is not the
great thing needful, but youth with its
imagination, hope and energy, and we In
Canada, who were forced to remain at
home and deal with the prosaic are trying
to place the institution with which we are
identified as prominently on the map of
political and social intelligence, as our
representatives in Europe have placed our
country on the map of the world nations.
We are a nation of less than eight mil-
lions of people in a vast country which Is
bounded by three oceans and a friendly
neighbor. We have equipped and sent to
the great war 500,000 men; we have manu-
factured fifty millions of shells, forty-five
millions of cartridge cases and sent mil-
lions of bushels of wheat to needy France
and starving Belgium.
And in every good word and work In
which we had a chance to help — or could
make the chance — the institution which I
have the honor to represent, the library,
has been "on the job" and when possible
has led the way. We expect to be even
more necessary and more useful in the re-
construction days to come and are trust-
ing your efficient organization to be of
great service to us.
THE A. L. A. FOLLOWS THE FLAG OVERSEAS
By M. LiiJWELLYN Raney, Librarian of The Johns Hopkins University (Director of Over-
seas Service for the A. L. A.)
The road turned sharply to the west.
Standing at the turn, if one dared, and
stretching out his arms along the high-
way, he would grasp, in each hand, as it
were, a village three-quarters of a mile off
— a French village ruined and deserted.
The one to the right was the first behind
our trenches; that to the left the last in
the line of communication. The bend half-
way was, therefore, an important link in
the chain, and the enemy hammered away
consistently in the hope of breaking it. An
attractive target was it, not only because a
direct hit on the roadbed would impede
the movement of supply trains, but couched
in the lee were hidden officers and mate-
rial, while on the convex side sat tangent
and camoufiaged an American battery, so
82
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
that a shot long or short might be equally-
effective. The ground in the triangle bore
mute evidence of the intensity of the en-
deavor, for it was filled with shell holes.
They called it "Hell's Half Acre," and the
turn of the road "Dead Man's Curve."
We left our machine in the nearer vil-
lage, behind the shield of a fragmentary
wall, and followed the custom in reach-
ing the farther village on foot, along the
hypotenuse, across fields and through
wire entanglements. So enticing, how-
ever, was the scene, that I was back again
part way that night, and on the following
day we swung at top speed around the
horseshoe itself and down the full length
of our line — an adventure which the Army
authorities have since found it necessary
to forbid, except under cover of darkness.
My first visit was made in the shank
of a beautiful day. Our guns had already
started the argument of the night. Slip-
ping down the incline on the other side
of the road, we found ourselves at the
dugout doorway of two young officers.
It seems that a gas shell had fallen in that
vicinity the night before and taken toll
of their comrades. Their minds went back
to that event, and, in the case of one of
them, back further to a wife and four
little ones in the west. Went back with
that quiet, determined smile, which,
please God, the Hun shall rue the day he
ever awakened by his ruthless barbarism!
And what were these our defenders do-
ing, as we chanced upon them in the
gathering shadows? On the little table
lighted by a single candle were spread
out for the one a National Geographic
Magazine of a bygone day, and for the
other a Literary Digest recently issued.
Such was my first glimpse of the Amer-
ican zone of advance. Our promise of
an adequate library service from home was
received with hearty appreciation, and the
promise has been kept. If those young
lieutenants be still there alive, they can
find, ten minutes' walk away, a good stock
of A. L. A. books and magazines. But
before our first shipment could reach and
leave Paris, a special messenger was sent
to us all the way from the front, begging
immediate dispatch of our wares, since for
them had grown a clamorous demand.
Into the farther village we tramped, en-
tering through the little gardens and
orchards of once happy homes, now the
resting place of our first fallen, with the
grass green above them and at their feet
flowers, planted by the hands of unforget-
ting comrades. A place of utter desola-
tion— only one roof remaining and not
one inhabitant, nor even a dog or cat left
within its shattered walls. But in sub-
terranean retreats lay our Crusaders from
over the Atlantic and after the rest of
the day, were crowding about the counter
of civilization's only vestige — the Y. M. C.
A. canteen — installed under that sole re-
maining roof.
The next village found the busy hour
of barter passing. Trench time was just
ahead. Down in the Y's "cave voutee"
the men were standing about in the
gloom pierced by a lone candle — full-
panoplied and with masks alert. It was
a quiet, subdued, knowing crowd — not a
word of profanity or one smutty remark.
Someone turned to the phonograph and
put on "Mandalay." A whistle started up
from the corner and soon all inside and
out had joined in, but joined so softly
that, despite a fiber needle, the instrument
was allowed to carry over them all. Then
a negro piece, and they laughed quietly
at the crude but cleanly jokes, so quietly
that not a word was lost. Outside, in the
glory of a declining sun, they were lolling
under the remnant walls which shielded
them from the enemy's eye and his snip-
ing— reading, nearly all, or turning lazily
through the illustrations or the columns
of humor. The devoted secretary told me
that if his scanty store of books and period-
icals were multiplied manyfold, he would
not have enough to satisfy these hungry
souls. Thus they were spending the only
normal hour, which, in twenty-four, was
vouchsafed them in such advanced post.
A little later they were off down the con-
cealed roadway, and dropping beneath the
hedge into communicating trenches, had
RANEY
83
passed Into the night to have it out with
death.
Since then our supply has come, and
you will not exaggerate the rejoicing
consequent.
Such are the doughboys in action, but
at any given time a much greater num-
ber of them are detailed to other neces-
sary work and have a different schedule.
And if we add the supply trains, head-
quarters police, veterinarians, etc., as well
as the upwards of twelve hundred officers,
we shall not have accounted for two-thirds
of the 27,000 men that go to make up a
combat division. Thus there are about
4,500 artillerymen, 2,500 machine gunners,
1,500 engineers, 1,500 engaged in medical
and sanitary work and 500 belonging to
the signal corps — groups having each a
life peculiar to itself, and calling to us in
its own tongue. For example, strong rep-
resentations are made In behalf of the
gun crews, because they are not only men
of technical training, and, therefore, ac-
customed to richer mental pabulum, but
they are confined to a square which can-
not be left by them or entered by another;
and yet, though on duty for twenty-four
hours a day and perhaps for days in suc-
cession, they may have waited in vain to
hear the telephonic command to fire. So
time hangs heavily. Special means must
be devised to reach them. We hope we
have found them through the chaplain, in
his usual function of regimental postmas-
ter, since reading matter can be sent with
the mail on munition trains moving at
night to the outlying gun positions. As
for detached units, the military have
agreed to forward our parcels directly for
us.
Back of the fighting zone lie the so-
called divisional areas, where the final
training takes place and where after action
they go for repose. Here the troops are
billeted In strings of French villages set
along the great arteries of travel and their
principal feeders. Perhaps nowhere do
most men miss the comforts of home — the
customary diversions of civil life, more
than among these kindly neighbors of a
foreign tongue with their mocking remind-
ers of native land and loved surroundings.
Here, whether in anticipation of the trial
by fire, or relaxation from it, they miss
keenly the presence of women and children.
It Is a good lesson to learn and should
deepen the wells of domestic affection
when they return. Meanwhile one cannot
but be touched by their brave improvisa-
tions, their good-hearted endeavors to
bridge the chasm. Like rain to parched
ground is a cheering entertainer to them,
and how ravenously they read. Eagerly
they are hunting substitutes and escapes.
The great thing about a noble book is that
therein they are apt to find better than
they sought or had known.
One evening I came unannounced upon
a crowd packing a hut to the doors In an-
ticipation of a performance put on by their
own talent. They had their own volunteer
band and there were to be lots of stunts.
Just as the instruments were tuning up.
It reached the ears of the officer In charge
that a library man from America was in
the building. So I was ushered to the
platform and the story of our proposed
service became the first number on the
program. The Idea was vigorously ap-
plauded. In fact, before I could settle
down to the evening's schedule, I had to
go out and reassure an eager group of dis-
tant listeners that they had heard correct-
ly and the news was reliable.
In this great finishing region Is the cen-
ter of army schools for the training of
staff officers, as well as the corps schools
where line officers are bred. Thus at the
former there are no less than eighteen sec-
tions, such as for example, anti-aircraft,
camouflage, carrier-pigeons, dentistry, en-
gineering (with several subdivisions, like
mines, flash and sound, bridge-building,
and construction), gas, infantry specialties
(e.g. bayonet, machine gun, marksmanship,
sniping, etc.), signal corps, tanks, trench
mortars, and so on, together with a gen-
eral staff college, at which a former secre-
tary of war was a pupil when, the present
secretary made his visit.
Textbooks the Government provides. The
84
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
matter may be so new as to be Issued in
mimeographed form alone. But we can be
very useful in our supply of collateral tech-
nical reading. Thus the cablegram call-
ing for five hundred copies of "Jeanne
d'Arc," demands thirty of "Metal workers'
pattern book." We have already made such
contributions as we had on hand, and the
staffs of instruction have promised to sug-
gest bibliographies supplementary. They,
of course, get their share of recreational
reading also.
In this zone of advance, the unit of li-
brary service must be the division, even
though it may extend through forty vil-
lages. It arrives suddenly, stays an in-
definite but relatively short period, passes
up to the front for the fire-test, comes back
after a few weeks to a divisional area, but
likely enough not to the same one, for re-
fitting, thence to the front again. Thus
a certain division occupied in the course
of six months four different and widely
separated positions. Before you could
make a library survey by villages and get
them supplied fittingly, the area might be
emptied, and then either remain so or be
refilled by another with quite dissimilar
distribution of personnel. An organization
like the Y. M. C. A., Knights of Columbus
or Salvation Army, that aims to get a hut
in all of the chief villages, is severely taxed
to keep abreast. It seems best for us to
compose a proper divisional equipment,
send it to a center for fitting distribution,
and then when the division moves out, re-
store our collections to the central ware-
house of our host organization, unless
there be reason to suppose that the area
is being abandoned. A fresh layout is then
to be sent along for the division's use, in
its new position. Wastage, of course, there
must be, but the loss is not absolute, as
long as a worthy volume remains in some-
body's possession.
We cross the line now into the inter-
mediate area, where the divisions, except
replacement, are in disintegration. The
exception feeds the front and is fed from
the coast — a pool of men in the midst of
a steady stream. Here are the camps of
casuals — unfortunates from both directions
meeting. They have gotten separated from
their units, perhaps missed the paymaster,
and await reassignment. Coming the oth-
er direction are fellows incapacitated for
one reason or another. The place is a mix-
ture of barracks and hospitals. The fel-
lows are apt to be low in spirit and
pocket. Here we had no difficulty in get-
ting our doctrine of free service accepted,
for the Y. M. C. A. did not have the heart
to exact its usual deposit.
Here too are great training camps, espe-
cially for artillery and aviation. For ex-
ample, out in the fields, miles away from
the nearest village, an American city with
a population of 10,000 has been laid out.
It has its own macadamized roads, electric
lighting plant, water works, sewage dis-
posal and railroad — a city of huts, offices,
warehouses, sheds — an aviation center.
When you reflect that we have in Europe
scores of such camps, with three dozen to
ten thousand in each, and that there are
150 mechanics to every eighteen fliers, and
that the pilots also have their term of
ground training, you can appreciate the
importance of the service, when we meet
the urgent demand of the officers to sup-
ply books on aeronautics for the men in
the shops.
Here are the great midway depots and
plants. For example, one of these depots
is an ice factory and the third largest pro-
ducer in the world, furnishing daily ice
for the cold storage of eleven million
pounds of meat. It is six and a half miles
long and at parts two miles broad.
Salvage plants and bakeries, camouflage
factories and ammunition caches all find
place here. This brings concentrations of
specialists in training centers, labor and
technical troops, ordnance and warehouse
men, forestry and engineering or construc-
tion troops, guards and headquarters con-
tingents— units living largely in barracks
and making a very definite demand on us
which we are steadily advancing to meet.
Finally there's Aix-les-Bains — that
unique experiment of our army, upon
which the eyes of our military and the
RANEY
85
Allies are earnestly fixed. Will it take?
Will the fellows call it vacation if their
leave be spent under the eyes of officers,
no matter how crowded the pleasures? If
it succeeds, such places will be multiplied.
All the hotels in this popular bathing place
have been taken over by the army and
rooms are drawn by lot. The magnificent
suites of wealth and nobility are now oc-
cupied by our doughboys from the trenches.
There are excursions, boating, bathing and
other sports; Europe's band and a theater,
and in the Y's casino at least we shall have
a fine show of books, with a trained libra-
rian in charge.
In this region, and the third to which
we now turn, the base areas surrounding
the ports — for all Gaul is divided into three
parts, each of which the Americans in-
habit— the engineer comes into his own,
though his work runs from water's edge
to No Man's Land. They are the sapper,
searchlight and sound-ranging troops;
theirs are the gas and flame, the electrical
and mechanical regiments; they build the
bridges and railroads and operate them as
well; they put In the docks, warehouses,
barracks and hospitals; they operate the
cranes, autos, trucks and depots. A year
ago at a certain French port there were a
few small wharfs, approachable by light
draft vessels, which were emptied and
loaded by hand labor. To-day we have
driven 30,000 piles with machinery and
constructed four great docks capable of
accommodating sixteen heavy cargo vessels
at the same time and deepened the chan-
nel for their entry. American railways
have been laid, cranes Installed and 150
warehouses are in various stages of con-
struction, and here they put together
American locomotives and not far away
the cars.
At another port you can now walk along
three miles of landing stages and see 375,-
000 square feet of wharf space, where last
October there was a swamp. Nearby is a
remarkable system of warehouses which
will cover nearly 2,000 acres; not to men-
tion a mighty railway system. A hospital
of 25,000 beds, the largest in the world, is
here being built, while In this area is ac-
commodation for 25 per cent of the com-
mand. This means a concentration of 12,-
000 laborers in this region. Then there
are the naval stations and rest camps for
troops arriving. But time does not suf-
fice to enumerate all the types of concen-
trations In these base areas, or the kinds
of library service patently appropriate.
Suffice It to say that it was in these areas
that we felt it necessary to place our first
consignments. One case only I must
specify, and that because it might general-
ly be overlooked. I wish there were space
to print In full a stirring appeal sent us
for books by a commander of stevedores in
one of these port cities. He wanted recre-
ation books to combat the social evil. Two
months of very careful study had con-
vinced him that they were the best anti-
dote. "A man who can get hold of a
book," he writes, "stays at home and reads
it, soon Improves in the matters of dress
and military conduct and shows improve-
ment in morals and self-respect." And the
illiterate hear and learn from them.
Now that, backing from the front, we
have reached the water, I am reminded
that it was due to the Navy that I landed
at all and the commander of the United
States naval forces operating in European
waters was the first consulted. I might,
therefore, with propriety obey chronology.
Well, the admiral had had an experience
and so was shy of welfare organizations.
Besides, the larger ships possessed libra-
ries and a fund from which to replenish
them. And then at our chief naval base
friends had erected and presented to the
navy a fine clubhouse, with books abundant
as part of its equipment. Perhaps a little
patience would bring a similar boon to the
other bases. Still the reception was cor-
dial and he matched the Secretary's letter
with a pass to all naval stations under his
command and an instruction to his officers
that they extend every facility for carry-
ing out this work.
If fortune began thus faintly to smile,
she beamed upon us in France, for, repair-
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SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Ing thither without disturbing the balance
in Ireland, I stumbled at nayal headquar-
ters in Paris upon a group of officers who
at once set up a vigorous plea in behalf of
the aviation stations. These boys, with a
good percentage of college graduates
among them, were choice fellows, and yet
set usually in out-of-the-way places, with
recreational provision scanty or none.
Their admiral out at the coast endorsed
what they had to say, but wanted it dis-
tinctly understood that his boys on the
boats were just as deserving of our re-
membrance. Of this he was good enough
to give me a demonstration at first hand,
for out to sea I went for two days and
nights in the flagship of a convoying fleet
in its work down the French coast. Those
full hours we must not now peer into.
Sufiice it to say that I was given the free-
dom of the vessel, running from bridge
to boiler-room, bunking with the surgeon,
dining with the officers, chatting with the
crew, sighting the guns — filled with the
lore of those wonderful months. Hun-
dreds of impressions have since been re-
corded on the privileged plate of my mind,
but that first one cannot be effaced. These
heroes of the sea, their every hour uncer-
tain, whether tracking the serpent beneath
the waves, or scouring for his horned
eggs, have won my heart for aye and shall
have the A. L. A.'s warmest hand.
Did they have time or inclination for
books, as some had denied? I spent an
evening with them in the crowded quar-
ters under deck and there I saw a dozen
of them lying in their bunks reading.
Many of them had fastened soap boxes on
the side of the hull opposite their narrow
beds, and these were the little libraries of
their very own! It seems that they used
to make a continuous run of it, but the
losses at night were so considerable that
our naval authorities had finally prevailed
on the British and French to run their
merchant vessels down the coast only In
daylight. So the fellows had their eve-
nings to themselves. The opportunity was
there and the desire was not lacking. The
body was constrained, but the mind was
eager to wander. Travel they wanted, ad-
ventures of the sea, stirring Western fic-
tion from home, and good tales of the war.
Empey they instanced, and called for Jack
London, Zane Grey, Ralph Connor, Stanley
Weyman, Joseph Conrad, Kipling, Steven-
son, and someone mentioned French text-
books. Oh, yes, they knew what they
wanted, and what they did not too; for
example, religious books, though they con-
fessed there was one fellow who did a lot
of such reading and had also distinguished
himself by keeping clear of their pet vices.
After all, their minds went back to him,
I noticed, and I believe they would not like
it If our selection had nothing to please
this peculiar comrade.
The water trip past, I went by land on
to the U. S. naval aviation headquarters
in France. There the same cordial greet-
ing was given and the commander was so
interested that he said he would, if neces-
sary, appoint a special officer whose sole
duty would be the management of the col-
lections sent his stations. Distribution by
a naval vessel was arranged. We could be
assured, he said, that not only would this
material not be abused, but it would be
husbanded by appreciative fellows as a
treasure. We hope, indeed, there is soon
to be a Y. M. C. A. hut at all stations, so
as to afford adequate shelter and atten-
tion to our collections.
The service began on the spot, as a mat-
ter of fact. Men in some of the stations
were to take Annapolis examinations the
next month. They did not have the neces-
sary textbooks and a preliminary test
showed they were sure to fail without
them. Could we help? We could and did.
A cablegram was sent at once to London.
The books came promptly and were im-
mediately distributed to the candidates,
"each one of whom" so the officer writes,
"expressed sincere thanks." And he added:
"No doubt this is the beginning of a very
useful mission which you ought to perform
with our men in Europe."
A cablegram was then sent to Washing-
ton, calling for shipment of 8,000 volumes,
RANEY
87
equally divided between the vessels and
hydroplane stations in France, addressed
to our commanding officers at two French
ports, and brought over in naval supply
vessels. This has been supplemented by
other consignments, including a hundred
different periodicals by subscription.
Well, I saw Admiral Sims again, and
then it was a different story. If fortune
had first smiled and then beamed, she
now laughed outright. He had heard from
France, and as a result he wanted books
sent to every arm of his service, naval
bases, aviation stations, mine-sweeping
bases, and even his pet battleships that in
February would never, never need us, he
asks us in May surely not to forget. And
for good fellowship they want to exchange
books with the British fleet.
I could go back home on a transport if I
wished and was given a letter to the Sec-
retary of the Navy, In which he says: "We
recognize, of course, the great value of
Mr. Raney's services and those of his As-
sociation in increasing the contentment of
our forces, and he may be entirely sure
that his efforts in this respect will be ap-
preciated by many thousands of men over
here."
At his request routes have now been
mapped out with the Navy Department
for supplying books to our far-flung line in
Europe. Whether hovering about the
British Isles, slipping through the Bay of
Biscay, keeping guard at Gibraltar, or
stopping the rat holes in nameless islands,
we shall follow them in their devoted task
and at the odd hour of rest hope to give
them cheer from home.
If the navy situation had been delicate,
it was child's play compared with the dif-
ficulties faced when we turned to the army,
whether in England or France. There
stood a decree fixed in general orders,
which seemed to allocate the field of civil-
ian activity to the Red Cross and Y. M. C, A.
— the one to handle the ill, the other the
well. Accordingly both had been militar-
ized; the one holding the hospitals, the
other operating the canteen. They rode
about in army machines, drew upon the
commissary for supplies shipped in Gov-
ernment bottoms, and travelled at military
rates. The arrangement was logical, there
was no use in denying it. If you were a
military commander, you would demand
the same simplification, and, moreover, it
was due the American people, who have to
meet the cost. You could accordingly feel
in the atmosphere a working agreement to
kill off newcomers, and the backyards of
all three parties were white with the
bleaching bones of would-be associates.
If thus they had the support of law, they
had added the effectiveness of possession —
proverbially the more important — holding,
that is, both credentials and chronology.
They had been in the field for months and
were amazing Europe by the magnitude
and uniqueness of their programs. Both
had taKen the world for their province, and
the press was full of their doings. While
the army was necessarily struggling to
reach its feet, here were two magnificent
American organizations which were win-
ning us plaudits for daring performances
on a big scale.
And they had preemption not merely in
general, but in particular had been at li-
brary service since the summer of 1917.
On each side of the channel, they both had
library departments, with staffs of size
and budgets boundless. Active buyers sat
in the London market, sending books and
periodicals across and afield.
Finally in hut and hospital they had
ready to hand the only establishments
which were strategically in position for
rendering the service.
There was nothing theoretical about this,
you will agree. My instructions did not
cover the case, though the diplomatic char-
acter of the mission was underscored. So,
taking stock of our resources, which in-
cluded (1) a letter of introduction and au-
thorization from the Secretary of War to
General Pershing, (2) command of Amer-
ican book resources, and (3) trained per-
sonnel, I determined to stake our future
overseas on a single throw, and that was
88
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
the following communication presented in
person at general headquarters:
February 20, 1918,
c/o American Embassy,
Paris.
General John J. Pershing, Commander-in-
Chief, American Expeditionary Force,
France.
Sir: — As seen from the letters of Secre-
taries Baker and Daniels, the American
Library Association has been engaged by
the War and Navy Departments as the
agency to supply our forces at home and
overseas with reading material during the
war. ^^Jj
For this purpose a fund has been raised
by popular subscription, while books and
magazines are being systematically solic-
ited in the United States.
The headquarters of this service are at
the Library of Congress, and Dr. Herbert
Putnam is general director.
First attention was given to the training
centers in America. Through a generous
gift of the Carnegie Corporation, it became
possible to erect and furnish in each of
thirty-five camps and cantonments a cen.
tral building with ample accommodations
for books, readers and attendants. A
month ago 500,000 volumes had been in-
stalled, one-fifth purchased, the rest given.
I am now sent to Europe to map out a
line of action appropriate for the Associa-
tion. After study of British methods
which, under the aegis of the Government,
are carried out on a huge scale, and after a
rapid survey of the local situation, the
rough outline of our obligation can be
discerned. Let me briefly sketch it.
Our Association has but one concern and
that is to reach the man with the book
that's needed. Whatever procedure will
accomplish that shall be adopted, no mat-
ter whether an old one or a new one. You
welcome us; we shall not abuse the con-
fidence. Our business here is to win the
war and every proposal is to stand or fall
according as it helps or hinders this busi-
ness. We do not offer to add a fifth wheel
from vanity or upset the carriage to get
credit for fixing it. But we do want to
meet our obligation to the American peo-
ple who give the money and material, to
the Grovernment that appoints us, and es-
pecially to the boys, who have the right to
command us. If library service fails, our
Association will reap the dishonor. We
must, therefore, under your sanction, pro-
ceed with care, though in a spirit of utter
unselfishness.
Now the man, well or ill, needs to be
reached. There are found already at hand
two great trusted organizations which have
established that contact — the American
Red Cross and the American Y. M. C. A.
If these (and in less degree) other
agencies can receive, deliver and admin-
ister effectively our wares, it is the part of
wisdom and should be of pleasure for us
so to consign those wares. That is what
under conditions we propose to do.
To receive such material they are pat-
ently able. Their ability to convey it eflB-
clently has yet to be demonstrated, and to
dispense it wisely requires the finest
thought that our combined heads and
hearts can from day to day conceive.
No new name needs therefore to be
added to the receiving agencies, no ware-
houses by us engaged. What we require
here, so far as France is concerned, is a
trained man of high executive and inter-
pretative ability, who shall serve three
ends: (1) Be a balance wheel between the
Red Cross and Y. M. C. A., passing upon
their claims for percentage of shipment;
(2) key up the executive centers and field
services, as of authority, to effective per-
formance, by freely examining and freely
prescribing; (3) interpret systematically
to us in America the situation as it de-
velops, so that we in turn may on the other
side meet our obligation.
And what is that obligation?
To be the reservoir, and the only one, un-
der Governmental decree, from which to
draw supplies of this sort.
And why one only?
To prevent duplication of effort and ship-
ment of useless material; therefore, to save
tonnage, which is precious.
Why the American Library Association,
rather than another organization, entirely
aside from the Governmental status?
Because in the finely and widely ramified
public library system in the United States
we have at hand without cost an agency
for collecting and sorting material, and in
purchases we have been granted unpar-
alleled discounts by publishers and cession
of royalties by authors. In our various
depots and especially the two terminal
ones at Hoboken and Newport News, we
can separate the fit from the unfit and dis-
patch material in classified form and eco-
nomic volume ready for immediate con-
sumption on arrival overseas. We be-
come, therefore, the neck of the American
bottle.
In this rough sketch of our proposed
European work on both sides of the At-
lantic, some qualification is now seen nec-
essary and more may appear hereafter.
As here defined, our representative in
Paris (or London) has mainly an advl-
RANEY
89
sory and ambassadorial function, though
since our material is in question it might
be expected that his advice would get
adoption. It may become quickly neces-
sary, in order that we should meet our
contract with the Government, that our
Association should become the apex of an
executive pyramid with the two associative
organizations the base, establishing policy
and exercising authority.
On the other hand, the American Libra-
ry Association does not touch what may be
termed the technical library work of either
associate, though its advice where request-
ed must be freely given. I refer, on the
one hand for example, to the Central Med-
ical Library being established in Paris by
the American Red Cross for American doc-
tors in military service, though it happens
that we were in position to render here a
marked service; and on the other hand,
reference is here made to the religious,
educational, and other stock which the
Y. M. C. A. assembles as apparatus for its
special courses and work.
If the American Library Association, in
your judgment, is thus meeting its obliga-
tion in the right spirit, and if the scheme
seems commendable and the service wel-
come, I might respectfully hope to receive
from you, (1) a statement to such effect;
(2) a status, which under continuous con-
trol might enable me (and anyone who
might succeed me) to make the necessary
inspection of possible book centers, as Ad-
miral Sims has accorded, at military rates
of travel; (3) a request of Washington
that we be secured the American shipping
monopoly above suggested; (4) a small
concession of tonnage to us (say 50 tons a
month), which may in fact be no greater
than at present consumed in purposeless
but inadequate shipments; (5) communi-
cation from time to time of sufficient in-
formation to make our organization re-
sponsive to your growing and changing
need.
I am. Sir, yours respectfully,
(Signed) M. Llewellyn Raney,
Director of Overseas War Serv-
ice, American Library Associa-
tion.
To this was appended the following en-
dorsements :
If the general plan of the above meets
with the approval of the Commander-in-
Chief, the A. E. F. Y. M. C. A. will be glad
to cooperate along such lines as the Com-
mander-in-Chief may designate.
(Signed) E. C. Cabteb,
Chief, A. E. F. Y. M. C. A.
The American Red Cross will be glad to
cooperate along the same lines as the co-
operation given by the Y. M. C. A.
(Signed) J. H. Perkins,
Major O. R. C, U. S. A.,
Commissioner for Europe,
American Red Cross.
The official reply follows:
From: C. in C.
February 22, 1918.
To: Director of Overseas War Service,
American Library Association. Subject:
Supply of Library Material to A. E. F.
1. In answer to your letter of February
20, which has been received and considered
with great interest, the following conclu-
sions have been arrived at.
2. The scheme which is proposed is
commendable and the service is welcome.
The details of distribution, due to the pres-
ent tonnage conditions, make it desirable
that the plan of working out the scheme
for the distribution of proper reading mat-
ter to the A. E. F. be handled in connection
with the existing agencies now working for
their well-being, that is, the Y. M. C. A.
and the Red Cross.
As indicated in your letter, both of these
organizations have expressed their will-
ingness and desire to cooperate and it is
believed that a mutual exchange of in-
formation and facilities will enable your
scheme to be carried out to the great ad-
vantage of all concerned.
3. For the present, a tonnage of not to
exceed 50 ship tons per month has been
requested from Washington for this pur-
pose, and it is believed that this should be
sufficient, and that no allotment of tonnage
for a similar purpose should be made.
4. The intent of the above recommenda-
tion is that there should not be any com-
petition in supplying this matter to the
troops, but that the work should be cen-
tralized in the American Library Asso-
ciation.
By order of the C. in C.
James A. Logan, Jr.,
Lt. Col. G. S., A. C. of S., G-I.
This was backed up by a cablegram from
the Commander-in-Chief to the Chief of
Staff in Washington, recommending the de-
sired grant of tonnage to us, with the pro-
viso that none be allotted to any other or-
ganization for similar purpose.
To this the Chief of Staff in time ac-
ceded, with in turn a proviso that such
consignments be addressed to the "Chief
Quartermaster A. E, F., France, for dis-
tribution."
90
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
That ofllclal countered with an offer to
erect us without cost a warehouse at an
important interior point, to which he
would dispatch our shipments at Govern-
ment expense. The offer was, of course,
accepted; the warehouse is about com-
pleted, and books in quantity are en route
thither.
Fifty tons, I explained, was a small
amount, but it would suflace, provided,
first, that we had the monopoly, because
duplicate and unfitting material would thus
be turned away from the ships; and pro-
vided, second, that we had military sup-
port In the conservation of what we did
send. The latter came to be afforded in a
peculiar and gratifying fashion. The Gen-
eral whose famous sayings "Nous void
enfin, o Lafayette" and "Disposez de nous
comme il vous plaira," so stirred the heart
of France, gave us also his signature to a
sentiment, which, used in or with the
books, records his moral alliance without
invoking his ofllcial authority, which would
have involved penalties and consequent
alienation. So above our cases stands a
placard which is headed:
WAR SERVICE LIBRARY
provided by the
People of the United States
through
The Amebican Libraey Association
and, following then with an announcement
of a service without any charge, and a few
simple rules, concludes with this quota-
tion:
These books come to us overseas from
home. To read them is a privilege; to re-
store them promptly unabused, a duty.
(Signed) John J. Pebshinq.
Of course, before that first fruitful visit
to general headquarters a deal of water
had gone under the bridge, and after It a
great deal more, before a final settlement
was reached. Our overseas constitution,
as we may call it, bore the written en-
dorsement of the two great associated or-
ganizations. The negotiations which led
up to this and tediously followed it need
not here be recounted. Men of vision were
at the head of each, and it was a pleasure
to deal with them. The Red Cross found
us useful in strengthening its Medical Li-
brary established in Paris for American
doctors in military service, since, by cabled
exchanges with Washington, conferences
with French officials, and a visit to Swit-
zerland, we put them in the way of secur-
ing their much needed journals from en-
emy countries — found us so useful in fact,
that they finally agreed to have us run this
central library for them and have its fine
suite of rooms in the Reinhart Galleries
for our headquarters, if we liked.
As for the Y. M. C. A., its library depart-
ment was suffering from growing pains.
We were called in consultation and in the
end our prescription was accepted. It is
now pretty well settled that our European
staff, headed by Mr. Burton E. Stevenson,
will occupy a rented floor in the same man-
sion as the Y. M. C. A.'s educational and
allied departments are about to enter. We
shall in any case maintain at our head-
quarters a reference library and take over
their reference work. Aside from their
own religious and similar technical stock,
it will be our books that go to the huts, and
they will maintain an experienced business
manager, who will see that requisitions are
carried out, and a competent field secre-
tary, who will greatly aid us in keeping
abreast of conditions.
But more potent than either of these con-
siderations was our promise of American
books. The men did not like the English
substitutes which the Y. M. C. A. had felt
compelled to use. Besides, the London
market was going dry and prices were ad-
vancing. Editions were not being reprint-
ed, owing to shortness of paper and labor.
Furthermore, the great British organiza-
tions, which were feeding the British
armed forces on a huge scale, looked with
anxiety on American competition, so that
a moral issue was raised. The Red Cross
was so desirous of escaping from this
dilemma that it offered to share its pres-
ent tonnage with us to bring over Ameri-
can reading material for our hospitals in
Europe. Indeed, under this arrangement,
we have made an initial shipment of 25,000
RANEY
fl
volumes to France, and instructions have
been issued for similar dispatch of 5,000
volumes to England, with regular monthly
service to follow in each case.
The Y. M. C. A. had no tonnage to spare,
but it could help in another way. Men
needed books en voyage. The military au-
thorities consented to have us put boxes
on transports for deck usage. The Y. M. C. A.
secretaries and the chaplains agreed to
look out for the books en route, to re-box
and deliver them in port. Here, going into
their warehouses, they would be subject
to our further orders for distribution.
While there has been an enormous amount
of loss in this service, and we are conse-
quently in negotiation with Washington
for a change of method, it has been Im-
mensely popular, and thus far our chief
source of supply overseas.
And here it Is fitting to say that in the
British Isles our interests are for the time
to be looked after by Mr. G. H. Grubb, of
G. P. Putnam's Sons in London, whom we
succeeded in attaching to the Y. M. C. A.
staff there. A little later, when the situa-
tion develops more, we shall doubtless find
it expedient to send a special representa-
tive over.
I spoke above about keeping abreast of
conditions. This reminds me of the fifth
and last request set down at the end of our
constitution — "communication from time
to time of suflacient Information to make
our organization responsive to your grow-
ing and changing need." Headquarters'
frank compliance with that petition con-
stitutes my chief embarrassment in ap-
pearing here today and draws perforce a
veil about the British Isles. So much the
best remains untold. Never did our army
more strikingly evince its essentially demo-
cratic character than when it suffered us
to set up in the military zone a library
service based on scientific surveys. We
were not required to sit off in Paris and
conduct correspondence. We could rather
move freely among the men, make our own
observations and apply our own conclu-
sions. Nor were we censored. The result
Is going to be a unique record, and the be-
trayal of confidence would be unthinkable.
We are of the brotherhood that means to
bind the madmen of central Europe and It
is ours to warm the hearts and clarify the
vision of our comrades.
Survey? The word had not been uttered
in Paris before we came. There were no
field reports, no visitations. We began
with a demonstration of the military map
at General Headquarters. My time In
France was spent In keying up Paris and
plotting the field. Consequently when our
material at length began to arrive It knew
just where to go and it cannot come too
fast to embarrass us; nor will the steve-
dore get a book on trench mortars, or any-
body the cast-offs of the garret.
Again the constitution speaks about a
pyramid. It Is already In course of con-
struction. We have persuaded our asso-
ciates to enter a library council, of which
our representative is chairman. The other
recognized organizations, such as the
Knights of Columbus and Salvation Army,
will, of course, be accorded membership
also. Overlapping of effort will thus be
checked, systemization and Improvement
of practice secured.
And here let It be said once for all that
If we seem to be stressing unduly the Im-
portance of our liaison with the two largest
of our associates, we do not fail to value
the opportunity offered through the smaller
ones.
The Knights of Columbus promise an In-
teresting opening a little later. When I
left France they were deep in plans and
busy with the cables.
Make no mistake about it, the service of
the Salvation Army Is keenly appreciated
by the men. It is ably led, evinces good
strategic sense, has mobility and displays
its traditional sympathy for the sorely
tried by planting its huts along the fringe
of fire. The boys speak of simple affection
shown them and I can well believe it,
when I recall, as needs must, one shining
face of which I caught a glimpse behind
the counter as I peered into the doorway
at twilight. It Is with pleasure and assur-
92
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
ance that we have made all their huts an
initial shipment.
And the Y. W. C. A. shall not he forgot-
ten. How fine a conception to offer what
the men so highly value — normal relations
with normal women. It was in a hostess
house that one of the prettiest services I
heard of in my whole stay in Europe was
being rendered. It is a classic of benev-
olence, literally too sacred for publication.
Right cheerfully will our books be sent
there.
Finally, through the cooperation of Red
Cross and Y. M. C. A. we have been en-
abled to make arrangements in Switzer-
land for serving our prisoners of war in
Germany and Austria. The Red Cross is
to furnish foodstuffs, clothing and medi-
cine, we are to provide books, and the
Y. M. C. A. to make other recreational
provisions, their proposed independent ap-
peal for reading material being abandoned.
I visited Berne and Geneva for this pur-
pose and left behind an order for 6,000
volumes as an initial stock. Further ap-
propriate shipments will be made from
our stores in France, and we shall have the
aid of the Y. M. C. A. in their distribution.
To meet all these demands, we have es-
tablished six dispatch ofilces in America
at points of embarkation. According to
their reports, more than 400,000 volumes
have been sent to the docks so far, Mr.
Stevenson cables that up to June 12 203
points in France had been reached with
first shipments.
The material goes in classified forni in
standard cases, holding about fifty or sixty
volumes each. Strongly and neatly built,
with screwed-on top and medial shelf, they
have, when stacked, the value of a sec-
tional bookcase. The inauguration of the
service was announced originally in the
Paris newspapers; then by a formal cir-
cular, mailed out to all custodians. Final-
ly, each box contains a copy of the placard
to surmount it, as already mentioned, and
a set of Instructions for the librarian in
charge. The volumes are all labeled and
pocketed ready for use.
The miscellaneous box, which naturally
predominates, is made up of three-fourths
fiction and one-fourth other recreational
material. About one book in ten in such
cases we aim to take from purchased
stock.
The reference and technical books are,
of course, largely bought. They go in
cargo for the most part, and their char-
acter is plainly stenciled on the lid, so
that they may be appropriately assigned
In the field without the necessity of break-
ing bulk.
As to magazines, we have proceeded with
caution. Displacing, as we have so largely,
the library work of our associates other-
wise, we have hesitated to take over also
the magazine service, which they are main-
taining with regularity and at great ex-
pense. However, we have made a begin-
ning by inducing a certain number of pub-
lishers to turn over unsold remainders to
us, and if the Burleson sacks are to re-
sume overseas dispatch and get effective
use, we shall have to receive, sift and for-
ward them. These magazines of ours are
all for trench usage, non-returnable.
Thus the cycle is complete from training
camps in the United States to troop trains
(as we contemplate) and transports, from
port to the front and back to rest station,
hospital or captivity; with the naval units,
whether ashore or at sea, from the British
Isles to the Mediterranean, we follow the
flag.
Complete, did I say? Not till the boys
get home again. The war Is going to end
one of these days, but repatriation will take
a year or two. To combat the perils of re-
action and to prepare for civilian life, the
army is to be put to school during that pe-
riod. We have our eyes already on that
wonderful opportunity.
And then, France, glorious France,
blood-redeemed, has heard of the American
public library, which, finding literal trans-
lation inadequate, it dignifies with the
sobriquet, Maison de Tons, The People's
House. A great organization headed by
the President of the Republic, planning for
the social reconstruction of France after
the war, has decided to transplant this
ORR
93
unique institution and make it the center
of the plan. Our aid is asked. Who can
foresee the result?
The American Library Association was
born a Crusader. It first saw the light at
age of one year, it was in England, a god-
mother. Through the proceedings of forty
years has run the red thread of service to
democracy. It found no difficulty, there-
fore, in following the flag overseas. May
the fairest page in its history be the one
an international exposition. At the tender that is writ in blood.
THE COOPERATION OF THE Y. M. C. A. AND THE A. L. A.
By William Orb, Educational Director, National War Work Council, Y. M. C. A.
A year ago it was my privilege, by the
courtesy of your officers, to appear before
you and to present the attitude of the
Young Men's Christian Association with
regard to any cooperation in this matter
of the supply of library books. I think
both parties in the case thought they were
taking some chances. We very cleverly
concealed any euch misapprehensions, any
such misgivings, and undertook to carry
out in absolute good faith and sincerity
what you have undertaken as a common
enterprise, and now at the end of the year
all those misgivings have disappeared. I
would not say that we have attained to a
state of absolute perfection; that would
indicate that either one or both of the
parties were not much concerned about
the enterprise if there was absolute agree-
ment. But as we move along steadily one
issue after another has been settled and
settled in a way not to serve the advan-
tage of either organization in the long run
but for the good of the common cause.
It is a remarkable demonstration, more
significant than all the service rendered,
of how with the right spirit in these or-
ganizations, somewhat diverse in their
methods, each with its own professional
pride, each with its own particular ideas,
they work together and achieve large re-
sults. Again and again there have come
to us from the field in this country testi-
monials on the part of our secretaries of
their keen appreciation of the large serv-
ice that has been rendered by your Asso-
ciation to them In supplying books and
reading matter of various kinds, and not
only in supplying the material but in giv-
ing them expert service, advice and coun-
sel, whereby that material has been made
of large value to the soldiers.
I have not time to go into all the details
of what has been done in this country.
That has been read before you in papers
in terms you comprehend to a better ex-
tent than I. I just want to give you some
figures that came to us. They are fairly
. reliable, and that is a fearful thing to say
about any statistics, especially those se-
cured from war camps, but they have been
checked up and the demonstration is
rather significant. We collected for the
first three months in the year, by a spe-
cial survey from our camps in this coun-
try, figures in regard to the books, and it
appeared from those figures that over a
million and a quarter books were being
circulated from the Y. M. C. A. buildings.
Those books in almost all cases have come
as contributions from the American Libra-
ry Association. I want to tell you also
that the Y. M. C. A. buildings have certain
other forms of activities which we con-
duct within our own sphere, under our own
jurisdiction, to which the library service
Is a most Important adjunct. We have,
for example, lectures. I do not recall the
exact number of lectures, but they were
on all kinds of subjects, upon the war and
its causes, on natural history, literature,
anything that would interest the men,
upon northern France, where they are go-
ing, upon the customs and practices of
94
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
the French people. Over a million men
attended those lectures in a period of
three months. That runs up, you see, into
four or five million a year. I believe that
is rather an understatement. The purpose
as each lecture is given is to take the in-
terest that is aroused in that particular
subject and use that as a means whereby
we direct the men to the reading of books
in our own buildings and of those books
that are in the camp library itself. I be-
lieve we are just at the beginning of that
means of stimulating reading along defi-
nite lines with a purpose on the part of
the men.
And then the class work. Class work for
foreigners I shall speak of this morning,
class work for those who may be well
learned in their own language but cannot
speak a word of English. The attendance
in those classes runs up to many hundred
thousands. And then the classes in vari-
ous subjects; mathematics at the training
stations; classes in history, classes in ele-
mentary arithmetic. I think Mr. Wellman
told you the other morning about how, in
the Springfield Armory, through the ini-
tiative largely of the library and through
the cooperation of the Y. M. C. A., groups
of soldiers coming from the southern
camps are .being instructed for the first
time in the elements of the English lan-
guage and arithmetic. I know that is so
because I have seen it; that is testimony
of an eye-witness.
So the result of this fine spirit has been
the way in which things have been worked
out and adjusted. We look back with un-
bounded satisfaction upon this year's
work. I was very glad, indeed, to hear
from Dr. Raney the way that work has
been initiated in France. I know perfect-
ly well from reports that come to us from
our leaders how we look with expectation
to getting such an arrangement made
with the American Library Association as
the proper agency to take under its charge
and care the furnishing of books over-
seas, the delivering of them at the vari-
ous points, and we are on our part under-
taking as far as we possibly can to see
that those books are placed in the hands
of the soldiers and they are directed in
their reading. There again we have a
large measure of satisfaction.
I am glad to see that Dr. Raney, when
he said the cycle is completed, did not say
the circle is closed. I do not know whether
the two terms are synonymous but cer-
tainly the circle is not closed. We are
just on the verge of this work.
I took the liberty a year ago of saying
that we must think in very large terms of
this enterprise. We must think of books
by the millions. And that has been es-
tablished to be the case. I believe we
just have established the foundation for a
work of increasing promise. We have got
to develop our work intensively in the
camps in this country; we have got to
develop more and more as we get into
military conditions the reading of the men
along serious lines. They are responding
to that. We have discovered that while
these men are not educated in many cases,
the army that is assembled under our col-
ors is composed of the most Intelligent
body of men ever got together. They may
not be as highly educated but they have
that keen mental alertness, that desire to
know, that curiosity which can be con-
verted into a genuine desire to study. And
we find as we complete our resources to-
ward ministering to that desire the psy-
chology of the soldier himself.
A man who has recently been working
in the camps stated to me that when the
men first assembled there was bewilder-
ment in their minds, there was a large in-
terrogation point: Why is it so? Why
this sacrifice we are making? Is this
breaking of home ties, this venture into
the unknown, after all worth while? The
men want to be instructed upon what is
at stake and why they are fighting. And
there the library ministers and there
these classes in elementary subjects. I
saw a soldier down in Camp Gordon pain-
fully tracing out, "I am a soldier of Amer-
ica. I am fighting for democracy. De-
mocracy is the rule of the people." He
had the slogan; he had the catchword;
BURNITB
95
he had the battle cry. But what Is In-
volved in democracy? The library and the
classroom and the lecture and the per-
sonal interview are all to contribute to the
instilling of that term "democracy" into
the man's mind until he realizes that it is
something worth fighting for. Then he
gets into the training, gets the conscious-
ness of the soldier, and wants to know
how to do the job. And there again the
library and the lecture and the teacher
come in, supplementing the work of the
military expert. The man reads and stud-
ies and listens and becomes a more ef-
fective soldier in technique and all that
pertains to military knowledge and prac-
tice. Then he contemplates the crossing
of that which has become a mere ditch
which 276,000 crossed in June — a mag-
nificent achievement. He wants to know
about that country to which he is going
and those French people for whom he is
to fight and with whom he is to fight, and
about his comrades in arms from almost
every country in the world. There again
the ministry of the book and of the class
and of the lecture comes in. And so he
goes across, gets into the camp and turns
weary and worn; he has had enough of
the awful business; his mind Is saturated
with the horrors. Again comes the min-
istry of the book and the teacher and the
lecturer and the entertainer to make him
for a little time forget, and bring up his
strength of body and mind and spirit so
tfiat he shall fittingly go on to complete
the grim business. Those are the ways
in which we are engaged.
And for another thing, to conserve the
results of victory, I want to speak for a
moment to the home librarians. I was
glad to catch a little word this morning.
One of the speakers this morning said:
"Yes, push the war work, but keep the
home boys strong." We have got to keep
the home libraries strong. Otherwise it
might be that though we won the victory
we would not garner the fruits thereof,
and the true general is the one who keeps
the results of victory. That is going to
mean, after all, a victory of ideas, and
putting Ideas into practice. Just take this
idea of unity of these people with whom
we are fighting. We feel now we are
brothers in arms with our former foes of
Britain, and the Stars and Stripes float
from Westminster Tower in London; the
Frenchman Is our brother in arms. Is
that to be just a dream of the past or is It
to become a reality in practice? The li-
brary, the classroom and teacher and their
association are going to assure that fruit
of victory.
Another thing — we hear again and again
that this is a war of ideals. You know it
Is much easier to fight for something that
is tangible than it is to fight for an ideal.
A good many wars have been fought for
very definite acquisition. We are not
fighting for territory, material possessions;
we are fighting for ideals. The book, the
classroom, the teacher, are to make those
ideals your possession.
LIBRARY WORK WITH CHILDREN IN WAR TIME
By Caholine Bubnite, Director of Children's Work, Cleveland Piiblic Library
We cannot remind ourselves too often
that April, 1917, marked the passing of an
old order and the beginning of a new. We
were less conscious of it then than we are
now, we are less conscious of it now than
we will be a year from now. It is a new
order for every individual and no less new
for every agency serving Its community.
New problems are being solved and old
activities are being tested in the light of
new national needs. Schools, libraries,
settlements, and all other social agencies
are being resocialized. One may see this
taking place on all sides, and every worker
96
SARATOGA SPRING'S CONFERENCE
can tell of activities she is now promoting
which two years ago were entirely outside
her field. By reason of this resocialization
of community life and forces, tremendous
accomplishments have been possible. Out
of these common undertakings has come a
common spirit, which is bringing the com-
munity agencies into new relationships with
each other and into a fuller understanding
of the place that each should take.
Children, as a class, are as affected by
this new life as any other class. One of
the great changes for them is that they
must now make their own definite contribu-
tion of one sort or another to national
needs. In other words, they have become
an asset for the present as well as for the
future. Not next month, nor next year,
but now, they must be socially and eco-
nomically productive, and upon those who
deal with them, lies the responsibility for
bringing this about.
In a great measure society is permitting
each institution to decide how children
shall help. It is largely allowing each to
develop its own ways of helping, keeping a
strict accounting of its results. It says to
those agencies dealing with children:
There are certain things to be done, take
your part, show us at such and such a
time what you have taken for your share,
and at that time it will be determined
whether it has been enough.
Society has given such agencies the new
common aim' of helping to the utmost. But
society is not primarily concerned just at
this time with the question of how we ac-
complish our ends, and whether we make
what we do mean the most to the child that
it can mean. That important question it
will determine later, when the children of
to-day are men and women, and then the
test will be whether they meet the tre-
mendous responsibilities of that hour with
the fulness of their powers. But it is for
us who work with children to remember
now, that the resources and ability and spir-
it of the young man or woman who will be
twenty-one some ten years from now de-
pends In no small degree not only upon
what he does now at eleven in helping in
food conservation or camp library work, but
how he does it.
In a certain city a Kaiser's coffin was
placed in a public square, and children as
well as adults who had bought a war sav-
ing stamp were invited to drive a nail into
the coffin. On bill-boards on leading streets
are pictures of atrocities. Hundreds of
children see these pictures every day. These
methods of arousing feeling are known to
be in use in other cities, which are leaders
in much that is liberal and progressive,
as in the one referred to. Do we need
other evidences that the responsibility of
the right education of children through war
time activities lies peculiarly with the
teacher, the librarian and the social worker
at this time?
There are certain definite things wherein
children are proving that they can be of
great assistance. On the economic side
there are two: Saving and investment;
food conservation and production. On the
social side there are three: First, Red
Cross work, carried on more recently
through Junior Red Cross activities; sec-
ond, camp libraries; third, heightening
and strengthening an a,rdent spirit of
patriotism, thereby arousing those spiritual
forces which are the mainspring of action
of this time, and which define themselves
in true fidelity and devotion to our own
land. Rightly fostered, this spiritual ardor
is indeed the greatest contribution to
present times that children can make.
It is planned in this discussion to show
in the reports of various libraries which
follow, just what has been the libraries'
contribution in war times through activi-
ties of children. In utilizing the energies of
children, the libraries have had, together
with all other agencies, the advantage of
the children's fine fresh joy in service which
came to them in their first realization that
they could help. This joy in service will
climax and recede unless it is rightly used,
and should this happen, the best that lies
in service for them will be lost, their help
will become only material and in the nature
of set tasks. Giving them the fullest under-
standing of the importance of the things
BURNITB
97
they are doing and a full knowledge of the
ends they are serving, is the one way in
which this can be avoided.
When the library takes the initiative in
collecting books for camp libraries, when
planning the part it expects the children
to take in getting to the libraries the
thousands of books to be collected, it should
plan at the same time adequate means for
the children to learn what camp libraries
really are, to see pictures of camp libraries,
to learn something of the similarity be-
tween a library in a camp and a city
library. It must see that children under-
stand from their own use of the library the
need of many books on the shelves in order
that a soldier may make a satisfactory
selection, and something about the different
kinds of books needed in a camp library.
If the library is able to secure the help
of the manual training department of the
schools in making boxes for overseas ship-
ments, it should make available some
knowledge about the particular use of the
boxes; why they are planned as they are,
and the many other interesting matters
which will help children to know what
they are working for. If Boy Scouts are
asked to help in certain definite ways, the
library must not reward them with the
medal of service of the scout organization,
the scout paper, or in some similar way.
It should see to it that they become in-
telligent public servants doing their share.
In other words, we must not set just so
many tasks for the children as their part
of these big movements, but we must re-
member that we should aim to appeal to
their intelligence as we do in dealing with
adults. It is the methods of presentation
which must vary, rather than the princi-
ples themselves. The important thing is
that children should understand that books
are a great part of the recreation and edu-
cation of the soldier, and they should un-
derstand, as well, why organization is neces-
sary in carrying forward this work of sup-
plying books to soldiers. One way to edu-
cate children in this camp library move-
ment is to get them to write to their rela-
tives who are in camp, asking whether they
use the camp library, what they think of it,
whether they find books there which they
want, and what books they would like which
are not available. This might be done in
some spirit of investigation, which would
give a little training in methods of getting
first-hand knowledge.
Whatever in general may be the way the
library goes about enlisting the aid of the
children, various plans should be worked
out, of course, and several organizations
will doubtless be needed to carry out the
plans. Aside from these dealings with chil-
dren, commercial organizations might be
asked to help, such as a photographers' as-
sociation to furnish local photographs for
pictures and slides; printers' association to
furnish a special bulletin for teachers and
children. In these and other ways, the re-
sources of many groups of people will be
levied upon to contribute to this particular
phase of the education of the children.
But the child is chiefly an asset at the
present time in his contribution to the com-
munity feeling of fidelity and devotion to
his country, and the library must play an
important part in the quickening of chil-
dren which this means. We have heard
much about the various ways of inculcating
patriotism. That such efforts have not al-
ways come out of careful thinking, but
rather from a fine frenzy for immediate
accomplishment is instanced in a child's
estimate of her town teacher, "Gee, but she
is one patriotism fiend!" One can read
from such a remark the pathos of mis-
spent effort and how the child remained
untouched by the most desperate appeals.
This is the day of patriotism readers,
which draw from much that is best in
literature, but which are likely to fail in
their purpose by reason of the very direct-
ness of their approach of subject. Just as
direct moral instruction has little place
in making of character, so the inculcation
of patriotism will probably not be brought
about by direct instruction in its beauties
and values. It is true also that by no
means all which the children can come to
know of patriotism will be taken from
books. We go to books for the fine deeds of
98
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
the past and the present, but a part of such
teaching must come out of the immediate
experiences of the child, and still another
part from intelligent service, well directed.
The foregoing references to children's part
in camp library work may illustrate the
quality last mentioned.
The material which comes from books
has been no less available in the past than
now. It needs regrouping, however, to
bring stronger focus upon motives and
situations. Patriotic readers are an effort
in this direction. But first let us remember
we must understand what patriotism is
before attempting to arouse any feeling on
the part of the children through story-tell-
ing and through their reading. Can we not
say that patriotism involves loyalty, knowl-
edge of and obedience to law, knowledge
of one's own country and other coun-
tries, sharing liberty, safeguarding liberty,
sacrificing for liberty, service through
liberty. When we really understand this,
we are ready to select and arrange ma-
terial for the children. Heroic deeds in
verse and prose give concrete form to
these attributes. We must consider the
organization of society as well, so that the
child can understand that society affords
him certain benefits. The child of foreign
parentage can understand that for him then
lie opportunities peculiar to his own coun-
try in the free public libraries and the free
public schools, even though he may have
heard at home tales of discouragement and
of failure to secure those social and eco-
nomic advantages, the hope of which
prompted his parents' removal to America.
When we give such meaning to his every-
day contacts, we are teaching patriotism,
as well as when we draw from the past
the deepest and richest experiences of man-
kind to meet this highest need. But in
whatever way we attempt to periorm this
service, the surest way to avoid the danger
of falling into abstract preachments, which
are certain to fall always on deaf ears, is
by carrying over to children only that
which has first quickened ourselves.
In our first reactions in war times, we
have been much concerned with the patriot-
ism or the lack of it, in the foreign-born.
At times Americanism seems to mean birth
in America. In our search for illustrations
of heroic deeds we have taken little pains
to seek in other classic sources. The
other day, twenty-five thousand Czecho-
slovaks marched in a parade in one city
to honor the man whom they proclaim as
their future president. Professor Massaryk.
Some of their banners were messages to
us. One read, "Americans, do not be dis-
couraged! We have fought these tyrants
for three hundred years!" To such people
and to their history could we not well go
for new tales of heroic sacrifices for free-
dom, which can quicken and impel li-
brarian, teacher and child to a new concep-
tion of what safeguarding liberty and
sacrificing for liberty really mean?
THE WAR AND LIBRARY TRAINING*
Et Fbank K. Waltee, Vice-Director, New Yorlc State Library School, Albany
It is evident that the success of any kind
of training must depend on the quality of
the persons to be trained and on the pos-
sibility of getting a sufficient number of
candidates to permit the selection of
enough who are well qualified for the work.
Among the libraries which conduct traln-
*Abridged from original paper.
ing classes, by far the larger part have had
the number of applicants greatly dimin-
ished. In most cases the quality of the
applicants seems lower than in previous
years. The following comments from
Baltimore, Buffalo, Milwaukee and St.
Joseph, respectively, are typical:
(1) "War conditions have absolutely
demoralized the training of apprentices in
WALTER
99
this library. Until last summer, we always
had from a dozen to a score of young
women in library work.,. At present we
have only two or three persons in train-
ing, have waived any high school require-
ment and have half a dozen vacancies in
the library staff with no prospect of filling
them." (2) "There was a decided falling
off of applicants for positions at the time
of our last examination, and a falling off,
we thought, in the quality of applicants as
well. The usual small group of young men
was altogether missing." (3) "Fewer
applicants and less fit." (4) "The num-
ber of applicants has been very few and
the quality much below the average. I
would say that one in four is a possibility."
It is nevertheless reassuring to learn
that a fair number of libraries have suffered
little in respect to either number or qual-
ity of applicants. These are not only the
smaller libraries but the libraries of Birm-
ingham, Chicago, Detroit, Grand Rapids,
Indianapolis, Kansas City, Savannah and
Utica. The reasons for this maintenance
of number of applicants are not always in-
dicated. Those given by Birmingham and
Grand Rapids are interesting:
Birmingham "has been affected not at all
apparently, except recently. We used the
argument for good jobs ahead in Wash-
ington as inducement to get girls to en-
ter apprentice classes."
In Grand Rapids, "our experience is that
so far as our library training class is con-
cerned, the fact that a good many of our
people have gone into the government serv-
ice at Washington has widely advertised
our library training and we are having
more applicants than ever for this work.
The people who are applying now are a
little more mature and have a little better
education than those who have come here-
tofore."
In Queens Borough the number has been
reduced from sixteen to four, but the sit-
uation has "improved the quality In one
way, namely, that these apprentices really
care for this particular work."
Other cities, like Denver, have suffered
chiefiy in the small number of applicants
from whom to choose.
The most general method used to coun-
teract the loss of applicants for admission
to training classes has been the raising of
the salaries of those already on the staff.
Increased publicity has been used by the
public libraries of Buffalo, Youngstown
and the District of Columbia and doubt-
less by others. Public talks, letters to and
interviews with high school students have
been the means most generally employed.
St. Joseph has lowered the minimum age
for admission to its training class from
twenty to eighteen. Brooklyn and Mil-
waukee have modified their plans of train-
ing. Omaha and Davenport have reestab-
lished training classes or will establish
them, and Rochester is about to begin one.
In the library schools replying (which
included those of the St. Louis Public Li-
brary and the University of Washington
and all members of the Association of
American Library Schools) there was only
a slight general decrease in the number of
students in 1917-18 (though Atlanta re-
ported a decided decrease in the number
of candidates for examination). Most of
the schools anticipate a marked decrease
in numbers in 1918-19. The quality of the
students was high, and in several cases a
real improvement was noted. The most
common, method used to counteract the ex-
pected decrease in numbers has been in-
creased advertising through magazines
and talks before schools and colleges.
In these days when fixed opinion on any
subject is almost impossible, it is no sur-
prise to find that in most of the libraries
reporting there is a marked restlessness
or an indifference toward library work on
the part of training class students. The
same reason is given in every recorded
case: low salaries and the apparent hope-
lessness of immediate substantial improve-
ment. Where this spirit of restlessness is
not the most marked characteristic, the
training classes have shown increased ap-
preciation of the possibilities of service in
libraries. In several cases this is directly
attributed to more public recognition of
library service (including war service) or
to the unconscious compliment paid libra-
ries by the demand for library experience
in filing and other forms of government
work.
Aside from some desire to leave conven-
tional library service to enter war library
100
SARATOGA SPRING'S CONFERENCE
service and an Inclination, noticed in sev-
eral library schools, to enter departmental
service with the national government (an
inclination which se^ms to have reached
its height in some other schools) there has
not been much apparent change on the
part of library students in their attitude
toward their chosen work. Doubtless more
of them are more restless and discon-
tented with their prospective salaries but
on the other hand, more of them, it ap-
pears from the reports, have an increased
respect for really good library service.
Dissatisfaction with library service and
scarcity of applicants naturally suggest re-
adjustment in training methods. It is
therefore a gratifying surprise to find that
so few material changes in training class
or library school courses have been found
necessary as yet. In some instances
changes have been made in the length of
the course and in more insistence on
clerical routine. Brooklyn and the Dis-
trict of Columbia have planned special
courses of varying length and purpose for
the different needs of their libraries. Sev-
eral libraries, among them Queens Bor-
ough and Brooklyn, begin paying appren-
tices for whole or part time much earlier
than formerly.
It Is noteworthy that the libraries whose
heads have been in camp libraries rather
generally suggest increased attention to
instruction in war library activities. Rel-
atively few are planning to train assist-
ants for clerical government service,
though this is suggested by Birmingham,
Grand Rapids, Kansas City and Omaha.
More attention to business library meth-
ods and more instruction in the relation
of the library to the social and industrial
activities of its community is frequently
suggested. In nearly every case there is
a positive statement that the present
standards of library training will not be
lowered. This is often coupled with an
expressed intention of definitely raising
the standard.
Like the training classes, the library
schools have so far made no radical
changes in their courses and apparently
few are contemplated. Simmons College
has had a brief summer course for base
hospital workers and nearly all the schools
are planning to give increased time and
attention to the place of the library in war
activities. Simmons College and Western
Reserve report the introduction of a few
lectures on governmental service and the
Carnegie School of Pittsburgh also plans
training in this direction. This has also
been done at the New York State Library
School and no doubt in other schools.
There is general agreement on the advis-
ability of adhering to training for library
work and of not becoming pseudo-com-
mercial schools either permanently or
temporarily. This has not prevented a
more general recognition of the claims of
business and other special libraries and
more time will be given to them in the
future. In no case is there an expressed
intention of lowering standards to attract
students. On the contrary, in every di-
rection there is recognition of the fact
that future library demands will require
library training standards higher than any
that are maintained at present.
The lack of change, actual and suggest-
ed, is not stagnation. It is rather a dis-
inclination to rush blindly into work which
for the present at least, is likely to lead
into professional blind alleys instead of
into the high road. It is also a recogni-
tion of the fact that some place must be
left for common sense; that training
courses, like legislation, cannot provide for
every emergency but must lay foundations
on which adaptations can be made. In
other words, where there is failure to meet
conditions, it is probably as likely to be
due to mistakes in admitting unsuitable
students as to indicate serious defects in
their instruction.
Some changes are inevitable in future
library training. Definite prophecy is haz-
ardous now, but probable reconstruction
in training is foreshadowed in many of
the replies on which this report is based,
and to some extent, they have been sug-
gested in it. Extension of training to all
grades of library service seems not only
WALTER
101
Inevitable but Immanent. It is not un-
likely that this may mean not only instruc-
tion in "extension centers" by an exten-
sion staff of competent librarians, but
even the establishment of correspondence
work In centers too remote and with li-
brary staffs too small to permit definite
class work. The more or less distinct di-
vision of library service into clerical and
professional seems anticipated, at least In
the larger libraries.
None of these will be real innovations.
Extension courses are already suggested
by Miss Doren, of Dayton, and are under
consideration by a very important educa-
tional foundation. For years the library
Institute has been doing extension work
systematized and unsystematized. Corres-
pondence work in library economy is al-
ready conducted by the University of Chica-
go and Is anticipated by the excellent "Ap-
prentice course for small libraries" issued by
the Library School of the University of Wis-
consin. Brooklyn, the Public Library of
the District of Columbia, and other libra-
ries have already planned or are actually
using in their training classes courses
which distinguish between clerical and so-
called professional service. The New
York State Library has for years had
through the state civil service commis-
sion two grades of help: (1) the clerk and
junior clerk grades, and (2) the library
assistant grade with its analogous exami-
nations for higher professional grades. The
probable change will be to bring together
Into a more or less harmonious plan the
best of these experiments and to urge
through the American Library Association
and its affiliated sections and organiza-
tions the acceptance of definite standards
of service in libraries. This will not mean
arbitrary uniformity. It will, on the con-
trary, mean the establishment of a norm
from which variation may be frequent and
extensive. Nevertheless, association or
combination for similar practice will be a
great step In advance of our present con-
dition which in many cases Is not associa-
tion as much as aggregation or even con-
glomeration.
Whether this will lead quickly and sure-
ly to definite certification of librarians and
standardization of library service is not
for me to prophesy. Even if it should,
there is no positive cause for alarm. Li-
brary autonomy is not necessarily endan-
gered by central library control. The
camp library service has not lessened the
opportunities for war service by individual
libraries, even though It has meant the
adoption of much standardized practice
and the subordination of many Individual
schemes.
This is not a problem for this section
to solve alone. More and more the train-
ing class must be strengthened to perform
Its proper function; the library school
course must be strengthened and become
more and more distinctive in its broader,
non-local service. In an increasing de-
gree extension work must do its part in
bringing professional instruction to every
person in library service.
But, beyond all this, there must be a de-
mand from libraries for better service, and
for greater recognition of better service.
Ex'tenslon course, training class, and library
school will be non-essential Industries un-
less their products are put to use. Nor
can their products be satisfactory unless
the instruction is based on definitely rec-
ognized needs clearly expressed in terms
of positions in Individual libraries. There
are no warehouses in which library train-
ing agencies can store their products to
be drawn on in small lots at uncertain
periods, for their products are profession-
ally perishable in storage.
Too many libraries have paraphrased a
well-known motto so that it might read:
"The best assistants for the most libraries
at the least cost." Of great significance
and encouragement is the attempt of prac-
tically every reporting library to raise the
salaries of its staff members and even
more cheering Is the success of many of
these attempts. Perhaps most cheering of
all are the admission that the largest sal-
ary increases are still inadequate and the
regret that such is the case. The library
schools are encouraged to learn that their
102
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
students have received considerably high-
er average salaries than ever before.
The time has passed when asceticism,
particularly of the involuntary type, neces-
sarily makes for holiness. The joy of
•work is not lessened by ability to live de-
cently and to provide oneself with a fair
share of the things which make for higher
enjoyment of life. Society approves the de-
sire of the masses to live in better houses on
better food and to have more time for recrea-
tion. It is deemed patriotic to pay higher
taxes and provide higher wages for more
people in more subsidized industries. It
is admitted necessary to raise huge sums
of money for smileage books, Y. M. C. A.
huts, camp libraries, and similar agencies
to preserve the morale of our men who
are fighting for freedom. We librarians
are not necessarily unpatriotic if we de-
mand at least enough to maintain the
standard of living we need for reasonable
comfort. It has been said that the old
New England conscience was determined
by two fears, the fear of God and the fear
of the poorhouse. The first was respons-
ible for much of the best in our national
life but it may at least be questioned
whether a smaller measure of the latter,
some generations ago, would have been
entirely without beneficial local results.
Let us not deceive ourselves because of
the generous recognition accorded our
war service. Our home bases need im-
provement. A letter from Portland, quot-
ed by permission, is in point:
"I think the discussion in your section
should be the most important of the Con-
ference and I say that with all due re-
spect and enthusiasm for the war activi-
ties, but libraries have reached the point
where the salary question is a daily issue.
We are, most of us, if not all of us, facing
one of two alternatives; either we must
retrench, cut off some of our activities, or
we must content ourselves with poorly
paid, which means poorly prepared and
poorly educated, assistants. I've wondered
for many years how much longer we might
expect college bred, cultured men and
women to give their lives for the love of
the work alone. In Portland, and I fancy
our experience is not unique, we no longer
can hold our best people unless there are
other ties to offset the salary. The war
and the high cost of living are hastening
the crisis. What is to be done about it?
How can the taxpaying public be con-
vinced that the library laborer is worthy
of his hire? A conversation in my office
the other day was illuminating. The pres-
ident of one of the large ship-building
plants had stopped in to consult with me
as to which one of my meager staff he
should ask to organize his new library.
He remarked that he would give her $150
this first month and after that if she were
not worth $250 or so she would be worth
nothing at all. He concluded his plea
with, 'and Miss Isom, this demand of the
business man for the trained librarian will
have a tremendous influence upon library
salaries.' The president of my board hap-
pened to be present, and in a few words
he outlined the extent of the library's ac-
tivities and then said, 'and now Mr. B.,
would you as a large taxpayer be willing
to vote for the amount needed to pay
these librarians a proper wage?' And Mr.
B. said hesitatingly, 'I don't know that I
would.' There is the situation that we are
confronting. We are more than ready to
release our people for war service, to train
them for government employment — train-
ing them for business houses is another
story."
Sporadic action in widely separated li-
braries will accomplish little. It is not
library spirit but public feeling which
needs education. Unless library assistant,
librarian, library trustee and library asso-
ciation from Maine to California and from
Minnesota to Texas work together in de-
manding substantial recognition of the
value of library service, we shall accom-
plish little. If presented properly as a
general movement there need be nothing
unprofessional in any phase of the de-
mand.
Pine words butter no parsnips and when
even parsnips are beyond the reach of our
purses and the fine words must be mostly
self-infiicted or administered by sympa-
thetic but equally impecunious colleagues,
the paths to librarianship will not be badly
crowded by high-grade, enthusiastic appli-
cants.
The conclusions which it seems reason-
able to reach therefore, are these: (1) The
libraries of the country need trained help
PUTNAM
103
as never before and the need Is likely to
increase; (2) existing agencies, whether
school or training class, seem essentially
sound in theory and to need adjustment
rather than reconstruction; (3) these ad-
justments can be fully effective only when
the extension course, the training class,
the library school, the librarians and the
appointing officers of libraries work to-
gether in essential harmony. (4) It will
be useless to plan training without having
someone to train and there will not be
enough persons to train unless enough sal-
ary can be offered to attract competent
men and women from other lines which,
to an outside observer, seem to give equal
chances of service with more than an
equal chance to live comfortably.
THE LIBRARY WAR SERVICE*
By Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress (General Director A. L. A. War Service)
The library war service has been a
dominant, if not the dominant, note in the
program of this Conference; and a general
word in behalf of the administration of it
is only natural.
In planning for the Conference we in
charge of the work had to consider what
was our duty to you here. As an Associa-
tion you assumed the responsibility for
this work; you secured the resources for
it; and you are now to go before the pub-
lic in another appeal. Can you go with
confidence? Can you go with a clean con-
science?
Confidence implies understanding. A
complete understanding of our operations
we could not give you. We could not put
you in touch with every phase of the work,
with every relationship. We could not
put you in our own places, vest you with
our experiences. All that we could do
was, so far as a written statement could,
to submit a report to you, with some sta-
tistics, and with an indication of the prob-
lems and the manner of meeting them.
We could provide an exhibit for you to
see; and we could produce for you to see
and hear, some of the men and women who
have been most intimately engaged in the
actual service. Those things we have at-
tempted.
We were certain that from these at-
tempts you would gain a necessary assur-
ance and some valuable impressions; that
♦Stenographic report of extemporaneous
address.
you would feel that the work is well under
way, and that it is already the sort of work
that you meant to do; that you would be
convinced, and feel confident of being able
to convince the public, that it is the sort
of work expected of you.
And as to the methods: we hoped you
would feel that they have sustained your
repute as an Association. Especially that
your repute has been safeguarded in cer-
tain essentials: your repute for soundness
of method, and for adaptability and flexi-
bility in method; your ability to avoid
dogmatism, and an excess of professional-
ism; and your concern for frugality
against the temptation to be inconsider-
ately lavish. In bearing upon this last
item it is no small matter. In any further
appeal, that of the $800,000 you have ex-
pended during the first eight months only
$60,000 went in salaries.
And as regards the actual administra-
tion: we wished you to see, to hear, and to
feel the spirit of the men and women who
have been engaged in the actual contacts.
I do not know the impression they made
upon you. I think, though, that you have
felt their competence for the task, includ-
ing especially a freedom from the exces-
sive professionalism to which I have re-
ferred. And I trust you noted also a cer-
tain freedom in another particular — that
implied in their references to Headquar-
ters. One of them referred to some essen-
tial of his service as conceded reluctantly
by Headquarters. I liked to have him get
104
SARATOGA SPRING'S CONFERENCE
up and say that. It showed that he knew
Headquarters would have no sensitiveness
in the matter. He wouldn't have said it if
he hadn't appreciated the cause of the
reluctance: he knew the reluctance due to
our difficulty in meeting his particular need
while regarding our responsibility for the
general policy.
And I trust you felt a certain sportsman-
like attitude on the part of these workers
— Miss Titcomb, for instance. She thought
Leavenworth a small affair. [Though if
she had considered she must have known
that we knew it was only a big opportunity
that deserved Miss Titcomb.] But she
said to herself: "This is a military estab-
lishment: I go where I am sent." And she
went; and she found it by no means a
small opportunity. There is not such a
thing in our service.
You have felt, I think, that these men
and women who have gone into this serv-
ice have not merely a conviction, but a
real exultation in it. That is a fine and
assuring thing. Nothing has given me
greater satisfaction than the evidence of it.
I do not know your definition of a "gen-
eral director." I suppose he is somebody
who is "generally directing" as well as
"directing generally." But my theory was
that my prime duty was to gather to the
service the men and women competent to
conduct it. The process was, of course, a
slow one; because the experience requisite
must be an experience in the field, an ex-
perience then still to be developed. And
for the work at Headquarters the final
competence must be a combination of ex-
perience in the field with experience there.
The organization that has resulted — that
now exists — is a competent one; and I
hope you feel so.
As to the work accomplished we trust
that you will think it sufficient to be as-
suring; but our greater concern is that you
should realize the problems still unsolved,
the magnitude of the work ahead.
In my own report I have tried to indi-
cate them. They exist in every branch
and phase of the establishment, the organ-
ization, the service. New ones are created
for us daily. And they are not problems
that can be dealt with dogmatically. They
require adaptation of our practice to actual
conditions. It was a military establish-
ment that we were entering and we were
entering it at the invitation of the mili-
tary authorities. Our subordination was
to them; and it was only by satisfying
them, by adjusting our practice to their
requirements — even to their prejudices —
that we could serve them acceptably, or
even secure opportunity to serve them at
all. Do not lose sight of that.
Now we are going on with the work.
You and we are partners in it. We do not
want you to be "silent partners." We
need your aid; but we want also your sug-
gestion, your counsel, your criticism. The
matter may be a wrong thing done which
you wish to call to our attention; it may
be a thing wrongly done; it may be a
thing imperfectly done; it may be an op-
portunity missed; or it may be yourself
wishing an opportunity. In any case we
shall assume that the inquiry or sugges-
tion or criticism is solely for the purpose
of aiding us. We shall assume this unless
and until you convince us to the contrary.
But it is only fair to ask you to recog-
nize one or two distinctions, to take ac-
count of one or two presumptions. They
should affect your method or attitude in
presenting the matter. A wrong thing
done or a thing wrongly done press upon
our attention as sharply as you like. But
there is a difference between that and a
thing imperfectly done, or an opportunity
for the moment missed; because we may
be as conscious of the defect or of the op-
portunity as you are. It is probable that
for every such defect or opportunity that
you observe, we know of at least ten. I
would therefore be a bit more tentative in
calling our attention to mere defects, as if
they were something of which we were
ignorant.
The matter may be an opportunity that
you wish. The wish is perfectly legitimate,
and you should by all means inform us of
it. The spirit of war service is deeply
personal with each of us. We want to give
PUTNAM
105
expression to It. But the entire member-
ship of the Association cannot find a per-
sonal opportunity in this service to the sol-
diers and sailors. That is clear. There
must be a choice and we must make it.
We are not infallible, and our choice is
subject to limitations that we can't pub-
lish. But test us by the competence of the
people who are chosen, not by your im-
pression of the people left out. Test it on
the affirmative side, not on the negative.
It is by the people we select, not by those
we fail to select, that our administration
must be judged. For nineteen years at
Washington I have been insisting upon this
distinction. Almost weekly I have been
asked to prove why a given person should
not be appointed to the Library of Con-
gress. I have refused for two reasons.
First, because it would be impossible to
prove it to their satisfaction; and second
because it was not my business: I would
be responsible for any appointments made,
but I would not undertake to explain why
I failed to appoint someone else.
There is a feature of this service which
I had in mind when I referred to what I
characterized as the sportsmanlike atti-
tude of the men and women engaged in it.
It is military service. That means, not
that it requires a subordination strictly
military, but that it is an emergency serv-
ice requiring summary methods, summary
decisions by a central authority. The cen-
tral authority may not In judgment be per-
fect. On any particular Its judgment may
not be as sound as the judgment of some
particular person among you. But the in-
dividual judgments among you cannot be
applied to the problem. And there is a
point at which discussion and explanations
must cease, and a decision made. At that
point, if you still differ, we can only ask
you to trust us.
There is another incident of the service.
It being in a sense military, we draw peo-
ple into it summarily and may have to
discontinue them summarily. Explana-
tions are Impracticable. Thart is under-
stood among our camp librarians. As they
come to the call, so when they are "re-
lieved" they accept the release without
question. The relief Is no disparagement
to them; It is not a discharge; It Is not a
dismissal. That Is understood between
them and us and in justice to them It
should be understood generally.
As to all such decisions we hope, I say,
that you will have faith In us. But your
faith in us rests largely upon our faith In
you. We have It: in your sincerity of
purpose, In your unity of spirit.
Now you are to go before the public in
a larger appeal. You can make It with
confidence. And from what has been pro-
duced here you can give substantial rea-
sons for it. Last fall you started to pro-
vide certain welfare work for an army of a
million men; yesterday it was an army of
two million men; in a few months It will
be one of four million, and as many more
as may be required. We began with the
Idea that the work was to be on this side
of the water. From Dr. Raney's address
yesterday, you have gathered that the
overwhelming duty of It may be overseas.
As Mr. Orr has said of the Y. M. C. A.,
"the center of gravity of the work Itself
may shift to the other side." The pros-
pect creates a far larger opportunity for a
prodigiously extended service.
We must all join in the appeal; we must
bend ourselves to it. We must go before
the public with confidence in the merit of
what has been done, but also with a single-
ness of purpose and an honest unity of
spirit.
IOC
gARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
THE WORK OF THE A. L. A. WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE*
By J. I. Wyeb, Jb., Director, New York State Library (Chairman War Service Committee)
Three documents just placed in your
hands embody the printed report of the
War Service Committee: The report prop-
er, to which is added a statement from the
general director; the report of its Sub-
committee on Finance, which was In charge
of the "Million dollar campaign"; and Li-
brary War Bulletin No. 7, with supplement,
emanating from the headquarters in Wash-
ington. These are business documents,
simple, direct, largely official records and
papers. The design of the committee in
submitting them is that they shall embody
only the facts — matter for your current
Information and for permanent record. No
attempt is made in these documents to re-
flect the spirit of the work, to recount its
privileges, to review its opportunities, or
to comment in other than a simple, direct,
matter-of-fact way upon the work as it has
developed through the year.
The purpose of this early printing is to
save the time of the Conference and to
furnish opportunity for discussion, based
upon an advance reading of the reports.
It may be objected by some that a report,
distributed at the door as you come into
the meeting, furnishes but scant opportu-
nity for advance perusal and for discus-
sion, but this committee has been report-
ing to the Association for a year. The
printed sentences put into your hands this
morning contain very little that is new to
you. The information is crystallized here
for convenience of reference, for consulta-
tion. The reports that the committee has
in effect been making are through our pro-
fessional journals, through the bulletins
from headquarters throughout the year,
through the personal knowledge which all
of us have from assisting in this work, and
from the divers ways in which we have
followed it throughout the year. Conse-
•Stenographlc report of extemporaneous
address.
quently, we feel absolved from any delay
in getting our report to you, because, as
has just been indicated, the committee has
been reporting constantly and very fully
for many months.
Again, this is not the usual committee
report. A committee is usually looked to
for research work, for extended investiga-
tion that gathers new facts, that deliber-
ates upon them, that lays certain conclu-
sions before the parent body, conclusions
which up to the time of the committee's
report were perhaps unknown. Its report
is usually looked to, then, as the defini-
tive statement of new thought or enter-
prise. You can see in a moment why this
is not a customary report. It is not, in a
sense, the report of the War Service Com-
mittee at all. That committee takes no
great credit to itself for results which may
have followed from its initiative during
the year. It is not the seven members of
the War Service Committee that have done
the hard work this year. It is you, and
you, and hundreds and thousands that are
not this morning within reach of my voice,
that have made the report of the War Serv-
ice Committee; that have done the work of
the War Service Committee, of which the
report is but the pale shadow. The War
Service Committee has had, by far, the
easier end of this work, the burden and
heat of which has been upon its profes-
sional colleagues throughout the entire^
country. I say work; it is but a short
time since this work was but a dream.
Had anyone said, even the most ardent
member of the War Service Committee,
at our Conference at Louisville a year ago,
that within the next twelve months the
American Library Association, which had
never raised $10,000 in its life, would raise
a million and three-quarters dollars, would
gather together a library of books nearly
(Continued on page 18t)
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
107
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
To the President and Members of the Ameri-
can Library Association:
The Preliminary Committee. Soon after
the entrance of the United States into the
World War, American librarians became
keenly concerned to know how they, their
libraries and the professional association
which represents them to the nation might
best serve our country in the common cause.
Sharing this belief that such a service was
possible. President Walter L. Brown, in May,
1917, appointed a committee "to assemble
the various suggestions that have been made
and to bring them before the Association
with some sense of proportion, possibly with
recommendations as to which might be most
practical and most helpful to the Govern-
ment." This preliminary committee com-
prised : . Herbert Putnam, chairman ; A. E.
Bostwick, R. R. Bowker, Gratia Countryman,
M. S. Dudgeon, Alice S. Tyler, J. I. Wyer,
Jr. Its report (Proc. Louisville Conference,
pp. 315-25, and separately printed with the
title Our Libraries and the War), presented
June 22, 1917, was accepted and its following
recommendations adopted.
The recommendations of your committee
are these:
1. That a War Committee be appointed to
continue the investigation of this subject in
its various phases, and under general direc-
tion of the Executive Board, to represent the
Association in the various relations which it
involves.
2. That as such a committee should take
benefit of the discussions of this conference,
it be appointed immediately, by the present
executive, instead of by the next incoming
Board.
3. That for convenience and efficiency in
the executive part of its duties its member-
ship be limited to seven; but that it have
power to create a larger committee, advisory
and auxiliary to itself, also sub-committees
from within or without its membership.
4. That for its guidance and that of the
incoming Board upon one important pros-
pective activity, there be discussion by the
association as to the participation of libraries
and of the association in the supply of read-
ing matter to the troops, and such an
expression as shall enable the committee to
speak authoritatively for the association in
any appeal that it issues, or undertaking
that it enters into.
5. As a basis for such a discusson and
expression we recommend consideration of
the following resolution:
(a) That the American Library Associa-
tion welcomes the information reported as
to the aims of various agencies in the sup-
ply of reading matter to the troops; and
that it will gladly aid to develop and espe-
cially to coordinate the service proposed by
them; assisting as an association and
through libraries individually in the prep-
aration of lists and in the collection, scrutiny
and organization of material.
(b) That it assumes that the efforts of the
several agencies may by conference be so
differentiated as to avoid both confusing
competition and unnecessary duplication. It
assumes also that consistently with their
organization and aims in other respects, they
will especially welcome such a cooperation
on the part of the Association as shall in-
sure skilled service in the actual administra-
tion of the collections, without which, in the
judgment of the association, full advantage
cannot be taken of the opportunity.
6. If, in addition to various measures of
cooperation with other agencies concerned in
the supply of reading matter to the troops,
108
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
there shall appear to the A. L. A. War Com-
mittee a prospect of funds for the erection,
equipment ajid maintenance, under the aus-
pices of the association, of distinct library
buildings with suitable collections and expert
service in each of the sixteen main canton-
ments, the committee is especially authorized
to represent the association in soliciting the
necessary funds, material and service, in all
measures of organization, and in the actual
administration of the libraries themselves.
The War Service Committee. Pursuant to
these recommendations President Brown at
once named the War Service Committee with
the following personnel: J. I. Wyer, Jr.,
chairman; E. H. Anderson, A. E. Bostwick,
Gratia Countryman, M. S. Dudgeon, F. P.
Hill, Alice S. Tyler.
This committee finds its initial status and
authority in the six recommendations recited
above. An ampler authority was later con-
ferred by the Federal Government in a letter
from the chairman of the Commission on
Training Camp Activities and in certain reso-
lutions enacted by the Executive Board of
the A. L. A. on August 14, 1917. These
documents follow:
WAR DEPARTMENT
Commission on Training Camp Activities
Appointed by the President of the United
States,
Raymond B. Fosdick, Chairman,
Lee F. Hanmeb,
Thomas J. Howells,
Joseph Lee,
Malcolm L. McBride,
John R. Mott,
Charles P. Neill,
Major P. E. Pieece, U. S. A.
June 28, 1917.
Doctor Herbert Putnam,
Congressional Library, Washington, D. C.
My dear Dr. Putnam:
At a meeting of the Commission on Train-
ing Camp Activities held this morning, it
was unanimously voted to ask the American
Library Association to assimie responsibility
for providing adequate library facilities in
the thirty-two cantonments and National
Guard training camps which are expected to
open on or about September first. Because
your organization can call to its service the
trained abilities of all the librarians of the
United States, it seems natural to ask you to
administer this problem for the Government.
We approach you with more assurance of
your attitude perhaps, than we would other-
wise be justified in feeling, because of your
evident willingness to undertake this task,
as expressed in the resolutions adopted by
your organization in Louisville last week.
Briefly, we have in mind the erection in
each camp of a suitably equipped central
library which will be under your management
and direction. The funds for the erection
and equipment of these buildings will have
to be provided from private sources, and I
trust that your organization will be suc-
cessful in obtaining ample financial support.
The Y. M. C. a. buildings located in the
camps will be glad to act as your distributing
agencies if, on account of the size of the
camp, it becomes necessary to decentralize
your circulation plant. The Commission will
undertake the responsibility of seeing that
these buildings are heated and lighted, and
will find funds, if necessary, to provide for
the transportation of books and magazines.
It is possible, too, that we may be able to
provide for the traveling and living expenses
of such of your associates as may be detailed
to work in the camps; however, this is a
question which will have to be further con-
sidered.
The activity of your organization along
this line will receive the full support and co-
operation of this Commission, and I am au-
thorized to express our sincere appreciation
of your willingness to undertake this very
important task.
Very sincerely yours,
(Signed) Raymond B. Fosdick,
Chairman.
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
A meeting of the Executive Board of the
American Library Association was held at
the Public Library, Washington, D. C, Au-
gust 14, 1917.
Present: President Montgomery (presid-
ing). Misses Rathbone and Doren, and Mr.
Dudgeon and Miss Eastman, through proxy
held by Mr. C. H. Milam.
Dr. Frank P. Hill, chairman of the War
Finance Committee, appeared before the
Board and called attention to the limitations
of power given to the War Service Committee
in the resolutions adopted by the Association
at Louisville, June 22, 1917.
The following resolutions were unanimously
adopted :
( 1 ) Resolved, That the War Service Com-
mittee appointed at the Louisville Confer-
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
109
ence be authorized to proceed with the work
of providing books for soldiers and sailors
at all camps in this country and abroad,
and to engage in such other activities as are
manifestly related to Library War Service.
(2) Resolved, That the War Service Com-
mittee be authorized, through its War Fi-
nance Committee, to solicit funds in the
name of the American Library Association
for the purpose stated in resolution No. 1.
(3) Resolved, That the general War Ser-
vice Committee, through its War Finance
Committee, be authorized to use such funds
for books, salaries and such other expenses
as may be necessary to carry on its work.
(4) Resolved, (a) That the general War
Service Committee be authorized to disburse
money through the War Finance Committee
on the approval of the chairman of the War
Finance Committee and of one other member
of the Camp Libraries Committee.
(b) That all bills incurred by the General
Committee or by any sub-committee must
bear the signatures of the Chairman of the
War Finance Committee and one other mem-
ber of the Camp Libraries Committee before
payment, and no bill shall be paid without
such signatures.
(c) That the Campaign Fund, which shall
be kept separate from the War Service Fund,
shall be expended under the authorization
of the War Finance Committee.
(5) Resolved, That the American Security
and Trust Company of Washington, D. C,
be appointed as depository of the War Ser-
vice Fund, and the People's Trust Company
of Brooklyn, New York, be appointed as de-
pository of the Campaign Fund, and that
the American Security and Trust Company
be appointed as treasurer of the War Service
Fund to draw checks.
(6) Resolved, That the said American Se-
curity and Trust Company be authorized to
disburse money in payment of vouchers only
when bearing the approval of the chairman
of the War Finance Committee and one other
member of the Camp Libraries Committee.
Attest :
Geoege B.
Utley,
Secretary.
Changes in Committee Personnel. Miss
Tyler was unable to serve and Electra C.
Doren was at once named in her stead by
President Brown. Later in the year Mr.
Bostwick and Mr, Dudgeon resigned, the
former because of inability to attend meet-
ings and absence on the Pacific coast for a
considerable part of the winter, and the lat-
ter, when in October, 1917, he became more
closely associated with the executive work
of the committee as Manager of Camp Li-
braries. President Montgomery named for
these vacancies W. H. Brett and Charles
Belden. On August 28, 1917, the committee
designated George B. Utley, Secretary of the
A. L. A., as its Executive Secretary.
Meetings. The committee organized on the
day of its appointment. It has held thirteen
meetings during the year, four in Louisville,
three in Washington, five in New York City
and one at Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio.
The minutes of these meetings appear as
Appendix A to this report. There have been
present by invitation at many of these meet-
ings President Montgomery and Messrs.
Bowker and Putnam, members of the pre-
liminary committee, the latter for most of
the year General Director of the Committee's
Library Service in the Camps.
Sub-committees. The following sub-com-
mittees were early formed. Their titles
fairly represent the nature and scope of the
work as originally conceived. Notes defin-
ing the work of the committee have been
added in some cases.
Finance. Mr. Hill, chairman.
Publicity. Mr. Bostwick, chairman.
Camp Libraries. Mr. Anderson, chairman.
(later Mr. Dudgeon.)
State Agencies. Mr. Dudgeon, chairman.
Local Agencies. Miss Countryman, chair-
man.
The last two committees will assemble in-
formation as to all war work done by Ameri-
can libraries, whether under State, municipal
or other auspices, with the object of corre-
lating all agencies most effectively and pre-
venting competition and duplication.
They will also organize through State and
local library agencies, the collection and sort-
ing of books and periodicals and will arrange
for the assignment and shipment of such
material to the points where it shall be most
needed.
Food Information, Claribel R. Barnett,
chairman.
This Committee is to make available to all
libraries such publications of the Federal
Government and the several States as shall
be of use in the present campaign for food
conservation and preservation. It is ex-
pected that each library will act as a dis-
tributing center for such publications in its
community and will work actively with gov-
110
SARA.TOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
ernmental agencies for demonstration and
instruction.
Library War Manual, G. F. Bowebman,
chairman.
The Library War Manual will make avail-
able to libraries from time to time all oppor-
tunities for individual or institutional ser-
vice. So far as possible, detailed directions
for work, descriptions as to its conduct at
other libraries, with names and addresses of
cooperating agencies will be given.
Federal Publications, H. H. B. Meyeb, chair-
man.
This committee will use every effort to
inform libraries as to useful publications
(other than agricultural) of the Federal
Government and will endeavor to secure their
free distribution to libraries in quantities
suflScient to supply all needs.
Transportation, R. H. Johnston, chairman.
To procure the best possible railroad rates
on library material destined for army and
naval camps and to arrange the best routing
for books sent to the cantonments and Na-
tional Guard camps.
Selection of Books, Benjamin Adams, chair-
man.
This committee compiled and printed a
list of 5,000 titles of fiction and non-fiction
to be used as a basis for the choice of books
for camp libraries.
Library War Week, Cabl H. Milam, chair-
man.
To emphasize by a national publicity cam-
paign among libraries, but more especially
with the general public, the opportunities
and channels for war service by libraries.
This committee distributed two bulletins
which did much to waken interest in Library
War Week and in the first book campaign.
Every one of its five members has been ac-
tively connected with Washington Head-
quarters since the work was centralized
there in October.
When Herbert Putnam became General
Director in October, 1917, and Camp Library
service in all its phases was consolidated at
the Library of Congress all of the above
sub-committees were discharged except those
on Food Information and Finance. The lat-
ter went out of existence when the financial
campaign was ended and its accounts audited
and transferred to the Treasurer of the
A. L. A. in January, 1918, but was revived
imder the same chairman Jxme 8, 1918.
Visits to Camps by the Committee. The
following list of visits, made chiefly to the
larger camps, by members of the War Service
Committee will serve to show their active
participation in its major work. All but
four of the thirty-seven camps having sep-
arate buildings have been visited by a mem-
ber of the committee and these four by the
General Director.
The Chairman spent the month of March
in a round of visits made by authority of
the committee and at the invitation of the
General Director, .while Mr. Hill's trip of
equal length was made at the request of the
Chairman. In both journeys individual re-
ports on each camp visited were sent to
Washington and a comprehensive general re-
port was submitted to the committee and
the General Director.
The resulting first-hand knowledge of
camp conditions is deemed of the utmost
importance and has proved of the highest
value to every member.
Mr. Anderson — Devens, Sherman, Upton.
Mr. Belden — Devens.
Mr. Brett — Custer, Devens, Grant, New-
port News, Sherman, Taylor.
Miss Countryman — Grant, Snelling.
Miss Doren — Devens, Sherman, Upton,
Wilbur Wright.
Mr. Dudgeon — Custer, Devens, Dodge,
Funston, Grant, Great Lakes, Meade, Sher-
man, Taylor, Upton.
Mr. Hill — Devens, Gordon, Greene, Han-
cock, Jackson, Johnston, McClellan, Merritt,
Mills, Sevier, Shelby, Sheridan, Sherman,
Wheeler.
Mr. Wyer — Beauregard, Bowie, Devens,
Dix, Ellington Field, Ethan Allen, Fimston,
Gordon, Great Lakes, Lee, Logan, McArthur,
Meade, Oglethorpe, Pike, Plattsburgh, Sevier,
Sherman, Travis, Upton, Wadsworth.
Mr. Putnam — Cody, Devens, Dix, Fre-
mont, Gordon, Great Lakes, Greene, Hancock,
Jackson, Johnston, Kearny, Kelly Field, Lee,
Lewis, Meade, Merritt, Mills, Oglethorpe,
Pike, Sheridan, Sherman, Travis, Upton,
Wheeler.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
111
Early Work. The acceptance of the invi-
tation from the Commission on Training
Camp Activities not only placed the War
Service Committee in direct official relation
to the Government through the War De-
partment but it at once gave substance and
definiteness to the major item on the pro-
gram presented by the Preliminary Com-
mittee.
There is a very considerable program of
War Service possible for every library in the
country, a program surprising and impressive
in its variety and extent. Certain items of
this program were touched upon in the re-
port of the Preliminary Committee. They
have been most admirably stated with more
particularity in Ifew York Libraries for May,
1918. Among them all, however, the out-
standing item, arresting, picturesque, tangi-
ble, readily visualized, is direct service of
reading matter to the troops.
This service it was which Mr. Fosdick's
letter made official, specific, insistent. Two
things were at once apparent that money
(and a great deal of money when measured
by A. L. A. resources and experience) was
the sine qua non and that speed was almost
as important. It was July. The sixteen
great camps, a number almost at once
doubled and now more than forty, were to
open in September. Application to the great
philanthropic foundations brought an en-
couraging hearing and good advice but no
immediate funds. No popular appeal could
succeed in midsummer. There remained but
to plan and carry out a nation-wide appeal
for funds at the earliest possible date, and
in the meantime to do as much as might
be, through the libraries of the country,
through volunteer personal help and with
the scanty thousands in cash that were
available from our own membership (a
veritable salvation this Dollar-a-month fund
— worth in timeliness manyfold its face
value in dollars) to further book service in
the camps through other welfare agencies
which should be earlier on the grounds.
The " Million -dollar drive " under the Sub-
committee on Finance is now successful and
inspiring history. All librarians know some-
thing of it, and many librarians had a part
in its success. The official narrative of it
appears in a separate pamphlet (in effect a
part of the present report and like it pre-
sented in print to the Saratoga Conference)
and will not be repeated here.
And so, working through sub-committees,
with almost no money, but with large faith
and a lively hope, much was accomplished
in July, August and September, in
(a) Perfecting plans for library buildings
and equipment.
(b) Conference and correspondence with
publishers resulting in an understanding as
to discounts.
(c) The preparation and printing of a
selected list of titles for camp libraries.
(d) Organizing the first book campaign
which resulted in the collection and shipment
to camps of many thousand books often far
ahead of the arrival of the librarian or any
A. L. A. representative. These books were
usually turned over to the Y. M. C. A., which
in many instances was unaware that any
other organization was responsible for their
collection and shipment. These early ship-
ments were often the only books available in
" Y " huts for many weeks.
(e) The establishing of collection and sort-
ing stations in a dozen or more populous
centers, notably in Chicago and New York.
(f) Inauguration of a personnel roster.
(g) Sending a few volunteer librarians to
camps, who were housed in Y. M. C. A. build-
ings or other quarters until library buildings
were erected.
Much of this early work, especially the
collection of books, was of necessity sus-
pended during September when the thought
and energies of all librarians were given to
the money campaign. All in all the later
work owes much to the zeal and efforts of
sub-committees (especially those on State
and local agencies. Library War Manual,
Transportation, and Selection of Books) and
individuals who carried the work in those
lean and strenuous days of unorganized
beginnings.
By October 1, with funds in hand, it be-
came possible to combine all parts of the
work in a single office, imder a skilled exec-
utive, with a paid office staff, and to pro-
ceed with the multitude of projects which
could not be advanced without money and a
single policy. Of the nine months since that
112
SAKATOGA SPRINGS CONFEEENCE
date the General Director will speak in a
statement which is found on pages 13-28.
In the committee's minutes for its meetings
of October 3 and 18 occur the actions and
conditions which effected the transfer of the
necessary funds and authority to Mr. Putnam.
Other Work. Two or three lines of work
which have seemed to some or all of the
committee to be of distinct promise and
importance have either been dropped or sup-
ported with less zeal and money than would
have been the case had the committee felt
free to use its funds for anything except
" Books for Soldiers."
Library Wa/r Service Week
A vigorous and resourceful sub-oommittee,
adopted at Louisville, desired to impress
upon the libraries and people of the country
in a spectacular and intensive Library War
Service Week, the many opportimites which
present conditions offer to American libraries
for social and patriotic service. The project
was a tempting one, but it seemed wise and
necessary to limit the money campaign of
September, 1917, to the one object, and this
left the War Service Committee without the
funds needed for such a publicity campaign.
The two book campaigns (especially the sec-
ond) and the money drive have undoubtedly
achieved for libraries very much of the pub-
licity sought in Library War Service Week,
and the committee notes with pleasure that
every member of the sub-committee has en-
listed for service at Headquarters and has
there foimd abundant outlet for his ardor
and ideas.
Libraries and the Food Campaign
The aim of the Food Information Sub-
committee has been (1) to help stimulate
interest in the National Food Campaign;
(2) to aid libraries in selecting and obtain-
ing authoritative publications bearing upon
the production, conservation and preparation
of food, especially the publications of State
and Government agencies; (3) to help in
bringing about greater co-operation between
public libraries and the National and State
organizations engaged in agricultural exten-
sion and the National food campaign.
The committee sent out a special appeal
last August to all libraries, with suggestions
as to ways of cooperating in the work. It
has prepared selected lists of books and
pamphlets on various phases of agricultural
production and conservation and preparation
of food which, in accordance with a coopera-
tive arrangement with the Library Section of
the Food Administration, have been either
printed in " Food News Notes " or distributed
in multigraphed form by the Food Adminis-
tration. The committee has also endeavored
to interest Government and State agencies
in increasing the distribution of their publi-
cations on these subjects to public libraries.
At the suggestion of the committee, the De-
partment of Agriculture is now publishing a
series of Library Leaflets designed especially
for distribution through libraries and calling
attention to Department and other publica-
tions on subjects of special interest in the
present food emergency.
The Committee is as follows: Chairman,
Claribel R. Barnett, U. S. Department of
Agriculture; George A. Deveneau, College of
Agriculture, University of Illinois, Urbana;
Cornelia Marvin, State Library, Salem, Ore-
gon; Joseph L. Wheeler, Public Library,
Youngstown, O.
In this field, too, indubitably alluring and
useful, the War Service Committee found it-
self without available funds beyond the few
hundred dollars collected from the dollar-a-
month subscriptions.
The next appeal for funds (see Appendix
A, minutes of meeting on Jime 8, 1918)
must be broad enough to embrace useful War
Library work of any sort.
Reconstruction
Reconstruction work for crippled and dis-
abled soldiers is already taking form in our
own country as well as in Canada and in the
European countries. In this great humani-
tarian impulse and in the solution of a para-
mount social and economic problem definite
opportunity is offered for library service:
First, in supporting the efforts of organized
agencies and workers in occupational therapy
and vocational rehabilitation by supplying to
them books and special librarians.
WAK SERVICE COMMITTEE
113
Second, by offering suitable liorary training
and the opportunity in our libraries for the
disabled soldier to carry on such lines of
clerical and technical library work as his
education and his ability permit.
A special study of this field and its possi-
bilities should be begun at once. Such sur-
veys and experiments as the Red Cross Insti-
tute is now conducting for industrial cripples
are in a high degree suggestive of the charac-
ter of the study which should be undertaken
in our own profession. Provision for investi-
gation and initial experiment, doubtless at
this stage, falls within the scope of Library
War Service. The full cooperation of all
library trustees, librarians and the American
Association of Library Schools must enter
into the successful prosecution of such a re-
construction project.
Audit. Acting at the request of and under
instructions from the A. L. A. Finance Com-
mittee, Marwick, Mitchell, Peat & Co. char-
tered accountants, made an audit of the re-
ceipts and disbursements of the Library War
Fund from its inception to May 31, 1918.
Their report, dated June 11, 1918 (a copy of
which has been filed with the chairman of
the War Service Committee), finds in the
minutes of the meetings full and regular au-
thority for all grants made and all fiscal acts
done. It also reports properly signed vouch-
ers and canceled checks in support of all pay-
ments and balances and assets as shown in
the financial statement appearing as Appen-
dix B to the present report.
Acknowledgments. It is impossible to cite
all individuals or institutions to which the
War Service Committee and its work rest
imder heavy debt. There are some names,
however, which suggest such service as amply
to warrant an expression of particular grati-
tude. The first such is Herbert Putnam. It
is neither invidious, nor can it be news to
any having more than a casual knowledge
of our work, that the Committee's chief obli-
gation is to the Librarian of Congress, who
not only promptly made available the person-
nel and facilities of the National Library for
this National service but who has given un-
sparingly of his own time, his strength and
his splendid talents to its organization and
conduct. The work today is more his than
ours and its success adds another item to
the long list of benefits for which American
libraries have to thank the Library, and the
Librarian, of Congress.
The Committee's thanks are due to Edward
L. Tilton for indispensable professional ser-
vices in the planning and locating of camp
library buildings, to those fourteen libraries
and seven individuals (notably to the Rocke-
feller Foundation) a veritable honor-roll, who
lent $45,000 to make possible its campaign
for funds, to the anonymous donor of $10,000
for a building at the Great Lakes Naval
Training Station, to John Foster Carr for
signal service in the New York City book
campaign, to the Carnegie Corporation, and
especially to its secretary and treasurer, for
quick interest in our plans and for a sub-
stantial grant in aid of their furtherance, to
the trustees, librarian and staff of the New
York Public Library and the Public Library
of the District of Columbia for notable hos-
pitality and help, to the Y. M. C. A. and
many of its major and minor oflScials for
courtesies and cooperation especially during
the poor and early days of our work, to the
Special Libraries Association and its late
president for hard work and cordial offer of
cooperation, and to the library commissions
of the country for leadership and responsi-
bility in local organization and effort.
Having acknowledged (but assuredly with-
out canceling) these outstanding and major
obligations to a few, there must follow in-
stantly a not less fervent and hearty ac-
knowledgment to the many. Neither individ-
ually nor collectively have the seven members
of the War Service Committee any undue
pride of achievement. It is certain that the
General Director has not. It is neither Gen-
eral Director, Committee nor indeed the
American Library Association, whose crea-
tion the Committee is, that has brought this
work to such measure of success as it may
have reached. If to the membership roll of
the Association there should today suddenly
be added the names of those libraries and
librarians (never before members) who have
114
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
helped in Library War Service, its length
would be more than doubled. It is the libra-
ries and librarians of this country who are
doing this work. Not one too small, remote
or feeble to have part in it if the spirit is
willing. But for the zeal and hard work of
thousands of libraries (hundreds of them
heretofore undiscovered even by the A. L. A.)
who found a million and three-quarters in
money and four millions of books, who have
made libraries centers for all sorts of local
war work, who have aided Liberty Loan,
Food Administration, and Red Cross, but for
these thousands our war service never could
have started nor could it continue for a single
week. To them, and as the poorest of their
compensations, this Committee extends its
thanks.
Respectfully submitted,
J. I. Wyeb, Jb., Chairman.
Edwin H. Andebson.
Charles Belden.
William H. Brett.
Gratia Countryman.
Electra C. Doren.
Frank P. Hill.
WAK SERVICE COMMITTEE
115
A. L. A. WAR SERVICE
Statement by General Director as to Operations
October 4, 1917— June 30, 1918
The initial organization of our War Service
and the administration of it until October 4,
1917, are covered by the report of the War
Service Committee; the campaign of last
autumn, which provided the financial re-
sources, by the report of the Chairman of
the War Finance Committee. My own report
would naturally comprehend the actual op-
erations since I took charge of them as Gen-
eral Director. Their progress has, however,
been communicated to you so fully in the
various bulletins which have been issued
from Headquarters, beginning with Bulletin 4
of January last, that it would be unwar-
rantable to review them in detail now. What
especially concerns you now is (A) the ex-
isting status and (B) the prospective prob-
lem: especially, as involved in this, the im-
perfections still to be remedied, as well as
the amplifications of the service necessary
to meet the ever enlarging opportunity.
A. The existing status is exhibited in Bul-
letin 7 distributed at the Conference. It is
reported in this independent form as more
convenient for other uses. It includes
1. A summary of the existing physical es-
tablishment — the " plant."
2. A summary of the existing resources in
books — including those available as well as
those actually in service.
3. The present organization and personnel.
4. A complete list of participants in the
formal organized service from the beginning.
5. A financial statement, complete to
June 1, 1918, at which date the accounts of
the disbursing officer were audited, supple-
mented by a memorandum of (estimated)
receipts and expenditures for the month of
June.
THE PHYSICAL ESTABLISHMENT
Includes, as will be seen, 36 standard li-
brary buildings in as many of the major
camps, with one other (at Camp Mills) in
process.
It includes also a similar building at New-
port News which serves a group of neighbor-
ing camps, but also as an Overseas Dispatch
Office.
It includes also certain smaller structures
of special type for special local uses, of which
others also are in process — in some cases
portable buildings, costing from $1,000 to
$3,000 each.
But it includes also certain buildings not
owned by us but placed at our disposal — as
The House that Jack Built, at Newport, R. I.,
and the Chapel of the Base Hospital at Camp
Devens. And space assigned to our collection
and service in Camp Merritt, N. J., Camp
Humphries, Va., and in hundreds of Hospital,
Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., and other welfare
buildings.
It includes space so assigned for our Dis-
patch Work in the basements of the New
York Public Library and of the Widener Li-
brary at Harvard; and a loft lent to us for
Dispatch Work at 31 West 15th Street, New
York City. Our Dispatch Offices at Hoboken
and Brooklyn are in rented quarters which
cost moderately.
And the General Headquarters has through-
out been provided by the Library of
Congress.
A complete census of our physical estab-
lishment would, however, justly include the
space assigned to the receipt, preparation and
dispatch of gift material in thousands of
local libraries which from the outset have
116
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
dedicated such to our service. As justly also,
the list of the participants in our service
should include the names of those librarians
and the members of their staffs who have
heartily and zealously assisted them.
The Camp Buildings: Dimension. The
architect's plans provided for a building 120
feet in length but with the alternatives of
reducing this to 93 feet by the omission of
two of the bays or to 67 feet by the omission
of four of them. These alternatives took
account of the stipulation in the Carnegie
Grant that no individual building with its
equipment should cost over $10,000. Esti-
mates secured independently by the archi-
tect and the Office of Cantonment Construc-
tion indicated $6,700 as a probable cost of
the 120 foot building. The contracts for the
16 Cantonments, which alone the Committee
decided on at the outset, were all therefore
placed for buildings of the full length. But
conditions soon developed that raised doubts
as to the estimates: certain contractors de-
manded a higher commission than the 6 per
cent, specified; others required authority to
purchase materials locally instead of from
the mills; and in numerous camps wages had
advanced exorbitantly. These circumstances,
coupled with freight congestion and weather
conditions that enforced much idleness of
labor while carried on the rolls, caused us
serious uneasiness lest we exceed the limit
with which it was our first duty to comply.
A revised estimate was sought. It raised the
probable cost of the building alone to nearly
$9,000.
The only prudent course at the time legally
open was to cut down the length as the plans
had provided, wherever the state of construc-
tion permitted this course to be taken. It
did so in the case of only four of the Can-
tonment buildings — Custer, Devens, Lee and
Jackson. But it could be, and was, taken in
the case of all the National Guard Camps, as
the buildings for these had been postponed
in the doubt of their even relative perma-
nence. Of the four thus reduced, Devens has
since been reimbursed by an extension which
provides the equivalent of the two omitted
bays in a much more effective form.
At one camp — Lewis — there has even
been such an extension to the 120 foot build-
ing. It was possible there within the $10,000
limit. At Camp Lee, on the other hand, the
93 foot building alone cost to the limit. So
variant have been the conditions of construc-
tion — a variance, it may be noted, experi-
enced by the Government itself in its own
operations.
In the south generally, however, the 93
foot buildings have come well within the
limit, so that the aggregate saving upon them
will suffice to cover at least the additional
buildings at Johnston, Chickamauga and
Kelly Field, if, as has been assumed, the
Carnegie Corporation interposes no objection
to the application of it to these.
These three camps, with Camp Mills, just
revived, and Charleston fast enlarging in im-
portance, are but illustrative of major needs
that have developed since the original project
was framed and submitted. But besides
them there are pressed upon our attention
smaller posts which can make out a good
case for some sort of a building — if not
for reading uses, at least as a headquarters
and distributing center. Jefferson Barracks
is such a one. Mare Island another. There
will be numerous others — posts where the
service we would render cannot adequately be
provided through the Y. M. C. A. or other
welfare agencies or the Army or Navy Chap-
lains. Portable buildings in varying sizes
costing from $1,000 to $3,000 — or even
$4,000 — may reasonably answer. They can
be provided only from the General Fund;
and provision for them, and for the service
incidental to them, will be one of the needs
to be emphasized in connection with the next
Financial Campaign.
That, and the prospective needs overseas,
which will only temporarily be cared for by
the quarters just now lent to us.
Camp Buildings: Equipment. The Can-
tonment buildings (except Lewis) have shelv-
ing tables and desks supplied by the Library
Bureau and Windsor Chairs supplied by the
Wakefield Company. The other buildings
(except Sheridan, to which the equipment for
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
117
Lewis was diverted, and Great Lakes, which
received the Library Bureau eqmpment)
have shelving and delivery desks constructed
by the contractor, and tables and common
side chairs secured from local concerns. The
reason for the distinction was not mere econ-
omy; it was the inevitable delay for manu-
facture, and of long distance shipment during
the freight congestion. Some of the cheaper
stock secured in the South — tables and
chairs — has behaved ill. But this is true also
of some of the substantial and well-seasoned
stock supplied by the Library Bureau —
some of the tables especially being cracked
and warped — doubtless from exposure dur-
ing transit. As far as appearance is con-
cerned there is no equipment more attractive
and fitting either to the building itself or to
the nature of a military camp than that at
Lewis — all of which was secured locally and
cheaply.
Precise uniformity in either buildings or
equipment has not been sought. On the con-
trary, variances have been encouraged where
apparently essential to convenience or effi-
ciency. Two of the buildings — Kearny and
Logan — have porches; eight have open fire-
places. In the minor equipment of an ad-
ministrative sort we have discouraged any
beyond the minimum necessary to the pur-
pose; emphasizing that neither the elegance
nor the scientific completeness of technical
apparatus customary in a permanent munici-
pal library was warrantable in a military
training camp whose permanence was doubt-
ful.
Camp Buildings: Accommodations. Those
required are
1. Living qitarters for the staff. These suf-
fice and are appropriate in all the buildings.
2. Shelving for the resident collection.
This also suffices even in the 93-foot build-
ings: suffices, that is to say, for the number
of volumes (10,000 to 15,000) that should be
on the shelves at any one time.
3. Unpacking, storage and workroom. Ex-
cept as the latter is provided by the segrega-
tion of an alcove, is generally inadequate
even in the 120-foot buildings. A small rear
(" lean-to ") addition such as has already
been made at Gordon and Kearny, may have
to be provided generally — except where, as
is the case in some camps, space for unpack-
ing and storage is provided in the garage.
4. Accommodations for Readers. In certain
camps even the 93-foot building suffices at all
times. In some camps not even the 120-foot
building suffices at the times of heaviest use
(Saturdays and Sundays). The fact that it
does not is not in itself a warrant for ex-
tending the building — any more than it
would be in the case of a municipal library
It was certainly better at the start to have a
greater number of buildings fairly adequate
than to have fewer adequate in all respects
at every moment. Apart from the Carnegie
Grant every extension of our " plant " means
just so much less available for books and
service. The field to be covered is a vast one,
enlarging daily. The prime duty is to see
that no point is neglected. That assured,
whatever margin of resource remains can be
applied to further amplification and improve-
ment at particular points.
Dispatch Offices. The first — called an
Assembling Station — was that in the New
York Public Library in space provided by the
authorities there. For several months it was
in charge of Mr. Hodgson, lent by the New
York State Library. From December imtil
recently it was conducted by Mr. Vail of the
New York Public Library, who had assisted
Mr. Hodgson. Neither the space, nor any
practicable organization there, proved ade-
quate to the needs, especially of the handling
of the purchased books; and it is only since
April, when through the efforts of Mr. E. H.
Anderson, an entire floor of a business block
at 31 West 15th Street was placed at our
disposal — rent free — that we have been
able to place this essential business upon an
efficient basis. With Mr. Bailey, of Gary, in
charge, an appropriate staff, and a consider-
able stock of purchased books actually on
hand to meet requisitions, it seems likely to
ensure a prompt and adequate service.
118
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
BOOKS
Prior to October, 1917, the books sent into
the camps had been solely gift books, of
which several hundred thousand had been
secured.
The basis of a purchase list had been pre-
pared in a compilation of titles selected by a
Committee of New York librarians. It
comprised about 5,000 titles, of which over
one -half were fiction, and some were juvenile.
The prospect that not merely fiction but
the recreative literature generally, and many
of the standards, would be supplied by gift
— the uncertainty also (for proof was yet to
be had) as to the interest of the men in any
but recreative literature, induced caution in
our first actual purchases. Instead of 5,000
titles, our first purchase comprised but 500
titles, and these largely reference or technical
works. The theory of this selection was
promptly sustained by reports from the
camps. It was succeeded by a list of 300,
and that by one of 200 titles. The three
lists, with some subsequent miscellaneous
purchases, and selections for special uses
(Aviation Camps, Quartermasters' Camps,
etc.), were grouped into a Classed List, issued
in mimeograph form last February, which
represents fairly our general policy and
range of purchase.
Under the procedure already arranged or-
ders were placed directly with the publishers.
This was a condition of the large discount
(generally 50 per cent) accorded. The books
were to be invoiced direct to the Camps, with
duplicates of the invoice to Washington and
to Mr. Brown at the Brooklyn Library, who
placed the orders for us. The shipments were
to be by Quartermaster's freight.
The system, thoughtfully designed, was
frustrated by the conditions encountered:
the publishers were busy with the Christmas
trade (for which they supply in the autumn
months) and, with staffs depleted, found dif-
ficulty even in packing the material, and
more in preparing the multiple invoices re-
quired for the 32 camps and the two other
points; the Quartermaster was pressed with
Grovernment material; and the freight con-
gestion — especially critical in October and
November — delayed long the transit of the
books actually shipped. Payment had to
await the receipt of the shipment at the
Camp and the checking of the invoice by the
Camp Librarian. In all but the near-by
Camps it was delayed for weeks, and in the
more remote it was in many cases delayed
for months.
The conversion of the Assembling Station
at the New York Public Library into a Dis-
patch Office substituted a system under
which the books purchased were delivered to
it and the invoices cleared there. This left
still the problem of shipment, which with the
congestion in freight still continuing, could be
met only by the use of express and parcel
post, to both of which we have had recourse,
in spite of the added expense.
The number of volumes purchased to Jime
10th has reached a total of 411,505.
In addition some thousands of volumes
have been bought in England and France for
direct delivery to the service there.
A problem in purchase — that is, of dealing
with a demand that could be met only by
quantity purchases — is of text books.
Every Camp is not merely a place for drill,
it is also a place for study. And the study
includes numerous subjects outside of mili-
tary technique — subjects which are part of
the curriculum of a grammar or high school
or the first two years at least of college,
and, for some branches of the service, nu-
merous others also. At Camp Johnston, a
Camp for Quartermasters, no less than a
thousand in all. These, under governmental
requirement. In addition, the Y. M. C. A.
has at every large Camp imdertaken instruc-
tion in English, French and elementary
mathematics.
Neither the Government nor the Y. M. C.
A. furnishes — or furnishes adequately — the
text books required. And the appeal to ua
has been repeated that we furnish them from
our Fund. What this would mean in outlay
may be guessed from a request from one
point — New London — which is merely a
minor point; it was for 50 Trigonometries, 70
Algebras and 60 Geometries.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
119
Shall our Fund respond to an appeal of
this sort? It is hard to deny it categori-
cally. Yet any adequate response would have
depleted our Fund below the margin of safety
until another Campaign shall have replen-
ished it.
Thus far we have had to content ourselves
with a moderate supply of copies — ten to
twenty — ^associated with our main collection,
with the provision that at least one or two
of these should be reserved for reference use.
A further problem upon which also a defi-
nite line is difficult to draw is as to the sup-
ply from our Fund of booke desired by the
Y. M. C. A. as permanent apparatus of its
huts. At the outset the Committee supplied
twenty-one such books specifically requested,
at a cost to the Fund of about $6,000.
Others — especially further manuals of refer-
ence— might well be supplied; and, with
ampler resources, should be. It ought not to
be necessary for a soldier to walk several
miles to ascertain a fact in an atlas or ency-
clopedia.
Book Campaign. By the Spring, with our
buildings, and the overseas service in opera-
tion, a much larger number of gift books also
was needed than was supplied by the ordinary
solicitation and collection pursued during the
winter. And in April an intensive campaign
was undertaken to secure them. Under pro-
vision by the War Service Committee it was
conducted by Headquarters, an appropriation
of $25,000 being made to cover the expense
— chiefly of printing and publicity. As you
are aware it resulted in the immediate coUec-
ticHi of over 3,000,000 volumes; the major
percentage of them available material.
The selection among them, of what is really
appropriate and useful, requires a discrimi-
nation which cannot always be ensured by
definitions furnished. And it seems probable
that at certain centers of collection there will
have to be provided assembling and storage
spaces where the work of selection and dis-
patch may be conducted by regular attaches
of the Service under particular specifications
from Headquarters as to the particular needs
of the Camp to be served; needs which be-
come specialized as the collection grows.
The number of books on hand in the 41
main Camps as reported June 1, 1918, was
1,051,693.
The total number actually dispatched to all
points except overseas on June 15tl had
reached 2,100,000.
The collections in the main Camps vary
both in size and efficiency; and the effort to
readjust them must be a continuing one;
especially as the readjustment must take ac-
count of changes in the nature of the Camp
itself — i. e., of the type of training which
it provides.
Books for Overseas Service. Involving as
it does shipment by transports with sailings
irregular and unannounced, this could be pro-
vided for only by the establishment at the
Ports of Embarkation, of Dispatch Offices
with an ample supply of books and facilities
for sorting, casing and delivery. The first
such, under Mr. Asa Don Dickinson, was
opened at Hoboken last January. Its early
shipments were informal — sometimes con-
sisting of cases shipped in to cargo space
available at the last moment. Later it was
able to add definitely authorized cargo ship-
ments to the amount of 30 cargo tons a
month ; and also " Deck Cpllections " in the
custody of the Y. M. C. A. Transport Secre-
tary to be used on the voyage and recased at
the Port of Debarkation for service in France.
The second main Dispatch Office at Newport
News was initiated in March. It parallels
the practice at Hoboken, with a definite allot-
ment of 20 tons of cargo space per month.
Other Dispatch Offices reported necessary
have been provided for at New York, Brook-
lyn, Boston and Philadelphia; and still others
may have to be.
Including certain deliveries of thus far
about 20,000 volumes to the Red Cross for its
service abroad, the total of our shipments for
overseas service has now reached about
350,000 volumes. This is exclusive of the
thousands handed either to units departing
from the Camps or to the men individually.
MAGAZINES
An ample supply of current magazines for
our own buildings as well as for those of the
120
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Y. M. C. A. and other agencies was appar-
ently assured by the masses received and for-
warded by the Postal authorities under the
one cent mailing privilege. The supply
proved defective in these particulars: (1)
The distribution was uneven, certain Camps
receiving a surplusage, others none at all;
(2) the deliveries, while sufficiently prompt
for the interest of the magazines as litera-
ture, were not always prompt enough to meet
the call for them as information; and (3)
certain magazines, particularly the scientific
and technical, urgently desired by the officers
and men failed to be represented in the gifts.
The distribution has been from time to
time readjusted upon reports by us to the
Postal authorities; prompter delivery and, in-
cidentally a more efficient one, was sought by
our assumption at each Camp of the labor of
receiving, sorting and distributing the incom-
ing sacks of material; and subscriptions were
placed by us for a selected list of magazines
which would assure for our own buildings at
least one reference copy of those conveying
the latest summary of events, the information
— including that on military and technical
subjects — of most importance to the officers
and men — and at least a representation of
the periodicals embodying the most notable
literary expression of the period. A line was
difficult to draw. We drew it first at a brief
list — some thirty in all — exclusively for
our own building. Later we added certain
technical periodicals for the smaller posts.
The list should probably be enlarged; and the
supply — at any rate of the technical periodi-
cals — may have to be extended to the Y and
other welfare buildings. Such an extension
would involve a very heavy expense indeed.
If pursued into the Overseas Camps — as con-
sistently it should be, if adopted at all — it
would mean in the case of each periodical
over 1,500 subscriptions for the Y huts
alone. Even with the reduced rates accorded
by the publishers the cost could scarcely be
met out of our present fund; but the eager-
ness of the men, especially abroad, for this,
as against other forms of literature, should
certainly be recognized; and resource for rec-
ognizing it should be sought in the campaign
for additional funds.
In anticipation of it we have already initi-
ated the service by the supply (through sub-
scription) of a selected list of magazines and
newspapers to the naval bases abroad.
Newspapers. The eagerness extends to
newspapers; to the newspapers of the home
town and to the metropolitan dailies which
contain a fuller survey of events. Several of
the latter have been included among our sub-
scriptions for our own buildings. For the
former — local dailies — any attempt at a
comprehensive subscription was impractica-
ble. Appeals to the publishers have, however,
resulted in a considerable supply of them in
certain of the Camps. Each Camp Library is
also authorized to secure daily the issues of
one or more papers of the vicinity.
At least one metropolitan daily and, if pos-
sible, several geographically representative,
should be promptly available in our Camps
abroad. And as the other agencies are not
providing them, we should, when practicable,
do so. That undertaking also, if extending
to every hut, would mean for each newspaper
an outlay of probably $10,000.
The prestige of such service would not, of
course, accrue to us. It does not fully, even
in the case of the books supplied to the Y
and other agencies, notwithstanding that
these carry our bookplate. It would not at all
in the case of magazines and newspapers with
nothing upon them to credit them to our
Fund or effort. But it is not prestige for our
Association that must be our prime motive
in this service.
The number of " Burleson " magazines ac-
tually handled by our Camp Librarians to
date is estimated at 5,000,000. The labor
involved has been heavy; but the service
essential; for prior to it tons of the material
lay idle in the receiving warehouses, just as
other tons of it have lain idle at ports of
embarkation for lack of a similar service of
selection there; for the postmasters do not
perform it.
ORGANIZATION
The organization passed to me by the Com-
mittee last October consisted at Headquarters
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
121
of Mr. Utley, Secretary of the A. L. A., as
Executive Secretary, and Mr. Dudgeon aa
Camp Libraries Director ( Manager ) . They
were still without any office staff.
Some 12 librarians in the Camps comprised
the force in the field.
The creation of a Headquarters staff proved
singularly difficult. For certain of the over-
head work there were obviously desirable men
with actual experience in the Camps; and
these were yet to be developed. For the sub-
ordinate work the stenographers and clerks
required had to be sought against the compe-
tition of Government departments and com-
missions willing to pay almost any price for
even imperfect service. The competent supply
seemed for the moment exhausted. And it
was only after weeks of effort that a force
could be secured capable of handling the
routine.
In the earlier stages the struggle to deal
with the cvunulating mass of correspondence
and requisition, the necessity of withholding
action until questions of policy could be set-
tled, and the constant experience of action
frustrated — by delay in a factory, or con-
gestion in mail, express or freight — all this
involved — especially for Mr. Utley and Mr.
Dudgeon — a severe strain indeed. They
bore it with a temper thoroughly admirable,
for which the Service cannot be too grateful.
The vital matter of a financial and account-
ing system was fortunately provided for from
the start by the availability near at hand of
a competent expert as Disbursing Officer.
The development of the overhead personnel
has from time to time been reported in our
Bulletins. Mr. Utley has served as Executive
Secretary with only two recent breaks due to
his necessary absence from Washington,
when his place and duties with us have been
assumed by Mr. Strong. Mr. Dudgeon's ser-
vice as Camp Libraries Manager ceased with
the conclusion of his original leave from Mad-
ison, last December. The duties of that office
since then, though in part subdivided, have
fallen chiefly upon Mr. Wheeler, It is he
especially who has conducted the correspond-
ence with the Camps on matters of routine
and has supervised the selection of the pur-
chased books. He has served under the title
of an Assistant to the General Director. But
a like title — convenient and usual in Wash-
ington has also been assigned to several
others in especially responsible service at
Headquarters; to Mr. Milam, who more
nearly than any other single member of the
staff exercises the function of Assistant Di-
rector, and at times to Mr. Windsor, Miss
Rathbone and several others who have as-
sisted us for briefer periods in special phases
of the work. We are indebted indeed to the
institutions which have lent them — unusu-
ally indebted to YoungstoAvn, which has lent
Mr. Wheeler for in all some ten months of
service, and extraordinarily to Birmingham,
which has lent Mr. Milam for a period as
long and still to continue. There are others
who without particular title have rendered
valuable aid in special connections. And, of
late, among the overhead personnel, we have
been able to include Mr. M. G. Wyer, Mr.
Rush, Miss Rose, Miss Humble, Miss Dixon,
Miss Baldwin and Miss Gleason and several
others — Mr. Kerr, Mr. Compton, Miss Cur-
tis, Miss Carey — whose work will also be
partly in the field.
The Library of Congress has, of course,
contributed its quota, including Mr. Slade,
Chief of its Periodical Division, for practi-
cally continuous service in connection with
book selection, and recently Mr. Hastings in
connection with Order Work.
The Headquarters staff thus gradually de-
veloped has reached its present dimension of
44 persons. Even at this it is below, rather
than above, normal, for the work to be done.
For the work, as it developed, has required
both specialization, and an increasing elabo-
ration of system and records. Buildings,
Books (Solicitation, Selection, Purchase, Dis-
tribution ) , Supplies, Practice, Personnel,
Publicity are but some of the main subjects
to be dealt with; and, involved daily in each,
not merely operation, but decisions as to pol-
icy. I know no force in Washington harder
pressed with work or more closely devoted.
As at Headquarters, so in the field, a con-
siderable and valuable part of the service has
been rendered by volunteers, the Fimd as-
122
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Burning only their traveling expenses and sub-
sistence. This was consistent with our assur-
ance at Louisville and to the public that the
expert service required, or at least most of it,
would quite certainly be furnished in this way.
It has, in many a librarian of high compe-
tence— Mr. Jennings, Mr. Hadley, Mr.
Henry, Mr. Strohm, Mr. Yust, Mr. Bowerman,
Mr. Wright, and the many others whose
names appear in the list. And when we were
able to cite Mr. Brett among the number —
Mr. Brett, who, not content with the loan of
several members of his staff for service at
Camp Sherman — actually lent himself for
the organization and direction of the Dis-
patch Office at Newport News — when we
were able to cite Mr. Brett among the volun-
teers— we felt that the example was com-
plete — that not even in the municipal libra-
ries of first importance could the duty to the
home library suffice as a reason for declining
this one.
It is, however, the reason still given by
those of our principal librarians who have
not thus far personally been drawn into the
service. I emphasize this only to their credit.
For it disposes of the supposition that they
hesitate because of the meagerness of the pay.
In standardizing this at but $100 a month
for the Camp Librarian — $100 plus expenses
— we had regarded it rather as an honora-
riiun than as compensation. Even as such it
will probably be increased — it certainly
must be to such librarians as leave their regu-
lar posts for any long term of service with us
during which their home salaries are with-
held. But the actual experience thus far
shows few instances indeed where we have
failed to secure the man — or woman —
sought, merely because of the inadequacy of
the pay.
The proportion of the completely volunteer
to the (nominally) paid service at the Camps
has been at times as one to two. It has di-
minished as the organizers — who especially
composed the volunteers — have relinquished
the administration to the regular Camp
Librarians.
But in many cases — as of Sherman,
Dodge, Taylor, Devens — a camp library has
continued to have the benefit of volunteer
supervision by a neighboring librarian long
after its establishment.
For the permanent conduct of the Camp
libraries our policy would be to secure men
who can attach themselves to that work as a
major interest — superior for the moment to
that at home — and then to equalize, co-
ordinate and constantly revitalize the service
through a corps of visiting inspectors in
touch with Headquarters.
The need of co-ordination and of constant
communication with a central authority is
obvious if one considers that these major
Camp Libraries comprise over forty separate
establishments, requiring a policy in common
but each requiring also provision for condi-
tions peculiar to itself. The problem of them
as a whole is a novel problem; and the men
in charge of them, even where equal in abil-
ity, have had no preparation in common for
this particular work.
Each, on assvuning his task, has been fur-
nished with some general instructions; and
in the course of his work receives from time
to time circulars of information and instruc-
tion issued to the Camps as a whole. But he
finds it necessary also to submit numerous
inquiries as to the needs or problems peculiar
to his local situation. Where the Camp is not
too remote he may supplement these by an
occasional visit to Headquarters. On his way
to his post he generally visits at least one
other well-conducted Camp.
He needs in addition the stimulus — or
restraint — of an occasional visit by some
representative of Headquarters. This has in
a measure been furnished; and if it has not
yet been organized into a system, with defi-
nite periodicity, the reason is that the crea-
tion of a staff of visiting supervisors and
inspectors had to await the development of
librarians with an experience suitable to the
purpose; an experience both of a Camp and
of Headquarters. To dispatch to a Camp a
representative without it, would have been to
multiply misunderstanding, and to create ir-
ritation— all at considerable expense.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
123
One further device would doubtless tend to
encouragement, enterprise, and efficiency; an
occasional conference of the Librarians of
neighboring Camps. Two such have already
been held — one at Atlanta February 28th,
one at Waco on March 2l8t. The former was
presided over by Mr. Milam, the latter by
Mr. J. I. Wyer, Jr., not in his capacity as
Chairman of the Committee, but at my re-
quest as a special representative of Headquar-
ters. The obstacle to frequent ones is the
expense — even " neighboring " Camps being
in fact so distant from a common meeting
point. The benefit of general conference —
not merely to the Librarians, but to Head-
quarters — is, however, so clear, that we have
felt warranted in bringing to Saratoga — so
far as necessary at the expense of the Fund
(.though it has been necessary only in part)
— a sufficient number of the Camp Librarians
to constitute a representative body.
Regional Organization and Supervision.
There are districts where, in addition to, or
apart from, any large Camp, there is a con-
siderable group of smaller posts, with special
needs to be met requiring a local supervision
intermediate with Headquarters. Massachu-
setts represented such a district; and the
general responsibility for it — including the
administration of the Library at Camp
Devens itself — was assumed by the State
Library Commission — we furnishing the
standard resources in buildings, books and al-
lowance for service, the Commission applying
these and supplementing them as it saw fit;
an arrangement highly favorable to the ser-
vice. The New Jersey Commission has taken
especial solicitude for the smaller posts in
that State. Mr. Edgerton of New London has
looked after such posts in his vicinity; and
Mr. Ferguson, of Sacramento, has notably
taken concern and provided resources for
every post, large and small, in California.
Various other librarians have assumed su-
pervision over particular large camps in their
vicinity; as Mr. Anderson of Upton, Mr.
Roden of Grant.
The needs of our soldiers along the Mexican
Border, disclosed tardily, have now resulted
in a system — in fact in two systems — of
traveling libraries issuing from San Antonio,
and El Paso respectively. The former have
been in process of organization by Miss Long,
of Van Wert, Ohio, the latter by Miss McCol-
lough, of Evansville, Indiana. In each case
a local headquarters is provided by the local
Public Library.
Overseas Service. As you are aware an
investigation of the situation and opportimity
abroad was entrusted to Dr. M. L. Raney of
Johns Hopkins who started upon his mission
last January. He has returned and will him-
self tell you something of his observations
and experiences. Upon his recommendation
he was joined in Paris in April by Mr. Bur-
ton E. Stevenson, who, with Mrs. Stevenson,
have remained there to pursue the actual
work for which Dr. Raney initiated the rela-
tions. Dr. Raney continues his general direc-
tion of it from this side.
Personnel: The Supply. No one familiar
with the profession would say that the list of
men and women who have participated in the
service lacks in competence; and if numerous
names prominent in the profession fail to ap-
pear, it is not because they have not been
asked and indicated their inability, or are not
in view for participation hereafter.
The defect that does appear is a present
lack of Camp Librarians free to serve for
longer periods. The change from organizer to
Librarian is a necessary one; an occasional
change of librarians often serves to refresh
and invigorate the administration; but with
the system established, very frequent changes
in the personnel will be injurious. Note.
Note. It Is, of course, less so if the new-
comer, though not direct from another Camp,
has had experience in a similar post. With
such an experience he will bring new points of
view, as he will bring a fresh spirit and differ-
ent qualities of competence, probably desirable
and likely to improve and diversify the service.
It would offset the risk of inertia in administra-
tion which is a very serious risk indeed where
the Library is subject to the limitations of a
single individual during a long period. So cer-
tain is this that I believe either interchange, or
a rotation in the office, would promote effi-
ciency. The objection suggested — that it de-
prives the Library of the acquaintance gained
by the outgoing Librarian with the other
personnel of the Camp — both military and
civilian (welfare) — is a natural one. But it
overlooks the fact that this other personnel
also — particularly the military and the Y. M.
C. A. — is also constantly changing.
124
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
For the subordinate positions at the Camps
an adequate supply of competent persons is in
prospect. The increasing availability — per-
missibility— of women for service in the
Camps, helps to assure it. The time may
come — at certain Camps may come shortly
— when women may be designated to the
actual charge of the main library. As ap-
pears from the list of personnel they already
occupy positions of responsibility in every
phase of the service, and many of them are
already in charge of Camp Libraries — though
none as yet in charge of the main Camp
Library building.
The staffs at the Camps are imequal. They
will have to be equalized ; and probably all of
them enlarged. The work is not merely
severe, it is very protracted — begiiming at
nine — actually earlier — in the morning and
lasting until ten at night every day of the
week, including Sunday, which is in fact the
heaviest day. And it is not merely the work
within the building: it is an active and la-
borious work in the Camp at large.
FINANCE
A statement as to the Fimd as a whole is
of course submitted by the War Service Com-
mittee and appears in the audit submitted by
the A. L. A. Finance Committee as well as in
the War Finance Committee's " Story of the
Campaign." The financial statement [pre-
pared by the Disbursing Officer] appended to
my report embraces merely the funds placed
at my disposal through action of the War
Service Committee.
Like the general statement, it covers in
detail the period (about eight months) to
Jime 1, 1918, the date of audit.
It shows
Receipts of $902,449 27
Disbursements of 722,536 70
Balances, Jime 1, of 179,912 57
of which $52,329.10 wa» the balance of the
Carnegie Grant (all obligated), $5,000 is a
sinking fund for insurance, and $33,500 is
represented by advances, including those for
Overseas Service. Of the General Fund the
available balance to my credit June 1st was
$89,083.47. An additional credit ($75,000)
voted by the Committee on June 8th, and cer-
tain reports of advances enlarged this to
$169,783.47. Against this siun the expendi-
tures for June (General Fund) are likely to
have totaled at least $139,000; leaving a pres-
ent balance (General Fund), July 1, of say
$30,000.
An examination of the expenditure, as clas-
sified under the separate items of buildings,
equipment, books, supplies, freight, travel,
service and subsistence, emphasizes the very
large outlay necessary for upkeep and admin-
istration: outlay not merely for service, but
for supplies, travel, and transportation. Each
of these must still enlarge with the enlarge-
ment of the establishment and the expansion
of the work. Among supplies, for instance,
packing cases alone, for our Overseas ship-
ments, are costing us over $150 a day. The
sum — $41,000 — under General Equipment
is about one-half chargeable to the purchase
of automobiles. And we have not been able
to avoid the expenditure of some $10,000 for
building and building equipment not charge-
able to the Carnegie Grant.
At $85,000 for the eight months, the cost
of service and subsistence has averaged about
$10,000 per month. But the amount for May
was $19,000, and will, of course, increase,
even without any advance in the standards of
compensation.
It is to be observed, however, that the item
does include not merely salaries but subsist-
ence; subsistence of many a volimteer, as
well as that of most of the salaried force in
the field and a portion of the staff at Head-
quarters. About a third of the $85,000 is
chargeable to this accoimt, leaving less than
$60,000 as the outlay for salaries during the
eight months.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
125
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION WAR SERVICE FUND
Hebbebt Putnam, General Director
Financial statement showing total Receipts and Disbursements to May 31,
1918
Receipts
Credits transferred to this accoimt in Ameri-
can Security and Trust Co.:
Oct. 27
Oct. 27
Nov. 14
Nov. 30
Dec. 10
Jan. 1
Jan. 3
Feb. 28
General funds $391,998 23
Carnegie Grant 107,200 00
General funds 153,021 77
Carnegie Grant 100,500 00
Special donation 10,000 00
Interest on deposit. . . . 2,429 27
Book campaign fimd. . 25,000 00
Carnegie Grant 112,300 00
DiSBUBSEMENTS
October to May
Buildings, Carnegie Grant $230,753 59
Building equipment, Carnegie
Grant 36,917 31
Buildings, general funds 7,196 28
Building equipment, general
funds 2,846 36
Books 210,109 16
Binding 559 52
Book Campaign 24,566 72
Freight 8,042 17
General equipment 41,394 37
Great Lakes Station building
and equipment 10,000 00
Service and subsistence 85,201 49
Sundry 15,276 03
Supplies 36,586 76
Travel 13,086 94
Total expenditures $722,536 70
Funds in hands of Camp Libra-
rians and Overseas Agents . . . 33,500 00
Balance in American Security
and Trust Co.:
General funds 89,083 47
Carnegie Grant 52,329 10
Insurance fund 5,000 00
$902,449 27
$902,449 27
Respectfully submitted,
William L. Beown,
Disbursing OflBcer.
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION WAR SERVICE FUND
Hebbebt Putnam, General Director
Expenditures under Budget
The Budget, as granted in "the initial form in October, 1917, and from time to time
readjusted, together with the corresponding expenditures, is as follows:
Books,
Buildings and equipment
(Carnegie grant)
Granted: $320,000 00
including binding
and periodicals
$318,000 00
Service
$85,000 00
Bldgs. and equip.
Gen. funds .. $10,042 64
Miscellaneous
$142,020 00
Freight . . .
Gen. equip.
Sundry . .
Supplies . .
Travel . . .
8,042 17
41,394 37
15,276 03
36,586 76
13,086 94
Expended: 267,670 90 210,668 68
85,201 49
124,428 91
Balance $52,329 10 $107,331 32 —$201 49 $17,591 09
Note. — On June 8, 1918, an additional credit of $76,000 was voted without specifications.
William L. Bbown,
Disbursing Officer.
June 1, 1918.
126
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
ESTIMATED EXPENDITURES, JUNE 1-30, 1918
(General Fund)
Balance on hand June 1 ' $89,083 47
Receipts: .
Credit voted June 8 75,000 00
Advances refunded 5,700 00 ,
$169,783 47
Elxpenditures :
Already on! the books (June 20) .■..■.'.■. $75,574 00
To be made, say .'. 64,209 47
139,783 47
Estimated probable balance July 1, say $30,000 00
William L. Bbown,
Disbursing OflScer.
June 20, 1918.
CAMP PRACTICE: UNIFORMITIES
An association which, after two generations
of the study and discussion of library prac-
tice, proffered its professional experience as
applicable to this work would be expected to
apply it in a service definitely standardized
and completely uniform. Had it attempted
this at the outset it would have shown blind-
ness to a condition which it was even more
particularly its duty to regard. (1) That
the problem was a new one; and (2) that it
included variances in the needs and the con-
ditions special to localities and to the rela-
tions involved. A practice necessary in one
camp might be superfluous in another; one
permissible in one camp might even — owing
perhaps to the attitude of the military au-
thorities— be prohibited in another. To im-
pose at once an identical practice, a precise
uniformity, might have defeated many an
opportunity. It would have created antagon-
isms. And it would have prevented us from
a repute still more valuable — that of ability
to adapt our methods to the situation and
the needs to be served.
Instead, we chose to experiment: prescrib-
ing upon theory as little as possible and
developing a practice only as experience
proved it practicable and desirable. The re-
sult has been at times considerable variations
of detail, some of which still exist. They
extend, as you see, even to the uniforms of
our staff — which are not fully uniform.
[They are not, because even with original
specifications supposed to be authoritative
they have been modified by military prescrip-
tion at certain of the camps.]
But the practice is now gradually converg-
ing; and the Camp Library Handbook, which,
after the discussions of our camp librarians
here, will be printed, will exhibit a consider-
able body of fairly standardized procedure.
CAMP LIBRARIES: STATISTICS OF USE
Exact or comprehensive ones are imprac-
ticable. The reference use is direct and un-
recorded. The issue for outside use is re-
corded at the Main Library, but only im-
perfectly at the huts, and not at all in con-
nection with the " traveling " collections.
Statistics of circulation reported by the
camps in April proved quite imreliable as a
basis of comparison.
Other Statistics, e. g., of the number of
volumes available and of the number of out-
lying branches and stations are of course
possible for a given date; and a table em-
bracing them appears in Bulletin 7. They
are, however, subject to such variations, even
from day to day, that they also are unsafe
indication of the situation or of the com-
parative resources at any later date.
Statistics of Expenditures, kept at head-
quarters for each camp, are intelligible only
with explanation of the difference of period
and variance in conditions. The latter affects
especially the cost of service, some camps
having the benefit of far more volunteer or
" lent " service than others. The service at
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
l?T
Devens, for instance, is supplemented by the
State Commission; that at Johnston is sub-
atantially furnished by the Jacksonville
Public Library.
PUBLICITY
During the first three months we were
closely engaged with practical problems.
There would have been little profit in ex-
ploiting these. Beginning with January,
however, systematic publicity was both pos-
sible and desirable. It was imdertaken
through publications (Bulletins beginning
with No. 4) of our own, and press matter
supplied currently to newspapers and maga-
zines. As an aid to the latter we had
the (part time) service for several months
of a trained newspaper correspondent in
favorable relations with the other correspon-
dents at the Capital. We had also the expert
counsel for a week of Mr. John K. Allen of
Boston. This was the only professional aid
employed, either in the regular course or in
connection with the book campaign; and its
total cost to us was less than twelve hundred
dollars. The other efforts were solely those
of our regular headquarters staff.
There has been no outlay whatever for paid
advertisement.
The publicity matter for the book cam-
paign was supplied directly from headquar-
ters; and the printing and distribution of it
constituted the main expense of the campaign.
IN GENERAL
Our Association began this work without
financial resources. When (after the finan-
cial campaign) resources became available,
conditions had developed unfavorable either
to considerate organization or to prompt,
smooth and effective action. The first three
months were embarrassed by them.
Order gradually emerged, an organization
was effected, policies were determined, and
action developed to its present dimension.
The development has been by experiment
and evolution. It has been so especially for
two reasons:
1. The problem was a novel one.
2. The fund was a trust fund. It was vital
to the work, to the repute of the Association,
and to the success of further appeals to the
public — that the foundations should be
sound, and the beginnings of expenditure
careful, even to the point of frugality.
The present situation is different. The
novel elements in the problem have become
familiar; policies have been determined; and
an establishment, organization, system and
service have been developed, recognized as
appropriate to the task. Each has imperfec-
tions: establishment, organization, system
and service will require remedy as well as
amplification. But the application of the
remedies is now a relatively simple problem
in administration; and the amplification is
proceeding as rapidly as possible under the
existing resources.
Herbbbt Putnam,
General Director.
Saratoga, N. Y., July 2, 1918.
128 SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Exhibits Appended
A. Gift Books Sent Out through June 15.
B. Purchased Books Sent Out through Jime 10th.
O. Statistics of Camp Library System and Collections for the 41 Major Camps to June Ist.
D, Personnel : Summary.
A
Oift Books Sent to Camps, Stations, Vessels and Overseas through June 15th
Books Sent
41 large military camps and naval stations (including books received and en
route) 1,317,304
237 small military camps (47 of these are Aviation camps, including schools and
repair depots. There have been shipped to these points more than 60,000
gift books) 244,784
116 small naval stations 135,480
17 marine stations 21,183
116 vessels 32,029
91 hospitals 29,503
6 dispatch offices have shipped overseas (this includes approximately 80,000
purchased books) 285,306
Total 2,065,589
Books reported collected by the libraries of the country 3,896,054
Note. — These figures are only those reported to Headquarters. Thousands of books have
been collected and distributed by libraries to nearby military, naval and marine camps and
stations of which no record has been sent to Headquarters.
B
Pwchased Books Sent to Camps, Statio7is, Vessels and Overseas through June 10th
Books Sent
*41 large military camps and naval stations 234,255
113 small military camps (47 of these are Aviation camps, including schools and
repair depots ) 45,477
63 small naval stations 6,623
13 marine stations 2,298
27 vessels 1,760
*14 hospitals 1,266
t6 dispatch offices have received for shipment overseas 92,987
Balance in New York stock 26,940
Total 411,505
* Figures for large camps include books purchased for base hospitals located at these
camps ; figures for other hospitals given separately. In some cases purchased books have been
used by camp librarians in smaller camps and stations over which they have supervision.
t Figures for one dispatch office, Newport News, include some purchases for small camps
and stations in the vicinity of Newport News as well as those purchased for overseas.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
129
Statistics of Camp Library System ond Collections for the 41 Major Camps to June lat
Camp and State
Beauregard, La
Bowie, Texas
Chickamauga Park, Ga. (Ft. Oglethorpe)
Cody, N. Mex
Custer, Mich
Devena, Mass
Dix, N. J
Dodge, la
Doniphan, Okla
Fremont, Calif
Funaton, Kans
Gordon, Ga
Grant, 111
Greene, N. C
Hancock, Ga
Humphreya, Va
Jackaon, S. C
Jefferaon Barracks, Mo
Johnston, Fla
Kearny, Calif
Kelly Field, Tex
Lee, Va
Lewis, Wash
Logan, Tex
MacArthur, Tex
McClellan, Ala
Meade, Md
Merritt, N. J
Mills, N. Y
Pelham Bay, N. Y
Perry, 111. ( Great Lakes)
Pike, Ark
Sevier, S. C
Shelby, Miss
Sheridan, Ala
Sherman, Ohio
Taylor, Ky
Travis, Texaa
Upton, N. Y
Wadsworth, S. C
Wheeler, Ga
BraJiches Stations
9
19
16
21
12
10
16
13
14
36
21
17
11
10
12
2
10
1
11
11
14
18
8
12
10
16
5
9
11
15
9
18
11
16
20
22
19
9
11
0
1
3
7
20
0
80
61
7
24
63
5
35
4
0
0
7
11
7
12
25
97
9
65
1
56
1
2
20
17
4
3
10
16
59
25
5
36
Books in
Camp
14,000
40,439
26,604
25,800
15,055
20,000
40,561
39,559
26,000
37,803
35,300
35,000
40,000
26,376
20,000
1,650
20,600
2,000
12,272
29,087
14,911
32,275
48,550
22,770
23,883
28,095
22,795
26,138
7,900
3,900
16,336
27,000
16,173
30,000
28,743
32,712
28,000
26,243
50,170
27,130
29,863
Books
purchased
Nov.-June
5,008
5,981
4,937
6,181
7,066
6,766
6,060
5,428
5,498
5,393
6,935
8,031
5,826
5,637
5,505
3,811
5,650
446
7,258
5,535
5,335
5,903
6,290
5,046
6,651
5,744
6,264
8,987
3,023
261
6,388
2,701
5,525
5,073
6,209
6,077
5,742
6,157
7,820
6,964
6,144
525
798
1,051,693
234,255
130
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Personnel: Summary
On October 4, 1917, there were at Head-
quarters 3 men doing administrative work,
and no clerical assistance. In the field there
were 12 camp librarians and assistants.
On January 1, 1918, there were 7 persons
doing administrative work and 10 doing
clerical work at Headquarters. There were
62 camp librarians and assistants in 33
camps; 1 stgent and 2 assistants in 1 dis-
patch office.
On June 20, 1918, there were 12 persons
doing administrative work and 34 doing
clerical work at Headquarters; 145 camp li-
brarians, assistants and organizers in 45
camps; 6 agents and 17 assistants in 6 dis-
patch oflSces; 24 librarians in hospital ser-
vice; 6 field representatives; 2 representa-
tives overseas; and scores of librarians repre-
senting Library War Service more or less
oflBcially at the camps in their vicinity.
Some of these people have been volunteers.
Scores of them have been lent by their libra-
ries with no expense to the Library War
Service, except for traveling and subsistence.
Others have been paid salaries and expenses.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
131
APPENDIX A
MINUTES OF MEETINGS OF THE WAR
SERVICE COMMITTEE, LOUISVILLE,
Friday, June 22, 2 P. M.
Met at luncheon. Present: Messrs, Bost-
wick, Dudgeon, Wyer, Miss Countryman; on
invitation, President Walter L. Brown, Her-
bert Putnam and William Orr, representing
the Y. M. C. A.
After discussion of respective plans of the
A. L. A. and the Y. M. C. A. and the possi-
bilities for effective cooperation, Committee
adjourned to meet on the following day.
Saturday, June 23
Committee met at 9 a. m. in the Seelbach
Hotel. Present: Messrs. Dudgeon, Bostwick,
Hill, Wyer, Miss Countryman; and by invita-
tion, Messrs. Montgomery, Putnam.
Voted, That the body of the report of the
Preliminary Committee be printed at once
for distribution before the adjournment of
the Conference.
After discussion, the following sub-commit-
tees and chairmen were appointed, each
chairman with power to add working mem-
bers to his committee and report such addi-
tions to the chairman of the general com-
mittee. (For personnel of various sub-
committees appointed at different sessions at
Louisville, see pages 7-8.)
The chairmen present were asked to for-
mulate definitions of the work of their re-
■pective committees and to submit these for
discussion at the next meeting.
Messrs. C. H. Compton and J. L. Wheeler,
a sub-committee of the Association's Com-
mittee on Publicity, offered its services im-
mediately and to any extent desired in the
preparation of book lists or in any other
possible manner.
The Committee on War Plans of the
Special Libraries Association (R. H. John-
ston, C. C. Williamson, D. N. Handy) sent a
commiinication expressing its readiness to co-
operate as auxiliary to the A. L. A. Com-
mittee, as a formal sub-committee or in any
way in which it might be of use.
It was voted to accept these two oflferi
and express the hope that these committees
will work with the A. L. A. Committee, con-
sult with its chairman and keep him in-
formed as to their plans and activities.
Moved by Mr. Hill and Voted, that Mr.
Herbert Putnam and Mr. R. R. Bowker,
members of the Preliminary War Plans Com-
mittee, shall have notice of all meetings of
the General Committee and be asked to at-
tend all meetings of its Sub-committee on
Camp Libraries.
Upon invitation, Mr. Putnam made a
statement outlining the work done to date,
its present status, and the work of first im-
portance now claiming the attention of this
committee in the matter of the establishment
of camp libraries.
A communication from C. H. Milam pro-
posing a Library Publicity Week was read to
the committee and action deferred that its
members might have further time for con-
sideration.
Adjourned.
Sunday, June 24
Committee met at 9 a.m. Present: Messrs.
Hill, Bostwick, Dudgeon, Wyer, Misses Coim-
tryman and Doren; and on invitation. Presi-
dent Montgomery.
Definitions for work of the several sub-
committees were discussed and from the re-
sulting data and opinions the chairman was
authorized to formulate tentative definitions
in organization bulletin to be issued later.
(See Bulletin 1.)
A communication was received from Mr.
John A. Lowe on behalf of the Massachusetts
Free Public Library Commission describing
the work already under way in that State.
It was referred to the Committee on State
Agencies.
Buildings. At this point Mr. Hill laid be-
fore the committee an offer from Mr. Edward
1S2
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
L. Tilton of his services to the Association
in the preparation of plans, specifications and
estimates for the buildings proposed on the
various cantonments and camp grounds
throughout the country. The offer was ac-
cepted with expression of keen appreciation
and Mr. Tilton was invited to meet with the
committee.
After conference and discussion the follow-
ing points were tentatively fixed subject to
such further revision and determination as
Mr. Tilton might find it desirable to make.
Building to be 40 x 120 — interior to be
treated as a typical library plan and fin-
ished as one room, save for such partitions
as might be formed by double-faced book
shelves — to contain two sleeping apart-
ments— to provide, through alcove shelving,
for two or three semi-private study rooms
in addition to facilities for books and read-
ers in the main room — expected to be at
least 10,000 volumes — provision to be made
for map display, ample bulletin board space
both inside and outside the building — fur-
nishing to provide for large use of news-
papers and periodicals — chairs rather than
tables to be preferred in furniture, to the end
that largest possible number of readers may
be accommodated — window-seats to provide
for as many additional readers as possible..
In view of the fact that there seem likely
to be thirty or more major training camps
in the country, at each of which a library of
10,000 new books seems necessary for the
most effective service, the sense of the com-
mittee was recorded that the sum of not
less than $250,000 should be made available
for their purchase.
The matter of a Library War Week, post-
poned from previous meeting, was again
brought up for consideration and the chair-
man was requested to ask Mr. Milam, rep-
resenting the group promoting the enterprise,
to appear before the committee at its meet-
ing Monday morning.
Adjourned.
Monday, June 25, 9 a. m.
Present: Messrs. Dudgeon, Bostwick, Hill,
Wyer, Misses Countryman and Doren; and
by invitation, President Montgomery.
Mr. Hill, for the Finance Committee, re-
ported formation of a Dollar a Month Club
among the members of the Association, and
his committee was authorized to prepare sub-
scription cards for distribution at the next
general session of the Association. He re-
ported the addition to the Finance Committee
of Messrs. W. H. Brett, George W. Cole and
Edward L. Tilton. On request of Chairman
Hill the Finance Committee was authorized
to employ as treasurer a trust company,
name not designated — this to relieve the
chairman of the details of bookkeeping and
accounts.
Chairman Hill requested the chairman of
each committee to forward budget figure*
to the Finance Committee covering proposed
expenditures, and on this head it was voted
by the full committee that no expenditure*
be made except on specific authorization of
the chairman of the General Committee or
of the Finance Committee.
At this point Mr. Tilton conferred further
with the committee as to plans for the camp
library buildings, particularly as to heating,
plumbing, lighting, standardization of plani
and material construction.
Mr. C. H. Milam appeared before the com-
mittee in the interest of a Library War
Week, and after his presentation it was
moved by Mr. Dudgeon that a sub-committee
of five on War Library Week be appointed
to consist of Mr. Milam, chairman, Messrs.
L. J. Bailey, Rush, Josselyn and J. L.
Wheeler. Amended by Mr. Hill that the
matter be referred to the Publicity Commit-
tee with authority to appoint such a com-
mittee as indicated in Mr. Dudgeon's motion
to carry out the plan. The amended motion
prevailed. Mr. Bostwick at once annoimced
the appointment of the committee.
Voted, That the General Committee hereby
recommends to the Finance Committee pro-
vision in the first budget for a general man-
ager of camp libraries at such salary and
traveling expenses as may be required.
Adjourned.
Attest :
J. I. Wyeb, Je.,
Chairman.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
133
Hotel Powhatan, Washington, D. C,
August 14, 1917.
Present: Messrs. Hill, Dudgeon, Anderson,
Wyer, Miss Doren; and by invitation, Presi-
dent Montgomery and Secretary Utley of the
American Library Association.
Canada. Communications were presented
from members of the Association suggesting
possibility of effective cooperation with
Canadian libraries in supplying books to
soldiers. The chairman presented letters
from Canadian libraries most active in this
work indicating that it was already well
organized in Canada on effective lines and
that probably there was little opportunity,
if any, for close cooperation.
Bibliography of Military Medicine. Clement
W. Andrews proposed on behalf of the John
Crerar Library the printing of a list of books
on medicine and surgery of war, one of the
chief uses of which should be a basis for
interlibrary" loans during the period of the
present war. On motion the committee
heartily approved the publication and ex-
pressed the hope that it would shortly be
available.
Book Collection Cities. The chairman pre-
sented the following list of twelve libraries
designated by the Camp Libraries Committee
as collection centers for books collected by
the 6,000 libraries of the country, the plan
being to ship from specified zones to each
of these libraries for trans-shipment to camps
on instructions from the manager of camp
libraries :
Atlanta — Carnegie Library.
Boston — Public Library.
Chicago — Public Library.
Cleveland — Public Library.
Denver — Public Library.
Kansas City — Public Library.
Los Angeles — Public Library.
New York — Public Library.
Portland — Library Association.
Philadelphia — Free Library.
St. Louis — Public Library.
Washington — Library of Congress.
Camp Libraries Manager. Report from
Camp Libraries Committee indicated a need
for a manager of camp libraries who should
give full time to the work, as soon as such
service could be arranged. On motion, duly
seconded and carried, the chairman of the
committee was authorized to make such ar-
rangements as would accomplish this with
Mr. Matthew S. Dudgeon of Wisconsin, if he
is able to proceure his release from the Free
Library Commission of Wisconsin.
Adjourned.
Attest :
J. I. Wyeb, Jb.,
Chairman.
New York City, August 28, 1917.
Present, at Room 207 in the New York
Public Library, at five o'clock, the Chairman
and Messrs. Anderson, Dudgeon and Hill.
The chairman of the Camp Libraries Com-
mittee reported that, following action and
authority of the full committee at its meet-
ing in Washington on August 14, M. S. Dud-
geon, after having been released by the Wis-
consin Free Library Commission, had been
appointed Manager of Camp Libraries from
August 27 at a salary of four thousand dol-
lars ($4,000) per annum, for such term as
he may continue in this work and position.
This was then duly ratified by vote of com-
mittee.
The chairman of the Camp Libraries Com-
mittee (Mr. Anderson) offered his resigna-
tion. This was formally accepted, and, on
motion duly seconded and carried, Mr. Dud-
geon was named for the post.
By unanimous vote of those present, Geo.
B. Utley was designated executive secretary
of the committee.
Adjourned.
Attest :
J. I. Wteb, Jb.,
Chairman.
Washington, D. C, October 3, 1917.
At a meeting of the War Service Commit-
tee of the American Library Association, at
twelve o'clock noon, the following members,
a quorum of the whole, were present: E. H.
Anderson, M. S. Dudgeon, F. P. Hill, J. I.
Wyer, Jr., G. B. Utley, Executive Secretary,
134
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
and, by invitation, E. L. Tilton, architect of
the committee.
Furniture. Mr. Tilton laid before the com-
mittee the following letter:
LiBEABY BUBEATT,
New York, September 28, 1917.
Re : A. L. A. Libraries for Army Cantonments
Mr. E. L. Tilton, Architect, 52 Vanderbilt
Avenue, New York City.
Dear Sir:
Referring to our estimate of September
25th, we have been directed by Dr. F. P. Hill
to send an itemization of the price quoted in
said letter.
7037 — 39 3' double-faced sec-
tions, unit wood book
shelving, 7 shelves
high $526 00
23130 — 1 30 tray card catalog
case, equipped with
screw front rods, to be
inserted in one section
of the imit shelving . . 55 00
7601 — 1 book truck with 4
3" diameter wheels. . . 22 00
741-3 — 1 charging and delivery
desk 340 00
1 attendant's desk, 27"
X 40" 18 00
1 librarian's desk, 32"
X 50" 25 00
7100 — 1 table for librarian's
office, 2%'x4' 16 00
7100 — 11 reading tables, 3'x5'
X 31%" high 198 00
Total, f . o. b. factory for each
library $1,200 00
The book shelving will be made on the
same principle as our unit wood book shelv-
ing, which is bolted together, being very
simple to erect or change. There will be no
moldings or paneling. The front edge of the
shelves will be made without beading. The
table tops and coimter tops will be made of
solid straight oak.
All material would be shipped carefully
crated, and prepared for erection by ordinary
carpenters; simple setting plans and direc-
tions will be furnished by us.
Our estimate above does not include the
trucking from destination freight station to
the libraries, as data of cost covering this
is not available.
Yours very truly,
LIBRARY BUREAU,
H. R. Datz.
After discussion, it was Voted, that the
Committee, through its Executive Secretary,
contract with the Library Bureau for sixteen
pieces of each of the following items of fur-
niture for camp library buildings, viz.:
The first, third (amended as 2 trucks in-
stead of 1), fourth (price $240 instead of
$340), fifth, sixth and eighth of the items
noted in the above letter at a total cost for
each camp of $1,051.
Mr. H. R. Datz, present and representing
the Library Bureau, agreed to specifications
expressed in the above letter and promised
shipment in six weeks from date. These as-
surances were adopted as part of the contract.
Acting for Hayward Brothers, Mr. Datz
submitted specifications and sample of an
oak arm chair. It was Voted that the Com-
mittee, through its Executive Secretary, con-
tract for 3,200 such chairs at not to exceed
$3 each, crated and f. o. b. factory, with the
imderstanding that the order will be shipped
in six weeks from date and that, if necessary,
it may be divided among several factories,
provided there be no deterioration in material
or workmanship.
After recess until two o'clock, the same
members met with Herbert Putnam and
Charles Belden also present.
Minutes of meetings of August 14 and 28
were submitted, and, on motion, they were
approved without reading.
Reports were received and accepted from
the sub-committees on Camp Libraries, Food
Information and Finance (the latter sub-
mitted following its separate session in the
preceding forenoon ) .
The Committee on War Library Manual
submitted as its report the three numbers of
the War Library Bulletin.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
135
Library War Fund. The substance of the
report of the Sub-committee on Finance was
that the campaign for a Million-dollar Li-
brary War Fund is a success. That nearly
$1,000,000 in subscriptions are already re-
ported, with ten States to be heard from and
new subscriptions from all States reported
daily. Discussion developed the unanimous
opinion of the Committee that this million
dollar fund, having been procured for the
specific and widely advertised purpose of
books for soldiers, could be used only for
such of the Committee's work as clearly falls
under that caption. The discussion expressly
negatived the propriety or good faith of di-
verting any part of the Library War Fund
to the use of the sub-committee on Publicity
(for Library War Service Week) and Food
Information.
Voted, That the Chairman be authorized
to employ such clerical and stenographic as-
sistance as in his judgment may be necessary
at Albany.
Committee took further recess till 11 a. m.
on the following day.
Convening after recess at 11 a. m., October
4, 1917, the following members, a quorum of
the whole, were present: E. H. Anderson,
M. S. Dudgeon, F. P. Hill, J. I. Wyer, Jr.,
and G. B. Utley, Executive Secretary. There
were also present by invitation Charles Bel-
den, E. L, Tilton and, through part of the
session, Herbert Putnam.
Library Service to the Troops. Upon con-
sideration of the situation and the prospect,
the need being apparent for the concentra-
tion in a single executive of certain of the
duties entrusted to this Committee, it waa
Voted, That Herbert Putnam, Librarian of
Congress, hereinafter referred to as the Gen-
eral Director, be requested to take over the
direction and conduct of the work of supply-
ing reading matter to the military and naval
forces of the United States, entrusted to this
Committee by the general resolution of the
Association at Louisville, Jime 22, 1917, by
the invitation of the Commission on Training
Camp Activities June 28, 1917, and by the
votes of the Executive Board adopted August
14, 1917.
Voted, That for this purpose he is author-
ized,
1. To select and appoint, or otherwise em-
ploy, such persons as in his judgment may be
necessary in connection with this service, to
define their duties, to fix their compensation
and to discontinue their employment within
his discretion. This authority extends to the
persons now under employment, whether paid
or volunteer. Among his staff he shall ap-
point an officer to be known as the Disburs-
ing Officer, and another officer, known as the
Executive Secretary.
2. To determine finally the design and
equipment of the buildings proposed, if neces-
sary, modifying the provisional plans as cir-
ciunstances may seem to require; and to
arrange for others, if required, subject in
both cases to the limit of the grant by the
Carnegie Corporation for such purposes;
3. To contract for the erection and equip-
ment of such buildings;
4. To determine finally the list of books
to be purchased, and to contract for their
purchase within the funds available, and as-
sign those acquired to their appropriate loca-
tion and service;
5. To accept or reject other reading matter
offered as gift, and similarly apply that
accepted ;
6. To contract for and purchase necessary
supplies ;
7. To make all other contracts in his judg-
ment necessary to the service, including the
lease of such premises as may be necessary
for administrative uses;
8. To enter into such other obligations as
may involve expenditures from the funds
committed to the Association for the general
purpose stated;
9. To determine with the Commission on
Training Camp Activities the other agencies
of the War Department involved, and also
with the Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A., the
Knights of Coliunbus, and other such non-
official agencies, the reciprocal relations which
may promote efficiency in this field of service;
10. And in general to carry into effect the
136
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
purposes for which this Committee was cre-
ated so far as they concern the supply of
reading matter to American soldiers and
sailors, exercising in its behalf the authority
confided to it by the votes of the" Association
and of the Executive Board recited above.
11. That from the funds available for these
purposes (after all expenses of the Library
War Fund Campaign have been settled) and
including any funds hereafter received, the
General Director shall prepare a budget to
be submitted to the War Service Committee
on October 15 of each year. This budget may
be amended by the War Service Committee,
and when finally approved by this Commit-
tee, shall be at the disposal of the General
Director for the purposes related above.
All contracts and advances made and all
bills incurred in this work shall be approved
first by the head of the department in which
the charge originates, second, by the Execu-
tive Secretary, and finally by the General
Director. They shall then be passed to the
Disbursing Officer for payment. All checks
shall be signed by the Disbursing Officer and
countersigned by the Executive Secretary or
the General Director. The Disbursing Officer
shall be bonded in the sum of $25,000, the
premiums for which shall be chargeable to
the funds of the Committee (provided, how-
ever, that the present method of approving
vouchers shall be continued until subscrip-
tions to the Library War Fund reach the
sum of $1,000,000 plus necessary campaign
expenses).
The American Security and Trust Com-
pany of Washington is approved and con-
tinued as the Washington depository of the
funds of the War Service Committee. Other
depositories may be designated by the Finance
Committee of the American Library Associa-
tion for such parts of the funds as it may be
deemed expedient or advantageous to place
elsewhere.
The General Director shall submit to the
chairman of the War Service Conmiittee a
monthly statement of expenditures and bal-
ances touching the several items in the budget
and the books, accoimts and vouchers shall
b« open to the chairman of the Finance Com-
mittee of the American Library Association
for quarterly audit.
Voted, That as the foregoing action involves
the fundamental control and direction of the
work in this field, it be submitted for the
ratification of the Executive Board, notwith-
standing the apparent completeness of the
authority vested in this Committee by the
votes of the Board on August 14, 1917.
Mr. Dudgeon offered his resignation as
chairman of the Sub-committee on Camp
Libraries. Voted, That the resignation be
accepted and Mr. Wyer be appointed to the
vacant chairmanship.
It was also Voted, That this Committee ap-
proves the plans submitted to it at this time
by its architect for sixteen library buildings
at cantonments, excepting, however, such
building as may be notified to the office on
Cantonment Construction by the manager of
camp libraries.
It was Voted, That the office of Cantonment
Construction be asked to arrange immediately
for the erection of the buildings according to
the following paragraph, appearing in letter
of Col. Littell (per Major L. L. Calvert),
dated October 4, 1917:
" This office estimates the cost of the pro-
posed library buildings at the National Army
Cantonments, according to your sketch plans,
to be the sum of $6,700, including plumbing,
heating stoves, electric wiring and fixtures."
Further Voted, That such part of the svun
granted by the Carnegie Corporation for
these purposes (not exceeding the allowance
of $10.,000 for each building), or so much of
it as may be necessary, is hereby set apart
and designated for the construction of these
buildings.
Voted further. That in behalf of this Com-
mittee the Librarian of Congress is especially
authorized to make all necessary contracts
in pursuance of the above arrangements, this
being in anticipation of his authority so to
contract and obligate the American Library
Association as General Director of this ser-
vice, according to other votes of this Com-
mittee adopted today. He is also authorized
to approve and sign other contracts for the
equipment and furnishing of such buildings.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
137
In view of the necessity of meeting the
conditions attached to the grant of the Car-
negie Corporation, the chairman of the War
Service Committee is asked to report to the
secretary of the Carnegie Corporation:
( 1 ) Amount of total subscriptions to Li-
brary War Fund, except the gift of the Car-
negie Corporation;
(2) Amount of cash in hand arising from
these subscriptions and, further, from time to
time to revise this statement in order to re-
lease portions of the grant needed to continue
construction of buildings.
Committee then adjourned.
Attest :
J. I. Wyeb, Jr.,
Chairman.
New York Public Library — 3 p. m., Thurs-
day, October 18, 1917.
Present: J. I. Wyer, Jr. (presiding), E. H.
Anderson, Frank P. Hill, and M. S. Dudgeon,
a quorum; also Herbert Putnam, Librarian of
Congress, and George B. Utley, Executive
Secretary.
The minutes of the meetings of October 3
and 4 were read and approved.
Mr. Putnam presented a report of the ac-
tion taken by him under the special vote of
October 4, 1917, with reference to library
buildings at the cantonments, and it was
Voted, That this action is approved, and
that the Secretary transmit to the Carnegie
Corporation a copy of Mr. Putnam's report
and this approval.
The Secretary, Mr. Utley, being also Sec-
retary of the Executive Board, having re-
ported the ratification by the Board of the
votes of this committee October 4, 1917, re-
questing Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Con-
gress, to take over the direction and conduct
of the work of supplying reading matter to
the military and naval forces of the United
States, and granting him certain authority
for that purpose;
And Mr. Putnam having signified in writ-
ing his acceptance of the service.
The Chairman of the War Finance Com-
mittee stated the total of subscriptions re-
ported to date for the supply of reading
matter to the military and naval forces, also
the amount of the campaign expenses actu-
ally paid to date and an estimate of other
obligations on this account still outstanding,
It appearing from the said statements that
the subscriptions to date exceed a million
dollars by an amoimt amply sufiicient to
meet all the expenses paid and to be paid, it
was
Voted, That from the funds on deposit
with the American Security and Trust Com-
pany of Washington, D. C, there be trans-
ferred to the People's Trust Company of
Brooklyn, New York, the sum of $70,000 to
be applied under the existing system of ex-
penditure for the purpose of meeting out-
standing campaign expenses, including
expenses of collection, and of reimbursing to
certain subscribers the sums advanced by
them to imderwrite the campaign.
Voted, That except as to the said sum of
$70,000 so to be transferred, the new fiscal
system proposed by the vote of this Com-
mittee on October 4, 1917, in particular that
provided for under paragraph 11 of that vote,
shall now take effect.
The General Director having submitted es-
timates for an initial budget the following
initial budget totalling the sum of $865,020
was, after discussion, approved and adopted:
Initial Budget Submitted by General Director
to the War Service Committee as of Octo-
ber 15, 1917
Buildings and equipment (Carnegie
Grant) $320,000
Books (including replace-
ments), binding, periodi-
cals $368,000
Service 125,000
Equipment, supplies, insur-
ance, rent, postage, tele-
grams, travel, transpor-
tation, printing, sundries
and contingent 52,020
545,020
$865,020
Mr. Putnam having also laid before the
committee a communication received by him
from the American Secxirity and Trust Com-
pany stating that the sum voted to his credit,
as General Director, should be a lump sum, it
was
138
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Voted, That in pursuance of the provisions
of the vote of this committee on October 4,
1917, the American Security and Trust Com-
pany of Washington, D. C, be and is hereby
authorized and requested, out of the remain-
ing funds of this committee in its hand (ex-
cept the said sum of $70,000 so to be trans-
ferred), to credit Herbert Putnam, as General
Director, with the sum of $865,020, to be
drawn upon in accordance with the provisions
of the said vote, for the purposes of the
work contemplated therein. And should the
funds at present in the hands of the said
company be insuflBcient for this action, then
to credit to his account the sum on hand, and
from subscriptions later received from time
to time to credit further sums, until the
total shall reach the sum of $865,020 above
stated. It was then
Voted, That out of the sum placed at his
disposal to-day, the General Director is au-
thorized to pay outstanding claims against
the War Service Fimd (exclusive of campaign
expenses), where such claims are certified to
him as correct and due by the chairman of
the War Finance Committee and one other
member of the Camp Libraries Committee.
Voted, That the War Finance Committee
be requested to continue to completion the
work of collecting the sums subscribed in
the campaign, incurring such expenses as may
be necessary for the purpose.
Voted, That if, after investigation, it ap-
pears to the General Director that insurance
should be placed upon the library buildings
at the cantonmenta and camps, he is re-
quested to place it, the premium being
charged to the fimds subject to his disposal.
Voted, That the Secretary transmit to the
Carnegie Corporation a summary of the ac-
tion taken by this committee in its votes of
October 4, 1917, and of to-day, so far as it
may appear to be of interest to the corpora-
tion, and that he inform the Commission on
Training Camp Activities of the action taken
of interest to it.
Mr. Dudgeon, because of his active partici-
pation in the executive work of the com-
mittee, presented his resignation as a member
of the committee.
Voted, That it be accepted.
The Secretary reported that contingent
upon his resignation, the President of the
Association had designated C. F. D. Belden,
Librarian of the Boston Public Library, to
the vacant position.
For the information of the committee the
Secretary reported also the receipt from Mr.
Putnam of a commimication addressed to the
President of the Association tendering hi«
resignation as a member of the Executive
Board.
For the information of the committee Mr.
Putnam stated that as General Director he
would ask Mr. Utley to continue as Execu-
tive Secretary and Mr. Dudgeon as Camp
Library Manager; and that he proposed to
appoint as Disbursing Officer, William L.
Brown of Washington, D. C, formerly
Cashier of the Hampton Institute, and now,
and for some time past, Chief Clerk of the
Copyright Office; that the appointment would
take effect October 19, 1917, at which date
Mr. Brown's bond in the Fidelity and Cas-
ualty Company of New York to the Asso-
ciation in the sum of $25,000 will be ready
for delivery to such person or official as the
committee may designate, or in absence of
such designation, to the Treasurer of the
American Library Association.
Adjourned.
Attest :
Geo. B. Utley,
Executive Secretary.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
139
THE FOLLOWING REPORTS, LETTERS, AND
MEMORANDA, MENTIONED IN THE FORE-
GOING MINUTES ARE APPENDED TO AND
MADE A PART OF THESE MINUTES.
Library of Congress,
Washington, D. C.
New York City, October 18, 1917.
To the A. L. A. War Service Committee:
Gentlemen :
I report the following action taken under
the special vote of your committee October 4,
1917, with reference to library buildings at
the sixteen cantonments:
1. In company with Mr. Utley and Mr.
Dudgeon I laid before Mr. Mayer, Secretary
of the Commission on Training Camp Activi-
ties, a copy of the vote, and asked his
counsel.
2. In company with him we had an inter-
view with Major Starrett, Chairman of the
Cantonment Construction Commission, and
asked his counsel and direction.
3. I later received from him drafts (1) of
a Memorandum of Agreement between the
Association and certain contractors (not at
the moment named), constituting an order
for the erection of the buildings and a con-
tract for payments. A copy of this memo-
randum is attached, marked A. I received
also from him a suggested draft of a letter
from me to the OflScer in Charge of Con-
struction, General Littell. Copy appended,
marked B.
Sixteen copies of the Memorandum, signed
by me in your behalf, were to be forwarded
to General Littell, with the above letter, the
names of the contractors being left blank, to
be filled in by his office.
4. The total expenditure involved in the
sixteen contracts, according to the estimates
of General Littell's office, is $107,200.
On October 12 I was informed that the
Carnegie Corporation had deposited this sum
in the American Security and Trust Com-
pany, to be available for payments on this
account.
5. On the same date I forwarded to Gen-
eral Littell, with the covering letter (B), the
sixteen contracts duly signed by me in your
behalf.
6. I have since received from General Lit-
tell's office a list of the contractors whose
names were inserted in the contracts. A
copy of the list is appended, marked C.
Very respectfully,
Heebert Putnam.
N. B. I append also (marked D) a list of
the particular sites within each cantonment,
stated by Mr. Tilton to have been agreed
upon and noted by the Office of Cantonment
Construction.
A
MEMORANDUM OF FORM OF AGREE-
MENT BETWEEN THE AMERICAN
LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, INC.
78 East Washington Street, Chicago.
(Washington Address, c/o Library of
Congress)
and
You are hereby authorized to proceed with
the construction of library for the Army Can-
tonment at as indicated
on Drawings 1, 2 and 3, prepared by Edward
L. Tilton, Architect. The work is to be done
under the direction and subject to the ap-
proval of the Constructing Quartermaster
for the camp (or such successor as may be
appointed by the Commanding Officer of the
Cantonment Division U. S. Quartermaster
Corps ) .
We understand that the work will be done
under the same general terms and conditions
140
SAEATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
as obtained in the contract between you and
the United States Government for the per-
formance of the general construction work on
the cantonment, with only such modifications
as would apply to ownership by the Associa-
tion, and the necessary changes in interpreta-
tion to bring the work under the direct con-
trol of the Construction Quartermaster, as
above.
The fire insurance on the building will be
carried by us. We agree to pay you for the
building, the actual cost as certified by the
Construction Quartermaster, plus six per cent
to cover overhead and profit; full payment
to be made by us to you within five ( 5 ) days
after certified completion of your work by the
Construction Quartermaster.
American Libbaet Association (Inc.),
By its War Service Committee.
Heebebt Putnam,
Agent for this Contract.
October 12, 1917.
B
October 12, 1917.
Sir:
The American Library Association, Inc.,
has permission from the Secretary of War to
erect on cantonment sites certain small li-
brary buildings as per drawings 1, 2 and 3,
prepared by Edward L. Tilton, prints of
which are herewith handed you. The Asso-
ciation will pay the contractors direct for
this work, but it is desired that the work
be done under your Construction Quarter-
master, and subject to his inspection and
approval. We have, therefore, drawn a short
form of order, copy of which is hereto at-
tached, which we should like to give the con-
tractor, putting your Construction Quarter-
master in oflScial relation to us in the matter.
We request that, if this procedure meets
with your approval, you issue such orders
as will enable your Constructing Quarter-
master and your auditing oflScers to allow
this work to proceed.
Please note that the contractor looks to us
solely in the matter of payment, and no obli-
gation rests with the Government in the
matter. For your information, we will state
that the Library Association has the funds
and authority for payment for these buildings
available, as will appear from the copies of
letters and resolutions attached.
Very truly yours,
For the American Library Association
War Service Committee,
Herbert Putnam.
Brigadier-General I. W. Littell,
in charge of Cantonment
Construction Division,
Quartermaster Corps, U. S. A.
NATIONAL ARMY CAMPS WITH NAMES OF CONTRACTORS
Names Locations Contractors
Camp Custer Battle Creek, Mich Porter Brothers.
Camp Devens Ayer, Mass Fred T. Ley & Co.
Camp Dix Wrightstown, N. J Messrs. Irwin & Leighton.
Camp Dodge Des Moines, la Charles Weitz & Sons.
Camp Funston Fort Riley, Kans George A. Fuller & Co.
Camp Gordon Atlanta, 6a Arthur Tufts Company.
Camp Grant Rockford, 111 Bates Rogers Construction Co.
Camp Jackson Columbia, S. C Hardaway Construction Co.
Camp Lee Petersburg, Va Rinehardt & Dennis.
Camp Lewis American Lake, Wash Hurley Mason Company.
Camp Meade Admiral, Md Smith, Hauser & Mclsaac.
Camp Pike Little Rock, Ark James Stewart & Company.
Camp Sherman Chillicothe, Ohio The A. Bentley Company.
Camp Taylor Louisville, Ky Mason & Hanger.
Camp Travis Fort Sam Houston, Tex Stone & Webster Company.
Camp Upton Yaphank, Long Island, N. Y. . Thompson Starrett Company.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
141
D
LOCATION OF LIBRARIES FOR NA-
TIONAL ARMY CANTONMENTS
Camp Devens, Ayer, Mass.
Library: Near Postoffice.
Camp Upton, Yaphank, L. I.
Library: Section N, near 80th Street.
Cam,p Dix, Wrightstown, N. J.
Library: Near Y. M. C. A. between Infan-
try and Artillery Brigade.
Camp Meade, Annapolis Jet., Md.
Library : Opposite Y. M. C. A. and K. of C.
Camp Lee, Petersburg, Va.
Library: On space between 7th and 8th
Streets.
Camp Jackson, Columbia, 8. C.
Library: Near 1st Avenue and Q Street.
Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Ga.
Library: Hardee Avenue, opposite Y. M.
C. A. Auditoriiun.
Camp Pike, Little Rock, Ark.
Library: North Avenue opposite Y. M.
C. A. Brigade Building.
Camp Sherman,- Chillicothe, Ohio.
Library: Between Cleveland and Cincin-
nati Avenues, Section F, on Elyria Street.
Camp Taylor, Louisville, Ky.
Library : Opposite Y. M. C. A. Auditorium.
Camp Custer, Battle Creek, Mich.
Library: Front Section L, Signal Bat-
talion.
Camp Grant, Rockford, III.
Library: Between 12th and 26th.
Camp Dodge, Des Moines, Iowa.
Library: Southeast from Telephone Build-
ing, across street.
Camp Funs ton. Fort Riley, Kans.
Library: Opposite Y. M. C. A.
Camp Travis, San Antonio, Texas.
Library: Between the end of G. Avenue
and 32d Street.
Camp Lewis, American Lake, Wash.
Library: West of 1st Brigade.
A. L. A. War Service Headquarters,
Washington, D. C, October 18, 1917.
To the A. L. A. War Service Committee,
J. I. Wyer, Jr., Chairman:
This is to notify you that, by a correspond-
ence vote taken pursuant to the Constitution
of the Association and by direction of the
President, the Executive Board has ratified
in full the action taken by your committee
in its votes of October 4, 1917, transferring
to Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress,
certain functions and authority with refer-
ence to the supply of reading matter to the
military and naval forces of the United
States and providing a new system of pro-
cedure in connection with the War Service
Fund.
Very truly yours,
Geoege B. Utlet,
Secretary American Library Association.
Library of Congress,
Washington.
OflSce of the Librarian.
New York City, October 16, 1917.
Mr. Chairman:
I accept and will undertake the service re-
quested of me by your committee in its votes
of October 4, 1917.
Very truly yours,
Herbeet Putnam.
Mr. J. I. Wyer, Jr.,
Chairman A. L. A. Library War Service
Committee.
REPORT OF CHAIRMAN OF WAR
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Mr. Hill, as Chairman of the War. Finance
Committee, reported that, including the Car-
negie Grant of $320,000, the subscriptions to
the fund reported to date total $1,300,000 of
which the sum of $390,000 appears to have
been paid into the Treasurer.
Letter Head of
Ameeican Security and Trust Company
Teust Department.
Washington, D. C, October 15, 1917.
In re Am. Library Assn. War Service Fd:
Herbert Putnam, Esq.,
Library of Congress,
Washington, D. C.
Dear Sir:
With reference to the application of the
fund known as the American Library Asso-
ciation War Service Fund, we understand
that you are to submit a budget to the War
Service Committee, which, when passed upon
142
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
and approved by the American Library As-
sociation, a sum based thereon will be placed
at your disposal for the work itself. We
presume that this company as treasurer of
the general fund will receive a certified copy
of the resolution passed by the American
Library Association, which resolution should
authorize us to place the sum mentioned to
the credit of Library War Service Fund, Her-
bert Putnam, General Director; and it should
be for a lump sum, not for an itemized bud-
get, as the latter would require us to exam-
ine the bills and maintain a system of ac-
counting which is already provided for
otherwise in your general system.
Yours truly,
B. AsHBY Leavell,
Asst. Trust Officer.
Public Library, Chillicothe, Ohio, 11 a. m.,
November 17, 1917
Present, being a quorum of the Committee :
J. I. Wyer, Jr., F. P. Hill, E. H. Anderson,
Electra C. Doren, J. L. Wheeler (as proxy of
C. F. D. Belden), also Thomas L. Montgom-
ery, President of the A. L. A., and George B.
Utley, Executive Secretary. The minutes of
the meeting of October 18, having been dis-
tributed in advance to all the members of
the Committee, were formally approved.
The following sub-committees were, on
motion, discontinued:
State Agencies Camp Libraries
Local Agencies Publicity
War Library Manual Federal Publications
Transportation Selection of Books
It was further
Voted, That the Chairman of the Sub-
Committee on Library War Week be in-
formed that under the plan and in accordance
with the purpose and understanding of the
conduct of the recent campaign for funds no
money can properly be appropriated for any
purpose other than supplying reading ma-
terial to the military and naval forces.
Voted, Further, that the continuance of
the Sub-Committee on Library War Week be
referred to the Chairman of the War Service
Committee, with power.
The Chairman of the War Finance Com-
mittee presented the accompanying report
(Appendix 1) and audit from Marwick, Mit-
chell, Peat & Company (Appendix 2).
Voted: That these documents be received
and placed on file.
The Chairman of the American Library
Association Finance Committee (A. L.
Bailey), by a letter of November 10th (copy
hereto attached), (Appendix 3), stated that
he had gone over the report of the auditor
and that it seemed to him satisfactory in
every respect.
On inquiry from the Chairman the Execu-
tive Secretary informed the Committee that
the bond of W. L. Brown, Disbursing Officer,
had been deposited with the Treasurer of the
American Library Association, and acknowl-
edgment received.
The General Director, having submitted by
correspondence, copy of a communication
(October 29th) by him to the American Se-
curity and Trust Company requesting that
the amount to be placed at his disposal
(under the Committee's vote of October 18th)
be limited to $652,220, except as this sum
may be enlarged by further payments by the
Carnegie Corporation, and he having in-
formed the Chairman of this Committee that
the Company recognizes this communication
as sufficient to accomplish the purpose, it was
Voted, That the above-mentioned commu-
nication of October 29th to the American
Security and Trust Company be incorporated
in the minutes (Appendix 4).
The General Director reported that he had
placed no insurance on the buildings during
their construction, the rates ($3 per $100)
seeming excessive; but that he should, in
accordance with the opinion of the Sub-
Committee on Camp Libraries, in lieu of in-
surance, create a sinking fund corresponding
to the premiums that would be payable on
the buildings after construction.
The General Director further reported that,
acting under his general authority, he had
accepted a gift of $10,000 for a library build-
ing at the Great Lakes Naval Training Sta-
tion, that the sum had been paid over (to
the War Finance Committee) and that he had
placed the contract.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
143
Inasmuch as this gift was not foreseen in
the budget voted October 18th, and as the
sum involved should be made available to the
use of the General Director in addition to
the sum then voted, it was
Voted, That the American Security and
Trust Company, as Treasurer, is authorized
and requested from the A. L. A. War Service
moneys in its hands, to transfer to the credit
of the War Service Fund, Herbert Putnam,
General Director, the sum of $10,000, in addi-
tion to that authorized by vote of this Com-
mittee on October 18th, 1917.
In view of the fact that the American
Security and Trust Company requires ratifi-
cation by the Executive Board of the above
vote, and that such votes will continue to
require ratification unless the need be antici-
pated by a vote general in terms, the Com-
mittee recommends that the following sug-
gested form of general authorization by the
Executive Board be submitted to the Board:
Suggested Form for General Authorization
by Executive Board
" Voted, That the American Security and
Trust Co., as Treasurer, is authorized and
requested from the American Library Asso-
ciation War Service moneys in its hands and
other moneys added thereto hereafter, to
transfer to the credit of the American Library
Association War Service Fund, Herbert Put-
nam, General Director, in addition to the
sums heretofore authorized, such further
sums as further votes of the American Li-
brary Association War Service Committee,
duly notified to it, shall from time to time
request so to be transferred."
Proposals to adopt some special procedure
by which gifts for special uses could be de-
posited with the general fund and applied
without a specific vote of the Committee, and
ratification by a specific vote of the Executive
Board, were considered by the Committee, but
it was finally
Voted, That such proposals be laid on the
table, as more time for consideration is
desired.
Note. It was suggested by the General
Director that the adoption of such a vote as
that appended to these minutes (Appendix
5) might suffice.
The General Director advised the Com-
mittee that the Commission on Training
Camp Activities asked to be relieved from its
agreement to provide heating and lighting for
the Camp Library buildings (the reasons
therefor being set forth in a letter from Mr.
Lee F. Hanmer to the General Director under
date of November 5, 1917).
It was unanimously Voted, That the cor-
dial appreciation and thanks of the War
Service Committee of the American Library
Association be given to the Board of Trustees
and Librarian of the Public Library of the
District of Columbia for their generous pro-
vision of commodious quarters for the con-
duct of the financial campaign, and for their
many additional courtesies.
The Committee at 12.30 p. m. took recess
until 5 p. m. The afternoon was spent in-
specting the camp library building, Y. M.
C. A., K. of C. and other buildings at Camp
Sherman.
The Committee reconvened at 5 p. m. at
the Chillicothe Public Library.
The Committee considered certain book
campaigns proposed and outlined by ( 1 )
Grosset and Dunlap, and (2) the Standard
Statistics Company, and gave as its recom-
mendation that the Association embrace any
opportunity for the procuring of good books
when this can be done outside any commer-
cial connection. (Mr. Hill requested to be
recorded in the negative.)
Book Campaign. The committee discussed
at some length the question of an intensive
book campaign. Among the opinions in-
formally expressed were the following:
( 1 ) Such a campaign can best be conducted
through existing State and local agencies
without paid organizers or assistants.
( 2 ) At least one full time paid official with
necessary clerical assistance should be en-
gaged in the capacity of a department heead
for such an enterprise.
(3) Such a campaign should be organized
as carefully and completely as was the cam-
144
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
paign for money, and it cannot be said that
paid workers are unnecessary until a definite
policy and procedure has been decided on.
We should profit by the experience of the
money campaign — avoid its mistakes and
adopt its good features. It was at length
Voted, That the chairman confer with the
General Director regarding an intensive book
campaign and report (by correspondence) to
the Committee.
The inability of the Committee to meet
incurred expenses except through the fiscal
routine provided for in the resolutions of
October 4th and 18th was brought to its at-
tention and it was thereupon
Voted, That nothing in the resolutioHS of
October 4th and 18th, establishing the fiscal
routine now administered by the General Di-
rector shall operate to prevent the incurring
of obligations by this Committee against
funds over and beyond the credits heretofore
voted or hereafter to be voted to the General
Director for the purposes indicated in the
resolutions of October 4th and 18th.
Finance Committee Recommendations. The
American Library Association War Finance
Committee, meeting at Chillicothe, at an ear-
lier hour on this same date, adopted certain
recommendations which it transmitted to the
Chairman of the War Service Committee, for
such consideration and action as the latter
Committee deems proper (copy of these
" Recommendations for Consideration by the
Finance Committee " hereto appended as Ap-
pendix 6).*
The War Service Committee, considering
these recommendations, took action on the
various heads as follows:
( 1 ) Voted, That the Chairman of the War
Finance Committee be authorized to release
the Assistant Treasurer from his bond at
such time as seems appropriate.
(2) Voted, That it is desirable to invest
any available suras now on deposit in the
American Security and Trust Company in
such manner as will procure the best interest
return consistent with safety and easy avail-
ability.
(3) Voted, That the monthly subscription
account (the DoUar-a-Month Fund) be kept
separate from the Million Dollar Fund.
(4) Voted, That the Carnegie Corporation
grant of $320,000 be counted a part of the
fimd raised by the American Library Asso-
ciation.
(5) No action taken by the War Service
Committee.
(6) No action taken by the War Service
Committee.
(7) Voted, That the American Library
Association be asked to audit the account of
the A. L. A. War Finance Committee.
(8) Voted, That in accordance with the re-
quest of the War Finance Committee, the
clerical supervision of the funds be trans-
ferred to the American Library Association,
not later than January 1, 1918, to be man-
aged through the regular A. L. A. Finance
Committee and Special War Service Commit-
tee, with power to add such increased clerical
assistance as may be necessary.
(9) No action taken by either the War
Finance Committee or the War Service Com-
mittee.
(10) Voted, That the question of the de-
sirability of the location of the headquarters
of the American Library Association and of
the General Director of the Library War Ser-
vice in the same city be laid on the table.
(11) No action taken by either Committee.
(12) Voted, That the Chairman and the
Secretary of the War Finance Committee pre-
pare a history of the financial campaign, and
that the expense of printing it be provided
from the war fund, preferably from the
DoUar-a-Month Pledge Fund.
(13) No action taken by the War Service
Committee.
Voted, That the cordial thanks of the War
Service Committee, as well as of the War
Finance Committee, be extended to the mem-
bers of the Library War Council for their
These form part of Appendix 1.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
145
willing and ever-ready assistance in the re-
cent campaign-
Adjourned.
Attest :
Geo. B. Utlet,
Executive Secretary.
Note. As to Heating and Lighting of
Buildings.
The General Director adds for the informa-
tion of the Committee that the Commission
on Training Camp Activities having expressed
definitely its inability to carry out its agree-
ment to furnish heat and light, he took up
the matter directly with the War Depart-
ment. The Department, i. e., the Government
itself, will provide both light and heat. [See
letter of Quartermaster-General, Nov. 21, ap-
pended.] (Appendix 7.)
APPENDIX 1
REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE
SUB-COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
The duties of the Finance Committee are
practically at an end, the campaign is vir-
tually concluded, and the Committee may
congratulate itself upon the successful out-
come of the campaign for $1,000,000 to pro-
vide reading matter to soldiers and sailors at
home and abroad. The total cash in hand
November 14th amounted to $1,058,208.24,
and there are subscriptions due (most of
which is in bank at Chicago, Philadelphia,
Trenton and other places; and including
$213,000, balance of the Carnegie Corporation
appropriation), making a total (in round
numbers) of $1,460,000. This will be in-
creased somewhat, but we ought to be satis-
fied even if we do not reach a million and a
half.
With this report is submitted a statement
of receipts and balances due from subscribers.
Practically all subscriptions will be paid; in
other words we have accomplished the un-
usual result of collecting all of our pledges.
The total of $1,460,000 includes $320,000
contributed by the Carnegie Corporation for
the erection of library buildings at the
thirty-two cantonments and camps.
To raise this fund the sum of $50,000 (or
to be exact, $44,700) was loaned the Com-
mittee by librarians and individuals.
This Campaign Fund ($44,700) has been
audited by certified accountants — Messrs.
Marwick, Mitchell, Peat & Co., Washington,
D. C, and the report is satisfactory to Mr.
A. L. Bailey, Chairman A. L. A. Finance
Committee. (The Auditors' report and Mr.
Bailey's letter of approval are submitted
herewith. )
The Chairman also submits a report of ex-
penses thus far incurred in the process of
" cleaning-up the returns," and of expenses
incurred by local campaign committees. This
report should be audited by the A. L. A.
Finance Committee.
(A final statement of this Campaign Fund
will be made to the A. L. A. Finance Com-
mittee when the Association is ready to ac-
cept charge of the accounts.)
All of our borrowed capital, $44,700, has
been returned (as shown by the statement
from the People's Trust Company) in ac-
cordance with promise made, and nine libra-
ries and individuals have turned back a part
or all of their original loan to the Library
War Fund.
The actual cost of the campaign up to
October 31st was $44,124.15. The War Ser-
vice Committee then appropriated $25,000 for
the expenses of local campaigns and for
cleaning up the campaign. A full statement
of these expenses will be submitted to the
A. L. A. Finance Committee.
Since the last of June the chairman has
given up practically all of his time to this
work and without vacation, and his secretary
has given all of her time in Washington.
The Committee ought to be willing to re-
lieve us of further detail and turn the work
over to the A. L. A.
The wind-up will be a long-drawn out af-
fair and it will be as easy to turn the account
over at one time as another. The chairman
would like to be relieved of this work and
thinks the accounts could be audited and
turned over to the Treasurer of the A. L. A.,
say on the 10th of December.
I have not felt like doing this until au-
thorized by the Committee. The Chairman
146
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
holds office by virtue of appointment by the
Chairman of the War Service Committee, the
other members were appointed by the Chair-
man of this Committee. There seems to be
no reason why the Committee should not dis-
charge itself.
In conclusion the chairman presents certain
recommendations for the consideration of the
Committee :
( 1 ) Authorize Chairman to release the As-
sistant Treasurer from his bond when in his
judgment it is proper and expedient.
(2) Invest fund now deposited in the
American Security and Trust Company at
once in short-time securities.
( 3 ) Keep the monthly subscription account
separate from the $1,000,000 fund.
(4) The Carnegie gift of $320,000 to be
counted as part of the $1,000,000 fund raised
by the A. L. A.
(5) Consider plans for the continuance of
an assured income during the period of war —
(a) By increasing monthly pledges
from non-librarians.
(b) By mite-boxes in all libraries.
(c) Preparation within our own ranks
for a financial campaign next year.
(d) Fines and direct appropriations
from libraries.
(6) Prepare at once for an intensive cam-
paign for books, even more carefully organ-
ized than was the recent campaign for money.
(7) Ask the American Library Association
to audit the account of the A. L. A. War
Finance Committee.
(8) Clerical supervision of the fund be
turned over to the A. L. A. on December 10th,
to be managed through the regular Finance
Committee and Special War Service Com-
mittee.
(9) Employees of the A. L. A. Treasurer's
office to take charge of the cleaning-up process
and of recording further collections after
December 10th.
(10) Desirability of the location of the
A. L. A. offices and of the General Director
in the same city.
(11) The best library organizers should be
sent to the thirty-two camps and to naval
stations even if the cost seems large and that
as good service should be rendered to the
navy as to the army.
(12) Prepare a history of the campaign;
expense of printing to be paid from the fund.
(13) Discharge or dissolution of the Com-
mittee.
Respectfully submitted,
Frank P. Hill,
Chairman.
APPENDIX 2
[lettebhead]
MaBWICK, IlIlTCHELL, PeAT AND COMPANY,
733 Fifteenth Street, N. W.,
Washington, D. C,
November 5, 1917.
Dr. Fbank p. Hill, Chairman,
American Library Association War Finance
Committee,
26 Brevoort Place,
Brooklyn, New York.
Dear Sir:
In accordance with instructions as con-
tained in your letter of October 31, 1917, we
have examined the accounts of D. P. Beards-
ley, Assistant Treasurer of the American Li-
brary Association's War Finance Committee
and have found them correct. We have ob-
tained certification of cash balances on hand
from the People's Trust Company of Brook-
lyn, and have checked and cancelled checks
against his vouchers and cash book entries.
The unexpended balance due from Mr.
Beardsley to the War Finance Committee at
the close of November 2, 1917, is $189.58.
We submit herewith nine copies of our
report, consisting of:
Statement No. 1 — Summary of Receipts
and Disbursements.
Statement No. 2 — Classification of Dis-
bursements.
Statement No. 3 — Checks outstanding on
November 2, 1917.
One copy has been forwarded, at his re-
quest, to Mr. Arthur L. Bailey, Free Library,
Wilmington, Delaware, which we trust meets
your approval.
[Signed] Very truly yours,
Maewick, Mitchell, Peat and Co.
WAK SERVICE COMMITTEE
147
[lettebhead]
Mabwick, Mitchell, Peat aisd Company,
733 Fifteenth Street, N. W.,
Washington, D. C,
November 5, 1917.
Dr. Feank p. Hill, Chairman,
American Library Association War Finance
Committee,
26 Brevoort Place,
Brooklyn, New York,
Dear Sir:
In accordance with instructions as con-
tained in your letter of October 31, 1917, we
have examined the accounts of the American
Library Association's War Finance Commit-
tee and have obtained certification of cash
balance on hand from the People's Trust Com-
pany of Brooklyn.
We submit herewith nine copies of our re-
port, consisting of:
Statement No. 1 — Summary of Receipts
and Disbursements.
Statement No. 2 — Classification of Dis-
bursements.
Statement No. 3 — Checks outstanding on
November 2, 1917.
One copy has been forwarded, at his re-
quest, to Mr. Arthur L. Bailey, Free Library,
Wilmington, Delaware, which we trust meets
your approval.
Very truly yours,
Maewick, Mitchell, Peat and Co.
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION WAR FINANCE COMMITTEE
Statement No. 1
Summary of Receipts and Disbursements from August 10, 1917, to November 2, 1917, inclusive
Receipts deposited in the People's Trust Disbursements as per Summary
Company: Statement attached $44,124 15
From Dr. Frank P. Hill
1917
Aug. 10 $2,000 00 Advances to War Service Com-
" 15 2,000 00 mittee, unpaid 147 86
" 20 4,000 00
" 27 2,000 00
" 31 4,000 00
Sept. 8 4,000 00
" 14 4,000 00
" 21 5,000 00
" 26 5,000 00
Oct. 5 5,000 00
" 20 5,000 00
" 30 2,347 36
$44,347 36
From Other Sov/rces
Overpayment of H. N.
Sanborn $0 55
Overpayment War Fund,
Hamilton 8 36
Check from S. M. Bard.. 41 67
Check from L. E. Stearns. 63 65
114 23
Checks outstanding as per State-
ment attached 3,007 63 Balance in bank 3,197 21
$47,469 22 $47,469 22
148
SAEATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION WAR FINANCE COMMITTEE
Statement No. 2
Classification of Disbursements from August 10, 1917, to October 31, 1917, inclusive
Item Office Field Total
Salaries $9,456 83 $10,409 16 $19,865 99
Maintenance, including Conferences 634 36 5,089 91 5,724 27
Travel, including Conferences 661 33 3,170 87 3,832 20
Telephone and telegraph 2,158 04 661 85 2,819 89
Postage and expressage 2,166 83 140 83 2,307 66
Printed matter 8,090 75 8,090 75
Office supplies and expenses 1,180 29 1,180 29
Contingencies 13 302 97 303 10
Total $24,348 56 $19,775 59 $44,124 15
Dr,
APPENDIX 3, NOV. 17, 1917
November 10, 1917
Frank P. Hill, Chairman,
A. L. A. War Finance Committee,
Brooklyn, New York.
Dear Sir:
I have examined the report of Marwick,
Mitchell, Peat & Co., chartered accountants,
which they have made on the receipts and
disbursements of the Campaign Fund of the
War Finance Committee of the American Li-
brary Association, and beg to report that so
far as I can judge it seems to me satisfactory
in every respect.
Very truly yours,
A. L. Bailey,
Chairman Finance Committee Ameri-
can Library Association.
APPENDIX 4, NOV. 17, 1917
American Library Association
Library War Service
Headquarters
The Library of Congress,
Washington, D. C,
October 29, 1917.
Gentlemen :
In accordance with your request the sum
($865,020) which you were requested to
place to my credit as General Director was a
lump sum. In determining it, however, the
War Service Committee contemplated that
$320,000 of it would represent the grant by
the Carnegie Corporation for library build-
ings at the cantonments and National Guard
Camps. The balance — $545,020 — represents
what I am free to expend on other accounts.
As between me and the Committee, therefore,
the sum in your hands that I should control
is only $545,020 plus deposits by the Corpo-
ration — all such deposits being on account
of the grant.
Of the $320,000 only $107,200 has thus far
been deposited — the rest awaiting placing of
contracts or claims presented under them.
I therefore request that for the present the
amount to be placed to my credit as General
Director be limited to ( $545,020 plus $107,200)
$652,220 — except as this amount be in-
creased by further deposits from the Carnegie
Corporation.
Very respectfully,
Herbert Putnam,
General Director.
The American Security and Trust Co.,
Washington, D. C.
APPENDIX 5, NOV. 17, 1917
Proposed Vote for Gifts for Special Use
Voted, That in the likelihood of gifts for
special uses in connection with Library War
Service, which may require prompt action by
the General Director, the following procedure
be authorized and requested:
1. The offer, or gift, if not made to the
General Director, shall be at once commimi-
cated to him by the authority receiving it;
2. Moneys paid over in pursuance of it
shall be deposited with the Treasurer, with
notice that they are " special " in character ;
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
149
3. That a duplicate of this notice shall be
transmitted to the General Director.
4. That each and every sum so notified and
deposited shall be placed by the Treasurer to
the credit of the War Service Fund, Herbert
Putnam, General Director, in addition to any
amounts heretofore or hereafter voted as a
general credit, and shall thereupon become
available for disbursement by him, for the
purposes contemplated, in accordance with
the procedure established under the general
credit.
APPENDIX 7, NOV. 17, 1917
Wae Department,
Office of the Quartermaster-General of the
Army, Washington,
November 21, 1917.
Mr. Hebbeet Putnam,
Librarian of Congress,
Washington, D. C.
My dear Mr. Putnam:
With reference to your memorandum of
November 20th regarding the question of fur-
nishing heat and light for library buildings
erected and being erected at cantonments and
National Guard camps, it pleases me to ad-
vise you that the Secretary of War, under
date of November 21, approved recommenda-
tion of this office, that inasmuch as the libra-
ries referred to are provided solely for the
benefit of enlisted men, the necessary fuel and
light be furnished by the Government. The
necessary instructions to this effect will be
given by this office.
Very respectfully,
[Signed] Henby G. Shabpe,
Quartermaster-General.
New York Public Library — 10 a. m., Decem-
ber 29, 1917.
The following members present, being a
quorum of the Committee: J. I. Wyer, Jr.,
E. H. Anderson, F. P. Hill, Gratia A. Coun-
tryman, C. F. D. Belden and W. H. Brett
(named by President Montgomery since last
meeting to succeed A. E. Bostwick, resigned ) ;
also Herbert Putnam, General Director of the
Library War Service, and G. B. Utley, Execu-
tive Secretary.
The minutes of the meeting of November
17, 1917, which had been distributed to all
members of the Committee were formally ap-
proved.
A commimication regarding the functions
of the War Service Committee was laid be-
fore the Committee by Mr. Hill.
Voted, That it be accepted and placed on
file.
Investment of Surplus Funds. Investment
of the surplus funds now on deposit with the
American Security and Trust Company being
under consideration, and the Library War
Council having recommended that these sur-
plus funds be invested in U. S. Treasury Cer-
tificates, it was, on motion of Dr. Hill, sec-
onded by Mr. Anderson,
Voted, That, subject to the approval of the
Executive Board, $500,000 from the funds
deposited with the American Security and
Trust Company be invested in 4 per cent
U. S. Treasury Certificates at par, with inter-
est, according to the recommendation of the
Library War Council.
The General Director submitted an infor-
mal statement on the progress of the library
war work.
Publicity. The employment of a high-
grade publicity man or a publicity bureau
was discussed and without taking formal ac-
tion it was the unanimous feeling of the
Committee that a capable publicity man
should be employed at headquarters. The
General Director emphasized his conviction
of the need for expert and prompt publicity
and expressed his satisfaction that the Com-
mittee favored the employment of adequate
service.
Report by War Finance Committee. Mr.
Hill, Chairman, presented a statement of re-
ceipts and expenditures in connection with
the Library War Fund to December 29, 1917
( Appendix 1 ) .
The Committee next considered the ten
memoranda at the end of the above report.
1. Reconunendation of the Library War
150
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Council as to investment of surplus. Action
already taken.
2. On motion of Mr. Anderson, seconded by
Mr. Brett, it was
Voted, That the War Service Committee
recommend to the Executive Board that it
arrange for an audit of the accounts of the
War Finance Committee, as of December 29,
1917.
3. The Chairman of the War Finance Com-
mittee, having recommended that the ac-
counts now in his hands in Brooklyn be left
there and that new accounts be opened in
Chicago by the Treasurer of the A. L. A., it
was
Voted, That only such of the records as are
immediately necessary to the work in Chi-
cago be forwarded there; the balance being
retained for the present in Brooklyn.
4. No action required, it being vmderstood
that the Treasurer of the A. L. A. would avail
himself of Mr. Fitzpatrick's services in in-
stalling the financial records in Chicago.
5. On motion of Mr. Hill, seconded by Mr.
Brett, it was
Voted, That the campaign account be kept
for the present where it is: namely, in the
People's Trust Company of Brooklyn.
6. Voted, That subscribers to the Monthly
Library War Service Fund be given an oppor-
tunity to complete their subscriptions for
twelve months in one payment, this payment
to be made to C. B. Roden, Treasurer, and
that henceforth these monthly subscriptions
be discontinued.
7. No action taken.
8. On motion of Miss Countryman, sec-
onded by Mr. Brett,
Voted, That Mr. Hill and the Chairman of
the War Service Committee continue to ap-
prove the campaign expense accounts.
9. No action taken. The General Director,
being asked for information, said it was clear
that Mr. Dudgeon, when director of Camp
Libraries, committed the Committee to the
payment for certain books to be bought by
and for the Y. M. C. A., but that bill, al-
though requested, had not been received.
10. No action taken.
At 1 o'clock recess was taken, the Commit-
tee reconvening at 2:30, with the same
persons present as in the morning, and in
addition Mr. R. R. Bowker, advisory member
of the Committee.
Book Campaign. The subject of a book
campaign, discussed at the Chillicothe meet-
ing on November 17th, was taken under con-
sideration and treated at some length and
from various viewpoints and with several pro-
posals made. It was at length, on motion of
Mr. Anderson, seconded by Miss Countryman,
Voted, That the General Director be asked
to undertake an intensive but continuing cam-
paign for books. (Mr. Hill wished to be
recorded in the negative. )
On motion of Mr. Anderson, seconded by
Mr. Belden, it was
Voted, That the American Security and
Trust Company, as Treasurer, is authorized
and requested from the A. L. A. War Service
moneys in its hands, to transfer to the credit
of the War Service Fund, Herbert Putnam,
General Director, the sum of $25,000 in addi-
tion to that authorized by vote of this Com-
mittee on October 18th, 1917, this sum or
such portion of it as is necessary to be used
in meeting the expenses of a book campaign.
In the course of the discussion relative to
a book campaign, Mr. Hill informally pre-
sented a memorandum on the subject which
is appended to and made a part of these
minutes. (Appendix 2.)
Payment of Bills from the General Fund.
The inability of the Committee to meet in-
curred expenses except through the fiscal
routine provided for on October 4th and 18th
was considered at the Chillicothe meeting of
November 17th and certain action there
taken (see minutes of Chillicothe meeting,
p. 40 ) . Supplementing that action it was,
on motion of Mr. Anderson,
Voted, That the American Security and
Trust Company, as Treasurer, is authorized
and requested from the A. L. A. War Service
moneys in its hands, to transfer to the credit
of George B. Utley, Executive Secretary, the
sum of $2,000, to be used to meet general ex-
penses of the Committee not justly chargeable
to the fund voted to the credit of the War
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
151
Service Fund, Herbert Putnam, General Di-
rector; bills covering such expenses to be
approved by the Chairman of the Committee,
and checks to be drawn and signed by George
B. Utley, Executive Secretary.
Adjourned.
Attest :
Geo. B. Utley,
Executive Secretary.
APPENDIX 1, Dec. 29, 1917.
REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE
A. L. A. WAR FINANCE COMMITTEE
TO THE WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE,
DECEMBER 29, 1917.
Gentlemen :
The Chairman of the A. L. A. War Finance
Committee (a sub -committee of the War
Service Committee) presents herewith a
statement of receipts and expenditures in
connection with the Library War Fund.
Cash to the amount of $1,522,798.06 has
been received up to and including Friday,
December 28th, and information is at hand
to the effect that additional money to the
extent of $144,001.87 is deposited in banks
or reported in various cities, as shown in the
financial statement; making a total cash re-
ceipts of $1,666,799.93. In addition a state-
ment of the Campaign Fimd is also sub-
mitted.
The Library War Council by a formal vote
recommended that a large portion of the
balance be invested in United States Treas-
ury certificates, and the Chairman of the
War Finance Committee endorses this recom-
mendation. It will be seen by the accom-
panying letter from Miss M. M. Bruere,
Secretary to Chairman Vanderlip, that these
certificates can be supplied by the National
City Bank at par and interest. I presume
this recommendation should be transmitted
to the Executive Board for direct action.
The Chairman was authorized to have the
bond of the Assistant Treasurer, Donald P.
Beardsley, cancelled. This has not been done,
as it was found that the bond was for a year
and that no rebate would be allowed if can-
celled within the year:
The Treasurer of the A. L. A. spent a
couple of hours in Brooklyn December 13th
to see about taking over the accounts. It
was agreed as there were still many places
to report that the transfer should be de-
ferred until December 31st. The Chairman
informed the Treasurer that John E. Fitz-
patrick, who had been in the Finance De-
partment of the Brooklyn Public Library
for a year and who had been bookkeeper
for the Finance Committee since the middle
of November, was willing to go to Chicago
for a few weeks to assist in closing the ac-
counts. The Treasurer was to let him know
before the end of the month, but no reply
has been received. At the moment therefore
everything is in the air. It will be awkward,
if not difficult, for a new person to take on
this work without instructions.
Money is being received daily, and while
the large amounts are nearly all in, still
checks will continue to be received for some
time to come. It would be of advantage,
therefore, for the person who takes up this
work on the first of January to have knowl-
edge of the procedure which has been found
necessary during the past three months.
The Chairman of the Finance Committee
would naturally like to have the accounts
audited. This question was discussed with
the Treasurer on his recent visit to Brooklyn,
and the difficulty of getting a really satis-
factory audit without great expense was
considered. It is possible that the submis-
sion of a detailed report of returns to the
State Director or Treasurer for checking and
the final publication of the campaign returns
by cities is perhaps all the detailed audit
necessary. An examination of the books for
the record of receipts and expendittires is a
simple matter which can be done either by
the Treasurer of the A. L. A. or by a regular
auditor whom the A. L. A. would select. In
any event the account should be formally
accepted and the Chairman given a receipt
in full.
REPORT
Action suggested by the War Service Com-
mittee on the following:
152
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
1. Recommendation of Library War Coun-
cil.
2. Will the War Service Committee ask
the A. L. A. to audit the account of the
Finance Committee or give receipt in full?
3. What shall be done with accounts now
in Brooklyn?
4. Any recommendation with regard to
Fitzpatrick?
5. Keep campaign account where it is un-
til all bills are paid.
6. Shall we discontinue $1 monthly sub-
scriptions ?
(a) Show present form of receipt.
(b) If do stop give all chance to pay
up for one year.
7. Fake soldiers collecting for Fund in
Brooklyn.
8. How shall expense bills be approved
after January 1st?
9. Question of paying Y. M. C. A. for
books bought.
10. Consider disposition of Fund after
War.
Respectfully submitted,
Fbank p. Hill,
Chairman.
APPENDIX 2, Dec. 29, 1917.
BOOK CAMPAIGN
Organization:
The Campaign for Books will involve an
immense amount of detail work, and it is
therefore better separated (as the Financial
Campaign has been) from the regular admin-
istrative work of the General Director. The
work should be under the immediate direc-
tion of the War Service Committee (in con-
sultation with the General Director), which
would select and appoint a business mana-
ger — a man like Mr. Allen of Boston.
Field directors, so called, in the Financial
Campaign would not be necessary, but we
should carefully consider the peculiar duties
required of the man in this position and then
whether there are librarians with the ability
or the experience needed; the whole to be
carried on within the profession, using li-
brary commissions. State libraries or indi-
vidual libraries as State agencies, who would
select State and local directors.
Should Not Depend Entirely upon Volun-
teer Help. At least one person should be
employed in each of the larger States to
give his entire time as an assistant to the
State director and to take general charge of
the details connected with the work. The
business manager should have a separate
office force with his headquarters at the
Library of Congress.
Methods:
Instead of having only thirteen centers,
every large city should be made a center.
The direction of shipping should be han-
dled by the business manager, who would act
as a dispatcher, shipping with a definite
knowledge of best railroad facilities, etc.
Just what it is desired that each library
shall do with the material collected should
be decided beforehand in consultation with
the General Director and definite instructions
should be issued concerning every point.
Accept everything in the way of books,
magazines, etc., and sell what is not wanted.
The statement of useful and useless ma-
terial will be necessary to determine the
books which should be sent to camp even if
it is not needed as a suggestion to donors.
In place of attempting to embody detailed
instructions regarding shipping in the general
instructions these instructions should be
given by the General Manager to the indi-
vidual centers through the State directors or
the paid assistant. The question of shipping
is too complicated to be covered by a general
circular.
A form of report of quantity and quality
of books received and distributed at each
center should be planned so that the person
in charge of this work can have an accurate
knowledge of the resources in the various
centers and the disposition made of these
books. One weakness of the Financial Cam-
paign was the lack of specific suggestions in
regard to the best methods of raising money.
Suggestions for campaign organization and
methods should be collected from the centers
which were most successful in the Financial
Campaign and embodied in the instructions.
(See Brown suggestions.)
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
153
Date for an Intensive Campaign:
The psychological effect of a definite time
for undertaking the work should not be over-
looked. The campaign once well started and
properly pushed will continue by its own
momentum.
Publicity Man:
A publicity man is needed to prepare
(a) Circular of information for librarians.
(b) Placards, pamphlets, etc., for distribu-
tion.
(c) Articles for the newspapers and maga-
zines to arouse interest and to satisfy that
interest when it is aroused.
The necessity for keeping up the publicity
should be recognized and frequent reports
should be secured from camp librarians. In-
cidents illustrative of the appreciation of the
books will inspire others to give.
Expense:
It should be remembered that in all prob-
ability 3,000,000 volumes will be collected.
If only a sixth of these prove useful, they
will represent a saving in money of at least
$250,000. We should therefore be amply
justified in spending from $20,000 to $25,000
to do the work connected with this campaign
thoroughly and efficiently.
Minute of Correspondence Vote
Washington, March 1, 1918.
To the War Service Committee:
The Chairman of the War Service Com-
mittee, Mr. J. I. Wyer, Jr., advises me under
date of February 19th that by correspond-
ence vote the War Service Committee has
authorized the transfer of $50,000 from the
budget item for " Books " to that of "Mis-
cellaneous." This vote refers to the initial
budget voted to the General Director on Oc-
tober 18, 1917.
Very truly yours,,
Geo. B. Utlet,
Executive Secretary.
New York Public Library, 10 a. m,,
April 4, 1918
The following members were present, being
a quorum of the Committee: J. I. Wyer, Jr.,
E. H. Anderson, F. P. Hill, C. F. D. Belden
and W. H. Brett. Thomas L. Montgomery,
President of the American Library Associa-
tion, Herbert Putnam, General Director of
the War Library Service, and R. R. Bowker,
editor of the Library Jov/rnal, were also
present.
The minutes of the meeting of December 29,
1917, which had been distributed in type-
written form to all members of the Commit-
tee, were formally approved.
Audit. The Chairman submitted copy of
report (Appendix 1) from Arthur L. Bailey,
Chairman of the A. L. A. Finance Committee,
as made to the Executive Board of the Asso-
ciation, showing that in accordance w^ith the
recommendation of the War Service Com-
mittee of December 29, 1917, his Committee
had audited the accounts of the War Finance
Committee. This report was accompanied
by detailed statements from the Chairman
of the War Finance Committee covering re-
ceipts and expenditures in the various funds
handled by this Committee and which were
the subject of the audit.
The Chairman also reported approval by
the A. L. A. Executive Board (A. L. A. Bul-
letin, March, 1918, pp. 10-11) of the action
of this Committee of December 29, relating
to the investment of $500,000 in 4% U. S.
Treasury certificates and of the transfer to
the credit of the Executive Secretary of
$2,000 to be used to meet general expenses of
the Committee not justly chargeable to the
funds voted to the credit of the General
Director.
The attached statement was submitted by
the General Director ( Appendix 2 ) .
Acting on item A of this statement, it was
Voted, That the General Director be au-
thorized to make such transfers as he finds
necessary from one account to another, within
the appropriations which have already been
made to him, also to meet out of such appro-
priations the cost of any additional buildings
which may be required and any excess over
154
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
the sum set aside for the original buildings,
and to report such action to the Chairman
of the Committee.
Acting on item C, it was
Yoted, That any sums realized from the
sales of unavailable books, magazines or
reading matter, whether gift material or
other, shall either be turned over to treas-
urers of local campaign committees or be
accounted for directly to the treasurer of
the A. L. A.
A. L. A. Program. The Chairman reported
conference with the Secretary of the A. L. A.
relative to the report of the War Service
Committee at the Saratoga meeting and an
agreement, subject to approval by this Com-
mittee, that the full report of the General
Committee with supplementary reports from
sub-committees and a statement from the
General Director, be printed in advance and
distributed at Saratoga and that an oral
summary report of not over thirty minutes
be made to the Conference by the Chairman,
to be accompanied by an oral statement from
the General Director. This understanding
was ratified by President Montgomery and
agreed to by the Committee.
Visits to Camp Libraries. The Chairman
reported that he had visited sixteen camps
and camp libraries March 8 to 29, according
to memorandum submitted to each member
( *Appendix 3 ) , and that twenty-one different
camps where there are library buildings have
already been visited by members of the War
Service Committee and five additional camps
by the General Director.
Acting on item 8 of this memorandum, it
was
Yoted, That as many of the additional
camps as practicable should be visited by the
Chairman or some other member of the War
Service Committee designated by him between
this time and the A. L. A. Conference.
Use of Enlisted Men. The Secretary laid
before the Committee the following communi-
cation :
St. Louis, Mo., March 4, 1918.
George B. Utley, Esq.,
c/o Library of Congress,
Washington, D. C.
Dear Mr. Utley:
I have a copy of your circular letter of
February 28 to librarians, with regard to
camp library service. As I have said before,
I feel that there are more than enough com-
petent librarians now in military service to
take care of these libraries without drawing
on the A. L. A. funds, but we will never get
them if we are to rely on regimental com-
manders or even on the commanding officers
of the camps. We must get a Government
order from the War Department. We must
now be paying out a considerable sum from
our fund, even in the case of volunteer work-
ers whose subsistence and traveling expenses
have to be covered, and I believe that this
could all be saved. I may be wrong, but I
will not acknowledge it until the plan has
been tried and has failed.
Yours sincerely,
Aethub E. Bostwick,
Librarian.
As this letter touches the policy of the
War Service Committee in constituting the
personnel of its war library service, it was
unanimously recorded as the sense of the
Committee that any application to the War
Department such as this communication
would imply, would be quite unwarrantable,
as would any request for such continued ser-
vices of enlisted men as is likely to interfere
with their military preparation or duties.
Overseas Service. There were laid before
the Committee and read in full two detailed
reports (January 21 and February 26, 1918)
by M. L. Raney on the conditions affecting
its Overseas Service in Great Britain and
France.
Second Money Campaign. Mr. Brett laid
before the Committee a telegram asking
whether the A. L. A. War Service wished to
be represented, and in what amount, on the
formal program for the Cleveland war chest
Not printed.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
155
in May, 1918. The Chairman was directed to
reply in the affirmative and to suggest
amount.
The matter of a second money campaign
being thus specifically brought forward and
the sense of the Committee having been ex-
pressed that it must occur within the present
calendar year, it was
Voted, That the Chairman appoint a com-
mittee of three (of which he shall be one)
to consider and formulate plans for a second
money campaign and to report them at the
next meeting of the War Service Committee.
Further, that to this committee be referred
with power any matters relating to another
money campaign which may be brought to
the notice of the War Service Committee.
The Chairman thereupon named Dr. Hill
chairman and Mr. Belden third member of
this committee.
Attest :
J. I. Wteb, Jb.,
Chairman.
APPENDIX 1, April 4, 1918.
February 13, 1918.
To the Executive Board of the American
Library Association:
The Finance Committee of the Association
having at your request examined the ac-
counts of the Chairman of the War Finance
Committee, report as follows:
These accounts relate to two distinct lines
of action: (1) the campaign to secure the
fund for camp libraries, and (2) the accounts
of the fund itself.
As to the first, a partial audit was made
as of November 2, 1917, by Messrs. Marwick,
Mitchell, Peat & Co., chartered accountants.
This the Finance Committee have accepted.
This audit did not include certain advances
by the Assistant Treasurer to the War Ser-
vice Committee and certain payments of local
campaign expenses which were to be repaid
from the war fund. These items form
account E.
All of accounts A, B, D and E were veri-
fied by the Committee, the receipts checked
against the bank statements and all the ex-
penditures determined to have been covered
by properly approved vouchers.
As to the fund itself the expenditures have
not been authorized or controlled by the
War Finance Committee and the vouchers
for these expenditures are not in the pos-
session of its chairman. The receipts, how-
ever, have passed through his hands and have
been recorded in his account C. These re-
ceipts the Committee find to have been very
carefully credited to the communities con-
tributing. In some cases the State directors
have made detailed reports of the total
amount contributed from their States, and
in all but two of such cases the Committee
find that they are in absolute or very close
agreement with the record of receipts. In
other cases the directors' reports cover only
a portion of the contributions from a given
State, and in quite a large number there
were no State directors or no reports were
received from them.
In all cases of the last class and also when-
ever a considerable proportion of contribu-
tions was not covered by the directors'
reports the Committee examined the corre-
spondence and reports from the individual
towns and find that here also there is very
close agreement with the record.
The total amount stated in account C to
have been received by the War Finance Com-
mittee to and including January 19, 1918, is
$1,573,153.79, which amount was deposited
with the American Security and Trust Com-
pany of Washington as treasurer of the fund,
as shown by their statements up to and in-
cluding January 23, 1918. Deducting the
monthly contributions the deposits amounted
to $1,570,386.44.
The total amount stated in the directors'
reports and other correspondence to have
been contributed up to January 19, 1918, as
nearly as could be ascertained by the Com-
mittee, was $1,574,610.83. Almost the whole
of this difference occurred in the reports of
two States. After correspondence, it was
found that in some cases deductions for local
expenses had not been reported and in others
unpaid subscriptions had been reported as
contributions. Some of these have since been
156
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
paid. The few discrepancies remaining are
•till under investigation, but most of them
are almost certainly due to the same causes.
They are so small in amoimt, both abso-
lutely and relatively, that the Committee see
no reason for delaying their report, especially
as it would appear that the total amount
received is slightly greater than the total
reported as contributed.
The Committee desire to call attention to
and emphasize the great difficulties and com-
plexities of the work of receiving and record-
ing such a multitude of transactions, though
it would require a careful examination of the
correspondence to realize them fully. They
wish, therefore, to express their high appre-
ciation of the thoroughness, faithfulness and
accuracy with which the work has been
done.
Signed A. L. Bailey, Chairman,
H. W. Ckavee,
C. W. Andeews,
Committee.
APPENDIX 2, April 4, 1918.
RECOMMENDATION OF GENERAL DIREC-
TOR FOR MEETING APRIL 4, 1918
A. The monthly statement of the Disburs-
ing Officer for March (submitted herewith)
shows the balance to the item of sundry and
contingent expenses reduced, as of April 1st,
to less than $10,000, or plus interest on de-
posits, to about $12,000. For the needs of
the next three months this item will again
have to be substantially replenished.
B. Buildings.
1. Attached is a statement showing in
columns (a) the cost of each Camp Library
building to date, (b) the additional cost of
its equipment (so far as possibly chargeable
to the Carnegie Grant), (c) the total for
each, (d) the margin or excess on each as
compared with the $10,000 limit.
In the case of nine buildings there is an
excess. The buildings are Devens, Dix, Fun-
•ton. Grant, Lee, Meade, Pike, Sherman, Up-
ton; and the excess runs from $355.70 in the
case of Pike to nearly $5,000 in the case of
Devens. An addition planned at Lewis may
involve a slight excess.
So long as the total expenditure on the
building and equipment account will be
within the total ($320,000) of the grant, it
is of course possible that the corporation will
permit any such excesses to be met out of
the grant. In the contingency that it may
refuse to do so, however, I ask authority to
meet any such excess from the General Fund
(item "miscellaneous" of the budget).
2. Construction of a building may prove
necessary at Newport News. As it will pre-
sumably be outside the scope of the grant, I
ask authority to construct it from the Gen-
eral Fund (same item).
3. Small — perhaps portable — building*
may prove necessary at some of the smaller
posts; and perhaps a 93-foot building at
Yorktown. As action upon them, if deter-
mined, may have to be summary, I recom-
mend that the budget be understood to be
applicable to the construction of necessary
buildings as well as the lease of them.
C. Sales of undesirable books, magazines,
newspapers.
These have been in vogue from the outset,
but, so far as I know, have never been for-
mally authorized by the Committee. A vote
authorizing them seems desirable.
N. B. Prior to my administration receipts
from such sales were deemed applicable to
petty local expenses or transportation. They
are now supposed to be covered into the
General Fund. This seems the prudent
course.
New York Public Library, 10 a. m.,
June 8, 1918.
Present: Edwin H. Anderson, Charles
Belden, Elecitra C. Doren, Frank P. Hill,
James I. Wyer, Jr., of the Committee (being
a quorum), Thomas L. Montgomery, Presi-
dent of the American Library Association,
and after 11 o'clock, Herbert Putnam, Gen-
eral Director of the Library War Service.
Voted, That the minutes of the meeting of
April 4 be approved without reading as type-
written and sent to all members of the Com-
mittee.
The Chairman laid before the Committee
a report from Mr. Hill of his visit to ten
WAE SERVICE COMMITTEE
157
southern camps and six cities where library
service to the troops is or is about to be
inaugurated.
Second Money Campaign. The following
report was presented by the Committee ap-
pointed April 4, 1918, to prepare a plan of
organization for a second money campaign
and to report this to members of the War
Service Committee.
TENTATIVE ORGANIZATION
Need for More Funds. At the time of the
first campaign the need for books in our
military and naval camps was of necessity
largely a matter of conjecture because it had
not been definitely demonstrated. The first
appeal was therefore a conservative one.
The need for library service, an abundant
supply of good, interesting and instructive
books and a competent, expert personnel to
administer them has now been clearly shown,
and the demand from overseas and from
home camps and stations has been far beyond
the expectation of those closely connected
with the work.
The amoimt subscribed in the first cam-
paign will be exhausted in six months, while
opportunities for service and demands from
new quarters (and especially from overseas)
are daily presented.
The American Library Association must
therefore make another appeal for funds.
The Prospect. (1) The campaign for funds
held in the fall of 1917 and that for books
held in the spring of 1918 have educated
the general public as to the library needs of
our soldiers and sailors, and individual ex-
perience and observation in the first year
of the war will have done much to impress
these facts upon the public mind.
(2) Hundreds of towns and cities took
part in the first campaign. Practically all
of these will be ready to participate in a new
drive, while, in addition, a number of places
which for one reason or another did not put
on a campaign will be stimulated by the
success of the first campaign to take part in
the second.
(3) By the time this second campaign is
made the War Service of the American Li-
brary Association will have been in operation
a full year. It is already possible to collect
an impressive exhibit of testimony to the
need, value and efficiency of this service from
public officials, camp commanders, officers and
men. The work itself should be its own
best advertisement and appeal.
Goal. Three million dollars or more,. as the
necessities shall appear to the Library War
Finance Committee.
Quota. Ten cents per capita, computed on
latest available population figures, except
that in cities of more than 250,000 the quota
shall be five cents per capita, or to be de-
termined by the Library War Finance Com-
mittee and its Chairman after goal is settled,
from the results of other money drives and
conditions existing in different States and
cities.
Time of Campaign. Preferably between
November 15 and December 1, 1918, but final
decision to rest with the Library War Fi-
nance Committee.
Headquarters. Washington or New York?
Decision to rest with Library War Finance
Committee.
Plan. The following plan was approved as
the present sense of the War Service Com-
mittee and by it referred to the Library War
Finance Committee with power to alter or
revise.
A. To raise $3,000,000 to intensify and
expand the present service; to purchase
books for old and new camps, stations, etc.;
to replace books worn out by use; to fur-
nish many trained librarians for service in
connection with the selection, distribution
and use of books; to provide library build-
ings in France and probable additional
buildings in United States.
B. Appointment of Library War Council
same as before with the addition of repre-
sentative men and women from sections of
the country not represented in the original
Council, possibly making a full membership
of 25 or even more.
C. Appointment by the Chairman of the
War Service Committee of Chairman of Li-
brary War Finance Committee with power
to select committee and to manage campaign
158
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
as in 1917. It is desirable that this appoint-
ment be made at once in order that details of
organization be presented at the Saratoga
meeting.
D. National organization.
1. National campaign manager (a non-
librarian in whose hand will be the expert
direction of the campaign) .
a. A Publicity Director.
Under this officer there should be cre-
ated a formally organized Speakers' Bu-
reau with personnel for each State and
indication of men and women available
nationally. A speaker's manual should
also be prepared and printed.
2. Treasurer of Fund (now American Se-
curity and Trust Company, Washington).
a. Comptroller or Assistant Treasurer.
3. Ten or fifteen Division Directors (these
for the most part to be librarians familiar
with the libraries in the several districts)
to be assisted by paid publicity men.
" If there is a National Publicity Director,
why should he not provide publicity material
for the entire country, including copy for
newspapers? It seems to me that instead of
having Division Directors assisted by paid
puilicity men, let us have them assisted by
paid organization men, one for each district.
Perhaps Dr. Hill means the same thing as
I do, but there should be men available who
are accustomed to organize work in cities and
towns for such a drive, and divisional direc-
tors need such help, as few librarians have
had much experience in raising funds or
building up an organization to raise funds."
(Mr, Belden.)
E. State Organization.
1. State campaign director, i. e., executive
officer of State War Council (usually and
preferably a librarian).
Selected by the Division Director and ap-
pointed by the Library War Council and
Library War Finance Committee.
2. State War Council.
Selected by the Division Directors in con-
ference with the State Campaign Director
and consisting of about ten of the leading
trustees or prominent people of the State,
with proved business ability and experience
in raising money, to confer with division and
State directors, plan State campaign, and see
that a campaign is started in every city and
town of the State.
3. State Treasurer.
Selected by State War Council and ap-
pointed by the Library War Council and
Finance Committee.
F. Local organizations.
1. Local War Council to consist of local
library board and a number of prominent
men and women of the community which will
act as an Advisory Board. The local library
board should select the men and women of
the commimity who should be included in
this council. What should be the local or-
ganization when the library board refuses
to approve? Should procedure be as in 3 be-
low? Is it worth trying to put on a cam-
paign where the library board definitely re-
fuses to sponsor it?
2. Local campaign director to be selected
by the Local War Council, may be the public
librarian (though not one librarian in ten
is the best person for local director) but
must be a man or woman whose importance
in the community and whose knowledge of
and sympathy with library work are matters
of public acknowledgment. He will be the
executive officer of the Local War Council.
3. In places where there are no libraries
the local campaign director to be either
(a) mayor or man appointed by him, (b)
superintendent of schools, (c) president of
woman's club.
Suggested Procedure. 1. Conference of
Division Directors with Chairman of Library
War Finance Committee and National Cam-
paign Director, at least two or preferably
three months before date set for campaign.
2. Selection of State Campaign Directors
and appointment of State War Councils as
early as possible.
3. Selection of local Campaign Directors
and appointment of Local War Councils.
4. State meetings arranged by the State
War Council and State Director in conference
with the Division Director, Effort should be
made to secure the attendance of as large a
nimiber of local directors and representatives
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
159
of the local war councils as possible. Good
speakers should be provided and plans for
local and State campaigns thoroughly dis-
cussed.
5. Local War Councils and Local Campaign
Director should appoint committees to organ-
ize the work along the following lines:
a. Publicity.
b. Individual subscriptions of considerable
amounts.
c. Theatres.
d. Churches.
e. Fraternal associations.
f. Art, literary, educational and profes-
sional associations.
g. Schools, colleges, etc.
h. Mercantile establishments, including de-
partment stores and especially the book trade.
i. Chambers of commerce, boards of trade,
rotary clubs, etc.
j. General public, house to house campaign.
The above groups to select and instruct
corps of workers in their fields with repre-
sentatives, where necessary, in different sec-
tions of the city. Where public library has
branches in various parts of the city, these
should be used as centers for neighborhood
work.
6. Meeting of local war councils, campaign
directors and committees to follow State
meetings.
7. Mass meeting of all workers and com-
mittee directors to arouse enthusiasm just
before opening of campaign.
Estimated Cost of Campaign. $75,000 for
National and local expenses. ( Mr. Hill. )
$150,000. '• Money must be spent in order
to get money." (Mr. Belden.)
$120,000. "The last campaign cost 4.3%
and that is all such a campaign should cost."
(Mr. Wyer.)
Suggestions for Campaign Workers. In the
last campaign it was apparently taken for
granted that everybody knew how to solicit
money, while, as a matter of fact, librarians
as a class are quite imfamiliar with eflforts
to raise large sums of money by popular sub-
scriptions. There should be a campaign
handbook for local workers which should in-
clude suggestions as to methods which have
been found effective.
Immediate Publicity. Notice should be
sent at once to all librarians that a second
campaign is to be put on so that the project
may be included in any local war chest which
is being made up.
Second Money Campaign. The Chairman
announced the appointment of Mr. Hill as
Chairman of a new sub-committee on Library
War Finance with power to appoint other
members of the Committee. It was thereupon
Voted, That the following action of the
War Service Committee be recommended to
the Executive Board of the American Library
Association for its approval.
That the War Service Committee of the
American Library Association, through its
sub-committee on Library War Finance, be
authorized to prepare a plan for a second
financial campaign, to solicit funds in the
name of the American Library Association
for the purpose of providing books and per-
sonal library service to soldiers and sailors
in this country and abroad and for carrying
on such other activities as are manifestly
related to library war service. The funds so
collected shall be styled " The American Li-
brary Association Second War Service Fund."
Assuming favorable action on the fore-
going, the War Service Committee passed the
following supplementary votes which are like-
wise submitted for the approval of the Execu-
tive Board.
Voted, That after approval by the Execu-
tive Board of the A. L. A. the American
Security and Trust Co., as treasurer, is au-
thorized and requested from the A. L. A.
War Service moneys now in its hands to
transfer $75,000 (seventy-five thousand dol-
lars) from the General Fund to a fund to be
called " The Campaign Fund," such sum to
be an initial appropriation for the purpose
of meeting expenses in the second financial
campaign.
Voted, That this " Campaign Fund " shall
be kept separate from the two War Service
Funds and shall be expended under the au-
160
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
thorization of the Library War Finance
Committee.
The War Service Committee notifies the
Executive Board at this time that it will
later approve and nominate to said Board
a depository which shall act as treasurer for
the " American Library Association Second
War Service Fund."
Report from General Director. The General
Director reported that to avoid the serious
impairment of efficiency incident to the sum-
mer climate of Washington he is proposing
to transfer the Headquarters for the summer
to Albany, N. Y., this on the assumption that
accommodations for them may be furnished
by the New York State Library.
He further brought to the notice of the
Committee the figures in the Report of the
Disbursing Officer for May 31, showing a
balance of less than $90,000 in all funds ex-
cept the Carnegie Corporation fund for build-
ings, and requested a grant of $60,000, the
sum estimated as needed to carry the work
of his office until July 1st. The Committee
thereupon
Voted, That the American Security and
Trust Co., as Treasurer, is authorized and
requested from the A. L. A. War Service
moneys in its hands to transfer to the account
of the A. L. A. War Service Fund, Herbert
Putnam, General Director, the sum of sev-
enty-five thousand dollars ($75,000) in ad-
dition to all similar grants heretofore au-
thorized.
Grant for General Purposes. A detailed
statement of bills paid from the $2,000 fund
voted by the Committee on December 29,
1917:
General Expenses War Service Committee, December 29, IQll-May 31, 1918
Auditing accounts of War Finance Committee:
F. P. Hill, meals for A. L. A. Finance Committee $23 82
A. L. Bailey, travel account 29 37
C. W. Andrews 105 31
Transfer of accounts to Treasurer, A. L. A. :
C. B. Roden, travel account 80 43
H. Lovi, travel account 85 26
Belated Campaign expenses:
P. L. Windsor 9 50
C. & P. Telephone Co 59 20
Underwood Typewriter Co 7 00
J. C. Fitzpatrick, compiling tables 87 50
W. U. Telegraph Co 4 01
Postal Telegraph Co 54
Denver Public Library 79 24
E. K. Steele, printing 8 00
Evans Penfield Co., printing 9 00
Expenses War Service Committee:
Printing 29 30
Travel, members attending meetings 244 47
Travel, members visiting camps 424 91
Sub-committee on Food Information 13 75
$1,300 61
showing a balance on hand of $700, with con-
siderable expenses in prospect incident to the
Saratoga meeting, it was
Voted, That, after approval by the Execu-
tive Board of the American Library Associa-
tion, the American Security and Trust Com-
pany, as treasurer, is authorized and re-
quested from the A. L. A. War Service
moneys in its hands, to transfer to the credit
of George B. Utley, Executive Secretary, the
sum of $2,000, to be used to meet general
expenses of the Committee not justly charge-
able to the fund voted to the credit of the
War Service Fund, Herbert Putnam, General
Director; bills covering such expenses to be
approved by the Chairman of the Committee,
and checks to be drawn and signed by George
B. Utley, Executive Secretary.
Adjourned.
Attest:
J. I. Wti», Jb.
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE 161
APPENDIX B
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
Total Receipts and DisbursementB, Library War Fund, August 17, 1917-May 31, 1918
Receipts
Cash subscriptions $1,739,801 37
Liberty Bonds received as contributions 300 00
Gift for library building at Great Lakes 10,000 00
Interest on balances of General Committee to January 1, 1918 1,614 62
Refunded of $70,000 transfer to Peoples Trust Co. (campaign expenses) 3,944 42
Checks once credited, returned for endorsement and later re-deposited 1,146 50
Total deposits in American Security and Trust Co. as shovm by its state-
ments and by audit of Marwick, Mitchell, Peat & Co. under date of
June 11, 1918. (copy filed with Chairman) $1,756,806 91
DiSBUBSEMENTS
Transfers to account Herbert Putnam, General Director - $900,020 00
Transfers to Peoples Trust Co., Brooklyn (campaign expenses) 70,000 00
Transfers to G. B. Utley, Executive Secretary (expenses of General Committee 2,000 00
Bills paid by Committee before General Director took over the work 2,036 08
Assets
$500,000 4 per cent. U. S. Treasury certificates at par, and accrued interest to
4 January, 1918 (due 25 June, 1918) 500,109 69
Bonds of the second Liberty Loan to par value of 300 00
Cash balance in American Security and Trust Co. 31 May, 1918 282,341 24
$1,756,806 91
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
Receipts and Expenditures by the General Director
Regeipts
Voted by Committee:
General purposes $545,020 00
Carnegie Corporation Grant (buildings) 320,000 00
Gift for building. Great Lakes 10,000 00
Book campaign 25,000 00
Interest on current account 2,429 27
$902,449 27
Payments (October 4, 1917-May 31, 1918)
37 buildings (on account) $287,713 54
Service 85,201 49
Books (including freight and book campaign expenses) 243,277 57
Equipment ( including automobiles) 41,394 37
Miscellaneous (including travel, maintenance, supplies) 64,949 73
Advances to camp librarians and overseas work 33,500 00
Balance May 31, 1918 146,412 57
$902,449 27
Payments have averaged about $94,500 per month. The above la a summary statement
compiled to serve the Committee. A detailed financial statement of the General Director**
expenditures appears in his report.
162
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
APPENDIX C
PUBLICATIONS
The principal publications of general in-
terest issued during the year, in addition
to the three pamphlets forming this report,
are:
Koch, T. W. War Service of the American
Library Association. 37 p. 1918.
A popular, illustrated account of Camp
Library Service. Distributed from Head-
quarters.
War Library Bulletin. Vol. 1, Nos. 1-7.
Aug., 1917-July, 1918.
Information Circular. No. 1-date. Nov.
20, 1917-date.
Mimeographed information for Camp
Librarians and members of the Commit-
tee.
Press Bulletin. Feb. 2, 1918, and weekly
thereafter.
Publicity medium for the Library War
Service.
In Allen and Fosdick, Keeping our Fight-
ers Fit, 1918, there is a chapter describ-
ing the A. L. A. War Service.
Brief Articles on Camp libraries, What the
soldier reads and the work of the A. L. A.
occur in Dial, 31 Jan. and 23 May, 1918;
Literary Digest, 21 July, 11 Aug., 18
Aug., 10 Nov., 1917, and 6 April, 1918;
Nation, 25 Oct., 1917, and 21 Mar., 1918;
Outlook, 3 April, 1918; Nation, 25 Oct.,
1917, and 21 Mar., 1918; Southern Work-
man, June, 1918; World's Work, April,
1918.
THE MILLION DOLLAR CAMPAIGN
163
Story of the
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION CAMPAIGN
FOR $ J, 000,000
bV
Frank P. Hill, Chairman A. L. A. War Finance Committee
and Emma V. Baldwin, Secretary
In the spring of 1917 the President of
the American Library Association, Mr.
Walter L. Brown, appointed a committee
to report on "Our libraries and the War."
This report recommended, among other
important matters, that a War Committee
be appointed and that this War Commit-
tee be authorized to solicit funds for the
establishment and administration of libra-
ries in the camps and cantonments.
Such a "working committee" was ap-
pointed by the President at the Louisville
Conference, and Dr. Herbert Putnam and
R. R. Bowker of the original committee
having declined reappointment, their
places were filled by the appointment of
J. I. Wyer, Jr., as chairman, and Frank P.
Hill.
Several meetings of the War Service
Committee, as it was finally designated,
were held at Louisville, and subcommit-
tees appointed. Frank P. Hill was named
chairman of the Finance Committee, with
power to appoint other members. He
asked time to consider this offer, stating
that it would require a large sum of money
to put the enterprise on a solid basis, and
that unless a way could be found to raise
the required funds it would be useless to
undertake it. The first encouragement
came from Miss Josephine A. Rathbone of
Pratt Institute, who suggested that month-
ly pledges be secured from librarians and
others interested. A start was made in
this direction at Louisville, where pledges
amounting to over $100 per month were
made.
The first individual subscription was of
$5,000, from Alfred Hafner, a life member
of the Association.
Although the amount already pledged on
the monthly subscription basis would not
go far toward making up the total amount
needed it was an indication of the sym-
pathy of librarians throughout the coun-
try. With this evidence of their willing-
ness to cooperate, the chairman worked
out a plan for reaching:
(a) 3,000 members of the A. L. A.
(b) 6,000 libraries.
(c) Library commissions, library asso-
ciations, etc.
(d) Trustees of the 6,000 libraries.
(e) Interested friends and patrons of
libraries.
While the plan formed an excellent
basis, the chairman of the War Finance
Committee was not satisfied that it would
produce the required amount of money,
and it was not until a further considera-
tion showed that an expansion of the
tentative plan could be devised, that he
accepted the position of chairman.
He then began the study of ' possibilities
and prepared a budget which called for not
less than $250,000 for buildings, $250,000
for books and $128,700 for the expenses
for the first year.
Realizing the necessity of securing the
cooperation of librarians in all parts of the
country, and appreciating the advantage
of securing the counsel and advice of men
of financial and business experience, the
chairman then selected a representative
committee including the librarian and a
member of the Board of Trustees of some
of the larger libraries of the country.
The complete committee is named on p. 3.
Returning from Louisville the chairman
of the War Service Committee and the
164
SARATOGA SPRING'S CONFERENCE
chairman of the War Finance Committee
stopped at White Sulphur Springs where
they met Mr. Edward L. Tilton, architect,
who had been asked by the chairman of
the Finance Committee to serve on that
committee in order that the War Service
Committee might have the benefit of his
judgment and experience. At this confer-
ence it was decided that unless the work
could be planned on a large scale there
was no use to attempt it, and that it would
require a large amount of money to put
through the project in a way to bring
credit to the A. L. A.
En route home Messrs. Wyer, Tilton and
Hill stopped at Washington and found that
Dr. Putnam as the representative of the
American Library Association had been
requested by Mr. Raymond B. Fosdick,
chairman of the Commission on Training
Camp Activities, to erect library build-
ings at the various camps and canton-
ments and to furnish books to soldiers and
sailors. This placed us in direct ofiicial
relations with the War Department, and by
appointment we visited the Quartermas-
ter's Department and on plans located
buildings at the camps.
Reaching New York Mr. Tilton, who had
been reminded that the A. L. A. needed the
active cooperation of the Carnegie Corpo-
ration, invited Messrs. Putnam, Wyer and
Hill to meet Messrs. James Bertram and
R. A. Franks, representatives of the Car-
negie Corporation, at luncheon July 5,
1917. At the luncheon a letter submitted
by the chairman of the War Service Com-
mittee, asking for $320,000 for the erec-
tion of thirty-two library buildings was
discussed, and it was evident that the
proposition appealed to the representatives
of the Carnegie Corporation present. Very
late in the summer the Corporation acted
favorably upon the request, conditioned
upon the A. L. A. first raising an equiva-
lent amount.
The tentative plan for raising the money
outlined by the chairman was submitted
to several people acquainted with "drives"
in the hope of assistance in expanding it,
but it was not until the Red Cross head-
quarters at Washington was visited that
real help came. Our representatives were
turned over to Mr. Harold Braddock, who
had been in the thick of the big Red Cross
drive for $100,000,000, to whom the tenta-
tive plan was submitted. After considera-
tion he reported that by the extension of
our plan, it would be comparatively easy
to raise $1,000,000 through the agency of
the A. L. A.
Together we worked out the final draft*
and submitted it to Messrs. Henius,
Brett, Cole, Levi, Hafner and Tilton of
the War Finance Committee, who met
at the New York Public Library, July 23,
1918.
To put on a drive to raise $1,000,000' re-
quired the raising of $50,000 for expenses,
and. this proved a stumbling-block, until
Dr. Max Henius, then president of the Chi-
cago Public Library Board, suggested that
the amount be underwritten by libraries
and individuals at $1,000 each. As a test
of sincerity of purpose $3,000 was immedi-
ately pledged for this purpose.
On July 28 at a meeting in Atlantic City
of a few librarians from the states of New
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela-
ware and Connecticut and the District of
Columbia the sum of $7,000 more was
raised.
The committee having met with this en-
couragement sent out an appeal to fifty-
three libraries with the result that
$50,000 was pledged in less than two
weeks, of which only the sum of $44,-
700 was called for. A list of the contrib-
utors appears as Appendix A.
This sum was raised with the dis-
tinct understanding that the amounts
should be paid back to the contributors
after the $1,000,000 fund had been raised.
(It was understood that the fund was for
general expenses but when it was found
that local expenses would be contracted
and must be guaranteed by the Finance
Committee the War Service Committee
appropriated $70,000 to pay back the con-
tributors and to meet local expenses. This
•The draft was later printed and distrib-
uted In pamphlet form.
THE MILLION DOLLAR CAMPAIGN
165
account is to be found in detail in Ap-
pendix B.)
The project was now fairly launched.
Mr. Braddock was selected as Campaign
Director, and he in turn engaged Harold
Flack as Assistant Director and D. P.
Beardsley as Assistant Treasurer. To
these men and especially to Mr. Braddock,
-Who worked indefatigably day and night,
much of the success of organizing and de-
veloping the campaign is due.
The Secretary of War gave his sanction
to the plan by the appointment of the
following Library War' Council to assist
the A. L. A. War Finance Committee:
Frank A. Vanderlip, Chairman,
Asa G. Candler,
P. P. Claxton,
J. Randolph Coolidge,
Mrs. Josiah E. Cowles,
John H. Finley,
James A. Flaherty,
E. T. Stotesbury,
Theodore N. Vail,
Harry A. Wheeler.
This Council rendered the greatest ma-
terial service, both nationally and locally,
to the committee, several of the members
taking active part in local campaigns.
Headquarters of the Finance Commit-
tee was established at the Public Libra-
ry, Washington, D. C, whose trustees had
generously offered space in the library
building for the purpose.
Early in August the organization was
completed by the employment of twelve
field directors whose duty it was to set up
the machinery in the states and cities, and
to assist local directors in placing the sub-
ject before the people of the country.
In order to present the plan of cam-
paign before as many people as possible,
a conference of librarians and trustees
was called to meet in Washington, August
14, 1917. This was attended by about one
hundred members of the A. L. A. and was
addressed by Mr. Raymond B. Fosdick,
chairman of the Commission on Training
Camp Activities, and by Dr. P. P. Claxton,
Commissioner of Education, and J, Ran-
dolph Coolidge, Jr., members of the Libra-
ry War Council.
A second session was held on the fol-
lowing morning when instructions were
given to field directors and library repre-
sentatives from various sections of the
country.
Those who attended this conference en-
thusiastically endorsed the plan of cam-
paign, and went home filled with confi-
dence that the country would respond to
the appeal made by the American Library
Association for $1,000,000. This confidence
was not misplaced. Librarians, trustees
and friends all over the country entered
into the nationwide campaign with faith,
hope and optimism.
The result of the efforts of the com-
bined agencies went beyond the fondest
expectations of the most sanguine and is
shown in Table C, which gives the details
of receipts by states and cities, together
with the expenses of collection.
To raise $1,000,000 from a nation with
over a hundred million inhabitants re-
quired the contribution in dollars equal to
less than one per cent of the population.
In view of the shortness of time In which
to arouse an interest in the project and to
complete the necessary organization for
the work, it seemed probable that we
should be obliged in this campaign to de-
pend almost entirely upon the larger
cities, although the smaller communities
were not neglected in the appeal. It was
therefore decided to request each com-
munity to raise a sum equal to five per
cent of its population, with the idea that
the cities participating in the campaign
would make up for those communities
which could not be reached. In their en-
thusiasm some cities set goals in excess
of that apportionment. Contrary to our
expectations, however, it was in the small
communities that the fund received the
most liberal support, and consequently,
while few large cities reached their goal
of five per cent many of the small towns
reported receipts far in excess of their
goals. The reasons for this are easy to un-
derstand when we consider the complica-
tions of modern urban life and the diffi-
culty of securing concerted action.
168
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
In the original plan the week of Sep-
tember 24 was set as the time for the
drive, but many communities were so im-
patient to get the work started that funds
were solicited almost as soon as the plan
was announced. At the beginning of the
drive many circumstances tended to in-
crease the difficulties of the workers, such
as the vast numbers of influential people
who were away on vacation; conflict with
other campaigns; pressure of local busi-
ness, etc., but though disappointed, the li-
brarians on the whole were not disheart-
ened, and continued to work in spite of all
drawbacks.
The campaign was peculiar in many re-
spects. In the first place, the amount to
be raised was in reality a very small sum
when considered In relation to the popu-
lation and resources of the country. As a
consequence the elaborate organization
which had been necessary in the Red Cross
campaign was not needed In this. The
task given the field directors was a new
one, for in most campaigns they are sent
to do intensive work in cities within a
limited territory, while in this campaign a
single field director was assigned to a group
of states. The field directors, too, were
handicapped by their lack of knowledge of
librarians and library conditions, and some
of the librarians, on their side, expected
that the field directors, being experts,
were to raise the fund without help.
But what was lacking in experience was
made up in determination. This was
shown by the practically unanimous re-
quest that came from all parts of the
country for permission to continue the
campaign beyond the week which had
been set for it. In place of being eager to
drop the work most librarians seemed to
be reluctant to give up until every avail-
able dollar had been secured. Returns
continued to pour In during the last three
months of the year and over $27,000 was
received on the last day of December.
The goal set in this campaign was not
only reached, it was almost doubled. While
this result was made possible only by the
hard and continuous work on the part of
librarians, trustees and the civic organiza-
tions and other Individuals who partici-
pated in this work, we believe most libra-
rians will endorse the statement made by
one of our members:
"It has been a strong pull but I am glad
we decided to do our part. Better than the
four thousand dollars contributed is the
very general Interest and appreciation of
the whole thing by the many people who
have made their small contributions, run-
ning all the way from three cents, from a
poor Polish woman, to a hundred dollars.
The byproduct of interest in our local li-
brary is worth much to us."
The total net amount raised, as reported
by the chairman of the War Finance Com-
mittee on January 19, 1918, when the final
report in detail was submitted to the
A. L. A. Finance Committee, was $1,570,-
386.44 in cash, with additional subscrip-
tions reported but not received, bringing
the grand total up to $1,727,554.25. (Table
C shows the total amount received up to
April 1.)
Fear was expressed by some librarians
that the cost of collecting the money
would be out of proportion to the amount
received. The committee is gratified to re-
port that the cost was kept within reason-
able limits and amounted to 4.2 per cent,
including amounts spent nationally as well
as those reported by the various states and
cities.
On October 3, when the cash receipts
warranted the A. L, A. In going ahead, the
Finance Committee recommended the ap-
pointment of Dr. Herbert Putnam, Libra-
rian of Congress, as General Director, and
the War Service Committee acted favor-
ably upon the recommendation. Since the
above date the administration of the af-
fairs of the War Service Committee has
been in the hands of Dr. Putnam.
The War Finance Committee found that
It could not close Its accounts at once and
so continued until January 19, 1918, when
the A. L. A. Finance Committee audited
the accounts and made Its report to the
Executive Board.
The response of the American people to
THE MILLION DOLLAR CAMPAIGN
167
our appeal for funds for the conduct of the
work which the government selected us to
do has been extremely generous. Through-
out the campaign the A. L. A. through its
appointed representatives pledged the peo-
ple of this country to furnish books and
libraries to our soldiers and sailors wher-
ever they might be. This work is con-
stantly increasing in scope, and the task of
meeting the demands and fulfilling our
part in the war work of the nation de-
mands the very best thought and effort of
the members of the American Library As-
sociation; and the months to come will
test and try us In every conceivable way,
and prove whether or no we are worthy
of the confidence which has been placed in
us by the American people.
The Finance Committee under whose di-
rection the campaign was conducted deep-
ly appreciates the splendid response which
was made in all parts of the country, and
desires to acknowledge its indebtedness to
all those who cooperated in this work and
contributed so largely to the success of
the undertaking.
168 SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
APPENDIX A
List of Contributors to Campaign Fund
John Ashhurst $ 100.00
Baker & Taylor Co 1,000.00
Birmingham Public Library 1,000.00
Brooklyn Public Library 1,000.00
Chivers Book Binding Co T 1,000.00
Detroit Public Library 1,000.00
Alfred Hafner 2,000.00
Dr. Max Henius 1,000.00
John Crerar Library 1,000.00
Library Bureau 1,000.00
Minneapolis Public Library 500.00
Thomas L. Montgomery 100.00
New Orleans Public Library 1,000.00
New York Public Library 1,000.00
New York State Library 1,000.00
Pratt Institute Free Library 1,000.00
Providence Public Library 1,000.00
Rockefeller Foundation 25,000.00
Washington County (Md.) Free Library 1,000.00
Youngstown Public Library 1,000.00
American Library Association 2,000.00
$44,700.00
THE MILLION DOLLAR CAMPAIGN IW
APPENDIX B
Statement of Receipts and Disbursements of the Library War Fund of the A. L. A.
(Bool<s for Soidiers) to the Time the Fund was Transferred from the
War Finance Committee to C. B. Roden, Treasurer of the A. L. A.
American Security & Trust Co., Treasurer.
Receipts
August to December, incl., 1917 $1,522,797.06
January 1 to 19, Incl., 1918 50,356.73
$1,573,153.79
Interest to December 31, 1917 1,614.62 $1,574,768.41
Disbursements
Campaign expense detailed below $70,000.00
Sundries 2,036.00
To Herbert Putnam, general director 787,720,00
To George B. Utley, executive secretary, War Service Com.. 2,000.00
To purchase of U. S. Treas. Certificates 500,000.00
To accrued interest of U. S. Treas. Certificates to Jan, 4 109.59
Balance in bank, Jan. 23, 1918* 212,902.74 $1,574,768.41
Report of Disbursements of the Campaign Expense Fund
of $70,000
Sundry bills paid by People's Trust Co $ 352.64
Salaries 22,423.52
Maintenance 6,120.98
Travel 5,618.08
Telephone and telegraph 3,919.89
Postage and express 3,423.93
Advertising and printing 22,430.36
Oflice supplies and expense 1,568.43
Contingencies 331.32
$66,189.15
Balance (returned to the American Security & Trust Co., treas.) 3,810.35
$70,000.00
•Checks deposited on Jan. 19 in Brooklyn not received at bank until Jan. 23.
170
SARATOGA SPRING'S CONFERENCE
Statement of Contributions to the Li
Campaign E
APPENDIX C
brary War Fun
xpenses to Feb
Receipts
State-
Monthly
sub-
scriptions
Alabama $ 22.00
Arizona
Arkansas
California 82.00
Colorado
Connecticut 151.00
Delaware
District of Columbia 181.50
Florida
Georgia 33.40
Idaho
Illinois 220.OS
Indiana 50.00
Iowa 82.10
Kansas 22.00
Kentucky 23.00
Louisiana 6.00
Maine l.OO
Maryland 7.00
Massachusetts 233.50
Michigan 126.00
Minnesota 87.00
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada .
New Hampshire
62.10
4.00
14.00
16.00
New Jersey 113.00
New Mexico
New York 470.50
North Carolina 5.00
North Dakota lO.OO
Ohio 178.00
Oklahoma 4.00
Oregon 59.15
Pennsylvania 244.00
Rhode Island 24.00
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virg^inia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Hawaii
New Zealand
Carnegie Corpora-
tion
Anonymous
Misc. and no ad-
dress* ;
General National
Headquarters . . .
Adv. to War Finance
Com. and War
Serv. Com
5.00
7.00
43.00
27.00
12.00
20.00
26.05
82.00
18.00
Campaign
subscriptions
$ 11,808.34
2,257.85
7,766.81
48,216.30
19,388.68
62,985.53
13,422.58
10,416.57
3,174.93
6,294.85
849.50
112,740.13
48,361.55
35,216.70
8,125.33
4,284.83
8,435.52
3,465.18
16,471.81
190,955.06
33,931.95
39,031.05
4,505.22
20,971.91
1,134.36
11,382.20
140.00
15,300.92
51,077.66
30.45
220,685.68
4,831.77
5,898.48
104,435.43
2,204.91
18,536.98
93,725.78
25,874.85
5,806.78
9,393.96
14,121.55
16,347.39
6,000.00
13,549.52
15,315.52
21,829.73
1,780.23
41,296.40
4,442.97
320,000.00
2.00
33.50
Total
11,830.34 $
2,257.85
7,766.81
48,298.30
19,388.68
63,136.53
13,422.58
10,598.07
3,174.93
6,328.25
849.50
112,960.18
48,411.55
35,298.80
8,147.33
4,307.83
8,441.52
3,466.18
16,478.81
191,188.56
34,057.95
39,118.05
4,505.22
21,034.01
1,138.36
11,396.20
140.00
15,316.92
51,190.66
30.45
221,156.18
4,836.77
5,908.48
104,613.43
2,208.91
18,596.13
93,969.78
25,898.85
5,806.78
9,398.96
14,128.55
16,390.39
6,027.00
13,561.52
15,335.52
21,855.78
1,780.23
41,378.40
4,442.97
18.00
1.00
320,000.00
2.00
33.50
$2,771.35 $1,738,258.20 $1,741,029.55
•Mary E. Don $ 5.00
Jessie E. MacCurdy 1.00
Diminica Public Libi'ary
Faze Benson
Agnes J. Brown
Nellie Burmeister .i
Phillis Campbell
Mrs. A. D. Case
Kate Epples
10.00
.so
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
Ruth Hummell .
Glenna Kelly . . .
Helen M. Morse
Zenna Osgood ..
G. N. Patton ...
Jessie M. Poppy.
Verda Ratcliff . .
Elsie J. Eamley..
A. J. Royal
d to April 1, 1918,t together with the
ruary 1, 1918
-Expenditures v
Paid
by War
Finance Total
Committee expenses
■ 430.02
81.60
Gross
receipts
12,260.36
2,257.85
7,766.81
48,298.30
19,536.73
63,434.48
13,422.58
10.598.07
3,383.12
6,626.65
849.50
114,441.46
49,414.42
35,298.80
8,166.71
4,590.15
8,441.52
3,466.18
16,478.81
191,199.79
34,178.67
39,118.05
4,648.09
21,634.01
1,138.36
11,396.20
140.00
15,316.92
51,190.66
30.45
221,540.71
4,836.77
5,908.48
105,161.68
2,208.91
19,624.33
94,092.87
25,912.15
5,806.78
9,438.45
14,128.55
16,390.39
6,027.00
13,561.52
15.335.52
22;397.38
1,780.23
42,333.42
4,442.97
18.00
1.00
320,000.00
2.00
33.50
Ded.
from
contri-
butions
$ 430.02
$1,749,706.31
50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
148.05
297.95
208.19
298.40
i, 48 v. 28
1,002.87
'l9.38
282.32
11.23
120.72
142.87
600.00
384.53
$ 81.60
""24.76
263.53
485.92
1,028.20
123.09
13.30
39.49
541.60
9SS'.62
49.00
43.18
10,254.87
35.53
SV.74
65.01
2,729.82
100.45
474.35
775.79
178.47
374.00
23.48
352.88
24.76
148.05
297.95
208.19
298.40
'l,7'44l81
1,488.79
"19.38
282.32
49.00
""43'. 18
10,266.10
120.72
35.53
142.87
654.74
65.01
3,114.35
100.45
548.25 1,583.38 2,131.63
1,028.20
597.44
789.09
2Y7.96
374.00
23.48
352.88
541.60
955.02
46,982.56 46,982.56
1,235.83 1,255.83
$8,676,76 $66,189.15 $74,865.91
Hazel G. Schlosser 50
Isabel Sidey 50
Alma M. Smith 50
Dorothy J. Stair 50
Grace Yates 50
Mary Yanke 50
L. L. Dubaney 2.00
Ellen H. Hoffman 5.00
$33.50
tCampaign subscriptions passing through A. L. A. treasurer's office since latter part of March and
monthlv subscriptions since Jan. 19 not included.
THE MILLION DOLLAR CAMPAIGN
171
Contributions by States
Cities and Towns Contributing $200 or IVIore Listed Separately
Alabama
Albany $ 202.00
Anniston 233.00
Bessemer 356.35
Birmingham 4,326.12
Corona 205.00
Decatur 200.10
Dothan 300.00
Florence 206.80
Gadsden 590.10
Mobile 946.55
Montgomery 1,320.23
Selma 383.50
Tuscaloosa ■ 265.50
Total contributions from 50
other towns 2,703.11
Monthly contributions 22.00
$12,260.36
Arizona
State at large (no report by
counties or towns) $2,257.85
Arl<ansas
State .at large (no report by
counties or towns) $7,766.81
California*
Alameda $ 6,536.28
Anaheim 250.00
Calaveras 261.60
Colusa 222.34
Contra Costa 700.68
Fresno 1,210.48
Fullerton 201.15
Glenn 377.05
Imperial County 450.42
Kern 553.00
Kings 443.55
Long Beach 768.78
Los Angeles 12,973.52
Los Angeles County 723.89
Marin County 508.00
Merced 405.00
Monterey 545.05
Napa 206.00
Nevada County 345.14
Orange 300.00
Pasadena 1,570.00
Redlands 378.37
Riverside County 650.00
Sacramento 1,324.04
San Bernardino 283.87
San Diego 1,772.37
San Joaquin 1,921.23
San Luis Obispo 320.00
San Mateo 638.50
Santa Ana 421.00
Santa Barbara 6'91.15
Santa Clara 1,886.25
Santa Monica 400.00
Siskiyou County 646.16
Solano County 1,261.01
Sonoma 828.48
Stanislaus 684.90
Tulare County 685.08
Tuolumne 214.85
Ventura 545.82
Whittier 309.17
Yolo 373.50
Yuba 210.95
Total contributions from 28
other counties 2,217.62
Monthly contributions 82.00
$48,298.30
♦Subscriptions for mag-
azines $ 50.00
Sonoma Co. Board of
Supervisors spent for
books at Camp Fre-
mont 125.00
Colorado
State at large (not distributed
by towns) $11,173.95
Boulder 970.83
Canon City 211.15
Colorado Springs 3,365.50
Denver 767.67
Fort Collins 747.50
Longmont 605.02
Loveland 254.20
Pueblo 1,081.26
Total contributions from 5 other
towns 359.65
$19,536.73
Connecticut
Ansonia $ 955.66
Berlin 286.15
Bethel 275.50
Branford 652.00
Bridgeport 8,581.17
Bristol 250.00
Danbury 806.76
Darien 311.80
Derby 522.32
East Hartford 702.00
East Windsor 354.55
Enfield 543.50
Essex 214.35
Fairfield 400.00
Farmington 471.45
Glastonbury 332.05
Greenwich 1,230.69
Hartford 3,516.43
Killingly 219.10
Litchfield 340.40
172
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Manchester 1,104.53
Meriden 1,859.14
Middletown 910.12
Milford 383.50
Nau^atuck 751.97
New Britain 2,760.00
New Canaan 524.35
New Haven 6,064.53
New London 302.25
North Canaan 300.40
Norwalk 781.48
Orange 466.00
Plymouth 218.17
Portland 202.00
Putnam 331.00
Salisbury 329.50
Saybrook 218.03
Seymour 431.50
Shelton 365.69
Simsbury 210.32
South Windsor 203.25
Southington 312.50
Stamford 1,040.00
Stratford 592.25
Suffield 222.35
Torrington 1,245.23
Vernon 702.80
Wallingford 341.01
Waterbury 7,836.25
Waterford 220.00
Watertown 360.15
West Hartford 512.46
Wethersfield 277.05
Winchester 342.96
Windham 413.83
Windsor 352.75
Windsor Locks 382.20
Total contributions from 107
other towns 8.446.08
Monthly contributions 151.00
$63,434.48
On hand, not forwarded. . $317.97
Delaware
State at large (no report by
counties or towns) $13,422.58
District of Columbia
Regular subscriptions $10,416.57
Monthly contributions 181.50
$10,598.07
Florida
Jacksonville $1,226.01
Pensacola 200.00
Tampa 851.55
Total contributions from 38
other towns 1,105.56
$3,383.12
Balance In bank not for-
warded $104.48
Georgia
Athens $ 579.27
Atlanta 1,688.55
Columbus 400.50
Macon 391.00
Savannah 1,401.50
Total contributions from 39
other towns 2,132.43
Monthly contributions 33.40
$6,626.65
Idaho
Coeur d'Alene $322.75
Lewistown 439.75
Total contributions from 2 other
towns 87.00
$849.50
liiinois
Belleville $ 775.00
Bloomington 1,128.05
Chicago 93,199.07
Elmhurst 266.14
Galesburg 908.66
Harvard 225.45
Highland Park 350.00
Jacksonville 721.55
Kewanee 421.20
La Salle 606.73
Mattoon 565.00
Normal 250.00
Oak Park 1,555.25
Peoria 320.03
Pontiac 235.00
Quincy 1,160.12
Rock Island 1,516.00
Rockford 1,531.93
Springfield 2,369.63
Sycamore 200.00
Taylorvllle 253.41
Urbana 265.60
Waukegan 501.86
Total contributions from 70
other towns 4,895.73
Monthly contributions 220.05
$114,441.46
Indiana
Anderson $ 1,390.00
Auburn 200.07
Aurora 243.15
Bloomington 225.25
Bluffton 535.92
BoonvIUe 257.23
Clinton 1,085.00
Connersville 910.49
Crawfordsvllle 532.80
Crown Point 200.00
Decatur 232.00
Elkhart 379.10
Elwood 480.00
Evaneville 4,619.22
Fort Wayne 2,635.45
THE MILLION DOLLAR CAMPAIGN
173
Franklin 308.83
Gary 2,762.53
Hartford City 300.00
Huntington 594.65
Indianapolis 6,204.36
Jeffersonville 388.71
Kokomo 821.29
La Fayette 1,048.53
La Grange 429.18
La Porte 824.85
Lawrenceburg 298.00
Lebanon 372.03
Legonier 360.90
Logansport 1,003.36
Madison 405.00
Marion 501.00
Martinsville 326.86
Michigan City ., 626.57
Mishawaka 650.00
Mt. Vernon 217.25
Muncie 1,692.78
New Albany 1,225.00
Noblesville 285.48
Peru 500.00
Princeton 394.00
Richmond 1,133.70
Rushville 245.00
Shelbyville 738.56
South Bend 2,608.34
Sullivan 257.25
Valparaiso 1,125.40
Vincennes 295.00
Wabash 376.00
West Lafayette 221.65
Whiting 325.00
Winchester 228.25
Total contributions from 71 other
towns 5,443.43
Monthly contributions 50.00
149,414.42
Iowa
Algona $ 1,046.25
Ames 231.30
Anamosa 226.35
Audubon 732.09
Bloomfield 300.00
Boone and vicinity 947.48
Cedar Rapids 2,451.11
Clarinda 258.40
Clinton County 1,929.15
Council Bluffs 947.90
Cresco 700.00
Davenport 1,139.11
Des Moines 5,501.00
Dubuque 1,452.95
Emmetsburg, Palo Alto Co 360.00
Grinnell 319.93
Grundy Center 312.35
Jefferson County 600.00
Knoxville, Marlon Co 443.56
Le Mars 251.S0
Leon 221.50
Manchester 413.75
Marion 235.69
Mason City 1,300.64
Monticello 250.00
Oskaloosa 1,861.21
Ottumwa 202.95
Pella 322.44
Perry 230.35
Rock Rapids 551.00
Sigoumey, Keokuk County 1,006.55
Sioux City 1,414.50
Storm Lake 808.10
Tipton 315.75
Washington and County 690.90
Waukon, Allawakee County 223.13
Waverly, Bremer County 262.22
Total contributions from 110
other towns 4,755.59
Monthly contributions 82.10
$35,298.80
Kansas
Arkansas City $ 500.00
Cherryvale 259.00
Emporia 794.29
Independence 600.00
Kansas City 519.62
Manhattan 304.50
Pittsburg 221.81
Salina 300.00
Topeka 1,178.35
Wellington 255.00
Wichita 1,700.64
Winfleld 201.77
Total contributions from 26 other
towns 1,309.73
Monthly contributions 22.00
$8,166.71
Kentucky
Campbell County $ 350.00
Henderson County 420.06
Jefferson County 1,628.00
McCracken County 740.55
Contributions (total) from 16
other counties 1,428.54
Monthly contributions 23.00
$4,590.15
Louisiana
Lake Charles $ 802.50
New Orleans 5,941.90
Parish of Jefferson 263.00
Parish of Rapids 213.00
Parish of Ouachita 377.60
Parish of Terrebonne 291.45
Total contributions from 9 other
towns and parishes 546.17
Monthly contributions 6.00
$8,441.52
Maine
Augusta $ 325.0C
Belfast 250.00
174
SARATOGA SPRING'S CONFERENCE
Biddeford 855.15
Madison 200.00
Portland 707.04
Presque Isle 219.50
Waterville 436.61
Total contributions from 14 other
towns 471.88
Monthly contributions 1.00
$3,466.18
Maryland
Alleghany County $ 1,777.00
Anne Arundel County 270.69
Baltimore 10,014.00
Baltimore County 233.54
Montgomery County 335.75
Queen Anne County 429.53
Washington County 1,826.65
Wicomico County 892.27
Total contributions from 10 other
counties 692.38
Monthly contributions 7.00
$16,478.81
Massachusetts
Abington $ 395.00
Adams 273.29
Amesbury 446.92
Amherst 314.53
Andover 613.50
Arlington 750.50
Attleboro 938.15
Auburn 257.08
Belmont 1,277.96
Beverly 1,370.56
Boston 58,371.27
Bourne 245.00
Braintree 284.25
Bridgewater 236.21
Brockton 3,421.83
Brookline 8,070.94
Cambridge 5,261.61
Canton 368,29
Chelsea •. . . 572.10
Chicopee 722.38
Clinton 632.36
Concord 351.00
Dalton 622.97
Danvers 404.65
Dedham 608.85
Dover 405.50
Duxbury 307.01
Everett 1,610.00
Fairhaven 431.55
Fall River 3,317.97
Pitchburg 2,070.88
Framingham 1,000.00
Gardner 978.99
Gloucester 636.86
Grafton 344.48
Great Barrington 527.19
Greenfield 608.22
Groton 261.55
Haverhill 2,556.00
Hingham Center 306.80
Holyoke 2,294.82
Hopedale 509.07
Hudson 492.00
Ipswich 340.36
Kingston 214.00
Lancaster 617.84
Lawrence 291.33
Lee 260.06
Leominster 928.98
Lexington 500.00
Lincoln 224.00
Longmeadow 211.70
Lowell 2,964.86
Ludlow 645.91
Lynn 881.88
Maiden 2,270.00
Manchester 230.00
Marblehead 303.00
Marlborough 794.00
Medford 852.65
Melrose 301.00
Milford 200.00
Millbury 262.26
Milton 1,900.74
Monson 250.00
Nahant 229.70
Natick 759.05
Needham 369.96
New Bedford 5,544.00
Newburyport 644.05
Newton 4,528.40
North Adams 1,148.00
North Andover 390.67
North Attleboro 246.00
North Easton 530.01
Northampton 202.00
Northbridge 714.25
Norton 230.05
Norwood 787.50
Orange 229.00
Palmer 500.00
Peabody 1,026.00
Pittsfield 2,229.98
Plymouth 1,108.07
Quincy 2,365.42
Reading 527.15
Rockland 363.75
Rockport : 225.00
Salem 1,629.94
Sharon 202.50
Shrewsbury 200.00
Somerville 1,625.63
South Hadley 474.16
Southbridge 240.62
Spencer 358.25
Springfield 8,105.76
Stoughton 359.53
Taunton 447.61
Turners Falls 303.11
Uxbridge 256.25
Wakefield 760.33
Walpole 270.00
THE MILLION DOLLAR CAMPAIGN
175
Waltham 1,839.51
Ware .- . . . 234.00
Wareham 299.00
Watertown 1,100.00
Wayland 300.00
Webster 469.27
Wellesley 610.00
West Spriagfield 467.78
Westfield 835.25
Westford 362.86
Weymouth 705.00
Whitman 411.05
Williamstown 205.73
Winchendon 443.18
Winchester 974.00
Winthrop ., 665.00
Worcester " 7,517.71
Total contributions from 249
other towns 12,480.69
Monthly contributions 233.50
$191,199.79
Michigan
Ann Arbor $ 1,501.43
Alpena 271.00
Big Rapids : 250.00
Cadillac 717.75
Calumet 1,525.00
Detroit 16,495.25
Escanaba 306.00
Grand Haven 200.00
Grand Rapids 4,009.81
Jackson 1,631.15
Kalamazoo 240.39
Ludington 500.00
Menominee 618.65
Monroe 380.75
Niles 300.00
Owosso 230.00
Port Huron 927.10
Saginaw 1,500.00
Stambaugh 218.65
Ypsilanti 206.00
Total contributions from 26 other
towns 2,023.74
Monthly contributions 126.00
$34,178.67
IVIinnesota
Amoka County $ 200.00
Bigstone County and Ortonville 472.46
Blue Earth County and Mankato 1,057.49
Brown County 412.78
Carlton County and Cloquet. . . . 365.00
Clay County and Moorehead. . . . 352.53
Crow Wing County 243.50
Dakota County and Hastings... 482.09
Faribault County 352.64
Fillimore County 503.92
Goodhue County and Red Wing. 547.26
Hennepin County 12,037.48
Itasca County 506.64
Kandiyohi County 385.25
Koochiching County 260.54
Lake County and Two Harbors. 453.80
Olmstead County 400.00
Otter-Tail County and Fergus
Falls 405.46
Pennington County 245.99
Pine County 320.71
Polk County 807.65
Ramsey County 3,500.00
Redwood County 287.61
Renville County 279.15
Rice County 381.00
Rock County and Luverne 255.56
St. Louis County 7,751.50
Stearns County 809.89
Steele County 300.04
Wabasha County 339.50
Waseca County 221.00
Washington County 238.65
Winoha County 670.04
Total contributions from 33 other
counties 3,183.92
Monthly contributions 87.00
$39,118.05
fVlississippi
Claiborne County $ 206.81
Hinds County 311.30
Lauderdale County 314.80
Sunflower County 416.25
Washington County 425.35
Yazoo County 205.20
Total contributions from 39 other
counties 2,768.38
$4,648.09
Missouri
State at large $ 21.50
Cape Girardeau 357.00
Jefferson City 486.46
Joplin 483.50
Kansas City 3,540.50
Latom • 235.01
Nevada 277.00
Rolla 200.00
St. Joseph 473.75
St. Louis 12,672.62
Sedalia 733..55
Webb City 322.81
Total contributions from 37 other
towns 1,768.21
Monthly contributions 62.10
$21,634.01
Montana
Great Falls $ 264.85
Kalispell 369.41
Lewistown 407.25
Total contributions from 4 other
towns 92.85
Monthly contributions 4.00
$1,138.36
178
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Nebraska
Alliance $ 350.00
Beatrice 238.20
Blair 290.03
Central City 250.50
College View 238.73
Fairbury 483.76
Hastings 792.85
Lincoln 2,408.48
Madison County 780.75
Neligh 259.45
Shelton 205.00
Thayer County 207.00
Wayne 223.00
Total contributions from 57 other
towns 4,654.45
Monthly contributions 14.00
$11,396.20
Nevada
Carson City $140.00
New Hampshire
State at large $ 195.78
Berlin 700.00
Claremont 405.00
Concord 1,036.03
Derry 264.57
Dover 900.00
Exeter 250.00
Franklin 315.00
Keene 392.30
Laconia 335.19
Manchester 3,622.11
Milford 200.00
Nashua 614.00
Peterborough 319.48
Rochester 309.25
Total contributions from 114
other towns 5,442.21
Monthly contributions 16.00
$15,316.92
New Jersey
Asbury Park $ 658.00
Atlantic City 785.00
Bayonne 1,279.11
Belleville 269.25
Bernards Township 688.20
Bloomfleld 330.00
Bound Brook 300.00
Bridgeton 358.10
Burlington 286.00
Camden 1,609.10
Collinswood 352.13
Dover 500.00
East Orange 1,800.00
Elizabeth 2,550.20
Englewood 721.00
Flemington 242.50
Freehold 306.23
Hackensack 801.09
Haddonfield 243.96
Harrison 500.00
Hoboken 1,800.00
Kearney 1,636.19
Lakewood 335.00
Lambertville 368.20
Leonia 205.00
Madison 717.49
Millville 549.17
Montclair 1,659.50
Moorestown 435.00
Morristown 1,546.68
Navesink 303.55
Newark 3,247.96
New Brunswick 1,146.39
Orange 992.74
Passaic 1,964.08
Paterson 2,500.00
Perth Amboy 2,449.21
Plainfield 1,260.00
Princeton 648.53
Rahway 500.00
Roselle 203.70
Rutherford 361.00
South Amboy 375.63
South Orange 711.00
Summit 495.72
Trenton 2,000.00
Town-of-Unlon 575.36
Verona 223.55
Vineland 455.60
Westfleld 329.94
West Hoboken 1,122.12
West Orange 242.70
Total contribution from 83 other
towns 5,136.78
Monthly contributions 113.00
New Mexico
Contributions from two towns.
$51,190.66
$30.45
New York
Albany $ 4,717.00
Auburn 490.90
Bath 203.25
Beacon 713.31
Bronxville 408.00
Buffalo 13,107.89
Canajoharie 404.00
Canandaigua 379.20
Canton 338.85
Cohoes 449.19
Corning 857.09
Cortland 723.29
Dansville 228.61
Elmira 1,031.72
Endicott 1,000.00
Fairport 245.11
Freeport 260.60
Fulton 500.00
Garden City and Hempstead 295.60
Geneva 431.22
Glen Cove 719.41
THE MILLION DOLLAR CAMPAIGN
177
Gouverneur 224.73
Groton 206.75
Harrison 286.29
Herkimer 614.66
Homell 617.44
Hudson Falls 361.70
Ilion and Mohawk 500.00
Irvington-on-Hudson 339.22
Ithaca 784.43
Jefferson County 300.00
Johnstown 701.75
Leroy 250.00
Lewiston 273.97
Little Falls 555.50
Locust Valley 252.00
Massena 226.59
Millbrook : 1,064.20
New York (including Brooklyn
and Queens) 151,802.37
North Tonawanda 600.00
Norwich 709.55
Ogdensburg 700.00
Olean 750.50
Oneonta 525.46
Perry 250.00
Plattsburg 358.15
Portville 350.00
Potsdam 207.85
Poughkeepsie 1,070.00
Rochester 7,500.00
Rockville Centre 280.30
Rome 1,257.00
Saugerties 425.00
Suffern 200.00
Syracuse 281.00
Tarrytown 286.00
Troy 1,801.88
Utica 4,301.01
Warsaw 250.00
Watertown 375.00
Wellsville 250.00
Total contributions from 162
other towns 11,475.67
Monthly contributions 470.50
$221,540.71
North Carolina
Asheville $1,060.60
Charlotte 1,275.07
Elizabeth City 490.85
Goldsboro 350.00
Greensboro 408.49
Rocky Mount 516.30
Total contributions from 18 other
towns 730.46
Monthly contributions 5.00
$4,836.77
North Dakota
Barnes County $ 252.98
Bowman County 250.00
Burleigh County 335.00
Divide County and Crosby 225.00
Ellendale 386.10
Grand Forks County 303.60
Jamestown 238.16
Minot 311.97
Pierce County 369.47
Ramsey County 286.95
Total from 74 other towns 2,939.26
Monthly contributions 10.00
$5,908.48
Ohio
State at large $ 199.46
Akron 5,000.54
Alliance 387.05
Ashtabula 827.98
Athens 342.61
Bryan 536.56
Cambridge 677.25
Canton 563.00
Carrollton 585.26
Celina 205.76
Chillicothe 772.00
Cincinnati 14,700.00
Circleville 400.00
Cleveland 35,540.33
Conneaut 506.75
Cuyahoga Falls 359.30
Dayton 7,914.04
Defiance 262.00
Defiance County ^. 369.72
Delaware 455.75
Elyria 264.70
Hamilton 515.11
Jefferson County 227.52
Lorain 890.40
Mansfield 452.68
Marion 500.00
Martins Ferry 460.39
Maryville 200.00
Massillon 825.00
Medina 297.30
Middletown 1,321.50
New Philadelphia 405.00
Oberlin 220.00
Painesville 411.25
Ravenna 297.62
Salem 500.00
Sandusky 600.00
Sidney 400.00
Springfield 1,589.64
Stark County 679.55
Toledo 5,527.06
Troy 309.73
Urbana 425.00
Van Wert 474.52
Warren 1,330.16
Wayne County 218.68
Willoughby Township 650.00
Wilmington 275.95
Xenia 483.57
Youngstown 8,363.32
Total from 92 other towns 5,262.69
Monthly contributions 178.00
$105,161.68
178
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Oklahoma
Bartlesville $ 375,00
Enid 574.00
Oklahoma 255.91
Tulsa 1,000.00
Monthly contributions ..... 4.00
$2,208.91
Oregon
Astoria $ 835.15
Baker 605.00
Corvallis 310.25
Eugene 414.95
Grants Pass 321.95
Medford 312.78
Oregon City 411.75
Pendleton 434.00
Portland 8,937.96
Salem 539.00
Total contribution from 125
other towns 6,442.39
Monthly contributions 59.15
$19,624.33
Pennsylvania
Allentown $ 1,185.94
Ambridge, Fair Oaks and Baden 487.00
Aspinwall 211.51
Beaver Falls 853.98
Bellefonte 248.59
Bethlehem 1,128.00
Bloomsburg 400.06
Braddock 1,269.71
Bradford ,^ 1,105.00
Butler 821.99
Carlisle ^ 509.53
Carnegie 675.59
Chambersburg 616.25
Connellsville 642.72
Conshohocken 716.90
Danville 400.00
Dorranceton 205.91
Duquesne 250.00
Easton 1,500.00
Erie 1,464.00
Greensburg \ 832.50
Grove City 200.33
Harrisburg 3,043.32
Hazelton 1,702,51
Homestead 2,119.55
Irwin 215.40
Jenkintown 233.50
Jersey Shore 354.80
Kane 300.00
Kingston 344.21
Knoxville 425.65
Lancaster , , 1,155.20
Lansdowne 260.50
Leetsdale 201.02
Lockhaven 435.00
Mauch Chunk 205.90
Mechanicsburg 267.60
Media , 527.91
Milton 209.80
Montrose 285,11
New Brighton 358.50
Morristown 298.35
Northampton 411.16
Oil City 1,049.50
Pennsburg 222.50
Philadelphia 19,467.33
Phoenixville 414.00
Pittsburg 22,518.25
Plymouth 316.00
Pottsville 1,477.70
Quakertown 222.50
Rochester 400.00
Royersford , 216.75
Scottsdale 300.00
Sewickley 419.00
Shamokin 1,050.85
Sharon and environs 1,527.08
Sunbury 700.00
Titusville 496.00
Warren 500.00
Washington 1,035.69
Wellsboro and Tioga County. , . 387.00
West Chester 436.25
Wilkes-Barre 2,577.49
Williamsport 1,743,50
Total contributions from 113
other towns 7,290,98
Monthly contributions 244.00
$94,092.87
Rhode Island
Barrington $ 270.60
Bristol 382.00
Burrillville 441.65
Cranston 897.67
Cumberland and Lincoln 787.23
East Providence 426.49
Johnston 261.75
Newport 3,050.64
North Kingston 300.00
Pawtucket 3,221.20
Providence 10,557.57
Scituate 208.20
South Kingston. 385.76
Warren 205.00
Warwick 324.72
Westerly 595.12
Woonsocket 1,352,60
Total contributions from 20 other
towns 2,219.95
Monthly contributions 24.00
$25,912.15
South Carolina
State at large $ 872.91
Charleston 1,944.85
Columbia 706.60
Greenville 875.00
Marlborough County 308.00
Newberry 235,25
Total contributions from 10 other
towns 864.17
$5,806.78
THE MILLION DOLLAR CAMPAIGN
179
South Dakota
Beadle County $ 269.00
Brookings County 666.63
Brown County 896.95
Davison County 525.00
Fall River County 275.00
Grant County 222.00
Kingsbury County 319.72
Lawrence County 486.45
Lincoln County 720.25
McPherson County 225.05
Minnehaha County 686.33
Pennington County and Rapid
City 447.80
Roberts County 360.33
Total contributions from 41 other
towns and counties 3,332.94
Monthly contributions 5.00
$9,438.45
Tennessee
Bristol $ 225.00
Chattanooga 1,128.98
Jackson 505.70
Memphis 10,035.95
Nashville 1,918.25
Contributions from 4 other towns 307.67
Monthly contributions 7.00
$14,128.55
Texas
State at large $ 1,120.43
Bell County 1,165.00
Bexar County 550.00
Brazos County 561.74
Dewitt County 300.00
Denton County 253.95
Ellis County 291.60
Fayette County 236.50
Grayson County 293.71
Harris County 2,500.00
Howard County 250.00
Jefferson County 312.60
Lamar County 500.00
Lampasas County 249.06
Lubbock 307.45
Marion County 235.34
McClellan County 526.00
Orange County 250.00
Taylor County 250.06
Titus County 218.00
Travis County 397.70
Wichita County 1,787.81
Williamson County 228.50
Total contributions from 39 other
counties 3,561.94
Monthly contributions 43.00
$16,390.39
Utah
State at large (not distributed) $6;000.00
Monthly contributions 27.00
$6,027.00
Vermont
State at large $ 9,191.14
Bennington 475.74
Lyndonville 545.00
Montpelier 842.51
Rutland 910.00
St. Albans 400.00
St. Johnsburg 455.30
Total contributions from 13 other
towns 729.83
Monthly contributions 12.00
$13,561.52
Virginia
Charlotteville $ 355.40
Covington 216.00
Danville 513.02
Fauquier County 581.50
Hampton 248.71
Lynchburg 982.07
Petersburg 921.91
Richmond 5,470.92
Roanoke .^ 1,865.00
Salem 200.00
Suffolk 218.49
Total contributions from 59 other
towns 3,742.50
Monthly contributions 20.00
$15,335.52
Washington*
Aberdeen $ 750.00
Bremerton 208.60
Centralia 408.25
Chehalis 238.40
Everett 680.29
Hoquiam 600.00
Olympia 265.78
Seattle 9,861.80
Spokane 2,132.84
Tacoma 1,553.36
Walla Walla 810.00
Wenatchee 312.86
Yakima 900.60
State Federation of Women's
Clubs 897.55
State at large (mainly rural
schools) 2,227.30
Total contributions from 15 other
towns 1,023.70
Monthly contributions 26.06
$22,39;7.38
*A contribution of $52.00 was sent to
Camp Lewis.
West Virginia
State at large $ 925.73
Wheeling 764.50
Total contributions from 2 other
towns 90.00
$1,780.23
180
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Wisconsin
Antigo ,
Appleton
Beloit
Columbus
Eau Claire ,
Fond du Lac ,
Green Bay
Hartford
Kaukauna
Kenosha
La Crosse
Lake Geneva.
Madison
Manitowoc
Marshfield
Menasha
Merrill
Milwaukee 15
Mineral Point
Neenah
Oconto
Oshkosh . . .
Racine
Reedsburg .
Sheboygan .
Sparta
Stoughton .
Superior ...
Two Rivers
Vernon
Wausau
374.27
467.35
916.88
250.69
938.50
541.65
,343.70
203.10
204.10
830.00
,505.23
259.65
,277.00
650.10
346.00
350.00
210.85
,556.62
230.24
416.70
271.85
,033.07
,033.71
251.95
,014.50
200.00
269.70
,009.44
212.65
249.27
560.43
Washburn 216.81
Watertown 219.00
Waukesha 290.00
Waupun 203.88
Whitewater 200.00
Undistributed (check through
Madison) 150.00
Total contributions from 228
other towns 5,992.53
Monthly contributions 82.00
$42,333.42
Wyoming
Basin $ 440.25
Casper 400.00
Cheyenne 1,196.30
Douglas 206.74
Laramie 723.89
Rock Springs 330.50
Uinta County 263.88
Total contributions from 19 other
towns 881.41
Carnegie Corporation
Contribution
$4,442.97
,$320,000.00
Miscellaneous
Hawaii $18.00
New Zealand 1.00
Anonymous and without address 33.50
Grand total $1,749,706.31
WAR SERVICE COMMITTEE
(Appointed by the Executive Board)
J. I. Wyeb, Jr., New York State Library, Electba C. Doeen, Public Library, Dayton,
Albany, N. Y. Ohio. '^
Edwin H. Anderson, Public Library, New Feank P. Hiix, Public Library, Brooklyn,
York City. N. Y.
W. H. Beett, Public Library, Cleveland. Charles F. D. Belden, Public Library,
Ohio. "
Boston, Mass.
Geatia a. Counteyman, Public Library, Executive secretary: Geobge B. Utlet,
Minneapolis, Minn. A. L. A. OflSce, Chicago.
THE MILLION DOLLAR CAMPAIGN
181
WAR FINANCE COMMITTEE
Birmingham
W. H. Manly, Trustee
Carl H. Milam, Librarian
Boston
William F, Kenney, Trustee
C. F. D. Belden, Librarian
Brooklyn
Brooklyn Public Library
David A. Boody, Trustee
N. H. Levi, Trustee
Frank P. Hill, Librarian
Pratt Institute Library
F. B. Pratt, Trustee
Edward F. Stevens, Librarian
Buffalo
George Davidson, Jr., Trustee
Walter L. Brown, Librarian
Chicago
Chicago Public Library
Max Henius, Trustee
Carl B. Roden, Librarian
John Crerar Library
Marvin Hughitt, Trustee
Clement W. Andrews, Librarian
Cincinnati
W. T. Porter, Trustee
N. D. C. Hodges, Librarian
Cleveland
John G. White, Trustee
W. H. Brett, Librarian
Dayton
Electra C. Doren, Librarian
Denver
Frederick R. Ross, Trustee
Chalmers Hadley, Librarian
Des Moines
Iowa State Library
William S. Allen, Trustee
Johnson Brigham, Librarian
Detroit
Charles R. Robertson, Trustee
Adam Strohm, Librarian
Grand Rapids
Charles W. Carman, Trustee
Samuel H. Ranck, Librarian
Hartford
Caroline M. Hewins, Librarian
Kansas City
James E. Nugent, Trustee
Purd B. Wright, Librarian
Los Angeles
Frank H. Pettlngill, Trustee
Everett R. Perry, Librarian
Louisville
Josiah B. Powers, Trustee
George T. Settle, Librarian
Minneapolis
Gratia A. Countryman, Librarian
Montgomery
Thomas M. Owen, Librarian
New Bedford
Francis J. Kennedy, Trustee
George H. Tripp, Librarian
New Orleans
John Fitzpatrick, Trustee
Henry M. Gill, Librarian
New York
E. W. Sheldon, Trustee
E. H. Anderson, Librarian
Northampton
Joseph L. Harrison, Librarian
Philadelphia
Clinton R. Woodruff, Trustee
John Ashhurst, Librarian
Pittsburgh
John H. Leete, Librarian
Portland (Ore)
W. L. Brewster, Trustee
Mary F. Isom, Librarian
Providence
Henry B. Gardner, Trustee
William E. Foster, Librarian
Queens Borough
Robert B. Austin, Trustee
Jessie F. Hume, Librarian
Riverside
L. V. W. Brown, Trustee
Joseph F. Daniels, Librarian
St. Louis
George O. Carpenter, Trustee
Arthur E. Bostwick, Librarian
St. Paul
Charles W. Farnham, Trustee
W. Dawson Johnston, Librarian
Seattle
J. T. Jennings, Librarian
Springfield
Hiller C. Wellman, Librarian
Tacoma
Rt. Rev. Frederick W. Keator, Trustee
John B. Kaiser, Librarian
Wilmington
LeRoy Harvey, Trustee
Arthur L. Bailey, Librarian
Worcester
Charles M. Thayer, Trustee
Robert K. Shaw, Librarian
Youngstown
Dr. Ida Clarke, Trustee
Joseph L. Wheeler, Librarian
New York (at large)
Alfred Hafner.
Charles B. Alexander.
Edward L. Tilton.
George Watson Cole.
182
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
(Continued from page 106)
twice the size of the greatest libraries of
the country, would have library buildings
and between two and three hundred libra-
rians and assistants, in forty great mili-
tary camps in the country, would serve
hundreds, close to a thousand, different
stations and forts and posts and barracks
of one kind and another, would have
shipped abroad 300,000 volumes, would
have done, in short, what you know has
been done — how many members, in the face
of such statement, would have considered
It a dream, or a mere matter-of-fact state-
ment of what would be easy to accomplish
once they decided to undertake it? It is
this dream that you have accomplished. It
is you who went out and got the million
dollars. It is you and hundreds and thou-
sands of others who collected between
three and four millions of books, not the
members of the War Service Committee.
It is you, who are yourselves the several
hundred who, from first to last in the past
year, have been formally connected with
the administration in the camps, and in
the dispatch offices, and the work of the
committee has been merely in starting the
ball rolling. So I say this is not the usual
report. It is merely a reminder of work
that you have been doing. Therefore, it is
not so important that a printed statement
of it be put in your hands a week in ad-
vance, to acquaint you fully with the char-
acter of the work and the details of it.
In the report of Dr. Hill's subcommittee
on the "Million dollar fund," there are two
honor rolls, to which I wish to allude. One
is the "List of contributors to campaign
fund," the underwriters. It is a brief list
of those individuals and libraries who had
such faith in the ability of the A. L. A. to
do this work that they loaned the money
which made it possible. Our obligation
therefore is heavy to those whose names ap-
pear on that list.
Further on is another and a longer hon-
or roll, showing the "Contributions by
states, and cities and towns contributing
$200 or more." If your name, this morn-
ing, does not appear on either of these
honor rolls, do not take it as a matter for
discouragement. There will be shortly an-
other opportunity for similar enrollment
and next year your name, in prominent
place, will reach you in the next printed
report.
Perhaps it is not too soon to see and say
something of the effect that the A. L. A.
Library War Service will have on civilian
library status and activities in this coun-
try. It seems clear that these by-products
will be several and of much importance.
Successive campaigns for money and books
are not only revealing the definitely recog-
nized role of the book as a prime factor in
morale and the many ways, hitherto un-
dreamed of, in which books and libraries
may be of war time service; but through
all this the library is being very much
more firmly fixed in the social conscious-
ness as an essential institution as alert to
its duties and opportunities in war as In
peace.
All this will leave the library with a
new and wholesome assurance. It has
learned to ask boldly for what it needs
and the splendid response has revealed the
American people's belief in its work. We
are left with a renewed faith in our work
which heartens us greatly and will react
on library work everywhere.
Enough has been said for this occasion.
There are problems that have come up in
the transaction of this work by the gen-
eral director and his staff at Washington
that are proper for discussion and com-
ment. There are matters of policy that
perhaps are likewise, but they will not be
presented this morning from this plat-
form. It is results, it is the work itself
that we are putting before you. I want to
emphasize in a definitive way that this re-
port of the War Service Committee is more
or less a report of progress. It is not un-
likely. If the necessity for the work con-
tinues for another year, that you will raise
more money and secure more books from
the people of this country than you have
in the year that has passed, that the work
which seems so much like the realization
BRETT
183
of a dream today, so almost incredible in
its extent and character, will look small in
comparison with the results of another
year. So it is not as the sum or summary
of a work finished or done, that the War
Service Committee brings its report to
you this morning, but solely and purely
as a progress report.
SENDING BOOKS "OVER THERE"*
By W. H. Bkett, Librarian, Cleveland Public Library
The Newport News dispatch station was
established early in March in a business
block, removing to its own building in
April. Newport News is one of the two
large embarkation ports. The station was
planned to supply the camps of the army
and navy — some thirty in number — in the
tidewater district, on both sides of Hamp-
ton Roads. The whole district includes
many places having interesting associa-
tions with early Virginia history, the Revo-
lution and the Civil War. The principal
work of the station, however, is sending
books overseas. The building is located
conveniently to the piers and the em-
barkation headquarters and is similar to
the camp library buildings in its construc-
tion.
The first librarian who did much to or-
ganize the work was Miss Margaret Mann,
head cataloger of the Carnegie Library of
Pittsburgh. She was succeeded in April
by Miss Sophie K. Hiss, catalog librarian
of the Cleveland Public Library. The
staff includes three former members of
the Cleveland library staff, one from St.
Louis and one from Davenport.
•Abstract of address, given more fully in
the August Library Journal.
[Note : As the proofs of these papers and
addresses of the Saratoga Springs Confer-
ence are passing through the press, the sad
word is received of the sudden death, on
August 24, of Mr. W. H. Brett.]
While the work has been under the
general charge of the dispatch agent from
the beginning, he has only been able to
give a share of his time to it and most of
the credit for the work that has been ac-
complished is due to the librarians and the
staff.
The work of placing books in the camps
is of great interest, as it brings more di-
rect contact with the men in the service
and has a great variety, the work being
done through the Y. M. C. A. agencies,
the Red Cross, the hospitals and the army
and navy chaplains. Books are also is-
sued directly to the men who visit the
station. The principal work, however, is
sending books overseas, which is done in
two ways. The books are packed In boxes
a little over 30 by 20 inches and about 8
Inches In depth with one shelf and a solid
cover which is screwed on and removable.
The boxes form a convenient bookcase.
They are largely placed on the decks In
charge of the Y. M. C. A. secretaries who
go overseas and are used by the men go-
ing over arid afterward turned over to the
agencies overseas, thus adding to the sup-
ply. Other books in still larger numbers,
packed either in the boxes already de-
scribed or in small packing cases, are
placed in cargo and shipped to France, an
allowance of twenty tons being made to
this shipping station.
184
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
LIBRARIES AND THE UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION
By Edith Guerrier, Director, Library Section, United States Food Administration
In order that I might bring you the
thanks of the United States Food Admin-
istration and greetings from the Food Ad-
ministrator, I asked for five minutes on
this program. It is almost a year since I
was most unexpectedly called to Washing-
ton to help place food conservation propa-
ganda in the libraries of the United States
to the end that you might give it proper
publicity. The Food Administrator was
confident that if you had the material you
would use it. You have clearly demon-
strated that his confidence was not mis-
placed. The Food Administration is not
going to ask you to turn your libraries
into food shows. The fact that the food
problem is quite as much a spiritual as a
material one makes your help most vital
and significant.
In the midst of turmoil and confusion
it is legitimate that we should preserve in
our libraries the quiet atmosphere that
makes for what one of our librarians has
aptly termed "emotional poise." In this
quiet atmosphere we can with dignity
present the food problems of the world
and it is our privilege to study means of
presenting those problems which shall ap-
peal to all who enter your doors.
Almost a year ago the Food Administra-
tor said when he was first appointed:
"If democracy is worth anything, we can
do these things by cooperation, by stimu-
lation, by self-sacrifice, by the patriotic
mobilization of the brains of this country.
If it cannot be done in this manner it is
better that we accept German domination
and confess the failure of our political
ideals, acquiesce in the superiority of the
German conception and send for the Ger-
mans to instruct us in its use."
Thank God we have proven our right to
rely upon democracy. One incident alone
is sufficient. The first of last December
we had for export until the next harvest
20,000,000 bushels of wheat. If we keep
up our present rate of export, by next har-
vest we shall have exported 150,000,000
bushels, 130,000,000 bushels being the free
offering of this great free-hearted country.
Sacrifice, service and sharing the gifts
of Him whom we worship in spirit and in
truth have accomplished that which all
the perfect, Jong established systems, the
gifts of emperors and kaisers, can never
hope to overthrow. The poets and the
philosophers, the wise men of the ages,
they are the ones who must nerve us for
this task, and it is our gracious privilege
to provide the spiritual food so abundantly
that the material food will have more than
a mere material significance.
As members of this splendid organiza-
tion, as librarians, as citizens of this great
free country, we have now the part of
torch bearers, and the torch must be held
with no wavering hand. If, for Instance,
we doubt the value of our work, the an-
swer is "buckle down to work." If we find
out that we as individuals have nothing to
do with the making of the morning, we
may say with Rostand's Chanticleer, "Then
I am just the cock of a remoter sun! My
cries so affect the night that it lets cer-
tain beams of the day pierce through its
black tent, and those are what we call the
stars. I shall not live to see shining upon
the steeples that final total light com-
posed of stars clustered in unbroken mass;
but if I sing faithfully and sonorously,
and if, long after me, and long after that,
in every farmyard Its cock sings faith-
fully, sonorously, I truly believe there will
be no more night."
Acknowledging freely that as a mere
person I am unworthy to be your repre-
sentative in the Food Administration, I
yet cannot give a backward look. My
hand Is on the plow and I ask that you
continue to open your fields for the Food
Administration team. I ask with the sure
knowledge that he who asketh receiveth.
BISHOP 185
A CALL TO SERVICE
While the Saratoga Springs Conference is still fresh in our recollection, and before
the feeling and enthusiasm engendered there become dimmed, may I venture to urge on
all librarians the imperative call of the present day to our best, our most devoted, our
highest service?
The war has shown us two great lines of work, peculiarly our own, which can be done
by no other agency so well as by libraries and librarians. These are our own library
service at home in meeting the enormously increased need for popular education and
information, and our direct provision of books to the soldiers and sailors at home and
overseas.
Never before have libraries had laid upon them such a burden of duty as in the dis-
semination of sound and informing knowledge regarding the war, its aims, its conduct,
the relation of the citizen thereto, and the whole array of problems arising from an
unusual condition of society. Next to the public press, the one agency which can best
supply such information to all classes of the community is the public library. If the
library was vital before the war, it is tenfold as vital now. Our cities, towns and vil-
lages need the best in books and magazines, need the best effort of librarians as never
before. The hour calls for definite, earnest, well thought out plans for the unifying
and bettering of our daily service. And the times are not easy. Our libraries have
already contributed to the military and civil branches of the Government numbers of
their best folk. On us who "stay by the stuff" falls the increased burden. Our call is
plain — no falling off in efficiency because of war; rather a higher devotion and a greater
servicel
Further, and no less vital, is our library war service; the provision of books in an
effective (because organized) manner to our troops and our sailors. The American
Library Association with splendid enthusiasm promised its aid to the Government at
the Louisville Conference, hardly realizing, perhaps, the magnitude of its task. Last
summer the Committee on "War Service, through various agencies, planned a great cam-
paign for money and for books. Largely through the efforts of librarians in every part
of our land an Imposing sum was gathered in the fall. The Librarian of Congress
become general director of the library war service. Library buildings were erected
In the great camps, innumerable stations were set up in every "Y" hut and house, on
the ships. In smaller camps. Slowly and with great difficulty in the midst of a nation-
wide dislocation of energy, a splendid service has been developed by the hard and long
labor of our devoted colleagues at headquarters and in the field. The dispatch of books
to Europe and their supply to the troops has been well begun. The attempt has proven
the value of books in army life. It Is no longer an experiment, but an assured success.
On us now rests the burden of carrying onward this work so admirably begun.
There will be need of money, much money. Prepare now to bring every effort to bear in
your home towns to raise your share, yes, and more than your share. Let your people
know what the Association Is doing, get the papers to print accounts of the library war
service. Inform yourself by visits and by letter. If our members actually KNOW
what is being done, here and in France, the money will raise itself.
There is need of personal service. Offer yourself, and like a soldier, obey orders.
If you are called, for whatever work, that Is your special call to duty. If you are not
called at once, remember that the home service needs your every thought and action.
The library war service must be a selected service, a choosing of men and women for
special needs because of individual qualification. In war time men obey and do not
growl. The work to be done is vast. It will require every one of us who can work in
it, sooner or later. It will hearten every officer of the Association, every camp and
hospital librarian, to know that the volunteer list Is embarrassingly large.
These words, my fellow librarians, are not preaching. Someone must voice the
needs of the hour, and you have called me to lead the Association for a year in the time
of our country's peril and mightiest effort. Therefore, I write this call to service,
confident both In your response and In your welcome of the message.
William Wabneb Bishop,
July, 1918. ' President, American Library Association.
186
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
WHAT THE LIBRARY COMMISSION IS DOING TO HELP WIN THE WAR
By Julia A. Robinson, Secretary Iowa TAhrary Commission
Although what I recount is actually the
work of the Iowa Library Commission, I
speak impersonally to-day as the secretary
of an abstract commission, using our own
state name simply to supply the sense of
reality in illustrating library commission
war work; and if I shall seem to be guilty
of state pride, remember I am speaking
for you and voicing your pride in your
own state and your own library workers,
for what one commission has done most
of them have done.
Briefly to summarize the commission
war work — the calls which have come to
us to which we have endeavored to respond
may be listed under: (1) Book collec-
tions; (2) library war fund campaign;
(3) aid in food conservation; (4) miscel-
laneous activities; (5) personal contribu-
tions.
Book Collections. During the Mexican
trouble the Iowa Library Commission sent
a number of boxes of books to the border
for the use of our boys there and soon
after the entrance of the United States
into the present war and some time before
the work of supplying books to the camps
was taken up by the American Library
Association we furnished books from our
own collection to the boys of the Iowa
National Guard encamped near Des Moines.
At the same time we sent books to the
colored training camp at Fort Des Moines.
The first book campaign, like the second,
was conducted by the secretary of the
commission as state director and publicity
material furnished. The first drive re-
sulted in the collection of 25,000 books,
most of which went to Camp Dodge.
In the last campaign more than 100,000
books were given. In the smaller towns
where there was no library the collec-
tions were made by the women's organiza-
tions. About half of the last books col-
lected have gone direct from the libraries
to Camp Dodge and other camps. The
other half have gone through the commis-
sion office where they were prepared and
sent to camps outside the state and for
shipment overseas. The work of prepara-
tion was done in the commission office for
the books received in both collections and
in both cases extra help was required
which was paid for from commission
funds.
Library war fund. Between the two
drives came the "million dollar campaign"
in which Mr, Johnson Brigham, state li-
brarian, was state director, but the secre-
tary of the commission worked in closest
cooperation. The publicity material was
all sent out from the commission oflSce
and the expense of sending borne by the
commission — the correspondence and post-
age being taken care of by the state li-
brary. Our achievements in this drive
were not satisfactory but represented much
effort in which we were greatly embar-
rasised by what was supposed to be expert
help outside the library profession.
Food conservation. Efforts in two direc-
tions were urged upon the libraries by the
secretary in her capacity as state director
for Iowa for the United States Food Ad-
ministration: (1) To assist in showing
why we should conserve; (2) how to con-
serve.
To aid in the first direction hundreds of
letters and circulars of information, direc-
tion and suggestion, and thousands of
posters for display and bulletins for dis-
tribution were sent to libraries and
schools. Motion picture slides were also
provided and loaned by the commission to
the libraries.
In giving assistance in how to conserve,
the libraries have been furnished with
recipes and urged first to have them tested
TITCOMB
187
and then to distriljute them as widely as
possible.
Miscellaneous activities. In the course
of all these activities the regular work of
the commission and of the traveling li-
brary has been carried on and mention
should be made of the fact that through
the traveling library hooks and pamphlets
on the war in all its phases and on kindred
topics have been provided, advertised and
circulated freely and lists prepared and
suggestions for buying given; this with
other activities will be continued. At the
state fair in August our annual library
exhibit will this year be made a library
war activity exhibit. Every number of
the Iowa Library Quarterly these days is a
war service number, though not always so
marked.
The secretary has spoken on the book
collection and on food conservation at dis-
trict meetings of the w^omen's clubs last
fall and of the libraries this spring and on
other occasions. She also represents the
libraries on the Woman's Committee of the
Council of National Defence for Iowa and
is chairman of the subcommittee on the
registration of women for service.
Personal contributions. In personal con-
tributions we may seem to be lacking.
Each member of the staff has given largely
of herself, but with a force hardly suffi-
cient to carry the work in normal times
we can ill afford now with our extra war
demands to spare anyone for outside
work. Nevertheless just before I came
away Miss Reba Davis, librarian of tlie
traveling library, left for three months'
base hospital work in Texas. This is em-
phatically a personal contribution on the
part of each of the assistants who will be
obliged to bear heavier burdens at home
during her absence. On her return others
may possibly be spared but in the mean-
time we shall not be of those of whom it
is said "They also serve who only stand
and wait," for we have no time for either
standing or waiting with the many calls
to service which daily come to us.
But with it all, even more than to the
boys in France, it all seems so "d im-
personal" and in addition at such long
range that with all our efforts we can but
feel that it has not been even "our bit."
But still we trust that your bit and our
bit and many billions more may help to
hasten the day when the Kaiser shall cease
from troubling and the weary nations be
at peace.
WHAT THE COUNTY AND RURAL LIBRARY IS DOING TO HELP WIN THE WAR
By Maby L. Titcomb, Librarian, Washington County Free Library, Hagerstown, Md.
Like every other library, the first thing
we did in August, 1914, was to display our
meager assortment of war books. The
making of the large sign with "The Great
War" printed upon it in the blackest of
type, in itself was a relief to our feelings.
Somehow just naming it, giving it a label
"The Great War" par eminence was an
outlet to overcharged emotions. Then the
public came, and read (for a few months
how they read!) Usher's Pan-Germanism
and Bernhardl's remarkable pronounce-
ment of the German policy, and all the
other titles, now almost forgotten. Then
came the White Book, and the Yellow,
eagerly devoured, and after that interest
in our shelf began to wane. As a people,
our minds were largely made up on the
side of the Allies, but as yet we felt no
especial concern In this fight 3,000 miles
away, so one day when the librarian heard
a captious voice saying, "O, those old war
books! I'm so sick and tired of nothing
but war," she moved the offending dis-
play to a less conspicuous location, and
for all the time we waited before coming
to a reasonably clear understanding of
Germany's aims, the interest remained
188
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
academic. The new war books were read,
but the flood of propagandist literature re-
ceived little attention. Even the interest
in the maps of the war fronts diminished
after the terrible rout of the Russians.
For a season the library marked time.
Then came our entrance into the conflict
and at once there was a change. Every-
thing was in demand; our sign, "The
Great War," was no longer needed, our
only hope was to be able to keep within
sight of the demand for books about the
war. About a month before our entrance
as a nation, the librarian was looking at
the pile of propagandist pamphlets, dusty
and untidy, and in an excess of housekeep-
ing zeal almost decided to send to the junk
man all but one copy of each. Some in-
stinct stayed her hand, and the month
after every copy was In the hands of a
man on the farm or in the country store.
In July of that year a Red Cross class,
meeting every morning, was given a room
in the building and met there for two
months pending the establishment of per-
manent headquarters. People began to
wake up and ask questions and the library
saw its chance to get into the great game.
In the fall of that year the librarian un-
dertook the state chairmanship of the
A. Ii. A. war service campaign, with head-
quarters at the library. That was fol-
lowed by the chairmanship of the Red
Cross Christmas seal sale. An educa-
tional committee of the Maryland Council
of Defense was formed in Washington
county, consisting of a library trustee, su-
perintendent of schools, county farm agent,
home demonstration agent and urban
demonstrator, with the librarian as secre-
tary. This formed an excellent coopera-
tive body, and it is through this commit-
tee working through the librarian that the
most valuable work of the library has
been done.
A set of questions on the causes of the
war, etc., framed by the superintendent of
schools and the committee, was issued to
the teachers with directions that they in-
form themselves, instruct their pupils, and
require an essay from each one before the
close of the winter term, the best essay
from each grade to be printed in the local
newspapers, the educational committee be-
ing the judge. This gave an opportunity
for a large circulation of a pamphlet, "What
we are fighting about," issued by the Mary-
land Council of Defense, and also of the
Red, White and Blue series of pamphlets.
The county demonstrator, the urban dem-
onstrator, and the library book wagon
have all circulated these pamphlets as
well as those of the National Food Gar-
den Commission, Food Administration, De-
partment of Agriculture and others. A
basket on the delivery desk labeled "Take
as many as you like" has been emptied
and replenished daily. Through these
and many other avenues over one thou-
sand pamphlets have been distributed.
In the children's room, a weekly reading
from some interesting war book has been
given to the older boys, about four periods
being devoted to a book, the boys follow-
ing the narrative with a map. When the
story hour stopped in the spring the chil-
dren's librarian went out with the farm
agent, giving talks to the boys' corn clubs
on the war and our responsibilities to it.
A class of volunteer workers meets one
evening in the week to make scrapbooks
for hospital use under the direction of a
member of the staff. The library has also
collected and shipped 1,016 volumes for
the camp libraries, being administered by
the American Library Association.
Through the librarian, speakers and in
many cases patriotic music have been pro-
vided for over one hundred meetings of
community clubs, patriotic mass meetings,
etc., in the country districts. The libra-
rian herself has talked at many of these
meetings and to the Red Cross branches
in the county. The school librarian has
in her charge a Red Cross branch in a
near-by village, meeting with them for
work two nights in the week. Just now
the library is selling thrift stamps on an
installment plan in the children's room
and the stations In the county which are
visited weekly by members of the staff.
WYER
189
This is one side of the shield. Looking
on the other side, we find that even fiction
goes slowly. War books of the narrative
kind are still in demand and to an extent,
books of international history and rela-
tions. There is also a perceptible turning
toward the psychical, spiritual and eth-
ical. This is as it should be. The women
of leisure are now at work. The children
are busy with the Junior Red Cross or
war gardens; the young men are gone, or
getting ready to go; and for those who
are left the newspapers are all-absorbing
and exciting. It is only as the library can
enter into the war work of the community
that it can justify its right to existence in
war time.
WHAT THE STATE LIBRARY IS DOING TO HELP WIN THE WAR
By J. I. Wyeb, Jr., Director, New York State LiTirary, Albany, N. Y.
Immediately after the entry of this coun-
try into the war the nation began to
mobilize its resources — military, naval, in-
dustrial, agricultural, scientific, educational
— and each separate profession, industry
and activity, through its practitioners, be-
gan to take thought as to what specific war
time service it might render.
Probably the great surprise of the war
to librarians has been the amazing range
of opportunity that has been ofi'ered for
what we may consider real library war serv-
ice. Libraries have never been formally
inventoried and examined to discover their
possible war time contributions to national
defense. Quite aside from their functions
of supplying fresh news and judgments of
current events and abundant wholesome
recreational reading (functions supplying
an indispensable element in morale and as
highly important in stress as in serener
times) libraries surely have a vital part in
that work of organized research which is
behind Germany's scientific and industrial
efficiency and which has bulked large in all
President Wilson's preparedness plans.
That such work must be pushed with in-
creased vigor, and its adepts kept out of
the trenches for just such service is one
of the sharpest lessons which England has
learned, and successful research rests as
much upon adequate and well-organized
book resources as upon laboratories and
trained men. It did not occur, perhaps, to
librarians, even in the face of the vast
mobilization of civilian effort, that there
would be so considerable a part and a pro-
gram for libraries and their work. I do
not say this in any spirit of boasting. It
is not in that spirit, despite some news-
paper strictures that have been passed
upon the program of this Conference, that
libraries and librarians have done this work
or that we have come together at this
Conference to talk about it.
i observed, particularly in Miss Tit-
comb's remarks and in Mr. Wellman's, as
well as in Miss Robinson's, the note of
humility that was struck, and it is in that
same strain that I wish to speak of what
the State Library at Albany has done.
I cannot believe that its work is greatly
different from that of any other state
library. Beyond its more usual functions,
which must be intensified and accelerated
in time of great need, there is an excep-
tional service bearing full upon the im-
mediate work of training an army, which
the State Library offers to the mili-
tary authorities of state and nation.
Every man in the new army must have at
least some months of training. Special
schools and training must be provided for
officers in every branch of the service and
even for different duties in the same
branch. Dozens of different specialized
schools exist in France for the air and
artillery services alone. Military training
camps these must be, of course, but they
must be more — schools and colleges in the
190
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
real sense of the terms, equipped with
laboratories, lecture halls, and libraries,
and back of these general camps hundreds
of special schools for the training of officers
and specialists in the learned branches of
the profession of war.
The plain and immediate duty of the
State Library, situated at the military
headquarters of each state, would seem to
be to build up its present small collection
of military books into a military library
adequate to be a center of military informa-
tion for the state and to serve effectively
the needs of research workers studying new
methods and instruments for attack and
defense.
It should actively disseminate to the hun-
dreds of schools and libraries throughout
the state, with which it is in official rela-
tion, information and expert opinion essen-
tial to the comprehension of military facts
and policies and to the maintenance of the
morale of the nation.
It should provide military and technical
books, as required, to any school or college
giving "officers' training" work. Its medi-
cal library should acquire promptly all new
and important material on military hygiene,
medicine, sanitation and surgery and
should give the widest publicity to the
availability of this material to all military,
medical and hospital corps. The following
Items describing some specific lines of
service by the New York State Library are
noted without any logical arrangement but
merely as they happen to be jotted down:
A military information service was or-
ganized as soon as this country came into
the war, sorting out from our shelves the
relatively few volumes that seemed to
promise a live and active service at the
present time, getting as soon as possible
those other hundreds or thousands of
volumes that bore more immediately upon
present problems and the actual questions
of war. These were put into a special col-
lection. We accumulated such pamphlets
as we could, subscribed for duplicate maga-
zines and periodicals and either clipped
them or circulated them as single numbers.
This material was made available not only
in the city of Albany but throughout the
state in connection with our regular lending
service. At the request of the Resource
Mobilization Bureau, a rather high sound-
ing name for what in most states is called
the State Council of Defense, the State
Library prepared a pamphlet on America's
part in the v/ar, of which several thousand
were printed. The same bureau also called
for the compilation of a book about the
American flag for use in quantities
throughout the state. It was compiled but
has not yet been published.
The draft boards came to us, at first
tentatively and later with more assurance,
for help in organizing their records, to
enable them at once to make reference to
the names that were filed with each board
alphabetically by the name of the soldier,
by the registration numeral, by his serial
number, and under some other numerical
arrangement peculiar to their own records.
A federal bureau of the National Draft
Office is located at Albany and handles
the v/ork for the entire state. Its records
and correspondence soon outgrew its own
facilities for taking care of it and the State
Library was called into conference; a sys-
tem was suggested, a course of reading and
study mapped out for the people in charge
of the system, the books, literature and
catalogs of filing system and those that
make them were distributed to them and
they have come to look to us, I fancy, for
such help as may be necessary in keeping
pace with their growth of correspondence
from three letters a day in the first week
to something like a thousand letters a
week at the present time.
We organized the collection of local his-
tory material on the war for the State
Library throughout the state by designat-
ing in each county one library to be a cen-
ter for that work. In a circular letter to
the 600 registered libraries of the state
v;ere described the kinds of material they
were asked to collect, pictorial, literary,
manuscript, the ephemeral and the more
permanent. Those letters were sent out
so that each one of the 600 libraries should
know which was the central collecting
agency in its own county, the exact kind
of material wanted, the form in which it
was desired to have it, the greater plan
of which it was to form a part, and the
times and seasons at which we wished to
have the material sent in to Albany. The
State Council of Defense formed a useful
publicity agent in every county, ably re-
inforcing our own plans and our own
efforts, for if librarians have learned any-
thing through all this year of war work It
is that they are a weak and feeble folk un-
less they realize and use to the full the
WYER
191
efforts of every other class of citizens and
of every other agency, most of them lying
* at hand and much neglected in every en-
terprise in which we have been engaged.
The State Library photostat has been
freely and fully at the service of all state
departments having to do with war work
and has been much used for a surprising
variety of work, much of it of exceptional
urgency, frequently calling for evening and
Sunday work.
In the matter of camp libraries, before
the A. L. A. had its work organized there
were three reserve officer training camps
in New York State. There were large camps
in one or two other cities of the state.
There were smaller posts here and there.
The State Library in one case furnished a
librarian for three months; in all cases
furnished some books and acted as adviser
when it was necessary (and it seldom was
necessary) in stimulating local libraries to
action in connection with near-by posts that
called for some similar service. Thousands
of books were used in that way. We dupli-
cated freely when it was necessary and
furnished personal service from the State
Library whenever it seemed to promise
usefulness, even, as indicated, to the ex-
tent of sending a man for three months to
the Plattsburg Camp.
This leads naturally into the larger war
service of the A. L, A. We have felt in
that regard that almost any member of
the staff that promised any usefulness in
such work within our State or in camps
where any New York men were to be
found, was properly subject to draft. Our
reference librarian has been librarian at
Camp Upton ever since the camp opened.
The first camp librarian at Spartanburg,
where the New York National Guard men
went first, was one of our own staff.
So four or five members of the staff have
been absent in various lines of camp library
work, among them Miss Caroline Webster
for three months in Washington organizing
the hospital work for the library war serv-
ice there. No demand upon us is too heavy
for compliance in this regard if it is at
all possible to let some lines of work go,
to cut out others. We instituted a rather
rigid inquiry of our routine and our
regular working methods to discover if
there were not portions of it that could be
cut out entirely, if there were not other
portions that could be Indefinitely post-
poned, and we have freed some additional
service for more important uses in that
way.
The Federal Government has called upon
the State Library, and my associate, Mr.
Walter, spent several weeks in midwinter
in one of the Government offices, organizing
a card and a filing system.
In connection with the draft boards of
Albany, our law library was taken for the
legal advisory work of the city and our
law librarian acted as the secretary for the
legal advisory board of that district. Ses-
sions were held in the law library and in
the legislative reference library. The law
librarian is still chairman of the board
and he has assumed the task of reviewing
the claims of registrants for the entire
state, some ten thousand or more of these
claims having been handled by the board of
which our librarian is the secretary. At
the request of the Adjutant's office he
notifies delinquents of their status.
The State Library acted as state head-
quarters in the A. L. A. financial campaign,
in both book drives, and like other state
agencies has distributed the books upon
orders from Washington. It initiated the
local Albany campaign for money in the
Fall, with the active cooperation and aid
of the local public libraries.
The United States Food Administration
has an office in the State Library, a very
busy office, an office whose work surprises
me more and more every time I go into it.
I am confronted there with what looks like
a shipping room, an apparatus temporarily
constructed, with great heaps of the
pamphlets and posters issued by the
United States Food Administration, stacks
of round mailing tubes, great piles of
envelopes addressed by the addressograph
and ready to go out and people busily em-
ployed in filling them up. Our Mr. Wynkoop
is library publicity director for the Federal
Food Administration. If every state is
being taken care of with the literature of
that central office of Mr. Hoover's as well
as New York State Is, I can scarcely under-
192
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
stand why we should not be able to save
food enough to feed the whole world.
In none of the above have I taken account
of the many ways in which the daily work
of the library, its regular routine, has been
colored by war work; the difficult matter
of book selection, of subscription to new
periodicals, the distressing complications
that have arisen by the failure to receive
books and periodicals, especially from
abroad, the trouble in financial records that
has been brought about, the difficulty and
efforts required to get books of any sort
from abroad. Especially has war work
colored reference work in all sections of
the library.
At the beginning I alluded to the amaz-
ing number of opportunities that have
opened for library work in connection with
the war. It was a new thought that books
and their custodians could be mobilized for
military service. I know of no better state^
ment of this anywhere in print than that
prepared by Mr. Wynkoop as program or
syllabus for the conduct of the thirty state
library institutes and printed in the May
number of New York Libraries.
WHAT THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY IS DQING TO HELP WIN THE WAR
By J. C. M. Hanson, Associate Director, University of Chicago Libraries
For the winning of a war there are said
to be three essential and preeminent requi-
sites: Man-power, money, morale.
As to the first, the average American
university library cannot boast of any ap-
preciable surplus. The University of Chi-
cago Library may or may not represent
the average in this respect. It had, on our
entrance into the war, 81 women assistants
and 24 men, and of the latter number only
eight of military age. The result is that
the library can present only five names of
assistants actually in military service.
As for the second requisite, money, per-
haps the less said the better. With sev-
enty out of one hundred assistants receiv-
ing salaries running from $30 to $75 a
month one cannot expect to make a show-
ing comparable to that of the great busi-
ness corporations or other institutions
with vast 'financial resources. Still the
eagerness to give and the willingness to
sacrifice is there in full measure, and the
saying credited to the Apostle Peter, "Gold
and silver have I none, but what I have
give I Thee," may well apply to many of our
library assistants during the last year.
Subscriptions to the Red Cross, the vari-
ous ambulances, particularly the Univer-
sity and the Henry E. Legler ambulances.
the three Liberty Loans, thrift stamps,
and various charitable enterprises have
been participated in by all. I know of no
exceptions.
There remains the third element, mo-
rale, and here is where the University Li-
brary may, in common with other libra-
ries and similar institutions, claim recog-
nition.
It has been said that morale is likely to
prove the deciding factor in the present
war, also that the farther from home the
scene of conflict, the more difficult for the
soldier to keep up a firm spirit for the
work in hand. It was, no doubt, with this
in mind, and fully aware of the powerful
influence exercised by the printed book for
instruction, entertainment, and in general
for the moral uplift of the soldier that the
American Library Association inaugurated
its plan for providing camp libraries.
In the first confusion, due to a depleted
force, without a corresponding diminution
in pressure for service, assistants in the
university library were a little puzzled as
to just how and where to offer their serv-
ices. A wish had been expressed by libra-
rians of the central west that the Univer-
sity of Chicago undertake, as a special
function, the collecting of books and ma-
HANSON
193
terial on the war. The proposal was re-
ceived with favor by the president and the
departments of instruction, and plans for
the collection and their partial realization
may be said to constitute the first step in
the war work of the library.
Almost simultaneously with the demand
for a war collection came demands from
faculty, students, alumni and others for
books on military and naval science, gen-
eral and special. Little attention having
been paid to these latter subjects prior to
the war, there was no nucleus around
which to build. It was necessary to begin
at the bottom.
Calls for aid from the A. L. A. War Serv-
ice at Washington came next and here
the library was fortunate in being able to
offer the services of the head of its refer-
ence department, Mr. E. N. Manchester,
for three months, during which period he
served as camp librarian at Camp Cody,
New Mexico. His letters; and, on his re-
turn, the recital of his experiences, the
needs of the soldiers, and their interest
and appreciation of what the library was
able to do for them, served to kindle the
enthusiasm of the entire force, and when,
soon after, the time came for the drive for
books, the assistants responded with a will.
Before the A. L. A, had begun its active
campaign for books, the Great Lakes Naval
Station, north of Chicago, was receiving
thousands upon thousands of volumes,
which were piled up in boxes and on the
floors in almost hopeless confusion. The
libraries of Chicago immediately responded
to the call for help, and from the Univer-
sity of Chicago libraries ten assistants
went up for two days each, sorted books,
wrote cards and helped prepare books for
the various camps. The library contrib-
uted half of their time, and, at first, paid
transportation. Later the A. L. A. took
over the work, and the Great Lakes library
is now one that we of the central west
point to with special pride.
The organization and registration for
war work of the women of Chicago next
engaged the attention of several members
of the staff. Miss Elizabeth Lamb, reviser
in the cataloging department, had charge
of the preparation and filing of the cards
for the sixth ward, near the university.
Nearly the entire cataloging department
volunteered to help in supervising this
work. Other assistants have taken a lead-
ing part in preparing name index cards
for twenty-six other wards, something
over 300,000 cards having so far been filed.
Before the work on the registration
cards had been completed the drive for
books was on. Four committees were ap-
pointed to assume general charge and al-
most every assistant was enrolled to help
out in some way or other. It was our am-
bition to make the collection of the uni-
versity not only large numerically, but one
which should contain only books likely to
prove of real service to the soldiers. More-
over, it was decided to pocket, plate, label,
classify and catalog all the books prior
to shipment. This latter decision was
reached at a committee meeting held when
only about 1,000 volumes were in sight.
Later when the number threatened to ex-
ceed the 9,000 mark, it became necessary to
call for outside help for the simpler work
of pasting, labeling and marking. The
clerical work was done chiefly by the
women members of the staff, the heavier
work of packing and moving fell to the
men. Students from the University
Y. M. C. A., and from various fraternities
have been of assistance, offering their own
services, and, in some cases, their auto-
mobiles to carry books to and from the
university library and the different de-
posit stations established in the neighbor-
hood. The University of Chicago Press
has printed and distributed posters and
announcements and transported and de-
livered books.
Of other activities in which this univer-
sity library has had a share may be men-
tioned the rather important work of solic-
iting and distributing pamphlets on the
war to students and members of the fac-
ulty. This has fallen to the assistant in
charge of the war collection. Over 10,000
pamphlets have been distributed gratis.
The same assistant has also maintained a
194
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
number of bulletin boards for war posters,
pamphlets, cuttings, contributed almost
daily notices to the student papers, com-
piled reading lists on the war and in vari-
ous ways assisted students and professors
engaged in the study of the war, or pre-
paring for active service of some kind in
connection with it.
I need not add that the ladies of the staff
have done their share and more in knit-
ting and in preparing surgical dressings
and the like.
There are other activities too numerous
to mention connected with the neighbor-
hood clubs, charitable organizations, Red
Cross, Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., churches.
Council of Defense and National Security
League, each of which has demanded and
received its share of assistance from mem-
bers of the staff. All have responded as
far as their strength and resources would
permit. Some, I fear, have in their eager-
ness and enthusiasm exceeded the limits of
safety and are as a consequence threat-
ened with physical and nervous break-
down. It has been a part of the directors'
duties to warn against and counteract
over-zealous application on part of those
not strong enough to stand the extra strain.
In addition to the collecting and prepar-
ing of books for shipment to camps, still
going forward at the university, the as-
sistants have recently undertaken to de-
vote one evening a week to similar duties
at the Chicago Public Library. As the dis-
tance of the latter institution from the
homes of the assistants is from eight to
twelve miles, and Chicago lacks as yet a
real system of rapid transit, the participa-
tion on part of the university library as-
sistants represents also in this instance a
contribution of time and energy worthy of
mention.
Maintenance of war gardens by some of
the men and service of others as speakers
upon the different loans and upon other
subjects directly related to the war, are
matters of course.
Finally, the assistants decided last win-
ter at a staff sociable to undertake the sup-
port of two French orphans for the dura-
tion of the war, the contributions for this
purpose being entirely voluntary.
What has here been recited must serve,
then, to indicate briefly a part of the acti-
vities by which one university library has
endeavored to aid in the prosecution of the
war. Whether or not it will serve also as
a fair representation of the experience of
other institutions of the same class, I can-
not say. Some may have done more, some
less. In any case, it is safe to say that the
spirit which has permeated the assistants
and stimulated their efforts at Chicago
will be found also in the other libraries of
the country.
In conclusion, I can hardly refrain from
giving expression to a thought that has
been on my own mind, as I know it must
have been on that of practically all of you
during the last year. It is briefly this:
The war must be looked at, not only from
the point of view of immediate military
exigency, but with a view also to its ulti-
mate results, not only its material results,
but the moral and intellectual as well.
Just as it has been shown that the univer-
sity library can contribute more to the
maintenance of morale than to the supply
of man-power or money, so it can no doubt,
in common with other learned institutions,
give more effective support to the Govern-
ment and other powers in counteracting
certain dangerous and pernicious influences
at home, than through direct participation
in warfare abroad. I need hardly mention
the epidemics of hysteria and weakmind-
edness which break out at crises like the
present one and which tend to cheapen and
weaken our patriotic endeavors. Even
more serious are the insidious efforts of
selfish and unscrupulous interests to util-
ize our emergency for personal profit and
gain.
It will be recalled that the United States
Commissioner of Education has sent out a
timely and emphatic warning against the
ill-advised and shortsighted campaign
against the study of foreign languages. In
the great economic reorganization, and far-
reaching reconstruction which it is agreed
must come after the war, and for which
HANSON
195
even now a number of nations are making
the most feverish preparations, men and
women with knowledge of foreign lan-
guages will be needed in constantly increas-
ing numbers. We of the university and
great reference libraries have perhaps had
better opportunity than the average to note
the frequency with which persons in search
of the best information on a given subject
are again and again blocked by their lack
of knowledge, not only of the subjects
treated in the books and articles laid before
them, but particularly by their ignorance of
the languages in which the books are print-
ed. The handicaps resulting from such
ignorance must be patent to all. They are
so serious that I for one do not wish to
see them saddled on those who during the
period of reconstruction to come will be
called on, each in their field, to uphold the
dignity and position of this republic in its
relations to other nations.
In view of this situation and with our
knowledge of what confronts us, it would
seem to be the safe and proper course for
libraries to consider, not only the imme-
diate future, the military situation of the
moment, but look farther ahead in plan-
ning their share in the efforts required to
win the war.
Prominent writers and thinkers have,
before and after the outbreak of the war,
sounded warnings against the tendencies
noticed not only among the great auto-
cracies and plutocracies and the other im-
perialistic combinations of the world, but
among the minor nations as well, to set up
as their aims and ambitions material gain,
acquisition of money and wealth, control
of commercial and natural resources at
home and abroad, opportunities for extra
lucrative investments, while too frequently
assuming toward sound and thorough
knowledge and all that pertains to the do-
main of philosophic thought and idealism,
an attitude of contempt. It has been
claimed also that the most effective weap-
ons for counteracting such tendencies must
be sought for in the extension of knowl-
edge and education based on sound moral
principles. There should be no hesitation
In deciding the position to be assumed by
libraries to these and similar movements
for human betterment.
It has been said further that our time is
not rich in great personalities, that the
proper atmosphere for fostering such per-
sonalities cannot be provided amid the
rush and struggle for gain which has
characterized particularly the latter part
of the nineteenth and early part of the
twentieth centuries. As proof has been
cited the growing tendency to read only
the daily papers — to cut even this reading
to the minimum by glancing over the head-
lines in search of something to satisfy the
craving for the sensational, for something
to supply a moment of stimulation in the
great weariness from ceaseless toil.
To wean at least a small part of the gen-
eration now coming forward away from
this unending struggle for material gain,
for sensation, for personal aggrandizement,
to bring them to read good books, to think
and search their own thought, to give some
small part of their time to moral and in-
tellectual ideals and efforts — might not
this perhaps be credited to libraries as in
a sense a contribution to the winning of
the war?
In other words, is there any task, no
matter how lowly, which may not be con-
sidered as an aid to winning the war, pro-
vided it has as its aim the spiritual and
moral development of the individual, helps
to enrich his life, teaches him to think,
sheds light and happiness on him and his
environment?
Finally, should not, after all, the main
contribution of university libraries toward
the winning of the war be sought for in
their own special fields of endeavor, In the
maintenance and fostering of the princi-
ples laid down in the world's greatest
books, such as are found embodied in the
Golden Rule, in the great legal codes and
moral systems handed down to us, truths,
which history shows us to have been the
chief foundation stones " wherever and
whenever human society has been able to
function with some degree of security and
success?
19fi
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Personally, I am utterly unable to appre-
ciate or sympathize with the claim that a
ruthless war is the most effective war. It
fell to my lot once to make a study of the
Thirty Years War with special reference
to the participation in it of Gustavus
Adolphus. His maxim "The best Christian
is the best soldier," formed the basis for
the rigid discipline enforced in his armies
while he remained in command and there
is no evidence that it interfered in the
slightest with his military success. Lord
Roberts until 1904 said a week or two
before his death, "Let us fight against
the enemy in such a manner that we
shall earn not only his respect, but
also his friendship." The cultivation
of sentiments like those here referred
to, the fostering of a broad and lib-
eral education on firm moral founda-
tions, preservation of freedom of thought
and expression, with due regard to the de-
mands of great national emergencies, are
to my mind important issues which no uni-
versity library or similar institution work-
ing for the moral, and intellectual uplift
of the people, can afford to ignore, not
only in its endeavors to end the war suc-
cessfully, but in all efforts tending to-
wards the restoration of orderly and nor-
mal conditions among men.
IS CAMP LIBRARY SERVICE WORTH WHILE?
By Adam Stkohm, Librarian, Detroit Public Library (Camp Librarian, Camp Gordon,
Ga.)
The question should, I think, be consid-
ered from two points of view: Is it worth
while to the men in the army to have
these libraries; and is it worth while to
the camp librarian to give service in
the camps?
As far as the first consideration is con-
cerned, I hold that the presence of camp
libraries in the camps is justified if we
bring to these camps the professional skill
and ability which we possess, an ability
that is not available through any other or-
ganization and never has been. For that
purpose it is necessary that all good libra-
rians feel under obligation to volunteer or
accept a call from headquarters. It would
mean in connection with that, that not
only should they accept this call but should
give a reasonable permanency to their
service. The replacement idea in the camp
library service is not a success.
In a general way, these camp libraries or
the camp library service is justified only
if every policy that we lay out, if every
effort that we give to it, is for the national
purpose for which these camps are organ-
ized. In this work we should forget not
only the possible glory that may be in the
assignment that is given to us, possibly the
reflection that comes to our home institu-
tions; we should forget our Identity alto-
gether and simply approach the whole
problem from the national point of view.
And in that regard I differ with some camp
librarians. I think that the camp library
is not like a regular city or county library.
It is a special library for a special purpose.
The statement has already been made as
to the necessity of technical books — all the
books that are needed for the development
and understanding of military arts — and
the need of these books is too obvious for
further comment. Add to these all the
books available on flowers, rocks, photog-
raphy, books on flne arts; but those are
the incidental interests, those are the in-
cidental happenings in giving this service.
The big need, the real need, is to get books
of analytical power and devote our skill to
the training of men for a special purpose.
It has been repeatedly said and it has
just the same force now as it had six
months ago, that the only purpose of this
whole activity is to win the war, which is
STROHM
1S7
true. But w© have, I think, progressed in
the last few months a little bit beyond the
mere military aspect of this wonderful ex-
perience that we are going through. All
at once America has discovered Europe.
We realize that back of all those inter-
national policies and happenings and mili-
tary events there are motives and in-
trigues, all of which we ought to know.
We realize that underneath the flash-
ing events of military tragedies and vic-
tories there is a war underneath the very
war, and conscious of those facts, the
American nation and the young soldiers
are going forward in a spirit of idealism.
If there ever was any case of a national
lifting up of spirit toward idealism, it is
certainly true about America's entry into
the war. Notwithstanding the faults that
may at one time have been found in the
Allies' claims, truly now we are joined in
something that quickens the pulses of all.
Information is available now; books
have recently appeared that give the un-
derlying causes, that furnish the back-
ground, and analyze the big epoch now un-
rolling itself. Those are the books and
those are the magazines that above every-
thing else should receive the attention and
the understanding of the officers and sol-
diers. In this way our professional per-
sonal influence can do a great deal to
arouse a spirit, a faith that is not avail-
able just now through any other agency in
the camps.
The situation as to the boys who are not
perhaps conscious of the real ideals of de-
mocracy is sometimes a most bewildering,
helpless thing in these camps. In so far
as they can realize that out of the mud and
blood will arise a new social order, a new
Europe, a new world, they will go into
the supreme test in a spirit of confidence
and righteousness, different from that of
any other brother belligerent.
Now is it worth while to the librarian?
The answer to that is perhaps quite diffi-
cult to articulate. Is it worth while to
be alive at all just now? Is it worth while
to be in your country's service, humble as
it is? Is it worth while to have this ex-
traordinary privilege, as I feel it, of work-
ing with men, with men exclusively? In
that respect I think we have something to
learn in our public library service. la it
not possible so to arrange our service that
the attractions that in a way are avail-
able in the camp libraries for men can be
introduced there, the freedom, the infor-
mality of things? There, of course, we
are all alike; we are all brothers, all
equally muddy occasionally. The libra-
rian is not anything like a controlling
master. He wanders about among the boys
in khaki; he is called across the floor for
a little information on this and that,
and there is absolutely no red tape or
stiffness about it. As a matter of fact,
this service is one of working the thing
out together rather than of anything else.
Something may also be said in antici-
pation of the status of things after the war
is over. Surely, when these soldiers are
returning from their duty abroad and com-
ing back to civil life, the recollection of
the attention, of the consideration, that
was given them from the country, from the
librarians, will help a great deal toward
supporting the libraries. It will also place
public service on a higher plane than it
has ever been before. Indeed, one of the
benefits of the war will be the recognition
of public service as an honor. Service to
his city, state and country should be ex-
acted from every one worthy the name of a
man. You very women may, indeed, de-
mand that every man should give some part
of his life to the service of his country.
Something has been said about the em-
ployment of men and women in our camps.
I am not going to enter into any argument
about that. One or two things I care to say
about it. In the first place, I do not think
it is very important to discuss whether it
be a man or a woman. A man librarian
and a woman librarian will make a suc-
cess in the camp as in any other library if
they are good librarians, not because they
are men or women.
Yet another thing I want to say, speak-
ing for myself and I think speaking for
the camp librarians as far as I know them,
198
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
that we are in this work because we can-
not help ourselves, because opportunity
has been offered to us; we are here for
such usefulness and service as we can
give. And if the executive committee or
if the War Department or any other au-
thorized authority should determine that
it will be for the best interests of the serv-
ice that women replace the men, I for one
would withdraw most cheerfully and I
think the rest of us would do so and wish
our colleagues the very best of luck.
Indeed, we are fighting, we are working,
we are exerting ourselves now for some of
the finest ideals there ever were. And if
democracy means anything just now it
does not mean any unkindly competition.
We are going to work this out; we are go-
ing to win out by cooperation and nothing
else, and that will be true, I think, about
the library war service, which is, perhaps,
more intelligently applied than any other
civilian service we can think of. The
whole civilian activity is really too large
for competition. I think we all real-
ize there is not any especial "glory" con-
nected with it. We are dressed up in uni-
forms but our uniforms are never going to
have any memories of military valor con-
nected with them. We are fully conscious
of the propriety that no service star should
ever be hung in our honor. But in a
deeper sense and especially perhaps on a
wonderful day like this Fourth of July,
one would like to cherish the hope that all
people who have sincerely and unselfishly
given something of themselves for the pro-
motion of a great cause like ours, whether
they are the women in the kitchens, the
mechanics in the factories, the civilian
workers in the Y. M. C. A. huts, or the
camp librarians — may we not hope that in
so far as we have heartened and quickened
the spirit that reaches now from land to
land, we have perhaps each one of us added
a little star in that firmament of light,
hope and justice to which an anxious world
is looking up.
THE UNITED STATES BOYS' WORKING RESERVE
By H. W. Wells, Associate Director, United States Boys' Working Reserve
The United States Boys' Working Re-
serve is a section of the United States Em-
ployment Service of the Department of
Labor. Its purpose is to enroll, to train,
and to supervise at their work all boys
who are sixteen years of age and over and
under twenty-one years of age and are
physically fit for the work to be under-
taken, with a primary purpose of rehabili-
tating farms that have been denuded by
the war emergency of their supply of adult
labor. The fourth item of its program is
to inspect the farms where boys are to be
employed in order that the living and
working conditions on these farms shall
conform to certain definite standards set
up by the Reserve.
There are approximately two million
boys of Reserve age in the United States
who are in school or are occupied at labor
that Is seasonal or that is not essential to
the winning of the war. This is the source
of labor supply with which the Reserve im-
mediately deals. Of the two million boya
under consideration approximately 500,000
are in the high schools of the United
States.
The Reserve is organized into state units
with a federal state director in charge of
every state unit; and into county units
with a county director in charge of every
county unit. Federal state directors are
federal employes and are appointed direct-
ly from Washington by the Secretary of
Labor. County directors are appointed by
federal state directors and are commis-
sioned by them with their commissions
countersigned from Washington.
Into every high school of the United
States the Reserve proposes to place, and
WELLS
199
In thousands of instances has already
placed, an enrolling officer whose busi-
ness is to bring to the attention of ev-
ery boy of Reserve age in his school
the claims of the Reserve upon his pa-
triotic service, and to enroll boys who
respond to this call. There are now
enrolled into the United States Boys'
Working Reserve throughout the forty-
eight States of the Union and in the Ter-
ritory of Hawaii, 200,000 boys.
The Reserve is organized into three
units: the agricultural unit, the industrial
unit and the vocational training unit. All
the emphasis of the organization has been
placed upon the agricultural unit because
it is through this unit that the boys of the
United States are best able to serve their
country in the present crisis.
In order to prepare boys to enter the
agricultural unit courses of study in the
elements of farm practice were introduced
into the school courses of many of the
states and were prosecuted through the
past autumn, winter and spring.
In seven of the states the Reserve main-
tained central farm training camps, and in
one state a training farm, for the intensive
training of selected boys in the elements
of farm practice and in the spirit that
should animate members of the Reserve.
In every one of these camps the boys were
submitted to daily physical training and
were subject to military discipline.
Manifestly the Reserve offers to the li-
braries of the United States a large op-
portunity for usefulness. A hearty co-
operation with the United States Boys'
Working Reserve is urged upon the libra-
rians of the United States. That coopera-
tion can best he offered in these outstand-
ing ways:
1. By giving the greatest possible pub-
licity to the Reserve. This is best done
by assembling the material that is used by
the Reserve, and by posting some of it
and by distributing other of it; by main-
taining an honor roll of all boys who are
patrons of the libraries and are enrolled
Into the Reserve.
2. By offering the legitimate services of
the libraries to all agencies in city, town
and county that are directly interested In
in the United States Boys' Working Re-
serve.
3. By the enrollment of all boys who are
not in attendance upon the schools of the
locality; and by referring schoolboys not
enrolled to the proper enrolling officer of
their schools.
4. By acting as an arm of the school sys-
tem, in close cooperation with the school
authorities and with the county directors
of the Reserve, to teach boys the elements
of farm practice in preparation for their
work upon the farms.
5. To act as emotional centers to stir
the boy patrons of libraries to a love of
country and to the true meaning of a
genuine patriotism.
As seventy-five per cent of the potential
enrollment of the Reserve is not in school;
and as a very large portion of a part of
this seventy-five per cent is a patron of
the libraries, the duties of the libraries to
the youth of the land in this particular re-
gard are difficult to exaggerate.
The national organization is about to
add to its stalf a director of library co-
operation whose business shall be to keep
the libraries of the country informed con-
cerning the United States Boys' Working
Reserve, and to outline a program of prac-
tical library cooperation.
200
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
THE DAY'S WORK IN HOBOKEN
By Asa Don Dickinson, A. L. A. Dispatch Agent, Ho'boken, N. J.
Our days at the Hoboken Dispatch Of-
fice are full of interest and incident.
Starting in January with one, we now oc-
cupy four of the pleasantest saloons in a
town which has ever been famous both for
barrooms and Germans. We are but one
block back from the water* front. The
Leviathan docks just around the corner.
Daily an intermittent stream of very sober
looking soldiers passes our door. They
are on the long trail which in another mo-
ment will bring their feet to the gangplank
of a transport.
But we cannot afford to gaze long at the
surroundings. The day's work at Hobo-
ken means that 6,000 books must be sent
overseas and this involves a good deal of
hard work. 6,000 a day means 750 an
hour, twelve a minute, one every five sec-
onds. If 6,000 books are to be dispatched
daily, 6,000 must be received, acknowl-
edged, unpacked and prepared for ship-
ment daily. They come In lots of all sizes,
from a single "Baedeker" up to 20,000
books at once. Ten per cent are pur-
chased books, and these entail ordering
and bill checking. They come in all sorts
of ways: by quartermaster's freight, by
freight prepaid, by freight collect, by ex-
press prepaid, by express collect, by parcel
post, by moving-van, wagon or limousine,
by lighter and by hand. They come with
all sorts of addresses, they come in every
possible sort of package — nearly 100 pack-
ages a day, which should all receive atten-
tion on the day of their arrival, for the
next day will bring as many more. The
books must all be carefully inspected of
course, and a certain number of "unsuit-
ables" will have to be disposed of. The
very large majority of books which pass
inspection must be roughly classified, and
each must contain one bookplate, book-
pocket, and book card bearing the au-
thor's surname and a brief title. (Bless-
ings on the librarian who sees that the
books he sends us are carefully prepared
for shipment. . The shelf-list card is not
required In our work. Cooperating friends,
all please take notice if you would save
useless labor.) After the books are made
up into carefully proportioned little libra-
ries of about seventy-five volumes each,
they are packed in our regulation shipping
bookcases. In each box are placed direc-
tions to the amateur librarians who are to
care for the books overseas. And finally
there is the sealing, stenciling and ship-
ping of the boxes. Some are for use on
the transports and later "over there";
some for cargo shipment as part of 50 tons
a month asked for by General Pershing;
some are for shipment to one or other of
the Naval Bases; or to the Red Cross; or
to some particular ship in local waters.
About 80 boxes go out each day. Ninety-
nine, 7,425 books, is the one-day record so
far. Each should bear three pasted labels
and on the average five stencilings. Our
stencil library is surprisingly large. If a
box is wrongly marked it will surely go
astray. In the midst of the hurly-burly
over there we cannot but fear it may do so
any way.
Suppose we note the events of a busy
hour or so at 119 Hudson street:
8:15 a.m. — The dispatch agent arrives, to
find a truck waiting to be loaded for the
piers. Porters and truckmen are enjoy-
ing a- cozy social hour.
8:16 — The dynamo begins to buzz, galvan-
izing porters and truckmen into more or
less strenuous action.
8:20 — Morning mail arrives: 25 letters and
50 pounds of newspapers and periodicals.
8:25 — Truck arrives with load of 50 cases
of books received per quartermaster's
freight — ^flve lots in the load — two lots
are "short" one case apiece.
DICKINSON
201
8:30 — Parcel post wagon arrives with 27
parcels: books from publishers, libra-,
ries and Individuals, and supplies from
headquarters.
8:35 — A limousine stops before the door
and an early-rlsIng Lady Bountiful en-
ters bearing three Issues of the Saturday
Evening Post, and one copy each of
Owen Meredith's "Luclle," Irving's
"Sketch-book," Mitchell's "Reveries of a
bachelor," Drummond's "Natural law In
the spiritual world," and "Mr. Britling."
She naturally wishes to know all about
how we send books to soldiers, and
holds the dispatch agent In gracious so-
cial converse for seven precious minutes,
till
8:42 — An irate policeman enters to say
traffic on Hudson street Is completely
blocked by vehicles standing before our
premises.
8:45 — Loaded truck departs for the pier,
and the traffic begins to trickle through
the jam.
8:50 — A big express wagon arrives to clog
things up again, and at 8:50% comes a
giant "seagoing" motor truck nine
hours out from Philadelphia with 185
of our shipping bookcases.
8:51 — Three newly hired porters take a
good look at this load; then two of them
remember that they have been drafted
and must leave "for the front" at once;
the third candidly states that the work
is too hard for him.
8:52 — Telephone bell rings: "One hundred
eight boxes of books are lying on Pier 1.
They have just come off a lighter from
Cheyenne, Wyoming. They weigh about
300 pounds apiece. I suppose they be-
long to you folks. The major says to
tell you they must be taken away be-
fore noon, or he will dispose of them as
he sees fit."
8:53 — Telegram from Washington head-
quarters: "Congratulations on your last
weekly report. Kindly arrange to dou-
ble your output next week and here-
after."
8:54— Wagon arrives with load of packing
boxes.
8:55 — Another telegram from "Washington
headquarters: "Use only our standard
shipping bookcases. Discontinue at once
all use of packing boxes."
8:56 — Telegram from manufacturer of
standard shipping bookcases: "Can't get
labor or lumber. Don't expect any more
boxes for at least a week."
8:58 — Distinguished librarian of leisurely
habits and a fine conversational talent
arrives to Inspect our work.
9:00— Class of Y. M. C. A. transport secre-
taries arrives to receive Instruction In
the care and administration of our trans-
port libraries.
9:10 — Red Cross chaplain enters with an
urgent demand for "Lady Audley's se-
cret." "There Is a boy In St. Mary's
hospital who must at once have that
book and no other."
9:15 — Read letter from headquarters: The
gist Is as follows: "Don't stick so close
to your office. Get out, man, and culti-
vate diplomatic relations with admirals
and major generals."
9:16 — Wire from headquarters: "Please
release your first assistant." (He had al-
ready gone to Boston to establish dis-
patch office there.)
9:20 — Base hospital chaplain enters with
a list of 450 titles. He tells us that he
has selected them with great care, and
hopes there need be no substitutions.
They must be on board his ship at 9
a. m. tomorrow. She sails at noon. He
doesn't know her name or number or
whether she sails from New York, Brook-
lyn or Hoboken.
9:21 — Quartermaster's truck arrives with
load of Burleson magazines.
9:23^Three loud explosions in rapid suc-
cession on the water front. Many win-
dows are broken by the concussion. All
hands rush into the street. German
woman from delicatessen shop next door,
in hysterics, demands first aid treat-
ment. She gets It — good old-fashioned
cold water.
9:25 — Moving van arrives with load of
8,000 loose, unsorted books, collected by
the New York Public Library.
202
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
9:27 — Secondhand packing box dealer ar-
rives to take away old boxes, and dealer
in old paper arrives for a load of dis-
carded books.
9:28 — Military authorities threaten drastic
action if we continue to block traffic in
Hudson street. A string of 75 quarter-
master trucks is being held up.
9:29— Sell two copies of "The Four Mil-
lion," first editions, to a book dealer for
$60.00.
9:30 — Long distance telephone from Wash-
. ington headquarters: "Our representa-
tives abroad report very few books ar-
riving in France. Why is this?"
9:31 — Director of Library War Service
concludes an unobtrusive visit of in-
spection by saying a few kind words as
to the progress we are making, and by
advising us not to overwork.
9:32 — The dispatch agent falls heavily to
the floor. He has fainted.
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE WAR
By H. H. B. Meyek, Chief Bibliographer, Library of Congress
An attempt to review, in the course of an
hour, the output of the largest printing
establishment in the world, during the pe-
riod of its greatest activity, must neces-
sarily appear somewhat absurd. One of
my colleagues with a mathematical turn of
mind has estimated that it would take fifty-
six hours steady reading to merely peruse
the Monthly Catalogue of public documents.
Obviously an enormous exclusion must be
practiced and but few documents can be
passed in review. But what is to be the
basis of exclusion or inclusion? Again ob-
viously present usefulness. This is neither
the time nor the occasion in which to at-
tempt an appraisal of documents as records
of past events. That is rather the business
of the future historian after time has per-
formed its slow but sure winnowing. But
this is the time and place to attempt to
point out what documents are of the most
use in helping the ordinary citizen, who is
the special care of the modern librarian,
to perform his part in the war.
In the treatment of the material itself
two courses lie open, either to take it up
by subject or by issuing office. The latter
has been selected because an arrangement
by issuing office after all parallels to a
great extent an arrangement by subject,
while it affords a readier means of identifi-
cation. I shall pass in rapid review, then,
the publications which have been issued by
the pennanent departments of the govern-
ment, followed by those of the special de-
partments and bureaus brought into exist-
ence by the exigencies of the war.
State Department
To begin with the State Department:
Apart from the routine publications there
stands out prominently the "Diplomatic
correspondence with belligerent govern-
ments relating to neutral rights and du-
ties." A fourth part was published in May
of this year, bringing the documents down
to the declaration of war against Germany,
April 6, 1917, and the severance of diplo-
matic relations with Austria-Hungary and
Turkey, April 8 and 23, respectively. It
covers the whole of the submarine contro-
versy to its final consummation. This is
perhaps the most valuable contribution of
source material so far made to the history
of the war. Although a plain, straightfor-
ward presentation of documents, it is an ab-
solute indictment, and such an array of evi-
dence as forces a conviction of the utterly
stupid perfidy of the governments of the
Central powers, which made it impossible
for the United States to remain out of the
war. Its value to patriotic speakers should
not be overlooked. Many of the facts which
form the basis of their arguments and ap-
peals rest on the evidence here presented.
MEYER
203
Treasury Department
The Treasury Department, in connection
with each successive liberty loan, has is-
sued a series of posters, circulars, and bul-
letins appealing to the patriotism of the
citizens to respond to the call for money.
While they have a permanent historic value,
their Immediate interest lies in connection
with the loan to which they relate. The
fourth liberty loan is to come in the fall,
probably in October. Every librarian
should be ready to aid in the drive with a
display of posters, and with Information
circulars at the reference desk. Write be-
forehand to the Publicity Bureau, Treasury
Department, Washington, D. C, stating
briefly your interest in the matter and re-
questing display posters and information
circulars. Let them know that you are
the center of information in your commu-
nity; do it briefly, no one has time in Wash-
ington at this crisis to read long letters,
however interesting, and the only effect of
a long letter is to delay matters.
Some of the circulars have a more per-
manent interest at the reference desk. The
pamphlets entitled "Second liberty loan of
1917, a source book" and "Liberty loan
bonds, what they are, what they stand for,
and how to buy them," are two of these.
More important still are Liberty Loan Cir-
cular 8, "Conversion of United States 15-30
years 3% per cent gold bonds of first lib-
erty loan," and Liberty Loan Circular 9,
"Interchange and transfer of liberty bonds,"
the use of which is obvious.
The posters, circulars, and bulletins re-
lating to war savings certificates and
stamps are to be had on application to the
National War Savings Committee, Treas-
ury Department, Washington, D. C. Some
of these also have a reference-desk value,
and I should mention especially "United
States government war savings stamps,
what they are, and why you should buy
them. W. S. 113." If you are asked about
the steps to be taken for establishing au-
thorized selling agencies, they are de-
scribed in W. S. 130, while W. S. 133 is a
"Handbook for banking, educational, indus-
trial and other interests" and W. S. 144 is
a "Textbook for speakers in thrift stamps
and war savings stamps."
Information concerning "War savings so-
cieties, what they are and how to organize
them" will be found in W. S. 145. In con-
nection with these societies the committee
began in March of this year the publication
of a monthly with the title "War saver,
bulletin for war savings societies of the
United States," also to be had free on ap-
plication to the committee. War Savings
Circular 8 contains the Treasury regula-
tions further defining the rights of holders
of war savings certificates.
The work of the War Risk Insurance
Bureau is of widespread interest in every
community. It has published a series of
bulletins. The first dealing with "Terms
and conditions of soldiers' and sailors' in-
surance," the second, "Brief outline of
family allowances," etc., of which the third
is a more extended statement, while the
fourth contains "Answers to questions you
will ask."
Though not war documents strictly
speaking, the circulars of the Federal Farm
Loan Bureau are of importance just at this
juncture. They give information on how
farmers may form national farm loan as-
sociations and so take advantage of the
opportunities to borrow money on terms
favorable to the farmer. Special attention
should be directed to Circular 5, "Farm
loan primer," which gives an answer to
most of the questions which are likely to
be asked concerning the Federal Farm
Loan act. The act itself is printed as Cir-
cular 4. Since October, 1917, several num-
bers of a "Borrower's Bulletin" have ap-
peared, intended primarily for the national
farm loan associations.
From the ofllce of the Internal Revenue
Commissioner has appeared an "Income
tax primer, prepared by the Bureau of In-
ternal Revenue for the information and
assistance of tax payers." It ought to
answer all questions, but it doesn't, quite.
There are in the Treasury Department
two rather anomalous bureaus which grew
204
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
out of the Customs Division. Tlie Coast
Guard, combining the Life Saving Service
and the Revenue Cutter Service, and the
Public Health Service which had its origin
in the Quarantine Service.
The Coast Guard, which during the war
has been placed under the Navy Depart-
ment, has published a most admirable little
handbook on the gasoline engine with the
title, "Handbook on the care and operation
of gasoline engines," so simple, clear, and
straightforward in its presentation of the
subject that it may be understood even by
the girl who runs and ruins your auto-
mobile.
The Public Health Service has Issued two
publications of great value at all times, but
of special interest just now. "Laundries
and public health, a sanitary study," which
is Reprint 385, from the Public Health Re-
ports. I want to pause here a moment to
say a good word about the Public Health
Reports. Under this rather strange title
is hidden one of the most useful scientific
journals issued in this country. Most of
the articles are written from the popular
viewpoint of public health and sanitation
and it requires no profound medical or
scientific knowledge to understand them.
Small libraries seeking a high grade scien-
tific journal making a wide appeal cannot
do better than to subscribe for this period-
ical.
In February of this year appeared a vol-
ume, "Prevention of disease and care of the
sick, how to keep well and what to do in
case of sudden illness," by W. S. Stimpson,
Assistant Surgeon General of the U. S.
Public Health service (with a supplement
on "First aid to the injured," by R. M.
Woodward, Surgeon U. S. Public Health
service) , which in the judgment of many is
the best book on home and family medicine
ever printed. It differs vastly from the
old-fashioned home doctor book, the read-
ing of which produced an acute attack in
rapid succession of every disease described.
This volume tells of the many simple ways
in which disease may be prevented, how
to take care of the home and the body, how
the doctor can be helped, and what can be
done in any sudden emergency. If I had
my way, I should print ten million copies
of this and send one to each household in
the country as a war measure.
War and Navy Departments
The War Department and Navy Depart-
ment have been most prolific in printed ma-
terial. Their publications, however, deal
with military and naval matters of a highly
technical character and fall outside the
scope of this paper, which I have conceived
to be a summary of those documents which
will help the ordinary citizen to find his
place and do his part towards winning the
war. I have acted as the agent through
whom the camp libraries have received the
publications of these two departments, so
that I have come into very Intimate con-
tact with them, and I know that to give
them adequate treatment would make this
paper several times as long as it is, and
would obscure the main point which I
wished to emphasize. There is one excep-
tion, however, in the case of the Surgeon
General's Oflice, which has issued three bul-
letins with the title "Abstracts, transla-
tions and review of recent literature on the
subject of the reconstruction and reeduca-
tion of the disabled soldier." Bulletin 1
contains an introductory retrospect of the
literature of the subject and a review of
recent works; Bulletin 2 continues this re-
view and Bulletin 3 reviews the experi-
ences of France and Great Britain. The
problem of the maimed and disabled sol-
diers is one of the most important prob-
lems of reconstruction. These three bul-
letins form at present the best starting
point for work along this line. This office
also began publishing with the June num-
ber a periodical with the title "Carry on, a
magazine on the reconstruction of disabled
soldiers and sailors."
The Army War College has been publish-
ing for some time a "Monthly list of mili-
tary information carded from book, period-
ical and other sources," a bibliography of
use to those interested in military affairs.
MEYER
205
Post Office and Department of Justice
The Post Office and Department of Jus-
tice have hardly found it necessary to ven-
ture outside of their routine publications.
There is one exception In the case of the
Department of Justice, "Interpretation of
war statutes, bulletin." This consists of
charges to juries, decisions, opinions, re-
marks, rulings, etc., relating to war stat-
utes.
Interior Department
The Department of the Interior, however,
has made a distinct effort to get Into the
game. The bureau most successful in this
respect has been the Bureau of Education,
whicli has supplemented the work of the
Department of Agriculture, an^ the Food
Administration, by rousing the Interest of
the schools in war work. The Community
Leaflets beginning with brief studies of a
rather miscellaneous character have turned
more and more to war subjects. Most of
the Higher Education Circulars are war
documents concerned with the place and
work of the colleges and universities in the
war. The Teachers' Leaflets, also, of which
the third number has recently appeared,
take up the work of the lower grade schools
in war time.
Just at present, when there Is a strong
movement afoot to make the community
center the locaj ward board to control war
activities of the community, the Bureau of
Education Bulletin 11, 1918, will be found
invaluable. It describes the purposes of
a community center, how to organize one
and carry on Its activities and gives a
model constitution. Bulletin 18, 1918,
"Americanization as a war measure," Is of
more than passing Interest. The Bureau
of Education is also to be credited with a
pamphlet on "University organization for
national service and defense." Two of the
bulletins of 1917 Illustrate the close rela-
tionship of education and the war. No. 25
on the "Military training of youths of
school age in foreign countries," and No. 36
on the "Demand for vocational education
In the countries at war."
The Bureau of Mines has published sev-
eral pamphlets relating to the economic use
of fuel, which make a wide appeal. A
reprint of Technical Paper 97 Is on saving
fuel in heating a house. This should be
used in connection with Technical Paper
199, "Five ways of saving fuel In heating a
house." The scarcity of hard coal makes
Technical Paper 180 especially Interesting.
"Firing bituminous coals In large house-
heating boilers." Technical Paper 166 is
a practical discussion of motor gasoline.
Department of Agricuiture
When the history of this great war
comes to be written, the work of the De-
partment of Agriculture of the United
States will be recognized as one of the
great forces which secured victory for the
Allies.
Its publications are the most numerous
and perhaps the most valuable of any
printed contributions made by a govern-
ment department. Last September the
A. L. A. Subcommittee on Federal Publica-
tions compiled, and the Division of Bibli-
ography of the Library of Congress printed
and distributed seven thousand copies of ^
"List of federal documents especially use-
ful to librarians and citizens at the pres-
ent time." About two-thirds of the list
consisted of Department of Agriculture
publications. The present seemed an ex-
cellent opportunity to revise that list and
bring It down to date, and I offer here the
results of such a revision.
I will not review these bulletins in de-
tail, but mention those which have an in-
terest far beyond the farm or garden.
Farmers' Bulletin 474, "Use of paint on
the farm," taken In connection with Cir-
cular 69 of the Bureau of Standards, enti-
tled "Paint and varnish," will turn any
ordinary citizen Into an expert house
painter after one reading. Farmers' Bul-
letin 771, "Homemade fireless cookers and
their use" will almost produce an indif-
ference to the coal situation. Farmers'
Bulletin 840, "Farm sheep-raising for be-
ginners" will set any man calculating the
value of his clip to be; while No. 861, "Re-
moval of stains from clothing and other
206
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
textiles" will cause such an overhauling of
rummage bags as never was.
From the Office of Public Roads and
Rural Engineering have come "Earth,
sand-clay and gravel roads," Bulletin No.
463; "Standard forms for specifications,
tests, reports and methods of sampling for
road materials," as recommended by the
first conference of state highway testing
engineers and chemists, Bulletin No. 555;
"Illustrated lecture on public road im-
provement," Syllabus 29.
I give these special mention because they
have an interest In connection with certain
war bulletins issued by the Highways
Transport Committee of the Council of
National Defense, which have for their ob-
ject the larger use of motor trucks on or-
dinary highways for an extended local
traffic, in order to relieve the congestion of
traffic on fixed lines of transportation.
The Office of Farm Management has con-
tributed a "Plan ifor handling the farm-
labor problem," Farm Management Circu-
lar 2, and a study of the "Cost of keeping
fym horses and cost of horse labor," Bul-
letin 560.
The Bureau of Markets has issued three
documents of great value in connection
with the food problem: No. 5, "The mar-
keting of canning club products"; No. 6,
on the "Distribution and utilization of
garden surplus," and No. 7, "Potato grades
recommended by the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture and the United States
Food Administration."
The States Relation Service has occu-
pied itself largely with cooperative methods
of raising and preserving food products
through boys' and girls' clubs, schools, can-
ning clubs, etc., but it has published two
professional papers which ought not to go
unmentioned. One of them is "Studies on
the digestibility of some animal fats," Bul-
letin No. 507; the other on the "Digesti-
bility of some vegetable fats," Bulletin No.
505, These discuss all of the better known
fats and many of the less known from the
point of view of their digestibility, which,
after all is almost synonymous with their
food value. Those of you who have paid
any attention to the food conditions in
Germany and her Allies, are aware that the
most serious deprivation to which these
peoples have been subjected has resulted
from the scarcity of fats. Should the war
continue for any lengthy period, this sub-
ject will assume for us a larger and larger
interest.
Last spring and summer the Department
of Agriculture published five numbers of
a "Food Thrift Series," to which there
have been no additions, but their place
seems to be taken by the United States
Food Leaflets issued in conjunction with
the Food Administration. The contents of
these valuable little leaflets are as good as
their titles, and they are works of art.
Let me repeat a few, which in a single
clean-cut phrase disclose the subject mat-
ter of the pamphlet. "Start the day right
with a good breakfast"; "Do you know corn-
meal?" "A whole dinner in one dish";
"Choose your food wisely"; make a little
meat go a long way"; "Food for your chil-
dren"; "Milk the best food we have."
Occasionally Uncle Sam publishes an in-
teresting war article. Such to me was
"Meteorology and war flying," by Prof. R.
De C. Ward, a reprint from the Monthly
Weather Review for December, 1917. I
want to go a little out of my way again to
mention the "Monthly Weather Review,"
which is another of those high grade sci-
entific journals of popular interest, pub-
lished by the government. It is astonish-
ing what a wide range of subjects is cov-
ered by yiis rather narrow title. They ex-
tend from cyclones and weather insurance,
to seismology, climate, rivers and fioods
and solar radiations; in fact, most sub-
jects which could be comprised under the
broad designation "physiography." Of
late some space has been given to the rela-
tions of meteorology to areonautics, as In
the article above cited.
In closing my review of Department of
Agriculture publications, I want to direct
your attention pointedly to the "Weekly
News Letter." Those of you who are not
MEYER
207
acquainted with it will probably conclude
that it has something to do with current
events; but it hasn't. Under this some-
what preposterous title lies hidden one of
the best and cheapest popular agricultural
journals ever printed. I've been an ama-
teur farmer myself for a number of years
and I speak from experience. It is not
loaded up with such articles as "How to
make a hundred thousand dollars out of
three hens" which fill the pages of the
"City Farmer" and similar journals, but
contains many practical hints on all points
connected with home farming, home gar-
dening, and stock and poultry raising, and
is well worth the subscription price of fifty
cents per year.
Department of Commerce
The Department of Commerce is doing a
great work, which will find its true frui-
tion in the period of reconstruction, which
must necessarily follow this period of de-
struction. Through its Bureau of Foreign
and Domestic Commerce, whose agents are
studying trade conditions in all parts of
the world, it is accumulating a vast array
of facts which are being set forth in the
well known "Special Agents Series" and in
the "Commerce Reports." Occasionally a
report appears with an immediate war in-
terest, such as the one on "German foreign-
trade organization, with supplementary
statistical material and extracts from offi-
cial reports on German methods" and the
report on "German trade and the war,
commercial and industrial conditions in
war time and future outlook." These re-
ports might well be studied by American
business men who wish to understand the
secrets of German commercial success.
The Bureau of Fisheries through its Eco-
nomic Circulars is striving to improve old
methods and sources and to extend the
sources by describing new varieties of fish.
No. 27 gives the details for the construc-
tion of a "Practical small smoke house for
fish," and then, having built your smoke
house, you are told in No. 29 "Why and
how to use salt and smoked fish; 61 ways
of cooking them." No. 30 discloses un-
dreamt of "Possibilities of food from fish."
Some of the new varieties are described
in No. 31, "Carp with 23 recipes"; in No.
32, "Whiting," in No. 33, "Eulachon, a rich
and delicious little fish," in No. 34, "Skates
and rays, interesting fishes of great food
value, with 29 recipes for cooking them."
The Bureau of Standards, which under
the able direction of Dr. Stratton, Is doing
scientific work of international reputation,
has issued during the past year four pub-
lications of the greatest Interest and widest
appeal coming as they do just at the begin-
ning of our new era of thrift. Publica-
tions more timely it would be impossible
to name. The first of these is Circular
No. 55, "Measurements for the household,"
which gives the most interesting Informa-
tion of the highest scientific accuracy in
the simple language of every day life. It
takes up in order dry and liquid measures
of all kinds, the amount of material in
various Irregular units still in use, the
standards in gas, electric, steam and .other
power measurements, with easily under-
stood descriptions of the instruments used.
Of even greater significance Is Circular
No. 70, "Materials for the household."
Again In simple language, but high scien-
tific accuracy are described, structural ma-
terials, such as clay products, wood, met-
als, lime, cement, plasters, etc.; flexible
materials such as rubber, leather, textiles,
and paper. These are followed by sta-
tionery materials, such as inks and ad-
hesives. The volume also Includes cleans-
ing agents, disinfectants, preservatives,
and polishes, and even a section on fuels,
Illuminants and lubricants.
The other two publications to which I
would direct your attention are Circular
No. 69 and Circular No. 75. The former on
"Paints and varnishes" describes the ma-
terials and how to detect adulterations/
how they are to be applied, and what paints
and varnishes are best suited to particu-
lar uses. The latter is on "Safety for the
household" and gives interesting details on
the sources of danger and the means of
preventing them.
30S
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Department of Labor
The Department of Labor has been active
In taking up war work. The Bureau of
Labor Statistics has given much space to
war quotations in its Monthly Review, and
has reprinted a number of the Memoranda
of the British Health of Munitions Work-
ers Committee which are applicable to our
own conditions. These form an important
part of the series of bulletins on labor as
affected by the war.
Bulletin 170, "Foreign food prices as af-
fected by the war"; 219, "Hours, fatigue,
and health in British munition factories";
222, "Welfare work in British munition
factories"; 223, "Employment of women
and juveniles in Great Britain during the
war"; 230, "Industrial efficiency and fa-
tigue in British munition factories"; 237,
"Industrial unrest in Great Britain."
Bulletin 242, "The food situation in Cen-
tral Europe, 1917," is one of the most fas-
cinating war books published. We have
heard a great deal about starvation in Ger-
many and the countries allied with her.
Hardly a day passes but there is some ac-
count with more or less detail of the people
in the Central Empires starving. This bul-
letin shows how much truth there is in
these stories. It is perhaps as accurate a
statement as can be made, being based on
the collection of European newspapers,
largely German, brought together by the
Carnegie Institution and in the custody of
Dr. Victor Clark. It takes up in order
Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and
Turkey. It discusses the food supply, the
government regulations for controlling dis-
tribution, prices, probable crops, and the
effect of shortage on the public health.
Lastly there is the important document
entitled "British industrial experience dur-
ing the war," edited by Robert and Kath-
erine Barrett in two volumes extending to
over 1,200 pages. It contains a digest of all
the laws, rules, and orders affecting em-
ployers, workmen, and output from August,
1914, to May, 1917; the text of these laws,
orders, etc. and special reports on manu-
facturing industries, on transportation, and
on coal mining.
One of the newer bureaus of the Labor
Department is the Employment Service
which has charge of the whole matter of
finding and placing workers for the gov-
ernment and war industries. It has pub-
lished 23 numbers of a weekly called the
"U. S. Employment Service Bulletin"
which gives information on the establish-
ment of government labor exchanges
throughout the country, labor supply and
distribution and employment problems in
general.
The Public Service Reserve is also carry-
ing on its work under the auspices of the
Department of Labor. Several circulars
have been published relating to the utiliza-
tion of any reserves of labor, and to the
work of the Boys' Working Reserve, which
is closely related to the Boy Scout move-
ment.
The Children's Bureau has initiated a
movement, that is perhaps the most sig-
nificant in the whole conservation pro-
gramme. It has been demonstrated time
and again that the deaths of most infants
can be prevented by timely measures. It
is the object of this movement to see that
these timely measures are taken. The first
step was the establishment of Children's
Year, extending from April 6, 1918, to
April 6, 1919.
The movement was introduced to the
public by Children's Year Leaflet No. 1,
prepared in collaboration with the Depart-
ment of Child Welfare of the Woman's
Committee of the Council of National De-
fense; the second Leaflet appeared in two
parts, Part I containing "Suggestions to
local committees"; Part II, "Suggestions
to examiners," in the weighing and measur-
ing test carried out mostly in May. Leaf-
let 3 gives the "Children's year working
programme."
The Children's Bureau has branched out
in other directions. It prepared the ma-
terial on which the war risk insurance bill
was based. This has appeared in two bul-
letins. On the "Care of dependents of en-
MEYER
209
listed men in Canada" and on the "Gov-
ernmental provisions in the United States
and foreign countries for members of the
military forces and their dependents."
Four Bulletins on child welfare as af-
fected by war conditions in foreign coun-
tries have been published. Their general
subjects are: 1, Child labor in warring
countries; 2, Juvenile delinquency in cer-
tain warring countries; 3, Infant welfare
in war time; 4, Illegitimacy as affected by
the war.
Care of the Children Series No. 4, entitled
"Milk — the indispensable food for chil-
dren," should be in the hands of every
mother and is being given wide distribu-
tion in the Children's Year Campaign. It
shows the need of milk for young chil-
dren, discusses the values of various milk
substitutes, and points out what other coun-
tries are doing to insure a milk supply for
infants, and growing children.
Miscellaneous Bureaus
The smaller independent bureaus were
mostly created in times of peace to per-
form some specific function. They have
not as a rule published any war docu-
ments, but there are a few exceptions to
this sweeping statement which should be
mentioned.
The Federal Trade Commission has is-
sued an important report on the anthra-
cite and bituminous coal situation and the
relation of rail and water transportation
to the present fuel problem.
The Tariff Commission has published
three numbers of a Tariff Information Se-
ries which cover "Papers and books," "The
dyestuff situation in the textile industries"
and "Silk and manufacturers of silk."
The Library of Congress has published
the "United States at war; organizations
and literature," and has in press "A check
list of the literature and other material in
the Library of Congress on the European
war."
The brief report of the Board of Media-
tion and Conciliation touches on labor ques-
tions from a war viewpoint.
Before passing to the bureaus which have
been brought into existence by the war, I
want to say a word about the Addresses of
the President. These are usually intro-
duced into the Congressional Record.
When delivered before Congress they are
printed as Congressional documents. The
others may usually be had from the Presi-
dent's secretary.
It is of interest to know that the Pro*
ceedings of Congress are summarized daily
in the Official Bulletin of the Committee
on Public Information. For the War Con-
gress there has appeared a "Monthly com-
pendium of the War Congress, status of
legislation, numerically and by subjects,"
compiled by W. Ray Loomis, assistant su-
perintendent of the document room. House
of Representatives. This gives the legis-
lative history of all measures introduced
into Congress.
War Bureaus
In taking up the publications of the war
bureaus I want to give the place of honor
to the United States Food Administration.
I take my hat off to Mr. Herbert Hoover,
to him I would apply the epithet wise,
for he seems to me a wise man. He has
taken this people of ours — the most In-
tractable, pig-headed, opinionated, and
self-willed in the world (we are all of
these, of course in a nice way) and by
coaxing and arguing, by explanation and
reasoning, by appealing to our higher
selves he has led us into adopting his
measures with enthusiasm.
Among the publication of the Food Ad-
ministration, "Food news notes for public
libraries" was issued especially for our
benefit. In a recent number, 9, appeared
a complete list of the publications Issued
by the Food Administration. Many of
them are starred, indicating that they are
out of print, but I have been assured that
those have been replaced by later and bet-
ter publications.
Among those in print to be noted es-
pecially are: Bulletin 5, "Ten lessons In
food conservation," which was sent to
every public library on the A. L. A. mail-
ing list; Bulletin 13, "Food value of milk";
210
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Bulletin 14, "Why we must send wheat"
The U. S. Food Leaflets were mentioned
in connection with the Department of
Agriculture publications.
The Food Administration has also issued
a great many leaflets and small circulars
giving recipes and directions for saving
food. There is one publication by Presi-
dent Van Hise, of Wisconsin University,
worthy of a somewhat more extended no-
tice. The first part of "Conservation and
regulation in the United States during the
world war" was published by the Food
Administration. It covers the conditions
before the war, the economic effects of the
war, food production and conservation, and
federal regulatory legislation. The sec-
ond part has appeared from the University
of Wisconsin press and describes the work
of the Food Administration, the Fuel Ad-
ministration, the construction and con-
trol of shipping, the War Industries Board
and other organizations engaged in the
work of preventing waste and conserving
energy and material.
The United States Shipping Board, and
the Emergency Fleet Corporation have pub-
lished an annual report, and a special "Re-'
port of the shipyard employment man-
agers' conference" held in Washington last
November, which are of general interest.
Their other publications are mostly speci-
fications for ships to be built.
The United States Railroad Administra-
tion has published one very important "Re-
port of the Railroad Wage Commission to
the Director General of Railroads." Per-
haps no commission was ever given such
complete access to all sources of informa-
tion. The report attracted widespread at-
tention because of its comprehensive rec-
ommendations increasing the wages of
railroad employees from 4*4 per cent for
the higher to 43 per cent for the lower
rates of wages.
The Council of National Defense has not
published anything of general interest ex-
cepting its annual report. But its High-
ways Transport Committee has published
two very important little bulletins, the
titles of which are self-explanatory: No.
1, "Return loads to bureaus, to save waste
in transportation," and No. 2, "The rural
motor express, to conserve foodstuffs and
labor and to supply rural transportation."
The War Trade Board which has taken
over the functions of the Exports Admin-
istrative Board, and is also charged with
the administration of the Trading-with-
the-enemy act, has published a "Journal of
the War Trade Board for exporters, im-
porters, and shippers." It is intended to
keep all those officials, organizations, and
individuals, interested in overseas trade,
informed as to the administrative proce-
dure of the Board.
The publications of the Committee on
Public Information are too well known to
need more than mention. Besides the Offi-
cial Bulletin, they have published the "Red,
white and blue Series"; the "War Infor-
mation Series"; the "Loyalty Leaflets";
and recently several numbers of a bulletin
described as "Special service for employ-
ers."
The Federal Board for Vocational Edu-
cation has published fifteen bulletins which
fall naturally into three groups. A series
upon emergency training for men in those
industries where the war has found a
scarcity of trained mechanics; a Re-
education Series dealing with rehabilita-
tion, and an Agricultural Series concerned
with agricultural education. The Board
has begun the publication of a Vocational
Summary of which the second number has
just appeared.
The National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics, has published three reports
which embody the fourteen or fifteen
smaller reports issued from time to time.
The National War Labor Board, of which
ex-President Taft is one of the joint chair-
men, is about the latest of these special
boards to come into existence. It has is-
sued a circular on its function and powers
and a report on the Western Union Tele-
graph controversy.
LYDENBERG
211
PRESENT DISCONTENTS WITH NEWSPRINT STOCK
By H. M. Lydexbeeg, Reference Librarian, New York Public Library
During the summer of 1914 the New
York Public Library in desperation at the
condition of its newspaper files began
some experiments towards solution of the
problem of preservation. The diflBculty
was greatest in the case of American news-
papers of the last twenty-five years, say
those issued since the middle of the
eighties, which marks approximately the
time ground putp superseded rags for
newsprint stock.
We realized our problem was a little
more diflicult than that of most libraries
because there are probably few places
where bound volumes of newspapers are
subject to as constant, indiscriminate, and
careless use as the public subjects them
to in our newspaper reading room. Pass-
ing over a detailed narration of the ex-
periments, suffice it to say we decided that
no chemical preparation then on the mar-
ket would give us satisfactory results, and
that the most practical solution lay in the
use of thin transparent silk or a thin
transparent Japanese tissue paper. We
finally concluded that, all things consid-
ered, the latter substance was the better,
and as a practical test we bound two vol-
umes of the New York "World" newspaper
in this fashion. We took the issue for July
and August, 1895, broke it out of its covers,
patched up the numerous pages that were
sadly in need of repair, then mounted
each sheet between two sheets of Japan-
ese tissue paper and bound the volume in
standard fashion after these sheets had
dried and were pressed.
This served as a sample of the work
connected with old volumes. For new vol-
umes we took the file for July, 1914,
treated individual sheets in the same
fashion, bound the volume and put it on
our shelves.
These volumes were subjected to the
ordinary normal use and after about six
months we felt the results justified our
undertaking the work on a larger scale.
Unfortunately, however, the expense of
treatment was more than the library could
afford. At that time the entire manipula-
tion of the individual sheets was done by
hand, and the cost amounted to $35 per
volume, the labor charge being the larger
part.
Mr. Schwarten, the superintendent of
our printing office and bindery, to whose
zeal and interest high tribute must be
paid, found on the market a pasting ma-
chine which, with certain alterations, he
was able to adapt to our work. By the
use of this fhachine the cost of handling
was reduced to about ?25 per volume.
After this fact had been firmly estab-
lished we wrote to the New York City
newspapers telling them what we had done
and the conclusions we had reached. We
offered to treat in this fashion the files of
such papers as would share the expense
with us to the extent of $20 per volume;
we felt that as the volumes would have to
be bound anyway the Library would be
willing to bear the expense of binding to
the amount of $5, leaving to the news-
paper publisher $20 as the cost of the spe-
cial treatment. One paper replied by re-
turn mail, asking no questions except as
to how we wished payments to be made.
Of the other papers two showed interest
but developed nothing further. Since Janu-
ary, 1915, we have therefore been binding
the one paper in this fashion — a volume
to a month — and the results have been
thoroughly satisfactory.
In 1917-18 we began experimenting with
chemical treatment of newspaper stock.
We knew of attempts that had been made
with a casein solution put on with a brush,
but, so far as we could learn, none of these
efforts had proved successful. It was im-
possible to get a transparent fluid or one
that would spread evenly. Moreover,
practical paper men told us that casein
212
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
in coated paper stock entailed certain dis-
integration within a comparatively few
years.
With a Paasche air brush this last win-
ter we experimented with Zapon or liquid
celluloid; with shellac and glycerine; with
shellac, turpentine and paraffine; with car-
bon tetrachloride and paraffine; with a
paper preservative made by a varnish com-
pany; and with a flexible varnish (a basis
of linseed oil and resin) secured through
a local dealer.
Zapon we had tried some years before
but not with a spray brush. We found it
increased the thickness very slightly and
likewise Increased the strength of the pa-
per but slightly. The same remarks ap-
ply to the solution of shellac and glycerine,
and of shellac, turpentine and paraffine.
Not one of these three substances discol-
ored the paper much nor left a rough sur-
face. With the solution of carbon tetra-
chloride and paraffine we found the sur-
face was sticky and greasy, and with the
paper preservative we found that in addi-
tion to other defects the ink ran.
The flexible varnish was satisfactory in
practically every respect, except that it
was diflficult to get an even distribution
with the spray brush. By dipping we se-
cured a surface of good distribution and
satisfactory transparency and smoothness.
Unfortunately, just as we arrived at this
point, just as we began to think we might
now go to quantity production and learn
how many gallons were necessary for a
volume of say one thousand pages, we
were informed by the supply house that it
could not "take up this problem further
at this time, because materials required to
match samples are requisitioned by the
government." Our hopes, therefore, of
having some definite conclusions to lay
before the College and Reference Section
are disappointed until the war has rolled
its course and conditions once more be-
come normal, at least so far as the chem-
ical field is concerned.
We shall continue to bind the one paper
in Japanese tissue, and if any of our other
newspaper friends decide to pay the addi-
tional cost for this method of preservation
of their volumes, we shall be glad to add
them to our list. Our conclusions indi-
cate that the Japanese tissue method is
far and away the best, all things consid-
ered. Its chief disadvantages are its cost
and the reduction of transparency. The
latter is very slight; the former is slight
or great, depending entirely upon your
idea of the purchasing power of twenty
dollars. The advantages of the method
are many. In the first place the strength
of the paper is increased over 200 per cent.
You see you have the original sheet firmly
held between two additional sheets of
strong paper. This Japanese tissue con-
sists of long fibre stock made by hand,
the fibres tawing a laminated criss-cross
arrangement, twined and intertwined
twisted and intertwisted, which, of course,
makes the paper infinitely stronger than
when the pulp is treated by machinery
with the result that the fibres tend more
or less to lie parallel. It has the further
advantage of absolute exclusion of air,
and this, we believe, is a very strong de-
terrent against chemical disintegration of
the wood pulp stock. The paper treatment
offers too the only solution in sight for
the treatment of bound volumes in bad
condition.
At the present moment our experiments
seem to indicate that the use of a flexible
varnish may be advisable for the treat-
ment of current volumes before they are
bound. No chemical treatment, however,
will have the possibilities of the tissue pa-
per treatment so far as the mutilated
sheets of bound volumes are concerned.
This question of paper stock on which
our present day books are issued presents
in the opinion of some of us one of the
most serious problems that confront refer-
ence collections. We get little or no en-
couragement from the papermakers them-
selves. They tell us that the chlorine and
other bleaching elements left in the stock
insure with almost absolute certainty com-
plete disintegration within a compara-
tively few years. On coated papers, par-
ticularly those In which casein is one of
LYDENBERG
213
th« component parts, we have the addi-
tional encouragement that the casein will
hasten disintegration.
Of course, books with a message of
prime Importance will live. They will be
reprinted from time to time on paper made
from rags — not sawdust. We shall suffer
most, so far as research and Investigation
are concerned, in the loss of the ephemeral
material which is in itself too slight in
Importance to justify reprinting, but which
taken In mass offers the basis for investi-
gation of current opinion and present-day
thought In almost any line of human act-
ivity. In large busy libraries such as the
New York Public Library newspapers will
sooner or later disappear entirely. They
will be preserved for a longer period in
collections such as the American Anti-
quarian Society, where their use is not so
great and where the occasional and per-
sistent investigator can use them under
proper supervision. In the large, busy li-
braries I suppose they will survive only as
a tradition and our successors will prob-
ably erect bronze tablets to mark the
whilom site of that pre-Cambrian fossil
"the newspaper room?"
Bibliographical Notes
The following titles are appended — not
as a complete bibliography of the subject
— ^^but merely as notes of various articles
that have come to hand from time to time
and seemed of Interest in connection with
this problem. The arrangement is chrono-
logical.
[Justin Winsor's efforts. Note appended
to article by Rossiter Johnson entitled:
Inferior paper a menace to the permanency
of literature.] (Library Journal. 1891.
V. 16, p. 241-242.)
About 1870 or 1875 Justin Winsor tried in
vain to induce editors of leading Boston
dailies to publish a few copies of each issue
on good paper.
Same. (American Library Associa-
tion. Bulletin, 1910. v. 4, p. 675.)
Eames, Wilberforce. Care of newspapers.
(Library Journal. 1897. v. 22, no. 10, p. C50-
C51.)
Devoted chiefly to methods of binding old
newspapers at the Lenox branch of the New
York Public Library.
Conference of Italian librarian*. (Li-
brary Journal. 1898. v. 23, p. 667.)
At a session of Italian librarians at which
the deterioration of paper was discussed, It
was resolved to ask the government to con-
trol the standard of paper for. government
publications and for a given number of
books, reviews, and newspapers for the gov-
ernment libraries.
Society of Arts. Committee on the dete-
rioration of paper. Report. (Journal of
the Society of Arts, 1898. v. 46, p. 597-
601.) . t
Sutton, C. W. Preservation of local
newspapers. (Library Association record.
1954. V. 3, p. 121-125.)
The paper and the discussion which fol-
lowed has little to do with paper, but deals
more with the binding of newspapers.
United States. Pulp and Paper Investi-
gation Committee. Hearings. 1908. 5 v.
Nothing definitely on newsprint paper as it
affects libraries, but useful for reference.
Chlvers, Cedric. The paper and binding
of lending library books. (American Li-
brary Association. Bulletin. 1909. v. 3,
p. 231-259, illus., pi.)
Excellent pictures of paper fiber.
Veitch, F. P. Durability and economy in
papers for permanent records, a report
submitted by H. W. Wiley and C. Hart
Merriam . . . including paper specifications
by F. P. Veitch. Washington, 1909. 51 p.
illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Report no. 89.)
Report on government experience In using
and testing paper.
Hill, Frank P. The deterioration of
newspaper paper. (Library Journal. July,
1910. V. 35, p. 299-301.)
A paper read at the Mackinac Conference,
in which the author tells of his efforts to in-
terest newspaper publishers in better paper,
the response of the Brooklyn Eagle, and the
rely of Professor Herzberg of Berlin regard-
ing a preservative solution made in Germany
which will make the sheets of "parchment-
like firmness."
Same. (American Library Associa-
tion. Bulletin. 1910. v. 4, p. 675-678.)
International Congress of Applied Chem-
istry, 8th, 1912. Starch cellulose and pa-
per. 300 p. illus., pi., tables. {Original
communications, v. 13, section Yla.)
A collection of articles. Nothing definitely
on newsprint paper as it affects libraries,
but useful for reference.
Newsprint paper. (Library Journal.
August, 1912. V. 37, p. 437.)
The substance of a report presented at the
Ottawa conference of A. L. A. with request
214
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
for continuation of the committee for fur-
ther investigation.
[Nickel as a substitute for paper.] (Li-
brarian. 1912. V. 2, p. 246.)
An editorial referring to T. A. Edison's
scheme of using nicliel sheets for paper.
Preservation of newspapers. (American
Library Association. Bulletin, 1912. v. 6,
p. 116-118; Discussion, p. 118-120.)
Report of an A. L. A. committee consist-
ing of P. P. Hill, H. G. Wadlin and Cedric
Chivers. Report covers different sugges-
tions made to it during the year including
"special editions" and use of "cellit."
[Brooklyn Daily Eagle plan.] (Library
Journal. January, 1913. v. 38, p. 2.)
An editorial referring to the plan whereby
the Brooklyn paper offers to furnish to li-
braries a special edition for permanent pres-
ervation.
Newspaper preservation. (Library Jour-
nal. January, 1913. v. 38, p. 53.)
A short note announcing the reported in-
tention of three newspapers, besides the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, to print "Library Edi-
tions" and the protest of the New York World.
Norris, John. Preservation of paper.
(Library Journal, January, 1913. v. 38, p.
16-20.)
An important article prepared by the chair-
man of the committee on paper of the Ameri-
can Newspaper Publishers Association, in re-
sponse to a request from librarians for a bet-
ter paper. Submitted to a committee of the
American Library Association Nov. 26, 1912.
A discussion of how improvement may be
obtained, the composition of newspaper print,
the complaint of librarians, U. S. Govern-
ment specifications, Government commission
report on special paper, how Library of Con-
gress cares for old newspaper flies, data re-
lating to storage of newspaper files in public
libraries and by commercial concerns.
Same. (American Newspaper Pub-
lishers Association. Bulletin. 2795. "B"
special, p. 1133-1140. November 30, 1912.)
Brand, C. J., and J. L. Merrill. Zacaton
as a paper making material. 1915. 27 p.
illus. U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Bulletin no. 309.
Printed on zacaton paper. Contains biblio-
graphical foot-notes.
Lydenberg, H. M. Preservation of mod-
ern newspaper files. (Library Journal,
April, 1915. V. 40, p. 240-242.)
Paper read before meeting of teachers of
journalism at Columbia.
Federal Commission's hearing on news-
print. (Paper. Dec. 20, 1916. v. 19, no. 15,
p. 25.)
Federal Trade Commission hears both
sides of news print controversy. (Editor
and Publisher. August 5, 1916. v. 49, no. 8
supplement: p. 1-12.)
"Textual report of addresses made and evi-
dence submitted to the government Investi-
gators at Washington conference by repre-
sentatives of the newspaper publishers and
the newsprint manufacturers."
Mr. Dodge fixes news print price. (Ed-
itor and Publisher. November 25, 1916.
V. 49, p. 5-6.)
Agreement between publishers and dealers.
News print cost, profits and statistics.
(Editor and Publisher. Dec. 16, 1916. v. 49,
p. 14, 16-19. Tables.)
Federal Trade Commission findings on the
result of the examination made into manu-
facturers' records, showing each step in print
paper manufacture and distribution, estimated
average cost to newspaper publishers.
New York City papers decrease size to
help conserve news print supply. (Editor
and Publisher. August 5, 1916. v. 49, no. 8,
p. 3, 22.)
Newsprint men and publishers confer-
ence. (Paper, v. 19, no. 21, p. 28; v. 19,
no. 26, p. 18.)
Price and supply discussed.
Newspaper investigators issue state-
ment; comment on rising cost of paper
and point to increased imports. (Paper.
V. 19, no. 9, p. 22.)
Steele, George F. Newsprint produc-
tion and shipments. (Paper. Sept. 20,
1916. V. 19, no. 2, p. 22; Oct. 18, 1916. v. 19,
no. 6, p. 24.)
Letters of the secretary of the Newsprint
Manufacturers' Association.
Phillips, S. C. Paper supplies as affected
by the war. (Paper maker and British
paper trade journal. March 1, 1916. v. 51,
p. 229-248.)
A long, thorough paper with discussion de-
voted for the most part to conditions in Eng-
land, but also dealing with world supply and
cost.
Surface, Henry E. Selected paper bib-
liography entitled "U. S. Government pub-
lications pertaining to pulp and paper."
(Paper. October 4, 1916. v. 19, no. 4, p. 25-
30.)
Weeks, Lyman H. History of paper
manufacture in the United States, 1690-
1916. New York, 1916. xv, 352 p. 8°.
Last chapter has statistics of paper produc-
tion, consumption and cost from the latest
census figures. The newspaper publishers' side
of the controversy relating to the price of
newsprint paper.
American Newspaper Publishers Asso-
ciation. Increase in imports of newsprint
paper to U. S. in past 4 years. Charts
prepared by paper committee of American
LYDENBERG
215
Newspaper Publishers Association. (Ed-
itor and Publisher. May 5, 1917. v. 49,
p. 8-9.)
Counsel for government analyze the
news print agreement. Mark Hyman and
Herbert C. Smyth see in court decree ade-
quate protection for all interests involved
and strong precedent for future steps to-
ward price control. (Editor and Publisher.
Dec. 1, 1917. V. 50, p. 16.)
Developments in newsprint paper probe.
Grand Jury examines witnesses. Trade
Commission may fix a "Reasonable" price.
(Paper. Feb. 21, 1917. v. 19, no. 24, p. 20.)
Federal Commission's report on news-
print. Makes criticism of Newsprint As-
sociation's activities and announces price
agreement. (Paper. March 7, 1917. v. 19,
no. 26, p. 20, 22.)
Mclntyre says news print mills are run-
ning overweights with heavy loss to pub-
lishers. (Editor and Publisher. Nov. 3,
1917. V. 50, p. 9.)
With schedule showing increase of prices
and complaint of publishers.
Newsprint price set at $2.50 at the mill.
(Editor and Publisher. March 10, 1917.
V. 49, p. 9-10, 28.)
Reaping as they have sown. (Paper.
Jan. 31, 1917. v. 19, no. 21, p. 20-21.)
Paper manufacturers' statement that the
continuous demand by newspapers for cheaper
paper has Itilled a goose which laid golden
eggs.
Snook, J. S. Newsprint situation. (Con-
gressional Record. Jan. 26', 1918. v. 56,
p. 1390-1392.)
Address delivered before the Ohio City Ed-
itors Association. Columbus. January 19-20,
1918.
Story of newsprint crises of 1916-17.
Warnings of shortage and higher prices
given by manufacturers last April. News-
paper economies adopted. Federal Trade
Commission's investigation. (Editor and
Publisher. March 3, 1917. v. 49, no. 38,
Supplement p. 10-11.)
ADDENDA
In answer to a circular letter accom-
panying a preprint of the foregoing text,
sent to various libraries, trade papers,
etc., throughout the country, letters were
received from the following: —
Henry E. Bliss, librarian. College of the
City of New York, July 2 — Newspapers
need not be preserved, their place being
taken by comprehensive, discriminating,
representative digests and reprints.
Clarence S. Brigham, librarian, Ameri-
can Antiquarian Society, June 24 — I have
sometimes thought that an inexpensive
method of preservation would be to take
two copies of each paper and paste each
page solidly upon a thin sheet of good rag
paper. The surface would not deteriorate,
and the paper would then stand consider-
able hard usage.
Walter L. Brown, librarian, Buffalo Pub-
lic Library, June 26 — It has been our prac-
tice to make scrapbooks of local news-
paper material, which saves the use of the
files. The weather, the markets, death and
marriage notices, and a few other items
answer the questions of a large number
of those who wish to use the newspaper
files. This scrapping of special material
is the only practical suggestion we have
used for newspaCper preservation.
Solon J. Buck, superintendent, Minne-
sota Historical Society, June 28— With ref-
erence to the question of wear and tear,
let me suggest that a simple expedient and
one much cheaper than any treatment of
the paper, would be the binding of dupli-
cate or even triplicate volumes, if neces-
sary, one of which should be put away in
the dark for permanent preservation. By
the time the other volume or volumes have
been worn out, the demand for it would
probably have diminished so much that it
would no longer be in serious danger of
destruction in this way. One other which
occurs to me is that if worst comes to
worst, we can adopt the expedient of mak-
ing photostatic copies of the more impor-
tant parts of a few of the more important
files, whenever It becomes certain that
they are actually going to disintegrate.
Mr. Herbert F. Gunnison, business man-
ager, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 12—
I do not believe there is any other method
than that of printing on a good quality of
paper containing a certain proportion of
rags. My suggestion is that Congress and
the several state legislatures be asked to
contribute to a paper fund of $50,000 for
the purpose of having certain newspapers
throughout the country printed on good
paper in order that they might be per-
manently preserved in the Congressional
and state libraries. If other libraries de-
sired copies they could pay a proportion
of the cost. I believe this plan to be the
only practical solution of the problem. It
might be able to start with a fund of $25,-
OOO, in which case the amount might be
taken from contingent funds of the libra-
ries without asking for legislative action.
216
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
W. Dawson Johnston, librarian, St. Paul
Public Library, June 25 — Doubted the ad-
visability of preserving newspapers.
Thomas J. Keenan, editor, "Paper,"
July 1 — I am of the opinion that a solution
of cellulose of the viscose pattern might be
found effective as a preservative for news-
papers, and I shall endeavor to start some
experimentation looking to the production
of a satisfactory solution. The sheets
would have to be dipped in a bath of the
solution and afterwards dried.
H. L. Koopman, librarian, Brown Uni-
versity Library, June 25 — It looks as if
there were no solution for our sawdust
literature except to supply it with real
fibers. For the future, however, we ought
to be able to apply the London Times so-
lution of better paper, and I have no doubt
that if the leading libraries of America
would all agree on one newspaper — which
I should suppose would be the New York
Times — and would consent to pay the cost,
perhaps $75.00 a year — we could save that
paper at least from premature dissolu-
tion. I am quite sure that one successful
experiment would lead to our extension
of the salvage action.
John Ridington, acting librarian, Univer-
sity of British Columbia, Vancouver, Can-
ada, July 17 — It seems to me the problem
has two remedies. The first is the print-
ing of a limited library edition of impor-
tant newspapers on paper of a permanent
character. This would not involve much
in the way of cost, but a good deal in the
way of trouble in the newspaper press
rooms. The shifting of all the rolls of a
sextuple press for the running of half a
dozen or fifty special copies is a matter
of more trouble and time than of expense.
If some of the really good newspapers
could be induced to do this the problem
would be to a large extent solved. I have
an impression that in England, and per-
haps in France, this is done to a certain
extent. I seem to have read somewhere
that there is a special edition of the Times
and perhaps of other newspapers sent to
royalty, the edition being printed on a spe-
cial rag-made paper, of good quality and
durability. Possibly some of the good
newspapers would be public - spirited
enough to do this at their own charge.
Perhaps a federal, state or municipal grant
could be given, at the recommendations of
librarians, to meet the extra cost involved.
At any rate this is one way of meeting the
situation.
The second remedy lies not in the hands
of newspaper publishers or librarians, but
in the departments of chemical Industry.
The elimination from news print paper of
the last remnants of the powerful acids
necessary to transform wood fiber into
chemical wood pulp is a problem for the
industrial chemist rather than for the li-
brarian. I see no reason why some amount
of extra care in the process of paper mak-
ing would not result in the absolute elim-
ination of these acids, with the result that
the paper would be durable, would retain
its color, fiber, texture and strength. The
alternative method of preservation, if no
special and permanent papers are used for
a limited library edition, or the sulphuric
or other acids cannot be completely taken
out of the wood pulp paper, is in the direc-
tion that Mr. Lydenburg has adopted — the
keeping away of the issues as printed from
the action of the air by enclosing them In
Japanese or other tissues. I cannot add
anything to his suggestion in this regard.
J. P. Robertson, provincial librarian,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 25, 1918 — Sym-
pathy with the movement to protect news-
papers.
Henry E. Surface, engineer In forest
products. United States Department of
Agriculture, Madison, Wisconsin, July 11
— The problem is one more deserving of
the publisher who uses the paper than the
producer who makes it. The latter will
make any quality the former is willing to
pay for. Little prospect of getting a pa-
per stock of higher quality and lower cost.
Few of the present newspapers need a
longer life than twenty-four to forty-eight
hours.
F. P. Veitch, chemist in charge leather
and paper laboratory, Bureau of Chem-
istry, United" States Department of Agri-
culture, July 6 — I am convinced that the
only proper and effective way of insuring
the preservation of current newspaper
files is to print library editions on paper
ot good stock which has sufficient weight
and strength to withstand the use to which
files of papers will be subjected. As a mat-
ter of fact it might be accepted as an un-
deniable truth that no paper which is
freely handled will endure indefinitely. It
would be well, therefore, to print a num-
ber of copies of more Important papers on
heavy durable stock and preserve without
handling one or more copies for future
reference. It Is believed that only by some
such way as this can we expect the pres-
ent day newspapers to be available one
hundred years or more from now. Han-
dling is more detrimental to paper of good
quality than its aging.
MUESER
J17
A NEIGHBORHOOD APPRENTICE CLASS
By Emilie Mueseb, Librarian, Lucas County Library, Maumee, Ohio
In a paper on "Secondary education In
library work," given at the last A. L. A.
meeting, Miss Jessie Welles suggested the
possibility of several small libraries con-
ducting an apprentice class or a training
class on the same basis as outlined by her
for a larger library or a branch library
system.
This experiment, was made during the
past winter by three small libraries situ-
ated in three different towns within easy
access of each other. A fourth and larger
library made valuable contributions, not
because it had entered into the cooperative
echeme, but because it was interested in
the experiment. The outline proposed by
Miss Welles was followed in the main,
with a few adjustments to local conditions.
The immediate purpose of this experi-
ment was, first, to see whether it would be
possible to carry out a plan of cooperation
among libraries too small individually to
conduct a training class; and second,
whether such a class could be made worth
while to these libraries and to the stu-
dents.
The following Is a brief outline of the
course and of deductions drawn from this
experiment:
The complete course covered a period
of three months. An entrance examina-
tion was given, and out of eight candi-
dates taking the examination, five were
chosen for the class. All of these candi-
dates but one were high school graduates
and this one person had had some experi-
ence in one of the libraries engaged in this
cooperative scheme. During the first week
one of the accepted students withdrew,
leaving four to continue and complete the
course.
Approximately five lectures were given
each week, and ten hours were in return
required for practice work. Most of the
lecture work was carried by two of the
libraries, the other two making occasional
contributions. Three of these libraries
were used for practice work. These li-
braries were in character, one a uni-
versity library, one a county library in the
first stages of organization and the third a
small town library. The technical courses
each averaged six lecture hours; book se-
lection and the special lectures given by
persons representing various phases of so-
cial and civic work, each averaged twelve
lecture hours. Children's work was en-
tirely omitted, principally because there
was no children's room for the students
to work in, and also because before the
end of the course unforeseen circum-
stances prevented the carrying out of the
schedule as originally planned.
Whether this experiment was entirely
worth while it is hard to say, but it did
prove the possibility of cooperation among
libraries satisfactorily situated. The def-
inite profit in such cooperation being that
it divided the burden of the work and per-
mitted a partition of lecture subjects ac-
cording to the better equipment of library
or librarian, e.g. one library might be
much better prepared to give lectures in
cataloging, filing and classification than
the other library, as was the case here, the
university library having the best catalog
to work with.
As to whether It was worth while for
the libraries doing the work, this too may
be answered in the afllrmative. Each li-
brary received the same percentage of the
students' practice time as that library
gave to actual lecture time, the ratio to
the whole being maintained. Though the
libraries expected a return in service for
the time they gave In lectures, consider-
able effort was made to connect the prac-
tice work with the lecture of the day, but
where this was not possible greater consid-
eration was given to the student that she
might benefit rather than the library.
Our further consideration is, can such a
course be really worth while to the stu-
dents? This seemed the hazardous part of
the experiment. In this case it might have
been worth while, for each of the students
218
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
received an opportunity to enter library-
service shortly after her completion of the
course. But almost immediately the sal-
ary question arose with the result that one
entered the government service, one went
back to teaching, the third entered the fil-
ing department of a business house, leav-
ing only one out of the four remaining in
library work, this being the one who was
admitted to the class by virtue of her pre-
vious library experience. These changes
occurred! within two months after the
course. No false promises had been made
to the candidates, but hearing of the course
they became interested and stuck to it to
the end, yet when it came to doing actual
library work, the salaries seemed Insuffi-
cient.
Leaving out of consideration the salary
question which will naturally be solved if
libraries are standardized, let us consider
the possible value of such a class. No
promises of library positions were made,
but the fact that vacancies were likely to
occur made this experiment possible with
all fairness to the students, and at the
same time gave three libraries additional
help at a time when it was needed, and
also prepared these girls to fill minor li-
brary positions in the future. Of course,
the opportunities for these girls were lim-
ited to the four libraries interested in the
class, but if some recognized standard
Vv-ere established that apprentice classes of
this character would have to meet, might
not this be a v/ay of increasing the sup-
ply of at least partially trained persons for
vacancies in small libraries when they
occur? The library schools train for big-
ger positions, the large libraries for their
own service; what chance has the small
library to improve unless some such plan
is adopted?
To be sure all kinds of efforts have been
made to reach the small library and In-
spire it with a broader vision of service,
but such efforts are for existing conditions
and do not provide for the future. Sum-
mer schools admit only those already in
the service and no matter how bad the
material, try to improve it. Library In-
stitutes, round tables, district meetings
do the same, even commission visitors can
only give friendly advice, though the super-
vising district librarian may go a step fur-
ther, yet when vacancies occur are they
not usually filled with local and untrained
people?
Mr. John A. Lowe, agent Massachusetts
Free Library Commission, says:
"Many of the difficulties and problems of
the small library would be solved if the
librarian question were settled. An active,
intelligent community; a well organized
and completely equipped plant; even a well
chosen collection of books often fail to
call with sufficient appeal to the librarian
so that her service to the town is any-
thing more than mediocre at best."
This is true, but in the scheme of li-
brary standardization and librarian certi-
fication, what about the small library, or
rather, what about the librarian, for it
would not be so difficult to standardize the
library once the librarian Is taken care of.
Not very many years ago the country
school was In the position in which we
now find the library. Through state or-
ganization schools were brought up to a
recognized standard and the improvement
rejoiced in, but now we are again discon-
tent and are demanding centralized schools
with at least an efficient principal at the
head of each. Township schools are in
course of construction everywhere because
of this demand.
Some day libraries will also be central-
ized and small libraries merged into town-
ship and county libraries. In the mean-
time how can training be given to local
people that will fit them to better fill posi-
tions they may be called on to fill?
DRAKE
219
ELIMINATION OF THE USE OF READERS' CARDS IN THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Bt Jeannette M. Drake, Principal, Circulating Department, Los Angeles Public Library
The aim in our present day libraries is
to give the patron more individual atten-
tion and assistance, and to cut running
expenses where possible, which means that
we must study into absolutely everything
that we are doing to see what can be modi-
fied or given up altogether in favor, of
something better.
When I was in Sioux City one result of
this kind of study was that we did away
with readers' cards. Many questions came
up before we decided to do this, and we
weighed the arguments for and against
each one, always taking into account the
cost, both in supplies and the cost of libra-
ry time in making the various records and
always working for a system that would
give the patron the most satisfactory serv-
ice. All libraries would not have the same
things to consider, as our cliarging systems
are different.
Some of the problems were:
1. How can we satisfy the reader who
forgot his card and left, it at home? Or
perhaps, did not expect to come to the
library, so did not bring his card? Or the
reader who says, "I left my card at the
library and they lost it."
2. The annoyance of the cards left in
the morning and which no one has had
time to alphabet and file.
3. Cost of the supply of readers' cards.
The average patron uses from two to four
cards each year.
4. Cost of library time in making new
readers' cards and the duplicates; time of
fi.ling and refiling.
We are all spending some money adver-
tising our libraries, but are we all studying
every transaction that is being made now
with the people to make them our very
best advertisers? Would a department
store that was working hard for business
and the good will of each individual in
the community refuse to charge a bill of
goods to a person after he has opened an
account with the store? The patron has
opened an account with the library when
we issue a card to him. Are we justified
In refusing to give him a book, because he
forgot his card or to cause him annoyance
about it, when our records show that he Is
in good standing with the library? Why
not have that record always at hand at
the charging desk?
The Sioux City rules are liberal, as we
wanted the books out of the library and In
the homes of the city, so we loaned one
seven-day novel, three fourteen-day novels
and as many non-fiction as the patron
wanted at one time. With these things in
mind we decided to try the experiment of
doing away with readers' cards, in spite of
much advice against it. After using it
three years we were convinced that It was
more satisfactory than the old way. The
satisfaction of always having the card at
hand cannot be measured to the library or
to the patron. The readers understood
very quickly why we were doing this and
asked why we had not done it before! All
the questions that are necessary to ask
when charging a book are the reader's
full name and address.
Our exact method is as follows:
The regular application blank is used,
with the printing on the "guarantor's
pledge" side so arra.nged that there is
space for the reader's name, number and
address at one end. These application
blanks are arranged alphabetically in the
file where the readers' cards used to be
kept. When a book is charged the attend-
ant asks the reader his full name and ad-
dress; the reader's name is then looked up
in alphabetical file, his number found and
the charge is made in the usual way, the
date stamped and the number written on
220
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
the book card, and the date stamped on the
dating slip in the book. The application
cards are always in this one file and there
is no chance for loss as in the other sys-
tem. They are never removed except to
change an address, or to be withdrawn
from use.
When an overdue book is returned, if the
fine is paid before the book is discharged,
"Pd." is penciled under the date on the
dating slip and erased when the book card
is returned to the book pocket. If the fine
is not paid when the book is discharged the
reader's number and amount of fine is
penciled on a small slip of paper (as,
3904 — 10 cts.) and dropped in a small box
for the purpose. The next morning the
name belonging to 3904, for example, is
looked up in the registration record and
amount of fine is then penciled on the ap-
plication blank in the file. A better way
is to always collect fines at the time the
book is received, then the only penciling
that would be necessary on the book slip
would be when the reader could not pay
the fine for some good reason.
The same system is used in the branch-
es. All applications are filed, as above ex-
plained, at the main library, whether
these are signed at the main library or at
the branches. A duplicate card with the
reader's number, name and address with
plain space below is made and kept in al-
phabetical file at the branch where the
reader borrows books. These cards are
never removed except to change an ad-
dress or to be withdrawn. A reader may
draw books from the main library and the
branch at the same time.
Someone has asked about the borrow-
er's receipt in this system. We had not
stamped the date of the return of the book
for years so this did not seem an impor-
tant point to us and we had practically no
trouble concerning it. In this system it
does take longer to charge books, as the
reader's number must be looked up each
time. The charging desk is near the re-
ceiving desk and one or more people
charge books, as is necessary. This sys-
tem could not be used if 'the number of
books loaned was not liberal, as we must
depend on the word of the patron as to
the number of books he has out.
In a larger library the alphabet could
be divided as it is in banks and several
desks could be used at once, if necessary.
Fewer people would be needed in the reg-
istration department and more to charge
books. The point we want to keep in mind
is the best and most accommodating serv-
ice to our patrons.
I have not yet studied this out in its ap-
plication to a very large library. As I see
it, at present, it is much more diSicult to
give expert personal or individual service
in the large library than in a medium
sized library. It seems that it is necessary
to consider groups or crowds, as we do in
Los Angeles, rather than the individual.
However, we are working on this.
Finally, the advantages are:
1. Eliminates constant talk and argu-
ment as to where readers' cards are and
constant explanation about bringing them
each time a book is taken out, etc.
2. By asking addresses each time, these
are kept up-to-date.
3. Card is always in the library in its
proper place.
4. Saves time of assistant in filling out
readers' cards in the beginning and the
duplicates and the temporary cards.
5. Saves cost of readers' cards.
The disadvantages:
1. Readers have to wait while their
number is being looked up.
2. Necessity of asking reader's name
each time.
3. Reader will not have a receipt for his
book, which he never had, anyway, under
our old system.
4. Have to take patron's word as to
number of books he has out.
It is hoped that someone will work out a
far better system than this, making it im-
possible for people to say, "I could not get
a book because my card was at home."
DUDGEON
221
WHAT MEN READ IN CAMPS
By M. S. Dudgeon, Secretary Wisconsin Free TAbrary Commission {Camp Librarian,
Great Lakes, III.)
You will pardon me, I trust, if I begin
with a very commonplace remark, and that
is that a man in camp reads books upon
the subjects in which he is interested, just
as you do, just as I do, just as any trained
worker reads. Now, the one subject in
which the man in the camp is most in-
tensely interested is: winning this war,
and as a result he is anxious to read any-
thing that will help him lick the Kaiser.
In the beginning we possibly over-esti-
mated the need of recreational reading; we
possibly over-estimated the function that
we had in keeping up the moral standard
and in keeping the boy out of mischief. It
develops that the oflBcers succeed fairly well
in keeping the men busy and out of mis-
chief and they don't need our help as
largely as we thought they might.
To illustrate how the men are training
themselves for war: In one naval camp
the men are rushing up on trigo-
nometry. There are in that camp 250
copies of trimonometries (every one of
them, by the way, a gift collected in re-
sponse to telegrams, and some of them con-
tributed by publishers). Thousands of men
are studying those 250 much used copies
of trigonometries simply because there are
thousands of men in that camp who know
that, trigonometry is useful in helping them
navigate the vessels in which they will
later be placed, and other thousands realize
as they never did before that trigonometry
will prove useful in helping them point
guns on the strongholds of the Kaiser.
They are studying geography in that camp
because they realize that in war they
must know the waterways of the world.
There are 2,100 men in that camp studying
aviation, and 2,200 men studying aviation
and wireless telegraphy are necessary to
win the war. Everywhere the men are
reading those things, largely technical non-
fiction, which have a direct bearing on
the work of the war.
I do not want to be understood as saying
that the men are not reading other things
and reading them extensively. It has been
the common experience that men read
poetry. Service, for example, is popular;
but they read generally the sort of poetry
that any men in civil life read. They read
drama and they read essays. They read,
of course, a good deal of travel relating to
the countries where some of them hope to
go. They read fiction, although less than
we thought they would read. My observa-
tion is that in fiction probably the western
story is more popular than anything else.
They read Zane Grey, Stewart Edward
White, Owen Wister. Mark Twain's
"Huckleberry Finn" is popular. They read
detective stories. They read the variety of
things that all of us read when we read
for recreation. I want to say this further,
that you will not get a class of reading men
that read fiction that is cleaner and more
wholesome than do the men in the camps.
You might be interested in some of the
percentages. The general average, as near
as I can get at it, is about fifty-fifty, instead
of being seventy per cent fiction and thirty
per cent non-fiction, as in many public
libraries. In one camp repeated tests
showed that the non-fiction was a little
over seventy per cent and the fiction a little
less than thirty per cent.
The chief point that I wish to make is
that men will read in camp anything that
will assist them in becoming more proficient
in the diversified activities of war. This
means that we must specialize In supplying
specialized non-fiction, and you can hardly
be too generous in anything you can do
toward furnishing these books for these
men.
222
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
It seems there are two possible sugges-
tions for the future. So far as we inside
the camp are concerned, we must remember
that the men in camp are very busy and
it is going to be more and more essential
that we bring this technical and r>on-fiction
reading material closer to the men. We
must study the situation in camp and
plan engineering books, for example, in
the headquarters or near the headquarters
of the engineers; machine gun companies
must have the books on machine guns near
them.
For those outside of the camps it has
occurred to me that future book campaigns
will have to be more special in their char-
acter; there will have to be a definite effort
to collect certain definite books that ex-
perience has shown are needed in the
camps and must be secured for the camps.
To sum it all up then, it seems to me,
the outstanding principle is that the techni-
cal, non-fiction books which will help win
the war are the things that the men are
reading, are the things they want to read,
are the things they ought to read and the
things which we as librarians must pro-
vide and help them read.
WHAT MEN READ IN HOSPITALS*
By Miriam E. Carey, Supervisor, Minnesota State Board of Control {Field Representa-
tive, Hospital Service)
What a man reads in a hospital depends
on two things: the man himself and the
supply of books.
To put a man to bed does not change
him fundamentally. His education, tastes
and habits remain unaltered when he lays
aside his uniform and dons pajamas and
a bathrobe. His reading will be influ-
enced by all his personal endowments and
qualities.
The character and degree of his illness
will also have much to do with what he
reads. If his is a surgical case he will
have time and strength to read more than
he ever read before, and he will ask for
the kinds of books he has always preferred.
He will want to keep up with his studies
and will do some serious work while he is
in confinement.
If he is quarantined for mumps or
measles, as so many of our "heroes" have
been, he will need first of all to be di-
verted. Detective stories and the cowboy
and wild west tales are what he craves.
♦Abstract of paper (printed in full in Au-
gust Library Journal.)
The state of a man's mind — whether he
is worried about his family or merely
homesick — will influence his choice of
books. He may have to be coaxed before
he will take the trouble to read.
The supply of books must also be ade-
quate to meet the needs of foreign-born
soldiers who know only their mother
tongue. Then there are those American-
born men whose education is so rudimen-
tary that they must have very simple Eng-
lish, very clear print and plenty of pic-
tures in order to read at all.
There must be technical books for the
soldier students: good, stirring fiction for
the depressed, homesick and anxious, and
for the suffering, scrapbooks, things easy
to hold, and pictures.
Given a supply of books adequate to
meet these varied demands and the sol-
diers in the hospitals will read more books
in a given time than their more fortunate
fellows who have more freedom but less
leisure.
GALLOWAY
223
A WOMAN AMONG TEN THOUSAND BLUEJACKETS
By Blanche Galloway, Librarian, Pelham Bay (N. Y.) Naval Training Station, (Branch
Librarian, Queens Borough Public Library, Jamaica, N. Y.)
When I first came to Pelham Bay I felt
much as the boy who came to me the first
morning while I was sorting books, and
said, "Could you give me a funny poem
which I could learn before night? There
is going to be a show over here and if I
can learn the poem I can be in it." I was
told before going to the camp that the
officials had asked for a man to do the
work, but when informed that no man was
available they consented, after some per-
suasion, to try a woman. Hence my anx-
iety resembled that of the boy with the
poem — to learn what was wanted, and "be
in it."
My first morning was spent making the
rounds of the camp, under the guidance of
the chaplain. Stopping at one of the bar-
racks, we found the place in perfect or-
der, with all the hammocks stowed away
in large boxes for the day, and the bags
containing clothing and personal posses-
sions hanging properly In their places,
The picture would hardly remind one of
the comforts of home, and yet every face
was happy and smiling, and from them
one would never know that those boys
hadn't slept on downy couches the night
before.
As we passed on through the great stor-
age houses, kitchens and mess hall I was
greatly Impressed with the cleanliness of
it all, and the great care that is being
taken to provide good substantial food for
the men.
The hospital was quite the most at-
tractive place in camp. The large airy
wards, with their softly tinted walls, and
rows of spotless beds, almost made one
wish to be ill. As I had dinner that day
with the nurses, I learned of some of the
possibilities for service to the men In the
hospital, and I could hardly wait to get
started on my real work.
As for books, I found them everywhere,
in the Y. M. C. A. and K. of C. buildings,
chaplain's office, Red Cross headquarters,
and on shelves two rows deep and two
rows high, but very few of them were
suitable to the demands, and none of them
where the men could really get at them.
Let me say here that the boys in the Navy
have wonderful opportunities for advance-
ment through study of special subjects, and
the ambitious boy who Is planning to go
up for examinations has little time and
slight Interest In the books of fiction which
are so lavishly showered upon them.
My greatest problem was to find room
enough to establish myself. The Y. M. C. A.
secretary very generously said that if I
could find any place which wasn't being
used I could have It. You will understand
how generous that offer was when I tell
you that the Y. M. C. A. building was al-
ready so crowded that men had to watch
their chances for a seat on the benches
along the sides of the room. Chairs were
at a premium, and he was fortune fa-
vored who was able to secure one. The
only unused space was the kitchen, which
the ladles used for canteen work on Satur-
days and Sundays. This made a very good
work room, but It was rather disconcert-
ing to have all of one's things moved out
by noon every Saturday, especially when
there was no place to which to take them.
The eagerness with which everyone did
what he could to better conditions was
most gratifying. Carpenters were called
In, and they started at once building new
shelves In the corners where the boys
could have free access to the books. They
were pleased with this new condition, for
as one boy expressed it, "It seems like a
real library now that we can handle the
books as we please." This was good, but
when the technical books began to arrive
224
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
there wa« general rejoicing wherever it
became known.
The camp officials were most kind in de-
tailing men to help prepare the books for
circulation and to guard them after they
were ready. This worked very well and
many interesting facts were to be gleaned
from these boys as they flourished the
paste brush or pen. However, it is rather
an uncertain life, a man may just have
acquired the fine art of pasting properly
when orders come for him to be ready to
ship out in a few hours, or it may even
happen, as it did to one of my boys, that
he will be promoted from the library de-
tail to the garbage wagon, through his
own preference, for there he can have
liberty every night.
Collections of technical books were
placed in the K. of C. and Y. M. C. A.
buildings. Word came from the head of
the radio school that a collection on that
special subject would be very useful in
their study room, which was no more than
a mess hall, glorified by the presence of
teachers and scholars. These books were
supplied. Books and scrapbooks were sent
to the hospital as requested by the head
nurse.
The men were especially pleased with
cartoon books and short stories, the great-
est demand being for geographies. One
boy said, "When a fellow is three thou-
sand miles from home, he kind o' likes to
see it on the map at least." I was told by
the head nurse that the same condition
prevailed there as in the general camp.
When a man is able to read he wants to
be studying for his next examination.
In the isolation camp where the boys
stay for the first three weeks after enlist-
ing, and where they are not allowed to as-
sociate with any of the other fellows ex-
cept the ones in their own barracks, we
found that the placing of twenty-four
books in each barracks seemed a perfect
godsend to them. There are at present
seventy-eight barracks In this isolation
camp. It was one of my happiest days
when I went over on the big navy truck to
distribute the books to these new recruits.
As the faces of the boys brightened at
the sight of the books, I kept thinking that
if the people over the country who have
given so generously of their favorite vol-
umes could have heard a few of the ex-
pressions of gratitude from these boys, I
am sure they would feel many times re-
paid for any sacrifices they have made.
One day one of the Y. M. C. A. secre-
taries discovered about ninety men sta-
tioned on a boat which was patroling the
sound. They were not allowed to come
ashore, but were only working about four
hours a day. Can you imagine their feel-
ings when the box of books and magazines
arrived to relieve the monotonous hours
of just waiting.
One of my greatest concerns was how
the boys themselves were going to feel
about having a woman establish herself in
their essentially masculine surroundings.
My fears were allayed on this score when
a very young boy came up and asked me
if I had come to stay, saying that it looked
good to see a woman around; and incl-
dently after a moment's pause said, "Say,
what do you do for a headache which you
can't get rid of?" My suggestion that he
go and get "liberty" and spend a week
end at home where he could sleep as long
as he wanted to, seemed to work, for
\/hen I met him coming in the gate Mon-
day he had forgotten that he ever had an
ache of any kind.
A lad came so appealingly one day and
said he had just read in the morning pa-
per that his best friend had gone "over
the top" for the last time "over there" and
he wondered if I wouldn't help him write a
note of sympathy to the boy's parents.
Others asked for help with problems In
geometry, which they needed to solve be-
fore going up for examinations for higher
ratings. When time would permit I could
listen to the most thrilling experiences of
those who had been on the high seas.
Boys who had spent months on submarine
chasers or who had been torpedoed them-
selves were always glad to find someone
who would appreciate their tales of won-
der.
CAREY
226
Each day seemed to unfold some greater
bond of friendship, until I soon felt myself
a part of this most interesting life about
me. It remained for the boy with the
beaming face who asked me if I would
like to share a mother's letter to her son
in the navy, to make me feel how much a
woman's presence was really appreciated
in camp, for as I read that lovely letter,
telling the little personal happenings in
the lives of the other members of his fam-
ily, and finally of the reminder not to for-
get to thank God for his loving watch and
care each day, I could understand the feel-
ing of that fine boy, and I was glad to be
able to share his pleasure.
The opportunities for service which
daily present themselves are so great, I
shall be thankful as long as I live, that I
had the opportunity to do what one woman
could among ten thousand Navy boys, who
were all true blue.
FROM CAMP TO CAMP: THE WORK OF A FIELD REPRESENTATIVE
By Mibiam E. Cabet, Supervisor, Minnesota State Board of Control (Field Representative,
Hospital Service)
There is as much difference between the
camps as there is between the soldiers in
them. Each has its special characteristics
and these are not permanent but may alter
with every movement of the army. Some
camps have a predominance of colored
troops; some are distinguished by large
groups of medical men, or machine gun-
ners, or cavalry. There may be principally
educated and trained specialists, or there
may be large numbers of illiterate to
whom every detail of the life around them
is a novelty.
Camp libraries must keep in touch with
all these peculiarities and the books set
aside for base hospitals must have cog-
nizance of them also. A library in any
hospital is primarily recreational, but as
the Red Cross houses are for the use of
all convalescent soldiers the libraries in
them will be patronized by men who are
no longer "sick abed" but up and around
and more impatient to get in touch with
their work again than to be simply amused.
It appears then that to put a suitable
collection of books into a hospital is not
a simple proceeding. Bright, clean copies
of the kinds of fiction that men like; po-
etry, war books, history, travel and biog-
raphy; but also technical books following
the trend of the camp's activities; foreign
books in numbers to meet the local condi-
tions; books in simple English and text-
books of all kinds. Including primers and
readers, if there are many uneducated and
illiterate In the camp.
What the librarian of a base hospital
library aspires to do is to get everybody to
reading. In order to know how to do this
a leisurely survey from bed to bed is
taken. After the soldier gets acquainted
with the librarian and adopts her as one
of his own folks, he does not hesitate to
tell her what he wants to read. Far from
it. And after one of these bedside visits
she can tell him, if he does n.ot know him-
self, what he wants.
The librarian at Red Cross house. Camp
Gordon, Miss Marjorie Wilkes, paid a call
recently at the bedside of a man who was
perfectly certain that he did not want to
read anything. His was an orthopedic
case and he was peevish and almost con-
temptuous. But it transpired that Miss
Wilkes discovered in him a latent sense of
humor and soon after her call she sent
him a copy of "Penrod" with the message
that if ever he had been a boy she was
sure he would enjoy the book. The next
time she visited the ward this man in-
stead of being almost rude and wholly un-
responsive was all smiles. Never had he
226
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
enjoyed a book like that one. Would slie
send him another? Greatest thing he'd
ever read.
To satisfy the needs of sick soldiers it
is necessary not only to take the book to
the man but to get acquainted with him.
After this has been done the librarian and
her orderly have the supremest satisfac-
tion that can come to such workers, name-
ly that of seeing every man in the ward
with a book, a scrapbook, or a magazine
in his hand. As Miss Wilkes' orderly said
after getting back from one of his rounds,
"Well, I left everybody a-readin'."
When these men are on foot again and
can go in person to the library, what they
will choose will depend on their own spe-
cial bent. The librarian's part will be
chiefly that of guide, having foreseen from
her study of the wards and her knowledge
of the character of the camp what will be
the principal demands of the convalescent.
There are at present hospital libraries
in all the large camps in Georgia with li-
brarians in charge who are or soon will
be residents of the Red Cross houses at
each cantonment. In Alabama there will
soon be two such workers; in South Caro-
lina there are now three and in North
Carolina two; in Mississippi, one; Ten-
nessee having no claim on Chickamauga
Park appears to have no camps or hospi-
tals, but as a matter of fact Chattanooga
is the point of arrival for Fort Oglethorpe,
which has a base hospital, librarian and
both medical and hospital branches.
Camp Wadsworth in South Carolina is
the senior hospital library. Miss Ola
Wyeth was the pioneer and worked her
way to success through the difHculties
which surrounded every activity of the
camp in the spring of 1918. Fort McPher-
son and Camp Gordon followed soon after,
Miss Avey and Miss Wilkes having them
in charge at present. Miss Mary Lonyo
went to Camp Wheeler early in the year
and now finds herself a resident of the
Red Cross house (as are the other libra-
rians named) with a library of 4,500 vol-
umes ready for her use, besides a number
of deposit stations, also well stocked.
Miss Marie Fox Waite is in charge at
Camp Greene, and finds that her experi-
ence as reference librarian at Princeton
University is useful even in a camp. At
Camp Hancock, Camp Sheridan and Camp
Sevier the librarians are rapidly getting
adjusted to their respective fields.
Good reports are received from Camp
Shelby, and from Camp Jackson, under the
direction of Miss Wyeth, the pioneer, a
development adequate to the needs of a
hospital of 2,300 beds may be expected.
Fort Johnston in Florida is said to be
ready for a hospital librarian, and at Camp
McClellan in Alabama the work will be
organized very soon. From these brief
statements it may be rightly inferred that
the hospital librarians in the south are
seriously at work with every reason for
being pleased with the prospect of getting
notable results, not the least of which will
be their personal satisfaction at being al-
lowed to serve in this capacity.
WHAT A BASE HOSPITAL LIBRARIAN SHOULD KNOW
By Edith Kathleen Jones, Lihrarian, McLean Hospital, Waverley, Mass.
Obviously, the first thing a hospital
librarian should know is something of
hospital organization. To all outsiders,
the information that every large hospital,
even in times of peace, is organized and
administered under such strict rules and
discipline and with such regard to rank
of staff and employees as to be almost
military in character, comes as an amaz-
ing discovery.
In the ordinary hospital — general, state
or private — the superintendent is the apex
of the cone, so to speak; immediately sur-
rounding him are the widening circles of
JONES
221
the staff. Each department is under its
own head, who, in turn, is responsible to
the medical superintendent or the chief
administrator, and every person has his
fixed place and rank. Nurses must rise
when a physician enters the ward or room
and remain standing till he goes out. If
there is a training school for man as well
as woman nurses the discipline is espe-
cially strict.
Now translate this into military terms
and you have the commanding officer, who
is a colonel, in place of the superintendent,
surrounded by his majors, captains and
lieutenants, who comprise the medical
staff. The administrative staff is com-
posed of the adjutant, the quartermaeter,
the chaplain and other officers; the non-
commissioned officers, wardmasters,
clerks, stenographers, carpenters, etc., who
are enlisted men; the nursing corps, con-
sisting of women, headed by the chief
nurse who is responsible for their work
and behavior and must discipline them
if they break rules. The nurses and the
enlisted men are not allowed to speak to
each other except to give and receive
orders.
The chaplain is in charge of the educa-
tional and recreational as well as religious
activities of the hospital, therefore the
library nominally is under his command,
though in most cases he has so many
other things to attend to that he is glad
to let the librarian take the initiative and
go to the commanding officer for orders
and permissions.
Besides all this personnel, there are the
patients, for whose benefit the hospital is
organized and carried on. The library
must take into consideration the needs
of all these persons — patients, officers,
nurses and enlisted men — numbering any-
where "from a few hundred to several
thousand.
Now there are several varieties of army
hospitals, but the only ones which concern
us are: the base hospitals connected with
training camps, the general military (or
naval) hospitals and the "reconstruction
hospitals," not connected with any camp.
In the first, therefore, the library has the
camp library to draw upon for help and
for books; in the second and third she
must rely upon the nearest large public
library and dispatch office.
The training-camp base hospital receives
the men from that camp; cases of measles,
scarlet fever, pneumonia, etc., which go
into the medical wards; accident and
operative cases, assigned to the surgical
wards; mental cases, including epileptics
and feeble-minded, who are put in the
psychiatric wards.
The general hospitals, unconnected with
any camp, receive the chronic or severe
cases from the camp hospitals, the troop
ships or the various fronts; shell-shock,
gassed, sick and wounded men from
France.
The reconstruction hospitals take the
crippled soldiers and teach them trades
and occupations, fit them with new arms
and legs, and turn them out prepared to
earn their own livings. In addition, there
will be, of course, the hospitals for chronic
cases who must be cared for all their lives
by the government. All these hospitals
will be more or less permanent institiv
tions and the libraries in them should be
placed at the outset on a permanent foot-
ing. Here, especially, the librarian should
be enlisted for the duration of the war
or longer; frequent changes will be dis-
astrous.
In these hospitals, then, we have a large
community of men and women isolated
from the rest of the world (for even in
the training camps the base hospital is
placed off in one corner), away from camp
activities or outside recreation. They
must have recreation, so along comes the
Red Cross and puts up a house for the
use of the convalescent patients and makes
it as homelike as possible. They must
have books and magazines, for these
armies of this world war are reading men,
called from all walks of life, so the A.
L. A. offers to provide books and certain
periodicals and a librarian if the hospital
will provide the room or building, the
shelving and a few other things.
228
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Now arises the question of housing the
library. Shall it be in the Red Cross
building, which generously offers its wall
space and perhaps a room for its use, or
shall we ask for a separate building —
the chapel, perhaps — and set up house-
keeping for ourselves? This is a nice
question, for there is much to be said
on both sides. The Red Cross house
furnishes a pretty and very popular place,
but it is noisy, for either the pianola or
the piano is going from morning till night
and sometimes there is a billiard room
also; the nurses and enlisted men are not
supposed to use these rooms till after
hours (late in the evening) and, when
all is said and done, the librarian is a
guest in the Red Cross house and has
not the same freedom which she would
have in a home of her own.
On the other hand, while the separate
room or building will not prove so popular
with the convalescent patients, it is a
boon to the enlisted men, who can run
in at noon mess and from supper till bed-
time, read the papers, magazines and
books and have a pretty, quiet and com-
fortable place to sit and a woman to talk
to — things he cannot get at the Y. M. C. A.,
which is the enlisted man's only recreation
room. Moreover, in a separate house, the
librarian can impress her own individuality
upon it, making it pretty and attractive,
with lots of color, yet keeping it mascu-
line; can put up maps, pictures, and use
bulletin boards for publicity purposes as
she pleases, can have a quiet place in
which to work and to make her plans for
the different branch libraries in the Red
Cross house, nurses' quarters, officers'
quarters, etc., and plan her ward libraries
for the next day. For the hospital li-
brarian will spend her mornings in the
wards, taking magazines, books and scrap-
books to the bed-patients, talking to them
and cheering them up.
Whichever plan is carried out, the libra-
rian must work in close cooperation with
the Red Cross people and the Y. M. C. A.,
for all are doing the same sort of work.
And there is always at least one woman
resident in the Red Cross house with
whom the librarian will naturally asso-
ciate.
This brings us to the next thing a hos-
pital librarian ought to know — her living
conditions and social status. Both of these
are rather unsatisfactory at present, for
women are now for the first time in the
history of the world being admitted into
army life in other capacities than that of
nurse, and, naturally, there is no place for
them and they have no rank. The nurses'
quarters, where most of them are now
housed, are crowded and not very comfort-
able. In some hospitals, in or near a
town, the commanding officer prefers to
furnish transportation and have the libra-
rian live outside. This is really the most
comfortable for the librarian. It has just
been arranged with the Red Cross head-
quarters at Washington to have the li-
brarians room and eat in their houses,
but this is possible only in the new type
of house with several chambers, and then
only when these chambers are not needed
for families of very sick boys. There are,
then, three possibilities of housing, all of
them calling for meals in the hospital
either in officers' mess, nurses' quarters
or Red Cross house. Under the very best
conditions living is not luxurious to say
the least, and sometimes it is disagree-
able, but the librarian should thoroughly
understand all this before she undertakes
the work and remember always that we
women were not invited to enter this
world of men and if we do intrude we
must bear ourselves as good soldiers and
not complain of hard beds, soiled table
linen, lack of bathrooms, suffocating heat
and dust in summer, freezing cold in win-
ter, and tobacco smoke all the time.
All this brings us to the librarian her-
self— ^her qualifications for a position In-
volving delicate readjustments of all her
previous conceptions of living and work-
ing. What is the first qualification de-
manded? Library training?
Now I expect a storm of protest from
all you A. L. A. people, but I most em-
phatically put that at the very end. Mind,
JONES
229
I do not say she need not have any library
training, for she should have the funda-
mental principles, but first of all she must
have certain traits of character which are
indispensable if we wish to make these
base hospital libraries a success — and we
cannot afford to have a single one a failure!
First of all, she must be mature. A
camp is no place for a young girl anyway,
and in a base hospital, where the librarian
comes into such close contact with so many
men, she must be able to meet officers with
dignity, chaperohe the nurses, and mother
the boys. The officers do not want a young
girl — in fact, they will not have her! She
is only an embarrassing adjunct. The
chief nurse does not want her — she al-
ready has the responsibility of from one
to three hundred other girls. The enlisted
men don't want her — they are so keen on
their job that girls (except the one girl
back home that almost every one of them
has, apparently) do not exist. The patients
don't want her — they want someone they
can talk to as they would their mothers,
for when these soldiers of ours are sick
in hospital they are just homesick boys
and they want to be mothered, and a
young girl can't do that. As one sailor
affectionately told the librarian at his
naval station, "You are mother and grand-
mother and aunt and sister and sweetheart
all in one." Obviously a young girl can't
be grandmother to a lot of boys! Accept
this great, outstanding fact, then, that
young girls are not wanted in camp and
that for once middle-aged women are at
a premium — if they are the right kind.
Second, the librarian must be dignified.
In any institution where so many men and
women are living in such cramped quar-
ters and pursue the same routine day after
day, there are bound to be petty jealousies,
gossip, scandal and quarrels. The libra-
rian must keep her dignity, take sides with
none, be friends with all. She must bear
herself so that neither officers nor men
will dare to be familiar with her.
She must be loyal to the hospital and
her superior officers. No longer is the
library the supremely important thing —
the hospital and what It stands for is that
— and only as the library is subordinated
to and serves the needs of the hospital is
it efficient or necessary.
The librarian must be able not only to
take orders and accept a reprimand in a
soldierly spirit but she must be able to
give orders tersely and explicity. The
common soldier is not supposed to think
for himself but he is trained to obey
orders. She must know how to approach
the commanding officer or other officers
with a well-formulated plan to be accepted
or vetoed by them; she must not waste
their time and patience by asking help
in deciding which of two or three plans
might better be carried out; she is liable
to a curt dismissal if she does.
She must not be sensitive and she must
not be sentimental. Sympathy the boys
want, but how they do hate to be wept
over!
If in addition to all these admirable
traits the librarian can sing, play, draw,
paint, play games, get up impromptu en-
tertainments on . rainy days or dull even-
ings when the boys will not respond to
ordinary methods of cheering up, or if
she is skilled in any branch of handicrafts
and can teach the boys to do things — then
she Is indeed a treasure and the posses-
sion of any of these accomplishments
might well balance a lack of library train
Ing.
Still, we cannot overlook the undeni
able fact that a librarian is supposed to
deal with books, and it is very essential
that she should know them well, have read
them, enjoyed them and be able to interest
the boys in them. The boys want detective
and "wild west" stories, adventure, rom-
ance and poetry when they are sick; she
must be able to select them offhand. When
they are convalescing they are restless,
eager to get back into the game and they
fret for fear they will get behind in their
classes and the other men will get to
France before they do. Then they de-
mand books on gas engines, turbines,
radio and wireless, trigonometries, all
sorts of things a woman knows little about.
230
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
The librarian must know how to get these
books and, what is more, must be thrilled
when the eager boys show her pages of
"beautiful" tables of logarithms, pictures
of milling machines, and explain to her
"how the wheels go round." Emphatically,
she must know books as well as love boys.
Don't I advocate library training? Most
assuredly I do! I have been trying for
seven years to get the large private hos-
pitals to put in good libraries and trained
librarians, just because I know how much
more efficient training makes a person.
Yet it is a fact that in a hospital library
you must forget all the rules you have
learned, except the fundamentals. The
camp libraries have learned this too. They
have found that it takes all their time to
get books out fast enough for the men
to read them — so eager are they — and that
a book circulates just as well and isn't
lost any oftener if it isn't in an accession
book or a card catalog or even a shelf-
list, and if it hasn't an elaborate book
and name card. These camps have taught
us librarians many things and one is to
forget rules and remember only books
and people. I have heard of a librarian
who "is the sort of librarian to whom a
book is something to be cataloged." We
do not want that sort in our base hos-
pitals. I
Nevertheless, in order to forget things
one must first have learned them, and
even a hospital librarian must have some
rudiments of librarianship, though these
can be learned while personality cannot.
Given two applicants of equally charming
personality, knowledge of books and love
of boys, one a trained librarian and the
other not, I would give preference to the
trained librarian. But, given a rather
colorless, ineffectual sort of person who
Is an expert librarian and another appli-
cant who has traveled extensively, speaks
French, Italian and a few other languages,
has a keen sense of humor and is interest-
ing to meet, but has no library experience
except a knowledge of books, certainly I
would prefer the latter, though I would sug-
gest that she learn enough about classi-
fication, cataloging and a few other things
to enable her to carry on the library.
Even a trained librarian going from a
public or a college library into a hospital
must, I think, be bewildered at first by the
utterly changed conditions and new prob-
lems. It is no longer library first, every-
thing done according to approved method,
books all in order, readers coming to you;
but hospital first, last and always, books
suited to the patients to whom you must
take them, previous methods often inade-
quate, individuality and ingenuity needed.
In the fifteen years since I left a college
library to enter that of a hospital I had for-
gotten all this till I found several of the
base hospital librarians confronting these
same problems and just as bewildered as
I remember to have been. One such libra-
rian said to me, "I see I must revise all
my ideas of library work."
Realizing something of this and knowing
the value of personality even without
training, it was suggested by headquarters
that a short course of supplementary train-
ing for base hospital work might be in-
troduced into some of the schools for
library science. Such a course is being
worked out at Simmons College this sum-
mer. This library school was chosen
because it is near several large general
hospitals and near McLean Hospital,
which is acknowledged to have the most
beautiful library of any hospital in the
country, near a training camp, a naval
base hospital, a large public library which
is the center of war activities, an A. L. A.
dispatch office and several schools for
training teachers in occupational therapy
and trades for reconstruction hospitals.
Visits to such places give an idea of all
kinds of hospital and war library service.
This course, as It Is organized, includes
lectures on hospital and camp conditions;
housing the libraries; qualifications and
duties of librarians; care of the medical
library; publicity methods; relations of
base hospital libraries to A. L. A. Head-
quarters and to camp libraries. Also lec-
tures on book selection and ways of get-
ting books to patients, officers and nurses,
WEBSTER
231
with brief analysis of detective, mystery
and secret service stories; wild west and
adventure; romance and love stories and
the little books for bed patients (including
scrapbooks) ; poetry, essays, drama and
art; books in French and other languages
and the opportunity to teach foreigners
English and our boys French; travel, his-
tory and war books; outdoor books, games,
occupations and handicrafts; books on
mechanics, engines, etc.; some of the camp
reference books. These lectures are for
all the students. In addition, those who
are not trained librarians have lectures and
practice work in simple classification,
cataloging, shelf listing, charging, filing,
alphabetically, care of periodicals and news-
papers. The whole class should also have
some practical experience in sorting gift
books and discarding the problem novels
and trash.
In order to ascertain the amount of in-
itiative of the students, examination might
be given along these lines: Make out lists
of forty or fifty books suited to bed
patients, convalescents, officers and en-
listed men. Plan a library housed in the
Red Cross house (new type) and also in a
separate building or room. Outline a plan
of advertising the library throughout the
hospital. Tell what special qualifications
each applicant thinks she has for enter-
taining boys or being helpful to them.
Such a course should enable the base
hospital librarian to approach her peculiar
problems with confidence instead of be-
wilderment, and so prove of practical value.
It also should provide an especially well-
equipped personnel from which A. L. A.
headquarters may draw to provide satis-
factory librarians for the rapidly increasing
number of base hospitals throughout the
country.
THE ORGANIZATION OF HOSPITAL LIBRARY SERVICE*
By Caeoline Webster, Library Organizer, New York State Library
In February, 1918, the War Service Com-
mittee decided that some systematic serv-
ice to the hospitals should be undertaken.
Before that a few camp librarians had felt
the importance of this branch of the work
and had sent collections of books to the
hospitals, sometimes to a chaplain, some-
times to the Y. M, C. A., Red Cross or
medical officer in command, but in the
flood of other work no "follow up" had
been possible and often the books sent
were not even unpacked. The Red Cross
or the "Y" had at many of the hospitals
collections of books numbering from three
to four thousand miscellaneous books.
They were donated in most cases by lov-
ing friends, and evidently donated on the
supposition that anything was good enough
•Abstract of paper printed in full in Library
Journal.
for a soldier. The representatives of the
Red Cross and Y. M. C. A. at the hospitals
were already overworked and their in-
terest in books, except in rare cases, was
secondary.
The first step of course in establishing
library service was to get authoritative
information from the surgeon general's
office and the Navy Department concern-
ing the number of hospitals and their size,
and^from the Red Cross the plans for the
development of their work at convalescent
houses and their attitude toward library
work.
Second, to learn the attitude of the
medical oflBcers in command to the work
of the A. L. A., for in the last analysis it
is the medical officer in command who
controls hospital life and no matter how
enthusiastic a chaplain, a Red Cross or
232
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
a "Y" representative may be about library
work, it can have no official recognition
until approved by the M. O. C.
Last but not least in importance was
to find suitable people for the work, for
many who seem especially adapted to
hospital library work have a distaste for
it, and some in their zeal for war service
sign for hospital library work when they
are in no way adapted to it.
For a hospital librarian personality
counts high, book knowledge and a love
of books are essential, but alas this taste
is often left out of one who would pass
muster on technical training and organ-
izing ability. This last Is essential where
new work is to be started^ (Immediate
availability and geographical proximity
must also be given consideration, which
complicates selection.)
After the surgeon general, the Navy
Department and the Red Cross were ap-
proached and their cooperation assured,
headquarters sent to every camp libra-
rian a request that he take up with the
medical officer in command the question
of a library at the base hospital and the
appointment of a base hospital librarian,
but at all the army and navy hospitals
headquarters dealt directly with the medi-
cal officer in command, sending him a
personal letter enclosing a questionnaire
which he was asked to fill out and re-
turn. The responses from this question-
naire gave a basis for procedure. The
hospitals seemed to be interested in book
service solely. It was only after personal
interviews with the medical officer in com-
mand at some of the hospitals that the
latter was willing to have an organizer or
library visitor go on the wards. It is
a tribute to the women sent to these
hospitals that in every case where the
medical officer in command was sure that
all he needed was an organizer to get
the work started, when the work of or-
ganization was completed, it was the same
medical officer in command who insisted
that a permanent librarian be appointed
to the staff.
The demand for books for the hospitals
in this country has been very much along
the lines asked for at the camps. Tech-
nical books, simple French books, primers
for the foreign born who are just learn-
ing to read. One hospital librarian reports
in one day requests ranging from a primer
by a man in the wards to a book on ancient
Greek scales in which a musician was
interested. The man in the hospital in
this country is rebellious at being there,
rebellious because he is missing so much
of his work and will be so far behind his
companions when he gets out, so beside the
story and picture books for the sick man
the convalescent must have the books that
will make it possible for him to keep up
with his work. Following is a list sent
in by a Red Cross worker for books that
were requested after an afternoon's visit
to several of the wards:
Books on applied chemistry.
Books on radio activity.
25 military books (regular list).
1 The work-house ward.
1 Military aeroplanes.
1 Flying, some practical experiences.
1 The aeroplane speaks.
1 Book on the manufacture and grading
of lumber.
1 Book on instruction for a beginner in
the quartermaster's department.
I.Columbia War Paper 17.
1 The future of the disabled soldier.
1 Publications on different subjects con-
nected with motor mechanics. (Govt.
Printing Office.)
The hospital from which this list came
is largely filled with men who have not
been over, but for the hospitals on this
side which are receiving men from over
there, the demands are different. Books
are selected by the librarians for their
therapeutic and remedial value. It is not
technical books teaching the soldier how
to fight that are asked for, but books
that will help him to live, bright picture
books that will take his mind from the
horrors he has seen, good stories, poetry,
books dealing with the fundamentals in
life. Books that help him to adjust him-
MORGAN
238
self to life under entirely changed con-
ditions.
There is not time to go into details
connected with the organization of li-
braries at particular hospitals and the
line to be drawn between service ren-
dered by the Surgeon General's Office and
the American Library Association.
Suggestions for the organization of
hospital libraries have been sent out from
headquarters which will probably have to
be modified to suit particular cases. These
take up on general lines the problems that
will be met by every hospital librarian.
They consider service to the medical and
nursing corps, the enlisted men and or-
derlies, as well as the service to the very
sick, the wounded and the convalescent
man.
Although the American Library Associa-
tion is now giving book service to a chain
of hospitals reaching from Santo Domingo
to Pearl Harbor, H. I., although satisfac-
tory relations have been established with
the Red Cross for library work In con-
valescent houses and they are giving not
only the use of a room and shelving for
books but in their new houses are pro-
viding living quarters for librarians, and
although the American Library Associa-
tion has given the Red Cross 25,000 books
for the use of the hospitals in France,
nothing more than a start has been made
as far as hospital work is concerned.
Little or nothing has been done toward
coordinating our work with the occupa-
tional and vocational work to be done in
the hospitals and little or nothing has been
done for the hospitals overseas.
A great reconstruction hospital is being
built in Boston which is to be devoted en-
tirely to the re-education of the handi-
capped. In Canada there are training
shops in connection with the convalescent
hospitals. It is not unlikely that shops
of the same kind will be built here. If
this is so librarians with specialized train-
ing in all branches of technical library
work will be needed.
The 25,000 books sent to the Red Cross
will stop the gap over there for a time but
when one considers the size and number of
the hospitals in England and France for
our troops, the gap will not be filled for
long. The Red Cross reports fifty Red
Cross units that have gone over, each
equipped to care for a hospital of from
one to two thousand beds. We know of
two ten thousand bed hospitals that are
being constructed In southern France.
We know that the Red Cross is calling for
25,000 nurses between now and the first
of January. This means a provision for
250,000 men, for the Red Cross estimates
ten men to a nurse. This much we do
know and there are doubtless other hos-
pitals about which we know nothing, but
with these figures before us it takes no
great flight of the imagination to know
that as far as hospital service Is concerned
our big work is before us.
And as the aim of the first part of
library war service has been to make bet-
ter fighters of our men, the aim of this
second and equally important phase will
be to make better men of our fighters and
defenders.
HOW THE CAMP LIBRARY REACHES EVERY MAN
Bt Joy E. Morgan, Camp Librarian, Camp MacArthur, Waco, Texas
The public interest would be well served
by a wider spreading of the idea that there
is a place in public education, large beyond
measure, which is not being filled and
which cannot be well filled by any agency
other than the free public library. There
is unusual opportunity in our army camps
for the dissemination of this Idea among
the thousands of men who come from lo-
calities not now served by free libraries.
234
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
The mere presence of an attractive
building in camp spreads the library idea.
Each army unit has its bulletin board
which every man in the unit is supposed
to read. Upon these bulletin boards the
camp librarian may have posted book lists
and announcements calling attention to
the library. Then there are the motion
picture machines, in Y. M. C. A. and K. of
C. huts, in the liberty theater and in other
buildings about camp. Through these ma-
chines slides may be run calling attention
to the free book service. The platforms of
Y. M. C. A. huts afford opportunity for
talks about books and their uses. Trench
and camp, a weekly newspaper which is
published in most camps, is glad to give
ample space to accounts of library activi-
ties. Finally there is the direct approach
to men in their army units. Nearly al-
ways the company commander is willing
on request to form his company at retreat
into an audience which may be addressed
by the librarian in a brief account of the
library eervlce In camp, on troop trains, on
transports and overseas.
These are big opportunities upon which
we have merely begun to realize and which
cannot be fully realized without Increas-
ing the number of assistance in camp li-
braries. The camp library is a more Im-
portant institution than we at first real-
ized. It is the heart of a system of libra-
ries. The building is as centrally located
as any building can be, but most army
camps are not compact and some parts of
camp may be several miles from the cen-
tral library. There is not a convenient
and cheap transportation system as in a
city. In order to get the books nearer
the men branches are established in the
huts of the Y. M. G. A. and K. of C. There
Is at least one such building for every
army brigade. Each of them has a room
or comer of a room that is devoted to li-
brary service. The books for this service
are supplied by the American Library As-
sociation through the camp library. Col-
lections vary in size from a few hundred
volumes to two thousand volumes. The
staff of the main library maintains gen-
eral supervision over these branches, but
the actual lending of the books is handled
by the secretaries of the various build-
ings. Recreation huts are usually crowded
and branch libraries reach a large number
of men, but with only one such building
for every five thousand men It Is obvious
that they cannot reach every man in camp.
There must be provision for library serv-
ice for men who do not find it convenient
to attend these recreation huts.
Such service may be provided by the
regimental library. The establishment of
such a library depends primarily upon the
regimental chaplain. He may prefer to
leave the handling of books to other
agencies. He may see in books valuable
opportunity for contact with his men. The
library of the Thirty-fourth Infantry is a
good type of the regimental branch. Chap-
lain Cohee of that regiment secured an
abandoned mess shack for a library and
made effective use of a collection of some
three thousand books. This same chap-
lain had taken a thousand books to the
Mexican border and reported a circula-
tion In his regiment of 15,000 books in
eight months. He says in a letter, "I am
sure there was nothing in that camp that
was touching the lives of those men sa
vitally as those thousand books." But not
every chaplain appreciates the value of
books and is able to get a building for
their circulation.
The ideal type of service for reaching
every man is the company library or book
station. These libraries are located in
first sergeants' tents or in mess shacks.
In barracks' camps they are located in
some comer of the barracks. Camp Mac-
Arthur being a tent camp, we felt the need
of having collections so made that they
could be quickly distributed or taken up.
The Waco high schools shops built us two
hundred cases to be used in establishing
company libraries. These cases of fifty
books each can be handled at the rate of
twenty or thirty per day, which may be
necessary when troops are suddenly or-
dered to be moved. By means of com-
pany libraries books can be placed so near
MORGAN
286
every man that he can get them without
leaving his company street. Through
these stations men form the reading habit
and learn to avail themselves of the larger
opportunities of the branch libraries and
of the main library.
Another important work is the branch
library in the Red Cross Convalescing
House at the base hospital. This work
has already been ably discussed and may
be passed over now.
The connection between these various
branches and stations and the main libra-
ry is made by means of the library truck
or Ford. Its daily trips give life to the
work in all parts of camp. Camp roads
are never too rough for the Ford to haul
its loads of books and magazines. By its
use the camp library becomes an aggres-
sive institution that reaches out to touch
all phases of camp life.
It is peculiarly necessary that the camp
library be aggressive. It Is a compara-
tively new Institution. Thousands of men
In camp have never before enjoyed free
library privileges. They are In strange
fiurroundings. They are new to each other.
Some are away from home for the first
time. All are ordering their lives anew.
Books may have a large place In their new
habits. Books have the power to make
them better soldiers and better citizens.
Another factor in getting books to every
man has been the efficiency of the staff at
headquarters. I come from one of the re-
mote camps. Waco is far from Washing-
ton. Help has been difficult to get. Camp
MacArthur is widely scattered. The heat
is intense and enervating. The problem
has not been easy, but It has been made
much easier by the helpful attitude of
headquarters and by the prompt attention
they have given to our needs. Things
move fast in an army camp. Time is vital,
much more vital than in civil life. Quick
service Is appreciated by the military au-
thorities. I mention these things especial-
ly because the hearty cooperation of the
military authorities makes the work vast-
ly more effective. They have gladly post-
ed on every bulletin board In camp an-
nouncements calling attention to the libra-
ry and urging soldiers to avail themselves
of its opportunities. Military instructors
send members of their classes to the li-
brary and feel free to call upon it for help
in any emergency.
The camp library satisfies two distinct
types of needs. First, it supplies the tech-
nical books that every ambitious soldier
is eager to get. It is not uncommon for
the library to keep in active circulation a
hundred copies of a single title on mili-
tary science. Men study these books be-
cause they know it pays. The man who
studies gets promoted and the man who
loafs stays at the bottom.
The second type of need that the camp
library serves is the need for Inspiration.
The camp library helps men to find them-
selves. It is tragedy for men to be taken
from their homes and kept long under
military regimen without understanding
the issues of the w^ar and without enthu-
siasm for the sacrifice they make. Men
need to know, they have a right to know,
why we are at war, why they must be sent
to Europe, why It is necessary to fight
this war at terrible cost to avoid conse-
quences to civilization more costly even
than war. One man read Van Dyke's book
"Fighting for peace" and found at Its close
the fitting quotation from Tennyson's
"Epilogue." He fixed upon these lines:
". . . He needs must fight
To make true peace his own,
He needs must combat might with might,
Or might would rule alone."
He found In those lines the explanation
of our part in the war. For him there was
reason for all the hardship, for all the
struggle, for all the sacrifice.
The camp library is a center from which
radiate right ideals. We have been wor-
shipping false gods. Ideals have been sub-
ordinated to material things. We have
valued too highly some things that we
now see are of little worth In themselves.
Too often have we thought of life, not as
an opportunity for service, but as a span
of years to be lived out. But this Is a
war for Ideals and these Ideals are pene-
236
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
trating into the rank and file of our troops.
Ideals release immense stores of hidden
energy in men and the inspiration thereof
is as necessary for victory as are guns
and ammunition.
These are the things for which the camp
library etands. It is a live institution; it
does things quickly and thoroughly.
Through its branches and stations it
reaches out to all the men in camp. By
its use surplus time is turned into hope,
into happiness and into opportunity. It is
serving the cause of democracy and
through it we are making a very large and
a very definite contribution toward the
winning and the ending of this war.
HOW THE CAMP LIBRARY REACHES EVERY MAN
By Fbedebick Goodell, New York Public Library {Camp Librarian, Camp Wheeler, Ga.)
One of the librarians the other day in
speaking of a camp said that camps were
composed of all sorts of men. The way
to reach all these men in the camps is
something we have all been thinking
about. Of course, we cannot do it but we
do come quite near to doing it sometimes,
I think.
Publicity, of course, is a very important
thing in reaching them. We have a great
many men in the camps who do not know
about the library. In the southern camps
particularly we have a great many men
who have never heard of a public library.
In Camp Wheeler we have 3,000 men who
cannot read or write. They were quite a
problem but we tackled that in fine style:
we taught them how to read and write and
then we gave them the books after they
learned how to use them.
Another thing that is important is the
personal relationship between the libra-
rians and the military officers and the
other organizations working in the camp.
I think that the camp librarian should
neglect almost any other duty he has to
establish good relationships, become ac-
quainted, to have people know him, know
that he is in the camp, know that he rep-
resents the splendid organizations he does
represent and make people realize that the
library is taking a most important part in
molding the opinion of the soldier. We
all know when our young men went to
these camps they did not have any idea
why they were fighting; they are just be-
ginning to find out now why we are fight-
ing, and the library has had a large part
in telling them that; making them real-
ize why it has been necessary to turn this
great peaceful country into an armed
camp. That is a most important work the
library is doing in the camps, to place
these ideas before all the men.
The camps, of course, differ in their
physical aspect and their makeup. It is
hard to tell us you should do a certain
thing and should not do a certain other
thing. One very interesting thing we had
at Camp Wheeler when we received no-
tice that the men in camp were to be
changed. We were to have men from a
new section of the country entirely. I
thought it would be interesting to try to
get those fellows before they came to the
camp, so I tried in several ways, through
the newspapers of the towns from which
they were coming and through the cham-
bers of commerce in the towns from which
they were coming, to let them know that
the American Library Association had a
camp librarian with a splendid, active
camp library back of him waiting for
them, and when they did come to camp I
noticed a difference right away. They
felt that that camp library was something
they would have to look up; it was a point of
interest to them and something they went
to in the first place. As soon as they
came to the camp a great many mothers
sent letters to me for their boys; they did
not know to whom to send them and the
LOWE
237
library was the first institution they had
heard of. I found that that paid.
I found too that pushing the library
through speaking in the Y. M. C. A. build-
ings and different publicity through the
Y. M. C. A. buildings and branches is very
valuable. The conditions are similar to
those in a large library with extension
branches; first, men come to the nearest
unit. They find out there is a library in
the camp and they want to know some-
thing about the central library. They will
come from the extension branch or from
the station to the central library.
The great thing the librarian must have
in the camp is adaptability, and being
adaptable to a camp is some job. We have
perhaps today surrounding the library 20,-
000 men who are machine gunners. They
are intensely interested in machine guns
and books on mechanics and we have to
supply that need. Then between midnight
and midnight those men all move out, the
whole city is gone, and a new city has
come. These men perhaps do not care a
hang about machine guns; they are inter-
ested in horses. The library must start
all over again.
The changing personnel of our camps is
a problem that is facing us all right now
and it is one in which we will need the
help of the librarians back home to a great
degree. We may call upon the libraries
for a great many tools and books to help
us out and I am sure the libraries will re-
spond. One message I want to leave with
you today is the gratitude of a camp libra-
rian who has been isolated down in the
south — the thanks for the ready response
all the libraries of the country have given
to even the slightest and apparently the
most trivial request.
A DAY AT A CAMP LIBRARY
Bt John A. Lowe, Agent, Massachusetts Free Public Library Commission {Camp
Librarian, Camp Devens, Mass.)
Variety of work, long hours and no relief
from activities marks the work of a camp
librarian. A typical day at any one camp
would serve to show the work of all of
them:
At 5:30 in the morning a siren blows
frightfully. Presently two men appear to
clean the building. Great contrasts appear
among these: we have had artists, lawyers,
college professors, one circus man, foreign-
ers who speak no English, ex-prize fighters,
and negroes fresh from Florida.
Hardly is the cleaning process under
way, when an officer rides up to the door
on horseback, sending an orderly in to
ask regarding some special technical books
which were to be borrowed from the Boston
Public Library for this officer's immediate
use. Another officer rushes in to ask for
"Rabbi Ben Ezra." That is easy, but to
stop to interpret the poem line by line to
him, at just that time, is another matter.
The morning mail carries stacks of it —
and a second demand for "that report" from
headquarters, and a questionnaire from
some psychologist, who wants to know
"whether men are reading, what they are
reading, and why they are reading."
The private detailed to drive the truck
stands waiting for his orders. As soon as
he is gone you get out the blank sheets
for the report of statistics and begin to
figure. But a telephone call comes for the
librarian. It is from the commanding
general, who desires an interview at
division headquartefs immediately regard-
ing an overseas division library. Just start-
ing out, you are called back to the tele-
phone to find that the division Intelligence
officer demands the instant appearance of
the librarian at his office. Afterward it
proves to be a matter regarding the circula-
tion of German propaganda about camp
by conscientious objectors and others.
Back to the library you go from division
headquarters, full of business, only to find
a private waiting with a poem which he
has written and about which he asks advice.
Lunch next, but you can take only ten
minutes for this during which you eat
very good food, and have good company
238
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
among the officers of the battalion. Just
as you are starting on the statistical sheet
again, a deputation from a near-by women's
club, which helped in the drive, appears
and insists on seeing the librarian, who
shows them the library, explains the work,
and answers the all-important question as
to whether their part in it proved of worth
or not. This is, of course, one of the many
interruptions of the same kind each day.
The same story, over and over, loses its
edge and brilliance, even for an enthusiast,
but somehow this story does not become
entirely dull.
Only a few men and officers come in dur-
ing the morning and afternoon in propor-
tion to the total attendance, because they
are on duty all the time. Those who do
come, however, are seriously interested in
military subjects. They come in to consult
our picture collection of military subjects,
which they take out to use in classroom,
room work and other lectures. They are
also investigating material in books: one
man is preparing a paper on the contri-
butions of chemistry to the war, and de-
sires material; another wishes an in-
terpretation on the complicated question in
a trial by court martial. Another wants
to know how long a projectile stays in the
bore of a gun after the firing takes place.
But what is that sound outside? Halt!
A company comes to attention. Under
military order, an officer comes in, salutes,
and asks if he may bring in his company,
which is out on a hike, in order that they
may take books, each man making his own
selection. This is also sometimes done
with men In quarantine, who come only in
companies and then under military
discipline.
Call now comes to go at once to the base
hospital library, where the chapel has been
turned over as a library building and neces-
sary changes in construction are being
made. Over the 'phone comes an order for
two hundred books for a Y. M. C. A. build-
ing, and a few moments later for twenty-
flve books for women at the hostess house.
Fifteen minutes out of the building is
allowed the librarian for supper, and ten
hours of the day have gone by! When you
get back, the crowd has already begun to
appear, and for the rest of the evening it
is one mad rush of combined desk and
reference work. Taps at ten o'clock — the
lights are put out, but those statistics are
not yet finished!
The statistics anyhow are not an actual
indication of work accomplished or the
quality of the same. A librarian at one
camp counts all the books in the branches
and deposits twice a month. Another
conscientious man counts only the books
actually delivered to individuals at the li-
brary desk. Manifestly there is a differ-
ence in the amount! In some camps nearly
all of the books are in the library building
and almost none in barracks or Y. M. C. A.
buildings; hence such librarians report a
tremendous attendance and circulation rec-
ord. In some camps there are more books
out of the library building than in it avail-
able to men in barracks and other public
buildings and yet no account is made of this
on circulation records. In some camps the
buildings are all together, like a city block,
and in others the buildings are scattered
over an area of fourteen square miles, so
that the number of men who come to the
building itself varies greatly.
The fact that the library is decidedly a
man's library renders the service quite dif-
ferent in quality from that given at a public
library. Men living in rough barracks
without color or homelikeness find in the
library comfort, cleanliness and beauty and
the testimony of appreciation is overwhelm-
ing both from officers and men. From every
side expressions of appreciation of the
building are manifest. There is a freedom
in the use of the building not present in a
public library where women and children
seem to scare off the men.
In our library men are encouraged to
smoke, to take off their blouses, and make
themselves perfectly at home, more in the
manner of the library of a club than a
strictly public library. The personal con-
tact between the librarian and the readers
gives a good chance at a formative in-
fluence for the love of books and reading
without unpleasantly forcing this. Red
tape is cut to shreds. There are no fines;
overdue notices are sent and books are
collected by the authority of company com-
manders. Lectures and art exhibits are
arranged and very much appreciated by
the men. The men like "high-brow" things,
although civilians seem to believe that any
old thing is good for the soldier.
The aim and quality of the work is to
give through reading matter recreation,
JOSSELYN
239
education and inspiration to all officers and
men in camp, who desire to avail them-
selves of the opportunity. All of this is
for the upbuilding of the morale of the
army, whose business Is war, and which
appreciates anything contributing to the
effectiveness of its purpose.
The work of the library has a vitalising
effect upon the librarians, as it develops
personal resources of reaching men. It
helps to maintain the morale of the army
by keeping the men in camp, and by meet-
ing their cultural needs. It teaches the
library habit to many men who never used
a library before, and develops it among
book lovers. Men become so appreciative
of the value of the camp library that they
gladly cooperate with their officers in
arranging for regimental and company
libraries for overseas, even to their willing-
ness to take a book in their already over-
burdened pack, A colonel of the old army,
who scorned the idea of a camp library
and all other activities managed by
civilians told me, soon after the camp was
established, that "if he had his way, all
such activities should be bodily thrown out
of camp." A few days before he left for
France, some months after, he had the
great courtesy to come to the library to
say:
"I have revised my decision as far as
the camp library is concerned because of
the work done for my officers and men.
In the new army there is most decidedly
the need of a place for the serious, studious
work done by the men and this the camp
library affords in making better soldiers of
our army."
A DAY IN CAMP*
By Llotd W. Josseltn, Librarian, Public Library, Jacksonville, Fla. {Camp Librarian,
Camp Johnston, Fla.)
In a few minutes I can no more tell you
of a day's work in camp than any camp
librarian can really do the work alone
that comes up, so I am going to do as my
friend Goodell did when I went up to
visit Camp Wheeler and he took me to
that lake in the mud in his little second-
hand Ford out to camp — just hit the road
in two or three spots.
Isaac Marcosson in his book, "The busi-
ness of war," gives a wonderful descrip-
tion of the quartermaster's work in the
American armies. Out at Camp Johnston
100,000 men a year are being trained to do
this work — the clothing, the feeding and
the transporting of men. This means in
a camp that cannot hold normally over
eighteen or twenty thousand, that 17,000
men are coming into camp every two
months to take a training of ten weeks in
one of the many schools, such as office
training schools; shop schools; road train-
•Abstract of remarks.
ing schools; automobile drivers; train
drivers; road repairmen and the like; re-
mount schools for such occupations as
wagon-making, teaming, horseshoeing and
similar work; and officers' training schools
for the performance of the work of the of-
ficers in these same branches.
To meet this special type of work the
American Library Association has built
up at Camp Johnston a library of 12,000
books, 6,000 of these books being technical
books, most of them in the 600 and 300
classes. We have there at least 1,000
books in the reference department alone.
So you see our greatest work and effort
has been to supply material for the in-
structors, to assist them in writing up the
lectures which they are delivering in the
various schools. Their work changes from
week to week. A lecture will be written
on a certain subject and that lecture is
never given again, it must be entirely re-
written, because to keep up with the
changes the instructors must have the very
240
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
latest publications and get a great deal
from magazines and periodicals. Then we
put forth a special effort, of course, to
guide the student in his work, in his re-
search and study, and to .push the tech-
nical books which we have on the shelves.
Our day's work is very similar to that of
a college reference library and that of a
public library, except that the librarians
and all of our workers bear in mind that
they are wearing the uniform, are serving
in a military camp, are there to help win
the war, and that "war is hell."
CAMP LIBRARY WORK AT A NAVAL TRAINING STATION
By Hebbeet S. Hibshbeeg, Librarian, PuMic Lilirary, Toledo, Ohio (Camp Librarian
Chreat Lakes, III.)
The fundamental difference perhaps be-
tween the men in the naval camps and
those in the army camps is that the men in
the naval camps are without exception
volunteers. They have not been drafted.
A good many of them have perhaps had
the thought of the approaching draft as an
impetus to their enlistment in the navy,
but men of this kind are likely to be of a
higher degree of average Intelligence than
those who are in the army camps. The
result is that in the navy camps we have
practically no men who do not speak Eng-
lish. There is a great variety of men,
as there is in the army camps, but the aver-
age grade of intelligence is doubtless
higher.
The Great Lakes Naval Training Station
is largely devoted to a series of schools for
the preparation of men in different sub-
jects. The library in serving these men
puts collections of books in the regimental
headquarters, which are really the school
headquarters, and the regimental com-
mander appoints some detail to care for
the books and that man acts really as a
school librarian.
We have groups of men, 1,800, 2,000,
2,500, all studying the same subject. The
problem of supplying a sufficient number
of the same kind of books to those men of
course is a tremendous one, and it is al-
most impossible for the library to find
enough books on the few subjects which
those men are studying to supply them with
the books they need.
Another point of contact of the camp
library in the navy camps which the
library in the army camp does not have is
that with the training ships. The men
after a period of training ashore are sent
to sea. Placing books on the cruisers is
of course one of the things which the navy
camp library can do and which the army
camp library cannot do.
A method of contact with the men which
we are considering at the Great Lakes is
one which is used and has been used for a
great many years in county libraries, and
that is the book wagon. When the men
first come to camp they are placed in de-
tention for a period of three weeks. Parts
of the naval camps are devoted entirely to
detention purposes. During the period of
detention the men are forbidden to con-
gregate in buildings and of course they
find the time boresome because of the fact
they are not yet acquainted with their
messmates and are. left a good deal to
themselves, especially for the first few
days. I believe that by using the book
wagon and taking the books right out
among the men, we can educate the
men to the use of the books as they come
into the camp.
At Great Lakes the camp library has
been for some time and is still in one of
the detention camps. The great influx of
men made it necessary to include the
camp in which the library was placed as
part of the detention camp. The men were
TITCOMB
241
forbidden to come into the building. In
order to offset the detention regulation,
the library was brought out onto the porch.
A table and a collection of thirty or forty
books were placed on the table and the
men passing by get the books from the
library steps. Such an adaptation to con-
ditions would be practically impossible in
a city. Library assistants would not want
to take the position of peddling their books
from the steps, but in camp we think noth-
ing of that sort of adaptation to conditions.
Other conditions are practically the
same as those found in the various army
camps and the methods of the distribu-
tion of books are very similar to those
so completely described by the army camp
librarians.
A DAY AT FORT LEAVENWORTH
By Mary L. Titcomb, Librarian, Washington County Free Library, Hagerstown, Md.
When I got a letter asking me if I
would go to Fort Leavenworth, Kans., and
look over the situation and see what
was needed there and make recommenda-
tions as to whether we should have a
separate library there, whether we should
appoint a permanent librarian and what
should be done, I was not a bit interested.
You know what we think of Fort Leaven-
worth— we think of it as a place where
people go when they are finished, and
I was just beginning — but I said, "Now,
see here, these are military orders and
I go where I am told to go."
My first visit before going to the camp
was to the community house. There in
Leavenworth they have really a rather re-
markable community house. The trolley
line is along the stretch from the Soldiers'
Home at one end of the town to Fort
Leavenworth at the other end. Midway
between, just in the center of the town
on the line of the trolley, is this com-
munity house which consists of a double
store apartment upstairs and down, very
attractively fitted up, with a hostess and
a Y. W. worker and a man representing
the Fosdick Commission. There I got in
touch with things.
When presented to the Colonel in com-
mand of the army post at Fort Leaven-
worth, I explained in detail what the
American Library Association was, the
national association of librarians in the
country, and about the money we had
raised and what we were trying to do
and that we were working under the Fos-
dick Commission of Training Camp Ac-
tivities. The colonel was very cordial.
He said he did not know whether his
soldiers had much of any time to read
or not; that he worked them pretty hard,
and if they had any time every one that
came there had at least two sisters and
a mother and sweetheart, "but you can go
ahead and do what you please; you have
my permission; you have a free hand In
the camp."
We went to see the chaplain of the
disciplinary barracks. Before the chaplain
came in, I talked for quite a little while
with a young trusty there In the room
who was the chaplain's secretary, a
Pennsylvania boy, cultivated, a perfect
gentleman. The prisoner's brown, like
a wood-dye, trousers which have never
seen a crease, very baggy at the knees
and with the prisoner's number on each
knee, and when the men go out to work
they have such a number on the back.
That young fellow talked to me without
the least consciousness of himself what-
ever. He told me about the library; he
told me they were making a loose leaf
catalog and showed me the number of
sheets; they were doing that in the print
shop in the educational school. He apolo-
gized for the appearance of the sheets
because he said they had different men
at work on it from time to time and some
242
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
of the apprentices did not do as well as
others.
Pretty soon the chaplain came in and
I again explained who I was, what I was
and what I represented, and I said, "I
believe we sent you some books, 1,500
books; you have had 1,500 new books
recently?" "Oh, no, not as many as that,"
he said. The trusty spoke up and said,
"Just about 1,500." I said, "I was told
we were sending that number." "But
they did not come from you," said^ the
chaplain. And remembering that I must
go carefully, I said, "Why, I thought we
sent you some." Then the trusty inter-
vened again; bringing forward a book,
he said, "Yes, those came from the Amer-
ican Library Association," opening it and
showing our bookplate. The chaplain
looked at it and said, "Well, I had never
seen that bookplate; I thought all the
time those books came from the Soldiers'
Aid Society in New York." Then and
there I made up my mind in Fort Leaven-
worth these book plates were going on
the outside as well as the inside of the
book.
Then he voiced some of his apprehen-
sions about our coming in there with our
books and I was able to allay his fears
and finally I said, "If we can send you
from 500 to 1,000 books, new scientific
books, books on the war, technical books,
would you like them?" "You bet your
boots," he said.
I am sure that anything sent there is
going to be taken care of. They have got
a long room with wooden stacks; they
are going to have steel stacks; they have
taken all the books they can from the
Kansas Commission and have had them
relettered and put back on the shelves.
They have taken gift books which came
through us and classified and arranged
those; and let me say that my conclusion
is we are going to have a permanent
library there in the Y. M. C. A. building.
WAR DEPARTMENT INDEXES*
Some of the principal indexes connected
with war work are the following: A card
index of the men in the American Expedi-
tionary Forces is built up from passenger
lists prepared at the ports of embarkation,
and signed by the company commanders.
Before being typed they are carefully
scrutinized by experienced women clerks
and every possible error corrected. Every
local address is verified against the Postal
Guide, the Western Union list of telegraph
offices, and if necessary against an atlas.
For cases still in doubt two cards are
typed and stamped "Data Uncertain." One
of these goes to file at once, and the other
Is used as a basis for further investiga-
tion. The original enlistment paper is the
best and principal source of verification,
for here we have an official document
•Extracts from a letter from Lieut. Willis
P. Sewall, of the Statistical Division, Ad-
jutant General's office, to Miss Adelaide F.
Evans, chairman Catalog Section, A. L. A.
signed by the soldier himself.
The errors which creep into the records
are mainly due to poor handwriting, care-
less typing, and to misunderstanding and
misspelling information given by word of
mouth. Then there are those cases where
the soldier for reasons best known to him-
self deliberately gives a false name or
false emergency address.
The Chief of Staff has officially stated
that more than 900,000 men are already
in France, and that the million mark
will soon be reached. We have a card for
each man; and are now typing and filing
upwards of 10,000 cards a day. The prob-
lems of a great file of names are very
different from those of a library catalog.
Our file already occupies 1,080 trays, the
Smith family leading in occupancy of eight
trays.
Another file is that of the enlistment
papers. After about eighteen or twenty
files of enlistment papers had grown up.
CURRIER
243
they were turned Into one alphabet, a
process involving the handling of about
two million papers. From the latest mus-
ter rolls envelopes or "jackets" are being
typed for each man, to contain his enlist-
ment papers, any personal papers, his
service record when mustered out, etc.
In the bureau of war risk insurance ap-
plications and subsequent correspondence
are filed numerically, with an alphabet-
ical index. This will probably be the
largest alphabetical index of names in the
world, as the record will include all en-
listed men, whether insured or not; giv-
ing the reasons for failure to take out in-
surance where men have not desired to
avail themselves of it. The allotment sec-
tion of the bureau of war risk insurance is
still another index.
A complete central occupational card
index is being assembled, giving occupa-
tional qualifications of every registrant.
These cards are arranged by symbolic
numbers for occupations, with geograph-
ical extensions of numbering. Besides this
occupational index of registrants, there
is a card catalog of educational, occupa-
tional and military qualifications of every
enlisted man.
Finally, as it takes money as well as
some other things to win the war, there
may be mentioned the file of income tax
returns, arranged geographically and by
size of income, the file comprising about
thirteen million entries.
COST REDUCTION IN CATALOGING
By T. Franklin Cubeieb, Assistant Librarian, Harvard College Library
In the industrial world a lowering of the
cost and a more finished product resulted
from the transfer of the process of manu-
facture from the home and small shop to
the factory. The centralization of catalog-
ing by placing it in the hands of a large
institution which has every facility for
doing it well and economically has had a
similar result in the library world. Fur-
ther improvements and economies will un-
doubtedly result from further centraliza-
tion and greater coordination of effort on
the part of catalogers. It is to the catalog
departments of our larger libraries that we
look for the realization of such plans, but
it is just these departments that are find-
ing increasing costs and inelastic budgets
most burdensome, and it is here, therefore,
that the greatest demand exists for study-
ing carefully the relation of quantity and
quality of output to cost.
It is our duty as catalogers by mutual
conference to pool experiences, marshal
facts and figures, study the relation of our
work to the problems of larger library ad-
ministration and thus reinforced to bring
about an intelligent and sustained pres-
sure for adequate support. At the same
time we must promote and prepare for
increased resources by learning how to
utilize to the utmost those now at our com-
mand. We must study carefully the cost
of production, take advantage of every
method that leads to economy, prune away
with ruthlessness each process the value
of which we cannot prove. This, I take it
is the aim of our conference to-day.
In response to your chairman's request
I might enumerate the labor-saving devices
I have found useful, A symposium of such
papers would suggest to each one of us
specific methods that we have not our-
selves stumbled on, but I refrain, for the
essential thing that we wish to teach to
our staff is not so much individual specific
methods as the habit of mind that will in-
stinctively plan each piece of work in the
best way and avoid ineflicient procedure,
I should like then to consider the
economies resulting from the application
244
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
of some of the essentials of efficient man-
agement. The ones I select are formu-
lating correct ideals of work, care in select-
ing and training assistants, correct super-
vision and flexibility of organization. By
paying strict attention to these, economy
of production must surely ensue.
The need of formulating for our assist-
ants the fundamental aims and ideals of
their tasks is not ordinarily suggested in
discussions of economy of work, but a vast
deal of time is wasted by those who, be-
cause they lack a proper perspective, try
to do something that has no excuse for be-
ing done. Did you ever ask one of your
catalogers to formulate the aims of your
catalog?
At present, I should formulate the prin-
cipal aim of the Harvard catalog, in so far
as the author entries are concerned, not as
the forming of a repertory of titles, each
bibliographically complete, but as the
providing of a handy tool to bring to the
searcher, with as little trouble and delay
as possible, a given book. If, then, I see
a cataloger carefully verifying each name
from a series of reference books and
crowning her labors by triumphantly add-
ing to her heading an unused name, I ask
her whether her expenditure has helped or
hindered the user of the catalog.
Next in order to the formulation of ideals
comes the selection of persons who are
carrying them out, and training them in
the intricacies of the work. This matter
has been frequently the subject of discus-
sion at our meetings and I will not discuss
it here, but I cannot pass it by without
mention, for it is an altogether too impor-
tant part of that process by which we hope
some day to emulate Henry Ford's boasted
100 per cent efficiency and to prevent fill-
ing the round holes of our catalog peg
board with square pegs. The expense in-
volved in the attempts of a cataloger to
do work for which she is not suited or for
which she has not been trained must be
prevented; and it can be forestalled or
cured by careful selection and systematic
instruction.
I am told that the major in our army is
the highest officer who comes in immediate
contact with the men — in the battle higher
officers handle units — the major handles
men. The supervisors in our large cata-
log staffs have this privilege and duty.
On them rests the responsibility of seeing
that accurate, intelligent and scholarly work
is produced by an economical expenditure
of money and energy on the part of the
catalogers. Real economy can be obtained
only if correct principles of supervision
are taught and insisted on. To illustrate
by example, each person called to super-
vise even a small piece of work must real-
ize that her first duty is to see that those
under her are working intelligently and
productively and with enough work plan-
ned ahead. When she is assured of
this state of affairs she can then and only
then apply her own time to detailed and
routine work; but she must constantly
be on the alert not to absorb herself so
deeply in her own routine work that she
loses track of her assistants. If she does,
they will listen to wrong advice from each
other, pile up work incorrectly done, or
mark time, even though they have the best
intentions in the world. Again, the super-
visor must guard against the constant
temptation of habitually doing things her-
self because she can do them so much bet-
ter QT faster than her helpers. There is no
eventual economy in this, for three out of
four times the helper will lose the sense
of responsibility, as well as the discipline
of doing harder work and quite possibly
will be wasting time while her supervisor
is doing her work for her. The supervisor
should remember that growth comes with
the opportunity of doing.
It may sound mercenary, but I make no
apologies for my belief that the supervisor
should get in the habit of thinking of work
done under her charge in terms of dollars
and cents. She will be much less likely to
authorize a doubtful bit of work if she
knows it will take five dollars out of her
budget than if she looks on it as merely
a few hours' postponement of a more im-
WIGGINTON
245
portant job. There is tonic in the realiza-
tion that a half hour's conference of two
or three catalogers over a knotty point
really costs a dollar or two, for this knowl-
edge may result the next time in a straight
decision, without conference, that costs ten
cents.
The last essential to which I wish to
call your attention is flexibility of organi-
zation within the department and in its re-
lation to other departments. The ques-
tion of proper division of work is one that
cannot be settled once for all — it will vary
in different libraries, and even in a given
library, according to the nature of the
work and personnel of the workers. Rules
for forwarding books must be made only
to care for normal accessions flowing in
from day to day, and these rules must be
easily changeable in special instances.
Sympathetic cooperation of catalogers and
supervisors with the head of the depart-
ment as well as between the librarian and
different department heads will lead to
saving by special routing of exceptional
work. There are times when the duties of
the accessions and order clerk blend close-
ly with those of the catalogers. For ex-
ample, the accessions department might
well assume the labor of collating the
plates and maps of an invoice of English
books, but it would be waste of time for
it to collate a volume printed before 1500
when the cataloger will feel it necessary
to do the work again in. the process of
properly cataloging it.
To sum up the points I have tried to
make: Economy of work will be attained
less by teaching, parrot like, specific de-
vices than by building up a habit of effi-
ciency and a common sense view of rela-
tivity in the importance of work. This
can be attained best by raising the tone of
the catalog staff through careful selection
and training of assistants, by formulating
the ideals and aims of our work, by train-
ing our supervisors in the principles of
management and by promoting flexibility of
organization within and between the de-
partments. Furthermore, ideal conditions
in the selection, training and supervision
of the staff presuppose adequate financial
return for labor. I do not dare hope for
immediate realization of this happy state
of affairs — the war is putting a severe
strain on us in the way of budgets that
are contracting in purchasing power even
though on paper remaining normal, but
those of us who are not called to active
duty at the front or to its supporting lines
may feed our patriotism by looking ahead
to the future when the library will be called
to do its full share in reconstructing and
invigorating our mental and spiritual life.
And we must prepare by establishing
a foundation of efficiency in methods that
will support the increased activities and re-
sponsibilities of that day of honorable peace
for which we, as a nation, are striving.
CATALOGING ECONOMIES:
MEETING THE DEMANDS OF WAR SERVICE
CATALOGING
By May Wood Wigqinton, Catalog Department, Louisville Free Public Library
Those of us who have been doing camp
library service have had to find just what
are the barest essentials in cataloging and
surely there is a lesson there for all cata-
logers.
The war is affecting libraries as it is af-
fecting every phase of life. Libraries are
feeling the pinch of the increased cost of
maintenance and the shortage of labor. . .
and demands are coming in to help in
this or that bit of war service ....
In December, our camp library building
was completed, the avalanche of books be-
gan to arrive and the problem before us
was this: We had a fine big camp with
some 40,000 soldiers in it, drilling hard,
246
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
studying hard, eager for entertainment,
ready to read. We already had collections
of books in the Y. M. C. A. and K. of C.
buildings, supplied from our own stations
department so that the men were looking
to us for books and clamoring for more.
We had our building completed and fur-
nished and filled with books just as they
had come from the people who gave them.
We wanted the men to use the books im-
mediately, we wanted to open the building
for use immediately, but before we could
do that the books must be equipped with
a charging system, some sort of catalog
must be made of them, they must be classi-
fied and marshaled into order ready to
circulate.
Our force consisted of two men camp
librarians and just such members of the
Louisville Free Public Library as could
be spared. The eighteenth of December
we started In, eight of us. On Janu-
ary 22, after just eighteen days' work at
camp, we formally opened the library with
11,500 volumes ready for circulation.
Each book had been equipped for charg-
ing, a pocket had been pasted in, and a
charging card made. In order to facilitate
the slipping of books, when they returned
from circulation, we decided to write the
author and title and class number on the
pocket and to give each book an acces-
sion number. We kept no accession book,
but gave each book a serial number with a
numbering machine. This would always
give us the total number of books in the
library and would identify copies in the
charging trays and would be much easier
to put on than copy numbers which neces-
sitate reference to a shelf list.
The A. L. A. War Service Committee
had recommended that books be classified
to three figures and that the author's last
initial be used under the class number.
Realizing that painting the author's ini-
tial on the backs of the books would take
much of our already too short time, we de-
cided to leave off the author's initial.
We deeply regret that we only classified
to three figures. It takes no more skill
and little less time to classify closely —
and the close classification helps to find
specific subjects. This Is especially true
in a library with no subject catalog. We
reclassified military science, expanding
the already fully expanded Dewey in or-
der to have specific numbers for each mi-
nute subdivision of military art and engi-
neering. We found by experience that
broad classification is poor economy.
Books about the war we have marked
"War" and war fiction and war poetry are
gathered together under the marking
"War-F" and "War-P" respectively.
We decided we must have an author
and title catalog of all books, fiction and
non-fiction. Our catalog is of the simplest,
merely the author's last name and a short
title and the class number; and the index
to the Dewey has to serve in place of sub-
ject cards and shelf list. Our work was so
easy, technically, that anybody could do
most of it, a great point in camp library
work where everybody must be pressed
into service, volunteers and detailed sol-
diers. If we found a man who could run
a typewriter, he was put to work typing
author and title cards for the catalog; if
he could write a legible hand he helped
copy author and title and accession num-
ber on book pockets. The soldiers helped
us paste pockets in the books and stamp
them with the name of the library.
Camp cataloging is of necessity the
most economical cataloging we have ever
seen. The classifying and cataloging of
over 30,000 books in our camp cost the
A. L. A. but $125.75, plus the cost of the
cards.
Of course, it cost the Louisville Free
Public Library the assistants' time, which
was given to the camp, and the transporta-
tion to and from camp each day.
The members of the library profession
have risen to the emergency of war serv-
ice and have provided libraries (fully
equipped and classified and cataloged al-
most over-night) for communities of 40,-
000 adult readers, most of them studying,
going to school, taking examinations and
thus calling on the library for concrete
help.
MCCARTNEY
247
These libraries have been laboratories in
which we have been working out an ex-
periment in library efficiency and speed of
organization that has tested our flexibility
and adaptability.
The experiment has been successful.
Dare we disregard its conclusion?
We have found that libraries can serve
these communities well without the elab-
orate bibliographical paraphernalia with
which catalogere have surrounded our
books. The analogy between a camp li-
brary and a big public library is not per-
fect. The collections are smaller and nar-
rower in their scope. The reference work
is simpler and confined to a few clearly
defined subjects. Many arguments can
be brought forward in defence of fine
scholarly cataloging. In our own catalog
department we still continue to follow all
our former rules and are cataloging as
carefully as ever.
Have we failed to learn the lesson of
the camp library? I am holding no brief
for any radical changes. I am putting it
up to catalogers everywhere. In face of
the Increased demands for service, dare
we catalogers waste time looking up ob-
scure middle names of obscure authors or
laboriously typing "Ed.6,rev. N.Y.Putnam,
1917cl898. 2v.illus.por.facsim.map,sq.F" on
hundreds of cards?
We have learned many lessons this win-
ter in a camp library. But we must not
let them blind us to the humbler lessons
that win help us to get books to the peo-
ple at less expense of the world's valuable
labor.
CATALOGING ECONOMIES: HOW ROCHESTER ECONOMIZES
Bt Grace B. McCabtney, Head of Catalog and Order Departments, Public Library,
Rochester, N. Y.
To make clear the reasons for some of
the processes which we have found eco-
nomical and about which I am to tell you,
I wish first of all to describe briefly the
Rochester Public Library system and Its
catalogs :
We have as yet no central library: our
system consists of five general branch li-
braries varying In size from 8,000 to 15,-
000 volumes, a business and municipal
reference branch of 2,000 volumes, and 67
stations, including six sub-branches, which
draw their book supply from a stations col-
lection of nearly 17,000 volumes. Each
branch library has Its own catalog and
shelf list, while in the catalog department,
housed with other administrative offices
on the upper floors of the largest branch,
there are an official catalog and shelf list
which show which branches have each title
and the number of copies in each. L. C.
cards are used for these catalogs whenever
possible, subjects, corrections, and other
necessary information being typed in. All
catalog cards are typed If we cannot obtain
printed ones, and shelf-list cards are al-
ways typed. The stations collection Is not
cataloged so fully as the branch collections.
but Is recorded in a stations list on cards
flled In the catalog department. This list
shows for each title the classiflcatlon. au-
thor's name In full, title of work, date of
publication, publisher, list price, and copy
numbers which are used instead of acces-
sion numbers. These are all typed cards.
The staff of the catalog and order de-
partment consists of a head, assistant cata^
loger and three typist catalogers. With
this force all books for the entire system
are ordered and cataloged. Branch libra-
rians and assistants have merely to file
cards and shelve books when these are sent
out from the department. Our orders since
January 1 have amounted to $7,600 and in
the same time 7,206 volumes have been
cataloged using 13,647 cards, 8,361 L. C,
and 5,286 typed. The repairing of books is
also supervised by this department. Involv-
ing the sorting of the books to be sent to
the bindery for rebinding and resewing
from those to be recased by the book men-
der employed in the library. The number
of books so sorted during the past six
months was over 7,050. Besides these
things our catalog department, in common
I am sure with other such departments. Is
frequently called on to lend its members to
248
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
branches or other lines of the library work.
Any short cuts to the accomplishment of
our own work are therefore eagerly sought,
and joyfully welcomed when found.
The first of our cataloging economies be-
gins when the books are ordered. Orders
are sent to the dealers in the form of typed
lists on which the items wanted are ar-
ranged alphabetically by authors, with fair-
ly full imprint information given. Carbon
copies of the list are made and one
(checked with number of L. C. cards for
our needs) is sent to the Library of Con-
gress as an order for printed cards. The
cost of ordering L. C. cards by list is slight-
ly more than by slips or L. C. numbers, but
we are certain that this increased cost is
more than covered by the saving in time
which would be spent in writing slips,
searching for numbers, etc.
A second time saver is the form of the
typewriter platens which are used. These
are twenty Inches in length, each with
three metal attachments held close to the
platen by strong springs. These metal
pieces firmly hold the tops of the catalog
cards, the operator types the subject or
other information across the three cards,
turns to the next line with one motion and
continues her "three in one" work.
Perhaps the point that saves most time
is our disuse of Cutter numbers. Instead
of having these, we make certain that the
author's name appears clearly on the cover
of each volume. If the publisher has not
provided this, we have the name added, but
these cases are comparatively few. We
find that the branch assistants have no
difficulty in shelving by name rather than
by the Cutter number, and borrowers are
much less confused than when both Dewey
and Cutter numbers appear on books and
cards. We save greatly by not having to
spend time in locating the Cutter number
to be used, and by not taKing time to type
this number on cards, book pocket, and
book slip, as well as saving the time and
expense involved in marking that number
on each volume. No classification num-
ber is assigned to fiction, therefore no
marking is needed on these books except
the upper case J which is stamped on juve-
nile fiction.
I say stamped, because class numbers,
author's names, etc., are gilded on our
books instead of being on a label or writ-
ten with ink. The first cost of gilding is,
of course, a little more than the other
methods, but is in reality very little and
gilding has the advantages of indefinite
durability and legibility, to say nothing of
being better looking. We pay $0.02 per
line, and $0.00 2-3 for a single stamping
(as J, P, etc.). This includes cost of ma-
terials as well as of labor.
Another saving of time is concerned with
the cards placed in the union catalog when
any card has been temporarily withdrawn.
When we add to any branch collection a
work which is new for that branch, but a
copy of which is already somewhere else
in the library system, we take from the
official catalog the main entry card for
that work, on which are traced subjects,
added entries, etc., and make from it the
cards for the branch now receiving the
copy. As our branch collections are to a
certain extent duplicates of each other we
have frequent occasions for such with-
drawals, especially when new branches are
opened. It has therefore been found eco-
nomical, at the first withdrawal, to type
on a temporary card the class number,
author and title of the book represented,
instead of writing the information. When
the official card is returned to its place,
this temporary card is filed alphabetically
with other such cards ready for the next
using, thus saving cards and time of writ-
ing, to say nothing of eliminating the dan-
ger of illegibility.
These methods we feel to be truly savers
of time. I hope the cataloger who may
be inspired to try any or all of them will
not be disappointed in them. We are still
on the lookout for additions to our short-
cuts, or replacements of them, if substi-
tutes will be brought to our attention.
PATTON
249
CATALOGING ECONOMIES: THE CARE OF GIFT PAMPHLETS
By Adah Patton, Catalog Librarian, University of Illinois Library, Urbana
The University of Illinois Library has
a very active gift and exchange depart-
ment which is largely instrumental in ad-
ding to the library, in addition to a large
number of bound volumes and serial pub-
lications, about six thousand pamphlets
each year. Of these from five to eight hun-
dred are considered of sufficient value to
merit full cataloging. The remainder, over
five thousand pamphlets a year, must be
cataloged economically. They must be
cataloged in some way which will make
each pamphlet available through the cata-
log, will furnish a record which will en-
able the order department to avoid the
purchase of duplicates and will make all
the pamphlets on any subject available to
readers. This problem, of cataloging what
we call second class pamphlets, was solved
five years ago by the use of the following
method:
A student at the university, usually not
a library school student, is employed for
about fifteen hours a week to type author
cards for these pamphlets as they come in.
Manila cards, of the same size and weight
as the white cards in the public catalog,
are used. The color serves to distinguish
the cards for the second class pamphlets
and makes it easy to remove any or all
of them. Carbon copies are filed in the
gift and exchange department and kept
for a few months to prevent requests for
duplicates.
The student clerk is given elementary
instructions, in the beginning, in the mak-
ing of author entries. This does not in-
sure a correct form of entry in every
case, but as the cards are revised by a
classifier and a filing assistant, the incor-
rect entries are detected and sent back for
correction. No attempt is made by this
student clerk to supply missing forenames
or to verify names given on title pages.
Only the author, a brief title, the date of
publication, the source, and date of re-
ceipt are given. Occasionally when a num-
ber of pamphlets, leaflets, etc., by one
author are received only one card is made,
but this Is not done without consulting
the classifier. When the card for a pam-
phlet is made it is placed in the pamphlet,
the pamphlet is stamped with the library
ownership stamp, and both pamphlet and
card are then sent to the classifier.
In the beginning the decimal system of
classification used by the library was great-
ly abridged to make the work of classi-
fication as simple as possible and still sep-
arate the material into usable groups. With
a few exceptions, only three figures were
used and in many cases inclusive numbers
have proved practicable. For instance, not
many second class pamphlets on philosophy
or religion are received by the library and
the lOO's and 200's are grouped by tens,
i. e. 110-119, 120-129 and so on. As was
expected, many subjects which were at
first grouped together have had to be sep-
arated on account of the large amount of
material received or the call for material
on special phases of a subject. With only
one card record to be altered the closer
reclassification of any one subject does not
require a great amount of time. To save
time and make easier a possible change of
classification 'number, the classifier writes
the number in pencil, not in ink, directly
on the pamphlet. As a small concession
to the appearance of the catalog the num-
bers are typed on the cards by the typists,
the classifier having made a pencil note
of the number on the lower edge of the
card. The classification number is pre-
ceded by the capital letter P on both card
and pamphlet to indicate the character of
the material to the shelf assistants. No
book numbers are used except in the class
P920-929 where we have a collection of in-
dividual biography. In this class the first
letter of the name of the biographee Is
added to establish a partially alphabetical
arrangement.
The classifier sends the cards to be filed
in the public catalog. Up to this point in
the routine the titles of the pamphlets
have not been searched for in the catalog
to see whether any are already in the
library. The responsibility for finding such
duplicates is thrown on the cataloger who
files the cards; thus instead of searching
through the catalog once for possible dup-
licates and then after the cataloging is
completed, filing the cards, only the latter
is done. If it is found that the pamphlet
is an added copy, it is added to the first
card and the other returned to the classi-
260
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
fier who marks the pamphlet "copy two."
If the library has as many copies as are
likely to be needed, the pamphlet is sent
to the duplicate collection. Forms of en-
try which do not agree with those previ-
ously used in the catalog are returned to
the student clerk for correction, but it is
understood that the cataloging of this class
of pamphlets is not to be held to the
standards of completely cataloged material.
After the cards are filed the pamphlets
are sent to the stacks and filed in boxes
which are labeled with the class numbers
preceded by the capital letter P and shelved
before the completely cataloged books with
the same class number. Each collection of
pamphlet material is represented In the
public shelf list by a card on which is given
the class number and a note "Box of
pamphlets." No shelf-list of titles is kept,
so an inventory cannot be taken. The cost
per piece for cataloging these pamphlets
Is about one-tenth of the cost for fully
cataloged books or pamphlets.
So far no arrangement of the pamphlets
having one class number has been attemp-
ted but we have "reached the point where
some such arrangement is necessary. We
believe a chronological rather than an
alphabetical order will be most useful be-
cause these pamphlets are now used prin-
cipally to supplement and bring up to date
the Information published in books. We
shall have to add the year to the class num-
ber for the benefit of the shelf assistants.
The users of this material are chiefly: (1)
the members of the reference department
who use it to answer calls for recent In-
formation on definite subjects; (2) ad-
vanced students working in the stacks, or
(3) those who have references to partic-
ular reprints or articles in pamphlet form.
For any of these classes arrangement by
date should be convenient.
Regular exceptions to the above treat-
ment are: (1) Foreign doctoral disserta-
tions which are classified as minutely as
completely cataloged material. These are
placed in pamphlet binders and shelved In
their proper places, have the usual book
numbers and shelf slips but are repre-
sented In the catalog by nothing more than
author cards with titles and dates added.
(2) College publications of an administra-
tive character such as catalogs and regis-
ters which are shelved in a separate place
according to a special scheme and are not
cataloged at all except in the case of espe-
cially long or complete sets.
The collection of this pamphlet material
was occasioned by the demand for it by
the various departments of the university.
The increasing use of it has seemed to
justify the treatment which it has been
given. Some of it at some time may be
of historical interest, some may be of value
because of a suddenly developed general
interest in a subject which has formerly
appealed to only a few. The latter was
the case with the pamphlets on military
subjects which had been treated as second
class, but were practically all made first
class and completely cataloged after the
outbreak of the war. The object is to pre-
serve all such material as economically as
is consistent with its temporary use and
in such a way that any part of it will be
available If for one reason or another it
becomes of permanent value. If it does
become valuable or of general interest it
may be accorded a different treatment.
REPORTS
251
REPORTS OP SECRETARY, TREASURER, TRUSTEES OF ENDOWMENT FUNDS,
PUBLISHING BOARD AND COMMITTEES, 1917-18
SECRETARY'S REPORT
The past year has been the most event-
ful for the Association in the forty years
of its history, but for the headquarters
office it has been the most uneventful of
any year since the establishment of the
office. The war service which the Asso-
ciation is rendering to the military and
naval forces of the country in supplying
libraries and library service to the men
in training camps and other army and
naval posts and stations in this country
as well as to the forces overseas, is by all
measures the most far-reaching and sig-
nificant of any work which librarians of
the country and the American Library As-
sociation as an organization have ever un-
dertaken, a work which is sure to carry
deep-rooted results far beyond the days
of the present crisis. The center of this
activity, however, has naturally been
Washington rather than Chicago. The
Secretary of the Association has been in
Washington engaged in this enterprise
nearly continuously since the financial
campaign of last September, occupying the
position »f Executive Secretary of the Li-
brary War Service and of the War Service
Committee, and has been in Chicago only
about six weeks of the time between Sep-
tember 1, 1917, and June 1, 1918.
The routine work of the headquarters
office has, however, in no way suffered by
this absence, as matters there have gone
forward smoothly and expeditiously under
the capable direction of Miss Eva M. Ford,
the assistant secretary, and Miss Gwen-
dolyn Brigham. For their ever faithful
and Intelligent service the Secretary
wishes to express his sincere appreciation.
Chicago Headquarters — The Association
is indebted to the Chicago Public Library
for another year — the ninth — of hospitality
and generous provision of ample and com-
modious quarters in its main library build-
ing. Free quarters, 'free heat, free light.
free janitor service, and a warm spirit of
camaraderie with the library staff — these
have all been ours, and to the Board of
Directors and to Librarian Roden, as well
as to our lamented friend, the late Henry
E. Legler, the sincerest appreciation of
every member of the American Library
Association is due.
Librarians with the Colors — A consider-
able number of members of the A. L. A.
are serving with the Colors, either in the
army or the navy, and a card record of
these and of other library workers who
are in the service, whether members of
the Association or not, has with the assist-
ance of librarians and library commis-
sions and library schools, been compiled
for permanent preservation. A service
flag in honor of these men serving with
the Colors is being made and will be dis-
played at the Saratoga Springs Confer-
ence. The flag contains 297 stars — one a
gold star, a memorial to Dudley Coddlng-
ton, assistant in the Seattle Public Li-
brary, who before the entrance of the
United States into the war enlisted with
our Canadian allies, and was killed in that
glorious charge of the Canadians at Vimy
Ridge in April, 1917.
According to the custom adopted for
service flags only men enlisted In the serv-
ice are included. Many of our fine capa-
ble women are, however, rendering service
equally valuable to the country — in the
Red Cross, in the Y. M. C. A., in the Y. W.
C. A., in the Councils of National Defense,
and elsewhere, and their patriotic work
should in some adequate way be recog-
nized and recorded. At least one of these
women has rendered the supreme sacri-
fice— Miss Winona C. Martin, librarian of
Rockville Center, New York, who went
overseas as a Y. M. C. A. canteen worker,
and who fell victim to German frightful-
ness during an air raid on Paris, on March
11, 1918.
252
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Membership — The growth of the Asso-
ciation has been retarded by the war. This
is no more than must be expected, how-
ever much we would like to see member-
ship in the national Association keep pace
with its increased responsibilities and op-
portunities for service.
When the 1917 Handbook was printed
tiiere were 3,346 members of the Associa-
tion. Since then there have been addi-
tions as follows: new personal members,
l&O (the same number as last year); for-
mer personal members rejoining, 15 (as
against 24) ; new institutional members,
11 (as against 37); former institutional
members rejoining, 1 (as against 3) ; to-
tal, 177 (as against 214 for the corre-
sponding period last year). Four personal
members have become life members (as
against 6 last year).
Publicity — Practically no publicity work
has been conducted from headquarters, but
the wide publicity accorded the Library
War Service has given the general work
of the Association more publicity than it
has ever received in all the previous years
of its existence. Hundreds, even thou-
sands of newspaper articles relative to
the financial campaign, the collection of
books, the establishment of camp libraries
and the extension of the work overseas
have been collected by our clipping serv-
ice, and in addition numerous magazine
articles on various aspects of the work
have appeared from time to time during
the past six months.
The need of a cooperative publicity ex-
pert, working under the auspices of the
A. L. A. and in the interest of the gen-
eral library field is more and more appar-
ent. Good money could be saved the local
libraries, but what is even m6re to the
point, effective advertising of library serv-
ice would be gained. A by-product of the
war is a better knowledge and apprecia-
tion of what libraries are and what they
stand for and are prepared to do, and
when normal times are restored we be-
lieve libraries will be In a mood to con-
sider more favorably than ever before this
much debated project of a publicity ex-
pert. In the meantime let us not lose
sight of this desirable goal to be attained,
and let us keep it in mind, as, for example,
the energetic publicity committee of the
Pacific-Northwest Library Association is
helping us to do.
Reference was made in our last year's
r«port to the library publicity and adver-
tising conference held under the auspices
of the Advertising Association of Chicago
on May 25, 1917. One of the speakers at
that gathering was Mr. John B. Ratto, who
is connected with the Redpath Lyceum
Bureau. In the course of his duties last
summer and fall Mr. Ratto visited a large
number of the smaller towns in Minne-
sota, Iowa, Missouri and Ohio. At Mr.
Ratto's proposal, and with the approval
and collaboration of the respective state
library commissions, arrangements were
made by the A. L. A. office with the local
librarians in the towns visited, to have
Mr. Ratto meet and confer on publicity
methods with the librarian and the mem-
bers of the library board. A number of
enthusiastic letters were received ex-
pressive of the practical good accom-
plished by Mr. Ratto's visits.
Publisliing Board — As in previous years
a considerable part of the time of the
staff has been devoted to the work of the
Publishing Board. The sales of publica-
tions have kept well up to the mark of
other years, but few new publishing ven-
tures have been undertaken. Particulars
regarding this part of the office activities
are recorded in the report of the Publish-
ing Board.
Library Annual — A year ago plans were
being rapidly perfected for the publication
of a statistical library yearbook, the mate-
rial to be prepared by the A. L. A. and the
publishing to be done by and at the ex-
pense of the U. S. Bureau of Education.
Entrance into the war and the consequent
devotion of practically all Association
activities to war work have necessitated
an indefinite postponement of this work.
In the meantime the R. R. Bowker Com-
REPORTS
253
pany is arranging, with the official ap-
proval of the A. L. A„ to include more
comprehensive statistics than heretofore
in its "American Library Annual," and
will probably continue to do this until the
Association and the Bureau of Education
can bring out the long planned for year-book.
Japanese Art Panels — Reference was
made in last year's report to the beautiful
collection of water color panels which
were donated to the American Library
Association by the Imperial Japanese Gov-
ernment, at the close of the Panama-
Pacific International Exposition. During
the year 1916-17 the collection, as was re-
ported, performed an itinerary of some
eighteen libraries of the north-central
states. During the past year it has
been touring New England and the north
Atlantic states, the itinerary covering
eleven libraries In the east, and ending In
Youngstown, Ohio, the first of October.
Field Work— The "field work" for the
past year has included talks by the Sec-
retary on the general work of the Asso-
ciation or of the Library War Service,
before the Kentucky Library Association,
the University of Illinois Library School,
the Chicago Library Club, the summer
schools at Iowa City, Indianapolis and Co-
lumbus, the training class of the Chicago
Public Library, and the staffs of the De-
partment of Agriculture Library and the
University of Chicago Libraries. He also
made a brief address at the dedication of
the Camp Library at Camp Lee, Virginia,
at which former President Taft was the
principal speaker. The Secretary ac-
cepted an invitation to attend the meet-
ing of the Maine Library Association in
May, but illness unfortunately prevented
his attendance.
Mr. P. L. Windsor, librarian of the
University of Illinois, and Mrs. Jessie
Palmer Weber, librarian of the Illinois
State Historical Society, were appoint-
ed by President Montgomery to be the
official representatives of the American
Library Association at the Centennial ce-
lebration of the Illinois State Historical
Society, held in Springfield, April 16-17, to
commemorate the one hundredth anniver-
sary of the admission of Illinois into the
Union.
President Montgomery ofliicially repre-
sented the Association at a conference of
the League to Enforce Peace, in Philadel-
phia, May 16-18. The object of the meet-
ing, which was addressed by a number of
notable representative Americans, is ex-
pressed in the slogan: "Win the war for
permanent peace."
Necrology — Seventeen members of the
Association have died since the last Con-
ference. In this number is a charter mem-
ber of the Association, who was also a
life member, and three other life mem-
bers. Three were library trustees, two
were librarians of public libraries of Im-
portance, one of whom was an ex-presi-
dent of the Association and a man most
beloved by his fellow members. The libra-
rian of a state library, three who had re-
tired from active work, and several ca-
pable library workers cut off In the active
days also are among the lamented num-
ber. The list follows, and fuller biograph-
ical sketches will appear In the Handbook
of the Association for the current year:
Barnwell, W, J. E., assistant librarian.
Public Library, Cincinnati, Ohio, died May
8, 1918.
Barton, Edmund Mills, librarian emeri-
tus, American Antiquarian Society, Wor-
cester, Mass., died April 14, 1918. Charter
member. Life member,
Beckwith, Daniel, librarian of the Provi-
dence Athenaeum, Providence, R. I., died
July 8, 1917. Life member.
Belin, HfeNRY, Jr., treasurer. Public Li-
brary, Scranton, Pa., died December 25,
1917.
BuYNiTZKY, Eleanor, assistant. Weather
Bureau Library, Washington, D. C, died
October 7, 1917.
Cass, Elizabeth H., librarian of the
Portland Cement Association Library, Chi-
cago,-died October 26, 1917.
GiLLis, J. L., librarian, California State
Library, Sacramento, Calif., died July 27,
1917.
254
SARATOGA SPRING'S CONFERENCE
Habkis, George William, librarian em-
eritus, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.,
died October 11, 1917.
Hazard, Rowland G., chairman Board of
Directors, Narragansett Library Associa-
tion, Peace Dale, R. I., died January 23,
1918.
HiNRicHSEN, Savilla I., former librarian
of the Illinois State Library, Springfield,
111., died August 27, 1917.
Hyde, Sara G., catalog reviser, Yale Uni-
versity Library, New Haven, Conn., died
January 3, 1918.
Kent, Dorothy, formerly chief of the
Circulation Department, Free Public Li-
brary, Trenton, N, J., died July 2, 1917.
Legler, Henry E., librarian. Public Li-
brary, Chicago, 111., died September 13,
1917. Life member.
LuNN, Minnie, assistant. Order Depart-
ment, Public Library, Louisville, Ky., died
March 17, 1918.
MoYEB, L. R., president Library Board,
Public Library, Montevideo, Minn., died
March 13, 1917. (Decease not known when
report for 1916-17 was prepared.)
Outhouse, Emma G., assistant, Public
Library, Evansville, Ind., died September
6, 1917,
Steiger, Ernst, publisher, of New York
City, died August 2, 1917. Life member.
Thain, Mabel A., librarian. Public Li-
brary, Oak Park, 111., died October 3, 1917.
The following persons had formerly be-
longed to the Association, although not
members at the time of their death:
Cutter, William R., librarian emeritus.
Public Library, Woburn, Mass., died June
6, 1918.
Doubleday, Mrs. Frank Nelson (Neltje
Blanchan), author. New York City, died
February, 1918.
Leipziger, Henry M., formerly chairman
of the library committee of the Aguilar
Free Library, New York City, died De-
cember 1, 1917.
Merrill, Mrs. Emily A., Cambridge,
Mass., died May 3, 1918.
Rudolph, Alexander J., formerly with
the Newberry Library, Chicago, and in-
ventor of the "Rudolph Indexer," died Au-
gust 16, 1917.
Sampson, Francis Asbury, formerly li-
brarian of the Missouri State Historical
Society, Columbia, Mo., died February 4,
1918.
Smith, Mrs. H. W., librarian of the Pub-
lic Library, Truro, N. S., died November
2, 1917.
The Secretary wishes, in conclusion, to
express his sincere appreciation of the
uniform courtesy and spirit of helpfulness
of the members of the Executive Board
and Publishing Board, the Committees and
membership in general of the Association.
Respectfully submitted,
George B. Utley,
Secretary.
REPORT OF THE BOOKBINDING
COMMITTEE
The war work of the American Library
Association has postponed some of the
work of the Bookbinding Committee. Plans
are being made to cooperate with the Li-
brary War Service in giving suggestions
and instructions at the camp libraries in
the repair and rebinding of their books,
especially non-fiction.
The bookbinding exhibit, prepared for
the Louisville Conference in June, 1917,
has been in constant use during the year,
the schedule being as follows:
1. Ohio State summer school, July 6-20.
2. Indiana summer school, July 23-Aug. 15.
3. Iowa State meeting, October 9-11.
4. Indiana State meeting, October 17-18.
5. Oklahoma State meeting, Oct. 23-25.
6. Providence Public library, Nov. 15-30.
At this time, the exhibit was in need of
repairs and replacements. These were
made by Miss Gertrude Stiles, of the Cleve-
land Public library, and the exhibit was
shown at the Western Reserve Library
School during the month of March, and
at the University of Wisconsin Library
School during the month of April. It was
shown at the Maine State meeting in May,
and will be used at the Ohio summer
school. Requests for the exhibit have
also come from Carleton College, from the
library schools at Atlanta, Albany, and
REPORTS
255
Syracuse, and from the public libraries at
Fremont, Ohio, and Ft, William, Canada.
The usefulness of the exhibit shows the
advisability of revising and continuing it.
.Other methods of publicity, including
an illustrated pamphlet on bookbinding,
and a model instruction card for book let-
tering, are proposed by the committee, but
time has not permitted their accomplish-
ment.
Miss Mary E. Wheelock, of the St. Louis
Public library, is now preparing a report
on the increased cost of binding, due to la-
bor and materials, with recommendations
based on the figures obtaired. It is hoped
to publish this in the library magazines
during the summer.
Miss Stiles is preparing an exhibit of
1918 bookbinding conditions, which will be
shown at the Saratoga meeting. This is
based partially upon the report of Miss
Wheelock.
Several inquiries have been received
from libraries and publishers in regard to
binding and rebinding. It would appear
from the lack of interest in the subject of
library binding that, for the present at
least, the greatest need in this field is
more publicity for some of the elementary
facts, so that school officials and especial-
ly public librarians may reduce the waste
of money and books that at present is re-
sulting from poor methods.
Joseph L. Wheeler, Chairman.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FEDERAL
AND STATE RELATIONS
Your Committee on Federal and State
Relations respectfully reports that during
the year it has endeavored to be vigilant
in regard to measures which concern libra-
ry matters.
We have, consequently, conferred with
the Department of State, and the Com-
mittees on Commerce of Congress, in ref-
erence to the status of libraries in regard
to the Trading-with-the-Enemy Act.
We have also endeavored, though as yet
unsuccessfully, to secure amendments to
the postal law of the United States:
(1) To the end that libraries may re-
ceive foreign magazines containing adver-
tisements of liquor, believing that the re-
ceipt of such magazines was not intended
to be prohibited by the law which was
passed to prevent the importation of in-
toxicating liquors into states having pro-
hibitory laws.
(2) That the rate upon post cards be
reduced to one cent. It is certainly ab-
surd that a circular in an envelope can be
sent for one cent and that a printed, large
size card can be sent for the same amount,
while a post card costs two cents.
(3) That the zone system of postage
upon magazines be repealed, and the na-
tional rate be established in lieu thereof,
in order that there be no encouragement
of sectionalism in this time when the unity
of the country is so important.
Bebnaed C. Steineb, Chairman.
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE
CARNEGIE AND ENDOWMENT
FUNDS
The Trustees of the Endowment Fund
beg leave to submit the following state-
ment of the accounts of their trust for
the fiscal year ending January 15, 1918:
The only change in investments during
the year occurred through the calling on
May 1, 1917, of a $1,000 United States
Steel Corporation Sinking Fund 5% Gold
Bond due April 1, 1963, at 110, and the
reinvestment of the proceeds in another
$1,000 bond of the same issue at 105i plus
commission. All interest on Investments
has been paid. As set forth in our re-
port of last year, the $15,000 par value of
Missouri Pacific Railway Company Collat-
eral Trust 5% Bonds due January 1, 1917,
which had defaulted in the payment of the
semiannual interest due September 1, 1915,
were deposited with the Columbia Trust
Company, of this city, as depositary of a
committee formed to protect the interests
of the holders of that issue of bonds, and
this committee thereafter advanced the
amount of the September 1, 1915, March 1,
1916, and September 1, 1916 coupons at-
tached to the deposited bonds. The reor-
ganization of the Missouri Pacific Rail-
way Company was completed during last
256 SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERGENCE
summer, and on July 27, 1917, we received The usual audit of the investments and
in exchange for the $15,000 of Collateral accounts of the trust was, at the request
Trust 5s, $15,000 par value of Missouri of the chairman of the Finance Committee
Pacific Railroad Company First Refunding of the American Library Association, made
Mortgage 5% Series B Bonds, due January by Mr. Harrison W. Craver, director of
1, 1923, Interest payable February and Au- the Engineering Societies Library, of this
gust, and the following as an adjustment city,
of the interest: Respectfully submitted,
$ie.67 per $1,000 Sept. 1, 1916, to M. Tayloe Pyne,
Jan. 1, 1917, at 5% $250.06 _, „, „
$20.83 per $1,000 Jan. 1, 1917, to Edwabd W. Sheldon,
June 1, 1917, at 5% 312.45 Wm. W. Appleton,
.50 per $1,000 interest on inter-
est 7.50 Trustees, Carnegie and Endowment Funds.
$570.00 ^®w York, June 4, 1918.
CARNEGIE FUND, PRINCIPAL ACCOUNT
Cash donated by Mr. Andrew Carnegie $100,000
Invested as follows:
Date of Purchase Cost Book Value
June 1, 1908 5,000 American Telephone & Telegraph Com-
pany 4% Bonds due July 1, 1929, inter-
est January and July 96^^ $ 4,825.00
June 1, 1908 10,000 American Telephone & Telegraph Com-
pany 4% Bonds due July 1, 1929, inter-
est January and July 94% 9,437.60
June 1, 1908 15,000 Cleveland Terminal & Valley Railroad
Company First Mortgage 4% Bonds
due November 1, 1995, interest May
and November 100 15,000.00
June 1, 1908 10,000 Seaboard Air Line Railway (Atlanta-
Birmingham Division) First Mortgage
4% Bonds due May 1, 1933, interest
March and September 95% 9,550.00
June 1, 1908 15,000 Western Union Telegraph Company Col-
lateral Trust 5% Bonds due January 1,
1938, interest January and July 108% 15,000,00
June 1, 1908 15,000 New York Central & Hudson River
Railroad Company, Lake Shore Collat-
eral 3%% Bonds were exchanged Feb-
ruary 10, 1916, for
15,000 New York Central Railroad Company
Consolidation Mortgage Gold 4% Bonds,
Series "A," due February 1, 1998, inter-
est February and August 90 13,500.0(
June 1, 1908 15,000 Missouri Pacific Railroad Company
Collateral Trust 5% Bonds were ex-
changed for
15,000' Missouri Pacific Railroad Company First
and Refunding Mortgage Gold 5%
Bonds due 1923, Series "B," interest
February and August 104% 15,000.0t
May 3, 1909 13,000 United States Steel Corporation Sinking
Fund Gold 5% Bonds due April 1, 1963,
interest May and November 104 13,000. OC
Aug. 6, 1909 1,500 United States Steel Corporation Sinking
Fund Gold 5% Bonds due April 1, 1963,
interest May and November 106% 15,000.00
REPORTS
257
July 27, 1910 1,000 United States Steel Corporation Sinking
Fund Gold 5% Bonds due April 1, 1963,
Interest May and November 102^
May 11, 1916 1,000 United States Steel Corporation Sinking
Fund Gold 5% Bonds due April 1, 1963,
interest May and November 105%
May 2, 1917 1,000 United States Steel Corporation Sinking
Fund Gold 5% Bonds due April 1, 1963,
interest May and November 105%
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000,00
s&n.
102,500
15, 1918 United States Trust Company on deposit.
99,812.50
187.50
$100,000.00
The surplus account was increased $100.00 during 1917 by Premium received on one
United States Steel Corporation Sinking Fund Gold 5% Bond called in at 110, making the
surplus account $350.00.
CARNEGIE FUND, INCOME ACCOUNT
1917
January 15 Balance $1,473.27
February 1 Int. New York Central 300.00
March 1 Int. Seaboard Air Line 200.00
May 1 Int. Cleveland Terminal 300.00
May 1 Int. United States Steel : 437.50
July 2 Int. Western Union 375.00
July 2 Int. American Telephone & Telegraph 300.00
July 27 Int. Missouri Pacific to June 1, 1917 570.00
August 1 Int. Missouri Pacific — June 1 to Aug. 1, 1917 124.95
August 1 Int. New York Central 300.00
September 1 Int. Seaboard Air Line 200.00
November 1 Int. United States Steel 437.50
November 1 Int. Cleveland Terminal 300.00
December 3 Int. on deposits 59.79
1918
January 2 Int. Western Union 376.00
January 2 Int. American Telephone & Telegraph 300.00
Disbursements
1917
May 2 Premium United States Bond bought $ 56.25
May 2 Accrued Interest .14
May 8 Carl B. Roden, treasurer 2,000.00
September 26 Carl B. Roden, treasurer 1,500.00
November 28 Carl B. Roden, treasurer 1,000.00
December 3 United States Trust Co. commission 75.00
January 15, 1918, Cash on hand 1,421.62
ENDOWMENT FUND, PRINCIPAL ACCOUNT
1917
January 15 On hand, bonds and cash $8,261.84
March 2 Life Membership, G. Forstall 25.00
March 2 Life Membership, F. W. Faxon 25.00
April 2 Life Membership, C. A. Baker 25.00
April 30 Life Membership, H. D. Subers 25.00
April 30 Life Membership, G. A. Deveneau 25.00
April 30 Life Membership, W. Teal 25.00
September 10 Life Membership, M. P. Fan 25.00
$6,063.01
$6,053.01
$8,436.84
258 SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Invested as follows:
Date of purchase
1908
June 1 2 U. S. Steel Corporation Sinking Fund Gold 5%
Bonds 98^ $1,970.00
October 19 2 U. S. Steel Corporation Sinking Fund Gold 5%
Bonds 102% 2,000.00
November 5 1% U. S. Steel Corporation Sinking Fund Gold
5% Bonds 101 1,500.00
1910
July 27 1% U. S. Steel Corporation Sinking Fund Gold
5% Bonds 1021,^ 1,500.00
1913
December 8 1 U. S. Steel Corporation Sinking Fund Gold 5%
Bond 99% 991.25
January 15, 1918, Cash on hand, U. S. Trust Co 475.59
ENDOWMENT FUND, INCOME ACCOUNT
1917
May 1 Int. U. S. Steel Bonds 1200.00
November 1 Int. U. S. Steel Bonds 200.00
$8,436.84
1400.00
Disbursements
1917 8 Carl B. Roden, treasurer .$200.00
May 28 Carl B. Roden, treasurer 200.00
November $400.00
REPORT OF THE TREASURER
January 1 to May 31, 1918
Receipts
Balance, Union Trust Co., Chicago, Jan. 1, 1918 $ 4,780.17
G. B. Utley, Secretary, membership dues 6,919.65
Trustees Endowment Fund, income 200.00
Trustees Carnegie Fund, income 2,000.00
A. L. A. Publishing Board 800.00
Interest on bank balance, Dec, 1917-May, 1918 41.37
$14,741.19
Expenditures
Checks Nos. 114-120 (Vouchers No. 1706-1771, incl.) $5,251.04
Distributed as follows:
Bulletin $1,727.68
Committees 31.25
Headquarters:
Salaries 2,541.65
Additional services 403.94
Supplies 102.77
Postage and telephone 305.31
Mificellaneous 138.44
A. L. A. War Service Committee, subscription 1,000.00
A. L. A. Publishing Board, Carnegie Fund income 2,000.00
8,251.04
Balance, Union Trust Co., Chicago $ 6,490.15
G. B. Utley, Secretary, balance. National Bank of the Republic 250.00
Total balance $ 6,740.16
REPORTS 259
James L. Whitney Fund
Principal and interest, Dec. 31, 1917 $345.84
Interest, Jan. 1, 1918 5.10
Tenth installment, Jan. 31, 1918 29.89
Total $380.83
A. L. A. War Service Fund
Receipts, Jan, 20 to May 31, 1918:*
Campaign subscriptions $65,151.98 '
Monthly subscriptions 336.10
Balance Campaign fund returned to War Service fund by F. P. Hill, Chair-
man War Finance Committee 3,944.42
Six $50 4% Liberty Loan bonds placed with American Security & Trust
Co., representing 300.00
Semiannual interest on above bonds 6.00
Total assets deposited with American Security & Trust Co $69,738.50
Balance on hand and undeposited with American Security & Trust Co., May
31, 1918:
Campalgm subscriptions $1,617.13
Monthly subscriptions 276.00 1,893.13
Total deposits and assets, Jan. 20-May 31, 1918 ^ $71,631.63
^ In addition, the sura of $66.19 was retained at points of contribution for local adjust-
ment of expense.
2 Of this amount, the sum of $41,060.09 has been taken into the accounts of F. P. Hill,
Chairman, and enumerated in his report of contributions by states as shown in his "Story
of the A. L. A. campaign for $1,000,000."
^Exclusive of Carnegie Corporation contribution of $112,300 deposited directly with
American Security & Trust Co.
Respectfully submitted,
Chicago, June 17, 1918. C. B. Roden, Treasurer.
REPORT OF FINANCE COMMITTEE urer. He found that the receipts as stated
To the American Library Association: by the treasurer agree with the transfers
In accordance with the provisions of of the assistant treasurer, with the cash
Section 12 of the Constitution, your Fi- accounts of the latter, and with the state-
nance 'Committee submits the following ments of transfers in the accounts of the
report: trustees. The expenditures as stated are
The probable income of the Association accounted for by properly approved vouch-
for 1918 has been estimated as $24,380, ers, and the balance shown as that in the
and the Executive Board has been author- Union Trust Company of Chicago agrees
ized to make appropriations to this with the bank statement of December 31,
amount. The details of the estimated in- 1917. The bank balances and petty cash
come were pulalished in the Bulletin for of the assistant treasurer agree with the
March, 1918, together with the budget bank books and petty cash balances. The
adopted by the Executive Board, and are accounts of the assistant treasurer are
for this reason not given here. correct as cash accounts.
Dr. C. W. Andrews has audited for the The securities now in the custody of the
committee the accounts of the treasurer trustees have been checked for the com-
and of the secretary as assistant treas- mittee by Mr. Harrison W. Craver, who
260
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
certifies that their figures are correct. He
found that the bonds and other securities
amount, at par value, to $102,500.00 for
the Carnegie Fund, and to $8,436.84 for the
endowment fund.
The accounts of the James L. Whitney
fund, which are in the hands of the treas-
urer, have been examined and found to be
as stated by him in his annual report.
Respectfully submitted,
AuTHTJB L. Bailey,
Chairman.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON LIBRARY
TRAINING
The omission of the holiday meeting in
Chicago made it impossible to have any
meeting of the committee during the year,
and with war work taking the surplus
time of individual members of the com-
mittee, it has been impossible to make
further studies either in investigating
bibliographic and library instruction in
colleges and normal schools or to lay
plans for investigation of some courses
which have recently been started in con-
nection with high schools. Following its
proposal of last year, which met with a
favorable response, the committee has ar-
ranged a program for a round table con-
ference of training class and apprentice
class teachers, feeling sure that the rapid
development of this sort of instruction
makes it highly important that there be
some general agreement as to standards
for this kind of training. The training
classes thus far started by individual li-
braries have been organized with very lit-
tle reference to other similar classes and
the course of training has been largely
shaped by the need of the library and by
the personal Interests of the instructor.
As the war seems likely to give the per-
sons completing these courses much more
rapid advancement than was originally
contemplated when the courses were es-
tablished, It seems imperative that a con-
ference should be held for a comparison
of experience. If out of this conference
there shall grow some further work tend-
ing toward uniformity of method. It would
seem likely to be of great service to the
cause of library training.
A circular issued by the Association of
American Library Schools on the subject
of increased compensation for library
sei*vice suggests one of the greatest diffi-
culties in the way of further advance in
the field of library training. While under
the present stress caused by the great de-
mand for people with library training in
government war work, salaries have had
a tendency to rise, it is probable that
when this emergency Is over, conditions
will again return to their approximate po-
sition before the war. It was evident even
then that private business enterprises
were feeling the need of persons with li-
brary training and this movement is like-
ly to be intensified by the necessities of
the war and by the much enlarged field
of competition which will be available to
business enterprises when the war is over.
Unless, therefore, the general level of
salaries in our large public libraries and
in our larger college and university libra-
ries can be raised, there is almost sure to
be a continued dearth of the kind of ma-
terial for which libraries are seeking. So
many more avenues of service are open to
college women than formerly that in a
much lessened proportion are they consid-
ering library work. The salaries offered
in library work have been found to be
much less than those offered in other
fields. I have been informed of at least
one case where the dean of a women's
college refused to allow library work as a
possible field of service to be presented to
her students on the ground that they
could not afford to enter that profession.
These facts must in some way be present-
ed to our tax levying bodies and our
larger colleges and universities may well
consider whether they have not been sacri-
ficing the worker in order to extend the
work. '
The chairman of the committee has had
correspondence during the year with a
number of people who feel that the prod-
uct of the library schools is not satisfac-
tory; and there are no doubt individual
REPORTS
261
cases in which such criticism may be en-
tirely justified. In such cases the fault
may lie in the candidate or may be the
result of inefficient work on the part of
the school. There seems to be quite a ten-
dency to generalize from individual cases
and to condemn the schools generally be-
cause of some one individual failure. It
may be well remembered, however, that
such failures occur in every field of serv-
ice; that the schools are largely depend-
ent upon the librarians as to the general
capabilities of the candidates accepted by
them and that the recommendations from
librarians concerning applicants for ad-
mission to library schools are almost al-
ways exceedingly favorable. Thus candi-
dates possessing intellectual capacity to
pass entrance examinations and class-
room examinations may lack those quali-
ties of personal adaptability which really
determine success or failure in library
work. The schools may give adequate in-
struction and try to provide their pupil
with the right viewpoint and with en-
thusiasm for professional service, but they
cannot remake the student or radically
change his temperament. This seems
sometimes to be forgotten by the critics
of library schools. Absolute honesty on
the part of librarians in recommending
candidates to the schools, and adequate
compensation to attract people of cultiva-
tion and intellectual capacity will do more
to solve the problem than any radical re-
organization of library school methods.
There are no doubt faults in every school
and the instruction could be improved if
the schools were in a position to offer
salaries which would attract a more ex-
perienced body of instructors; but it must
be remembered here again that with one
or two exceptions the schools are not en-
dowed, and must obtain from their stu-
dents the income to pay the expenses of
the school. High tuition cannot well be
obtained unless there is a prospect of
some reasonable compensation after the
work has been taken. The tuition In most
schools is probably as high as present
salary conditions will justify
It will be seen then that this question of
compensation really plays a large part in
the future of library training. If the pro-
fession desires to see the standard of
training advanced, the schools improved,
and a higher type of person attracted to
the profession, nothing will so contribute
to that end as the prospect of more ade-
quate compensation when the training is
completed and the work begun.
Respectfully submitted for the commit-
tee.
AzABiAH S. Root, Chairman.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON LIBRARY
LEGISLATION
This committee was appointed by Presi-
dent Brown after the midwinter meeting
of the Council In 1916. It is, of course,
impossible to compile a report on the leg-
islation of the current year for the regular
annual meeting, and it was the intention
to make this present report at the mid-
winter Council meeting of 1917. The giv-
ing up of that meeting brings the report
to you at this time.
In December, 1917, Mr. LeRoy J. Bur-
lingame, a senior student in legislation at.
the University of Wisconsin, undertook a
digest of library legislation of the year,
as a practical problem in his work. An
article presenting the results of his re-
search was printed in Library Journal for
February, 1918 (p. 78-83).
Your committee has taken Mr. Burlin-
game's article as a basis upon which to
found the present report. This commit-
tee has submitted to a library authority in
every state concerned, the digest state-
ment as contained in Mr. Burlingame's
article and has asked to be informed of
any corrections or additions. Answers
were received from most states.
In view of the necessity for economy in
paper and printing expenses it has not
seemed wise to duplicate here a large part
of the material already made available in
Mr. Burlingame's article. We append
hereto a statement showing such correc-
tions or additions of matter of general in-
terest as we have been able to obtain for
the various states. In cases where no ref-
262
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
erence to the legislation of a given state is
made in the appended summary, the com-
mittee has either received no answers from
that state or has been informed that the
digest in Mr. Burlingame's article is cor-
rect. The digests submitted herewith have
in every case been prepared from corre-
spondence with the state concerned, and
wherever possible the language has been
quoted. The business assigned to this com-
mittee was that of "keeping track of legis-
lation and presenting a digest of it to the
A. L. A." No attempt is made therefore
to evaluate the legislation passed.
C. B. Lester, Chairman.
Appendix to report of Committee on
* Library Legislation
California — The salary of county libra-
rians in counties of the twenty-fifth class
was raised to $1,800 and in counties of
the fifty^first class to $1,200.
Colorado — No important changes were
made in library laws. A comprehensive
county library law was introduced, but
failed of passage owing to the unex-
pected short session of the legislature.
Connecticut — Bills in Connecticut are
^ not printed until after a favorable com-
mittee report. A law of 1917, however,
provides that the State Library shall
make photographic copies of all bills
before delivery to committees. Copies
shall be kept on file and may be fur-
nished. Another law gave the Public
Library Committee increased powers in
helping public libraries throughout the
state. Several special acts of local im-
portance were passed.
Georgia — A bill providing for an appro-
priation of $5,000 to the State Library
Commission, heretofore unsupported, for
the employment of a paid secretary and
for an enlargement of its activities was
left in the hands of the appropriation
committee in the House as unfinished
business. This bill will be pending in
the session meeting in the summer of
1918.
While the appropriation bill does actu-
ally read as if the State Library admin-
istered funds for purchase of books and
supplies for the Court of Appeals, as a
matter of fact the state librarian does
not control it and it is in the hands of
the clerk of the court.
The funds for printing court reports
and state records while appropriated in
the name of the State Library are really
administered, the former by the court
reporter, the latter at the direction of
the governor. All state publications,
however, are sold through this office.
Illinois — Illinois appropriated $167,412.06
for library purposes, $69,600 of which
went to the Legislative Reference Bu-
reau and $2,000 was appropriated to
make up a past deficit.
A bill to enable counties to provide
free public libraries passed the Senate,
but failed to come up for vote in the
House.
Indiana — The township extension law
(passed in 1911) was so amended as to
permit the appointment to a town li-
brary board of residents of the township
outside the town, when a major part of
the financial support comes from the
township.
Under the terms of the county library
law the county commissioners may levy
a tax without a petition, but with a pe-
tition shall levy a tax, to establish a
county library. This compulsory tax
upon petition has been one of the fea-
tures of the Indiana law which has
helped particularly in establishing libra-
ries. Taxing boards have had no dis-
cretion in the matter when once the
petition was properly filed.
Further the library board, and not the
county commissioners or county council,
determines the rate of tax. This has
been another helpful feature, because it
has not been necessary for library
boards to appear before taxing bodies
to beg for funds.
A bill requiring librarians appointed
for the first time to certain library posi-
tions to hold certificates for qualifica-
tion issued by a Board of Library Ex-
aminers, and another providing for a
State Library Commission to take con-
trol of both the State Library and the
Public Library Commission, were both
defeated.
A bill was introduced abolishing the
separate Bureau of Legislative Informa-
tion and combining the work with the
State Library where it was originally
instituted. This bill passed the Senate
but was defeated in the House. At the
very end of the session, however, an
amendment to the general appropria-
tion bill was passed cutting off the ap-
propriation for the bureau. Similar ac-
tion was taken regarding the Bureau of
Statistics. Both bureaus ceased to ex-
ist September 30, 1917.
Meantime, however, a law had been
enacted providing for the compilation,
under the direction of the governor, of
REPORTS
• 262
a yearbook to contain the annual re-
ports of state officers, boards and com-
missioners, and other statistical data,
and an appropriation was made there-
for. In order to have trained people to
carry on this work, the governor con-
solidated the facilities and material
equipment of the two bureaus and re-
tained part of the staff. For conveni-
ence the new office, which is, of course,
under the immediate direction of the
governor, is still known as the Bureau
of Legislative Information. Charles Ket-
tleborough, formerly legislative drafts-
man in the bureau, has been the di-
rector since January 1, 1918. It is sin-
cerely to be hoped that the very effi-
cient legislative reference and drafting
work which had been built up under Mr.
Lapp may not suffer from this handicap
and that the work may be put back on a
firm basis by the next legislature.
Kansas — In cities of the second class the
possible tax levy may be four-fifths of
one mill in place of four-tenths of a mill
as formerly.
Maine — The appropriation for all forms of
library work was $62,000 for two years.
The most important new legislation was
that providing for a legislative refer-
ence bureau. Other laws to be noted
were amendatory of existing statutes.
The responsibility for library instruc-
tion was divided between the State Li-
brary and the Library Commission. The
annual grant to free public libraries was
changed from a flat rate of ten per cent
to a discretionary one of from seven to
ten, and the total amount which a town
may receive was limited to $500. The
fee for incorporating a library was low-
ered from five dollars to one dollar.
A commission was provided for to in-
vestigate the needs for a State Library
building and report to the next legisla-
ture.
Minnesota — Appropriations for library pur-
poses would total $76,150 with the inclu-
sion of- $25,000 for public school libra-
ries.
Several imiportant bills were intro-
duced but failed of passage. Among
them were provisions for progressive
changes in the county library law, for a
legislative reference department in the
State Law Library, pension for library
employees, a department of archives in
the Historical Society, and for a State
Board of Education which would take
over the powers and duties of the Li-
brary Commission.
Missouri^A small appropriation ($2,000)
was secured from the legislature for the
legislative reference work of the Libra-
ry Commission. It was, however, ve-
toed by the governor. A county library
bill was introduced but made no prog-
ress.
Montana — A bill amending the county li-
brary law was introduced but was killed
in the House.
Nebraska — Appropriations for library pur-
poses totaled $79,030 of which $22,500
went to the Historical Society, $19,500
to the Library Commission, $17,000 to
the State Library, and $16,500 to the
Legislative Reference Bureau.
New Jersey — A bill to establish a Depart-
ment of Public Records passed the Sen-
ate but never came to a final vote in
the House.
New York — An act passed primarily as a
school measure may have material ef-
fect upon some public libraries. It pro-
vides for the creation of town boards of
education and the consolidation of cer-
tain small school districts. Libraries
which have received some support from
such districts may have to look else-
where for it, as to towns or villages.
Altogether sixteen laws were passed
which referred to libraries in some way,
but practically all were of local or minor
importance.
North Carolina — The increased appropria-
tion for the Library Commission is an
annual appropriation.
Rhode Island — Ninety-seven hundred dol-
lars ($9,700) was appropriated for libra-
ries in Rhode Island during the year
1917. The salary of the law librarian
was increased from $1,600 to $2,400, and
that of the state librarian from $1,600
to $1,800. The state librarian also re-
ceives $600 as state record commis-
sioner.
South Carolina — $2,566 ,was appropriated
for the support of the State Library. A
special law was enacted providing for
calling an election upon the question of
levying a tax for the support of a pub-
lic library in the Rock Hill school dis-
trict.
Texas — Under the county library law the
state librarian is chairman of the board
of library examiners.
Vermont — The appropriation to the Free
Public Library Commission shows an
increase from $6,200 to $7,500, but no
provision is made outside of it, as for-
merly, for heat, rent, light, and janitor
service. However, they expect soon to
move into the new state building, and
hence there is a real increase in funds
available.
The tax exemption clause has been
amended to read as follows, so far as
libraries are concerned: "...real and
264
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
personal estate set apart for library
uses and used by public and private cir-
culating libraries open to the public and
not for profit."
Washington — The legislature raised the
salary of the state law librarian from $2,-
400 to $3,000 but this item was vetoed by
the governor. The Supreme Court held,
however, that a warrant should issue for
the former salary which was fixed by
law, consolidation of school libraries and
available or not.
The report of the State Library Ad-
visory Board contained various recom-
mendations, many of which could be put
into effect without statute change. Rec-
ommendations requiring legislation in-
cluded a comprehensive county library
law consolidation of school libraries and
small public libraries where deemed ad-
visable, and an adequate fixed minimum
support for libraries in cities of the first
class.
West Virginia — Total appropriations for
library purposes were $36,200. A bill
for a State Library Commission failed
to pass.
Wyoming — Appropriations by the legisla-
ture to the State Law and Miscellaneous
Library amounted to $18,200 for one
year, including tax levies from land ren-
tals.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON WORK
WITH THE BLIND
The report of the committee covers the
period of two years.
Miss Goldthwaite, of the New York Pub-
lic Library, and Mrs. Delfino, of the Free
Library of Philadelphia, by courtesy of
the Association of Instructors of the Blind,
attended the meeting of that association
held at the School for the Blind in Hali-
fax, Nova Scotia, In July, 1916. Follow-
ing the sessions Miss Goldthwaite was ap-
pointed a member of the Committee on
Uniform Type, representing libraries for
the Blind.
Mrs. Rider, of the Library of Congress,
Miss Goldthwaite and the chairman at-
tended the annual meeting of the Na-
tional Committee for the Prevention of
Blindness, held In New York City No-
vember 24, 1916.
The committee is greatly pleased to re-
port that, as a result of Its efforts, the
Public Library, Birmingham, Alabama,
has become a distributing headquarters
for embossed books in the south. Books
in American Braille have been loaned from
the Perkins Institution in Watertown,
Mass., and a stock of Moon type for use
by the adult blind, has been deposited as
an inter-library loan by the Free Library
of Philadelphia.
Recent Important publications:
"Institutions for the Blind in America."
A directory of the work for the blind in
the United States and Canada, compiled
In 1916 by Charles F. F. and Mary D.
Campbell. Reprinted from the American
Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology, Vol. IX.
"The Blind In the. United States, 1910."
Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Cen-
sus, Issued 1917.
Several libraries report the training of
volunteers In reading and writing English
and French Braille In preparation for work
among the newly blind adults In England
and France, and since the entry of Amer-
ica Into the war this service has been ex-
tended to those interested In fitting them-
selves for such work in this country.
The report of the Commission on Uni-
form Type for the Blind was officially
adopted by the American Association of
Workers for the Blind at the convention
held In June, 1917, at Portland, Maine, the
result of this action will be the gradual
establishment of one embossed type for
the English speaking blind instead of
three as at present.
This is the most significant event In the
development of library work for the blind
since the passage of the federal law per-
mitting embossed reading matter free
transit through the mails. As the pass-
age of this law gave to circulating libra-
ries the opportunity of serving the public
who read by touch, so the adoption of the
uniform type will greatly stimulate such
service, multiplying the amount of avail-
able literature and at the same time very
much simplifying the technique of the li-
brarian's task In circulating it.
Embossed alphabets, several primers
and one or two books of fiction are now
available in the Revised Braille. It is
earnestly desired that the federal appro-
priation for the embossing of books be
materially increased.
REPORTS
266
Mrs. Rider, of the Library of Congress,
was appointed a member of the Advisory
Committee of the Subcommittee on Oph-
thalmology, General Medical Board, Coun-
cil of National Defense, and attended the
sessions held in Washington, D. C, Octo-
ber 12 and 13, 1917.
The chairman of your Committee on
Work with the Blind reports that the serv-
ices of this committee were proffered to
the above named Subcommittee on Oph-
thalmology and its Advisory Committee,
on October 12, 1917, and acknowledged
with thanks by Major James Bordley, Jr.,
M. O. R. C, chairman in charge of the re-
education of blinded soldiers and sailors.
In Canada there are but few special li-
braries for the blind, the most active of
which is the Canadian National Library
for the Blind. From its inception this
library has been called upon to assist the
blind in many parts of Canada to solve
their bread-and-butter problems as well as
to supply them with reading matter, pa-
per, writing appliances, games, etc. This
necessity brought home to the manage-
ment the fact of the existence of a truly
national blind cause and has resulted in
the creation, on the initiative of the li-
brary, of the Canadian National Institute
for the Blind incorporated under the laws
of the Dominion of Canada.
One of the first activities of the Insti-
tute is that of assisting the Invalided Sol-
diers Commission in its task of re-adapt-
ing a number of blinded Canadian soldiers
to normal life. To date from seventy to
seventy-five soldiers of the Dominion have
lost their sight, about thirty-five of this
number being now in Canada. Of this to-
tal a few have graduated from the famous
St. Dunstan's Hostel for Blinded Soldiers
and Sailors. The Canadian National Li-
brary for the Blind, besides giving tempo-
rary quarters to the institute free of
charge, also places its building at the dis-
posal of the soldiers and provides all the
necessary equipment for the Braille course.
That these men are now being so eflficient-
ly fitted to cope with the new conditions
of life is almost wholly due to the pur-
chase of the present quarters at 142 Col-
lege Street, Toronto, Ontario, the rooms
generously loaned by the Toronto Public
Library having become too small. A print-
ing department has been added and work
is now going forward on a series of On-
tario public school textbooks for the use
of blind pupils.
On December 6, 1917, the explosion of a
munition ship In the harbor of Halifax,
N. S., resulted in the destruction of a large
part of that city and in the blinding of a
number of Its citizens. The popular no-
tions as to the number of these sufferers
are, however, of a very exaggerated char-
acter. It Is true that more than 600 cases
of injury to eyes have been reported, but
of this total not more than forty have thus
far become totally blind. As time goes on
others will, of course, be added to this
list, but it now seems reasonably probable
that the ultimate total of completely
blinded cases will fall short of 100. The
increase in the number of Canadian blind
resulting from the Halifax disaster has as
yet had no effect upon the library situa-
tion of the Dominion. As the sufferers are
taught Braille and Moon type, however, it
will probably be found that the circula-
tion of books in embossed type will be
slightly increased, though the probable in-
crease in active readers will be so small
as to preclude the hope of any large addi-
tion to library loans.
In view of the exceedingly small num-
ber of blinded soldiers and sailors re-
turned to Canada after four years of
fighting, your committee does not anti-
cipate a large increase in the number of
blind readers in the United States, but
owing to the worldwide interest in all
matters pertaining to blindness as a re-
sult of the war and the consequent cer-
tain development of this phase of library
work, your committee urges upon you the
need for additional centers for the dis-
tribution of embossed books in certain
parts of the country.
A paper entitled "Library work for the
blind in relation to the schools" was read
286
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
by Miss Mabel R. Gillis, of the California
State Library, at the twenty-fourth bien-
nial convention of the American Associa-
tion of Instructors of the Blind, held in
Colorado Springs, Colorado, June, 1918.
The following motion was unanimously
adopted and the secretary instructed to
notify the American Library Association of
the action of this convention:
"That this convention of the American
Association of Instructors of the Blind re-
quest the American Library Association to
make a survey of the United States and
recommend zones or districts in which
there shall be established circulating libra-
ries for the blind."
Following the receipt of telegraphic in-
formation of this action, of the American
Association of Instructors of the Blind, the
chairman of your committee replied with
the following message:
"iCommittee on Work with Blind of
American Library Association thanks the
American Association of Instructors of the
Blind in convention assembled, for its unan-
imous message expressing cooperation.
Chairman will urge that definite selection
of desirable centers for circulation of em-
bossed books be made at coming confer-
ence at Saratoga Springs."
The cordial support of the American As-
sociation of Instructors of the Blind, as in-
dicated by the foregoing resolution, is
heartily appreciated by your committee,
which has for several years urged the need
for additional distributing agencies.
For the Committee,
Emma R. N. Deltino,
Chairman.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON
IMPORTATIONS
The Committee on Importations has
previously reported the successful out-
come of the negotiations with the British
Government for the release of material in
detention, whether at Rotterdam or in Lon-
don.
The former was put on board ship in
midsummer, 1917, for dispatch direct to
America, but the vessel has never sailed.
At the committee's suggestion the Depart-
ment of State has cabled instructions to
our Minister at The Hague to endeavor to
arrange for the shipment of all these pub-
lications to the United States Dispatch
Agent at New York, directly if possible,
otherwise via Great Britain.
As to parcels held in London, there has
been a deal of distribution, but some ap-
pear still to remain. Accordingly, the De-
partment, again at the Committee's sug-
gestion, has sent a like instruction to the
American Consul General in London "to
request the appropriate British authori-
ties to forward these publications at the
earliest practicable date," similarly con-
signed.
It will be noticed that here the instruc-
tions of the Department have taken a new
turn. It asks that the goods be consigned
to the Government of the United States,
rather than to the institutions concerned.
We appreciate the change, for such a re-
quest could hardly be refused.
Following the passage of the Trading-
with-the-enemy Act, the American Library
Association, on application of this com-
mittee, as It has also previously reported,
was granted by the War Trade Board a
license, whereby universities, colleges and
public bodies of approved character might
secure enemy publications of importance
to research in science and scholarship,
provided the Department of State ap-
proved the method and the Censorship
Board sanctioned the admission of such
material.
Turning its attention first to the pe-
riodicals of 1918, the committee authorized
and requested the leading importers to
have their clients submit their lists, ex-
cluding the popular, historical, political
and theological titles; 114 institutions re-
sponded, with upwards of 1,000 different
titles. Six of the applicants were ruled
out by the Department, as falling outside
the categories of the beneficiaries of the
license.
The titles were classified and tabulated,
and the entire record card-indexed. In
consultation with the State Department
and Censorship Board, the list of approved
titles was reduced to the 255 titles of
which a copy Is appended to this report.
The cause of the reduction was the Cen-
REPORTS
267
sorship Board's disinclination to under-
take so formidable a task of examination
of texts, and then the State Department
did not desire to sanction a practice which
it suspected greatly to exceed that of our
Allies.
In one important respect, the State De-
partment finally, much to the committee's
expressed regret, reversed a decision
which had been given wide publicity, and
required that the Association itself, with-
out the intervention of any American
agents, should place the orders through
the diplomatic pouch directly in neutral
countries.
There was, of course, nothing for the
Importers to do but acquiesce, and since,
having no license, neither they nor the In-
dividual institution could legally them-
selves place subscriptions, the agents
passed wholly from the scene and the
committee became the only medium of
transactions.
The Department thereupon requested
that the Association send a representative
abroad, who, in behalf of both the Gov-
ernment and the institutions, might con-
clude the transaction. As the secretary of
the committee was leaving on another mis-
sion for the Association, it was found pos-
sible to comply.
At the committee's suggestion, the De-
partment announced the new policy to the
British Government and requested the
courtesy of uninterrupted passage for such
of these shipments as might come through
British territory. This was granted at
once, since such consignments were to
come addressed to the Dispatch Agent of
the Department, in New York, and to bear
the United States seal.
So the order was sent in the Embassy
mail to The Hague and placed with Mar-
tinus Nijhoff, who was found to have ren-
dered satisfactory service to others.
Mr. Nijhoff has succeeded In getting the
goods, and has made at least three ship-
ments, bills for which have been received.
It is likely that twice as many are on the
water. The first two are known to have
gotten as far as London. The Minister at
The Hague was endeavoring, at last re-
port, to dispatch the third directly to
America and thought it likely he might
succeed. The shipments are prepared at
about fortnighly Intervals.
At the State Department's request Brit-
ish and French practice was Investigated
and reported with recommendations. These
were based on an examination of the rec-
ords and shelves of the British Museum,
the London Library and the Royal Soci-
ety of Medicine, and conferences at the
Board of Trade, H. M. Stationery Office
and the Postal Censor's, in England; and
in France, on consultations with the Bi-
blioth6que Nationale, the Sorbonne, the
Minister of Public Instruction; and in
Switzerland, with a special representative
of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs.
As the practice of our Allies was found
to be much more liberal than ours, the
Secretary of State gave cabled approval
of the recommendation to raise our policy
to the same level.
A cablegram was then sent to the De-
partment, suggesting the propriety, in
the existing international situation, of
placing these additional orders in Switzer-
land, provided clear passage through
France could be arranged. The Depart-
ment cabled assent, and the French Gov-
ernment in turn acquiesced.
Switzerland was then visited for confer-
ence at the Legation and with dealers, the
result being that Libralrie Kundig at Ge-
neva was selected as our Swiss agency.
Subsequently the lists of five Institutions,
forwarded belatedly from Washington,
were dispatched thither and have been
acknowledged.
Recently a conference was held be-
tween representatives of the Department
of State, the War Trade Board and the
committee, at which the committee, on the
basis of the European reports, was asked
to undertake the conduct of a bureau for
handling the business of importing publica-
tions from enemy countries, not merely
for educational Institutions, but for all
bodies and Individuals concerned. The
committee felt compelled to decline the
268
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
offer and It is not yet known whether such
a bureau is to be established.
Meanwhile, this committee will see to it
that the institutions covered by our pres-
ent license shall not lose by inaction the
new privileges allowed them, at least so
far as periodicals are concerned. Books
also are covered in the grant, but as yet
the committee lacks the facilities for em-
barking upon any such service, except,
perhaps. In cases of great emergency.
It was said above that the Department
of State gave consent to have the Ameri-
can policy raised to the level of the Brit-
ish and French. This has been defined as
follows: Institutions may order and pay for
all their usual serials. Of these the Cen-
sorship Board will impound for the con-
tinuance of the war those that fall in the
categories heretofore entirely forbidden,
i. e. the popular, historical, political and
theological. Thus for the first time the
continuity of all files is assured, at least
to those institutions which had made ad-
vance payments to their agents through
1917.
Institutions are advised, therefore, to
send to the secretary of the committee, at
the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore,
Maryland, desired titles not appearing on
the approved list of 255 periodicals already
ordered. Please submit them in alphabet-
ical order and duplicate copies. Send sep-
arate from the list a covering order, also
in duplicate.
Please meet the agent's bills immedi-
ately upon presentation. He has made out-
lays in advance and communication is
slow. Remittances to the agent, as well
as your necessary correspondence with
him, the secretary will undertake to for-
ward, provided the conditions above have
been met, and there be in every case en-
closed a stamped envelope addressed to the
Secretary of State for forwarding same.
The committee is making no charge for its
services, but it cannot undertake expense
or clerical service.
Watch the Library Journal for further
developments, and disregard notices from
all sources other than the committee. It
alone has legal right to act in your behalf.
Fbank p. Hill, Chairman.
Clement "W. Andrews,
E. H. Andebson,
M. Llewellyn Raney, Secretary.
Appendix to Report of Committee on Im-
portations: Periodicals approved by the
Department of State and the Censorship
Board, December, 1917.
Philosophy
Archiv fiir philosophie
Kant-studien
Vierteljahrsschrlft fur wissen. philoso-
phic
Zeitschrift fiir philosophie und philos.
kritik
Psychology
Archiv fiir die gesamte psychologie
Zeitschrift fiir angewandte psychologie
Zeitschrift fiir padagogische psychologie
Zeitschrift fiir psychologie und physi-
ologic der sinnesorgane
Anthropology, Ethnography, Geography
Archiv fiir anthropologic
Internationales archiv fiir ethnographie
Petcrmann's mitteilungen und Ergan-
zungshefte
Zeitschrift fiir ethnologic
Education
Archiv fiir padagoglk
Comcnius-gesellschaft. Monatsschriften
Internationales archiv fiir schulhygicne
Lehrproben und lehrgange aus der praxis
d. hohcren lehranstaltcn.
Padagogisches archiv.
Sokrates. Zeitschrift fiir gymnasialwe-
sen
Zeitschrift fiir den deutschen unterricht
Zeitschrift fiir die erforschung und be-
handlung d. jugendlichen schwachsinns
Zeitschrift fiir geschichte der erzichung
und des unterrichts.
Zeitschrift fiir kinderforschung
Zeitschrift fiir schulgesundheitspflege.
Music
Guide musical
Die Musik
Neue zeitschrift fiir musik
Signale fiir die musikalische welt
Art
Berliner archltckturwelt
Die graphischen kiinste
Die Kunst
Kunst fiir alle
Kunst und kunsthandwcrk
Repertorium fiir kunstwissenschaft
Zeitschrift fiir bildendc kunst
Zeitschrift fiir christliche kunst
REPORTS
269
Classical Archeology
K. deutsches archaologisches institut.
Jahrbuch
K. deutsches archaologisches institut.
Mitteilungen
Zeitschrift fiir numismatik
Philology, Classical
Archiv fiir papyrusforschung
Berliner philologische wochenschrift
Glotta
Hermes
Jahresbericht iiber die fortschritte d.
klass altertumswissenschaft.
Neue jahrbiicher f. d. klass. altertum
jahrbiicher f. d. klass. altertum
Philologus
Rheinisches museum fiir philologie
Wochenschrift fiir klass. philologie
Philology, Modern
Archiv fiir das studium der neueren
sprachen u. literaturen
Euphorion
Germanisch-romanische monatsschrift
Literaturblatt fiir germanische u. ro-
manische philologie
Die neueren sprachen
Philology, English
Anglia
Englische studien
Philology, German
Beitrage zur geschichte der deutschen
sprache u. literatur
Zeitschrift fiir deutsche philologie
Zeitschrift fiir deutsches altertum
Philology, Romance
Romanische forschungen
Zeitschrift fiir franzosische sprache u.
literatur
Zeitschrift fiir romanische philologie
Philology, Oriental
Deutsche morgenlandische gesellschaft.
Zeitschrift
Zeitschrift fiir agyptische sprache
Zeitschrift fiir Assyriologie
Philology, Comparative
Indogermani«che forschungen
Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende sprach-
forschung
Mathematics
K. preuss. Akademie der wissenschaften,
Berlin. Sitzungsberichte
Archiv fiir mathematik u. physik
Bibliotheca mathematica
Deutsche mathematiker - vereinigung.
Jahresbericht
Jahrbuch iiber die fortschritte der ma-
thematik
Journal fiir die reine u. angewandte ma-
thematik
Mathematische annalen
Monatshefte fiir mathematik u. physik
Zeitschrift fiir mathematik u. physik
Zeitschrift fiir mathematischen u. natur-
wissen. unterricht
Astronomy
Astronomische gesellschaft. Vierteljahrs-
schrift
Astronomische nachrichten
Physics
Annalen der physik
Deutsche physikalische gesellschaft.
Berichte
Fortschritte auf dem gebiete der ront-
genstrahlen
Jahrbuch d. drahtlosen telegraphie
Jahrbuch der radioaktivitat
Meteorologische zeitschrift
Physikalische zeitschrift
Zentralblatt fiir rontgenstrahlen
Chemistry
Annalen der chemie
Chemisches zentralblatt
Deutsche chemische gesellschaft. Be-
richte
Journal fiir praktische chemie
Kolloid-zeitschrift
Zeitschrift fiir analytische chemie
Zeitschrift fiir angewandte chemie
Zeitschrift fiir anorganische u. allge-
meine chemie
Zeitschrift fiir physikalische chemie
Geology
Deutsche geologische gesellschaft. Zeit-
schrift
Geologische rundschau
Geologisches zentralblatt
Internationale mitteilungen fiir boden-
kunde
Internationale zeitschrift fiir metallo-
graphie
Mineralogische u. petrographische mit-
teilungen
Neues jahrbuch fiir mineralogie
Zeitschrift fiir gletscherkunde
Zeitschrift fiir krystallographie u. mine-
ralogie
Zeitschrift fiir praktische geologie
Zeitschrift fiir vulkanologie
Zentralblatt fiir mineralogie
Botany
Annales mycologici
Botanisches zentralblatt
Deutsche botanische gesellschaft. Be-
richte
Flora
Hedwigia
Jahrbiicher fiir wissensch. botanik
Mycologisches zentralblatt
Zeitschrift fiir botanik
Zeitschrift fiir pflanzenkrankheiten
Zeitschrift fiir pflanzenziichtung
Biology
Anatomische hefte
270
SARATOGA SPRING'S CONFERENCE
Anatomischer anzeiger
Archiv fiir anatomie u. physiologic
Pfliiger's Archiv
Archiv fiir entwicklungsmechanik der
organismen
Archiv fiir mikroskopische anatomie
Archiv fiir protistenkunde
Archiv fiir rassen- und gesellschafts-
biologie
Archiv fiir zellforschung
Biochemische zeitschrift
Biologisches zentralblatt
Fermentforschung
Internationale monatsschrift fiir ana-
tomie u. physiologie
Internationale zeitschrift fiir physika-
lisch-chemische biologie
Jenaische zeitschrift fiir naturwissen-
schaft
Morphologisches jahrbuch
Skandinavisches archiv fiir physiologie
Zeitschrift fiir allgemeine physiologie
Zeitschrift fiir angewandte entomologie
Zeitschrift fiir biologie
Zeitschrift fiir biologische technik
Zeitschrift fiir garungs-physiologie
Zeitschrift fiir induktive abstammungs-
u. vererbungslehre
Zeitschrift fiir morphologie
Zeitschrift fiir physiologische chemie
Zeitschrift fiir wissen. insektenbiologie
Zeitschrift fiir wissensch. mikroskopie
Zeitschrift fiir wissensch. zoologie
Zentralblatt fiir biochemie u. biophysik
Zentralblatt fiir physiologie
Zentralblatt fiir zoologie
Zoologischer anzeiger
Zoologische jahrbiicher
Medicine
Archiv der pharmacie
Archiv fiir dermatologie
Archiv fiir exper. pathologie u. pharma-
cologie
Archiv f. gynakologle
Archiv fiir hygiene
Archiv fiir kinderheilkunde
Archiv f. klinische chirurgie
Archiv f. laryngologie
Archiv fiir ohren-, nasen- u. kehlkopfheil-
kunde
Archiv f. ophthalmologie
Archiv f. pathologische anatomie
Archiv f. psychiatrie
Archiv f. verdauungskrankheiten
Beitrage z. pathologischen anatomie
Berliner klinische wochenschrift
Dermatologische wochenschrift
Dermatologische zeitschrift
Deutsche medicinische wochenschrift
Deutsche zeitschrift fiir chirurgie
Deutsche zeitschrift fiir nervenheil-
kunde
Deutsches archiv fiir klinische medlcin
Ergebnisse der inneren medizin u. kin-
derheilkunde
Folia haematologica
Folia neurobiologica
Germany. K. Gesundheitsamt, Berlin.
Arbeiten
Hygienische rundschau
Jahrbuch fiir kinderheilkunde
Journal fiir psychologie u. neurologie
Medizinische klinik
Mitteilungen aus den grenzgebieten der
medizin u. chirurgie
Monatsschrift fiir geburtshiilfe u. gyna-
kologle
Monatsschrift f. kinderheilkunde
Monatsschrift f. ohrenheilkunde
Monatsschrift f. psychiatrie u. neuro-
logic
Miinchener medicinische wochenschrift
Neurologisches zentralblatt
Therapeutische monatshefte
Therapie der gegenwart
Vierteljahrsschrift f. gerichtl. medicin
Wiener klinische wochenschrift
Wiener medicinische wochenschrift
Zeitschrift fiir chemo-therapie
Zeitschrift f. d. gesamte neurologie
Zeitschrift fiir experimentelle pathologie
Zeitschrift fiir fleisch- u. milchhygiene
Zeitschrift fiir geburtshiilfe u. gynako-
logie
Zeitschrift fiir hygiene
Zeitschrift fiir immunitatsforschung
Zeitschrift fiir kinderheilkunde
Zeitschrift fiir klinische medicin
Zeitschrift fiir krebsforschung
Zeitschrift fiir ohrenheilkunde
Zeitschrift fiir orthopadische chirurgie
Zeitschrift fiir physikalische u. diate-
tische therapie
Zeitschrift f. tuberkulose
Zeitschrift f. untersuchung der nahrungs-
u. genussmittel
Zeitschrift fiir urologie
Zentralblatt f. allgem. pathologie
Zentralblatt f. bakteriologie
Zentralblatt f. d. gesamte innere medizin
Zentralblatt f. d. grenzgebiete der medi-
cin u. chirurgie
Zentralblatt f. gynakologie
Zentralblatt fiir herz- u. gefasskrank-
heiten
Zentralblatt f. innere medicin
Zentralblatt f. kinderheilkunde
Agriculture
Archiv f. wissensch. u. praktische tier-
heilkunde
Berliner tierarztliche wochenschrift
Biedermann's zentralblatt f. agrikultur-
chemie u. rationell. landwirtschafts-
betrieb
Journal f. landwirtschaft
Landwirtschaftliche Jahrbiicher
REPORTS
271
Landwirtschaftliche versuchsstationen
Milchwirtschaftliches zentralblatt
Zeitschrift f. infektionskrankheiten der
haustiere
Technology
Archiv f. eisenbahnwesen
Archiv f. elektrotechnik
Armierter beton
Beton und eisen
Die chemische Industrie
Deutsche bauzeitung
Dingler's polytechnisches journal
Elektrotechnik und maschinenbau
Elektrotechnische zeitschrift
Ferrum
Gesundheits-Ingenieur
Gliickauf
Journal f. gasbeleuchtung
Metall und erz
Der oelmotor
Prometheus. Illustr, wochenschrift uber
die fortschritte in gewerbe, Industrie
und wissenschaft
Ranch und staub. Zeitschrift fur ihre
bekampfung
Stahl und eisen
Verein deutscher ingenieure. Zeitschrift
Zeitschrift fiir architektur- und inge-
nieurwesen
Zeitschrift f. bauwesen
Zeitschrift f. das ges. turbinenwesen
Zeitschrift f. elektrochemie
Zeitschrift f. instrumentenkunde
Zeitschrift f. komprimierte u. fiiissige
gase
Zeitschrift fiir transportwesen
Zeitschrift f. wissenschaftl. photographie
Zentralblatt d. bauverwaltung
Bibliography
Bibliographie der deutschen zeitschrift-
enliteratur
Bibliographie der fremdsprachigen zeit-
schriftenliteratur
Bibliographische monatsberichte
Wochentliches verzeichnis
Zentralblatt fiir bibliothekswesen
REPORT OF A. L. A. PUBLISHING BOARD
The war has so overshadowed all other
affairs for libraries and the American Li-
brary Association during the past year
that the normal activities of the A. L. A.
Publishing Board have been considerably
reduced.
The Board has suffered an irreparable
loss in the passing of its chairman, Mr.
Henry E. Legler, who had been a member
of the Board since 1905 and its chairman
from June, 1907, to his death in September,
1917. Keenly interested in everything per-
taining to library work, Mr. Legler during
the entire twelve years of membership in
the Board was particularly active and con-
cerned in all that related to its work. He
had brought from his library commission
experience that rare training and judg-
ment which made his opinion and advice
exceedingly valuable in matters pertain-
ing to the publication and distribution of
bibliographical aids, and his experience in
the administration of a large public libra-
ry system enabled him to view problems
from yet another angle and give them the
benefit of the changed point of view. Mr.
Legler will be grievously missed by his
colleagues in library work and by none
more than by his fellow-members of the
Publishing Board.
New Publications — ^The largest and in
many respects the most important publi-
cation of the year was the new edition of
Miss Kroeger's "Guide to Reference Books"
which has been greatly enlarged and thor-
oughly revised by Isadore G. Mudge, refer-
ence librarian of Columbia University. Se-
riously delayed in its publication and anx-
iously awaited by a large library circle,
the "Guide" has been enthusiastically re-
ceived and widely distributed.
The "Apprentice Course for Small Li-
braries," prepared by the faculty of the
University of Wisconsin Library School,
is having a distinct field of usefulness in
a number of ways.
The new publications of the year are as
follows :
Guide to reference books, by Alice
Bertha Kroeger, third edition, revised
throughout and much enlarged, by Isadore
Gilbert Mudge. 4,000 copies.
Special Indexes in American Libraries,
a list of subjects separately cataloged or so
272
SARATOGA SPRING'S CONFERENCE
arranged as to be readily accessible com-
piled by the A. L. A. Publishing Board.
1,000 copies.
Apprentice course for small libraries.
Outlines of lessons, with suggestions for
practice work, study and required reading,
by the faculty of the Library School of the
University of Wisconsin (Mary E. Hazel-
tine, Mary F. Carpenter, Marion Humble,
Helen Turvill). 3,000 copies.
Periodicals for the small library, by
Frank K. Walter. Second edition, rewrit-
ten and enlarged. 2,000 copies.
A. L. A. Manual of library economy:
Chap. 25, Pamphlets and ^ninor library ma-
terial— clippings, broadsides, prints, pic-
tures, music, bookplates, maps. 3,000 copies.
Some popular books on the great war,
by Grace Miller, (Printed for the Western
Massachusetts Library Club and reprinted
by permission.)
Reprints — The following publications
have been reprinted :
Analytical cards for Warner's Library of
the world's best literature. 250 sets.
A. L. A. Manual of library economy:
Chap. 5, Proprietary and subscription libra-
ries. 3,000 copies.
Library Journal — ^Savannah (Ga.) Public
Library. Plans. 100 copies.
North Central Association of Colleges
and Secondary Schools — Standard library
organization for accredited high schools of
different sizes, by C. C. Certain. 1,500 copies.
The Booklist — ^The total subscriptions
to The Booklist now are as follows: Bulk
to commissions and libraries, 2,622; retail
subscriptions, 2,188; sent to library mem-
bers and affiliated state associations as part
of their membership perquisites, 538; free
list, 167; total, 5,515 (as against a total of
5,401 reported last year). (Free list in-
cludes 37 sent to camp libraries.)
Hereto are appended brief reports from
Miss Massee, editor of The Booklist, and
Mr. Merrill, editor of periodical cards.
Abthub E. Bostwick,
Acting Chairman.
THE BOOKLIST
The Booklist in its new form with its
name simplified has had a busy year with
"nothing to report," although when one
considers that there has been an almost
complete change of staff, that the printers
had a strike, that the mails and express
were indefinitely behind so that books were
sometimes over a month on the way and
then arrived all at once, that the Booklist
delivery was correspondingly slow, that
several of our best readers have been
called away by the war, one wonders there
is any Booklist left to report.
That there is this Booklist, that its use-
fulness has increased is due to the wisdom
of the plan which made it a cooperative
product, maintained by the concerted ac-
tion of many libraries with lines of book-
review communication centralized and re-
distributed.
The editor went to Boston and New York
as usual to interview publishers. The pub-
lishers' use of the Booklist is growing.
Several now send copies of the notes to
their traveling men for advertising. The
practice of the book salesmen of showing
their advance lines to the editor in Chi-
cago makes it possible to plan in a meas-
ure for what is coming.
The editor attended the Iowa and the
Illinois library meetings in October, the
Atlantic City meeting in February, and
was the speaker at the tenth anniversary
of the dedication of the Kewanee, Illinois,
library building. Otherwise the editor has
been devoted to the office, where she is
glad to report the growing custom of calls
from visiting librarians. Many a good
book-note and many a good suggestion
have come to the Booklist by way of these
chance visits.
The office has done some work for the
Council of National Defense, reporting on
books which are considered pro-German.
This work consisted in summarizing spe-
cial reports received from libraries, which
responded promptly to the requests for in-
formation.
The Booklist staff wishes to thank the
Publishing Board for its continued and
generous support and the libraries of the
REPORTS 273
country for the spirit and the work which Attention is called again to the war as
makes the list. responsible for this continued decrease in
May Massee. ^^q amount of indexing done. Few for-
A. L. A. PERIODICAL CARDS ^^^^ serials on our list are received from
The present report upon the preparation . , , , , , ,
, . „ , X. , J - J. abroad; some serials may be suspended
and issue of analytical cards for current
serials covers the year ended April 30. 1918. ^^'^ °*^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^"^^ countries.
Shipments 332 and 333, including 121 Our printers have served notice that the
and 117 titles respectively, have been sent price of cards and printing must be raised
to subscribers; shipment 334, containing 25 per cent on account of increased cost of
153 titles, has been shipped since the above labor and materials, and cards must be
^**'®- billed to subscribers at a corresponding in-
The number of titles cataloged in 1917- ^^^^^^ j^ ^^.j^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^0,^^ ^^^ ^^^
18 is thus 238, and the number of cards . , ^ , . , u ^i.
1 i ji oaocc * v,jv,-.r.ofto ji cessful to secure lower terms elsewhere. It
printed Is 20,255, of which 16,393 were dis-
tributed to subscribers. The correspond- ^« ^""^^^ ^^^^ ^°^^ ^"^ ^^^^ '^^"^^'^ ^°
ing figures last year were three shipments, withdraw his support on this account,
containing 525 titles, and 29,851 cards dis- Respectfully submitted,
tributed. William Stetson Mebbill.
A, L. A. PUBLISHING BOARD— FINANCIAL REPORT
Cash Receipts May 1, 1917, to April 30, 1918
Balance, May 1, 1917 $ 1,375,11
Interest on Carnegie Fund (May, 1917 — $2,000.00)
(Oct., 1917— 1,500.00)
(Dec, 1917— 1,000.00) 4,500.00
Receipts from publications 14,772.93
Interest on bank deposits 18.80 $20,666.84
Payments May 1, 1917, to April 30, 1918
Cost of publications:
A. L. A. Publishing Board Reports $ 16.00
A. L. A. List of subject headings (Stock and work to
date) 664.40
Booklist 2,334.70
Apprentice course for small libraries, including plates.. 783.00
Guide to reference books, including plates, 3rd edition. . 2,153.38
Manual of library economy: Chaps. 5 (reprinted), 25
(including storage on plates) 19*5.98
Periodical cards 221.51
Periodicals for the small library, new edition 165.44
Some popular books on the great war (1,950 copies for
advertising and publicity) 21.78
Special indexes in American libraries 49.25
Reprint from Library Journal, The Savannah Public Li-
brary— plans 4.53
Reprint from North Central Association of Colleges and
Secondary Schools, Standard library organization for
accredited high schools 58.00
Warner cards 1,407.20 $8,075.17
Addressograph supplies 151.94
Advertising 358.12
Editing publications 243.91
Expense, headquarters (1917— a/c) 2,800.00
Postage and express 1,179.63
274
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Publications — as agent:
New types of library buildings, Wisconsin Free Library Commis-
sion 1.75
Royalties 177.10
Salaries 4,721.23
Supplies 832.04
Travel 322.96
Balance on hand April 30, 1918 1,802.99
$20,666.84
SALES OF A. L. A. PUBLISHING BOARD PUBLICATIONS
April 1, 1917, to March 31, 1918
The Booklist, regular subscriptions 1,930 $1,930.00
Additional subscriptions at reduced rate of 50c 258 129.00
Bulk subscriptions 1,310.55
Extra copies 940 133.10 3,502.65
Handbooks:
1, Essentials in library administration 155 30.06
5, Binding for libraries 309 30.17
6, Mending and repair of books 393 52.42
7, U. S. Government documents in small libraries 333 38.65
8, How to choose editions 129 14.85
9, Normal library budget 47 6.61
10, Manual for institutional libraries 34 8.21 180.97
Tracts :
1, How to start a library 69 3.13
4, Library rooms and buildings 42 3.72
5, Notes from the art section 10 .50
8, A village library 29 1,40
9, Library school training 19 .95
10, Why do we need a public library 131 5.50 15.20
Foreign lists:
French 14 3.40
French fiction 5 .25
French literature, recent 57 13.75
German 9 4.28
Hungarian 7 1.00
Italian 2 .70
Norwegian 3 .75
Polish 14 3.38
Russian 28 13.15
Swedish 14 3.27 43.93
Reprints:
Bostwick, Public library and public school 22 1.39
Inspirational influence of books in the life of children 29 1.39
Library statistics 8 .39
Making maps available 29 1.38
N. E. A. — List of books for rural school libraries 47 4.15
Some recent features in library architecture 11 .58 9.28
Periodical cards, subscriptions 521.24
Reed's Modern eloquence (cards for) 3 sets 7.50
Warner's library of the World's best literature (cards for) 156 sets 1,162.40 1,691.14
League publications:
Aids in library work with foreigners 67 6.16
Directions for librarian of a small library 42 4.01
League Handbook, 1916 53 25.08
League Yearbook, 1912 1 .50 35.75
A. L. A. Manual of library economy, chapters as follows:
1, American library history. 158 9.05
2, Library of Congress 206 13.27
REPORTS 276
3, The state library 102 6.42
4, College and university library 166 9.83
5, Proprietary and subscription libraries '. 187 9.41
6, The free public library 98 6.15
7, The high school library 223 18.07
8, Special libraries 86 7.54
10, Library buildings 178 11.00
11, Furniture, fixtures and equipment 237 14.17
12, Library administration 353 17.12
13, Training for librarianship 102 7.74
14, Library service 202 14.48
15, Branch libraries 215 11.44
16, Book selection ." 488 30.33
17, Order and accession department 418 25.96
18, Classification 226 20.36
20, Shelf department 91 ■ 5.14
21, Loan work 424 18.83
22, Reference department 142 12.63
23, Government documents (state and city) 94 8.35
24, Bibliography 274 18.11
25, Pamphlets and minor library material 312 25.91
27, Commissions, state aid, etc 153 8.44
29, Library work with children 231 14.45
30, Library work with the blind 53 4.51
32, Library printing 256 15.31 364.02
A. U A. Catalog, 1904-11 229 321.39
A. L. A. Index to General Literature 10 57.00
A. L. A. Index to General Literature, Supplement 1900-10 14 51.60
Apprentice course for small libraries 383 242.35
Books for boys and girls 259 47.88
Catalog rules 600 328.67
Cataloging for small libraries 242 280.25
Collection of social survey material 45 4.29
Graded list of stories for reading aloud 165 15.19
Guide to reference books. Supplement 1909-10 15 3.10
Guide to reference books, Supplement 1911-13 8 2.96
Guide to reference books, new edition 2,339 4,716.03
High school list 110 51.08
Hints to small libraries 57 39.53
Hospital list 21 S.13
Index to kindergarten songs 19 26.25
Index to library reports 9 8.30
Library buildings 16 1.50
List of economical editions 69 15.70
List of music and books about music 16 3.94
List of subject headings, 3rd edition 527 1,179.26
List of 550 children's books 22 3.27
Lists of material to be obtained free or at small cost 194 44.44
Periodicals for the small library, old edition 299 27.12
Scientific management, List of books on 12 1.12 _
Shakespeare, Brief guide to the literature of 18 8.40
Special Indexes in American libraries 68 6.46
Subject headings for catalogs of juvenile books 54 76.20
Subject Index to A. L. A. Booklist, v. 1-6 24 5.38
Subject Index to A. L. A. Booklist, v. 7 14 1.36
Vocational guidance through the library 85 7.80
A. L. A. Bulletin and Proceedings 77 28.30 $7,611.25
113,454.19
276
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
PROCEEDINGS
July J-6, J9I8
FIRST GENERAL SESSION
(Monday evening, July 1)
The Fortieth Annual Meeting of the
American Library Association was called
to order by the president, Thomas L. Mont-
GOMEBY, librarian of the Pennsylvania
State Library, at the Grand Union Hotel,
Saratoga Springs, New York, on Monday
evening, July 1, 1918.
Dr. Charles B. Alexander, regent of
the University of the State of New York,
being introduced, extended to the associa-
tion his greeting in behalf of the State of
New York, in an
ADDRESS OF WELCOME
(See p. 48)
The reading of the president's address
followed, President Montgomery choosing
as his subject
CIVILIZATION
(See p. 45)
The following telegram was read by
the secretary:
Please accept congratulations from Na-
tional War Garden Commission for splen-
did patriotic work of librarians of America
during emergency of war time. This com-
mission is especially grateful for helpful
cooperation given by libraries in the dis-
tribution of its books of instructions on
war vegetable gardening and on home
canning and drying of vegetables and
fruits. This help has been of great im-
portance in stimulating home production
and conservation of foodstuffs. Please
let it be known to all librarians present
at Conference that our books are available
for their use. We have sent a supply to
your Conference headquarters for distri-
bution to librarians.
Charles Lathrop Pack,
President National War
Garden Commission.
Washington, D. C, July 1, 1918.
After the reading of the foregoing mes-
sage the session was adjourned.
SECOND GENERAL SESSION
(Tuesday morning, July 2)
President Montgomery presided.
The President called attention to the
reports of ofllcers and committees which
had been printed in advance of the Con-
ference, and distributed to members. These
reports included those of the secretary,
treasurer, trustees of the endowment funds,
the A. L. A. Publishing Board, the Com-
mittee on Bookbinding and Committee on
Federal and State Relations. The reports
of the Committees on Library Training,
Work with the Blind and Legislation were
read by title.
All of the above reports were accepted
and ordered printed as a part of the Con-
ference proceedings. (For the reports see
page 251 and following.)
President Montgomery then called for a
report of the War Service Committee fY-om
the chairman, Mr. J. I. Wyer, Jr., director
of the New York State Library, and Mr.
Wyer spoke upon
the work of the war service committee
(See p. 106)
Mr. J. C. Dana, librarian of the Newark
(N. J.) Public Library, having inquired
whether a report would be issued regard-
ing the visits made to camp libraries by
Dr. F. P. Hill, Mr. Wyer replied that this
information had not been included in a
formal report but would be printed in the
Library Journal.
Mr. Dana stated that he desired to bring
to the attention of the Association the ex-
istence of this report, for the reason that
it includes certain criticisms worthy of
note, and further explains very clearly the
position of women in relation to camp li-
brary work. Dr. Hill's attitude upon this
being especially gratifying to the speaker,
who believes the brains of the Association
in large degree are in the heads of women.
The President called upon Dr. Frank
P. Hill, librarian of the Brooklyn Public
Library, and chairman of the Library War
Finance Committee, for a statement of the
manner in which the war library fund had
been raised.
PROCEEDINGS
277
Dr. Hill responded by saying that the
report of the Library War Finance Com-
mittee was comprised in the "Story of the
million dollar campaign" (see page 163)
and that he had nothing to add to that
statement except to say that money was
still coming in, and that a second financial
campaign was planned to call for three or
four times the amount asked for in the
first one.
President Montgomery then called upon
Dr. Herbert Putnam, librarian of Con-
gress, and general director of the Library
War Service.
In mentioning that the report of the
War Service Committee, including a state-
ment by the general director, had been
printed in advance of the Conference and
distributed. Dr. Putnam called attention to
a number of the War Library Bulletin and
to the exhibit at the hotel as auxiliary to
the report.
Continuing to speak of the library war
service work, Dr. Putnam said:
With the numerous authorities intro-
duced to you as connected with the work,
the jurisdiction would seem somewhat
complicated. There is the president of the
Association, the chairman of the War
Service Committee, the chairman of the
War Finance Committee, the general di-
rector. Really, however, it is not so com-
plicated as it might seem. The relations
are quite logical. The chairman of the
War Service Committee represents the au-
thority of the Association vested in a com-
mittee for a special piece of work. Since
the committee's attempt last October to
divest itself of the actual conduct of the
work by vesting that in a general director,
the task of its chairman has been chiefly
to see that the committee abstained from
executive as against legislative functions.
As between the chairman of the War Fi-
nance Committee and the general director
the relation is a very simple one: he
raises the money; I spend it; and his chief
task is to raise money fast enough and to
see that I don't spend it too fast. In fact,
however. Dr. Hill's actual solicitude is
that I shall spend it fast enough to assure
him the relish of another financial cam-
paign.
And back of all of us. President Mont-
gomery, representing the majesty and the
complacency of the Association, "points
with pride" — when he gets a chance to.
He also receives, and to the best of his
ability, absorbs criticisms that come to
him: making sure that even if they reach
the chairman of the committee, they shall
not reach the general director, to harass
him in the midst of perplexing details.
This is a very important service, which I
have no doubt Mr. Montgomery has exe-
cuted to an extent which we engaged in
the practical detail have no adequate real-
ization of.
As Mr. Wyer has said, we have in effect
been reporting to you, especially in our
Bulletins, ever since last January. Any
report today, though containing summaries
of operations, would not be a complete ex-
hibit of them; nor is the time ripe for a
final exhibit. My own "statement" takes
up under several heads rather the exist-
ing situation, the problem and the pros-
pect. It summarizes the physical establish-
ment, the accommodations for our work,
the books available, gift and purchase, de-
scribes the method of procedure as one of
evolution, makes reference to a few phe-
nomena such as camp practice, and ap-
pends a statement of receipts and expendi-
tures. Under each heading I have at-
tempted to indicate some of the imperfec-
tions still existing: imperfections imply-
ing improvements still to be effected. At
the close I have not hesitated to assert
that we have now a service both "appro-
priate" and recognized to be such. That
does not, however, mean a service fully
adequate. In fact it is a service still in-
adequate. It requires improvement and
enlargement under every head: under
buildings, books, organization and prac-
tice. There must be enlargement — a real-
ly enormous enlargement — for the problem
itself is constantly enlarging, and it is
also constantly diversifying. Not merely
are we to have an army of several million
men, instead of the one million which we
planned for last autumn, but the needs of
these men are developing in a multiplicity
of ways as well as at a multiplicity of
points. Every day brings new evidence of
this. No day finds us at a standstill; no
decision made is certain to be final for the
next.
There is in my statement a little head-
ing entitled "Uniformities." It is a dis-
claimer. There aren't any, to speak of.
Even our uniforms aren't uniform. You
have evidence in the variety of them among
the camp librarians who form part of our
exhibit here. In our younger days we
were taught that there were three kinds of
symmetry: the symmetry of alternation,
the symmetry of repetition, and the sym-
metry of unsymmetrical detail. If we can
278
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
claim for our service any symmetry at all,
it will be the symmetry of "unsymmetrical
detail."
But that is true of the war operations
of our government also. The War De-
partment, the Navy Department, all the
agencies, look to a unity in the final re-
sult; but they recognize that such a result
is not necessarily to be secured by an
identity of practice in every relation. The
diversity of conditions encountered could
be dealt with only by an equal diversity of
methods. And the camps were military
establishments. If we had gone in there
with rigid standards, and a practice of in-
sistent uniformity, the attitude towards
us would have been as stiff as it has in fact
been yielding. Our practice has, there-
fore, varied in the several camps; it has
not even necessarily continued identical
in the same camp; for the camps them-
selves change from time to time both in
their personnel and in the type of training
which they undertake. We must meet such
changes and all that they involve.
The development of a personnel re-
quired the development of an experience.
It was not possible at the outset to estab-
lish even at headquarters a staff represent-
ing the combinations necessary. For such
a combination involved both general com-
petence and an actual experience in the
field; and at the outset men and women
with the latter were yet to be developed.
Now we have an "establishment" — an
organization — appropriate, even if not ade-
quate; and this means much.
Meantime the work itself has proceeded
with the resources in hand. And already
it has gone far to consume the resources.
Last October these consisted of a million
and three-quarters dollars. We have spent
between eight and nine hundred thousand;
so that the balance available on July 1 is but
a little over eight hundred thousand. At
the present rate of expenditure, that is, at
the prospective rate beginning July 1, of
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars a
month, you have money enough for only
about five months of further operation.
So that it is none too soon, as the chair-
man of the War Finance Committee has
indicated, for you to prepare for another
campaign which will secure further re-
sources by the late fall, certainly by De-
cember 1.
•The report contains some statistics; but
statistics of such a sort are not results.
We can as little show results in this work
as you can in the work of a municipal
library. What will be the ultimate effect
upon the man in the use of the book? You
can cite testimony, you can quote experi-
ence, but you cannot give definite proof.
But as regards our soldier service the
experience of those in direct contact with
it will certainly furnish a vivid sugges-
tion. And in the symposium this morn-
ing we plan now to bring to you recitals
of some of those experiences. They will
be typical, and they will be authoritative,
since they will come from the men and
women who have had them.
In addition, later, will be a statement
by Dr. Raney of his observations over-
seas, and of the opportunities and the
duties for us that he has seen there.
The Secretary announced that the fol-
lowing Committee on Resolutions had been
appointed: Arthur E. Bostwick, chairman;
Mary E. Ahern and Harrison W. Craver.
Mr. Carl H. Milam, librarian of the
Public Library, Birmingham, Alabama,
now acting as assistant to the general di-
rector. Library War Service, was called
upon by the president to conduct a sym-
posium on camp library work.
Mr. Milam stated that it was desired to
discuss in the presence of those who had
directed the administration of the war li-
brary work certain practical problems of
camp library service, based on the experi-
ences of camp librarians in attendance at
the Conference.
Mr. M. S. Dudgeon, secretary of the Wis-
consin Library Commission, and latterly
acting as camp librarian at Great Lakes,
Illinois, was first called upon, and ad-
dressed the assembly on
WHAT MEN READ IN CAMPS
(See p. 221)
Miss Miriam E. Carey, field representa-
tive in the hospital service, was next called
upon by the chairman, and spoke upon
what men read in hospitals
(See p. 222)
Dr. Clement W. Andrews: The speaker
in a very interesting account made no
mention of the reading of the staff. Do
the surgeons, the nurses and the orderlies
read at all, and what do they read?
Miss Carey: If the- librarian knows
books and is able to meet the demands of
the staff and the nurses, they will come to
her for books. In some hospitals the
nurses use the library largely for recrea-
PROCEEDINGS
279
tion; in one that I know of the staff re-
quested special books from the librarian.
As she was able to procure them, the read-
ing kept up. It depends on whether the
librarian can meet the demand.
Mr. Edgerton, of New London, Connecti-
cut, emphasized the need at the camps of
sets of textbooks, such as trigonometries,
comprising enough copies of one edition
to' make it practicable for an instructor
to do classroom work with a number of
men. He cited an instance of prompt and
effective work, when by aid of the Wash-
ington office a class at Fort Wright was
supplied with algebras at an opportune
time.
Mr. BowKER here requested that Mr.
Brown, of the Brooklyn Public Library,
describe a certain "hurry call" for aviation
books.
Mr. Bkown: We had permission from
Dr. Putnam to obtain books from Mr. Bai-
ley, of the A. L. A. Dispatch Office. We
had a call at four o'clock one afternoon
for some books on aviation and some trig-
onometries. Within twenty - four hours
of the time we got the call the books were
on the way to the train. We took them to
Camp Mills at 4:00 a.m. The company
desiring them left at 7:00 a.m., taking the
books with them.
Miss Downey, of Salt Lake City, stated
that state departments of education and
school superintendents and principals had
given her great aid In sending hundreds
of ordinary textbooks. She further said
that from her experience she should judge
the need for fiction at camps might be met
largely by gifts of such books, leaving the
funds to be applied to purchase of tech-
nical works and desired serious literature.
Mr. Milam: We buy practically no fic-
tion from the fund; we are depending al-
most wholly on gift books for fiction.
Mr. Milam then asked Mr. Dudgeon to
speak upon his experience with the text-
book question.
Mr. Dudgeon explained that he had
worked both from the Washington office
and at the camps; that when a man ex-
pected to become an officer as the result
of his camp studies, it was questionable
whether it was the function of the library
to provide an individual textbook for three
months. In his camp experience plenty of
old textbooks suitable for enabling a brush-
up on a subject were available.
Mr. BowKER inquired the attitude to-
ward books on elementary German and
German educational subjects.
Chairman Milam: We are furnishing
them at the request of the camp libraries
for men who have to study German under
the direction of the officers.
Others taking part in the discussion
were Mr. Ranck, Miss Winser, Mr. Van
Hoesen, and Mr. Purd B. Wright. It was
brought out that some sections of the coun-
try have solicited textbooks from educa-
tional centers to a greater extent than
other sections; and additional aid in col-
lecting such books was willingly offered
by librarians.
Miss Downey suggested that a definite
message be sent to the N. E. A. asking
that textbooks be collected and turned over
to the A. L. A.
Chairman MirjvM: That is a splendid
suggestion. I may •'ay within the past few
weeks most college librarians in the coun-
try have received a special letter from
Washington asking for that material.
Mr. BowKER moved that the A. L. A.
send an official communication to the
N. E. A. thanking the superintendents and
teachers for their cooperation so far and
asking for their larger cooperation in the
future.
The motion was duly seconded and car-
ried.
In accordance with this vote of the As-
sociation the following message was tele-
graphed to the secretary of the National
Education Association:
The American Library Association In an-
nual conference at Saratoga Springs, by
unanimous vote cordially thanks the super-
intendents, teachers and other members
of the National Education Association for
their hearty cooperation In obtaining
needed books, particularly textbooks for
the military and naval forces both here
280
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
and overseas, and asks for and antici-
pates a yet larger cooperation in the com-
ing year.
Following this discussion, Mr. W. H.
Bkett, librarian of the Cleveland Public
Library, read a paper on
SENDING BOOKS "OVEK THEKE"
(See p. 183)
Chairman Milam: Heretofore I have not
wasted any of your time in introductory
speeches, but I am going to make one.
Mr. Asa Don Dickinson has two claims to
distinction. Many of us felt in managing
a library of 30,000 volumes we have rather
a good sized job on our hands; Mr. Dick-
inson is handling 30,000 volumes a week
and is sending them to France. His other
distinction Is he Is the only living libra-
rian who occupies four saloons at one time.
Mr. Asa Don Dickinson, In charge of
the A. L. A. Dispatch Office at Hoboken,
then read a paper entitled
THE day's WOBK IN HOBOKEN
(See p. 200)
Miss WiNSEB having Inquired whether
every soldier had a book put into hl&
hands, Mr, Dickinson replied that prob-
ably a book for every three men was fur-
nished. He further said that the giving
out of magazines to men departing on
ships was discontinued, under request from
officers.
Mr. Milam also stated that the giving
of books to individuals was being discon-
tinued.
Chairman Milam having observed that
the limited time allowed for the remain-
der of the program of that session would
prevent his calling upon agents at other
dispatch offices, it was voted to hold a spe-
cial meeting on Thursday, July 4, at 10:30
a. m., to consider the remaining subjects
of the regular program, and the discussion
of dispatch office work was continued.
Mr. Charles H. Brown, of the Brooklyn
dispatch office, was first called upon by the
chairman, and stated briefly that ship-
ments of about 30,000 books a month were
going from Brooklyn overseas. More than
that would not be attempted, as it was de-
sired to supply the camp library needs of
soldiers and sailors in the neighborhood,
who came into the office in numbers up
to 150 a day.
Mr. Loins J. Bailey, of the New York
dispatch office, was next called upon, and
said the New York office receives practic-
ally all of the purchased books that are to
be forwarded to camps. Books are being
sent to all points in this country, and to
Alaska, Hawaii, Haiti and the Canal Zone,
The office also conducts an overseas de-
partment, and has received the gifts sent
in for war service to the New York Pub-
lic Library, amounting to perhaps 500,000
volumes.
Dr. C. O. S. Mawson, of the Boston dis-
patch office, then spoke of the splendid quar-
ters provided free for that office in the base-
ment of the WIdener Library, and said
that he had a body of 300 volunteers to
draw upon — women of various Red Cross
centers, the men of the entire collection
department of the New England Telephone
Company, who offered to come In the eve-
ning and do all packing until the end of
the war; a group of thirty girls from the
telephone service; and forty or more vol-
unteers from the Harvard College Library.
He further stated that over 60,000 books
had been prepared for shipment from New
England, and said every transport leaving
Boston was supplied with all the books it
would take.
Mr. Teal: When Pershing asked for
fifty tons of books every month. If fifty
tons are being shipped from Hoboken, how
many tons are shipped from the other
places and what are they doing with them?
Chairman Milam: Books are going over
In three or four different ways. There Is
a tonnage space of fifty tons a month, per-
haps a hundred to a hundred and fifty
thousand volumes a month. Twenty-five
thousand volumes have been delivered to
the Red Cross and will go across on the
Red Cross tonnage and other books are
being sent on naval facilities to naval
bases abroad.
Mr. Franklin H. Price, of the Philadel-
phia dispatch office, being called upon by
the chairman, stated that the office at Phil-
PROCEEDINGS
281
adelphia is the smallest of the dispatch
offices. About 9,800 books a week Is the
limit of output. Deck shipments for use
on transports are sent out, and also books
are sent across for the naval bases.
Chairman Milam: Since the remarks of
Mr. Price have been so modest, let me cite
an instance when he delivered about 4,000
volumes to a supply officer on forty-eight
hours' notice. We have not been handing
out any bouquets this morning, but if It
were within the scope of the meeting, I
am sure we could pass them out very free-
ly, not only to the camp librarians but to
the dispatch officers.
There followed a short discussion regard-
ing gift book plates and pockets and the
marking for war service books, the points
being brought out that while in emergency
rubber stamps and short cut methods might
be resorted to, yet the tendency should be
to build up library service and not merely
to scatter books broadcast; that the books
are gifts of the A. L. A. for the use of the
army and navy, not individual gifts to
men in military service to be held or dis-
posed of as personal possessions; and that
no library system should prevail which
would offset the efforts of officers to train
men in habits of orderliness and careful-
ness.
Mr. Bowkeb: Before adjournment I wish
to move that the proper officials be author-
ized and instructed to extend the best
wishes and heartfelt desires of the Amer-
ican Library Association for cooperation
in the great work of supplying the forces
in the field with the best reading, to our
associates among the allied nations, the
Library Association of the United King-
dom and the library authorities of the
other nations allied with us in the great
and righteous cause of the world war.
The motion was duly carried.
Mr. Bowkeb: I move that when we ad-
journ we do so by a rising vote as a testi-
monial of our respect and honor and ap-
preciation for those represented on the
platform and largely on the floor, for those
who are doing our work today in the libra-
ry field, which is to help win the war.
The motion was duly seconded and car-
ried, whereupon the session was adjourned.
THIRD GENERAL SESSION
(Wednesday morning, July 3) -
President Montgomery presided.
At the request of the President, the
Secketaby read the report of the Finance
Committee, which was received and or-
dered printed as a part of the proceedings.
(See page 259.)
The Secretary: At the meeting of the
Executive Board in Washington, January
2, the Board passed a vote as follows:
yoted. That the secretary prepare or
have prepared a proposed amendment to
the Constitution setting forth the general
auditing powers of the Finance Commit-
tee.
Attention had been called to the fact that
the Finance Committee was not instructed
by the Constitution to audit the accounts
of the Publishing Board, and there were
other auditing duties that should be looked
after by the Finance Committee which
should properly be stated in the Constitu-
tion.
The Executive Board therefore at Its
meeting Monday of this week approved the
following amendment to Section 12 of the
Constitution, which deals with the Finance
Committee: That the last sentence of
Section 12 be amended to read as follows:
"The Finance Committee shall audit the
accounts of the secretary, treasurer, trus-
tees of the endowment fund, treasurer of
the Publishing Board, and all other ac-
counts, and report to the Association at
the annual meeting."
According to the Constitution of the As-
sociation the Constitution may be amended
by a three-fourths vote of those present
and voting at two successive meetings of
the Association, provided that notice of the
amendments be sent to each member of
the Association at least one month before
final adoption.
282
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
On motion, duly seconded and carried,
the amendment was adopted.
(This constitutes the first vote of the
Association on this amendment.)
Next on the program Miss Edith Gueb-
BiER, director of the library section of the
Food Administration, Washington, D. C,
spoke briefly upon
THE LIBRARIES AND THE UNITED STATES FOOD
ADMINISTRATION
(See p. 184)
The President announced as the general
topic of a symposium to be held at that
session, "What libraries are doing to help
win the war."
Miss Mary L. Titcomb, librarian of the
Washington County Free Library, Hagers-
town, Maryland, presented the first ad-
dress, on
WHAT THE COUNTY AND BUBAL LIBBABY IS
DOING TO HELP WIN THE WAB
(See p. 187)
The next paper on the program was that
of Mr. HiLLEB C. Wellman, librarian of
the City Library Association, Springfield,
Massachusetts, whose subject was
WHAT THE CITY LIBRARY IS DOING TO HELP
WIN THE WAB
(See p. 57)
Miss Julia A. Robinson, secretary of the
Iowa Library Commission, followed with
a paper entitled
what THE LIBBABY COMMISSION IS DOING TO
HELP WIN THE WAB
(See p. 186)
Mr. J. I. Wyer, Jb., director of the New
York State Library, then delivered an ad-
dress on
WHAT THE STATE LIBRARY IS DOING TO HELP
WIN THE WAB
(See p. 189)
Mr. J. C. M. Hanson, associate director
of the University of Chicago Libraries,
followed with a paper on
WHAT THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY IS DOING TO
HELP WIN THE WAR
(See p. 192)
Mr. George H. Locke, librarian of the
Public Library of Toronto, Canada, pre-
sented the next paper, having for his sub-
ject
CANADIAN LIBBABIES AND THE WAB
(See p. 78)
Dr. Hill: Mr. Locke has given us a
most interesting description of the work in
Canada under great difficulties. He has
not told us one-tenth part of the difficul-
ties which the librarians there had to
contend with.
There are two features of his story
which should sink into our minds. In the
first place, that the circulation and the
amount of money spent on libraries have
increased. With us It is a different story.
Most libraries have found that their cir-
culation has decreased and that it Is with
great difficulty that some of us obtained
money necessary to carry on the library,
even with the appropriation of two or
three years ago. The second is the work
which the libraries may do after the war.
And with those two In mind I would sug-
gest or even move that the committee on
resolutions prepare a resolution which
would state the feeling that libraries are
decidedly essential to the people of the
United States during this war.
The motion was duly seconded and car-
ried.
Dr. M. LiJswELLYN Raney, librarian of
the Johns Hopkins University Library, and
secretary of the Committee on Importa-
tions, then read a report from that com-
mittee, which was received and ordered
printed as a part of the proceedings.
(See page 266.)
Dr. Hill: The Committee on Importa-
tions desires to place on record the fact
that not only has Its secretary. Dr. Raney,
prepared and read the report but also has
done all of the work In connection with
gaining the concessions from our own
Government and from the governments on
the other side.
On motion, the meeting was then ad-
journed.
SPECIAL GENERAL SESSION
(Thursday morning, July 4)
At the request of President Montgomeby,
Mr. Cabl H. Milam took the chair, the
meeting being an adjournment of the camp
library symposium of Tuesday, July 2.
PROCEEDINGS
283
Chairman Milam first called upon Mr,
Joy E. Morgan, camp librarian, the topic
of whose address was
HOW THE CAMP LIBRARY REACHES EVERY
MAN
(See p. 233)
Mr. Frederick Goodell, camp librarian,
also addressed the assembly on
HOW THE CAMP LIBRARY REACHES EVERY
MAN
(See p. 236)
Chairman Milam: Before passing on to
the next subject or opening this up for
general discussion, I would like to ask
somebody representing a naval station to
speak for just a moment or two on the
same subject. I wonder if Mr. Hirshberg,
from the Great Lakes Naval Training Sta-
tion, is here?
Mr. Herbert S. Hibshbero, camp libra-
rian at Great Lakes, Illinois, accordingly
spoke briefly on
CAMP LIBRARY WORK AT A NAVAL TRAINING
STATION
(See p. 240)
A Member: To what extent do you re-
quire textbooks?
Mr. Hirshberg: The question of text-
books, of course, is still open. I person-
ally believe that where the Government
does not supply the books (as they do not
in all the schools) the A. L. A. should an-
swer the call. A great deal of the call for
textbooks, however, comes not from the
men who are already in the schools, but
those who are preparing to go into the
schools; that is, the men in detention
camps who have enlisted for radio or for
aviation want books on radio and aviation,
elementary books, or perhaps the textbooks
used in the schools themselves. The
A. L. A. is called upon by those men indi-
vidually to furnish those books and, of
course, the books must be furnished in
very large quantities if we are to do the
work which is to be done there.
Mr. Charles E. Rush called attention to
a poster by Mr. Charles B. Falls, of New
York City, stating that the work was the
gift of this artist to the library war serv-
ice, copies of the poster to be furnished
to libraries and camps; and having sug-
gested that a telegram of appreciation and
congratulation be sent to Mr. Falls, the
matter was referred to the Committee on
Resolutions.
Chairman Milam next called upon Mr.
Lloyd W. Josselyn, who spoke on
A DAY IN CAMP
(See p. 239)
Mr. John A. Lowe followed, with a pa-
per on
A DAY IN CAMP
(See p. 237)
Miss Mary L. Titcomb, having been
called upon by the chairman, spoke on
A DAY AT FORT LEAVENWORTH
(See p. 241)
At the close of Miss Titcomb's address,
Mr. J. I. Wyer stated that the following
communication had been presented to the
War Service Committee at its meeting on
the previous day:
"Saratoga Springs, N. Y.
July 3, 1918.
We ask the War Service Committee
please to announce at the Special General
Session to be held Thursday, July 4, at
10:30 a.m., its future policy as to the em-
ployment of women in the work under its
charge.
Beatrice Winseb,
Mary E. Downey,
Tessa L. Kelso,
May Massee,
Theresa Elmendorf,
Annie Carroll Moore,
Emma V. Baldwin."
Mr. Wyer, for the War Service Commit-
tee, then submitted a statement as follows:
The Committee is glad to reply promptly
and specifically to the foregoing request. It
must be said, however, merely as a fact and
not in any sense as excuse or parley, that It
is impossible (in the words of our petition-
ers) "to announce a future policy." In
the library war service both policies and
practices are like Huyler's candies, "Fresh
every hour." Policies are determined by
the general director, and so rapid is the
growth of the work from hour to hour
that it is often, in the rush of the day's
business, very hard to distinguish be-
tween a policy and a practice. Because
284
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
of these things the War Service Commit-
tee has made few formal pronouncements
of policy. There are, however, in posses-
sion of the committee certain facts, sta-
tistics, and documents which indicate ten-
dencies in this interesting matter and from
these tendencies, policies may readily be
inferred. These the committee is very
glad to present. The first is as follows:
The roster of the personnel of the libra-
ry war service from its inception last Oc-
tober, printed and distributed to the mem-
bers of this conference as War Library
Bulletin 7, shows the names of 236 men
and 69 women. These women are
On the headquarters staff 8
On the field staff 9
In dispatch ofilces 12
In camp libraries 40
The second, from the statement of the
general director which accompanies the
printed report of the War Service Com-
mittee placed in your hands at the open-
ing session, is as follows:
"The increasing availability — permissi-
bility— of women for service in the camps
helps to assure an adequate personnel.
The time may come — at certain camps may
come shortly — when women may be desig-
nated to the actual charge of the main li-
brary. As appears from the list of per-
sonnel, they already occupy positions of
responsibility in every phase of the serv-
ice and many of them are already in
charge of camp libraries, though none as
yet in charge of the main camp library
building."
And the following observations by Dr.
Hill, a member of the committee with
strong predilections for the largest pos-
sible use of women in its work, is taken
from the report of his recent visit to ten
large southern camps.
"Ever since the War Service Commit-
tee was organized, I have felt that women,
being in a large majority in the American
Library Association, should be called into
intimate relations with the work, both at
headquarters and in camp, and I still feel
just as strongly about it. From the be-
ginning I have realized that there were
many obstacles in the way of women serv-
ing as chief librarians at the camps and I
come back from my trip strongly fortified
in that opinion. Here are some of them:
1. Objection on the part of commanding
officers.
2. Difficulty of establishing relations
with camp headquarters.
3. The fact that it is a camp of men.
4. Inaccessibility of the camp library.
5. Necessity for leaving the grounds by
7 p.m.
6. Exceptional physical hardships im-
posed and required.
But they can be a large part of the staff
at nearly every library, and at many of the
camps women are employed both as volun-
teers and as paid members of the regular
staff.
Camps are located six to twelve miles
from towns and to reach them one has to
make use of most uncomfortable jitney
service. This can be endured when the
library building is near the entrance or
on a main thoroughfare. In many camps
the library is on a side street a mile from
the gate and difficult to reach. Women
would not find it altogether pleasant to
work in such camps, but the best evidence
on this score would come from the women
now serving in the libraries. If they are
willing to put up with the discomforts and
inconveniences, we ought to accept their
services and place them in every camp as
assistant librarians. Give them every pos-
sible opportunity to aid in this noble work.
To them quite as much as to the men is
due the success of the money campaign
and they should be given an equal share in
the conduct of the work."
The final speaker of the camp library
symposium was Mr. Adam Stbohm, libra-
rian of the Detroit Public Library and
camp librarian at Camp Gordon, Georgia,
his topic being
IS CAMP LIBRARY WORK AVOBTH WHILE?
(See p. 196)
Mr. Emerson inquired whether any dis-
tinctive service was being rendered at the
camp libraries with the idea of American-
izing any who have not imbibed the full
spirit of American ideals.
Chairman Milam: No person is better
qualified to answer that question than the
last speaker, Mr. Strohm.
Mr. Strohm: There is a great deal of
formal work being done in the way of class
instruction in American history, teaching
English, explaining, interpreting, analyz-
ing the motives back of the American
identification with the war. Perhaps the
reprints of the President's various mes-
sages have accomplished more than any-
thing else.
PROCEEDINGS
285
I think we should realize that the mili-
tary training itself, the mingling with the
boys in khaki, the significance of the re-
lations between the men and between the
ofBcers does more toward Americanizing
the boys than anything else. The salute
and the return salute between the private
and his superior signify the mutual under-
standing of this service of all, viz.: ready
obedience yet equal consideration as man
to man.
Dr. Hill: Is it not a fact that the edu-
cational work in the camp is in the hands
of the Y. M. C. A. educational secretary
and that they are developing that work to
a great extent?
I remember one camp that I visited and
there were 3,600 illiterates who were be-
ing taught by "Y" secretaries. And I un-
derstand that work is being organized now
in a cooperative way between the Y. M. C. A.
and Knights of Columbus and Jewish Wel-
fare Workers, so that it will be in charge
entirely of the Y. M. C. A. secretaries.
Now that I am on my feet, in regard to
the statement made a short time ago by
the chairman of the War Service Commit-
tee as to employment of women, I wish to
emphasize the point that the War Service
Committee has nothing to do with the em-
ployment of women or of men; this is en-
tirely in the hands of the general director.
Miss Winser: First may I thank the
War Service Committee for this most cour-
teous word by Mr. Wyer. There seems to
be in their minds an absolute misunder-
standing of what it is a few of the women
of this Association had in mind when they
put this question to them. It is not that
we desire to be camp librarians necessarily,
but it is that we are getting excessively
weary of being protected, shielded from
hard work. We are quite accustomed in
our own spheres to doing hard work of all
kinds, so let us forget this cherishing of
women in library work.
Mr. PuRD B. Wright: In any camp, in
any place, in what they call the forefront
of this work, the man is not alone, be-
cause he has nine or ten or twenty or
thirty or forty women back of him; and
the work that we are doing out West is
made possible in my library because I
have a force of sixty-five people working
every night so that I may go and do it,
and we ought to give the credit to them.
Miss McDonald: As representing a
number of the women that Mr. Wright has
just spoken of, I would like to remind you
of a remark Mr. Strohm made, and that is
the exultation attained from the direct
service. It is all right to wash dishes; it
is all right to raise money and to work
overtime hour after hour and night after
night; I am perfectly willing to do it and
I love the girls that are helping me to do
it, but also it is all right to hand around
in some way a little of that exultation that
comes from direct Avar service.
Miss MooRE (of New York City) : As
one of the signers of that paper — I do not
like to call it a petition because I have
never liked signing petitions — I would
like to say a word as to the reason why
I signed it:
I signed it from a very strong convic-
tion that a clearer and more comprehen-
sive statement should be made concerning
the status and opportunities for work for
women in the extension of the camp li-
brary service and in the belief that this
statement should be made in the interest
of library service in general.
We do not all want to be camp libra-
rians. I feel just as Mr. Strohm does as to
its being a question of skill in librarian-
ship, whether it be a man or a woman,
working singly, or in combination. But
we are losing right and left from our libra-
ries promising young women who have
given five, ten or more years to library
work and have distinct contributions to
make. These young Avomen have beeta
eagerly welcomed and readily placed by
other organized groups of war workers or
in Government service. I have not talked
with a librarian here who is not in need
of assistants. I have neVer attended so
middle-aged a convention as this one, for
I have seen but one or two young assist-
ants who seem likely to pass from one li-
brary to another.
I think this is very significant. I think
it is very important that we realize what
it means. I believe we are not only fac-
ing, but are already in the midst of the
gravest crisis in library service with which
we have ever been confronted. We have
286
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
got to call into library service competent
help in larger numbers than ever before if
the work is to go on.
We have got to meet the questions of the
younger women with something responsive
to their appeal if we are to hold their in-
terest. I have told two or three young
women of ability and poise, but who are
not yet 25 years old and are debarred from
overseas work, that if they can be patient
and put themselves into the work at hand,
they will probably get the kind of work
they are longing to do in the course of a
year or two.
Those of us who have to interpret and
sustain the strong desires of young women
who are in the period of wanting to give
their utmost in service for the country
must have all the support we can get from
the American Library Association, from
both sides, from the war work side and
from the civilian side.
Mr. Settle: I represent Camp Taylor
here. I want to say for the benefit of the
ladies present that I have a staff of fifty-
two in the city library and that we are
using from four to six of the staff at the
camp library every day. I am the only
man on the staff.
Mrs. Elmendorf: I simply want to say
as one of those signers, the object of sign-
ing the request was to try to see that the
same information was given to a great
number of people. In talking here I have
found a different bit of information from
nearly every person that I have talked
with and it seemed to me that one clear
statement from this committee would
serve to oil a good many troubled waters.
Miss Hall: May I say just a word for
the home service? I think we are making
a little mistake in belittling what we can
do there. I know that I have never been
busier in my library than during the past
year. I have never felt more the depend-
ence of my people upon me. I have never
felt more respomsibility toward them. I
have felt the pressure of the home service
so strongly that I have hardly known
where to turn to get it all done.
Miss Malone (of New York City) : I
would like to make a suggestion along the
lines proposed by the women who signed
that paper:
I would like to call the attention of the
American Library Association to the fact
that this War Service Committee consists
of five men and two women. Last year
they held thirteen meetings; four were at
Louisville, at the conference; presumably
all attended; five were held in New York
City, three were held in Washington and
one in Ohio. And the two women who
were on the committee were Miss Doren of
Dayton, Ohio, and Miss Countryman from
Minnesota, and they presumably could not
attend the Washington meetings or the
New York City meetings on account of the
distance, and of the thirteen meetings that
were attended there were nine in which
no women were represented at all, and the
outlining of the plans for the work the
woman librarians have done in regard to
the camp libraries was done principally at
the nine meetings, at which there were no
women represented. I would like to sug-
gest that since the meetings seem to be pro-
posed being held in the east, some eastern
women be put upon that committee, so
that they may attend the meetings and
know what burdens they are going to lay
upon the shoulders of other woman libra-
rians, I would like to suggest — and it is
only suggestions I am making — the name
of Miss Josephine Rathbone. The A. L. A.
might appoint her and in addition any
New York library worker. I would like to
suggest her name or the name of any other
woman who would be asked to attend the
great number of meetings that are still to
be held in New York City and Washington.
Chairman Milam having inquired
whether the general director desired to
add anything to what had been said, Dr.
Putnam spoke as follows:
What I wish particularly to say is that I
am glad that the inquiry or petition was
presented to the committee, if only be-
cause of the manly expressions the discus-
sion of it has evoked from the women this
morning.
If there was any reason why I should
have deprecated it, should have felt in-
clined to be indignant at it (you will see
in a moment why I use that word), it was
because of its implied disparagement of
the competent, finely spirited and able
women who have actually heen in our serv-
ice. That I have felt badly about. That
is the only thing: that there should seem
an underestimate of them and of the fine
work that they have been doing. Why, I
see them all about me. Miss Rathbone her-
self and the others.
The whole question, as Mr. Wyer has
clearly and adequately stated, is a ques-
tion of practice rather than of policy. That
is in fact true of the entire procedure in
our operations.
PROCEEDINGS
287
I had intended a general word to you
this morning, a word in conclusion to that
which I said on Tuesday morning. This is
not the time nor the appropriate occasion
for it. But as to this particular question
you may, I think, feel assured that it will
take care of itself, and especially that it
will do so in proportion as the women feel
about it as they have indicated in the
course of this discussion.
Let me add this, to another purpose.
One thing said this morning especially
touched a matter that has concerned my
thought and my conscience for some time
past. It was said by Miss Hall.
We are all eager to be "at the front";
we are eager to feel that we are doing
"war work." That is natural, and sound.
But we must not allow ourselves to dispar-
age the essentially war service that we are
performing at our "regular jobs." When
I have encountered a man or woman eager
to get away from the regular job for some
job at Washington, I have discouraged
them. But there are so many of them!
Even children's librarians anxious to get
away from that job to go into filing work
in the ordnance division. Think of it! A
children's librarian, in war time, willing
— eager — to abandon such a work as that
for the work of a file clerk! Believe me,
I cannot name a man in war time service
in Washington who can do for the future
of this country what the librarian of a
children's department can do at this very
moment.
On motion, the session was then ad-
journed.
FOURTH GENERAL SESSION
(Thursday afternoon, July 4)
The meeting was duly called to order.
President Montgomery being in the chair.
Mr. Carl B. Roden, librarian of the Chi-
cago Public Library, introduced Mr. Carl
Sandburg, of Chicago, poet and editorial
writer, who read from his published and
unpublished poems, a number of those se-
lected dealing with phases of the war.
At the request of the president. Dr. Her-
bert Putnam introduced as the next speak-
er Dr. M. Llewellyn Raney, librarian of
the Johns Hopkins University and director
of overseas service for the A. L. A.
Dr. Raney's subject was
the a. l. a. follows the flag overseas
(See p. 81)
President Montgomery then called upon
Mr. William Orr, the educational director
of the National War Work Council of the
Y. M. C. A., who spoke upon
the cooperation of the y. m. c. a. and the
A. L. A.
(See p. 93)
At the close of Mr. Orr's address the
session was adjourned.
FIFTH GENERAL SESSION
(Friday morning, July 5)
President Montgomery presided.
The first paper on the program was pre-
sented by Dr. Arthur E. Bostwick, the
subject being
THE future of LIBRARY WORK
(See p. 50)
Miss May Massee, editor of The Book-
list, followed with a paper on
THE SPIRIT OF THE WAR LITERATURE: POETRY
(See p. 72)
Dr. George F. Bowerman, librarian of
the Public Library of the District of Co-
lumbia, then presented a paper on
THE spirit of THE WAR LITERATURE: PROSE
(See p. 60)
Mr. Bowker: Although America has not
produced a great novel of the war, it has
produced the greatest literature of the
war, the most widely read, the most elo-
quent, the most epigrammatic of the war
— the words of Woodrow Wilson. I want
to ask that Dr. Bowerman, with his fine
voice which we have so clearly and sym-
pathetically heard, will conclude his pa-
per by reading to us at least the wonder-
fully eloquent and significant phrases
which mark the oration of President Wil-
son yesterday.
Dr. Bowerman then read the following
excerpt from the address of President
Woodrow Wilson, delivered at Mount Ver-
non, July 4, 1918:
These great objects can be put into a
single sentence. What we seek is the reign
of law, based upon the consent of the gov-
erned and sustained by the organized opin-
ion of mankind.
These great ends cannot be achieved by
debating and seeking to reconcile and ac-
commodate what statesmen may wish, with
their projects for balances of power and
of national opportunity. They can be real-
ized only by the determination of what
thinking people of the world desire, with
288
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
their longing liope for justice and for so-
cial freedom and opportunity.
I can fancy that the air of this place
carries the accents of such principles with
a peculiar kindness. Here were started
forces which the great nation against
which they were primarily directed at first
regarded as a revolt against its rightful
authority but which it has long since seen
to have been a step in the liberation of its
own people as well as of the people of the
United States; and I stand here now to
speak — speak proudly and with confident
hope — of the spread of this revolt, this
liberation, to the great stage of the world
itself! The blinded rulers of Prussia have
roused forces they knew little of — forces
which, once roused, can never be crushed
to earth again; for they have at their
heart an inspiration and a purpose which
are deathless and of the very stuff of
triumph !
President Montgomery then called upon
Dr. Hebbebt Putnam, librarian of Con-
gress and general director of the A- L. A.
war service, who addressed the assembly In
THE LIBRARY WAE SERVICE
(See p. 103)
Mr. Craver: There Is one matter I hope
the Association will arrange before it ad-
journs. The question of having an annual
convention in these busy days when we
are all pressed with other matters has been
one upon which there has been a consider-
able difference of opinion. Under our Con-
stitution, however, the Executive Board
has no discretion in the matter. It must
arrange an annual convention. I should
like to move, Mr. President, that before we
separate, in view of our uncertainty as to
the future, we authorize the Executive
Committee to omit the 1919 meeting if in
its judgment it seems expedient so to do.
Mr. Carb: I take extreme pleasure in
seconding that motion.
Mr. Bowker: Before the vote is taken,
while I shall be glad to vote for it, I wish
to emphasize one thought. The doubt of
the desirability of holding the convention
this year has been dispelled, I think, by
the experience of every one of us, and
while I believe we may vote to put this
discretion in the hands of the Executive
Board, I for one want to express the hope
it will not be exercised in that direction.
The motion was duly carried.
Specially appointed committees having
prepared memorial resolutions on the
death of two distinguished members of
the Association, these memorials were
then read and adopted by a rising vote.
HENRY EDUARD LEGLER
LIFE member of THE AMERICAN LIBBABY
ASSOCIATION, PBESIDENT 1912-13
In this grim, noble time, when millions
of men with unfaltering feet mount
"Up the large ways where death
and glory meet,"
we are straitened by an imperative need
for uncovering some other, some altered
aspect of death.
Sorrow from of old has been individual
— isolated — it has been mourning. But we
cannot now, even in imagination, look into
those wide graves in France, we cannot
even picture to ourselves that forest of
low, wooden crosses and think "Where is
sorrow like unto my sorrow?" We can no
longer suffer a broken column as fit sym-
bol of the young dead, "Dead ere his
prime."
Every authentic word from the front of
that dire midst of war reiterates this cer-
tainty: "It is a far, far better thing that I
do than I have ever done." In the face of
that certainty, It is no longer tolerable to
think of that massed, sacrificial death as
frustration — as waste. That were to make
"these dead to have died in vain."
They have consentlngly paid a price, the
last and highest price from them, an un-
utterably precious price for us, for what
must be an unutterably precious posses-
sion to us, even a holy thing, as that cup
of water brought from "the well which is
by the Bethlehem gate" was to David.
They have said each to the- other,
"As He died to make men holy,
Let us die to make men free."
"What manner of persons ought we to
be" to receive that blood-bought freedom
into our hands for ourselves and for the
children?
As we look thus at death — as we see it
as a deliberately counted and paid price
for a most dear thing — almost at once we
see, in the light of that greater glory, that
PROCEEDINGS
289
the passing of certain single lives may be
interpreted in a like way and change our
mourning to proud sorrow.
Certainly the life and the death of this
man whom we now honor and remember,
Henry Eduard Legler, our fellow-worker,
our friend, were a deliberate, a willing
paying of what he himself reckoned a not
extortionate price for the thing he meant
to do. He absolutely faced the fact from
the beginning that the price would al-
most certainly have to be paid if he un-
dertook that last great task of his life.
Life itself shaped and tempered this in-
strument for its best use. Born of an
Italian mother, the son of a Swiss father,
he was given gentleness, courtesy, per-
suasiveness, simplicity, a deep love of
beauty, perhaps his heritage from his
motherland. These graces veiled and
adorned an unfaltering, noiseless resolu-
tion and persistence and a keen intelli-
gence that came, perhaps, from his father
and from Switzerland.
Perhaps to make sure that neither in-
heritance should overwhelm the other, life
transported the little lad across the seas
to a new and a not-too-friendly environ-
ment, a small western Wisconsin town.
The early death of his father threw the
boy into the earning world which gave him
experience that wakened in him an in-
tense, persistent, dynamic sympathy with
those who are deprived of opportunity.
He was the most genuine, the most funda-
mental of democrats.
It is not necessary to tell here how after
work at the printer's case he picked up a
reporter's notebook and thence proceeded
to a taxing, training experience as pur-
chasing agent for a great school system.
After that experience he came into the
work which brought him among us as the
secretary of the Wisconsin Free Library
Commission, afterwards to become, at
length and at last, librarian of the Chi-
cago Public Library. The story of all
these things is written elsewhere.
He did not create the Wisconsin Free
Library Commission. Other equally de-
voted hands raised that structure. He did
set its house in order and extended its
domain and made its persistence sure.
He did not found the Chicago Public
Library. Another of our great names is
linked with that. He did knock the dogs
from under the keel of that great ship, so
that she slipped down the ways where she
had hung, and now she rides the full
stream of Chicago life.
His message comes back to us in the
words of him who wrote and who lies "In
Flanders Fields,"
"To you from failing hands we throw
The torch ; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep."
The words of this memorial have not
been cast into formal resolutions. They
have been made few and short purpose-
ly, that they might be like that brief,
momentary pause in the nation's busy,
noisy life which has once or twice hon-
ored the passing of a great servant of the
people.
Theresa Elmendorf, Chairman.
WuxiAM H. Brett,
Carl B. Roden,
Committee.
JAMES LOUIS GILLIS
James L. Gillis came into library work
in 1899 as a man who had already clearly
demonstrated his ability to handle large
problems, to meet men and, in a business
sense, to get results. His experiences as
a railroad employee and officer, rising as
he did from messenger boy to assistant
superintendent of a division, gave him a
foundation upon which, in a period of
eighteen years as librarian of the Cali-
fornia State Library, during which time
he served the California Library Associa-
tion as president nine terms, he was able
to erect a library structure surpassing in
size and beauty the accomplishments of
many another leader whose whole life was
devoted to one purpose. To those most
intimately associated with him, the motive
which spurred him on to greater efforts
and larger service was clear: he had a
never failing desire to give the boys and
the girls of his great state, and particu-
290
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
larly those in the country and the moun-
tains remote from opportunity's pathway,
a chance to make themselves better and
more useful men and women; as he said
frequently "to continue their education,
by books and reading, throughout their
lives." To this task he brought a clear
brain, a boundless energy, a friendliness
for people, a love for his friends, a capac-
ity to consider and weigh new things and
a faith in his work which will long make
his name an honor and an inspiration in
the library world. Professionally he came
into our work In a commonwealth unor-
ganized and without definite aim: he left it
a system beautiful in Its simplicity and its
effectiveness. His was an outpost posi-
tion and he held it staunchly, unfailingly.
He erected the California County Free Li-
brary plan as his watchtower and from its
fair height an ever growing throng will
get its vision of a bigger life, of better
things. His loss to llbrarianship is a
heavy one; his inspiration is a treasure
not easily or soon exhausted.
Everett R. Perry, Chairman.
Milton J. Ferguson,
George T. Clark,
Committee.
The President: I will ask for a rising
vote to testify to your approval of these
two resolutions.
A rising vote was thereupon given.
The President: I will now call for the
report of the Committee on Resolutions.
Dr. Arthur E. Bostwick presented the
following report of the Committee on Reso-
lutions, and it was duly adopted:
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON
RESOLUTIONS
RESOLVED, That at the close of its
Fortieth Annual Conference, the American
Library Association desires to place upon
record its gratitude to all those who have
done their parts toward making that Con-
ference a success.
To speakers, not members of the Asso-
ciation, who have come from a distance as
its guests to address us, we give our
thanks, and assure them of our heartfelt
appreciation.
We express our sincere pleasure in ac-
cepting the invitation of the educational
authorities of the State of New York to
take part in the exercises commemorating
the centenary of the New York State Li-
brary.
RESOLVED, That the thanks of the As-
sociation be given to Charles B. Falls, of
New York, for his generous contribution
of the designs for the two posters for
Library War Service, namely: the one
used in the book campaign and the one
just completed to promote library public-
ity within the various camps.
Whereas, the Association learns with
pleasure that grants made to public libra-
ries in Canada have materially increased
during the war, and that. In certain cities
in the United States also, there have been
increased appropriations for library pur-
poses; be it
RESOLVED, That we express our grat-
ification at this action and our belief that
libraries are a sufficiently important part
of our educational life to warrant a simi-
lar action in other cities in the United
States.
RESOLVED, That the American Library
Association expresses Its appreciation of
the opportunity afforded American libra-
ries by the Library and Exhibits Section
of the United States Food Administration
and Its directors of library publicity in the
several states to cooperate in the work of
food conservation; and that we pledge our
continued assistance.
Arthur E. Bostwick,
Mary Eileen Ahern,
Harrison W. Craver,
Committee on Resolutions.
The secretary read the report of the
tellers of election, showing that the fol-
lowing officers had been elected:
REPORT OF THE TELLERS OF
ELECTION
Total number of votes cast, 105.
President
William Warner Bishop, librarian Uni-
versity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.,
105 votes.
First Vice-President
Charles F. D. Belden, librarian Public
Library, Boston, Mass. 105 votes.
Second Vice-President
Burton E. Stevenson, librarian Public
library, Chillicothe, Ohio. 104 votes.
Members of Executive Board
(for three years)
Linda A. Eastman, vice-librarian Public
Library, Cleveland, Ohio. 104 votes.
EXECUTIVE BOARD
291
Adam Strohm, librarian Public Library,
Detroit, Mich. 103 votes.
Members of Council
(for five years)
W. Dawson Johnston, librarian Public
Library, St. Paul, Minn. 104 votes.
Joseph L. Wheeler, librarian Reuben
McMillan Free Library, Youngstown, Ohio.
102 votes.
Mary S. Saxe, librarian Public Library,
Westmount, P. Q., Canada. 105 votes.
Jessie Fremont Hume, librarian Queens
Borough Public Library, Jamaica, N. Y.
102 votes.
Henry N. Sanborn, librarian Public Li-
brary, Bridgeport, Conn. 104 votes.
Trustee of endowment fund
M. Taylor Pyne, Princeton, N. J. 103
votes.
President-elect Bishop was escorted to
the platform by Dr. Wire and Mr. Carr.
President Montgomery: It now becomes
my proud duty to present to you this
scepter of power together with all the joys
and sorrows, the responsibilities and emolu-
ments of office. I do this the more gladly be-
cause I know of your loyalty to the ideals of
this Association. To use a homely but
timely illustration, I know that if this ad-
ministration has dropped a stitch you will
catch it up and if that is not possible that
you will unravel the mesh with a kindly
hand and replace it with the well-woven
fabric of constructive usefulness.
You have our heart-felt wishes for a
happy and successful administration.
President-elect Bishop: The incoming
president is wise who makes no predic-
tions and prefers to let his administration
speak to the membership of the Associa-
tion by its deeds. I am, however, deeply
sensible of the honor conferred upon me
personally by election to this office. I am
also highly gratified that in my person the
university and college libraries of the
United States for the fifth time received
this recognition in the history of the Asso-
ciation, and before declaring the conven-
tion adjourned I beg to place not only my
individual efforts but those of the entire
membership of the Association in Dr. Put-
nam's hands in the conduct of the library
war service. We stand behind him and we
will stand behind him with all our might
and heart and soul unto the end.
There being no further business to come
before the Association, the Conference was
adjourned sine die.
EXECUTIVE BOARD
FIRST SESSION
A meeting of the Executive Board was
held at Saratoga Springs, July 1, 1918.
Present: President Montgomery, Vice-
President Eastman, Electra C. Doren, Jo-
sephine A. Rathbone, Frank P. Hill, M. S.
Dudgeon, S. H. Ranck and A. L. Bailey.
The minutes of the last meeting (Janu-
ary 2, 1918) were approved as printed in
the Bulletin for March.
Voted, That election of officers be held
on Thursday, July 4, and that polls be
open from 12 noon to 2:30 p. m. and again
from 5 to 6 p. m.
Voted, That William Teal and one other
to be chosen by him be tellers of election
(Mr. Teal appointed Gertrude Forstall).
Voted, That the Executive Board recom-
mend to the Association the amendment of
Section 12 of the Constitution, so that the
last sentence be changed to read as fol-
lows:
"The Finance Committee shall audit the
accounts of the secretary, treasurer, trus-
tees of the endowment fund, treasurer of
the Publishing Board, and all other ac-
counts, and report to the Association at the
annual meeting."
Voted, To exempt from payment of mem-
bership dues for the duration of the war
all those who are in the military or naval
service of the country.
The Executive Board, at the request of
the War Service Committee, took the fol-
lowing action relative to a second money
campaign :
292
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Toted, That the War Service Committee
of the American Library Association
through its subcommittee on Library War
Finance be authorized to conduct* a sec-
ond financial campaign, and to solicit funds
in the name of the American Library As-
sociation for the purpose of providing
boolcs and personal library service to sol-
diers and sailors in this country and
abroad and for carrying on such other ac-
tivities as are manifestly related to library
war service. The funds so collected shall
be styled "The American Library Associa-
tion Second War Service Fund."
Assuming favorable action by the Ex-
ecutive Board on the foregoing resolution,
the War Service Committee at its meeting
on June 8, 1918, passed the following sup-
plementary votes which it likewise sub-
mitted for the approval of the Executive
Board:
Voted, That after approval by the Ex-
ecutive Board of the American Library
Association, the American Security and
Trust Company as treasurer is authorized
and requested from the American Library
Association War Service moneys now in
its hands to transfer seventy-five thousand
dollars ($75,000) from the general fund to
a fund to be called the "Campaign Fund,"
such sum to be an initial appropriation for
the purpose of meeting expenses in the
second financial campaign.
Voted, That this "Campaign Fund" shall
be kept separate from the two War Service
Funds and shall be expended under the
authorization of the Library War Finance
Committee.
The Executive Board by unanimous vote
ratified the above votes of the War Serv-
ice Committee.
♦The War Service Committee at its meet-
ing held on June 8, 1918, in framing the pro-
posed vote which it would submit for action
by the Executive Board, made the proposed
vote to read, "That the War Service Com-
mittee of the American Library Association
through its sub-committee on Library War
Finance be authorized to prepare a vlan for
a second financial campaign," etc. The word
"conduct" in place of "prepare a plan for"
was substituted in the vote as passed by tbe
Executive Board by that member of the War
Service Committee who framed the original
draft, namely Dr. Hill, chairman of the
Committee on Library War Finance.
The War Service Committee notified the
Executive Board that it would later ap-
prove and nominate to the said Board a
depositary which shall act as treasurer
for the "American Library Association Sec-
ond War Service Fund."
The War Service Committee, at its meet-
ing of June 8, 1918, having shown a de-
tailed statement of bills paid from the
$2,000 fund voted by the committee on
December 29, 1917, to the credit of George
B. Utley, executive secretary, from which
it appeared that a balance remained of
only $699.39, with considerable expenses
in prospect incident to the Saratoga
Springs conference, it was
Voted, That after approval by the Ex-
ecutive Board of the American Library
Association, the American Security and
Trust Company as treasurer is authorized
and requested from the American Library
Association War Service moneys in its
hands, to transfer to the credit of George
B. "Utley, executive secretary, the sum of
$2,000, to be used to meet general expenses
of the committee not justly chargeable to
the fund voted to the credit of the War
Service Fund, Herbert Putnam, general di-
rector; bills covering such expenses to be
approved by the chairman of the commit-
tee, and checks to be drawn and signed by
George B. Utley, executive secretary.
The Executive Board by unanimous vote
ratified the above vote of the War Service
Committee.
Voted, That the report of audit of the
Finance Committee of the American Li-
brary Association of February 13, 1918, to
the Executive Board, be officially adopted.
The report, previously placed in the
hands of the Executive Board by corre-
spondence, is as follows:
Report of the A. L. A. Finance Committee
on audit of the accounts of the chair^
man of the War Finance Committee
To the Executive Board of the American
Library Association:
The Finance Committee of the Associa-
tion, having at your request examined the
accounts of the chairman of the War Fi-
nance Committee, report as follows:
EXECUTIVE BOARD
293
These accounts relate to two distinct
lines of action:
(1) The campaign to secure the fund
for camp libraries, and (2) the accounts of
the fund itself.
As to the first, a partial audit was made
as of November 2, 1917, by Messrs. Mar-
wick, Mitchell, Peat and Company, char-
tered accountants. This the Finance Com-
mittee have accepted. This audit did not
include certain advances by the assistant
treasurer to the War Service Committee
and certain payments of local campaign
expenses which were to be repaid from
the war fund. These items form account E.
All of accounts A, B, D and E were veri-
fied by the committee, the receipts
checked against the bank statements and
all the expenditures determined to have
been covered by properly approved vouch-
ers.
As to the fund itself, the expenditures
have not been authorized or controlled by
the War Finance Committee and the
vouchers for these expenditures are not
in the possession of its chairman. The
receipts, however, have passed through
his hands and have been recorded in his
account C. These receipts the committee
find to have been very carefully credited
to the communities contributing. In some
cases the state directors have made de-
tailed reports of the total amount con-
tributed from their state and in all but two
of such cases the committee find that they
are in absolute or very close agreement
with the record of receipts. In other
cases the directors' reports cover only a
portion of the contributions from a given
state and in quite a large number there
were no state directors or no reports were
received from them.
In all cases of the last class and also
wherever a considerable proportion of con-
tributions was not covered by the direct-
ors' reports, the committee examined the
correspondence and reports from the in-
dividual towns and find that here also
there is a very close agreement with the
record.
The total amount stated in account C
to have been received by the War Finance
Committee to and including January 19,
1918, is $1,573,153.79, which amount was
deposited with the American Security and
Trust Company of Washington as treas-
urer of the fund, as shown by their state-
ments up to and including January 23,
1918. Deducting the monthly contribu-
tions the deposits amounted to $1,570,-
386.44.
The total amount stated in the directors'
reports and other correspondence to have
been contributed up to January 19, 1918,
as nearly as could be ascertained by the
committee, was $1,574,610.83. Almost the
whole of this difference occurred in the re-
ports of two states. After correspond-
ence, it was found that in some cases de-
ductions for local expenses had not been
reported and in others unpaid subscrip-
tions had been reported as contributions.
Some of these have since been paid. The
few discrepancies remaining are still un-
der investigation, but most of them are
almost certainly due to the same causes.
They are so small in amount, both abso-
lutely and relatively, that the committee
see no reason for delaying their report,
especially as it would appear that the to-
tal amount received is slightly greater
than the total reported as contributed.
The committee desire to call attention
to and emphasize the great difficulties
and complexities of the work of receiving
and recording such a multitude of transac-
tions, though it would require a careful
examination of the correspondence to real-
ize them fully. They wish, therefore, to
express their high appreciation of the
thoroughness, faithfulness and accuracy
with which the work has been done.
Arthur L. Bailey,
Clement W. Andrews,
Harrison W. Ceaver.
February 13, 1918.
The following Committee on Resolutions
for the Saratoga Springs Conference was
named by the President: Arthur E. Bost-
wick, Mary Eileen Ahern and Harrison
W. Craver.
Voted, That the Executive Board em-
ploy counsel whenever necessary to assist
it in all legal matters, such counsel to be
employed on the nomination of the presi-
dent of the Association.
Mr. Dudgeon having offered to present
a plan for the systematic promotion of the
reading of the hest of the non-fiction books,
it was
Voted, That Mr. Dudgeon be requested
to present such a report within the next
three months.
Voted, That the question of meeting the
expenses incurred by the Board in connec-
tion with meetings other than the annual
meetings be referred to the Finance Com-
mittee.
Adjourned.
294
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
SECOND SESSION
A meeting of the Executive Board was
held July 5, 1918, at Saratoga Springs.
Present: President Bishop, A. L. Bailey,
Frank P. Hill, Electra C. Doren, Linda A.
Eastman and Josephine A. Rathbone.
Voted, unanimously. That the president
obtain from counsel an opinion as to the
relations between the American Library
Association, its Executive Board, its War
Service Committee and the general di-
rector of its Library War Service under
certain resolutions passed by the Ameri-
can Library Association, the Executive
Board and the War Service Committee, and
to ascertain where the custody of the fund
raised for library war service should be
vested.
Voted, That Josephine A. Rathbone be
appointed a member of the A. L. A. Pub-
lishing Board to fill the unexpired term of
the late Henry E. Legler (term expires
1920).
Voted, That the president be authorized
to fill the two existing vacancies on the
A. L. A. Publishing Board caused by the
expiration of terms of Arthur E. Bostwick
and M. S. Dudgeon.
Voted, That the Committee on Finance
for the coming year be constituted as fol-
lows: A. L. Bailey, chairman; C. W. An-
drews, H. W. Craver.
Voted, That the secretary be authorized
to distribute to such other accounts as are
most in need the $130 remaining in the
"contingencies" account of the budget for
the current fiscal year.
Voted, That the appointment of standing
comjnittees for the coming year be referred
to the president with power.
At the suggestion and request of A. L.
Spencer, of South Canisteo, New York, the
Board adopted the following resolution:
RESOLVED, That the Executive Board
of the American Library Association re-
news its endorsement of the plan for a
special flat rate of local character over
the rural delivery lines, the level of such
rate to be fixed by the postal authorities
as low as is consistent with the self-paying
character of the postal service.
Cooperation with the U. S. Bureau of
Education In the preparation and publica-
tion of war time reading lists, according to
a plan outlined by J. L. Wheeler to the
A. L. A. Publishing Board, being under
consideration, it was
Voted, That the question of means of ob-
taining the requisite funds for preparing
for publication certain war time reading
lists be referred to the War Service Com-
mittee with the approval of the Executive
Board of the lists proposed.
The secretary reported receipt of invi-
tations from the following places for the
next Conference of the Association: As-
bury Park, Buffalo, Chicago, New York,
Philadelphia, St Louis and San Francisco.
Voted, That the invitations for places of
meeting for the next Conference be re-
ceived and recorded, and action on place
of meeting be deferred to a future meet-
ing of the Board.
Voted, That the secretary be requested
to prepare a statement of work in prospect
for the coming year at the headquarters
office or elsewhere which should have his
personal attention, and to present this
statement to the Executive Board at its
next meeting.
Voted, That when the Board adjourns It
adjourn to meet at the call of the chair.
Adjourned.
COUNCILr— AGRICULTURAL LIBRARIES SECTION
295
COUNCIL
The Council met at Saratoga Springs,
July 4, 1918, President Montgomery pre-
siding.
Twenty-six members, a quorum, were
present.
The following committee was appointed
by the President to nominate five mem-
bers to the Council to be elected by the
Council: J. I. Wyer, Jr., E. H. Anderson,
Sarah C. N. Bogle, Linda A. Eastman, and
C. F. D. Belden.
A letter was read from a member of the
Council recommending that the A. L. A.
compile a list of pro-German literature
which should be withdrawn from circula-
tion by all public libraries of the United
States.
Voted, That a Committee be appointed
to consider and act with power on the
preparation of a list of warning of books
whose misuse should be guarded against.
The Committee on Nominations to the
Council submitted the names of M. L.
Raney, Pauline McCauley, M. J. Ferguson,
Agnes Van Valkenburgh and R. R. Bowker,
and on vote that the secretary be instructed
to cast a ballot for their election, they
were declared elected to the Council for a
term of five years each.
Adjourned.
AGRICULTURAL LIBRARIES SECTION
HRST SESSION
(Joint session with League of Library
Commissions and National Associa-
tion of State Libraries.)
By invitation of the Agricultural Libra-
ries Section, a joint session with the
League of Library Commissions and the
National Association of State Libraries
was held on the evening of July 3, the sub-
ject for the symposium being "Libraries
and the food problem."
At the request of Mr. George A. Deve-
neau, chairman of the Agricultural Libra-
ries Section, Mr. Henry N, Sanborn pre-
sided.
Miss Clara F. Baldwin, secretary of the
Minnesota Library Commission, spoke for
the library commissions as follows:
"The library extension commissions
which exercise advisory or supervisory
functions have naturally pushed the work
done for food conservation through their
regular channels of activity. These com-
missions have undertaken to help libraries
to show (1) why conservation is needed,
through special bulletin boards, circulation
and distribution of material, use of pos-
ters, exhibits, talks and all the methods
outlined by the Food Administration; and
(2) how to conserve.
In thirteen states the executive officer of
the library extension commission, or some
member of the staff, has been appointed
library publicity director. In Illinois and
Massachusetts the commission secretary Is
a member of the library publicity commit-
tee. The methods employed by the com-
mission have Included circular letters sent
out at regular intervals or from time to
time as occasion required. The commis-
sions which publish bulletins have stressed
the subject of food conservation in these
publications. The work has also been em-
phasized at state and district meetings and
library institutes. In Illinois six library
conferences were held in different parts of
the state and fifty-nine libraries were vis-
ited for special conferences. The work of
local libraries has been supplemented
through special loan of charts and exhibits
of posters, photographs and motion picture
slides."
Mr. Godard, librarian of the Connecticut
State Library, was the next speaker. He
said in part:
"In planning to speak for state libraries
it was realized that the most that could be
done was to give an account of what the
State Library of Connecticut had accom-
plished, not because it was unusual but be-
cause it was well known to the speaker and
it was believed to be typical of the work
done in the other states.
296
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
When this country entered the war it
was fully realized that only by utilizing
every agency for reaching the people could
maximum results be accomplished. To this
end, as a preliminary measure, a survey
of all the existing agencies in the state of
Connecticut was made and the mailing lists
maintained at the state library were care-
fully revised, especially the list of libra-
ries; for it was realized that the best
printed material In the world would fail
in accomplishing its mission if it were not
properly addressed. The state library dis-
tributed the, material sent it for this pur-
pose, held exhibits designed to educate the
people in the necessity for increased pro-
duction and conservation of food, prepared
a poster for the use with children, and,
most important of all, took an agricultural
census of the farm and state, showing In
the minutest detail what each farm had
produced, area planted to various crops,
etc. The results of this census were coded
on cards which have been of great use to
county agents and to others interested in
speeding up production. The library has
also made a list of boys from sixteen to
twenty years of age, which has been very
useful; and a list of leaders of thought in
the state to prevent duplication in sending
out material. Such men appear on all im-
portant mailing lists and often In the past
had received a number of copies of the
same thing. This list has been effective
In preventing this waste."
Miss Claribel R. Barnett, librarian of
the United States Department of Agricul-
ture, spoke for agricultural libraries. She
said In part:
"It seems providential that the outbreak
of the war found the country provided
with an agricultural organization unex-
celled by any in the world. This organiza-
tion, stretching from the Individual farm
through the county agent and the agricul-
tural college to the Secretary of Agricul-
ture of the President's cabinet, was able to
set in motion at once forces which have
done magnificent work in Increasing the
production of food and Its conservation.
Agricultural libraries are a part of this or-
ganization and are In a position of great
usefulness. They serve the scientist and
research worker by rendering bibliograph-
ical aid; they are in a position to help other
libraries In the valuation of agricul-
tural literature; in some states they are
doing extension work through the boys' and
girls' clubs and other extension agencies.
It is highly desirable that more library
school students recognize the opportunities
for service in agricultural library work.
This would be greatly aided by a special
course for agricultural librarians in some
of the library schools. Such a course
should take up such subjects as the bibli-
ography and history of agriculture, sources
of agricultural literature, the bibliography
of the sciences relating to agriculture, the
editing of agricultural publications and
some of the administrative problems con-
nected with the relation of the libraries
of the agricultural colleges to the experi-
ment station libraries and to the agricul-
tural extension work of the state. It would
seem the duty of the library profession to
provide this special Instruction in agricul-
tural literature in order that the library
profession may do Its full share in the
great national program of agricultural edu-
cation. Magnificent as is the service al-
ready rendered by the great agricultural or-
ganization of the country. It is but a proph-
ecy of possibilities for the new epoch upon
which we are entering. May it not be
hoped that agricultural libraries will be of
greater service to agriculture and to our
rural democracy In the future than they
have been in the past?"
Mr, Carl B. Roden, librarian of the Chi-
cago Public Library, spoke for public li-
braries, as follows:
"Never before in the history of libraries
have they had such an opportunity to per-
form a needed public service, but, as In all
such cases, a real benefit has accrued to
them In return, for the opportunity to get
the public acquainted with the library has
been put to good use." In representing
public libraries at this meeting the
speaker, like Mr. Godard, wanted It under-
stood that the work done by the Chicago
Public Library would be outlined, not be-
cause it was thought better than that done
by other public libraries but because It was
what he knew about and It was believed to
be typical.
"The most notable single thing done by
the Chicago Public Library was the holding
of a food show which was so great a suc-
cess that the woman's committee of the
Illinois Council of Defense asked permis-
sion to take It over and give it permanent
quarters. This has been done and it is
viewed by hundreds every day. Smaller
food shows have been aided in churches
and other places. The library has been
generous in Its policy of lending its as-
sistants to help In the food conservation
work wherever needed. Miss Jessie M,
Woodford, of the library staff, has been a
member of the library publicity committee
headed by Dr. Deveneau as library pub-
licity director for the state, and has de-
voted much time to its work. The docu-
ment section of the library has been prac-
AGRICULTURAL LIBRARIES SECTION
297
tically given over to food conservation
work, as the policy has been to cut out as
much of the routine work as could pos-
sibly be spared in order to leave the library
machinery and the time of the assistants
available for the more immediate neces-
sity of food conservation work."
Miss Edith Guerrier, director of the li-
brary publicity work of the Food Admin-
istration, followed. After paying a grace-
ful tribute to the chairman and each of the
speakers individually who had preceded
her, for the help and cooperation she had
received from them in carrying out the
program of the Food Administration in
its work with libraries, she said:
"The voluntary conservation of food ac-
complished by the people of the United
States has succeeded beyond the most san-
guine expectations of the Food Adminis-
tration. The work of libraries to this end
has been a real contribution to the win-
ning of the war. The function of my of-
fice is to act as a collector of the ideas put
into use in the various libraries over the
country and give them the publicity they
need to secure a greater usefulness. Too
great praise could not be given to the
splendid work done by the various states,
such as California with its 58 county chair-
men, Illinois with its food show and fine
active organization, and many other states
too numerous to mention. The main thing
for libraries to do is to connect the reading
of the people with the appeal of the food
conservation work, and make exhibits ef-
fective by the dramatic and imaginative
emotions aroused and set to work."
The United States Boys' Wobking Resebve
(See p. 198)
was the subject of an address of general
interest by Mr. Henry W. Wells, associate
director of this organization.
At the close of Mr. Wells' address Mr.
Deveneau of the Illinois College of Agri-
culture made a motion that the sections of
the American Library Association repre-
sented by this joint session express their
appreciation of the wonderful work al-
ready done by the U. S. Boys' Working Re-
serve and their desire to aid it in every
way possible. The resolution was unani-
mously adopted.
Miss Helen W. Atwater, representing the
woman's committee of the Council of Na-
tional Defense, was next introduced by Mr.
Sanborn. She said:
"The woman's committee was created
by the Council of National Defense as a
'committee of that council to serve as an
authorized channel of communication be-
tween the various federal departments and
other agencies of the Government, and the
women of the country, especially for the
transmission of information and requests
which the Government might wish to give
to the women of the nation in order to en-
list their help in its war activities. The
woman's committee in turn asked the
women of each state to organize correspond-
ing women's divisions which should do
similar work in their states and these state
divisions in turn were organized in county
and local units. Thus a machinery was cre-
ated by which suggestions from Washing-
ton could be promptly and authoritatively
transmitted to the women practically all
over the country.
In planning its work the woman's com-
mittee found it desirable to subdivide its
activities into eight or ten departments.
The food conservation work is carried on
through two of these departments, one en-
titled the food administration department,
whose work consists in furthering the
plans of the United States Food Admin-
istration, and the other the department of
food production and home economics, the
work of which corresponds to that of the
United States Department of Agriculture
as the latter deals directly with women.
As far as the work of food conserva-
tion is concerned, it is practically the same
whether carried on under the auspices of
the Department of Agriculture or of the
Food Administration, and the suggestions
which the Food Administration, through
its library division, has made to the Amer-
ican Library Association and the cordial
cooperation which the Association and its
individual members have given the Food
Administration In this work has been
equally helpful to the food conservation
work of the other agencies.
In addition to the work with food, it is
becoming more and more apparent that
other lines of conservation will have to be
generally adopted by the country, and here
the libraries can be of assistance in the
same way that they have in the food con-
servation work. It is useless to urge people
to buy liberty loan bonds or war savings
stamps unless we can point out definite
ways in which they can save money for
such purchase. . . . Unfortunately,
up to the present time there has not been
published as much good popular material
on the conservation of these other ma-
terials for daily use, as was available on
the subject of food before the war, but it
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
will be a very useful service on the part
of libraries if they will call to the atten-
tion of the public such reliable material as
already exists and will aid in distributing
such emergency material as will undoubt-
edly be published by governmental agen-
cies, and probably also by private persons
or societies, within the next few months.
Much of the subject matter for such a gen-
eral conservation or thrift compaign may
seem at first sight rather trivial. Let us
remember, however, that it is not many
years ago when questions of food values,
which now interest practically everyone,
were considered equally trivial and tire-
some. In speaking of this increased in-
terest on the part of the public in food
questions, a worker in food conservation
recently said that one of the reasons why
people were now so interested in food was
that the war had brought it into its in-
ternational relationships. In the same
way we must bring questions of textiles
and fuels and all the other materials of
our daily use into their proper position in
our national economy, and the workers in
the field are trusting to the assistance of
the libraries to aid In pointing out their
dignity and International relationships."
Following this address the joint ses-
sion adjourned.
SECOND SESSION
The second session of the Agricultural
Libraries Section was held on the evening
of July 4.
Mr. George A. Deveneau, chairman,
presided and opened the session by read-
ing a paper on "The agricultural literature
of Canada," by Miss Jacquetta Gardiner,
librarian of the Ontario Agricultural Col-
lege, who was unable to be present. The
following is a summary:
The Dominion Department of Agriculture
issues many bulletins, circulars and re-
ports, but owing to the war, has reduced
the publication and distribution of the
larger reports and comprehensive bulletins,
aiming to make the publications more
specific and brief. At the same time it is
extending the circulation as rapidly as
is consistent.
This department also issues bulletins of
the International Institute at Rome; the
Bulletin of Foreign Agricultural Intelli-
gence; The Agricultural Gazette of Can-
ada; and the Agricultural War Book.
The International Institute supplies the
Institution at Rome with statistics and offi-
cial information respecting agriculture in
Canada, and prepares for distribution in
Canada corresponding information from
countries adhering to the International In-
stitute of Agriculture.
At present, each monthly issue of the
Agricultural Gazette of Canada (published
in English and French at Ottawa) is di-
vided into five parts, Pt. 1 devoted to vari-
ous phases of the work of the Dominion
Department of Agriculture; Pt. 2 dealing
with the Provincial Department; Pt. 3
with rural science; Pt. 4 with special con-
tributions, reports of agricultural organiza-
tions, notes, and publications, the latter
being a list of the new publications each
month, and an index to the periodical liter-
ature of value appearing in various maga-
zines, etc., during the month; Pt. 5 deal-
ing with the International Institute of
Agriculture.
The Agricfttural War Book (production
and thrift) is prepared for the use of
instructors and for the press of Canada.
The notes and extracts have been taken
from the agricultural and daily newspapers
of Canada and other reliable sources, and
discuss all phases of the question of agri-
culture pertaining to the "production and
thrift campaign."
Bulletins and pamphlets are issued by
the Inland Revenue Department, Central
Experimental Farm, Dairy and Cold Stor-
age Commissioner, Entomological Branch,
Division of Botany, Tobacco Division, Seed
Branch, Health of Animals Branch, Divi-
sion of Chemistry, Fruit Division, Publi-
cations Branch, Live Stock Branch, and
the International Institute.
The Dominion Experimental Farms is-
sue an annual report compiled by the di-
rector and chief officers of the Central Ex-
perimental Farm, and superintendents of
branch farms and stations; bulletins, cir-
culars, etc.; Seasonable Hints (published
in March, July and October) ; exhibition
circulars; circular letters; and contribute
articles to the agricultural press.
The Fruit Branch, in addition to bulle-
tins and circulars, issues monthly crop
reports during the fruit season, advising
the public as to the condition of the fruit
crop all through the Dominion, with infor-
mation regarding foreign conditions.
The Seed Branch issues reports, bulle-
tins, special contributions, chiefly statisti-
cal, which are sent to the Census and
Statistics Monthly, issued by the Trade
and Commerce Department; leaflets on
seed testing, and sometimes hints on
cleaning seed, are enclosed with the re-
ports sent to farmers and seed merchants.
Due to the war conditions, short articles
giving prompt information to farmers.
AGRICULTURAL LIBRARIES SECTION
299
gardeners and seed merchants are sent to
the press and agricultural papers.
When a campaign of publicity is on in
connection with the patriotism and pro-
duction movement, there are inserted in
newspapers from coast to coast a series of
advertisements, each one making a spe-
cialty of some particular branch of agri-
culture. A coupon attached Invites appli-
cation for bulletins on specified subjects.
Posters of the same character are also
displayed in public places, such as rail-
way stations, etc.
Lists of these Dominion publications are
available for distribution, and may be had
by applying to the Publications Branch of
the Department of Agriculture at Ottawa.
Since 1914 notices of new publications
have appeared each month in the Agricul-
tural Gazette. In addition to these, there
are lists published on the back covers of
some of the bulletins, for instance, the
Fruit Branch has a list on the back page
indicating the available numbers of the
Dairy and Cold Storage Commissioner's
series.
Most of the Dominion and many of the
Ontario and other provincial publications
are now indexed in the Agricultural Index
published by the H. W. Wilson Co. of New
York City. [A detailed statement of the
agricultural publications of each of the
provincial governments was included in
this paper.]
Mr. Deveneau then introduced Miss Vera
M. Dixon, assistant librarian of the Iowa
State College, who read a paper entitled
"A Plan for library extension work In
agriculture and home economics." The fol-
lowing is a summary:
There is a distinct contribution which
the libraries of the state agricultural col-
leges can make in the present national ef-
fort to get information to the farmers and
the housekeepers.
They have presumably the best collection
of books in the state relating to the sub-
jects of agriculture and home economics;
they are in contact with the experts on the
faculty of the college and are, therefore,
in a position to keep informed on the lit-
erature of these subjects and are usually
in close touch with the workers in agri-
culture and home economics over the
state.
For this and other reasons there should
be maintained in connection with agricul-
tural college libraries an extension bureau
devoted to collecting and making available
the best and most recent literature on the
subjects of agriculture and home economics.
This would constitute ah authority to
which people over the state could write
for information and from which they could
borrow books.
The collection should consist of books,
pamphlets and package libraries, and
could be loaned to leaders of clubs, home
demonstration agents, county agents, and
schools. The estimated cost for conduct-
ing this work at Iowa State College is as
follows:
Initial cost:
Salary of assistant, $90 for 12
months $1,080
Equipment of room 300
Supplies (including postage and
express) 200
Books 1,000
$2,580
Yearly cost of maintenance:
Books $ 500 to $1,000
Equipment 100
Supplies 100
Postage and express 100 to 200
Salary 1,500 to 1,600
A questionnaire was recently sent to aL
state universities, agricultural libraries,
and state library commissions to determine
how much library extension work in agri-
culture and home economics they were do-
ing. Sixty-one state universities and agricul-
tural colleges answered. Of this number
63 per cent report that they are doing li-
brary extension work, and the number of
questions answered per year runs from
twenty-five at the University of Nebraska
to 6,879 at the University of Kansas.
Eight have a special assistant in charge
of this work and many express the wish
that they had.
Miss Lucy E. Fay, librarian of the Uni-
versity of Tennessee, gave a report of the
plan for agricultural extension work at
that university, and Mr. William M. Hep-
burn, librarian of Purdue University, In-
diana, made a similar report.
A spirited discussion of the interesting
facts brought out by Miss Dixon's report
resulted in a motion made by Miss Lacy, to
present a resolution to Dr. Alfred C, True,
of the Department of Agriculture, that,
since 63 per cent of the institutions in this
country doing agricultural work are carry-
ing on some form of library extension work
in response to the great need existing for
such service, he be respectfully urged to
consider this need and the great handicap
300
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
experienced in meeting it because of lack
of funds, and if possible devise some
means of using a portion of the Smith-
Lever funds for this purpose. The resolu-
tion was unanimously adopted.
There followed a paper on "The sources
of agricultural statistics," by Miss Mary
G. Lacy, of the library of the U. S. De-
partment of Agriculture. [The paper, with
an appended list of statistical sources, will
appear in the Library Journal.']
Miss Barnett, for the Handbook Com-
mittee, reported progress and it was de-
cided that the material in hand be circu-
lated among agricultural libraries for
criticism and suggestions.
Mr. Hepburn proposed the following of-
committee appointed at Louisville in 1917
which recommended to the Association of
Agricultural Colleges and Experiment
Stations that each agricultural experiment
station be requested to keep a reserve sup-
ply of not less than 150 copies of each pub-
lication issued, to be drawn on in com-
pleting sets in libraries. The Nominating
Committee, consisting of Miss Barnett and
Mr. Hepburn, proposed the following of-
ficers for the coming year, and on motion
they were elected: Chairman, Vera M.
Dixon, assistant librarian, Iowa State Col-
lege, Ames, Iowa; secretary, Lucy E. Fay.
librarian. University of Tennessee, Knox-
ville,. Tennessee.
Mary G. Lacy,
Secretary.
CATALOG SECTION
The Catalog Section met Tuesday eve-
ning in the club room of the Grand Union
hotel, with the chairman, Miss Adelaide F.
Evans of the Detroit Public Library, pre-
siding. The secretary, Miss Mary F. Baker
of the University of Missouri Library, was
unable to be present and Miss Leta E.
Adams of Gaylord Brothers acted in her
stead.
In a most interesting personal letter to
Miss Evans, read by Miss Mary E. Hyde,
Lieut. Willis F. Sewall, of the adjutant
general's office, told of "War Department
Indexes." [Extracts from this letter are
given on page 242.]
Dr. C. W. Andrews of the John Crerar
Library presented a report from the Deci-
mal Classification Advisory Committee. He
said such slight progress had been made
during the year that it might almost be
called a "report of standing still." The
committee felt that unless there was a de-
cided change for the better during the
coming year, they should either go on in-
dependently or else ask to be discharged.
In the symposium on "Cataloging econ-
omies," which followed, the speakers were
decidedly conspicuous by their absence.
Miss Jennie M. Flexner, of the Louisville
Free Library, read a paper written by Miss
May Wood Wigginton of the same library,
on
CATALOGING ECONOMIES: MEETING THE DE-
MANDS OF WAR SERVICE CATALOGING
(See p. 245)
The next paper, written by Miss Grace
B. McCartney, of the Rochester Public Li-
brary, was read by Miss Adeline B. Zachert
of the same library, on the subject
CATALOGING ECONOMIES: HOW ROCHESTER
ECONOMIZES
(See p. 247)
Miss Margaret Mann, of the Carnegie
Library of Pittsburgh, read the paper of
Miss Adah Patton of the same library, en-
titled
THE CARE OF GIFT PAMPHLETS
(See p. 249)
Miss Katharine Dame, of the New York
State Library, read the paper of Mr. T.
Franklin Currier, of Harvard College Li-
brary, the title being
COST REDUCTION IN CATALOGING
(See p. 243)
Considerable discussion of short cuts in
general and especially the elimination of
CHILDREN'S LIBRARIANS SECTION
301
Cutter numbers followed. Some of those
taking part were Mr. G. W. Lee of the
Stone and Webster Library, Mr. J. C. M.
Hanson of the University of Chicago Li-
brary, Mr. Charles Martel of the Library
of Congress, Dr. E. C. Richardson of
Princeton University Library, Miss Rena
Reece of the Denver Public Library, Miss
Jennie M. Flexner of the Louisville Free
Library and Miss Leta E. Adams of Gay-
lord Brothers.
Mr. Maurice Sloog, of 713 Madison Ave-
nue, New York City, announced the forma-
tion of a French information bureau and
clearing house and invited the patronage*
of the librarians present.
Mr. Herbert C. Collar of the Grosvenor
Library, Buffalo, spoke very fully on the
making of "Index cards for maps found in
certain periodicals."
The Committee on Nominations, through
Miss Sophie Hiss of the Cleveland Public
Library, chairman, named the following
as officers of the section for the ensuing
year: Chairman, Miss Jean Hawkins, of
the New York State Library School; secre-
tary. Miss Adah Patton, of the University
of Illinois Library.
These officers were elected and the meet-
ing was adjourned.
Leta E. Adams,
Acting Secretary.
CHILDREN'S LIBRARIANS SECTION
The Children's Librarians Section met
Tuesday evening, July 2, with Miss Sarah
C. N. Bogle of the Carnegie Library School,
Pittsburgh, in the chair. But one session
of the section was held, therefore a busi-
ness meeting preceded the program.
A report of the permanent committee of
five on the production of children's books,
of which Miss Burnite is chairman, was
read by Miss Hazeltine and approved as
read. The committee had studied the situ-
ation and obtained some definite informa-
tion after getting reports from about thir-
ty publishers who "replied in a spirit of
interest and a desire for cooperation." It
is not surprising that none of them felt
that there was anything that could be done
to improve the physical qualities of the
books just now.
Nearly all of the publishers in answer to
the question, "In what ways may this
committee be of service to your firm,"
asked that they be apprised of the plan of
work and decisions of the committee. One
firm would welcome an opportunity to put
suggested ideas and manuscript of books
before the committee or a specially sug-
gested committee of children's librarians,
and would contribute something to the ex-
pense of such cooperation.
The committee recommended that the
next step be the securing from publishers
some definite statement of books which
they expect to reprint and especially those
which they plan to reset, to determine
whether any changes seem wise in illus-
tration, make-up or text.
The committee also recommended the ad-
visability of finding out from the publish-
ers those books which are out of stock and
which they are not planning to republish
and whether publishers would be inter-
ested in a statement from the large libra-
ries as to the importance of continuing par-
ticular titles.
The committee considered that much of
the success of any attempt to influence the
production of better books for children
depended on a cordial relationship be-
tween the committee and the publisher,
especially on the confidence of the pub-
lisher in the practical judgment of the
committee.
A list of examples of books of unsatis-
factory typography and books which do
not wear well has been prepared by this
committee.
None of the speakers scheduled on the
regular program were able to be present.
Miss Adeline B. Zachert read Miss Caro-
line Burnite's paper on
302
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
LIBEAEY WOEK WITH CHrLDBEN IN WAE TIME
(See p. 95)
Following this paper informal reports
from Miss Annie Carroll Moore of New
York, Miss Emma R. Engle of Philadelphia,
and Miss Alice I, Hazeltine of St. Louis
gave summaries of the war service ren-
dered by children in the various cities.
The secretary read a report from Miss
Alice M. Jordan of Boston. A report was
received from the Los Angeles Public Li-
brary.
The reports from these cities, given at
some length, showed variations in meth-
ods but unanimity of effort and aim and
the accomplishments in the first hurried
excitement, even when definite plans were
lacking, were stupendous. It was regretted
that the lateness of the hour prevented
much discussion after these reports.
The Library Committee of the Junior
Red Cross submitted the following report,
which was read by the secretary:
Report of the Library Committee of the
Junior Red Cross
To aid in accomplishing the aims of the
Junior Red Cross the following Library
Committee was appointed by Dr. H. N.
MacCracken, National Director of the Ju-
nior Red Cross:
Mr. C. C. Certain, Cass Technical High
School, Detroit; Miss EflSe L. Power, head
of children's department, Carnegie Libra-
ry, Pittsburgh; Miss Elisabeth Knapp,
chief of children's department. Public Li-
brary, Detroit.
The purpose of the committee is to pro-
mote library service as one of the means
of properly informing children concerning
their national life and of preparing them
for intelligent participation in the activi-
ties of the Junior Red Cross and aifiliated
organizations.
The method of procedure formulated by
the committee is as follows:
(1) The coordination of library service
with Red Cross activities, by the fol-
lowing means:
(a) The compilation and distribu-
tion of reading lists and leaflets
relating to patriotic and educa-
tional programs.
The leaflets will be addressed to
children on such topics as
"Why we are at war"
"How boys and girls can help"
"Heroes at the front"
"Great national holidays"
"Men and women of the day"
"War time changes in commerce,
etc."
"How the Red Cross and other or-
ganizations help the soldiers and
sailors"
(b) The publication of illustrated
bulletins.
(c) Establishment of permanent Ju-
nior Red Cross shelves or al-
coves in libraries to make ac-
cessible reports and literature
of the Junior Red Cross and al-
lied organizations.
(d) Assisting in gathering mate-
rials and preparing reading lists
relating to the activities and
campaigns of the Junior Red
Cross. Tentative suggestions
and lists will be prepared in ad-
vance, and supplemented at later
dates.
(e) Clipping and mounting of mate-
rial of local interest to branches
of the Junior Red Cross organ-
izations.
(f) Preparing exhibits of books and
pamphlets for displaying the
work of the Junior Red Cross.
An exhibit of this kind is pos-
sible and can be increased in in-
terest by the addition of the
handiwork of members.
(g) The organization of reading
clubs, study clubs and debating
clubs which can do Red Cross
knitting in libraries without in-
terference with the usual pro-
grams. The programs of these
clubs also offer unlimited oppor-
tunities for information.
(2) Definite concerted effort on the part
of librarians in helping to save the
children of America from the unset-
tling effects of the war. The stimu-
lation of the imagination, the re-
freshment of the mind, the creation
of new interest and reading for pure
enjoyment are to be valued as im-
measurable assets in attaining the
purpose of the Junior Red Cross.
Plan of organization:
The Junior Red Cross Library sections
of the National Education Association and
the American Library Association Com-
mittees on Library War Service and on
COLLEGE AND REFERENCE SECTION
303
Cooperation with Educational Associa-
tions.
Each of the cooperating committees has
planned work to be directed by the Amer-
ican Library Association and the National
Education Association.
Cooperating organization :
(a) American Library Association:
(1) Library War Service, Carl H.
Milam, assistant to the director,
Library War Service, Library of
Congress, Washington, D. C.
(2) Committee on Cooperation with
Educational Associations, Wil-
lis H. Kerr, chairman. Normal
School Library, Emporia, Kan-
sas.
(3) Children's Librarians' Section.
(4) School Libraries Section.
i.b) National Education Association:
The president of the Library Depart-
ment, C. C. Certain, Cass Tech-
nical High School, Detroit, Mich.
Committee chairmen:
Colleges and Universities: Harriet
A. Wood, Library Association,
Portland, Oregon.
Normal School: Willis H. Kerr, Li-
brarian, State Normal School,
Emporia, Kansas.
Elementary Schools: Annie S. Cut-
ter, children's department, Pubr.
lie Library, Cleveland, Ohio.
Rural Schools: Orpha Maud Peters,
Public Library, Gary, Indiana.
The present significance and importance
of work for children in libraries was em-
phasized in various meetings and although
there were fewer children's librarians pres-
ent than usual, stimulation to renewed ef-
forts was not lacking.
The Nominating Committee, consisting
of Miss Hazeltine of St. Louis, Miss Her-
bert of Washington, and Miss Sutherland
of Kansas City, reported the following ofii-
cers, who were duly elected: Chairman,
Miss Caroline Burnite, Cleveland Public
Library; vice-chairman. Miss Adeline
Zachert, Rochester Public Library; secre-
tary. Miss Ethel Wright, Toledo Public
Library.
The chair appointed Miss Louise Hooper
of Brookline and Mr. Adam Strohm of De-
troit on the advisory board; and on the
Committee for the Production of Children's
Books, Miss Nina Brotherton of the Car-
negie Library of Pittsburgh, and Mr. Theo-
dore W. Koch of the Library of Congress.
The meeting was then adjourned.
Elisabeth Knapp,
Secretary.
COLLEGE AND REFERENCE SECTION
The section met Friday evening, July 5,
W. W. Bishop presiding.
Mr. ,H. M. Lydenberg, chief reference li-
brarian. New York Public Library, pre-
sented a paper on
PRESENT DISCONTENTS WITH NEWSPRINT
STOCK
(See p. 211)
Dr. C. W. Andrews presented facts re-
garding the union list of periodicals which
he is editing for libraries of the middle
western states. This list will show joint
holdings of university and state libraries
and in addition sets held by public libra-
ries which are not in the university and
state libraries. It is expected that the list
will include about 30,000 entries and that
the volume as printed by the H. W. Wilson
Company will consist of about 600 pages.
A discussion of "Instruction in bibliog-
raphy and the book arts in colleges and
universities" was introduced by A. S. Root.
He advocated that elementary instruction
in high schools in the reference use of
libraries should be followed in colleges by
courses in the history of printing and in
bibliographical methods given by the libra-
rian, and in the bibliography of special
subjects given by specialists on the fac-
ulty.
The chairman appointed Mr. Quaife and
Mr. Keogh as a nominating committee and
their report naming Augustus H. Shearer
as a member of the committee controlling
the affairs of the section, was adopted.
304
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
The lateness of the hour prevented the
formal discussion of the last topic on the
program, "University and college catalogs
in university libraries," but after adjourn-
ment several members of the section, un-
der the leadership of Mr. Hanson, told how
their institutions are handling and filing
these publications.
Chables J. Barb,
Acting Secretary.
• PROFESSIONAL TRAINING SECTION
The ninth annual meeting was called to
order by the vice-chairman, Mr. Ernest J.
Reece, in the absence of the chairman.
Miss Jessie Welles. At the request of the
chairman, Mrs. Harriet P. Sawyer acted
as secretary pro tem., as Mrs. Theodora R.
Brewitt, the secretary, was unable to be
present.
The program opened with a paper by
Mr. Frank K. Walter on
THE WAR AND LIBRARY TRAINING
(See p. 98)
The discussion of the paper was opened
by Miss Mary Emogene Hazeltine, who
said that the question of the increase of
salaries was a vital one. The state library
commission wants the libraries of the state
to have trained workers, but it is dilficult
to get trustees to pay adequate salaries.
Raises should be by the twenty-five dollar
method rather than the five. The influence
of Washington may help solve the problem.
The university students can obtain larger
salaries in other fields and the course of
training covers more hours than the usual
university courses. An increase of the
element of seriousness was noted in the
student's mind and attitude toward the
work last year. The example of the sol-
dier was followed and forced marches met
with no objection.
Miss Eastman reported modification in
training class plans for last year, viz., a
clerical course for a clerical grade, and de-
laying the apprentice course until January
1 in order to get enough students to form
a class.
Miss Rathbone spoke of the unprecedent-
ed demand for trained workers. More than
half the students graduating this year had
been salaried assistants in libraries before
coming to Pratt. An investigation of the
actual expenses of the students showed
that they ranged between $520 and $550
for the school year, an investment quite
worth while.
In regard to salaries. Miss Doren said
that the trustees must be reached and back
of them the taxpayers. Librarians should
convert the trustees and reach the budget
commission. What is the idea among li-
brary boards as to the proportion of libra-
ry income which should be applied to sal-
aries? It is very diflScult to meet the pres-
ent war competition when pages can dou-
ble their salaries in Washington. Stand-
ards of work cannot be reduced. It is an
economy to conduct a training class;
fewer persons do more work, when trained,
than a larger number of untrained assist-
ants. The war has brought insistent de-
mands which must be met and the solu-
tion is more training plus more salary.
Miss Curtiss suggested an efficiency sur-
vey of salaries and living expenses, giving
educational qualifications. Compare sal-
aries with those received by graduates of
business colleges, teachers' colleges, etc.
In short, make something concrete which
can be grasped.
Miss Hooper told of the elaborate re-
port, which she presented to her board,
giving the educational qualifications of the
staff assistants and a comparison of sal-
aries with school salaries. The trustees
were impressed and cut the general ex-
penses and book fund in order to meet the
increased salary budget as recommended.
A similar plan was described by Miss
Donnelly, who had used it with success.
Miss Zachert referred to the general
feeling that "it was not ladylike to men-
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING SECTIOIS
305
tion salaries" and added, "The librarian
must be convinced before convincing oth-
ers, and a knowledge of salaries the coun-
try over is necessary to convince trustees."
At the end of the discussion, Mr, Walter
made the following motion: "That a com-
mittee be appointed to make a survey of
the salary conditions in the libraries of the
United States, and their relation to the
problem of effective library training." The
motion was seconded by Miss Bogle and
passed unanimously.
The next paper introduced another sub-
ject of great interest, "Some experiments
in secondary training": Psychological
tests conducted in training classes of the
public libraries of Brooklyn, Chicago, De-
troit, Portland (Ore.), and Washington by
Dr. Elsie Murray, professor of psychology,
Wilson College, Chambersburg, Pa., who
kindly sent the following abstract for pub-
lication :
"The following is a record of a pioneer
attempt in the application of psychological
methods to the rating and differentiation
of abilities in a class of prospective library
assistants. A series of twelve tests,
planned by the writer, at the request and
under the direction of Miss Jessie Welles
(of the Wisconsin Library School), was
applied by Misses Herbert, Sawyer, Mor-
gan, Hopkins and Whitcomb, to the mem-
bers of their training classes in the public
libraries of Washington, Detroit, Portland,
Brooklyn and Chicago, in the fall of 1917
and spring of 1918. The fifty student ap-
prentices tested were also rated by their
class instructors on a scale of 5 to 1 points
in the following: general mental ability;
accuracy; practical ability; social ability;
executive ability.
"The following rough method of evaluat-
ing results was then provisionally adopted:
The corrected tests sent in by the class di-
rectors were scored, not on the customary
percentage basis, but by the quartile meth-
od, i. e., an individual whose performance
in any test ranked with that of the best
quarier of the group of fifty was assigned
four points; with that of the next best
quarter, three points, etc. The various
scores thus obtained from the twelve tests
(twenty in all) were then tentatively
grouped in four sets according as they
seemed best adapted to gauge either: (a)
general ability; (b) accuracy, or clerical
ability; (c) practical ability; (d) social
ability. From the scores thus grouped a
single composite rating in each of the four
abilities mentioned was then obtained for
each individual.
"The comparison of the composite test
ratings in each ability thus obtained with
the instructors' final estimates of the cor-
responding qualities discloses suflBcient
agreement to warrant both a further
evaluation of the results in connection with
the type of position to which each member
of the classes has been recommended, and
a repetition of the experiment (with modi-
fications) with other training classes. The
final corroboration of the value of the re-
sults must come, of course, empirically,
i. e., from the actual records of success or
failure made by each individual tested
along the special lines of work entered."
Miss Murray was unable to attend the
Conference, so her paper was read by Miss
Adah F. Whitcomb, director of the Chicago
Public Library training class, who said
that the results of the tests when tabulated
showed that, on the whole, the ratings cor-
responded to class records at the end of
the course.
Miss Morgan, who opened the discussion
f the paper, felt that the tests had been
valuable in corroborating the grading by
the instructors.
Miss Herbert's experience was that the,
ratings proved dissimilar to her own in
certain cases but that they might show
potentialities. "It will be interesting to
watch the future development of the stu-
dents and see how the ratings in psycho-
logical tests work out."
Mr. Rice received the impression that an
intelligence test had been made rather
than an educational one, and advocated the
latter, e. g., a test showing standards of
rapidity of cataloging.
(Miss Murray's paper states that the
tests were for native ability rather than
acquired skill or knowledge, but there was
a speed test including accuracy. — ^H. P. S.)
To Miss Reese's suggestion that person-
ality should be taken into consideration in
these tests, Miss Whitcomb replied that she
understood that this had not been at-
tempted thus far by psychologists.
An experiment in giving a class general
vocational and intelligence tests was re-
ported by Miss Donnelly, who said that the
306
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
grading by three members of the staff, on
a scale from one to twenty-five, differed
greatly. She concluded her remarks by
saying that such tests should be related
to the employer's point of view rather than
that of the instructor and should be con-
ducted for ten years before conclusions
could be regarded as authoritative.
Others took part in the discussion, which
was concluded by Mr. Walter, who said:
"Psychological tests are uncertain at
present. Dr. Goddard, the leading Amer-
ican exponent of these tests, insists on the
essential relation of the tests and the per-
son conducting them in determining the
validity of the tests. Moreover, there are
many psychologists who consider them
educational rather than intelligence tests
and some who attack their essential gen-
eral accuracy. For a while, at least, it is
important for librarians (who are not al-
ways trained psychologists) to supplement
them by the composite opinions of as many
instructors as practicable."
The last contribution to the program was
a description of
A NEIGHBORHOOD APPRENTICE CLASS
(See p. 217)
written by Miss Emilie Mueser, librarian,
Lucas County (Ohio) Library, and read by
Miss Lilly M. E. Borresen.
The report of the Nominating Committee
(Mr. Walter, Miss Curtiss and Miss Whit-
comb) for officers for the next year was
presented as follows: Chairman, Mrs. Har-
riet P. Sawyer; vice-chairman, Miss Mary
Emogene Hazel tine; secretary. Miss Clara
W. Herbert.
The report of the committee was accept-
ed, the officers declared elected, and the
meeting adjourned.
Harriet P. Sawyer,
Secretary, pro tern.
SCHOOL LIBRARIES SECTION
The School Libraries Section held two
sessions, one a round table and the other
the regular meeting, at both of which the
chairman, Mr. F. K. Walter, presided. No
special program was followed at the round
table; topics for discussion were suggest-
ed by questions asked at the meeting.
Mr. Sherman Williams explained the re-
cently adopted regulation of the Board of
Regents of New York State concerning
standardization of school librarians.
The library problems of the junior high
school were discussed by Miss Adeline B.
Zachert, Mr. Willis H. Kerr and Mr. John
D. Wolcott. Miss Zachert advocated the
creation of a division of the school section
to be known as the junior high school di-
vision and to have the following functions:
1. The preparation of a standard list of
general literature to serve as a guide to
teachers in junior high schools.
2. The encouraging of a friendly inter-
est of librarians toward their local boards
of education in urging the appointment of
qualified librarians in junior high schools.
3. The preparation of a simple outline
of Instruction in the use of books for ju-
nior high school pupils.
The problem of magazines in the high
school library received attention and some
concrete ways of tempting pupils to read
suitable books were thoroughly discussed.
At the regular section meetings the gen-
eral topic was, "The school library in the
teaching of patriotism." Various aspects
of this subject were given by Miss Rachel
Baldwin of Allegheny High School Branch,
Pittsburgh; Miss Helen S. Babcock of the
Austin High School Branch, Chicago, and
Miss Anne T. Eaton, Lincoln School of
Teachers College, New York.
Miss Baldwin in discussing the topic
brought out the following facts:
The high school is a fertile field for the
cultivation of patriotism, because of the
various agencies which readily link them-
selves with school activities such as Red
Cross, Boy Scouts, Liberty Loan cam-
paigns, food conservation, etc., all of which
serve to stimulate loyalty and enthusiasm
and offer opportunities where pupils may
work for definite ends. The school libra-
ry comes in everywhere, there is no activ-
ity which it cannot touch. Nothing is
easier at this time than to arouse war pa-
triotism by means of bulletins, pictures,
current topics, debates, war books, sol-
CAMP HOSPITAL LIBRARIANS ROUND TABLE
307
diers' book campaigns, etc. The libra-
rians' and teachers' greatest opportunity,
however, is to fuse this enthusiasm for one
great cause into an active, constructive
patriotism that will give generous and
loyal service to our country in peace as
well as in war.
Miss Babcock in her paper supplemented
the statements of Miss Baldwin by tell-
ing of the work in the Austin High School
Branch of Chicago, substantially as fol-
lows:
Teachers are Informed of the material
of general interest for the teaching of pa-
triotism contained in the library, by mimeo-
graphed bulletins; if more specialized, this
information is conveyed by personal note
or interview. A marked copy tucked in
the teachers' box often brings good results.
In order to locate articles appearing in the
magazines quickly, simple penciled cards
referring to the articles are filed in an in-
dex and kept on one of the tables and thus
anticipate the coming of the new Readers'
Guide.
During the various campaigns, the libra-
ry has displayed all posters and notices in
its room and kept on hand literature bear-
ing on the subject. It has been the policy
of the school to use the public speaking
classes to make the appeals. This was first
tried with the A. L, A. book drive. The
library was headquarters but the school or-
ganizations were utilized, thereby gaining
wider publicity and interest. The "two-
minute men" used the library as the source
of their material for speeches, circulars,
advertisements, pamphlets, editorials, ad-
dresses and the like.
The various government bulletins were
used as a basis for class work, also clip-
pings, pictures and the Readers' Guide. A
recipe file was started in the card .catalog.
Exhibits of food uses, such as a model
meal for a child of five and the daily ra-
tions of the fighting nations, were shown,
together with all available material in
printed form.
Miss Eaton in her paper deplored the
fact that though the word patriotism has
been written and spoken more often than
ever before, we have not altogether suc-
ceeded in teaching true patriotism so long
as the stirring up of hatred and violence
is defended as a legitimate and necessary
means of awakening the people. Mis&
Eaton said in part:
If we have ever felt for a moment that
the work of a school library lacks contact
with realities, surely we need feel so no
longer, for the school library if it well fills
its appointed task will be helping to elimi-
nate passion and hate as well as to do
away with that self-satisfied indifference
which refuses to recognize the meaning of
all that the nations of the world are under-
going. One way in which the school libra-
ries can do this is by familiarizing chil-
dren with the highest Ideals of the past as
a safeguard for the present.
Annie C. Moore, Miss Mary E. Ahern,
Dr. Sherman Williams, Miss Adeline B.
Zachert and Mr. Willis S. Kerr participated
In the discussion which followed the read-
ing of the three papers.
Miss Elisabeth Knapp, chief of the chll
dren's department of the Detroit Public
Library, read a report of the library com-
mittee of the Junior Red Cross, This re-
port defined the purpose of the committee,
suggested methods of coordinating library
service with Red Cross activities and out-
lined the plan of cooperating with other
organizations, such as the National Edu-
cational Association. This report was en-
dorsed by the School Libraries Section.
The following officers were elected to
serve the School Libraries Section next
year: President, Helen S. Babcock, Public
Library, Chicago; secretary, Annie T.
Eaton, Lincoln School, Teachers College,
New York City.
Adeline B. Zachebt,
Secretary.
CAMP HOSPITAL LIBRARIANS ROUND TABLE
The Hospital Librarians Round Table
which met at 2:30 p. m., July 2, dealt with
two distinct phases of the work: the grow-
ing activities in the local hospital libra-
ries, and reconstruction work.
Electra C. Doren, Anna G. Hall, Kath-
leen Calhoun, of the Vocational Branch,
Invalided Soldiers' Commission, Ottawa,
Canada, W. O. Carson, also of Canada, and
several others spoke of what Is being done
308
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
by the Red Cross Institute for Crippled and
Disabled Soldiers, and other activities in
the matter of reconstruction.
Miss Caroline Webster presented a pa-
per on
THE ORGANIZATION OF HOSPITAL LIBRARY
SERVICE
(See p. 231)
Miss Miriam E. Carey, field representa-
tive in the hospital service, followed with
a paper entitled
FROM CAMP TO CAMP: THE WORK OF A FIELD
REPRESENTATIVE
(See p. 225)
The next paper was presented by Miss
E. Kathleen Jones, librarian McLean Hos-
pital, Waverley, Mass., who took for her
subject
WHAT A BASE HOSPITAL LIBRARIAN SHOULD
KNOW
(See p. 226)
The final paper on the program was that
of Miss Blanche Galloway, librarian Pel-
ham Bay (N. Y.) Naval Training Station,
Miss Galloway's subject being
A WOMAN AMONG TEN THOUSAND BLUE-
JACKETS
(See p. 223)
LENDING DEPARTMENT ROUND TABLE
The Lending Department Round Table
met July 3, with an attendance of about
seventy-five. In the absence of Miss Jean-
nette M. Drake, Mr. Everett R. Perry read
her paper, entitled
ELIMINATION OF THE USE OF READERS' CARDS
IN THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
(See p. 219)
An excerpt from a letter from Miss
Miriam B. Wharton, librarian of the Bur-
lington Free Public Library, to Miss Drake
was presented, as follows:
I see by the announcements of the
A. L. A. meeting that you are to talk on
the "Elimination of the readers' card."
I am so glad and hope your good words
will lead others in the way. After your
state meeting where your experiment was
discussed, I came home and immediately
tried it out: that was almost two years
ago and we are still enthusiastic, and the
public are so relieved. Cedar Rapids and
Oskaloosa have since followed and are
equally rejoiced with the change, so you
cannot be too enthusiastic.
In the discussion these facts were
brought out:
Redlands has followed suit in elimi-
nating borrower's cards. Rochester tried
dispensing with them at one of the sub-
branches but had to go back to using' the
card. Wilmington has tried to shorten
and simplify the process of charging and
finds the Newark system the best. The
Sioux City way does not shorten the proc-
ess nor lessen congestion at the charging
desk.
Newark thinks it could be used in small
libraries but it means increased waiting
and work for the borrower. Mr. Dana fur-
thermore said that for twenty-five years
he had been trying to find a simpler meth-
od than the Newark and found that any
means used for saving the library meant
extra work for the patron.
The consensus of opinion was that the
Sioux City system would not work or be
feasible in a large library system.
The question box brought forth the fol-
lowing queries:
1. How have the libraries near the
training camps .for soldiers and sailors
handled these men when they presented
themselves as would-be patrons?
Omaha lost so many books, a deposit was
required; this was not successful, as the
men frequently were called away with so
little notice they could not get the money
refunded. Now books are sent to the
camps and placed in charge of the Y. M.
C. A.
Wilmington also makes deposits in the
camp, the A. L. A. supplying the needed
technical books. The question of fines has
not arisen, as the soldiers return their
books promptly. Omaha and Newark re-
mit fines, Elizabeth treats the soldier as a
regular patron except that the officer's
signature takes the place of any other ref-
erence.
PUBLIC DOCUMENTS ROUND TABLE
309
2. What can be done when books are
kept until long overdue by members of the
board of trustees of a library, after the
usual post card notices have been sent?
The methods used were: Notify wife of
the board member; use special card saying
book is needed; send personal letter; tele-
phone that book is urgently needed.
3. What is the general opinion in re-
gard to charging books by date of issue in-
stead of date due?
This was voted on and a large majority
found in favor of the date due. Cleveland
has used both and hopes never to return
to the date of issue.
The chief opposition to using date due
seems to be the chance of charging with
the wrong stamp and the inability to fix
responsibility, Pittsburgh reports no trou-
ble of this sort. Each date has a different
colored pencil — current date (discharging
pencil) is brown; 7 day, black; 14 day,
yellow; 28 day, green. Each assistant has
a symbol — a check, a dash, etc. — which
she makes when writing borrower's num-
ber, thus fixing responsibility absolutely.
Another library further differentiates by
using different sized type for different
dates.
4. Have any libraries instituted econ-
omies in the routine of the circulation de-
partment in the effort to release assistants
for war work which might be of interest to
this meeting?
Newark bought a nicer set of trays to
save time; also recommends use of regis-
tration book in place of numerical file at
central library. Mr. and Miss are now
omitted from registration entries and bor-
rower's card, while a dash ( — )' is used for
Mrs.
Rochester multigraphs the bookslips of
books of which there are many copies in
use, which require frequent renewing.
Miss Waller I. Bullock, of the Carnegie
Library of Pittsburgh, was chosen chair-
man for the next meeting, and Miss
Frances Dorrance, of Trenton, secretary.
Agnes F. P. Gbeeb,
Secretary.
PUBLIC DOCUMENTS ROUND TABLE
The meeting was called to order, July 5,
by the chairman, Mr. George S. Godard,
state librarian of Connecticut. Mr. De-
marchus C. Brown, state librarian of Indi-
ana, acting as secretary.
The chairman briefly outlined the pres-
ent status of the printing bill before Con-
gress. He stated that the outlook was
somewhat discouraging and that no action
could be expected during the present War
Congress, when more important world prob-
lems were at stake. He called attention
to House Resolution 11521, which is a new
printing bill introduced by Mr. Barnhart
on April 18, 1918, and referred to the Com-
mittee on Printing, having been ordered
printed. Up to the present time the chair-
man has heard of no report having been
made on the same by the committee.
The bill is entitled, "A bill to amend and
revise the laws relating to printing and
binding and the distribution of publica-
tions for Congress," In brief it abolishes
all the official gazette and geological sur-
vey libraries and rewrites the sections rela-
tive to valuation distribution. It places in
the hands of the Joint Committee on Print-
ing the responsibility of determining much
of the detail relative to publication, bind-
ing and distribution included in the former
printing bills. Thus, Section 18, para-
graphs 1 and 2, read as follows:
Sec. 18, Par. 1. The Joint Committee on
Printing shall have power to adopt and
employ such measures as, in its discretion,
may be deemed necessary to remedy any
neglect, delay, duplication, or waste in the
public printing and binding and the dis-
tribution of Government publications, and
shall exercise general supervision over
printing and binding for Congress.
Sec. 18, Par. 2. The Joint Committee on
Printing is hereby authorized to inquire at
any time into all matters pertaining to the
public printing and binding and the dis-
tribution of publications for Congress, the
judiciary, and the various executive de-
partments, independent offices, and estab-
lishments of the Government, to report to
Congress from time to time any abuses in
310
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
the public printing and binding and
the distribution of Government publica-
tions, and to recommend such remedial
legislation as in its judgment may seem
proper.
Twenty publications heretofore included
in Congressional distribution to depository
libraries it Is proposed to remove from
such distribution, as may be seen from
Section 11, which reads as follows:
Sec. 11. The printing of the following
publications for congressional distribution
as heretofore provided by law shall be dis-
continued: Monthly Summary of Foreign
Commerce of the United States, Annual
Report of Foreign Commerce and Naviga-
tion of the United States, Annual Report
of the Health Officer of the District of Co-
lumbia, Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, Bulletins of the Bureau of Eth-
nology, Bulletins of the Bureau of Fish-
eries, Geological Bulletins, Geological Pro-
fessional Papers, Geological Water-Supply
Papers, Topographic and Geologic Maps
and Atlases, Charts of the Coast and Geo-
detic Survey, Memoirs of the National
Academy of Sciences, The American Eph-
emeris and Nautical Almanac, Publications
of the Naval Observatory, Annual Report
of Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils,
Annual Report of the Commercial Relations
of the United States with Foreign Coun-
tries, Navy Yearbook, and the Annual Re-
port of the Commissioner of Patents with
list of patents.
The chairman stated that on the whole
he felt the bill was a step in the right di-
rection, for up to the present time the
Joint Committee on Printing had expressed
its desire and willingness to incorporate
any suggestions which the librarians of
the country had united in asking for when
the same did not conflict in detail consid-
ered essential for the convenience of Con-
gress. This willingness was shown in the
other printing bills before Congress as ex-
plained before the Government Documents
Round Table at former meetings by Mr.
Carter, Clerk of the Joint Committee on
Printing. It is a safe assumption, there-
fore, that the same willingness may be ex-
pected from the Joint Committee here-
after.
The chairman also called attention to
Senate Bill 4366, introduced by Senator
Chamberlain, April 16, which was referred
to the Committee on Library, and by that
committee reported favorably without
amendment, June 6, as explained by Re-
port 481 of the 65th Congress, 2d Session.
This bill relates to the return of govern-
ment publications by depositories. Sec-
tion 5 reads as follows:
Sec. 5. That libraries heretofore desig-
nated by law as depositories to receive
books and other Government publications
shall hereafter, during their existence,
continue such receipt, and new designa-
tions may be made when libraries hereto-
fore chosen shall cease to exist or other
designation shall hereafter be authorized
by law. The librarian of any library above
mentioned may return to the superintend-
ent of documents and the superintendent
of documents shall receive back such of
the documents and publications furnished
to said libraries as in the opinion of said
librarian are not suitable for collection or
use by said library.
Following the brief explanation cover-
ing the two bills affecting the publication
and distribution of documents, the chair-
man introduced Dr. H. H. B. Meyer, chief
bibliographer, Library of Congress, who
read a paper upon
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS BELATING TO THE
WAR
(See p. 202)
On motion of Mr. Dullard, state librarian
of New Jersey, a vote of thanks was re-
turned to Dr. Meyer for his interesting and
instructive paper.
The Committee on Public Documents
was instructed to take up the question of
securing for certain depository libraries
the twenty publications proposed to be
eliminated from congressional distribu-
tion, as stated in Section 11 of the pro-
posed printing bill.
There being no further business the
meeting was adjourned.
311
ROUND TABLE OF THE LIBRARIES OF RELIGION
AND THEOLOGY
The Round Table of the Libraries of
Religion and Theology was held Wednes-
day evening, July 3, with an attendance of
about twenty-five.
The meeting was called to order by the
president, Dr. Charles R. Robinson of the
Philadelphia Divinity School. A nominat-
ing committee consisting of Mr. Glen B.
Ewell of Rochester, Miss Edith Clark of
the Bible Teachers' Training School, New
York City, and Mrs. C. E. Moody of the
Day Missions Library at Yale University,
was appointed by the president.
The first paper was read by Miss Hollis
W. Hering, of the Missionary Research
Library, New York City, on "The war and
the mission field."
This paper reviewed the effects of the
world confiict which "has set the uttermost
parts of the earth vibrating," as it bore
upon the mission fields. In spite of in-
superable difllculties, many of the mission
fields themselves being battle ground, on
the whole the missions have held their
own splendidly, while the war has forced
rapid development in three very distinct
directions: A tremendous impetus has been
given to the development of native races
which has hastened by many years the
movement towards "devolution" in native
churches; the Moslem field has been cleared
by the complete collapse of the idea of the
political unity of Islam; and everywhere
the bonds of caste and race prejudice are
giving way. In touching upon the various
unique missionary openings due to the
war, attention was drawn to the work in
the various Native Labour Contingents
now in France. In closing, Miss Hering
mentioned the serious effect of the war on
the size and frequency of publication of
the missionary publications.
A paper prepared by Dr. Charles R. Gil-
lett, who is in charge of the McAlpin col-
lection, in the library of Union Theological
Seminary, was read by Miss Julia Pettee.
The collection now numbers over 15,000
titles, ranging from the Elizabethan period,
which is fairly well represented, through
the Commonwealth period, which is quite
full, and the controversial writings of the
Restoration to the end of the seventeenth
century. Though the collection is theolog-
ical in its aim, history and politics are so
closely interwoven that no close lines of
demarcation can be drawn, and it forms
an important depository of source material
for the history of the period. The plan of
the catalog includes the copying of the en-
tire title page, with vertical line endings,
and giving full bibliographical details, so
that the exact identification of the numer-
ous editions through which many of the
writings have passed, and of the various
separate parts of which many of the com-
posite volumes consist, is possible. It is
the design of the compiler. Dr. Gillett, to
make the catalog not only a list of books
but an adequate bibliographical tool for
scholars.
After Dr. Gillett's paper, the subject of
an evaluated list of denominational period-
icals was taken up. Dr. Robinson thought
there was considerable demand for such a
list to aid the libraries of limited funds
in the selection of these periodicals. Dr.
H. P. Smith of Union Theological Seminary
had furnished a list of those currently re-
ceived at that institution, upon which Dr.
Robinson commented.
The last paper, "On the exchange of du-
plicates," by Samuel G. Ayres of Garrett
Biblical Institute, Evanston, Illinois, was
read by Mr. Ewell.
Mr. Ayres arranges his duplicates alpha-
betically, lists them, and sends out carbon
copies to other libraries. He makes it a
principle that any library desiring a book
on the list shall have it whether he re-
ceives its value in exchange or not. He
also advises exchanging with dealers. Of
the residue of unexchangeable books, selec-
tions are sent to needy institutions in the
south or perhaps to some minister. He has
distributed 5,000 volumes, besides hundreds
of magazines and pamphlets in this way
during the last six years.
Mr. Collar, Mr. Oko, Miss Krum, Mr.
Ewell, Professor Root and Mr. Keogh spoke
in the discussion following this paper.
There seemed to be a consensus of opinion
312
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
that the thing to do was to bestow the book
where wanted, regardless of its exchange
value.
The Nominating Committee reported
Prof. A, S. Root, librarian of Oberlin Col-
lege Library, for president and Miss Hollis
W. Hering, Missionary Research Library,
New York City, for secretary. These of-
ficers were elected and the meeting was
then adjourned.
Julia Pettee,
Secretary.
ROUND TABLE OF TRAINING CLASS TEACHERS
The conference of training class teach-
ers, arranged for by the committee on li-
brary training, was held on the evening of
July 3. About seventy-five persons were
present.
The following papers were read:
1. What should be the standard of ad-
mission to a training class? Marie
Newberry, New York Public Library.
2. How long should the course be? How
much time per week should be given
to practice and how much to study?
Should the practice be paid for? Lucy
Morgan, Detroit Public Library.
3. What subjects should be taught in
the course? Adah F. Whitcomb, Chi-
cago Public Library.
4. In what way and how soon after the
beginning of the course should unde-
sirables be eliminated? Clara W.
Herbert, Public Library of the Dis-
trict of Columbia, Washington, D. C.
5. When the course is completed and
students are ready for work, what
salary should be offered? Ernestine
Rose, Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh.
Each paper was followed by a general
discussion in which an unusually large
number of persons participated. So suc-
cessful was the meeting that it was voted
unanimously to arrange for a similar ses-
sion at the next A. L. A. Conference. Miss
Ernestine Rose was elected chairman and
Miss Adah F. Whitcomb secretary.
AzARiAH F. Root,
Chairman.
EXHIBITS
(Reprinted from Library Journal, August,
1918)
A number of good exhibits were shown
to excellent advantage in the hotel par-
lors. Largest in point of size was that
showing the work of the camp libraries
and the library war service in general.
Besides photographs from all camps from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, there was
shown a model of a camp library building
of the Camp Kearny type, with reading
porch along the side. There was also much
interest in a book wagon for hospital use
made and donated by the pupils of the
Youngstown High School. The Food Ad-
ministration had a large exhibit, with ma-
terial changed at frequent intervals. Here
were shown files of the numerous series
of bulletins issued in cooperation with
other government departments; maps,
recipes, posters, photographs, and graphic
exhibits suitable for small libraries; files
of reports from library directors; corn,
wheat and food exhibits; and sample maps
from the Statistical Division and from
Boston schools. On Wednesday photo-
graphs of library publicity along food con-
servation lines were shown, and on Thurs-
day, posters from schools of different
states. There were the usual exhibits of
books by dealers, and the Dayton Library
and Gaylord Brothers showed scrapbooks
made for hospital use.
POST-CONFERENCE NOTES
313
POST-CONFERENCE NOTES
New York State Library Day. — In re-
sponse to the invitation of Dr. Charles B.
Alexander, of the Library Committee of
the Board of Regents, of New York State,
about four hundred A, L. A. members went
to Albany on July 6 to attend centennial
exercises in celebration of the establish-
ment of the New York State Library.
In addition to remarks by Dr. Alexan-
der, the morning program included ad-
dresses by Dr. Thomas E. Finegan, deputy
commissioner of education of New York
State; Dr. Melvil Dewey; Thomas L. Mont-
gomery, William Warner Bishop, and J. I.
Wyer, Jr.
After these exercises the company were
guests at a luncheon tendered by Dr. Alex-
ander. The afternoon was spent in ex-
ploring the building. Although it was
Saturday and a half holiday, every divi-
sion from the museum with its interest-
ing Indian exhibits on the top floor to the
departments in the basement, was open
for inspection, and guides were furnished
to conduct parties through the building.
Lake Placid. — A post-conference trip
was not planned to follow the 1918 meet-
ing, but fifty-eight A. L. A. members found
it possible to avail themselves of the kind-
ness of Dr. Melvil Dewey, who extended
to those in attendance at the Conference
the hospitality of the Lake Placid Club.
A motor-ride to Lake Placid from Sara-
toga is in itself imaginable as an experi-
ence of exceptional pleasure, and that an
unstinted welcome awaited in a spot of
great natural beauty, was a foregone con-
clusion. Beyond this conception, those
who made this trip bring back a story of
a vast place marvelously appointed, fric-
tionless in service; telling of music by
Boston Symphony players seemingly in-
terpretive of ecstasy at harmonious sur-
roundings, until the A. L. A. people who
could not be present at Lake Placid extend
to the fortunate ones who were there a
siincere congratulation.
314
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
Twenty-First Annual Meeting, Saratoga Springs, N. Y. July 2-4, I9J8
FIRST JOINT SESSION
(With the American Association of Law
Libraries.)
Billiard room, Grand Union Hotel, Tues-
day, July 2, 2:30 p.m.
The meeting was called to order by Mr.
Edward H. Redstone, president of the
American Association of Law Libraries.
The first number on the program was a
paper on the workings of the Massachu-
setts Constitutional Convention now in
session, presented by Dr. Lawrence B.
Evans, state librarian and member of the
commission to compile information and
data for the use of the constitutional con-
vention.
WORKINGS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
By Dr. Lawrence B. Evans,
State Librarian of Massachusetts
America is pre-eminently the land of the
written constitution. Such instruments of
government are not unknown, to be sure,
in other countries, but in America, with
the exception of the brief period from the
assembling of the second Continental Con-
gress in 1775 until the adoption of the
Articles of Confederation in 1781, neither
the United States nor any member thereof
has known a government which was not
based upon a written instrument. The
Virginia charters and the Mayflower com-
pact were the progenitors of a long line
of constitutions whose unbroken succes-
sion has made the American people feel
almost instinctively that orderly govern-
ment is dependent upon a written docu-
ment in which the organization of the
state shall be described, and the funda-
mental rights of the people shall be de-
fined and protected. That somewhat nebu-
lous scheme of government known as the
British Constitution, which is so intan-
gible and at the same time so real, has no
parallel in the history of American insti-
tutions.
At the present time government in
America is based upon forty-nine written
constitutions which compose our funda-
mental law, shaping and controlling and
restraining the political activity both of
the people of our several political units
and of their governmental agents. To the
provisions of these instruments all enact-
ments of subordinate law-making authori-
ties as well as all the acts of executive
and administrative officials must conform,
and it is axiomatic in our law that any
enactments or executive acts which do not
so conform will not be given any legal ef-
fect by the courts.
In consequence of the universal preva-
lence of written instruments of government
in the United States, and in view of the
general tendency to embody a mass of
statutory matter in the fundamental law
and thus put it out of the reach of the leg-
islative bodies which are so generally dis-
trusted, the needs of a rapidly changing
and complex society compel frequent revi-
sion and amendment of our constitutions.
Specific changes will in most cases be
brought about upon the initiative of the
legislature, but a revision of the consti-
tution as a whole will be left to a body es-
pecially elected for that purpose. Hence
constitutional conventions, which in most
states have heretofore met at long inter-
vals, are likely to be called with increas-
ing frequency, and it will be strange if in
the future any state shall fail to hold a
convention at least once in each genera-
tion.
In consequence of the general employ-
ment of the constitutional convention as
an agency for effecting a general revision
of our fundamental law, we are gradually
developing in this country a new depart-
ment of jurisprudence, the law of the con-
stitutional convention. This fact has been
somewhat obscured by the historic mean-
ing attaching to the term "convention,"
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
315
In the past the word has been associated
with revolution, and hence in our minds
the conventions which are now so ordi-
nary a phenomenon in the United States
are often associated with the Convention
Parliament which was a part of the Stuart
revolution in England, and with the Na-
tional Convention by which the feudal
regime was overthrown in France. In-
deed in the history of the United States
our first conventions were of this same
revolutionary nature. The most impor-
tant body of this kind was the Federal
Convention of 1787, which met without
constitutional warrant, drew up a new in-
strument of government which it had no
legal authority to draw up, and recom-
mended its adoption by a procedure which
was in direct violation of the fundamental
law.
Names, however, are often more perma-
nent than things. His Majesty, King George
v., is styled Defender of the Faith, al-
though he repudiates the authority of the
pontifical office from which that title was
derived, and the faith of which he is the
titular defender is not the faith for which
the original recipient of the title stood
sponsor. The State of New York posses-
ses a Supreme Court which is not supreme,
and the General Court of Massachusetts
is not a court at all. These misnomers
are not more marked than is the term
"convention," as applied to the chief or-
gan in the orderly and strictly legal proc-
ess of constitutional revision; and just
as the sovereign of England is still styled
Defender of the Faith although the faith
has changed, and just as the Supreme
Court of New York and the General Court
of Massachusetts retain names which are
no longer a correct description of them,
so the constitutional convention by its
very name often leads to a wrong concep-
tion of its character, and obscures the
course of its development during the last
century, as a result of which it has now
come to be a normal and entirely legal
organ of government. Occasionally, to be
sure, one still finds a convention which,
like the Illinois Convention of 1862, re-
gards itself as the embodiment of popular
sovereignty, and hence free from any re-
straints of existing law, either constitu-
tional or statutory. These precedents can-
not be altogether disregarded, but they are
becoming less and less frequent, and rep-
resent a conception of the constitutional
convention which is bound to disappear.
Among the many conventions which
have recently assembled or are about to
assemble in the several states, the Con-
stitutional Convention of Massachusetts,
which met in Boston June 6, 1917, pos-
sesses two or three features which give it
more than a local or transient interest.
In the first place the constitution which it
is revising is the oldest written constitu-
tion now in force anywhere in the world.
It is not the first document of this kind,
but all which preceded it have passed
away. In his address at the opening of the
convention, Governor McCall drew atten-
tion to this fact and urged the delegates to
remember that an instrument hallowed by
such antiquity and under which the Com-
monwealth had prospered should not be
set aside lightly or without serious rea-
son. In the second place, the Constitu-
tion of Massachusetts is the last survivor
of that group of instruments of govern-
ment which were drawn up during the
American Revolution, under the influence
of a political philosophy which regarded all
government with distrust. Officers, it was
thought, were bound to abuse any power
with which they were vested, and the
framers of government were therefore
largely concerned in devising a system of
checks and balances which often resulted
in preventing action of any kind. Perhaps
there is no sharper contrast between the
convention now sitting in Boston and its
predecessor of 1780 than in their outlook
upon government. Instead of balancing
one officer against another, the present
convention looks upon government as an
organization which is intended to act, and
it is therefore endeavoring to devise ma-
chinery by which the many new functions
which government has assumed since 1780
may be discharged. I need not remind
316
SARATOGA SPRING'S CONFERENCE
you that the language of the Massachu-
setts Constitution of 1780 is that of John
Adams, to whose florid nature is perhaps
traceable not only the grandiloquence of
some of its sentences, but also the fact
that in its contents the instrument is a
combination of fundamental law and poli-
tical pamphlet. An effort was made in
the present convention to expunge from
the document some of its political gener-
alities which seem unsuited to such a
place, but the rhetoric of John Adams is
dear to the heart of Massachusetts and his
glowing periods will still adorn our fun-
damental law. In the third place the work
of the Massachusetts Convention is dis-
tinguished from that of similar bodies in
other states by the fact that the instru-
ment which it is revising is one of the
briefest of all the state constitutions now
in force. Hence the task of adapting an
eighteenth century constitution to the
needs of twentieth century society is com-
paratively easy. It is a maxim of our
constitutional law that the legislatures of
our states possess all authority of which
they have not been specifically deprived.
In most of the states the list of restric-
tions upon the power of the legislature is
long and tends to increase. In Massachu-
setts the specific restrictions are few in
number, and the amendments which have
been adopted or which are now under con-
sideration tend for the most part to re-
move the few restrictions that exist and
to state specifically that the legislature
shall have authority over certain subjects
in order to prevent a decision to the con-
trary by the Supreme Judicial Court.
When I was invited to prepare this pa-
per, I was asked to speak particularly of
that part of the work of the convention
with which I was most intimately asso-
ciated, because it was in this connection
that the convention has made certain in-
novations which may be of interest to
similar bodies in the future, and which in
some States might especially concern the
state librarian. A year before the New
York Convention of 1915 assembled, a com-
mission, consisting of the speaker of the
house, the president of the senate and
three citizens chosen by the governor, was
established for the purpose of compiling
information which might be useful to the
delegates. It was this body which was
perhaps responsible for the enactment by
the legislature of Massachusetts of an act
authorizing the governor to appoint "three
learned and discreet persons" who should
constitute a "Commission to compile in-
formation and data for the use of the Con-
stitutional convention." While the New
York and Massachusetts commissions have
similar titles and had the same general
purpose, they were in many respects quite
dissimilar both in what they undertook
and in their methods of procedure. At the
risk of seeming to sit in judgment upon
the New York Commission, to whom my
colleagues and myself are much indebted,
I think it well to indicate some of our dif-
ferences. The publications which were
prepared by the New York commission for
the use of the New York Convention were
notable for their scholarly character, and
some of them were encyclopedic in the
exhaustiveness of their treatment. The
"Index-Digest of the State Constitutions"
was one of the most helpful publications
of the kind which has ever appeared in
this country and is as well adapted to use
in one state as in another. Our commis-
sion was enabled through the generosity of
some of the New York officials to purchase
ten copies of this volume for the use of
the Massachusetts Convention. These we
brought up to date by inserting under the
proper headings references to constitu-
tions and amendments which had been
adopted since the date at which the mak-
ers of the Index-Digest stopped. The other
publications of the New York Commission
were hardly less noteworthy. I would es-
pecially mention the volume on the "Gov-
ernnient of the State of New York," per-
haps the most complete outline which has
ever been published of the government of
any state. In fact it was the complete-
ness of these publications which seemed
to the Massachusetts Commission to be
their chief defect. When we came to con-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
317
sider the question as to how we could be
of most use to our convention, we rea-
soned that the delegates were busy men
of many interests, who had neither the
time nor in many cases the necessary train-
ing for the sifting of material. Whatever
might be the case with the New York Con-
vention, we were confident that if we em-
bodied our data in bulky volumes, we
would be politely thanked for our serv-
ices, but the books themselves would be
little used. We finally concluded that we
would be most helpful to the convention
if we should issue a series of bulletins
dealing with the most important subjects
which the convention was to consider.
To this end we sent a circular letter to
all the men, about nine hundred in num-
ber, who took out nomination papers for
election to the convention, asking them on
what topics they would suggest that in-
formation be prepared. About one hun-
dred topics were mentioned, and from
these we selected about thirty-five which
fceemed to be of general interest and
importance. On each of these we pre-
pared a special bulletin of which an edi-
tion of five hundred copies was printed
and a copy was sent to each delegate as
soon as it was issued.
It seemed to us that these bulletins
must possess three qualities:
1. They must be concise. As already
indicated, the delegates had neither the
time nor the inclination to make a close
study of bulky treatises. Furthermore the
merits of constitutional provisions do not
depend upon refinement of detail. Con-
stitutions should deal with large princi-
ples, and these should be considered in a
broad way. Hence our bulletins should
present in a clear and orderly fashion the
essential facts as to each of the questions
with which they dealt.
2. They must be authoritative. It is a
most important part of the work of such a
commission to sift the wheat from the
chaff and submit to the convention authen-
tic information which it may safely use
as the basis of its action. To this end
our commission exerted itself to the ut-
most to insure accuracy of statement. We
did not always succeed, but our errors —
at least such of them as I know of — were
only errors of detail, and would not be
BUflBcient to invalidate any conclusions
which were based upon the statements
which we submitted.
3. They must be impartial. It is the
function of such a commission to supply
facts and not arguments. Let it give the
convention the necessary data and the
delegates will then draw their own con-
clusions. Furthermore the commission
must not allow itself to show partiality by
suppressing some facts and emphasizing
others. This requires, on the part of men
who hold decided opinions, an heroic de-
gree of self-control, but it is not impos-
sible of attainment, and they will have
their reward in winning the confidence of
all parties in the convention.
The commission has published thirty-
three bulletins in which we have tried to
embody these qualities of conciseness, au-
thoritativeness, and impartiality. It has
been a source of the greatest gratification
to us to see how useful the convention has
found these bulletins and how thoroughly
the delegates have become convinced that
they are both authoritative and impartial.
Besides these bulletins, the commission
published a "Manual for the Convention,"
the chief feature of which was the text of
the Constitution of Massachusetts anno-
tated with full references to the decisions
of our Supreme Judicial Court interpreting
its several clauses. This annotation was
chiefly the work of my colleague, Mr. Hoar.
In addition to the duties which are im-
plied in its long and cumbersome title, the
commission performed various other func-
tions. At the opening of the convention it
was suggested to us that we might be use-
ful in assisting the delegates in the draft-
ing of amendments. For several days all
of us were in attendance at the rooms of
the commission for the purpose of ren-
dering such assistance, and a very large
number of delegates called upon us for
help. While the committees of the con-
vention were holding hearings on proposed
amendments, members of the commission
were invited to appear before them either
for the purpose of giving information
which we were not yet ready to print, or,
as in the case of Professor Munro, for the
purpose of testifying as an expert on the
subject under discussion. The most im-
portant service which I was called upon
318
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
to render in this connection was in the
drafting of the amendment dealing with
old age pensions, health insurance, and
other forms of social amelioration. I
spent several days with the committee
having this matter in charge and sub-
mitted numerous drafts. As the commit-
tee could not agree upon any one form all
of them were reported to the convention
where they are now under consideration.
Early in the convention, when the com-
mission had practically completed the
work for which it was established, some of
the committees, particularly the Commit-
tee on Form and Phraseology, intimated
that they would require permanent assist-
ance throughout the session. After con-
sidering various plans for obtaining such
assistance, I was appointed under author-
ity of the convention to be technical ad-
viser to committees. In that capacity I
am called upon to perform a considerable
variety of functions, including the gather-
ing of all sorts of information, the render-
ing of opinions upon questions of law
and conferring with individual delegates
and with committees as to various pro-
posals under discussion. My most impor-
tant duty, however, is in connection with
the Committee on Form and Phraseology.
Under the rules of the convention, every
amendment upon passing to its third read-
ing is referred to this committee. The
chairman then turns it over to me for ex-
amination, and when I am ready to re-
port, he calls the committee together for
the consideration of the amendment in its
original form and any changes which I
have suggested, or which may be pro-
posed by members of the committee. The
object of the committee is to see that the
amendment is so drafted as to express
clearly and without ambiguity the intent
of the convention. If literary grace can
be added to clarity of expression, so much
the better, but clearness and precision are
the prime essentials. While the recom-
mendations of the Committee on Form and
Phraseology have great weight with the
convention, they are not always accepted.
Constitutional conventions, like legisla-
tures, are subject to influences which do
not always make for the best results.
Some of the delegates, who have not had
the benefit of legal training, are afraid to
trust the concise and exact language of
the committee and insist upon the inser-
tion of clauses which add nothing to the
amendment except superfluous words, and
the convention in a friendly spirit of con-
cession accedes to their wishes. Other
delegates insist upon phraseology which
is the outgrowth of rivalry between party
leaders. These are blemishes, for a con-
stitution should contain no words that are
unnecessary, but I think that in no case
have they obscured the meaning.
The president of the Massachusetts Con-
vention has said that he regards the Com-
mittee on Form and Phraseology as the
most important committee of the conven-
tion. Any lawyer who is familiar with the
amount of litigation which is due entirely
to the careless drafting of constitutions
or statutes will probably agree with him.
It is a committee with which every con-
vention and legislative body ought to be
provided. We are all familiar with the
work of the Federal Convention's Com-
mittee on Style. The Michigan Constitu-
tion of 1908, which is notable for its ex-
cellent draftsmanship, owes its merit in
this particular to the same device. Much
of the success of such a committee de-
pends, of course, upon the qualities of its
chairman. In this respect Massachusetts
was unusually fortunate. Broad-minded
and level-headed, with a good sense of
proportion and a keen sense of humor, an
able lawyer and a man of wide experience
in affairs, a better equipped' chairman
could not have been found than Augustus
P. lioring.
I have spoken thus far of the machinery
of the convention. What of the results?
The question which has been uppermost in
the public mind since the holding of a con-
vention first came forward for discussion
is whether Massachusetts should adopt
some form of initiative and referendum.
A measure covering this subject which was
reported to the convention occupied the
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
319
center of the stage throughout the ses-
sion of 1917, but was put aside from time
to time to permit the consideration of
other questions which it was deemed nec-
essary to submit to the people at the No-
vember election. Three such measures
were agreed upon by the convention and
adopted by the people. Each of the four-
teen counties returned a majority in fa-
vor of each amendment.
The first of these empowers the legis-
lature to provide for voting by voters who
are absent from home on election day.
Absent voting is not unknown in Amer-
ica, but it has usually been thought of as
a war measure enacted in order to pre-
vent the disfranchisement of soldiers and
sailors. Aside from this class, however,
it has been estimated that more than 20,-
000 voters in Massachusetts — locomotive
engineers, brakemen, traveling salesmen,
chauffeurs, fishermen and students — lose
their votes every year through absence.
These men, rather than the soldiers and
sailors, were uppermost in the mind of
the convention when it passed this amend-
ment with practically no opposition. It
was ratified by the people by a vote of
231,905 to 76,709.
Another amendment authorizes the leg-
islature to make provision for public trad-
ing in the necessaries of life and for shel-
ter in time of public exigency. Massachu-
setts has been visited several times in
recent years by such calamities as the
great fires at Chelsea and Salem; and the
rule laid down in Lowell v. Boston (1873),
111 Mass. 454, seemed to make it impos-
sible for the state to extend adequate re-
lief. These events, but especially the
present conditions of living which bear
with particular hardship upon the poor,
were responsible for a strong sentiment
in favor of enlarging the power of the leg-
islature in this direction. This amend-
ment also received popular ratification by
a vote of 261,119 to 51,826.
The third amendment adopted by the
people in November was the "anti-aid
amendment," which prohibits any appro-
priations of public money to institutions
not under public control. Prom 1860 to
the end of 1916 Massachusetts had appro-
priated nearly $19,000,000 for institutions
of this kind. In recent years the attempts
of various churches to obtain public funds
for their schools and hospitals were di-
viding the people of the state into hostile
groups and creating an atmosphere of sus-
picion and antagonism. Several times
amendments have been introduced in the
legislature forbidding appropriations for
institutions under the control of any
church; but the convention went further,
and by a vote of 275 to 25 adopted as
drastic a provision as possible. Except as
provided in existing contracts, there is
henceforth to be no appropriation of pub-
lic money for any private institution. In
the weeks preceding the election this
amendment was sharply debated. The
Catholic hierarchy, led by Cardinal O'Con-
nell, strongly opposed its adoption, on the
ground that it was an attack on the Cath-
olic Church, and was unjust to that body
in that it shut off the possibility of aid to
the parochial schools. One of the most
gratifying features of the vote on the
amendment both in the convention and at
the polls is the fact that it did not divide
on religious lines. There are about one
hundred Catholic delegates in the conven-
tion, only nine of whom voted against the
amendment, while at the polls both priests
and laity showed marked independence.
The amendfnent was ratified by a vote of
206,329 to 130,357. By this action it is
hoped that a most troublesome question
has been permanently removed from poli-
tical discussion.
For the purpose of comparison it may
be well to state that the total vote for all
candidates for governor at the November
election was 387,927, while the total vote
for and against each of the amendments
was respectively 308,614, 312,945 and 336,-
686. r!
When these three amendments had been
submitted to the people, the convention
resumed its discussion of the initiative
and referendum, and finally adopted a
measure which provides for the initiation
320
SARATOGA SPRING-S CONFERENCE
by the people of both constitutional amend-
ments and of laws and also for a compul-
sory referendum on enactments of the leg-
islature. The measure is too long for de-
•tailed description, but its distinguishing
feature as compared with similar meas-
ures in other states may be said to be its
exemptions. Neither the judiciary, nor
judicial decisions, nor the anti-aid amend-
ment, nor any of the great safeguards of
liberty set forth in the bill of rights may
be made the subject of an initiative peti-
tion. Having adopted this amendment by
a vote of 163 to 125, and having provided
that it should be submitted to the people
at the state election of November, 1918,
the convention adjourned until June, 1918.
A result of the convention which it is
impossible to appraise but which some of
its members would assign to the first place
yet remains to be noted. In a country of
such a vast and varied population as that
which inhabits the United States, one of
the chief dangers to the public welfare is
that racial or religious or economic groups
may in time coalesce into social or poli-
tical groups the members of which will
think of the group to which they belong
rather than of the whole body of citizens
of which the groups are but parts. In no
section of the country are all the elements
for such division present in a more marked
degree than in Massachusetts. It is one
of our oldest commonwealths, and like all
old and well-settled communities it has al-
ways looked askance upon newcomers.
Whether the stranger was the Baptist of
Roger Williams' time invading the strong-
hold of established Congregationalism, or
the Anglicans of the eighteenth century,
or the Irish driven across the seas by the
famine of 1847, or the Italians, who have
taken the place formerly held by the Irish,
or the Greeks and FrenchJCanadians and
Portuguese and the Jews of Russia and
Germany and Hungary — whatever the race
or religion of the immigrant, he has al-
ways met with a degree of hostility which
to some extent has forced each racial and
religious group to preserve its identity as
a means of self-protection. In emphasiz-
ing the unfriendliness with which the new-
comer had to contend, I do not ignore the
many generous and broad-minded men and
women who rejoiced that the opportunities
which they themselves had enjoyed in
Massachusetts should be open to the sons
and daughters of lands less favored, but
no one can study the history of the old
Bay State without also encoun'tering the
other side of the picture. Incidents the
memory of which can have no other ef-
fect than the keeping alive of passions
which in the public interest ought to be
allayed are part of the record and cannot
be forgotten. The powder is there, and
at any time an intemperate word may be
the match which will produce an explo-
sion disastrous in its consequences.
The antagonism which a settled and con-
servative community instinctively feels
towards a newcomer was intensified in the
case of Massachusetts by the fact that
the newcomer represented alien religious
faiths. The history of Massachusetts is
one long story of religious controversy.
From the time of the exile of Roger Wil-
liams and Anne Hutchinson, from the per-
secution of the Salem witches and the
hanging of the Quakers on Boston Com-
mon, from the reign of the Mather family
to the more spacious but no less intense
days of William EUery Channing and Theo-
dore Parker, the ancient.commonwealth has
never ceased to be exercised by a spirit
which found it difficult to admit that reli-
gious liberty was not the surrender of
religious convictions, but merely a recog-
nition of the fallibility of human judgment
and the sacredness of rights of conscience.
It was reserved for Phillips Brooks to dem-
onstrate that the basis of tolerance is
neither indifference nor surrender, and
that tolerance can only exist when found-
ed upon conviction. That truth has not
yet been fully accepted, and in Massachu-
setts and probably in all other parts of
the Union, there are thousands of earnest
and conscientious souls who would will-
ingly see the secular power employed for
the enforcement of their own particular
religious tenets.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
321
Massachusetts is an industrial commu-
nity. In few states is so large a propor-
tion of the people engaged in mechanical
and manufacturing pursuits. In few states
have the interests of the employer and
the employed been brought into sharper
conflict or have stronger efforts been made
by the enactment of legislation to preserve
the just rights of both. Vast industrial
corporations — in some cases the largest of
their kind — have been organized there and
find their natural counterpart in the labor
union. As a result Massachusetts is fami-
liar with both the merits and the defects
of the corporation and of ihe union. Here
again is an array of organized interests
which an excess of zeal on either side or
personal ambition or an unworthy seeking
for individual advantage may easily bring
into open conflict.
In a community charged with such po-
tentiality of discord, a body such as our
Constitutional Convention operates as a
channel of reconciliation. It is easy to
denounce what seem to be objectionable
views and tenets so long as they remain
abstractions. But when we find that those
doctrines which seem to us so repellent
are supported and advocated by men
whom we know and respect and trust,
denunciation becomes less easy, and in-
tolerant opposition gives way to sympa-
thetic examination. While we may not be
convinced of our own error, we are likely
to find that whatever views of public pol-
icy are held by a considerable body of in-
telligent American citizens are entitled
to a candid consideration, and the more
they are considered the more likely are
we to conclude that the whole fabric of
public welfare would not be wrecked by
their adoption. And it is in this way that
the Constitutional Convention has oper-
ated as a channel of reconciliation. For
six months last year, more than three hun-
dred men representing every important
racial and religious and economic interest
in the state met face to face and consid-
ered together the fundamental law. Among
them were several Jews, more than a hun-
dred Catholics, Protestants of every de-
nomination and men of no religious pro-
fession at all. And it was a great mo-
ment in the convention when a leader of
the extreme Protestants said of his col-
leagues on the committee that brought in
the Anti-aid Amendment, "I am now con-
vinced of the absolute sincerity of every
member of that committee. I was not so
convinced when we began." The leaders
of the great racial elements of Massachu-
setts were present — the Irish in consider-
able numbers, the French-Canadians, the
Italians, Jews from Russia and Hungary —
even the Yankees. The financial and in-
dustrial interests of the state were repre-
sented by such men as the president of
the Plymouth Cordage Company, the treas-
urer of the United Shoe Machinery Com-
pany, and the president of the American
Paper Company, while the workers were
represented by men who not only ade-
quately expressed their point of view, but
who made positive contributions to the
work of the convention. As a result of
the personal contact of these three hun-
dred men, 1 am sure that the common-
wealth is more unified than it has ever
been before. I am sure that the various
racial and religious and economic groups
which might so easily be converted into
social or political factions are less an-
tagonistic than they have ever been be-
fore. Quite apart from the merit of the
proposals which it may formulate for sub-
mission to the people, the convention has
justified itself by enabling the people C|f
the state the better to understand them-
selves, and hence the better to equip them-
selves for the discharge of the tasks which
lie before them and for the solution of the
problems which the future will bring.
Next was presented the paper of Mr.
William Parr Capes, secretary of the New
York State Conference of Mayors, upon
the work of the Bureau of Municipal In-
formation of that Conference.
522
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
THE BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL INFOR-
MATION OF THE NEW YORK STATE
CONFERENCE OF MAYORS AND
OTHER CITY OFFICIALS, ITS FUNC-
TION AND ITS ACCOMPLISHMENT
By William Parr Capes, Director,
Secretary of the New York State Confer-
ence of Mayors
New York State has found what it be-
lieves is the most effective implement of
warfare yet devised against inefficiency
in municipal service. This belief is based
on the results obtained during three years
of operation of its State Bureau of Mu-
nicipal Information, an institution unique
in the history of municipal government.
By it the cities have now made it im-
possible for any of their officials to offer
valid excuse for wasting public funds on
theories and experiments which . others
have tried. Whenever such a condition is
brought about — and it can be brought
about, for New York State has pointed the
way — efficiency in municipal service will
be rapidly advanced. Because of its suc-
cess and the possibilities which this unique
activity holds out for the future, we are
grateful for such an opportunity as this to
inform the people in other states about
New York's cooperative plan for securing
municipal data, so that they may profit by
our experience.
What are we doing?
After having studied for four years the
problems of cities and the work of public
officials, the New York State Conference
of Mayors and other city officials, an or-
ganization composed of all officials in all
the cities in the state, concluded that the
chief need of its municipalities was a cen-
tral clearing house of information. It was
therefore decided in June, 1915, to estab-
lish what is known as the State Bureau of
Municipal Information. The conference
elected a bureau council of five Mayors,
which appointed a director and instructed
him to organize the new activity in such
a way as to perform its designated func-
tions.
After three years of hard work we be-
lieve that we have succeeded fairly well
in filling a long-felt want in public life.
We have established a most cordial and
valuable relationship with the New York
State Library so that that immense plant of
information and its staff of researchers
are cooperating with us at all times. All
printed material received by the bureau,
except the annual and special reports of
New York State cities, is sent to the libra-
ry where it is indexed and filed. When an
inquiry is received from a city, the bureau
telephones to the library and the staffs of
the different departments make a thor-
ough research. The publications contain-
ing the desired information are then sent
to the bureau where they are studied and
kept until the report has been completed.
As a result the bureau does not have to
maintain a large reference library or a
large staff of researchers, both of which
are essential in our work.
In our preliminary study of existing bu-
reaus of information we found one class
operated by some particular city and an-
other class operated by a state through
some department of the government. The
principal weakness of those bureaus of
the first class was their inability to se-
cure sufficient funds to build up and main-
tain a large reference library and to em-
ploy a competent staff of researchers.
Those operated by some state department
could not secure the cooperation of the
cities. You will therefore see that by the
plan we have adopted these weaknesses
have been eliminated, and that we are able
to operate at a minimum expense.
The bureau is in dally touch with each
official, division, bureau and department of
all cities in the state. It receives daily
from a clipping bureau all newspaper arti-
cles about municipal work in all of the
cities in the state. We have established a
cooperative relationship with each mu-
nicipal league in the thirty-five states
which have those organizations, and with
many public and private agencies gather-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OP STATE LIBRARIES
323
ing and studying statistics and data about
cities in the United States and Europe.
The bureau is on the mailing list of over
one hundred firms which manufacture mu-
nicipal products or are offering expert
service. We receive all of their catalogs,
price lists and other literature as soon as
they are issued. This material is sent to
the State Library where it is indexed and
filed for ready reference. The bureau has
on file in its ofl5ce the basic data about all
municipalities in the state, such as the
charters, ordinances, budgets, annual and
special reports, building, housing and sani-
tary codes and other rules and regulations.
I am sure you can appreciate the value of
having at one central point in the state
absolutely accurate and up-to-date informa-
tion about the municipal laws and regula-
tions of all the cities. During the session
of the legislature the bureau receives
daily reports of all bills introduced and
copies of all bills affecting municipalities.
It also receives notices of all hearings and
the daily progress of all legislation in
which the cities are interested. The staff
is in close touch with every state depart-
ment, and upon request and after receiv-
ing detailed instructions, represents any
city before any branch of the state gov-
ernment located at Albany. These are the
present facilities of the bureau and with
them we have been able to procure any
information that any city official has
called for.
Let me next briefly describe and illus-
trate how the bureau uses these facilities.
The chief function of the bureau is to
furnish all available information about
any municipal problem to any New York
State city official requesting it. When an
inquiry comes to the bureau all depart-
ments of the State Library are asked to
send the information they have on the sub-
ject. If additional information is required
letters and sometimes questionnaires are
sent, not only to New York State cities
but also to municipalities in other states.
While we supply information only to New
York State cities, we go all over the world
for information we desire. If the informa-
tion desired is not too detailed or technical
and does not call for opinions, the state
leagues and other cooperating agencies
are called upon. To illustrate: If the bu-
reau wants information of this character
about Pennsylvania cities, it does not write
to each city, but sends one inquiry to the
division of municipal statistics and in-
formation of the Pennsylvania State De-
partment of Labor. Our bureau has an
agreement with this and other public and
private agencies to supply information
about New York State cities and in re-
turn to receive any information it may
desire about the cities in the state or sec-
tion covered by the particular agency. In
this way all of the agencies interested are
able to get information more accurately
and quickly and at less expense and effort
than they could if such a plan were not in
existence. At the same time the officials
of the cities are saved trouble and ex-
pense. After the data have been collected
and collated a report is prepared. If the
report is of general interest, it is either
printed or multigraphed and a copy sent
to the mayor of each city in the state with
a request that after examination he refer
it for permanent filing to the particular
official, bureau or department interested.
If the report is of interest to one or a lim-
ited number of cities, six copies are type-
written, one being sent to the city making
the inquiry and the others placed on file
until called for by any city official.
The second function of the bureau is to
gather data and distribute the information
among city oflScials. The staff is constant-
ly on the lookout for information which it
believes will interest city officials. When
the Director of Public ^Works of Philadel-
phia issued his much-talked-about annual
report, sixty copies were obtained by the
bureau and one was sent to each mayor in
the state. All court opinions and state de-
partment rulings affecting cities are sent
to interested officials. In this way various
reports and much literature of interest to
municipalities have been sent to oflficials.
To keep city officials in touch with one
another by distributing new ideas and
324
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONP^RENCE
plans is the third function of the bureau.
The city of Syracuse was successful in
operating a municipal asphalt plant. When
the report was ready for distribution, a
copy was sent by the bureau to each city
in the state. When the Health Depart-
ment of the City of New York decided to
abolish terminal fumigation copies of the
order and report of the experiment that
had been made were sent to each munic-
ipal health officer in the state. These are
only two of the many new ideas which
have been distributed among officials by
the bureau.
Another duty the bureau has to perform
is that of watching all legislation affecting
municipalities and keeping the cities in-
formed about this kind of legislation. As
soon as a bill has been introduced the bu-
reau receives a copy. If the bill is general
in character, it is referred to the legisla-
tive committee of the Conference, which
later instructs the bureau what to do; if
the bill affects only one or a few cities,
notification is sent to the mayors of these
municipalities with a request for instruc-
tions if any action by the bureau is de-
sired. The progress of the legislation is
watched, and the cities affected are kept
informed. Whenever the bureau is re-
quired to appear before a legislative com-
mittee, special care is taken to impress
upon the legislators that it is acting only
as the agent of the city or cities.
The director of the bureau upon request
and instruction appears before any state
department for any city. One city had
had difficulty with the state civil service
commission. The bureau received detailed
information about the controversy, and
after a few conferences with the state
body it was able to submit facts which re-
sulted in a satisfactory understanding.
Several cities have asked for opinions from
the attorney general. The bureau has ob-
tained them, and when any was of general
interest, it was sent to all cities in the
state or mentioned in the bureau bulletin.
In like manner the bureau has represented
one or more cities before practically ev-
ery state department.
After the bureau had been established a
few weeks, it equipped itself to supply in-
formation about the manufacturers, price
lists, etc., of apparatus and products used
by cities. As a general rule the city de-
partments have neither the facilities nor
the help to keep in shape for ready refer-
ence the catalogs, etc., which they need
wjien considering the purchasing of mate-
rials. Then, too, when one administra-
tion goes out and another one comes in,
the material which has been collected is
considered old and therefore goes into the
waste basket during the house-cleaning
process. With the service which the bu-
reau has established, the officials of all
departments of every city have at their
disposal an immediate source of reliable
and up-to-date information. One city asked
the bureau to send it information about
the manufacturers of street signs. A list
of manufacturers was prepared and sent
to the city with the information that each
maker had been notified by the bureau to
send to that city its price lists, samples
and other information about its products.
The manufacturers were then notified that
the city was in the market for street signs
and were asked to send to its city engi-
neer the information he desired. Another
city wanted to know the names of the
makers of street traffic signals. At that
time there were only two firms making
these signals and neither was advertising
in any publication. The bureau succeeded
in putting the makers in touch with the
city. Much work of this character has
been done, but not so much during the last
year as previous to the declaration of war,
because municipalities are now doing very
little construction work.
By means of its newspaper clipping serv-
ice the bureau is able not only to keep in
touch with the activities of all cities in
the state, but also many times to antici-
pate their needs. One clipping informed
the bureau that the common council of a
city had referred to one of its committees
the task of preparing specifications for the
collection and disposal of the city's gar-
bage. Without waiting for the city to ask
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
325
for the specifications of other cities, the
bureau sent the information to the chair-
man of the committee. When it learned
through another clipping that a city ad-
ministration was discussing the salaries
that should be paid to its school teachers,
the discussion having been started by a
demand by the teachers for an increase,
the bureau sent to the mayor of that city
a report giving the salaries of all school
teachers in the state. Another city ap-
pointed a special committee to investigate
the subject of water sterilization. The
bureau was notified through its clipping
service and immediately sent its report
giving the experience of cities in the
United States with liquid chlorine, the
ultra-violet ray method and hypochloride
of lime. When another New York State
city got into a controversy over the sal-
ary it should pay its health ofiicer, the bu-
reau sent to the mayor the opinion of the
attorney general on the subject, and re-
ceived a reply in part as follows: "Thank
you for the information. It is proof of the
fact that you are on the job."
The bureau issues semi-monthly a multi-
graphed bulletin containing general mu-
nicipal information, announcements of the
activities of the Conference and bureau,
and a list of subjects researched during
the previous two weeks. These bulletins
are sent to the mayor and city clerk for
permanent filing. Each city, therefore,
has two places where any of its officials
can learn what reports the bureau has pre-
pared and what information is immedi-
ately available.
Why are we doing this work?
After the city officials of the state had
organized nine years ago, we began to
hear discussion at the annual gatherings
about making city administrations more
effective. There was plainly evident a
dissatisfaction because of the compara-
tively few results obtained by public of-
ficials for the amount of energy they put
into their work. Not until a comprehen-
sive study had been made by the officers
of the Conference did these officials begin
to comprehend the real cause for the many
obstacles with which they had to contend.
A lack of knowledge about the multitude
of city problems, insufficient time to gather
and collate the information they needed in
solving' these problems, and inadequate
facilities to ascertain where the needed
data could be obtained — these were found
to be the barriers over and around which
every conscientious public official found
himself unable to get. Our investigation
showed that the personnel of the city ad-
ministration is constantly changing, and
that every official had to grope through a
maze of perplexities and uncertainties in
his effort to solve the many intricate prob-
lems involving the expenditure of large
public funds. Guesses constituted the
foundation of many important decisions.
Much needless and costly experimentation
was being done simply because a particu-
lar city department did not know and had
no effective means of learning that some
or several other cities had already solved
a particular problem. Duplication of time,
labor and expense to obtain information
about systems, unit costs and results in
other cities was found to exist in every
city. At least five cities were writing ev-
erywhere to learn what others had done
to regulate the jitney bus. None knew at
the time that the information had already
been collected by a national organization
and was available. One city started to
collect data about the number of police-
men employed per thousand of population
and per square mile of area without any
knowledge that the comptroller's office in
New York City had spent money and con-
siderable time in gathering the same in-
formation from the hundred largest cities
in the United States. Only recently the
head of a charities department in one city
informed me that he was just starting to
write to the principal cities in the United
States asking for copies of blank forms
used by relief visitors. When I told him
that we already had these blank forms on
file in the bureau and that we would loan
them to him, he was not only surprised
but delighted. I might cite instance after
instance of this kind, but these I believe
326
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
will be sufficient to Illustrate the condi-
tion which was found to exist.
When the president of the Conference
and I made a trip through the state study-
ing the city governments, we found on ev-
ery hand convincing evidence that the
great need of municipal officials today is
knowledge. One instance will be suffi-
cient to illustrate the point. In one city,
after learning about the municipal activi-
ties, we casually asked the price the city
was paying for its five-light ornamental
cluster system. As a result of our in-
quiry we learned this: This particular
city and another one located twenty miles
distant were receiving power to light their
streets from the same company, both had
installed five-cluster light ornamental sys-
tems which were practically identical and
the service furnished by this lighting com-
pany to each of these cities was practical-
ly the same. One city was paying $91.00
per cluster and had signed up for a ten-
year contract with eight more years to
run. The other city was paying $47.25 per
cluster and had signed up for a five-year
contract which was to expire within two
years. After the bureau had been estab-
lished and we had made a compilation of
rates for street lighting in every city in
the state, the officials of the city which
was paying $91.00 knew for the first time
that they were operating under an expen-
sive contract. Had the bureau been in
operation when the contract was under
consideration, this city would have known
the rates its sister city was paying and
profited thereby.
We obtained an abundance of evidence
in every city that each official is anxious
and striving to serve his constituents as
best he can. We also satisfied ourselves
that municipal affairs are honestly admin-
istered. But in every city we found its
officials confused because of the increased
responsibility and the increased functions
of municipal government that within re-
cent years have been placed upon them.
This is a perfectly natural result of what
we have all been striving for, viz., a
keener interest in municipal affairs on the
part of the general public and a desire on
the part of the officials more efficiently to
serve the public. All sorts of things are
now being done by cities which a few
years ago were done by the people them-
selves or not at all. As a result the sphere
of action of municipalities is constantly
enlarging, therefore the necessity for
trained officials is increasing, and this
necessity has brought with It the need by
public officials of more knowledge about
urban problems. That is the situation we
have been facing and by the establish-
ment of this State Bureau of Information
have tried to meet.
What have we accomplished?
We have met promptly the increasing
demand for information by all cities in the
state. We have researched and prepared
and issued reports on 350 general mu-
nicipal subjects. Several of these reports
are voluminous, particularly those relating
to municipal house-cleaning problems, such
as the method and cost of collecting and
disposing of garbage, ashes and manure in
and by American cities and the various
types of sewage disposal plants and the
cost of operation. These reports have re-
cently been published In book form.
The bureau has compiled the water rates
and the cost and method of street lighting
in all Empire State municipalities. It has
prepared reports giving the salaries of all
city officials In each municipality, and for
one city it prepared a report giving the
salary of 178 different officials in twenty-
eight of the fifty largest cities in the
United States. It has obtained the expe-
rience of American cities which have used
wood block, bitulithic, asphalt block and
concrete for pavement. It has compiled
information showing how they regulate
by ordinance various activities. It has
prepared reports on the experience of
cities with various methods of sterilizing
water, repairing brick pavement, steel and
concrete bridges, public markets and their
regulation, night schools to teach English
to foreigners, care of charity patients by
private hospitals, various forms of govern-
ment, municipal piggeries, methods of In-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
327
surlng public buildings, waste collection
by motor trucks, municipal electric light
plants, oiling streets and the various ma-
terials used, method of selecting assessors,
municipal subways, women on the police
force, assessing the cost of ornamental
street lighting systems, municipal infant
welfare stations, two-platoon system for
fire departments, municipal clean-up cam-
paigns, paving by municipal forces, assess-
ments, bond issues and tax rates. It also
has prepared reports on the different kinds
of pavement laid in New York. It has
gathered and has ready to loan to any
city in the state the blank forms used by
American cities in purchasing supplies
through a central agency, the forms used
by American cities in securing depart-
mental estimate for budget making, forms
used by police departments in reporting
accidents, etc., and forms used by investi-
gators in charity departments. In addition
to its general research work, the bureau
has done much special work for Individual
cities and considerable constructive work,
such as the preparation of model ordi-
nances, codes and regulations and general
municipal laws.
To distribute this Information through-
out the state, the bureau last year sent to
the cities 2,945 reports, an average of 245
a month. To get the Information desired
and to distribute it, we received 6,025 let-
ters and pamphlets and sent out 18,867
pieces of mail.
The bureau is financed by the cities of
the state, each first class city appropriat-
ing $500 annually, each second class city
$300 annually and each third class city
$150 annually. Authority to make this ap-
propriation Is given in a general law. At
the present time all cities in the state are
supporting the bureau. The annual ex-
pense of the bureau will average about
$8,000. We have a reserve fund of $5,000
Invested in Liberty Bonds, and we are car-
rying our own insurance.
As a result of this cooperative plan,
each city in the state Is receiving a needed
service which it could not possibly dupli-
cate by Individual effort and for the money
it pays. Experience has convinced us that
the bureau Is able to get more quickly, ac-
curately, easily and economically Informa-
tion about cities and city problems, both
in and outside the state, than any indi-
vidual municipality could. This has been
demonstrated many times. For example
one city tried to secure a copy of a valu-
able publication Issued by an Ohio city,
but was informed that none was available.
The mayor then appealed to the bureau,
which within a week sent the book to
him. To secure the data for the report on
the costs and methods of collecting and
disposing of garbage, the bureau sent a
three-page questionnaire to all New York
state cities and the fifty largest cities in
the United States, outside of this state.
Every city responded, giving the bureau a
100 per cent return for Its efforts. We
attribute the success of the bureau in this
respect to the fact that when it makes a
request for Information each city realizes
that the information it sends is for the
benefit of all municipalities in New York
State. One answer to an inquiry from
the bureau serves at least 59 cities, and
win serve every city in any state which
has a state league cooperating with us.
The general public and most cities have
no idea of the cost and the amount of time
and labor required to research a general
municipal problem so that an ofliclars rec-
ommendation and a city's action may be
based on actual experiences and facts and
not on guesses. For the bureau's report
on municipal public markets a three-page
questionnaire was prepared. This had to
be done by someone familiar with all
phases of the subject, and especially with
the points upon which experts disagree,
such, for example, as whether or not a
market should have a delivery system, and
if so, the kinds of systems that are being
operated. This questionnaire was sent to
the 204 American cities having a popula-
tion of 30,000 or more. To those which
did not answer the first request for data a
second and in some instances a third and
fourth follow-up letter was sent. While
the data were being collected the staff
328
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONP^ERENCE
studied and summarized everything it
could find that had been printed on the
subject. All of the books, magazines, pam-
phlets, newspaper articles and reports on
file in the New York State Library, New
York City Library and New York City
Municipal Reference Library, and all lit-
erature sent by the cities to which had
been mailed the questionnaire, were re-
searched. The report was then prepared
and the data from the seventy-four cities
which reported they had municipal mar-
kets were collated. Typewritten copies of
this material were sent to the best mu-
nicipal market experts in the United
States for their criticisms and suggestions.
After the necessary changes had been
made, 300 copies of the report were print-
ed and each city in the state was supplied
with one and as many more copies as it
needed. Two months after the work had
been started the report was issued, and
during that time nearly four hundred let-
ters had been written. We estimate that
it cost the bureau approximately $500 to
prepare and circularize this one report.
It therefore cost each city between $8.00
and $9.00 to obtain the information on
public markets. If an individual city had
made the study and prepared the report,
we estimate it would have cost its tax-
payers not less than $300. This, we be-
lieve, strikingly illustrates the economy of
the cooperative work the New York State
cities are doing through the bureau.
The bureau deals only in facts. These
are its merchandise. Its slogan "Not to
reform but to inform" expresses its true
function. It is for city officials to shape
policies and make plans and recommenda-
tions; it is for the bureau to supply the
facts and all available information which
city officials may use in formulating cor-
rect policies and plans according to their
local conditions. We have, therefore, sub-
stituted facts for guesses as the founda-
tion of municipal work in New York State.
That the bureau is meeting a real need
in a practical way is indicated, we believe,
by the many and increasing demands made
upon it by the city officials, by the volun-
tary expressions of opinions received from
officials, and by the results obtained by
cities which have used the information.
I believe that I can summarize the general
opinion by quoting a common expression
heard wherever the merits of the bureau
are discussed by New York State city offi-
cials, "We don't see how the cities got
along without it."
Before the cities had it, every official
was for himself. Most of the information
sought was not obtained at all; much of
what was secured was inaccurate, biased
and expensive in time and money. With a
State Bureau of Municipal Information for
all there is no duplication of work, all
available data are secured, no labor is
lost, quick service is rendered and effi-
ciency in many ways results. The infor-
mation is accurate, unbiased, far less ex-
pensive and put in usable form for all.
Let me call to your particular attention
this fact: THE BUREAU IS NOT A PRI-
VATE ENTERPRISE. It is exclusively
an organization of and for the cities in the
state. Being directed by a council of five
mayors elected at the annual conference
of the official representatives of the cities,
it is controlled absolutely by the munic-
ipalities. It is also supported only by the
cities, and with the sanction of the state.
No vested or special interests, no poli-
tical party and no individual city or class
of cities can control its activities. It is a
non-partisan, non-factional servant of each
and every official in all cities in the state.
In these times of stress and unprece-
dented changes, when city governments
must bear their share of the work the na-
tion is doing for humanity, the bureau's
service to every official is of special value.
When a new city problem or activity or
change arises, it is among the first to l^ear
about it. Thenceforth the effect of the
change, the methods of handling the new
activity or the discussions and solutions
of the new problem are collected by this
clearing house and sent through the state.
If the problem requires the formulation
of a general policy or its solution demands
the cooperation of all the cities, it is re-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
329
ferred to the Conference and there con-
sidered by one or more committees of
trained public officials. Not only is the
bureau supplying the wants of municipal
administrations, but it is meeting needs
arising from changed conditions. It makes
available to all cities the best thoughts
and efforts of each, so that officials may
avoid failures and repeat successes.
The CHAIRMAN: If there are any ques-
tions you would like to ask Mr. Capes, I
am sure he would be glad to answer them.
Mr. ERNEST J. REECE: The adherence
of the cities to the support of the service is
required by law, is it not?
Mr. CAPES: No. It is voluntary. We de-
pend upon the value of the services.
Mr. JOHNSON BRIGHAM: I should like
to ask how many state leagues cooperate in
this way with the league of New York?
Mr. CAPES: All of the state leagues; that
is, all of the states which have leagues.
Mr. BRIGHAM: How many leagues are
there?
Mr. CAPES: Thirty-five.
Mr. BRIGHAM: To what extent do you
cooperate with them in exchange of docu-
ments or in exchange of information?
Mr. CAPES: We exchange publications,
and when a league in another state needs
any specific information about New York
State cities, it writes to us, and vice versa.
For example when we want any informa-
tion about the cities of Kansas we write
to the secretary of the Kansas league and
if he has not that information on file he
wili get it for us.
Mr. BRIGHAM: One other question. Do
you respond to any call for information
from a city in a state in which there is no
league?
Mr. CAPES: We do not guarantee to give
information outside of New York State,
except to those who are cooperating with
us. Whenever it is possible, we will do
so. We do guarantee to give information
about any New York State city or cities.
Mr. BRIGHAM: Are the reports of your
investigations made generally available?
Mr. CAPES: Only in this way: They are
advertised in the Bulletin of the Public
Affairs Information Service, which receives
a copy of every report, and are sold through
the service, at cost, we understand.
QUESTION: Most of the reports to which
you have reference are typewritten re-
ports?
Mr. CAPES: Yes, typewritten or mimeo-
graphed.
Mr. R. R. BO WKER : May I ask why your
reports are not and cannot be sent to the
leading public libraries of the states for
file and reference so that this kind of work
can be stimulated in cities which are not
yet sympathetic with it?
Mr. CAPES : The only answer I can make
to that is that our finances at the present
time won't stand it.
Mr. BRIGHAM: But you have $5,000 to
invest.
Mr. CAPES: We need a reserve fund be-
cause we have to pay our expenses from
the time that the year closes until the
checks come in from the cities and we do
not want to set the bad example of borrow-
ing and paying interest as a great many
cities are now doing.
Mr. BO WKER: If the bureau has a supply
of reports when published and the mu-
nicipal libraries are willing to pay for
them — that is, if any one library would
say, 'We should like your publications for
a year and we will pay you $10 or $12 for
them,' would you furnish them?
Mr. CAPES : We have refused to do so for
the reason that, because we expect to get
our information without paying for it, we
do not want to charge anyone else for the
information we have. If we can possibly
give a report to a city or to an agency we
do it. For example, we will supply a
330
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
printed report to those outside the service
up to the limit of the issue.
Mr. BOWKER: What I am driving at is
whether enough copies cannot be printed
to supply a demand which ought to be cre-
ated through the public library system?
Mr. CAPES : I think that our plan of sup-
plying copies through the Public Affairs
Information Service is much cheaper. "We
make the information available as soon as
we complete the study of any group of mu-
nicipal subjects. For example, we have
completed the study of the group, munic-
ipal house-cleaning. That is now being
printed in book form* and I expect that it
will be issued about next week. It will
give you information from all American
cities on municipal house-cleaning sub-
jects or the subjects having to do with the
removal of municipal waste.
Mr. A. J. SMALL: How about your own
annual reports?
Mr. CAPES : Those and the reports of the
Conference are printed and are available
to all libraries in the United States with-
out charge.
Mr. BOWKER : We have in this bureau a
system of cooperation, wonderfully inex-
pensive. The bureau ought to be con-
gratulated on the fact that it got a hun-
dred per cent questionnaire result. This
is very extraordinary in view of the small
number of replies which we get when we
send out questionnaires to libraries in the
American Library Association. Librarians,
too, are not free from the reproach of du-
plicating, because we still find half a dozen
libraries working on the same thing, wast-
ing their money. I think that the bureau
gives excellent proof of what can be ac-
complished by cooperative work. It seems
to me that the cooperative work can be ex-
tended by some arrangement between the
library system throughout the country and
such a bureau as this. I think that the
bureau ought to go a step further in the
distribution of its reports, and supply them
♦Capes, William Parr and Carpenter,
Jeanne Daniels. Municipal house-cleaning;
the methods and experiences of American
cities in collecting and disposing of their mu-
nicipal wastes. N. Y. Button. 20 -|- 232 p.
tabs (part fold). O. $6n.
directly not only to cities but to public
libraries doing city service.
The CHAIRMAN: We will now proceed
to the reports of committees. The first re-
port is on a National Legislative Informa-
tion Service by Mr. George S. Godard,
chairman.
Mr. GODARD: I am sure we have all
been not only intensely interested but im-
pressed by the reports which Mr. Capes has
given us of the splendid work which has
been accomplished by the New York Bureau
of Municipal Information. It Is, therefore,
with a feeling something like sadness that
the chairman of your Joint Committee on
a National Legislative Information Serv-
ice brings in at this time the report that
it does concerning a cooperative service
from which we had hoped so much and
which during one or two seasons performed
such a great service, but which, owing to
a lack of sympathetic and united effort,
we were unable to bring forth last year,
one of the heavy years of legislation. Your
committee would therefore report as fol-
lows:
REPORT OF JOINT COMMITTEE ON A
NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE INFOR-
MATION SERVICE
To the National Association of State Li-
braries and the American Association of
Law Libraries:
At the Louisville Conference it was re-
ported by your committee that the exces-
sive costs in connection with the publica-
tion of the Official Index to State Legisla-
tion would during 1917 (when three-quar-
ters of the legislatures were in session)
render it impracticable to publish the index
that year, but that it was hoped in 1918, a
so-called "off year" in legislation, the work
could be continued. These hopes have
been destroyed through the concentration
of energies in this country on war activi-
ties. This is a matter of great regret to
the committee and to many would-be sub-
scribers, but the successful prosecuti^ of
the war is of the first Importance and all
must be subordinated thereto.
It is hardly likely that anything can be
done until conditions become more nor-
mal.
Geo, S. Godaed,
Chairman.
F. O. Poole,
Secretary.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OP STATE LIBRARIES
331
Mr. LUTHER E. HEWITT: I move In
accepting this report that some acknowledg-
ment of thanks be made to this commit-
tee, because they did exert themselves most
strenuously to prosecute the work by let-
ters, by conversations, and in every way
imaginable, and if any committee could
have succeeded I am sure that this com-
mittee was the one. I move that in ac-
cepting this report the appreciation of the
joint associations be extended to the com-
mittee.
The motion was duly seconded and car-
ried.
It was moved and carried that the com-
mittee be continued.
The Chairman: The next biisiness is the
report of the Committee on a Skeleton
Index to Legislation, by Miss Gertrude E.
Woodard, chairman. We regret that Miss
Woodard is unable to be present at this
conference. I will ask Miss Smith, the
secretary, to read the report.
[This committee was appointed as a re-
sult of action taken at the Asbury Park
Conference in 1916.]
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON SKELE-
TON INDEX TO LEGISLATION
To the members of the American Associa-
tion of Law Libraries and National As-
sociation of State Libraries:
Your joint committee appointed to in-
vestigate and report upon the advisability
of compiling a skeleton index to legisla-
tion which might be incorporated in indexes
to future session laws and compilations and
revisions of statutes submits the following
for your consideration:
Uniformity in the indexing of statute
law is highly desirable.
A skeleton index covering the more im-
portant topics in legislation and including
those peculiar to the various states, with
appropriate cross references, should be
compiled.
The preparation of a tentative index
could best be undertaken by cooperation of
the legislative reference departments of
the several states, which should report to a
revising committee to be appointed by
your respective associations.
This committee, after compiling the ten-
tative index, should forward copies to the
legislative reference departments of the
several states, which departments should
endeavor to have it used as a guide by the
persons who prepare the indexes to the
legislation of 1919.
This, we believe, might in time result
in the securing of greater uniformity in the
preparation of indexes and thereby largely
facilitate the use of statute law.
Respectfully submitted,
Gebteude E. Woodabd, Chairman.
Adelaide R. Hasse,
E. J. Lien.
On motion, the foregoing report was duly
accepted.
The CHAIRMAN: Do you wish to take
any action in regard to a committee to be
appointed by this joint meeting?
Mr. GILSON G. GLASIER: It seems to
me that inasmuch as this committee have
had the matter under consideration it is
better for them to continue the work and
carry out the suggestions which they have
made. I move that the committee be con-
tinued and be asked to carry out the sug-
gestions made in the report.
The motion was duly seconded and car-
ried.
The CHAIRMAN: The next report is from
the Committee on Handbook of Public
Boards and Commissions, by Mr. A. J.
Small, chairman.
[The Committee on Handbook of Public
Boards and Commissions is a committee of
the American Association of Law Libra-
ries.]
Mr. SMALL stated that because of the un-
settled condition of affairs the matter had
gone no further than a tentative outline
plan which he had submitted to Mr. Wil-
liam Marshall Bullitt, at whose expense
the handbook would be printed. The out-
line was still in Mr. Bullitt's hands for
consideration, and the committee therefore
had no further report to make. A motion
was made and carried that the committee
be continued for another year.
Mr. GLASIER. The National Association
of State Libraries will have its first and
only regular business meeting this eve-
ning and I wish to name the committees
now so that they may be able to get to-
gether and prepare reports.
Nominating Committee: Mr. Dullard of
New Jersey, Mr. Godard of Connecticut and
Mr. Brigham of Iowa.
332
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Committee on Resolutions: Mr. J. I.
Wyer, Jr.,* of New York, Mr. D. C. Brown,
of Indiana, and Dr. C. W. Andrews, of the
John Crerar Library, Chicago.
Auditing Committee: Mr, Small of Iowa
and Mr. H. O. Brlgham of Rhode Island.
Thereupon the meeting was adjourned.
FIRST SESSION
National Association of State Libraries,
Billiard room. Grand Union Hotel,
Tuesday, July 2, 8 p. m.
The meeting was called to order by the
president, and opened with the president's
address.
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT
By Gilson G. Glasier,
State Librarian, Wisconsin
First, I want to express my sincere ap-
preciation of the compliment paid in elect-
ing me your president. It was to me an
unexpected honor and I thank you. I did
not feel well qualified for the place because
I had not been a member of very long
standing. But, since you saw fit to draft
me into this service at an unfortunate mo-
ment when I was not present to claim ex-
emption, I accepted the call and undertook
the work, knowing that I was with friends
and trusting that with your aid and coop-
eration we would be able to make some
progress in carrying out the purposes of
the association.
You will readily appreciate that your of-
ficers have been working under an unusual
handicap this year. Every spare energy
of most of us has been directed toward war
activities. These additional burdens have
not tended to make our way smooth in pre-
paring a program for this conference.
Many who we had hoped would take part
in the program, or at least favor us with
their presence, have been unable to do so
owing to the numerous extra duties placed
upon them by the war, and their conse-
quent Inability either to prepare for or be
present at this time. It, therefore, devolves
upon those of us who are here to make the
best of our time and opportunity and if
•Withdrew. Mr. Milton J. Ferguson of
California State Library was appointed to
the vacancy.
possible make up in quality what we lack
in numbers.
In this connection, and before going fur-
ther, I want to thank personally all those
who have consented to take part in the
program, or to serve on committees, or pre-
pare reports, and those who with their ad-
vice and counsel have helped advance the
work of the association. And especially do
I want to thank your secretary, Miss
Smith, for the very efficient aid and coop-
eration, which she has so cheerfully given.
Preliminary to outlining a program I en-
deavored to complete my file of the reports
of the association, and went through them
rather carefully in order to bring myself
more closely into touch with the work and
history of the association. These reports
are replete with valuable suggestions and
ideas. I cordially recommend the reading
of them to all engaged in state library
work. I believe we would all be better li-
brarians if we would read them more dil-
igently. The Year Book of, the Association,
published in 1915, contains a bibliography
of these reports. It can be had by apply-
ing to our secretary and I believe most of
our reports are available in some form.
I think it should at least be mentioned
that this Is the year of the twentieth anni-
versary of our association, although no
plans have been made to mark that fact.
It would seem that at this period of its
growth and development it ought to be at
the very height of its power, enthusiasm
and influence. I regret to note that is not
quite the truth, and that for some time
there has been a rather conspicuous lack of
interest in its meetings, which may be at-
tributable to several causes, among them
the organization of special library associa-
tions for undertaking work which many of
us thought was within our province. This
had a tendency to detract from and divide
the interest. Another reason was thought
to be the formal nature of our programs.
Some endeavor has been made to remedy
this defect at this conference by arranging
greater opportunity for informal discus-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
333
Another reason for lagging interest
seems to me to be that only a few of our
members are able to attend the conferences
regularly. Few of our members can afford
to pay their own expenses, and when li-
brary boards refuse to pay them, attend-
ance is sometimes prohibitive. Here per-
haps is another field of endeavor which
ought to receive our attention. In 1905
a Membership Committee was established
for the purpose of urging membership and
attendance at the conferences. This com-
mittee did some good work but was abol-
ished in 1911 and its duties transferred to
a committee made up of the president, vice-
president and secretary-treasurer. To me
this seems to have been a mistake. The
officers have enough to do in supervising
the work of the association, outlining its
policies and arranging programs. But to
change this would require an amendment
of the constitution. The principal work of
such an association as this is usually and
properly done through committees. The
more live, working committees we have,
the more readily can we interest all our
members by finding for each one something
to do to forward the work of the Associa-
tion.
To ascertain the subjects in which our
members are most interested, I made a list
of those considered at previous confer-
ences, adding a few new ones of current in-
terest owing to the entry of this country
into the European War, and sent it to
members with the request that they check
and return it so as to indicate the subjects
they deemed most valuable for discussion.
The returns from this "straw" vote were
as follows:
Votes
State documents 10
Legislative reference libraries 8
War work of state libraries in war time. 8
Unification and coordination of state li-
brary activities 6
Experiences in collecting and cataloging
official publications respecting the war 6
Scope of book purchase 6
Work of state libraries after the war 5
' Exchanges 5
Indexing and cataloging 5
Other subjects received votes ranging from
four down to none. But this should not be
taken as an absolute criterion. For in-
stance, the replies indicate on their face
that only one library, Indiana State, is in-
terested in efficiency and not any in prog-
ress. There is, of course, a very satisfac-
tory explanation of this apparent lapse.
These subjects are in themselves too ab-
stract to command attention. Every reply
received and every subject checked is sig-
nificant of a desire, on the part of the li-
brarian replying, to attain efficiency and to
progress and develop the work of his par-
ticular library.
As stated, the greatest interest was man-
ifested in state documents. The very close-
ly related subject of "Exchanges" received
five votes. Until the last two or three
years this association had a standing com-
mittee on the exchange and distribution of
state documents. It was formed in 1899
and made fairly regular reports down to
and including 1914. Its omission to report
in 1915 was due to the fact that Mr. Gillis,
who was at that time president, was un-
able, up to the time of his illness, to find
a chairman to succeed Mrs. Spencer who
desired not to continue the work. It seems
to me this is a valuable field of endeavor
which is peculiarly within the province of
this association and that there is much yet
to be accomplished in the study of state
documents and methods of exchange. I
recommend that this committee be reestab-
lished, and that its scope be made some-
what larger than before. Instead of mak-
ing it a committee to deal merely with the
exchange of state documents, I would
broaden its field by denominating it a Com-
mittee on State Documents and Exchanges.
Its authority would thus be made to in-
clude the bibliography of state documents,
their form and subject matter, and any-
thing else relating to them which the com-
mittee deems of importance.
In 1915 the University of Illinois pub-
lished a bulletin entitled, "State documents
for libraries," under the editorship of Mr.
Ernest J. Reece, who is now director of the
New York Public Library School. Although
this pamphlet grew out of a course of lee-
334
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
tures prepared for students in a library
school, I think most of us have found it a
valuable aid in our work. You are prob-
ably familiar with its contents. It dis-
cusses the field of state documents, their
selection for and treatment in libraries. It
describes methods of distribution, and con-
tains suggestions for a model law on print-
ing and distributing. Another part is de-
voted to bibliographical matter and deals
with sources of information about state
documents, and copipilations of state of-
ficial literature. The pamphlet contains
much valuable information, but is rapidly
becoming out of date. I wrote the editor
to ascertain his attitude toward revising
this pamphlet, and received letters which
are in part as follows:
"What I should be in position to do
might depend in considerable part upon an
expression which I hope I may have from
yourself, and through you from other state
librarians, as to the points at which revi-
sion or supplementing is desirable. My im-
pression is that it has proved more valu-
able to state libraries than to any other
agencies, and that the sections which have
chiefly been of service are the bibliograph-
ical matter and the chapter relating to the
distribution of state documents. I should
be glad to know whether I am correct in
this, and whether a working over of these
sections would meet the need which you
have in mind. If not, is it your opinion
that the whole thing might well be re-cast?
I should also like to raise the question
as to how much active help the National
Association of State Libraries, or the state
libraries themselves, would feel able to give
in gathering material in case the bulletins
were re-edited. When I was assembling
data some years ago many librarians and
individuals were most helpful, but the sec-
tion on distribution was unsatisfactory to
me because it was not possible to find in
all the states officers who could authorita-
tively and succinctly summarize the law
and the usage bearing on the subject. Have
the chances for this at all improved?"
Again in a letter dated March 11, 1918, he
speaks as follows:
"In case I find myself able to undertake
the preparation of a new edition or supple-
ment, what I shall need most will be ac-
cess to satisfactory sources of information.
This means some person in each state and
territory who is familiar with the practice
prevailing in the preparation, make-up, is-
sue and distribution of the official litera-
ture, and who is willing to go to some trou-
ble in putting this information into form
for editing and printing. It is not enough
to present or refer to the law alone. Again
in dealing with the bibliography it is very
desirable to be in touch with authorities,
for after what has already been done the
need is to run down such obscure lists
and tools as have not been previously men-
tioned collectively. The best service a com-
mittee could render, it seems to me, would
be to find and designate persons qualified
to furnish the data needed, and, as far as
this should prove necessary, to urge upon
them- the value to your association of care-
ful accurate statements covering the points
in question.
"In writing the above I have had in mind
difliculties which arise only in some of the
states. Many state librarians and others
have been most helpful, and as a matter of
course would be so again."
That is as far as our correspondence car-
ried the matter, except that Mr. Reece ex-
pressed his intention to be at this confer-
ence and his willingness to take the matter
up further with any committee. we should
see fit to appoint.
I suggest that the question of revising
and republishing either part or all of this
pamphlet receive your careful considera-
tion. If you think best to carry it further
at this time, it is a matter which might
well be referred to the Committee on State
Documents and Exchanges previously re-
ferred to, if such a committee is re-estab-
lished. This would give that committee
something very definite and tangible to
begin work upon.
Now at first I thought I would say noth-
ing about the war, but it is a subject we
cannot escape. We are, as a government
and as a nation, passing through the great-
est crisis in our history and I do not be-
lieve we would be doing our full duty at
this meeting if we did not stop to con-
sider briefly what it means to us and what
bearing it has upon our duties as state
librarians.
Many causes have been assigned for the
war and many reasons given why we are
fighting. Taken together, they are all more
than adequate and there is no need to re-
view nor to defend them before this in-
telligent gathering. One of the best state-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
335
ments I have found for the purpose of
making the point I wish to urge, is that
made by Vernon Kellogg in a recent article,
as follows: "The present time of crisis is
at bottom the time of testing of the two
types of government; government by and
for the people and government by and for
the Kaiser and general staff. The first
type has now to make good."
We all have great faith in the principles
of democracy and its ultimate triumph, but
that faith should not be a blind one. We
cannot shut our eyes to the fact that demo-
cratic governments have at times shown
themselves incapable of meeting great
crises in an efficient way. It would serve
no special purpose to cite examples of
democratic inefficiency. We all know there
are many. Our enemies scoff at and exult
in them and our friends criticize. As only
one instance of this, I have here a pam-
phlet of over a hundred pages which is one
of the most patriotic publications I have
seen, and yet it is devoted entirely to a
constructive criticism of our nation's con-
duct of the war up to the time of its pub-
lication. It calls attention to what the edi-
tor deems to be serious mistakes and weak-
nesses in our governmental machinery, and
concludes by recommending improved poli-
cies and methods. I believe it to be a
commendable effort and that it and similar
efforts at constructive criticism should
have the serious attention of those en-
gaged in the immediate duties of conduct-
ing our governmental affairs.
Now what is our duty as state librarians
in this crisis? Speaking generally, the
libraries of the country have responded
and are responding wonderfully to the
call^ made upon them by the war. They
have recognized and performed at large
cost in money and effort their duty to
carry to the soldiers in the field the same
service they were rendering to that same
soldier when he was a civilian at home —
a service both of entertainment and in-
struction. Library organizations should
have much credit for this. Librarians and
others have been eager to perform these
duties directly connected both with the
field forces and with official life in Wash-
ington, because there is a certain romance
or sentiment connected with them which
naturally attracts adventurous souls. It
seems to me the danger here is that we
may neglect the more commonplace but
just as important duties at home. While
the service to the soldier is important, we
should not let it overshadow the duty we
owe to our public men who remain at
home to run the governmental machinery.
Under the stress of war our state and na-
tional policies and institutions are under-
going very rapid evolution and change. It
is idle to think we will ever revert entirely
to the old methods. Serious problems are
coming before us clamoring for solution
and they will continue to come until long
after the war is won. It is extremely im-
portant that they be solved in a safe and
sane manner, without the introduction of
any bolshevism, anarchy, or class fav-
oritism. It is here that democracy is go-
ing to be subjected to its severest test, and
it is here to my mind that state libraries
may render the greatest service. State
libraries must perforce cover the field of
political science — that and law and statis-
tics. All three go hand in hand; they are
indispensable to the governments you and
I serve, and cannot well be separated. The
libraries which we superintend are the
great storehouses of experiences in demo-
cratic government written in our laws and
documents. Every state should have the
benefit of the experiences of every one of
the other forty-seven states in important
governmental problems, and it is our duty
to place these experiences where they will
be instantly available to those who may
best profit by them. It is for us in these
critical times to keep fully abreast of prog-
ress in governmental matters and to be
ready and willing to render at all times
the most efficient aid within our power.
Democracy is sure to triumph eventually,
but if we each do our full duty, can we
not help at least in some small way to
hasten the coming of that triumph?
The CHAIRMAN: The next subject
which we will consider is "Collecting Local
336
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
War Material for the New York State Li-
brary," by Mr. J. I. Wyer, Jr., director of
the New York State Library.
Mr. WYER: Before coming to the sub-
ject, may I be permitted for a few minutes
to express my interest in the opening re-
marks of the president? I wish that every
president in the past had taken as keen
and as thoughtful an interest in the wel-
fare of the association as has Mr. Glasier.
He has gone back into the proceedings and
has found the best justification for the ex-
istence of the association. It is true, as he
brought out, that its existence has been
questioned somewhat in recent years. Our
published proceedings furnish a pretty sub-
stantial memento of practice and of theory
and of thought that has been taken in the
past on the welfare of the state libraries.
I am glad to know that a file or substantial-
ly complete file of them is still available
on request. It does not necessarily take a
large association, measured by the actual
attendance at its meetings, to produce a
useful file of publications. The essential
thing is that program-making be attended
by the same thought that Mr. Glasier has
given to it this year, and the editorial
work by the same care that has pretty gen-
erally marked the printed proceedings of
this association. You cannot always meas-
ure the usefulness of a society by the num-
ber of people that come to its meetings or
even by the number on its membership
roll.
I wish also to second warmly the sug-
gestion of the president that this Com-
mittee on State Publications or Exchanges
be revived. In the past I think that com-
mittee has concerned itself in its reports
principally with reciting the laws of the
various states and laying down some theo-
retical precepts that might govern state
exchanges. It occurs to me that another
practical field of work for it would be per-
haps the preparation of a union list of ex-
changes, that is some statement as to the
duplicate collections of the various state
libraries, and the terms upon which they
are made available, and possibly their
physical accessibility.
I have been asked to speak of the efforts
that the New York State Library has made
to collect local historical material related
intimately to the war. I speak with no
thought that our efforts in the matter con-
tain anything novel — it seems to me indeed
that the program must be very obvious to
all; yet having been invited to present it,
I offer it for such value as there may be
in it.
COLLECTING LOCAL WAR MATERIAL
FOR THE NEW YORK STATE
LIBRARY
By J. I. Wyer, Jr.
Director, New York State Library
A quotation from the stenciled circular
sent to every library in the state will show
both what we plan our collection to include
and what steps we are taking to get it:
The New York State Library has under-
taken to make a collection of all records,
both printed and manuscript, of the part
taken by the state in the present war. One
library in each county has been asked to
take charge of collecting the material is-
sued in or bearing on that county. A cir-
cular was prepared in answer to various
questions and sent to the cooperating li-
braries. In many cases these libraries
have asked . that copies be sent to other
libraries which had agreed to assist them.
It has, therefore, been decided to distribute
the circular to all registered libraries and
historical societies of the state, with the
request that they give whatever assistance
they find possible to the cooperating library
in their county. The cooperating library
in county is .
What to Include: In addition to mat-
ter bearing directly on the war, include
publications issued in connection with
movements resulting from the war, for in-
stance, food conservation.
The following specific statement of kinds
of material to be included is taken from
a circular prepared by the New York State
Historian:
"(1) Documents: OflScial — Such as mu-
nicipal ordinances, proclamations of may-
ors, notices of boards, etc.; semi-oflSicial —
resolutions of public meetings, labor
unions, church societies, etc.; issued by
public service corporations — announce-
ments, notices, orders, etc.; (2) posters
(recruiting and other), programs of con-
certs, meetings, fairs, price lists, adver-
tisements; (3) propaganda material; (4)
clippings from local newspapers, pam-
phlets; (5) photographs or prints of local
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
337
events, soldiers, bodies of troops, etc.; (6)
manuscript material — letters, diaries, ser-
mons, addresses; (7) miscellaneous."
Newspaper Clippings: Many of the co-
operating libraries have arranged with the
local newspapers to send files to the State
Library during the period of the war. This
arrangement will enable the library to
make its own selection of clippings, and
to bind the entire file in those cases, prob-
ably the majority, where the war interest
predominates.
When this arrangement cannot be made,
libraries may send marked copies for clip-
ping.
Publicity: Steps have already been
taken to put the collecting libraries in
touch with county publicity chairmen of
the Resource Mobilization Bureau or body
corresponding to the State Council of De-
fense in most states. If, in addition, by
personal letters or, better, by personal in-
terviews, you can enlist the interest of the
editors of all papers printed in the county,
you will undoubtedly find them of great
help both in gathering material and in
making your wishes known through the
locality. They will probably print at your
request, news notes of any noteworthy gifts
to the collection, or reports of progress.
Cooperation with Local Historical So-
cieties: You may find that your local so-
cieties or D. A. R. chapters are making
similar collections. If so they will prob-
ably assist you with gifts of their dupli-
cates, or in other ways.
The results of this effort naturally were
very varied. I think there was no county
that did not take a lively interest in it or
do something to further the collection. But
the results varied greatly. Some counties
were keenly interested, were very regular
and prompt in sending their newspapers,
and sent in copious material. Although we
have rather encouraged the libraries to do
no shipping until they get considerable ma-
terial together, a plan that has made ship-
ments slow, there is evidence already that
the enterprise will produce a considerable
amount of valuable material. Much of it,
to be sure, will duplicate what our efforts
nave gathered in from other directions, but
a great deal of it will be of that ephemeral
local history material so difficult to procure
after the day or week of issue and of the
sort that does not come in in response to
any efforts of a central collection.
We are planning to include in our an-
nual report about to be prepared a list of
the cooperating libraries and a record of
the sort of work being done by them, with
notice of some of the material that is com-
ing in, so that as the report goes out to
these libraries they may see tangible evi-
dence that notice is taken of the enter-
prise and of the results coming from it.
For example of some of the material re-
ceived, I cite a file of "Over the Top," a
house organ for the Buffalo Third Liberty
Loan, a daily publication issued by the
Liberty Loan Committee of Buffalo, and
secured through the vigilance of the Buf-
falo Public Library. And here is one with
a title I commend to you. It is the war
house organ of the Curtiss Aeroplane Com-
pany. The title of it is, "The Curtiss Fly
Leaf." ''
We devised this plan and prepared the
catalog of material desired in consultation
with the state historian, who" is part of
our own department. We took a hint from
a circular issued by the historical com-
mittee of the North Carolina Council of
Defense, which gives a program, a very
detailed statement, much more so than we
give at any time in our circular, of the
kinds of materials that they in a similar
campaign through the state of North Caro-
lina, deemed of interest and desirable.
They make more of pictorial matter than
we do, though I grant it is of high interest,
and photographs ought to be included with
more emphasis than we gave them in our
similar list. They speak, too, in more de-
tail than we do of what they call propa-
ganda material, reasons for American par-
ticipation in the war — items of that sort —
evidently planning a sub-classification of
some of these heads. This whole program
was utilized in classifying materials that
came in. The North Carolina pamphlet
seems to be the fullest account yet printed
of such a program, especially of classified
material and the classification in which it
was to be contained.
Mr. WILLIAM J. HAMILTON: May I
ask Mr. Wyer whether he has any sugges-
tions to make as to how to reach the com-
338
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
munity in the counties where there are
no libraries? We have several such in
Indiana.
Mr. WYER: Have you a committee of
national defense with oflficers in every
county?
Mr. HAMILTON: Yes.
Mr. WYER: Don't you think that you
might find people on this committee who
would be interested in promoting some
such campaign as that? You certainly will
find the schools and local branches of
women's clubs represented.
Mr. DEMARCHUS C. BROWN: The
State Library of Indiana has sent a cir-
cular similar to the one read by Mr. Wyer
to the chairmen of the county councils of
defense, as they are called in our state,
and to county superintendents, especially
if there is not a county council, to all the
libraries, to all the clubs, to churches and
to many others, so that we expect this
collection of material from every county
of the state.
Mr. WYER: Do you expect better re-
sults from the libraries than from any oth-
er agency?
Mr. BROWN: It is rather hard to tell
yet.
Mr. WYER: The interest taken is very
widely different but I think we prefer li-
braries to any other agency.
Miss KRUM: I should like to ask if
anything is being done in New York to
get and keep a uniform card record of in-
dividual soldiers?
Mr. WYER: Not by our library at all.
I suppose that the adjutant general's oflBlce
will have some such record as that, either
now or eventually, compiled from local
draft records. There is in Albany the state
bureau for the national draft and it is
struggling with a catalog and filing record
which throws into alphabetical order all
the men drafted from New York.
Miss KRUM: In some sections of the
West this work is being referred to the
individual localities. I suppose it is gov-
ernmental work, even although done in this
way. The various localities are urged to
keep track of their own soldiers and in
some cases it is the historical societies that
are doing it.
Mr. BROWN: We have in Indiana an
organization of mothers of soldiers. There
is a branch of it in each county. I have
a list of every soldier in every county so
far, with the mother's name.
Dr. C. W. ANDREWS: Mr. President, it
may interest the association to know that
Clark University has undertaken the col-
lecting of war material in a wider field.
It is attempting to cover, as we were told
at the meeting of the institute, practical-
ly all the aspects of the war. The mem-
bers of this association may get informa-
tion from it in regard to state and local
aspects of the subject. The John Crerar
Library is apparently the only other one
making an extensive collection of war ma-
terial. On the economic and technical side,
to which we have limited ourselves, we
have already acquired a great deal of ma-
terial from France, England and Italy, and
from Germany up to the time of breaking
off of communications. Mr. Gerard was
still collecting for us, as he told us he
would, between the time of the breaking
off of diplomatic relations and the declara-
tion of war. I received a code from him
stating he would look after our interests.
Therefore, if you want information in re-
gard to the economic aspect, or on the
technical questions of the war, we hope
that you will not forget that a member
of your association is perhaps able to fur-
nish the information you desire, as com-
plete as it can be made under the circum-
stances.
Mr. BRIGHAM: It occurs to me that
Iowa has undertaken one feature which
perhaps may be unique. In addition to
photographs of recruits, etc., we have mov-
ing pictures of events such as the gath-
ering of troops at camp, the first review,
participation of Camp Dodge soldiers in
our memorial celebrations, the throwing
of flowers into a river in honor of our
naval heroes — quite sentimental but taken
very seriously by our people. All that is
going to be wonderfully interesting in time
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
339
to come. The collection was begun during
the time of the Mexican trouble.
Mr. GODARD: I have just one word
about Connecticut. The law providing for
the appointing of a State Council of De-
fense and the taking of a state military
census also provided for the ultimate de-
posit of their records in the State Library.
At the request of the State Council of De-
fense, we have furnished one of our trained
assistants to do their filing, so that it may
be done uniformly with the plan followed
on similar material in the State Library.
The State Council of Defense pays the
salary. In the same way the Connecticut
branch of the United States Food Adminis-
tration is putting its material into such
shape that when it is transferred to the
State Library it will become immediately
useful without rearrangement. A complete
card record of all men called to the front
is being compiled by the local registration
boards. A copy is filed with the State
Council of Defense and will ultimately
come to the library.
Mr. Godard then gave a brief, informal
description of the Connecticut military
census, interesting because the pioneer cen-
sus of the sort, begun in February, 1917.
The records of this very comprehensive
record of the state's man power, medical
and nurse power, industrial power and au-
tomobile power were, after being coded on
Hollerith tabulating cards, deposited with
the cards in the Connecticut State Library.
The library is now responsible for handling
all the demands, many and various, made
upon the census by state and national au-
thorities.
The CHAIRMAN: The next matter to
which we will listen is a report of the Com-
mittee on Public Archives, by Mr. Mcll-
waine. State Librarian of Virginia, chair-
man. In Mr. Mcllwaine's absence the sec-
retary will read his report.
[By motion of Mr. Small the report was
accepted and ordered printed without read-
ing.]
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON
PUBLIC ARCHIVES
Owing to the unusual demands made up-
on the time of the chairman of this com-
mittee by work undertaken by him In con-
nection with various war activities (he is
the agent for Virginia of the A. L. A. War
Library Service and a member of the Vir-
ginia Council of Defense) and because,
also, he had come to the conclusion that
even under ordinary conditions a change
in the chairmanship, if not in the person-
nel, of the committee should be made, he
requested the president of the association
to make some other appointment. The
president, however, wrote that he found it
impossible to get anyone willing to serve
in the present year. He suggested, too,
that a very short paper would be accept-
able, and that the chairman of the com-
mittee for the next year might very well
embrace in his report 'an account of the
progress of archival work in the country
for two years instead of one. With this
understanding your present chairman con-
sented to act.
Provision was made by the association
for a Committee on Public Archives by a
resolution adopted at the meeting held July
1, 1910, and the first report of the com-
mittee was made May 22, 1911, at the
fourteenth annual meeting of the associa-
tion. This report was prepared by Mr. A.
C. Tilton, chairman of the committee, and
is printed in full on pp. 24-36 of the Pro-
ceedings of the Association for that year.
It contains a very valuable summary of
legislation on the centralization of archives
in the various states of the Union to the
end of the year 1910, and of progress made
up to that time under such laws as had
been passed. To the fifty-three circulars
sent out forty replies were received, most
of them satisfactory, and the data con-
tained in these replies were supplemented
in the report by information gained by an
examination of the various reports of the ''
public archives commission of the Amer-
ican Historical Association, of the latest
codes of the various states, and of the ses-
sion laws through 1910 supplementary
thereto.
The second report of the committee was
prepared by Dr. T. L. Montgomery, the
second chairman of the committee, and
340
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
presented at the 1912 meeting of the asso-
ciation. Unfortunately, the Proceedings of
this meeting were never printed, having
been lost. The Proceedings of the 1913
meeting were also never printed — for rea-
sons not known to the writer of this re-
port— and so there was lost to the associa-
tion the third report also of this committee,
prepared by your present chairman and
containing an account of the progress of
the work for two years, instead of one,
in order that the gap occasioned by the
loss of the former report might be filled up.
The fourth report is printed in the Pro-
ceedings of the association for 1914. When
it was prepared and presented, it was the
understanding of the chairman of the com-
mittee that the third report would still be
printed — that its publication, with the
publication of the Proceedings oi the 1913
meeting of the association, was merely de-
layed. Hence no effort was made in this
report to repair omissions. Following re-
ports have been regularly printed.
The effort has been to present in each
successive report an annual newsletter to
the members of the association, containing
all recent and not previously noted facts
of interest relating to the archives of the
country. The reports, taken as a whole,
constitute a pretty good history — in out-
line, merely, of course — of the archival
work of the country for the past seven
years. Take the case of Alabama, for in-
stance, the first state appearing each year
in the reports, in the alphabetical order in
which the information is given. In the
first report is found a resumS of the law
erecting the Alabama Department of Arch-
ives and History, and in succeeding reports
are given the laws passed since 1910 in Ala-
bama affecting the department, and ac-
counts of the work of the department from
year to year. While accounts of archival
conditions in some of the other states are
not so satisfactory as they are for Alabama,
still in one report or another something
may be found about archival conditions in
nearly every state in the Union and in
nearly all the territories and island de-
pendencies. In those states in reference
to which the information is meager it
may, it is thought, be taken for granted
that archival work has made little pro-
gress,
H. R. McIlwaine,
Chairman.
The CHAIRMAN: We will next listen
to the report of the secretary-treasurer.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-
TREASURER, 1917-18
The financial report for the year is as
follows:
Receipts
Balance as audited June 23, 1917. .$336.01
Dues as follows for 1916-17:
Alabama state department of ar-
chives 5.00
Boston public library 5.00
British Columbia provincial library 5.00
California state library 25.00
Illinois state library 7.50
Illinois legislative reference library 5.00
Illinois state historical library 7.50
Iowa state library 10.00
Kentucky state library 5.00
Maine state library 5.00
A. M. Magee 1.00
Michigan state library 5.00
New York state library 25.00
Nevada state library 6.00
New Jersey state library 5.00
Northwestern University Law School
library 5.00
Wisconsin state historical library . . 5.00
Washington state library 5.00
Wisconsin state library 5.00
Wyoming state library 5.00
West Virginia state department of
archives and history 5.00
Dues as follows for 1917-18:
California state library 25.00
Connecticut state library 10.00
Georgia state library 5.00
Illinois legislative reference bureau 5.00
Illinois state library 7.50
Indiana state library 5.00
Iowa state library 10.00
John Crerar library 10.00
Kansas state library 5.00
Kansas state historical society 5.00
Kentucky state library 5.00
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
341
Maine state library 5.00
Maryland state library 5.00
Michigan state library 5.00
Minnesota state library 5.00
Minnesota historical library 5.00
Nevada state library 6.00
New Hampshire state library 5.00
New Jersey state library 5.00
New York state library 25.00
Oregon state library 5.00
Pennsylvania legislative reference
bureau 5.00
Philadelphia free library 5.00
Rhode Island state library 10.00
Vermont state library 5.00
Virginia state library 5.00
"Washington state library 5.00
Wisconsin legislative reference li-
brary 5.00
Wisconsin state historical society. . 5.00
Wisconsin state library 5.00
Wyoming state library 5.00
Cole, T. L 2.00
Law reporting company. 2.00
Machen, L. H. 1.00
Magee, A. M 1.00
Pemberton, W. Y 1.00
Robertson, J. P 2.00
Wales, E. B 1.00
Interest on savings bank deposit. . 8.98
Total receipts $725.49
Disbursements
Reporting 1917 convention $ 86.15
Printing 1917 proceedings. 124.10
300 copies 1917 proceedings 74.00
Postage and express 18.70
Printing stationery 5.00
Mimeographing 3.50
Manila envelopes for mailing pro-
ceedings 2.40
Telegrams 3.84
Total disbursements $317.69
Balance on hand $408.80
Deposited in New York State
National Bank $157.44
Deposited in Albany County
Savings Bank 231.54
Checks on hand 17.00
Cash on hand
2.82
$725.49
There are now fifty-three members of
the association, including two honorary
members. Miss Adelaide R. Hasse and Miss
Mary E. Ahern, and including also the
Library of Congress made ex officio a reg-
ular member by an amendment passed at
the Louisville convention of 1917.
During the year the Indiana Bureau of
Legislative Information was legislated out
of existence and Mr. Galbreath, of the
Ohio State Library, was removed from
office for political reasons. These two
events deprived us of two members. There
are four new members. Miss Elizabeth B.
Wales, secretary of the Missouri Library
Commission and librarian of the Missouri
Legislative Reference Library, who is an
individual member, and the Arizona State
Library and the Maryland State Library.
Thirty states and two Canadian prov-
inces are represented in this number. It
may be interesting to know the classes of
libraries included. There are twenty-eight
which may be classed as general state li-
braries, although two or three of them
have strong law leanings. There are seven
historical libraries, three public circulat-
ing libraries, five legislative reference li-
braries and three law libraries. The three
other members. Statute Law Book Com-
pany, Law Reporting Company, and the
John Crerar Library do not class easily
under either head.
The secretary performed her usual rou-
tine duties this year, but under great dif-
ficulties which are responsible for her fail-
ure to follow up the first request for news
with a second effort to get together a sat-
isfactory report of what the members and
state libraries in general were doing in
this war year. For the Executive Com-
mittee she extended an invitation to join
the association to fifty libraries eligible to
membership, and distributed with the in-
vitation, copies of the Proceedings for 1916
and 1917. As a result, the association
gains the three new members already
noted, and in addition some reply, such as
342
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
a letter of inquiry about terms of mem-
bership and publications, from: Thomas
Riggs, Jr., governor and custodian of the
Alaska Historical Library and Museum;
Avern Pardoe, legislative librarian of On-
tario; E. G. Spilman, librarian of the Okla-
homa State Library; Floyd C. Shoemaker,
librarian of the State Historical Society of
Missouri.
Three committees served during the
year: The Committee on a National Legis-
lative Information Service, George S. God-
ard, chairman; the Committee on a Skele-
ton Index to Statute Law, Miss Gertrude
E. Woodward, librarian of the University
of Michigan Law Library, chairman (these
two are joint committees of the National
Association of State Libraries and the
American Association of Law Libraries) ;
and the Archives Committee, H. R. Mcll-
waine, chairman.
The report on State Library Legislation
In 1916 and 1917 by A. J. Small (see p. 354)
includes most of the information which
claims a place in the secretary's usual
notes of news on state library progress. In
order that duplication may be avoided, the
notes given below contain only Items not
included In Mr, Small's report.
There have been three important changes
in personnel: In California, Massachusetts
and Ohio, all of which are referred to in
Mr. Small's report.
Indiana State Library — Mr. Brown re-
ports that the Indiana State Library has,
during the year, saved from the basement
of the State House a valuable collection of
land records, early letters as far back as
the governorship of William Henry Harri-
son, many reports of the first bank of the
state, some maps and similar material, all
of which had been destined for the junk
pile but which have now been properly or-
ganized and cataloged.
The library has prepared a bibliography
on the war, which has been widely cir-
culated.
Plans are under way for extensive work
on the calendaring of the library's manu-
scripts during the coming months.
John Crerar Library — ^On account of
high cost of building materials the erec-
tion of a new building has been postponed
for the present.
Michigan State Library — Some months
ago the extension of service of the Michi-
gan State Library was enlarged through
the removal of certain restrictions on the
lending of books to schools. Previously
the privilege was given only to schools
which had libraries.
Minnesota Historical Society — The posi-
tion of librarian was created during the
year and Mr. Charles E. Graves, New York
State Library School 1911-12, was appoint-
ed to the position in November. The new
library building was completed and opened
to the public for the first time In Jan-
uary. An article in the Lidrary Journal
for May describes the building and the
moving. The staff is now at work sorting
and arranging a large collection of unac-
cessioned and uncataloged material which
had for a long time been stored away,
awaiting more room and more assistance.
Missouri Legislative Reference Libra-
ry— For some years the Missouri Li-
brary Commission has carried on a legis-
lative reference bureau during the biennial
sessions of the legislature. The new cap-
Itol provides a special room for a legisla-
tive reference library on the legislative
fioor, midway between the two houses of
the General Assembly. It Is expected that
the Missouri Library Commission will or-
ganize the work and arrange for a perma-
nent legislative reference librarian to take
charge some time during the fall of 1918.
Wisconsin State Historical Society —
Beginning with January, 1917, the State
Historical Library has Issued a monthly
check list of Wisconsin state documents.
At the close of the first year, a cumulative
check list for the year 1917 was prepared,
and has been for some time in the hands of
the state printer. The check lists are sent
to heads of state departments, to the li-
brarians of the state, and other libraries
who indicate a desire to receive it.
A comprehensive report upon the state
archives situation has been prepared, and
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OP STATE LIBRARIES
848
is likewise in the hands of the state printer
undergoing publication. The report con-
sists of three sections, the first devoted
to a discussion of the whole problem of
government archives and their treatment;
the second to a discussion of the archival
situation, with particular reference to the
state of Wisconsin; and the third to a
bibliography of the subject of American
archival economy and administration. Al-
though prepared with particular reference
to the needs of the state of Wisconsin, it
is believed that the report should prove
interesting to those interested in the arch-
ival situation in America generally.
Another publication issued during the
year is "The Public Documents Division
of the Wisconsin Historical Library," by
Anna W. Evans, chief of the division.
While designed particularly for the use of
students in that library, the contents of the
report should be useful to workers in the
field of public documents, particularly to
beginners, wherever they may be.
A number of important collections have
been added to the historical manuscripts
division of the library during the year.
Wisconsin State Library — The most
conspicuous progress has been in the docu-
ment department, where the accessions
have been materially increased. There are
now facilities, including room, for develop-
ing it into a documentary library of value.
Much has been done during the year with
the centralizing of library resources of the
various state departments. An attempt
has been made, which on the whole has
been successful, to bring together into the
state library the various special collections
which different departments have accum-
ulated. Among the collections acquired in
this way is one on the subject of forestry
which, when added to the library's own
material on the subject, makes the collec-
tion of unusual value.
Considerable has been done by the li-
brary in the way of publicity by sending
post card notices to the various depart-
ments of the receipt of material particular-
ly interesting to them.
The report of the secretary was accepted.
The treasurer's report was referred to
the Auditing Committee, A. J. Small, chair-
man, which reported the accounts correct
and the balance on hand verified at $408.80.
The report of the Auditing Committee
and of the treasurer were accepted.
The secretary then presented the
REPORT OF COIVIIVIITTEE ON
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
By motion of Mr. Small, made at the
convention in Louisville in 1917, the incom-
ing officers were constituted a committee
to consider the desirability of further
amendments to the constitution and to re-
port at the next convention. I will pre-
face the report of this committee by a
brief account of the amendments passed
in recent years.
Certain amendments were presented In
1915 by the president and the secretary-
treasurer of that year, Mr. Gillis and Mr.
Dodge. To quote the report presented by
the secretary-treasurer: "Your president
and secretary felt that the provisions of
the constitution relative to membership
had not been closely followed, and while
perhaps not a matter of serious moment it
seemed that the practice which had grown
up, namely, that of making the institu-
tion as against the individual the basis of
membership, was preferable. We have
therefore, prepared for your consideratior
certain amendments to the constitution,
the object of which is to limit regular
membership to institutions." The section
mainly affected by the amendments intro-
duced was Sec. 4, reading, "Regular mem-
bers shall be elected from such persons
connected with state libraries, state his-
torical societies, state law libraries, and
other libraries doing the work of state li-
braries, as may be recommended by their
respective librarians." Further amend-
ments recognized in the constitution the
action taken in 1909 by the association in
admitting to membership legislative refer-
ence and municipal reference bureaus and
also made the Library of Congress ex
officio a regular member without payment
of dues.
344
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
The constitution at present provides that
amendments must be passed by a three-
fourths vote of those present and voting
at two successive meetings of the associa-
tion, provided that notice of the amend-
ments in their final form be sent to each
member of the association at least one
month before their final adoption. The
secretary's failure to send out the required
notice in 1916 prevented final action that
year.
The president of that year, Mr. Small,
appointed a committee consisting of Mr.
Wyer, Mr. Galbreath and Miss Smith, the
secretary-treasurer, to consider the amend-
ments. This committee presented a series
of amendments altered in certain respects
from those presented in 1915:
(a) It removed from proposed section
3, Regular members, the phrase "or mu-
nicipal reference library," believing that
municipal reference libraries are more
properly associate members, defined in pro-
posed section 4 as "any institution kin-
dred in aim and purpose."
(b) It eliminated from proposed sec-
tion 6 the provision that "In the election
of officers the vote shall be by states as
units."
(c) It changed the annual dues of as-
sociate members as proposed, from $1 to $2.
The amendments as reported by the com-
mittee and as recommended in the previous
year by Mr. Gillis and Mr. Dodge provided
that individuals might become associate
members only. The association, in adopt-
ing the committee report, amended it to
make "persons engaged in state library
work" eligible as regular members. The
object of this further amendment was to
provide for individuals who, like your sec-
retary, or like the president of that year,
Mr. Small, might be active in the associa-
tion but might not be the natural repre-
sentatives of the institutions with which
they were connected. This amendment
also made it possible for institutions eligi-
ble to membership but unable to afford the
annual dues, to be represented through in-
dividual members of their staff.
The amendments thus acted upon in
1916 were finally passed in 1917 after one
further minor amendment to by-law 1,
which based the amount of the annual dues
upon the "number of employees on the
staff actually engaged in state library
work."
To sum up: These amendments, though
they did not limit regular membership to
institutions in accordance with the original
plan of Mr. Gillis and Mr. Dodge, did re-
duce the voting representation of each in-
stitutional member from as large a number
as the director or librarian might choose
to elect (17 in the case of California) to
one, while still making it possible prac-
tically to increase this representation in
cases where members of the staff desired
to join as individuals. Under the old con-
stitution it would have been easily possible
for one of the larger institutional mem-
bers to outvote all the other delegates
present, provided the convention happened
to be held in its neighborhood; and al-
though the chances are that such a situa-
tion, even if it did happen to arise, would
bring no bad results, still there is obvious-
ly an advantage in guarding against such
an eventuality. The present requirement
of annual dues from other individuals than
the regular representative of the institu-
tion will prevent any institution from be-
coming over-represented.
The adoption of these amendments made
necessary the adoption also of a new by-
law, specifying the dues of individual ac-
tive members. The drawing up of this by-
law was left to the secretary-treasurer,
who consequently inserted as By-law Sec-
tion 5: "Individuals who become regular
members under the provisions of Section
3 of the constitution shall pay an annual
due of $1." This by-law is submitted for
your ratification as part of the report of
the committee on amending the constitu-
tion.
The committee further, believing that
the amending of the constitution, as pro-
vided for at present, is unnecessarily cum-
bersome, desires to present the following
amendment relative to amendment:
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OP STATE LIBRARIES
845
To amend Section 16 of the constitution
now reading: "This constitution may be
amended by a three-fourths vote of those
present and voting at two successive meet-
ings of the association, provided that notice
of the amendments in their final form be
sent to each member of the association ajt
least one month before their final adop-
tion," by striking out the words "at two
successive meetings" and inserting in their
place the words "at any regular meeting,"
so that the section as amended shall read,
"This constitution may be amended by a
three-fourths vote of those present and
voting at any regular meeting of the asso-
ciation, provided that notice of the amend-
ments in their final form be sent to each
member of the association at least one
month before their final adoption."
The status of certain of our members is
not clearly defined in the present constitu-
tion. The president and the secretary-
treasurer have made rulings on these cases,
which they will present for your approval.
The following libraries are not clearly
libraries "doing the work of a state li-
brary," which it is necessary that they
should be in order to be regular members:
Boston Public Library, New York Public
Library, Northwestern University Law
School Library, Philadelphia Free Library,
Worcester County Law Library.
The ruling has been made, however, that
they may be so classed by a liberal inter-
pretation of the constitution.
The Law Reporting Company it would
seem must be classed as an associate mem-
ber; and the secretary-treasurer conse-
quently altered its annual dues from $5 to
$2. This is the only member so affected.
The committee ask that you will con-
sider the above rulings, decide whether
they are in accord with the wording of
Section 3 of the constitution and with the
will of the association; and that if a change
of wording is necessary to bring the defini-
tion of regular members as given in the
constitution into accord with the will ol
the association, you will take action to thai
effect.
Mr. GODARD: In the case of a county
law library serving a supreme court in a
circuit, as happens in some cases, would
not that county library be doing the work
of the state library if it was serving the
court when it was in session at that par-
ticular place? Does your supreme court
sit in Worcester, Mr. Redstone?
Mr. REDSTONE: Yes.
Mr. GODARD: And the Worcester Coun-
ty Law Library serves that place, does
it not?
Mr. REDSTONE: Yes.
Mr. GODARD: In such case then it is
doing the work of a state library.
The PRESIDENT: It was my idea and
I so ruled in a letter to the secretary that
this provision in the constitution with re-
gard to membership can be given a lib-
eral construction. We do not want to rule
anyone out who is not clearly outside the
fold. There is a little more serious ques-
tion in the case of the Northwestern Uni-
versity Law School Library, but this, too,
we ruled should be classed as a regular
member. An approval of this report I take
it means an approval of the ruling.
Mr. GODARD: I move the report be
accepted.
The motion was duly seconded and
carried.
The PRESIDENT: Do you wish to vote
separately upon the suggested amendment
to the constitution? It seemed to me, and
I so stated in a letter to the secretary,
that our present method of amendment is
altogether too cumbersome for an associa-
tion that meets only once every year. It
takes at least a year to get the constitution
amended. Are we not capable and intelli-
gent enough to be able, with thirty days'
notice of an amendment to be submitted,
to pass upon that amendment and adopt
it by a three-fourths vote without endan-
gering our policy?
Mr. SMALL: I move that the amendment
relative to the amendment of the constitu-
tion be adopted as recommended by the
Committee on Constitution and By-laws.
The motion was duly seconded.
346
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
The PRESIDENT: This will be only
the first vote. The amendment will have
to come before the convention meeting a
year from now. You will have a month's
notice before it will be acted on again.
The motion was carried unanimously.
The PRESIDENT: Next in order is the
report of the Nominating Committee.
Mr. DULLARD: Your Nominating Com-
mittee begs to present the following ticket:
President — Mr. Milton J. Ferguson, state
librarian of California.
First Vice-president — Dr. Lawrence B.
Evans, state librarian of Massachusetts.
Second Vice-president — Mrs. Maud Bark-
er Cobb, state librarian of Georgia.
Secretary-treasurer — Mrs. Eva May Fowl-
er, assistant librarian in charge, Illinois
State Library.
Your committee also desires to give for-
mal expression to its appreciation of the
service that has been rendered to this as-
sociation in the capacity of secretary-treas-
urer by Miss Smith, who is retiring of her
own volition.
Mr. BROWN: I move the secretary be
instructed to cast the ballots for the officers
named by the committee.
The motion was duly seconded and car-
ried.
Mr. SMALL: There is a possibility that
the American Library Association will omit
their 1919 meeting, or discontinue meet-
ings for the duration of the war. If that
should be the case, it would be useless for
us to attempt to meet, as our custom is to
meet with them.
I move, therefore, that the National As-
sociation of State Libraries conform to
whatever action the American Library As-
sociation may take and postpone its next
meeting to the time when the next Ameri-
can Library Association Conference shall
be held.
The motion was seconded, and after dis-
cussion as to the power of the association
constitutionally to take such action, was
unanimously carried.
SECOND JOINT SESSION
(With the Agricultural Libraries Section
of the American Library Association and
the League of Library Commissions.)
Ballroom, Grand Union Hotel, Wednes-
day, July 3, 8 p. m.
At the request of the Agricultural Li-
braries Section of the American Library
Association, the National Association of
State Libraries held with that section and
the League of Library Commissions a sym-
posium on "Libraries and the food prob-
lem," presided over by Mr. Henry N. San-
born. The report of the session will be
found on p. 295 of the A. L. A. Proceed-
ings.
ROUND TABLE
Discussion of Legislative Reference Work
and State Document Exchanges
Billiard room, Grand Union Hotel, Thurs-
day, July 4, 8:30 p. m.
The PRESIDENT: In sending out the
questionnaire as to the subjects in which
the members of our association were most
interested, one thing I learned was that
the greatest interest of the association
seemed to be in state documents and ex-
changes. It seemed to me that it would
be very profitable to have a round table
discussion of the subject of exchanges, and
so upon making special request of Mr.
Utley for an extra meeting I was given
permission to hold a round table at this
time. We have been fortunate in getting
Mr. Brown, of Indiana, to lead the dis-
cussion on exchange of documents and I
am glad to turn the meeting over to him
for that purpose.
Mr. DEMARCHUS C. BROWN: In the
first place, if you will permit me, I should
like to refer you to the report of the 1908
meeting at Minnetonka, in which, as chair-
man of the committee on exchange of docu-
ments, I made a report including a tabular
supimary of data secured by writing to all
the state libraries of the Union. I am
going to suggest that It would be a good
thing to have a committee appointed to
continue that investigation, because condi-
tions have now changed very materially.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
847
The committee at that time made two
recommendations, which for my own part I
am willing to repeat: That a persistent
effort be made and continued by the as-
sociation to bring all states into the condi-
tion where they would distribute by ex-
change all state publications; and that a
systematic effort be made to induce all
states to make exchanges with other states
through their respective librarians. It was
thought best that there should be only one
exchange official in each state and at that
time it seemed best to suggest the state
librarian.
Mrs. Spencer, of Michigan, in a letter to
your president, brings up two or three
points of which I want to speak. The first
one is that nearly all of the state libraries
are now so crowded for room that it Is
quite impossible to organize and classify
properly all the documents received. She
says that this is a very serious difficulty
in the Michigan State Library and I have
similar reports from several others; I
know to my sorrow that it is the case in
Indiana, and I fancy in many other states
who have not reported. That brings up in
her mind the question whether there should
not be a selective distribution, whether
the state librarians should not check up
from lists sent to them documents that
they want regularly and make special re-
quest for any others. She has recently
sent out a complete list of Michigan docu-
ments, to be checked by other state li-
braries to show what they would like to
receive regularly. She says that many
states need all of them, certain other states
want only certain ones. That is one of
the points I think should be discussed:
Should we pick out the documents that we
want and have it understood that they only
are to be sent regularly? It is interesting
to note that the Arizona State Library
wants, in addition to the laws, only the house
journals and the records, messages, report
of the library commissioners, and the man-
ual or blue book. Idaho also wants a lim-
ited number. Kentucky wants a much
longer list than Arizona and Idaho together
— nearly everything. Some states, Indiana
for instance, want everything that the oth-
er states publish. That then is the first
point, shall we have a selective distribu-
tion?
Mrs. Spencer's second question is:
"Should we not curtail distribution during
war time?" Not merely on account of lack
of space, but also on account of war condi-
tions, war expenses. She says that the legis-
lative assembly in her state refuses to give
any more money or any more space, and
therefore during war time she wants to re-
ceive only a limited number of documents,
the indispensable ones. She gives as an
example of documents that might be dis-
pensed with, the house and senate journals
of other states. She says that she does
not recall a single time when she has had
calls for them. That is rather interesting
and rather curious. In my own library
we have calls, though not many, for the
journals of other states, sometimes for very
important purposes; and I should dislike
very much to have a serious-minded per-
son come in and want the house journal
of Illinois, for instance, for 1865 and find
that we did not have it. I should be very
much humiliated and very much chagrined.
I have two or three points I should my-
self like to bring up for discussion. I am
personally willing to recommend, if you
please, several things:
First, that there should be a regular ex-
change of all public documents published
by all the states. For sociological reasons
and reasons of political science it seems
to me that is quite necessary. I have
students from the different colleges of In-
diana who send and come to the state li-
brary. They want reports of the public
service commission of Kentucky; they
want the fire marshal's report; they want
reports of the land commissioner; they
want the journals; they want various
things; and when the students of our insti-
tutions need such publications I deem it a
great necessity that the rtate library in
each state should have all the documents
published by that and other states. So I
contend there ought to be an exchange of
all publications.
348
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Second, that this distribution by ex-
change should be at regular intervals. In
my own state documents are sent out twice
a year — under certain emergencies, three
times. It would keep a messenger at work
all the time wrapping individual reports
and mailing them if they were sent out as
they appeared.
I should further like to recommend that
there be one oflBcer of exchange and only
one. That prevents waste. I know that
the head of an office likes to send out his
own reports. Many of the officers In the
state of Indiana, in spite of the fact that
the law requires the state librarian to
send out documents in exchange, send out
their reports, not only to individuals but
also to libraries, and I am constantly get-
ting letters from different libraries, ask-
ing if we will pay expressage back on
duplicates. In a few states there is a sin-
gle individual apart from the librarian who
takes care of this exchange; but I believe
that the state librarian is generally the
most fitting person to do it.
Another question on which I should like
to talk is the one raised by Mrs. Spencer:
Should there be any cessation of exchange
of documents during the war period? On
the ground that we are to save money for
war purposes there is some basis for the
belief that this should be done; and yet
I do not see how the document division
of any state library or a legislative bureau
could get along without all the documents
of all the states. There are serious difficul-
ties in the way of stopping exchanges dur-
ing the war.
I want to speak also on the question of
selective distribution. I can say that that
can be very appropriately applied to the
libraries of one's own state, many of which
are too small to take care of all the state's
publications, but whether it should be ap-
plied to other state libraries I am not so
sure. How satisfactorily can a library
make its selection? To illustrate, I know
a man in one of the colleges of the state
who has just published a history of the
canal project in Illinois. He has been pre-
paring his thesis for many years. He was
once very anxious to know how the Illi-
nois legislature acted on a certain motion
made some seventy-five years ago. He
called me by phone and said: "Have you
the house journal of Illinois for that year?
Must I make a trip to Springfield to get
it?" I was very glad to be able to tell
him that we had the journal. That was
a serious matter; it was not frivolous in
any way; he wanted to check up something
that was quite important. I do not see
how you are going to make a choice; it
seems to me that you need everything.
There are other institutions than state
libraries which publish certain papers and
docuiQents and in return for them would
like to have the documents of the different
states. I have in mind the University of
Michigan, University of Chicago, Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania, certain large public
libraries like New York Public and Bos-
ton Public and St. Louis Public, and many
others. I personally am willing to take
whatever publication they have, if it is
only a pamphlet, and give them a box full
of documents in return if they want them,
because I believe in a very liberal exchange.
The law requires that there shall be some
system of exchange; but as you see It can
be interpreted quite liberally. There are
historical libraries also. I might speak
here of the Burton Historical Collection
at Detroit, Michigan. Miss Krum, the 11^
brarian, told me the other night that they
have many historical papers and pamphlets
in duplicate which they are ready to ex-
change for public documents. I speak of
it to show you that there are many or-
ganizations other than state libraries that
are interested in state document exchanges.
I have brought up these points hoping
that you will be willing and eager to ex-
press your views about them and possibly
come to some conclusion. I am sorry I
did not have a complete and full paper by
Mrs. Spencer so that I could bring out all
the points she had in mind. I have men-
tioned only the one or two which she seems
to think especially valuable. There are
a few letters here in Mrs. Spencer's cor-
respondence from other state librarians,
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OP STATE LIBRARIES
349
making one or two of the same points
which she herself makes. Miss Marvin, of
Oregon, brings up again the question:
Should we not during the war stop all
exchanges except those that are particular-
ly needed? She cannot, she says, take care
of the documents coming regularly to Ore-
gon because she has neither the force nor
the space.
She says further:
"I have no formal message to send to
the meeting in regard to state exchange
but I do wish to have a suggestion made
that all states should do as we do; that is,
have the state or public printer send to the
state librarian notice of all printing or-
ders. Our state printer in Oregon does
this. We then communicate with the de-
partment for which the printing is to be
done, asking for a supply for exchange pur-
poses. Most departments keep an order
with the printer to send ,a certain number
of copies to the state library."
The problems are now open for discus-
^ion. I will recognize Mr. Dullard of New
Jersey first.
Mr. JOHN P. DULLARD: First I wish
to speak of the states' transient publica-
tions, particularly reports of investigations
by legislative committees, which are some-
times of much more importance, at least
for the time being, than the regularity pub-
lished state documents. A great many
such publications come out without our
being informed of the fact that they have
been issued. A committee on documents
might urge the state libraries to be respon-
sible for seeing that copies of these tran-
sient publications are sent to the Library
of Congress to be listed in the Monthly List
of State Publications. The state librarians
could do a great deal to make that list
very much more complete, .particularly as
to such transient publications.
In New Jersey the printing of such docu-
ments does not of necessity go through the
regular channels and is not of necessity
done by the state printer. We have an in-
stance, in fact, of a special commission
which even went out of the state to have
its report printed; nobody could get a copy
unless he made application to the chair-
man personally. There was no official
channel through which anybody was under
obligation to make the existence of that
document a matter of public record, al-
though it was an expensive, and, from our
state point of view, a very valuable docu-
ment. We have a canal crossing the state
operating under a charter about to expire.
There was an option on the part of the
state to take it over at the end of fifty
years; at the end of seventy years it
would revert to the state. The canal has
passed into the hands of a lessee, a rail-
road company. They have been trying for
the last ten years to get legislation through
that would enable them to turn the canal
over to the state and receive a sum of
money running into the millions. You can
imagine that a report dealing with this
case would be extremely valuable to the
people of our state. And yet there was no
way except by chance of knowing that such
a report was actually in existence.
There are two other suggestions I should
like to make. The first, that each state
compile a list of all its annual reports and
other current state publications. Even if
such a list had to be in very much abbre-
viated form, it would be useful both to
local libraries in the state and to other
state libraries.
The second, that all states have a law
requiring the filing of copies of all state
documents including transient publica-
tions, in the state library. At present in
New Jersey there is no obligation in the
matter and occasionally we find ourselves
very much chagrined to have somebody
come into the state library and ask to see
a copy of some state publication, the exist-
ence of which we did not know anything
about. For example, a special commission
that was created to represent New Jersey
at the Panama-Pacific Exposition got out a
very valuable handbook on New Jersey.
Not only was it printed outside of the state
but the entire edition was shipped to San
Francisco, and to get copies for our file I
had to write to the secretary of the com-
mission at San Francisco. I learned of its
existence through somebody from our state
who had been at the San Francisco Fair
and brought a copy back with him.
350
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Mr. BROWN: Are there any states which
require by law a certain number of docu-
ments to be given to a distributing officer?
That is the case in my own state of In-
diana. The law gives to the state libra-
rian, who is the distributing agent for
exchanges, a certain number of copies, now
250, which he must use for exchange.
Mrs. EVA MAY FOWLER: Since 1915
the Illinois State Library has been the dis-
tributing department for exchanges and
is allotted by law sufficient copies for this
purpose of journals, session laws and de-
partment reports. Sometimes the state
printer is asked to make delivery directly
to the issuing department, and does so in
some instances in case of an emergency;
then we do not get our seventy-five copies
unless we can prevail upon the department
to return them.
We have often wished that states send-
ing us material would enclose a list as
Michigan does. Oftentimes you have to
depend upon ordinary clerical or less than
ordinary clerical help for receiving these
shipments; but if you know exactly the
material supposed to be sent you can check
it up in a short time. Such a list also
would save our listing the material for our
acknowledgment. We make It our rule
to acknowledge receipt of everything re-
ceived. This spring we had notices that
two shipments made last November were
lying in freight offices unclaimed. We had
announced the sending at the time of ship-
ment, but on account of the congested
freight conditions, the material had ar-
rived so long after the letter that nobody
claimed it when it came. As soon as we
notified the library to whom it was ad-
dressed, they claimed it. If each state li-
brary acknowledged receipt upon receiving
goods, it would aid us in tracing our ship-
ments, and prevent our being informed six
months later that goods were still lying un-
claimed and were likely to be sold for
waste paper.
Mr. REECE: I wonder whether it would
be at all in place to adopt tactics looking
to education? What is desired, no doubt,
is some uniform method of exchange and
distribution centralized in each state. That
is Utopian and I realize how impossible
it would be, but I wonder whether it
would not be of assistance in the long run
if this body could formulate, possibly to-
night, and endorse some simple draft of
model law for exchange distribution, which
might be put into the hands of the state li-
braries generally, simply with the view of
having it to use when occasion arose, and
with the view perhaps to educating state
officials as to what we desired. As I say,
the project of getting actually uniform
legislation is visional, but would we not
find it worth while to begin a quiet cam-
paign of education?
Mr. GODARD: Such a plan as Mr. Reece
has mentioned has been carried out in one
or two cases in the last few years. I re-
member especially a model law formulated
in 1902 by the committee of which Colonel
Carver was chaiirman. Copies of the law
were sent out to the governors of the vari-
ous states, with some degree of success in
getting similar laws enacted.
I was pleased to have Mr. Dullard say
what he did about sending publications
from our several states to the Library of
Congress. Such publications should be
marked "Document Division," to make sure
that Mr. Harris gets them. I have used
the Monthly List as an argument with
various commissioners and commissions in
Connecticut, to make sure of getting our
supply of copies for distribution. I have
assured them that the publication will be
entered in the Monthly List of State Pub-
lications and cataloged by the Library of
Congress, and that printed cards will be
supplied to those who wish to have them,
so that information about the document
will at once become available wherever the
publications of the Library of Congress go.
I have been able in Connecticut to get
into operation another plan for making
accessible information about the depart-
mental reports. This is to list in the man-
ual published annually by our secretary
of state the departmental reports published
during the year, with the date when the
first report was Issued. And by the way,
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
351
just look upon that register and manual
as the bible of Connecticut because there
is not much about Connecticut that you
will not find there.
In regard to Mrs. Fowler's suggestion of
a list to accompany a shipment, we have
a system of numbered cards. All state li-
braries and all of the public libraries on
our exchange list have a definite number.
For instance, No. 1 is the Library of Con-
gress. All cards itemizing shipments to
the Library of Congress bear the number
1. All correspondence, also, that we have
with the Library of Congress Is placed in
a vertical file numbered 1; that is, a
library's number is a guide to all corre-
spondence with that library. We have
found this a great convenience.
Mr. GLASIER: I think possibly the ex-
perience of Wisconsin may be of some in-
terest to this meeting. One very essential
thing is a complete list of all documents
in each state; I think very few states have
it. Wisconsin has two libraries that are
interested in state documents, one the
State Historical Library, located at the
University of Wisconsin, and the other the
Wisconsin State Library, located in the
Capitol. A little over a year ago the State
Historical Library started the publishing
of a monthly pamphlet or leafiet containing
a complete list of the publications of Wis-
consin for the preceding month. At the
end of the year the monthly lists were
cumulated into an annual list. That was
a very commendable undertaking. I have
been endeavoring for some time past to
give good service in the matter of ex-
changes by checking up with this list and
getting for distribution as many of the
documents and reports there itemized as
I could.
We have had a lot of trouble in Wiscon-
sin with getting copies of documents for
distribution. Several years ago the Board
of Public Affairs tried to get at the prob-
lem of waste in distribution by providing
for a central shipping department under
the supervision of the superintendent of
public property. The state printer is re-
quired to deliver to this department all
documents except those printed by the
university. Shipments are then made upon
the orders of the various officers having
authority to distribute. The object of this
plan is to prevent the sending of several
copies of the same report to the same per-
son or institution. The theory is good, but
in my experience it has not worked out
very well in practice. Recently the depart-
ments in an effort to cut down expenses
have often not ordered enough copies
printed, and the entire supply of a docu-
ment will sometimes be delivered to the de-
partment for which it was printed and dis-
tributed by them before any copies get to
the document clerk. Then when the order
of the state library goes in there are no
copies available. I hope to be able to get
that matter remedied by having a law
passed such as Mrs. Fowler mentioned, re-
quiring the state printer to deliver directly
to the library a certain number of copies
for exchange purposes.
Mr. M. M. QUAIFE: The Wisconsin
State Historical Society supplied the Uni-
versity of Texas with public documents but
in return could get practically nothing
from the State of Texas. Finally a few
years ago I told the librarian that in view
of our utter inability to get Texas state
documents we were going to quit sending
to him. He wrote back a very pleasant let-
ter, said he recognized the justice of the
situation, regretted that he could no longer
have our Wisconsin documents but ac-
quiesced in the fairness of the position we
took, and went on to say that we were not
much worse off than he was, for the Uni-
versity of Texas itself frequently found it
extremely difficult to get the Texas state
documents. I am convinced that is not
a wholly unique condition. I remember
hearing Mr. Sampson, librarian of the Mis-
souri State Historical Library, who died
recently, tell about his frequent visits to
Jefferson City to get his supply of freshly
issued documents; he told how every now
and then he would literally camp on this
job in season and out of season, and how
even so he would sometimes go when he
heard that a new document was to be is-
S52
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
sued, only to find his application disre-
garded and his supply gone.
The law of Wisconsin requires the state
printer, who except for publications of cer-
tain normal schools does all the state
printing, to deliver a certain number of
copies of every state document to the Wis-
consin Historical Library. In addition, the
superintendent of the library has the power
to requisition as many more as he pleases.
Notwithstanding both of those provisos of
the statutes, we frequently have to jump
at a pretty lively rate in order to get from
the state printer, there in our own state,
copies of certain documents.
Mr. BROWN: He is not required to de-
liver a given number to you for distribu-
tion?
Mr. QUAIFE: Not for distribution. He
is required to deliver copies to our library
for our own use.
Mention has been made two or three
times of the Library of Congress Monthly
List of State Publications. I do not know
whether because of what we have been
doing lately we are better informed than
some of the rest of you as to the defects of
that check-list. Quite certainly, at any
rate, it is very deficient. I suppose this
is a matter of .common knowledge. I do
not see how it can contain all the state
documents that are printed when even the
state librarians or the librarian of the
University of Texas, or, to cite our own
case, our own institution right in the town
where these things are being printed, does
not always succeed in getting them.
It was chiefly to remedy that situation
on our own behalf that we began about a
year and a half ago, at the beginning of
1917, to print the monthly check-list to
which Mr. Glasier has referred. We mail
that check-list to all who want to receive
it, whether state librarians or not. I think
our mailing list at the present time num-
bers 150 departments and institutions. And
I wish to say this about the question or re-
mark of Mr. Brown a moment ago, that
our purpose in preparing and sending out
the list is to enable state librarians, uni-
versity librarians and others who may be
interested in Wisconsin public documents,
to know exactly what is being printed from
month to month. It does not follow al-
ways that a librarian will get all of those
documents. If he is enjoying regular ex-
change relations, either through Mr. Gla-
sier's library or our own, presumably he
will get them all; but since the documents
are actually handled by the superintendent
of public property, or, rather, by his as-
sistants, who hold our standing order to
supply, say, the Indiana State Library with
all Wisconsin public documents, we have
no way of knowing when they fall down
on the job unless the Indiana State Library
notifies us. Obviously it cannot do that un-
less it has some way of knowing what is
being published in Wisconsin. That, in a
nutshell, is the object of printing the
monthly list of Wisconsin public docu-
ments. I shall be very glad — I presume I
may include Mr. Glasier in this statement
— to have any institution which is receiv-
ing documents through our agency, take the
trouble to follow the check-list and notify
us when there is any deficiency. We can
in most cases succeed, though obviously, in
view of what I have said, there could be
no absolute guarantee, in supplying what
you lack. Obviouslj', also, the more prompt
the notice we have of the deficiency, the
greater the likelihood of our being able to
make it up.
Qxjestion: How do you make sure of
getting hold of all the documents for list-
ing?
Mr. QUAIFE: In the first place, we
have the law which requires the state
printer to supply us with copies of every
document lirinted, but that law is not al-
ways lived up to; we do not depend upon
the state printer to live up to it. Regularly
every month and sometimes two or three
times a month we visit the state printing
board and carefully check up their print-
ing orders to see what has been printed.
If there is anything that has not come to
us we immediately go after it. We have
absolute knowledge as to what is being
printed through these vouchers and other
records of the state printing board.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
353
The SECRETARY: In New York State
we get regularly from the state printing
board copies of the printing orders. These
do not, of course, give us information as to
the time of publication; but they give us
something with which to check up our re-
ceipts.
Mr. SMALL: So far as Iowa is con-
cerned, I will say that we have great re-
spect for documents. I do not feel that I
am qualified to make a selection of what
we should receive. In so far as we are
concerned, we want everything published.
As to the use of the legislative journals,
I agree with the chairman that though they
are the least used of all the documents, they
should be on hand. We have hundreds of
volumes in our libraries, textbooks, reports
and others, that are seldom, if ever, used,
but if wanted they are wanted badly and
so are worthy of the space they occupy.
So far as the room is concerned, we are
badly crowded but I have in spite of that
made the decision that we will take the
documents even if we must stack them on
the floor and pile them ceiling high. I
did so for this reason — we may be crowded
now but we hope we will not always be
crowded. If we get the volumes now, we
have them when we get the new shelving
and the new building to put them in.
I think it would be a mistake to curtail
distribution during war time. For one
thing, it would be inconvenient not to have
the documents when we needed to use
them; for another thing, it would be an
injustice to the state to compel it to hoard
them. Then too there is great danger that
a legislative committee, seeing the accumu-
lation, might say that there was a waste of
publications and printing.
The PRESIDENT: It seems to me that
if we do not get these documents when
they are printed we are likely not to get
them at all.
Mr. BROWN: Do you wish to have a
committee investigate this whole question
and report at the next meeting?
Mr. DULLARD: I move that a Commit-
tee on Documents be appointed to consider
the handling of documents and exchanges.
The motion was seconded, put to a vote,
and carried.
The PRESIDENT: The matter of the
republication or revision of the pamphlet
on state documents edited by Mr. Reece,
which I mentioned in my remarks to the
association at the Tuesday evening meet-
ing, has not yet been acted upon. My sug-
.gestion was that the matter of republica-
tion or revision of this pamphlet, which
many of us have found to be valuable,
should be referred to a committee on docu-
ments and exchanges for investigation, for
further report at least, and for possible
action. Just what do you wish to do with
this suggestion?
Mr. SMALL: I move that the matter of
republication or revision of the pamphlet
on State Documents for Libraries, by Mr.
Ernest J. Reece, be referred to the Com-
mittee on Documents and Exchanges.
The PRESIDENT: Mr. Reece is here
tonight. We should be glad to hear a word
from Mr. Reece on the subject.
Mr. REECE: Mr. Chairman, as I stated
in my letter to you some months ago, I
shall be very glad, if you so desire, to act
on a committee of the Association with
reference to the revision. It is a little dif-
ficult for me to say under present condi-
tions just what I shall be able to do, but
I shall be very glad to undertake the work.
The motion was duly carried.
Mr. WILLIAM E. HANNAN: Before this
documents question is shunted to one side,
I should like to bring before the section a
matter which relates rather to federal than
to state matters; that is, the question of
whether the state libraries may not re-
ceive from Washington all senate and
house bills of a public nature and also
copies of all hearings held before Congres-
sional committees. As a worker in legis-
lative records, I am intensely interested in
these two matters. As you know, the only
way you can get copies now is by address-
ing either the clerk or your congressman
in Washington. If this matter has never
been threshed out to a conclusion with the
authorities at Washington, I should like
to present a resolution.
354
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Mr. GODARD: The subject has been
taken up with the committee on printing
at Washington, through its clerk. The
committee is inclined to feel that there is
a world of those public bills of no use out-
side of one or two states. It would be a
good thing to take action at this meeting
on the matter and to forward the resolu-
tion to Washington along with a similar
resolution of the Government Documents
Round Table of the American Library As-
sociation.
Mr. H. O. BRIGHAM: We once got a
committee together to deal with this ques-
tion, but it never got very far. The only
thing to do, it seems to me, is to offer to
put $10 or $15 a year into a subscription.
That would make it worth the clerk's while
to handle a mailing list. I should like to
have somebody investigate that possibil-
ity. The plan may not be practical, but,
on the other hand, it may work because the
clerk is in an especially good position to
get at the bills. He might get a list of
twenty libraries that would desire to re-
ceive a limited number of bills of general
interest. As far as expense is concerned,
we spend in telegrams in one year prob-
ably as much as $10 or $15 in trying to get
the bills from our congressmen. If we
make our own selection, we will have,
counting the various calendar prints, near-
ly 40,000 bills to handle.
Mr. HANNAN: In order to get the mat-
ter before the session, I will introduce this
resolution:
Resolved, That it is the sense of the
National Association of State Libraries
that the federal law relating to the print-
ing and distribution of U. S. documents
should be so amended as to provide for the
distribution to the state library in each
state of copies of all House and Senate
bills of a public nature which are intro-
duced in the Federal Congress; also copies
of all hearings held before Congressional
committees and which may be printed.
I am more interested in receiving all the
hearings than all the bills. Many of them
are upon social and economic questions
that affect the state and the legislation of
the state, and are wanted at times by cer-
tain committees of the state legislature.
By having them come to you regularly you
would be able to serve your committees
greatly. I move the consideration and
adoption of this resolution.
The motion was secended.
Mr. GODARD: One of the sections of
the printing bills, which the Government
Documents Round Table has been quietly
urging for the last two years, provides that
copies of hearings and all bills be fur-
nished to the regular depositary libraries;
and that, where possible, the bill upon
which the hearing was held be printed
with the hearing, because the hearing with-
out the bill is not of much service. The
bill that was introduced on April 18 does
not quite cover that point. There is prob-
ably no chance that it will go through, and
certainly the other one will not pass until
after this war is over, unless something
very unforeseen happens.
The motion was put to vote and carried.
The meeting was then turned over to the
incoming president, Mr. Milton J. Ferguson,
state librarian of California.
The next number on the program, "State
Library Legislation in 1916 and 1917," by
A. J. Small, was at Mr. Small's suggestion,
ordered printed without being read.
STATE LIBRARY LEGISLATION IN 1916
AND 1917
By A. J. Small
Law Librarian, Iowa State Library
In preparing this synopsis of recent li-
brary legislation in the various states, I
have thought best to include, whenever
possible, a brief resumS of the character of
work being accomplished by each library,
believing that it will be interesting and a
source of information.
It is gratifying to review the letters
which have been received, giving account
of the war activities in which librarians
and their staffs are engaged. Several of
the librarians have contributed members of
their staff for war work, and nearly all
are giving time for Councils of Defense,
collecting books and funds for cantonment
libraries, soliciting for Red Cross and Y. M.
C. A., selling Liberty Bonds and war sav-
ings stamps, aiding in food conservation,
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
355
publicity, and in numerous other ways.
In several instances librarians and staff
members are working extra hours and
waiving vacation periods to enter camp
libraries or other volunteer patriotic work.
Alabama — There has been no new legis-
lation except as to salaries of the librarian
and marshal and assistant.
Alaska — This far away northwest terri-
tory is building up a law library for the
use of the legal departments of the gov-
ernment. The legislature in 1917 appro-
priated $2,500 to be expended under the
direction of the governor and the attorney
i'eneral. The attorney general is exoffi-
cio librarian.
Arizona — The state library of Arizona
had a new birth in 1915 when the whole
system was revised and the legislative
reference bureau established. Mr. Con P.
Cronin was appointed librarian by the leg-
islature. Since that time Mr. Cronin has
greatly improved the usefulness of the li-
brary. In 1917 the sum of $4,^35.62 was
appropriated for a deficit incurred in the
state law library in previous years.
Arkansas — Mr. John T, Castle, librarian,
writes that so far as legislative acts af-
fecting the library are concerned, there
has been ho material change for the past
three or four years. The librarian, how-
ever, was granted an increase of salary
from $1,500 to $2,000. A legislative refer-
ence bureau was created under the direc-
tion of the Historical Commission, but
there being no appropriation, it is inef-
fective.
California — The California State library
is one of the wide-awake libraries of the
country. The aggressive work done in the
last decade by Mr. Gillis is being carried
on by his successor, Mr. Milton J. Fergu-
son. The legislature in 1915 approved the
action of the trustees of the state library
in accepting as a gift from the heirs of
the late Adolph Sutro a special feature
library located in San Francisco. This
library is called the "Sutro Library," and
is supplemental to the state library. There
is no appropriation made for its support
but donations are being made by special
organizations and individuals. The libra-
ry, opened for public use on January 1,
1917, is devoted largely to special refer-
ence and research works. In 1917, the
legislature made a liberal appropriation
of $250,000 for a support fund to cover the
biennial period. This sum, the librarian
states, is not sufficient to cover all the
activities which he desires the library to
undertake. The librarian's salary was in-
creased by the same legislature from $3,-
500 to $5,000 annually.
Colorado — So far as legislative acts are
concerned, the status of the state library
in Colorado remains unchanged.
Connecticut — The state library of Con-
necticut is known throughout the country
for its efficiency, and Mr, Godard, with his
untiring activity, has built up a great state
library and legislative reference bureau.
None will dispute the claim that Connecti-
cut has one of the most perfectly equipped
state libraries in America. The legislature
of 1917 provided for a state census and
inventory of the resources of the state in
men' and materials available for use in
time of war. This inventory and census
was turned over to the state librarian for
tabulation and compilation. The same
legislature also authorized the state libra-
rian to photograph all bills introduced in
the legislature. In Connecticut no bill is
printed until it is favorably reported by
the committee to which it has been re-
ferred. Photostat copies are then made
for the convenience of the legislative mem-
bers and the public, the latter being re-
quired to pay a reasonable fee for copies.
Delaware — The library staff consists of
the librarian and one assistant. Aside from
library duties, the librarian is charged
with being custodian of the State House
and is responsible for all portraits which
are hung in the building. The legislative
appropriations in 1917 were as follows:
Salary of librarian, $1,200; Contingent ex-
pense, $500; Purchase of books, $500; Re-
pairing of books, $200; total, $2,400.
Florida — Both of Florida's state libra-
ries are governed by ex officio state offi-
cers; the miscellaneous library by the
356
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
secretary of state and the law library by
the clerk of the supreme court. There is
practically no library spirit in Florida.
Georgia — During the administration of
the present state librarian, Mrs. Maud Bar-
ker Cobb, the Georgia State Library has
made a wonderful progress. In her last
report she says: "The past decade has
witnessed a revolution in the idea of what
goes to make a library and a librarian,
and it is this change that has been sig-
nificant of progress." Recent legislative
enactments relating to the state library
have not been numerous or striking but a
fairly good support fund has been pro-
vided. The legislature in 1916 empowered
the state librarian to appoint all notaries
public for the state as well as to revoke
commissions at any time. By legislative
act of 1917, the librarian is authorized to
contract for the publication of certain
Georgia law reports.
Hawaii — In 1909 the legislature made
provisions for a territorial library. Since
that time liberal appropriations have been
made for its support. In 1917 there was
appropriated for salaries $23,400, and for
expenses $12,900, a total of $36,300 for the
biennial period.
idaiio — To Idaho belongs the unique dis-
tinction of having three state libraries, lo-
cated as follows: Boise, Lewiston and
Pocatello. The last two are strictly for
the use of the court which has periodical
sittings at each of the places named. The
library at Pocatello was created by the
legislature in 1917, with an appropriation
of $5,000 for maintenance. The other two
libraries are conducted by the clerk of
courts.
Illinois — In 1915, the legislature assigned
the work of the exchange of state docu-
ments to the state library. The appropria-
tion for the library was $43,837, being
nearly doubled in 1917, thus affording an
ample sum for the enlargement of the
work and the purchase of books. The
state library of Illinois circulates books to
institutions and citizens throughout the
state. Mrs. Eva May Fowler, acting li-
brarian, is doing good work and is building
up a strong library at Springfield. The
salary of the secretary of the legislative
reference bureau was increased from $4,-
000 to $5,000 per annum, and $23,700 was
appropriated annually for other employes.
The biennial total sum appropriated in
1917 for legislative reference work is
$69,600.
Indiana — Mr. Demarchus C. Brown, the
able and efficient librarian, reports no
change in amount of funds or number on
his staff in Indiana. The library is rich in
reference works, literature and history.
The state law library is separate from the
state library proper. Mr. Brown, like
many other librarians, is doing much war
work. The legislature of 1917 abolished
the legislative reference bureau, which
took effect October 1, 1917.
Iowa — Aside from providing for two ap-
prentices in the miscellaneous department
of the state library, at $400 each annu-
ally, and increasing the salary of the law
librarian from $1,800 to $2,000 per year,
there was no new legislation. A bill in-
troduced in 1917 for the erection of a
Temple of Justice passed the Senate, but
failed by a few votes in the House. The
measure would have easily carried had it
not been for the fact that it followed a
million dollar war appropriation.
Kansas — The state library of Kansas is
under the wise leadership of Mr. James
L. King, who, with nominal support, has
built up for the people of Kansas a valu-
able library and a legislative reference
department. The legislature of 1917 in-
creased the librarian's salary from $2,000
to $2,400, and advanced the salaries of
several members of the staff. The legis-
lative reference budget was also increased
by $700.
Kentucky — The librarian, Mr. Frank K.
Kavanaugh, writes that the only legisla-
tive advancement in the library since 1910
v;as made by the legislature of 1916, when
he was allowed a bookkeeper at $75.00
per month. Besides his regular duties as
librarian, he issues the advance sheets of
the Kentucky law reports. He also has
charge of the department of stationery
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
357
and supplies, and the disposing of state
publications generally.
Louisiana — There is no new legislation
to report for Louisiana.
IVIaine — Like the libraries of some of
the other states, that of Maine is badly
crowded. A resolution was adopted at the
session of 1917 whereby a commission was
appointed to investigate the needs of a
state library building, the commission to
report back to the next legislature. The
last legislature authorized the librarian
to establish a legislative reference bureau
a8 a part of the state library, and to em-
ploy assistance and to incur such expense
as may be necessary in its management.
Legislative reference work has been done
in the state library for several years, but
by this act the bureau is given a legal
standing and an opportunity to enlarge its
scope. Bill drafting has not been author-
ized.
Maryland — Miss Nettie V. Mace, state
librarian, reports little direct library leg-
islation for a number of years. She says,
"Indeed, we have become so distinctly a
law library that we have branched out
scarcely at all."
IVIassachusetts — The legislature pro-
vides quite liberally for the state library
of Massachusetts. The annual appropria-
tions for 1917 are as follows: Salary of
librarian, $4,000; clerical services, main-
tenance, etc., $12,190; temporary clerical
assistance, $500; incidental expenses; $2,-
500; books, maps, papers, etc., $8,000;
cataloging, $5,000; total, $32,190.
In addition a sum not exceeding $1,000
was appropriated for the repair, preserva-
tion and binding of books and pamphlets.
The state library conducts and operates
a legislative reference bureau, the ex-
penses of which are included in the above
amounts. Dr. Lawrence Boyd Evans has
been appointed librarian to succeed Mr.
Foster "W. Stearns, who resigned to enter
the federal service. Dr. Evans is vice-
chairman of the committee to compile in-
formation and data for the use of the Con-
stitutional Convention. Previously he was
professor of history at Tufts College. He
is considered an international authority on
constitutional government.
Micliigan — Mrs. Mary C. Spencer, dean
of state librarians so far as length of serv-
ice is concerned, is to be congratulated
upon her long and successful career. The
state library of Michigan is homogeneous
in its nature, having the miscellaneous,
law, traveling libraries and legislative ref-
erence as its constituent parts. The leg-
islature in 1917 amended the legislative
reference laws and provided for an in-
crease in salary of the legislative refer-
ence librarian from $1,800 to $2,500 per
year. The same legislature provided for
an assistant in the law department at a
salary of $1,500 per year, while the salary
of another member of the staff was raised
to $1,500. An appropriation of $5,000 each
was made for the purchase of books in the
state library and traveling library.
Minnesota — Mr. E. J. Lien, the genial
ex-president of this association and effl-
cient state librarian of Minnesota, reports
that so far as legislative acts for the libra-
ry are concerned, nothing has been done
for the past four years. The splendid work
of Mr. Lien has placed the state library in
the front ranks, and Minnesota may well
pride itself on having one of the best state
libraries of the West.
Mississippi — The state library is strict-
ly a law library with a goodly number of
reference works. Mrs. W. F. Marshall,
the able librarian, is doing much to build
up a strong library and prides herself in
having one of the best reference libraries
of the South. She is much handicapped
in not having sufficient legislative sup-
port. The loan of books is restricted to
the court.
Missouri — No unusual legislation has
been enacted within the last four years.
Mr. A. J. Menteer, the state librarian, is
contributing much of his efforts toward
the winning of the war.
Montana — Mr. A. K. Barbour, the state
law librarian, writes that there has been
no material change in the laws affecting
the law library. The lawyers of the state
pay an annual license tax, which, after
358
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
certain expenses are deducted, nets the
law library about four thousand dollars.
This is in addition to the regular appro-
priation for the library. It is the duty of
the law librarian to edit and index the ses-
sion laws, and Mr. Barbour says he Is try-
ing to make the index "fool proof." The
legislature in 1917 made provisions for the
printing of a state history and appointed
Mr. Granville Stuart state historian, for a
period of two years, at a salary of $3,000
annually.
Nebraska — Through a clerical error in
the expiration date of the appropriation
act of 1917, the library of Nebraska is ex-
periencing considerable financial embar-
rassment. Instead of "1919," the figures
"1917" were inserted, thus depriving the
library of the funds which were intended
for its use and support for the biennium
ending 1919. Fortunately, the library de-
rives some income from the sale of law
reports, laws, etc.
Nevada — The legislature of 1917 enacted
a law greatly extending the usefulness of
the state library. The librarian was au-
thorized and directed to prepare an au-
thor and subject catalog at a cost of not
to exceed $2,500. Any resident vouched
for by a property taxpayer of the state may
obtain books free of expense; loans of
books may not exceed four weeks; for a
failure to return a penalty of ten cents per
day is imposed, with a forfeiture of priv-
ileges if delinquent twenty days. Any
school district may borrow books, not to
exceed twenty at one time. For schools
no personal surety is required. Mr. Frank
J. Pyne writes that the income for the
support of their library is about $40,000
per year. An appropriation of $7,200 was
made in 1917 for fireproofing the state li-
brary building.
New Hampshire — The law relating to the
state library was considerably amended
in 1917. The library is maintained for the
use of the departments of the state govern-
ment and as a legislative reference library
for the citizens of the state. The state
library is charged with the distribution
and exchange of state publications. A
board of trustees consisting of three mem-
bers, not more than two of whom are of
the same political faith, is appointed by
the governor and serves without compen-
sation. The trustees appoint the librarian
for a term of three years. The salary of
the librarian is fixed by the trustees, sub-
ject to the approval of the governor and
council.
New Jersey — Outside of the regular ap-
propriations there has been no new legis-
lation. Mr. Dullard, however, since his in-
cumbency as state librarian, has built up
for the people and courts of New Jersey a
splendid library and greatly increased its
efiiciency.
New Mexico — As yet New Mexico, one
of the newer states, has not caught the
library spirit. The librarian receives only
$900 annually, and the 1917 appropriation
for miscellaneous expenses was but $2,500.
New York — The library of the great Em-
pire State, to which we naturally look for
ideals, is a splendid institution, for which
liberal financial provision, though prob-
ably not more than needed for its various
activities, has been made by the state. The
appropriation for salaries in 1917 was
$109,170, and for books $74,500. Mr. Wyer
writes that they are doing much war work
and are losing on behalf of war activities
many members of the staff.
North Carolina — ^^Capt. Miles O. Sherrill,
one of the veteran librarians of the South,
retired during the last winter, after eight-
een years of service as state librarian of
North Carolina. He has been succeeded
temporarily by Mr. W. S. Wilson, legisla-
tive reference librarian. Mr. Wilson is
one of the most active reference librarians
of the South, who has built up a splendid
reference bureau since its creation in 1915.
Plans are being formulated to present a
bill to the next legislature for the con-
solidation of the state library, the library
commission and the legislative reference
department. The state library of North
Carolina is another of those unfortunate
libraries which has but a meager financial
support. The legislative reference bureau
by act of 1917 receives an annual appro-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
359
priatlon of $6,000 and the historical com-
mission, $7,000.
North Dakota — Owing to the failure of
the legislature of 1917 to provide for a
state librarian (for the state law library)
the clerk of the supreme court has been
ex officio librarian since that time.
Ohio — For the splendid library of Ohio,
over which Mr. C. B. Galbreath has so long
been librarian, there has been no unusual
legislation. Mr. Galbreath has recently
been succeeded by Mr. John Henry New-
man, formerly state librarian, the appoint-
ment becoming effective June 1, 1918. The
library celebrated its centennial on August
10, 1917.
Oklahoma — No new legislation has been
enacted so far as the state library is con-
cerned but an effort is being made to
strengthen the state law library located at
the state university at Norman. The ex-
tra session of 1916 made available some
42,000 court reports to be exchanged for
standard text and other law reports for
use of the state library and the university
library. By this arrangement Mr. E. G.
Spilman, the librarian, is able to double the
$5,000 otherwise available for book pur-
chases.
Oregon — Aside from an increase in the
support fund of the general library (which
includes the traveling library) there has
been no change in the library law of Ore-
gon. The appropriation in 1917 for the
biennial period was $40,000.
Pennsylvania — The state library of
Pennsylvania, with its able librarian, Mr.
T. L. Montgomery and his splendid staff,
is doing its bit in the way of war activi-
ties along with regular library duties. Mr.
Montgomery, as president of the American
Library Association, is rendering valuable
service in the building up of the libraries
at the various camps and cantonments
throughout the country. Two of the male
assistants of his staff have gone into camp
library work. The legislature in 1917 gave
to the state library, for the two-year pe-
riod following, the sum of $98,390; $15,000
was granted the legislative reference bu-
reau with which to continue the codifica-
tion of the general laws of the state.
Rhode Island — Mr. Herbert O. Brigham,
the genial and able librarian of Rhode
Island, reports that the legislature of 1917
increased the salaries of all assistants by
$20 per month. The same session in-
creased the salary of the state law librar-
ian from $1,600 to $2,400 per year, and
that of the state librarian from $1,600 to
$1,800 per year.
Mr. Brigham has in his department and
under his direction the legislative refer-
ence bureau and may expend for its proper
administration not to exceed $3,970 per
year.
South Carolina — In South Carolina, Mrs.
Virginia Green Moody, the librarian, is
struggling, single-handed and alone, to
work out and develop this important edu-
cational institution of the state. From
the laws of 1917 I find that there is an
appropriation of $1,500 for the salary of
the state librarian only, no additional help
being provided. Appropriations are, $576
for contingent fund; $350 for stationery
and stamps; $100 for purchase of books
and binding, and $40 for water. In 1916,
the legislature authorized the leVying of
a tax in Newberry County in the sum of
$7,500 for the chain gang. In another
county, the coroner has a salary of $2,000,
and in Kershaw County, $1,000 is to be
levied for post mortems, inquests and
lunacy, but not a dollar for libraries!
South Dakota — The state library of
South Dakota is one of many activities.
Its real title is "Department of History."
It administers the state library, the state
census, vital statistics, legislative refer-
ence and the historical society. Mr. Doane
Robinson, the executive head, is building
up a great educational institution, ably
assisted by Miss Ida M. Anding, legislative
reference librarian. No new legislation
affecting the progressive work being done
in this state has been enacted.
Tennessee — Aside from salaries, ex-
penses, improvements, etc., there was
appropriated $4,000 in 1917 for the pur-
chase of law books for the biennial period,
360
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
and $500 for books for the state prison
library. The state librarian has direct
supervision of the prison library. The
total sum appropriated for the state
library, including salaries and prison
library, and $10,000 for the purchase and
installation of steel shelving, was $25,900
for the biennium.
Texas — No new legislation has been
enacted in Texas. Mr. C. Klaerner, who
'was appointed state librarian on April 15,
1915, has tendered his resignation, effec-
tive September 1, 1918. Mr. Klaerner has
been heavily burdened and found it neces-
sary to ask relief.
Utah — The state library of Utah is en-
tirely a law library for the use of the
courts. The clerk of the court is ex
officio librarian. Mr. Griffith reports that
no change has been made in funds, staff or
duties of the librarian.
Vermont — The legislature of 1917 cre-
ated a board of control, composed of the
governor, treasurer, auditor, director of
state institutions, and one other person to
be appointed biennially by the governor,
who shall have supervision over all state
institutions, the state library included.
The acts of 1917 also provided for an
additional assistant and amended the law
whereby the board of trustees fixes the
salaries of the state librarian and his as-
sistants. The library has an aggregate
annual appropriation (including salaries)
of $13,000 plus a limited revenue from the
sale of books. The legislative reference
bureau receives an additional $3,500. The
legislature of 1915 adopted a resolution ap-
pointing a commission to investigate the
necessity of a new building for the state
library, supreme court, etc. This building
has now been completed, and at this date
(June, 1918) the library is being moved to
its new quarters.
Virginia — The Virginia state library is
an institution of unusual character; it has
a large miscellaneous library with a sep-
arate law library for the court, each ad-
ministered separately. The state library
conducts a flourishing traveling library
system, provided for in the laws of 1916,
which loans its books to people through-
out the state. It also has a very good col-
lection of raised letter volumes for the
use of the blind. Not only has Virginia a
great state library, but there is also a vast
collection of state archives and manu-
scripts. The library publishes many vol-
umes of historical and genealogical sig-
nificance. Mr. Mcllwaine, the state libra-
rian, is a man of many affairs, who is mak-
ing for the state of Virginia an institution
of much worth and importance.
Washington — Mr. J. M. Hitt, state libra-
rian, writes that their efforts are limited
on account of proper legislative action.
The legislature of 1917 made an appro-
priation for the biennial period of $10,000
for the state library and $28,400 for the
state law library.
West Virginia — The state library situa-
tion in West Virginia is much like that of
South Carolina. Mr. B. H. Oxley, the
librarian, has no assistance except that of
a stenographer; not even a messenger is
provided. The library is primarily a law
library for the use of the courts. The
librarian is greatly handicapped on ac-
count of legislative neglect. The depart-
ment of history and archives performs the
functions of the general library.
Wisconsin — The library over which our
honored president, Mr. G. G. Glasler, pre-
sides has been given an increase in its
general expenses from $7,125 to $9,200,
while for the development of the docu-
ment department, purchase of law books,
books of reference, works on political sci-
ence and statistics, there has been an in-
crease from $3,000 to $4,000. Legislation
has been enacted to simplify the auditing
of accounts.
Wyoming — The state library of Wyom-
ing is rapidly coming to the front. The
library has been moved into new quarters
in a new wing of the capitol. The legisla-
ture of 1917 appropriated $9,900 for new
equipment and expense of moving. The
librarian's salary was increased from $1,-
500 to $1,800 annually. An additional $100
is paid to her as director of weights and
measures.
NATIONAL, ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
361
The 1917 legislature appropriated $1,000
to employ two persons to draft and pre-
pare legislative bills, resolutions and
amendments.
Miss Frances Davis, state librarian, re-
signed in 1917, and was succeeded by Miss
Agnes R. Wright.
There followed a discussion on "The
Legislative Reference Department," pre-
sided over by Mr. "William E, Hannan, leg-
islative reference librarian of the New
York State Library.
THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE
DEPARTMENT
Two questions relating to legislative
reference work have been proposed for
discussion; one is legislative reference
work in war time and the other is, how to
get the legislature to use the legislative
reference bureau — in popular parlance,
how to get your work over to the legisla-
ture.
On the face of it, it may appear that leg-
islative reference work in war time is not
different from legislative reference work at
any other time; but I believe you will
agree with me that every legislative ref-
erence worker -who has had to do with the
legislature since 1914, especially since our
own beloved country got into the war, has
had more questions thrust at him relative
to European conditions as a basis for legis-
lation in his own state than he ever had
before. It will be necessary only to state
a few questions in order to prove that
statement. Take the question of the pro-
duction of food and regulation of prices.
That question was formerly taboo in this
country; monopolies were in bad odor, and
any attempt to combine to regulate the
price at once brought down the maledic-
tions of the people and of the courts and
of the legislature. And now we seek to
find out what Great Britain did, what
France has done, in the matter of regula-
tion of the production of foodstuffs and of
maximum and minimum prices; what Can-
ada has done; what Australia has done.
The legislative reference worker has been
taken out of his provincial attitude across
into these other countries whose legisla-
tion prior to the war perhaps interested
him only a little.
Then again come the new questions that
are nearer home, such as legislation deal-
ing with explosives, alien enemies, sedi-
ffous matter in textbooks. We have gone
along at an easy gait, having matter
taught in our various histories and text-
books that now we are closely scanning;
it has been brought to our attention by
reason of this war that possibly principles
are being taught to the growing boy and
girl that really are seditious and should be
closely scrutinized. So we have in the
state of New York a law relating to the
removal of seditious matter from text-
books when it is called to the attention of
th^ Commissioner of Education of the
State of New York.
Military training in schools is another
war time piece of legislation in this coun-
try, entirely alien to our thought and to
our education, until within the last few
years. New York State, I believe, led the
way in the matter of military training in
schools; and now the question is being se-
riously considered in a number of states.
Another war time question relates to the
care of the returned soldier. While large-
ly a federal question, yet it is also a state
question, because these men will be com-
ing back to live in the cities where their
welfare will have to be considered.
There is also the regulation of patriotic
societies which are authorized by act of
the legislature to care for the dependents
of those who have gone abroad.
There is the question of the status of
the soldier who has been suddenly called
from private life to the colors, from a po-
sition which gave him such a fair re-
muneration, perhaps, that he may have
entered into the purchase of a home or a
farm. When his earning capacity stops,
what is going to become of the obligation
which he has assumed? That situation
has given rise to the laws relating to
moratorium. A number of states have
adopted legislation relating to moratorium
and we now, I believe, have a federal act
which makes a provision for the care of
362
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
the debts of the soldier who has been
called to the colors.
The result of the war, therefore, has
been to broaden the horizon of every per-
son connected with a legislative referej^ce
bureau. Formerly we had our attention
directed to matters which, with the excep-
tion of some economic legislation such as
rural credits, pertained to the states of
our own nation, but now we are compelled
to think in national terms and in inter-
national terms. We must be prepared to
have ready for a member of the legisla-
ture or of his committee, legislation of all
the allied countries dealing with such
matters as relief and care of diseased or
disabled soldiers, or the regulation of
either prices or production of foodstuffs.
For example, in New York when prepar-
ing a compilation dealing with food regu-
lation and the control of prices, we wrote
to Great Britain, France and Australia
for first-hand information on the question;
we asked not only for printed material but
for their opinion as to the establishment
ot*a. minimum or a maximum price. Be-
fore the legislature convened we had this
material ready in almost every instance.
If it had not been for the war, the chances
are that the legislature would not have
been particularly concerned with what was
going on in those countries, but no longer
can any legislative reference worker be
ignorant or fail to notice the trend of the
social and economic and political condi-
tions in all foreign ^ countries. So much
for legislative reference work in war time.
Now the second question, in regard to
methods used to get the work of the leg-
islative reference bureau before the leg-
islature, or, in other words, to get the
members of the -legislature to use the
legislative reference bureau. Some of you
are more happily situated than we are in
New York. You have the legislature per-
haps in the same building. Here we have
it across the street. Our problem was to
get ourselves over to them, not to get
them over to us, because they were suffi-
cient unto themselves. The old and tried
method is, as soon as the personnel of
the legislature is known, to send them
circular letters expressing your good will
to do for them whatever they would like
to have done. They take that as a mat-
ter of mere politeness on your part and
some politely acknowledge the receipt.
After they convene, again you address a
letter stating your readiness to serve them
by supplying any information they may
wish upon legislation which may interest
them. This will bring sometimes a per-
sonal response, sometimes that of a clerk
who comes in the name of his member, or
sometimes a page or sometimes a tele-
phone call or a letter. We get them in all
these ways in Albany. We prefer, of
course, the personal call; but as soon as
we get them, one way or the other, I do
get into contact with them personally; I
make an effort to see those men regardless
of how they may look upon me after they
see me or what they may think that I am
after. Of course, I am after nothing that
they may have in the matter of political
preferment or jobs or anything of that
kind. I am there, you are there — we are
talking now as a family of legislative ref-
erence workers — I am there or you are
there to give them some information on
some particular question in which they are
interested. After you have exhausted your
circular letter without breaking the ice,
what are you going to do? You cannot,
of course, meet every member of your leg-
islature personally. You want to serve
them but you are not there where they
stumble over you; your bureau is not there
between the assembly room and the senate
room where they see you as they come in
and out. You are distant. And they look
upon you as an alien to some extent. Your
position is non-political oftentimes. Some-
times it is political; and if it is political
as a rule you will get more personal con-
tact than you do, until they know you,
when it is non-political. What are you
going to do? You cannot meet them in
open session, get a hearing. That would
not be good policy. So you have to take
the risk of advertising — printers' ink. It
is a good thing to have a printed pamphlet
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
363
worked up on some question that some will stumble over it and say, "I believe I
committee has been threshiilg out. Get the do want something," and fill it out and
laws on that particular question, type send it over to us. We have used it now
them and then make a digest of them. for two or three years and it brings more
Kring in your statistics if it is a ques- and more requests every year. It is a
tion that calls for statictics; bring in practical little thing which shows that
the opinion of commissions and boards and you are really interested, that you are not
of experts. Have it printed in such num- afraid to put your name down in writing
bers that when the legislature convenes and in front of them so that they can get
you can shoot it right in to them. That acquainted with you.
will bring some compliments from various g^,. ^^^ ^^^^ advertisement of all, in
members and requests for additional ^y judgment, is good hard work. Here is
copies to send to some of their constitu- ^ ^.^^ ^^^^^^ ^ committee in the Assembly
ents. It makes you enthusiastic to think ^^^^.^^ ^j^j^ lowering the fare for school
you have got that over. The response children. Street railways do not want it
stops in a day or two with less result than ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ indifferent as to whether it
you think you should have had. But the ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^
move has bitten off a little more of the ^^ ^^^ members who are interested in that
trench (that is good war talk). particular bill and who would like some
As a rule they won't throw the pam- ^^^^ ^ ^^^^^^ ^.^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^
phlet into the waste basket because it per- ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ legislation that may be got
tains to the social or political or economic ^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ q^^^^.^^ ^^^ .^^ ^^^^^^
condition of the state; they will keep it, t^tionality. You get it together and you
take it home with them. But they do not ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ .^ ^^ ^.^ .^.^^^ ^^^ ^^^
keep it before them. The next thing you ^^ ^.^^ ..^^^ j ^^^ ^^ ^ ^^^p ^^^^^^^ ^.^^
need is something that will be before them ... j . ^^ ^„i,„ „ „„^v.^« ^e „«^5«„ +^
this. Let me make a number oi copies to
most of the time. For this I worked out ^^^ .^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^
a legislator's request card which I made ^^^^ committee. This committee has not
up in pads of forty or fifty. It reads like ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^.^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^
*^^^' to have it." "Why?" "You are going to
W. . annan, have a hearing on the bill, are you not?"
Legislative Reference Librarian, ,,y„„ ,, ..rpj^ attornevs for the street rail-
New York State Library. ^®^- "^^^ attorneys tor tne street ran
I desire to use the following, which may ^'oads or the steam railroads will appear
be sent by bearer or delivered at before the committee against the bill,
: won't they?" "Yes." "They will tell the
[Signature]. committee that there is no such legisla-
Books as follows ^, . ^ ^ .^ ^^ . ,^ , .f ,
tion m any state or if there is that it has
been declared unconstitutional?" "Yes."
"Well, this material which we have prepared
Information on subject of ............... . ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ 1^^^ ^^1^^.^^ ^^ ^^^
Biils introduced or laws enacted in other subject in some of the states and that they
states on subject of have been declared constitutional. Now
let me help you and boost our work a lit-
• Ali "the" facilities "of ' ihe' State" Library "^ ^^ P^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^°'!^ °^ }^^ ^°°^°^^^-
(telephone. Main 4700) are at the service tee a copy of the material which I have
of members of the Legislature. given you." He agrees. So we get to
I send that pad to every member of work and place in the hands of that com-
the legislature. They won't throw it away, mittee, each member, the same material
because they will find it convenient as a which he has, so that when the member ap-
writing pad if they do not want to use it pears before the committee to present his
otherwise. Every once in a while they case, each member has the same data.
364
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Whether they care for It or not, I don't
know, but we have helped them settle the
question, haven't we, hy giving them au-
thoritative information with references to
sources? We do not put our own opinion
into the piece of work at all.
That kind of work I believe every leg-
islative reference library should do, not be
content, for instance, to furnish a list of
states having minimum wage laws, with
references to the laws by states with the
chapters. That means very little. It means,
in the first place, that no elbow grease has
been spent on the job. If instead you give
the laws in full for every state that has a
minimum wage law, and give in addition
a digest of those laws and extracts from
the reports of minimum wage commis-
sions relating to them, and court decisions,
federal and state, thereon, you have done
a complete piece of work that nobody can
find fault with. You have placed your bu-
reau before a member of the legislature or
a committee or the whole legislature in
such a way that they have respect for
you, whether or not they agree with your
politics or know your politics or don't
care whether you have any politics or not.
They know that you are onto your job,
are not afraid to work and not afraid to
put the facts before them as facts with-
out any coloring of your own opinion.
I do that kind of work for every mem-
ber of the legislature regardless of his
standing, regardless of whether he is a
big member or a little member; the man
who is little known receives just as good
a job from me as the man who is well
known and who is the leader of the sen-
ate or of the assembly. I go on the theory
of "casting your bread upon the waters,"
and in New York we certainly need to do
that. , '--^^
Another thing we did this year in order
to show to the legislature the character
of our work was to print a little eight-
page paper giving a list of the questions
that had been presented to us and upon
which we had done a great deal of work
at the previous session. This alphabet-
ical list includes such titles as laws gov-
erning automobiles, a compilation of the
laws of thirty-four states; baseball, digest
of laws of twenty-three states which pro-
hibit sports or baseball on Sundays, and
so on. I wrote a little letter enclosing
this and sent it to each member of the
legislature. It brought us more work; it
brought us requests for the material listed,
and it called attention to the character of
the work we were doing and were ready
and willing to do.
You will notice that preparation of some
of this material meant the typing of 150
to 160 pages. That sounds big, but you
cannot do legislative reference work un-
less you have a corps of stenographers
and typists.
I am going to throw the question open
to discussion.
Mr. GODARD: I think that we have all
been helped, encouraged, inspired, by the
description of the work that Mr. Hannan
has been doing at the New York State Li-
brary, which, as we all know, has held
the front rank in that line of work here in
the east.
The Connecticut State Library has used
one or two other means to get people to
use its legislative reference department.
It has been the custom, since we have had
our new building separate from the capitol,
to give the general assembly a reception;
and at that time we have taken the oppor-
tunity to have all of our assistants on hand
to lead the members around and let them
see with their own eyes what we can do for
them. Usually they are very much im-
pressed— that is, the new ones — and are
almost always sure to come back.
We also furnish the members with
handy pads, with "Connecticut State Li-
brary" across the top on every sheet.
I think that the greatest help to making
ourselves known that we have had has
come from Connecticut's custom of never
printing its bills until after they have
been favorably reported by the committee
to which they have been referred. In or-
der that there might be somewhere ac-
cessible to the public and to the members
of the general assembly copies of all bills
\
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE LIBRARIES
365
Introduced, we started to photostat them —
provided, that is, we could get them from
the committees. The requests for copies
of bills which in this way we were able to
grant brought us lots of friends and lots
of work.
Then we keep in the library a record
uhowing the exact status of each bill. For
each bill there is a card giving the date of
Its introduction, showing who introduced
it, to what committee it was referred,
when the hearing was advertised and held,
whether or not we had received a stenog-
rapher's report of the committee hearing,
the action on the bill in both houses, and
finally, when it has been passed and sent
to the governor for his signature, its num-
ber and chapter in the public acts or the
special laws. We found that even the
clerks of the committees to which the bills
had been referred were looking to us to
furnish this information. So we have
found ourselves not only being used, but
being used to such an extent that during
the session practically all of our assistants
are working on legislative reference work.
I spoke of the stenographer's report of
the committee hearings. We get a copy of
everything transcribed by direction of the
committee. Between the sessions those
committee hearings are thoroughly in-
dexed and bound.
Mr. BROWN: I should like to hear Mr.
Hannan's views on whether the legislative
reference bureau should draft bills.
Mr. HANNAN: My experience in Nebras-
ka has led me to be heartily in favor of
having a bill drafting section attached to
a legislative reference bureau. The main
condition for the success of such a union
is that the person in charge should know
when to keep still; in other words, he
should attend to his own business of legis-
lative reference and leave legislation and
the enacting of legislation to the men who
are sent down there by a constituent body.
At no time should he seek to interject into
a bill any personal opinion that he holds
on a question. The legislative reference
worker is not elected to represent any-
body In the legislature.
When he drafts a bill for a member, he
should keep a careful record of the mem-
ber's request and of the ideas which the
member wishes embodied in the bill. Then
if the member accuses him of interjecting
his own opinions he can prove that he has
not put any idea into the bill which the
member did not want there. I am heartily
in favor of combining the two functions
Into one section. It is a very economical
plan. In addition the legislature can hold
one person responsible more easily than
two or three.
Mr. GLASIER: I move that we extend a
vote of thanks to Mr. Brown and Mr. Han-
nan for presenting these two subjects to-
night.
Mr. GODARD: I should like to add an
amendment to include Mr. Small.
Mr. GLASIER: Certainly.
The motion as amended was duly sec-
onded and carried.
The Committee on Resolutions, Mr. Mil-
ton J." Ferguson, chairman, then presented
its report.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON
RESOLUTIONS
The Committee on Resolutions, in less
formal manner than has usually been the
custom, desires to express the appreciation
of the association for the consideration
given it by the Executive Committee of
the A. L. A. in the arrangement of pro-
gram schedules and meeting places.
The committee records with deep regret
the passing of one of the most energetic,
wide-awake and constructive fellow work-
ers, Mr. James L. Gillis, who for eighteen
years was at the helm of the California
State Library and brought that institution
from a condition of inactivity to one of
remarkably efficient service.
The committee deplores the renewal of
activity on the part of the supposedly ex-
tinct political volcano and the loss thereby
of a worthy colleague, Mr. C. B. Galbreath
of Ohio.
Mr. SMALL: I move the adoption of the
resolutions.
The motion was duly seconded and car-
ried.
Whereupon an adjournment sine die was
taken.
366
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF LAW LIBRARIES
The American Association of Law Li-
braries met in annual conference at Sara-
toga Springs, July 2 and 3, 1918. As was
to be expected, the attendance was small,
limited in the main to those members liv-
ing in New York and near-by states. Two
separate sessions were held, and one joint
session with the National Association of
State Libraries. Addresses were delivered
as follows:
President's address: Edward H. Red-
stone, librarian, Social Law Library, Bos-
ton, Mass.; Workings of the Massachu-
setts Constitutional Convention, Lawrence
B. Evans, state librarian, Massachusetts;
The effect of the world war on Anglo-Amer-
ican legal literature, Frederick C. Hicks,
law librarian, Columbia University; A
brief survey of special legislation, Frank
E. Chipman, president. The Boston Book
Company; Editing the New York session
laws, John T. Fitzpatrick, law librarian,
New York State Library.
These papers ^^ill all appear in future
numbers of the Law Library Journal,
hence no attempt will be made to review
them here.
Committee reports of vital interest to
members of the Association were deliv-
ered by the chairmen. Mr. Small as chair-
man of the Committee on Legal Bibliog-
raphy brought us the welcome news that a
check list of State Bar Association reports
is being prepared by an Iowa librarian,
and that President Redstone has a bibli-
ography of legal periodicals in the process
of compilation. Changes in price and form
of the Index were the chief topics touched
upon in the report of the Committee on
Index to Legal Periodicals and Law Libra-
ry Journal. These points were discussed
thoroughly by the members but the final
decision was that the committee should be
continued with power to act in extending
the Index in any feasible way.
The third session was made interesting
by a talk from Mrs. Margaret Klingelsmith
of the University of Pennsylvania Law Li-
brary, on problems of law cataloging, and
by an impromptu talk from Mr. Ferguson,
the newly elected president of the National
Association of State Libraries, on his work
as state librarian of California.
The Nominating Committee made the fol-
lowing report of officers for the year 1918-
1919: President: Edward H. Redstone, So-
cial Law Library, Boston; first vice-presi-
dent: John T. Fitzpatrick, New York State
Library, Albany; second vice-president:
Agnes Wright, Wyoming State Library,
Cheyenne; secretary: Elizabeth B. Steere,
Law Library, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor; treasurer: Anna M. Ryan, Buffalo
Law Library, Buffalo.
Executive Committee: George S. Godard,
E. A. Feazel, John P. Dullard.
LEAGUE OF LIBRARY COMMISSIONS
The first session of the League of Libra-
ry Commissions was held on the afternoon
of July 3, with Mrs. Elizabeth Claypool
Earl, president, in the chair.
The meeting was made notable by the re-
appearance after twelve years of Dr. Mel-
vil Dewey at an A. L, A. convention. The
audience showed their esteem by rising to
greet Dr. Dewey with hearty applause. Dr.
Dewey spoke of the present war conditions
with a spirit of optimism, showing the
great opportunity of the public library in
a state of society in which democracy will
come to its own. To him it seems that
among the many things libraries can do,
the greatest service is to aid the movement
for simplified spelling. As a firm convic-
tion, he repeated the assertion of the phil-
ologist Grimm, that the greatest obstacle in
the way of English linguistic domination
of the world. Is the absurd and unscientific
spelling of the English language. To
LEAGUE OF LIBRARY COMMISSIONERS .
367
prove the rapid increase in the progress
of English towards becoming the univer-
sal language of the world, he quoted sta-
tistics showing the relative increase in the
last 400 years in the number of persons
speaking the important modern languages.
The whole tone of the address was opti-
mistic and inspiring.
Following this address the members of
the League, in a discussion lead by Mr.
William R. Watson of New York, consid-
ered the progress made by the various
states towards certification of librarians
and standardization of libraries:
Only several of the states represented at
the meeting reported any real action at-
tempted, namely: California, Illinois, In-
diana, Massachusetts, Nev/ York, Ohio and
Texas. Minnesota and Wisconsin reported
their state associations at work on pro-
posed legislation, and Iowa reported an
educational campaign under way. In Cali-
fornia, the system of state examination re-
lating to county libraries has worked al-
most perfectly. This system does not, how-
ever, include librarians of city libraries or
county libraries, or library assistants. In
Illinois an attempt at legislation was made
in a section of a county library bill, but
the whole bill was defeated, largely on ac-
count of the clause providing for certifica-
tion. In Indiana, the experience of Illi-
nois was anticipated in one legislature and
in a second attempt a county bill without
the certification clause was passed. The
plan here was to certify all librarians of
public libraries but not library assistants.
In Massachusetts, the condition has been
improved by legislation to hold examina-
tions for the registration of librarians, but
libraries are not compelled to employ reg-
istered librarians or assistants. Twenty-
seven took the first examination. The New
York plan is a merit rather than a certi-
fication system, and has met with rather
^ wide approval, as previously set forth in
"^ew York Libraries. In Ohio there have
been several attempts at legislation for
certification but without legal results. In
Texas the county law passed in 1917 pro-
vides for certification of county librarians.
The general sentiment of the meeting
was that certification of librarians is one
of the most important objects for which
the library profession can work. Although
representatives of many states felt that
much educational work will be necessary
before legislation can be obtained in their
states, no one expressed disapproval of
some plan of certification.
On the evening of July 3, the League
participated in a joint meeting with the
Agricultural Libraries Section and the Na-
tional Association of State Libraries on the
subject of Food Conservation. [This ses-
sion will be reported under the Agricul-
tural Libraries Section.]
On the evening of July 4, the League met
to discuss "Methods of control of state sup-
ported library activities," under the lead-
ership of Miss Julia A. Robinson, of Iowa.
Each state represented reported on the
present relationship between the various
state library activities and on any at-
tempted or recently achieved consolida-
tion:
In several of the midwestern states re-
cent attempts or plans for consolidation
were reported. The reason behind these
attempts seems generally to be economy,
although it was the expressed opinion of
those present that no money saving would
result in such consolidation. In several
states, it appeared, the state library, more
properly the law library or Supreme Court
library is provided for in the constitution,
so that unless the constitution should be
changed, the only form of consolidation
would be to bring all library activities un«
der the state library. This was not con-
sidered desirable as long as the state libra-
ry should be managed by the Supreme
Court judges.
There seemed to be a general opinion
that proper consolidation would be desir-
able to save duplication of effort. Coordi-
nation under one board of control rather
than subordination of departments under
one of the others was favored. North Da-
kota reported a gain in dignity and no
loss in independence from being coordi-
nated with other educational institutions
under the State Board of Regents. Other
states, notably Pennsylvania, have prac-
tical consolidation because the state libra-
rian is ex oflScio secretary of the state libra-
ry commission and connected with other
library activities.
The value of such discussion, the presi-
dent showed, was to evolve some ideal plan
which could be used as a model by states
establishing library systems, as a form for
states reforming their present conditions,
and as a goal towards which all states
might be tending even though change does
368
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
not appear imminent or desirable. Miss
Julia A. Robinson was then requested by
the president to read the following plan
for
The Unification of State Library
Activities
Introduction — Without attempting to
elaborate the analogy between state and
city in the provision of free books and
reading, suffice it to say that since state
supported library activities bear the same
relation to the people of the state that a
city tax supported library does to its resi-
dents, it would seem that the form of or-
ganization which has proved advantageous
in the city might well guide in the forma-
tion of a central state agency. I would,
therefore, beg to offer the following sug-
gestions as a basis for the unification of
state library activities, believing that in
addition to being logical the plan will pro-
vide a good working organization for the
promotion of library facilities in the state.
/. Government — The body authorized by
law for the government of a city library in
Iowa, and I think in most states, is an
appointed board of trustees. The number
of these differ as well as the terms in dif-
ferent states. As this has proved to be
for the best interest of city library work,
why then should state library work' be
placed under an ex officio board composed
of members whose interests are in other
matters to which their time and attention
must be given, thus often condemning the
work to small thought and insufficient
support? In the state as in the city there
should be a state board of public library
trustees composed of interested persons
appointed by the governor. Five, appoint-
ed for five years each, would seem to be an
ideal arrangement, and the law should pro-
vide that at least two should be women.
II. Name — ^^The analogy to a city library
above mentioned would naturally suggest
the name of State Library or State Public
Library in such a unification.
III. Division of work — In no city library
is the circulating department made subor-
dinate to or placed under the direction and
management of the reference department,
which is what would be done if the library
commission and the traveling library were
placed under the state library. In any
consolidation or reconstruction of state li-
brary activities there should be a reorgan-
ization as well which should create depart-
ments in the state work corresponding to
that in a city library: For example, (a)
department of library extension, supervi-
sion and organization; (b) circulation de-
partment, to include the traveling library
work; (c) state reference department,
covering the work now done by the state
library outside of the legislative reference
wprk. The addition of a school or chil-
dren's department for work in the schools
might be desirable, though this would leg-
itimately come under the department of
supervision. Further details of the organ-
ization could be worked out as the needs
required.
IV. Special Libraries — As is done in
some cities, special law and historical libra-
ries might be allowed to continue under
separate boards, providing the law. library
be confined to law and legislative reference
material only, and the historical library to
source material and genealogy, though the
latter might well be transferred to the
state reference department.
7. Appropriation — The natural method
would be to have a lump appropriation
covering the whole, but the law should pro-
vide that the different departments should
share in such a manner that no department
should be built up at the expense of an-
other.
Conclusion — It is much easier to secure
an ideal organization in the beginning than
by reconstruction and some difficulties
might develop requiring a modification of
the scheme. The above plan would prob-
ably not fit all states, but an adaptation
could be made to meet local conditions.
At the close of the discussion, the mem-
bers present in business session, took ac-
tion on the amendment to the constitution
proposed by Illinois. The constitution as
amended at Berkeley fixed the annual meet-
ing at the time and place of the mid-win-
ter meeting of the A. L. A. Council. As a
consequence, no mid-winter Council meet-
ing being held, no legal annual meeting
could be held this last year. By common
consent the Saratoga meeting was voted
the annual meeting. The Illinois amend-
ment was then adopted as follows:
The annual meeting shall be held at such
time and place as the Executive Board
shall decide.
SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
369
The treasurer having reported a balance
of $531.20, it was voted that the Executive
Board be authorized to invest in War Sav-
ings Stamps any amount of this balance
that they see fit.
The meeting was then adjourned.
At a meeting of the Executive Board
held July 5, the secretary and treasurer,
Mr. Henry N. Sanborn, resigned, and Mr.
William J. Hamilton was appointed his
successor.
Henby N. Sanboen,
Secretary.
SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
(Reprinted from Library Journal, August,
1918)
The first session of the Special Libra-
ries Association was held Thursday eve-
ning, July 4, in one of the parlors of the
Grand Union Hotel at Saratoga. Owing to
the resignation of Dr. C. C. Williamson,
John A. Lapp, vice-president, presided on
motion. He urged that special attention
be given to increasing the membership and
suggested the formation of groups within
the association, as for commercial, legisla-
tive and medical libraries. He also out-
lined the desirability, in his view, of hold-
ing the annual meeting of the S. L. A. at a
time and place other than that of the
A. L. A. conference, and there was gen-
eral discussion, both pro and con, of this
latter suggestion.
A report was received from the war
service committee, R. H. Johnston, of the
Bureau of Railway Economics, chairman,
reviewing its efforts to cooperate with the
American Library Association in war work.
It had been felt that members of the Spe-
cial Libraries Association were especially
well qualified to supply camp libraries with
material or information in special or tech-
nical fields, and for this reason the War
Service Committee, appointed by the presi-
dent shortly after this country entered the
war, had been endorsed at the Louisville
meeting. The committee's report, however,
showed that despite untiring efforts on the
part of its chairman, the cooperation pro-
posed had not been welcomed by the
A. L. A., whose war committee felt that
the needs of the camp libraries for tech-
nical material could be met by ordinary
public library methods. Realizing that to
a large extent this was true, the commit-
tee confined itself to quiet cooperation with
individual camp libraries which expressed
a desire for special assistance; in a num-
ber of cases the resources of special libra-
ries were drawn upon, and through their
influence also several publishers of tech-
nical books and periodicals contributed
their publications to camp libraries.
Notwithstanding the chairman's belief
that "the opportunities for special service
might have been placed with more effect by
the A. L. A. before the camp libraries," he
expressed his admiration for the war work
accomplished by the A. L. A. and recom-
mended the discontinuance of the commit-
tee.
Mr. Lapp raised the question of whether
the time had not come for the Special Li-
braries Association to organize on the
basis of function rather than geographical
distribution. After a discussion of the de-
sirability of dividing the membership into
groups of libraries, according to their di-
rect interests and the basis of such class-
ification, on motion of Mr. H. H. B. Meyer,
the executive committee was directed to
make a survey of all special libraries,
classify these by type and report the prog-
ress of the work at the next meeting.
Thirty-five were present at the second
session, held Friday afternoon, July 5. Mr.
Lapp, presiding, recalled the organizing of
the association at Bretton Woods, nine
years before, and spoke at length concern-
ing the fundamental characteristics of the
special library and the service it should
render. His contention that the public, li-
370
SARATOGA* SPRINGS CONFERENCE
braries of the country are not even today
alive to their responsibilities and that only
about ten per cent of them are rendering
complete and effective reference service
was vigorously combated by Charles A.
George, of the Elizabeth, N. J., Free Pub-
lic library and others, who argued that the
public library is not called upon to dupli-
cate the work of the special library. How-
ever beneficial this discussion may have
been in "clearing the air," to use an expres-
sion employed by some of the speakers, it
had the unfortunate effect, because of its
length, of crowding from the program all
papers save one, that by Miss A. G. Cross,
librarian of the Department of Commerce,
Washington, D. C, who described briefly
the work of the great number of libraries
maintained by federal departments, boards
and bureaus, at the national capital, many
of which have sprung into being since our
entrance into the war.
At the evening session on the same day,
also held in the club room, forty were
present. J. H. Friedel, librarian of the
National Industrial Conference Board,
acted as secretary. The question was
brought up as to what part special libra-
ries could take in war service. Upon mo-
tion of Mr. Friedel, it was voted that the
incoming president appoint a committee
to memorialize the federal government's
Committee on Public Information, offering
to place at its service the resources of the
special libraries of the country, and to
draw up a plan of cooperation with that
committee in war service.
John D. Wolcott, librarian of the U. S.
Bureau of Education, spoke of the work of
fifteen newly-organized libraries in govern-
ment departments at Washington.
Kenneth Walker, librarian of the New
Jersey Zinc Company, spoke upon "Pur-
chasing in a special library." It was evi-
dent from the discussion which followed
that there is a decided variation in the pur-
chasing methods of different special libra-
ries; that while in some cases, as with the
larger corporations, special librarians are
hampered by their dependence upon a cen-
tral purchasing office which orders books
in the same manner as pins, window-
screens or floor-mops, in other cases, as
with libraries of membership associations,
the librarian has considerable freedom in
purchasing.
Papers by A. B. Lindsey on "The follow-
up system of the Bureau of Railway Eco-
nomics" and by C. R. Green, librarian of
the Massachusetts Agricultural College, on
"The special library as an aid to agricul-
tural development" were not read, but the
chairman announced that the former pa-
per at least would appear in Special Libra-
ries.
On motion of Mr. Friedel, the executive
committee was instructed to formulate a
plan for central registration of applicants
for special library work.
Caroline E. Williams, librarian of the
DuPont de Nemours Powder Company's ex-
periment station at Wilmington, Del., was
chosen secretary of the association, and
J. H. Friedel was made a member of the
executive committee. The selection of a
president and vice-president was entrusted
to a committee composed of the executive
committee and three other members; this
committee as finally made up consisted of
Misses Williams and Ethel M. Johnson,
and Messrs. Lapp, Handy, Lee, Friedel and
R. H. Johnston. At a post-conference
meeting the committee chose Guy E. Ma-
rion as president and Edward H. Redstone
as vice-president.
ATTENDANCE SUMMARIES
371
By Position and Sex
Men Women Total
Trustees 5 10 15
Library Commissions ... 9 17 26'
Chief Librarians 122 115 237
Heads of Dept's and
Branch Librarians 42 79 121
Assistants 14 87 101
Library School Instructors 1 17 18
Library School Students.. 15 6
Editors 1 5 6
Commercial Agents 18 1 19
Others 12 59 71
225 395 620
By Geographical Sections
6 of the 6 New England States Ill
5 " 5 North Atlantic States and
District of Columbia 320
5 " 6 South Atlantic States 11
8 " 8 North Central States 129
4 " 6 South Central States 13
9 " 14 Western States 19
3 " 3 Pacific States 10
Canada 7
Total 620
By States
Alabama
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut .. . .
Delaware
District of Co-
1 Florida 4
1 Georgia 4
6 Illinois 32
3 Indiana 10
13 Iowa 15
7 Kansas 3
Kentucky 3
Maine 1
Maryland 7
Massachusetts . 63
Michigan 23
Minnesota 9
Missouri 12
Nebraska 3
New Hampshire 7
New Jersey 26
New York 222
North Carolina. 1
North Dakota. . . 1
Ohio 22
Oklahoma 2
Oregon 2
Pennsylvania . .
36
Rhode Island. . .
14
Tennessee
8
Texas
3
Utah
1
Vermont
13
Virginia
1
Washington
2
West Virginia..
1
Wisconsin
6
Wyoming
2
Canada
7
Total 620
lumbia 22 Louisiana
By Libraries
Libraries having five or more representa-
tives
New York State Library 39
New York Public Library 23
Detroit Public Library 8
Library of Congress 8
Pittsburgh Carnegie Library 8
Philadelphia Free Library 7
Troy Public Library 7
Cossitt Library, Memphis 6
Newark Free Public Library 6
Providence Public Library* 6
Springfield City Library 6
Brooklyn Public Library 5
Columbia University Library 5
Cleveland Public Library 5
Manchester City Library 5
Y. M. A. Pruyn Library, Albany 5
[Note. — The above figures from the library schools do not show the full attendance of
students, as several from the classes of 1918 were present who registered under the libra-
ries with which they were about to be connected.]
372
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
ATTENDANCE REGISTER
Abbreviations: F., Free; P., Public; L., Library; ref., Reference; catlgr., Cataloger;
In., Librarian; asst., Assistant ; br., Branch; sch., School.
♦Prefixed to a name indicates participation in Lake Placid trip.
Ackerly, Mary Belle, asst. In. Vassar Coll.
L., Poughkeepsie, N. T.
Adams, Ellen F., assoc. In. Skidmore Sch. of
Arts L., Saratoga Springs, N. T.
Adams, Leta B., head L. Dept. Gaylord Broth-
ers, Syracuse, N. T.
Ahern, Mary Eileen, editor Public Libraries,
Chicago, 111.
Alexander, Hon. Charles B., regent Univ.
of State of N. Y. and member of committee
on State L. of that Board, 120 Broadway,
N. Y. City.
Anderson, Edwin Hatfield, director P. L.,
N. Y. City.
Anderson, John R., bookseller, 31 W. 15th St.,
N. Y. City.
Andrews, Clement Walker, In. The John
Crerar L., Chicago, 111.
Ashley, Grace, sec'y to In. F. P. L., Newark,
N. J.
Atwater, Helen W., U. S. Dept. of Agricul-
ture, Washington, D. C.
Ashley, May, In. P. L., Greenfield, Mass.
Askew, Sarah B., organizer N. J. P. L. Com-
mission, Trenton, N. J.
Austen, Willard, In. Cornell Univ. L., Ithaca,
N. Y.
•Babcock, Helen S., In. Austin High Sch. Br.
P. L., Chicago.
Bagley, Helen A., In. P. L., Oak Park, 111.
Bailey, Arthur L., In. Wilmington Inst. F. L.,
Wilmington, Del.
Bailev, Beulah, asst. N. Y. State L., Albany,
N. Y.
Bailey, Louis J., In. P. L., Gary, Ind.
Bailey, Thomas D., Library Bureau, N. Y.
City.
Bailey, Mrs. Thomas D., New York City.
Baker, Asa George, life member of Corpora-
tion City L., Springfield, Mass.
Baker, Mrs. Asa G., Springfield, Mass.
Baldwin, Clara F., sec'y Minnesota P. L.
Commission, St. Paul, Minn.
Baldwin, Emma V., sec'y to In. P. L., Brook-
lyn, N. Y.
Baldwin, Rachel, asst. Child Dept. Carnegie
L., Pittsburgh, Pa.
•Barickman, Mrs. Rena M., In. P. L., Joliet,
111.
Barker, E. Elizabeth, Y. M. A. L., Albany,
N. Y.
Barker, Tommie Dora, In. Carnegie L., At-
lanta, Ga.
Barnett, Claribel Ruth, In. Dept. of Agricul-
ture L., Washington, D. C.
Barr, Charles J., asst. In. Yale Univ. L., New
Haven, Conn.
Bartholomew, P. A., New Jersey Zinc Co.,
Palmerton, Pa.
Bassett, Grace, Princeton, N. J.
Bates, Mary R., asst. In. Vermont Univ. L.,
Burlington, Vt.
•Beach, Bessie Baldwin, In. Mercer L., Indian
Sch., Carlisle, Pa.
Beckett, Mrs. C. J.. Albany, N. Y.
Beckett, Mildred K., Albany, N. Y.
Belden, Charles F. D., In. P. L., Boston, Mass.
Biscoe, Walter Stanley, senior In. N. Y. State
L., Albany, N. Y.
Bishop, William Warner, In. Univ. of Mich.
General L., Ann Arbor, Mich.
Blair, Irene E., In. P. L., Sedalla, Mo.
Bliss, Robert P., asst. sec'y P. L. Commis-
sion, Harrisburg, Pa.
Bogle, Sarah C. N., principal Carnegie L.
Sch., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Borden, Fanny, ref. In. Vassar Coll. L.,
Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
♦Borresen, Lilly M. E., In. P. L., La Crosse,
Wis.
Bostwick, Arthur Elmore, In. P. L., St. Louis,
Mo.
Bowerman, George F., In. P. L. of the Dis-
trict of Columbia, Washington, D. C.
Bowker, Richard Rogers, ed. Library Jour-
nal, 241 W. 37th St., N. Y. City.
Bowker, Mrs. Richard Rogers, 33 W. 12th St.,
N. Y. City.
Brett, William Howard, In. P. L., Cleveland,
Ohio.
Brewer, Glenora, asst. Y. M. A. L., Albany,
N. Y.
Brewster, William L., trus. L. Assn., Port-
land, Ore.
Brigham, Gwendolyn, asst. American Library
Association Headquarters, Chicago, 111.
Brigham, Herbert Olin, In. R. I. State L.,
Providence, R. I.
Brigham, Johnson, In. Iowa State L., Des
Moines, Iowa.
Brooks, Maud D., In. P. L., Clean, N. Y.
Brown, Charles H., asst. In. P. L., Brooklyn,
N. Y.
Brown, Demarchus C, In. Indiana State L.,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Brown, Flora, sec'y to In. P. L., Washington,
D. C.
Brown, Mabel W., In. Nat'l Com. Mental Hy-
giene L., N. Yl City.
Brown, Ruth L., sec'y Vt. F. L. Commission,
Montpelier, Vt.
Brown, Walter L., In. P. L., Buffalo, N. Y,
•Budlong, Mrs. Minnie C, sec'y N. D. L. Com-
mission, Bismarck, N. D.
Buell, Frederick F., 13 Locust Ave., Troy,
N. Y.
- Bullock, Waller Irene, head Adult Lending
Dept. Carnegie L., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Burbank, Jane Lord, N. Y. State L. Sch.,
Albany, N. Y.
Burwell, Ethel Irene, acting In. Goucher
Coll. L., Baltimore, Md.
Butler, Harold L., In. American Law L., N. Y.
City.
Byrne, Paul R., In. Nat'l Bank of Commerce,
N. Y. City.
Cady, Carolyn E., medical 1. asst. N. Y. State
L., Albany, N. Y.
Caldwell, Lena Esther, In. P. L., Flint, Mich.
Calhoun, Kathleen, temp. In. Invalided Sol-
diers' Commission, Ottawa, Canada (asst.
In. Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton, Can.).
Callahan, Lilian, In. Levi Heywood Mem. L.,
Gardner, Mass.
Cameron, Edward M., Albany, N. Y.
Campbell, Clara E., child. In. P. L., St. Jo-
seph, Mo.
Capes, W. P., sec'y Bureau of Municipal In-
formation of the N. Y. State Conference
of Mayors and other City Officials, N. Y.
City.
Carpenter, William H., acting In. Columbia
Univ. L., N. Y. City.
Caswell, B. A, 99 John St., N. Y. City.
Carey, Miriam E., supervisor of Institution
L's., Minn. State Board of Control, St. Paul,
Minn.
Carr, Henry J., In. P. L., Scranton, Pa.
ATTENDANCE REGISTER
373
Carr, Mrs. Henry J.. 919 Vine St., Scranton,
Pa.
Carr, John Foster, dir. Immigrant Publica-
tion Society, 241 Fifth Ave., N. Y. City.
Carson, W. O., provincial supt. of P. L's. of
Ontario, Dept. of Education, Toronto, Ont,
Can.
Cavanaugh, Eleanor S., In. Standard Statis-
tics Co., Inc., L., N. T. City.
Center, Sarah E., asst. In. Biddle Law L.,
Univ. of Pa., Philadelphia, Pa.
Champlin, Geo. G., asst. Ref. Dept. N. T.
State Li., Albany, N. Y.
Chandler, Harley, asst. Camp. L., Camp
Dodge, Iowa.
Chase, Mrs. Mildred H., In. Newtonville Br.
P. L., Newton, Mass.
Chenery, Winthrop Holt, In. Washington
Univ. L.., St. Louis, Mo.
Cheney, Lucy D., In. F. L., Rutland, Vt.
Cheney, Nellie Mae, In. P. P. L., Ilion, N. Y.
Chipman, Frank E., pres. Boston Book Co.,
Boston, Mass. .
Christopher, Katherine M., In. Julia Rich-
man High Sch. L., N. Y. City.
Church, Henrietta, 55 Dover St., Albany,
N. Y.
Clark, Clara M., In. Bible Teachers' Training
Sch., N. Y. City. , _ „
Clark, Genevieve, In. F. L,, Hudson Falls,
N. Y.
•Clark, Isabelle, acting In. Grinnell Coll. L.,
Grinnell, Iowa. „^
Clark, Miss S. M., asst. Richards L., War-
rensburg, N. Y.
Clayton, Herbert Vincent, law asst. Kansas
State L., Topeka, Kan.
Cleavinger, John S., In. P. L., Jackson, Mich.
Clement, Edith M., asst. N. Y. Educational
Dept., Educational Extension Div., Albany,
N. Y.
♦Clement, Ina, catlgr. Municipal Ref. L., N. Y.
City.
Cobb, Edith H.. asst. F. P. L., New Bedford,
Cobb, Mary Elizabeth, In. N. Y. State Coll.
for Teachers L., Albany, N. Y.
Cole, George Watson, In. Henry E. Hunting-
ton L., 4 E. 57th St., N. Y. City.
Colegrove, Mrs. Mabel E., acting chief Lend-
ing Dept. F. P. L., Newark, N. J.
Collar, Herbert C, head catlgr. Grosvenor
L., Buffalo, N. Y.
Compton, Charles H., ref. In. P. L., Seattle,
Wash.
Congdon, Mrs. William M., visitor and di-
rector of Traveling L's., 455 Cranston St.,
Providence, R. I.
Cooper, Anna L., Camden, Del.
Coplin, Martha Lee, chief Dept. Public Docu-
ments, F. L., Philadelphia, Pa.
Countryman, Gratia A., In. P. L., Minne-
apolis, Minn.
Craig, Helen M., asst. Engineering L. West-
ern Electric Co., N. Y. City.
♦Crampton, Susan C, 21 Fairbanks St.,
Brookline, Mass.
•Crampton, Mrs. G. W., Brookline, Mass.
Cramton, Helen A., In. Norwich Univ. L.,
Northfleld, Vt.
Crandle, Inez, In. Dimmick Mem. L., Mauch
Chunk, Pa.
Crandall, Mary S., In. Richards L., Warrens-
burg, N. Y.
Craver, Harrison W., director Engineering
Societies L., 29 W. 39th St., N. Y. City,
Craver, Mrs. H. W., 120 E. 31st St., N. Y.
Crissey, Jane H., asst. P. L., Troy, N. Y.
Crofts, George D., In. Law L. Eighth Ju-
dicial District, Buffalo, N. Y.
Cross, Anne G., In. L. of the Dept. of Com-
merce, Washington, D. C.
Crumley, Susie Lee, asst. In. Carnegie L.,
chief instructor L. Training Sch., and or-
ganizer Georgia L. Commission, Atlanta,
Ga.
Cummings, T. Harrison, In. P. L., Cambridge,
Mass.
Cunningham, Jesse, In. P. L., St. Joseph, Mo.
Curtis, Florence R., instructor Univ. of Illi-
nois L. Sch., Urbana, 111.
Curtis, Lucy F., In. P. L., Williamstown,
Mass.
Cushing, Helen G., asst. Ord. Dept. P. L.,
Boston, Mass.
Cushman, Esther C, P. L., Providence, R. I.
Dame, Katherine, catlgr. N. Y. State L. and
instructor in L. Sch., Albany, N. Y.
♦Dana, John Cotton, In. F. P. L., Newark,
N. J.
Datz, Harry R., Library Bureau, 316 Broad-
way, N. Y. City.
Davenport, Lillian L., 1st asst. Deborah Cook
Sayles P. L., Pawtucket, R. I.
Davidson, Anne B., asst. In. Y. M. A. L., Al-
bany, N. Y.
Davis, Alice O., asst. L. Publicity Dept., U. S.
Food Administration, Washington, D. C.
Davis, Edna E., ref. In. Syracuse Univ. L.,
Syracuse, N. Y.
Davis, Jennie L., asst. In. Cossitt L., Mem-
phis, Tenn.
Davis, Mary Louise. In. P. L., Troy, N. Y.
♦Delflno, Mrs. Liborio, Traveling L's. F. L.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Dess, M., binder, 333 Fourth Ave., N. T.
City.
♦Deveneau, George A., In. Coll. of Agrlc. L.
Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, 111.
Dewey, Melvil, ex-ln., Lake Placid Club, N.Y.
Dewey, Mrs. Melvil, ex-ln.. Lake Placid Club,
N. Y.
Dickerson, Luther L., In. Grinnell Coll. L.,
Grinnell, Iowa.
Dickinson, Asa Don., agent A. L. A. War
Service Committee, 119 Hudson St., Ho-
boken, N. J.
Dixon, Vera M., asst. In. in charge Iowa
State Coll. L., Ames, Iowa.
Donaldson, Martha, br. In. and asst. child. In.
P. L., Jackson, Mich.
Donnelly June R., prof, of L. iScience, dIr.
of Simmons Coll. L. Sch., and In. of Sim-
mons Coll., Boston, Mass.
Doren, Electra C, In. P. L., Dayton, Ohio.
Dorrance, Frances, chief circ. Dept. F, P. L.,
Trenton, N. J.
Dougherty, Harold T., In. P. L., Newton,
Mass.
Downey, Mary E., 1. sec'y and organizer
Dept. of P. Instruction, Salt Lake City,
^ Utah.
Drury, Francis K. W., asst. In. Univ. of Illi-
nois L., Urbana, 111.
Drury, Mrs. F. K. W.. Urbana, 111.
Dudgeon, Matthew S., sec'y Wisconsin P. L.
Commission, Madison, Wis.
Dullard, John P., In. N. J. State L., Trenton,
N. J.
Duncan, Margaret Lilian, In. P. L., Clear-
water, Fla.
Earhart, Frances E., In. P. L., Duluth, Minn.
♦Earl, Mrs. Elizabeth Claypool, pres. Indiana
P. L. Commission, ConnersvDle, Ind.
Eastman, Linda A.. vice-In. P. L., Cleveland,
Ohio.
Eastman, William R., lecturer N. Y. State L.
Sch., Albany, N. Y.
Eaton, Alice L., In. Norman Williams P. L.,
Woodstock, Vt.
Eaton, Alice Rhea, In. P. L., Harrisburg, Pa.
Eaton, Annie T., In. Lincoln Sch. Teachers*
Coll., 646 Park Ave., N. Y. City.
Eckman, Emma, chief Clrc. Dept. Wilmington
Inst. F. L., Wilmington, Del.
Eddy, Henry -H., asst. Camp. L., Camp
Devens, Mass.
374
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Edgerton, Frederick W., In. P. L,., New Lon-
don, Conn.
Egbert, Mabel, office In. Goodyear Tire and
Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio.
Ellis, Mary, indexer N. Y. State L., Albany,
N. T.
Elmendorf, Mrs. H. L., vlce-ln. P. L., Buffalo,
N. T.
Emerson, Rolf P., sec'y to In. Carnegie L.,
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Emerson, S. F., member, Vermont F. L. Com-
mission, Burlington, Vt.
*Engle, Emma R., supervisor of Child. Work
F. L., Philadelphia, Pa.
English, Clara E., 3274 Sixth Ave., Troy,
N. Y.
Erb, Frederick W., asst. In. and supervisor
Loan Division Columbia Univ. L., N. Y.
City.
Essex, Mary C, catlgr. P. L., Providence, R. I.
Estabrook, Lillian O., In. F, L., Newburgh,
N. Y.
•Evans, Adelaide F., chief Catalog Dept. P. L.,
Detroit, Mich.
•Evans, Mrs. Alice 6., In. F. P. L., Decatur,
111. A,
•Evans, Charlotte E., catlgr. P. L., Erie, Pa.
Evans, George H., In. P. L., Somerville, Mass.
Evans, L. B., In. Mass. State L., Boston, Mass.
Ewell, Glenn B., In. Rochester Theological
Sem. L., Rochester, N. Y.
Farnum, Mrs. Howard, trus. Manton F. P. L.,
' Chepachet, R. I.
•Farr, Mary P., F. L., Philadelphia, Pa.
•Farrar, Ida F., head Catalog Dept. City L.,
Springfield, Mass.
Faxon, Frederick Winthrop, proprietor F. W.
Faxon Co., 83-91 Francis St., Boston, Mass.
Fay, Lucy E., In. Univ. of Tennessee L.,
Knoxville, Tenn.
Fellows, Jennie D., sub. In. Classification, N.
Y. State L., Albany, N. Y.
Ferguson, Gertrude Belle, In. Crandall F. L.,
Glens Falls, N. Y.
Ferguson, Milton James, In. California State
L., Sacramento, Cal.
•Ferguson, Ruth H., asst. City L., Manchester,
N. H.
•Fihe, Pauline J., In. Walnut Hills Br. P. L.,
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Finney, Byron A., ref. In. emeritus Univ. of
Michigan L., Ann Arbor, Mich.
Finney, Mrs. Byron A., trus. Ladies' L.
Assoc, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Pison, Herbert W., In. P. L., Maiden, Mass.
Fitch, Edith O., In., P. L., Lenox, Mass.
Fitzpatrick, John T., law In. N. Yu State L.,
Albany, N. Y.
Flagg, Charles Alcott, In. P. L., Bangor, Me.
Fletcher, Fanny B., pres. Vt. L. Assoc, Proc-
torsvlUe, Vt.
Flexner, Jennie M., head of Giro. Dept. F.
P. L., Louisville, Ky.
Flickinger, Mrs. Caroline R., In. P. P. L.,
Dalton, Mass.
Foote, Lulu M., P. L., Johnstown, N. Y.
Ford, Eva M., asst. sec'y American Library
Association, Chicago, 111.
•Forstall, Gertrude, asst. catlgr. John Crerar
L., Chicago, 111.
•Foster, Helen W., 95 Evergreen Place, East
Orange, N. J.
Fowler, Mrs. Eva M., acting In. Illinois State
L., Springfield, 111.
•Fox, Mrs. Harriet J., 43 Hillside Road, Eliz-
abeth, N. J.
France, Edna Hall, asst. Traveling L's. N. Y.
State L., Albany, N. Y.
France, Mary G., Johnstown, N. Y.
Frank, Mary, In. Rivington St. Br. P. L.,
N. Y. City.
Freeman, Marilla W., In. Goodwyn Inst. L.,
Memphis, Tenn.
Friedel, J. H., In. Nat'l Industrial Conference
Board, Boston, Mass.
Gallagher, Margaret M., asst. Albany High
Sch. L., Albany, N. Y.
Galloway, Blanche, In. Pelham Bay Naval
Station L., Pelham, N. Y.
Gantt, Edith, sr. asst. Fort Washington Br.
P. L., N. Y. City.
Garvin, Ethel, custodian Special Libraries,
P. L., Providence, R. I.
Gaston, Ethel wyn. In. Engineering Dept. L.,
Western Electric Co., N. Y. City.
•Gates, Marguerite L., asst. F. P. L., Newark,
N. J.
Gay, Frank Butler, In. Watkinson L., Hart-
ford, Conn.
Gaylord, H. J., Gaylord Bros. L. Supplies,
Syracuse, N. Yl
George, C. A., In. F. P. L., Elizabeth, N. J.
Glasier, Gilson G., In. Wisconsin State L.,
Madison, Wis.
Godard, George Seymour, In. Connecticut
State L., Hartford, Conn.
Goddard, William Dean, In. Deborah Cook
Sayles L., Pawtucket, R. I.
•Goeppinger, Eva C, 1st asst. and catlgr. P.
L., South Norwalk, Conn.
•Gold, Louise E., sec'y to Chairman of L. Com.
of Navy Commission on Training Camp
Activities, N. Y. City.
Goldthwaite, Lucille A., In. L. for Blind,
P. L., N. Y. City.
Goodell, Frederick, In. Camp L., Camp
Wheeler, Ga.
Goodrich, Francis L. D., asst. in charge of
Ref. Dept. Univ. of Mich. General L., Ann
Arbor, Mich.
Goodrich, Nathaniel L., In., Dartmouth Coll.
L., Hanover, N. H.
GrOW, Mrs. Frank, pres. F. L., Schuylervllle,
N. Y.
♦Graffen, Jean E., chief Periodical Dept. P. L.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Green, Ethel Averil, In. W. Va. Dept. of Ar-
chives and History L., Charleston, W. Va.
Green, Henry S., In. Camp L., Camp Lee, Va.
Greenman, B. D., In. Arthur D. Little, Inc.,
Boston, Mass.
Greer, Agnes F. P., supervisor of Brs. and
principal Training Class P. L., Kansas
City, Mo.
Griggs, Mrs. A. P., In. P. L., Durham, N. C.
Guerrier, Edith, chief L. Section U. S. Pood
Administration, Washington, D. C.
Hackett, Irene A., In. P. P. L., Englewood,
N. J.
Hadley, Chalmers, In. P. L., Denver, Colo.
Hadley, Mrs. Chalmers, Denver, Colo.
Hafner, Alfred (G. E. Stechert & Co.), N. Y.
City.
Hafner, Otto H., 439 W. 147th St.. N. Y.
City.
Hall, Anna G., In. P. L., Endicott, N. Y.
Hamilton, William J., sec'y and state organ-
izer Ind. P. L. Commission, Indianapolis,
Ind.
Handy, D. N., In. and sec'y The Insurance L.
Assoc, of Boston, Boston, Mass.
Hanson, J. C. M., associate dir. Univ. of
Chicago L., Chicago, 111.
Harcourt, Alfred, with Henry Holt & Co.,
N. Y. City.
Harding, Elizabeth Boyd. Whitehall, N. Y.
•Hardy, Mary T., br. In. P. L., Grand Rapids,
Mich.
Harper, Wilhelmina, Poppenhusen Br. Queens
Borough P. L., College Point, N. Y.
Harris, Rachel A., Manlius, N. Y,
Harrison, Joseph LeRoy, In. Forbes L.,
Northampton, Mass.
Hart, Emma C, clerk Traveling L's. N. Y.
State L., Albany, N. Y.
Hastings, C. H., chief Card Section L. of
Congress, Washington, D. C.
Hathaway, C. Eveleen, 65 Warren St., Glens
Falls, N. Y.
Haught, Myrtle A., In. Wilson and Co., Chi-
cago, 111.
ATTENDANCE REGISTER
375
Hawkins, Dorothy L., asst. Institute P. L.,
Wilmington, Del.
Hawkins, Eleanor E., head catlgr. Chicago
Hist. Society K, Chicago, 111.
Hawkins, Enid May, In. Stevens Inst, of
Technology, Hoboken, N. J.
Hays, Mary E., In. Carnegie L., Oklahoma
City, Okla.
♦Hazeltine, Alice I., supervisor Child. Work
P. L., St. Louis, Mo.
Hazeltine, Mary Emogene, preceptor Univ.
of Wis. L. Sch., Madison, Wis.
Healy, John J., Offlcial Stenographer, Buf-
falo, N. Y.
Hedrick, Ellen A., classifier Univ. of Cali-
fornia L., Berkeley, Cal.
Henthorne, Mary C, child. In. L. Assn., Port-
land, Ore.
Hepburn, William M., In. Purdue Univ. L..,
Lafayette, Ind.
Herbert, Clara W., dir. Work with Child, and
dir. Training Class P. L., Washington, D. C.
Hering, Hollls W., In. Missionary Research
L., N. Y. City.
Hickman, Margaret, In. P. L., Eveleth, Minn.
Hewitt, Luther E., In. Law Assn. of Phila.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Hicks, Frederick C, law In. Columbia Univ.
L., N. Y. City.
Hill, Frank P., In. P. L., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Hinckley,, George Lyman, In. Redwood L.,
Newport, R. I.
Hine, Charles D., chairman Conn. L. Com-
mittee, Hartford, Conn.
Hirons, Frederic C, 475 Fifth Ave., N. Y.
City.
Hirshberg, Herbert S., In. P. L., Toledo, O.
Hiss, Sophie K., catlgr. P. L., Cleveland, O.
Hobart, P"'rances, Cambridge, Vt.
♦Holland, Mary E., in charge Periodical Room
City L., Manchestc, N. H-
Kolmes, Eugene D., Albany, N. Y.
Hooper, Louisa M., In. P. L. Brookllne, Mass.
Hopper, Franklin F., chief of Ord. Div. P. L.,
N. Y. City,
♦llorton, Mabel T., In. Packer Collegiate Coll.
L , Brooklyn, N. Y.
Howard, Anna, stud. N. Y. State L. Sch.,
Albany, N. Y.
Howe, Fannie, asst. P. L., Troy. N. Y.
Howe, Harriet E., asst. professor L. Science
Simmons Coll. L. Sch., Boston, Mass.
Hower, Charles Goodrich, Hotel Vendome,
Boston, Mass.
Hower, Mrs. Charles Goodrich, Hotel Ven-
cioMC, Boston, Mass.
♦Hubbell, Jane P., In. P. L.. Rockford, 111.
Hubbell, Mary C., In. Caldwell-Lake George
P. L., Lake George, N. Y.
Hughes, Howard L., In. F. P. L., Trenton,
N. J.
Hulburd, Ethel O., Traveling L's. N. Y. State
L., Albany, N. Y.
Hulburt, Dorothy B., child. In. P. L., Kala-
mazoo, Mich.
Hulburt, Mrs. J. J., 37 Maple St., Glens Falls,
N. Y.
Humble, Marion, library editor P. L., Detroit,
Mich.
Hume, Jessie Fremont, In. Queens Borough
I'. L., Jamaica, N. Y.
Huntting, Henry R., bookseller, Springfield,
Mass.
Hutchinson, Susan A., In. and curator of
prints Brooklyn Inst, of Arts and Sciences
Museum L., Brooklyn, N. Y
Huxley, Florence A., office editor Library
Journal, 241 W. 37th St., N. Y. City.
Hyde, Mary B., instructor L. Sch. P. L., N. Y.
City.
Jacob, Lawrence, trus., sec'y and treas. Hill
View F. L., Diamond Point, N. Y.
Jacob, Mrs. Lawrence, Diamond Point, N. Yl
Jacob, William F., In. Main L., General Elec-
tric Co., Schenectady, N. Y.
James, Helen C, asst. Book Selection Dept.
N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y.
Jayne, Nannie W., In. P. L., Bluffton, Ind.
JefEers, LeRoy, mngr. Book Order Ofl^ce P. L.,
N. Y. City.
Jensen, Frank A., member Mich. L. Commis-
sion, Benton Harbor, Mich.
Jewett, Alice L., registrar and asst. Order
Sec. N. Y. State Coll. for Teachers, Al-
bany, N. Y.
Joeckel, Mrs. C. B., Berkeley, Calif.
•Johnston, Charles D., In. Cossitt L., Memphis,
Tenn.
♦Johnston, Mrs. Charles D., Memphis, Tenn.
Johnston, D. V. R., Albany, N. Y.
Johnston, Mrs. D. V. R., Albany, N. Y.
Johnston, Richard H., In. Bureau of Railway
Economics L., Washington, D. C.
Jones, Ada Alice, N. Y. State L., Albany,
N. Y.
Jones, Caroline L., In. Hazelwood Br. Car-
negie L., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Jones, E. Kathleen, In. McLean Hospital L.,
Waverley, Mass.
Jones, E. Louise, general sec'y Mass. F. P.
L. Com., Boston, Mass.
Jones, Gardner Maynard, In. P. L., Salem,
Mass.
Joslyn, Rosamond, In. Jamaica High Sch. L.,
Jamaica, N. Y.
Josselyn, Lloyd W., In. F. P. L., Jacksonville,
Fla.
Josselyn, Mrs. Lloyd W., Jacksonville, Fla.
Kellogg, Mrs. Mary R., trus. Richards L.,
Warrensburgh, N. Y.
Kelso, Tessa L., In. Baker & Taylor Co.,
N. Y. City.
Kennedy, Francis M., trus. P. L., New Bed-
ford, Mass.
Keogh, Andrew, In. Yale Univ. L., New Ha-
ven, Conn.
Kerr, Willis Holmes, In. State Normal Sch.
L., Emporia, Kan.
♦King, Effalene Holden, art In. City L., Spring-
field, Mass.
Kingsland, Grace Edith, Traveling L. Dept.,
Vermont F. P. L. Commission, Montpelier,
Vt.
Kirkland, Marian P., In. Cary Mem. L., Lex-
ington, Mass.
Kllngelsmith, Mrs. M. E., In. Biddle Law L.^
Univ. of Pa., Philadelphia, Pa.
♦Knapp, Elisabeth, chief of Child. Dept. P. L.,
Detroit, Mich.
Knell, Margaret M., high school In. P. L.,
Somervllle, Mass.
Knodel, Emma, In. Guiteau L., Irvlngton-on-
Hudson, N. Y.
Koch, Theodore W., chief Ord. Div. L. of
Congress, Washington, D. C.
Krum, Grade B., In. Burton Historical Cofl-
lectlon P. L., Detroit, Mich.
Kurtz, Emilie W., In. South Side Br. ,P. L.,
Youngstown, O.
Lacy, Mary G., ref. In. U. S. Dept. of Agri-
culture L., Washington, D. C
Lamb, Eliza, catlgr. Univ. of Chicago Harper
L., Chicago, 111.
Landon, Fred, In. P. L., London, Ont., Can.
Lapp, John A., member Ohio Health and
Old Age Commission, Columbus, O.
♦Lathrop, Olive C, In. Detroit Bar Assoc. L.,
Detroit, Mich.
Laws, Helen Moore, catlgr. Wellesley Coll.
L., Wellesley, Mass.
Lease, Evelyn S., In. Kellogg-Hubbard L.,
Montpelier, Vt.
Leavitt, M. V, in charge Gifts P. L., N. Y.
City.
Lee, George Winthrop, In. Stone & Webster,
Boston, Mass.
Lelghton, Mrs. Flora H., in charge Circ.
Dept. Milllcent L., Fairhaven, Mass.
Levensohn, Miriam, asst. P. L., N. Y. City.
376
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Lewis, George Lothrop, In. Westfleld Athen-
eum, Westfleld, Mass.
Liebmann, Bstelle L., In. Nat'l "Workmen's
Compensation Service Bureau L., N. T.
Locke," George H., chief In. P. L., Toronto,
Can. , , ^ ,^
•Long, Harriet C, In. Brumback L., van
Wert, O. ,, ^ „ T
Lowe, John Adams, agent Mass. F. P. L.
Commission, Boston, Mass.
Lutrell, Estelle, In. Arizona Univ. L., Tucson,
Lydenberg, H. M., ref. In. P. L., N. Y. City.
Lyman, Bertha H., ref. In. P. L., Providence,
■D T
McCabe, Olivia, asst. P. L., Des Moines, la.
McCollough, Ethel, In. P. L., Evansville, Ind.
MacDonald, Anna, consulting In. Penn. F. P.
L. Commission, Harrisburg, Pa.
McGahan, Julia F.. In. High Sch. L., Troy,
N. Y.
McGahan, Marie A., 250 Eighth St., Troy,
N. Y.
McGuffey, Margaret, social worker Christ
Church Parish House, Cincinnati, O.
McKay, Mabel, In. Y. M. A. Pruyn L., Albany,
N. Y^
McMahon, Elizabeth C, clerk Traveling L.
N. Y. Educational Dept., Albany, N. Y.
McManis, Rumana K., asst. Port Washington
Br. P. L., N. Y. City. _
McMillan, Mrs. Helen Kirk, Albany, N. Y.
McMillen, James A., In. Univ. of Rochester
L., Rochester, N. Y.
♦Makepeace, Mary E., In. R. I. State Normal
Sch. L., Providence, R. I.
Malone, Marcella, br. In. Queens Borough P.
L., Jamaica, N. Y.
Malone, Maud, 7 E. 15th St., N. Y. City.
Maltby, Mrs. Adelaide Bowles, in charge St.
George Br. and Staten Island Travel. L's.
Office P. L., N. Y. City.
Manchester, Earl N., head Read. Dept. Univ.
of Chicago L., Chicago, 111.
Mann, Margaret, chief catlgr. Carnegie L.,
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Marron, Joseph F., asst. In. Carnegie F. L.,
Duquesne, Pa.
Marsh, Helen E., sr. asst. P. L., N. Y. City.
Martel, Charles, chief of Catalog Div. L. of
Congress, Washington, D. C.
Marx, Henry F., In. P. L., Easton, Pa.
Massee, May, editor The Booklist, Chicago,
111.
•Masterson, F. Adele, child. In. Prospect Park
Br. L., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Mathiews, Franklin K., chief Scout In. Boy
Scouts of America, N. Y. City.
Mawson, Dr. C. O. S., in charge A. L. A.
Overseas Dispatch Office, Harvard Coll. L.,
Cambridge, Mass.
Mead, Mabel C, 1078 Madison Ave., N. Y.
City.
Mehan, Sephora H., clerk Traveling N. Y,
Educational Dept., Educational Extension
Div., Albany, N. Y.
Mettee, Andrew H., In. L. Company of Balti-
more Bar. Baltimore, Md.
Meyer, Herman H. B., chief bibliographer L.
of Congress, Washington, D. C.
Milam, Carl H., dir. P. L., Birmingham, Ala.
Miller, Edmund W., In. F. P. L., Jersey City,
N. J.
Miller, Louise V., In. F. L., Dobbs Ferry, N. Y.
Miller, May G., University of Chicago Press,
Chicago, 111.
Minton, Grace E., In. B. F. Goodrich Co. L.,
Akron, O.
MoUeson, Susan Moore, sr. asst. P. L., N. Y.
City.
Monrad, Anna M., reviser Yale Univ. L.,
New Haven, Conn.
Montgomery, Ruth, stud. N. Y. State L. Sch.,
Albany, N. Y.
Montgomery, Thomas L., In. State L., Harris-
burg, Pa.
Montgomery, Mrs. Thomas L., Harrisburg,
Moody, Katharine T., ref. In. P. L., St. Louis,
Mo.
Moody, Mrs. M. L., New Haven, Conn.
Moore, Annie Carroll, supervisor of Work
with Child. P. L., N. Y. City.
•Morgan, Joy B., In. Camp L., Camp Mac-
Arthur, Texas.
Morgan, Lucy L., Instructor apprentices. P.
L., Detroit, Mich.
Morgan, Richard F., asst. In. Grosvenor L.,
Buffalo, N. Y.
Morton, Joy G., asst. Catalog Dept. Cossitt
L., Memphis, Tenn.
Morton, Nellie, In. Brandywine Br. Wil-
mington Institute F. L., Wilmington, Del.
Moth, Axel, chief of Ref. Catalog Div. P. L.,
N. Y. City.
Moulton, John Grant, In. P. L., Haverhill,
Mass.
Mudge, Isadore Gilbert, ref. In. Columbia
Univ. L., N. Y. City.
Mumford, E. W., care Penn Pub. Co., Phila-
delphia, Pa.
Nelson, Peter, archivist, N. Y. State L., Al-
bany, N. Y.
Nelson, Sabina M., P. L., Winthrop, Mass.
Newberry, Marie A., instructor L. Sch. of
the N. Y. P. L., N. Y. City.
Newhard, Mabel, In. Armour and Co. L.,
Chicago, 111.
Newton, Ora Lee, asst. Ref. Dept. Cossitt
L., Memphis, Tenn.
Nichols, Albert Rodman, asst. In. P. L., Prov-
idence, R. I.
Nimms, Mary, child. In. P. L., Cleveland, O.
Norton, Edith M., asst. Bibliographical Dept.
Grosvenor L., Buffalo, N. Y.
Oberholtzer, Katherine A., asst. Medical Dept.
N. Y. State L., Albany, N. Y.
Oko, Adolph S., In. Hebrew Union Coll. L.,
Cincinnati, O.
Orr, William, educational director Y. M. C. A.
War Work Council, 347 Madison Ave., N.
Y. City.
Paine, Paul M., In. P. L., Syracuse, N. Y.
Paine, Mrs. Paul M., 721 Lancaster Ave.,
Syracuse, N. Y.
Paletz, Nettie B., asst. Rensselaer Polytech-
nic Inst. L., Troy, N. Y.
Parker, Annie J., custodian Br. 5, Enoch
Pratt F. L., Baltimore, Md.
Parker, Glen, Baker & Taylor Co., N. Y. City.
Parker, Mrs. Glen, White Plains, N. Y.
Parker, John, In. Peabody Inst., Baltimore,
Md.
Partenheimer, Mrs. Mary Patch, In. F, L.,
Bennington, Vt.
Peacock, Joseph L., In. Memorial and P. L.,
Westerly, R. I.
Pearson, Helen, 634 Superior Ave., Dayton, O.
Peck, Mrs. A. L., Troy. N. Y.
Peck, Harriet R., In. Rensselaer Polytechnic
Inst. L., Troy, N. Y.
•Perkins, Caroline B., In. in charge Chestnut
Hill Br. F. L., Philadelphia, Pa.
Perry, Everett Robbins, In. P. L., Los An-
geles, Calif.
Perry, Mrs. Everett R., Los Angeles, Calif.
Peters, Orpha Maud, asst. In. P. L., Gary,
Ind.
Pettee, Julia, head catlgr. Union Theological
Sem. L., N. Y. City.
Phail, Edith, In. Scovill Mfg. Co. L., Water-
bury, Conn.
Pringle, Grace P., In. Pine Hills Br. P\ L.,
Albany, N. Y.
Pinneo, Dorothy A., asst In. F. P. L., Eliza-
beth, N. J.
Pockman, Eleanor A., In. P. L., Hasbrouclc
Heights, N. J.
ATTENDANCE REGISTER
377
Poland, Myra, In. Osterhout F. L., Wilkes-
Barre, Pa.
Pond, Mrs. L. S., Elizabethtown, N. Y.
Poole, Franklin Osborne, In. Assoc, of the
Bar L,., N. Y. City.
Prall, Helen Y., In. P. L., Keewatin, Minn.
♦Price, Anna M. ,sec'y 111. L. Extension Com-
mission, Springrfleld. 111.
♦Price, Franklin H., Binding and Exchanges
F. L.., Philadelphia, Pa.
Proudfoot, Helen, child In. P. L., Des Moines,
la.
Putnam, Herbert, In. L. of Congress, Wash-
ington, D. C.
Quaife, M. M., supt. Wis. State Historical
Society, Madison, Wis.
Quire, Joseph H., In. Camp L., Camp Kear-
ny, Calif.
Ranck, Samuel H., In. P. L., Grand Rapids,
Mich.
Raney, M. L., In. Johns Hopkins Univ. L.,
Baltimore, Md.
Rankin, Lois, head Br. Dept. Cossltt L.,
Memphis, Tenn.
Rathbone, Josephine A., vice-director Seh. of
Li. Science, Pratt Inst., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Rawson Fannie C, sec'y Kentucky L. Com-
mission, Frankfort, Ky.
Redstone, Edward H., In. Social Law L., Bos-
ton, Mass.
Reece, Ernest J., principal L. Sch. of the N.
Y. P. L., N. Y. City.
Reece, Mrs. B. J., White Plains, N. Y.
Reed, Lois A., In. Bryn Mawr Coll. L., Bryn
Mawr, Pa.
Reed, Lulu Ruth, stud. N. Y. State L. Sch..
Albany, N. Y.
Reese, Rena, asst. In. P. L., Denver, Colo.
Reid, Adella, asst. Carpenter Mem. L., Man-
chester, N. H.
Rellly, Josephine M., asst. In. Albany High
Sch. L., Albany, N. Y.
Reynolds, Marian J., In. Swift and Co., Chi-
cago, 111.
Rice, O. S., supervisor Sch. L's., Dept. of Pub-
lic Instruction, Madison, Wis.
Richards, Clara, trus. Richards L., Warrens-
burgh, N. Y.
Richardson, Ernest Cushlng, In. Princeton
Univ. L., Princeton, N. J.
Richardson, Mrs. E. C., Princeton, N. J.
Ridlon, Margaret, catlgr. Univ. of Chicago
L.. Chicago, 111.
Robblns, Mary Esther, Lakeville, Conn.
Roberts, Ethel Dane, In. Wellesley Coll. L.,
Wellesley, Mass.
Robinson, Helen F., Harvard Divinity Sch.
L., Cambridge, Mass.
Robinson, Julia A., sec'y Iowa L. Commis-
sion, Des Moines, Iowa.
Robinson, Rev. Lucien Moore, In. Philadel-
phia Divinity School, Philadelphia, Pa. •
♦Roden, Carl B.. In. P. L., Chicago, 111.
Rogers, Katharine B., ref. In. N. J. State L.,
Trenton, N. J.
Root, Azarlah Smith, In. Oberlin Coll. L.,
Oberlin, O.
Rose, Ernestine, asst. principal Carnegie L.
Sch., Pittsburgh. Pa.
Rose, Grace Delphlne, In. P. L., Davenport, la.
Rowell, Warren C, vice-pres. The H. W.
Wilson Co., N. Y. City.
Ruby, Edward E., acting In. Whitman Coll.
L.. Walla Walla, Wash.
Ruckteshler, N. Louise, In. Guernsey Mem. L.
and David N. Follett Mem. Law L., Nor-
wich, N. Y.
Rummelhoff, Julie, stud. N. Y. State L. Sch.,
Albany. N. Y.
Rush, Charles E., In. P. L. Indianapolis, Ind.
Rutland, J. R., In. Camp L., Camp Beaure-
gard, La.
Sabin, Daisy B., In. Evander Childs High
Sch. L., N. Y. City.
et. John, Sdna H., Syracuse, N, Y.
Sanborn, Henry Nichols, In. P. L., Bridge-
port, Conn. .
Sanborn, William F., In. P. L., Cadillac, Mich. ^
Sandburg, Carl, Chicago, 111.
Sanderson, Edna M., registrar N. Y. State L.
Sch., Albany, N. Y.
Santes, Marie, stud. N. Yt State L. Sch.,
Albany, N. Y.
Sawyer, Mrs. Harriet P., principal St. Louis
L. Sch., P. L., St. Louis, Mo.
Saxe, Mary S., In. P. L., Westmount, P. Q.,
Canada.
Saxton, Mary Lucina. In. P. L., Keene, N. H.
Schkloven, Solomon, P. L., Detroit, Mich.
Seaver, William N., asst. In. Municipal Ref.
Br. P. L., N. Y. City.
Settle, George Thomas, In. F. P. L., Louisville,
Ky.
Seymour, May, ed. of Decimal Classification,
Lake Placid Club, N. Y.
Shattuck, Helen B., in. Vermont Univ. L.,
Burlington, Vt.
Shearer, Augustus H., In. Grosvenor L., Buf-
falo, N. Y.
Sheldon, Mrs. Alice H., trus. F. L., Schuyler-
ville, N. Y.
♦Sheldon, Phllena R., asst. Ref. Catalog Dlv.,
P. L., N. Y. City.
Shera, Elizabeth, N. Y. City.
Shields, Ethel A., ref. In. Iowa State Teachers
Coll. L., Cedar Falls, la.
Simmons, Walter W., asst. Library War Serv-
ice, P. L., Boston, Mass.
Sisson, Alice R., trus. Caldwell-Lake George
P. L., Lake George, N. Y.
Skarstedt, Marcus, In. P. L., Bvanston, 111.
Slade. William A., chief Periodicals Div. L. of
Congress, Washington, D. C.
Sloog, Maurice, correspondent of the Biblio-
teque d'Art et d'Archeologie, Paris,
France, 713 Madison Ave., N. Y. City.
Small, A. J., law and legislative ref. In. Iowa
State L., Des Moines, la.
♦Smith, Alice M., Cleveland, O.
Smith, Barbara H., ref. In. Silas Bronson L.,
Waterbury. Conn.
Smith. Elizabeth, instructor Syracuse Univ.
L. Sch., Syracuse, N. Y.
Smith, Elizabeth M.. head Order Sec. N. Y.
State L., Albany, N. Y.
Smith, George Dana, In. Fletchter F. L., Bur-
lington, Vt.
Smith, Margaret E., In. Skidmore School of
Arts L., Saratoga Springs, N. Y.,
Spaulding, Forrest B., In. P. L., Des Moines,
la.
Spilman, B. G., In. Oklahoma State L., Okla-
homa City, Okla.
♦Spofford, Mrs. Edith F., In. Bureau of Mines
L., Washington, D. C.
Stafford, Enid M., in charge P. L., Buhl,
Minn.
Stechert, P. C, pres. F. C. Stechert and Co.,
Inc., booksellers, 29-35 W. 32nd St., N. Y.
City.
Steiner, Bernard C, In. Enoch Pratt P. L.,
Baltimore, Md.
Stelle, Helen Virginia, In. P. L., Tampa, Pla.
Stetson, Willis Kimball, In. F. P. L., New
Haven, Conn.
Stevens, Edward F., In. Pratt Inst. F. L., and
director Sch. of L. Science, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Stewart, Grace, Schuylerville, N. Y.
Stlckney, Minnie T., asst. Catalog Dept. P. L.,
Detroit, Mich.
Stonehouse. Mary B., asst. Y. M. A. Central
L.. Albany. N. Y.
Strohm, Adam, In. P. L., Detroit, Mich.
Strong, George Franklin, In. Adelbert Coll. L.,
Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, O.
Strout, Elizabeth, catlgr. Yale Univ. L., New
Haven, Conn.
Subers, Helen D., 1. organizer, Ashbourne,
Pa
Sutherland, Lillian A., head Child. Dept. P. L.,
Kansas City, Mo.
378
SARATOGA SPRINGS CONFERENCE
Sutllff, Mary Louisa, Instructor L. Sch. of the
New York P. L... N. Y. City.
Swift, S. C, sec'y-general Canadian F. L., for
the Blind, Toronto, Ont., Can.
Swift, Mrs. S. C, Toronto, Ont., Can.
Taggart, Anne Van Cleve, supt. of Branches
P. L., Grand Rapids, Mich. ^ ,
Tai, Tse-chien, stud. N. Y. State L. Sch.,
Albany, N. Y.
Tarr, Anna M., In. F. P. L., Clinton, la.
♦Teal, William, supt. of Delivery John Crerar
L., Chicago, 111.
Temple, Mabel, In. P. L.., North Adams, Mass.
Temple, Truman R., In, F. P. L., Leavenworth,
Templeton, Charlotte, sec'y Nebraska P. L.
Commission, Lincoln, Neb.
Thomas, Arthur N., asst. Ref. Desk R. R.,
L. of Congress, Washington, D. C.
Thomas, Mrs. F., Hudson Falls, N. Y.
Thompson, C. Seymour, In. P. L., Savannah,
Ga.
Thompson, Laura A., an. Children's Bureau,
Washington, D. C. „ ,
Thompson, Mrs. Maud M., br. In. F. L., New-
ton, Mass. ,^ .
Thorne, Elizabeth, instructor Syracuse Univ.
L. Sch., Syracuse, N. Y. , „ „
Thome, Nora R., In. Joseph Bancroft & Sons
Co. L., Wilmington, Del.
Titcomb, Mary L., In. Washington County
F. L., Hagerstown, Md.
Tobitt, Edith, In. P. L., Omaha, Neb.
Todd, Nancy Helen, stud. N. Y. State L. Sch.,
Albany. N. Y.
Tolman, Frank Leland, ref. In. N. Y. State L.,
Albany, N. Y.
Torrance, Mary, In. P. L., Muncie, Ind.
Towns, Alexander, Library Bureau, Boston,
Traver,' Louis B., In. Camp L., Camp Merritt,
N. J.
♦Turner, Mrs. Frances B., asst. Ref. Dept.,
P. L., Grand Rapids, Mich.
♦Tuttle, Winifred, in charge Open Slxelf Room
City L., Manchester, N. H.
Tyler, Alice S., director Western Reserve
Univ. L. Sch., Cleveland, O.
Tyler, Amelia W., asst. In. Smith Coll. L.,
Northampton, Mass.
Underbill, Adelaide, assoc. In. Vassar Coll. L.,
Poughkeepsle, N. Y.
Underbill, Caroline M., In. P. L., Utica, N. Y.
Utley, George B., sec'y American Library
Association, Chicago, 111.
Utley, Mrs. George B., 1306 E. 54th St., Chi-
cago, 111.
Van Deene, G. B., National L. Bindery Co.,
Springfield, Mass.
Van Hoesen, Henry B., asst. In. Princeton
Univ. L., Princeton, N. J.
Van Wagenen, Mary, ref. asst. Economics
Dept. P. L., N. Y. City.
Vaughn, Agnes, In. High Sch. L., Hudson
Falls, N. Y.
Wade, Edith S., catlgr. P. L., Troy, N. Y.
Wales, Elizabeth B., sec'y Missouri L. Com-
mission, Jefferson City, Mo.
Walker, K. C, New Jersey Zinc Co., 55 Wall
St., N. Y. City.
Walkley, Raymond L., asst. In. P. L., Minne-
apolis, Minn.
WaJlkley, Mrs. Raymond L., asst. Business
and Municipal Br. P. L., Minneapolis, Minn.
Walsh, Ada, asst. P. L., Troy, N. Yl
Walsh, Katharine J., clerk Traveling L's.,
N. Y. Educational Dept., Educational Ex-
tension Div., Albany, N. Y.
Walter, Frank K., vice-director N. Y. State L.
Sch., Albany, N. Y.
Ward, Gilbert O., technical In. P. L., Cleve-
land, O.
Ward, Ruth L., In. Central High Sch. L.,
Newark, N. J.
Watsabaugh, W. R., In. Camp L., Camp
Logan, Tex.
Watson, Wiliam R., chief Div. of Educational
Extension Univ. of the State of N. Y.,
Albany, N. Y.
Watts, Irma A., chief catlgr. Legislative Ref.
Bureau, Harrisburg, Pa.
Webster, Caroline Farr, 1. organizer N. Y.
State L.. Albany, N. Y.
♦Webster, Elizabeth J., steno. Library War
Service, L. of Congress, Washington, D. C.
♦Welch, Mrs. Ulysses Grant, trus. F, L.,
Edmeston, N. Y.
Wellman, Hiller C, In. City L. Assn., Spring-
field, Mass.
Wells, H. W., assoc. director U. S. Boys'
Working Reserve, Dept. of Labor, Washing-
ton, D. C.
Wells, Jennie E., trus. F. L., Schuylerville,
N. Y.
Wennerstrum, Winnifred, asst. F. P. L., New-
ark, N. J.
Wesley, Vera E., asst. In. P. L., White Plains,
N. Y.
West, Elizabeth Howard, In. Carnegie L., San
Antonio, Texas.
Wheeler, Jessie F., ref. In. P. L., Troy, N. Y.
Wheeler, Joseph L., In., P. L., Youngstown,
O.
♦Whitcomb, Adah Frances, director Training
Class P. L., Chicago, 111.
White. Agnes B., child. In. P. L., White Plains,
N. Y.
White, Horatio S., Harvard Univ., Cambridge,
Mass.
Whitmore, Frank H., In. P. L., Brockton,
Mass.
Wilcox, Almira R., In. Carnegie-Stout L.,
Dubuque, la.
Wiley, Edwin, In. U. S. Naval War Coll. L.,
Newport, R. I.
Wilkin, Ralph H., In. Supreme Court L.,
Springfield, 111.
Willever, E. E., Corneill Law L., Ithaca, N. Y.
Williams, Caroline E., In. E. I. Du Pont de
Nemours and Co., Experimental Station L.,
Wilmington, Del.
Williams, Carrie L., br. In. P. L., Somerville,
IVIass.
Williams, Mary, 278 Yates St., Albany, N. Y.
Williams Sherman, chief Sch. L. Div. N. Y.
State Education Dept., Albany, N. Y.
Williamson, C. C, 576 Fifth Ave., N. Y. City.
Wilson, Halsey W., pres. H. W. Wilson Co.,
N. Y. City.
♦Winchell, F. Mabel, In. City L., Manchester,
N. H.
Windsor, Grace E., In. LawrencevUle Br. Car-
negie L., Pittsburgh, Pa. '
♦Winser, Beatrice, asst. In. F. P. L., Newark,
N. J.
Wlnslow, Amy, ref. In. Iowa State Coll. L.,
Ames, la.
Winslow, Charles W., Chamber of Commerce,
Springfield, Mass.
Wire, G. E., deputy In. Worcester Co. Law L.,
Worcester, Mass.
Wolcott, John D., In. Bureau of Education,
Washington, D. C.
♦Wooster, J. Ethel, child. In. City L., Spring-
field, Mass.
Wright, Agnes, In. Wyoming State L., Chey-
enne, Wyo.
Wright, Ethel Connett, dir. ChUd. Work,
P. L., Toledo, O.
Wright, Mrs. G. L., Filmore, Wyo.
Wright, Purd B., In. P. L., Kansas City, Mo.
Wyer, James Ingersoll, Jr., director N. Y.
State L., Albany. N. Y^
Wyer, Mrs. J. I., Jr., Albany, N. Y.
Wyer, Malcolm Glenn, In. Nebraska Univ. L.,
Lincoln, Neb.
Wynkoop, Asa, head of P. L. Sec, N. Y. State
Education Dept, Albany, N. Y.
Yust William F., In. P. L., Rochester, N. Y.
Zachert, Adeline B., supt. of L. Extension
P. L., Rochester, N. Y.
INDEX
Adams, Leta E., acting secy. cat.
sect., 300-301.
Address of welcome, (Alexan-
der), 48-50.
Ahern, Mary E., mem. com., 278,
290, 293.
Agricultural lib. section, 295-300.
— ^joint session with N. A. S. L.
and League of Library Com-
missions, 346-365.
"Agricultural literature of Can-
ada," (Gardiner), 298-299.
Agriculture. See "A plan for li-
brary extension work in agri-
culture and home economics,"
299.
Alexander, Charles B., Address
of welcome, 48-50; mem. com.,
181; 276.
Allen, William S., mem. com, 181.
American association of law li-
braries, 366.
— joint session with N. A. S. L.,
314-342.
A. L. A., amendment to constitu-
tion, 281.
— Booklist, (Massee), 272-273.
— co-operation in war work with
Y. M. C. A., 93-95.
— council, 295.
— executive board, 291-294.
meeting on war work, 108-
109.
— election of officers, 290-291.
— finance com., rpt. on audit of
accounts war com., (Bailey,
chrm.), 292-293.
rpt. on war service, 155-156.
— "Million dollar campaign," 163-
182.
— periodical cards, (Merrill) 273.
— publishing board, financial rpt.,
273-275.
report (Bostwick, chrm.), 271-
272.
— war service committee, 106,
107-162, 180, 182-183.
acknowledgments, 113-114.
A. L. A. executive board,
meeting, 108-109.
A. L. A. finance committee
report, 155-156.
army camps, 140.
army cantonment libraries,
141.
audit, 113.
^bibliography of military medi-
cine, 133.
^book campaign, 150, 152-153.
book collection cities, 133.
book selection sub-corn., 110.
books, 118-119.
, gift-, sent to camps, 128.
, purchased, sent to camps,
128.
, sale of undesirable, 156.
budget, initial, 137.
camp libraries: buildings,
131-132, 156.
accommodations, 117.
equipment, 116-117.
statistics of use, 126-127.
— —camp practice: uniformities,
126.
Canada, 133.
changes in membership, 109.
dispatch offices, 117.
early work. 111.
exhibits, 128-130.
expenses, 160.
federal publications sub-com.
110.
finance committee r e c o m
mendations, 144.
financial statement, 124-126.
food campaign, 112.
food information sub-com.
109.
form for authorization by ex
ecutive board, 143.
form of agreement, 139.
general director, 110.
investment of surplus funds
149.
library war manual sub-com
110.
library war fund, 135.
library war week sub-com
110.
magazines, 119-120.
meetings, 109.
meetings, minutes, 131-163.
money campaign, 154, 159.
tentative organization, 157-
159.
newspapers, 120.
operations, 115-130, 120-124.
— — overseas service, 123, 154.
payment of bills, ISO.
personnel, 108.
summary, 130.
supply, 123-124.
preliminary committee : rec-
ommendations, 107-108.
publications, 163.
publicity, 127, 149.
publicity man, 153.
receipts and disbursements,
161.
reconstruction, 112.
regional organization and su-
pervision, 123.
reports, letters and memo-
randa, 139-162.
service to troops, 135-137.
statistics of camp library sys-
tem and collections, 129.
subcommittee on finance, re-
port, 145-146.
subcommittees, 109. _
training camp activities com-
mission. War Dept., 108.
transportation sub-com, 110.
visits to camps, 110.
war finance com., report, 141,
•151-152.
war finance com., statement,
147-148.
war service fund, 125-126.
war service week, 112.
"A. L. A. follows the flag over-
seas," (Raney), 81-93.
Anderson, Edwin H., mem. com.,
180, 181, 268, 295.
Andrews, Clement W., discussion,
338, 278; 303; mem. com., 181,
268, 293, 332; rpt. of decimal
classification advisory com., 300.
Appleton, Wm. W., rpt., of trus-
tees of Carnegie and endow-
ment funds, 255-258.
Apprentice training. See "A
neighborhood apprentice class,"
217-218.
Ashhurst, John, mem. 'com., 181.
Attendance register, 372-378.
Attendance summaries, 371.
Atwater, Helen W., 297.
Austin, Robert B., mem. com.,
181.
Ayres, Samuel G., "On the ex-
change of duplicates," 311.
Babcock, Helen S., discussion,
306; elected pres. sch. lib. sect.,
307.
Bailey, A. L., chrm. com., 293,
294; ex. bd., 291ff; mem. com.,
181; rpt. of finance com., 259-
260.
Bailey, Louis J., discussion, 280.
Baldwin, Emma V., "Story of the
A. L. A. campaign for $1,000,
000," 163-167; 283.
Baldwin, Clara F., symposium
295.
Baldwin, Rachel, discussion, 306.
Barnett, Claribel R., mem. com
300; symposium, 296.
Barnwell, W. J. E., necrology,
253.
Barton, Edmund Mills, necrology
253.
Barr, Charles J., acting secy., 304,
Beckwith, Daniel, necrology, 253
Belden, Charles F. D., elected
first vice-pres. A. L. A., 290
mem. com., 180, 181, 295.
Belin, Henry, Jr., necrology^ 253
Bibliography. See "Instruction in
bibliography and the book arts
in colleges and universities," 303.
Bishop, William Warner, "A call
to service," 185; elected presi-
dent A. L. A., 290; presides at
college and reference sect., 303
304; presides at ex. bd., 294.
Blind, rpt. of com. on work with
(Delfino, chrm.), 264-266.
Bogle, Sarah C. N., presides at
children's librarians sect., 301
303; mem. com., 295.
Boody, David A., mem. com., 181
Bookbinding, rpt. of com. on
(Wheeler, chrm.), 254-255.
Booklist, (Massee), 272-273.
Borresen, Lilly M. E., 306.
Bostwick, Arthur E., "The future
of library work," 50-57. chrm
com., 290, 293, 278; mem. com.,
181.
Bowerman, George F., "The spirit
of the war literature: Prose,"
60-72; 287.
Bowker, R. R., elected mem. coun-
cil, 295; makes motion, 279, 280;
287ff.
Brett, W. H., "Sending hooks
'over there,' " 183 ; mem. com.,
180, 181, 280, 289.
Brewster, W. L., mem. com., 181.
Brigham, H. O., discussion, 354.
mem. com., 332.
Brigham, Johnson, discussion, 338;
mem. com., 181, 331.
Brotherton, Nina, mem. com., 303.
Brown, Charles H., discussion,
279fr.
Brown, Demarchus C, acting
secy, 309., discussion, 338, 346ff;
mem. com., 332.
Brown, L. V. W., mem. com., 181.
Brown, Walter L., mem. com.,
181.
380
INDEX
Bullock, Waller I., elected chrm.
lending dept., round table, 309.
"Bureau of municipal information
of the N. Y. state conference of
mayors, etc., its functions and
accomplishments," (Capes), 321-
329.
Burnite, Caroline, "Library work
with children in war time," 95-
98; elected chrm. children's
lib. sect., 303.
Buynitzky, Eleanor, necrology,
253.
"Call to service," (Bishop), 185.
Camp hospital librarians round
table, proceedings, 307-308.
Camp library service. See war
service.
"Camp library work at a naval
training station," (Hirshberg),
240-241.
"Canadian libraries and the war,"
(Locke), 78-81.
Capes, William Parr, "The bu-
reau of municipal information
of N. Y. state conference of
mayors, etc., its functions and
accomplishment," 321-329.
Carey, Miriam E., "From camp to
camp: the work of a field rep-
resentative," 225-226; "What
men read in hospitals," 222;
278; 308.
Carman, Charles W., mem. com.,
181. _
Carnegie and' endowment funds,
rpt. of trustees of, (Pyne, Shel-
don, Appleton), 255-258.
Carpenter, George E., mem. com.,
181.
Cass, Elizabeth H., necrology,
253.
Catalog section, proceedings, 300^
301.
"Cataloging economies: Meeting
demands of war service cata-
loging," (Wigginton), 245-247.
— "The care of gift pamphlets,"
(Patton), 249-250.
— "How Rochester economizes,"
(McCartney), 247-246. See
Symposium, 243-2SO.
Certain, C. C, mem. com., 302.
Children. See "Library work with
children in war time," 95-98.
Children's books, rpt. of com. on
production of (Burnite, chrm.),
301.
Children's librarians section, 301-
303.
Chipman, Frank E., 366.
"Civilization," (Montgomery), 45-
48.
Clark, Edith, mem. com., 311.
Clark, George T., mem. com., 290.
Clarke, Dr. Ida, mem. com., 181.
Classification, rpt. of decimal clas-
sification com., (Andrews), 300.
Cobb, Maud Barker, elected sec-
ond vice-pres. N. A. S. L., 346.
Cole, George Watson, mem. com.,
181.
"Collecting local war material for
N. Y. state library" (Wyer),
336-337; discussion, 338-339.
College and reference section, 303-
304.
Constitutional convention. S'ee
"Workings of the Mass. consti-
tutional convention," 314.
'"Co-operation of the Y. M. C. A.
and the A. L. A.," (Orr), 93-
95.
"Cost reduction in cataloging,"
(Currier), 243-245.
Countryman, Gratia A., mem.
com., 180; 181.
Craver, Harrison W., makes mo-
tion, 288; mem. com., 278, 290,
293, 294.
Cross, A. G., 370.
Currier, Franklin T., "Cost re-
duction in cataloging, 243-245 ;
300.
Curtis, Florence R., .discussion,
304; mem. com., 306.
Cutter, William P., necrology, 254.
Dame, Katherine, 300.
Dana, John Cotton, discussion,
276, 308.
Daniels, Joseph F., mem. com.,
181.
Davidson, George, mem. com.,
181.
"Day at a camp library," (Lowe),
237-239.
"Day at Fort Leavenworth" (Tit-
comb), 241-242.
"Day in camp," (Josselyn), 239-
240.
"Day's work in Hoboken," (Dick-
inson), 200-202.
Delfino, Emma R. N., rpt. of com.
on work with the blind, 264-
266.
Deveneau, George A., makes mo-
tion, 297; presides at agri. lib.
sect., 298.
Dewey, Melvil, 366.
Dickinson, Asa Don, "The day's
work in Hoboken," 200-202; 280.
Dixon, Vera M., "A plan for li-
brary extension work in agri-
culture and home economics,"
299; elected chrm. agri. lib.
sect., 300.
Donnelly, June R., discussion, 304,
30-5.
Doren, Electra C, discussion, 304.
ex. bd., 291-ff; mem. com., 180,
181.
Dorrance, Frances, elected secy,
lending dept. round table, 309.
Doubleday, Mrs. Frank Nelson,
necrology, 254.
Downey, Mary E., discussion, 279;
283.
Drake, Jeanette M., "Elimination
of the use of readers' cards in
the public library," 219-220; 308.
Dudgeon, M. S., "What men read
in camps," 221-222; ex. bd.,
291-ff; 278'-ffj war service com.,
107-162, passim.
Dullard, John P., elected ex. bd.,
A. A. L. L., 366; discussion,
349-ff; mem. com., 310, 331.
Duplicates. See "On the ex-
change of duplicates," 311.
Earle, Elizabeth Claypool, pre-
sides at League of Library Com-
missions, 366.
Eastman, Linda A., discussion,
304; elected mem. ex. bd., 290;
ex. bd., 291-ff; mem. com., 295.
Eaton, Anne T., discussion, 307;
elected secy. sch. lib. sect., 307.
Edgerton, Frederick W., discus-
sion, 279.
"Elimination of the use of read-
ers' cards in the public library"
(Drake), 219-220.
Elmendorf, Theresa, chrm. com.,
289; discussion, 286.
Evans, Adelaide F., presides at
cat. sect., 300.
Evans, Lawrence B., elected first
vice-pres. N. A. S. L., 346:
"Workings of the Mass. consti
tutional convention," 314-321
366.
Ewell, Glen B., mem. com., 311.
Exhibits, 312.
Extension work. _ See "A plan for
library extension work in agri-
culture and home economics,"
299.
Farnham, Charles W., mem. com.,
181.
Fay, Lucy E., 299; elected secy.
agri. lib. sect., 300.
Feazel, E. A., elected ex. bd., A. A.
L. L., 366.
Federal and state relations, rpt.
of com. on, (Steiner, chrm.),
255.
Ferguson, Milton J., elected mem.
council A. L. A., 295; mem.
com., 290, 332; chrm. com.,
365ff; elected president N. A.
S. L., 346; presides, 354.
Finance. See A. L. A. pub. bd.-
financial rpt., 273-275.
Finance com., rpt. of, (Bailey,
chrm.), 259-260.
Fitzpatrick, John T., elected first
vice-pres. A. A. L. L., 366;
mem. com., 181.
Flexner, Jennie M., 300.
Food problem. See "Libraries
and the food problem," 295-298.
Forstall, Gertrude, appointed teller
of election, 291.
Fosdick, Raymond B. Letter to
Herbert Putnam, 108.
Foster, William E., mem. com.,
181.
Fowler, Eva May, elected secy.-
treas. N. A. 8. L., 346; discus-
sion, 350.
Friedel, J. H., acting secy., ex.
bd., mem. com., S. L. A., 370.
"From camp to camp: the work
of a field representative,"
(Carey), 225-226.
"Future of library work," (Bost-
wick), 50-57.
Galloway, Blanche, "A woman
among ten thousand bluejack-
ets," 223-225; 308.
Gardiner, Tacquetta, "The agri-
cultural literature of Canada,"
298-299.
Gardner, Henry B., mem. com.,
181.
Gill, Henry M., mem. com., 181. ■
Gillett, Charles R., 311.
Gillis, James Louis, memorial, 289-
290: necrology, 353.
Glasier, Gilson G., address of
pres. N. A. S. L., 332; discus-
sion, 351.
Godard, George S'., symposium,
295; chrm. com., 330; mem.
com., 331; discussion, 339, 3S0-ff,
364; presides at public docu-
ments round table, 309; elected
ex. bd. A. A. L. L., 366.
Goodell, Frederick. "How- the
camp library reaches every
man," 236-237; 283.
"Government documents relating
to the war," (Meyer), 202-210.
Green, C. R., 370.
Greer, Agnes F. P., secy., 301>.
INDEX
381
Ctuerrier, Edith, "Libraries and the
U. S. food administration," 184;
symposium, 297 ; 282.
Hadley, Chalmers, mem. com., 181.
Hafner, Alfred, mem. com., 181.
Hall, Anna G., discussion, 286.
Hamilton, William J., elected
secy.-treas. L. L. C, 369.
Handy, D, N., mem. com., 370.
Hannan, William E., discussion,
353-354; presides at legislative
ref. dept., 361-365.
Hanson, J. M. C, "What the uni-
versity library is doing to help
win the war," 192-196; 282.
Harris, George William, necrology,
254.
Harrison, Joseph L., mem. com.,
181.
Harvey, Le Roy, mem. com., 181.
Hasse, Adelaide R., mem. com.
Hawkins, Jean, elected chrm. cat.
sect., 301.
Hazard, Rowland G., necrology,
254.
Hazeltine, Mary E., discussion,
304; elected vice-chrm. profes-
sional training sect., 306; mem.
com., 303.
Hicks, Frederick C, 366.
Hill, Frank P., chrm. finance com.,
war service com., 107-162, pas-
sim.
— "Story of the A. L. A. campaign
for $1,000,000," 163-167; chrm.
com., 268; 277; mem. com., 180,
181: ex. bd., 291-fI.
Hinrichsen, Savilla, necrology,
254.
Hirshberg, Herbert iS., "Camp li-
brary work at a naval training
station," 240-241; 283.
Hiss, Sophie, chrm. com., 301.
Henius, Max, mem. com., 181.
Hepburn, William M., 299; mem.
com., 300.
Herbert, Clara W., discussion,
305; elected secy, professional
training sect., 306; mem. com.,
303; training clsiss teachers,
round table, 312.
Hering, Hollis M., "The war and
the mission field," 311; elected
secy, round table of lib. of re-
ligion and theology, 312.
Hewins, Caroline M., mem. com.,
181.
Hodges, N. D. C, mem. com.,
181.
H'ome economics. See "A plan
for_ library extension work in
agriculture and home econom-
ics," 299.
Hooper, Louisa M., discussion,
303; 304.
Hospital libraries. See war serv-
ice.
"How the camp library reaches
every man." (Goodell), 236-237;
(Morgan), 233-236.
Hughitt, Marvin, mem. com., 181.
Hume, Jessie F., mem. com., 181;
elected mem. council, 291.
Hyde, Mary E., 300.
Hyde, Sara G., necrology, 254.
Importations, rpt. of com. on.,
(Hill, chrm.), 266-268; appen-
dix, 268-271.
Index. Rpt. of com. on skeleton
index to legislation, (Wood-
ward, chrm.), 331.
Indexes. See "War department
indexes," 242-243.
"Is camp library service worth
while?^ (Strohm), 196-198.
Isom, Mary F., mem. com., 181.
Jennings, J. T., mem. com., 181.
John Crerar Library, bibliography
of military medicine, 133.
Johnson, Ethel M., mem. com.,
370.
Johnston, R. H., mem. com., 370.
Johnston, W. Dawson, elected
mem. council, 291; mem. com.,
181.
Jones, Edith Kathleen, "What a
base hospital librarian should
know," 226-231; 308.
Josselyn, Lloyd W., "A day in
camp," 239-240; 283.
Kaiser, John B., mem. com., 181.
Keator, Rt. Rev. Frederick W.,
mem. com., 181.
Kelso, Tessa L., 283.
Kennedy, Francis J., mem. com.,
181.
Kenney, William F., mem. com.,
181.
Kent, Dorothy, necrology, 254.
Keogh, Andrew, mem. com., 303.
Kerr, Willis H., discussion, 306.
Klingelsmith, Margaret, 366.
Knapp, Elizabeth, rpt. of lib. com.
on junior Red Cross, 307; mem.
com., 302.
Koch, Theodore W., mem. com.,
303.
Lacy, Mary G., makes motion,
299; 300.
Lapp, John A., presides at S. L.
A., 369; mem. com., 370.
League of library commissions,
366-369.
— joint session with N. A. S. L.,
and agri. lib. sect, of A. L. A.,
346-365.
Lee, G. W., mem. com., 370.
Leete, John H'., mem. com., 181.
Legislation. See library legisla-
tion, 261-264.
I — See "Rpt. of com. on skeleton
index to legislation," 331.
— See "State lib. legislation in
1916 and 1917," 354.
Legislative reference departments,
361-365.
Legislative reference work and
state document exchanges, round
table, 346-354.
Legler, Henry Eduard, memorial
288-289; necrology, 254.
Leipziger, Henry M., necrology
254.
Lending department round table;
proceedings, 308-309.
Lester, C. B., rpt. of com. on lib,
legislation, 261-264.
Levi, N. H., mem. com., 181.
"Libraries and the food problem,'
symposium, 295-298.
"Libraries and the U. S. food ad
ministration," _ (Guerrier), 184.
Library legislation, rpt. of com
on, (Lester, chrm.), 261-264.
Library training, rpt. of com. on
(Root, chrm.), 260-261.
— See "The war and lib. training,'
98-103.
Library war manual, 110.
"Library war service," (Putnam),
103-105.
— ^See A. L. A. war service, 107-
162.
"Library work with children in
war time," (Burnite), 95-98.
Lien, E. J., mem. com., 331.
Lindsey, A. B., 370.
Locke, George H., "Canadian li-
braries and the war," 78-81;
282.
Lowe, John A., "A day at a camp
library," 237-239.
Lunn, Minnie, necrology, 254.
Lydenberg, H. M., "Present dis-
contents with newsprint stock,"
211-216; 303.
McCartney, Grace B., "Cataloging
economies: How Rochester econ-
omizes," 247-248; 300.
McCauley, Pauline, elected mem.
council, 295.
MacDonald, discussion, 285.
Malone, Maud, discussion, 286.
Manly, W. H., mem. com., 181.
Mann, Margaret, 300.
Marion, Guy E., elected pres. S.
L. A., 370.
Massee, May, "The Booklist," 272-
273; "The spirit of the war lit-
erature: Poetry," 72-78; 283;
287.
Mawson, C. O. S., discussion, 280.
Memorial. See Gillis, 289; Leg-
ler, 288.
Merrill, Mrs. Emily A., necrology,
254.
Merrill, William Stetson, A. L. A.
periodical cards, 273.
Meuser, Emilie, "A neighborhood
apprentice class," 217-218; 306.
Meyer, H. H. B., "Government
clocuments relating to the war,"
202-210; 310.
Milam, Carl H., conducts sym-
posium, 278-ff; mem. com., 181.
"Million dollar campaign," con-
tributions and campaign ex-
penses, 170.
— contributions by states, cities
and towns, 171-180.
— contributors to campaign fund,
168.
— disbursements and receipts, 169.
Montgomery, Thomas L., presi-
dent's address: "Civilization,"
45-48; presides, 276, 291, 295.
Moody, Mrs. C. E., mem. com.,
311.
Moore, Annie Carroll, 283; dis-
cussion, 285.
Morgan, Joy E., "How the camp
library reaches every man, '
233-236; 283.
Morgan, Lucy L., discussion, 305;
training class teachers round
table, 312.
Moyer, L. R., necrology, 254.
Municipal information bureau. See
"Bureau of municipal informa-
tion of N. Y. state conference
of mayors, etc., 321-329; dis-
cussion, 329-330.
Murray, Elsie, "Some experiments
in secondary training," 305.
National association of state li-
braries, proceedings, 314-365.
— ^joint session with American as-
sociation of law libraries, 314-
332.
— rpt. of secy'treas., 34()-343,
382
INDEX
— rpt. of com. on constitution and
by-laws, 343-345.
— ^joint session with agri. lib. sect.
and league of lib. commissions,
346-365.
— rpt. of com. on resolutions, 365.
National Education Association,
message of appreciation, 279-
280.
National legislative information
service, rpt. of joint com.,
(Godard, chrm.), 330.
Necrology, 253-254.
"Neighborhood apprentice class,"
(Meuser), 217-218.
Newberry, Marie, training class
teachers, round table, 312.
Newspaper stock. See "Present
discontents with newsprint stock,"
211-216.
New '/ork state library. See
"Collecting local war material
for N. Y. state library," 336-
337.
Nugent, James E., mem. com., 181.
"Organization of hospital library
service," (Webster), 231-233.
Orr, William, "The co-operation
of the Y. M. C. A. and the A.
L. A.," 93-95; 287.
Outhouse, Emma G., necrology,
254.
Owen, Thomas "M., mem. com.,
181.
Pack, C. L., telegram from, 276.
Pamphlets, care of, 244-250.
Patton, Adah, "Cataloging econo-
mies ; the care of gift pam-
phlets," 249-250; elected secy,
cat. sect, 300, 301.
Periodical cards. See A. L. A.
periodical cards, 278.
Perry, Everett R., chrm. com.,
290; mem. com., 181; 308.
Pettee, Julia, 311.
Pettingill, Frank H., mem. com.,
181.
Poole, F. O., mem. com., 330.
Porter, W. T., mem. com., 181.
Post conference notes, 313.
Power, Effie L., mem. com., 302.
Powers, Josiah B., mem. com., 181.
Pratt, F. B., mem. com., 181.
"Present discontents with news-
print stock," (Lydenberg), 211-
216.
— answers to circular letter, 21 S-
216.
— bibliography, 213-215.
Price, Franklin H., discussion,
280.
Proceedings, 276-ff.
Professional training section, 304-
306.
Public archives, rpt. of com. on,
(Mcllwaine, chrm.), 339-340.
Public boards and commissions,
rpt. of com. on handbook,
(Small), 331.
Public documents round table,
proceedings, 309-310.
Putnam, Herbert, "The library
war service," 103-105; 277-278;
discussion, 286-287; 288.
— general director, war service,
107-162, passim.
Pine, M. Taylor, rpt. of trustees
of Carnegie and endowment
funds, 255-258; elected trustee
of endowment fund, 291.
Quaife, M. M., discussion, 351-ff;
mem. com., 303.
Ranck, Samuel H., ex. bd., 291-ff;
mem. com., 181; 279.
Raney, M. Llewellyn, "The A. L.
A. follows the flag overseas,"
81-93; elected mem. council,
295; rpt. erf com. on importa-
tions, 282; 287.
Rathbone, Josephine A., appointed
mem. A. L. A. pub. bd., 294;
ex. bd., 291-fI; discussion, 304.
Readers cards. See "Elimination
of the use of readers' cards in
the public library," 219-220.
Red Cross. See rpt. of lib. com.
on junior Red Cross, 302-303.
Redstone, Edward H., elected
pres. A. A. L. L., 366; elected
vice-pres. S. L. A., 370; pre-
sides at N. A. S. L., 314; 366.
Reece, Ernest J., presides at pro-
fessional training sect., 304-306;
discussion, 350, 305.
Religion and theology, round
table of the libraries of, pro-
ceedings, 311-312.
Resolutions, com. om appointed,
(Bostwick, Ahern, Graver), 278.
— rpt. of com., 290.
Robinson, Charles R., presides at
round table of lib. of religion
and theology, 311; mem. com.
181.
Robinson, Julia A., "What the li-
brary commission is doing to
help win the war," 186-187;
"Unification of state library ac-
tivities," 368; discussion, 282;
367.
Roden, Carl B., mem. com., 181,
289; treasurer's rpt., 258-259;
symposium, 296.
Root, Azariah S., elected pres.
round table of lib. of _ religion
and theology, 312; training class
teachers, round table, 312; rpt.
of com. on lib. training, 26(>-261;
discussion, 303.
Rose, Ernestine, training class
teachers, round table, elected
chrm., 312.
Ross, Frederick R., mem. com.,
181.
Rudolph, Alexander J., necrology,
254.
Rush, Charles E., 283.
Ryan, Anna M., elected treas., A.
A. L. L., 366.
Sampson, Francis Asbury, ne-
crology, 254.
Sanborn, Henry N., elected mem.
council A. L. A., 291; presides
at agri.. lib. sect., 295; presides
at joint session of N. A. S. L.,
agri. lib. sect, of A. L. A., and
L. L. C, 346-365; secy. L. L. C,
. 369.
Sandburg, Carl, recites his poems,
287.
Sawyer, Harriet P., acting secy.,
304; elected chrm. professional
training sect., 306.
S'axe, Mary S., elected mem. coun-
cil, 291.
School libraries section, 306-307.
Secretary's rpt., (Utley), 251-254.
"Sending books 'over there',"
(Brett), 183.
Settle, George T., mem. com., 181;
discussion, 286.
Sewall, Willis F., "War depart
ment indexes," 242-243; 300.
Shaw, Robert K., mem. com., 181
Shearer, A. H., mem .com., 303.
Sheldon, Edward W., rpt. of trus
tees of Carnegie and endowment
funds, 255-258; mem. com., 181
Small, A. J., "State library legis-
lation in 1916 and 1917,", 354-
361; chrm. com., 331; discus-
sion, 353; mem. com., 332; 346.
Smith, Mrs. H. W., necrology
254.
"Some experiments in secondary
training,' (Murray), 305.
Special libraries association, 369-
370.
"Spirit oif the war literature :
Poetry," (Massee), 72-78.
"Spirit of the war literature,"
Prose," (Bowerman), 60-72.
"State library legislation in 1916
and 1917," (Small), 354-361.
Steere, Elizabeth B., elected secy.
A. A. L. L., 366.
S'teiger, Ernst, necrology, 254.
Steiner, Bernard C, rpt. of com.
on federal and state relations,
255.
Stevens, Edward F., mem. com.,
181.
Stevenson, Burton E., elected sec-
ond vice-pres. A. L. A., 290.
"Story of the A. L. A. campaign
for $1,000,000," (Hill), (Bald-
win), 163-167.
Strohm, Adam, "Is camp library
service worth while?" 196-198;
elected mem. ex. bd., 291; dis-
cussion, 284-ff; mem. com., 18il ;
303.
Sutherland, Lillian A., mem. com.,
303.
Teal, William, appointed teller of
election, 291; 280.
Thain, Mabel, necrology, 254.
Thayer, Charles M., mem. com.,
181.
Tilton, Edward L., mem. com., 181
— offers services, 131-132.
Titcomb, Mary L., "A day at Fort
Leavenworth," 241-242; "What
the county and rural library is
doing to help win the war," 187-
189; 282; 283.
Training class teachers, round
table, proceedings, 312.
Training classes. See "Some ex-
periments in secondary train-
ing," 305.
Treasurer, rpt. of, (Roden), 258-
259.
Union list of periodicals. See col-
lege and reference sect., 303.
U. S. food administration. See
"Libraries and the U. S. food
administration," 184.
"United States boys' working re-
serve," (Wells), 198-199.
Utley, _ George B., ex. secy, war
service com., 107-162, passim;
180; secretary's rpt., 251-254.
Van Hoesen, Henry B., 279.
Van Valkenburgh, Agnes, elected
mem. council, 295.
Walker, Kenneth, 370.
INDEX
383
Walter, Frank K., "The war and
library training," 98-103; dis-
cussion, 305, 306; mem. com.,
306; presides at school lib.
sect, 30'6.
War. See "Government docu-
ments relating to the war," 202-
210.
"War and library training," (Wal-
ter), 98-103.
"War and the mission field,"
(Hering), 311.
War books. See, "Spirit of the
war literature: Prose," 60-72;
"Spirit of the war literature:
Poetry," 72-78.
War collections. See "Collecting
local war material for N. Y.
state library," 336-337.
"War department indexes," (Se-
wall), 242-243.
War finance com., 181. See also
A. L. A. war service com.
War gardens. See telegram from
pres. Nat. war garden com., 276.
War service. See "The A. L. A.
follows the flag overseas," SI-
PS.
— ''See "A call to service," 185.
— See "Camp _ library work at a
naval training station," 240-
241.
— See "Canadian libraries and the
war," 78-81.
— See "The co-operation of the
Y. M. C. A. and the A. L. A.,"
93-95.
— See "A day at a camp library,"
237-239.
— See "A day at Fort Leaven-
worth," 241-242.
— See "A day in camp," 239-240.
— See "A day's work in Hobo-
ken," 200-202.
— See "From camp to camp: the
work of a field representative,"
225-226.
— See "How the camp library
reaches every man," 233-236;
236-237.
— See "Is camp library service
worth while?" 196-198.
— See "The library war service,"
103-105.
— See "Library war service work,"
(Putnam), 277-278.
— See "Million dollar campaign,"
163-182.
— See "Organization of hospital
library service," 231-233.
— ^See "Sending books 'over
there'," 183.
— See "What a base hospital li-
brarian should know,'' 226-231.
— See "What men read in camp,"
221-222.
— See "What men read in hospi-
tals," 222.
— See "What the city librarv is
doing to help win the war,' 57-
60.
— See "What the county and
rural library is doing to help
win the war," 187-189.
— See "What the library commis-
sion is doing to help win the
war," 186-187.
— See "What the state library is
doing to help win the war,"
189-192.
— See "_What_ the university li-
brary is doing to help win the
war,'' 192-196.
— See "A woman among ten thou-
sand hluejackets," 223-225.
— See "The work of the A. L. A.
war service committee," 106,
182-183.
War service committee. See A.
L. A. war service committee.
Watson, William R., discussion,
367.
Webster, Caroline, "The organi-
zation of hospital library serv-
ice," 231-233.
Wellman, Hiller C, "What the
city library is doing to help
win the war," 57-60; mem. com.,
181 ' 282
Wells' H. 'W., "The U. S. boys-
working reserve," 198-199; 297.
White, John G., mem. com., 181.
Wharton, Miriam B., 308.
"What a base hospital librarian
should know," (Jones), 226-231.
"What men read in camps,"
(Dudgeon), 221-222.
"What men read in hospitals,"
(Carey), 222.
"What the city library is doing
to help win the war," (Well-
man), 57-60.
"What the county and rural li-
brary is doing to help win the
war," (Titcomb), 187-189.
"What the library commission is
doing to help win the war,"
(Robinson), 186-187.
"What the state librarv is doing
to help win the war, ' (Wyer),
189-192.
"What the university library is
doing to help win the war,"
(Hanson), 192-196.
Wheeler, Joseph L., elected mem.
council, 291; mem. com., 181;
rpt. of bookbinding com., 254-
255.
Whitcomb, Adah F., discussion,
305; mem. com., 306; training
class teachers, round table,
elected secy., 312.
Wigginton, May W., "Cataloging
economies: meeting the demands
of war service cataloging," 245-
247; 300.
WilliamSj Caroline E., elected
secy. S. L. A., 370; mem. com.,
370.
Williams, Sherman, 306.
Winser, Beatrice, 279; 283; dis-
cussion, 285.
Woodruff, Clinton R., mem. com.,
181.
"Work of A. L. A. war service
committee," (Wyer), 106, 182- .
183.
Wolcott, John D., discussion, 306;
370.
"Woman among ten thousand
bluejackets," (Galloway), 223-
225.
Women in war service, 283'flF.
"Workings of the Mass. constitu-
tional convention," (Evans),
314-321.
Wright, Agnes, elected second
vice-pres. A. A. L. L., 366.
Wright, Ethel, elected secy, chil--
dren's lib. sect., 303.
Wright, Purd B., mem. com., 181;
279.
Wyer, J. I., "Collecting local war
material for N. Y. state li-
brary," 336-337; "The work of
the A. L. A. war service com-
mittee," 106, 182-183, 284-285;
"What the state library is doing
to help win the war," 189-192;
mem. com., 180, 295; 276, 282;
chrm. war service com., 107-
162, passim.
Zachert, Adeline B., 30O, 301;
elected vice-chrm. children's lib.
sect., 303; discussion, 304, 306;
secy., 307.
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