TABLE 98.-Detailed statistics, mainly for 1886-87, of free lending libraries, etc.-Continued. [NOTE-Items respecting libraries marked with an asterisk are taken from a previous Report.] FREE PUBLIC REFERENCE LIBRARIES. [Tables 99 and 100.] In addition to the public lending libraries already mentioned, public moueys are granted in support of many libraries essential or useful to the service of the States, Territories, courts, and cities of the country. These are usually reference libraries; i. e., their purpose is mainly that of consultation in the library. The contents are chiefly documentary, historical, scientific, or legal. Every State and Territory, except Utah, reports at least one such collection. The presence of the Federal Government, with its Executive Departments, its Legislature, its Supreme Court, its National Museum, and other appliances, endows the District of Columbia with nearly one-third of these libraries and with more than onethird of their contents; among these, the Library of Congress stands first in size, value of contents, and potential usefulness. The entire lack of public free-lending libraries in the District of Columbia is to some extent made up by the privilege of drawing books from the libraries of the Executive Departments enjoyed by the employés thereof. The value of these Department libraries varies, naturally, with the character of their contents and the facilities existing for their use. Mrs. Helen L. McL. Kimball, librarian of the Treasury Department, thus describes the way in which the collection under her charge is made to serve the public: "Until 1875 this library was considered only a reference library, and formed part of the Division of Records and Files in the Secretary's office. The library now has two divisions, the circulating and the reference. The hours for giving out books to readers are 8 to 9 A. M., 12 to 12.30 P. M., and 4 to 5 P. M. Our greatest usefulness to others than officials is to the children in the schools, whose parents or friends use the library for their benefit, and our best work, perhaps, is in this direction." TABLE 99.-Summary, by States and geographical divisions, of free reference libraries supported wholly or partly by public moneys. |