Circular No. 1, 1885. City-school systems in the United States.
Circular No. 6, 1884. Rural schools.
Bulletin on instruction in morals and civil government. In addition to these, the Office had prepared and brought near to publication the following:
Special report on education at the New Orleans Exbibition; Part
I: Catalogue of articles exhibited in the section of education; Part II: Proceedings of the International Congress of Educators; and Part III: Proceedings of the Department of Superin
tendence of the National Educational Association, etc. Also two painphlets, one on the study of music in public schools, and the other containing the proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association for 1886.
The list of publications prepared during the year 1885–786 certainly shows no lack of industry on the part of this Office; though it may be questioned whether the undertaking of labors so vast and various with a force so limited in number was entirely wise.
Upon the assumption of my new duties, I found that the Annual Report of the Office for the year 1884–85 was not complete, and that nothing had been done to prepare for the present Report. After a careful study of the situation I determined to urge the completion of the first-named document and other unfinished work then in the Office, and afterwards to concentrate all efforts as much as possible upon the preparation of the present volume, so that the delay in issuing it might be less than that in the case of previous issues, and that subsequent Reports might be more promptly prepared.
Work upou the Report for 1884–85 was not completed until the month of December, 1886, whenpr eparatory work on the present Report began.
The library of the Office, according to the Report of 1884–85, contained 17,500 books and 45,000 pamphlets. There are now on the shelves more than 18,000 volumes and over 50,000 pamphlets, besides duplicates.
The collection contains many pedagogical works, and forms a professional library of great value.
The preservation and cataloguing of this collection should be, as they have been, objects of constant attention, but the small amount of appropriation made for its benefit, and the limited force of the Office have not allowed as much to be done in this direction as is desirable. Of late years much attention has been given in this country to library organization and management, but educational libraries have not received the attention that their importance demands. I wish to em. phasize the value of this library as an educational agency.