VOL. 6.

C: A. CUTTER, General Editor.
F: LEYPOLDT, Managing Editor.

Communications for the JOURNAL, exchanges, and editors' copies, should be addressed C: A. CUTTER, Boston Athenæum, Boston, Mass.

European matter may be sent to the care of H: R. TEDDER, Sec. L. A. U. K., Athenæum Club, Pall Mall, S. W., London.

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The Editors are not responsible for the views expressed in contributed articles or communications, nor for the style of spelling, capitalization, etc., in articles whose authors request adherence to their own styles.

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THE A. L. A. meeting at Washington was, by general consent, the most successful of all, with a larger allowance of discussion than ever before. But it would have been still more satisfactory, though more laborious, if it had lasted four or five days instead of three. There is not time in three days to do all that the Association wants to do in a city like Washington. The librarians came away feeling that they had not half seen the city, although some important subjects had been crowded out of the sessions. And yet five years ago it was thought that a few meetings, and certainly a few years of the JOURNAL, would exhaust the field. The subject grows. The psychological and the sociological branches of it have only just been touched upon.

Another criticism on the proceedings has been made that the smaller libraries did not get their due share of attention. We have quoted in the "Bibliografy" the remarks of J. K. H. to that effect. He is partly right. The material, or semi

No. 2.

material, did undoubtedly somewhat overweigh the intellectual and moral. And the three subjects which engaged most of the time of the conventionclassification on the shelves, library architecture, distribution of public documents-are subjects that apparently concern the large libraries most. It is not the first time that the objection has been made; and now that it has found a public utterance, perhaps it will receive more attention. But there are some difficulties in the way. J. K. H. indicates

one.

he

"There were a score of librarians present," says, "who are responsible for the mental nutriment of factory operatives and the laboring poor, who were silent during the whole conference." We have been able, it seems, to lead our librarians to convention, but we cannot make them speak. It cannot be said that there was not any chance. No discussion was closed until the question had been asked, sometimes more than once, if any one had any further desire to speak. Nor can it justly be urged that there was no topic to call them forth. The inapplicability of the subjects to the smaller libraries was only apparent. Much that was said of Washington, or Chicago, or Boston will apply, with a little change, to a manufacturing city or a country town. Compact storage of books certainly interests a library that has only a small building; quickness of access is very important to one that can afford to pay only a single attendant to minister to a numerous and impatient troop of borrowers. Every labor-saving device (and good classification and notation are labor-saving devices) is a necessity to the poor. And an arrangement, if any is possible, which will insure the "corner school-house library" not being burdened with the documents which it does not want, and getting those which it does, will be a great boon. If the papers treated of these questions from the stand-point of large means and cultivated readers, it would have been very easy for any librarian to divert the current of debate into the channel he desired it to follow.

We wish, however, that there might be more direct attention given to the lesser libraries at Cincinnati. We are sure that if any of their librarians will signify his readiness to discuss any topic connected with his peculiar work, he will meet with a warm acceptance from the Program Committee and an interested attention from the audience.

Before leaving this matter, let us say, for the behoof of those who shall introduce the discussions there, that the amount of talk which a paper excites depends only in part upon its subject; it is also influenced considerably by the way in which the subject is treated, and by the way in which the paper is read.

And as to this JOURNAL, in regard to which a crititism like that of J. K. H. has sometimes been made, we earnestly request the librarians who are "responsible for the mental nutriment of factory operatives and the laboring poor," to send us their experience, and to detail their difficulties and perplexities. It may be that some of the larger libraries have found the same stumbling-blocks; it is more likely that other librarians, laboring in the same field, have solved their problems, or can at least suggest methods of solution that will be worth trying.

In the meantime, Mr. Foster's article in the present number will be found full of suggestions for all libraries, great and small. And though it may seem, at first sight, as if his remarks applied mainly to a community of considerable culture, it will be found that his methods can be applied, in connection with a certain degree of personal influence, to very unscholarlike communities, provided they contain a sufficient proportion of the young. What this influence is, how it can be acquired, and how it should be exerted, we hope to hear before long from some of the twenty who "sat silent through the whole of the Conference."

WE desire to continue the department of "Notes and queries," and in order that it may discuss matters of real interest to our readers, we urge them to freely send us some of the many queries that inevitably come up in the course of library work, whether with regard to supplies, management, classification, or cataloging; and when they know the answer to any query which appears in the JOURNAL, to send us the answer in time for insertion in the next number. Questions about anonyms and pseudonyms will naturally go to Mr. Whitney, but all other queries-how to catalog

this book or to classify that, as well as those relating to supplies (which have hitherto formed the chief staple of our "Notes")-will be gladly received by the general editor, and either answered or left to be answered by other readers.

WE have received from an esteemed correspondent a valuable suggestion for the program committee of the Cincinnati Conference. We have no doubt they will give it due weight, and we will add a suggestion for the committee of arrangements, sent us by another friend, that "a circular be sent, a month before the meeting, to college, State, special, and public librarians not members of the association, urging them to give their presence there and join the association."

THE March number, and the index to volume 5, will appear, we hope, before the end of the month, and will be followed by the Papers and Proceedings of the Washington Conference, which will be sent to press as soon as the Finance Committee authorizes its issue.

COMMUNICATION.

THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE.

SOME of the papers read were suited to give dignity to the occasion; and as the subjects discussed already command much public attention, an authoritative expression of opinion, by officials of mature mind and high position, was suited to fix men's judgment and perhaps to guide legislation. Especially was this true in relation to the distribution of public documents, and to the construction of large edifices for libraries.

The

It could not fail, however, to occur to the minds of many present, that some of the topics were of much more interest and importance to the public than to many members of the Conference. majority of these are working librarians, secluded for the most part from their more experienced fellows, and eager to obtain from these light on many of their practical difficulties. For the sake of such, pains ought to be taken to prescribe such topics, and secure such discussions, as may meet the wants of the less experienced. It was noticeable that the most practical topic on the programme, "The Training of Library Assistants," was placed last on the list, and finally crowded into so narrow a corner that the appointee refused to read what he had prepared, since it could not possibly receive the discussion which its importance demanded. It seems not improper that it be regarded as transferred to the conference of 1882, made prominent then, and thoroughly canvassed at that time. Such was the expressed wish of some who regretted its absence from the sessions they had come so far to attend.

THE SPECIALIZING OF READING

FOR GENERAL READERS.*

BY W: E. FOSTER, PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY.

"THE general reader." We shall use this common, though somewhat unsatisfactory, term, in place of a better one, to designate that large body existing in any community, whose use of a library is not the result of any clearly defined purpose, and whose reading is mainly carried on without any distinctly formulated aim. The public library, indeed, is founded for the benefit of "the general reader"; but it does not by any means follow that the reading done in connection with its books should be general, rather than special. If it be true that this large percentage of readers approach it with no higher conception of its use, is not this one of the best of reasons why the contrary result should be brought about, if possible? The work of a public library should be to take the raw material of an aimless reading public, and, by appropriate processes, convert it into an intelligent and discriminating reading public, which knows what it wants, and how to obtain it.

This, in fact, is the problem which presents itself for consideration in connection with our library work of to-day-a problem whose solution is not without its difficulties, but one which is worthy of our best thought and closest attention. The contrast between these two methods of reading is sharp and suggestive. The reader, for instance, who frequents a special or technical collection is likely to be one the very nature of whose study and reading has developed a most valuable mental discipline. Too many a reader, however, in our public libraries does not come to us in search of some particular book, for he is uninfluenced by aims or purposes of any kind. Well, why not apply the reverse process, and let him find-so to speak-that there is some book in search of him? That is, let him find something which will claim his interest, hold his attention, and furnish him with a clue for subsequent systematic reading.

There is more than one way of accomplishing this, and it is a very interesting study to notice how; by a sort of natural development, the various phases of this work have presented themselves, and helped to form what may almost be called a complete system. The ordinary methods of library work, for instance, lend themselves readily to any such

I need scarcely remind you purpose as this. how, some five years ago or more, the publication, by the Boston Public Library, of the special catalogue of "history, biography, and travel," and that of "fiction," with their copious notes, arresting the attention and interest of the reader, became at once effective agencies in leading the public to higher and more instructive fields of reading. The publication of the Quincy catalogue, soon after, was another step in the same direction; and, however much its accomplished editor may disclaim its success in the particular locality for which it was prepared. yet, in other localities, as is shown by abundant evidence, it has proved to be of great practical usefulness.

A principle which, if not absolutely new, was somewhat novel in its application, lies at the basis of another series of successful attempts in this direction. Stated briefly, it is this: There is economy of time and labor in the practical work of bringing books to the notice of readers, if your minute cataloguing of a topic can be made contemporaneous with the reader's interest in, and acquaintance with, that topic. And so, when the Boston Public Library, in 1875, began the regular publication of notes on special subjects, at the end of its quarterly Bulletins, it was taking an important step in this same direction, and its success depended on this scientific adjustment of means to ends. Another public library, opening its doors to the public for the first time only three years ago, has, from the very outset, applied this principle, not to a quarterly, but to a daily, system of notes on current events and topics, these notes being posted in a conspicuous place in the library, where they are almost sure of catching the reader's eye. Out of this practice For have been developed several others. instance, the desire of readers to copy these lists of references has led to the introduction of a copying process, whereby a considerable circle of readers may be supplied, and habits of study stimulated. The growth of these habits, in turn, and the gradual increase in the number of readers desiring such copies, has led to the printing of some of them. In the library referred to, not only have single lists* been printed at intervals, for wider distribution, but a regular practice has been maintained, during the past three months, of printing twice a week in the daily newspapers such of those references, prepared as daily notes," which are of the greatest general interest.

[We hope to print one of these lists in each number of the LIBRARY JOURNAL.—Eds.]

But the librarian is by no means limited to the work of originating and developing an entirely separate line of policy. There are other agencies at work in the same general direction. Now, if each may, by a plan of coöperation, share the benefits of the others' work, the results accomplished will be wellnigh doubled in value and effectiveness. Such an agency as this is the school. Like the library, its tendency and aim are to develop study and research along definite lines. Lying at the basis of all subsequent intellectual development, in the case of most readers, the nature and extent of its influence on the young mind can never be regarded as unimportant. To mention the college after the school is only to pass from the lower to the higher order. With certain necessary modifications, the same conditions are met with, and similar methods may be usefully employed. No one who has carefully studied the recent explanations of methods found useful in college libraries can doubt the serviceableness of such work.

It, perhaps, occurs to some one that, in reaching this point,—the assistance rendered to college students,-I have wandered from the original question—that of reaching the 66 general reader." What are our communities as a whole, however, but bodies of readers composed almost wholly of persons who have had a more or less extended course of training and instruction, which has been carried, in some cases, no farther than the grammar school, in some cases as far as the college? And how does it happen that, in so many instances, young men and young women, in graduating from high school or college, seem to graduate at the same time from anything like systematic application to study or instructive reading, and only help to swell the already too crowded ranks of the " general readers"? It was the recognition of this very serious evil-which might well be compared to the unraveling of the student's mental training-which led to the organization, some seven years ago, of the "Society to Encourage Studies at Home." This society, as is well known, has confined its invaluable assistance and skillful direction to young women; but the present season has witnessed the formation of a similar organization for young men,—“The Young Men's Society for Home Study." Now, if libraries will obtain from these, and similar societies, the circulars and reading-lists, marking on their margin the numbers by which to apply for the books in their own collection, they will greatly facilitate the work thus undertaken; and doubtless, by communicating with the

individual students who follow these courses of study, and taking pains to see that they are put in the way of obtaining all the resources they need, the libraries may still farther advance this work. There is time only to mention the numerous other channels through which this work of the library may extend itself. There are the debating societies and reading clubs, whose existence in every community the librarian cannot help being aware of, and which may readily be made tributary to the same general principle. There is the continual round of plays, concerts, and lectures, which occupy the mind and absorb the attention of the public. These will, of course, repeatedly serve the purpose of the "daily notes" and (particularly the lectures) the more extended treatment of a special reference list. The old idea of the lecture, let us hope, is in a way to be permanently superseded by the rational view of the matter, so well advocated in The Nation something over a year ago." The last few years have witnessed in several of our cities a tendency to establish lecture courses which propose for their aim some definite and specific attempt at instruction and cultivation, for people who are willing to take some pains. In these movements the libraries have found excellent opportunities for coöperating. The truth is, however, that a library is an institution of direct interest and practical service to the whole community. One of its ramifications penetrates into the region of historical research, as carried on by a State or local historical society. Another, into the field occupied by an art museum, or school of design, or technical training school. Through another line, it communicates with the commercial and industrial interests of a community. Nor can it fail to offer to professional studies, whether those of the lawyer, the clergyman, or the physician, abundant means for extending and developing them. And in every such relation, through methods varying, indeed, with the varying conditions, the librarian will find that course preeminently useful which assists and intensifies the tendency toward a definite and specific line of study.

But are there no difficulties in the way? are there no objections to be urged? Let us see. It has been objected, for instance, that those who need help, such as is here proposed, will not avail themselves of it, and will fail to appreciate its value; while those who do appreciate it are just the ones who do not need it. As regards the "appreciation" of

*Nation, Nov. 6, 1879.