to be so arranged as to have ten alcoves.
The day of alcoves has pretty well gone by,
and with it the high ranges of shelves, as well
as the whole idea of numbering shelves as
furnishing a notation for the books.

Driven out of this stronghold, the decimal system has entrenched itself in classification; and, just as one generation was captivated by the beauty of the former decimal system, the next has been largely carried away with the charms of this, its later application. But it is hardly rash now to predict that the system will not stand the test of practical use longer in the classification field than it has in the shelf arrangement. Perhaps I have sufficiently paid my respects to the matter of classification, of late, in the columns of the Library journal, and I will not dwell on it at this time.

One more superstition I have noted, and that is the catalogue cult. I find that I have put myself on record on both sides in regard to cataloguing. I have sometimes placed emphasis on cataloguing as the one means of making a library available, as opposed to classification. Again, I have made light of the value of catalogues, as set over against bibliographical helps. I should like now to harmonize these two expressions, if I may. And I would do so by saying that I heartily believe in catalogues as the one means of guidance to books; but at the same time I am coming to place less and less stress upon the cataloguing of the individual library, and more on catalogues in the wider sense, including and referring mainly to printed catalogues. and bibliographies, which may be made available, in lieu of elaborate cataloguing of the individual library. What I would point out, as the current superstition on this subject, is the idea that each individual library should have its very complete catalogue, and that a catalogue can be made which will be a sufficient guide to readers. I think that many of you must have had some of the same experience that has often come to me of late years, when I have found the great inferiority of the references in our own subject catalogue on some topic to the list published somewhere as a bibliography of the subject.

Such experiences must lead to a certain loss of interest in the effort to make a subject catalogue full and complete, and also to a desire to make the fullest use possible of such reference lists and bibliographies as we have or can get. And further than this, the idea is impressed upon us that any and all catalogues or bibliographies whatever fall far short of furnishing the guidance that readers want. I quote a striking passage from the late annual report of Mr. Foster, of Providence, on this point.

He introduces it in connection with an interesting showing of the great number and variety of questions asked by persons who have consulted his library. Referring to these questions, he says:

-

"If we analyze them, we find that an extraordinarily large percentage of them will not be answered by consulting even the most elaborate of the ordinary type of library catalogues."

There is nothing new to us in all this. It is the same ground gone over pretty completely by Mr. Green several years ago in his paper on "Personal Relations between Librarians and Readers." I only refer to it as cumulative testimony to the truth that implicit dependence cannot be placed on catalogues as guides, and to support my warning against that superstitious regard for the catalogue idea, which will lead to the devotion to elaborate features of this work of time and expense better put to other uses.

I have gone hastily over this ground, which is somewhat hackneyed, simply for the purpose of indicating that in all departments of our work we need to be on our guard against the growth of such sentiments or ideas as may be classed as superstitious and unreasoning, based on a mistaken apprehension of the value of things, either venerable for age and general repute, or coming to us as novelties in such a captivating garb that we accept them without bringing them to the bar of good sense and rationality. "Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good," is a good motto for the modern librarian, as for the worker in any department.

I have referred thus far only to superstitions liable to be held inside libraries, by librarians and library officers. I had thought of devoting a few moments to the matter of superstitions about libraries held by outsiders.

I

But time is short, and I will only name two of
them and have done.

1. Librarians have nothing to do but to
read the books.

2. Anybody can make a catalogue.

For discussion, see PROCEEDINGS (First session).

ARCHITECTS AND LIBRARIANS.

BY NORMAND S. PATTON, OF CHICAGO.

SEE that I am announced to read a paper on "Library Architecture," but I propose to speak rather of those who make library architecture-architects and librarians. What have architects to do with librarians? Why should librarians be interested in architects? It is these questions that I propose to answer. In general it is the architects that make architecture; and the interest which has been manifested by librarians in the architecture of the buildings in which they labor is a sufficient excuse for the introduction of this topic to your attention.

plans have been made from which to select the most convenient and economical. Calculations are made of the strength of beams and columns. The foundations are laid out with great care, so as to be proportioned to the weight upon them. The heating, lighting, and ventilation are studied as essential parts of the design. In fact, the whole building is built on paper to the minutest detail, and specifications are prepared which describe the work to be done with such accuracy, that when it is divided among a dozen contractors there is no interference between the various trades, nor is anything omitted.

Few people who have not had experience in building for themselves have any accurate idea of what is done in an architect's office. The architect makes a picture of the outside of the building, and is mainly responsible for its good looks; so much is recognized by the public, who often look upon the architect as an artist, and, like other artists, as an impractical sort of a fellow, who makes a reputation for himself and a handsome house for his client at the expense of the latter in more ways than one.

This picture may be true in some instances, but is not a fair type of the profession as it stands to-day. There are people called "librarians" whose knowledge of books extends no farther than the taking from the shelf and putting back again. There are so-called "architects" whose knowledge of architecture is one-sided and deficient; but, in selecting a type of the profession, it is but fair to take the working of a first-class office.

The proper thickness of walls, the kind of cement to be used, the depth and width of the foundations, are decided by the architect and not by the mason. The size of timbers and methods of framing the roof trusses are not left to the discretion of the carpenter, but are calculated by the architect and prescribed by the drawings. If there are any mistakes in the design, they are likely to be copied in the building. If the contractor makes the building as good as the design calls for, he is doing all that is expected of him, and it would be a fatal optimism to count upon his improving upon the copy set him.

Here we find that careful study has been given to the arrangement of rooms, halls, and stairs. That long before the exterior is designed, numerous sketches of the floor

The whole construction, arrangement, and design of a building are thus almost entirely dependent upon the architect, who must be master, not only of his profession in general, but of the requirements in particular of each kind of structure he is called upon to erect.

But there is one thing that is not in the province of the architect to do: An architect is not, or at least should not be expected to furnish the idea for a building.

The planning of a building is in the nature

of a problem to be solved. Certain conditions and requirements are laid down, and it is the duty of the architect to meet them; but it is the business of the owner, and not of the architect, to decide upon these requirements. An architect is employed by an owner to assist him in building a house or other structure. The owner says what he wishes done, and the architect decides how the owner's wishes are to be accomplished.

It is not so important that an architect shall have great originality as that he shall have a quick and delicate perception of the wants, the aspirations, and the limitations of his client. If I am planning a house for a gentleman of wealth I must be able, in imagination, to put myself in his place. For the time being I must be a gentleman of wealth, and appropriate the suggestions of my client as expressing my own wants, and arrange the house accordingly.

When the work is complete, I must check the correctness of my imagination by submitting the plans to my client. If I have read his character aright and developed his ideas properly, he is pleased. In like manner I must catch the particular wants and preferences of the other members of the household.

So with buildings of other kinds, the architect is supplied with certain definite conditions to fulfil. Those who are to occupy have, very properly, something to say about the provisions made for them. The architect builds for others, and he must satisfy their wants; and his skill lies in his appreciation of those wants, and the adaptation of the building to meet them.

Many structures are complex in their uses, and occupied by different classes of people. The architect must meet the requirements of all the occupants, or his work will not be a complete success.

It is not enough to provide for those who use the parlor, and forget the kitchen. This is the workshop of the house, and the comfort of the whole family is concerned in its proper arrangement.

It would be a singular mistake to plan a church and forget the convenience of the minister; and yet many a library has been

planned, and apparently the librarian has been left out of the calculation.

Why should the latter omission be more common than the former? Because, in the first place, the minister is on hand when the plans are prepared, and his opinion is given. great weight; while, in the case of a library, frequently there is no librarian selected until after the building is completed.

If all the consultations for the building of a house should be held with the head of the family while his "better-half" is absent, there is great danger that the closets may be too few and too small, and that other domestic arrangements may not be quite in the line of feminine ideas. A library cannot be arranged properly unless the librarian has an important if not a controlling part.

There are two parties to be provided for in a library building the public who patronize. the institution and the administrators who procure and arrange the books and give them

out.

No library is perfect that does not provide for the convenience and comfort of both of these parties. In the old-style building the public was cared for, and the librarian and his assistants left to make the best they could out of the premises; and yet there are strong reasons why the librarian should receive the first and principal attention from the architect, for he spends his life in the library, and an extra step in reaching a book is multiplied many times a day, while on the part of the public there are few who have occasion to enter a library many days in the week, or to stay more than a few minutes at any one time.

Why is it that the librarians have had so little influence on library architecture, that so great an architect as Richardson should have gone on designing museums, and calling them libraries? In a museum the public does its own walking, and the shelves and cases may be arranged in alcoves or galleries, according to the fancy of the architect. There is a charm in wandering about and finding odd specimens in odd corners, and the burden of climbing stairs is sufficiently distributed not to be oppressive to any one. A college library, in which the students are

allowed to take books from the shelves, may be arranged on the museum plan; but, in a public library, where all the books must be brought to one central desk, it is so evident that the convenience of the librarian is of the first importance that we naturally raise the question, Why has the librarian been so slow in asserting his rights?

A result of the increase of library building will be the development of library specialists among the architects. When an architect is employed who has such an acquaintance with librarians and their wants that he can see with their eyes, and present their view of the subject, then it will matter less whether a librarian be present or not when plans are prepared.

The main reason has already been alluded to. He cannot assert himself when he is not there, and when he arrives it is too late. A gentleman of wealth makes a gift for a public library in a town where none has existed before. There will be no library and no librarian until after the completion of the building. In some cases there is a small library, housed, perhaps, in a room that was built for a store or office, and the limited demands for books are easily met by an attendant whose opinions on the subject of library buildings would hardly be worth the asking. Some enterprising citizen starts a subscription, and then comes a new building, new books, and, to crown the achievement, a new librarian,—a real librarian this time, a member of the A. L. A., who enters upon his work with enthusiasm, only to find that in the new building everybody's comfort has been provided for except his own.

Thus it happens that the librarians, singly, have often no chance to control the arrangement of the building which they are to occupy.

If any one is disappointed because I have not told how a library should be arranged, I can only reply that I came here to ask that question rather than to answer it.

I have started out to make a study of library buildings from a librarian's standpoint, and I hope to learn something from this convention. My own contribution to the subject is in the shape of the working drawings for the Hackley Public Library, now building at Muskegon, Mich. The description of this building has already been published, and I will not take your time farther than to say that, in the arrangement of the plan, convenience of administration has been a ruling factor. It has been planned with special reference to the ideas advanced by members of this Association, and therefore it is a matter of no small interest to the designers to know how far the arrangement meets with your approval.

In recent years the librarians have combined to assert their rights in a manner to attract the notice of the public. My own attention was first called to library arrangement by reading an article by Mr. Poole, of Chicago; so that when some five years ago - I received an unexpected order to make designs for a library, my first act was to hunt up that article, and then to follow up the subsequent literature on the subject. The discussions of this Association cannot fail to have a more and more powerful influence upon the architects who are called upon to plan library buildings. When it is seen that the librarians of the country are in substantial agreement upon the main points of arrangement, architects and committees will not dare to ignore their opinions.

Although the librarian has been given his proper position in the consideration of these plans, the architects have not forgotten the demands of the public. The interior of such a building must present a somewhat imposing effect, in order to gain the popular verdict. The book, reading, and delivery rooms are here given a proper degree of separation, and yet the public has an opportunity to see the books and have its appetite whetted by a glimpse at the amplitude of the collection.

The whole building being fire-proof, there is no need of a solid wall between the book and delivery rooms, and therefore large arches have been introduced between the two to make a vista the entire length of the building.

With this much by way of preface, I commit the plans to the tender mercies of your criticism, with the assurance that whatever shortcomings you may find will be corrected "in our next."

For Mr. Patton's prefatory remarks, see PROCEEDINGS (Second session).

REPORT ON LIBRARY ARCHITECTURE.

BY ADDISON VAN NAME, LIBRARIAN OF YALE UNIVERSITY.

and Connecticut follow with about half that number.

Aside from the increase in number, in at least two important points there has been an advance also in the character of the buildings. It is now coming to be the rule, rather than the exception, that the new buildings which are to hold our larger and more valuable libraries, or those plainly destined to become large and valuable, shall be of fire-proof construction. Thirteen of the buildings included in the present report are of this character, and three more have fire-proof bookrooms. In an article on "L Slow-Burning Construction" in the Century for February, 1889, Mr. Edward Atkinson states that in the year 1887, according to the tables compiled by the Chronicle of New York, there were burned within the limits of the United States 126 college buildings and libraries. Our older library buildings are, with very few exceptions, of the ordinary combustible construction, and the danger to which their contents are exposed is of a serious character. It is a point not enough considered by the builders of libraries that, apart from the value of fire-proof construction in increasing the security of the library, it will have no small influence in drawing valuable gifts of books and manuscripts which otherwise might not be entrusted to its keeping. If we regard the increased cost as a premium paid for insurance, there is a fair probability that it will be more than returned in dividends.

IN N the successive reports on new library buildings made to the Association there will be, of necessity, some overlapping. It will seldom happen, in the case of the larger buildings at least, that the planning and the completion both fall within the limits of the same report. No exact parallel can therefore be drawn between the statistics of the twenty months since the date of our last meeting and the two years covered by the preceding report of Mr. Larned. The general result is, however, clear. There has been no falling off, but rather a gain in the number and importance of the new buildings undertaken. As an index of library progress, both in the direction of new libraries established and of enlarged provision for older libraries which had outgrown their limits, the survey, which includes fifty-five buildings completed or under construction and nine more soon to be commenced, is full of encouragement. The total cost will be not less than $10,000,000. Of this sum, it is true, nearly three fourths will be absorbed by two buildings of exceptional magnitude, the Congressional and Boston Public libraries, the expenditure for which will naturally be distributed over several years. But the remaining sum is still large, and it is a most noteworthy fact that at least four fifths of it, or more than $2,000,000, comes from gifts. Of the buildings for public libraries, properly so called, only four, i. e. about one in ten, are erected at public expense. Of the whole number reported, not less than fortytwo are the gifts of single donors. Nobler uses for the employment of wealth than the establishment and endowment of libraries are not easy to find, and we may safely predict that the current which is so strongly setting in this direction will gain in strength year by year.

In the geographical distribution twentythree States are represented. Massachusetts, already far in advance of the others, leads with twelve, and New York, Pennsylvania,

In the enlarged capacity, no less than in the increased security of the new buildings, our library construction is taking on a more permanent character. The present rate of library growth requires a far larger provision for the demands of the future than would have been thought sufficient only a few years ago. We are meeting this in part by larger buildings, some of which are planned with a view to still further enlargement in the future, and in part by improved methods of arrangement which