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ALBANY, N. Y. N. Y. State Library.-The description of the new library-rooms in the Capitol at Albany I shall wisely leave to Mr. Dewey. For the completion of these rooms, which occupy the whole of the third and most of the fourth story of the west front, 300 feet in length, the last legislature appropriated the sum of $143,250, this being in addition to the undivided, but still appreciable, part of $18,000,000, which they had already cost in the rough. That they are rich in all their appointments, even those of us who have not seen them can easily believe; and that so much of practical convenience has been put into them as is consistent with the magnificence of their surroundings and with their conversion to a use for which they were not originally constructed, we have the best assurance in the fact that the work has been directed by Mr. Dewey himself, who was the official adviser, even before he became the official head of the library.

greatly economize the space. The alcove
plan, though attractive, is wasteful and suited
only to collections of a very moderate size.
For our larger libraries but two methods ap-
pear to meet the conditions of the problem
and to unite compactness with the other advan-
tages sought, the stack in some one of its
various forms and Mr. Poole's plan of separate
floors, the shelving being in both cases of the
same height, about seven and one-half feet.
The former uses the whole of the perpendicu-
lar height for books, the latter only the lower
half of each story, reserving the other half for
light and air. This at first sight not only
seems wasteful, but appears also to involve
double the amount of climbing. The stack,
however, is necessarily narrower than the sep-
arate floors, which, having better light, admit
of greater width, so that two floors will hold
as many books as three tiers of stack and
necessitate not a foot more of climbing.
Where the stack is carried higher than three
tiers, there is a slight advantage in its favor;
but in all the high stacks, thus far constructed
at least, there are counterbalancing disadvan-
tages. Unquestionably, however, the stack is
at present the more popular. We find in the
new buildings every variety of form from the
"low" stack of two or three tiers to the
"high" stack of six tiers (Boston Public
Library), seven tiers (Cornell University), and
even nine tiers (Library of Congress); and to
these must be added the "broad" type of the
University of Pennsylvania. If the stack is
to become the prevailing form of library con-
struction (which it seems to me too early yet
to assume), it is a fortunate circumstance that
its possibilities will be so thoroughly tested
in the buildings now under construction and
the merits and defects of each form brought
to light. And by such practical tests also will
the question of the general merits of the stack
and the separate floor plans be determined,
for it is hardly possible that either should be
under all circumstances the best.

ALLEGHENY, PA. Carnegie Library.- Details of the plan were given in Mr. Larned's report, and it is necessary only to add that the building will be completed this fall.

With these general remarks I pass to a brief survey of the new buildings, many of which have already been described in the pages of the Library journal, and therefore need the briefer mention here.

ASHBURNHAM, MASS. The town of Ashburnham is to receive, by will of G. F. Stevens, a lot of land for the site of a public library, and $10,000 for erecting and furnishing a building, which must be finished within one year of the reception of the bequest.-Library journal, Feb., 1888.

ASHFIELD, MASS. Sanderson Acad.-Through the generosity of the late J. W. Field, of Chicago, and his widow, who carries out his wishes, a $10,000 library building and new home for the academy will be completed this fall [1888]. — Library journal, Sept., 1888.

BALTIMORE, M. D. Enoch Pratt Free Library. -Mr. Pratt has rounded out his munificent gift to the city of Baltimore by the erection of a fifth and last branch opened Nov. 5, 1888, in the northeastern part of the city. It is uniform in style and plan with the branches previously built, being of one story, 40 x 70 feet, with a high and well-lighted basement. The material is pressed brick with stone trimmings. At the end of the hall, which is a high, open-timbered room, finished to the roof, is the delivery counter. Opening out of the hall is an ample and well-lighted readingroom. The separating partition, which, above the wainscoting, is of opaque glass, reaches only as

high as the side walls, and allows free circulation of light and air above. The bookroom, with shelving for 15,000 volumes, and the librarian's room are in the rear. The cost of the branches, exclusive of the land, is about $13,000 each. The main building, costing apart from the lot $185,000, is described in Mr. Larned's report.

BARRINGTON, R. I. Public Library. A building containing town hall, public library, and high school was dedicated Dec. 12, 1888. For this is claimed the honor of being the first free public library in the State of Rhode Island erected and supported by the citizens assessing themselves for this object. From the Providence Journal of December 13 I extract the following details: The architects are Stone, Carpenter, and Wilson, of Providence. The style fifteenth century, English, of the half-timber construction. The basement and first story are built of undressed, moss-covered stones from the neighboring fields; the upper story of timber, with the intervening spaces filled with plaster and pebbles. The library occupies one end of the building, and contains a readingroom, 22 x 28 feet, with a large bay window and an open fireplace, a bookroom, 20 x 36 feet, and a librarian's room, 7 x 12 feet. The cost of the building was a little less than $20,000.

BELFAST, ME. Belfast Free Library. This building is described and illustrated in the Library journal, August, 1888. A bequest of $20,000 from Paul Richards Hazeltine, of Belfast, provided for the erection of the building, at a cost of $11,000, and for a permanent fund of $9,000. The building is of one story, 54 x 27 feet, built of red granite trimmed with gray granite, and strictly fire-proof. The bookroom, 26 x 27 feet, is arranged in alcoves, with a capacity of 14,000 volumes. It was completed in November, 1887, and opened to the public in April, 1888. Julius Munchwitz, of New York, was the architect.

BOSTON, MASS. Boston Athenæum. The additional bookroom, which had become a necessity, has been obtained, not altogether, as I gather, in the way our President, Mr. Cutter, would have chosen, by contracting the space occupied by the roomy vestibule and staircase. Three bookrooms have thus been gained, one on each floor, with a total capacity of 70,000 volumes. In the two lower rooms have been placed iron stacks of two tiers each, on the third floor a stack of one tier. Incandescent lights with a flexible attachment will facili

tate the finding of books on dark days. Other improvements have also been made. The roof, which was a source of danger, has been made fireproof; and a system of heating by hot water has been substituted for the hot-air furnaces. The cost of these various improvements was about $35,000.

BOSTON, MASS. Public Library. I may safely assume that the members of the Association are familiar enough with the plans of the monumental building, given in the Library journal for March, 1889, and more fully in the Amer. Architect and Building News, May 26 and June 9, 1888, to make it unnecessary to enter into details here. We shall all, no doubt, agree that, in view of its past and present rate of growth, the provision made for the future wants of the library is rather too small than too great, further extension of the building being apparently impossible; and that, in architectural effect, the exterior is fine and the reading-room magnificent. A general discussion of the plan is, of course, beyond my province, but the stack is of so unusual a construction as to demand attention. It occupies nearly one half of the building, reaching across the rear and half-way down the sides, and is six stories in height, with a capacity of something more than 1,000,000 volumes. The window space, both in amount and distribution, is such as to be plainly not equal to the lighting of the stack, and the following communication from the architects shows that it was not intended to be. They say that 'from the start it has been the intention of the Trustees to depend upon artificial light for the illumination of the stacks, making the latter as much as possible a place of safe deposit." Of course the use of the electric light makes it possible to reckon without the aid of the sun; but most librarians, I am sure, will agree with me in thinking it undesirable. To ventilate the stack, rising, as it does, solidly from the ground to the upper floor-reserved for special collections - with no free-air space above And it, will not be easy, even by artificial means. finally, the position of the delivery desk at one end, or rather fifty feet away from the end, of a stack which has a total length of more than 300 feet, is one of the unhappy, but unavoidable, necessities of the present plan.

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The estimated cost of the building is $1,175,000, in addition to $180,000 paid for land. The foundation is already in, and bids are to be received May 11 for the completion of the building, which is expected to require three years.

52 x 27 feet, cataloguing-room 12 x 37 feet, and also a "memorial-room" 40 x 20 feet, designed to hold books and other mementos of persons whose names are associated with the history of Cambridge. In the rear, shut off by a fire wall, is a stack of three or four tiers, 35 feet broad and 85 feet long, estimated to hold 172,000 volumes and capable of further extension. The cost of the building, exclusive of the lot, which is also the gift of Mr. Rindge, is about $65,000.

CANAAN, CONN. Douglas Library.- A brick library building, 20 x 30 feet, the gift of Edmund G. Lawrence, was completed in November, 1888. It has shelves for 2,500 volumes.

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. Public Library. The new building, described with illustrations in the Library journal for December, 1887, will be completed this summer. The donor is Frederick H. Rindge, formerly of Cambridge, but now living in California, and the architects, Van Brunt & Howe, who have recently removed their main office to Kansas City. The building is of stone, of one story, and in the Romanesque style. The main part, 130 feet front by 40 feet deep, contains a delivery-room about 31 feet square, reading-room

DEDHAM, MASS. Public Library. The seventeenth annual report of the library contains a cut and description of the new building opened Nov. 22, 1888. The funds for its erection, $30,000 for the building and $5,000 for the lot, were provided by two legacies of $10,000 each, from John Bullard, of New York, and Hannah Shuttleworth, with smaller contributions from other sources. The building is constructed of pink Dedham granite, quarry faced, with brownstone trimmings. The architects were Howe & Van Brunt, and, as in most of their library buildings, the bookroom is a stack, fire-proof, 23 x 33 feet, and 30 feet high, containing three tiers, and having a capacity of 28,800 volumes. Other rooms on the first floor are the delivery-room, 121⁄2 x 24 feet, reading-room 23 x 39 feet, and librarian's room, 12 x 23 feet.

fund by $7,000 (the value of the books being charged to the book fund), and permitted the erection of an attractive and convenient building, costing $18,500. The architect is C. C. Yost, of Minneapolis; the material, brick and terra cotta on a stone foundation. The extreme dimensions are 60 x 70 feet. The bookroom, which alone is fireproof, has a present capacity of 20,000 volumes, shelved in wall and floor cases, and is planned with a view to future extension. In the second story is an audience-room, seating 300. The building was dedicated Nov. 20, 1888.

LEAVENWORTH, KAN. Ward Memorial Library, Western Branch National Military Home.- A library building costing $15,000, the gift of Horatio Ward, was completed Jan. 1, 1889. It is of brick, with stone coping; dimensions, 40 x 120 feet. The bookroom, 40 x 80 feet, is arranged on the alcove plan. E. T. Carr, of Leavenworth, was the architect.

LA CROSSE, WIS. Public Library. Of the $50,000 bequeathed by the late Cadwallader C. Washburn for the establishment of a public library, only $12,500 could, by the terms of the will, be used for the building. The gift by the Young Men's Library Association of $2,000 in money, and books valued at $5,000, increased the building