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practicable that a room for the storage of books, even if light be taken in on both sides, should be more than fifty feet wide; for it is found that side-light, at a greater distance than twenty-five feet from the windows, becomes too feeble for library use. The rule by which the capacity of any room shelved in this manner may be estimated, is to multiply the area of the floor, in square feet, by twenty-five; and the result will be the number of volumes the room will contain. It is assumed in this statement that the size of the volumes will conform to the usual average of size found in general libraries of this class. The rule would need to be modified if applied to a library which had an unusual proportion of folios and quartos; and, on the other hand, to one having only octavos, twelvemos, and sixteenmos.

We will assume, for our purpose, thirty-two feet as the size of the initial square already described. The left transept and chancel would then be each 32 X 16 feet, and the right transept 40 X 16 feet. Six feet being added to the initial square, as shown on the plan, the book capacity of the room "A," by the rule just stated, would be in volumes as follows: 32 X 38 = 1,186 × 25 = 29,650 volumes. The works in bibliography shelved in the librarian's room, and the choicer books shelved in the directors' room, will bring the capacity up to 30,000 volumes, which was the number we proposed to provide for.

The librarian's room, 12 X 16 feet, is indicated on the plan by the letter "B"; the reference-room, 20 X 16 feet, by "C"; the readingroom for periodicals and newspapers, 32 X 22 feet, by "D"; the delivery-room, 32 X 20 feet, by "E"; the ladies' reference-room, 16 x 12 feet, by "F"; and the directors' room, 20 X 10 feet, by "G.”

The light in the book-room, “ A,” is taken in by windows above a row of wall-cases which extend around the room. All the other windows of the building will be of the usual length. The wall-cases are eight feet high, have a ledge three feet six inches from the floor, are fifteen inches deep below the ledge, and nine inches deep above the ledge. The wall-cases are for shelving folios and quartos. Octavos (including royal octavos), twelvemos,

and smaller volumes are shelved in cases standing free of the walls, as indicated in the plan, open on both sides, and without doors or glass fronts. These cases are also eight feet high, and books on the upper shelf can be reached by a person of full stature without step or ladder. They are sixteen inches wide (the base, being two inches wider), and are divided lengthwise through the middle by a half-inch partition, which serves to stiffen the cases and prevents them from spreading laterally under the weight of books The depth of the shelves, therefore, is seven and a half inches, which is enough for a royal octavo volume. It is a waste of expense and a waste of floor-space, to make double cases more than sixteen inches wide. Cases much wider may be seen at the branches of the Boston Public Library, the Roxbury Athenæum, and elsewhere. The material of the cases and the shelves should be ash, or some wood harder than pine; and no paint should be used in the finish. The shelves, which should be three feet, and not be more than three and a half feet, in length, are movable, and are supported on pins made of hickory or other hard wood. The head of the pin is put out of the way by being cut into the under side of the shelf. The sharp edges on the front of the shelves should be taken off; for if allowed to remain they will cut the bindings. Cases with movable shelves cost no more than cases with fixed shelves, if made by contractors who have machinery for boring the holes and making the pins. In this plan the central bookcases are ten feet in length, and stand three feet apart. The side aisles between them and the wall cases are three feet wide, and the centre aisle is three and a half feet wide. Filling up the centre aisle by lengthening the cases would increase the shelving capacity of the room 3,700 volumes.

The counters, where books are given out to borrowers, and the desk where books are returned, separate the delivery-room, “E,” from the book-room, and cut off the public from

1 In my paper on the "Organization and Management of Public Libraries," in the U.S. Bureau of Education's "Report on Public Libraries," 1876, p. 485, will be found working drawings, and a full description of these cases.

access to the bookcases. The counters are two feet wide and the desk three feet wide and six feet long. In a library of this size one window, or opening in front of the desk, is enough for receiving books; but in libraries of large circulation a double desk, twelve feet long, and two windows, are needed - the men being served at one, and the women at the other. With this arrangement men receive books at one counter and women at the other counter. The slips for the books they borrow are kept in separate boxes on the desk, so that two persons can work at the same time in receiving books. The slips are readily separated, as the registry number of men (which appears on the slip) is always an odd number, and the registry number of women is an even number. This is the system in use at the Chicago Public Library where the daily average circulation is about 2,000 volumes, and on some days runs up to 3,600. This number of books could not be taken in at one window. We have, besides, a juvenile desk and counter where the young people are served. With these facilities we are able to meet the largest demands made in the circulating department.

It will be seen that the librarian's room, "B," communicates directly with the bookroom. Here will be shelved the bibliographical books, and here the cataloguing of the library will be done. In a larger library a separate room for cataloguing is needed; but it is not required in a library of this size. A room which we call "the shop" is also needed, where books may be unpacked, mended, relabeled, scheduled for the binder, and, after being catalogued, prepared for the shelves. A room for this work may be fitted up in the basement, if it be light and dry; and some of this work may be done at tables in the rear of the bookcases. It will not be necessary to put in all the bookcases shown in the plan until they are needed, and until that time arrives, there will be space for tables in the rear of the bookcases.

The general reference-room," C," where books may be studied on the premises, is adjacent to the book-room, and readers have easy access to the attendants. It is a question whether some books of reference, such as one or more ency

clopædias, and a few dictionaries of biography, art, and science, may be shelved in the reference-room, and made accessible to readers without application to the attendants. Will the books be safe? In some communities, where the readers are not many and are personally known to the attendants, they might be safe; but in larger communities, where not one reader in ten is known by the attendants, the books will, if they are made thus accessible, mysteriously disappear. That has been our experience in Chicago, and hence we require a written application signed by the true name of the applicant, and giving his or her residence, for every book used at the reference tables. These applications are kept in pigeon-holes, as a voucher for the book or books, and are canceled when the books are returned to the attendant's desk.

The reading-room, "D," is for the use of periodicals and newspapers. It is still an open question whether it is advisable to furnish newspapers which give simply the current news of the day. The argument in favor of furnishing newspapers is that they bring many persons to the library who would not otherwise come; and that these readers learn in time to make a better use of their opportunities. The argument against the custom is, that newspapers take up a good deal of space; that they are so common in the community and cheap that libraries need not provide them; and that in cities and large towns they bring a class of readers who, in their dress, manners, and habits of personal cleanliness are repulsive to the average frequenters of the library. Every library, however, should take and bind its local newspapers. The general practice, nevertheless, in the Western States, is to furnish a liberal supply of newspapers. The best method of keeping them is on stands, and if the space be limited some of them must be kept on files. The current numbers of periodicals are safe in some libraries if they are kept in racks on the reading tables. In other libraries they would be stolen. If a large number of periodicals be taken and placed on the reading tables, it is difficult for a person to find the one he is looking for. In the larger libraries it is therefore the safest method, and the one most conven

ient for readers, to keep periodicals in pigeonholes behind the counter, which are numbered, and that they be applied for by their numbers, the applicant writing on the slip handed in his name and residence. The application slip is kept in the pigeon-hole from whence the periodical came, until it is returned, and then this slip is canceled.

The delivery-room, "E," the ladies' reference-room, "F," and the directors' room, "G," are so clearly shown on the plan as to require no further explanation. The light in the delivery-room will be ample, as the partitions or screens between it and the reading and reference rooms are only five and a half feet high.

With nearly every new board of directors or trustees there is a feeling that a separate reference-room for ladies is needed; and it is in deference to this sentiment that I have designated such a room. My experience teaches that this want, so far as it relates to any scholarly purpose on the part of the ladies, is purely imaginary. Ladies who come to a library for study prefer to use the general reference-room, where they can be near the books and can consult with the employés of the library for the help they need. They have no objection to sitting at a table in a well-regulated room, even though a gentleman may be reading at a table near them. The class of ladies who would be especially accommodated by a separate reference-room would use it for other purposes than study. Some years ago, in assigning rooms in the new Public Library building in Cincinnati, one was set aside as the ladies' reference-room. It soon became a rendezvous for social purposes, and was used by the persons who frequented it for talking over society matters and exhibiting the bargains they had made in their shopping excursions. The experiment of furnishing these accommodations was not thought to be a success, and the room was assigned to another purpose. At Chicago, by the wish of the directors, the experiment was again tried; and, as the ladies who came for study did not use the room, it was given

up.

Whenever it is deemed advisable the space on the plan allotted to the ladies' reference

room can be added to the general reference

room.

I have remarked that an essential feature in the plan of a library building is that it can be enlarged without disturbing its architectural symmetry, or requiring its internal arrangements to be changed. This plan admits of enlargement by several methods which will suggest themselves to any competent architect. The book-room may be extended in length, say thirty-two feet, and this addition brought out to the right and left in line with the transepts. This addition will increase the capacity of the book-room threefold, and the æsthetic features of the building will be improved. Again, the left transept may be extended to any distance required, and, turning at a right angle, be extended parallel to the book-room. Before, however, any addition is made to the structure the reading and reference rooms may be removed to the second story, and the space vacated be given to bookcases. This change will increase the book capacity of the floor nearly 30,000 volumes. The desk and counters will be placed at a right angle to their present position

the desk facing the main entrance, and the rear of the counters standing about ten feet from the line of the present reference-rooms.

I shall speak only in general terms of the cost of a building erected on this plan. A stone building of two stories, with tasteful elevations, an interior of hard-wood finish and of practically fire-proof construction (as already explained), and with such details of taste, ornamentation, and convenience as belong to a first-class structure, will cost $50,000. A one-story stone building on this ground plan, without hard-wood finish or fire-proof construction, can be built for $15,000. The size may be reduced, a cheaper material than stone may be adopted, some of the rooms may be left out, and other modifications be made in the details which will further reduce the cost. A local architect, who has all the conditions of the problem before him, is the person to be consulted with reference to cost.

I will detain you no longer; and, if any points have been omitted upon which I ought to have spoken, they will appear in the discussion which is to follow.

REPORT ON CLASSIFICATION, 1883-85.

BY W. C. LANE, HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY.

INCE the last meeting of the Association

SINCE

two new systems of classification and notation have been proposed, in the pages of the Library journal, by Mr. Larned and Mr. Schwartz respectively.

I will attempt to point out briefly their main points, as they form the latest additions to the long list of proposed schemes of classification and notation.

On Mr. Schwartz's system it is too soon to form a final judgment, as but seven of its main divisions are yet published, and further explanations and remarks may be expected from its author. Its general plan, however, is plain. A decimal system of division is employed, similar to the Dewey notation; the whole ground is mapped out into nine classes, and each of these is divided into nine sub-classes, the numbers of the possible tenth sub-class being very ingeniously used for folios and quartos, with the disadvantage, however, of separating these widely from the corresponding smaller books. Each sub-class is divided into ten sections, the ultimate subdivisions, which are thus 810 in number. All subdivisions, great and small, stand in their own series in alphabetical order, and the names are so chosen, when possible, that the same initial letter shall be regularly represented by the same figure, thus introducing a mnemonic element. Mr. Schwartz considers this an important part of his scheme, . but it may be doubted whether it contributes any substantial advantage, while it can only increase the limitations on free classification inherent in a decimal system. In working out the details of his scheme Mr. Schwartz starts with the principle (in which every one will not agree with him) that the subdivisions should be arranged everywhere to make proportioned and balanced divisions of books rather than of subjects," i.e., each section is to contain approximately the same number of books and cover the same amount of shelf-room, and

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subjects about which little has been written must be lumped together to make sections of sufficient size. The provision for book-numbers permits of only a very imperfect alphabetical arrangement within the sections, but this is a matter which many librarians consider unimportant. For a small library, where no minute classification is desired, the system promises to be one easily managed, with well-chosen subdivisions as far as they go, and a simple notation; but for a large library, or for one where a complete classification is wanted, it would be inadequate.

Mr. Larned's proposed new system of notation (it is not distinctly a new classification) uses only letters to make its class-numbers, and seems somewhat cumbrous to one who is used to a simpler figure-system. Such combinations of letters only are used as make definite syllables, thus giving them a familiar air, and making it possible to pronounce the signs, the advantage of which would be greater if our alphabet were more perfectly phonetic. Its chief merit, and the point wherein it differs from all other notations, is in providing two perfectly distinct series of letter-combinations. To one of these Mr. Larned assigns a geographical significance, each syllable always meaning the same country or place and having no other signification; while the second series is used as the nomenclature for all the other subject divisions. In combining the syllables of one series with those of the other either can be made subordinate to the other according to the order in which they are placed. In those departments of literature where a geographical division should predominate (in Mr. Larned's opinion, History and Geography in the widest. sense, Language and Belles-Lettres), the geographical syllable is placed first in the combination, and is successively followed by a regular sequence of syllables denoting the different subdivisions of History and its related subjects,

and of Language and Belles-Lettres, thus bringing together everything in these classes connected with one country before passing on to another. In other classes, where a geographical division is a secondary matter, the subjectsyllables are used, — alone in those cases which admit of no geographical division, or with the country syllables added where a division by countries is desirable. The classes Society, Philosophy, and History are the only ones for which Mr. Larned has published a detailed classification; but Mr. Carr has worked out and published a scheme for the Book Arts on the same principle. It may, perhaps, be doubted whether the notation in just its present form will be actually adopted in any library; indeed, Mr. Larned has published it as a preliminary sketch to be worked over and developed. Its main idea, however, is a very happy one and of distinct value.

A third important addition to the classification-literature of the year is Mr. Dewey's revised and enlarged edition of his "Decimal Classification." As the proof-sheets were handed to me only yesterday I cannot attempt to give any detailed account of it, or to point out its excellences and defects; like every classification it has both. The new edition makes a book of over 300 pages, including an introduction of some 60 pages, and a very complete and elaborate index of over 80. As one looks over the pages one is impressed, first, and most of all, with the immense labor involved in its preparation; the patient seeking after all possible subjects in the attempt to cover the whole ground, and the admirable system and uniformity running through the whole.

The enlargement which has been made over the first edition consists in further subdivision of the classification, by the addition of another figure throughout, and two or three figures in some parts, thus multiplying the subdivisions potentially by ten, one hundred, or a thousand. I would suggest but two criticisms, in passing. In looking over the pages it strikes one that, in general, all, or very nearly all, the subdivisions of each grade have had subjects assigned to them; that is, that little room has been left for new subjects, or for such as have escaped the

vigilance of the compiler, and there must be many such subjects, notwithstanding all possible pains.

The other criticism that I would make is on the predominance of the geographical arrangement over the alphabetical, in some cases where the latter would undoubtedly add much to convenience. This is perhaps a failing incident to the general plan. For example, the local histories of Massachusetts towns are divided by counties. Whether they are arranged alphabetically within the counties the scheme does not state: one would suppose that they would be. At any rate, if I want to find a history of Lenox, I shall be fortunate if I remember what county it is in; as, if I do not, I shall have to consult a gazetteer before looking in the catalogue, or going to the shelves. The case is still worse when we come to foreign countries, as there is scarcely one chance in a hundred that I shall know in what departement of France Bordeaux is situated; yet this must be ascertained before I can discover whether the library has anything on its history. If some way could be found conveniently to combine an alphabetical distribution of minor topics in certain cases of this kind, with the general plan of the classification, the inventor would greatly increase its efficiency and convenience.

The index is very full, and arranged with admirable clearness; it includes all words or names used as subject-divisions, even personal and place names, and names of zoological and botanical orders.

A few divisions of the classification have not yet been worked out, and the index will be kept standing in type until these are completed, and in order that suggestions and additions can be received from outside.

It is to be hoped that Mr. Dewey will give us some account of his methods of work in expanding his classification, and some idea of how far it has been in the hands and under the revision of specialists.

I now pass on to speak of another subject closely connected with classification, and properly included under it,— namely, notation (i.e., the system of shelf-marks employed to number the books according to the subdivisions of the classification) —and in particular of the diffi

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