library buildings has been used, and, on request, three plans have been lent in Indiana and thirty plans in Iowa.

Sample copies of the Association's and the Publishing Board's publications have been sent for exhibit at four state library association meetings. A number of library workers have kept their names on file at the office for positions, and library boards have written to the office frequently in regard to securing workers.

While the Association aims to be of direct benefit to librarians and library trustees, its work is of interest to teachers also. Teachers are extended a cordial invitation to call at the executive office and to confer concerning publications in which they may be interested.

Among the Association's publications which may be of interest to Chicago teachers are:

A. L. A. Book-List. An annotated list of current books suitable for small libraries. Brief critical and descriptive notes characterize the books listed. The book list is printed monthly except during July and August. A. L. A. Portrait Index, which is an index to portraits contained in printed books and periodicals. It includes about 120,000 references to more than 6,000 volumes.

A. L. A. Catalog. A catalog of 8,000 volumes, suitable for a popular library. It is designed as a guide in buying books for public or private libraries; as a guide to readers in choosing books; it gives assistance in answering inquiries for the best book on a given subject.

Guide to Reference Books. Designed to help college and normal school students, teachers, library assistants, etc., in gaining a knowledge of reference books quickly. It also serves as a guide to the selection of reference books for a library.

Other books and pamphlets which may be seen at the executive office include books on English and American history, literature of American history, reading for the young, children's reading, lists of books in foreign languages, and books to assist in administering libraries.

There is a small collection of books in good bindings which may be examined, also a collection of photographs of library buildings and interiors, showing children's, reference, and other rooms in American libraries.

Secretary American Library Association,

Chicago, Illinois.

CHALMERS HADLEY.

T

The Newberry Library

IS not an easy task to describe satisfactorily the varied contents and myriad uses to which a library of a quarter of a million volumes may be put. The needs and requests of readers are as different as the individuals themselves are different in personal appearance. In this brief paper, I have, therefore, limited myself to such facts concerning the scope and contents of the Newberry Library as I thought would be of interest primarily to the teachers of the city, and have indicated a few directions in which it can be of service to them, to their work, and to their pupils.

The Newberry Library is a free library of reference, established in 1887, and maintained by a moiety of the estate of Walter Loomis Newberry, a pioneer merchant of Chicago who died in 1868.

The organization and formation of the Library began in in 1887 under the direction of the then sole trustees, the Hon. E. W. Blatchford, LL. D., and Judge W. H. Bradley, LL. D. The purchase of books was commenced in August of that year. On January 1, 1910, the Library contained a total of 257,342 books, pamphlets, and other pieces of literary material. It is of interest to remember that the imposing and beautiful building in which the Library is housed stands on the site of the historic Ogden House, the one building in the fire district which escaped destruction in the great conflagration of 1871.

The original plans contemplated the gathering of a general reference collection of books on all subjects. Later plans modified this intent. By arrangement with the trustees of the John Crerar Library the field of knowledge was divided and Science and Useful Arts omitted from the scope of the Newberry Library. The principal divisions of knowledge which the Newberry Library aims to develop to the fullest extent of its book-income are: Bibliography, Religion, Philosophy and Psychology, Social and Political Science, History, Geography, Biography, Language, Literature, and

the Fine Arts. In subjects outside these special fields it provides good working collections of encyclopedias, compends, handbooks, and general treatises.

The departments of History, Biography, and Travel are especially strong and full, and notably so in American history. The splendid private collection of Mr. Edward E. Ayer may also be consulted at the Library. Its contents cover the entire history, character, manners and customs, arts and crafts, myths, religions, and languages of the North American Indians. It also includes a wonderful collection of Indian drawings on maguey paper and skins, portraits of Indians, engravings, photographs, water-colors, etc., illustrating Indian life, costume, and manners. The history of the Hawaiian and the Philippine Islands is similarly treated in this unique collection of material.

In the Bibliographical Museum there is always an attractive display of book and manuscript treasures of great rarity. Students may here trace the whole progress of the various book arts, printing, illustrating, binding, etc., in superb examples, dating from the origin of printing to the present day.

The majority of the books are, naturally, mainly intended for the use of adult readers, scholars, and investigators. There is, however, a very considerable amonut of material which is suited to the needs and capacities of pupils of the high schools and private fitting schools, and the Library invites and welcomes the fullest use of this material by such students.

Including, as it does, the whole field of education within the scope of its purchases, this Library offers exceptional opportunities for the teachers as well as the taught. Altogether, a total of some 9,000 volumes are classified under the head of Education, and form an excellent collection of authoritative works for the teachers desirous of studying the past or present history, conditions and tendencies, theory, practice, and methods of Education. Current pedagogical discussion and affairs may be followed in the best journals. and periodicals, American and European, devoted to teaching and education. In addition to the literature relating to his profession, the teacher will find at the Newberry Library

ample facilities for keeping abreast of the subjects he is engaged in teaching, if these fall within the scope of the Library. The teachers of history, literature, ancient and modern languages, economics, civics and government, music, and art have at their disposal splendid resources for reference and study.

The first requisite for establishing helpful relations between schools and libraries is for the teachers and the library officials to become personally acquainted and learn, at first hand, what the one wants and what the other can supply. Speaking generally, the pupils come to the Library for material wanted (1) as supplementary or collateral reading in connection with their courses in history, English literature, etc., (2) for debates, and (3) for essays and compositions on assigned topics and themes. It is, in my opinion, extremely important that the books used at the Library should really complement those used in the school and be suited, as nearly as possible, to the students' intellectual capacities. The teachers know their pupils far better than it is possible for the librarians to know them. The teacher should, therefore, aid in the selection of the books and articles which are to be used at the library by his or her pupils. When the selection is made the material may be set aside on special tables or in special bookcases and remain separate from other books during the time it is likely to be wanted for school purposes. Typewritten lists of the books so selected may be made for the teacher, so that the pupil can be given, in the class-room, the exact titles of the books which he is expected to consult at the library. Simple as these suggestions are, their being put into actual practice would result in a great saving of time for pupils and library officials, and in satisfactory results from the standpoint of the teacher. The teacher knows that the right books have been selected, the pupil goes to the library knowing exactly what he is to ask for, and the library officials have his material ready and waiting for him.

Arrangements such as these may be made at any time with the Library by teachers who wish their classes to make use of its books. Personal conferences between teacher and librarian would, undoubtedly, suggest other ways and means whereby the Library staff may aid and supplement the work

of the school. The topics for debate which pupils bring to libraries are very often so phrased or of such a nature that it is impossible to give the debaters satisfactory books and articles. Teachers should certainly take a hand in choosing suitable debating subjects, and it would be well if, before choosing them, they first make inquiries at the Library as to the likelihood of securing suitable material. This winter a 15 year-old boy was seeking affirmative arguments for the proposition: Resolved, That an income tax could not be collected in the United States. Such hardy perennials as, Resolved, That George Washington was a greater man than Julius Caesar, and, Resolved, That Napoleon was a greater general than Wellington, are always with us, causing despair to librarians and disappointment to the young people, who feel sure there must be a book on their side of the question, and who are naturally too immature as yet to think out for themselves an independent line of reasoning in support of the negative or affirmative position on such trying and really futile topics. Let proper subjects be chosen after consultation with the reference librarians and a survey of the material actually available on the shelves.

A phase of library activity which has in it large possibilities in the way of direct educational benefit is the systematic display of pictorial, illustrated, and printed material on particular subjects, topics, or themes. An English librarian has well said, "One of the most effective ways of introducing books to the public is by exhibiting them." In my opinion it is just as much the duty of a library to make studied, organised, systematic, and well-labeled exhibitions of its printed and pictorial material as it is the duty of a Natural History Museum to arrange and display its collections of objects and specimens gathered from the realm of Nature.

In an address delivered before the National Educational Association in 1905, Mr. F. J. V. Skiff, the accomplished Director of the Field Museum of Natural History, described succinctly the educational value of objective illustration. He said: "Illustration is a most potent factor and has come to be an essential feature in all publications. The material on exhibition in a Museum is, to the student, young or old, what the illustrations in the periodical are to the reader.