The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1885-11-06

mand, may De regarded as very
creditable collection.
The four thousand books consti-
tuting the library at the present time
are distributed among the different
classes as follows:-
No. of Vols.
History Biography, Voyages and
travels. ........... ...... ....l.02
Arts, Useful and Ornamental. 105
Fiction. ............. ............ 915
General Literature, Poetry, Drama
and bound periodicals. .......... 769
Mental and Moral Science. Govern
ment, Social Science and Educa-
ton. .......... ............... VI
Natural Science, including medi-
cine. etc.,. ........ ......... l9U
Religion and Theology. 1852
Reference Department. ........... 545
Totali....... 80. ........... 1000
1t will be seen from the above
that although the library is in many
respects very good one for it's size,
it is in some particulars very ill
assorted, especially with reference
to the wants of the reading public
of the present day. No feature of
the intellectual life of our own time
is more marked and conspicuous
than the Importance which is being
attached to the natural sciences,
theoretical and applied, and to the
useful and ornamental arts. Yet in
the whole of our art department,
comprising architecture, agriculture,
engineering, domestic and house
hold arts, the so-called fine arts and
decoration, we have only 105 volumes
and large part of these are bound
volumes of agricultural journals,
most of which possess but little in
terest for this time and place; while
our scientific department, though
not quite as badly off, is very small
in proportion to the whole library
and entirely inadequate to present
requirements. No blame attaches
to any one for this state of things
which is due simply to the fact that
a majority of our books being OBJ
tanned by gift and not by purchase,
represent the ideas and inclinations
of the donors rather than the wants
of the institution or the judgment of
it's officers. Notwithstanding these
drawbacks the general character of
our books may be regarded as very
good and in some respects especially
valuable. In view of the above
mentioned facts it is recommended
that such funds as may be available
for the purchase of books during
the coming year be devoted mainly
to strengthening those departments
which are now most deficient. During
the year the association has received
gifts of large quantities of unbound
periodicals of various kind. Owing
partly to the lack of funds and
partly to the fact that the volumes
aud sets were in most instances in
complete, none of these have been
bound. They have, however, been
arranged in bundles according to
years or volumes and the contents
of each bundle plainly marked on a
tag attached thereto. They are
thus readily available for persons
wishing to consult them and Poole's
Iudex of Periodical Literature which
has been recently added to the re-
ference library furnishes full tables
of their contents.
The reading room is at the present
time supplied with 40 newspapers
and periodicals, of which 5 are pub.
lished in this country, 36 are from
the United States, from Great
Britain and 3 from the British
Colonies.
OF the above total, 35 are sub
scribed and paid for by the associa-
ton and 10 are furnished by various
individuals.
We submit herewith n memoran-
dunn marked .Appendic b, which
gives full details concerning the
regular supplies of the reading
room.
Recognizing the liberal support
thus far received from the public, it
is our desire to enlarge the range OF
the associations usefulness as far
and as fast as possible, administer
ing its affairs in the most liberal
manner consistent with the paying
of current expenses, and having al
ways in mind the ultimate purpose
of making it in name and in fact
free. In pursuance of this idea,