The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1893-04-22
volumes called for at the rotunda desk.


ricor AND shelf where the desired book
is catalogued, and an assistant on duty
there will speedily transmit it to the
librarian, who will deliver it to the
waiting applicant It is a regular rapid
transit system, and will probably be
improved by new devices as soon as the
building is in charge of the librarian,
and all of his treasures are collected
about him Librarian Spofford is grow
ing gray. but his ambition is to live
until his gathered literary businesses
are properly housed, catalogued and
cared for by trained attendants.
1t is the present intention of the
architect and of the librarian to have
the reading public accommodated in the
rotunda, with c%oncentric circles of
desks; but it will be necessary ulti-
mately to furnish additional room for
this purpose. The congressional Ii
brary is not ~patronized now, as it will
be when the books can be readily ac-
cessible. At present, applicants some
times have to wait an hour or more for
books and other documents. on account
OF the crowded condition of the IL
brary in the capitol. In the new build
ing, with the rapid transit system.
there will be upwards of five hundred
reference readers there every day, and
that number will constantly increase.
Additional room for readers will be
made, when such space is demanded;
for the entire ediice has been planned
and constructed for the future as well
as for the present. Of course, we know
that "of the making of books there is
no end" and with the growth of intel
llgence and literary ambition in the
world there will be more and more maxi
ing OF books. But it will probably be
at least a century before there will be
the slightest crowding for shelf room
in the new building. To begin with,
shelf room has been provided for 1,s0o,-
900 volumes, which is a third more than
are now owned by the congressional
library. Space has been also provided for
2, roo, 900 more, when it becomes neces-
isary to place the shelves in position, but
that will not be in our day and genera
ton.
This arrangement provides for a total
IA 1,JOO,OOU FO1uLlCSy dIu. when oil EldL
space has been filed, some time about
two hundred years hence, there is to be
space provided in the court yards, where
an additional million volumes NAV be
shelved. These books are not merely
to be stored in the building in a helter-
SHELTER manner, as they are now in the
old library, but every book will be
nrnnorlr notaiOrroA ord ro,I;Jr- noncz
sible.
There will never be a fire which will
destroy any of these books, nor any
portion of the great building, which is
wholly fre-proof. Metallic shelves will
be used, and books will not burn, al |
though they may shoulder under in
tense heat. The great iron stacks of
shelves will be filed with books. stand
ing face to face, SO that between them
there may be roo for the free passage
of sufficient air to keep them dry and
fresh in appearance. Light, which is
as essential for books as for their read
ers, will be furnished the rotunda by
great glass windows all around the
roof. Moreover, the wall spaces be-
tween the iron stacks will be of glass.
The court yards will all be paved with
enameled bricks, which will reflect the
rays of the sun into the adjoining cor
ridors.
There was great contention in the
Fiftieth congress over the %appropria-
ton for this building. 1t was alleged
that the architect originally in charge
of the work vas not giving satisfactory
performance of his duties. Mr.. Kelley,
of Pennsylvania, celebrated as a cham
pion of protection, and spoken of al
most always as "Pig-Iron Kelley" de-
Tended the architect in a magnificent
speech of an hours duration, but the
congress concluded to place the work
in charge of Gen. Casey, the chief of
engineers of the army, and it was done.
Gen. Casey, you will remember, COM
pleted the Washington monument, a
few years ago. He is one OF the great
est civil engineers of any age, ancient
or modern. The Washington monu-
ment, at a height of 125 feet, had beer
long neglected. Gen. Casey undermined
that massive pile, held it up with ma
chinery, underpinned it with a concrete
foundation, built it on up to a point OF
555 feet in the air, and placed upon it
an aluminium eapstone. He says that,
with engineering appliances of the pres
ent day, he can lift up that enormous
monument, turn it clear around, and
set it back in it's place, without disturb
ing a speck Of mortar or chipping a
stone. He it is who is completing this
Congressional Library building, and the
work is being well done. The full ap.
preparation for it's cost, is 5000, 900.
Up to date, every estimate has been full
filled without the cost Of an extra cent
for incidentals. 1t is a splendid work,