Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-08-27
BOSTON'SBIGLIBRARY
Municipal Organization and Private
Munifoence C6mbined.
bow TEE RESTITUTION Was BUILT
Its Work and the Manner Of Its
Working.
A GREAT AND GOOD THING

From City Government.
The story of the Public Library Of the City
of Boston (for such Is the incorporated title)
Is one fruitful to the student of American In
situations, because it sprang into being and
maintained its existence through the
felicitous union of public generosity, dis
tributed through municipal organization,
and Of private munifcence continually be-
slowed from the start. Fifty years ago the
earliest movements were making toward
public library for Boston. From 1S43 to 1S47
gifts from the city Of Paris to the city of
Boston. secured through the friendly offices
of M. Vattemare. awoke the citizens to the
fact that books accepted must be cared for
Accordingly in 1913, the legislature of Mas
sachusetts authorized the establishment of
a public library. Scattering gifts came
along gradually, until. in 1852, the first board
of trustees was constituted, with Edward
Everett as president, and institutional life
fairly began. In the same year Joshua Bates
of the Earrings in London gave $4,000. which
was funded. From 1855 to 1858, while the
first library building was under construction
on Boylston street. a reading room and
small library were already in operation on
Mason street. When the library was dedi-
Gated, on January l, 1863. its cost, with value
of land included, was about 1856, 600. The
empty building and the land (about %, 900
d
valuation of not less that 81 100000. In 1858
came the second gift Of $4,000 from Mr..
Bates. From this time for about twenty
five years was the period Of experiment and
Development During this time came the
important gifts of special libraries-the
Ticknor, the Parker, the Bowditch, the
Prince lin trusO and the Barton (by pur-
chase), all of them giving renown to the
institution in some particular direction and
all the outcome of that prompting which
continually urges Americans who have made
a successful matter Of life to render some
acknowledgment to the city Of their birth
or adoption instead of aggrandizing their
family names or fortunes.
IN loso, when 1t was a certainty that the
library would soon be overcrowded, the
state OF Massachusetts. by act of the gen.
Back Bay" on which now stands the COM
rleted new building. The first appropriation
by the city council for the new structure
was $50 600 for more land, with $3.50, 600 for
the buildings. Up to 1887 many plans for
the building were examined by the trustees.
who finally. with no small courage, went be-
yond sectional limits and chose Messrs. NC
Kim, Mead and White Of New Work as
architects for design and construction In
1858 the corner stone was laid; by January,
1895, the building was finished and occupied:
In March 1t was opened to the public.
During the process OF building it became
necessary to secure two additional appro-
priations Of $1.GOO.OOO each, which sums
were raised by issue Of per cent bonds.
the proceeds Of the sale of the old building
(when sod) to go to the board of commits
sioners OF the sinking funds toward dis
charging the Indebtedness. The total cost
OF the new building on Copley square was
about s2410OOO. including the purchase of
furniture and fittings.
Has Paid for Itself Already.
The trustees did not escape public crit
ictsm for calling twice for fresh appropria-
tions secured by tour de force and an obsti-
nate courage. BY one, Of, those acts Of,
courtesy creditably displayed in public life,
the board which planned the, building was
allowed to carry 1t forward to completion
intact through the various changes of ad-
n1inistration. Their labors had been siren
uous. and it was not surprising that soon
after the task was done changes in the
board occurred. No charge of mismanage-
ment was ever made, and no scandal as to
commissions CT contracts has ever arisen.
The city Of Boston may be said to have
secured more for its money than is often
the fortune of an American city. The ideal
of the trustees and of the architects seems
to have been fully realized in one partic-
ular. The costly construction-costly, in
deed, for a small city-has already paid for
itself. 1t is recognized as a genuine work
of art not merely a show building, but a
thing Of perpetual beauty, to which citi-
zens and strangers alike turn with affec-
tionate eyes. Although only an earnest of
a general movement in Boston toward the
highest Standard of civic art 1t has exer-
cised dominating influence on the coun-
try at large The tranquiizing influence of
this building as corrective OF the fierce
vulgarity still thrust forward by art buck
Sters among municipal politicians cannot
be fairly estimated.
So much for its history in outline as an
Institution and for the aesthetic results of
generous expenditure for its new building
Something should be said regarding the
work in which 1t ts now engaged, the
methods of finance and the organization
by which it's costly machinery Is equipped
and run.
The Trunk and the Branches.
The library as it stands consists of the
central library on Copley Square, of ten
branch libraries and sixteen delivery sta
lions. In the central library there were
OH February l of this year 469,S74 vol
umes; in the auxiliaries, S,423 making
total of 62S,297. Each branch is main
tanned as a separate library, answerable,
of course, to the librarian, but supplying
the wants of its community. Books, how
ever, can be sent for at least once a day
from the central library to any branch and
to any of the delivery stations, which are
Instituted for the express purpose of sup
plying books from the central to localities
arranged so far as possible, to square with
the demand Of population. A few of these
stations have small collections of books,
four of them and all of the branches main
tain reading rooms, in which are kept
from 5O 10 loO magazines ana Other per1odt-
Gals, according to the size of the constitu-
Grey. The branches are open from am
to pm, but the delivery stations are not
Uniform as to hours, being established gen.
orally In apothecary shops or other places
of business. Less interesting as these
ramifications of the larger institution un-
doubtedly are from a literary and schol-
arly attitude, they are of great import
ance as viewed In the light of library
economy. During 1895, while the circula-
ton of the central library was 279,OOO
the circulation of the combined subsidiary
libraries was 56S,OOO, or more than twice
as much as the total circulation of the
central library. Yet the flatter contains
three times as many booksias all the aux
| iliaries combined. Although, Of course, the
circulation Is forced up by the fact that
many of the most popular books are
bought for the branches, still this encour-
agement of a use of the library is within
normal limits legitinate1a and necessary
policy to an institution dependent upon
| the good will of the citizens taxed for it's
| support. IN
Cost. s
To maintain the Boston public library
cost, during 1895. a. little more than
$4,000, and for the present year sos 600
have been appropriated by the city coun-
Gil. OF these $4,000 about 100000 went
for salaries. $4,000 for rev books, $4,000
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