The San Francisco call., 1897-03-21
San Irancisco's 5
free Public .Il1royu

Visitors for the first time entering the
Public Library frequently are heard to ex-
press surprise at the size of the institn-
tion and the extent to which 1t is used
Located as it is in the City Hall, its iden-
tity is lost ina measure, ana for those not
accustomed to patronize 1t there is no
conspicuous reminder OF its existence, as
there would be were it housed in a build
ing of its own. 1t occupies the second
and third floors OF the easterly wing on
the llister-street side of the Hall and
is reached by an elevator running from
the entrance atthe corner of the wing.
The. library contains $1,000 volumes in
its main collection and 1000 volumes in
the five branch libraries OF the books in
the main library about 5000 are classified
as English prose fiction, while 1000 more
are OF a character appealing more to the
younger readers and form the children's
library. The remainder of the collection,
or five-sixths of the whole, is made up OF
representative works in all branches of
literature, the arts and sciences. The col
lection is growing constantly. several
thousand. volumes being added each year.
The library is a municipal institution sup
ported by funds derived from taxation,
tees, including the Mayor as a mem Der
ex officio- 1t is free to all residents of the
city oyer II years of age who comply with
its regulations, and to nonresident tax
payers.
The only formality required in order to
become mem Der is the fling of an ap-
plication, stating the name and address of
the applicant, and Endorsed by some re-
sponsible party. There are at the present
time 19, 000 registered borrowers enjoying
the privileges of the library. over 80, 100
volumes per month, or 1000 per day are
issued for home use and over 20, 600 vol
umes per month are issued for use in the
rooms of the library. A 12-page bull
letin is issued monthly. for free distribu-
ton containing lists of the current acces-
AsiJns.and other information of interest to
he public.
In addition TO the general delivery room
there is a reference room containing 5000
volumes and affording special facilities
for study and research. a periodical and
reading room and children's department
containing selected books suitable for
children's reading. In The basement, on
the Park-avenue side, is :he newspaper
room, where the current local and State
papers are kept on file. To accommodate
residents in districts remote from the City
Hall a system of branch libraries is
maintained. There are five of these, so
distributed as to bring the library within
the reach of the largest possible number
of people.
Daily communication is maintained be-
tween the branches and the main library,
so that borrowers residing in the vicinity
OF branch can send through it to the
main library for books and return them
in the same way. Each branch is
equipped with a small but carefully Sc
iected collection of popular books, some
good reference works and a number of
periodicals. Thus, in addition to serving
as distributing stations for the main
library, they are in themselves ble to pro-
vide for the ordinary wants of many read
ers.s
The bylaws of the library provide that
"the trustees shall have seal. the device
being: A central figure representing
: book, with rays of light diverging there
from" The function of the library is
construed TO be the provision of healthful
recreative reading and the dissemination
of light. @. L. CLARK.
Library of tito