Evening star., 1898-10-20
People Who Utilize the Library of
Congress.
HIGH CHARACTER OF BOOKS CHOSEN
Over Ten Thousand in Past Two
Weeks.
RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS

Congress, in his annual report to CONGRESS
in December of last year, called attention
to the desirability of opening the library at
night, pointing out the conditions prevailing
in Washington which would render such
opening a great boon to the thousands of
persons who are employed in the service
of the government during the day and who
can only have access to the treasures of
the library after o'clock pm. In accord
ance with Mr.. Young's recommended ton
Congress at its last session voted the nee
essary appropriation for the night service
and October 1 the library began to remain
open every day, except Sunday, from 8 a. H.
to 10 pm.
The experience of the past fortnight dur
ing which the night opening experiments
have been tried, amply justifies the demand
for this accommodation which the citizens
of the District have been waiting for for
years.
In addition to the many thousands who
have avaiied themselves of the opportunity
to visit the exhibition halls of the library
during the evening hours, the number of
those using the reading room for purposes
Of study has been larger than was antici-
pated. The number of readers has been
from 400 to 600 each day. and the daily call
for books and periodicals has ranged from
61o to 1.246. The average daily attendance
has been 400 and the average daily use of
books has been 800. The whole number of
readers during the first two weeks in which
the library has been opened all day is
3l6o, and the number Of books supplied
10,24S. greater number of readers come
to the library during the evening hours
than the earlier hours, as many as 167
readers having been present at one time.
Character of Books Selected.
1t is interesting to note the character of
books selected by the night readers and
the following list affords a fair idea of the
class of books used in the reading room
during the evening hours. The titles are
taken at random from the records of one
evenings reading, and they are reasonably
indicative of the taste of the readers Take
October II as an illustration. and among
the volumes called for We're the following:
Stuhbs Constitutional History, Barras' Ma
poleonic Memoirs Abbott's Napoleon. Mar
loves Works, Burys GibbOn. Keasbey's
Nicaragua Canal and the Monroe Doc
trine.' Spencers Sociology, Packard's
Physiology. Tnompson's ELECTRICITY and
Magnetism" Loomis' Astronomy. Van
Dykes Old Dutch and Flemish Masters"
Blanc's "Ecole Hollandaise" Matthew Ar
nold's Essays; Wrishts "Celt, Roman and
Saxon" Beeket's shakespeare Himself
Again Birch's PHILOSOPHY and Religion
of Shakespeare" Paterno's "El regimen
municipal en- las islas Filipinas.' Mahan's
Navy in the Civil War" Maclays His
America" Roosevelt's Winning Of the
West" and Schuyer's Study of American
Architecture"
There is a special demand for grammars
also for treatises on Spanish general and
colonial history. The requests for books on
Cuba and the Philippines continue with q
force only slightly abated from that wEic,,
ruled In the early days of the Spanish
American controversy. A considerable de-
mand for books on library science and ad-
mtnistration has also been observed.
1t has been noted that the demand for
Illustrated periodicals and for works of
fiction is considerable but is in very mOder-
ate proportion to that for serious works
In consequence of the crowded space n
the law library, which remains in the Cap
itOl, there has been great Inconvenience
There are more law students in Washing
ton than at any one point except Ann Ar
Dor, Mich. and access to the law librar.---
the finest in the United States-has been
the attraction. So in the small cockpit as
signed to readers students. congresspren
and members of the bar in attendance at
the Supreme Court have been huddIed to-
gether in a most uncomfortable manner.
Law Students Library.
To remove this congestion, the librarian
transferred to the new library building sew
eral hundred volumes-duplicates of text
bOokS-aS a nucleus for n law students
reading library In addition are the copy
right law books coming daily and which
have been taken from the deposits in the
basement to the shelves, making a respect
able collection. BY the operation Of the
tunnel between the library and the Capitol
any book the student requires from the
general law library can be sent to the new
library reading room. The ADVANTAGE 10
the student in Mr.. Young's new plan is that
the law student can read from 8 in the
morning until 10 in the evening, with every
convenience. ms Is an advantage u the
members of the bar who. if they have an
important brief to prepare. can go to the
new library, draw many books as are
necessary and continue their work we'll into
the night
The Pavilion for the Blind.