The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-02-05
LIBRARY INTERIORS
Interesting Features of the
Plans Recently Adopted
in Newark.
STACKS FOR THE BOOKS
Up to Date Appliances to Be In
troduced-Hints for Our
Trustees.

In view of the fact that Jersey CITY IS
on the point of beginning the construc-
ton of a library building the following de-
scription of how Newark has arranged the
interior of its building, taken from the
Newark Sunday 'sCall," will be of inter-
est
One Of the most important parts of the
new Newark Public Library will be fne
stack building. The stack is, of course, a
vital feature of any library, and IN the
case of the new structure the greatest
possible care and pains are being taken
by the trustees to nave it as nearly per-
feet as possible. A library without d
stack is in the same position as an army
i'm an enemy's country with no sultaole
TpIace to store its ammunition. Unless 1t
can park its wagons in some secure place
which at the same time is readily a%ccessi-
Bile it is in serious danger. So with a IL
brary: its books must be properly secured
away from all dangers of fire or any other
disaster, and at the same time the vol
umes must be close to the hand, where
they can be gotten at on a moments no
tice. A library is always in the enemy's
country, for it conduct a eeaseless cam
Ddl6l dSa1iSl SiO SA~N
bigotry of every sort. 1t has thousands
of guns of every calibre. and they must
be in readiness, all the time, to be trained
ON the foe.
The stack is, the library. The other parts
are adjuncts to the stack, and have their
cause for being, most of them, in the ex-
istence of the. stack. The stack building
will consist of six stories, S4x56 feet in d.
mansions. and be about 45 feet high. Each
floor will be seven feet high in the clear.
Such are the elements, but there is far
more to the building than is likely to APP
pear to the casual observer. When the
building is finished and visitors wend their
way among the books in the great new
book safe they will appreciate the many
comforts. but will never realize how much
planning it took to get everything into the
fine condition which the VISITORS VIII NM
there. -
the street, fortunately, for it Will be un-
slightly: indeed. it can not be otherwise.
1t will look as much like factory as any
thing else. for it will have a great many
windows. and they will be placed in rows
and close together. The object is. OF
course. to get every ray of light possible,
and when you do this you cannot nave
an artistic exterior. This stack building,
however. promises to be one of the best
lighted IN the country, and for that rea-
son will be one of the best. AS was an
/ r OunceQ last week, the committee u Liz
library trustees appointed to select Q
suitable stack, has only just competed
it's labors. One of the men whose stack
was rejected, and who therefore mas ne
ak to grind. has said since the result
was made public that the recent competl-
ton was one of the faifest he ever par
ticipated in. He considered the lnvestl-
cation made by the committee before
making up its mind one of the most
thorough he ever had anything to do with.
The committee, as a matter of fact, eX-
amined every stack of Importance from
Boston to Chicago, for it knew Wen tnat
a library with a good administration
building and a poor stack was no library
at all. 1t was decided to limit the num-
her, of firms that should send in bldS TO
four, and four of the best known firms OF
stack builders were chosen. Ihese con-
Germs sent on their agents with samples:
and one corner OF the nan at lne tqp ~
the present library building on West Park
street. was turned into a miniature stack
room. Each concern set up a sectlon OF
its stack, and bolted and riveted 1t lrm-
w. as if it was a bona hde library Joo.
Each concern. too, showed two or three
different styles of brackets shelves and
sometimes uprights as we'll. h COM
mittee has heen examining these stack
systems for three months or so, and it is
really surprising how much there IS to
a thing that appears on the surface So
simple. The smallest details nave 70 pc
considered. The stack finally selected
was that made bv the Library Bureau,
of New York. The other stacks were
known as the Snead, the Stikeman and
the Fenton.
Some of the stacks have solid ends an6
others nave ends of open work. The
open-end stack is the one that the aver
age man would prefer at hrst slSht, cnlei-
more nearly his idea of what a k
should be. The solid-end stack looks as
if it were much stronger than an opef
one. and when you remember that the
stack building is to be. six stories hlgh
strength is an all-essential element. There
are really two classes of stacks now II
the market-solid-end and bracket, OF
open end. The latter can be made amply
strong enough. and as each stack con
Germ makes both kinds, you can De,
eide after selecting the firm. which kline
Won want. The engineer who is to- oversee
the work will attend to the stack pelne
of the proper strength. The objection te
a solid-end stack is that it excludes light
hut in the new Newark stack this Woulo
not make so much difference, for there
IS to be an abundance of light. Moreover
the solid-end stack catches more dusl
than a ~bracket-end. and dust, or the alb
sence of it, is a highly important Item
: One stack has a number of rough edges
and these, of course, have to be avoided
since they might tear and rub the books
and bark the fingers of the assistants
:. Upon investigation it was found that this
stack had been rejected by one library
simply because of the rough points, ant
| those very points the ordinary observer
would scarcely. notice unless his atten
ton were especially called TO them. A
the top of each floor of this stack, too
La piece of metal o%verhung the top shelf
Now. if large books were put on tina
i shelf an assistant in taking them doW1
4 would be very likely to try and take then
out straight and thus bump them agains
, this piece of metal. This would tear tn
book. or at least would rub II, 1 courst
l If the assistant turned the. book slghti
q to one side before attempting 10 remove
il there would be no trouble, but few
$ would think of tina in the hurry of get
f ting the book from the shelf. There wa
/ one stack, the simplest made, which tn
Committee wanted, and If the price of i
y had warranted the outlay 1T would doubt
less nave been chosen. When cost wa
investigated it was found that, although
II was the simplest. it cost more, and tn
e committee did not feel that the differenc
e in quality between it and the others wa
: sufficient to warrant the additional out
s lay. In his stack one of the most at
r t~ractive features was the ease and readi
ness with which the shelves could be ad
t iusted, Along the SIDES of the upright
e were a series of teeth, curving slightly
v a small piece of metal on the ends OF tn
e shelf fitted between these teeth, SO tina
S the shelf could be adjusted at any pom
in or down the upright, since there wa
a complete series Of teeth from top 7
bottom.
Shall it be wooden or steel shelves
? This is a point which the committee ma
:, not yet settled. Here, too, the unlnltlate'
: will say at once: "f you want a Hrepfoo
stack YOU must nave metal shelves, o
course But the library sharp smile
and calls your attention to the fact tina
hooks are hard to ignite, and they ar
perhaps their own best protectors. At a.
events it is said by those well .quallhed t
Judge, that the wooden sheif does no