Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-17

pidfy OF tne history OF That great state
uhequaled In the country outside of the
| state itself, and be model of what can
be done in the case of other states If such
hberality should be followed by like gen.
erous donors and In this way making the
capital OF the nation a center where the
history, not only of every state but of
every county and town In each state can
be easily and carefully studied. The ines
tmabe value of collections such as these
Will be more fully appreciated in the fu-
ture. when the foresight of men who have
mad the wisdom to give when their liberal
recognized"
Among the additions to the library is
that of the Anthony Pollok collection of
over 1890 volumes most of them finely
bound, received from the legatees of the
late owner of the collection and especially
valuable, containing. II does. SO large
a proportion of French works The Evening
star Company made contribution of some
1000 volumes, besides a large number of
pamphlets and periodicals.
Permanent Fund
Mr.. James T. Dubois has proposed to
provide permanent fund of 5000, the
interest of which is to be used for the
purchase of technical periodicals. This fund
will pay for about seventy-fve of the
most valuable ones The interest on 81 600
of this fund has already been paid and
the periodicals placed in the library
Prof. Trentanove has offered to execute
in marble a bust of Mr.. Andrew Carnegie.
heroic size, to be placed in the new library
building, and this offer has been accepted
by the trustees.
The library, says Mr.. Flint. is under spe-
clal obligations to Mr. s. NJ. Bryan, preSi-
dent OF the Chesapeake and Potomac Tele-
phone Company. for the use of A telephone
and connections placed in the library free;
to Messrs. Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict
for Remington typewriter and stand and
to Mr. j. c. Parker for a Hammond type
writer ard stand. and special recognition
is due Messrs. Woodward & Lothrop for
their generous offer to furnish at actual
cost whatever books the library might de
sire TO purchase. This offer has been ac-
cepted with the result of large saving
to the book fund and making it that much
more available TO supply new books for
the shelves.
Besides the general statement already
made OF the use of the library" saws Mr.
Flint. lin connection with the schools. ii
should be mentioned that applications have
been made by teachers in the private
schools and the president of one of the
universities for selections of books to car
ry out courses of reading in addition to
the regular text books, and to make re
searches in certain lines of study that can
rot well be done without fairly complete
collections of books on subject. This APP
plies to many students who have not the
facilities for such work, and to whom th,.
privileges of a library supplying such a
want would be especially valuable.
Saving of Time.
The additional convenience of using the
books at their own homes adds greatly to
the facilities for work by the saving or
time on the part of the student In the
higher courses, while in the various grades
of the schools the convenience of having
a whole class read the same book under
the direction of the teacher, aids greatly
in the teachers work. and helps to form
habits Of careful reading of the best books
which of itself is a large and valuable
part of education. AS this library is, by
its very legal creation. established as a
supplement TO the work of the public
schools, and by implication to all schools
of the District of Columbia, il seems proper
that as soon as possible arrangements
should be made for a practical application
of the principle by sending small special
collections of books to teachers TO be used
by scholars under their direction, and in
such plans of supplemental study as will
best increase the educational work in their
classes. This can only be done by generous
library provisions for the 45, $50 children
now in the public schools, besides the 70
30 children of school age not yet enrolled.
As soon as possible such provisions should
be made TO accommodate these fifty thou
sand students already enrolled in the va
rlouS educational Institutions of the Dis
trict of Columbia.
Since the opening of the library the
bpOh SIle4N0S nave Deen absolutely Tree to
al borrowers, and so far as known the
results have been satisfactory. One neces-
sity for this course. if there had been no
other reason, was on account of the lack
OF Sufhcient assistants to answer all the
calls made at the delivery desk except by
allowing readers to make their own selec-
Tic rs from the shelves. OF course, there
has been some confusion, oVercrowding in
the alcoves, many books misplaced, but on
the whole ii IS believed that the plan has
worked SatiSfa ctorily.
There is something very pleasing to read
ers IN the expressed liberality of the term
open shelf 1t is an invitation that is
appreciated and to the generous soul it
seems to SAVIOR of genuine hospitality, and
is an invitation to the fields of literature to
winch all are welcome. Besides this, to
very many who have not had such privi-
leges, 1t opens up entirely new ideas, new
enjoyments, broader views of life, and
places these unprivileged classes far as
possible on par with those who have
lived among books and enjoyed the culture
derived from such associations. The very
handling of the books is an education, and
to the young reader especially a great de-
light. Had not the crowded condition of
the rooms containing the bookstacks ard
the want Of space between the stacks,
seriously interfered with the work of
making selections of books, there would
doubtless have been better results than
have been attained"
The Donors.
Mr.. Flint gives the following list OF
money donations to the library:
Job Barnard. 1000
w. A. Church. Observation-Disclosures. 1900
Max Cohen. MISREPRESENTATION. 500
S. w. Curriden. Observation-Disclosures. 1000
James T. Dubois. Henry Pastor me-
mortal fund, interest on $1,000. 10000
B, Il, EarnShaw & Bros ............ 1000
Charles c. Glover. Observation-Disclosures. $1,000
Great Falls Ice Company. 300
F, j. Heiberger. Observation-Disclosures. 20.00
b. T. Janney Observation-Disclosures. 500
Charles King. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 500
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