The evening times., 1899-01-31
THE PRESIDENTS DUTY
TO THE LIBRARY
A TRAINED LIBRARIAN NEEDED
The Great Institation Requires Ex-
pert Manaxf fment-An Au-
thoritative View.

W
To the Editor of the New York Tribune:
l was very much pleased with the ad-
mirable short editorial in your issue of
January 20 on the. library of Congress and
the principle which should govern the
appointment of Librarian. 1 am deeply
interested in the appointment, and anx-
ious that, if possible, competent libra
rian should receive it., one who has al
ready shown conspicuous success in the
management of large library such a man
as Herbert Putnam of Boston, DR.. John S.
Billings of New York, Melvil Dewey Of
Albany, or F. NJ. Crunden of st. Louis.
In the hope that you will be willing to
dwell on the subject again little more in
detail in your columns, l have drawn up
statement of what seem to me the proper
functions Of the National Library and the
considerations that should enter into the
appointment of the new Librarian.
First-The Library of Congress, what
ever it's name, is and ought to be the Ma
tional Library of the United States.
Second-As the National Library, it has
the duty in this country which in England
falls to the British Museum, and in France
to the Bibliotheque Rationale. This duty
is to seek out, gather up, and preserve all
y
or purely literary which may prove the
origins and record and illustrate the prog
ress OF the national life; not merely the
political, but the literary, scientific, indus
trial, artistic, and social life of the United
States. With reference to the United
States, its collections should represent pre-
eminently original documents and sources.
With regard to the literature and records
of other countries, its duty may be sec
ondary. 1t cannot compete with their own
national Libraries in original sources, but
II should at least strive to amass for
scholars the most comprehensive collec-
tion in this country Of foreign literature
and such collection of secondary mate
rial as will illustrate the condition and
progress of those countries.
Third--But the National Library has a
duty and an opportunity which no other
national library has. Each State has a Ii
brary which may perform for it certain
services, such as the accumulation and
preservation OF documents and records.
This the National Library should under
take for the country as a whole. These
State libraries are unequal in equipment
heterogeneous in organization and method
and isolated in endeavor 1t is possible
for the National Library to be the agency
through which they shall become asso-
ciated in cooperative service. 1t may also
become for them a medium of exchange,
and 1t may utilize them in turn as it's own
local agencies.
Central Bureau of Libraries
The libraries of the United States are in
stituting cooperative undertakings in cat
aloguing, indexing. photography and re-
ciprocal service in the exchange of books
and of information. Such undertakings
save some of the enormous waste OF effort
and expenditure which necessarily result
where each institution attempts independ-
emily the work which is being done by
each of its five thousand neighbors. For
such cooperation one central bureau is
indispensable. That central bureau must
be library. and the library having the
most representative collection of books.
the title, the power and the duty to render
such service TO the country at large
| This library can only be the National Lii
brary.
Fourth-The libraries of the United
States cannot reach their fullest and most
economical development independently of
the rest of the world. international con-
ference, association and cooperation are
| essential Important schemes for such CO.
operation are already pending. AS the
Smithsonian Institution is for scientific
bodies the medium in international trans
actions, so in communications between the
libraries of this country and those abroad
the National Library should be the natural
medium.
staff of Expert Specialists.
Fifth-A great collection of books is not
| made useful simply by being brought to-
gether; it is not made fully useful by
| catalogues. however elaborate. Above the
| catalogues there must be men, not men of
|
particular book in response 10 a par
| ticular demand, not mere photographers,
| but in each department of knowledge spe-
| ciaiists-men who have had particular
| training in that department. and if possible
| who are experienced therein. The majori-
| ty of the demands in any library of refer
| ence, and certainly its most important de-
! mands, is not for particular books, but for
| the best material on a particular subject
! These demands can rarely be answered di-
| rectly by the catalogues. They must be
| translated; but they can be translated ade-
| quately only by an authority who knows
| both languages; by one who has had ey-
perience as practical worker in the same
| field as the enquirer, and is also library
| expert.
| Certain libraries are therefore retaining
| in their service such practical experts
| who form corps of specialists, in addi-
! tion to ordinary attendants. They meet
| the enquirer on any subject and with least
loss of time aid him to finding the best
material. OF all Libraries in this country
and especially on account of its connection
with Congress, the National Library
should have at its command such special
| experts.
| SiXth-The copyright department en-
wolves responsibilities which are obvious
Seventh-The National Library can take
the lead and render the widest service in
| cooperative undertakings, such as cata-
loguing for American Libraries once for al
the books copyrighted in the United
States. So also by it's methods of organ
| izing and of acquiring. classifying, cata-
loguing, administering, and making usefu
its collections, it may set model to the
Libraries of the entire country These
! libraries are more or less Heterogeneous
in organization and in method. For lacl
of proper stimulus from above and with
out many of them are stagnant. For lacI
of central authority to advise and Civ,
example. most of them that are attempt
ing Improvement in method are doing 81
only through individual experiment, witt
varying and thus wasteful, If not eccen
trio. results If the economy of uniform
ity is ever to be secured it will be becaus,
the National Library gives the stimulus
and serves as the authority.
Needs of the Library.
Such a library the Library of Congress:
is not. Its collection of books is only nu,
merically the greatest in the United States
and even numerically it is nearly equaiet
by other American libraries. Owing it
increase chiefly to- accessions by copyrigh
and to gifts, it is strong in but few direc
tions and weak in most. AS a genera
collection for scholarly research it canno
compare with certain other libraries of th