The Minneapolis journal., 1901-05-25

is literature, written. printed, stamped, en-
graved, or by whatsoever process repro
duced, on whatsoever material. clay
tablet Of Nlneveh or the Moabite stone would
find appropriate place within it; but only as
literature, not as sculpture, nor as evidence
in geology All literature. however, and
maps. music photographs, etchings, engray-
ings. as well as the written and the printed
book, are in its province.
The Uses of the Library.
AS to use also: A library does not write
books, nor does 1t make them Il does not
engage in scientific research. 1t helps TO dis
seminate knowledge, but only by accumulat-
ing, preserving and making available the
sources Of knowledge not by multiplying
them. 1t informs us as to what knowledge
exists, and what opinion. But it is not a.
university. 1t does not instruct, and it has no
opinions OF its own to promulgate or promote.
Libraries differ The free town library, the
free city library. on its popular side, and the
subscription library, collect material which
Is required for immediate use by the present
constituency of readers. They circulate this
as widely and as rapidly as possible. Their
usefulness may in sense be estimated by the
number of readers they secure ard the num-
Der of books they circulate. Their usefulness
may in a sense be claimed to be at a maxi
mum when they can show not single book
resting on the shelves and the books as
whole wearing out by use faster than they
can be replaced They are trying TO reach ali
ages and every class in the community. They
are supplying not merely the books which
are instructive but those which are purely
reereatiye. Particularly. however. they are
seeking to acquire the books which are use-
ful, and their purpose is immediate practical
use rather than mere preservation. :
Duties of u National Library
Now the library of congress also seeks to
acquire and supply books to be Immediately
useful, but it does much. more than this. 1t
is the national library of the United States.
It has duty, therefore, to accumulate and
to preserve every bit of material which issues
CT has been issued from the press Of the
United States, irrespective of its literary
value or interest to the immediate constitu-
ency of the library, or to the present genera
tion of readers Local Libraries cannot ac-
quire everything; they have not the space;
they have not the funds. There should, how
ever be one library in the country which
should aeuire everything obtainable and ap
propriate in library relating to that coun-
try whether written or printed. For years
the library of congress has been accumulate
ing on this principle. Its funds for purchase
were small, but it was aided by the copyright
act. For since 1870 it has been made the de-
positary, without cost of two copies Of every
book and periodical, and oDmost of the other
articles entered under the copyright law of
the United States, and for fourteen years
prior to 1870 it was the beneficiary of one
copy. The national libraries of other coun-
tries do not. however, limit themselves to the
literature which is merely domestic with
them. The British museum, for instance.
recognizes the whole world as its field. The
national library Of the United States which is
necessarily to be the foremost library in the
western hemisphere, can do no less.
Aids to the Nations Scholarship.
Its funds, however, are not and cannot be
limitless. 1t must apporton them. In order
of relative Importance it places first material
which will be practically useful to congress
and to other branches of the federal govern
ment, and to the inquirers who form its i'm
mediate constituency of readers; second, ma
terial relating to the United States and its
component parts; third, material relating to
the western hemisphere; fourth, material re-
lating TO the history and the political and
economic conditions Of other countries; and,
lastly the literature of general knowledge.
1t is library not so much for popular ed
ucation as for serious research. 4 has duty
to accumulate and preserve irrespective Of
the mere present use. 1t must be content to
see the major portion of its books stand at
any one time idle upon the shelves. Its am
bition is not so much to secure great num-