Los Angeles herald., 1905-08-10
LIBRARIAN LUMMIS MAKES
SUGGESTIONS
TO KEEP A DAILY RECORD
Board Orders Necessary Equipment
for New Department In Public
Library to Record Local
History

mis- suggestion, took the first step last
night toward the realization Of the new
librarians ideas of establishing an up
to-date historical record of events of
the day important to Los Angeles and
the west, by advertising for bids for
the necessary books and cabinets.
It was also decided to make requisi-
tion on the civil service commission for
two more pages for the library, so that
the attendants might be relieved of the
heavy work and allowed more time in
which to attend their regular duties.
Librarian Lummis read to the board
his report, in which many suggestions
for the betterIment of the library were
made and all were adopted by the
board. The report in part is as fol-
lows:
II beg to report that, as requested by
this board at it's meeting Of July 26,
1906, / took full charge of this library
Aug. 1, 1905, and am discharging the
duties of librarian.
"Of the matters recommended in my
report of July 26, in which the board in
structed me to proceed, the extension
of the card catalogue and the making
of reasoned lists in the chief depart
ments of reference are under considera-
tion. Both require long, patient, un-
sensational evolution, but they are
being patiently evolved.
For obvious reasons the collection.
preservation and indexing of local
history material should be begun at the
earliest possible date.
Even if no one else had ever
thought of it, should have no hesita-
tion in saying that Los Angeles should
take the initiative in matter so inn
portant. But it is already in practice
in the more thoughtful libraries. DR..
Reuben Gold Thwaites, an ex-president
Of the American Library association,
and the creative genius of the most i'm
portant reference library west of Chi
cago, writes me with great deal of de-
tail suggestions: You are dead right
in your determination to have in your
library, always on ready tap, the chron-
icles of the times-this is the gospel
am always preaching to our people of
the middle west
rMr. Melvil Dewey, director of the
New York state library and of its
library training school, in visiting me
at this library and at my home, dis
cussed this matter earnestly, and ex-
pressed his emphatic conviction of the
need of such a system here.
I'm my judgment the safest way to
approach this matter and make a be-
ginning of which we need never be
ashamed-though we may hope to make
minor improvements in it's to open a
large series of carefully classified
scrap books, 9x12 inches in size, linen
bound for the preservation of full de-
tails of matters of large contemporary
Importance, and less detail of less inl-
portant ones. Such topics as the ac-
QUESTION of the Owens river for this
city should be treated in full in scrap
book of its own, under a proper classi
fication. The recent consolidation of
several important banks in this city
should have full place in a scrap book,
under the general head of Banking
head which viii have to be subdivided
again, at least so far as banking, Los
Angeles banking, Pacific coast and
general
II need not suggest how gladly we
would welcome such scrap book from
the newspapers Of Washington's time,
particularly If the newspapers then had
had our modern enterprise. Our own
day will also presently be history, and
Of our day we can give the future his
torian so perfect a picture as no other
time or place has ever had"