New-York tribune., 1908-07-05
YhE JOHN HAY
MEMORIAL LIBRARY
GIFT OF ABOUT TWENTY
FIVE FRIENDS.
Plans for the Building at BroTn
University Anuounced-To
= Cost 1000.

Fr,vidence. July 4-''To mind John Hay i'
- e,ne+ flower Of civilization the late
r-e n.sa+ mckinley once said Thousands OF
nne-icans who came into personal contact Win 'ne
sis.ing1Iished literary man and statesman shaieo
49, feeling To hundreds of thousands OF othef
a-,.ricans who have forgotten neither MI hays
cbieveraents public service nor his literary
-o,,.-for what schoolboy has not decaimed jim
,,,,5so.' or Little Breeches? is necessarily OF
,,tprest that an enduring memorial is about TO ne
erected through the gifts Of some t"ehty-h.e
e-enss OF Mr.. Hay and of his alma mater Ihese
<~4.rd. had already subscribed 3l5o,6s when An
srsw Carnegie subscribed $4,000 more, ana the
r,ernortai will soon be erected
Anpropriately. this memorial will take the torin
,f university library. the plans for which have
.ys, been accepted by the corporation of Brown
T-n;versity Honor will thus be done not only 10
an individual, but TO the general conception OF the
,-esponsibIity Of the educated man in democracy
Mr. Hay. throughout his long and useful career
mas always scholar in the productive not in the
-oaantjc sense Literature he followed profession
sllv only as conscientiously could His interest,"
in public affairs and his sense of the duties OF
citizenship such TO prevent his devot-
ang all his energies TO authorship. What ne
-u.rore was written from conviction and from
knowledge that he had something worth sa!
ing Consequently. from the class poem at MS
graduation from Brown University in 1855. through
fbe brilliant -Csstilian Days" the first essays OF
which Ny BoweIls hailed as an important dis
covery for The Atlantic Monthly, and on through
The celebrated Pike County Ballads, the life OF
lincoln and the occasional papers Of the last few
wears nothing unworthy or perfunctory came from
his pen More than any other man in public life
in the Uited States with the possible exception OF
Nr Roosevelt. of whose power OF keeping In louch
with uany things MIR. Hay sometimes expressed
envy he was enthusiastic student OF the best
that has been thought and said deighting in read
tug in the quiet of his home al Washington. able
IN conversation to quote from a surprising range of
HpratJre.
MODERN BOOK REPOSITORY.
Eioncling such alumnus, Brown University
viii witness the erection, very important ad-
ation 10 its apparatus Of scholarship. of a great
modern repository OF books. How glad MI Hay
himself would have been his name thus per-
petuated may al least be conjectured- His attach
meut 10 his alma mater Was unwavering- 1t was
shown by the charming ode in which he comnem-
grated her centennial in 1864 in the midst Of his
duties as secretary President Lincoln, and even
more directly years after in a letter which he
wrote 10 librarian CT the university 10 accom-
1pany q copy Of his life of Lincoln, which he asks
10 be accepted as token Of the reverence ana
gratitude with which l regard that ancient seat
Of learning" This letter. framed, is now one of
the treasures in the office of the Brown librarian,
4 l. koopman.
How great the value will be TO the university OF
TIE gift OF memorial 10 this noble American is
easily appreciated If the details Of its construction
are studied According the plans prepared by
the architects Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge. Of Bos-
aon. who also the architects Of the John Car
1er Brown Library. already on the university
ground al Providence. and of the Harper Memo
ra Library OF the University Of Chicago. the John
Hay Library viii be erected a of s250,ooo
The building will have a frontage Of a little more
than 10 feet, facing the university grounds, ana
Will extend l03 down College street. The style
Of architecture is the English Renaissance Of the
period of Sir Christopher Wren The material will
be Indiana limestone. The building will have q
basement. ground. first, mezzanine and second
doors the main enterance being Prospect street.
with only q few steps OF ascent.
The interior Of the John Hay Library has been
planned on the basis OF suggestions made by the
librarian after months OF study, including tour
OF inspection made in company with an archi-
;ectural expert TO the principal libraries Of the
East. The problem TO provide accommodations
Cor two hundred readers, three hundred thousand
volumes rooms for various special libraries, for
study and for the different branches Of the library
administration
ROOMS MOST USED ON FIRST FLOOR.
Z The requirements have been fulfilled in accord
'ance with the modern idea in planning libraries
and museums of inviting the public TO make use OF
the treasures Of literature and art There was
time when a librarian of Harvard College an
nounced with satisfaction Saturday afternoon
that every book but one back the shelves
and that he sending messenger for that one.
The point of view is TO make the literary
collection as accessible possible 1t will be no
ited by most users of the library are on the first
floor. Practically eli the open 10 the public.
In fact except the large exhibition ROOM are on
this floor. The administration Of the building Is
centred the vertical series OF rooms. of which
the oetaloguers' room is midway, and these rooms
connected with another and with the stack
by lift and by stairs. The stack Will contain
hundred and fifty thousand volumes, and
fifty thousand volumes Will be contained in other
parts Of the library. 1t is expected that pneu-
1ged 4HrOfr cln
building The department libraries will be accom-
moda1ed in the old building. which Will conmuni-
cate with the new. and thus make available to
readers in either building the resources of the
other.
The reading room has seats for lis readers
ranged go that every reader has the light his
left shoulder and sits next 10 aisle. and no
reader faces another Til have another pass
behind him IN going coming This room contains
the loan desk and the desk of the reference IL
hTarlan and the catalogue On the walls will be
placed the reference books the books reserved for
the use Of the classes. the current periodicals and
several thousand volumes of general literature.
Ih4s room is about twenty-six feet in height; II
Is lighted by high windows which leave space for
BOOKCASES around the walls. OF the reading room
On the north is the fourth floor of the stack. which
Is expected 20 contain the college library proper,
ef collection OF some twenty five thousand vol
snnes specially selected for the of the under
graduates. Adjoining the stack and connecting with
Tie reading is the large, high and well lighted
esLalogung room which fronts the court The
catalogue trays are so arranged as to be accessible
DON from the cataloguers room and the reading
t"om On the right OF the vestibue the public
e'a'rs' with the mems and the women's coat rooms
on TIE two sides Of the passage. at the end OF
Sn4ch are the Librarians two rooms. public
and one private.
ascending the stairs the visitor reaches the n1ez-
Na-'he moor. which contains q large and handsome
monumental room for the famous Harris collection
y american poetry. book room, in which
--e.ag booAcases VIII be ernuloyed. and a large