Omaha daily bee., 1908-07-12
LIBERAL METHODS OF LIBRARY
usetts Institution Dispenses
Gifts Like the Fairy God
mother of Fiction.

zone Of the most remarkable libraries
l ever ran across" said a woman OF wide
experience, is Forbes library at North
ampton, Mass. I spent six months there a
year or two ago, and II struck me that II
library methods should become much more
liberal than they were at Forbes one could
set up elaborate housekeeping pretty soon
without much to draw on besides the town
library.
Northampton is a place of about 10000
inhabitants, so that the mere size of the
Forbes library is something to make other
towns of that class feel humble. 1t con-
tains more than 10000 volumes, many of
them Of the most expensive class of books.
1t has books in all languages and many old
and rare sets. 1t is endowed.
There is another public library in town
containing over 10000 volumes. Here is a
list Of what we could have absolutely free
from the two. / was with a friend, so that
we had two cards between US.
A each library each one of us could
take out one work of fiction and two other
works. These might be kept one week or
two. according TO the book, without charge.
The fine for keeping them longer was the
usual penalty OF / cent a day.
'"That made for the two OF US from the
two libraries twelve volumes at a time.
But that was not all.
Each of us could take out on what was
called the study pocket ten volumes at each
library, and these We could keep indefi-
nitely. That made forty volumes which
we could keep on our shelves without wor-
rying about fines. There was only one re-
striction as to these. They could not be
fiction.
Our fifty-two volumes made a very
respectable little library, especially as II
could be changed a volume at a time to
suit our needs. But this was not all.
Forbes, as the library is generally
called, had an excellent collection of pho
tographs Of foreign places, famous paint
lngs and sculptures and great buildings and
monuments, These were distributed in very
much the same way as the books taken on
the study pocket.
Probably some discretion was used in
the matter, but know that persons living
In the hotel where We were had beautiful
carbons artistically framed hanging on their
walls, and II was beneficient Forbes which
had placed them there. II they wearied OF
a picture, got tired Of the Mona Lisa and
decided TO rave the Venus OF Milo for q
change Il was done. The Forbes library
card was an Aladdin's lamp and a little
pencil scratching on It worked the trans.
formation,
And there was more, too. The library
had stacks on stacks OF the best music
and this was given out to students just al
books were. Music is an expensive luxury
SO that this was especially nice Of Forbes
Certain copies Of the magazines in the
reading room could be taken out on care
and kept a week. but these were always II
demand, so that there was another pro
vision allowing any periodical, no mattel
II II had just that moment arrived from
the publisher, to be taken out at s p. m
and kept until 10 a. m.
AN this was a year ago. l shouldn't b.
in the least surprised II by this time Forbe
was circulating ferneries, palms. morri
chairs, writing desks, umbrellas, Afternoon
tea and other desirable and amelioratlnI
features OF existence. New York Sun.
heath from RIood Potson