The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-03-29
A REMARKABLg LIBRARY.
Massachusetts Institution LIKE Fairy Gsa.
mother win Glfts IN Both Hands.

Massachusetts Institution LIKE = Fairy Geds
mother win Gifts m Both Hands.
'0ne Of the most remarkable libraries
I ever ran across said q woman o. vide
experience, is the Forbes Library ct
Northampton, Mass. l spent six months
there q year or two ago, and II struck me
that II library methods should become
much more liberal than they were at Forbes
n could set up elaborate housekeeping
pretty soon without much TO draw on be-
sides the town library.
Northampton il a place Of about 10000
Inhabitants, 20 that the mere size OF the
Forbes Library Is something TO make other
towns Of that cless feel humble. IL oon-
tainS more than 10000 volumes, many Of
them Of the most expensive class Of boohS.
II has books In all languages and many old
and rare sets. II Is endowed.
There is another public library In town
containing over 5000 volumes. Here IL
. list OF what We could have abso-
lutely free from the two. WAS with a friend.
20 that We had two cards between us.
AT 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 a cent a day.
THAT made for the two Of us from the
two libraries twelve volumes at q 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 in
definitely. That made forty volumes which
We could keep on our shelves without wor-
rying about fines. There was only n
fiction.
Our hity-two volumes made q very re-
spectacle little library, especially. as IL
could be changed a volume at a time to
suit our needs. But this was not all.
FORBES, as the library IL generally called,
had an excellent collection Of photographs
Of foreign places, famous paintings and
sculptures and great buildings and monu-
ments, These we're distributed in very
much the same way as the books taken on
the study pocket.
Probably some discretion was used 10
the matter, but l know that persons living
the hotel where we we're had beautiful
carbons artistically framed hanging on their
walls, and IL was benefcent Forbes which
lhu pldCeQ Jn6m lneTe. III lnoy NoAnoQ OF
a picture, got tired Of the Mona Lisa and
decided TO have the Venus OF Milo for .
change, It was done. The Forbes Library
card was IN Aladdin's lamp and = little
pencil scratching on 1t worked the trans
formation.
And there was more too. The library
had stacks on stacks Of the best MUSIC,
which was given out TO students just a.
books were. Music Ia an expensive luxury,
80 that this was especially nice Of Forbes.
Certain copies Of the magazines in the
reading room could be taken out on card
and kept a week, but these were always
In demand, 30 there was another provision
allowing any periodical, no matter II II
had just that moment arrived from the
publisher, TO be taken out at s P. NJ. and
kept until 10 A. NJ.
"All this was a year ago. ] shouldn't
be in the least surprised II by this time
Forbes was circulating ferneries, palms,
morris chairs, writing desks. umbrellas,
afternoon tea and other desirable and
ameliorating features Of existence.