New-York tribune., 1908-12-20
PUBLIC LIBRARY
OF THE FUTURE
4 ROOKWORMS ECSTATIC
FORECAST.
Academic Gro0es in Bryant Park
International Erchdnge-Sub-
srau Branches.
ray Branches.

scay Branches.
.-7-ne library Of the future is not yet. re-
marked the high browed. soft voiced young man
with iron gray hair.
How can it be?" suggested his friend
-Ah. meant to say that our latest approaches
70 perfection are far from ideal, and the future
Will bring forth the ideal
z-.C5reat Scott mani How about such an In
s.,tutton as the New York Public Library which
contains three hundred rooms. nine acres OF
enace. beats the size OF the Congressional Ii
brary by one acre, and has one Of the whop-
pingest big reading rooms in the Worio anu
saw. lust read about It IN the paper-ninety
miles of bookshelves, and it's going to eat up
seven or eight millions Of hard cashT'
The elderly young man smiled induisentiy'
and his long fingers. with tips polished by much
contact with velluIn pages. colnbed oacK tne
stragglinE locks from his forehead
.s-,,e institution you mention is all right, so
far as Il goes" he replied. "and am glad that
the dimensions have taken such firm hold on
D-our mind II is probable that the new oulo-
ing viii be one Of the sights. like the HIPPO
drou1e and people VIII study the figures OF COST
enG construction with great mental oenenI 1hey
will be curious TO see the stacks In which rare
old authors are penned and 20 take peek al
the spectal cubicies Of Hebrew and Chaldean
scholars supposedly wearing the national COS
Tunes However, q professional and imas1na-
tive book1nan like myself can never rest Win
mere accomplishment. ] look forward see
,he library OF the future outcapping anythlns
that IS. even as the Himalayas tower above ths
Catskils."
will the Librarians be able 70 rise 10 UiA'
great height?"
.eYou sneer YOU deride. Let me tell you that
some few of us are not ossifed by routine
contact with knowledge that we are incapable
of original conception We have our dreams
and visions even as the shoPkeeper and tho
mechanic. II IS a mistake TO suppose S AT our
world is bound in paper. boards and half calf.
Al least we are fain to amplify and TO enlarge
She range Of our professional activities so as TO
,o,,ct al the segrnents of human existence
II aroloCtze Tell me about your library OF
the future"
INTERNATIONAL FEATURES.
..r. MIGHT mot he wise TO do so for pubIca-
ton" rlurmured the other. because a synoi-
cate If Carnegies might attempt to realize ths
tdeal urer1aturely. You can't hustle the 1ut-
ure as Pliny observed But 1 VIII take
chance and trust that my suggestions VIII not
arouse such a spirit Of discomfort that patrons
Of our present institutions will cease TO Vlslt
libraries In the first place. it is evident that
the universal tendency toward concentration IN
sr+ and business must apply TO libraries and
ne shall have a national and international
free 7ublic library system. There will be an
International bureau located either at The
Hague OF at Berne. Switzerland. and people Will
ask questions about and draw books from the
United States branch, on orders sent oy wire
loss our patrons similarly will be able TO draw
IN the great stores Of the Paris Bibnotheque
Rational and the British Museum and the st.
-,e-o-sF,,,-z Iibrarv Three-day boats will be
fast enough 10 i'll such orders. Think how this
will reduce the cost OF works Of erudition- Our
scholars would not have to spend months ana
years abroad
THE foreign hotelkeepers would raise
howl: they would lose trade"
That is q detail Scholars don't spend much
ANYHOW, and the regular trade OF catering to
wealthy American travellers would not be in
terfered with. To continue, our United States
branch viii not rely entirely sending for
original books and manuscripts. We VIII have
Photographic copies Of all important WORKS
l throughout the world This thing Is feasible
to-day by use Of the machine that copies rec
ords Of deeds and mortgages IN county clerks
Offices al the rate OF hundreds a day. A unique
manuscript that Is valued at $4,000 could be
photographed cost Of say, $2S copy, and
placed IN hundreds Of national and local
branches The Car Alexander II had printed a
limited number Of copies Of the Biblical "Codex
Sinaiticus" in 1862. and the one owned by the
Astor Library is considered invaluable. The
new rrocess Of reproduction would make copies
at only nominal cost II is good thing TO have
originals, and each national library could keep
s+s stock: but collection Of exact copies Of all
important manuscripts would far surpass a
limited number Of originals. Think Of the treas
ures in the Vatican, in out-of-the-way Syrian
snd Greek monasteries and in all private COL
lectiong that could be brought together and
made available There is no living scholar who
has been able TO see and 10 study them all"
Isn't there something of an exchange sys-
TEN in operation now?"
Only between local branches in our cities.
and on special occasions the New York library
nay get you books from Boston and the Con-
EressionaI Library at Washington. There is no
house delivery as there will be IN the future.
a reader viii phone his order TO the nearest
branch and will get his books shot through a
rheumatic tube 10 & Eub-station, thence by
automobile delivery, within half-hour. People
viii hardly care to cucumber their homes with
private Libraries. entailing expense and dust for
the housewife when they viii have perfect
q command Of public resources Most Of
evolve Intellectually with the years; We pass
through our periods OF Elizabethanism, Victo-
riaafsr1 the early French school, and so on,
and We keep the bookish reflections OF our dead
selves cuIslbering the premises. largely because
we dent know what 10 do with them They're
Ike old clothes and shoes. But with the public
system our Libraries would perpetually change
and keep pace with our progressing personali-
ties. We might expect publishers and booksell-
ers 10 object to this improvement until they
perceived the large market in supplying the
lublic trade. A great many copies would be
,,o.zeea,-v aud berrer hound and