The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-01
HADLEY TALKS
 ON LIBRARIES 0pening Session of State
 Association 1T CARNEGIE INSTITUTION Ueeiings Are Scheduled for We'd nesday and Thursday. Address of Evening is one of Great In- terest and Importance to the
 People Interested in the
 Work Being Done
1T CARNEGIE INSTITUTION

The opening session of the sixth an nual convention of the Alabama Li- brary Association was held Tuesday evening in the Carnegie Library. Dr. Thomas NJ. owen, President of the As sociation, presided and gave the ad- dress of welcome. Miss Beulah Mo Cauiey, of the Judson Institute. re- sponded in behalf of the visiting libra- rians. Chalmers Hadley, Secretary of the American Library Association, of Chicago, gave the address of the even ing.
 The auditorium was filled with visit ing librarians from every section of the State, and Montgomerians interest ed in the work. President Owen call- ed the session to order. In his welcom- ing remarks, Dr. owen told of the ad- vancement of trained librarians and of library extension in the State. He welcomed the visitors In the name of the Library Association. the city of Montgomery and the Federation of To- cal clubs.
 In her response, Miss McCauley said that all the librarians were enthusiasts tic in their work and that the visitors were glad to be present as guests of honor.
 MT. Hadley then addressed the gath ering as follows:
 Tt was suggested that the general topic of The Library be considered. which Is nearly as broad in scope as the occasional club program which In one meeting may cover Greek art, the pre-Raphaelite movement in England. and the religions of India.
 But why not The Library? At most library meetings we discuss the mini- fuae of our work, how to make paste. the spring styles in book labels. the xf HDhfa with many other questions of library technique, and too few of library strat- egy, as pr. Bostwick has put it. |.
 Tt is we'll for library people in the rush of their duties to stop at times and reflect on the general character of their work, on their place in the com munity and that of the library in the life of the town. The librarians is no mean profession. and the number and influence of libraries are steadily in- creasing. During the last few years Mir. Andrew Carnegie alone has given nearly s40.000,0o0 to libraries. Every year citizens throughout the country are taxed millions for library support; ten library schools with one or two years courses are sending their grad uates Into the field annually; forty States have library commissions or library extension departments; thirty A3ue 0ihIcS nave lDEAIy AS5OEAhllOuS and as to library buildings, they spring up like mushrooms in Q night.
 If the library's friends will moi consider the library, other people will City Councils and city treasurers are Informing themselves as to libraries school men are reporting on its rela- lions to school work. and tax payers are inqulring as to their returns from the library investment.
 Another reason why the library may be discussed to advantage Is that sur prisingly few people not directly inter- ested in library work really understand what that work Is. Probably there is no public institution less understood partly because as we know them. they are of comparatively recent origin, an6 because a library's worlo to the unre. fective frequently may not be easily discernable..
 There Is a great difference to vari. ous people in the very meaning of the word, Library" To thousands ths word will flash a mental picture of ar austere little building of Greek design with a portico and fiuted columns ir front and perhaps a glass dome above "a building cold and inflexible, monu. mental in appearance which strangely enough seems to increase in ratio as the building diminishes In size. There Is little or the bookiSh about such building which in appearance might bs the postoffice, railway station or a fam fly burying vault, To a fewer num- Der, the word will bring to mind row. on rows of books in a mysterious room where the inmates tip-toe silentl, about and converse in impressive whis- pers.
 A Building.
 Now, building Is no more a librar, than an empty brick edifice containing blackboards Is a school. Books alone no matter how well selected, do mol constitute a public library in our ac. ceptance of the term, any more thar powers and pills. efficaclous in them. selves, constitute a doctor.
 John Cotton Dana, of the Newark Public Library, says: Get good books give them a home attractive to readers of good books, name a friend of gooc books as mistress of this home, and vol have library" Books a building ana their mistress then, constitute a libra. ry, and the greatest of these Is the mis. tress.
 "one well known librarian has stated