The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-05-01
THE LIBRARY OF CONCREs
By FREDERIC ]. HAsKIN,

srs IS increasing at the rate Of about six
teen per cent per year. There are several
grades OF cards. and the lowest grade full
set 10 cate may be had for about 500
They arc Of manila paper, and because
they take up so much less space-requir-
ing only about three-fifths the space OF
the best cards-they are often preferred
10 the others.
II is estimated that there are some 60. =
100000 books in the rIblic Libraries OF the
United States OF course the vast ma
iOrity Of these represent duplicates. but
taken together they constitute as complete
an array Of publication as is to be found
in any country. Once the library has be
come fully uationalized. the American in
vestigatOr viii have the finest library
service in the world at his disposal No
other nation has vet evolved such q com
prehensive plan of support to research
or aid to investigation.
Some idea Of the magnitude Of the IN
dexing and classification work the library
is doing may be CLEANED from the state
ment that if a book index Of the material
in its shelves we're to be printed. Il would
take fifteen years to complete the Job
and would cost a quarter million dollars
some time in the future this may be un-
dertaken. but the ever-grOwing list OF
material received makes such publca-
ton almost. If not entirely impTacticable.
With more than a million and a haii
Of books and other things in proportion
in the library. and the list growing ~
the rate Of 10000 books q year. the ava
able space was all taken up. and a Ma
cedOnian CRY for more shelf room was
sent up This appeal was answered i DE
congress with an appropriation Of $4,000
for a new book stack. II viii be COM
pleted I'm about year. and viii have ten
stories of book shelves. with total ca
pacity of about 100000 volumes. Hereto
fore IL has been necessary to store many
Of the important newspapers in the base
ment. and when the investigator spent
few hours looking through some of them.
ne came TO look more likc coal HEAVIER
than a literary light
Congress does not give much consid-
Grafton to the question Of education in fix
ing salaries in the government service
A man or woman who is an average
typewritist can work NJ to 81 90 in almost
any branch Of the service. Only a good
English education is need d. In the
library q successful and qualified en-
ployc must be on rather intimate terms
with French and German and he must
b. thoroughly posted IN everything per
tanning to books. Yet the salaries arc
much lower than i'm other branches Of the
government service. rs VOL as lower
than those Of outside libraries.
The library is engaged in reciassifylng
the contents Of the stacks in aCcOrd9 1ce
with modern classification rules. Ibis
work is materially retarded by the IN
ability to retain a cspabla force. As soon
as a new emDloye gets the essential eX-
Derience there is better paving JOB
waiting bin elsewhere. The result IS
that the library is always lcsine its most
efficient employees Low nay * Darticu-
larly true in the case of the assistants in
the reading room. These attendants must
have the education Cf a college DroteS-
eor yet the highest SALARY paid is only
81. so. They are the Feonie who may al
ways be relied on to pull the reader ont
Of a hole when hunting for something he
cannot find
The usefulness of the library NAV BE- il
lustrated in a thousand ways For IN
u of q
were driven off Texas raroh. Eve
witnesses svTOre thev were driven fifty
miles to thu Ieft Of Twin mountain. Twin
mountain was not located on any map
available to the court OF claims. IT the
~attle were driven to the one side. il was
done hv the frienflv Anaches. and the
Government would have 20 Dav fo~ them
II to the other side. thav were driven off
by the hostile Comauches. and the gov
eminent was under no obligation to re''-7-
hursn rho owners \ map Of 1851. on fl
ia the lihrar'- Of congress. was ~Nsurrecfad
End II laid the off-nse at the door 81 the
Coma nche tribe. The veners BILE and 10
vented SDoffOrd to whose 0@mO-y tn
library viii ALWAYS he a monument or9e
eaid that there should 1rver he a ce'1so~
i'm the republic ~ books. asserting thu
no man could tell what norton Of the
trash OF TODAY would ba tho top S'lr" ~
tomorrow. Tho Twin mountain incident
eubstautiates that declaration. \ set Of
tho Charleston Courier. bought for con
siderable sum. has been UidCIV Use1 To
determine the question Of loysltv Of thnS~
who made claims for reimbursement To-
property DESTROYED nv federal troone Dur
'uC the civil war. II is estimated that it
has saved the government at last hum
drad times its cost
Tho libra ria0 ~ congress holds a most
peculiar relation to the government. In
reality an official Of CONGRESS- itself. b j.
appointed by rbe presid mt and mal-eS
his report to tho vice president End The
speaker Of the house. NJ Putnam has
held the place since 1909. Tho institution
greatest era Of -IScfulreSS h7s been de
velOped under his ad'ainiStratior
Copyright 1900. by Frederic J. Hsskin1
At OF Auctiooeerins.