The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-01-03

several large rooms in the Free Public
Library of Newark, N. J. The rooms
were made ready, the articles class15
fled and hung and about two hundred
labels printed on a hand press by as
eistants in the library This exhibition
contains no pictures drawings fof
civic centers, plazaS, parks, water
fronts or other beauty spots for New
ark or any other city. The City Plan
Commission, which supplied most of
the material, confined itself to the
study of such homely facts as may
help them to reach wise answers to
the question, ''How shall we make
Newark a more efficient city
Several departments of the city gov
eminent at the library's suggestion
have contributed to the exhibit and
sent material to illustrate their own
work and to show how closely their
several activities are allied to the plan
of making a more efficient city. All
this well illustrates the relations which
many public libraries bear to the cit
les by which they :lre maintained.
If a public library may extend it's
activities beyond the field of book pur-
ton, then it becomes at once an 1nsti-
ton particularly well fitted to coop
crate with any or all of the depart
ments of it's city.
In the last ten years the modern
American free public library has pro =
ed, not in one lily only but in a, score,
and not in one town only but in hun
dreds, a much more unique institution
than even those responsible for it's de-
Velopment anticipated. Time and again
it has happened that a community,
has rather languidly voted to take up
on itself the burden of maintaining a
public library. Then it has added to
its library equipment librarian Of
enthusiasm, skill and knowledge. And
then. in a few years, the town dis
covered that it had acquired a v1gor-
Gus and powerful agency for the pro-
motion of general welfare.
The 1ihrR RVS iniGtTatIOn is
ally without any partizan feeling
whatever. It concerns itself with gov
health, water supply, schools and
scores of other things because it
makes 1t it's business to gather on
these subjects the latest and best in
formation the world can offer On all
these topics, wen as on literature,
history, science philosophy and the
fine arts, it furnishes information in
books, journals and pamphlets through
schools police and fire stations,
churches, stores, the pay envelopes OF
worknen in factories and many other
agencies
The public library of a great city
also makes of It's building, If its size
and character permit, an educational
and even civic center. The Newark
Library is particularly fortunate in
that its building is larger than the ac-
tivities of the library proper will need
to use in all it's parts for forty or ff-
ty years to come.
During the past ten years, IN rooms
not used for the storage, reading or
lending of books, there have Deen held
hundreds of thousands of persons, for
education, public welfare, self i'm
provement and the promotion of en-
terpriees beneficial to the city In
these same rooms and halls have been
held scores CT exhibitions The use OF
this library an educational and
civic center, led almost inevitably to
the formation of a museum association
which for the present houses it's prop
erty and gives it's exhibits in the IL
brary building
three-fourths of mile from the city
center. Close to the center. in a rent
ed room, was opened five years ago a
business branch which Include IN Its
equipment maps, aliases, directories of
cities, commerce, trades and profess
6ioEs; year books of countries stattS-
tics, business literature of all kinds,
literature pertaining to city govern
nents, reports of other cities, all in
the hope that such material thus plac-
ed would be used by business men and
their employees. The result of the ex-
pertinent has been very satisfactory.
The general public almost always
thinks of it's library in terms of lit
erature and rarely in terms of com
nerce and industry. But the time is
rapidly approaching when the public
public library is a storehouse of such
ing in effectiveness in the aoademi A.
field, will take over to itself either di-
rectIy or through efficient co-opera-
ton, much Of the work now done by
municipal libraries and by special Ii
fbraries like those Of banks, factories.
insurance companies, charity organiza-
ton societies, municipal research bu-
reaus, etc.
The public library of the great city
will, we may assume, extend it's field
of work somewhat as follows: In all
the business districts of the city it
will establish branches. TelephoAes
and special messenger service will con-
meet all. the branches with one another
and with the main building In each
branch will be a small collection
of business activity, manufacturing,
commercial, financial, or what not,
which are found in the vicinity of the
branch. Through a vigorous campaign
of publicity the offices, shops, stores,
banks and all other institutions of the
neighborhood will be told that their
information as the man Of affairs
finds he hourly needs
The public library of a city is a gil
gantic encyclopaedia, not Of ancient
Of yesterday and of the morning of
this very day. In books, journals. pro-
ceedings Of societies, it holds the raw
material of the best obtainable an
swers to all the questions that can
arise in factories, stores and offices
Of all kinds whatsoever
Millions have been spent by great
industrial establishments in expert
ments which would never have been
made had the custom prevailed of
turning first to such q source of in
formation as the public library soon
will be, and learning thereby that the
experiments had already been made
and proven failures.
Useful as public libraries now are
they have scarcely begun to occupy
the vast unitarian field which awaits
them In the fields of mechanics,
physics, chemistry, manufacture,
transportation, commerce and many
other topics, it is each day more diff
cult for the individual and even for
the great incorporated industry with
all its experts, to keep so we'll inform
ed of the worlds advance as to make
no costly errors How great VIII be
brings close to those who daily need
it all that the world learns each day.