Evening star., 1914-12-09

IHE
40 to 100 persons (exclusive of those in
care of the building itself). and some
progress had been made in the assort-
| ing of the accumulated arrears nttie
progress. however. had been made In
the equipment
The appropriations for purchase OF
books had advanced to $4,000 a year.
and Tor printing and binding to sIo,ooO'
| out these sums were utterly made
quate, the latter to the efficient treat
ment of the thousands of volumes ac-
cumulated without binding or repair
during the preceding half century. the
former to the acquisition OF material
needed to complete existing mes, TO
secure fundamental works still lack
| ing in every department OF literature
and to keep pace with the current pup
ilcatlons. The classification tunoer
modern system) and the preparation
catalogue had but just begun. and Tor
| these two (prodigious) undertakings
the available force consisted OF out
fourteen persons.
Improved Organization.
"A statement of the conditions and
of the problem met with the sympa-
thetic consideration on the part OF
Congress which has enabled the fortu-
years. as recorded in our successive re-
ports. Every one of the numerous un-
equipped spaces in the building has
been provided with shelving. cases or
other furniture appropriate to lts
specialized uses. An efficient bindery
and printing office has been installed.
and the provision for the accommoda-
t1on of new accessions enlarged even
by great bookstack in one of the
courtyards.
The appropriations for the purchase
of material have advanced from 100000
year to Substantially 100000: the
number of employees dn the, Library
proper and copyright office) from $50
to 3S5 (exclusive of the force under
the superintendent, and the printers
and binders. who are merely assigned
and the organizat ation has been inn
proved by the creation of new divisions
FOR specialized service, or for the treat
ment of material special in form and
character.
Over Two Million Volumes.
"As a result we have now a collection
of over two million volumes and a
million other items manuscripts,
maps. music and prints). which is. in
size. third among the collections of
the world; we have been able to make
good innumerable gaps in every de-
partment of literature; to utilize with
greater effect the sources of increase
copyright, gift and exchange, includ-
ing the International and the Smithso-
nian), which in certain fields are
| unique; and, here and there. to acquire
collection in some special field cal
culated to render important service to
scholarship. The opportunities that we
have had to forego have been, to be
sure, also numerous and engaging.
With prices high as at present our
funds Will not reach to the purchase
of the great "rarities," and we are
daily under the chagrin of seeing items
of high distinction, which should be
in the National Library of the United
States, go instead to other Libraries or
to the collection of some amateur.
Legislative Reference Division.
Means for the extension Of the serv-
ice of the Library to Congress have
been provided in the appropriation act
Cor 1914-15, which establishes legis-
lative reference division. Twenty-Five
thousand dollars are appropriated to
enable the librarian of Congress to
employ competent persons to prepare
such indexes, digests and compilations
of law as may be required for Congress
and other official use pursuant to the
act approved June 80, 1906"
The first undertaking under this act
is the resumption of the indexing of
prise a supplement to the general laws
enacted since 1907, at which point the
present index stops, also a separate in
dex to the private and local acts from
the beginning.
Schiff's Gift.
The most important accession of the
year is Jacob H. Schifrs second notable
gift, consisting of more than 1900
volumes. to reinforce the collection of
Semitica given by him to the Library in
1912 The present collection, like the
former. was brought together by DR..
Ephraim Deinard, who spent the pre-.
ced1ng year In Europe and Palestine in
gathering the material.
Through the services of Dr. Hing Kwai
Fung, in China, the collection of Chinese
literature has received an increment of
l7,20S volumes. embracing works deal
| ing chiefly with lexicography. history and
physiography, the arts, agriculture, medi-
cine. photography and geography; but
including also many collected works.
series and encyclopedias.
The music division has added 28S76
volumes and pieces of music during the
year. 1t has also brought out cata-
iogue of opera librettos and a monograph
on The Star Spangled Banner"
A significant addition was made to the
collection of autograph scores by the
ollowing composers: Arthur Foote, Henry
F. Gilbert, Victor Herbert, Edgar Still
man Kelley. Louis Victor Saar and
Adolph Weidig