Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1921-03-10

modating those books. For, under the system OIL
interlibrary loan, they made available to IN
vestigators throughout the United States In this
respect it differs from national libraries ABROAD,
which purely reference libraries, which must
be consulted on the spot
Its printed cards represent service which is
also unique, the one successful attempt on a gen
eral scale to centralize once for all the expense
Of ~ cataloguing books and (2) of manifolding
the catalogue entries.
In addition it is ~ legislative library for
congress; (2) the main reference library for the
executive departments and bureaus; 81 the law
library of the Supreme court; az the copyright
office of the United States: and (5) the national
library to give a special service for the entire
country.
Its reference readers number many as those
in the British Museum, the Bibliotheque Ma
tionale; but the facilities accorded them, for ex-
ample, of direct access to the Shelves surpass
those of any other considerable reference library
whatever Unlike the Bibiotheque Rationale and
British Museum, which close at sundOWn the Ma
tional Library is open till ten o'clock every eve
ming, and on Sundays from two until ten.
It's building is in cubic about 100000
cubic feet, equal to that of the Capitol In floor
area it greatly exceeds it. It's shelving capacity
is sufficient to accommodate 3,50O000 volumes and
can be increased to double that number
The total appropriation for the library, the
copyright Office, and the of the building and
grounds is about $4,000 per annum. Against
this receipts, copyright fee, and proceeds of
sales of the printed cards, totaling about $780,
O00 so that the net outlay for the library is
about $4,000 per annum. In addition, there is,
however, the expense for printing and binding,
for which the annual allotment has been about
100000. The amount annually spent for books
and other material for collections is about $685.
OO0 This barely suffices for the ordinary mate
rial.
r Sc, tn, 41,o~o
Public (oficiaD documents Of all countries re-
sulting from the international exchanges conduct
ed by the Library itself. And in special fields of
literature, for example, Americana, including the
results Of copyright; political science; law; and
certain (unexpected) groups, for example: Rus
sia, the Yudin collection, $4,000 volumes, perhaps
the most thorough outside of Russia; China, one
Of the largest, and in certain respects certainly
the richest, outside of China.
It's collection of music is probably the largest
in the world Developed for the needs of the
serious investigator-composer, critic, historian,
conductor-it is rendering signal service to such
Investigators ins America. For instance, in no
other institution in the world could the history
of modern opera be studied or written as here.
Its collection of prints developed its recent
side by copyright, or it's more classical side by
gift is constantly drawn upon for illustration, and
the exhibits from it interest inform and influence
thousands of visitors annually
In conclusion Mr.. Fess said: '1t may not be
known to all members of the house that here in
Washington connected with the various research
divisions of the government is located the greatest
group of great scholars that can be found in any
center in all the world. 1 want to emphasize that
statement. 1t is absolutely true These scholars
are associated with the various governmental de-
partments, each of which has special library facil-
ity for its use. The step necessary to make the
largest use of the capital as the worlds greatest
center for scholarship is a national university as
a research institution to utilize the vast library
sources and the laboratory facilities connected
with the various departments of the government
rich beyond those of any other country on the
globe. This would at once give this capital the
first rank of all capitals as the worlds greatest
intellectual center-a mecca to which the scholars
Of the future will come to add to the sum total
of knowledge. This consummation is easily with
in our reach"