New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1921-03-04

mOdating those books. For, under the system Vi
interlibrary loan, they are made available TO III
vestigators throughout the United States. In 'nis
respect it differs from national libraries abroad,
which are purely reference Libraries, which must
be consulted on the spot.
Its printed cards represent a service when Is
also unique, the one successful attempt on a gen,
eral scale to centraliZe once for all the expense
of "a cataloguin9 books and (2) of manifoldihg
the catalogue entries.
In addition II Is "a a legislative library for
congress; (2) the main reference library for the
executive departments and bureaus; CD the law
library of the Supreme court; Cd the copyright
office of the United States; and 20 the national
library to give ii special service for the entire
country.
Its reference readers number as many as those
In the British Museum, or 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 Bibliotheque Rationale and
British Museum, which close at shutdown, the Ma
tionaI Library Is open till ten O'Clock every eve
ming, and on Sundays from two until ten.
Its building is In cubic area about 1O,OOO,OOO
cubic feet, equal to that of the Capitol. In floor
area it greatly exceeds 1t. Its shelving capacity
Is sufficient to 3,500,O00 volumes and
can be increased to double that number.
The total appropriation for the library. the
copyright office. and the care Of the building and
grounds is about $720,OO0 per annum. Against
this are receipts, copyright fee, and proceeds OF
sales of the printed cards, totaling about $2OO,-
600, 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 teen about
100000. The amount annually spent for books
and other material for collections is about $685.
900. This barely sufices for the ordinary mate
rial.
The Library IS pre-eminent in these respects:
Public (Oficial) 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
STA, 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.
Its 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 In 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 on Its recent
side by copyright, or its 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 MFR. Fess said: ut may not be
known 10 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. i want to emphasize that
statement. II 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
- roeoaroI, institution 70 rtili1a tho xact Ittr,-r
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 mi is easily with.
in our reach"