Evening star., 1936-07-30
100000 Volumes Arailable
In City, Library Surrey Sho'os
Department of Agriculture Facilities
Hold First Place Among Govern
mental Executive Departments

problem unusual In one not directly
afiliated with the educational insti-
tutions of the District. After men,
ton of the two groups of educational
libraries in the District, the libraries
In the schools and the Public Library,
DR.. Hill quotes DR.. George F. Bow
erman, the public librarian, in de-
Scribing the position Of the latter in
relation to the schools:
while the schools train in the
use of the tools of education. the
library enables persons to carry on
their education throughout life. The
purpose of the library, therefore, is
to make it possible for the citizens of
Washington to have information that
is authoritative and up to date, to
meet vocational and technical needs,
to furnish printed materials in the
fields of art, music and literature nee
essary for cultural development, and
accurate and inspiring books which
will help to make the best type of
citizenship. The District has no state
university, consequently the Public
Library is the logical agency to fur
nish the means for carrying on adult
education
Functions Are Different.
He also calls attention to the diff
ferentiation that should be made, al
though frequently is not, between the
functions of the Public Library and
the Library of Congress:
DIR. Schmeckebier has emphasized
the fact that the Library OF the Dis
trict of Columbia should not be con-
fused with the Library of Congress,
either in management or function;
that the Public Library is local in
stitution, while the Library of Con-
gress is national establishment sup
ported entirely by the United States.
DR.. Herbert Putnam, head of the Lii
brary of Congress, also has pointed to
the distinction between the functions
of the Public Library of Washington
and those of the Library of Con-
gress. The first is designed to serve
the needs Of the local public, of gen.
eral readers, as well as of local schools
and their students; except as regards
members of Congress and their fami-
lies, the Library of Congress is for
residents of the District of Columbia
purely a reference library. A further
distinction in the uses of libraries In
Washington is to be drawn between
the services of libraries in privately
owned institutions of learning in be-
holf nf tho;r cfN1Iavafc oyaI thu corvriaoc
to be reasonably expected by the STU
dents and teachers who often depend
upon the Public Library for their own
special needs. The adequacy of the
libraries Of schools and colleges of the
District of Columbia to meet the spe-
cial needs of their own constituents
is a question that demands careful
consideration. That library workers
Of the Public Library are put to stress
in the attempt to serve both the needs
Of the general public and the demands
Of throngs of school pupils and COL
lege students, who sometimes ask that
duplicate copies of books be speedily
provided for them, is apparent. This
is problem also confronting the Lii
brary of Congress. The materials of
the Public Library are free for cir
culation and for reference to all cit
liens Of Washington"
In the case Of non-governmental
establishments and their libraries DR..
Hill confesses to having encountered
more difficulty in compiling data than
in the case of governmental institu-
tions, but the array of information
which he has lined up is imposing,
nevertheless, and the reader is quite
willing to believe him when he says
''our listing and descriptions of the
non-governmental libraries have not
omitted, we are confident, any i'm
portant ones, other than the kinds
Indicated" i.e., private libraries,
smaller church collections and COM
mercial circulating libraries" The