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 [Reprinted from the Library journal, February, 1908.] 
 
 
 AMERICAN LIBRARIES —A METHOD OF STUDY AND INTERPRETATION 
 
 By Salome Cutler Fairchild 
 
 During an extended experience in library 
 school instruction, I have been impressed with 
 the need of an effective method by which stu¬ 
 dents, with a reasonable expenditure of time, 
 may secure a good working knowledge of 
 American library conditions. From the first 
 the history of ancient and mediaeval and for¬ 
 eign libraries has been given in a somewhat 
 systematic and satisfactory way in the schools. 
 For several years a knowledge of American 
 libraries was left to casual mention by lec¬ 
 turers in the different subjects, to voluntary 
 reading of library periodicals and to a class 
 report on current events. About 1892 I began 
 to work out the problem in the New York 
 State Library School, and by 1900 a method 
 had been evolved, which, when fully devel¬ 
 oped, will result in material that can easily 
 be made available to the various library 
 schools, to library clubs and associations, and 
 also to library staffs. Such a method is 
 needed not only by library students, but also 
 by librarians and assistants. 
 
 Library development has been so rapid that 
 it is impossible for even the most intelligent 
 and experienced librarians to follow it in de¬ 
 tail. Those who are thoroughly familiar with 
 work in one part of the country are ignorant 
 of other fields; some are so absorbed in 
 phases of the movement that other equally 
 significant features are almost outside their 
 ken. It is perhaps safe to assume that al¬ 
 though many have a wide knowledge, no one 
 of all the thousands of library workers in the 
 country to-day has a comprehensive knowl¬ 
 edge of library conditions. If a person quali¬ 
 fied for the task could take the time to make a 
 somewhat exhaustive study of the whole field, 
 and then to sum up the results, winnowing out 
 from the mass the unessential and the insig¬ 
 nificant and putting what remains into a form 
 in which it may be quickly and pleasantly 
 assimilated, a service might be rendered to 
 librarianship. 
 
 Such a common basis of understanding would 
 counteract the one-sided and' faddish develop¬ 
 ment to which the library movement is ex¬ 
 posed, and would make discussion between li¬ 
 brarians more intelligent and profitable. It 
 would also serve as a means of cultivating in 
 
 the whole body of workers what we are in the 
 habit of calling the library spirit. With the 
 increase in the number of assistants incident 
 to the rapid spread of libraries, we are in dan¬ 
 ger of losing the individual initiative and 
 spirit of devotion which are the very breath of 
 life to the movement. Our libraries have been 
 centers of noble influence, not simply because 
 we have distributed good books, but because 
 we as individual library workers have, in the 
 spirit of courtesy and helpfulness, given to 
 individuals the right book. Each reader has 
 felt that we cared whether he got the right 
 book or not. As our cities grow and as we 
 rightly become ambitious to reach the whole 
 city life by branches and delivery stations 
 and travelling libraries, it comes about that 
 many hands are needed to do the work. The 
 New York Public Library in its circulating 
 department has 406 employees. How shall we 
 prevent the institutional spirit from creeping 
 into the library? How shall we keep the 
 workers from feeling that they are hired by 
 the city to make a shelf-list, or to register 
 readers, or to carry books from the stacks to 
 the loan desk, or to get as much work as pos¬ 
 sible out of a force of people in a department, 
 all for so many hours a day, for so many dol¬ 
 lars a month? What shall preserve the unity, 
 the public spiritedness, the delight in working 
 together for a common noble end which shall 
 prevent any worker in the large library, how¬ 
 ever humble his part, from becoming simply a 
 cog of a wheel in a machine, and keep him an 
 intelligent sharer in a high enterprise? We 
 need a feasible method by which we can tell 
 him in a graphic and interesting way the story 
 of his past, by which we can make him realize 
 himself as a part of the chain of libraries 
 which in the West and in the East, in the 
 South and in the North are doing valiant so¬ 
 cial service, together with other public utili¬ 
 ties, fighting the battle against ignorance and 
 greed and selfish ease, and bringing in “nobler 
 modes of life.” A serious study of library 
 conditions would make prominent the failures 
 and limitations of the library movement. It 
 should develop a controlled and intelligent 
 enthusiasm, instead of the frothy and fever¬ 
 ish effervescence by which librarians have at 
 
2 
 
 times been possessed, and which discredits us 
 in the eyes of scholars and educators. 
 
 One or more persons should devote as much 
 time as is necessary to making the prelim¬ 
 inary study of conditions. They should be 
 able to command not only time but leisure. 
 They should be willing to read carefully sets 
 of library reports and any other documentary 
 material. Starting with a good knowledge of 
 libraries and an acquaintance with librarians, 
 they should visit libraries in all parts of the 
 country, remaining long enough in one place 
 to get the spirit as well as the method of 
 work. They should have a sense of propor¬ 
 tion, a spirit of fairness, the ability to see and 
 to state all sides of a question without bias 
 and prejudice; they should be in sympathy 
 with every variety of library work and en 
 rapport with workers in all sections of the 
 country. 
 
 I do not believe that a presentation in book 
 form is the best method of making available 
 the results of investigation. Library students 
 might read such a book if made the basis of 
 a course. Librarians and assistants would 
 not read it. They do not now read a tithe 
 of the library literature which they have. 
 For this reason the “Contributions to Amer¬ 
 ican library history” projected by the Li¬ 
 brary of Congress, though wisely planned 
 and admirably executed in the single volume 
 issued,* does not fill the whole need. An¬ 
 other objection to a volume on American li¬ 
 braries is the fact that, like a catalog, it would 
 be out of date before it could be printed. 
 
 The illustrated lecture lend's itself more 
 readily to the end desired than any other 
 method' of presentation. The school, the li¬ 
 brary club and institute and the staff meet¬ 
 ing provide a natural way of introducing the 
 lectures. It is becoming very common to equip 
 audience rooms with lanterns. I do not, how¬ 
 ever, propose the random talk which too often 
 accompanies an exhibition of slides. The time 
 is past for associating the lantern talk ex¬ 
 clusively with popular methods of entertain¬ 
 ment. Universities and scientific societies are 
 using slides as a means of explaining and 
 vivifying the regular lecture and' address. 
 Each lecture should be carefully written. It 
 would be no easy task to cull out of the mass 
 of material that which has life and meaning, 
 
 ♦William Dawson Johnston, “History of the Libra¬ 
 ry of Congress,” 1904, v. 1, 1800-1864. 
 
 and to present it in a vivid and agreeable way. 
 The photographs must be selected with equal 
 care. Indeed in many cases they do not ex¬ 
 ist and must be taken. The necessary pictures 
 are difficult to secure. They must show the 
 library at work. Interior views must be ob¬ 
 tained' exhibiting groups of people in the 
 various rooms, taken at just the right mo¬ 
 ment to illustrate the typical activities of the 
 place. Slides of library maps could also be 
 employed to advantage. 
 
 I am well aware of the difficulties attendant 
 upon giving illustrated lectures. The inex¬ 
 perienced lecturer puts his mind at ease when 
 arranging to speak before an institution of 
 standing. He is assured that the lantern fa¬ 
 cilities are superior, secured under expert ad¬ 
 vice and at large expense. The event too 
 often proves that a slow or bungling operator, 
 insufficient light or the total failure of light in 
 the midst of a delivery, entirely spoils the ef¬ 
 fect of his carefully prepared lecture and of 
 the illustrations, which involve so great an 
 outlay in money, pains and patience. The 
 only resource open is to arrive early, to insist 
 on being conducted to the lecture hall, and to 
 have a little practice with the operator. Even 
 then one can never allow for the vagaries of 
 electricity. The necessity of attention to de¬ 
 tails in these matters will become so evident 
 that the difficulties will almost entirely dis¬ 
 appear. Lantern work which approximates 
 perfection is already secured for the public 
 lectures offered by the Department of Educa¬ 
 tion of New York City, under the watchful 
 supervision of Dr. Henry M. Leipziger. An¬ 
 other disadvantage of illustrated lectures lies 
 in the fact that students are unable to take 
 notes and that a darkened room prevents the 
 closeness of touch between speaker and' lis¬ 
 teners so desirable in teaching. A printed 
 syllabus for each lecture, giving not only its 
 outline, but all facts, figures, and sources 
 partially obviates the first difficulty. The sec¬ 
 ond may sometimes be lessened by removing 
 the slide whenever a long interval occurs be¬ 
 fore the introduction of a new one. The light 
 from the lantern restores speaker and lis¬ 
 tener to each other. In spite of inherent dis¬ 
 advantages which cannot be fully overcome, 
 the method seems the only way of making the 
 distinctive features of one library real and 
 clear to the workers in other libraries. 
 
 The following program of subjects covers 
 
3 
 
 the ground with considerable fulness, at the 
 same time allowing for expansion as the need 
 for more lectures may develop. 
 
 OUTLINE OF A COURSE OF LECTURES ON 
 AMERICAN LIBRARIES 
 
 General 
 
 Function of the library. 
 
 Types of libraries. 
 
 Sketch and analysis of the library movement. 
 The American Library Association. 
 
 Leaders in the movement. 
 
 Library schools. 
 
 Library commissions and associations. 
 Descriptive 
 
 Public libraries (urban and rural). 
 
 Free reference libraries. 
 
 College libraries. 
 
 Library of Congress. 
 
 State libraries. 
 
 Proprietary libraries. 
 
 Subscription libraries. 
 
 Subject libraries. 
 
 Comparative 
 
 Buildings. 
 
 Branch libraries. 
 
 Access to shelves. 
 
 Children’s library work. 
 
 Work for special classes. 
 
 Catalog departments. 
 
 Reference departments. 
 
 Geographical 
 
 Library facilities of Boston. 
 
 Library facilities of New York. 
 
 Library facilities of Philadelphia. 
 
 Library facilities of Washington and Balti¬ 
 more. 
 
 Library facilities of Chicago. 
 
 Library facilities of the United States geo¬ 
 graphically considered. 
 
 The lecture on “Types of libraries” should 
 differentiate clearly the forms in which the 
 library idea has appeared. Free circulating 
 libraries, both endowed and tax-supported, 
 free reference, university and' college, govern¬ 
 ment, proprietary and subscription libraries, 
 and libraries on special subjects, should be 
 shown in their historical development. The 
 way in which they fit together, each supple¬ 
 menting the work of the others in supplying 
 the book needs of a modern community, 
 should also be set forth. 
 
 In the lecture entitled “Sketch and analysis 
 
 of the library movement” the steps in our 
 progress should not be treated simply by 
 enumerating detached events. They should 
 be shown as part of an orderly growth, in 
 their relation to each other and to the devel¬ 
 opment of American civilization of which li¬ 
 brary history is one manifestation. Suitable 
 illustrations play an important part in this 
 lecture. The files of Library journal and 
 Public Libraries should be gone through, and 
 the more closely the lecturer has been identi¬ 
 fied with the movement, the more valuable 
 such a bird’s-eye view may be made. 
 
 The same is true of the lectures on the 
 “American Library Association” and “Leaders 
 in the library movement.” It is essential that 
 the lecturer should have a personal acquaint¬ 
 ance with the leaders and have been actively 
 associated in the work of the Association. 
 He should not, however, shirk the task of 
 searching diligently the Proceedings, that the 
 presentation may be accurate as well as vivid. 
 Reminiscences of the oldest members of the 
 association would throw much light on the 
 earliest history. Library exhibits should be 
 included in the lecture on the American Li¬ 
 brary Association. 
 
 Much useful work has been done by A. L. 
 A. committees on library training, but, so far 
 as I am aware, no member of such a commit¬ 
 tee has ever had the time to spend even a week 
 at a school, hearing lectures, examining the 
 work of students, getting in touch with the 
 faculty and with the student body, thus learn¬ 
 ing the governing ideals and the actual work 
 of the school. Such a study of library train¬ 
 ing ought to be made. 
 
 “Library commissions and associations,” the 
 story of the way in which the library idea has 
 taken root and grown in the widely varying 
 soils of the different states, is a fascinating 
 subject. A study of state history, political and 
 literary, and of the printed matter issued by 
 each commission, must be followed by visits 
 to typical centers in company with the 
 organizers. The travelling library should 
 be followed to its destination. A seat on the 
 book wagon should be secured. Library insti¬ 
 tutes would naturally be treated in this lecture. 
 “Illinois libraries,” by Miss Katharine L. 
 Sharp, of which part i was published in 1906 
 as. v. 2, no. 1 of University of Illinois Studies, 
 would prove an invaluable aid to an investi- 
 
4 
 
 gator in Illinois. Other states will in time 
 be covered in the Library of Congress Con¬ 
 tributions. 
 
 A course on “American libraries” should in¬ 
 clude library periodicals. But it may be that 
 a printed list, fully annotated and containing 
 foreign as well as American periodicals, would 
 serve the purpose as well as a lecture. 
 
 Descriptive lectures on “Representative li¬ 
 braries” form perhaps the most important 
 division of the proposed course. If we 
 would understand the library situation, 
 we must know how individual libraries 
 are studying and solving, or failing to 
 solve their problems. The libraries studied 
 should include all the great libraries of the 
 country, also a selection of libraries of each 
 type, of various sizes, and in ail sections of 
 the country. The distinction between “large” 
 and “small” public libraries so often at¬ 
 tempted, is vague and unsatisfactory. The 
 terms, urban and’ rural, suggested by Mr. R. 
 R. Bowker, might well be adopted. A list of 
 one hundred representative libraries, selected 
 by consultation as suitable for study, was 
 printed in Library journal, 1904, 29:158-9. 
 It includes fifty-four public libraries, all of 
 them urban. A few typical rural libraries 
 should be added, also the most important 
 special subject libraries. 
 
 The investigator should' begin the study of 
 each library by reading a history of the insti¬ 
 tution if one exists; he should then read a 
 complete set of its reports, taking careful 
 notes, and should look through all important 
 matter which it has issued. He is then ready 
 to begin his study on the spot. He should 
 spend a good part of each day at the library, 
 going from one department to another, but 
 giving most attention to those where the li¬ 
 brary comes in touch with readers. If he can 
 use the library as a reader, he will get a de¬ 
 sirable point of view not otherwise possible. 
 All his skill as an observer, natural and ac¬ 
 quired, will be needed. He should avoid be¬ 
 ing steered by the librarian to see the favor¬ 
 able aspects of the place, and on the other 
 hand should free himself from the suspicion 
 that he is a cold and carping critic. A genu¬ 
 ine human interest in the work of the library 
 and in each worker would remove all diffi¬ 
 culties and secure the best results. Some time 
 should be spent in getting an idea of the city, 
 that a judgment may be formed as to how the 
 
 library or libraries of the place fit their condi¬ 
 tions. The stay should be long enough to 
 form such a judgment. It was my good for¬ 
 tune to make a study of the Osterhout Library 
 of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., during the lifetime of 
 Miss Hannah P. James. With her generous 
 co-operation ten days sufficed. Institutions 
 that are larger and more complete would re¬ 
 quire more time. 
 
 Having by such means a pretty full and ac¬ 
 curate knowledge of the history and present 
 standing of a given library, is the investigator 
 to give his audience a resume of his material ? 
 By no means. Knowing many things about 
 the library, he should be able to fasten upon 
 the significant things which distinguish it 
 from others of its class. An institution has 
 an individuality just as a person has. The 
 lectures on representative libraries should re¬ 
 veal the individuality of each library and 
 should attempt nothing else. A skeleton of ♦ 
 facts can be supplied by the syllabus. The 
 lecture must make the dry bones live. 
 
 To illustrate. The Standard Library in its 
 own room is clearly one of the characteristic 
 activities of the Providence Public Library. 
 
 A person studying that library would become 
 a reader in the standard room. He would 
 haunt it at different hours during his entire 
 stay. He would find out how much it is used 
 and by whom. He would secure such pictures 
 of the room with readers in it, as to give a fair 
 idea of its use. The underlying idea of this 
 collection, and its actual usefulness would be 
 set forth in the lecture. 
 
 By the plan of presentation just outlined 
 several libraries could be treated in one lec¬ 
 ture. Those of the same type and of about 
 the same size would naturally be considered 
 together. It would be feasible to write out 
 each lecture on representative libraries in two 
 or three forms, short, medium and full,* so 
 that various combinations might be made in 
 delivering them. One locality might desire 
 a specially full treatment of a certain library, 
 but be satisfied with the “short” treatment of 
 others. 
 
 I believe that there is nothing to gain and 
 much to lose by serious criticism of individual 
 libraries in the lectures, though some phases 
 of their work might warrant it. The failures 
 or limitations of a given library could, how- 
 
 *The terms are used in this sense by Mr. C. A. 
 Cutter, in his “Rules for a dictionary catalogue.” 
 
5 
 
 ever, be brought out emphatically in a general 
 treatment of libraries of its type. They could 
 also be shown by implication. It goes with¬ 
 out saying that the reference department of a 
 university library should be one of its strong¬ 
 est departments. Therefore if that depart¬ 
 ment of a given library were not brought out 
 as one of its main features, the omission 
 would amount to an indictment of the insti¬ 
 tution for failing to live up to commonly 
 recognized standards. 
 
 The material gathered for the lectures on 
 representative libraries could be shifted to 
 throw light in a comparative way on any sub¬ 
 ject of general interest, or of particular in¬ 
 terest to a group of people. A few such sub¬ 
 jects are indicated above. There is scarcely 
 any limit to the possibilities in this direction. 
 
 The same material could be re-shifted, and, 
 with some additions, provide a series of lec¬ 
 tures on the library facilities of different cities 
 and different sections of the country. Such 
 an exhibit might be made interesting, and' at 
 the same time serviceable in revealing dread¬ 
 ful gaps to be filled. 
 
 It has been suggested that with the notes 
 and slides in hand a few lectures might be 
 written for the general public which should 
 give them a more intelligent conception of the 
 library and incline them to use its privileges 
 and to support it liberally. 
 
 The notes of the investigator should be 
 mad'e available so far as feasible to the facul¬ 
 ties of library schools. Any library should 
 also be free to ask that a comparison be made 
 on any mooted point, thus saving the burden 
 of many a questionnaire. The lecture mate¬ 
 rial must be kept up to date and the lectures 
 themselves be constantly under revision. They 
 should be listened to for the sake of criticism 
 by all those competent to criticise. It is 
 doubtless true that such listeners would find 
 the lectures more illuminating and' suggestive 
 than students and assistants. One of the most 
 successful administrators in the country, a 
 man whose methods are widely copied, tells 
 me that nothing is of so much service to him 
 in the management of his institution as visits 
 to other libraries. These lectures would 
 serve the same end as library visits, though 
 in a less effective way. 
 
 Believing in the need of such a course and 
 having the freedom and leisure which are es¬ 
 sential to developing it, I have begun the 
 
 work. A few lectures are already available. 
 I purpose to carry forward the plan so far as 
 possible, ultimately leaving the notes, lectures 
 and slides either to the American Library As¬ 
 sociation or to the library school best equipped 
 to make them useful and to carry forward the 
 work. I should welcome now or at any time 
 the aid of other investigators. 
 
 I have the impression that Mr. Theodore 
 Wesley Koch has been working along the 
 lines indicated above, in his study of Car¬ 
 negie libraries. The results of his study he has 
 given as an illustrated' lecture. He has also 
 in preparation “A book of Carnegie libra¬ 
 ries.” Under the title “A portfolio of Car¬ 
 negie libraries” he issued in 1907 the illustra¬ 
 tions for the forthcoming volume. That there 
 is a growing interest in the history of Ameri¬ 
 can libraries is evidenced not only by the 
 work of Mr. Johnston, Miss Sharp and Mr. 
 Koch, but also by such articles as “College 
 libraries in the mid-nineteenth century,” by 
 Mr. W. N. Chattin Carlton. (See Library 
 journal, November, 1907.) It is to be hoped 
 that we may ultimately have the “Handbook 
 of American libraries,” which Mr. Frederick 
 J. Teggart is editing. 
 
 I do not conceive of the work in which I 
 am engaged as merely a personal undertaking. 
 No one could make such a study without the 
 hearty and sympathetic co-operation of li¬ 
 brary workers. The chief librarian and the 
 humblest assistant may help, or, failing to 
 help, will hinder. If there is a real need for 
 such a study of American libraries, every one 
 in the work has a certain responsibility in 
 helping to make it fair, and complete and ser¬ 
 viceable. Each lecture should represent a con¬ 
 sensus of the judgment and insight of all those 
 fitted to judge and to see. 
 
 If the plan outlined meets the approval of 
 the profession and a genuine co-operation 
 takes place, we may have within ten or fifteen 
 years a course of lectures from which stu¬ 
 dents and library staffs all over the country 
 can easily gain a good working knowledge of 
 American library conditions. Such a knowl¬ 
 edge would quicken interest, diffuse the finest 
 spirit, and tend to the breadth of view, bal¬ 
 ance and sanity which are requisites of the 
 best educational work. A widespread intelli¬ 
 gence as to library conditions would be sure 
 to result in a material improvement of those 
 conditions. 
 

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