Part 40

Miss SHARP told of the instruction in bibliography given to the students in University of Illinois Library School by the professors at the university. Several of the professors give lectures on the bibliography of their various subjects; a subject is assigned to the students before the lecture, they are required to examine bibliographies, reviews, and the books themselves, as far as accessible in the library, and to select ten books which they would buy first for a library of 10,000 vols. This selection is criticised by the professor, who meets the class, gives them an outline of his subject, speaks of the principles of selection, mentions the writers who are considered authorities, and calls to the attention of the students valuable material not to be found in the trade lists. This is in the first year; in the second year the professors give their lectures first and the class will select their books for criticism afterwards. The professors have given most generous co-operation in the work; but their work has been uneven and many of them fail to catch the librarian's and bibliographer's point of view, and most of them acknowledge that their studies are limited to the advanced works, so that they do not know what to recommend for the small public libraries.

An interesting discussion followed as to the relation between university librarians and professors in mutual co-operation in bibliographical work.

Miss KROEGER suggested that library students who felt a special inclination for some scholastic subject might take up such study as a supplement to the library school course.

To this Mr. HASKINS remarked that the proper way would rather be the opposite, namely that the student of history, for example, who wished to take up library work, might take a course in library economy as a supplement to his university studies. He pointed out that a university graduate did not at all need to spend two years in getting familiar with library technique.

Mr. HANSON, of the Library of Congress, Mr. ANDREWS, of The John Crerar Library, and Miss CLARK, of the Department of Agriculture Library at Washington, all emphasized the need of scientific experts who should also be trained in bibliography and library economy. The opinion was strongly expressed that there was no greater desideratum in instruction in library work at present than a course offered to trained scientists who would be willing to add to their scientific training a fair knowledge of library methods.

TRANSACTIONS OF COUNCIL AND EXECUTIVE BOARD.

Meetings of the Council of the American Library Association were held in connection with the Waukesha conference, on July 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10, in all six sessions being held. There was also a short meeting of the executive board on July 9.

Of the 25 members of Council 15 were present, as follows: C. W. Andrews, R. R. Bowker, W. H. Brett, H. J. Carr,[I] F. M. Crunden, J. C. Dana, Melvil Dewey, Electra C. Doren, W. I. Fletcher, J. K. Hosmer, George Iles, Mary W. Plummer, Herbert Putnam, Katharine L. Sharp, Charles C. Soule. In addition, the members of the executive board served as _ex officio_ members and officers of Council. They included the president, Henry J. Carr; ex-president, R. G. Thwaites; secretary, F. W. Faxon; recorder, Helen E. Haines; treasurer, Gardner M. Jones. The first and second vice-president--E. C. Richardson and Mrs. Salome C. Fairchild--were not present during the conference.

PROCEEDINGS OF COUNCIL.

_Place of next meeting._ Invitations for the 1902 meeting of the American Library Association were received from Detroit, Mich.; Charleston, S. C.; Memphis, Tenn.; Brevard, N. C.; from a New Hampshire Board of Trade, suggesting a resort in the White Mountains, and from the Massachusetts Library Club, urging that the meeting be held on the eastern coast, near Boston. It was _Voted_, That place and date of next meeting be referred to the executive board, with recommendation to meet at a resort on the New England seaboard near Boston.

_Nominations for officers._ It was _Voted_, That the ex-presidents present at the meeting be appointed a committee to submit nominations for officers for 1901-2. This committee reported at a later session of the Council, and the nominations submitted were adopted, with the provision that the ticket include also without distinction names sent in on nominations signed by five members of the Association.

_By-laws._ H. M. Utley, chairman of the Committee on By-laws, reported the draft of by-laws prepared by that committee. This was discussed and amended, each section being separately considered and voted upon. It was _Voted_, That the entire body of by-laws, as amended, be adopted, subject to such arrangement of sections as may be made by the president and secretary.

The by-laws were later presented to the Association in general meeting. (_See_ Proceedings, p. 129.)

_Endowment Fund and Publishing Board._ Charles C. Soule, trustee of the Endowment Fund, reported that the income of the fund now on hand and to accrue during the year amounted to about $1000, and recommended that the sum of $500 be added to the principal of the fund, unless required by the Publishing Board or for other purposes of the Association.

W. I. Fletcher, for the Publishing Board, stated that the board would need during the ensuing year an appropriation as ample as could be secured; and it was _Voted_:

That the trustees of the Endowment Fund be authorized to transfer to the Publishing Board the income of the Endowment Fund now on hand and to accrue during the coming year.

_Reduced postal and express rates on library books._ Recommendations were submitted from the Round Table Meeting on state library commissions, as follows:

1, That the Council be requested to arrange for securing reduced rates from the express companies for travelling libraries;

2, That the Council be requested to give its support to the Jenkins bill providing for the transmission of library books by rural free delivery;

3, That the Council be requested to actively interest itself in securing lower postage rates on library books.

After discussion it was _Voted_, That a committee of five of the Council be appointed on express and postal rates for library books, to negotiate with the express companies, to co-operate with regard to Congressional legislation, and to report further to the Council as to the postal question.

The committee was appointed as follows: E. H. Anderson, chairman; J. S. Billings, W. C. Lane, R. R. Bowker, Johnson Brigham. It was _Voted_:

That in case of the inability of any member of the committee to serve, the retiring president be authorized to fill vacancies.

_Relation of libraries to the book trade._ It was _Voted_, That the executive board be requested to appoint a committee of five to consider and report upon the relation of libraries to the book trade.

_Cataloging rules for printed cards._ It was _Voted_, That the Council authorize the promulgation of the proposed A. L. A. cataloging rules for printed cards, so soon as the Publishing Board and its special advisory committee, and the Library of Congress, shall have agreed upon the details of same;

That the committee on cataloging rules for printed cards be requested also to formulate the variations from those rules which they recommend for manuscript work.

_List of American dissertations._ The College and Reference Section submitted the following communication:

"_To the Council of the A. L. A._:

"The College and Reference Section, at its recent meeting, appointed the undersigned, a committee to prepare and report to the council the draft of a request with reference to an annual list of American dissertations for the degree of doctor of philosophy or science. We would, therefore, respectfully ask that the approval of the Council be given to the plan outlined herein, viz:

"To send to such institutions of learning in the United States and Canada as confer the degree of doctor of philosophy or science, after residence and examination, the following circular letter:

"_To the President and Faculty of ----_,

"GENTLEMEN: The College and Reference Section of the American Library Association, with the approval of the Council of such Association, respectfully requests that your institution publish in its annual catalog, or corresponding publication, a list of the dissertations accepted from persons who have been granted the degree of doctor of philosophy or science during the preceding academic year, and a supplementary list of all dissertations printed since the publication of the last annual catalog. This list should contain the following particulars: The full name and year of graduation of the author; the full title of the dissertation; the year of imprint, and, if a reprint, the title, volume, and pagination of the publication from which it was reprinted.

"We also request your institution to require a title-page for each dissertation, giving, in addition to the full name of author and title of dissertation, the year in which the degree was conferred, and in which the dissertation was printed, and, if a reprint, the title, volume and pagination of the publication where it was first printed.

"A compliance with these requests will be a most valuable service to the college and reference libraries of the country."

The section further instructed us to suggest to the Council the desirability of the compilation and publication of a complete list of such dissertations to July, 1900.

BERNARD C. STEINER, } WALTER M. SMITH, } _Committee_. CLEMENT W. ANDREWS, }

It was _Voted_,

That the circular letter prepared by the Committee of the College and Reference Section be approved, and that the executive board authorize the necessary slight expense of printing and postage required;

That a committee of the College and Reference Section be appointed to secure the publication of the list of dissertations referred to without expense to the A. L. A.

_Prosecution of book thieves._ Communications were read from C. K. Bolton, recommending that the Council appropriate, when necessary, from the income of the Endowment Fund, money to be used in the detection or prosecution of book thieves. It was pointed out that "a few men systematically rob libraries, particularly in small poor towns that happen to have some rare books. To gather evidence and rid us of these men requires money, and seems very properly to come within our field of work." No action was taken on the subject.

_Minute on John Fiske._ The memorial minute on John Fiske, prepared by the special committee, consisting of J. K. Hosmer, George Iles and R. G. Thwaites, was submitted to the Council and recommended for presentation to the Association, to be spread upon the records. (_See_ Proceedings, p. 130.)

TRANSACTIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD.

_List of American dissertations._ In accordance with vote of Council, the following committee from the College and Reference Section was appointed to arrange for the publication of the list of dissertations proposed by the section: B. C. Steiner, C. W. Andrews, W. M. Smith.

_Committee on resolutions._ A committee on resolutions to serve during the Waukesha conference was appointed, as follows: Herbert Putnam, Mary W. Plummer, J. C. Dana.

_Secretary's expenses._ A communication was received from the Finance Committee, recommending that the sum of $425 be allowed for the expenses of the secretary's office for the year ending July 16, 1901. It was _Voted_, That $100 additional be also appropriated for the secretary's expenses for the past year.

_Non-library membership._ It was _Voted_, That the names of 38 persons not engaged in library work, as presented by the treasurer, be accepted for membership in the Association.

No meeting of the incoming Council or executive board was held, and the appointment of special and standing committees, reporters, etc., was therefore deferred.

HELEN E. HAINES, _Recorder_.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote I: Also, as president, _ex officio_ member of executive board and council.]

ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE.

An Elementary Institute, for the presentation of "first principles" in library work, was held in the assembly room of the Fountain Spring House on Tuesday evening, July 9. In the absence of Miss Cornelia Marvin, chairman, Miss L. E. Stearns presided. The meeting was quite informal, and there were no prepared papers, except one by Miss GRATIA COUNTRYMAN on

OPPORTUNITIES. (_See_ p. 52.)

An introductory speech was made by Mr. Dewey, who spoke of the educational force that libraries should exert in the community, and the varied field before the public library of to-day. There was some general discussion, in the course of which J. C. Dana read a letter describing pioneer library work carried on in the Yukon district of Alaska, and E. P. McElroy told of some interesting incidents connected with the work of his library at Algona, Iowa.

An early adjournment was made to attend the display of stereopticon views of library buildings which was given on the same evening.

ILLINOIS STATE LIBRARY SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION.

A most enthusiastic reunion of the alumni of the Illinois State Library School was held at Waukesha on July 5, in connection with the meeting of the A. L. A.

Forty-seven members of the Alumni Association sat down to a long table which had been spread for them in the dining-room of the Fountain Spring House, where a very pleasant hour was passed in renewing old friendships and hearing about the work of classmates who had gone out to make themselves famous in the library world.

Following the dinner a business meeting was held, after which the members listened to a most interesting report by Miss Katharine L. Sharp, director of the Illinois State Library School, on the growth and present condition of the school, showing the changes which have come to it from its connection with the University of Illinois.

Miss Sharp gave an outline of each course as it is now given in the school, noting the changes which have been made and the reasons for these changes. The report was of especial interest to the early graduates of the school, who could follow the changes made in the course of instruction, the general development in scope and methods, and could so well comprehend the great growth of the school since its establishment at Armour Institute of Technology, in Chicago, in 1893.

MARGARET MANN, _Secretary_.

THE SOCIAL SIDE OF THE WAUKESHA CONFERENCE.

BY JULIA T. RANKIN, _Carnegie Library, Atlanta, Ga._

To chronicle the social side of the twenty-third annual meeting of the American Library Association is a pleasant duty. To recall all of the courtesies extended to us by our hosts of the Middle West would take more time than is at my disposal and more space than the Proceedings allot to the frivolous recreations of the strenuous librarians. Through the entire period of the meeting, the good people of Waukesha did everything in their power to make the time pass pleasantly and Mr. Walker, the proprietor of the Fountain Spring Hotel, worked early and late to make the members comfortable. Golf had a few members marked for its own, and these were not deterred by the 110°-in-the-shade-conditions. Dancing was in order every evening after the meetings (Sunday excepted) and the gentleman from Washington is said to have solved the problem of how often a man can dance with the same girl in a given evening. The piazzas were ample and as each led to some spring sooner or later, the "water habit" became popular. The dining-room was, in the language of the daily papers, "taxed to its utmost," but all shortcomings were treated with good-natured indifference when it was understood that the hotel had never accommodated so many people in its history, and the management promptly increased its force of servants to meet the occasion.

According to the program the social side of the conference should have begun on the evening of July 3 with "friendly greetings" at 8.30 p.m.; but as the New York party did not arrive until 9 p.m., and the New England party not until 2 a.m., it will readily be seen that the friendly greetings had to be postponed. Social amenities, however, commenced on the morning of "the Fourth" when the proverbial early bird, arrayed in cool flannels or faultless duck, promenaded the long veranda of the Fountain House and greeted the later arrivals. As the "later arrivals" had almost all come from a distance during one of the hottest weeks of the hottest summer known, and were consequently covered with dust and cinders, it was tantalizing to see the earlier arrivals in such cool array, and welcome speeches were cut short until the dust of travel could be removed.

The coolness of the evening found a refreshed, summer-attired conference wending its way to the Methodist Church where the public meeting was held. The speeches were interrupted repeatedly by the festive small boy and his Fourth of July crackers. The explosions caused untimely mirth when they punctuated or emphasized the well rounded periods of the orators. The formal meeting was followed by informal groups on the veranda of the hotel and at the springs where thirsty mortals never tired of drinking the "fizzy" waters, that have made Waukesha famous as the "Saratoga of the West," and, indeed, the place has many features similar to its famous Eastern prototype.

Friday evening was devoted to various dinner parties of the alumni of the library training schools, and the dining-room with its long tables and flowers presented a festive scene. College yells and class cheers resounded through the halls. One got a good idea of the number of technically trained library assistants now dispersed over the country.

Saturday evening the hotel management provided a dance for the guests and the great dining hall was transformed into a gay ballroom. Although Mr. Cutter was absent the dancing contingent was ably represented, and a delightful evening was enjoyed.

The program meetings were well attended and the many papers presented during the sultry days of the first week made Sunday a welcome day. The Rest Cure seemed to be the order of the day until after lunch, when most of the members went to Milwaukee to see the public library, where an informal reception was held. Misses Stearns, Dousman, Van Valkenburgh and Stillman entertained a party of 40 at White Fish Bay. A trolley ride to Milwaukee and on to this beautiful bay proved a good appetizer for the very excellent lunch provided. The view of the lake was keenly enjoyed and the day was clear and cool. Twenty miles home and an early supper, and most of us were willing to retire early, for the trip to Madison next day was scheduled for an early hour.

Although the day spent in Madison was not strictly a "social" feature of the conference, yet so delightfully did the citizens of Madison welcome the visiting librarians that the record of the day in truth belongs to the social chronicler. Its pleasures came as a complete surprise to those who had not prepared themselves with Appleton's guide and other works of ready reference. The building of the Historical Society is certainly one of the most beautiful and sensibly arranged libraries in the United States and its situation on the outskirts of the grounds of the University of Wisconsin leaves nothing to be desired. In fact it would be hard to picture a more beautiful situation for a university town than this. The lakes, the undulating landscapes and the beautiful roads extending for twenty-five miles and maintained by a committee of public spirited men, who also are responsible for planting the roadsides with hardy shrubs, trees and flowers, make the external conditions ideal. The whole party was driven through the town, the university campus, and through five or six miles of the park roads, and was then escorted through the library building by Mr. Thwaites, Mr. Bradley and the assistants. It was while the members were being driven through the town that the new library anthem was perpetrated, and

"Of all the cakes My mother makes Give me the gingerbread!"

will go down in A. L. A. history linked with

"Here's to Mr. Bradley Who smiles on us so badly, gladly, madly, sadly!"

The whole 350 found chairs in the gymnasium of the university and disposed of every one of the doughnuts promised to them by Mr. Thwaites in his eloquent address on Luncheons the previous day. The afternoon was spent in inspection of the beautiful new library building, and here an hour or so later the "official photograph" was taken, the delegates being seated on the steps of the library with its stately façade for background.

Madison refused to maintain us after five o'clock, and on our return to Waukesha we found that the City Federation of Women's Clubs of Waukesha would be "at home" in our honor, so we put on our prettiest frocks and were presented in due form. The reception committee comprised Mrs. H. Y. Youmans, president of the State Federation; Miss L. E. Stearns, Mrs. O. Z. Olin, Mrs. C. E. Wilson, Miss Winifred Winans, Miss Emily Marsh and Miss Kate Kimball. A bevy of pretty girls served tempting ices and a musical program was delightfully rendered.

Tuesday's program was almost too much for even the most confirmed conference attendant. From 9 a.m. till 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. till 6 did we sit and listen or stand and discuss the program. At 9 p.m. Mr. Eastman's display of library architecture, by means of a stereopticon, proved to be one of the most interesting features of the meeting. It is wonderful the advancement made in this form of library development; and still more wonderful how many bad libraries are still being built when so much information is to be had on the subject.

Later the dining-room was cleared and the conscientious librarians who had sat all day in interesting sessions were invited to relieve the monotony of work with the terpsichorean muse. It was a pretty sight to see the girls in their muslin frocks and all the young and old members meet in the measures of a Virginia reel. And such a reel; it will go down to history as _the_ dance of the Waukesha meeting. Staid librarians growing bald with the weight of a nation's libraries; quiet instructors in library economics, all unbent to the fascination of this old-fashioned country dance.

Wednesday's sessions were somewhat broken by the necessary preparations for departure. In order to leave nothing undone the hotel management arranged a fire spectacle this last afternoon of the conference and the fair grounds looked their best with flames leaping in the air and the black smoke rolling on. There was a large attendance of spectators, including the town fire department who declared the exhibition a great success.

Then came the leavetakings, and after many handshakings and hearty appreciations of hospitality, the conference gradually disintegrated and only a small number of us were among that fortunate party lined up along the wharf at Milwaukee to take the lake trip to Buffalo _en route_ to our homes.