presentatives.

"Special libraries" are those libraries specially designated by
members of congress to receive the publications of the geological
survey.

Many thousands of books have been sent on special application to
libraries not on the list. The depository, remainder, and special
libraries together now number over 1300.

All the departments still control the distribution of their own
publications, the superintendent of documents only distributing the
sheep set, and such of the department publications as have been turned
over to him by the departments for this purpose, or of which there
have been remainders. Sometimes the number of copies of its own
publications allotted to the department is very small and soon
exhausted.

Librarians and others who want full information about the
distribution, present methods of issue, etc., of public documents,
should send for the First annual report of the superintendent of
documents. In addition there have been issued from his office, since
its establishment in March, 1895, a check list of public documents,
and since January, 1895, a monthly catalog of current publications.
Both are mailed free upon application.

Care in a library

The question of the most economical, and at the same time satisfactory
manner of caring for documents in a library, cannot be considered in
the space of so brief an article as this necessarily must be. After
all, it is a question that must be settled by each library for itself,
since it rests chiefly upon the extent to which the library can afford
duplication.

Depository libraries have better opportunities than others for filling
up the sheep set, and having this set they have the greater portion
of those documents useful to the average library. A complete sheep
set from the 15th Congress to the close of the 53d Congress numbers
slightly over 3343V., and will require 860 feet of shelving, or six
modern iron book stacks.

Though it is done in a few cases, the subject classification of the
sheep set is not to be recommended. Where subject classification, or
the incorporation of the documents in the general library, is desired,
the cloth set is preferable, and is in most cases procurable. If
a library can afford shelf room for both, it will be found more
satisfactory to keep the sheep set intact, and to make a selection
of such reports from the cloth set as will be locally useful to the
library.

No small library should undertake to acqui