eautiful. And in and out, from early
morning till late evening, week-day and Sunday, move the people of
Boston. The stream of men divides in the lower vestibule. Some go to the
newspaper room, where several hundred daily newspapers, a dozen of them
German, hang on racks. Others wander to the magazine rooms, where the
weekly and monthly papers of the world are waiting to be read. Others
ascend to the upper stories, where Sargent's famous pictures of the
Prophets allure the lover of art, in order to look over more valuable
special editions and the art magazines, geographical charts, and musical
works. The largest stream of all goes to the second floor, partly into
the huge quiet reading-room, partly into the rotunda, which contains the
catalog, partly into the hall containing the famous frescoes of the Holy
Grail, where the books are given out. Here a million and a half books
are delivered every year to be taken home and read. And no one has to
wait; an apparatus carries the applicant's card with wonderful speed to
the stacks, and the desired book is sent back in automatic cars. Little
children meanwhile wander into the juvenile room, where they find the
best books for children. And everything invites even the least patient
reader to sit down quietly with some sort of a volume--everything is so
tempting, so convenient and comfortable, and so surpassingly beautiful.
And all this is free to the humblest working-man.

And still, if the citizen of Massachusetts were to be asked of what
feature of the public libraries he is most proud, he would probably not
mention this magnificent palace in Boston, the capital of the state, but
rather the 350 free public libraries scattered through the smaller
cities and towns of this state, which is after all only one-third as
large as Bavaria. It is these many libraries which do the broadest work
for the people. Each little collection, wherever it is, is the center of
intellectual and moral enlightenment, and plants and nourishes the
desire for self-perfection. Of course, Massachusetts has done more in
this respect than any other ward in this respect. But there is no longer
any city of moderate size which has not a large public library, and
there is no state which does encourage in every possible way the
establishment of public libraries in every small community, giving
financial aid if it is necessary.

Public libraries have become the favorite Christmas present of
philanthropists, and wh