e that each craft is
especially represented; supply the works on the leading questions of the
day, also works pertaining to the civil government. In this we must not
be partisan; these subjects must be considered in all their bearings,
and in the broadest manner.

The biographies of working men who have attained honor by their
practical worth and perserverance either in mechanical, civil, or
military service must have a prominent place; history and travel will
receive their share of attention; while we will not forget that the
working man and woman must have some amusement and recreation, and that
"strong meat" is not always desirable; our fiction department must be
supplied with all that is bright, fresh, inspiring, and helpful, but
nothing that will create a craving for greater stimulant, or tend in the
least degree to weaken the moral character; for the office of a public
library is to develop to its fullest capacity the best powers of a
community. The extent of such development must depend largely upon the
manner of its use.

Believing that the first entrance into a library should bring with it
that most delightful sensation, the companionship of books, we have at
our own library, contrary to the custom which now obtains, thrown open
our shelves to the public, with the title and name of author plainly
printed on each volume so that literally "he who runs may read."

An old man said to me a few days since: "I get little time for reading
now, but I love to come in and look at the books; they bring to mind
many a thing that I read long ago, and I carry it with me all the day
through; 'tis an education just to be with them." You say, How can this
be done without loss of books?

Ten years of experience has taught us that there is a point of honor in
these working people in this regard, with which we must come in contact
to fully appreciate; we have lost no more books with our open system
than other libraries with their closed shelves.

Understanding fully the value of a catalogue, especially a closely
classified one, to the scholar; to an uneducated man it is a labyrinth
through which he gropes till in despair he either lays it aside or
appeals for help. What is a catalogue to a man who asks for "a book on
birds," and when we direct an attendant to give him a certain work on
ornithology, quickly replies, "'Tis not that I want; 'tis a book on
birds;" or the girl who wants an "adequate book" to furbish up her
society