cording to
the public they are intended for. The answer therefore to the
question--How to form a Public Library?--must depend upon the character of
the library which it is proposed to form. Up to the period when free town
libraries were first formed, collections of books were usually intended
for students; but when the Public Libraries' Acts were passed, a great
change took place, and libraries being formed for general readers, and
largely with the object of fostering the habit of reading, an entirely
new idea of libraries came into existence. The old idea of a library was
that of a place where books that were wanted could be found, but the new
idea is that of an educational establishment, where persons who know
little or nothing of books can go to learn what to read. The new idea has
naturally caused a number of points to be discussed which were never
thought of before.

But even in Town Libraries there will be great differences. Thus in such
places as Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester, the Free Libraries should
be smaller British Museums, and in this spirit their founders have worked;
but in smaller and less important towns a more modest object has to be
kept in view, and the wants of readers, more than those of consulters of
books, have to be considered.

Mr. Beriah Botfield has given a very full account of the contents of the
libraries spread about the country and associated with the different
Cathedrals in his _Notes on the Cathedral Libraries of England_, 1849.
These libraries have mostly been formed upon the same plan, and consist
very largely of the works of the Fathers, and of old Divinity. Some
contain also old editions of the classics, and others fine early editions
of English authors. In former times these libraries were much neglected,
and many of the books were lost; but the worst instance of injury to a
library occurred at Lincoln at the beginning of the present century, when
a large number of Caxtons, Pynsons, Wynkyn de Wordes, etc., were sold to
Dr. Dibdin, and modern books purchased for the library with the proceeds.
Dibdin printed a list of his treasures under the title of "The Lincolne
Nosegay." Mr. Botfield has reprinted this catalogue in his book.

The first chapter of the _United States Report on Public Libraries_ is
devoted to Public Libraries a hundred years ago. Mr. H.E. Scudder there
describes some American libraries which were founded in the last century.
One of these was the Loganian L