no whit behind that of previous conferences; and the travel committee have travel plans sufficiently formulated to give all necessary preliminary information.

While application for a special reduced rate on account of the A. L. A. Conference has been made, it seems doubtful if such rate will fall much below the regular summer excursion round trip which will be in force to Ottawa from most points in eastern and central United States. This rate varies greatly from different points in comparison with the one-way fare. All who are interested are advised to consult their home railway agents regarding it, and regarding possibilities of a variable rate going and returning.

To accommodate those desiring to travel together and have all arrangements for their comfort made, the travel committee will operate three special excursions to Ottawa, one from Boston, one from New York, and one from Chicago.

The New York party will leave New York on the evening of June 25th by Albany night boat, thus ensuring a restful night journey. From Albany special parlor cars will be used, the party reaching Ottawa about supper time, June 26th, thus giving a pleasant daylight trip through the Eastern Adirondack mountains. The round trip excursion rate will be about $22 from New York City, which includes stateroom berth on boat and parlor car seat going. Tickets will be good returning all rail. Rate from Philadelphia will be $4.50 in addition to the above. This party will be in charge of C. H. Brown, Brooklyn Public Library.

Headquarters for the conference will be at the Chateau Laurier, the new hotel which has been in course of construction for the past three or four years and which the management is planning to open Empire day, the 24th of May. Rooms (without meals) will be from $1.25 to $3.50. Table d'hote dinner will be served for $1; other meals will be on European plan.

The New Russell hotel, at present the best in Ottawa, is about a minute's walk from the Chateau Laurier. Rooms (without meals) from $1 up to $3.50. Meals on European plan.

Grand Union hotel, about five minutes' walk from Chateau Laurier, offers rate of $2.50 a day, American plan.

A post conference trip is planned on the St Lawrence and Saguenay rivers, ending at Montreal on the morning of July 9th. The cost of this week-long river trip will be well within $40 including stateroom (holding two persons), meals and side excursions.

For later and fuller details of the Conference, see the May number of the A. L. A. Bulletin.

CHAUTAUQUA LIBRARY SCHOOL The 12th annual session of the Chautauqua Library School will be held July 6-August 17. Dr Melvil Dewey will be the general director of the school. Mary E. Downey, library organizer of Ohio, will be resident director. Sabra W. Vought, assistant organizer of Ohio, and Alice E. Sanborn, librarian of Wells College, will be general instructors. The course of study, especially planned to accomplish the most possible in six weeks, is as follows:

Library administration. Thirty lectures on: Evolution of the library, Library training. Noted library workers, Library commissions, Developing a library, Reorganizing a library, The library trustee, The library staff, Reading of the librarian, Values in library work, Simplifying routine work, Library building and furnishing, Care of the building and grounds, The maintenance fund, Library supplies, Book selection and buying, Preparing books for the shelves, Uses of periodicals, Special collections, Work with children, Work with schools, How to use a library, Picture bulletins, Advertising a library, Local library extension, Township and county libraries, Library reports and statistics. Miss Downey.

Cataloging. Eighteen lectures with practice work, illustrating the salient points of a dictionary catalog for a popular library. The revised cards are filed by the students and furnished with guides, thus making for each a sample catalog of one hundred books. Miss Vought.

Classification. Twelve lectures in the use of the decimal classification with practice work in assigning numbers to about two hundred books, which present problems usually met in a popular library. The assigning of headings for a dictionary catalog is taken up in connection with the classification. Miss Vought.

Bibliography. Lectures on the national, trade and special subject bibliographies in most general use. Miss Sanborn.

Accession. Each student accessions a number of books, and retains the sheets after revision. Miss Sanborn.

Shelflist. Special lectures in shelflisting, with practice work. Miss Sanborn.

Loan systems. General principles of loan systems are taught. Printed outlines of typical systems are discussed with special instruction in those most used. Miss Sanborn.

Reference work. Eighteen lessons in the use of reference books. Questions on which the students report answers with the sources of information are compared and discussed. The Patterson Library is used for laboratory work. Miss Sanborn.

Book binding and mending. Lectures outlining the process of binding a book. The class visits the Arts and Crafts Department. Samples of binding materials are shown, with explanation as to strength, durability, appearance and cost. Samples of mending materials and tools are exhibited with practical suggestions on mending books. Miss Sanborn.

The work of the staff is supplemented by special lectures from time to time, and by the regular Chautauqua program, which offers during the whole six weeks of the school a series of lectures, concerts, readings, and discussions.

The Chautauqua and Westfield libraries and books from the New York and Ohio traveling libraries are used for reference and practical work. Visits are made to the Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Jamestown libraries and to the Art Metal Construction Company.

The object of the course is to raise the standard of librarianship. It is open only to those who are already engaged in library work or have definite appointment to library positions. There are no entrance examinations but no one is accepted who has not had a high school course or its equivalent. Experience in library work usually of not less than a year is essential to the understanding of the technical instruction given. No one is admitted to the class who has not previously filled out a registration blank and received the official matriculation card. The class is limited to the number that can be given satisfactory instruction and supervision.

Early application should be made to Mary E. Downey, Outlook Building, Columbus, Ohio.

SUMMER SESSION OF NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY SCHOOL OMITTED THIS YEAR

The delay in completing the new Education Building and the uncertainty as to how long the Library School will occupy its present quarters have made it impossible to plan for a summer library school this year. Meanwhile plans for a summer session in 1913 are already under consideration. Unless some totally unexpected circumstance pre

vents, by the summer of 1913 the State Library will be in its own quarters with a large collection of carefully selected books and the summer school will be held under conditions of greater comfort and convenience than ever before.

MEETING OF SCHOOL LIBRARIANS IN NEW YORK CITY

A conference of school librarians will be held in New York City on May 24th and 25th, under the auspices of the committee on high school libraries of the New York Library Association, with the cooperation of the New York High School Librarians Association. The meetings will be open to all who are interested. The following program has been prepared:

Friday, May 24th. Visits to school libraries in the city and vicinity. The following libraries are suggested by the committee as well worth visiting: Passaic High School, Barringer High School, Newark; Teachers College, Horace Mann School, Columbia University, Morris High School, Wadleigh High School, New York City. Special itineraries will be arranged for those who announce a wish for them.

Friday, May 24th. 4 p. m. Reception at Erasmus Hall High School, Brooklyn, extended to visiting librarians by the New York High School Librarians Association.

Saturday, May 25th. 9.30-10.30 a. m. At Girls High School, Brooklyn. Some things which have proved practically helpful in a high school library: five minute reports from several schools.

10.30-11.30 a. m. Training students in the use of

books.

11.30-12.30 a. m. Directing the general reading of students.

2.30 p. m. The library as a reinforcement of the school: address by Dr W. D. Johnston, librarian of Columbia University, and discussion by principals and teachers of secondary schools.

SYRACUSE LIBRARY CLUB

Library interest in the city of Syracuse and neighboring towns has been greatly increased during the past year and a new esprit de corps among librarians has been developed through the activities of the Syracuse Library Club, which was organized in January 1911. The constitution calls for seven meetings a year, and so genuine and spontaneous has been the feeling for fellowship and cooperation among library workers in the city and vicinity that even this number of meetings has produced no sign of weariness, and the latest gatherings have been the largest and most enthusiastic of all. The most notable of these meetings was that of January 19th last, when the club had as its guest

Miss Lutie E. Stearns of Wisconsin, and the evening was given up to a discussion of the public library as an agency for public and social betterment. The topic was one of special timeliness and interest, owing to a social survey that had just been made of the city and the warm discussions of social and civic problems that had arisen in connection with this survey. To the meeting were invited those interested in social work, teachers, ministers, labor leaders, school and library trustees, as well as librarians, and the attendance reached nearly one hundred. Miss Stearns proclaimed the library as the greatest factor in community unity, and demonstrated her theme by means of charts made to illustrate the social relationships of each family living in a community which she had investigated. Much enthusiasm was aroused by the meeting which was enhanced by numerous press notices and discussions which followed. At the meeting of February 21st, the principal speaker was Mr Paul M. Paine, director of branches of the Syracuse Public Library and literary editor of the Post-Standard. His subject, Heroes and Heroines," dealt principally with the romantic and literary world, which he treated in a delightfully original and interesting way. There were meetings also in March and April, and the year's work will culminate in the annual round table meeting which will be under the auspices of the club.

QUESTION BOX

Pay duplicate collection

In our library of 2000 volumes, to which we add about 150 new books each year, it is quite impossible to meet the demand for some of the more popular books. Patrons are disappointed and annoyed that they have to wait so long to read the book which they most want, and some have lost interest in the library and have ceased to contribute to it. Would it not be wise and proper for us to establish a so-called "pay duplicate collection," and thus hold to the library those whose interest and support we need?

This question was treated at some length in New York Libraries, April 1908, page 76. As a matter of fact, this method of meeting the demand for popular books is in operation in many libraries in this State and in other

states, and in most cases is giving great satisfaction. In a few cases it has met objections and has been given up. We would not presume to pass on the advisability of adopting the scheme in any particular community, as this depends in such a large degree on the temper and spirit of the community and its general attitude toward the library. There are some places where the library has not yet won its way to the good will of the entire population and where any opportunity for criticism that was offered would be eagerly seized and used against the library. There are also libraries whose charters require that all their books shall be for the free use of the people. There can be no doubt that the introduction of the pay collection does bring into a library an element of inequality of privilege between those who can afford to pay and those who can not; but at the same time it can easily be shown that it absolutely enlarges the privileges of all.

It is of course always understood that all books in the pay collection are duplicates of books which the library has on its free shelves, and that no part of the money received from the State or the local equivalent used to secure this grant, is to be applied to this collection. A. W.

Best books on American Indians Please give a brief list of "best books" on the North American Indian.

The following list is recommended by a librarian of New York City who has special knowledge of the literature of this subject. The list is published in a pamphlet entitled "The American Indian," issued February 1912, by the Presbyterian Publishing Board:

Parkman. Struggle for a Continent
Lewis. Lewis and Clark Expedition
Ellis. Red Men and White in North America
Humphrey. Indian Dispossessed
Cooper. Deerslayer

Drake. Aboriginal Races of North America
Indian History for Young Folks

Grinnell. Story of the Indian

Indians of To-day

Brady. Northwestern Fights and Fighters
Eastman. Indian Boyhood

H. H. Jackson. Ramona

Bradford. American Antiquities

Whipple. Lights and Shadows of a Long Episco

pate

Frost. Border Wars of the West
Parkman. Pioneers of America
Burton. American Primitive Music
Bancroft. Native Races of the Pacific States
Catlin. North American Indians

To this list should certainly be added Parkman's Jesuits in North America, a book

Amsterdam. The trustees of the free library are finding that the annual city appropriation of $2500, which was pledged in 1902 as a condition of receiving the gift of a $25,000 building from Mr Carnegie, is entirely insufficient, even when supplemented generously with funds from other sources, to carry on satisfactorily the increasing work of the library, and have asked for an increase of at least $500 in the appropriation. Since 1902 the population of the city has increased 50 per cent, the annual library circulation 55 per cent and the number of books in the collection 110 per cent, while the city appropriation has remained stationary.

Ballston Spa. Both the public school and the public library have reached a stage of growth where it has become necessary for the good of each that they separate, and notice has been given the library by the school authorities that it must seek new quarters in the spring or summer. Various proposals are

A. W.

being considered. It is hoped that the situation may bring to an early and happy issue the question long discussed in the village of providing a new and adequate library building. The library has been managed with exceptional efficiency under peculiarly difficult conditions, and needs but a proper and welllocated building to take a foremost rank among institutions of its kind in the State.

Batavia. The extensive additions and internal changes which have been in process for many months and which for a while necessitated the closing of the library, have been completed, and have made the Richmond Memorial one of the most capacious, attractive and convenient library buildings to be found in any village or small city of the State. Space and shelving have been provided for an indefinite growth, and the old barrier, shutting readers out of the stack room, which was made of solid masonry and seemed an essential part of the building, has

been removed sufficiently to allow the people of the village that greatest boon of the modern library, free access to all the books. With the new addition the building represents a cost of $43,000. It was erected in 1887 by Mrs Dean Richmond as a memorial to her son who died in 1885. Its original cost was $35,000.

Binghamton. The plan to establish a county library system by means of a contract between the county supervisors and the trustees of the city library, as provided in the county library law of 1911, has for a time at least been abandoned, owing to difficulties and disagreements involved in making equitable adjustments between the taxpayers of the city and those of the county outside the city. The way has been opened, however, to the people of any town in the county to secure all the privileges of the city library by a formal offer of the library trustees to make the library free to all the people of the town on payment to the library by the town of an amount equal to five cents for each of its residents. A town of 1000 people would thus be securing for each of its residents at an expense of $50 a year the free use of library property worth $100,000 and costing $11,000 a year.

The general report of the library for the year 1911 shows larger resources, a wider range of activities and a greater degree of public service than for any preceding year. The issue of books for home use numbered 156,999, of which 45,158 were nonfiction. The more notable features of the year's work are: increasing cooperation with the schools by means of traveling libraries; instruction in library use and book talks; the publication of numerous reading lists on timely subjects; and a succession of exhibits of an educational character.

Bloomingburg. A free library association has been organized, and to it has been transferred the collection of some 700 books, known as the "Y Library," which was started six years ago and has been operated since by the Y. W. C. T. U. of the village. In transferring the library to the new association the only conditions imposed were that the library was to remain free and that the name "Y Library" should be maintained until the collection should reach 1000 volumes.

Mr Charles C. Redfield is president of the association and Bertha Otis librarian.

Brooklyn. Without the addition of any new branches or the occupation of any new buildings, there was an increase last year in the circulation of the public library of 170,578 volumes, making a total issue of 4,236,602. These figures give little ground for the fear so often expressed lately, that the great vogue of the moving picture shows is threatening the popularity of the public library in the cities. There are now in the library system 705,426 volumes, of which 59,244 were purchased during the year. There were discarded as worn out or useless 29,703 volumes. There were registered 97,981 new borrowers, making a total registry of 288,232, about 17 per cent of the population of the borough. The experiment made during the year at two of the branches in establishing a pay duplicate collection of popular books is pronounced a decided success from the start. At one of the branches 29,999 volumes were circulated from this collection and at the other 13,667. Many other branches profited from this operation, as duplicates were distributed where they were most needed as soon as their rentals had paid for their cost. A development of interest is the establishment of traveling libraries in 10 factories, the circulation from these collections numbering about 3000 volumes.

Buffalo. Both in its circulation and its registry of borrowers, the public library broke all records last year, the circulation showing a gain over the preceding year of 94,890 and the registry a gain of 6552 names. The total circulation numbered 1,463,315 volumes, an average of more than 3.4 volumes for each person in the city, which with one exception is the highest average for any large city in the United States. The total registry of borrowers is 118,783, about 28 per cent of the population of the city. This percentage also is exceeded in only one city in the United States as large as Buffalo.

The question is now being agitated of establishing at the city hall a special reference library on municipal affairs, for the particular aid of the city government in meeting the various problems of administration. The public library has offered to cooperate in the organization and work of such a library.