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PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

BY SAMUEL SWETT GREEN, A. M.*

ORCESTER has reason to feel proud of her public libraries, They are large, and generously and wisely administered. There are two which contain more than 100,000 volumes each, one having 117,000 and the other 105,000. Several of the smaller libraries are very valuable.

In the libraries described or mentioned in the following pages, there are more than 371,000 volumes; 270,000 of these can be used freely by every resident, and the larger portion of the remaining volumes are readily accessible.

FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.

The Free Public Library was established by the City Government December 23, 1859. That is to say, Worcester had been a city nearly twelve years before it had a library whose privileges could be enjoyed by residents without cost. The Free Public Library consisted in the beginning of the library of Doctor John Green, given to the city to be the nucleus of a reference library, and of the collection of books owned by the Worcester Lyceum and Library Association and given to the city at the same time that Doctor Green gave his books.

Most of the books in the latter collection became the nucleus of the circulating department of the Free Public Library. The library of Doctor Green was one which he had been forming for many years with the purpose of giving it to the city.

That of the Worcester Lyceum and Library Association consisted of the books which had belonged to the Young Men's Library Association, the Young Men's Rhetorical Society and the old Worcester Lyceum.

The library given by Doctor Green numbered about 7,000 volumes, which had cost him not less than $10,000; the library of the Worcester Lyceum and Library Association contained 4,500 volumes.

The Free Public Library was opened to the public April 30, 1860, in the rooms in the Worcester Bank block, which had been occupied by the two libraries composing it.

* See sketch in Biographical Department.

In the fourth section of the original ordinance, by which Doctor Green was made an honorary director of the library for life, that gentleman is justly called its principal founder.

He started the movement for the foundation of the library, gave to the city the large collection of books mentioned above, by his deed of gift secured liberal expenditures on the part of the city, and made other conditions which, without hampering the administration of the gift, have been of great benefit. In 1865 reading-rooms were established in connection with the library. A fund for their endowment was raised by subscription, mainly through the efforts of Honorable George Frisbie Hoar. The subscription amounted to $10,000 or $11,000, and was headed by the late Mr. Stephen Salisbury with a gift of $4,000. Mr. Hoar, Doctor Green and forty other persons gave each $100; twenty-five persons, $50 each; thirty-eight, $25 apiece, and other givers smaller sums. The Worcester Lyceum and Library Association added to its gift of books $300 as a subscription towards this readingroom fund. The fund amounted at the close of the last library year, November 30, 1897, to $10,856.44.

The income of the fund and an annual appropriation by the City Government pay for the periodicals and papers taken in the reading

room.

Doctor Green died in the autumn of 1865. Between the date of his deed of gift and his death he gave to the library 4,968 volumes in addition to the 7,000 volumes contributed at the start.

By his last will, Doctor Green left $30,000 to the city primarily for the endowment of his department of the library. By provisions of the will, one-quarter of the income is for the present to be added to the principal every year, and the remaining three-quarters, after deducting any losses that may have been met in the principal, are to be spent for books to be added to the Green Library, and in repairing and rebinding books in that department of the Free Public Library. The investment and management of the Green Library fund, by the terms of the will, are in the hands of the Finance Committee of the Board of Directors. That committee has to be chosen by ballot. The certificates of property are in the custody of the city treasurer. That officer also collects interest and dividends.

Provisions for the safe investment of the fund are made in the will. Five hundred and fifty dollars and eighty-five cents, the proceeds of a trust instituted by the will of Doctor Green, has been received by the city and added to the Green Library fund.

Thirty shares of the stock of the Central National Bank, Worcester, have, under the provisions of another trust made in the same will, been passed over to the city to form the beginning of a librarian fund.

Under the provisions of a third trust in Doctor Green's will, there will come to the city, after the death of an aged beneficiary, eighteen shares of bank stock and $210 deposited in the Worcester County Institution for Savings (if the investments remain unchanged), to be added to the Green Library fund.

That fund amounted, November 30, 1897, to $48,001.01. The librarian fund amounted, at the same date, to $4,344.35. The bank stock in both of these funds is held at par, although its market value is much higher.

The main dependence of the Free Public Library for support is upon an annual appropriation made by the City Council, chiefly from money raised by taxation. The sum appropriated the first year of the existence of the library was $4,000. The library had to spend, besides that amount, $88.26 received for fines and collected in other ways.

Besides these sources of revenue, the library now has the income of the Green Library and reading-room funds, and dog license money.

The last-named item of income was first received in 1870, when it amounted to $1,931.05. It has been received every year since, and amounted last year to $5,576.17. The current year (1897-8) it amounts to $5,919.11. The city appropriation for the last year was $26,600. This year it is $27,500. Last year the income from the Green Library fund, applicable to the purchase of books, was $1,113.22, and that from the reading-room fund, $461.20. There was also received from fines, the sale of catalogues and other sources, $891.47. That is to say, the total income of the Free Public Library for the year 1896-7 was $34,642.06. Of that amount, $13,016.83 was spent for books and periodicals (exclusive of binding).

The growth in the size and use of the library has been steady and large. As stated above, the library had at its foundation 11,500 volumes in its two departments, the Green or reference library and the circulating library. A third department, known as the intermediate department, has since been established. At the date of the last annual report (December 1, 1897), the number of books in the library was 114,325, divided as follows among the three departments: Green Library, 24,737; intermediate department, 36,274; circulating department, 53,314. The library to-day (May 22, 1898) probably contains 117,000 volumes.

The use of the library during the last year was 315,557 volumes. This number does not include, of course, the immense use of magazines, reviews and papers in the three reading-rooms.

The home use of the library for the last year was 210,045 volumes. During the eight months covered by the first report of the Free Public Library, 31,454 volumes were given out for home use.

The number of volumes added to the library the last year was 5,836. Cards can be had for taking books home from the circulating department by residents of Worcester who have reached the age of fifteen years, and by younger persons in the discretion of the librarian. Books can be taken home from the intermediate department under certain restrictions. In accordance with a provision in the deed of gift, reiterated in the will of Doctor Green, books belonging to the Green Library must be used within the library building. Every facility is offered for their use under this condition.

It appears from the last printed report of the Free Public Library that 493 papers and other periodicals were taken by the library in the year 1896-7.

The Free Public Library was the first of the larger free public libraries in New England to open its doors to visitors on Sunday. On that day the reading-rooms and the library for purposes of reference are open, as stated below, from 2 to 9 o'clock P. M. This experiment began in 1872.

Last year the reading-rooms were used by 8,910 persons on Sunday. On Thanksgiving day, 1889, the reading-rooms and library for purposes of reference were opened to the public, holidays during the same hours as on secular days generally.

It will thus be seen that the library is now open every day in the

year.

The first building of its own occupied by the library was put up in accordance with an agreement with Doctor Green, and opened to the public September 4, 1861. It cost about $30,000, inclusive of the lot of land on which it stands.

The size and use of the library increased so much that a new building had to be erected. A lot adjoining that of the older building was bought, and a new building, which is used in connection with the older, was put upon it. The new building was opened April 1, 1891. Its cost, inclusive of land and furniture, was about $143,000.

This building has among other rooms a lecture hall, art galleries, study rooms, and a closet for the development of photographs.

The librarians of the Free Public Library have been Zephaniah Baker, February 17, 1860- January 14, 1871; Samuel Swett Green, January 15, 1871. Miss Lucy A. Young and Miss Jessie E. Tyler are the heads, under the librarian of the reference and circulating departments, respectively, and have held these positions for many years. The former presidents of the Board of Directors have been Honorable Alexander H. Bullock, Honorable William W. Rice, Honorable Stephen Salisbury, Honorable George F. Hoar, Honorable Thomas L. Nelson, Honorable Peter C. Bacon, J. Evarts Greene, Esquire, Reverend Doctor