Free Public Library Commission
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10O£ Public Document No. 44 "B NINETEENTH REPORT FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS. 1909. BOSTON: WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 18 P o s t O f f ic e S q u a r e . 1909. Public Document No. 44 NINETEENTH REPORT OF THE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS.'- 1909. BOSTON: WEIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 18 P o s t O f f ic e S q u a r e . \ 1909. K à T E L1BHA.KY Ur' lA S S A C H Q S ím DEC 311918 •TATI HOUSE »OSTO# A pproved by T h e S t a t e B o a r d o p P u b l ic a t io n . AA ^ Q 5 a. \ o<g> MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION. DELORAINE P. COREY, Malden, term expires 1913. Miss E. P. SOHIER, Secretary, Beverly, term expires 1912. C. B. TILLINGHAST, Chairman, Boston, term expires 1910. Mrs. MABEL SIMPKINS AGASSIZ, Yarmouth, term expires 1909. SAMUEL SWETT GREEN, Worcester,. term expires 1909. £l)c tíom m om ucaltl) of Jttassacljusctts. REPORT OF THE COMMISSION. To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives. In accordance with the provisions of chapter 347 of the Acts of the year 1890, under which the Free Public Library Commis sion was created, it herewith presents its nineteenth report, covering the fiscal year Dec. 1, 1907, to Nov. 30, 1908. T h e C o m m is s io n . Mr. Deloraine P. Corey has been reappointed by Governor Guild for the full term of five years from Oct. 2, 1908. F r e e L ib e a r ie s f o e A l l . Every town in the State has the benefit of a free public li brary. Some have several branches and others have libraries under separate management in addition to the town library. T ow ns c l a s sifie d as to L ib e a e ie s . The following classification of the towns, revised to date, shows the management of the libraries : — Class 1. Towns which have libraries owned and controlled by the town and free for circulation to all the people. Abington, Amesbury, Ashland, Acushnet, Andover, Athol, Adams, Arlington, Attleborough, Agawam, Ashbumham, Auburn, Alford, Ashby, Avon, FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. [Jan. Bellingham, East Bridgewater, Hyde Park, Belmont, Eastham, Kingston, Berkley, East Longmeadow, Lakeville, Berlin, Edgartown, Lancaster, Beverly, Egremont, Lanesborough, Blackstone, Erving, Leicester, Blandford, Essex, Leominster, Bolton, Everett, Leverett, Boston, Fall River, Leyden, Bourne, Falmouth, Longmeadow, Boxborough, Fitchburg, Lowell, Boylston, Florida, Ludlow, Bridgewater, Foxborough, Lunenburg, Brimfield, Framingham, Lynn, Brockton, Freetown, Lynnfield, Brookfield, Gay Head, Manchester, Brookline, Gill, Mansfield, Burlington, Goshen, Marblehead, Cambridge, Gosnold, Marlborough, Canton, Granby, Marshfield, Carlisle, Granville, Mashpee, Carver, Greenfield, Mattapoisett, Charlemont, Greenwich, Maynard, Charlton, Groton, Medfield, Chelmsford, Groveland, Medford, Chelsea, Hadley, Medway, Chester, Halifax, Melrose, Chesterfield, Hamilton, Mendon, Chicopee, Hampden, Merrimae, Chilmark, Hancock, Middleborough, Clarksburg, Hanover, Middlefield, Clinton, Hanson, Middleton, Cohasset, Hardwick, Milford, Colrain, Harvard, Millbury, Dalton, Hatfield, Millis, Dana, Hawley, Milton, Dartmouth, Heath, Monroe, Dedham, Holbrook, Montague, Deerfield, Holden, Monterey, Dennis, Holland, Montgomery, Dighton, Holliston, Mount Washington, Douglas, Hopedale, Nahant, Dover, Hubbardston, Natick, Dracut, Hudson, Needham, Dudley, Hull, New Ashford, Dunstable, Hunting-ton, New Bedford, 1909.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT— No. 44. New Braintree, Russell, Tyringham, Newburyport, Rutland, Upton, New Marlborough, Salisbury, Uxbridge, New Salem, Sandisfield, Wakefield, Newton, Sandwich, Wales, Norfolk, Saugus, Walpole, North Adams, Savoy, Waltham, Northampton, Seekonk, Warwick, North Andover, Sharon, Watertown, North Attleborough, Sheffield, Way land, Northborough, Shelburne, Webster, North Brookfield, Sherborn, Wellfleet, Nortkfield, Shirley, Wendell, North Reading, Shrewsbury, Wenham, Norwood, Shutesbury, Westborough, Oakham, Somerset, West Boylston, Orange, Somerville, West Bridgewater, Orleans, Southampton, West Brookfield, Otis, Southborough, Westford, Oxford, Southbridge, Westminster, Paxton, South Hadley, West Newbury, Peabody, Southwick, Weston, Pelham, Spencer, Westport, Pepperell, Sterling, West Springfield, Peru, Stoneham, West Stockbridge, Phillipston, Stoughton, Westwood, Plainfield, Stow, Weymouth, Plain ville, Sturb ridge, Whately, Plympton, Sudbury, Whitman, Prescott, Sunderland, Wilbraham, Provincetown, Sutton, Williamsburg, Quincy, Swampscott, Williamstown, Reading, Swansea, Wilmington, Revere, Taunton, Winchendon, Richmond, Templeton, Winchester, Rochester, Tewksbury, Windsor, Rockland, Tolland, Winthrop, Rockport, Topsfield, Worcester, Rowe, Townsend, Wrentham. — 274. Rowley, Truro, Royalston, Tyngsborough, 8 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. [Jan. Class 2. Towns which have free libraries in which the town has some repre sentation in the management. Acton, Eranklin, Methuen, Ayer, Georgetown, Norton, Barre, Grafton, Palmer, Bedford, Haverhill, Pembroke, Belchertown, Hingham, Petersham, Bernardston, Hinsdale, Pittsfield, Boxford, Holyoke, Randolph, Braintree, Lawrence, Salem, Concord, Lenox, Springfield, Cummington, Lexington, W arren, Danvers, Lincoln, Wellesley, Easthampton, Littleton, Westfield, Enfield, Malden, Woburn. — 39. Class 3. Towns in which there are free libraries to which the town appropriates money, but is not represented in the management. Amherst, Great Barrington, Princeton, Ashfield, Harwich, Scituate, Brewster, Lee, Stoekbridge, Chatham, Monson, Tisbury, Cheshire, Nantucket, Ware, Cottage City, Northbridge, Westhampton, Duxbury, Plymouth, West Tisbury. — 22. Gardner, Class 4. Towns in which there are free libraries which have no connection with the town. Barnstable, Fairkaven, Raynham, Becket, Gloucester, Rehoboth, Billerica, Hopkinton, Wareham, Buekland, Ipswich, Worthington, Conway, Marion, Yarmouth. — 17. Easton, Norwell, Class 5. Towns which have the free use of public libraries in other places. Newbury, ...... Newburyport Public Library. Washington,.......................................... Becket Athenaeum. — 2. 1909.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT—No. 44. 9 L ibrary N ew s and N otes of P rogress. The following paragraphs, gleaned from library reports and various other sources, will he read with interest by all who have the encouragement and fostering of the free public libraries of the Commonwealth at heart: — Abington. A steady gain in circulation is reported, — 34,020 for the year, of which 59 per cent, was at the branch library. Over 75 per cent, of the total was fiction. A considerable number of books have been given to the library during the year. Acton. The number of volumes has passed the 10,000 mark during the past year, and the circulation has been 5,669. Accessions have numbered 531, of which 42 have been gifts. Acushnet. The number of books taken out and the number of per sons who use the reading table increase constantly, and the chief drawback to the full success of the library now is the insufficient accommodation in the present quarters. A modern dictionary, an encyclopfedia and various valuable reference books have been added, and the teachers and pupils of the public schools are more and more relying on the library for help in certain studies and essays. The trustees suggest that the town should give the library the amount of the dog tax. The Woman’s Education Association loaned an interesting collection of photographs of China. The Proscenium Club of New Bedford gave a dramatic entertainment for the benefit of the library, the proceeds being applied to sub scriptions for magazines for the Long Plain branch. Adams. Some years ago the library received from the trustees of the Lyman Crawford estate a sum of money, the interest of which was to be used at stated intervals for the purchase of books. This year, for the first time, the interest, a little over $200, has been applied to this purpose, and a collection of books on the useful arts and the fine arts has been bought and placed in a special case, inscribed Lyman Crawford Collection. It is hoped that other friends of the library will imitate Mr. Craw ford’s example. This year the plan of limiting to seven days the time in which new fiction may be retained, with a fine of three cents a day for overtime, has been adopted. The plan is re ceived with favor, and a noticeable increase in circulation has resulted, being nearly 1,200 larger than in 1906. Eleven exhibits of pictures from the Library Art Club have been made. The trus tees express grief at the death of Dr. G. W. Burton, intimately connected with the library from its start, and for years chair man of the Board. Mrs. Lois B. Holden was chosen to fill the vacancy. 10 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. [Jan. Alford. The circulation for the past year has shown a decrease, both in the books owned by the library and in those loaned by the Woman’s Education Association. The town appropriation hav ing been cut from $25 to $20, the trustees ascribe the lack of funds with which to buy new books occasionally as the chief cause for the waning interest. A mesbury. The circulation gained 4,000 in 1907, reaching 37,326, the highest point in the library’s history. A beQuest of $1,000 from Mrs. William H. Swasey of Newburyport has been named the James Babson Fund, in memory of her brother, a former citi zen of Amesbury. A bequest of $2,526 from the. estate of John A. Healey, one of the old carriage mechanics of Amesbury, has been designated the John Andrew Healey Fund. The deaths of Dr. Horace G. Leslie, a trustee for ten years, and John Hume, a former trustee, are mentioned