Free Public Library Commission, the Librarian Is Collecting Local Historical Matter with Success
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O CQ \B PUBLIC DOCUMENT .... .... No. 44. SIXTEENTH REPORT OF THE Free P ublic Library Commission OF MASSACHUSETTS. 1906. BOSTON: WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE' PRINTERS, 18 P ost Of fic e Sq u a r e . 1906. PUBLIC DOCUMENT . No. 44. FOURTEENTH REPORT OF THE F ree P ublic Libra ry Commission MASSACHUSETTS. 1904. BOSTON: WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 18 Post Office Square. 1904 6 S fflfl ußKVfv'i Ui ilSSMJHUSCflß DEC 31191* * tats h o u s e Tvviu- A p p r o v e d b y T h e S t a t e B o a r d o f P u b l i c a t i o n . o 'a T Kl *3 T1 S \ e>os 'B, MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION. C. B. TILLINGHAST, Chairman, Boston, term expires 1910. Mrs. MABEL SIMPKINS AGASSIZ, Yarmouth, term expires 1909. SAMUEL SWETT GREEN, Worcester, . term expires 1909. DELORAINE P. COREY, Malden, . term expires 1908. Miss E. P. SOHIER, Secretary, Beverly, , term expires 1907. ' 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 Com mission was organized, the commission herewith presents its sixteenth report, covering the calendar year 1905. T he Commission. Mr. C. B. Tillinghast has been reappointed for the full term of five years, and designated by the Governor as chairman. B ooks furnished to Libraries. The towns of Alford, Egremont and Gill have each been supplied during the year with the full $100 worth of books, under the provisions of chapter 233 of the Acts of 1900. A first installment has been sent to the town of Lanesborough. The second installment, completing in each case the amount allowed by law, has been supplied to the following towns: — Berlin, Hancock, Pelham, Charlemont, Heath, Plympton, Chilmark, Holland, Prescott, Dunstable, Huntington, Royalston, East Longmeadow, Middlefield, Southwick, Granby, New Marlborough, Tyringham, Granville, North Reading, Warwick, Greenwich, Paxton, Whately. -— 24 T owns still entitled to B en efit under the L aw. The full allowance of $100 worth: — Auburn, Middleton, Southampton, Boylston, Savoy, Washington.— 8. Clarksburg, Shutesbury, 6 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. [Jan. The second allowance is due to the following towns: — Brimfield, Lanesborough, Otis, Dana, Leyden, Peru, Gay Head, Monterey, Phillipston, Goshen, Montgomery, Plainfield, Halifax, Mount Washington, Sunderland, Hawley, New Ashford, Tolland, Lakeville, New Braintree, Tyngsborough. — 21. T owns classified as to L ibraries. The following classification of the towns, revised to date, shows the free library facilities they now enjoy:-— Class 1, Towns which have libraries owned and controlled by the town and free for circulation to all the people. Abington, Brockton, Dover, Acushnet, Brookfield, Dracut, Adams, Brookline, Dudley, Agawam, Burlington, Dunstable, Alford, Cambridge, East Bridgewater, Amesbury, Canton, Eastham, Andover, Carlisle, East Longmeadow, Arlington, Carver, Edgartown, Ashburnham, Charlemont, Egremont, Ashby, Charlton, Erving, Ashland, Chelmsford, Essex, Athol, Chelsea, Everett, Attleborough, Chester, Fall River, Auburn, Chesterfield, Falmouth, Avon, Chicopee, Fitchburg, Bellingham, Chilmark, Florida, Belmont, Clarksburg, Foxborough, Berkley, Clinton, Framingham, Berlin, Cohasset, Freetown, Beverly, Colrain, Gay Head, Blackstone, Conway, Gill, Blandford, Dalton, Goshen, Bolton, Dana, Gosnold, Boston, Dartmouth, Granby-, Bourne, Dedham, Granville, Boxborough, Deerfield, Greenfield, Boylston, Dennis, Greenwich, Bridgewater, Dighton, Groton, Brimfield, Douglas, Groveland, 1906.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 44. 7 Hadley, Merrimac, Reading, Halifax, Middleborough, Revere, Hamilton, Middlefield, Richmond, Hampden, Middleton, Rochester, Hancock, Milford, Rockland, Hanover, Millbury, Rockport, Hanson, Millis, Rowe, Hardwick, Milton, Rowley, Harvard, Monroe, Royalston, Hatfield, Montague, Russell, Hawley, Monterey, Rutland, Heath, Montgomery, Salisbury, Holbrook, Mount Washington, Sandisfield, Holden, Nahant, Sandwich, Holland, Natick, Saugus, Holliston, Needham, Savoy, Hopedale, New Ashford, Seekonk, Hubbardston, New Bedford, Sharon, Hudson, New Braintree, Sheffield, Hull, Newbury port, Shelburne, Huntington, New Marlborough, Sherborn, Hyde Park, New Salem, Shirley, Kingston, Newton, Shrewsbury, Lakeville, Norfolk, Shutesbury, Lancaster, North Adams, Somerset, Lanesborough, Northampton, Somerville, Leicester, North Andover, Southampton, Leominster, North Attleborough, Southborough, Leverett, Northborough, Southbridge, Leyden, North Brookfield, South Hadley, Longmeadow, North field, Southwick, Lowell, North Reading, Spencer, Ludlow, Norwood, Sterling, Lunenburg, Oakham, Stoneham, Lynn, Orange, Stoughton, Lynnfield, Orleans, Stow, Manchester, Otis, Sturbridge, Mansfield, Oxford, Sudbury, Marblehead, Paxton, Sunderland, Marlborough, Peabody, Sutton, Marshfield, Pelham, Swampscott, Mashpee, Pepperell, Swansea, Mattapoisett, Peru, Taunton, Maynard, Phillipston, Templeton, Medfield, Plainfield, Tewksbury, Medford, Plympton, Tolland, Medway, Prescott, Topsfield, Melrose, Provincetown, Townsend, Mendon, Quincy, Truro, 8 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. [Jan. Tyngsborough, Wenham, Whately, Tyringham, W estborough, Whitman, Upton, West Boylston, Wilbraham, Uxbridge, West Bridgewater, Williamsburg, Wakefield, West Brookfield, Williamstown, Wales, Westford, Wilmington, Walpole, Westminster, Winchendon, Waltham, West Newbury, Winchester, Warwick, Weston, Windsor, Watertown, Westport, Winthrop, Way land, West Springfield, Worcester, Webster, West Stockbridge, Wrentham. — 271. Wellfieet, Westwood, Wendell, Weymouth, Class 2. Towns which have free libraries in which the town has some representation in the management. Acton, Franklin, Methuen, Ayer, Georgetown, N orton, Barre, Grafton, Pembroke, Bedford, Haverhill, Petersham, Belchertown, Hingham, Pittsfield, Bernards ton, Hinsdale, Randolph, Boxford, Holyoke, Salem, Braintree, Lawrence, Springfield, Concord, Lenox, Warren, Cummington, Lexington, Westfield, Danvers, Lincoln, Woburn. — 37. Easthampton, Littleton, Enfield, Malden, Class 3. 2owns in which there are free libraries to which the town appropriates m o n e y , but is not represented in the management. Amherst, Great Barrington, Princeton, Ashfield, Harwich, Scituate, Brewster, Lee, Stockbridge, Chatham, Monson, Tisbury, Cheshire, Nantucket, Ware, Cottage City, Northbridge, Wellesley, Duxbury, Palmer, Westhampton, Gardner, Plymouth, West Tisbury. — 24. 1906.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT— No. 44. 9 Class 4. Towns in which there are free libraries which have no connection with the town. Barnstable, Gloucester, Rehoboth, Beeket, Hopkinton, YVareham, Billerica, Ipswich, Worthington, Buckland, Marion, Yarmouth. — 16. Easton, Norwell, Fairhaven, Raynham, Class 5. Towns which have the free use of public libraries in other places. N e w b u r y ,................................Newburyport Public Library. W ashington,................................Beeket Athenaeum.— 2. Class 6. Town having no free public library. Plainville. N otes op L ibraby P bogbess. Tlie following notes, collected from a large number of libra ries, are worthy of careful study. They tell at first hand the story of the growth and progress of the free public libraries, and the spirit and sentiment which underlie the library system of Massachusetts. Abingtoy. There was a gain of over 10 per cent, in the circu lation of 1904. About 200 volumes have been received from the library of the late Eev. Jesse H. Jones. Acushxet. A larger appropriation by the town has allowed an increased purchase of books, and the opening of the library twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. A reading room supplied with popular magazines and illus trated papers has been opened in connection with the main library, which is especially appreciated by the scholars and other young people of the village. Nature books are used by the pupils of the schools, as are books on other subjects, but no special effort has as yet been made to assist in school work. A building fund, which now amounts to over $200, is the result of a loan exhibit and a lawn party. The circu lation has largely increased. 10 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. [Jan. Adams. The library and reading room are in excellent condi tion, both receiving increased patronage above former years. The use of the reading room has especially increased, and the interest in scientific periodicals has been particularly notice able. The addition of valuable books for the reference room has realized good results, and the use of them by the pupils of the schools has decidedly increased. The selection of stand ard books has been carefully studied, and the problem of selecting works of fiction has been met with painstaking care. The teachers have co-operated heartily with the library au thorities, and rendered the accomplishment of desired aims pleasant and satisfactory. Books are furnished to the eighth- grade schools to be used as supplementary material in the study of American history, geography and literature. Chil dren of lower grades are assisted in the choice of books at the library, and the teachers reQuire a list of books read from each pupil. During the summer months one hour in each week has been given to story-telling for younger children. This has been popular with the children, and it has proved to be as successful here as it has in other places. Eleven exhibi tions have been given from the collections of the Library Art Club. Semiannual catalogues have been published, and a stereopticon has been purchased. Agawam.