As the last of this particular group of papers we reproduce
a view of our public library system by a foreigner who had
lived in this country long enough to appreciate it and who
was yet able to contrast it with the library systems of
European countries--Prof. Munsterberg of Harvard.
Hugo Munsterberg was born in Danzig, Germany, June 1, 1863,
educated at Leipzig and Heidelberg, and after serving as
assistant professor at the University of Freiburg, became
professor of psychology at Harvard in 1892, where he served
until his death on Dec. 16, 1916. The subjoined extract is
from his book "The Americans" (New York, 1904).
The American's fondness for reading finds clearest expression in the
growth of libraries, and in few matters of civilization is America so
well fitted to teach the Old World a lesson. Europe has many large and
ancient collections of books, and Germany more than all the rest; but
they serve only one single purpose--that of scientific investigation;
they are the laboratories of research. They are chiefly lodged with the
great universities, and even the large municipal libraries are mostly
used by those who need material for productive labors, or wish to become
conversant with special topics.
Exactly the same type of large library has grown up in America; and
here, too, it is chiefly the universities whose stock of books is at the
service of the scientific world. Besides these, there are special
libraries belonging to learned societies, state law libraries, special
libraries of government bureaus and of museums, and largest of all the
Library of Congress. The collection of such scientific books began at
the earliest colonial period, and at first under theological auspices.
The Calvinist Church, more than any other, inclined to the study of
books. As early as 1790 the catalog of Harvard College contained 350
pages, of which 150 were taken up by theological works. Harvard has
to-day almost a million books, mostly in the department of literature,
philology, history, philosophy, and jurisprudence. There are, moreover,
in Boston the state library of law, with over a hundred thousand
volumes; the Athenaeum, with more than two hundred thousand books; the
large scientific library of the Institute of Technology, and many
others. Similarly, in other large cities, the university libraries are
the nucleus for scientific labors, and are surrounded by admirable
special libraries, particularly in New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
Then, too, the small academic towns, like Princeton, Ithaca, New Haven,
and others, have valuable collections of books, which in special
subjects are often unique. For many years the American university
libraries have been the chief purchasers of the special collections left
by deceased European professors. And it often happens, especially
through the gift of grateful alumni, that collections of the greatest
scientific value, which could not be duplicated, come into the
possession even of lesser institutions.
In many departments of investigation, Washington takes the lead with
the large collection of the various scientific, economic, and technical
bureaus of the government. The best known of these is the unique medical
library of the War Department. Then there is the Library of Congress,
with many more than a million volumes, which today has an official right
to one copy of every book published in the United States, and so may
claim to be a national library. It is still not comparable to the
many-sided and complete collection of the British Museum; the national
library is one-sided, or at least shows striking gaps. Having started as
the Library of Congress, it has, aside from its one copy of every
American book and the books on natural science belonging to the
Smithsonian Institution, few books except those on politics, history,
political economy, and law. The lack of space for books, which existed
until a few years ago, made it seem inexpedient to spend money for
purposes other than the convenience of congressmen. But the American
people, in its love for books, has now erected such a building as the
world had never before seen devoted to the storing of books. The new
Congressional Library was opened in 1897, and since the stacks have
still room for several million volumes, the library will soon grow to an
all-round completeness like that at London. This Library has a specially
valuable collection of manuscripts and correspondences.
All the collections of books which we have so far mentioned are
virtually like those of Germany. But since they mostly date from the
nineteenth century, the American libraries are more modern, and contain
less dead weight in the way of unused folios. Much more important is
their greatly superior accessibility. Their reading-rooms are more
comfortable and better lighted, their catalogs more convenient, library
hours longer, and, above all, books are more easily and quickly
delivered. Brooks Adams said recently, about the library at Washington
as a place for work, that this building is well-nigh perfect; it is
large, light, convenient, and well provided with attendants. In Paris
and London, one works in dusty, forbidding, and overcrowded rooms, while
here the reading-rooms are numerous, attractive, and comfortable. In the
National Library at Paris, one has to wait an hour for a book; in the
British Museum, half an hour, and in Washington, five minutes. This
rapid service, which makes such a great difference to the student, is
found everywhere in America; and everywhere the books are housed in
buildings which are palatial, although perhaps not so beautiful as the
Washington Library.
Still, all these differences are unessential; in principle the academic
libraries are alike in the New and Old Worlds. The great difference
between Europe and America begins with the libraries which are not
learned, but which are designed to serve popular education. The American
public library which is not for science, but for education, is to the
European counterpart as the Pullman express train to the village
post-chaise.
The scientific libraries of Boston, including that of Harvard
University, contain nearly two million printed works; but the largest
library of all is distinct from these. It is housed on Copley Square, in
a renaissance palace by the side of the Art Museum, and opposite the
most beautiful church in America. The staircase of yellow marble, the
wonderful wall-paintings, the fascinating arcade on the inner court and
the sunlit halls are indeed beautiful. And in and out, from early
morning till late evening, week-day and Sunday, move the people of
Boston. The stream of men divides in the lower vestibule. Some go to the
newspaper room, where several hundred daily newspapers, a dozen of them
German, hang on racks. Others wander to the magazine rooms, where the
weekly and monthly papers of the world are waiting to be read. Others
ascend to the upper stories, where Sargent's famous pictures of the
Prophets allure the lover of art, in order to look over more valuable
special editions and the art magazines, geographical charts, and musical
works. The largest stream of all goes to the second floor, partly into
the huge quiet reading-room, partly into the rotunda, which contains the
catalog, partly into the hall containing the famous frescoes of the Holy
Grail, where the books are given out. Here a million and a half books
are delivered every year to be taken home and read. And no one has to
wait; an apparatus carries the applicant's card with wonderful speed to
the stacks, and the desired book is sent back in automatic cars. Little
children meanwhile wander into the juvenile room, where they find the
best books for children. And everything invites even the least patient
reader to sit down quietly with some sort of a volume--everything is so
tempting, so convenient and comfortable, and so surpassingly beautiful.
And all this is free to the humblest working-man.
And still, if the citizen of Massachusetts were to be asked of what
feature of the public libraries he is most proud, he would probably not
mention this magnificent palace in Boston, the capital of the state, but
rather the 350 free public libraries scattered through the smaller
cities and towns of this state, which is after all only one-third as
large as Bavaria. It is these many libraries which do the broadest work
for the people. Each little collection, wherever it is, is the center of
intellectual and moral enlightenment, and plants and nourishes the
desire for self-perfection. Of course, Massachusetts has done more in
this respect than any other ward in this respect. But there is no longer
any city of moderate size which has not a large public library, and
there is no state which does encourage in every possible way the
establishment of public libraries in every small community, giving
financial aid if it is necessary.
Public libraries have become the favorite Christmas present of
philanthropists, and while the hospitals, universities, and museums,
have still no reason for complaint, the churches now find the
superfluous millions are less apt to go to gay church windows than to
well chosen book collections. In the year 1900 there existed more than
5383 public libraries having over a thousand volumes; of these 144 had
more than fifty thousand, and 54 had more than a hundred thousand
volumes. All together contained, according to the statistics of 1900
more than forty-four million volumes and more than seven million
pamphlets; and the average growth was over 8 per cent. There are
probably to-day, therefore, fifteen million volumes more on the shelves.
The many thousand libraries which have fewer than 999 books are over and
above all this.
The make-up of such public libraries may be seen from the sample catalog
gotten out by the Library Association a few years since, as a typical
collection of five thousand books. This catalog, which, with the
exception of the most important foreign classics, contains only books in
English, including, however, many translations, contains 227 general
reference books, 756 books on history, 635 on biography, 413 on travel,
355 on natural science, 694 on belles-lettres, 809 novels, 225 on art,
220 on religion, 424 on social science, 268 on technical subjects, etc.
The cost of this sample collection is $12,000. The proportions between
the several divisions are about the same in larger collections. In
smaller collections, belles-lettres have a somewhat greater share. The
general interest taken by the nation in this matter is shown by the fact
that the first edition of 20,000 copies of this sample catalog, of 600
pages, was soon exhausted.
The many-sidedness of this catalog points also to the manifold
functions of the public library. It is meant to raise the educational
level of the people, and this can be done in three ways: first, interest
may be stimulated along new lines; second, those who wish to perfect
themselves in their own subjects or in whatsoever special topics, may be
provided with technical literature; and third, the general desire for
literary entertainment may be satisfied by books of the best or at least
not of the worst sort. The directors of libraries see their duties to
lie in all three directions. The libraries guide the tastes and
interests of the general public, and try to replace the ordinary
servant-girl's novel with the best romance of the day and shallow
literature with works that are truly instructive. And no community is
quite content until its public library has become a sort of general
meeting-place and substitute for the saloon and the club. America is the
working-man's paradise, and attractive enough to the rich man; but the
ordinary man of the middle classes, who in Germany finds his chief
comfort in the Bierhalle would find little comfort in America if it were
not for the public library, which offers him a home. Thus the public
library has come to be a recognized instrument of culture along with the
public school; and in all American outposts the school teacher and
librarian are among the pioneers.
The learned library cannot do this. To be sure, the university library
can help to spread information, and conversely the public library makes
room for thousands of volumes on all sorts of scientific topics. But the
emphasis is laid very differently in the two cases, and if it were not
so neither library would best fulfil its purpose. The extreme quiet of
the reference library and the bustle and stir of the public library do
not go together. In the one direction America has followed the dignified
traditions of Europe; in the other, it has opened new paths and
travelled on at a rapid pace. Every year discovers new ideas and plans,
new schemes for equipment and the selection of books, for cataloging,
and for otherwise gaining in utility. When, for instance, the library in
Providence commenced to post a complete list of books and writings
pertaining to the subject of every lecture that was given in the city,
it was the initiation of a great movement. The juvenile departments are
the product of recent years, and are constantly increasing in
popularity. There are even, in some cases, departments for blind
readers. The state commissions are new, and so also the travelling
libraries, which are carried from one village to another.
The great schools for librarians are also new. The German librarian is
mostly a scholar; but the American believes that he has improved on the
European library systems, not so much by his ample financial resources
as by having broken with the academic custom, and having secured
librarians with a special library training. And since there are such
officials in many thousand libraries, and the great institutions create
a constant demand for such persons, the library schools, which offer
generally a three years' course, having been found very successful.
Admittedly, all this technical apparatus is expensive; the Boston
library expends every year a quarter of a million dollars for
administrative expenses. But the American taxpayer supports this more
gladly than any other burden, knowing that the public library is the
best weapon against alcoholism and crime, against corruption and
discontent, and that the democratic country can flourish only when the
instinct of self-perfection as it exists in every American is thoroughly
satisfied.