The public library, as we understand the name to-day, has had but a
brief existence compared with the mere housing of collections of books
which has gone on through countless ages.
With the change from the old ideas of safeguarding the precious books
themselves to the advanced theory of placing their priceless contents
within the easy reach of all, has come an equally important change in
the character of the custodian of the books. The duties of the modern
librarian are such that he must be not only something of a scholar, in
the best sense of the word, but he must be capable also of properly
directing others in the pursuit of learning, and, withal, combine
executive ability with a highly specialized professional facility. The
result of carefully conceived courses of training is apparent in the
wonderful results achieved through the devoted and untiring efforts of
the members of this Association towards a constant betterment of their
charges, and a closer bonding, through affection, between the masses of
the people and that portion of the books which lies between the covers.
My purpose in recalling to your memory the wonderful advance made by
training in your profession in a comparatively short time, is to give
point to an analogy I wish to draw, showing a corresponding advance in
the profession of architecture. Not so very many years ago there were
ample grounds for the recalling by Mr. David P. Todd of Lord Bacon's
warning against the sacrifice of utility to mere artistic composition in
the following words: "Houses are built to Live in, and not to Looke on:
Therefore let Use bee preferred before Uniformitie; Except where both
may be had Leave the Goodly Fabrickes of Houses, for Beautie only, to
the Enchanted Pallaces of the Poets; Who build them with small Cost":
but to-day, thanks to the munificence of the French government and the
untiring energy of some of those who have profited by it, in fostering
the growth of our own architectural schools, there are few sections of
this broad land which have not one or more worthy followers of Palladio
and Michael Angelo. Hunt, Richardson and Post were among the first to
receive the training of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and they, moreover,
had the rare judgment to take the training only, adapting their designs
to the climatic and other local conditions rather than attempting the
importation of French forms as well as method of design. Their example
and the impetus they were able to impart to the technical schools have
been potent factors in the development of the talent of American
architects. While it is true, and more the pity, that some students
return from Paris with the idea that because Paris is a beautiful city
architecturally, the simple injection of some of their own masterpieces
into our diverse city street fronts, is going to reincarnate our
municipalities, the major portion are sufficiently discriminating to
realize that Paris owes much of its charm to a symmetry under
governmental control which we, free born Americans, can never hope to
attain, and leave behind them the mere forms and symbols of their alma
mater to use that which is best and most profitable in their training;
that is, a breadth of conception of the problem and a logical method of
sequential study of it which ensures a creditable if not an ideal
solution. The modern architect, to be successful, must be conversant
with a vast amount of information which is apparently outside his chosen
profession--such as the minutiae of hospitals, churches, libraries,
railroad stations and the like. As a case in point I recall the address
of a certain railroad president at the dedication of a large terminal
depot, in which he said: "while we have had the co-operation of
engineers and specialists in every branch of the work, I must give great
credit to our architect who is responsible for the conception of the
entire system of the handling of passengers, although he was employed
solely to enclose the space designated by our engineers." It is not my
purpose to laud the profession of architecture, but rather to show its
preparedness to _co-operate_ with you in achieving the best in library
construction and design.
May I add to Mr. Todd's advice to library boards about to build, "first
appoint your librarian," the suggestion that second, in consultation
with him, _appoint_ your architect. It is not disbelief in competition
which has led the American Institute of Architects to advise against
competitions, for the former is a constant condition, while the latter
they believe to result in more evil than good. It is a popular notion
among laymen that a competition will bring out _ideas_ and mayhap
develop some hidden genius, but in answer to the first I can say, I know
of but one building erected from successful competitive plans without
modification, and for the second, the major portion of American
originality in building designs is unworthy the name of architecture.
Aside from the needless expense and loss of time entailed on library
board, as well as architect, by the holding of competitions a greater
evil lies in the well proven fact, that in their desire to win approval
for their design, most architects endeavor to find out the librarian's
predilections and follow them in their plans rather than to submit a
scholarly solution of the problem studied from an unprejudiced
standpoint. It is not often the good fortune of competitors to have
their submitted work judged with such unbiased intelligence as that
which permitted the best conceived plan to win in the competition for
the new library in New York City. Few men would have dared in
competition to remove that imposing architectural feature, the reading
room, from their main façade and put it frankly where it belongs, in
direct touch with the stacks which serve it, as Carrere & Hastings did.
Not long ago a member of a certain library board of trustees wrote to us
that we were being considered, among others, as architects for their new
building, and he suggested that we send to them as many water colors as
we could collect and _as large as possible_, to impress the board; for,
as he added, "some of us appreciate your plans, but most laymen are
caught by the colored pictures, the larger the better."
As a rule librarians have very decided ideas as to the plan desired in
so far as it relates to the correlation of rooms and departments, and
it, therefore, seems manifestly proper that having selected a librarian
on account of merit, the next step should be the selection of an
architect on the same basis, to the end that in consultation the theory
of the one may either be studied into shape or proved inferior to the
theory of the other. Under the discussion of two broad minds, the wheat
is easily separated from the chaff with the much to be desired result of
the assemblying of a well ordered plan to present to the board, which
has had such study that few criticisms cannot be answered from the store
of experience gathered in the making. This ideal crystallization of
ideas, this development of the problem working hand in hand precludes
the need of such advice as is found in the following quotation from a
paper on library buildings:
"Taking into account the practical uses of the modern library it is
readily seen that it needs a building planned from inside, not from
without, dictated by convenience and not by taste no matter how good.
The order should be to require the architect to put a presentable
exterior on an interior having only use in view and not as is so often
done to require the librarian to make the best he can of an interior
imposed by the exigencies of the architect's taste or the demand of the
building committee for a monumental structure."
Such an anomalous relationship between interior and exterior is
absolutely opposed to the fundamental training of the architect of
to-day. Often have I heard my professor of design, a Frenchman of rare
judgment, fly out at a student caught working on his exterior before the
interior was complete: "Work on your plan, finish your plan, and when
that is perfect, the rest will _come_."
Architects of experience, who have been students of library development
in its every branch, who have followed the changes in the relations of
the library to the people, have reached the same conclusions along broad
lines, as have the librarians, with respect to lighting, access,
oversight and administration, as well as the general correlation of
universally important departments, and it is therefore my purpose to
state our relationship rather than attempt the raising of issues on
details of library arrangement, and to show if possible, that the
skilled architect's method of procedure tends to settle mooted points by
weighing values and considering relations of parts in a logical and
broad minded study of the particular set of conditions pertaining to his
problem.
Either owing to the size, shape or contour of the site, its particular
exposure, local climatic conditions, the particular character of the
library itself or the people whom it serves, the problem presented to an
architect by a library board is _always_ essentially a _new_ one.
Certain fundamental rules may obtain through their universal
applicability, but every step in the working out of a successful plan
must be influenced by the particular conditions referred to, and here
the co-operation of the librarian is of inestimable value to the
architect, no matter how wide his experience may be.
Desired correlation, like most results, can be achieved in divers ways,
and in most cases nothing of utility need be sacrificed to secure a
dignified plan, which is as much to be desired as a dignified exterior.
Realizing the importance of accomplishing successful results, a
scholarly architect will strive to mould his plan with an eye to
symmetry, without losing sight for an instant of the conditions of use,
and never sacrificing practical relationship to gain an _absolutely_
symmetrical arrangement of plan.
The French architect will, if necessary, waste space or inject needless
rooms into his plan to secure perfect balance, while his American
student will gain all the value of the _effect_ without diminishing the
practical value of his building one iota.
Along with symmetry, the logical development of the plan in study keeps
in mind something of the rough form of the exterior design, with
particular reference to the grouping of its masses to secure the maximum
of air and the best light for the various departments. With the best
designers, it is an unwritten law, that the next step after completing a
satisfactory plan, is to sketch a section through the building, not only
to ensure a proper proportion in the enclosed rooms, but most important
of all to secure a system of fenestration, allowing wall space where
needed and introducing the light as near the top of the rooms as the
finish will permit. Having settled then all the details of plans and
section, wherein are comprised all of the matter of greatest moment to
the practical librarian, it only remains for the architect to prepare a
suitable exterior and I certainly agree with my old preceptor that "it
will come." The American people believe that education is the corner
stone of manhood and good citizenship, and next to our public schools,
if not before them, the most potent educational factor is our public
library. The librarians are responsible in a great measure for the good
work which is being accomplished in the dissemination of knowledge and
culture among the people, but let me ask, are we not as responsible for
our share, as co-workers with them, to perpetuate in lasting masonry the
best which in us lies for the same great cause of the education of the
people?
What renaissance has failed to find literature and architecture
quickened alike? The awakening of a love of the beautiful brings a
thirst for knowledge concerning the beautiful; as the records will show,
the interest excited by that marvellous assemblage of architectural
masterpieces at the Chicago Fair, created a demand on the libraries
almost beyond belief for books on architecture and the allied arts.
Every conscientious architect must feel his responsibility to his
clients as well as to the people and strive he must, to combine the
ideal in convenience with simple beauty in design; my one plea is that
such a combination is not only _possible_, but in intelligent hands,
should be universal, and if my beliefs, hopes and expectations find
sympathy with you, I shall feel repaid in the security of a harmonious
co-operation between architect and librarian in the great work which
stretches ahead of us into the future.