The close of another conference year finds the executive office
still enjoying the hospitality of the Chicago public library in the
commodious, convenient and well equipped rooms in the Chicago public
library building. Heat, light and janitor service have also been
supplied gratuitously as in previous years. The association has now
held headquarters offices in Chicago for nearly three years and it is a
pleasure for the secretary to report that the prospects for continuance
and permanence of headquarters were never brighter than they are now.
The income from membership fees is steadily increasing. In 1909 the
amount raised from this source was $4,557.50; in 1910, $4,888.48; in
1911, $5,325.46; and the receipts thus far for 1912 warrant us in
hoping that the total amount from membership fees will be at least
$6,200. While the finances of the association even yet do not permit us
to do many things that are very much worth doing and which are in the
legitimate field of activities, we seem gradually to be approaching the
time when excursions can be made into new avenues.
Although the work of the headquarters office varies from day to day so
that no two days are alike the year's work in the aggregate so closely
resemble that for last year that much repetition of last year's report
would be made if a detailed statement were presented. The routine work
has of course been performed, such as editing the bulletin, attending
to the correspondence, advertising for the publishing board and sale
of its publications which in the last year has been the heaviest
in its history, the payment of bills, the keeping of books, the
printing of publications for the publishing board, with the attendant
work of making contracts for printing and the reading of proof, the
arrangements for the midwinter meetings and the annual conference. The
volume of this routine work has been very great and is still increasing
so that often for days at a time there is little chance for doing
anything else.
Since November 1, 1911, a record has been kept of mail sent out
from the office. From November 1, to May 31, 1912, 11,818 pieces of
first-class mail have been dispatched, or an average of about 67
pieces a day. In addition to this 15,794 pieces of circular matter
were mailed either in the interest of the A. L. A. or its publishing
board during the same period. No record of mail received has been kept
but it runs from 50 to 70 letters a day, and frequently reaches 150 a
day at certain seasons and on certain days of the week. Of course not
all of this requires the personal attention of the secretary, a large
share being orders for publications, or remittances for the same,
payment of membership dues, and various inquiries, which are entirely
handled by the office assistants. The headquarters office, however,
continues to be, we are pleased to say, a clearing house for general
library information. The Chicago public and John Crerar libraries are
frequently consulted by the secretary, and occasionally the Newberry
and other libraries, and I desire to express at this time my hearty
appreciation of the cordial assistance given me by the reference
librarians of these various institutions. Thanks to their kind offices
we have been able in most instances either to give the desired
information or tell where it may be found. To those seeking advice
regarding establishment of libraries, selection or purchase of books or
policy of administration we have gladly helped so far as we were able
but always make it a point to try to put the inquirer in touch with the
library commission of his state or the state library. We have taken
particular pleasure in corresponding with certain towns in New Mexico,
Florida, Mississippi and Montana where a public library is either
being organized or where a campaign to secure one is being conducted.
Notwithstanding the systematic efforts of the various commissions to
cover thoroughly the library work of their respective states many small
libraries and library boards seem blissfully ignorant of the existence
of such an institution as a state library commission, and we consider
it no small service to be able to enlighten them on this point. The
commissions, on the other hand, are constantly putting the small
libraries in touch with the A. L. A. The state library commissions can
always be counted on to co-operate with the A. L. A. to publish our
news notes and notices regarding publications in their bulletins, to
recommend membership and A. L. A. publications and to respond quickly
and efficiently to any special call. This is thoroughly appreciated
by the secretary and the executive office. During the past year the
secretary has made several demands on the time of the secretaries of
the various state library associations and has found response in most
cases prompt, intelligent and willing.
The library interests of the country are making progress towards a
harmony of effort that is good to see and that will bring its sure
result in better and more intelligent service to the people.
We have endeavored to keep the value and importance of publicity
steadily before us and have accomplished as much in this direction
as time and funds permitted. Multigraphed articles have been sent
out to about 175 of the leading papers of the country several times
during the year and from marked copies sent to the office and from
reports from librarians who have seen the articles in their local
papers we know that these contributions have been pretty generally
used. Several special articles on either the work of the A. L. A.
or the Publishing Board have been written for particular papers. A
publicity committee has, at the request of the secretary, recently been
appointed in the hope of securing still greater publicity. The work of
the executive office, however, does not lend itself to the making of
"stories" interesting to those outside the profession. Nearly every
live and up-to-date library, on the other hand, is every week living
out experiences which, if written up in a breezy and popular style of
which many of our library folk are masters, would make capital articles
acceptable not only to the daily press but to the more exclusive
magazines as well. It appears, therefore, that the executive office
can perhaps best promote publicity for the profession, by urging the
preparation of these contributions from the reference librarians, the
children's librarians, the loan desk people, the municipal reference
workers, these people who, as Kipling puts it, have
"lived more stories
Than Zogbaum or I can invent."
The secretary has written four or five articles on the A. L. A. for
various encyclopedias and year books, and has endeavored to get the
association listed in all the leading reference almanacs and annuals.
Lectures before library schools by the secretary regarding the A. L. A.
and its work, and official representation at the state meetings have
also given publicity to the association.
During the past year twelve persons have received library appointments
through recommendations of the secretary. This is a somewhat smaller
number than the year before when about fifteen were helped to positions
through the executive office. With two or three exceptions the
secretary has made recommendations only when requested to do so.
The work of the publishing board occupies practically three-quarters
of the time of the assistant secretary, at least half of the time of
the stenographer and order assistant and probably a quarter of the
time of the secretary. In consideration of this the publishing board
appropriates $2,000 a year to the operating expenses of the office.
The work of the publishing board is heavier than ever before in its
history; the receipts from sales for the calendar year 1911 being
$8,502.88, and for the first five months of 1912 $6,090.16. Further
notice of this feature of the work of the office can be found in the
report of the A. L. A. publishing board presented in print at this
conference.
The secretary wishes here to commend most heartily the faithful
services of his fellow-workers at the executive office, Miss Clara
A. Simms and Miss Gwendolyn I. Brigham. Their capable and willing
service has been a large factor in the work of the association and
its publishing board and without such intelligence and loyal help
the results of the year could not have been attained. For the active
co-operation and good will of the officers and other members of the
executive board the secretary is deeply grateful. It has been a
pleasure to work under such congenial conditions.
=Membership=--There are more members in the A. L. A. at the present
time than ever before in the history of the association. The secretary
has conducted as vigorously as possible a steady campaign for new
members, this work not only being the duty of the office but directly
in line with the conviction of the secretary who has recommended
membership in the national association to all library workers in
the earnest belief that this action is fully as beneficial to the
individual as to the association.
When the January membership bills were mailed we enclosed in each
envelope an appeal for the member addressed to secure at least one new
member for the association. This resulted directly in the addition of
over one hundred new members and the secretary wishes to take this
opportunity to thank most sincerely and heartily those members who
aided in this work. Besides the pleasure of securing these new members
it was gratifying to feel that so many old members took such practical
interest in aiding the association. In April membership appeals were
sent to 1854 members of state library associations who were not members
of the A. L. A. This has resulted in a fair increase of membership.
In December the secretary sent letters requesting membership to 232
library people who had, according to the news columns of library
periodicals, recently changed their positions assumably for the better.
In addition to these more or less impersonal appeals the secretary
has written a large number of personal letters to those with whom he
is either personally acquainted or else with whom he has conducted an
office correspondence. As in all other lines of business it is this
personal appeal that has been the most effective and has brought the
largest percentage of returns.
When the 1911 Handbook went to press last August there were 2046
members in the A. L. A. Of this number 13 have since died and 26 have
resigned. Since last August 351 new members have been received making
the present total net membership 2,358. Assuming that the usual number,
or about 150 persons, will discontinue their membership this summer the
net membership in the 1912 Handbook will be approximately 2,208. Of the
present total membership 332 are library or institutional members, 24
of whom have joined since last August.
=A. L. A. Representatives at Other Conferences=--The practice of having
an officer or officially appointed delegate represent the association
at the state library association meetings has been followed the past
year with success fully equal to that in previous years. Since the
Pasadena conference there have been 39 state or provincial library
meetings, and a speaker representing the A. L. A. has been present at
16 of these. The A. L. A. at present has too small a budget to meet the
traveling expenses of these speakers, which have been met either by the
state association or by the delegates personally.
The joint conference of Michigan and Ohio at Cedar Point, Ohio, Sept.
2-8, was attended by Mrs. H. L. Elmendorf, president of the American
library association, who delivered an address on "Joy Reading," and by
the secretary, who spoke informally on the work of the A. L. A. The New
York state meeting in New York City, Sept. 25-30, was also attended by
both the president and secretary, Mrs. Elmendorf giving her address on
"Joy Reading," and the secretary speaking on "What the American Library
Association Stands For."
Mrs. Elmendorf was the official delegate to the Keystone State library
association meeting at Saegertown, Pa., Oct. 19-21, giving an address
on "Joy Reading;" at the District of Columbia library association
conference, at Washington, November 8, where she gave a talk on some
of the recent books; and at the New York state teachers' association
meeting at Albany, Nov. 27-29, speaking on the subject, "School and
library co-operation; a concrete example and a little theory."
Mr. J. I. Wyer, Jr., represented the A. L. A. at the state meetings of
Iowa, at Mason City, Oct. 10-12; of Illinois, at Joliet, Oct 11-13;
and of Missouri at Hannibal, Oct. 18-19; delivering at each meeting an
address on the subject, "What Americans Read."
Mr. Chalmers Hadley, librarian of the Denver public library, and
ex-secretary of the A. L. A., was the representative of the American
library association at the meeting of the Pacific northwest library
association, at Victoria, B. C., Sept. 4-6, giving an address on "The
Library and the Community."
The secretary attended the Minnesota meeting, at Lake Minnetonka, Sept.
20-22, the Nebraska meeting at Omaha, Oct. 18-19, and the North Dakota
state meeting at Jamestown, Oct. 20-21, giving at each conference an
address on "Reaching the People." He also gave an address at the joint
session of the Indiana library association and the Indiana library
trustees' association, at Indianapolis, Nov. 8th, on "The Legal and
Moral Requirements of a Library Trustee."
Dr. Arthur E. Bostwick, librarian of the St. Louis public library, and
ex-president of the A. L. A., was the principal out-of-state speaker
at the Alabama library association conference, at Tuscaloosa, and at
the State University, November 21, 22 and 23. Dr. Bostwick gave two
addresses; the first on "The Companionship of Books;" and the second on
"The Message of the Library."
Miss Clara F. Baldwin, secretary of the Minnesota public library
commission, attended, as A. L. A. delegate, the joint meeting of the
Montana state teachers' association and Montana library association, at
Great Falls, December 27-29, 1911, and spoke on "The work of a library
commission."
Dr. Reuben G. Thwaites, secretary of the Wisconsin State Historical
Society, and an ex-president of the A. L. A., officially represented
the association at the inauguration of Dr. George E. Vincent, as
president of the University of Minnesota, October 18.
Mr. Carl B. Roden, of the Chicago public library, and treasurer of
the A. L. A., represented the association and gave an address on "The
library as a paying investment," at the Wisconsin library association
meeting at Janesville, February 21-23.
The secretary has lectured during the year before the Iowa summer
library school, the New York public library school, and the University
of Illinois library school. He also addressed the summer library
conference at Madison, Wisconsin, on the work of the A. L. A.
=Changes in Officers and Committees=--Following his election as first
vice-president, Mr. Henry E. Legler resigned as non-official member of
the executive board and Miss Alice S. Tyler was elected by the board to
fill the unexpired term ending in 1912.
Mr. Harrison W. Craver was unable to accept re-appointment as chairman
of committee on library administration and Dr. Arthur E. Bostwick was
appointed in his place.
Miss Margaret W. Brown resigned from the committee on bookbinding and
Miss Rose G. Murray was appointed to succeed her.
=Necrology=--The association has lost heavily by death during the past
year. Our losses include the senior ex-president of the association,
who was a life member, two other life members, and several who were, by
their regular attendance through many years, familiar figures at our
annual conferences. In all 13 members and 4 former members have passed
away since we last met in conference. The roll is as follows:
Emma Helen Blair, for several years a member of the staff of the
Wisconsin State Historical Library, died September 26, 1911. Miss Blair
had performed valuable and important work as an editor and professional
indexer, assisting among other things in editing "Jesuit Relations"
and the long series of historical documents in Spanish entitled "The
Philippine Islands." She had been a member of the A. L. A. continuously
since 1896 (No. 1524), and attended the conferences of 1896, 1900 and
1904. See Library journal, 36:603.
Isaac S. Bradley, for many years librarian and assistant superintendent
of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, died April 22, 1912. He
joined the A. L. A. in 1890, (No. 790) and had taken great interest
in the work of the association. Few faces were more familiar at the
conferences than his, as he attended sixteen of the annual meetings,
those of 1890, '92, '93, '95, '96, '97, '98, '99, 1900, '01, '02, '03,
'04, '06, '07 and '08.
Frederick Morgan Crunden, senior ex-president of the A. L. A., life
member, and librarian of the St. Louis public library, from 1877
to 1909, died October 28, 1911. He was president of the A. L. A.
1889-90, presiding over the Fabyans conference of the latter year, and
vice-president of the International Library Conference at London in
1897. He joined the A. L. A. in 1878 (No. 129) and became a life member
about 1889. To record Mr. Crunden's services to the American library
world and to the A. L. A. would be practically to give a history of the
association for the past 30 years. He participated in many programs
and conference discussions and was one of the best known and beloved
of American librarians. Mr. Crunden attended the conferences of 1883
and 1886 to 1905 inclusive, twenty in all, without an absence, except
at the San Francisco conference of 1891. He also attended the London
international conference in 1897. See A. L. A. Bulletin 6:3; Library
journal, 33:569-70; Public libraries, 16:436-38.
Irene Gibson, chief assistant in the publication section of the Library
of Congress, died July 9, 1911. She joined the association in 1893 (No.
1114), and became a life member in 1910. She attended the conferences
of 1893, '97, 1903, '08, '10. See Library journal, 36:439.
Jessie Sherburne Gile, assistant in charge of the work with schools
in the public library of Haverhill, Mass., died October 22, 1911. She
joined the A. L. A. in 1902, (No. 2555), and attended the conferences
of 1902 and '06.
David L. Kingsbury, assistant librarian of the Minnesota Historical
Society of St. Paul, died January 24, 1912. He joined the A. L. A. in
1904 (No. 3079), and attended the conferences of 1904, '08 and '11.
Mrs. Evelyn N. Lane, head of the circulating department of the
Springfield (Mass.) City Library, died August 30, 1911. She had been a
member of the A. L. A. since 1902 (No. 2454), but so far as recorded
attended only the conference of that year.
Robbins Little, for twenty years superintendent of the Astor Library,
New York City, died April 13, 1912. He joined the A. L. A. in 1880 (No.
389), and later became a life member. So far as recorded he attended
none of the conferences.
Stella Lucas, librarian of the Tainter Memorial Library of Menominee,
Wis., died July 30, 1911. She joined the A. L. A. in 1901 (No. 2252),
and attended the conferences in 1901, '05 and '08.
Adolph L. Peck, librarian of the Gloversville (N. Y.) Free Library
since its foundation in 1880, died October 9, 1911. He joined the
A. L. A. in 1883 (No. 466), and was a familiar figure at the annual
conferences, having attended those of 1883, '85, '86, '87, '90, '92,
'93, '94, '96, '98, 1900 and 1906.
Mrs. Minerva A. Sanders, for many years librarian of the Deborah
Cook Sayles Memorial Library, Pawtucket, R. I., died March 20, 1912.
Although Mrs. Sanders was an enthusiastic attendant on A. L. A.
conferences she never personally joined the association, but was
officially entitled to a seat in the conferences by virtue of the
institutional membership of her library. She had attended fifteen
conferences and was well known to the veterans of the association, who
well remember her early advocacy of open shelves and work for children.
L. W. Sicotte, president of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society, of
Montreal, died September 5, 1911. He joined the A. L. A. in 1900 (No.
1947). So far as recorded he attended only the conference of 1900 held
in his home city.
T. Guilford Smith, of Buffalo, regent of the University of the State
of New York, died Feb. 20, 1912. He had been a member of the A. L. A.
continuously since 1893 (No. 1193), and attended the conferences of
1897 and 1903.
The following persons at various times were members of the association
but were not at the time of their death:
Zu Adams, for many years connected with the Kansas State Historical
Society, died April, 1911. She was a member of the A. L. A. for the
year 1904 (No. 3203), and attended the St Louis conference.
Caroline A. Farley, formerly librarian of Radcliffe College, Cambridge,
Mass., died March 14, 1912. She joined the association in 1896 (No.
1394), and was a member continuously until 1909. So far as recorded she
attended none of the conferences.
Stephen B. Griswold, for many years law librarian of the New York state
library, died May 4, 1912. He joined the A. L. A. in 1892 (No. 943),
and remained a member until 1904. So far as recorded he attended no
conferences.
William E. Parker, treasurer of Library Bureau, Cambridge, Mass., died
November 2, 1911. He was a member of the A. L. A. continuously from
1889 (No. 757), to 1909, and was secretary of the association in 1890.
He attended the conferences of 1889, '90 and '96.
The secretary's report was accepted on motion of Mr. J. I. Wyer, Jr.,
seconded by Dr. C. W. Andrews.
The treasurer's report which had been previously printed, was read by
title, and accepted.