Since their publication the following number of copies of each chapter
have been sold (to March 31):
Chapter 1 528 copies
2 473
4 589
9 251
12 267
15 475
17 591
20 474
22 617
26 671
-----
Total 4,936
Manuscripts for two more chapters, The library building, by W. R.
Eastman, and Proprietary and subscription libraries, by C. K. Bolton,
are ready and in the secretary's possession, but funds for printing are
not in hand at present, owing to the heavy obligation incurred by the
printing of Subject headings and the A. L. A. Catalog, 1904-11, within
so short a time of each other. It is hoped, however, to print these
and perhaps some others before the end of the year.
=Periodical Cards=--The shipments of periodical cards sent out since
the close of the last report of the Board (May 1, 1911) have comprised
3,009 titles and 180,241 cards, not including reprints of cards in
which errors have been discovered after the cards have been distributed.
Copy is received regularly by the editor, Mr. William Stetson Merrill,
every two weeks, on the fifth and twentieth of the month from the
following libraries:--Columbia, Harvard, John Crerar, New York and
Yale. This copy is edited promptly and prepared for the printer.
=Advertising=--The Board's publications have been regularly advertised
in Library Journal and Public Libraries and in one special number of
The Dial. For the rest circularization and correspondence from the
headquarters office has been relied upon. During the year over 15,000
pieces of circular matter have been mailed from headquarters office in
the interest of our publications.
Particular effort has been made to advertise widely the new List of
subject headings and the A. L. A. Catalog. For the latter in addition
to circularizing the libraries descriptive postal cards were addressed
to 7,000 high school and normal school principals. From these circulars
only about 100 orders for the Catalog can be directly traced. It seems
plain that it does not pay to advertise our publications among the high
schools. Slips advertising the Catalog were sent to the librarians of
all the leading colleges, requesting that these slips be distributed
to members of the faculty interested in book selection. This resulted
in getting orders from many college libraries addressed, but very few
from the teaching staff. Experience would indicate that libraries and
librarians are the only classes to which advertising can profitably be
addressed. We have endeavored to keep the state library commissions
regularly informed on all our publications and all of them which issue
monthly or quarterly bulletins list our new publications therein,
generally with appreciative annotations and descriptions. Exhibits of
publications have been made at several state library meetings visited
by the secretary.
During the past year the principal libraries of England, Scotland and
Ireland have been circularized with lists of our publications, and a
very gratifying number of orders have been received as a result. When
the revised edition of Subject headings appeared copies were sent to
nearly all the library periodicals of the various countries of Europe
with the result that they reviewed the book and quite a number of
continental orders have been directly traceable to these reviews.
Copies of Subject headings and the new A. L. A. Catalog have been
ordered from almost every important country in the world.
This report would be incomplete without hearty acknowledgment of the
excellent work of the Secretary, Mr. George B. Utley. To his good
business judgment and careful and judicious management is due in great
measure the splendid financial showing recorded in the accompanying
fiscal statement. The affairs of the Board have never been in better
shape than now. The sales are increasing encouragingly, the inventory
shows a salable stock with less "dead" material than at any time for
years back, and the office organization is now well systematized and
effective.
HENRY E. LEGLER, Chairman.