す ficial light must be used in some portions of the room at all times. The books are arranged against the walls in from nine to eleven tiers, extending from the floor. The backs. of the three lower tiers of books cannot be read without stooping, and more than one-half of all the tiers cannot be reached by a person standing on the floor, but are accessible only by means of step-ladders, always inconvenient and often dangerous. The available shelf-room is now practically full, although a regular annual increase of a little over thirty feet must somehow be provided for. The crowding of the shelves has made it necessary to exclude from the room many works of reference, which, were it possible, should have their place there. Considerable temporary relief from the inconveniences above noted might be obtained by giving to the Patent department the use of the whole of the room where it now. is, and by putting into the space thus gained a number of low stacks which would give additional and accessible shelfroom. These stacks might be of a construction adapting them for use in the patent room at the new library, and their cost be charged thereto. There are other defects of minor importance which might be remedied: for instance, some provision should be made for receiving hats, coats, and umbrellas; also the attendant in charge should be relieved of his present duties in connection with the Lower hall card-catalogue, as he cannot properly attend to these and his regular work in the Patent library at the same time. The space allotted seems insufficient for the library of to-day, if anything more than sheer necessity be considered. Furthermore, this space should not be all in one large room, because the work to be done in the library is of widely varying character, the different branches of which cannot conveniently be carried on in the same department. A properly arranged Patent library is, more than any other collection of books, a workshop. There are drawings of large size to be not only examined, but duplicated. There are specifications to be not only read, but studied and discussed. There are also copies of them to be made, which work must often be done by women stenographers, and these should not be required to carry bulky and heavy volumes up and down dangerous step-ladders. There should be ample table-room and proper light for the use of draughtsmen and others. A separate room should be provided where consultation and dictation can be carried on without disturbing other users of the place, and proper special toilet accommodations should be close at hand. I have had the honor in the past of suggesting to the trustees of the library the possibility of establishing and maintaining, in connection with the Patent department, a set of the United States letters patent classified according to their subject-matter. Such a collection, made accessible to the public under reasonable regulations, would be of the greatest possible value. It would be the only one in the country except that of the Patent Office itself, of which it should be a duplicate. It would be of the greatest advantage to all those persons in the community having to do with the useful arts, in number almost co-extensive with the whole body of our citizens. Its maintenance would require. additional room, about as much as that now proposed to be allotted to the entire patent collection itself, but its direct value and benefit to the community at large would make it as practically useful a feature of the great new library as any that could be introduced there. The Sub-Committee on the New Library Building felt that their inquiry was limited to practical questions of arrangement and working facilities, and in no way included architectural or artistic judgment. Moved by the report on the Patent library printed above, the sub-committee has examined more closely into the provisions made for this department in the new building. That this may be a useful consulting library according to modern standards, it should consist of: 1. The general stack in the consulting room. 2. The special stack (U.S. patent drawings, see Mr. Browne's report). 3. Two or more small drafting compartments. 4. One or more private offices. Here, quite as much as in other parts of the library, ample light is essential; the lettering of the figures and drawing, which must be read with absolute accuracy, is always small and somewhat confusing, being engraved in light lines. It is impossible to trace or reproduce such drawings with poor accommodations and insufficient light. It is therefore suggested that space be allotted this library in the top floor, on the Boylston street-side, beginning at the eastern limit of the courtyard, and extending back not less than seventy-five feet (to the west), and that additional light be provided by means of a skylight in the roof. The compartments for drafting and the private offices could occupy the space next to the windows looking on the courtyard, while the books could cover the north-east and west walls of the room. To avoid the inconvenience and danger of step-ladders, an iron gallery, wide enough to hold a chair, with rails adapted for the support of a book, should run along the walls, at a height of about eight feet above the floor, a part of the space beneath being taken by the special stack. Every book would thus be accessible and in good light. Before the details of arrangement and of the furniture are decided, it is respectfully suggested that experts in this department be consulted, and what is true of this need in this room is also true of the other special libraries. The committee are glad to hear that it is intended to place in the library a photograph room. This room, we believe, could be made self-supporting. The details of its arrangement demand the advice of an expert. It has been suggested to this committee to recommend for the floor of the great reading-hall the adoption of some noiseless material, inasmuch as sonority of a marble floor in a stone hall would exaggerate the sounds of footsteps, moving chairs, etc., and thus greatly disturb readers, who will be assembled in great numbers. In the judgment of the committee, ample accommodations should be provided in the new building for the readers who now use the Lower hall. The committee have grave doubts whether this can be done by merging the more popular part of the library with the Bates hall, as has been proposed. This would involve doubling the number of readers using the desk for the delivery and return of books, necessarily much to their inconvenience. It seems likely that the result of such a union would be to discourage those who demand popular books from frequenting the new building. This would be a misfortune, and the committee venture to hope that the trustees will think it wiser to carry on in that building the general scheme of division which has worked so acceptably in the present one. The committee desire to express the hope that the trustees will soon feel it possible to appoint a librarian to fill the vacancy which has now existed for more than a year. Such an appointment would relieve the trustees and officers of the library of their present unusual responsibility. ANNA S. AMORY. JOSHUA P. BODFISH. ALEX. PORTER BROWNE. JOHN HEARD, Jr. JAMES M. HUBBARD. ALICE LEE. THOMAS SERGEANT PERRY. ANNA E. TICKNOR. APPENDIX B. REPORT OF THE CLERK OF WORKS ON THE NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY BUILDING, FOR 1891. CONTRACTS. Lynch & Woodward, boilers, April 17, 1891 $2,869 00 Walworth Construction and Supply Co., heating apparatus, Sept. 14, 1891 . $5,153 00 Albert B. Franklin, radiators, Sept. 14, 1891 David McIntosh, plastering; contract given by unit prices; estimated amount, Nov. 23, 1891 $20,000 00 PRESENT CONDITION OF BUILDING. Façades and interior masonry walls completed. Granite platforms about three-fourths finished. Fireproof floors completed. Iron roof completed. Tile roof completed with exception of ridges and crests. Flat slate roof completed. Interior finish: Stonework in Bates Hall and lions in grand staircase have been set. Rough interior part of terra cotta partitions and iron stairs put in; part of cellar floor laid and boilers set; heating plant is under way; lime for plastering of building has been stacked; part of rough plumbing put in. Bronze chéneau and copper gutters put up. : FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF WORK UNDER THE VARIOUS CONTRACTS, JAN. 31, 1892. Contract with John T. Scully, dated May, 1888, for piling: Amount of contract Payments made to date. $7,714 44 $7,714 44 Contract with Woodbury & Leighton, dated Aug. 1, 1888, for foundations, cut-granite, brick masonry, and iron-work : Contract with R. Guastavino, dated June 25, 1889, for fire-proof floors (tile arch work) : Contract with Woodbury & Leighton, dated July 22, 1889, for cut-granite, brick masonry, iron-work, freestone, marble, terracotta, carpenter work, glazing, partition blocks, and rough plumbing: Contract with R. C. Fisher & Co., dated Aug. 21, 1889, for Contract with Batterson, See, & Eisele, dated Aug. 21, 1889, Contract with Post & McCord, dated April 12, 1890, for iron roof: Total amount contracted for $43,662 43 $43,662 43 |