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ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

LIBRARY DEPARTMENT

FOR THE YEAR 1903.

TO HIs HONOR PATRICK A. COLLINs,
Mayor of the City of Boston :

The Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston present the following report of its condition for the year ending January 31, 1903, being their fifty-first annual report:

The term of Dr. Henry P. Bowditch, who had served as Trustee since May 1, 1894, expired on April 30, 1902. Dr. Bowditch was deeply interested in the Library. He gave to it much time and faithful service of the highest value. Mr. Thomas F. Boyle, of Boston, was appointed a Trustee to succeed him, to serve for five years from May 1, 1902. The Board was organized in May, 1902, by the re-election of Mr. Solomon Lincoln as President and Dr. James De Normandie as Vice-President. Miss Della Jean Deery was re-elected Clerk of the Corporation.

Mr. James L. Whitney, by reason of ill health, resigned the office of Librarian, his resignation taking effect January 31, 1903, and Mr. Horace G. Wadlin, recently Chief of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, was appointed to succeed him. Mr. Wadlin assumed the duties of the office February 1, 1903.

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The Trustees desire to express publicly their high appreciation of Mr. Whitney's fidelity to the duties of Librarian and of his intelligent administration of that office. He has contributed largely to the stable growth and permanent success of the Library.

In this report the Trustees have largely followed the order of topics presented in previous reports, in order to exhibit the comparative condition of the Library in this and preceding years.

The following tables exhibit the receipts and expenditures during the past year:

RECEIPTs.

City appropriation e e . $300,000 00
Income from trust funds Q e 11,881 00
Miscellaneous sources, gifts, etc.,
including cash on deposit in Lon-
don, and unexpended balances of
trust funds a . s & to 19,626 85

$331,507 85

ExPENDITURES.

Salaries, including Printing and
Binding departments e . $191,350 44

Books. so & e © g 34,852 31
Periodicals . to & e g 6,350 65
Newspapers e to e e 2,133 12
General maintenance . © o 80,479 34 315,165 86

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There are appended to this report, as to its predecessors, the reports of the Librarian, Mr. Whitney, of the Auditor, and of the Examining Committee of Citizens, and the Trustees suggest an examination of these by all who desire a more intimate knowledge of the Library than it is possible to present in this general report.

The Trustees report, as usual, a large expansion of the agencies of the Library. In place of one hundred and seventeen existing a year ago there are now one hundred and fifty-six. They are the Central Library on Copley Square, ten branch libraries, twenty-one delivery stations, of which eleven contain reading rooms, and also, as places of deposit for delivery, thirty-six engine houses, sixteen city institutions, and seventy-two schools. There has been a still farther ex

* This balance is composed of certain items of trust fund income, accrued interest on deposit, etc., as shown in the Auditor’s detailed Statement, Appendix I., page 44.

NMAP OF BOSTON

showing BRANCHES AND DELIVERY STATIONS OF THE

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Area of City. 43 square miles. Population (Census of [900), 560,892.

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