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LIBRARIES. 204 LIBRARIES. between Kast ami West, usually from Boston to San Krancisco. and from Montreal to Xew Orleans. Its larpest attendance is over 1000. In intervals between meetings its work is carried on bv the eommittees, the council of 82, or the executive board of 7. It has sections devoted to special interests, e.g. college, reference. State librarj-, trustees. Its most important branch is the American Library Association Publishing Board, consisting of five members wlio have charge of preparing and publisliing bibliographies and other specially needed library aids. Funds for this board were raised l)y small subscriptions till in 1002 . drew (arnegie ma<le a first large gift of .$1(10.00(1. The Board i>ul)lislies various in- dexes and other helps to librarians, and annotated lists of the best books, for which George lies has furnished the chief inspiration and most of the funds. Through it the experience of the library profession on many matters is focalized, formu- lated, and made available to all. At the close of the first international conference of librarians, held in London. October 2-.'>. 1H77. at which 22 Ameiicans were present, the Library Association of the I'nited Kingdom, later chartered as the Library Association, began its work. It holds annual meeting? at central points in the three kingdoms, and its Council holds monthly meet- ings in London. It gives much more attention to the antii|uarian and historical side of library work than the Aiiieri(?an Association, whose ac- tivities have been almost wholly directed to es- tablishing new libraries, improving methods, reducing cost, and other directly practical ends. The National Library Association of Austra- lasia was founded inlSOfi, in 1900 the Verein Deutscher Bibliothekare was founded in Germany, and in 1001 the Kansai Bunko Kyokai or Western Lilirary Association was establisbed in .Japan with Tohcki as its official organ. In half a dozen other countries, notably Italy. France, and Den- mark, growing interest in the modern library movement indicates early organizaticm. The first State Library Association was organized in Xew York in 1800, followed rapidly by other States, till now nearly all have such organizations. Interstate meetings are becoming more common, because thej- reach large numbers in certain sec- tions unable to alTord time and cost of journeys to national meetings at distant points. New York holds an annual ' Library Week ' for the North- eastern States and Canada, the last full week in September, at Lake Placid Club in the Adiron- daeks, which draws delegates from numerous other States. The Pennsylvania and Xew .Jersey asso- ciations for many years have held a joint meet- ing, to which others are invited, at Atlantic City, X. .J., for three days late in March. Another cen- tral meeting-point is Madison, Wis., where some of the best public-library work of the country has been done by the efiicient State Commission. In 18.So the Xew York Library Club, the first lo- cal body devoted to library interests, was started. Chicago followed in 1801. and now local clubs are found in most of the large cities and are being established also for groups of counties where the need is felt for more frequent meetings and closer contact than is provided by the State associations. While delegates from different countries fre- quently attend national meetings, the distinctly international library conferences have been in London (1877 1. Chicago (1893), at the Colum- bian Exposition. London (1S07), at the Queen's Jubilee, and at the Paris Exposition of 1900. State Sli'ervision, Gr. ts, ano Si-h.sidies. Most of the States have now appointed library commissions, usually of three or five persons serving without salary, but often with a paid secretary or organizer. These connnissions have charge of the State's public library interests. They are recognized as transitional, and are pav- ing the way for establishment, as an essential part of State government, of a library depart- ment corresponding closely to the eilueational department. At present these commissions an- swer questions, help in selecting books, give sug- gestions and advise as to buildings, methods, and rules, and in several States make grants of books or money to new libraries. Xew York first of any State or country organized a distinct library department, under the law of May 1, 1801. It grants for buying approved books as much as is raised from local sources, up to .$200 annually. The law also allows grants from local money up to 10 cents for each volume circulated, but super- vision is more strict than elsewhere. All books bought with State money must be approved by the Public Libraries Division of the State Library, and the recorded circulation on which subsidi'^s from local funds are granted must be certified as conforming to a proper standard. BliiLlOGHAPllT. American Library Association Papers, prepared for the World's Library Con- gress held at the Columbian Exposition, ed. by Jlelvil Dewey (Washington. 1800 I . United States Bureau of Education, free; Burgoyne. IJbran/ Construction, Architecture, Fitfini/s, and Furni- ture (London, 1897); Dana, Librar;/ Primer (Chicago, 1899) : Dewey, Library School Rules; Card Catalog Rules, Accession Rules, Shelf List Rules (3d ed., Boston, 1894); Grasel, Manuel de bibliotheconomie (Paris, 1897) ; Greenwood, Public Libraries: A History of the Movement and a Manual for the Organization and Manage- ment (4th ed.. London. 1891) ; Library Journal (New York, 1877 et seq.). the monthly jour- nal of the American Library Association: Mac- inrXanp, Library Administration (London, 1898); Maire, Manuel pratir/ue du biblioth6caire (Paris, 1896) ; Pluramer, Hints to Small Libraries (2d ed., revised and enlarged, Xew York, 1898) ; Public Libraries, a monthly review of library matters and methods (Chicago, 1896 et seq.); SpofTord, Book- for All Readers. Designed as an Aid to the Collection. Vse, and Preserrntion of Books, and the Information of Public and Private Libraries (2d ed.. Xew York. 1900). Probably the most important books and articles on classi- fication are: Edwards. " Classificatory Systems." in his Memoirs of Libraries, vol. ii. ( London, 18.59); Petzholdt. " Bibliographische Systeme," iuhis Bibliotheea Bibliographica (I^ipzig. 1866) ; Kephart, '"Classification," in American Library Association Papers at Columbian Exposition, 1H93, a survey of methods in larger American libraries, published by the United States Bureau of Education (Washington. 1896) ; .T. D. Brown, Manual of Library Cla.tsification and Shelf Ar- rangement (London, 1898) : Richardson, Classi- fication, Theoretical and Practical (New York, 1901) : Dewey. Decimal Classification and Reln- tiv Index (6th ed.. Boston. 1899); Cutter. Ex- pansive Classification. Also articles in Library Journal and Bulletins de I'institut international de bibliographic (Brussels, Belgium).