Library Philanthropy.— Coin c i den t with this awakening of librarians to the value and tremendous possibilities of their profession, there was an awakening on the part of men of wealth to a new and singularly productive field of philanthropy. Already John Jacob Astor (1849) and James Lenox (1870) had founded in New York city the institutions bear ing their names; Joshua Bates of London had made munificent gifts to the Boston Public Library; the Newberry bequest had just fallen to the citizens of Chicago (1876); Dr. B. Rush had left $1,000,000 for the erection of the Ridge way Branch of the Philadelphia Public Library; and James Lick had made gifts to the libraries of San Francisco. Now, however, began an era of gifts to American libraries that have totaled astounding figures, Andrew Carnegie, alone, giving $64,000,000, the terms of his gifts making it possible for nearly any com munity willing to support and develop it to have a library. State and municipal aid have also entered strongly into this great ex pansion of library activity, and more and more rapidly is the ideal aim of placing books freely within reach of all is being realized, even in the remote districts of mountain and prairie. This has meant a complete transformation of the whole concept of the library. Formerly it was only a conserver of knowledge, a mere store house of books, now it realizes its true destiny by becoming a vital and progressive force in its community, reaching out and inviting all to share in its treasures. The library thus be comes an active and not a passive agency, joining with and supplementing the schools and other institutions. It becomes, in reality, a con tinuing university, free to all and supported by all. The support that has been given libraries by the communities and by the States is a very tangible recognition of the popular esteem in which libraries are held. Library enabling laws have been enacted by nearly every State in the Union, and under their provisions nearly any community may establish a public library and tax itself for its maintenance. These laws are usually permissive, yet the opportunity they offer has been generously seized upon. Local control is also universal, authority being in vested in boards of trustees who determine the policy and expenditures of the institution. In addition many States have library commissions, which as a rule have advisory jurisdiction, but in certain instances, such as California, actively administer a widely extended system of State libraries. Traveling library systems have also been established in various States. These are generally under direction of the State library commission. The activities of American public libraries are protean, only a few of which can be pointed out. They work hand in hand with the schools, often maintain ing branches in the latter; they use every means to get in touch with the child and encourage him to read good books; they reach out to the immigrant, offering him books in his own language but at the same time endeavor to introduce him to the language and ideals of his adopted country; they endeavor to supply the .needs of the business men, manufacturer, etc., building up collections, as at Grand Rapids, relating to the peculiar industries of the region; they keep in touch with the work of the clubs and associations and supply as far as possible their bibliographic necessities; they offer lec ture courses. These are a few of the manifold phases of the work of the modern library that have been superimposed upon the original idea pf the library as a mere storehouse of books.
The First Free Public Libraries in Amer ica.— It is almost impossible to determine the identity of the first library in the United States supported by public funds and wholly free to its users. The earliest recorded gift of books to a municipality is that of the Rev. John Sharp who bequeathed, in 1700, his library to the city of New York for the benefit of the people. This has disappeared, as has another collection founded in 1803 at Salisbury, Conn. The Town Library at Petershorough, N. H. founded through the efforts of Rev. Abiel Abbot in 1833, appears, from the data at hand, to have been the first free library which has continued to the present. This, however, was essentially a local development, and the move ment in its larger aspects was probably initiated by the enactment of a law in 1848 enabling Boston to establish a free public library. In 1851 this was extended to the whole State. The Boston Public Library is thus one of the first American free public libraries in time and for many years it was the first in importance, taking second place only to the New York Public Library after the merger of its various foundations, the New York Public Library (q.v.) becoming thereby the greatest institution of the kind in the world. This primacy of the Boston Library comprehended not only the ex tent and scope of its collections, but also build ing, librarians and general cultural activities.
The first home of the library, built according to the discarded alcove plan, was nevertheless for many years the most imposing public library building in the country, a position that was regained when the new structure was erected at Copley Square in 1895, at a total cost of $2,750,000. This beautiful Renaissance building, with its mural decorations by Abbey, Sargent and other distinguished artists, was the fore runner of the great library constructions of to-day, few of which have surpassed it in dig nity and fitness. The Boston Public Library has 30 branches and contains collections total ling 1,157,326 volumes.
The Chicago Public Library assumes a posi tion next to that of the Boston and New York libraries, but differs from them to the extent that it is, in fact, as well as in name, a popular library. Its collections are restricted in the main to books that would be called for by the general public and not by the scholar; the student of literature and the humanities being left to the Newberry, and the one in science and the useful arts to the John Crerar. The same principle applies to the building, which is an imposing but simple Renaissance structure, the idea of fitness for use being uppermost. This building was erected in 1898. It is an interesting fact that the Chicago Li brary originated in a gift of 7,000 hooks gathered in England by Thomas Hughes, the author of (Tom Brown at Rugby,) and pre sented to the people of the city after the great fire of 1871. This humble nucleus has grown into a collection of about 800,000 volumes dis tributed through the central library and its 45 branches.
Another public library that supplies a great constituency most efficiently is the Saint Louis Public Library. This was established in 1893, being a merger of several earlier collections. the most important of which was the Public School Library founded in 1860 by Ira Divoll, then superintendent of public schools. It was further developed by Dr. W. T. Harris, and by the remarkable group of thinkers then in Saint Louis. It is at present housed in a beautiful building, completed in 1912 at a cost of $1,900, 000. The collections number 487,330 volumes distributed through the central building and seven branches.
Another city library formed of smaller col lections and now occupying an attractive new building is the Denver Public Library. This was formed by an amalgamation of the Denver Public Library, housed in the East Denver High School, and the Mercantile Library. It has four branches in addition to the central building with collections numbering 192,366 volumes. Mr. Carnegie's gifts have aided the larger libraries as well as the smaller ones, the most notable gift being the sum of $5,200,000 to construct branch library buildings for the New York Public Library. Toward the con struction of central libraries, however, among the many, may be noted the beautiful building of the District of Columbia Library, founded in 1896. Its collections number about 200,000 volumes. Another splendidly vital library, almost wholly due to his munificence, is the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (1895) with eight branches and 434,469 volumes. The Louisville Public Library building was also con structed with Carnegie funds ($250,000), to which he later added $200,000 for eight branch libraries. Two of these branches were con structed for the colored people of the city. Nearly all the libraries in the Southern States, in fact, have branches of this type. Among the other public libraries of the country worthy of much fuller attention are Brookline, Mass. (4 branches, 90,000 vols.) ; Cambridge (1858; 5 branches, 113,314 vols.) ; Somerville (3 branches, 115,216 vols.) ; Springfield (1857; 3 branches, 229,990 vols.) • Worcester (3 branches, 244,047 vols.) ; Providence (1878; 4 branches, 181,307 vols.) • Hartford (2 branches, 118,000 vols.); Philadelphia (1891; 26 branches, 534,152 vols.); 'Buffalo (1836; 7 branches, 363,546 vols.) ; Cleve land (1867; 44 branches, 584,340 vols.) ; Brook lyn (33 branches, 862,112 vols.) ; Pratt Insti tute, Brooklyn (1888; 114,775 vols.); Newark (1889; 3 branches, 256,581 vols.) ; Enoch Pratt, Baltimore (1886; 16 branches, 355,817 vols.) ; Cincinnati (1814; 24 branches, 515,906 vols.); Detroit (1865; 13 branches, 450,910 vols.) ; Milwaukee (10 branches, 342,194 vols.) ; Minne apolis (1889; 15 branches, 334,763 vols.) ; Saint Paul (4 branches, 161,609 vols.) ; Grand Rap ids (1837; 13 branches, 147,761 vols.) ; Kansas City (12 branches, 271,077 vols.) ; Los Angeles (1872; 19 branches, 309,463 vols.) ; Cossitt Li bra ry (Memphis 1888; 8 branches, 120,263 vols.) ; New Orleans (1897.; 4 branches, 102,927 vols.) ; Atlanta (1899; 4 branches, 94,770 vols.).