The following is a statement of the receipts and disbursements of the State Library for the year ending September 30, 1918: Office, 415 State House, Indianapolis. MRS. ELIZABETH CLAYPOOL EARL, Connersville, President. Term expires 1920. C. H. OLDFATHER, Crawfordsville, Vice-President. Term expires 1922. THOMAS C. HOWE, Irvington. Term expires 1923. EXECUTIVE STAFF WM. J. HAMILTON, Secretary. ELIZABETH C. RONAN, Assistant State Organizer. JANE R. G. MARSHALL. GRACE L. HORNE, in charge of Traveling Libraries. WHAT THE PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMISSION IS For twenty years now the Public Library Commission has been a part of the State government. The Commission, which is non-partisan, consists of three unsalaried members appointed by the governor to serve four years. Mrs. Elizabeth Claypool Earl, the present president of the Commission, has served as a member of the Commission since April 6, 1899, when Governor James A. Mount appointed the first commissioners. The commissioners appoint the executive staff and fix the salaries. WORK OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMISSION The Commission's work has three phases, first that of encouraging the establishment of new libraries; second, assisting in the development and growth of those already established; third, the circulation of traveling libraries in those sections of Indiana without public library facilities. In a number of other states, reference work for individuals and clubs as well as book loans to individuals form part of the Library Commission's duties but in Indiana a strong and progressive State Library handles these features, of the work. It is the purpose of the Public Library Commission to cooperate with every other State agency in avoiding any duplication of work and efforts. There is plenty for the Commission to do which no other agency can accomplish. WORK WITH PUBLIC LIBRARIES When the Commission was first organized there were but fifty-seven public libraries in the State, and a large share of the earlier work of the staff consisted in the establishment of new libraries in accordance with the Public Libraries Act of 1901. Today there are 212 public libraries in Indiana, An yet the calls for Commission assistance are as numberous as before. extensive correspondence is carried on with librarians and library boards, placing before workers the results of research on all matters of library administration, policy and technique. ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW LIBRARIES Members of the Commission staff visit towns whereever there is need of a library and confer with citizens or bodies who are interested in the need, explaining how a library may be legally established. Advice is also given as to how a library may obtain a building fund from the Carnegie Corporation. Often conference with representative citizens in towns where no interest has been shown in the need of library service will result in the establishment of a public library. Eight new libraries were thus established in Indiana the past year. As soon as a library board has been legally appointed, the secretary of the Commission plans to meet with this board to help it organize, adopt by-laws and plan for starting the actual service from the new library. This initial conference is always followed by other meetings and correspondence, which keeps the Commission in touch with later developments of the situation. ORGANIZATION VISITS Both in libraries just starting and in school libraries already existing, the services of a Commission organizer are available to arrange the books and start the necessary records, to install a system of loans and give instruction to a new librarian. Collections vary in size from 500 volumes to 5,000 and the organizer with the librarian's and other volunteer help, accessions, classifies, and labels these volumes, making a card shelf-list in which each book is represented by a card, filed so that all books on a particular subject stand together. The organizer does not make a dictionary catalog for the library; this may be left until the librarian has taken a summer training course in library work or the library board may hire a temporary cataloger. All the expenses of such visits to public libraries are met by the Commission. Until a larger appropriation is available, the Commission is obliged to require school boards to meet the living expenses of a school library organizer, although the Commission pays her traveling expenses. FIELD WORK Advisory Visits No work which the Commission could do is so important and so rich in results as that accomplished by the visits of the various members of the staff to the libraries in all parts of the State. We jokingly speak of circulating our "traveling librarians" as well as our "traveling libraries" and the case is somewhat similar, for the service of the Commission organizers are required especially in towns without libraries and in those where the library income is too small to allow the hiring of a trained librarian. In the libraries already established, we offer help and advice to the librarians. The visiting organizer can talk over new methods, new fields |