The state says it cannot afford to appropriate for each of its hospitals and asylums an annual sum sufficient to build up such a library as ours and maintain so many trained librarians, and the state is justified. But I have dreamed of a coöperation by means of which there shall be in every state one trained librarian who shall organize into a library what books there already are in each institution, advise and train in library methods those in charge, and buy from an annual appropriation such as the state can afford, new books which shall be sent from one hospital to another in the form of traveling libraries, and after they have gone the round be divided up among the individual institutions,—thus slowly building up each library. This organizer should be in the employ either of the State Board of Insanity (or its equivalent) or else of the State Library Commission. It would seem that the former would be more satisfactory and less complicated, as the state institutions already are under their control, but in some states the library commission seems to have have been entirely successful in co-operating with the state board. One thing seems certain, that unless the state board and the hospital superintendents can be interested in the scheme little can be done; while with their interest and coöperation success is insured.
That this dream is practical has been proved in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and a few other states. In New York, most of the state hospitals seem to have fairly good libraries, and the one at Middletown, N. Y., ranks very nearly with McLean in the number of volumes, and seems to be carried on very efficiently. In Trenton, N. J., there is a state hospital which has a memorial library with a good annual appropriation and which adds about one hundred and fifty books a year. I have with me the figures of the hospital libraries in nineteen states, if anyone cares to see them.
In my dream I see equal library advantages to every state hospital in the country, and I hear from them all the words they will say to you who are able to realize these dreams,—words our patients at McLean have said to us over and over again,—"You don't know what this library has meant to me!" This is an opportunity for intimate helpfulness and real, practical usefulness which I hope everyone of you will try to introduce into his state.
In the discussion that followed, Miss Jones said the McLean Hospital library had an appropriation of about $300 a year for books alone for the patients, but thought that a state hospital library could get on nicely with less. Miss Templeton gave an account of state institutional work in Nebraska where the policy has been to get library work in these institutions under the control of the state library commission.
Mr. Dudgeon said that a list of simple industrial books had been prepared with much care for the prisoners in the Wisconsin state prison. Also that the chaplain helped in recommending reading for the prisoners, those who expected to get out being especially anxious to keep up with events and not be Rip Van Winkles when released.
Miss Carey, of Minnesota, said their state commission has made special efforts to know what the libraries of the institutions were doing, how many readers they had, and how many books they circulate. She said this familiarized the institutions with the commission and so the officers were glad to put the burden off on the commission. She thought it was impossible to do anything until the officers of the institutions were on your side; that this must be worked for until secured.
After discussion the session adjourned.
THIRD SESSION
(Monday, July 1, 4:30 p. m.)
The third session of the League opened with a report from Mr. F. F. Hopper, of Tacoma, on the work of the Committee on federal prison libraries. His report was as follows: