Publications out of Print—Several publications for which plates were not made have recently become out of print. Magazines for the small library, by Katharine MacDonald Jones, and Graded list of stories for reading aloud, by Harriot E. Hassler were both League publications which had been turned over to the Board. There is a steady demand for them and they should be either brought up to date and reprinted or something else issued on the same subject.
Questions of Policy—The work now nearing an end has engaged the attention and absorbed the resources of the Publishing Board to an extent that precluded entry into new fields calling for large expenditures. The editorial work involved in the compilation of the third edition of Subject headings, extending over a period of several years, and the editorial expenses incident to the publication of the A. L. A. Booklist have practically exhausted the current funds available for such service. Beginning with the new fiscal year, the funds derived from sales will doubtless care for all outstanding obligations, and the income from the Carnegie endowment can be devoted to maintain and to further strengthen the Booklist, and to undertake new enterprises.
Out of the great labor involved, and time required in the preparation of Subject headings, and of the A. L. A. Catalog, has developed the suggestion that work for new editions of the former compilation should be continuous, and that the Booklist bears a logical relationship to the A. L. A. Catalog. While the members of the Publishing Board are not fully prepared at this time to urge a definite permanent policy in this connection, an interesting suggestion comes from Mrs. Elmendorf, which well merits consideration in having an important bearing on future development. Her suggestion, in her own words, is this:
"Would it not be well to consider the publication of the A. L. A. Catalog in loose-leaf form on something the same principle as Nelson's Cyclopedia? Different parts of it might then be revised from time to time and the parts or pages might be for sale separately.
"It could be so printed that the pages might be mounted and arranged in a vertical file, headings being suggested at the bottom for arrangement as any library preferred, in regular classed order or in alphabetico-classed. A card index to the vertical file might be made to minimize the difficulties of the classed arrangement. The notes should be attractive notes, letting the presence of the book in this "Choice Catalog" vouch for its worth and in a general way for the treatment, for the choice should be guided by the best popular, readable treatment. I am more and more thinking that effective helps to awakened personal interest are needed and are lacking. The A. L. A. Catalog has always been too bulky, too costly, too much directed to the buyer for effective personal service. I have long been convinced that the greatest popular service can be performed even in the large libraries with quite a limited number of books, I think not more than 20,000, perhaps not more than 10,000. I should like to advertise that many adequately and attractively and watch the results.
"I know that there are many objections and difficulties to be met, and yet I believe that there is the germ of a workable scheme present."
List of Subject Headings—The chief publication of the year has been the new List of subject headings, revised and edited by Mary Josephine Briggs, cataloger of the Buffalo public library. After nearly five years of labor this third edition appeared October 1st, 1911 and has met with a most appreciative reception. 3000 copies were printed as a first edition. 1312 copies have already been sold (to June 1), and a steady demand continues. The reviews have been almost uniformly favorable.
A. L. A. Catalog, 1904-11—The new A. L. A. Catalog, 1904-11, although not yet off the press as this report is written, will be distributed we hope about the date of the Ottawa meeting. It contains a selection of about 3000 of the best books published since the A. L. A. Catalog of 1904, with a list of books now out of print which appeared in that Catalog, and also of new editions. Children's books are listed separately. Five thousand copies are being printed as a first edition, of which nearly 3000 have been subscribed for in advance of publication. From the preface written by the editor, Miss Elva L. Bascom, the following extracts are selected:
"The general plan of the Catalog and the routine of co-operation in the selection of titles practically coincide with those of the original work except that the whole routine, from the preliminary selection to the final preparation for printing, has remained in the hands of one person.
"All titles have been submitted to the publishers for latest information, so that the list should be dependable for prices.
"The sixth edition (1899) of the Decimal Classification has been followed. This decision was made on the information that the smaller libraries had not to any extent adopted the seventh edition. It is to be hoped that when the time comes to revise the 1904 Catalog there may be at hand a complete revised edition of the "D. C." simplified for the requirements of the smaller libraries.
"The addition of subject headings (not given with the titles in the 1904 Catalog) was determined on before the decision to print only a class list was made. It has been a frequent request from the librarians of smaller libraries, who need help in this matter and who found it difficult to find the headings chosen for the Dictionary list in the 1904 Catalog. The new edition of the List of subject headings has been followed with some additions. Where the subjects of analytics are easily ascertainable, they are only recommended.