The libraries of the provincial universities, thanks to their reorganization in 1882 and to the care exhibited by the general inspectors, are greatly augmented. Aix has 74,658 vols.; Alger 160,489; Besançon 24,275; Bordeaux 216,278; Caen 127,542; Clermont 173,000; Dijon 117,524; Grenoble 127,400; Lille 215,427; Lyons 425,624; Marseilles 53,763; Montpellier 210,938; Nancy 139,036; Poitiers 180,000; Rennes 166,427; Toulouse 232,000.
Since 1882 the educational libraries have largely developed; in 1877 they were 17,764 in number; in 1907 they were 44,021, containing 7,757,917 vols. The purely scholastic libraries have decreased; in 1902 there were 2674 libraries with 1,034,132 vols., whilst after the reorganization (Circulaire of March 14, 1904) there were only 1131 with 573,279 vols. The Société Franklin pour la propagation des bibliothèques populaires et militaires distributed among the libraries which it controls 55,185 vols., between the years 1900 and 1909.
Authorities.—Information has been given for this account by M. Albert Maire, librarian at the Sorbonne. See also the following works:—Bibliothèque Nationale: I. Bâtiments, collections, organisation, département des estampes, département des médailles et antiques, par Henri Marcel, Henri Bouchot et Ernest Babelon. II. Le Département des imprimés et la section de géographie. Le Département des manuscrits, par Paul Marchal et Camille Couderc (Paris, 1907, 2 vols); Félix Chambon, Notes sur la bibliothèque de l’Université de Paris de 1763 à 1905 (Ganat, 1905); Fosseyeux, La Bibliothèque des hôpitaux de Paris (Revue des bibliothèques, t. 18, 1908); Alfred Franklin, Guide des savants, des littérateurs et des artistes dans les bibliothèques de Paris (Paris, 1908); Instruction du 7 Mars 1899 sur l’organisation des bibliothèques militaires (Paris, 1899); Henri Jadart, Les Anciennes bibliothèques de Reims, leur sort en 1790-1791 et la formation de la bibliothèque publique (Reims, 1891); Henry Marcel, Rapport adressé au Ministre de l’Instruction Publique, sur l’ensemble des services de la bibliothèque nationale en 1905 (Journal Officiel, 1906); Henry Martin, Histoire de la bibliothèque de l’Arsenal (Paris, 1899); E. Morel, Le Développement des bibliothèques publiques (Paris, 1909); Théod. Mortreuil, La Bibliothèque nationale, son origine et ses accroissements; notice historique (Paris, 1878); Abbé L. V. Pécheur, Histoire des bibliothèques publiques du département de l’Aisne existant à Soissons, Laon et Saint-Quentin (Soissons, 1884); M. Poète, E. Beaurepaire and E. Clouzot, Une visite à la bibliothèque de la ville de Paris (Paris, 1907); E. de Saint-Albin, Les Bibliothèques municipales de la ville de Paris (Paris, 1896); B. Subercaze, Les Bibliothèques populaires, scolaires et pédagogiques (Paris, 1892).
Germany (with Austria-Hungary and Switzerland).
Germany is emphatically the home of large libraries; her former want of political unity and consequent multiplicity of capitals have had the effect of giving her many large state libraries, and the number of her universities has Germany. tended to multiply considerable collections; 1617 libraries were registered by P. Schwenke in 1891. As to the conditions, hours of opening, &c., of 200 of the most important of them, there is a yearly statement in the Jahrbuch der deutschen Bibliotheken, published by the Verein deutscher Bibliothekare.
The public libraries of the German empire are of four distinct types: state libraries, university libraries, town libraries and popular libraries. The administration and financial affairs of the state and university libraries are under state control. The earlier distinction between these two classes has become less and less marked. Thus the university libraries are no longer restricted to professors and students, but they are widely used by scientific workers, and books are borrowed extensively, especially in Prussia. In Prussia, as a link between the state and the libraries, there has been since 1907 a special office which deals with library matters at the Ministry of Public Instruction. Generally the state does not concern itself with the town libraries and the popular libraries, but there is much in common between these two classes. Sometimes popular libraries are under the supervision of a scientifically administered town library as in Berlin, Dantzig, &c.; elsewhere, as at Magdeburg, we see an ancient foundation take up the obligations of a public library. Only in Prussia and Bavaria are regulations in force as to the professional education of librarians. Since 1904 the librarians of the Prussian state libraries have been obliged to complete their university courses and take up their doctorate, after which they have to work two years in a library as volunteers and then undergo a technical examination. The secretarial officials since 1909 have to reach a certain educational standard and must pass an examination. This regulation has been in force as regards librarians in Bavaria from 1905.
Berlin is well supplied with libraries, 268 being registered by P. Schwenke and A. Hortzschansky in 1906, with about 5,000,000 printed vols. The largest of them is the Royal Library, which was founded by the “Great Elector” Frederick Berlin. William, and opened as a public library in a wing of the electoral palace in 1661. From 1699 the library became entitled to a copy of every book published within the royal territories, and it has received many valuable accessions by purchase and otherwise. It now includes 1,230,000 printed vols. and over 30,000 MSS. The amount yearly expended upon binding and the acquisition of books, &c., is £11,326. The catalogues are in manuscript, and include two general alphabetical catalogues, the one in volumes, the other on slips, as well as a systematic catalogue in volumes. The following annual printed catalogues are issued: Verzeichnis der aus der neu erschienenen Literatur von der K. Bibliothek und den Preussischen Universitats-Bibliotheken erworbenen Druckschriften (since 1892); Jahresverzeichnis der an den Deutschen Universitaten erschienenen Schriften (since 1887); Jahresverzeichnis der an den Deutschen Schulanstalten erschienenen Abhandlungen (since 1889). There is besides a printed Verzeichnis der im grossen Lesesaal aufgestellten Handbibliothek (4th ed. 1909), the alphabetical Verzeichnis der laufenden Zeitschriften (last ed., 1908), and the classified Verzeichnis der laufenden Zeitschriften (1908). The catalogue of MSS. are mostly in print, vols. 1-13, 16-23 (1853-1905). The library is specially rich in oriental MSS., chiefly due to purchases of private collections. The musical MSS. are very remarkable and form the richest collection in the world as regards autographs. The building, erected about 1780 by Frederick the Great, has long been too small, and a new one was completed in 1909. The building occupies the whole space between the four streets: Unter den Linden, Dorotheenstrasse, Universitätsstrasse and Charlottenstrasse, and besides the Royal Library, houses the University Library and the Academy of Sciences. The conditions as to the use of the collections are, as in most German libraries, very liberal. Any adult person is allowed to have books in the reading-room. Books are lent out to all higher officials, including those holding educational offices in the university, &c., and by guarantee to almost any one recommended by persons of standing; borrowing under pecuniary security is also permitted. By special leave of the librarian, books and MSS. may be sent to a scholar at a distance, or, if especially valuable, may be deposited in some public library where he can conveniently use them. In 1908-1909 264,000 vols. were used in the reading-rooms, 312,000 were lent inside Berlin, and 32,000 outside. There is a regular system of exchange between the Royal Library and a great number of Prussian libraries. It is the same in Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden; the oldest system is that between Darmstadt and Giessen (dating from 1837). There is either no charge for carriage to the borrower or the cost is very small. The reading-room and magazine hall are, with the exception of Sundays and holidays, open daily from 9 to 9, the borrowing counter from 9 to 6.
Associated with the Royal Library are the following undertakings: the Gesamtkatalog der Preussischen wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken (describing the printed books in the Royal Library and the Prussian University Libraries in one general catalogue upon slips), the Auskunftsbureau der Deutschen Bibliotheken (bureau to give information where any particular book may be consulted), and the Kommission für den Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke (to draw up a complete catalogue of books printed before 1500).
The University Library (1831) numbers 220,000 vols. together with 250,000 academical and school dissertations. The number of volumes lent out in 1908-1909 was 104,000. The library possesses the right to receive a copy of every work published in the province of Brandenburg.
Some of the governmental libraries are important, especially those of the Statistisches Landesamt (184,000 vols.); Reichstag (181,000 vols.); Patent-Amt (118,000 vols.); Haus der Abgeordneten (100,000 vols.); Auswärtiges-Amt (118,000 vols.).