Publications to be obtained at the Municipal Reference Library, Room 512, Municipal Building. Guide Posts on the Road to Health; A list of books Teaching Citizenship via the Movies. A survey of civic motion pictures CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Publications to be obtained at any Branch Library, or from the Chief of the Circulation Department, 476 Fifth Avenue. Publications given free unless otherwise stated. .10 .10 .05 Catalogue of Books for the Blind - New York Point edition. European Braille edition. 10 cents each. Catalogue of Music for the Blind — Braille edition. New York Point edition. 10 cents each. LISTS FOR CHILDREN Favorite Stories of the Library Reading Clubs Journeys to Foreign Lands Stories, Poems, Songs and Plays for the Christmas Holidays LISTS FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN Heroism New York City and the Development of Trade Sea and Shore The Shakespearian Festival WILLIAM W. APPLETON PATRICK J. HAYES LEWIS CASS LEDYARD JOHN G. MILBURN STEPHEN H. OLIN WILLIAM BARCLAY PARSONS CHARLES HOWLAND RUSSELL EDWARD W. SHELDON WILLIAM SLOANE GEORGE W. SMITH I. N. PHELPS STOKES HENRY WALTERS PAYNE WHITNEY JOHN F. HYLAN, Mayor of the City of New York, ex officio. CHARLES L. CRAIG, Comptroller of the City of New York, ex officio. OFFICERS President, LEWIS CASS LEDYARD, 476 Fifth avenue. First Vice-President, ELIHU ROOT. Second Vice-President, CLEVELAND H. Dodge. Secretary, CHARLES HOWLAND RUSSELL, 476 Fifth avenue. Treasurer, EDWARD W. SHELDON, 45 Wall street. Assistant Treasurer, UNITED STATES TRUST COMPANY, 45 Wall street. Director, EDWIN H. ANDERSON, 476 Fifth avenue. Chief Reference Librarian, H. M. LYDENBERG, 476 Fifth avenue. Chief of the Circulation Department, FRANKLIN F. Hopper, 476 Fifth avenue. Editor, EDMUND L. PEARSON, 476 Fifth avenue. BUILDINGS AND BRANCHES CENTRAL BUILDING, 476 Fifth avenue, contains general administrative offices of the whole PRINTED AT THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY form p-5 (vi-25-2014] THE HE Bulletin is published monthly by The New York Public Library at 476 Fifth Avenue, New York City. Subscription One Dollar a year, current single numbers Ten Cents. Entered at the Post Office for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized. Printed at The New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Avenue. June, 1920, Volume 24, Number 6. BULLETIN OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS VOLUME 24 JUNE 1920 UNANSWERED QUESTIONS NUMBER 6 IT would be hard to prove whether lending books for reading at home, or providing them for study and reference within the building, is the more important duty of a public library. Few persons, after reflection, would contend that answering questions is more important that either, but no librarian will deny that it is a notable part of his work, and that the demands made upon him by inquirers are incessant, and of the most extraordinary variety. A question brought to a library, either by letter or by word of mouth, may be answered in a second, or it may require hours of research by the librarians, and weeks or months of study by the questioner. There is no satisfactory way to count the number of questions asked, in any given time, of The New York Public Library. Whether the inquirer applies by letter, goes to the Information Desk, to any of the reading rooms of the Reference Department, in the Central Building, or to one of the numerous agencies of the Circulation Department, outside that building, his question falls into one of three classes. First, there are simple questions about the library and its books, which are answered at once, without reference to any book. Typical of these inquiries would be a question about the resources of the different parts of the library; a request for the title of a good book upon a subject which has a great body of literature, as Napoleon, or the American Civil War. Second, there are questions to be answered not instantly, but in a moment or two, by consulting one of the obvious books of reference. Third, there are difficult problems which require research. [ 327 ] |