By the foregoing account, which embraces the library year from Oct. 1, 1898, to Sept. 30, 1899, inclusive, it will be seen that the expenditures may be aggregated as follows: The amount expended for books, periodicals, pamphlets and maps each year, for the last ten years, has been as follows: The following table of comparisons will show at a glance the annual additions that have been made to the library during the past ten years, and the general classification of sources from which they were received: The appended list of the additions which have been made to the library during the year will indicate the purchases as well as the gifts that have contributed to its increase. THE LIBERTY BELL." One of the most important gifts, and one that has a rare if not unique value, is a complete set of the "Liberty Bell," a publication of contributions by the friends of freedom to the National Anti-slavery Bazar, which was held annually for many years in Boston. It is the gift of the Rev. Samuel May of Leicester, who was one of the most active and is one of the last surviving of the noble band of workers in the anti-slavery cause. The set comprises fifteen volumes, embracing the years from 1839 to 1858 inclusive, except the years 1840, 1850, 1854, 1855 and 1857, in which there was no issue. INDEX TO OBITUARIES. A notable and important addition to the usefulness of the library has been a card index to the obituaries in the Boston daily newspapers from 1885 to 1892, which was made by Miss Alice L. Munroe, an assistant in the library from 1883 until her untimely death in 1893. library with greater devotion, No one ever served the a devotion of which the labor of the preparation of this index, outside of her required duties, is only one instance. EXCHANGES WITH OTHER STATES. The exchanges of the library with the other States, so far as the laws and court reports are concerned, are very prompt and complete. The exchange of the other official documents and reports with a few of the States is somewhat intermittent and unsatisfactory, but there is a growing disposition to remedy this delinquency. NEWSPAPER INDEX AND CLIPPINGS. The index to "Current Events," which was begun in 1892, is becoming increasingly useful, and in connection with the articles relative to New England history and genealogy which |