large and constantly increasing sums must be spent each year by a large law library for "scissors and paste" books which are soon superseded and which add nothing to the library's real substance.

Not only should the current material be kept up but to the excellent collections already established, such as statutes, trials etc., additions should be made. From time to time reasonable offers of this class of material are received, and if they are not taken advantage of the ultimate cost will be regrettably increased. The needs of the law library call for an annual appropriation of $15,000.

Editing of New York session laws. The editing of the session laws is now done under the supervision of the law librarian, instead of under dual supervision by the law librarian and the legislative reference librarian as formerly.

The 1915 index is considerably shorter than that for 1914, the number of pages being as follows: 1914, 324 pages; 1915, 257 pages. The greater part of the difference is due to the fact that in 1914 the session laws contained revisions of the banking law and surrogates' code, which were minutely indexed, while no corresponding lengthy acts were enacted in 1915. The net saving on the usual run of legislation is about 20 pages. This was effected by eliminating many headings formerly used but now considered unnecessary, and is really considerable when it is taken into consideration that 729 laws were enacted in 1915 as against 532 in 1914.

The cumulation of the two tables showing changes in the laws was continued. It was thought best to continue the cumulation of the table showing changes in the consolidated laws, though this is the seventh year of cumulation. The original intention was to cumulate for five years only, but in 1914, the sixth year, in view of the desirability of such a cumulative table and the possibility of a new official edition of the consolidated laws, it was decided to continue the cumulative feature indefinitely. This is the plan followed in Massachusetts where a similar table, published annually with the session laws, was begun in 1902. The table showing changes in laws other than consolidated laws is now only in the fourth year of cumulation, and does not call for present consideration.

According to the Laws of 1914, chapter 444, "it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to cause to be published separately under an appropriate heading, in the appendix of the session laws of each year, the names of the cities which have accepted any of

the plans of government provided for in this act, with a statement of the plan adopted and the date of adoption, and such statement so published shall be conclusive evidence of such adoption." This act is that permitting cities to adopt, at their option, several forms of government outlined therein. The statement required was first published with the 1915 laws. It is in tabular form, setting out the data required to be given for the cities of Newburgh and Niagara Falls, the only cities that have so far availed themselves of the provisions of the act.

Law pamphlets. It has been the custom for the miscellaneous pamphlet law material received by the law library, to be collected and bound as "Law pamphlets," without regard to subject or order. Each separate pamphlet was numbered arbitrarily, and indexed under its number. The same kind of material, though several times in quantity, was being received by the legislative reference section, classified and placed in the vertical files of that section. This meant that identically the same sort of material was being kept in two different parts of the Library and meant "one more place to look." To obviate this, an arrangement was made with the legislative reference section for placing pamphlets of present interest in the files of that section. Eventually as the older matter is removed from those files, the strictly law material will be returned to the law library and treated as "Law pamphlets."

Constitutional Convention. The usually quiet months of July and August were enlivened by the presence of the Constitutional Convention. Members and others connected with the convention made constant use of the law library, many publications were sent to the Capitol for the information of members and committees, and the law librarian and assistants were kept busy in reference and statistical work for their use. At the request of members of the convention the reading room, instead of being closed at 6 p. m. as is usual during July and August, was kept open in the evening.

A commission, under the authority of Laws of 1914, chapter 261, was appointed to collect, compile and print such information and data as it might deem useful for delegates to the convention. Mr Frederick D. Colson, who until April 15, 1915, was the law librarian of this Library, was appointed secretary to this commission. The commission published ten volumes of information, the publication being made under the direction of Mr Colson. Of these ten volumes two, consisting of an annotated Constitution and an interleaved text of the Constitution, were edited by Mr Colson himself, or under his immediate supervision, with the occasional advice of the legislative reference librarian.

The revision committee of the convention performed its final labors in the law librarian's office. Here the final draft of the Constitution was reviewed by the committee and its experts no less than four times, during a three and one-half days' session, the "days" lasting till well toward midnight. At the request of the chairman of the committee the law librarian sat in with the committee in the capacity of expert. The law librarian "held" plate proof of the Constitution on the final reading. This proof, signed by the members of the committee and the persons who assisted them in the work of revision, is now the possession of the library.

BOOK SELECTION SECTION

"Best Books." The manuscript for Best Books of 1914 was ready for the printer on May 13th. This earlier date of completion is partly due to the slight decrease in the number of books published in 1914 and partly to a greater facility in carrying on the routine work and to increased skill on the part of the members of the section, in book examination, sifting and annotation. There were 10,175 books published in the United States in 1914. Of these, 1638 came to the section and were either read or carefully examined, many of them by several people, and descriptive and critical notes were written. As has been the custom for several years a tentative selection was made, consisting this year of 717 books grouped by 20 subjects. These tentative lists were sent for votes to two classes of people: specialists who gave their opinion on the reliability and value of the books; and librarians and those who know small library conditions, who gave information on the practical usefulness and popularity of the book in the library. The final selection was based on the section's own examination and the opinions of this corps of

voters.

Copies of Best Books were mailed to the 550 registered libraries of the State, to publishers submitting books for examination, to the voters on the tentative lists, and to the numerous individuals, libraries and institutions whose names are on the Library's mailing list. Of the issues for 1913 and 1914, 515 copies were supplied in quantities to the library commissions of eight other states, in some cases being mailed direct from Albany to individual libraries in these states. Best Books thus serves not only the book selection needs of the libraries of the State but reaches out to a larger usefulness. The Chicago Dial in its number for September 16, 1915 has the following to say of Best Books: "The sifting of literature