presents difficulties and dangers comparable in magnitude with those encountered of old by that famous personage with the tonguetrying name, Theophilus the Thistle-sifter. Though the thick of the thumb be not imperilled by any such book-winnowing process as is attempted on another page, there is great likelihood of error of judgment, or of prophecy in this instance, since it is the books of the future, not of the past, that are here run through the sieve. On far surer ground stands such a practitioner of the sifting art as the compiler of Best Books of 1914, a list issued by the New York State Library as Bibliography Bulletin 56, and containing two hundred and fifty titles in all branches of literature, with brief descriptive annotations. Narrowing the more comprehensive suggestions offered by the 'A. L. A. Booklist,' which annually presents one thousand selected titles, this shorter catalog compiled by Mr Wyer and his associates is the ripened fruit of a somewhat elaborate and wisely cautious process of tentative selection and well-considered elimination. Experts in all fields of learning represented by the books of the year, including experienced heads of juvenile departments in our public libraries, are called upon for advice, and the result is a book-purchasing guide especially suited to the needs of libraries unable to buy with the lavish indiscrimination possible only to the wealthiest foundations. The Albany list is classified, and is followed by an alphabetic index to authors and titles." It has recently received favorable editorial mention. also in the Brooklyn Union and the Christian Science Monitor. List of fiction for prison libraries. The section has compiled an annotated list of 500 titles of fiction for purchase by prison libraries. This will be published by the State Library and thus made available to all the prison libraries of the country. It has been prepared because of the urgent need in New York State for some reliable guide to books suitable for the reading of prisoners and will be published as a preprint to a list of 1000 titles, the other half of which will consist chiefly of interesting and appropriate books in biography, travel, science and history. The final selection is made by the head of the section, but decisions are largely influenced by the opinions of cooperating men and women who have a practical knowledge of books and prisoners and to whom tentative lists were sent for consideration. Notes. Notes were made on the 1638 books read or examined, and though no record is kept of the number of notes written by the section, easily several thousand were added, through this source, to the notes file. The practice of cutting and mounting printed annotations from authoritative bibliographies has been continued. The notes from the A. L. A. Catalog 1904–11, Book Review Digest 1906-7, Dictionary Catalogue of the 505 Volumes of Everyman's Library, Larned's Literature of American History, Best Books of 1914 and the monthly numbers of the A. L. A. Booklist, Cleveland Open Shelf, Pittsburgh Monthly Bulletin, and Wisconsin Library Bulletin have been added to the collection. This file of expert book notes now numbering tens of thousands has become one of the most valuable pieces of bibliographic apparatus in the Library and is constantly used in many ways. LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND Growth. On September 30, 1915, the library for the blind contained 5225 volumes, printed in five different types as follows: Publications. The 12 titles listed below were printed in New York point by the Library in 1915 and are representative of the class of books so chosen year by year. AUTHOR TITLE PRICE Cabot, R. C... Hawthorne, Nathaniel Hegermann-Linden- Marks, Mrs J. P. (Pea- The wolf of Gubbio, by Josephine Preston Tinsley, Mrs L. R.... Practical and artistic basketry. Orders have also been sent for the printing of the following: Essays on Evolution (containing: Three selected lectures on evolution, by Huxley; Clodd's Childhood of the world and Story of primitive man, chapter 6 and conclusion); Booth Tarkington's novel The turmoil and President Wilson's helpful and uplifting little book When a man comes to himself. As some care was taken in compiling the "Selections from modern poets" noted in the above list, to choose poems of special interest or appropriateness for blind readers, the following list of the poems finally included may be of interest. The collection was planned to contain chiefly recent, almost contemporary verse, and Palgrave's Golden Treasury and Father Tabb's Lyrics having been done into embossed type, no poems from their pages were included. Aldrich, T. B. On Lynn terrace Blake, William. Lamb Tiger Brown, Alice. Candlemas Sill, E. R. Spring Carman, Bliss. A vagabond song Stevenson, R. L. The vagabond Thompson, Francis. Daisy Dickinson, Emily. Indian summer Emerson, R. W. Rhodora Nature Keller, Helen. Song of the stone wall Gilder, R. W. To one who neither sees nor hears (Helen Keller) Stedman, E. C. Lanier, Sidney. Song of the Chattahoochee Marshes of Glynn Moody, W. V. Gloucester Moors Noyes, Alfred. Sherwood Sherman, F. D. Secret Surf music Stevenson, R. L. In the highlands Swinburne, A. C. "When the hounds of spring" Thaxter, Celia. Song Valentine, E. A. U. The spirit of the wheat Van Dyke, Henry. God of the open air Weeks, R. K. Man and nature Whitman, Walt. Give me the splendid silent gun (First verse only) Burroughs, John. Waiting Life Foss, S. W. The house by the side of the road Guiney, L. I. The kings Song Sweetheart, sigh no more.-(from Wyndham Towers! Bourdillon, F. W. The night has a thousand eyes Coleridge, Hartley. She is not fair to outward view Dickinson, Emily. Choice The love letter Lowell, J. R. Commemoration ode (Last 13 lines of stanza V and all VI) Robinson, E. A. The master Finch, F. M. The blue and the gray Howe, Mrs Julia (Ward). Battle hymn of the Republic Kipling, Rudyard. Recessional Miller, Joaquin. Columbus Newbolt, Henry. The fighting Téméraire Woodberry, G. E. At Gibraltar Homeward bound |