ways besieged by students and inquirers. Its open shelves are filled with standard books of reference, and its efficient corps is called upon to furnish information of a most comprehensive order, the records for one day showing a list of questions which range from the Eleusinian Mysteries to Bernard Shaw! This department also renders valuable assistance to the women's clubs in Pittsburgh and in the neighboring towns, by preparing reference lists and collecting the best books on their respective topics. Here may be found an excellent collection of mounted photographs of paintings, places, architectural subjects, and so on, which are circulated among schools, clubs, classes, and individuals. Finely illustrated books are left lying open on the tables, on such subjects as European Art Galleries, the English Pre-Raphaelites, and Italian cities; in fact, everything is done to bring the means of a broad culture within the reach of even the casual visitor. The telephone service is one of the most interesting features of the work accomplished in this room. It is no uncommon thing for the Reference Librarian to be called up to give the pronunciation of a word or to find a quotation, and she has even been known to read an entire poem to the inquirer at the other end of the wire.
An especially interesting and characteristic department, which perhaps more than any other illustrates and fulfills local requirements, is that of Technology, developed under Mr. Harrison W. Craver, now Librarian.[1] This was the first public library in the country to establish such a department, and its value has been so amply demonstrated that several other libraries have followed Pittsburgh's lead. Comprehending the Natural Sciences and Useful Arts, the department is denominated technological because it is the Libra-
- ↑ When Mr Craver was appointed Librarian in September 1908, Mr E. H. McClelland succeeded him as Technology Librarian.
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