Ohio History Journal

Ohio State Library Centennial.              97

of state librarian the following are still living: H. L. Conard,

John M. Doane, W. G. Sibley, F. B. Loomis and J. H. Newman.

A letter was read from his secretary stating that Governor

Cox regretted his inability to be present because of a previous

engagement to speak at Fort Benjamin Harrison.

Letters of congratulation were received from J. I. Wyer,

Jr., Director of the New York State Library; Demarcus C.

Brown, State Librarian of Indiana; Mrs. Mary C. Spencer, State

Librarian of Michigan; M. S. Dudgeon, Secretary of the Free

Library Commission of Wisconsin and N. D. C. Hodges, Lib-

brarian of the public library of Cincinnati.

An interesting letter from W. G. Sibley, editor of the

Tribune, Gallipolis, Ohio, and a former librarian of the State

Library was received. Among other things he said:

"Please accept my best wishes for yourself and those who may be

present on the anniversary. I have no doubt it will be a pleasant occasion.

In my day the library was a political plum, usually filled by some man

who could be useful to the Governor. But I was not appointed for any

such reason, because when the Governor's telegram offering me the

place arrived, I could not understand it, never having had the remotest

idea of being a candidate for it. Later I learned it was the result of a

suggestion made to the Governor by my father at a time when ther

was no thought of any change.

"I am glad to know that now the office is out of politics, and that

the librarian is chosen for fitness alone."

Subsequent to the meeting a letter was also received from

F. B. Loomis who was in California when the invitation was di-

rected to his Washington address.

After a brief introduction by Mr. Galbreath, the principal

address of the evening was delivered by the well-known his-

torian, Hon. Daniel J. Ryan, ex-Secretary of State of Ohio. His

carefully prepared address held the closest attention of those

present. No summary can do justice to it. It must be read to

be fully appreciated. It will long stand not only as a faithful

and illuminating contribution to the history of the State Library

but as a guide to a career of larger usefulness for that institution.

Among other things it was a strong plea for a tenure of office

Vol. XXVIII -7.

98         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

and employment in the State Library based only upon recognized

qualification and efficient service.

Following this excellent address remarks were made by Hon.

E. O. Randall, reporter of the Supreme Court of Ohio and Secre-

tary of the State Archaeological and Historical Society; Hon.

J. H. Newman, former State Librarian; Mr. John J. Pugh, lib-

brarian of the Columbus Public Library; Miss Olive Jones, li-

brarian of the Ohio State University; Miss Julia W. Merrill,

branch librarian of the Cincinnati Public Library; Mr. Clayton

A. McCleary, State Library Commissioner and Mr. C. Welles

Reeder, reference librarian of the Ohio State University Library.

The addresses and summary of remarks are found on the

following pages.

At the conclusion of the speaking the audience lingered to

partake of refreshments that had been prepared by the ladies

of the Ohio State Library staff.

THE STATE LIBRARY AND ITS FOUNDER.

ADDRESS BY HON. DANIEL J. RYAN.

We are surrounded tonight with treasures of knowledge that are the

collection of a century. These 200,000 volumes represent the intellectual

cravings and ideals of the state.  Its material resources are abounding

on all sides, and their development has been gratifying and phenomenal.

But they are only the secondary element of the state's greatness. The

desire for knowledge is an elemental passion in man. It is the origin of

all progress, and it marks the point where the brute ends and man

begins. For centuries the writings of men have been the vehicles of

knowledge, and through them have come human progress, social develop-

ment and educational advancements. The wider the dissemination of

learning and of scientific and moral information, the happier and safer

is the State. An ignorant democracy is a thing of danger. John Adams

in one of his letters, says  "The preservation of the means of knowledge

among the lowest ranks is more important to the public than all the

property of all the rich men in the country." Doctor Channing, speaking

of libraries, declares that "The diffusion of these silent teachers through

the whole community is to work greater effects than artillery, machinery

or legislation. Its peaceful agency is to supersede stormy revolutions."

A library to accomplish Dr. Channing's ideal should be democratic;

it should contain all branches and sorts of literature, good but variant

to the extreme. It should run the entire gamut of human knowledge.

It should not be for the scientific or learned alone. It should have the

Ohio State Library Centennial.                 99

material to draw the unlearned, and the elementary seeker after know-

ledge. This is such a library. Herein may be found the best and noblest

in all literature, with ample food for the trained and untrained mind.

On these shelves may be found the histories of all peoples; the biographies

of the great minds of the past; the records of the much-traveled; the

wisdom of all the philosophers of humanity; the wisest works of political

economy and social science; and all that is beautiful in the spiritual

life of all ages. Here the citizen has the privilege of conversing with

the greatest minds that have ever lived, of searching after the truth and

of contemplating the beautiful. He can live with the distant, the unreal,

the past and the future.

While collecting this general literature, that which may be classed

as contemporary and local has not been neglected.   The results are

(1) a rare and complete array of governmental records both of the

State and Nation; (2) the most complete collection in this country of

Ohio newspapers dating from the territorial period to the present time;

(3) topographical histories, being the annals of the counties, cities, and

localities of the State; (4) thousands of pamphlets on all subjects, and

(5) bound volumes of magazines for the past hundred years. To a

great library everything is welcome. It should by all means be encyclo-

paedical. To the ordinary reader a passing pamphlet may be inconse-

quential; it may even be literary trash; but the trained librarian knows

better, and he saves it for his shelves because he knows that to the next

generation it may be a prized treasure. This idea was well expressed

many years ago by Mr. Edwards of the great public library at Man-

chester, England, when he wrote: "What a Bodley at the end of the

sixteenth century calls 'riff-raff,' which a library keeper should disdain

to seek out and deliver to any man, a Bodley's librarian has to buy almost

for his weight in gold at the beginning of the nineteenth century, for,

by that time, it comes to be apparent that the most obscure pamphlet, or

the flimsiest ballad, may throw a ray of light upon some pregnant fact

of history, or may serve as the key to a mystery in some life career

which gave to an age its very 'form and pressure'".

The present Librarian has been a persistent and intelligent executor

of this policy. Every scrap of published literature in pamphlet or book

form relating to the contemporary history of the State has been pre-

served by him. I can safely and conscientiously say, with some little

knowledge on the subject, that he has done better and more valuable

work in this direction than any of his predecessors. His own knowledge

of literature, his scholarly discrimination, and his love for his work for the

work's sake, has been the inspiration of this endeavor.

I have known personally every Librarian of this institution for

forty-three years-commencing with the scholarly and accomplished Wal-

ter C. Hood, of Marietta, whom I knew when a boy in my teens. And

during that period they were well qualified, with but very few exceptions,

100        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

by nature and education, to grace the position. But the spoils system of

partisan politics made the State Library the prey of every administration

for party workers. From 1874 to 1896, when Mr. Galbreath was first ap-

pointed-the official life of the Librarian was a few days over twenty-

two months. It was the system of those times. Every Governor ap-

proached. the change with reluctance, if not with disgust. They were all

high-minded men-the men who were compelled to do this under party

stress. No other pressure and no other system could have secured such

results from William Allen, Rutherford B. Hayes, Charles Foster, George

Hoadly, Joseph B. Foraker, James E. Campbell, and William McKinley.

Each one, under this spoils system, as Goldsmith wrote of an English

statesman,

"Narrowed his mind, and to party gave up

What was meant for mankind."

In the beginning the State Librarian was more of a custodian, and

not a very good one at that, evidently, for in 1823 some one during the

legislative vacation obtained access to the library and stole fifteen books

together with a collection of pamphlets which had been presented by

Jeremy Benthan and Robert Owen, the celebrated English philosophers

and economists. Thereupon the legislature in 1824 passed the first law

making the Library a state institution and fixing the salary of the

librarian at $200 a year.

These early librarians were not men of literary attainments or

scholarly culture, but were usually active politicians to whom the party

in power was indebted. The first librarian, John L. Harper, was rather

a stormy petrel in his day. He was one of Governor Worthington's

active lieutenants and a prominent politician in the Democratic-Republican

party. He was a participant and one of the active figures in the war

against the United States Bank which was being waged just about the

time he took charge of the library. It was the most sensational event

of that era, and the subsequent connection of the first librarian of the

State with it makes it interesting to refer to now. Upon the re-charter

of the United States Bank it established two branches in Ohio, one at

Cincinnati, January 28, 1817, and another at Chillicothe, October 13 of

the same year. At this time Harper was serving as State Librarian.

These branches under federal authority, issued notes extensively which

had a tendency to depreciate the currency of the State banks. They,

the Federal banks, also in due course of business acquired the notes of

these banks in large quantities, and in calling upon them to redeem the

paper, strained the solvency of those institutions. The result was that

the notes of the State banks continued to depreciate and many of them

became valueless. This situation developed a clamor in opposition to

the United States Bank that soon became widespread throughout the

State. The politicians and the local banks, some of which were the

"wildcat" institutions of a later day, joined in a popular crusade. In

Ohio State Library Centennial.                101

those days the banks formed the moneyed aristocracy of the State, and

they owned many a rotten borough, for they had great influence in saying

who should go to the legislature as well as who should remain at home.

They revailed at the big banks with all the venom of political opponents

and the commercial rancor of business rivals. Filled with the spirit

of the silversmiths of Ephesus against Paul, they cried that under the

new financial regime "our craft is in danger to be set at naught." The

legislature took up the controversy and being under the domination of

the Jeffersonian doctrine of antagonism to the United States Bank they

passed drastic laws, the purpose of which was to drive it out of Ohio

with the strong and resistless whip of taxation. They passed what was

called in those days the "crowbar law", so called from the method of

enforcement, and the first Librarian of Ohio was the man who weilded

the crowbar. The law provided that the Bank of the United States,

through its two branches in Ohio, should pay an annual tax of fifty

thousand dollars as long as it did business within the State. To the

Auditor of State was committed the duty of enforcing this law. He

was authorized to appoint any person he might choose to collect the tax,

and in case payment should be refused, and such person could not find in

the banking room any bank notes, money, goods, chattels, or other

property whereon to levy, he should go to each and any other room in

such banking house "and every closet box, or drawer in each banking

house to open and search" and take possession of whatever might be

found. John L. Harper was the man authorized by the Auditor of

State to exercise this limitless right of search. Before the law went into

effect, however, the Bank secured an injunction in the United States

Court against the collection and levy of the tax. The counsel of the

Auditor of State advised him that the papers served on him did not act

as an injunction and he therefore told John L. Harper to go ahead.

Harper thereupon proceeded to Chillicothe and entering the Bank's branch

office there levied upon, forcibly took possession of the sum of one hun-

dred thousand dollars. This was carted up to Columbus in a wagon,

and the sum of ninety-eight thousand dollars was turned over to the

Treasurer of State, and Harper kept two thousand dollars, being two

per cent of the amount levied for his compensation. The subsequent

part of the history is a mixture of tragedy and comedy. The injunction

was made effective. The State of Ohio and Mr. Harper had to pay back

the hundred thousand dollars, and the first Librarian of Ohio was sent

to jail for lese majeste of Uncle Sam. Beyond this, he has left no record

that would add either glory or instruction to the Ohio State Library,

and yet all that has been narrated, it should be remembered, was done

under authority of law and by virtue of his appointment from the Audi-

tor of State.

We do not strike any name of note in the list of state librarians

until we reach that of John Greiner, who served from 1845 to 1851. His

102        Ohio Arch. and     Hist. Society Publications.

appointment largely came to him by reason of the celebrity obtained

in the Hard Cider campaign of 1840. He was a song writer, and in the

Harrison campaign songs were the most potent factors. The ecstatic

condition of the popular mind was quick to respond to rhythm. It is a

singular psychological fact that crowds are more responsive than the

average unit of the crowd. In every cabin, on every by-way, in village and

town, Whig gatherings were singing the songs of Harrison, and John

Greiner furnished some of the most popular ones. His "Old Coon",

"The Wagoner Boy", and others, recited the heroic deeds of General

Harrison and Tom Corwin. Fletcher of Saltoun, a 17th century Scot-

tish writer, said: "If a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he

need not care who should make the laws of a nation". Happy, indeed,

is the party with a candidate about whose life ballads can be sung. Out

of this condition grew John Greiner's appointment as State Librarian.

He was not without ability. He dame to Ohio when a boy and soon

became distinguished as a temperance orator. After he served as libra-

rian he was appointed Indian agent to New Mexico, and in 1852 he was

made Governor of that territory. He returned to Ohio and became suc-

cessively editor of "The Ohio State Journal", and editor and proprietor

of the Columbus "Gazette" and the Zanesville "Times". Subsequently

he returned to New Mexico and became receiver in the United States

land office at Santa Fe, and afterwards served as United States Sub-

treasurer there. He finally returned to Ohio, where he ended his days

in Toledo May 13, 1871.

For the first thirty-seven years of the State Library it was in

charge of men totally unfitted for the responsibility, and in no wise

qualified to build it up. They were mediocre in intelligence, with no

instincts toward literature, and were usually either "lame ducks" in poli-

tics, or were political managers who were valuable to their party by

reason of the contact which existed between the legislature and the

Library. For remember, during this period, the use of the books was

confined to state officers and the members of the General Assembly. It

was not until 1854 that the Library came under the control of one whose

nature, education, and instincts fitted him eminently for the position of

librarian. This was James W. Taylor, who was appointed by Governor

William Medill, the first Democratic Governor under the constitution of

1851, and himself a man of scholarly tastes and attainments. Mr. Taylor

had the book instinct in addition to his literary tastes. There is an

instinct of the librarian which education in library classes or skill in

card indexing can never develop. It comes from the love of books for

their own sake, and it is as natural as the love of reading. James W.

Taylor possessed this instinct. We find him in his report appealing for all

copies of newspapers which were published in Ohio prior to 1830; and

he tells us that "Measures have been taken to preserve every pamphlet

printed in the State, no matter what the topic thereof may be. Every

Ohio State Library Centennial.                103

such publication which has been found is gathered into a series of

volumes entitled 'Ohio Pamphlets'.  The collection is as yet limited,

however, and publishers are urged to send whatever may be issued by

them in this fugitive form for preservation in the State Library". He

did more than all his predecessors to build up the Library and to gather

material relating to Ohio. When appointed to his position he was a

lawyer of excellent standing, and had practiced in both New York and

Ohio. He was a member of the Ohio Constitutional Convention of

1849-50, secretary to the commission to revise the judicial code of the

State in 1851-2, and was State Librarian from 1854 to 1856. He had en-

gaged also in journalism and published the Cincinnati "Signal" in 1847. In

1854 he published a "History of the State of Ohio: First Period, 1620-

1787". It was evidently the first volume of a complete and pretentious

history of the State. It is valuable for its accuracy and detail and for a

full treatment of the period covered, and one regrets that he never com-

pleted his work. If he had done so in as thorough a manner as he

commenced it there would have been little left for subsequent historians

to write about. In 1857 he wrote a "Manual of the Ohio School Sys-

tem", which is a most extensive and authoritative history of education

in Ohio. During the Civil War and for several years afterwards Mr.

Taylor was special agent of the United States Treasury, being charged

with making inquiries into the reciprocal relations of trade and trans-

portation between the United States and Canada. In 1856 he removed

to St. Paul, Minnesota, and from there he made many contributions to

literature. In 1862 he wrote "Alleghania, or the Strength of the Union

and the Weakness of Slavery in the High Lands of the South". In

1867 he wrote in connection with John R. Brown "The Mineral Re-

sources of the United States". In 1882 he wrote "Forest and Fruit

Culture in Manitoba", and in addition wrote pamphlets relating to the

Indian question in connection with the Sioux war of 1862-3. His other

writings consist of "The Railroad System of Minnesota and North-

western Connections", published in 1859, and "Reports to Treasury De-

partment on Commercial Relations with Canada", published at Washing-

ton, D. C., in 1860, 1862, 1868. In the later days of his life he served

as United States Consul at Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he died April 28,

1893. This man held the office of Librarian for two years and succumbed

to the party pressure of Republican spoilsmen when Salmon P. Chase

became Governor.

It was fortunate for the Library that Mr. Taylor's successor took

equal rank as one in every way qualified to take charge of this institu-

tion. Governor Chase's nominee was William Turner Coggeshall. His

whole life had been spent in a literary atmosphere. He came to Akron,

Ohio, from Pennsylvania in his early manhood and embarked in the pub-

lication of a temperance paper which bore the peculiar name, "The

Roarer". In Cincinnati, to which place he removed in 1847, he became

identified with "The Genius of the West", a monthly magazine of western

Ohio State Library Centennial.               105

South America. His health was broken and incapable of restoration;

he died at Quito, August 2, 1867, aged 42 years. No man in his genera-

tion did more for the promotion of literary culture in the west than

Coggeshall; and no man in the century of its existence has reflected

more credit on the Ohio State Library. His monument lies, aside from his

official worth, in his "Poets and Poetry of the West", which has done

so much to keep green the memory of our early authors, and to give

prestige to the men and women who deserved literary honor.

The establishment of this Library was modestly announced by Gov-

ernor Thomas Worthington in his message to the General Assembly as

follows: "The fund made subject to my control by the last General

Assembly, besides paying the ordinary demands upon it and for articles

mentioned in the resolution of the legislature of the 28th of January,

1817, has enabled me to purchase a small but valuable collection of books

which are intended as the commencement of a library for this State. In

the performance of this act I was guided by what I conceived the best

interests of the State by placing within reach of the representatives of

the people such information as will aid them in the discharge of the

important duties they are delegated to perform."

Subsequently Governor Worthington, in a message to the General

Assembly, presented a catalogue of the books purchased, being five hun-

dred and nine volumes. They embraced a wide range of literature of the

most substantial character, and it is noticed that in the entire list there

is but one work of poetry, that being Milton's "Paradise Lost". In this

list we observe the works of authors representing the best literature in

ancient and modern times.   The foundation thus laid by Governor

Worthington has increased year by year until there has been formed one

of the most comprehensive and valuable collections of books possessed by

any state in the Union. The man who did this work has erected for

himself a monument more lasting than brass, and has rendered the gen-

erations that followed him his grateful debtors. It would be neglect-

ing the chief obligation of this occasion not to give more than a passing

notice to Thomas Worthington,-a full-length portrait of the man and

his career will certainly add to the interest of this evening.

The seat of government of Ohio by act of the General Assembly

was removed from Chillicothe to Columbus, and from the second Tues-

day of October 1816, the latter town became the Capital of Ohio. On

December 2, 1816, the General Assembly met for the first time in Colum-

bus in the new State House, which was located on the northeast corner

of Third and State Streets.

The first Governor of Ohio to be inaugurated in the new capital

was Thomas Worthington, of Chillicothe; he assumed his second term

and delivered his inaugural address before both houses of the legislature

on December 9, 1816. He had been elected to his first term in 1814, and

to accept the governorship he resigned his seat in the United States

106        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Senate. Worthington was one of that great triumvirate, his compeers

being Edward Tiffin and Nathaniel Massie, who conducted to a success-

ful termination the struggle which resulted in Ohio becoming a state.

These men, all Virginians, all Jeffersonian Democrats, resisted the en-

croachment of Federalism as embodied in the administration of Governor

Arthur St. Clair of the Northwest Territory. After a bitter contest,

they succeeded in removing the aged and gallant Governor, and finally

forced, with the assistance of Thomas Jefferson, statehood on the people

of Ohio. It was a magnificent contest, a great conquest, and subsequent

generations have been laid under eternal obligations for their patriotic

and persistent struggle. In this struggle for statehood, Edward Tiffin

was the master spirit and Thomas Worthington was his chief associate

and lieutenant. When Ohio became a state, Worthington was one of the

two United States Senators elected by the first legislature which met

March 1, 1803. He at once took an important rank in the Senate as a

man of affairs, and he was recognized as a practical authority on the

wants of the new state and the west generally. He was not a stranger

at the seat of government. In the struggles just past he was first at

Philadelphia and afterward at Washington, representing the Democratic

Republicans in their fight against Governor St. Clair and the admission

of Ohio to the Union. He was recognized by President Jefferson as

one of the influential leaders of the party to which both belonged and as

a staunch friend of the administration.

On the questions of canals, internal improvements, and public lands,

he was an acknowledged authority. Secretary of the Treasury, Albert

Gallatin, wrote to President Jefferson, November 25, 1807, concerning

Worthington, as follows: "Whatever relates to land cannot be too closely

watched. Worthington is the only one in the Senate since Breckenridge

left, who understands the subject. He has been perfectly faithful in

that respect, trying to relieve as much as possible the purchasers generally

from being pressed for payment". On the last day of his first term in

the Senate he secured the passage of a resolution that was the precursor

of the Government construction of the National Road.

He was again elected to the Senate December 10, 1810, to serve

out the unfinished term ending March 4, 1815, of Return J. Meigs, Jr.,

who had been elected Governor, and right here I want to call attention

to a fact that crops out in the early period of which I speak, not only

in Ohio but in other states. It is this: We find numerous instances of

men resigning the United States senatorship to accept the office of

Governor of their state. They seem to have more ambition to serve

their people by attention to domestic affairs than to occupy a post of

honor at the distant capitol. Meigs did this. So did Worthington, as

well as several other Governors of Ohio. When Worthington returned

to his second term as Senator, he again became the authority on the

public domain. He served on the Committee on Public Land, Manufac-

tures, and Indian Affairs. The establishment of the General Land Office,

Ohio State Library Centennial.                 107

was the result of a bill introduced by him which became a law April

24, 1812. He secured an appropriation of thirty thousand dollars to

finish the first section of a National Road, which was one of the results

of his project of internal improvements.

Although a Democrat he opposed and voted against the declara-

tion of war against Great Britain in 1812, because he believed it was

ill-advised, and that the country was not prepared for the conflict. His

opposition, however, stopped with his vote, for he supported all the

war measures of that time.

On December 8, 1814, he was inaugurated at Chillicothe as Gov-

ernor. He had resigned from the United States Senate the day before.

The war was still on, and Governor Worthington lent all his energies

to sustaining the national government and protecting Ohio. During his

term as Governor, he constantly urged the legislature to take steps look-

ing to the construction of canals and the advancement of education.

After serving two terms as Governor, he represented Ross County

in the Twentieth and Twenty-first General Assemblies in 1821-23. He

afterwards acted on the Canal Commission with Alfred Kelly and did

much to promote a canal system, being the first Governor to advocate

that improvement.

Thomas Worthington may be justly styled one of the master spirits

of Ohio. His long public career was productive of much good. He

was distinctly a constructive statesman, giving his whole life to found-

ing and building Ohio to greatness. When we look over his work

in this State, we find that he was the first Governor to urge free schools

for the poor, to restrict the liquor traffic in favor of temperance, to

found a great library, to recommend a Governor's mansion, to grant

prisoners in the penitentiary a portion of their labor income, to urge

a state normal school, to establish county infirmaries, to advocate canals,

and to promote internal improvements by state roads. Measuring his

full career, both in national and state affairs, we can well agree with

Salmon P. Chase, that he was a "gentleman of distinguished ability and

great influence".

His lasting memorial is this Library. Other governors have con-

tributed their part in developing the material greatness of the State, and

some have added glory to its name by valor in war, but the man who has

furnished means of happiness and elevation of spirit to the thousands

that have gone before, and through whose instrumentality thousands to

come will be benefitted, has left a monument that time cannot destroy and

men cannot forget.

Mr. E. O. Randall spoke informally and said in part;

The opportunity of paying my tribute to the history and services of

this good library, which have now extended over a century in the State

of Ohio, is fully appreciated. Among the recollections of my earliest

days are those of coming, first with my good father, who was not only

108        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

a book-reader but a book-writer, to this library, and then in my teens

of drawing books for myself. At that time the privilege of drawing

books from this library was confined to the state officials, but my father

being a clergyman and at times officiating as the Chaplain of the Legis-

lature put him on the privileged list and that included his son. I have

been a very constant patron of this library, and it has almost become a

second home to me; certainly a literary refuge.

The thought that most impresses me in connection with the history

of the library system throughout the country is the growth in the use

and usefulness of public libraries. Up to within a generation ago-say

thirty years-a public library was generally an indiscriminate collection

of books, more or less wisely selected, and usually with little or no

classification or even order of arrangement in the shelves. Then came

the systematic catalogue and topical classification under general and speci-

fic subjects. I need not mention those methods, you are familiar with

them. And then the elevation, so to speak, of the librarian and assistants

to what might be called a profession. Special education and training

for the duties of those in attendance upon the library were required.

Previous to that time all that an attendant in the library was expected

to do was to receive the books as they came in, place them on some shelf

and hand out to the patron any book which might be called for. Further

than that his duties did not extend, they were purely mechanical. Under

the new requirement and qualifications, it has become the duty of the

attendant to assist the reading patron in securing not only the volumes

on certain subjects which he may require, but make helpful suggestions.

I can best illustrate this by my first experience under the new regime.

Some thirty years ago it was incumbent upon me to prepare an address

to be delivered before the Art School of Columbus. I was requested to

speak on the history of American painting, a subject concerning which

I knew little, nor did I even know where to find the material for my

purpose. I made a visit to New York City, proceeded to the Astor

Library, made a statement of my wants to the chief librarian, and he at

once said, "We can 'fix you up,' please return tomorrow and we will

assign one of our assistants to you, with an alcove where you may

work, and all publications upon or referring to the subject will be at

your elbow." I found that to be the case, and for several days I had at

my disposal the very best that had been published on that subject, pre-

pared my address and came back and filled my audience with admiration

and amazement at the vast, comprehensive and scholarly knowledge I

had on that subject! It will thus be seen what a boon to ignorance and

illiteracy has been the later library system. And this state library and

its efficient corps has been doing that sort of work. The public library has

thus became the main source of aid and inspiration to the literary clubs

which are now so numerous in this country, indeed, the library is now

recognized as second to the school and college in its usefulness to the

Ohio State Library Centennial.                109

reading public. You will recall that Andrew Carnegie called the library

the university of the people, and he said to me once, when I had the rare

privilege of meeting him in New York, that he had chosen the library

as the main avenue for his beneficence because it brought to the people

knowledge and learning which, more than any other feature in our social

life, brought them the intelligence that might make them good citizens.

I tender my congratulations to you on the happy occasion which you now

celebrate.

Hon. J. H. Newman was introduced and briefly expressed

his pleasure at being present and bespoke a more liberal sup-

port for the library.

Mr. John J. Pugh, librarian of the Columbus public library,

spoke appreciatively of the service rendered by the State Library

to the city of Columbus through many years prior to the organ-

ization of the city library and through the early years of its

growth. Before the city library had built up a department of

bound magazines and periodicals patrons had been referred to

the State Library to consult these valuable sources of informa-

tion. Even under existing conditions when the city library is

well supplied with books to meet the popular demand there is

still room, he declared, for cooperation and he had always ap-

preciated the privilege of working in the Columbus field with

those in charge of the State Library.

Miss Olive Jones, librarian, of the library of the Ohio State

University, spoke interestingly of the achievements of the State

Library in recent years as follows:

It is a pleasure to bring the greetings of the State University to

the State Library this evening. Of the educational agencies of the State

the Ohio State University is one of the youngest and it is with a feeling

of real veneration that it sends its congratulations to its co-laborer,

which has over twice the years of service to its credit in the educational

field. To me it seems a great and beautiful thing to have given one

hundred years of able and gracious service to the state. It is a record

to be proud of and I hope that tonight the library as an institution and

the persons individually who are at present making that institution pos-

sible, will allow themselves to enjoy to the utmost the feeling of work

well done, than which there is no greater pleasure in life.

My first memories of the Library date back to the time, when as a

child, I was brought to this room by my father. Being a clergyman, he

was allowed the privilege of withdrawing books from the library and

110        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

he made use of the opportunity. At that time the privilege of with-

drawal of books was restricted to state officials and to clergymen. Just

why clergymen should have been looked upon as a favored class, I do

not know. Possibly, it was thought they stood in special need of the

inspiration of books. Be that as it may, it was a great privilege, and to

me as a child the going to the State Library was a great event. I re-

member my first visit and the feeling of awe with which I surveyed

this room with its high walls lined with books and its air of scholarly

quiet. After all these years, and after many, many visits to the Library,

a little of that feeling is still with me whenever I enter the room.

And it is a beautiful room! No amount of modern efficiency which

stores books in compactly arranged stacks and gives instant service by

means of trolleys and push buttons, can give that bookish flavor which

you find in these old book halls, literally halls of learning  This room

is a fine example of the old style library and I devoutely hope that

when the great new building, so greatly needed and so richly deserved,

is erected for the State Library, this room will be kept as the State

House branch. With all the excrescences removed, which much crowding

has made necessary, the room would regain the repose and dignity which

it has lost to some degree, and would give ample space for all the library

activities which need to remain in the State House itself.

I have spoken of the activities which need to remain in the State

House, thus implying the fact that there are others which can be carried

on outside of these restricted walls. And this is the case, for times have

greatly changed since the Library was expected to serve only state

officials and such privileged classes as the clergymen of Columbus. The

beginning of this change was twenty-one years ago, when Mr. Ruther-

ford P. Hayes, son of President Hayes, and a patriotic citizen of Ohio,

centered his interests for a while on the State Library.  Mr. Hayes

thought that the State Library ought to be what its name implied, a

library for the state, and he worked to make it so. His great desire was to

see it taken out of politics and to this end he worked for the formation

of a bi-partisan library commission. The law forming such a commission

was passed in April, 1896. Mr. Hayes was made a member, the other

members being Mr. J. F. McGrew and Mr. Charles A Reynolds. In the

hands of this Commission were placed all the affairs of the library and

one of its first acts was to elect Mr. Charles B. Galbreath librarian. With

the exception of about four years, Mr. Galbreath has been the state

librarian ever since. The Commission immediately extended the privilege

of withdrawing books from the State Library to every citizen of the

state. That privilege has never been taken away.

In the admirable address which Mr. Ryan has made this evening

he said that he purposely refrained from commenting upon the recent

history of the library, because it was known to every one. I wonder, Mr.

Chairman, if that is so. At times I am inclined to think that it is a very

Ohio State Library Centennial.                 111

small per cent of Ohio citizens who realize what has been done for them

in these comparatively recent years.

In addition to the reorganization of the library, classifying and

cataloging it according to approved modern methods, and opening it to

the whole state, it seemed desirable to go out into the state and to carry

the books to the people. Other states had done this to some extent, so

why not Ohio? The Commission soon after the organization authorized

the beginning of a Traveling Library Department, and in 1898 the first

special appropriation was made for it. This work has had a tremendous

growth and the traveling libraries are still carrying comfort and enjoy-

ment to all parts of Ohio.

In 1908, the Organization Department was established.    Small

libraries over the state were needing help in solving their problems.

They were naturally turning to the State Library and help was freely

given, but there was need of some one to go out to the libraries and help

the communities in the organization and establishment of new libraries.

A library organizer, working under the direction of the state librarian,

is doing this work.

Special reference work along the lines of legislation was being

required. Some states had legislative reference bureaus. Again, why

not Ohio?   And the Legislative Reference Department of the State

Library was established in 1910.

In all of these lines of work the Ohio Library Association was

interested and through the legislative committee some work was done,

but the brunt of pushing the measures through to successful accomplish-

ment fell upon Mr. Galbreath and to him is due the credit for Ohio's

standing in the front line of state library development. But it was all

done so quietly, so unostentatiously, that, as I have said, I wonder how

generally people, both in and out of the state, know of all that is being

accomplished. But, as some one has said, Ohioans take things for granted.

A thing ought to be done, therefore it is done. That seems to be true,

so far as the library situation is concerned.

But of all the varied functions of the library, the greatest one to

my mind is the one to which probably all the others contribute. I refer

to the State Library being the virtual head of the library system of the

state. It is the reservoir from which the small library can borrow

books needed by its community. It is a depository of technical know-

ledge which can be drawn upon by any library worker. It is the head-

quarters for all library movements. This is a high calling. Other lines

of work can well be left to scientific and historical societies, but to the

State Library only, governed by a commission, administered by an able

librarian, is entrusted the welfare of the great body of small public

libraries of the state. I trust that no question of expediency will ever

be allowed to interfere with this work and privilege.

Mr. Chairman, again I congratulate you.

112        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Miss Julia W. Merrill, branch librarian of the Cincinnati public

library and instructor in the summer library school, conveyed the con-

gratulations of the public library of Cincinnati.

Mr. Clayton A. McCleary, State Library Commissioner, stated that

while he had been a member of the Board of Commissioners for a short

time only he was very greatly interested in the work and in the exercises

of the evening to which it had been his pleasure to listen. He expressed

hearty sympathy with all efforts to extend the usefulness of the State

Library to those in official position and to the citizens of the entire

state.

State Librarian, C. B. Galbreath, spoke in part as follows:

Libraries are of remote antiquity. In ancient times the position of

librarian was not without honor. When civilization was young on the

banks of the Nile the "hall of books" was regarded as a sacred place and

the "keeper of books" was a man of prominence and power in the court

of the ruler of the realm.

In Palestine and Greece have been unearthed the remains of libraries

dating back more than a thousand years before the Christian era. The

story of the Alexandrian library is familiar to all. At one time it is

said to have numbered over 700,000 volumes. It had a catalog of 120

volumes. Only in recent years, however, have we learned that its de-

struction by the caliph Omar is probably a myth. It perished at different

intervals in the fierce contests of religious enthusiasts. The fanaticism

of that far off time, culminating in the triumph of the Mohammedan

Arabs, A. D. 641, brought to ruin this great treasury of the learning

of the ancient world.

Many of the libraries were archives-the records of cities and

states-in other words official libraries, state libraries, if you please. In

the second century before Christ, Tiberius Gracchus, the great commoner

of Rome, built on the Aventine Hill the first temple dedicated to liberty

and in it placed the library of the republic-prophetic of the liberating

influence of books which, in a later age should go to the whole world.

Some time in the year 1817 the State Library of Ohio came into ex-

istence. The exact date has not been definitely fixed. Early in the year

Governor Worthington, from his contingent fund, purchased in Phila-

delphia 509 books for which he paid $945.67. The date of payment was

June 13th of that year. On the second of December following a book

stand was purchased for thirty-five dollars and on the 26th of the

month one dozen chairs for twenty-four dollars. Rules and regulations

were prescribed and a librarian, Mr. John L. Harper, was placed in

charge. All this was done by Governor Worthington without authoriza-

tion by the legislature. It is certainly a high tribute to his interest in

the establishment of the library that he should make such use of a

portion of his contingent fund and rely upon the approval of the Gen-

114        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

The greatest need of the library, as suggested in the letter that I

have read from Demarcus C. Brown, State Librarian of Indiana, is more

room. The space assigned it in the Capitol building has for years been

recognized as wholly inadequate. We have here a collection of books

and documents of great value, many of which could not be duplicated,

and most of which are in frequent demand by scholars and students.

Ample room should be provided for their convenient use. The state has

properly provided modern library buildings for Miami University at

Oxford, the Ohio University at Athens, the Ohio State University and

the State Archaeological and Historical Society. Money has been ap-

propriated for the erection of an executive mansion and other state

buildings. We have an abiding faith that in the not distant future the

state will provide for its library, the oldest institution of its kind west

of the Alleghenies and one of the oldest in the United States.

In 1817, one century ago, this country was at peace with the world

and at peace with herself. Partisan controversy had almost disappeared

and the young republic had entered upon a career of "good feeling" and

marvelous internal development. The thoughts of our forefathers natur-

ally turned to education and the pursuits of peaceful industry.

Today we are in a world war. At last, if not at the Armageddon

of Holy Writ, at the Armageddon of history we stand. The largest

present problem that faces this library and its commission is to provide

books and periodicals for the soldiers within the limits of our state.

A sufficient number of these books should be promptly provided by

the state to meet present pressing demands. The expense would thus

be distributed generally and no citizen would complain of an expenditure

properly made for this patriotic educational enterprise.

If the books cannot be furnished by the state, however, the means

must be found to provide them. The war has added to rather than

diminished the demand for reading matter from the civilian population

of the state. This must be met and in addition a library service must

be provided for the soldiers that will reflect credit upon Ohio.

Library progress here in the Middle West has been gratifying but

comparatively slow through the past century. It is never safe to prophesy

conditions a century hence. But we may rest assured that, viewed

from  the year 2017, present results will seem  meager indeed. The

achievements of that far off time, however, will be the fruition, in a

masure at least, of the progressive spirit and the wider vision of those

who labor in the library field of today.