Excerpt from Fourteenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Public Library, 1866 Sm: I have the honor to transmit to you, herewith, the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Public Library, prepared in obedience to the fourth section of the Ordinance relative to the Public Library, passed on the 2oth of October, 1863. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Eighth Annual Report: Of the Trustees of the Public Library in City of Boston, Presented November, 14, 1860 From these two documents a full knowledge may be obtained of its present state and of its operations since the last annual Report. They afford satisfactory assurance, in the judgment of the Trustees, that the Library is eminently prosperous, and is efficiently fulfilling the design of its establishment. The number of the books borrowed from the Library has averaged 508 per diem for 297 days. This average is somewhat smaller than that of last year, a consequence as the Trustees suppose of the course which they have pursued in reducing the number of novels and romances which have been purchased for the Library, and of the establishment of one or more circulating libraries, at which the demand for this kind of reading has been to a considerable extent supplied. The Trustees do not regret this circumstance, for while it would be wrong to proscribe works of fiction as a class, - inasmuch as this would be to exclude some of the most admirable compositions in the language, - it is not the less true, that a multitude of novels appear and obtain a temporary popularity, which cannot be regarded as wholesome reading, and which, in an especial manner, it is not worth while to put into the hands of the young at the public expense. The Trustees regret to be obliged, as in former years, to report the loss of a considerable number of volumes in the course of the year. The greater part of these no doubt disappear by accidents of various kinds, especially in the change of lodgings and residences. More effectual means have been resorted to, and with considerable success, to procure the return of volumes unduly detained; and the amount of fines received is nearly sufficient, as heretofore, to replace the lost volumes. The Trustees arc satisfied that the injury accruing from the loss or damage of books is trifling, when weighed with the benefits resulting from their free circulation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Thirteenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Public Library, 1865 But, as the Trustees, by the same Ordinance (sect. Are enjoined to make a separate Report of their own upon the condition of the Library, they would respect fully state. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Nineteenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Public Library, 1871 His Honor, William Gaston, Mayor of the City of Boston 813: I have the honor to transmit to you, herewith, the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Public Library, prepared in obedience to the fourth section of the Ordinance of 1869, relative to the Public Library. Very respectfully. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Annual Report of the Trustees of the Public Library, 1875 Upon the other points to which reference is made by the committee, the Trustees accept with pleasure the conclusion to which it arrived. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.