I I LOUISVILLE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
book collection. There were about ten thousand
it ’ volumes, mainly the residue of the older libra-
l\ ries, placed at random in the shelves.
He beganlmrtaking the books from the shelves
and classifying them as he placed them on the
\ tables and floors of the library room, adopting
the following classifications: theology, histo-
ry, biography, poetry, reference books, fiction,
‘ fine arts, useful arts, government, general ,
l literature, and periodical literature. All de-
l vfective books and incomplete magazine sets he
§ put aside as unsuitable for cataloguing, though
l they were not thrown away. During the summer,
Durrett went abroad with his family and pur-
f _ chased for the library, in London and Paris and
l, i in Germany, many more books, swelling the total
i T to 31,000 and adding to Towne’s labors when
e ! they were delivered in the fall.
` , Shortly after Towne began classifying the
books, Durrett directed him to begin the work
of cataloguing them, urging him to employ a
- large force on this work. Accordingly, ten
women were engaged as rapidly as they could be
Z instructed in the procedure to be followed.
Towne describes the process by which the libra-
ry catalogue was compiled:
i The books of a given classification
` having been arranged on the shelves, a
l = gentleman was employed to place those on
y 3 given shelf upon some one of the ten
// l tables. Each book had been previously
” examined by the librarian, and if in ad-
dition to the title-page the contents C
were to be taken, the book was so marked.
I The authors of anonymous books were writ-
38
l .
Q!
qu" ` V  ul 4