=Suburban Libraries.=--The influence of the Birmingham Free Libraries has not been confined to the boundaries of the Borough. In the spirited suburban Manor of Aston a Free Library was established in May 1877; this was followed by Handsworth in 1880; and both these Suburbs have handsome provision made in the public buildings, for good Libraries and News Rooms. The Librarian of Aston Manor Free Library is Mr. R. K. Dent, the author of “Old and New Birmingham,” and Mr. J. W. Roberts is the Librarian of Handsworth. Within a circle of ten or twelve miles there are substantial Free Libraries at Darlaston, Dudley, Bilston, Brierley Hill, Smethwick, West Bromwich, Walsall, Wednesbury and Willenhall; and within a little wider radius will be found the Free Libraries of Burslem, Coventry, Hanley, Kidderminster, Leamington, Lichfield, Tamworth, Tipton, Wolverhampton, and Worcester; a larger number within such an area than will be found in any other part of the kingdom. The brief account here given is compiled from the following works, in each of which further details of interest may be found:-- Hutton’s History of Birmingham. Sixth Edition, 1835. Langford’s Century of Birmingham Life, 1868. Langford’s Modern Birmingham and its Institutions, 1873-1877. Dawson’s Inaugural Address at opening of Reference Library, 1866. Dent’s Old and New Birmingham, 1880. Centenary of the Birmingham Library, by Sam: Timmins, 1879. Showell’s Dictionary of Birmingham, 1885. CHAPTER IV. LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC AND ARTISTIC SOCIETIES. BY SAM: TIMMINS. The Chapter II., on “Education,” has included the more active and valuable societies which have developed into important organizations for the full and regular teaching of Literature, Science, and Art, but it has been thought desirable to give a brief summary of the local societies which for nearly a century have assisted in creating the demand which the larger institutions have been established to supply. Birmingham has not been so remarkable as some other towns for its societies formed of lovers of literature and science, and it is certainly remarkable, and almost reprehensible, that so large a centre has never had a definite Literary Society or Literary Club, associating all, and they are many, who are lovers of books in all departments, and not merely of literature of a scientific, technical, and practical kind. Such a society, or such a club, should certainly exist in a great Midland town, as in Manchester, Liverpool, and other places.