If, in the views and various thoughts, which I have presumed to set forth at this time, such ideas as have a bearing on this last named topic shall serve as hints to spur on some abler and more philosophically versed person or persons to undertake the task, or serve as a ground upon which to build a foundation code, I shall be greatly pleased. WHAT MAY BE DONE FOR LIBRARIES BY THE CITY. BY THOMAS L. MONTGOMERY, _Trustee Free Library of Philadelphia_. When, in the course of human events, it became necessary for our people to dissolve the political bonds which connected them with another, pretty much everything was declared a free and an inalienable right with the exception of the public library. Whether it would have escaped the attention of that founder of circulating libraries and everything else that is useful, had it not been a time of extraordinary pressure of business, or whether he purposely neglected it in the belief that a people that had expressed such lofty sentiments as to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness might well be trusted to consider such matters in due time it is not our purpose to discuss. He does not hesitate to give credit to the libraries in his autobiography for making the common tradesmen and farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen in other countries, and for contributing in some degree to the stand so generally made throughout the colonies in defense of their privileges. It was not until about 1850 that the desirability of a city library was suggested to the City Council of Boston by Josiah Quincy, then mayor. The council cautiously Resolved, "That it would accept any donation from citizens or others for the purpose of commencing a public city library and that whenever the library shall be of the value of $30,000 it will be expedient for the city to provide a suitable place and arrangements to enable it to be used by the citizens with as great a degree of freedom as the security of the property will permit." In July, 1852, the trustees made a report "that in their opinion the finances of the city will not permit of the erecting of a building and the purchase of an ample library." They suggest "a moderate expenditure on the part of the city for the purchase of books and the compensation of a librarian." It was soon after this that Mr. Bates made his famous gift of $50,000 worth of books "on condition that the city provide an adequate building which shall be an ornament to the city." A complete history of this institution would seem to be the best possible answer which could be made to the question before us. What can the city do for the free library. With a magnificent collection of 700,000 books, selected under the administration of some of the best men who have dignified our profession, and housed in the most expensive building ever erected by a city for such a purpose, it would appear that the citizen of Boston might rightly exclaim "Si monumentum quaeris, circumspice."