Aside from the cost of the duplication of books already noted, necessitated by the division of the books among the different departments, there are the items of space and labor to be considered. It needs no argument to show that there is a great economy of space gained by the consolidation of all libraries, with the exceptions previously referred to, into one central building. An entire room is frequently given up to a departmental library of three or four hundred volumes, when a few extra shelves and possibly a slight increase in the seating capacity of the reading room would accommodate it in the central library. The cost of maintenance, of heating and of lighting is also undoubtedly greater under the departmental arrangement. The greatest increase in expense is, however, in the item of service. In order properly to control a branch of this sort, an employe of the library must be in constant attendance. The duties and responsibilities of such a position are so small that only the lowest paid grade of service can be employed with economy. The amount necessary to pay the salaries of such persons could, with much greater advantage to the whole institution, be used for the employment of a few specialists, highly trained in different lines, who would act as reference librarians in their respective fields. Our American libraries are, as a class, compared with those of foreign universities, singularly deficient in this quality of assistance. Sooner or later we must supply this lack, and every move which tends in another direction must be examined with care. The university library exists for the whole university--all of it for the whole university. In an ideal condition, every book in it should be available, at a moment's notice, if it is not actually in use. This should be our aim, and it should be from this viewpoint that we should judge the efficiency of our administration and the value of any proposed change. SUGGESTIONS FOR AN ANNUAL LIST OF AMERICAN THESES FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. BY WILLIAM WARNER BISHOP, _Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y._ Graduate instruction and the degree of doctor of philosophy as its reward are not so novel and recent in America as to call for either explanation or definition. Neither are they so old as to require a history. Most of us can well remember when it became a common thing for American universities to have numerous candidates for the doctorate. At the present time there are several hundred students in our universities who are candidates for the doctor's degree and the number is increasing rapidly.