CHAPTER IV.

RULES AS TO THE LIBRARY AND READING-ROOM.

SECTION 1.-The Library and Reading-room shall be open from 9 o'clock A. M. until 1 P. M., and from 3 o'clock P. M. until 6 P. M., from the first day of April to the first day of October; and from 9 A. M. until 1 P. M., and from 3 to 4 P. M., from the first day of October until the first day of April, on all secular days of the year, except on Fast Day, Christmas, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving Day, Feb. 22d, and during the annual examination of the Library.

SECT. 2.-The Library Committee shall decide what books may be taken from the Library, and what must be always retained upon its shelves as works of reference.

SECT. 3.-When a written request shall be left with the Librarian for a particular book, it shall be his duty to retain the same for the person requesting it one day after it shall be returned.

SECT. 4.-Every book shall be returned in good order, regard being had to its necessary wear with good usage. If any book shall be lost or injured, the person to whom it stands charged shall replace it by a new volume, or set, if it belongs to a set, or pay the current price thereof to the Treasurer. The remainder of the set shall be delivered to the person so paying for the same.

SECT. 5.-The Library Committee may, for special reasons, permit a person, who is neither a member, subscriber, clergyman, or theological student, to visit and use the Library, and, on application, to draw books, under such restrictions as they may think proper to impose.

SECT. 6.-New publications shall be withheld from circulation so long as the Library Committee may deem it expedient; but no book shall go out until it has been in the Library one week.

SECT. 7.-There shall be an annual examination of the Library during the fortnight preceding the annual meeting of the members, at which time all books shall be returned to the Library, the persons holding them having received a fourteen-days' notice of the examination; and every person having one or more books, and neglecting to return the same when notified, shall pay a fine of fifty cents for each volume so retained. The examination shall be under the direction of the Library Committee.

MISCELLANEOUS BY-LAWS.

SECTION 1.-For the present, four Directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at meetings of the Board.

SECT. 2. A record shall be kept by the Librarian of all donations of books or other articles; and on all books, &c., presented, the name of the donor shall be inscribed in such style as the Library Committee may direct.

SECT. 3.—Any person admitted to the Library may propose, over his own signature, the purchase of any publication not in the Library, by inserting its title in a book that shall be kept for that purpose, and by giving such information in regard to it as may be in his power.

SECT. 4.-Amendments to the By-laws may be proposed at any regular meeting of the Directors, to be acted upon at the next meeting, notice being given to each Director of the proposed alteration; and a majority vote shall be necessary to make the change.

SECT. 5. If a member of the Board of Directors be absent from four consecutive regular meetings, without sufficient excuse, he may be considered as having declined serving as a Director.

SECT. 6.-None but Corporate, Life, and Honorary Members, and Pastors of Churches that are Perpetual Members of the Society, shall be eligible to any office within its gift.

SUMMARY OF THE RULES OF THE LIBRARY.

ALL members of the Society may use the Library at the rooms, without charge.

Members paying three dollars a year shall be entitled to take from the Library four volumes at a time; those residing in Boston, or within ten miles thereof, may retain them for one month; those residing at a greater distance from the city may keep them two months, except in the case of books which have belonged to the Library less than one year; of these, two volumes may be taken at a time, and retained one half of the period mentioned above.

All periodicals received in the Reading-room, excepting newspapers, are reckoned as new books, until the time when they are bound, excepting the latest numbers of the same.

Persons who are not members shall pay for the use of the Library, including the having out of four books at a time, five dollars a year, payable in advance. Of new books, only two can be out at one time. Such persons may use the Library and Readingroom at the building of the Society for three dollars a year.

A person by the payment of one hundred dollars is enrolled as an honorary or life member, with a right to the use of the Library at the rooms. Life members may, also, draw books. A religious society gains a perpetual right to all the privileges of the Library, including the drawing of books for its pastor, on the payment of one hundred dollars.

The distance to which books may be taken from the Library is, at present, unlimited.

Persons keeping books from the Library longer than the rule on the subject enjoins, are liable to an extra charge of two cents a day, on each volume so retained.

The Library is usually open on each secular day, from 8 A. M. to 6 P. M.

HISTORICAL SKETCH

OF THE

GENERAL THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY.

IN April, 1860, the General Theological Library was instituted in Boston, under the statues of Massachusetts. Among those who took an active part in forming the Institution were the late Rev. Dr. Charles Burroughs, the late Bishop Manton Eastburn, Rev. Dr. George W. Blagden, the late J. Sullivan Warren, Esq., Rev. Luther Farnham, who had several years earlier proposed a similar library, Rev. Dr. Samuel K. Lothrop, the late Rev. Ezra S. Gannett, D.D., John B. Kettell, Esq., and others. By the rules of the Institution, a person giving $10,000 or upwards may be added to the present list of founders. A person who gives $1,000 or upwards ranks as an associate founder.

The Library when organized and opened to the public was almost destitute of books and money. It was opened at No. 5 Tremont Street, Boston, where it remained for about two years. It next found a home at No. 41 Tremont Street, in more spacious quarters, where it continued for nearly five years. The growth of the Library required it to seek more spacious accommodations at No. 12 West Street, where, after remaining fifteen years, it was removed to a building of its own, No. 9 Somerset Street, on the first day of February, 1884. In the Autumn of 1886 the Society purchased a more commodious house, 23 Mt. Vernon Street, to which it removed November 1st. It has gained, by gift and purchase, nearly 700 volumes, on the average, each year since it was opened. The estimated value of the Library, now numbering 15,401 volumes, is about $30,800.

The character of the Library is theological, religious, and moral; hence it is known as the General Theological Library, and was formed for the purpose of collecting the books used by clergymen, theological students, Sunday-school teachers, students, and readers of religious literature. It is unsectarian in character, being used by persons of all the religious denominations, which are fairly represented in its management. Another object of the Society is to collect all pamphlets and periodicals on religion and theology. The Reading-Room belonging to it receives eighty-two different periodicals, representing twenty religious denominations. A religious museum of objects illustrating the Bible has been commenced, and now that the Society has ample room, is likely to progress more rapidly. Another reason for the formation of the Society was to promote Christian union, or at least a better understanding among religious denominations.

The Library may be used by members and annual subscribers. The distance to which books may be taken is unlimited. The Library extends hospitality to strangers who are neither members nor subscribers. It was incorporated in 1864, and is managed by a board of fifteen Directors, who are elected for three years, and may be re-elected. Two persons are regularly employed in the Library, the Secretary, who also fills the office of Librarian, and an assistant librarian.