Excerpt from Eleventh Annual Report of the Trustees of the Public Library, 1863 It is also satisfactory to observe, that notwithstanding the great increase of the price of the foreign books, owing to the present rate of exchange, the number of volumes added to the Library since the last annual enumeration is equal to the average of former years. In administering the important institution commit ted to their care, the Trustees have continued to act on the principles which have governed the Board in former years, viz. That of making it as extensively and practically useful as possible. In purchasing books, nothing has been done for luxurious display. No high priced book has ever been bought because it was a great bibliographical curiosity, but the funds of the City and of our generous benefactors, entrusted to the care of the Board for the purchase of books, have been exclusively expended for these which were deemed of substantial utility. The institution, however, is under obligations to several of its liberal friends for works of costly magnificence. In the regulations for the consultation and loan of books, the Trustees have studied the greatest amount of accommodation to the public, consistent with a just regard to the safety and proper care of the collection. It is correctly observed by the Superintendent, that it would not have been difficult, by the adoption of more stringent rules, to prevent the loss of some volumes and some injury of others in the course of the year, but it has been thought better, upon the whole, to submit to this inconvenience, which is not great, than to enforce regulations which would embarrass the free use of the Library now enjoyed; and which the Trustees think they may with truth say, exceeds that of any other public library in this country, perhaps in the world. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.