Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/308

284 slope of the ground, spoken of in connection with the stack-room, gives certain advantages to the reference room also. The street adjoining is so steep as to be undesirable for heavy traffic, and the high basement necessary to keep the floor of the room level with the entrance-hall gives the effect of an upper storey situation, and consequently the room is very quiet and free from outside noises.

The newspaper reading-room is under the reference room, and is of similar size. It has a separate entrance from the side street, and although nominally in the basement, is as well lit as the room above. In other parts of the basement are situated unpacking rooms, with book-lifts and service staircase connected with the cataloguers' room; bindery, delivery station rooms, and janitor's rooms and offices.

The administrative rooms of the library are in the south-east corner of the building, and are reached from the main corridor. The cataloguers' room is directly opposite the public catalogue room, and near it are placed the librarian's office and other rooms.

The second storey has a suite of rooms intended for special uses and collections, and a lecture-room seating about four hundred.

Amongst the newer American libraries, the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, is worthy of attention. It was founded in 1888, and removed to its new building in the summer of 1896.

The main building measures 70 by 100 feet, and is three storeys in height, with a stack-room attached,