ever, the system is carried much further. From the beginning of the academic year until the first of February strong emphasis is placed upon the fundamental technical and professional courses. Then during the months of February and March the academic work in residence is given up and the public libraries of the state become the school's laboratories. Upon the first of February each student is sent out into a carefully selected library for practical work under conditions actually existing in public libraries. In planning the work, moreover, the instructors have in mind the principle that the services to be rendered by the student must be of definite value to the library in which they are performed, since work that is not of importance from the standpoint of the library is likely to be as unprofitable to the student as to the institution.

Each student must work from seven to eight hours, six days in the week, during the months of February and March, doing the regular work of the library-work which is often difficult and laborious. She is expected to work as intelligently and as faithfully as though a hired helper. She must submit herself to the direction and discipline prevailing in the local institution. Her work is supervised and inspected by the instructors of the school. At all times she is made conscious that unless her services prove of value to the library she can receive no academic credit in the Library School.

As a matter of fact this field work has proved of very substantial value to the libraries of the state. During the eight years since the school was established the students have rendered an aggregate of approximately 400 months of service to the public libraries of the state, and always to those libraries which have most needed assistance. Putting this in other terms, the service rendered gratuitously by the students of the school has amounted to the full time of 33 skilled workers each working for one year.

By these years of service new libraries have been organized ard old libraries have been reorganized; new card catalogues have been made and old ones revised, modernized, and brought up to date; in many communities systematic co-operative work with the schools has been started; story hours have been established and conducted; the character of the book selection has been improved. Many other new lines of library activity have been instituted, and through publicity methods, suggested and worked

out by the students, the public has been informed of the old and new activities of the library. It is to be noted that this service has been rendered during the busiest months of the year for libraries.

While this serivce has been of incalculable value in the library development in the state, its greatest value has been in the training which it has given to the library students themselves.

Its special value may be thus stated:

1. Field work links theory with practice. It is placed in February and March and the curriculum is so planned that the fundamental technical and professional courses are completed before the work is assigned. This gives the students opportunity to apply in a practical and concrete way the lessons of the semester which has just closed.

2. The field work supplements the student's previous experience. Because of the entrance requirements for admission to the school, the faculty are in possession of much information regarding every student before the course begins; especially do we know of any previous library experience. If a student enters the school after several years of such experience, it is possible to round out that experience by giving her field work along entirely different lines, such as organization, serving as acting librarian, and even the visiting of libraries for the commission, thus putting her in training for a position on a library commission. If a student enters with little or no library experience, she is placed in one of the best organized libraries of the state where she will have opportunity to work as an assistant under the direction of a trained librarian.

3. Benefit results to the student through the change in the nature of her work. The variety between the class room instruction and the practical work is welcomed by the class. The interest and energy of the student in her work almost invariably increase during this period of field practice.

4. It affords an opportunity for testing the student's ability and initiative. The student works under the close observation of instructor and librarian. A more complete knowledge of her fitness to fill a psition is the result; weaknesses and faults are seen and can be corrected. The test of actual work is fairer than one based upon academic scholarship. On the student's side the gain in confidence and poise is marked, and with these a knowledge of her strength or adaptability for each kind of work.

FIELD WORK IN 1913 AND 1914

For the biennial period 1913-1914, the field work of the Library School was carried out as usual.

In 1913, 37 libraries profited by the work of the students, and 35 students had the actual experience of working in libraries. The amount of work accomplished by the students aggregated a total of 652 months of work for the state, the equivalent of the entire time of six skilled workers for a year.

In 1914, 31 libraries profited by the work of the students, and 35 students had the actual experience of working in libraries. The amount of work accomplished by the students aggregated a total of 61 months of free assistance to the libraries of the state, more than the equivalent of the full time of five skilled workers for an entire year.

A NEW COURSE FOR SPECIAL LIBRARIANS

In the year 1913-14 the Library School, in co-operation with the Legislative Reference Department of the State Library Commission, offered a new course of special training for legislative and municipal reference work and the various sociological phases of library service. This course prepares for distinctly specialized library work in the field of public affairs, as distinguished from the more general public library work. It is intended for college graduates with special aptitude and personal qualifications for this type of library service who have a definite preparation in political science, economics, and sociology. There is a demand for trained library workers in this field where knowledge of subject matter is of great importance. This course offers an organized training which supplements this knowledge of subject matter with the more essential of the technical and professional phases of library work necessary to insure good library administration.

Approximately one-third of the student's time is devoted to selected courses at the University, depending both upon the previous preparation of the individual student and the particular branch of library work he expects to enter. About one-third of the time is taken up with the bibliographic and technical library training. This includes the fundamental courses of library instruction so modified that the essentials of professional training

may be obtained through close application with a considerable saving of time. The remaining third of the time is spent in special instruction as to the methods and materials of special libraries, combined with actual practice in the legislative reference library and elsewhere. Research work upon practical problems arising in the work of various state and municipal departments is assigned to each student.

In the first year seven students, four men and three women, were admitted to the course. The work was carried through the two semesters of the regular University year, together with a month of apprentice work in some library of this special type.

DISBURSEMENTS ON BEHALF OF LIBRARY SCHOOL

The following is a statement of the disbursements made by the Library Commission for the maintenance of the school for the years ending June 30, 1913 and June 30, 1914, respectively.

In the item "salaries" is included the compensation paid those who do the regular instructional work in the Library School. This item does not include, however, the salary of the Secretary of the Library Commission who lectures and is ex-officio the Director of the Library School, nor the salary of other members of the commission staff who render services to the school. On the other hand the instructional staff whose salaries are included in this item perform duties for the Library Commission which are not strictly within their province as instructors, these services resembling more the extension work performed by other University instructors. The statement so far as this item "salaries" is concerned must be considered, therefore, as somewhat in the nature of an approximation.

Quarters including fuel, janitor service, insurance, repairs, furniture..

Respectfully submitted,

M. S. DUDGEON,

Director.

REPORT OF THE COMMANDANT

President Charles R. Van Hise,

The University of Wisconsin.

Dear Sir: Complying with your instructions, I have the honor to submit to you the following biennial report for the Military Department of The University of Wisconsin for the period July 1, 1912-June 30, 1914.

The totals noted above are those reported at the annual inspection in May, at which time the Corps is always at a minimum. For example, December 1, 1913, there were 1,480 men under instruction and at the close of the first semester January 1914, there were 1,357 men taking drill.

ORGANIZATION

On my arrival here in January, 1913, the corps was organized as a regiment of 12 companies, a hospital company, an engineer company, and a band. The rapid increase in attendance