The Circulation Department of the Library performs its work through forty-four Branch Libraries in the Boroughs of Manhattan, Richmond (Staten Island), and The Bronx. (Each of the other two Boroughs of Greater New York, Brooklyn and Queens, has its own Public Library.) These Branches are in separate buildings, with the exception of the Circulation Branch in the Central Building. That is supported by the funds of the Library; all the others are maintained by the City. Thirty-seven of the Branch buildings were erected from funds given by Mr. Andrew Carnegie. The collections of books in the Branches number from ten to fifty thousand, with a total of about 1,100,000 books.

Each Branch has an adult department, with its collection of books for adult readers, a children's room, and a reading room with current magazines, reference books, and, in many cases, daily newspapers. Many of the Branches contain lecture or assembly rooms.

These Branch Libraries serve a population estimated at above three million. The Branches are spread over a large territory, and from the northernmost of them, in the Borough of The Bronx, to the one farthest south, on Staten Island, the distance is about forty miles. A directory of Branches is on page 77.

Circulation of Books. The New York Public Library, according to the general custom of American libraries, imposes few restrictions upon its readers. This fact, together with its situation in the metropolis of the country, is the reason why it is probably used more than any other library under one management in the world. The use is constantly growing. In 1915 there were borrowed from the Branch Libraries, for home use, 10,384,579 books.

Special Collections. There are books in foreign languages, especially French and German, in all the Branches. The principal collections of books in foreign tongues other than French and German, are these:

Interbranch Loan. A book in any one of the Branches is available to a reader at any other Branch through a system of interbranch loans.

Reading Rooms. The total attendance in the adult reading rooms in the Branch Libraries, during 1915, was 1,224,526. The greatest use of reading rooms is at two of the Branches on the lower East Side.

Library for the Blind. The Library for the Blind, although under control of the Circulation Department, has its headquarters and reading room in the Central Building. Its work has been described on page 22.

Travelling Libraries. From the office of the Travelling Libraries, in the Central Building, collections of books are sent to communities and homes in outlying districts of the city; to churches, Sunday schools, settlements, clubs, stores, factories,—in fact, to any community or institution not readily served by a Branch Library. There are about 800 stations with Travelling Libraries. The circulation through these agencies, in 1915, numbered 962,355 books. Travelling Library stations are established in mercantile houses, in Fire and Police stations, fire boats, Federal, State, and City Department offices, armories, ships of the coast guard, vacation playgrounds, and summer camps. Books are sent in this manner to prisons, workhouses, elementary and high schools, hospitals, and army posts in New York City.

Work with Children. The work with children comprises a great deal besides the maintenance of children's rooms and the circulation of children's books. In 1915, the total circulation of books to children, including the figures recorded by the juvenile work of the Travelling Libraries, was 4,415,794, or forty-two per cent. of the total circulation of the Library. The Library works with the schools and museums. It holds special exhibitions, meetings, and celebrations of interest to children and to parents. Between fifty and sixty reading clubs for the older boys and girls meet at the Branch Libraries. Groups of children gather in the Branches from November to May, to attend "story hours."

Lectures and meetings. The Branches are used as meeting places by literary, educational and social organizations and clubs. Assembly rooms in the Branches are open for any meeting of an instructive or literary nature, provided that no admission fee is charged, and that nothing of a political or sectarian character is discussed. Many classes of foreigners learning English meet regularly in the Branch Libraries.