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110
ROCHESTER ALUMNI REVIEW
Louis 1. Bailey, '05,
In diana Librarian
(From the Indiana IIistory Bulletin)
The Library and Historical Board [of
Indiana ] has elected as state librarian,
Louis ]. Bailey, who, since 1922, has been
the head of the public library at Flint,
Michigan. Mr. Bailey is well known to
the librarians of Indiana through his former
residence and his work in this state. Born
in Ontario, New York, in 1881, Mr.
Bailey graduated from the University of
Rochester in 1905, and in 1907 from the
New York State Library School at Albany,
which is now being transferred to Columbia
University as a regular department of
the University in New York C i ty. Without
disparagement of any other schools, the
ew York State Library School h as been
recognized as the foremost insti.tution in the
United States for the training of librarians.
After graduating from the N ew York
State L ibrary School, M r. Bailey was assistant
in the New York State Library,
1906-7. He was called to Gary as the
librarian of the public library in 1908, remaining
there in that capacity until he accepted
a similar position at Flint. His administration
of the library a t Gary, last ing
14 years, was unusually fru itfu 1 and significant.
He early became regarded as one
of the notable group of men who shaped the
growth of Gary from unoccupied sand
dunes into one of the important business
and ind ustrial centers of Ame rica. The
rapid expansion of the libra ry and the extraordinary
demands made upon it by a
rapidly growin g and polyglot citizenship,
not only made the work of the library difficult
but gave it an importance in the formative
period of the city which Mr. Bai lev
fully realized and embodied in permanen't
achievement.
During his administration at Gary, Mr.
Railey was actively iden tified with h istorical
interests in the Calumet region. He
was one of the founders of the Gary Historical
Society * * • and as soon as
he was eligible for membersh ip in the Old
Settlers and H istorical Association of Lake
County, became an active member of that
organization. * * • Mr. Bailey also
took an active part in the affairs of the
Indiana Library Association and was of
great assistance to the directors of the
Library Commission . He has thus had experience
in each of the two l ines of work
of which he will be in cha rge, the administration
of the State Library as a l ibrary
and the advisory supervision of libraries
th roughout the state, which are in need of
council and guidance. '* '* •
Mr. Bai ley has the reputation among h is
colleagues of being a very hard worker and
a man of sound judgment. The state is
fortunate in having a man of hi� type at
the head of this important institution at a
time when important forward steps are
inevitable. * * '* That lVI r. Bai ley
will prove equal to the task is assured by
the manner in which he has taken up his
work.
+ +
Tribute to Willis S. Paine
An estimate of the record of achievement
made by Willis S. Paine, '68, whose death
is recorded on another page, is given in a
fitting editorial tribute, which appeared in
the Democrat and Chronicle. It follows
in part :
"Few men have done more in an y chosen
field than did Colonel Paine in his particular
sphere of activities to prove the excellence
of the training he had received in
his home city. In both the law and in
banking he served to the limit of his abilities,
which were by no means limited. He
revised the state banking laws to make more
secu re the money entrusted to banks and
trust companies by depositors. He set a
precedent by insisting on the liability of
bank stockholders in case of a shortage of
funds to meet the claims of deposi tors. He
organized the trust company section of the
American Banking Association. Whatever
he did, he did well, and with the end in
view a greater security for the common man
or woman whose painfully gathered savi ngs,
if lost, might mean utter despair and blank
hopelessness.
"But having discovered the secrets of
sound ban kin g, Colonel Paine did not h ide
h is knowledge. He made it available by
the publication of works which have become
standard, a guide to others who may
seek to know the fundamental truths that
safeguard the financial life of the state and
nation.
"Colonel Paine was a man of most un ­
usual character an d tal ent, a son of Rochester
of whom the city may well be proud,
as he was proud of the city that opened to
h im the gates of opportunity through sound
train i n g. "