would influence his later design of the Library of Congress Classification system. In 1891, Putnam resigned his Minneapolis post due to his mother-in-law's ill health and promptly returned to Boston to be near her. Putnam "was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and practiced law in Boston until the 18th of February 1895" when he was appointed Librarian of the Boston Public Library. During his tenure at the Boston Public Library "there were 9 branches and 12 delivery stations. At the end of his four years, there were 10 branches, 5 minor branches, called 'reading rooms,' and 56 deposit stations…the library grew from a total of 610,375 volumes at the close of 1894 to 716,050 at the close of 1898." Another contribution made by Putnam towards the Boston Public Library was the addition of a room devoted to juveniles, "believed to have been the first room wholly devoted to the service of children in any of the larger libraries of the country." Library of Congress Induction As the ALA’s leading witness during the 1896 Congressional Joint Committee on the Library, Putnam was able to successfully lobby Congress to greatly expand the role of the Library of Congress. This restructuring and expansion of the Library became effective on July 1, 1897. Putnam's activities with the American Library Association led him to join with Justin Winsor and Melvil Dewey as official delegates to the International Conference of Librarians in London in 1897. When Winsor died shortly thereafter, Putnam served the remainder of his term as President of the ALA. When John Russell Young died in January 1899, President William McKinley requested Congress to appoint Putnam. He was officially confirmed December 12, 1899. Systemization of a public institution Upon the confirmation of Putnam to his appointed duty of Librarian of Congress, one daunting task Putnam faced from the onset was the sheer volume of materials that had to be reorganized for the newly opened Thomas Jefferson Building – the newly appointed library for the Library of Congress. However, Putnam was well aware of what needed to be done. "In October 1899 Putnam requested a $190,000 increase in the budget for fiscal 1901. If Congress consented, the 1899 LC budget would nearly double and that for 1900 would be increased by 60 percent. Declaring that the collections were deficient in many respects, [Putnam] asked for $50,000 to purchase new material, more than twice the 1899