Instead of writing down extracts, readers cut out the sections with the information they needed. Volumes consulted had increased from 59,516 in 1860 to 135,065 in 1875. In 1875, W. B. Astor died and left $249,000 to the library. Besides this bequest, the library received $10,000 for the purchase of books from his son, John Jacob Astor III, in February 1876. Alexander Hamilton (1816–1889) became president of the board of trustees. In 1876, a beginning was made on a public card catalog. For books purchased since 1866, there was until this time no public index of subjects other than the knowledge possessed by the librarians as to the books on the shelves. At the end of 1877, the library had 177,387 volumes on its shelves. Straznicky died in 1876, and J. Carson Brevoort, a trustee, was chosen to be superintendent. In February 1878, Brevoort resigned. His successor was Robbins Little, a graduate of Yale. He retained the position as superintendent until 1896, after the 1895 consolidation. That the library was considered something more than a local institution was demonstrated in 1878 when the United States Sanitary Commission, having completed its task, donated its archives to the library for safe keeping. The archives consisted of all its correspondence, reports, account books, hospital directories, printed reports, histories, maps and charts, claims of some 51,000 soldiers and sailors investigated by it, miscellaneous papers, etc. The library promised that they would be preserved and accessible to the public. Resource expansion By 1879 the library had 189,114 volumes on its shelves. Space was lacking. Thus on December 5, 1879, John Jacob Astor III donated three lots of ground adjoining the northern side of the library's lot for an addition. The designer of this second addition was Thomas Stent. Both expansions followed Saelzer's original design so seamlessly that an observer cannot detect that the edifice was built in three stages. On October 10, 1881, this second addition was open to the public, the library being closed the four months preceding to allow the necessary moving and readjustment. During 1879 the Japanese government presented a representation of their national literature, embracing the standard works of poetry, fiction, geography, history, religion, philology, together with an assortment of ornamental designs; through Viscount Cranbrook, secretary for India in Beaconsfield's cabinet, the library received a large collection of official publications relating to India; New Zealand, New South Wales, Canada, Italy, France,