The San Francisco call., 1904-07-24
WOMEN CLUBS
AID LIBRARIES
They Give Series of Enter
tainmentS and BoOkshelves
Are Filled With Volumes
CARNEGIE HELPS MANY
Buildings Throughout Cali
fOrnia in a Fair Way To-
ward Completion and Use

A striking instance of the effective
work Of womens clubs in the founding
Of public Libraries is shown in the I
growth of the Lewiston, Idaho, public {.
library. The story is a simple one Four
years ago the Tsceminicum Club of (
Lewiston determined to start a free
library. They first placed few vol
umes on a shelf in the Council cham
ber and declared that a library had
been created. A series of entertain
ments followed, enlisting public sym
pathy and obtaining a good sum of
money. Before long the bookshelves
became crowded and removal was made
TO the main room Of the City Hail. /
which has been the home of the library /
for two years. There are now 1000 vol /
umes on hand, and the popularity Of
the library is evidenced by home cir
culation Of $4,000 in the last year. An
appeal by the club to Andrew Carnegie
brought a gift of $4,000, which was ex-
pended on the building soon to be
/ opened.
The State of Washington is greatly
! increasing the scope and efficiency of
its State library at Olympia. A medical
! department has been created and 1000
volumes for its shelves have been re-
/ ceived. 1t is intended ultimately to .
make this department as useful to the
medical profession as the law library is
TO the legal profession. Within two
years fully $4,000 will be expended on
the State library.
The Carnegie building in San Bernar- /
dino is finished and will soon be occu- /
pied. II is a handsome structure Of 4
4 pressed brick and cost $4,000.
Santa Monica's building erected by a /
$12,500 gift from Carnegie, has been
completed and accepted by the Library
Trustees. The lot, 100 by $50 feet, was
bought by a general subscription for
$3.50.
! During the last month the American
! Beet Sugar Company of Oxnard, Ven
I tura County. has reopened its reading
room for the benefit of its employees.
E The room is 20 by 80 feet, is provided
with games, papers and magazines and
( is lighted by electric lights.
SMALL TOWNS GOOD WORK.
At Campbell, Santa Clara County,
a free reading-room has just been
opened by the combined efforts of the
Christian Endeavor and Epworth
/ League societies. Business men and
others have given literally toward its
maintenance. There are scores of places
in California, many Of them larger than 4
Campbell, which could easily support a
reading-room and small library if a few
public spirited citizens would lead in
such an effort.
Ferndale. promising town in Hum I.
boldt County, has by ordinance just
passed established a public library.
Mountain View, Santa Clara County,
+ incorporated in 1902, has a new women's
club. which for its first work has begun
/ agitation for public library.
WILLOWS, Glenn County, has a WOm
ans Christian Temperance Union,
which has the use Of a room in the City
/ Hall for free library, to be supported
+ by the union.
Salinas is considering the possibility
of starting a free library. AIeli Parlor
( No. 1O1, Native Daughters Of the Gold
en- West, leads in this undertaking.
The Berkeley public library is the re-
/ cipient from Miss Elizabeth Tompkins
} of seventy volumes of valuable works
on various subjects. From Joseph p.
! Moore, veteran of the Civil War this
/ library received a complete set of the
! records of the war. The set, containing
124 volumes Of records and thirty-five
volumes of war maps, was issued by
( the War Department. This work is be-
coming rare. The Berkeley library evil
IDENTIFY has a strong hold on public IA
vor It's annual report shows ownership
! of $1,000 volumes. with an active circu-
lation of over $4,000
The Twentieth Century Club, wom-
ems club of Reno, New, has presented
to the new public library seventy-five
volumes for the Juvenile department.
COLLECTS STATE HISTORY.
! In Pasadena the Public Library Board
is pursuing the wise policy of buying
valuable old works on early California
history. A recent purchase embraced a
set Of Hutchings' Magazine, the first
magazine published in the State, from
1856 TO 1861; John c. Fremont's expedi-
ton. Leonard Kip's California sketches,
Farnham's Early Days in Califor-
MIA" Z. c. Capron's History Of Cali
fornia" and others Of equal interest.
AS these works have long been out of
print and are eagerly sought for by
many libraries the day is not far dis
tant when it will be impossible to pro-
cure them.
The nearest library west Of San Fran
cisco, that of the Honolulu Library As
sociation, has had a prosperous year
The net gain in membership for the
twelve months has been sixty, making
a total of $50. A cordial welcome to the
rooms is extended to strangers, very
many Of whom during their stay highly
value these privileges.